More Financial Blessings!

04/22/10 by Mark | Blessing & Truth | Comments

Financial expert, and popular radio show host, Dave Ramsey, is releasing an extremely helpful book of the most important questions he gets asked. It’s called The Money Answer Book, and you can get a special pre-order price on this fantastic book by clicking here. Dave has one very simple message: “Be responsible to God and family, sacrifice the unnecessary to gain the necessary, get rid of debt, and build a financially peaceful future.”

Last week, we shared a few good nuggets from Dave’s book. Here are a few more:

QUESTION: How do I get the ball rolling to get out of debt?
DAVE: We’ve developed a little process called the “Baby Steps” to do one thing at a time and keep it simple. The principle is to stop everything except minimum payments, and focus on one thing at a time. Otherwise nothing gets accomplished because all your effort is diluted.

First accumulate $1,000 cash as an emergency fund. Then begin intensely getting rid of all debt (except the house) using the debt snowball. You attack the smallest debt first, still main- taining minimum payments on everything else. Do what is necessary to focus your attention. Keep stepping up to the next largest bill. After the credit debt is taken care of, work to build the emergency fund up to three to six months of expenses.

QUESTION: Is it okay to buy stuff while I’m still in debt?
DAVE: I recommend waiting. Sometimes things are necessities, but most things are not. If you want to purchase a leather couch, you should wait until you pay off all your debts. The couch is not something you need. Being out of debt so that your family can live and save is more important than buying the leather couch. I look at priorities. As long as you have what you need to physically survive, very few things are more important than getting out of debt as quickly as possible.

Sometimes people borrow money to pay off debt, and they just go deeper and deeper into debt. When you have more money going out than there is coming in, you are simply borrowing to pay your bills.

This is the point where you need to take the bull by the horns. You need to be sacrificial, crazy, and you need to make some painful decisions. You need to sell the car, the house, have a garage sale, and so forth. These are not pleasant things, but you need to make these decisions yourself or someone will make them for you.

QUESTION: Does it help to transfer credit card debt to another card?
DAVE: Sometimes it helps to transfer credit debt to another credit card that has a lower interest rate. This certainly will save you interest. The only problem is that you might feel like you have done something and get lazy on paying off your debt. Switching to a lower interest rate is okay, but it is only about 2 percent of the plan. The other 98 percent is you get- ting insane and attacking this debt of yours. The $100 you are going to save in interest is not the problem; your $2,500 debt is the problem.

Hope this information is helpful to you, and leads you down the path of greater financial blessing,
Mark

Pilgrim Man – Introduction Video

04/17/10 by Mark | Blog, Uncategorized | Comments

Are You Ready for Financial Blessings?

04/15/10 by Mark | Blessing & Truth | Comments

For many people, money is a great source of tension and frustration. Financial expert Dave Ramsey is releasing a comprehensive book of the most important questions he gets asked. It’s called The Money Answer Book, and you can get a special pre-order price on this fantastic book by clicking here. Dave has one very simple message: “Be responsible to God and family, sacrifice the unnecessary to gain the necessary, get rid of debt, and build a financially peaceful future.”

Here’s a sampling of what the book includes:

QUESTION: Does the National Economy really affect my personal economy?
DAVE: The truth is that economic factors do affect you, but what you do in your own home will affect you far more. Debt-free living on a plan (a budget), saving for emergencies, investing for long-term goals, living on less than you make, and agreeing with your spouse on spending makes you prosperous—not tomorrow, but over time. Getting rich quick doesn’t work.

QUESTION: What’s the most important financial concept?
DAVE: Contentment. You can get out of debt, save money, and get on a budget, but until your intellect forces your emotions and your spirit to accept that STUFF does not equal CONTENTMENT, your finances will always feel stressed. At our office we counsel every week with folks who are making $25,000 per year as well as folks making $250,000 per year. These people share a common problem: they all suffer from some level of “stuffitis,” the worship of stuff. Change your focus and change your life for the better.

QUESTION: How do I get the ball rolling to get out of debt?
DAVE: We’ve developed a little process called the “Baby Steps” to do one thing at a time and keep it simple. The principle is to stop everything except minimum payments, and focus on one thing at a time. Otherwise nothing gets accomplished because all your effort is diluted.

More to come in the next blog!

Until then, may God bless you with contentment!
Mark

Pilgrim Man Hits #3 on Chart

04/14/10 by Mark | Blog, Uncategorized | Comments

It’s very encouraging whenever I get a notice that another radio station is playing my song. Incredibly enough, the song has jumped all the way up to #3 on the CRW Global AC impressions chart. I’m not completely sure what all that means, except I’m encouraged by it…cause it could definitely be at a lower spot on the chart. It looks like 32 stations are playing it now, which means that even if each station only has two listeners (the DJ and one other person) that means roughly 64 people have heard my tune. Awesome. Thank you for all your support!!

Here’s a complete list of stations playing “Pilgrim Man” as of this week. Please call your local Christian radio station and request it.

(new since last post)
WNPQ: New Philadelphia, OH
WJFY: Heath, OH
WJFZ: Canton, OH
highenergyfm.com – Scotland
WDOV: Athens WV – internet
radioforlife.net:
WGGP: Big Pine Key, FL
KJAN AM 1220: Atlantic, Iowa
KROZ: Hobbs, NM
WGLY: Vermont
CHSB: Bedford, Nova Scotia
WMHR: Syracuse, NY
Real Country Radio: Japan
WSEW: S. Maine/ SE NH


(previously mentioned)
WBYN: Princeton NJ/Allentown, PA
KGPS: Kingman, Az. 
WKBO: Harrisburg-Lebanon-Carlisle 
WFST: Northern Maine and Western New Brunswick 
WXML: Upper Sandusky, OH
WSWV-AM/FM: Pennington Gap, VA
WGMA: Spindale, NC
KFLO-FM: Shreveport (sent full version)
WLIX FM: Long Island’s Voice of Hope
NewCreation internet radio
BethelPilotRadio – Bethel College (IN)
Joglen Gospel Internet Radio, MD
Hope Radio Online: Leitchfield, KY
Signs & Wonders Radio – Ashland, VA
thecssonline.net: Glendale, AZ
EJNM.net: Montreal, Que.
WWIP: Norfolk/Virginia Beach/Newport News 
Word Outreach Radio: Northamptonshire, England