Are You Struggling Financially?

It isn’t uncommon around this time of year for anxiety to set in, especially when the consequence of overspending at Christmas shows itself by way of incoming bills.

I happened across a short segment on a morning show the other day that described a couple that was—I think hundreds of thousands of dollars—in debt.  They briefly described in the segment how they got there, as well as the steps they took to free themselves from debt.  They outlined the usual warnings about credit card interest, budgeting and so-forth.

I think there are probably plenty of methods to help people figure out how to wrestle themselves out of financial ruin and it is, of course, always a good thing to try to do so in a responsible way through a trusted resource.  But part of the problem, I suppose, is that there is a need to change the way we do things, as well as what we do.

A million years ago I went to a hair stylist who worked out of her home.  She started talking about a vacation that she and her husband and her family were going to take.  I did sort of wonder how they could afford the expensive vacations that she talked about.

She told me that they used “creative financing.”  Since I didn’t have a clue what she was talking about, I inquired further.  Apparently, they would use one credit card for the vacation and other credit cards to pay off the vacation one.  Clearly, because of their creative dance within the credit card system, they would undoubtedly be running around for years trying to play catch up or simply trying to evade having to pay for their elaborate spending sprees.

I think it is really unethical, not to mention very unhealthy. 

The thing about finances is that we are called to be responsible stewards of our money.  To play the credit card game like my hair stylist might buy a little time (and a little fun), but the end result could seriously disrupt your financial peace of mind, which could certainly overflow into other areas of your life, including your marriage.

I came across a blog that looked like it might be helpful, so you might want to check it out.  It’s called Compass Catholic Ministries.

 

Another thing to consider is that we are not only called to be good stewards of our money, but also stewards of creation and vocations, etc.  Here’s a website by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops that discusses these as well.

If you have overcome a financial challenge and would like to share your success story to help other readers of this blog, please feel free to share a comment.

God bless,

Janet Cassidy
janetcassidy.blogspot.com
janetcassidy.blubrry.net