Financial Stewardship is a discipline and a virtue that all of us should exercise. According to meridian dictionary, stewardship is “conducting, supervising, or managing of something; especially: the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care”

I will break down the elements described in this definition; hopefully at the end, we will appreciate broadly and personalize the need to be good stewards of our finances and other resources available to us.

Elements of a Good Steward

Look closely at these terms: Conduct, Manage, Careful, responsible & trusted. These are the foundational elements of a good steward.

• Ability to conduct /control oneself and make priorities of needs versus wants. This is also a self control virtue
• Managing well the resources at hand, whether big or small. If i have problem managing small resources, it makes perfect sense that i will not be able to manage bigger/more recourses.
• Carefully planning and analyzing financial resources and making determination on how to rightfully utilize the resources at hand.  In respect to finances, these can be by use of a financial plan, budgets, or other tools that help in financial planning.
• Taking responsibility for every decision made. By taking ownership of your financial position, you set the direction of the sails and your financial ship will head in that direction want.
• The understanding that you are not entitled to anything. Everything you have, or anything you might  acquire in the future,  is just entrusted to your care by God. You do not own it.
• Faithfulness – actions that are executed in truthfulness, honnesty and with authenticity. This is a major prerequisite for a good steward. Bible says in I Cor. 4:2 “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”

Stewardship transcends finances or money, into every aspect of our living. Our Jobs, our children, our relationships, businesses- you name them.  It is required of us to be good stewards of our lives.

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With the gas prices going up almost each day, it’s obviously having a pinch in most people’s wallet and affecting household budgets.  While we may not like this, it’s beyond the control of the ordinary person who has to bear the cost of what is causing this increase in the gas prices at the pump. Here are some few tips that could help you minimize the effect of the rising gas price.

Tips to minimize effect of rising gas prices

Car Pool
We all love our own convenience, and there is a cost we have to pay for this convenience. Driving your own car not only provide you with this kind of convenience but also privacy, and freedom. But to save some money on the pump carpooling can really help. If you and your spouse work in the same vicinity, and have close working hours, why not use one car instead of two?

Use HOV lane
In places where this (High Occupancy Lane) is available, and you are carpooling, use this lane as it will save you time in traffic. You save gas and you save time, and life is good.

Use public transport
In places where public transport is accessible, use of public transport is more cheaper than using your own vehicle to commute to work/school or wherever else. If this mode of transport is available where you live, it could save you some money.

Avoid unnecessary trips
Better planned trips will ensure that you are not just running around, but accomplishing something. If you want to go grocery shopping, see what else you can do while out there, that would cut an extra trip out once you get back home.

Keep a well maintained vehicle.
A well maintained car will give you the best gas mileage possible. Ensure that you keep all tires at the recommended pressure, do oil change at the recommended mileage, and perform the recommended engine maintenance. Even a new car that is not maintained will deteriorate in the gas mileage.

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As i was browsing the internet this morning, my eyes caught the attention of a personal finance title with the heading “The 5 Dumbest Things You Can Do if You Have too Much Debt”, and clicked to read the article. I thought that the article highlighted some very important points that anyone who is getting out of debt, or trying to stay debt free, should always keep in mind.
 

The five strategies you may want to avoid:

The first piece of advice from experts in the financial field is to be sure you don’t make your situation worse by making common mistakes.  In particular, try to avoid:

1. Paying only the minimum payment on your debt, as this will result in the amount you owe actually growing, and your problems will only become worse.
2. Relying on friends and family, as this can damage relationships with the most important people in your life.
3. Unscrupulous credit counselors that demand cash upfront or high fees for help they promise, but don’t deliver.
4. Using new, high-interest loans to pay off lower interest rate loans. While it may be easier to just have one payment, it will actually increase the amount you have to pay back.
5. Declaring bankruptcy–this can have permanent and severe consequences on your financial future. Avoid it if you can, especially when debt settlement may work for you.

While there are some exceptions, for most part avoiding these five things/ strategies, you will be better off in the long run than if you take the pill.

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We trust that you had a joyous Christmas holiday with family and friends – or however you spent the holiday. This has been a busy year for most people especially in financial blogspere. Here at kick debt off, we have been on down low – on the blogsphere but pretty busy at home. We were blessed with a newborn this year and he has been such a joy. I have therefore been taking some time to cherish these joyous moments with him and haven’t caught up with my writing.
As we approach the close of the year, it is time to take inventory, and see if the ‘plan of our finances have paid off. Esther and I will be spending sometime before the close of the year to look at the state of our finances. Questions we will be addressing will be:

• Did we reduce our debt as we expected?
• Did we pile more loads of debt this year?
• What strategy worked well to pay off the debts that we paid this year?
• What financial mistakes did we make this year?
• What financial lessons did we learn this year?
• If we are not satisfied with the progress we made this year what will we do different to achieve the financial progress we want in 2012?
• Did we stick to the budget this year?
• Are we on track on our annual financial plan that we set at the beginning of the year?

These questions will help us make an assessment of how we did this year, and map out an aggressive plan to of debt next year.

I would suggest you come up with such questions that will guide you, as you review your financial progress for this ending year.

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As we continue to look at customer and consumer service, it’s  important to know that you as a consumer are entitled to some rights that form the foundation of fairness in the marketplace. These rights are outlined below as described on consumers international.

1.  The right to be heard - When a customer has a legitimate concern, problem or complaint, they have the right to speak up, and be heard. Consumer interests are supposed to be represented in the making and execution of government policy, and in the development of products and services.
    
2. The right to choose - To be able to select from a range of products and services, offered at competitive prices with an assurance of satisfactory quality. This is the freedom of making the decision of where to shop or not, and the laws should protect consumers against exploitation as a result of cartels and monopoly.
    
3. The right to safety - To be protected against products, production processes and services which are hazardous to health or life. Consumers on the other hand have the responsiblility of reporting any unsafe product or practice. 
    
4. The right to be informed - To be given the facts needed to make an informed choice, and to be protected against dishonest or misleading advertising and labelling.
    
5. The right to consumer education - To acquire knowledge and skills needed to make informed, confident choices about goods and services, while being aware of basic consumer rights and responsibilities and how to act on them.
    
6. The right to satisfaction of basic needs - To have access to basic, essential goods and services: adequate food, clothing, shelter, health care, education, public utilities, water and sanitation.  All lawmakers and policy makers should be held responsible to ensure that that human life is not at risk for not providing policies and laws thet assure these needs.
    
7. The right to redress – To receive a fair settlement of just claims, including compensation for misrepresentation, shoddy goods or unsatisfactory services. 
    
8. The right to a healthy environment -To live and work in an environment which is non-threatening to the well-being of present and future generations.

In the next post, we will look at how to lodge a successful complaint as a consumer.

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Have you ever been treated rudely, or with indifference when you are paying for service? Ever stood on the checkout line for over ten minutes when the cashier was talking to a friend on a cell phone? Have you ever asked for help in a grocery store and you were told “i don’t work in that department”? Have you ever received a bill that was miscalculated and when you called customer service you were transferred endless times and had to repeat the story over and over? Most people would identify with these scenarios i created here, because they happen every day. In the next couple of weeks here at kickdebtoff.com,  i will be writing a series about customer service and consumer rights, and will appreciate any feedback or an encounter (good or bad) that you’ve had in relation to customer service.

Recently i took my old clunker for oil change to my favorite spot (Express Oil Change) where i have been going for seven years. The service was great as usual, the technicians were courteous, they had some new faces and a lot of trainees. Being a summer Saturday, i wanted to get it done ASAP and these people know how to do just that. In less than twenty minutes, i was out of the bay and headed for the next item on my things to do list. When i parked my car that evening, i did not think or notice anything amiss. However, Monday morning i noticed that there was quite substantial amount of oil that had leaked from the oil pan, but i did not think it was a big deal. I went to work and parked on my usual parking spot. In the evening after pulling off the parking, i also noticed good amount of ‘fresh’ oil leak on the parking spot. These went on for a couple of days and i was starting to get embarrassed by the amount of oil that my clunker that i’ve been holding onto for a good while was leaving on the parking floor. On the fourth day i had to add a quart of oil because the low oil indicator was showing up on the dash board.

I took the car back to the Express Oil and told them what had happened. Although there were still lot of new faces and some trainees, they reassured me they would take care of me. They checked the oil pan and told me that the drain plug had worn out threads and wasn’t holding tight enough, and they would put a new one. They even did a fresh oil change at no cost to me. This was one outstanding customer service experience that i have had, and Express oil change will keep my service for treating me right as a royal customer.

This is a positive service but what do you do when you are not treated right? We will cover that in the next post.

So let me ask- would you pay extra for good customer service?

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In the recent past the use of prepaid cards has risen significantly. According to Federal Reserve, these cards were used to make $65 billion worth of transactions in 2010, up 35% from the previous year 2009. This rise can be attributed to a number of things: the growing number of the ‘unbanked’ population, a messed up credit that resulted to very high interest rates, and the fear of identity theft.

Knowing the pros and the cons of this type of payment method can help you decide if this is a route that you would want take.

The Pros

• There is no approval process
• You don’t have to have a credit history
• You can’t get into debt because you are putting your own money on these cards. When it’s gone, it’s gone
• It helps with budgeting
• No interest accrued on these cards

The Cons

• You don’t build credit
• The cards are not accepted everywhere you want to shop
• While these cards do not have interest accruing, there are higher fees associated with them.

These are some of the fees that you might expect

• Activation Fee
• Monthly Fee
• Cash Withdrawal Fee
• Balance Inquiry Fee
• Customer Service
• Non-use Fee

These fees will vary across the board, and so you have to read and understand the fine prints or you will be cursing the day you signed in.

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This article comes from one my favorite marriage counselor, author and speaker Mark Gungor – it was previously published on his blog page.  Hope you find it helpful.

There is a very troubling phenomenon in churches today and it’s having a terrible and very destructive effect on marriages. Far too many couples are living on their own “islands” and are actually living a lie.  Millions of Christians husbands and wives are experiencing struggles and trials in their marriages, yet they are going through life in isolation, refusing to tell anyone or to bring their pastor, their friends, or family into it. They come to church and go about their business acting like everything is just hunky-dory, when the reality is, they are miserable and going through hell. What on earth makes people think that they can just be dishonest and lie and pretend that nothing is wrong? They are deceiving others and they are lying—that is sin!  It sounds harsh, but it’s true!

Living a LIE

Why are so many people lying when church community and family surround them? These are the people that we should go to, ask questions of, talk things out with, and get wisdom from so we can effectively handle the challenges of life. But instead, we end up being on an island. It’s just the two of us and all the stuff we’re dealing with.  We are playing Survivor and trying to see who gets voted off and who stays on the island—the problem is pretty soon we destroy our marriage in the process!

Are people too embarrassed to share their issues? Are they too prideful to get help? Everyone has issues and we all argue about stuff—sometimes over the stupidest things! (Even my wife and do it!)  It’s only in bringing it out into the open and letting someone else in on your “stuff” that we can get a perspective of the situation, bring attention to what’s going on, and get help where it is needed. Lots of problems and issues are easily solved with a third party helping, but most often people think they can just tough it out and go it alone. They don’t get help and things don’t get better.

The reality is, we aren’t supposed to do it alone. We need to be in community; yet, something in the mentality of so many people tells them that no one should know their business. No one should know that they argue and scream and fight.  So no one knows that he is hitting her or shoving her around. No one knows that there is sexual infidelity or sexual addiction issues. No one knows they haven’t had sex or slept in the same room for two or three years. They are struggling miserably, it’s a secret and nobody knows. This is absurd!  Letting these kinds of situations go on and on is ridiculous. You have to get counsel; you must seek out help and advice to get these issues out in the light where they can be dealt with. And do not be so foolish as to let years and years go by before you do something about these things!

Act NOW!!

You need to deal with this stuff right away, don’t wait! If you are having an issue that you just can’t seem to solve or deal with on your own, don’t let years go by in misery while your marriage goes down the tubes because of it. Let me give you an analogy that is easy to understand. My wife, Debbie, had skin cancer. Now, she went and had it taken care of immediately and even though they said it was terrible and the prognosis was doom and gloom, praise God it all came out perfectly fine. Now, what if she had waited on this? What if she saw a problem and just thought, “It’s nothing. If I ignore it, it will just go away. It will be fine”? But then it’s not fine and two years down the road she would end up at the doctor and there would be tumors all over! Now it’s a desperate situation and way worse than if she had just taken care of it in the first place. The doctors would wonder why on earth she didn’t come in sooner for help!  That is exactly what millions of people are doing in their marriages.

They wait and wait and wait, thinking that somehow by the sprinkling of fairy dust, or just the right prayer, that the issues are going to magically disappear. Or because so many couples don’t want to deal with the conflict, they think if they just ignore it, it’ll go away. They keep putting the problems on the shelf and won’t don’t deal with them until the shelf gets so heavy it collapses. This is not working and is destroying marriages.

Honestly!!!

God did not create us to be islands on our own. He put us in relationships, in community, in family for a reason. When you are having trouble, seek out the guidance and support of others. Find a stable couple that you know is happily married or has weathered the storms—maybe similar to the ones that you are facing—and get counsel.

This brings me back to the whole issue of being honest. If you and your spouse have struggled be it with infidelity, stepfamily issues, health issues, work issues, pornography—whatever it is—and have overcome the trouble, you can be a great asset to other couples! But you have to be honest and you say, “Look, we aren’t perfect! We’ve been to hell and back, but by the grace of God, have survived!”  If you and your spouse are currently struggling with any issues, you have to be honest and say, “Look, we aren’t perfect! We’re in hell! We need help!” Sadly, herein lies the rub.

Christianity is so often just a fake, plastic world that millions of people live in—not being real, not being honest—pretending that everything is “just fine!” They give everyone around them the impression that they are “just great!” It’s baloney!  The bible says we should confess our faults one to another. We need to shine the light on this stuff, but we’re not doing it. We hide and pretend that everything is wonderful and have to keep up this false front, where no one can know what is really going on. It’s just between you, the devil and the dark and it keeps getting worse and worse. It’s exactly what the enemy wants. If it all stays in the dark, it can grow and fester and consume and destroy you. Once you are honest, confess it and the light of truth shines on it, then and only then can it be fixed and healed.

Christians need to tear down this artificial standard, throw out this ridiculous and destructive game that we play showing off our Sunday best all the time. It’s time to get real with who we are, and with what’s going on. You need to find people who can work through the challenges and questions you have.

People ask me questions all the time about this or that particular situation. How do I solve such and such?  What do I do with this circumstance?  I can give them general guidance but usually tell them they need to be connecting with other mentor couples—whether that is relatives or their church family—to help figure this stuff out. When your spouse is doing something outrageous or even something that you find questionable or objectionable, you should go to your friends and family who know you guys! Sometimes you will need to go to your pastor, but why not run it past the others in your life? After all, the church is supposed to be the priesthood of believers where we are ministers to each other.

A wife should be able to go to her husband’s friends and ask them—“Hey, guys, let me ask you a question. My husband, Bob, is spending five hours a week in a chat room on the Internet with his former girlfriend. What do you think of that?” She needs to feel safe enough to go to a support structure and get help. Then these guys need to sit Bob down and have a come-to-Jesus-meeting with the dude. They need to tell him to knock it off!

But people won’t do that. Instead they sit there in misery, letting the secrecy destroy their marriage and family.  Here is another example: Say Suzy hasn’t had sex with her husband for five months. She just doesn’t feel like it and comes up with excuses. They’ve argued repeatedly, gotten nowhere, and the dude is climbing the walls. Many couples will wait and let this continue for years! Don’t do that! As difficult as this seems, they need to sit down with someone in their support structure and deal with this. Often times just having a third party there helps to diffuse the entire situation—especially when it is full of pain and so emotionally charged to the point that you end up screaming and yelling and fighting with each other. With another person or couple present, you generally behave better and have a much more calm and reasonable discussion, not to mention they will be a source of wisdom and insight for you!

Churches are meant to be a place where we can walk out our faith, encourage one another, give guidance and help. Church doesn’t exist to be the social club where you make yourself look good!  If you are yelling at your husband all the way from home to the church parking lot, ready to strangle him and then when you step through the front door of the building, put the phony smile on your face and masquerade like all is well, you are a fraud. You are living a lie. Do not kid yourself.  The Church needs to be a place where truth prevails…even when that truth is the good the bad or the ugly. It should be a place that is safe enough to talk about what the real issues are.

Stop with this nonsense already, because marriages, families, and children are being destroyed and it doesn’t have to be that way. Couples will fair so much better if they get other people involved.  Get off the island!

What are your thoughts?

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Now that our son is here, once in a while i will be writing some little things that may be helpful to new ‘parents to be’ that we have picked along the way during the waiting and as we continue to grow as a family.

Be Prepared
Sometime it feels like even if i was given all the time there is, i still have some little extra things that i want to do to feel ready. If you are like me, being ready is not a feeling; it is a conscious knowledge and admission based on your plan and goals. When you are not mentally ready and your wife tells you one morning “we are pregnant”, you might get a panic attack. Again, starting a family is not a one person game- make sure you are on the same page with your spouse.

Plan for Doctor’s visit
During the pregnancy, there are several doctors ‘visit that will be required. As a husband and a father to be, it means a lot to your wife when you accompany her to the doctor’s office. Whenever possible take some time off usually 1-2 hours off your work and be with your spouse at the doctor’s office. You will experience some new joy when you see the first Ultra Sound image and you are able to see the life growing in the womb. This starts to create the bond between you and your baby at the same time as a dad you get a new appreciation of your wife’s pregnancy journey.

Plan Financially
It would be a great idea to know how much money to budget for your pregnancy and the new baby. But the truth of the matter is babies are different and every pregnancy is unique. However, with a new baby at home one parent will usually stay at home for sometime with the baby before going back to work.  In other cases, one parent becomes a stay home parent while the other parent works to meet the family’s need.  In either case the family finances will be affected.  The expenses will go up with the baby’s need and the income will be reduced either temporary or permanently.  Get together with your spouse and discuss what you expect to do when the baby comes.  Here are some few pointers:

• Start saving for the baby’s expense ahead of the birth.
• Look into your budget and see if there are ways to ‘trim the fat’ and make it as lean as possible.
• In the case of where one parent will be a stay-home parent the other spouse can explore possibility of a part time job.
• Avoid getting into debt

Understand how Flexible Spending Account (FSA) work
It’s going to three weeks since our son was born and we have been to the doctor’s office three times. This is not surprising since all newborns are expected to have frequent doctor’s visits. Just as any other Doctor’s visit, each time you pay for every visit.  Now that the baby may need to be seen by a pediatrician more often having an FSA comes handy.
Under this plan, money is taken from your paycheck before taxes (you set the exact amount) and put into an account. You can then use that money to pay for medical expenses, like deductibles, medications, and other health related stuff throughout the year. It’s important to understand that FSAs have a “use it or lose it” provision — meaning that you must use the dollars in the year in which they are saved or you will lose them at the end of the year. Check with your  plan confirm what  expenses are “covered,” meaning they are approved by the Internal Revenue Service as a qualified medical expense that can be paid for with your tax-free dollars. For example, while the cold medicine and band-aids you pick up at your local pharmacy can be paid for with your FSA funds, the coolaid you buy at that same pharmacy would not be covered.

Celebrate The Birth Of Your Newborn
The joy that a new baby brings is somehow inexplicable. In my case,  it’s one of those things that you get told over and over by many people – but the truth and reality of this level of joy hit home when our son was born. (I had to experience it to understand it). Treasure the moments you have with your baby. Watch and take pictures of little things and enjoy being a parent.  I see it as a new role that God has extended to us to participate in his creation and impact godly values into the life of our baby.

What was your experience when your newborn came home?
What are your plans when your baby will be born?
We would love to hear from you.

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I have not written here the last one month and half and i am hoping to get back to my usual writing and establish a rhythm that i can keep in the long run. That being said, this year is a life changing one for our family – at least that’s what we’ve been told by those who have been there. We are expecting our first baby in six weeks. A boy that’s correct. And we are very excited about all the changes that are occurring as we eagerly expect him. This addition to our family is making us gear up with even more greater resolve to get out of debt.

Today i want to share some of the ‘money sucker’ advices that we have received during this period. I call them ‘money sucker’ because if we chose to take them we will fall back into more debt. We therefore decided that they were not for the best interest of our family financially, and also we are still working to kick debt off.

1 Buy a Van - you will need all the space to carry the baby and the baby stuff when travelling.

As i have written here before, i am a proud owner of a seventeen year old clunker – but my wife has a reliable 2006 accord. While my clunker is getting close to it’s sunset days, it will not be replaced because our baby is on the way and certainly not with a car note – since the baby is not an emergency.

2 Purchase a Home - The baby will need a lot of space to play.

While this argument has some truth, not everyone may be ready for the leap of being a homeowner. We certainly know that we want to get our student loans to a manageable level before we can even bring the discussion of homeownership on the table. And it’s not on our priority list. We also feel that by the time our son is old to start running up and down the yard we probably will have paid off all our debts.

3 Get Leather Furniture – The baby will mess any cloth upholstery furniture in the house.

Since the leather seats  can be cleaned easily if the baby makes a mess this almost got me. However, i remembered the financial peace classes by Dave Ramsey and he has a slogan that goes “If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.” and we decided that we will keep paying off our debts and once we are debt free we can chose to live the way we want.

 Please feel free to share any other well intended advices out there that might put parents to be in more debt.

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