Vince Vaughn Appears On ‘Tonight Show’ To Deceive Country About Latest Film October 19, 2009
Posted by BDO in News.Tags: beating, budget, celebrities, couples, Debt, economy, hollywood, movies, retreat, vaughn, vince
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By The Onion
Vaughn and O’Brien, however, are only two of several thousand performers currently engaged in elaborately deceptive schemes designed to trick the TV-viewing public. Known for their striking good looks and charming personalities, these men and women will reportedly do anything in their power to hoodwink average citizens into watching their latest romantic comedy, network prime-time show, or low-budget made-for-TV movie.
“Why is Vince Vaughn doing this?” asked Baltimore housewife Beth Delbanco, 46. “Time and again, from Fred Claus to Four Christmases, this man has gone on TV and told me to my face, ‘Go see this movie, you will enjoy it.’ He’s stealing my money!”
The Onion is known to make the obvious very funny. But how many people do recognize that what celebrities do when they go on their circuit of television interviews is sales and marketing? Since they know that most of America looks up to them as our princes and princesses of society, they also know they will be able to convince us to spend the $9 a ticket to see their movie and help keep them rich and in power.
It is sad how few people actually see the celebrity marketing as how The Onion described it as “hoodwink[ing] average citizens”.
How can we become more sensitive to the salesperson/celebrity trying to wrangle money out of our pocketbook?
For more on this article, click here.
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50 Common Financial Mistakes September 23, 2009
Posted by BDO in Budgeting Concepts.Tags: beating, budget, Debt, emergency, expensive, failure, finance, mistakes, plan, quick, retirement, rich
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Here are a couple great mistakes Consumer Jungle found that many people do that negatively affect their financial health.
5. Buying too soon—that is, buying something on credit instead of waiting until you have the money saved up
6. Not having emergency savings
12. Not saving early enough in life for retirement
16. Having a “get rich quick” philosophy rather than a “get rich slow” strategy
17. Lack of budgeting
31. Buying too expensive of a car
49. Being afraid to ask for advice
And I would add two more,
“Not giving to those less fortunate.”
“Failing to plan for future gift giving for holidays and celebrations.”
To read the full article, click here.
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Volunteer or Donate to Help Convince More People To Stay Away From Debt.
Show others how much you’ve beaten debt
for the price of one latte a year. – – Beating Debt Charts
Budget Register April 21, 2009
Posted by BDO in Budgeting Concepts, Money Received, Money Spent, Organizational.Tags: beat, beating, budget, Debt, education, expense, financial, income, organization, personal, register, resource
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BeatingDebt.org created a new budget resource called the Budget Register. This Excel file can be used as a check register. In addition, it will automatically compare your inputted income and expense transactions to your budget for a clean, professional monthly report. The purpose of the Budget Register is to help you organize your financial transactions so you can budget and beat debt.
BeatingDebt.org will be selling the Budget Register for $3 or bartered for 2 Volunteer Opportunities. Please consider purchasing a copy of this Excel file to help organize your finances and know exactly how you are doing on your monthly budget.
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Volunteer or Donate to Help Convince People To Stay Away From Debt.
Yearly Budget February 2, 2009
Posted by BDO in Money Received, Money Spent, Organizational.Tags: Debt, beating, budget, education, nonprofit, resource, yearly
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One month down for 2009. But it is not too late to get your finances organized, so you can beat debt.
BeatingDebt.org created a new budget resource called the Yearly Budget. This excel file can be used to determine your budget plan for the given year. It is important to view your budget from this aspect, so you can prepare your budget for any irregular income (i.e. tax return) or expenses (i.e. vacation time). This view of your budget will ensure your budget can support all the differences that can happen month to month. With your Yearly Budget organized, you can see if with your current plans you will be negative, positive, or balanced for the given year.
BeatingDebt.org will be selling the Yearly Budget for $0.99 on its Resources page. Please consider purchasing a copy of this excel file to help organize your finances and know exactly how you are doing on your efforts to beat debt.
BDO Weekly Budget Report October 20, 2008
Posted by BDO in Budgeting Concepts, Money Received, Money Spent, Organizational.Tags: beat, beating, budget, cards, credit, Debt, economy, loans, manage, money, tracking
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BeatingDebt.org created a new Lap 1 tool to help get you started on your commitment to beat debt called the BDO Weekly Budget Report. Use our “Income and Expense Report” to track your income and expenses for a month. Then use the final totals for each category on your report as a template for your budget. There are four things you need to keep in mind when evaluating your report.
- The Income and Expense Report creates a template for your budget. It will not be exact. You can change the numbers as you deem necessary to fit your lifestyle, so make corrections and new assumptions based on expected income/expenses for the coming month.
- Keep the total expenses the same or less. The Income and Expense Report will show you how you managed your money in the past month. Using this will help you keep your expenses within your income limits. However, to pay off debt, you need to decrease expenses so you can have extra to apply towards reducing debt. When you evaluate your Income and Expense Report, make sure to keep the expenses the same or less in your budget template.
- Find ways to increase money received or decrease money spent. The Income and Expense Report will reveal your spending habits and income. In order to pay off debt, we will need to find creative ways to increase income or reduce expenses so you can routinely use more income to pay off debts.
- Use that money to progress to the next Lap. Once the Income and Expense Report is evaluated, decisions were made to either increase income or decrease expenses, ensure you spend your money the way you allocated your funds. For example, you spend $50 on gas this week and had budgeted for $55 that is good. However, spending $50 on new clothes when only $20 was budgeted is bad. Remember, moving to the next Lap will help you earn your Independence Day from debt more quickly. Stay focused and shop responsibly.
With these four steps in mind you can start using the Weekly Budget Report to start tracking your income and expenses while maintaining your goals through your budget. BDO is offering the Weekly Budget Report free as a PDF file for your use. If you want to have the convenience of an auto-calculating document, BDO is offering an excel version for $.99. Check out our resources page for more information.
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May I procrastinate some more? October 15, 2008
Posted by BDO in Budgeting Concepts, Descriptions, Money Received, Money Spent.Tags: beat, beating, budget, charity, Debt, economy, finance, give, money, plan, procrastinate, save, shop, spend, work
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By guest blogger: kls
Procrastination…what’s not to love about it? Put off that unpleasant, uncomfortable or painful thing or issue that takes up too much time or commitment. A few of my favorite projects to avoid are cleaning out a closet, going on a diet and creating/sticking to a budget. All require sacrifice. All require time. All require planning and deliberate actions. (These are excellent reasons for using the avoidance technique!) However, by continuing to procrastinate, I miss the wonderful rewards at the end of the journey.
Cleaning out my closet reaps the benefits of knowing that there are no monster dust bunnies hiding in the back, that I do indeed have something nice to wear, and that I can give clothes to people who are less fortunate than I am.
Changing my diet to a healthy, well-rounded, balanced part of my life means that I’ll have less health issues in the future and that I’ll have more energy to deal with things (like cleaning the closet).
Creating and sticking to a budget is probably the most rewarding project for me. Knowledge is a good thing. Knowing how much money is available to me enables me to shop responsibly and truly evaluate whether I need something. It allows me to make informed decisions about big purchases (i.e., a car or major appliance) that prevent me from acquiring ridiculous amounts of debt. Budgeting allows me to manage my money instead of letting my money manage me.
We need to develop a healthy perspective of who owns our bodies and our money. We need to realize we are creations of a wonderful God who are merely stewards of all He gives us. When we make good choices for our bodies and our finances, our lives are more attuned to His direction and blessings.
All good things start with a decision. Too often, we wait too long to make the right decision and get ourselves in a mess that is hard to fix. When our food choices cause diseases or obesity to set in our bodies or our spending habits cause a huge amount of debt, we feel hopeless to change. It’s NOT hopeless; it just feels that way. Procrastination does not have to be a way of life.
Make specific goals. Track where your money goes. Decide to save some of it, even if it is pocket change and especially when you feel like there is not any money to save. Saving $1 each working day is much more powerful than a one large time savings. Make saving money a habit! Reducing unnecessary expenses has a much more powerful impact on your financial health than boosting your income (because of Uncle Sam takes a portion of the income’s effect).
See the goal in the distance, and work hard to attain it.
Concentrate instead of procrastinate.
Luci Swindoll’s father once told her “‘Every dollar you ever get, if you spend some, save some, tithe some, invest some and give some away (ticking off each finger), then you’ll always have money, and you’ll always enjoy money.’ I never forgot that, and to this day I call it my five-finger exercise. It works!”
So with that in mind, realize that you need to change. Make change a habit. See how blessed you’ll be by spending money in accordance with God’s will!
Photo by: akeg
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Through EbayGivingWorks.com you can donate a portion of your Ebay profits to “BeatingDebt.org“. — Learn more here.
Debt is like fire August 1, 2008
Posted by BDO in Budgeting Concepts.Tags: beat, budget, Debt, finance, fire, grill, manage, money, plan, spending
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Debt is like fire. Consumers routinely play with this fire, hoping they can miraculously (and without training) become fire walkers. But debt, like fire, usually does not have a good outcome unless it is handled with three key elements: a proper initial plan, debt containment, and constant debt supervision. Let’s use the analogy of a “good” fire. Grilling, a great American pastime, also requires planning, containment, and supervision of the fire. With these three elements, debt can be managed.
Create a plan before agreeing to debt.
Creating a proper initial plan for debt ensures success while running the financial marathon. When you decide to grill, your thoughts are focused on using fire for grilling purposes. Responsible adults do not start fires without considering the purpose of the fire first. Similarly, you must develop an initial plan to repay debt (whether it be in the form of a loan, a credit card, or a mortgage) as quickly as possible before taking on that debt. This initial plan must include considerations for your monthly income, the length of the loan, and future income potential/security. Once you have developed your initial plan, you need to enact the second key element for debt control: containment.
Ensure debt is contained.
To properly prepare for and overcome debt, you need to ensure proper containment. When grilling, you make sure the fire stays within the grill. A fire that spreads is dangerous! Debt is no different. Containment measures must be developed to prevent excess debt from accumulating. The single greatest thing you can do for yourself is to live within your means. Spend less than you earn. Stay within the budget you designed during your planning phase. Save what you don’t spend or apply it to debt that you have so it will be paid off more quickly. Make sure that each expense or purchase “counts” for something; beware of impulse buys.
Constantly supervise your debt situation.
Proper supervision of debt is the final key to ensuring success on the financial marathon. The grill must be constantly attended to make sure the food is cooked properly and that the fire does not do anything unexpected. Supervision of debt is just like supervision of fire. Watching it and manipulating it as needed helps you reap the desired result: to pay off debt more quickly. By “interacting with” and maintaining your “debt watch,” you will be sure to pay all your bills on time, avoid undesirable fees, and minimize the length of time you have the debt. All of this ensures that your initial plan is working and allows you to develop “course corrections” if/when new circumstances arise.
Discussion Questions:
- Did you create an initial plan before you decided to take on debt?
- What measures do you use to contain debt from growing?
- Who is in charge of supervising your “beating debt plan” is being executed as smoothly and efficiently as possible?
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“Only you can prevent wild fires.” – Smokey Bear
Photo by: tommaync
“Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of Thine hand to do it.” Proverbs 3:27 KJV
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God vs Visa June 24, 2008
Posted by BDO in Spiritual.Tags: beat, budget, Debt, excuse, expression, God, love, steward, visa, wife
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Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
The best standard to use when comparing our finances with God’s standards is to use Jesus’ first commandment: To love our God with our whole heart. When we look at our finances through God’s eyes, we will see if there is something or someone that receives our attention more than God.
When I tell my wife that I love her, she should expect that I budget my money in such a way to ensure we have money to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, date nights, and other special occasions. Everyone would agree that using my money to buy her something or do something for her is proof that I love her. Everyone would also agree that if I spent all my money on my hobby, new gadgets, sports-related merchandise, or anything that interests me, then my actions do not match my words.
My wife would have every right to doubt my love when, at the end of the month, instead of celebrating a special occasion, I said, “Honey, we can’t go out tonight because we don’t have enough money.”
Naturally, she would ask, “Why is that? It is [special occasion]. I thought we made enough to do [special occasion].”
My sheepish reply of “Well, I needed [new rims, stereo equipment, golf balls], so we don’t have the money to do that this month. I promise to make it up to you next month” probably won’t cut it. As a good wife, she might respond with an “Okay, Honey, that is alright.”
But trust me that “patience” won’t last long, before long her love cup will be empty, and problems will start rising if I don’t budget my money better to adequately turn words into action.
That was a romanticized example of the same kind of relationship we have in Jesus. When we decide to follow Jesus, we enter into a similar relationship where we are evaluated not only by our words, but by our actions. God calls us to love Him with our whole heart. We should be motivated to budget money so we can show God how much we love Him. Just like we would budget money with our spouses to celebrate occasions, we should budget money to give to His ministries and people.
Unfortunately, in most families, the “I don’t have enough money” excuse is used too often and on too many occasions. We are too strapped by the things we purchased on our Visa cards to be able to give appropriately to God. This does not show God what our mouths profess.
Granted, there is no steadfast rule on how much you can give to the Lord in the Bible. According to Justin Borger of GenerousGiving.org ,
“The law actually called for three different tithes, adding up to 23.3 percent of a family’s income.”
But in the New Testament, there is no limit. So listen to the Lord and follow His leading to see whether you should give 23.3% of your income or 10%.
A good steward who is a true lover of God will recognize the close relationship between his money and his heart. That true lover of God will also know that truly honoring God is to honor Him with his “first fruits,” not the leftovers.
I challenge you today to recognize who has control of your budget. Is it God or Visa?
If you admit that you made wrong choices up until now and Visa has taken over your budget, commit today to stop spending money you don’t have and start beating debt.
If you found that are making the right choices and God has control of your budget, then I challenge you to teach others about your expression of love through your finances.
Discussion question: What forms of expression of love do you give the Lord through your budget?
Check out the poll in the side navigation menu.
“Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of Thine hand to do it.” Proverbs 3:27 KJVPhoto by:Freefoto.com
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BDO’s Race Training Exercises – Step 3 of 7 June 17, 2008
Posted by BDO in Race Training.Tags: beat, beating, budget, community, Debt, exercise, plan, race, running, spending, training
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Create more acceleration in your race to beat debt by using
BDO’s Race Training Exercises
Step 3: Make a Plan
To race well, you must have a plan. You can not get where you want to go unless you have a map. Create your map or spending plan that allows you to balance your budget, save for the future, and beat debt. This balanced plan of your finances will allow you to chart a course to your destination that will explain where you want your money to go and how much time it will realistically take to accomplish your plan. Share this plan with your friends and family, so they can be creative as well in your solution to beat debt.
Three fundamentals to any Christian Budget May 4, 2008
Posted by BDO in Descriptions, Spiritual.Tags: beat, budget, christian, Debt, fundamentals, give, plan
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God talks about three fundamentals with respect to finances:
1) Stay away from debt, ( Pvbs 22:7, Rms 13:8 )
2) Plan for the future, ( Lk 14:28 )
3) Give to His kingdom. ( Lk 6:38 )
1. Stay away from debt. God cautions us to stay away from debt, because it makes us slaves to someone else besides Him. So, earn your freedom back by paying back the loan. Therefore you will be free to use God’s money as He sees fit, instead of how the creditors see fit.
2. Plan for the future. We know three things will happen to us in the future. Things will break down and need to be replaced, we will grow old and not make as much money, and we will die. By knowing those things will happen, how will we choose to spend our money? Can we set a small sum away that God has given us to make sure that when we need it, God has provided already?
3. Give to His Kingdom. All money we earn is His. Out of gratitude we should give back at least 10% back to him as a love offering. By doing this we will show him our obedience to his Laws.
Those three ideas are hopefully not copied from one of the “prosperity” preachers, because I’ve never listened to those guys. But I do believe God blesses us with gifts, maybe monetary, to use skillfully for His purposes. By employing those 3 ideas, it will help anyone be a good steward of the money He has blessed us with.
I also don’t believe God calls us all to live like Mother Teresa. There is plenty of high ranking, powerful, rich people in the Bible that God uses for His purposes. Just as much as there are plenty of examples of dirt poor people being used mightily by God.
It is not what you have that is the point; it is how you use what God has given to you.
What gifts has God given you?
How are you using it for God’s glory?
How does your budget align with the three fundamentals of Christian finances?
Picture by FreeFoto.com
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A Kid's Guide to Managing Money (Ready-Set-Grow Series)
