Now I'm not about to go into beating myself up, but I hadn't been tithing and I hadn't really been trusting God at all with my finances except when an emergency came up.
But after I lost my second job in three years in 2012 and I was wiped out financially, I had to take a crash course in trusting God.
I cut back on services, and wherever I could cut. I sold stuff, whatever I could think of (that was legal) I pretty much did to make it in the aftermath of four months of no income from December 2012 to March 2013.
So that all brings me to the point of the title of this latest blog: Are You Kidding Me?
In my financial struggles, on top of just trusting God for expenses to be able to make it and survive, my car was also getting very up in years. When I traded it in last week, it had over 230,000 miles and was sixteen years old. Thanks God for providing and VW for making a great car!
The Beetle having so many miles on it, required quite a lot the past few years to keep it on the road and God always provided in one way or another so that it stayed on the road.
While all this was going on though, I had maybe a half dozen people tell me "Why don't you get another car?". Are you kidding me?
People slow down, and use that brain before you talk, please.
Now I'm not angry here, but I just shake my head at how we as humans don't pay attention to what is going on in each other's lives. I'm totally guilty as well.
Most people knew I had been laid off from Bank of America, many knew I was let go from my next job (won't even give them any publicity by mentioning their name) so all that should be in the back of their minds when they asked why I wasn't buying a new car.
Really folks? Have we gotten to the point in our society that we just keep up with the Joneses automatically, and if someone doesn't have a shiny new vehicle, we automatically assume they can run out and buy one at the drop of a hat?
Is it any wonder that before the Great Recession that people (myself included) had run up credit cards, bought cars and houses we couldn't afford and generally just lived off debt?
The shock to the system that happened to me caused me to have to leave the cards behind and go back to cash and cash only.
At first of course this was very hard, but over time I started to really appreciate those little splurges, trips, or whatever when I could afford them and had the cash for them.
When I had credit cards, it was so easy to justify in my mind that a trip to Cedar Point was OK, and oh I'll buckle down and pay off the credit I took out for it later. Never happened.
I've come a long way, and still growing of course but I've learned there are a lot of things I can live without when the mortgage is paid that month, the car is paid for, and I have food on the table.
I'm not saying that I think credit is evil in and of itself, but there is no way I will ever again let myself get so underwater with credit.
It's funny to me that all the banks now deny me even a simple $500 credit card, but one of the local stores gave me $300 right off the bat, and has already increased my line of credit because I've been paying it each month, or paying it off depending on the month. I can't believe that anyone would give me credit if my credit was THAT bad, oh well, their loss.
Sadly the banking world isn't what it once was. When I started at NCNB all those years ago, if you were a good worker, didn't cause problems, etc. you could expect to work there until retirement.
But now it's all about the money, the money, and nothing but the money. Like most of Corporate America, the shock of the Great Recession caused big business to cut, and cut deep. And where they didn't cut, you can certainly expect to be an employee who is worked into an early grave.
There are exceptions of course, but from all my friends that are still in banking, that's about all I hear from them: they are working and working a lot! Nothing wrong with working hard, it's what our forebears did to build America, but you also need balance otherwise you cause all kinds of health problems not to mention a few other problems.
Where does this lead me to? It's hard to bring all I've learned the last six years into a one liner, but here goes: live within your means, use credit like it's your worst enemy and only when truly necessary. Don't believe any bank that tells you they are your friend, because they can turn on you on a dime, literally, and enjoy all the blessings you already have in your life. Two-thirds of the world doesn't have what you have, and never will. Be thankful.
Until next time, please sit on your sandals!
