James 1:3-4 – When the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. So let it grow, and don’t try to squirm out of your problems.

If you are trying to get out of credit card debt, I would suggest cutting up AND canceling your credit cards as soon as possible. My wife and I worked extremely hard to eliminate the stress that credit cards caused us on a monthly basis. We did not cancel all of them, but we did cut them up so we can’t use them.

Today, we received a statement from American Express. You know, the one where they tell you that they are changing everything about the agreement that you signed. The one where you do not have a choice. Either accept it or cancel it. We chose to call and cancel it.

The American Express operator was unbelievable. She was really, really, really well trained. She tried everything that she could to help us decide to keep this card open. She played upon my wife’s fear of the unknown and our crumbling economy. Her story was so well rehearsed that I thought I would share it with my readers.

My wife made the call, since I tend not to be very polite when I call. She was transferred to three different operators before she got to the “actress”. The actress listened quietly while my wife explained that we wanted to cancel the card. When my wife stopped talking, the operator sat patiently for about 20 seconds before responding.

She then drove straight into a completely fabricated story about how she and her husband bought new carpet for their house last month with cash. When the carpet arrived, it was the wrong color, the wrong style, etc. She then called the vendor to try and get her money back and was told “too bad, too sad….the carpet is already paid for.”

Finally, the actress explained that if she had used her credit card, this would not have been a problem since American Express would have returned her money immediately.

Man, American Express’ training program has really kicked it up a notch. Don’t fall for the game!

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Last week was an extremely busy, and productive, one for me. I had the privilege of creating a guest post on PassiveFamilyIncome, one of my favorite blogs. People always asked me what I do with the passive income that I earn, so I used this guest post to talk about it. Please check it out here, or from the link below.

Additionally, on March 17, this blog will have officially been around for a year. During the first 10 months, I really did not post on a consistent basis. To be honest with you, I did not really know how. I had a billion ideas, but could never find the time to get them on paper (so-to-speak).

As you can tell, I have been posting regularly for a while now (here and on experimental blogging), and have decided to renew this domain for another year. I have met so many wonderful bloggers from around the world and I feel that I have a lot to offer. I have learned a tremendous amount during my time online, and during my battles with debt and my finances. I would really consider it a blessing, if you would consider subscribing to my feed. Remember, if you sign up via email, you are automatically entered to win a prize from my first blog contest (this is the only way I can tell who has subscribed and validated their subscription).

My friend John, from PFI, was on vacation last week but he lined up some really amazing writers to fill in for him while he was gone. Here is a recap, in case you missed any:

• Personal Finance Startup discussed why passive investing may be better than active investing (trying to beat the market)
• Pat, from SmartPassiveIncome, discusses an important ingredient to online success.
• Studenomics explains that Passive Income Requires Work.
• Lulu, from How I Save Money, tells you how to Get Passive Income from Lending Club.
• Corrie, from “Cents”able Momma, tells you 5 Easy Steps to Cut Your Grocery Costs.
• Become Debt Free (ME) explains, How Passive Income Saved Me at Least $27,880.

Additionally, here are a few of my other favorites from the past week.

The Passive Dad compared Cable and Hulu in an effort to save some additional money. My wife and I made a similar analysis suring our first budget committe meeting of the year.

Bible Money Matters explains the sales tax deduction when you buy a new car in 2009. I agree completely that used cars are the only way to go.

Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to another great week.

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Following in Bukisa’s footsteps, eHow finally developed an article widget. Currently, it displays whatever articles you have featured on your eHow profile.

It think this is pretty cool. Anything that can drive traffic to your articles has to be a good thing. If you have not read any of my articles, please take a few seconds and go check them out. Most of them deal with personal finance and investing and follow advise similar to what you would hear from Dave Ramsey.

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