When I was in college, I simply had to have a new truck. It did not matter that I could not really afford it. It did not even matter that the $220 a month payment would be about 50% of my take home pay. Add in over-priced auto insurance, and I was a walking time bomb. It still amazes me to this day that the dealership would give me a loan at all, not to mention 100% financing to a 19-year old kid.

Last night I got to thinking about what that truck said about me as an individual. Sure, I could have bought some broken down beater that would get me to and from school just fine. My friends did not care what kind of vehicle I drove, so what was the motivation behind that purchase? I am not sure, but I felt really, really good behind the wheel of that truck. Looking back on it now, that truck wasn’t all that great. It wasn’t a particularly big truck. It did not even have large tires or custom rims. No. The more I think about it, the more I come to understand that was the selfish child in me screaming for attention.

When I look around society today, I see hundreds of adult children just like the old me. They can barely put food on the table, yet they drive, or even worse, lease a car that is entirely out of their income bracket. I am not saying that people should not have nice things, I am just saying that the things you choose to buy really speaks volumes as to what you truly value.

Where are you spending your money? What does that tell you about the things that you value most in life?

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Matthew 6:20 – Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not break in and steal.

It snowed at my house on Sunday night. Four inches of snow and the whole state of South Carolina shuts down. I have to say I was pretty excited about this. I got to spend the entire day with my son. That makes it one of the best days I have had in months.

We spent the morning making snowballs, watching the older kids sled down the street and playing with Thomas the Tank Engine. All in all, a perfect day. Since we played pretty hard in the morning, my son slept until around 4:30.

I am never home during the day, but since I was, and my wife was sick, I watched a little TV during nap time. I have mentioned before that I cannot stand Oprah. I do not like what she stands for, who she puts her faith in and the unnatural sway she has on millions of women across America. But today’s show was in my area of interest, personal finance, so I watched it.

The basic premise behind today’s show was “What Could You Live Without”? Oprah, in conjunction with Suzie Orman, challenged people to:

• stop spending for one day
• stop using the credit card for one week and
• stop eating out for one month

To be honest with you, these are all extremely reasonable ideas. Nothing earth-shattering, but overall, a pretty decent start for someone trying to start taking control of their personal finances. If it were my show, I think my challenge would have been as follows:

• create a zero-based budget – purchasing food, clothing, transportation and gas with cash
• stop using your credit AND debit card for one pay cycle
• hold a budget committee meeting with your spouse, or responsibility partner, once a week
• fully understand Dave Ramsey’s baby steps and implement them in your daily life
• repeat as needed

While many people knock Mr. Ramsey because they think the “math” does not work, I can promise you one thing – simplifying your life will make it so much more meaningful. Take a look around your house. How much stuff do you own that you could live without? How many items did you buy because you could not live without them? Do you use (or wear) them often? If not, why are you keeping them?

I have decided to go through my house once a week until 2010, and sell one thing that I no longer need on eBay. While this may not seem like a lot, at the end of the year I will have gotten rid of 40 – 50 things that I no longer use (or need). This may not bring in a lot of money, but it should remind me (at least weekly) of how much I do have, so perhaps I will stop focusing on what I do not have.

What about you? Are there any items sitting around that you could live without?

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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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