debt – Freedom 5:one Blog

The Blessing of Being Paycheck to Paycheck This Christmas

December 11, 2021December 11, 2021 by timhowington, posted in Budgeting, Crisis, debt, Fear/Anxiety, paycheck to paycheck

by Tim Howington

I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
Psalm 121

I made a $500 mistake in my checkbook. Not good. At Christmas. Really not good.

I have spent the morning trying to figure out what I did and unfortunately, I found it. I screwed up. Just didn’t write a couple of expenses down in my checkbook. Mistakes like this can put the screws to what is looking like a tight Christmas to begin with. I have to admit, my gut reaction is to panic. But then I remember- this is not the first time that God has gotten me out of a tight jam. This is definitely not my first rodeo, nor will it be my last.

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Pay Debt Minimums in a Crisis

April 25, 2020April 17, 2020 by timhowington, posted in debt

Step 4 Financial ideas for a Crisis Dave Ramsey has made getting out of debt cool. His organization and resources have helped millions of families get debt free. Check them out at www.daveramsey.com. They have a great class called Financial Peace University, and we use his Total Money Makeover with all our clients.

However, during a financial hurricane is not the time to spend your extra money trying to get debt free. It is time to hunker down.

Our advice is to pay the minimum amounts on your debts. Stay current if possible. There will be time to accelerate your debt payoff later.

A few years ago, my family was going through a difficult time, and for the first time in my adult life, I was late on a bill. Not just one bill, but a lot of bills. Not just grace-period-late, but a month behind. Then one month became two months and then three months behind. Continue reading “Pay Debt Minimums in a Crisis” →

Outrunning the Debt Monster

January 31, 2017January 31, 2017 by timhowington, posted in debt, Marriage, Money, Planning/Evaluation, Uncategorized

ron-blue At Freedom 5:one, we consider one our core ministries is to identify resources that will help families in the area of finances. We have listed several below.

I was listening to Ron Blue this morning on Family Life today in a broadcast called Outrunning the Debt Monster you can listen to it on Family Life Today in Little Rock. Family life has a number of great resources that talk about how finances effect the family and marriages. You can check them out at www.familylifetoday.com

Ron is one of the leading wisdom guys in the area of money and money management and has a lot of great resources at his website at www.ronblue.com
5 Biblical Principles he talks about are Continue reading “Outrunning the Debt Monster” →

Is Your God Big Enough for Your Money Troubles?

April 23, 2015April 23, 2015 by timhowington, posted in debt, Money, Stress

Last night my son exposed me to the biggest star that science has discovered to date. The name of the star is VY Canis Majoris. Before I begin to spew my Astronomical ignorance or steal the thunder from the video we have embedded, let me just say that this star is huge. Even the name, Canis (dog) Majoris (big), implies the girth of this big dog star. The picture shows its size as compared to the earth’s orbit around the sun. I see this and all of a sudden I am struck with the immensity of our God and the finiteness of myself. Our God literally spoke a word and the universe came into play including Canis Majoris. Continue reading “Is Your God Big Enough for Your Money Troubles?” →

Are Students doing the Math on School Loans?

March 19, 2015March 19, 2015 by timhowington, posted in Budgeting, College, debt, Kids and Money, Stress

We see it every day. College graduates (some of them not so recent) saddled with the repayment of school loans that is quite frankly eating their lunch. It is becoming apparent to me that we are not doing a good enough job helping our students do the simple math of the loans. The simple math of how much to borrow and what is will actually cost you to repay the loans. Borrowing is the easy part, repayment is the bear. It is obvious that the lending institutions are expecting the student to figure out how much to borrow and the students still live in the la-la land of “someday they will be making it big and will have plenty of money to repay whatever loans they incur”. What is worse is that many parents are taking a cavalier attitude towards preparing their students to navigate the loan game. Seems that everyone these day put themselves through school walking up hills both ways in the snow with a full time job. Continue reading “Are Students doing the Math on School Loans?” →