Monday, July 29, 2013

Payday Loans; Good or Bad


Payday Loans; Good or Bad

By Keith Bunn Jr.
July 29, 2013

Payday lenders are everywhere. You see them on the way to the store, & you surely see them outside the front gates of most military bases. I even took out a couple of them when I was stationed down in Georgia back in the late 90's. But are payday loans good or bad?
Yes, they are everywhere except in 12 states. Why all but 12 states? That's because payday loans SUCK! Yes, I know I just said that I had taken out 2 of them before, that just shows how stupid I was about the subject back then. I was one of the lucky ones though. I didn't fall all the way into the trap. I was able to climb out of that mess pretty much unscathed. Unfortunately, that's not the story for thousands of other Americans across the country.

Predators

There is one other place I didn't mention above where you won't find payday lending facilities and that's on the wealthier ends of town. Not because the people there are wealthy, but because they are not the target market they are going after. Payday lenders go after the lower middle and lower class citizens. They prey on those who don't have a good credit score and think they need a loan, the ones who have fallen on hard times, and the ones who are scared and don't know where to turn. But when these lenders charge anywhere between 90% to 1,000% interest per loan, they are doing nothing but harming the very people they are saying they are helping, and what happens is the borrower gets into a deeper mess.
There is even online payday lending now, where they will even try to loan money to people in the states where they know it's illegal to do so. 

Collecting on the Debt

Normally what happens between the lenders and borrowers is eventually the borrower can't pay back the loan(s) and the lenders send them to collections, sells the debt to a debt buyer, or in more horrible methods, go to the borrower's home and try to collect. In all cases, the methods used to try to collect on these debts are unbelievably bad and break just about every federal law when it come to collecting on debts. I even know one woman who they came to her home at night to collect the debt and when she told them that she couldn't pay and tried to shut her door, they put their foot in the doorway so she couldn't shut it.
Are these the kind of people you really want to deal with? I think NOT! It is far better to get 2 or 3 part time jobs than to get 1 payday loan. To me, payday lending is nothing more than legalized loan sharking and should be banned in all 50 states. 
If you are a victim of payday lending, there is hope! There are tons of financial coaches, such as myself, out there that are willing to guild you through these hard times and get rid of your payday loans once and for all.

The reason I do this is to give people hope and to try to inspire others. To make them think about their finances, whether they are young or old, so they can win financially.
If you have any questions for me about my posts or about your finances, you can call me at (616) 454-2046 or e-mail me at cavuscoaching@gmail.com. You can also find more money news, facts and ideas, on my Facebook and/or Twitter pages. I'd be grateful if you followed me. Thank you!

Monday, July 22, 2013

What do you Tithe on, the Gross or Net?


What do you Tithe on, the Gross or Net?

By Keith Bunn Jr.
July 22, 2013

Whether or not someone should give a tithe, a tenth of their increase or income, has been a huge debate for years and years. If you follow the Christian or Jewish faith, you know the bible tells us to "Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse" Malachi 3:10. But there have been some people who have said to me that giving to the church (in general) is a waste of money. I disagree, and here's why.

Why does God want us to Give?

God doesn't want us to give because He needs our money. Give me a break, He's God! He wants us to give because it makes us more like Him, "So God created mankind in his own image." Genesis 1:27 and I think we could all agree that He is an unbelievable giver! "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son." John 3:16
He also wants us to give because it takes the focus off us and on to others who maybe in need. In fact, God Himself has told us to test Him on this fact in the rest of Malachi 3:10. "Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it."
I'm telling you, I have heard more people tell me that when they tithed when they didn't think they could afford it, something happened with there income and all of a sudden their income increased in some way. I've actually heard a pastor say when that happens, it is because we started using Spiritual Mathematics.

What do we Tithe on, the Gross or the Net?

Sadly, only around 3% of Evangelical Christians give a tithe of any amount, either from the gross or the net incomes, so what does it matter? Just give. 
Now I need to make something very clear... This is NOT a salvation issue. You are not going to heaven if you do give and you're not going to hell if you don't. God loves us whether we tithe or not. As long as you give from the heart, that's all that matters to God, "for God loves a cheerful giver." 2 Corinthians 9:7.

The reason I do this is to give people hope and to try to inspire others. To make them think about their finances, whether they are young or old, so they can win financially.
If you have any questions for me about my posts or about your finances, you can call me at (616) 454-2046 or e-mail me at cavuscoaching@gmail.com. You can also find more money news, facts and ideas, on my Facebook and/or Twitter pages. I'd be grateful if you followed me. Thank you!


Monday, July 15, 2013

Stop the Junk Mail and Telemarketing Calls!



Stop the Junk Mail and Telemarketing Calls!

By Keith Bunn Jr.
July 15, 2013


Do you get sick of all the junk mail you get? What about telemarketing calls? Do you wonder how they get your information to send you all this crap in the first place? Some of it is because of companies you and I deal with at least on a monthly bases, if not daily. They sell your information to other companies as a way to make money. It can be a vicious cycle. You give your info to one company, they turn around and sell it to another and so on.

 Another way they can get your information is by checking out your credit report. Yup, you read this right. Companies are allowed to pre-screen or look into your credit report to see if they want to send you or call you with some marketing material.

But I have good news! Listed below, I have a bunch of phone numbers, addresses, and websites that you can go to that will stop all this crap from getting into you mailboxes and/or ringing your phones off the hook. And I would do every bit of it to make sure those buttheads leave you alone. 

Now, when you write your letter to have you taken off their direct marketing databases, that is only good for 5 years. Make sure on your letters you have your name, home and/or cell number, address, and signature. Now if you move before the 5 years are up, you'll have to do all this all over again. And this is just me, but I'd send the letters return receipt requested just to have proof that they got it. Here is the information I told you about.

PRE-SCREENING OPT OUT

Phone: (888) 567-8688
Website: www.optoutprescreen.com

NATIONAL DO NOT CALL REGISTRY

Phone: (888) 382-1222
Website: www.donotcall.gov

FOR DIRECT MAILING

Address: Mail Preference Services
               Direct Marketing Association
               P.O. Box 282
               Carmel, NY 10512
Website: www.damconsumers.org/cgi/offmailinglist

FOR TELEMARKETING

 Address: Telephone Preference Services
                  Direct Marketing Association
                  P.O. Box 1559
                  Carmel, NY 10512
Website: www.damconsumers.org/cgi/offtelephone

I hope this information helps cut down a lot or all of the junk mail and annoying calls!

The reason I do this is to give people hope and to try to inspire others. To make them think about their finances, whether they are young or old, so they can win financially.
If you have any questions for me about my posts or about your finances, you can call me at (616) 454-2046 or e-mail me at cavuscoaching@gmail.com. You can also find more money news, facts and ideas, on my Facebook and/or Twitter pages. I'd be grateful if you followed me. Thank you!


Monday, July 8, 2013

Trying to Inspire



Trying to Inspire

By Keith Bunn Jr.
July 8, 2013


At the end of almost every blog I've posted, I've put "The reason I do this is to give people hope and to try to inspire others." But sometimes that's not always the case. I could say that maybe I just haven't perfected my technic yet of teaching others on the wise ways to handle their money, which is partly true  but then again, sometimes it not my fault at all. Sometimes its the person I'm talking too.
Businesses that their very job is to loan out money to others have done such an excellent job of marketing debt to just about everyone in this country, it is almost impossible to get the old fashion message out there of living on less than you make, buy things you need or want with cash, save for retirement yourself and not rely on the government to do it for you, and become a generous giver.

Robbing your Future

I'm not sure how many times I've said it, but I truly believe that debt robs people of their future. Some people just don't understand that having car payments, credit card payments, mortgages, payday loans, rent to own payments, etc... do nothing but stealing money from them and destroying their future, just so they can have things now instead of waiting, being patient and saving up for whatever they want.
To give you an example; a young man, 20 years old asked me about getting a loan to buy a used truck for around $8,000. Of course I told him that I thought that wasn't a good idea and I gave him reasons why I thought that way, as well as gave him some ideas on how he could eventually be able to get a truck like the truck he was wanting to get, but I could sense that he had a little car fever going on and I felt that there was also a little pressure from his family to go through with getting the loan to buy the truck. I told him that he could do whatever he wanted to do and we'd still be friends, but I wouldn't get the loan. Needless to say, he did get the loan and we are still friends and if he wants more advise about what he should do down the road about money, I'll give him the best advise I can, but here is what I mean by debts steal and destroy your future. 
That young man's truck payment is $214 per month. If he were to take that same amount and invest it every month from 20 to 65 years old in a good mutual fund, he would have $4.7 million at retirement. 
That's what gets me the most! People don't look at the numbers that way, they only ask how much down and how much a month. That's what poor people do. Don't do what poor people do! The bible says, "The borrower is slave to the lender." and that's the truth! Debt robs you of you money, of your opportunities  and your future. Don't fall for the lies that you need to have a FICO score to make it in our culture today. It's just not true!

The reason I do this is to give people hope and to try to inspire others. To make them think about their finances, whether they are young or old, so they can win financially.
If you have any questions for me about my posts or about your finances, you can call me at (616) 454-2046 or e-mail me at cavuscoaching@gmail.com. You can also find more money news, facts and ideas, on my Facebook and/or Twitter pages. I'd be grateful if you followed me. Thank you!