Are You Keeping Up?

Funny question for a post, but I wanted to see how many out there are keeping up with the economy.  Yes, I know that most of you watch the news and get some take on things.  However, I wanted to see what you all think of what is going on. 

GM goes to bankruptcy court, Chrysler closes down dealerships…and the news goes on each day.  Besides all of the bad stuff there have been recent signs of positive change in the stock market.  Looks like many companies  are having an uptick in their stock prices for a sustained period of time.  So the question becomes, are we getting in better shape or worse shape as an overall economy?  Depending on how you keep up with the news, your own answer may vary.  Or more important, depending on your own pocketbook, your answer may vary.

Here is how I see it playing out over the summer.  Oh, and I am no economic expert so do not put your faith behind my projections.  This is just my observation of the economy and how I currently see things.  

Since the whole stimulus thing has gone down, we have seen the American Dollar devalue.  When you throw a lot of the taxpayers money around to fix things there are repercussions down the line.  Not saying that was a wrong or right thing to do, but I am starting to see some results – both good and bad for your pocketbook and mine.  What I see with the devalued dollar and it’s buying power is the prices of commodities going up.  Why is that worth noting?  Well, what have you seen gasoline doing at the pumps for several weeks.  Usually when that happens there is a ripple effect in prices going up on so many other things.  (food, clothing, basic needs type of things)  

So our dollar is becoming weaker, “why”, you fill-in the blanks.  I am trying not to turn this into a political thing.  My primary reason for bringing this up is to communicate that you need to be prepared to make some changes to your budget if you keep one.  You will need to make an increase to your gasoline, food, electricity, natural gas, and other consumables over the next several months.   

So, are you keeping up??? Let’s pray or hope that no other unforeseen things have a negative effect on our economy.  How do you see things playing out in the near future?  Are you prepared?  Are you concerned?  Am I just having a problem with my knees today?  

 - Phillip

How Do I Get Out Of Debt?

 

As a financial educator and counselor, I come across so many people with the same question. How do I get out of debt?  While that question has specifics geared toward each individual’s personal situation, there are only a few ways to get out of debt in my opinion.

 

One of the most requested seminars from our membership or the community has to be dealing with debt in some form or fashion.  Reduction of debt and increasing your creditworthiness now seem to be the “hot topics” of our time.  Folks have realized that the good times of easy money have dried-up, or at least they have dried-up for those who have put themselves into debt.

 

So how does a person actually get from Point A to Point B?  Folks attend the seminars or not attend the seminars, but they all want that magic bullet to help them “get-rid” of their debts.  It is funny how most people do not even think about what “could happen” until after they are already in bad shape.  Most folks want an easy way out.  Okay, there are those who have fallen upon bad times with unemployment and other unforeseen issues, but this blog is not about those folks.  This is about those folks who want a way out of debt who have created their own situation.  So again, how does a person get from Point A to Point B?

 

I only see five ways out of distressful financial situations and three of them I am against personally.  However, it is not about me but rather about the member or folks we serve in our community.

 

1. Income
2. Expenses
3. Debt Consolidation
4. Debt Settlement Companies
5. Bankruptcy

 

I prefer the first two ways the most, but I realize that those two ways are not for everyone.  If there was not a market for the last three on the list, then they would no longer be in existence. You can income your way out of financial distress.  Simply make more money and throw that at your debts and pay them off.  Next, you can drastically cut consumables and get yourself into a better financial condition.  Thirdly, you can role up most of your debt and make one easy payable amount and free up some spare cash.  This often puts the person into a false sense of security and they get right back into trouble.  A lot of times they make the situation worse.  The fourth option is to “hire” someone to fix your problems for you.  However, these debt settlement companies are not always in it for you.  Finally, claiming bankruptcy is sometimes the last resort for many folks.  We are seeing an up tick in filings due to or current economic condition as a nation.

So are there any other ways out there?  How would you get from Point A to Point B?

 

- Phillip

 

Say Good-bye

Have you been keeping up with what is going on at the gas pump lately?

Over the past couple of weeks we have seen gasoline prices slowly go up.  Then almost over night they went up around five to fifteen cents a gallon, depending on your neck of the woods.  What has led to this sudden rise?  If you believe all the folks on the Biz News networks, then it is coming from a shift in the future of our economy.  Evidently, there are signs of improvement to our overall economic condition as a nation.  The big banks are not in as much trouble as previously thought.  In fact, some of them are making huge profits again.  I wonder whose backs those profits are off of again.  (their customers) That is difficult news to swallow when the folks I talk to are more concerned than ever.  But you have to keep up with the signs of the time- right???

The only break we have seen, as a consumer, over the past several months has been lower prices at the pump.  That has been a God send for many folks barely getting by.  I worry that those same folks will be negatively impacted by these “signs” of getting better.  A large consumable of life is about to start going up again.  How much will it go up?  I guess only time will tell, but here is what we have seen in the past.  History is often a good measurement for our future.  I do know that the summer travel season is right around the corner. (up goes gas prices)  Then after that bit of good news, we can expect hurricane season to ramp up again. (up goes the gas prices more)  Then we may get a break around late fall to early winter again.

The way I see it, and I hope I am dead wrong, we can say good-bye to gasoline under $2.00 a gallon for quite some time.  If you can still find it, then consider yourself  lucky.  Of course the optimist side of me is thankful that it is not $4.00 a gallon.  Start to increase your gasoline expense part of your budget and find the money from some other category or source.

Good Luck!!!

 

- Phillip

To Twitter or Not to Twitter???

Twitter!!!

Okay, so I have decided to join the twitter nation.   Please continue to check out this site for great financial education material.  You can also tell your family and friends to check-out this site as well as my twitter.  Great information on both. 

You can now follow me on Twitter for all your micro-blogging needs.

- Phillip

What is a Credit Union???

Ask that question to most folks and you will get a different answer.  Depending on your age or upbringing, you may have no idea.  Our Spokesperson for our MLMM offering here at Resource One Credit Union asked this question yesterday.  The answers did not surprise me since he was at a college campus.  Check out this link to see what happened.

- Phillip