As our country faces one of the worst economic crises since the 1930’s, we must be prudent with our spending and keep our credit safe.
Credit is very important.
It lets us enjoy the things we need today with the promise of paying it back tomorrow. However, we should be careful not to get carried away or we could end up in debt.
Scriptures say “For the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). Unfortunately, we live in a material world and, as people of faith, we need to stay away from material things and focus on investing for the future.
Best selling book by Rev. Luis Cortés, Jr.
This is where credit comes into play, specifically good credit history. Without it, you may not be able to get a mortgage to buy a home, or a loan to buy a car.
“Trouble with credit is a problem you can’t ignore. No matter how much money you earn or where you live, if you’ve made mistakes with credit in the past, those mistakes will haunt you –unless you empower yourself to fix your credit. And you can.”
Rev. Luis Cortés, Jr.
Excerpt from How to Fix your Credit by the Rev. Luis Cortés, Jr. For more information about this and other books by Rev. Cortés, please visit: www.esperanza.us.
Some things you can do to protect your credit now are:
- Set your financial long-term goals –maybe your goal is to retire by a certain age or to become a homeowner. No matter the goal, set a plan to make it happen.
- Review your budget –check your monthly expenses and see which are really necessary and which ones you can reduce or eliminate. Always stick to your budget.
- Be on time to pay your bills –avoid late fees or missing payments. This can quickly ruin your credit.
- Build your savings or your emergency funds –each month set a side an amount of money for your long term financial goal. Even if it is a small amount, this is always a good idea. Experts say that you should have between three to six months’ worth of expenses saved in case of job loss or any other financial emergency.
- Avoid making the mistakes of the past –having self control is of utmost importance for your financial wellbeing.
We are living in difficult times and we must pray to the Lord to help us through it. Just stop and listen to what God is trying to tell us to be able to set everything into the right order.
At the same time, we must give thanks to Him for all that we have –our family, our friends, and our community; our physical and spiritual health. We thank the Lord because “we can do all things through Christ which strengthens us” (Philippians 4:13).
