The basic Keynesian model centers on consumption. Before I go further, the Keynesian model is based on the works of John Maynard Keynes, an economist of the 20th century whose writings were very influential in shaping the economic framework that has been applied for the last half century. You can read more about Keynes here and here. What is Consumption? In its very basic definition, consumption is the total spending on consumer goods over a period of time (generally a... Read more
A couple great sites are giving away an iPad and I thought you’d like to know about it. While you’re entering to win the iPads, don’t forget to check out a few of their articles. Good luck! Christian PF How to make money blogging 20 Best Ways to Save Money How I Escaped the Rat Race Life and My Finances What If Your Net Worth Was Revealed? Pay Off Your Debt Fast: A Personal Story Good Debt and Bad... Read more
I love to listen to the Dave Ramsey show when I have the chance. While I may not agree with everything he says, I believe that he is one of the greatest voices to motivate someone to get out of debt. His baby steps are an excellent place to start if you are clueless as to where to begin with eliminating debt and building savings. On his show and in his book Total Money Makeover, Dave uses the phrase stupid... Read more
There’s a new show on the Discovery Channel called Dirty Money. The show is centered on people who transform ‘trash into cash.’ They will literally jump into dumpsters to pull out items, clean them up, and sell them for a profit. It’s surprising what people throw out or hold onto and never use. The crew on the show can be really creative with ways to restore old items and make a few quick dollars from it, which can be pretty... Read more
With household budgets straining to stay on-track, many families and individuals are scrambling to find ways to save on their health insurance premiums each month. Let’s admit it: health insurance is expensive – but overall, any kind of medical care can make or break many households. Prior to the economic downturn, when I still worked in corporate America, my personal health insurance policy ran right at $56/month. And that rate included health care, dental, and vision. Oh – and even... Read more
August has been an extremely volatile month for the stock market. With daily surges and dips will above 400 points, both the media and investors are asking the question “What’s happening to the markets? I’ve heard many people try to explain what’s happening to the markets and the majority of explanations will involve one or more of the following: Decisions Driven by Fear When people are uncertain about the stock market, they will often let fear drive their decision to... Read more
In 2001, President Bush established an office within the White House called the “White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives” or OFBCI for short. Now called the “White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships” (renamed by President Obama), the basic idea behind the faith based initiative is to provide federal dollars to social services organizations (both church-based and secular) in order to help serve the needs of local communities. According to President Obama, the faith based initiative “will... Read more
Today’s post is a guest post by Mike, the founder of Credit Card Forum, a message board and blog for discussing credit cards. If you’d like to guest post on Faith and Finance, send an email or leave a message on the contact page. All of us have our weaknesses and for some, it might be the temptation to overspend on credit cards. But even if you’ve never had a dime of debt in your life, these three verses can... Read more
This may seem like an odd time to bring up the holiday season, but now is the ideal time to plan start planning ahead. Of most concern for the frugally minded, is the tendency for the holidays to creep up and destroy all your carefully laid financial plans. The killed combination of gifts, travel and feasting often puts a dent in the budget that takes months to repair, especially if you just put it on credit and forget about it.... Read more
After watching a few episodes last week of Discovery’s Shark Week, I was surprised that the most infamous shark wasn’t highlighted – the loan shark. I guess the marine biologists don’t give much thought to loan sharks, but I can’t help but to tie things to a financial reference when possible. With the advent of the credit card and lines of credit at local banks, loan sharks have lost popularity in the last 50 years, but they’re not extinct! We’ll... Read more
Faith and Finance
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In