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To Your Success!
Ericka Young

Who are these people anyway?

Take a look down your street.  What do you see?  Do you see expensive cars, recreational vehicles, swimming pools, lavishly furnished homes, neighbors wearing designer clothing, etc?  Or are you the one living in the lap of luxury?  We have all heard of the Joneses, but who are these people anyway?  Think about this question and be honest with yourself.  Are you the Joneses or are you trying to be like them?  Both positions could be equally damaging to your financial future depending on the way you look at it. 

The Joneses in America today are the people who appear to have everything.  They have the look, the house, and all the STUFF that goes with it.  But is it worth the price they paid?  Looks can be deceiving…

70% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck

- Wall Street Journal

This means that if they missed one paycheck they would not be able to pay their normal living expenses.  The Joneses haven’t saved any money for a rainy day. 

The typical American household has $38,000 in consumer debt.

                                            - Consumer Reports Money Book

This number includes credit cards, vehicle loans, and bank loans.  They are so strapped with debt and payments that they can’t get ahead financially in order to save any money.  Is that who you envy?  Is that who you want to be like?  I’m sure your answer is NO! 

On the flip side are the people who desire to have what they see the Joneses have.  It’s not enough to just keep up with the Joneses.  Nowadays everyone wants to be the Joneses.  The media has made is easy to look into the lives of the rich and famous.  But with this access we have come to think that what they have is normal.  Of course it looks tempting, fun, and stress-free to have all the things you desire, but the reality is that normal in America is full of hassles that none of us truly want to deal with…

Payments!  Let’s say you have a credit card with a $5,000 balance on it at 18% interest.  It would take you 22 years to pay it off completely when making only the minimum payments and you will have paid $6,000 in interest during that time!  There is nothing pretty about that!  This truly reflects Proverbs 22:7 where it states “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.”  Twenty-two years of debt payments sure sounds like slavery to me! 

Why waste your life desiring what your neighbor has?  Measuring yourself against what someone else has is a sorry gauge of your own potential.  God has so much in store for us that we cannot even imagine it all!  Write out all of your debts smallest to largest and begin paying them off immediately!  True freedom can only be found when you begin searching for it.

March 2007

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Chris and Ericka Young are Dave Ramsey Certified Financial Counselors! 

Call (480) 200-2516 today for a free 30 minute consultation to see how they can help you achieve your dreams and goals!

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