Money Matters

*You can also check with your bank to see if they offer a debit card with similar rewards!
If you are not currently in debt and have no history of trouble with credit cards, it's time to pick one that will start paying you! I Googled a few sites that will help to narrow down some of your choices.

• DollarTimes
• CreditCardGuide
• BankAholic
• CardRatings

The following is an excerpt from DollarTimes with recommendations on reward cards:

Citi Rewards Cards: I personally have a Citi card that has a very good rewards program. Unfortunately, it's not available any more, but Citi still offers some decent cash back cards.

Other Recommend Cards:- from Jason Skinrood, of PlasticRewards

• Costco American Express: This card is quickly becoming very popular because of the large 3% gas rebate. Card features excellent customer service but you receive your rebate as a Costco gift card.
• Discover More Cards: The cards feature excellent customer service and earn up to 5% cash back. Rebates are tiered and Discover offers additional promotions throughout the year.
• Citi Forward Visa Card: Earn points that can be redeemed for cash back or other rewards on every purchase. Cardholders can also receive up to 2% APR reduction with responsible use.
• IBERIABANK Visa Gold Card: This card for people with excellent credit earns a straight 1% cash back on all qualifying purchases. No cash back limits or expiration dates.
• For REI Customers: The REI Visa card has also caught my eye. It has 1% cash back, and 5% cash back on REI purchases. But you have to be an REI member to qualify.
• Airline Rewards Cards: I have looked at dozens of offers for credit cards that reward you with airline mileage. None of them are good, mostly because of hefty annual fees. If you find a decent airline miles card, please let us know.

*A note from me: We’ve been very happy with our Chase Visa card which earns us a point for every dollar spent. We turn those points in for gift cards for gas, restaurants, retail stores, etc. My husband saved his birthday money and added several of these gift cards to put towards an IPod Touch from Best Buy. Sometimes he surprises me with cards to places like Kohl’s or Pier One as a special treat. Most often we use them towards restaurants so we can eat out guilt free—financially, that is. Most of the friends that I surveyed used Discover or Capitol One for great rewards, but one friend told me about USAirMastercard which earns them free flights and has no yearly fee.

If you are struggling financially, you must consider budgeting your money. You need to know where your money is going for a number of reasons.

1.Your money is on loan from the Lord and He expects you to be a careful steward of it.
2. You can't fix the leak if you don't know where the hole is!
3. It takes discipline to stay on track financially and this is the best place to start.
4. It is very important for a couple to be like-minded financially. Starting a budget will allow you to sit down and talk about it while you face the reality of your income on paper.
5. Budgeting allows you to plan ahead for things like Christmas, medical bills, car repairs, etc. You save monthly for the bigger bills that hit you at once.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Here are some great resources to get you started. Don't forget to check your local library as well!

Budgeting Ideas:

• Dave Ramsey Envelope System
• If you use envelopes, you’ll like this idea of “prettifying” them.
• Larry Burkett’s financial books from Amazon
• Google his name and you can find many more
• My favorite Budget Template (in Excel)
• This is the budget system that we use. My dear friends, the Tracys, let me use their template and adjust it to make it user friendly for you. I've included a lot of notes in various cells in order to help you understand how I use it myself. Have fun tweaking this template to fit your income and personal preferences!
• This Completed Budget has four months of spending recorded for you, in order to guide you through some of the questions that might arise as you use it yourself.
• Other free Microsoft Excel Budgets
• Free Excel Training
• Spending Plan Online Calculator
• Budget Planning--free demo and ideas (less than $10 purchase fee)
• Mvelopes--an internet budget that ties into your bank account for a small fee