Bad Finance: Debt doesn't work for gov or people.

Here we go again Obama is not even in office yet and he is endorsing another bail out plan. The US keeps spending more and more money that in effect it doesn't have. So what do we do? We print more money. With more and more money in circulation, each dollar is worth less and less. When each dollar is worth less and less, the the cost of goods and services become more and


So every time the government spends more and prints more money, your saving is devalued in your bank account. Keep in mind that the money is basically created out of thin air. There is no gold standard to back up the value of the money.

Now is where it gets tricky. When the Federal Reserve pumps more money into the economy by loaning money to banks who in turn loan money to corporations and individuals, they are in effect stealing from us. Because the banks can then recycle that money and loan it 65 times.


It is the addiction to debt that is going to destroy this country in a slow death, if we don't change our ways as a society. Debt especially as a long term policy simply does not work. This economy is actually running on deficit spending. When the cost of goods and service go up, the terms of the loans are getting longer. It use to be you could only finance a car for five years. Now you can find loans for a car from 7 to 10 years. A home use to be 20 years and now can be financed over 40



Not to mention the people that are being scammed to refinance their homes for a lower interest rate.
Why is it a scam? Well because the interest is paid in front of the mortgage. So you pay all you interest up front and when you refinance you haven't paid off much of the principle yet. So you wind up borrowing the same money again. Plus, the banks charge you points and closing cost to boot.

I see a high inflationary period coming down the road. With all these bailouts designed to keep the economy running the way it is rather than fix it, you and I should be cautious. How? By simply refusing to play the debt roller coaster game. Refuse to get into unnecessary debt.

The rich ruleth over the poor; And the borrower is servant to the lender. (proverbs 22:7).
That is how the rich are getting richer and the middle class is diminished. If we want to have control of our life we need to hold onto more of our wealth. Borrowing money is not the way to a care free life. It is in effect the way to servitude, not freedom.

Happy New Year, Done, Now set Goals

Now that everyone is done celebrating the New Year and making New Year's resolutions, we can make another important decision. We can decide to sit down seriously and map out a plan to make real changes. Because let's face it, some of you have already broken your New Years resolutions.

Sit down and plan some realistic goals for you to obtain in 2009 and beyond. It generally a good Idea to plan 5 years ahead. Set short term goals that lead up to long term goals. If you had to swim across a channel, you wouldn't aim for the shore that you couldn't see. You would first shoot for the channel marker in plain site. Put some goals up within reach that are steps in the process of obtaining your long term goals.

How do you set goals? Well, first remember that we talked about the five areas of life, Faith, Family, Friends, Fitness, and Finance. The first being the most important and respectively down the line to Finance being the last of importance. Many people have it backwards.

C.S. Lewis said,”If you shoot for Heaven, you will get both Heaven and Earth, but if you shoot at just for Earth you will wind up with neither.”

So set some goals in your faith, for me that would be a better relationship with my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. It is natural for us humans to search for the truth, and you will find it in the Bible.

Take each area of life and grab some paper and ask yourself; “What would I like to Have? What would I like to do? What would I like to become?” Maybe you would like to have more time to be with your family, or maybe you would like to do more exercise this year to become more fit. If it is to loose weight then set dates with the amount of weight you would like to loose. Say, 20 lbs in 90 days? Maybe you want to be a better Mom or Dad to your children? Maybe you want to set a financial goal and add 500 dollars per month to your income in 60days. Financial Goals are generally goals that support the other areas of life. For Instance, Let's say you want to be a better Dad, so you set a goal to spend more quality time with your daughter. You may need some financial goals to afford to take her to Disney Land. You can see how the areas of life all effect each other and need to be in balance. Maybe you need to develop a greater servant heart in you faith goals? Well that will effect your goal to be a better Dad, don't you think?

I recommend people set some goals to make new friends, learn how to love people, and in turn God will bless you for it. Quite frankly if you stop learning and growing in any of these areas of life, your progress will be hindered. Well, that leads me to the next thought.

You must continue to learn in all areas of life. Why you ask? Because you can never make serious changes with the same knowledge you currently have. If you keep the knowledge the same, the results will definitely not change and you can expect 2009 to be the same year as 2008. Now for some, that may be good if you are satisfied with the results. But if not, then you will need new information as a catalyst to change your results.

In specific, start reading some good books, such as, Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People, Napoleon Hill's Think and Get Rich, and of course the Bible. Get you hands on the recording by Earl Nightingale, The Strangest Secret. That should help you make some significant change for 2009.


Happy New Year and continued Blessings throughout the year.

Why Faith, Family, Friends, Fitness, and Finance?

Finally getting down to why I’m writing this blog and sharing with both people I know personally and those who don’t even know who the heck I am. Well, I hope that something I say here on the blog will help someone. I hope that there will be some seed of thought here that will be planted on fertile ground.. As said in the bible in Mark 4:20,

“Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown."

So people are probably asking why these five areas of life? And the answer is important, as these are the categories that all humans have in common. Each one affects the other and yet is important on its own. Take for instance, Friends as the third category, who your friends are will effect the other four areas. The wrong friends will tear those other categories down and you with the process. The right friends will build you up and cause spillover into the other 4 areas of life or categories. The truth is that a balance between these areas is what will give a more fruitful life.

Second, the order, Faith, Family, Friends, Fitness and Finance, is for a specific reason. It is the order of priority. Faith, being the highest priority, also transcends itself into the other 4 areas of life. Faith is the belief in things not seen. It is the ability to see positive things for the future even when bad things happen. That’s why leading a spiritual life is so important, as it benefits all areas of life. Generally, when a person lacks Faith then Fear takes over. Fear is just the other side, also a belief in things not seen, but is the lack of hope, a negative attitude. Yes, Faith is by far the most important indeed.

The last of the five is Finance. You can have all the money you need and still be unsuccessful. Sure, money is a good tool, but not the secret to happiness. However, the lack of this area will, like the other 4, spillover and affects the other areas of life.

Family and Friends mainly has to do with cultivating good relationships. It is amazing to me how much modern peoples lack in this regard. Learning to nurture your relationships will only have a positive effect on your entire life.

And of course, Fitness is so important. We have all heard the saying, “Without our health we have nothing”, although not absolutely true, it obviously trumps how much money you have in the bank.

It is amazing how much time has gone by after starting this blog. I have so much to share with you and look forward to covering some more on this topic. I will also be covering specific elements from all the 5 areas of life.

Blessings to YOU! I will leave you with a very funny video about priorities, WHAT WOULD YOU RATHER BE

The Video is no longer available. So I removed the link.

WHY THIS BLOG?

As you can gather from the name of the blog, I will be talking about success principles such as leadership, teamwork, wealth, and relationships.

I use to think that the only measure of success was the money you had in your pocket. The more money you had the more successful you are. I didn't realize that there was more to the picture. Partly because today, society seems to hold that vision of success. It is reinforced in the school system and in the media. Television in particular has been a mind conditioning tool.

People are spending more time on entertainment that pursuing worthwhile ideals. We now have the most educated society within the history of mankind, but we are further from the truth than ever before. Our kids have less discipline, less respect, and less morals because they are not being taught. You might be thinking right now, "what does this have to do with success anyway?". Answer, "Everything!"

Your level of success will be directly determined by the knowledge and skills you develop. It is a learned behavior. You will need financial skills, time management skills, and people skills in order to be prepared for success. Not only do you need to learn them, but you need to put the principles into action. It is also important to have success as a balance of five areas in your life.

I break the areas up into these parts, Faith, Family, Friends, Fitness and Finance. For the sake of convenience you could group Family and Friends into one category, (Relationships).

I want to express here that I am not a know it all. I am not talking down to anyone here. I am talking with you all. I was lucky to finally meet people who showed me the way. I was reintroduced to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I was taught these principle that are timeless. These principles are part of the natural law. They are the same today as they were thousands of years ago. They have not changed, they are constant.

Example, the law of gravity is always constant, it does not change. We can fight it or we can use it to our advantage. Just like the principles of thought and abundance, in Earl Nightingale's "Strangest Secret". They are constant and they can work for you or against you. The key is to be aware of the principles and they will work for you.

Take for instance, the most simple concept of a smile. If you are aware that a smile creates new friends then you can use that smile to attract new friends to you. The person that is not aware of this may be asking themselves, "Why can't I make friends? Why is everybody so unhappy?" Maybe it is not that people are unhappy, maybe it is you not being aware of this simple principle. Why not smile more!!!!

I have much more to say as time goes on in this blog. My goal is to make a difference in people's lives. To help people who have autism in their family. To change the way people think in this country and recapture what we are loosing. To be a good steward of this planet. To show the fruits of the spirit and spread the knowledge of the Gospel to all who have ears to hear.

Well I hope you will enjoy this blog and that I can help you improve your life in a positive way.

Smile, God loves you!

Fran Burns