The state of Illinois recently passed a law prohibiting credit card companies from offering free giveaways on college campuses to induce students to sign up for their cards. This raises the issue again of what we need to do as parents, grandparents, and as a society, to teach our young people about the proper use of credit. Several years ago I saw a startling 60 minutes story which focused on college students that were filing for bankruptcy. Imagine starting out your adult life with a bankruptcy before you've even finished college! Congresswoman Slaughter's floor speech on her amendment to reduce... Read more →

It is called The Neighborhood Preservation Act and if passed into law, may provide foreclosed homeowners a way to stay in their homes. The idea is pretty straightforward. The government will allow banks to lease back homes to foreclosed homeowners for a period of up to five years. There is also a provision that would provide the foreclosed homeowner the option to buy back their home at the end of the lease. There are still a lot of questions that we simply do not have answers to at this time. For example, how much would the monthly rent be and... Read more →

In this difficult economy, businesses have had to become very creative to stay profitable. Perhaps none have become as creative as the banks. At Christian Money we have been receiving a growing number of complaints from people that feel that they have been ripped off by their bank. The latest "scam" is what is known as automatic overdraft enrollment. Sounds like a good thing, right? After all, wouldn’t it be a great thing to have your bank cover any shortfall in your account from time to time? Imagine this scenario; you set up a checking account and add a debit... Read more →

For those that are regular readers of my blog, you know that I wrote an overview on the “Cash For Clunkers” Program a few weeks back. The program has turned into somewhat of a nightmare and a political football at the same time. Today, I will address the latest on the program and share with you some concerns and warnings for those that are considering participating. The program was initially funded with $1 billion. In anticipation of the program becoming available, dealers around the country were making deals with customers even though the official approval of the government rebate program... Read more →