The Keys to Financial Health

Introduction

Jesus talks about money more than twice as much as He does heaven.

That's because money matters.

It touches every aspect of our lives, from the common to the profound.  Every time we spend money we are voting, telling the "system" and the world around us what we value.

One of the recurrent themes in the many emails I receive has to do with financial hardship the writer is experiencing.

The purpose of this writing, then, is to address these issues.

And the reason I'm writing it is because I care about you, and want to see you freed from the cycles of consumption & debt that harm you.

My Qualifications

I feel qualified to address these matters for the following reasons:

And yet, I am not a "Financial Planner."  I am not licensed to advise you what stock to buy.  I cannot sell you a life insurance policy.

While I have been associated with the Financial Services Industry for these long years, I am not at all a part of it.  While I am "in" this world, I am certainly not "of" it.

I tell you this clearly, right up front, so that you do not have any misconceptions.  The material in this little writing (like most of my documents) is far from the normal stuff you read & hear.  My approach to Financial Health cannot be found in The Wall Street Journal or Money magazine.  It may offend you.  It may perplex you.  Or it may change your life.  You decide.

The Odd Case of Affluenza

"Affluenza" is a lovely, witty word, combining "Affluence" (being rich) with "Influenza" (the flu.)  You can read books on it.

From Amazon.com's Editorial Review of Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic by John De Graaf, David Wann, Thomas H. Naylor:

In their eye-opening, soul-prodding look at the excess of American society, the authors of Affluenza include two quotations that encapsulate much of the book: T.S. Eliot's line "We are the hollow men / We are the stuffed men," which opens one of this book's chapters, and a quote from a newspaper article that notes "We are a nation that shouts at a microwave oven to hurry up." If these observations make you grimace at your own ruthless consumption or sigh at the hurried pace of your life, you may already be ill. Read on.

The definition of affluenza, according to de Graaf, Wann, and Naylor, is something akin to "a painful, contagious, socially-transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more." It's a powerful virus running rampant in our society, infecting our souls, affecting our wallets and financial well-being, and threatening to destroy not only the environment but also our families and communities. Having begun life as two PBS programs coproduced by deGraaf, this book takes a hard look at the symptoms of affluenza, the history of its development into an epidemic, and the options for treatment. In examining this pervasive disease in an age when "the urge to splurge continues to surge," the first section is the book's most provocative. According to figures the authors quote and expound upon, Americans each spend more than $21,000 per year on consumer goods, our average rate of saving has fallen from about 10 percent of our income in 1980 to zero in 2000, our credit card indebtedness tripled in the 1990s, more people are filing for bankruptcy each year than graduate from college, and we spend more for trash bags than 90 of the world's 210 countries spend for everything. "To live, we buy," explain the authors--everything from food and good sex to religion and recreation--all the while squelching our intrinsic curiosity, self-motivation, and creativity. They offer historical, political, and socioeconomic reasons that affluenza has taken such strong root in our society, and in the final section, offer practical ideas for change. These use the intriguing stories of those who have already opted for simpler living and who are creatively combating the disease, from making simple habit alterations to taking more in-depth environmental considerations, and from living lightly to managing wealth responsibly. 

Some have mischaracterized affluenza as "Feeling guilty about being successful."  That is not even remarkably the case.  THESE are the cases: (all true, but all names have been omitted):

What is going on here?!?

If you haven't, please read Powaqqatsi and the Myth of More for my comments on this essential issue.

Perspective

The first thing you need is to get your perspective right.  As I write so often, the essence of religion is the quest for truth, the truth which will set you free.

The simple fact that you are reading this means that you have more wealth than 94% of the earth's population.  Put another way, if the people of the world are symbolized by a group of 100 people, only 6 of them have computers or access to the internet.

Adjusted for inflation, standards of living, and currency exchanges, the "average" person in that group of 100 people makes (approximately) $650 per year.

Statistically, it is easier to live as a homeless person in the Industrialized World than as a middle-class wage earner in most of the rest of the world.  You can live healthier, drink cleaner water, and eat better out of trash bins than if you worked 20 hours a day in most of the world.

So, Key to Financial Health #1: Understand you are already wealthy.

What is going on here?!?

But....But....

Broken homes...children abandoned by their parents...shattered dreams.

Irritation, frustration, anxiety, pain and misery on a truly staggering scale.

What is going on here?

The answers are really very simple.  You may not like them, and the "system" certainly does not want you to think this way, and you will not see a report on this on the evening news, but the answers are simple:

1. Despite our wealth, we live beyond our means.
2. We live beyond our means because we think that acquiring more new things will give our life meaning.  
3. We think that acquiring more new things will give our life meaning because we do not lead sacred, holy lives.  We are out of balance, out of touch with our true selves, God and nature.

And I'm sorry to disappoint you if you were expecting some great, profound revelation.  But that's how it is.

America's Drug Addiction

(When I use the word "America" I know there are many other countries affected by the same problems.  It is only that I do not feel qualified to speak on other nations.)

If it wasn't so sad, if would be amusing to listen to "the system" fall all over itself.

What do I mean by "the system"?  The social structures that inspire, create, and sustain the consumer ethic.

Follow along very carefully.  Read slowly:

1. Americans individually are drowning in debt.  “Debt is at an all-time high.  The average American spends 14% of all take-home pay just to cover the interest on non-home mortgage debt.”  KFI radio 640 AM, 8:30 pm news broadcast, 6/19/2001.
2. Americans collectively are drowning in debt.  The Federal Government still holds over $4,000,000,000,000 in debt, equivalent to over 2 years total income for the entire government.  Many of the states are likewise in debt.
3. The only way to avoid a massive recession /depression is to keep consumer spending high.

Now, read that again.

Do you get it?  The punch line?

Here's the simple translation:

Though Americans are drowning in debt, their only hope for "prosperity" is to continue to spend more and more money they do not have.

Am I the only one paying attention here?

Understand that this is very serious.  If everyone began to take the advice you will soon read, America would go through a major economic upheaval, bordering on collapse, while we reorient our value systems.

Have you ever been addicted to a drug?  Alcohol, painkillers, street drugs, anything?  Statistically, for most of us the answer is (or was) "yes" for at least one time in our life.  Heck, let's make it easy...Caffeine addiction affects millions in the country at this present time.  Here are the stages of caffeine addiction; they relate directly to all forms of addiction, including debt.

1. "Going in."  Also known as catching a buzz, going up, getting high, coming on, and....and....and...  You take your first caffeine drink.  The effects are wondrous.  All of a sudden you are not so tired.  There's a lift, a sense of euphoria, excitement, as your blood vessels constrict, increasing the flow of oxygen-rich blood through your system.  Life is good.
2. "Habituating."  We like the experience in step one, and repeat it.  Again and again.  It becomes a habit.  The thing is, the human being is remarkably adaptable.  This is both a blessing and a curse.  We get used to things.  That's a good thing when we are dealing with problems and getting adjusted to less than ideal circumstances.  But when it comes to drugs, well, our systems quickly become used to the foreign substances.  As we become habituated our drug of choice has less and less effect.  We need more of it, more often, to get the same effect we initially have in phase 1.  Eventually, the substance no longer gives us pleasure: we need it, just to feel normal.  That's called being "hooked."  Addicted.  Without the substance, you cannot lead your normal life anymore.
3. "Decision."  At that point we must make a crucial decision.  Do we keep going, or not?  We know, or at least our body tells us, that we must continue the cycle of more & more & more, or else we experience...withdrawal.  
4. "Withdrawal."  Also known as coming down.  Every addict's worst nightmare, withdrawal has become known as "having a monkey on your back."  You see, monkeys have very sharp claws.  And as long as we keep walking peacefully, being nice & friendly with the monkey, he is happy to ride on our backs contentedly.  But once we stop, and decide we want the monkey off, well, then the monkey digs his claws into our flesh.  He does not want to leave.  We start to bleed.  As we threaten him with eviction, he lets us know in no uncertain terms that he is unhappy about this, and will make us suffer for it.  When it comes to caffeine, the withdrawal symptoms are irritability, sleepiness, and sharp headaches, especially at the back of the head and temples.  Other monkeys are, shall we say, far less pleasant to expel.
5. "Recovery."  As we deal with the pains of withdrawals, determined to return to health, we must find ways to cope with withdrawal, and life live differently, so that we never again get caught in the downward spiral of addiction.

Debt - Our Drug of Choice

Does the Bible have anything at all to say about this?  Well, my friends, just by "chance", it does.

Romans 13:8 says, "Do not owe ANYTHING to ANYONE, except the debt of love."

Funny how, in all of the fundamentalist, "The Bible is the Inerrant Word of God" so-called churches I have ever been in, I have never met even one person or church that actually believes this.  This, evidently, is one of those passages where Paul is just giving his opinion, and we "enlightened" 21st century people know he's just wrong about this.  Or, maybe not.

Let's look at the (admittedly simplified) addiction model I just presented in terms of debt.

1. "Going in."  Also known as buying on credit, the installment plan, and...  What it boils down to is you get to use something you have not paid for, and in all likelihood cannot afford.  The effects are wondrous.  All of a sudden you are not so tired.  There's a lift, a sense of euphoria, excitement, as you enjoy (at least for a time) your new acquisition.  Life is good.
2. "Habituating."  We like the experience in step one, and repeat it.  Again and again.  It becomes a habit.  Before you know it we are buying everything on time, on credit.  And yes, I am fully aware that this is considered "The American Way."  As we become habituated our drug of choice has less and less effect.  We need more of it, more often, to get the same effect we initially have in phase 1.  Bigger purchases, more frequently.  Eventually, the substance no longer gives us pleasure: we need it, just to feel normal.  When things get really bad we are using all of our income just to cover the minimum payments on our debt, and even charging the groceries.
3. "Decision."  At that point we must make a crucial decision.  Do we keep going, or not?  We know, or at least our pocketbook & lifestyle tell us, that we must continue the cycle of more & more & more, or else we experience...withdrawal.  
4. "Withdrawal."  We stop buying things.  We adjust our standard of living to below what we can actually afford, because we need to spend all of our available resources to paying off previous debt-acquisitions.  This is just like not being able to sleep while we kick sleeping pills, or not being able to stay awake while we withdraw from uppers.  It is not fun.  But it IS a necessary step to regaining health.
5. "Recovery."  As we deal with the pains of withdrawals, determined to return to health, we must find ways to cope with withdrawal, and live life differently, so that we never again get caught in the downward spiral of debt.  We re-evaluate our lives, finding goodness in places we never did before.  We adjust our standards of living to be in balance with what our earnings actually allow.

Simply put, the Bible tells you you should lead a life without any debt whatsoever.  And debt mimics, in all aspects, the cycles of drug addiction.

And it is hurting you.  It is actually hurting you more than you know, or at least presently realize.

And if you want my advice & help, then keep reading.

Practice What I Preach?

I've made it a very big point to attempt to practice 1 Cor 11:1, "Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ."  No, I am not penniless, as Christ was.  I am not nearly as Divine or loving as He.  But it is my constant goal, and aim of my life to live what I teach.

I am not a "Debt-addict."  By the grace of Yhwh I never have been.  The one and only thing I ever bought that I could not write a check for was the house I live in.  Buying the house in 1988 was a very interesting experience for many reasons, one of which was that I had no credit rating at all.  I had never bought anything "on time."  Yes, actually, I paid cash for everything I had ever bought, and convincing "The System" that I was worthy of a mortgage as my first credit experience was, well, interesting.  Let's just leave it at that.

In 1979 wife #1 and I were making $800/month between us.  We were technically bordering around the so-called "poverty level."  But we had no debt, and lived wonderful, fulfilling lives.

Still, what about the house?  I will be talking more about houses & mortgages in a bit.  Though the house is paid-off, the simple truth is that I now realize what I wish I had known earlier: Once I acquired the house, I should have made it my top priority to eliminate the mortgage as quickly as I possibly could.  I can prove this mathematically, and will share this with you in a bit.

But the central point is this.  I know what it is like to live without debt.  It is a part of my religion.  And it has nothing whatsoever to do with my successful computer programming practice.  I lived debt-free when I was (technically) poor.  And I have known people far wealthier than myself who have been nearly suicidal from their mismanagement of debt.  I have been advise by "financial experts" that I was a fool to live in such a "small" house (that I could afford so easily); what I really needed to do (so I was told) was "properly leverage my money," by buying something 5 times more expensive.  At least one of those advisors has since declared bankruptcy himself, but that is another story.

You see, debt is a choice.  A lifestyle.  It has nothing to do with being rich or poor.  In fact, living beyond your means through debt is one of the ways to increase your poverty.

Remember Key to Financial Health #1: Understand you are already wealthy. Even though statistically we live far more luxuriously than most of the rest of the world, it is never enough.  We want more, More, MORE!

A sad but true example of this is a friend I had in the early 1980s.  He was the richest person I knew at that time.  Mansion at the beach in one of the most expensive areas of the world, 75 foot yacht, and real estate holding all over the country.  

But it was all smoke & mirrors.  He was playing the debt game: borrow to buy a piece of rental property, use the cashflow (people's rent payments) to cover the mortgage on another property, on and on.  He was "worth" millions and millions of dollars.  Or so it seemed.

Until one day...One of the apartments was declared unsafe to live in, needed major repairs.  So a bank would not refinance it, and...well, to make a long story short he lost literally everything: every piece of property, his own house, even his wife (who only married him because he was rich) and children (who were taught that daddy was a "loser.")  When it was all said & done, he was left with just enough for a down payment on a condo in a somewhat-less-than-the-oceanfront-neighborhood.

An extreme example, perhaps, but far from unique.  

All the while I was content, blissfully so, to ride my bicycle to my house cleaning jobs.

I will repeat: Debt has nothing to do with your income.  It is a choice.  A choice you should avoid.

Key to Financial Health #2: Do not owe ANYTHING to ANYONE except the debt of love.  If you must take on debt, it should be under the most controlled, intelligent, short term circumstances.  Once you are in debt, you must do everything you can do get out of debt as quickly as possible.

We are made for joy.  Delight in all of creation.  We like things.  But so many of us have placed things before people, things even before ourselves.  We want to live beyond our means, and have become convinced it is our birthright.  This is a short-term pleasure, that always leads to long-term problems.

Just like drug addiction.

All things are lawful for you.  All things are permitted by our Infinite God of love & mercy.  But not all things benefit you.  The occasional caffeinated drink will not hurt you, but a 6-pack a day will.  A glass of wine with dinner will not hurt you.  4 bottles a day will.  The occasional, well-planned dip into debt will not hurt you.  But a life run on debt will.  The problem is in living beyond you real self, out of balance with your real life.

By the Numbers

I doubt there is a subject in the history of our race that has had more written & talked about than money.  Certainly there's a lot to say, a lot to learn.  And I cannot (or at least will not) do a detailed, comprehensive financial planning guide.  I'm trying to get you to see the big-picture items.

You need to Get Informed!  Some people think it's "cool" to be ignorant about money, or that knowing too much about finance is "unspiritual" or "unchristian."  That is absolutely wrong.  Like I said before, Jesus talks about money twice as much as He talks about heaven.

Key to Financial Health #3: Get Informed!  Understand money and numbers.

Don't be stupid.  Don't tell yourself you cannot understand math, or numbers, or money.  Argue for your limitations and you will own them forever.

So many people's eyes glaze over when the subject of numbers comes up.  This is nothing more than a stubborn, self-willed insistence on ignorance.  It is sad.  You have the mind of Christ in you.

You need to understand simple things like what interest rates and percent ( % ) are.  Most people in the country (so the statisticians tell us) do not know that 22% means 22 out of every 100.  Percent, as in Per-CENT, as in a penny, as in 1/100th of a dollar.  Percent is also represented like it is pennies (you know, the ".99" part of "$1.99"), so the 22% is also written as ".22" 

Interest rate is what you pay the bank or the credit card company to use (borrow) their money.  It is also what the bank pays you when you give them your money, as in a savings account.  If you owe $100, and the bank charges you 22% (or .22) interest per year, you simply multiply the amount by the percent, to calculate the annual interest: $100 X .22 = $22.  That's $22 per year you pay the bank to use their money.

This matters, friends.  If you can't understand percent and simple multiplication and addition you will never be able to properly manage your money or your life.

For example.  "Frank" couldn't understand why his finances were so out of control.  His credit card debt just went up every time.  "But I make all the payments on time.  I just don't know what's wrong."  His balance (what he owed the bank on the card, the only part he could really understand) was $1,000.  What he didn't know was:

You see, you need to understand this.  If you owe $1,000 on a credit card, at 20% interest, and just make the minimum payment, you will (in most cases) pay the bank $200 every year, for the rest of your life, and when you die your children will still owe the bank $1,000!!!

Banks regularly charge you 25% to borrow their money, which they consider "fair and competitive."  (Of course, all the rates and times and minimum payments change all the time, and exist in an infinite variety of sizes, shapes & colors.)  That same bank will pay you 3% on your savings account, and call it "generous."

So, let's say you are being a "good steward" with $1,000 in a savings account.  (Hey, we're supposed to have savings, right?)  Let's say that savings account is paying you (let's be generous) 5% a year.  And you just happen to also have $1,000 in credit card debt, at "only" 12% interest a year.  The result?  You are losing $70 a year!  And for nothing, except making the multi-trillion-dollar banking industry even richer.  (How are you losing $70 a year?  Get Informed!  The savings account is paying you 1000 X .05 = $50 a year.  That's income, or a plus (+).  The credit card is costing you 1000 X .12 = $120 per year.  That's expense, or a minus (-).  You pay -120, and only get +50, so you are "netting" (aka the difference) +50 - 120 = -70, or a $70 per year loss!)

There are, indeed, millions of people in this country in situations all-too-similar, and far worse, than this example!  Especially when you consider that families are regularly holding $10,000 or $30,000 (and even more) in credit cards!

Last note.  The above example is actually WORSE than the numbers I present.  Why?  Well, technically, the $50 the bank paid you on your savings account IS INCOME.  As in TAXES.  As in, (depending on your tax bracket) the federal and state governments are going to tax you between 10% and 50% on that $50 you "earned."  So, if you are in a 30% tax bracket, you pay $50 X .30 = $15 in taxes on what the savings account paid you!  So, at the end of the year, you really only made $35 on that savings account ($50 - $15 tax = $35)  And that means you really netted +35 - 120 = -85!!

So, the intelligent reader might ask, if I get taxed on what I earn, can't I "deduct" (not pay taxes on) what I paid?  Nope.  That's not how the game is played. 

Get Informed!

It's your money.  It's your life.  

Make your life your own

By the Numbers - Opportunity Cost

Just one more "math thing."  It is a very important topic, all too often ignored, called Opportunity Cost.  Opportunity Cost is simply what else your money could do, the opportunities you are giving up.  "If I put this money somewhere else, what else could it make me?"  

Simple example: If you spend $1,000 on a trip, the money is gone.  But if you invested that $1,000 in a savings account paying 5% interest, in 10 years you have $1,629!  So, spending the $1,000 on the trip is giving up the chance to have a bank account worth $1,629 in 10 years.  Over the 10 year timeframe, the lost opportunity cost of taking the trip is $1,629.  That's how much those fading memories really cost you.  Perhaps it is worth it to you, maybe not.  But you should at least Get Informed! and know the difference.

But, and this is a BIG BUT, if you have debt the Opportunity Costs are MASSIVE.  The situation is much worse!  If you have $1,000 in credit card debt at "only" 12%, the $1,000 you spend on the trip could be used to eliminate that debt.  Over the same 10 years (with the "minimum payments") you would pay 1000 X .12 = $120 per year in interest, or $1,200 in interest, and you still owe the $1,000!  In other words, that $1,000 trip has an opportunity cost of $2,200!  

The larger your debt, and the higher the interest rates you are paying, the larger the problem.

"Tom" & "Betty" have just bought their first house.  ("Renting" is just another form of borrowing, paying to use someone else's "stuff."  You should owe nothing to anyone.  You should own your house.)  They have a $100,000 mortgage, at 7% interest, for 30 years.  Their mortgage payment is $665 per month.  With a very little math, you can see that they will pay $665 every month for 30 years, or $665 X 12 (months per year) X 30 years = $239,400!  In other words, if they make just the "minimum" payments (which is really what the mortgage is) then they will pay $139,400 in interest.

(You may not understand all of this right now, but Get Informed!  It's very important.)  Mortgages are paid with what's called an amortization schedule.  Basically the idea is that each month you pay the interest on what you owe (the outstanding balance) and this balance goes down very slowly as time goes by.  Every month, then, you are reducing what you owe the bank by only a very little.  For Tom & Betty's $100,000 house, their first $665 mortgage payment covers $583 in interest, and only $82 in principal.  In other words, they have paid the bank $665 and owe $82 less than when they started!

Now, back to the $1,000 trip.  After Tom & Betty have moved in, let's say they get a tax refund for $1,000.  To "celebrate" their new house, they decide to take a trip.  What is the opportunity cost of that trip?  In other words, how much money could they save if they put the money into the house?  Would you guess, $1,200 or $2,000 or maybe even $2,200?  Nope.  I will spare you the math, but the shocking truth is that if Tom & Betty will put their $1,000 straight into the mortgage they will save over $6,900 in interest!!  

Timeframe

Most of us live odd lives.  We spend money we do not have for temporary pleasures that will fade almost overnight, and then spend the rest of our lives worrying about the future and how we are going to cope with everything.

Jesus invites us to find holiness in the smallest, simplest of things.  A sunrise, the smell of a peeled orange, the purr of a kitten, the smile of a child.  To concentrate on the here and now, to live simplified, holy lives.  And to rejoice in an eternity of peace, love & joy.

Once we lose our sense of holiness, we seek to fill the holes in our soul with external delights.  When we get out of balance, we eventually become enslaved to these things, just like a drug addict.

Get out of debt.  All debt.  Withdrawal is never pleasant, but always survivable.

After that, you will be free.  

Wishing you health, genuine prosperity and freedom, for the rest of your life.

Amen.

Postscript

"What?!?  You mean that's it?  Just a few pages trying to tell me to get out of debt?"

This is a Church.  I cannot live your life for you.  I do not try.  There are many topics pertaining to things of the Spirit that need my attention, that "only I" can really do.  And there's no lack of information available on money management.

Yes, my friends, the above material will fix almost all of almost everyone's problems.  Being enslaved to a life of debt by being sucked into the Myth of More is overwhelmingly the greatest problem people face.  If you don't have that problem, you do not have any "real" financial problems.

But in the name of pseudo-completeness (no work of art is ever complete, only abandoned, and I am about to abandon this one!) I present the rest of my "Top Ten Keys to Financial Health."

1. Understand you are already wealthy.
2. Do not owe anything to anyone, except the debt of love.
3. Get Informed!  Understand money and numbers.
4. Learn everything about everything.  Specialization is for insects.  People should be able to compose songs, cook delicacies, analyze Shakespeare, and calculate using binary algorithms.  6 out of 10 of our present school children will eventually work in industries that do not even exist yet, and putting them into "technical training" is a damaging, horrible limitation of their capacity for limitless consciousness.
5. Limit TV.  The real, shocking secret behind the "More" culture, why we are driven to drive & cook so fast, is so that we can spend (on average, per each person in the country) 4 hours a day watching TV.  TV is the primary medium by which the ever-lust for more, More, MORE is communicated.  Universally I have seen a direct correlation between peace of mind and the absence of TV.
6. Find and follow your passion.  One of the most abominable side-effects of the Affluenza-driven culture is hordes of people working in empty, meaningless jobs that they actually hate, simply because it pays them money.  Find what you love, and the money will follow.  If you love your work, you will never work a day in your life.  All of the clichés are true.  And the earlier you do this, before you are entangled with debt and family obligations, the greater your opportunities.
7. At the same time, you must be a responsible, moral person.  And yes, this is a key to financial health, among others.  Part of the entire problem is that we live shattered, fractured lives.  We do not see how what we do or think or feel or say or spend affects each and every other part of our lives.  Everything you do affects everything about you, and everyone around you, to greater and lesser degrees.  Tell the truth.  Don't do crime.  Don't have children out of wedlock.  If you have children, stay married.  Take care of them.  Keep your commitments, which means that parents need to make their families their passion (see #6), and not decide to suddenly "join the circus."
8. The single most effective tool I have ever known for getting your spending under control is a pocket notebook.  Write down each and every single thing you pay cash for, every day for 3 months.  At the end of that time, look at all your expenses (checks, credit charges, and the cash notebook.)  Compile a list of what you spent your money on.  Everyone I have ever known who has actually done this has been shocked to see, face-to-face, that they are indeed spending their money on crap they really do not want, or even remember.  But may be paying interest on for the rest of their lives!!
9. Lead a holy life.  Find the beauty in all.  Basically, read & live all the other stuff you find here in The Church of Yahweh.  Spend/invest your money on those things which you know to be holy, sacred, making the world a better place.
10. For further study, the best source of extensive, detailed, in depth information about a debt-free lifestyle, and all around financial health that I have ever found, is a lady named Suze Orman.  Highly recommended. 

Part 2 is here.

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