Maxed Out

Tonight, John and I watched a documentary on Netflix entitled "Maxed Out."  I'm sure you can guess from the name of it that it was about credit cards - how Americans have gone overboard and kind of lost their minds charging everything to high heaven and borrowing WAY beyond their means!  I can honestly say it really broke my heart. 

There were so many people who owed so much because of poor decisions and no education on what they were getting themselves into.  There was one mother who was hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt (her family had no idea) and when the collectors started calling, she ran away and killed herself.  In another instance, two mothers were interviewed about their children; one had a son, one had a daughter.  Both of these "kids" went off to college and racked up thousands upon thousands of dollars in credit card debt - and both of them saw no way out other than to kill themselves.  How tragic is this?  Killing yourself over money? 

All the while, the movie flashed back and forth between the lives of American people and the United States government (don't get me started), who, as you can imagine, doesn't give a rat's behind about any of it (and even allows some major credit card lenders to right bills for them!).  These people need help!  I wish I could go out and educate them on the dangers of credit cards and borrowing money at such high interest rates that they'll be dead before they pay anything off.  They need hope and they need a plan. 

While I've never felt like killing myself over finances, I know what it's like to be neck deep and higher in debt - it sucks!  But I have hope.  God gave my husband and I hope through Dave Ramsey.  We don't use credit cards or really even our debit card.  We pay cash so we can see where our money is going.  And we REFUSE to take out loans!  There's no excuse for living beyond your means - NONE.  Period. 

I'm not even sure what I want to say the point of this post is....but I do want to say if you're in a place where you're drowning in debt, don't give up.  Have hope.  There is a way out.  It's not fast - in all likely hood, you didn't get into this situation quickly in the first place and you certainly aren't getting out of it that way, either.  So start over.  It's never too late.  I know it's hard and I know it's overwhelming, but with hard work, patience, faith, hope, and a plan, you'll get there!  We see the light at the end of the tunnel and it only makes us want it more! 

Hoping this offers a word of encouragement to you tonight, and remember...
"The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is SLAVE to the lender."
Proverbs 22:7
Wise words to live by.

Faithfully,

The Culbreaths