If you’re serious about paying off debt and building up your savings, it may be time to consider cutting the cable cord.

You’d be part of a growing trend.

In 2007, just 2 million American TV households didn’t pay for some kind of cable, satellite or phone-based television service. Six short years later, that number more than doubled to 5 million households…and growing.

Meanwhile, the cable providers are losing ground as more families give the remote control a rest and choose to watch their favorite shows via less expensive avenues. This may seem surprising, given that the rise of the 200-channel cable provider practically made channel-surfing an Olympic sport, but all of that variety comes with a hefty price tag.

According to FCC data released last summer, the average American paid $61.63 a month for cable TV in 2012. That was 5 percent more than 2011’s average price. In fact, from 1995 to 2012, the cost of cable jumped about 6 percent a year—more than doubling the rate of the Consumer Price Index during the same time period.

By ditching cable for one or more of the less expensive options below, you could save $700 a year or more. Yes, you may miss one or two of those 200 channels (most of which you don’t even watch), but think about it: is your favorite reality show worth 700 bucks?

Take Advantage of Free Online Streaming

A growing number of networks are offering their programs online for free. PBS, for example, offers full episodes of many of its most popular BBC shows on its website 24/7. The commercials are shorter, you can hit the pause button while you grab a snack, and it’s possible to catch up on multiple episodes in one sitting.

Use a Web-Based Service and Save a Bundle

Web streaming services are gaining subscribers because they offer many of the same shows as cable providers for a fraction of the cost. Netflix and Hulu both cost less than $10 a month (plus the cost of internet service). If you already pay for internet, a 12-month subscription to Hulu will cost you $95.88. Compare that with the average monthly cost of cable, which will run up a $739.56 bill over the course of a year. Going web-based adds up to a savings of more than $643.

Buy a (Cheap) Digital Antenna

If you just can’t live without your favorite local news channel, consider buying a digital antenna and watching your basic over-the-air channels for free. These are not your grandmother’s rabbit ears. The latest digital antennae are sleek, flat and inexpensive. The cheapest ones start at about $10 and allow you to watch many channels in HD. A slightly fancier model will set you back about 30 bucks. Several years’ worth of free TV for half the price of just one month of cable? Not too shabby.

The days are getting longer, the weather’s getting warmer and it’ll soon be time for spring cleaning. While you’re tidying up your closets, car or garage, don’t forget to spruce up your budget, too.

Developing a routine is great, but there are certain aspects of every budget that shouldn’t stay stagnant. Here are three moving targets to check on this spring.

Your Retirement Plan

Some retirement plans have an option that will automatically bump up your contributions little by little each year. It’s a fantastic way to make retirement planning a priority without having to think about it. But if you don’t have an automated option, this is a great time to take a look at the state of your retirement funds.

Dave Ramsey recommends investing 15 percent of your income into a Roth IRA or pre-tax retirement account. While he also suggests holding off on retirement funding until you’re debt-free with a sizable emergency savings, some people choose to prioritize their retirement plans, especially if they are retiring soon.

If you can, bump up your retirement contributions by 1-2 percent this spring. When spread out over a year, that’s enough to make an impact on your 401K without hitting your budget too hard.

Insurance Coverage

If you immediately log onto the computer and compare car insurance rates every time you see a gecko on TV, this step is not for you. If, however, you’re like me and blindly fork over that insurance payment every other month without thinking twice, keep reading.

Insurance coverage, like your retirement plan, is a moving target. Rates are constantly changing, so it’s important to periodically check on your plan to make sure you’re getting as many discounts as possible. It’s also wise to talk to an insurance agent or scan the web every now and then to compare prices from different companies. You really could save hundreds of dollars.

Your Household Budget

When it comes to your budget, it’s easy to set it and forget it. If it’s been a while since you made any adjustments to your budget categories, sit down and take a look at them. If you’re married, call a quick meeting with your spouse. This doesn’t have to be painful; it’s meant to help you get the most out of every paycheck.

Perhaps you’ve been budgeting lots of money for gas, but you recently took a job that’s closer to home, or you’ve been telecommuting more. Take some of that gas money and shift it into another budget category, such as savings or groceries. Life is always changing; your budget should change with it.

Hopefully these ideas will get you thinking about other ways to free up some money as you do some “spring cleaning” for your finances. It may not be the most exciting thing you do this year, but, hey, it beats cleaning out the garage, right?

We spend a lot of time talking about ways to make and stick to an honest budget. Here are five ways to wreck that budget—and possibly your entire financial life—in record time.

Ignore It

A budget is worthless if you don’t follow it. To ensure financial misery, hide the budget from everyone in your household, including yourself. Make sure no one is clear on exactly how much money should be spent on various categories like groceries, entertainment and birthday gifts for friends or relatives. If you happen to remember the correct budget for a certain area (such as eating out), treat it as a mere guideline and come up with great excuses for spending more than you budgeted.

A person without self-control is like a house with its doors and windows knocked out (Proverbs 25:28, The Message).

Never Say ‘No’

Your college friends want to hold a reunion weekend in Las Vegas. Your church small group is planning to go out for Sunday brunch at an expensive restaurant. Your daughter is begging you for a new iPad. Say “yes” to everything. Be a people-pleaser at all costs. Dip into your savings to take a vacation, and chip away at your debt payment to buy that expensive wedding gift for the out-of-state wedding that’s going to cost you a bundle. Put vacations, clothes, tech toys and other people’s opinions of you first. Worry about the budget later.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5, NIV).

Keep Swiping That Plastic

You don’t get paid until Friday, but it was a long, rough Monday and you deserve a treat. Go ahead and buy it. Even though the money isn’t in your checking account yet and the budget is tight, you’ll figure it out later. A few dollars on the credit card won’t hurt anyone. (For maximum budget-wrecking, repeat this process Tuesday-Friday and fail to immediately pay off the balance).

The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty (Proverbs 27:12, NIV).

Live At or Above Your Means

Buy that sleek-but-gas-guzzling SUV that so many of your neighbors are driving. Spend every penny you earn and make only the minimum payments on your debt. Pick the biggest house you can afford—the one with the monthly payment that’s equivalent to 40 percent of your income. You’ll face near-instantaneous foreclosure if you or your spouse loses a job, but that’ll never happen to you. That only happens to other people.

Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn’t first sit down and figure the cost so you’ll know if you can complete it? If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you’re going to look pretty foolish. Everyone passing by will poke fun at you: ‘He started something he couldn’t finish.’ (Luke 14:28-30, The Message).

Refuse to Ask for Help

Buy into the lie that you are alone in your financial struggles and no one would ever understand what you’re going through. Let pride dictate your decisions. Even though bill collectors are blowing up your phone and you’re trying to decide between the mortgage and the electric bill, you can handle this. Believe that the same thinking that got you into debt will somehow get you out of it.

Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed (Proverbs 15:22, NIV).

If any of the above scenarios sounds all too familiar, now is the time to take action and change your ways. In particular, if the last paragraph hits home, consider requesting a free consultation from FaithWorks Financial to learn about our Christian debt relief programs. There is always hope, and there really are compassionate people who can help point you in the right direction.

“Where is the best place to stash an emergency fund?”


If you are still taking baby steps in your personal money revolution, then this may not be a huge pressing question on your mind. You may be more concerned right now about how you’re going to pay your light bill this month. But that’s okay. You are working toward your goals. You are paying down debt through your Christian debt relief program, and you are slowly but surely building that all important emergency fund that will insure you against the horrific, “borrowing from family” scenario should your hot water heater blow up next month!

However, for those who are a little bit further along on this financial quest, it may be time to consider the best place for this emergency fund that you have worked so hard to establish.

An ideal emergency fund should be three to six months of regular expenses. This is quite a bit of cash, so it would do you well to put it somewhere in which it can gain the most interest for you. This is especially true when you consider that this money is going to stay put, hopefully.

Emergency funds are different than investment funds. You want investment funds to be active and flowing and accomplishing as much for you as possible. Investment funds are money at work. Emergency funds need to stay put, be still, and be safe. You do not put your emergency fund at risk in any way. However, you also do not want it to just sit there for five years and not earn a penny either.

The balance between risky action and stagnant inaction is to place the money in the highest yield type of savings plan possible.

Online Savings

Online only accounts have increased in popularity in the last few years. Many online only banks such as Ally or Capital One 360 can offer higher interest rates on their savings programs because they are not dealing with the overhead of running a brick and mortar establishment.

This translates into only good things for their customers.

Many of these banks offer a full range of savings products including Money Market Accounts. These online money market accounts offer higher interest rates than regular accounts, plus have limitations in place which will discourage you from touching the money except in true emergencies.

The drawback is that all types of savings plans, including online only money market, are seeing really low interest rates right now. This can improve with time, and something is always better than nothing.

Breakable CDs

Breakable CDs offer a higher interest rate right now than most online savings plans. This is because your average 5 year CD will charge you a small fee for early withdrawals. Your money is not quite as accessible as it would be with a money market account, but you will be earning more on money that is just sitting there.

The drawback is that the money is not immediately available like it would be from savings or money market.

I-Bonds

Series I US Savings bonds are a great low risk place to store cash.

If you have already established a great emergency fund putting some of the money in I-Bonds could be a wonderful option. However, putting all of your emergency fund money is not wise as I-Bonds cannot be cashed out until after the first year. However, the interest rates are better than just about any other low risk product available.

Christians, who are starting a financial revolution in their life, face a unique set of circumstances that perhaps non-Christians do not face.

We have certain Biblical standards to live by, and sometimes these Biblical standards or obligations feel like they contradict our financial plan. Tithing is one such principal that a lot of people would look at and say, “Well, hey! If you want to get out debt you need to be putting that tithe money on your debt payments too for now.” But as Christians we know that it is far better to work that into the top slot of our budget rather than try to skimp.

Most of us, even those who are in a Christian debt consolidation program understand the importance of tithing and don’t question it too much. However, there are other forms of giving outside of tithes.There are love offerings, fund raisers, missions and sometimes just personal giving that God leads us to.

How do we handle these types of giving when we feel like we have already stretched ourselves to the limit? Why would God lead us to give more if the budget is already maxed?

The Widow’s Offering

The story in Mark chapter 12 tells of an old widow who wanted to give. She had so little that any offering would be a sacrifice, so she decided to just give it all.

Sometimes God leads us to give more than we imagine possible or even wise, just so we can prove to ourselves that we can let go.

You may think that revolutionizing your finances is all about hanging on to your money. It is about letting go; letting go of bad habits, letting go of stuff and letting go of the hold that money, or the appearance of money, has over you. When you stretch in your giving you are letting go.

Miracles Still Happen

When God says give and you whip out your calculator, sometimes the numbers will not add up.

Just as Elijah asked another widow in the Old Testament to make him a little cake first, even though she had only enough for her and her son. God already knew what kind of miracle he had in store for this woman, and it sure beat her plan of eating her last meal and dying.

You cannot know what God has planned. His ways are above our ways. Giving is often an exercise in faith.

Where is the Line?

It’s never a wise thing to start drawing lines in front of God; however, we do have to draw lines in front of ourselves.

In the area of sacrificial giving, great care must be taken to never stray into the realm of foolishness. There are ways to detect foolishness, however. Usually if there is any hint in our hearts of gaining something for ourselves through the act of giving, then it was not God speaking to your heart. If people are pressuring you rather than God speaking to you, beware also.

Trust in God to lead your heart and your giving, and you can trust that your giving is appropriate.

Chocolate. Meat. Sugar. These are some of the most common indulgences given up for Lent, the 40-day season of preparation that leads up to Easter Sunday.

It’s a time when many Christians honor Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice of giving up his life by making a small sacrifice of their own.

Because Lent has long been associated with traditional fasting, it’s no surprise many people turn automatically to food when choosing how they’ll recognize the season, which begins on Ash Wednesday (March 5th this year).

If giving up candy for 40 days works for you, keep it up. However, if your Lent sacrifice has become routine and expected—or if you’ve never tried giving something up for Lent—perhaps you should consider doing something a little different this year, like making a sacrifice that hits your wallet more than your waistline.

Let’s be clear: Lent in its purest form is about growing closer to God. It’s about being thankful for what we have and recognizing that all of our best efforts will never come close to matching the sacrifice Jesus made 2,000 years ago. At its heart, Lent is about our spiritual state.

That being said, a 40-day sacrifice can naturally have a positive effect on our physical, emotional and even financial health as well.

Here are seven Lent-inspired ideas that could help get you back on spiritual and financial track at the same time.

Whether you give up chocolate, red meat or Instagram, remember not to do it in your own strength. When you’re tempted to indulge, pray for help. God promises to provide a way out (see 1 Corinthians 10:13). And if you do stumble, don’t be discouraged. Give your plan a reboot and keep going, and you may find yourself making—or breaking—a habit by Easter.

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