SHEsaysWITHaSMILE.blogspot.com

The Money Issue.. by (me!) sandra, tvgp

i love Jesus..  such a cents of humor..    -which was slightly lacking in the bank representative that came in the store yesterday to Introduce herself and her coworker and say hello..

-bank people will go out of their way to introduce themselves to small business people...  these are quite interdependent relationships..

but anyway.. i met them, and introduced us..  and then had to laugh and mention out loud how -ironic...

"i just finished blogging about how there's a bible passage that describes the banking industry.."

and i unintentionally set myself up for a fall here, because she took me serious..

"Luke 19: 26...

  I had to explain I was being facetious.. and anytime you have to explain.. you've already lost..

and I know, and you know, that the parable of the ten minas is about being wise with money..

there is a balance..  there IS a way to be responsible with money..

where you manage it; it does not control you.
where you invest wisely; and take responsible risks..
don't hoard; don't play it too safe;
don't waste it; don't worship it..

etc.

and its really common cents.. isn't it.. that if you had some money to invest.. you would give it to someone who you thought would it invest it wisely..  someone with a positive track record.

and i do regard it as another of the many, many, many spiritual tests..

and find the timing of this random neighborly visit from bank representatives  -so closely linked to my facetious independent bible study post..     ~of interest.  /oh! bank puns..  can't resist..

anyway.. you know by now, those of you who have read me for any length of time at all, how naive i enter into long established industries and practices.. 

and it is another moment where I will kind of always remember trying to get what they said to make cents..

And I don't remember actual dollar amounts so will make that part up, but the rest is true~ish..

" so, just to clarify..  i need to have $5000 minimum balance in order to have my checking fees waived? but if I can't provide that minimum balance I do have to pay a monthly fee?"

I'm sure I sat there dumbfounded for an awkward amount of time..

and no doubt I was wearing a facial expression that put my I.Q. into question while I silently went over in my head..

K. Like.. so.. if you can afford to pay a fee.. you don't have to.. 

but if you can't afford to..  You have to..

k.  Again..  

***

and then its the same of course with fees for bouncing checks; overdraft fees..

if you are earning enough income that you never bounce a check or spend money before the next deposit comes in causing an overdraft..

then.. you never get financially penalized and you earn interest

thats more $ for people who have $..

but if you don't have enough.. sing, 'fee~fine, fee~fine, ~fo

taking even more money away from those who can't afford it in the first place..

you can't imagine what a trap this ends up to be..  very deep pit and hard to climb out of..

-so be clear.. I have nothing against bankers, bank employees..

'I even have friends that work at banks..  !'

its just the system.. and when it makes me a little crazy, I remember the voice explaining to me..    "Banking is a business.. It is a business.."

silly (me!)..   yes of course it is a business...

so I am no longer dumbfounded or surprised.. but having lived on the financial edge for....    a long time..

I like to think on ways to help my kind..

and I often go back to %..   

% of income as a way to determine fees/charges..

-because again, again, again, again..   $35 not taken away from someone earning over $100,000 a year..   And $35 taken away from someone earning $18,000..

-which reminds me of the parking/speeding ticket issue..

-two people get a ticket for speeding. -same road; same speed..
-one is in a luxury car, earning over $100,000
-one is in a clunker (that can still speed! woohoo!), earning $18,000

that is two very different set of consequences for the same crime..

***

the moral of all this is of course..  it does not pay to be poor; being poor will cost you more..

***

now, I have graduated from cash advance to cash advance..

to: pay check to pay check..

but the real reason I am in the best financial shape of my entire life is because my debt to income ratio is very good.  My debts are very, very low..   /of course I don't own much either..

But! I was reading recently about our congressman, Eric swalwell, (of who I am a fan) and God bless his heart.. $100,000 in student loans..

when I read that I felt rich for a few minutes..

Anyway.. I'll close with saluting him for all the work he is doing behind and on the scenes to help with the student loan debt crisis slash, pandemic, going on..

One of his efforts involves making it so that you can refinance student loans the same way you can refinance home and auto loans..

-wouldn't it be great if we could take that to the bank...

"Thank You! Eric Swalwell!"

IJN,  ~amen.

posted by SHE @ 9:35 AM