What an inspiring story I hadn’t even thought about giving attention to the struggles of giving to your supportive church or paying off debt. I am wondering do more and more Christians as well as other religious attendees have this battle with themselves and tithing?

Which is more important: tithing or paying off my $13,000 credit-card debt? – By Sandy Stonesifer – Slate Magazine

Thou Shalt Be Debt FreeWhich is more important: tithing or paying off my $13,000 credit-card debt?

• You can purchase an investment with a credit card 5 things to watch as you invest this way We have all heard the term leverage used when it comes to real estate and investing. Leverage the equity, leverage some one else for their skills and talents or their credit and financial stability. Have you ever heard the term leverage the credit card for making real estate purchases? I......
• Credit crunch or credit chaos what does it mean for you Chaos is in the air all around us, economic crisis, mortgage industry meltdown, global markets in turmoil and in the midst of change and economic change and recovery action plans another crisis is underway. While our country is amidst change our credit card lenders, mortgage lenders and banking systems are......
• Is fear really holding you back from the true wealth you deserve Funny sounding and actually quite appropriate for this time of the season. With Halloween right around the corner, the leaves turning red, orange and yellow. The sight of monsters, goblins, creepy and eerie things that you only find in horror films. Isn't that what this month's tone happens to......
• What credit card companies and credit bureaus don't want you to know Sounds funny that your credit card companies and the credit bureaus share some trade secrets that are actually in place to do you more harm than good. For example many credit card companies wil extend you credit even if you can't really afford it. When you apply for credit the......
• Simple Steps to Increased Credit Card Limits and Purchasing Power Learn to empower yourself immediately by increasing your credit card limit, call your creditors and get what you deserve. A bigger line of credit at a better rate and with less fees. When you call to speak to our customer service the call should go something towards this effect... First......

• How to Pay Off Your Card Credit cards create for their users a cycle which is vicious: charging for items when you do not have the money, and then finding it very hard to make the payments due to high interest. The average, in the middle, debt that is held by an American is over eight......
• Getting Out of Credit Card Debt; You Can Do It! Getting out of credit card debt can seem like an unrealizeable goal. Credit card debt can cause massive stress. Imagine a life without that debt. Can you see it? If you’re like many average families, you may have a hard time getting a clear picture. Many people have been making......
• Brad's Credit Card Bad History Caught Up With Him, Leaving Him To "Thumb" A Ride To Work! Brad Scott’s credit card bad history has caught up with him. He’s a whopping $11,244.36 in credit card debt and he needs a car to get to work. Last Saturday, Brad hit the road in a friend's oil-burning piece-of-crap to see what kind of deal he could find from car......
• Debt Snowball Plan For Recession Over the last several months my family's top two financial priorities have been to become credit card debt free, and establish an emergency fund of six months of expenses.  I'm proud to report that we have made a lot of progress, and should accomplish both goals by year end. We......
• Reduce Your Credit Card Debt And Repair Your Credit Quickly Many individuals do not realize just how damaging credit card debt can be.  Although circumstances do occur which are out of our control, a history of late payments and non-payments on your credit cards can destroy your ability to obtain financial help in the future when needed.  It can also......

I hear this cry from many people worried about their financial circumstances after they have decided that bankruptcy is their only alternative when it comes to recovering from financial hardship. I’m not an attorney yet I work very closely with them in my real estate business.

On many occasions bankruptcy is leveraged to persuade a bank or lending institution to cooperate with a request to modify a homeowners mortgage or reduce unsecured credit card debt. Also bankruptcy is leveraged to stay (stop) a foreclosure. Many times this works as a strategy; although in certain circumstances it’s the only option.

I speak from personal experience when it comes to this, I had to file for personal bankruptcy several years ago to save my home from foreclosure. I figured since I was able to restructure my debt I would be alright. I went ahead with the bankruptcy filing to save my home from being sold at an auction, little did I know this was the beginning of my financial school of hard knocks.

I wound up not being able to make the payments to the trustee of the courts, which was violating the agreement I had made with the judge. I wound up dismissing my own BK so I could sell my house and make a run with the profits so I could find another place to live.

This is where my story “The Pillars of Wealth” really began. It was here where my eyes really were opened into the financial world and how if you weren’t involved in making the correct choices, you were going to be consumed by it. Take a look at our financial hardships as a Nation currently; our jobless rate and unemployment rates are skyrocketing; our unemployment offices are running out of money.

The “Wall Street/Main Street”meltdown, global economic chaos and crisis. The truth is we have really only seen the beginning. Once the foreclosure moratorium is lifted a new wave of homes and struggling families will emerge as the new generation of victims to this tragedy.

So back to my opening statement with bankruptcies on the rise as more and more families face tough challenges we find our world torn between the rule of 7 to 10 years of derogatory remarks pertaining to bankruptcy, the “taboo” of what bankruptcy means etc…

When making the decision to file you need to find a compassionate attorney, one who actually has your interests in mind not theirs I highly recommend using the “Discount family legal plan of America” through your “First Class FDI Membership”. Of course you can use your own sought out attorney yet with this membership you receive flat rates on Chapter 7 bankruptcy as well as discounted legal advise if you go outside of your free services. I’ll get more into that in another article as for now the recovery from a bankruptcy varies depending on which chapter you file. Chapter 13 is the worst bankruptcy you can file for.

Not only do you have to keep all of your debt, repayment to your creditors over a max three year period. You still have to budget your regular monthly expenses and the new proposed payment for the bankruptcy. Your credit is plagued with the bankruptcy for a period of 10 years instead of seven, you are not allowed to obtain new lines of credit during the repayment and a whole slough of rules to obied by.

With a chapter seven the bankruptcy is on your credit report for a period of seven years and you can start rebuilding after a two year waiting period. You figure out how to recover your finances, plan accordingly, and begin to establish a regular savings and investment account. You can continue to acquire financial stability during the bankruptcy, as long as you do not use credit during the “freeze or cooling” period.

I remember the feeling of receiving my first line of credit after my bankruptcy, the pride and confident feeling of recovery, then within a period of 9 months I had established a second line of credit and then a third. The same thing for my wife, we rebuilt our financial lives back from rock bottom. One line of credit at a time, one dollar at a time.

We knew the true value of credit, making good choices as opposed to running on an empty wallet, maxed out credit cards and the error of our ways (which indecently were mostly my decisions in the end.) I knew I had poor financial skill when it came to managing money long ago, I just never realized what the outcome would be.

My parents (mainly my Mother) spent money she hadn’t even received. I had become to accept this as normal, bankruptcy had happened in my before. Yet as a child I didn’t understand, even as an adult most people know that filing for bankruptcies are not good, many people that have not experienced this cannot relate to the concept.

Your pain is temporary although the pride that gets hurt in the process can scar you for a long time. This isn’t a bad thing and you shouldn’t look at it as one either, take the painful lesson, learn from it, take corrective action steps to change your money psychology.

Remember the path that brought you to this junction in the first place; then as you begin to educate and rebuild your financial security, you will be more proactive in making smarter financial choices. It’s from this point that success develops and becomes habitual for you. This is when you start to shine, choices you used to make seem so trivial.
You wonder why you had ever walked this path in the first place, you realize that your having to have it all now attitude. The “instant gratification mindset” or what I like to call consumerism mindset; you used to have will always tempt you to make impulse purchases, try to get you to blow your money like you used too.

However then the remembrance of your financial trial and tribulation, your onset to bankruptcy in the first place will dominate your feelings and the subconscious mind will usually prevail if you just listen. Otherwise you wind up living the time old phrase that states…

”For those who don’t learn from the past; they are doomed to repeat it.” Look at our current financial situation once more before we go, where do you stand today? Are you thriving or barely surviving? Only you know where you are, only you know how to stop the pain. I can guide you, I can even mentor you but only if and when you are ready.

Seek me out, ask for assistance and you shall receive. In fact coming in August I am releasing my first “financial fitness from financial failure courses” Whether you are looking to gain exposure to new resources to help with your finances, learn new ways to create consistent returns on your portfolio, build a business to invest or get out from under your current financial hardship circumstances. We will have the solution for you.

If you have not taken the time to download my book “The Pillars of Wealth” I suggest you do it now just click on the title above and you’ll be taken immediately to the download page to receive your copy.

If you feel that a book won’t help your situation you should take the few minutes to watch the “Financial Destination Inc.” video, then head on over to the main page to learn all about the Financial Destination Inc., a company dedicated to serving all of your future financial needs and learn what we can offer for you.

I guarantee this is the fastest way I can think of to recover from bankruptcy, financial hardship, all while learning the secrets to being successful with your finances; taking charge and control over your life once and for all, instead of always being the victim.

• These 29 Tips To Help Save You Money Funny how when we look at money, financial affairs and wealth we often overlook some of the most simple things. For example what about cutting back on items or finding ways to save on the purchases of the items or services, I read this article in Readers Digest a couple......
• How to Land Investment Returns You Can Take to the Bank When it comes to investment and calculating returns many people still get it wrong. Whoever said that one plus one equals two was correct in theory; however when it comes to actuality this theory only holds true after you finish the equation. Remember when your math assignment turned into......
• The power of money: Just touching and thinking about it can make us feel better, research finds I just ran across this article today and I find it very interesting how everywhere I go people are talking about mindset and choices. More people are becoming aware of conditions and are more susceptible to changes influenced by outside forces.One thing remains though is the simple fact that money......
• How to obtain credit in a down market Yes you can obtain credit in a down market with the proper mindset, motivation, and knowledge. Where do you start especially if you need to acquire it fast and you don't have many resources. This is a quick guide to preparing for the individual or the corporate credit seeker. If......
• Snowball your way to financial freedom Debt is like a plague that eats your hard earned money faster than you can earn it. You work for your bills and your bills take everything you work for. Soon it becomes a stressful vicious cycle that makes people bitter and angry. Your outlook becomes bleak; you see no......

• 21 Things We're Learning to Live Without [/caption] By Rick Newman What do you really need? It's become a national question. With jobs and money scarce, consumers are taking inventory and tossing lots of stuff once deemed important into a humongous discard pile. To safeguard the essentials—a safe home and supportive community, the kids' education, Internet connectivity,......
• Money Management Questions and Answers How can money management techniques be applied to my life? - The first step is to realize that you could possibly have an overspending problem. This is the number one reason why people get over their head financially. You can easily consult with a money management counselor that will help......
• Money Management and Budgeting are Vital for Avoiding Financial Disasters Anyone who is worried or stressed out about their finances right now has probably had concern over whether or not their budgeting and money management tactics are working. It is important that you learn how to develop good skills for money management in this day and age, otherwise you will......
• Free Money Management Tools from Google When it comes to managing our money and investments, creating financial plans, or analyzing our retirement portfolio, I'm all about the free stuff. There are lots of online money management tools around. Google has them as well. I like them because they are easy to use and can be found......
• Money Hacks Carnival: Middle Name Pride Day Edition Happy Middle Name Pride Day, everyone!  There seems to be a bit of inconsistency as to what the proper day to celebrate MNPD is - Holiday Insights says that it's "always March 10th" whereas the Wikipedia article says it's on the Friday of the first full week of March as......