| Most people work 6 days a week and 10 to 12 | | | | ignorant and remains ignorant for the rest of our |
| hours a day, so they can pay for their house that | | | | life is dangerous. |
| they hardly live in it, paying monthly car payment, | | | | If you are serious about improving your financial |
| so they use the car to drive to work, pay their | | | | life, you must take a serious step and action to |
| furniture that they bought using easy monthly | | | | achieve it. A journey of thousand miles begins |
| financing, and pay the gasoline to fill up their cars' | | | | with one step. If you don't make the first step |
| fuel tank to go to work again, so they can earn | | | | today, you won't go anywhere near your goal |
| money to pay all the bills. The cycle continues until | | | | and dream. |
| they reach the retirement age and they realize | | | | So how can you avoid of going broke? |
| that they don't have enough money for their | | | | 1. If you can't afford to buy a luxury car, don't |
| retirement. | | | | buy it! I know that the credit industry will try to |
| They may look affluent and rich, but they are | | | | seduce you into getting the 0 down payments |
| only renting a life style. Most of these people, | | | | and easy monthly payment. When you see that |
| they are only 2 to 3 months away from being | | | | advertised at a car dealership, I suggest that you |
| homeless and having their luxury cars and houses | | | | run away and don't even think of getting into |
| repossessed if they ever lose their income from | | | | debt to buy a car. So how can you buy a car |
| their job. | | | | then? One of the nicest places to buy cars cash |
| A friend of mine, she and her husband have to | | | | is a public auction. They have a great auction |
| work 50 to 60 hours/week Monday to Sunday, | | | | place in Los Angeles; you can buy a car for |
| so they can pay for their town house mortgage. | | | | $2000 or less cash! Save your money, and then |
| Every time my wife and I visit her at the | | | | when you have enough cash to buy one, buy it |
| restaurant where she works, she told us that she | | | | cash. Why do you want to buy your car cash? |
| and her husband are tired, and they don't have | | | | You will have a better bargaining position, you can |
| time to spend with each other, because they | | | | bargain for the car you want. |
| work from Monday to Sunday. When they | | | | 2. If you can't afford to buy a very expensive |
| decided to buy their town house, the mortgage | | | | house, buy the one that is on your affordability |
| broker forgot to mention about the CCNR fee, | | | | range. Forcing yourself to get into a $500,000 or |
| and other fees that comes from owning the | | | | $700,000 house before you can afford it, is like |
| town house. Their mortgage is around $2700 plus | | | | setting yourself up for a long term financial |
| the CCNR fee, electricity, phone, and other | | | | disaster. Also don't buy a house if you are not |
| expenses. They can easily spend over $3500 | | | | planning to stay in the area long enough. I love |
| month! I felt really bad one day when I saw her | | | | my mortgage broker; he would go with me into |
| getting sick, but she had to go to work on | | | | details about getting a mortgage. He would talk |
| Sunday, because if she didn't go to work, she | | | | about I could afford and he wouldn't give me a |
| was afraid that she wouldn't have enough money | | | | mortgage just because he wanted to make a |
| to pay for the house monthly payment. What | | | | commission out of it. He went through my |
| made the story worse, her husband lost his job! I | | | | financial statement and he helped me to make a |
| won't into details. | | | | wise decision whether it was a good time for me |
| Why do a lot of people drive a luxury car that | | | | to buy a house, or to buy an investment |
| they can't afford yet? It doesn't make sense to | | | | property. |
| pay $200 to $1500 a month to pay for a luxury | | | | 3. Increase your financial knowledge and literacy. |
| car that we use to go to our work place, and use | | | | Department of Motor Vehicle will not issue a |
| the income from the work place to pay the bank, | | | | driver license to drivers who are not ready to |
| so we can keep the car! Also, don't forget about | | | | drive and have not taken the driving tests. I |
| the monthly interest that the bank charges. | | | | know some people will drive illegally and get |
| I met a young lady in her early twenty who told | | | | themselves into a lot of troubles. You don't just |
| me that she didn't use finance to buy her car but | | | | get into a car and start driving well in one day. |
| she leases her car! She thought the best way to | | | | Most people have to go through a learning |
| own a car is to lease it, so I asked her, what | | | | process before they can drive a car. The DMV |
| would happen to her car if she didn't pay the | | | | wants people to learn about the traffic signs, how |
| monthly lease. She said, the car company would | | | | to merge, and to park because they don't want |
| take the car back! At that moment she realized | | | | you to get into troubles when you drive your car. |
| that she doesn't really own the car. She was just | | | | One of the biggest mistakes people ever make is; |
| renting it from the lease car company. She had to | | | | they never invest their time to learn how to be |
| work hard to earn some money to pay her car | | | | smart financially and how to invest their time and |
| monthly lease. If she bought the car cash, she | | | | money. |
| wouldn't have to work so hard to keep her car. | | | | Earl Nightingale said that it is foolish when we |
| We have to stop thinking about how much | | | | expect great things in our life for nothing. When |
| monthly payment we can afford. It is not smart | | | | you want to become good in something, you |
| to finance something that loses values and | | | | must be willing to learn and to study the subject |
| depreciates. If you haven't read the book, | | | | that you want to be good at. When you want to |
| Millionaire Next Door, you may want to buy and | | | | go to a doctor, you have to make sure your |
| read it. The book Millionaire Next Door, the author | | | | doctor has gone though a lot of trainings and |
| says that most American millionaires drive 3 to 5 | | | | have a lot of experience from the medical school. |
| year old car that they pay cash for it. They use | | | | When you understand the danger of getting into |
| their money to invest to their wealth accumulation | | | | debt, you don't want to go into it any longer, |
| investments, instead using their money to pay the | | | | although some people will ignore the warning like a |
| bank's interest charge! | | | | lot of people know that smoking is bad for their |
| When you buy a car on finance, you are like | | | | health, but many people are still smoking today |
| renting the car! What happened if you don't pay a | | | | knowing that their habit will risk their life. |
| house or an apartment rent? You will get evicted; | | | | 4. Learn to respect your money. Yes, you must |
| your landlord will kick you out of the apartment. | | | | learn to respect your money. You work hard to |
| It's the same with buying a car by using credit, if | | | | earn it, and you must protect and respect it. I am |
| you can't pay for the monthly payment, the bank | | | | not saying that you have to be stingy, I |
| will evict you from owning the car. | | | | encourage you to start being generous, because |
| Before I learned the danger of owning a car | | | | being generous is very rewarding. From our |
| through easy monthly financing and payment, I | | | | experience, my wife and I always get back what |
| decided to buy myself a Lincoln Navigator through | | | | I give to charities, sometimes even more through |
| the car dealer financing Labor Day special! It was | | | | business clients and our business. To respect your |
| one of the biggest mistakes of my life, because I | | | | money means that you won't waste your money |
| agreed to pay $10,000 down payment and $265 | | | | on things on things that you don't even need. |
| month for the SUV. Before long I realized that | | | | Sometimes it is hard to resist buying things when |
| the cost of the gasoline was around $400 to | | | | they are on sales, but if you don't need it, don't |
| $600/month. That's before the gas price went up | | | | buy it. There will be another day and there will be |
| to $3.00/gallon. So when we added the car | | | | another deal out there, so refrain yourself from |
| monthly payment plus the gas price, we easily | | | | going on shopping rampage during sales days at |
| spent $700 to $8000/month just to keep the | | | | the mall. If you can make your own coffee, make |
| SUV running. | | | | it yourself, instead of buying it from a coffee |
| Since we were so broke, we had to learn how to | | | | shop for $5 a cup! If you spend $5 a cup, in ten |
| write a financial statement report to see where | | | | days, you will spend $50. Spending $50 on coffee |
| our money went! After we created a financial | | | | is a little bit too much in 10 days. My wife and I |
| statement report, it was like an X-RAY to our | | | | love going to eat at sushi places; we used to go |
| financial problem, we could see where the | | | | eat sushi and spent $40 to $60/week. We |
| problem was and where our money went, the | | | | realized that in a month, we would spend over |
| money went to the monthly payment and | | | | $240 on sushi, so we decided to go there once a |
| maintenance of the SUV! | | | | month. Anything you don't respect will flee away |
| The credit unions that lend me the money | | | | from your life, so learn to respect your money. |
| charges $100 at least every time I made a | | | | 5. Keep in track all your expenses and incomes. I |
| payment. I asked the lady who worked there | | | | decided to buy a PALM PDA, so I can keep in |
| why they had to charge $100 for each car | | | | track all my expenses and incomes. I can |
| payment I made; she told me that they were | | | | compare the money that is coming in and the |
| collecting the interest for the loan up front! So | | | | money that is going out. I can see how much |
| every time I paid $265/month for the SUV, they | | | | money I have and how much money I owe. If |
| took $100 for the interest and the $165 toward | | | | you have $100 to $300 in invest, invest your |
| the principal of the loan. | | | | money you buy a PDA, because A PDA is a |
| It was hard to sleep at night when I had to think | | | | great tool to keep your financial record, just |
| about the cost of owning the SUV; I was scared | | | | make sure you add password to it, so no body |
| that our SUV would be repossessed by the credit | | | | else can get into your financial report. A friend of |
| unions if I failed to pay the monthly payments. | | | | mine told me that she was in debt, and when I |
| Within 9 months, we decided to sell the SUV and | | | | asked her, how deep she was in debt, she said "A |
| it was a relief. | | | | lot!" "How is a lot?" I replied. She answered "A lot, |
| I saw an advertisement on a car magazine, the | | | | and I don't know." I told her that she must find |
| owner of 2005 Porsche Boxster Sport advertised | | | | out how much money she owes the bank before |
| his 2005 Porsche for $10,000 and then it said; | | | | she can work on paying her debt. You can not hit |
| please take over the car payment of $750 | | | | a target that doesn't exist. You must have a |
| month! My wife and I said "Wow, $750/month!" | | | | target to aim and have the target written out. |
| We thought paying $265/month for our Lincoln | | | | John Cummuta includes a debt elimination program |
| Navigator was pretty bad. | | | | booklet in his audio series that has helped me a |
| Today we drive a Chrysler 300M car that we | | | | lot, because of his teaching, today we don't have |
| paid cash for it! It's not as big as the SUV, but we | | | | any more debt! |
| feel good driving it, because we own the car, and | | | | Everything starts in our mind. We have to change |
| no bank will repossess the car if they don't make | | | | the way we think about money. Instead of |
| the monthly payment. In fact, since we paid for it | | | | thinking about going into debt, we must start |
| cash, we don't have monthly payment! We can | | | | thinking about how to build wealth and how to |
| use the $265 that we used to pay the bank for | | | | make our money works for us instead of against |
| the SUV for our investment account. | | | | us. |
| In December 2005, I decided to buy John | | | | I keep telling people in invest in their mind over |
| Cummuta's series, Turning Debt into Wealth for | | | | and over again, because if you stop and think |
| my own Christmas present. I love what John | | | | about it right now, most of your wealth and |
| Cummuta said about the new car smell, if we like | | | | everything you have today is the result of what's |
| the new car smell, they sell it in a spray can and | | | | in your mind. Your ability to perform at your |
| you can spray it inside your car if you just want | | | | current job or business is determined by how |
| to smell the new car scent. I have not met John | | | | your mind thinks. Let say, you have a massive |
| Cummuta personally, but he has become my | | | | head injury and tomorrow and because of your |
| great financial intelligent and literacy mentor and I | | | | head injury you can not speak or write anymore. |
| am thankful that I found his audio series, because | | | | Since you can't speak and write anymore, you |
| John Cummuta has taught me a lot about not to | | | | won't be able to keep your current job or to run |
| go into debt and taught me a lot on how to build | | | | your business. So please never ever take the gift |
| wealth. | | | | of your brain and mind for granted! Your mind and |
| Every time my emotion goes crazy about buying | | | | brain can bring you're a vast amount of fortune |
| a new car or buying something on credit, I will | | | | and even make you a millionaire if you use it to |
| listen to his CDs series over and over again as a | | | | think! So start thinking my friend, think today and |
| reminder of the danger of getting into debt. | | | | use your mind to think! |
| Another thing that I learned from him is, when | | | | I hope this article has helped you understand why |
| you don't feel good or depressed, and you are | | | | going into bad debts is dangerous. Many people go |
| tempted to buy things on credit to make yourself | | | | into bad debts without realizing that they are |
| feel good, you can go ahead take a hot shower | | | | risking their financial future when they buy things |
| or bath, so you will feel better. If you haven't had | | | | today by using credit. I also hope that this article |
| the chance to listen to John Cummuta's audio | | | | has helped you to think right. |
| series, I encourage you to invest your money to | | | | I wish you the best in your life today and write |
| buy it. John will give you a great revelation about | | | | me today at , I would love to hear your success |
| the danger of getting into debt, teach you how to | | | | stories. God bless you in your journey toward |
| get out of it and start building your financial future. | | | | financial wisdom and May the Lord richly bless you! |
| One of the costliest things in our life is being | | | | |