Katie Davis : Kisses from Katie

Dave Ramsey interviewed Katie Davis this week to discuss her book, Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption. Katie has lead quite a life in a short time, at 18 she visited Uganda for the first time. There was an instant attraction on a level she did not understand at the time.

During the summer of the following year, she returned to Uganda to teach Kindergarten at an orphanage. As she observed how the children lived and the lack of education in the area, she started a sponsorship program that lead to Amazima Ministries International, a non-profit organization dedicated to the people of Uganda.

Now living there and the mother of 13 adopted daughters, Katie is 24 years old and has made this her life. Sounds like a great story!

Dave Ramsey's top five books

Dave Ramsey's top 5 books


Dave Ramsey (The Lampo Group, 1992) has five, short, easy to read, books they give to all new hires. They all share a common principle shared with the organization and are required reading within the first 90 days of employment.

QBQ! The Question Behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability at Work and in Life by John Miller, provides a method for putting personal accountability into daily action, which can bring astonishing results: problems get solved, barriers come down, service improves, teamwork grows, and people adapt to change. Change is constant.

The Legend of the Monk and the Merchant: Principles for Successful Living by Terry Felber is an adventure of personal growth - set in 16th century Italy. Readers will meet and join young Julio, who is taken on a quest into adulthood - as his grandfather reveals mysterious family secrets.It will change the way you think about your career, wealth, and success.

The Go-Getter: A Story that Tells You How to Be One by Peter B. Kyne. Since 1921, this  book has inspired employees and entrepreneurs to take initiative, increase their productivity, and excel against the odds. In a time when jobs are tight and managers are too busy for mentoring, how can you maintain positive energy, take control of your career, and prepare yourself to ace the tests that come your way? By applying the timeless lessons in this compulsively readable parable, employees at all levels can learn to rekindle the go-getter in themselves.

Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life
 by Dr. Spencer Johnson. A classic. Takes the fear and anxiety out of managing the future and shows people a simple way to successfully deal with the changing times, providing them with a method for moving ahead with their work and lives safely and effectively.

Rhino Successes: The Secret to Charging Full Speed Toward Every Opportunity by Scott Alexander will show you how to have a better balance in the six major areas of your life: FINANCIAL, WORK, PHYSICAL, FAMILY, SOCIAL AND SPIRITUAL.Be able to be a Rhino and roll through stuff.

Bank of America to end debit card over draft fees

Bank of America recently announced they will end charging the $35.00 over draft fee for those who try to use their debit card for a transaction that will result in a negative balance on their checking account. This is a great move and one more step towards common sense in the banking industry.  Don't spend money you don't have.

Rules set by the Federal Reserve that will ban banks from charging such fees, without first getting permission from the customer, are set to take effect July 1st, but Bank of America is going a step further than the regulations require. It will simply no longer allow debit card purchases to go through if there isn't enough money in the account.

For ATM withdrawals, customers who try to withdraw more than their balance will have to agree to pay a $35 overdraft fee before they can proceed with the transaction.  This should take effect June 1st for new accounts and in August for existing customers.

Dave Ramsey fans eliminate at least $23 million in debt in 2009!

It was a very good year for people turning their lives around in 2009. Throughout the year, between Dave Ramsey radio show listeners who call into the show on Fridays and scream "I'M DEBT FREE!" and viewers of his Fox 2 show, they eliminated a combined $23,972,100 in debt during the year!  Keep in mind, the amount of debt paid off is much more than that as it does not include those who are eliminating their debt through the Financial Peace program at locations throughout the country and those who call into the show on other days and listeners taking care of business who do not call in.

Dave Ramsey is everywhere! Whether it's on radio and television or in books and newspapers, Dave is spreading his message of debt-free living through all forms of media. Each day, he offers callers and readers life-changing advice on how to beat debt, build wealth, and change their family trees forever.

For more information or to find a local radio station where you can hear Dave, visit www.DaveRamsey.com

Credit Card settlement information

I recently went through an interesting scenario with American Express. I have been a customer of theirs for 10 years now.  I had a balance of $5,200 as of a few months ago. I contacted customer service to inquire about settlement options with my account. I have been out of full time work for over a year now and wanted to explore my options. This card is my only open credit card and I planned to keep it open after paying off the balance.

The customer service rep was very helpful. We spoke a few times over four days. He explained the process to me and told me I would need to apply for a settlement amount and he would let me know if I was approved or not.  A few days later, after thinking the process through, I chose to continue paying down my full balance as that was the only correct solution, after all, I did charge the amount to my card, I do not expect someone else to pay my debt.

A day later, I received a notice in the mail that because I had applied for a settlement approval my card was canceled. Also, my interest rate went from 12.99% to 27.9%!  I immediately contacted customer service again. Explaining I was not aware that by simply applying for a settlement my account would be closed. I was aware that if I accepted it that would be the case.

Long story short, after 10 years as a loyal customer, the door was slammed shut on me. I was current on my account, I was proactive in contacting them to discuss options. I did not accept the settlement, I am aggressively back to a debt snowball attacking this final credit card balance and will never look back. Adios American Express, thanks for nothing!

How to keep up your credit score

Source: www.Freep.com

These days, a good score is around 720 points or higher. Here are some tips to help you maintain or improve your credit score:

• Do not apply for several credit cards. Applying for a store credit card could cut 10 points off the credit score of some consumers with good credit.
• Pay all bills on time -- utilities, mortgage, credit cards, etc. Lenders customarily don't report you as late to the credit bureaus until you have missed the original due date by at least 30 days. Being a month late with all payments, for example, might lower a credit score by from 60 to 110 points.
• Missing a payment on one account that wasn't already late could slice 40 to 75 points from some credit scores.
• Keep your credit card balances low on all cards, much lower than half of the available limit on your credit cards. Maxing out can cut credit scores by 45 to 100 points.
• Negotiating a debt settlement with creditors can lower some credit scores by 45 to 125 points. A short sale on a home would be reported as a debt settlement.
• A loan modification to get a lower mortgage payment and stay in your home could impact your credit score. In some cases, consumers could see credit scores drop by 100 to 150 points.
• Having your home foreclosed on could knock 45 to 100 points off your credit score, depending on where your score started.
• Filing for bankruptcy will hurt some credit scores by 195 to 255 points.

Credit Card fees for paying your balance monthly

USATODAY reports that Bank of America and Citigroup plan to impose new fees on their credit card customers starting in 2010.

Citigroup has already started charging an annual fee to those customers who do not charge at least a certain amount, around $2,400 on their cards annually. Bank of America is said to start charging a fee ranging from $29 to $99 for those customers who pay off their balance every month avoiding interest payments.

To me this is one more reason to NOT use a credit card. For those who insist you must have at least one to maintain a good FICO score, I challenge that by reminding you it is possible to maintain a high credit score using other means and never need to pay the credit card company another dime.

See the USATODAY article here