"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." – Galatians 5:22-23a Read more...

News You Can Use

Holiday Hangover
As has become normal this time of year, lots of folks are feeling the pain of going overboard with gift buying this past holiday season. As reported by the Associated Press, a Consumer Reports survey found that 23 percent of people say they will not pay off their holiday bills until March or later. Read more...

Financial Optimism
Americans are feeling "moderately upbeat" about their finances. According to a Pew Research Center study, 67 percent expect their financial situation to improve "some" or "a lot" this year. Among other findings, there's almost an even split between those who say they are "living comfortably" (38 percent) and those who say they are either just meeting expenses or that they don't have enough for the basics (32 percent). One other finding of note: 38 percent of workers say they have no retirement plan other than Social Security. Read more...

Credit Confidence
The number of people who say they use credit responsibly is higher than those who actually do. According to a survey from Fair Isaac Corp., developer of the most widely used (FICO) credit score, 89 percent of adults say they use credit responsibly. However, less than 75 percent have a credit score of 650 or higher, the minimum threshold for getting good interest rates on a mortgage, car loan, or other credit. The survey also found that only 41 percent of people understand what goes into a credit score. Read more...

Media Hungry
The average American spends nearly 10 hours of every day using some form of media: TV, the Internet, radio, movies, or reading. As reported in the Chicago Tribune, new Census Bureau figures show that the average person spends the equivalent of two months of every year just watching TV. Read more...

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