The aches and pains of life by Pastor Ed Young

Why do we impulse buy?  Why do we do that? I’m glad you asked, because I have one of the answers.  Here they are, in my hands. The plastic piranhas—credit cards. I mean, these things are beautiful. They’re all colors and all different types. Here is my MasterCard.  It says “World” on it.  It makes me feel good.  I am a part of the club, the MasterCard club.  It says “Member since ’84; Edwin B. Young.” B stands for “Bad to the bone.”  Gold level. See, MasterCard is my friend.

They lure us in.  It’s incredible.  Credit cards are interesting, because when you use credit cards it is painless.  You just give the cashier the card and it is done.

Most of us, though, are on an American Express to debt; yet, we need to Discover a Visa to the Masters Card that will give us financial freedom.  Isn’t that the truth?  We do.

Here are two options with credit cards that are very practical. Number one, pay them off every month. Or, number two, cut them up. I will say it again.  We either pay them off or cut them up.  That is the game with the credit cards.  Impulse spending will mess you slap up.

There is another aspect of stupid spending—the void spender.  “I have a void in my life, something is empty in my life, something is sidewise in my life, so I will buy something. And when I buy something, that will give me fast, temporary relief to the aches and pains of life.  It will numb me out just for a second.”

But the problem is, once the shine wears off; once the new pair of shoes get scuffed, you are back to the same junk and funk.

The recreational spender is the third way we stupidly spend. “I am bored; I have nothing to do, so I just go to the mall.  Some people work out, I shop.  That’s my hobby.”