July 23, 2001

Women warned of credit 'beast'
___By George Henson
___Staff Writer
___FORT WORTH--Like many grandfathers, Bob Northcut used to watch Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" with his granddaughter.
___Their conversation was a little different, though.
___"I can remember telling her, 'This is the ugliest beast in our country,' and pulling out a credit card," Northcut said.
___He's still warning people about the dangers of debt, including those attending breakout sessions at the Celebrating the Hispanic Woman conference, held July 13-14 at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.
___"There is a very thin line between owning your possessions and your possessions owning you," Northcut said. "And it is a biblical truth that for you to have a right relationship with God, you have to own your possessions."
___The Bible speaks a great deal about money and possessions, so much so that money and possessions are referenced twice as often as prayer and faith combined, he explained.
___"If your pastor isn't preaching on money or possessions, he isn't being very biblical," Northcut said. "So the next time he preaches on money or possessions, tell him, 'Thank you for preaching the Bible.'"
___The level of debt directly affects what amount of money is left for kingdom purposes, he said. "Your money and possessions affect the level of generosity you can attain."
___Getting control of finances was the center of Northcut's seminar, "How to Save Money When there is None to Save."
___"You will never become wealthy if you have debt," he said. "Debt is the destroyer of wealth. If you are going to eliminate debt, you have to save money."
___Eating out fewer times, buying fewer clothes and paying more than the minimum payment on credit card balances will not do it, he warned. "You cannot become debt-free without saving money."
___While many financial advisers suggest paying off a credit card, then cutting it up and beginning work on another, it has been his experience that after the debt is paid down a new financial emergency comes up and the debt is reaccumulated.
___The only way out of the cycle, he said, is to become your own banker with money that has been saved.
___So how does a family save money if there isn't any?
___One way is to simply make savings a priority. "Why not pay yourself first, because you're going to run out of money before the end of the month anyway. You'll learn to live on what's left," he said.
___"Human nature is to go into debt and borrow money and not to save money," he said. "You have to reverse human nature and make saving a habit."
___

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