Join My War on Identity Theft

Nearly a year has passed since I was the unsuspecting victim of Identity Theft. In the past year, I've learned a ton about how to protect yourself and your family from this horrible crime. I'm declaring the first Thursday of every month "Eye on Identity Theft" day at my blogs and am going to begin nagging you to protect yourself. You can read my first installment today over at Productivity @ Home and share your tips too! Please don't be victimized like I was - take time today to educate and protect yourself, your spouse, and your children.

Resource Helps Start the New Year on the Right Financial Foot!

With all the discussion this week of finance, stocks diving and nearing recession, I thought this would be a great time to revisit one of the best family finance resource for Catholics: Phil Lenahan's 7 Steps to Becoming Financially Free: A Catholic Guide to Managing Your Money

The book and its accompanying workbook are also available through our Catholic Company store.

Here's some helpful information about this terrific resource:

Packed with anecdotes and real life experiences, 7 Steps to Becoming Financially Free: A Catholic Guide to Managing Your Money offers a solid Catholic perspective on how to make the most of God's generous gifts. In addition to understanding the necessary nuts and bolts of financial management, budgeting, and investing, discover how your Catholic Faith can be the base of a sound financial future!

Author, financier, and life-long Catholic, Phil Lenahan weaves personal experiences with catechetical training and real financial counseling experience to provide clarity on some of the biggest issues facing you and your families today:

• Developing a closer relationship with the Lord
• Strengthening your marriage and family life
• Getting out of debt
• Paying for your children's education
• Managing your money more effectively
• Buying your own home
• Investing in your future

... and all the while, staying true to how God intended for you to manage His gifts.

The headline caught my attention - SoCal Fires Burn Valley Food Banks - but it was the picture that really drove the message home. Help is needed...today. Sure, my parish food drive and the kids' annual canned food collection will take place Thanksgiving week, but the need for community support of our food banks is ongoing, not based on the holiday schedule.

At my church, we have a monthly drop off for collecting donations of rice and beans, but I'm sad to say that I frequently forget to come to church armed with a donation. I have the best of intentions, but too often my lack of organization keeps me from following through.

That's why I just got off the phone with our local Catholic Charities food bank, where I made a small pledge to donate on a recurring basis. I mentally calculated what we could afford, estimating what I might spend if I actually made it to the store and donated those rice and beans each month. The lady on the phone kindly took my pledge - when I apologized about the size of the donation, she encouraged me. "Every little bit helps, and this will add up over time." The hit to our budget will be minimal, and the donation will recur automatically without me having to remember it.

Many of us remember to make charitable donations at the usual times - at Christmas, year end, and around tax time, but social service and faith based organizations need our support year round. By setting up automatic donations, you assure your ongoing giving and chances are you won't even miss the funds you set aside to donate. There are many ways to do this - online, over the telephone, through online bill pay, or via credit card. It's quick, easy and painless - plus you get the added benefit of knowing that no matter what else you accomplish today, you've done something to help someone in need. That's a great feeling. And don't feel bad if the amount you are able to donate seems small or insignificant.

Remember, every little bit helps.

Deep Freeze Your Credit to Protect Your Identity

Because I am so passionate on this topic, I wanted to share my post today from Productivity @ Home. You wouldn't leave the door to your family home unlocked and wide open to predators, so don't leave your family finances unprotected.

This recent article from CNN Money brings more good news for those of us fighting the war against the growing problem of identity theft. For anyone who is about to tune out and think, "That will never happen to me...", let me beg you to take steps to thoroughly protect your credit and identity. As a victim of identity theft last Spring, I am still sorting out the details that left my credit a complete disaster. I thought I was sufficiently protected - I was wrong.

In her article Putting a Freeze on Credit, author Gerri Willis reports that by year's end consumers in all fifty states will have the option to place a "security freeze" on their credit. These freezes essentially place a lock on your credit, requiring you to call in with a PIN and ID prior to the approval of new credit. You would not believe how easy it truly is for someone to assume your identity and immediately accrue thousands of dollars of debt in your name without any challenge. While there is a charge for freezing and unfreezing your credit when you apply for new accounts, the charge is minimal in relation to the time and money it takes to retrieve your credit once it has been compromised.

As long as I'm on this topic, I would strongly recommend that every family invest in some form of credit monitoring. Had I known what a hassle I would have to live through as a victim of this crime, I would never have objected to the monthly fee.

Do some homework today regarding your state's options for freezing credit and consider it time well spent!

Another Awesome Catholic Giveaway!!

Chris Cash, of the Catholic Company's awesome Catholic Spotlight podcast wrote me this week to share that he is running a great giveaway in conjunction with his upcoming interview with Phil Lenahan, author of 7 Steps to Becoming Financially Free - A Catholic's Guide.

I am greatly impressed by this book and the accompanying workbook. Please take time today to visit Chris' site and follow the simple rules to enter this contest. The book offers life changing wisdom and guidance that will benefit both your spiritual and financial life!

10 Commandments of Managing Money

I can't wait for my next issue of Canticle Magazine. Over at her blog, Heidi Hess Saxton gives readers a little sneak peak of an article the magazine will feature with Francine Huff, author of The 25-Day Money Makeover for Women. At her web site, Francine has a quiz that helps readers assess their need for a money makeover.

Subscribe to Canticle Magazine today and don't miss Francine's article.

Becoming Financially Free

We tend to think about finances at certain times of the year - Christmas, when we budget for gift giving and end of the year donations; after New Year's, when those credit card bills start to come in from the holidays; and of course, April 15 - Tax Day!

How many of us think seriously about family finances in the end of May? We're too busy planning family cookouts and summer vacations. But before we know it, next year's Tax Day will be upon us again.

I've been receiving information about a parish program that looks to have some wonderful potential. Our Sunday Visitor's 7 Steps to Becoming Financially Free Catholic Small-Group Study is based on six 90-minute weekly sessions, with an additional orientation “meet and greet” and post-program graduation celebration. The study is based on the wonderful book by Catholic author Phil Lenahan .

I personally plan to use Phil's book this summer to work my way to "Financial Freedom", and would love to see this program implemented at my parish. I've heard wonderful things about the work of Dave Ramsey and his "Total Money Makeover", but Lenahan's 7 Steps program offers the benefit of being uniquely Catholic. If you've used either program, I'd love to hear your comments.

• 7 Steps to Becoming Financially Free: A Catholic Guide to Managing Your Money by Phil Lenahan