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Hyundai Assurance Plus Program

It was Hyundai who first made big headlines by making an offer you can’t refuse:  if you buy a car from us and subsequently lose your job, you may turn in the car without any hits to your credit.

Now, they’ve upped the ante with their new Hyundai Assurance Plus program.

Under this new version, if the Hyundai buyer loses his or her job within a year of purchase, Hyundai will pay the vehicle loan or lease for 90 days during that year while the owner looks for work.  If the owner finds another job and keeps the vehicle during that 90-day grace period, Hyundai’s “got-your-back” payments do not have to be repaid.

Others following suit & getting creative

Here’s a few more that are now following suit with incentives to keep dollars circulating:

1. From Hyundai to Honda. Baseball season is nearly upon us.  Vandergriff Honda, a dealer in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, now has the following promotion to entice borrowers:  Buy a new Honda from them between March 9-16, and they will pay your car off should the Texas Rangers win their first 4 games AND the New York Yankees lose their first four games.  That’s right, Rangers 4-0 + Yankees 0-4 = FREE Honda!
2. Layoff Protection Program. Irvine-based Western National Property Management, Orange County’s (CA) second-largest landlord, will now allow a family to move out of their apartment with 30 days notice if the primary bread winner loses his or her job. The tenant would still have to pay that last month’s rent, but would not be liable for the balance of the lease.
3. Homeowner Education and Loan Protection Program (H.E.L.P.).  For this recession-proof mortgage, the deal is simple:  If you loan or refinance a home with State Mortgage and involuntarily lose your job within two years after starting the mortgage, the company will cover six months of payments with no maximums.
4. The Lord giveth… Churches and other religious congregations aren’t immune to hard times.  As they began seeking pledges to the annual stewardship campaign last week, church leaders at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Indianapolis offered an unusual assurance to members:  Lose your job during the course of the year and the church would refund the contributions you’ve already made. “It transcends the money,” said Eric Hinkle, acting president of the church’s board of trustees.  “It’s about deepening the relationship between your community and your church.”

Your Opinion?

WOW, even churches are getting creative during hard economic times.  I for one think the more creative, the better.  Those who are willing to connect to their audience on an emotional and psychological level will be benefited with customer (and parishioner!) loyalty once we make it through the hard times.

Which ideas above do you like?  What ideas would you come up with to spur business?

Personal Finance charity, church, giving, Honda, Hyundai, landlord, lease, marketing, mortgage, offering

It’s Mardi Gras time.  Fat Tuesday was yesterday, and in most Western Christian traditions, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, the forty-day long liturgical season of fasting and praying leading up to Easter.

Here’s Lent in a nutshell according to Spirit Home:

The three traditional practices to be taken up with renewed vigour during Lent are prayer (justice towards God), fasting (justice towards self), and almsgiving (justice towards neighbour). Today, some people give up a vice of theirs, add something that will bring them closer to God, and often give the time or money spent doing that to charitable purposes or organizations.

Give UP for Lent

Most common vices people give up are alcohol, or sweets, like chocolate.  But I challenge you to sacrifice some of your normal spending.  It can be both a religious & financial reward!

Here’s a few things you could give up for Lent that are financially rewarding:

1. Eating out at sit-down restaurants
2. Eating out altogether
3. Going to sporting events
4. Going to concerts
5. Getting a manicure/pedicure
6. Buying more clothes
7. Give up smoking or caffeine
8. ??? (add something in the comments below!)

Add something for Lent

What can you add that could be spiritually and financially rewarding?

1. A monthly household budget
2. Join a website that uses personal finance software to categorize & track  your expenses)
3. Read a financial related book (The Total Money Makeover or Automatic Millionaire)
4. Take a financial course (Financial Peace University or Crown Financial Ministries)
5. Read the book of Proverbs
6. ??? (add something in the comments below!)

Give TO something for Lent

This is a no-brainer.  We should give to those less fortunate or to the organizations that help them.  But I also challenge you to give your time — it often costs us more, and certainly provides us more benefit and personal reward of being intricately involved in a cause.

What will you be doing for Lent?? What would you add to the above lists??

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Personal Finance Budget, charity, frugal, giving, Lent, Mardi Gras