You might have heard of Dave Ramsey. He’s a national talk show radio host who takes calls from people like you who have questions about their finances, debt, investments, foreclosures, etc.
In addition to his radio show, he created a 13 week course called Financial Peace University. This faith based program is designed to help you get out of debt, invest in your future and have a stress free retirement. Too many of us struggle daily with our debt. There are those who can’t afford to pay the bills they incurred and those who can afford their bills but should utilize their cash better. Dave has 7 “Baby Steps” to getting out of debt and building wealth. I will mention these baby steps as I review each week in the course.
You can order a kit through Dave Ramsey’s web site or through your class coordinator. It is usually less expensive if you order through your coordinator. The kit includes a book called “Financial Peace Revisited”, envelopes that will be covered in a different review, a class workbook to take with you for each session, CDs to listen to for reviewing the class during the week and a few other goodies.
I have enrolled in this course because I would like to make the most of my money by getting out of debt sooner and building wealth for retirement. Each week as I take another course, I will provide a review of each session. My classes are held each Sunday night for the next 13 weeks.
The first session is titled “Super Savers”. The class is being held at a church near my home. It is expected to last two hours. We started by watching a 45 minute video. It sounds like a long time but it isn’t. Dave was comical in the video so time passed quickly.
The focus of the video was to start the first baby step which is to save $1,000.00 for an emergency fund. If your combined income is less than $20,000.00 per year then he recommends you save $500.00. Your main focus it to save $1,000.00 as quickly as you can. This will have to be done before you move on to baby step 2 which is the focus on paying down your debt. He touches on how you should build this small savings for emergencies and quit using the credit card for “emergencies. Because we hold these cards, we tend to use it when it really isn’t an emergency. Many times we need to spend money at the last minute for things we could have planned for like Christmas gifts. We know every year it’s held at the same time but still, we don’t save for it. You must define an emergency and if you’re married make certain that all parties agree what an emergency really is. This money should not be used unless it qualifies as a true emergency. If it doesn’t qualify, then you must save your money to make the purchase you want/need before purchasing it.
We were given assignments to follow throughout the week until we meet again. Below is a list of things we’ve been asked to do in order to be prepared for the next session.
1) Read Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 10 of the Financial Peace Revisited book.
2) Start making saving a priority.
3) Do a basic Quickie Budget (there’s a sample budget form in the workbook)
4) Write on paper what I consider an emergency
5) Begin to list all debts we intend to pay off during the course.
6) Listen to the FPU CD labeled “Super Savers” for a review of the first week.
I have already been listening to Dave Ramsey and knew the first step was to save $1,000.00. I have already saved these funds so I’m done with the first baby step. I have read the entire book already, done a budget and listened to all CD’s so I need to discuss with my spouse what an emergency is and list my debts I intend to pay off.
Because the first lesson is more about saving the $1,000.00, there isn’t much to elaborate on. Our class had a discussion about some things we could do to save money. One participant said he started cutting his own hair and as a result is saving $50.00 per month.
At this meeting snacks and drinks were provided and they passed around a sign up sheet for us to list the week we wanted to bring snacks. Peer pressure caused me to list my name but I found it ironic that we are paying for an entire class to snack when the goal of this course is spending money wisely and getting out of debt.
For week 1, I’d have to say I’m not 100% impressed. My goal for this class is to get motivated to pay down my debt and learn to invest wisely. Also, me and my spouse are usually not on the same page when it comes to spending money so I hope this course can bring us closer together with our money.
Stay tuned for my review of Lesson 2 “Cash Flow Planning.
