I'm attending the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University.
I've gone twice so far.
LOVE. IT.
Since I have started going, I feel empowered. Hopeful. I think about money in a completely different light.
The people that I am taking the class with are awesome. I love our discussions. I learn so much from them and walk away each class so renewed and ready to face our family's finances. We all come from different backgrounds. But the theme is resounding with each of us - and that is, no matter how much money one makes, we are all looking for ways to become at peace with our finances, using a budget, reducing our debts, being generous with our money, and building wealth.
Dave Ramsey's motto is "If you will live like no one else, Later you can live like no one else.
I love that tithing to one's church is a huge part of Dave's philosophy and one of his steps. I also love how important it is to him that we teach our children these concepts and that we make the words "debt, 401K, mutual funds, savings, compound interest, etc.," a part of our family's daily vocabulary and conversation.
We've made some really good strides. But because we are on such a tight budget to begin with, we've had to make some cut backs in other areas of our life in order to be able to follow the steps in Dave's Financial Peace course. Here are some that we have been doing:
-Our family has only eaten out once in the last couple of months (We have usually eaten out about once a paycheck). We havn't missed it.
-I am making larger portions of the foods my family likes so that we can try and eat these meals a couple of times during the week. Plus, I'm still making my own bread.
-I've seriously cut back on buying fruit snacks, granola bars, crackers and other expensive snacks. (I've always had a love/hate relationship with them anyway - loved that they were convenient, but hated how unhealthy they are) My kids are, well.....coping. In our Sunday morning family council where we discuss family matters, Porter has helped us come up with some healthier, more economical snacking ideas which has helped.
-I've set my washing machine to cold and I'm using homemade powdered laundry soap and having great results!
-And yes. I've done the unfathomable. I have seriously cut down my trips to Costco. (Since it has come to town, my grocery budget has really gone up and I havn't necessarily seen HUGE savings) I am very loyal to WinCo (a large discount grocery chain in my area) and I know their prices by heart, so I feel, at least for the time, that I will be saving money by loading up at Winco and having an occasional trip to Walmart or Costco.
-Nothing is going on the credit card. Nothing. It's not an option.
-We have down-scaled Christmas. A lot. But we look forward to being together and sharing in our many wonderful traditions. Plus, we can't wait to give away the homemade gifts that we have made together this year. They rock.
We are working hard at heading towards financial peace as a family. It feels really good. And I have Dave Ramsey to thank for reminding me of the things I already know, but he puts them into such a fun and innovative light, that it seriously has given me a completely new perspective on handling each and every dollar that comes in.
8 comments:
I need that class nat, I wish I could go with you! I am loving the things you have done with your fam, and I want to make some of them our goals as well.
Sounds like you are doing great with this. I am sure Shane would love for me to take this class! Also, love the motto! I am going to print it out!
Natalie,
I wish I had talked about finances with our children. I always thought it was so personal and private. I really love all these ideas you have listed. And, I'm so impressed that you are doing what you are learning about. Very impressive, indeed.
Thank you for sharing what you have learned.
Ooooh, I would love to be in that class with you! I am reading his book as we speak, and my husband just finished it. I am so glad you listed some of your cutbacks, as we are wondering where to scale back too. We don't splurge on much and keep things pretty tight so it's hard to see what to do and where to make changes. We are thinking about cutting the internet, but then I wonder if I will go crazy across the country from my family and no way to bog from home! I also wonder, can I be brave like you and do my own detergent?! Our goal right now is to knock out student loans. Actually, we are almost done with step 1 (the saving) and THEN we can knock out those loans. We are scaling back Christmas too, as in only the kids get gifts and just small ones. Which we are okay with because we've been in school every other Christmas and we are used to being tight around that time. And our gifts for our families are homemade too. They are basically for the wives because what man wants a homemade Christmas pillow to decorate with?!
Please keep sharing how this is going for you! It is inspiring to know others are making changes too! And I find your resourcefulness and love for your home and family inspiring too. I will always remember your post saying that you had your food storage, and being a mom with young kids like you, I realized we could reach that goal too!
P.S. I went private, so if you want a blog invite e-mail me at he4rken@yahoo.com
You are truly amazing and make me want to do better. Thanks for sharing your life; it really is an example for others.
This is awesome!! Jim and I have been trying to follow a lot of the principles you have discussed and I love some of the new ones. Would you be willing to share the laundry soap recipe. Do you think the clothes come out as clean using cold water??
What are some of your snack ideas??? I am always looking for good healthy snacks that you do not have to buy!!
Thanks for the pattern for the cute sock monsters, we are looking forward to making some!!
I have to ask...how much is this course? I could use some financial peace myself.
p.s. you don't know me but I see you comment on Loni's blog a lot so I thought I'd pop on over.
p.p.s. love your sock monsters :)
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