At the beginning of the year, my wife and I enrolled in a class at our church called, "Financial Peace University." If you're reading this blog, my guess is that you've heard of it. It was created by a man named Dave Ramsey. Just a quick background on the scenario of the class: it consisted of 13 sessions where we watched pre-recorded performances of Dave Ramsey teaching his course to a live audience. We would also follow along with a workbook, filling in the blanks as we went. There was some discussion after the video and then we would wrap up the session in prayer.
About 2 weeks into the course, I felt as if my soul was being challenged. Here I was in a church-sponsored class listening to a Christian financial guru teach his ideas, yet my soul felt the need to wrestle Dave Ramsey's teachings. You see, Dave Ramsey is a great financial expert but throughout the first few sessions of the course, it seemed to me that Mr. Ramsey's goal for himself and for all Financial Peace participants was to gain wealth. From my understanding of the Bible, the rich have a harder time finding themselves in heaven than do the poor. Of course, some will inherit wealth and some will find themselves wealthy through hard work, but, nonetheless, all of this talk of 'gaining wealth' made me a bit concerned. It was time to ask myself hard questions such as, "Should my goal in life be to gain wealth?," and, "Does God really want me to be rich?" So I prayed and I talked to my wife about my feelings. I decided to continue in the class and just hear the man out. I'm here to write about why I'm glad that I continued and completed "Financial Peace University."
Dave Ramsey uses plenty of scripture to support his case for being debt-free, saving money, and never using credit cards. It's a bit hard to swallow these types of ideas given the world we live in. It's to be expected that most people unfamiliar with Dave Ramsey's teachings will crinkle their noses and think to themselves, "Cut up my credit card? This guy is nuts." Although, when you hear personal stories of people who have to file bankruptcy and feel trapped by debt, you start to realize that money is more than digits that we transfer from computer to computer. Money and how we handle it is one of the most important things that we will work with in our lives. What kind of car we choose to drive - not terribly important. What kind of music we like - obviously not life-or-death. What restaurants we favor - not much of a big deal. How we handle money - huge.
I cannot stress my stance on this enough. Other than finding a personal connection to God, time spent with family, and working hard at whatever job we have, I believe that how we handle our finances is one of the most important things that we will ever have to deal with. Money affects everyone. No one is immune to it. No one is so rich that they can't lose it all. Dave Ramsey's class helped my wife and I to write out a budget, where every single dollar we earn is accounted for before a new month begins. Not one single dollar is left without a name. Four-hundred to groceries, ninety to restaurants, seventy to clothing and on down the line. Money unnamed is money put to waste. "Didn't I just have a twenty in my wallet three days ago?" Yeah, Scott, it went to Burger King two days ago, buying a book of stamps yesterday, and sodas from the vending machine throughout the week. "Oh yeah, I forgot."
When you live by a written budget, you gain a new-found freedom. Doesn't make sense, does it? How can confining your spending to a written plan bring freedom? Confinement - freedom. Doesn't add up. But in fact it does. When you know that you have enough money set aside within your checking account to pay for bills, groceries, clothing, restaurants, entertainment, and even some savings, then the extra amount that you're earning on every paycheck can be directed more efficiently. To paraphrase Dave Ramsey, you're telling your money what to do, rather than it telling you what to do. Money has a funny way of leaving our hands. As soon as I make it, much of it is already spent. My wife and I used to save, but not very regularly. The shame of it is that we had the money, we just didn't put much of it into a savings account. When you write out a budget and have to account for, or give a name to, every dollar that you make, you suddenly find money that you can put to savings. This was a revelation to me. "Wait a minute! I can pay all of my bills, buy groceries, eat out a couple of times, get an oil change, buy myself a CD and a new pair of shoes, give some money to the church, and still have money to put towards savings?" For many of us, the answer to that hypothetical question is YES. It might not be much money that can go to savings, but any amount into savings is better than sitting in a no-interest checking account, only waiting to be spent at a vending machine in the office.
To wrap up, I feel that following a written budget has reigned-in my spending habits. It's made me a better financial steward with the money God has entrusted to me. To put it in other words, I earn money and I'm called to spend it responsibly. Thanks to Dave Ramsey's class, I can now do that. Sure, I have always given money to church and to some charities. The difference is that now I'm prioritizing and I'm doing it on paper. I'm taking care of the necessities and paying off debts that I've accumulated first and then the extra that I have can be freely spent on buying a "just-because" gift for a friend or splurging on that new video game. There is no guilt and, more importantly, there is no debt. Responsible spending - what a great idea. I wrestled with Dave Ramsey's teachings but found that gaining wealth isn't the ultimate goal - being responsible with my money is. I pray more Americans will join in this type of thinking.
There are "Financial Peace University" classes forming all over America. A local bank in my town is even offering one. Check out www.DaveRamsey.com for more information. He's also on the Fox Business Network and has an excellent radio show. I encourage anyone who feels like their money is in control of them to find a class in your area and sign up. If you dedicate yourself to it, the class and its teachings will change your life for the better.
Please see www.daveramsey.com/fpu/home/ and enter your zip code for classes offered in your area.
More info: www.daveramsey.com, www.myspace.com/dave_ramsey, 1-888-22PEACE
