Financial Peace

I remember while living in Tennessee listening to WWTN radio and hearing Dave Ramsey's "The Money Game". It is an entertaining financial advice radio show where people call in asking questions regarding the mess their finances are in and Dave offers suggestions for how they might best deal with the situation. He is entertaining and right on the money (no pun intended) most of the time. He explains otherwise boring information in easy-to-understand terms. Dave offers what he calls "Financial Peace University" where he teaches either in a seminar format or on video over a longer period of time, the principles needed to eliminate debt and to save money. He admits that most of his information has been around for many years and is quite simple, but he delivers it in a new way. Most of the people who graduate from FPU eliminate, on average, about $5,300 in debt and save about $2,700 in just 91 days. He teaches budgeting and uses the envelope system which forces you to stick to a budget and use cash for purchases.

Jack, our minister at Circleville, is a certified trainer and we are going through the classes now. Our first class was on Saturday. It is exciting to dream of being debt free and scary at the same time because it will require a change in our behavior and lifestyle. Dave says that you have to get a little crazy and maybe sell some things, which may make the kids think they will be sold next. He also teaches how to teach children about money and how to handle it so that they will learn to handle it and not be handled by money.

I am thankful that God's word has much to say about money and our stewardship of it. I pray that many will benefit from the information in the class and that Jodi and I will grow because of it.