Starting this past Sunday, Jon is facilitating a 13-week course offered through the Vineyard called Financial Peace University. It's basically a video series given by Dave Ramsey, who by the way is a very good public speaker, and very entertaining about the illustrations and even magic tricks he uses to discuss lessons. Jon is pretty entertaining himself as facilitator. Not only is he facilitating, but we are taking this course together as a couple in order to better our money habits. We've had one class so far and already I think we've gotten a lot out of it.
My father and my husband agree.. that I am NOT a numbers person, and although I know how to be smart with money, I know there are even smarter things about it that I can learn and put into practice.
The class is made up of a great combination of different folks: newlyweds, high schoolers, young couples with kids, older couples with kids, and older couples with college kids. We went around the room talking about our basic money triumphs and downfalls. I was kind of shocked to realize that I was basically the only one in the room who'd never maxed out a credit card, never been in debt, and who always had emergency money set aside for unexpectancies. I felt kind of weird when my turn came up to say: "I save well. I've always saved well and have never had problems" (and in my mind) "It's foolish to use credit cards when you don't have money!")
I realize that people will find themselves in desperate situations and think it necessary to use money that isn't there.. but the truth is that good money habits start young, and with discipline can be maintained throughout a lifetime. Had they done so, their predicament may be different.. But of course, it also depends on income, which for some people depends on their personality and their A) ability or willingness to keep a job or B) the type of job they choose. And of course there's always the ultimate chase for doing what makes you happy, which can be a real challenge and I recognize that.
I learned that sometimes my money habits are too "clench-fisted." One of Ramsey's examples discussed how money cannot come and go through a clenched fist, as opposed to an open hand that allows money to move fluently (side note, spending/saving is a good fluent action, as opposed to spending/spending). I thought about this, and realized how high on the list "giving" was (the list being the basic budget we had to fill out as homework). I've had big issues with this in the past, feeling that saving up was more important than giving (i.e. tithing/donating money to the church) but in the past couple years I've realize how important it is to do so.
It's true that you pretty much learn all of your money habits from your parents. My family has been pretty strict with money, but I get most of my spend little, save as much as possible habits from my dad. I think those habits are good, but there can be an extreme to them.. and I think somewhere in the extreme is where I overlooked the importance of giving.. and of saving up for the sole purpose of being able to spend a little extra on special things here and there.
Saving money is DEFINITELY a process as well as a commitment. And NOT spending money in order to do so is such a discipline, one that I'm probably too familiar with, but that so many people are not as I've witnessed in class. It really is a way of life, and because it is, it's a hard habit to change. I had good habits established, but I'm finding that some of my currently established habits need to change some because my finances have changed post-marriage ;)
Credit card debt is something I've never experienced before. Now I'm learning how best to work with it and how to eliminate it. It's not easy. We did our "bit more than basic budget" last night to find exactly how much we're saving per month.. Not at all what I originally had projected! But I'm pretty confidant that our current plan will allow our savings to increase well enough in time. I do get impatient though.. and patience seems to be the very thing with any of this stuff.. with jobs, with making money, with saving money, and with paying things off.
It is a lot to juggle at once.. and sometimes with those expenditure-related habit changes comes giving up certain things to allow for more savings to build. We learned that we spend a lot in groceries per month, and in dining out.. which I didn't think we ate out that often, but I guess we do at least once a week since we tend to enjoy a weekly date night. $20-30/week for a nice meal adds up for sure. We are not to starve ourselves, but to figure a way to spend money more wisely in that area.. or to make more homemade meals for lunches and for road trips.. which I'm actually quite accustomed to. My family always made lunches to pack in a cooler when we went on road trips or to fun outings like Six Flags or something. I'm not opposed to it. Yes it takes more PLANNING, but how hard is that? Not hard. Plus the homemade food is better for you anyway.
I'm really looking forward to seeing how we can improve our money and living habits with the goal of saving better. I like that kind of change and I like that kind of challenge. It'll be motivating to witness each other making the effort.
I'm already thankful for this class!
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