The French Revolution
On July 17th, Dave Ramsey’s new, revamped Financial Peace University will be available for those who need to learn how to handle their money in these tough times. He helped me survived my husband’s deployment. Could it help you?
When I met my husband at 20, I didn’t know how to balance a checkbook.
For the first seven years of marriage, my husband David and I didn’t keep track of our checks or ATM withdrawals. Whatever financial penalty due to unnoticed bank errors, we counted as the cost of freedom. After one too many bounced checks, however, my husband bought a computer checkbook to bring some financial organization. But when the novelty wore off, he turned over the responsibility to me, which was like giving a toddler a chess board and being surprised when he eats it. My jaunt as financial planner lasted until I got the phones disconnected and bounced our tithe checks, while David’s lasted until he realized he couldn’t mail the bills due to a lack of stamps.
Our laziness extended to other areas of life as well. When a light bulb went out, we sat in the dark for months, wearing mismatched socks and putting Preparation H on our toothbrushes until one of us caved in. Additionally, David would drive by Blockbuster with a due video sitting on the passenger seat just to avoid making a left turn. He’d think, “Would I pay three dollars to not have to return this video right at this moment?” Of course, it never was just three dollars. Once, David sold his Honda Accord only to have the new owner call us a week later saying she’d found a never-watched Reversal of Fortune in the trunk.
But after 9/11, we grew up a little. David joined the Army and was deployed to Iraq. He left me with complete financial responsibility over our family. (And we were $70,000 in debt, in spite of my husband’s Ivy League degree, living paycheck to paycheck.) I got two jobs while he was gone, and began trying to follow financial advisor Dave Ramsey’s advice.
Dave Ramsey, in case you haven’t been near a television set, a book store, or a radio for a few years, is America’s most trusted voice on money and business. I read his books, listened to his radio show, and utilized some budgeting tools on his website to make sure my husband didn’t return home from his deployment with a “foreclosure” sign in our yard. Ramsey’s program Financial Peace University has helped 1.5 million families since it began in 1994. (It works! On average families who complete the course have paid off $5,300 and saved $2,700 in the first 90 days.)
On July 17th, a new, revamped Financial Peace University will be available for those who need a little extra help in these tough times. Apparently, the new version of Financial Peace teaches the same principles, but the experience is richer, more intuitive to implement, and – well – cooler. After all, sometimes Dave steps aside and lets Jon Acuff, author best-selling book Quitter and popular blog Stuff Christians Like – take the helm, as well as Dave’s daughter Rachel Cruze, and Lampo counselor Chris Hogan.
How does it work? [Click on Next Page Below]
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