Money Matters
Note: I may earn money or products from the companies, products, or links mentioned in this post.
After I posted about the Financial Peace Class by Dave Ramsey that we are taking at our church on Wednesday nights, I have had a lot of people ask me to blog about what we are learning, and boy have we learned a lot so far! Last Wednesday night, was our first class, and then last night we had our second class. There are still I think 12 more weeks left, so still a lot to go over, but I will write a little about what we have learned so far.
We paid about $90. to take this class, and it came with a bunch of books and resources needed to do everything the class is about. At the class we watch a video lesson each week of Dave Ramsey talking and then we break up into small groups to discuss it. Here is a video preview of the first lesson. Dave Ramsey is actually really funny and he breaks everything down so it’s very easy to understand.
“An emergency fund is for those unexpected events in life that you can’t plan for: the loss of a job, an unexpected pregnancy, a faulty car transmission, and the list goes on and on. It’s not a matter of if these events will happen; it’s simply a matter of when they will happen.”
We learned that the emergency fund is not to be touched unless it is a real emergency! I really agree with this, because it makes things more secure. We can know that no matter what happens that we some money set aside to help us in case we need it. And as long as we don’t need it, we don’t touch it – no matter what!
You may ask how do you start this first baby step? Well, Jon and I before we even started this class had started a savings fund by setting aside $100. a month. We had already achieved our $1,000 but we were saving it for the things we are going to need for the baby. I talked to our teacher after the class about whether or not we should use the $1,000 we had already saved as our emergency fund, or for the baby like we had planned. The teacher said the emergency fund is more important. He pointed out that we will get lots of stuff at my baby shower, and that we should be fine. Right now we have been given a lot of stuff, so I am not too worried. I know God will provide the rest of what we need.
This is a great lesson. I started my personal savings account when I was 14 and I got my first job. I had every intention of not touching it for years and years to come. Every penny I earned at this and a few following jobs went directly into this savings account and has only grown since then. Now that Curtis and I are married our fund has fluxuated quite a bit, but has primarily stayed at the balance we started with.
Curtis and I have a hard time agreeing on this matter sometimes as I don't want to touch our savings AT ALL, but he feels it's ok to take a little here and there when we're running low in our checking account; however, I suppose we always end up balancing each other out since I put whatever money he took out right back in once he or I get paid. Plus, we have an automatic transfer set up that we put $100 a month into our savings as well.
Hey! We got our fetal heartbeat monitor from Baby Beats. They offer different kinds of monitors for different amounts of times, and while some are expensive, I think there's truly a package for everybody. They were very easy to work with too, and paid for hte return shipping once our rental period was over.
~Elizabeth
Confessions From A Working Mom
By the way, I (unfortunatetly) have not felt the baby yet. As a matter of fact, at my 20 week appointment we saw that the placenta is right between my belly and the baby, so it's acting as a barrier right now. The baby sure was moving quite a bit, so we know he's an active little guy. Anyway, the X-Ray tech. said that I should be able to feel movement in the next few weeks.
Have you felt anything yet?
What a great post. My husband and I have always been careful with our money and now we are having a wonderful retirement while others are struggling. It really does pay off. Loved the quote about if you don't worry what others are thinking now the later you won't have to worry…it is true. However I still struggle with the idea of keeping up with the "Jones"
Mary
Sounds like you are on your way!
And if a mom of four can offer a little baby tip – they actually need very little. We have just been conditioned to think we need to buy all of that stuff!
Came over from SITS.
Hello! I found you through your guest post on my friend Janet's blog. I was so surprised to see your post on Financial Peace University, because my husband and I are taking that same class at our church! We go every Thursday and have attended three so far.
It's an amazing class, huh? We are learning so much and hoping to quickly get out of all our student loan debt. I love how Dave Ramsy puts everything into perspective.
I'm so glad I found your blog. It would be great to have someone to chat with about the class!
I have read Dave Ramsey's books and we also offer the course out our church. Although I'm not a financial professional, I try to help other people to manage their money and stay out of debt. My first job in this area is to teach my children how use manage money properly. Although we never had much money, my mother taught me the value of money at an early age.