Financial Peace, week 2

Last night was our second week of Financial Peace University (FPU). Wow, what a great series this has already turned out to be. Even after working from 8:30am-6:30pm, I was still excited to attend class from 7-9. Dave is so charismatic and keeps you hanging on to every word with his clever wit. Okay, so here are the " baby steps" we have learned so far (keep in mind that there are a couple of baby steps before these, but we had already passed them before starting the class):
1) Invest 15% of income for retirement
2) Start saving for your (future) children's college fund
3)Pay off your home early

Even though we don't own a home yet, we are already thinking about a game plan. I've read ahead just a bit and was so glad to see that Dave addresses what you want to consider before buying, such as how much to put down, what type of loan to get, etc.

Because the classes we are taking is meant for churches to administer, Dave constantly relates the principles we are learning back to what the Bible has to say. We love that! He also talks constantly about money and marriage. Last night, we found out that I am the money "nerd" and Clint is the "free-spirit." (Not hard to believe if you know the 2 of us!) It's great to see how we balance each other out even with finances!

Teaching your children proper money saving techniques was also addressed. Wow, what an eye-opener this was for us. He pointed out 2 verses in the Bible that are never read together. Usually the first verse is the one that gets the focus, but it is clear that they are meant to go together:
Proverbs 22:6-7
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."
"The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. "

It was an "a-ha" moment for me and we don't even have kids :) Can you tell I'm eating this stuff up with a huge spoon?!? But, I won't go one forever because some of you might find this boring (you also might be the "free-spirit" like Clint). So lastly, I have to tell you about a hilarious document that we received in our class. If you know anything about Dave, it's that he is strongly against credit card usage. He has developed a letter to send to the credit card companies. You simply print it off and send it back in the pre-paid envelope that they send you when they junk up your mailbox with all their credit card offers. The great thing is that they have not clue who sent it to them because it is signed: Sincerely, Devoted to Being Debt Free." It's hilarious! I'm sending 3 off today in the mail. Our class is keeping track of all the offers we get and how much credit we get offered on a weekly basis. I know we get at least 5 in the mail a week! (Let me know if you want the letter and I'll send it to you. It's so funny because it has cute sharks swimming all over the page!)

As with any life-style change, you have to truly want to stick to it (just like losing weight, etc.) One of my favorite Dave quotes: "Live like no one else now, so later you can live like no one else!"

That's all for this week, stay tuned for more in the coming 10 weeks of FPU!