3 Part Financial Series: Part One

Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm pretty passionate about Dave Ramsey and his teachings. It's pretty easy to get me started on the baby steps or why a budget is so important or what you can do with your money once you're debt-free. I love to give. I like to bless people financially so that they can take mission trips or do things for the kingdom of God or just go buy a pair of crazy expensive sunglasses. The problem is that I feel my giving is somewhat limited because we are trying to get out of debt. You see we have school loans that have been around so long you would think they were pets. And I for one, do not want any more pets. I have enough people to take care of around here.

This fall Steve and I wanted to lead Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University but were unable to work out the logistics of hosting it. So I decided to write a small series here that would give you a snapshot of what you would learn in FPU. I highly recommend this class to everyone! On our 1 year wedding anniversary, Steve and I decided that instead of spending a bunch of money on a fancy dinner we would instead join FPU. This was and still is the greatest decision we ever made for our marriage (and cutting up our credit cards).

If I had to sum up all Dave Ramsey's teachings into one this is what I think it would be: Make a budget and follow it. It sounds so simple but yet so many don't do it. The truth is everything that you will do financially for your family starts here. Making a budget and sticking to it allowed me to breathe again. I didn't have to worry about enough money at the end of the month to buy food or to pay the light bill - it was all accounted for in the budget. Money to buy birthday gifts - it's in the budget. There is safety in a budget. There is better sleep and rest and less stress when you know there is enough money to pay for the necessities and hopefully some luxuries. A budget gives you a road map to where you want to go in life. Without it, it's like driving to Arizona from Alabama without a GPS - it's going to take forever and who knows if you will actually ever get there.

We need to get back to a simpler time. That's my new thing: keep it simple. Your budget doesn't have to be on a spreadsheet unless you have a love affair with Excel. You don't have to manage it on some pricey app or use some expensive financial software. If you own a pen and have paper - then you have a budget. Steve and I don't use any software or special tracking device for our money. We don't need it. We use Dave Ramsey's budget forms every month - they're free and you can download them here .        

Probably the hardest part is sitting down the first time with your spouse and writing down all your income, expenses and all your debt on a piece of paper. But at the same time there will also be a sense of relief that will wash over you. Because the thing you have been dreading, coming face to face with the actual amount of debt you have versus income, will force you to start acting differently. You can no longer just bury it under the rug. You have to do something about it. You will start with an emergency fund of $1,000 and then get your debt snowball rolling. In my next post, I will talk about the Baby Steps process. But for now, the most important thing you can do for yourself, your marriage, your children and your future generations is to get a written budget and stick to it.

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