If you are just tuning in I’m taking the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University classes and reviewing them each week. If you missed any you can catch them here;
- Week 1: Super Saving
- Week 2: Relating To Money
- Week 3: Cash Flow Planning
- Week 4: Dumping Debt
- Week 5: Credit Sharks in Suits
- Week 6: Buyer Beware
- Week 7: Clause and Effect
- Week 8: That’s Not Good Enough
- Week 9: Of Mice and Mutual Funds
- Week 10: From Fruition to Tuition
- Week 11: Working in Your Strengths
- Week 12: Real Estate and Mortgages
The Class
The last class is about giving. There are some amazing stories about giving throughout the class. I won’t spoil the surprise but I was pretty teary eyed at a lot of them. Ok, I cried. Jeeze. But they are very touching.
My fears about the class being very religious were fulfilled in this class. All of the previous classes weren’t overly religious. I was worried that because it’s held at a church and intended to be given to people who attended church that it would be filled with religion. I mean, that’s a reasonable assumption. And I don’t have a problem with religion, it’s just that I’m not religious. So for those out there who are like me and want to take the class but worry that it will be too “churchy” I can tell you that it’s not… until the last class. Most of the giving that was talked about was tithing and how about we are just stewards of God’s money. Which again, if you are Christian and go to church that’s fine. But if you aren’t Christian or don’t practice your religion by going to church then you can’t really relate.
The Sharing
We started off the class with some homemade pound cake and apricot sauce. The apricots were even home-grown! I certainly can’t promise homemade cake with sauce made from back yard fruits but I do hope you get a celebration if you decide to take the class. If you make it through all the classes (you are allowed to miss one) then you get a certificate of completion.
We went over the baby steps and the importance of each. Then somehow we got on the topic of student loans and how bad they are. At the very end of class they handed out our certificates. Only three people got one. I was surprised by that. I thought most people came to every class, but I guess I wasn’t paying much attention.
I feel weird that we aren’t going back anymore. I really want to know how The Pinks are going to fare in the future. I wish I could get updates.
Overall
Ok, since the class is over I thought I’d give some overall thoughts. I think this class is definitely worth the money spent. There is a lot of great information presented. So much that if you are just learning to handle your finances you will probably want to take the class several times because as your knowledge grows you will keep getting more and more out of the class. Luckily once you pay for the class you can go again as much as you want. You can pop in and out and take the classes you need and skip the ones you don’t need. So it’s a great deal.
Some of the Dave Ramsey stuff makes me a little crazy but I don’t straight up disagree with much, if anything. So if you want to become a full-out Dave Ramsey follower I don’t have a problem with that at all.
So take the class!!
Congratulations on completing the course, Ashley! I’ve really enjoyed reading about your experiences weekly, and it sounds like you got a lot of out of the class. Maybe you could tell your readers what changes (if any) you are implementing in your own life as a result of the course?
ah, good idea Travis. I can say that I have the budgeting, saving, frugal living thing down pat. I’m working on the income side of the equation, and the investing and giving parts of money still need a lot of work.
I’m going to start looking into changing the mutual funds in my IRA around, and I’ll probably use Dave’s suggestions. Also, giving is something I need to work on so I’m going to let that roll around in my head for a while and see what comes out.
Greetings Ashley,
I stumbled across this article and want to read from week one, but the link on “Week 1: Super Saving” points to week 2. Would you be so kind as to fix this?
Be Blessed,
Alan
Hello Ashley,
I found the link to week 1 in the week 2 write up.
Be Blessed,
Alan
Thanks Alan! I double checked all the links and everything should be good to go now. I appreciate you letting me know!
Thanks for the info. I am signed up to start the class next month and happy to hear it is now nine weeks and that they will fine tune it more. Yes, I will probably take the class multiple times, if not learn but just to hear the stories and help support people like the Pinks. and I am a total NERD meaning I love to create budgets and spreadsheets, etc, but hope to get some motivation from the class to stick to them and make progress toward paying off cars and mortgages. We have traded in so many times I think we will always have a payment. Hope this class will help break that cycle
Thank you for the very informative weekly breakdown of this course. I have been on the fence for doing this course and a new course is starting up this month at my church. I am still on the fence but now that I have read your information it will really help me in making a decision.
April, I just finished the class in October and now I am in it for the second time, bringing along another couple! Do The Class!! No matter how good you are with your finances there is something in this class for everyone. I didn’t think we were overspending and OMG we saved more than I could have possibly imagined! I hope to be out of baby step 2 by the time my tax return comes