Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University Week 13

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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. Read more »

Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University Week 12

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This week's class was on Real Estate and Mortgages. I liked this class a lot. Dave has a ton of great information about real estate since he's been in the industry his whole life. He has lots of funny and interesting stories. Dave is anti-mortgage, no surprises there. He would love it if everyone paid cash for their mortgages but he acknowledges that that's not going to happen. He does encourage everyone to pay off their house early, after paying off their debt and saving for retirement. In this lesson he gave tips for selling your home. Things like to clean it perfect, including the windows and the front door. Basically life in your house as if it was a model home. You are moving anyways so pack up most of your personal belongings. You want the new buyer to feel like it's their home as soon as they walk in. That won't happen if you still have your ceramic rooster collection on display. Read more »

Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University Week 11

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This week was about making money, and was my favorite class so far. I'm really hooked on the idea of making more money right now. Dave talked about how we always must be learning new skills and information. Gone are the days of getting a job and working at that one job for 20+ years. He says "Find something that blends your skills, abilities, personality traits, values, dreams, and passions." Well that's the hard part isn't it? He goes on to give tips on job hunting and some tips for getting your resume seen. He says to first research the heck out of the company you are trying to get to hire you. Then send an introduction letter, then your resume, and then follow up. Dave also reminds us that most people find a job through someone they know, not through the classifieds. Read more »

Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University Week 10

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This week's class is called From Fruition to Tuition, it's about planning for retirement and college. Dave talked about all the different kinds of retirement plans including traditional and Roth IRAs, SEPs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and 457s. He says you should invest 15% of your income in "qualified plans", which are the plans mentioned. Hey lays out the order of that you should attack your retirement planning; employer plan up to the match, max out a Roth IRA, then max out your employer plan. Read more »

Thanksgiving: Frugal and Fun

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I love Thanksgiving! It's my favorite holiday. One of the reasons is that I met my husband on Thanksgiving day in 2003. I had been invited to my roommate's parents house for the holiday. While I was there I met her brother... who is now my husband. But this great holiday was my favorite even before that. I like Thanksgiving because it's low-key. There isn't a huge lead up to the holiday. You don't spend WEEKS before the actual event listening to commercials and promotions so that you are sick of the holiday before it even arrives. Read more »

Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University Week 9

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This week's class was called Of Mice and Mutual Funds. It was about investing, obviously. I liked this lesson quite a bit. Lots of good information. He gave a lot of definitions again, like in the insurance class. As I said during the review of the insurance class, knowing the lingo of investing is half the battle. He talked about the following investments. Read more »

Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University Week 8

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If you are just tuning in I’m currently 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 The Class This week’s Financial Peace University is called “That’s Not Good Enough” and is about bargain hunting. Or more specifically it’s about negotiating a deal. The real trick to getting good deals by negotiating is by […] Read more »

Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University Week 6

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This week's lesson is Buyer Beware which is mostly about advertising and marketing. It was interesting because it's easy to forget that almost every company, big and little, has at least one full time person whose only job in life is to figure out how to get your money. It's pretty incredible if you think about it. He started out by saying how we are living in the most marketed culture in the history of the world. Which I totally believe is true. Look back at TV from even 20 or 30 years ago. There is way less marketing built into shows and sports. Well, put it this way, how could it NOT be true. They certainly aren't marketing to us any less, that's for sure. Read more »

Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University Week 5

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This week is called “Credit Sharks in Suits” and is about dealing with creditors. If you missed the previous week’s reviews you can catch them here; Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, and Week 4. The Class I had a complaint that in the first week that Dave uses extreme language and examples to make his point. He follows that up again in this lesson. He went on a long rant about how debt collectors are evil scum. Which I don’t disagree with the fact that the debt collection industry is out of control and basically unregulated. I mean, there […] Read more »

Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University Week 4

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This week's lesson was "Dumping Debt". Which everyone says is the best lesson. Maybe it had been built up too much but I was actually a little disappointed and bored. (Don't shoot!) I was expecting more of a motivational speech about getting rid of your debt, but instead it was "myth busting" of debt myths. Which maybe was boring for me because I'm already fully on board with debt free living. I don't need my myths busted. There was some powerful stuff at the end with clips of people sharing how they are living debt free and how amazing it is. At the end Dave yells at the top of his lungs "I'M DEBT FREE!!!!" which pretty much made you want to leap out of your chair and yell "YEAH!". Read more »

Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University Week 3

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Week 3 of the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University is "Cash Flow Planning". Which is basically advanced budgeting. We made "quickie budgets" in the first week of class but this week we dove deeper in to budgeting. I actually missed the live version of this class because I was getting my party on at the Financial Bloggers Conference. I have the audio version of this lesson in my kit but Brad was kind enough to lend me the video version that he had, so in the end I did get to watch the presentation. There are lots of forms and worksheets that go along with this class so it was nice to be able to follow along with the video. Read more »

Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University Week 2

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This week at Financial Peace University was called "relating to money". I really liked this lesson a lot. Dave talked about getting on the same page with your spouse financially. I was taking notes so that I could write this review and I have a page and a half of scribbles. One note I wrote says "If you agree on spending you agree on values. You will feel like a team, which means a happy marriage. You must work together." I wanted to stand up and yell in the class "YES!! Are you guys listening to this!! Write that down!" Read more »

Financial Peace University Week 1

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Last week I started attending Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. If you are not familiar with this course it's a 13 week program where "you'll learn how to beat debt, build wealth, find bargains, invest for the future, give like never before, and much more!" Each lesson is 2 hours long and includes a one hour video of Dave Ramsey speaking and then an hour of discussion in the classroom. Here is the link to the Dave Ramsey site if you want more information about the course. I also did a longer write up myself about the course over at Money Talks which includes my reservations about attending. Every week for the next 13 weeks I'm going to be writing about my experience about the class. So you guys are going to get a full in-depth review of Financial Peace University. Read more »

Debtors Anonymous

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Do you ever feel out of control when shopping? Most of us have experienced some “temporary insanity” when shopping, but there are times when it’s more than getting caught up in the moment. There are times when shopping becomes a compulsion, like a drug addiction. Sometimes heavy debt is more than just bad decision-making or poor financial literacy. Sometimes it’s a true addiction that needs treatment beyond what a new budget and some baby steps can provide. Here are the signs of compulsive debting. Being unclear about your financial situation. Not knowing account balances, monthly expenses, loan interest rates, fees, […] Read more »