God is good

God's timing truly is perfect.
I was recently remarking that our finances were truly miraculous from Sept. '07 through Feb. '08. We lived in a house we could barely afford when I was working full time. Yet I quit my job in August '07 to concentrate full time on a very new business that didn't generate much income and had a lot of expenses. Throughout that whole time period, we paid every bill on time, tackled our debt, didn't use any new credit at all and got much closer to a true tithe. Every time I say these things, I don't even understand it; it doesn't make any sense. And yet it does. Because God was honoring our commitments to Him. We had signed up for Financial Peace that fall. We were scared, so scared in fact that we didn't even attempt a zero-balance budget because it was not even conceivable. We were so scared, we had no options except God. So we put 100 percent of our faith over our finances in His hands. And he honored that. He allowed us to sell our house in a market that was rotten. He allowed us to do the FPU plan, paying off debt, avoiding new credit, paying our bills and giving. He is SO awesome!
Recently, we've been struggling. And that didn't make sense to me. I earn more, our house payment is smaller, we've cut back significantly on expenses (no cable, no cell phones, no expenses related to a second car). I didn't understand it. We started our budget and made some pretty impressive changes in our lifestyle....you know, to live like no one else, so later we can live like no one else. Except it wasn't working. I was scratching my head. And then it occurred to me. I took back all control of our finances. I snatched it all away from God. I left nothing at all for Him. I don't think any of the decisions we made were bad, but we didn't include God in on them. When we left Him out, we also left out a way for Him to honor our decisions.
Today, I started the envelope system. It has taken us a year to get to this point....better late than never, right? It was so empowering. I came in on the mark on groceries and managed to add a couple things that should have come out of other categories. I have prayed about this, and I know that if I continue to pray over our finances -- in earnest -- God will honor us! That is just such an awesome feeling, and I couldn't help but share. :-)

Last Class

I can be a lil forgetful sometimes.... are we doing anything special for our last class tomorrow night? I don't recall
Thanks!!!

Our total debt

Here is the debt that our class is either starting with or currently has to pay down: $76,667.12.
That averages out to a little more than $15,000 per family, and I know two families are quite a bit above average and driving that number up. The rest of you are significantly under that average. What does it mean? As a class, we're already a little weird. Remember, that's good news!
Here's some information I found regarding debt. When you read this, keep in mind this is ONLY credit card debt, not auto loans and student loans, which some families have on top of this debt.
The average household has more than $8,000 in credit card debt, up from about $3,000 in 1990. An $8,000 debt at a rate of 18% interest will take more than 25 years to repay and cost more than $24,000.
Some other interesting facts:
Americans spent 1 in 7 of their take-home dollars on debt payments last year, up from 1 in 9 in 1980.
The 1957 debt nation-wide (in today's dollars) was $29,722 per man, woman and child.
If debt per person were only adjusted for inflation over the 50 year period, 2007 should have remained the same size as 1957 at $29,722 per capita. BUT- the 2007 debt was $175,154 per man, woman and child - - 5.6 times higher per capita than in 1957.
Dan and I just discovered if we pay $300 more per month for three years, we can erase all of our debt (it's higher than anyone's in the class!). That's really a doable goal considering Dave Ramsey featured a couple on his radio show that paid off $80,000 in debt in four years on a combined income of $60,000. So, pray about it, work on your budget, use your envelope system, find only big bargains, don't use more credit and stick with it. It can work!

HSAs

Here's what Dave says about it on his Web site:

QUESTION: Anthony is considering switching his traditional health insurance to a Health Savings Account (HSA). Is that a good idea?ANSWER: The HSA could be the answer to the health care crisis we have in America. For example, if you have a typical couple at 30-years-old, they can get an 80/20, $1,000 deductible policy for $250 a month. If that same couple took out an HSA they could get that same plan for $150 a month. The difference is that the HSA will pay 100% of the costs after the deductible. But the deductible is much higher – like $5,000. You’re saving $100 a month though. With the HSA, you’re also allowed to save your deductible annually into a tax-deductible savings account, and it grows tax-deductible. For this type of health care insurance to work, you need to have a good emergency fund for the minor doctor’s visits that will come up. You also need to take the $100 each month that you’re saving and put that toward saving. The HSA is fantastic for people who are not chronically ill. For a healthy family, the HSA is a perfect plan. The other great thing about the HSA accounts is that it forces the insured to apply market pressure to keep medical costs reasonable.

I'm going to check the DVD for more information, but the class leader workbook for the updated FPU doesn't even mention them.

Stay tuned....

Radio program and budgets

Hi all!

We've been thinking about our budget and ways we can cut from it and have decided that we're going to cancel our cell phones and cable (bye-bye Cardinals!) starting in July. It probably won't last forever, but that's nearly $200 a month. If we can do it for six months, that's nearly half the savings for a nice family vacation or a big chunk off my student loan! Anyone have other ideas on how to cut?

Also, here's information sent to me on the Dave Ramsey radio program, if you'd like to tune in....


The Dave Ramsey Show
1450 AM WKEIDavenport, Iowa2-3pm CSTwww.wkei.com
1590 AM WAIKGalesburg, Illinois1-4pm CSTwww.1590waik.com
1330 AM WRAMMonmouth, Illinois1-4pm CSTwww.1330wram.com/prairieradio.html
1560 AM WBYSCanton, Illinois1-4pm CSTwww.wbysradio.com
1570 AM WBGZSt. Louis, Missouri1-3pm CSTwww.wbgzradio.com
93.3 FM WTRHRamsey, Illinois1-3 pm CST
930 AM WTADQuincy, Illinois10-11am CSTwww.wtad.com
1090 AM WCRAEffingham, Illinois2-5pm CSTwww.effinghamradio.com/wcra/index.html
97.3 FM WTIMTaylorville, Illinois12mid-5am CSTwww.wtimradio.com
1240 AM WTAXSpringfield, Illinois11am-2pm Sat CSTwww.wtax.com

Daily Money Makeover - 90 second daily feature
1590 AM WAIKGalesburg, IllinoisCheck with Station for airtimewww.1590waik.com
1560 AM WBYSCanton, IllinoisCheck with Station for airtimewww.wbysradio.com
93.3 FM WTRHRamsey, IllinoisCheck with Station for airtime
930 AM WTADQuincy, IllinoisCheck with Station for airtimewww.wtad.com
Satellite RadioSiriusChristian Talk Channel 1619pm-12midnight EST, Mon-Friday
XM RadioChannel: Talk Radio 1653-7 PM EST, Monday-Friday

Amy Denney

Question

Dan & Amy,
As Shane and I read through the chapters, we have already been challenged! We have also come up with a few questions. Should we be filling out the expense sheet in the beginning of the hardback book? Should we be reading more about the envelope system or will that come later? Thanks for all your help and we are really looking forward to learning along with each of you!!

Shane and Lorna

Hi Amy and Dan,

I just wanted to say you all did a great job last night even if you felt like you were not prepared. You "winged" it well!

I am so looking forward to taking this class once again. I felt like the first time around a "fish out of water" so to speak. The class was big and just being new to the church, I knew no one and really did not have an accountability partner. With hubbie and I back together now and hopefully striving to be on the same page at least financially, I feel like we can make a difference in our own lives and our children's lives, too. And as an extra bonus share Dave Ramsey's knowledge with others, too.

Steph

Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps

We got off on a shakey start...sorry about that! Dan and I both reviewed the materials for the other format, and then that changed before we had time to review the leader materials for the format we're now using. We mentioned baby steps last night, which are really the backbone to FPU. Here they are in order, though we'll be learning more about them as the class proceeds.


$1,000 to start an Emergency Fund

Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball

Three to six months of expenses in savings

Invest 15 percent of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement

College funding for children

Pay off home early

Build wealth and give! Invest in mutual funds and real estate

Great Dave Ramsey Online Resources

Here's some information that came to ACC today regarding our class. Most important is our class code that will give you access to more resources than the general public.

Have you heard about the Member Resource Center (MRC)? It's a new FREE resource for you and your FPU members, and I highly recommend it!
Just think about how a tool like the MRC could enhance your class's FPU experience. Get this—a membership at the MRC includes these features:
Exclusive content and inspirational stories
Featured videos, audio clips and calculators
Simple online financial snapshots and homework assignments
Helpful recaps of each current lesson
Easy access to past lessons and sneak peeks ahead
Exciting prize drawings
What are you waiting for? Get your class started at the MRC today! For your class listed on the web starting 06/04/2008 , you and your members need this class code 127088 to get into this highly effective online tool. (By the way, a new class code will be issued with each class you list on the web).
My team created this amazing resource just for you and your members, so get in there and start using it! .
Thanks for taking time to join us in changing this nation!

Is Dave Ramsey really fun?

OK, it's confession time. Dan and I signed up for Financial Peace University at Athens Christian Church last fall because everyone was talking about this guy....Dave Ramsey. I think we just wanted to get everyone off our backs. ;-) But we were curious, too. And, we were starting a new journey in our lives. I had just left my full-time job with a great salary. While it may not EXACTLY be something Dave Ramsey would condone, it was an important decision for us. My job was miserable, and work was very stressful. Our kids needed more parenting at home and someone to be available to them for preschool activities and more. So, in some ways in was the perfect time for FPU. In other ways, it was awful! We didn't even do a budget when we started the class. I didn't have a salary, and we were living paycheck to paycheck before I quit my job. But God is good. Using Dave Ramsey advice, we put up a "for sale" sign and six months later, we landed a smaller house with a more manageable mortgage.

We don't do Dave Ramsey's plan perfectly, but it has changed our life together, our outlook and hopefully our family tree! It's something that excites us, and we want to share it with others. Dan's parents, in fact, helped get a class started at their church, and it has taken off there, too. It's impossible to take FPU without having fun and desiring change in your life! So these days, I love to hear the name Dave Ramsey. Darn it, I even like to say it....a lot! We want to be weird!

See you on Wednesday!
Dan and Amy