Thursday, November 4, 2010

money.


I just wasn't raised to be money-minded. Love the parents, but man saving and managing money just wasn't on the top of their priority list. It probably didn't help that they were trying to raise 5 girls on middle-class income in a fairly pricey community. So you know, no fault to them, but I guess I'm just trying to say that I didn't know how to handle a checkbook till like... now. And I sure as hell didn't know what "good credit" meant until I had bad credit.

I've definitely learned my hard lessons with money and so has Jeremy. My credit is still recovering and thankfully Jeremy has a damn near perfect score. But still, here we are in our early 30's and still feeling mildly out of control when it comes to our finances. Things are always paid. And I'm not addicted to designer handbags. But we really need to learn some hard rules about paying off debt and saving money.

So we're caving in. To the obnoxious entity that is Dave Ramsey. That's right, 14 weeks to financial peace, baby! One of our couple friends have been on his program for a little over 9 months, and to date they have paid off over $10,000 on just a $50K combined income. Yes- I don't know how it's possible either (especially in Denver), besides they live within their means and they don't stray from their budget.

I'll have to report back after tonights first class, but I'm really trying to stay positive that the class will be fun and really make a difference. Thankfully, my best Denver pal will be with us to keep us laughing.

3 comments:

Alison said...

I'm glad we were able to take the same class, I know I am going to need an accountability buddy!!! I'm so excited to start the journey!!

The Blonde Mule said...

John & I do the cash/envelope system for eating out, groceries, Target, Linda & "slush." Slush is for home repairs mostly. We're working on getting out of debt, but it's a slow road & we're bad about ignoring it & just paying the minimum every month.

Good luck!

Panda Parables said...

i definitely relate with (lack of) money management/parents thing. they rented (!) our house in brentwood (!) for 17 years (!) so we could take advantage of the school system. but... the lack of financial education was also a blessing too...if we do the opposite of what they did, that's usually the "right" thing to do. haha. good luck w/ the class!