Top 3 Things Dave Has Taught Me

My husband makes fun of me all the time because I listen to the Dave Ramsey show on the daily.

I have become a huge Dave Ramsey nerd and one of those people who you can catch saying, "Well Dave says. . . ."

I love it and hate it!

I love it because I've felt a lot of peace financially since we put his principles into place. I hate it because it means I'm being a responsible adult; which ultimately is a good thing too!

I've gleaned a lot of financial, biblical advice since listening to his show and here are the top 3:

1. It's good to say no.

I think this applies to a lot of areas in life other than money. We live in a chaotic culture and we feel the need to give in to every opportunity that comes our way. Sometimes though, those choices bring stress and negativity to life. I've learned that it's healthy to say no to friends, your spouse and family sometimes. When we over commit to things we ultimately are being selfish because we can't give our 100% to the things that need our attention in life. This means that when you''re invited to 5 weddings in one summer, you have to pick and choose which ones to go to because you can't afford to go to every single one. This means that as a parent, I will have to say no to my kids wanting to do 300 different sports and activities sometimes! It also means saying no to other cultural expectations such as buying a car, house and college all on loans. 

2. Spending money is not bad. 

Money is not a bad resource. It's how it's used that can make it a negative resource. Spending money is not bad! You have to spend money in life and spending money on yourself is not bad either. It's when it's reckless, not budgeted and you are being greedy about it that makes it sinful. At the root of every sin is selfishness and never giving is selfish. Money is tied to emotions which makes it easy to get out of control with spending it. So budget it out, give every dollar a name and stick to it. I hated budgeting at first because with 6 different paychecks (now we have 8!) coming in every month it was hard for me to tell each dollar where to go. Now I absolutely love it. It's given my marriage a sense of peace and I don't lay awake at night worrying about it. Here is a link of the forms we use for budgeting. We write it out on paper and stick it to the fridge to keep track better. Do what works for you! Here is a link to the really cute wallet that's made for the envelope system. The shop is local (Meridian!) and I love, love, love how mine turned out!

3. Money and wealth are not what life is about.

JESUS is what life is about ultimately! SO many people have the misconception that if you follow the plan Financial Peace outlines that you are trying to become a greedy jerk getting out of debt and then building wealth. HA! Obviously those who have that opinion haven't thoroughly researched and read through the ultimate goal of this system. The end result is helping your kids get off to a good start financially with some help for college and being able to give, give, give, give and then retire peacefully and still being to give like your Ebeneezer Scrooge at the end of A Christmas Carol. (Here's to you, Tiny Tim!)

My heart has been transformed and now I love giving and I so enjoy the peace we have now that we have a plan and we are much better stewards of our money than we were before. What a blessing it is that God give us resources and we are called to be Christlike stewards of those resources! 

Meal plan and the book review will be coming later! Hope you all are having a blessed weekend! Have a critique about Dave? Questions about budgeting? Let me know! I want to hear from you!