My Two Cents on Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University

We did. We made it. We are graduates. Go, team!

I was asked to give a follow up on what I thought of the class, so here it is.

Overall, I liked it and I think it was well worth the $100. Here are the things I liked the best:

1. It made me connect with my spouse about money.

• This is huge because we didn't really make time for this before. Not because of any bad reason, just because talking about money is somehow a simultaneously stressful and boring topic. However, it's really important to get on the same page and getting there has been really beneficial for us, more so than I would have ever guessed.

2. I really like the budget method.

• We've always had some sort of budget but it never really worked for me. I really like the way Ramsey's budgeting plan is set up and it works for me really well. I understand it, I can stick with it, I can make it happen.
• I'm shocked, but I like the cash envelopes. I really like having cash limits on certain areas and it's been really good for both of us to be limited like that. It actually made me feel more freedom to do things I want, like pick up a latte, without feeling guilty because I knew that we had set that money aside for me to do whatever I wanted with. 

3. It made me really thankful.

• For a lot of things. That both Joe and I were raised by financially responsible parents who set really good examples for us, that we've managed to avoid most financial traps, and that we're in a good spot to build for our future and family.
• I'm really thankful that I have a spouse that hopped on board and stayed on board. I was in the VAST minority in our particular class. Only about half of the women there had support from their husbands and I can't imagine how difficult that must be. 

4. I learned a lot about insurance, investing, and mortgages because I knew nothing. Nothing. 

• We were shockingly doing a lot of things right in spite of our lack of formal training. That made me feel pretty haughty. 

The "cons" are more just things to be aware of going into the class. Like I said, I think it's worth it to take the class.

1. This class is really more designed towards people in a bad place financially with bad spending habits, so for us there were a few class times that just weren't really applicable to us. That's fine, it's not bad to get a recap, but... well, see #2.
2. Our facilitator then treated everyone as if they were swamped in debt with a lot of bad habits. She was pretty rigid and I had a tough time with that and got a little resentful. I had to just bite my tongue and let it all wash over me because...
3. The facilitators are not financial experts or even knowledgeable about Ramsey's methods, necessarily. In one class the facilitator gave me direction that I just did not think made sense and after doing a little perusing on Ramsey's website I found that he agreed with me and not with the facilitator. I realized I really needed to take what they said with a large grain of salt. Once that was settled in my mind, I was in a better place. 
4. While I ultimately agree with the "baby steps" and I definitely think that they can work, I think the biggest thing is to be in agreement and unity with your spouse about your money and spending. Some aspects we're not following to the letter, but that's because we know our personal limits and in a few spots we are not the 90% of Americans that do XYZ. We do Q. We're special like that. It was important for us not to get hung up on all the little details and instead to let the wisdom of the overall approach guide and help us set up our goals and habits.

All in all, I think we got a lot more positives than negatives out of the class and I'm glad we did it now. I actually wish we had done it a couple years ago because I do think we had some habits that needed to be curbed. On the other hand, it was kinda nice having a "youthful spending" time in our lives since we won't have that again anytime soon... if ever. :) Kids. Money pits, I tell ya.

Final confession: Speaking of kids being money pits, during the lesson about spending Joe straight out confronted me about buying too much baby stuff and he was RIGHT! (bah!) I will not replace my own shoes until there are holes in them but when I see something adorable for Z, oh... I wantsss it my precioussssss... I always find sales and deals to justify my purchases but last month with our new budget was the first time I really felt like I had to stop and weigh the cost and I saw how often I would be like, "Oh, it's only $10! It's such a great deal!" but many $10 purchases add up fast and a lot of stuff was very much not a need. It was a big moment for me. Get behind me, Zulily!!!

Sometimes I put stuff in the Zulily cart but then never buy it... just to get it out of my system.

I feel like I'm confessing at AA or something.