Dave Ramsey's Financial Ministries

[JaneFW]

Just general information - if you are on Facebook, you can "like" Dave Ramsay's page and get regular updates about his show and join in a discussion. That's usually pretty interesting.

 

[BigDaddy4]

Yeah, I'm pretty excited Blythe Ann. Now a few years ago, I would not have done the envelope thing. At the time, we earned points for using our USAA cards for credit, and so it seemed worthwhile to me to build up those points. But USAA has stopped that benefit, and so now I'm not bothered how we pay for groceries, in fact I think it would help us to budget better if we go into the store with only $200 (our grocery budget) because we will be less inclined to pick up crap that we wouldn't pick up if we didn't pay with plastic!

I am intrigued by one of the weeks which is about career choices, and I'm hoping that it will light a fire under my h to get him reinvested in a career, and maybe get me thinking differently too.

My h does keep talking about starting a business - he doesn't really want a job - but I am not enthusiastic about that idea right now. It seems like we need to get out of debt first before incurring yet more.

We are in that trap, too. Costco offers an AMEX card with 1-3% rebates on purchases. We pay off the card each month, but I would like to get to the point of not doing that. With up to 6 mouths to feed, Costco is a nice option for food and might as well get some $$$ back right?? (that's our rationale ).

I hope taking this course will open his eyes either employment wise or business start up wise, or both. I've heard statistics anywhere from 75-90% of first time business owners fail. Not sure the exact rate, but the odds are against it. But, maybe being invested in it will inspire him to work harder for it.

 

[BigDaddy4]

There would literally be no small businesses without debt. Who has a million dollars? I know the scriptures on money, and debt, believe me I have prayed a great deal over those scriptures. I did before we did it, during, and after.

The thing is we didn't get into problems because of debt, on the biz or personal. A perfect storm of events caused it.....business debt the way mine is makes me a slave to no one. My downside was a padded envelope with keys in it mailed to the bank. My friends that loaned money loaned an amount they were truly willing to lose, that was upfront, they were well off friends and I spread it around.

As I said, no regular folks can open a small business without debt....its not possible.

I know a few business owners who would disagree with you.

Debt is debt. You owe somebody something until that debt is paid off. Until then you are not completely free and have a yoke of slavery.

 

[illudium_phosdex]

I've never done his Financial Peace U. but several years ago my husband and I started listening to him on the radio and reading a few of his books. We were able to get quite a bit of debt paid off and our credit repaired by following his advice.

 

[JaneFW]

That's awesome Atlas!! That's what I want more than anything. We have a bad way of looking at credit - my husband and I. I noticed it at Christmas when we had our big trip. My husband asked me how much money I had "on" my credit card. And I told him how much credit was available. Later I thought - what does that mean actually? I don't have any money on my credit card. I just owe the bank a bit less than the total balance. Is that my money? Uh uh. That's their money I paid back. So, readjusting my thinking is really vital.

 

[JaneFW]

My husband does have an idea for a business. He wants to open a bar! Yeah, you couldn't get anything that I am less likely to want to spend time at than a bar. I already told him that I will not be working there, and he had better be ready to practically live in it until it gets going. It's all set in the future anyway, and hopefully he will change his mind as time goes along.

 

[JaneFW]

So grrr, I'm frustrated because we got an email this morning to say that only 15 people have signed up, and 25 are required for the Dave Ramsey class to "make". So, they are pushing back the start date a few weeks to see if anyone else signs up. We have literally thousands of employees. I can't believe that only 15 people out of 4,000 need financial help!

 

[Boidae]

Our church also offered Financial University for one of the spring small groups. The $100 price tag was a bit high for us, but neither of us were all that interested in it anyway.

I did my time with credit cards when I was younger. My credit was impeccable and had a Mercedes Benz dealer wanting me to buy from him when he ran my credit for an apartment I was looking at over 13 years ago. I also had issues with paying them as well. All of them these days since most of my debts are over 10 years since I have made a payment on them, they have been sold off to "zombie" debt collectors and were charged off by the original creditor. I was never able to get into a position where I could even begin to pay them off. Once one bill was behind, it all spiraled down and out of control for me.

I vowed to never have another credit card again. However, my wife wants to get a credit card for us both so that we can rebuild our credit. I am still hesitant on it because I haven't had one in a very long time. Plus, I have been on a if I don't have the money for it, there's is no reason to have it diet, I am comfortable with things the way that they are in regards to not having credit cards.

 

[VictoriasImage77]

The fiance and I did his program last year and we aren't even married.

It is a WONDERFUL program. It has helped us and taught us so many things. I think every high school student should have to take a personal finance class like that to graduate. Instead we send our kids out there to face the wolves without any knowledge, to make a mess of their financial lives.

There were so many things that he told us where I was literally angry that nobody had ever told me that stuff before.

It was probably the best $100 I've ever spent, no joke.

 

[BigDaddy4]

Our church also offered Financial University for one of the spring small groups. The $100 price tag was a bit high for us, but neither of us were all that interested in it anyway.

I did my time with credit cards when I was younger. My credit was impeccable and had a Mercedes Benz dealer wanting me to buy from him when he ran my credit for an apartment I was looking at over 13 years ago. I also had issues with paying them as well. All of them these days since most of my debts are over 10 years since I have made a payment on them, they have been sold off to "zombie" debt collectors and were charged off by the original creditor. I was never able to get into a position where I could even begin to pay them off. Once one bill was behind, it all spiraled down and out of control for me.

I vowed to never have another credit card again. However, my wife wants to get a credit card for us both so that we can rebuild our credit. I am still hesitant on it because I haven't had one in a very long time. Plus, I have been on a if I don't have the money for it, there's is no reason to have it diet, I am comfortable with things the way that they are in regards to not having credit cards.

A Dave Ramsey principle on this would be to not get one. Rebuilding credit only matters if you NEED credit. Otherwise, why care about your credit score???

 

[Boidae]

A Dave Ramsey principle on this would be to not get one. Rebuilding credit only matters if you NEED credit. Otherwise, why care about your credit score???

She wants us to have good credit. Credit effects everything these days, from getting jobs to owning a home to your car insurance prices. We would like to own our own home some day. I can't see us coming up with the cash to pay for it outright since homes are so expensive. We would need to get a mortgage.

I checked our credit scores last night and both of ours are under 600 and considered poor.

 

[chaz345]

She wants us to have good credit. Credit effects everything these days, from getting jobs to owning a home to your car insurance prices. We would like to own our own home some day. I can't see us coming up with the cash to pay for it outright since homes are so expensive. We would need to get a mortgage.

I checked our credit scores last night and both of ours are under 600 and considered poor.

Another argument for good credit is that poor credit will make it difficult or impossible to rent a car. And yes you can rent a car with a debit card but they'll put a hold on $500 to $1000 for the duration of the rental and then it can take up to a week for it to be released, which a lot of us don't have spare lying around in our checking account.

 

[WolfGate]

Boidae - is there still negative info in your credit report or just no real history. The first takes time (assuming info is correct). The second can be addressed pretty quickly and positively.

 

[Boidae]

Boidae - is there still negative info in your credit report or just no real history. The first takes time (assuming info is correct). The second can be addressed pretty quickly and positively.

There are negatives on my report from over 10 years ago. The zombie debt collectors still try and collect on debts that they bought from original creditors. The debt is no longer in the original creditor's hands.

 

[BigDaddy4]

She wants us to have good credit. Credit effects everything these days, from getting jobs to owning a home to your car insurance prices. We would like to own our own home some day. I can't see us coming up with the cash to pay for it outright since homes are so expensive. We would need to get a mortgage.

I checked our credit scores last night and both of ours are under 600 and considered poor.

You can argue your way to better rates without building your credit score up by having a credit card. A good loan officer and insurance agent can get around the credit score issue as long as you are current on your current obligations (loans, rent, etc.), especially if the zingers are more than 10 years old.

Clean up your credit as best as possible by getting your credit report and checking for accuracy.

Oh, and there are ways to deal with having poor credit for jobs. Being proactive in overcoming the issue will usually go a long way with potential employers. I guess it depends on the industry, though, as to if they will actually check that. Usually those that handle cash or are in the financial industry.

 

[BeOfGoodCheer]

We just started DR. Tomorrow is our third class. I know the cash envelopes won't work for us, but the rest is looking applicable. Just getting on the same page and having a common ground to work from as a couple, will be invaluable. When you first get married, you may not even realize how different your perspectives on money are, unless you are one of the few that really discussed it in an objective, not romantic manner.

 

[JaneFW]

I'm still waaaaaaiting to hear if this class gets off the ground at work. I'm so disappointed that there has not been a good response.

 

[Boidae]

I keep forgetting to mention that I get emails from Crown Ministries about a free program online that they provide.

I haven't looked that deep into it to be honest and I use Quicken for our finances anyway, but maybe this link can be beneficial for others.

Crown Financial Ministries | Mvelopes

 

[BeOfGoodCheer]

Crown ministries has a lot of great tools! Larry Burkett merged into Crown. His books gave me the first clue that getting knowledge, and a Godly perspective about money gives you peace and power to live

 

[JaneFW]

Oh yay. Got an email late yesterday and the classes are on, even though they only got 19. 19!! Out of thousands of staff members. Oh well, it's their loss. So, we will start on March 7th. Sadly, we'll miss the following Wednesday because we will be out of town for spring break, but we will be able to get online and watch the class there, and we will also be getting the DVD's. I am SO looking forward to this.