Financial Peace University

31 January 2006 22:29:56

I’m taking David Ramsey’s Financial Peace University at a local church. The program is a thirteen week course designed to teach ordinary people how to get out of debt, save money and understand other types of financial investing. I’ve attended the first two weeks and just missed the third because I was out of town for the weekend. I’ll make that one up sometime.

Overall, I’ve been very impressed with the course so far. Each class consists of a video lecture by Dave that lasts about an hour followed by a discussion in small groups. Dave is an entertaining speaker. It’s no wonder he has made himself successful providing people “a way out of” the revolving door of debt most of the U.S. (and the western world) has fallen into.

The last class that I was at was supposedly the most difficult. It is Dave’s explication of a standard monthly budget and how to apply the budgeting concept to one’s life. It is very obvious to me that if I do follow his budgeting system exactly, I will succeed with my finances. But that’s the hard part. As much as I want to “obey” my budget and make my money work for me instead of against me, I always seem to find a way to break the plan. I have a hunch that the majority of us have the same trouble. At the root is an issue of self control not so much financial know-how. So the questions become “Why do I struggle with self control so much?” and “How do I overcome this struggle?”