NOW FEATURED ON MY NEW WEBSITE/BLOG!!!!
Long story short, my husband and I have a lot of student loans racked up. And by a lot, I mean a LOT. A family member of mine gave us a book by Dave Ramsey (don’t let the name put you off if you’ve heard things, please keep reading!) called “Total Money Makeover.” I read most of it, but definitely started to get overwhelmed with things about life insurance and investments. Financially, we have these major goals CURRENTLY:
- Pay off student loans
- Own a house
- College fund for our daughter (plus future children)
- Large Emergency fund
I say currently because once we hit these goals, which will take awhile, the goals will change and that is when we will be more comfortable with other investments etc. My thoughts may change with the Dave Ramsey approach though…I’m not totally sure.
Through what I did read in the book I got excited to start a budget and so did my husband…sort of. Unfortunately he wasn’t ever as on the minimalism bandwagon as I was. He loves his toys and clothes and expensive microbrews. Okay, I love microbrews too so I can’t completely put that blame on him;) Since I was pregnant and not drinking it was a lot easier to point the finger though. Anyways, while we were living apart (I was finishing school, he was working full time) we fell off that budget wagon and just wasn’t tracking anything.
Fast forward, and for Christmas my parents bought us the “Financial Peace University” by Dave Ramsey. It is a comprehensive course to which you become a lifetime member. It’s a 9 or 10 week course, but you can attend it as many times as you like once you have purchased the materials once. Since the materials were purchased for us, it was free for us. This is definitely NOT something I would’ve bought for myself because I didn’t think we needed it. I would probably be wrong with that mindset though.
The class is pretty comprehensive. Not every financial adviser will agree with him completely, but if you are not sure where to start, his approach is great simply because he tells you almost exactly what to do. There are his baby steps (Which also are in his other books) and they are talked about specifically. Also, if you have a spouse who needs some coaxing, this class may be the way. My husband got excited and fired up about saving and realized how many wonderful things he already owns. It’s turning him into a minimalist slowly but surely! 😀
The class gives hope and though we know it won’t be easy, it’s our new beginning. I will try to update a couple of times with my experience throughout the course.
-Rachel
AchievingMinimalism 