Financial Peace - Graduates

Jason and I completed our Financial Peace University classes on Tuesday night this week! We had a pot luck party in conjunction with the class so we braved it and took Amelia with us. It was interesting...but we made it through the class and I don't think anyone was overly annoyed with us :)

We talked a lot about giving and tithing. We learned that a tithe is literally ten percent of your income. Tithe means "tenth". So, until you are giving a tenth, you are not tithing but rather offering, which is just as good as tithing! It was interesting to learn a little about the meaning of the word and how our understanding of it has shifted in modern times.

At the end of the lesson, Dave just went through a list of things that were basically common wisdom. Things like, be the worker no one else is. Stay late and finish things. Help out when you can, even if no one else will. It was funn because Jason nudged me at that point because he and I had just talked about that that evening before class! I get frustrated because at his work he does so much more, which takes time away from his family and no else ever seems to be willing to do the same. I guess he won that one...

We were also encouraged to read, which is another thing Jason and I talk about often! I want him to read. Not only is it something to do but it sharpens your mind! I think Jason will make an effort to read. He tries. We just need to find him some reading material that he can really get in to I think.

We all filled out an evaluation Tuesday night and one of the things we answered was how much debt we paid off during the class and what we managed to save. Our class coordinator totaled it all up and our class was able to pay off $42,900 in debts and save $27,350 in just 13 short weeks. That is awesome! There were only about a dozen of us in the class so those numbers really are huge!

Financial Peace University has put Jason and I on the same page, financially. We now think more alike in terms of how we should use our money and how we can make the most of it. We also are much more motivated to eliminate our debts as quickly as we can. Before, we would pay off a chunk of a card and then just fill it right back up! Since starting the class we have only used one credit card a few times and it was when I was between checking accounts and did not have a check card yet, so it was almost justifiable. We have paid off one card so far and are on track to have another paid off next month!

While we didn't like having our Tuesdays tied up for 13 weeks, I think it will be worth it! We have learned a TON! Yes, some of it was common sense but sometimes you just need to be pushed to follow through on things and that is what this class did for us. Pushed us to use the things we already knew and taught us new, valuable skills!