The art of saying no....to ourselves.

Jon and I have been taking classes through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University the last few weeks at our new church home, Twin Oaks Church. Its been an interesting time. Our valley is full of people who are hurting financially right now. We are fortunately not in a tough situation but we were recognizing how lazy we were with our money. At the end of each month we were looking at each other with an expression of, "Where did we spend all our money?" Now Dave Ramsey has seven baby steps to financial freedom which include (in order!):

1. $1000 to start an emergency fund
2. Pay off all debt using the debt snowball
3. 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings
4. Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement
5. College funding for children
6. Pay off home early
7. Build wealth and give!

Our class totaled up their debt and aside from home ownership (which was something like $10 million dollars worth) the class had about $3 million dollars in debt. Can you believe that??? At first I was just flat out shocked at that number and could NOT figure out how people could be so "irresponsible" with their money. But after working through our budget I realized that we really aren't any better. Sure, we live within our means and aren't operating in debt. But we're working without a plan. We'd just head out to dinner because we could. We'd start that home project because we could. We'd take a quick weekend trip somewhere because we could. But long term? Oh, that was so far off and besides, we contribute to a 401K so we don't have to worry. Right?

Anyhow, I'd like to say we've had some big epiphany and have scrimped and saved for our 6 months of expenses savings but we're not quite there yet. But it has changed how we're viewing our finances and our life. What are our priorities? How are we using what God is giving us to bless others and bless his church? I (Sara) am going through some growing pains as I humbly pull out my cash envelope system and pay cash (horrors!) for my groceries and document each penny I'm spending. But its been good and its disciplining me in ways I have never been disciplined before. Its causing Jon and I to look at our financial choices and our goals and develop a real plan to get there. We're thinking before we start a project and trying to learn the art of saving for our wants. None of this is new for our parents or grandparents but in this age of excess this is a new challenge for us. I suppose one could call it "the art of saying no....to ourselves."

Anyhow, I hope maybe this is encouraging to our friends and readers out there. We are seeing people in our class get serious about their debt and others get serious about their spending habits. I would wholeheartedly recommend this to everybody. The lessons aren't new but its that accountability that has helped us finally bite the bullet and make a budget. And its been fun. We're working our way through the Baby Steps and currently thinking a lot about our home, the high cost of Bay Area living and how this works with the things that we know God has called us to. We'll keep you all posted and maybe we'll all live long enough to see us make it Baby Step #7.