“When you have an emergency fund, you tend to stop having emergencies,” says Dave Ramsey, as part of his Financial Peace University (FPU) course. He’s probably right.
Emergencies happen all the time: roofs leak, cars break down, the A/C breaks when it’s 95 degrees outside. Unplanned expenses can throw a family in crisis and add unnecessary stress. It’s exactly the reason that families need to get their finances in order. Now.
My husband and I are taking Ramsey’s FPU course this fall in order to better understand each other and how we deal with finances. We’ve been through a financial planning course before, and really benefited from it, so we’re hopeful this new course will deepen our understanding and desire to be debt free for life. Who doesn’t want that?
Ramsey tells people to start with getting $1,000 in the bank for emergencies. Once you have that, you can move toward other steps that will eventually, over time, get you to be at peace with your finances. He teaches that you need to “learn to manage your money instead of it managing you.” Amen.
ABOUT ALICIA: Alicia is the founder of Balancing Motherhood.com. Last year, she managed to stay sane while completing an MBA, working full-time, blogging, and still baking amazing birthday cakes — all while raising a young family at home.
Andrea says
Good luck with FPU! We’ve been doing Dave Ramsay’s Total Money Makeover for a couple of months and it has been a dream come true. If you don’t already, subscribe to his daily podcast on iTunes, it’s an inspiration!
Alicia at BalancingMotherhood.com says
@Andrea, thanks for the iTunes tip. I need to start listening to them to keep me motivated throughout the week!
Jean Lewis says
It’ like when the tail wags the dog.