Here are some solutions we have come up with to help reduce the spending on gas.

1. My husband can stay the night at a relatives house a few days a week.
2. I can make sure I go into “town” with him to get all my shopping done.
3. We have looked into bus routes. This is not our favorite option because it takes so much longer having to transfer and wait for buses.
4. Commute with a co-worker. This doesn’t always work and I would explain but it’s too much to get into right now.

Other people taking about the gas prices.

Aaron - Looking Forward!!! Dave Ramsey “Gazelle” Intensity Is Back & High Gas Prices Are Choking It!!!
Forum Discussion - Dave Ramsey on gas prices.

Dave Ramsey on gas prices.

Every time I watch the Dumping Debt lesson I get motivated and inspired. This being the second time taking the FPU coarse I wish I could say we are farther along than we truly are. But I have to keep reminding myself that we are still taking steps forward. They may be very small steps but a least they are steps forward. If we keep moving forward we are bound to reach our destination.

This doesn’t mean I want it to take 100 years to reach our destination. I don’t expect it to take more than a couple of years but I wish we could have been able to shout, “We’re Debt FREE!”, at the start of the FPU classes we are coordinating now. But oh well! Sometimes the perseverance lesson is the best one of all.

What I love about Dave Ramsey and his team is that they keep up with technology. This time around we are able to use some great tools they have available in their online Members Resource Center. This resource center is available to all current FPU members including Online FPU members.

There is a Gazelle Budget online software that you can use now. With the Gazelle Budget you can enter all of your income and outgo information and print out your budget. It’s easy and very useful. They also have a Debt Snowball online that allows you to enter your debt information and determine how long it will take you to complete the debt snowball. There are also some other cool tools available like the millionaire calculator, buy vs. rent calculator and the investment calculator.

If you are struggling financial, think you have it all figured out or have no clue as to how to handle your money, Financial Peace University can and will help you if you are willing to really take action and change your future.

Use our free Debt Reduction Calculator to help you eliminate your credit card, auto, student loan, and other debts. Easily create a debt reduction schedule based on the popular debt snowball strategy using this free Excel spreadsheet.

The first worksheet is a simple calculator where you enter your information, choose your total monthly payment, and see a summary of the results based on the strategy you choose.

The second worksheet is a payment schedule designed for you to print so you can keep track of your progress. You can also see how the snowball increases as you pay off your debts.

A big thanks to Donald Wempe for the motivation to create this spreadsheet, and for his great ideas!

You can download this Debt Reduction Calculator by visiting Vertex42.com

photo credit: PPDIGITAL

We had our first Financial Peace University class this past Sunday. It was a small group but I think it will be a great class. So far I am very please with the new FPU material. The videos are all updated from the last series of classes we coordinated. The Super Savers lesson was absolutely hilarious. I think everyone in the class was pleasantly surprised that the video sessions were entertaining as well as informative.

Discussion after the video went very well. We had one family drive 45 minutes to be apart of this class. The FPU class is already very different than the last one my we coordinated. Last time we asked the leadership of our church to join the class so that we would all be on the same page. This time people joined the class out of need.
The Super Savers lesson was very motivating. It’s been a rough couple of months for our family and we have not had our emergency fund because we had to … spend it on an emergency. Actually we have had to do this a few times. The fact is we are still spending more than we make. We are going to have to really make some tough decisions the next few weeks. We need to lower our expenses which seems to rise very quickly every time the gasoline prices go up (currently over $3.67/gal). Because my husband commutes the rise in gas prices increase our monthly bill by about $100 - $200.
This FPU class couldn’t have come at a better time for our family. My husband and I had lost our motivation and began to have feeling of hopelessness again. Though our overall situation has improved over the last 2 years, it had become very difficult to continue when you have lost your motivation.
The knowledge gained from FPU is truly life changing but all the knowledge in the world won’t make change. It’s the decision to change and motivation to continue on this journey that really makes a difference.

The main lesson I took away from our first class was that we need to remember as small as our baby steps may be they are still steps forward. As long as we keep going in this direction we will complete the journey.

Do you define wealth by the amount of money you have?

Do you define wealth by the amount of toys you have?

Do you define wealth by your status or power?

Or?

Do you define wealth by the love of your family?

By the safety and security of your family?

By a life fulfilled and loved?

The wealth you seek now defines how you will be remembered and whether your life was picture of true wealth.

True wealth has nothing to do with money, status or power.

photo credit: Tracy O

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photo credit: Christian et Cie

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In many cultures today we are being taught to not be wise with our finances all the while thinking we are being wise. The first thing we are told after we graduate from high school is that we need to ‘build our credit’. So we get that first credit card and then it’s all down hill from there. We are teaching our kids that the way to be smart financially is to go into debt as a right of passage into adulthood. If you think about it, telling a teenager that going into debt is a smart financial decision is the most absurd advice ever given. By sending young adults into the world with a credit card user mind, we are apart of a cycle of poor money management.

Debt is not something that should be sought after, it should be something we run from. Doing everything humanly possibly to stay out of debt while seeking the true keeper of our funds and supplier of our needs (God), at all steps of our financial journey is the best way to view debt.

A win win financial situation is a life of budgeting, spending less than we earn, saving, investing, giving and staying out of debt. We are not gamblers of our personal finances, we are handlers our personal finances. Be smart and learn smart money management.

Dave Ramsey offers the best financial advice. Check out Dave Ramsey website.

As I have mentioned before, my husband and I are coordinating an FPU class at our church. The promotional material offered by FPU is great this time around. The last time we coordinated the FPU classes there was not that much to choose from in way of promotion. We are following the promotion suggestions offered on one of the CD we received.Their suggestions were very helpful in coordinating the classes.

They suggest that most churches should give a month for promotion before the preview. Here are the promotion time lime they recommend.

Week One

• Get promo posters up
• Printed promotional material added to church bulletins

Week Two

• Keep filling church bulletins with printed promotional material.
• Show a preview video during service.

Week Three

• Show a longer Preview video with announcement

Week Four

• Live testimony of someone who has gone through the course.

Week of Preview

• Have the pastor or church leader announce his/her support of the class.

Don’t forget to promote class outside of church.

We showed the preview last Sunday and it went ok. We thought there would be more sign ups but we still have time to promote the class. FPU was a life changing course for us and we hope that others will be willing to be apart of it and learn how to manage their money better.

More information on Financial Peace University. Take the course. You won’t regret it.

Tags: financial, peace, university,, fpu,, dave, ramsey

I am trying really hard to find balance. Some days I feel as though I have a good handle on things and other days I feel very overwhelmed and disorganized. Today, I got a lot of things done around the house and working online but my budget and bills didn’t get much attention.

My hope for these new project like ProBlogHer.COM is that the income generated will relieve e some of our financial pressures. I am really excited about the fact that ProBlogHer.COM is already generating a buzz even though it’s still in pre-launch.

We will see if my online money making venture will pay off this year. So far my income has continued to increase every month. Like I said in a post I wrote earlier this year, I think this year for income earning.

Tags: debt freedom, credit, make money online, make money blogging

Tags: debt freedom, credit card debt, creditcarddebt, debtmanagement, debt management, iva

This time around I know people will be signing up out of a desire to change how they handle their money. So I am very excited about this next class. I am disappointed that I won’t be able to announce that my husband and I are debt free. My hope and pray is that this time around we can make a significant dent in our debt.

If you are interested in finding out more about Financial Peace University just click on the link.