Greta Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 I found out that Dave Ramsey's FPU class is going to be starting at a local church in a few weeks, and I am seriously considering attending. I think it would be beneficial for me, and for my daughter. I would love to hear from anyone who has taken it. What did you think? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Dh and I did it several years ago............and WISH we would have taken the class much earlier in our marriage. We would be so much better off financially now. our biggest mistake was that we didn't save for retirement from the get go. I do think that at times he is a tad hard on the cutting expenses way down now so you will have more later. I agree with that..........but I think there is a time and place for moderate spending now as you might not have tomorrow. The memories of a modest family vacation are so much more valuable than more money in the bank someday if something tragic happens to your family where you can never have that "later". 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angie in VA Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 DH & I attended FPU a few years ago. I understand that it has since been updated and shortened (I think we met for 13 weeks and now it meets for fewer weeks).It was good for us to go in person. If we'd bought dvds, they would have sat on a shelf.It was good that we paid to go (though our church kicked in a good amount), that made us accountable.The group discussions we had were not nearly as beneficial as the conversations DH and I had on the rides home after classes, but, again, we needed to be there in person to be accountable. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted March 12, 2015 Author Share Posted March 12, 2015 Thank you both! It sounds good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erica in OR Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 DH hosted the longer version a couple times at our church several years ago, then led the shortened version when that came out. We went to the first one, and I thought it was very beneficial. Ramsey is a definite style that doesn't appeal to everyone. It helped us take more control of our money, to know how much there was and where it was going to go, before it went there. A young couple that took one of the class series at the church paid off everything but their mortgage and actually took a trip to the Ramsey offices to do the debt-free scream and meet Dave. Erica in OR 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Damn I was hoping this was a university that didn't rob students blind. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El... Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 I got DH to make it my birthday present a few years ago, and it was VERY helpful. It made us get on the same page on things; we both know what is going on, we agree on our spending and saving, and I'm not having to be "the responsible one." It was good for our marriage! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted March 12, 2015 Author Share Posted March 12, 2015 Damn I was hoping this was a university that didn't rob students blind.Yeah, I wish! Thank you Erica and Joy. I really appreciate your feedback! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 If you're familiar with Dave Ramsey, you probably won't learn much. If not, and you find yourself with more month than money at the end of a pay period, it will be very good for you both. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 There are far less expensive ways to learn how to manage your money responsibly. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted March 12, 2015 Author Share Posted March 12, 2015 If you're familiar with Dave Ramsey, you probably won't learn much. I've read "Smart Money, Smart Kids" and I'm currently reading "Financial Peace Revisited". Does the class go beyond the concepts in those books? If not, and you find yourself with more month than money at the end of a pay period, it will be very good for you both. My husband has always been really good with money, sensibly frugal and a good investor. I, on the other hand, could use some help! And I thought it might be good for my daughter to help her learn at a young age, maybe avoid some of the mistakes I made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted March 12, 2015 Author Share Posted March 12, 2015 There are far less expensive ways to learn how to manage your money responsibly. I appreciate your honesty! But it seemed like a pretty good deal to me, a lot less than I was expecting. We'd get the book and workbook, and attendance for all three of us at the classes for a hundred bucks. Doesn't sound too bad. But if it's not worth it, then that's a hundred bucks wasted. My daughter isn't much of a reader and already has some fairly heavy reading assignments for school, so I thought she would enjoy the class or a DVD set more. But I don't want to foolishly waste money trying to learn how to manage money! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milovany Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 My sister and her husband did FPU and have taught it was well. I can't speak to a lot of the details, but I know they love it. As a result of all they learned (and applied), they got out of tens of thousands of dollars of debt, sold most of their stuff, and moved overseas to teach at an fancy-schmancy international school. I'm not saying FPU = moving overseas, I'm saying they got released from the hold debt had on them and now are living an amazing life they love, completely debt free. Worth the cost, I'm sure, in their eyes. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joanne Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 I am not a fan and I don't agree with everything he recommends. That said, I personally know many people who have benefitted from his material, including FPU and never heard one person regret going, reading, or learning. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted March 12, 2015 Author Share Posted March 12, 2015 Thank you, Joanne and Milovany! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeachyDoodle Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 I enjoyed FPU and got a lot out of it, even though we were stable at the time and had no debt. I had a fairly strong background in personal finance -- it was discussed at lot at home when I was growing up. But I think dh benefited greatly from the class. He could barely balance a checkbook. His parents maintained completely separate accounts and NEVER discussed money. He now can handle all our finances, including budget and investments. Before, I had to take care of everything on my own. We are able to have conversations about our money now, and both be on the same page. DR's philosophy about couples and money is that one is usually the "nerd" and one is the "free spirit." That was certainly true in our case. It helped once dh understood more about what needed to be done to keep us secure, and then I was able to loosen up a bit. That's been a good thing for our relationship all around. I think the class would be good for an older teen/college-age student, although some of the topics will probably feel far off for that age, and there may be places where she zones out. Still, if your daughter is interested, I would definitely include her. I felt like $100 was worth it. There are lots of materials included. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2ndGenHomeschooler Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 We are currently going through the course for the second time. The number one benefit for us has been that we are actually talking about how we manage our money and what our goals are. Not always the most pleasant conversations to have but there's a session on that. ;-) We are mostly on the same page now. We are already debt free (except our mortgage) so this time around we are really focusing on what we want/need to do about life insurance, investing, and retirement. We have really enjoyed it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted March 12, 2015 Author Share Posted March 12, 2015 DR's philosophy about couples and money is that one is usually the "nerd" and one is the "free spirit." That was certainly true in our case. It helped once dh understood more about what needed to be done to keep us secure, and then I was able to loosen up a bit. That's been a good thing for our relationship all around. Yeah, I'm the "free spirit" in our relationship, though in honesty that's a far nicer term than I deserve! :lol: Thanks for your post! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted March 12, 2015 Author Share Posted March 12, 2015 We are currently going through the course for the second time. The number one benefit for us has been that we are actually talking about how we manage our money and what our goals are. Not always the most pleasant conversations to have but there's a session on that. ;-) We are mostly on the same page now. We are already debt free (except our mortgage) so this time around we are really focusing on what we want/need to do about life insurance, investing, and retirement. We have really enjoyed it. These (the part that I bolded) are of great interest to me, so I was hoping those kinds of things would get pretty good coverage in the course. We have no debt except our mortgage, so those are the topics I'm trying to learn more about. But I also want my daughter to learn about the dangers of consumer debt, so that part of Dave's philosophy/teaching will be great for her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 My sister and her husband did FPU and have taught it was well. I can't speak to a lot of the details, but I know they love it. As a result of all they learned (and applied), they got out of tens of thousands of dollars of debt, sold most of their stuff, and moved overseas to teach at an fancy-schmancy international school. I'm not saying FPU = moving overseas, I'm saying they got released from the hold debt had on them and now are living an amazing life they love, completely debt free. Worth the cost, I'm sure, in their eyes. We went to the Crown Ministry program early in our marriage. (my in-laws paid our way. SO Thankful!) We've slid and need a refresher but it has done us a LOT of good in our marriage, including enabling us to quit our jobs to move to Texas on savings to be closer to family and for my husband to go back to school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historically accurate Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 These (the part that I bolded) are of great interest to me, so I was hoping those kinds of things would get pretty good coverage in the course. We have no debt except our mortgage, so those are the topics I'm trying to learn more about. But I also want my daughter to learn about the dangers of consumer debt, so that part of Dave's philosophy/teaching will be great for her. FPU talks about retirement and insurance, but barely touches on investing. It focuses more on the emergency savings and debt reduction. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted March 12, 2015 Author Share Posted March 12, 2015 FPU talks about retirement and insurance, but barely touches on investing. It focuses more on the emergency savings and debt reduction. Good to know. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthwestMom Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 We did FPU online 5 years ago and it was fantastic and it permanently changed the way we handle money. I 100% recommend it. FPU talks about retirement and insurance, but barely touches on investing. It focuses more on the emergency savings and debt reduction. :iagree: This is true-ish. Dave Ramsey definitely talks in general about investing money in IRAs or 401Ks or whatever *for retirement*. Investment advice outside of retirement savings will not be addressed at FPU (unless it has changed a lot). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamakelly Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Took the class with dh and I definitely don't regret it. It was very good for our marriage. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted March 13, 2015 Author Share Posted March 13, 2015 Thank you both! It sounds good. I really want to attend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 I've read "Smart Money, Smart Kids" and I'm currently reading "Financial Peace Revisited". Does the class go beyond the concepts in those books? My husband has always been really good with money, sensibly frugal and a good investor. I, on the other hand, could use some help! And I thought it might be good for my daughter to help her learn at a young age, maybe avoid some of the mistakes I made. The anectdotes are different, and there are some bible verses that I don't recall in the books or on the radio show, but no, the concepts are the same. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackjackoaktree Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 I thought it was interesting for our family. The only thing that didn't really work for us was some of his insistance on how fast to pay off a mortgage, because we live in a high COL area and we would have had to multiply our income by something like 5 to pay off a home in his preferred time frame. Just not going to happen in my DH's field! So some of his ideas are very dependant on how much you make compared to how high the COL is where you are at. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kubiac Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 I am an FPU dropout! I went about 8 years ago and did about 6 of the classes before I started flaking out and not going anymore. But overall, I find Dave Ramsey invaluable for keeping me on the right track mentally with money. Plus I find him very entertaining. He's helped me get my head straight about so many things. I listened to his podcast religiously. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted March 13, 2015 Author Share Posted March 13, 2015 Thanks, ladies! Yeah, I definitely see what you mean about his philosophy of how to buy a house not working so well in places where housing is extremely expensive. I'm not sure any one person is going to be right about everything. So it's good to learn from more than one source. But I'm thinking this could be a good starting point. Thanks again for all the feedback! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 Even if you don't agree with everything he says, I think he provides a really good baseline for starting out in life and for understanding that you have decisions to make about how you will use your money. My parents instilled a lot of good money sense in me by the way they lived and the way they taught me, which includes *discipline* and *common sense*, the latter of which is becoming an oxymoron If your dd gains nothing else from attending Ramsey's seminar except the concept that one has to apply discipline to one's finances, it will be money well spent. In the end, you probably won't agree with everything he says, but the fact that he says that it is possible to be happy if you don't own every little thing your heart desires within 5 minutes of desiring it...that is something worth knowing. And being debt-free...I remember the day, and I was SHOCKED at how much difference it made in my life. No going back. And I was debt-free 20 years before I heard of Dave Ramsey. Just so you know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted March 15, 2015 Author Share Posted March 15, 2015 My parents instilled a lot of good money sense in me by the way they lived and the way they taught me, which includes *discipline* and *common sense*, the latter of which is becoming an oxymoron If your dd gains nothing else from attending Ramsey's seminar except the concept that one has to apply discipline to one's finances, it will be money well spent. My parents had such good discipline and common sense with the way they handled money when I was growing up, and yet somehow that did not get passed on to me! They taught only through example, and I guess that's why I'm concerned about teaching my daughter more explicitly. They were budgeting and saving, but mostly "behind the scenes" - they never really talked about it or showed me the numbers or anything. All I knew was that when I wanted something, the standard response was "we can't afford it". :lol: They *never* had credit card debt, and they managed to pay off their mortgage early and "retire with dignity" as Dave often says, but I never really saw the whys and hows of it. I want to make sure my dd understands the whys and hows. In the end, you probably won't agree with everything he says, but the fact that he says that it is possible to be happy if you don't own every little thing your heart desires within 5 minutes of desiring it...that is something worth knowing. Yes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedmom4 Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 My husband and I are going through the DVDs at home. I have been a listener to his podcast for years. I budget and the only consumer debt we have is a van that will be paid off in 2.5 years. I am already doing most of what Dave Ramsey says, but I haven't found anyone who is a better motivator than him. Also, I think his program is genius because it breaks down the overwhelming and often scary world of personal finance to most people. I'm convinced that a majority of people could improve their finances significantly if they followed Dave's program. I personally don't agree with him on many of his personal beliefs but I have to give him credit for providing a very worthwhile program. I highly recommend it! God Bless, Elise in NC 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted March 15, 2015 Author Share Posted March 15, 2015 Thank you, Elise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.