Friday, June 6, 2008

Money...

One of my favorite things to do is spend money! I love to shop! And really it doesn’t matter what I’m shopping for – cloths, shoes, makeup, stuff for the kids, groceries… it just doesn’t matter. One of my favorite places to shop is Costco! Gotta love being able to get everything you need (or want I guess is more like it) in one spot! But being an adult comes with some responsibility (thank you Dave Ramsey) so I have to keep a watch on how much I spend!

I’ve been thinking a good bit about money lately – not something I do a lot - but it’s been a topic of discussion for David and me the last few days. Now David loves to talk about money. How to make it, how to make more of it, how to invest it - all that kinda stuff, but me not my favorite topic for discussion. I have learned over the last few years though how important it is for both people in a marriage to be involved in the family’s finances. Again, in general this is something I really dislike. David has been paying bills and in general managing our finances – even mine before we got married – for our family for going on 8 years now. I pretty much was TOTALLY hands off – didn’t know a thing that was going on, and didn’t care to. David would tell me if we had money to spend, or he would tell me don’t spend any money right now, and that was all fine and good with me! Then we somehow (I think it was probably thru some talk radio station that David listened to) we ended up discovering Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University program. Turns out this is a great Biblical way to handle finances. I was none too thrilled about spending an hour or two each week in a small group setting to watch a DVD and have discussions on all aspects of money. Boring!! The worst was (and still is after teaching FPU 3 times) the investment lesson! That’s some hard for me to understand stuff, but anyway – I’ve come to really look at money differently and it’s changed our approach to our finances.

Being a stay at home mom I bring no money to the table, so at first being at home and spending money was really weird for me. I wasn’t out earning money, so I felt weird about spending money that I saw as David’s money. But after going thru FPU and sitting down on a monthly basis and doing a budget, it got better. David might argue at this point that I’m VERY comfortable with spending our money! LOL

Money is something that’s really hard on many relationships and for us it was a blessing going thru FPU. It’s helped us communicate better about our money and it gives us security about what the other person is doing with money. We agree to follow the budget each month and talk if something comes up and we need to change it. It also allows me to spend money and not have to feel bad about it or like I need to hide it if I’ve spent money. I’m grateful to David for taking care of us, and for providing all that we need to live a comfortable lifestyle. I'm also grateful to him for discovering Dave Ramsey and for helping me see the importance of living like no one else, so that later we can live like no one else!

I love you babe, thanks so much for taking such good care of me and the kids!

2 comments:

Luke, Avery, Monroe's Nanny said...

I have always been proud of the way that David has handled money! As young as he was when y'all first got married, his financial head was on straighter than most people 2 & 3 times his age!! He always offers sound advice, when asked for it, which is also unusual. Most young people are/should be the ones asking the questions, but they don't...they just spend & spend & spend what they don't have & that sets up a lifetime pattern, with nary a lesson learned along the way--just spend into credit card oblivion!Here's David in the position of being the "financial answer man"--both by example & by knowledge!

We knew, when your life together began, that David would care for you in the best way he knew how. The Dave Ramsey thing was really just the icing on the cake. He has grown into an excellent provider for you & for his children. But I've also overheard him be so much more than willing to pitch in & help in a financial way when there is someone truly in need! So y'all aren't selfish with your money.

David, we've ALWAYS been proud of you & the financial decisions you've made!

God will bless you both for the way your have honored Him, and for being such good stewards of the blessings he's given you.

Enjoy your week at the lake!

Love you all!

Anonymous said...

Linda - Thank you so much for all of the kind words. Now if doing the right thing was only as easy as knowing what the right thing is to do we would really be set :-)

Holly - Good blog post. You are doing a great job with this. When we are old (well olderer) it will be lots of fun to look back and read this!