Well, I have embarked on yet another self-discovery/self-discipline endeavor. For years I have heard about Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, but I have never taken the course. Last night was the first of 13 meetings to help us find our way to financia peace. So far, what I learned has been doable. I won't say it will be easy, but absolutely doable over time.
The hardest part about joining the class at this particular time is that I really don't have any finances to be at peace with! Being self-employed doesn't make for a large paycheck every week. Luckily my living expenses are tied into my business expenses, but I don't have a lot of cash to actually budget. My goal is taking the class now is to learn as much as I can...then,when the time comes that I do have cash flow I will be equipped with the most sound stratagies for staying out of debt :)
I'll be honest. For being someone who is good at math, I am not as well equipped when it comes to finances. I've never really been all that great at reconciling checking accounts or understanding interest/compound interest/rates, etc. For the life of me I cannot figure out why in the world every teenager isn't made to take BASIC MATH in high school! Just because you are an advanced student who can ace Algebra and Geometry doesn't mean you know a hill of beans about checking accounts, minimum wage, percentages, figuring tax, or counting back change. Basic math offers lessons in all of the every day math scenerios. That would have been much more helpful to me than signs, cosigns, tangents, proofs, theorums, and quadratic equations!
Hopefully, over the next few months (91 days) I will get all the necessary tools for successfully winning the finance war! It can only get better I assume. Whether or not I adopt all of the principles is yet to be determined, but at least I will have the option to. The biggest problem is knowing where to start...especially when I don't have a lot of money to begin with! I will get it figured out eventually! :)
Have a great week,
Tammy
When I worked at Arby's in college, I was amazed at the number of high schoolers who couldn't give the customer the correct change. It seemed like such an easy task, but they would consistently have drawers that were off. My mom taught business math at HCC and covered basic math skills. It was amazing to her to see how little these students knew about interest and even the difference between getting paid biweekly versus twice a month. I'm afraid of what will be our future if our kids are lacking these basic skills.
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