Last week – Real estate and mortgages
Last week was week 12 and we talked about real estate – buying homes and selling homes. Things we touched on:
- When selling a home, think like a retailer.
- When buying a home, think like an investor.
- Never get more than a 15-year fixed mortgage. Don’t tie up more than 25% of your income in house payments
Be careful when buying a home and don’t get overly attached emotionally to a house. Get professional help when selling!
This week – giving and being a good steward
- The Great Misunderstanding, the paradox, is that we believe that the way to have more is to hold on to what we have more tightly.
- A steward is a manager, not an owner.
- Give the first 10% of your income to your church or favorite charity.
I’m glad that they decided to focus on giving, I just wish it had been earlier in the class!
Think holding on to everything you earn is the way to get more? Think again!
The first thing we talked about in class in week 13 was the paradox that most people believe that the best way to earn and save more is to just keep your fist tight around everything you earn. Save it all!
According to Ramsey, things rarely work out that way. We’re usually best off when we’re giving. Here’s a passage from the Dave Ramsey website on avoiding “stuffitis” and finding true contentment.
In 1913 a cartoonist named Arthur R. Momand coined the phrase “Keeping Up with the Joneses” when he created a daily comic strip by the same name. The strip was Momand’s satirical take on his experiences living in an affluent society. It struck such a cord with Americans that it ran for 28 years.
We’re not that much different today. We still strive to keep up with friends, neighbors and even strangers – partly because we inherently crave prestige and partly because we’re bombarded with ads for all the things that will allegedly make us happy.
Dave says that the most important key to financial peace is not budgeting, debt snowballing or investing. The key is contentment. You have to know how to be content with less before you’re able to dig in and do the practical things that lead to financial freedom. Ironically, the people who are most content with their finances and their possessions are those who actually have less.
Marty Nemko of Bankrate.com says, “Most wealthy people know that additional money beyond a fairly modest income yields little additional happiness.”
In her book You Don’t Have to be Rich, Jean Chatzky goes a bit further and says, “The financial habits of people who believe money equals happiness stand in the way of achieving that happiness.” This type of person is less likely to do the things that lead to true contentment and control.
So what’s the answer? How do we go against the grain of a greedy, possession-driven society? One thing we can do is not allow our possessions to possess us. Working just to buy the best clothes, the newest car, the latest technology or the biggest house is futile. Our aim should be a life of peace and freedom where our family, health, and wholeness are the priorities.’
Having and possessing things can’t be the only aim of our lives. Making our family, health and giving to others around us needs to be a priority as well. When we make them priorities, we will be blessed.
Giving away other people’s stuff is easier – isn’t it?
Dave talked about in this lesson on how sometimes it can be hard to give because we feel like we want to hold on to everything we have with a tight fist. It is our money, possessions and time and we want to keep it as our own!
He then turned the tables on that thinking by reminding us that everything we have is only ours because it has been given to us by God. Everything we have comes from God and is owned by God.
The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the LORD Almighty. Haggai 2:8
Since everything we have is God’s, we are only stewards of what we’ve been given, that makes it a lot easier to give away doesn’t it? Would you rather give away your own fortune, or someone else’s?
We are commanded to be good stewards of what God has given us as well.
So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 1 Corinthians 4:1-2
Give the first 10% of your income to your church or charity
Nearly every day callers to “The Dave Ramsey Show” ask Dave, “If I’m still in debt, should I stop giving to my church or charitable organizations?”
For Christians and practicing Jews, this is a slightly more complicated situation because the Bible and the Torah instruct believers to give at least 10% of their income to the church. There are many people who simply want to be able to give whether they attend church or not, but they don’t feel they can afford it while they’re working the debt snowball.
In this situation, Dave offers some very sound and simple advice: give.
While it may be tough during the rice-and-beans, debt-dumping days of Baby Step 2, Dave says that even if it’s not much, don’t worry. It’s not about the amount or what it does for the organization to which you give. It’s about what it does to you, deep down inside.
You’ll be happier, healthier, and you’ll get so much more out of life when you intentionally and regularly give. Plus, continuing to give during the financially dry spells will solidify in you a spirit of generosity that will carry over when you’re cup is overflowing!
Whether you give to your church, your synagogue, or a charitable organization, just give. And even if you’re working the debt snowball, just stick to your budget and you’ll be in good shape.
There are three things to do with money: spend, save and give. You have to spend in order to have the things you need to live and should save in order to secure your family’s future. But there’s something special about giving, something about the way it refreshes your heart and helps you see what is most important. No matter the amount or the recipient, just give.
Recap
So there you have it – 13 weeks of Financial Peace University. We were extremely blessed to have taken the class, and we learned a good deal of very good information while taking the course. If you have a chance to take the class near you, I would highly suggest it. Even if you’re in relatively good financial shape, the things you’ll learn in this class will still be valuable – and last you a lifetime!
If any of you have questions about the course, or about your own situation, please don’t hesitate to contact me through the link at the top of the page.
- Interview With Personal Finance Author And Speaker Matt Bell And Book Giveaway
- Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University: Week 3 - Cash Flow Planning
- Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University: Week 5 - Credit Sharks in Suits
- 20 Tips To Press Onward Towards Your Financial Goals
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Pete,
well said. Contentment is the key – The apostle paul talked about it and how he could live with a lot or with a little. Growing in that area has been one of the most liberating things that has happened to me!
My wife and I just finished FPU last week as well and I have to say that the giving chapter was one of the most motivating speeches I have ever heard.
Imagine how you would have felt having a complete stranger pay off a huge portion of your debt – no strings attached.
Good stuff. Really good stuff.
Dustys last blog post..Cash is King! Long Live the King!
Such a rewarding course for all concerned. I would say that most of our small class “Got It”. Thank you Dave Ramsey. This course should be taught in high school.
I have to weigh in here with a genuinely unpopular but true statement concerning the 10% tithe. I hate to point this out, BUT…It’s not scriptural. please find the scripture that says we are to give 10% of our earnings to God…I’ve never found it…I have read that this is a misinterpretation of a scripture in the OT that talks about the jubilee year. Someone please find this for me, I have searched and have found no clear reference in the NT for giving 10% of earnings to anyone for any reason…?