Financial peace University: Lesson 1

A few weeks ago, my incredibly handsome, funny and financially savvy boyfriend, Brett, asked if I'd like to take Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University.

Now, I knew that eventually we'd be going through this class together because we had talked about it before. But my BFFOMG and his BFFOMG (who happened to have just gotten hitched) decided to go ahead and register for an upcoming session, and the dudes thought it would be "fun" to take it together.

Brett, the great love of my life, is very smart and disciplined when it comes to finances. I, on the other hand, am not. Am absolutely not. So "fun" isn't really a word that came to mind when I agreed to take it. More like "intimidating", "frightening", and "hell". 

NONETHELESS. I agreed. Because I know I need to manage my debts and income better (i just need to manage them period). And I really care about a future with this Brett guy, so I said "Sure, Honey!"

So since I'm coming face to face with finances, I thought, why not get everyone in the blogosphere involved? So I will be keeping up with this blog and posting about our sessions, my goals and my progress. If you want to read on my progress, cool. I'll welcome any encouragement! But keep your criticism to yourself! Just kidding............but seriously.

Tonight was our first of nine sessions. We have a fancy workbook, pencil, eraser and EVERYTHING! So already, he is appealing to my dorky, i-love-school-and-taking-notes side. And the session wasn't bad at all. He talked about saving up an emergency fund and doing it quickly so you can have a cushion (and a peace of mind) while you're paying off debt. 

So my first goal is to save $500.

I feel this is very achievable, and I'm excited to cross off "Baby Step 1." Actually, this whole process does not seem as intimidating as I had originally thought. (We'll see how I feel after I add up my total debts. yeesh.) But, aside from a slight freak out moment about adding up said debts, I walked out of the session feeling like I'm taking solid steps to financial freedom. My head was not spinning, my ears were not bleeding, and I didn't stab anyone with my freshly sharpened pencil, like I pictured myself doing, so, I think I'm doing significantly better than I thought I would.

I am lucky to have the support and encouragement of my boyfriend, and our dear, sweet married couple friends.

We have a couple of homework assignments to complete before Monday. I am nervous about them, but excited. Each step is one step closer to getting to financial peace!