FPU: Session #1

I bit the bullet and enrolled in a local Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University (FSU). I've been listening to Dave Ramsey's talk show on the radio for a few years now. I also attended his Smart Conference last year. However, I never really considered signing up and joining FSU.

Why?

I guess I thought "I could do it on my own!" and "Why pay extra money to take a class when I can read the book?"

Truth be told, even though I read his book and attended his conference - I haven't really made the necessary changes to get out of debt. Yes, I've made small changes and started really focusing on it with my budgeting project. But the small changes haven't really been cutting it.

The big change for me is my adoption of Little Guy. What I want for my son:

• Be smart about finances
• I want to be able to provide a college fund 
• I don't want to struggle with debt while he's growing up 

To help my son be smarter about finances, I realized *I* need to be smart about my finances. I picked up on a lot of bad money habits from my parents. 

I want to provide my son with a descent college fund. But how can I do that if I am forever paying MY student loans off and accumulating more credit card debt. 

I want to be able to provide experiences for my son. But I can't do that if I'm living paycheck to paycheck and struggling with my debt. 

That was my turning point where my finances were concerned. Being single, some of the challenges are: being held accountable and having discipline in my spending. I always knew this, but thought I would be able to "do it myself." But the truth is -- I haven't been successful and now, I need to make major changes! 

So, I enrolled in Financial Peace University (FSU) at my church. 

We had our first class last night. I really like it! I feel motivated, I feel like I can do this, and I have a VISION of what life can be like debt free. 

I know it's going to be a long journey, there will be ups and downs along the way. But I'm really going to FOCUS on one step at a time. Right now, I'm on Baby Step #2 - the Debt Snowball. I'll be here for awhile, I know. I just added up all my debts.... I have to say -- It's overwhelming! Like by a lot. But what was interesting is -- once I saw the NUMBER and the AMOUNT of debt that I have, it made me want to attack it quickly! 

With the motivation, right now the FOCUS. Before I can really tackle my debt snowball, I have to BUDGET. I've been pretty good about tracking expenses the last few months, but the budget has been a little variable. I haven't been really focusing on "sticking to the budget". I blame it on the holidays and such! But, what's the use of the budget if you're overspending in some categories? 

I'm happy I signed up for FSU and I'm hoping at the end of this, I can call Dave Ramsey and say that I'm debt free! 

Focus-focus-focus. Baby Step #2 - Debt Snowball.