Financial Peace

Sixty-five individuals just finished a 9 week course called Financial Peace University.  It was awesome.

Here are some of the highlights straight from the mouths of our participants.

- "I just saved $1,000 for the first time in my life."

- "Having an emergency fund in place gives me peace."

- "My spouse and I are now communicating regularly about finances, it's wonderful."

- "I did my taxes on my own!"

- "I paid off $2,500 in debt!"

- "My husband and I now have a shared language about money.  Now we can have money conversations instead of money fights."

- "I cut up ALL of my credit cards.  I will NEVER go into debt again."

During our course, we learned the "Seven Baby Steps" of financial peace:

1) Save a $1,000 emergency fund (do this fast, do this now, have a garage sale this weekend!)

2) List all of your debts, smallest to largest.  Pay minimum payments on every debt and then ATTACK the smallest debt with every other dollar you can find.  Once you pay off that smallest debt, roll your payment over to the next smallest.  This is called the debt snowball.

3) Save 3-6 months worth of expenses.  This is a complete emergency fund.

4) Put 15% of your income toward retirement in a 401K, IRA, Roth IRA or other tax-favored accounts.

5) Start saving and investing for your kids college education.

6) Pay off your mortgage early.

7) GIVE LIKE NO ONE ELSE.

During our time together, we regularly looked at one another and said, "I have never really talked to anyone about this before."  Conversations about handling money God's way can be so freeing when they lead to new behaviors, greater purpose and clearer vision about how to handle the resources God has given us.

At the end of the day, it's not about getting out of debt, it's not about saving more for yourself, it's not about giving more to the church.  Rather,

It's about becoming more and more like God.  God is the ultimate giver and he wants you to experience the joy of becoming like him.

If you weren't able to make it to the course, but are interested in learning more, go here.  Also, let us know if you would be interested in going through Financial Peace University and we can point you toward other courses in our area or even consider offering the course again here at Centennial Covenant Church.

Between this course, our Sunday morning connecting hour class on Jesus and finances, and the High School curriculum "Generation Change" more than 90 people have been learning about and growing into lives of handling money God's way. 

Praise the Lord that he is moving in this way in our community.