Hey all,
It's been a while since I've last kept a blog, and as I've shut down that webhost and the blog running on it, I may be starting over from scratch. But I wanted to start writing some thoughts down and keeping a "brain" log as thoughts and memories come up.
Speaking of memories, My wife Reba and I are currently taking Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace University", from which I have graduated once already before getting married. I am happy to have no debt and have a decent emergency fund saved up to take care of the unexpected expenses. We're going through a budget and savings plan, and are making good progress and agreeing on how we want to do things. Since we are expecting our first child in March (2011), we have started talking through how to teach her financial responsibility.
Growing up, I was paid for some chores that I did, and not others. I had to keep my room clean or I would get spanked (or some other punishment as age appropriate). I got paid for helping with some family chores like doing the dishes (and actually getting them cleaned). I had summer jobs all three years before I started college at Trevecca, and put that money into savings. I had a deal with my parents to go to one of three schools for college if I wanted financial assistance, and if I kept up my grades, we would split the bill half and half (they had been given money by my grandparents for us kids to go to school and additional gifts when each of us got married to put aside for a house), with any scholarships I earned counting toward my half of the bill. I was able to graduate debt free and with a modest care in my name (I had saved up while working 20-30 hours a week when not in classes).
My grandparents were very smart with money, and they passed that on to my parents. My parents then passed that on to me. Thanks to the planning and generosity of my grandparents who had passed away before I was old enough to get to know them, I have a much better start in life and when I moved away from home, had a reserve saved up instead of starting deep in the red with lots of loans and car payments. I thank God for His providence in my life.
