Friday, March 21, 2008

Financial Peace...

Years ago I began listening to a man on the radio, Dave Ramsey. He's funny. He loves the Lord. His thoughts made SENSE to Mike and I. We've never attended one of his seminars. We have checked out "Total Money Makeover" from the library, and we've listened to the radio program. We've followed the baby steps.

Our children have grown up hearing the debt-free principles and watching us save before buying etc. The boys have a goal, which of course we wholeheartedly agree with and planted, that they be financially stable, have a good savings account, be debt-free, etc BEFORE they begin dating/courting. We would also love it if they are able to provide in a way that their wives could be blessed to stay home as I have.

Bre and Krista went through FPU at Master's Commission and loved it. They said that most of the day-to-day things they'd learned at home, but there was much to learn about investments etc. Since they went through the program, we've planned to purchase the DVD set and have our children work through it. At this point just, Jared, Jamin and Josiah and maybe Arielle could absorb some of it?

In checking, I've discovered that there is a FPU - Next Generation that is written FOR students. There are workbooks, DVD's etc. Now I'm wondering if I should order FPU or FPU Next Generation.

I'm sure the content is a bit different in the student's version, but it covers savings, investments, college, retirement, cash flow, insurance, buying power, careers etc. The price of the homeschool version that I've been quoted is about 1/3 of the price of FPU (which is why I didn't buy it LAST fall). I've checked out the samples of the workbook etc and I like what I see.

Has anyone seen or attended either program? Would you recommend one over the other? Whichever we buy, we'll be using it for many years with the rest of our children. If we get the homeschool version, I'm thinking that even Arielle and Nolan could understand some of it.

What do you think? Also - if you've used the homeschool version - would it work well in a group setting? Would it work for both Jr. High and Sr. High School? They also have little back packs for young kids, but um, I'm not wanting to SPEND money - I want to SAVE it. ::snort:: OK, Mike and I have talked and Mike says this sounds like a good investment. If I buy the homeschool package, it is for private classroom use or homeschool co-op use only, BUT this means I could buy the program, and others could do it with us for the price of the workbook. I can buy the workbook as a PDF file and never have to buy another workbook for the rest of our family. All for less than 1/3 of the course we planned on buying last year.
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