Providing insight to finding peace with finances, Meredith Canfield, volunteer manager, describes why Dave Ramsey’s course is a perfect fit for our homeownership program.

About four years ago, my church offered Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University (FPU) class. I thought, “I have time on my hands and I like the thought of financial peace. What could I lose?” That class changed my life. It changed the way I view wants and needs. It provided me a conversational foundation for all money talks with my now husband. And, most importantly, it gave me a new #1 on my list of top celebrities I want to meet one day: Dave Ramsey. But, let’s save that notion for a separate blog post for nerds like me who could actually appreciate it…

Once I started working through the plan and budgeting, it felt like an instant raise! Every dollar had a spot and I even had money to spare! I learned from FPU that peace can only be maintained if your money is kept in line by a well thought out plan – a budget. Similarly, our Habitat homeowners may feel like they got a raise because of the money they are saving from their affordable mortgage versus their expensive rent costs from the past. But, without a plan of what to do with that extra income or even the new costs associated with homeownership, how will they maintain the peace of financial freedom?

Baby steps.

The theme of FPU’s baby steps perfectly aligns with our Homeownership Program. This is why we have chosen to provide it as part of the requirement to complete 300 hours of sweat equity. After all, the other side of slow and steady 300 hours of hard work feels more rewarding than a quick fix or even something free, doesn’t it? Overall, the completion of sweat equity hours provides a natural partnership between our homeowners and Habitat, a sense of pride when constructing on their own home and provides skills and knowledge they can use during their first year of homeownership and beyond.

While I am biased toward my love for budgeting, saving, and giving, I think the financial nuggets of information provided through FPU will change our homeowners’ lives just like it has for me. I hope and pray that our homeowners feel empowered by the lessons taught in Financial Peace University and always strive to plan for financial peace along their homeownership journey.