Basic FPU Course

The Basic Seven-Lesson “No Matter What” Course is also a Christian-principled course. This seven-lesson is taught by co-facilitators, augmented by a Dave Ramsey video presentation.

A typical class will look like this: One of the co-facilitators will begin the class with the video (up to 30 minutes) then open the class up for discussion questions. After the discussions, moderated by the co-facilitators is over, there will the chance to discuss individual questions or areas that need to be clarified.

Cost: None

Basic Seven-Lesson “No Matter What” Course Class Schedule:

Exact dates and times are pending.

A. Saving and Your Emergency Fund:
Saving must become a priority. In this session, saving is specific to the development of each family’s Emergency Fund. If they will learn the discipline to save money now, it will more easily become habit in the future. We’ll look at two potential people, Ben and Arthur, with different savings strategies and show how compound interest works, and more.

B. Dumping Debt:
This module focuses on debunking the marketing of the myth of debt. It challenges an existing belief system in people that has been instilled over years by all the television, print media and radio marketing! It introduces the concept of how to construct a “Debt Snowball” to pay off existing debt. It emphasizes that being “normal” (broke) is not what we should be striving for!

C. Cash Flow Planning:
Money is active. If we don’t cover developing a cash flow plan, money will go somewhere and leave them wondering where it went. This is your basic budgeting session, considering the current problems in the economy that we are all facing right now and some things they will have to think about in the not-too-distant future. This session talks about several areas: balancing a checkbook, why a cash flow plan/budget is important, how to do a zero-based budget, and specifics of how to do it all.

D. The Cost of Your Life:
This is the session for everyone to plan for life. If the attendee is not living independently; we look at what life will be like after moving out and have a plan for that time. It covers everything from rent to own, health insurance, and even taxes. We briefly cover how career choices will affect the kind of life that can be anticipated. There’s homework for those who are not on their own to get quotes of real costs that they will have to pay for the real costs of maintaining a household.

E. Buyer Beware:
This module is designed to make the class aware that marketing really does affect them. We will give some real life examples and discuss the five things we should do before making big purchases.

F. Saving for a Purpose:
In this session, we’ll develop the theme of saving for a specific purchase. The focus is to learn how to set a short-term goal, save up for it, and buy it with cash – keeping from borrowing. We’ll cover interest rates, discipline, and behavior in this section.

G. The Great Misunderstanding:
This session, in its entirety, gives the attendees God’s perspective on money. Loaded with Scripture reference, this session introduces and stresses the importance of tithing and giving from a biblical standpoint.