Talking to Mom About Money
OK, I’ve had coffee and had a conversation with my mother about money and finances. Nothing like controversy in between the first and second cups of coffee!
I’ve mentioned in passing here that my mom is definitely not a Dave Ramsey follower, although I have tried to pique her interest by telling her I went to church during the tapings of the new Financial Peace University videos. I’ve given her the URL to this blog several times, but so far have seen no indication she reads it. My son took copies of the old FPU audio files up to Indiana for his dad and my mom to hopefully listen to. So far, no indication of that either.
I’ve remarked that I don’t think Mom will ever truly give up her credit cards. She’s gone into debt to fund her international adoptions, and over the summer told me she intends to cash out some of her retirement for living money while the new kid(s) transition to life in America. (No comment on THAT subject….)
Well, this morning Mom was talking about Crown Financial Ministry and how she is considering being a counselor for them. This is the same woman who blew the budget I helped her construct that same evening over this past summer. Yes, she made a budget in the morning before I left to return to Tennessee, and that night when I let her know I made it home safely, she confessed to blowing it in less than twelve hours. At the time I simply figured my mom hadn’t hit the “I’ve had it” point that tends to inspire people to take control of their finances.
So, with Mom’s rather surprising announcement this morning, I decided to find out what Crown teaches about debt and whether or not they will inspire Mom to shed hers. I’m seeing a lot of similarity between Crown and the Dave Ramsey “baby steps” with the main differences being the intensity used to get out of debt and the attitude towards credit cards. I’m not sure how recent this is, but here is Crown’s Ten Things to Find Financial Freedom. My biggest disagreement with this article is in point #8:
Remember that the problem is not credit cards but the misuse of credit cards.
But, their big thing is getting on a budget and paying off debt and saving up money, all things I wholeheartedly endorse. I’ve even said before that it doesn’t matter whether or not a person uses the Dave Ramsey plan to get out of debt or some other program/system, as long as the result is the same. If Crown Financial Ministry is what it takes to get my mom’s finances back in the black and helps her to begin prospering, then I will be a fan (although not a subscriber LOL) of that program.
Oh, speaking of Dave Ramsey’s “baby steps,” next week the M-Network will do a multi-blog project on the Dave Ramsey 7 Baby Steps, and I have been invited to participate since I was part of it and also the biggest (?) Dave Ramsey fan of the network. Look for it to start on Monday! I’ll be covering “Baby Step ZERO” which actually does exist on Tuesday.
