Me and Dave

So that's me at Financial Peace University with my buddy Dave.  There were some technical difficulties with the DVD player or disc so we missed a chunk of the video - BUMMER, but what we did see was very engaging and seriously funny.  It was nice to have a laugh while hearing about such important stuff.  After the video portion we broke into small groups for discussion, unfortunately, since we missed the first week, we were late to our new table.  Our group is mostly couples, one single lady with two teenage sons and our facilitator, Cindy.  I liked Cindy immediately, but I felt a little out of place with the rest of the folks. 

We completed a little survey that helps determine if you're more of the "nerd" or the "free spirit" in the relationship.  I got 10 out of 10 for nerd while GJS got 9 free spirit and 1 nerd.  I was the only total nerd at the table.  We went over some discussion questions that mainly focused on getting the free spirits to recognize the value of budgeting and to get nerds to recognize the need for entertainment.

I'm hoping we'll get our materials before next week so I can catch up.  One of the nice things about this program is all the videos are available online and I have unlimited access to future Financial Peace University classes, so I can do a refresher anytime.  Our homework is for me to set up a budget.  Now we already have one on mint.com but we've usually given ourselves some wiggle room each month.  Dave requires every dollar to have a purpose on day one of the month.  So I will be putting on my thinking cap to properly allocate the $500 I expect we'll have unaccounted for when I get to work on the written budget.  More than likely I'll add in some budget line items for hair cuts and oil changes and shopping for things that come up.

Overall I'm a little underwhelmed with the small group aspect of Financial Peace but I'm a satisfied customer with the video portion and cannot wait for more!