Wealth Persuasive Speech

Having recently pulled through a tough time financially I would say that keeping an eye on where your money goes is one of the most important things one can do. My fiancé lost his job in early December and suddenly a two income home became half that.
Very quickly the credit cards we were paying off weekly and never caring a balance were maxed out and the bills were creeping up on me. I can say first hand that was the most difficult couple of months I have ever experienced. The stress of wondering if we will be able to pay rent and wondering what would happen if I lose my job. I was heartbroken when I couldn’t afford even the books for the following semester let alone the classes. Thankfully he has returned to the work force (after a few temp jobs) and is making about twice as much as I was when I was supporting us both. My hope is that I can go back to school in the fall and take advantage of opportunities like the one you are offering.

When the tough time started I fell on a class that I took in my senior year of high school, specifically I am referring to Dave Ramsey’s financial literacy course.

Today I base my budget off of his teachings and am very quickly climbing out of debt. The idea of the budget is that you know where every sent you spend goes, and once you have that knowledge you can control that better. His online budget resource everydollar.com is where I am currently tracking my expenses. They have the option of an iPhone app so you can take it in the go as well.
One thing to keep in mind about the budgeting process is the importance of making educated decisions in not only what you buy, but also where you buy it. Things like sale shopping for clothing, or buying food in bulk can make a huge difference when taking a budget into consideration. Something as simple as checking the price of an item in two stores or checking the quantity price can save so much in a

month.
Another feature of Dave Ramsey’s plan is the aspect of getting out of debt and staying out. My opinion of my credit cards is admittedly a love hate. When my fiancé lost his job I had a card purely to grow credit, I was putting only the bills and gas across it and paying it off biweekly with each paycheck. As I the time went on the balance grew. Now I am working on a “debt snowball” I am paying off the highest interest debt first, leaving minimum payments for the remaining, then I pay off the next card with the amount I was paying the last one. By doing this I can see myself being debt free by the end of July.
The final step I plan on taking in the near future is savings, once the debt is paid off completely I can make the amount I was paying to the credit card company into a savings account. First an emergency fund, then a fund meant for a specified goal. The Idea is to always have a little saved up in case the unforeseeable were to happen again.
Overall I can say that I have learned a lot in the past year, and I can’t say that I will never be in a financially tough situation, but I can say that I will be prepared if it does.