Dave Ramsey and Geek Brief

Well, everyone else in our office who has a blog posted the interview that GeekBreif.tv had with Dave Ramsey so why shouldn’t I? Well…I don’t know. However, I would like to add something. In the interview they touched on the new FPU Online (Financial Peace University) and Dave discussed the importance of community. If people are going to get out of debt, they need the accountability of others to keep them focused and motivated on achieving their goals.

What they did not discuss, is how Dave’s subscription site My Total Money Makeover has an online community of thousands of people from around the world. There is significance to this point. Once people complete FPU/FPU Online, people can still benefit from community while building their budget (with the easiest to use budget software on the web) plus they get to listen to his radio show via podcast or commercial-free mp3s. Honestly, it is one of the greatest online communities I have ever seen and I’m not just saying that because I work on Dave’s team. It really is extraordinary.

The Taste of Turpentine

When I was growing up my mother did quite a bit of painting. She was very talented. I can recall her always having her paints and brushes handy and working on some kind of project.

She always enjoyed telling a story about my brother when he was little. You see, mom always used turpentine to clean her paint brushes and one time when she wasn’t paying attention, she turned around and noticed that my brother was holding an open bottle of turpentine.

Immediately she thought, “He’s been drinking it.” Panic set in and she feared for my brother’s life. She had no idea what kind of effect turpentine would have on him.

She screamed out for my dad, and he came running. She quickly told him what the situation was and asked what they should do. He simply responded by taking away the bottle of turpentine from my brother, turned it up and took a sip for himself.

As her eyes grew wider with confusion and concern, dad lowered the bottle and said, “That stuff tastes awful. There’s no way he would have drunk enough to hurt him.”

End of story.