I’ve been listening to [Dave Ramsey]’s Financial Peace University (military edition, specifically) on my drives to and from work. I’m only a couple of lessons in, but I have to say that it’s very thought provoking.

Aside from the good financial advice that he is known for, he’s also very entertaining. And while it’s not overbearing, he often quotes the Bible because he relates his financial advice to quality Christian values. I appreciate that. That’s not to say that it should turn anyone off if they’re not into the whole Christian thing. Certainly you can admit that many religions have many good values and just because it isn’t your religion doesn’t mean that it has no value. But I am a Christian, and a Catholic one at that, and I appreciate his values…but I digress.

He talks about teaching your kids how to manage money. He says that with his kids instead of an allowance, he implemented a commission. Each chore in the house is associated with a dollar amount and his children earn their allowance. Personally, I think this is a great idea. I had an allowance growing up, but if I didn’t do my chores, it went away. All or nothing. This is a good balance, I think. It teaches that you have to work for your money AND you should spend it wisely because if all your allowance is gone, you have to work for more.

Since I became a father 4 months ago, I’ve been thinking a lot about instilling good values in my children, not spoiling them, and setting them up for success in their adult lives. I take notice of how other people manage and raise their kids from when I’m out at the store and see interactions, to some light reading online. You’ll notice in my Blogroll at the bottom of each page that I include a link to [Gerry LaMontagne]’s blog. I find many of his entries to be thought provoking and quite entertaining.

I don’t know if this post has added any coherent value or just ramblings, but I had some thoughts and wanted to record them.

Thanks for reading.