Kelly, Christian, and I have read together for years. I did all of the reading until Kelly was old enough to share the task with me. Now when we read, all three of us pitch in. Last night, though, for the first time in family history. Lorena sat and listened with us. After work, we all went to the Borders bookstore to look at books. Kelly and I looked through some of the CLEP preparation books and saw that it was well within her ability to get ready for at least a couple of the tests. The more of those tests she can pass the more money we will save in helping her get a degree. I think we will start with American History I and II, then move on to Freshman English Composition.
While we were going through those books, I thought of what a financial boon it would be for our family. Then I thought of a radio program to which I listen on the way home from work most days. There is a common sense financial advise guy named Dave Ramsey whose most important piece of advise is to get completely out of debt by only spending what you can afford. I was really doing many of the things he recommended before I started listening to him, but it is pretty fun to listen to him talk to people who have successfully applied his program or are in a difficult situation with which he can help them. At any rate, I bought one of his books with the idea that we could read it together as a family. The kids could listen to it as part of their homeschool education. Lorena and I could listen to it to help us fine-tune our financial management.
The book I bought is titled Financial Peace Revisited. While the book is not what one might consider to be a literary masterpieces, it is really quite engaging. We all stayed at the dinner table after dinner and started reading. Christian, Kelly, and I were stunned. Lorena did not get up from the table to talk to the cat, clean up the kitchen, or page through Southern Living magazine. She listened to, not one, but two chapters. We talked about it all during and after the reading, so I think everyone was understanding what was read. I also got a workbook titled The Total Money Makeover Workbook that I am hoping to go through when we finish reading. More than anything else, though, we are enjoying a book we can read as a whole family.