13 weeks to change behavior

Hope Community Church of the Nazarene is offering a 13-week course to help people get out of debt and plot their financial future.

The course, which starts Sunday at 6 p.m., is open to anyone. It is titled Financial Peace University and is facilitated via CD by Dave Ramsey, personal money management expert.

Ramsey knows a thing or two about the daily stresses related to finances. He had a $4 million real estate portfolio by age 26, only to lose it at 30. In the following decades, however, he has rebuilt a secure financial future and now teaches people across the nation.

Dave and Lisa Giza, members of Hope Community Church, were on the brink of foreclosure prior to taking Ramsey’s course in June. As a result, when the church decided to offer it again, they agreed to facilitate it.

Dave Giza, a farrier and Lisa Giza, a teacher, describe the course as phenomenal, adding that it has improved their relationship.

The course has 13 sessions because, as Ramsey points out, it takes 12 to 13 weeks to change a behavior.

He compares it to Weight Watchers.

“They have a good system,” he said, “because there is accountability. You have to get on the scale. Just as when your classmates see you in class, they are going to ask you how it’s going, and that’s accountability.”

Some of the issues Ramsey covers are: saving for emergencies, investments and insurance, retirement and college planning, buying bargains and relationships.

Lisa Giza said lessons three and four, budgeting and dumping debt, were the most important for her.

“Getting a budget that works for our home was the biggest part of financial peace,” she said. “When you start at the beginning of the month and know you can make it to the end, there’s a peace in that.”

Dave Giza couldn’t agree more.

“We were fighting foreclosure,” he said. “We got another bill and we didn’t want to talk about it. Our life is back together now. We’re not on a luxury liner by any means, but we are now paddling ourselves out.”

The first thing you have to do in the course is set $1,000 aside for an emergency fund, a task that proved fruitful for the Gizas right from the start, as they had to unexpectedly replace their hot water heater.

The cost for the course, per person, is $93 and includes a workbook, CD set (providing a copy of each lesson on audio), Ramsey’s bestselling book “Financial Peace,” budgeting forms and cash envelopes for spending funds.

Also included in this fee is a lifetime membership to Financial Peace University, allowing participants to return to any class at any time for a refresher course.

Classes begin promptly at 6 p.m., and the lessons last about one hour, to include a video led by Ramsey. Facilitator-led discussion will follow, concluding with a question-and-answer time and experience sharing.

Amy Wagner covers church news for the Star Exponent. Have a story idea? E-mail her at .