Dave Ramsey is not a tool! (to use against your husband)

(DISCLAIMER:  Dave Ramsey is MUCH more attractive than
my poor attempt of depicting him in cartoon-fashion.)

 "You're still planning on going, right?" my husband asked (several times).  Poor Brad. He had to work over-night so Syd and I would be attending the third installation of our "Dave Ramsey" class without him. Who would be there to glare at us when we were chatting with our friends? Who would be there to yell at Sydney because it's pointless to yell at me? "You read the chapter, right?" he asked (several times). I stared at him incredulously. "You remember I graduated Magna Cum Laude, correct," I reminded him, disgusted that he would even think to ask if I'd read the chapter. Puh-leeze!

"We ARE going, right?"  Syd whispered. I sighed. Barring natural disaster, the Rapture or an intestinal issue, I couldn't really see us getting out of it. And as Brad had already heard us discussing our pre-class McDonald's plan, that ruled out a feasible medical excuse. So, with a quick but heartfelt intercessory prayer, we headed out, determined to embrace a zero-based budget.

Let me first say that our course instructors, Don and Luttie are fabulous; professional and patient (Syd tends to get a bit rowdy during the break-out group portion of the class). I, myself, THRIVE in the academic setting. I live for the words: "Would anyone like to share...?" I'm the one to remind teachers to check the homework and am then devastated if I don't receive a sticker for my extraordinary effort. Skeleton notes are my thing. So...why make Brad's life so miserable? Because it's fun.

So what was I going to do without Brad there? The entertainment value of the class plummeted by 33% without Brad next to me, sitting on the edge of his seat as he spends each class hoping that I wouldn't feel compelled to share the moment when, early in our marriage, he made me choose between a pair of cute socks or a journal as a souvenir during a trip to the Atlantic City where we didn't gamble, eat in a sit-down restaurant or hire a pedicab for a romantic jaunt down the boardwalk to buy some saltwater taffy. It's been over 20 years since that horrible trip. Why bring it up now?

I perused the workbook before class began and brightened, hatching my plan. The skeleton notes! Of course, the skeleton notes! Brad would want to review them before the next class (Some of the Mosimans tend to be a bit on the over-achieving side when it comes to preparedness.). So I filled in the notes, Amy-style, before lightly crossing the wrong answers out to replace them with the correct responses. It would drive Brad NUTS! Perfect!

Brad whipping our wild money into shape.

Except...(there's ALWAYS an "except")...I didn't anticipate my friend Sue coming in mid-way, after worship team practice, and needing to be caught up on her notes. In my peripheral vision, I saw her glance my way as she noticed that, instead of "You must do a written cash flow plan every month," I had written, "You must do a written haiku every month." I heard a smothered snicker in response to "Over drafts are a sign of a creative mind," (instead of crisis living). A noticeable snort greeted, "The most popular method of banking by far is spanking" (internet banking). And then, of course, there were the roughly-drawn cartoons. Poor Sue.

Then I dragged her into a fight during our break-out discussion group where we were pitted against fellow classmates Renee and Margaret. The objective:  To pare down the given budget of a newlywed couple so that they could gain extra payments on their car debt. Renee and Margaret ruthlessly slashed our couples' $400 monthly grocery budget in half and declared their $200 restaurant budget ridiculous. "But Chris and Sarah have to eat," we argued, having formed an emotional attachment to our soon-to-be-hungry imaginary newlyweds. "Let them live on love," someone snapped, Marie Antoinette-style. Wow! And this all happened in a class with the word "peace" in the title. Plus no one was interested in setting aside a few dollars per month for Chris and Sarah to take a romantic trip to Atlantic City!