Rachel Cruze
By Ashley Andrews-700 Club Interactive
CBN.com –Growing up under the guidance of Dave Ramsey was more normal than many might expect. As Rachel shared, "This whole persona of Dave Ramsey never played a part in us growing up. I mean Mom and Dad are very grounded people, and so that just translated into how they raised us. Their story started out pretty rough. When I was about five months old they had to declare bankruptcy. And so that kind of took them on a journey to figure out how money works. Obviously, they did it completely wrong, but how do you do this stuff right? That colored our upbringing. Mom and Dad definitely were not obsessed with money-we didn't have family meetings every Tuesday night just to talk about money. But we learned how to work-we had to save up and pay for things when we were teenagers, but Mom and Dad would match how much could we save. That's how I bought my first car. And in the neighborhood I grew up in that was very strange, because everyone would just get a car when they turned 16. Actions speak louder than words. Mom and Dad did teach us a lot, but a lot of it was just us watching them-giving was a huge part of what they did, and they included us kids in their giving. And that's a powerful thing to learn as a 12-year-old."
HOW TO SURVIVE POST-COLLEGE LIFE
When Rachel enrolled into the University of Tennessee, she found out for herself just how uneducated most young adults are when it comes to finances. As she described, "I feel like I grew up in a financial bubble. And when I went to college, that bubble was popped. I realized there was such a lack of knowledge out there about how to handle your finances. I'm seeing firsthand that the things that were so normal for me are completely weird to other people. A college student will ask me, 'What's the difference between a credit card and a debit card?' It's simple things like that that they've never learned."
It was then Rachel realized exactly what she was meant to do. She would use the platform that father built to reach teenagers and young adults. "People always tell my dad, 'I wish I had known this stuff when I was a young adult,' so I've taken that to heart...I feel very strongly about reaching my peers with this message." In 2011, Rachel along with Jon Acuff and Christy Brown created a book and DVD entitled The Graduates Survival Guide. In it, Rachel, Jon and Christ offer tips and advice to college grads on how to become and stay financially stable. Together, they tackle class scheduling, finances, eating out, dorm vs. apartment and roommates. Their hope is to encourage young adults to be smart with their finances. After all, what you do in your twenties catches up to you in your forties.
SOME WORTHWHILE TIPS
Rachel was raised by parents who taught her from an early age the right way to treat money. "I think the concept of giving was the biggest thing my parents taught us," she shared. "We got $5 every week for doing chores, etc., and we were taught the first thing you do with that money is to give a dollar. My parents also involved us in their giving. For example, at Christmas, we would buy a trailer-load of bicycles to take to the inner city and give out to kids. That was huge, getting to experience those things. It helped me see how the eight dollars that I gave actually blessed someone else. Dad also walked us through how giving changes you; it makes you less selfish. I learned that, not only does giving change the world around you, but it also changes you and the way you think about money."
Rachel is and always has been financially stable - and for that, she credits her parents. She recognizes that it was the lessons from her parents that steered her to be secure financially. Knowing this, she urges parents to teach their kids about how finances work. As she asserted, "This can change the course of a person's life. And their parents don't teach their kids this stuff-either because they don't know it's a big issue or they're intimidated by it. So as a youth pastor there's a huge responsibility to step in and develop habits that will affect them for the next 40 years. There are lots of 40-year-olds who have a student loan. It's a trap. God gave us thousands of Scriptures on money-he talks about this so much. You're setting them up to be free from bondage. They can go and dig wells in Africa or care for orphans in China or build a kindergarten in Vietnam. You do it if you're not paying for a car loan."
As for young adults, Rachel believes that budgeting is the easiest way to stay on top of your finances. "I always say money is a horrible boss, so you need to be the boss of it. Otherwise, it stresses people out. There are a lot of young people who are at the store about to pay for groceries and wondering if they have enough to pay the power bill. Once you have a budget, the stress is relieved. There's no guilt involved in your purchases either. You can say, 'I have the money to buy these shoes,' because you have a plan and you know you can afford it... I am finding that a lot of young people, male or female, have a hard time with living on a budget. It's amazing how many young people get a paycheck, then look back a month later and don't know where the money has gone. I think you need to have a plan, on paper, of where every dollar is going to go. When you know what you are doing with your money and aren't just throwing it around, you are a better steward of the resources God has given you."
What's more, Rachel encourages young adults to search the Scriptures. "You guys, this is the truth-I don't care if you like it or not. The borrower is slave to the lender...How many teenagers know that Scripture passage? I teach teenagers that they can become wealthy-that wealth is not a negative thing. Yes, it can ruin you if you're not mature spiritually, but wealth is not a negative thing. You'll be able to bless your family and others. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil."
STEWARDS VS. OWNERS
It is so easy for teenagers and young adults to get caught up in today's very materialistic culture. Even Rachel claims to be a bit of a spender herself. That being the case, it is vital that each of realize just how we use money. "So much of that is our culture. Just watch a few commercials. They're all saying: "What do you want? What are your desires? Buy this. You're going to like it." That's what our culture teaches us, and it's difficult to fight. Even if you go to church, it's still a battle! What you spend your money on is what you value. You can tell a lot about a person by their checkbook. If you go into your online checking account and it seems you're spending all of your money at the Apple Store or on new clothes, you may need to reconsider your priorities and your values."
One simple truth that Rachel feels every teenager, student and adult should realize is that we are all meant to be stewards of money, not owners. "Our money is not ours, it's God's-we're to be stewards of it. And when you don't know how to handle God's money, that's dangerous. When you're a teenager you're forming habits in your life that will affect you in 20 years when you'll have more money, or more of God's tools. So they have to learn to handle these tools responsibly- to budget, understand the borrowing cycle, and the perils of going into debt. Learn these things at 16 and imagine how that will impact your life when you're 36." For her, the way we manage money is directly linked to our contentment. "The problem with my generation is that we grew up with MTV Cribs telling us what we need to have for a happy life. I tell kids that they're going to struggle with things their parents didn't struggle with because of the intense pressure to have more than they have. I'm always challenging them to be content with what they have- stuff won't make them happy."