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Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover Review
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Dave Ramsey is a polarizing figure. Some people love him and swear by his advice and others think he’s a hack. Which one is he? Unfortunately that’s a question only you can answer but hopefully I will provide you with enough information about his flagship book to make your own decision.
The problem with personal finance is that there are multiple solutions to any one problem. If you think it’s simply about math, you’re wrong. Someone in credit card debt understands that when you use your credit card and don’t pay your entire bill, you’ll go into debt. They aren’t stupid, they know how interest works, but there is a non-math reason why they’re in debt.
If you had to boil down the book into a single sentence, then I’d say that Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover is a book that gives you a good framework to get yourself out of debt and back on solid financial footing.
Dave Ramsey’s “Baby Steps” to Financial Freedom
At the core of Dave Ramsey’s advice is his “baby steps” towards financial freedom:
- Save $1,000 cash as a starter emergency fund
- Start the debt snowball
- Finish the emergency fund – accumulate 3-6 months of expenses
- Invest 15% of your income in retirement
- Save for college
- Pay off your home mortgage
- Build wealth – Invest, donate, enjoy life (without going into debt)
Debt Snowball Strategy
The debt snowball strategy is one that has received a lot of ink throughout the years. The strategy states that you should list all of your debts and their monthly payments. If you have extra cash to put towards debt, put it towards your smallest amounts first. When that debt has been repaid, take the amount you would’ve sent them and add it to the payment you make to the second smallest debt. This way, as you pay off your debts, your monthly payments to the other debts increases like a snowball.
Why does this strategy work? It comes down to motivation and celebrating successes. It makes more financial sense, mathematically, to put your extra cash into the debt with the highest interest rate. However, by paying off the smaller debts, the number of debts you do have decreases. These successes give you the motivation to continue your payments and put you back on the right path.
The brilliance in this methodology, specifically the much maligned debt snowball strategy, is that it takes into account human psychology. That’s the non-math part of personal finance. Like I wrote earlier, people don’t get themselves into debt because they don’t understand math. No matter what you say about the inefficiencies in his strategy, the reality is that it works. I’d venture to guess that thousands of people have pulled themselves out of debt with the advice he’s given in just this one book.
Summary
The book is routinely in the top three in Amazon’s Personal Finance category, so if you’re struggling with debt, I think you might want to give this book a try. The book also contains a lot of motivational stories of people who probably were in more dire straits than you and were still able to pull themselves out.
One final recommendation, if you are in debt, borrow this book from the library and put that cash towards your smallest debt. 
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Dave Ramsey claims to have “a proven plan with all the tools you need to win with money.”
Unfortunately, his tool kit lacks the one thing many PF bloggers say is the most important component of winning with money – tools to build your income.
So I would say that the Total Money Makeover works splendidly IF you have at least a reasonable income.
If you have a poverty-level income like I do, Dave’s Plan won’t help much, if at all.
On his website he has a Financial Reality Check. I tried it, plugged in the numbers requested, and it said that with or without Dave’s Plan, I would end up with zero dollars. Which to me is good evidence that there is some minimum income required for Dave’s Plan to work.,
Terry–well, I’m convinced! Let’s not try at all; let’s be victims.
The one thing he does mention for individuals who are struggling is to “get a second job” if needed. If your primary income is insufficient, then get a second/part time job, even if its delivering Pizza. Most people are to proud, but we weren’t to proud when we were getting into debt were we?
Terry, Dave says get a second or third job. Sell the car and drive a paid for beater. Stop doing all of the extra activities until the debt is gone then take the money you’ve been paying into debt and save it for a while.
This plan works but you have to WORK it!
Dude, I did this successfully with a total family income of <$22K… quite whining and work on your finances!
Great idea Terry,
Stay where ur at and do nothing. Don’t try and improve ur life or set goals. Waller in ur own self pity. Go get another job. or two. Anybody can do anything if they try. Good Luck on success.
@Terry its ‘that’ attitude that causes people to get into debt and never get out. You have to stop complaining about your situation and do something about it. Dave encourages hope all the time. It’s time to grow up and stop crying.
@Samuel its “that” attitude that comes across in your post that makes you sound like a dick.
@Terry – That’s not true. Dave Ramsey constantly encourages people to deliver pizzas, cut grass, work extra jobs, or do whatever their skilled at to generate extra income while they climb their way out of debt.
Many people already make enough money to pay off their debt. They just don’t take the actions necessary to get their financial lives on track.
I used Dave Ramsey’s plan to get out of debt. It’s important to be “gazelle intense.” Some pf bloggers maintain that drastic lifestyle changes don’t work. I disagree. People don’t magically find themselves out of debt.
Financial freedom requires a well executed plan.
I wish I had found Dave when I was getting out of debt! He does have a great approach that does work.
The one step I still cannot come to terms with is paying off your mortgage. I agree “the grass would feel different” but with 5% interest and the long-term opportunity of investments I just can’t pull that trigger.
I believe this is also due in part to my late start on financial management and conclusion that a 15% savings rate is not enough based on my 4th principle of financial management: You can’t rely on anyone by yourself, if you want it when you retire you have to make it and save it now.
I agree that folks are often in debt for “non-math” reasons. If emotion-driven behavior gets you in debt, it often is emotion-driven behavior (of a different sort) that gets you out.
Great post
so true I didn’t even face the fact that i was in debt till I got mad at the bank for increasing my interest rate. (by the way, I was never late on a payment and they did it anyway)
I concur … get the book and any other book at the library. There are very few books I’ve read cover to cover and wanted to do so again!
Not sure you read his book, but he strongly recommends increasing your income. Most famously by preaching about getting pizza delivery job. If you have “poverty-level income”, go fix that.
Um, I have neither a car (can’t afford one and couldn’t afford to operate a car if I had one) nor a license (financial issues – tickets in my own driveway for expired tags while I was in hospital for two months and didn’t know about the tickets until it was too late to contest them).
This makes it pretty unlikely I could deliver pizzas, or get hired to deliver pizzas.
I’ve delivered tens of thousands of pizzas in my lifetime, and was extremely good at it, but nobody in their right mind weould hire me to deliver pizzas now.
Here’s the rub; I have no car, no license, no marketable skills, no career-related experience, and I am over 50. I don’t know how to fix my poverty-level income.
Ter-You’re right…no sense making any effort, except to make excuses. We can let obamacare fix it…and we’ll all live happily after…
You could turn to crime.
Your story dosen’t wash.First off, a ticket for expired tags is not a moving violation so it wouldn’t keep you from getting a pizza delivery job. As for not having a car, probably one of your relatives would loan you a car just to get you off thier couch. If you were extremly good at delivering pizza you should be able to get hired again, although in today’s economy you may have to wait for a position to come open. You can also start working as a manager or insider until you can get up enough money to buy a car.
Right why not work at a convience store, grocery store, walmart? Etc.
Just hang in there and wait for Obama to give you some money someone else earned…
Why do you have to try to make this political?
No president is Robinhood.
I personally beleive the very wealthy do not need a tax cut.
Of the several “small buisness” owners I know, they “cut” their own taxes by paying their family a salery, even though these family members don’t really work for the company.
They also buy the property and buildings personally, then “lease” them to the company. They drive new cars/trucks that their company pays for.(even the gas)
Their family’s medical and dental are provided for free by their company.
This is how small companys run. I expect the bigger the company the bigger the perks.
We the workers have to manage to pay for all these things ourselves.
So, you people that think millionaires need tax breaks, think again.
As for Dave’s books, and the books he recomends, poor writeing, editing, and really boreing.
I do think his advice is good.He has a good show and a good plan.
Investment advice is bad.He laughed at the people that were saying a resession was comeing and were investing in gold.Now we are laughing at him:)
Then change your situation. Go to the library and learn something and then go try and do it as a Job. I was living at the poverty level several years ago until I checked out DOS for Dummies and went from there.
I used to have no income either. I understand why you feel like such a victim. However, only you can change that.
It is not too late to get an education, that’s what I did. If you are as poor as you say you are, you can get your education totally paid for through grants. You can get state aid for medical and food help while in school to get some training to make you marketable. As long as you feel you are worthless-you will be.
Again, ONLY YOU CAN MAKE YOUR SITUATION CHANGE. I know because I did.
Wow. Some of the posts I am seeing on here in response to “Terry” are quite insensitive. I sure hope none of these are by people who claim to be Christians. As a Christian I am quite taken aback by some of the calloused responses I am seeing. Though it is true that we need to take responsibility for our own lives, there is a way to tell another person ways to do that without being mean. You could offer some compassion with your “advice” to Terry; which would be the Christian thing to do, and even if you don’t consider yourself a Christian it still is the right thing to do.
@ Terry: I understand what you are going through. I have no car, no license, and do not have a huge variety of earthly practical resources and support. It is very tough when you don’t have some conveniences that a lot of middle class people take for granted. Sometimes people just don’t understand how hard it can be when you lack resources that are common to many people.
Though I have not climbed out of my debt yet, I have made some advances toward a better life that have paid off. For the longest time I could not find work because I do not have a higher education degree. However, I kept submitting applications, and really worked on presenting myself in the best light on my resume by really thinking about the beneficial things I brought to past jobs. I sat down with a career counselor (free at a local employment / department of labor office) who helped me revise my resume to be more marketable.
Not having wheels can make doing things more difficult, so I decided to try to educate myself online. If you can, go to YouTube and watch some videos on some skills that can help you get you higher paying jobs (Microsoft Office Suite: Word, Excel, etc). After you make sure you grasp the concepts by trying them on your own computer you can put them down as a skill on your resume. Emagister.co.uk has free courses online in a variety of topics. You can take their free courses on what you are professionally interested in, and then put it on your resume in the education section. It really can bolster your resume and make you look like a more desirable candidate. Also, I found out through my career counselor that there is something called “WIA”. You can contact your state unemployment office or dept of labor about it. Basically WIA is a program that will PAY for you to get training in a skill if you are having trouble getting gainful employment. There are a variety of training courses you can select from and some of them you can even complete totally online! The benefit is not only do you gain new skills, you can put them on your resume and it makes you more marketable and current.
Temp agencies are good too. Usually they have you take a skills test for office jobs (which usually tests you on Microsoft Word & Excel). (So it is a good idea to check out some online tutorials on these programs if you don’t have them.) If you score low on the skills test at the temp agency, some of them offer remedial skills training to get you up to speed, but you may need to ask.
Regarding a car… You may want to call 211 or do some Google searches on charitable programs that will help you get a car. There are programs out there that can help you get a car if you show you are employed but lack the financial means for a car.
With prayer and some creative thinking and diligent effort you CAN improve your situation. I put in some diligent work and relied on God, and He provided me with a job that pays way more than I ever thought I would or could ever get paid. (By the way this job was through a temp agency). Don’t lose faith. Sometimes it is hard not to when it seems like there are many obstacles; and it’s easy to get bitter. One time I even told myself and others outright that I had decided to settle for a life of mediocrity, because it seemed so hard to get ahead in my own life. Afterward, God prodded me though to keep making small steps and trying different things and to not give up faith. If you give up it will prevent you from getting ahead in your situation.
Try to turn what you perceive as being against you in getting a job to work for you. You mentioned being over 50. You can use that as a benefit in your favor when contacting a potential employer. You have experience that a 20 year old doesn’t; real world experience counts here too, not just professional experience. You are bringing a total package to a potential employer. And I am sure that is not the only thing you have to offer. You said you were really good before at delivering pizzas. Why? What made you really good at it? Did you deliver them very promptly? Offer outstanding customer service? Did you just like the feeling of doing a job with excellence? These are marketable skills, and skills that employers really value. Obviously what made you good at your job reflects what you value, and therefore have that to offer as a benefit.
Turn your negative experiences into positives. Over the past year I went on interview after interview and did not get a job. However, now I am so rehearsed at interviews I can walk into them with ease and confidence I did not have before. Learning about, writing and sending out so many cover letters repeatedly has helped me to be able to write a winning cover letter. I didn’t have these skills before I went through this long period of repeatedly trying and failing. Having to repeatedly and creatively work at getting ahead has helped me gain some very useful skills and has pushed me toward personal excellence.
It seems like you see yourself in a somewhat negative light. I am going to encourage you to do an all out inventory of what you have to offer (your skills, your values, etc), in general and to a potential employer. I’m sure you will find you have some valuable attributes; and I’m sure you will find there are more beneficial things you have to offer than you initially thought. I think you need to realize and KNOW your own worth.
My advice is to take manageable steps in working on what is holding you back, be it lack of skills, lack of a car, etc. I personally wrote my limitations in the form of a list along with some healthy creative ideas to become capable in those areas. Then I took the first steps toward achieving success in those areas. For me, once I took the first steps and then just kept following the next logical step in front of me it created a momentum and made my limitations less like limitations and more like problems that can be solved with some intentional steps.
I hope this was helpful to you in some way. If you have any questions about any of the stuff I mentioned in here I can be reached at: lalarah@hotmail.com
God bless you.
The “pizza delivery job” was a metaphor. Can we think of a similar type of job that doesn’t need a car?
Of all the PF books that I have read, this is what allowed me to get it all together. What I like about his approach is to stop the whining and get to work. Get the extra job, sell your junk and stop feeling sorry for yourself. It is no one’s fault but your own. Do something about it and end the pity party. I needed a no nonsense talking to to get motivated. It seems as if everyone is on his plan…When the pizza delivery guy told me he was better than he deserved, I realized he too was on the plan and it felt good to help him on his debt snowball with an extra $10 tip.
I have no opinion of the man personally; never met him. But as far as the book goes, it’s okay-decent at best. It’s a proven formula, but not the proven formula everyone is looking for. A great book if you need tips or discipline, but 7/10 times I’d much rather have a PF blog like Get Rich Slowly, or Bargaineering.
This may be a very good book, but I’ll never truly know, because I’ll never read it. You (and a million other bloggers who’ve reviewed it) share:
“At the core of Dave Ramsey’s advice is his “baby steps” towards financial freedom:
1. Save $1,000 cash as a starter emergency fund
2 . Start the debt snowball
3. Finish the emergency fund – accumulate 3-6 months of expenses
4. Invest 15% of your income in retirement
5. Save for college
6. Pay off your home mortgage
7. Build wealth – Invest, donate, enjoy life (without going into debt)”
There’s absolutely no more reason for me to read this book after reading those bullet points. They are perfectly clear, and I don’t need a chapter or two to explain each. The entire book has been distilled down to a paragraph. More books, especially books that essentially give advice, should be done this way — no filler, just the core tenets of what they’re trying to tell you.
Thank you for the excellent summarization.
I agree with you, the steps are very clear, but for some they need examples, motivation, and other intangibles that Ramsey is very good at providing.
Paying off a mortgage that pays under 5% is silly when you can invest that money and make more, if you’re willing to take some risk. But then, I’m a math guy, so none of Ramsey’s advice would probably work for me.
My friend started me on this. She had debt snoball and budget software. This helped me so much see the who, what, & where of the plan. I have them hanging in my office to keep me reminded of the path.
Pretty awesome!
Exactly! I haven’t spent any money on anything but all of this info about the baby steps is absolutely free as well as as budgeting forms. And if you listen to his radio show, which is also available on-line for free, you will stay inspired.
While I think Ramsey’s philosophy works for some people, it falls under my theory regarding cookie cutter practices. I strongly believe that if you fall on the edges of the bell curve, it probably won’t work for you. I have taken some of the steps into consideration, but I customize it for us. $1000 is a ridiculous “baby” emergency fund for us, so we maintain at least $2000. While using the debt snowball, we utilize balance transfers on cards we already have (not taking on new debt) to keep our interest rates low and reduce the total amount we will pay over time. And we will not be saving for university, even if we do have kids. Our rule is we will pay for community college or the equivalent towards vocational school, and the remaining university will be the child’s responsibility if it is something they would really like to do. It’s never too early to teach the value of saving for what’s important, instead of having it paid for you.
That’s ridiculous. If your kids want to go to a top school, there’s no way they can afford it on their own. And the top-dollar jobs are typically available only to those who went to the top schools and built the right networks. If your kids want to earn $50K/year for the rest of their lives, a community college or state university will do just fine. Are you really willing to doom them to that?
I think it’s rather elitist to assume that the only way to a six figure salary is through a college degree to start with, as most of the top entrepreneurs will prove you wrong. I would rather teach my children life skills and entrepreneurship so that they aren’t doomed to get laid off from a six figure salary with no way to recover, finding out that life has passed them by and the entry level standard for their field would require them to go back to school. FYI, you call your M.D. “Doctor” whether they went to Harvard or state school. I’d rather doom my children to a life of hard work and common sense, silly me.
While some people in “top jobs” have ivy-league degrees, it is not an automatic ticket to success. I know plenty of people with better degrees than mine who have worse jobs; some have no job at all, as they don’t want to work.
Many parents sacrifice their retirement to give their kid an education, only to find that said kid never does anything with it because they have an entitlement mentality.
Bottom line: A degree gets you to the first job. After that, it’s all down to experience.
Your bottom line is on point but I’d add a little caveat, your degree + your performance gets you the first job. Having a piece of paper isn’t enough.
I wonder why it always has to to be either/or. Can you not send your kids to get a great education AND teach them life skills. What if you had life skills and a degree, then you would definitely be ahead of any curve. It’s amazing how many topics have to be OR topics, but if you think a little bit, I plan to teach my son about hard work and discipline, and if he wants an education at a top school. Just something to think about……..
I liked Dave Ramsey’s book. I found the bit about being “gazelle intense” was a bit contrived and is not a way I would ever feel comfortable labelling myself as, but the underlying principles are sound. I certainly can connect with an emotional victory over money than a purely mathematical one. If I was purely mathematical in the first place, I would never have ended up in debt!
I can’t say the book was pivotal for me personally, but I did find a lot of good in it. I did like how it laid out in simple terms various concepts that I’ve learned over a year reading PF blogs. I think if I had read this book earlier in my debt-reduction plan, it would have been much more helpful and have helped me cut through the crap and junk info and hop onto a plan faster. As it was, I just implemented some of the techniques into my existing plan, building a debt-reduction-wealth-building plan that’s personal to me.
Dave’s no b.s. approach to getting started and quit making excuses was just what we needed to get motivated and get out of debt (which we’ve done). I’ve since read countless PF books from other authors because I enjoy different perspectives and approaches. As a result, I have tailored Dave’s approach to one that more closely aligns with our goals, but I’d have never reached this point without a starting point and a plan – which is what you get with Dave’s book. For this reason, I consider Dave’s TMMO the most important PF book I’ve ever read.
As far as checking out a library copy vs. buying, I have to say I’ve seen a significant benefit to having my own copy. I’ve revisited the book several times throughout the last two years, whether to refresh my motivation or to actually re-read a specific piece of Dave’s plan, and having my own copy readily available at the moment was well worth the cost (to me). I highly recommend finding a personal copy if at all possible, maybe try PaperBackSwap.com or a similar service.
I can attest to the fact that the Dave’s plan works at getting you motivated and keeping you on the right track. Looking back now that we are dept free, I may have tweaked the plan to better fit our circumstances, but that is easy to say when you are looking back. When you are fighting to keep your head above water, Dave’s teachings are proven to get you to the prize.
As far as borrowing vs buying? We are having a $10 discussion, because the book is constantly on sale on Dave’s site. Personally I have purchased countless copies throughout the years and given them away, but I have kept my original copy and still reference it to this day. I would buy the book and then when you are dept free, give it to someone you think it would help.
Which is what just happened to me.
A person who has become debt free gave me the book and I’m working on it. I will “pay it forward” when I’m debt free.
This plan works and I’m only in month number one. I can sleep at night knowing that I’m not lost in the dark and have a plan.
There’s no doubt that Dave’s advice is pretty simple and seems like common sense (what financial advice isn’t common sense?). His sweet spot is debt reduction, building an emergency fund, and motivating people through his radio, TV shows and personal appearances to take action and change their financial lives. His gimmick is the debt snowball. But if you want good investment advice once you get out of debt, better look elsewhere.
Biz of Life is absolutely right. Get out of debt using DR’s advice, but his investment advice is close to nonsensical. The quote from DR’s website:
25% into each of these four types of funds:
Growth
Growth & Income
Aggressive Growth
International
Fidelity happens to have funds in each of those styles, so I quickly created a morningstar portfolio with those investments in it. And it’s about what you’d expect — *very* aggressive, *very* risky, and *very* inappropriate for anybody anywhere near retirement age. And, of course, it’s very poorly diversified, with 0% bonds and only 25% value stocks (versus roughly 50% for the overall stock market).
Combine that with his basic misunderstanding of the math regarding IRA’s, his love affair with front end loads and high fees, and his complete distrust of ETF’s and index funds, and Biz of Life is correct — please, please, please look elsewhere for investment advice.
I know his plan works because frankly I used it PRIOR to ever reading it. Not all the steps, but the “important” ones to me at the time, which was putting money into savings for a rainy day and then using the debt snowball. At the time my friends would laugh at me for the way I tackled the debt, but within a year or so I was debt free. Then they weren’t laughing so much.
And I would agree with others…buy the book. It’s $10 when on-sale! Or go to a used book store and find a copy there. Even if you paid $20 and took the information and started applying I believe it would be the best $20 you ever invested in YOURSELF!
I know his plan works because frankly I used it PRIOR to ever reading it. Not all the steps, but the “important” ones to me at the time, which was putting money into savings for a rainy day and then using the debt snowball. At the time my friends would laugh at me for the way I tackled the debt, but within a year or so I was debt free. Then they weren’t laughing so much.
And I would agree with others…buy the book. It’s $10 when on-sale! Or go to a used book store and find a copy there. Even if you paid $20 and took the information and started applying I believe it would be the best $20 you ever invested in YOURSELF!
Dave’s plan is excellent. The tools he provides you work and if you follow the plan, it and you will be successful. I just wish I fund it sooner…. :\
My wife and I started Dave Ramsey’s plan last March 2009 with $42000 in debt between A HELOC, 5 credit cards, medical bills, auto Loan, and a student loan. Currently we are down to $15000 and no longer have the HELOC, student loan. We are down to 1 credit card. Our car will be paid off by the end of November. I got a second job at a retail store for extra cash. People make fun of me but I don’t care because I feel so much freedom knowing that I will soon be debt free. We got radical, we sold our house I sold my toys that I didn’t need. Cut the cable tv. Got back to the basics. Communication with my wife is now better than ever because there are so few distractions around now. Without Dave’s plan I wouldn’t be living like no one else someday. By the way I have a baby on the way so my child will know that debt is dumb. Thank You Dave.
This was the book that got my wife and I on track also. Had $61,000 in debt in July 2008, now have $16,000. Scheduled to be debt free March 2010 (5-6 months away).
The part that helped us the most was his budget template. His advice about budgeting is right on and has been our key to digging out of our hole.
I agree that people need to take accountability for their debts, but taking a 2nd-3rd job to pay off debts can be detrimental to your health and then you would be in debt from medical care!
literally got into a tussle with a buddy when i was trying to logically rationalize the approach….man, Dave has a lot of fanatic fans!
I’m glad so many people have found a way to get out of debt and find the way to financial security. Dave”s principles are sound, I will admit, but like most things in life, they are not a “one plan fits all”.
I was offended by criticism heaped on Terry. He can’t tell all here the specifics of his circumstance. When someone lives at the poverty level, I don’t think the most helpful thing is to tell him is to get a job. (I bet he thought of that.) Sort of like telling someone who is lonely and has no friends to get a pet. When trying to tell one’s story, they can’t summarize their life situation on an Internet comment page. Maybe he is wallowing in self-pity, but there is some validity in what he says. I think Dave Ramsey’s plan fits for a lot of people, particularly those who have a way to increase their income. If one can’t do that, and there are situations where that really is not possible, how do you save $1000? What if you don’t even have extras to cut out of your life, like cable TV, a late-model car or cups of coffee from Starbucks every day?
Another annoying thing for me about Dave Ramsey is that he seems to have capitalized on his failures and come up with a great idea to make money for himself. I say good for him. I guess most people just can’t naturally see the logic in his advice so they have to pay for it. First thing you need to do is buy his book, because a library book is no good since you need to refer back to it all the time. (As mentioned here several times.)
I have used Dave Ramsey’s baby steps in the past, even before anyone knew about Dave Ramsey. I successfully got myself out of debt and was able to save some money. Then I became disabled. Few options for increasing my income. Then those emergencies that Dave mentions came up. Then I fell in the doughnut hole in Medicare and had to pay the total cost of medications related to my disability. Just one thing after another, like for many of us.
I don’t participate in pity parties. I don’t feel sorry for myself nor do I think anyone else should. I find ways to make it and make improvements where I can. And I agree with Dave on most things, but I can only go so far with his plan. Oh well, on to Plan B. But I was surprised to read Dave’s book and find solutions to getting out of debt I had thought of myself. I was just not smart enough to market them, and there is Dave’s real talent. Not his ideas, but marketing.
I’m sure I’ll get a lot of criticism for sucking on the government’s teat. I think most people here should not comment negatively on someone’s life until they know the whole story. How presumptious of them.
One is never truly stuck at the income level they are at. You can always find some ways to increase your income unless you are physicaly unable.
The Bible says: “Owe no man anything, but to love one another”. “He who borrows becomes a slave of the lender”. The Amish, with 8th grade education, are the richest church per-capita in America. Someone’s getting scammed in highschool and in college, and it’s not the Amish. I think The Holy Bible has the best financial advise ever.
Dave Ramsey is very good for folks whose debt is their master. But he is quite elementary for those that know how to master debt. His followers are quite fanatical, almost religiously fanatical. While most of his followers get out of debt, they don’t really achieve wealth. I would consider David’s teachings to be the elementary school of Personal Financial Management.
I have not been through his program yet, but am upset because it is a requirement at my college. I am financially responsible and don’t feel I need it. I didn’t choose a Christian University so that product can be peddled to me in the name of God. I’m sure Dave has plenty of money in the bank since people are have to go throuhg his program for a “discount” of $125 as a college requirement. Very smart Dave!
I have read Dave’s book, and, prior to my divorce, participated in a SUnday-School video series study of Financial Peace University. I didn’t complete it, however, but I remembered it when I decided recently to get myself out of my huge amount of debt.
Like Terry, who I can relate to, I am below poverty level. Totally cut off, no job, no car, no $ to even pay for a car, living with my folks temporarily because I can’t even afford to make any kind of rent, very, very, very few personal possessions, let alone “toys”, I have disabilities which make it difficult to FIND work, let alone DO the work without having illness and attendance problems, etc. It’s a dire, “hopeless” situation. I have debt, ONLY because I had to do SOMETHING to survive day by day. I don’t believe in credit cards, actually, and was extremely hesitant to get one. I didn’t get my first credit card until recently, at 32 years old! I had a job at the time…….
So basically, just “getting going” with Dave’s plan, is a HUGE task for me. Getting “current” wth my necessities is a very large hill; getting “current” with my bills? A major mountain in itself. And that’s BEFORE the Baby Steps begin! I am bound and determined to do this, though, modified of course to suit my situation. Even though I have this massive mountain in front of me to just get started, though, I see light up ahead. I have done samples of the debt snowball, suited to my irregular income and “pro-rata” figuring of debts. That snowball is VERY impressive, and in those samples, I had 4 debts chopped off inside of 3 months! That gave me a lot of HOPE and MOTIVATION.
What am I going to do about income? Well, that’s the kicker these days. In this economy it’s difficult finding a job, more difficult if you are disabled. But, it is not IMPOSSIBLE. I am out job hunting a LOT, although it is admittedly discouraging. I find that I do better when I am able to do things to make $ from home. So, I am also doing that. I make these little Disciple’s Cross necklaces, and they sell like hotcakes, literally!!! Thankfully I had just barely enough of a tiny cushion in my bank account to invest in a starter kit. I swear to this, I wear a necklace less than 5 minutes, oftentimes, and it’s SOLD, BOOM! With orders and requests to make more always coming. Today I sold 3, just by wearing 1. ANd I JUST started this venture! I feel good that I can give honest days’ hard work with the labor of my hands and heart, and not worry about being fired, or getting sick, and that I am giving myself a jumpstart to financial freedom. My hands hurt, my back hurts, etc., but you know what?? THAT’S OKAY. I’m on my way to being debt-free and in financial peace!
HARD? Absolutely. Harder that I don’t have steady income and survive off almost nothing (I have less than $2 in my bank account. Being able to make anywhere NEAR $500 a month would be a dream come true for me. Any more than that would be Paradise!). IMPOSSIBLE? NO. Absolutely not. I have motivation, and loads of it, despite my extreme poverty, and I have made myself FIND unorthodox ways to bring in money to “make it”. I will MAKE Dave Ramsey’s program work for me, and I am against credit cards and debt in the first place!
The baby steps are sound common sense, exactly what my mother taught me over 30 years ago. What Americans have lost (perhaps we never had it) was the capability to push ourselves away from the table when we’re done.
And, as to having a reasonable paycheck to make it work, definitely, that is important. To tell someone “oh, let’s be victims” because they’ve stated they’re near poverty level is down right rude. There is no reason to respond to someone is such a manner, most especially since Mr. Ramsey aims his products particularly at Christians. Regardless of your belief system, to respond in such a manner shows your lack of respect for those, and I have been there, who are living hand to mouth. Try it some time – it is not fun.
As to Mr. Ramsey’s product/plan/advice, I’ve heard from many that it does work. You just need to stay strong and stick to a budget, just like a diet plan, you won’t see result unless you put the work in.
God’s Blessings y’all. Remember, be kind and polite to one another. Money’s not something you can take with you once you meet your maker anyway.
I googled Ramsey because my church is offering his program early next year. It’s $93 for a package of resources, and you go to a weekly meeting and watch his DVDs. I am not in debt, and I don’t think I need to spend the time and money to learn stuff I already know. I really just need a very good, preferably free, website for budgeting. Any ideas?
One other thing, they’ve shown excerpts of Ramsey’s DVDs at church to encourage people to sign up. In one of them, he’s giving an illustration and makes a joke about someone having a “Prozac moment” in reference to spending more than they earn. I was tempted to laugh, but started thinking about the implications of his joke. People who take Prozac are not stupid or even mildly forgetful. I think if I was taking Prozac, I’d be offended by Ramsey’s comment. That’s another reason I’m not going to spend my hard-earned money on his program.