Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover

[sfdavis918]

I'd also like to recommend the webcast of one of his seminars. I think that is a great way for some of you to get your significant others on board. It was a serious eye opener to my DH and was what finally got him on board 100%. He was hesitant about even watching that so I just asked him to set some time aside for it, because it was really important to me. This is way TMI, but I also offered him a "reward" and that was all it took!

 

[pamperedpals]

Laurie~

This very well may be the answer to your prayers!

God gives us hope in soooooo many different ways! I pray that you and DH will be a closer couple through this...and that God would bless your finances!

Kelly~

Thank you for your prayers and well wishes. I'm just completely beside myself with worry and stress. This is a definate must do.

Thanks again!

 

[tabnat80]

YES, definitely do it!!!! My DH and I are working through our debt and will be debt free (except for the house) at the end of 2009!!! That includes car loans, credit cards, and student loans!!!! Yeah!!!! I just read the book, didn't do any of his Financial Peace classes, but is SO worth it. We'll be debt free before hitting 30 and that is a HUGE step for us.

Hey-
That sounds just like my DH and I. Our goal is to be debt free by 2009 as well. We don't have a lot on credit cards, but we do have a nice size student loan and land payment that's putting a hole in our pockets. So far the Financial Peace has worked for us. I have been making a menu (for two weeks) before I go to the grocery store and have found that I have been spending 1/2 of what I was before on groceries. We are still working on step 1, saving $1000. I can't wait until we get to the debt snowball step. It's nice to know that there is hope that we won't always be struggling, especially since I'm a stay at home mom. Good luck to you.

 

[SilverCeladon]

What is the name of the book? I've never heard of him but your testamonials are awesome!

 

[finley1991]

Hey-
That sounds just like my DH and I. Our goal is to be debt free by 2009 as well. We don't have a lot on credit cards, but we do have a nice size student loan and land payment that's putting a hole in our pockets. So far the Financial Peace has worked for us. I have been making a menu (for two weeks) before I go to the grocery store and have found that I have been spending 1/2 of what I was before on groceries. We are still working on step 1, saving $1000. I can't wait until we get to the debt snowball step. It's nice to know that there is hope that we won't always be struggling, especially since I'm a stay at home mom. Good luck to you.

Excellent! One great way to save on groceries is to do the Grocery Game. You can try it for $1. If you decide to do it, please use me as a referral ([email protected]). The last time I went to the store, my bill was $65 and I saved $58!!!!! So I got over $110 in groceries! It's really worth it!
(Done with hijack!)

The website is: Coupons, Grocery Coupons - TheGroceryGame.com

 

[poohritz]

crown money mapThere is also the Crown Finacial money map. I like the way it has you saving in little steps. I recently paid off my car and other debt. Now to start saving for a down payment for a house. Here is the web site for those interested
https://www.crownmoneymap.org/MoneyMap/Login/FrmLogin.aspx

 

[chef_kimmo]

Okay after reading all of your post's I'm going to go home and discuss this with DH tonight. We are in a not so good situation right now and it is VERY stressful. I think I get maybe an hour or two of sleep a night and I put on 10 - 20 pounds just because of the stress. I don't my kids to have to grow up in this environment.

This thread has been very encouraging. I hope this program is the answer to my prayers.

Laurie,

I am in the same situation as you are although it is me - all me that has gotten me in this situation. My best intentions has not worked.

It is funny that I should have time to be able read on Chef Success for a little bit and I ran across this thread. I brought to work today a file folder with my bills so that I can start making payments. I finally got an insurance check last night for the items that were stolen from me and my plan is to catch up as much as I can. Even though it was considerably less than the total value it is something that will help me to a starting point.



I have bought a couple of David Bach's books and have listened and read about Dave Ramsey. I think both have some similarities and I hope to do a combination of them. My biggest question between the 2 is the different concepts.

One says pay off your smallest debt first and one says pay off your highest interest first. I think you should combine that - obviously if you have a fairly small debt - pay it off quickly. But then from there I would think that you would take that extra money you and apply it to the debt with the highest interest rate. You getting charged for the higher rate so that is why I wonder about how DR says to go to the next smallest bill.

I did a search one time and found a place that a did a comparison of the exact same debt pay off using the different methods.

DB also points out something that I am not sure I hear from DR - that is getting rid or lowering your "Latte Factor". It is amazing how much money you can save by doing that.

Sorry for the long post and many of you may not read it all - but I have seen the posts about people complaining about people posting right after each other. I do it to sort topic on same thread...

Best of luck to everyone doing this and I know right now I am working on finding some financial peace - no matter how it gets done!

 

[sfdavis918]

Kim,

DR's reasoning for paying off debt from the smallest to largest is more psychological than anything. When you have the victories of paying off some bills (the smaller ones) it gives you more motivation to continue with the plan. If you start with a large bill that is going to take a year to pay off and have no victories in between you are more likely to "fall off the wagon". Also, when most people start his plan and get really intense about getting their debt paid off the difference in interest is usually not much, usually only enough to give up a Friday pizza.

DR also talks about the "latte factor". He is very big about this. Especially when you are starting the baby steps. He talks about living on rice and beans while working steps 1 and 2. Like he says, live like no one else so later you can live like no one else!

I am a huge fan of DR (If you couldn't figure that out already! ) and am passionate about what he teaches.

 

[katie0128]

Kim - I would suggest you review both programs again and then pick one. If you jump back and forth between the two, you might end up getting frustrated, which won't do any good.

While I do think that Dave Ramsey's plan is great and can work for everyone, this isn't the only plan that will work. You need to pick the plan that makes the most sense to YOU and that YOU are passionate about.

 

[chef_kimmo]

Kim,

DR's reasoning for paying off debt from the smallest to largest is more psychological than anything. When you have the victories of paying off some bills (the smaller ones) it gives you more motivation to continue with the plan. If you start with a large bill that is going to take a year to pay off and have no victories in between you are more likely to "fall off the wagon". Also, when most people start his plan and get really intense about getting their debt paid off the difference in interest is usually not much, usually only enough to give up a Friday pizza.

DR also talks about the "latte factor". He is very big about this. Especially when you are starting the baby steps. He talks about living on rice and beans while working steps 1 and 2. Like he says, live like no one else so later you can live like no one else!

I am a huge fan of DR (If you couldn't figure that out already! ) and am passionate about what he teaches.

Thank you...

I see what you mean and totally can see the idea of getting some bills paid off which does get people to continue.

My post was getting really really long and I didn't want to go into the idea of rice and beans, beans & rice but I do know about it. I have listened to DR for a long time on my car radio and on my computer (since the radio won't pick up a.m. stations).

I have a fellow PC consultant friend that I have recommended that she get on his plan.

I am not knocking DR just think it good to compare and just get it done. Also, I know that DB has specifically mentioned PC in one of his books which could be good for us in recruiting.

 

[chef_kimmo]

Kim - I would suggest you review both programs again and then pick one. If you jump back and forth between the two, you might end up getting frustrated, which won't do any good.

While I do think that Dave Ramsey's plan is great and can work for everyone, this isn't the only plan that will work. You need to pick the plan that makes the most sense to YOU and that YOU are passionate about.

Katie, you are very right. I can see how it could be frustrating... I should have read your post before replying to the last one.

I am very much a person who believes in just getting it done. My problem is when the money started getting lower and lower, I wasn't doing much. I had some bills on automatic bill pay but others I thought I can't afford it and I will get it tomorrow. The problem is that tomorrow has been a couple months tomorrows and now all those late fees and interest charges are making me sick to my stomach.

Thank goodness for the insuranace check that will help get on my feet.

Next step - get those taxes done that I have be talking about for months now and that should help a ton. I have decided the budget starts NOW!!!

I spent too much money at the grocery store last weekend so we will be eating on that until it runs out and then it is rice & beans - beans & rice for a long time.

 

[Leigh0725]

Just an FYI - Dave Ramsey is now on TV!

FOX BUSINESS NETWORK NAMES RADIO SHOW PERSONALITY DAVE RAMSEY AS PRIMETIME HOST

 

[finley1991]

I really wanted to see that last night and missed it! It's on at 8pm here... I had a meeting last night and have a show tonight. Hopefully I'll get it tomorrow night!

Too bad he's not on the radio here... can you believe in a major city like detroit, he's not on? I got the list of stations and all of them are small ones and I can't tune any of them in as they are too far away... Bummer too.

But that's okay... just download him to my ipod and I'm good.

 

[Leigh0725]

If you have DVR, you can set to record his show. Just a thought.

 

[DebbieJ]

You can also stream his radio show live via the internet. That's how I used to listen until a station here picked him up.

Our cable provider doesn't carry the Fox Biz Channel, so I can't watch his show. Bummer!

 

[Rebeccascabinet]

I've read both of DR and DB's books and I incorporate both theorys. I think, for my lifestyle and family, there are pros and cons to both and I use ideas from both guys. We are almost debt free and its been discipline and knowledge and I got that from both DR and DB.

 

[pamperedposey]

For anyone who is still considering FPU, but is putting it off my husband told me that he usually offers the program at half price around the holidays. We got registered for $99 this past January and loved it! We still haven't taken the last few courses, because we moved to a new area and haven't looked for our local classes yet. That's what's great about it though is that you have free registration for life. We were going to the classes at his office in TN. It was kind of fun knowing that he was there in the building often.

Anyway, I highly recommend it! :thumbup: Just wait a couple of months and get it 1/2 off.

 

[GeorgiaPeach]

Eek...is our battle cry!!Thanks to this thread I have begun to be "gazelle intense". We went to Kentucky last weekend. I read Financial Peace on the way up, listened to the Total Money Makeover on CD on the way home.

For those that might check out DR or another system like his and are thinking that you'll do it later when more money is coming in because you just don't have enough to work with right now. We are in that place.....the money ends before the month does Let me share this....we are in a VERY rough place financially right now. When he says that you need to build an emergency fund of $1000 first I thought (based on where we are right now) that it would take a few months to get to that place. But Monday afternoon as we finished listening to the last book we committed to doing whatever it takes to get back on track. Today we received TWO checks for a good amount of money that we were NOT expecting! We should hit the $1000 mark within the next two weeks!!

I firmly believe that until we let go of whatever is holding us back (bad habits, our pride, meals out!) we cannot receive the good things awaiting us. I think Suze Orman uses this visual of our hands being clenched around whatever is holding you and until we let them go our hands can't be open to receive the good things.

I feel that Monday evening we opened our hands.

A funny thing about Dave's analogy of being like a gazelle that is chased by a cheetah. A gazelle can't outrun a cheetah but they dodge and turn until the cheetah wears out. He says we need to be gazelle intense about getting rid of debt. If we are smart we can avoid being eaten by our debt (cheetah). My family was discussing some of the changes we needed to make to do this. I said we needed a battle cry to say when one of us wanted to do something that was no longer allowed. My husband said it should be "EEK"! His reason is that he thinks that's what a gazelle says when he sees the cheetah coming Oh, God love that man He has such a goofy way of looking at things but that is now the DeWees Family Battle Cry

 

[DebbieJ]

Lisa, congrats to you and your family!!!! And welcome to the TMMO.

To get our $1k in place, we had a garage sale and sold a whole bunch of stuff on Ebay and Craigslist. You can do it!

 

[chefann]

Here's a delicate question...
I know someone who would benefit from this program. She and her husband have been working hard to provide extras for their kids (ballet lessons, private school, etc.). Her PC business has not been cutting it, financially, and she's not in a place in her life where she can devote more time to it (in fact, she mentioned on the phone to me that she's thinking of quitting to get a job outside the home). We do exchange Christmas gifts - would it be overstepping my bounds to give her DR's book this year instead of the usual frou-frou?

 

[DebbieJ]

I am giving the TMMO book as (part of) two wedding gifts this fall. I would give it to her along with something else.

 

[DebbieJ]

To anyone considering FPU--the kits are on sale for only $69 right now!!!!

 

[ChefBeckyD]

If I gave it as a gift, I would include a note about how much the book had helped me......something to make it personal, and not just a "Here - you need this", but more of a "This changed my life, and I want to share it with people I love."

 

[missydivine]

You might bring it up in passing and see how she responds to it. If you have talked about these things, I think it would be a good gift.

 

[missydivine]

To anyone considering FPU--the kits are on sale for only $69 right now!!!!

I need to talk to dh about it, maybe I will get it for us for Christmas. Thanks, I'd gone to look, but forgotten the sale.

 

[chefann]

Thanks, ladies! I was thinking along those lines, but started to second-guess myself. Problem is that I haven't used this program (although I probably should), so I can't include a note about how it's worked for me. But I think I can come up with something. The other thing I was thinking of for her was actually a gift card from Meijer, so she can use it for a treat for herself or for groceries.

 

[GeorgiaPeach]

I'd give it to her privately (I'm sure you were already going to do that ). Since you have already discussed financial stuff with her, and if you haven't read the book/or needed to do this, you can just tell her about how you have heard so many great things about it on CS and thought of her.

 

[chefann]

Perfect! Maybe I'll run downstairs to the bookstore and pick up a copy this morning.

 

[finley1991]

I agree with Lisa... and I love the idea of the gift card too. You might say something like, "I've heard great things about this..." She'll know that you mean well. And with your comment that you "should" be doing something like this you could say, "New Year's can bring new beginnings and maybe this is something we can work on together..." You can read it too and you can cheer each other on. Instead of a gift, it's a project that will end up being a bigger gift in the end! (Just a thought...) By the way, I LOVE the idea!

One thing I will note here is that I have read other books and am currently working Dave's program to build my savings (what else can I sell?) And why I decided in the end to go with Dave's is that with all of the things I read and I spent a day online researching it (and I did read Suze Orman & David Bach's as well in the last year) is that DR's program was THE ONLY ONE that people said got them out of debt. Not one review said that about Suze or David's programs. Not that they don't have great ideas because they do and I'm sure it worked for others but there were not testimonials that I read online that said so (this doesn't include the book back-covers... these were online reviews that didn't come from the publishers). Anyway, DR's got them out of debt. That was the strongest for me.

Good luck Ann! Let us know what happens!

 

[finley1991]

On another note... DR is on FoxBusiness every week day now at 8pm eastern time. Tonight at 6pm eastern time is a special about Warren Buffet.