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I've heard so much about Dave Ramsey on this forum that I decided to pick up his Total Money Makeover book yesterday so that I had something to read while on the airplane flight home from a business trip. It was a short flight, and I only got about 100 pages into the book so far. I am finding a lot of the information useful. Most of it seems common sense to me. From what I can tell to this point in my reading is that his program will work if you follow it to the letter, but that seems to be the hard part. It seems like a complete lifestyle change. Has anyone actually tried to get on his plan, stick to it, and come out on the other side debt free? I'm curious to know if anyone has ever been able to follow his plan and still be able to live some sort of a life. How did things go for you? What was the hardest part? Did it get easier to follow as time passed by?
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Brian -
I have been on the plan for 3 years
24 months and my house will be paid off
we live a great life the hardest part is starting , and believe it or not once you pay everything off its really hard to figure out what to do with all the money you have left
good luck ;-) -
That is the book that inspired me to change my ways. However, I am not following Dave's plan to the letter. I'm taking some of his thoughts, some of Suze Orman's thoughts, and ideas I've gotten from the Savings Advice forum to make my own plan.
Still, the book is a good read and motivating.Comment
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More like behavioral change, yes, yes, awesome, getting use to a budget, yes!Originally posted by bjl584 View Post
I bought the audio book on CD and listened to it to and from work. I have loaned them out so much they are about worn out, I need to resurface them!Comment
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I've been doing this for about 3.5 years now. We don't (and never did) follow his plan to the exact letter. We took the general idea of his plan and modified it to fit us. I don't like real envelopes, so I created virtual envelopes in Quicken. I didn't leave 401k match on the table, so we continued to contribute to our 401ks. I didn't get "gazelle intense" but we sure did move pretty quick!
We're still working on his plan. By the end of the year we will be completely debt free, except for the mortgage. Next year will be spent building one heck of an emergency fund. After that we will either be investing more or paying down the mortgage.Comment
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Wow! What is this book? I don't come to this forum all the time so I'm not familiar with it. Actually, I have heard of Dave Ramsey, but I think it was in regards to a real estate investment plan. By the sounds of it, that is NOT what this book is about. Is it actually called total money makeover?Comment
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Yes, the name of the book is the Total Money Makeover. It is about getting out of debt and managing personal finance. It is not a book on real estate investing. I haven't finished it yet, but it is a good read so far.Originally posted by meatloafkend View PostBrianComment
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I've been on the plan with some stumbles here and there for a few years. I am debtfree and have my EF in place. I invest in mutual funds also.
Currently, I'm cheating a little by using a CC to pay down my mortgage with the rewards. I pay in full each month. I'm not sure I will stick the CC thing, but am giving it a go for now.
Daves plan is a simple plan for those who want a simple system. He motivates you to get out of debt and stay out of debt, and set up a simple financial plan. I highly recommend it to people who have struggled with their finances on an ongoing basis and for those who just want simplicity.Comment
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I've read the book, and subscribe to most of the basic ideas contained in it. My debt issue was MUCH smaller than many cases in the book, and many people on here . . . within about 9 months I paid off all CC's, my car loan, and have put $5k into an emergency fund. I'd say I followed the general scheme, but not to the letter because I'm single and have few financial commitments, making my case a comparatively "simple" one. I was able to do a pretty good job without being 100% "gazelle like", but I don't have a house payment, spouse, or children.
I guess on example of "cheating" is that I didn't cancel my CC's after paying them off. I still use them, but never carry a balance anymore. I get about $200 in cash back per year, just using it for food and gas, so for me continuing to use credit cards is advantageous. I have NOT however, opened any new accounts, and closed several store accounts.
Dave Ramsey has his own forum for people trying to follow the plan. I think there are several thousand (or at least hundred) users, success stories, and support for people going through the exact same things you are.
Last edited by red92s; 09-24-2008, 02:37 PM.Comment
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the no more debt forum at delphi used to be inspiring it is based very loosely on DR , it has swayed off course a bit but for a newbie it might still be interesting
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