Has anyone used any of Dave Ramsey's techniques to grow their income? I am trying to do better with saving and retirement and some of his advice seems great. What do you guys think?

No, never heard of him but I saw this guy named Steven K. Scott on CNN the other day and he wrote a book which tells you how to get rich based on the wisdom of King Solomon. Don´t know what to think of it though, sounds a bit like unscientific, unrealistic pseudo stuff.Is Ramsey an American, and can his theories be applied to other countries´ social systems as well ?
[Edited 1/15/08 15:11pm]

Dave Ramsey's advice is spot-on, IMHO.

Dave Ramsey's basic message is don't spend money you don't have.
He's 100% against debt except for your mortgage, then he sticks to simply rules of affordability.
His radio show come on around here on weekday afternoons.

I like his advice, it seems to follow a common sense approach, but it weirds me out when he starts talking about Jesus.

NDRU said:

Strange. Same thing with Steven K. Scott. Must be some protestant or calvinist approach behind it , right?

NDRU said:

Wait, what?

oh goodness!

I've been considering looking into some financial planning myself, seeing's as how I only recently made a budget for myself and even took a second job just to get myself back to a standard of living I can tolerate. I've never been one to think much about the future, I probably should start at some point. But I'm not so sure about this guy.

CarrieMpls said:

Not all the time, but occasionally referring to his ministry or whatever. I like much of what he says, but the Jesus stuff seems out of place.

CarrieMpls said:

I stumbled up on his podcast (www.daveramsey.com and on iTunes) and what he said hit home. I cannot find a station that airs the show at work (they have everything blocked).

I, too, have been trying to get on track in the financial department. I am trying to buy my first house and also trying to save for the future. It is extrememly hard, but I think I can do it.

I'm a life insurance agent for the company he pushes constantly for term life, id theft & disability insurance. I'm not a big YAY JESUS! person either, but we all took the Financial Peace course at work.

I'm telling you now, it's a lot like going on a diet. If you've got the willpower and you're absolutely ready- this will change your life. The radio show does hit the Jesus factor a bit, but it really does work. Buy a book, take the course, listen all you can. I was able to pay off 28k worth of debt in two years. (It wasn't easy. There were moments where I thought I was going to give up, but that's where willpower and his "eyes on the prize" speeches help, muchly.)

When I look back, I don't even know how I did it, but now I've got no payments aside from my utilities/rent, and I'm preparing to buy a car in cash. I'm only 26.

It was worth putting up with the Jesus Fest to have this freedom, I'd say.

Say, speaking of Jesus, His stuff works... But I'm biased.


Ramsey's tools work. I've been using his "debt snowball" tool to pay off credit cards. In less than two years, I've paid off a ton of it. God willing, I'll be done with them altogether, next month. Then the car, then the mortgage...

His points are pretty inspiring. A large amount of the book of Proverbs deals with money. That's where 99% of Ramsey's points originate. It's not as if he's saying, "Jesus saves, so you should, too," every 5 minutes or 10 pages.

He talks a lot about common sense. Don't blow your salary on brand new cars. Save your money, sacrifice a bit to get out of debt and to get on savings plans...

The steps work. I'm expecting the end of this year to be significantly better for me, as a result of my taking these financial steps.

I have been a fan of his for 10 yrs now and it does work. I got totally debt free in 2000 and I will do it again this year.

Look on Amazon and get in 3 cd set for like $12 it is worth it!!! I have also read all of his books as well.

MotoPsycho said:

How the hell did you do that? It's simple math, income and living expenses vs what you owe, but 28k in 2 years seems only possible with a six figure income, is that the story or should I just shut-up and buy his plan?

Last year alone I paid off 7,500 in medcial bills and I dont even make 30,000. No over-time no 2nd job. I am frugal as hell and everything I buy must be on sale. And I am a coupon clipper as well. 3 yrs ago paid off 6 credit cards with 2 more 2 go!!! and down to my last 3 car payments as well. i bought my car certified used with a full warranty no money down so my payment is only 185 a month. She is a 1999 Chevy Cavalier Z-24 full load triple Black now has 60,000 miles on her and I am gonna keep her!!! When a college student had the car new she was paying 385 a month payment!!! When she turned this car in it had 23,000 miles when I got it in 2003. I found her a nice used Honda Civic that she loved at auction.

When she graduated I gave her the Dave Ramsey cd set and she has been follwoing it every since. It is no fun paying debt off. Some of my freinds at work are so burdened that cant have any fun doing something for themseleves, i don't wanna be like that.

rachel3 said:

Congratulations on being debt free.

Man, u must not travel much to only have a 9 year old car with 60,000 miles on it. I live in Dallas and everything here is spread out. Going out to eat is usually a 10 mile trip (one way).

Before I discovered Dave Ramsey (which was just in the past few weeks), I had paid off about $3k in debt in about 3 months. I am just getting to the point where I make "ok" money. I found another job last January to replace my FedEx Kinko's job of 5 years (thank God).

KoolEaze said:

He is an American. I'm pretty sure that a lot of his principles can be applied to other countries. Check out his website: www.daveramsey.com . Tell us what u think.

CarrieMpls said:

I have learned a lot since I started listening to his podcast. I am still on the "baby step" phase. I can't wait to buy the books.

Slave2daGroove said:

I only wish I had a six figure income, I'd be a much happier girl.

It's hard to sum it all up, because there were so many factors, but I'll try.


The envelope system is your God on this plan.

http://www.daveramsey.com...entID=3461

You can read more about it there, but basically.. you have your paycheck sorted (every last penny) before it's in your hands. You know exactly how much goes in each "envelope". For example, I get paid twice a month. I spend 30 dollars a week on gas, just about. Everytime I get a paycheck, I automatically put 60 dollars into the "gas" envelope.

It's hard to stick to that, but it's sooo important. And you can have a junk envelope! He calls it the "blow" money. (Sounded sort of illegal to me, but ya know.) You don't pad that as much as the others, but it's not wrong to still spend a LITTLE on yourself.

Whatever is left after you've put money into all your necessary envelopes, you divide up the rest to go towards paying off your debt snowball. And we all know there are life's little accidents. Car trouble, sickness, unexpected expenses. But that's what the emergency fund is for. This is the bare bones version of it all:



Debt Snowball Plan
The principle is to stop everything except minimum payments and focus on one thing at a time. Otherwise, nothing gets accomplished because all your effort is diluted.

First accumulate $1,000 cash as an emergency fund. Then begin intensely getting rid of all debt (except the house) using my debt snowball plan. List your debts in order with the smallest payoff or balance first. Do not be concerned with interest rates or terms unless two debts have similar payoffs, then list the higher interest rate debt first. Paying the little debts off first gives you quick feedback, and you are more likely to stay with the plan.

Build Momentum
Redo this each time you pay off a debt, so you can see how close you are getting to freedom. Keep the old papers to wallpaper the bathroom in your new debt-free house. The “New Payment” is found by adding all the payments on the debts listed above that item to the payment you are working on, so you have compounding payments which will get you out of debt very quickly.

“Payments Remaining” is the number of payments remaining when you get down the snowball to that item. “Cumulative Payments” is the total payments needed, including the snowball, to pay off that item. In other words, this is your running total for “Payments Remaining.”

Debt Free!
You attack the smallest debt first, still maintaining minimum payments on everything else. Do what is necessary to focus your attention. Keep stepping up to the next larger bill. After the credit debt is taken care of, you are ready for the next Baby Step in your Total Money Makeover.

That is all from his website. It's very brief and sounds easier said than done. It is, but it's not impossible. When you go through the course or purchase the packages/books, it's going to give you so much more information. Like secrets on how to deal with debt collectors, form letters to give to past due accounts, hints for saving/spending wisely, help with married couples/singles and your financial lifestyle.

And once you get to the debt free point, he'll give you some pointers on investing and how to handle your new found wealth. It's not easy AT ALL. But I'm proof that it works.

I'm also a 10 year lurker, so if I'll come out of hibernation long enough to say this much, I obviously want other people to feel this sort of freedom.
[Edited 1/16/08 16:48pm]

Ignoring interest rates seems like perhaps not the best advice, but it really does feel good to cross a debt off your list. Results are very motivating. Chipping away at a huge debt while writing a bunch of other checks is very frustrating.

I just paid two small debts yesterday! Neither had any interest at all. But now I have more focus for the debts with interest.

Well PrettyMan everything here is very close like 5-15 minutes away!!!! Which is great plus I have a job that is only one mile from home, they allow me to go home on lunch breaks to check on my Grandmother. I was gonna quit this job several times becasue of the crappy insurance, shytty co-workers and pay. BUT my boss made the upper mangement give me more money, she helps buy my clothes by giving coupons and giftcards, bad co-workers were fired, unfortunately I still have crappy insurance but I ALWAYS manage to pay off ALL MY MEDCIAL BILLS!!!! This year alone i have a $4,000 deductible, the past 3 yrs it was $2,500, in 2003 a major illness made them raise it to $5,000. Some of those bills took 3 years to pay of but they were all gone for my 40th b-day this summer past!!!

I had some rough years where I couldn't even buy myself ANYTHING after expenses for my Grandmother and paying bills but those days are behind me. I want to travel more this year and meet other orgers for one. Oh, and I have finally convinced some of the clothing stores here to go back to giving us a 30 day lay-away plan to buy stuff even if it is on sale and that has helped alot!!!