wow that dave ramsey stuff works

[luv2nascar]

DH and I need some help in budgeting/savings area. Starting having too much credit card debt no savings dilemma. Started Dave's program 3 weeks ago. We have made formal budget, made a committment for next 12 -18 mos to pay off car loan and credit card debt. It is going so well. Almost effortless at this point. Our spending is way down. Our emergency savings in the last 3 weeks is $750. We need to pull another $250 in there to have our $1000 emergency fund.


Unbelievable turnaround for us. We are going to keep this going till no debt except mortgage.

 

[lisajl]

Woo Hoo! Congrats to you!
We have been using Dave Ramseys info for awhile now. Seems we always have to dip into the emergency fund. Need to get back on track!

 

[Tinkerbell_Tiffany]

any info on dave ramsey?
would like to look into it...thanks

 

[dnmglenn]

Me too! I'd like info too...

 

[jenr812]

Congrats! We just completed the 13 week Financial Peace University and have had FABULOUS results!

Check out www.daveramsey.com for more info

 

[Aristomommy]

I love listening to his radio show. I think his ideas are great, except the fact that you should live without credit for the rest of your life. Correct me if I am wrong, as I have never gone through his courses, only listened to the show. It's ok to cut up credit cards if you have a problem spending and charging. But the sad fact is, that your credit score will suffer if you don't have any revolving accounts (the older the better) with low utilization on them.

I do a combination of Dave Ramsey and "FICO score boosting". I paid off all our debt, set up an emergency fund and we paid off one vehicle and are paying more than the minimum on the other. We didn't buy new cars just like he recommends, they were both 2 years old. The debt snowballing really works. But what we did differently was to keep two credit cards for travel, emergencies and rebates on gas. I just make sure I don't get carried away and they are paid in full. Just my two cents on Mr Ramsey...

 

[sk!mom]

My Dh and I have believed in debt free living since we listened to Larry Burkett (anybody remember him) in the late 80's - early 90's. We were just out of college- DH had student loans and we were getting started in life. We found being in debt to be very stressful and his idea that living without debt was possible was eye opening to us. We honestly didn't know you could live without debt.

DH took side jobs to knock the student loans and other debt out and we worked towards debt free living. Our home will be paid off in 2.5 years (30 year loan paid off in 12) and hopefully we will never owe anyone again.

We have always followed the advice and made it work for us. We also use reward cards- less to maintain our credit score than to get the free money. We have long purchased only good used cars but it took years before we could actually pay cash for one.

To me Dave Ramsy is great because he inspires people to get out of debt. I don't agree with some of his ideas but he does seem to motivate people.

 

[mickeyfan2]

This is great news. Keep up the good work.

 

[Aristomommy]

My Dh and I have believed in debt free living since we listened to Larry Burkett (anybody remember him) in the late 80's - early 90's. .

Oh yes, I remember Larry Burkett. He was on a local radio station in 95 before Dave Ramsey came along and I still have his book. He is full of common sense and great advice. I remember using his book for DH's and my first budget when we were fresh out of college and broke... brings back fond memories.

 

[kima86]

DH & I have been following Dave Ramsey's budgeting system for 2 years now and have decreased our debt by quite a bit. His plan really works!!!

It's great to have a savings account set up where you know the amount needed to pay quarterly/annual items (suc as car & life insurance) will be available when the bill comes due.

I would highly recommend his system to anyone who is struggling with debt!

Kim

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

Congrats! we love Dave Ramsey!

 

[latoberg]

It's ok to cut up credit cards if you have a problem spending and charging. But the sad fact is, that your credit score will suffer if you don't have any revolving accounts (the older the better) with low utilization on them.

Financial Peace University stresses cutting up all credit cards regardless of "problem" spending or charging. Dave leans with the law of averages. On average: people spend more on a credit card than they have to; people do not pay off the monthly balance; life happens and the best laid plans of mice and men get sidetracked.

Dave teaches from experience and leads by example. Credit scores have been marketed as much as credit cards. We have been convinced that our credit scores are in some way critical to life. In fact our credit scores are only critical to living with debt. Our credit scores only matter to those who are interested in the amount of debt we have or want to have. That is why Dave has been making a big deal about the fact that he doesn't have a credit score. Yet he can do whatever he wants because he has financial peace.

I would not want to pretend to know how you manage your finances nor judge if it works for you. I just wanted to make clear that Dave is trying to transform the majority of America.

 

[ldb1030]

Woo Hoo! Congrats to you!
We have been using Dave Ramseys info for awhile now. Seems we always have to dip into the emergency fund. Need to get back on track!

So when you have to dip into that $1000 emergency fund, do you just keep putting a little back in when you can to get back to $1000.00?

 

[C.Ann]

Good for you! You can't place a "money" value on the peacefulness of knowing that you owe nothing to anyone - even those "magical 30-day" billing cycles..

 

[MommyTo5]

Financial Peace University stresses cutting up all credit cards regardless of "problem" spending or charging. Dave leans with the law of averages. On average: people spend more on a credit card than they have to; people do not pay off the monthly balance; life happens and the best laid plans of mice and men get sidetracked.

Dave teaches from experience and leads by example. Credit scores have been marketed as much as credit cards. We have been convinced that our credit scores are in some way critical to life. In fact our credit scores are only critical to living with debt. Our credit scores only matter to those who are interested in the amount of debt we have or want to have. That is why Dave has been making a big deal about the fact that he doesn't have a credit score. Yet he can do whatever he wants because he has financial peace.

I would not want to pretend to know how you manage your finances nor judge if it works for you. I just wanted to make clear that Dave is trying to transform the majority of America.

Although I do think Dave Ramsey has some good ideas, cutting up and closing all credit card accounts and totally ignoring your credit score might not be the best option... IMO, it's actually a very irresponsible thing to do since many insurance companies and higher dollar jobs now pull your credit report when hiring.

Also - not many people have the means to save up and buy a home outright without aquiring a mortgage. Unless you have built your credit up in the years preceeding this purchase, you will not be able to obtain the best loan rates. Even a 1% difference in your rate will cost you tens of thousands of dollars over the life of the loan.

Yes, Dave Ramsey "can do whatever he wants because he has financial peace" - he has financial peace because he's convinced so many people to buy into his plan and purchase his books, envelope system, etc... Having made that much $$ would give any of us financial peace!!! LOL

 

[C.Ann]

Although I do think Dave Ramsey has some good ideas, cutting up and closing all credit card accounts and totally ignoring your credit score might not be the best option... IMO, it's actually a very irresponsible thing to do since many insurance companies and higher dollar jobs now pull your credit report when hiring.

-----------------------
I don't believe in using credit cards (nor did my parents) and have never had any problems securing any kind of insurance - actually just recently purchased some additional insurance.. As for "high dollar jobs", I would assume they are pulling credit reports to see how far in debt a potential employee is in order to avoid the possibility of white-collar embezzlement and such..

 

[DVC Sadie]

Dave Ramsey is great helping anyone who is in debt get out of credit card and car debt. After getting out of debt (except for mortgage) his advice is iffy at best. Just remember that Dave Ramsey is a corporation and not the "be all and end all" in financial advice once you have all the debt paid off.

After paying off the debt please seek a CFP to better utilize your savings for not just retirement but for those who are planning for their kids going to college. Usually a families goals change throughout their lifetime, and a good CFP can help immensely with changing goals.

 

[lisajl]

So when you have to dip into that $1000 emergency fund, do you just keep putting a little back in when you can to get back to $1000.00?

Yes, we stop paying extra on the visa bill and put it back in the emergency fund. It seems we have had one thing after the other happen.
But, we got DH's Visa paid off, our sons braces paid off and are working on my Visa.

It's a really good program, and it is great to find something that works for us.

Lisa

 

[SWVA BGSU Fan]

Dave's general ideas are ok but he's too extreme on some of his stances.

Credit card rewards are absolutely the best bang for a dollar if handled correctly. $1,000 balance for Discover (you must pay off the balance each month) yields $10 cash back each month. $1,000 in a 4% statement savings account will yield about $3.29 interest per month.

Same as cash offers using credit cards such as Best Buy, Lowes or Home Depot are savy ways of using credit to your advantage. Payoff the balance prior to the promotional expiration and you can have 6-12 months earnings on funds that would otherwise be used to pay for the purchase upfront.

One other thing..... not having any type of credit for an extended period of time (several years) can cause your beacon score to revert to a situation where a beacon score isn't listed. You never know when you might need credit for a valid reason.

 

[lisajl]

Dave's general ideas are ok but he's too extreme on some of his stances.

Credit card rewards are absolutely the best bang for a dollar if handled correctly. $1,000 balance for Discover (you must pay off the balance each month) yields $10 cash back each month. $1,000 in a 4% statement savings account will yield about $3.29 interest per month.

Same as cash offers using credit cards such as Best Buy, Lowes or Home Depot are savy ways of using credit to your advantage. Payoff the balance prior to the promotional expiration and you can have 6-12 months earnings on funds that would otherwise be used to pay for the purchase upfront.

One other thing..... not having any type of credit for an extended period of time (several years) can cause your beacon score to revert to a situation where a beacon score isn't listed. You never know when you might need credit for a valid reason.

ITA, we do not follow ALL of Daves rules. I don't think we will ever be without a credit card, but we need to be more responsible with it.
We have a Lowes credit card and love the 6 or 12 months same as cash.
We always pay it off before that time is up.
Those are good incentives...as long as you can afford it anyway.
We are discussing Pergo floors and have the 12 months same as cash offer.
I don't care what Dave says about these types of offers, they work for us, and we still get other bills paid too.

Lisa