Any Dave Ramsey Total Makeover success stories?

anabelle

Did I say that out loud?
Joined
Apr 14, 2003
Messages
1,187
OK , So I am reading Total Money Makeover and I have figured out one thing. I can't afford Disney, at least for a year or so.
My husband already has this supper detailed budget, but it is negative. IOW, he wrote everything down that we spend but we spend too much.
Is that really a budget or is that a spending journal? So if we remove Disney trips and eating out, we are almost balanced. (We eat out a lot)
We need to get rid of our DVC bill and our credit card balances so I can get to Disney again. Right now our pay down plan will take 6 years. LOL !

Anyone out there have any success stories they want to share to encourage me? I have to figure out a way to remove debt like the people in the book.
 


I'd love to hear people's stories, too! Our trip coming up in Oct. will be the last for awhile. We have some things to pay down and some savings to boost up before going again!
 
It's great that you guys took the first step to write down everything that have been spending, but it's not a budget yet.

Now, you need to cut your outgoing money until you have a zero based budget - it cannot be negative.

There are many different places you can download a personal budget speadsheets or you can make one on excel. Start with your income and the necessary expenses - you are going to have to chop from there.

Yes, it can be done. We cleared out a lot (and I mean a lot) of debt in 18 months and only have our Mortgage payment and regular household bills now. I did work OT and we did not go out to eat very often. We had a small entertainment budget and that had to stretch to accomodate the 5 of us.

Sacrifice some of that eating out now and you will see the rewards in the long run.

As for disney, our very first disney trip was this past June-July. It was our "we are debt free" reward trip and was paid for in cash before we left.

Good Luck!!!!
 
popcorn:: Warning...Long-winded! LOL.

We finally got sick of making a lot of money and not having a lot of money [does that make sense?] We had a reasonable house mortage, paid for truck, a van payment and credit card debt. We did contribute to 401k [not max], charity and church giving, some savings and some long term savings [college, etc.].

One day I was flipping through the talk radio stations looking for a talk show when I heard this financial guy....well as I hate finances [:) ], I was gearing up to flip when I heard someone ask how he was and he answered 'Better than I deserve'.

I paused....our Sunday School teacher always said this too and I thought. Hmm. So I started listening. And crying and laughing and crying again!

I was so fired up!! Ran to the library and checked out TMMO and FP and poured through them. I checked them out soo many times before I broke down and bought them [I waited until they were on sale for $10...he has sales on his site alot]. I also listen to the free podcasts while I run.

We got that first baby step [$1K] by having a BIG garage sale and just saving quickly. Then within 2 weeks, we had 2 $500 Emergencies!! Grrrr. But thankfully we had the EF. We were able to build it back up quickly.

The first Christmas was hard.LOL. I sold a lot on Ebay to get more cash for it and was really smart about shopping sales and did GREAT. It was so nice not worrying about the bills after Christmas, the 'Christmas hangover' if you will.

We didn't see the inside of a restaurant for over 6 months. Our date nights were a movie from the library; kids at grandma's; me making a romantic dinner and a fire. I learned to be a better cook! There's always a benefit! LOL.

We paid off $20K in debt in a little over a year and celebrated by going on our first BIG family vacation to WDW [we love to camp but can do that any time..cheap and kids love it]. I remember walking in to the bank to pay my van off. It drove better when I left. LOL.

We are now celebrating TWO YEARS of being DEBT FREE [except the house] BABY!!

We still budget. We are able to save money every month since our only payment is house and utilities! We tithe [10% gross to church] and GIVE to other charities. We occasionally splurge [I now have a laptop; got a great deal]. We have sinking funds for Christmas, new vehicles, home improvement, Vacations!, etc. We have 1-2 date nights a month and take kids out 1-2 nights a month. We budget for everything. You have to make your money work for you or you'll work for your money [another Dave-ism].

Is it easy? No... I was just at a friend's house and she was showing off her son's new POTTERY BARN decorated bedroom. I swear she had to have spent $5K on that room alone [the whole house is like a model and the new cars, etc]. I was a little jealous. But with perserverance, I know we will be able to 'Live like no one else' someday.


I WROTE A BOOK....so sorry. But I am so fired up about this topic.:yay:

Trish
 


popcorn:: Warning...Long-winded! LOL.

We finally got sick of making a lot of money and not having a lot of money [does that make sense?] We had a reasonable house mortage, paid for truck, a van payment and credit card debt. We did contribute to 401k [not max], charity and church giving, some savings and some long term savings [college, etc.].

One day I was flipping through the talk radio stations looking for a talk show when I heard this financial guy....well as I hate finances [:) ], I was gearing up to flip when I heard someone ask how he was and he answered 'Better than I deserve'.

I paused....our Sunday School teacher always said this too and I thought. Hmm. So I started listening. And crying and laughing and crying again!

I was so fired up!! Ran to the library and checked out TMMO and FP and poured through them. I checked them out soo many times before I broke down and bought them [I waited until they were on sale for $10...he has sales on his site alot]. I also listen to the free podcasts while I run.

We got that first baby step [$1K] by having a BIG garage sale and just saving quickly. Then within 2 weeks, we had 2 $500 Emergencies!! Grrrr. But thankfully we had the EF. We were able to build it back up quickly.

The first Christmas was hard.LOL. I sold a lot on Ebay to get more cash for it and was really smart about shopping sales and did GREAT. It was so nice not worrying about the bills after Christmas, the 'Christmas hangover' if you will.

We didn't see the inside of a restaurant for over 6 months. Our date nights were a movie from the library; kids at grandma's; me making a romantic dinner and a fire. I learned to be a better cook! There's always a benefit! LOL.

We paid off $20K in debt in a little over a year and celebrated by going on our first BIG family vacation to WDW [we love to camp but can do that any time..cheap and kids love it]. I remember walking in to the bank to pay my van off. It drove better when I left. LOL.

We are now celebrating TWO YEARS of being DEBT FREE [except the house] BABY!!

We still budget. We are able to save money every month since our only payment is house and utilities! We tithe [10% gross to church] and GIVE to other charities. We occasionally splurge [I now have a laptop; got a great deal]. We have sinking funds for Christmas, new vehicles, home improvement, Vacations!, etc. We have 1-2 date nights a month and take kids out 1-2 nights a month. We budget for everything. You have to make your money work for you or you'll work for your money [another Dave-ism].

Is it easy? No... I was just at a friend's house and she was showing off her son's new POTTERY BARN decorated bedroom. I swear she had to have spent $5K on that room alone [the whole house is like a model and the new cars, etc]. I was a little jealous. But with perserverance, I know we will be able to 'Live like no one else' someday.


I WROTE A BOOK....so sorry. But I am so fired up about this topic.:yay:

Trish

Congrats to you!! That is so great! And motivating! :thumbsup2
 
I'd say to start by making some small changes you can actually live with. 3 or 4 months into your budget is pure drugery because the newness has worn off, but any paid-off-bill results are probably not really there yet. If you cannot actually LIVE the budget, you'll fall right off the wagon.

For example, our eating-out-spending was totally out of whack. We'd eat out 3 or 4 times a week, spending more on eating out than we did on groceries. Unacceptable. However, I KNEW that I would NOT be able to give it up totally. Therefore we put $$ in the budget to allow us to eat out ONE TIME per week. I can live with that. I cannot live with not eating out at all. (And surprisingly to me, we now find ourselves choosing to eat out for lunch on Saturdays instead of dinner, knowing we're saving a few bucks!)

We're doing OK -- 6 months into a 3 year plan to pay off all CC debt. Slowly but surely those balances are coming down!:thumbsup2
 
Before DH and I were married, we set down to go over our finances. I had about 10K in debt (mostly student loans) and he had about 50K (car, student loan, IRS, credit cards). I personally hate debt so we had a really long conversation about getting rid of debt after we were married. Thankfully, he was on board.

Right after we were married, we moved to Nashville. I kept hearing about Dave Ramsey so I decided to listen to him on the radio one day. Wow! I had been doing most of the Dave Ramsey plan without even knowing who Dave Ramsey was! It was very motivating to me to keep chugging along. We became debt free within about 4 to 5 years. The only payment we have now is our mortgage.

Neither DH or I came from very financially savvy backgrounds so Dave Ramsey has really helped educate us. I know he is fairly simplistic in his approach, but since we knew nothing, it was really great for us. We now have life insurance, wills, a college fund for our daughter, and retirement accounts---things we honestly would not have known to have without listening to him.
 
popcorn:: Warning...Long-winded! LOL.

We finally got sick of making a lot of money and not having a lot of money [does that make sense?] We had a reasonable house mortage, paid for truck, a van payment and credit card debt. We did contribute to 401k [not max], charity and church giving, some savings and some long term savings [college, etc.].

One day I was flipping through the talk radio stations looking for a talk show when I heard this financial guy....well as I hate finances [:) ], I was gearing up to flip when I heard someone ask how he was and he answered 'Better than I deserve'.

I paused....our Sunday School teacher always said this too and I thought. Hmm. So I started listening. And crying and laughing and crying again!

I was so fired up!! Ran to the library and checked out TMMO and FP and poured through them. I checked them out soo many times before I broke down and bought them [I waited until they were on sale for $10...he has sales on his site alot]. I also listen to the free podcasts while I run.

We got that first baby step [$1K] by having a BIG garage sale and just saving quickly. Then within 2 weeks, we had 2 $500 Emergencies!! Grrrr. But thankfully we had the EF. We were able to build it back up quickly.

The first Christmas was hard.LOL. I sold a lot on Ebay to get more cash for it and was really smart about shopping sales and did GREAT. It was so nice not worrying about the bills after Christmas, the 'Christmas hangover' if you will.

We didn't see the inside of a restaurant for over 6 months. Our date nights were a movie from the library; kids at grandma's; me making a romantic dinner and a fire. I learned to be a better cook! There's always a benefit! LOL.

We paid off $20K in debt in a little over a year and celebrated by going on our first BIG family vacation to WDW [we love to camp but can do that any time..cheap and kids love it]. I remember walking in to the bank to pay my van off. It drove better when I left. LOL.

We are now celebrating TWO YEARS of being DEBT FREE [except the house] BABY!!

We still budget. We are able to save money every month since our only payment is house and utilities! We tithe [10% gross to church] and GIVE to other charities. We occasionally splurge [I now have a laptop; got a great deal]. We have sinking funds for Christmas, new vehicles, home improvement, Vacations!, etc. We have 1-2 date nights a month and take kids out 1-2 nights a month. We budget for everything. You have to make your money work for you or you'll work for your money [another Dave-ism].

Is it easy? No... I was just at a friend's house and she was showing off her son's new POTTERY BARN decorated bedroom. I swear she had to have spent $5K on that room alone [the whole house is like a model and the new cars, etc]. I was a little jealous. But with perserverance, I know we will be able to 'Live like no one else' someday.


I WROTE A BOOK....so sorry. But I am so fired up about this topic.:yay:

Trish

I couldn't read past this post until I let you know how inspired I am now, thank you! :flower3:
 
Keep them coming!

I can just see it is going to take a lot more sacrifice then DH and I are thinking. I used to think I wasn't spending very much money at all. But when you see it written down, wow it is shocking :eek:
 
It is amazing how quickly everything adds up when you put it down on paper! Thanks, everyone, for your inspiring stories! I'd love to hear more!
 
Another Dave fan here. Here's our story -- hope its not too long/boring.

About two years ago our church had the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University. A friend and I attending (DH watched the kids) and we learned a lot. I wish DH was able to go because I think we would have started really getting into it at that time. Well, we decided that in order to get out of debt quicker I would need to find a part time job. Up til that point I was a SAHM for three years.
I got the job in early spring and by summer we were right back to square one. No savings, no Emergency Fund, and more debt (we bought a $5K camper thinking we could pay it off since I was working part time). After we put everything down on paper, I got really ticked. I couldn't believe that I was giving up time for my family (I work at night, at home - perfect, but still giving up time with the fam) and still not making any headway. DH and I sat down and made out our plan. We were both totally serious about getting out of debt and saving money. We got out the FPU discs and listened to them every day for weeks. We prayed about it. We asked friends to pray for us.
We made our budget and stick to it. Was it easy?? No, we had some arguments over it. But we would say to each other, we are not giving up and going back to the place where we were!! We'd work it out and move on. We have been on a budget for nine months and to be honest, I love it. It is such a great feeling that we are on the plan. And we have been gazelle like (a Daveism) in staying on the plan.
Our plan was to sell our DVC -- hardest thing for me to do. We have had two garage sales and sold stuff on Craigslist and Ebay (when they run specials). We did our summer vacations to visit family on this money we earned.
We don't eat out very often. We do have money in our budget for this. When we use the money, that's it. We also have our own separate blow money categories and I have a "great deal" category. I found that we would get into arguments over the "great deal" that I found at Target, Joann's, etc. So, making that category gives me the freedom to purchase those $1.49 sandals from Chadwick's for Christmas gifts. Thanks to DIS for all the great money-saving tips and those wonderful freebies!!
We have paid off nearly 70% of our debt. We have our emergency fund, sinking funds for Christmas (our first non-debt Christmas), vacation (we plan on going on a Disney cruise that we've saved up for), camping (we kept our camper, but it is now paid off), car purchase for DH (he will be purchasing a used vehicle). We will be debt free - God willing - by May of 2008.
Has all the work and sacrifice been worth it -- you betcha!! I would so recommend the Dave Ramsey plan. Listen for us to be calling Dave and screaming "We are Debt Free" in May of 08!!

MommyBunnyof2
 
Another Dave fan here. Here's our story -- hope its not too long/boring.

About two years ago our church had the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University. A friend and I attending (DH watched the kids) and we learned a lot. I wish DH was able to go because I think we would have started really getting into it at that time. Well, we decided that in order to get out of debt quicker I would need to find a part time job. Up til that point I was a SAHM for three years.
I got the job in early spring and by summer we were right back to square one. No savings, no Emergency Fund, and more debt (we bought a $5K camper thinking we could pay it off since I was working part time). After we put everything down on paper, I got really ticked. I couldn't believe that I was giving up time for my family (I work at night, at home - perfect, but still giving up time with the fam) and still not making any headway. DH and I sat down and made out our plan. We were both totally serious about getting out of debt and saving money. We got out the FPU discs and listened to them every day for weeks. We prayed about it. We asked friends to pray for us.
We made our budget and stick to it. Was it easy?? No, we had some arguments over it. But we would say to each other, we are not giving up and going back to the place where we were!! We'd work it out and move on. We have been on a budget for nine months and to be honest, I love it. It is such a great feeling that we are on the plan. And we have been gazelle like (a Daveism) in staying on the plan.
Our plan was to sell our DVC -- hardest thing for me to do. We have had two garage sales and sold stuff on Craigslist and Ebay (when they run specials). We did our summer vacations to visit family on this money we earned.
We don't eat out very often. We do have money in our budget for this. When we use the money, that's it. We also have our own separate blow money categories and I have a "great deal" category. I found that we would get into arguments over the "great deal" that I found at Target, Joann's, etc. So, making that category gives me the freedom to purchase those $1.49 sandals from Chadwick's for Christmas gifts. Thanks to DIS for all the great money-saving tips and those wonderful freebies!!
We have paid off nearly 70% of our debt. We have our emergency fund, sinking funds for Christmas (our first non-debt Christmas), vacation (we plan on going on a Disney cruise that we've saved up for), camping (we kept our camper, but it is now paid off), car purchase for DH (he will be purchasing a used vehicle). We will be debt free - God willing - by May of 2008.
Has all the work and sacrifice been worth it -- you betcha!! I would so recommend the Dave Ramsey plan. Listen for us to be calling Dave and screaming "We are Debt Free" in May of 08!!

MommyBunnyof2

Ugh. Sell your DVC?

There's a reason not to follow Dave Ramsey right there.
 
Ugh. Sell your DVC?

There's a reason not to follow Dave Ramsey right there.

He does recommend not purchasing any time shares -- however, we had a pretty healthy return on our DVC. We may buy back in in a few years -- paying with cash, of course.:) We live close by and can easily take advantage of the least point time periods.
 
1) Sell off the DVC. It is not an investment.

2) More income. If their is a SAHP, they need to get a job that is opposite the working spouse. Get a second job.

3) Sell off expensive cars and get low cost and low maintance used cars.
 
My husband already has this supper detailed budget, but it is negative. IOW, he wrote everything down that we spend but we spend too much.
Is that really a budget or is that a spending journal?

That's not a budget. A budget is where you decided what you're *going* to spend. Dave's method is to sit down every month and spend every dollar on paper before you turn loose of a single penny. Don't worry about next month's bills, just this month. Personally I have qualms about this method, because it doesn't seem to account for major bills that you might need to save up for (car insurance, taxes, etc.) and your $1000 emergency fund isn't going to cover all of those! But anyway, this would be the best way for you guys to start. Decide together where the money is going, and then stick to the plan. And start again next month.
 
He does recommend not purchasing any time shares -- however, we had a pretty healthy return on our DVC. We may buy back in in a few years -- paying with cash, of course.:) We live close by and can easily take advantage of the least point time periods.

You are a stronger person than I.

But in our case, we bought at half the price of what it's selling for now. Can I ask when you bought?
 
I first heard Dave when he was on one station, WTN, back in 94. At the time, he was doing the show with a co-host, Roy Matlock. I thought they made a lot of sense, but I wasn't ready to quit keeping a balance on our credit cards, being upside-down in cars, etc.

Fast forward to 2000. We were about $30,000 in unsecured debt, about $20,000 of that in credit card debt. DW would wake up in the middle of the night with panic attacks over how we were ever going to make ends meet and how we were going to save for retirement. I dreaded answering the phone because it might be a bill collector. It wasn't fun around our house.

We were finally sick-and-tired of being sick-and-tired. We decided we were going to sell out to the idea of getting out of debt and living on less than we made. That was the only way we'd be able to have any standard of living, either now or at retirement.

We went out that weekend and bought "Financial Peace." We made a real, live budget, started using envelopes (not Dave's envelopes, but just the kind you can get at the bank) and started working the baby steps. 3 years later, we were out of debt and had a fully-funded emergency fund. In 04 we went on our very first family WDW vacation--all paid for, all in advance. IMHO, vacations (and Christmas) are a lot more fun when they're paid for.

We were just dumb enough to believe Dave's principles and work them. We'll never go back to those old days. Financial peace is too important to us.
 
You are a stronger person than I.

But in our case, we bought at half the price of what it's selling for now. Can I ask when you bought?

If you are in debt and have a DVC loan then getting rid of it is the right thing. If you own your DVC and you debt is well under control then keep it if you want.
 













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