Anybody doing Dave Ramsey? Thoughts? Opinions? Experiences?

[HHSTigerFan]

I just tired of his over the top "my way is the only way" attitude.. Example being the Wyndham points I bought, he would say thats a HORRIBLE purchase without seeing the details of what it actually is, to him its just a timeshare and they are ALL bad and NOBODY should own them..

 

[Mrs.Reese]

Dave would hate that we just bought a new car. However DH and I added up the money we spent repairing one of those cheapo cars he advocates. We spent more on maintenance than we will on our payments. The bonus is that our maintenance is already paid for! I know that I will be paying $285/month which is a heck of a lot easier to budget for then constantly draining savings for repairs.

I like how he pushes for people to take personal responsiblity for themselves. It helped hubby and I to actually develop a budget that we can live with. Money is so personal.

 

[MEM]

I do disagree with his advice to "buy a beater" to drive - when DD14 starts driving, I'm going to buy her the most reliable car I can afford - somehow, the words "beater" and "reliable" can't belong in the same sentence.

 

[summersalt]

I do disagree with his advice to "buy a beater" to drive - when DD14 starts driving, I'm going to buy her the most reliable car I can afford - somehow, the words "beater" and "reliable" can't belong in the same sentence.

I agree with you. We also have a 14 yr old DD. When she starts driving, we are giving her our BIG Dodge Diesel Ram to drive. The motor's so big in that truck... if she has an accident, she will be safer than if an old small beater.

 

[dvcgirl]

Dave would hate that we just bought a new car. However DH and I added up the money we spent repairing one of those cheapo cars he advocates. We spent more on maintenance than we will on our payments. The bonus is that our maintenance is already paid for! I know that I will be paying $285/month which is a heck of a lot easier to budget for then constantly draining savings for repairs.

I like how he pushes for people to take personal responsiblity for themselves. It helped hubby and I to actually develop a budget that we can live with. Money is so personal.

Dave wouldn't hate that you bought a new car, just that you didn't pay cash for it. His rule of not buying a new car unless you're a millionaire is a bit extreme in my opinion, but I do think that people should pay cash for a new car (with the following exception......

I don't think that this rule should apply for the first new car someone buys. I think the first car should always be used (for young adults/teens), then you save up for a good down payment on the first new car. Then the key is when you buy a new car with debt, that they should keep that car until the wheels fall off. After the payments end, then continue to save the payment until you have the cash for the next car you'll need.

I always see this as a big deal financially....when someone breaks that "never-ending car payment cycle". That shows real financial maturity and the willingness to delay pleasure in order to win. Of course, all the other rules of saving for retirement have to come before saving up for a new car.

 

[dvcgirl]

I do disagree with his advice to "buy a beater" to drive - when DD14 starts driving, I'm going to buy her the most reliable car I can afford - somehow, the words "beater" and "reliable" can't belong in the same sentence.

He doesn't tell everyone to drive a beater, or even for teens to drive a beater. He says that people trying to get out of debt with car payments should sell their car to eliminate the payment thus aiding their ability to get out of debt more quickly. The beater is a temporary situation. Americans justify going into debt for a car like no other purchase.

A caller from yesterday's show.....the couple made 50K a year gross, were three months behind on their mortgage (which was $1,700....too high for their income to begin with), and had $1,000 in car payments per month between the two of them. That's insanity. They had a couple of medical bills that totaled around 5 grand some of which had to be paid up front for a procedure for their child. And that one thing threw their finances into a tail spin because of those car payments. The house was out of line too, but if they were driving used cars that they owned, they never would have fallen behind on their mortgage.

 

[dvcgirl]

I just tired of his over the top "my way is the only way" attitude.. Example being the Wyndham points I bought, he would say thats a HORRIBLE purchase without seeing the details of what it actually is, to him its just a timeshare and they are ALL bad and NOBODY should own them..

Well, yes he is a "it's black or white with grey area" kind of guy. However, most of the calls he gets regarding timeshares are people calling in with tons of debt, some of which is a timeshare that they bought using credit.

Your purchase proves just how flawed the model is for that market. Disney is a very rare exception, but even they have seen a big drop in sales. Why? The credit markets won't buy that debt anymore. A lot of those companies have gone out of business and a lot more will follow them. No doubt about it.

Again, I don't know what your contract says with regard to your maintenance fees, but that's obviously where the risk lies for you. If the maintenance fees quadruple over the next five years or something close to that.....you're stuck. You wouldn't even be able to give it away. Hopefully there's some kind of protection for you on that front.

We sold our DVC contract five years ago and actually made a profit, which is really rare. I would never buy a new DVC contract through Disney with the prices where they are now. The numbers aren't even close to working anymore. However, for people who got in very early in that deal, back in the early 90s, even through the end of that decade, it was really a nice deal.

 

[bettymae1121]

I just tired of his over the top "my way is the only way" attitude.. Example being the Wyndham points I bought, he would say thats a HORRIBLE purchase without seeing the details of what it actually is, to him its just a timeshare and they are ALL bad and NOBODY should own them..

You have to remember the bulk of his audience are people that have a history of bad spending habits. If he says "it's okay to buy a time share as long as you have the cash to pay for it and all your other savings obligations have been met", there are those in his audience that will simply hear "it's okay to buy a time share..." and not the rest of the sentence.

It's like telling an alcholic that it's okay to have one drink a month as long as they were sober for a year first. You're just setting yourself up for disaster. Rather than confuse his listeners/readers, it's just easier to use absolutes even if they aren't always totally accurate.

 

[mrsklamc]

I do disagree with his advice to "buy a beater" to drive - when DD14 starts driving, I'm going to buy her the most reliable car I can afford - somehow, the words "beater" and "reliable" can't belong in the same sentence.

Sure they can. Many, many people upgrade perfectly good cars because they no longer look new and pretty.

 

[tinkabella627]

We tried it, we failed. Sort of.....

We wanted to try the program, but, when we started the program we were already so burnt out from not have any money from job loss and maternity leaves. However, we did learn something from the book, to do a budget, and to always pay our bills before we spend any sort of money. Which we do. I would always put off paying a bill, so, all my bills were always about a month late. No more!

We are planning on starting back Hard core on Dave's plan September or October. (Except for the money we are spending on our trip to WDW.)

We are going to start snowballing our accounts, but, we will at the same time be saving for a vacation, and saving money. I know he wouldn't agree with that! We will never be as gazelle as some people.

That is how I am too. I will never be that intense with it but I can manage to pay my bills in an amount of time that makes me happy while still having money to do other things (like vacations). On llnoe they will tell u not to take a vacation but if I am waiting until alllll of my student loans and whatnot are paid off, I will get frustrated and give up bc I can't take a vacation, something that makes me happy.

Dave would hate that we just bought a new car. However DH and I added up the money we spent repairing one of those cheapo cars he advocates. We spent more on maintenance than we will on our payments. The bonus is that our maintenance is already paid for! I know that I will be paying $285/month which is a heck of a lot easier to budget for then constantly draining savings for repairs.

I like how he pushes for people to take personal responsiblity for themselves. It helped hubby and I to actually develop a budget that we can live with. Money is so personal.

Again, on llnoe they told me to sell our cars and get beaters... my husbands first car was a "beater" and the cost of repairs was totaling as much as he paid for it. It just wasn't worth it. We just got a new car with extremely low interest and I am fine with that. Once our cc debt and small student loans are paid off the next thing I will work on is that car. I am content with the way it is going to work with us and I don't have to worry about my car breaking down in a bad part of town.