argh Dave Ramsey

[micksterlee]

My wife has discovered Dave Ramsey and my WDW days are done! She cut up the credit cards and from now on if we can't pay cash we don't do it. I have to admit the debt free thing will be nice but I sure do miss eating out and right now it looks like the next time I see WDW will be with great grand kids I don't even have yet.

 

[SleepyatDVC]

My wife has discovered Dave Ramsey and my WDW days are done! She cut up the credit cards and from now on if we can't pay cash we don't do it. I have to admit the debt free thing will be nice but I sure do miss eating out and right now it looks like the next time I see WDW will be with great grand kids I don't even have yet.

Well, this will be a great motivation for you to get out of debt ASAP! Good luck!!!

 

[kjetjl]

Yes, I felt that way when my DH came home to tell me he just heard the greatest guy, Dave Ramsey. It took me a little longer to hop on board with some of his ideas. But I came around.
It has been hard work but we paid off our cc, our car loan and have only our mortgage.
As a celebration,we took our first paid in cash trip to the World in Sept. 2007. It was the best trip! because we knew we were not coming home to a big cc bill. And we had budgeted well so there were no unexpected costs. It really is very freeing.
DH even let us plan a trip for this year, Sept. 2008!! Of course, it will be paid in cash before we leave. And by then we will have enough in savings to cover about 6 months of expenses.

Good luck! The first few months are the hardest as you change some long held habits but it is soooooooooo worth it in the end!

 

[lacy1101]

While I know Ramsey recommends no vacations until you're debt free, we are going to continue taking our family trips, but instead of using credit cards, we will be saving up for our trips. Our kids are older (16 and 13) and it won't be long before they may not want to go to DW w/Mom and Dad, so I just can't give those special times up until we're debt free (probably at least 3 years away)!

 

[tonilea]

Our WDW vacation this coming December is our reward for becoming debt free. We aren't quite there, but expect to be by the end of the month.

What we learned from "Financial Peace University" by Dave Ramsey has changed our lives for the better!

 

[jodifla]

My wife has discovered Dave Ramsey and my WDW days are done! She cut up the credit cards and from now on if we can't pay cash we don't do it. I have to admit the debt free thing will be nice but I sure do miss eating out and right now it looks like the next time I see WDW will be with great grand kids I don't even have yet.

So, you don't get a say in how things work?

It's great to save. It's great to pay cash for things and pay off debt.

But I'm NOT MISSING OUT ON VACATION to do it.

Period, end of story.

Life is short.

 

[tonilea]

So, you don't get a say in how things work?

It's great to save. It's great to pay cash for things and pay off debt.

But I'm NOT MISSING OUT ON VACATION to do it.

Period, end of story.

Life is short.

But, if you are living in debt, you are working your butt off to pay for yesterdays pleasures.

Getting debt free is a short term event, with life time benefits. DR is not about work, work, work, save, save, save, never have anything but a fat bank account. It is about avoiding all the finance charges and using those to enjoy life even more.

 

[loco4dis]

So, you don't get a say in how things work?

It's great to save. It's great to pay cash for things and pay off debt.

But I'm NOT MISSING OUT ON VACATION to do it.

Period, end of story.

Life is short.

Actually, when you're old and retired and broke — or old and still having to work because you're broke — life can be very long. Give your wife a kiss for having the long view. The day will come when you will be so, so grateful not to be sitting on a pile of debt. When the debt is gone, save up and enjoy that trip to Disney.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

you sound um





enthusiastic........

 

[emh1129]

Good luck with getting out of debt! I love DR and DH and I are on track to be debt-free by the end of the year. I can't wait.

 

[preschoolmom]

We "found" Dave 3.5 years ago...

We paid off everything but our minivan as fast as we could. We've kind of taken the long and winding road with regards to the van loan (but it was our only non-mortgage debt)...

That said, we did just take our first big vacation, to Disney, last month. We paid cash - and it felt GREAT!

We didn't put the vacation off until after the van was paid off, because in addition to building great wealth - I believe that life is short - and you only get to go around once... I wanted to take my kids before my big kid started Kindergarten - and we did it!

Anyway - Try to support your wife, I think Dave's Plan can work for Anyone - and you will find it very worthwhile to "live like no one else now" so you can "live like no one else later!".

Good Luck!

 

[Handbag Lady]

I agree with some people here. All of our vacations are now paid in cash, or pre-paid in cash.

I am paying off CC debt as I go, but I refuse to give up my vacations. I get that I will pay a bit more in interest due to my earlier stupidity, but I am not going to stop my vacations. I am also not adding to the debt AND I still am putting more away in my 401k & savings.

 

[Cloudwatcher]

My question is how do you get into so much debt in the first place. DH and I have NEVER had a credit card. All we have in "debt" is a house loan. All three of our vehciles have been paid for before we drove them off the lot. We don't miss out on much either.

 

[eliza61]

We modified our plan. I could not go without a vacation (didn't have to be at disney, but I need one) for 3 years. I figured being debt free wouldn't be so much fun if I was in jail for manslaughter. worked for us We have a mortgage and a car note and that works well for us.

 

[ICF]

You shouldn't let someone you never met dictate how to live your life...especially one who makes his living getting people (who are in debt) to buy his books and such.

Here's my advice....

Make common sense decisions....don't "waste" money on things you don't need....eating out may be a good way to save some $$$. Find other ways to cut out a few $$s here and there.

Vacations and such are much needed to help us enjoy life....I wouldn't drop them just because some guy tells you they are bad. You know your life a lot better then anyone else.

 

[micksterlee]

I agree the debt free thing sounds great and Ramsey makes some very good points. My problem I guess is I just don't see the light at the end of the tunnel.We are in our 50s trying to survive in our own business which is mortgage related and a bit in the dumps right now and looks like this could take some time.I have tried to find a job like Ramsey suggests but haven't had any luck since I only have a high school diploma and my past work history is in the entertainment business and retail management.I am sure with persistance we will get evrything paid off in maybe 10 years, with the toughest being the house.

 

[Aimeedyan]

My question is how do you get into so much debt in the first place. DH and I have NEVER had a credit card. All we have in "debt" is a house loan. All three of our vehciles have been paid for before we drove them off the lot. We don't miss out on much either.

Student loans and medical bills are our biggest sources of debt. Cars are paid off. Big items paid in cash. But hospital bills and graduate school were too much for us at the time.

We're using the snowball method to get all of ours paid off and so far, so good. DH doesn't want to hit it as aggressively as I do but I'll take baby steps with him for now =)

 

[willis37862]

You shouldn't let someone you never met dictate how to live your life...especially one who makes his living getting people (who are in debt) to buy his books and such.

Here's my advice....

Make common sense decisions....don't "waste" money on things you don't need....eating out may be a good way to save some $$$. Find other ways to cut out a few $$s here and there.

Vacations and such are much needed to help us enjoy life....I wouldn't drop them just because some guy tells you they are bad. You know your life a lot better then anyone else.

You took the words right out of my mouth.

 

[kjetjl]

I agree the debt free thing sounds great and Ramsey makes some very good points. My problem I guess is I just don't see the light at the end of the tunnel.We are in our 50s trying to survive in our own business which is mortgage related and a bit in the dumps right now and looks like this could take some time.I have tried to find a job like Ramsey suggests but haven't had any luck since I only have a high school diploma and my past work history is in the entertainment business and retail management.I am sure with persistance we will get evrything paid off in maybe 10 years, with the toughest being the house.

Sometimes the hardest things in life are the things that are most worth it. Give it a chance for your wife's sake.

 

[tonilea]

I agree the debt free thing sounds great and Ramsey makes some very good points. My problem I guess is I just don't see the light at the end of the tunnel.We are in our 50s trying to survive in our own business which is mortgage related and a bit in the dumps right now and looks like this could take some time.I have tried to find a job like Ramsey suggests but haven't had any luck since I only have a high school diploma and my past work history is in the entertainment business and retail management.I am sure with persistance we will get evrything paid off in maybe 10 years, with the toughest being the house.

It has been hard, make no mistake, but we (late thirties & mid forties) feel like it has been very worth it. Hopefully, our son will never know debt.

We did things that felt very humiliating at first - picking up cans to sell @ .65 per pound, selling alot of "stuff" including a few guns from our collection, demo-ing an old mobile home for the scrap metal. Alot of thugs gave DH (a police officer) a hard time for picking up cans - asking him if "bribes are down". That can't have been easy to take, but he told them that there was no shame in making a better life for his family. But every sacrifice we have made has been worth it.

Our debt may not seem like a lot to many people, but DH is a police officer in small town Arkansas and I worked PT until recently.

When we calculated out our debt free date, it was Feb '09. As you can see we will have cut 11 months off that. We have been blessed with opportunity after opportunity to earn extra money. When you have a goal, you see opportunities that you never saw before. A positive attitude makes you a magent for your goal.