Dave Ramsey course

[lilfroggie]

My husband and I have been Ramsey followers for many years. Unfortunately, we have not always been dilligent, but we try .

Ramsey is not just about getting out of debt though...he also focuses on coming together as a couple on your finances, creating a budget and sticking to it, and just having conversations about your finances (if you are single, he suggests finding someone you can trust to go over your budget with you).

Regardless of how much debt you have or don't have, FPU and Dave's books can help you financially. It helps you SEE things in a different way.

Even if you can't pay off $30k in two years, how much closer will you be if you TRY instead of just paying the minimum . And if you work towards the goal together...how much closer will you and your spouse be when you reach the goal!!

My husband and I have pulled together our $1000 emergency fund at least 3 times and had to give it up everytime for something. Each time we were so thankful we had it! We've never gone beyond Step 2...but can't wait til the day when we are totally, utterly and completely DEBT FREE!!!

 

[mrsklamc]

Note that depending on your income, it can be inspiring or depressing. It is quite depressing trying just to make ends meet and work the budget when you are reading posts about TMMO that people are paying $30-40,000 worth of debt off a year. If that is more than you bring home, it does becomes depressing to read when it will take you 5 years to pay that much off.

They keep telling me that Dave Ramsey is all about us folks who make very little money, but I just can't see it when everyone tells me to cut down the cell phone, cut out this and that, quit eating out, etc, etc, and I already have none of that stuff, nor have I ever had that stuff.

If people are willing to buy in totally, yes, it does work at all income levels. But many aren't willing to take the extreme steps- no vacations, sell the house, sell the car and drive a beater, get a second job, sell everything not nailed down.

 

[Abbeys_mom]

We are spending a couple of hours tomorrow working on this. The budget plans are downloadable - I have them printed out for tomorrow. The steps are listed on this link, and I started lurking at LLNOE.

http://www.daveramsey.com/new/baby-steps/

We are having a "come to flying spaghetti monster" family meeting tomorrow, happy new year to us!

 

[BoogasMom]

DH and I recently listened to his audio book, Total Money Makeover. We have step 1 completed and have already paid off 1 smaller debt! If all goes as planned, we will have one other small debt, my car, a pre-paid college plan for my DS10 (that we started for him when he was a newborn), AND my husband's truck paid for in 15 months! To keep us motivated, I have EVERY little payment (using the snowball effect) written out and am checking them off as I pay them. Then, when the debt is paid in full, I am putting a HUGE red checkmark over top of it.

Thanks for the link to the free message boards....I can't wait to start lurking and I am going to pass the link on to my DH as well.

Our church is offering his "university" course after the first of the year. We have plans to go to the informational meeting and find out what's involved but aren't sure if we are going to sign up for it or not.

 

[minnie1928]

We are starting our 6th year after doing a modified FPU course. My employer at the time (a bank) offered the course to its' employees for only $25. We were unable to attend the classes due to DHs work schedule, so I read the books while DH listened to the CDs in the car. Regardless of the method, we both ended up on the same page.

We paid off 2 cars & our DVC and now have a large emergency fund. The only debt is our mortgage.

We didn't (and still don't) follow DR 100% to the letter of his program. For example, we did not stop our 401k contributions and forfeit the employer contribution. But, we did lower our 401k down to the minimum needed to get the match while we were focussed on our debts. We did not get "gazelle", but our situation wasn't dire either.

What the program did do for us was highlight how much waste we had each month. Every month we found ways to spend extra money, rather than putting the money to use for us. We still budget our money with every paycheck and have made amazing progress. Had we not done his course, we wouldn't be anywhere close to where we are now financially.

 

[Leshaface]

I thought I was doing okay on meeting our payments on the school loan....it's not 'officially' due yet until Summer of 2011, but have put $400 down each month (min payment is $96 or something like that) for a year already...and the other thing i'm not sure how to do is, he has 3 loans that make the total of $30,000...so should I start making payments on the smaller of the loans ($8,000) first??

 

[bennyrn12]

Another DR follower here!! DH and I are coming up on our one year anniversary of starting the program Jan 5th and looking back over the past year I cant believe how much it has changed us. The amount of money we wasted on things was so scary! Im not going to lie it has been very hard and I do miss just going out and shopping just to shop (but I dont miss the credit card bills!) but I know it is so worth it. I highly suggest checking out llnoe.com. Everyone is very helpful over there and we are all working the same plan for the same goal!

 

[minnie1928]

I thought I was doing okay on meeting our payments on the school loan....it's not 'officially' due yet until Summer of 2011, but have put $400 down each month (min payment is $96 or something like that) for a year already...and the other thing i'm not sure how to do is, he has 3 loans that make the total of $30,000...so should I start making payments on the smaller of the loans ($8,000) first??

DR recommends that you pay the smallest debts first, leaving the largest for last. There is psychological momentum that builds up because you see that you are accomplishing something faster with every account that is paid off. However, if there is not much difference (size wise) between the 3 loans, then I would recommend that you pay the loan with the higher interest rate first.

Don't get stuck too much on the order of things...keep in mind that paying down debt, regardless of the order, is a positive step in the right direction.

 

[DawnM]

Dave says to stop paying 401k and forfeit employer contributions? I didn't know that (remember, we did Crown Financial not Dave, even though I am familiar with Dave). I agree with you.....we would not have let that go either....and we didn't!

In fact, I am VERY glad we didn't when we were getting out of debt....because the matching for the 4 years we have been doing the program were great. Then, just this past year, they cut the matching WAY DOWN, so we would really have been losing out.

Dawn

We didn't (and still don't) follow DR 100% to the letter of his program. For example, we did not stop our 401k contributions and forfeit the employer contribution. But, we did lower our 401k down to the minimum needed to get the match while we were focussed on our debts. We did not get "gazelle", but our situation wasn't dire either.

 

[bebelle]

We drank the kool-aid!!! I LOVE the envelope system! Paying with cash has changed our lives!

 

[minnie1928]

Dave says to stop paying 401k and forfeit employer contributions? I didn't know that (remember, we did Crown Financial not Dave, even though I am familiar with Dave). I agree with you.....we would not have let that go either....and we didn't!

I believe he says to stop the 401k if you are going gazelle and you have a lot of debt. We weren't gazelle and only had car & mortgage debt when we started anyway. I can't quote it page and paragraph, but I do remember reading or hearing it discussed.

I had a real tough time justifying leaving free money on the table, so we simply reduced our contributions to the minimum required to get the employer contribution.

 

[richmond282]

I thought I was doing okay on meeting our payments on the school loan....it's not 'officially' due yet until Summer of 2011, but have put $400 down each month (min payment is $96 or something like that) for a year already...and the other thing i'm not sure how to do is, he has 3 loans that make the total of $30,000...so should I start making payments on the smaller of the loans ($8,000) first??

Yes, pay off the smallest one first. Pay the minimum payment on the other 2.

Dave says to stop paying 401k and forfeit employer contributions? I didn't know that (remember, we did Crown Financial not Dave, even though I am familiar with Dave). I agree with you.....we would not have let that go either....and we didn't!

In fact, I am VERY glad we didn't when we were getting out of debt....because the matching for the 4 years we have been doing the program were great. Then, just this past year, they cut the matching WAY DOWN, so we would really have been losing out.

Actually, I *think* he says to continue to contribute only what they will match. We did not alter our contributions either. Mine isn't matched at all, but my DH and I felt like we could pay off the debt w/o altering that.

 

[dizkids]

Where to start? Is there is a first or best book?

 

[KristinU]

We're DR followers, started in early 2007 (because of posts here on the DIS by DawnM and others...for which I will be forever grateful) and paid off everything but the house within that year. We still follow the plan and as mentioned by a couple of PPs - it really has changed our lives. We're also a stronger couple because of it. We started out the plan using the TMMO book and the LLNOE.com boards, then eventually went on to read Financial Peace and lead the FPU class at our church.

If I had to choose just one, it would be TMMO paired with LLNOE, especially if you're already a message board sort of person. The class was great for in-person stories and accountability, but sometimes I felt like people didn't open up as much as they would under the cloak of semi-anonymity like you have on a message board. But I have to say, the videos are awesome to watch too.

 

[windycitymom]

Yes - take the DR course, Financial Peace University, regardless of how much debt you have or don't have! This course should be a requirement for engaged couples!!! I've read most all of the financial books out there and have been frugal my entire life, but sometimes life or the economy gets in the way (in fact, according to DR, it's pretty much guaranteed that you will have a financial crisis within a 10 year period).

We just finished the 13 week course and to be on the same page financially with DH is amazing. I have drank the kool-aid too The first class is FREE so please go check it out. You will get the most out of it if you do it with your significant other, but I was ready to go on my own if DH didn't want to come (but he did

FPU course $99 (includes 13 audio CDs, workbook, envelope system, DR book, and access to the DR FPU online system.) Plus - you can always take the course over again for FREE forever!
Financial peace of mind & being debt-free: PRICELESS

I'll be happy to answer any questions anyone may have.

 

[hugscot]

Wow lot of good results. That is awesome. I was pretty discplined financially until my divorce and then things just seemed to fall apart ....all my savings and everything out the door and don't really know where it went. I have lots tied up in some real estate investments right now just waiting to sell them, which will payoff everything but that may be a long wait with this market. The credit card info was awesome as I already used it to get my rates dropped to 4.25% and late fees waived and payments lowered. Got a bunch of stuff listed on craigslist for sell and doing well on that. As much I hate it I am even going to rent or transfer some of my DVC points to payoff one of my loans and help with some bills.

 

[PrincessBelle09]

Actually, I *think* he says to continue to contribute only what they will match.

Yep, this is correct. He encourages people to stop unless they have an employer match and then he only wants to you meet the match.

 

[TnTWalter]

He wants you to stop ALL investing to get out of debt. That's a hard pill to swallow. BUT he's clear that it's for a short time, it's more momentum [say 18 months or less]. Most people when they get gazelle intense clean up their debt fast and that's his strategy.

I'm not saying I agree or disagree, just saying what he says.

I love DR. Don't follow 'to the letter' but totally on the 'no debt bandwagon'.

We've been debt free since 2006. It's so great having peace with the chaos all around.

 

[minnie1928]

He wants you to stop ALL investing to get out of debt. That's a hard pill to swallow. BUT he's clear that it's for a short time, it's more momentum [say 18 months or less]. Most people when they get gazelle intense clean up their debt fast and that's his strategy.

Thanks! I thought that's what he said, but I loaned my books to a friend (who has since lost them) and I couldn't double check for myself.

 

[hugscot]

He wants you to stop ALL investing to get out of debt. That's a hard pill to swallow. BUT he's clear that it's for a short time, it's more momentum [say 18 months or less]. Most people when they get gazelle intense clean up their debt fast and that's his strategy.

I'm not saying I agree or disagree, just saying what he says.

I love DR. Don't follow 'to the letter' but totally on the 'no debt bandwagon'.

We've been debt free since 2006. It's so great having peace with the chaos all around.

Yes that is right I think. But if you think about it for a minute that is financially sound advice because if you are paying 15-24% interest on credit cards etc and your investments are bringing 12% at best then you are still loosing 3-12% on your money until get that debt paid off. So yes it is very smart to stop investments and put that money to paying off the debt IMO. Now I have a mandatory state retirement plan that I don't have choice on but the rest I did.