I bought Dave Ramsey's book

[daleswife]

And read it and got excited......DH read it tonight and is really excited about paying off our debt. He is going to go through his stuff tomorrow for me to sell. He's got a 95 Mustang GT convertable hes going to sell. We paid off 6 DR bills tonight, and are on our way to getting out of debt.

AND I owe it all to you DIS'ers!!! Thanks so much guys. I had never heard of Dave Ramsey until I got on here. Now I really think we are gonna make it. YAY!!!

I'll get flamed for this, but we are still going on our disney trip. DH says that since we will be going full force on this budget thing and prolly wont get a vacation for a while, that we should just go ahead and take it. So YAY I we are paying off crap and still going to disney.

Wish us luck!!!

 

[tonilea]

Yay! I am not suggesting you don't take your vacation. You have already made that decision - no judgement from me. I would encourage you to do the plan EXACTLY as DR lays it out. We took the Financial Peace University. DH and I agreed to follow the plan exactly for at least the 13 week duration of the class. It certainly changed our lives.

 

[kacaju]

Good for you both!! We are down to our last cc which will be paid off soon and I can't wait!!

 

[gilby]

I am excited for you. I read Dave's book and I so far have paid off 2400 in 8 weeks on one loan and paid off 2 CC's (low balances). I will be paying off 2 possibly 2 low balance CC's on tuesday. We are selling unnecessary items in our house, posting items on ebay.
We modified our plan a little to work with us, I paid off a large loan, before the small low balance CC's, in order to have a hundred extra a month, but I figured as long as I stick to my plan, it will work. I work a part time job and waitress, so all my tips go on the bills.
We are doing his plan, but we are still saving to go on vacations. Yes I will get flamed for going on vacations, but we need to enjoy life.
Good luck. Check out his website.

 

[ZacFields]

Congrats on getting started on becoming debt-free! Dave Ramsey is a great teacher for this, and I suggest also listening to his radio show on his website. When you think about it, he preaches common sensical things that everyone *could* think of themselves, but usually won't. I know that was the feeling I always got from him. exe:

"My husband has a $25,000 truck and we only make a household income of $40,000 and we're having trouble making the payments. What can we do?"

Dave Ramsey: "Uh... sell the truck! What on earth were you thinking buying a truck that costs more than half of your annual income!?"

Definitely listen to his radio show at least a few times per week because it will fuel your desire to stick with your debt-reduction project. My fiance (21 years old) and myself (23 years old, both in college and working FT) have been into and out of $13,500 in debt, largely using Dave Ramsey's techniques to pay it off. The payoff took us about 9 months and really was not as hard as people would think. It takes a change in the way you're living your life.

Get that debt paid off, build up an emergency fund, and when you're done with that you can go to Disney every year like a lot of the fine souls on this website!

 

[lck33]

Congratulations to you and your husband! Way to go! Dave Ramsey is great, but you working as a team is even better! Keep up the momentum and you'll be debt free before you know it.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Congratulations and good luck!

It's so great that you are excited and working on your new goal together. That is half the battle!

Oh, and enjoy that trip of yours!

 

[bop28]

Does anyone know a good 'budget' source for Dave Ramsey's book? Not including the local Library, since the waiting list is years long!

 

[tammyandtommy]

<-- behind the times here, which one of his books?

 

[KKB]

Does anyone know a good 'budget' source for Dave Ramsey's book? Not including the local Library, since the waiting list is years long!

Sometimes s/h doesn't make it worth it, but you never know.
Is there a used bookstore in your town? Call them & see if they have a copy.

 

[natale1980]

I bought his book on line from his web. It was on sale for $10.

I feel like I want to start his program but I'm afraid I won't stick to it. Kind of like a diet... "I'll start on Monday." We have our 10 year anniversary trip booked for September and I don't want to cancel. According to Dave I'm acting childish... I agree But I WANT IT NOW!
I am following his plan with starting to snowball our debt.. but we could be doing better.

-nat

 

[thistle922]

Does anyone know a good 'budget' source for Dave Ramsey's book? Not including the local Library, since the waiting list is years long!

DR's website had the books for 10.00 a few weeks ago, but I think that might have expired. I purchased one "used" from half.com and it was in perfect condition...well worth the 8.00 I paid for it!

Best of luck to you! We just finished the books and are listening to the FPU courses now..I listen to Dave's show every day on XM, too, and I find just listening to him to be a great way to get motivated!

 

[thistle922]

<-- behind the times here, which one of his books?

Not the OP, but I'm guessing they're referring to "The Total Money Makeover". It's an easy read with a wonderful (common sense!) plan of attack.

 

[SilverL]

Try looking for it used on Amazon.

My parents and my DH and I all did Financial Peace University at our church this year. It's worth the money, let me tell you, and so is the book. $25 is not too much for financial security!

I'm so glad you guys bought the book. And I don't blame you for taking the vacation anyway. My DH and I could sock away the $$ we're spending and put it to much better use, but we have made the decision not to. Thankfully, he and I have no debt. But if we had booked the trip before FPU, when we did have debt, I still would've gone. It's not the smartest thing in the world, but it could be a great motivator. "Next time we come back here, we will be debt free and we will pay with CASH!" How great would that be?

 

[bop28]

I'm wondering if the Total Money Makeover would be a good book for a 15 yr old boy? We want him to understand money and get off to a smart/good start before he even thinks about aquiring debt and spending more than he makes in the future? What do you guys think?

 

[thistle922]

I'm wondering if the Total Money Makeover would be a good book for a 15 yr old boy? We want him to understand money and get off to a smart/good start before he even thinks about aquiring debt and spending more than he makes in the future? What do you guys think?

Couldn't hurt. It is an easy read and it's all common sense...I really wish I had been armed with this kind of knowledge when I was younger. I NEVER would have accepted any of those CC offers when I was a teenager!

I know on Dave's website there is a section for Kids and Teens, but I haven't checked out what is in there...might be worth a look.

 

[disneylove69]

Does anyone know a good 'budget' source for Dave Ramsey's book? Not including the local Library, since the waiting list is years long!

He normally has them on his website for $10. Also try Amazon or ebay.

 

[daleswife]

Does anyone know a good 'budget' source for Dave Ramsey's book? Not including the local Library, since the waiting list is years long!

I got mine from ebay for about $10 with shipping. It was the best $10 I have ever spent. and to see DH getting so excited about it and acutally wanting to do this is amazing. He finally gets the plan and is ok with it. I had explained it to him and he was like "yea like that'll really work" but then he read the book and was like "we can so do this". We wont sell our truck though.....We are just putting it in the "credit card" pile. We are about $40K in debt not including our mortgage. But thats not even the truck loan....that was stupidity on our part by getting a personal loan for $15000 to pay off cc bills then using the cc again......SO STUPID...but we are finally on our way. We are trying to the the $1000 saved right now....and we are still taking our trip...and yes, its selfish according to DR but its the last we will be taking until we are debt free.....Im so excited to be debt free!!!!

<-- behind the times here, which one of his books?

Total Money Makeover.....awesome!!!!!

 

[SilverL]

Ramsey's books are written in plain terms and are very easy to read. A 15 year old boy should have absolutely no problem understanding it, and it would be excellent to get him started off on the right foot.

I am SO grateful that DH and I took that class before we got married. We will have a debt free marriage for life now, except for a home mortgage.

 

[Kika]

Does anyone know a good 'budget' source for Dave Ramsey's book? Not including the local Library, since the waiting list is years long!

If you listen to his radio show for a few days (you can listen online for free by googling his name and just going to his website), you will get pretty much the same info as the book.

He is also TV on the Fox Financial Network if you have that channel.

I really like Dave's common sense approach and advice towards money. As he says, "We give the same advice your grandmother would, except we keep our teeth in" (or something like that).