so tell me about Dave Ramsey...

[surfergirl602]

I've read some posts about people following him, and I'm interested in knowing more!

I am really interested in getting rid of our debt, cc's, and put money into savings while still being able to function and take our family trips.

We have major school loans, probably $45,000! yikes! and only 4,000 of that is mine.

about 6,000 in cc debt, and the monthly bills. We manage to pay all of our monthly bills, but I would like to know how to get those payments down faster, better our credit, and put money into savings, and curb DH's needless spending.

Any suggestions and info would be great!

So... where do I start?

ETA: THe DH's needless spending isn't substantial, but it all adds up. He'll go get something to eat at fast food place in stead of packing a lunch, several times a week because its easier. He'll go for the expensive haircut place, because its a half mile closer. He buys sooooo much hunting stuff to support his "hobby". It's just little stuff, but at the end of the month, all of that could have been another cc payment, you know?

 

[NYCDiane]

His books "Total Money Makeover" and "Financial Peace" are great starts.

According to his books, the first thing you should do is sock away 1K for an emergency fund (NOT your retirement or anything else... this is strictly an emergecncy fund).

Next step is to pay off your debt, starting with the smallest and then "snowballing" your way to through the rest --- meaning, you pay off the smallest while still paying on the others. Once that's paid off, you use the money you were using on that one and add it to what you were paying on the next one and so on.

As far as you DHs needless spending, you both need to be on board with this and create a monthly budget and stick to it.

The books explain everything (and there are workbooks, too).

 

[ohlas]

If you dont want to pay for the book try the libary our small one has several copies. Do dave ramsey google, he has a website too. and fan sites too.

Dave is ok, lots of people that do dave as everyone likes to call it, do a modified dave program, ei they try his plan and then take what works for them and use that.

To me and no yelling at me.... I love daves ideas of focus/ tunnel vision on money, but it will not work for some people..like unless your dh is aware and wants to change, it will be hard,, he sounds like he is in the dark over the money issues in the house, or doesnt want to know, because he will worry to much. (maybe could be wrong)


and you say your dh spend money uslessly, I feel your pain my is the same way, drives me nuts.

 

[CrzyforPiglet]

The first thing I would do is to sit down either with or without your DH and create a budget. You need to have a clear idea of what you have before you can think about going forward. Then sit down with DH so he can see where your money is going, I think that plus the new CC guidelines that show you how much you'll pay in interest on your balance might help DH come into line with your family's goals. For us DH and I each get $60 a week spending money, that is money we can spend however we choose - DH usually spends his on lunches at work b/c he chooses not to take his lunch from home. Then we have a weekly household budget which pays for gas in the car, groceries, haircuts, toiletries, clothing, gifts, etc. I have a dry erase board on the refrigerator and mark down every expense that comes out of that budget. It has been the best thing for us to keep us focused and has really curbed both of our impulse spending. I have also read Dave Ramsey and found it very motivational! Good luck!

 

[bettymae1121]

I agree, before you can really do anything you need to sit down with your DH and make sure that you are on the same page. Any plan you make (whether it's DR's plan or something else) won't work if your DH is just going to spend whatever he feels like.

Once you both really agree this is what you want to do, DR's plan is probably one of the best I've seen for debt pay off. I do disagree with him on a few points...for example the baby emergency fund. I think $1k is too low, $2k is better in my opinion. Once debt is paid off I also disagree with him on use of CC's and some of his investing advice. But I like about 95% of what he says. And the great thing is you can pick and choose what parts of the plan make sense for you, tweek some other parts, and skip those that won't work for you. That said, the more you tweek and skip, the longer it will take you to get out of debt. A good example is my DH and I. We aren't doing the "rice and beans" route he recomends. We have cut back in our spending big time, but I couldn't get DH agree to go bare bones, so rather than not do it at all, we just aren't as intense in our spending cuts. We are also remodeling our home (mostly needed repairs rather than wants) so a lot of the money that could go to debt pay off is paying for home improvements instead. But, we've cut our balances down by about 1/3 ( 1/2 if you count DH's truck loan) and hope to have the rest paid off in the next two years, three at the outside.

I read TMM a few years ago, and if I remember correctly he said the average family that really sticks to his program is consumer debt free in about two years. Think about how fast the last two years went, that didn't seem like much time, did it? It will go a lot faster than you think it will. Even if you aren't able to get it paid off in two years, you'll be in MUCH better shape, DH and I sure are!

 

[luvmyfam444]

Check out his website & see if there is a class offered near you - the class is awesome - its a video of him & you go thru a wkbk together as a couple. Or you could just buy his book Total Money Makeover - that will teach you how to make out a budget/or spending plan. you will spend every penny before the check gets in your hands - (not literally) but on paper - you'll know where it all goes

 

[minnie1928]

Check out his website & see if there is a class offered near you - the class is awesome - its a video of him & you go thru a wkbk together as a couple. Or you could just buy his book Total Money Makeover - that will teach you how to make out a budget/or spending plan. you will spend every penny before the check gets in your hands - (not literally) but on paper - you'll know where it all goes

Here's a link to a free class to try it out (this is for one night only, not a full session for free):

http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/free-lesson/ictid/fpuhf2/?ectid=cnl.extra.031210_07

 

[DVCBELLE]

We did a modified Dave Ramsey -

My DH did not want to give up Starbucks. "I make X dollars a year and if I want Starbucks then I am going to get it." Can't really argue with that logic since I am a SAHM.

SO - I budgeted him $100 for every two weeks (Each paycheck) He has to live off that. He was agreeable to that. Its funny that Starbucks was the FIRST thing he stopped spending money on.

Your DH just needs to see how much he is spending. Switching to cash makes a HUGE difference. People who pay cash (over debit or credit cards) spend 25% less than people who use plastic. That's b/c you don't really think about the money being money.

We have our monthly budget set and now whatever I have left at the end from my cash - goes into my Disney fund - it sure makes it nice to see that growing!!

 

[BrightScouter]

We are also on a modified Ramsey plan. We took the FPU course and it was well worth the money for us. We had a great group that we did ours with. There were two couples running the course that gave us a lot of one on one help getting budgets started and talking over fine points of his plan. It will probably help you get your husband on the program if you take the course, rather than just read the book and try to go it alone.

 

[minnie1928]

We too are doing a modified DR plan. We continued our 401k contributions, I just couldn't justify stopping our 401k and missing the employer match. However, our debt was auto and DVC...no credit cards so the rates were reasonable. We just passed our 5 year anniversary and the only debt we have is our home and we have a 6 month fully funded emergency fund. We definitely wouldn't be where we are if it wouldn't have been for us finding DR and getting kicked into gear.

 

[gillenkl]

I checked his books out of the library. We did our own modified version as well. We have no credit card debt and no vehicle loans. We have money in savings. We still contribute to our 401K. We still have a home loan and will continue making our regular payments (no extra payments). We pay for everything we can with our disney visa and pay it off each month - I keep track of every cent we put on it. What's worked the most for us is having to be accountable to each other (dh and I) for any money spent. I write everything in my record book and we go over it every paycheck so we both know what's going on with the funds how much we've spent, saved, etc..... You have to find what works for you.

 

[TENNDVC]

Check out some of Dave's videos on you tube. We took the class and are almost there to paying off our house. What he says makes sense. We took our 21 yr old to a live performance. Now he too is following Dave's plan, and saving for his retirement. I believe you can also check out his books through your local library. Good luck to you!!

 

[Bren's Mom]

In addition to the ideas posted above, there are alot of 'Dave Devotees' who have posted their own Budget spreadsheets and Debt Snowball calculators online for anyone to use. Google them. We're using a weekly budgeting Excel spreadsheet that I modified to work for our family that is excellent.