Total Money Makeover

[jimmytammy]

Im sure this has been asked before, but wondered who else does Dave Ramseys Total Money Makeover?

We are a one income family, DW homeschools our kids, DD just graduated, DS still has 2 yrs. We own our own business, and live on a very minimal income in comparison to what is considered middle class. In fact, we would probably be considered poor according to govt. But I consider myself avg., with a great family, a good family business and comfortable.

We have have been doing TMM for over 2 yrs now and have been successful so far. DW got his book from the library, read it and encouraged me to read it. She purchased the book because it made perfect common sense to adopt to it.

We built our emergency fund, started figuring out our normal expenses, setting aside the funds for what we knew was on the horizon, insurance, payments on CCs, property taxes, etc. Our house is paid for, which was a biggy for us, but we still had all those annoying expenses that would hit and we werent prepared. Now we are ahead of those expenses.

We set aside $$ for upcoming vacations, so those trips are budgeted for well before the van leaves the drive. Coming home is sweet because the trip is paid for and Im not thinking how am I going to fund it. Now Im thinking about the next WDW trip!

So for those who do TMM, what has worked for you?

 

[Jeff_G]

Reading Dave's book was a total turning point for DW and I. We sort of had a budget, sort of stuck to it, didn’t have any debt besides our mortgage when we started, only a BEF. We were doing a lot of things right, but a lot of things wrong. We have been working on Dave’s plan for about 2 years now…

The best thing was creating a written budget down to the last dollar. Now we tell our money what we want it to do each month vs finding out what it did on its own. Every dollar has a purpose and is allocated for something. The envelope system has helped us not over spend on dining out. God willing our mortgage will be paid off next year!

 

[Branabb]

My wife and I started the plan in January. We have hit some bumps in the road, but it has been very successful so far. We have eliminated a little over half our debt. If all goes well, we will be paid out by next September.

I will be honest and tell you I modified the plan here and there to fit our personal finances better. We have one large sinking fund that accounts for most of our annual budget items like vacation, car fund, regristration renewal, etc.

We also use debt avalanche instead of the debt snowfall. In case you are unfamiliar, it is paying in order of highest interest to lowest rather than lowest balance to highest. It saves more money in the end. We prefer it.

Dave Ramsey's plan is simple but effective. I have recommended his book to all my family and friends regardless of financial circumstances. I think the book contains a lot of good information for everyone.

 

[happily single]

I'm not very familar with Dave Ramsey, but am wondering how it would work if I have a small income and pretty fixed debts. If I sat down and wrote out all my expenses I would probably be negative every month, but yet I manage (with vacations). I'm just curious if Dave Ramsey is something I should look into

 

[crisi]

I'm not very familar with Dave Ramsey, but am wondering how it would work if I have a small income and pretty fixed debts. If I sat down and wrote out all my expenses I would probably be negative every month, but yet I manage (with vacations). I'm just curious if Dave Ramsey is something I should look into

Possibly. But what Ramsey will tell you is CUT everything you don't need (those vacations are not a need), pay down all your debt, sell what you can, take a second job if you have to and put yourself in a different financial place. All this sacrifice will be temporary, because after doing this for a while, you won't have debt.

Dave Ramsey does not make money appear out of thin air.

If you are negative each month, you aren't managing. You just haven't run out of credit yet and therefore don't need to go into bankruptcy yet.