The Dave Ramsey Plan

[mjhaverkamp]

When I did not have money to buy what i wanted I took on a second job, so you can give up a lot of things that you like or you can work harder, I chose to work a lot to get what I wanted.

[Mike D]

When I did not have money to buy what i wanted I took on a second job, so you can give up a lot of things that you like or you can work harder, I chose to work a lot to get what I wanted.

I think you're a closet Dave Ramsey follower.

Pretty much everything you're doing is what he says do.

[Landrover]

I have pretty much lived my life according to Dave's plan before Dave had the plan. I have always hated debt. We paid the ranch off in less than seven years and did not take on any consumer debt unless it was next to zero interest. I figured that the 8% note on the place was a better return on my money than investing in stocks, mutual funds, insurance policies, whatever...and we put everything into retiring that note. I have never bought whole life insurance, only term. I did read a couple of the books and then passed them on to the kids. It only reinforced what I was already doing. We have been debt free for about ten years now. We give when our hearts tell us to give. We buy what we want when we want, but really don't want much. Our lives are so full that at times I wish they weren't. Bottom line, money is not a problem and we could care less what our credit score is. ...

Most excellent!!! Again, another person that is a member of the 1% club in America. Congrats. Two trivial and small points.........you read a couple of books and someone spent hundreds on the PLAN? I read ONE of Dave's book and listenend to him on AM radio for FREE. Total cost about $12 bucks!!! Oh, I did go to see him in Houston for another $20 dollars...........LOL! That about a GREAT motivational environment!!!

I think the hardest thing about any plan does not come until you are 2-3 months in, any plan (paying off debt, diet, etc) is pretty easy to follow for the first month or two. We Americans really have not ever told ourself no (Im talking about the majority of 45 yr old and down) I guarantee you my grandfather would of freaked if he would of seen a $60K truck, I often wish I could of just taken him to a lot and let him look just to see his response, lol, we as americans have always found a way to get what we wanted if we really wanted it, I dont blame credit card compainies, (they are greedy and try to suck you dry but they dont force you to use the card) they were smart enough to realize that there is a lot of money to be made off people who dont know how to tell themselves NO, just for the record even though credit card companies are greedy it never gives you the right not to pay them if you use their card, I tell my boys if your man enough to make the debt you best man up and pay the debt. At some point this has to stop, its not going to be easy, your not going to like it, there will be a lot of nights and weekends when your friends are going out and vacationing that you will sit at home, there will be times when your buddy shows up with that new gun that you have wanted for a long time and wants you to look at it, hold it, shoot it, he will tell you about the greatest sale in history and all the reasons you should make an exception to your plan and buy yourself one to. The hardest thing on any financial plan is discipline. Dave's plan or any plan you use will require discipline on your part. You have to make your mind up and be commited. Remember, the first month or two wont be bad, but about that third month when you are tired of not doing and going you have to sit yourself down, heck go stand in front of a mirror and look yourself in the eye and tell yourself NO, Im going to stick to the plan I have committed to.

Awesomeness sir!!!

but i don't know what the hell I would do with all that extra money.

Humm!!! Maybe......just maybe, give more to your favorite charities, church, favorite productive family member, travel the globe, more bowhunting, start a non-profit, start a for-profit, etc., lots of wonderful things can be accomplished with "extra money!"

By the way, I have sent you a few pm's in regards to owning a restaurant, you must not do pm's, thanks anyway.

My apologies, I will check into it tomorrow.

First of all " the plan" as you call doesent cost anything. We are taking the 9 week course & there was no cost to enroll. There was an optional "kit" with the book & other forms & resources. As mentioned before his weekly radio program is also free.
.

bingo!!!!!

What do yall do to stay motivated? ?

Count money and plan the next bowhunting adventure!!!

For me, I just think about how easy life will be post debt if its easy financially right now and it keeps me driven. I just want to get to that point where I can build wealth not only for me but my kids future.

Bingo!! That was us 7 years ago!

My motivation was to provide a better quality of life for my family and I and build wealth..

I don't think there's an easy answer for this, but for us, it got a little easier every time something got paid off. Just like a diet, most folks get discouraged when they don't see quick results, which ironically is what gets you into debt to start with ... not having the patience to wait and pay cash for something you want.

You just have to THINK about the end result and how much easier your life will be. Looking back, I can't see how we lived like that for so long.

Kevin you are a better "sage of personal finance" than bear hunter!!!

I can only speak for my experience but at first it seems like you are barely making progress. But as you get some of the smaller bills paid off and start applying larger and larger amounts to the others and they are knocked our faster and faster, you will get excited to write big checks every month. Then after you are done you write those big checks to yourself. It's an amazing feeling.
It's just like anything else, once you truly put your mind to it and decide this is it, it will a truly become fun. Especially when you call to close credit accounts and they soon and try to keep you from shutting the accounts down.
For me, we were just committed and determined. I listened to Dave every day. My wife didn't listen to the show, but she supported me all the way through the process. It's definitely easier when you have a partner that's on board as well. I would imagine its tougher doing it on your own.

Stay vigilant. I promise its worth it.

I get chills reading this stuff...........still!!! LIFE is what you make it!!!

I think i had several different motivators. One was i wanted better for my family that kept me going. our good friends took the class with us and we kept tabs with each other even stopping each other from making dumb wanted purchases. I also want to be a full time knifemaker. Im a part time 14 days a month maker right now, having debt and two kids being a fulltimer was going to be too tough. Once we get our house bought if i leave or lose my job for any reason i will be able to walk into the knife shop and not miss a beat.

That buddy system seems to be popular and a good idea. Keep goals constantly upfront and you will get there faster than you think.

[Death Dealer]

I applaud all the people who have benefitted from Dave's advise.

Its awesome. Its cool to read about people getting their lives headed in the right direction.

But....

I still can't grasp the notion of how his advice differs/is better from simple math common sense that you would think the general population would possess.

The fact he has made millions of simple math/accounting basics to the populous, to me defines the world we live in.

Gotta love Capitalism!!!

Couldn't agree more. I should have wrote a book and called it "Don't spend more than you make and Pay off debt"

I could be rich!!

[ctburt0n]

The wife and I are debt free. It's a wonderful feeling not having any payments especially now. I lost my job in April. Thankfully we had some reserves in the bank for living expenses.

[mjhaverkamp]

I think you're a closet Dave Ramsey follower.

Pretty much everything you're doing is what he says do.

I do not know much about Dave except for what I have read on the internet, everybody knows that if it is on the internet it is true, right ?

[Charles]

I do not know much about Dave except for what I have read on the internet, everybody knows that if it is on the internet it is true, right ?

Bonjour!

[Chad C]

I'm a member of Gateway Church in Southlake... If you would like to watch the first three parts of his five part series at our church for spiritual content, here is our website...

http://gatewaypeople.com/sermons

Enjoy

[feralswine]

Love some Dave Ramsey. Went through the class about a year ago. Good stuff and helped us out a lot!!!

[berto]

I'd be interested to know what kind of money y'all make. To wipe away a 300k, 80k in months, 100k ect...

[Z7_Matt]

I'd be interested to know what kind of money y'all make. To wipe away a 300k, 80k in months, 100k ect...

No kidding!

[doublearrow]

I'd be interested to know what kind of money y'all make. To wipe away a 300k, 80k in months, 100k ect...

My wife and i combined made very little compared to alot of folks, but made more than alot of folks at the same time. I worked for one of the world's richest men, he didnt get that way by paying his workers lots of money.
But i always thought i was good at budgeting payments. I had our payments and budget set up to where i "thought" we were affording a payment. We didnt have money left over at the end of the month, but we never ever missed a payment. I should clarify when i say "we got rid of debt" didnt mean we paid it all off. I had a truck with a note, I sold the truck and my debt was reduced by that much. Several things went like that. If I said i i i paid that amount off i mispoke.

[Philip-TX]

Now this month is her bday and I had to buy bday gifts and she wants a big party at the ranch... thats $700 this month gone deviating from the plan...

You gotta get a handle on things like this, ^^^ (while she is just the GF). She needs to be on the same page before you upgrade to "wife".

Sure she can have a $700 party. She has a Bday every year right? Maybe you can budget 58.33/mo and make it happen,......next year.

THAT IS HOW IT WORKS!!

hint: Christmas come once a year too. Get that kinda stuff budgeted and stick to it.

[Dry Ace]

Dave worked for me!!!

I had to use envelopes lol...

[JSF]

Who else does this?

Weve been half way doing it for a while now. I wish we could get so much stricter with it and really suck things up but it kills us both when one of us says no, we cant spend money on that!! Usually the first thing brought up is the gf saying.. you never take me anywhere or on dates anymore.. I wanna DATE still.... which to me is money that we could put towards debt... then we end up off the plan for another few months before we sit down and try to get tight with money again... then it just seems something always comes up that deviates us from staying intense with it... many days it feels like we get no where with getting rid of debt...

So hows it coming?