Is the Dave Ramsey book good for everyone?

[Purple*Lotus]

DH and I are trying to pay off our debt. It is mainly medical bill debt that I paid for with credit cards. I have heard so much about the Dave Ramsey book in this forum that I was wondering if it would be a good book for people like me whose bulk debt comes from medical bills.

[excitedtobeamom]

The Total Money Makeover is good for anyone with debt! Check it out at your library!

[mtm]

Its good in that it helps you by getting you to write down all your expenses and figure out where your money goes. That was eye opening to us. I found the snowball principle really motivating (pay the most you can on one bill, minimum payment on the others then when one is done, pay the next off the same way). I did not like the religious overtones to the book but I know other people who loved that part of it.

[phathui5]

One thing I like about it is that it's simple and easy to follow.

[ewp11100]

I think I'm the only one who doesn't have oodles of good things to say about him.

#1 it doesn't work for poor people. If your bills are just covered by you income his solution is get another job. We live the cheapest we possibly can, have no unnessissary expences and just meet our budget.

#2 he assumes that because you have debt you don't have/use a budget

It seems to me that this book is for middle class people??? I kid of found it silly to think there are people out there from the stories in the book. Who had that much debt and still spends money just "shopping".
Only my humble opinion

[mum4boys]

Originally Posted by ewp11100

#1 it doesn't work for poor people. If your bills are just covered by you income his solution is get another job. We live the cheapest we possibly can, have no unnessissary expences and just meet our budget.

I am not sure what you mean by this. If you have no unessisary expenses and you are meeting your budget what is the problem? I have read and hear enough of Dave that he recommends doing whatever it takes to get your emergency fund then take it from there. If you are meeting your budget and have an emergency fund pay off one bill, eventually you are going to get one paid off and then snow ball from there.

[mum4boys]

Originally Posted by ewp11100

It seems to me that this book is for middle class people??? I kid of found it silly to think there are people out there from the stories in the book. Who had that much debt and still spends money just "shopping".
Only my humble opinion

I am a family law paralegal. I do a ton of financials each day on people. My most common client makes 10K a month and has about 40K in credit card debt. It is insane.

[mrskennedy]

Originally Posted by ewp11100

I think I'm the only one who doesn't have oodles of good things to say about him.

#1 it doesn't work for poor people. If your bills are just covered by you income his solution is get another job. We live the cheapest we possibly can, have no unnessissary expences and just meet our budget.

#2 he assumes that because you have debt you don't have/use a budget

It seems to me that this book is for middle class people??? I kid of found it silly to think there are people out there from the stories in the book. Who had that much debt and still spends money just "shopping".
Only my humble opinion

: The only steps of his we plan on doing are saving up a basic emergency fund of $1000, then one of 3 months expenses--though that'll take literally years on our income!, savings for retirement--if we're ever employed, and maybe saving something for the kids as a college fund, or whatever they decide to use it for.
That's right, DR does not work for poor people! At! All!

[kijip]

We are debt free and have savings. I don't find his books that useful. So no, I don't think its is good for everyone. But then again, what book would be good for everyone? I think there is enough good stuff in there that is is well worth a read, especially if you are in some debt and have some income to put towards it every month.

[TattooedMama]

I happen to think that Dave Ramsey does work for poor people too. It just takes longer. Yes, if you were blowing a couple thousand dollars a month and you become aware of that and change your habits, then that's different than having to get a 2nd or 3rd job and sell your stuff on Ebay.
Both are valid ways to get out of debt.
One just sucks a lot more than the other.

[mrskennedy]

Originally Posted by TattooedMama

I happen to think that Dave Ramsey does work for poor people too. It just takes longer. Yes, if you were blowing a couple thousand dollars a month and you become aware of that and change your habits, then that's different than having to get a 2nd or 3rd job and sell your stuff on Ebay.
Both are valid ways to get out of debt.
One just sucks a lot more than the other.

And when you can't get a job b/c of disabilities, etc--things that are unchangeable and out of your control--then what does DR say about that? I haven't seen any answers, but if you have some...

[oneKnight]

I consider myself poor, and I liked the DR book.
The snowball idea is the most useful tool that I've ever heard of and it helped us get out of DH's old CC debt faster than I could ever immagine. We went from being in debt to buying a house in a little over 2 years! Now we do have a mortgage, but that's just life.

[root*children]

Originally Posted by mrskennedy

And when you can't get a job b/c of disabilities, etc--things that are unchangeable and out of your control--then what does DR say about that? I haven't seen any answers, but if you have some...

If you're actually interested in answering that question, and not just blowing off his theories because the mamas on this board don't know the answers, then you should consider contacting Dave. He is a real person, after all. He does a radio show 5 days a week, that is entirely made up of listeners phone calls. He also answers emails during his show.

You can email him on the air here:
http://www.daveramsey.com/?fuseAction=dspMailDaveOnAir

Or you can call during his show: 888.825.5225

[ewp11100]

Originally Posted by mum4boys

I am not sure what you mean by this. If you have no unessisary expenses and you are meeting your budget what is the problem? I have read and hear enough of Dave that he recommends doing whatever it takes to get your emergency fund then take it from there. If you are meeting your budget and have an emergency fund pay off one bill, eventually you are going to get one paid off and then snow ball from there.

That was what I was saying how do you start making an emergency fund when you have zero extra after paying the bills? If your only paying min on credit cards how do you play them off?

[ewp11100]

Originally Posted by TattooedMama

I happen to think that Dave Ramsey does work for poor people too. It just takes longer. Yes, if you were blowing a couple thousand dollars a month and you become aware of that and change your habits, then that's different than having to get a 2nd or 3rd job and sell your stuff on Ebay.
Both are valid ways to get out of debt.
One just sucks a lot more than the other.

Ok that kind of what I have a problem with. I would sell everything we had...IF WE HAD ANYTHING, lol. I'm chuckling here, I sell all the daipers we don't use but other then that we don't have a lot of things. ALSO 2nd or 3rd job!!!! My husband goes to work at 5am and works outside all day 6 days a week, he comes home EXOSTED He also has to travel a lot (durning hurricine season mostly but also everyother month or so for a week). You can't get another job when you don't have a reliable time you will always be able to show up.


I will admit that after reading the book I decided that I would go back to work part time. But all I can work is 4-6 when my husband is home to watch the kids. My baby does not take a bottle and is in tears by the time I get home. If I had to pay for daycare my entire paycheck would go to child care, I don't make that much.

[TattooedMama]

Originally Posted by ewp11100

That was what I was saying how do you start making an emergency fund when you have zero extra after paying the bills? If your only paying min on credit cards how do you play them off?

You SCRAPE together whatever else you have in a month to come up with some money. If you are just starting the program I realize this is probably the MOST uninspriring time of year to talk about being broke and not buying extras. Let's be really honest here and admit that Thanksgiving and Christmas are extras. Nobody is going to die if they don't have pumpkin pie. Now not being able to buy medications, that's more serious.

I think this is where I found the book invaluable. I could not do this without owning the book (not borrowed from the library) because I reference back to it all the time for motivation. And yes my DP and I realized the irony of BUYING a book to get out of debt, because I looked on Half.com before having to buy it new.
This is what keeps me gazelle intense. That and listening to his radio show while I am waiting for ds to get out of dance class.
I know his catch phrases that are repeated ad nauseum throughout the book can seem corny. But after a while they work. They keep me out of Starbucks and at home making homemade dinners.
So when you are already "just making it" how do you get ahead? That's where he says to go crazy and have "a garage sale that looks like an estate sale." Get a second or third job, (which is where I would like to have a conversation with other MDC moms, because how many of us are actually SAHM's and doing Dave Ramsey?).
Maybe this is where DV seems "middle class" but I have helped several friends IRL get started doing this and helping them see what they can cut out.
Do you have things like Netflix, cable TV, high speed internet. Buy microwave popcorn instead of plain old cook it in a pan popcorn. Seems silly but it does add up.

[TattooedMama]

Originally Posted by ewp11100

I will admit that after reading the book I decided that I would go back to work part time. But all I can work is 4-6 when my husband is home to watch the kids. My baby does not take a bottle and is in tears by the time I get home. If I had to pay for daycare my entire paycheck would go to child care, I don't make that much.

I hear ya mama, my husband's work schedule doesn't "allow" me to work right now either. Ironic. This is what I meant in my previous post, the decision some of us will have to make to not SAHM or let go of other NFL ideals to get out of debt. Dave's quote,
"If you will live like no one else then you can live like nobody else" (to paraphrase, I might have mangled it a bit.) means to me that my family has to sacrifice now to have a better life later.
Like for me when I was a single mama I put myself through college so I could get a good paying job. My oldest ds doesn't really remember that those years were rough. He didn't really know it at the time.
So for some people I think part of a long term "The Total Money Makeover" could be going back to school (lots of grants and scholarships available if you look) to improve your overall situation down the road a ways.

And as much as I love SAH I don't think that's in my family's long term financial health best interests. While I have a nursing baby yes, but not if they are all in high school, no.
Just my opinion.

Have you looked into seasonal holiday help type jobs? Even just working the couple of hours you are available like you said doing gift wrapping or something would be a little bit of money.
I have a friend that just got a job being a house mother to disabled adults over night. She is getting paid to sleep. Literally. This might not work if you have a nursing co-sleeper, but a toddler that sleeps with dad could make it work (it is in her situation.)
Working from home doing medical transcription or insurance billing or coding could be an option too.
mrskennedy, would that be an option for you? Do you have a physical disability where it would be necessary to work from home?


Sending best wishes and some money fairy pixie dust to everyone.

[ewp11100]

I understand where your comming from but we've been doing that for years. We don't celibrate xmas we are athist and we are driving to my mom's (10 miles away) for thanksgiving. I make all our food from scratch and only by very limited organics which was hard for me to cut down on. No we don't have cable but yes we have netflix. If we didn't have \netflix my husband would go behind my back and get cable It's sad to say but we have had this fight for a long time. My husband is mostly on board but he likes to be "comfortable". That's a whole other rant, lol. but it has taken me a long time to get my husband to give up so much "comfort stuff". but the cost of netflix 17.50 vs cable 70.00? is I realize a comprimise. I know that sounds hypiciticale to say we have no extra money but this one comprimise has saved our marriage, no joke.

Originally Posted by TattooedMama

You SCRAPE together whatever else you have in a month to come up with some money. If you are just starting the program I realize this is probably the MOST uninspriring time of year to talk about being broke and not buying extras. Let's be really honest here and admit that Thanksgiving and Christmas are extras. Nobody is going to die if they don't have pumpkin pie. Now not being able to buy medications, that's more serious.

I think this is where I found the book invaluable. I could not do this without owning the book (not borrowed from the library) because I reference back to it all the time for motivation. And yes my DP and I realized the irony of BUYING a book to get out of debt, because I looked on Half.com before having to buy it new.
This is what keeps me gazelle intense. That and listening to his radio show while I am waiting for ds to get out of dance class.
I know his catch phrases that are repeated ad nauseum throughout the book can seem corny. But after a while they work. They keep me out of Starbucks and at home making homemade dinners.
So when you are already "just making it" how do you get ahead? That's where he says to go crazy and have "a garage sale that looks like an estate sale." Get a second or third job, (which is where I would like to have a conversation with other MDC moms, because how many of us are actually SAHM's and doing Dave Ramsey?).
Maybe this is where DV seems "middle class" but I have helped several friends IRL get started doing this and helping them see what they can cut out.
Do you have things like Netflix, cable TV, high speed internet. Buy microwave popcorn instead of plain old cook it in a pan popcorn. Seems silly but it does add up.

[mum4boys]

Originally Posted by ewp11100

That was what I was saying how do you start making an emergency fund when you have zero extra after paying the bills? If your only paying min on credit cards how do you play them off?

We have been in this boat and right now the only debt we have is student loans and probably medical bills (Not sure yet because those are still coming in but they are recent). We use to have a ton of credit car debt. We would pay medical bills and living expenses with credit card. Ya one time we even used our paid off vehicle to do a title loan to pay off medical bills so not only do I know debt personally, I know STUPID personally. 10 years ago our food budget for 6 people (two were under 15 months old) was $128.00. I know what it is too have no money. Anyway, I cut coupons and did rebates for everything. I was not brand specific. I viewed it as a war, a war with our debt. We all had to tighten the boot straps. We have a store here called Rite Aid that does all kinds of rebates now you can do them online so I could get toothpaste with a coupon for 50 cents a tube and get a $1.00 back in a rebate. They paid me to shop there basically. I live in a state that does not double coupons so I had to work extra hard at it. Anyway, all the money I saved from coupons and the rebates I applied to our credit card debt. Ya the first month was a whopping $5.00 (dh and I got into a dusey of a fight over that one). I knew we would never ever get out of debt or have a life. I also did mystery shopping and filled out surveys. I could do those in the evenings when the kids were asleep. In the end when I was doing the surveys sometimes they would mail us $25.00 instead of just the $1.00. When we first started it was a $1.00 here a $1.00 there. Like I said I get having no money. I use to have to budget for the boys for socks 6 months in advance. Ya it took me that long to save up enough money for less then $5.00 for each kid. It was hard also because we live in an affluent area and were new to the neighborhood/area yet we could not go out and socialize so the first years we lived here I was really isolated. The other thing that really helped us is our attitude. I hate the word poor. I am rich in so many things in my life. I have a wonderful family, friends that love me. I have a good life. The only part of my life that sucked was we had no money. Just changing my attitude from saying we are poor to we aint got no money helped tremendously. Honestly, this whole process it was hard as heck. It was a rocky path uphill filled with broken glass pieces. I know nothing is worth doing if its easy but did it have to be that hard? It really almost cost me my marriage, but we were too poor to get divorced. The one thing I learned was it is so easy to blame money on all your problems. Dh and I ended up going to Retrouvaille (great program) and guess what we figured out? I should back of Retrouvaille is a program for troubled marriages. You do not work with a counselor. Over a course of a weekend they give you the tools necessary to work with your spouse. Anyway, seriously the only think dh and I could agree on is that our marriage was awful and it was because of the finances. After our weekend we found out how wrong we were. Finances rated number 18 in the list of things that were wrong but finances took the front burner because when you are trying to keep a roof over your head or the heat on it becomes the center of attention. Anyway, I started applying every little bit of extra money that we had to our credit card debt. I had no idea who Dave Ramsey was at the time but we used the snowball method. I got the extra money from doing coupons, rebates, mystery shopping and filling out surveys. I also used our earned income tax credit. Eventually things got easier. I went back to work and dh got pay raises etc. Fast forward to this year. Dh took a job that made 60% less then what he was making but it was a good opportunity and I was working and could support our family well. What we did not plan for was me getting pregnant, my mom becoming terminally ill and dieing, me being put on bed rest and quiting my job. So we went from an okay income to we are dirt poor again well actually we ain't got no money syndrome. We had to apply for assistance with medical and had to go through extra hoops because according to the State there was no way we could live off the money we said we did there must be hidden money somewhere. Anyway this time around it was different having no money. We had no credit card debt and student loans we put in deferment. I tell you how much pressure it takes off you knowing that you do not have a credit card to pay. The 2nd day of not working, we had major things happen to us, car repair, emergency dentist and one other I cannot remember anyway that one day alone we went through almost $5,000.00 and wiped out our savings but we made it through it. So what I am saying is I get it, I have walked a mile in your shoes but there is hope and away out of it.

[ewp11100]

Originally Posted by mum4boys

So what I am saying is I get it, I have walked a mile in your shoes but there is hope and away out of it.

Thanks! It's helpful to remeber just like sleep deprivation this too shall pass. I will admit we at least are making our bills., when my 1st son was born we lived 1/3 of credit cards. that's why we have so much debt. we sold our house to pay off 75% of it but now we still have about %23 left to scrap towards. I want to live in a house, not a trailer park I want to homeschool and not send my kids off to public so I can go back to work... sorry venting...I feel bad I thin k I've highjacked this thread