Dave Ramsey Info finally here...

Alrighty, I promised information about Dave Ramsey long ago and here it finally is. A little about Dave Ramsey and why I would want to post about him on my blog. I am by no means perfect with my money and have made many mistakes and Derek and I have had MANY MANY fights about money over the years and have never been on the same page. I suggested to Derek that we do the 13 week Dave Ramsey money management program. He did not want to do it. Really he wanted nothing to do with it. then one day we needed money, not that much, for something for Ethan and we couldn't come up with it. We didn't have any savings for anything, no cash anywhere and were overdrawn completely on our overdraft protection. It was pretty ridiculous. So finally he agreed that we had to do something so we got signed up for the program. Now to do the 13 week program is not free. It is a little investment. They have the belief that if you invest in your future you put more into it. I tend to agree. So we paid our money and started the program online...we are not self starters so the online program was not our best bet and we ended up doing the program in the classroom later also but either way the program is the same series and is phenomenal. It is a Christian based program but is in no way churchy. If you are not Christian or do not go to church do not let that deter you from the program if you want to get out of debt. The program works. the premise of the program is to get out of debt and to control your money instead of letting your money control you. There are 7 baby steps that are to be done in order. The biggest step is to have a baby emergency fund so that you can cut up those credit cards and not worry about that "what if." That is generally most people's first wrong answer. Everyone keeps that one credit card in the back of their wallet for the what if but if you don't save money for the what if's everything becomes a "what if." So, i will provide some websites for a few things so that you can look into this program for yourself and see if it is something you need to think about over the holidays or ask for for Christmas. Or get signed up for in January or get a book or whatever you might need.

First off the steps:

Step 1: $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund
Step 2: Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
Step 3: 3 to 6 months of expenses on savings
Step 4: Invest 15% of income into retirement
Step 5: College funding for children
Step 6: Pay off home early
Step 7: Build wealth and give

These steps are very important and cannot be done out of order. You cannot save for your children's college education if you are still paying off credit cards or your own education for that matter. So the steps are very important and are to be done one at a time and in order.

Next the program. First of all you need to see what he is all about so watch his FREE PREVIEW don't take my word for it by any means. You can do it on your own by reading his books. The best, easiest to read and get ahold of book is "Total Money Makeover." You can find this book at Target, Walmart, Amazon or any other book retailer. you can also find it cheapest at his website: Total Money Makeover

Next bit of info is the classes. the class is called Financial Peace University. You can buy the kit HERE but they sell it for a discounted price in the classes. To find a local class near you check out this SITE. If you think you might be interested in the class online check it out HERE.

Now if you don't think Dave Ramsey is so great please don't take my word for it. Dave Ramsey will tell you his ideas are not new. He made a lot of mistakes before he got it right but when he decided to get it right he decided he was going to get it really right and then once he did he decided to share what he did with the rest of the world. He took the ideas of our grandparents and business men of times past and put them together and came up with a plan that works. There is a little bit of wiggle room in his plan but some things are not changeable...such as accruing new debt with things like credit cards or purchasing new cars that leave you with a car payment. I sold my car. It was huge decision but I sold my brand new car. Since Derek and started this we have for the first time been on the same page as far as money goes. Before this we had very different ideas of how our money should be spent and we fought often. We started this about 1.5 years ago and I can probably count on one hand how many fights about money we have had since then. Life is much better. When we have an issue with money we can talk about it and figure it out together. It is amazing. Here are some amazing success stories about people getting out of debt: We are debt free!!!

Good luck and remember you have to Live like no one else so that later you can Live like no one else!!