Dave Ramsey

[iris lilies]

we touch on Dave Ramsey’s programs so often, I think he needs his own thread.

I’ve known about Dave Ramsey for many years but I didn’t start listening to him until just a few months ago. Man, Dave has hit it out of the park for me in the past few days. He does so much more than financial advice, but he’s very good about that of course.

Today he was Boss Dave! I heard a show where he was very clear with a young mom whose abusive husband left her and she has a restraining order. Dave told her she needed to call the police when he showed up, not just threaten to to call the police. He was going to put his team on her to help her with taxes, break her lease, etc. And I think she is a really good cause for help because she had a good income, $55,000 a year, and little to no debt.

Honestly, he gave me goosebumps because he was so”real man” supportive. it reminds me of all of my uncles sitting around a table drinking coffee, talking about life. This went on for hours in our family. They didn’t drink alcohol, they drank coffee.

Last week I heard Dave do a show on wills. Man, did he ever get wound up about not having a will. He went on and on and on being bossy uncle Dave, and he was absolutely right. I really enjoyed his rantings!

And then a couple days ago I heard him do a show directed to a Missouri guy who is about to marry into a very wealthy family. Dave had some very wise things to say about how money enables control. Uncle Dave was concerned about how the family was showing signs of absolute control of the young couple’s financial lives. But what was very cool was when Dave went off on his own experience in control, and how he has to work hard to stay out of the financial lives of his grown children. He was joking, but I think it was probably true when he said there was one book about boundaries he had to keep reading every weekend to keep himself in check.

[catherine]

Today he was Boss Dave! I heard a show where he was very clear with a young mom whose abusive husband left her and she has a restraining order. Dave told her she needed to call the police when he showed up, not just threaten to to call the police. He was going to put his team on her to help her with taxes, break her lease, etc. And I think she is a really good cause for help because she had a good income, $55,000 a year, and little to no debt.

Honestly, he gave me goosebumps because he was so”real man” supportive. it reminds me of all of my uncles sitting around a table drinking coffee, talking about life. This went on for hours in our family. They didn’t drink alcohol, they drank coffee.

As I've said before about Dave, I, too, have LOVED his no-nonsense approach. I don't know why, but the whole Suzy Orman "girlfriend" approach turned me off, but I love Dave cutting out the ambiguity and telling it like it is. He is really a finance guy, but he has a great handle on how emotions play into financial decisions and he has no problem calling you out on "Stupid."

Plus he's often very funny about it.

[Tybee]

I love Dave Ramsey. He helped us turn our finances around completely and helped us get out of debt and start saving money. I also love that he emphasizes that he is very motivated to helping others.
Add about Suze Orman--I really enjoyed her books and thought she was great but then she had this dumb segment, "can you afford this?" and she was telling people they couldn't afford things like a guitar or a vacation, and they had 500000 in the bank.

[ToomuchStuff]

Like I have said before, I only started listening to him, on occasion, when the smallest payment I had was the last house payment, and I had very little on a credit card, that I had just used to buy remodel stuff. (it was paid off the next month, just didn't have the bill yet)

Dave and I had a mutual friend, who did the Secret Santa thing across the United States. I had a gal I worked with, whose uncle wanted to send her to a Dave seminar (his daily driver was a Maybach, and he owned a bank). I remember a couple of years ago, he wanted to talk to the new Secret Santa, and I let him know, but he much prefers his privacy after several issues. He does not have the former head of the FBI traveling with him, like Larry did.
Still wish I could hear him more, but my schedule means I miss it, or can hear the podcast if I found it and when I should be sleeping.

[Tradd]

I get the DR show podcast on Apple Podcasts. The most recent show is also on his website. Probably on Spotify, too.

[SimplyTracy]

I love Dave Ramsay! The husband and I have used his snowball route and we’ve paid off so much credit card debt. His method is simplified and easy to follow. 3 more credit cards to go and then the cars. Honestly, it takes determination and the thought process of “I want to get out of debt” without thinking about our other wants such as shopping, etc. I’ve learned to live with less because I would rather be out of debt then to have something I wanted but don’t really need. Its hard at first but so worth it in the end, ahhh the accomplishments we achieve when our mind is set on it.

[just_a_yak]

I love Dave Ramsey. I watch his videos probably daily. I like the no nonsense approach (like IL said), the general life advice (financial adjacent), frugal motivation ("beans and rice, rice and beans"), etc. But when it actually came down to paying down my debt, I couldn't actually follow it: I couldn't leave only $1,000 as an emergency fund, I couldn't take money out of an investment inheritance to pay off debt. What I did was not ridiculous -- I knew I had big purchases coming up so I didn't want my account depleted and my debt was at a low rate, so I didn't feel it was urgent. But I still felt like a poser for not walking the walk :laff:

[rosarugosa]

I love Dave Ramsey. I watch his videos probably daily. I like the no nonsense approach (like IL said), the general life advice (financial adjacent), frugal motivation ("beans and rice, rice and beans"), etc. But when it actually came down to paying down my debt, I couldn't actually follow it: I couldn't leave only $1,000 as an emergency fund, I couldn't take money out of an investment inheritance to pay off debt. What I did was not ridiculous -- I knew I had big purchases coming up so I didn't want my account depleted and my debt was at a low rate, so I didn't feel it was urgent. But I still felt like a poser for not walking the walk :laff:

We are all works in progress! :)

[Tybee]

I love Dave Ramsey. I watch his videos probably daily. I like the no nonsense approach (like IL said), the general life advice (financial adjacent), frugal motivation ("beans and rice, rice and beans"), etc. But when it actually came down to paying down my debt, I couldn't actually follow it: I couldn't leave only $1,000 as an emergency fund, I couldn't take money out of an investment inheritance to pay off debt. What I did was not ridiculous -- I knew I had big purchases coming up so I didn't want my account depleted and my debt was at a low rate, so I didn't feel it was urgent. But I still felt like a poser for not walking the walk :laff:
I think this sounds very sensible. 1000 in an emergency fund is not enough to cover most things that are really an emergency. We did use that method fifteen years ago to get out of debt, so maybe I should not say that, but things are so much more expensive now. I think his advice about having 6 months of living expenses is very important.

[catherine]

I think this sounds very sensible. 1000 in an emergency fund is not enough to cover most things that are really an emergency. We did use that method fifteen years ago to get out of debt, so maybe I should not say that, but things are so much more expensive now. I think his advice about having 6 months of living expenses is very important.

I agree.. 1000 basic emergency fund has been Baby Step 1 for as long as I can remember and certainly doesn't take changing economic conditions over the past couple of decades into account. I also agree with the 6 month emergency fund, but I do think if you can't pay off your debt (Baby Step 2) within a certain amount of time it might make sense to build up the emergency fund along the way. At least IMHO.

But count me among the DR fans. I'm glad he's still hosting the show part time. I don't think his Ramsey Solutions surrogates are as good as he is. He has a unique personality for this job.

[ToomuchStuff]

First, he does mention that $1000 is not a real emergency fund, but more of a my car broke type emergency fund.
Secondly, I think that would need to be modified based on some stuff, like where you live (Hawaii with a grand?), and if your a 20 year old fresh out of college, or you're much older with kids thing, but it has worked for many.

[Rachel]

Dave is the real deal! He gets many calls from people who have made such messes of their lives, it's very sad. But he always finds a way to make at least one simple, direct, practical suggestion that will work.