NOT ROCKET SCIENCE | The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness

Hits you on the head with good simple advice | The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness | Dave Ramsey

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	• The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness Dave Ramsey Thomas Nelson, 2009 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 60 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Some people think they are too cool for school

I have to admit, I thought Dave Ramsey was below my level. I thought I wouldn't get much of anything out of this campy book, that I haven't already heard i.e.: always buy a used car, invest in your 401k, pay you credit card in full every month, ect, ect. If I had read this book and wrote a review 3 years ago, I probably would have even panned it for being "to simple" or used MBA jargon and some slick equations I learned from college to explain how returns from investment can outpace debt, so make the minimum on your house payment, take the tax write off, embrace a value investment strategy in secular growth stocks that provide a high dividend yield to offset the payments, debt is a tool, use your cash flow to build credit... Blah, blah. Just trying to prove I am more sophisticated than the audience to which books like this are written for.

I read this book, and I feel like a total tool.

It's not that I have debt problems. I don't. I have a nearly paid off loan for a 2007 ford escape I bought at CarMax and a mortgage for a small house in Texas with a good rate that I could potentially pay off in less than 2 years, or today just by selling one of my two profitable rental properties (also mortgaged) that have held their value over the recession. I even have a solid job, which pays very well and a couple of nice big investment portfolios.

My problem is that I am tired of playing the game. It's never been that case that I buy things I can't afford to impress people I don't like... It's that I go out, work my a$$ off and budget and invest accordingly, to pay a substantial amount of interest to financial institutions I don't like. After watching things unfold over the last few years, and my experience with the banks, these banks that suck up my money and make poor investments with it, I can't wait to be completely debt free. Dave made me realize that I, like many others, had a culturally accepted notion that debt is part of life. It's not. He also made me realize how much of my hard earned money I am giving away towards items I thought were "investments", that only continue to keep me in financial servitude and stress me out. His plan is solid regardless if people think his one-sized approach is too simplistic (my own campy Ramseyism: There's only one right way to do things, and hundreds of wrong ways).

In fact I would say anyone who writes a bad review is either living in denial, doesn't have enough experience (possibly an aspiring B-school student or alum), or is trying to prove their genius in the same sort of way the financial institutions did right before the taxpayers had to bail them out... This book is full of truth, and I recommend it to EVERYONE. I did not expect to gain much of anything by reading it, but it's completely changed my perception on how much better off my life could be, and how much easier it would be to build wealth, if I didn't have any financial obligations holding me back.

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NOT ROCKET SCIENCE

I want to like Dave Ramsey. I really do. I'm sure he's a very nice man, good father, great neighbor and all that. But I've listened to his radio show out of curiosity several times, and quickly grew weary of the folks who call-in to scream "WE'RE DEBT FREE!!!!" Dave asks "how much money do you earn... how much was your debt... how long did it take you to pay it off?" You listen to some overly ebullient guy and his bubbly wife brag that it only took them 24 months to pay off $37,000 with a household income of...... NINETY GRAND.

D U H ! ! !

LOTS of people call-in who have household incomes most folks only dream of. If you have student loans of $50 or $60 large and you make $35,000, Dave imaptiently tells you to sell the house... the car... the kids... get a second job... yada yada yada. And frankly, he's sometimes not very nice about it. Nope. Next caller, please...

In fairness to Dave and his upwardly mobile pals, I suppose if you earn $90 grand or more a year and honestly can't figure out how to pay off $37k in a couple dozne months, I guess you might need this book.

To me, financial management is really a pretty simple matter of common sense, living within your means, and so on. And with utmost respect to Dave, I don't need a book to teach me that.

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Hits you on the head with good simple advice

This is a very good book that has major themes that are simple and should be obvious but often are not followed -- i.e., people should live within their means, not buy things they cannot afford, avoid piling up debt, and work hard to pay down any debt you have. They book really walks you through the steps to reach these goals, starting with "baby steps." Despite the occasional rant (which is labelled and set off in a text box), the book is very conversational and friendly in tone, really trying to motivate people to shape up financially and lead a life of financial health.

It is a good practical book that lots of people should read, the younger the better - i.e., it pays to start early.

Highly recommended!

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Don't Listen to Broke People!

I love when Dave Ramsey preaches, "Don't listen to broke people." haha! So true. I hear people say, "Everyone has debt," all the time and I cringe. First of all, that isn't a true statement. Second of all, it makes it sound normal. Dave Ramsey doesn't think it's normal to have debts and neither do I.

As for what you'll learn in this book, you will learn how to baby-step your way out of your debt and how to live without incurring additional debt. Some folks do not condone Dave Ramsey's advice of ignoring your FICO score and swearing off credit cards forever, but let me enlighten some people. There are people in this world who should NEVER have credit cards. They are like recovering junkies trying to live in a crack house. Bad idea! Some people are so tempted by the lure of this easy money that they use it and think it's normal to carry thousands in debt. Debts can ruin your marriage, and even your job prospects. It's rarely ever advisable to rack up debt. I can see "medical emergencies" as being one of the only reasons I'd ever be able to rationalize it.

Read the book yourself and listen to Dave's radio show or watch him on Fox Business Channel. Become enlightened on how to get debt-free and stay debt-free.

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The success stories speak for themselves in this book from money maestro Dave Ramsey. Instead of promising the normal dose of quick fixes, Ramsey offers a bold, no-nonsense approach to money matters, providing not only the how-to but also a grounded and uplifting hope for getting out of debt and achieving total financial health.

Ramsey debunks the many myths of money (exposing the dangers of cash advance, rent-to-own, debt consolidation) and attacks the illusions and downright deceptions of the American dream, which encourages nothing but overspending and massive amounts of debt. "Don't even consider keeping up with the Joneses," Ramsey declares in his typically candid style. "They're broke!"

The Total Money Makeover isn't theory. It works every single time. It works because it is simple. It works because it gets to the heart of the money problems: you.

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