Dave Ramsey

Last October we got a satellite dish so we could start watching the Buffalo Bills football games. This decision also impacted our lives in other ways. As part of our package we also began watching the Fox Business Network and discovered Dave Ramsey. I knew of Dave Ramsey previously as my Dad had been preaching his plan in my general direction for a couple years. However, since as adults we all seem to insist upon learning things on our own I did not pay much attention to his recommendations.

I watched Dave's show for a couple months before I decided to pick up his book and learn more about his plan to help people get out of debt. I read the book and encouraged Greg to read it as well. We decided at this point that we needed to get on this plan and change our attitude about debt as it had become a standard in our lives. So far under this plan we have paid off and closed accounts for three credit cards and we have three to go, along with our cars & student loans. We are projected to have everything paid off in the next two to three years depending upon how Murphy impacts us during this time frame.

Here are Dave's Steps (we are on step 2):

1. $1,000 In An Emergency Fund
2. Pay Off All Debt With The Debt Snowball
3. 3 To 6 Months Expenses In Savings
4. Invest 15% Of Income Into Roth IRAs and Pre-Tax Retirement Plans
5. College Funding
6. Pay Off Your Home Early
7. Build Wealth And Give!

We continue to watch the Dave Ramsey show daily as part of our motivation. We also recently watched a documentary, Maxed Out, about credit card companies and the lengths they go to keep people in debt to make money. We may take Financial Peace University down the line but for now we are doing well. We meet weekly to discuss our budget as a family and use the envelope system to control our spending. We love changing our family tree and hope our decisions now have a long term impact on keeping our children and those around us out of debt as well.