Total Money Makeover

Here are some quotes to get you interested in the book.  Some of these run through my mind every time I think about buying something.  Throughout the book he compares getting out of debt to a person trying to lose weight.  Something I could relate to.  You can't just go on a yo-yo diet and expect to lose and keep off the weight, you have a make a total life and habit change.  That's the same things with money.  The world wants you to view money in a certain way. it wants you to think that "credit cards are good if you pay them off every month" that "you should have a car payment to build credit" "a house is a good investment" (only if you can afford one!) these are all misconceptions that the world has caused you to think and they make you think this is the right way to spend your money.  Well, Dave Ramsey proves differently.  It is very effective.

In his book there are 7 steps to building wealth.  I will talk about the 7 steps in a different post.  I wanted to do this post to get you wanting to get the book and start seeing your money differently.  Below are quotes by Dave Ramsey.  I really could go on and on.  Did i mention I think anyone who is reading this should get the book?  :)
 
“We buy things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't like.”

“If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.”

"Christmas is not an emergency!!  It is a holiday that happens every year on the same exact day.  Do not go in to debt for Christmas!! start saving throughout the year."  **(This one is one of my favorites.  So many people (including Danny and I before we read the book) are panicked when Christmas comes around and end up spending WAY to much and putting it all on credit card that they end up paying off over the next three months or more. Save for Christmas and other holiday and birthdays throughout the year and keep a budget of how much you will spend on each person you're giving to)

“Act your wage.”
       It is human nature to want it and want it now; it is also a sign of immaturity. Being willing to delay pleasure for a greater result is a sign of maturity. However, our culture teaches us to live for the now. “I want it!” we scream, and we can get it, if we are willing to go into debt. Debt is a means to obtain the “I want its” before we can afford them. 

If the Red-Faced Kid (“I want it, and I want it now!”) rules your life, you will stay broke.

Winning at money is 80 percent behavior and 20 percent head knowledge. Most of us know what to do, but we just don’t do it.

"A budget is people telling their money where to go instead of wondering where it went." - John Maxwell

In other words, don't try to keep up with the Joneses. Sure, they've got lots of nice things. But they're broke! To find financial peace and sleep well at night, you've got to live differently than those around you ("like no one else"), so that you can eventually live debt free, with a substantial emergency fund, and a sizeable nest egg saved up for retirement ("like no one else").

"The Forbes 400 is a list of the richest 400 people in America.... When surveyed, 75 percent of the Forbes 400...said the best way to build wealth is to become and stay debt-free.... They all lived on less than they made and spent only when they had cash. No payments." (p. 23) 

"Taking a car payment is one of the dumbest things people do to destroy their chances of building wealth." (p. 32)

"You have to reach the point that what people think is not your primary motivator. Reaching the goal is the motivator." (p. 33)

Even if you pay your credit cards off each month, they are a bad deal. 

"A study by Dunn and Bradstreet showed that the credit-card user spends 12 to 18 percent more when using credit instead of cash." (p. 42)

 "Money is an excellent slave and a horrible master." (P.T. Barnum)   

wow, i got a little carried away.  but, In reference to the credit/debit (yes group them together) verses cash is there is no limit on a credit or debit card.  You cannot see how much you are spending and how much it is taking from you budget each month.  Danny and I have been on an all cash spending for a little over a year now.  It was definitely hard to adjust to at first and we weren't always true to the cash only stuff because it was a hard transition.  But now I really have more financial peace than I ever have.  I know exactly how much I can spend and also see how much I have spent.