Books That Changed My Life: Debt-Free

When we were in Illinois just before Christmas, I passed up this lovely china cabinet by using a trick I've learned over time. If I see something I "want" badly, I write down the item on a piece of paper and put it in my purse. Then I tell myself I'll go back for it, in a week, if I still want it by then. 

Usually I forget about the item before the week is out, which is what happened with this cabinet. I have to admit though, if I had another chance, this cabinet would be mine...but that's another story. Today I'm thinking about Dave Ramsey and the joys of living debt-free.

Way back in the late 90's, in a Barnes and Nobles Bookstore (where I shouldn't have been since I was in debt) I found a book called Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. I wish I could say we were smart enough to jump on the "Dave Bandwagon" that very minute, but sadly we weren't. 

I did buy the book that day, and we read parts of it occasionally... and very slowly we started to understand the things we needed to change in our lives to become debt-free.

We learned to live on a spending plan (budget) and we learned to use cash in envelopes for our daily expenditures. Dave Ramsey calls using cash the "Envelope System" and he has a free app called Every Dollar for tracking your spending and saving. 

We also learned to focus on paying off one debt at a time while paying minimums on the others. We used Dave's advice to pay off the smallest debt first (not the highest-interest debt) and then used that payment money to snowball payments on the next debt...and the next...until one day we found we were debt-free!

Dave's book, Total Money Makeover, is just one of the books I've found that changed my life. The book is not free, but you can check it out of your local library or buy it used on Amazon for less than $4. 

I love Dave's free radio show too, which he bases on his book's philosophy. You can find a radio station in your area by going to his website. Callers ask Dave's advice on a variety of financial issues or call in to give their inspiring "Debt-Free Scream".  Dave's radio show downloads automatically to my smart-phone every weekday after the show ends via his free app from I-Tunes. You can also listen and/or watch his show live, for free, on-line too. 

If you're interested click on the links below to go to some of his websites or to read about his best-selling book. As always, I'm just sharing what I think might be useful information. These thoughts are my own about what worked for me for many years now, and I'm not being compensated to share them. 

Thanks for dropping by!

Dave Ramsey Show Archives

Dave Ramsey Show Live

Every Dollar Budget Tool (FREE)

Retire Inspired Free Podcast (Chris Hogan

Total Money Makeover