Dave Ramsey Advice

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• Dave Says - February 21, 2012
  My husband's company recently told everyone that massive layoffs are coming ...
• Stupid Survey
  I had a link to a web page where it promised all of the in's and out's to being a successful online survey taker. Since I did not have a car, there was no way I could get a job working for someone else. I made some money doing odd jobs and was eager to start making money doing surveys. I paid the 50 dollar fee. After I paid via paypal, It took me to a link of all of the places I could go online to start making money by taking surveys! I could have googled that for free!! Unfortunately, I learned another dumb lesson by responding for an ad on Craigslist. A guy wrote on an ad that he was looking for people to write reviews for him and he would pay them via paypal. I signed up to do a review of free credit report.com. I was told I would be paid upon completion. I paid 40 dollars expecting to be reimbursed for my purchase to do this review. I contacted him about the situation and never received a response. I was extremely angry to learn that I had been scammed. It was a stupid tax that I will never forget but I am just grateful to know that I will never give my money away again without first REALLY checking into things.
• insure the correct way
  I took the fpu class about five years ago. One item kept comming up was the insurance and yes I knew of the endorsed local providers ( ELP). I thought the insurance on two auto's was high. I decided to look at the program again and found the local elp. Our car insurance went from $102.00 to $60.00 per month. I paid a stupid tax of $42.00 per month for five years. I am now using the ELP in other things as well. I paid over $400.00 more a year than I needed. Talk about a stupid tax.
• According to state I paid too little
  I pay cash for vehicles so when my vehicle died I looked on Craigslist for a vehicle. I found a 2005 Kia Sedona listed for $3000. It was listed on KBB for $4,500 in good condition so we went to look at it. It was in acceptable shape and we pulled out the cash and offered $2,000 as a starting point. To our surprise the seller said yes and we transferred title. When we transferred title the AAA agent let us know that, since it was undervalue, the state may ask for proof that it was indeed what we bought it for. She suggested we may have to provide a copy of the check, so I wrote the check and went with the seller to the bank so he could get the money right out. I thought there would be no problem. Two weeks later the State of Pennsylvania sent us a letter stating that the fair market value of the vehicle is $6,400 (I have no idea where they got this number) and that we owe $375 in taxes. Further, the only thing they'll accept is a statement from the seller - not a cancelled check. The reason the seller accepted our $2,000 offer was that he was moving back to South Korea the day after we transferred title so we have no way to contact him. I am going to fight this as hard as I can but the State will add penalties and interest to the $375 if I don't win. I refuse to pay something I don't owe without a fight, but in the end I will, most likely, end up paying these bullies more than I should legally owe. I may even end up paying more that the $375 they want now. Lesson learned - GET A STATEMENT FROM THE SELLER WHEN I PAY FOR A CAR! no matter what. My husband and I are debt free, including the house, and have something of an emergency fund so this won't severely hurt us. I just absolutely hate that I am assumed to be lying and cheating when I made a great deal.
• Dave Says - February 13, 2012
  My boyfriend has a lot of debt. The other day a creditor called ...
• Real Estate Classes
  My husband took all of our GOK ($1000) and decided to enroll in real estate classes online, without consulting me. After only a couple months, he stopped utilizing the education he had paid for, and was on to new and greater adventures. More than two years passed before he told me he was sorry and he didn't know what he was thinking. Moral of the Story: Consult with your spouse and really think over big decisions.
• We have done it!
  Here is our story! We have been waiting over 13 months to write it and I can barely keep up with my fingers to type this frustrating yet freeing adventure of becoming debt free. My husband and I got married at 19( that was over 5 years ago) I came into the relationship with debt- school line of credit and a visa. Our parents had constant trouble with money- always playing "catch-up", now I can not use this as my blame source, but I do believe parents NEED to teach good stewardship values to their children at a young age! One set of parents had gone through bankruptcy only to almost end up there again, while the other set had been on the brink of bankruptcy but battled through. We ended up following not so far behind in there footsteps. We got caught up in the "have it now" society and definitely got ahead of ourselves with spending and worse of all starting a side business with no wisdom or guidance. We become wrecked and crushed by our debt- eventually totaling over $22,000 plus interest( that includes, LOC, visas, gov't tax money owed, personal loan etc!) Dave Ramsey's program, " Financial peace, and Baby Steps" was introduced to us by some friends- we didn't immediately grasp the concepts, but eventually knew it was something for us. Once we caught onto the vision, we went hard core, we sold the majority of our belongings, plus our truck and car(already paid for) to get a smaller car and moved into a friends house(house sitted for 3 months). After those three months we moved into my parents RV trailer(this did not last long as it was -40 and the heater just couldn't keep up) so eventually we ended back into my parents house. My husband continued with his full time job and added a new shift, and on his days off he was finding side jobs to do. I continued with my full time job, while doing jobs on the side. We slipped a couple time,but kept pursuing our dream to be Debt Free. We couldn't of done it without amazing support from Family, Friends,our Pastors & the Grace of God. In 13 months my husband and I have paid off that $22,000, have doubled our giving portion to the church and are now saving to buy a house. Thank you for Dave Ramsey for your wisdom, thanks to all the encouraging stories out there, when I felt like we couldn't do it, your stories encouraged us and we pushed through.
• FPU changed our life!
  Two years ago, we were a family making $130,000 a year and somehow still lived paycheck to paycheck, had $18K in debt + mortgage and basically no savings. After watching the Dave Ramsey TV show every night, I signed us up for FPU and hubby reluctantly went with me. Even though he never really helped with the budgeting and planning, he at least became supportive of the system when I kept cutting up cards and announcing when different accounts were paid off! Within 10 months, I had all debt paid off and a real savings account. We really didn't even sacrifice anything! We never went the Beans and Rice route or being Debt Free could have happened much sooner! For us, it was about planning and being prepared. Setting money aside for Life, instead of being surprised when Life Happened! What a concept! We created a budget that worked for us tweaked it when needed to live comfortably. Each payday, I take money out of the bank and place it in different colored paperclips for different categories. (Fun money, Gas & Grocery, Clothes, School & Sports, Vacation, Gifts) Now, instead of trying to figure out how I'm going to come up with money for life, I just go to the clip. If I don't have money in the clothes clip, then I don't get new shoes that week! (Painful, girls, I know! haha) We don't follow the Baby Steps perfectly (sorry Dave!) but we continue to live debt free and build our savings. We increased our 401k and pay double mortgage payments for earlier payoff, while helping 2 kids in college. We still go out to eat and to the movies. This doesn't have to be a painful process. Budgeting is the key. I've never had so much money! Get on board and Good Luck!!!
• totally debt free
  Dave and Judy of erie,pa. Thanks for your guidance and book(The total money makeover), we are now completely debt free! We became debt free except for our house in July of 2008. In october of 2011 we paid off Citi morgue and became free from bondage. It has taken me this long to tell you, because I'm just now realizing how much money w'ere able to save! God Bless You Dave and your work! Retirement will be much better now!
• Military newlywed family w/2 kids, and Debt Free!
  My husband and I got married on December 26, 2010 and joined our family together with my son from a previous relationship. We then quickly found out we were pregnant with a honeymoon baby, and were quickly adjusting to our new place, budgeting, and the constant schedule of the military life that we had. I was a stay at home mom and student, raising our son and carrying our child. When my husband sat down to ask my dad permission to marry me, he said he had to read Total Money Makeover before our wedding. Instantly, after we were back from our honeymoon, we put $1000 in the savings and lived tightly but reasonably until we had a good savings going and more income coming in. It was the best decision we have ever made in our marriage, and certainly a great start for our family. We're enrolled in a current FPU class, and love being able to share our success with a couple other young couples, as well as hear the wisdom and advice from older couples who have been married for decades. Now, 1 year and 2 months after our wedding, we are DEBT FREE! My husband is adopting my son, and we are able to pay for the adoption with CASH! This is a hard thing to say as a military family making little income a year, but we do it comfortably and successfully within our means. We are so excited and can't wait to keep taking further steps to Financial Peace!