If you are in the personal finance community, you have probably heard the name Dave Ramsey thrown around. You either love him or you hate him. He has a strict guideline for how to manage your finances. However, if you follow his steps you’ll see success. The roadmap Dave Ramsey outlines can be found in my post How to Reach Financial Freedom in 7 Steps.
In 2015 my husband and I finally said enough is enough. We had heard of Dave Ramsey and even had the book the Total Money Makeover in our home. We knew that his steps could help our finances and really make a big impact on where we were financially. He has helped us pay off almost $50,000 in consumer debt alone. We no longer use a credit card and we now live on last month’s income. We have started to build a small emergency fund. It is amazing how much one person can impact your finances and really turn your life around.
Improve your finances one dollar at a time.
I know many of us are discouraged when we look at our financial mess. I was in that position just a few short years ago. We are still in this. Every month we are plugging away at paying down debt. Hearing stories from others about their successes and failures with Dave Ramsey and The Total Money Makeover are what I want to share with you today. I want to give you hope that you can turn your finances around. Maybe you’ll follow the baby steps, maybe you’ll ignore them completely and do something else. The choice is totally yours. I am just here to share with you success stories from others so you can make an informed decision about the voices you listen to regarding personal finance.
How has Dave Ramsey impacted your personal finances?
Erica from Whimsical September says:
“Between two cars and a student loan, we were looking at $90k in debt in 2013. The minimum monthly payments totaled $1.2k, so we were looking at having debt repayments for as long as we could see. My husband read a bunch of Dave Ramsey books and we got to work! We paid all three loans off in 36 months and work hard every single day to be debt-free while also still trying to travel, furnish our home, give generously, etc. Balance is so important to me! One big lesson we learned is that in order to pay off debt, you may need to seek out additional income sources. We currently have six income streams between my husband and me, which we’ve built on our own and work hard to maintain.”
Kristin from Big Books Little Ears says:
“The biggest thing I have taken away from Dave Ramsey is how to prioritize my spending choices in order to live and give how I want to! For example, a friend recently commented that she thought it was weird I used “boy” socks from my first born on my second born daughter. Wouldn’t it be better to buy her “girl” socks?!? Well, no! Because, as we learned from Dave, living differently NOW means we get to live differently in the future! I’m passing up buying girl socks (and lots of other, bigger luxuries) because we want to have our house paid off before my husband turns 35. If we can do that, it’s worth giving up things like “girl” socks!”
Abby from 4 One More says:
“He has impacted how we approach money with our kids. We have a paid chore system and since the kids have been as young as 3-4 years old, they split their money the “Dave Ramsey” way — 50% save, 40% spend and 10% share. It helps us teach our kids how to manage money while they’re still in our house.”
Ashley from Budgets Made Easy says:
“Because of Dave Ramsey, I was motivated enough to pay off $45,000 in 17 months! I am now a Ramsey Solutions Financial Coach and help others get on the right track with their finances. I am leaving a legacy for my children. They will have a solid foundation to start their own lives with.”
If you want to learn more about Dave Ramsey from Ashley check out this post:
20 of the BEST Dave Ramsey Tips That Will Makeover Your Money Today
Elaine from Elaine Watkins says:
“We discovered Dave Ramsey soon after merging our 2 households including debt and then decided I would stay home and homeschool. We discovered that budgets apply to home finances too and that we could make an extra yearly mortgage and get better coffee by making 1 simple daily change that we didn’t realize added up to be so HUGE. Our big eye-opening reality was when we opted to take our last big tax return to pay-off a car. There was only a $14 difference and we eliminated our last car payment. HUGE for us! Life is different now, and we get to help others in so many ways that could have never considered before. The old burdens are gone and replaced with heart-filling experiences now.”
Barb from Making It Home says:
“For the first time in our marriage, we don’t fight over money. We actually look forward to bill paying day because we know we’re getting one step closer to our goals! “
Jamie from Living Life As A Wife says:
“Dave Ramsey gave me a workable plan to follow on the road to financial freedom. He motivates me to keep working the steps even when times get tough.”
Karen from Moving Toward Better says:
“Dave Ramsey helped me pay off $36000 of credit card debt in less than three years when my oldest child was in high school and so far has helped us put two of our three children through college without student loans”
Beth from Detailed Wife Organized Life says:
“Dave Ramsey helped us pay off our debt, and find a local financial advisor that really does help us with our financial planning needs”
Malika from The Thriving Lady says:
“Dave Ramsey’s no-nonsense approach to personal finance has helped me pay off debt and save for emergencies. I now see money as a tool, not as a status symbol, and I use it wisely.”
Becki from A Book Lover’s Adventure says:
“I “met” Dave when my we had young children. We were fairly far along on his steps, but it really helped us with the saving aspect. A couple of years ago when we went to a professional to help map our retirement savings, she was really impressed with how we’d managed to get it right on our own. We were almost 100% funded, so she was able to help us make what we had work better for us. And, when my husband was laid off at the end of last year, we had the savings to survive his 6 months out of work and still managed to pay off our mortgage when he went back to work!”
Penny says:
“I took the Financial Peace University and when it came down to meeting with my husband to review our finances as the homework suggested, I realized how disconnected from our money and our marriage my husband really was. While the course focuses on money management, it also reveals how our marriage affects our relationship with money and with each other.”
Dave Ramsey has helped millions of people change their family’s financial futures.
I hope you found these stories encouraging. Dave Ramsey and his team have helped millions of people change their finances. He has over 13 million radio show listeners and has sold more than 10 million books. He truly is an impressive man and has done so much to help families make decisions to improve their finances. I hope you find success in your financial journey and if you are just in the beginning stages of making changes I recommend checking Dave Ramsey out. He is great for the beginning budgeter and someone just trying to get their head above water.