Wednesday, April 30, 2008

I've Been Ramseyed

A month ago, one of my employees said she wouldn't be able to work on Thursday evenings for a few months because she was taking a class at her church. I said fine, but what class was so important that she would change her whole schedule just to be able to attend? She said it was Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University.

Of course I had heard of Dave Ramsey over the years and had even checked out his website a few times but I had never heard his radio show or saw his daily TV show. A couple of weeks ago I just happened to catch his show on TV and have been hooked ever since. Now it is the only show that I make sure to watch each day and will tape it to watch at another time if I won't be home.

The reason why I feel his message is so important? It's simple. He states blatantly and often that everyone needs to be debt free. Period. This includes car and house debts as well. He also hails the cash only lifestyle and absolutely hates credit cards. He will tell callers point blank "you can't afford that!" be it a house, a car, or other consumer item. How many times has a salesman told you "You can afford this! It's only small monthly payments!"? Most people don't have any idea what they can afford. If the payments are small enough, they figure they can "afford" it. According to Dave, you can only afford something after you have an emergency fund, after your credit debts are paid off, and after you have saved the cash to pay for it. Common sense is the norm on his show and that is something that is sadly lacking in many people's financial lives.

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