Comments on: A Review of Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps to Financial Freedom

By: Brenda

Brenda — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 12:39:48 +0000

I have just started reading Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover and am finally excited about our future prospects. Reading these posts and hearing all the success stories gives me inspiration and hope that we can and will be debt free in the foreseeable future! Congrats to everyone who is working through their debt and those who have made it through and are now saying they are debt-free!

By: mike

mike — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 09:46:57 +0000

The people looking at this in a mathmatical standpoint completely miss the purpose. If you could do the math you wouldnt be in debt in the first place so there would be no need for you to read Dave’s book. Dave’s teaching are for those who have bad Money managment issues. At one time i was one of those. But I am currently about to be one of those debt free stories you read about. Dave’s plan is to make you think diffrently about money. I was 19 when i bout my first house and have paid alot of stupid tax along the way. I now am about a month from having no credit card debt and about 4 months from having no car payment….

If you read with an open mind and see that what you are currently doing is not helping you build wealth but only debt then maybe you sould follow the steps laid out to you by a millionare.

Id rather not take advise from a broke guy. Ive been broke but ill never be poor again…

Thanks Dave for showing me they are not the same.
When your poor your poor. but when your broke your just visting the poor side with no intention of staying.
at 25 was about 130k in debt. at 26 im about 101k and at 27 will only be at about 88 and thats the house.

so the basic 18 months to being debt free except the house isnt a smoke and mirriors. Im living proof.

By: Kevin Mulligan

Kevin Mulligan — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 01:30:50 +0000

@Demetria: Congrats on getting to step 3! Keep it up!

By: Demetria

Demetria — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 06:56:18 +0000

Gotta add a note to step 0. Dave recommends getting current on your bills before beginning step 1. We’ve been on his plan 3.5 years, have paid off $45K and are now on step 3.

By: Ariane

Ariane — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 19:22:28 +0000

I enjoyed reading your overview. My husband and I are currently on step 2. I have to admit that if you are not committed to change like you mention in step 0, then you will probably never get past step 2. I was a bit stubborn in embracing Dave Ramsey’s plan. But now that I am on board, we are full throttle in step 2 and should move to step 3 next year. It is so fulfilling to pay off each debt and to know that we are on the track to financial freedom. Great post and website!

By: Nick Lubbers

Nick Lubbers — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 20:22:24 +0000

We agree 100% with baby Step 0. The commitment to change and following through with it would accelerate the other steps. Most of us have a financial blueprint from our parents economy, things are different now. How many people have parents that can’t retire due to the state of their 401K? What about self-directing IRA’s? Instead of paying down a mortgage use the money to build assets? Enjoyed reading Moolanomy’s counterpoints! Financial Education is the key to all of the steps, commit to increasing it!

By: Shona

Shona — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 14:50:51 +0000

Basically, one should try to save as much as possible, without being completely miserly and without it affecting your health.

A simple tip to grow your savings is to simply spend less than you earn.

By: Dr. Timothy Lawler

Dr. Timothy Lawler — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 11:33:33 +0000

Great overview, and I love the comment about Baby Step 0. In my mind, commitment is key, and you have to believe you can do it first. Once you make that decision, it is honestly not that hard. Make your plan/roadmap, and then stick with it! Keep up the great posts!

By: Pat S.

Pat S. — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 00:22:00 +0000

Baby step 0… the most important of all. You can make a heck of a lot of mistakes, and recover from all of them stronger and smarter as long as you make a real commitment to yourself, your family, and your future.

By: Jillian

Jillian — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 05:27:10 +0000

What I feel is we should have a savings. not touchable except emergencies. We should live within our means. Not what we want but what we need. We should buy cash as much as possible. And we should ultimately own a home somewhere. Even in a crappy town thats cheap. There will be no social security when we get old. There will be no help at all. Due to trusting our government, our president, our state governers. Even our employers we the tax payers have been screwed. So apply dave ramsey. I will skip step four. I already own a home I couldnt pay off in 3 lifetimes so I will sell it when I get equity again and buy cash where ever I can. This horrific recession taught me alot. sadly our country let us down. Big Time.