Comments on: Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover: Could his Plan have Caused us to Take on More Debt?

By: Amanda L. Grossman

Amanda L. Grossman — Mon, 24 May 2010 19:20:07 +0000

Hello Lauren: Thanks for your comments and sharing your thoughts! A $20,000 emergency fund is great; I don’t know if you saw my article I just posted today (Our Debt Checkup), but we will be taking our emergencys avings down pretty low and wiping out the last of our debt (besides mortgage)–my student loans. Still, I have backup through money in a money market account that I just sold the stock and put it in the sidelines (for a nice profit–hurrah!). So we do have another backup.

Also…living at home for the rest of my life? Or even another year??? No thank you:).

By: Lauren

Lauren — Mon, 24 May 2010 18:52:17 +0000

I also agree with the above commenters. Dave Ramsey’s ideas seem a little simplistic to me. I don’t necessarily agree with the idea of never going into debt – for example, does it really bode well for your future for you to rent a house for years and years while you are saving up to pay cash for a house that you buy? This idea doesnt make sense to me -MAYBE it would if you were living somewhere for free and putting all your extra $$ towards saving for a house, but most people aren’t going to live somewhere for free (and if you are living with your parents, what other parts of your life are you sacrificing in order to do this!?!) so doesn’t it make more sense to at least pay your mortgage for a house you own and put more towards the mortgage to pay it off faster?

I also agree about the credit cards and the emergency fund – we don’t have any consumer debt, so i don’t worry about going crazy with credit cards. It has never been an issue for us. Also a $1000 emergency fund is a rather small emergency in my book. We have closer to $20,000, which granted would be a catastrophic emergency, but I’d rather be safe than sorry!

By: Crystal

Crystal — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:44:18 +0000

Due to reasons the other comments mentioned above, we do not follow Dave Ramsey. It seems his advice is geared to people in a different place than my husband and I.

We already understand money, savings, budgets, and the costs of debt, so we don’t “follow” anybody. I keep an eye on financial blogs like this one and Free Money Finance to pick up tips I might not know about yet, but Suze and Dave seem to be for people who are just learning about their financial lives.

On a side note, I too think a $1000 emergency fund would lead to trouble…we’ve had at least $10,000 set aside since we both got our first “real” jobs after college in 2005-2006. It was really tough since we were completely broke (but college debt free), but cars, homes, and medical emergencies aren’t usually nice enough to stay cheap. If someone was just starting out, I would suggest a minimum of $3000-$5000 before starting on their “debt snowball”.

By: TexansFan

TexansFan — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:10:07 +0000

Laura,

I agree with this article, however you have to understand that Dave Ramsey’s approach is geared towards those who have no clue about budgets and will get completely crazy with credit cards if given the chance. I also think it is a bit unfair to say that Ramsey is making his fortune off people in financial trouble, because he made his money before the books, radio show, etc.

Amanda,

Very true. I think everyone needs to get information from all of the sources and find the financial plan that fits them the best. Great job and as per usuall, Great Article!

By: Laura

Laura — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 09:30:22 +0000

Although I’m familiar with Dave Ramsey and his financial philosophy, I don’t follow his advice. For many people it’s counter-productive. As you know, it’s unrealistic to think a $1k emergency fund is going to do much good in an emergency. I’m also not willing to give up the rewards $$ I get back on my credit cards. And despite some of Ramsey’s questionable ‘statistics’, I don’t spend more when using a credit card (as opposed to cash), and I have never paid a credit card company one penny in interest or fees of any kind. I think Ramsey’s advice can be helpful to those who are in serious financial trouble with limited income, but that’s as far as it goes.

It sounds like you have a very realistic approach to your finances and will be successful without hanging on every word this man says. Remember, he’s making HIS little fortune out of the pockets of people in financial trouble already!