Total Money Makeover Giveaway
Well, I was trying to decide what the giveaway should be this week and I was trying to decide between the new iPhone or a Dave Ramsey audiobook. I figured since this is a financial site people would much rather have the Ramsey book 
.
Maybe next time. But anyway, this is a great book. I have given it away a couple times and it does always seem to be something that a lot of people are interested in. So, if you are looking for a great beginner’s book on personal finance or some help getting out of debt - I recommend this book. It is Dave’s best book yet, because he simplifies everything to about a 5th grade level so it won’t get over anyone’s head.
I think this week we will giveaway the audiobook for all you read-with-my-ears learners. If you are interested in winning just keep on reading…
What do I have to do to win the Dave Ramsey book?
If you would like to be entered for a chance to win the book just leave a comment below before 7:00 p.m. CST on July 27th 2008.
(If you are having trouble finding the comments section, just click on the title of this post and scroll all the way to the bottom.)
A few more notes about the Dave Ramsey giveaway…
- From those comments entered I will randomly select a winner using random.org.
- Go ahead and enter each week, but only enter once (per household) for each one. (Duplicate entries or IP addresses will be disqualified)
- Make sure you enter your email address when adding your comment so I can contact you if you win. (I promise I will not spam your or give your email to anyone else)
- The winner will be announced on July 28th in the comments section of this post!!
- To be sure you hear about the next giveaway why not get ChristianPF via email?
Related posts
I found a good video from Dave Ramsey that goes over the basics of his plan for getting your finances in order. It is pretty funny to watch him try to squeeze everything from his book Total Money Makeover into a 5 minute video.
Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b–HwXE3064
Related posts
Total Money Makeover Audio Book giveaway
In case you haven’t noticed, Dave Ramsey’s name is all over ChristianPF.com. I am a fan and supporter of his program. He has developed a simple system based on some biblical principles to help people get out of debt. Dave’s stuff is great entry-level information to get started cleaning up your finances. He has been quite a help to my financial life and I am sure there are millions of others who can say the same.
This giveaway is for Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover Audio Book. Last time I gave away Total Money Makeover it was the regular book, so we will do the audio book this time for those who like to learn on their commute to work. Personally, I love audio books, since I seem to find it difficult to sit down for an hour with an old-fashioned book. But anyway…
What do I have to do to win the Dave Ramsey Audio Book?
If you would like to be entered for a chance to win the Dave Ramsey book just leave a comment below before 7:00 p.m. CST on May 11th, 2008.
(If you are having trouble finding the comments section, just click on the title of this post and scroll all the way to the bottom.)
A few more notes about the Dave Ramsey Audio Book giveaway…
- From those comments entered I will randomly select a winner using random.org.
- Go ahead and enter each week, but only enter once (per household) for each one. (Duplicate entries or IP addresses will be disqualified)
- Make sure you enter your email address when adding your comment so I can contact you if you win. (I promise I will not spam your or give your email to anyone else)
- The winner will be announced on May 12th, 2008 in the comments section of this post!!
- To be sure you hear about the next giveaway why not get ChristianPF via email or feedreeder?
Related posts
The March 24th edition of Time Magazine has an article titled, “10 ideas that are changing the world.” I was excited to see that one of them on the list was living within our means. Dave Ramsey was labeled as one of the strong forces creating this change in our time.
The article made mention of how our national savings rate (savings as a percent of disposable income) has been decreasing quickly - especially over the last 30 years (10% in 1980 to 0.4% in 2007).
But the good news is that they are saying culturally we are making a shift. People are beginning to realize how out of hand this debt thing really is. Granted, many people still are not taking action, but at least people are beginning to realize that it is a problem. This is always the first step.
As Dave said, “Maybe a whole generation will wake up and realize that collecting points on your Discover card doesn’t make you rich.”
What about you? Are you saving more or less than you used to?
Technorati Tags: Dave Ramsey
Related posts
Dave Ramsey’s “Total Money Makeover” giveaway
I love that Dave loves to help people get out of debt. He has been criticized for some of his methods, but I like his vision. I also subscribe to his Debt Snowball method for getting out of debt.
For those who have decided that they want to get out of debt, but don’t know where to start the Total Money Makeover
So what do I have to do to win the “Total Money Makeover”?
If you would like to be entered for a chance to win Dave Ramsey’s “Total Money Makeover,” just type “Money” in the comments below before 8:00 p.m.CST on March 23th, 2008.
A few more notes about the Total Money Makeover giveaway…
- From those comments entered I will randomly select a winner using random.org.
- Go ahead and enter each week, but only enter once (per household) for each one. (Duplicate entries or IP addresses will be disqualified)
- Make sure you enter your email address when adding your comment so I can contact you if you win (of course I won’t give it to anyone else!)
- The winner will be announced on March 24th in the comments section of this post!!
- To be sure you hear about the next giveaway why not subscribe?
Technorati Tags: Dave Ramsey, Total Money Makeover
Related posts
Are you a Ramsey fan or critic?
Dave Ramsey seems to attract quite a few critics these days. I have heard him being criticized for everything from being over-simplified to allowing people to use debit cards to buy his products.
It is interesting to me how some people can find anything to criticize. Some people see the world with rose-colored glasses and think everything is perfect and others will never be happy with anything and therefore criticize everything. Most people are somewhere in between. But I guess after it is all said and done, we are all critics in one way or another.
Personally, I like Dave Ramsey. I think he has an excellent program that helps a LOT of people. It is a very basic and simple way of doing things, but it works for most people. I assume that is why he designed it that way. He wanted to help as many people as possible, knowing that he couldn’t please them all.
Experts are often the critics of simple tools and systems. Most times these experts are more advanced than the product they are criticizing and most of the time what they are criticizing was not intended to be used by them.
The iPod and Dave Ramsey
Let’s take Apple as an example. There were dozens of MP3 players on the market before the iPod came out. Apple just took the existing technology and made it so simple and easy to operate that your grandma could use it. They did not seek to satisfy the “techies” who were already using MP3 players. They were going after a market that wouldn’t have bought one unless it was simple.
Dave Ramsey is like the iPod of the financial gurus. While so many of the other financial guys are arguing and debating about trivial issues that are over most people’s heads, Dave was figuring out a way to boil all these financial principles down to a 5th grade level. He succeeded.
Dave’s books and seminars are designed for beginners and not for the people who have mastery over their finances. It is not perfect advice for everyone, but it is great advice for most people and is exactly what millions of people need.
Everyone is a critic
That said, just like all the other Dave Ramsey critics, I don’t agree with everything he preaches, but I think I understand why he says what he says.
- I haven’t cut up all of my credit cards, but if I were trying to help someone who didn’t have much financial discipline, I would probably suggest cutting them up.
- Mathematically, paying off the highest interest rate credit cards first would be a better idea. But, I understand the necessity for motivators on the journey to financial freedom. This is why Dave suggests paying off the smallest balances first, regardless of the interest rate. Getting a quick success under your belt is a much needed motivator for most people.
- I chose to save for retirement WHILE paying off my debt. Dave would suggest not saving for retirement until the debt is paid off. I know that I am not going to quit on the way towards my goal, but for some people knocking out the debt first is probably a good idea.
Although I do some things differently than Dave suggests, I understand why he is doing what he is doing. I am not his target market. Knowing this, I want to help him reach those people who he can help. So, I will just keep applauding him as he ignores the critics and keeps helping people break out of debt.
Technorati Tags: Dave Ramsey critics, Dave Ramsey
Related posts
Debt Snowball: Dave Ramsey’s method for getting out of debt
Creating a debt snowball is Dave Ramsey’s preferred method of getting out of debt. The strength of using this method is that it focuses on the behavioral side of finance rather than the mathematical. Since we are not robots that always do exactly what we know we should, I recommend this method for most people.
These are the simple steps to snowball your debt…
- Create a list of all of your debts: credit cards, car loans, student loans, mortgages, etc…
- Next to each one write down the total balance owed.
- Re-order these from smallest to largest debts (use Excel or Google Docs to make this simpler.)
- Pay the minimum payment on all of the debts - except the smallest one.
- Put every extra dollar you can find towards paying off that smallest debt.
- Celebrate like crazy when you get that first debt paid off.
- Take the amount you were paying towards the first debt and put towards the next smallest debt. Do this until this one is paid off.
- Celebrate again!
- Continue this process until each one is paid off.
What you will find is that each time you pay off a debt, the “snowball” gets larger. Since you are taking the amount you used to pay off the first debt and putting it all + the minimum payment that you were already paying to the second together, you are making more of an impact towards that debt. Each time you pay off a debt, the snowball gets larger and more powerful - which is great, because it just increases the speed that each debt gets paid off.
The numbers don’t lie
If you are like most logical people out there (like me 
) you are probably saying, “you could save more money by paying the highest interest rate cards off first.” You are right - calculators do not lie and they will give you the correct logical answer. Paying your credits cards off starting with the highest interest rate to the lowest is “mathematically” the best idea. But, let’s look it at from another angle:
If we DID what we knew we SHOULD do 100% of the time, using the mathematical approach would be best. But, we are emotional beings and even the most disciplined among us still have emotions and are affected by them.
Computers use logic 100% of the time. Humans do not. We were not created to. We make decisions based on our emotions. We get let down, we get encouraged, we feel motivated, we get scared, we feel hopeful, we feel like quitting. These are all emotional states that each one of us could feel on any given day!!
Knowing that we are emotional beings, the key is to use our emotions to our advantage. Just like jogging with the wind at your back, it is a nice little boost to use our emotions to give us a little edge. So, rather than tackling the debt like a math problem, we can tackle it in a way that will give us emotional boosts! After all, isn’t it better to get out of debt and spend an extra $100 in interest than to give up half way to our goal because we were discouraged?
Status Bars and Debt
Ever wonder why there are status bars showing you the progress of the item you are loading on your computer? It is to keep us from going crazy while waiting 10 minutes for the computer to do what we told it!! Even though that little bar moves slowly sometimes, it is encouraging because we know how much longer we have to endure the torture of waiting.
It is extremely DE-motivating when there is no end in sight. Without that “light at the end of the tunnel” it can be hard to keep going. That little bar that shows us the progress that we have made gives us hope. What if there were no status bars? Or what if you saw no progress on the bar until you got to the 70% loaded point? Would you keep waiting or would you reboot assuming it there was a problem?
When on the phone, have you ever been waiting on hold for 15 minutes wondering, “Did they forget about me? Should I wait it out? What if the never remember that I am on hold?” Do you cut your losses or wait it out having no idea when they will pick up, or if they ever will?
This is the advantage of using the snowball approach to paying down debt. If you focus on the highest interest rate, it could be months or even years before you reach that first milestone. Would you have the endurance to keep going that long without reaching that first milestone?
It is a wonderful feeling to be able to celebrate your first milestone - paying off the first credit card is a blast! Speaking from experience, I was fueled with motivation after reaching that first milestone. The fact is that most people are strengthened by seeing even a small goal accomplished. I love the snowball method because it focuses on reaching these small goals first and using them as motivation to keep going. Let me know how it works for you!
If you are having trouble organizing your debt snowball, you may want to consider Debt Snowball software.
Technorati Tags: Debt snowball, Dave Ramsey
Related posts
48 Days to the Work you love giveaway
I have heard good things about this book, but I have not yet read it. So, the winner will likely beat me to it. It is on my book TO-DO list, so I will get to it, or maybe I won’t if make it to the work I love first
48 Days to the Work You Love is written by Dan Miller and Dave Ramsey. I don’t know much about Dan Miller, but I do recommend Dave Ramsey’s financial advice, so hopefully he has some good input on finding an enjoyable career path.
If you are one of the many people in the U.S. who feel stuck in a job that is not what you were designed to do, hopefully this book will help you. If not, at least it doesn’t cost you anything!!
What do I have to do to win “48 Days to the Work You Love”?
If you would like to be entered for a chance to win the book, just type “48 Days” in the comments below before 8:00 p.m.CST on February 3rd, 2008.
A few more notes about the Dan Miller book giveaway…
- From those comments entered I will randomly select a winner using random.org.
- Go ahead and enter each week, but only enter once (per household) for each one. (Duplicate entries or IP addresses will be disqualified)
- Make sure you enter your email address when adding your comment so I can contact you if you win.
- The winner will be announced on February 4th!!
Related posts
Dave Ramsey’s “Total Money Makeover” giveaway
I love that Dave loves to help people get out of debt. He has been criticized for some of his methods, but I like his vision. I also subscribe to his Debt Snowball method for getting out of debt.
For those who have decided that they want to get out of debt, but don’t know where to start the Total Money Makeover
So what do I have to do to win the “Total Money Makeover”?
If you would like to be entered for a chance to win Dave Ramsey’s “Total Money Makeover,” just type “Money” in the comments below before 8:00 p.m.CST on March 23th, 2008.
A few more notes about the Total Money Makeover giveaway…
- From those comments entered I will randomly select a winner using random.org.
- Go ahead and enter each week, but only enter once (per household) for each one. (Duplicate entries or IP addresses will be disqualified)
- Make sure you enter your email address when adding your comment so I can contact you if you win (of course I won’t give it to anyone else!)
- The winner will be announced on March 24th in the comments section of this post!!
- To be sure you hear about the next giveaway why not subscribe?
Technorati Tags: Dave Ramsey, Total Money Makeover
Related posts
One of the joys of working at a brokerage firm is that people are always asking me for investment advice or telling me about how they don’t trust their broker.
Probably the most frequently asked question is, “how do i [tag]save money for retirement[/tag]?”
First, I tell them to follow these 4 steps to retirement savings, and then I tell them not to worry about your rate of return when you are starting out. Yes, it is better to get 12% on your money than 8%, but when you are just starting your retirement savings it should be the least of your concerns.
Let me preface this by saying, this advice is for [tag]beginner[/tag]s who are intimidated by saving for retirement to the point of DOING NOTHING. This is what I suggest to keep them from worrying about which mutual fund to buy when they are starting out.
The biggest hurdle for most people is [tag]saving money[/tag]. As Dave Ramsey
Let’s say you start saving $100 a month towards retirement. When you first start investing, the $100 a month contribution is going to have a larger impact on the size of the total amount saved than your rate of return.
For example, if you have $1000 saved up and add $100, you now have $1100 - which is a 10% increase. But if you have $10,000 saved and you add $100, it is only a 1% increase. Once you have $100,000 saved up that $100 monthly contribution becomes even more insignificant; it is only a 0.1% increase.
So, if you are only increasing your account value by .01% each time you contribute, then it would not be nearly as effective as having a 12% rate of return.
As you can see the importance of consistent contributions is CRUCIAL in the beginning stages, but becomes less significant as your nest egg grows in size. Conversely, your rate of return on your investments starts out with little importance, but becomes CRUCIAL as your nest egg gets larger.
So, if you are a beginner, get started saving and you can take your time learning about which mutual funds are going to give you the best returns.
Related posts
