Money Problems?...Get in here.

[Safety]

I was always "mediocre" growing up with how I handled money. Didn't know the money principles. I didn't understand how money worked. All I knew was debt. Credit cards, car loans, personal loans, I had no financial discipline. I paid the bills on Friday, but Monday morning when I went back to work, I was almost broke again. Usually with $30 - $50 to get me through the week. Constantly had to borrow money from my parents.

I got a "little" better as I got older but not much.

Then one May day in 2019, my life changed. I pulled over on an off ramp to find something differerent to listen to. Sports talk radio was lacking on a Saturday afternoon in May. I flipped through a few stations on my SiriusXM app. Nothing appealed. Finally I saw The Dave Ramsey show up on the list of shows. Wall Street guy?, I thought to myself. Eh, whatever, I might learn something.

I started the show, and continued my drive through Wyoming. As I drove and listened, things Dave and his callers said began to click in my head. The more I listened, the more I heard my financial life and decisions in their calls, their stories and their situations. I also came to realize Dave wasn't a Wall Street guy as I thought, but his show was exactly what I had needed to hear for many many years.

Long story short, when I got home I made a list of my debts one column on a piece of paper. I listed all my monthly expenses (non-debts) in the other column. I was in pretty big trouble financially. I had way too many payments in debt.

In September of 2019, I started Financial Peace University. It was a 9 week class and it was AMAZING! I learned so many things I never knew. Things my family didn't even know. Today, I'm almost out of debt. Just my car and a little on my student loans left to pay. I should be completely debt free by this summer.

So if you're struggling with money and looking for a way to get out of the financial hole and relieve those financial worries and stress, start by listening to Dave's show. Start following the 7 Baby Steps, do the debt snowball method. When you can, take Financial Peace University. I don't work for Dave, I get zero dollars in kickbacks, I'm not here to sell anything, just relating a personal experience that changed my life. I hope it changes yours the way it changed mine. I wish someone had told me about him a long time ago but like they say, better late than never.

[CanDB]

I was always "mediocre" growing up with how I handled money. Didn't know the money principles. I didn't understand how money worked. All I knew was debt. Credit cards, car loans, personal loans, I had no financial discipline. I paid the bills on Friday, but Monday morning when I went back to work, I was almost broke again. Usually with $30 - $50 to get me through the week. Constantly had to borrow money from my parents.

I got a "little" better as I got older but not much.

Then one May day in 2019, my life changed. I pulled over on an off ramp to find something differerent to listen to. Sports talk radio was lacking on a Saturday afternoon in May. I flipped through a few stations on my SiriusXM app. Nothing appealed. Finally I saw The Dave Ramsey show up on the list of shows. Wall Street guy?, I thought to myself. Eh, whatever, I might learn something.

I started the show, and continued my drive through Wyoming. As I drove and listened, things Dave and his callers said began to click in my head. The more I listened, the more I heard my financial life and decisions in their calls, their stories and their situations. I also came to realize Dave wasn't a Wall Street guy as I thought, but his show was exactly what I had needed to hear for many many years.

Long story short, when I got home I made a list of my debts one column on a piece of paper. I listed all my monthly expenses (non-debts) in the other column. I was in pretty big trouble financially. I had way too many payments in debt.

In September of 2019, I started Financial Peace University. It was a 9 week class and it was AMAZING! I learned so many things I never knew. Things my family didn't even know. Today, I'm almost out of debt. Just my car and a little on my student loans left to pay. I should be completely debt free by this summer.

So if you're struggling with money and looking for a way to get out of the financial hole and relieve those financial worries and stress, start by listening to Dave's show. Start following the 7 Baby Steps, do the debt snowball method. When you can, take Financial Peace University. I don't work for Dave, I get zero dollars in kickbacks, I'm not here to sell anything, just relating a personal experience that changed my life. I hope it changes yours the way it changed mine. I wish someone had told me about him a long time ago but like they say, better late than never.

I am glad things worked out for you. Many of us need some form of wake up call, or practical guidance. Most folks in their lives will have to deal with a form of debt, sometimes even big debt, so it is very important they learn the principles of how to live with debt (like a mortgage), while managing their budgets and even investing in retirement. Not that easy. But doable, once you learn to manage your monthly / yearly expenses, paying down your loans, while enjoying life as much as you can financially.

[Peerless]

Good for you dude.

I love talking money, finances, investing, budgeting. It is a lost education that many students should be taught growing up.

I’ve read the Dave Ramsey baby steps book on how to get out of debt and I agree on a lot of it. It does work! I don’t agree with his investment advice, but that’s another subject...

Anyways good for you for getting out of a lot and most of your debt. Then when you can start focus on saving, and investing, and building your wealth in almost becomes a game - “how much money can I grow from this month, to this month, to this year, to next year.

It is amazing how it works. Saving, investing, compound interest. But - when life and the portfolio looks amazing, that’s where some get overconfident and lose focus.

Stay the course!

[Safety]

Good for you dude.

I love talking money, finances, investing, budgeting. It is a lost education that many students should be taught growing up.

I’ve read the Dave Ramsey baby steps book on how to get out of debt and I agree on a lot of it. It does work! I don’t agree with his investment advice, but that’s another subject...

Anyways good for you for getting out of a lot and most of your debt. Then when you can start focus on saving, and investing, and building your wealth in almost becomes a game - “how much money can I grow from this month, to this month, to this year, to next year.

It is amazing how it works. Saving, investing, compound interest. But - when life and the portfolio looks amazing, that’s where some get overconfident and lose focus.

Stay the course!

Thank you!

I've listened to some of the investment advice but haven't gotten there yet myself. Still on Baby Step 2. But I get the advice, because it's the safe play. It gets you a nice decent retirement ($2.5 - $3 Million). I know some prefer to be a bit more aggressive and take risks and I get that too.

[CanDB]

Good for you dude.

I love talking money, finances, investing, budgeting. It is a lost education that many students should be taught growing up.

I’ve read the Dave Ramsey baby steps book on how to get out of debt and I agree on a lot of it. It does work! I don’t agree with his investment advice, but that’s another subject...

Anyways good for you for getting out of a lot and most of your debt. Then when you can start focus on saving, and investing, and building your wealth in almost becomes a game - “how much money can I grow from this month, to this month, to this year, to next year.

It is amazing how it works. Saving, investing, compound interest. But - when life and the portfolio looks amazing, that’s where some get overconfident and lose focus.

Stay the course!

Thank you!

I've listened to some of the investment advice but haven't gotten there yet myself. Still on Baby Step 2. But I get the advice, because it's the safe play. It gets you a nice decent retirement ($2.5 - $3 Million). I know some prefer to be a bit more aggressive and take risks and I get that too.

Things change but some basics hardly ever change. The fact that investing in some rather ordinary stocks when you are young will set you up nicely in the long term. And the risk/reward estimates, though ballparks, have proven to be relatively accurate. Diverse portfolios are pretty wise over time, though even Buffett will tell you that well researched individual stocks are better than say, mutual funds. But the lessons learned many years ago are holding up pretty well. Sure, there will be changes in terminology and even content to some degree, which sort of refreshes the industry I suppose. I remember a while back when the word "rebalancing" got hip, when all it was meant to do is tell people to add or decrease stocks, bonds, whatever, to keep their %s of holdings in the same levels as when you started your plan....this often is relevant when say Equity has a good run, and suddenly you have a much higher % of it in your portfolio. Not a problem though for those folks who like Equity.

Another pretty wise consideration for long term portfolios....when the markets go whacky, as they will, try not to sell off much (if any). You have to do it right away, if that's even understandable at the time. Too many people hold and then panic, and often lose as a result. The markets drop and rise again, and when they do, they are extremely profitable for those who are patient. And people tend to do well by holding, because timing when to return is not as easy as it seems. Yes, some are good at that, but studies tell you that many folks have lost money by getting out at the wrong time. And yes, the upside is that wise investors will wait for bargains in bad times, and that's why the rich just get richer.

I think what many young folks and even older ones don't understand is the impact of long term inflation. And the reason it's important to invest so that inflation does not devalue your savings. Similarly, the hard thing to explain to younger folks is how many grows, when invested. A steady run of even 5% return adds so much long term wealth.

But I do understand why they don't. It's hard to put away money when you have your whole world ahead of you, and you want to test it out....buy things (including the big ticket items - house, car), travel, have children, live! So for those I say, just start small. Put it away and try to forget about it.

But we all learn in our own way. Not to worry, you might lose some money along the way, but again, learn from it. And sadly, some don't have enough money, and I feel for them. That's why I do not like to preach about investments, at least not too much, because I know how hard it is for so many.

(this is preaching.....please never let your credit cards run your life!!!)

[Sophia23]

Good for you! Getting out of debt in a big step in the right direction. I made many bad decisions in my late teens and early twenties with money. I worked 3 jobs at one point in my early twenties to get out of debt and have always had that in the back of my mind as I get older. I still may not make the wisest decisions, but I think working for a bank has helped keep me out of trouble. I have never listened to Dave Ramsey, but think its great any time people share what works for them.

[Peerless]

Pay off that debt yo!

Make it a game!

[Joshua2585]

The biggest (and most simple) idea that was shared with me that was the game changer was the "X $ Zero" or a "rainy day fund."

How much money would you need to live for 3 months minimum (ideally 6 months) with all your current bills and spending habits? That needs to be your "zero", not an actual $0. Things in life inevitably happen and having that money there is a game changer for peace of mind. If something major happens and you have to dip into it, fine... but you need to immediately focus on getting back to it.

When my wife and I first started dating, our "zero" was $1000 a piece. We focused hard on making sure we both had that money in our account at all times (and usually more, because you never wanted to dip into your zero, even though it occasionally happened when life threw you a curveball). It was really tough at first because I was making pizza and she was a receptionist at a hair salon.

After a year, we decided to try to focus on creating a higher "zero". Then it was $5k a piece. Now we're married with a lot of expenses, a decade later, it's a significantly higher zero that we could easily live off for a year. Could we invest that money or do something more productive with it? Sure... but we know that even if we both lost our jobs at the same time, we'd be able to easily take care of our family. It's easy to over-leverage yourself.

Someone like Dave Ramsey would probably be appalled at how much cash-on-hand we carry instead of just knocking out all our debt in one fell swoop... or investing it all... but dang, the peace of mind I get looking at my bank account now vs when I was constantly worried about overdrawing, is life changing. By no means is this the best financial model, but it's worked well for us.