Comments on: Oh Preacher Ramsey, Deliver Us from Debt

By: Aeroplane

Aeroplane — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 20:17:43 +0000

@stuffisthings I agree, but I’m also not crippled by all-encompassing debt. AA stuff sounds pretty heavy-handed to a social drinker, but it works for people who want it to work.

By: ThatJenn

ThatJenn — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 17:14:42 +0000

@pterodactylish Of course, it only saves you money if you don’t have a tendency to rack up massive debts and accrue a lot of interest. I think there’s a very good middle ground where you practice not using cards for a longish period of time in order to have a good feel for how much money you ACTUALLY have, and then can go back to using credit cards cautiously. You may have been able to keep your CC bills low enough to pay off your bill each week, but if someone has a real spending problem that may not be possible.

By: pterodactylish

pterodactylish — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 17:07:58 +0000

@Logan Sachon hell, the credit score sweet spot is 13 effing accounts!!! also, this method ABSOLUTELY ignores the idea that the points you get from credit cards save you money. plane tickets! the key is to pay your cc bill each week. i did the envelope budget for weeks (there are apps for this, they are great!) while still using my credit cards and it absolutely changed my spending habits.

By: ThatJenn

ThatJenn — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 16:14:58 +0000

@Logan Sachon Maybe it was the fact that she was still carrying them around with her despite the fact that she’s supposed to avoid using any kind of debt to make purchases? Maybe? Like, the problem isn’t that the accounts exist, but that she physically “has” them? That line confused me until I thought of it that way.

By: Megan Dietz@facebook

Megan Dietz@facebook — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 16:06:41 +0000

@E$ i go through phases with his show … sometimes it is really compelling and then every once in a while he’ll go off on some anti-obama pro-jesus tangent and i stop subscribing again.

it is really interesting sometimes though. the thing i like best about him is that he’s very thoughtful and considerate to people who call with problems, but when they start trotting out victim speak and saying there’s no way they can make the changes he’s suggesting, he hangs up on them!

i think he’s right that you really can’t help someone who’s in this headspace.

By: E$

E$ — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 14:56:19 +0000

I don’t follow the Dave Ramsey plan but I LOVE listening to his show. I stream it at work for free and I find the problems that people call in about and their stories absolutely fascinating. If you enjoy the stories on the Billfold, you might like it also.

I also need to give the show credit because when I started listening to it, I was motivated to start an emergency fund, which helped about four months later when I was laid off. I had read about the concept many times, but for some reason his show made me actually do it.

By: stuffisthings

stuffisthings — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 14:51:07 +0000

His financial tips are not actually that bad, but I find the moralization of debt deeply unpleasant (on which topic I highly recommend Debt: The First 5,000 Years).

Also, zero-based budgeting means building up your budget from scratch rather than revising last year’s line items, not “a budget where there are zero dollars left.” At least in the contexts I’ve heard it in.

By: probs

probs — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 14:39:51 +0000

@zou bisou not strictly rational. Just a general distrust of religious things, and the format of the meetings reminded me of culty/scammy stuff. I kept expecting them to suddenly get roped into some sort of sponge-selling pyramid scheme. Again, it’s clearly a good thing, just flipped certain unconscious switches for me.

By: selenana

selenana — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 01:13:46 +0000

@may june july See articles on this site on the pros and cons of snowball method vs. avalanche method of paying debt.

By: Sarah Rain@facebook

Sarah Rain@facebook — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 00:43:32 +0000

@BananaPeel I didn’t listen to the show, but if expecting people to keep track of their money so they don’t need to get bailed out by other people is Victorian moralizing, I’m okay with that bit of Victorianism.