At this point in time, most of you may know that I’m in love with coupons, and even more, I’m a very frugal person. If you read my “About me”, you’ll find out that my husband and I lived for quite a long time on two large incomes; after my second child, I wanted to devote more time to my kids, and not so much to my job. Don’t get me wrong…I loved my job, but my job also required me to travel 3 weeks every month, and I could not see myself doing that after my son was born…I did it SO much when my daughter was a little one and it was hard for her :(
One day ~ and I can’t remember just when, but I sat down and looked at our finances and just got upset… why? Because I felt like we brought in SO much yet I couldn’t quite figure out exactly where we were spending it all. Let me say that feeling is truly aggravating.
Both Dave & I were convinced that we needed to have two incomes. Why? Because we loved our “stuff” and felt that we were entitled to “things” because we worked hard. Things we could have lived without. Let me say that you learn to become frugal, and become frugal VERY quickly, when that extra paycheck goes away…. as you don’t have two paychecks to fall back on!
It was a little over a year ago on one of my daily commutes home that I heard Dave Ramsey on the radio — before then, I had never heard of him. I’m a talk radio fanatic — to me, talk radio is radio with substance. So I listened to him every day. And boy am I glad I did.
Dave Ramsey teaches people about money. He has his own radio show, and has a series of books that are absolutely amazing reads – my favorite of which is “The Total Money Makeover”. The stuff he teaches is so COMMON SENSE…yet, it’s amazing how many people have a lack of understanding of things that are so very basic. To avoid having to spend money on buying his book, I went to the local library and checked it out. It took me 3 days to read it. I checked out all of his books, and then when Dave got home from Army training I checked them out again: for HIM to read.
Now, I listen to Dave Ramsey every night from 7-10 p.m. on KTAR.com “listen live” – yes, I sit here with my head phones on as soon as I get the kiddos to sleep, and I type away as I listen to his show.
His lessons, and common sense teachings come down to one thing: Discipline.
He teaches some great principles of money, that will help you spend your money more wisely – of course, like anything, it all comes down to discipline. My main goal is to ensure my kids are set for college – I have had that goal ever since I found out I was pregnant with them. I have worked hard to be diligent enough in establishing a large 529 plan for each of them ~ I sacrifice certain things to ensure that that money is consistently set aside each month and year.
And couponing…just one small, tiny slice of the pie ~ coupons have allowed my family to save SO much money – they have allowed me to stay home, and most notably, they have allowed us to free up more money for other areas of our finances.
Dave Ramsey is great! My husband and I both practice what he teaches and it has helped us out a lot. We are well on our way to having our car paid off then our house. It is a great system and I wonder why everyone does not do it. It is awesome to hear you practice it too!
Yeah I've heard of him, went to see him live a few years ago, and I have Total Money Makeover! I Love Dave Ramsey. So glad you are a fan of his too. I don't know how I missed that you used to work full-time until recently. Very impressive how quickly you have become an EXPERT couponer. Lucky for me!
Dee
Love Dave too, getting closer to the day that I can call into his show and shout "I'm debt free".
I just placed a request for the book at the library…51 active requests before me! It might take awhile to get it, but it will be worth the wait:)
I know it is not as good as free, but there are multiple used copies of his book on amazon for as low as $2.52 – I hope i don't get told off for this, but I figure the money I can save and the better choices that I make within the next year (waiting on the library) will more than make up for the $7 including shipping that i am about to spend on this book – maybe I should look for a book about being more patient whilst I am on Amazon!!!
Yes! I actually bought one copy for Dave back in March when he was at school …i want to say it was $3? Anyways, we have it — kept it, and I have read it OVER and OVER and OVER and always learn something new when I read it.
I love The Total Money Makeover. We are still new to it but his program and couponing seem to compliment each other well.
I like him! I've been reading his books and I would like to try and use the envelope method to help with my budgeting. It's going to be a while before I'm debt free, but I like his methods to get there.
My husband and I LOVE Dave Ramsey. I actually just lost my job (and was making more than my husband) and are now having to live off of just his income. This has been hard but it is only the beginning. I am also pregnant with our first child and Nik has always wanted me to stay home with our children, as have I. So we figured this was good practice while the baby is not here just yet. I stock up on diapers when I can and look out for deals.
Nik and I are paying what Dave Ramsey calls THE STUPID TAX. We have debt to pay off but we have the end in sight. We looked up classes and there actually is a class starting January 12th in Mesa, AZ that we are most likely going to attend. It is $120 but with the help we can get and allllllll the materials, we are looking forward to it.
Nik, too, listens to him every night. I'm too tired and most often asleep at that point but he loves him. We do the cash envelopes and highly recommend that!
Good luck and congrats on your frugal life style. I want to be just like you!
-Dawna
Buy the used book – read it and then GIFT it! You could even write a little note in it and then it could keep going around to loved ones. I had a mommy advice book (VERY tongue in cheek one that made you pee your pants – literally after 2 kids) that I did that with. It's on it's 18th child I think – all the way in England!!!
I am listening to the Dave Ramsey radio show right now (and listen to it often! as I was glancing at this post!