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Summary: This stuff WORKS!!
Review: For those smothered in Credit Card Debt, swimming in a huge mortgage, and living on the financial brink of disaster, this book will change you forever...BUT only if you are willing to follow it! For those who enjoy being normal (broke but looking good) there is now magic wand to make it all better. Just like losing weight, you have to choose to follow the plan. If you do, I can testify, it absolutely works. If you want some mumbo jumbo to overcomplicate the issue of beating debt and building wealth then this is not the book for you. If you want real common sense how to's that are proven by tens of thousands of other people then you have to get this book!!!
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Summary: Dave Ramsey Has the Cure!
Review: Got this book just in time to have it read for Ramsey's Total Money Makeover Tour which we will attend in September 2003. This man has totally changed the way we manage our money. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to get out of debt and stay there!
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Summary: Reiteration of the Mundane
Review: Here we are presented with another remedy for our financial colds, flues, and fatal financial diseases. How to make a total money make over to bring ourselves to the land of financial security. How to invest successfully. One of his brilliant tips: reduce credit card debt. Thanks Dave. In the recent wave of stagnant markets, there are a lot of people in these difficult times making money--self proclaimed pundits who write books on how to make money. So, here we go again. Add Dave Ramsey to the likes of Rick Edelman, Motley Fools, Steven Pollan, Peter Lynch, and "Suze," which only comprise the short list. Suze Orman, the most recent to join this short-term lime-lighted occupation has been quite successful. She's the first financial pundit to speak English to the financially illiterate American public, which is in so much financial trouble and confusion that most are now beginning to understand the mess they're in. When it comes to financial and market punditry, even Ben Stein gets in the mix. And, rightfully so, They have what 75% of the American public doesn't have: common sense. It was P.T. Barnum who claimed, and rightfully so: a sucker is born any minute. Now we can add the listeners and readers of Dave Ramsey to the list.
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Summary: The Total Money Makeover
Review: How many books can "Truly" say they have changed someone's life? This book should be a must read for every high school senior to get them on the right financial path. Dave has a very simple step-by-step plan to financial freedom, no matter how much you earn or how old you are. To supplement this book, listen to his great radio show. It again, has caller after caller you can learn from to help you and your family with your financial future. It has helped my wife, daughter and myself to be able to say, in 5 months, will be debt free, besides our house, following Dave's plan, thanks Dave! I read a lot of book and can honestly say this book is one I will pass on to someone I truly care about. This book is a must read.
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Summary: If you do this simple plan, it works EVERY SINGLE TIME!!
Review: I can't say that for too many other methods to financial independence. Ramsey's advice is stuff that everyone one of us already knows - spend less than you make, save up for a rainy day, avoid any payments and give your money away. The difference is this book gives you the motivation to actually work the plan. It is packed with something like 40 stories of people who have succeeded with Dave's plan. There are no financial secrets and no magic tricks in this book, just a great plan on how to turn things around. If you want to know how to get out of debt, build wealth and change your family tree forever - The Total Money Makeover is for you.
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Summary: Dave Ramsey Will Help You Become Financially Fit
Review: I enjoy discussions about my finances about as much as I enjoy talking about my weight. I certainly need to work on both, but I'd prefer to avoid the topics if at all possible, thank you very much. Can I get an "amen"? Dave Ramsey, radio talk show host, author and all-around financial guru, is no stranger to this ostrich routine. After his own bankruptcy he came to the conclusion that the key to financial (and physical) fitness isn't knowing all the tricks of the money trade; it's being honest with yourself. "If I can control the guy in the mirror, I can be skinny and rich," he says in his new book THE TOTAL MONEY MAKEOVER. In other words, you have to get your head out of the sand. Okay, I have to get my head out of the sand. Leaving the skinny to other books, Ramsey is a prophet to those who want to be rich but would settle for being financially stable. It's clear that this is a large group, given the popularity of Ramsey's radio show and books. After reading THE TOTAL MONEY MAKEOVER, I can see why they flock to him for advice. Ramsey's principles are simple and straightforward. Pay cash. Pay off debts from smallest to largest. Create an emergency fund. He provides easy-to-understand answers to many seemingly complex questions about budgeting, retirement funds, saving for college education, and more. Large pullout quotes scattered throughout the book offer bite-sized financial advice and factoids in Ramsey's typically direct manner: "A new $28,000 car will lose about $17,000 of value in the first four years you own it. To get the same result, you could toss a $100 bill out the window once a week during your commute." "Looking to spend $100 per month on life insurance? You could pay $7 a month toward term insurance and invest the remaining $93. But go with a cash-value policy if you'd rather have someone else earn interest on your investments." "49% of Americans could cover less than one months' expenses if they lost their income." "If your mortgage payment is $900 and the interest portion is $830, you will pay that year around $10,000 in interest. What a great tax deduction! Right? Otherwise, you'd pay $3,000 in taxes on that $10,000. But who in their right mind would chose to trade $10,000 for $3,000?" All of this advice is helpful and eye opening, but what Ramsey really excels at is presenting inspirational tales of those who were once, but are no longer, in financial disarray. Their stories make up at least a third of the book, and the cumulative effect is that of a published pep rally designed to get people pumped up about saving money. And it works. This is a must-read book for anyone whose looking for a little basic financial information and a whole lot of courage to finally put away the ostrich suit. --- Reviewed by Lisa Ann Cockrel
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Summary: Nay sayers don't get it.
Review: I have just finished the book and reading the reviews posted to date. The book is wonderful and provides the reader with a simple tool set to eliminate debt and build wealth. The book and the radio program are more importantly, MOTIVATIONAL. We all know it's important to visit the dentist, but who wants to? I take exception to those who criticise dave for "selling" and offering simple and sometimes misleading advice. At least Dave is earning a living by helping others, can we all say the same? Also paying off a low interest loan before a higher interest loan, while not mathematically correct, is motivational and helps to get the "snowball" rolling. Motivation and simplicity is of value. This book is a tremendous tool that will better your life if the steps are followed. For the "elites" who consider this book a lot of fluff, you have missed the point. For those who want a chance at a better life for them and their family, buy this book now. Oh yeah, I can't tell you how many times I've heard Dave offer free products and services to those in true need. Dave Ramsey is either the best actor on the radio, or a person who truly has a mission in life to help others. I choose to believe the latter. And for the "Elites" out there, If you are so savy that you can condem this book and the motives of the author, why did you by the book? Joe
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Summary: I'M DEBT FREEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
Review: I highly recommand this book to anyone wanting a simple plan to get out of debt and some common sense advice to go along with it. I wish I had this book when I was 22. I would probably have a million by now. What makes this book so motivating is that he has real life experience. His last name is not Kennedy or Rockafellar.
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Summary: Motivation is the name of the game
Review: I must start by making it clear that I am, without apology, a Dave-o-phile. I can't get enough. Honestly, that's because of the impact he's had on my life. Having read this and all of Dave's books (as well as the ones on his "recomended reading list"), I can honestly say that a lot of the folks who have written reviews here have really missed the point. No, this book doesn't have Dave giving a *NEW* way to become debt-free and wealthy because THERE AREN'T ANY OTHER WAYS TO BECOME DEBT FREE AND WEALTHY!!! This book is inspiration. It's powerful, real life stories that make you want to go out and get it done! It's also a great way to get the information to folks who would normally never read anything financial... That is- It's not boring! This is a perfect primer in getting control over your life. Don't miss this. It can change your life... If you'll let it.
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Summary: Good Points, Direct and I figure a lot won't like it.
Review: I never heard of Mr.Ramsey before. I found this book at the library and read it. It is a quick read once you decide to skip all the testimonials. He makes sense and good points. He tells you its your problem and he gives you a plan you can follow or not. His plan I think follows a path that makes you determined and helps you see progress.
Example: eliminating the credit cards from lowest to highest. This goes against common thought. But as he says. You wipe it out and put that money on the next and down the line. Seeing it happen is a help aid as well as good sense. Looking at what interest rates and all that stuff is plain dumb. Overcomplicates it if you ask me. But we are told that is what we need to do (I recall some finance clown saying Debt is necessary. Totally unbelievable). Take it from me. Doing from the interest angle or from highest to lowest don't work. I have never seen it work. You need more money to make the big money go away. Take if from the smaller payments. Simple math.
Debt ruins lives and marriages and families. Its a bad thing and we all know it. Kinda like being told smoking is really bad for you, we all know it, known it a long time, but people still do it.
Mr. Ramsey does a very in your face thing. He preaches,money saving, simple investing techniques and, when its all done, charity, he preaches good will, he shows that money is not for money's sake. That is unusual in a finance book.
I am going to try his methods. On paper it looks like it will work. So far. I got nothing to lose except debt.
For the record:I have even spoken to a debt free person who used his methods. He made a good point. "Ramsey wrote the book, I'm the one that lost the debt on my own."
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