Jesse and I attended a "Total Money Makeover Live" event with Dave Ramsey this weekend. I am not usually a fan of radio talk show hosts, but I really enjoy him. He is the one finance guru who actually preaches debt-free living like the Church does. His methods include getting out of debt (including the house...and staying out of debt permanently), having sufficient savings for a rainy day, preparing for retirement, and tithing as well as being generous when you are in a position to do so.
It also helps that I find him to be hysterical. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from yesterday...
To his daughters: "There are no good men but Jesus and your daddy."
About Christmas spending: "We Christianize stupidity. We believe buying plastic toys for our kids is a requirement found in the book of 2nd Hesitations."
Regarding recessions: "When the tide goes out, you catch who was skinny dipping."
"Creative financing means you are too broke to buy the house."
Dave's FICO score is essentially zero. He hasn't had a credit card in 20 years. What does he do? He uses a debit card in that function and pays cash. So, he can't walk in off the street and rent an apartment, but he could pull out his checkbook and buy the 'freaking' complex.
Paying cash hurts, especially when you think about Ben Franklin on $100 bills. You know those black restaurant bill trays? He calls them "Uncle Ben's coffins."
A bumper sticker a friend saw: "Lord, Protect me from your people."
Regarding diversification: Money is like manure. Leave it piled in one place, it really starts to stink. Spread it around, things start to grow.
We also learned that Jesse is a nerd and I am a free-spirit when it comes to money. He gave great tips about working together on money. He suggested the money nerd come up with a budget, sit down at a table with the free-spirit, slide the budget across the table and then, "Shut up." The free-spirit then gets to change some things, but has to pinky swear to live by the budget. No 'surprise' trips to Costco (guilty!). We'll be working on that.
Even though the presentation was five hours long, time flew. We had a blast. The only downside? Chairs in the Colliseum give me back pain. But it was worth it.
2 comments:
Sounds fun! I know what you man about Costco. Good thing Ben works next door to do my "quick runs" in. Saves a lot on the budget!
We LOVE Dave Ramsey and have been avid followers for a couple of years now. We attended one of his Total Money Makeovers a couple of years ago and loved it too. He is hysterical!
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