Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

A number of people suggested this book to me. About the fifth time it randomly came up in conversation I decided to give it a try. I generally enjoy personal finance books so I figured that it couldn't possibly hurt.

I was delightfully surprised.

Ramsey lays out nine "baby steps" to set yourself on very stable financial ground. The fist step is probably the easiest. You start by getting $1000 away in savings as an emergency fund. The second step is paying off all of your debt. Ramsey claims that many of his clients complete this step within two years of starting the program.

This is where stuff gets a little sticky for me. Ramsey repeatedly states that if you will live like others won't now then you will be able to live like others can't later. I forget the exact quote but that's the basic idea. He pushes doing anything you can to get out of debt. This is a wonderful idea. Making extra money whenever possible and budgeting so that you can get out of debt is awesome. However, reading stories about people who worked 20 hour days and never saw their families and sold everything they owned kind of made me leery. It gave the whole program a cult-like feel.

I started working on a total money makeover. Having a plan for my money made me feel much more at ease and purposeful. I even paid off my car about ten months early. However, I lost a little bit of steam and decided to buy a house. I would suggest this book to people who are unhappy with their money situation and want to do something. However, I would warn against getting so caught up in it that you alienate the people you love. As my mother said, "You aren't poor. Why are you acting like you are? Quit stealing my floss."