Dave Ramsey Follower's

[Junejer]

Hey Cheap, I can tell you that the reason for these forums is NOT for us to TELL others what to do with THEIR money.

That said, I haven't proven your point about anything. The reason that I bought the used car is because I WANTED that car. It was not the proper time for me to buy a new car. Had I wanted to buy a new car (and it fit within my budget) I would've done so. As I stated in my earlier post, I am going to buy my new luxury truck, when the time is right for ME to do so. The thing that we have to remember is that people are here for advice, when they ask for it. Your opinion is your opinion and just that.

The beautiful thing about this world is that it takes all kinds to make it go 'round. Those who will always buy a used car, those who will always buy a new car, and those who will do either when the situation calls for it. You can't begin to give advice on what someone ought to be doing with their money, when you don't know their financial situation.

Now, to your CC view. This is precisely why DR's advice isn't for everyone. We do have a huge number of people on these boards who use credit wisely (PIF monthly, use rewards cards to their advantage, don't overspend, buy things that they would normally buy in the course of their month, etc.). For those of you who need the DR advice, more power to you. For those who don't, it's not up to you or anyone else to force-feed them us DR kool-aid. Jim Jones all over again.

[marty56]

Its Halloween time so its time to sacrifice some credit cards as part of one of Dave's Plasctomy rites.  I can see it now.  The other BofA cards are cowering in fear as one of their sibilings is draged to the altar to meet its ultimate fate.  In the background Dave's follower's are chanting "We are Debt Free, We are Debt Free".

Dave does help people, maybe not any of the credit experts/money experts here but people who perhaps have nowhere else to turn or need his tough love approach to gain control of their lives.

Not so long ago I was a credit zero and if I had known about Dave back then, I probably would have joined his cult.  I do know how most of the people who have called his show feel since I partially walked a few steps in their shoes.

[haulingthescoreup]

He has great shock therapy and rapid detox. But just as in medicine, what's appropriate as a short-term intervention isn't always appropriate for long-term aftercare.

[NikJ4]

wow..... do we need to start an anger management class over the dave ramsey topic? Much love to all who have posted.

guess with that said,,,, anyone watch suzie lately?

ok, I was just joking....

[demi]

There was a great parody of Suzie on Saturday night live this week...was obsessed about her clothes, etc.  Pretty funny.

[Anonymous]

I just found this thread and enjoyed reading many of the posts. A year ago I decided to get rid of my cc debt and some old charge off accounts. My wife and I are looking to purchase a house and I needed to my credit cleaned up first. I've been listening to DR for 5 months or so while I'm working my second job. The show helps me stay motivated while I'm working toward my goal. When people call up to cream there debt free, I understand the sacrifice made and it' so cool. I think many people here are taking him too serious. Take advice for what it is and accept the parts that work for you.

[Anonymous]

Danger! Danger! Zombie thread rising from the grave!

[KingAdrock]

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@Anonymous wrote:
I just found this thread and enjoyed reading many of the posts. A year ago I decided to get rid of my cc debt and some old charge off accounts. My wife and I are looking to purchase a house and I needed to my credit cleaned up first. I've been listening to DR for 5 months or so while I'm working my second job. The show helps me stay motivated while I'm working toward my goal. When people call up to cream there debt free, I understand the sacrifice made and it' so cool. I think many people here are taking him too serious. Take advice for what it is and accept the parts that work for you.

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As far as getting out of debt, a lot of what he says makes sense. Just be wary once you're out, that's when his advice gets dicey.

Getting rid of your debt is good. Getting rid of your credit is foolish. My issue with DR is that he doesn't make a distinction between the two.

[MattH]

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@KingAdrock wrote:
...

As far as getting out of debt, a lot of what he says makes sense. Just be wary once you're out, that's when his advice gets dicey.

Getting rid of your debt is good. Getting rid of your credit is foolish. My issue with DR is that he doesn't make a distinction between the two.

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Yep.  I think debt is like alcohol: some people can learn to use it responsibly and some cannot.  For those who cannot learn to control their use, cold turkey may be appropriate.  Or to use another metaphor: a writing teacher once told me, the reason so many writing handbooks say "avoid the passive voice" is because about 90% of the uses most people make of the passive voice can be improved by rewriting in the active voice -- but the passive voice does exist for a reason so we should learn when it is appropriate to use it!

In my case, my wife and I buy almost everything with credit cards mainly because US law has dramatically stronger consumer protections for purchases made with credit cards than for purchases made with checks or with debit cards.  So long as we always (1) have much more in our bank accounts than we ever run up on our credit cards and (2) pay the balance in full, I don't see how credit cards are a problem for us.  Even in times past when sometimes we had to revolve a credit card balance for cashflow reasons we never let those balances get out of control.

[KingAdrock]

I couldn't agree more Matt. Alcohol is actually the parallel that always came to my mind. There are people who cannot handle alcohol and really need to abstain. There are also people who cannot handle their finances, and would be better off without credit. But what about the other 99.99% of the population? It would definitely be overkill to say everyone in the world should abstain from alcohol forever to avoid any chance of alcoholism. But DR applies this same logic to credit. "Credit can lead to debt, debt is bad, therefore credit is bad." What he needs to see is that getting rid of your credit as well as your debt is throwing out the baby with the bathwater.