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Dave Ramsey’s Complete Guide to Money Review
Who is Dave Ramsey?
Dave Ramsey began teaching about personal finance after having to file for bankruptcy decades ago and learning to build his life back from the bottom up. In this book, he begins by telling a summarized version of how that happened.
When Dave was in his twenties, he built a large real estate portfolio, but after an unfortunate circumstance with a bank loan, he ended up losing everything.
After attending finance classes and starting to teaching others how to manage personal finance, Dave discovered a method of budgeting, saving, and investing that worked for every student, man or woman, and in any financial situation.
Dave leads a podcast to help listeners with their specific money issues, gives seminars, and continues to guide hundreds of thousands of Americans to become financially free!
In short, The Complete Guide to Money is a great book to read for anyone new to personal finance or someone who wants to become financially free. It is written in easy to understand language and is perfect for both men and women!
Don’t miss out on my honest, in-depth review of Dave Ramsey’s advice!
Complete Guide to Money Review
The Complete Guide to Money is a companion with Dave’s Financial Peace course. After reading this, and Total Money Makeover, I believe this is both great when read along with his course, but also is a stand alone book!
The Complete Guide to Money begins with an explanation of Dave’s background, and immediately dives into his famous “Baby Steps” for money management. Those are detailed below! A brief explanation is given to help the reader to better understand the need for saving money and the significance of compound interest.
A whole chapter is dedicated to understanding men’s and women’s differences with money, and how to teach your kids about it.
He categorizes spouses into groups called Nerds and Free Spirits. This helps the reader to be able to relate personally to the examples he gives, and better understand how to approach money issues and conversations with their spouse.
“A budget is just telling your money where to go, instead of wondering where it went”
Dave believes in a “zero-based budget”. As in, making sure every dollar you make will be accounted for in the budget. He details it greatly in this book, and provides a flowchart at the end of the book to utilize.
A large section is written about learning how to negotiate with cash to get a better deal on any large purchase (furniture, car, etc.). You learn that power of buying with cash is no joke. It’s a tried and true method in my household!
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- 7 Surprising Simple Ways to Make $50 A Day
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- The 3 Critical Steps to Creating A Successful Budget
Once you have a handle on your budget, can understand your behavior around spending, and are beginning to save, it is time to invest. Dave explains many investing terms in ways for all to understand. This provides the reader a great reference to come back to when they begin to invest!
Regarding investing, Dave is a fan of Roth IRAs, as it is number 4 of his “Baby Steps”. He is not a fan of taking big risks with money (which, is probably good for any beginner investor!). He teaches to put in 15% of one’s earned income into this type of account.
As the book continues, he explains how to properly invest into a college savings account, the best options for investing as a beginner, and how to give.
And, most importantly, he reminds you of your main goal: Live like no one else now, so that you can live like no one else in the future!
What are the Book’s Important Points?
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Dave’s “Baby Steps” Method To Get out of Debt
- The Complete Guide to Money outlines the 7 steps of the Baby Steps Method throughout its entirety. These “Baby Steps” have been an amazing foundation for many women and men to getting out of debt.
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Nerds vs Free Spirits
- We all feel a certain way about our money. We like to spend or we like to save. You and your man probably feel very different about money. This book will help you figure out where you stand regarding being a “Nerd” or “Free Spirit”, and better understand your man’s viewpoint as well.
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Negotiating for what you want
- This is huge for those of you who have a significant amount of debt and need to deal with credit callers, or for those of you who haven’t used the power of cash to make purchases. This is a transformative skill of its own!
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Invest to Avoid Inflation Issues
- It is important to remember that keeping your money in your local bank with such small interest, or keeping it all in cash under your bed, will NOT protect you from inflation. Dave shows you how to find the best way to invest so you can avoid your dollar losing value.
Should I Buy The Complete Guide to Money?
I’ve outlined a few reasons why I would/not recommend purchasing The Complete Guide to Money by Dave Ramsey:
- YES: Many myths are dispelled. He takes many common money myths and dispels them, then shows you how to work around them. Did you know you don’t need a credit card to build credit to buy items like cars or a house?
- YES: Realize that the goal is not to be rich. I love how Dave is truly trying to get you to understand your money and where it goes. He does not promise you will get rich. This book outlines how to be able to live without the stressors of money.
- YES: His methods work. I’ve followed his methods to pay off my debt, and so have many other women. If you have nowhere to start, this may be a great place to do so.
- NO: I do think Dave’s Total Money Makeover may be a better place to begin, as this book does parallel the Financial Peace University. However, taking the course would be the best option, if you’re willing to put in a little money!
Okay, Let’s Summarize!
- No matter if you pick up this book, or another of Dave’s, you know that you will learn great tools to reach financial independence.
- This book is a great summarization of his best concepts, since it is a companion to his Financial Peace University It may not be the absolute best option to begin if you need your hand held through this process!
