Book Review - Total Money Makeover

For the last year I've been trying to get myself more interested in our finances.  I've been trying to be more conscious of how I spend money (I'm a saver by nature, but I still had never budgeted/tracked things).  So over the past year I started tracking my grocery store/food spending.  Just to see how I was doing and if there were places I could save.  It did help.  But I needed more than that.  Last year my husband read Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover.  And he suggested that I read it.  Not exactly on the top of my list of exciting reads.  But I finally did.  It did take me a while to get through it, but I'm glad I did!!  It really opened my eyes to a lot of money myths and how flawed most typical American living/spending is.  Most of us just assume it's normal to live with debt/credit card bills.  But it doesn't have to be.  I would highly recommend this book to EVERYONE.  It doesn't matter if you think your finances are just fine, if you have a finance degree, whatever.  There is so much good information in Dave's book.  Especially if  you struggle with debt and are ready to get out of it.

I am thankful that my husband is very good with finances and started following Dave's principles/baby steps a while ago.  So by the time I read the book we were already well into the process.  The basic idea is that you sacrifice and do whatever it takes to get out of debt.  Then you can start building wealth.  You build a small emergency fund.  And then attack your debt one item at a time.  We did that several years ago.  And our only "debt" now is our house payment.  Which we are able to pay quite a bit extra towards every month and will pay off in much less time than the actual mortgage is for.  By following Dave's baby steps we were able to pay totally out of pocket for IVF without going into debt/without using all of our savings.  We even were able to pay cash for our mini van a few months ago...meaning we still have no car payments :)  We haven't had student loans, car payments, etc. for years.  We are able to fully fund our 401(k) and Roth IRAs for retirement.  And we are saving for our children's college education.  It's a good feeling to not have debt and to know we are not passing debt on to our children.

The other thing that came out of reading this book for me is the idea of budgeting.  As I said, I'm not a spender.  I'm a saver.  So it's not like I'm concerned that I'm spending tons of money or anything.  But that doesn't mean I shouldn't budget.  So for the first time this year my husband and I worked on our budget together.  And I'm working hard to make sure I stay in budget.  The ideal would be at some point to not use credit cards anymore.  If you budget and only spend what you have they are not necessary.  Thankfully we have never had credit card debt.  Justin and I both have always paid every penny of every credit card bill.  So that is not an issue for us.  But it would still be even better to be credit card free.

I'm glad I read Dave's book.  It is easy to understand for anyone...even if you know nothing about finances.  And it could truly change your life.  Being debt free and knowing you are well prepared for the future is wonderful.  If you are ready to snowball your debt and start saving money please read Total Money Makeover.

I want to also mention that Dave is a Christian and this book does address Christian principles related to money.  No, it is not bad to save and have money.  When you are out of debt and have money saved...you have much more money to give!!  And what could be better than giving more?

And if you want to go a step farther in the process you can check out one of Dave's other books - Financial Peace.  Or find a local place that offers a class - Financial Peace University.