Wishing you bought gold is also nice in hindsight but could have been just as devestating if the market swung the other way.

If I did not feel comfortable investing my own money I would find a fee-only advisor who is able to represent dimentional funds. Check out FundAdvice.com to get an idea of their theory of investing using no-load funds. They show you how you can do it yourself too, if so inclined, using other no-load funds.

The ‘real’ book probably goes into much more detail and there is a companion workbook. I have both reserved from the library, or if I don’t get them soon enough I will have to go over to the other library (Barnes and Noble) and buy a cup of coffee and check them out there.

BTW, how much a month do you have to set aside to be able to afford some Wee Heavy Scottish ale?

OK, but using this budgeting strategy then I will not have any money saved for things like Christmas and birthdays when they come or a new fridge or the big screen TV I always wanted.

Why not? Possible budget line items for December:

\12. Gifts: $200 … \16. Saving for big screen TV: $300

The trick is you won’t be able to simply go out and buy the big screen TV you always wanted without thinking it through in advance. And likewise you won’t be able to simply go out and buy a thousand dollars’ worth of gifts without some prior planning. Both of these facts seem like advantages, not disadvantages, to me.

And as Mystie pointed out to me last night, Ramsey argues that a budget is not a “write it out once and set it in stone” sort of deal, but something that should be reviewed by husband and wife every month. In addition to that, I like the idea of a budget being an enabling device, rather than some overlord (Mystie’s catchphrase: “The budget was made for man, not man for the budget”) – by budgeting, I get to assign however many of my dollars I want to buy Wee Heavy Scottish ale, and then I never have to feel funny about buying it, because “it says so right there in the budget!”

Woly mokes, all this talk of budgeting is going to motivate me to go write one up!

I know he has some kind of ‘envelope’ system that has not been discussed yet (and may not be in this book or maybe just not in the audio-book. His envelope system is probably where this is addressed. I am just surprised that it was not dealt with first – but then again budgeting is grunt work – nobody wants to do it – but getting out of debt hits the emotions – and emotions are what motivate (and sell books).

First, list the four things that must always be paid for, in this order:

1. Food
2. Shelter (ideally should not exceed 25% of take-home pay)
3. Utilities
4. Transportation (gas, insurance, repairs, etc.) – total value of all vehicles (including cars, boats, ATVs, etc.) should not be more than half of your annual income

Then, list all the other things you want to do with your money, in the order you want to do them – e.g. giving, paying off debts, saving for a new car, going out to dinner twice a month, etc. Then assign your dollars to each item on down the list until you run out of dollars. Done. Now all you have to do is never spend a dollar that’s not allocated on the list.

Beyond that, it seems to me like there aren’t many nuts and bolts because most of what he’s preaching is just common sense. He does have his “baby step” plan to follow, but he (frequently) says that the actual budget is something for the couple to decide upon together, and depends on how badly they want to be out of debt. His preference is to sacrifice a lot for a little amount of time and get out of debt quickly, but some prefer to sacrifice a little for a long period of time and reach the same goal.

Or maybe there are no nuts and bolts because he sells his 13-week “Total Money Makeover” course that allegedly goes through all that.

Lastly, to Mystie: Really, now, I think it’s highly offensive to refer to him as a “Dr. Laura for money” – at least Dave Ramsey’s answers are worthwhile and generally edifying, and he doesn’t have a thoroughly annoying voice.

From what I have listened to on the podcast I don’t know if that would be more of the close-up view or not. What I meant by close-up would be more along the lines of the David Allen – Getting Things Done (GTD) book. Very nuts and bolts, down to earth, step by step. (I just realized I have not put a review of that book here, guess it is time to re-read it).