Dave Ramsey - Baby Step 1

[Toberich]

Hi all is anyone out there a Dave Ramsey fan ? I have been paying down debt for 2 years & about 40% there however I've never managed to build the elusive €/£/$1000 as I always blow find a need for it. Just thought if others trying to build an emergency fund would like to join !

[Toberich]

So far I have 50 locked away in 7 day deposit 🤑& set up SO from salary ev month for another 50. Difficult as I have a tax bill due & xmas, back to school & saving for hols next year, not to mention house maintenance badly needs doing ! Plus car due a service. 😕

[datingbarb]

I haven't read up on David Ramsey but I'm trying to save!

I have opened 4 savings accounts and nicknamed them Holidays, b'day/Xmas, kids stuff and general savings

Just trying to figure out how much did watch to save, do i just split everything I'm saving into 4 or do I work out my savings goals and timeframe and save the required amount.

Also got to get my head around this "pay yourself first" idea rather than just see what's left at end of the month

[Toberich]

I'm going to figure out annual amounts & start saving that each month. Will be difficult as we're working hard to pay off debts !

[Badders123]

We have £500 in our savings account
We both have e savings accounts but mine only has 16p in it
Both DC have cash isas which we can't touch til they are 18
Ds1 has £7.5k in his and ds2 has £4K - we put a small amount in (£25) each month
From sept we will need to put money away for Xmas
Sigh

[Toberich]

Hi badders what are you saving for the dc's for - college ? That's a bit away for us 😐 (ie being able to save for them).

Well did a revamped budget today based on everything & gave myself lovely sinking funds for everything we need over the year - placing 1/12th in each month etc. Then quickly realised I can't afford this method yet - large tax bill due in November, will have to use the xmaa fund for that. So for xmas no plan yet apart from to cut back as much as possible. 🙄If I could just magic about 2k to start with I could start from zero. Definitely continuing to build the 1k tho and definitely not use it for Santa ... 😬

[Whataboutwhathuh]

Have you heard of YNAB? You can do a thirty day free trial and it really helps get in a good budgeting mindset. It's really important to have categories for "stuff I forgot to budget for" and to work out all the annual bills and jumps in bills to smooth it out over the year. If you plan for the unexpected and the expected but trying to ignore then you will know how much you really have to throw at snowballing debt and how much you can put in an emergency fund.

[Toberich]

I might look into that.. Main issue is constantly being at zero & having to scrape to pay things etc I just need to get on an even keel. Maybe having the 1k there will help with that.

[Toberich]

Feck I don't have a pc except work so can't use the ynab app 😐

[Whataboutwhathuh]

I resurrected an old laptop. Having a good spreadsheet with a good idea of what you have and what you have going out over the next 12 months will help. When I was in debt and couldn't afford to put by an emergency fund I kept a credit card with £1k clear on it. It meant I was able to cope if the fridge blew up etc while i paid off the debt and got in control of my money. It's not ideal but it stops you stealing from the tax bill fund and screwing up future months.

[Toberich]

I use copious spreadsheets in work I love them but don't think they'll thank me for downloading ynab too 🙂 Will have to do it the old fashioned way. We have groceries etc really under control it's the extras that need work etc !

[Whataboutwhathuh]

We don't have any extras these days, I have budgets for

Groceries
Fuel

And pots for
Days out
Medical and dental
Clothes
Haircuts
Gifts
Holidays
Car
House

Once my bills are paid and 1/12 annual bills are stashed I then allocate the grocery and fuel budget. What's left I divide between the pots based on priority. So the house and car get the most and trickle down. If I have unexpected bills then the pots don't get funded. I've got to a point where every unnecessary direct debit has been cancelled and I have a feel for each category. So I know that at Christmas I need more for groceries so each month I budget a little bit more and let it creep up.


I use sheets or numbers on my phone for spreadsheets. It's hard when you have debt and you have to keep living your life. It feels never ending and sometimes self defeating. You'll get there.

[Whataboutwhathuh]

Sorry I should have separated the spreadsheet comment from the YNAB comment. I meant without YNAB (it's browser based you don't download anything) you can just use a spreadsheet on your phone or have a notebook and do it on paper. I keep a spending tracker page in my notebook. If I have to write it down I resist spending it.

[tribpot]

New YNAB is browser-based, older YNAB is a desktop programme. Toberich may have been reading an old thread which referred to this.

The guys who run YNAB are quite friendly with Dave Ramsey I think, I'm sure both have the concept of knowing your true expenses? You are still discovering what yours are, if things like a tax bill is coming up somewhat unexpectedly, likewise the car service. It takes time but by paying attention to your budget these will become planned-for expenses with the money set aside in good time (indeed the tax money should be set aside as soon as the income arrives). I wouldn't focus too much on achieving the £1000 savings goal esp if you are paying down debt, although you do need an emergency buffer to stop every crisis from magnifying the debt further. I'd make sure you throw every spare pound at the emergency fund once you've put money into every budget category that needs funding.

[Toberich]

Sigh I wish the tax etc were unexpected 🙄I just hadn't budgeted (properly) for them. Large ounce of denial as always. I am focussing on snowballing my debts but large amounts are a challenge this year. Hence the need for sinking funds etc. Just can't start that properly until realistically Xmas is over.

I'll try the 2nd ynab app I just went for "classic" version

[Badders123]

Hi tobe
Bummer about the tax bill
We are just saving...when I got child benefit I used some of that each month
I guess they could use it for a car/uni
I couldn't get on with YNAB at all although I know people rave about it
I use a very complex system of a pad and pen at the start of each month
I write down all expected expenses and then try and give myself a budget per week
This month is a toughie as its a 5 weeker and the DC are off school

[Toberich]

I have everything allocated & I will have the tax bill saved by the time it's due I just won't have anything then saved for Xmas ! I will have to manage DC expectations well - last year was an expensive year ! They're probably coming to the end of believing so I tend to go a bit over board 😐

[Whataboutwhathuh]

The Christmas board has good threads. I've started my shopping and have fairly strict budgets for the kids. Otherwise I'd really go overboard and then have to find homes for it all!

[Badders123]

My DC are getting new tablets this year so tbh it'll be mostly stocking fillers as extras.
Need to be on the look out for good iPad deals!

[Toberich]

Well looking at the finances I will have to use savings for tax bill so will be getting Santa presents piecemeal, coming up to it.

See Frugsxmas thread I'm going to also start stocking up on a few groceries each week too!

[Whataboutwhathuh]

I'm going to start the weekly grocery Christmas shopping. I look at dates and try and buy one thing a week within my grocery budget.

I've downloaded a Christmas app to track who I have to buy for and it adds up so fast. If you can only do presents for kids / secret Santa / offer your skills as a gift (make a voucher for a homemade cake later in the year / it support / pedicure) to reduce as you can.

[Toberich]

Which app ? Sounds good !

[Toberich]

DR BS1 at 10% of target 😃

[rainbowglitterunicorn]

Hi can I join in? I only discovered David Ramsey last week but currently on holiday so going to start baby step 1 in September. I'm hoping to find a lot of stuff to sell on eBay plus save where I can to get the £1000 as quick as possible.
I've already started the Christmas shopping though using the Christmas bargains thread.

[Char22thom]

reigniting this thread as have recently discovered Dave Ramsey and serious budgetting!!

[Char22thom]

how is everyone getting on?