Dave Ramsey - Baby Step 1

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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 !

Love the podcast. Listen to it whilst doing the housekeeping, seems to have improved my cleaning and my focus regarding money.

Nannynick I suspect it was you who told me about Dave Ramsey on a fb group?? Me the resistant one who now rather appears to have fallen in love with Mr Ramsey and his techniques.....

I only discovered his method recently, via a US Nanny Facebook group.

Until recently I had been doing it alone and did things in a different order to what Dave lays out.

BS1 is hard but meant to be fast, 2 months max. Dave talks about gazelle intensity, you need to zig and zag a lot, find ways to make more money via selling things you own and working more plus doing a budget so you reduce outgoings by giving every dollar (or pound in our case) a place to go.

New budget every month and at first those budgets are hard as you may not know what you need to spend in each area. Very important to involve all adults in the household.

Good to hear you are becoming a fan and I hope you can use the plan to get in control of your finances.

For those in the U.K. there was a Debt Free Scream from the UK last week.

Hope this link goes to the right episode. itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-dave-ramsey-show/id77001367?mt=2&i=1000380688915

Episode 8621

I've managed £220 in the last month, just from being scrupulous with the cash! Not got anything to sell (literally nothing as been down that road before when times were hard!) but cutting back a bit and increasing babysitting (I am also a nanny) has helped somewhat, so I'm hopeful we will get there but it may take longer than expected! Its already feeling empowering to know that there is a (somewhat small) pot of cash available for emergencies. The part I'm struggling with is not paying off debts (I owe a few hundred to a friend and am sat in overdraft) now normally I would be using the money to pay this off, but should I do this or keep it to one side? X

You should be current with existing debts, so paying minimum payments.

List debts in order of size, smallest to largest and pay off in that sequence, unless a debt is to HMRC in which case they trump the others.

The emergency fund is so you don't go back into overdraft. If you pay the overdraft off with your emergency fund, you then have no emergency fund.

If overdraft fees are high, ask the bank if they would convert it into a short term authorised loan with a lower APR. Then treat it just like any other debt and pay off during debt snowball.

Podcast 2826 Monday 6 Feb Hour 1. Near the end, Dave mentions nanny. He sees it as being better than a whopper flopper at least.

Chart for your fridge to help you save up... this chart is for £1000 but those of you in the US can adapt the concept for $1000. Same concept can be used for any goal, such as paying off debt in Baby Step 2, saving for 3-6 months Emergency Fund in Baby Step 3.

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wqs6PJU53sqYi9HLJneYDWboLtnuxG92fXVuH2_UxuA/edit?usp=sharing

I know this conversation has moved on a bit but I cannot find the uk debt free scream. The link just takes me to my podcasts that I've listened to. Any help gratefully received.

It was episode 8621, Feb 1st 2017 Hour 3. No longer available on iTunes.

Try player.fm though they don't always have every episode.

About 8 years ago we started listening to Dave Ramsey and managers to pay off massive debt in about 3 years. We then moved abroad for five years and have recently returned and would like to finally buy a house so are using him again to get on track. Some of his advice is US specific, but a lot of it is just basic common sense and about commitment and focus. Good luck!

I reckon you can do YNAB without the app or site if you just sit and look at all the principles and then apply them one by one. I keep meaning to do it...

Tax bills suck. I had one based on dh's earnings. I teach so my tax should be very straightforward but had an underpayment bill due to dh's business. I have for the first time (aged 53) taken out a credit card in my own name, partly due to said bill and partly because I'm helping fund 2 dcs at university - one pg so no loan for living expenses and living in London. £1350 of my part time teacher's salary goes to my children each month. Credit card is no interest for 24 months. Still sucks to work really hard for no cash!!

Hello, we are on baby step 2 although hoping to complete in July. It's taken us a year and as spender have had made lots of sacrifices. Although can't wait to be debt free (except mortgage) don't think I have ever not had debt since being an adult.
Good luck Char22thom

I loooooove Dave Ramsey's method. We are finally past Baby Step Three (fully funded emergency fund of 3-6 months' expenses, we went for 6). Never would have done it without his books or YouTube channel.

Thanks for sharing guys, that has spurred me on!! I've now got £600 in the emergency fund, I know thats not a lot but its the most I've had for years! I'm saving as much as possible but also using some money each month to pay off small debts and put some away for summer holiday spending money (hol already paid for last year)so not 100%saving but still happy with the progress we've made since January x