The Total Money Makeover by
Dave Ramsey is not the most interesting book I’ve read lately but it’s definitely
the most practical. Basically it’s a book about reinforcing the good habits
that people need to have in order to be financially fit. I loved that part but I
did not love this book. There were too many testimonials and advertising for
his other books/programs that it felt like I was getting an infomercial form of
the money makeover.
So I’m not always into financial
books but I’m always looking for ways to improve my living circumstances. I do
things to help myself: use coupons, do things on Swagbucks (which is a great
site where you can earn giftcards just by taking polls, watch video clips, and
even play games-so I highly recommend joining this site), and work two jobs so I
don’t rack up massive debt. I am known to stay in a lot. In all honesty, it’s probably good thing that
R. sent me this book as a Christmas gift since I don’t always read a lot of
financial books even though I read the different blogs and the subject
interests me. Cause if I have a few dollars
(or lately an Amazon giftcard), I tend to choose books that fall into my pet
genres (memoirs, history from the 1700s to now, and a lot of
occult/fantasy/sci-fi).
Dave Ramsey doesn’t preach a lot of
hard facts or new ideas for the most part. It’s more about living within your
means, giving up the credit cards all together, paying off debt, and then starting
to enjoy the future. It’s just sound economically theory. The biggest things that I’m unsure about: is
giving up credit cards all together. I get perks for using the credit cards
especially my Target card-the key is paying off the cards each and every month.
I still have to live in my budget and make sure when I’m in Target or any other
store, I’m sticking to my budget. The
other thing I’m not sure about although I can understand where he’s coming from,
is to pay only the minimum on some credit cards as you put all extra income
into the lowest balance so you get rid of that debt first. I just hate the idea
of paying the minimum on credit cards since that doesn’t help tackle the
interest too much at all. But if you are paying off all your cards in turn and
finding ways to generate extra income, then you will be tackling the interest
soon enough on the cards.
But I hate how this book just felt
like an advertising program. It was like reading an infomercial on why the
Total Money Makeover is great and why you should also think about the Financial
Peace University books. Sorry but this detracts
from the book big time. In many cases you hear about the baby steps in the
testimonials before actually hearing about the baby steps in the book itself.
It’s as if he’s trying to prove too hard that he has a good idea rather then
letting it speak for itself first and then letting the testimonials back up the
facts.
Another thing I disliked was how he
repeated himself a lot. I know he’s a radio guy so you have to reiterate
yourself in case a listener didn’t catch the first part of the show. But this
is a book. We don’t need to be seeing an inset about the dangers of leasing
cars in the chapter talking about student loans. Just like the shocking stats about
the high level of college students applying for bankruptcy in the chapter about
building wealth. Bring those inserts in
the correct chapter or in the concluding chapter.
In the end, I do feel motivated by The
Total Money Makeover and I will use modified forms from the book as a way
to keep myself on track. But I hate how the book felt like a giant advertising
platform for his other books and radio show rather than really focusing on the Money
Makeover.
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