by D  at September 29 2009 9:16 PM

Tried this multiple times...why won't it work for me??

by andrea  at October 17 2009 9:28 PM

I understand that part but if everyone is wanting money from you now or they are turning you into collections then what....???

by biohazardpc  at October 23 2009 9:10 AM

Try harder, D.

by Darrell  at October 26 2009 7:20 PM

@D: to paraphrase a certain short, green philosopher: "There is no try, only do." Or, like a certain sports apparel company says, "Just do it". If it's not working for you, it's because you aren't following the program--you aren't changing your behaviour patterns. Think about that...

by landermom  at October 30 2009 1:11 PM

I have worked off multiple credit cards, car loans, student loans, etc., using the snowball plan. I hate budgeting and have always been terrible at it, but by sticking to the snowball plan, it was easy to wipe out debt I thought I would have forever! Just stay focused and throw everything you can find at that debt, even the smallest amount of money will help! Don't give up!

by sandy  at October 30 2009 9:58 PM

I have made it to debt free. But the spending thing is still a work in progress. My Emergency fund was wiped out this year by car repairs. 2010 is a new year, a new decade and I will get back in budget!

by Lesa  at October 31 2009 9:23 AM

This works! I paid off about $12K using this method. The key is to make sure you add to the payment of the next card when you pay one off. The other key is to not use the cards! You have to be disciplined.

by Barbara Cole  at October 31 2009 10:54 AM

My daughter,Kathy, is revamping her finances, thanks to you. She shared with her son and they were shopping in the mall and she started looking in the purse store window and her son (13) came up behind her and repeated, "Alpo, mom, Alpo"> and she immediately changed her mind. Hooray for Dave!!!

by Abraham Silcott  at November 01 2009 1:50 AM

I have been struggling with a credit card debt, and two loans for some time now. I am always worried about the interest rate on my credit card, and was paying all I can to pay that all and see it come down. On Sunday 01/11/2009 I checked my emails and had one from Dave Ramsey with this snowball debt principle. I always heard that if you pay off your smallest debt first, that will encourage you and then pay on the next smallest one. I could have been out of debt a long time ago if I was doing that and stuck to it. I am seriously going to do just that and watch my debts come down. Thank God for you Dave you are God sent.

by ann marie schulz  at November 02 2009 2:22 PM

I am using the snowball method and the progress I'm making is too slow. I wish my snowball would roll along faster!! I just need to stay encouraged and not loose sight of what my plan is. Don't give up, I know how you feel.

by Mike  at November 03 2009 11:57 AM

My wife and I are in the throws of this now - but our challenge is minimum payments on credit cards that continue to escalate their interest rates. Some are as high as 30% now but originally were 10% or 12%. I desperately want to avoid bankruptcy. I don't personally believe it as an option and don't see it as God honoring. But my pay check is consumed simply with meeting the minimums and making the house payment. When there isn't fluff or excess in your budget, what then??

by Katie  at November 08 2009 11:52 AM

When you don't have enough to make all your minimum payments, pay what you can on each one. There is a form to help figure that, called a pro rata (or "fair share") form. I imagine you can find it on this website somewhere. Even if the numbers you come up with as your payments for each debt is below the actual minimum payment, pay it anyway. You might get tons of calls from collectors, but as long as they are getting money from you, they aren't very likely to sue you, and they WILL keep cashing the checks, even if they say they won't or that the amount you sent isn't good enough. Dave said he had one client who got thru their debt snowball that way for literally years by paying only $2 per month on something, and paying it off when they could. Put your housing, food, clothing, and transportation costs FIRST, no matter what the creditors say. They are trained to get a rise out of you to get their money, so just ignore their rude (often illegal) tactics and do what you have to do to pay for necessities, THEN pay your debts.

by Charlie  at November 08 2009 5:03 PM

Mike, Could you work a bit extra for a few weeks? Could you sell some stuff you have? Is there an option to refinance your motgage? I would start there.

by frank p  at November 09 2009 11:58 PM

dave talks about having one payment after all your debt is paid off. but what about the car insurance, electric bill, gas bill, water bill, phone bill, cell phone bill, property tax bill, landscaper, alarm company, sewer bill, etc. how does he address these reoccurring bills?

by hutdwellers  at November 11 2009 4:01 AM

been at this for a year, a few, well a lot of stumbles, but the debt is still decreasing, and we will keep at it. Just keep working the plan, persistence is golden.

by too far gone???  at November 11 2009 10:37 AM

our family had a year of living on credit cards. We know where we went wrong and take full responsibility where we are, We have changed spending habits etc but we are 100,000 in debt to cc companies. We feel like we are too far gone! What do we do????

by T  at November 11 2009 11:02 PM

Mike, I've had all of my credit cards go to collection with my income dropping to 1/3 of what it was just a few years ago, but the nice thing is that some of them have stopped charging interest because I've been faithful in making payments every month. Stick to the snowball. When you get extra cash, consider if you have enough to pay off an entire balance. If not, do what I did and call the creditor and tell them you can't pay it all, and what are they willing to settle for. I've had one account that was charging me 30% interest waive $1,000 off the balance and settle. After paying 30% interest, I don't even feel guilty about that. So keep at it. I'm getting there, and so will you.

by Doug  at November 13 2009 6:35 PM

This is a paradigm shift in the way you think about money. It works. I started with 20K in debt, I am down to just the car, 7500, which I will write a check for at the beginning of the month and pay it off, next the second mortgage. Start following this and it feels like money is pouring in from everywhere!!

by sarah  at November 16 2009 3:31 PM

Doug - if you don't mind me asking, how long did it take to pay off the 20K in debt? i feel like this plan would work - just wondering what kind of timeline i'm looking at.

by JonP  at November 17 2009 1:23 AM

I used this plan and paid off 2 credit cards for a total of $3,800 and my vehicle at $3,500 for a grand sum of $7,300 in 1 yr on an income of $40,000. Nothing left but my house. It works you just have to keep at it. Thanks for focusing my mind Dave.

by Rosalinda  at November 17 2009 7:53 AM

The snowball method has been working for me. Murphy is always knocking at my door but I am not giving up. I still have $4,000.00 left to go.

by Lynette  at November 17 2009 1:20 PM

Today is my start day. I just read all the comments on here and I am gonna give it a try. Wish me luck!

by Eric  at November 17 2009 6:09 PM

Anybody have some advice for me? One of our department store credit cards is at 28% and we called to see about getting the percentage rate lowered because our payment is so high. They said they'll consider it if we make our current payments on time for 7 months. If I was comfortable making the payments for the next seven months I wouldn't be trying to lower the rate!! Any advice on how to push them to lower it now?

by Mike  at November 17 2009 11:04 PM

My wife and I read the TMMO in Nov 07. In Feb 09 (14 Months) we had paid off, $12,000 in debt off, paid cash for our wedding, cash for our honeymoon AND in Jan 09 I was laid off from my flying job. Still made it work!!!

by krissy  at November 18 2009 2:20 PM

I am SO willing to do this!!! I am also so TERRIFIED and DEPRESSED!!!!! Am working on selling some items that I do not use...I just need some encouragement. I do believe Dave's method makes sense though:)

by Yenisey  at November 19 2009 6:30 AM

I am reading, and will give it a try, I am not able to make minimum payment anymore and cut all the loose ends, but I will start the program this month, by following the advice to pay at least $10.00 to every one and will be able to clear at least one card a monthIt.Wish me luck and thanks for all of your comments. It gave me an insight that I do not need bankruptcy to take care of my own mistakes and created mess. $130,000 in debt.

by Uptoneckindebt  at November 20 2009 1:18 PM

I think if you are having a hard time managing all the debt then take the lowest debt first and pay it down. If you have to skip payments then do it on credit cards because they aren't attached to anything you can lose. The other thing is even though they scare you about paying them. They want to settle after a few months. They usually have racked up your bill to twice as much but are willing to settle for cents on the dollar so I say pay off what you can and settle the rest. It's stupid that they won't work with you before there is a problem but don't get discouraged. I plan on paying all my debts but I am having to do it one at a time.