Guided by Biblical principle

Tuesday, Apr 08 in Behavior | Comments (0)

Question: John purchased a house that he could not afford. He realizes he made a bad decision, but was able to sell the house using a short sale. Now he and his wife are $20,000 in debt and only make $47,000. He needs Dave's wisdom on how to change his family. Dave walks John through 5 Biblical and financial principals.

Dave Ramsey's advice: If you do these 5 things, you'll be all right. First, get out of debt, because you have money when you don't have payments. Second, you have to have a written game plan for your money; a budget. Third is to save money, because wise people save money. Fourth, you must live on less than you make. If you spend everything you make, then you are Biblically and financially a fool. Finally, make sure to give.

If you do those 5 things, you will prosper. Those principles are not just for old times, either. We didn't talk about mutual funds, but that falls under those basic principles of saving money. That is being guided by principle toward mechanical application in the marketplace.

Hear the call!

del.icio.us |

Digg It! |

Linking Blogs | 127 Views

Breaking the bad cycle

Wednesday, Mar 12 in Behavior | Comments (1)

Question: Sandy is 45 and, although she grew up in a house where her parents lived below their means, they never taught that to her. She can't get her spending under control and keeps going into debt. She doesn't know how to break the spending cycle. Dave tells her about the 3 things she needs to discover.

Dave Ramsey's advice: You're a pretty normal American. You've had a Doctor Phil moment of asking yourself how this behavior is working, and you know that it's not. You've got a good edge there.

With me, 3 things happened to get me to break that cycle. It involved a little bit of disgust, a little bit of fear of the prospect of ending up broke, and the most important part ... contentment. That has to do with your spiritual walk. In this culture, marketers say you'll be better, or smarter, or happier, or sexier after you've bought our product. If we have that much marketing crammed down our throats, it affects our contentment. That's the last piece of the puzzle.

I quit going where I was tempted to spend money. If you go wandering through these places where you spend without a specific plan, you'll lose. If you have a plan and don't impulse and stay away from these places, you'll win.