I’m a recent discoverer and listener of The Dave Ramsey Show. Dave Ramsey hosts his own radio show where he takes calls from people all over the country answering questions about personal finances.
In a country when you’re asked to open a charge account at almost every store you shop, Dave’s fresh take on debt – to avoid using it in almost all circumstances – is so contrary to our culture of spending today. It’s refreshing to listen to and be inspired to get back to the basics. One of my favorite sayings of his is: ACT YOUR WAGE!
The basics he outlines are what he calls Baby Steps (a phrase borrowed from the movie What About Bob?). The baby steps cover getting out of debt, saving for emergencies, investing, etc.. Good solid stuff. Or as he says: financial advice your grandmother would give you.
We bought one of his books on eBay called The Total Money Makeover and have worked on a budget for April for the last couple of weeks which we will implement starting tomorrow… SCARY.
What’s worse is that we’ve put our credit cards in a drawer and are going to try not to use them no matter what. We’re not ready to cut them up just yet.
If you’re interested, his web site is a great resource for all kinds of money questions and also gives a list of stations and times he’s on in a specified area. I find it convenient to listen to the show through the archives that are also on his site, free of charge (with commercials, but you can fast forward through them).