The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey

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The Total Money Makeover Challenge
“As lost as a ball in tall weeds!” That is exactly how I felt. Although it
was decades ago, I can still taste the emotion as if it were yesterday. Out of
control, lost, no sense of power, I felt dread creep across the room like the
afternoon shadows on a cold winter’s day. Sitting again at the kitchen table
with too much month left at the end of the money, I was not having fun.
This “adult” stuff where a wife looks to you to provide and kids expect to
be fed and kept warm was not exactly working. I didn’t feel like some
powerful adult; instead, there was a little boy inside me who was very
afraid—afraid of this month’s bills, afraid of this month’s mortgage, and
absolutely terrified when I considered the future. How was I to send kids to
college, retire, enjoy life, and not live at the edge of money worries?
The “Normal” American Family
It seemed every month I sat at that same table with the same worries, fears,
and problems. I had too much debt, too little savings, and no sense of
control over my life. No matter how hard I worked, it seemed I couldn’t
win. I was to forever be a slave to some banker, to the government, and to
the “needs” of my family. When Sharon and I “talked” about money, we
ended up in a fight, leaving her feeling afraid and me feeling inadequate.
The next car purchase, the next house, the kids’ college—our entire future
seemed out of reach.
I didn’t need a get-rich-quick guy to pump me up or tell me to be
positive. I didn’t need a secret formula to riches. I wasn’t afraid of hard
work or sacrifice. I didn’t want to “feel” my way into being “positive.” I
was positive of only one thing: I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I
was tired of sitting down to “do the bills” and having a heaviness come over
me. The hopelessness was overwhelming. I felt like a gerbil in a wheel—
run, run, run, no traction, no ground covered; maybe life was just a financial
illusion. All the money came in, all the money went out, and only the names
were changed to protect the innocent. I owe, I owe, so off to work I go. You
know the drill and all the clichés that go with the drill.
Oh, some months everything seemed to work, and I thought maybe we
were going to be okay. I could tell myself then, “Oh well, this is how
everyone lives.” Those times offered enough wiggle room that I could
continue to lie to myself that we were making headway, but deep down, I
knew we weren’t.
I Did It My Way, and My Way Wasn’t Working
ENOUGH! THIS STINKS! I finally decided that this nonplan wasn’t
working. If you have ever had any of those feelings, you are going to love
this book, and, more important, you will love your Total Money Makeover.
Back in our late twenties, my wife, Sharon, and I went broke. We lost
everything due to my stupidity in handling money, or not handling it, as the
case may be. Hitting bottom and hitting it hard was the worst thing that ever
happened to me and the best thing that ever happened to me.
We started with nothing, but by the time I was twenty-six years old, we
held real estate worth over $4 million. I was good at real estate, but I was
better at borrowing money. Even though I had become a millionaire, I had
built a house of cards. The short version of the story is that we went through
financial hell and lost everything over a three-year period of time. We were
sued, foreclosed on, and, finally, with a brand-new baby and a toddler, we
were bankrupt. Scared doesn’t begin to cover it. Crushed comes close, but
we held on to each other and decided we needed a change.
So after losing everything, I went on a quest, a quest to find out how
money really works, how I could get control of it, and how I could have
confidence in handling it. I read everything I could get my hands on. I

The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey