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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Dave Ramsey
Read between
August 6 - August 29, 2018
Many years ago I was given a calling: to show people the truth about debt and money and to give them the hope and tools necessary to set themselves free financially. First, I did that with a few speaking engagements and a small self-published book titled Financial Peace.
I suggest you read a lot of different people, as I do. I have invented very little in this area of money. What I have done is packaged the time-honored information into a process that is doable and has inspired millions of people to act on it.
it. I am not arrogant because I realize I am not personally responsible for any of the lives changed. The stuff I teach is the truth, and those principles are responsible for changing lives.
IF YOU WILL LIVE LIKE NO ONE ELSE, LATER YOU CAN LIVE LIKE NO ONE ELSE.
Honestly assess your earning capacity and live below your means. Be in control of your own destiny and your own happiness!
Savings without a mission is garbage. Your money needs to work for you, not lie around you.
For your own good, for the good of your family and
your future, grow a backbone. When something is wrong, stand up and say it is wrong, and don’t back down.
Albert Einstein said, “Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds.”
Proverbs 22:7: “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender”
Beverly Sills had it right when she said, “There is no shortcut to anyplace worth going.”
Proverbs 17:18, “It’s stupid to guarantee someone else’s loan”
My company owns my cars. We are able to straight-line depreciate those cars or write off the mileage. If you drive inexpensive cars in your business and put high mileage on them, take the mileage deduction. If you, like me, drive expensive cars but do not put many miles on them, take the straight-line depreciation. Both tax deductions are available to you without having a stupid car payment.
“A budget is people telling their money where to go instead of wondering where it went.”
I am not against the enjoyment of money. What I am against is spending money when you do not have money to begin with.
Breaking Down the Envelope System It’s easy to overspend when you don’t have a clear boundary line. The budget tells you what that line is for each category, but when your gas money and grocery money and entertainment money are all sitting in one big lump in your bank account, one category can plow right past the line without you knowing. That’s why I recommend using the envelope system for some categories. Say you budget $600 for food this month. Well, when you get paid, you take that $600 out of the bank in cash—yes, actual cash—and put it in an envelope. Write “FOOD” on the outside of that
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“A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children”
Whole Life insurance is a horrible product. Why would you pay someone interest on your own savings? That’s backward, and it does not make you smart.
“We have met the enemy and he is us.”
You do need to read something about money at least once a year. You should occasionally attend a seminar about money. Your actions should show that you care about money by learning something about it.
We read about marriage, we go to marriage retreat weekends, we date weekly, we sometimes take a Sunday school class on marriage, and we even meet once in a while with a friend who is a Christian marriage counselor.
“Gomer Pyle on Valium.”
Finish this book and read others. You can always check my website at daveramsey.com/books for recommended reading by other authors that generally line up with my teachings.
by our crowd and our families. This need for approval and respect drives us to do some really insane things.
Dr. Tom Stanley wrote a wonderful book in the ’90s that you should read entitled The Millionaire Next Door.
The Bible states, “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Tim. 6:6 NKJV).
“Continuing to do the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.”
“You can get anywhere if you simply go one step at a time”
The power of focus is what causes our Baby Steps to work.
“If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.”
“Money is an excellent slave and a horrible master.”
Jesus said, “Which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it” (Luke 14:28 NKJV).
Brian Tracy, motivational speaker, says, “What does it take to succeed on a big scale? A tremendous God-given talent? Inherited wealth? A decade of postgraduate education? Connections? Fortunately for most of us, what it takes is something very simple and accessible: clear, written goals.”
Once the budget is agreed on and is in writing, pinky-swear and spit-shake that you will never do anything with money that is not on that paper.
The number one cause of divorce in America is money fights and money problems. Spouses just don’t know how to talk to each other about money. That’s because most of the time the husband and wife have totally different personalities about everything—and that includes their money. In every marriage, there’s what I call the Nerd and the Free Spirit. The Nerd has fun with numbers and feels like it gives them control. They feel like they are taking care of their loved ones. But the Free Spirit doesn’t feel cared for; they feel controlled! They don’t want anything to do with the numbers, and they
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Murphy is that guy with all those negative laws, such as, “If it can go wrong, it will.”
You have already figured out that if you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else. You are sick and tired of being sick and tired, so you are willing to pay the price for greatness.
“Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds.”
Total, sold-out, focused intensity is possibly the most important. This means saying to yourself (and meaning it), To the exclusion of virtually everything else, I’m getting out of debt!
I fly a lot, and I never get on a plane and think to myself, I wonder where this plane is heading?
When I get off the plane, I don’t catch the first cab I see and say, “Why don’t we just drive around awhile because I don’t have a plan.”
Proverbs 6:1 and 5 (loosely Dave-paraphrased) says, “If you have signed surety, my son, [surety is Bible talk for debt] . . . deliver yourself like the bird from the hand of the fowler and the gazelle from the hand of the hunter.”
Translation: “I love my stupid car more than the idea of becoming wealthy enough to give cars away.”
Bad Idea: Separate Checking Accounts Here’s the deal. When you get married, you become a team. The pastor at your wedding wasn’t joking when he said, “And now you are one.” It’s called unity. The old marriage vows say, “Unto thee I pledge all my worldly goods.” In other words, “I’m all in,” so combine the checking accounts. It’s hard to have unity when you separate your bank accounts. When his money is over here, and her money is over there, it’s easy to live in your own little financial world instead of working as a team. When you do your spending together, it’s about “our” money. We have an
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Many people find a way to shorten the time with sheer intensity, and God tends to pour blessings on people going in a direction He wants them to go.
