Comments on: A Christian’s Perspective on Debt-Free Living

By: J. Money

J. Money — Fri, 27 Mar 2020 19:16:34 +0000

In reply to Alaska49. hey thanks!

By: Alaska49

Alaska49 — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 11:40:17 +0000

In reply to Paul.

Larry Burkett used to have a financial radio program on the Moody Radio network. After his death the program still continued with hosts Rob West and Steve Moore. It’s called “Moneywise Living”. It airs M-F, 12-1….live stream…https://www.moodyradio.org/programs/moneywise-live

By: J. Money

J. Money — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 18:33:45 +0000

In reply to Debt Free in RVA.

Amen, brother…

And thanks for the recommendation. I’d heard of it before but didn’t realize it was so powerful! (Or that he was the guy who inspired DR!).

Really cool it shaped your finances like that. Going now to read more about it :)

By: J. Money

J. Money — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 18:29:05 +0000

In reply to stephanie t.

I like that – “a book of some good ideas” haha…

By: J. Money

J. Money — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 18:28:09 +0000

In reply to Paul. *clap* *clap*

By: J. Money

J. Money — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 18:25:32 +0000

In reply to whiskey. Yep yep - at the end of the day he's helping a loooooot more people than not, and most importantly the people that *need* the most help! I.e the ones in deep debt!

By: Debt Free in RVA

Debt Free in RVA — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 16:29:43 +0000

So, I loved the post and comments. I am a Christian too! Eastern Orthodox, which is not as common in America.

Someone up in the comment section mentioned Larry Burkett. Yes, Dave learned from Larry! I want to put a plug in for my Christian mother who gave me the book “Debt Free Living” by Larry Burkett when I was 18 years old. What a great gift that KEEPS on Giving!!!! :-) My Mom gave it to me because my Dad and Mom were not good stewards of their money for the first 15 years of marriage. In fact, my Dad used to buy a new car every year……

In our modern, consumeristic society we are SLAVES to debt. The Bible teaches how horrendous debt is with passages like “A debtor is a slave to the Lender”. Larry Burkett mentions this. If anyone here knows someone who is drowning in debt, I highly recommend “Debt Free Living”. the case stories in that book are still applicable today.

yeah, Dave Ramsey and Larry Burkett are not perfect, but there is a lot of wisdom in minimizing debt. Think about it today – who wins with debt!?! We DO NOT win. The greedy banks win. Anyway, I know I am preaching to the choir here on J. Money’s blog, but if we can help others let’s do it.

By: stephanie t

stephanie t — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 15:18:15 +0000

In reply to Caroline. I still carry my envelopes with cash.

By: Caroline

Caroline — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 14:12:46 +0000

Dave Ramsey was life changing for us! I grew up w/ a Dad that had a BS in management but was all about low interest loans on things. I heard quite often “it’s like free money!”
Had my daughter in ’04, read Total Money Makeover when I was pregnant, hubby’s 22yr. Navy career was ending, debt was normal! We turned it all around baby stepping . I love envelopes whether actual or sinking fund savings accts. People get caught up when “Bible” is mentioned- we try to explain it as a book of some good ideas, 10 commandments= 10 pretty good ideas for a society! Always learning and yes, DR is a great starting point! Be well everyone!

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 13:14:53 +0000

Dave Ramsey often gets dismissed because of a trending societal aversion to religion (specifically, Christianity). Generally speaking though, if you look at the baby steps in a vacuum what he has done is written down a path to success for the lowest common denominator. I think generally speaking his methodology is something that a lot of people need.

He would also be better served to add realistic return rates in his calculation scenarios. The thing that really gets me is the not taking out a home loan over 15 years. Great in theory, or if you live in a LCOL area but for those of us in the DC metro, unless you were lucky enough to marry an ambitious partner, that is just not doable. The lowest price house is $500k and that is for a piece of garbage. I guess you can poke holes in anything when it comes down to it… Use of credit is also something I don’t agree with. My SIL follows Ramsey blindly, she closed all her credit cards and now has a terrible score. Barely could get a loan for a vehicle.

The point of all that is that DR should be used as a starting point and as a person becomes more fiscally responsible they should graduate to something more in keeping with reality.