Comments on POSTUS FREQUENTUS: Debt is dumb; cash is king

Tell me Scott, If Dave Ramsey is southern, conserv...

2009-11-21T17:58:31.940-05:00

Tell me Scott, If Dave Ramsey is southern, conservative and unsophisticated.....Does that make you northern, liberal and sophisticated? Just curious.

Hey Scott. I appreciated your post. Just coming ou...

2009-09-21T05:41:45.206-04:00

Hey Scott. I appreciated your post. Just coming out of college (with loans...), I find it a goal of mine to get out of debt and start saving for a house and retirement. One of the biggest reasons I joined AmeriCorps VISTA (besides having the job opening I wanted in the city I wanted - and got) is that I live with a monthly living stipend below poverty level and it pays off $4725 of student loans each year (AmeriCorps pays the accrued interest and I qualify for loan forbearance). For three years of national service, I can reduce my student loan debt by 75% while learning to live on a tiny income and getting massive resume-boosting training. I've wondered how to adhere to my budget better, and I think the envelopes/cash is great. Usually it burns a hole so I limit how much cash I have, but I really want to reverse that. Great post - emphasizing patience is key.

Available and now on hold for our acct at our libr...

2009-08-19T12:58:54.038-04:00

Available and now on hold for our acct at our library, per your recommend. Hope to read it soon.. gotta find some sorta reading routine that works... I'm a VERY slow book digester (only because I don't take enough time to read!!)

Yes. True.

2009-08-18T14:07:49.896-04:00

Yes. True.

I agree, but what I'm saying is there's mo...

2009-08-18T14:04:24.998-04:00

I agree, but what I'm saying is there's more than just risk in the scenario, there's availability. If the house on the corner of the compound went on the market at a reasonable price before you had enough money saved... it may still be worth it to finance. Risk is just one factor still. You have to weigh it with other priorities, and you still may decide that zero risk is first priority, but you may not.

Elliot: I've heard Dave talk about this in the...

2009-08-18T14:00:43.168-04:00

Elliot: I've heard Dave talk about this in the past. The argument basically boils down to the fact that debt always equals risk, and the fact that you can actually pay for a house faster by saving than by financing it—and then the risk is nearly zero.

Greg: Your story is great! It really is a liberating idea, once you can see your way clear to accepting it. I think you should get a copy of his book (library!) and take a look at his suggestions for budgeting with a variable income. And consider trying the cash envelopes. I was truly astonished at what a difference it made for us.

Oh, and... "I am Dave Ramsey your host, and t...

2009-08-18T13:07:18.379-04:00

Oh, and...
"I am Dave Ramsey your host, and this is the best in talk radio, service-oriented talk radio, talk radio that matters. You jump in, we're going to talk about your life and your money..."

:-p

Just in case you didn't get to read it... you ...

2009-08-18T09:03:47.641-04:00

Just in case you didn't get to read it... you may enjoy my post, too. :-)

Hey Scott, this is awesome. Strangely, God led us...

2009-08-18T09:02:56.678-04:00

Hey Scott, this is awesome. Strangely, God led us to this same place without the assistance of Mr. Ramsey (though we have only heard good things about him) and for the past 14 months now we have lived this way. (Though we still use debit cards. And we haven't figured out how to "budget" yet because we never really know how much money will come in in one week or one month thanks to the nature of self-employment.) But we pay our bills and only spend what we have. No debt. I wrote up a long piece describing the journey God had led us through on that, but basically it came down to being content with what he give us, and PATIENT (that was the hard one) when we don't have what we THINK we need. It has been a totally different (and much better, freeing) perspective.

Liked this: "When we can't afford something, we save toward it." I think that's the key. We Americans have gotten this silly notion that we can have anything and everything whenever we want it ... the problem is, it still costs. And debt is a cost not worth pretty much anything you think you may need "in the moment".

Good on ya. I'd say keep it up, but sounds like you have seen enough that you'll never go back (just like us). Enjoy the freedom and keep sharing the cool stories. I think there are a lot of people in our country who need to know you can be content, and free, and... way better off. :-)

Thanks for opening up the full RSS feed, by the wa...

2009-08-18T08:39:55.033-04:00

Thanks for opening up the full RSS feed, by the way.

Is getting a short-term mortgage on a rental property really that bad? Sure, you're not making pure profit off the house that way, but the loss in interest payments really has to be just one of the factors in determining when and what to buy. Buying real estate is not like buying a computer—waiting doesn't mean that the next available properties are going to be much better than the ones on the market now. If you could get a property with a very small amount of debt that you could easily pay off with the extra generated income, have very low risk of the property losing any value, and the property matches all of your other important values and motivations for owning real estate... why not?

I guess I'm still sipping some of my own tea along with Dave's kool-aid.