The Simple Dollar is a great site for those of us who don't want to have to sort through a bunch of complicated formulas and tables to get to the core of debt and financial issues.
What follows is a listing of the first 10 (of 37), of what Dave Ramsey refers to as Peace Puppies along with thoughts from Trent, at The Simple Dollar:
1. Avoid “stuffitis” – the worship of “stuff” In
other words, don’t buy stuff you don’t need and soon you’ll find
yourself breaking free of the desire to buy lots of unnecessary stuff.
2. Plant seeds – give money away to worthy causes
Dave is very much into charity and it comes through strongly here; I
find that I agree with his viewpoint on charitable giving, though.
3. Develop your own “power over purchase” Develop
some willpower when you go shopping and simply don’t buy stuff that you
don’t need or that you didn’t intend to buy when you went into the
store.
4. Find where you are naturally gifted – enjoy your work and work hard
I agree with this; even if your main job is not suited to your natural
talents, find time to follow them and build them up into something you
can enjoy while working hard at it – success always follows this.
5. Live substantially below your income This is the key to financial success summed up in five words.
6. Sacrifice now so you can have peace later The
same sentiment is worded better by Dave when he says, “Live like no one
else so you can live like no one else,” which basically means spend
some time living as cheaply as possible so you can build a truly strong
financial base.
7. You can always spend more than you make Spending on credit is extremely dangerous over the long haul.
8. The borrower is the servant to the lender, so beware! Debt is also extremely dangerous.
9. Check your credit report at least once every two years
Doing this ensures that there aren’t any nasty surprises if you ever
need to use your credit report to secure a loan, or even something as
mundane as securing lower insurance rates.
10. Handle credit report corrections yourself If
you find a mistake, call up the credit reporting bureau yourself and
find out what you need to do to get it fixed; you’re the one with the
interest in getting it right here, not anyone else.
Do you struggle with any of these? Have you found a method for making any of these steps easier? Feel free to share!
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Karla, I'm new to Blissfully Domestic and still learning about all the nooks and crannies here but I wanted to let you know that I love your blog on Financial Peace. I haven't read one thing yet that I didn't agree with! Thank you – I'll be checking back regularly.
Relative to #3, I find that if I see a few things I want, if I go home to think it over, often that night or the next day I can't even recall the items. (What was the thing in Ann Taylor that I wanted to think over?)
I've often walked out of a store saying to myself that if in 2 days time I can remember this item maybe I'll come back and get it.