Thanks..great site!…

I guess it’s not the messenger but the message that counts. Both Matlock and Ramsey are both doing their thing now, and in the end, they’re both helping people.

Thanks again for what you did…

Glen

I’m already regretting that comment…

Glen and I are probably the only ones who remember the Great Matlock / Ramsey break up controversy. Talk about inside blog-ball!

My “deployed Marine family” story was true, however. Dave has done my family a great service. My hat is off to him. And I will forever be in his debt. (Pun intended.)

OK, let me save you all some money if you’re thinking of going to one of Mr. Ramesy’s “Financial Peace” shows. Here’s how you get out of debt:

[...]

Matlock still does what Ramsey does, that is, helping people get out of debt, but he doesn’t charge anything for it.

Glen
Nashville

Quick story:

Two US Marines leave for war in Iraq in 2003. Both are married and are about $5000 in debt.

Before leaving, one Marine turns his lovely wife onto the Dave Ramsey radio show. (Available as streaming audio from his website, which was a good thing, since at the time it wasn’t broadcast in Hawaii)

When these two Marines return seven months later, one finds that his lovely wife has not only eliminated debt, (paid off the credit cards, the student loan, and the car) but fully funded their IRA’s, and saved ten grand which we put towards our first house!

My God did I feel bad for the guy who returned to find him and his wife $20,000 in debt. The difference? While I was overseas, my wife had gone to one of Ramsey’s public appearances… for free! because Dave frequently gives out free passes to spouses of deployed military members. He also gives out free passes, books to widows and widowers, orphaned children and others groups he feels passionately about supporting.

So, Glen –

I remember listening to “The Money Game” back when it was a short lived, regional financal advice show, and your right! It was good. But you can’t deny that Ramsey made it a national phenomenom. Before you slam the guy for running a for-profit operation, please consider the veteran families he’s helped out on his own dime… you know, like mine?

He comp’ed my family thanks only to the largesse of his fans who dropped some surplus cash at his personal appearances.

Jes sayin’

1) stop charging stuff
2) pay off your credit cards in the order of smallest balance to largest balance; once you pay off the smallest, take that money and put it toward the next smallest debt
3) start an emergency fund; you need to have at least 6 months of living expenses on hand for emergencies
4) once you get out of debt, start putting the money that went to pay it off into a retirement account
5) get rid of your whole life insurance or any cash value insurance and buy term life

No, I didn’t get this info from Mr. Ramsey; I got it from the fellow that started the radio show that Mr. Ramsey now hosts. It was originally called “The Money Game” the fellow Dave co-hosted it with is a guy named Roy Matlock. They kind of went different ways and Ramsey ended up with Matlock’s half of the show, and then renamed it. Matlock still does what Ramsey does, that is, helping people get out of debt, but he doesn’t charge anything for it.

Glen
Nashville

How on Earth can Bethany, a 17 year old girl from Nashville, have 3 credit cards?

That’s all I’ve got :(

The People’s Cube is much more PC.

I never heard of Ramsey till now. Fascinating suject & approach. Thank you team realVerse for doing a great job these past few days! Thanks Bethany for all the smiles. :o)

At the end when you hold your credit cards like a poker hand and say that you were convinced to cut them up, you place them down behind the book, but there is a different card sticking out already (not part of the pile you put down)… That one sticking out is the one you pick up and cut up.

I’m not dogging you because I’m not about cutting up my credit card. I’ve never owed money on it because I pay it each month, and I only use it to continue to build my credit (last check my score was like 770), so I don’t think credit cards are the devil, but I just think most people don’t know how to live within their means, how to budget, and how to handle credit cards.

Anyway, I just wanted to add my two cents to that. I do agree that the majority of people probably should cut up their credit cards because most people I know can’t manage their money well enough to have one.. but I’m not one of ‘em. Plus with my AMEX Blue I can score cool stuff with my bonus points.

My only other question is what was that card you cut up Bethany? Your Kroger card (because you’ve still got the keychain one)?

I for one thank Allah and Michelle for exposing us to other vloggers, even if it’s not all politics, all the time.

Ramsey rocks! I was one of those idiots that was using one card to pay off the other card because the credit card payments got used to fix the car, etc. The rule of 78s will eventually find you and crush you. There is a reason that the tallest buildings in the cityscape are bank buildings, just a few dollars here and there at 19-23% interest buys a lot of glass and marble.

BIG thanks to Michelle and Bryan for taking a chance on some like-minded video bloggers in Nashville.

Your realVerse Crew,
Bethany and Steve

The power of compounding was said to be deemed the eighth wonder of the world – or so the story goes – by Albert Einstein.

Compounding is the ability of an asset to generate earnings, which are then reinvested in order to generate their own earnings. In other words, compounding refers to generating earnings from previous earnings. Also known as “compound interest.

Suppose you invest $10,000 into Cory’s Tequila Company (ticker: CTC). The first year, the shares rises 20%. Your investment is now worth $12,000. Based on good performance, you hold the stock. In Year 2, the shares appreciate another 20%. Therefore, your $12,000 grows to $14,400. Rather than your shares appreciating an additional $2,000 (20%) like they did in the first year, they appreciate an additional $400, because the $2,000 you gained in the first year grew by 20% too. If you extrapolate the process out, the numbers can start to get very big as your previous earnings start to provide returns. In fact, $10,000 invested at 20% annually for 25 years would grow to nearly $1,000,000 (and that’s without adding any money to the investment)!

While D. Ramsey is right in part, some of you correctly stated the advantage of a mortgage, especially when one still works, with high earnings, and the taxes would ‘eat us alive’ without any interest to deduct.

Also, as already stated, never a good idea to put all the money into any single investment, whatever its advantages.

In addition, how could the Muslims blame the Jews, financially, if there wouldn’t be any interest?

On a lighter note,

our resident deity’s shaolin-monk like adhesion to his audiovisual blackout

has fooled the HotAir boys with this

Before the comments get going, let’s please have some substantive feedback for the realVerse team, which put a lot of work into these two clips

…while he’s keeping Bethany all to himself :)

Sparkle, you notice the slight of hand at the end?

I noticed that too, Axe. But I don’t get it. Why not just show fakes to begin with?

I just assumed she got to the actual cards later …

Today’s topic was great, and I’m glad it was done. We made the decision to get rid of the credit cards before they really became a problem, and I’m glad we did. There have been times when they may have been useful, but when I look at some of my friends and family who are struggling with enormous credit card debt, I have to say I’m glad it’s not me.

I agree with those above who discuss good debt/bad debt. I read an article in a magazine recently that explained why it’s better to have a long term mortgage as opposed to a 15 year or doubling payments. It really made a great deal of sense, invest your personal capital so that it will grow, rather than putting extra money into a loan that will do nothing for you.

I hadn’t heard of Dave Ramsey before. I’ll have to check it out.

Please.

;-)

“Better than I deserve!”

Dave Ramsey is an indigenous, one-of-a-kind case in point: A while back, one of my children was about to get herself into a financial bind with credit card debt. So I gave her a
a gift of one of Dave’s Financial Peace courses and it changed her life. She now lives well within her means and feels much more in control of her life. Best gift I ever gave!

Dave does tend to go overboard about all forms of debt, including mortgage debt. He also espouses putting all your money in mutual funds. But the main point is well taken: financial peace to the sound sleeping point and living within one’s means. Common sense at it’s best.

Thank you again for contributing to Michelle’s best of the web. Keep up the great work!

Webutante