The Financial Peace Planner

The Financial Peace Planner by Dave Ramsey      276 pages              

This is the second book I have read by author Dave Ramsey.    By far it is my favorite of the two.    The first book was a good introduction to who Dave Ramsey is and why and how he helps people to get their finances together.      This book breaks down his lesson plan so to speak on how virtually anyone can get their finances in order and get out of debt.    This book being a planner as per the title I think must likely accompany the course he teaches because it really is a workbook showing you how to break down your whole financial story from your Equity Sheet to Your Income Sources to Your Monthly Cash-Flow Plan.    Dave sites different folks’ stories in what they were going through and how they dug out from under their mountains of debt some even sounding insurmountable but with Dave Ramsey’s simple yet genius instructions he makes it all seem so doable.   It’s like that smack in the head when folks in the commercials realize they could have had a V-8 if they didn’t want to actually eat vegetables and they would get the same effect nutrition-wise.   Dave Ramsey gives you all the information, a personal banker, an accountant, a financial planner and a math wiz could give you but he presents it in such a way it isn’t like trying to decipher Latin or Calculus, he breaks it down into understandable terms and understandable steps so anyone can basically follow his principles and achieve the joy of being debt free.   Now just like dieting and exercising to lose weight, there is no gain here either without a little pain, again Dave stresses that if you are in debt the only way to tunnel out is to a.) stop spending!   Wants are not needs – learn the difference – ouch!   That is that can’t have your cake and lose weight idea.    Can’t spend all your cash on toys and have money left to pay the utilities.   Simple.   Direct and real.   Now, if you are going to get those bills paid off and you are using every cent you currently have to do so while still trying to have food, clothes, the occasional evening out, then therein lies the exercise part.   You are going to have to either sell something (do you really need that second car?  Or the piano no one plays? Etc.)  or you are going to have to get a second, maybe even third job to bring in more money to keep groceries coming in and keep the lights on at home while also paying down all the charge cards you’ve been living off of for the last year and keeping gas in the automobile.    No gain without some pain.    If a person has gotten themselves buried up to their neck in debt, then it is going to take a monumental bulldozer action to dig out and that effort may mean working a second job for 2 -3 years to accomplish paying off all the extra bills so you can live debt free at last.    Eyes on the prize.   Remember how it felt to be debt free before the creditors started calling?   Yeah, that feeling is worth all you have to do to make it become a reality again.    Dave offers simple solutions to all the financial problems anyone could have (and he often sites examples of how folks have practically done themselves in with debt) but, his suggestions are so spot on, it is so obvious how to achieve them if folks are willing to put in the work.   Hey, if you want a hard body, you have got to work out.   If you want a hard bank account you have got to work out at as many jobs as it takes to get you there.    I like Dave Ramsey’s reasoning so much, I think I will read every book I can by him.   Excellent book of very helpful and inspiring advice.   Go, Dave Ramsey!