The Book Challenge
- Posted by JvW on October 14th, 2008 filed in Debt
A few weeks ago, I came home from a bad day at work. I was telling my husband about it, and he suggested that I read a book that he has read many times, The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene. He’s suggested the book before, and I have always put it off ofr lack of time and lack of interest. This time, though, he made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. He told me that I could pick out a book for him to read. Since my husband isn’t really into personal finance, I knew where to start.
I wanted to pick a personal finance book that I enjoyed and really learned from. In about 2 seconds, I knew what I wanted - The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. Like many more before me (and hopefully my husband after me), the book changed the way I think about money. I first read it in the fall of 2006 when we were beginning our debt reduction, and it really helped us get started when things weren’t looking so bright. Now that my husband is planning to read it, I decided it was worth the money to buy so we could use it as a reference for years to come.
I can’t wait to see my husband’s reaction - and to read it again myself. What book would you recommend to my husband?
October 28th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
I too agree that Dave Ramsey is a great resource for money and budgeting. I have not read any of his stuff but have heard of his ‘Financial Peace University’ seminars and programs. My wife and I are trying to save up for our first home, as well as paying off our student loans. What does Dave say about student loans? Should we pay them off before we buy our first home? Thanks for your post, I enjoy reading them!
October 28th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Ryan,
To the best of my understanding, Dave treats all debt the same. In TMM, he asks the reader to list ALL debts from smallest to largest, and to snowball the way through paying them all off. However, he lists paying off the mortgage as the last “Baby Step” in the plan, which leads me to believe that he doesn’t necessarily recommend paying off all loans before buying a house. I know that if I waited to pay off our loans before buying a house, it would be a looooooong time! Thanks for reading, glad you like it!
JvW
October 28th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
[...] I’m currently working on that by re-reading The Total Money Makeover. My husband is planning on reading it too, which will get us in good state of [...]
November 15th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
I’m not usually a big fan of Dave. I’ve heard good things about Your Money or Your Life.