Dave Ramsey - The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness

Pros: Easy to understand.  Common sense approach that is not common enough.  Quick read.
Cons: Tedious illustrations and analogies.

My brother bought me Dave Ramsey's The Total Money Makeover for Christmas last year.  I had a couple other books in the queue ahead of this one, but finally managed to pick it up.  The book is a quick read at 223 pages, which includes ...

Pros: "Total Money Makeover" is a sane, uncomplicated plan for achieving a sound financial future.
Cons: The book is pretty basic. See other books for shrewd details on investing.

I am really into financial self-help books these days. Once I get into a genre I will remain in it almost exclusively for a while and Dave Ramsey's 2003 book "Total Money Makeover" is the third book of this type I have reviewed for this site. Dave ...

Pros: Easy to understand, Feeling of hope, some spiritual truths embedded
Cons: Be prepared for major changes if you this to work

After spending about 2 months listening to his nationally syndicated radio show and being a member of the subscription-based My Total Money Makeover (MTMMO), I finally decided to pick up Dave Ramsey's book "Total Money Makeover". After only reading 10 ...

Pros: Step by step instruction and included forms
Cons: Getting your spouse on board is hard!

This book is written by author and radio host Dave Ramsey. His background is that he got really "rich" with assets in his 20's by financing a lot of real estate. He hit a bump and his house of cards fell and he was bankrupt. He spent the next several ...

Pros: Common sense, fool-proof plan, very motivating, reminding you to be generous and give
Cons: Religious overtones, a lot of "filler" if you strictly want a money book

I first heard about Dave Ramsey on a motorcycle forum online. I had always thought I did pretty smart things with my money as a "young kid", though there have certainly been some mental lapses. I like reading about money and money strategies so I ...

Pros: Easy, simple method to get rid of debt quickly!!
Cons: Honestly, there are not any that i can think of.

My brother has been hounding me for the past few years to read this book!!!  He has been living debt free, and swears by this book!!It is a quick read - honestly - pages are packed with testimonies from people who have gone through this ...

Pros: Excellent concepts that really work
Cons: Some investing advice was a little too high level

I bought this book after listening to the Dave Ramsey Show on the radio for a few months. It was an easy read and laid out a lot of the same principles that Dave talks about on the show. I like the way the book explains how to get out of debt and ...

Pros: I absolutely LOVED all of the different stories by real people.
Cons: I would love to see more ideas for supplementing income to become debt free.

I REALLY enjoyed this book. My brother is a huge Dave Ramsey fan so I wanted to see what the hype was all about. I have read lots of books about becoming debt free but still haven't taken those steps to get there. Dave Ramsey mentions in his ...

Pros: Simple steps anyone can use to reduce and eventually eliminate debt.
Cons: Ramsey makes a fortune telling people how to reduce debt, but he's honest about it.

Finally, financial principles that make sense! Other financial "experts" tell people to take out the biggest, longest mortgage on their house they can get and then "invest the money at a higher rate of interest." Honestly, who does that? The people ...

Pros: Easy to understand
Cons: Religious nature of some areas of the book

I have to admit, I was reluctant to pick up Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover book. I had heard he was uber-conservative and very relgious, two things I tend to avoid. However, I had also heard his ideas on reducing debt and "living unlike any other" ...

Pros: Back to basic money principles that no longer overwhelm. I'm empowered by the knowledge!
Cons: Be ready for change. If you aren't open to sacrificing temporarily, don't bother reading

At first I was completely unimpressed with this book. It seemed basic and was not the information I expected on investing and saving. I was rearing to go! I had no idea that my view of finances was so skewed. I wanted the nitty girtty to stretch my ...

Pros: Easy to read; solid advice for changing spending and saving habits.
Cons: Suggests that you take actions and make sacrifices that may be difficult.

After going through a move, job change, husband's loss of job and having 2 mortgages in this horrible real estate market, I realized I needed more than additional credit to help me out of this financial mess I found myself in.Then a co-worker ...

Pros: Great advice, easy read.
Cons: It is a lot of information all at once but just read what you need.

I read this book almost a year ago exactly. My husband and I have since paid of thousands of dollars in debt and for the first time since we got married we are no longer living paycheck to paycheck. Did the book do this? No, but without Dave's ...

Pros: Excellent tone, easy to read, motivating and fun
Cons: Can be quite faith-based geared, which is fine with me but might offend some.

Dave Ramsey is the well-known financial radio show host and frequent TV financial guru. Ramsey’s approach is an interesting one, in that his ideas are based more on real-world possibilities than on the ever –changing theories of financial academia. If ...

Pros: simple life saving tips
Cons: you'll be kicking yourself for not already knowing this

This is the run of the mill Dave Ramsey book. He takes everything that those of you can't hear daily on his radio show and has put it in print.

As anyone knows Dave Ramsey is not a visionary with a new breakthrough method for getting out of debt. Everything he explains is common sense but a lot of us out there have trouble seeing it. This book gives a good overview of the methods that Mr Ramsey teaches everyday on the radio and has many stories that refute the outcome that can be achieved. If I had to pick an order on his books I would say read this one before his other best seller Financial Peace. This book explains where you need to be; Financial Peace explains how to get there.

Ultimately Dave's principles will save: lives, debt, & marriages.

Thomas Jefferson once wisely said "God grant that men of principle shall be our principal men". That sums up Dave Ramsey best; because he has integrity so does his teachings and writing.