There is no question Dave Ramsey has helped people take control of their money. We wanted to see for ourselves how useful his advice is so we review his book Total Money Makeover.

The book easily breaks down a no-BS approach to money matters. He teaches how to lay the groundwork for a healthy financial lifestyle. From getting out of crushing debt to easy ways to invest in your retirement. 

Introduction

In the intro to TMM, Ramsey talks about the success stories, how changing your behavior is key, and how the plan can work for anyone if they follow it closely. He also tells you what the book is not; complicated, anything new, politically correct, the same as his other books (so he thinks you should buy those too), or wrong.

Pros

Dave believes that personal finance and most other things in life, is 80% behavior and 20% knowledge. Agreed, the vast majority of us know what we should be doing with our money, actually doing it is another story.

The book explains that what it’s teaching you is nothing new, secret, or revolutionary. Also true, saving money is like losing weight. The principles are very similar, we all know to have more money you must make more than you spend.

To lose weight, you must eat fewer calories than you burn. The money/weight loss analogy is touched on throughout the book and it’s a good one. But just because those things are simple, that doesn’t mean they’re easy and the book acknowledges that.

The Total Money Makeover system is designed to work in good times and bad weather those good and bad times are personal for you or happening to the economy as a whole. We agree with this too, a good plan shouldn’t need to change due to external factors.

Ramsey does a nice job of explaining the 2008 economic collapse in a way that is easy to understand.

Cons

This book does not contain a ton of the heavy-handed religious dogma that Ramsey is famous for. But it is in there, so depending on your personal tolerance for that sort of thing, it might bother you or it might not. Ramsey does warn you that it’s in the book and acknowledges that not everyone will like it.

There are some pretty corny analogies in the intro, stuff about flying turkeys and skinny dipping. They went on at some length.

Chapter One: The TMM Challenge

Chapter One tells a little about Ramsey’s personal financial problems. He challenges the reader to acknowledge they are the problem and introduces the TMM Motto. The book promises that if you follow the guidelines, the plan will work.

Pros

We are the problem with our money and that is true. It’s rare that people are ruined financially through no fault of their own, it happens but it doesn’t happen a lot. If you’re in financial trouble, you most likely put yourself there. This is hard to admit and Ramsey wants you to literally stand in front of a mirror and acknowledge it. Silly but it can’t hurt.

The Total Money Makeover Motto is, “If you can live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.” Huh? I get what he’s trying to say but Adam Carroll said it better on one of our past member’s only podcasts, “If you are willing to do for two years what won’t most people won’t do, you can do for the rest of your life what most people can’t do.”

It means if you sacrifice and suffer for a relatively small amount of time, you can be set for the rest of your life. Live with your parents for two years after college while working full time and saving 80% of your income and you will be ahead for life.

Cons

Apparently,