Dave Ramsey, Debt Snowball, Zero Based Budget.

cinderayla

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Has anyone done a budget using the Dave Ramsey method. Im thinking of doing up a budget and using the Debt Snowball effect to clear our debt of 15,000. It is more American based & used, however i've seen it been very successful for lots of people from watching Debt Free videos on you tube.
 
Has anyone done a budget using the Dave Ramsey method. Im thinking of doing up a budget and using the Debt Snowball effect to clear our debt of 15,000. It is more American based & used, however i've seen it been very successful for lots of people from watching Debt Free videos on you tube.
Do it. Ramsey's style isn't to my taste, but he talks a lot of common sense and he knows how to light a fire under people's arses!

In the spirit of Ramsey, bear with me while I evangelize at you for a minute :) -
The first step, baby step 0, should be a written budget. I swear by youneedabudget.com - it meets Ramsey's specifications perfectly. I lived paycheck-to-paycheck 18 months ago before I started using it. Today I have €60 budgeted for Christmas 2015. With no conscious sacrifice whatsoever, I now have a €500 a month surplus. It's mind-altering.
 
Do it. Ramsey's style isn't to my taste, but he talks a lot of common sense and he knows how to light a fire under people's arses!

In the spirit of Ramsey, bear with me while I evangelize at you for a minute :) -
The first step, baby step 0, should be a written budget. I swear by youneedabudget.com - it meets Ramsey's specifications perfectly. I lived paycheck-to-paycheck 18 months ago before I started using it. Today I have €60 budgeted for Christmas 2015. With no conscious sacrifice whatsoever, I now have a €500 a month surplus. It's mind-altering.

How do you start if you cant make all your current payments as it stands right now? incoming cash less than outgoing?
 
How do you start if you cant make all your current payments as it stands right now? incoming cash less than outgoing?
If you are waiting on a payment later in the month, don't budget the whole month yet, just budget the money you've got right now. Prioritize your categories - if that cheque you are expecting got lost in the post, and debt wasn't an option, who would get paid first? Probably Aldi. This is a common problem for people getting started. Once you get to the stage where you are "buffered" (i.e. this month's income funds next month's budget), the whole process will become much easier.

OTOH If you are genuinely spending more than your income, read on. For the purposes of an example, let's say you are looking at a €500 shortfall for the month of March.
If your shortfall is coming out of savings, you under-budget your rent/mortgage by €500 and transfer €500 from a "savings" category to your rent/mortgage category.

If your shortfall is accumulating on a line of credit, your budget and will end up with a big dirty red "-€500 Overbudgeted" at the top of the month, and your income for April will start at -€500.
It's not pretty, but it's reflective of reality. Don't get depressed, get serious about digging up. Ramsey will help.
 
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