Antone Burbidge
Reflective Book Report
Dec 1, 2014
The book I chose to read is “The Total Money Makeover” by Dave Ramsey. This book is about
how to get out of debt, save money, invest and become financially stable and wealthy. This book is
written in a very clear, matter of fact style. I really liked the style of writing that the author, Dave
Ramsey, uses. He says that this is not an easy fix, get rich quick book. This is a book that tells you how
to make the necessary sacrifices it takes to save money, get out of debt and become financially stable.
This made me trust his advice a lot more than if he approached this as an easy, quick fix it book. The
other aspect that I really liked was that he gives you clear steps to follow without throwing a lot of
numbers and equations at you.
The first couple of chapters talk a lot about how most of us know what to do, but the key is
actually doing it. Dave challenges the readers to actually accept the total money make over challenge
and stick with it. His famous phrase that the readers must say to themselves is “If you will live like no
one else, later you can live like no one else. The author uses a lot of success stories of people that have
tried his techniques and gotten out of debt. I like this because it helps me realize that a lot of people get
into financial trouble so either you have to sacrifice then or you could sacrifice to avoid getting into
those situations.
Some shocking statistics in the first few chapters were that 90% of people in our culture buy
things they can’t afford and 70% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Most Americans are in debt.
Dave says that personal finance is 80% behavior and 20% knowledge. This book taught me that in order
to become wealthy, I must make sacrifices in the beginning. Some of these sacrifices seem very difficult,
such as not having a nice car or saying no to something I really want. Dave talked about myths versus
truth. I think one of the most common myths that people want to believe is that there is a get rich quick
or easy money secret. Dave talks about how this in not true, there is no magic secret besides living right
financially which may be difficult.
I was glad when I got to chapter 6 which is actually the first step; I was getting excited to be on
my way to financial security! The first step is to save $1000 as an emergency fund. In order to be able
to start saving though you need to set up a written budget. The other thing before saving $1000 is to
get current with creditors.
The next step is paying off debt. He says to make a list of all debt starting with the smallest
balance. Pay off the smallest debt first and then apply the money to the next debt and so on, except for
your home mortgage. Step three is saving more for your emergency fund. You need to save enough to
live three to six months. I personally do not have any debt yet, so I have started planning a budget and
have saved $1000. My goal is to save for a down payment on a house.
The next step, after building up six months emergency fund and paying off debt, is to invest 15%
of your income in retirement. Dave goes over many different options of retirement funds. After that he
says to save for your children’s college, followed by paying off your mortgage. After all of these steps,
you can really build wealth, which is the last step!
One of my favorite parts of the book was at the last step because Dave goes into how if you
have made it this far and you really start building wealth, one of the most important things to do with
your money is to help others. I thought this was pretty amazing because a lot of rich people may seem
greedy, but this book is teaching the opposite and saying that is where a lot of your money should go, is
helping others or donating to charities.
At the very end of the book there are a lot of forms to help with financial planning, which I also
think are very helpful. These are good tools that people can use to implement the ideas that Dave talks
about in his book. Some for me that were particularly helpful were the Major Components of a Health
Financial Plan form, the Monthly Cash-Flow Plan form, and the Allocated-Spending Plan form.
After reading this book I got pretty excited that I could learn how to manage my money and
become wealthy. There were a lot of success stories throughout the book and a lot of the people didn’t
make a ton of money, but because they sacrificed and were wise they ended up with quite a bit of
money. After my excitement passed, I realized that I have a long way to go and a lot of sacrifices before
I am in the financial situation I want to be in.
I am glad I read this book now though. I realize that I am lucky because I am young and have no
credit cards or debt. I get to live with my parents while I am in college so my bills are few. My goals
now are to graduate from SLCC with an associate’s degree and then go on to get a four year degree.
While I am going to school I am working and want to save money for a down payment on a house when I
am finished with school.
A large portion of the book talked about how to get out of debt. This didn’t really apply to me
because I do not have any debt. I think it was good for me to read the book now, but I also feel like it
was meant for someone a little older or in a more advanced financial stage of their life. I think this
author also wrote a financial book for teenagers, which I want to read and feel like it may give me more
advice for my very beginning financial situation. For example, after reading this book I don’t know
whether I should start saving for a down payment on a house or invest 15% or more of my income. I am
not sure which is a smarter idea financially for me at this time. I would like to continue to learn more
about steps I should be taking in these early stages.