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

THE
TOTAL
MONEY
MAKEOVER
JOURNAL

THE
TOTAL
MONEY
MAKEOVER
JOURNAL

DAVE RAMSEY

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Copyright 2006 by Dave Ramsey

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Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version, Cambridge, 1769.

Selections from The Holy Bible, New King James Version (NKJV) copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The scripture quotations herein designated (NRSV) are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV. Copyright1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data on f ilewith the Library of Congress.

ISBN 10: 1-404-10461-5
ISBN 13: 978-1-4041-0461-7

Printed in the United States of America

07 08 09 10 11 RRD 5 4 3 2 1

There is ultimately only one way to financial peace,
and that is to walk daily with the Prince of Peace,
Christ Jesus.

Table of Contents

I want to talk you into doing something you normally wouldnt do. I want you to track your progress through your Total Money Makeover in writing. Journaling this process in detail will be a huge tool and great treasure for you if you make the effort. I know that writing everything down as you go means more work, but the payoff will be well worth it.

Take this journal and record everything happening that seems like a big deal. Record the relationship issues, the debt, the emotions, the setbacks, the victories, and anything else that seems important at the time. Just so you know: I am not a big journal-ing nerd. But I did this through my process of going broke and losing everything. While you are heading the other direction with your Total Money Makeover, you will likely get the same benefits I got by journaling.

The immediate benefits of writing everything down are twofold. First, writing helps you process the problems and victories. Have you ever had a problem and sat down with a friend for advice? We have all had the experience that by the time we finished describing the problem, we knew the answer. The reason that we answered our own question is that in order to verbalize the problem we converted our jumbled thoughts to concise ideas that clarified the situation. The same thing happens when you write out the crisis of the day orhopefully more often than notyour latest victory. This new clarity will help you move faster through your Total Money Makeover.

The second immediate benefit of journaling is that you can reread your entry just dayseven monthslater and gain vital perspective on your progress. When we were going broke, I remember entering a very emotional, hopeless entry. It was right after we lost one of our apartment complexes to foreclosure. Gloom, despair and agony on me.... It sounded like a Hee Haw song. My entry pretty much revealed how I knew life on the planet was over thanks to this particular foreclosure. Of course, it wasnt. The weird thing is that just a few weeks later, while still heading toward bankruptcy, I reread my entry and laughed. Rereading my hopeless entry didnt depress me; it gave me perspective. I realized that life on the planet hadnt ended, so maybejust maybeI was being a little melodramatic. This isnt to devalue the feelings I had in the middle of the crisis, but to highlight the fact that the next time I faced a planet ending crisis I was better prepared, emotionally and spiritually. Journaling helps you see the big picture during your Total Money Makeover.

But I think possibly the best reason to do this journal is that it makes a generational gift. I have a copy of my great great grandfathers memoirs. He fought in the Civil War, later founded a college, and even later became a preacher. The memoirs are full of challenges, humor, and wonderful stories. If you leave this book full of what you experience while having your Total Money Makeover to your great great grandchildren, you will have left a real treasure.

I believe that if you do with money what we teach, then you will literally be able to financially change your family tree. I think it would be very cool to leave this journal to document how you did it. So here is my challenge:

Write it down.

You will be glad you did.

DAVE RAMSEY

which of you, intending to build a tower, does not
sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough
to finish it...

LUKE 14:2830 (NKJV)

If you want things you have never had,
you have to do things you have never done.

You cant spend your way out of guilt.

Money can be the light that exposes wounds or
other problems in the midst of a volatile setting.

How you handle or mishandle your money tells
us who you are, and, more important,
it tells you who you are.

The understanding that the wealth is really Gods
and you are managing it not only for yourself,
but also for the good of others frees you.

The earth is the LORDS, and the fulness thereof...

PSALM 24:1 (KJV)

Do the things that are important in ways
that are noble and you will be led to
More Than Enough.

Train up a child in the way he should go, And when
he is old he will not depart from it.

PROVERBS 22:6 (NKJV)

Remember, you cant teach your children
to work unless you do.

Your priorities, passions, goals and fears are
shown clearly in the flow of your money.

Saving and investing with vision makes you rich.
This is one of the reasons the rich get richer.

Vision that is rooted in values
is the only vision that will last.

Goals are the practical building blocks
that make a vision come true.

Goals make the difference.

Courage always gets you dirty;
you have to be in the middle of the action
to create action.

When money is in your possession what you do
with it screams loudly who you are.

Problems give us the ability to hang on