THE Financial Book that Changed My Life: The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

If there’s one book about money I could recommend to you, it’s hands-down The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. The Total Money Makeover absolutely changed my life.

I was 25 years old and had been working in my corporate job for about 4 years. It was a good job, and I was earning a good salary for my age and experience.

But, I didn’t seem to be making financial progress.

It wasn’t for lack of trying.

I had tried a couple of get-rich-quick schemes … you know, the ones your friends recommend as the “latest and greatest investment opportunity … and the business is CHRISTIAN! And it’s debt-free!”

Yeah. Whatever. In my experience, it’s best to run for your life if you hear people saying that.

I had taken a class in real estate investing and bought my first house. I was living in it, but I planned to turn it into a rental property after I moved out eventually. Unfortunately, however, I was drowning in the mortgage. A first mortgage plus a purchase-money home equity line of credit with a variable interest rate were really hurting me financially.

Basically, I had just made a lot of stupid decisions.

I made those decisions not because I was stupid, but because I was trying to do what “people say” you should do to be well-off financially. I had never had money, and I wanted to be financially stable. Secure. To put money between me and the next disaster.

But it wasn’t working. I had no savings, lots of debt (put that $3,000 real estate investment class on a credit card, you know), and even more frustration.

Then one day, by chance, I walked through a nearby university bookstore and I saw a copy of Dave Ramsey’s book The Total Money Makeover.

It looked interesting. I picked it up, glanced through it, and just knew I needed to read it. I bought it right away and dove in.

And The Total Money Makeover changed my life.

In this book, Dave Ramsey lays out what he calls “baby steps.” They are tiny little steps you take, along a pre-determined plan, to make over your finances. Those steps were perfect for me, because I needed real solutions in small increments. I didn’t have any money to throw at debt–at least, I didn’t think I did. But, by working Dave’s baby steps, I actually found money.

Read here about how I found my first $1,000 emergency fund.

Little by little, my financial life changed. And actually, once I started, I was so motivated by the first tiny wins that it didn’t take that long at all.

Motivation is a huge factor in any transformation, you see. If you look at the victories you HAVE gained, you’ll be motivated to win again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

So that’s what I did. And it’s crazy:

As soon as I started trying, and following Dave’s baby steps, the Lord came up under me and helped me like crazy.

Remember that He owns it all anyway. So it pleased Him that I suddenly started trying to manage money His way, because it’s His money. And as soon as I did, He helped me. He made things happen, brought money out of seemingly nowhere, and gave me grace, inspiration, motivation, and courage to go after it day after day after day.

It was an anointed process, and it all started just with reading the book, reading the gazillion testimonies in it, and deciding that I could do this. That I would do this.

Are you ready to make over your own finances? If so, grab a copy of Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover. Read it, and start doing what it says at the very beginning.

If you will, your life will change because your finances will change.