A FATHER OF FIVE found himself drowning in $46,000 of debt due to simple lifestyle choices that were nothing out of the ordinary.
However, financial guru Dave Ramsey highlighted that his chaotic home life caused his debt to mount.
David, from Atalanta, Georgia, was called The Ramsey Show to get help with your massive credit card debt.
The 34-year-old father of five was $46,000 in the red and had an income of $80,000 a year.
“We are in a bit of a difficult situation right now,” he admitted.
“We are living paycheck to paycheck.”
David had just started working on the budget with his wife.
Dave’s co-host George Kamel said: “We need to find out where all this moneyit’s going. You guys earn a decent income and it seems like there’s nothing at the end of the month.
“So we have to figure out where these money leaks are in the budget, whether that goes to eating out, whether that goes to online shopping.”
George’s comments helped David discover where he was overspending.
“A lot of it was eating out,” he admitted.
“We were eating out, the money was evaporating.”
‘DISORGANIZED’ ERRORS
But Dave had a bigger vision than that.
“You’re 34 years old, you have five kids, you both work, you’re open all the time,” he said.
“Their lives are incredibly busy. It’s very hectic,
“And in the midst of the hustle and bustle, you do two things. You become disorganized, which is never an efficient use of money, and the second is, you buy a lot of things that save time.
“Eating out saves time,” he said.
Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps
Dave Ramsey advises his followers to follow a seven-step plan to save for emergencies, pay off debt, and build wealth.
Step 1: Save $1,000 for your initial emergency fund.
Step 2: Pay off all debts (except the house) using the debt snowball.
Step 3: Save three to six months of expenses in a fully funded emergency fund.
Step 4: Invest 15% of family income in retirement.
Step 5: Save for your children’s college fund.
Step 6: Pay off your house sooner.
Step 7: Build wealth and give.
“You’re tired, you’re exhausted, you’re frantic, you’re going crazy.”
Dave told David that he and his wife needed to put the kids to bed early and seriously work on their budget.
“When you start making that money behave, you’re getting ahead of it, not behind it,” he said.
“Then, when you are tired and get ready to buy something, you have to look at the budget and see if you have money.”
David said that budgeting effectively would result in Dave “getting a raise” because the money would work smarter.
See what other Ramsey Show experts advised a caller who was $126,000 in debt after becoming unemployed.
And find out how one woman paid off a $234,000 debt in just 31 months.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
