{"id":18021,"date":"2020-11-21T14:52:08","date_gmt":"2020-11-21T18:52:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=18021"},"modified":"2020-11-21T14:52:12","modified_gmt":"2020-11-21T18:52:12","slug":"dave-ramsey-checklist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/dave-ramsey-checklist\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dave Ramsey Checklist for Financial Health"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is the Dave Ramsey checklist? How can the Dave Ramsey checklist help you with your financial journey?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dave Ramsey checklist is a tool to help you with the keys to getting control of your finances and managing wealth. Your financial situation is a result of your behavior, according to radio talk show host and author Dave Ramsey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read on for the Dave Ramsey checklist for paying debts and achieving and maintaining wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Dave Ramsey Checklist: Debt-Free and Investing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1) Focus intensely on becoming debt-free:<\/strong> If you\u2019re half-hearted, the debt snowball<\/a> won\u2019t work. Tell yourself, \u201cI\u2019m getting out of debt, no matter what.\u201d Fully focusing your mind on a goal is as powerful as focusing the sun\u2019s rays with a magnifying glass and setting a piece of paper on fire. Develop gazelle-like intensity: a gazelle keeps an intense eye on its surroundings to avoid being taken down by a cheetah. Similarly, your focused attention (or gazelle intensity) on your finances will save you from debt<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) Stop using credit:<\/strong> While you’re working through your debt list, remember that your goal is to eliminate all debt otherwise you won’t have satisfied this part of the Dave Ramsey checklist\u2014don\u2019t replace any paid off debts with new debt. Make a pledge that you\u2019ll never borrow money again<\/strong>. Before long, you\u2019ll face a test of your gazelle intensity level\u2014you\u2019ll need a major car repair or get the urge to make a big purchase using credit. To eliminate temptation, cut up your credit cards. You can\u2019t get out of your debt hole by digging it deeper.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3) The next step in the Dave Ramsey checklist is building your wealth by investing for retirement\u2014it\u2019s the key to being financially fit for life. It requires gazelle intensity to get started, but once your nest egg is established, you can maintain your financial fitness with less effort, like a marathon runner who\u2019s built up her strength through long practice and can run with less effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Live Differently From Everyone Else<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you follow the Total Money Makeover<\/a>, you\u2019ll become wealthy within a few decades. While it\u2019s an enormous relief to be out of debt and financially secure<\/a>, be aware that having wealth can get you into trouble in several ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) You may become overly entranced with it.<\/strong> Money and the stuff it buys won\u2019t bring you happiness. A person obsessed with money is just as enslaved as a person deeply in debt. Controlling your mindset is essential in this part of the Dave Ramsey checklist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) Wealth will reveal and magnify your true character.<\/strong> If you\u2019re a jerk, money will make you an even bigger jerk. If you\u2019re kind and generous, you\u2019ll be even more so with your wealth. If you feel guilty about having money, your guilt will grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It takes spiritual maturity<\/a> and character to understand that while wealth is fun, it brings responsibility\u2014whether it ruins your life or helps you do good is up to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While money isn\u2019t the answer to the meaning of life<\/a>, it isn\u2019t evil either, as many religious people erroneously believe. This belief is used to justify living a financially unhealthy or mediocre life<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s wrong to love and trust money to provide things it can\u2019t provide: happiness, satisfying relationships, and spiritual or emotional well-being<\/a>. But it\u2019s also wrong to reject money and the good it can do. Further, this thinking would leave all the world\u2019s wealth to evil people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a good person, it’s your duty to build wealth<\/a> and do good with it in order to keep it from bad people<\/strong>\u2014for instance, drug dealers and pornographers\u2014who would otherwise use it for evil purposes. Keeping your money doing good is the final step of the Dave Ramsey checklist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is the Dave Ramsey checklist? How can the Dave Ramsey checklist help you with your financial journey? The Dave Ramsey checklist is a tool to help you with the keys to getting control of your finances and managing wealth. Your financial situation is a result of your behavior, according to radio talk show host and author Dave Ramsey. Read on for the Dave Ramsey checklist for paying debts and achieving and maintaining wealth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":14744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,7,31],"tags":[147],"class_list":["post-18021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-lifestyle","category-money","tag-the-total-money-makeover","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Dave Ramsey Checklist for Financial Health - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Dave Ramsey checklist is a tool to help you take control of your finances and start managing wealth. 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