This is probably the best book I've read in a long time. Ramsey has each topic set up so that his plan is easily followed, step by step...Above all, it's not really repetitive, though he does recap every now and then. This is a good thing, because I'd be constantly having to review previous tracks if he didn't touch base on what he tried to get across before.

He is right--debt is not a tool. Any unforseen event can leave you on the verge of bankruptcy. I'm following his guidelines and they work. You might not be able to get into the investing part right away, but his plan for getting rid of the debt via the "debt snowball" is the ace in the hole. If you follow it, it works.

This book is a must have, if you want a no frills-easy to follow plan with a reality check thrown in...He doesn't sugar coat and that is a great thing about him. Ramsey is honest, straight forward and his plan (again) is easy to follow.

This was an excellent "workbook" however not necessary at all if you are buying the book. They both contain the same information, but the workbook is a condensed version of the actual book and has more forms. The book is much more in depth, and also contains the forms in the back.

We ordered 4 of the workbooks for ourselves and another couple to read together. We found that the material lends itself to a group setting and hits on key issues related to finance.

Basically you have the foundation of the material once you get through Chapter 6. Then each couple can begin on the "baby step" that is relevant to their own situation.

Chapter 6 is the pivotal point of the book where you begin using a budget and practicing the principles you have learned. We found that putting the forms into Excel was really helpful for those who were struggling with organizing the budget. We would be glad to share those electronic forms (no strings attached) with anyone who is in need of them. Just email thecloins@gmail.com.

Really appreciative of this resource and will continue to utilize it in small group settings to help people get past the rat race and into a confident position in their financial life. We will cover the first 6 chapters over 5 sessions and continue to check in with the other couples on progress.

Dave Ramsey- great job on helping people improve their lives.

* Dave Ramsey explain in details on how to change our financial income from bad to good.
* There are lots of diagrams, charts and graphs for us to evaluate the current financial income that we are facing currently.
* You can be sure to sleep well at night once you have apply the strategy inside this book.
* Nobody likes to have debt but if you do, you can repair it and make it good. Dave describe this very clearly inside the book.

This book to me does not require much explanation other than READ IT and FOLLOW IT. What it teaches is simple and laid out in the book as such, but it's like that bonk on the head you need to take a look at your personal finances. READ IT!

I have read this book and got caught up in the concepts. I am now debt free and living like I never believed possible. I share this book and principle with everyone I know. I have coordinated classes using Dave's video lessons. These principles will change America. A must read

I have read both the book and own this workbook version. I would actually recommend the workbook over the book as it allows you to start the concepts quicker and put into practice into your own life much faster. The anecdotes are similiar but just condensed in this version. This version cuts to the chase with tables, suggestions, budgets, and "how to". I like the shortened version but still went back to read the full book version later. The one positive aspect of the full book versus this version is that it provided many more examples of real people using the techniques, what their outcome was, and how long it took them to get debt free. In this sense, there was more motivation there. I didn't/don't personally need that but some may need that or want that.

Dave Ramsey is a godsend to those who are starting over financially. He gives hope and direction, sound advice. He has been there and came out of the money mess. This is one heck of a "great" help to those in financial problems.

True success with money is found with this book! Dave explains how and why he wrote the book (hint: he's been there, done that, got the t-shirt) and gives the foundation to change your life forever. The accompanying working book is phenomenal to get an accurate picture of where you are, Dave gives guidance on how to move forward. His advice works. Read anything you can by Dave Ramsey. He also has a recommended reading list on his website, check it out!

Best personal financial book I've ever read! The ancient paths of wisdom to financial peace and success, couched in today's hard hitting language! It includes enough real life stories that motivate and convince you to follow through with his "baby steps" to financial freedom and good habits!

Dave Ramsey has a wonderful message in this book, "Live like no one else, so later you can live like no one else." If you apply his principles to your life, you will get out of debt, achieve wealth, and be able to give to worthy causes. This book is super easy to read and understand. Enjoy!

Anyone who follows the advice in this book will have permanently changed their lives for the better. Makes a great gift to friends who are struggling. I have personally witnessed saved marriages after the finances in their lives have been addressed.

This is an excellent book if you are looking to get out of debt! Dave Ramsey is very motivating and helps you to take baby steps so you can get excited about your accomplishments. It's easy to read and comes with great examples.

This book by Dave Ramsey will change the mindset of anyone who reads it. It revolutionized my thinking about money - how to use it and what to do with it.

Last year I started listening to him on xm rasio by mistake and it helped I have paid off most things the thing I have to do now is my hous. So now I will stay focused for the mark of the prize. He puts me back on track.

The information in the workbook is great. It really is parallel to the book by Dave Ramsey. I got both, but only one is really necessary if your wallet calls for it. The workbook is great for people who need to write things down or see more numbers. The book has more stories. I'm really enjoying it. I've got a lot of work to do on my finances!

This is a great book. It changed the way I think about our families finances. We are following the book and look forward to profitable results.

Sheri

My husband and I have a new outlook on our money, and making it work for us, not us working for it. We have learned about ourselves and our relationship and priorities. This is not a magic pill, but this book gives you the tools and education to take control of your own life. I look forward to the day when I can call the Dave Ramsey Show and yell"I am debt free!!". I know that day will happen because I am in control of my life, money, behavior, priorities, and success.

Good information in the workbook but really the same information as in the Total Money Makeover book, I recommend one or the other but not both books -- and I think Dave would agree!

Dave Ramsey teaches how to SIMPLY manage your money, develop a working budget and to become DEBT FREE!! It's a weird concept, especially for Americans, but since reading this book and taking Dave's Financial Peace University, my husband & I have our $1K emergency fund, pay cash for EVERYTHING, and so far have paid off over $5K in debt in just a few months. We will be completely debt free (except the house) within 2 years and plan to pay off the house w/in 7 years (21 years shorter than the mortgage note). That was something we could have NEVER wrapped our brains around in the past. Now, instead of working to pay Visa and Mastercard, we will be working to pay for our FUTURE!!

It's a great read and every person in the USA needs to read this book. I have no doubt, it would do amazing things for our ecomony!!

I bought the Total Money Makeover Workbook along w/ the hardcover book, thinking it would be more 'hands-on'. It wasn't worth the extra cost. A lot of the exercises seemed written for children - fill in the blanks w/ words you read in the passages... really silly. Plus, all the necessary worksheets are in the hardcover book already, so the workbook didn't seem to give me anything new. Don't waste your money on the workbook.

If you're trying to dig yourself out of a debt nightmare or just want to get your finances in order, Dave Ramsey's books and advice are the way to go. Take the time to read his books - you won't be sorry.

I just purchased the book along with the workbook. And I've also purchased the book on cd. Both explain things very well. My daughter and I are still in the working process.

Indeed a very useful book for anyone wish to be master of money. i listen several times and each time when i listen again, my understanding deepen. I have follow Dave Ramsey advice and I'm glad that i have no credit cards, cashline facilities, no hire purchase and i only use cash and debit card only. My wife and i are working now to clear our car and mortage loan. We're confident that we able to achieve it by 5 yrs times. Wish that more of his book in audio cd format.

Felix

Singapore

If you want a change in your life you have found it!!! This book is worth the cost and so much more. I have wasted money on so many things and this book is not one of them. This book should be given out by marriage counselors, high schools, college students, and even to employees. What I'm trying say is if you want to reduce the stress of life and enjoy your life more then following Dave's plan is worth while. Take a read of this book and you will agree I'm sure. What is the worst that can happen you learn what you could be living like!!!

I've read many other books on personal finance and general self help books, but something about Dave Ramsey's philosophy and the way he delivers it caused something to shift in me. After reading Total Money Makeover, I truly wanted and am excited to work hard and even undergo some deprivation to reach financial freedom. We have lived paycheck to paycheck for so many years now, and credit card debt and interest is taking nearly everything we make. My thought patterns were warped; I felt "entitled" to buy whatever I wanted on credit because I work hard and deserved it! This book made me realize I'm only hurting myself and my family by driving us deeper and deeper into debt. The author's straightforward, humerous approach cut through my stubborn denial and showed us how to end this cycle of pain and be successful! I read the whole book in one night, set up a spreadsheet and we began taking our first "baby step" the very next day.
This guy is going to "save" many many lives!

If you are in debt and tired of it, this book will change your life! It is so motivating and inspiring! Dave is the best!

you're in debt and you need help getting out. I'm not in that situation...thank gosh. But, I did buy it to see if there was something else I needed to do before retirement that I haven't done. I got bored with the whole repitition thing but I guess that's what it takes.....that and a spouse that thinks like you do. I can't see how the book would work for everyone.....especially if your paycheck isn't consistantly the same amount.

I have really enjoyed this book! It's program works as long as you are willing to. Financial FREEDOM is possible with following the plan set up in the book, and not just freedom, but success! Never having to worry about money again. In short: Great book.

This CD set is a life saver. Since listening 2 months ago, my husband and I have paid off almost $10,000 in debt. We have our friends listening to it now, and they love it! We are well on our way to becoming debt free! What an increadible feeling!!

I didn't know if I should spend the extra money and get the workbook with the main book, but I'm glad I did - he spells things out clearly and I am not a big fan of math and it made sense to me. It helped to see the numbers written down to show where I was really at financially !

This book was so great that I purchased one for every member of my family. All the information is workable if a person is committed to changing their financial life.

Dave Ramsey's plan really works. We are empty nesters who have been through some of these steps already but we are learning to budget and live on less and still enjoy life. Wow, it's amazing!!

If you purchase the workbook, you really do not need the main book as well. It would be fine on its own. This is a great, very basic system and is working extremely well for my family. Instead of living paycheck to paycheck, we are now within months of being debt free, except for our mortgage. Great system!! I highly recommend it.

I really got excited over this book and was inspired to take better care of my finances. It is loaded with lots of good information,suggestions and ideas. Highly recommended.

Really 4.5 stars. I enjoyed (cd book) listening to this emensely. It is good concrete back up for what I am already doing. I am on a budget program right now. I've read several places that to really truly get as much out of something as you can, you need to read it at least 5 times and you are better off reading 7 times to get the full effect. I've heard it 3 times and referred it to friends. I highly recommend this book if you even think you need it...and, if you owe money to anybody, you need to read it-even if you think you have your act together.
The only slow part of the book to me was the first few chapters. I felt like the author was trying to "sell" me on his technique. I felt like I was already trapped in some "paid programming" tv show but I guess he felt like he needed to justify his plan to people that need it. Because, most people in debt problems are usually in denial about it. Overall, I really understood the point driven home about paying one thing off at a time and then taking that paid off debt monthly payment and putting it toward the next debt. I was referred to this book by a friend of mine who had gone bankrupt and owed his parents 150k. He paid them back, has an awesome farm and runs his own business some 12 years later and is totally debt free. He pays cash for everything...EVERYTHING. That concept seems far away but it is a definite goal for me and because of this book, I have a plan to get there.

One of the few books I've read that if followed will change your life. I highly recommend this book to friends and others struggling with debt. The steps described in the book are simple and easy to follow. The secret of success however lies with you. If want to be debt free follow the steps. Believe me there's no better feeling than to owe no one anything.

Dave has done a great job with this program. I've been listening to Dave daily for 6 months on XM radio. You can get the jist from his program but to actually listen to the 3 cd's of the actualy Total Money Makeover is a life changing experience. Dave takes you from todays practice of viewing credit as a tool to the way your grandma did it. You saved, and paid cash. He takes you through the steps of begining your Total Money Makeover by first starting an emergency fund to keep Murphy away while you finish the rest of the steps..

The cd's are an easy listen and can be heard on one 4 hour trip from Tallahassee, Florida to Orlando, Florida. It's best that way so you and your significant other can both be inspired.

Go DAVE!!

The Workbook complements "The Total Money Makeover Book". Get it only if you are serious about eliminating debt.

The workbook is a great companion to The Total Money Makeover book by Dave Ramsey. We gave this workbook to each of our children to help them move toward financial independence in their young lives.

Please take the time to read this book cover-to-cover if you need to become debt free. Excellent job in this book because it is NOT a theory book, it's a workbook with positive commentary on investment choices. Dave's simple advice: "the best way to build wealth is to become and stay debt free....it may be difficult but it is not complicated." This book is a structured guide on becoming debt free using models and financial sheets the reader fills in as they progress through the book - reminding readers that "a budget is people telling their money where to go instead of wondering where it went." His "debt snowball" is a simple candid approach to pay off one credit card at a time beginning with the least amount owed. If you sincerely want to get out of debt and begin an investment strategy - you can follow the advice and financial management in this book - you will see it work. Simple rules with simple actions are the keeys that transform your money decisions from continuing in debt to going forward for retirement and investing. You can see your financial status change as you fill out and manage the worksheets.

This book has absolutely changed my life. I went from $37000 worth of credit card debt to zero credit card debt. We still have our mortgage but are living credit-free! Thanks to Dave we are sticking to our monthly budget and only buying those things that we have cash for. Our savings is growing and our mortgage will be paid off in 10 years, years before we have to start paying for our kids' college! Buy this book, you will be forever thankful that you did.

this book was helpful and complimented the Authors main title. after reading the best sellers Why We Want You To BE Rich by Donald Trump and God Doesn't Run a $2 Shop by Sage Saint Francis i found Dave Ramsey to be right on the mark to financial freedom and haveing a life of riches and abundance.
well worth the small investment.

Really got me thinking and was filled with very useful, helpful, informative, but easy and simple to understand tricks. One of my favorites. A+

This was a helpful book as I am striving to find a beneficial perspective on finances. It is motivating, filled with good advice, and helpful when you're looking for steps to take in your financial portfolio. I also found another book, more from a philosophical perspective, very enlightening as well - The Financial Pilgrimage, by Sean Mitchell. Together, both have given me just what I need to feel good about God, life, and money.

I'm not a big fan of those self-help books that litter today's bookshelves, but I wanted to get something that would help us with our finances, preferably something that wouldn't put me to sleep. Mr. Ramsey will keep you awake, especially if you get this in the audio book format. The guy runs his own radio show so you know he'll keep it interesting. His smart, witty, and humorous tone makes for a great listen.

Everyone wants to be free of debt, but unfortunately we live in a society that makes this concept unbelievable. Dave breaks down the common myths and misconceptions we've all grown up with. He follows these with "truths" which are backed up by statistics and several specific experiences. He basically lays out a plan for people to get out of debt and build wealth. This isn't one of your get-rich-quick schemes, so if your looking for that look somewhere else. Dave gives practical advice that anyone can adopt to help get them set financially.

Regardless of where you are financially, this can apply to you. Get the audio book and follow his advice. It's not an easy road, but it's very doable. My wife and I are newly weds and we are excited to apply these principles to our budget process. We know that "If we will live like no one else, later we can live like no one else."

This book, the author and his company is a joke. Don't waste your money.

EXCELLENT!EXCELLENT!EXCELLENT!EXCELLENT! Absolute sound advice that works! Great with the book! Enough said!

He is a superb human being, and the world would be a better place with more humans like him. His plan is really easy, but requires "gazelle intensity" to follow without a doubt. People can't believe I do not own a credit card. I always believed they were like stealing...shoplifting! Thank you Dave Ramsey!

This is being posted as a review of the Compact Disc edition of Total Money Makeover, not the printed version of the book. The CD version is strangely and unexpectedly bad. Ramsey's intonation sounds awkward, forced, and histrionic to me. I don't mean the content of the book -- I just mean his delivery. His reading style was so distracting that I would have much preferred to spend the time READING him rather than listening to him.

He frequently inserts weird sophomoric "drama club" pauses and misplaced emphasis. For example, imagine pauses where I've inserted elipses, and imagine emphasis on the words in caps: "Now is the time for all good ....MEN... to come to the aid of their ....COUNTRY." The words "men" and "country" aren't the logical targets for emphasis. He does that kind of thing throughout the CD. It makes it really hard to listen to.

To add insult to the injury of his weird reading rhythm and emphasis, he's just plain bad at reading -- or, at least, at reading aloud. I recognize this problem easily from students I've taught: He's not proficient at translating written words into fluent speech.

This is a complex skill, like mental math. Some people are good at it naturally, some learn it in school, and some never learn it. I don't mean to impugn his intelligence or reading comprehension or anything like that. I just mean his narration skill is well below what we're accustomed to on books on tape.

Finally, he takes on a strangely mocking, melodramatic crescendo/decrescendo vocal style at unexpected moments. It just doesn't work rhetorically. Don't get me wrong: I wouldn't have minded being "hollered at" about bad my financial habits. But what Ramsey does on this CD is far weirder than that. The crescendos don't follow logically from his most important / most critical points. Overall, it's just...weird. I suspect it's an unconscious effort to conceal his own limited narrating abilities, the way a poor singer sometimes relies on falsetto or tremolo in the hope that it conceals their fundamental limitations.

All of this surprised me, considering he's reknowned for his radio show. I've never heard his show, but I doubt he talks like this. He may have a much more natural delivery when he's ad-libbing rather than reading.