Dave Ramsey Question

Be prepared that the first few months are trial and error (and Dave tells you that!). You need to make out your initial budget and then you may have to adjust here and there (it takes a little bit of time to get used to buying your weekly groceries out of an envelope with cash). So, until you get your information and see why he says do certain things, I think you should start this week with your preliminary budget. Go ahead and put some money in an envelope for groceries, entertainment (eating out, movies, etc) and try working with that. That will give you a small taste of how it works until you get all the info to get it all organized and calculated.

good luck M.-that's great that you want to get your financial life in order. I haven't been on the plan, but I listen to his radio show every afternoon. The first thing is to make a budget for the month--on paper and on purpose before the month starts. That will help you determine where your money needs to go. Check his website--there is probably some info on getting started with his plan before yours arrives in the mail.

This is an awesome program, and works wonders. To answer some of your questions:

-There are multiple envelopes, they are not labeled you will get to label them based on your preferences and budget. You have to do what works best for your family, and it will take a couple of months to figure out what suits your family needs
- When you figure out your monthly budget and get that all outlined on paper then you will be able to figure out what it going to go in each envelope. My husband and I add money to our envelopes on the 1st and 15th, based on his paycheck.
- No there is no % that Dave really recommends as a standard. You just have to figure out how much money that you can live on and the rest goes toward paying off the debt in baby steps.

Remember these are all baby steps and it will take a while to get back in financial shape, but you can do it! i would also look into taking the class at a local church (even if you are not a church goer). Most of them charge the $100 for the kit, but if you already ordered it then you shouldn't really have to pay for the kit. The DVD's themselves are awesome to watch, which is what you do in the thirteen week class. I know there is a link somewhere on Dave's website that will give you class locations and dates.

Good luck

woohoo for you! We have been doing the TMM for almost a year now & have paid off 1/2 of our overall debt. You make your own categories but here are a few: fuel, groceries, eating out, entertainment. Since we do most of our bill paying online we have "envelopes" on an excel spreadsheet as well as the regular envelopes for cash we pull out that we use to track our money. It's nothing difficult and keeps us accountable. Just getting a budget down is important & it takes some trial and error but hang in there!! Another post mentioned going to a class, Financial Peace University, it helps so much! Our church will be starting another class very soon so if you are interested message me & I'll send you the info. The churc is in Grand Prairie; if that is not in your area then I'm sure you can find one close to you. Have fun & remember "to live like no one else, you have to live like no one else." It'll make sense one you get the book!