Total Money Makeover: Why You Should Consider It

What is the Total Money Makeover?  Before answering that question, let's take few steps back and start with the question: Why even consider a money makeover?  Take a look at the following statistics, and evaluate your own financial "health," so to speak.

In 2011, the following consumer debt statistics were listed by Business Insider:

1. The total amount of consumer debt in the US is nearly $2.4 trillion in 2010. That’s $7,800 debt per person.
2. Thirty-three percent of that debt is revolving debt (such as credit card debt), the other 67 percent comes from loans (such as car loans, student loans, mortgages and the like).
3. $51 billion worth of fast food was charged to credit cards in 2006, compared to $33.2 billion the previous year.
4. The average credit card debt per cardholder is $5,100, and expected to increase to $6,500 by the end of the year.
5. 1 in 10 consumers has more than 10 credit cards.
6. The average consumer carries 4 credit cards. While the average household carries $6,500 of debt.
7. 1 in 50 households carry more than $20,000 in credit card debt. That amounts to more than 2 million households.
8. 4.5 percent of cardholders are 60 or more days late in their payments.
9. Roughly 2 – 2.5 million Americans seek the help of a credit counselor each year to avoid bankruptcy.

In June 2013, the following statistics were also posted:

U.S. household consumer debt profile:

• Average credit card debt: $15,216
• Average mortgage debt: $148,443
• Average student loan debt: $32,054

What do all these numbers mean?  That none of us are exempt from the burden of debt.  Our country is facing shocking debt amounts, but the sad reality is that these skyrocketing numbers are reflective of the personal debt most of us battle on a daily basis. 

So, why consider reading The Total Money Makeover?  Author Dave Ramsey explains.

Wealth building isn't rocket science, which is a good thing for me (and probably you).  Winning at money is 80 percent behavior and 20 percent head knowledge.  What to do isn't the problem; doing it is.  Most of us know what to do, but we just don't do it...So my Total Money Makeover begins with a challenge.  The challenge is you.  You are the problem with your money.

Ramsey goes on to explain that his ideas are comprised of practical financial habits.  He speaks from personal experience of losing everything, all his financial wealth and stability, not once but twice.  He doesn't promise a quick fix or gimmick, but instead has helped hundreds of thousands of average people get control of their finances.

How does this relate to your life in business?

Managing personal finances has a direct relationship to managing business finances. In the same way that your personal life is guided by certain principles which produce particular outcomes, so your financial well being will be determined by the principles you hold.  However, principles are not spoken - they are lived out.

Your Response:  What do you believe keeps people enslaved to financial debt?

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