Asking those of you who are familiar with Ramsey's financial planning...

[Liz CA]

...we are considering getting a few resources from Dave Ramsey following recommendations from several people on this board.

Can anyone tell me what the difference is between "Total Money Makeover" and "Financial Peace"?
Is there a fundamental difference between those two books?
Should we start out with one book and then graduate to the other?
We are very interested in investment strategies. Do any/all of his books address this subject?

I went to the website but was not able to glean answers to all theses questions.
Thank you!

[*anj*]

...we are considering getting a few resources from Dave Ramsey following recommendations from several people on this board.

Can anyone tell me what the difference is between "Total Money Makeover" and "Financial Peace"?
Is there a fundamental difference between those two books?
Should we start out with one book and then graduate to the other?
We are very interested in investment strategies. Do any/all of his books address this subject?

I went to the website but was not able to glean answers to all theses questions.
Thank you!

Hi,
We found that the information we got from TMM was enough to get started, and then dh read FP. My impression is that TMM is more of a method book and FP is more of a motivational one, although I'm sure that someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

There is a free message board that you can join. It is called Living Like No One Else, which is from one of Dave's famous sayings: If you will live like no one else, you will live like no one else. It means that if you are willing to make lots of sacrifices and do whatever it takes to get control of your finances there will be people who think you are extreme and who won't understand your intensity (Dave calls it "gazelle-like intensity".) But in the end, if you learn to control your money and use it properly, your life will be more peaceful and certainly free of many of the financial burdens that so many people in this country face.

Here's the link: http://www.livinglikenooneelse.com/forum/index.php

[Beth in Central TX]

I've read both. TMM is more practical and FP is more theoretical. I think I heard Dave recommend TMM over FP on his program last week for someone just getting started. Have you checked your local library? I checked one out locally and had to request the other through ILL.

[PariSarah]

A) Your library probably has them both. Get out both, read both, and keep the one you want to be able to refer to.

B) (I'm going from memory here, and that tends to be spotty lately, so take this for what it's worth.) My general impression of the two books was that TMM was more of a How-To--how to get control of your finances, how to prioritize when you have lots to deal with, how to sit down and make a budget, etc. FP was more general, more what you're headed for and why, more of a pep talk. If you don't have any budgeting/financial management savvy, I'd start with TMM, maybe with the accompanying workbook (there is one of those, right?). Read FP at leisure. Actually, I'd start with TMM anyway, but if you're not currently in debt or if you've always done good budgeting, you'll find some of it to be pretty elementary.

Does that help?

[jail warden]

It's all you need to get started. Then when you've been doing that for a while, it's really great to go to Financial Peace University. We just went last Sept. and it really got my husband on board. He doesn't enjoy reading non-fiction books and would do what I asked about the budget, but never really got involved until we took the class. Dave Ramsey is a very motivational speaker, so it's great to attend.