Epi 62 - Ashley Patrick
[00:00:00] Ashley: Welcome to the Money Mindset Podcast, where you will find the inspiration and motivation you need to manage your money better than you can stress less and live the life you want.
[00:00:10] It's Ashley with Budgets Made Easy and the Money Mindset Podcast. Today's episode is going to be a little bit more personal for me and why I decided to quote unquote, quit Dave Ramsey.
[00:00:24] Now don't get me wrong, his plan does work. It helped me and a lot of other people out there that follow him. But there's a lot of reasons why I no longer follow him or recommend him to others. And, you know, I sent out an email a couple of weeks ago about this very topic and almost everybody agreed with me.
[00:00:48] And you know, some of the reasons why I no longer follow him. So, you know, his plan does work if you're wanting to play out, pay off debt, but there are a lot of things that just don't jive with me anymore, and I just can't get behind. So, you know, before we dive into those details of exactly why I no longer follow his plan, honestly, follow him, um, as a person and as a personality and all the things. I want to let you know about a Free Budgeting Class that is now available for you.
[00:01:25] So in this class, I will cover how to start and stick to a budget, even when you are overwhelmed. This budgeting classes is for you if you are ready to stop wondering why the heck you can't seem to save each month, or maybe you just did your taxes or, well, hopefully you did them by now. And you looked at how much money you made last year. And you're like, I have nothing to show for it. Like where did it all go? So, you know, and even if you've tried other programs in the past, like Dave's, and they didn't work for you, this class will help you get started with a realistic and simple plan. Just get started and actually stick to your budget plan. Cause it's one thing to make it, it's a whole other thing to actually stick with it. Right? So you can access that class at budgetsmadeeasy.com/workshop to sign up today. 
[00:02:20] Now, you know, this whole topic kind of started recently. I recorded an episode for the Stacking Benjamin Show, and Joe was introducing me and he mentioned that I was a Dave Ramsey Coach and I was a little taken aback. I was surprised. Like, I don't tell people that, um, but you know, it must've been on like my, about page on my website. And of course he did his research before interviewing me. And, you know, I usually just tell people that I'm a Master Financial Coach instead of a Ramsey Solutions Master Financial Coach. I mean, it shorter and easier to say, but that's only reason that I don't typically mention it anymore. And you know, you may have even found me through Pinterest and or my Dave Ramsey tips posts, you know, it's a very popular post and, you know, it's just really. 
[00:03:13] And, you know, he did start me on this journey. You know, I did read the Total Money Makeover. I never took his course, the Financial Peace University, which, you know, the steps are the same in the book. If you've read the book, you know, what you need to do and those types of things and you know, his guidance and his steps did lead us to paying off $45,000 in 17 months. 
[00:03:42] You know, and that led to a complete lifestyle change. I quit my job as a detective. I'm at home with my kids. Now I would not be able to do that if we still had debt. Now, when I found him, I obviously was searching for a debt payoff plan. I was searching for a way to pay off this credit card, uh, that we had put money that we had owed the IRS on. But he really inspired me to be completely debt free. Like I didn't even realize that was an option or a thing. Like I thought we were doing really well financially. We had good credit scores. We had, um, low interest. We didn't even have that much debt. We didn't carry credit card debt. We only had one car loan. Like our cars were paid up. Like most of the things finance in the past were paid off. We had the IRS credit card, uh, bill, and then we had one car left and my student loans, which honestly I thought I would pay on for a really long time. And I kind of hoped that I would get the public forgiveness. Um, but I knew I didn't, I didn't quite qualify cause I didn't qualify for the income driven repayment plan I believe.
[00:04:55] And I pretty sure I had to do that, but anyway, it doesn't matter. I just figured I'd be paying on it for like 30 years. Like I really had no intention to pay it off early. I wasn't even thinking about it. So his book, it did help me, um, want to pay off my debt. All of it, not just that credit. You know, and that when I started looking for a plan, I didn't know how I would even pay off the credit card in the 18 months before the interest accrued, because we had put it on a 0% interest for 18 months credit card.
[00:05:30] And, you know, and I was able to pay that off in three months. And I didn't even know how I was going to pay it off in 18 months. So obviously I wasn't doing everything that I could to have my finances in order and really focus on the debt. And that did lead me to paying off debt and being able to have the option to stay at home with my kids, which I would not have had otherwise.
[00:05:58] Through the years, as I've learned more, more about him and more about the baby steps, I've come to realize that, you know, personal finance is personal. It's not a one size fits all and what you get past like having paying off your debt, having an emergency funds, you know, it's not always smart to not invest during that time.
[00:06:22] Like my husband and I are going to retire as millionaires because we still invested in our twenties and our thirties. We didn't stop investing. And if you are young and you have debt, but you can still afford to invest, you need to invest. Like those years can not be made up. Like you are losing time. Like you need to invest early and often as Jeremy from Personal Finance Club says in every single post and video he does early and often. Like you have to invest. So I don't agree with that. And we did not do that when we were following his baby steps and we still paid off debt very fast, you know? 
[00:07:06] And in 2022, when I recording this, you need a credit score for a lot of things, besides just purchasing a house, it does make things way easier when you are going to purchase a house. Yes. Can you do it without it? Sure. But it's a huge hassle. Oh, it's a lot of work. It's easier if you just have a good credit score. Like it's not that it's not as complicated, you can have a good credit score. But the other thing is, is you need a credit score for certain insurance. You know, our insurance isn't affected by our credit score.
[00:07:43] So yes, you can have car insurance, house insurance without a good, you know, without a credit score. Um, but, a lot of insurance companies run your credit for your rates. Like that's crazy. You have to have a good credit score to rent an apartment. Like there's so many things that aren't really related to getting debt that you need a credit score for. I also, wasn't comfortable with the only having a thousand dollars in savings as I was paying off debt because in the real world, things break and a lot of times are more than a thousand dollars. And for me and my mindset and my, um, you know, maybe you could call them limiting beliefs, whatever you want to call them.
[00:08:32] I wasn't comfortable with that. What I did is I kept money in our savings until we got the student loans down to maybe a little bit less than what we had. And I knew I could refill the savings like very quickly, like in the next month. And so then I took the money out, but I left it in there for. Oh, gosh, maybe the whole like 16 months or so, you know, I may have even done it on the last month, actually the 17, the 17th month, then I paid it off. Because, you know, we knew that there were sings with the house that could go wrong, that we might need that money for. And we didn't want to go into more debt. 
[00:09:09] So, you know, if you've never saved in your life and a thousand dollars seems like a huge mountain. Yeah. A thousand dollars. Like that's a great goal to have. I'm not saying you shouldn't save that, but if you can, if you, or if you already have the money in savings, like we did leave it there until you're comfortable with sending it to debt because things are expensive. Like tires on your car might minor certainly more than a thousand dollars. And I have all wheel drive. So guess what? Once there's enough wear on the tires, I have to replace all four. If I get. Flat. Like it's very frustrating and it costs over a thousand dollars to get new tires for my car. 
[00:09:51] So, you know, if your HVAC goes out and your house, that's several thousand dollars. If your refrigerator goes out, these are all things that have happened to me in the last year. You actually, I think like the last six months had to get new tires. I had to get a new refrigerator. Uh, I think last year we had to replace the HVAC. Like these things happen, especially if you own your own home.
[00:10:13] Which is why if you rent and you don't want all that responsibility, you know, it can be better. Like some people, like not having to worry about those things I have to save for those things. Um, so that's just something to think about. If you're thinking about home ownership, things that up things break, like my house is 18 years old, so I got to start thinking about replacing roofs and my house has two HVAC systems.
[00:10:37] So I probably gonna have to replace the other one soon. Oh. And the water heater went out and I have three water heaters in my house. So the other two are due to be replaced probably pretty soon. So, you know, a thousand dollars even while you're paying off debt to me is not enough, you know, and really just um, him general, I mean, I'll be honest with you. I didn't mind his brashness when I first started listening to him, like I was a police officer. I don't mind people being blunt like that doesn't offend me. It doesn't bother me. Um, but as I have had the experience of coaching other people, I realized that that type of messaging doesn't help people with long-term success.
[00:11:25] Now if he doesn't bother you that way fine. But if he does know that not everybody is like that, and you shouldn't feel guilt and shame for having debt or making mistakes in the past. Cause guess what? We've all made mistakes, including Dave Ramsey, which starts us on this journey to being better. Right?
[00:11:44] If I hadn't have made stupid money decisions, I wouldn't have this podcast. I wouldn't have my blog. I wouldn't have my membership group. Like. Things happen for a reason, you know, most things in life at least. And you know, you just have to enjoy the journey. And that is really what life is about. And we all make mistakes.
[00:12:05] Literally, nobody is perfect. So you're going to make mistakes. You're going to feel stupid sometimes. Like I still feel stupid sometimes when I think about some of the things I do with my money. So, you know, but we have to learn and live through our mistakes. So, you know, just shaming people and being just flat out rude, calling people dumb and stupid. Like there's no room for that. And one of the things I asked when I was taking his coach coaching training was like, are we expecting like, be like that? And the answer was no. And you don't, they even talked about, if somebody is worried about their credit score, then coach them on how to keep their credit score high.
[00:12:45] Like it wasn't something like, no, nobody can have a, you know, worry about their credit score and they must pay all their debt off. It's really about coaching people where they're at and where they want to go and what's important to them. So they even said that when I asked that question, that the way he acts on his show is for entertainment, like he it's, we're not expected to be like that. We're not expected to tell people they're stupid. And we, you know, if somebody is worried about their credit score, then we coach them on keeping their credit score and coach them on these other things that he preaches not to do. And so you've really have to remember that he is an entertainer. He's one of his own personalities.
[00:13:29] You know, his personality is not for everybody. And you know, now that I've grown just in life and with money, I just can't stand it anymore. To be honest with you, I can't listen to him. I don't listen to any of his personalities anymore. I used to love Christie. Right. And I still listen to her, but she's gone now. So she is going to be a pastor I believe she went to seminary school. So she's left now, but. Liked her, but she didn't have that kind of attitude either. She was encouraging. She didn't make people feel stupid. And so I just don't think that as a coach, as a money coach, that we should make people feel stupid and dumb for things that everybody else does in life. Like everybody makes mistakes. Right? 
[00:14:18] So, you know, being here with me on this journey, I do not believe in using shame as a motivator to change your finances. That's not going to help you in the long-term. It may have some short term gains. But in the long-term it's just not going to work.
[00:14:34] I'm not going to call you stupid. I'm not going to put you down for making mistakes. I'm not putting on a show here to entertain the masses. I'm talking to you. I'm trying to encourage you to pay off your debt and just do better with your finances so that you can have the option to do. What you want in life, because you know, you may not want to stay at home with me or with me like me, you may not want to start a business like me. But probably want the option to maybe travel more retire without having to worry about social security. And if it's going to be enough, cause I promise you, it's probably not going to be. 
[00:15:12] Um, and you know, it just gives you options, you know, and there's flexibility in a financial plan. It's not a one size fits thing. I promise you that personal finance is personal and money is emotional. Yeah, sure. Math is math. Like that's the logical side, but what we do with our money is emotional and that is different for everybody, everybody has different triggers. They have different spending habits. You know, we might ha you might have a shopping addiction.
[00:15:44] Maybe you have ADHD. Maybe you just have these other barriers that you need to overcome and making you feel stupid for that, it's just not the right way to coach people so that they have long-term success. Like, oh, you just, you got to believe in yourself a little bit. And when you feel like you're stupid, Not really going to be very effective longterm.
[00:16:08] So remember that he's putting on a show, it's entertainment and you know, I'm here to help guide you and support you along your journey. And those are some of the reasons why I no longer want to be associated with Dave Ramsey. Like, I don't tell people I am a Dave Ramsey Coach. Like I don't follow him anymore. It's just, he's not the right fit for me. And so I want you to find somebody that is the right fit for you. That speaks to you. 
[00:16:43] Ah, all right. I feel like I kind of went on a little soapbox there, but please let me know. Maybe take a screenshot of this tag me on Instagram at @budgetsmadeeasy and let me know, do you follow Dave Ramsey or maybe you're like me and given up on him and not don't really like his style anymore. Cause I will say that after my email, the majority of the responses were the same as me. Maybe they followed him before and just like we're over it and they don't follow him anymore. That was the majority of people. There was only like two people that reply that were not happy with me and said they were not following me anymore, but I got lots I mean like tons and tons of responses. Yeah. Uh, we're the same as me. So let me know. 
[00:17:27] And you know, if you've loved this podcast, I would so much appreciate it. If you could leave us a five star review on whatever app that you're listening to, like, if you're on Apple Podcasts, please leave a review and let me know which episodes your favorite may be this one. And I love to read them and it really does, you know, it helps encourage and inspire me to keep going with this podcast. Just like I want to inpsire and motivate you to keep going with paying off debt and managing your finances. So I would just really love it if you could leave a review. So I will talk to you guys next week.