I paraphrased that from Dave Ramsey. I believe I got my quote from a page where he says he used to tell people to pay the highest interest rate first, but people do not do math, if they did the math, they would not have credit card debt, so he tells them to pay the smallest debt first.
Ad nauseam.
I feel like those of us on Ecomodder evaluate things better than average and, when necessary, do the math.
I do math in my head throughout the day.
I also have credit card debt.
I constantly reevaluate my plans to stop paying debt and start earning it.
I wish I had a nickel for every time someone tried to convince me to use his snowball method.
I would throw them at the next person who tried.
Sure, yeah, he is a genius. Okay. The thing is...
I did the math.
A bad plan is generally better than no plan and his plan is pretty good, but it is not perfect.
People insist I need to do that because some guy they do not know says to. I tell them that paying the highest interest rate pays off my debt faster and saves me more money and either they repeat I need to listen to someone they don't know, or they condescendingly say "Well, if that is what you need to do to feel better about yourself..."
Yet many people describe the debt snowball as something people need to do to feel better about themselves.
I am not sure what other Ramsey advice I have heard, but I definitely believe in living within my means.
What do you guys think? Are there things he has said that you liked? Do you disagree with any of his suggestions? Is there anyone you happen to like better?
I welcome your feedback!
Have a great day!