I’ve been nickel and dimed by Dave Ramsey

 

I’ve been nickel and dimed by Dave Ramsey!

Actually, I did the nickel and diming myself. I was just inspired by Dave Ramsey.

If you’re not familiar with Ramsey, take a few minutes to look him up before you read on. It’s OK, I’ll wait for you.

When Sandy and I were married in 1999, we began following the teachings of Larry Burkett, who was a pioneer in the field of Christian stewardship of personal finances and the founder of Crown Financial Ministries. His passing in 2003 left us in lurch, but then along came Dave Ramsey to fill the void. Ramsey took Burkett’s teachings to the next level and then skyrocketed from there.

Ramsey’s primary focus has been to use biblical principles to help people get out of debt and to thrive financially. He is best known for his seven baby steps program to help people discover financial freedom. Those steps are:

1. Save $1,000 for a starter emergency fund.

2. Pay off all debt except the house using the debt snowball.

3. Save 3-6 months’ worth of expenses in a fully funded emergency fund.

4. Invest 15% of your household income in a retirement fund.

5. Save for your children’s college fund.

6. Pay off your home early.

7. Build wealth and give.

I met Dave Ramsey on Oct. 7, 2011, at Katy Mills Mall while he was on a book tour for “EntreLeadership.” I was invited to interview him in the parking lot on his tour bus, which he informed me was the former Madden Cruiser. It was a hot day and after he welcomed me aboard he gave me a bottle of water to drink. I took a deep swig and then set it aside while we did the interview.

I don’t recall how long we spoke, but I remember being enthralled by what he had to say. At the end of the interview his assistant used my camera and took a picture of me and Dave together. As I was leaving the bus, Dave called out to me and handed me my unfinished bottle of Deer Park water and said, “Don’t forget this.”

I went inside the mall and covered his appearance at Books A Million. He gave a short motivational talk and then sat down to sign books and pose for pictures. As I left the mall I finished drinking the water on my way home. I was reluctant, however, to throw away the plastic bottle. It was a gift from Dave Ramsey and a visual reminder of not only our meeting, but the biblical and financial principles he espouses.

I didn’t want to keep a plastic water bottle sitting around like so much clutter, so I came up with a plan to use it. I turned it into a piggy bank of sorts. At the end of each day I dropped my nickels and dimes into it. The opening was too small for quarters, and I didn’t feel pennies were worthy of Dave Ramsey. So, I started nickel and diming my way to saving money.

It was a slow process. This was about the time we were shifting from cash to debit cards to pay for things. Pocket change became scarce and in the last few years I’ve hardly had any at all. Still, the bottle sat on my dresser, slowly filling up with the small coins.

This week, after months of stagnation on the project, I broke down and got a dollar’s worth of change to top off the bottle. Sandy also chipped in her nickels and dimes. After nearly 15 years I managed to save a whopping $49.11. (Yeah, a very dirty and beat up penny snuck in.)

I’ve often wondered what Dave Ramsey would think of my little project. At the time I started it I thought it might take a year or two to fill the bottle and that I would have enough money to take my wife to dinner and a movie. Thanks to inflation, we can either do dinner or a movie.

The wise thing to do would be to use the money to help pay off debt or to tuck it away in a savings account. I think that’s what Dave Ramsey would do. The smart thing to do would be to take my wife on a date, especially now that she knows I have the cash on hand.

That leaves me with one problem. Now that I have emptied my deluxe edition Dave Ramsey Deer Park water bottle, what am I going to do with it?