In my previous position, working directly with clients as the Lead Financial Coach at Lukas Coaching, I would film short videos that addressed very specific financial topics (you can see what my friend Justin and I would do here). One day I decided to focus on the small portion of people who take Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps, get ultra-militant about them, and then steamroll their spouses and other family members because they weren’t sensitive enough to take a measured approach.
Truth is, they totally missed the point. In hindsight, the video could’ve been done better, but at the time I was all about one-take recording: I said what I had to say, edited in the into and outro graphics, and posted the thing fast!
Our friends at Lampo (Dave’s company’s real name) just recently found out about it. They weren’t all that thrilled that a Dave Ramsey Certified Financial Coach would be talking negatively about the Baby Steps without more explanation (much less that thousands of people watched the video).
It’s like heresy in the Financial Coaching world, you see.
The irony of it all is that Dave Ramsey would actually agree with what I said in that first video. Dave’s a great guy and he knows that some people go overboard with his philosophy, to the detriment of their marriage and family relationships. He would encourage someone to be intense about eliminating debt and saving money, but he would never encourage someone to endanger precious relationships in the process.
Even still, I felt compelled to clear the air. I just recorded a brand new video addressing the issue and – hopefully – it will put those grabbing the torches and pitchforks at ease.
It’s called “Dark Side of Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps [Response]“, but I could’ve called it “The Bright Side of Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps.” (The former title will help more people see it through YouTube searches; you have to love SEO).
In the fall of 2006 I stumbled upon the Dave Ramsey Show while commuting to Lumberton, NC from Pinehurst, NC. The very first time I heard Dave’s show, he took a call from a guy with a car loan with roughly the same balance as mine on a vehicle worth roughly the same amount as mine. Dave proceeded to explain to the caller that his vehicle was depreciating in value at about $400 per month and that paying interest on something dropping in value wasn’t a wise financial move (in so many words).
I started connecting the dots; Dave was basically talking to me.
Four months later, Elisa and I had paid off the car loan on my collector’s edition Pontiac G6 (jokes are welcome, just put them in the comments). If it wasn’t for his show forcing me to reckon with biblical financial principles (like becoming and staying debt free), there’s no way we’d have the peace in our home that we do today.
So, it was just a little misunderstanding about my perspective on Dave’s Baby Steps. Now we can all sleep better at night, assuming you’re not coming at me with a pitchfork…
Yes – a good observation. The force is quite strong with Dave’s scissors; they allow him to wield the might power of the Sith Lords when cutting credit cards.
In my previous position, working directly with clients as the Lead Financial Coach at 
Dave Ramsey kinda has a Darth Vader “Dark side” look with those giant scissors.
Joe Woolworth recently posted..Short Docs on How to Make Church News by Hillsong
Yes – a good observation. The force is quite strong with Dave’s scissors; they allow him to wield the might power of the Sith Lords when cutting credit cards.
And I’m sorry I just said what I did above.
Please don’t judge me.
(Thanks for the comment, Joe!)