We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like
Dave Ramsey
The Total money makeover | Dave Ramsey
Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover teaches you through seven steps how to build a strong financial future. Ramsey is the most popular personal finance book of all time, with millions of copies sold globally. Dave Ramsey is on a mission for the world to stop accepting debt as normal!
Ramsey presents the challenge of creating wealth through seven ‘baby steps’, which are;
- Baby step 1. Creating an an emergency or ‘breathing space’ fund
- Baby step 2. Incrementally paying of all your debts (snowballing from smallest to largest)
- Baby step 3. Boosting your emergency fund to 3-6 months living expenses
- Baby step 4. Begin investing 15% of your income for retirement [INDEX FUNDS!]
- Baby step 5. Save for your children college expense
- Baby step 6. Pay off your home
- Baby step 7. Build wealth and give
The Total Money Makeover has common grounds with many personal finance books, such as Scott Pape’s Barefoot Investor. Nevertheless, it is still a good read and presents many unique aspects and practical tips which you can take away and implement. Although I prefer not to discuss the topic of religion, Ramsey often combines biblical references and preaching into his book which can be confronting for some.
Check it out on Amazon here, listen to it through Audible or buy it from Australia’s local bookstore Booktopia

Captain FI is a Retired Pilot who lives in Adelaide, South Australia. He is passionate about Financial Independence and writes about Personal Finance and his journey to reach FI at 29, allowing him to retire at 30.