In this first chapter Ramsey speaks of what happened when all good things came to an end. His largest lender was sold to a even larger bank. His 1986 tax begin to have a negative impact on real estate. He talks about having 90 days to find 1.2 million dollars.

His wife talks about finding out and how she felt everything was crashing in on her. How she felt everyone would know their secret and look at them funny. Questions raced through her mind.

Your discussion questions for chapter 1:

~do you ever fear something like this might happen to you?

~as a wife or s/o, would you feel the same way as Ramsey's wife felt? Why or why not?

~is your debt similar to Ramsey's in that another financial institution could take over and call in your debt?

~have you ever read the fine print in your debt applications, be it for real estate, cc or personal loans?

Wow What scary thoughts!!
I have been guilty of NEVER reading the fine print. My attitude has always been,";OK Give me the money, Can I make the payment" Now I know I need to break that habit and be more aware of what I am really spending..not just how much a payment is! I dont think my debt could be called in as happened to Dave, but it is still a real wake up call to actually list the total amount due on each and every debt. Staggering!!! I would and DO feel a bit as his wife did, in that I am ashamed of the amount of debt I have and the carelessness with which I have handled finances so far in my life. I dont really think the majority of society would think anything of it since so many live this way also but I try to act in a manner that allows me to look at myself in the morror and still like myself. When I think of my debt, that doesn't happen. Hence the quest for debt free, simplier living! GO DAVE !!!

Well, I am not really scared that something like this might happen to us because if it did we would do the best we could and move on. I understand how his wife must have felt because it would have been a tremendous change in lifestyle for them. I have just recently started reading the fine print on financial documents. They are just now started to make sense. Before I was like "Mamaw", just tell me what the payment will be! That got us into some really bad situations with our money!

We faced a huge downturn in our business in 2001. We had already begun our debt snowball plan at that time, thankfully but we were still covered up in debt. We somehow managed to continue with our snowball payments and I'm soooo happy about that. I did feel a bit like Dave Ramsey's wife, although our debt was less than 1/10th of what there's was. I'm sure they led a much more luxurious life than we ever have. I remember feeling as if I couldn't breathe at times. The first time in my life I ever thought I might be having panic attacks. BUT in 2001 there were a few other things that happened in my life and to the country as well. Lots of stressful things going on.
I had actually read the fine print before on the bankloan papers. We have had to borrow in lean times for cash flow purposes and I made sure that I read that then. It clearly states that the note can be called in at any time and that you agree to pay it if it is. :yikes: At ANY time. We only have one loan at present and it's on business real estate that we own for our business. We're paying like crazy on it hoping to have it paid off soon. And yes, if the bank decided to call it due, we'd have to scramble.

This chapter reminds me of why I want to be out of debt. Thankfully our only debt is our mortgage. I don't expect them to call it due but I guess you never know.

I try to read the fine print but once again, there haven't been too many times I've had to do that because we don't have car payments, credit cards or any other kind of loan.

I don't think any of our debt (cc or mortgage) will be called due, but I guess you never know.

I do know the feelings of life changes, partly due to finances. When dh got sick, he had to quit his job. It was 6 months before he could get disablilty- all the while accruing huge medical bills. We still have not managed to dig out from the aftermath of that- 14 years later.

Mamaw said, "I am ashamed of the amount of debt I have and the carelessness with which I have handled finances so far in my life." Which totally blew me away. It is exactly how I feel and I thought, isn't it interesting that we know that so many people are in the same boat, but we still are ashamed to admit it? I doubt that I will ever tell my parents how deeply in debt we are.

When I read Ramsey's first chapter and his wife's comments, I wondered if she was aware of their finances or how close they were to the edge before the rug was pulled out from underneath them? (I think they might have said, but I can't remember) And I also thought that it was interesting how they seemed to be the very kind of people (before said rug disappeared) who believe that to make money you must spend money. I still shake my head and smile when I hear people say that. I always see the commercial on tv in my head with the guy riding around on his lawn mower in front of his very nice house talking about his possessions and smiling saying, "I'm in debt up to my eyeballs and I don't know how to pay for my next bill".

We are in a totally different place now than we were when we first got married.......then we had a mortgage and car payments, yes 2 new cars at 1 time, and cc debt out the ears and looking back I was probably just really stupid, I never thought or believed that things would fall apart and we would be in real trouble! I handled all the money, paid the bills......dh didn't have a clue! Then 1 day I just couldn't make it all work anymore and we sat down and discussed it and came up with a plan.

After all of that I am smart enough to know that there are no guarantees......life happens and if you aren't prepared you can fall hard and fast!

So......our only debt now is our tahoe payment and I am not afraid that it would be called in.

We are very careful to read any "fine print" on anything we purchase now.

With having a very limited income I do worry about debt. I try to get out as soon as possible. Like I have said before on previous post I was out of debt until I had to have dental work. I only have to pay so much a month for 18 months interest free but when my taxes come I pay off all my debt. I wish one time I could get my refund check back and be able to put it in my EF and not have to worry about paying a debt off, but at least I will be able to pay it back. Before I sign anything I always read the fine print.

I don't worry about the banks calling in our debt, because I doubt they will, and even if they did, the house is the collateral, and it is worth well more than what is owed on it, so we would be fine. We would just have to find some place else to live. Or, for the auto loan, the vehicle is worth more than we owe, so again, we would be fine. We would just be down to our one paid for car.

I am guilty of not reading ALL the fine print. However, I always make sure to do my homework to get the lowest possible rates, and I always make sure that there is no pre-payment penalty.

Your discussion questions for chapter 1:

~do you ever fear something like this might happen to you?

As long as I have debt I am afraid of it. I am making extra payments now, but it scares me to have it.

~as a wife or s/o, would you feel the same way as Ramsey's wife felt? Why or why not?

With DH starting his own business and I paying the rent, my debt, etc. I sometimes feel like the world is crashing down on me. We planned for things, but I am on such a strict budget right now and it makes me a bit nervous. We don't have a house yet, so when we do decide to get a mortgage I want all of our other debts completely paid off!

~is your debt similar to Ramsey's in that another financial institution could take over and call in your debt?

You just never know what can happen. I can't say "no" that it won't happen because you just don't know.

~have you ever read the fine print in your debt applications, be it for real estate, cc or personal loans?

Yes, I read the fine print.

WHile not on the same scale as Dave Ramsey, I will never forget the day my dh came home and told me the company he was working for had gone bankrupt and he was out of a job. It was the same day I got my last paycheck from the job I had been downsized from. In the space of a few hours we went from earning a healthy six figure salary to $0. My first thought was that we would lose everything! It took dh 10 months to find work and I am still only earning a very small income.

I didn't have the same worries as Dave Ramsey's wife because most of our friends were in the same boat as we were...caught in the high tech melt down. If anything we had an instant support group because we were all facing the same situation!

I try to always read the fine print. I may not understand it fully but I read it and then call a lawyer friend who is happy to explain it to me. Been zapped once or twice.

Hi, I am new here and a huge fan of Dave Ramsey's and now this website!

My DH and I are working thru debt now and want to get to the place where we can relax about our jobs and be ahead if something does happen. I don't trust the economic conditions in this country and am afraid of things going from bad to worse!

Our debt isn't as massive as Dave's was but it's still not good. I do worry but try to be proactive and pray alot.

I do try to read fine print. I am doing much better now, I used to rush thru it just to get the $. :(

Isn't it funny...I would bet that most of us in the past were only concerned with 2 questions.
1 Could we get the money and
2 Could we make the payment!

Thank heavens there are books like Dave's to help us wake up! LOL