What "program" do you recommend?

[Jamauk]

Hi there! I'm looking for a money management program to start following. We don't have a lot of debt really (we have two car payments, a mortgage and a HELOC). The mortgage and HELOC will be paid off once we sell the house - then we're paying cash for a mobile home to put on our property while we build our home and we'll do most of that out of pocket to keep our new mortgage to a minimum. We aren't struggling with money, we make a very comfortable salary, but that's part of the problem. I seem to be having a hard time lately really tightening up the belt because its not a necessity at this point.

We have some really lofty long term goals (early retirement, no mortgage, etc...) that are really really important to me, but I just seem to be struggling right now with saving every last penny. I think my biggest problem is making the time to sit down and really get everything organized ( a budget system that works, organizing coupons, making a price list, etc...)

So, are there any books/programs that you could recommend that really spells it out and makes it easy to get on track with this kind of thinking? Thanks in Advance!

[wannabedebtfree]

I hear great things about Dave Ramsey and his book "The Total Money Makeover"

I have some budget spreadsheets and snoball debt payment calculators in Excel. I will be happy to share if you (or anyone else) is interested. PM me your email address. I don't know how to attach them here.

[frugalfriend]

I second Dave Ramsey's plan! Check out the book The Total Money Makeover form the library. It is an excellent resource and will really spell everything out for you. Although, I will tell you, since I listen to his radio show every day, he would say to keep your house until your new one is ready, and do not buy a mobile home. They are really hard to sell, and do not appreciate in value.

[Jamauk]

Ok - I'll pick up Ramsey's book the next time I'm at the library. Thanks! We considered keeping this house, but we want to get the equity out of our current home so we don't have to finance much of the new one. We probably aren't looking at the mobile home as an investment - in fact in order to get it off the lot once the new home is built we'll probably have to tear it down and take it out in pieces.

Thanks for your suggestions!

[dianne9106]

Dave Ramsey Rocks!! He also has another program out there call Financial Peace University; you can either take the class online or in person at a church or other organization that offers it. The book TMMO is also great! It really puts things in perspective at the end of the day. Good luck!

[amlitrocks]

I am a fan of Dave Ramsey as well. There is a software program called Intellipenny that we work the envelope system for you online. Hope this helps!

[PrairieRose]

We started our debt snowball plan about 2 years before we ever heard of Dave Ramsey but have since bought his books and I will attest that he gives great, common sense advice on money management. There were a few tiny points that we deviated from (like using our rewards credit card for all expenses and then paying the thing off in full every month----we get tons of free airline tickets and are able to travel a lot b/c of it) but for the most part his advice is very sound. You can also listen to his radio show if you go to his website and listen to the archives. Very motivating for my dh...in fact that's what finally got him onboard

[Dave88LX]

[ame="http://www.frugalvillage.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=189"]Dave Ramsey - Frugal Village Forums[/ame]

[dortrust]

I really feel that books take so much time to read and follow. There is so much info that is repeated in all books. I need the time to do it. We are interested in early retirement as well. We live very comfortable but need motivation of the longer term goal to save as much as possible.