re: Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace

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No. They need a second job. Seriously. The biggest problem for people in that situation is lack of income, not lack of savings. It is very hard to save if you don't have enough income to start with.

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I respect you man, but what you're saying simply isn't true - just like the federal government, most people have a spending problem. They don't budget, they don't plan for emergencies, they don't save and they spend money prior to ever making it. Some compound this by spending money, prior to ever making AND incurring finance charges on that previously spent money, making it impossible to ever dig out of the hole.

An individual, working 40 hours per week, at $8.50 per hour, will gross right at $1500 per month - at that point, if he's single, he better be living with roommates (or mom/dad). If he's running a deficit every month, he's got a spending problem. Your solution "get a second job", is viable, as that will take out the number of hours he has available to spend money, plus close the gap. However, that doesn't mean he didn't have a spending problem to begin with.

Planning, budgeting, saving are all the very first steps I would suggest to anyone with a money problem. Yes it's possible they have an income problem. Even so, I would wager they have a spending problem and the spending problem is a much bigger factor in 95% of household financial situations (although I could be a little high in light of the recent prolonged unemployment problem).