Dave Ramseys Financial Wisdom from Proverbs

1 | P a g e

Contents
Day 1: Know Your Stuff ................................................................................................................................. 2
Day 2: Planning Ahead .................................................................................................................................. 3
Day 3: Save Today, Secure Tomorrow .......................................................................................................... 4
Day 4: Slaves to Debt .................................................................................................................................... 5
Day 5: Gazelle Intensity! ............................................................................................................................... 6
Day 6: Secret to Success................................................................................................................................ 7
Day 7: Working Together .............................................................................................................................. 8
Day 8: Leaving a Legacy ................................................................................................................................ 9
Day 9: The Tortoise Wins ............................................................................................................................ 10
Day 10: Integrity Matters ............................................................................................................................ 11


Dave Ramseys Financial Wisdom from Proverbs
2 | P a g e

Day 1: Know Your Stuff
Proverbs 27:23

Pretend for a minute that you started a company called YOU, Inc., and it's your job to
manage every cent that passes through the company. If you managed money for YOU, Inc., the
same way you manage money for you now, would you fire you? Ouch! That's a tough question, but
it's necessary. That's because you really are charged with handling important finances. You may not
be the CFO of a huge company, but you are responsible for managing the money God's entrusted to
youand that's even more important! So how do you make sure YOU, Inc., stays on solid financial
footing? First, you've got to know your stuff!
See, money is active. It's always moving, always flowing from one thing to another. That makes it
really hard to manage, but you've got to take control. Money always flows away from those who
don't manage it and toward those who do. The biggest part of managing it is simply knowing what
you have and what you're doing with it. Proverbs 27:23 challenges us to "know the state of [our]
flocks." In ancient days, flocks and herds were a common currency. They were the measure of
personal wealth and the foundation for a family inheritance. Individuals who wanted to build wealth
knew all there was to know about their stuff. It's no different today.
If you want to experience financial peace, you've got to learn to manage what you have. You've got
to build a zero-based budget on paper, on purpose, at the start of every month. You've got to get
out of debt. You've got to build a three- to six-month emergency fund that keeps you out of "crisis
mode." You've got to save and invest now so you can be secure in the future. Money is sort of like a
thoroughbred horse. When it's properly trained, it combines beauty and power like few things on
earth. But left on its own, it becomes wildeven dangerous.
Know the condition of your flocks and pay attention to your herds. If you don't manage your
money, the lack of money will always manage you!
Dave Ramseys Financial Wisdom from Proverbs
3 | P a g e

Day 2: Planning Ahead
Proverbs 16:9

The late Zig Ziglar used to say, "If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time." I've always
liked that quote because it's a great reminder about the importance of planning. You can settle for
breezing through life with no plan, but you'll end up going nowhere. Anything of substance in life
requires some careful thought ahead of time.
Jesus taught a similar lesson when He talked about discipleship in Luke 14:28 - 30. He said no one
building a tower would move forward on construction without sitting down to "count the cost."
After all, quitting halfway because the resources dried up would make the builder a laughingstock.
The foundation for his tower would become a monument to his incompetence. What Jesus
emphasized about discipleship - evaluating your situation and planning for the costs - works for
money too. Planning ahead is at the heart of success.
For personal finances, that means telling your cash what to do each month by creating a zero-based
budget. Creating a budget shouldn't be some calm, casual afterthought. You need to let your money
know who's the boss. You need to sit down with your pencil, paper and calculator and make those
dollars dance! For a zero-based budget, take all your income and assign it to a budget category.
Every single dollar should have a name and a job to do - and don't forget savings! The goal is to
make your income minus your outgo equal zero. If you're over or under, go back and tweak the
math until you hit that magic number: zero! But as a believer, there's another part of budgeting that
you can't ignore.
The money you manage really isn't your money. It's God's money. So He needs to have the final say
on what goes where. Solomon said "a man's heart plans his way." We get that. We all have hopes
and dreams, values and passions. But he also said that God should be the One directing our steps.
That means every plan - and every budget - we make should be filtered through Him.
Dave Ramseys Financial Wisdom from Proverbs
4 | P a g e

Day 3: Save Today, Secure Tomorrow
Proverbs 21:20

Going bankrupt was a wake-up call for me. I had enjoyed a lot of nice stuff, but I lost it all
because of my lack of discipline. So when I was forced to start over from scratch, I decided to do
things differently the second time around. One thing I decided to do was to learn the habits of
wealthy people. I figured that if I wanted to be wealthy, it only made sense to learn (and do) what
wealthy people do.
Over the past couple of decades, I've spent time with millionaires and billionaires. I've picked their
brains and tried to understand how they built and maintained wealth. What I've found is that the
principle behind Proverbs 21:20 really does work in real life. Wise people do have enough when
they need it because they plan for emergencies. But fools really do spend all they have - and more -
as soon as they get it. For example, I've found that many wealthy people don't live like wealthy
people. Instead of flaunting their money, they adopt upper-middle-class lifestyles. Some even live
lower-middle-class lifestyles - and they don't suffer from it a bit! They just keep doing what got them
there in the first place.
One of the most basic things they do is save. Instead of chasing a lot of extravagant toys, they
continue putting money aside. They keep using the power of compound interest to build wealth.
They always think about creating security for the future. In contrast, many people are like I was
before I went bankrupt in my 20s. They don't have the discipline to do even the simple things like
saving money. Instead of becoming wealthy by doing what wealthy people do, they stay broke by
doing what broke people do! On the budget forms my company provides, the first line item is
"Giving" because we want you to honor God first. But the second line item is "Saving" because we
want you to pay yourself before you pay anyone else.
Wise people save money. It's a basic, crystal-clear biblical principle. And if you spend every dime
that passes through your fingers, then guess what? You're a fool! Don't blame me - God said it!

Dave Ramseys Financial Wisdom from Proverbs
5 | P a g e

Day 4: Slaves to Debt
Proverbs 22:7

After nearly three decades of talking to people about money, I've figured something out. If
you tell a lie loud enough and long enough, people will begin to believe it's true. Even if they know
in their hearts that the myth is complete bunk, they'll live as if it's real. These days, there's a big myth
that's fooling a lot of people. It's the myth that debt is an effective part of their financial plan. Credit
has been marketed to us so effectively that most people think they can't live without it. They think
it's a good thing, a necessary thing. And they think anyone who lives without debt must be crazy!
Well, I've been called crazy before, and I'm okay with that. When it comes to debt, I don't want to
be normal. And I'm in pretty good company because King Solomon - who knew a lot about money
and wealth - felt the same way. In Proverbs 22:7, he was adamant about avoiding debt. Why?
Because he understood what so many people today totally miss: Debt enslaves us! The Bible says
that the borrower is slave to the lender. That's pretty strong language, but it's totally on target. Think
about it. A slave can't give because he doesn't have anything. He can't go where he wants to go or do
what he wants to do because he always has a master calling the shots. That's exactly how it feels
when you're up to your eyeballs in debt.
Hey, why do you think they call it MasterCard? Solomon knew what he was talking about. This guy
was the wisest man who ever lived! He didn't use the word slave" by accident, and he wasn't being
overly dramatic. He was just showing us what debt really is: a cruel master.

Dave Ramseys Financial Wisdom from Proverbs
6 | P a g e

Day 5: Gazelle Intensity!
Proverbs 6:1 & 5

I never knew much about gazelles. I never really gave them much thought - until I read
Proverbs 6 one day in my quiet time. Of course, any biblical reference to debt catches my eye. And
if the Bible offers a way to escape debt, I want to know the secret! But when I saw that this answer
focused on gazelles, I was a little confused. I was looking for a great spiritual principle, and God
gave me animal metaphors! God must have known I needed some help because He gave me a little
more insight later that day.
I was watching a nature documentary, and guess what showed up? Gazelles! Of course, you know
the gazelles weren't out there all alone! Before long, Mr. Cheetah showed up looking for lunch.
Suddenly, God had my attention. The cheetah sprang into the clearing, and the gazelles took off in
14 different directions. Now, a gazelle can't outrun the world's fastest land animal, but it can zigzag
around long enough to wear him out. And that's exactly what happened. I learned that cheetahs
rarely win these races. Because the gazelle is so focused on doing whatever it takes to survive, the
cheetah only catches it about once in every 19 attempts. That's what I call intensity! That
documentary helped me understand the gazelle reference in Proverbs 6:5. The only real way to beat
debt is to be intense!
You've got to work hard. You've got to fight for survival. You've got to run for your life! The truth
is, you will never wander out of debt. You won't stroll out. It won't happen by accident. You only
get out if you set your eyes on the goal and attack your debt with gazelle intensity!

Dave Ramseys Financial Wisdom from Proverbs
7 | P a g e

Day 6: Secret to Success
Proverbs 15:22

On the first day of every year, people make resolutions about how things are going to be
different this time around. Unfortunately, few of those resolutions ever make it to January 7. For
example, polls consistently tell us that two of the top resolutions involve losing weight and
managing money. But every year, the results are the opposite of what we hoped for: Our waistlines
get bigger, and our net worths gets smaller! To be honest, resolutions are a joke! We know life would
be better without extra pounds and credit cards, but we just can't say no. Why can't we follow
through with our January 1 resolutions? Because without teeth, resolutions are nothing more than
wishes we make to ourselves. We can give them teeth by sharing them with someone else. It's called
accountability, and it's one of the most powerful motivators for change you can imagine.
In Proverbs 15:22, Solomon challenged his readers to build accountability into their lives. He
understood that the worst crashes often happen when we're flying solo. We can make a lot of plans,
but the chances of failure increase when we try to go it alone. On the other hand, "many advisers"
(otherwise known as accountability partners) lead to success. When we are willing to hear and heed
the advice of others, we can prevent a landslide of future headaches. Of course, that doesn't mean
we let someone else run our lives or that we have to follow through with every suggestion. But it
does mean that we let others speak into our lives and - for a moment, at least - entertain the idea
that we don't know everything about every situation. We're teachable. Who are some people you
trust? Family members, lifelong friends, pastors, fellow church members, leaders and co-workers can
all serve as guides for your money questions.
Find a few key people and let them help you reach your financial goals. Don't set yourself up for
failure. Accountability is biblical and it works!

Dave Ramseys Financial Wisdom from Proverbs
8 | P a g e

Day 7: Working Together
Proverbs 31:10-11

I'm a financial person. My wife, Sharon, is not. So maybe you can imagine my surprise
several years ago when I discovered that she actually had some opinions about money. But what
really got me was how often I was wrong and she was right! Sharon fits all the ideals of a genteel
Southern woman. She never pushes to get her way, but she does tend to have "feeeeeelings" when it
comes to big decisions. At first, I never paid much attention to those feeeeeelings. But after my
personal pride left our family bankrupt, I learned to trust them. Now, I won't make a major move
without Sharon's insight.
For example, in the early days of my company, I wouldn't hire anyone before they had dinner with
Sharon and me because I needed to hear her input and wisdom. That's something I've passed down
to my leadership team today. Our company doesn't hire anybody until they've completed a spousal
interview with the department leader and his or her spouse. I really believe Proverbs 31:1011 is a
prescription for wise financial decisions.
If you're married, you and your spouse are one. If you run off and make a huge purchase or sink
money into an investment without talking with your spouse, you're only operating with half your
brain! And the results are rarely a blessing. Every time I've made a major decision without Sharon's
advice, it's caused me huge amounts of heartache - and cost me lots of money! If you're single, you
can rely on your accountability partner to play that role in your life. Either way, the point is to get
outside your own head, share the plan out loud, and let others tell you if they think it's a bad idea. I'll
admit that talking about money can cause some disagreements, but that's normal and healthy in a
marriage.
Just remember that your spouse is not the enemy. In fact, God has placed the two of you on the
same team to make each other better. And who knows - if you can agree on the checkbook, the only
real fight left may be over who gets the remote.

Dave Ramseys Financial Wisdom from Proverbs
9 | P a g e

Day 8: Leaving a Legacy
Proverbs 13:22

When my children were teenagers, one of them came to me complaining about how "hard"
it was to be a Ramsey kid. She whined about having to buy her own car and learn to manage her
own checkbook when her friends didn't have to. "You cut us no slack," she said. She was right.
Sharon and I did expect a lot from our kids, and we worked hard to make sure they understood the
biblical principles of giving, saving and spending. But we didn't do it to be mean. We did it because
we want wealth to be a blessing to our children - not a curse.
See, I've checked the statistics, and I know that 100% of humans die. We all have an expiration date
in terms of our time on earth, and Sharon and I are no exception. And one day our three children
will inherit everything we've built and saved. I reminded my daughter that the inheritance we pass to
her and her siblings will either bless their lives beyond belief or ruin their lives beyond repair. And
the difference rests in our ability to teach them how to handle money right now. I see that truth
spelled out in Proverbs 13:22. As a believer, I should be using my wealth to make a difference in the
world. But I'm also called to leave a legacy for generations to come.
Leaving a legacy doesn't just mean leaving them some money; it means leaving them with the
character to manage that money from a biblical perspective. If you have children, you have legacy
responsibilities as well. Make sure you have a will that is current and appropriate for your state laws.
It should explain how your assets should be distributed, but it also needs to answer questions that
could be asked when you pass - like custody of minor children, your feelings about life support, and
your organ donor wishes.
And if you aren't teaching your children how to handle money, you need to start, regardless of their
age. After all, the best financial legacy you can leave is a generation of wise and competent stewards.

Dave Ramseys Financial Wisdom from Proverbs
10 | P a g e

Day 9: The Tortoise Wins
Proverbs 21:5

I've been blessed to learn from some wildly successful individuals. I love those
opportunities, and I always try to make the most of them. I even take a pen and a notepad so I can
write down important insights. The way I see it, you stop growing the moment you stop learning.
One day, I was spending time with a really successful guy. I mean, this guy was a billionaire! Over
lunch, I asked him a question I've asked many wealthy folks: "What can I do today that will get me
closer to where you are financially and in business?" Now this was a godly man who had been
walking with the Lord for a long time, so his first answer wasn't really a surprise - give generously.
Almost every wealthy person I've ever talked to has emphasized generosity, and giving is already one
of my favorite things to do. So, that was pretty much a given. His second suggestion was to read a
book that he guaranteed would change my life. I'm a huge reader, so I was really excited about this
idea. I had my pen to the paper, ready to write down the name of this transformational book. "Dave,
have you ever read The Tortoise and the Hare?" he asked. Huh? A fairy tale? What's that got to do
with wealth? Seeing the weird look on my face, my friend said, "Dave, we live in a world full of
rabbits. Everybody is running around, hopping here and there without paying attention to where
they're going. If you want to succeed, you've got to stay focused and move slow and steady." Then
he leaned in and hit me with the clincher:
"Every time I read that book, the tortoise wins." I think Solomon was making a similar point in
Proverbs 21:5. Diligence requires patience and perseverance. It's much more tortoise than hare. It
also leads to plenty, while haste and hurry lead to poverty.
Reliable wealth building is really pretty simple - maybe even a little boring. It just takes doing the
right things consistently over time. It may be tempting to sprint ahead like a rabbit, but don't fall for
that myth. The truth is, building wealth is a marathon, not a sprint. And in this race, the tortoise
always wins.

Dave Ramseys Financial Wisdom from Proverbs
11 | P a g e

Day 10: Integrity Matters
Proverbs 13:11

In his book The Millionaire Mind, Dr. Thomas J. Stanley studied the habits of several
hundred individuals with a net worth of at least $10 million. He really wanted to find out what
makes the typical millionaire tick and uncover any common characteristics that contributed to their
wealth. As he examined the results of his interviews and surveys, Stanley found a definite connection
between personal integrity and financial success. In fact, he ranked integrity as a prime predictor of
wealth potential - even higher than an individual's chosen business or industry. In other words,
integrity matters!
The reason so many people struggle with building wealth is that they also struggle with integrity.
They lack a basic commitment to honesty. That's a strong statement. In fact, it may be so strong that
you think it doesn't apply to you. But if you're breathing and if your heart is beating, you have
wrestled with being completely truthful at one time or another - and some of those struggles
probably had something to do with money. Simply put, there are two ways to make money and build
wealth. You can rely on dishonesty, or you can stay completely committed to integrity.
In Proverbs 13:11, Solomon drew a sharp contrast between the two. Dishonest money may seem to
come more easily, but it never lasts. It dwindles away like sand running through our fingers. But
honest money, gained through hard work and investment over time, grows. It provides security - not
to mention a clear conscience. Integrity matters - in your finances and in every other part of your life
- because a moral breakdown is not a victimless crime. Dishonesty will deeply wound you and those
around you. Unless you hold yourself to an ultra-high standard, you will walk through life with an
emotional and spiritual limp.
Fortunately, it's not too late to correct course. If you've skimped on integrity in the past, now's the
time to come clean - to yourself, to others and to God. Repair that chink in your armor today.
Remember, integrity matters!