Dave's advice on everything can be summed up thusly... The reason you ain't rich is because you spend money. If only we all spent less we'd become more wealthy. According to Dave a man who spends everything he makes is a fool. It reminded me of a story Terence Dicks used to tell of how Terry Nation always told him that the reason he was always buying bigger houses was to get himself into debt so he had to work harder to pay for his new lifestyle. An interesting approach to neoliberal economics... which won't work for many people but seemed to work for Terry who nearly constantly drank champagne for breakfast until he dropped down dead of emphysema aged 66.
Ramsey's first business went bust and he filed for bankruptcy in 1988 before almost immediately becoming a money guru. Of courses it could be that Dave who says you should never use a credit card has a grudge against the banks... Silly advice. Credit cards are great as long as you pay them off every month. Indeed, they can be better than other forms of borrowing in certain circumstances... but only certain circumstances. Dave's one-size-fits-all advice isn't awful but it's limited and delivered in a rather hectoring tone. Then again... Maybe you can get people out of debt by continually calling them "Stupid!" but it's not an approach Stepchange have endorsed just yet.
In my brief experience as a debt collector there are mainly two kinds of debtors. The don't cares who get into debt out of pure pigheadedness. And those who've been made redundant unexpectedly but have no savings to fall back on. So I would advise you to always have a little bit tucked away. Except that personally I don't. So that would be hypocritical...
But why don't I?
Well, I do sometimes. Sometimes I don't. I haven't quite gone all Terry Nation but I do feel at the same time that not spending money is a form of pessimism. Of a lack of risk taking. And taking no risks has it's own risks ...
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