Video Response: Dave Ramsey’s Debt Snowball

August 27, 2019

Debt is like a quicksand trap that you willingly lower yourself into. It’s a trap that most of us even learn to accept being stuck in, as if it’s normal. And, instead of finding ways to get out of that quicksand of debt: we sink ever deeper and ignore the peril until we can’t anymore.

The point at which we ignore debt is usually the point where no remedy will fix it anytime soon. I hate sounding judgmental and preachy when I write such things. Most people default to a, “I’m not listening,” response when they think they’re being lectured.

It’s a sensitive subject. Those in deep debt don’t want to hear “I told you so!” They just continue their self-destructive tendencies relative to personal finance. Full disclosure, I used to be just like that. My credit card debt once overwhelmed me. I haven’t used a credit card in years.

Not because it’s against my religion, but because I let my credit card debt snowball to a size that runs over people like in those old school cartoons. I tried to pay off the high-interest credit cards first to no avail.

I paid off one card and the next monstrously unpaid bill lurked to take its place. And speaking of snowballs, The Debt Snowball technique could have helped me if I knew about it then. So, I decided to review a Dave Ramsey YouTube video detailing the debt reduction technique Ramsey created.

Dave Ramsey’s Debt Snowball

Dave Ramsey is a noted personal finance expert and educator, businessman, and radio host. Even if you have never heard of him, you have probably heard of some of his debt reduction ideas, like the, “Debt Snowball,”. Here is a 7-minute Ramsey-hosted YouTube video explaining it.

Ramsey’s video is titled, “Pay Off Debt Using the Debt Snowball.” In the video, Ramsey says that people rely too much on hope when it comes to massive, life altering debt. The problem is that people don’t want to change, and hope is worthless currency without action.

As Ramsey remarks, successfully reducing debt has more to do with changing your behavior and mindset when it comes to money than math accuracy. A mathematician who won’t change the behaviors that got them into debt won’t get out of debt.

One problem is that people can be overwhelmed into paralysis when they have multiple debts. The Debt Snowball is a debt reduction method where you prioritize paying off the debts with lowest interest rates first.

Then, as you pay off one low-interest debt, you use your income to pay off the next one and then the next like a debt reduction snowball. The idea is to progressively work up to paying the high interest debts.

Ramsey says that it works for all who stay dedicated to the Debt Snowball mindset. He claims that on the average, people who unflinchingly use this method are debt-free in 24 months.

It Take a Proactive Mindset to get Debt-Free

Ramsey’s video is very informative. I did find his sarcastic tone a little too much sometimes. Then again, Ramsey remarked how frustrating it is to see people in debt who should know better. I recommend that you check out the video and see if the Debt Snowball method could help you.

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