It's super important to understand the "why" behind Dave Ramsey. Let us not forget the very reason Dave went bankrupt was because of over leveraging real estate. He had a net worth of over 1 million at the time it happened. Meaning he had 1 million dollars in equity above his debt. Dave Ramsey principles are very much so a "Guaranteed" approach. Meaning, it will work therefore, it is more conservative and less aggressive. Most of us in here don't exactly take that approach haha.
On my first deal I got conned and ended up losing almost 30k. I have experienced a failed project and if I wasn't in a better spot financially it would have ruined me financially. Unfortunately, a partner involved was NOT in that spot and he is suffering from it 2 years later still... A borrower is slave to the lender. Debt basically maximizes the results x whatever you leveraged. If it's a loss your loss is maximized and if it's a gain your gain is maximized. From a personal perspective, I don't disagree with one thing Dave says. Theres no financially logical reason whatsoever that you should go into debt for something personal. If you feel the need to justify a car, then make it minimal. Don't drive a $600/month car riding around with $500 in your bank account...
However, I have used credit cards like its a checking account my whole adult life and It has worked very well for me both in my personal and business life. I have redeemed probably about 12k in rewards cash and have been saved out of about 4-5 fraud cases. Some of which were as high as $20k! It's super important to pay those off every month and NEVER carry a balance. The bottom line is, be responsible and don't over leverage yourself and you'll probably be alright. Never wager more than you're willing to lose. Even if you are completely against Dave. You should probably remember that the man is a multi-millionaire and obviously did something right. At minimum you should question why that is and what you can take away from it.
