96 Dave Ramsey Quotes That Will Make You Rethink Money

Our Dave Ramsey Quotes Collection is sure to make you view money differently.

It was our search for knowledge on how to build a budget and pay off our debt that allowed us to find Dave Ramsey.  It was through his words, his inspirational sayings, that we found the needed courage to pay our debt off fast.

We bring this collection of quotes about budgeting, need, want, family, and wealth building to help you through the moments of doubt.  The moments when you question your “why” and need some encouragement.

Like all of our quote collections, we have put together some great opportunities for you to share your favorite quote on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or whatever communication platform you prefer!

Who is Dave Ramsey?

Dave Ramsey is an individual who took the hardest financial time in his life and decided to take make changes that would prevent him from ever landing in that situation again.  The situation is bankruptcy.

It was his bankruptcy that spurred his business of helping others manage their money.

In the book The Total Money Makeover, Dave Ramsey tells his story of mismanaging his finances and the changes he had to make in order to make sure he never found himself in that same situation again.

It was these lessons learned, that he decided to teach others through his own experiences.  So with a matter of fact, common sense approach, Dave took to the airwaves in the 90s and started teaching listeners how to avoid the mistakes he made with money while providing hope to those that found themselves in financial situations that appeared to be hopeless.

With his no-nonsense approach, Dave has coached countless individuals to get their finances in order.  It is his message promoting countless opportunities for change that inspires so many to get their finances in order and change their legacy.

For more great quotes, check out Dave’s five New York Times best-selling books at your local library: Financial Peace, More Than Enough, The Total Money Makeover, EntreLeadership, and Smart Money Smart Kids.  (Check out Amazon’s current prices if a library is not in your area!)

Dave Ramsey Quotes That Will Inspire You To Manage Your Money

Don’t buy things you can’t afford, with money you don’t have, to impress people you don’t like. Dave Ramsey

If the Red-Faced Kid (“I want it, and I want it now!”) rules your life, you will stay broke. Dave Ramsey

Those who don’t manage their money will always work for those who do. Dave Ramsey

If you help enough people, you don’t have to worry about money. Dave Ramsey

If hard work, integrity, thrift, and perseverance have caused you to succeed, then you don’t owe anyone an apology for winning. Dave Ramsey

After losing everything, I went on a quest to find out how money really works, how I could get control of it, and how I could have confidence in handling it. Dave Ramsey

What to do isn’t the problem; doing it is. Most of us know what to do, but we just don’t do it. If I can control the guy in the mirror, I can be skinny and rich. Dave Ramsey

Winning at money is 80 percent behavior and 20 percent head knowledge. Most of us know what to do, but we just don’t do it. Dave Ramsey

As parents, we teach our kids about things we feel competent in. That’s why so many parents don’t teach their kids about money. Dave Ramsey

If normal is good then that’s ok, let’s be normal. But normal is not good. Normal in America today is 70% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck according to the Wallstreet journal. Normal in America today is bankruptcy is increased almost every single year. Normal in America today is people work their whole lives and retire and say “I sure hope the government, which is well known for it’s ability to handle money, will take care of me.” Normal in America today is the number 1 cause for divorce in North America is money fights and money problems…. Normal in America today is a car with a payment and no idea that “I’m ever gonna live without a car payment”… Normal in America today is broke, and it sucks! Looking good and no freaking money! Big hat, no cattle! That’s normal. So don’t talk to me about normal. Normal sucks! Dave Ramsey

Dave Ramsey Quotes – Live Like No One Else

The number one problem that causes student loan debt? Parents that suck. Dave Ramsey

There is nothing wrong with having nice things, but when you are trying to buy nice things to be happy, you are going to hurt. It’s not going to work. Dave Ramsey

Get on a budget. We recommend a zero based budget. Spend your whole paycheck on paper before the month begins. Give every dollar a name. Every dollar has a predestination. Dave Ramsey

Money is not evil… Money makes you more of what you are now. If you’re a greedy jerk without money, you’ll be a greedy jerk with money too. But if you enjoy giving to others even when you didn’t really have much to give, just think what you’ll be able to do when you’re rich! Dave Ramsey

Get in Total Attack Mode. All you have to do is execute, execute, execute now. If your friends that are broke aren’t making fun of you, then you are not on track. If your family says, “Look, they’ve joined a cult!” then you are right on track. Dave Ramsey

That stupid saying “What you don’t know can’t hurt you” is ridiculous. What you don’t know can kill you. If you don’t know that tractor trailer trucks hurt when hitting you, then you can play in the middle of the interstate with no fear, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get killed.  Dave Ramsey

Measure your wealth not by the things you have, but by the things for which you would not take money. Dave Ramsey

You’ve got to tell your money what to do or it will leave. Dave Ramsey

Your budget must balance! You are not Congress! Dave Ramsey

Being able to delay pleasure for a greater result is a sign of maturity. Dave Ramsey

Quotes by Dave Ramsey

Hitting bottom and hitting it hard was the worst thing that ever happened to me and the best thing that ever happened to me. Dave Ramsey

Your income is your responsibility. If you get to retirement with a mountain of debt and nothing to live on, it’s no one else’s fault. Dave Ramsey

Study the habits of the people you want to be like and then imitate them. If they are succeeding, they must be doing something right. Dave Ramsey

Pray like it all depends on God, but work like it all depends on you. Dave Ramsey

Wealth comes from hard work but not because of hard work. Wealth comes because of God. Everything is His. Dave Ramsey

You can’t work three hours a week and make $100,000. Get rich quick doesn’t work. Crock pot mentality always defeats microwave mentality! Dave Ramsey

You must gain control over your money or the lack of it will forever control you. Dave Ramsey

The thing I have discovered about working with personal finance is that the good news is that it is not rocket science. Personal finance is about 80 percent behavior. It is only about 20 percent head knowledge. Dave Ramsey

Look past the glitz and glamour and really see every product for what it is and what its benefits are for you and your family. Dave Ramsey

It takes some discipline and hard work, but relying on credit when things go wrong is a trap. Dave Ramsey

Quote of The Day Email Subscription

Sign up for our Free Quote of the Day Email Subscription and start receiving inspiration directly to your inbox every day.

Each email contains a quote that promotes growth, provides inspiration, and encourages a positive mindset.

Name

Email

Sign Me Up

Dave Ramsey Quotes About Debt

If broke people are making fun of your financial plan, you’re on track. Dave Ramsey

I believe that through knowledge and discipline, financial peace is possible for all of us. Dave Ramsey

There are no shortcuts when it comes to getting out of debt. Dave Ramsey

Winning at money is 80 percent behavior and 20 percent head knowledge. Dave Ramsey

Consider your buying motives. Why are you making this purchase? Is it something you need or want, or are you buying it to make someone else happy or to please the kids? No amount of stuff will ever give you contentment or fulfillment. Dave Ramsey

Some people are just stuck in their ways and have been brainwashed into believing that credit cards and debt are an unavoidable part of life. Dave Ramsey

Debt has been sold to us so aggressively, so loudly, and so often that to imagine living without debt requires myth-busting. Debt is so ingrained into our culture that most Americans can’t even envision a car without a payment… a house without a mortgage… a student without a loan… Dave Ramsey

My goal as I get older is to learn from other people’s stupid rather than my own. Dave Ramsey

My financial life began turning around when I took responsibility for it. Dave Ramsey

Broke people giving financial advice is like a shop teacher with missing fingers. Dave Ramsey

Dave Ramsey Famous Quotes

Financial peace isn’t the acquisition of stuff. It’s learning to live on less than you make, so you can give money back and have money to invest. You can’t win until you do this. Dave Ramsey

You must plan your work and then work your plan. Dave Ramsey

It’s never too late to turn things around. You are the only obstacle. Dave Ramsey

It is human nature to want it and want it now; it is also a sign of immaturity. Being willing to delay pleasure for a greater result is a sign of maturity. Dave Ramsey

Success is a pile of failure that you are standing on. Dave Ramsey

Act your wage. Dave Ramsey

Money comes from work, not from other people, the government, or dumb luck. From an early age, your kids need to feel that emotional connection between work and money. Dave Ramsey

Your decisions from today forward will affect not only your life, but also your entire legacy. Dave Ramsey

Nothing happens without focus. Don’t try to do everything at once. Take it one step at a time. Dave Ramsey

We’re not going to write a check every time you’re stupid. Nobody’s got that much money. Dave Ramsey

Famous Quotations and Sayings by Dave Ramsey

If you don’t make a plan for your money, someone else will. Dave Ramsey

A big part of being strong financially is that you know where you are weak and take action to make sure you don’t fall prey to the weakness. And we ALL are weak. Dave Ramsey

You can’t be in debt and win. It doesn’t work. Dave Ramsey

I’m not against people having new cars. I’m against them having you. We spend a tremendous amount impressing somebody at the stoplight who we’ll never meet. It makes you broke and keeps you broke. Dave Ramsey

If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’re gonna keep getting what you’ve been getting. If you really want a different result, you gotta get knowledge, yes. But, more importantly, you’ve got to change your behavior permanently. Dave Ramsey

I don’t want to walk across hot coals because it is fun, but if I can be shown how a short, painful walk will do away with the lifetime of worry, frustration, stress, and fear that being constantly broke brings me, then bring on the hot coals. Dave Ramsey

You must walk to the beat of a different drummer. The same beat that the wealthy hear. If the beat sounds normal, evacuate the dance floor immediately! The goal is to not be normal, because as my radio listeners know, normal is broke. Dave Ramsey

The decision to go into debt alters the course and condition of your life. You no longer own it. You are owned. Dave Ramsey

A goal without a plan is just a dream. Dave Ramsey

Debt is normal. Be weird. Dave Ramsey

Sayings by Dave Ramsey that Will Make You Understand Money

If you will make the sacrifices now that most people aren’t willing to make, later on you will be able to live as those folks will never be able to live. Dave Ramsey

We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like. Dave Ramsey

If you make some sacrifices, inject some discipline, and get intentional about winning with money, the future is wide open. Dave Ramsey

Aristotle once said, To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, and be nothing. Dave Ramsey

Work is doing it. Discipline is doing it every day. Diligence is doing it well every day. Dave Ramsey

First, stop the bleeding. You can’t get out of a hole while you’re digging out the bottom. Cut up your credit cards! That’s right…plastic surgery! Dave Ramsey

The enemy of ‘the best’ is not ‘the worst’. The enemy of ‘the best’ is ‘just fine’. Dave Ramsey

Poor is a state of mind. Broke is, “I’m just passing through.” Dave Ramsey

Debt is so ingrained into our culture that most Americans can’t even envision a car without a payment a house without a mortgage a student without a loan and credit without a card. We’ve been sold debt with such repetition and with such fervor that most folks can’t conceive of what it would be like to have NO payments.  Dave Ramsey

Teach your kids early on how to save up for purchases. If they learn how (and why) to save up for a Barbie today, they’ll know how (and why) to save up for a car or house tomorrow—with no debt. Dave Ramsey

Dave Ramsey Financial Quotes

The enemy of the best is not the worst. The enemy of the best is just fine. Dave Ramsey

Work is a surefire money-making scheme. Dave Ramsey

Diligence = disciplined excellence over time. Dave Ramsey

Parents who let teens run around with unearned adult freedoms are naive and stupid. Dave Ramsey

When you run your money through a budget, it just works harder. It has more muscle. Dave Ramsey

Discipline is hard, it hurts, and it requires sacrifice. Personally, I don’t like discipline but I love what discipline produces. Dave Ramsey

Broke is normal. Why be normal? Dave Ramsey

For your own good, for the good of your family and your future, grow a backbone. When something is wrong, stand up and say it is wrong, and don’t back down. Dave Ramsey

Rich people and smart people would be in the line if the Lotto was a real wealth-building tool, but the truth is that the Lotto is a rip-off instituted by our government. Dave Ramsey

You never cash out a 401(k) or IRA to pay off debt, unless it’s to avoid a foreclosure or bankruptcy. Dave Ramsey

A budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went. Dave Ramsey

If you want something you’ve never had, you’ll have to do something you’ve never done. Dave Ramsey

If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else. Dave Ramsey

You wanna blow money? Put it in a “blow” category in your budget. But at least admit it on paper! Dave Ramsey

Ideas are a dime a dozen. People who execute them are not. Dave Ramsey

Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished, but he who gathers by labor will increase. Dave Ramsey

Personal finance isn’t rocket science. It’s just common sense. It’s how your grandparents lived…if you don’t have the money, you can’t buy it! Dave Ramsey

You can get anywhere if you simply go one step at a time. Dave Ramsey

Live like no else today, so you can live like no else tomorrow. Dave Ramsey

Find something to do and do that with vigor until it is complete; then and only then do you move to the next step. Dave Ramsey

Years ago, in a motivational seminar by the master, Zig Ziglar, I heard a story about how mediocrity will sneak up on you. The story goes that if you drop a frog into boiling water, he will sense the pain and immediately jump out. However, if you put a frog in room-temperature water, he will swim around happily, and as you gradually turn the water up to boiling, the frog will not sense the change. The frog is lured to his death by gradual change. We can lose our health, our fitness, and our wealth gradually, one day at a time. It might be a cliché, but that’s because it is true: The enemy of the best is not the worst. The enemy of the best is just fine.  Dave Ramsey

Change is painful. Few people have the courage to seek out change. Most people won’t change until the pain of where they are exceeds the pain of change. Dave Ramsey

When people get scared, they quit giving. Dave Ramsey

We have zero tolerance for gossip. Shut up and get work done. Dave Ramsey

We consumers have become a nation of servants to financial institutions. We used to joke that a bank was where you could borrow money if you could prove you didn’t need it. Now, with the advent of aggressive credit marketing strategies, we can borrow even when we shouldn’t be allowed to. Dave Ramsey

Most of the things we buy are wants. And we call them needs, but they’re wants. –Dave Ramsey Dave Ramsey