Alternative to Dave Ramsey?

December 3, 2023 6:24 PM

I like Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University, but I don’t like Dave Ramsey. Got an to recommend?
posted by zooropa to Work & Money (7 answers total)

Ramit Sethi, in particular his podcast, Netflix series and book. Less of a focus on debt payoff, more focus on making money work for you.

If you like the "baby steps" approach in FPU, you might like Scott Pape, an Australian personal finance author. His book The Barefoot Investor follows a similar sequence to Dave Ramsey's, though some of it is Australia-specific (like the mentions of superannuation).
posted by third word on a random page at 6:34 PM on December 3, 2023 [3 favorites]

I feel the same way about Dave Ramsey. But his original book goes on sale every year at this time for $10, and it's still a useful gift for people who are new to money management.

I'll be watching closely here for the recommendations-- this is something I want as well!
posted by seasparrow at 6:54 PM on December 3, 2023

I'm not sure whether you like Financial Peace University partly because it's more than a book.

But if you're OK with a book, Elizabeth Warren wrote one with her daughter before she was a senator. It's called All Your Worth, and it's marketed as a step-by-step plan for managing your finances.
posted by FencingGal at 7:32 PM on December 3, 2023 [10 favorites]

Seconding Ramit Sethi - his book I Will Teach You to Be Rich (scammy sounding title, totally legit info) is a good foundational basic money management tool, and his podcast is awesome to hear the principles of sound money management repeated, through other people's money experiences.
posted by carlypennylane at 7:46 PM on December 3, 2023 [2 favorites]

I read most of Finance for the People by Paco de Leon earlier this year. It covers a lot of the basics of personal finance but from a perspective that also recognizes the suckiness of late stage capitalism.
posted by mostly vowels at 9:53 AM on December 4, 2023

Ramit Sethi is very good and has been around for a long time. You might also like the resources at Get Rich Slowly which is about the same age and founded by one of metafilter's own.
posted by plonkee at 3:02 PM on December 4, 2023

I'm not entirely sure what kind of resources you're looking for, but if you're looking for good, reliable introductory personal finance books, there are a couple of good threads at Bogleheads.org:

Best Books for Complete Beginners
Recommend easy to read book for beginner investors

And in particular, I've seen lots of recommendations for Making the Most of Your Money by Jane Bryant Quinn (Boglehead thread) and Personal Finance for Dummies by Eric Tyson. (I hate the "For Dummies" moniker but the book itself is very good.)
posted by kristi at 7:46 PM on December 4, 2023