It’s really easy to let the budget slide during the summer break. Hey, we've all done it before—taking that extra day of vacation, going to the pool too many times or sending the kids to the movies because they're ”bored.” Many people find themselves back in debt or struggling with money when fall comes around.

And then you have the fall expenses. Back-to-school supplies are being marketed everywhere we turn. Mommy, I want that Hannah Montana backpack!... and the glow-in-the-dark pens … and the 1,000 crayons! … sound familiar? What happened to the days when 8 crayons lasted for a whole year?!

The price of gas and the hybrid-car frenzy still have most people freaking out about their budgets (or lack thereof). Have you noticed how the car dealerships have increased their marketing, trying to get you to buy the “perfect” vehicle so they can get the new models in?

And of course, all the retailers are screaming, “Come buy some new clothes for your fall wardrobe because YOU DESERVE IT!” Really? You deserve it? I don’t think so.

Now, more than ever, is the time to refocus and get back on track with your money. It’s SO important to have a plan for your money every month or you could easily fall into the no-good debt trap.

Here are some things I recommend to get you back on track with your money:

• Sit down and evaluate.

  Take a few minutes to look at your bank accounts and really understand what you see. If you don’t, you run the high risk of living these next few months like Gomer Pyle on Valium, with no clue about your money. You don’t want that, do you?
  
  

• Update your game plan or start one for the first time.

  A budget is your game plan, where you tell your money what YOU want it to do. This isn't rocket science! Just give every dollar a name on paper before you get your paycheck so it won’t all be gone in a week. Get free budgeting forms
  
  

• Put cash in envelopes.

  Since you spend 12-15% more when you use plastic than when you use cash, try the envelope system. Take some envelopes, write the budget categories on the envelopes, and use only the allotted money to purchase specific things. If an envelope is empty, don't buy anything else in that category for the month. It can wait.
  
  

• Set boundaries for yourself and your family.

  A lot of this centers around the ability to say the word “NO” and really mean it! Sometimes you’re going to have to tell yourself, your spouse, and your kids “NO! It’s not in the budget!” so be prepared. It’s a phrase you’ll be glad you know how to say.
  
  

• Start saving NOW for Halloween and Christmas!

  Now’s the time to start planning and setting aside any money you want to spend around these huge retail seasons. Make a list and commit to sticking to it! If you start now, you can keep these holidays from following you into 2009!

Share Your Thoughts

What are your top budgeting and shopping tips for this time of year? Let us know, and we’ll feature some of the best suggestions in next month’s newsletter!

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How the Lottery Can Ruin Your Life

Perhaps the quickest way to ruin your life is to win the lottery.

Don’t laugh. Lots of people think that instantly coming into a few million dollars means life on easy street, money that will be around forever, and no need for responsibility or work.

The truth is very rarely does it work out like that for a lottery winner. Unfortunately, a new study published in the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making finds that people who feel poor are more eager to spend money in an attempt to get rich (this is a good “duh” moment). One recent report found that families who make under $12,400 spend about $645 a year on lottery tickets.

Many poor people are fooled by what they think it means to win the lottery. It’s usually the worst thing that could ever happen to someone.

Coming into a quick pile of cash usually means that people will come out of the woodwork looking to get a piece of your pie. Third cousins whom you didn’t even know existed will call and hit you up for money. You’ll get letters in the mail from complete strangers with every sob story imaginable (unemployed, sick children, in a wheelchair, etc.) in an attempt to get sympathy points and money from you. It puts a big target on your back, and most often it takes you out, too.

When you are feeling the money crunch, the last thing you want to do is spend what little money you have on a super-long shot for money. The odds of winning a lottery are literally about 1 in 125 million.

• You are 66 times more likely to die from a snake bite.
• You are 2,001 times more likely to die in the electric chair!
• You are 2,201 times more likely to die from a hornet, wasp or bee sting.
• You are 1,488,095 times more likely to die in a car wreck on the way to the gas station to buy the lottery ticket.

Does all this sound ridiculous? GOOD! It’s supposed to sound that way! Banking on winning the lottery is about as ridiculous as it gets!

Think about this for a second. The less money you have, the more wisely you need to manage it because you don’t have as much room for error. When you make a budget and get out of debt, you have some breathing room. Your budget can get busted when an emergency comes up, but that’s why you save up an emergency fund. The ultimate is when you start investing the money you have. The reason for that is eventually your money will grow to enormous sums because of the power of compound interest.

Forget the lotto. Working hard and saving money is the only surefire way to make money. It works every time … unlike the lotto.

Sources: CNN.com, yahoo.com

Take your FREE Financial Reality Check now!

Related:

• Gambling Offers False Hope
• Borrowing for the Basics

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We Did It!

The Emergency Fund Combats Murphy!
By Robin in TX

Dear Dave,

I was introduced to you in March of this year when I relocated to Texas for a promotion. I'm staying with friends who have managed since January to eliminate most of their debt using the principles taught in Financial Peace University (FPU) class.

I travel a great deal for my job and never leave home without your FPU CD collection. Your words have spoken life into my spirit on many occasions.

The first thing I did was fund my emergency fund. By using your spending plan, I have systematically paid off my credit cards.

Last Friday, Murphy came calling in the form of a blow-out on the highway. The tires I had purchased for my car in Washington were just not adequate for the Texas heat and miles I am driving each week. What would have caused me great anxiety a year ago was an opportunity for me to feel great as I paid cash for new tires from my emergency fund! I'll now focus on paying back my emergency fund and paying off my car in the next few months.

Related:

• Tell others how they can become debt free!
• What Baby Step are you on?

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Stupid Tax

Still Paying for the Trip to the Dealership
By Megan in CA

Oh my, I am cringing right now just thinking of it.

We did the debt snowball and had every ounce paid off. My husband is a Marine and was gone for a year. We sold his car before he left, and when he came back bought a used one with cash. We were feeling great and even had some money saved.

Then one day he stopped at a car dealership. He called me to come meet him there, and my better senses were telling me not to go. I went there anyway.

There was this "great" deal (that was not great at all) for a new SUV. We decided it was safer than my paid-for car, more reliable than my paid-for car, and a better family car than my paid-for car. We thought about it overnight and were still stupid enough to go down there and buy it the next day. Granted, I don't even commute that far, and we're not planning on having kids for 2 years.

So instead of driving free for the last year, we traded in my car for far less than it was worth, paid $410 a month for 12 months, and still owe $20,000 on the car! The worst part is that we paid $31,000 for it, and it's now worth the exact amount of our loan - $20,000. It went down $11,000 in value over 12 months. Holy cow! I was waking up with cold sweats in the night thinking about it for awhile there.

Now I have resolved to paying it off over the next year and keeping it for the rest of my life. Yes, this will be the car I'm driving when I retire in exactly 40 years (I'm 25). I will never visit a dealership again.

Don't do it! Don't buy a new car! It is so NOT worth the shiny new paint and new-car smell. I'd rather have no debt, my old and perfectly fine car, and the $4,920 in my savings account. The road to success is not a straight line, but I will keep on keeping on! No debt!

Learn how you can drive free cars for life!

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How to Save Money and Hours When Buying a House

With house prices being the lowest in years, right now is the time to buy a house. (Not so fast! That’s not encouragement for you to go get one just because you have “house fever.” Make sure you’re in the position to make this investment.)

Even though it’s a buyer’s market, you still need to give yourself every advantage to make sure you don’t get ripped off. For instance, with all the media outlets offering advice on how to buy a home, you might think you can handle it yourself without help of a real estate agent … huge mistake!

Here are 3 good reasons why you need a buyer’s agent:

1. Typically, a buyer’s agent won’t cost you a penny!

   In most cases, the home seller pays the commission for your agent. That means you pay nothing to get expert help. You’d be crazy to not take advantage of that!
   
   

2. You can save thousands on your home.

   A good buyer’s agent will make sure you never pay more than you should for a home and will represent you in price negotiations. During this process, it’s not uncommon for a buyer’s agent to save you thousands in the deal. You can almost guarantee the seller will have a realtor on his side to make sure you pay as much as you can for your home; if you’re smart, you’ll have an agent on your side to ensure you don’t pay more than you should.
   
   

3. You’ll save countless hours filing paperwork.

   If you try to buy a home on your own, you'll have to know all the regulations and laws specific to your city and neighborhood and fill out the appropriate paperwork. The offer to purchase, inspection report, homeowner disclosure, counter offer, loan documentation, and a host of other state-specific documents must be filed. An agent will do all of this for you.
   

Finally, make sure you get what’s known as an exclusive buyer’s agent, one who is exclusively loyal to you, the buyer. If you already have an agent whom you have a good relationship with, awesome! If you don’t, click here to get an agent Dave recommends.

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Gregg Pechmann with Dave's lead financial counselor, Russ Carroll, during Counselor Training.

Little did Gregg Pechmann know how much his life would change after a counseling session with one of the counselors who works at Dave Ramsey’s office.

Pechmann was a mortgage broker for 5 years in Florida and dabbled in real estate investing, eventually owning over 21 properties worth more than $4 million. That amount quickly plummeted when the real estate market fell. Perchmann decided to sell his properties, but unfortunately he wasn’t able to sell them fast enough. As a result, he took a hard hit financially.

Through his job, Pechmann recognized the need for financial counseling. He discovered that his passion was helping others through financial difficulties. “At least 2 or 3 people a week called me and didn’t know what to do because they were upside down $200,000 on their house,” he explained.

It was time for a plan.

Perchmann and his wife, Sharon, sat down together and wrote out their financial goals. They agreed to sell everything and considered moving to a different state or into a new career. Four days after moving to Johnson City, Tennessee, they headed to Nashville to meet with one of our counselors. Their counseling session made such a profound impact on their lives that Perchmann decided to attend Dave Ramsey’s Certified Counselor Training.

“I wanted to become a certified counselor to help educate people that there is never good debt. You are truly a slave to the lender when you owe the lender money. I have a fiery passion and compassion to meet people where they are and guide them through the process to financial freedom,” said Pechmann.

How He’s Helping Others

Now he’s counseling others on how to get out of debt, create a plan for their money, and pay cash for purchases. Plus, he has counseled many families who have been hit especially hard with the down real estate market.

When people meet with Perchmann for a counseling session, they feel like they are talking to a friend. “They understand that I have been in their shoes. That automatically breaks down any barriers and gives the person a sense of hope and trust that I know what I am talking about,” he said. Perchmann wants to help individuals and families be proactive about conquering their debt.

After a session, people feel empowered and ready to take action. “This translates into them becoming more confident and changing their outlook.” Perchmann considers the satisfaction he gets from serving people to be the best thing about being a certified counselor.

“The Certified Counselor Training further inspired my passion to change the way people view money and spending,” Perchmann stated.

Get more information about becoming one of Dave’s Certified Counselors

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Are You Incentivized?

If you’re a small-business owner, there’s a good chance you feel like you’re the only one who’s doing the heavy lifting in your company. Your business is your baby so you come in early, work late, and do whatever it takes to win. You may even find yourself asking the question, “Am I the only one around here who knows how to actually work?”

The answer is probably not. However, you may be the only one who has an invested incentive to work harder.

Think about it. What do you pay your employees to do? If their only incentive is an hourly wage, then there’s a good chance they’re looking at their watches a lot more than they look at your bottom line. Why should they care if expenses are up and revenue is down if it doesn’t reflect in their pay check?

Incorporate Incentives

Here’s what works for Dave and his team: INCENTIVES! Find a way to incorporate incentives that give everyone a taste of what it’s like to have ownership in the business.

Consider building in a monthly bonus that’s based off of actual profit and take the time to explain to your team how profit is created. They may actually start caring about things like turning the lights off when they leave and ordering office supplies that get the job done instead of just looking cute in their cubicle. How great would it be if your receptionist really cared whether or not the sales guy lands his next deal when she’s taking a call from his prospect? Reward your team when their hard work translates into a greater bottom line. You may be surprised at who has a little work ethic after all.

An Incentive for YOU!

If you have a creative idea about how to incentivize team members, we’d love to hear about it!

We will give away one free ticket to an EntreLeadership One Day Event for the best idea on how to motivate or inspire team members! Submit your idea, and you could find yourself learning directly from Dave about how to successfully grow your business God’s way.

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Dave Ramsey Updates

Where's Dave?

Magazines, websites, LIVE events, TV - Dave's everywhere! Get all the up-to-date info

Upcoming LIVE Events
Here is a list of Dave's upcoming events across the nation:

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New Radio Affiliates

Check out our newest stations!
There are over 360 affiliates nationwide

City & State	Radio Station	Air Times
Buffalo, NY	WDCX FM 99.5	M-F 1-3pm EST
Scottsbluff, NE	KOLT AM 1320	M-F 6-9pm MT
Melbourne, FL	WMEL AM 1300	M-F 3-6pm EST
Las Vegas, NV	KXNT AM 840	M-F 7-10pm PST
Bloomington, IN	WGCL AM 1370	Sun 7-10pm CST
Merced, CA	KYOS AM 1480	M-F 4-7pm PST
Washington, DC	WMAL AM 630	Sat 2-4pm, Sun 1-4pm EST
Ironton, OH	WIRO AM 1230	M-F 7-10pm EST
Terre Haute, IN	WPRS AM 1440	M-F 9am-12pm EST

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Quotes About - Back to School

I will be so bold as to say college isn't even a need; it is a want. It isn't a necessity; it is a luxury.
—Dave Ramsey

It didn't occur to me that I needed money for school.
—Vanessa Riley

If there were no schools to take the children away from home part of the time, the insane asylums would be filled with mothers.
— Edgar W. Howe

Money magazine and CBS Market Watch both quote ... 68% have saved nothing or close to nothing [for college]!
— Dave Ramsey in The Total Money Makeover

Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.
— John Dewey

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.
—William Arthur Ward

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