agree with PP but listening to Dave Ramsey is fun, and makes you see why it's important to do it that way. It also lets you hear about other people's situations. Fascinating and informative.

I'm just going to reiterate what a previous poster above said. All you need to know about Dave Ramsey are his baby steps.

1. save a basic/baby emergency fund $1000-$3000, less o more depending on your personal circumstances.

2. pay off debts smallest to largest

3. fully funded emergency fund of 3-6 months of expenses (not necessarily 3-6 months of income)

4,5,6,7 save for college, retirement, pay off your house, invest/give

the most important part is making and sticking to a budget. not just writing down your monthly expenses, you have to write down how you're going to spend all the money you make and hold yourself accountable. some people start off using an envelope system, like i'm going to put a set amount of money in one envelope for groceries. you can use a debit card but I find that I spend less when it's cash. sometimes that means putting stuff back at the grocery store or not buying something! this is still hard for me, I'm still working on paying down my debt in the last 3 years I have paid off $30,000 in credit card debt, I only have about $14k to go then I will attack my car and student loans. Whether one likes Dave Ramsey or not doesn't really matter, the only way to get out of debt is to pay it off by spending less than you earn. Good luck!!