Dave Ramsey Quotes

Dave Ramsey is a force to be reckoned with. Not only is he a five-time New York Times bestselling author and host of The Dave Ramsey Show radio program, he’s a multi-millionaire with tons of smart finance advice to share.

From harsh truths about your current spending habits to smart quotes about how to become a millionaire, these 100 motivational quotes from Dave Ramsey will help you learn how to improve your financial status fast.

So whether you’re looking for realistic tips on how to save more money or need help figuring out how to start paying off your debt, this big list of 100 inspiring Dave Ramsey quotes can motivate you to take charge of your finances and change your spending habits—so you can work toward achieving real, tangible wealth in the very near future.

1. “Pray like it all depends on God, but work like it all depends on you.” — Dave Ramsey

2. “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

3. “Winning at money is 80 percent behavior and 20 percent head knowledge.” — Dave Ramsey

4. “Your greatest asset is your paycheck.” — Dave Ramsey

5. “Someone who never has fun with money misses the point.” — Dave Ramsey

6. “I tell everyone never to take more than a fifteen-year fixed-rate loan, and never have a payment of over 25 percent of your take-home pay. That is the most you should ever borrow.” — Dave Ramsey

7. “People will not buy from you if they don’t trust you, your product, and your company.” — Dave Ramsey

8. “If you wouldn’t want your mother to buy the item or the service then don’t sell it.” — Dave Ramsey

9. “Debt is not a tool; it is a method to make banks wealthy, not you. The borrower truly is slave to the lender.” — Dave Ramsey

10. “Fun can be bought with money, but happiness cannot.” — Dave Ramsey

11. “If you will do the things others won’t do then some day you will have the life others won’t have.” — Dave Ramsey

12. “We are being taught by everything around us to have dessert before dinner. Now we are paying for our lack of knowledge and discipline.” — Dave Ramsey

13. “If you’re married, agree on the budget with your spouse. This one sentence requires a stand-alone book to describe how, but the bottom line is this: if you aren’t working together, it is almost impossible to win. Once the budget is agreed on and is in writing, pinky-swear and spit-shake that you will never do anything with money that is not on that paper. The paper is the boss of the money, and you are the boss of what goes on the paper, but you have to stick to the budget, or it’s just an elaborate theory.” — Dave Ramsey

14. “The number one problem that causes student loan debt? Parents that suck.” — Dave Ramsey

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

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

17. “Money is not good or evil. It has no morals or intentions on its own. Money reflects the character of the user.” — Dave Ramsey

18. “Work is doing it. Discipline is doing it every day. Diligence is doing it well every day.” — Dave Ramsey

19. “Money is like a beautiful thoroughbred horse-—very powerful and always in action. But unless this horse is trained when very young, it will be an out-of-control and dangerous animal when it grows to maturity.” — Dave Ramsey

20. “Doing a budget means learning an ancient and powerful word: no.” — Dave Ramsey

21. “Act your wage.” — Dave Ramsey

22. “Knock out a small debt first so you get a quick win. Momentum is key.” — Dave Ramsey

23. “A typical millionaire lives in a middle-class home, drives a two-year-old or older paid-for car, and buys blue jeans at Wal-Mart.” — Dave Ramsey

24. “Don’t medicate dysfunction with spending. No amount of stuff will get rid of guilt.” — Dave Ramsey

25. “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

Related: How Penny Pinchin’ Stay-At-Home Mom Tracie Fobes Paid off $37k in Debt in Two Years—Here Are Her Top Tips to Getting out of Debt 

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

27. “There are no shortcuts when it comes to getting out of debt.” — Dave Ramsey

28. “You can’t work three hours a week and make $100,000.” — Dave Ramsey 

29. “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!” — Dave Ramsey

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

31. “Savings without a mission is garbage.” — Dave Ramsey

32. “The German root word for ‘debt’ is the same as for ‘guilt.’” — Dave Ramsey

33. “The lottery is a tax on poor people and on people who can’t do math. Rich people and smart people would be in the line if the lottery were a real wealth-building tool, but the truth is that the lottery is a rip-off instituted by our government. This is not a moral position; it is a mathematical, statistical fact. Studies show that the zip codes that spend four times what anyone else does on lottery tickets are those in lower-income parts of town. The lottery, or gambling of any kind, offers false hope, not a ticket out.” — Dave Ramsey

34. “So content people may not have the best of everything, but they make the best of everything. That is who you want your children to be.” — Dave Ramsey

35. “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 

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

37. “Humpty Dumpty is hard to put back together—and so is trust.” — Dave Ramsey

38. “No one wins the Super Bowl accidentally. Be intentional. Be Passionate. Don’t mail it in! You got this!” — Dave Ramsey

39. “Dreaming is a sign you have hope.” — Dave Ramsey

40. “Life is not a snapshot, it’s a filmstrip.” — Dave Ramsey

41. “If you invest $464 in a good mutual fund every month from age thirty to age seventy, you’ll end up with more than $5 million.” — Dave Ramsey

42. “The HSA (Health Savings Account) is a great way to save on premiums. The high deductible creates a much lower premium, and this plan allows you to save for medical expenses in a tax-free savings account.” — Dave Ramsey

43. “I like the way I’ve built wealth better than the way you haven’t.” — Dave Ramsey

44. “The love of money, not money, is root of all evil.” — Dave Ramsey

45. “If I loan money to a friend or relative, the relationship will be strained or destroyed. The only relationship that would be enhanced is the kind resulting from one party being the master and the other party a servant.” — Dave Ramsey

46. “Children are sponges—they are going to absorb whatever is around them, so we need to be intentional about what surrounds them.” — Dave Ramsey

47. “I learned early on that work creates discipline, and when you have discipline in your life, you are a healthier person.” — Dave Ramsey

48. “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children.” — Dave Ramsey

49. “I do recommend that most people sell the car with the most debt on it. A good rule of thumb on items (except the house) is this: if you can’t be debt-free on it (not counting the home) in eighteen to twenty months, sell it. If you have a car or a boat that you can’t pay off in eighteen to twenty months, sell it. It is just a car; dynamite the logjam! I used to love my car, too, but I found keeping that huge debt while trying to get out of debt was like running a race wearing ankle weights. Get a Total Money Makeover, so later you can drive anything you want and pay cash for it. When it comes to that debt-ridden item, you may have to make the decision to live like no one else; but remember, later you will be living, or driving, like no one else.” — Dave Ramsey

50. “There is tremendous satisfaction in working your tail off to hit a goal, then winning. It is worth the work.” — Dave Ramsey

51. “The good thing about principles is that they make life easy. I have heard it said that when someone bases his life on principle, 99 percent of his decisions are already made.”— Dave Ramsey 

52. “The accountability of a group environment causes people to change their behaviors.” — Dave Ramsey

53. “A little bit of controlled pain when you’re six will change your life when you’re thirty-six.” — Dave Ramsey

54. “If you will do the things others won’t do, then some day, you will have the life others won’t have.” — Dave Ramsey

55. “Twist and wring out the budget, work extra hours, sell something, or have a garage sale, but quickly get your $1,000. Most of you should hit this step in less than a month. If it looks as though it is going to take longer, do something radical. Deliver pizzas, work part-time, or sell something else. Get crazy. You are way too close to the edge of falling over a major money cliff here. Remember, if the Joneses (all the broke people) think you are cool, you are heading the wrong way. If they think you are crazy, you are probably on track.” — Dave Ramsey

56. “Repetition, volume, and longevity will twist and turn a myth, a lie, into a commonly accepted way of doing things.” — Dave Ramsey

57. “I suggest a Money Market account with no penalties and full check-writing privileges for your emergency fund. — Dave Ramsey

58. “We have a retirement crisis in America today not from a lack of money, but from a lack of vision.” — Dave Ramsey

59. “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

60. “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.” — Dave Ramsey