Personal Finance Extra Credit Assignment

This assignment is worth 50 points extra credit. To receive the extra credit, complete the following before the end of the semester (due at the final exam but can be turned in anytime):

1. Listen to at least one hour of the Dave Ramsey show on a live radio broadcast (airs locally on WKZO 590-AM/96.5 FM on weekdays from noon to 3:00 p.m.) or a podcast version (see the Dave Ramsey radio show website).

2. Take notes! Keep track of how many times the following terms or phrases are mentioned during the hour that you listen:
"debt snowball"
"baby steps"
"emergency fund"
"Live like no one else so you can live like no one else"
"Kick SALLIE MAE to the curb" (get rid of your student loans)
"heart of a teacher" (what your financial advisors and other professional advisors should have)
"Murphy moved in" (what Dave says happens when you decide to stop living on credit: everything starts falling apart and you don't have the cash available to fix it--this is what an emergency fund is for)
"the stupid tax" (what you overspend on something by doing something stupid, like overpaying for something, financing at an exorbitant rate, or agreeing to a deal that wasn't in writing and then goes bad)

What other phrases were used repeatedly during the course of the show? In what context? Were there any you didn't understand?

How many callers called in to scream that they are now debt-free? Which of them paid off the most debt? How long did it take them?

3. Write a one-page report summarizing the topics discussed on the show. Pay particular attention to the stories of callers to the show. What kinds of problems did they describe? If they had to work their way out of debt, how did they do it? How did they get in trouble in the first place? How many of them had student loan debt to deal with? What did Dave tell them they needed to do? Did anything in particular strike you about the advice Dave gave to callers?

Last updated: NOV-13-2011.