Femtoman

Andrew: Asking for credit limit increases on a periodic basis, typically annually, does increase your credit score since part of the FICO formula includes your credit utilization ratio. By increasing your available credit, your credit utilization ratio decreases, which increases your credit score.

Rafa Rengel

Hi! please Do the Boot Camp again! I know you told us in advance…but…
I was afraid it took too much time to follow the Boot Camp. I work for a company and overtime as a freelance. Do you think there is an express version?

Kevin

WTF? Every one of these examples has to do with debt. Is this bootcamp about “Getting Rich”, or is it about how to make the most of your “living-beyond-your-means” lifestyle?

In the first example, is T. Munroe’s old interest rate 6.375% or 6.25%? Both are mentioned, and it’s not clear. Also, does the $75,000 he’s “saving” on his/her mortgage include the $36,000 in extra payments (extra $100/month for 30 years)? I wanted to do the calculation myself to see, but there are too many variables missing.

As others have mentioned, the second example is also misleading. Credit limit and credit score are very different beasts, and neither one is very relevant regarding building wealth. I’m not sure there’s anything here worth celebrating – all they’ve done is obtained more rope with which to hang themselves.

The $200 in gift cards is a good one, but again, was obtained through judicious use of debt.

C. Dewey should think outside the box a little and figure out a way to pay CASH to go back to school, instead of just assuming the only way to do it is through piling on more debt.

All in all, I really hope there are more rewarding examples of people building actual WEALTH in future updates regarding the bootcamp. It really is disappointing how much “Personal Finance” blogs focus on poor people and debt, especially when they profess to be about building wealth (”I Will Teach You To Be Rich,” and “Get Rich Slowly” being the obvious worst offenders).

I have no debt. I already have an awesome credit score. I’ve already beaten down my phone/TV company to get the best rates. I already cook all my own meals. I already take the bus to work. I have $40,000/year available to invest and build wealth. What should I do with it?

Al

@kevin
If Ramit knew what to do with it he’d be rich himself. The title of the blog is misleading. Ramit can’t teach you to be rich. He can give you sound financial advice for a price. That will make him rich and might save you a few bucks if you had bad financial habits. I always laugh when i see suzie orman yelling at people not to buy a bike for their daughters birthday but pushing her 200$ financial package as if there’s no tomorrow when most of the advice is already on the net.

Kevin

Ramit,

I missed the part about Week 1 being about Credit. I look forward to future updates. I love hearing about peoples’ successes, especially when their tactics are applicable to myself.

Scott

I see that these are testimonials from the credit part of the boot camp, but they’re also everything I’ve already done, or didn’t get into that situation to begin with (ie drive a used car so no lease, no CC debt). I’m glad I didn’t pay to attend the bootcamp. What I think would be more useful is a boot camp on how to launch your freelance career, or get started in your own business when you still have to work 8 to 5 and are almost too tired to do anything when you get home. And I think something step by step and very basic (how to make a website), as I often don’t have the time or energy to research a lot of that stuff.

Darin

Whoa… what’s up with all the hostility on here??? Hats off to Ramit for staying so cool under fire…

I’ve been following this blog for a while now and I feel like it’s pretty damn decent. Sure it can be fairly basic (not everyone is as awesome/smart/cool/rich as you, Kevin) and I don’t always agree with everything on here (Tip #6: “Use gas prices to become your own hedge fund” is not technically hedging at all), but it’s FREE and it get’s people to THINK about their money. I don’t really understand why people have to get off by coming on here and getting in everyone’s face over whether or not someone “saved” $76,000 on their mortgage. Sure, T. Munroe will probably sell before 30 years is up and won’t realize every single one of those $76,000 dollars, but the point is that Ramit got him to think about his finances and he got out of a pretty questionable ARM and into a 30 year fixed loan at a time that may prove to have the lowest fixed interest rates in many years.

Anyway, this happens on every post and it seriously irritates me. People like you, Garrett, have to get on here and call everyone “idiots.” Awesome. Thanks for your financial advice. Next time you call someone an idiot, don’t also include a sentence like this in your post: ” these stuff are basic common sense!”… idiot.

Sorry for the rant, but this website is a free service (I know the boot camp isn’t free, but if you dont want it, don’t buy it.) The fact is, this is a place where people can share opinions about money. Not everyone will know everything, but they want to learn, not get ridiculed. Next time, just think twice about coming on here and insulting everything. PLEASE make comments that are constructive, helpful, or educational.
.
Thanks.

Farrell

Darin, great comment! I second your thoughts.

Kevin, why do you have so much hatred? Being rich is different for everyone. For some people, getting out of debt or negotiating their CC / mortgage will make them rich. For others, it’s spending quality time with their family. The Boot Camp isn’t a 2 minute get rich program and it was never advertised as that.

You have no debt, already have an awesome credit score, and cook all your meals. Good for you! But you have $40K and don’t know what to do with it?! Why even ask that vague question? Do the work yourself then ask a specific question! You’re here arguing minutiae, while people in the Boot Camp are actually doing something! God you’re annoying!

Kristen from FiLife

It’s nice to hear about people making real changes in their financial lives thanks to content they are finding online. Ramit: nice work!

Kevin

“Being rich is different for everyone. For some people, getting out of debt or negotiating their CC / mortgage will make them rich.”

Farrell, while I agree that everyone has a different definition of how much money it takes to be considered “rich,” it seems that you’re suggesting that even $0 can be considered “rich”, as long as the individual has no debt. I would humbly suggest that nobody actually believes that. Paying off debt is not the same as being “rich.”

I was expressing frustration at a site that professes to teach me to be rich was instead promoting examples of people playing games with credit and debt, to try and make the best of some bad situations. As I already admitted, I didn’t notice that week 1 was devoted to “credit.” I mistakenly believed that the whole focus of the Bootcamp would be similar to the examples presented (that is, optimizing credit and debt), and that seemed to stand in stark juxtaposition with the stated mandate of this site, in my opinion.

I don’t think any of my statements were off-the-mark. It’s TRUE that extending your line of credit is nothing to be proud of. It’s TRUE that C. Dewey would be better off paying cash for his/her continuing education. If you don’t like the message, don’t shoot the messenger.

Regarding my own situation, I think your sarcastic endorsement of my current situation was uncalled for. I don’t think my situation is anything to be proud of, or all that unusual. Aren’t all those things (being debt free, cooking our own meals, protecting our credit score) things we should all be doing, anyway? Particularly readers of PF sites like Ramit’s? Aren’t YOU debt-free? Don’t YOU cook your own meals? I don’t think I’m that unusual, which is precisely the reason for my disdain. I think the audience of people like me is much, much larger than you seem to think, which is why I would encourage Ramit to write articles targetting us. There are an enormous number of us out here who have already nailed the basics, and are ready for the advanced stuff. 401(k) or 403(b)? Joint or separate Roth IRAs? Invest up to company match, or paydown the mortgage? Gold or oil? Treasury Bills or Municipal Bonds? How do I run my small business in the most tax-efficient way possible? There is a huge field here, ripe for being explored, and I think Ramit is among a very small pool of bloggers with the credibility and audience to tackle it in a meaningful way. The Money Diaries series has been extremely successful, how about a new series focusing on the other end – people who are already wealthy and how they maintain it? Or interviews with wealthy people, explaining how they got there? Maybe a Q&A with a lottery winner would be interesting. There are all kinds of directions Ramit could go with this.

I’m “arguing minutae, while people in the Boot Camp are actually doing something?” I’ve already “done” several things to get to the point I’m currently at. I paid off student loans, lines of credit, car loans, and credit cards. They didn’t magically pay themselves off. The same habits that let me achieve those goals are the same habits that has brought me to a position of having $40k/year to invest.

What are YOU doing?

Foxie @ CarsxGirl

I’d love to pay cash for school, but I hate to say that it’s not possible in every situation. (Or the option isn’t appealing, depending on your situation. Sure I bet I could try, but at what cost? More than I’m willing to pay. I’ve got the debt.)

@Kevin – I don’t think it’s a shooting of the messenger for the message, so much as a shooting of the messenger for the tone of the message. Criticism can come in constructive forms without the negative tone, and there’s definitely somewhat of a snobbish slant to it.

I think it’s great that people are finally stepping up and making a change. The sad thing is, when you get your financial life in order, it really doesn’t get any easier. I’ve found that if I’m not in the act of actively paying something off, it’s hard to keep up the focus. (Never mind I don’t make much money to begin with, I’m still in school with plenty of loans I get to pay back.) Whatever works, I guess.

I’d also wager to guess that a lot of Ramit’s audience is younger in age, meaning that they’re probably still struggling with debt and/or establishing good financial habits. I don’t find the articles off-base to the audience if this truly is the case. I do think it would be helpful to include more for the “life after debt” view point, because it would either relate to other readers or simply motivate people more to get themselves to that state.

More Money Diaries would be awesome, too. I’d do one to help out, but my financial life is kinda boring.

Credit Card Chaser

@Moneymonk

Ramit is right because generally speaking the average consumer should try to pay off debt as soon as they can but for some debt can be a great way to build wealth. I had the option of paying off my mortgage in full this year but I chose not to because the ROI on putting that same chunk of money back into my business was much much higher than the ~5% after tax my mortgage debt load was costing me. – Joel

steve

I have to agree with Jenni; when you started the boot camp I did get off my butt and opened an ING direct account.

Moneymonk

Good points Ramit and Credit Card Chaser,

Personal Finance is well, personal. I’m not too crazy about debt and I guess I always look at it from my point a view. I just like to get the debt out of the way.

But the average person that is looking for help with finances do not have the type of money you guys have

Thx for making me look at debt from a different perspective.

Allen

Ramit: I think Kelsey was confused more by the 1-gender typo in the headline than the 1-digit typo.

Ant

@ Kevin –

Great points – Thanks for making them, despite the somewhat underwhelming responses to your thoughtful posts.

I, too, am curious as to where Ramit will take this blog, but agree with this notion that getting excited about not being an idiot is simply not inspiring enough for his entire readership. I would be much more interested if I got more about how to put that 40k to work for me (other than what I get sound long-term investment approaches – e.g., bogleheads forum, where people spend lots of time debating the many questions you raised in your last post). I feel the investment advice here is good for the starter crowd. On the other hand, Ramit’s not bound at all to an investment philosophy and can bring tons of interesting ideas to the table. Perhaps that’s the power of possibility here…

Kari

At Kevin,

If you are so disappointed with the information conatined in this web page or program, keep moving. No one is forcing you to read this or participate. If it does not cover the information you desire there are litterly thousands of web pages out there willing to teach you the investing basics!! If you already have this stuff down then keep your smart ass comments to yourself and stop posting on this site unless this is your job, to browse the net a make negative comments on other peoples work and the good things they are trying to do. Good luck in life, you need it.