Dave Ramsey has built a name for himself as the financial guru who preaches a simple, no-nonsense approach to money: ditch the credit cards, pay off your debt and live within your means. Millions have embraced his advice, cutting up their credit cards and committing to his cash and debit-only spending philosophy. But for one former Ramsey follower, this rigid system left them in a devastating bind during a family emergency.
Don’t Miss:
“We were dumb and bought into the no credit card thing,” the user shared in a Reddit post. For a while, life seemed manageable. They were “moving along. Slowly. But moving.” That changed when a death in the family required them to travel out of town. Without a credit card, they couldn’t rent a car. “Tried every place at the airport. Found only one place that would rent using a debit card and they required proof of return flight. I didn’t have the money to fly, so I didn’t have a return flight!”
The user, left with no other option, explained, “Had to Uber to the funeral home and then beg for a ride off someone to get to the cemetery.” Then, they had to beg for more rides back to the bus station. What should have been a moment to focus on grieving turned into a humiliating scramble because they followed Ramsey’s directive to never use credit cards.
See Also: Many are using this retirement income calculator to check if they’re on pace — here’s a breakdown on what’s behind this formula.
Ramsey is firm on this point: credit cards are dangerous, unnecessary and should never be kept, even for emergencies.
“Get rid of the credit cards NOW so you don’t use them in a moment of weakness,” he’s stated, according to Fox Business. Ramsey believes that having credit cards encourages overspending and reliance on debt. Instead, he recommends building an emergency fund with 3–6 months’ worth of expenses and living strictly on cash and debit cards.
Ramsey even directly addressed the car rental issue in a June 2022 Instagram post. He wrote, “Yes, you can still rent a car or an apartment or even get a mortgage without a credit score. It takes a little more effort to live without one, but it’s a lot better than owing people money for the rest of your life.”