Despite me not currently practicing his principles anywhere near the level he espouses, I’m a huge fan of Dave Ramsey. I regularly catch his show on a local station when I’m out on the road or, more likely, the online webcast when I’m trapped at the desk.
For those of you who have never heard of him, he is opposed to taking on any debt whatsoever. The only debt he is even marginally OK with is a mortgage, and then only one that is taken out with no longer than a 15-year term, at a fixed-rate and with at least 20% as a down payment. And if you happen to be carrying any non-mortgage debt, well then, sell everything not tied down, eat ramen noodles three times a day, don’t even dream of dining out, drive the bare minimum vehicle that will get the job done, and take on that third job until you get that debt monkey of your back. It’s a plan the wife and I are going to attempt to follow in order to clean up any leftover debt, as well as the excess we take on with our renovation project once everything is finally complete in the not-too-distant future.
So, what the heck does TiVo have to do with all of this? I’m wondering the same thing.
In the last week or so, I’ve noticed Mr. Ramsey pushing TiVo Kidzone by giving away a couple TiVo boxes with complimentary one year subscriptions every week. It seems to me that yet another unnecessary consumer appliance devoted to a mind numbing habit – and one with a monthly fee after that first free year, should you actually win – is just about the last thing your average debt encumbered family needs, even if it helps you keep those nasty programs from the young ‘uns. How about getting out the manual and learning how to use the V-Chip required on any modern television bigger than 13″? Or, if one were actually that concerned, getting rid of the TV altogether probably isn’t the worst idea in the world.
[tags]Dave Ramsey,debt,television,tv,tivo,kidzone,kill your television[/tags]
