I’m home from a week at church camp. This year, I served as camp director. As you can no doubt imagine, I’m exhausted! But, the camp was, by all accounts, a success. The kids had fun, no one was seriously injured, and the nightly worship services were phenomenal. Now that camp is over – it’s time to get back to my regular blogging schedule.
While I was away, I spent some time thinking about the people who have inspired me – my personal finance heroes. I’ll list mine, and then I’d love to hear from you. Who inspires you? Who motivates you? Who helps you? (If your hero has a website, feel free to link to it in your comments, but please don’t comment spam the site!)
- Dave Ramsey – What can I say? The man’s radio program changed my life. If you read my first post, you’ll see that I mention Dave’s site in the very first paragraph. While some find him to be a little abrasive, I think he does a great job of motivating people. Do yourself a solid and read Dave’s best book - The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness.
- Larry Burkett – Before he passed away in 2003, Larry hosted a radio program and managed Crown Financial Ministries. Larry was like Dave – but dialed-down, just a bit. His book – Complete Financial Guide for Young Couples: A Lifetime Approach to Spending, Saving and Investing
inspires me, every time I thumb through it. I really miss listening to Larry on Christian radio.
- Nickel – A must read, Five Cent Nickel is one of my favorite sites. And, it’s author, Nickel, is one of my best pf blogging buddies. I cannot tell you the number of times he’s helped me out, given me tips, and encouraged me.
- My Papa Harper – My great-grandfather was born January 1, 1900. He lived 92 years. The last few years of his life, he lived with our family. He taught me the value of hard work and honest business dealings. I’ll never forget riding in his old car as he went from business to business, paying his bills. He was gentle, kind, thoughtful, and patient.
There you go – my list of personal finance heroes. Now, it’s your turn! Who has inspired you?
Side note: I want to thank all of you who visited the site while I was away. And, I want to thank those of you who subscribed to the site’s RSS Feed. As of Saturday, No Credit Needed now has more than 4000 subscribers! Thank you so much. (For those who are interested, you can subscribe via RSS or daily email.)
I like you. Not one of my heroes, but still very good. I like Trent at The Simple Dollar and Jason at Frugal Dad also.
On a more personal note, my father is my personal financial hero. Not a rich man, but well off since he was a saver. He always lived well within in his means and ALWAYS provided for his family. Never complained about not having enough and we never went wanting – even if we could not afford it at that very moment. He is my hero – personal finance or simply being a man! The epitome of manliness…his name is Jerry and I am proud to be his son.
My grandfather is my “frugal mentor.” Born in 1929, he grew up near the tail end of the depression era, but for his family of nine kids in the rural South, the depression carried on for a while longer. He spent 29 years in the USMC, flying planes, helicopters, and eventually desks before retiring at the rank of colonel. Like you, he lived with us early in our marriage and helped instill some of these same frugal values in our daughter. He’s still going strong – cursing politicians, griping about inflation and enjoying his great-grandkids every chance he gets!
I started listening to Dave Ramsey long before the 60 Minutes interview! In fact, I picked up on his podcasts before any nearby radio stations gave him airtime. I was so encouraged by his message, and by the callers that called in to scream, “I’m debt free!”
Before Dave Ramsey I stumbled on this guy named Bruce Williams. I don’t agree with all of his personal finance advice, but the guy is a talk radio legend (he once did the show from his hospital room after a plane crash). I listened to his show while working a graveyard shift when I was twenty years old and it turned me on to talk radio, and the subject of personal finance.
Congratulations on reaching the 4,000 subscriber milestone – that is incredible! I’m happy to report I am one of those 4,000 readers, and will be as long as you produce content here at NCN. Keep up the great work!
I wouldn’t use the word hero but Martin Lewis and his website moneysavingexpert.com is a good read if you are looking to make the most of your pennies and to seek out the best deals currently available on a range of products and services.
I’ll vote for RK of Rich Dad Poor Dad. This book made me change my thinking and look at the way I managed my money in a completely different manner.
BTW, we don’t have people like Dave Ramsey in our country. So many people seem to regard him as the Patron Saint of Responsible Personal Finance Management.
John Bogle, CEO of Vanguard, is one of my personal finance heros for his ability to reshape the mutual fund industry.
My mom taught me the importance of saving. My dad taught me the importance of risk. My ex taught me what happens when you do neither. 🙂
And in a way, you. Your blog was the very first personal finance blog I ever came across. While you didn’t change my life in a direct financial way you inspired me to start my own blog, which is tons of fun and has taught me a lot.
Maria Nesmith who wrote The Energy of Money. I am still struggling with my personal money issues, but her book got me to see past the numbers -which should be easy for me, and to look at the emotions I have tied to those numbers.
My first brush with “personal finance” and the repercussions of being an idiot with money was with Larry Winget. He was on A&E with a show called Big Spender. His no nonsense approach coupled with the people who appeared on the show produced the first stirrings in my brain that I was an idiot with money too and that maybe I should do something about it. His show was a turning point for me.
Definitely Jacob @ EarlyRetirementExtreme. Really changed the way I look at my money and my life.
Definitely Amy Dacyczyn, author of The Tightwad Gazette books! She made me realize that thrift could be fun, and I love the way she tests her theories to quantify the savings of a thrifty practice and decide if the amount saved is worth the investment of effort. And we use the pizza dough recipe from her second book all the time – it’s fast and delicious.
Well you can add one to your subscribers. As of tonight I added you to my Netvibes RSS feed. Thanks for writing.
1. Mary Hunt, author
2. David Bach, author
3. JD @ Get Rich Slowly pf blog
For me, all pf subjects are covered and then some.
I only have anti-heroes. Some of these include Dave Ramsey because he’s bad at math 😉 (and only slightly better in psychology). Another anti-hero is Suze Orman because she has to resort to theatrics to get her point across.
LazyMan: 🙂
Michelle Singletary, nationally syndicated columnist for The Washington Post. Love your blog!
My very first personal finance hero was the syndicated columnist, Humberto Cruz. I’ve been reading him forever.
OK, I have two. First is Lester in American Beauty. Quits his job and negotiates one year salary for severance. Spends his money just to have fun and be happy. Utters the most classic Hollywood line about personal finance, ever: “This isn’t life – this is just STUFF. And it’s become more important to you than living. Well, honey, that’s just nuts”. Absolutely classic.Your Money or Your Life makes brief cameo in this film.
Second, is Peter from Office Space. ” I don’t like my job, and I don’t think I’m gonna go anymore” and “You know, I’ve never really liked paying bills. I don’t think I’m gonna do that, either.” Absolutely beyond classic.
Sylvia Porter — her magazine was very accessible to a young woman knowing little about personal finance.
John Lynch — Never invest in an idea you can’t illustrate with a crayon. Look around your own backyard for companies worth investing in.
and yes, Mom. Who insisted that women needed to know how to manage their own money, and who let me see her own financial missteps and triumphs, so that I could learn from them