Dave Ramsey is a financial guru who main premise is NO DEBT! He's written a number of New York Times bestsellers and has a daily 3 hour radio show on hundreds of radio stations nationwide as well as a number of other ventures. Check out www.daveramsey.com and www.mytotalmoneymakeover.com for more info.

Here are his 'baby steps' expanded into a more complete list:

0. Pre-Emergency Fund (First things first)
   • Commit to NEVER borrow $$$ EVER for ANYTHING other than possibly a house.
   • Talk with spouse/partner and get him/her on the same page as you concerning finances.
   • Do a written zero-balance budget
   • Temporarily stop all retirement contributions
   • Get current on all the basics (You MUST have Shelter, Food, Utilities, Basic clothing)
   • Amputate "toys" (bikes, boats, ATV's etc) if they will keep you from completing the snowball within 12-24 months
   • Cut lifestyle (Cut CATV, Cellphone, Regular phone "extra's", Internet, Eating out, etc) and/or take second job if the $1000 emergency fund will take more than 30-90 days. (depending on income)
   • Get current on ALL bills
1. Save $1000 in a baby Emergency Fund
   • Chop up Credit Cards (You have an EF now, no NEED to keep those CCs !!)
   • Get Health insurance NOW (chances of getting sick w/ major medical bills are larger than that of death), especially if you have children.
   • Get Life insurance NOW if you have considerable debt/your family couldn't make it financially if you died. Especially important if you have children! Social Insecurity provides only a small amount of coverage if you have dependents.
   • Amputate cars that you can't pay off within 24 months (You have an EF to fix the "bondo buggy" if something should happen)
   • Consider raising insurance deductables to $500 or $1000 and dropping full coverage on paid for "bondo buggy" (You have an EF ya know)
2. Do a debt snowball, paying all your debts from lowest BALANCE to highest.
   • You can take your first vacation since finding Dave if you can pay cash for it after finishing your debt snowball (no using the EF!)
3. Save 3-6 months EXPENSES in EF
   • Start car replacement fund
   • Save up 20% for home purchase OR pay down existing mortgage to the point you can drop PMI.
   • Start furniture or other non-essential stuff replacement fund.
   • Move up in car if you still feel the need to (must pay cash for it).
4. Start contributing 15% of your pre-tax salary to retirement.
   • First do matching 401(k)s to max out the matching.
   • Next max out Roth IRAs until you hit the limit on those.
   • Then max out your 401(k)s until you hit 15% or if you still haven't after maxing that
   • Then do a variable annuity in a good mutual fund.
   • All investing of over a 5 year time period should be in good mutual funds with at least a 10 year track record.
5. Save for kids college fund
   • Start with the Coverdell Educational Savings Accounts for the first $2000/year per child. These are the most flexible.
   • If you want to put more in then also start a 529 plan. These can be inflexible as for investing options which is why they are not as recommended.
   • Another option is to use the Uniform Gifts to Minors accounts, not a good tax advantage for that one though.
6. Pay off house early
   • Many people question this. See here for an answer.
7. Live like no one else since you have lived like no one else (investment ideas at this stage greatly appreciated, Dave doesn't go into too much detail on this stage)  

Dave Ramsey, bestselling author of Financial Peace and host of the nationally syndicated radio program, The Dave Ramsey Show, shares the truth about debt help, debt reduction, and building wealth.