This is an updated Quick Reference guide to the Stone Money Foundations. Anyone familiar with A Relaxed Approach to Personal Finance will probably recognize it. That's because both are based on the same philosophy and methodology that I helped create several years ago. The biggest difference between the two is that A Relaxed Approach used the term Foundations to describe only the methodology whereas Foundations now encompasses both the philosophy and methodology. They are otherwise identical.
A Relaxed Approach to Personal Finance and The Stone Money Foundations stemmed from the frustration many followers of Dave Ramsey experienced with both his program and his Facebook groups. The lack of flexibility, rude and condescending attitudes from admins and members of Facebook groups, and the cookie-cutter approach made Ramsey's Baby Steps ill-suited for many. Several of us created a Facebook group where we could discuss "taboo" topics like credit cards, personal choice in emergency fund amounts, and the judicious use of credit without getting removed from the hardcore groups. When we started our group, Ramsey hadn't even created his official group yet. I eventually branched out from the Relaxed group and started this blog to share my thoughts with a wider audience. I'm working on a Facebook group, also.
The Stone Money Foundations are not a step-by-step process that holds your hand through your journey to become debt free. Instead, they take into consideration your ability to acquire knowledge, use critical thinking, and exercise sound judgment in order to chose the options most suited to your personal situation. This requires just a bit more effort than following the Baby Steps or Crown Money Map because it includes freedom of choice, but the payoff of less risk and greater flexibility make the effort worthwhile.
Some have called Foundations "Dave-ish", which is not only inaccurate, but also ignorant and insulting. Dave-ish is Ramsey's way of criticizing any program other than his through the use of logical fallacies and lots of whining. He retains "Dave" in the title because his ego screams that his program is the best and all others are derived from it, thus ish. Almost as bad is the use of Dave-ish in a positive manner (see the link). In any case, Foundations stand on their own.
This chart summarizes our philosophy (consisting of principles and tenets) and methodology (the how-to). In future posts, we'll discuss each of the parts that make up The Stone Money Foundations.
