Dave Ramsey’s 6 Tips To Help You Find Money Hiding in Plain Sight

Personal finance guru Dave Ramsey rose to fame by helping people eliminate debt, build savings and work toward a secure retirement. Much of his advice involves reallocating income and reprioritizing spending, but there’s nothing like found money to launch you closer to your goals — and Ramsey knows just where to look for it.

The following is a look at Ramsey’s advice on scouring for money that you don’t have to work harder or sacrifice your lifestyle to get — it’s hiding in plain sight. By following these easy tips, you can have more cash to save for emergencies, invest for the future or even take a vacation you couldn’t have otherwise afforded.  

According to CNET, generic groceries are about 40% cheaper than identical brand-name goods — a fact that is not lost on Ramsey.

In a blog post, Ramsey used sample dishes from a hypothetical meal plan to show how buying the store brand can reveal money hiding in plain sight. He tallied the cost of ingredients for the following recipes purchased at a Kroger in Nashville, Tenn., and listed each dish’s final price.

Spaghetti and Beef

• Generic price: $9.48
• Name brand price: $11.62

Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole

• Generic price: $11.80
• Name brand price: $15.74

Loaded Beef Tacos

• Generic price: $19.16
• Name brand price: $24.16

Millions of Americans look forward to tax refunds every year. In fact, many people count on them. But Ramsey reminds his followers that a refund isn’t a bonus. It’s repayment for an interest-free loan you gave to the government.

If you’re getting sizable refunds, Ramsey suggests talking to HR and filling out a W-4 to adjust your payroll withholdings so that you can bring home more of your money to put toward your debt or investments.

But whatever you do, don’t rely on the IRS’ math, which is designed for you to issue the agency a free loan with every paycheck.

He told a caller on “The Ramsey Show,” “The IRS tables don’t work. They create huge refunds… Withholding is not supposed to be over-withholding, and a refund comes from over-withholding.”

Ramsey advocates selling unused stuff around your house for two reasons. First, if it’s sellable, then it’s money hiding in plain sight. Second, if it’s stuff that won’t be missed, you’ll eliminate clutter and improve your living space — but Ramsey is clear that unless you’re really in a pinch, sell only things that don’t bring you joy.

When a caller on “The Ramsey Show” asked about the wisdom of parting with a beloved collection to pay down debt, Ramsey advised, “You’ve got to ask yourself, ‘Is it worth it? Are there some of these items that I care about more than being out of debt?'”

According to Ramsey’s blog, most Americans receive a roughly 3% annual raise — but since it’s not a major windfall, the extra cash typically goes unaccounted for and gets lost in the shuffle. 

On his radio show, Ramsey told a caller anticipating a raise, “Give every dollar an assignment. Every dollar that doesn’t have a mission before the month begins tends to just disappear. If you don’t tell money where to go, you will always wonder where it went — and that’s called a budget.”

With that in mind, Ramsey cautions against using raises or bonuses to catch up on bills — if you’re behind on bills, you have a budgeting problem, not an income problem — and instead advises using it to eliminate debt or save for retirement.

Whether you’re buying something in-store or online, Ramsey cautions on his blog, “If you don’t use coupons when you shop, you could be missing out on some serious savings! Luckily, gone are the days when you have to clip, organize and haul hundreds of coupons out the door with you.”

Ramsey suggests checking out the following cash-back and coupon apps and browser extensions, picking a few you like and utilizing them for every single purchase:

• Drop
• Honey
• Rakuten
• Ibotta
• SnipSnap
• Checkout 51
• Shopkick
• RetailMeNot
• Coupons.com
• Receipt Hog

Ramsey also suggests using category-specific apps like GasBuddy and GoodRx to find money hiding in plain sight.

If you still have a contract with a big cable company, then there’s probably money hiding in plain sight where you cast your gaze the most — the television. 

In a March blog post, Ramsey wrote, “It’s no secret that cable prices are rising like crazy. The average cable TV bill has grown 52% in the last three years!”

He went on to list the comparably affordable prices for on-demand streaming services like Netflix and live TV offerings from competitors like Hulu and YouTube TV.

But, he cautioned, “Don’t go subscription service happy here. Only sign up for the streaming services you’ll actually use. If you sign up for everything out there, you could end up actually spending more than cable!”