Think: ridiculously high energy bouncing around on stage. I'm talking Richard Simons energy. Think: "you might be a redneck" humor. I'm talking Jeff Foxworthy style.

Together with the education of a college grad, and the experience of a poor man gone rich, gone poor, gone rich, you have Dave Ramsey, financial guru, talk show host and devout Christian.

Ramsey spoke with no apologies to a sold-out crowd at the Pepsi Coliseum on Thursday, November 15. For those with the money or the luck, there was a catered dinner with Ramsey prior to the "live event."

I was a lucky one and attended both the dinner and the event. My friend Sandra has been telling me for months to read his book, adopt his advice and get my finances turned around. I politely say, I know, I know, but life keeps getting in the way of reading his book and getting my finances turned around. So, Sandra made me promise to attend this event with her, compliments of a third-party friend, who is also a Ramsey fan.

Let me tell you in a nutshell the crux of this guy Ramsey's message: if you don't have it, don't spend it. If you have it, give it, save it, pay the bills and then have some fun.

Sounds simple enough, but let's not fool ourselves. We live in a culture of credit and more. There aren't may people in our country without a credit card, or without some other or additional form of debt. I myself have a substantial student loan to pay off, a car payment and a relatively small credit card debt. Others have mortgages, multiple credit card debts, multiple car payments and who knows what else.

What Ramsey says in a very funny and high-spirited manner (a bit too energizer bunny for me at times), is that people in our culture need to stop thinking that it is OK to buy things on credit. What we need to do is save money and pay cash. In other words, live within our means.

The order of business is to set aside money to save for an emergency, to give to those in need, and then create a budget based on the amount left over. With that budget, you pay down the bills. You eat cheap: buy Ramen noodles rather than steaks. Eat leftovers. You plan your entertainment accordingly: if you don't have the money to go to the theater, you put on your own play.

Ramsey's message is a good one. He provides strategies and tools for making sure that you understand how to get out of debt and begin becoming not only financially independent, but wealthy.

Don't think that Ramsey has the secret key, and you have to buy it. Some people can sit down using their own common sense and figure out how to get ahead. Others need some support through classes. Still others could care less and are comfortable paying bills and working from paycheck to paycheck.

If you are one of the uncomfortable ones, there are several non-profit organizations in Indianapolis that can help with financial planning. One is Momentive Credit Counseling Services, Inc., located at 615 N. Alabama St., Suite 134 (in the English Foundation Building, 888-711-7227). Community centers such as the John H. Boner Community Center, 2236 E. 10th St., often hold free workshops on financial planning.

Or, you could buy Ramsey's Financial Peace University tool kit and sign up for classes in area Christian churches. Whatever you go with, I recommend going.

I work as a case manager for a non-profit, and I see a lot of people come through the door making the same financial mistakes I have made with less money to spend. Our schools lack the proper financial planning education, and many parents lack the knowledge to teach our children.

We Americans (in general) want quick money, such as wining the lottery ticket, or sealing the patent on that million-dollar invention. We want rags to riches, yet many of us are hiding rags behind fold-on, paper doll suits and dresses. When a gale sweeps in, it will all blow away, and we'll be left in the cold in our underwear.

The Great Depression social programs were meant to provide security for the people. Although the intentions were good, the evolution of our welfare system doesn't work, and the constant fix-it reforms don't work either. We cannot expect our government to fix the financial woes of our people, because it can't and it won't. We have to work together to educate one another so that we can all profit off of the American dream.

That is the message Ramsey bolstered across the crowd Thursday night, and it's certainly a message worth tuning in to.