Congrats to you and family for getting your finances in good order.
Thanks, as DR says, "I did a whole lot of stupid." I failed to comprehend what my what my parents were teaching. My bad habits I mainly picked up in the Army, keeping up with others of my pay grade.
While my parents taught me a little about money and a whole lot of hard work. I never understood that they only borrowed money on things that made work more efficient, or to buy land. My parents are millionaires by DR standards, but they look like dirt poor ranchers/farmers. Dad turned 83 in March and still running 250 pairs of commercial cattle by himself, for the most part with minimal help from us kids and the grandchildren. Down from the nearly 500 he ran 10 years ago when he sold down to 100 pair due to the drought.
It took a lot of stupid, before we realized we were out of control. I know there are many ways to take control of your finances, the amount of financial gurus out there selling their product proves it. Just find the one that works for you. We chose DR FPU because it was offered at our church. It was nice to know we weren't alone in our community with wanting to take control of our finances. We had people who weren't even in our church attend.
I think the thing that most people are bothered about DR is his financial advice is very simple. Live within your means, have an emergency fund, and save for retirement. The rest of his program is more of a mental health counseling, and correcting the behaviors that got you in financial trouble in the first place. A lot of people don't want to hear that they are the main cause of their own situation.