INDIANAPOLIS -- Like many Americans, Matt Walkup had expenses that exceeded his income. The 29-year-old Indianapolis resident, who is divorced and raising a boy on his own, had a mountain of debt.

Worried about juggling work, being a father and managing his finances, he sought help. He found it at his church, which was offering a 13-week financial-management course called Financial Peace University, created by nationally syndicated radio personality Dave Ramsey.

Walkup said the class helped him shore up his finances. He is now working on setting aside three to six months' worth of living expenses.

"What the class did was just give me peace of mind that I didn't have to worry about money. I could just concentrate on being a student and being a dad," he said.

Ramsey broadcasts his advice on the "Dave Ramsey Show," which is heard on satellite radio and is carried on 250 radio stations across the country.

During an interview at his headquarters in Nashville, Tenn., Ramsey told WRTV that his advice combines faith and finances.

"The Bible says he who spends more than he makes is a fool. You know, if you devour everything you make you're a fool. Well, no kidding," said Ramsey, whose Financial Peace University courses are offered at churches across the country.

Ramsey, whose mantra is, "If you live like no one else, then later you can live like no one else," said he believes personal finance is 80 percent behavior and 20 percent knowledge. He focuses on changing behavior and using faith as a foundation.

"Because we're all about modifying behaviors, with information and inspiration, there's a faith element that's very real segment of that and if you pull that out, the rest of it's not going to work really well," Ramsey said.

Melinda Wright, director of Momentum Consumer Credit Counseling, a nonprofit counseling service in Indianapolis, said some of her debt-busting advice is similar to Ramsey's.

"A lot of what he advises we would advise. He just takes it to a more extreme step," Wright said.

Like Ramsey, Momentum advises people to make a budget and decide what they are willing to give up, and to stop thinking of credit as income.

"Do you really need cable TV and Starbucks when you can't afford to make your mortgage payment?" Wright asked.