It’s an epic struggle between two titans.  It’s the kind of power-laden match-up that makes a Yankees/Red Sox doubleheader seem like a game of Chutes and Ladders.  It’s Mothra vs. King Kong.  It’s Jennifer vs. Angelina.  It’s the irresistible force vs. the immovable object.

It’s Dave Ramsey vs. Suze Orman.

Who do you love?

In all seriousness, the question of which media-friendly financial guru offers the best wisdom is an ongoing debate.  If you doubt that, do a Google search for “Dave Ramsey vs. Suze Orman”.  You’ll find MORE THAN 400 RESULTS for that exact expression.

It’s not surprising.  It’s a hard-to-beat little contest.  You’ve got a conservative Christian male against a lesbian in this contest, for goodness’ sake!  Plus, they’re clearly #1 and #2 (or is that #2 and #1?) on the list when it comes to being a media-friendly personal finance know-it-all.  They both sell books like crazy, too.  It’s a natural competition.

And to make things even better, they actually disagree on a few things!

That’s what makes the “Dave Ramsey vs. Suze Orman” thing so interesting.

Money management is, in the starkest sense, a numbers game.  It’s like algebra.  There’s a right answer and there’s a wrong answer.  Yes, the predictions about certain numbers can be different, but the basic rules to the game are the same.  All other things being equal, getting an 8% return on your investment is better than making 5%.  End of story.

So, we’d expect the two gurus to tell the same stories.  The question of preference would come down to a question of baldness vs. giant white teeth or something under those circumstances.  But that’s not what’s happening.  There’s a very real difference between them.

That difference is their competing positions on a critical personal finance matter–getting out from under debt.

Dave Ramsey advocates his “snowball” method.  You pay minimums on all of your debts, throwing whatever extra dough you have in your budget at the account with the smallest balance.  Once it’s paid, you continue the process, targeting the next debt on your list.

Eventually, you’re making very big payments on your remaining accounts, wiping them out quickl and earning the right to call Dave’s show to scream “I’m debt free” like a complete nutjob.

Suze Orman preaches a different technique.  She says you should pay your minimums plust $10 on each account, tossing any spare cash at the one with the highest interest rate.

Ramsey tells people to start their snowball right after they sock away $1,000 in cash as an emergency fund.  Orman used to have a similar perspective, but she’s changed her tune in 2009.  Now she tells everyone to pay minimums until they’ve saved up eight months worth of living expenses.  She’s trying to insulate people from the possibility of unemployment during this current economic mess.

So, who wins?  Putting the “how much do you really need to save before you start attacking your debt” question aside, neither Dave Ramsey or Suze Orman win if you know how to run a calculator.  From a pure dollars and cents perspective, the best thing to do is to pay minimums on all of your accounts, except for the one with the highest interest rate and to pay that baby down first.  That’s how the math works.

However, the Dave Ramsey approach recognizes the psychological relationship with have with money.  He knows that getting out of debt can seem overwhelming and that building on small gains by paying off those smaller debts first, can have a significant morale-boosting impact that can get people hooked on paying off their bills.

The Suze Orman approach, on the other hand, is closer to being mathematically sound because it does put emphasis on the highest interest rate after those additional $10 bumps are applied to the bills.  If you test the two methods against one another, Suze’s wins.

So, does that mean we should call the Dave Ramsey vs. Suze Orman superfight a TKO for Orman?

Not necessarily.  I think we can call it a draw.  Orman’s math is better, but Ramsey’s plan has a better chance of motivating its users to see it through to completion.

In the end, it doesn’t matter that much if you follow Orman’s or Ramsey’s advice.  They’ll both help you beat debt.  It’s all a matter of doing what really works for you and your personality.

(By the way, in a straight up “who do you like more” online poll, Ramsey whips Orman by a huge margin!)