How to Money – Episode #1073

"Jade Warshaw on Escaping the Debt Trap and Rewriting Your Story"

iHeartPodcasts | December 10, 2025

Episode Overview

Host Joel sits down with financial educator and Ramsey personality Jade Warshaw to explore her remarkable journey: paying off nearly $460,000 in consumer debt with her husband over 7+ years. The episode dives deep into the emotional side of debt, the necessity of honest financial assessment, how beliefs and behaviors drive financial outcomes, and practical advice for individuals and couples on rewriting their money stories. Jade also shares insights from her new book, What No One Tells You About Money, focusing on how overcoming financial shame, fear, and guilt can radically transform not just your bank account, but your entire life.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Jade’s Debt Story: Discovering the True Burden

• The Ignition Point: The realization began not with a master spreadsheet, but through lived pain: “You feel the cracks in your finances. When you go to the grocery store and… your card declines, right? … Those were the things that were starting to happen with Sam and I...” – Jade, 05:49
• Facing the Numbers: Jade and her husband Sam discovered the actual sum through a simple but loaded conversation:
  • “How much student loans do you have?”
  • That led to uncovering all debts, including student loans, consumer debts, and co-signed obligations.
  • The headline: $460,000 in non-mortgage debt.
• Early Emotional Realities:
  • Overdrafts, strained arguments, and basic expenses becoming mounting sources of stress.

2. The Turning Point: Seeking Solutions, Embracing the Ramsey Baby Steps

• Hitting the Wall: The pressure of a looming end to student loan grace periods forced a full reckoning.
• The Ramsey Plan: Jade remembered Dave Ramsey’s radio show and reached for the “seven baby steps” plan as a blueprint for escape.
• Resourcefulness Required:
  • “The same resourcefulness that makes you go out and network and get gigs... is the same personality trait we brought into paying off debt – you do whatever you have to do.” – Jade, 10:00
  • Side hustles, reduced lifestyle, and radical focus characterized their approach.

3. Extreme Measures: What Did Sacrifice Look Like?

• Selling Everything: “We sold the furniture in our house...our friends were like, ‘You really don’t have furniture,’ and we were like, ‘Yeah, we just sit on the steps and eat.’” – Jade, 12:18
• Moving In with Family: Lived in a family-owned townhouse, rented at cost, with minimal possessions (air mattress, second-hand couch).
• Lifestyle Tradeoffs:
  • Living far below their means, “no” was their default to invitations and extras.
  • But Jade advocates balancing grind with rewards: “You have to have those [milestones] in there because that's what gives you the dopamine hit to go, oh, that was a good job. I want to keep going.” – Jade, 14:00

4. Debt and Marriage: Double the Emotion

• Financial Strain is Emotional:
  • “Money is already a very emotional process as it is… why isn’t anybody talking about the time you stand in front of the mirror with tears in your eyes and you’re asking yourself, why is this my life and did I ruin everything?” – Jade, 15:15
• The Hardest Part: Guilt, anger, and self-blame often became more overwhelming than the dollars and cents.
• Advice for Couples and Daters:
  • Shared values around money matter more than the exact dollar figures.
  • “If you can’t get aligned [on money philosophy], you will have problems later... 70% of the calls that I get are two spouses that are not aligned on how to handle money.” – Jade, 19:28
  • When talking to a potential partner, listen for their true beliefs about debt before sharing your own.

5. Social Pressures and Transformation

• Handling Friends and Family Reactions:
  • Initially, few noticed. The challenge grew when they repeatedly said “no” to activities.
  • Over time, the tone shifted from “You’re so strict with your budget” to “Can you help my friends with their budget?”
  • “At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what other people think. That’s a superpower...” – Jade, 22:13

6. Emotional Barriers to Money Mastery

• The Emotional Component: The heart of Jade’s book is that money is emotional much more than mathematical.
  • “If you don’t know how to filter [financial know-how] through your emotions, your emotions will stop you every time.” – Jade, 28:19
• Key Negative Emotions Identified:
  • Frustration: Putting in work but not seeing results (“like drops in the bucket”).
  • Anger/Envy: Difficulty celebrating others’ financial wins and making passive-aggressive comparisons.
  • Fear: Not wanting to face the numbers; paralysis and avoidance; fearing you are “worth more dead than alive.” (See notable quote below)
  • Guilt & Shame: Feeling like a failure due to money mistakes, or carrying the burden of debt into a marriage.
• The Way Through:
  • Observe your emotional triggers (“What’s causing me to dodge the truth/avoid the numbers?”).
  • Accept mistakes as research rather than permanent identity.
  • Seek support, sometimes from professionals, when necessary.

7. The Final Push and What Comes Next

• The Last Payment:
  • “It was anticlimactic... We had to send in a money order... We came home and... for seven and a half years, this had been the main focus of everything and it was just gone.” – Jade, 22:57
• Transformative Relief:
  • The weight, once dominating every decision and emotional state, truly can evaporate.
  • “You can look up in 10 years and your life be so radically different that you don’t even recognize who you are in 2025. And that’s the place that I’m sitting.” – Jade, 52:18

8. Rapid-Fire Money Wisdom (50:52–52:14)

• Should people delay big life decisions for debt payoff?
  • Deeply personal. Family planning can be economic, but “I’ll never say don’t have a family just to pay off debt.”
• Investing while in debt?
  • “No.” – Jade, 51:28
• Is there any good debt?
  • “A home. But let’s eventually get it paid off.” – Jade, 51:30
• Student loans, good or bad?
  • “No.” – Jade, 51:39
• A piece of money advice you used to believe?
  • “That debt is a tool to help you win.” – Jade, 52:01
• Current belief:
  • “Now you believe it's only a weight holding you back.” – Joel, 52:13

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Jade’s Emotional Low Point:

  “You do look at yourself in the mirror and you go, am I worth more dead than alive? …the guilt of that is crushing, and the shame of that is just... it's sad.” (38:17, Jade)

• On Uncovering Financial Truths:

  “The longer we keep things in the dark, we really don’t know what’s going on... There’s something that’s making you not look at this... Is it because you know deep down inside... that’s been bugging you and you know it, but you just don't want to put it out in the open?” (35:12–35:44, Jade)

• On Fighting Financial Shame Together:

  “My biggest prayer was that I could help [my husband] see you’re not the problem. Because he would say things like, ‘man, I just ruined everything. I’m holding you back.’” (39:47, Jade)

• Encouragement for Listeners:

  “The time is going to pass anyway... At some point, it’s going to be 2035. You can look up in 10 years and... your life [could] be so radically different that you don’t even recognize who you are in 2025.” (52:18, Jade)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 03:29 – Jade’s “splurge” is houseplants; fun icebreaker
• 05:49 – What living under immense debt actually feels like
• 10:00 – Resourcefulness and side hustles: practical steps out
• 12:18 – How far is “too far” when sacrificing for debt payoff?
• 15:15–18:09 – Money and marriage: aligning values, not just dollars
• 19:28 – Red flags in dating: Debt isn’t a problem if philosophies match
• 22:10–22:47 – Handling friend/family expectations
• 22:57 – The final payment: anticlimax and true relief
• 28:19–31:44 – The emotional side of money: frustration, anger, comparison
• 38:17 – Suicidal ideation and financial shame (Jade’s personal story)
• 50:52–52:14 – Rapid-fire financial advice
• 52:18 – Final big-picture wisdom: “The time is going to pass anyway…”

Tone and Language

• Conversational, honest, and candid—Joel and Jade both use accessible language, with Jade making complex emotions feel understandable and relatable.
• Encouraging but challenging: listeners are prompted to face hard truths but given hope for transformation.
• Moments of levity (houseplant talk, running analogies) break up a deeply authentic and sometimes heavy discussion.

Takeaways for Listeners

• Debt isn’t just math—it’s deeply emotional, impacting your identity, relationships, and even physical health.
• Progress requires honesty and specificity: Know your numbers, and face your feelings.
• Don’t go it alone: Align with your partner, gather support, and don’t be afraid to seek professional help.
• You can rewrite your story: Ten years can radically change your financial trajectory—if you start today.

Further Resources

• Jade’s book: What No One Tells You About Money
• Connect with Jade on Instagram: @jadewarshaw