Constantly Running Out Of Money Every Month

Summary

Episode Overview

Theme:
In this episode of The Ramsey Show Highlights (August 6, 2026), hosts from the Ramsey Network address a listener’s struggle with chronic monthly shortfalls despite working multiple jobs and side hustles. The discussion focuses on diagnosing the root causes—primarily income limitations and burdensome vehicle debt—and offers targeted strategies to help the listener’s family break free from their financial spiral.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Struggling to Make Ends Meet

• Listener's Situation:
  A caller describes how her husband, a teacher earning $50,000 a year, also works part-time at a grocery store (earning up to $80/week), does lawn care, attempts to sell woodworking, and both partners have tried rideshare gig work. Despite all this, “it feels like we’re just spinning our wheels and we have no clue where to go to get income up.” (00:10)

  • She notes, “He's applied online… I know you have to know somebody. And so that's been hard for him to find something else with a teaching degree.” (00:27)
  • The couple has considered digital marketing and Amazon “passive income” but aren’t sure of its legitimacy.

• Expert Response:
  “It's not [legit].” (01:29) — The host immediately shoots down digital passive income schemes as a reliable solution.

---

Debt Breakdown and Financial Overview

• Student Loans:

  • The caller owes $60,000 in student loans, but they’re currently in deferment. (02:41)
  • She did not finish her degree due to the need for student teaching, financial strain, and childcare issues.

• Vehicle Debt:

  • The husband’s landscaping truck: $24,000 owed, can sell for $21,000.
  • The family van: $24,000 owed, can sell for $19,000.
  • “We wouldn't clear anything to have any vehicles after that.” (03:09)

• Other Debts:

  • Only a secured credit card with a $500 limit, held at zero balance.
  • No credit card revolving debt.

---

Income & Budget Realities

• Combined Monthly Take-Home:

  • Wife’s income: $1,000 to $2,000/month (mostly in summer when childcare isn’t an issue) (04:38)
  • Husband’s teaching: $3,000/month net (05:26)
  • Additional side jobs: minimal, unreliable income (05:07)
  • Total household income is consistently too low to cover expenses.
  • Rent: $2,000/month (05:37)

• Attempt at Budgeting:

  • Caller recently started using EveryDollar app to organize finances.
  • Hosts reinforce importance of “four walls” budgeting: food, shelter, transportation, utilities.
    “The rent's not the problem so much as the income is the problem… all of my focus would be geared towards we've got to work, work, work, work, work, and find 3, 4, $5,000, not four hours a week though, and call that a job.” (06:18)

---

Actionable Advice

• Drop Low-Efficiency Side Jobs:

  • Hours at the grocery store contribute little and drain time.
    “We’ve spent more time talking about it than he does working. I mean, he doesn’t even go over there hardly four hours. It's not even worth doing. That's a joke.” (06:30–06:44)

• Utilize Skills for Higher Pay:

  • For the husband: Instead of low-wage gigs, pursue private sports coaching (as a PE teacher) or tutoring (chemistry teaching background).
    “I don’t want to start a homeschool co op. I want to teach a kid to play basketball. $50 to $40 an hour.” (07:04)
    “A buddy of mine… makes $50 an hour teaching 13 year olds how to play basketball.” (07:12)
  • For the wife: Use unfinished chemistry degree to tutor students at $40/hour—consider offering services to local high schools. (07:57–08:16)

• Vehicle Situation:

  • Hosts strongly recommend selling the truck and ultimately both vehicles, replacing with “dumb butt” cheap transportation. “These cars have to go. They're insanity. You guys have bought cars like you make six times as much income as you make… your car payments are ridiculous.” (08:18)

---

Memorable Quotes & Notable Moments

• On Side Hustles:
  “None of this is anything. That’s why you don’t have any money. So we need something that we’re working 40 hours a week at in addition to us teaching.” (07:40–07:56)

• On Using Real Skills:
  “If you’ve got all but one semester in chemistry and teaching, you can tutor chemistry… and you charge $40 an hour.” (07:57)

• On the Vehicle Issue:
  “A $25,000 truck? Are you crazy? That has got to go. So keep the van, get rid of the truck, and then quickly pile up enough money to get you a dumb butt $4,000 van and sell this dumb butt van.” (08:18)

---

Important Timestamps

• 00:10: Caller describes their struggle to make ends meet
• 01:29: Hosts clarify digital passive income is not a legitimate quick fix
• 02:41: Student loan amount discussed
• 03:09: Vehicle debt specifics, dilemma about selling vehicles
• 04:38–05:26: Detailed breakdown of monthly household income
• 05:37: Confirmation of high rent as major budget item
• 06:18–06:44: Discussion about ineffectiveness of minor side jobs
• 07:04–07:12: Suggestions for private coaching, leveraging teaching experience
• 07:57–08:16: Encouragement to pursue higher-paying, skill-based tutoring

---

Conclusion

The episode’s core message is clear: when struggling financially, the solution is rarely about working more low-paying, ad-hoc jobs. Instead, it’s about leveraging marketable skills (like private sports coaching or academic tutoring), drastically reducing unsustainable debts (especially vehicle loans), and committing to a strict, prioritized budget. The hosts are direct and compassionate, aiming to snap the couple out of a scarcity mindset and into actionable, higher-impact strategies.

Transcript

[A]

Zander shops all the top term insurance companies to save you money. Get started. @Zander.com we're trying to figure out how

[B]

we can get out of this constant spiral of going into the red every month. My husband has been teaching for 10 years and he only makes 50,000. And so he has a second job working at a grocery store that they can only schedule him part time, so at Most he makes $80 a week. And then he's also trying to do lawn care on the side, trying to see if he can't find somebody to sell woodworking stuff to. We've both been door dashing, uber eating, sparking all the side gigs that we can and it feels like we're just spinning our wheels and we have no clue where to go to get income up. He's applied online and I've been listening to you for a few days. I know that you have to know somebody. And so that's been hard for him to find something else with a teaching degree. He's tried going into the military and one branch said no, you know, your GPA isn't high enough actually that route. And so I don't know if I've heard about where you can make digital marketing stuff and sell it on Amazon and it's passive income, but I don't know how legit that is.

[A]

It's not. So how much debt are you guys carrying?

[B]

So I have student loans from years ago that are actually in deferment right now.

[A]

That's not causing you red then.

[C]

Okay, what's, what was your degree in?

[B]

So I actually wasn't able to finish. I was dumb. My first year of college, they told my high school, said go to a private school, it's great. And then I made stupid choices.

[C]

Well, what'd you study? What'd you study? What were you interested in?

[B]

At first it was chemistry, then I changed to teaching. And right now we've got three kids, seven and under. And so to finish, I'm one semester away, but to finish I would have to work a full time teaching, you know, student teaching job while paying for the college classes and have to pay for childcare while I'm doing that. And so I can't finish until my kids are old enough to go into school or we can rank them up.

[A]

So wait a minute. What, how much debt, how much is on the student loans that you're not

[B]

paying on about 60,000. Okay.

[A]

And what, what debts do you have that you're paying on car payment?

[B]

The current. Yeah, we have a truck that he uses for his landscaping. And I don't care.

[A]

What's it got?

[B]

A family car.

[A]

How much do you owe on the truck?

[B]

We looked at the other day. We owe 24 and we could sell for 21.

[A]

Good. And what? Sell it. And what's the next one?

[B]

It's a van and it's about the same. We can get it. We can get 19 out of. Out of it. Good. But we owe 24 on it, too. I just don't know what we would do because we can't get a loan or anything to get another car. And we wouldn't clear anything to have any vehicles after that.

[C]

What other debt?

[B]

That's it.

[A]

No credit cards?

[B]

No. We have a secured one, but it stays at zero. We only got it because of renting a car a few years ago. And so it just only got 500.

[C]

You're just making the payments on the two vehicles. And so it's just a struggle keeping groceries then in the lights on?

[B]

Yes.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

What. How much are you guys a month?

[C]

How much are you bringing in as income every month combined, the two of you?

[A]

There are basics every family needs. Food, shelter, transportation, and term life insurance. Term life is simple. If you pass away, it pays money to your family so they can keep paying the bills. Protecting the people you love is part of winning with money. And when you're ready to do that, go with who I trust Zander Insurance. Zander shops top companies to find the right coverage at the best price. And they've earned my recommendation for nearly 30 years. Go to zander.com today.

[C]

How much are you bringing in as income every month combined, the two of you?

[B]

So I bring home probably at most on good months, about a thousand to $2,000 a month. But that's only during the summer while he's able to stay home with the kids or he does.

[C]

And what's he bring home?

[B]

So he brings home the 50,000 from teaching, 80 a week from his grocery

[A]

job, and he's working four hours a week at the grocery store.

[B]

He makes 16 an hour. And they only schedule him from like four hours. Three. 30 to $80. Schedule him.

[A]

It's not even worth doing. It's not even worth doing. It's a joke.

[C]

3, 500 from the teaching and I don't know, another less than a thousand from the grocery store.

[A]

From everything.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He brings home, after insurance and everything, we actually get home $3,000 from teaching.

[C]

Okay, plus your 4,000. Do you guys.

[A]

How much is your house payment?

[B]

The rent is $2,000.

[C]

Okay. Do you Have a budget.

[B]

I just signed up the other day with a free trial with every dollar. And so we've been trying to figure that out.

[C]

Good. So we'll start there. And what you're going to find is what you've just discovered, which is Obviously your rent's 50%. The rent's not the problem so much as the income is the problem. But in the meantime on that budget, the way you need to line it up is by your four walls and keep those things. First and foremost right now, obviously you got to pay rent, right? You got it. You got to do that. You got to make sure lights and water and utilities are on. You've got to make sure you've got groceries and you've got to make sure you've got transportation. Now, aside from that, all of my focus would be geared towards we've got to work, work, work, work, work, and find 3, 4, $5,000, not four hours

[A]

a week, though, and call that a job. The grocery thing, you know, we've spent more time talking about it than he does working. I mean, he doesn't even go over there hardly four hours. It's not even worth doing.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I mean, that's a joke.

[B]

And he's actually talked about stopping that.

[A]

What he needs to do is. What he needs to do is start tutoring. What does he teach?

[B]

And so he. So he teaches pe and that's actually something he's in the middle of trying to do is start like a homeschool co op.

[A]

I don't want to start a homeschool co op. I want to teach a kid to play basketball. 50 to $40 an hour.

[C]

Give him. Why can't he be a skills coach?

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Offer everybody's in private sports. Why can't he do private teaching?

[A]

A buddy of mine that played, he played D1 basketball. And he makes $50 an hour teaching 13 year olds how to play basketball.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Like that's the homeschool thing he's trying to do.

[C]

Like, can he work with the school and do a camp and put on a camp? That's. There's so many. The point is there's so many ideas. I'm worried that he's lost his spark.

[A]

There's a whole bunch of things he's doing. Not at all. And you're listing them an hour a week at landscaping, four hours a week at the grocery. None of this is anything. That's why you don't have any money. So we need something that we're working 40 hours a week at in addition to us teaching.

[C]

Yeah, because the.

[A]

And then, by the way, if you've had. If you've got all but one semester in chemistry and teaching, you can tutor chemistry. So go over at the high school and tell people that you. That you tutor kids on chemistry and they'll come to your house in the afternoons and you charge $40 an hour.

[B]

Okay. Yeah, I didn't think about that.

[A]

I'm a chemistry major. It's a whole lot better than freaking DoorDash or $16 an hour bagging groceries. Yeah, yeah. And these cars have to go. They're insanity. You guys have bought cars like you make six times as much income as you make. I mean, what the crud? A $25,000 truck? Are you crazy? That has got to go. So keep the van, get rid of the truck, and then quickly pile up enough money to get you a dumb butt $4,000 van and sell this dumb butt van. Your car payments are ridiculous. Zander is the best place to find term life insurance to protect your family. Visit Zander.com for quotes today.