How Do I Prepare For My Husband To Go To Prison?

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Ramsey Show Highlights

Episode Title: How Do I Prepare For My Husband To Go To Prison?
Date: January 29, 2026
Host: Ramsey Network (Dave Ramsey, Jade Warshaw, Financial Coach)
Duration: ~8 Minutes

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Episode Overview

This episode centers around a caller whose husband has recently been arrested and faces a potential prison sentence of 2–10 years. The main focus is on how she can financially prepare for this significant change, maintain family stability, and manage the family’s various sources of income, including a landscaping business and rental properties, during this turbulent time.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Caller’s Situation & Initial Concerns

• The caller’s family finances are being upended due to her husband’s pending incarceration (00:06–01:01).
• Husband currently provides the primary income (~$10,000–$15,000/month) through a landscaping business and property maintenance on their three rentals (01:19, 02:18).
• The caller works full time earning about $4,000/month; they have two children (11 and 17), both attending private school (01:29–01:45).
• She wants to proactively prepare and not "get behind" (00:49).

2. Possibility of Maintaining the Landscaping Business

• Dave and team encourage the caller to find ways to keep the business running during her husband's absence (02:18–03:23).
• Dave Ramsey: “If I’m sitting in your shoes, I’m trying to figure out with him how you can keep that business going. Does he have people that work for him, or is he doing all the work?” (02:29)
• The business is mostly operated by her husband, with minimal help—one employee during the off-season (02:51–03:01).
• Suggestion to bring in a trustworthy individual (perhaps a partner or energetic newcomer) and split the profits, retaining business income and value for the family (03:23–03:58).
  • Financial Coach: “I’d be wondering if there’s a secondary person you could bring on to take his place... Instead of losing out on $15,000 a month, maybe you’re only missing out on five or six thousand dollars a month.” (03:23)

3. Practical Steps to Transition the Business

• Detailed plan:
  • Get a full brain-dump with her husband about business operations—who does the accounting, fieldwork, client management, etc. (04:04–04:16).
  • Consider hiring a reliable local person, potentially a young person eager to learn, to keep the fieldwork ongoing (04:37–04:57).
  • Hire out for specialized tasks (e.g., bookkeeper) to keep costs down but business active (04:57–05:32).
  • Dave Ramsey: “I think it’s worth a really detailed conversation with your husband to see if we can keep this thing going. Because... if we can keep this thing turning out 10, 12, the occasional 15,000, that’s a pretty healthy little business.” (05:08)

4. Leveraging Community Support

• Dave asks about her support system and emphasizes relying on friends, family, or church before looking for unknown hires (05:45–06:17).
  • Dave Ramsey: “I think you need people who are going, hey, I am totally with you … and we’re going to rally to try to help you with this plan.” (06:02)

5. Preparing for the Worst-Case Scenario

• Guidance to reduce expenses, especially if all or most of the husband’s income disappears (06:18–06:27).
• Assess overall financial health:
  • Mortgage on the home ($4,000/month, $260k owed).
  • One rental property also mortgaged ($140k owed).
  • No mention of excessive consumer debt (06:38–06:55).
• Financial Coach: “It might be worth it to offload one of these mortgages, take the equity and pay off all of your consumer debt because you want your expenses as low as possible...” (07:00)
• Advice to write out all debts and consider selling a property to simplify and stabilize finances before any further income disruptions manifest (07:00–07:22).

6. Accessing Further Support

• Caller offered a year of the EveryDollar budgeting app and connection with a financial coach for continued support with both trauma and detailed planning (07:22–07:30).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Dave Ramsey (02:29):
  “If I’m sitting in your shoes, I’m trying to figure out with him how you can keep that business going. Does he have people that work for him, or is he doing all the work?”

• Financial Coach (03:23):
  “I’d be wondering if there’s a secondary person you could bring on to take his place... Instead of losing out on $15,000 a month, maybe you’re only missing out on five or six thousand dollars a month. Do you see what I’m saying?”

• Dave Ramsey (05:08):
  “I think it’s worth a really detailed conversation with your husband to see if we can keep this thing going. Because... if we can keep this thing turning out 10, 12, the occasional 15,000, that’s a pretty healthy little business.”

• Dave Ramsey (06:02):
  “That’s why I’d start, I wouldn’t do ads right away. I think you need people who are going, hey, I am totally with you ... and we’re going to rally to try to help you with this plan.”

• Financial Coach (07:00):
  “It might be worth it to offload one of these mortgages, take the equity and pay off all of your consumer debt because you want your expenses as low as possible going in especially with the changes coming possibly to his income.”

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:06–01:10: Caller explains husband’s incarceration, financial strain, family overview
• 02:18–02:59: Discussion of the landscaping business’s operation and viability without the husband
• 03:23–03:58: Suggestions for bringing in help to keep income flowing
• 04:04–05:08: Step-by-step advice for managing and possibly delegating business operations
• 05:45–06:17: Importance of using community and personal networks to find help
• 06:27–07:22: Preparing for reduced income: debts, possible sale of properties, lowering expenses
• 07:22–End: Offer of budgeting tools and coaching for ongoing support

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Conclusion

This episode offers practical, empathetic guidance for anyone navigating sudden, major financial changes due to a spouse’s incarceration or similar crisis. The hosts provide a roadmap to stabilize income, marshal community support, and simplify expenses—while emphasizing the importance of planning, communication, and seeking help.

Transcript

[Narrator]

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[Caller]

My family's income is drastically changing.

[Dave Ramsey]

What's happening?

[Caller]

Basically my spouse is going away for some time. You know, we're unsure of that timeline. Maybe two to 10 years. None of that's finalized. But I'm trying to get, you know, ahead.

[Dave Ramsey]

Going away for some time. I just don't want to assume anything, but I think you mean he's going to jail.

[Caller]

Yes. Oh, yes. Unfortunately, I don't want to get into.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sure, that's fine. Totally get it. Just wanted to make sure we understood.

[Jade]

What you're dealing with and tell us again the timeline.

[Caller]

Maybe two, maybe up to 10 years and when.

[Dave Ramsey]

And when.

[Caller]

Well, he's in the jail right now and but you know, he just got. Was arrested last week, so it's very early. So we're just. I'm just trying to get ahead so I don't get behind.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Tell us, really, really tell us what the financial impact will be as relates to losing his salary.

[Caller]

So, you know, he owns a lawn care, landscape and business. You know, he. We also have three rental homes that bring an income and he's the handyman for those and for those rentals.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay.

[Caller]

So he's usually brings in, you know, between 10 and $15,000 a month.

[Financial Coach]

Okay. What about you? Do you work at all?

[Caller]

I work full time and I bring in about 4,000amonth after, you know, taxes and insurance. Okay.

[Financial Coach]

Are there children?

[Caller]

We have two children, yes. 11 and 17. The 17 year olds in her senior year right now they both go to private school.

[Jade]

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[Caller]

They both go to private school.

[Dave Ramsey]

Crazy question.

[Caller]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Is the lawn care landscaping business, is it thriving?

[Caller]

He does good on it. Like yeah, he can.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sounds like it is.

[Jade]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

So I another. So here's where I'm going here. And I'm not. I don't want to get too into the weeds here, but because all of this is coming at you like a tornado. I know you have a lot going on, but if I'm sitting in your shoes, I'm trying to figure out with him how you can keep that business going. Does he have people that work for him or is he doing all the work?

[Caller]

He does a majority of the work he has, you know, all the equipment and things that. I'm so not involved.

[Dave Ramsey]

Totally understand that.

[Caller]

I've never really, you know, wanted to be involved. You know, I wanted to keep our jobs separate, you know, as a married couple, you know, not to mix that and yes, his. Yes. I would love to think that I could carry on with that. But he, right now he has one employee because it's the winner. So, you know, not a lot of things are going on during the winter. But yes, he does the majority of the work.

[Financial Coach]

I'd be wondering if there's a secondary person you could bring on to take his place. And the deal is you're getting the benefit of having basically my book of business. And so we're splitting the profits in some way. And so instead of losing out on $15,000 a month, maybe you're only missing out on five or six thousand dollars a month. Do you see what I'm saying? And so essentially there's a. Either maybe a 50, 50 split or something there. That's what I'd be looking to do because you would not want this to go down the drain simply because I agree.

[Dave Ramsey]

You know, and again, I don't want to stay locked in on this, but this is actually relevant to why you called if I'm you and Jade gave you one option. Bringing somebody in is kind of a quasi. Feels like a partner is what you. I'm suggesting you talk to your husband. And this is like legal pad simple.

[Financial Coach]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

And you're going, okay, babe, how many hours a week are you actually doing something in these lawns versus who does the accounting? I would get a brain dump from him and talk to him as though this is possible. Because I think it's possible. And I would go the route of trying first to just get a body. A guy who needs a good paying job.

[Financial Coach]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Who likes outdoor work. Could be even a young, sharp high school kid who's graduating. He doesn't want to go to college. Wants to go in this field. And you go, tell you what, here's my situation. I need somebody that I can count on. And here's what you're going to do. I'm going to pay you really well and you're going to learn this business for yourself now. And what you would have to do is, is step in and make sure that if your husband was doing the accounting that maybe you hire a bookkeeper. But again we're talking about a very small expense to take. Maybe what he has been doing that's not in the field and running the business side of it and see if you can replace it. I think it's worth kicking the tires. I think it's worth a really detailed conversation with your husband to see if we can keep this thing going. Because to Jade's point, if we can keep this thing turning out 1012, the occasional 15,000, that's a pretty healthy little business. And my gosh, I think it's worth trying to.

[Caller]

Okay. Okay. Yeah. I mean I would definitely could put out some ads for maybe a new worker I can get with a guy that's working for him right now and definitely. Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

Do you have a good support system and like community, whether it be church or neighbors or family?

[Caller]

I have a, I have a few close ones. Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

And they're. And they're standing with you? They're not deserting you in this crazy.

[Caller]

Thing as far as right now? No, nobody's deserting.

[Dave Ramsey]

That's why I'd start, I wouldn't do ads right away. I think you need people who are going, hey, I am, I totally am with you. I see where you are. I understand what's going on and we're going to rally to try to help you with this plan.

[Caller]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

We want to try to keep this income going but Jade, let's transition to worst case scenario if all of this income goes away.

[Financial Coach]

Well, the first thing we need to see is like how secure of a position are you in? I mean do you guys have a bunch of debt? Do you have tell us more about your kind of month to month situation.

[Caller]

So yeah, the only debt that we have, so our personal home, our mortgage is about 4,000amonth. We owe about 260 left on that. Any other rental, the other one rental house is mortgaged and we owe about 140 on that one.

[Financial Coach]

You know I'd be looking to simplify this if I were you. If you, I want you to go home, I want you to write out all of your debt, consumer debt and then I want you to consider it might be worth it to offload one of these mortgages, take the equity and pay off all of your consumer debt because you want your expenses as low as possible going in especially with the changes coming possibly to his income.

[Dave Ramsey]

Hang on the line. We want to get you into every dollar our G for a year and I want to get you with a financial coach to help you deal with the trauma and the details.

[Narrator]

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