“I Think You Need a Hobby”

Summary

The Ramsey Show Highlights — “I Think You Need a Hobby”

Date: November 6, 2025
Host(s): Dave Ramsey and co-host (names not specified in transcript)

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Episode Overview

In this episode, the hosts respond to a listener from England who outlines a complex credit card and savings scheme intended to maximize rewards and interest, resulting in modest financial gains over the past decade. The Ramsey team breaks down the approach, highlighting its risks, opportunity costs, and questionable value—ultimately advising against such intricate financial gymnastics in favor of straightforward, low-risk financial principles.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Listener’s Strategy Explained (00:10–00:56)

• Listener Mark, a financially stable, retired Englishman, explains his system:
  • Uses credit cards with points for all purchases.
  • Transfers debts to long-term, interest-free cards.
  • Makes only minimum payments, while matching the debt amount in a high-yield savings account (7%).
  • At term-end, pays the debt off from savings, keeps interest/cashback as profit.
  • Reports £6,000+ in cashback and £8,000+ in interest benefits over 10 years.
• Mark’s Question: “Why shouldn’t we keep doing this?”

2. The Ramsey Response: Why It’s Not Worth It

• Mental & Emotional Exhaustion
  • (01:06) "The mental calories needed has got to be worth something. Your time is worth something.”
• Low Financial Payoff
  • (01:17) “When you get done, you got enough money to buy a biscuit.”
  • The actual benefit is so marginal it “makes you want to giggle.”
• Risks & Pitfalls
  • (01:28) Analogy: Mark’s process is compared to running a “ninja warrior” obstacle course: “if you miss one handhold, you’re in the water.”
• Not a Wealth-Building Strategy
  • (03:30) Real data: Out of 10,167 self-made millionaires studied by Ramsey, “not one said they played the airline mile game, the high yield savings versus repay old credit card... game. And that's how I made my million dollars, Dave. Not one, not uno, not one.”
  • Quote: (04:07) “Zero proof text that your system causes wealth building. Zero. There’s zero humans we have found that your system made rich. Zero. None. Was that unclear?”
• Fallacy of Necessity
  • (04:19) “You’ve become financially stable in spite of the credit card game.”
  • The hosts challenge the logic that Mark’s process is responsible for his stability, suggesting he’d do as well or better using straightforward cash.

3. The Real Numbers — Underwhelming Results (04:55–05:14)

• Mark earned $14,000 over 10 years ($1,400/year) from all the “gyrations.”
  • (05:14) “How hard is it to make $1,400 in England?”
  • The hosts highlight the poor risk:reward ratio—“you really have done taken a lot of risk and played with a lot of bear traps... to make $1,400 a year.”

4. Human Nature, Entertainment, and the Takeaway

• (05:50) “The chances of him not doing it anymore or zero. He’s going to keep doing it.”
• The hosts acknowledge some listeners tune in for the entertainment of hearing about complex or unnecessary financial antics others undertake.
  • (05:53) “Part of the entertainment value of this show is you watch other people do something so stupid that you’re entertained by it... sometimes they do it to learn ... and then other times it’s just human beings are entertaining.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the scheme’s absurdity:
  (01:14) Dave Ramsey: “I mean, what can we talk about? $50,000 bucks? And you run it through all of those ringers. When you get done, you got enough money to buy a biscuit.”
• On the complexity:
  (01:28) Dave Ramsey: “...like you did a treasure hunt with an obstacle course in your backyard and you’re 12 years old.”
• On building wealth:
  (03:37) Dave Ramsey: “The number of those self made millionaires starting from nothing that became a millionaire working a system that remotely looks like yours is precisely zero.”
• On human nature:
  (05:14) Host: “You really have done taken a lot of risk and played with a lot of bear traps, hoping not to get your arm ripped off by a bear trap, in order to make $1,400 a year.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:10] Listener’s question and scheme explained
• [01:06] Hosts begin critique—mental cost, worth of time
• [01:28] Obstacle course and ninja warrior analogies
• [03:30] Millionaire study—no one gets rich this way
• [04:19] Fallacy of credit card scheme creating financial stability
• [04:55] Actual numbers, calculation of small return
• [05:50] On why listeners tune in; entertainment value

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Conclusion

The hosts emphasize: complicated financial “hacks” usually aren’t worth the hassle, time invested, or potential risk, especially when the actual payoff is minimal. Real wealth-building is about straightforward strategies and consistency—not outsmarting the credit card industry. The episode closes with both a warning and gentle ribbing: don’t mistake cleverness for effective financial progress, and maybe consider a better hobby.

Transcript

[A]

If your private student loans are in default, you're not out of options. Go to yrefi.com Ramsey Today's question comes from Mark.

[B]

In England, we are retired, mortgage free and financially stable with no debt except our credit cards. We buy what we need on a credit card that gives us points which we use to pay for clothes, food, etc. We then take that credit card debt and put it onto a long term interest free credit card for a period of 12 to 34 months, only paying the minimum balance each month at the same time as the start of the 0% deal, we put an equal amount into a savings account that pays us 7% interest. At the end of the 0% term, we pay it off for the savings and then keep the interest earned to pay for travel or a large cash purchase. We've been doing this for 10 years with no interest incurred. Cash back to us has been six grand plus eight grand earned in interest from the savings. Why shouldn't we keep doing this? Because it's exhausting.

[A]

Number one, this is how you lost the Revolutionary War right here.

[B]

Zinger.

[A]

Oh my God.

[B]

Take that, Red coats.

[A]

Unbelievable.

[B]

The mental calories needed has got to be worth something. Your time is worth something.

[A]

And here's what's ridiculous. We don't, we do not know the dollar amounts.

[B]

But what it took to get you took.

[A]

I mean, what could you, what can we talk about? 50,000 bucks? And you run it through all of those ringers. When you get done, you got enough money to buy a biscuit. I mean, there's no money involved here. This is a, it's like a math riddle for a sixth grader and you fell for every bit of it. I think you need a hobby. Really. This is like exhausting. So the problem with all this is, is you have set up a house of mirrors, a house of traps, and you have figured out how to know. You know, I'm trying to remember what, what's the thing where the kid where the people. The ninja thing where they go through all the like American ninja warrior. Yeah, like you're an American ninja or the English ninja warrior for credit cards. So you've got this full obstacle course laid out and you know how to do it, but if you miss one handhold, you're in the water. If you, if you jump just wrong, you're gonna turn your ankle and be on your head. And so that's exactly what this is like a. It's like an obstacle course. It's like you did a treasure hunt with an obstacle course in Your backyard and you're 12 years old. No. And it's not worth the money if you actually add up the actual dollars that you're benefiting from. All these gyrations. It's so small, it's, it's almost makes you want to giggle. Like really if you'd just gone and done like work or something while you spent all this money, I mean all this calories on this, chasing your tail all over the place and trying to somehow beat the credit card company, you'd actually have some money. So no, no, no. And also Mark, let me tell you this. We have not done a study in the uk but we have done the largest study of millionaires ever done in North America. We studied 10,167 of them. 89% of them, 9 out of 10 are first generation rich, meaning they started with nothing and they became millionaires. The number of those self made millionaires starting from nothing that became a millionaire working a system that remotely looks like yours is precisely zero. Out of 10,167. Not one said they played the airline mile game, the high yield savings versus repay old credit card and 30 days out and back and forth gyration game. And that's how I made my million dollars, Dave. Not one, not uno, not one.

[B]

None.

[A]

Zero proof text that your system causes wealth building. Zero. There's zero humans we have found that your system made rich. Zero. None. Was that unclear?

[B]

I think that's as clear as mud right there, Dave. Well, the key is the fallacy is that he wouldn't be financially stable without this. You've become financially stable in spite of the credit card game. You decided that we're not going to have a mortgage anymore. Well why would you do that when you can make a spread on that? I mean you can, you know, reverse engineer this logic and just stay in debt the rest of your life if you think you can outsmart it. But clearly you value a debt free life and I think this credit card game is costing you more than you think. And here's a good test. For one year use your own money and see if you don't save more than you have doing this credit card churning arbitrage.

[A]

Well, gyration, here it is. The numbers actually on here. I got tired before the end of the email, but it's on here. Cash back to us has been $6,000 plus interest earned from the plus 8,000 from the interest earned. So 14,000 bucks over 10 years. Oh my God.

[B]

Yeah, that's over a 10 year period.

[A]

You made $1400 a year doing this. It's worse than I thought. $1400. I mean, dude, how hard is it to make $1400 in England? You really have done taken a lot of risk and played with a lot of bear traps, hoping not to get your arm ripped off by a bear trap in order to make 1400 a year. And here's the other thing, George, a guy that writes us an email that says this. The chances of him not doing it anymore or zero. He's going to keep doing it.

[B]

Yeah, he just wanted to, I guess brag about how amazing.

[A]

Well, or he want to be the subject of the latest Ramsey meme. I don't know, but it's a bad choice, dude. But the. Yeah, part of the entertainment value of the show is you watch other people do something so stupid that you're entertained by it. And that's sometimes why people watch this show or listen to the show. Sometimes they do it to learn from what we're teaching here. And then other times it's just human beings are entertaining and entertainment value. I think you just fell in the second brick bucket. Why refi refinances Defaulted private student loans for struggling borrowers. Learn more at yrefy. Com Ramsay.