Episode Summary: "I'm 27 and Paying For My Terrible Money Mistakes"

Overview

In this episode of The Ramsey Show Highlights, Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruze take a call from Cece, a 27-year-old dental assisting student and former small business owner who's struggling under $40,000 in debt from car loans, a returned Mercedes lease, student loans, and credit card debt. Recently unemployed, Cece grapples with whether to file bankruptcy, quit school, or keep pushing forward. The hosts cut through her confusion, offering tough love and actionable advice on money, work, and breaking unhelpful personal patterns.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Cece’s Financial Situation and Debt Breakdown

• Cece shares her financial troubles:
  • $40,000 in debt: $20,000 on a financed Honda Civic, $10,000 owed from excess wear and miles on a returned Mercedes lease (00:06–00:53)
  • Remaining amount: $5,000 student loan (dental assisting program), rest in personal loans and credit card debt (01:07–01:20)
• Cece has paused her boutique business and is currently not working after quitting a correctional officer job

2. Tough Choices: Bankruptcy or Dropping Out?

• Cece asks if she should declare bankruptcy or leave school given her financial pressures and no income (01:21–01:28).
• Dave Ramsey challenges Cece’s logic:
  • "What are you in, I don't know, school for $5,000. I don't understand." (01:28, Dave Ramsey)
• Rachel Cruze clarifies her school situation and who covered tuition (01:45–01:48).

3. Income, Employment, and Side Hustles

• Cece stopped working her stable job to focus on her boutique; the side business income dried up once she used it for living expenses (02:38–03:09).
• Dave and Rachel underscore the illogic of abandoning all income-generating activities, especially with bills mounting (02:54, Dave Ramsey: "Why are you stopping all the things that make money? This is so illogical...").

4. The Pattern: Avoiding Hard Things

• Rachel details a pattern:
  • Cece leaves jobs or activities once they get difficult, moving from correctional officer to boutique to student without sticking through discomfort (08:01–08:38).
  • "Each one of them got too hard. You were the corrections officer...it got too tough. You left. Then you started doing the online business...realize, oh, this is harder...Now you have this job on the table that could break you free. You haven't even done it yet...That’s a pattern, Cece. That's yours to break." (08:01–08:38, Rachel Cruze)

5. Action Plan: Full-Time Work Plus School

• Rachel encourages Cece to get any job, even if it's tough with school (03:29–03:54).
• Dave: "The job that you quit. What were you making?" (03:54)
  Cece: "I was a correctional officer for about three years, and I was making about $4,000 a month..." (03:58)
• Rachel: "Cece, you called and asked if you wanted to file bankruptcy. That was your question. And then you're telling me you don't want to work and you want to go to school. Wrong answer." (04:29–04:41)
• With the offer to work at the post office (starting at 8am), they break down how this should fit with her night classes (06:27–07:05).

6. No Excuses: Choosing Your Hard

• Dave’s signature wisdom: "Something's going to be hard. The wise person chooses the hard thing they want to do instead of the hard thing happening to them." (05:41–05:51)
• Rachel: "You can do this. You got the job. Eight to four, max. Hop over there. Do the school from five to nine. It's six months, like Dave said. You can do this. It's gonna be hard, but you can do this." (07:05–07:39)

7. Final Motivational Push

• Dave: “It’s going to be hard. Buckle up, buttercup. It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be worth it. Suck it up. Go get it, girl. You can do this.” (08:38–end)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On making tough decisions:

  “Something’s going to be hard. The wise person chooses the hard thing they want to do instead of the hard thing happening to them.”
  — Dave Ramsey (05:41)

• On patterns of giving up:

  “It got too hard. Well, the pattern is...that’s a pattern, Cece. That’s yours to break.”
  — Rachel Cruze (08:01–08:38)

• On excuses and self-sabotage:

  “If an excuse that's that vague is enough to make you stop, it's because you don't want to do it to begin with. You have to want this for yourself, Cece.”
  — Rachel Cruze (07:05–07:39)

• On facing reality and powering through:

  “It’s going to be hard. Buckle up, buttercup. It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be worth it. Suck it up. Go get it, girl.”
  — Dave Ramsey (08:38)

Important Timestamps

• [00:06] Cece shares her debt and auto finance/leasing history
• [01:21] Bankruptcy vs. quitting school dilemma
• [02:38] Pause on her business and why income vanished
• [03:54] Confirmation she quit $4k/month job; exploring work vs. school tradeoff
• [05:41] Dave outlines "Choose your hard" principle
• [06:27] Schedule logistics: post office job + night school
• [07:05] Rachel’s frank talk about taking the job despite fear
• [08:01] Rachel identifies self-defeating patterns
• [08:38] Dave’s final motivational challenge

Summary Flow

The episode delivers gut-check financial advice for anyone falling behind due to old mistakes or current overwhelm. Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruze waste no time diagnosing Cece’s situation: a cycle of walking away when things get challenging and looking for escape routes (bankruptcy, changing paths) rather than digging in and pushing through.

With empathy and firmness, they help Cece see that with six months left until graduation, staying in night school and taking a day job (even if tough) is her best way forward. The hosts urge her to embrace the temporary hardship, break her avoidance pattern, and recognize that the alternative—continued debt, fear, and instability—is an even harder road.

The message is clear and bracing: life’s challenges can’t be dodged, but by choosing your “hard” and sticking with it, you regain control and build the life you want.