I'm 27 and Paying For My Terrible Money Mistakes

Summary

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.

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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)

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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)

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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

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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.

Transcript

[Dave Ramsey]

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[Cece (Caller)]

I'm 27, and I'm in dental assisting schools, and I also own an online boutique. But I'm starting to pay for my mistakes I made when I was younger, and they were terrible. Like, I'm $40,000 in debt, and I'm like, I don't know what. So half is from my car, a Honda Civic. I'm financing it. So 20k is.

[Dave Ramsey]

So you owe 20,000 on your car?

[Cece (Caller)]

Yes. And then I was so young. I was young and dumb, and I decided to lease a Mercedes at, like, 23 years old. And when I returned the lease, the wear and tear, the miles and all of that, I still have to pay for that. So that's about $10,000.

[Dave Ramsey]

And how long ago was that?

[Cece (Caller)]

That was. I returned that car in 2023.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, so they're not happy with you. Okay. All right. Two years ago. And. And then what's. What's the other. That. That. What's the other 10,000?

[Cece (Caller)]

So I did take out a student loan up for about 5,000 because I'm in dental school. And fastball, we paid for half, so I had to take out a loan. And then the other amount is just from, like, personal loans and credit cards.

[Dave Ramsey]

Right.

[Cece (Caller)]

And I'm not working right now. I lost my job, so I'm like, should I file bankruptcy or should I just drop out of school? And just.

[Dave Ramsey]

What are you in, I don't know, school for $5,000. I don't understand.

[Cece (Caller)]

For dental assistance.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, dental assistant. Okay. Yeah, I never knew any dentists that went to school for five grand.

[Rachel Cruze]

Okay, so you paid three out of pocket and got a loan for the other five.

[Cece (Caller)]

Well, fast food pays for the three, and then I had to get along for the other.

[Rachel Cruze]

Okay, and what. What. What were you doing that you just got fired from?

[Cece (Caller)]

Well, I didn't get fired. I decided that I was going to quit my job and run my business.

[Rachel Cruze]

Oh.

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[Cece (Caller)]

Well, I didn't get fired. I decided that I was Going to quit my job and run my business.

[Rachel Cruze]

Oh, how much? Because your business is bringing in a lot of income.

[Cece (Caller)]

It was until I quit my job and start having to pay my rent with the money I made for my online business.

[Rachel Cruze]

Okay, what are you making from the online business right now?

[Cece (Caller)]

I'm not making anything because I just put it on pause, but I was making about 300.

[Rachel Cruze]

Why are you stopping.

[Dave Ramsey]

Why are you stopping all the things that make money? This is so illogical because it's so.

[Cece (Caller)]

Hard to juggle school and running a business, and it's like I'm.

[Dave Ramsey]

You're not running a business. You stopped it.

[Cece (Caller)]

Well, it. Before I stopped it. Before I stopped it, it was hard because. Listen, okay, hear me out. The. The profit. I start using it to pay my rent, in my car and all my insurance. So it's like, now I drop because I'm using.

[Rachel Cruze]

Okay, let me. Let me go back. Let me go back.

[Dave Ramsey]

So.

[Rachel Cruze]

So you're a student. You're a full time student. Can you work at least part time, at the very least? Because you got to live. Because what's the other option? Right, because if you stop working at the other job, then you stop working at your business. What are your options to put your lifestyle on credit? Right. And that's what you've been doing.

[Cece (Caller)]

Yes, I know. And it's not working.

[Rachel Cruze]

I know. That's why I'm telling you. You got to go back and get some job.

[Dave Ramsey]

The job that you quit. What were you making of the job? You quit?

[Cece (Caller)]

So I was a correctional officer for about three years, and I was making about 4,000amonth. But it's just I wasn't happy and.

[Dave Ramsey]

And now you're really not happy because you don't have $4,000 a month?

[Cece (Caller)]

Yes, because I'm broke.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. So here's what you need to do. You need to go get a job, any job.

[Cece (Caller)]

So here's the thing. Hear me out. I got an offer at the post office, and they pay a pretty nice amount. It's just. I'm scared it won't work with school.

[Rachel Cruze]

Try it.

[Dave Ramsey]

So. So quit school. You need money.

[Rachel Cruze]

Cece, you called me and asked me.

[Dave Ramsey]

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.

[Rachel Cruze]

Is it just. Is it just you, Cece? It's just you.

[Cece (Caller)]

Yes, it's just me. I've been doing everything since I was, like, 17.

[Rachel Cruze]

And you're living by yourself or are you Living with someone? A roommate or is it just you?

[Cece (Caller)]

No, I'm by myself.

[Rachel Cruze]

Okay. You got. You got to do this. And the good news is, and I told the other guy this who called in, it's just you. You don't have to get home to a kid, to a husband, to a grandma you're taking care of. It's just you. So you all. This is time management. This is the problem. Time management. And you understanding that this is going to be hard for a season. How much do you. How much time left in school?

[Cece (Caller)]

I graduated June. That's why I don't want to quit.

[Dave Ramsey]

Okay, then stay. Then stay in school and work full.

[Rachel Cruze]

Time and let your.

[Dave Ramsey]

For six whole months. Wah.

[Rachel Cruze]

That's it. And let your goal just be. I'm working and I'm going to school and I'm paying my rent and I'm just doing these what I'm gonna call just typical adulting tasks. I work, I go to school, I pay my bills, and that's it.

[Dave Ramsey]

So 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. You're going to have something that's painful and hard. Ready, set, go. Now you decide which one you want it to be. Now, I would rather be tired and a wee bit stressed from working all day and going to school than as broke as you are and scared as you are. That's hard. So I would choose not to be where you are and choose to work full time and go to school like a crazy girl and. And then get out in June and go live your best life.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah. Let's talk realistically about your schedule when you do the dental assistant thing. How is it daytime? Are you going at night? How does it work?

[Cece (Caller)]

So right now I'm in night school. That's the thing that's stopping me from finding a great job.

[Rachel Cruze]

That you're at night.

[Cece (Caller)]

Five to nine. Yeah.

[Rachel Cruze]

What time is the post office job?

[Cece (Caller)]

So I start Monday and it says 8am huh.

[Rachel Cruze]

Perfect.

[Cece (Caller)]

Someone told me that the post office, you could work 12 hours a day, six days a week. And that's why I'm scared.

[Dave Ramsey]

Somebody told you something.

[Rachel Cruze]

If you start at 8am you want to know when you're probably off work.

[Dave Ramsey]

Three, four.

[Rachel Cruze]

Four at the latest. Which means you can hop over there and get to your class at 5. You can grab a bite to eat. Don't. Don't not do this.

[Dave Ramsey]

Because somebody.

[Rachel Cruze]

Because somebody told you. Because. Do you want to know what that tells me? I'm going tell you I'm. I'm being your friend right now. 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. It's almost like you were looking for an excuse not to do it. That's what that tells me. So you have to want this for yourself, Cece. I'm looking at the numbers, I'm looking at the schedule. 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.

[Dave Ramsey]

This is.

[Rachel Cruze]

You have to want to do it.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah. Choose your hard. Something's gonna be hard. Be a big girl and decide which one you want it to be. Do I wanna be sitting here terrified, broke? But you can't just be randomly walking out on stuff, you know, just go. I don't think I wanna work anymore.

[Rachel Cruze]

It got too hard. Well, the pattern is. Here's the pattern. It got. Each one of them got too hard. You were the corrections officer. It's tough, man. It's mental load. I can understand that. Probably is a tough job, but it got too tough. You left. Then you started doing the online business because that seemed easier. You did it for a while and you realize, oh, this is harder than I thought. I'm having to use my profit. I can't invest my profit back in. I have to use some of it. It got hard. You quit that. Now you have this job on the table that could really break you free. And you're thinking, you haven't even done it yet. You're just thinking, thinking it might be hard. And you're about to bail on that. That's a pattern, Cece. That's yours to break.

[Dave Ramsey]

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. Create your free. Every dollar budget today. The simplest way to budget for your life.