Should Single Women Buy Houses Without A Man?

Summary

The Ramsey Show Highlights: "Should Single Women Buy Houses Without A Man?"

Episode Overview Released on July 28, 2025, "The Ramsey Show Highlights" tackles the pertinent question: Should single women buy houses without a man? Hosted by the Ramsey Network and featuring insights from experts like Dave Ramsey and George Kamel, this episode delves into financial independence, societal pressures, and the interplay of personal beliefs in homeownership decisions.

Caller Introduction: Kate from Michigan [00:10] The episode begins with George Kamel presenting a question from Kate, a successful marketing professional in her early 20s. Kate has achieved remarkable financial milestones, earning over $150,000 annually and saving nearly $125,000 for a down payment on her first home. Despite her confidence in purchasing a home independently, Kate faces external pressure rooted in certain Christian beliefs that suggest women shouldn't buy homes without a man, positioning men as primary providers.

Dave Ramsey’s Immediate Reaction [00:55 - 02:00] Dave Ramsey responds passionately to Kate’s dilemma:

“Leave the cult.” [00:55]

He vehemently criticizes the misrepresentation of Christian beliefs, differentiating between genuine faith and what he describes as "cult beliefs." Ramsey emphasizes the importance of individual autonomy and financial independence for women:

“That is not a Christian belief, darling. No, that's a cult belief.” [01:03]

His frustration stems from the restrictive doctrines that undermine personal growth and financial empowerment.

George Kamel’s Supportive Stance [02:03 - 04:40] George Kamel takes a supportive turn, offering heartfelt advice to his daughter:

“I would advise my daughter to buy a house with $125,000 she has saved as a down payment.” [01:07]

He outlines a comprehensive vision for his daughter's future, emphasizing the importance of:

• Healthy Marriages: Showcasing his own parents' joyful and financially harmonious marriage as a model.
• Self-Sufficiency: Teaching practical skills like changing a tire or fixing a faucet.
• Entrepreneurial Encouragement: Supporting her ambitions to start a business, mirroring Kate’s success.

Kamel passionately states:

“If she says, dad, I have $125,000 as a down payment. I don't have any men that are worth my time yet. I'll say, can I go house shopping with you? That's what I would say to my daughter. Period. End of story.” [04:09]

His commitment underscores the importance of parental support in fostering financial independence and personal growth.

Transition to Heidi’s Call [04:42 - 08:41] The conversation shifts when Heidi from Casper, Wyoming, calls in with a different issue regarding her husband’s request for time off. While this segment provides additional insights into work-life balance and ethical business practices, it diverges from the main topic of single women purchasing homes.

Key Takeaways

1. Financial Independence Empowerment: The episode strongly advocates for women to pursue homeownership independently, highlighting the significance of financial autonomy.
2. Challenging Societal Norms: Both Ramsey and Kamel confront restrictive beliefs that limit women's financial decisions, advocating for a redefinition of traditional roles.
3. Parental Support: George Kamel exemplifies the role of supportive parenting in encouraging daughters to achieve financial success and personal fulfillment.
4. Ethical Considerations in Business: Although not the primary focus, Heidi’s call introduces the importance of ethical decision-making in professional settings.

Notable Quotes

• Dave Ramsey on Misguided Beliefs:

  “That is not a Christian belief, darling. No, that's a cult belief.” [01:03]

• George Kamel on Empowering His Daughter:

  “If she says, dad, I have $125,000 as a down payment. I don't have any men that are worth my time yet. I'll say, can I go house shopping with you?” [04:09]

• Dave Ramsey’s Supportive Encouragement:

  “Good for you, Kate. You're an absolute incredible human being.” [02:50]

Conclusion In this episode, "The Ramsey Show Highlights" effectively addresses the complexities surrounding single women’s decisions to purchase homes without a male partner. Through a blend of passionate advocacy and practical advice, Dave Ramsey and George Kamel champion financial independence and challenge outdated societal expectations. The episode serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of autonomy, support, and ethical decision-making in achieving personal and financial goals.

Transcript

[Dave Ramsey]

Brought to you by why refi refinance your defaulted private student loans [e-mail] Ramsey.

[George Kamel]

Today's question comes from Kate in Michigan. I'm a marketing professional. In my early 20s, I started my own business, and I earn over $150,000 a year. Congratulations, Kate. I have close to $125,000 saved as a down payment on my first house. I've always wanted to be a homeowner, and I'm confident this is what I want to do. But a lot of people around me are pressuring me to not buy a home. Oh, good gravy. Because of Christian beliefs that girls. I'll just. I'm reading it how she wrote it, that girls shouldn't buy a home and men should be providers. I don't have a boyfriend, so I'm not getting. Dude, I can't finish this. I'm not even close to getting married. What would you advise your daughter to do?

[Dave Ramsey]

Leave the cult.

[George Kamel]

Leave whatever madness and misrepresentation of Christian beliefs and ethics and right and wrong immediately.

[Dave Ramsey]

That is not a Christian belief, darling. No, that's a cult belief.

[George Kamel]

God Almighty. I would advise my daughter to buy a house with $125,000 she has saved as a down payment.

[Dave Ramsey]

Keep being the stud at that you are, and hope that some guy is lucky enough to even catch your eye. Oh, my God. Jesus is so pass backwards, you people. Unbelievable. Some of y' all are just really screwed up. And then you put a cross over the top of it. You kill me. You make the rest of that love Jesus look like we're morons. Because you're a. When you do stuff like this, that's just nuts.

[George Kamel]

I can't.

[Dave Ramsey]

This burns my butt.

[George Kamel]

I don't have any words to say here.

[Dave Ramsey]

Just. I hate bad doctrine and bad theology and how it affects people when they get in toxic situations. I'm sorry, darling. Your mother and father have misled you. Leave the cult. Yes, because that's where this crap's coming from.

[George Kamel]

I mean, that's. I don't have any other words to say that aren't going to get me.

[Dave Ramsey]

I don't. You don't think I'm not going to get it. I don't give a crap.

[George Kamel]

This is stupid.

[Dave Ramsey]

I've been doing this a long time. What, are you going to get mad at me and leave you? And I guess that'll leave us only 60 million listeners. Oh, well. Okay. Darn.

[George Kamel]

I don't. Is this real?

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, it's definitely real. You were on a podcast the other day I was.

[George Kamel]

You're right. That's right. You're right. You're right. You're right.

[Dave Ramsey]

You were in the middle of one of these dad gum things.

[George Kamel]

You know who usually start. Okay, let's just. You know who says this crap? Men who are afraid of losing control of amazing smart women like this.

[Dave Ramsey]

And they're not as ambitious and they don't have as much get up and go.

[George Kamel]

And so they.

[Dave Ramsey]

To even stand up next to a.

[George Kamel]

Woman, their insecurity and fear and try to duct tape Jesus on the top of it to keep their crumbling kingdoms from coming out from under them. You're amazing.

[Dave Ramsey]

Good for you, Kate. You're. You're an absolute incredible human being.

[George Kamel]

Jesus.

[Dave Ramsey]

Go shine, girl. Go shine and just pray. Have. Have some guy pray that he finds a woman as good as you to sign up with. Oh, my gosh. I mean, if you've got a son out there and you're looking for. I mean, Kate is a good.

[George Kamel]

In Michigan.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, she's former cult. She doesn't have that.

[George Kamel]

She'll have some counseling.

[Dave Ramsey]

Necessary PTSD out of this cult.

[George Kamel]

It's gonna be painful for a minute.

[Dave Ramsey]

But darling, you are. I'm being a little bit melodramatic, but not much, but not really.

[George Kamel]

I. I'm. I am going to strongly encourage my daughter to a. I'm going to give her a picture of what a healthy marriage looks like because I want her to think I want to be a part of that institution. I want to be a part of this thing. Because my mom and my dad laugh a lot. They've got a ton of joy. Their finances work together, all the stuff that the data tells us. I want her to have a ringside seat of how amazing this thing is that. That my mom and my dad have. That's number one. Number two, I'm going to teach my daughter how to work hard. I'm going to teach my daughter how to do things on her own. Learn how to do stuff. Change a tire, fix the faucet, work really hard outside. She was out doing some crazy hot yard work the other day. She's nine. And I pay her well and take care of it anyway. I want her to be able to.

[Dave Ramsey]

Know how to the salt mines on Friday.

[George Kamel]

She's not doing that. That's where my son is right now. But I want her to know how to do hard stuff. And yes, dude, if she says, dad, I want to start my own business, I think I can make 150k a year. I. I will be. I will Be shoving her. Mom and I will be pushing each other to see who's going to be the biggest cheerleader. And we're going to say, go get it. And if she says, Dad, I have $125,000 as a down payment. I don't have any men that are worth my time yet. I'll say, can I go house shopping with you? That's what I would say to my daughter. Period. End of story.

[Dave Ramsey]

Ding ding, ding.

[George Kamel]

Tada. God, this gets me fired up.

[Dave Ramsey]

Dave, man, I think we probably ought to stop. Heidi's in Casper, Wyoming. Hey, Heidi, what's up?

[Heidi]

Oh, not much. Thanks for taking my call.

[Dave Ramsey]

Sure. How can we help?

[Heidi]

My husband and I are debt free and we about two and a half years ago sold a business and have kind of taken the last two and a half years to just figure out what we want to do in life. And he has recently gone back to work, needed some purpose, went back to work doing something he loves, something he cares about. So he does home inspection and he went to work for a guy and he has been there for let's say four and a half months. And he loves it. It's been great. Recently he has asked for a few days off and essentially the employer has denied him taking any time off. And he's not asking for paid time off, he's just asking for a few days here and there so that we can enjoy our family. We have kids that are almost out of the house and we'd like to take the time to create memories during that, during the summers and stuff. And he has denied him taking any time. He doesn't make great money, but again, he loves it and so it makes it worth doing it for him. He has the opportunity to actually, he has all the skills to go do it on his own. And he is going to have a, would like to have a conversation with the employer and say, look, here's, here's can we make something work? But he's pretty certain that he's going to say no, that's not going to work morally. So my question is morally, would it be wrong? He didn't sign a non compete for him to open his own and do home inspections for himself?

[Dave Ramsey]

No, not at all. And that's what he should do as long as he doesn't take clients from his former employer.

[Heidi]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

So if the former employer works with Susie Q real estate agent and Susie Q gives him all the, all of her sales for inspections, you can't use her.

[Heidi]

Okay.

[Dave Ramsey]

You can't steal from the guy. Contacts that you found by working for him, that would be unethical.

[Heidi]

Okay.

[George Kamel]

And for whatever it's worth, I want to put another here I am sympathizing with the business owner. When my residence life staff worked for me at the university, they all knew nobody can take vacation in August because we have thousands of young people moving in and it is day in and day out until we get these buildings ready. And everybody knew that. So if a part of the home inspection business is the chaos months or June, July and August and not even that.

[Dave Ramsey]

If the part of the home inspection business is this guy hired you to work full time and you don't want to work full time, that's on you. That's not on him. He's not being unreasonable. He's not being unreasonable. He hired a guy to work full time and the guy doesn't want to work full time.

[George Kamel]

Yeah. And if he said it's flexible and take some time off when you can.

[Dave Ramsey]

Well, I think we didn't have a good definition of flexible.

[George Kamel]

Right. He might say it's flexible in November and December.

[Dave Ramsey]

Right. Or he might say it's flexible one day every six months and you guys want to take. You guys want to take five days a week. I don't know. I mean, I don't know what flexible means, but.

[Heidi]

And I don't think y' all did for three days.

[Dave Ramsey]

I know, but in your mind that's perfectly reasonable, but you're financially independent. Used to be self employed. This guy actually thought he hired an employee.

[Heidi]

Right.

[Dave Ramsey]

So. No, you're being unreasonable. He. He has a reasonable right to ask the guy. Ask your husband to work full time. Now, except for the part where we didn't both agree on what flexible meant, but I don't use that word around here because I'm not.

[George Kamel]

He tried yoga and it was a disaster.

[Dave Ramsey]

I broke the yoga. Why? Refi Refinances delinquent private student loans for struggling borrowers. Learn more at Y r e f y.com Ramsey.