Make Sacrifices Today To Achieve Your Financial Goals

Summary

The Ramsey Show – Make Sacrifices Today To Achieve Your Financial Goals (October 3, 2025)

Hosts: Dave Ramsey & Rachel Cruze
Theme: The power of sacrifice—making intentional, sometimes tough decisions today to transform your financial future. The episode focuses on real listener calls, each presenting unique financial challenges, and highlights the essential role of short-term sacrifice for long-term gain.

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Episode Overview

Dave and Rachel dive deep into the practical realities of achieving financial goals, guiding callers through dilemmas such as balancing personal sacrifice, building wealth, addressing debt, and supporting family values. The episode is packed with real-world scenarios, emphasizing mindset shifts, actionable steps, and strategic planning—always with the Ramsey signature blend of directness, encouragement, and humor.

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Key Discussion Points & Caller Scenarios

1. Sacrifice and Career Moves for Single Parents (02:21)

Caller: Catherine, Grand Rapids, MI
Situation: Single mom earning $28k–$30k, struggling to balance debt, health, and childcare.

• Dave’s Guidance:
  • Focus on long-term income growth: “What career can you engage in to make $100,000 a year ten years from today?” (04:51)
  • Identify specific upskilling goals: Take courses only if they directly lead to higher-paying jobs.
  • Short-term fix: Pursue part-time work, enlist family/church for childcare and support, reevaluate unaffordable daycare.
  • Encouragement: “What you don’t want to do is get paralyzed and throw up your hands and say, ‘Oh, this can’t be done.’ Because it can be done.” (08:10)
• Rachel’s Insight:
  • Explore remote work drawing on existing skills (groundskeeping admin tasks).
  • Piece together various small boosts: family, church, side jobs to survive in transition.

2. Taming Student Loan Debt as a Young Couple (10:44)

Caller: Deanna, Pennsylvania
Situation: Newly graduated, combined $100k+ in student loans, planning engagement, questions about future investing.

• Dave’s Roadmap:
  • Don’t combine finances or buy a home until married.
  • After debt and emergency fund, put 15% of income into retirement—start with Roth IRAs, especially for self-employed.
  • Explains SEP IRA/Simple IRA options for solopreneurs.
  • Quote: "What we would call baby step four at that point...start putting 15% of your household income away towards retirement." (12:49)
• Rachel adds:
  • Fast-forward engagement if you’re ready! Start the financial journey together sooner.

3. Special Needs Trusts & Emergency Fund Priorities (16:43)

Caller: Bobby, Texas
Situation: Funding a special needs trust; when to set it up and how to prioritize.

• Dave:
  • Only necessary upon death; fund with life insurance beneficiary clauses.
  • Focus on building wealth now, not funneling funds away prematurely.
  • "A special needs trust has no value while you’re alive. It’s for taking care of a child if you’re not there." (17:49)

4. Balancing Variable Income, Savings, & Debt Snowball (21:26)

Caller: Rachel, North Dakota
Situation: Family of six, variable wedding photographer income, $9k in savings, $40k in consumer debt.

• Strategy:
  • For short-term debt payoff (less than a year), it’s usually best to use savings down to $1,000.
  • If nervous (as a parent), it’s okay to keep a slightly larger cushion.
  • Dave: “The actual math is telling us... you probably don’t have a problem [dropping to $1,000].” (24:28)
• Rachel C.:
  • Debt snowball creates motivation; using a little fear as fuel “pushes you faster.” (26:19)

5. Living in a Semi Truck to Supercharge Savings (28:25)

Caller: David, Minnesota
Situation: 30, just paid off debt, could live out of his semi-truck to save for a down payment.

• Dave:
  • Totally appropriate for a single, no-kids person in transition to do this for a couple of years to stack cash.
  • “Would I do this for two decades? No. For a couple years? Absolutely!” (30:42)

6. Planning with an Inheritance for a Down Payment (34:02)

Caller: Carly, Arkansas
Situation: 20, engaged, $85k inheritance in a brokerage, wants to pay cash for a house in a few years.

• Advice:
  • Keep inheritance in growth stock mutual funds if purchase is 3–5 years away.
  • Not a good idea to use high-yield savings accounts for such timelines.
  • “You want to get a full ride [from the market]… You’ve got a three to five year window.” (36:02)
  • Praise for maturity and patience: “You’re showing a lot of maturity because a lot of 20-year-olds… want to buy a house five minutes later.” (37:16)

7. Job Change Fears & Budgeting as Financial Partners (37:33)

Caller: Ashley, Washington
Situation: Husband wants a less stressful job (with a pay cut); worried about budgeting together.

• Dave’s Challenge:
  • Don’t assume pursuing passion = taking less money.
  • “Why the flip… not make more money doing what you love with people you like?”
  • On budgeting as wealthy couple: “You’re gonna have a little bit more flexibility… The detail of the budget can kind of expand a little bit…” (41:24)
• Rachel:
  • As your wealth grows, categories can be broader, but you still need to track; every dollar still needs a job.

8. Pre-Marriage Debt, Payments, and Mindset (44:19)

Caller: Nicole, Mississippi
Situation: Getting married next week; in debt, overwhelmed by credit card minimum payment.

• Dave:
  • Clarifies: the $2,700 “minimum” is a catch-up, not ongoing; once caught up it returns to $300.
  • Urges aggressive paydown as a couple; use anger (at credit card companies) as motivational fuel.
  • “Cut the stupid thing up and let them know that we’re done… I want you morons out of my life forever.” (49:03)
• Rachel:
  • Pay off aggressively—make it a “crusade” your first year of marriage.
  • “The more intense you guys can be in this first year… then for the rest of your marriage, have your whole income, no stress.” (50:44)

9. Unequal Financial Commitment in Blended Families (55:16)

Caller: Jamie
Situation: Blended family, high resentment due to spouse’s lack of consistent income and spending priorities.

• Root Problem:
  • Not a “budget” issue but respect/values issue.
  • “Your marriage counselor is a weenie… You need in-depth crisis marriage counseling.” (59:03)
  • Rachel: “You’re not crazy. This feels off. I don’t feel supported.” (61:08)

10. Planning a Wedding After Buying a House—The ‘Turtle and the Hurricane’ Analogy (64:23)

Caller: Samantha, San Diego
Situation: Just bought a house, planning a wedding cruise, stressed by budgeting, husband is calm (“like a turtle in a hurricane”).

• Dave’s Wisdom:
  • Lay out the plan, stick to it. The budgeting discomfort is just “awkward,” not truly scary.
  • “If we only spend X and Y on those two things, we will have the money for the cruise and the wedding. If we blow the budget, we will not.” (68:06)
• Rachel:
  • “Give yourself... grace and patience in it. I’m an urgent person, too, Samantha. I totally get it… The beautiful thing is your values are aligned... how you get there may look a little bit different.” (71:03)

11. Christmas Traditions, Family Pressure, and Spending (74:34)

Caller: Dale, Missouri
Situation: Costly holiday traditions (children’s books for adults, expensive stockings, etc.) feeling unsustainable.

• Dave:
  • Emphasizes communication: understand why traditions are so important to spouse, but “it’s okay to ask for a touch of common sense.”
  • Budget for holidays—set and stick to limits.
• Rachel:
  • Most likely, holiday spending feels chaotic because overall budget is out of control.
  • “If you both lived on a budget... I don’t think it would feel as out of control.” (80:59)
  • Practical tips: “Draw names among adults to simplify.” (81:47)

12. Inheriting Money with Debt—Honor, Not Excuses (85:44)

Caller: Jenna, Indianapolis
Situation: 25, $50k inheritance, $95k in student/car debt; hesitant to use lump sum on federal loans (PSLF route).

• Dave:
  • PSLF works for ~1%—don’t bank on it.
  • Use inheritance to pay off debts starting from smallest (credit card) to private loans and car loan, plowing any remainder into federal loans.
  • “The fastest way to build wealth... is to become debt free. When you don't have any payments, you have control of your wonderful income.” (88:01)
  • The “Grandma Test” for inheritance use—would your benefactor be proud?
• Rachel:
  • Paying off car/private loans will give an instant, lasting monthly raise.

13. Extreme Debt and Hot Mess Finances—When to Sell the House (95:03)

Caller: Larissa, Ohio
Situation: $500-600k in debt (loans, cars, IRS), husband just lost job, worried about possible lien.

• Dave:
  • Selling house won’t wipe out all the debt; focus on three crises:
    1. Husband’s re-employment (he’s very employable),
    2. IRS negotiation—set up installment plan, fix withholdings, and pay quarterlies on side income,
    3. Get rid of both cars (massive negative equity)—live like broke people and clean up.
  • “You’re not dumb people. You’re just highly chaotic and disorganized.” (100:48)
  • “Quarter million a year will clean this mess up.” (103:19)

14. Young Entrepreneur at a Crossroads: Move Out or Save? (116:42)

Caller: Rylan, Utah
Situation: 22, saved $60k (business), new job at $65k, living at home, contemplating moving out.

• Dave:
  • “You have done so many things that are mature beyond your age... But you will grow so much more paying your own way. Go start your own life!” (119:41)
  • Rachel: Emphasizes independence for life and relationships; funny (“dates get awkward when you live at home”).

15. When Is It Okay to Buy a Luxury Watch? (120:15)

Caller: Jake, Texas
Situation: Makes $400k, still has car/mattress debt, wants to buy a $10k watch.

• Dave:
  • “It’s ludicrous to borrow money on a mattress... You did call the Ramsey Show, you know that, right?” (122:01)
  • Action steps:
    1. Pay off all non-mortgage debt immediately,
    2. THEN buy the watch as a reward,
    3. Consider paying off mortgage too.
  • Don’t apologize for enjoying wealth, but don’t get cocky with cash.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• “What you don’t want to do is get paralyzed and throw up your hands and say, ‘Oh, this can’t be done.’ Because it can be done.”
  — Dave, 08:10
• “I want you morons out of my life forever.”
  — Dave (about credit card companies), 49:09
• “Your marriage counselor is a weenie…You need in-depth crisis marriage counseling.”
  — Dave, 59:03
• “It’s just uncomfortable and awkward. It’s not really scary. It’s very certain.”
  — Dave, 67:17
• “We can’t spend like this anymore. We’re not in Congress!”
  — Dave, 103:57
• “Turtles have fun too.”
  — Rachel, 73:10

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Segment Guide (Timestamps)

| Time | Caller/Topic | Key Takeaway | |---------|--------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:21 | Catherine—Single mom/low income | Small sacrifices, family/church support, long-term skills, don’t give up. | | 10:44 | Deanna—Student loan payoff/investing | Don’t combine finances before marriage; invest with Roth, SEP, Simple IRA | | 16:43 | Bobby—Special needs trust funding | Set up only upon death, use insurance, focus on current wealth building | | 21:26 | Rachel—Variable income, using savings for debt payoff | Drop savings for quick debt payoff, use fear as motivation | | 28:25 | David—Living in a truck to save | Radical, appropriate short-term sacrifice for single people | | 34:02 | Carly—Using inheritance for home | Keep in the market if >3 years to purchase, admirable patience | | 37:33 | Ashley—Pay cut for husband’s career change | Never assume happiness means less income; budget together at all wealth levels | | 44:19 | Nicole—Credit card debt, soon-to-be married | Aggressively crush debt together, use anger productively | | 55:16 | Jamie—Marriage strain over money, blended family | Not a budget issue—root is respect/priorities, needs deep counseling | | 64:23 | Samantha—Stressed about wedding, ‘turtle + hurricane’ | Budget is awkward but freeing, go step by step, marriage is teamwork | | 74:34 | Dale—Out-of-control holiday spending | Traditions OK, but need reason; plan, simplify, budget the holidays | | 85:44 | Jenna—Inheritance and student/car debt | Use windfall wisely, honor family, pay off debts even if PSLF seems possible | | 95:03 | Larissa—Extreme debt, IRS threat, husband lost job | Focus: re-employment, IRS payment plan, dump crazy cars, get systemized | | 116:42 | Rylan—Young entrepreneur moving out | Leave home for further growth, independence outweighs short-term savings | | 120:15 | Jake—High income, considering luxury watch | No splurges while in debt; get debt free, then celebrate modestly |

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Final Takeaways

• Sacrifice Now = Freedom Later: Almost every scenario highlighted that leaning into temporary discomfort or unconventional decisions brings potential for enormous long-term gain.
• Control the Controllables: When overwhelmed, focus on the few levers you can pull (extra work, expenses, support), not on waiting for a “perfect” answer.
• Financial Partnership > Solo Effort: Budgeting, sacrifice, and planning all work best with honest, sometimes tough, team conversations—even with yourself, and especially in marriage.
• Kids & Money: Teach work, give, save, spend from a young age with increasing maturity; don’t just hand out cash, but build in-progressive responsibility milestones.
• Practical > Perfect: “Normal” is broke; the Ramsey plan is “weird” but it works. Even messy, unconventional answers (living in a truck, putting heirs’ money to debt) create the strongest foundation for wealth.

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Listeners left with both hope and a practical roadmap, emphasizing that no matter where you start, sacrifices today will buy choices, security, and freedom tomorrow.

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(Transcription timestamps refer to the source audio for verification.)

Transcript

[A]

Brought to you by the EveryDollar app. Start budgeting for free today. Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network and the Fair Winds Credit Union studio, this is the Ramsey Show. I'm Dave Ramsey. Rachel Cruz, Ramsey personality, number one best selling author, co host of the Smart Money Happy Hour. She's my co host today and my daughter. Open phones at Triple 882-55-5225. Rachel, before we jump straight to the calls, you guys just got back from doing a Ramsey something. We've never done the Ramsey show on the road. And it was you and George and Ken in Chicago, right?

[B]

That's right. At the Den in Chicago. This kind of little club set about 300 people. And it was so fun. So we took live calls from the audience. We played some fun Ramsey show trivia, which they all knew it. They all won the game because they're all big fans. They listened to every show. I feel like everyone that was there, but it was great. A lot of laughs, a lot of good conversation. And you know, you get reactions from the audience. They're clapping, they're laughing, they're. When someone asks a question, you know, and they know it's great. It was a really fun time.

[A]

A little groan in the audience.

[B]

Yeah, it was great. It was good.

[C]

So.

[A]

And we're taping another one tonight in Orlando with Jade and Deloney and George.

[B]

That's right, yes.

[A]

Okay, cool. So these are all sold out. We're doing, doing a little test with these right now. I think we're doing four or five of them here in the fall. And if they all go as good as Chicago, you'll be hearing us all across the country in the spring. We'll do a bunch of them for you guys just to come out and do what we're doing right now in your presence. And you guys get to be there and ask questions live. And the only problem is we can't hang up on you to protect you from you.

[B]

So, yeah, you can't put people on hold. Yeah, we did learn that.

[A]

Yeah, sometimes we do that around here. We protect you from you, but can't do that in a live setting. It's a little harder. I just push the button and the microphone still standing there with that guy. Yeah, that's it. So, yeah, you got to be careful with that. But hey, open phones here at Triple 882-55225. Catherine's in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Hey, Catherine, how are you?

[C]

I'm doing good, Dave how about you and Rachel?

[A]

Better than we deserve. What's up in your world?

[C]

Okay, so my question is, how am I as a single mom supposed to balance my debts and maintain my health and take care of my daughter at the same time?

[A]

Well, it sounds like the income is smaller than the outgo, probably, isn't it?

[C]

Well, it's definitely not great.

[A]

Yeah, you wouldn't be have. You wouldn't be calling me if you're making 300K?

[C]

No.

[A]

Okay. Yeah. So what do you make?

[C]

I make between 28,000 and 30,000 a year.

[A]

And how many children do you have?

[C]

I just have the one. She just turned 13 months a couple weeks ago. And I actually called into the show in April of last year when I was still pregnant, and I did do what was advised.

[A]

What was that?

[C]

It's to make sure I got a second job, work as hard as possible until my due date.

[A]

That help?

[C]

It did a little bit. But as soon as I went back into the workforce, all that I had saved up for my maternity leave and my return to work vanished with the first couple weeks of daycare.

[A]

Yeah, I bet daycare is outrageous these days. Wow. And so you make 28,000 a year?

[C]

Yes, just between 28 and 30.

[A]

What do you do?

[C]

I am a groundskeeper slash student supervisor for my local university.

[A]

Okay. All right. And are you getting child support?

[C]

No child support. Her father is not from the U.S. so. And we don't have any extradition with the country that he's from, so it doesn't help in any matters.

[A]

Wow. Okay. So he just disappeared?

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

All right, well, do you have family in the area? Do you have.

[C]

Yeah, I live in the same town as both my parents and my dad's parents.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Everybody's a little swamped themselves.

[B]

Sure. Do you have good relationships with them in general, though?

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Okay, well, the long term answer to your equation is more income. Well, no kidding, Dave. Okay, but so what we've got to do is the long term answer is to be thinking about what career can Catherine engage in to make $100,000 a year starting 10 years from today or five years from today. And what has she got to do to get ready for that career? Okay. Because obviously what you're doing, we don't want to project that out 40 years. That's an unfun life. Okay, so number one thing, we start thinking out into the distant future and what has to be true. Do you have to take a class, get a certification, get a degree in something to get to be and do something that pays more than the something you're doing. Now that's kind of basic, but that's really where we got to start. Then we can roll back from there. I'm sorry.

[C]

I have been looking into doing some classes with either Penn software or Google's Coursera courses.

[A]

Okay. In order to do what?

[C]

Not to either do something in the medical field.

[A]

Okay. Both of those are pretty vague. I want you to spend some more time dialing in exactly what you would be doing after you finish these courses. And I needed to pay 50 grand.

[C]

Right.

[A]

Or more. Okay. And so I don't care what you're doing, we'll send you Ken Coleman's book, finding the work you're wired to do. And it's got the assessment in it and that will help you. We'll do that as our gift. And so you're already thinking like I'm thinking. Good. That's your long term goal. Now, your short term fix has got two components to it. One is the dreaded part time job and family helping you with the babysitting some. And two is I want you to be sure you're plugged into your local church and they know what you're up against because they will help.

[C]

I have reached out to the church.

[A]

Good. They will help.

[D]

And if I'm trying, the only help.

[C]

They can really give in my area is help with like rent and utilities, which would pay some of the monthly, monthly daycare fees, but it would not be enough to cover it all.

[A]

Yeah, well, and it sounds like possibly that a date, the daycare arrangement you've made is one you can't afford. You may have to redo that. I don't know what that is, but it's a very difficult thing you're facing. And so this is not an easy hill to climb.

[B]

No. And I wonder too, Catherine, if there's anything from home in the evenings and just knowing your experience as a groundskeeper, and I'm sure there's some logistics there, I mean, I don't know, I'm just making this up, but I'm like, if there's even like a landscape company that you could work for, for eight hours a week to help with scheduling, you know, doing like some kind of admin work for them or whatever you can do from home, even just picking up a couple of hours to just create some cash buffer is going to be big. And if the church can step in on those utility bills and rent, I mean that will free up. I mean, I don't know how much the rent is, but A couple hundred bucks at the minimal for a period of time too. So it's kind of puzzle piecing some of this together for probably the next 612 months until you kind of can project out possibly a job change to be making more in your full time job.

[A]

What you don't want to do is get paralyzed and throw up your hands and say, oh, this can't be done. Because it can be done. What it is going to require is not a single answer. There's not a single silver bullet. It's turning the knobs. All of these knobs at one time. The extra job, the church, the long term thinking with money, the daycare arrangements, the family helps. What, all these knobs can be turned just a little bit. Then all of a sudden we start to get something that's sustainable until we can get our income up long term. And that's where you got to get to. There's not going to be a singular answer. And being paralyzed and giving up is definitely not going to be a good answer.

[B]

Hey, you guys. More than a hundred million Americans carry medical debt. And that is so scary. And it shows that traditional coverage often leaves people to face big bills alone. Families need more than just coverage. They need community. So what if your healthcare costs less and you are actually supported by other believers in the process? That's why I love Christian healthcare ministries. CHM is a budget friendly, faith based alternative to health insurance that's been serving believers since 1981 and they've paid over $12 billion in medical bills, y'. All, that is faith in action. So let me say it again. CHM is not insurance. It's a nationwide health cost sharing ministry. It's Christians helping other Christians with their medical bills. With chm, you get to choose your providers. There are no networks, no surprise bills, and no insurance headaches. Whether you're just starting out as a family or you're looking for something that fits your budget better, CHM is where your faith and finances agree. Programs start at just $98 a month. So go to chministries.org budget to learn more and take the leap of faith today. That's chministries.org budget.

[A]

Deanna's in Pennsylvania. Hi, Deanna, how are you?

[C]

Good. How are you?

[A]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[C]

So my question for you, My boyfriend and I graduated college last. I graduated last August, he graduated last December. Combined, we had a little bit over $100,000 in student debt.

[A]

Okay, you're not, you're not combined, you're not married. So how much do you have?

[C]

I had 60 and he had about 55. 60 right around there.

[A]

Oh, okay. All right.

[C]

Yes, yes. And then we. I'm set to pay mine off in December and he's set to pay his off in December. So going to be student loan free.

[A]

Good for you.

[C]

In just about a year. So, yeah. So planning long term wise, we're looking to probably get engaged in the next year and a half. So one thing that we are talking about is combining finances after we are married, and we are looking at what to invest in once we get to that point. The next year is going to be saving up. We're planning on having around 50,000 to put as a down payment on a house. We don't want to. Want to really buy anything over like 150,000 and then, you know, double up our mortgage payments and pay off our house as quickly as we can. But the one big question I had with all of this is I own my own marketing firm, so I cannot invest in a 401k where a company would match it. So my question to you is, would it be smart to open something like a Roth IRA to start investing in now so that you know, we can be millionaires when we retire?

[A]

Good for you. Well, it sounds like you're doing a lot of planning. Congratulations. And of course, let me clarify one thing before I go back to that question. The house we're going to buy is after you're married to. Right?

[C]

Yes. Correct. Yep. We would not be combining finances or buy a house.

[A]

It's very, very dangerous. Very dangerous to buy a home with someone you're not married to. Okay, all right, so now, so it's pretty simple. Just at that point, you would have, let's say you're married, you're out of debt, you have an emergency fund. You have, and you buy a home with. With 50,000 down, you're at what we would call baby step four at that point. And that means you start putting 15% of your household income away towards retirement. And then you work your budget and have a life. And any money you can squeeze out of it, you throw at the house and pay all the house off early, which was your plan, and that's how you outlined it. Okay, so then that brings us to how do we do 15% of our income? Yes. I would start with two Roth IRAs. One of you each have one. You could start that now, for that matter, I was going to say.

[B]

Yeah, absolutely. Well, after the debt's paid off.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

Yeah. Once you. Once your debts clear. Yeah, and you can just sit down with a SmartVestor Pro, which is the people that do help our listeners do investing. And they've been vetted by us, and they have the heart of a teacher and they'll teach you. You have available to you a couple of things with your marketing firm that you can also do as Roth. You can do a. It's a SEP ira. A Roth SEP IRA Simplified Pension Plan, it's called. Now, do you have any employees in your marketing firm?

[C]

No. Nope, just me.

[A]

Okay, then that's very easy. So you can put up to 16% of your income with a formula. It ends up actually being about 13 when the formula is applied, but you can put a bunch of your income aside in a SEP ira. SEPP Simplified Pension Plan. Okay. And Simplified Employee Pension Plan. Now, warning, if you do hire people later and they're with you more than two of five years, whatever you put in that year that they reach that point, you would have to put in the same percentage of their income. So it works really well for a solopreneur like you, but it doesn't work well for a small business that has five employees. Okay.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

You also, in addition to that, can do a simple IRA, which is a 401k for small businesses. And you set it up. It's $15 to set the account up. They're very inexpensive. Set up to set up a 401k in a big company like ours is tens of thousands of dollars a year in administrative fees. But for a simple, it's designed for small businesses. Now, again, warning, if you have that and you hire someone, you're required to match the first 3% of what they put into their IRA if you have that simple program going. But point being, there's two types of ways you can get money in and you actually can both of them technically.

[B]

And three, if you include the Roth.

[A]

And do the Roth. So you'll be able to get to your 15% very easily. Make sure they're all in going in good growth stock mutual funds. And they're all Roth, which is tax free growth.

[B]

Yeah. And then your husband, once you guys get married, can be investing as well in a 401k if he's at work too. So you guys will be tackling it from multiple different areas, which is great. But yeah, I appreciate the plan. And maybe you guys fast forward up the engagement. You know, I'm a fan. If you know you're gonna be engaged in a year and a half, go.

[A]

Ahead and shorten it like Rachel did.

[B]

Start the Start the process, get the ball moving.

[A]

Rachel and Winston came and said, we want to get married right now. I know when we're young. Okay. All right.

[B]

No, we waited.

[A]

You waited about 10 months.

[B]

No, 10 months.

[A]

10 whole months.

[B]

But I'm like, yeah, yeah. There was no good job, Deanna, though. But honestly, very impressive, you guys. Just fresh out of college, just in the last year, have a plan to pay off the debt, knocking it out, looking forward to the down payments, thinking about investing all of it. I mean, you are in a perfect position and time in your life to. To start all of this. So congratulations.

[A]

Bobby's in Texas. Hey, Bobby. How are you?

[D]

Hey, Dave. How are you doing, sir?

[A]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[D]

I had a question. Is it okay to pause building the emergency fund? You set up a revocable trust and a special needs trust.

[A]

No, you don't need to. You can fund those with the beneficiary of your life insurance, and the kid doesn't need a trust unless you die.

[D]

Well, the thing is, is my life insurance is really what I was worried about. Like, if something was to happen to me and my wife, like, we have.

[A]

A beneficiary, but we'll make the beneficiary make a partial. A portion of the beneficiary, go to the special needs trust, and then the child is funded for life out of your death. But you don't need to fund it while you're alive. You need to go build wealth while you're alive, and that will take care of the child later. And you won't even need life insurance to do it.

[D]

Okay, so just finish the baby step three. And then you said, don't set up a revocable trust at all.

[A]

No, I would just set it up only upon death. Special needs trust has no value while you're alive. It's for taking care of a special needs child if you're not there to do it. And you have to fund it with some money. And if you don't have money, you fund it with life insurance upon your death. But if you stay alive and you fund it with money, and you say, I got a half million dollars in mutual funds 20 years from now, and you say that is earmarked for this special needs child to be cared for throughout their life. That goes into a special needs trust upon my death. But until I die, I'm going to take care of them. You see what I'm saying?

[D]

Yes, sir.

[A]

So you're taking on a bunch of paperwork and paying lawyers crap you don't need to be doing right now. You just need to go get out of debt and make some money and name your Go ahead and do life insurance today where it's named into the special needs trust. And your will says the special needs trust is formed upon your death. And so upon your death.

[B]

Do you have to do paperwork though, in order for that to be your will?

[A]

Does it. Your will dictates that the trust is formed upon your death. And so, poof, there's a trust now you die. Poof, there's a trust.

[B]

Where does it come out?

[A]

Whoever the executor of the estate is.

[B]

They have to go form it then.

[A]

Yeah, it's. Yeah, but it's not. It's not hard. I mean, it's like it's two pieces of paper and you just. And. But you got to put money in the thing for the kid to be okay, which is your real motivation, Bobby, which makes you a great dad.

[B]

What kind of life insurance do you have, Bobby?

[D]

Between me and my wife, we're looking at like 1.7.

[A]

Good. And so what I would do is sit down if you're working with a smartvestor pro on your investing, I'd sit down and say, how much would I need to put in in an account, you know, invested in mutual funds to take care of this child with $50,000 a year, take care of this child, probably so half million dollars. So you could say of the 1.7, 500,000 goes into the special needs trust on the beneficiary statement. So you redo your beneficiary clause on your life insurance immediately. And you do your will immediately to say, special needs trust is formed, the Bobby Special needs trust. And the Bobby Special Needs Trust is formed, funded with 500,000 from the beneficiary of this life insurance policy upon my death. And then the child is taken care of, which is your goal because you're a good dad. But you don't have to do all that crap right now. It could all be formed and done upon your death. What you do have to do now is do your will and change the beneficiary.

[E]

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[A]

Rachel is in North Dakota. Hi, Rachel, how are you?

[C]

I'm fine. How are you guys doing today?

[A]

Better than we deserve. What's up?

[C]

So we just started the baby steps. We're on step number two and this is literally our second month. In our first month, we ended the month with a surplus of almost $3,000. So my question is I have a variable income and my husband does not. And we have just over 9,000 in our savings. And so I was wondering, we have four children, so I wasn't sure if we should just keep that and then use whatever extra money we're finding every month to pay down the debt or if we should use the savings that we have already.

[A]

Well, 90% of the time we're going to tell you to use the savings down to $1,000. How variable is your income?

[C]

It's pretty extreme. I'm a wedding photographer, so in the summer months I can make, you know, 12, 13,000amonth and then come December, almost nothing. So I also own a studio that brings in some small income as well. We rent out to other photographers. So I can make anywhere from 1 to 3,000amonth off of that and that.

[B]

And that's 12 months a year.

[C]

Correct.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So, I mean, so Your bottom is 1 to 3,000, your worst month.

[D]

Correct.

[A]

And what's your husband make?

[C]

My husband makes each paycheck is 4,700. So about not just over 9,000amonth.

[A]

Okay, all right. Very good, very good.

[B]

And how much of the. Well, when you guys do your monthly budget, Rachel. What. How much does it take to run your household, would you say?

[C]

So my fixed expenses and with our like additional variable expenses like pets and miscellaneous home stuff is just about 9,000. So it just clears his checks.

[A]

Okay, so if you make zero, you guys run the house. Okay. You just don't have extra.

[C]

Correct.

[A]

Then why would you need savings to pad that? Just because you're a nervous mom?

[C]

Yeah. My kids are small and you know, we get broken bones and fingers all the time. So it's just, you just never know.

[A]

But you have like health insurance?

[C]

We do, yeah. Through my husband.

[A]

Yeah. And if you go the emergency room and they send you a bill, the next month, you have some wedding income to pay a bill.

[C]

Correct. And he has An HSA account too, with just under a thousand in that.

[A]

Yeah, that's good. So, yeah, I think you are. It's wise to be a good mom and say I got four kids and it worries me. It adds to my fear for us to be down to a thousand. I don't have any problem with the wisdom of that, but the actual math is telling us that you probably don't.

[B]

Have a problem because then. How much debt do you guys have left, Rachel?

[D]

Oh, yeah, we.

[C]

We have 40,000 in consumer debt. And then on top of that, just our home, which is.

[A]

But in baby step two is only plan, we're going to have $1,000 in the account.

[B]

And so, yeah, I was going to say, I mean, so you're going to.

[A]

Be done in like eight or ten months.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. Right?

[C]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. My husband actually gets a really big bonus in March every year. It's usually 18 or 19,000.

[A]

Perfect.

[C]

Yeah. So according to your plan, we should be done like April or May, the latest.

[A]

No, you'll be done in March because you're taking $8,000 according to our plan of your nine and putting it on your debt today.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

Oh, God.

[B]

Sped it up a few months.

[A]

I heard her. Take a breath.

[C]

I'm going into the. I'm just going into like my slow season.

[A]

Yeah, but you guys can e on your husband's income. You may not reduce debt. And if you had a horrible month, the worst thing that could happen is, is that a child breaks a bone. The HSA is used and the $9,000 supports your family and you brought in zero and you're still okay. You didn't even touch the $1,000 emergency small starter emergency fund. That's your worst case scenario. So. And you're just not. That's all. That's not going to happen.

[B]

And Rachel. Yeah, that. And it's so fast. Like if you guys had 140 of consumer debt, I think, you know, and it's. And it's a longer period, there's going to be more time for something to happen, a bigger emergency. But this is such a short period of time. You know what I mean? I almost would just knock it out because you just think about all the debt, all the payments, all the interest, everything that's happening. And if you can start chopping off a bunch of that stuff really quickly, which is what the debt snowball does.

[A]

And if you're just a little bit scared, it motivates you to do it even faster.

[C]

Oh, yeah. My last month I brought in almost 8,000 last month just because I was. I've been binging you every single day.

[A]

And you're fired. You're fired up. You're fired up. And, and if you're a little bit, and if you add that fired up just a little bit scared, it'll push you. And, and I don't think you're in danger. I would not tell you to be put your children in danger. Okay. I love your kids. I don't want that to happen to them. And I'm not asking a mom to be irresponsible.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And we're not asking live on a thousand dollar emergency room for 10 years either. We're actually five or 10 months.

[B]

And the truth is, from a percentage standpoint, the amount of emergencies that come up that you can't pause the debt snowball and wait two or three months to be able to save up to pay off that emergency, then go back to the debt snowball. That happens sometimes, but people have the ability to pause it if something happens.

[A]

Almost never.

[B]

But most of the little things that come up that people use their starter emergency fund for is smaller than a thousand dollars. But yeah, I mean, it's a, it's definitely like takes the breath out of you for a little bit. But you can do it. You guys can do it.

[A]

That's a good thing. Yeah. Rachel, I will tell you this. You've done a great job of analyzing your situation. You know your numbers, you have a plan, you're running it in your head. And the detail of the question you asked indicates how leaning into this you are. So I really think you'll be done by March. Just my experience is the people that, the people that are paying attention and focused and they're going on every little thing they're doing every little. We're building, binge watching. Meaning I'm gathering this information, I'm going to do this. And we're going to put you in the brand new EveryDollar, which is going to hold your hand and make sure you're doing exactly what you're supposed to be doing. It's going to give you step by step through the baby steps while you're doing the budget. It's incredible what we've done with this financial app. It's off the chain, so hang on. And we're going to give that to you as a gift. You guys make plenty of money. You're going to be just fine. And you're going to be so stinking wealthy at the end of this story. It's unbelievable. This is so fun.

[B]

Great Job.

[A]

Rachel, good for you. David is in Minnesota. Hi, David, how are you?

[D]

Oh, I'm doing fabulous. How are you?

[A]

Better than I deserve. How can I help?

[D]

So I got an interesting one for you. After a couple of years after I lost my job, I'm living in my friend's house while I get on my feet. I just got back into truck driving. Well, now he's going to sell the house. And I, I came up with three plans on what I'm going to do next. Either I buy a house and I don't really have any money for down payments, I just finished paying off my last credit card today, or I rent a place, but I, I'd rather prefer to own, or the third option, and this is something I'm leaning towards, is living out of my semi truck.

[A]

And how old are you?

[D]

It's a company. I just turned 30.

[A]

And I take it you're single.

[D]

Correct.

[A]

And how long would you do that?

[D]

Since I'm not going to have a credit history starting today. Since I don't have any other debt or credit cards or anything else, I don't know how much of a down payment I'm gonna need for a house. That way the bank doesn't care what my credit looks like. So I'm thinking at least one or two.

[A]

Yeah. So if so you, if you drove truck and lived in the truck for two years and stacked cash as a single guy and made that your home, I think that's amazing. Yes, I would do that.

[D]

Okay. Because a friend or two of mine, or actually my sister thinks that it's a little crazy to live out of my semi truck.

[A]

Well, your sister's married and has two kids.

[D]

How did you know? Wow. No wonder why you're so good at this.

[A]

That was a guess, but yeah, that's funny. But I mean, she's got, she has a different life than you have. If you told me you were married, kids, I wouldn't tell you to do this.

[B]

How often are you on the road? Road, David?

[A]

24, 7. He's driving over.

[B]

How often, though? Every day.

[D]

Almost. So my schedule is I can be home every weekend, but every now and then I will drive through a weekend just to make some extra money.

[A]

Yeah. You're doing long haul runs. Yeah. And you gotta. You got a sleeper cab, right? You got a sleeper cab?

[D]

Correct.

[A]

Yeah. Have at it, man. Go. Go see America. Maybe for the year.

[B]

Maybe for the year. You say two a year?

[A]

Maybe two. Would I do this for two decades? No. No, I wouldn't do it for two decades. You need to come, you know, build a life at some point, but. But for a couple years and get. Get some money stacked up and get some distance between you and whatever's been chasing you. Yeah, do it, man. Do it. I've been doing this show for over 30 years, and some of the saddest calls I have taken are from situations that are completely preventable.

[B]

Yeah. And what's so hard is I feel like one of those, especially the ones that I'm like, oh, it's terrible. People that call in and their spouse has passed away suddenly and they don't have life insurance. We actually took a question of a lady, and she had three kids pregnant, and husband didn't have life insurance.

[C]

And.

[B]

And I'm like, I can't even imagine. Or even if it was opposite, Right. If a mom passed away, there's a dad with kids and trying to figure out, how am I going to afford childcare? How do I outsource some stuff that maybe she was doing? And it just takes the grief and the sadness of something like a sudden death to a whole new level. Like when you have to think through, how am I going to pay my.

[A]

Bills, how am I going to be next week.

[B]

Yeah. In the middle of all that grief, like, it's just. It is. It's terrible. And so life insurance is the one thing, especially as a mom with three little kids that I'm, like, so big on for people to get because it's inexpensive. Zander is the place that Winston and I actually get all of our life insurance. And we keep re upping it because I'm like, I just want it there. Like, there's something about that safety of knowing that you have money if something.

[A]

Suddenly happens and it doesn't cost much. Cause Zander shops among a gazillion different companies. It doesn't cost much. You just have to admit that someday you're not going to be here. You got to say it out loud. And you got to say, I'm going to say I love you to my family by taking care of them and taking the time to put this stuff in place. The cost of stinking pizza there really is.

[B]

So that is one thing u to do, to say I love you to your family.

[A]

So we've used Zander for all of our family's needs for insurance for many years, including, of course, term life insurance. To get a free quote, go to 800-356-4282. That's 800-356-4282. Or go to zander.com Everybody needs insurance. But it can be hard trying to find pros who aren't just looking to make a buck. With a Ramsey trusted insurance pro, you don't have to deal with slimy businesses or slimy salespeople because they're all interviewed, vetted, and coached by us to make sure they're not only market experts, but they have your best interest at heart. Go to ramseysolutions.com coverage to find the type of insurance you're looking for, and then you'll connect you with a Ramsey trusted agent in that area. Or click the link in the description and we'll help you out. Carly is in Arkansas. Hi, Carly. How are you?

[C]

Hi, guys. I'm good. How are you?

[A]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[C]

Thank you guys for taking my call, and I'll let you know. I'm pretty nervous. I really look up to you guys and appreciate what y' all do.

[A]

Well, thank you. How can we help?

[C]

So for some context, I'll be 20 this month, and I'm getting married in January.

[A]

Congratulations.

[C]

Thank you. So my soon to be husband and I are trying to plan our future and just make sure that we follow the Ramsey way. I've kind of hopped on the bandwagon that my mom has put me on last couple months. My biggest question is that I have an $85,000 inheritance in a brokerage account that I haven't touched since I've gotten it. But when we think about putting a down payment on a house that kind of. I just don't want to. I'd rather pay cash. So I'm thinking, you know, we put that brokerage account down on the house, but we want to save for the next four to five years to add to that house fund. And I'm just not sure what kind of account to put that in. Do I put it on top of the brokerage or an HYSA?

[B]

Are you wanting to use the 85, Carly, for a down payment and then pay the house off quickly, or you're wanting to save that 85 plus a lot over the next couple years to pay cash for a house?

[C]

The 85, plus the rest to pay cash.

[B]

Okay, so you guys won't buy a house for a few years, and where do you keep saving that money till you buy is what you're asking?

[A]

So who. Who has the brokerage account?

[C]

Well, I do, but we will.

[A]

No, I mean, is it with a company that you. That is doing all of your investing or you just parked it there because your grandmother had it there or what.

[C]

It'S with my finance guy, so with the company, I believe.

[A]

Okay. All right. So if you were with one of our smartvestor pros or with your financial advisor, if it's someone you trust, it should be in a good growth stock mutual fund. And that's what it's in. Yeah. And you should add to that, not a high yield savings account pays a fourth of what the mutual funds are producing these days. So no, you want to get, you want to get a full ride on.

[B]

Because it's going to be a couple of years, Carly. If you guys were going to put a down payment or something and you were saving for, you know, six months, you know, you, that would be fine to just to do like a high yield savings. If you were starting over, starting new, but something long term like that, then yes. Yeah, the investment, you got a three.

[A]

To a five year window. You got plenty of time to ride the market up and down and watch what it's doing and do, you know, be and be perfectly safe doing that. So yeah, I would sit down with that guy and make sure that you feel good, both of you and your fiance and say soon to be husband feel good about the account that it's in. What's the brokerage account invested in? And I want to understand that. And once I understand that, say, okay, the purpose of this is I'm thinking about pulling this money out in three to five years and I'm going to be adding some to it for a down payment. Is this okay, is this safe? And they're going to talk you through it and walk you through it and then you'll, you know, then you make the decision if you want to leave it exactly there or not, but I think you probably do. It sounds pretty good and I really like that. But you're showing a lot of maturity because a lot of 20 year olds that get married, they want to buy a house five minutes later. And I love that you're willing to take a breath and we want to save up even more. We're talking about buying, you know, completely debt free. That's pretty incredible to think about.

[B]

That's amazing.

[A]

How about that for a cool goal if you're 20, yep, that's a pretty cool goal.

[B]

But I mean she's starting with 85, which will be a hundred soon. You know what I mean? Like it'll start snowballing for sure with the interest and then adding to it. So well done, Carly.

[A]

Ashley's in Washington. Hi, Ashley.

[C]

Hi, Dave. Hi, Rachel. How are you guys?

[A]

Great, how are you I'm so good.

[C]

Thank you so much for taking my call today.

[A]

Sure. What's up?

[C]

Well, so my husband is looking to switch jobs. I know he's feeling a lot of pressure and stress about this because it would be a pay cut for our family. And in the past, I've proven that I'm not able to stick to our proposed budget. My husband's current job is really stressful, and I would love for him to be back in a role where he loves the work he's doing and with a company that's morally in line with who he is as a person. I want to be able to sit down with him tonight and give him the reassurance that he can make this switch and it will be better for our family that I'm on the same team as him when it comes to budgeting and our future. And I'm just really looking for some guidance on this.

[A]

Okay. To start with, you guys have a wrong assumption. The only way my husband can do something he loves with people that have a value system that's aligned is if he makes less money. Why the flip? Why don't he go make more money with people that I like doing something I love?

[C]

Well, I mean, this job came up. This job.

[A]

I know. And it sucks.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

It's not a dream job. It's a nightmare job. I'm going to take a pay cut because I'm stressed instead of going and looking for a pay increase in a better setting.

[C]

Okay, that's fair. That's fair. So just a little bit of background. We're completely debt free. We have our house paid for. Our current net worth is about 1.7 million. His gross annual income right now is 160,000. He would. It would be 121,000. But here's the deal. We would get to see him more. So right now with the job that.

[A]

He said, why not take a job making 180 where you get to see him more?

[C]

I.

[D]

Well, just.

[C]

Okay. So with his job, he's a paramedic.

[B]

Okay. Paramedic. Okay.

[C]

Yep, he's a paramedic. And right now he works for a flight company and he's a manager. So he's in administration. He really wants to go back to doing medicine, and I really want to be able to support him in that.

[A]

I do, too. But this natural human tendency to assume that in order to go do the thing I love doing, it has to mean I get paid less is not. It's faulty logic. I do what I love doing, I get paid more. Every day.

[C]

Right? Yeah.

[A]

So, I mean, is there a different way to skin this cat? Yes, there is. And so let's take that off the table. But I really want to challenge you all on this thought train because it's, you know, I want to support my husband and he takes a 60% pay cut, so he's happy. Bull. No, no, I'm not going to support that now. I set that aside. Now. Let's answer your question though, hon. About what the. You want to be able to talk about sticking to a budget, right?

[C]

Yes, yes.

[A]

How can she do that? Right.

[B]

Well, what's. What's his take on all of this? Ashley? I want to know from like, the job perspective, the budget, all of it, what's his level of involvement and conversation and effort and everything.

[C]

Yeah. So he is the one that found you like he found Dave Ramsey a few, well, probably 10 or 15 years ago. And when Josh and I got married, he was like, I really want to do this. So from the start, we've been working our tail off to save. To pay off our house, to get rid of all of our debt.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And to be.

[A]

You've done a great job.

[B]

I mean, yeah. $1.7 million, Ashley, at this point, because you guys are in baby step seven. And we still say to budget, regardless of your baby step, but you guys, you're gonna have a little bit more flexibility to move within the budget versus someone who's trying to find a thousand dollars and they're cutting stuff and they're going. Right. So you're gonna. It's gonna be a little bit of. It will be some discipline to make sure that you guys are tracking transactions that you know where your money's going to. But even the detail of the budget can kind of expand a little bit. Does that make sense? You don't have to be as rigid. So what I. I mean, so, yeah, Winston and I, like, we have a category for home where like all of our bills for the house go. Subscriptions, anything we buy for the home, we have a line item for that, like throughout, you know, if it's random stuff that we need for the house. Food's a big category. Lifestyle is a big category. So we have big categories in our every dollar budgets. And then within those, you guys can go as specific or as broad as you want. But the, the point is, is that within every dollar, especially when it's connected to your bank, you're able to track those transactions and just stay on top of, hey, here's the amount of money we said we'd spend in these big categories and we're going to stay within those limits. And so it just takes some time and discipline to get that as a new habit. But totally possible.

[A]

Ashley.

[B]

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[A]

Based on regional analysis of Aldi versus select competitors. Prices may vary by location, product availability and the market. Welcome back to the Ramsey show in the Fair Winds Crest Credit Union studio. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host, Rachel Cruz, number one best selling author, Ramsey personality. My daughter is my co host today. Nicole is in Mississippi. Hi Nicole, how are you?

[C]

Hi Dave, how are you?

[A]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[C]

So I'm having a bit of a dilemma. Excuse me.

[D]

I'm a little nervous.

[C]

Okay. My fiance and I, we get married next week on Friday.

[A]

Congratulations.

[B]

Coming up?

[C]

Yes, very soon. We are excited about that. But I am still in the mindset of my debt, his debt sort of thing. My, my dilemma is I'm having a dilemma with using my $800. I'm on baby step one to throw at my credit card that I am behind on. And my minimum is half of my take home pay. So it's half of what I make in a month. That's what my minimum is.

[A]

And that is the only car. What is your minimum?

[C]

That's 2734.

[A]

What do you owe on this credit card?

[C]

13,000.

[A]

And you have a $2,700 payment on 13,000?

[C]

Yes, I fell behind for a few months and then there's just interest added on and it's becoming unbearable. And I don't want.

[A]

That's not the normal minimum payment. It's all the back payments.

[C]

Yes. It's normally around 300 or 400.

[A]

That sounds more like it. Okay.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

All right.

[B]

So and you bring home what, 5,000, 6,000amonth?

[C]

About 5,000.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

And you're getting married and he has how much debt.

[C]

He has about 40.

[A]

And you only have 13 or you have a car and everything else, or what?

[C]

So together we have about $79,000 worth of debt.

[A]

Okay. Which means you have another 20 something other than this 13.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

On what?

[C]

It's personal loans. I owe a family member. It's a various of other things.

[A]

Okay, and so your household income is about 80, right? Your income and what's his?

[C]

So my income is about, like I said, that 5,000 and his is about the same a month as well.

[A]

Your take home pay. Yeah. Okay.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

All right, so you're. That's $120,000 take home pay, and so you're probably making 150 or so. Okay. All right. And we need to pay off 80 overall, so.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

Really? You don't really have a minimum payment of $2,700. You have a single. A single payment of $2,700 to get current.

[C]

Okay, right.

[A]

Because the next month it won't be 2700, it'd be 300.

[C]

Well, if I, If I don't pay on it, If I don't get caught up on it.

[A]

If you pay 2,700, the next month, your payment would be 300.

[C]

Yes, that's correct.

[A]

That's what I'm saying. Okay, so what I would do is just call a credit card company and ask them to roll that in and reset your payment.

[C]

Well, I called them. I don't have a problem saying their names. Capital One. I called them and they said that there's nothing that they can do.

[A]

Okay, there's nothing I can do. You're not gonna get paid. How's that? You get nothing. Honey, if you don't work with me because I got no money, I can't pay you $2,700. I can pay you. I can pay you 300. If you want to reset the payment, that's fine. Probably I need to talk to your supervisor because apparently your two brain cells aren't rubbing together. This is how you talk to Capital One. What's in your wallet? Stupid. You know, I mean, come on. Of course they can roll that in. They do it every day, all day long. But you got some junior birdman on the phone up there in a cubicle, right? And so you got, you got a nail, Em, that's what you have to do. And then, and then, then catch them up anyway because you got to get the whole stupid thing paid off. And remember how they treated you the next time you get ready to whip out that card or do any business with this company.

[C]

Oh, no, I'm done. I am.

[A]

Cut the Stupid thing up and let them know that we're done. We're breaking up here. You aren't. You aren't all you were cut out to be. I don't care which particular movie star says gives me financial advice on your stupid commercials.

[C]

Oh, it would. It would hurt me to close. It doesn't matter.

[A]

Doesn't matter. No matter where you close or not, you still got exactly the same problem, so.

[C]

That's true.

[A]

Yeah. So, you know, here's what you. I just call and mess with them and just, you know, be. Be.

[B]

You're nice, Nicole. You got to kind of start out, hype out your.

[A]

You know, hype up your start and then end up nasty before you get off. Yeah. Get ready to dial the nasty up pretty quick as you're on the phone if their brains aren't working, because sometimes, apparently they aren't. And so, you know, now then the trick is, it doesn't matter, because in the end of just a few months, you're gonna have a zero balance on this because you're gonna get paid off because you make $120,000 after you get married. And y' all need to clean this $80,000 up fast. And one of the first orders of businesses, this credit card, because it's probably one of the smallest debts you all have, right?

[C]

Yes.

[A]

So we're going to list that in the debt snowball, smallest to largest, and I'm going to pound their face in. It's going to sound like $2,000 a month or $3,000 a month, regardless of what their minimum payment is. Your minimum payment is, I want you morons out of my life forever. Okay? And that. I'm teaching you to be a little bit angry about this because that's a good thing that'll push you through this and cause you to just pound their face in with the math. As you're doing your budget, you're going, take that, Capital One. Take that, Capital One. Take that, capital one. 30 years ago, 35 years ago, American Express called Sharon and asked her why she would stay with a man that wouldn't pay his bills. And I'm still pissed. 35 years later, I'm still pissed. I would still find that guy if I could find him, you know, because she called me crying at work, like, I think in the same thing, right? And so. Oh, my God. God, these guys, they're just. They're just ridiculous companies.

[B]

And, Nicole, for you and your husband, I mean, make this a year. The first year of marriage, it's a crusade. And you guys are working extra at night. Like, I mean you're just, you're high fiving in the middle of the night because you don't see each other. I mean like make it really be done with it. Like get really, really aggressive with this and then it's done forever. And then for the rest of your marriage you guys have no debt, you have your whole income, no stress. It's a beautiful thing. And so the more intense you guys can be in this first year and if you guys want kids later, even before the kids, like this is, this is the time to do it.

[A]

So if you don't pay them 2700 and you pay them 2100 because their first thing on your debt, snowball. And that's all you squeeze out of the first month's budget or a thousand, whatever you pay them, I don't care. Then the next month you pay them a bunch more and the next month you pay them a bunch more. I don't really care what they think. It's irrelevant. Just, just pound sexist.

[B]

The is the interest, right? You get 26% on this amount, you know, but it's 22.

[A]

It's on the whole thing. I know it's on the whole, it's on the whole 13,000.

[B]

Yeah, that's true.

[A]

Period. It doesn't matter. The interest is the interest until you get it paid off.

[B]

Credit card.

[A]

Yeah, get, get it knocked out. What's in your wallet? Money now. Because I don't have you people in my life. Yeah. Yeah. Oh man. I tell you what. I spent the first part of my career doing a dumb thing. I would bring in people we were coaching and I would call and negotiate with the credit card companies and set payment plans for the people we were coaching. And it taught me to hate credit card companies because they're so moronic. And I'm still, it still rings in my brain. And just because I just know the conversation she had, it just pisses me off still.

[F]

This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. Alright, here's the truth. I have great friends, a strong faith, an amazing wife and family. And I've even got two PhDs worth of information about how to be well. And yet the times that I've spent with a great therapist across my life have made all the difference for me. The right therapist can change everything. And this month, my friends at Better Help are shining the spotlight on therapists. These are people who truly make the world a better place. With over 30,000 therapists, BetterHelp is the largest online therapy provider in the world.world and BetterHelp works. Their average rating of 4.9 out of 5 proves it. Plus, BetterHelp is totally online, so it's easy to fit into your schedule. To get started, you just answer a few simple questions and they'll connect you with a licensed therapist that helps fit your needs. And if it's not the right fit, you can switch at any time for no extra cost. This month, we celebrate the therapists who've helped millions of people take the next right step forward. If you're ready to find the therapist that's right for you, BetterHelp can help you start that journey. Visit betterhelp.com Ramsey to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp. H-E-L-P.com Ramsey.

[A]

The all new every dollar is here, and it is a game changer. Watch the premiere on our YouTube channel and you can see the app in action. Hear how folks are finding thousands of dollars in margin in just 15 minutes using every dollar's new features, which, spoiler alert. Basically, we're going to guide you through the entire Ramsey plan as you do your budget. You're gonna have prompts and encouragement and lessons, and it's all tied into this. A whole thing is working together like never before. It's budgeting with the Ramsey plan, showing you holding your hand. You cannot beat this. Imagine how much you could put fun, how much you could find in this thing. Thousands of dollars in just 15 minutes to put towards your money goals. Check it out on our YouTube channel. You don't want to miss this. Jamie's in Fort Worth, Texas. Hey, Jamie. How are you? You?

[C]

I'm good. How are you?

[A]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[C]

Okay, so I have been religiously listening to you and your team every single morning on my drive to work, which is about an hour and 15 minutes. And I have had gazelle intensity by myself. So I've tried introducing it, like, to my husband. And the problem is that we've sat down and we have looked at a budget. I have the every dollar. I am still working on assigning every dollar, but I've got the app for him where he's doing it. We have about $95,000 in consumer debt together. We're a blended family. He has three, I have three. And the problem I'm having is that I am wanting so badly to get out of debt, but I am the primary, like breadwinner because he's in a roofing business. And, well, we've had some issues with getting Ruth approved And it's just been really slow, so there's a lot of inconsistency, like, with his paychecks coming in, and it's causing a lot of resentment, like, on my part and probably toward him to where, like, we went to counseling, and we had to have an agreement to where I could only talk about the budget for an hour on Tuesdays and an hour on Friday. So that's kind of where we are. And I just need to know what to do to move forward. So, one, we can be a team together. And how am I supposed to.

[B]

Jamie, can I ask, is the resentment from you coming from that he's not fully on board with the plan, and you guys together are like, hey, regardless of who's bringing the income, this is what we're doing. We're paying off debt as fast as possible. Is that the resentment, or is it that his. He can't seem to keep an income because the work is so wacky, and you don't really know what's going on there.

[C]

Yes, yes, that's. That's what it is. Like, because he still has. He's got a child that's in college, and then the other one has already graduated, but.

[A]

That'S irrelevant to his income.

[C]

Well, it is when he can't afford to pay all the bills that he came in with then. Now I'm responsible for. For those.

[A]

And so, I mean, he's. You mean he's paying his kids college tuition and not paying his own bills?

[C]

Oh, he. Well, right. I paid everything last month. I paid. He's got about $4,000 that go out to his kids and their college and car payments and insurance and child support and all of that, and isn't able to contribute to our house. So in the month of September, we have no money. Well, actually, we will be married one year on November 4th, and I wanted to go on our anniversary trip to the Money and marriage in Nashville. And I was like, I know that we're in debt. I was like, but I feel like this is an investment, like, in our marriage, because we need it. And he disagrees with me. I was like, well, I could. I can pay for that. But he said he'd rather go on a cruise, but I'm not doing it.

[A]

I think you need a new marriage counselor, because the marriage counselor said that you can only talk about a budget two hours a week, and a budget isn't even the problem.

[C]

Yes, I agree.

[A]

So that was you getting smacked into the corner by a marriage counselor as being unreasonable, trying to ask him to Be reasonable with his contribution to the household. That's not a budgeting problem. That's a values and income priority problem. That's a priorities problem. I'm choosing to put $4,000 in a college student's car payment instead of taking care of my new wife. That's a problem. That's not a budget. That's not. You talking about Ramsey or you talking about a budget issue. That's a problem of respect. And who's, you know, you guys, he didn't ask you about that. He just declared you get nothing and you have to feed me this month. That's not a budget problem. And so I think your marriage counselor is a weenie. I think you need to get a good, strong marriage counselor that will sit down and talk to both of you clearly about your priorities and your communication over those priorities. And you guys did a lousy job of setting this up prior to marriage because this is a barrel of fish hooks you both walked into and you did no planning about it.

[C]

That is correct.

[A]

Yeah. And that's. And so you're reaping that right now. And it's just harsh. I'm so sorry. But yeah, I. You can have two free tickets to come to marriage and money.

[B]

Yeah, we'll give it to you.

[A]

We'll give them to you. But I don't also don't want you to think that that's the answer to your problem. You need more than a marriage and money weekend at Ramsey will give you. You need in depth crisis marriage counseling. You have not even been married a year and this thing is unraveling rapidly. My eyes, as you talk about it. It's really scaring me for you guys.

[C]

I. I feel that also he's so.

[A]

He's so checked out in what his new wife's needs are that he's not even dealing with it.

[B]

And that it's. Again, Jamie, you're not being unreasonable, right?

[A]

No.

[B]

Do you know what I'm saying? Like, you're not crazy. Like, the fact that you're like, this feels off. This doesn't feel right. I don't feel supported. I feel like I can't believe he's paying all of this money that he's barely making all the way over there, like, where he can't even contribute to our own household. Like, I mean, it'd be different if you guys were making a crazy amount of money and you were debt free and you guys both chose to still support the kids while they were in college. Right? Like that. If that was agreed upon idea as Your new marriage. But it's so splintered right now.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And then you're kind of getting the. The short end of the stick.

[C]

I'm. I agree.

[A]

So what is it? What kind of a business is he in? In.

[C]

He's in the roofing business.

[A]

And he doesn't. He doesn't make money in roofing. Why?

[C]

He. He doesn't want to go and knock doors anymore. He. He's 54, and he has some people that work underneath him. He basically works off of referrals and. Because he's been doing it for so long.

[A]

But he's not got enough business.

[C]

Correct. I have told him he needs to find something else. So we just had a conversation yesterday, and I was like, I don't care. I don't care what you do either. If you're not going to be working, then I need you to help around the house. I need you to pick up kids. I need you to drop kids off.

[A]

That's not really an option. That's just. I mean. You really didn't mean that.

[B]

I think she's just. I think she's craving something.

[A]

Well, that's not. Work.

[B]

Some kind of initiative.

[A]

I want him to go make some money.

[C]

Well, I do. And I do, too.

[A]

Yeah. I think that's what he needs to do and take care of his obligations, which includes his kids and his wife. And you take care of your obligation, which includes him and, you know, your old life going forward, your kids. And. So. So, yeah, you got. You guys really need to get back to another marriage counselor and get in touch with your church and ask them who. A good, strong marriage counselor that can guide you guys through this. And you're gonna have to have a reset, a solid reset on the expectations of this going forward, and then live into those. And two hours of budgeting a week doesn't fix this. And again, I'll give you two tickets. It's. I don't even think he'll come, but.

[B]

Yeah, Jenna will pick up. We'll give him. We'll give you guys some.

[A]

Yeah, I'm just doing. We'll help you come. We'll put them at will call and we'll make arrangements right now. You hang on, I'll make arrangements.

[B]

We can email them to you or something.

[A]

Yeah, Samantha's in San Diego. Hi, Samantha. How are you? How are you?

[C]

I'm doing well this morning. How are you, Dave?

[A]

Better than I deserve. How can we help?

[C]

So forgive me. I'm a little bit nervous and I feel all over the place, but I am trying to make some future decisions without making bad decisions for a future wedding. And we had a lot of big changes this year. I got married, and I bought a house. So I would love some Dave Wisdom.

[A]

Okay. A future wedding. But you got married. I got lost.

[C]

Yeah. I was hoping you'd catch that. So my husband and I, we've been together for five years. We lived with some family on property for a little while to save for a house. We found a house a little bit sooner than expected, so we decided that the best thing to do would be to get married, get this house, and we would save for an official wedding later on. I had heard you say that would be a good decision to someone on the show at one point, so.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

It felt right for us.

[A]

It's better than. It's better than some of the other stuff you could have done in that situation. So I'm with you. Yeah. Good.

[C]

Thank you. I got Dave's good old Matt check.

[A]

Survive that one. Okay.

[C]

We are 25, debt free. We bought our house, and we are having this wedding on a cruise ship in March with family, and we have about $3,500 that we need to just save and pay off for that.

[A]

Cool. Well, you could do that by March.

[C]

Yes, we can. We also are. I just got the EveryDollar app, and I'm looking at, like, margin, and it's stressing me out like crazy. My husband is like a turtle in a hurricane, and it's like, we got this, and.

[A]

Well, at least you married a stable guy.

[C]

And I'm like, is this guy real? Because he sounds like Dave Ramsey. He's never read your.

[A]

Are you. Are you the hurricane?

[C]

Oh, my gosh. He is going to love that.

[A]

I never heard a turtle in a hurricane. I've heard a turtle on a fence post, but I never heard a turtle in a hurricane. That is a great one. I will use that. All right.

[B]

So he's not worried.

[A]

What is your household income?

[C]

So we bring in 8,000amonth.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

Is what.

[A]

And he's not worried because he thinks you can have 3,500 out of 8,000 between now and March.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. And why are you worried?

[C]

I have been a hurricane prior to meeting him. And this whole talking about money and having an app where we see every time we go to the store and Starbucks has been new. And it's revealing budgeting. It is. And it's so scary.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And.

[A]

Oh, no, it's just uncomfortable and awkward. It's not really scary. It's very certain.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. It's revealing. Is what? Ouches. It touches places I didn't want people to see. Yeah. Oh, but. Ouch. I got you. I'm with you. That makes sense.

[C]

We became. We became. I became. I never. I had debt prior to the relationship. He never did. So I worked really, really hard and he helped me and so did you guys. Oh, my gosh. So we're here now. And I want to make sure I don't put myself back in that boat. I know I won't.

[A]

Good.

[D]

But how about we.

[A]

How about we won't?

[C]

Yes, I know we won't.

[A]

Yeah, you and the turtle work together.

[C]

Big picture. I'm like the worry wart on the turtle. Like, how do we save? How do we invest? How do we. How do we do all that?

[A]

Well, number one, just like you did before, how do you eat an elephant? A bite at a time. Okay, so you lay out a game plan and you look at every dollar together and you say, if we only spend X and Y on those two things, we will have the money to go on the cruise and do the wedding. If we blow the budget, we will not have the money to go on the cruise and do the wedding. So let's lay out the plan and stick to the plan so that our best life ends us on a cruise in March, doing a wedding. And then all of a sudden, everything calms way down. But what ends up coming is a lot of no's. Because you have to look at yourself and go, no, I can't do that because I'm going on a cruise in March to do a wedding. Oh, no, we can't go over there because we're going on a cruise in March and doing a wedding. Oh, we're not able to join you tonight. I'm sorry. Because we're going on a cruise in March to do a wedding. And all of a sudden all those no's start popping up. And that's what you're not used to. And that's okay. That's a new thing. It's a new thing for you. It's okay.

[B]

Samantha, when you guys did the everydollar budget for the household, how much do you guys spend on essentials? Do you know off the top of your head how much it would cost to keep everything running? Like food, electricity, you know, mortgage. 5,000.

[C]

Yeah, and that's with, like. Because we have animals and.

[A]

Yeah, okay, so like 3,000amonth margin.

[B]

Yeah, you could do that in, like, two months, Samantha.

[C]

So I fear that maybe the wedding wasn't the, like, fear. It's after that and the next big goal, he's confident that there's gonna be an add on to our house and.

[A]

Save up and pay for it, just like you're doing the wedding.

[C]

And he wants to do some real estate at some point. And I just. I don't have any of that wisdom. So it's okay.

[A]

Let's just do one thing at a time. Let's. Let's build a little bit of confidence by doing the actual saving and the wedding. And we've combined our finances and we're working together, and we have a plan that we are going to stick to. To hit our goals. These are new words. Used to be me, me, now and I. Yeah. And now it's we and us and. And, you know, and then first we'll get. The. First we'll get the cruise wedding out of the way, and then we'll start talking about, okay, how much is the add on and what's that going to cost? And then let's build some wealth because someday we'd like to do some of it.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

It just begins. It's just. You just chip away at it one little thing at a time. One little thing at a time. And you keep laying out the numbers, and the numbers will guide you right through it.

[B]

It's too. Samantha, remember, like, none of this is urgent. I mean, the wedding, to a degree, in six months. Right. So we want to save for that. But the house, renovations, the. Invest all of that, like, you're okay. You guys are good. Right? So nothing has to happen tomorrow. So give yourself some of that, like, kind of grace and patience in it. Because I'm an urgent person, too, Samantha. I'm wired more like you. So I totally.

[C]

I'm so glad I got you today. Yes.

[B]

No, I get it. I really do. And the good thing about our turtles, because Winston.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

I feel like Winston's a turtle, too, is that they. They love Excel and spreadsheets and stuff, and they'll map out every year of like, hey, here's how much we could save per month to get this goal of this rental house or whatever the thing is. And you really lean in on their strengths, and then you're the fun.

[A]

Yeah, you totally have to do T shirts for the cruise, the hurricane and the turtle T shirts. Maybe. Maybe. You know, and with a little bride bouquet and the whole bit on the. Oh, this is.

[B]

I hope y' all don't get a hurricane on the.

[A]

No, I told. I said T shirts.

[B]

No, I know. I'm saying it out loud, though. You don't want A hurricane on that.

[A]

And now I present you hurricane and tortoise.

[B]

Oh, my gosh.

[A]

This is so great. That's so fun.

[B]

It's good.

[A]

Samantha, you're fun. Samantha, you're fun. Thank you. And you're going to do great. You're going to do better than your feelings are telling you, because you've never done this successfully long enough to build confidence yet. And Rachel is on the other side of that in that she's got a decade plus of successfully working with Winston. And she's right. Winston is more of the tortoise than the hare. And he's very steady, very predictable, doesn't do drama. And so they've had a decade of working together, and that has. Now you've got great confidence in that. Yeah, Maybe the first day you did.

[B]

Yeah. And sure. And the. And the beauty, too, of all of this that you guys will learn in marriage, but it reflects in your money is you do. You get to be yourself. You still get to be fun, Samantha. You get to lean and have the blessing of having a spouse who is different than you and has strengths that you don't have. And then you're going to be a gift to him because you're going to have strengths that he doesn't have. So it really is this yin and yang. And I think that's. That's the beautiful part of it, is that when we say working together as one, I think some people freak out because they think, oh, my gosh, I'm gonna lose who I am and all of this stuff and. No, you be who you are. And the beautiful thing is your values are aligned. You guys know where you want to go in general together. And how you get there may look a little bit different. Right. But those are the conversations you get to have as a couple. And so leaning on each other. And that, I think is beautiful.

[A]

Turns out turtles have fun, too.

[C]

They do have fun.

[B]

We help them have fun, though. We create a little chaos to create the fun.

[A]

I've never listened. Like, Rachel's job is. She's the fun girl. That's Rachel's job.

[B]

And our premarital counselor, I'll never forget, looked at him and was like, wow, she's pretty urgent. And I was like, I. I am. I am. I'm an urgent person. So I get it, Samantha. I totally get it. Y' all are going to do great. You're going to do great.

[A]

Hurricane and the turtle. This is great. A great radio. Sam. Dale in Missouri. Hey, Dale, what's up in your world?

[D]

Oh, not much. How are you guys doing?

[A]

Better than I deserve. How can we help?

[D]

So, you know, the holidays are right around the corner and my wife and her family have quite a few traditions for Christmas time. And they are starting to get rather expensive. For example, we each get a book from Santa, like a children's Christmas book from Santa. And there's about 12 of us, and we have stockings, which averages about 1,000 to $1,200 total. And then we have gifts for everyone. There's about again, 12 of us for.

[A]

So my question is, I'm sorry, children's books for 12 adults.

[D]

Adults, yes.

[A]

And her family is this her brothers and sisters?

[D]

So it's her sister, her father and her sister's children. And now one of her children, her sister's children, has their own child. So now there's a baby.

[A]

Okay, so this isn't your all's children or your grandchildren? No.

[D]

Okay, this is. And so my, my wife was really big on her grandparents. She has fond memories of Christmas at her grandparents house. They did the same traditions. She just wants to continue those traditions.

[A]

How long have y' all been married?

[D]

It'll be 15 years.

[A]

So you've done this for 15 years?

[D]

Yes.

[B]

Okay. And are you buying books? Is everyone buying 12 books or is it one book per person?

[D]

So it's one book per person, but it's usually my wife and I and her sister that are kind of responsible for all the books.

[A]

What? I mean, it's 12 children's books. It's not a lot of money. I don't. What's a big deal?

[D]

Well, there's about $30 a piece. I mean, yes, it's not a lot. Like it's $360, but the books are not a very big traditional. So they're kind of, I don't want to say a waste, but I am. They're kind of a waste because we just, we look at them for like 20 seconds and then they just go away and, and then we go on to the next thing.

[A]

Okay, so the purpose of the books. I'm just curious because I don't understand why all these adults are getting children's books for 20 seconds. What, what is the purpose of the book? Book?

[D]

It's just the tradition they've had.

[A]

I know, but I mean, when they were children, maybe, but I don't know, once you're 40, you don't really need a children's book. What's the.

[D]

Right. That's the, that's my, my question is.

[A]

Well, I want to. I mean, if she was on the phone. Why would she tell me that?

[B]

They're still doing what they've all. It's just what they've always done.

[A]

I know, but.

[B]

I know, but it's just that's the tradition, is everyone gets a new book for Christmas. It's a Christmas book tradition. Okay, I'm right.

[D]

And it has, like, a little note from Santa in it.

[A]

Well, those are hard to get, but okay.

[D]

And so that's one thing. And then we have stockings where people can spend two to three hundred dollars. And it's most. Again, my wife and I and sister for all the stockings. So they put like two or three hundred dollars in each.

[A]

So what is your all's net worth worth?

[D]

Not enough for 200.

[A]

No. What's your net worth? No, really, what's your net worth?

[D]

You mean like total?

[A]

Yeah. Like, how much do you have in your retirement account? Is your house paid for, all that kind of stuff?

[D]

So the house is not paid for. Has got about 100,000 left.

[A]

And what's it worth?

[D]

It's worth 200 and.

[A]

Okay. And what. What's in your retirement accounts?

[D]

So retirement, we're. We. We work with a pension.

[A]

So she don't have any retirement savings?

[D]

Well, I do. I have a hundred thousand saved up.

[A]

And what's your household income?

[D]

Roughly about 210,000 a year.

[A]

Okay. And this whole thing is like three grand we're talking about, right?

[D]

Well, yeah, well, three grand for, like, the stockings.

[A]

Well, the books are 300. So I mean, select three grand for the whole thing. Give or take.

[D]

Yeah. And then there's gifts also that we also do, which could also be another three or four thousand.

[A]

Y' all have children?

[D]

No.

[A]

Okay, so this is the whole Christmas then, Right.

[D]

The problem is that we don't really put aside for this, even though we know it's coming.

[A]

Make 200,000. It's three grand. It's one and a half percent of your. Of your income.

[D]

I. Yes, I know that, but my wife. And I'm not gonna throw it all on her. My wife and I like to. To. We're not good budgeters, I would say. And so my. My question.

[A]

I guess the thing is this. I do think just from a marriage communication standpoint that, you know, this thing has continued to go on, and some of it's frankly, doesn't even make sense. But at least you need to understand from her why this is $3,000 worth of important. Because it's no longer $3,000 worth of important to you. Probably never has been actually, in the whole 15 years. But now you've just been going along with it.

[B]

That is crazy, though, the amount of money you are spending on stockings. Like, you can get some great stocking stuffers and some reasonable small things, and it doesn't have to add up to $1,000.

[A]

Honey, you know, I understand this is important to you, and I'm willing to do it simply because it's important to you, but you also need to hear. It's important to me that we use a little touch of common sense on this.

[B]

Well, and I think the biggest problem, Dale, is you guys aren't. You have no planning with your income. You guys aren't good budgeters. You already said so. It feels like you're flapping in the wind, and it's like this here, and it's kind of freaking you out because y' all don't have control in general. And I really think if you guys lived on a written plan, if you guys. We'll get you the EveryDollar app. But you both. If you both lived on a budget and you knew exactly where your income was going and you both stuck to.

[A]

It, it's not that big a deal.

[B]

And it would. I don't think it would feel as out of control. I think it feels out of control as a picture of your entire financial picture. So genuinely, I would.

[A]

You're choosing to pick on the one thing that you can pick on while the whole thing's out of control. Rachel's right. So let's get the whole thing in control, and then we can use this as a jumping off point for the discussion for that. But I think it's also, individually on the budget, it's okay to talk it through. I mean, we've done that inside of our family and even with our extended family, because I have three kids who are married and have eight grandkids, and so there's 16 of us and eight adults, and every adult buying every adult. Something got out of hand, and it just was dumb. Yeah, we all have the money.

[B]

Just draw names.

[A]

But everybody, we just said we're gonna draw money. It's just more fun for us to not have to go through all that and less, you know, less trying to figure out what Bill wants, you know, or what Winston wants. It's just a lot. And how do you. How do you buy something for me? Because anything I want, I just go get it. So how do you buy something for me now?

[B]

It's always hard.

[A]

It's impossible.

[B]

So hard.

[A]

It's impossible. So. So, you know, it's just. You Know that that whole thing is just. We need to just. So we just dumbed it way down. And we're gonna concentrate on the kiddos and the adults.

[B]

We draw names as adults.

[A]

But it's one thing. I mean, it's not like eight things, right? So that's okay. And just calm the thing down.

[B]

And I. And I'll throw this out there. Dale, like, they don't have kids. So this is their family. It is her family Christmas and it's her family Christmas. So there is a level of he's over it.

[A]

It's her family Christmas. It's. He's. He's done with. He's done with children's books for adults.

[B]

That's my question is how you get. No, how you don't run out of books. I guess they don't have to be Christmas themed.

[A]

Well, Rachel, we could help them.

[B]

There can't be.

[A]

Like, we could probably make them a discount if they want to buy a batch of Rachel Cruz children's books.

[B]

Yeah, but I don't. I don't know if they're Christmas themed children's books is what I'm saying. I'm just curious how they get so many.

[A]

I could probably add a note from Santa to it.

[B]

I don't know.

[A]

I know Santa. I'd probably get them if they bought a whole box, a whole case of your books.

[B]

Pull some strings.

[A]

Probably do that. I bet we could get the old guy to help us out.

[B]

Maybe we'll save Dale's Christmas this year with that. Oh, man, that is hard though.

[A]

Hey, it's the holidays. It's a good time to talk about it. Now is the time to talk about it. Not December 2nd.

[B]

Yeah, we're in October. It's great.

[A]

This is the time, by the way. All of you need to. Speaking of Santa, he says to make a list and check it twice. So you need a Christmas budget. You need to make a list of who you're going to buy for and put a dollar amount beside each and every and total that number and set that dollar amount aside. We used to do that in cash in an envelope. And on the outside of the envelope was the list of people and what we were going to spend on each person. And then that cash runs out of that envelope. Christmas be over, baby. That's it. This is what we're spending on Christmas. That's it. Ding, ding, we're done. Because it's a never ending merry go round otherwise. And you see. Keep hitting the submit button on your cart. Have to stop that. How many times do you end up with too much month at the end of the money? Even if you can cover the bills, there's nothing left over. You work your butt off and you still feel broke. That's normal for most people. But you do not have to live that way. You can completely transform your money and your life with every dollar. Our world class budgeting app is better than ever now. Everydollar coaches you to find extra margin every month so you can make real progress and change your family tree. The Average person finds $3015 in just the first 15 minutes. That's extra money you could use to beat debt, to build wealth, to finally breathe again. Don't settle for living normal with money. Start every dollar for free by downloading the app. Welcome back to the Ramsey show in the Fair Winds credit union studio. I'm Dave Ramsey. Your host. Rachel Cruz Ramsey, personality number one best selling author, host of the Rachel Cruze show is my co host today. She's also my daughter. Open phones at Triple 8-825-5225. Jenna is with us in Indianapolis. Hi, Jenna, how are you?

[C]

Hi. I'm good. How are you?

[A]

Better than I deserve. What's up?

[C]

All right. So I just recently found out that I am inheriting about $50,000.

[D]

Wow.

[C]

Yes. Definitely was a blessing.

[A]

Who passed away?

[C]

My grandmother.

[A]

Oh, I'm sorry.

[C]

Thank you. I am just, I'm 25 and I do have a lot of student loans as well as a car loan. I have about $95,000 in total debt. 65,000 of that is my student loans. I am just a little bit confused on where to put it all because I don't want to throw everything at my federal loans. So I'm just kind of confused about where to go with all of this.

[A]

I'm curious, why would you not throw it at your federal loans?

[C]

Because I was approved for the public Service Loan Forgiveness.

[A]

This 1% of the people that apply for that end up getting it.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

Yeah, I wouldn't, I wouldn't set my life up on well.

[B]

And you get stuck in a situation that you may want out of and you feel like you have to stay.

[A]

In it 10 years. Everything has to go exactly perfect, including the federal government doing their job. And those things never go to heaven. That doesn't work. So, all right, aside from that, so what do you make a year?

[C]

About 60,000, give or take.

[A]

What do you do?

[C]

I'm a nurse.

[A]

Oh, good for you. That's a wonderful career for building wealth and getting out of debt. By the way. You have tremendous Control of your destiny in that career. So you can add hours, you can add an ER shift on the weekend, make a pile of money. You've got all kinds of options at your disposal. So good for you. Good choice.

[B]

Jenna, what was left? You said the 65 of student loans. What was the other 30?

[A]

A car loan Credit card.

[C]

Yeah, I have a car loan for 28 and then just a credit card that has 1400 on it.

[B]

Okay, perfect.

[A]

All right, so what are you making as a nurse?

[C]

About 60,000 a year, depending on if I pick up or not. It's about $4,000 a month.

[A]

You must have just started.

[C]

Yeah, I've been in nurse for two.

[A]

Okay. All right. Because you probably could be making 80 if you just blank.

[C]

Okay, well, and I'm in Indiana, so it's a little bit.

[A]

I mean, you're. If you're in Indianapolis, you're in a major metro market that you're being. Yeah. All right. What we teach and what we have lived in our family for the last several decades is the fastest way to build wealth and stability is to become debt free. Because when you don't have any payments, you have control of your wonderful income. Opportunities to build wealth with. And that's how the math ends up working. And so we've taught people to get out of debt so that they can be generous and so that they can build wealth. The first step, however, of getting out of debt is not borrowing anymore. And so if you got a $95,000 inheritance and paid everything off but continued to go into debt, you'd be right back. Yeah, we can't do that. Okay. Just like you can't have a patient that's doing something that's causing a health problem. You guys fix it in the hospital, but then they go back to doing the exact same thing. Ended up in exactly the same health problem again. Okay, same thing. Right. So you have to change your habits that got you here. Like, I don't borrow money for cars anymore. I'm cutting up this credit card and I'm going to get the Every Dollar app and I'm going to live on a decent written plan where my wonderful income will cause me to finish off the rest of my student. Student loan debt and get me. And get me completely clear because if I don't have any payments, I can build serious wealth. And that's would be my goal for you if I was doing that. Now, if I'm in your shoes, that means I'm going to pay off the credit card in the car and I'm Going to put the rest of it towards the federal student loans. And. And I'm not even going to have any fun with it. And I got to ask you then, if you did that and. And you are committed to never borrowing again and living on a plan, would that make your grandmother smile?

[C]

Yes, definitely.

[A]

Which is one test I always use about inheritance. The person that left it, I need to honor them by handling it in such a way that they're in heaven smiling. Okay. And so in other words, if you did something irresponsible and frivolous with it, she would not be smiling.

[C]

Correct.

[A]

Yeah. And that. That's how I test it out against my. Am I doing the right thing with my grandmother's money that she left to her prized nurse grandchild that she's so proud of.

[B]

And what's wild, Jenna, have you done a written budget? Do you know how much money it takes to run just your household? Whether it's like, rent, lights, food, how much do you live on, do you think?

[C]

I. I do a written budget. However, I've had some recent changes. I've been living at home for a while, but now mo. So monthly, I think it probably would cost or. Yeah, monthly it probably cost me about $2,000.

[B]

And how much is your car payment a month?

[C]

It's 560.

[B]

Okay, perfect. So that. That's. What's crazy is you just got a raise of $560 a month. And with that. So, I mean, you're. You could be banking 2500amonth just in. What you're doing right now. That's not even overtime. And all of it to get the rest of that 45 paid off, you know, so it's. It is.

[A]

So if you jumped in, picked up some ER weekends, which you can make double, triple time on if you watch what you're doing, you can. In addition to whatever you're doing in your other 40 hours, you could get this all paid off in a year. Yeah, that would be pretty cool.

[C]

The only thing that I was considering at first is that my private loan has a higher interest rate than any of my federal. And I pay almost 300amonth. That.

[A]

Okay. How much is the private loan?

[C]

It's 23,000.

[B]

Oh, perfect.

[A]

And the. Isn't that the next smallest one? Anyway?

[C]

The Highest one is 31. The car is 28, and then the private one is third.

[A]

Yeah, but you have enough to pay the private loan and your car?

[C]

Yes. So do you think I shouldn't.

[A]

And the credit card. I think you can pay all three of those okay, so I didn't have them broken apart. I just heard student loan. Okay. Okay.

[B]

Yeah, that's incorrect. Yeah. So then what would be left would be the federal.

[A]

So, I mean, you don't quite have enough to do all of it, but you might have two grand left on the private. And you'll knock it out in a month or so and pay off your. No, your car is the one to be left. I'm sorry. You're gonna knock out. Smallest to largest is how we list them. So the credit card, the 23,000 and the 28,000, right?

[C]

Yes.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

And then, Jenna, how much is your private student loan payment every month?

[A]

Month. 300.

[C]

It's. Yeah, the federal. I have it set to the lowest, which I need to change because I'm not even.

[B]

But that's what's crazy. Jenna, is this what this money can do? 800, $860. Yeah.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Which is great. That. And that gets thrown at the federal debt and then working extra and you get the snowball going really quick.

[A]

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I think you can be out in a year. You're really going to change your cash flow position. You're going to please your grandmother, mother, honor the inheritance that she left you. And because all of us that have children and grandchildren love them and want to see them prosper and live a sustainable, mature, smart, wise life, and all of those things is what we're talking about. You're doing good. I'm real proud of you.

[B]

Well done.

[A]

Sam.

[B]

Hey, guys. I'm so excited to tell you that our new 2026 Ramsey goal planner is available right now. This isn't just your average planner. It's your personal guide to setting clear goals and building habits that stick. So get ready for all new monthly content from your favorite Ramsey personalities, tactical goal setting trackers, and upgrades that make this our most durable planner yet. Yet. Last year, we sold out, so don't miss out. Order your 2026 Ramsey Goal Planner for $49.97 today at ramseysolutions.com store.

[A]

Larissa is in Ohio. Hi, Larissa. How are you?

[D]

Good.

[C]

Thank you so much for taking my call, both of you. I really appreciate your time.

[A]

Sure. What's up?

[C]

Everything okay? So I'm wondering if, like, my situation is one of the kind of rare cases where you would suggest that I should sell my house to pay down debt. And if not, then what should I do? Do?

[A]

Okay. How much debt do you have? Not counting your house.

[C]

Around 5 or 600,000.

[A]

Whoa. On what?

[C]

My husband's school loans are 80,000. My school loans are 45. We have a debt consolidation loan for 45. And, you know, two cars that are ridiculously, like, the worst thing you've ever heard. I'll tell you if you want to hear it, but I don't think you want to hear it. You might die.

[A]

Just give me the total.

[C]

The total owed 67,000 on mine, 62,000 on my husband's.

[A]

Yeah, you're right. Okay.

[C]

And the big. The big thing, I think the main reason I'm calling today is we owe the IRS $56,000, and they want to put a lien on our house because we owe over 50,000.

[A]

Yeah. What. What's your household income?

[C]

I'm about to go back full time making 111,000, and my husband usually would be making around 120, but he was just laid off at the beginning of the month. And that's another part of the story, is we have no emergency funds, so we're rocking it over here.

[B]

Oh, gosh, I'm so sorry.

[A]

So normally you would be at, like. I mean, if you get everything going again, you'd be at like 2:30.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And the house is worth what?

[C]

It's probably worth between 770 and 800.

[A]

Okay. Okay. And what's it. What do you owe on it?

[C]

628.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

Well, my worry there is, like, after agent fees and closing costs.

[A]

Yeah. You don't have to get enough to clean up the mess, so. The mess.

[C]

Yeah. I think it would help us with the IRS and maybe to pay out the cars, you know what I mean? The. The negative.

[A]

How do you end up owing the IRS 56,000?

[C]

Oh, man. So me and my husband, we've been married 22 years. We had three kids, very young, super broke back. So we were on, like, Medicaid, food stamps, everything like that. We just never had money right then, kind of like out of nowhere when he graduated college and then I kind of landed in my career, we started making money out of nowhere, and we didn't realize that we weren't getting enough taken out of our checks, yada, yada. So one year after another year after another year, it was like we owed 12,000. We're like, what? I guess it's just tax bracket. I don't understand this. Next year, like, we owe 20,000. We're like, why is this happening? I don't get it. So genius me this year, I finally met with an accountant who told me that I wasn't getting enough taken out of my, my checks. Also I have like a side business where I design and develop websites and stuff. So I haven't been doing good at prepaying those taxes either. So it's like, it's just a big hot mess of garbage that, you know.

[A]

What do you make?

[C]

Adult body, I think this year. And it was like 30.

[A]

Okay. All right. So. Well, what you have is a series of crisis.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

And you really have to probably work on three of them at least at once. And sadly the house won't fix them.

[C]

Right.

[A]

So, you know, what's your husband do for a living? What's his career?

[C]

He's a software quality engineer.

[A]

Great. Okay. So he's very employable.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. Why did he live leave?

[C]

He was in like an 18 month contract and they didn't renew it.

[A]

Okay. Just doing contract work. Okay. Which is another time you didn't pay the IRS.

[C]

Well, I mean, it was a W2, so.

[A]

Oh, a contract. W2. Okay. All right. Anyway, so the good news, the good news is he probably can lean in, put a smile on his face, a pep in his step, brush his teeth and get a job pretty quick.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. Because this is pretty employable situation. All right, so number one, crisis, re employment. Okay. Number two crisis, the IRS. You need to get on ramseysolutions.com and talk to one of our tax endorsed local providers, one of the people we endorse in your area, and they will be able to get on the phone and negotiate with the IRS a payment, an installment payment process plan with no lien. And even if they put a lien, they won't do anything with it because they don't want to pay $628,000 for a house.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

They're not gonna do anything with your lien. So what you don't want them doing is leaning your checking accounts and cleaning out your bank accounts because that would be disastrous. So you do need to get them. You need to get them on a payment plan. And of course part of that is you really do have to source this all the way to the bottom and make sure we sit with your tax person. And if you need a new tax person, you at Ramsey as well. Sounds like you may. And make sure you've got the right amount coming out of your taxes and that you are doing your quarterly estimates on your business and you file those and you file that money on time. Once a quarter. You're supposed to figure out what your profit is and pay tax on it.

[C]

Yeah, that's.

[A]

That's the law. And you're getting hammered with penalties and interest in addition to them coming after you for the balance. Okay? So that. That's. They get after you on that stuff, on that 30,000 there, wearing you out. So, you know, you get. Get on top of that with your systems and your processes, because you're not dumb people. You're just highly chaotic and disorganized.

[C]

Yeah, I keep saying we spend money like teenagers, you know, like, the way.

[A]

You'Ve been doing that, too. That's another subject I'm coming to in a minute. But. But the. You're just out of control. I mean, there's, like, no off button here. This frenetic headache. There's no plan. And so what I'm telling you do is get very systematized and nerdy about this. Like, I hired you to straighten out these people's finance, only these people is you.

[C]

I actually did a literal PowerPoint presentation and excel sheet before I called you guys to, like, understand what my picture was here.

[A]

And Good. That's. That.

[B]

That's a really good start step, actually.

[A]

You got to get it. You know, that's. You know, I'm looking at the map, and the little red arrow says, you are here. Here. I want to get over there. And now how do I get over there? Right. So that's what we're talking about. So, job, get the IRS under control first with a payment plan and with proper withholding and proper filings of your quarterly estimates, then we'll begin to pay them off as quickly as we can. And then we come to the cars. Yeah, they're both going to be.

[C]

I'm ready to get rid of them, but it's like, we have negative equity.

[A]

What do we do about that? Absolutely freaking insanity. If you look up crazy in the dictionary, you're gonna see a picture of these cars.

[C]

I was expecting you to say that. I thought you were gonna say me, but okay.

[A]

No, no. I mean, this is just because it's killing my friend Larissa. Yeah, my friend Larissa. These cars own her.

[B]

Yeah, well, it adds up to what you guys make a year. You know?

[A]

I mean, y' all don't make nearly enough to have those cars, even if you paid cash for them.

[C]

Yeah, I think, like, our situation is that, like, we've never been late on a car payment on our mortgage, which is.

[A]

Are you going to try to justify this to me? Please don't.

[C]

No, no, I'm telling you, that's why we thought we were. Okay.

[B]

You can afford the payment.

[C]

Made me look at it. Yeah. That whole Dumb thing.

[A]

You realize when you look at these cars that they're a glaring. Not just a Dave Ramsey thing or a Rachel Cruz thing. They're just a glaring math thing.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

I mean, they're just pointing to you guys. Like you said, we spend money like teenagers, you know, and so you need to get you a couple of, you know, reasonable vehicles, very cheap, like five, six thousand bucks a piece. And you guys use your $230,000 income to clean up this freaking mess. So you get your life back because you're not having fun.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

This is highly anxiety inducing.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And when he gets a job back, you know, you guys are making great money. Like insane.

[A]

So the quarter million dollars a year will clean this mess up.

[B]

Yes. Yeah. You guys can do that. And then if you could imagine making that amount of money and actually keeping it and it not going out in payments, you know, and you guys trust.

[C]

Me, that's all I imagine these days.

[A]

What if you sit down Any payments but a house payment.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And you made a quarter of a million dollars a year. Oh, my goodness. You would have money.

[C]

Yep. I can't imagine it.

[A]

And then you can move from a $6,000 car to a $20,000 is.

[B]

Even though that's an incredible income, you still have to live. Because even with that great income, you guys were living beyond it. Right.

[A]

You two just need to sit down, look at each other. Neither one of us are in Congress.

[C]

Right.

[A]

We can't spend like this anymore. Spin like a drunken congressman. I mean, it's out of control. Well, they say drunken sailors, but I like sailors. Right. You know, sailors, bless their hearts. They're probably way fiscally responsible compared. So even with alcohol involved.

[D]

Foreign.

[E]

Hey, George Camel here. So you're thinking about buying or selling your home? It's exciting, but there's a lot to think about and all those decisions can feel overwhelming. Well, here's the good news. You don't have to tackle the process alone. Ramsey's real estate home base is the place to find all of your free tools and resources for help to get prepared to buy or sell your home with confidence. You'll find calculators, start to finish guides, a podcast, and even an in depth video course hosted by yours truly. What's not to love? So if you're ready to take the next steps toward your home goals, go to ramseysolutions.com realestate that's ramseysolutions.com realestate.

[A]

Ramsey show question of the day brought to you by. Why refi defaulted private student loans can drag on for years. But why Refi helps borrowers explore custom refinancing with a low fixed rate and a payment you can actually manage. Go to yrefi.com Ramsey that's the letter y r e f y.com Ramsey not in all states.

[B]

Today's question comes from Camilla in Indiana. So I'm trying to wrap my head around the commission method of giving money to kids. I have two who are five years apart. My oldest is 16 and the younger one is 11. Should they have individual lists of tasks or should there be one big list that they both work off of on this on a first come first served basis? Should give save spend be mandatory part of this participation? Regardless of what age age and how do you recommend I must. I can't age out of it. So for the 16 year old I would just expect them to be helping around the house in general. So there's not necessarily like a chore list. They're just becoming an adult and so they're going to be doing adult like things. And so whether that's cleaning the kitchen, picking up, helping with cooking and laundry like whatever that is for you, they just are part of helping run the household. And and then I, I mean I plan to do with what you guys did is at 16 that they should have their own checking account and the amount of money you would normally spend on them, whether that's clothes, friends, gas, whatever it would normally be. You just give them that set amount of money and then they have to manage it with your.

[A]

With your oversight.

[B]

Yes, but they have to be the ones to say I'm going to spend X shopping. But then that means I don't have that money to spend for gas in my car. And so if the money runs out they either get a job or they wait till the day next next month because they have no more money to spend. And then the 11 year old. Yes I would do a chore based payment kind of plan. So they do have chores listed out that they do and you pay them on there and then in that yes the give save spend method I would definitely have them do because it's a great.

[A]

I like getting all three of those out part of her question. So let me reframe exactly what Rachel said and give you the exact same answer. But let's, let's look at it as an evolution. So you teach children how to handle money age appropriately. We don't send the three year old to the salt mines. We might send the 16 year old. No, I'm kidding. But you expect More and teach more sophistication and detail and brain challenge to 16 year olds than you do 3 year olds. You know, if you say clean up your room to a two year old or a three year old, we all know that have had kids, that that means I'm going to do about 80% of the work. He's going to put a few toys in the box and he gets a lot of high fives as being the best room cleaner that God has ever made. Way to go. You're amazing. And here's a dollar for cleaning up your room. That's one of your chores. But we all know they're not real good at, they're not competent. That's not the point. The point is to begin to make an emotional connection between work and money. Money creates work creates money. And I know 54 year olds that don't know that lesson. So it's good to teach children that work creates money, even if it's a tiny little thing like picking up four toys. Okay, Then we move on to something a little bit more complicated. You got to feed the dog, you have to clean up the toys yourself and you have to empty the dishwasher and you're seven or eight and you can accomplish these horribly complicated, ridiculously straining tasks. And the drama that goes with all of that is unbelievable. And then you get paid a dollar apiece for doing those all week or whatever the agreed amount amount is. And if you don't feed the dog and I have to, you do not get paid. Commission is work. Get paid. Don't do the work. Don't get paid. By the the way, ultimately, I mean, we'll let that go on for a week or two, but I'm just not going to do anything. It's not an option. You're going to learn to work. Because my goal raising children was not to raise great kids, it was to raise kids that became great adults. And so my job is to make sure you brush your teeth so you have some. So you're somewhat appealing to the opposite sex and you leave my home later. Okay, that's the idea. Okay. So I'm trying to get you out of here. That's the goal.

[B]

And what's funny too, I would say majority of kids, not all. Because some kids are not motivated by money.

[A]

No.

[B]

But we have found most. Now I will say I am a free spirit as a mom, so I'm probably not as rigid as I should be. I'm a little bit more like unload the dishwasher and I'll give It. It's not. My kids literally created their own. They just showed me yesterday their own chart for letting the dog out in the morning.

[A]

Amelia is more organized than you are.

[B]

And then what's so great about it? That genuinely. Yeah, she, like, she should. Gosh, she's gonna take care of our estate. She's gonna be great. And so. But she. But she's our saver. And so you actually watch them participate and when they earn money, what they do with it. I'm gonna show you this picture. I'll text it to the team and they can put it up if they want later. But it's funny, we went to Target literally this weekend before I was in Chicago. And they got to bring their money to spend. Cause I. Cause I don't do it all the time. Cause they just always want to spend the money they make. So I always kind of put it off a few weeks. So we. We went. And my oldest, it's like, she looks through. She looks through and she's like, I just think. I'm gonna. Think I'm gonna keep it. I don't see anything I want.

[A]

And then I like the money more.

[B]

And then my middle. She bought like, literally eight things. Do you see that?

[C]

Caroline?

[B]

She, like, couldn't. She couldn't handle everything. She spent every. Every cent space.

[A]

She looks exactly like you at that age.

[B]

I know, I know. But it's great because I'm like, yes. And at that age, parents like, it is. It's an amazing thing when they do something for themselves and something big. I mean, they unload the dishwasher. They do. They take out the dog and all of it.

[A]

If you have done that along and you've taught them to work, give, save and spend age appropriately, by the time they get to 16, you can talk about. We're going to turn this over to you. I'm going to watch over your shoulder and make sure you do it properly. And I'm not going to control you, but I'm going to allow you to make mistakes. But I'm also not going to let you be out of control with your checking account. Account. But you're going to learn to manage your work, your fun, your spending and your saving. And you're going to do. And you're giving and you're going to do all of it yourself. And I want you to feel the whole thing more like an adult. So then the age out comes. Okay. If they've been doing that three years or two, I think we did it with 15 up to about 18 under your control and direction progressively. You should need less and less control because you're teaching them to lay out. This is how much you got for the month, how much of it's going to go to gas, how much of it's going to go to fun, how much of it's going to go to generosity, how much of it's going to go to this. And you know, you need to lay out a budget for this so it doesn't just escape you like everybody else. All right, so if you've done that for three years, then when they left and went to college, did the exact same thing, only we didn't even look at it. By then they knew what to do. This is how much you get a month. Month for college expenses. And we're going to pay tuition and we're going to pay books and we're going to pay housing or if you had housing, we put that in the amount, either one, whatever it was. But this is what you had to work with. We're going to put that in your account. If you want more than that while you're at college, get a job because that's how much we're going to give you. And then it's enough for you to, you're going to have a good time and you can have a good life. You're not going to be driving a brand new BMW. You're a freaking college student that's broke. And so you're going to be going, doing this and you got, you know, college is paid for and even your living expenses is paid for up to a reasonable amount. Past that, if you want one $75 pair of shoes, you're gonna have to get your butt into a job. Okay? And that's, you know, because I ain't paying for that. And that's. Then they all four, all three, I'm sorry, there's three of them went through school. I don't, I don't know about that other one. That other one took off, but the other one. But the other three, they went through school in four years. And the number of times I got a call that said, dad, I need money, between all three of them going through four years of college was precisely zero. Now we did have a time or two. They came home and said, hey, here's the actual reality of this budget. It's pretty, getting pretty tight. Can we consider doing a raise on it? And we did do that a time or two, but I've got an emergency. I overspent, I goofed none. So they aged out and then when they graduated, got married and started their own lives, they already knew how to do life. So we trained them progressively as they evolved from 3 years old to 23 years old and you know, got in more detail with it and gave more and more responsibility. So if you got a 16 year old Camilla, that's brand new to this whole thing and you dump this on them, without you teaching them them and spending some time talking through these concepts, you're going to have a disaster on your hands. Don't do that. Don't put a thousand dollars in a 16 year old's account with no boundaries that things just, you're just going to piss away a thousand dollars instantaneously and get no lesson out of it. Because the goal here is not the money. The goal is to learn how to do generosity, saving, proper spending and work. If you teach those goals goals, they learn those principles, they'll find their own money as adults. Our scripture of the day, Isaiah 29:24 those who are confused will gain understanding and those who grumble will accept instruction. Tommy Lasorda said there are three kinds of people in this world. People who make it happen, people who watch what happened, and people who wonder what happened. Hey folks, don't just set goals in 2026. Learn how to reach them. The 2026 Ramsey Goal Planner is here. It's packed with monthly content from Jade, Rachel and Dr. DeLoney. Help you stay on track with your money, your faith, your relationships and follow through on your goals. We sell this out every year and it's almost sold out now as a matter of fact, but there's still a couple of them available. This is a big thick done. We turned the creatives loose and said have fun in your sandbox and they killed it. So it's one of the more expensive things for us to create. And yours is 4997 while they [e-mail] store or click the link in the show notes. Rylan is with us in Utah. Hi Rylan, how are you?

[D]

I'm doing well. How are you?

[A]

Just the same. How can I help?

[D]

I was, I'm 22 years old old and I just graduated college. Shortly after I moved back home. But during my time in college I was able to save around $60,000.

[A]

Wow. Dang.

[B]

How did you do that?

[D]

I started a clothing business and ran that all through. Well, I started in high school and then ran it all through college while I was studying.

[B]

Dang, that's impressive for you, man.

[A]

Way to go. Like new clothing or what were you.

[D]

Doing it was hoodies. So we. Yeah, we had a hoodie brand and then marketed it through, you know, all the short form platform.

[A]

You said had. Have you quit it?

[D]

I haven't quit it yet. Okay. But like, the income is pretty variable and I just started a new job, so.

[A]

What do you make at your new job?

[D]

You ended on 65,000.

[A]

Good for you, man. 60,000 in the bank. Graduated from college, $65,000 in income and a hoodie side hustle. Way to go, man. You're killing it.

[D]

Thank you. Thank you. So my question was I'm. I'm at home and I have the opportunity for the next year to live at home.

[A]

You don't need to do that. You're a man.

[D]

And then I also. I've kind of getting. Getting the itch to move away.

[A]

Good.

[D]

And start my own life.

[A]

Scratch it.

[D]

And so I just kind of wanted to get your advice on move. I should continue to keep investing money or move.

[A]

Okay. I figured you'd scratch the itch, man.

[B]

Fly and be free.

[A]

Listen, here's the thing. You have done so many things that are mature beyond your age. You've started and run a successful business, you've saved $60,000. You graduated from school, you got a legitimate solid first entry job coming out. What's your degree in, by the way?

[D]

I got it in business analytics, so I'm a consulting analyst.

[A]

I'm not shocked. Okay. That's just wonderful. So everything in your story is so solid and so mature, and yet what you're going to find is when you buy your own milk and your clothes don't jump up onto the hanger magically, but without you putting them there, your life's going to even get further along in your maturation and your development. And so the Rylan that I'm talking to now will be a substantially different man. One year after, he's completely on his own, paying his own bills, top to bottom, and he swings by and tells his mom he loves her occasionally, but he does not live there, and she does not buy his food or his clothes or iron his shirts.

[B]

Yes. Amen. And when you go on dates, you don't have to be like, well, I guess we gotta end this because mom and dad are home and I can't bring you home. Right. I'm not kidding. There's something very like. Yep, all of it. So.

[A]

Yeah, it's good.

[B]

It's good for you.

[A]

Yeah, that's that. You're. You're. Man, you got so many things.

[B]

Well done, though, Rylan. I bet your Parents are so proud.

[A]

I bet they are. I'm proud of you. And I'm sure they are. And it's not. My point is it's not just a math thing. There's things that are going to happen in the spirit realm and in the psychological realm for you that are. That are that far outstrip what little amount of money you could save on rent. So go. Go be. Go be the best version of you for the next three years. Man. I love it. I'm proud of you. Jake's in Texas. Hey, Jake, what's up?

[D]

Hey, what's going on?

[A]

Better than I deserve. How can we help?

[D]

Thanks for having me on. Called in to see if it was appropriate or what change I do first before purchasing a higher end timepiece.

[A]

Cool. What's the watch.

[D]

Looking at? Various brands. The typical Rolex, Panerai Omega. I haven't really narrowed it down, but kind of feel guilty.

[A]

You're thinking about a budget of what? 10, 20 ren.

[D]

10 ish.

[A]

Yeah, would be right.

[D]

It's my first one. I kind of feel guilty spending that much money money on my myself.

[A]

So I don't feel guilty spending it on you if you've got it. Are you. Do you have any debt?

[D]

We've got house, a car. One of the cars is free and clear. And then no other debt besides that. Well, I got a fess up. We. We owe 700 bucks on a mattress and I could pay off right now.

[B]

How much do you want?

[A]

No, you don't need to buy a $10,000 watch. You have a car debt. Okay, you're broke.

[D]

What do you mean make this year I will eclipse 400. Good God mission, what do you do? You know anywhere? I'm in the mortgage industry.

[A]

How long have you been in the mortgage industry?

[D]

19 years.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

How old are you, Jake?

[D]

I'm 41.

[A]

Okay, so why pray tell, if you made 400 grand, do you have a car to debt?

[D]

I don't know. I could pay it off too.

[A]

Good. You have the money in the bank to pay it off?

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

How much money have you got in the bank?

[D]

We are approaching 1.2 in total cash assets.

[E]

Okay, you don't.

[A]

I mean you're not talking. You're not talking about retirement.

[D]

Six or seven hundred thousand of that's retirement. The Roth is post tax. 529 stock bonds, cash. Just various.

[A]

Well, it's ludicrous to borrow money on a mattress. I can't imagine what you were smoking that caused that. And it's almost as dumb to borrow money on a car when you have the money sitting in the bank to write a check and pay for it. So I mean, you did call the Ramsey show, you know that, right?

[D]

I'm aware. I'm aware. I knew you were gonna beat me.

[A]

Up a little bit. All right, so yeah, I would go buy the watch as soon as as I pay to celebrate paying off the car and the thing and to celebrate my newfound debt freedom. That I'm never going to do this again because I make too stinking much money and I have too stinking much money to be buying things with debt. But no, if you make 400 grand and you're debt free, except your home and you have a half a million dollars in non or 700,000 in non retirement cash assets laying around, you can do a $10,000 watch. Absolutely.

[B]

How much is left on the mortgage is.

[D]

Jake, we owe 290 and the house is worth 750.

[A]

Why don't you go ahead and pay it off?

[B]

Get the house paid off.

[A]

Go ahead and pay it off too.

[D]

Scares me. So here, hear me out.

[A]

Why does that scare you?

[B]

Because he's a mortgage.

[D]

400 every year. It's been a good year.

[A]

Yeah, unbelievable year.

[D]

Up and down. You know.

[A]

It would scare me. Le. I mean, if I had no income, I would rather have no more mortgage.

[D]

Just the feeling of having the cash.

[A]

Yeah, it's a feeling. And it's a. You're in the mortgage business. I'm trying to get into paying a mortgage off. I get that. But you know, but yeah, if I woke up in your shoes, sir, I would be 100% debt free and wearing a $10,000 watch by the end of the month. Car, house, mattress, God and everything thing. That's where I, that's exactly where I would be. And then I'd be on a written game plan.

[B]

And then you make a top ton of money fast.

[A]

Because here's the other thing. If you're just a tiny bit afraid about having less cash assets, it'll motivate your butt to do more deals.

[B]

Yeah, well, and with that income, which I know you don't get that every year, Jake, but like, you can replenish the cash very fast.

[A]

Yeah, you, you built it pretty quick. So yeah, you've done a really, really good job. I, I will tell you in general, you don't need to feel guilty when you can spend the money and it's a small percentage of your world. And in general, that's the answer to your question. Yes, but I gave you a lot of detail to go around that of all the things I would do. But you did ask and you did call this show. So that's exactly what I do. You've done very, very well. Don't. I ran into this because you're a great salesman and salesmen sometimes run into what I did. I tried to out earn my stupidity for a while. Just lay it in place. A system. Work the stinking system, man. And then go bank a pile of money and apply it to the system. You're doing so good. That puts this hour of the Ramsey show in the books. We'll be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace. And that's to walk daily with the Prince of peace, Christ Jesus Ra.