Own Your Choices, Starting Now

Summary

The Ramsey Show — "Own Your Choices, Starting Now"

Date: April 24, 2026
Host: Jade Warshaw, Dr. John Deloney (Ramsey Network)

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Episode Overview

This episode of The Ramsey Show centers on the empowering message: you have the ability to build wealth and transform your financial future—no matter what mistakes you've made in the past. Hosts Jade Warshaw and Dr. John Deloney field listener questions, offering advice rooted in financial ownership, intentional decision-making, and lived values. The show explores relationships and money, dealing with debt (including high-interest loans and family bailouts), mindset shifts, and practical next steps for financial peace.

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Detailed Segment Summaries

1. Blended Families & Relationship Money Dynamics

(Shelby in Seattle — [00:12]-[08:39])

• Situation: Shelby, in a blended family, asks if her fiancé’s method of “splitting finances” is right. They've been together three years, jointly own a home (mortgage paid half/half), but keep most finances separate—Venmoing for bills, bickering over kid expenses. The engagement is in a holding pattern; her fiancé wants to “wait two years.”
• Key Discussion & Insights:
  • Jade: “There is a very shallow commitment here...I think it’s a wonderful thing that you’re not combining money right now, because you’re not married.” ([06:30])
  • John: “You’re worth more than being in trial period number two, you’re worth more than—no marriage I’ve ever heard of...has roommates Venmoing each other to keep the lights on.” ([05:53])
  • Advice: Wait to combine money until married. Consider the depth of commitment—red flags matter. Financial entanglement reflects relational commitment.
  • Memorable Moment: John humorously compares splitting bills by “who turns the thermostat down” to behavior of “19-year-old roommates.”
• Theme: Know your worth, honor your gut, seek transparency, and don’t ignore red flags around money or commitment.

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2. Choosing Values Over ‘Having It All’

(Jonathan in Kentucky — [10:18]-[18:09])

• Situation: Jonathan and his wife (stay-at-home mom) want to buy a home but can’t meet the 25% take-home pay rule with his income. He loves his job and their current setup, but feels “stuck.”
• Key Insights:
  • John: “You are running right up against one of our culture’s greatest lies—that we can have it all, all at the same time.” ([11:39])
  • Jade: “When you say 'yes' to one thing, you’re automatically saying 'no' to something else—even if you haven’t stopped to consider it.” ([13:13])
  • Advice: Homeownership means tradeoffs—if you value job happiness and one-income living most, renting is the chosen tradeoff. Revisit choices regularly, and own them: “I want you to take full ownership of the choices you’re making.” ([14:59])
  • Quote: “The more you feel like a victim to your circumstances, the more you both are gonna end up in pathological responses…nobody makes loving, intimate connection while they’re reacting.” — Dr. John Deloney ([15:09])
• Theme: You can have what you value most, but not everything at once. Empowerment comes from owning—rather than reacting to—your choices.

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3. Peace of Mind vs. “Mathematical” Debt

(Kyle in Boston — [21:59]-[31:24])

• Situation: At 23, Kyle is debt-free aside from $25k in federal student loans, which he could pay off today from investments, but wonders if he should keep investing since the “math” favors the market over interest.
• Key Insights:
  • Jade: “There’s a mathematical side to it…but the borrower is slave to the lender. It’s a soul tax, a sleep tax, a relational tax.” ([22:52])
  • John: “You have never been 100% in the driver’s seat of your own life... I’m telling you, on the other side of what you are bro, it’s pretty sweet.” ([25:02])
  • Memorable Bet: “Cancel the debt today, live debt-free for two months... if you hate not owing anybody, go take out $25,000 and put it back!” — Dr. John Deloney ([24:10])
  • ROI on Good Relationships: “The ROI on a married couple who are locked in with their money is the highest ROI.” ([29:32])
  • Advice: Pay off the loan now and enjoy true freedom and peace. You can always invest more aggressively after.
• Theme: Even when the numbers look close, peace, autonomy, and intentionality win out over maximizing a hypothetical financial “delta.”

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4. Should I Keep My Out-Of-State Rental?

(Richard in Austin — [33:16]-[40:47])

• Situation: Richard has a rental (old home in Florida with a “golden handcuffs” 3% mortgage), but now wants a home in Austin. Unsure whether to keep renting it for a small profit or sell and buy locally.
• Key Insights:
  • John: (mockingly) “Make a sign that says 3%...put it in the middle of your teeny tiny one-bedroom apartment…every time you have to turn sideways to get to your fridge, look at it: ‘This one’s for you.’” ([35:15])
  • Jade: “It’s really not a rental house...because if you were on the hunt for a rental house, you would not have chosen that one.” ([37:43])
  • Advice: Sell it—don’t let “the rate” trap you in the wrong asset for your life. “Start considering what you want your life to feel like.” ([39:04])
• Memorable Moment: Humorous “recency amnesia”—do you really want to hold busted investments for the next “isolated incident” (pandemic, 2008, etc.)?

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5. Setting Boundaries with Financially Irresponsible Family

(Beth in Denver — [44:13]-[52:30])

• Situation: Beth’s mom, financially irresponsible, is pressuring Beth (who is now wealthy after following Ramsey’s steps) to bail her out—despite repeated patterns of overspending, bankruptcy, and refusing real help.
• Key Insights:
  • Jade: “They made choices the same way you made choices…the fact that she’s literally coming to you saying ‘Will you buy me a house?’—that’s when I knew…this is ridiculousness.” ([46:10])
  • John: “No amount—let me free you from this—there’s not a thing you haven’t said in just the right way that will solve this for them.” ([49:31])
    “You didn’t take the baton from them. You picked it up off the track and decided to run as fast as you could with it.” ([50:01])
  • Advice: Offer planning/accountability, not money. Set clear boundaries. Don’t waste mental energy on “figuring them out.”
• Memorable Moment: John’s analogy: “You can’t keep showing up to the bar of a friend with an alcohol addiction and say ‘I’ll buy this round.’” ([51:12])
• Theme: You are not responsible for other adults’ choices. Removing rescue enables both parties to grow.

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6. Truck Debt & Escaping a 30% Interest Loan

(Dakota in Memphis — [54:23]-[63:41])

• Situation: Young caller stuck with a truck loan at a predatory 30% interest, with other vehicles, low income, and a need to save for a house.
• Key Insights:
  • Jade & John: All about swift action—sell everything (motorcycle, four-wheelers) to pay off or cover the deficit in the truck loan.
    • Jade: “The only way you’re going to get out of this is to quickly blast through it—or turn around and sell it.” ([57:24])
    • John: “You have to swallow your ego and all the things you thought made you a man at 21—a big truck, four-wheelers, toys…and say what makes me a man is absolute freedom.” ([59:11])
• Advice: Do whatever it takes to rid yourself of the 30% loan—even if that means selling almost everything and driving a “beater.” This is about more than money—it’s identity, adulthood, and freedom.

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7. Inheritances, Family Drama, and Leaving a Mess

(Leanne in Oklahoma — [65:31]-[72:13])

• Situation: Husband’s family wants to keep a heavily mortgaged house “in the family” and Ladybird deed it, requiring siblings to pay $400/mo indefinitely for a potential small future gain. Leanne is the only one earning.
• Key Insights:
  • John: Don’t join for an “investment”—there’s little upside, a lot of risk. “This ends up in multiple lawsuits…stay away from the whole thing.” ([71:57])
  • Jade: “If you can, convince him—I don’t want to be a part of this. That’s the answer.” ([71:47])
• Theme: If you don’t feel peace or can’t fully say yes to an arrangement, opt out. Sometimes the emotional (and legal) downsides outweigh any small potential gain.

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8. Stork Mode, Emergency Funds, and Enjoying the Journey

(Sean in Spokane — [117:32]-[125:21])

• Situation: Expecting first child, just got debt-free, wants to know how strictly to follow “stork mode” (pause for baby emergency fund) while also wanting to take a $15-18k trip to Italy before the birth.
• Key Insights:
  • Jade: “Ultimately, you have the emergency fund you need…I’d love for you to get at least to three months [of expenses] before you consider this, then you can tick that box…then cash flow the trip.” ([121:26]-[122:54])
  • John: “If you unshackle yourself from people telling you what to do at 23—how fast you can run will astonish you.” ([31:04])
  • Advice: Don’t use the emergency fund for the trip; cash-flow it. Communicate about timing—having a baby fundamentally changes life’s rhythms.
  • Memorable Moment: Jade plays devil’s advocate: “She’s viewing this as...‘our last shot’” before baby comes. ([124:51])
• Theme: Balance safety/nesting with enjoying special moments, but don’t risk long-term stability.

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9. Quick Call Highlights

• Should I pay off student loans or invest? ([22:05]-[31:41]): Nearly always pay off debt for the psychological and real freedom, then invest.
• Dealing with repo’d credit/cosigning: Don’t cosign, and don’t hire “credit repair”—settle debts directly for less if old and in collections.
• Family living with grandma to save: Multigenerational arrangements can work if boundaries are healthy and it’s win-win.
• Handling a house fire insurance payout: Get bids and facts before deciding to rebuild or take a payout; don’t make major choices while overwhelmed with emotion.
• Car insurance for teens: For older, inexpensive cars, drop to liability coverage only if you could cover a loss from savings.

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Notable Quotes & Timestamped Wisdom

• “Everything is an exchange. What are you willing to exchange for your freedom?” – Jade Warshaw [28:01]
• “Hold your choices. Otherwise you’re a victim to your circumstances.” – Dr. John Deloney [14:59]
• “Red flags are red for a reason.” – Jade Warshaw [08:15]
• “No amount of money will stop people from blowing by natural consequences.” – Dr. John Deloney [49:31]
• “What makes me a man at 21 is absolute freedom.” – Dr. John Deloney [59:11]
• “Focus is a matter of deciding what things you are not going to do.” — John Carmack (quoted) [116:42]

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Episode Themes & Takeaways

• Intentionality: Every major life and money choice is an act of saying “yes” to something and “no” to something else.
• Ownership: There’s power and peace in owning your choices, not drifting or blaming circumstance.
• Boundaries: With family or partners, clear financial boundaries are crucial for long-term wellbeing.
• Freedom Over Fleeting Comfort: Sometimes the path to financial peace is uncomfortable—but it leads to confidence, control, and the ability to build a future you choose.
• Relationship & Communication: Whether with a spouse, fiancée, or parent, money issues almost always point to deeper relational and trust questions. Openness, clarity, and shared priorities matter.

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For Further Guidance

• Download the EveryDollar app for budgeting support.
• Consult www.ramseysolutions.com for additional tools and ways to ask your question live.
• Remember: There’s only one way to financial peace—walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus.

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This summary skips over advertisements and focuses on rich, actionable content, preserving speaker tone and key moments for listeners new or returning to the Ramsey approach.

Transcript

[Dave Ramsey]

Brought to you by the EveryDollar app. Start budgeting for free today.

[Jade Warshaw]

Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network in the Fair Ones Credit Union studio. This is the Ramsey Show. I'm Jade Warshaw. Next to me, Dr. John Deloney. We are taking calls from you all hour long. We're headed out to Seattle, Washington, where we have Shelby on the line. Hey, Shelby, what's going on? How can we help today?

[Caller Shelby]

Hi, yes, I'm just calling wondering if the way my fiance is splitting the finances with us, with me, is the right way.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Okay, I can already tell this is going to be a fun call, Shelby.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, tell us about, tell us about the. The right way that he has it split now.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Have you listened to our show before?

[Caller Shelby]

Yes, I have. And I actually listen to you guys always. And John, like James, I follow you guys religiously. So yes.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Okay. So whatever answer we give you, same team, right?

[Caller Shelby]

Yes.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Okay. All right, good. All right, let it rip.

[Caller Shelby]

So, long story short, I, my fiance are a blended family. We do own a home together. I have three kids. He has one. I, my ex, who passed away years ago, left me in a financial situation where I did have to file bankruptcy before I got to my fiance. I then built myself back up, got myself, you know, a very six figure paying job, you know, moved throughout, and now we have one joint, checking. But the mortgage is the only thing that comes out of that. And then everything else.

[Caller or guest]

Venmo.

[Jade Warshaw]

Interesting. Okay, your phone's breaking up a bit. Make sure you're somewhere where your phone's not breaking up.

[Dr. John Deloney]

You said you Venmo each other?

[Caller or guest]

Yes.

[Dr. John Deloney]

All hot relationships stay hot through Venmo.

[Jade Warshaw]

So here's. There's some things going on here that might be outside of your belief system, but I'm just gonna say it because I try to give the advice that I would do in my own life. And that I think is something that would really help you. So you've got the one account, all the money goes into it because both of you are paying for the mortgage. And then who pays for. Who pays for the other stuff?

[Caller Shelby]

Well, so the one only the mortgage pay money goes into that one account.

[Jade Warshaw]

Right. But that comes a little bit from both of you, right?

[Caller Shelby]

Yes, it does.

[Caller or guest]

Okay.

[Jade Warshaw]

Is it half and half or.

[Caller Shelby]

Yep, it's half and half.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay, and then, and then tell me how the rest of the bills and kids stuff and how that's divvied up

[Caller Shelby]

so things like Internet power garbage are half and Half groceries. We've. We go back and forth on, well, you have two more kids than I do, so maybe you should pay for a little bit more. And I'm like, well, you knew how many kids I had coming.

[Jade Warshaw]

How do you think it should be? How do you think it should be?

[Caller Shelby]

I think we should. I think we should each have our own accounts for spending and fun and leisure. And then we should combine the rest of our finances and majority of our finances and pay all the bills from one account. He is the father figure in my children's life because their father is no longer around.

[Jade Warshaw]

How long has he been around? How long have you guys been in this field, in this relationship together?

[Caller Shelby]

Three years.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay, and when's the wedding?

[Caller Shelby]

That's a good question. Don't. He wants to wait until we've been engaged for two years before we get married.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Why?

[Jade Warshaw]

Oh, wow.

[Caller Shelby]

I don't know.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Is it.

[Jade Warshaw]

Are you.

[Dr. John Deloney]

It is this like level two in his test?

[Caller Shelby]

I feel like it. I mean, and I've watched your show many times before and I'm just like, you proposed? Why? And he's like, well, I just, I want to make sure that you're the one. And that's what I said.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I was like, you don't change. Here's the 100%. I guarantee both of you will change a million. My wife's on version like 41 of the idiot 24 year old she married. Thank God, right? I'm glad I changed.

[Jade Warshaw]

The ring doesn't mean. And now I'm considering you for marriage. That's not what the ring means. The ring is we're going to get married. I have decided you are the one I'm going to marry. The engagement is just simply a planning period to have the party. That's really all it is.

[Dr. John Deloney]

All right, so I agree. Let me ask you this. How much of. Because I want to honor this. How much of your concern about I need to have my own on the side here. How much of that stems from the absolute mess you were left when your first husband passed away?

[Caller Shelby]

In the beginning, I was terrified to join any type of finances with him because my late husband did significantly put me in a bind where I, like, could barely feed my kids. But now that I've gotten to know this man and I see him and he runs his own business, you know, I see the dedication of work that he puts in every day and that I am like, okay, yes, I am now comfortable with this. However, I would feel like my own account for like getting my hair done or my Nails, you know, leisurely.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I'll still tell you, I think

[Caller or guest]

the

[Dr. John Deloney]

nerd work, the research data on this confirms it. What we've been teaching for more than three decades, all of it goes into the same boat. And together you'll have the conversation about hair and nails and haircuts and shampoo, like all that stuff. I have to tell you, just as a husband of a wife of almost a quarter century, you're worth more than you're getting right now.

[Caller or guest]

Yeah.

[Dr. John Deloney]

You're worth more than being in trial period. Number two, you're worth more than no marriage I've ever heard of. I'm sure they exist. And I get a sample size of the ones who are in crisis. Right. I've never heard of a successful marriage where they're venmoing and bickering over who you like it colder so you have to pay more of the electric bill. You know who does that? 19 year old roommates who share an apartment. Not people who are ride or die till death do us part. Like making a life together that they both want to be awesome.

[Jade Warshaw]

And I think that's part of the, I think exactly what John said is part of the problem. There is a very shallow commitment here. And because of that, I think you're, you're experiencing that. It's like I'm only going to go so far in. And you have your reservations as well that you're only going to go so far in.

[Caller Shelby]

Yeah.

[Jade Warshaw]

And I actually think it's a wonderful thing that you're not combining money right now because you're not married. And this thing, even if you were the most solid engaged couple ever, I would still say, hey, right now you don't need to have your money combined because the deal is not done. But I don't hear like a super solid engaged couple. And so the, the reasoning still applies. Now's not the stage to combine money. I understand that you guys are all living in the same household and probably while you're in that scenario. Yeah. Having a fund where you both kick in your parts for the rent or for the mortgage, that probably makes sense for how you're choosing to live at this moment. But I wouldn't, I wouldn't combine money until you are married. And I would push for marriage.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah.

[Jade Warshaw]

Because. Well, let me, let me caveat that I would not push for marriage if you don't think this is the guy. But if you were like, this is my guy. I believe in him, I trust him. I trust that we're going to grow together and change together. And we're going to be able to get on the same page. Yes, get married. But if you're having reservations, and I want to say this because you said I got burned before. The calls that John and I get, where people have been burned before, there were red flags. There were red flags and there were little behaviors that was like, that doesn't feel right. And there was just this more and more of a separation that occurred. And so I want to tell you, if you can create a relationship that from the beginning there is transparency. Everybody's involved, everybody. We may not think about things exactly the same or have exactly the same values, but we're both very, very interested. It's our priority to show up for one each other, for one another. So if he values something, I have to show up and show, hey, I care about it too. Just because you care about it and vice versa. And if you don't sense that or feel that or see proof of life in that area, you need to consider that deeply. Because, John, these are the things. Red flags are red for a reason.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

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[Dr. John Deloney]

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[Jade Warshaw]

Alrighty, back to the phone lines where we have Jonathan, who's in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He Jonathan, how are you doing today?

[Caller Jonathan]

Hey J.

[Caller or guest]

Hey, Jonathan.

[Caller Jonathan]

Thanks for Nicole. I appreciate it.

[Jade Warshaw]

You bet. How can we help?

[Caller Jonathan]

Yeah, so my question today is just how do my wife and I buy a house? With the mortgage payment being around 25% of your take home pay and the situation that we're in I give you like a little, little quick details too here if that's cool to you.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, the more the merrier.

[Caller Jonathan]

So. Awesome. Awesome. So we've been written for seven years. We're debt free. We got debt free last, last May actually. And then we do have our three, six month of expenses. So we follow Yalls plan. And the dilemma is I get paid 46 to 80 a year. Last year I've run like 55 with overtime. My wife makes 8,000 a year just because she's a stay at home mom and she has like a side gig with the church because she does like leads, worship and stuff. So combine like 55 just base salary. I could get more with overtime. But the dilemma is, I mean like a job where I like, it's kind of a dream job. So it's kind of like I could leave and go find something making more. But you like it, Want to. I like it. And so in my life I don't want her to get a job because again, we like it. And so we don't know what to do, but we want to own a home. And it's like we're stuck.

[Dr. John Deloney]

So brother, they, you are running right up against one of our culture's greatest lies. That we could have it all, all at the same time, just how we wanted it. And every one of us runs up against that at some point.

[Caller Jonathan]

That's true. It's very true.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I want to have these great values. I want to follow my faith convictions. I want to follow my educational convictions. I want to follow my, my follow quote unquote, my passion. Working at a place that I believe in, that I like, but only pays me this much money and it runs up against this awful thing called math.

[Caller Jonathan]

Yes, exactly. That's where we are. Yeah.

[Dr. John Deloney]

So y' all gonna have to ask yourselves what do we value more? Homeownership or me working at a place where I feel valued.

[Caller Jonathan]

I don't.

[Dr. John Deloney]

They're paying me as good as they can. I trust that's that's happening. I love my work environment or a value of my wife stays at home and takes care of our kids because that's a value for us. And if the, if those two values are immovable, then that means we're going to be renters because those two values are that important to us. Or if we want, if we value home ownership above all things, then I'm going to work a job that may not be my favorite work environment or I may not love, but it's going to provide this kind of life for Us or my wife is going to in one year when the kids are old enough to go to school, where she's going to go full work, full time. And you get what I'm saying?

[Caller Jonathan]

Yeah, no, I'm definitely following you.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And I hate it for you, man. All of us. Face it, I hate it for you.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah.

[Caller Jonathan]

The dilemma. Yeah.

[Jade Warshaw]

What you said, it's a, it's something to think about. And I like what John said. Just because you make a choice now, it doesn't mean it has to stay that way forever. Because to his point, when you say yes to one thing, you're automatically, it's an opportunity cost. You're automatically saying no to something else, even if you hadn't stopped in the moment to consider what that is that you've said no to by saying yes to something to stay at home, Mom. And yes to the career. But yeah, there's a future that maybe that doesn't work for you guys anymore. And then you look up and you go, you know what? I am ready to move on into a different career or see how I can expand. And she might think, you know what? I've been staying at home for X amount of years. I'm ready to get out there. So there's no permanence in any of these decisions. And home ownership is always there waiting for you. It's not. If you say to me, jade, I really want to buy a house, I'm not going to say to you, great, that's impossible. I'm going to say, okay, with the choices that you've determined, your timeline is just a lot further out than other people's. And you're going to have to be very intentional about getting there and just know, hey, what might have taken somebody else three or four years could take you a decade. And if you're fine with, I don't know, how old are you are in your 20s, so I'm 30.

[Caller Jonathan]

My wife is 27.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay. So if you think, hey, we're not buying our first house till we're in our 40s, that's your choice to make, and that's your road if you want to walk it. I, you know, folks call in here all the time and they love their careers and there's not a, a strong upside financially. And I just go, okay, you're going to be in that Camry life. You're going to be that used Camry life, and that's okay. If that's what you love and you get most of your joy out of the work that you do here's.

[Dr. John Deloney]

The thing I want to make sure you hold, though. Okay.

[Caller Julian]

Yeah.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I don't want you to feel like this world that you and your wife live in is happening to you. I want y' all to. And it might be you call and get a babysitter and y' all go out for half a half morning. Right. I want y' all to take full ownership of the choices you're making. Because if you. If you walk through life feeling like this is happening to us, then chances are your wife is going to end up in the guilt factory. She can't do anything right. And you're going to feel like you're going to live in the failure factory. That's right. I'm not providing enough for fill in the blank. And the problem is that finish line of the guilt factory and the failure factory, it just. It just moves on you. It just keeps moving and moving until you opt out of both of those factories and you just say, hey, we're choosing this. That's great. We're choosing stay at home. We're choosing a job where I can clock out and come be present at home. And that means we're choosing this financial situation. And that means we're choosing to rent for a while. But the more you feel like a victim to your circumstance, the more you both are going to end up in pathological responses. That's a nerd way of saying you're going to be reacting to your life. And nobody makes loving, intimate, connection while they're reacting.

[Caller Jonathan]

That makes sense. That makes sense when we choose it. If we choose it, find a way

[Jade Warshaw]

to enjoy it and make it.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And if you make coming together once every six months, once a year, hey, what life do we want to choose this time? We've never been married and had a three year old and you're pregnant again. We've never been married and had a four year old. We've never been married and had a kindergarten. Like your marriage changes every year. And so to Jade's point, this particular year, what do we want to choose? Actually, I want to choose to go back to work. All right, well, let's navigate that. And that's going to come with guilt. And what? And let's choose to buy a house. Okay, then what must be true for us to do that. But it's you owning this thing, not you responding to this thing.

[Jade Warshaw]

That's so good. And that's a great question. And I actually think the way that you explain that, John, is really the crux mindset that you have to have around everything. That we teach. Because all of it is a. All of it is I'm giving, giving up something here to get something I want over here.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yes.

[Jade Warshaw]

Right. And so even something as simple as a budget, when we say, hey, make a budget. Because when you make a budget, you have control over it. You're choosing and saying, this is how I'm going to spend my money. It's not, oh, somebody's making me spend my money on groceries and my car note. And no, I chose this. I chose. I said, I'm going to put this much of a line item towards entertainment. I'm going to put this much of a line. Right. And already you feel way better about the things that maybe you're going to say no to or maybe that you're not going to be able to do in this season because you made the choice of making the budget. Same thing with getting out of debt. You chose. Okay, this is the season where I grind. No, the IRS didn't do it to me. Student loans didn't do it to me. I chose that I would like to be free. I would like to get out of debt. Therefore, now I can feel really good about and just kind of almost set my expectations to know, hey, this is the season where it feels like a

[Dr. John Deloney]

grind because I'm choosing.

[Jade Warshaw]

I chose it.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I chose it. I chose to walk into the gym this morning or not. I chose to stay up. I'll tell you, I chose to stay up way, way too late last night. And I, I then made a choice to cost myself this morning.

[Jade Warshaw]

That's right.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Right. And so even going all the way back to something like student loans, the number of times I blamed this amorphous. They.

[Jade Warshaw]

We've all done it.

[Dr. John Deloney]

They told me I had to go to college. Who? Well, they did. And it's a combo of parents and culture and teachers.

[Jade Warshaw]

Right.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And they didn't tell me how bad this was going to be after college. And they. At some point I had to say, you're right. But I signed my name on that paper.

[Jade Warshaw]

I chose to believe it.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I got to pay that back.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yes, Right.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I signed the paper. I'm going to pay that back. And. And that means I'm going to choose to have a pretty crummy car for a while.

[Jade Warshaw]

Right.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I'm going to choose to move into a dorm for a while. I'm going to choose to sleep on air mattress for like, I'm going to make these choices. And, man, that's the shift out of. Here's the thing. I spent my whole career sitting with People, assault victims, people who have loved ones pass away, people who made choices to, you know, sell or use drugs. And we always end on one question. What are you gonna do now? And that's a choice. Like this happened. It did. And it's for real. What are you gonna do now? And I think that's the most empowering question somebody can ask somebody else.

[Jade Warshaw]

I think so, too. Because then, you know, hey, no matter where things end up, I. I didn't. Somebody didn't put me there. There's more peace.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And I got in the driver's seat of my life.

[Caller Shelby]

Yes.

[Jade Warshaw]

That's one of the reasons I almost will never, ever, ever. You'll never hear me suggest bankruptcy on this show because you lose control. The government steps in, and now they are telling you to sell this and do that. Control, guys. It is a wonderful feeling, even if things aren't going specifically your way, to be able to say, I chose this. It's.

[George Camel]

Dave. We got a lot of calls on this show where life happens. One day someone's healthy, they're working, providing for their family, and then a curveball hits.

[Dave Ramsey]

You know, we hear it all the time. A car accident, a cancer diagnosis, a heart attack, and suddenly everything changes.

[George Camel]

Yeah. And that's why you've always said that having term life insurance from Zander is essential because it protects your family. And if the worst happens.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah, that's right. You need 10 to 12 times your income in coverage. No gimmicks, no whole life junk, just straightforward term life protection. But there's another piece that people often overlook, and that's long term disability insurance.

[Caller Julian]

Yeah.

[George Camel]

It's important to understand the difference between them. Life insurance steps in when you die. Disability insurance steps in while you're alive but can't work. So it replaces a large part of your income so the bills still get paid while you get back on your feet.

[Dave Ramsey]

Now, if your employer gives you free disability insurance, great, take it. If it's discounted there at a better price, take it. But if not, Zander can help you find the right plan. Whether you're single or married. It's not optional. If you're going to be out of work for a while, then you need to make sure the money's still showing up.

[George Camel]

And that's why Zander is our go to. They make it super simple to get the right coverage at the best price. No pressure, no upselling.

[Dave Ramsey]

I've trusted Jeff Zander and Zander insurance for over 25 years, and so has my family.

[George Camel]

So don't wait. It's Fast. It's easy, and it could make all the difference. Go to zander.com or call 800-356-4282.

[Dave Ramsey]

Protect yourself, protect your income, protect your family.

[Jade Warshaw]

Kyle is in Boston, Massachusetts. Hey, Kyle, how can we help today?

[Caller Kyle]

Hey, good. How are you? Thanks for. Thanks for taking my call today. Yeah, you've been. I had a question around student loans, so I'll give a quick background before ask my question, but I went to a private college, got a small scholarship, but still took on some debt, sitting at around 25,000 in student loans debt. That's the only debt I have. I'm a very diligent spender, very good with my money. If I invest in the market, standard return puts it above my interest rate. I have a hard time struggling with, should I pay off my student loan debt or should I take that minimum pay or the money and invest it into the market instead?

[Dr. John Deloney]

Dude, I love talking to smart guys, like, for real. Thoughtful. You thought this through and that's awesome.

[Caller Kyle]

Yes, definitely.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah. I mean, there's a mathematical side of that that you can play out. I'm more on the emotional side of it. You know, over here we believe that the borrower is slave to the lender. And you do feel that that's a, that's a sole tax that you pay. It's a sleep tax that you pay. It's a relational tax that you pay. And it's clearly bothering you because you're also calling into a show about the student loan debt. You're not thinking, I'm just going to go over here, invest and invest. You're thinking about it in relation to the student loan debt. So that student loan debt is weighing on you and weighing on your body in some way. I would challenge you that there's a world where you get to do both. You just need to do one first and the other one second. And I don't think in the long run you're going to go back and go, man, if only I had invested that money instead of paying off my student loan. I think you're going to go, let me just clear out the student loan. It's a private student loan. It's a private loan, right?

[Caller Kyle]

Yes. No, no. It's a federal loan. It's a federal loan.

[Jade Warshaw]

Oh, I thought you said private. Okay, so it's federal loan. How quickly could you do it? Because something tells me that you make a fine income.

[Caller Kyle]

So honestly, the reason I'm calling today is I hit the breaking point where my brokerage account meets the debt. I Could do it today, I bet.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Done. Right now? Right now.

[Jade Warshaw]

Hey, yeah.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Here's a bet I'll make you. Okay. Cancel the debt today. Live debt free for two pay periods. Two months. If you hate not owing anybody any money, go down to the local credit Union, take a $25,000 loan and put it back in the market.

[Jade Warshaw]

Money back guarantee.

[Caller Kyle]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, just call.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Call our bluff. Two months.

[Caller Kyle]

Yeah. And John, that's part of the reason I'm calling, right? I just don't think I'd do that.

[Caller Aaron]

Like I.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Of course you would.

[Caller Kyle]

I make fine money. It would. I could probably get that back in another year, maybe two. I mean, I've only been out of school for a couple of years now, so.

[Jade Warshaw]

But you see the point he's making. There's not a dilemma.

[Dr. John Deloney]

There's no dilemma. You have never been 100% in the driver's seat of your own life. You're at your parents house financially now. You went to a college where they told you what to do and when to do it. You got a job, and they're telling you what to do every day. And you got a bank telling you, I don't care if you're sick. I don't care if Covid's here. You owe me that money. You've never sat in the car of your life completely autonomously with agency, as the nerds say. And I'm telling you on the other side of where you are, bro, it's pretty sweet.

[Jade Warshaw]

That's such a good point. Anything that's in your life, you're saying yes to, right? So you should look at the things in your life intentionally and say, do I want to say yes to that? Do I want to say yes to $25,000 of debt now that I know kind of what it is and what it costs me and John made such a great point. Obviously, the answer is no. You don't want to say yes to that. Because if we said, hey, why don't you go and take out $25,000 of debt and you don't have any, you say, no, I don't want to do that.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Right. That's stupid.

[Jade Warshaw]

You ended up with this debt probably like all of us did. You weren't thinking straight. You didn't understand that that's what you were ch. Choosing. Right. You got it. But now that you have the choice, exercise that and say, I don't. You know, I don't really want that in my life. And I love what John said. If you pay it off, you decide, ah, you Know what? I actually miss it.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I miss it.

[Jade Warshaw]

I miss it. I need it back.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I love having to look every third night because you're a guy who looks. I look at my balance to see what the interest is and how much

[Jade Warshaw]

it's growing, like just to make sure it's still there.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I just miss it. Yeah. Dude, how old are you?

[Caller Kyle]

So I'm 23 years old.

[Jade Warshaw]

Wait a minute now.

[Dr. John Deloney]

You could be free before you're 25. Yeah, 25. Freedom, homie.

[Jade Warshaw]

He could be free today. He said he has the Money today.

[Dr. John Deloney]

You're 24?

[Caller Kyle]

Yeah. What's the payment on his week?

[Jade Warshaw]

What's the payment on him?

[Caller Kyle]

So my minimum payment is $207. And that would wrote me in for, I think another seven or eight years maybe at this point.

[Jade Warshaw]

Have you, have you done the math only. Have you done the math on just if you said, you know what, today I'm gonna, I'm gonna bite the bullet. I'm gonna take this 25,000, I'm gonna go ahead and pay it off. And then starting, you know, next month. Cause I have. You have more cash laying around. I just know it. Starting next month, I'm gonna invest 15% plus the 207. And I'm gonna do that from age 24 to age 64. Have you just done that math?

[Caller Kyle]

So, and I have, and I've done the math on what if I was. So in my mind, I have X amount that I'm putting towards the market and student lo. I just put. If I take that minimum payment out and take that number that I have in mind and just put it towards the market, it's.

[Jade Warshaw]

There is a little bit of a

[Caller Kyle]

higher number in keeping the student loan around because that interest rate is below standard return on the market.

[Jade Warshaw]

I know, but that's the question. My point. Let me tell you my point. My point is if you pay this off today, yes, you're breaking down your brokerage by 25,000, but you're also becoming $25,000 free. Or you become a completely free individual. And then if you do what I said, you're. The point is you're going to have a bazillion dollars. Maybe if you kept the student loan, you'd have a bazillion and one. But do you see, do you see what I'm saying? There's going to be something that you pay. It's. Everything is an exchange. We're, we've been into this heavily today. Everything is an exchange. It's like, well, what do you want to Exchange for your freedom. It's a short sacrifice. There's always a sacrifice to win. And winning isn't just in dollars and cents.

[Dr. John Deloney]

It's in peace.

[Jade Warshaw]

And peace. It's in deciding who you want to be. John and I are people. We're like, hey, we don't borrow money. We just don't like having that sense of attachment.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I don't want another grown man telling me what I have to do. I have enough of that already. They tell me what, what, what, when to be at work. They tell me how fast I can drive. I don't like it. So I don't want to give anybody else an opportunity to tell me what to do with my life.

[Jade Warshaw]

And it just sets the. It's. It's a, it's a test best for how we treat other things in our life.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And hey, since you're a guy who runs data, can I challenge you with yet another calculation?

[Caller Jonathan]

Sure.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Are you dating anybody?

[Caller Sean]

I am.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Seriously?

[Caller Kyle]

Yes.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Okay. I just finished a two year project studying marriage. Okay.

[Caller Julian]

Okay.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I would recommend, and this is going to sound crazy to you in the short term, maybe don't even put that $200 into the market right away, but go take this date of yours and y' all go have fun, go laugh, go have joy, right? You, you're debt free at 23, you make a great salary, you're on your path to be a multi, multi, multi millionaire. And the ROI on a married couple who's locked in with their money is the highest roi. Two people who get to combine time, energy, and financial resources over a long period of time, their net worth outpaces anybody.

[Caller Kyle]

Right.

[Dr. John Deloney]

So if you want to do the ultimate roi, get married and do marriage really, really well.

[Caller Kyle]

Yeah. Yeah. And that's the plan. I mean, I guess just started sooner.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Bro, I, I'm smiling because I'm, I like talking to young men like you because you're the guys that I want leading the next generation of human beings that my kids are going to walk on the sidewalks that you, that you're, that you're pouring.

[Caller Kyle]

Yeah, I, and I appreciate that. And the reason for my call is, is because of that.

[Caller Aaron]

Right?

[Caller Kyle]

Like, I, I have that question of what do I want? Do I want peace? Do I want logic? And it goes back to also the point that I think Jay was making is like, like it's bazillion plus one or peace of mind early and focus on life earlier on.

[Caller or guest]

Right?

[Jade Warshaw]

That's right. That's right.

[Dr. John Deloney]

If you unshackle yourself from people telling you what to do at 23. How fast you can run will astonish you. You'll get so far, so much further ahead of your peers, your neighbors, the people around you. It's. It's. You're in a pretty amazing spot. Choose freedom today, brother. Debt free today.

[Caller Aaron]

Sam

[Dave Ramsey]

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[Jade Warshaw]

Here's the deal. Buying or selling? Selling a home is actually a very, very big deal. And with all the clickbait headlines and conflicting data out there, it's very hard to know what's really happening in the housing market. But we're here to help make the latest trends easy to understand. For instance, last month, the average 15 year fixed rate mortgage, that rate, it ticked up to about 5.56%, but at least it's still below 6%. And if you're financially ready, a small rate increase really shouldn't hold you back, especially since waiting could mean facing higher home prices as the busy season continues to ramp up. Median home prices went up to $415,000 last month, which is typical for the spring market. With more homes available and more buyers entering the market, it's still a great time to buy or sell. Now to learn more about the housing market trends and to get free tools to help you buy or sell with confidence, go to ramsey solutions.com market or click the link in the Show Notes if you're listening on podcast or YouTube. All right, we got Richard who's in Austin, Texas. Hey Richard, how can we help today?

[Caller or guest]

Yo, what's up you guys? It's great to be on your show.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah.

[Caller or guest]

So here's what's going on. I moved to Austin from Florida about four years ago and I think I have the golden handcuffs at a 3% interest rate. So I kept my home in Florida and it's been a rental property since. And I just had it appraised at 350 and I owe 190 on it. Now I've done a ton of work in renovations to this home because it's 100 years old. So right now I don't have a high amount of cash set aside. And so it's kind of a lifestyle thing. As we're right now in Austin. I'm living in a one bedroom apartment, but the house does have a 3% interest rate. The mortgage is just under 1500amonth and it's rented for 2,200amonth. And so I'm curious if I should hold onto that house because the 3% interest rate isn't coming back or if I should sell it and look at maybe getting a place out here where I'm looking to stay for quite a few more years.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I have a great idea for you. I want you to get on a computer OG style. Use clip art. Don't use like any of the AI tools. Use clip art and make a sign that says 3% and print it in color. And I want you to frame it and I want you to put it right in the middle of your teeny tiny one bedroom apartment kitchen. And every time you go with this, every time you have to turn sideways to get by your stool so you can get into your fridge, I want you to look up and be like, yeah, 3%. This one's for you.

[Caller or guest]

Yeah, yeah. And when I. And when I go on dates, I'll say, hey, but I do own a house. It's just on the other side of the country.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah, yeah. But in the meantime, why don't you come back to my place and I can. We can both squeeze into the. The futon I have in my combined kitchen slash breakfast nook slash living room.

[Jade Warshaw]

Oh gosh. Yeah. Why?

[Caller or guest]

What are you doing? For do what I said, It's a whole 650.

[Jade Warshaw]

Oh man, this. You know, I'll tell you what, I'll give you one worse. That's like when you have like a really. And I know you're a man, but like if you have a pair of jeans you love or like and you gain a couple pounds and they don't fit anymore and you just keep them in there and it's just Taunting you every time you see him. It's like just a reminder. Like you're fatter than you were.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah. Yeah, bro. Today call today. Here, Here's a good question to ask you. If you had 150 grand right now, would you take out a mortgage even at 3% and buy a house in where? In nowhere, Florida.

[Caller Kyle]

No.

[Dr. John Deloney]

No, you wouldn't do that just by default, man. You're. You're a long distance landlord. Sell the place, have. Get that money, buy yourself a place in Austin and enjoy your life, dude.

[Caller or guest]

I guess just looking into the future, my thought is it'll be paid off in just under 20 years.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And what are you saying, homie? Have you been alive the last 10 years?

[Caller or guest]

Yes, sir, I think so.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Could you have predicted any of what's happened?

[Caller or guest]

No.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Okay. So trying to read 20 years into the future that is this madhouse, man. Best of luck to you. I would solve per. I would solve per.

[Caller or guest]

I figured y' all would go down that, that road. But you don't think it's worth keeping it just for the loan.

[Jade Warshaw]

No, you don't live there anymore. You don't live there, you don't live there. And to John's point, you can call it a rental house, but it's really not that. Because if you were on the hunt for a rental house, you would not have chosen that house. So it's just a house that you lived in and now you don't live there anymore. So you sold it like there's nothing. There's no loss there. There's no failure. There's no. And it's almost like you're viewing it as a failure to sell this house. House and let it go. And it's not you. You moved on. And that's okay. It's a natural part.

[Dr. John Deloney]

You're not winning of life. And I'll go one step further, brother. I. This is me and my house. I had a 3.1% interest rate and I paid my house off. My wife and I scratched and clawed and worked like crazy to pay our house off. And I could have made more money. It, like in the years since, I could have. If I took the gap and put it in the money in the market, I would have made money. But dude, I wouldn't trade that arbitrage for anything because I put my head down on my pillow and that house is mine and nobody can take it from me.

[Caller Sean]

So.

[Caller or guest]

So probably shoot forks. The way I set up the lease is that it'll be vacated this, not this spring, but a year from now in the spring, so.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Too long. Tell them you're selling the house. Tell them you're selling the house.

[Caller Sean]

Really?

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yes. Well, you're going to keep it for another year.

[Caller or guest]

Yeah, I guess that's a good. I guess that's a good point.

[Dr. John Deloney]

At some point I want you to start considering what do you want your house to. What do you want your life to feel like right now you're. You're over indexing on a ma. An imaginary future, and you're under indexing on the life you live right this second. You get about. Yeah.

[Caller or guest]

And that's the thing is the. Is the ego hit of living in an apartment for the time with the thought of, well, you know, and when I retire, I'll have a paid off home sitting there. Something like that.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah, maybe. Or maybe a hurricane takes it. Like, who knows? Dude.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, you change what you want. I mean, you could change what you want and that's not even in your purview when you get that age.

[Caller or guest]

Yeah, well, all right, well then, dang, dang. Let's just get on the phone with one of y' all's endorsed real estate provider.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I would before the day's over and I. Dude, I. You'll be smiling so big when this thing sell. I'm just telling you, man, when that money deposits in your account and. And you're free, we'll be able to feel that smile all the way here in Nashville from Austin.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, that's a good thing. Yeah, that, that whole. We get that call all the time. A lot of times it's military folks who are moving around a lot, and they end up with like a handful of houses in different states. And it's almost like, well, someone's in them, someone's renting it, so it must be a good idea. And the truth is, like being a long distance landlord, the places are getting tore up. You're probably not as involved as you need to be, or you're paying somebody to manage the property and it's just like if you reverse it, you never would have selected. You never would have chosen that place.

[Dr. John Deloney]

We have like recency amnesia. We just went through a global issue where in many markets they said we're freezing rents or your people don't have to pay for an undisclosed amount of time. It's like, it's like we've just all forgotten, man.

[Jade Warshaw]

Well, I mean, I do think like Covid obviously was an isolated incident, but.

[Dr. John Deloney]

But it happened.

[Jade Warshaw]

But the whole point is in 2008,

[Dr. John Deloney]

2009 was an isolated incident that's true. It's always another isolated incident.

[Jade Warshaw]

But, but, but I would say like the, the biggest part is what we've been saying for the last several calls, which is not letting life happen to you, but being so intentional about what you're choosing and knowing that if you say yes to one thing, you're likely saying no to other things. And that's okay. Like it's not a negative thing, it's a choice that you're making and being really intentional that the things that are in your life, you have said, you have looked at it and given it a once over and said yes, I like that the way it is. I would choose that again tomorrow. I would choose that again the next day. And if you can't say that about things in your life, it's time to cut it loose. That's, that's that on that. A little question here from the, the, the social media. Peyton from Facebook says, my wife wants to upgrade rooms in our house, but I feel like it doesn't make sense since we will still have a mortgage on it. Should we use those funds to pay off the current mortgage and then renovate it when we fully own it?

[Dr. John Deloney]

I have a bias there.

[Jade Warshaw]

So tell me, tell me.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I, I'm, I'm on, not on Ramsey principles. I'm on his principle. Like that's what I would want to do in my house. And I also know the current one and upgrade it. Like I'm going to pay it off when it's mine. Then I'll start tinkering with it. But I also know like that question doesn't tell me what the state of the house is in.

[Jade Warshaw]

It doesn't tell us what baby step they're on.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah, yeah.

[Jade Warshaw]

If you, listen, if you're in baby step two, now's not the time to upgrade the mortgage. I can tell you that right now.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Upgrade the bedroom.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah.

[Caller Aaron]

Yeah.

[Jade Warshaw]

Well, she, it sounds like, sounds like

[Dr. John Deloney]

she wants to remodel a room.

[Jade Warshaw]

Oh, okay. I read that a little bit different differently.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And he still has a mortgage and he says, hey, should we pay off the mortgage? I'm assuming they're in baby step four, five and six.

[Jade Warshaw]

And you know, okay, I, I'll, I'll reframe my answer. If you're in baby steps four, five and six, there is no wrong answer.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I'll fix it up, man, if you want to, or pay it off.

[Jade Warshaw]

But yeah. And if you're in baby step two, well, you already know what to do.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And, and I'll just do any of that if Mama wants to change up a room. Probably change up that room.

[Jade Warshaw]

Unless you're on baby step two.

[George Camel]

Most people don't struggle with money because they can't do math. They struggle because they don't stick to a plan. And when your bank makes your money feel confusing or hard to track, plans fall apart fast. And that's why I love Fairwinds Credit Union and their mobile app. Because, let's face it, most banks build systems that make it easy to swipe and hard to stay organized. But with the Fairwinds app, you open it and you know exactly what to do. No clicking through 11 menus just to move your own money. Just tap transfer and done. You can deposit a check from your couch by taking a picture. You can get real time alerts so you're not guessing what's in your account. And you can add your Ramsey Bweir debit card to Apple pay and tap to check out. See, a lot of banks leverage convenience to make it easier to go into debt. But Fairwinds offers convenience to help you stay in control. It's a huge difference. That's banking that actually supports the baby steps instead of working against them. So if you want to bank someplace that's both faster and wiser, check out Fairwinds. Go to Fairwinds.org Ramsey that's Fairwinds.org Ramsey insured by the NCUA.

[Jade Warshaw]

All right, welcome back to the Ramsey show here in the Fair Ones Credit Union studio. I'm Jade, this is John and we're going to Beth who's in Denver, Colorado. We were just there hosting the Ramsey show live. Beth, how you doing?

[Caller Beth]

We're doing all right today.

[Jade Warshaw]

How are you doing? Good. How can we help you today?

[Caller Beth]

My mom is is 67 and currently living on Social Security. She is married and to my stepfather and they both had pretty major surgeries this year. My mom had a back surgery and my stepdad had open heart surgery and they can't really work right now. They bring about $4,400 a month. But I recently she started like being short on things and finally I kind of asked to look at her finances and she has $51,000 in credit card debt. She has zero savings, like literally zero. She has never really been really good at money. She's lost two houses and filed bankruptcy before and I'm currently debt free after following baby steps. I'm worth with my husband about $1.8 million. And she knows that I have money and so she keeps calling me and expecting me to help. And I've Kind of put all of her stuff into a budget for her, and she keeps overspending. You know, she'll order doordash or something and then wonder why she's short every month. And so I'm trying to figure out how to kind of get it through to her that. That, like, she has to stop. And I, you know, I've talked to my husband and we. We just, like, don't feel like helping her.

[Caller or guest]

Is.

[Dave Ramsey]

Yeah.

[Jade Warshaw]

What about your stepdad? What's his role? What's his role in all this?

[Caller Beth]

I mean, they're both equally terrible at money, just generally speaking. And so, you know, she's asked me to buy her a house and she's asked me to do, like, all of these things, and I'm like, we. We can't do that.

[Caller or guest]

Like, that's.

[Jade Warshaw]

Oh, this is extreme. This is far worse than that.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I asked my buddies for nachos, not a house.

[Caller or guest]

Yeah.

[Jade Warshaw]

Oh, boy. And how long. How long have they been married?

[Caller Beth]

They've been married since I was five.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay. So this is not like, oh, this is kind of new. They've been a mess for a while. A long, long way.

[Caller or guest]

Yeah.

[Caller Beth]

They had money when I was in high school and, like, kind of just spent it and leaned into that lifestyle. And then they tried to downside and so bought another house, ended up losing both houses, and they've lived in rentals ever since. And, you know, I thought that they were kind of getting back on their feet, but I just think that they're terrible at budgets and they. They feel very entitled coming from, you know, living a lifestyle that was above their means for so long.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah. I mean, they made choices. They made choices the same way you made choices. Right. They were dealt a hand and they said, here's what I'm going to do. You were dealt your hand and you said, here's what I'm going to do. If you spend too much time and John, this is your area, but if you spend too much time trying to sort through why other people made and make the choices that they're. It is just.

[Dr. John Deloney]

You're gonna go insane, right?

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, you will go insane. Especially if you're using that framework to determine what you're gonna do. It's like you just gotta look at you and just go, hey, I see what's going on. It's very apparent. I don't need to do a bunch of mental gymnastics here. It's very apparent what's going on. And the fact that here's. What did it end for me when you said, she was literally coming to you saying, hey, will you buy me a house? That's when I knew we don't even need to go through a whole lot of the rigmarole of what they're doing. This is ridiculousness. And I'm wondering, have you just gone to her and said, mom, here are the ways I can help you. I can help you with the budget. I can help you as accountability to stick with the budget. I can help show you the things that I've done. I can provide a plan for you. But one thing I cannot do because you guys actually do have money is I am not going to give you monetary help because you have money coming in that if you manage it properly, will be enough for you. And I think when you say that very clearly, that's all you can say. And then when. When. When your mom oversteps the boundary because she's going to, you can just say, hey, just remember what I said before. Let's. I'm happy to sit down with you and do the budget.

[Caller Beth]

Yeah, I think the tricky part right now is that, like, about half of these things are already in collections. Like, the credit cards are in collection.

[Caller or guest]

She.

[Caller Beth]

She doesn't even have enough room in her budget to pay these crazy minimums. And so I kind of told her to start with one credit card and, like, not pay the rest right now. And I said, like, I set up

[Caller or guest]

a budget for her. Follow it.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Beth, she's lost two houses before.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah.

[Dave Ramsey]

She.

[Dr. John Deloney]

She's had the worst thing that can happen to somebody. She lost her home, and then she had it happen again. And then she's about to have it happen again. What does that tell you? What does that tell you?

[Caller Beth]

I mean, I just feel like they just don't learn from their mistakes.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Okay, so. So you. Here's the thing. You're right. And, like, they. They blow by natural consequences. The rules of the world of reality don't apply to them when they have money and when they don't. And.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah.

[Dr. John Deloney]

No. No amount. Let me free you from this. There's not a thing you haven't said in just the right way that would solve this for them. They're really fortunate to have you as their daughter. The fact that you care this much. Because I know in a family with finances like this, you've been through a lot also, right?

[Caller or guest]

Yeah.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah.

[Caller Beth]

I mean.

[Caller Shelby]

Yeah.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah. Listen, listen.

[Caller Beth]

We went to food banks when I was little for the same reason, probably.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yes. I wanted you to hear me say, you have changed your family tree. You didn't take the Baton from them. You picked it up off the track and you decided to run as fast as you could with it. And you're going to hand it off to your kids in a much better position than you were given it. Right?

[Caller or guest]

Yeah.

[Caller Beth]

I mean, that was my huge motivator for not ending up like that.

[Dr. John Deloney]

That's right.

[Caller Beth]

Just promised I would never leave my

[Jade Warshaw]

kids like, like in this position.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah. And you've done that. And I want you to hear me and Jade say, we're, man, we're so proud of you because what you've done is really hard. It's harder than just doing the baby steps. You also had to take care of that seven year old little girl that was dealing with chaos and divorce and new boyfriends and food insecurity growing up.

[Jade Warshaw]

And now it continues to be hard because here you are doing well and you have to sit and see.

[Dr. John Deloney]

You got survivor's guilt. That's right. Yeah. And so let me say.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yep.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Here's what I know about you. I can tell it by the way you told the story. If this, if your mom and stepdad were doing really well and suddenly their house got hit by a giant limb, you would be there with a checkbook on day one. That's who you are.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yep.

[Dr. John Deloney]

But you can't keep showing up to the bar of a friend who's struggling with an alcohol addiction and saying, all right, I'm going to buy this round. And then you got to go, yeah.

[Jade Warshaw]

And you. And into that same analogy. You've been kind, but you've been kind. You said, I'll pay for therapy, I'll pay for rehab, I'll pay for. And, and if they say I don't want to go on it, they don't want it. Yeah, Yeah.

[Caller Beth]

I offered to pay for financial peace. And they don't, they don't want, I don't even want to do, I don't even want to do it because I

[Caller or guest]

don't think they'll do it.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And they won't. And they don't, they don't, they don't want your help. I mean, they don't want your advice. They want your money. And that means it's not a relationship, it's transactional. And that breaks my heart for you because everyone needs their mom.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Caller Beth]

I feel like the adult.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah, you 100% are the adult. And that means you have to act like the adult. And when our toddlers, I, I never, it never ceases to amaze me when people are like, man, my 10 year old only Wants ice cream. I'm like, yes, they're 10 and ice cream's awesome. Then you had adults in their lives to say, hey, we can't do that all the time.

[Caller Aaron]

Time.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And in. Similarly, you are, you're the adult now. And you have to say, hey, I'm. I'm not giving you any more money. And then you're going to have to go home with your husband and be real sad that your mom put you in this position. I hate it for you.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah. And if you give her more money, she's going to be wasteful with it. And that's just going to add to any resentment or any feelings of, you know, any negative feelings that you already have towards her.

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[Jade Warshaw]

All right, back to the phone lines we go where we have Dakota, who's in Memphis, Tennessee. What's going on, Dakota?

[Caller Jonathan]

How are y' all doing today?

[Jade Warshaw]

Doing pretty good. How can we help?

[Caller Jonathan]

I have about 30,000 in debt roughly. It's really just. It's really just my truck payment. I have all my credit cards paid off. I have a couple other vehicles. Everything's paid off. But I want to pay off my truck and I want to start saving for a house. I need to know what to do to do that.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay. I love that you're interested in paying off vehicles, your vehicle. Why do you have multiples? What other vehicles do you have?

[Caller Jonathan]

I have a 199373 IDI diesel truck. I have a motorcycle and a couple four wheelers.

[Jade Warshaw]

Oh, boy.

[Dr. John Deloney]

You like them wheels, don't you?

[Caller Jonathan]

Yes, sir.

[Jade Warshaw]

What's your income to have all these,

[Dr. John Deloney]

you better be making a million.

[Caller Jonathan]

A million bucks, homie, not just terrible with money.

[Jade Warshaw]

Well, at least you're honest.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Hey, dude. Yeah. Admission is the first step.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay, so tell me again. Tell me, what are you earning?

[Caller Jonathan]

I'm making about 3200amonth after taxes.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay, so I'm just gonna put you on blast. My screen says that this truck has a 30% interest rate. Is that true? You left that little part out.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Did you buy it from the mob? What did you do?

[Caller Jonathan]

I don't. I'm not really for sure why they gave it to me at such a high interest rate. I didn't have a co. Signer. It was a year ago. So I was right. I just turned 21.

[Jade Warshaw]

No, no, wait, wait, wait. You said. I'm not sure why they gave it to me. Want to know why did you take it? Why? Did you know any better?

[Caller Jonathan]

I was. I was going to travel on the road and, you know, be a. Be a welder out on the road. Well, my dad got cancer, so I came off the road. So I come back to making regular people money.

[Jade Warshaw]

Got you.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I know, but you. You just walked into a truck dealership and they sold you a truck and just. Is it. Is it like a. Was it like a payday lot or is this like a dealership?

[Caller Jonathan]

It was an actual dealership out in Mississippi.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And they rolled you up for 30%?

[Caller Jonathan]

Yes, sir.

[Jade Warshaw]

Wow.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Okay, man. I. Whoever did that is a terrible, terrible person. Taking advantage of a 21 year old kid who's trying to take care of his dad with cancer. I. I won't say what I'm thinking in my head because I'm on the radio right now. But that's. That's a terrible, terrible person that took advantage of you like that.

[Jade Warshaw]

That.

[Caller Jonathan]

Yes, sir.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Sorry.

[Caller Jonathan]

You live in hope. Better.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Hey, you know what? That.

[Jade Warshaw]

That's right.

[Dr. John Deloney]

The path forward is okay. You took advantage of me. You got. Went in on me, but I stepped in the ring. I signed that paper. You're right. Now, now what am I going to do next? So good on you, brother. Like, that's, that's the, that's the right way to handle it. Now you got a mess. Let's just go walk through it and clean it up.

[Caller Jonathan]

Yes, sir.

[Jade Warshaw]

So when you pay your pay, how much is your payment?

[Caller Jonathan]

800amonth.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay, man. All right. The only way you're going to get out of this is to just quickly blast through this. That's the only way. Or you can turn around and sell it.

[Dr. John Deloney]

But how Upside down, are you?

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, I know that you are.

[Caller Aaron]

I'm not.

[Caller Jonathan]

I'm not upside down at all right now. I mean, I make enough to pay my truck payment, pay my insurance, and have a little bit of fun with the money and everything else.

[Dr. John Deloney]

It's just upside down meaning. How much is that truck? If you went and sold it today, how much would you get for that, minus what you owe on it?

[Caller Jonathan]

Oh, I'd be upside down by 10,000.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Okay.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay, so here's the plan. I want you quickly, today, tomorrow, I want you to go to your local credit union and I want you to say, can you please. Somehow I got into this crazy loan. I want to sell the vehicle. Can you please give me a loan for $10,000? That way, when you go and you sell this car, for what it's worth, you can close that gap and be able to get the title. You can be able to pay it off and. And have a clear. A clear title on it. So that's what you need. You need $10,000. And then in the meantime, you've got another truck. You've got four wheelers, you've got motor. You've got other ways to get yourself around town until you can use your income to save up. I don't know, $6,000. Something tells me you're good at working on vehicles. So get yourself like a 6 or $7,000 truck. Truck or car, and let that be your beater that you drive around town until you can save up and kind of get yourself on track.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Does your dad, is he feeling better? Is he doing well?

[Caller Jonathan]

He's got a cancer appointment this coming Monday. He's got another surgery. This will be his fourth one.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Does he have a car you can use in the meantime?

[Caller Jonathan]

He does, but he's disabled and he's always at the house, so I'd hate to leave him at the house with nothing.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah, but if he's not going anywhere, I'm just trying to give you options. And you wouldn't be the only person cruising Memphis on a four wheeler. I'm in Nashville, so that was my Memphis dig. But, yeah, man, you're gonna have to just swallow all of your ego and all your pride and all of the things that you think had made you a man at 21. A big truck, four wheelers, toys. And you're gonna have to say, the thing that makes me A man at 21 is absolute freedom.

[Jade Warshaw]

Right, Right. And, you know, like, we don't. I don't. I don't think we're gonna have to convince you to do this. Cause, you know, 30% is just astronomical. And for. For your income that you're bringing in, I mean, it's just gonna. It's just gonna eat your lunch and you're gonna hate driving. You probably already do hate driving it because it's just. It's so detrimental to anything you're trying to build right now.

[Caller Jonathan]

Right? I go for about 250 bucks a week in diesel.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Do you use your truck for work?

[Jade Warshaw]

Work?

[Caller Jonathan]

Yes, sir. It's my daily driver.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I know, but do you. Is it have like a welding rig on the back or is this. Could you do the same job with a Prius?

[Caller Jonathan]

I could do the same job with a Prius.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Brother, it's Prius tax time. You got to drive a Prius for a year. That's your. That's your tax on what? On your st. That's your stupid. I'm just playing. You don't gotta do that.

[Jade Warshaw]

But you do need to get that loan. Will you do it?

[Caller Jonathan]

I can try. My credit is 650 or 660 right now.

[Jade Warshaw]

Listen, dude, here's the thing.

[Caller Jonathan]

Able to get a house.

[Jade Warshaw]

I don't care. I don't care. Care how you need to get this loan. You're not. Nothing's going to be worse than 30.

[Dr. John Deloney]

No.

[Jade Warshaw]

Right.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And you're not. You're not close to a house right now, man. So set that dream aside for a second.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, you could put the. You could put the 10,000 anywhere else and it's going to be better than what you're paying right now on this car loan.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Or could you sell both those four wheelers and come up with ten grand on the sale of those?

[Jade Warshaw]

Oh yeah, that's a great. That's an even better idea, John.

[Caller Jonathan]

Not a chance. I could probably sell my motorcycle.

[Jade Warshaw]

How much is that worth?

[Caller Jonathan]

Seven?

[Jade Warshaw]

Yes.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Today. Today. Put it on the market.

[Caller Jonathan]

Okay.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And here's the thing. When. If you think about buying a house right now, that's like you are out in the ocean and the ship had a hole in it and you're treading water and you're. And you're trying to get online on your phone and buy curtains for a beach house. Like your thing you should be worrying about now is swimming to shore.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah. What about your other diesel truck? What's that worth?

[Caller Jonathan]

About 4,000. It's all old truck. It's got a lot high miles.

[Dr. John Deloney]

That's your new. That's your new daily driver?

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, that's your new daily driver. So. Yeah, this is. This is even Better we sell the motorcycle. I would still put the four wheelers up because who knows, maybe you can close that gap and get the 3000. I don't know what a four wheeler is worth, but you need 3000 to go with the 7000. Then you sell the $30,000 truck and you've got your diesel truck, your older one, sitting there ready for you to drive. This is, this is what's called a clean slate. Like that gives you a completely fresh start and it's not what you were envisioning.

[Dr. John Deloney]

But man, what's your, what's your trade, brother?

[Caller Jonathan]

I'm a welder. Welder slash heavy machine operator.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Okay, Can I tell you right now, in our current world, a 21 year old who is a licensed welder and heavy machine operator that has, that has no debt. You know what, you can do anything you want. You're one of the freest men on the planet.

[Caller Jonathan]

That sounds real nice.

[Dr. John Deloney]

But right now you got a dad who's struggling with cancer and you have a four wheeler dealership saying, I don't care what going on, you owe us money. You go to work, you have a diesel truck. Evil people who sold you a diesel truck over your head and they're like, I don't care if your old man's pass is, is getting sick, is about to pass away. You have to go to work because you owe us money. Right? And we're, we're cutting all those chains today, right?

[Caller Jonathan]

That sounds like a plan to me, dude.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Welcome to, to your freedom. Good man.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, I'm proud of you. Listen, and John, here's the thing. Whenever, whenever we get calls like this and the solution is so sweeping and it's just so extreme. It's like, sell the car, sell the motorcycle, drive the old truck, get rid of the four wheelers. I am always so proud of the people. Now don't get me wrong, like when we say that, I know they're gonna get off the phone and they're going to sit in their car or they're going to sit in their break room and be like, okay, like the true test happens now where he has the next, you know, 30 minutes to an hour to really think about what we said and am I actually gonna do it?

[Dr. John Deloney]

Don't think, just go, just go, just go, just go. Just do it.

[Jade Warshaw]

Just do it. The people who, and we're not saying just listen to us and don't think, but you know what we're saying is right, you know, it's the right move. Don't talk yourself out of it. Strike while the iron is hot. Change your life today. Just go to do it. You won't regret it.

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[Dr. John Deloney]

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[Jade Warshaw]

Alrighty, let's go back to the phone lines where we have Leanne who's in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. What's going on Leanne? How can we help today?

[Caller or guest]

Well, I need to find out if profit potential is worth a liability and worry. My husband's father had a recent illness, quickly put him in a nursing home. The siblings, there's four of them, decided they wanted to do a Ladybird deed to protect the only asset, which is his house, from creditors. He has $30,000 in credit card debt, no savings. There's $140,000 loan on this house and it's probably worth 350,000 DOL. The siblings are going to have to split the cost to keep this house running. If it's sold, the creditors or Medicare can take it. That's who's going to be paying for his nursing home. And so that's telling that we've been told that that will be $400 apiece per month to take care of this house. It's 15 hours away. The profit might be 20 to 30 thousand dollars when he passes away. One of the siblings has had over 30,000 in gambling debt. There's also two children from a deceased sibling. So it would be divided six ways.

[Jade Warshaw]

After it's divided six ways, that's the $20,000 profit.

[Caller or guest]

Right. And who knows how long we're going to have to pay this $400 a month. I'm the only one that works. My husband had an injury. He'll be getting retirement soon, but he can't work. So it's me paying the $400. If something does happen to my husband before his father passes away, this, his proceeds will go to his children.

[Jade Warshaw]

It won't go to you.

[Caller or guest]

I will be. No, it'll go to the children. And I guess it just. That's the way that works.

[Jade Warshaw]

Are you expecting, are you expecting your husband not to make it for the next two to three years?

[Caller or guest]

Well, he has some significant health problems, so there is a risk, I mean, for that.

[Jade Warshaw]

When I look at the nursing home situation, most people, it's a two and a half to three year stay. Like, that's the maximum that you can usually count on. That's just average time. So if I were going to do the math on this, I would calculate it at, okay, If I pay 400 bucks a month, you know, for two to three years, that puts me in this, you know, X amount of dollars, what, $12,000. And then I, I stand to make at that point, I don't know, 10,000, $8,000 off this entire deal and off this entire headache if, if I get the 20,000. So that's kind of where my brain immediately goes.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Let me, let me dig it. Like, do you, do you have 400amonth?

[Caller or guest]

Yes, but there's a lot of resentment on my part because he didn't take care of his finances.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Sure, I, I get that.

[Caller or guest]

I don't think, I just don't. I don't want, I don't be on the deed.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I don't, I don't think it's. I would not do this as an investment. I would do this as a way for me, like, in service to my husband who feels like he needs to take care of his dad at the tune of 400amonth for the next 18 to 24 months. If you get some money back. Yippee doo da da ape. I wouldn't count on it. I would look at it that way.

[Caller or guest]

The only thing is his dad's going to be taken care of. The siblings are using this as a savings, a way of savings to keep the house.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I know, I know.

[Jade Warshaw]

And they can do that.

[Dr. John Deloney]

They can do that of their heads and out of their minds. Resentment is baggage you're carrying. Right. You've heard the old AA saying, you're drinking poison, hoping that they will get sick. I'm going to choose to send 400 to my father in law. Me and my husband are together and we're going to send $400 to take care of him. His siblings have been, have had their struggles. They've always had struggles. They're always going to have struggles. I'm not getting in their mess, I'm not doing business deals with them. Yada, yada, yada. That's all wise and good. I'm not looking at this as a what. And by the way, he technically is getting taken care of, but he's getting taken care of with your tax dollar. You're paying for this in any way, right?

[Caller or guest]

Correct. So that's another thing.

[Jade Warshaw]

That's if you don't want to be part of this, you don't have to be part of it. And you know, you asked a very clear question, like, is there basically a return on investment for me if I do? Yeah, maybe you come out with $8,000, but I don't think that's worth it for you. You don't know that you're gonna get this money. You don't even want to be a part of this.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Can you.

[Caller Julian]

Yeah.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Can your husband just say, hey, we, we want out of this deal, Y' all split it and do your thing with it? Yes, I would do that.

[Caller or guest]

Is there a liability with this house? Can someone come back on us?

[Jade Warshaw]

On you? You're not on the deed.

[Dr. John Deloney]

You're not on the deed. Right?

[Caller or guest]

If they're not on the deed. But the husband would be put on the deed.

[Dr. John Deloney]

No, no, no. You can go in and say, I don't want. I'm, I'm foregoing my piece of this, my potential piece of this. Best of luck to you all. Yes, that's, that's exactly what I would do.

[Jade Warshaw]

Because to your point, he's not, and I don't know what you guys have going on with your personal finances, but he's not the one paying for it. You would be the one paying for it. And you're saying, I don't want to do it.

[Caller or guest]

We only owe for our house and our vehicle.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, yeah. Please. Yeah. If you can convince him. I don't know if he's like dead set on this, but if you can convince him, no, I don't want to be a part of, of this. I think that's the answer. Nothing.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Y' all will come out looking like the good guys. Tell. Tell his siblings, hey, you know what?

[Caller or guest]

We.

[Dr. John Deloney]

We're.

[Caller Jonathan]

We.

[Dr. John Deloney]

We're doing well. We want y' all to split it amongst yourselves.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, there you go. That's even better. That's even better.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And this ends up, by the way, this ends up in multiple lawsuits because somebody's cousin of one of these step kids is going to be like, well, I want a piece. And they're going to have a friend who knows a guy who will write a legal brief. I mean, not a brief, but a legal letter. Or just. Yeah, stay away. Stay away from the whole thing.

[Jade Warshaw]

Absolutely, absolutely. Well, John, another social question I have here in my hand. Let's see here.

[Dr. John Deloney]

You love them social media.

[Jade Warshaw]

I like them because people, sometimes they don't want to call in. They just want to talk to us here. All right, Joanie from TikTok says, is hiring a credit repair company a smart move? No, I don't have a lot of current debt. I just have some really old things on my credit that I want to get rid of.

[Dr. John Deloney]

There's that old Seinfeld exchange. When Kramer comes in and he's like, they write it off. And Seinfeld's like, they write off of what?

[Jade Warshaw]

He's like, I don't know.

[Dr. John Deloney]

They just write like it doesn't just go away. Just pay it.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, I would say pay it. And you can probably. If it's really, really old, you can probably settle it. Settle it, because that's what they're gonna do.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah.

[Jade Warshaw]

By the way, let's. Let's talk about that a minute, because we get a lot of credit. Credit repair, debt settlement. Companies like that whole thing. And just a reminder, they do what you can do. They just make deals. They hold the money for a long time so that you are in default. Basically, it wrecks your credit. And then they go in and make deals, which is exactly what you can do. And you're already in the position to do that because the thing's been sitting around for however long old on your credit, just call them up. And however much you owe, let's say you owe a thousand dollars on something, save up 400 bucks cash and say, this is what I'll give you. They weren't expecting to get your money anyway at this point.

[Dr. John Deloney]

A credit repair agency is like this. Let's say you were driving down the highway and you had a flat tire and you pulled over. You can call a tow truck and negotiate with a tow truck, or you can call a credit repair company. They'll get back in your car and they'll drive it down the highway into a brick wall and then they will call the tow truck company for you. That's what they'll do, like just wreck it for me. They'll take your credit and they'll, they'll hold your money, they'll destroy your financial picture and then they'll get the same deal you were going to get anyway. Just get $400 in cash. Call them.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, that's right. You can do this. I believe in you again, John. There is such a theme on this show about being in control. This is like the fourth one that we've talked about of just, just take control of your destiny. You don't need anybody to do it for you.

[Dr. John Deloney]

No. And if you call your a creditor, an old creditor and they, and they say, hey, hey, this thousand dollar Debt's now worth $8,000 in fees and whatever. Say I got $400 in cash, I'll pay it right now. And they'll say, well, I'm not authorized. Hang up. Just hang up.

[Jade Warshaw]

Hang up and call somebody else back.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Call the number right back.

[Jade Warshaw]

Be as annoying to them as they are to you. Yeah, and pretty soon they'll settle it. And when they do, just get it in writing. Laminate that bad boy and keep it for life in the folder marked, you know, open in case of emergency and it's there for you.

[Caller Aaron]

It. Foreign.

[Jade Warshaw]

You know, we wish we could get to every single call here on the Ramsey show, every single question, but it's just not possible. So if you do have a money question and you want an answer for your situation, head over to our website and use Ask Ramsey Ask Ramsay. Ramsey is our free AI tool that's built and trained on proven Ramsey principles. You'll get an answer the same way we'd answer it right here on the show. Ask your question [e-mail] or just click the link in the description if you're listening on podcast or YouTube. All right, Aaron in Minneapolis, Minnesota is on line three. What's up Aaron? How can we help?

[Caller Aaron]

Hey, how you guys doing today?

[Jade Warshaw]

Chilling. How can we help?

[Caller Aaron]

So I just recently turned 19. I am working full time. I have been dating this girl for almost two years now and we are about to fully move in together. She's full time going to college at a university and whatnot. And I live very close to her campus and so usually pretty much throughout the entire time of her being a freshman, she's pretty much just stayed at my place all the time. Even though she's technically lived at the dorm, but. But now she's for sure. Like coming up soon on this next lease, she's fully gonna be moving in with me and my roommates. And we just have some financial disagreements

[Jade Warshaw]

with you and your roommates.

[Caller Aaron]

We know how to resolve.

[Jade Warshaw]

How many roommates do you already have, dude?

[Caller Aaron]

So I currently have three roommates.

[Jade Warshaw]

Oh, my. Oh, she loves you. She's about to live with four. Wow. This is different.

[Caller Aaron]

Yeah, I got. I got really lucky. My rent is very cheap. Obviously having to do with the fact that I do have roommates.

[Jade Warshaw]

How many bedrooms is this place?

[Caller Aaron]

Four bedrooms.

[Jade Warshaw]

Wow.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Hey, if you actually see a future with you and this girl, don't do this.

[Jade Warshaw]

Please don't do this. Please don't unsee too much. She can't unsee the things that she's going to see and experience.

[Caller Aaron]

So just a little bit. Go ahead.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Just listen. Dude, I was 19 2. I was head over heels in love when I was 19 2. Please don't do this.

[Jade Warshaw]

What's her name?

[Caller Aaron]

Her name is Madeline.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay, I know you just made that up.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I'm proud of you for protecting her.

[Jade Warshaw]

And Madeline, wherever you are, please don't do this. On behalf of women everywhere, I'm scared for you. I'm making jokes. But seriously, with John. I'm with John. Please don't do this. There's no way that this is good. There's no, there's no good parts to this in many, many ways.

[Caller Aaron]

I mean, yeah, so. So here's. Here's kind of where I stand on it. So the. The main reason for this. And then again, I. I've gotten really lucky. One, my rent is super cheap. And we have gotten along. Not just me, but me and her, because like I said, she. She's been over to my house.

[Jade Warshaw]

She's your girlfriend. Of course you get along.

[Caller Aaron]

Oh, yeah, of course, of course. But yeah, and so we get along very well with my roommates. We always hang out together.

[Dr. John Deloney]

It's so different.

[Caller Aaron]

Very true. Very, very true. But again, it's.

[Jade Warshaw]

Tell me why. You tell me. Hey, you tell me why it has to be this way. Give me. Give me three good reasons why it has to be this way.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Give me one.

[Caller Aaron]

So I am currently, like I said, I work a full time job. I'm not in school or anything like that.

[Jade Warshaw]

She.

[Caller Aaron]

She has a part time job job, but she does not save her money.

[Caller Jonathan]

She.

[Caller Aaron]

Like I said, we're kind of on two ends of the spectrum when it comes to money and finance.

[Jade Warshaw]

So you'd Be rescuing her pretty much.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And she. Hold on, hold on. And she would be using you. Go ahead.

[Caller Aaron]

Yeah. And it's just obviously, like you mentioned, you know, young and in love. I'm 19, you know, I want a future with her, and I'm trying to overcome some of these things that I'm trying to work things out the best way possible. You know, should we.

[Caller Kyle]

We.

[Caller Aaron]

We're from about an hour and a half away from where we currently live. We're both in the same hometown, and she got the opportunity to go to school up at this place, and I didn't want. If I didn't move out, I was just going to be living with my parents, and I didn't want that. I wanted to get out and kind of.

[Jade Warshaw]

So you moved there because she was there?

[Caller Aaron]

Pretty much.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay.

[Dr. John Deloney]

It's all good.

[Jade Warshaw]

That's there. Listen, I'm gonna repeat back to you what you said, and I want you to really think about each one of these, because this. My. My job here is to make you think. I'm not gonna be able to convince you by giving you my opinion. I just want you to think about the things that you said. First off, you told me. When I said, hey, give me three good reasons why this is a great idea. You told me, and I'm gonna say them in reverse order. You said what? Well, she was moving there, so I just moved there, too. She had a plan for her life. I didn't really have much of a plan, so I just went where she was. That was the. The last thing you told me. Then you said, well, it's kind of convenient because her lease is up. And so since her lease is up, that's kind of like a convenient thing. So I'll just roll with that. Then. Then the next thing you told me was, well, well, she doesn't really work much, so whatever she's doing now, she's probably not going to be able to afford it. So I can afford it, so I'll just do that, too, and I'll. I'll just rescue her and she can use me. So when you give me those types of reasons, John, all of those are just kind of like a. I'm just letting life. I'm just rolling. I'm just letting anything happen that I want to happen. Right?

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah. And here's the thing, dude. We want y' all to be successful long term. I want this to work out for you. I like the idea of moving to go be with the person you want to be with. I love that. And you're Working your full time job. But a you're bringing her, a 19 year old young woman into a house with three dudes. Not who aren't going to school, who live very different lives. You are not aligned on how you'll spend money, how you'll earn money, how you. You're not aligned on core values use and you're not aligned on who's going to pay for what. How are we going to pay this? I'm. I'm just telling you cuz I want this to work for y', all, dude. I'm such a romantic at heart and I know.

[Jade Warshaw]

Don't do this and, and try to think this is a horrible thing for me to say cuz I don't. At 19, your brain is just not there. But if at all you can muster up the thought of if your daughter said yes, I'm going to go live in a house with four dudes who

[Dr. John Deloney]

are 19, one of which is my lover.

[Jade Warshaw]

You would do the Fred Sanford and have a heart attack and fall out. That's what would happen. Now we dropped your call on accident. I think the call dropped. You're not here to respond to this. But just know we love you, dude. We're rooting for you. We are on your side and we want the best for you.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Don't do this. Please don't do this.

[Jade Warshaw]

He's not gonna do it. Let's go to April.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Oh no.

[Jade Warshaw]

She's in Cleveland, Ohio. April, how can we help today? Hi.

[Caller or guest]

Well, my son is 22 years old. He just received a settlement in February. So we are discussing things that he should do and he already has done some stuff but we're not sure what to do with the rest that he has from that. We already put an investment and he opened a growth savings. He did investment and then he did pay off some things that he had to pay off and then he bought a car, but we don't know what to do with the rest.

[Dr. John Deloney]

How old is your son?

[Caller or guest]

22.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Okay, and how much money are we talking from the settlement?

[Caller or guest]

He got 250,000.

[Dr. John Deloney]

What happened?

[Caller or guest]

He received a TDAP shot when he was 10 and he got a blood disorder and he had to get his spleen removed. He's good now, but it came back that it was from the shot.

[Jade Warshaw]

So. Sorry.

[Caller or guest]

Sorry.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Okay. Will you do me the. You're asking a money question and we'll get to that right here real quick. But I want you to do me a huge favor.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yes.

[Dr. John Deloney]

You've been taking care of this boy since he was young because You're a good mom, especially through medical stuff. I want you to put your son in the driver's seat of this situation. He's a 22 year old young man. And so I want you to, I want in your home, I want you to tell your son, hey, you know what I've been saying, what are we going to do with this money? This is your money. And I will sit by you, I'll help you make wise choices. But you're 22 years old. His, a 22 year old man needs his mommy to sit in the back seat or in the driver, I mean in the passenger seat at best.

[Caller or guest]

Right?

[Dr. John Deloney]

Preferably not in the car at all.

[Caller or guest]

Okay, Exactly.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And I know this is hard, but that's, that's, that's my two cents there. Jade, what do you think?

[Jade Warshaw]

Is he responsible? I get the sense that he's responsible.

[Caller or guest]

He is, he is responsible. He wants to make, he wants to grow.

[Jade Warshaw]

I believe that. And, and if I were in your shoes, it sounds like he's paid off his debt. He doesn't have any more debt. It sounds like he has a, he has a reasonable emergency fund set aside. Yes.

[Caller or guest]

Yeah, he, so he, he, he's a barber. My husband, his dad has been a barber for 28 years.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Amazing.

[Caller or guest]

So now he's a barber and they're at the same shop.

[Jade Warshaw]

So, so he's making a reasonable income. As long as he's making a reasonable income, he set aside some savings. I would take this money and honestly the next big goal for me and if I were him, I'd be like, I want to buy a house and I want to buy, I want to put as much down on that house as possible. Maybe I can even buy it completely in cash. And if that is a shorter than five year horizon, which I think it will be, I park it in a hysa. Until that day comes.

[Caller Aaron]

Foreign.

[Jade Warshaw]

Welcome back to the Ramsey show here in the Fair Winds Credit Union studio. We're going back to the phone lines where we have Susan, who's in Huntsville, Alabama. All right, Susan, you're on the line. How can we help? Hi, how are y' all doing? Great. What's up?

[Caller Sean]

Good.

[Caller or guest]

I'm excited. Y' all are my favorite host.

[Dr. John Deloney]

So, yes, we're going to clip that and send it to our colleagues.

[Caller or guest]

Don't tell Dave. We're just needing some help navigating our debt. We have about 37,000 in debt and that's including like car debt and credit cards. And we started in January listening to y' all and trying to attack those debts. And we're down 5,000 in the credit cards already that we've paid.

[Jade Warshaw]

Great.

[Caller or guest]

But every time, it just seems like every time we have that thousand dollars, like, life is happening and somebody. We both needed new tires and, like, our fridge went out last weekend, and we didn't have the thousand dollars saved back up. So it felt like a stand, but I had to go put it on a Lowe's credit card. So now it just feels like we're adding to. You know, it feels like we're just taking two steps backwards. So anyways, I just feel sick knowing we're further into debt now than we were. And, yeah, it just makes me nervous not feeling prepared when things climb up. So I just wondered if y' all could help me navigate that.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah. So here's what I want to say. You know, part of. And we can do a better job of saying this, but when you decide, hey, you know what? I'm going to work the baby steps. I'm going to do this thing. I'm going to pay off the debt. I'm to. Going, going to. I'm going to. I'm going hard into this. The. The. Almost the number one thing that you need to do next to budgeting, the number one thing you have to do is you have to look yourself in the mirror and say, I draw a line in the sand. I don't borrow money anymore. I just. I do not borrow money anymore. Unless I'm like John Q. And my son is in the. You know, remember that movie with Denzel Washington?

[Dr. John Deloney]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jade Warshaw]

But you see what I'm saying? I draw a line in the sand, and. And I just don't borrow money. And the way the baby steps are, especially baby step one, it's very unique because it's $1,000 saved, and I get it. In today's world, people are going, you're off your rocker, Jade and John, if you think that $1,000 is gonna get it. But the way I explain it, Susan, is $1,000 is exactly the amount that it takes to turn on the creative part of your brain to go, okay, if something happens, I actually don't have the money to do this. What else can I do? And so when you take debt off the table, suddenly go, well, I don't have to go to Lowe's and buy a brand new fridge. I could go, I don't even know if Craigslist exists anymore, but I could go on Facebook, Marketplace, and I could buy a slightly used one for the meantime. That is maybe 800, but I can scrape 300 or 300 and scrape together that cash. Do you see what I'm saying? That is, is that is the gritty challenge of the baby steps. It causes you to just turn on that brain and go, okay, what can I do? What can I do? Where can I go? And that's what I want to challenge you from here going forward. I'm not telling you that to beat you up. I'm letting you know that's the way it feels and that's the way it's going to feel. Everything is going to feel inconvenient. Most things are going to feel like a challenge. And that's good. Like that's how you know it's working. So, so from here on out, that's gotta be the line, that's gotta be the feeling. Otherwise, to your point, it will be two steps forward, one step back, or one step forward, two steps back if you don't make that call. So going forward, we gotta do that. So when you went, so the 37,000 that you quoted me, is that including the new fridge?

[Caller or guest]

Yes.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay, great. So now we've got a car. How much of the 37,000 is the car?

[Caller or guest]

So we have two car payments. One of them is 339amonth. We have about 7k left on it. And then we have a minivan for $630 a month with about 27,000 left. Okay. And last time I checked we're about 9K underwater on it.

[Jade Warshaw]

Oh boy. Okay. And on the, and then the credit cards are how much the rest of it it.

[Caller or guest]

So a new loads card is 2K.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay.

[Caller or guest]

And then we have about a thousand on another credit card left.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay. So my, the number one place I'm looking is at this twenty seven thousand dollar car because it's six hundred thirty dollars a month. You desperately need that money.

[Caller or guest]

Yeah, yeah. It hurts bad.

[Jade Warshaw]

It's hurting you bad. And because what's your income every month?

[Caller or guest]

So my husband does work a lot of overtime or he does work overtime here and there throughout the month. So it does vary. But we're bringing in about 4,500 to 5,500amonth each month.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, I mean to have that $630 back, that would be like breathing again. So what my goal would be be. And it's up to you how, how you guys do this. But I would be trying to get out of that $27,000 car. And you could, you're gonna have to play this just right, otherwise it's not going to be worth it. But you could say, okay, I'm 9,000 underwater. Can I get a loan for the difference? And can I find something that's. I don't know, while. While I'm at it, can I ask for another maybe 4,000? So I'm 13, and. And I just kind of buy a junker or I ask for 5,000 more, and now I'm 14,000 in, and I get a junker. And now Instead of owing $27,000 to a bank, I owe 14 or 15,000 to a bank. I would do that.

[Caller or guest]

Okay.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And you start driving husband's car and he drives the junker.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, he drives the junker.

[Caller or guest]

I don't know.

His is looking rough.

[Jade Warshaw]

Then you're both. You're both driving junkers for a while.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And listen. Listen to what Jade's saying. Like, I want you to paint the picture of your life right now. You have two cars that you can't afford with brand new tires on them.

[Caller or guest]

Yeah.

[Dr. John Deloney]

You went and bought a $2,000, which is a pretty nice fridge. The other side of this thing. If you. If you have like. Like Stranger Things, if you go to the upside down version of this, you have one car with all the same tires on it. You just know, man, we are.

[Jade Warshaw]

We're.

[Dr. John Deloney]

We are six months away. You have one tire that you got replaced, placed, and it doesn't match the other three. You have a 500 fridge that you got off Facebook Marketplace, and you shook hands and that guy said it worked. And yeah, sell this minivan and you're driving two clunkers. A, you don't owe anybody anything, and B, you look around and say, hey, husband, you and I, we want a different life than this. Let's start being intentional and saving money so we can get another car here, a nicer fridge there, and you start taking control of your life back. Like, part of the thousand bucks, part of having one new tire on a car instead of all four new tires is you don't want to stay like that forever.

[Jade Warshaw]

It's a reminder.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And it's. It's. It's more gasoline in the tank to keep going down this route of freedom. Not this D, this route of, let's just solve for today and let all these other people speak into our life, all these other banks, all these other loaning lending agencies. You get what I'm saying?

[Jade Warshaw]

Saying, right?

[Caller or guest]

Yeah.

[Dr. John Deloney]

It's not cool for the first year. It's just not. It's miserable.

[Jade Warshaw]

And for you guys, the good news is you're not going to stay there for long? No, you're not there long at all. Because once you do this car deal and Instead of paying $630 a month, maybe you're paying two or $230 a month or $330 a month, you get half that money back and now you're able to use that money along with your other margin and you can knock out the $1,000 credit card in one month. It's then the next month maybe you're able to knock out the 2000. Like you're going to be done with this. I'm saying I think you can knock this out in a year. But this is with you guys working so hard, him taking all the overtime he can get, you picking up extra work, you guys selling everything you can think of. Go through the garage, go through the attic, go through the basement, look at the kids old clothes. Can I take this? Can I put it on Poshmark? Can I put it on, you know, one of those consignments. Everything you can do, anything you can do to sell something and get this money, this is a 12 month play for you guys if you go hard in the paint.

[Caller Aaron]

Foreign.

[Dave Ramsey]

Dave Ramsey here. Most people stay stuck with their money because they're not paying attention to it. Most people are living paycheck to paycheck, stressed out and broke. Don't be most people. You work way too hard to be broke and feel broke and you deserve to have something to show for it. That's why we built the everydollar budget app. It gives you a personalized plan for your money that shows you how to free up extra money every month and use it to beat debt and build lasting wealth. Plus, you get real coaches guiding you through your plan step by step. Look, most people hearing this will just keep hoping something changes, but not you. You're ready to make change happen starting now. Go download everydollar in the app store or Google play and start for free.

[Jade Warshaw]

All right. The Ramsey show question of the day is brought to you by Y refi. Defaulted private student loans can leave you feeling stuck and overwhelmed. But why Refi helps you explore refinancing options with a low fixed rate and a payment based on what you can actually afford. Visit yrefi.com Ramsey that's the letter y r e f y.com Ramsey Remember, it may not be available in all states.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Today's question comes from Greg in Arkansas. How do we determine the best car insurance coverage for our two teenagers? We provided each of them with a used car to get them through high school and College. We own the cars and they each have a value of under 500. I mean $505,000. We're currently paying for full coverage on them, but I'm not sure if that makes sense. What's your recommendations on how to cover them adequately and not spend an arm and a leg for insurance? Well, having two teenagers, I just added a teenager to my car insurance,

[Caller or guest]

so

[Dr. John Deloney]

adding two, that's tough.

[Jade Warshaw]

Made you feel. It made you feel some type of way. Joe.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah, my, my rule of thumb here is my son's driving a used truck and it has liability insurance on it. And so I've got enough cash in my emergency fund that if he wrecks that car, I can replace a similar cheap car. You got two bucks? Yeah. You got two five thousand dollar cars. I would personally, in my house, I put liability coverage on them. I wouldn't carry comprehensive coverage. And the difference is liability pays for the car that your teenager might hit, but not for your car that just got wrecked. Comprehensive pays for both. And so, yeah, that's, that's what I would do in this situation. If, if you have a car with payments on it, usually they, they force you to have comprehensive because they want to make sure they get their money back on their car if you wreck it. Um, I have comprehensive on me and my wife's cars. They're nicer cars and so if they. Something happened to them, I want to be able to go get them repaired. But for a couple of cheapo beater cars, like you're going to give your high school kit, like. Yeah, I'd put liability on it and roll with it.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah. And I go through Xander to.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah, Xander does all. Xander does all my. They do, they do all of our insurance, our term life insurance, our car insurance, everything.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, they'll find you the best rates. Very, very good. Let's go to Casey and D. Dallas, Texas. Hi Casey. How can we help?

[Caller Casey]

Hey.

[Jade Warshaw]

So.

[Caller Aaron]

Oh, hi.

[Jade Warshaw]

First off, Hi.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Hi, Casey.

[Caller Casey]

So me wife, two toddlers moved in with her grandmother to pay off debt exponentially fast and start saving. And now we have an expecting third in the middle of July and looking for some advice on a reliable family car. We just paid off all of our credit card debt. Still some student loans left.

[Jade Warshaw]

How much student loans left? How much debt total left?

[Caller Casey]

12.2 thousand.

[Caller or guest]

Yep.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay.

[Dr. John Deloney]

$12,200.

[Caller Casey]

School? Yes, my wife's school loan.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Okay, cool.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And how's the arrangement with grandma going?

[Caller Sean]

Great.

[Caller Casey]

I mean, we had to swallow the humble pill, you know, we lose some personal space. Had to Get a storage unit to throw some stuff in. But it's. It's honestly been a huge blessing.

[Jade Warshaw]

How long are you going to do it?

[Caller Casey]

Well, that's the question of the day for me. But for now it's to finish paying off the school loans, hopefully save up enough for a family car, then start saving for a house.

[Jade Warshaw]

Oh, that's a long time.

[Dr. John Deloney]

That could be a minute. How much money do y' all bring in?

[Caller Casey]

So I bring in about. So I have a day job and I do freelance photo and video work, and I bring in about $4,500 a month.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Okay.

[Jade Warshaw]

And is mom home with kids or is she out working in the work?

[Caller Casey]

Mom's home with kids. She caretakes us on the side, and she brings in about an extra 400amonth.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay, so if your initial question is how long should we continue to do this? I think that I would aim to, because how much have you paid off so far? You've got 12,000 to go. How much have you done before for up until this point? How long did it take?

[Caller Casey]

So we moved in December 1st, as of two, four weeks ago. Two, three weeks ago, we paid off 13,000 credit card debt.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay. I'm gonna tell you what I would do. I think that I admire when people are willing to sacrifice to win. I think this is an imposition on you as a family and as a married couple. It's just really tough to stay in a position like this for long. And so I would try to. I would really try to cut it short. When do you think you'll have the 12,000 paid off?

[Caller Casey]

Crunching numbers? I can do that in about four months.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay.

[Caller Casey]

And get some more freelance work to come in for sure. I can expedite that.

[Jade Warshaw]

I would not extend this to buying a new car, saving for a down payment. I would not extend this that far because what this means is. And we've gotten a couple of these calls today, so this is nothing on you. Everything is a series of choices. And so for you guys, your careers are a series of choices. You know, starting a family and the amount of children is a series of choices. And how that affects your financial timeline is a result of that choice. And thereby you're choosing that as well. And what I would hate is for you to pass that off onto grandma because it's part of you guys choices. Do you see what I'm saying?

[Caller Casey]

Yeah.

[Jade Warshaw]

And even though she's probably like, oh, I'm so glad to have them, I get to be by my grandkids and da Da, da, da. If you kind of flip the script for a moment and you go, well, if I had a buddy or if I had a family member who was like, hey, let me move in with you for a little while, I wanna pay off my debt, I wanna save up for a car, you know, I wanna get a downfall. You'd be like, hold up, wait second. So there's a thin line between. Do you see what I'm saying?

[Caller Casey]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah. What, what's the. I wouldn't want to.

[Caller Casey]

I'll be more willing to push the loan, pay the monthly maybe a little bit, get the family car out of the way and then save for the house or at least for a good size down payment.

[Dr. John Deloney]

You, you've mentioned the family car. By adding having a third kid here in a few months, is, is that going to exceed your, the cars y' all have?

[Caller Casey]

Yeah, so that's the problem is we only have two little four seater sedans. So we gotta get a, gotta get a bigger vehicle which we want to sell one of them anyways. So it kind of works out.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I was gonna say, yeah, I would save up the cash and the discipline you're gonna have to, you and your wife are gonna have to put on the table here is a hundred percent, you're gonna want to go get a brand new Tahoe or a brand new Suburban or a brand new minivan. You all just can't afford that. And so we're gonna have to find a minivan with150,000 miles on it. That's a good car. A good Toyota Sienna or something. And, and it's going to have other kids stains on the carpet or whatever, but that's what we can afford and we're going to pay cash for it and then we're not going to get ourselves further behind.

[Caller Jonathan]

Yeah.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And by the way, that's all good. It'll be, it'll be good. Like, you know, I mean like it's a choice y' all are making. So this isn't a thing that's happening to y'.

[Jade Warshaw]

All.

[Dr. John Deloney]

It's like, no, we picked up minivan because we choose freedom as a family over shiny things that go down in value.

[Dave Ramsey]

Right.

[Jade Warshaw]

And can I ask a question, Casey? I just want to make sure I'm understanding. You're living. Are you. When you say grandma, is it your kid's grandma? So like her mother or is it your, your mother's grandmother?

[Caller Casey]

It's my wife's grandma, so it'd be my kids great grandma.

[Dave Ramsey]

Oh, wow.

[Dr. John Deloney]

So are Y' all doing caretaking, too?

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah. Is that what. Is that the arrangement?

[Caller Casey]

Yeah, it's kind of the win win where, you know, she became a widow in 2020. The house she can't keep up with. There's an upstairs. She can't even walk up the stairs. She's been lonely, depressed, so.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Okay, so it's not a bad deal.

[Jade Warshaw]

It's not bad. Yeah. Okay. That. That does make it a little different. How old are you? Is she.

[Caller Jonathan]

She's.

[Caller Casey]

She'll be 80 this year.

[Jade Warshaw]

Are you expecting to inherit this house?

[Caller Casey]

No, we do not want it. No, absolutely not.

[Jade Warshaw]

There's a whole. I was just trying to make. I was just trying to see if there was any other parts to this jade.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I could see a world where if, with a caretaking arrangement, you could do this for three or four years, if. If it works out for your family. Y' all got the whole upstairs. You kind of have your own separate life, but y' all get to.

[Jade Warshaw]

That feels different, I won't lie.

[Caller Julian]

Yeah.

[Caller Casey]

And she's brightened up once she gets to live with her great grandkids. They greet her every morning, so she's

[Caller Sean]

definitely livened up more.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah, that's cool.

[Caller Jonathan]

Like I said, it'.

[Caller Aaron]

Been.

[Caller Casey]

It's been a great win win.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And that can be a really remarkable experience for young kids if there's just no toxicity and, and you know. You know what I mean? It's not a. It's not a gross arrangement. Y' all aren't living in a three, two. And like, it's. Everybody's. Everybody's got some space, but also everybody's involved in the caretaker stuff. That can be pretty amazing.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, I. I think that is good. You know, I. I'm going to go back on my ruling here and I'm going to say that I'm okay with this as long as you guys are okay with this. It sounds like she's being so served. It sounds like it's a good thing for your family. And for that reason. Yeah. I would ride it out and I'd go back. Yeah. To your original plan of saving for a down payment. You know, it's funny, John, financially, multi generational households, a lot of times we're kind of like, yeah, get out of that. But that used to be the way that was.

[Dr. John Deloney]

That was the only way that was.

[Jade Warshaw]

The only way is. Is you group up with your folks. And you're right. It's so good for kids.

[Dr. John Deloney]

It's good for kids, good for. For grandparents and. But you just got to. You got to structure it and do it the right way.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah. No enabling.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Hey, guys.

[Dave Ramsey]

Dave Ramsey here. Every day on this show, we help people work through real money problems and figure out what to do next. Now, you can get that same kind of help anytime with Ask Ranch. Ask your money question and get answers built on Ramsey principles we use on the show. Whether you're making a decision or just want something explained, ask Ramsey is here to help. It's fast, simple, and free to use. Go to ramseysolutions.com and try Ask Ramsey today. That's ramseysolutions.com.

[Jade Warshaw]

So if you're working the baby steps, the best and fastest way to do it is by using every dollar. Trust me is more than just our budgeting app now. The plan is built right in, baked right in. I love that you can track your progress, plus get personalized recommendations and coaching for your situation. That'll help you free up more money and work the plan even faster. It's truly like having one of us in your pocket walking with you every day, showing you the next step and holding you accountable. So start every dollar for free today by downloading it in the app store or Google play. All right, we got Julian in El Paso, Texas on the line. What's up, Julian?

[Caller Julian]

Oh, yes, I'm calling because I had a house fire in November of last year, and the insurance company is gonna pay me some money to repair, but it's pretty severe. So I'm wondering if I should use that check to just rebuild and do with the process and keep my normal monthly payment or if I should take that check, pay off that mortgage for that home and you the difference to put me and my son into a new place.

[Dr. John Deloney]

They're not paying you to rebuild the house?

[Caller Julian]

Yes, that's. The check is for.

[Caller Jonathan]

Is for rebuilding the house.

[Caller Julian]

It's about $310,000 dollars. But with the war and all materials increasing rapidly, I'm. They cut the check in November, in December.

[Caller or guest]

Excuse me.

[Caller Julian]

So I don't know if it'll still continue to cover the cost of the construction, honestly. And I'm kind of in panic mode after the fire, so I don't want to make any decisions.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah.

[Caller Julian]

Emotionally.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah. So did everybody get out safe?

[Caller or guest]

Yes.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Can I just tell you?

[Caller or guest]

Safe got the two dogs out good.

[Dr. John Deloney]

You. You got everybody else safe?

[Caller Kyle]

Yes.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Can I just shout you out? Good on you, dad. That's what. That's. I hate to gender this, but that's what dads do, man. You run back in and you get everybody out.

[Caller Kyle]

I'm proud of you sure did.

[Caller Julian]

Sure did.

[Dr. John Deloney]

That's good, man. And I appreciate you recognizing inside your own chest, hey, I'm. I'm still in fight orf flight from that deal, and I'm not making rational choices. I need to get some whip wisdom. And I want to shout you out too. That, that, that shows the level.

[Caller Julian]

But I was watching one of your guys videos the other day, and I think Jade said, don't make emotions, don't make emotionally charged. And I was like, you know what?

[Caller or guest]

That's it.

[Caller Julian]

I have to call.

[Dr. John Deloney]

All right, well, I'm glad you did. So here's my. Anytime I feel a certain way about a thing, I've got real big feelings about a thing that I think the first place I want to do is write down that feeling I have. Have or the feelings. I got a bunch of them. I'm kind of dramatic. And the second thing I want to do is I want to go get real on the ground information. I don't want to scroll the news sites who are screaming and yelling, trying to get headlines, trying to capture my eyeballs because they are selling me my attention as a product. I want to go talk to an actual contractor and get an actual bid or two or three or four on my actual home and get a cost estimate. And once you're looking at the paper in front of you, my guess is your. Your next right step will be pretty clear. And you're gonna have to pay off the mortgage anyway, right?

[Caller Julian]

Yeah. Yeah, eventually. It was just in the loan process, so I had been doing the 13 payments a year thing.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay, what did you owe?

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah, what do you owe on the house?

[Caller Julian]

I have about. It's under 100,000. I've gotten it under 100,000.

[Dr. John Deloney]

So where are y' all living right now?

[Caller Julian]

The insurance company gets you, like, a temporary rental.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Okay.

[Caller Julian]

But they only do it for like

[Jade Warshaw]

a year is what they're telling me.

[Caller Julian]

So I'm like, okay, so I'm six months into my year, my construction hasn't started. Because your contractors haven't done a lot of. Of the pack out of my belongings and things that they're supposed to do. And I'm getting into panic mode again that since no actions being taken, I'm going to.

[Dr. John Deloney]

But is the action to be taken something you should be doing, or is it something they're supposed to be doing?

[Caller Julian]

No, it's one of their contractors that they're supposed to be sending in to pack out my house so it is ready for a bid and stuff like that.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Okay, so. So you need A contract. Their clock should not start until the house is ready to be worked on.

[Caller Jonathan]

Is that how that works?

[Dr. John Deloney]

I don't.

[Jade Warshaw]

That makes sense.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I don't know how that works, but that would be. My legal argument is I want you to have a lot a bid in hand ready to rock and roll the day that this stuff is done. But I don't think your clock should start until they have finished their work.

[Jade Warshaw]

Mh, right.

[Dr. John Deloney]

But yeah, they're not just going to pay for you to have a house indefinitely while you sit around and decide what you're going to do or not do or whatever.

[Caller Julian]

Yeah, they give me a one year lease in this temporary housing. So that's why I'm in a panic mode, you know.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah, let's, let's feel a panic and then let's. You're not going to solve panic by thinking about panic. You're going to solve panic through. And, and you're by, by going right through it. Action. Okay. And if you hate this house, you're scared of this house, I would rather you. This may not be the wisest thing to do. I'd rather you fix this house up, get it rebuilt, get it redone, get it clean as a whistle and then choose to sell it. Then cuz you're going to pay this thing off. You're going to have a burndown house on a lot that you own. You're going to have to do something with it. Right. At some point the HOA is going to come sue you. Somebody's going to come, it's going to

[Jade Warshaw]

have to be rebuilt regardless.

[Dr. John Deloney]

You got to do something with it. And so what I would hate for you to do is to take this money, go buy something else, be responsible for two mortgages and then get a bill from the city that says, hey, you got to go deal with this burger burned up home. You can't just have a burned out house in the middle of a neighborhood.

[Caller Aaron]

Right.

[Caller Julian]

And the reason it seemed okay to me is because I would only have one mortgage and it'd be substantially less because I would use that construction money instead to pay.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I know, but what we're saying is

[Jade Warshaw]

you can't just, you can't just leave the lot burnt there. So what you're saying is out of the 310 you'd pay off the hundred thousand and take the other 200 and buy something else. Is that what you were saying?

[Caller Julian]

Yes. And then what I would do with that is I would eventually, you know, go back to the house. They're pretty close to each Other, the one that I'm eyeballing, and I would still continuously be working on it. But my. I hate trusting contractors, mechanics. I'd like to get my own contractor's license, honestly.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah, but. But you're talking years.

[Caller or guest]

Yeah.

[Jade Warshaw]

And how would you fund it if you've already spent the money on. On a different home?

[Caller Julian]

With my mortgage payment pretty much that I would need, I wouldn't have got it.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay. Yeah, I. I'm with John. I think you're going to cause yourself more headache if you, if you do it. If you don't do it this way, because now you're going to have to figure out, well, how long can this lot sit like this in. In my neighborhood? What does the HOA say? What does the city say? Right. You've got some. You, You've got.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I'm afraid the city's gonna come do it for you, and they're gonna send you a bill for $75,000.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah. You've got your work cut out for you. Now, I don't even know if this is possible, so this is something you could research. But if you're like, hey, I'll clean off the lot and I'll get it fresh. Can we sell the lot and not rebuild? Right.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Sell it to a developer. Yeah.

[Jade Warshaw]

And then, and then if they give you, I don't know, 100,000 for the lot, you take that and that, that makes you clear with the mortgage company. You see what I'm saying? And now you can take.

[Caller Julian]

I hadn't considered that.

[Jade Warshaw]

That's. That's where my mind is going. But again, you're going to have to research and make sure that you have the ability to do that. I don't see why you wouldn't. But just do some due diligence on that. But it seems like you don't want to live there anymore. And I totally understand that. Let's just get creative on how to do that. And you're not. And you not be stuck with a, With a problem later on. Does that make sense?

[Dr. John Deloney]

But you're not. The meta of what we're saying is you're not working with real information. Information. And I want you to go get. I want you to do the work, to go get real information. And you can say, I don't trust contractors and whatever. You're gonna have to deal with contractors. So call a couple of friends that you respect and find a guy that. Or a company that you trust or that they trust.

[Jade Warshaw]

Right.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And find out how much it would cost to raise the bill. Like this house to the ground. Find, call a couple of real estate developers and ask them how much they would pay you just to walk away from the thing.

[Caller Jonathan]

Okay.

[Jade Warshaw]

Right.

[Caller Julian]

I only felt like I was locked into like those two options and then this is opening up a lot of ideas for me.

[Jade Warshaw]

Good.

[Dr. John Deloney]

But I want you to listen, stop thinking about ideas and start getting after it. I think when you get some real data and some real information in front of you, you might find, find that you can re like fix this house. And by the way, get it all back up to code, the wiring, everything, get it all perfect how you want it. And it might cost 150 grand and you might still have a bunch of extra money late. Who knows, who knows what the deal is?

[Jade Warshaw]

The point is you've got, you've got lots of options.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And I'd be on the phone with my insurance company about them following through with their responsibilities.

[George Camel]

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.

[Jade Warshaw]

All right, our Ramsey show scripture and quote second Timothy 2:1:5, also known as 2:15 says, do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. John Carmack said, focus is a matter of deciding what things you're not going to do. I know that's right, John.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And I'm sitting by my friend Jade, otherwise known as Jade.

[Jade Warshaw]

Listen, when I said it, it gave me two Corinthians vibes. And so I needed to, I needed to say it back the right way.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I'm big into reading the Bible.

[Jade Warshaw]

I need to stop. I do read it. I promise. And I also know how to say numbers.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I love 2 Corinthians.

[Jade Warshaw]

All right, Sean is in Spokane, Washington. Sean, please get us back on track. How can we help?

[Caller Jonathan]

Hey, Jade.

[Caller Sean]

John. Pleasure to be talking with you.

[Dr. John Deloney]

You too, man.

[Caller Kyle]

The.

[Caller Sean]

The Crux of my question is trying to really understand stork mode.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Ah, you got a kid coming?

[Caller Sean]

Yeah, I do. Yeah, we are expecting.

[Jade Warshaw]

Congrats, it's exciting.

[Caller Jonathan]

Yeah.

[Caller Sean]

Baby is due in October.

[Jade Warshaw]

Are you doing all right?

[Dr. John Deloney]

Is it baby number one for.

[Caller Jonathan]

For me? Yes.

[Caller Sean]

Okay, so you're feeling it. This will be baby one.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Hey, can I just tell you?

[Caller or guest]

Yeah.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Your panic is real, your fear is real. And I'm telling you, on the other side of this thing, like another chamber opened up in my heart that I didn't know existed. I did not know love. Like I thought I knew it. So buckle up, man. It's about to be the ride of your life. I'm excited for you.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, it's all good.

[Caller Sean]

Thank you. I'm super excited too. My wife is healthy, baby's healthy. So all those good check boxes are there.

[Jade Warshaw]

Perfect. You can ask for good. So how can we help? You want to explain stork mode, huh? So that means you guys, what do you have going on? You've got some debt.

[Caller Sean]

So backstory is, two years ago we got debt free. And then last year we were all one income. My wife was working, she finished school. And so now we're back to two incomes. And then now we're expecting. So in terms of saving for the emergency fund, we're about two months in terms of that savings total.

[Jade Warshaw]

Baby step one or baby step two. I mean, or baby step three. Okay, great.

[Caller Sean]

Yeah, so we're. We're in three with almost two months saved.

[Jade Warshaw]

Great.

[Caller or guest]

Her.

[Caller Sean]

Her desire. Right. It's been a grind for over two years now would be to go on a trip to Italy. Go, go explore your place that she, she's baby, she's lived there previously and it would just be a joy for her to show me her stomping grounds. And you know, we take the whole family.

[Jade Warshaw]

What's that?

[Caller Sean]

Cause the. I'm estimating between 15 to 18,000.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay, and when would you do that?

[Caller Sean]

That would be mid to late July.

[Jade Warshaw]

Do you have time to save up that money by then?

[Caller Sean]

We could cash flow it and then that means we're not really saving in stork mode. So I kind of wanted to get an idea of where this whole stork mode.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Stork mode is. Stork mode is something we tell folks like. And I would tell you, especially as a first time parent, if you're paying off debt and like you have a baby coming in six months, you can pause paying off debt and just put cash aside just to make sure if something happens there's a NICU stay or there's an emergency C section or something. I've got that. I don't. I'm not going to get us out of, out of debt six months and then have to go all the way back six months. So this cash is on the side just to make sure everybody gets home from the hospital and we didn't have to spend any extra money. That's, that's the point. Point of that.

[Jade Warshaw]

Does, does the money that you have saved, does that cover your out of pocket max for your family, like for, for wife and baby?

[Caller Sean]

Yes.

[Jade Warshaw]

And is there anything left over after that with what you have saved now?

[Caller Sean]

Maybe 10,000.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay. That's a, that's a pretty sweet spot. So. So.

[Dr. John Deloney]

And is mom gonna stay at home with the kiddo after or. She had to go back to work.

[Caller Sean]

Should be going back to work.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Okay. So it's not like you're going from one income down to two. I mean, I'm sorry. For two incomes down to one.

[Caller Sean]

Correct. Yeah, we, we both go back to work, you know.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay. What's your living situation? Are you renting? Owning?

[Caller Sean]

We're currently renting. Would love to own a home maybe this time next year.

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay. You know, I think that you have the emergency fund that you need. I'd love for you to get at least to three, three months before you consider this, because then you can officially kind of tick the box and say, all right, we got, we got through the three hardest steps. And then if you want to move a little bit slower, getting the six months. Because again, whether you have three to six months, and this is for anybody listening, you, you throw several things into the equation. Right? It's. Are both, are both spouses working? If you're single and you're the only one working, yeah, you need six months. But if you have two working folks, you could opt for three or four months if you wanted to. Is everybody healthy? And that's the one part where for you guys, it's not that your wife is unhealthy, but she's in pregnancy mode, which means there's a lot of variables there. So I personally, I'm not gonna lie to you, I love the idea of if you had six months saved, that would just personally make me feel great. Next on the list is, well, let me at least make sure I have out of pocket maximums covered and some extra money on the side. Just because when you go through pregnancy, hospital stays, there's, there's extra meals that you need and there's. Oh, my gosh I can't believe we didn' and buy this one item that we really, really need. Like right, there's going to be things that pop up.

[Dr. John Deloney]

I was stunned. I thought baby went to the bathroom once a day like a regular person. I didn't know they went 400 times like diapers, whatever. You have budgeted, quadruple it. Right. Like so things like that. It just, expenses come out of nowhere.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, I'm all for trips too. What's you guys income? What do you make

[Caller Sean]

combined? About 240.

[Jade Warshaw]

240, 40. I think that in the parameter of your income, like I said, I'd love for you to get to three months of expenses and I think you probably can cash flow that and I think that you can cash flow this trip. My, my, my thing for you would be, it's gotta be, you can't touch the emergency fund for this whatsoever. It's gotta be completely cash flowed. And yeah, and with, with reasonable spending, I think that that's totally fine.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Can I ask you one more question, brother?

[Caller Sean]

Please?

[Dr. John Deloney]

Do you want to go on this trip? It's just, it's just you and me and a couple million people listening.

[Caller Sean]

I, I, I've never been and it's, it seems, it seems dreamy. I am a spreadsheet guy, so I

[Jade Warshaw]

don't, like, I don't know, you're thinking about, this is hard. This is down payment money. Right?

[Caller Sean]

Well, that's just it, right? You look forward in the next year and it's like, you know, that's 5% of what we're trying to put down on a home, maybe even 10 depending on where we land.

[Dr. John Deloney]

So, so is there, is there a conversation to be had that you sit down and say I want to go to Italy too? Sounds dreamy, to use your words. Is there a possibility that we wait till the little one is 18 months old and at that point, here's a, here's a map. We have a home and we cash flow this thing. We got an emergency fund and we're just going to postpone this trip from trying to cram it in right now to I want to do this thing upright. Is that a possibility?

[Caller Sean]

I mean, yeah, I think about like I'm, I'm over 6 foot, so I'm

[Caller Aaron]

like I'm gonna be crammed in that

[Caller Sean]

airline for 10 hours.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Yeah, I mean I, I've done that. Like I've gone to Italy, but I've flown international and I'm a big guy. Like it just kind of is. Right. I mean, I don't know.

[Jade Warshaw]

I'mma play on the other side of this coin because this is your first baby. This is. I think she's viewing this as this

[Dr. John Deloney]

is our last shot.

[Jade Warshaw]

This is our last cuz. Listen, with an 18 month old, I wouldn't want to go. I mean, life changes in so many ways.

[Dr. John Deloney]

She's got other kids, right?

[Caller Sean]

Correct, yeah.

[Dr. John Deloney]

How many does she have?

[Caller Sean]

One. I have to stop some.

[Dr. John Deloney]

How old is nine?

[Jade Warshaw]

Okay, so there's like. At nine years old, they can go off with the grandparents or with the aunt, whatever.

[Dr. John Deloney]

Or go with you.

[Jade Warshaw]

Yeah, they can travel. But I just think she's seeing this as she knows that independence changes greatly when you have a baby on your hip. So I would try to figure out a way that you can do a trip. Maybe the compromise is we don't spend as much or we don't go for as long, but I think there's a way you can meet in the middle because a trip. Truth is, you guys have a great income. You do have time to do the house. There's no, there's no rush for either of these. I just, I wouldn't want you to miss out on experiences too. Like as you're getting financially stable and as you're. Does that make sense? Because you're doing like, you're on track. You're doing the things, you've paid off the debt, you've got the emergency fund, you've got all these other things in place. I just think that there's is a level of enjoyment that you can have. I would probably say, yeah, 15,000, not 18,000. But other than that, I think you guys are on the right track. All right, guys, thanks for hanging out with us this hour. And remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of peace Christ Jesus. Sam.