The Ramsey Show Live From Chicago

Summary

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The Ramsey Show Live from Chicago – October 17, 2025

Podcast: The Ramsey Show
Host: Ken Coleman (with George Kamel & Rachel Cruze, Ramsey Network)
Location: The Den Theater, Chicago
Episode Theme: Empowering people to take charge of their money and build wealth through live Q&A, debate, and real-life stories from the audience.

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Episode Overview

This special live episode brings The Ramsey Show to Chicago, featuring Ken Coleman, George Kamel, and Rachel Cruze. The hosts field live money questions from the audience, work through common financial and relational dilemmas, settle debates between couples, and celebrate debt freedom. The tone is supportive, lively, humorous, and honest, emphasizing boundaries, intentional financial management, and the life changes that come from taking control of your money.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Navigating Lending and Family Boundaries

Timestamps: [02:23]-[10:54]

• Question: A couple (Shea & Arnold) from Portage, IN, asks about lending money to Shea’s mom, whose income exceeds theirs.
• Insight:
  • You can’t change people who don’t want to change. Set loving but firm boundaries if family regularly asks for money.
  • Rachel Cruze: "Unless she wants it, it's not gonna happen ... It's a pretty strong boundary of a conversation." [03:47]
  • Ken Coleman: "At some point... you become the parent and the parent becomes the child ... No, Mom, never again. It stops. Never again." [04:01]
• Actionable Steps:
  • Communicate honestly with the family member.
  • Refuse future loans out of love to protect the relationship.
  • Offer budgeting help only if genuinely received.
• Memorable Quote:
  • George Kamel: "I love you, I'm your daughter. I don't want to become your lender. I care about our relationship too much for it to become a business transaction." [05:02]

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2. Settle the Debate: Spender vs. Saver Couples

Timestamps: [12:09]-[23:47]

• Case: Jenny (spender) & Jake (saver) from Valparaiso, IN, seek a "Supreme Court" ruling on their spending conflict.
• Context:
  • Stay-at-home mom of four, family income ~$160k, aggressively paying down mortgage (goal: 5 years).
  • Jenny manages the budget and spends within a self-regulated limit (~$400/mo).
  • Jake expresses anxiety over spending and being out of control.
• Advice and Solution:
  • Once basics are handled (debt-free except the house), families can shift from “gazelle intensity” to “intentionality” in spending.
  • Open honest dialogue about underlying money anxiety, family history, and trust.
  • Both partners should review the budget to stay aligned and feel agency in spending/saving decisions.
• Panel Decision:
  • All judges side with Jenny; spending is within bounds, Jake must engage with the budget and intentionally spend on himself. Jenny breaks down Amazon boxes for a month as part of the compromise.
• Notable Quotes:
  • Rachel Cruze: "You have the freedom to spend." [20:59]
  • Ken Coleman: "If you're not careful, you're going to be fearful your entire kids’ lives and they're going to adopt that same view." [21:42]

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3. Helping a Low-Income Community Improve Financially

Timestamps: [24:12]-[31:50]

• Question: Lynette, outreach director in a rural area with high poverty, asks for advice to help people living paycheck to paycheck.
• Discussion:
  • Distinguish between true poverty (income barriers) and middle-class lifestyle inflation.
  • For the poorest, solution is a “long path”—upskilling, possibly relocating for better jobs—requiring personal grit and sacrifice.
  • Budgeting helps all—identifying if the issue is truly income or debt/lifestyle.
  • Ken Coleman: "If you want to help those people, you help them find a path to a better job ... it's going to be rugged individualism." [27:10]
  • George Kamel: "The budget will give them at least a financial reality check ... that person in the mirror, they are really the secret sauce." [29:28]

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4. Fun Rapid-Fire and Relational Questions

Timestamps: [32:13]-[39:33]

• Personality Types: “Are you the free spirit or the nerd in your marriage?”
  • Rachel and Ken self-identify as free spirits; George is the nerd.
  • Example: Spreadsheet obsession vs. spontaneous buying for joy/self-regulation.
• Best Gifts Given/Received:
  • Ken: Blackstone griddle.
  • Rachel: Jewelry for her daughter’s birth and a custom lake house sign.
  • George: Experiential “push present” (Backstreet Boys tickets) for his wife.
• Memorable Side Story: Science of why music from our preteen/teen years triggers strong nostalgia ("literal chemical things happen in your body" - Rachel, [37:38]).

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5. Wedding Etiquette: How Much Should a Bridesmaid Spend?

Timestamps: [39:48]-[45:55]

• Question: Laura debates with her boyfriend how much to spend on a wedding gift after already investing time and money as a bridesmaid.
• Consensus:
  • Spending $150 is fair; multiple events and gifts for one wedding can be excessive.
  • Group pushed back on gift-giving expectations; etiquette norms are changing.
  • Normalize creativity and practicality over formality.

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6. Two Truths and a Lie: Wildest Listener Calls

Timestamps: [46:56]-[56:15]

• Segment: Audience and panel guess which outrageous call stories were not real:
  • Examples ranged from “husband doesn’t believe in the government so stopped paying taxes,” to “reverse vasectomy a financial priority?” to “wife maxed out card at McDonald’s.”
  • Some calls truly stranger than fiction revealed how real money pain and folly are.

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7. Battling Stagnation in Baby Steps 4–6 (Building Wealth)

Timestamps: [60:44]-[65:43]

• Question: Ashley & Jim feel bored and frustrated that, despite making progress to Baby Steps 4–6, they can't accelerate mortgage payoff due to unplanned expenses.
• Advice:
  • Typical timeline to pay off a house is 7–10 years.
  • Budget audit: Prioritize extra principal payments, but keep realistic and flexible for life events.
  • Celebrate the milestones, create visuals, and plan for fun—even in long stretches of grind.
  • Rachel Cruze: "Give yourself some patience ... You're seeing it in a really short window where the runway's much longer." [62:13]

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8. Finding Meaningful Post-Military Work

Timestamps: [66:13]-[69:56]

• Question: Amanda, Air Force veteran, is struggling with identity after service and seeking meaningful civilian work.
• Actionable Exercise:
  • List all acquired skills and experiences, then use them (with tools like ChatGPT) to map to new career paths.
  • Recognize employers’ respect for military service and network intentionally.
  • Ken Coleman: "Seeing leads to believing, and believing will lead to you getting the thing you want to get." [69:56]

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9. Debt-Free Celebration and Community Impact

Timestamps: [70:07]-[74:32]

• Live Debt-Free Scream:
  • Audience tallies up over $1.17 million in debt paid off in the last year.
  • Entire room does a group debt-free scream to mark the accomplishment.
  • Everyone in attendance receives a free year of EveryDollar Premium to help continue their journey.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Ken Coleman: "At some point... you become the parent and the parent becomes the child." [04:01]
• Rachel Cruze: "You have the freedom to spend." [20:59]
• Rachel Cruze: "I think seeing each other two or three layers down of what's really, really going on under that..." [19:50]
• Ken Coleman: "If you're not careful, you're going to be fearful your entire kids’ lives and they're going to adopt that same view." [21:42]
• George Kamel: "The budget will give them at least a financial reality check... that person in the mirror, they are really the secret sauce." [29:28]
• On nostalgia and music:
  • Rachel: "When that gets triggered, it's a level of nostalgia that gives you literal... something chemically happens in your body." [38:08]
• On post-military transition:
  • Ken Coleman: "Seeing leads to believing, and believing will lead to you getting the thing you want to get." [69:56]
• On group financial progress:
  • George Kamel: "$1,172,000 paid off in this room in the last 12 months. That's wild." [72:48]

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Important Timestamps

| Segment | Start | Highlights | |-----------------------------------|---------|-----------------------------| | Show open, pizza banter | 00:00 | Chicago vibes, audience energy | | Lending to a parent/setting boundaries | 02:23 | Navigating family loans | | Couples debate: Spender vs. Saver | 12:09 | Mini “Supreme Court” ruling | | Helping the struggling & poor | 24:12 | Community outreach Q&A | | Rapid-fire host questions | 32:13 | Free spirit vs. nerd; gifts | | Wedding gifting etiquette | 39:48 | Bridesmaid expenses, registry vs. cash | | Two Truths and a Lie | 46:56 | Most outrageous Ramsey calls | | Stagnation in Baby Steps 4–6 | 60:44 | Tips for staying motivated | | Military-to-civilian transition | 66:13 | Skills, identity, networking | | Group debt-free celebration | 70:07 | $1.17M paid off, crowd scream| | Final giveaways & close | 74:32 | All get EveryDollar, gratitude|

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Final Takeaways

• Boundaries are loving. Saying “no” to family and loved ones is sometimes the most caring thing you can do—especially regarding repeated loans.
• Understand emotional roots. Couples’ financial disagreements often mask deeper anxieties—understand and express them.
• The long path is okay. Building wealth and escaping poverty isn’t quick; celebrate the journey and be compassionate to yourself.
• Celebrate progress. Mark wins, stay visual with your goals, and occasionally reward yourself.
• Community lifts everyone. Sharing stories, support, and tools like budgeting apps multiplies impact across families and neighborhoods.

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Original Show Language & Tone:
Supportive, direct, witty, and warm. The team celebrated both small and major wins, called out hard truths, and made the hard work of financial transformation feel possible for everyone.

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For more: Visit www.ramseysolutions.com
To ask a question live: Call 888.825.5225 weekdays 2–5 p.m. ET

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Transcript

[Ken Coleman]

Sam, normal is broken. Common sense is weird. So we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network, live in the den in Chicago. This is the Ramsey Show.

[George Kamel]

Wow. Wow.

[Ken Coleman]

How about this?

[Rachel Cruze]

So good to be here, you guys. This is amazing.

[Ken Coleman]

So, first of all, we're super, super glad that you all are here. We're gonna have a fun time tonight.

[Lynette]

Yes.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah, I'm in Chicago. I gotta have some deep dish.

[Jake]

Ken, we got a special for you.

[Ken Coleman]

What do we got?

[Rachel Cruze]

Tavern, or is it actual deep dish?

[Ken Coleman]

Well, now, this is Lou Malnati's here.

[George Kamel]

All right, shout out. Shout out to Lou.

[Ken Coleman]

Would you like a slice, kid? I'm gonna get a slice.

[Jake]

All right. Rachel, would you like a slice?

[Rachel Cruze]

I mean, sure, if we're all here.

[George Kamel]

I'm going to be a gentleman and you want to give that to Rachel, not partake.

[Jake]

Pass it down here.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah, yeah.

[George Kamel]

Ladies.

[Rachel Cruze]

First one. Let me have one.

[Jake]

Too much.

[George Kamel]

I had a gluten free one downstairs. Don't worry, it was delicious.

[Ken Coleman]

Trust me, George already had a show.

[Rachel Cruze]

You had a gluten free one?

[George Kamel]

Yeah, they crush it. Special fun fact, I once ordered 67 deep dish pizzas from Lumonati's to Financial Peace Plaza Headquarters on Ice.

[Ken Coleman]

Did you really?

[George Kamel]

Yeah.

[Ken Coleman]

So, okay, you know, we're here to do a show, apparently, and we are here to have some fun and we're gonna answer some questions. So let's get to our first live question. Let's bring our guest up here. Tell us your name and where you are from. There she is, I believe, or they. Oh, is this a couple question?

[Rachel Cruze]

Yes. We love. We don't get this on the show.

[Ken Coleman]

Beware. We don't get to do this on the show. All right, tell us your names and where you're from and get to your question.

[Rachel Cruze]

I'm Shea.

[Ken Coleman]

I'm Arnold.

[Shea]

We're from Portage, Indiana. Our question is my mom occasionally asked us to borrow money even though her household income is higher than ours. So what are some tips or help to help her budget?

[George Kamel]

Oh, man, she's not asking for budgeting help, is she? She's asking for money.

[Rachel Cruze]

Okay. I think this is one of the hardest lessons to learn in life. And I think it took me thousands of dollars of therapy literally for this to like sett and realize you can't change people. As much as you guys want her to do X, Y and Z, as much as you want her to budget, live on less than she makes all the things, unless she wants it, it's not gonna happen. So it's either in my head. A pretty strong boundary of a conversation. It's probably really hard of like, mom, I love you, but we have a set plan for our income right now that has to go to this. We're not gonna be able to help you in the future, as of now or forever, whatever you wanna say. Right. And. Or, hey, mom, would you be curious to learn or probably not to learn. It's probably a little patronizing, but like, would you like to find a new way to handle your money? Things that have worked for us. If you're curious about that, let me know. And you can kind of open the door for her to walk through. But it's hard. And we get this question a lot with families. Cause you're wanting them to not only change, but. But now in your case, they're like asking you for money. Right. And so there's a boundary that has to.

[Ken Coleman]

Rachel's the nicest one of all of.

[George Kamel]

Us can all agree.

[Ken Coleman]

And I think Rachel's right, but I think that's step two. Step one is whose mom is it?

[Shea]

Mine?

[Ken Coleman]

Mom, no more. You're a grown blank woman. This is nuts. And I'm putting a boundary up. This is not happening anymore. Here's why. You don't have to attack her, but you talk about your reasons and what it's causing for you. And at some point you're going, by the way, you're getting to that age and I'm really at that age where you become the parent and the parent becomes the child. This is a function of life. And I don't know how old she is, but it's headed that direction anyway. And this is causing strife for you. Yes or no?

[George Kamel]

Yeah.

[Ken Coleman]

All right. So no, Mom, Never again. It stops. Never again. I'm putting up a boundary. Then you go to step two. But this is. This is not okay. And I know you're smiling about it, but I hope you walk away empowered tonight because you gotta tell her to grow up.

[Rachel Cruze]

Are you guys on the same page with it? Like, are you both annoyed? Like, yeah. Okay.

[George Kamel]

It puts you on.

[Ken Coleman]

It's his mother in law. That guy is steaming. Willie Beamer can fry an egg on each other.

[George Kamel]

You can. Well, here's the thing you can tell her that's maybe also kind is I love you, I'm your daughter. I don't want to become your lender. I care about our relationship too much and for it to become a business transaction. And now you don't want to talk to me because you know you owe me money. I want to Come over for Thanksgiving and give you a hug and sit down and talk about anything else other than the money you owe me. And that's what really happens on the Ramsey show. You can send her calls if things gone awry. But I do think that it starts with you saying no in love and then getting to the root of it if she's willing. And one day she might be today might not be that day, but one day when she truly needs help and she sees the way you guys have been living, she's going to say, tell me more about how you did it. That's the day you can start to introduce some of our principles and teaching to her.

[Ken Coleman]

Are you prepared emotionally for her to get really pissed off and cut you off for a season? He's shaking his head no.

[Rachel Cruze]

Oh, she won't do that.

[Shea]

No, because the last time it was, like, more assertive, like, why would I give this to you? Or if I give this to you, when are you gonna learn? So a little more mean than I have been, but she wouldn't cut me off.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay, well, that's great news.

[Rachel Cruze]

That's a good.

[George Kamel]

Have you been giving her money thus far?

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah.

[George Kamel]

How many times? How much total?

[Ken Coleman]

Oh, boy.

[Shea]

I'd say like twice a year. And it can range from a couple hundred to her refrigerator broke, so like a thousand or two.

[George Kamel]

And has she ever paid you back?

[Shea]

She's always paid me back.

[George Kamel]

How? What time frame is it? An agreed upon time.

[Shea]

The last time was the next day, which makes me most angry because you should not be that tight with money.

[George Kamel]

Was it like, hey, I just need to get to the next paycheck and.

[Shea]

I'll pay you tomorrow?

[Laura]

Yeah.

[George Kamel]

So you're her payday lender? Essentially, yeah.

[Ken Coleman]

What is this causing for you, young man, Your wife needs to hear this. This is your moment. You stood up. What kind of stress is it? Step towards the mic, Step towards the mic.

[George Kamel]

Step towards the light, my friend.

[Rachel Cruze]

Man, I'm so sad.

[Ken Coleman]

Do you want pizza? Do you want the pizza? We'll give you.

[Rachel Cruze]

You get out. Just get out of the situation.

[Ken Coleman]

Rachel only had two bites. I'll give her her slice if you tell the truth. So you said, get up on the mic. Get up on the mic, you said.

[Jake]

What kind of stress is it causing?

[Ken Coleman]

What's it doing to you?

[Jake]

It, like, puts me in the middle because I want to. You know, the Bible says we're the lenders, not the borrowers. So I want to be that, but not every time. And I don't want to be, you know, the Only soul. You know, every time they come to us saying, hey, we need this. So it kind of puts me in the middle when I'm like, it's your mom, but we shouldn't be doing this. So.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah.

[Jake]

It's hard.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah. So are you prepared tonight, ma', am, to draw a line in the sand? Yeah. Why are you smiling and laughing so much?

[Shea]

Because it's hard to explain. Because I've tried. I've bought her every dollar.

[Ken Coleman]

Get up on the mic. We gotta be able to hear you.

[Ashley]

I'm sorry.

[Shea]

I've already, like, done all the things. I've bought her every dollar. I've tried. We talk about it. They work together, so, like, they talk about every single thing she does.

[Rachel Cruze]

Oh, you work together.

[Ken Coleman]

You work with your mother in law.

[Lynette]

I know.

[Shea]

That's how we met.

[Rachel Cruze]

Oh, wow.

[Ken Coleman]

So we try.

[Shea]

Like, the next thing would be like inviting her over secretly and just for nine weeks straight doing financial.

[George Kamel]

That's called staging an intervention.

[Rachel Cruze]

I would have snacks.

[Shea]

I would have fun stuff. No snacks. But I know would be easy. So it's not that. It's just like she told you loud.

[George Kamel]

And clear she doesn't want. She doesn't want help in that regard.

[Shea]

But, like, I want to help her.

[Jenny]

That's right.

[Rachel Cruze]

That's right. You want her. Yeah. Her to help herself.

[Lynette]

Right.

[Shea]

I'm more of like. Like step one.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yes.

[Shea]

You're an idiot. Slight. Get it together.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yes.

[Shea]

So I'm more like on the how do I help her step.

[George Kamel]

Yeah.

[Ken Coleman]

First of all, I did not say that she's an idiot.

[George Kamel]

No, I did.

[Lynette]

I did.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah. And I. And I think honestly, the. The idiotic behavior is you helping her. Yeah. And I'm not calling you an idiot. All right. The crowd's like, ooh. But I'm saying, if I was gonna label some really dumb behavior, it's actually you. She's broken. You're not broken.

[Shea]

Gotcha.

[Ken Coleman]

And she's going to have to hit rock bottom financially. I hate to say this, for you to be able to get through to her.

[Shea]

Yeah.

[Ken Coleman]

So I do think it's a clear boundary, love. I'm going to be your daughter, not your lender, son in law. This is a weird deal because she's like in the cube next to you doing TPS reports. You're going to have to figure this out too. So you guys got to come together in very clear boundaries here. And mom needs to get a very clear but kind message. This is over forever. And at that point, you're gonna have to move on. It May not be ugly in that she cuts you off, but she's gonna come back, by the way. I don't think she's gonna get this stern message the first time. Gotcha. So what are you gonna do? You gotta prepare for that when she comes back. A second, a third, a fourth, and maybe even a fifth time. So you guys are brave. Thanks for standing up and asking this question. You all give them some love.

[George Kamel]

So good.

[Rachel Cruze]

And let me say this, too. The borrowing is different than the giving. Right. So both need boundaries around it. But when you are lending money and expecting to be paid back, like, that's a no all the way around. Now, if there's a giving element and there's a family member, a friend, whatever, and you as a couple decide that we're in a good place financially, we feel like, yes, we. We can do this. We want to do this. We feel like they really, truly need help. It's not creating this sense of entitlement, and we choose to give it. That's a whole other prerogative. So there is a difference between the giving and the lending. So I would cut the lending off hardcore right now, today, 100%, and probably the giving. I think there's an element of that that's all true in this.

[George Kamel]

Yeah. The question asks, am I enabling misbehavior or am I helping someone who's hurting right now? And there's a big difference. And clearly this is a long pattern of misbehavior on Mom's part.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yes.

[Ken Coleman]

And this is awkward, but I have a very personal experience with this with George years ago. And George wasn't making very much money at Ramsey. He asked me if I would front him some money for a very expensive blow dryer. And I had to say no.

[George Kamel]

He's got a great head of hair. I thought Ken would know what the best blow dryer is.

[Ken Coleman]

So we got through it, though, didn't we?

[George Kamel]

We did, yeah. We salvaged the relationship.

[Ken Coleman]

And we're here to tell about it. I must tell you, we've been talking about this segment of the show for a couple of weeks. We're gonna do a settle the debate, and we've got a brave couple here who is going to jump in and we are going to settle the debate. Now, how many of you love Judge Judy? Do we got any Judge Judy fans in here?

[Rachel Cruze]

She's great.

[George Kamel]

Yeah.

[Ken Coleman]

Honestly, not as many as I thought. How many of you are familiar with the Supreme Court? Let's hear from you. You said, Phillip, how many of you.

[George Kamel]

Judge Coleman presiding.

[Ken Coleman]

Well, no, it's the three of us. So we are a mini Supreme Court on this decision. And so we are going to hear this case. We will ask questions. You all can applaud, moan.

[Rachel Cruze]

Well, let's weigh in your opinion, laugh.

[Ken Coleman]

Weigh in with your reaction, and then we shall decide. Are you ready, Jonah?

[George Kamel]

I can't wait.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah. All right, young couple, tell us your names and where you're from.

[Jenny]

Hi, I'm Jenny.

[Jake]

And I'm Jake. And we are from Valparaiso, Indiana.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay, Jenny and Jake, give them some love. This is brave.

[Rachel Cruze]

Thanks, Jake.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay, I don't know who is speaking for you or if you're both speaking, but please give us this argument. What is happening with you two?

[Jenny]

We have the age old debate. I'm a spender, he's a saver. He thinks I should spend less. I think he should relax and let me spend. And also he needs to start spending.

[Rachel Cruze]

A little bit maybe, too.

[Jake]

But I think to add some context here, we are not quite in step seven, so I think the gazelle intensity should persist.

[Ken Coleman]

What step are you on?

[Jake]

Four, five, six.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay. Boy, the crowd's turning on you fast. I know.

[Jake]

This is not gonna go my way.

[Ken Coleman]

These people over here are already ready to throw pizza at you.

[Rachel Cruze]

Okay, what are you wanting to spend on specifically? Is it lifestyle? Is it restaurants? Is it vacation? Is it what? New car? Like, what's the thing you're.

[George Kamel]

Is it $20,000? Is it $200?

[Jenny]

That's fair. Vacations, clothes, just Amazon. Just cute. Cute sweater.

[Rachel Cruze]

Add to cart.

[Jenny]

Nothing like big. I don't care about cars. I don't care about.

[Rachel Cruze]

Okay, so it's like, do we have a number? An extra, like, what, 400 bucks a month or something?

[Jenny]

Yeah, that's a good number.

[Rachel Cruze]

Okay, is that.

[Ken Coleman]

Oh, wait a second. You agreed with 200 quickly. Is that really what you want? An extra 400 bucks like you. By the way, she already gets that.

[Jake]

I don't know. That's.

[George Kamel]

There's. Wow. She gets.

[Rachel Cruze]

I'm going to ask you because this is a Rams. This is the Ramsey Show. How much y' all make a year?

[Jake]

This is just shy of like 160.

[Lynette]

Okay.

[Ken Coleman]

Both of you working outside?

[Jake]

Just me.

[Ken Coleman]

Just careful, careful.

[Jake]

She's working in the home.

[Ken Coleman]

The way he said that.

[Jenny]

Poor kids. I think.

[Ken Coleman]

What are their ages? What? What are their ages?

[Jenny]

7, 5, 3, 6 months.

[Rachel Cruze]

Oh, my gosh.

[George Kamel]

Give her the money. How are you even here tonight?

[Jake]

It wasn't easy.

[George Kamel]

God bless your ministry. How much did you. Did you pay a babysitter?

[Jake]

No, her parents.

[George Kamel]

There we go. This guy's not paying for babysitters. Knew it. Okay, so you have a baby. Step six, goal to pay off the house early.

[Jenny]

Okay, I already have that set. That'll be done in five years.

[George Kamel]

Good. And in your mind, is that extra $400 that should go to the house versus to her lifestyle.

[Jake]

Why not do it faster?

[George Kamel]

Okay, listen, I'm a. I'm. I'm a tight wad at heart. How many tight wads are out there? Thank you for making yourselves known. Here's the deal. This is where you lost the audience. You said we got to keep up the gazelle intensity. Guys, Gazelle intensity happens in one through three.

[Ken Coleman]

Not for this cyborg.

[George Kamel]

Once you're through getting out of debt, you got the emergency fund. We move from intensity to intentionality, which means we can let our foot off the gas a little bit. We can increase the sinking fund for vacations and upgrading the car in cash and buying clothes on Amazon, if that's what you so choose. So I think there's going to be a split here. You're on track to do the house. Let's move some funds over to let her enjoy her life while she maniacally.

[Rachel Cruze]

Takes care of four kids. That's a great goal. I mean, five years gets your house.

[George Kamel]

Five years house paid off.

[Rachel Cruze]

Cause how old are you guys?

[Lynette]

35.

[George Kamel]

Oh, my God.

[Rachel Cruze]

So you have a paid off house at the age of 40.

[George Kamel]

Incredible.

[Jenny]

Debt free.

[Rachel Cruze]

Debt free. Completely.

[Ken Coleman]

I have a couple questions here. I'm not ready to decide yet. You said that I'm locking in my vote, Bob. Jake, you said. Have you already decided, Josh?

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah, I'm locking in my vote.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay. What are they doing?

[Rachel Cruze]

Jeopardy. I said, Bob, is that Price is Right? I'm mixing my game.

[Ken Coleman]

I don't know. I don't know. I need more information. Jake, you said that you already give her $400 a month. Is that like just blow money? Yes or no?

[Rachel Cruze]

I do the budget.

[Jake]

So she does the budget. And so the numbers are all moved to where they need to be moved to. We're $0, so.

[Ken Coleman]

No, no, but you said I don't.

[Jake]

Give her the money necessarily. Right. It's like.

[Ken Coleman]

But she gets $400 for whatever Jenny wants.

[George Kamel]

Sure.

[Jake]

I would say it probably averages out to that.

[Ken Coleman]

Jenny on the mic, please. Do you concur with this information that you get roundabout 400 bucks a month to do whatever Jenny wants with?

[Jenny]

Yeah, I mean, I make the budget. He doesn't even want to look at it. And I do all of It. I'm the spender, but I'm also the nerd.

[Ken Coleman]

Boy, you are big.

[Jenny]

I love a budget. I love a budget.

[Ken Coleman]

I get it. Okay, so here's the deal. So you're asking for the resettling debate. Should you get more spending money? And Rachel asked you.

[Jenny]

And he can spend a little. He needs to spend.

[Ken Coleman]

He needs to. But he won't. Okay, that guy is not. He squeaks when he walks. All right, I'm just telling you. Yeah, and listen, there's no problem with that, brother. I'm just calling balls and strikes. All right, Jenny, how much more money are you saying you would like to allocate to the Jenny have a fun day because she has four kids fund?

[Jenny]

I'm actually happy with the spending. I just want it to be like. Not him. Like having to side.

[Rachel Cruze]

It's the purchasing, it's the attitude. It's the side eye. Like amount is fine. It's every time. An Amazon package.

[Jenny]

Why are you getting guac with that?

[George Kamel]

No.

[Ken Coleman]

Now Jake has something to say. Jake's got something to say. Go ahead.

[Jake]

Now I'm just being libeled. This is.

[Ken Coleman]

Are you telling me that's fake news? You've never said anything like that.

[Jake]

Absolutely fake news.

[Ken Coleman]

Have you done it?

[George Kamel]

Have you.

[Ken Coleman]

Have you done a side eye? When she spends the $400?

[Jake]

Well, yeah, when there's package after package after package.

[Ken Coleman]

Is it in the $400?

[Jake]

I'm thinking. I have no idea. I have no idea how you know. Why you don't know.

[Ken Coleman]

Cuz you're not in the budget, right? So you're not. You have no skin in the game, but you're Mr. Opinion. Well, I know. It's why I'm the judge. I'm on fire, people.

[Jake]

I just think if. If I were also a spender, we would be paying off our mortgage in eight, nine, ten years from now as opposed to the five.

[Laura]

So.

[Ken Coleman]

No, you can't.

[Jake]

Someone has to write it in.

[Ken Coleman]

I'm. I am now ready to rule. Any other questions?

[George Kamel]

I just want to. I'm trying to play devil's advocate advocate here. Who breaks down the boxes every time.

[Jake]

It's not even an attempt.

[Rachel Cruze]

Are they thrown out in the garage?

[Ashley]

No.

[George Kamel]

Right.

[Jake]

Oh, just right in the walkway. The worst possible spot you can.

[George Kamel]

I tell you, I think that's the root cause of the rift in your relationship is it's a part time job for me breaking down Amazon boxes in my house and I'm tired of it.

[Ken Coleman]

George, that's very.

[George Kamel]

If you bought it, you break it down.

[Rachel Cruze]

Jenny Hey, I have a question. Okay. No, I don't agree with that.

[George Kamel]

But of course you've spoken to someone who's never broken down a box in her life.

[Ken Coleman]

She's never had a splinter. She doesn't even know what it is. Look at these nails. Look at these things. That's big money right there. You can't hide money.

[Rachel Cruze]

How did you grow up with money?

[Ken Coleman]

Oh, I can tell you.

[Jake]

Yes, exactly like Ken's thinking.

[Ken Coleman]

Go ahead, tell us.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah, tell us.

[Jake]

Okay. You know, we had what we needed, but nothing more, really.

[Rachel Cruze]

Was it stress? Was there, like, a level of stress with it? Okay, so I think the real issue, honestly, I think understanding what is going on, like, we had a couple. Some friends over, and he was literally talking about how he got frustrated that she buys the nicer milk. And she's like, I just don't get it. And they're fine financially, all this stuff, but she. Do you all relate? You got that where it's like, why.

[Ken Coleman]

This guy wants generic milk?

[Rachel Cruze]

But the reality was, seriously, of what he viewed of money. There was a level of. A deeper level of security, fear. Is everything gonna be okay? Right. It's kind of these deeper questions that almost get triggered that you may not even realize. And then for you, you feel shame and, like, you feel bad and guilty with doing the plan. The plan that we've planned out. And you're making me feel this way. And so I don't feel like I have permission to enjoy the income of our household because I'm getting judged with every little purchase. And that's probably hurtful. Right. So deep down in it, I think seeing each other two or three layers down of what's really, really, really going on under that. But I do want you more involved with. Cause I do think if you see it's within a controlled element. She's not out of control. Right. You guys aren't secretly, deeply in debt, and she's not spending thousands and thousands of dollars. So there's a control issue. There's something else going on. And so for you guys in your marriage, I think that.

[Jake]

Yeah.

[Rachel Cruze]

To kind of figure out, okay, what's really happening. But I've got my vote locked in.

[Ken Coleman]

Well, let's start with you, madam.

[Rachel Cruze]

I'm siding with you, lady. What's your name again?

[Ken Coleman]

Jenny.

[Jenny]

Jenny.

[George Kamel]

Jenny.

[Rachel Cruze]

I was right there. Sorry, Jenny.

[Ken Coleman]

I said, lady, you're siding with Jenny?

[Rachel Cruze]

I'm siding with Jenny. I think that it's totally appropriate. It does not feel out of bounds. It's not a crazy percentage of your Income, It's a controlled matter. You're doing the budget. You're tracking in the every dollar app. I mean, you know what's going on. You have the freedom to spend.

[Ken Coleman]

Judge George, I've always wanted to say that Judge George feels good.

[George Kamel]

The court has ruled. I'm going to go with Jenny caveat. Jake must look at the budget and must find a hobby and force a line item in Budget to spend money. Jenny will hold him accountable for spending said money. Is that fair? And in response, Jenny must break down boxes for one month. That's fair. I'm fair.

[Rachel Cruze]

That's a good ruling.

[George Kamel]

I'm tough, but I'm fair.

[Rachel Cruze]

That's a good ruling.

[Ken Coleman]

I have to concur with my fellow judges. Jake to you. Number one, you've been a good sport. Number two, you're terrified. No, I'm serious. I'm looking at a young man who's been terrified his whole adult life because of what he grew up with, money. So I'm going to side with Jenny, but I'm going to tell you to over the next 30 days, force yourself to have some conversations with people you trust, you feel very safe with, including Jenny, about your real fears of money. I mean, real tangible fears at this point in your life. A young man who's doing a great job providing for his wife and those little kids, you're terrified. And the thing that's going to help you is to confess what that fear is, number one. Number two, you need to confess to her that you have not trusted, trusted her. Like you need to trust her. You've stayed out of the budget. So the trust is there to a degree. But the side eye and the bad attitude about the packages and all the things is a manifestation of the fact that you don't like the way that she spends. And so we've got to get on the same page. And as a guy who's 51, three kids that are teenagers, one's here in college in Chicago. And it goes like that. I told Rachel today the days are long but the years are short. And I'm going to tell you something, if you're not careful, you're going to be fearful your entire kids lives and they're going to adopt that same view as opposed to you are not promised tomorrow. You better have some fun and make some freaking memories with Jenny and those babies. Well, that's my rule. Thank you guys.

[George Kamel]

Thank you guys so much.

[Rachel Cruze]

That was so good.

[George Kamel]

That takes a lot of bravery right there. I want to do more of that.

[Rachel Cruze]

Great job. What Pastor Ken.

[George Kamel]

That was good.

[Rachel Cruze]

Pastor Ken. Rebuking the fear.

[Ken Coleman]

I'm telling you, I love it. That's what it is. You called it out. Quick shout out to Rachel. You really helped me begin to see this on the show when you wrote your book Know Yourself, Know youw Money. And I give that book away all the time on the show. You hear me? Do it to couples. Cause that's the deal.

[Rachel Cruze]

There's something else happening.

[Ken Coleman]

That tiring book would save marriages from financial ruin. So if you know a couple that struggle with money, get Rachel's book, know yourself, know your money, and gift it to them. It really does what we just did there. So. And I want to say thanks to them. That was fun. All right, let's get to our next question. Who do we got next? This is fun. Let's give them some love when they come up to the mic. There we go.

[George Kamel]

Yeah. Tell us.

[Ken Coleman]

Tell us your name and where you're from.

[Lynette]

My name is Lynette. I'm from a little town south of here called Odell. My question is about the average person who's trying to make ends meet. My husband and I are starting a financial class at our church next week. I am also the outreach director at our church. So I'm in our community. I'm seeing the needs. I run our church's food pantry, and people just aren't making it. So what is your number one bit of advice that I can go back and tell our people? For someone who's struggling to make ends meet and lives paycheck to paycheck, that's a great question.

[Ken Coleman]

Give us a little bit more of a economic picture in that area. How much of this. We know a lot of this is debt. We get that. But how much of this is a limited economy for people to move up? Is it a low wage area? Is what I'm getting at, Yes.

[Lynette]

I actually know the stats on that. I think we're at 15% poverty level and below. And then I'm not sure if you're familiar with the term, Alice, but it's income limited, asset. No, I'm sorry. Asset limited, income constrained, meaning they have no assets. And also the ability to make income is constrained.

[Ken Coleman]

Is that government housing?

[Lynette]

We have some. Yes.

[Rachel Cruze]

We.

[Lynette]

In addition to that, we're just losing government funding. So we lost our rural transit in our area. For low income people. It's just kind of sad.

[George Kamel]

Yeah, that's hard.

[Ken Coleman]

That's tough.

[Lynette]

Kind of sad for us. Not us, but our community.

[Rachel Cruze]

But your community. That's right. Yes, absolutely. Well, Yeah, I kind of partial the two conversations. I do think there's a real poverty conversation, that they're in a very, very, very difficult situation. And then you have another group that's just living the middle class lifestyle in general and where their expectations are for lifestyle. So I would probably tackle those two different things, probably differently, probably what I would say. But I would speak probably more to the middle class situation that what our expectations are in life is so much higher than it was in the 80s.

[Jenny]

Right.

[Rachel Cruze]

Like you look at square footage of home, you look at material of what our kitchens are made of. I mean, whatever. The thing is, what we expect in life today is, is just so much greater and it's not a reality. Right. And so for people just to get what they want with the income that they have. And that's what we tackle. I feel like a lot on the Ramsey show. There's a lot of that. Cause it's a lot of credit card debt and car loans. It's all the consumer side. But for your situation specifically, I mean that poverty side, that's a much harder, bigger conversation. And Ken, you talk a lot about work finding. I mean the income is that, that's, that's the answer is getting the income up. And so how to do that and what that looks like. It's a lot. There's a lot of facets to that. But finding.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah, not a. I can't give a really succinct strategy because the reality is this is a macroeconomic problem in your area. It feels micro because it's local, but it's macro.

[George Kamel]

And.

[Ken Coleman]

George can speak to how they can cut, cut, cut to the bone. But at the end of the day, if they're limited income, their quality of life is not going to be very. Now, I hate to say this, but if you want to help those people, you help them find a path to a better job. And that means a pathway out of that community.

[Lynette]

Our largest community is about 30 minutes away, 30 miles away. So that's hard for many of them. They don't have reliable transportation, which you can imagine with no income.

[Ken Coleman]

That's right.

[Lynette]

But I agree with you. I mean, yes, we need to find something for somewhere for them to work to get them ahead, but that's hard where we live.

[Ken Coleman]

Well, and let me encourage you, the messaging for you needs to be this is going to be a long path. It's a little bit of Dave Ramsey truth. You know what he tells people that call us and they got 500 grand in debt. And he just goes, look, the Next three, four years. This is not going to be a fun life. And I think that the message there, George, is very similar to say you're going to have to scrap and hustle and save for a very long time, do some things that are very difficult in your life to then be able to essentially afford a car that could get you 30 minutes away. Or to say, we're going to. I mean, the pioneers did it with nothing, a covered wagon mentality to say, we're going to take everything we own and we're going to make a better life. Now that is a message of empowerment. And you don't get that in politics because what you get is policy and all the arguing. But in all reality, in your situation, it is an economically depressed area and there is no simple solution. It is going to be rugged individualism. Pull themselves up by their bootstraps with a lot of encouragement from people like you in the community that can say, we're going to help these people and if it winnows down our community, so be it. Because by the way, that's going to happen anyway. And I'd rather it happen on the backs of capitalism and rugged American individualism than to just watch the thing die slowly and watch them die on government benefits. That's not a good way out. So they don't have much of a choice. But I want to bring George in because I think he's got great insight here. On there is a way to teach and to promote living on very little.

[George Kamel]

Yeah.

[Lynette]

Is that your book, George?

[George Kamel]

No, I'm not going to read my book. I'm happy to gift that to you guys and send you a box to all the folks out there. I think the true answer is, as Dave would say, we don't sell magic wands. You're going to have to choose your hard. Hard is staying where we are, hard as moving. I mean, I've come from a family of immigrants. My parents immigrated to this country and that's a really hard thing to do. To leave the culture, to learn a new language, to learn new skills. But that's what it's going to take to get out of their poverty situation. So what you can do is on a case by case basis, sit down with everybody and have them make an every dollar budget and go, okay, what is the root of the problem? Because at least then we have clarity. If it's an income problem, great. We know we need to go make more. If it's a debt problem, we know, hey, we got to get rid of these payments. We're Going to debt. Snowball this by making more, selling stuff, side hustles, whatever they can do. And the budget will give them at least a financial reality check of them just looking in the mirror instead of looking to all the things they can't control out there, which just creates a new cycle of cynicism and hopelessness. And so that person in the mirror, they are really the secret sauce. They are the solution. And so your job, the best you can do is help them believe that.

[Lynette]

I'll try.

[George Kamel]

Thank you for what you do. Yeah, it's a very noble.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah. Give her some love.

[George Kamel]

Wow.

[Ken Coleman]

I'm so inspired by Lynette.

[Rachel Cruze]

I know.

[Ken Coleman]

That's amazing, because I'm going to tell you something that is really difficult work. It is difficult work to be a light in a community like that, where there is no light. And so you're a great American. Is that your husband with you? Okay. What's his name? Colin. Colin. Okay. Well, I just wanted to shout you guys out. You really represent the best of us. And any way we can support you, just let our team know tonight. We want to make sure we get as much resources as we can to you. Let's pump as much sunlight of financial peace as we can. James, our fearless leader is here tonight. James, how many of you ever laid eyes on James Childs, producer? James, give James Child some love. This is our guy. You hear us talk about him, and he keeps us. I mean, God bless this guy. To keep us all on the rails, including Dave. I mean, not easy.

[Laura]

And is he.

[Ken Coleman]

Isn't he handsome? Look how ruggedly handsome he is.

[James Childs]

A lot of personalities.

[Ken Coleman]

Literally, a lot of personalities. So, number one, we wanted you to meet James. James is phenomenal. James, tell everybody real quick how long you've been producer of The Ramsey Show.

[James Childs]

14 years.

[Ken Coleman]

14 years.

[George Kamel]

So great.

[Ken Coleman]

So I'm gonna give it to James because we've got a fun little segment here. James, tell us what we're doing.

[James Childs]

Well, before that, I just want to say this is so much fun because we in the booth all have these same reactions. And it's fun getting to hear it live, like when we react to these calls. And now we can kind of hear it in the room. So this is a blast.

[George Kamel]

It is.

[James Childs]

And Jake, we, the crew, agreed. We're gonna take you wherever you are. We're gonna take you out for drinks after this. Cause you're a good sport.

[George Kamel]

And Jake's paying.

[James Childs]

That's right.

[George Kamel]

Yeah. We're not paying.

[James Childs]

All right, so here's the deal. We have a fishbowl Here. So most of the questions tonight are obviously from the audience about their life situations, but we also got a bunch of fun questions that are for you guys here on the stage. So these questions are meant to be kind of quick, a little bit rapid fire, a little bit inside into your life and your personality. So we've probably got about 15 in here. So I'd say let's hit, like, half of them, and then we'll come back again and do it a little bit.

[Ken Coleman]

So speed round, guys. So quick answers.

[George Kamel]

You don't need to tell us, Ken.

[Rachel Cruze]

Go fast.

[Ken Coleman]

Be difficult, huh?

[Rachel Cruze]

Hey, listen, Ken loves his words.

[Ken Coleman]

Dropping wisdom. All right, Mr. Sound Bite over there with your coiffed hair. Okay, here we go. I'll read the first one.

[Rachel Cruze]

You need your readers.

[Ken Coleman]

I might. Are you the free spirit or the nerd in your marriage? And give an example. All right, that's for all of us. I'm the free spirit. I just really love to buy clothes and stuff. We're responsible about it, you know, Spender, free spirit. I'm very spontaneous, and I will just forever be a free spirit. You know, I do the budget, but it's exhausting. I sometimes need to go buy something after we do the budget.

[Rachel Cruze]

Just to.

[Ken Coleman]

Enjoy it, just to regulate my nervous system.

[Rachel Cruze]

Purchase. Yeah, free spirit, for sure. I think the best example is Winston. We have the every dollar budget, and I'm great with that, and I love it. I'm like you. I'm a spender, but I do like checking it. I feel in control. It feels great. And Winston has, I think maybe three, four, maybe even five Excel documents on his computer mapping apps, different things. And he changes the code in the Excel cell thing, and it changes all. Oh, I can't. I can't.

[Ken Coleman]

All you people are repressed. I'm just gonna tell you. You're repressed.

[Rachel Cruze]

Oh, my gosh. Okay, you go.

[George Kamel]

No shock to anybody. I am the nerd. I have multi. I have my every dollar budget. I have, like, outside spreadsheets that I'm working on. I get the bank transactions to my. And I'll text my wife like, hey, was this you or fraud? Because I almost think, like, if it was fraud, they would spend less than my wife does. And then she goes, guys, you've heard this one. I'm gonna return most of it. You can't even argue with that. You can't argue with that. So there you go. I am the nerd. Proudly love that.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay, next question. What's the best gift you've ever received or the best You've given. So you can either go give or receive. I'll go receive. I got a giant Blackstone griddle. I mean, it's like my own little hibachi table. You know what I'm talking about? My wife got that for me for a Father's Day. And it's just. I love cooking for the family. I love cooking for all of our. We were a house where all of our kids friends were over all the time. So I got so much joy out of that. And I'm gonna say the Blackstone griddle. Cause you can cook anything on it. Burgers, fried rice, vegetables, you name it.

[Rachel Cruze]

That's good.

[Ken Coleman]

What do you got?

[Rachel Cruze]

Winston got me a nice ring when our middle daughter was born. And that was a really special ring. But I'm not a creative person. Like, I'm not good at creating anything. Don't ask me to do anything creative. But I'm thinking of the lake house. And I think one of the most creative gifts I did was to mom and dad. Or no, it was to dad for Father's Day about five years ago. For the lake house. Maybe it's on my mind. And it's a sign. I got it off Etsy. A sign. And there's an arrow that. I didn't make it. No, I ordered it from Ezzy. But it's a sign. And one arrow points and it says Papa Dave's Dock that way. The one below is the arrow back to the house. It says Mimi's Kitchen. And they have a fence for all the dogs. And the other arrow goes the other way to the dog park. Like it's like a little like arrow thing for the lake house. Isn't that creative?

[George Kamel]

That's really cute.

[Ken Coleman]

I mean, somebody was creative. You clearly were.

[Rachel Cruze]

I came up with what was on the side.

[Ken Coleman]

I think it was a lovely gift, George. One last thing.

[George Kamel]

I'll give you a recent one. So I have a one month old son now. It's our second. Thank you. Thank you. And I didn't know about this, but there's a new thing called a push present where the woman demands a gift, understandably for carrying a human being for nine months and pushing it out. Hence the word push present. And so I thought, you know, we have a lot of stuff. I'm done with stuff. Let's do an experience. And so I got my wife tickets to Backstreet Boys at the Sphere in Vegas in January. And I'm very proud of myself, Ken, because, boy, did that hurt. Oh, I was like, does this count as your birthday? And Christmas and our anniversary next year. She's like, no, that was one gift.

[Rachel Cruze]

One gift. Such a great husband, you know, who.

[Ken Coleman]

Needs to have drinks with you. Jake.

[George Kamel]

Yeah, we already talked. We're gonna compare spreadsheets later.

[Ken Coleman]

Oh, man, I gotta tell you. The Backstreet Boys, huh?

[George Kamel]

Yeah.

[Rachel Cruze]

Backstreet's back. It is one of the best concerts.

[George Kamel]

Rachel went. It changed her life, y'.

[Ken Coleman]

All.

[Rachel Cruze]

With the Sphere, I had chills. I was so. I almost cried. I was so emotional. But I think you're only feeling that if you're in the ages of, like, 32 to 45.

[Ken Coleman]

Is it a certain song that pulls that?

[George Kamel]

No.

[Rachel Cruze]

But what I learned. I won't go on my whole tangent. I learned this, actually. Someone on Instagram sent me this article, and I was, yeah, like, yes. That's what I'm talking about. When you. Your music between the ages of 10 and 16 of when your brain is forming, like, certain parts of your brain, music, specifically during that age, sits in a part of your brain that is different than any other time in life. So when that gets triggered, it's a level of nostalgia that gives you literal. Like, something chemically happens in your body. And that was happening to me at the Sphere.

[George Kamel]

It's science, Ken. How can you argue with.

[Ken Coleman]

Well, this explains a lot. This is why, to this day, if I hear hold on by Wilson Phillips, I really enjoy it, and I feel a little guilty about it. Like, I got to turn my man card in, but now I get it.

[George Kamel]

Yeah. For me, it's living la vida loca. So you can have your man card back. Right?

[Ken Coleman]

Right.

[Rachel Cruze]

Oh, Ricky Martin.

[George Kamel]

Good one.

[Ken Coleman]

You got to look.

[George Kamel]

And by the way, I'm not going. She's going with a friend.

[Rachel Cruze]

Good as you should.

[George Kamel]

I don't want to be a part of that. I got sensory issues.

[Rachel Cruze]

I don't see the girls screaming, women.

[George Kamel]

Screaming in my ear for three hours over men who can't dance anymore. Yes, they can.

[Rachel Cruze]

No, they can still sing in it. It's very impressive. It's very impressive.

[George Kamel]

It's animatronic up there. I'm convinced it's AI.

[Ken Coleman]

I'm telling you, the amount of Ben Gay in that green room after the show. Unbelievable.

[George Kamel]

Their dogs are barking back there.

[Ken Coleman]

They are. And I just got to say this. Hot take.

[George Kamel]

Dogs are barking. You never heard that? No.

[Ken Coleman]

By the way, inside baseball, Rachel knows very little cultural reference phrases at all. Like, my dogs are barking.

[Rachel Cruze]

Who's never has anyone not.

[George Kamel]

I'm from Boston. I learned that in the South.

[Shea]

Okay.

[George Kamel]

Yeah.

[Ken Coleman]

You're raising your hand. What? That you don't.

[George Kamel]

Of course you do.

[Rachel Cruze]

Has everyone never heard of that?

[George Kamel]

This guy's got some dogs that are barking.

[Rachel Cruze]

Okay, we got some.

[Ken Coleman]

All right, I'll keep the dogs in the house, pal.

[George Kamel]

All right, let's get this show back on the road. You heard of that one, Rachel?

[Rachel Cruze]

Get the show back on the road.

[George Kamel]

Yeah.

[Rachel Cruze]

Get this train on the tracks.

[George Kamel]

Perfect. Nailed it.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay. All right, next. Next up, we're going to go to another question. Laura is joining us. Give Laura some applause as she comes to the mic. Hi, Laura. Tell us where you're from.

[Laura]

Logan Square here in Chicago.

[Jake]

Great.

[Laura]

Yeah. I am 29. Baby step two. Just student loans left, but I'm going. I'm a bridesmaid for my friend's black tie wedding here in Chicago. And so I've already gone to her bachelorette and then went to the bridal shower. Didn't get a gift yet. And then I am going with my boyfriend to the very nice rehearsal dinner and then obviously the very nice wedding. What would an appropriate gift be? My boyfriend and I kind of disagree about. Obviously we'd kind of each do something since we're both going together for all these events of how much we should each be giving.

[Ken Coleman]

Oh, this is great.

[Rachel Cruze]

Okay, this is your. I'm a little old school wedding etiquette here. Have you given a gift at all at any point?

[Laura]

No, other than. I mean, other than the. When we travel together. Right. Like, I think we all split the Airbnb for the.

[Rachel Cruze]

Sure. Okay.

[George Kamel]

Yeah.

[Rachel Cruze]

But you haven't given a physical gift yet.

[Ashley]

Nope.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay, I got a quick question for everybody. And you, Rachel. Why does the boyfriend. He's just a boyfriend. Why does he have to buy a wedding gift? Am I too cheap on that?

[Rachel Cruze]

George, Is he friends with the groom?

[Laura]

Yes. And that's. So we're going to a wedding actually the weekend before. That's just for my friend and he's not giving a gift for that one. I'll give one for both of us.

[Rachel Cruze]

Okay. I have an idea.

[Ken Coleman]

Oh, I like it.

[Rachel Cruze]

I don't really have an idea, but kind of an idea. Cause I'm not creative. Go on, Etsy. What's a really sentimental, really not expensive, but really cool thing that you could do that's like, oh, yeah, it's not gonna be an obvious KitchenAid mixer. You know what I mean? Like that she's gonna know the price of it.

[Laura]

Do you think someone wants that for their.

[Ken Coleman]

I don't know.

[Rachel Cruze]

But between your friendship or something like, it's a gift to her.

[Ashley]

That's fair.

[Rachel Cruze]

And it's something there that's not gonna cost a lot.

[Laura]

I thought it was like a faux pas to give something that's not on the registry.

[Rachel Cruze]

Okay, you're all black. Tying me up. I can't. No, like, no, like, it's like, ask.

[George Kamel]

Her to name 30 things on the registry. She'll lose track after seven.

[Laura]

I was afraid I was just give money. I don't want to give her stuff. Ideally, I thought I should give.

[Rachel Cruze]

Oh, you're just gonna give like a $200.

[Laura]

I mean, ideally I wanted to give like 150 each person.

[Rachel Cruze]

Oh, I hear you. I hear you.

[Laura]

I mean, I can for like a money.

[Ken Coleman]

Oh, I like this. This is a little more specific.

[Rachel Cruze]

Okay, okay, okay. I got you. It usually is a phone call, but honestly, you've spent so much already. I just be like, thanks for being my friend and being here for everything. Like, I don't really care about it.

[George Kamel]

Let me get this straight. You're a bridesmaid? Yes. Okay.

[Ken Coleman]

Call her.

[George Kamel]

Me, stupid. I thought if you were a bridesmaid, you don't get a gift. Cause like, you're doing a lot already. You're spending a lot of money to be a bridesmaid.

[Rachel Cruze]

You agree with this.

[George Kamel]

You still get a gift. Okay, I'm hearing from the. Especially the older ladies in the room.

[Ken Coleman]

I'm going to like your 150. I think 150.

[Laura]

150 each person?

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah.

[Laura]

Okay.

[George Kamel]

Yeah.

[Ken Coleman]

Total. Total.

[George Kamel]

My boyfriend thinks this feels like prices right now. Well.

[Rachel Cruze]

Oh, yeah, this is good.

[Ken Coleman]

Listen, I love this. I told the audience to speak up. I love it. It's my opinion. I'm going 150 as you. I'm not speaking on behalf of the boyfriend, but I'm saying to you, I think 150. That's nice. That's nice. If it's cash, I don't believe you would not.

[Rachel Cruze]

Well, it's just I just know the amount of money you've already spent. And I mean, the way you're talking about, it's a very elevated. Everything's been elevated experiences. So I can't imagine what you're spending on dresses. I mean, you're spending a lot. I'm assuming maybe not.

[Laura]

I've spent over a thousand already.

[Rachel Cruze]

Okay.

[George Kamel]

That guy. Thank you, guys. Go to X. I didn't ask for a gift from my groomsmen for my own wedding.

[Laura]

Listen.

[Shea]

Yes.

[Rachel Cruze]

You usually give a gift.

[George Kamel]

I'm saying normalize. No gifts if you're in the wedding. Thank You.

[Rachel Cruze]

No, it's etiquette.

[George Kamel]

I don't think that's stupid. It's etiquette.

[James Childs]

It's etiquette.

[George Kamel]

I went to the bachelor party. I'm taking up all my time.

[Rachel Cruze]

That's what I'm saying. Get creative with the gift itself.

[Ken Coleman]

I'd go more Rachel. George, I don't think you're being realistic. And I don't have a fundamental problem with either one of your answers. I just don't think it's realistic with people expect things. You yourself just revealed to me. Another sign of the apocalypse tonight. That we have a push gift now.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah, push presents. Push presents.

[Ken Coleman]

Push present. Whatever. That didn't exist when my wife had a baby. She got flowers and whatever. I don't know. Too many gifts. So we live in a society now where everybody expects something. So I'm trying to give you practical advice. I would go with a low cash gift or else she's gonna be mad that you.

[Rachel Cruze]

Would you go low cash? Cause it's so obvious, like, that's my thing. Right.

[Laura]

I thought it was supposed to be. Nobody's supposed to give money to replace what they're paying on the plate of food. And so I'm getting two dinners, rehearsal and then regular. And they're nice like Sam.

[George Kamel]

How do we know she's even paying for this with her own money? Now we're paying the parents for covering the bill.

[Laura]

No, she and her fiance are paying for it.

[George Kamel]

Wow. That's on them. Listen, some of my friends are fancier than me. I can't keep up. I cannot keep up with my fancy friends.

[Ken Coleman]

I guess the easy solution.

[Rachel Cruze]

Out of my element.

[George Kamel]

Don't invite me to your wedding. How about that?

[James Childs]

Now that.

[Ken Coleman]

That I concur.

[Rachel Cruze]

I think $300 isn't going to break. I think if you decide to do that, it's fine. But I do think this, like, idea that we're just gonna keep going and going and going and going and going is ridiculous in general.

[George Kamel]

Right.

[Rachel Cruze]

And I know it's a tough position. And we actually did it. We did a I think it's Smart money happy hour episode about being single friends today. How expensive it is just to be a friend with someone.

[George Kamel]

And then it's the 30th trip and the 40th trip and you better come with me.

[Rachel Cruze]

It just keeps going internationally.

[Ken Coleman]

You know, the more I hear this, the easiest solve is to get the exact same thing on Etsy that she got from Dave and Cheryl and just say it's for your grandkids one day.

[Laura]

Because this is the gift that keeps on it. They have a lake house.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah, yeah, you could, you could, you could.

[Ken Coleman]

I think that's the play.

[Laura]

Thank you.

[Ken Coleman]

You need a sponsorship with Etsy, by the way.

[Rachel Cruze]

And I never go on like.

[George Kamel]

I'm not. I'm not.

[Ken Coleman]

Give her some love. Wasn't that good? It's so fun.

[Ashley]

But can I say yes?

[Rachel Cruze]

I am not as bougie as you, even though I'm the truffled Mac and cheese up here. A black tie wedding kind of feels like a dream. I would be. That would be so fun to go to a black tie wedding.

[Ken Coleman]

Only a woman says that. Because I think people that have to.

[Rachel Cruze]

Actually wear the bridesmaids when you're the bridesmaid. But, like, everyone's just. I don't know, it just seems so.

[Ken Coleman]

Like, oh, yeah, I. I think I'd rather get a colonoscopy. I. There are a lot of people. There's a lot of people in this room who get it.

[Rachel Cruze]

Open your money back, girl. Earn your money back on that open bar.

[George Kamel]

That's right. Milk that open bar for all it's worth.

[Rachel Cruze]

Amen.

[Ken Coleman]

No guy wants to go to a black tie anything. All right, There it is. All right. Hey, fun segment coming up. You ready, guys? We're going to call it Two Truths and a Lie. All right, so let me set this up because you. All the audience get to weigh in here. Okay? So all of us have done the Ramsey show for a long time before that, the Dave Ramsey Show. So we've been on. And when you do that many hours live, you hear some things, right? People call in and say some things. And so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna roll through a list here and I'm going to read three statements, okay? A, B and C statements, and you all are gonna guess which one is the lie. You got it? And these are actual things that callers have said.

[Rachel Cruze]

Two out of the three are.

[Ken Coleman]

That's right. Two out of the three.

[George Kamel]

One is a lie.

[Ken Coleman]

One is a lie.

[George Kamel]

Two are real calls we took on the show. One is real call we took.

[Ken Coleman]

We got that. I love it.

[George Kamel]

Here we go.

[Ken Coleman]

A, my husband thinks the government isn't real and has stopped paying our debts. Hold, hold, hold, hold. Just some of you people. That's all you do is listen to the show.

[George Kamel]

You don't get extra credit for that.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah, just calm your jets. You're going to get to vote in full throat in just a second. B, I was scammed out of $100,000 being catfished on a dating website. And C, should I install a payphone booth in my house to get free phone service? Which one is the lie?

[George Kamel]

All right, let's go. A, who thinks.

[Rachel Cruze]

Who's A?

[Ken Coleman]

Who thinks it's A?

[Rachel Cruze]

A Is A the lie?

[Ken Coleman]

Anybody think it's A?

[George Kamel]

Okay, not A.

[Rachel Cruze]

We got one back there.

[Ken Coleman]

All right, anybody think it's C? All right, the real answer is B. George and I were on together when a lady called in and said my husband thinks the government isn't real and has stopped paying all of the taxes, debts, everything. It was A. Y' all remember that? It was just. Oh, boy. I never noticed true confession here on the live show.

[George Kamel]

Hey, keep your man off the Internet, ladies.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah.

[George Kamel]

All right, just gonna say it right now.

[Ken Coleman]

I mean, that's a call where George and I couldn't say what we really wanted to say. It was just a train wreck.

[Rachel Cruze]

You tell him he's gonna go to jail.

[George Kamel]

I told her she's going to go to jail.

[Ken Coleman]

She's going to go to jail if she doesn't accomplish.

[Rachel Cruze]

That's sad.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah, it was really sad. Okay, here we go. A, should I pay $5,000 to bail my boyfriend out of jail? B, should we prioritize a reverse vasectomy? And C, I'm 14 years old and have $21,000 in debt. What is it? A is A, the lie? How many think it's B? Should I prioritize a reverse vasectomy? A few people. And then finally, how many of you think It's C? I'm 14 years old and have 21,000 in debt. Okay, the real answer, the lie is A, should I pay 5,000? George and I again were on when we took the call about prioritizing a reverse vasectomy.

[George Kamel]

What did we say?

[Ken Coleman]

I bit my lip. Cause I thought it was insane to reverse it in the first place.

[George Kamel]

Yeah.

[Ken Coleman]

Much less pay for it.

[Rachel Cruze]

What was the situation? Huh? What was the situation? Second marriage.

[Ken Coleman]

I deemed it was not worthy of a reversal.

[George Kamel]

Okay, just Google it, Rachel. Reverse vasectomy on Google, the call will pop up. Yeah.

[Ken Coleman]

And then this call came in. A 14 year old really did tell Dave once that he had 21,000 in debt. Okay, next. A, my wife maxed out her credit card on McDonald's.

[Rachel Cruze]

The Diet Cokes are good.

[Ken Coleman]

Yep. B, my house is haunted by ghosts. Should I sell it? C, my husband took out a credit card on our 12 year old. You all think B is the lie?

[Laura]

C.

[Ken Coleman]

I can't hear anybody. All right, the lie is, C, my Husband took out a credit card on our 12 year old. George and I again took this one.

[Rachel Cruze]

Wow. Y' all have the craziest.

[Ken Coleman]

George and I get the good calls. My wife Max had her credit card at McDonald's house.

[George Kamel]

I did the math on air and could not crack it.

[Ken Coleman]

This lady was.

[George Kamel]

She was spending like 30 something dollars a day at McDonald's.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah, a lot of Happy Meals.

[George Kamel]

How do you do that?

[Ken Coleman]

A lot of toys.

[Rachel Cruze]

That's crazy.

[Ken Coleman]

All right, next. A, should I sell my daughter's Taylor Swift tickets to pay off her debt? Easy, easy, easy. You, you folks out there, they don't miss a beat. B, I bought an expensive monkey and then it started attacking my fiance. And c, I won $1.5 million from a scratch off my mom got me. Am I obligated to give her some of the winnings? What is the lie? A, B. Okay, well, actually, B is the truth that Dave took that call in the early years. That is a true story. Bought an expensive monkey and the monkey beat the snot out of his fiance and he still had to call Dave and talk to him about it. The actual lie is I won 1.5 million from a scratch off my mom got me. And Rachel and I took the infamous Taylor Swift ticket call.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yes, and you shocked me on that one.

[Ken Coleman]

I remember you thought I was going to be a little fuddy that you.

[Rachel Cruze]

Were going to say, yeah, sell the tickets, get it to the debt. But you said, go to the concert. And I thought, ken, I am just.

[Ken Coleman]

That influence on you because I have a 16 year old daughter. And I was like, this is where you got to live a little bit. But you know, okay, let's see here. A, this is the caller speaking. Dave, you're stupid and arrogant.

[George Kamel]

And that's just what Rachel said. That's not even the crux of the car.

[Rachel Cruze]

Never say that. I am respectful.

[Ken Coleman]

B, our beef jerky side hustle made our electric bill go up to $400 a month. C, I financed my wife's breast implants and then she cheated on me with my boss. Which one is the lie?

[George Kamel]

I'm hearing a lot of B, the.

[Ken Coleman]

Actual lie is, B, our beef jerky side hustle. Dave took the call for the guy who financed his wife's breast implants.

[George Kamel]

A.

[Ken Coleman]

Poor guy. He was a double loser on that deal. Whatever money. Spent the money and didn't even get to use him.

[George Kamel]

Yeah, Dave was beside himself losing. He couldn't get through the call.

[Ken Coleman]

I don't know that I would have been sadder for a guy If I'd have taken that call. Terrible. Okay. And then I was on the call with Dave when the guy started the call, dave, you're stupid and arrogant.

[George Kamel]

It.

[Ken Coleman]

And I just was like this. I, I, I don't know what was going to happen, but, man, I think I replied to the guy, I've got a great book for you. It's called how to Win Friends and Influencer. How about that? That's pretty fun. You guys are great.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah, y' all were great.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah, you guys really knew it.

[Rachel Cruze]

You knew it.

[Ken Coleman]

Yes, sir.

[James Childs]

I made my own little bonus question here. You are kind of known for the crew infamous for having quite a bit of doozies that you don't even realize what you're saying. So we have kind of like our own booth quote book for Ken.

[Ken Coleman]

Oh, boy.

[George Kamel]

We call them kinuendos.

[Rachel Cruze]

Kinuendos, they happen all the time and they're so.

[Ken Coleman]

Can I say before he reads these, I truly don't in the moment know that they come across the way that you're about to hear them.

[James Childs]

So the best ones, I don't feel comfortable saying in front of an audience.

[Ken Coleman]

That is true.

[James Childs]

I picked two. And the third one is not killed. So here's the Ken version. A, head on over to your local hardwood dealer and make mama happy. All right. B, that's a whole different process emotionally than drinking yo mama's milk. And C, he needs a good sip of grown up juice.

[Ken Coleman]

So what's the non Ken statement?

[Shea]

C.

[Ken Coleman]

James, tell him.

[James Childs]

So the answer is B, but it was a real statement said by Dave. So they were all real, just not by Ken.

[Ken Coleman]

And Rachel was on with me when I made the hardwood dealer comment. And I. Does anybody in here remember that one? You all remember everything else. You all remember that one. Oh, it's good to know you guys. Listen, when Dave's not on. That's great. Just quick context. You remember this?

[Rachel Cruze]

Oh, yeah.

[Ken Coleman]

Young couple called and they had been saving up to renovate their house and been living in just, you know, a dump of a floor. They'd saved up, they had plenty of money.

[Rachel Cruze]

She wanted to do it.

[Ken Coleman]

She wanted to finish their hardwoods on the first floor. And this guy was like, my boy Jake over here. And, you know, he was just, he called us and he's just hemming and hawing and Ken, should I do it? Rachel, should I do it? And I finally said at the end, you know what? Go down, look, tell your wife, hang up. Tell her, go out for dinner and then take her down to the hardwood dealer and make mama happy.

[George Kamel]

Except, Ken, you said it a little more like this.

[Ken Coleman]

Take mama down to the hardwood dealer and make mama happy.

[George Kamel]

It was more like that.

[Ken Coleman]

That is true.

[George Kamel]

A little bit more juicy. That is true.

[Ken Coleman]

And I look over at James and the entire crew, they're dying, laughing. And I know that I've said something, but I don't know what I've said. And so we go to the commercial break, and these guys are amazing. They pull it up and they show me the clip, and I just.

[James Childs]

It happens twice a week.

[George Kamel]

Every week.

[Ken Coleman]

Twice a week.

[George Kamel]

It's like ESPN playback, slow motion. This careens off.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah, it's great. Yeah.

[Laura]

Yeah.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay, we're gonna now go to another question. Is that right? We got Ricky, everybody. Welcome, Ricky, to the mic.

[Rachel Cruze]

Hi.

[George Kamel]

Hello.

[Rachel Cruze]

I live up in Skokie, which is one of the suburbs, and I brought one of your biggest fans with me, my daughter Ruthie.

[Ken Coleman]

Hi, Ruthie.

[Rachel Cruze]

I read your book.

[George Kamel]

You read my book? She's Gonna Be a Future Millionaire. I love it.

[Rachel Cruze]

She will.

[George Kamel]

That's fantastic.

[Rachel Cruze]

So speaking of books, are there any books that you've read recently that you recommend either Lifestyle, relationship, financial. Not yours. Because we read all of those, particularly for people in baby steps four through seven.

[George Kamel]

Ooh.

[Rachel Cruze]

Oh, that's good.

[Ken Coleman]

Books that we've read lately that would help you in four.

[Rachel Cruze]

I have two money ones that are not Ramsey, but I loved them, and they're bestsellers. I feel like people have probably read them, but the Psychology of Money. It's a great one. Okay, you've read that one. And then Die with Zero. Have you read Die with Zero? It's a great one. I don't agree with everything in it, but he does a really good job presenting the case of using your money while you're alive. Whether that is, if you're. Instead of leaving a big inheritance, give it to your kids when you're alive and when they need it for, like, a down payment on a house. All of this. Because this whole thing is, if you die at 85 and all your grown kids are 60, 65, they're fine. They don't really need the money at that point. Cause they've built their life. So if you can use it throughout your life, which, again, we say at Ramsey that you should leave a legacy to your children's children, all the things. So there's a balance in it. But I think he does a really good job of saying, hey, if you have done well financially and you do have the ability to spend it on experiences with people you love, if you're able to use it to help your family if you're able to be generous instead of leaving it all to charity when you die. Be giving now. More. I love that mindset. So die with zero. It's a great one.

[Ken Coleman]

Real quick. I would say the Pursuit of Happiness is the name of the book written by Jeffrey Rosen. And what he does is he goes back into our founding Fathers. Obviously, many of us know the phrase the pursuit of happiness from the first line of the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson. But this book goes back and it examines who influenced the Founding Fathers to the point that they used that phrase, and it goes back into the Stoics. The reason I'm recommending this book for people in 4, 5, and 6 is because you've been Gazella intense, and so now you're in that stage of living like no one else. And this book does a fabulous job of explaining what that phrase means. It's become an American phrase. But the real heart of it is that the pursuit of happiness as the Stoics. And then our founding Fathers saw that phrase. It was not about gaining stuff. It was about growing in your virtue. And I think that's a perfect book for people who are going, now I can use my money in a very different way to live like no one else. And so the pursuit of happiness was a pursuit of getting more virtuous, and thus you were happy. So I guess that's the one that I would recommend.

[Rachel Cruze]

That's good.

[George Kamel]

Beautifully said. I'm gonna go with Five Types of Wealth by Sahil Bloom.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah. Great book.

[George Kamel]

I'm a guy who is very focused on the financial side, but if you look at it like a tire. I had a flat tire on the other sides. Right. Like social relationships, physical health. And so this book talks about, yes, financial, but also all these other areas of life that if you don't have them under control, your quality of life will suffer. And he talks about, you know, parenting and the different seasons of life and the amount of time you have with your kids. And it just helped me to look beyond just the money stuff as the nerd and go like, oh, I probably should work on these other areas now that I got the money stuff under control. So that's a great one. Regardless of where you're at.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah. Great question. Thank you, Ruth. Everybody giving some love.

[George Kamel]

Thank you.

[Rachel Cruze]

Thank you, Ruthie.

[Ken Coleman]

All right, next is Ashley. Keep the applause going for Ashley. Where is she? There we go.

[George Kamel]

There's a man following you. Be careful.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah, that guy looks shady.

[Ashley]

They told me he could come up.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay, great. Introduce yourself. Ashley.

[Ashley]

And I'm Ashley.

[Ken Coleman]

Hey, Den theater.

[George Kamel]

My name's Jim.

[Ken Coleman]

Hey, Jim.

[George Kamel]

Jim.

[Ashley]

That's Jim.

[George Kamel]

Do you do voiceover work?

[Ken Coleman]

I have done that in the past life. Long, long time ago. Okay, well, you haven't lost it, pal.

[Ashley]

That's a side gig.

[Ken Coleman]

Very excited. Okay, what's your question, Ashley?

[Ashley]

So we're in baby step four, five and six and we're just kind of like feeling kind of stagnant. Like it's kind of boring. I mean, I'm happy that we're here and we're able to invest the 15% and we are saving for college, but we're just not finding every single time we have any extra money. We can't put it towards our mortgage. It's like we have a plumbing issue or we need a new car, which was a $5,000 car. Just so you know. So it's just, it's just been really difficult in this kind of phase because like, we got out of debt really quick and we saved our emergency fund really quick. And now we're just like, okay, let's move it. I really want to pay off the house. Like, I want to walk in the grass. Like I. Yeah.

[Rachel Cruze]

How many kids do you guys have?

[Ashley]

We have two.

[Rachel Cruze]

How old are they?

[Ashley]

Yeah, we have a 13 year old son and we have a 7 year old daughter.

[Rachel Cruze]

Okay. Okay. How long have you guys been in baby steps? 4, 5 and 6?

[Ashley]

About a year and a half.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah. Okay.

[Ashley]

Yeah.

[Rachel Cruze]

Because I do think we have this picture of. Because the steps are so succinct that everything is just gonna go up like this and we're just gonna keep going and going and going and it's gonna be great. But the truth is, life happens. You're in it a year on average. I think our millionaire, from our millionaires study, nine years, I think is the average that they're paying off houses.

[George Kamel]

I think it's seven for baby steppers, 10 for millionaires in general.

[Rachel Cruze]

Okay, okay, okay. So, yeah, that seven's in your. So you have just. So give yourself another six year Runway. Meaning within those six years, your income's gonna go up. Stages of life with kids is gonna change. Like things of life are gonna change. And I really do believe if you are disciplined and your goal is to pay off the house early and you guys are looking and working the plan, it's gonna happen. I really do believe that. I think just give yourself a little bit of grace. Cause life does this, right? Like cars break, refrigerators break, things happen. You know, you gotta buy plane tickets for the family to go somewhere. If there's a funeral, like, whatever it is, things are gonna be up and down. And so I would just say give yourself some patience. I think you really are gonna get there. I really do. And I know it can feel frustrating right now, but you will get there. You're seeing it in a really short window where I feel like the Runway's much longer for you.

[George Kamel]

With the airplane analogy, it really is. Like, when you're getting up to altitude, it's kind of exciting. There's, like announcements happening. We're like, woo, we're taking off. And then you're 40,000ft up and like, all right, three hours to go on this flight. I can guess watch it. And so it does get kind of boring. What helped us was tracking it, maybe make it visual if you want to do, like, rings for the mortgage. And right now it's like, woo, 300 went to principal. Towards the end, you're really making progress. So it does get faster and your incomes are going to go up. The kids will be out of the season where they're mega expensive and hopefully off your payroll eventually. So just know that right now it might feel hard. I also would do a budget audit and go, why can't we make progress? You know, is the emergency fund good? Okay. Why can't we cash flow these things in our budget? Do we need sinking funds for maintenance and repairs so that it doesn't feel like it's derailing this other goal?

[Ashley]

Yeah, actually, I just wonder, like, we. Maybe we're putting away too much in our sinking funds. Maybe we have too many sinking funds.

[George Kamel]

You know, that could be.

[Ashley]

So I think that that's something we should probably reevaluate.

[Ken Coleman]

But we need them all the time.

[Rachel Cruze]

Because stuff comes up. Right, Right. That's what you're saying.

[Ken Coleman]

Just yesterday.

[Ashley]

Yeah.

[George Kamel]

What happened yesterday?

[Ashley]

We did need it yesterday.

[Ken Coleman]

Tree roots blocking our sewage system. Let's. I'm sure the Den theater wants all the details.

[George Kamel]

Yikes.

[Ken Coleman]

Well, I imagine that Jim, when you saw that, you went, oh, my, this is unfortunate.

[George Kamel]

That's a great Jim impression.

[Ken Coleman]

This must end, stat. Yeah. Jim likes the microphone more than I do. And that's saying something. I love saying something. I have. I have a quick question. Because you said boredom. I'm just wondering, when was the last time you guys planned and saved up to do something fun?

[Ashley]

Yeah, I think that's also the situation. We're taking a year off from, like, fun. Like, we. Because we've had a lot of Fun. We did have a lot of fun after we paid off the debt and.

[Ken Coleman]

We just went on a Royal Caribbean cruise just a couple months ago.

[Ashley]

Oh, that's fun.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah.

[Ashley]

So we're trying not to take any vacations.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay, Got it.

[Ashley]

You answered okay this year, but yeah.

[George Kamel]

Do you have a set goal every month for how much we want to put toward the mortgage? Can you tell us what that is? On top of the normal payment? How much do you want to put toward principal?

[Ashley]

That's the thing. I don't think we. Yeah, we probably should be more specific.

[George Kamel]

I would be very specific. And go like, is it $500? Okay, we're going to do 500 before the other chaos happens in our life. Like, make it a priority. If it's a priority.

[Ashley]

Sure.

[George Kamel]

And then track it and you'll see the balance go down and go, can we do 600 this month? Hey, we got a bonus coming up. Can we put that toward it?

[Ashley]

It.

[George Kamel]

And as your income goes up, the amount will go up, the principal will start to sink down, and you'll feel like you're making progress. How much is left on the mortgage?

[Ashley]

155.

[George Kamel]

Okay. When you go below that six figure mark, you're going to get a new pep in your step, a second wind, if you will, on that marathon. So just keep at it. You're doing all the right things.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah. You guys are doing great. And congratulations for being here.

[Ken Coleman]

Thank you, guys.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yes, thank you.

[Ken Coleman]

All right, we're going to go to another question. We got Amanda coming up to the mic. Give Amanda some love.

[George Kamel]

The ladies have shown up tonight. Can I just say? Yeah, the guys, no bravery. Pure cowardice. No guy. Come on.

[Ken Coleman]

Wow.

[Rachel Cruze]

Some of them come.

[Ken Coleman]

George.

[Rachel Cruze]

Hello.

[George Kamel]

Hi.

[Ken Coleman]

Where are you from?

[Rachel Cruze]

I just recently moved to Milwaukee, so an hour and a half up north.

[Ken Coleman]

Nice.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah. So my question is, I was incredibly blessed with a 22 year career in the United States Air Force. I recently retired.

[Ken Coleman]

Thank you for your service.

[George Kamel]

Thank you.

[Rachel Cruze]

Thank you.

[Ken Coleman]

You're a great American.

[Rachel Cruze]

Thank you. And like a lot of veterans, my identity was completely wrapped up in the uniform. So my question is, how do I find meaningful work on my terms while I differentiate myself from my military career?

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah, I love this question. I'm gonna go back to the whiteboard example that I used a minute ago. And so we would look at your entire career in the Air Force, and we would look at all the skills that you've acquired. And I think this is an exercise I'm gonna challenge you to do tomorrow.

[George Kamel]

Absolutely.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay. And so one side of the paper, I want you to write down talent, and I want you to write down all the skills that you've acquired and, you know, like, let it flow. Like, I was really good at this. I learned this, all that stuff, and it just creates the proper narrative. Then the second thing you're gonna write down is all of the experience and describe the experience, right? So I had these talents and skills, but my was over here in crisis management or in whatever logistics. Just write it out. And so then you can look at both of those sides of the paper and go, oh, this is who I am, regardless of whether I was in the Air Force or not. So that's the first thing. Second thing is to realize that a lot of employers really respect people that come out of the military. It's the greatest organization in the world.

[Rachel Cruze]

Amen.

[Ken Coleman]

Come on. And so, yeah, so that's the narrative. Hey, I'm trained, and this is what I acquired, and this is what I did. And then take that and now go out there and look online and just see what's out there. You don't have to apply, but just see what's out there in the world. Because ChatGPT, by the way, is amazing. I would literally take those things I had you write down, and I would put it in ChatGPT and say, hey, describe for me potential paths outside of the military with this skill set and this experience. Blow your freaking mind.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah.

[Ken Coleman]

All right. I'm sure I'm also going to give you my Get Clear career assessment.

[Rachel Cruze]

Excellent. Thank you.

[Ken Coleman]

And so Grayson, right here, the handsome guy in the red hair, See him afterwards. He'll get your email. I want you to take the assessment. And I'm not going to describe it for lack of time, but it'll really create, I think, an ideal job description for you, and it'll actually give you some AI suggestions. But that's the exercise, because right now, it's really hard for our men and women from the military. That's all they've ever known. So it feels so scary. Am I nailing it?

[Rachel Cruze]

Transition has been difficult, for sure, of.

[Ken Coleman]

Course, But a lot of it is. You're just terrified because of the unknown, and you've only known one world. Okay. And so here's what we know. If you've ever driven in a car, Amanda, and it started to rain really, really hard. So hard that you couldn't see. What did you do?

[Rachel Cruze]

Pulled over and waited for it to.

[Ken Coleman]

Pulled over, slowed down. We stop, right? And we move back onto the road. When everything clears up, the lack of the unknown is one of the most paralyzing fears that we as humans face. So the exercise I've given you is going to help you see, okay, what is out there. Now, once you see what is out there and you match it all up with the exercise I gave you, plus the assessment, now it's all about, I'm going to tell everybody I know what I'm actually looking for. And I think you're going to find there are a lot of great Americans who want to help a great American.

[Rachel Cruze]

Absolutely.

[Ken Coleman]

And I really believe it's that simple. Seeing leads to believing, and believing will lead to you getting the thing that you want to get. And you're going to do great out there. I absolutely believe it. That.

[Rachel Cruze]

Thank you.

[Ken Coleman]

Yeah. Thank you. Okay. Oh, this is very exciting. Do you know my. This is very exciting. You know, we. We've never done like a really cool group debt free screen.

[George Kamel]

We got a lot of debt free people in here.

[Ken Coleman]

We got a lot. How, how many debt free people?

[Rachel Cruze]

How many debt free people we have? Oh, yeah.

[Ken Coleman]

They're not excited about it, but they are debt free.

[George Kamel]

They are.

[Jenny]

They're here.

[Ken Coleman]

They are here. And so what we realized is that we just had so many of you, and so we said, well, let's do a group debt free scream. So we're gonna try to qualify you and see if we can do something fun here. Okay, so who has become debt free in the last 12 months? Stand up. If that's you, stand up tall. Don't sit down.

[Rachel Cruze]

Oh, yeah, we got it.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay.

[Rachel Cruze]

Yeah.

[Ken Coleman]

Wow. Okay, that's a good amount. That's great. So, George, you got your writing utensil?

[George Kamel]

Yeah, I'm going to use.

[Ken Coleman]

Oh, you're going to use your phone. Now here's what we're going to do. Stay standing, stay standing. And if I miss you because I can't completely see around me, I'm going to start to my right because I see some folks right here now add.

[Rachel Cruze]

Up how much debt has been paid off in the last 12 months.

[Ken Coleman]

How much debt has been paid off in the last 12 months in this room. Right? And George has got his handy dandy calculator, so yell it out loud and proud right here, this couple. How much?

[George Kamel]

Roundup.

[Ken Coleman]

$280,000.

[George Kamel]

All right.

[Ken Coleman]

Okay, next. Hold your applause, hold your applause. 3,500. Okay, next. 40, 75,000. You guys are gonna have to help me. If there's anybody else, go around the room like the wave. What, what's next? George, you got these here in the front, right?

[George Kamel]

Here.

[Ken Coleman]

48,000, ma', am. Right back here. I'm pointing at you. 5,000. Okay, up in the top, 46,000. This couple right back here. Oh, 126 and then 48,000. George, you keeping up? Okay, you, sir, in the hat. 4,000. This couple right here. 175, by the way, sit down. Once you give me your number that.

[George Kamel]

One time to have it one time.

[Ken Coleman]

Right here. 15,000. Back here.

[George Kamel]

42.

[Ken Coleman]

42. All right, 265,000. 265,000.

[George Kamel]

Can I.

[Rachel Cruze]

This is for fun. The total for just the year has been in this room.

[Ken Coleman]

Oh, I like this drum roll. Give like a Joe Joe drum roll.

[George Kamel]

In this room in the last 12 months. $1,172,000. That's wild. I love it.

[Ken Coleman]

How about that?

[Rachel Cruze]

Oh, my gosh. Okay, so for the debt free scream, I think everyone in the room who is debt free stands up.

[Ken Coleman]

Is that what we're gonna do? We're gonna do a. So everybody who's debt free, stand up.

[Rachel Cruze]

And that can be consumer debt too. It doesn't have to be your house.

[Ken Coleman]

It doesn't have to be your house.

[George Kamel]

Or baby step seven.

[Rachel Cruze]

Oh, my gosh. Look at all these debt free people.

[Ken Coleman]

This is great.

[Rachel Cruze]

Oh, my gosh.

[Ken Coleman]

Here's what we're gonna do. Rachel, I think you should be the one that counts them down.

[Rachel Cruze]

Do I count it down?

[Ken Coleman]

Do a three, two, and one. Everybody count with Rachel. She's going to take over. And when she counts you down, we want to hear the loudest.

[Rachel Cruze]

No, I think. I think they. I think they let them do it. Set y' all up just like we do on the calls.

[Ken Coleman]

All right, go for it.

[George Kamel]

Count it down.

[Rachel Cruze]

We're going to count it down to a debt free screen.

[George Kamel]

There's your.

[Rachel Cruze]

And then you all say 3, 2, 1. Okay. All right. Live from the den in Chicago, making anywhere from 0 to $250,000, we have an entire group of people that have paid off one point, almost $1.2 million in this room. So you guys count it down for your big debt free scream.

[Ken Coleman]

Three, two, one.

[George Kamel]

We're debt free. Now we're talking. Heck yeah.

[Ken Coleman]

You guys, so fantastic. We applaud you.

[Rachel Cruze]

Incredible. Incredible.

[Ken Coleman]

We don't want to just applaud you because you know what we do, George, what do we do on the show when we have a debt free scream?

[George Kamel]

We have a little parting gift.

[Rachel Cruze]

So on the stage, if someone does a debt free scream. Live from Ramsey headquarters, then it goes to a break after the Braveheart plays, Then we Sneak out. We go to the lobby.

[George Kamel]

That's right.

[Rachel Cruze]

And we yell, celebrate. Everyone that watches the show in the lobby. We hug, we. We take pictures. We give some stuff away.

[George Kamel]

That's right. And one of the things we give away is one year of everydollar premium. So we thought it'd be fun for anyone who did their debt free scream to get a year of every dollar premium. How does that sound? Now we know there's a lot of people who are in baby step two. They're in the thick of it. They're trying to make it through and they're going, that feels I shouldn't. I feel like I need it. So, Ken, what do you. Can we do some outrageous generosity today?

[Ken Coleman]

We're going to do something crazy and borrow a page from maybe one of the greatest television givers of all time. It's our Oprah moment. Because if you stand up and turn your chairs upside down, everybody gets every dollar. Tonight you get an every dollar and you get an every dollar. And you, you get an every dollar.

[James Childs]

Hold it up.

[George Kamel]

This is so cool.

[Rachel Cruze]

Hold it up.

[Ken Coleman]

There it is. This is. How about that?

[George Kamel]

And can I add, this is not. This is not your grandma's every dollar. If you guys didn't know, we just released an all new version of EveryDollar and it's way more than just a budgeting app. And Rachel and I, with Jay did this premiere explaining it all. So give them the spark notes of what's now included. Yes.

[Rachel Cruze]

So everydollar, again, not just a budgeting app anymore, ladies and gentlemen. It's over your entire financial picture. So it's so. It's coaching, it's group calls. It's your budget still. It's the roadmap to what you need to do with your money overall. So it is a much bigger version. It's the all new EveryDollar. We're so excited for you guys to experience. You guys, we are so excited about tonight. You guys have been.

[George Kamel]

Yes. Thank you guys so much for coming.

[Ken Coleman]

Chicago, we want to say on behalf of everybody back in Nashville, Tennessee, from Ramsey Solutions, for our entire crew, the cameramen, everybody that works so hard to bring financial peace to people, our entire team, we're so proud to be associated with you. You are the ones that did the work. You guys are making a difference. You've got financial peace and you have changed your family tree. So we still believe in you. We're never going to stop believing in you. So proud to serve you tonight. And just on behalf of Rachel and George, entire team, thank you all for being here. Good night.

[Rachel Cruze]

Thank you, guys.

[George Kamel]

Thank you, guys.