Slow Money Moves Still Matter

0:00Brought to you by the EveryDollar app. Start budgeting for free today. Normal is broke and common sense is weird, so we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network in the Fairwinds Credit Union Studio, this is the Ramsey Show. I am Rachel Cruz hosting this hour with my good friend, a co-host of Smart Money, Happy Hour, George Kamil. We'll be answering your questions, so give us a call at 828-55225 and we're going to talk about your life and your money. All right, first up, we have Amanda in Portland, Oregon. Hi Amanda, welcome to the show. Hi. Are you doing? I'm okay. I'm nervous. I've never done this before, so yeah. I'm not brushing it so far. You're doing great Amanda. Yeah. How can we help?

1:00Well, I guess I'm trying to gain an outside perspective on if my opinion on hiring an outside exterminator is warranted or is justified because me and my fiance have different opinions on that. Okay. Well, George is not the rodent. It's kind of fella over here. I mean, who's a rodent fella? That's a weird thing to be. To see what needs to be exterminated. Well, I guess we've just been doing with the rodent issue or house is kind of old. It's been on and off for a few years now. I am a state home mom, so I deal with it. Well, if I see one, what's the one? What is it? A rat. A rat. It's gotten into our pantry. Oh yeah. I'm guessing there's more than no. There's usually just one, right? Is it the same guy? It's spurted out.

2:02So like I trapped one in our closet at the beginning of the year, it escaped. We patched up a hole we found. Now one is back. I haven't seen it. My fiance has it chewed through our pantry. We took everything out. They're destructive. It like you'll get behind your dishwasher and like chew cord. I mean, I know. Uh huh. So we have a small child and so my anxiety through the roof, because I don't want our child to get sick. I don't want our child to get bit. They're young enough where they think it's fun. Like, oh, I want to play with the mouse. And I'm like, no, you don't. You scream and run. Um, so I my anxiety through the roof about it, I would feel better hiring someone to find holes, figure out where they're coming in, create a better plan. And I know it can be expensive. So that like, that's reasonable on my fiance's part. But he feels like what are they going to do that we can't do? But I feel like all of our resources weren't really working like the sticky traps, snap

3:07traps, uh, rap poison. We did actually just catch a rap this morning. Um, but it's definitely, I feel like put a strain on us. It's made me feel very like distant and like, my anxieties aren't being heard. So it's just like, like, I've kind of been like, don't talk to you about it. Don't. Okay. He's getting dismissive with you. Sorry. Sorry. He's tired of talking about it. He doesn't want to pay for it. So he's like, I'll deal with it. We'll figure it out. It's going to be fine. And you're like, it's not fine. Yeah. And it's like, it's understandable. Like, the finance aspect, they understand. But it's how much is the cost? I'm living with a rat. Like, I've been, yeah. Yeah. And it's, you know, like, I'm, is it a thousand dollars? Oh, no, I was looking up, uh, like estimates and it was saying maybe like 350 in our area. I might be like the highest, but I think it could be less than that. I mean, no, okay. So from his side of the fence, are you guys financially in a good spot?

4:11Do you have money that you were like, yeah, we can write a check and get this done with? We have like, we have cash in a safe that like we could use. But then there's like, you know, this is on the list of a million other things that need to be repaired or fixed or, you know, so then there's that like, what does that money go towards first? Like, how much money do you guys have to remove? I mean, I mean, I mean, same thing girl. So we have a thousand dollars saved in cash. We don't, uh, I wrote all the sounds. Sorry, we have a thousand dollars saved in cash. We own our house. We own our cars. We do pay rent on the land. So there's that. And we have more like roughly three grand in debt just from like, just credit cards combined. This is all combined. Okay. So your total consumer debt is $3,000. Mm-hmm. Okay. Okay. How much does he make?

5:12Uh, 30, 100 a month. It kind of fluctuates. Okay. So I think the real problem, I mean, obviously the rat is the real problem. So we'll give, we'll give him that, that standing. The issue to me, Amanda, is, is there's a $350 swing of you not feeling justified and heard and valued and what's important to you in this moment? And your fiance is dismissive. I mean, I don't want to put words in his mouth. Be little like he, it is, it's affected your relationship is what you said. Like you sure the rats give you anxiety, but ultimately you're living in a household that you don't feel like you get a vote. Mm-hmm. Is he the same way with the other repairs in the house where he's like, ah, I'll deal with it. I don't want to pay someone. I'll get around to it. It's not that big of a deal. I mean, some of it, yeah, but, I mean, yeah, yeah. And there's like a point where like, because I, he's very handy. He can work on cars. He can build things, you know what I mean? Like he's a real truth.

6:12He can do all sorts of stuff, but it's kind of like, okay, well, when, when are we gonna, you know, like get around to it? It's a lot of talk. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or it's like to the point where, you know, until it's like, okay, now we really have to, because this is happening with the car now. Or now we really need to repair this, because this is falling apart. Or, you know, so, I think we're coming up. Yeah, yeah. Okay, so no, no, no, I, I feel like the discussion needs to be had of the bigger picture of, there's a, I don't want to like throw this word off, because I feel like it's overly used, but like you, it's almost like you don't, you don't feel safe because we have to wait till something is an, an urgent emergency to have any attention towards it. And you want to life. That is, you know, somewhat well kept, but that you feel like he's taking care of things. And when that's being removed, it starts to kind of shake this, this safety feeling that

7:13you have in general, right? It's a, it's more of a pattern. It's not this one thing. Yeah. Even though this is bright, would you agree? Mm-hmm. Yeah? Sorry. No, it's okay. What, what, what makes that, why is that emotional for you? I mean, yeah, it's just, I'm a warrior. I stress a lot. Go play, please. Sorry, my toddler. I'm a warrior. I stress a lot. And so just, like, even he brought up the other day, upgrading my engagement ring is paid off. Go play. And I was just kind of like, I like, like, what? Like are you serious? Like, why, how can you bring it? When, like, there's a million other things on our list that need to get done, you know what I mean? So it was just, like, and then he kind of got a sad that, or like, upset that I, like, dismissed that thing so quickly and I get it, like, he was trying to be sweet and wanted

8:15to do something nice. But if he's trying to be sweet, he should value the things that you currently value, which is fixing these issues that are not wants their needs at this point. So you guys need to have a real conversation about what this relationship looks like, what the commitment looks like. I mean, I don't know how long you guys have been on the fence here, but we need to start really combining our lives and our shared goals and values and let's start with the rat and let's spend 300 bucks to remedy this thing before it turns into a bigger issue. When it comes to your health insurance, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is believing your stuck in a one-size-fits-all plan that costs too much and covers too little. That's why I recommend health trust financial. They're the only Ramsey trusted health insurance partner because their advisors take the

9:21time to understand your situation and help you explore the coverage options that are available to you. Whether you've changed jobs, welcome to new baby or had some other life event, health trust financial shops, multiple top rated insurance carriers for you. Then they help you understand your options so you can make a smart decision instead of guessing. I've recommended health trust financial for more than 20 years because they work for you, not the insurance companies, so they offer unbiased advice. Visit healthtrustfinancial.com to connect with an advisor today. That's healthtrustfinancial.com. Next up we have Jessica in New York City. Hi Jessica, welcome to the show.

10:22Jessica, are you there? Hi, how are you? Hi, good. Welcome, welcome, how can we help? Thank you. I recently lost my job just on Tuesday and stayed in my car right down. I'm out there three, starting from scratch. I've always had an entrepreneurship once. I don't think I'm ready to go back to the workforce. I think I'm ready to start my own business, maybe acquiring a business or really maybe getting into real estate, maybe buying a property. I just need some guidance as to what's most profitable. Are you independently wealthy? Do you not need income? I need guidance and you're going to hopefully help me with some of it. I don't know. I'm just wondering do you have money right now to cover the bills? Yeah, like what are you going to do when rents do next month? Do you have money saved? Well, my partner, I live together. He pays the rent. Luckily, I don't pay anything towards that besides like our HORA fee.

11:24And then I do have a lot of spin along that, which is most of my what I'm responsible for as well as groceries and things like that. But as far as living, you know, he takes care of that. Okay, but I am saying though, you do have, you do need money right now to live off of like next month as an example. Right. You don't have, you don't have $50,000 in an emergency fund that you're going to use. No, so I do have about 20,000 in crypto, about 8,000 in the bank right now. And I should be getting some severance that I'm trying to negotiate because it's like one month severance. But I'm hoping to learn more about, I don't know if alone is the right way or how to, you know, I was thinking maybe shadowing a person that does it to better, you know, get to know how to start something from the ground up. Okay, as far as real estate goes or what? So does the thing any what is a type of business that you want us to help you figure out what business you should do?

12:29Yes, and how to obtain the money for it. Okay. I mean, buying a business small business, um, be like, I've seen a lot of this on TikTok. So I think I think our algorithms are similar for different reasons, but I get a lot of these just buy up small businesses. And it's great by a car wash, by a boring business that generates 10,000 in revenue a month. So easy. It is not as expensive and we never recommend anybody take on debt in order to finance a business, let alone anything else, but especially business because there's high risk. Yeah, Jessica, how old are you? I am 30, I'll be 39 in November. 39 in November. Okay, what were you doing before? What was the job you had that you just got let go of? So stormwater management like underground civil work and have a background in architecture. Okay, well, for many, many years is what I want to school for design and architecture. So it's not okay. Perfect. And how much student loan debt do you have? About 150,000 dollars.

13:30Oh my gosh. What was it? Architecture for me? Um, it wasn't as much a degree as it was by the lack of knowledge and, um, you know, not knowing what we were getting myself into. I'm the first one in my family to go to college here in the United States. Okay. So I think, um, yeah, some lack of knowledge in regards to that. In fact, I look at the end of this Shovels away, and also sense they were so high. Uh, they were supposed to be less. But once I graduated, I told me with more. And, um, you know, income or. How much were you making at your job? 60 years, about a hundred thousand. A hundred thousand. Okay. Well, if I were to paint the next two years of your life, Jessica, of what I would recommend. Can I just say if I woke up in your shoes, what I would do? And George probably has a plan of his own too. But so I think because of this debt, because, and you do have some savings,

14:30you have 8,020 in crypto, I think my goal for you in the next 24 months is to be completely debt free, have a fully funded emergency fund in the bank, and that's my take longer than two years. And to find a career path at which you are, you're qualified, and that you enjoy and that you're good at that can bring in a similar income. So that's a very, that's very, where I would probably take you for the short term, meaning the next two to three years, is very different than starting, going and getting a small business loan and starting up a business. Because that what that's gonna do is continue to add to the risk that you're already in, having debt and then currently, as we're talking right now, not having an income at all. So I would be looking to replace that income any way I could here in the next little bit, because my goal would be to get out of debt,

15:32and not start something new right now, because you're financially in the whole, and I would want you on solid ground before you start something. Yeah, that makes sense. So this might be, we're gonna start this as a side hustle business three years from now, and we're gonna do something that we actually enjoy doing, not something that we saw that could make money from social media. And so you love architecture, you love design, you love, you know, all the civil work that you've been doing, find the thread in that and go, how can I turn this into something that I own? That's a better path than I heard real estate is good. Let me go take on a $300,000 loan on an investment property. Right, right. I don't want you to fall in your face. Sure, the other thing that had started for me was in my job was perhaps shipping like online sales, that's taking a course on that, which was very economical. How much was the course? Yeah, it was $500. Yes, who got rich off of that? The person who launched the drop shipping course.

16:36The person who sold you the dream that drop shipping is gonna make you so much money. So how much money did you make drop shipping? Well, I haven't been able to start it because I just don't tend to get that. Honestly, was getting in the way of things that are going to be cheap. So I feel like now I have the time to pursue something and maybe I could continue where I left off with it. I understand it's hard work and there have been things that I'd ever said for the way it's supposed to be. Please don't buy another course selling you on an entrepreneurial idea. And I don't know if you have time just get to start something new right now. Like you need money. Right, yeah. So I think A1 is finding a job, any job right now. And then what Georgia's saying is on the side at night or on weekends, put some of your time and energy into something else to see if we can grow that. But yeah, starting, starting, yeah, the urgency of getting out of this $150,000 of student loan debt let alone being able to pay for food next month I think is what I would be focused on.

17:38Right. So what's behind all this, Jessica? If I said, why are you urgently chasing after these business ideas of dropshipping a real estate? What's behind it? What's the ultimate goal? So that's always been an interest of mine. I never thought I'd be working and I'd have never seen my life. I always saw buildings. But what's been an interest of yours? Working for myself made perhaps sales since I was a very young child. I always had this entrepreneurial spirit where it was being 10 years old and learning how to do play to and teaching my friends and charging them or learning how to make all this intricate doerly by myself back in my home country, Colombia and making it and selling it there. And then taking it here when it can do United States like hands ready. I love it. So it's great. So follow that thread. What is the problem that you're trying to solve and who are the people that you're trying to help and what is your unique solution that can stand out in the crowd? If you just write, take that as a homework assignment and do not start another thing, don't buy a course until you finish that homework assignment.

18:40Because right now I think you're just chasing after the wind and you're gonna spend a lot of money that you don't have in order to start businesses that won't succeed. Versus just taking the time to slow down, pay off the debt like Rachel said, get a full time job with benefits doing the work that you're already equipped to do and then start this other thing on the side for fun and then start charging and then see if you get traction there to the point where you go, oh my gosh, if I started doing this 40 hours a week and scaled it, I could outpace my current income. Absolutely. And that's how it grows. I mean, the mistakes when we make starting something is they take out the loan, they try it, four years down the road. It's like, oh my gosh, it's not done what they thought and so they're stuck with a failed business and still alone to pay back. So move at the speed of cash. Just go slow with the ideas. Now, I would say we should give our King Coleman's book, find the work you're wired to do. There's an assessment on the back. Of the book and take that assessment and see if some ideas generate. But our team will pick up Jessica if you stay on the line.

19:43But yeah, I think A1 still is finding an income to get this. I'd get the crypto out and I'd start paying down the student loan debt and doing something on the side. So I hope that helps Jessica. When you take your car to the shop, you're probably thinking two things. How much is this going to cost me and is it going to get done right? What you need is a mechanic who will give you transparent information so you can make the best decision for your car and your wallet. Christian Brothers Automotive is the official auto repair shop of the Ramsey show because you can trust them to take care of your vehicle the right way. Their digital vehicle inspections let you see exactly what their technicians see, giving you confidence on which repairs are urgent and which ones can wait. Plus every repair is backed by their nice difference warranty. Three years or 36,000 miles with a guarantee like that,

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21:48Just learn to be intentional and doing it all and that's what every dollar is there for. So check out every dollar you can start for free in the app store or Google play. All right, let's go to John and Charlottes. Hi John. Welcome to the show. Oh, hi, thank you so much for taking my call. Absolutely. I hope this is a life see where I'm in desperate need for some try to figure out how I get out of this situation that I got myself in. Okay, my mortgage is 158788 a month. I want 75 on the house. Sorry, you're breaking up on us, John. Speak directly into your phone. I'm sorry, see if we can hear you better. So 1587, then you got 175,000 left on the mortgage. Correct. Okay. So close. We'll try to get you a better connection, John and jump back in with you. You sounded you we will be back, John.

22:50Oh, let's try again. Hold on a second. Okay. Is that better, John? I mean, I think you, you, you, you, it was a good answer for me. Okay. Yes. Shoot. He said he can hear us. We'll jump to our next call and see if we can get you connected. We'll have our, yeah, we'll have our funds. Kris get back on with you to get a better connection. Okay, we will get back to you. But let's go to Ryan and Asheville up next. Hi, Ryan. Welcome to the show. Hi, thanks for taking my call. Yep. Absolutely. How can we help? So my wife and I are on baby step three. We're quickly approaching baby step four. Just for quick context, between us, both we have two pension funds, two 401ks and two Roth IRAs. My question is with similar rates of return, if I have approximately 32,000 in a company 401k and only 9700 in my Roth IRA, is it still better to prioritize my Roth IRA? Do you have a Roth 401k option? Yes.

23:50Okay. I contribute one 20 a month as a Roth contribution. What's the match? Are they giving you a match at your company? So it's not a match. It's actually they contribute 5% regardless of how I do it. So you did zero dollars. They're still put in 5% of your income. That's correct. Yeah, I'm a first responder within a local government. And so that's that's kind of the standard practice. One of the perks. That's great. Okay. So let's talk about your investment strategy here. Is the pension is that automatic enforced? Yes. So it's a 6% from my check into the pension fund. And of course, I can't change that. I mean, it's based on the average for highest consecutive years of salary at full maturity. Okay. So we recommend 15% of your income going into retirement. Once you hit baby step four. So once you get the fully funded emergency fund and the order you would do that in is match beats Roth beats traditional.

24:52So you said you get a match regardless. So that's kind of nice. It's kind of a moot point. But if you have a Roth 401K, you sort of get the best of the both worlds from your Roth IRA, meaning it's after tax money, but it's going to grow tax free. So that might help with your conundrum. What a lot of people do if they don't have a Roth 401K, they'll go to the Roth IRA first, fill that up. That's $7,500 for this year. And then if they still have a net 15% of their income, they'll go back to the traditional 401K. But in your case, you might say, I want to do all 15% of my Roth 401K and be done. Okay. But the good news is the balances don't matter. So you're going to see this, it's not like if you invest in the 32,000 401K, it's going to have higher growth than the IRA. Ryan, how much do you make a year? So between my wife and I, the growth is 102 a year. How about you though? Like because we're talking about your numbers and your stuff. What's mine is, mine 65 a year. 65, okay.

25:53Because I'm thinking if the 6% of the pension that you have going in, we always say that half of the pension is what counts towards your 15% on baby step four. Because there is money going in, which is great. So you want to include some of it, but you don't have a lot of control. And sometimes they put it in pretty conservative investment. So it's not very aggressive. So that would be, so 3% of your pension is the 15 or you following me. So you got 12% left of your income. And you'll be investing a total, probably of around $9,000. So you really could go fill up that Roth IRA at $7,500. And that leaves you $1,500 left. You could just throw at the 401K if you wanted. Because you're getting 5% right. We don't count the employer's match or the employer's contribution in the 15%. But it's so good to know that because, you know, 7% going in the 401K, it's probably what I would do. Yeah. And it like, here's what I've been at Ramsey for a long time,

26:54is just 15% into my Roth 401K here. And that way I never saw the money. And so it sort of forces the discipline because it shows up before you ever get your paycheck versus some people going, hey, I've got extra money. Should I fund the Roth IRA or should I go on vacation? And so sometimes it's just nice to force yourself to eat the vegetables, which is kind of what you do when you dial up that investment in your 401K to 12% in your case. But going from a pension to a Roth and then 7% to 401K, that is great. And you guys doing that and your wife's, and you know, your wife doing the same on her side of it all. Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. That's impressive. So I'm 27 and she is 26. Oh, good for you guys. Well, you're gonna, you're gonna kill it all. Absolutely. All right, let's go back to John. Let's see if we got him on the line. John, are you there? Yes, ma'am. Oh, you sound clear. Clear as day. Oh, good. Perfect. Okay. So we have your mortgage and then you're saying what you had left on it was about $175,000 on your house. So what is, what's your main question?

27:56All right, the main question is I have 23,000 and roughly 23,000 credit card in loan debt. Okay. And now my social security is only 1561 a month. Okay. And I only get, and I only met around 500 from the rental property that I have. Okay. So that averages out to about $2,000 a month. That's all here in town. So that's it. Oh, how old are you John? I'm a man. Oh, my God. I'm 74. Oh, I'm not too old. You're good. Oh, thank you. You're good. I'm a young 74. A young 74. Oh, God bless you for that one. Thank you so much. I accept that. So you make a little over two grand a month between social security and less investment property. What are your expenses every month between the minimum debt payments and your bills? All right. Now, well, I pay the, I have a, I have a rental

28:56that I pay rent in North Carolina at 625 a month. Then I have to, well, my credit card debt is 1200 a month. And that's, that's about it. What's the rental that North Carolina for? Because of the house that I rent. I don't, because the house that I own is in, is in another state. Okay, so you have two mortgages. No, no, no, one mortgage and one rent. Okay, so who's in the other house that has the mortgage on it? Oh, my rent is, my rent is, you know, my tenant. Oh, that's your, you're making five hundred bucks a month between the mortgage payment with versus what they're paying. Yeah, you're right. All right. Okay. Well, something's got to give here. Yeah, how much, if you sold that house, how much equities in that house? Well, it's worth a zillow's got it up there for about three, three, ten. And you owe one seventy, and you owe one seventy five. Correct. Well, you might net one ten, one fifteen and effort fees.

29:58And you're renting for your, for where you're living right now. Okay. Correct. Okay, gotcha. Okay. I mean, I'm, I don't know. I'm so, I wanted to do like a home equity or a cash out, but I don't know because I just, this is basically, well, there's two mortgages on the house now. So I don't know how to find anybody to take, hold it. Well, I don't know if I can, if anyone will take their place, if I were to try to get a cash out to pay off the credit card. That's just moving around and debt, though. Well, what we need to do is get out of the debt, which is going to require deeper sacrifice. So I would be looking at selling this whole thing and using that proceeds to pay off the debts and maybe you'll be able to at least get by. Yeah, and maybe you'll have a, maybe some part-time work. And after everything's paid, hopefully it's a hundred grand left. And then the hope would be that maybe you can find something small. Yep, that's probably what I would do, John, is probably sell this rental and it's in another state. You don't want to be a long-term, long-distance landlord.

31:08Hey, it's Rachel Cruz. I don't know about y'all, but I can build something up in my head until it feels way harder than it really is. I'll convince myself it's going to take forever, be super complicated or cost-affortune. Then I finally sit down to do it, and I wonder why I waited so long. Making a will might be one of those things for you. That's why I love mama bear legal forms. They've taken something that can feel overwhelming and made it so simple. Their online wills are designed by attorneys and tailored for your state. And while you're on the mama bear website, it'll walk you through the whole process step by step. So you feel confident that you're doing it right and that your loved ones will be taken care of. Plus, making your will with mama bear only takes about 20 minutes. So don't make a mountain out of a mole hill. Go to mamabearlegalforms.com and use promo code Ramsey to save 20% on your will. That 20% off is exclusive to Ramsey fans only.

32:09Mamabearlegalforms.com was promo code Ramsey. So... MUSIC Well, if you're new to the Ramsey Show, it's important to know the way we filter our questions, we give our advice, we think through scenarios, is in a pretty consistent manner, if you will, because there's a plan that we follow called the seven baby steps, and it really is the plan to get yourself in control of your money, get out of debt, save, invest, pay off your house, everything you really need to do in your life when it comes to your money, and the order at which you should do it. So if you're not familiar with it, make sure to check it out. We'll put a link down below for those of you watching on YouTube, we're listening on podcast, to check out the seven baby steps,

33:10because this is one of the most helpful things that you can do for your financial journey. All right, let's go to, is it Luis in Indianapolis? Hi, welcome to the show. All right, thank you, thanks for that in me. So basically I'm calling because I'm trying to figure out whether filling my cars actually a smart financial decision or whether my partner is right about me being impulsive. Again. So a little backstory recently in December, my old car broke down. I tried buying a cheap two to three K car, but the very next day when it started, I got frustrated, made a most of the decision and bought a $43,000 car. Even though I always told myself I wouldn't buy new because of a new car because of depreciation. So basically now I'm considering selling it, but I'm not trying to upgrade or buy another expensive car.

34:11I started a side business, mobile detailing, so I bought a van, so right now I wouldn't be in brush buying a different car, probably in the next month or so. My partner thinks I should just leave everything alone because I have a history of making impulsive decisions and sometimes we're getting them later. So Shuffle thinks buying the detailing event was also impulsive. So my question is basically, would selling the new car and going back to a cheap car being me correcting that financial decision or am I just making another impulsive decision and should keep what I already have? A wonderfully phrased question. So so far it doesn't sound like you think you're making impulsive decisions. So I wanna know what Luis thinks about his own decision making because so far it's just my partner thinks it's impulsive. Do you think it was impulsive to buy this brand new car? I definitely think it was impulsive. Like I said, I did bought that.

35:12You know, I've always had that mentality of like, I didn't share guys' show for since I was in high school. So I said I will never buy one because, you know, depreciation. So I make sure to buy a $3,000 car. But how much did you have to do? You know there's a middle ground here, where you know, it doesn't have to be from a $3,000 to $43. There's a gap here, $40,000 gap we can talk about. What did you, is it on payments? So I actually, I bought it a January, like I said, I don't know, December of last year. And I actually paid it off end of February. So that year, I graduated nursing school of January of 25. Had about 15K and savings and thought that 2025, I saved up total of like 35,000. So five February. Did you spend all of your money on this car? I am a car and I had a $24,000 student loan. So it was both. Oh, so you did, okay. I think we all of my, yeah, all of my savings and earnings,

36:14I spent on the car. Yes, so that probably is not smart. Do you have any other debt or are you debt free now? I'm debt free now. I'm making sure, you know, I don't have a budget. I don't do a budget or anything like that. But you know, I kind of go, I take you three or two weeks. So I just kind of go. Do you think, just spit ball and do you think a budget would help you make less impulsive decisions? I think so. I definitely think so. I tend to be very, yeah, I just tend to be, kind of go with the flow and I usually like structure. But for some reason, when it comes to budgeting, I tend to find different kinds of budgeting apps, but nothing, I don't know, nothing to really grasp my attention. So I just end up going to, you know, just kind of mental budget. It's clearly that one's not working. So let's try a, a downloaded app for now. I'm going to gift you one called every dollar. I'm going to give you the premium version. It'll connect to your bank account. That's step one. It was, we got to make a budget and your partner can be your accountability partner

37:16and saying, hey, that brand new car was not on the budget this month. Now, if you want to save up and get a car, let's put it in the budget and say a thousand bucks a month. We're going to put away in a sinking fund and by the end of two years, we got 24 grand. What, and how much do you make a year? So I make a total of like 90,000 pick up some extra shifts in the five business. So I'd say about 100 K. Okay. And the vans paid off. Yeah, yeah. So, you know, this is an positive two right? And somewhere I basically had a savings of like 15,000 and ended up putting 10,000 on like the 4,000 or 5,000 on the van, the equipment. So then basically right now I have $5,000 in savings. Okay. So I honestly, because you're under the, we say that you're anything with motors and wheels that you own should be no more than 50% of your take-compay. But let me get to straight that the car, the $43,000 car is different than the van, right?

38:17Correct. That's just more of the van I usually just use it to like go from, you know, no. And how much is it worth would you say? The van I'd say it's probably worth about 3500. Oh, okay, okay. You know, you're on the, it's paid off at this point. I think you would, I don't know if I would sell it because I think that you're gonna take the hit of it being a one year old car. And I don't know, you know what I mean? Like I, at this point the car isn't the issue, you're the issue now with your money. Yeah, if you made life here. You had to control yourself. I've blood oath to yourself and God and your partner that no more impulsive decisions we're gonna budget for all these things, then it's okay to keep it. Now it might be a stark reminder of your past decisions. And if that's the case, if it's gonna keep you up at night, you know slamming your head on a desk going, I shouldn't have done that, I shouldn't have done that. Then sure, sell it as just so you can stop letting that live in your head rent free. But as far as our parameter goes, it is a lot of car for a young guy and then you're making good money, but it's not violating the parameter so much

39:18that I would say you need to go sell this tomorrow, your broke, it's not freeing up a payment, you're not needing it to pay off any other debt. So if you love the car, you can keep it. What kind of car is this? It's a basic 2025 Honda Accord, is it hybrid touring? Okay, that's a sweet ride. I was obsessed with it, but now it's just kind of just sitting there, you know, just, I mean, I don't even wanna put the miles on there, right, because eventually I do wanna sell it. No, you gotta go ahead and just drive it until the wheels fall off. Yeah, you bought it, you got it, you got it. That should be the pack you make as I have to drive this thing for 10 years to prove to myself that I don't impulsively jump in and out of decisions. So your goal needs to be to build up an emergency fund of at least three months, put that aside and start investing your income, because at least you can start making smart decisions today, because the guy you've been at this point is a little bit, you know, on a whim and an expensive whim that you go on, and that's how you're gonna live your whole life is kind of this like whim to whim,

40:19versus saying I'm a guy that does have structure, I have fun and I enjoy my money, but I'm gonna have a plan around it and some level of control when it comes to my spending so that I know what is going on, and that's what the budget's gonna help you do. And you put all that together, you're gonna do fine. Like you are, you worked hard, you mean you paid off, gosh, the car and $24,000 in student loans in a year. So you obviously have a strong work ethic. I think you're gonna be able to make some great money. You just want that money to be put to good use. So I hope that's helpful. We have, stay on the line, we'll pick up and get you every dollar premium for free. I like these promises. I will not go into debt ever again, unless it's a 15 year mortgage and I will not make impulsive purchases and I'm gonna let my partner advise me and give me wisdom because they know me better than anyone. She's probably like stupidly sweet. What are you doing again? What are you doing? You got a business, I've already came home, that's what he said. He's like, listen, I bought a car-dueling car-duel business. Every time he comes home, there's a new decision that drives him. And they say, I bought a new car, just what? And it's jumping from extreme to extreme,

41:21which can happen, but you go from a beta $2,000 car that won't start. It sounds like you have money to stream it. We don't tell people go buy $2,000 cars for the rest of your life. If you have money, yeah, you could have gotten a great- If you're in crippling debt, you need something to go for a B. Go get a $15,000 car. There's that middle ground there that's important versus letting your emotions take over always so. Logic is gonna help you, my friends. Always move slow, sleep on it. Just sleeping on it might change your life. Whatever it is, $10,000, $10,000, give it a rest first. [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ When you're trying to hire, you don't have time to dig through stacks of resumes,

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43:31studio. I am Rachel Cruz, hosting this hour with George Campbell. And we are answering your questions at AAA8-825-225. So give us a call. We're talking about your life and your money. Up next, we have Brooke in Salt Lake City. Hi, Brooke. Welcome to the show. Hi, how are you guys? Hi, we're doing great. How can we help? Good. I am just curious. How do you stay humble, but stand up for yourself when your family members make comments about you not having money, but they don't know the whole story? No. What happened? We just, we tried a little humble lifestyle and you know, used the every dollar app. And we just get comments sometimes randomly, mostly for my husband's mother. And she says things like, oh, I wish you did things like your uncle and you were smart with your money instead of buying this, I don't know, $2,000 hunting boat is what happened yesterday.

44:32Your husband bought a hunting boat for $2,000? Yeah, he's going to. And she said she doesn't think that's why his decision. She doesn't think that we save for it and pay cash for things. Would that make a difference to her? Or does she just think this is a stupid purchase? She, her comment was mostly like your uncle saves and saves and then buys what he wants when he wants to when he has a money. You don't have to respond to anything she says. She doesn't get a vote in your life. But did you not say that's what we do? Yeah, we did. And she just said, well, it doesn't seem like that. And it's just hard like to when people say things like that. And without wanting to be like, oh, I have all this. Like, how do you just, without needing to prove yourself? Yeah. Has she always been this way? Do you guys have this kind of relationship where most things she says bothers you? Oh, a little bit. OK. Just maybe a part for the course with mother-in-laws.

45:33I don't know. But I think this is maybe tip of the iceberg. She's just this kind of a judgey your person and rubs you the wrong way. And like Rachel said, she doesn't know your life. And super rude. Yeah. Could you imagine telling your this is my mom? I really wish you were more than I. Why doesn't your husband step in and take her aside and go, hey, mom? Yeah. Listen, we don't need this. We don't need your opinion. Yeah, he did last night after the fact. And we've gotten comments sometimes from other family members that we have to not like to this extent. It's been a little more subtle here and there. But he did pull her aside last night. But it's just he's like, how much do I tell her? Do I tell her we have all this money? Do I tell her how much we make? Do I tell her we have all this retirement? Like, she doesn't. She worried about us, you know? I only can use the show as spreadsheet. I think he can just have a conversation saying, hey, mom, appreciate your comments. They are unneeded. We're doing fine financially. We don't go into debt for things. We save up. You can mind your own business. Like, I feel like she doesn't even, I mean, on one extreme,

46:35I'm like, she doesn't even deserve a comment. I'm just trying to shut this down. You know what I mean? Like, we don't need to have conversations like this. We're doing fine if we need help for struggling. Well, you'll know. No, we let you know if we need help. I mean, I won't let her know. Well, if they want the comments, looking for your opinions, we will ask for them. That's it. I think it's that if we want your opinion about money, we will ask. But how is she doing financially? It's just a rude thing to say to someone. Do you think she's projecting? Yeah. She definitely, I don't think she's doing amazing financially or don't think she's doing awful, but I don't think that she's at a point where she should be at like her age. But. OK. Yeah. Well, this is easier said than done, Brooke. But I mean, I honestly, you, your whole life when you try to dance around what other people are thinking and trying to prove yourself, that's just a long, exhausting life. So there does have to be a level of, which is easier said than done. I know. But where you have to be like, this is our story. This is what we're choosing to do. And other people can make judgments, make comments.

47:37But it is what it is. And we're secure enough in our plan. And we know what we're doing that we don't, we don't even need the affirmation of the outside people to feel good about what we're doing. We don't need them to even know. Because it's none of their business. And that's usually what we're like. Yeah. Yeah. But this just bothered you. Yeah. What are their comments are made? You said that this was the most obvious comment. Are there like passive aggressive? It's just been, no, it's just been things like where we make an appointment to stay in front of our kids instead of saying, we don't have the money for that. We say, it's not in the budget, right? So we say that to people when they're like, hey, do you want to go to St. George next week? And we're like, oh, no, sorry, that's not in the budget. We didn't plan for that this month. And then they say, oh, OK. You know, like, such as little things like that, where you can tell that they're like, oh, why can't you just do it? Sure. Yeah. And you can't. Right? Like you guys aren't at a point that we could.

48:38Yeah. We're on baby step six. And we have like your money. We make about like 240 a year, 18 to 20% away. Like way to go. We're going just fine. But we just, yeah, we just budget. Well, you different priorities and other people. Some people want to go on vacations every couple of months. And you guys spend your money on a crossbow. Like it just, it depends on your personality. So as long as you're living out of your values and you're not, you know, sort of shorting yourself by saying, we can't spend. Instead go, you're what we choose to spend on. That's what I do want to make sure, bro, because you guys are enjoying your life. But you're comfortable with the decisions you've made. You don't. OK, that's great. That's what I want. I don't, because then we get people. And we go on trips and stuff all the time. But we just, the children aren't suffering. I'm trying to make snow. Yeah. And, you know, to shift the language a little bit, just as a thought, since you guys are on baby step six, and since you could technically put it in the budget if you wanted to, right? Right.

49:39It, I do wonder if the sentiment of, it's not in the budget, usually means that we don't have the money for it right this second. But when you have the ability to, you could just say, sorry, we can't, and the kids start to hear more, we get to make decisions based on our value system, because Mom and Dad have done so well, and because we followed a budget for so long, we actually have the ability to do some of this, but we're just choosing not to. Does that make sense? Sure. Versus villainizing the budget, not to other people. I'm thinking more of the kids, even though I tell my kids the other time. I was like, we don't have the money for that. Stop it. Stop it. Yeah. Stop. Shuts down the conversation. It does. It does. But I always do wonder. Because you guys are on the side. It would be different too if you were getting out of debt and you're on baby step one, two, or three. Yeah. Then it really is not in the book. You really don't have the money to do it. And that's a fair reality. But I wonder the narrative at which you're talking to get,

50:41and this is less about other people, maybe more within your home, and for yourself to give yourself, I don't know, the permission to be like, yeah, we're able to do this, but we're going to just choose to say no, because we don't want to spend the money there. Does that make sense? Yeah, well, you want your kids and everyone else to see that you're making decisions out of confidence and who you are and what your value are instead of a place of weakness. Of this like, well, we just, I don't know. We can't. It's not in the budget. I do think the language matters. Yeah. And we always say more is cotton taught. So the kids will grow up thinking, well, we never had money for that. Instead of, well, we had the money. We just, that wasn't a priority for us. For mom and dad, yeah. And that they're grown up enough that they don't feel like they're having to be swayed in every situation. But do things because someone else asks them or pressured them. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. Just the top, bro. I appreciate the call, though. But yeah, the mother-in-law thing, I think there's just a point that you have to say, of course. Of course, she'd make these comments. It is what it is. And you keep moving on. Don't let it, don't let it pin you down.

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53:44intense as they were getting out of their, you know, trying to out of the bankruptcy and all of that. And then by the time I hit, probably late middle school, high school, we actually went on like vacations. We went on trips and mom and dad made it a priority. They do love to travel and they still do. But one of the things we did all the time is we cruised. We were a cruising family. So you're either a cruiser or you're not. So I hear. And we've done the, we did the big ships. Even as adults, we've done some in Europe. They've taken us before we had kids. But it was like Winston, my sister and her husband. And we did like a Baltic Sea, like a smaller boat. Like some really fun experiences. And they're some of the best memories. Again, I've had are these trips. And so thanks David Sharon for that. But the great thing is is that Dave's love for cruising has spilled over into. It's infiltrated. Rampsy solutions. It's a ramsy land, you can say. And the idea of going on a cruise called the live like no one else cruise came about a few years ago.

54:46We did our first one. It was two a year ago. It's when we were there. March, March 25. 25. And this is for people in baby steps, four, five and six. So when you're out of debt and you have a fully, but different. You can come if you're on. Oh, sorry. A lot of seveners. And sevens. Plus, let's forget about seveners. I know sevens. A lot of seveners actually. And it was like this. Hey, we talk about the sacrifice and everything you have to do to get yourself in a good financial position. And so you live like no one else. And then later you get to live and give like no one else. So let's do the live like no one else cruise for those people and let's celebrate and have fun and create memories with your life, right? And to enjoy it with other people. And so we are, we're so pumped because we're doing it again. And this next one coming up is in March of 27. And it is, it's filling up George. Seven nights, Western Caribbean, Bahamas, Jamaica, who I want to take you. We got Grand Cayman, Cosmell. The entire ship is Ramsey fans. That's it. And the Ramsey personalities, Dave and all. And look at it.

55:47It's beautiful. It is a, and it's a nice ship. Holland, American Dave had to, had to approve. You know that he had to, he had to say that he would enjoy this. He doesn't want Walmart of the seas. I know. So it is. It's a, it's such a beautiful nice ship. My kids, they're coming for part of it. I can't wait. And over last, there's Pring Break. I know. And so yeah, it just, it's so fun you guys. And all the Ramsey personalities will all be there every night. We'll be, yeah, hanging out during the day. We have all the content. We're going to do the world's largest, dead free scream, life tapings of your favorite Ramsey shows. Maybe even smart money happy hour. Who knows? Oh, look at us, Lord George, just laughing. We got to make a drink live on stage. It was disastrous and hilarious. It was great. It was great. But yeah, join us if you will again, if you're on baby steps for our beyond. And let's, let's celebrate together so you can secure your cabin. And if you want to go to ramseysolutions.com slash events to book or we have a little QR code on screen if you're watching on YouTube that you can, that you can click on. But we want to, we want to hang out with you next March, March of 27 come cruise with

56:49us. There'll be some good memories. All right, let's go to Houston, Texas and we have a Kormak. So how we would say is that it? Did I pronounce it correctly? Just Kormak. Kormak. Okay, perfect. Hi, welcome to the show. I think so. Yes, how can we help? So my last night of over previous few years between bad luck and bad decisions, we write up about $120,000 in debt and I, including our home. Feel in the pinch, trying to get things right. I've discovered the program a few months ago and have the 1000 plus saved up just trying to get out of debt. However, what I've noticed is because our minimum payments are so high, we're making such a small dent. We're wondering if we're better off doing a chapter 13 bankruptcy, just consolidating everything or catching out one of my Roth IRAs, which is almost cover the full debt and

57:52trying to rebuild. Wow. Can I ask, what is the 120? What kind of debt is it? A combination of the vehicle and the most be credit card. Vehicle and credit card. Okay, how much do you own the vehicle today? Twenty thousand and that's about what it's worth. Twenty thousand and that's about what you can get for it. Okay. Any money saved besides the thousand? I've got a couple of downstairs that I do have a several employees. I have my TSP, which is like the 401k plus before I joined that, I had a Roth IRA saved up, which I have about a hundred and ten thousand dollars in. Okay. So it's a hundred thousand and credit card debt. Yes. Was there a, did you try to start a business or what was that used on? Unfortunately, I went through over the past five years. There was a divorce that was contested. I'm sorry, that was heated.

58:53I grand mother and my father passed away within several months, a couple months of each other. Okay. Wow. And then good stuff did happen where I met my now wife and we have remarried and we have two beautiful children of our own. But those also cost money. Yeah. So you've had a lot, a lot happened. It's been an active couple of years. Yes. Okay. So how much money do you and your new wife make? That combined about two hundred and fifty thousand a year. Oh, well, that's great. Well, are you guys investing right now? At the exact moment, no, because I pulled out my, my, my auto pull out of my paycheck. I, I, I, through all that or see my stops all that to try and get a handle on the debt. Good. And same with your spouse. Correct. Okay. So I'm just looking at all the options here. So we never encourage bankruptcy. Of course. It will destroy your life for the next 10 years. A lot more than it might help it, especially with chapter 13 where you're just restructuring

59:57and you're getting on a payment plan. And so I would look at this amazing income and then your expenses to go, what can we cut out of our lives? How do we make more so that we can get ahead of this? Because right now you're saying the interest alone on a hundred grand acquired a card debt. What is the minimum payment per month and what's the interest every month? I've told my head that combined payments are well over 3000 a month. Okay. And we're, and we're hard to, and the average, the average out the, the interest about 25%. But are you guys taking home about 15 K a month? No, I have a child's poor payment from my first marriage so that it has a good dip into it and then just medical expenses as well as we have a second home that we are trying to unload and that, but in the meantime, we still costing us money as well. Well, the pro CsB from that if you sell it. I mean, I just want to work out to sell it for just cost, just get out from under it.

1:01:00Okay. But that'll free release the mortgage payment. Correct. It should be about including the tax payment up out 2000 a month. Okay. Great. Would that help you get ahead? Would you be above water here? If you've heard of the two grand. My concern is my job has a mandatory retirement of 56 and I'm 38. I only have 18 years left to work. And because I do not have a college degree, I don't feel like I'll be able to get another similar job pay scale wise. So I am just the dry. I am hesitant to drain my one retirement account because I'm just not I'm worried I will not have enough time to rebuild it before I am forced to retire. Sure. That is a concern. And we only tell people if you're going to if you're facing bankruptcy, it's the only time that you would ever even consider dipping into retirement. But I would still use that as a last ditch effort. And not a let's go green light drain your Roth IRA today.

1:02:02I would do everything in my power to use your current assets in future income to knock this data over the next couple of years. Which I think if you took a good heart out of the budget, you could find some money. Yes. And that's what I'm wondering. I'm like, okay, say you guys lived off of 4K a month, which will feel very different than probably how you have with some child support payments. You said. I mean, I feel like you can I feel like you can you guys could find 4 or 5,000 of mine. So the past. Yes, over the past six months, we've cut out the sold the car. We like so we're trying to get rid of this spare house. We have cut all streaming things. We're we're we're we're we're we're trimming. I picked up a good job. Okay. Good. Good. Because 5K a month thrown at this debt you're done in about two years. Yeah. So find 5K out of this amazing $240,000 a year income and plus extra. Maybe some extra. Yes. You climb out of this. Yeah, it's going to take some time, but do not touch retirement. Don't fall for bankruptcy.

1:03:03You guys have the income and the work ethics get out of it. It may take two years. If you're behind on your bills, doing more of the same isn't going to fix it. You need a different plan. And that's why I tell people about guardian litigation group. If you've missed payments, if collectors are calling nonstop or if you're getting letters about legal action, that's your signal. And it's where a lot of people wait too long because the longer you wait, the fewer options you usually have. And once it turns into a lawsuit, things can get more expensive and more complicated fast. Guardian litigation is a law firm, not a call center. From day one, you are assigned an attorney who represents you. So if a creditor moves forward, you're not caught off guard and you're not hit with surprise legal fees.

1:04:04Guardian litigation only gets paid when the debt is negotiated and the client accepts the settlement offer. This is about stepping in early while you still have leverage. Don't ignore the problem. Take control of it. Go to guardianlit.com slash ramsy right now. That's guardianlit.com slash ramsy. Attorney advertising results may vary and no specific outcome is guaranteed. So one of the sneaky things about debt, I would say, and building a life around it. And we're talking everything from putting vacations on credit cards to financing furniture to all the above, is you see the price of something and you assume that's it. That's it. But the problem is when you use debt, there's a little thing called interest, George,

1:05:07that I don't get you. That'll get you. It'll get you. So the people think, let's know big deal. And they don't teach this stuff in school. Yes. They're not telling you what 20% APR actually means. That's right. So that's what we do to that purchase. Yep. So we wanted to kind of do the math, if you will, on what it actually really is costing you. The hidden cost of this quote unquote, American life that people build. And when you do it on debt, again, the numbers change pretty quickly. And now more than ever, there's a way they'll get you out of there with that thing. Yes. Regardless of what payment you can afford and what the interest rate is that they'll tuck into the fine print. So let's talk about sticker price versus actual price. Let's start with a new couch. It's a famous one. You go into any furniture store, they always have some deal happening with the interest. Yeah. Zero down, 0% for the first whatever. So let's talk about a new couch. Let's say the sticker price is 1,500 bucks. And it's 20% APR for 36 months. So when you hear the word APR, that's an abbreviation for annual percentage rate.

1:06:10This is essentially the full cost per year of borrowing that money. So it's not just the interest rate. It's actually the interest rate plus whatever fees they have all baked into one final rate. So 20% APR for 36 months, what you'd actually pay for that $1500 couch is $2,000 and $7. Gross. So over 500 bucks an interest alone. $500. But think about that. That makes the effective interest rate about 33%. About a third of that couch is paid extra an interest. Extra to go. That's crazy. Okay. Let's look at credit cards. So you got a $6,600 balance. And you know, you have a 22.8% APR and you'll be paying about $300 a month. So if you do that, it's going to take you about two years and five months to pay off this credit card. And the final price of the credit card is $8,628. So over $2,000 an interest alone just by saying, hey, we're going to just, we're going to

1:07:11live life on a credit card. May or may not be able to pay it off fully every month. So we're going to kind of just keep it around and then it ends up with a balance of $6,600. Wow. Okay. Okay. Okay. That's not even minimum payments. Okay. That's not even extra. Okay. You're ready for this. So then option two we have here, same APR, 22.8% and you just do minimum payments. Okay. The pay off time is 20 years and one month. And the final price will be $17,060. So you're paying $10,500 in just interest. If you're just paying the minimum payments. That's wild. And if you are able to watch on YouTube Spotify, we've got the charts up to visualize all of this and it is staggering just to look at the numbers on this to think, now I hope nobody takes 20 years to pay off six grand. No, surely not. But listen. The fact remains, a lot of people are just making minimum payments because they can't or don't know the price from a year. For years, yeah, maybe not 20 years, but for a good amount for sure. Can you imagine that? Whatever that thing was you put on the credit card, you long ago, like the 20 years ago.

1:08:16That's a lot of stupid tax to pay. Let's go back 20 years. You got a little 2006 action. What did you buy in 2016? What decisions was I making at 17 years old? I don't want to know the stupid stuff I was buying. Wow. Okay. Now let's move on to a bigger one, a car. Yep. So a sticker price, $35,000, financing at 7% for five years, final price, $41,582. So an extra, we'll go $6600 in interest alone. And think about this, that car is no longer worth $35,000 because we know that cars go down value about 60% in five years. Yeah. So that $35,000 car, you'll be lucky if it's 15 to 20 grand. Well, what's hard is $35,000, that's before sales tax, registration, dealer fees, warranties, all that. So that easily could be out the door at $40, $42. Ouch. Yep. So you're watching what it is. It is. It's why financing the car is one of the biggest wealth killers for the middle class in America today.

1:09:17You don't realize just how bad it is when you're paying interest on a depreciating asset going down in value. All right. Finally, the house. Now this one can feel like the least dumb decision because it's a house. It's an asset. It's going to go up in value over time. So let's talk about a sticker price of $350,000 for that house and you're going to put 20% down. So 70 grand down and you're going to do a 30-year mortgage at 6% APR. Well the final price of that $350,000 house is $674,000, around $324,000 in interest. Which is almost as much as that house. That's crazy. Wild. Wild. If you get a 15-year mortgage, then you pay $179,000 less in interest. So almost $200,000 you save an interest just by paying it off in 15 versus 30. Which is why we always tell people. Just get the 15. Don't get a 30 and think you're going to pay it off like a 15. For sure. Self in it. Yeah.

1:10:18And I think what's hard is again, you end these individual situations. It may feel like a good idea. Like sure. Let's just put the vacation on the credit card. We need some new furniture. So in this one situation, we're going to do this. But what happens is that this builds over time and for a lot of people, you're not able to pay it off in six months to a year. If you're just living paycheck to paycheck and not really making a plan for it. So to make another debt decision, easily could come up nine months, 12 months after the other decision. And it just keeps piling up and then you realize how much money of your money you're sending, not just for the item. Because it's not just the sticker price. But all the interest to the banks and everything in these industries are there to make money and they know how to do it for an America, especially. Oh my gosh. How much people take out debt to sell? The amount of interest lenders are collecting every year with boggle in your mind. So here's the thing to remember, wealthy people earn interest, broke people pay interest. You want to be on the wealthy side earning it instead of paying it.

1:11:19And remember this, the sticker price is never the final price. So anytime you see that, anytime there's a salesperson involved, they are trained to sell. They are trained to let you focus on the features and the benefits and all how you're going to feel when you leave with that thing, not the fine print, not the APR, not how much you're going to pay in full. And the taxes and fees a lot, a little, the interest will add a lot. That's right. Yep. And minimum payments, it's a debt trap, like that kind of system, that systematic thinking of I'll just pay minimum payments for the rest of my life. That keeps you, keeps you, guarantees you in a cycle of debt for a really, really long time versus saying, hey, I want to get out of this. I'm going to stop going into debt and I'm actually going to aggressively pay it off beyond the minimum payments to get out of debt as soon as possible. And lastly, cash changes the math and the mindset. Yes, saving up feels slower. Yes, you're going to have to say no right now, but it's actually the fastest path to taking control of your money. And it makes you think twice. When you were to save up and actually see that amount of money leave your bank account,

1:12:20you think twice about that couch. 100%. You got 100%. Find one on Facebook Marketplace because it took us three months to save up for that couch. I don't know if I want to let go of my hard-earned money. Think about how much of your working hours are spent just giving it to a lender. That's crazy to think about. Absolutely. And I'll say this too, when you spend in cash and like larger purchases, you do realize, okay, I may not need that. Like if it's, if that cash is there, right, in our plan, we would say you can pay for it. Like if you have the money for it, that is fine. And so we've run into this with our van. Even furniture. We've had our furniture for gosh, it's going on how many years, seven years. Wow. And so there's a couple of things we want to upgrade. But you're kind of like, well, the kids are still, I almost find myself being like, do we need to? I don't know. You know, because I don't know if I want to. It may hurt to spend that kind of money. But you don't have that emotional attachment always with your money when debt is being used. It is just a sign of a signature. You're sort of bypassed. A big part of your brain that's the logical side and go straight to that while I want it

1:13:23now. It's the toddler in you. Yes. Winning. Yes. Do not let the toddler win. So the average individual, the average American, the average broke person just asks, how much per month? How much down? That's the problem. Financial wise people, wealthy people, they ask, how much? What is the full cost? Total cost. And if I don't have that amount, I'm not buying it. And if you do that, you will take control of your money. So we've got an app that helps you do this. It's called Every Dollar. You can create sinking funds for that next big purchase and do it with confidence and peace. We'll drop a link in the show notes if you're listening on podcasts or YouTube to that app. Hey guys, it's Rachel Cruz.

1:14:33When it comes to life insurance, most people fall into one of two camps. The ones who make a plan to protect their family and the ones who hope everything will just work out. But hope isn't a financial plan. When you get married or have kids, your money decisions aren't just about you anymore. Your income helps keep the lights on, pay the mortgage, and put food on the table. And if something happens to you, will your family have protection or uncertainty? Well, at Ramsey, we recommend term life insurance that 10 to 12 times your income with a 15 to 20 year term for the years that your kids are at home and your mortgage is still being paid off. That's why Winston and I have our term life coverage through Zander Insurance. They're an independent broker who works for you, shopping all the top companies to find the most competitive prices on coverage you need. Get instant quotes online in just minutes at zander.com or call 800-356-4282 to get your family protected with term life insurance.

1:15:34Get zander.com or 800-356-4282. If you're listening, you're one of the best pieces of marketing we have up there in the world. When you share the show and you tell your friends and family about it, it is so helpful because we want to be able to help and talk to as many people as possible to get them in control of their money. If you will like, comment, subscribe, share the show. That helps us out a ton. Mention it, your next dinner party. Yeah, just throw it out there. Play in the background and then go, what is that? What is that about? It's a Spotify music. It's so free of voice. Yeah. That's George Campbell. That's what's happening. No, we are clapped and playlists here. No, no, no, we got the rams. You got me. Yeah. That's all you need. All right, let's go to Ben and Chattanooga.

1:16:35Hi, Ben. Welcome to the show. Hi. Hello. How can we help today? My main question is, should I stretch for a $1.1 million family farm dream on $186,000 or salary? My wife's grandparents owned a 28-acre farm in the Northwest Georgia Mountains. My wife has always dreamed about living on property like this about six years ago. Her grandparents put it up for sale. We found that we were in a position to make an offer. So we offered $500,000 for it. We were living in the Boise area at the time and that would have been contingent on our house. However, they ended up selling it to someone who offered a higher price close to the full price. It was $586,000. We believe the real estate agent kind of had some influence on that.

1:17:38And this has been kind of a lasting source of disappointment for my in-laws and the family. Now we've relocated to the Northwest Georgia area. The current owners have offered to sell us 17 acres of the farm land for $500,000. However, the county blocked the lot split after we completed the survey due to a maximum number of six residences on a private road. We went through the variance process with the county. It was denied. After that, the owners offered us at least a purchase arrangement where we put up the price for the 17 acres, $500,000 with no payments. And then after 36 months, we would purchase the remaining 11 acres. I countered with just an idea of leasing the land outright for $300 a month and then having

1:18:42a first right of refusal that when they're ready to sell, we could get the land for $1.1, which they said they liked that. They're thinking about doing that in a year or two. My financial situation, I have about $700,000 in retirement funds, about $450,000 in cash from the sale of our previous house, about $50,000 in the stock portfolio, about $20,000 in emergency funds, and about $30,000 in an HSA. And so that's about $1.2 million for my net worth. My in-laws have offered to pay $1,000 a month if absolutely needed to pay for this so that it can come back into the family. However that would come out of their equity in their house at this time. And it's really hard for this piece of property.

1:19:43Yes, so everybody's working really hard. And so my concerns are just affordability for myself. That's a big debt for my salary. Are you guys renting right now? Six or 50. Yes, we're renting. Okay. Would you think about putting the 480 down as a down payment? Because that'd be almost half of it. Yeah, I would be putting down at least the 450 and keep my emergency fund as what I would. What about the stocks? Could you liquidate those? I would like to keep those and keep them growing. Okay, my quick math. Tell me this, Ben, if you did put down 480, it would be $50,000. It looks like the payments then, and this would be on a 30 year or not a 15, and we recommend a 15, but it would be around $4,000 a month. And do you guys bring home around 15K? I'm just trying to figure out if we can make this mathematically work at any level.

1:20:45Yeah, what's your after tax monthly income without any 401K contributions or healthcare premiums? What is your after tax monthly income? So after tax without any of my benefits would probably be around, let's see, it'd probably be around like $12,000. Okay. Probably more like $11,000 per month. So if you did a 15 year like we recommend, it would be about half your take home pay. And so you're worried about that legitimately. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's going to make you guys house poor. Now what is the future hold? Can you buy this thing? Can you set up an agreement where you purchased this thing? Let's say two years from now and you guys just sock away cash. I mean, that is kind of what I'm thinking that I would need to do in order to. Because no one else is Jones in for this property, right? And the people who don't really care, they're okay getting out. Yeah, do you want to move to it, Ben? Yeah, it's a beautiful property. Oh, you do, okay.

1:21:46I'm sure. I'm sure you guys have got some George Amounts or Gorgeous. My issue is always just to do the math, add up and am I going to feel like this is going to weigh down on me with that amount of debt for 30 years. Like that's always my concern. Yeah, I would not do this today. I think there is a future where this can make sense and you're not stressed out about it. I mean, you guys have waited this long for the dream. So let's make sure the dream is a blessing and not a burden once we get into it. Now, do you guys have kids? Yes, we have five kids. Okay, I'm 12 and under. Does this move make sense for you guys? Like, if you just did this thing next year, would this work with your jobs? Yeah, so I would need to commute, but I'm already commuting. We live nearby. This is the whole reason we moved here. Okay. Yeah, well, I would say if you can set up a two, I mean, if this is really what you guys are wanting and you're like,

1:22:47this is going to be a long-term play for us, then yeah, I would say give it two years because I think after stocking away some cash and then maybe cash out some, you may have to cash out some stocks just to make it work because you have plenty in retirement. You guys have 700,000, that's what you said. Yeah. Yeah. So your retirement, I mean, all of it is you're just kind of, you're going to be really real estate heavy in general after this. But over time, it's going to, it will, it will even out, which I'll be honest with, that's what, I mean, when my husband and I went to we moved to 19, we are pretty real estate heavy. Yeah, that was the same way. Yeah, and over years, you work to even a back out, right? And then have more cash and retirement and all of that. But so I think that's okay for the short term. So if this is something that you both really, really want to, then there's going to have to be some sacrifices made. And that's going to be putting away money, seeing if you can get an agreement with them that in a purchase in two years holding the value with it not going up.

1:23:48Like if you can hold the purchase price today and do it in two years. And, and then possibly having to cash out some stocks just to make up a difference because I would rather have breathing room and rebuild in the market, investments. When you're not penalized, like I'm not talking about retirement, don't take anything out of retirement. But I would do that to, because it sounds like a dream. I mean, it just, it sounds amazing and beautiful. And it's been in the family like it would be worth going in and sacrificing for two years to get it. And then knowing the next three to four years, we may be real estate heavy, but it's not going to, it's not going to sink us. It's not going to sink you. Yeah, I mean, I would highly consider it. And then see what you guys can reasonably put away to go. Can we put six, seven grand away for the next two years and have 170 grand on top of what we currently have to make this thing make sense? And, and are you guys working with a good agent? We have not asked an agent yet about any of this.

1:24:51I would get them involved to see, is it actually worth 1.1 million? Are they just squeezing you because they know you really want the property? Is this thing really worth 800,000? Okay. So that's, that's what I want you to do your homework on. Not just go, well, it's 1.1. It has to be 1.1. You might be able to get it for a lot cheaper if you have some negotiating power and that's the power of a great agent. So RamseySolutions.com slash agent, if you want to get a second opinion and I would to make sure that you save the most on this thing and don't get squeezed just out of, it's our dream. Let's just do it. I know what or what. Well, and you've already played the emotional cards because I know it's a family property. You know what I mean? Like it's, you're going to have to, yeah, do some good negotiating with it. But yeah, the answer to day been is no. It'll be 50% of your take on pay the payment and that would not be worth it. But wait, two years, possibly. If you're already enrolled in a Medicare plan, you might think there's nothing else to do. You're good to go. Wrong.

1:25:52The fact is Medicare premiums, networks, prescription coverage and benefits can all change even if your health doesn't. So doing nothing could cost you hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year. With annual enrollment time coming soon, you need to talk to chapter right away. Chapter is the only Ramsey trusted Medicare advisor and they save Ramsey fans an average of $1100 a year. They explain your options simply and help make the smartest decision for your situation. And whether they find you a better plan or confirm you're already in the right one, chapters services don't cost you a thing. Their annual enrollment runs October 15th through December 7th. So review your plan with chapter now and avoid expensive mistakes later. To talk to the unbiased Medicare experts at chapter, go to askchapter.org slash Ramsey or click the link in the description. That's askchapter.org slash Ramsey.

1:27:03Welcome back to the Ramsey show in the Fair Winds Credit Union studio. I am Rachel Cruz hosting the Sauer with George Camel, co-host of Smart Money Happy Hour with me as well. And we're answering your calls. So the board is full as we speak, but call in, triplet 825-5225. We'll see if we can get you in in the next hour to answer your questions about money. All right, let's go to Fort Wayne, Indiana. And we have Tyler on the line. Hi, Tyler. Welcome to the show. Hey, thank you so much for taking my call. This was incredible. Absolutely. So real quick and short to the point, my job moved a year ago due to a building closure and my 15 minute commute turned into a minimum 70 minute commute. So yeah. So my question is, is it unreasonable to force it or to consider forfeiting our only debt of 100,000 for which is our mortgage at 3% interest rate or payments only $809.

1:28:09And exchange to get, you know, let's say 40 minutes or a half hour closer to my job. The issue we've had and making this is we purchased our home pre-COVID for 174 typical ranch out in the country, poor barn, et cetera. It's worth 300 to 250, depending on who you ask. That's to keep our mortgage the same moving closer to work. That same price point. I don't want to say less nice, but we wouldn't be happy with that. So we'd have to go up to 400, 450 to have it equal within situation, if you will. We just don't know what's so comfortable. One of your expertise on that. What's your income? Mine this year on track to make 140. That's my wife around 40.

1:29:09So around 80 and 40. OK, so she's 40. 180 total. OK. 9,000 among the big home after retirement is taken out. How much would that be before retirement taken out? I want to say my checks about 22, 2500 a week, who's about the same every two weeks. OK. Nice. So here's the deal. Even if you moved up in house as much as it would have hurt because your mortgage payment is so tiny right now, it's still going to be such a reasonable part of your take on pay. So if it's less than 25% of your after tax monthly income, go for it because you're going to increase your quality of life. OK, yes. Because right now 140 minutes round trip every day is what you're talking about? 90 minutes, yes. And our hour and 10 in which ultimately translates to about 40,000 miles annually on a vehicle. I sold my truck I had because the gas guzzling bought a paper cash, a little small EV car

1:30:16that cut that bill and just a fraction of what I was paying in fuel cost. But still my life has been eight away from the high life. Yeah. And what were your new mortgage being? How much would you take on? To get an equivalent what we have out in the country is closer. It would be almost about 2000. Yeah, I just ran the numbers. It looks like 1800. But you could go up to 2500 to stay even within the parameters. So you guys are still very conservative, Tyler. It's on a retrospect to like loosen a little bit of like you guys would be fine. I know it would hurt. But your quality of life, I'm like, oh my gosh, if you could get 30 minutes close to work, right? Or 20, you're saving almost an hour and a half, almost two hours. Like it's pretty wild. Right. And it's been nice. Give kids. Pay cash for it. We have we do. We have one that is graduated with paying cash for her.

1:31:17No. She turned devours of school and then we have a first grader. That's obviously our next concern is we don't want to wait until we're both they totally vested with him being in school. Right. I get that. Separate them. Yep. Yeah. And first grade. So that's why we want to kind of make a move sooner than later. This is what we want to do. Is the area that you guys would be moving to a good area like has it for a family and school system and you know, life like your life in general, not just the commute side. Would it be a good move? Is it exciting? I mean, I think we would enjoy it. I mean, we live out into the proverbial bonings right now. So we don't want to go into town, necessarily, and have neighbors. But also that comes at a cost. Hey, listen, the way pesky neighbors and the way AIs going. You may want to be off the grid. So Tyler, you might be. The boomerang sounds mighty nice. You may end up moving back out there. No, I'm just kidding.

1:32:18But overall question, I found this to be true that the low interest rates are a curse for many people. It's become golden handcuffs to where they go. Well, we wanted to move, but we can't let go of this low interest rate. I'm going, the way Tyler's going, you guys could pay off this house in seven years and have a zero percent interest rate. And so that would be my goal for you guys is to choose the life you want and you know, rate the rate knowing it's going to change. It'll fluctuate. You can always refinance later. And more than likely, you'll just pay the dang thing off by making extra payments to where it's a mood point a couple of years from now. But overall, it sounds like this is the right move for your life right now and very conservative still just so you know, I mean, you guys, I wouldn't jumping to six percent rate was going to make this payment 50% of your take home pay. We'd say, well, it's just too much house in general. That's right. All right. Let's go to Avery and Tyler Texas. Hi Avery. Welcome to the show. Hello. Hi Avery, are you there? I'm here. Hi. How are you? I'm doing great.

1:33:19How are you guys? We're doing good. How can we help? So I am 19 years old. I have a job that the payment is kind of different and I make anywhere from five thousand to nine thousand dollars a month. Okay. And I'm kind of in the stage where I'm saving up for a down payment on the house and I'm having trouble trying to, I guess, get myself to have a little fun with my money. What does that look like for you? What's something you know you should be doing more of specifically? Something I should be doing more of. Yeah. You're saying I need to I need to have more fun. What does that mean? Is that going out with friends? Is that going on a trip? Is that buying something a car? Yeah. I mean, it's kind of like I have a fun life I enjoy my life. But I guess like take it's like events stuff like that that I'm just kind of I know I can

1:34:22afford but three hundred dollars for a ticket is also three hundred dollars away from a down payment on the house. So I'm just kind of curious is like my MI supposed to do that I guess. Well first and foremost I would not feel like you have to or should you know X Y and Z. I think it is what you want to do what you enjoy doing. The problem people get in trouble with with money when they are of saver which it sounds like you are is they end up being controlled by money so much that any decision they make where they have to let go of anything create such anxiety that the money now is a burden. And it was supposed to be the thing that actually frees you to make decisions and have options. So yeah I would say I would personally budget every a percentage of your income that you can just spend and enjoy and force yourself to do it. Guilt free. But there's a limit right you could say up to this point because you have a goal for a down payment and you're going to need X amount saved each month for that to hit that goal.

1:35:26So if you map it out in a budget you actually give yourself permission to spend. So I would I mean I would force myself to spend a percentage of my income to enjoy it because that's part of this whole holistic part of money with you. Hey guys Dave Ramsey here every day on the show we help people work through real money problems and figure out what to do next. Now you can get that same kind of help anytime with ask Ramsey ask your money question and get answers built on Ramsey principles we use on the show whether you're making a decision or just want something explained ask Ramsey is here to help. It's fast simple and free to use go to Ramsey Solutions dot com and try ask Ramsey today that's Ramsey Solutions dot com.

1:36:29Our question of the day is brought to you by why ReFi. Sometimes the hardest financial step is the one that you have been avoiding and if your private student loans or past due why ReFi can help you explore low fixed rate refinancing options and payment plans tailored to your circumstances. So go to why ReFi dot com slash Ramsey may not be available in all states. Today's question comes from Elizabeth in Nevada or Nevada as they say Nevada Nevada now I'm a Nevada girl Nevada forever Elizabeth says I'm fortunate to work for a company that puts 15% of my salary into my 401k without me having to contribute anything. Once we wrap up baby step three and star baby step four should I add my own 15% in addition to my employer's contribution or direct that money toward paying off our

1:37:29house instead. My husband plans on contributing 15% and his company will match 10%. Goodness gracious these employer matches are crazy well done Elizabeth and Nevada. That's a good plan. Well the plan doesn't change you're still going to invest 15% of your own salary which I know sounds crazy. You're putting 30 let's see you make a hundred thousand dollars you're putting 30 grand away only 15 of that is yours. Yes that's pretty incredible. So I always tell people if you have too much money and retirement you can write me hate mail you can send me a check whatever you want to do it's up to you. But I love the idea of building that muscle of investing because you may not have this job forever. That's right. And so it's great to just go I can live off 15 I can live off of 15% less than I make. Yes. No matter where I work I'm really good at investing. That muscle is built up and I think it's easy to get a little acadaisical when the employers doing all the work for you. That's right. And that's why we even say the employer match in general even if it's 3% obviously not 15. If it's 3% 5% it doesn't count towards your 15% because you're exactly right George.

1:38:34There's something about putting your own money away and knowing that hey I can do this. You always say eat the vegetables first. Eat the vegetables first. Eat the vegetables first. And then you have like a lot of freedom then to say well we really can enjoy and be very generous like there's there's so much freedom and knowing that what is taking care of that needs to be taking care of is done. And I'm telling I mean I don't know how old they are but if they've got a couple of decades on them and they're investing this much. It's insane. She's how much she makes. No they don't say. I wonder how much they make it. I don't know but I feel like this is a pretty you're doing pretty well. This is a this is not like a I'm making $12 an hour and my employer matches 15% of my salary. Right. It's a probably they're making good six figures together. Well done way to go. Good job Elizabeth. All right let's go to Valentina. Oh beautiful name. And Nashville here at Nashville. Hey welcome to the show. Hi. How are you guys doing today? Hi we're doing great. Talk and we help. Yeah well I was calling because my husband and I just welcomed our first baby a little

1:39:35boy. Oh congratulations. Thank so much. We're we're over the moon about him but we currently have $33,000 in debt and we've been working on patient offer debt. We don't have much in our savings. My husband works a full commission job so meaning that his income is like it's a variable. I do have a base pay. I return I go back to work next week actually I work as a paralegal. Okay. So my question is how should we be prioritizing paying off our debt saving money with his variable income as well. Well it really it stays the same with the baby steps so that $1,000 is is still that starter emergency fund and then everything else you guys will throw at that debt. How much do you guys make a year together? So together we make this year we'll clear I just got a raise so it'll be $160,000. Oh good. Well the good thing about this is you guys won't be in debt for too long.

1:40:36I mean how quickly do you think you could pay this off? Well our goal is to have it within a year or sooner. Okay yeah and if you really ramp it up and you do it in nine months then again that that starter emergency fund is only there for nine months and everything has been thrown through that and then if something does come up and this is true for anybody regardless of you know you have kids or not. If something comes up then what you were throwing at that debt which would have been what probably fourish thousand possibly a month just if an emergency happens don't throw it at the debt that month fix the emergency and for sure that amount of money should fix most things that four thousand and if you have to pause for one or two months to fix whatever life throws at you you do that and you just do it at the speed of cash and so instead of it going to debt you use that money to fix the emergency. But for you guys for nine months we'll just you know you kind of you say a prayer and be like all right I think we can we can go through this but I understand.

1:41:38Is he making zero in a given month or is it like it fluctuates between four and six. So for him actually it's fluctuated between like six thousand two hundred dollars to eight thousand dollars. Oh right. So he hasn't had a zero dollar month. No that's correct. So here's what we're going to do we're going to budget based off of the floor his lowest month and last couple months we can say we know it's going to be at least six. Let's add that to yours let's budget off of that and then anything above that goes toward the debt. Yeah so you guys will be budgeting your income with saying we're going to be throwing X amount of debt and then if he if he makes extra that's an extra two grand to throw out what was already budgeted to pay off the debt. So yeah this will this could speed it up pretty quick and I would have it I would have an aggressive goal of how are you guys with this awesome income and this small amount of debt comparatively just aim for six months and if it takes seven we're still going to cheer you on but that's five and a half that's fifty five hundred bucks going toward the minimums plus extra. If you can just say fifty five hundred bucks a month goes towards the debt no matter what then we're going to we're going to make sure our bills are paid of course and insurance

1:42:38and all that but if you guys can just focus as a team and go fifty five hundred must go towards debt this month you'll be done at six months. Yeah that's amazing incredible. I'm glad let's go to I know congrats. Let's go to Daniel and Sacramento. Hi Daniel welcome to the show. Hi Rachel and George how you guys doing today. We're doing great how can we help. All right so I have a question for you guys about whether be wise to sell my house so I can cash flow and nursing school to give you guys some quick stats on me. Thirty seven years old no kids not married. One hundred five thousand is my gross income. I do have thirty thousand dollars in a personal loan and nine thousand dollars remaining on the student loan. My house is valued at anywhere from five twenty five hundred twenty five thousand to five hundred fifty thousand and I owe three seventy five on it still. The two programs I'm looking at they're both bachelor's and nursing programs so one is a two year state program that's about thirty thousand for the two years.

1:43:42The other one is a exhalerated one year program that's almost a hundred thousand dollars for the one year and so that's why I don't want to go back into debt obviously for that but seem like the house would be a way to cash flow that but also I'd hate to sell the house and you know because you'll be getting like a hundred and seventy five thousand dollars in equity to fix a thirty thousand dollar problem it feels out of balance to me. Yeah and with with the salary being that I mean I make a hundred and five as a nurse here in California it probably be you know one fifty to one eighty is what I kind of research around there and obviously that's a big enough jump but I don't know if it's worth it's enough to offset selling the house considering how expensive the houses can be in California. Yeah what are you doing now for work? I work for the state government I'm a manager and what is the what's driving the urgency around this does this have to happen in two months from now or can I happen a year and two months from now?

1:44:42No so I mean I finished up most of the pre-rex so right now I'm kind of in preparing for the application season so if I were to into a program it probably either the summer of 27 or the fall of 27. Okay so do you have I mean if it's fifteen if the thirty thousand dollar for two years is that fifteen thousand then per year? Yeah it's my guess for the thirty thousand. I mean I don't know Dan why I would just work extra and save and yeah can you kind of just cash flow this thing and it's like a house? Yeah like a thousand bucks a month will get you to the fall of 27. Well because the only thing is with these programs given the nature of my work I can only work money through Friday eight to five and these programs are full time so I'd have to leave my job in order to do these programs. So you have no income for two years? Correct yeah. Yikes. Well that's not really going to work so you're thinking about living off of the equity of your home to do it. Yeah and I have an uncle that has an ADU I've already talked to him and he's considered

1:45:43you know letting me stay there for a year or two years I read free and then I just have to support myself. Can you work nights after doing school? Not at my current job. No no but while you're in school. That's possible. Okay. I mean if you could figure out a way to save up fifteen grand between now and then cash flow it and then figure out hey can I work nights and live on nothing while I'm in school I would consider it but I would not be going any more in debt and I don't think I would sell my house for this. No I would try to keep it man you're obliterating your wealth building plan by going backwards and having nothing to show forward by the end. People ask me all the time George what's your number one money saving hack? I'm glad you asked. Nothing makes me happier than helping another frugal friend so here's the hack get on a budget. Seriously how are you supposed to save money if you don't know how much you're spending

1:46:44in the first place and that's what makes the every dollar budgeting app a game changer. With every dollar you'll get a clear picture of your spending and from there it's easy to see where you can get more intentional cut back and save more money. How much money are we talking? Well the average every dollar budgeter frees up three hundred ninety five dollars in their very first budget. And if you ask me I think you're way above average. So why are you still listening to me? Go download every dollar for free and start saving more money right now. We wish we could get to every call and question here on the show but it doesn't always happen joy. So much time in the day. Only so much. I know. So if you do have a money question though and you want an answer to your situation head over to our website and use ask Ramsey. So this is our free AI tool that's built and trained on proven Ramsey principles and

1:47:48you will get your answer your money question answered the way we would answer it here on the show. In fact it's even so smart George it has some follow up questions to get your specific numbers and exactly what you need and it's even the questions we would ask you here if you were calling it. I really send a lot of people there in the DMs like hey listen ask Ramsey is going to be way better than me trying to fat finger and answer the DMs. It's much smarter. So true I know. So go and ask your question today at Ramsey Solutions dot com or you can click the link in the description if you're listening on podcast or watching on YouTube. All right let's go to Lynn and Nashville Tennessee. Hi Lynn. Hello. Thank you for taking my phone call. Yes my husband and I had been married for over 40 years. We're debt free. My husband still works. I'm not sure when he wants to retire but we I recently found that he has been taking money out of our CDs. We have a couple of CDs. They're the steps CDs and they mature at different times and he takes the interest and

1:48:53the principal out of those accounts and I don't know what he's been doing with the money. He's been doing this for over a year. I just found out about it. When I have confronted him he said he doesn't remember what he's done with the money. I went to the bank and I found out that there's another CD that he opened up. My name is not on it and I know that there's a large sum of money in that. I feel like I'm I just don't know what to do. This is just totally out of character for him. I just don't know what to do. I don't want to open up my own account and throw money in there because that's what he might be doing and that's not how I roll. Sure. Sure. How much money are we talking? How much is in the new CD? The close to 40,000. Okay. And how much is in the CD that you have your name on as well that he's taking money out

1:49:56of? Oh, there's a total well between oil for all of them probably 150,000. Okay. And how much has he taken out of that 150? Is it 40,000 total? No. No. Well, no. Out of the CDs the past year he's taking $8,500 out. Okay. And I don't know what to do. Yeah. You he won't tell me that I don't think he's telling me the truth and I don't you know the bank won't tell me if he has you know secret account somewhere. Yeah. So you're worried. Okay. And you see is it withdrawals that are on the CDs your name is also on? Yes. Because they're part of our trust. Okay. So it comes out to be about $800ish dollars a month kind of as what he's been taking out of these CDs. Yes.

1:50:56Okay. Yeah. Is he taking cash? Yes. And then the cash is disappearing. I mean, we don't know where it's going. And when you confront him he says, I don't remember. Yeah. He said just stuff. And then you found a $40,000 CD that you didn't know about. And you've confronted him about that? Yeah. Have you asked him about that one? Yes. I did. And he's well, it is when we set up our trust in January, I asked him in front of the lawyers, you know, do you want to should we tag some of this money for our grandkids? And he said, no, we'll just, you know, our children can, you know, do that when we're dead. Well, this CD is for our grandkids, which is fine, but he didn't tell me about it. And my name is not on it. And he's been contributing to that. So, and when I did ask him about that CD for our grandkids, he said, I said, why did

1:52:01you do that? And he said, because I want to make sure that they get some money. So. How much do you guys have total? You're not worth. Oh, golly. Over probably 1.2. And that exact includes your home? Yes, it does. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I, I guess my concern would be what you're probably calling in about, because $250 a month at this point, I mean, that's kind of like a, it's not the end of the world. I just don't like that he's not being honest with you. And then there's a count over to the side that he's funding and says it's for the grandkids, which is great, but it's just that you, you feel out of the loop financially. Do you guys, do you have a history of talking about money? Do you feel like you were on the same page up into this point? Oh, most definitely. I mean, whenever we wanted to get our children some money, you know, I would say, what are

1:53:05you thinking? And he would say an amount. And I said, well, that's about what I was thinking. We've like 98% of the time. We've always been right on. But this is just a stab in the heart. Does he know that you feel betrayed? Yes. Does not, he has not often an apology. And that's, you know, that's a tilt sign to me as well. How do you feel like you guys have been pretty distant in your marriage in general? Yes. Okay. For how long now? Yes. Quite some time. How old are you guys? He's 70 and I'm 66. Okay. Okay. Yeah, Lynne, I think what you've presented to him is totally fair and that you have a lot

1:54:09of fear is what it sounds like. Like you're scaring, you know, that you're scaring you because it's out of character. It's not how it's always been. And I would, and I would lean on that less about the amount of money here or there. And it's more about keeping you guys unified, you know, for the next, you know, hopefully God willing, two decades, right or more. And so I think that would, that would be my suggestion to you. I don't think you fix this by going and opening up your own account and all of that. But if there is a weird pattern, Lynne, and I hope there's not, I hope he's just a seven year old man and he's just, I don't know, his head's in the clouds a little. I don't know. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. But I also, we've heard crazy stuff, you know, on the other side of the spectrum too on the show. And so I do want to, to honor your fear and not just brush it off.

1:55:11But if there does seem to be something weird going on pattern wise over a period of time that I would, I'd pull in even a third party. I don't know if you'd go to, you know, counseling at 70 years old, probably not. But that or, yeah, I don't know, figure out. Keep having this conversation to see how much you can actually extract from this, to see how much you can get to the bottom of it. I mean, if you just said, I need this to stop. I need to see everything, every account, the transactions, the balances, no exceptions. I need you to rebuild the trust that was lost here. And if this is about something else, just tell me, we can be honest with each other. We've been married 40 years. If there's something going on, just give me the respect to tell me. And if he can't even do that, then you need to decide how are we going to move forward in this marriage? Do you need to go talk to a family law attorney just to know how to protect yourself out of fear? Yes. Maybe you step down the road if he is unwilling to budge. And that's him opting out. I don't want you to feel like you've done anything to deserve this.

1:56:14But I think you guys are just drifted so far apart that he's just in his own world at this point. Yeah. Are you a big spender, Lynn? Like, would there be any reason that he hesitates to like keep in a count? Because he's scared. You know, I mean, like, has there been anything in that end on your side? No. I'm really conservative. Okay. Yeah. And I've had part, you know, I've had cool time jobs. I was a stay-at-home mom for a long time. And I've had jobs. And but nothing was good enough as far as income that I brought in. To justify anything else. Yeah. Well, I think the rebuilding the trust at this point from an emotional standpoint is going to be huge for you guys. But I'm so sorry that does feel like whiplash on what a direction you saw everything was going. You kind of get this bump in the road. Hey, guys, Rachel Cruz here.

1:57:18And I am so excited to tell you that the brand new 2027 Ramsey Gold Planner is available now. Guys, this is the only planner with exclusive monthly content from John Deloney, Jade Warshaw and me to help you set clear goals and actually stick to them all year. But here's the thing. These sell out every single year. So don't wait. Order your new 2027 Ramsey Gold Planner for $49.97 at RamseySolutions.com slash store. That's RamseySolutions.com slash store. Our scripture of the day comes from Proverbs 1423. And all the toil there is profit. But mere talk tends only to poverty. Opportunity is missed by most because it's dressed in overalls and looks like work.

1:58:22Thomas Edison. Hey, man. Just the overalls. Yeah. I generally avoid overalls. I don't know if George would think he may pass on that offer. I haven't had a reason to get a pair. It's all that's all. All right. Let's go to Andrew in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hi, Andrew. Welcome to the show. Hey, guys. How are you? We're doing great. How can we help? Good. Well, I have a move coming up like we next summer. I'm like I'll say Charlotte moving up to the northeast. We own our home. We have about 180 left on the question. Do we take the equity of the home when we move? Because we don't want to be long-term landlords and pay off debt or do we save it for the next house? How much debt do you guys have? A lot. 250ish. Oh, man. What's that in? Student loans is most of it.

1:59:22So about 130 is my single loan, 120 of my wife's. And then by the time we move, we should have like we have a car payment, a car to car and taxes that are all doing. I expect those will be done in the next nine months. Whoa. So what's the total balance of all this? So the car payment or the car loan is 18. The credit card is about 55 and then the taxes is 3000. 55,000 in credit cards? No, 5500. Sure. Okay. Yeah. That's better. Okay. So how much equity do you guys have in the home? I'm thinking around 200 to 250. Okay. So you could clear most of the debt. We brought it over to the forecrow good. What is yours degrees in? Oh, you don't want to know. Yes, we do. What is it? Education. What are you guys doing for work?

2:00:22My wife is an educator. Well, she's in the admin side now. And then I am warehousing. I run a warehouse. What do you guys make? Make about 110 and she makes about 80. Good. Okay. So you'll be making 190 when you make this move. And what's the reason for the move? So a promotion. So I'll be probably making 50ish more. Okay. So you'll go up to 160 and she'll still make 80. We'll see if I can drop. Yeah, she'll probably go up to 90 or 95. Oh, incredible. That's good. Well, we're seeing comparable roles. So think about this future. You guys sell this home. You take all the equity, dump it onto the debt. Now you're making 250 and you can knock out the remaining what? 25 grand. Yeah, pretty cool. And a couple of months making that kind of money. Yeah. And then save up for a down payment from there. That's really the order of homeownership is to be debt free. Have a fully funded emergency fund and at least a 5% down payment.

2:01:23And so you guys really want to just be going into that baby step order at this point. Which means a rental for at least maybe two years max. Yeah. So what is in this kind of what I expected you guys to say, but one of the things that you heard, they kind of reverse engineer this a lot, say if I wasn't going to move, I still sell the house and use the equity pay off that. I've never heard that exact analogy. We just say selling a house is one thing you can do, but it's usually a last-ditch effort. But since you guys are already burning on the move. You're already going to have to move. So the home is going to have to be sold because of the situation. I don't know how to put you in. So the question is, what do we do with equity? Yeah, I don't know if we would. We should call it to the baby steps. That's right. That's right. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know if we would make up that situation of selling a home if you didn't have to, but you guys are forced to anyways. So at that point, yeah, there's going to be money there. And so if there's any extra money, we say apply it to the baby steps. And so that's what I would say. I mean, even if you called in and you had like a lawsuit or you got money from a relative,

2:02:28right? Like we would say, don't use that to pay off the home. We'd say use it to pay off your consumer debt. So any amount of money you get in your hands, you apply it to the baby steps. And think about freeing up all those payments. I mean, what are the middle payments on all those debts every month? So my wife's student loans are still zero because her last degree of deferment or whatever. My student loans 1200, the truck payments about five cut a curve going like 200 bucks and then IRS and paying 500 minimum of months, but I'll pay more. So just alone, you're going to clear 2500 without her student loan payment, which I'm sure is going to be another, you know, what, 1500 bucks. Yeah, I'm sure. So that's four grand. You'll clear. That's now back in your pocket every month for you guys to build wealth. Yeah, that's awesome. You're not paying interest on it. And to throw it at an emergency fund and then finally a down payment, I'm like, that's especially with this raise, you're going to be. Yeah, how old are you guys, Andrew? 30. Okay.

2:03:28That's great. Yeah. You got time to clean this up. And it sounds like a good career move to for you all. You know, all moving up and income. And I think it's just, yeah, it's just kind of reordering the priorities of where your money should be going. What's best, where's the best place for it? And at this point, paying off this consumer debt, getting that done with, oh, it's going to feel so nice. And I'm looking forward to it. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, and I do think the battle of going from owning to renting can be really hard for people. I think you're going backwards. You're throwing away money on rent and putting this in giant air quotes because I don't believe that. Yes. I repute that. I know. And I do what people don't consider because we get this call to all the time is how expensive home ownership is. You know, you are, unless you're living in a condo, I mean, you're in charge of so much, so much that can go wrong. We love home ownership. We want it. But you have to understand what you're walking into from everything from HVAC to roofs to landscaping

2:04:30and fixing stuff when it breaks. I mean, it's just, it is a, there's always something you want to do and need to do. Yes. And when you got foreground and debt payments on top of no savings, just to say we got in a home, it's not worth it. It's going to get stressful real quick. Yes. You'll call the show a year from now going, should we sell the house? We bought too early. This was a mistake. That's right. I don't want that for you. Yeah, because we get that. We get that call. All right. Let's go to Stephen in Portland. Hi, Stephen. Welcome to the show. Hi, thank you for taking my call. I want to sign down if you had any advice for somebody who's just in 60 this week that I'm literally starting over after a divorce and some really, really poor spending choices by my ex-wife who was a real winner for 24 years making incredible money. And then also making horrible choices, expensive cars, private schools, only money to the IRS

2:05:35and she was self-employed. I won't go on to or to worry about all that. But basically from going from a really nice situation or to a real- Speak directly in your phone, Stephen. We're going to have a hard time rearing you. I'm sorry. Can you hear me now? That's a little better. Yeah. I'm not cold, so that could be it. So anyway, I am trying to figure out I have a $27,000 for an entertainment and a $5,000 on your credit card. I used my return that money to recently get my daughter's first school pay off $25,000 to the IRS that wasn't that that wasn't mine. I basically got out of a horrible financial situation that I was building down here quick. How much do you have left from retirement? Not worth $40,000. What's the car worth?

2:06:37Oh, probably about what I want it. And how much do you make a year? So I couldn't make it up to go to a little less stressful down up. So then I will be making about 85 a year. OK. I use only girls to be smarter than take home 55. OK. Do you have any savings right now? Anything liquid cash? I don't. I literally have helped my kids with everything I have. So Stephen, we got to stop that because your your children will have to cover you in a retirement at the school. And that's not going to stop. There's going to be down payments for their first home. There's going to be weddings all of it. You have to take care of you first. You've got to put your oxygen mask on first, Stephen. So you can't afford to be helping anybody but yourself. So you need to take your income. You need to be paying off this debt. You may even want to sell the car and get a beater just to ease up the payment and then start refunding your retirement. And all of that has to do for your helping anyone else. But I'm sorry. That sounds like a hard, hard year.

2:07:37Oh, thanks for the call. All right. Thanks everyone in the booth. George, always a great host. Good job. And remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial piece. And that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus.