George Kamel - Tired Of Being Broke? (Watch This)

Episode Date: February 3, 2025

📈 Are you on track with the Baby Steps? Get a free personalized plan.  You don’t have to stay broke your whole life, and I can prove it. In this episode, you’ll learn how to escape the vicious cycle of being broke and make some real progress with your money.  Next Steps:  🎥 Watch my video Best Way to Pay Off Debt Fast (That Actually Works).  💵 Start your free budget today. Download the EveryDollar app!    Connect With Our Sponsors:  🔒 Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe.  💸 Learn more about opening a high-yield savings account with Laurel Road.  📱 Get $5 off Tello's Unlimited Plan and enjoy great nationwide coverage for only $20 at Tello.  Explore More From Ramsey Network:  🎙️ The Ramsey Show    🍸 Smart Money Happy Hour  💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights  🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show  💡 The Rachel Cruze Show  💼 The Ken Coleman Show  📈 EntreLeadership    Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you feel broke and you feel like you're barely keeping your head above water, you're not alone. I know it might seem like everyone around you has more money, but 78% of Americans feel like they live paycheck to paycheck. And it's not hard to see why, with all the financial traps and money myths out there designed to keep people brainwashed and more broke than a McDonald's ice cream machine. But I'm here to tell you from experience, there is a way to break free from that broken system. And in today's video, I'll tell you exactly what to do to create some financial breathing room in your life and finally start getting ahead with friends. money. Okay, if you're struggling just to make ends meet, there's a number of reasons why you might be in this position. Maybe you've fallen for some financial traps, believe some money myths, or been held back by a lack of financial literacy. Maybe your life has been filled

with challenges and hardships that have left you cleaning up a mess you didn't choose to make. Or maybe you just keep buying stupid stuff you don't need like a color-changing toilet nightlight from TikTok shop, but in my defense, it was worth it. I haven't stubbed my toe in days. For me personally, it was a poopery of all of the above. But what really matters is not what got you here. It's what you can do starting today to get your head above water and make progress with money. The first thing you have to do is change your mindset. This ain't some woo-woo, all right?

I talk to people all the time on the Ramsey Show who tell me they're broke, and most of them have this mentality of, well, life has happened to me. But that's a victim mentality, and that'll get you about as far as a segue at the Daytona 500. And I know that not everyone is starting up their financial journey on a level playing field. A lot of people have legitimate challenges and hardships they need to overcome. And even if that's the case with you, you can still do something about your situation. And it's probably going to be really hard. But when the pain of staying the same is worse than the pain of changing, you will actually do something about it.

And remember, it may not be all your fault, but it is your responsibility. Once I owned up to that, it's when I finally started to turn things around. It also didn't hurt that I was obligated by my employer to take a personal finance class and said employer was Dave Ramsey. Wow, I'm scared for you, man. But I'm telling you, that Financial Peace University class helped me get rid of the excuse, and changed my mindset and gave me the financial literacy I needed. Sometimes all you need is someone telling you it's possible and showing you the way.

Okay, the next thing you have to do is stop taking on more debt. You've got to stop the bleeding. Living with debt of any kind is one of the biggest things keeping you broke. Because those payments will eat up your hard-earned income faster than Guy Fietti can scarf down a chicken tandy that's riding the gravy train all the way to Flavortown. So no more car loans, no more after pay, no more opening up a low store credit cards, you can save 5% on a drain weasel. And don't get me wrong.

The Weasel Works wonders. It's the card that's keeping you broke. Because debt holds you back. It's got you paying off last year's Christmas presents in June. And then you're stuck paying off your beach vacation in December. And you can't build for the future while paying for the past. It's impossible. So decide right now that you will ditch debt and never look back.

Take debt off the table. Now, let's talk about how we're going to get rid of that debt. First, make sure you're current on all of your bills and making the minimum payments. Then you've got to save up $1,000 really quick. This is going to be your starter emergency fund. And here's why this is important. If you're living on the edge of broke, chances are you're only one layoff or emergency or busted HVAC away from a full-blown crisis.

So you need a financial safety net, even if it's a small one. Saving a thousand bucks might seem hard for you right now, but you'd be surprised at how quickly you can scrounge that up if you cut back on all of your spending, sell some stuff you have laying around the house, like that peloton you bought when you're in your pretending to be healthy era. Been there. I made a complete fool of my son.

And this thousand doll hair, is just a little buffer between you and life to help you sleep better at night, knowing you could pay cash for those ankle-biter emergencies that can and will derail your progress. Eventually, yes, I want you to have a fully funded emergency fund of three to six months of expenses. That's ideal.

But before you worry about saving that much money, we got to get rid of the debt first, which will free up payments and help you get to the fully funded emergency fund a whole lot faster. And the best way to pay off your debt is using the debt snowball method. Here's how it works. First, line up your debt from smallest to largest

regardless of the interest rate. And here's what you need to do. Attack the smallest debt first with the smallest balance and make minimum payments on the rest of your debts. And because you're throwing everything you can extra on that smallest debt,

that little pipsqueak gets paid off super fast. Then once the smallest debt is gone, take the payment that's freed up and apply it to the next smallest debt. Now we've got some real traction here because all of a sudden, boom, the second debt is paid off. You freed up some more money. Apply to the next debt.

Boom, it's gone. And the snowball picks up more and more snow with every debt you pay off. And I know. Some of you're going, well, George, wouldn't it be mathematically proper to pay off the highest interest rate first? Yeah, Mr. Smarty Pants, it would. But if your pants were smart enough to do math right, we wouldn't be in credit card debt, would we? So go ahead and put that Ti-84 calculator back in your shirt pocket, nerd. Sorry, it was a little, that nerd was unnecessary. Here's some money. Go see a Star War. So here's the truth. Math won't get you out of debt. Momentum will. That's what the debt snowball is all about.

The point is to give you some quick wins to keep you motivated about the process and actually make it across the finish line. Instead of getting so caught up in your math and interest rates that you give up and start spelling upside down dirty words with your calculator, grow up. It's still fun, though, I'll admit. Now, depending on how much debt you have, this process could take a while. But you can accelerate that whole process by creating more margin so you'll have more money to throw at the debt snowball. So how do you create this magical margin? Well, there's two ways. Spend less or and make more.

So let's look at some of the things you can do to cut back on spending and spend less. You can save some serious money on food and groceries by a meal plan, packing your lunch and buying store brand products like great value twist and shouts. I know. I know they're not the same. You will survive. I can't live without them. You could also cancel subscriptions or memberships that you're not using. You could switch insurance for a cheaper rate or even DIY some home projects watching some YouTube videos. And here's a big one. I know. Get ready for it. Are you sitting down?

Stop eating out. It might be more convenient, but staying broke is a lot less convenient. And I dare you to add up how much you've spent on restaurants and food delivery in the last 30 days. go count it up and let me know in the comment section. Listen, if you have a regular table at the Olive Garden and you tell the waitstaff to just ring the usual, you've got a problem, Gary. You're not my dad! And while we're talking about saving money,

let's talk about where you're saving money. If you're saving up cash for a used car or building up that fully funded emergency fund, that money may as well be earning more money for you. And for that, I recommend a high-yield savings account like the one offered by Laurel Road, one of the sponsors of today's episode. Right now, your account balance will earn top-tier APY.

something you're not going to get for most regular old savings accounts, paying 0.01%. Plus, there's no minimum balance required to open an account, your deposits are FDIC insured, and there's no hidden monthly maintenance fees. If you want to learn more, go to laurel.com slash george, or click the link in the description below. And before we go over more ways to help you eliminate debt, let's talk about how to eliminate your personal info from these shady people search sites that sell it to scammers for a profit. And that's by using Delete Me, another sponsor of today's video.

Delete Me fines and removes your income. info from hundreds of data broker websites, and they even send you a report showing you where they've found and removed your data, and how much time they've saved you. And currently, they've saved me 66 hours, which is more time I can spend playing Snake on my vintage Ti-84. I got the calculator app on my phone. What I don't have is Snake. So help protect yourself from the risks of online scams and data breaches with DeleteMe. And right now, you can get 20% off any of their plans by going to join DeleteMe.com slash George, or just click the link in the description below. Okay, now that we've gone over some ways to spend less, let's talk about some ways to create more margin by making

more money. We live in the convenience age, and people will pay good money for you to do things like drive them to a Morgan Wallin concert or bring them a big cheese at CrunchRap Supreme. And if you've got a driver's license and a reliable car, you can deliver people, food, groceries, and packages in exchange for money. What a time to be alive. You can check out delivery apps like Amazon Flex, Uber, Lyft, Uber Eats, DoorDash, Grubhub, Shipped, Instacart, or whatever's popular by the time you see this video. And one good thing about doing this is you typically get to choose when you work

and how much you work. So this makes a great side hustle on top of your full-time job. You can make anywhere from 15 to 30 bucks an hour depending on your location and peak hours. And if you decide to deliver groceries, here's a tip to help you stand out from the rest of the drivers. Pick out the fruit that's not already rotten. I know, the bar is low.

Get over it. I know everything about limes, and that's the browner, the better. Other things you can do to make some extra dough are freelancing, consulting, and two. tutoring. Most of you have skills like graphic design, writing and editing, coding and IT, marketing and SEO, photography, virtual assisting, bookkeeping. And you can make some pretty good money to throw your debt snowball by using those skills to help others. And remember, you don't have to do this forever. Most people following this plan will knock out all of their consumer debt within 18 to 24

months. And once you pay off that last debt, it will all be worth it. And by the way, the whole time you're doing this, you should be super intentional with where your money's going, every single dollar. And the best way to do that is with a budget. When you learn how to make a budget and actually do it every single month and stick to it, you are taking control. You're giving every dollar a job, you're telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went. And a lot of people get turned off by the B word because they think of it as restricting their spending, holding them back, it's going to take me forever.

But listen, a budget actually gives you freedom to spend. In fact, according to Tom Stanley's book, The Millionaire Next Door, most millionaires, budget. Correlation? I think so. It's basically just an intentional spending plan. one of the keys to building wealth. And I'm a work smarter, not harder guy. So if you want to know the best budgeting app that I use to make it easy, I'll drop a link in the description below. Go check it out. Okay, so once you've got all your debt paid off, now it's time to save up a fully funded emergency fund, which is three to six months of living expenses. And most people can knock

out this step within six to 12 months after paying off debt. Now here's some keys with the emergency fund. It should be easy to access, secure in Liquid A-F. Liquid is Fanta. Get your mind out of the gutter. It's a family show. My mom watches this show. At least she's tells me she watches this show. Think she's watching a different show. Well, this is awkward. For these reasons, I recommend storing that emergency fund in a high-yield savings account, like the one I just mentioned from Laurel Road, which earns more interest than a traditional savings account. But remember, earning interest is not the point of the emergency fund. That emergency fund is insurance, not an investment. It's playing defense, and it helps you avoid

ever going back into debt again. And if you end up needing to use your emergency fund, build it back up as fast as your aunt Linda got remarried after her first husband mysteriously disappeared on their honeymoon. Not saying she did it, that's for the Jamaican authorities and the podcast listeners to decide. The suspense is terrible. He's going to go this time. I hope it'll laugh.

Anyways, if you use your emergency fund, buckle down on the budget for a month or two so you can replenish it quickly. I'm telling you, this emergency fund is a game changer. Make it a priority. Just think of what it would feel like to have 10,000, 15,000, even 20,000 set aside for emergencies and no debt payments in your life. That emergency fund will turn across. into an inconvenience. Okay, so once you've got that full emergency fund taking care of,

now you can breathe easier and you're ready to start building for the future instead of paying for the past. This includes investing for retirement, saving for your kids' college, and making extra mortgage payments so you can pay off your house early. Now at this point, you'll likely have enough margin to do some of this, but you might need to start increasing a core income to do all of it. And that could mean learning new skills or getting a better education so you can land a higher paying job or even switch to a new career path altogether. If you can keep your expenses relatively low as you do this and your income grows over time, you're going to have more margin to do those things, like investing, saving, giving, and even some more spending. But for now,

if you're broke and struggling, take it one step at a time. Change your mindset, stop taking on debt, save $1,000 bucks quick, pay off all of your consumer debt with the debt snowball, and get that fully funded emergency fund in place. Then you can move on to proactively building wealth. But here's the key. Don't try to do this all at once. Focus on these steps, in order, one thing at a time. That's how you make progress. That's how I made my progress. That's how millions have done it. And if you want to get a clear picture of where you are right now financially and what your exact next step should be, go check out the Get Started assessment. It's completely free and all you got to do is answer a few questions about your life, your money goals, and we'll set you up with a plan that's customized

for you and where you are right now. So I'm going to drop a link below to the Get Started assessment in the description. Go take it and let me know in the comments what your results were. As always, don't forget to hit that like and subscribe button if you enjoyed the video. And if you're ready to get rid of your debt ASAP. Keep watching this next video to see why the debt snowball is hands down the best way to pay it off, or you can click the link in the description to watch. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.