The Rachel Cruze Show - 6 Excuses Broke People Make (And It’s Costing You!)

Episode Date: February 23, 2026

🛳️ Set sail with Rachel on the Live Like No One Else Cruise! Book your cabin today.   Building wealth is a challenge, but sometimes the excuse-making can go a little too far and stand in the way of progress. In this episode, I’m reacting to common excuses I hear from people who feel stuck with their money and how to shift that mindset to something better. Next Steps:  🎥 Watch my video 6 Financial Mistakes Made by High Income Earners. 📈Are you on track with the Baby Steps? Get a free personalized plan. 💵 Start your free budget today. Download the EveryDollar app!   Connect With Our Sponsors: Learn more about Christian Healthcare Ministries. Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe. Go to FAIRWINDS Credit Union for an exclusive account bundle!   Explore More From Ramsey Network: 🍸 Smart Money Happy Hour 🎙️ The Ramsey Show  💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 💰 George Kamel 🪑 Front Row Seat with Ken Coleman 📈 EntreLeadership   Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yes, building wealth is a challenge and it's a marathon, but sometimes the excuse making can go a little too far and can actually stop your progress. So today, I'm going to react to common money excuses that I hear from people who feel like they are stuck with money and how to shift that mindset to something better. Be sure to like, subscribe, and share this episode with a friend. All right, excuse number one, I deserve the splurge. The whole I deserve it, emotional response. gosh, usually can take in a lot of entitlement, y'all. I'm going to just say it out loud. I know, I know, I know. Listen, working hard, being stressed, like there's a lot going on. And I just deserve it. I just deserve it. When that becomes the mentality and that's the pattern

over time, that's a very dangerous place to be because it actually starts to slip into all of your decision making and ultimately how you're viewing life. So instead of that, be thinking, okay, I can't buy things I want with money that I don't have. When you do that, you start to learn to live below your means, you start to shop smarter, you start to spend money that you actually have versus going into debt for things. So definitely, I would say, if you have the ability to save up and to buy it, then yes, you can buy it. You can make the purchase, do the experience, whatever it is. But that level of thinking of like, I just deserve it, even if you have, the money can sometimes cause you to make not great decisions, so be thinking through that,

but especially if you don't have the money, it causes you to go into deeper debt. Excuse number two, I'll make more money later in life. So a lot of people will put off and kind of say, oh, don't worry about it. Like, I'm not worried. It'll be fine. My income will go up. And over time, usually, yes, it will. Usually your income does, but also you don't know what's going to happen.

So instead, have the mindset. I can't control the future, but I can do my best in the present. The reality that is in front of you, that is what you have. And yes, again, you might make more money later on. And hopefully if you are, you know, building a career and you are getting experience and all of that, you should be making more. Absolutely. But that also doesn't mean that you need to put aside good money habits because of that where you're like, oh, I'm not going to have to worry about that. Don't worry.

Because the truth is, too, later in life, life gets expensive. Like, if you think about it, when you think about retirement and home repairs and health expenses and your kids are growing up and going to college, like all of this. So yes, if you are making more money, that's great. But also, life can get more and more expensive the older you get. So let's just be smart about it, not making an excuse, but be present where we are today. All right, number three, life is shorts, you know, yolo, just enjoy you only live once. So it's funny as some people say, oh, don't worry, I have time.

I'll make more money later, right? just like that last excuse. But then sometimes people are like, life's too short. We got to spend. We got to do what we want right now. So instead of that mindset, just think whether my life is short or long, I can make the choice to live stress-free. That is what we are working towards people. Yes, we want great experiences. We want all of that. But sometimes if you completely abandon any level of financial responsibility to go and just do whatever the crap you want, that in turn is going to have consequences. And then you're going to have to carry that stress and digging yourself out of those holes. So a more, I would say, mature approach would be instead of like, oh, yeah,

you only live once, go and do and live. Just say, yes, I want to have a great experience where I am in the present. And that means I need to make sure that I have the money for it. So that way, future me doesn't hate present me, right? And I want to be able to still have a great life. So how can those two marry? Because it doesn't have to be one or the other. But yes, sometimes your life is going to look different if you choose financial responsibility. But again, and you're doing all of this to set yourself up so that you can say yes more and more later. Now, one of the easiest ways to keep our lives stress-free is by using Delete Me. So you may not realize it, but scammers and spammers are constantly buying and selling your data online.

And the last thing you want to do for your name, address, and other important information is to leave that exposed because that means internet creeps can just find it and use it without your knowledge. So Delete Me goes in, steps in, and wipes those sites, clean so you don't have to. And that will bring you peace of mind. And that is priceless. So you can get 20% off an annual plan at join deleteme.com slash Rachel, which checks out to be about $9 a month. It is so worth it. Again, that's join delete me.com slash Rachel. All right, excuse number four, I want to give my kids what I didn't have. So a lot of people will make excuses where they go and buy things and do things that they don't have the money for. And they're like, well, you know,

I didn't get to have this as a kid, and so I want my kids to experience this. Where instead, where again, that heart is good. I get that. As a parent, I hear you. I really do. But instead, a healthier mindset is I want to give my kids the skills that they need to thrive without me one day. Like, you're not just trying to raise good kids.

You're trying to raise kids to become good adults. So resilience, hard work, emotional maturity, you know, learning to say no at times and them hearing no. Like, all of that is so great because that is changing who they are. Now, for the people who want to create a healthier and stable household, like, that's heroic. Like, those are the things that are really going to matter. But if you just want to meet them with, like, the materialistic need in the moment, you're kind of doing a disservice if that's all you're focused on.

So while I hear the heart of a parent, absolutely that you want to give your kids a better life. And again, I would say with the asterisk, if you lived, like, in extreme poverty, like, if you, like, the basic needs weren't even met in your household. And I've met lots of people that that was it. And they're like, I want my kids to have stability. That's one thing. but I'm talking about it's more the access.

It's like, oh my gosh, it's just like there's so much. There's just so much. We're going to just keep giving and giving and giving and giving stuff and crap to our kids. And after all, you guys, it's not worth it. It's not. So making sure their character is in a good spot. And the stuff is okay. That's not bad.

But if that's all we focused on, that's not great. All right. Next excuse is that retirement is so far away. I have time. You know, it's kind of back to that idea of like, don't worry. Well, instead of having that mindset, I would say, since I have time before retirement, I'll let compound interest do the work for me in the meantime. Because it's not stressful if you start small and early, you guys.

So take advantage of that. Just say, hey, where you are now, even if it's not a lot of money, start investing. Because when you start early, the better off you're going to be mathematically. Excuse number six is, I'll be too old to need a bunch of money later on. So instead of that mindset, why don't you say, I don't know what my needs are going to be down the road. and I would love a safety net just in case. So listen, yes, you may not need a ton later in life, but who knows, right? We don't know.

We don't know what medical expenses are going to cost. We don't know if you're going to not have to get out of, you know, move out of your house and go somewhere. Like, who knows what's going to happen? So having the ability to have savings going into your retirement and your older years is so important. And also, leaving a legacy for your kids, I think is key. It reminds me of this book called Die Was Zero and his whole premise. was to use the money while you're alive. And that's everything from giving to helping your kids with their inheritance, like all of it.

And I love the mindset. I mean, honestly, there's a part of that. But I'm like, that sounds great. But there's also the asterisk of like, but you still don't know what's going to happen. So to try to get to zero at death is like, that's a gamble for me. So I'm like, have a safety net. I think that's great. But also enjoy your life and the money that you've worked for.

All right. No matter any of these excuses, listen, everyone needs every dollar. So this is not an excuse. I don't have an excuse to not download this app because doing a budget and looking at your monthly expenses is one of the best things that you can do. And now every dollar is even bigger than that because they're looking over your entire financial picture.

So make sure to download every dollar today. But sometimes your entire money strategy is the problem, not just the excuses. So be sure to check out my episode, six financial mistakes made by high-income earners. You can click right here or I'll leave a link below. All right, you guys, remember to take control of your money, and create a life you love.