The Ramsey Show - App - Are We Candidates for Bankruptcy? (Hour 1)

Episode Date: January 7, 2021

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🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. I am Dave Ramsey, your host, Rachel Cruz. Best-selling author, Ramsey personality, is my co-host today.

Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. It is book launch, book tour week. And you have been on like a hundred and some odd media hits in the last two days or three. Been talking a lot. Yeah, I'm here. You're welcome that I'm still talking out loud. No, it's been great.

Talking has always been a gift of yours since you were small. That is true. Yeah, fair, fair, fair. Yeah, so it launched on Tuesday, was here on the show for it, and lots of things in between. So it was fun. We had a book launch party last night with about 300. So fun. I mean, I'm by myself in a room with confetti and champagne and 300 people on Zoom.

But we were able to talk and answer questions and sign books. So if they ask a question, you sign them a book. Yes, yes. So it's a book signing book launch party. I know, yeah. You're doing another one tonight. And I'm doing one tonight, yes. You can go to rachelcruz.com sign up for that but it was actually really fun we had we had a great time okay well it looked fun it was i mean the the

posts and things i saw on it the people appreciated it yes yeah that's cool it was special and thank goodness you got your uh major media hits out before the world came unglued oh gosh because you got canceled so on my first book tour, my very first book tour, a thousand years ago, I'll tell you how long ago it was, okay? It was Financial Peace. This was 1996, I guess it was, okay?

It was the very first time I'd ever done anything like this. We were driving all over the United States. We were flying all these different places. I would get there, and O.J. was on trial. Oh, no! And if he went to the bathroom they shut down all programming and followed him to the bathroom i mean any little thing that happened because it

was the first time that america had stopped everything to follow a trial on television and it was just this mass for months oh yes and we started calling it getting oj'd because i would be sitting in the green room five minutes before i'm supposed to do my appearance and they would go oh no he went to the bathroom we're canceling you and i would be i drove all the way over here i'm freaking in la i mean i just drove an hour to get to this stupid station and then you you know it's a three minute hit and you can't avoid oj going to the bathroom for three minutes so media gets obsessed with something they get on it and shut everything else down.

Yes, for sure. Shut everything else down. But thankfully, it was, yes. Thankfully, you got it out ahead of time. You didn't get OJ'd. Yes, didn't get OJ'd. That's good. Good stuff.

The book is Know Yourself, Know Your Money. Discover why you handle money the way you do and what to do about it. This is Rachel's third book. It will be her third number one, we're very sure. We won't know that officially until about a week from now. But the sales are going very, very well. Thank you guys for supporting her and for just saying, hey, this message matters. And talk a second, because we have before, but there might be somebody new today.

There probably is. There are 17, 18 million people out there, so they come and go. What is the core? Why should somebody read this book? That's a better way of asking it. To get a deeper understanding of why they do the things they do with money. So we talk a lot about the how-to, how to budget, how to get out of debt, how to invest, how to save, how to give. And all of that is good, and those principles are very much needed to win with money. But like you say on the show all the time, personal finance is

80% behavior. It's only 20% head knowledge. So you can understand the how to's and what to do. But actually doing it is so difficult. And so I really wanted to dig into that behavior side. So kind of going under that foundation and asking the hard questions of why do you seem to not be able to live on a budget? Why can you and your spouse really not get on the same page? Why are you spending the money you're spending? Why can you or cannot you save money? You know, all of those really figuring out the core of what's going on with the why. And then once you pinpoint that and say, oh, wow, I do spend money to cope with stress. Me, I do spend money, you know, for the X, Y, or Z. Or, yeah, we, my husband and I, we keep bumping up against the same argument,

but really I'm realizing that I just don't trust this part. And I don't, and now I'm realizing that about my marriage, right? Like you get those deeper, deeper issues. And once you solve those, become healthier in those, man, then the how-to and the budget and saving all the tactical stuff falls in line so much easier and you know you don't even have to solve them completely if you just recognize the awareness of it yes can pull you from going so far that it's toxic over into a healthy version of a saver that's right from a toxic version of a saver a healthy version version of an abundance versus scarcity. Yes.

You know, a healthy version. Because it's not wrong to be scarcity or it's not wrong to be abundance. No. What is wrong is to get out on the fringes of it. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. So you as a person, you're made up of a lot, right, from your background, your childhood.

And I talk about that at the beginning of the book, your money classrooms and what that looks like, how your parents shaped the way you handle money today, your tendencies, that's what you just said, the seven money tendencies I write about in the book, and pinpointing those. And when you start to recognize those, it also gives you empathy for people in your life because you start to say, oh, that's why my spouse does this with money because they tend to lean more on the status side of money versus the safety side. Or my parents, X, Y, and Z, or my grown grown children that's why they do this and that you start to really learn yourself and other people through that your fears or six money fears i write about in the fear section because fear is a motivator fear drives a lot of decisions good or bad um but pinpointing your financial fears is big your dreams how that affects your saving i mean all

of it it's it's really kind of getting to the heart and the emotions of money, which has been fun. Yeah. So we know, and we have proven to you guys over 30 years out there, that money is 80% behavior. It's 20% head knowledge. So getting a better handle on your behaviors, the why of your behaviors, changes everything. And that's why this book is going to be a massive hit. It already is. People are talking about it all over the place already. They're already reading it. They got it two days ago. Well, what I like about it, too, is that you're able to pinpoint and find yourself in it.

It's really easily laid out. So as you're reading through a section, you're like, oh, yeah, that's me. Oh, I grew up in an unstable household with money. And you read all about that. Or, yeah, here's my tendencies. And so you're able to define yourself within it which i really like so even these media hits we're talking about you know i'll be with a

producer right before i go live on the air and the producer is even like yeah i was reading over the talking points and read that part of the book and i realized wow yeah i grew up in an unaware money classroom and i never really even knew that that's so cool and then i'm alive on air with the anchor and she's like yeah i was reading this and i'm scarcity like you're able just to kind of figure yourself out and that's a really fun part of the book too well self-discovery is is a big deal uh socrates said the unexamined life is not worth living yeah because you can't get better and so um you know if you've ever been to marriage counseling, you know, pretty quickly you start to realize, uh, stuff I got to work on. Yeah.

And there's stuff, you know, the stupid stuff I do. And why do I do that? And where does that come from? And tell me if you think this, because maybe, I don't know if it's a generational thing, but this kind of book that goes along with kind of a counseling mindset or the Enneagram or the book, The Birth Order, talking about, you know, how the birth order of your family shapes who you are. All of that stuff is so intriguing to me.

Oh, yeah. And do you feel like that's a generational thing? No. I feel like my generation is so much more comfortable with self-examination and wanting to know why we function the way we do. No, I saw the disc model when I was 18 years old the first time, and I was enamored with it from day one. Okay, so it could be.

It's just this, anybody who cares about why we do what we do of any age is going to be. It's intriguing. Now, it can be the younger you are that you're still really discovering who you are. That's fair. And maybe when you're older, you're a little more sat in your ways. No, never. That could be. But never.

Don't know anybody that way. No. No. The book is Know Yourself your money discover why you handle money the way you do and what to do about it it's available everywhere rachel cruz my guest this hour this is the dave ramsey show 2021 is finally here which means 2020 is over and now you get to decide how this year goes rachel cruz's new book know Know Your Money, is also finally here.

And this book will help guide you to faster progress with your money, no matter which baby step you're on. For years, we've taught you that personal finance is 20% head knowledge and 80% behavior. This is the book for helping you grow and control your behavior. Know Yourself, Know Your Money goes beyond the baby steps and gets to the root of your money choices and mistakes. 2020 probably gave you a pretty clear view at what your personal money fears are. This book will help you channel those into a healthy money mindset so you can make 2021 a year worth celebrating.

Get your copy of Know Yourself yourself know your money today at the online store at daveramsey.com or call our ramsey concierselling author, Rachel Cruz is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Jane is in Louisville, Kentucky. Hi, Jane. Welcome to the show. How can we help? Hi, guys.

Thanks so much for taking my call and congrats on your new book, Rachel. Oh, thanks, Jane. I so much for taking my call, and congrats on your new book, Rachel. Oh, thanks, Jane. I appreciate it. Yeah. So I'm blessed to have just completed Baby Step 2 with my husband on New Year's. But the kind of bad thing is we're probably looking at a divorce coming in the next few months, and I am formulating a plan. I'm ramping up my hours that I have at work to start

working, you know, closer to full time so we can be on our own. And my question is, another blessing in our lives was that my grandfather had left me some money about 10, I forget, 10, 15 years ago. And I used it to buy a house when the market was really low. So I was able to pay cash for that house, and we've kind of just had it. We've lived away from during the military moves but kept the house as our forever home. And I'm having a dilemma because we're emotionally attached to the house. It's paid off. Even though technically that's part of Baby Step know six I don't have an emergency fund

and I had this idea about selling that house and then getting the you know funds for that and then trying to buy a like a cheaper house and then keep the difference and that could make us have our emergency fund and I could start investing and stuff like that and I just feel a little bit of dilemma because the taxes are super low because you know know, we've homesteaded it and it was, you know, such a cheap price. And so I'm kind of, I said, I got to ask Dave because this is like the biggest, second biggest decision in one of my life is we sell this house. It's a good house, you know. But I also am kind of ready for a fresh start, too. This all sounds not only sad, but really fresh.

Yes, sir. Like after New Year's, something happened? No, it's actually been brewing for quite a while. It's just that we've been, you know, kind of working as partners during a kind of a, you know, untenable situation kind of thing with the relationship, but we've still remained good teammates and everything, and I was able to get him inspired about his, you know, finances and stuff. So we were working together on that, but it's just kind of been brewing for a while. Oh, so it's like once you got out of debt, now you can do the divorce?

It's all kind of been happening. Well, okay. I mean, that's what it sounded like. I'm just done. Okay. All right. So what are you going to be making a year? I think around $30,000. And you keep saying we. You have children? I have one daughter, yeah. She's 11.

Okay. And the house is where? It's in Tampa, Florida. Okay, so you're not living in it. Right, right. We've been renting it out. Are you going to move to Tampa? That's the plan.

Oh, you are. Okay, so you could move into the house, and it is paid for, and it will be yours because it came to you through an inheritance, so likely the divorce will award it to you, correct? Yeah, and, yeah, he's not going to try to fight or board it or anything because it was kind of pre-him and everything. Yeah, so what is the house worth? I would say, as it is, needing repairs,

but since I read Rachel's book, Love Your Life, Not Theirs, that finally clicked, and I am never going into debt again. After years of following you guys, it finally clicked. I don't want to go into debt to fix it up. So as it is, I would say probably like $215, $220, something like that. Okay. And so what is your career going to be in Tampa, and what will you be making there?

I have a job that kind of could follow me, so I'll just continue working from home, and I'll just up the hours um to be um yeah i do yeah i do like accounting stuff from home yeah you're not making much um i yeah i just kind of raise and but it's like i think once i get to full time then i'll be you know it might be closer to you know a little bit above the 30. You're not making much. Yes, sir.

We're going to have to work on your career if you're going to be a single lady living in a $200,000 house in Tampa, Florida. $30K is going to be tough, kiddo. Yeah, well, see, the thing is, because, okay, this is what I needed to ask you. The taxes are like $60 a month, and then like everything else. It doesn't matter. You have to maintain the house. You have to cool the house. You have to, I mean, you're going to have a tough road.

We need to work on your revenue, on your income side of this equation. That's part of your equation. So what I would tell you is if you can do something with your career and let's get your income up some, I would probably keep the house. Because I think without a house payment, you'll be able to fund your emergency fund fairly quickly. But the first thing we have to admit is that $30,000 is not enough and you've got some work to do on that side of the equation. The problem with a divorce is it turns a marriage into a business transaction and so it gets down to just math now and not about emotion uh although there's always

a lot of emotion but um but the the actual transaction itself is all you're looking at now yeah because i was going to say too if you sell the home sure you'll pocket that 200k but over time that's going to leave i mean that's a set amount of money versus having an asset like a paid-for home and then just seeing where you can up your income to have a lifestyle that's sufficient would be probably more ideal. If you're a good bookkeeper, good at accounting, you should make more than that in Tampa, Florida. So we've just got to figure out a way for you to do that and um and if you're going to live in the house i would probably keep it and i would work on the career side of your equation thanks for the call sorry you're going through that open phones at 888-825-5225 elliot

is in austin texas hi elliot how are you well how are you? Doing well. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? So I have a fortunate financial situation that I'm trying to take the most advantage of possible. And I'm just trying to give you a call to see what your take is on, I guess, the options I'm considering. So my wife and I live in Austin right now. We're in an apartment that is like 900 bucks a month. That's pretty cheap. And we are looking at potentially buying a house here. But the question I have, and this is something that I've been considering, is whether it might make sense to jettison the idea for now of buying a house and instead continue living in our

low-rent apartment and buying a multi-dwelling unit and renting out all the different units within the multi-dwelling unit, thereby creating, you know, we're not only buying an asset, but creating passive income that would, you know, be potentially quite substantial. It's something that I've seen a lot of other people post about on social media, that they buy these multi-dwelling units, and they're, in some cases, bringing in as much as like $2,000 a month just from the rent that they're creating. Yeah, everything on the Internet is true, too. Real estate is appealing, Elliot.

I'm with you. It's appealing, the passive income and all of that. It's not passive at all. If you've ever dealt with a renter, it's not passive. There's nothing passive about it. And so it's very active. That's another question I was going to ask is if, you know, it made sense to potentially build a route of hiring some kind of third party that takes care of property management.

No. Okay. Listen, I own a bunch of real estate. I love real estate. Real estate is appealing. It is a very active, hands-on process, and it is a process that never makes what you think it's going to because people don't always pay units aren't always full and you know there's a kind of a rule in business it's also true in rental real estate it costs twice as much as you think it's going to it takes twice as long

as you think it's going to and you're not the exception those are the three rules. And so the picture that is painted on Facebook is a freaking fishing story. I caught a fish that big. And they don't talk about all the times they went out and caught nothing. And that's the reality. So real estate is an expensive game. It is not a game for broke people. It is a game you do after you build some wealth. And so I would tell you to save up and buy your first home, get your finances stabilized,

get it paid off, and save up and pay cash for your first rental. It's a longer version, but it's not, listen, the yellow brick road is not paved in gold, dude. It's just really not. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. It's book launch week for the new book, Know Yourself, Know Your Money, by Rachel Cruz. She is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225.

Tonight, there will be another book launch, book signing party, virtual style, at rachelcruz.com. Be there at 7 p.m. Central. And Rachel can take some questions from some of you and sign books for you certainly if she takes a question from you she's going to sign a book and send it to you that's how it works right that's right with a little confetti sprinkled inside each book oh well there we go yeah it's a party but i did last night it's a party we have to do a little party that's right all right alvin is with us alvin is in pennsy Hi, Alvin. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave and Rachel. It's an honor to talk to you guys. You too, sir. What's up?

Well, I had a question on helping a friend or a family that we've been helping financially. And in the past year, the husband has passed away and so in the last couple years we've helped this family from a very very poor uh situation and they were they were making some progress financially and we we had them on somewhat of a budget and things good but in the past year the dad passed away now we're having now we're having some troubles uh out how much to help or where to help since the grown children seem to be taking advantage of some of the handouts, like the cars that are not theirs. And we're trying to figure out where the boundaries should be as far as helping. What children are in the home of the house you're helping? Because you said there's some grown kids.

Are there? Yeah. They have moved back in. Yeah, a couple of them have moved back in, and one of them was his girlfriend and his kid. And there's too many people in the house, but since the church and, you know, people that care about the family are paying for the rent and the food and the private schooling for the children and things, there's really no motivation for them to leave, I don't think. And it's really hard for the mom. We understand there's a lot of grief, you know, because the dad and husband, you know, has passed away. So we're trying to figure out how can we help that's constructive and is helpful

all the way around without enabling a situation. Yeah, the landlord, and they also are part of this because they are part of the church where we've all attended. So it's kind of tough. So the landlord feels like they can't enforce stuff because they're personally connected to the family, and they also need a place to live and things like that. So, yeah, I'm just need some guidance on how to figure out how to help this family, basically. You're good with enabling situations. I think I'm hearing you say that they are taking advantage of the situation.

Yeah, that's how we look at it. Yeah, and so that tells us that they're not really being helped. So what we've got to think is, the way it always helps me is five years from today is what I'm doing right now going to cause them to be in a better situation. And what you're describing, the answer is no. Five years from today, they're going to be doing exactly the same thing and sometimes we get confused particularly when we do it under the heading of our christian faith uh between being nice and enabling because enablers are always the nicest people on the planet uh but we because we just don't want anybody to be offended or hurt or scared or hungry or anything.

And so we just do anything to make that okay. And so this landlord in the name of, they're in my church, and so I'm concerned, and so I don't want to do an unchristian thing, in quotes. And yet you've got a whole bunch of stuff going on in that house that's not Christian. And, you know, you're condoning it and allowing it and encouraging it by allowing it and so you're not doing them any favors by not letting making them abide by the rules uh that a normal tenant would abide by uh they're overloading the house with people and it's people engaged in behaviors and uh that you're not okay

with right and that's not okay why are we not okay with those behaviors that you're not okay with. Right. And that's not okay. Why are we not okay with those behaviors? Because they're not good for them. They don't affect me. But it's not good for them. And so what is good for them?

That's what matters. And the way you can tell what's good for them is not whether they like it. It's not whether it feels good. It's whether five years from today they're in a better place because you did this thing. And so, you know, I put together a benevolence program for a large church several years ago. It was one of the first things I did when I started doing money stuff, and it had a lot to do with the extent of our help is going to be to the extent you participate in things and in behaviors that are going to cause you to win. I'll give you an example. Okay.

Every large church in America has people walk up to the door and ask for money for a bus ticket, money for food, quasi homeless people. Right. And this particular church had 35 acres with big trees on it and we always said yeah we can help you out with a gift card to the local grocery store which obviously does not allow cigarettes to be purchased or alcohol to be purchased but instead actual food okay but we need you to work an hour, and we'll give you $50 worth of gift cards raking leaves. Do you know what number of people accepted that? In five years of me doing it, not one.

They all walked off mad, flipping me the bird, yelling at me about not being a real Christian. Because I asked them to rake leaves for an hour. By the way, Paul says it in the Bible, don't work, don't eat. And so I, you know, and I wasn't asking an onerous thing. I got the rake. I got the leaves. This is easy. Right.

And so the bottom line was is that I knew I wasn't helping those folks by participating in their delusions. And so, you know, and the same same thing a young couple like you all are dealing with or a couple comes in for counseling and help with they need help with their rent or something we required them to go to prayer we required them to go to a financial peace university class which was brand new in those days uh and we required them to do some work around the office of some kind and uh because work and prayer and knowledge are things that will fix your life if your life is busted sure and you know how many of them turn that down 50 and these

are people inside the church wow they would turn us down and walk away angry and we were never unkind we were never bossy or controlling. And so at some point, you've got to dust your hands and dust the feet off your, shake the dirt off your feet when you leave that town and go, now it's up to you, baby doll. So I don't want to be mean to this lady. She lost her husband this year. I understand, and I'm not asking you to be mean to her.

But if you guys continue the behavior you've outlined for me over the next three years you're not helping at all and you already knew that didn't you yeah i think so i'm that's really what i'm worried about so i'm going to require some things i'm going to require them to go to the class i'll pay for it if you want them to go to our class i'll give it to them okay okay i'm not trying to make money on that's not the point i want them to learn so they're, I'll give it to them. Okay? Okay. I'm not trying to make money on it. That's not the point. I want them to learn so they're never in this situation again. I'm going to require that children over 18 move out within six months and get a job and get a life. Right.

In order for us to continue support. Why? Because that's good for the children that are over 18. It's good for the mom. She does not need to be 75 years old with a 35-year-old in her basement who's sleeping around all over town. That is not a good family situation. Agreed?

Yeah, absolutely. And this is a loving act. Well, Dave, that's tough love. No, it's just love. The other's not love. The other's not love. The other's just wimp. Yeah. And I've done both, man, because I got a big old heart.

I love people, and I see somebody hurting. I just want to help them and all that. But, I mean, after having dealt in this stuff for so long, for 30 years, I am committed to loving them so well that I make them do things that are uncomfortable and transformational for their own sake. Well, it's when the helping starts to become harming, and that's what it is. It does. That's enabling.

You know, when what you think is helping is actually causing them to stay in a rut. Yeah. Case in point, the entire welfare system in America, you know, it's generational now. It's ridiculous. And it's not helping. It's causing generational slumps. We'll be right back. Thanks for joining us, America.

We're glad you're here. Rachel Cruz, Ramsey personality, is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Haley is in Denver. Hi, Haley. How are you? Doing good. Thank you for taking my call.

Sure. What's up? My husband and I surrendered two vehicles back to Ford Credit back in July of 2020. And our plan was to save up a lump sum to cover the deficits and hopefully pay it off within the next year or so. They've already turned it over to an attorney and we got a garnishment letter. And we have a substantial amount of other debts as well. So we're wondering if we should be considering bankruptcy or if we should try and crawl our way out of this. Okay, let's back up a second.

There's no such thing as a garnishment letter. There's a letter threatening a lawsuit, in which case if they got the lawsuit, then if they win the lawsuit, then they could execute on the lawsuit, and then they could garnish, which is a six-month to a year process. Okay. So the letter has come threatening you from an attorney is all, right? Yes. Okay. All right.

Because a garnishment notice would have occurred long after a lawsuit occurred, and you lost the lawsuit, which, by the way, you will lose because you owe the money, okay? So that's not a question. Right. So what is the deficit balance with Ford Motor Credit? One of the vehicles was a $10,000 deficit, and the other one was $15,000. Okay. And what's your household income? My husband's a truck driver in the oil field, so depending on the weather, he can make anywhere between $40,000 and $80,000 a year. What do you think he'll make this coming year based on the way things are going today?

Probably about $85,000 with my income because I make because I make, um, about 40 to 50. You make 40 to 50 as well? Yes. Okay. Yeah. Okay. And he'll make 60, so you'll probably make, oh, you're probably, you're probably shooting that low.

He's probably going to make at least 60. So, um, and he's going to work all he can work because you got a mess on your hands. So how much, uh, how much is your house payment? $22.50 per month. What do you owe on the house? We rent. Okay. What other debts do you have other than this?

We have some tax bills, state and federal. How much? The total is about $11,000. Okay. And we're on payment plans with those. Good. And then we've adjusted our taxes so that that doesn't happen anymore. Smart.

And then credit card debt, we have about $35,000. Mm-hmm. And then we bought cars cash. My parents helped us out with that. So we owe my parents about $8,000 and we're paying them back on that as well. Okay. That's it? Yes. Are you current on the credit cards or are they in default? No, we're current. So the only problem you've got is the threatening letter from the lawyer? Yes. Okay.

You might be bankrupt, but it's not for two more years. Okay. It's going to take that long for this to completely unravel, and that's if you do nothing. And instead, I'm going to show you how to save it, okay? Perfect. It's going to be some sacrifice and some work, but you can do it. We're ready. All right.

We need a change. Yeah, I can tell. I can hear it in your voice. There's a resolve in your voice that's very powerful. And you've had your I've had it moment. You'd never want to be here again. I can hear it. Am I right? Yeah.

My husband and I want to adopt a baby, and we can't do it like this. Nope, you can't. You've got a mess on your hands. I want you to, baby, and we can't do it like this. Nope, you can't. You've got a mess on your hands. I want you to, too, but we're going to get this mess cleaned up real fast. Okay, here's what we're going to do. Ignore the letter. They're going to do nothing for right now.

Okay? Okay. Number two, I'm going to put you into Ramsey Plus, which is our full system on how to handle money. You and your husband, and he can do it while he's on the road because it's all online. He can follow along with the classes with you, and you're going to take the Financial Peace University class, and you're going to take Rachel's Know Yourself, Know Your Money classes now in Ramsey Plus, and it's all free. I'm going to give it all to you free, but you have to do everything in there, okay?

Okay. And you're going to get on a budget, and you and your husband are going to work on the budget together because it's on an app called EveryDollar, and he can carry it on his phone in the truck with him, and you guys can email and talk back and forth and text back and forth, and you'll be working together even though he's gone a lot. Okay. You've got to work together, okay?

Okay. He can't be out spending money while you're trying to get this mess cleaned up you both adults is that gonna work i'll have him listen to this okay good yeah good he can do it because he's not afraid of hard work he just doesn't know what to do yeah i know him i grew up with him i know guys like him i've known him my whole life i love i love truck drivers they're some of the hardest working guys on the planet. They love their families. This guy works. He's a worker. So he's a good man.

But he just doesn't know what to do. But now when we tell him what to do, dude, you got to go do it, okay? Because I'm the guy that's – Reg, you and me, we know more about this than anybody. We can show you how to do it. All right, so now, so we're paying the minimums on the taxes. We're paying minimums to mom and dad. We're paying the minimums on the credit cards, and we're not paying the cars, and we're going to be on a tight budget. Does that sound right so far?

Yes. Okay. Now, what you're going to find when you get on that budget is you're going to feel like you got a raise because you're out of control with money, and everybody who's not on a budget is out of control with money, and everybody who gets on a budget feels like they got a raise. You're going to feel like wow where the flip is all this money been going you're going to have that thought and that would be a normal thought

be ready for it okay and rachel one of the one of the videos immediately when you sign up for remsi plus is going to be rachel showing you how to do the budget yeah the budget can be powerful for you hayley i mean honestly when you start to work this plan and you actually know okay this is our income and this is where it's going because then you can look and say okay budget's going to be powerful for you, Haley. I mean, honestly, when you start to work this plan and you actually know, okay, this is our income and this is where it's going, because then you can look and say, okay, you're going to cut out a ton. I mean, you guys make a good amount. You make good money, and you can clean this up. Yes. Okay, so now we're paying minimum payments, and when we find money from working extra and spending nothing,

you're not going to see the inside of a restaurant, and you're not going on vacation. You're broke. You're going to be doing nothing but getting out of debt and eating beans and rice, rice and beans. Okay? Okay. Better than bankruptcy. Yes. Yeah, I don't want to have to do that.

All right. And now what we're going to do is we're going to list all of your debts, the $8,000, $11,000, and the different credit cards that are in total of $35,000, smallest to largest. it's going to be a dinky butt little credit card it's going to be your little one you're paying minimums on everything and you're going to put all the money you find on that smallest debt boom it's gone because you got a little 235 credit card don't you yep knock it out a couple of them we're going to knock a couple of those out that's going to feel good isn't it first time you made any dead gum progress in a long time it's going to knock a couple of those out. That's going to feel good, isn't it? First time you've made any dead gum progress in a long time. It's going to feel good.

You're going to feel powerful because you are. You're going to do this. I can tell. I've done this for 30 years. I can tell when somebody's BSing me and when somebody's ready, and you're ready. Do you think that we can get through all of those deaths before anything happens with a garnishment on the vehicles? Yep. Because they're not going to surprise you one day with a garnishment they're going to sue you and you're going to lose the lawsuit and that's going to take two or three or four months

during that time we're going to stop everything and pile up some cash and they will take about 20 cents on the dollar okay so you can settle that 10 grand for about two you can settle that 15 for about three okay but you gotta have the cash in your hand to do it and you gotta be mean to them because they're jerks yeah i called them on monday and tried to offer them a lump sum they they wouldn't take it yet but maybe in a few months they will yeah they'll soften up and besides once they wouldn't take it yet. But maybe in a few months they will. Yeah, they'll soften up. And besides that, they won't take it in the first conversation anyway.

They just want to see if you're going to call your mama and get $80,000 out of her. Yeah. Didn't you have a relative that'll help you with this? Yeah, they do all that crap, right? Are you a deadbeat? Don't you pay your bills? Are you not an honest person? I mean, you get all these stupid butt conversations from these collectors.

Don't put up with them. You can do this. All right? We're going to walk you out of this. Say, I'm not bankrupt. Say it over and over because you're not, and we're going to show you how to win, kiddo. You call us back if you need help anytime because it's going to be a scary, hard process, but you're going to do it. 18 months from now, you're going to be really close to being free.

That's my prediction. Two years from now, you're going to be really close to being free. That's my prediction. Two years from now, you will be free. Hang on. Kelly's going to pick up, and we're going to take care of you. Happy New Year. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Have a friend or family member that needs a daily dose of Ramsey advice in their life? Let them know about the Ramsey Call of the Day podcast. It's a quick hit of advice about life and money

in under 10 minutes. Check out the Ramsey Call of the Day podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.