The Ramsey Show - App - Balancing Saving Money & Enjoying Life (Hour 3)

Episode Date: August 26, 2022

George Kamel & Rachel Cruze discuss: Balancing saving and enjoying life, What to do with a HELOC, Disagreeing with a spouse on money, Paying to get certified in a side hustle.   Want a plan for your money? Find out where to start: https://bit.ly/3nInETX Listen to all The Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3GxiXm6

Девочка-пай From Ramsey Network, this is The Ramsey Show, where we help you get control of your money, get ahead in your career, and get on the path to living well. I'm George Campbell, your host, joined today by Rachel Cruz, best-selling author, Ramsey personality, host of The Rachel Cruz Show,

and we are here for you, America, taking your calls about life and money. 888-825-5225 is the number to call, and Megan is kicking us off this hour in Dallas, Texas. Megan, welcome to the show. Hi, thank you so much for taking my call. How are y'all? We're happy to take it. Doing great. How can we help? Okay. So, excuse me. So, from growing up as a kid, my parents always taught me to save my money and to not go into debt. And they're both are finance and accounting majors. And so, I'm going to college this fall. And so, I've been saving my money and I have a little under $15,000. And then I have about $, I'm sorry, three thousand for financial aid and I plan on not working my first semester and focusing on grades so that my next semester I can get grants

and scholarships for grades and then get a job. So my question is how can I better balance saving money and having fun in college as well as stay in my budget. Great question. I love that you're even asking this. You are like one of the most mature college students I've ever encountered. Fantastic. Thank you. So is this college paid for? So I'll be paying for it. No help from mom and dad, no savings there.

No help from mom and dad. You're cash flowing this. Yep. What does it cost each semester or each year? I think it's about tuitions, like, at least for me, it's like $2,000. $2,000 a semester? Yeah. Okay, so we're talking four grand a year for four years? Yeah, just about. Okay, so that's $16,000 total,

and so that's our number we're aiming for. You have $15,000 in the bank. Right. And you have $3,000 in the bank. Right. And you have $3,000, which is financial aid. Is that actual cash? Yeah, that's like a Pell Grant money. Okay, great. Sometimes I look back at my financial aid package, and it was a bunch of loans. So I just wanted to make sure they weren't giving you a $3,000 loan as a gift. No, no, it's no loans. Great. And that's being applied to your first year, the $3,000? So it's split. So it's like, I think it's like $1,000 and like $300 for the fall semester,

and then the rest goes to winter. Okay, cool. And then where are you living? I'll be living like on campus. Does that, that's not included in the tuition. So how are you paying for that? Through my $15,000. Ah, okay. And do you know how much that costs each year? I'm not sure how much it is per year. Do you know per semester?

Per semester is $1,359. Cool. I'm not trying to pop quiz you here. I'm trying to figure it out. No, you're good. Are you going to be able to cash flow it? And if so, is there any money left over? And what kind of good time are we going to need to have here? What are your actual expenses going to be in college?

Do you have a meal plan through the school? No, I'll be making my own food. Awesome. Okay. Living on campus, making your own food. So we need a food budget. Right. And beyond that, you're going to need some, a little bit of fun money. And are you paying any other expenses? Do you have a car there? Is there fuel, insurance? No, my parents, I'm on my family plan for insurance and then I won't have a car. So it'll just, I'll just be walking everywhere. Okay, cool. And a cell phone? Nope, I'm on my family plan. Okay, that's cool. So I would, have you made a budget yet to put this all on paper and figure

out what it's going to look like? I have like partly, I just, I haven't put everything together of like all my expenses and like food budget or the rent for like the full year. I haven't put everything together of like all my expenses and like food budget or the rent for like the full year. I haven't done that yet. Cool. Well, we're going to gift you one year of every dollar premium so that you can make that plan for every single dollar you have coming in, every dollar you have. Because the goal here is cash flow college. And the second goal is let's have a good time and have some margin with money to have fun and have some entertainment in there as well and not be, you know, but you should be struggling as a college student. That's normal. But you can also

have fun while you're at it. Yeah. And Megan, you're in a great position. I'm really proud of you. I mean, you got $15,000 saved, you have some grant money, like you said, and then you're going to be working, you're going to be able to do all of this and your living is great. I mean, 1300 per semester. I mean, that's, that's wonderful. You know, from a, from a budgeting standpoint and you have the money, I mean, it's just, it all is flowing really well. And I think for you, it's just to be, to stay on top of it and to have a plan. And I can tell even by the way you're asking these questions is to make sure that when you have money to, yeah, have a great time, which is part of college too. Right. And so budgeting that though, to give you the freedom and the reassurance and

the peace to know, okay, the big stuff is taken care of. So I actually can enjoy myself with the money that I have for fun money. And to your point about not working, wanting to focus on your grades, I think it's great. But I also found when we did the Borrowed Future podcast, we cited a study that found that if you work 15 to 20 hours a week part-time while in school, they actually have a higher GPA than those that don't work. Is that shocking? That is, yes. And I think it makes sense when you think about it because you go, well, those people really need to have some discipline. They got to have budgeted all of their time very wisely, and therefore they're not just frivolously hanging out,

trying to have a good time. They're focused. They're doing their schoolwork. They're going to work. They're having fun in the meantime. And you can still have a life and work 15 hours a week in college. And that could provide enough to cash flow to where you have money to have fun. And so I think that might be the antidote to this problem is working because it allows you to have a good time. And if you find your grades slipping because of work, then dial it back and let's take a semester off of that. Okay, got it. Thanks so much for the call. We'll make sure Austin picks up and gifts you every dollar premium. Along with that, I'm going to give you Financial Peace University. Watch it with your friends in the dorm. That'll be fun, right? Wow, George. Rachel, you did that. You're a great time.

When you were in college, I'm sure you were watching Financial Peace University. I was like, oh yeah, guys, come here. Come here, all my Chi Omega sisters. I knew you were Chi Omega. We're gonna watch this lesson on dumping debt. Can I be honest, Rachel? I didn't know what a sorority really was until I moved to the South.

Oh, really? And I went to this private little Christian college. We didn't even have like Greek life. Man, it's a thing. Like I didn't under, I'm Middle Eastern. I thought Greek life was like you eat hummus. Like I didn't understand that that's what it meant. And so my wife went to Arkansas.

She was Chi Omega. She was on the prom squad. Yes. You guys need to bro down about that. We need to do the secret handshake. But I'm still confused about it. Okay, here's the thing with sororities and tell me,

prove me wrong, set me straight, whatever you gotta do. I can, I can. You pay a whole bunch of money for friends to live basically in the White House

and have like servant people bring you meals. Okay, hold on. They had a private chef. I did, the University of Tennessee when I was there, they do now,

but we did not have sorority houses. We had a sorority dorm at the University of Tennessee when I was there. They do now, but we did not have sorority houses. We had a sorority dorm at the University of Tennessee because of an old law in Tennessee, which is fascinating that a certain number of women legally could not live in a house. So they had to like get the law. Yes. What kind of old timey antiquated Tennessee. You know how there's random laws in states that it's like, wait, what?

Like it's one of those. So interesting. Somehow they got it removed or whatever. So now the University of Tennessee does have sorority dorms. We did not. We had dorms. And I did. So I did sorority and I did Young Life.

I was a Young Life leader. So I did the mix of all of it. But it was a great time. I mean, it was so fun. I believe it. Whitney says the same thing. But I'm like, that sets you up for failure to live in a really nice house, have everyone cook for you, and do your laundry.

The rooms look like dorm rooms, though, in these houses. They're not like, it's not like Legally Blonde or something. I've been to the University of Arkansas campus. Are you thinking of Legally Blonde? No, I'm not. I'm never thinking of Legally Blonde. Oh my gosh, they look beautiful. Please know that.

Never. They look beautiful, but the inside are like dorm rooms. We're going to get this show back on the rails soon, folks. More of it coming up. This is The Ramsey Show. welcome back to the ramsey show i'm george camel joined today by rachel cruz just a moment ago rachel and i were talking about sororities i do not understand them she was trying to help me understand them i thought they don't set you up for adult life because someone is cooking for you

and doing your laundry. I'm like, isn't that what you should be learning to do in college so that you can be an adult? And then Rachel Cruz dropped, just dropped a bomb in the conversation. What happened, Rachel? I know. Because you're not truly a Coyote, are you?

I dropped the end of my junior year. I was engaged to Winston. For a boy. No, not just for him, but my junior year because i was engaged to winston no not just for him but i'm like i was engaged i was interning at ramsey i was speaking i was like i'm i'm kind of i was done with college i was like i'm ready to move on to adult life all of it so i didn't want to go to the meetings if you don't go to the meetings you get fined it's this whole thing i don't even know if you knew that george yep it's true and so anyway so i i dropped and when you drop specifically chi omega they make you turn in your pin like i am not a legacy anymore so i can't write a cop turning in his badge i can't i can't write a wreck for my girls like their only legacy they have my sister was a cayo so she can

write i don't know use the word legacy yes yes so all that to say all that to say technically in like the legalistic world of so is sorority life, I technically am not a Chi Omega, but I was. So if anyone has connections. To the president of Chi Omega. To the president of Chi Omega. Reach out to Rachel on Instagram. I think that their main like headquarters is in Texas.

There's a Supreme Governing Council. This is what privilege sounds like. Wow. Oh, ow. Ouch. Ow. James, the producer said this is what privilege sounds like. Wow. Oh, ow. Ouch. Ow. James, the producer, said this is what privilege sounds like.

I did pull a string. I would rewind my life for a minute ago and not have this conversation. But you know what? This is the elitist classism I expected from a sorority. Oh my gosh.

Anyways, that was my confession to George that technically I'm claiming Chi Omega and I can't claim it because I'm technically not one. But truthfully, and I wanted to work and I wanted to move on with my, I wanted to not be a college student. omega and i can't claim it because i'm technically not one but truthfully i dropped now rachel you love and i wanted to move on with my i wanted to not be a college student you love a conspiracy

theory and i have a new one that sororities and fraternities are scams created by colleges to make more money and keep you loyal to the alumni program that's my hot take uh true or false i think false hold on okay we'll get we so. We'll get into that later. And fraternities are a different thing than sororities. Can I say that too? Uh-oh. Yeah. Can you?

Yeah, I would say that. Okay, let's move on. We didn't have beer pong at my very Christian private school, Rachel. Okay? We were good folks. Anyways, Maria's on the line. She needs actual help. And we're going to try to help Maria out in Toledo. Maria, how are you doing?

I'm fine, thank you. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. My question is regarding our housing costs, me and my husband. So last year, we took a home equity line of credit out to make major necessary repairs to the house. And we did that with the plan to sell the house once the repairs were made because the market was so high, right? We could get a ton for the house.

And so we made the repairs and we listed the house and started looking at what we could afford. And it turned out that even if we spent as much as the bank said we could afford, the houses were definitely a downgrade from what we already had. So we decided to take the house off the market and stay put. So there's the history. Currently, our house costs are like this. We owe $57,000 on our original mortgage loan at 4.125%, and we owe $24,000 on the HELOC at 5.5%. Well, we got a call from the bank reminding us that our HELOC interest rate is variable,

although it would never jump or decrease more than half a percent at a time. We are currently paying $600 a month for the original mortgage and $235 on the HELOC per month, but money is so tight that the $835 a month is really a problem for us. We're living paycheck to paycheck and using savings and credit to make up any difference that each month may have. So I looked into refinancing in order to combine the monthly payment into a lower amount for us. The interest rate would be 5.25%. A 30-year refi would cost $659 a month. A 20-year would cost $778 a month. And a 15-year isn't really doable for us because it would be more. It would be $875 a month.

So my question is, I'm having trouble deciding if it's the best option for us to refinance because the original loan interest rate was only 4.125%. So the rate on one loan is lower than the current rate, and the rate on the other loan is higher. So I wanted to get your advice on should we refinance? Well, I'll tell you, Maria, based on everything you just shared, I'm less worried about interest rate and more worried about you guys living in a cycle of paycheck to paycheck. How much do you guys make a year, Maria? We're a single income home. My husband makes about $55,000. Okay. Do you guys have kids?

We have three kids and I homeschool and that is non-negotiable. So me going to work isn't really an option to boost income. Okay. What does he do for work? He does like audio visual install. So not exactly IT, but he does like big scale where you put in access key cards to get into big businesses and stuff like that. Cool. Does he work for a company? He does. Okay. Could he do side work, you know, installing mounting TVs in the neighborhood, things like that, with his talent?

He probably could, and I have entertained the idea of like cleaning houses when he's home. So yeah. Yeah. I think we need to get creative right now. Long term, we need to get income. What other debt do you guys have? We have $3,000 in credit card debt. Now we could technically pay for that. We have $8,000 in savings. But like I said, we're living in a cycle where we have to dip into savings fairly regularly. So it's concerning to us to take that $3,000 away when we might need it. Yes. Yeah, I hear that. Okay. Is that the only debt? Do you guys have any cars or personal loans, student loans? No. Okay. Yeah. So the biggest thing, Maria, is, you know, when, when it comes down to it, you just looking at the math that you guys can't even with basically how you're living right now, you're not, it's not working, right? What the money coming in

is going right back out and you're still in the red. So you're having to dip into savings and charging some stuff on credit cards. So yeah, the cycle has to stop. George is right. And so you guys have to get so disciplined and make some changes. You really do. You have to be able to say, okay, either we're going to have to up this income of the 55,,000, and then that means changing jobs. I don't know what that means for him, but you guys have to bring in more money that is sustainable because we're not talking about anything crazy here. It's not like you guys have two car payments, two student loans, all of this, and when all that gets paid off,

there's going to be a lot of margin because you guys are down to kind of just the necessities is what it feels like. And so what's hard is to create that margin. There has to be life change. And I don't, and that part of that could be cutting expenses and upping income. Those are the two big ways that money flows, money flows in and money flows out. And so looking at both of those is going to be really, really important. And with the math, I would keep, yeah, the HELOC and the mortgage separate. And like George said, it's, yeah, the interest rate, it's not going to completely change your life. Really having margin in your month-to-month budget will. It's going to create breathing room. And I think a big part of that is income. Yeah. And looking at the numbers here, 835, what's your take-home pay? About $2,900.

So we're talking almost a third of your take-home pay is being eaten up by the mortgage, which the mortgage is $600. So what I would do, honestly, I'd pay off the credit card today, leaving with $5,000. And then I'm cutting up the cards and it's just not an option anymore. And we have to figure it out. And if we have any expenses come up, we're gonna cashflow that and pause the debt snowball as we attack the HELOC. So that would be your next goal is completely wipe out that HELOC, giving you back $235 in your life every month.

And now we can breathe. And now this mortgage is affordable. And now we can actually save for college and pay off the house early and do all of these things. So we wanna help you along this journey. I'm gonna gift you one year of Financial Peace University and along with that, every dollar premium to help you guys make a plan for every single dollar coming in. Watch those videos as a family, get fired up and say, no more. We're cutting up the

cards. Debt is not an option. We're upping the income. And upping the income. And that's temporary. Once we have the HELOC, we can breathe, we can stop all the side jobs and enjoy life again. But right now, it's go time. You got this. Hang on the line. Austin will pick up and we'll get you those gifts. Thanks so much for the call. This is The Ramsey Show. Thank you. Every time you hear someone do their debt-free scream on this show, it's because at some point they said, enough, I'm not living like this anymore. Every time you hear someone do their debt-free scream on this show,

it's because at some point they said, enough, I'm not living like this anymore. I've had it. And when you get mad like that and do what they did, your life will change too. And right now, inflation and your stupid credit cards are killing you. You've started to believe you're not in control of your money. But you're wrong. You have to decide to control what you can control.

And that's you, your behavior. You have the power to change your future. And Financial Peace University will show you how. This course will teach you the proven step-by-step plan that's helped nearly 10 million people beat debt, master budgeting, and build wealth. And you can do it too. Guys, stop letting debt and money stress control your life. Say enough and take back control. You can start Financial Peace University at ramseysolutions.com slash enough. That's ramseysolutions.com slash enough. Marty joins us in Las Vegas. Marty, welcome to The Ramsey Show. Hi, thank you so much for grabbing my call. I'm so excited. We are very much excited too. How can we help? So I have a question for you guys.

I got married about four going on five years ago and I had purchased my house, my first house when I was 20. So before I got married, I had my own house. Then we got married, we bought a house together and we bought a vehicle together. About two years ago, I sold that house. And well, first of all, I worked my butt off to pay it off. So by the time I sold it, it was 100% free and clear. Wow.

Amazing. Thank you. Yeah, I had to work really, really, really hard to accomplish that. And to even buy a house at 20, I was, yeah, I definitely had to work my butt off. But with that being said, my husband always said, you know, whatever you do or don't do with that house, like that's you because you, you did that. I didn't have like partaken in or he didn't put money towards it and stuff like that. So now, recently, I've been, you know, kind of like buckling down and trying to get him more on the same page of finances as me. And two weeks ago, we had this wonderful conversation where I felt like, Oh, my God, like, you know, we're going to

move forward together with finances and stuff like that. We are working on paying off our debt, the we don't have any credit card debt. The only debt that we have is a car loan and then our house. Both of those together are $258,000, which right now, through the sale of the house, and then I own a small business, I've always been more of a saver. I mean, I like to spend, but I've also been diligent about saving. I have about 430 cash that now I brought up the fact that, well, maybe I, you know, I should pay off the house, but my husband doesn't want me to do that because he believes that that is my money and that the house is ours and we should be tackling that together. So another thing that I wanted to do,

it's always been a dream of mine to own a beach condo or, you know, somewhere like on the beach as a vacation. And it came an opportunity that we went to Mexico about two months ago and I loved where we stayed and they're building a new development that's right on the beach and they're selling condos there. So I wanted to go ahead and do that. But then I just don't, I already spoke to my accountant and he said, yeah, you know, go ahead. We looked at the numbers. I could definitely pull it off, but then I kind of feel like I'm doing that and I can pay off our house. I just, I don't know, you know, which way to go right now. Great question. Well, if I'm in your shoes, which is how we answer questions on this show, the car and the mortgage are paid off today and we're going to celebrate and you're going to tell your husband, listen, all of the good stuff and the bad stuff from our past, which in your case

is good stuff, a paid for house is now our stuff. If you came in with student loan debt and he said, well, I feel like that's your student loan debt, so you can pay that. It's the same situation on the flip side. You came in with a fully paid-for house, and he gets the benefit of an awesome wife with a paid-for house. And so this is your money. Do you guys have combined bank accounts? Yeah, so we have one combined bank account,

and then we do have separate accounts each,, yeah. So we have a one combined bank account and then we do have a separate, um, a separate accounts each, I guess. Well, one of the things that maybe, and I don't know if this would, you know, if this, this would matter. So he was previously married and he has two kids and then we have two kids together. So I always said like my rental house, um, it was basically going to be passed on to my kids so he always said well you know you know that's fine whatever you want to do with that if you want to inherit our kids all that money like you know you can go ahead and do that or whatever you wanted to do so I think that's why he kind of feels like this house is our house we should pay it off together

and then you could do whatever you want with that money aside. Yeah, I mean, I hear what he's saying. But also, I think more of it for me, Marty, is the spirit behind it. And it's still playing this game of yours and mine, yours and mine, yours and mine. And the deal is, when you get married, this I feel like has become even more old school advice, which is just so funny to me. When you become married, you just become one in everything. Like we are taking on each other's lives together, hand in hand. And it's us together.

And the fastest for you guys, not only to win financially, but I think even more importantly, to be united as a couple. It is all of our chips are in like we are we are all in this together and the more you kind of like split hairs between that and this and what's this that the more the the division is just naturally going to be there and so i think for the healthiest marriage possible on the planet is to say like we no matter what regardless like what george said the good the bad the ugly like we're locking arms and the moment i say i do i am i am selflessly giving my life up to join another person that is that is the holy commitment of marriage and and it's an amazing thing when that starts to happen and so um i would i would i i would i would sit down with him and

just say hey this is what i've been wrestling with and what I think. And I think all of us combined, you know, to be able to have the dream, right? To me, the dream would be for you a paid off house, you know, the car paid for and a condo in Mexico. That's a dream. I'm like, heck yeah. Heck yeah. So how do we get there together? Well, let's pay off the

mortgage. When you don't have a mortgage, you know how much you can save every month from that when you don't have a car payment and a mortgage? And you're going to, you know, you'll be able to pay, you'll still have money left over from the sale of your house that you guys can combine and say, okay, what will it take to save up for this condo? And you could just get to your dreams and your goals so much faster when you're not sitting there nitpicking everything oh well that's yours like do this together let's just make a huge explosion with our lives and our money and like let's get there let's get to mexico preach rachel preach take us with you i know we'll come visit marty yes that plan just feels very freeing to me how much do

you guys make a year? I'm curious. So he's a bartender at a steakhouse. So, you know, depending on tips and stuff like that, it varies. And with my small business, I would probably say we bring in around $150 a year, give or take. Okay. Yep. And how much is the condo? The condo is $360. $360.

Okay. So, yeah. uh the condo is uh 360 360 okay so yeah i mean man you got a great jump start once the mortgage is paid off and the car is paid off to for this condo and and you guys just killing it together and paying cash for it here in a few years and i just think it's i think it's awesome so i love this plan how much money do you guys have you know you the $430,000 in cash from the sale. How much other liquid cash do you have? So I have, as far as liquid cash together, we have about $10,000 in emergency savings. And that's about it. Outside of the $430,000? Outside of the $430,000.

And then outside of the $430,000, and that's another thing, retirement, I have about $60,000. Cool. So what I would be doing, I'm going to lay out the plan very quickly and clearly before we end here. If you use all the proceeds, the 430, you pay off the mortgage and the car today, it leaves you with 172. You've got $10,000 in the emergency fund.

Now we can begin investing 15% of our income into retirement, and that 172 becomes the starter fund fund for this condo which make in 150 and your income will be increasing over the next few years with no payments in the world you guys can save up another 100 200 000 and pay cash for a condo within a few years yeah and that's a decision we're going to make together every financial decision we make together including your 430 including his whatever we make every decision together your 430, including his whatever. We make every decision together, regardless of where the money came from, because we are one. We sleep in the same bed.

So let's make decisions like that. Yes, thank you. There you go, Marty. I hope you get through to him. You guys are crushing it. So proud of you guys. This is The Ramsey Show. សូវាប់ពីបានប់ពីបានប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពី Our scripture of the day, Psalm 73, 26. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Robin Williams once said, there's no shame in failing. The only shame is not giving things your best shot.

R.I.P. All right. Dakota joins us up next in Madison, Wisconsin. Dakota, welcome to the show. Thank you, George and Rachel. I appreciate you guys taking my call today. Absolutely. How can we help? All right. So I am in Baby Step 1 currently, and I'm looking for side hustles. Um, I, and I was approached by a friend, uh, of an opportunity, um, to work with a company called Primerica. Um, and they, they mainly do work doing term life insurance, which is, um, you know, right up Dave's alley. Um, so I, I, everything that, that he's, he was talking about sounded pretty good. Um, the only,

only kicker is that, um, it costs about a hundred dollars for the license to be able to, um, sell the insurance. So I was wondering if, if this would be a good opportunity for a side hustle or since I have to come out of pocket if I and since I'm in baby step one if I should try to find a more conventional like maybe hourly paying job or you know some other kind of side hustle instead cool it's a great question um I'm trying to feel like I feel like that they're set up almost like a multi-level marketing style yeah yeah which is probably why your buddy's pitching this with insurance to get

you into this yeah um is that does that sound right do you like insurance dakota does it sound fun or is this the opportunity the money side is that what kind of yeah, so it is definitely, it's mainly the money side. Um, but, um, he said that the company pretty much, um, teaches Dave Ramsey principles and, you know, I've been listening for years, um, and pretty much cut my debt, my debt in half since listening. But, um, yeah, I, you know, I'm, I'm interested in learning more about life insurance because, you know, eventually I'm going to need it. But it was mainly the money that attracted me to it. Totally. Well, with the setup of it, I mean, I guess it's I think it's up to you.

I mean, there's a part of me that I kind of always just like being a like just a one-to-one right as just a regular employee versus kind of being in a situation that you're i don't know the way the money flows i don't i i'm not 100 confident it is multi-level marketing setup it is for sure it's based on recruiting and then you can make money from the commissions on insurance but truthfully i wouldn't get tied up in it dakota i think you can make just as much money doing other side hustles that don't pull you into this, that don't have initiation fees, which is a big way they make their money. And so I'm not mad at them. It's a legitimate company with a legitimate product that we would recommend, which is term life insurance. But I would steer you away from that and onto something else that you enjoy,

number one, that can also pay well. So what are you doing right now full-time? Full-time, I am a BIM drafter. So I basically do all the construction documents for a home builder in Wisconsin. Oh, cool. Are there opportunities outside of that where you could do something similar in the construction field? Um, well, I do have a, um, yeah, so I have a background in carpentry, which, you know, I love to build things. I've just been a little bit leery about, uh, taking the dive into, um, trying to find my own job. Um, everything's been kind of like found or the work that i've done on the side in carpentry has

been through my father so i'm just a little nervous on that end and nervous because you feel like you have to invest in equipment like what what's the or that you're not going to have many leads what's the what makes you nervous yeah a little bit a little bit of both. I mean, I have most of the tools that I would need to do basic jobs, but, yeah, being able to find consistent work and then I'm not sure how, like, insurance or if I need insurance in order to create a business starting off. Yeah, but if you just did one-off pieces for people, would that bring in good money for a complete side hustle?

Yeah, as long as I could keep on finding the work. Yeah. Do you live in a neighborhood, Dakota? Yeah, doesn't everybody? Exactly. And here's what I'm telling you. In your neighborhood, Dakota? Yeah, doesn't everybody? Exactly. And here's what I'm telling you. In your neighborhood, there are several, several opportunities. And once people get wind that Dakota is great with his hands, he does great carpentry work.

Oh, man, I need a table built. Oh, man, I need the shelving built. You will have leads out your eyeballs. You won't be able to keep up with the work because of how busy you are. So that's something I would recommend. There's probably a Facebook group for your community somewhere. I would jump in there and say, hey, I'm Dakota. You know, I got a side hustle. I'm a carpenter. I can build this, this, and this. Here's some of my work. And as soon as you do some good work, that word gets around. And that can be some great

side money that could be way more than you would have made with this Primerica deal. Okay. Okay. Believe in yourself, man. You've got a great skill that not a lot of people have these days and a lot of people want that so i would start there and you can do a side hustle you can do uber eats and door dash and dog sit and baby sip and dog walk and mow lawns there's so many ways you can make money so do something right now that you can start today and then try to get this carpentry side hustle off the ground okay okay. Okay. For sure. Yeah. We're cheering you on on the debt-free journey, man. Thank you. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. Just one more

quick question. Do you guys, I mean, this might get a little bit too in-depth, but you guys happen to know if or when I would need insurance as a contractor? That's a great question. I would reach out to a carpenter in your area and see if they'd be willing to kind of mentor you, get coffee and say, here's how I built my business. Here's the point. Here's the threshold. Are you wanting to do this full time, Dakota, or just as a side hustle? Well, eventually I like to own my own home building company. Okay.

Yeah. Yeah. So I would say if you're going to go down that road then george is right yeah find someone that's doing what you want to do and just say hey in the next five years it's a dream of mine for that but for this point to get you out of debt to pay the rest of your debt off just as a side hustle just to build some stuff and and sell it um yeah you wouldn't need insurance but if you're going to start a full-blown business, then yeah, that's a whole other discussion. But yeah, that's awesome.

So I think one thing too, to circle back to, not Prime America specifically, but a lot of people do multi-level marketing and a lot of women do that if you're staying at home and all that. And so always my word of advice with that stuff is where a lot of people make the money is the ones that get in, not just early, but they're recruiting. So, so if you feel like you're, oh, I'm really passionate about makeup or I'm really

passionate about vitamins or whatever the thing is to make money, good money, lots of money in those companies. It's not about the products themselves and selling them. It really is the recruiting side. So always just knowing that ahead of time, because I feel like I've talked to many people and they're like, oh man, you know, we paid the fee to not just get in, but also to buy the product and all, you know, so on and so forth. And then I got in and you're burned out five months later because you realize, oh wow, it wasn't as, selling the product wasn't the main thing. It really is a recruiting tool. So just as a, you know, not right, wrong, or indifferent, but I think that's just a good thing to know.

Well, a lot of them require a lot of upfront money. You have to buy a certain amount of product, and then you're stuck with that product. And if you want to get some real insider information, Google the company name and then income disclosure. And what you'll find is they legally have to disclose how much people make. And 98% of people don't make enough to live off of doing this.

And a lot of people are doing it as side hustle, but very few are making $40,000, $50,000, $60,000 doing these MLM gigs. So that makes me very leery on top of the fact that there's a lot of money you have to put in. Yeah, we're not mad at them, but I do want people to be informed of what it is. I don't want to lump them all into one bad bucket. But it's important to know because I think it's always a conversation going on. But it wouldn't be my first choice for a side hustle if you're in baby step two and you need money quick. And you're Dakota and you can make stuff.

I'm like, do you know how much money people would make for it? If you're in the trades, I'm telling you in my neighborhood Facebook group, if you work well, you show up on time, you do good work, you have good people skills, you are going to be like the townsperson carpenter. So good for you, Dakota. Awesome. That puts this hour of the Ramsey Show in the books. My thanks to my fantastic co-host, Rachel Cruz, all the folks in the booth, Austin, Ben, James, Zach's in there, Andrew's in there, the whole gang, keeping the show afloat, and you, America. We appreciate you listening. We'll be back with you before you know it.

Until then, spend wisely, save intentionally, and give generously. Do you love a good day, Brandt? Want to see the latest Ramsey Show videos going viral? Check out your favorite moments from the Ramsey Show on YouTube. Go watch and subscribe to the Ramsey Show channel on YouTube.