The Ramsey Show - App - Budgeting Doesn't Mean You Can't Have Fun with Money (Hour 1)

Episode Date: January 2, 2019

The show about you

🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, 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'm Dave Ramsey, your host. This is your show because it's all about you. Open phones as we talk about you right in front of you. The phone number is 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225.

Melissa is with us in College Station, Texas to start off this hour. Happy New Year, Melissa. How are you? I'm good. How are you, Dave? Better than I deserve. What's up? Okay, I just have a question so my husband and i are getting ready to start saving for a down payment on a

house good and i was looking at the money market rate with our credit union and it's 0.25 percent so i googled um like i googled money market rates at higher percentages and i found some out there but they're like bigger banks like one of them that came up was like American Express or CTI Bank and whatnot. Do you suggest, do I just stick with what the credit union offers, or is it okay if I go outside of the credit union to find a higher interest rate? Does it really matter? Well, here's the thing. Okay, how much money are you talking about saving and over what period of time?

Oh, goodness. It's probably going to be probably like $50,000 in the next two or three years. Okay. So 1% on $50,000 is $500. Oh, yeah, that's true. A half a percent difference is $500. Oh, yeah, that's true. A half a percent difference is $250. Yeah. And that's what we're talking about here.

So, number one, did you talk to the credit union in person or did you just look at their website? I looked at their website. Okay. I'd call the manager and just go, hey, you know, American Express and CIT, they've got these things on their site that's like 1% and you guys are like at a quarter. What's the problem?

Because credit unions are supposed to be better than banks. And just kind of give him a hard time, wink, wink, right, with a smile on your face, right? And see what you get out of that. I do that periodically with my hometown bank, and I get my rate up. Now, I got a little more than $50,000 in there, but I'm not exactly, you know, Jed Clampett with Mr. Drysdale or something here. But at least you could just mess with them, right? Because they might have something that's not showing on their website. I'm trying to save for a house, and I need to get around 1% on my money, and I'd like to keep it here in town. And, you know, with the credit union, I don't really want to send it to New York, but, you know, you're going to have to help me out here and just mess with them

a little bit. Shop around your local area, but I wouldn't spend, you know, $1,000 worth of my time trying to make $100. Right. Okay. So just, you know, kind of, I'm probably going to keep it around town there somewhere, but I think you can probably get something up around the 1% mark if you're already up to 5,000 or 10,000 savings and you're heading towards 50, you know, while you're saving for your down payment. And plus, you've probably got your other stuff at the credit union, you know, your emergency fund and, you know, your checking and that kind of stuff. And so they ought to be helpful to you there.

And that's what i would look for open phones at 888-825-5225 el paso texas angelina is with us hey angelina how are you how you doing i'm doing great how are you better than i deserve how can i help i have a question i'm a financial Peace University coordinator, and I'm advising a 16-year-old high school student. She's a former student of mine, and she is graduating a year early at the tender age of 17 this spring, going off to college. She's raised by her grandmother, who can't help her with this question. She received the judgment when she was just an infant due to an accident. It's in a time deposit account, and she cannot have it until she is 18. She wants to know

who's responsible for the taxes. Does she have to pay taxes on this money? Is it considered a gift, or is it just going to be on the interest? How is this going to be on the interest how is it going to affect her fafsa as far as disclosure because she does get 1099s every year and what should she do with it a lot of questions okay yeah well fafsa uh is just listing out what you have in assets it is an asset of hers and uh once she's 18 it you know it will keep her from getting pell grants pell grants are given to poor people and she's not going to qualify because she's not poor but it's not going to affect her for other kinds of scholarships with fafsa so and she does have other scholarships coming in it won't affect that at all

only if they're need-based because she's not going to be need-based. How much money is in this? It's just under $13,000, but what we figured as far as interest over the years, it's probably around $15,000 right now. They won't give her any access to this at all. It's all through the district clerk. They won't tell her anything until she's 18. Right. Okay, that's fine. Well, we'll get the money away from those idiots as soon as she's 18,

and we'll put it in a good money market account. It's not going to make any money. It's going to be for her to go to school on. It's pretty simple. Right. And keep her in an inexpensive school, as inexpensive as possible. I mean, she'd go to A&M right there. I don't know.

You're in El Paso. My last caller was College Station. I'm sorry. But anyway, the, you know, community college is, let's get her through with this money, and it's not a lot of money. Now, as far as whether it is taxable or not, it depends on what kind of settlement it was and what the settlement was for. Well, there was an injury, and so it's just listed as a time deposit. Well, that's not a type of settlement.

It would be punitive or compensatory, and you'd have to go, when was the injury? Well, it occurred, well, she was born two months early as a result of the accident. Okay, so it was 20 years ago. Right. All right, so it was it was 20 years ago okay right all right so yeah it's probably compensatory um and it could be punitive depending on like if a drunk driver hit you you know in a car wreck or something it could be both you get compensation for your lost compensation and then they give punishment to the person who broke the law, that's punitive. And so some of that is taxed and some of it is not taxed. And the interest is taxed, but the interest should have been had taxes paid on it as it went along.

No one's paying on it as far as we know, and they won't divulge any information to her. I spoke with the district clerk yesterday, and they mummed the word. Gotcha. Okay. information to her i spoke with the district clerk yesterday they mum's the word gotcha okay well uh that's just ridiculous but um they're trying to keep some kid from blowing their money on you know going to cabo for the weekend or something on this and still doing something responsible with it i get their motivation but they're being stupid so either way um you know when you can find out about it she just needs to professional to look at it and tell her if she's getting taxes on it. There should be some documentation on the original lawsuit that was settled somewhere.

Right. It could be public record. It could be in the family files. Okay. I don't know what happened. But it sounds like maybe her parents were killed in an accident. No. And her grandmother's raising her, and she doesn't know a lot about the situation because it's in the parent's name. But now she's a legal guardian because she raised the child.

Yeah. So it's real difficult to get any information. And so she's just like, what do I do? What am I supposed to do? You know, how am I going to pay taxes on this? I doubt she's going to have any taxes. So I wouldn't panic much about that. The main thing is, is let's just get control of the money and use it for education as soon as we can.

And you can see a tax pro and they can help her figure out if she's getting taxes, but I doubt there's taxes on this, but it depends on how the settlement is structured as to whether there's taxation on it. That's the answer to the question. What will your family do if you die? Did I get your attention? Good. If you're a father, mother, husband, or wife, it's your responsibility to have life insurance. No matter where you are in the baby steps, you have to deal with this right now. How will your family pay for the mortgage, put food on the table, or pay for education? How will they deal with retirement and

stay the course for getting out of debt and accomplishing something with their lives? This is what life insurance is all about. I knew when I started this show it was something my listeners had to have, so I went out and found a company I could trust to offer the plans I believe in. That's why I've been talking about Zander Insurance for over 20 years. If you haven't dealt with this, please go to zander.com or call 800-356-4282 and let them help. This is a priority. It's not expensive.

It's not complicated. And you need to do it today. That's Zander.com or call 800-356-4282. Teaching you to live on less than you make, a concept Congress can't grasp. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. Jonathan is with us in Los Angeles. Hey, Jonathan, how are you? I am well. Can you hear me well?

Yes, sir. How can I help? All right. It's an honor to speak to you. Okay, so my situation is very, very unique, and I've seen a few YouTube videos that are similar but don't really apply to me 100%. So I'm coming into a huge, huge inheritance. I'm 20 years old, and so my father passed away.

I'm sorry. When did he pass? He actually passed May of last year, but it's been really tricky getting a death certificate. And so we finally got it because it was a missing case. So now all his life insurance and everything is um coming in so he went missing yeah it was a missing plane you never you never found him no we never found him oh my goodness were you all close yes we're very close it was like it was a private plane and it's a lot of backstories. Oh, I'm sorry, Jonathan.

Oh, my goodness. So how large is this inheritance? Honestly, just the biggest life insurance and company and everything is probably going to amount to about $1.8 million. $1.8 million, okay. And your mom is not in the picture? No, they divorced a year prior. Okay. And are you the sole heir?

No, I own, it's me and my two brothers, but my share would be about 1.8. Oh, my goodness. Okay. All right. How old are your brothers? My brother, one of them is 22, and one of them, or actually he's turning 22 the other one is 32 and yeah so me and my brother or the 22 year old brother uh we're 40 percent each and uh 20 percent my 32 year old stepbrother oh stepbrother okay all right and there's a will yes there's a will and everything there's no dispute and like uh and like, who's getting what percentage or how much.

Okay. All right. Well, let me give you some ground rules and some things to do, okay? Number one, this is overwhelming, isn't it? Yeah, like, I understand all the baby steps. No, this is different than baby steps. Yeah, it's, like, how much do I keep, like, for my, like, I don't the baby steps. No, this is different than baby steps. Yeah, it's like how much do I keep, like, I don't have a large income. How much do I keep in cash?

I'm really like, it's a lot. You're overwhelmed. You're overwhelmed. And you're grieving, too. So what a weird, in a weird situation, you know. It's awful. I'm sorry you're facing this. Well, here's the thing. in a weird situation. It's awful. I'm sorry you're facing this.

Well, here's the thing. The good news is you're mature enough to say, I'm going to call and get some advice because I don't want to feel like I hit the lotto because you don't want to be that guy that is 40 years old, broke, has blown a million eight, and lives with regret the rest of his life. You don't want to be that guy.

Would you and I agree with that? I agree. That's what scares me the most. I'm like, I feel these pro athletes and et cetera. Good. Then you are very wise beyond your years to be scared. The fool that is not scared in this situation is just that. He's a fool.

Okay? So you're being very wise. So what would I do if I were in your shoes? Number one rule, go slow okay don't feel the pressure to go fast number two rule do not put money in anything that you personally don't understand so some guy comes along some gal comes along with this slick sounding thing and they look good talk good but you don't really know what it is but you're like well he's a friend of my mom's and i think he knows what he's doing i think he's got my best interest at heart don't put money in that

because you will get screwed more often by well-meaning ignoramuses than by con artists and whatever it is and whatever it is i, I have to get my uncle's permission also. He has authority until I'm 26 years old. Okay. How wise is your uncle? Yeah, he's a multimillionaire. Good. Yeah, he is my best interest.

Great, great. So we're going to go slow, number one. Number two, we're going to not put money in something you don't understand, even if your uncle wants to. We're not going to do it until you understand it. Okay? Number three, the Bible says in the multitude of counsel, there's safety. And so let's pretend that you were just hired to manage a $1.8 million company, and you're the new CEO, and you don't have any freaking idea what you're doing, because that's what

just happened. Okay? What would you do in that case? What I would suggest you do in that case would be to surround yourself with people that know what they're doing. Okay? What would you do in that case? What I would suggest you do in that case would be to surround yourself with people that know what they're doing. Okay? And so you're going to need, write these things down, you're going to need a little board of directors that you form to help advise you. Not to tell you what to do, but to teach you and advise you. Teach you and advise you.

They all have to have the heart of a teacher. And if you meet with them and you feel like they're pushy or overbearing or jerkified in some way, walk away. You want someone that teaches you. And you know how you'll know if they can teach you? You have learned something. So if you meet with an insurance professional that is talking to you about the right kinds of insurance to have in this situation, and you don't learn anything, you have the wrong

person. Follow me? So you need a real estate person. You need an investment person in the mutual fund side. You need a tax person to help you with taxes. And you need an estate planning attorney to help you put together a will. Because you now are a multimillionaire. And you begin to put different people in your life like this

that know different things, and they may give you conflicting advice. That's okay. That's okay. You're going to understand it before you do it. And you're going to go slow enough that you understand it, and you're going to have people there to teach you. Those three things,

having the right kind of people with the heart of a teacher around you, go slow and don't put money in it if you don't understand it, sets you a foundation to grow into managing this on a pretty sophisticated level within just a few years. So that by the time you're 26 and your uncle's out of the picture, you really are very competent by then, where today you very wisely feel a lack of competence. You were just handed the keys to a Lamborghini, and you've never driven before. And the first thing you do is get driving lessons, right? Yeah.

Yeah. So sit down with somebody like that, and you may want to – I'll tell you what. I'm going to furnish one of our coaches to you for free. Yeah, yeah. So sit down with somebody like that, and you may want to, I'll tell you what, I'm going to furnish one of our coaches to you for free. We're not going to charge you a thing because I don't need anything from you. I'm in good shape. And that's the other thing. Beware of people who need something from you.

But anyway, so one of our coaches will sit down and kind of help you orchestrate this stuff, and I'll pay for it because I want you to get started on the right foot and have this to be a blessing rather than a curse have it to be a thing that causes you to change your life and change your family tree in a good way rather than you looking back later and going man i got ripped off by this guy my uncle told me the wrong thing over there and then you have to write a book about your bad story when you're 32 we don't want to do that okay we want you to just end up with $30 million by the time you're 40. And you should be able to do that, by the way. So this is going to parlay into an amazing amount of wealth. So I'm going to set you up with one of our coaches, and then you can sit down maybe with

a smart investor pro and start learning about investments and mutual funds. You can sit down with a real estate person and start learning about maybe one of our ELPs and start learning about do I buy a house or do I buy a condo? Do I invest some of the money that way? What's it currently invested in? Do I understand that? And what do I need to set up my personal budget to be? What you said earlier.

How much of this do you need for income and and what can you you know maybe maybe you want to go back to school now so hold on i'm going to have kelly pick up i'm going to give you a copy of my latest book it's called the legacy journey it's about dealing with wealth which is exactly where you are and it'll help you walk through the things i just told you but in in addition to that, we'll set you up with one of our coaches at no charge. We're going to pay for it there in the Los Angeles area. And they're just to guide you and help you. They don't sell anything. They're going to help you.

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Brittany's with us in the lobby. Hello, how are you? Good, how are you, Brittany? I'm doing great, thank you. Thanks for visiting us here at Ramsey Solutions. I'm happy to be here. What's up? I am here to do debt-free scream.

I have paid off $103,000 in 36 months. Okay, very cool. Where are you from? I'm from Provo, Utah. Good. $136,000? $103,000. $103,000 in 36 months?

Yes. Okay, very cool. Thank you. And what was your range of income during that time? I averaged about $85,000 a year. Cool, good for you. What do you do for a living? I own a small business tuning and repairing pianos, and I also have a small part-time job at a music store. Good for you. Well done. So what kind of debt was this $103,000? It was my

house. All right. You paid off your house. Yes. You're so weird. I am. I am looking at weird people. Yes. Well done, kiddo. Thank you. Very well done. So what in the world inspired you to decide 36 months ago, say, I'm going to pay off my house? So three years ago, I thought I was doing okay because I only had one credit card that I paid off every month. And I kind of had a budget in my head. I was pretty good at not overspending, but I didn't really have a good plan for my money. And I was reading your book, The Total Money Makeover, one day when I just realized it's time to get serious and start doing

smarter things with my money. And so I just decided to do everything in your book. I cut up my credit card and I started doing a written budget every single month. And once I started doing a written budget, I realized that there was a lot of extra income that I was just kind of wasting. And so I thought, you know, if I throw that money towards my mortgage instead i might be able to pay my house off in three to five years and you averaged about three thousand bucks a month yeah i did yeah it was pretty intense and i wasn't sure i would be able to do it in that short amount of time but i just thought you know i'm never going to know if i don't try and so i just thought i just need to try and see what happens

and so you tore into it so what kind during the three years when you start out you're kind of like well I'm gonna try this if it'll work and then did it get more intense then as you as you looked up and thought maybe this is gonna I think we're gonna make it it really did because I mean the first couple of months um were not as as intense But then once I started to see more extra income that I thought, well, if I cut here and I cut here, then I can throw more at it, you know. And I had a lot of life happen during that time where I was in a car accident. I had like lots of life happen that kind of kicked me down. And so I had to keep getting more and more intense to reach that goal because I really wanted to get it done in three years.

And so, yeah, just the closer it got to that finish line, the more intense I had to be and the more things I had to cut. Way to go. And then you bust through the finish line. What's the house worth? It's worth about $160,000. Right. Yeah.

Very cool. How old are you? I'm actually 37 right yeah and a paid for house yes way to go how's that feel to not have a payment in the whole world it feels so good because now i'm free with my money and my time and i don't have to base decisions on whether i can pay the bank or not. And so there's a lot of things that I want to do. I want to do a lot of giving.

I want to have adventures. And I just encourage everybody out there that you guys can do this too because this program works for everyone. And even if you're single or even if you have kids, living on a written budget really works. And when you are intentional and you pay attention to where your money is going, it really works. And so I just encourage everyone out there

to learn more about Dave's plan because it'll bring such good things into your life. Way to go, Brittany. Way to go. Okay, Brittany. So the house is paid off. Yes. You make $85,000 a year. You're 37 years old. You're Way to go, Brittany. Way to go. Okay, Brittany. Yeah. So the house is paid off. Yes. You make $85,000 a year.

You're 37 years old. You're going to go on an adventure. What's the first thing you're going to do? Just go have some fun with money. What are you going to do? Okay, so I have to save up for it, but I want to go back to Japan next year. I want to spend a whole month there. Wow.

I did a mission trip there about 15 years ago. And so I want to go back and kind of visit the whole country. Awesome. Yeah. It's a great trip. That's epic. Thank you. That's just epic.

I'm excited. You ought to be. You ought to be proud of yourself. Well done. We're proud of you. Thanks. You did so good. Very well done.

We've got a copy of Chris Hogan. Can I? Sure. Can I have time to say one more thing? You bet. I want to say that you can still have fun even while you're paying off debt. A lot of people think that living on a budget means you can't have any fun, but all the budget is, is you make a plan for your money and then you stick to that plan and you can put fun things in your budget. And, you know, and sometimes the simple things in life bring the

most joy anyway, and you don't have to spend a lot of money on those things. And lastly, the more intense you are about getting out of debt, the sooner you can get out of debt. And then you can really do anything you want. And the more intense you are, the more people think you're crazy. Yes, exactly. But Crazy Girl is going to Japan for 30 days. That's what's happening to Crazy Girl.

I love it. You are awesome. Thank you, Dave. Very well done. If you live like no one else later, you get to go to Japan for 30 days. I like it. It's a great adventure. Epic, epic, epic.

Good stuff. Well, well done. And thanks for the encouragement for all our listeners. You can do it too, everybody. You can. You got it. Very well done. So we've got a copy of Chris Hogan's book for you, Retire Inspired, because that is

the next chapter in your story for sure. You're going to be a millionaire and outrageously generous along the way. Yes, I will. Very proud of you. Very well done. So did you have more people cheering you on or people questioning your sanity? Okay. So sanity.

I did one month where, and I don't recommend this to everybody, but I did a $30 food budget for the whole month. And so, I know it's crazy. I don't even understand that. And I had friends that looked at me really funny when I told them I was doing that. Yeah. But I just ate things that are already in my cupboard, and I ate really cheap things like potatoes and bananas. I promise I didn't starve. I promise. And, yeah, so that was one crazy thing we did.

So you got really wound up at one point. I did, yeah. And that's when people really thought you were crazy. Yes. But it was worth it. It's okay. I'm crazy. So who was your biggest cheerleader cheering you on?

Oh, you know, I had a lot of friends and family who were very positive and supportive. Good. So I appreciate all of them. Very good. Yeah. Good. All right. Brittany, Provo, Utah.

Paid off her house and everything. 103,036 months, making 85 a year. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. I'm dead free! Love it, love it, love it. Very well done.

Awesome job. Awesome job. Man, that's great. Good stuff. Our question of the day comes from Blinds.com. You can upgrade your home today with Blinds.com, the number one online retailer of custom window coverings. With Blinds.com you get free samples, free

shipping, and with the new promos they run every month, you're going to save even more. Always put in the promo code Ramsey and you'll see the best possible deal out there. That's a pretty special code. Okay? Ramsey. Blinds.com question is from emily in oklahoma my husband's in the military and we'll be getting out in 17 months when that happens

we'll be moving across the country to find jobs and housing in the meantime should we continue paying on our 26 000 in debt or push pause and save up money to live on until we get settled. Push pause and save up money until you know where you're going to land and how you're going to land and how you're going to eat and where you're going to work and all that kind of stuff. Yeah, you guys need some money right now to make this transition and not get yourself in trouble. Because what you're going to do, if you have zero money, you're going to end up running up debt to do the transition. And the first step to getting out of debt is borrowing no more. So when you know something like this is coming, Emily, you were already on the right track. Your instincts are correct.

When you know something like this is coming, what you do is you do push pause on your whole baby step process. And in your case, it'd be your debt snowball. And just push pause. Don't save any, don't invest any money. Make sure you're not putting money in retirement, anything. We're just piling up cash to make this transition. Then as soon as the transition settles, some dust settles, boom, right back at it.

Take any cash you got left over and get right back at it. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you for joining us, America. We're glad you are here. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Nikki is in Atlanta. Hi, Nikki. How are you? Hey, Dave. I'm good. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up?

Well, my husband and I are to the point where we're sick and tired of being normal. We actually hosted an FPU class in our church this past May, and we started the budget. And it put me in paralyzed mode because we were behind, and so we just didn't do it. And we've continued to live above our means.

And Christmas proved that we can't do it anymore. And then also my pay was decreased several months ago back in September. And so we started the every dollar budget, and we're behind about a month. On what? On every bill that we have, just about for the month. So it's like a whole month of bills that are months behind. I'm paying retrospectively. Gotcha.

So we're about $3,600. What's your household income? Roughly $80,000. Okay. All right. And you did the every dollar budget just like this week for January? Yes. And you didn't do one for December because you didn want to face it then correct okay all right and um so how much do you owe on your cars we have two cars

one is about 16 000 and the other one is 1800 which has got about four more payments and i'll be paid for that's good news and news. Yeah, it's a 2006. It's still, pond debt's still going. So I'm keeping it. Yeah, that's fine. And so what other debts do you have, not counting your home? We don't have a mortgage. We're renting, so that's good news.

Are you behind on the rent? Yes, it's at that 30 days. Okay. So you rent, you got two car payments, and you have how much in credit card debt? $14,000 total. And how much in student loan debt? No student loans. Okay.

What other debt? $14,000 in medical, and then about $4,500 in some child support arrears from previous marriage years ago that's still sitting. But that hasn't been a cash flow issue for a while. Right. You haven't paid on it in a while. Okay. So you're behind on the cars, you're behind on the rent, you're behind on the credit cards, you're behind on your utilities. Right.

Okay. All right. But your take-home pay is what a month um combined um about 39 that's not right 3900 no no no I'm sorry. About $4,000. I'm looking at different figures here. Okay. You're making $80 a year, you told me, right? Right. So your take-home pay should be over $5,000 a month.

Okay. Well, I'll tell you, my husband is definitely barber and he he's just recently opened a new shop within the past six months so i'm having a hard time figuring his because it's irregular so but my take-home pay alone is about and 34 and then also get child support and then plus his i'm averaging about a thousand a month at the bare minimum so okay all right yeah you should if you're making eighty thousand dollars a year your take-home pay after taxes should be in excess of five thousand and so um have you got have you got have you got 401k coming out at work no i do not i stopped it okay. Do you have any other miscellaneous junk coming out at work that's not health insurance?

Life insurance. Okay. All right. Okay. The first thing is you're going to have a huge garage sale. Right. The second thing is you're going to have to prioritize and not pay some things so that you get current on the most important things first.

It's ludicrous that you all make as much money as you make and you're behind on your rent and your food and your cars and your lights, okay? So here's your priorities, okay? Nothing gets paid until you bought food. Then nothing gets paid. You got money left after that. Nothing gets paid until you've got your utilities current. Then nothing gets paid until you've got your rent current.

Then nothing gets paid. You following this? Yes. Until your cars are current. Now we've got food, shelter, clothing, transportation, and utilities. The basic necessities of life are taken care of. You're current on all of those. You're not going to get thrown out in the street.

Your car is not going to get repoed. But you're probably further behind on the medical bills and the credit cards, and they're all screaming at the top of their lungs, and I don't give a rip. Okay. Okay? Right. I'm going to get to them, but they're by far less important than your rent and your lights and your water.

And you make way too much money to be this broke. You cannot go to a restaurant ever again unless you're working there until this mess is cleaned up. You guys eat out all the time. We did. We haven't in a few weeks. You're're done you're not going on vacation you're broke right okay and we're not doing anything except working and any any extra that your husband can do to create some money with these two barber shops he needs to be doing it he needs to be working all the time. Big garage sale

this Saturday. A whole bunch of crap you bought at Christmas probably needs to go back and be turned into cash. So my question with the baby steps. You're not two baby steps yet. We've got to get you current before you start

the baby steps. So current on just the basics or current on all the credit cards as well? You get current on them. You're only a month behind. $3,000 brings you current. You've blown $3,000 in the last 60 days. Right. You have no idea where $3,000 went in the last 60 days.

And so in the next 60 days, you're going to find that plus stay current. And you'll be current. We're going to get you current first. It's going to take two months. Okay. Depending on how much this garage sale brings in and how much extra work your husband gets and creates. Lots of people need to get their hair cut immediately.

Right. Okay. And we just got to get with hair cut immediately. Right. Okay? And we just got to get with it here. We got to make some money. We got to lean in and then prioritize. Most important thing is what? What's your top of your list? Food, utilities, rent, car.

Food, then utilities, then rent, then car. Do not ever be late on your utilities again the rest of your life, making $80,000 a year. That's ridiculous. Do not ever be late on your rent again the rest of your life, making $80,000 a year. That's ridiculous. Do not ever be laid on your rent again the rest of your life. That's ridiculous. Okay? Because what you did was you paid the stupid credit cards instead of paying the rent. Exactly.

And that's what I'm saying. That's why I'm saying it's ridiculous. The money is there. Y'all make the money. You've just been disorganized, and you were running around putting out fires from one fire to the other, one fire to the other, one fire to the other, and then the thing's turned into a bonfire on you. Right. It's caught up and hit you.

So you can do this. You can do this. If you're desperate enough to finally stop doing the stupid, you can turn this around. You have the mathematical ability, and I think I hear it in your voice that you're ready. Definitely ready. Is he ready is he ready tired is he uh he says he is not sure if he if he's as ready as i am but i'm telling you the dog needs to be hiding because you're selling so much stuff yeah craigslist is your new friend

right because i'm tired of being broke making80,000 a year and you're broke. Yeah. You know, it's awful. I'm sorry. I'm not picking on you. I feel for you. No, I agree. By next Christmas, you need to be completely debt-free.

100% debt-free except your house and you don't own a house. So you'd be 100% debt-free by Christmas. That's how much you can move the needle on this. It's only $30,000. You make $80,000 and you're debt-free. You'll be there. I mean, you're right on. Because you're going to be working like crazy, and you're going to go to scorched earth on the lifestyle,

and we're going to turn this thing around. Right. You can have your life back. I mean, think about what it would be like right now to have no payments but the rent. It would be amazing. You'd have so much room in your budget. That's where you'd be. And go back through Financial Peace University again.

It's free. I mean, you've joined it. So you've already joined it. So go through it again and get that on your side. This time you're ready. And you call me if you need some more help. You got this, though, kiddo. You can do this.

But you're going to have to get sick and tired of being sick and tired. I can't do it for you. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey guys, it's Blake Thompson, Chief Production Officer for the Dave Ramsey Show. This hour's up, but you'll find more on our YouTube channel, where we have over 6 million YouTube views each month. You can find debt-free screens, millionaire hour clips, Dave rants, and so much more. Go check it out.