The Ramsey Show - App - Budgeting for ‘Fun Money’ (Hour 1)

Episode Date: February 19, 2024

🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, this is The Ramsey Show. It's where we help you win in your life, specifically with your money, in your work, and in your relationships. I'm Ken Coleman. George Campbell joins me this hour. 888-825-5225 is the phone number. 888-825-5225. You got your money questions today. George is ready to go.

He's got a fabulous little corduroy coat on. Why's it got to be little, Ken? I didn't mean it. Why's it got to be little? You know, it's a Freudian slip, I guess, but it's a fabulous little coat. There it is. I said it again. I I guess, but it's a fabulous little coat. There it is.

I said it again. I got to stop. It's a fabulous little coat. George is going to take your money questions. We know how this show is going to go. Big Kenny boy is going to take your career questions and work questions. That's right. Purpose questions. That's it.

You want more money? You need a bigger shovel? I'm going to help you figure that out, and we'll team up together. We always love being together, and honestly, great corduroy jacket. Thank you, Big Ken. I got that out the right way. Big Ken helps you with the bigger shovel. I'll help you with everything else.

Oh, boy, it's going to be a fun one today. I feel a great studio audience, by the way, out in the lobby. Fantastic group of people out there watching the show. Let's go to Natalie to start it off in Portland, Oregon. Natalie, how can we help? Hi. Yes, I have kind of a mix of career and life question. Currently, I am nine months pregnant and just starting my maternity leave today. And on Thursday, we found out that the mill that I work at is shutting down for kids. Oh, no. Yeah, and so now I'm kind of trying to figure out what do I want to do with my life, like stay home, be a stay-at-home mom,

start a new career. Okay, so. Everything, all like that. Yeah, well, first of all, I'm sorry that the carpet has kind of been pulled out from underneath of you. That's not fun. Well, first of all, I'm sorry that the carpet has kind of been pulled out from underneath of you. That's not fun. However, let's just start by this. You're going to be okay. Okay? You've got to believe that you're going to be okay. So let's go back to before you got the news that the plant or the mill was shutting down. Okay? What was your plan before that?

What were you leaning towards doing? So before that, I was going to take the standard three months leave and then come back and do a gradual return to work of like three days a week. Okay. And then kind of go from there. Okay. What were you making? Was it salary or hourly?

Yeah, I was salaried. I made around $90,000. Wow. What did you do? What was the role? I was a supervisor. Nice. I was a supervisor.

Okay. So $90,000, that's legit. That's really good money. And so your plan was, what was that going to look like financially if you were going to gradually come back? And I'm thinking through this because I want George helping me think it through budget-wise and what we've got to do. Were you thinking you're going to make X amount of dollars for how many months?

What was that going to look like when you came back slowly? Yeah, so I was going to come back three out of the five days. So I was going to come back making about 60 of my salary okay and what that was kind of up in the air on the end date of it okay so here's go ahead thankfully we've been following you guys for quite some time so we can live on just my husband's income but then things will be pretty dang tight and not really making much progress with our finances. Right. Where are you guys at financially? Do you have no debt in the emergency fund? Yeah, we're in four, five, and six right now. Right. All right, George,

here's where I'm at on this. Natalie, here's what I'm thinking. So I think we go with the same plan. It's just that we've got to find something while in the first three months becoming a new mom, and this is going to be hard. But I think you immediately start telling everybody that'll listen to you, hey, here's what happened. And I do want to come back. And I want to come back. I'm looking to come back three out of five days a week for month four and five of baby being born or whatever that initial plan was. I think you try to execute on that plan. And so now the mindset is, all right, I've got a lot of experience in leadership. Let's just call it what it is. Supervisor role is leadership. You're making $90,000. That's very impressive. So that tells me, Natalie, that you've got a resume with some very valuable experience. And if the plan was to

come back anyway, then I think you look at what you've done in the past in a supervisory role. And if you like leading and managing people, so I'll pause for a second, do you like leading and guiding and managing people? At times. As a whole? Yes and no. As a whole, looking at my job, I absolutely loved what I did and working with the people. I mostly dealt with the optimization and so kind of like more of the tech side, not so much as like the supervision side. Okay, good. So here's a fun exercise, okay? And I'm not going to make you do it on the air here,

but I would like you to do this sometime in the next 24 hours. I want you to write down specifically. I want you to write it out. What did I love most about my last job? And I mean specific. So you're talking about, I love the optimization. I love the tech side. I love da, da, da, da, da.

And when you write down what you love most and you describe it however you want to describe it, here's what's going to happen, Natalie. You're going to come away with a job description for what you want to do with your life. So you kind of said, Kit, what do I want to do with my life? You want to do something similar to what you loved before. Make sense? Now, here's the key. The key is when you potentially look at other industries for you to remember that you've got experience and skill and that skill and experience can translate. In other words, transfer to other industries. It doesn't have to be in the

mill industry. Does that make sense? Yeah. And do you like tech? I kind of. I went to school and became an engineer and didn't really enjoy that side of things. And so that's why I went into working at a mill. Right. But you had mentioned you like the optimization and some of the tech side of what you were doing at the mill, correct? Did I hear that right? That's what I'm getting at. So you want to start looking in other industries, but let's do this really quick because I've got a gift for you. I got two gifts, but before I get to that, I'm just curious. When someone calls and says, I'm not sure what I want to do with my life or should I do something? I think you've been thinking about something.

And so what if we removed all limits? What would be the thing that you would try? I know it sounds kind of silly, but being a financial coach, just because I've been obsessed with the Ramsey everything for the past few years and seeing how much it changed my life. My husband and I taught FPU and I help friends and family with all things budget. So, George, do you think that's silly? That's not silly at all. I thought you were going to be like, I want to go twist balloons for kids' birthday parties. Like, that's a little silly, but I've heard that one before.

We've heard it. So, very exciting. Okay, so Natalie, here's one thing I want to do for you. I want to give you my Get Clear Career Assessment. Okay? It's about a 20-minute assessment. It's going to verify a lot of what you're feeling. And then, Austin, we just released a new product, and I'm not saying it the right way,

but we've got a new financial coach class that I'm a part of. It's a product that helps train coaches. I want to gift that to you, Natalie. Hang on the line. That just launched today. Wow, that's very generous. Yeah, so I want to give that to you as well. It's going to set you up well, and think of that as

George and Ken's baby shower gift. What do you think, George? I like that. Hang on the line. Austin will take care of you. For the rest of you, don't move. More Ramsey Show coming right up. Welcome back to the Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. George Campbell joins me. The phone number for you to jump in is 888-825-5225.

The question of the day is brought to you by Neighborly, your hub for home services with 19 service brands nationwide. Neighborly's network of providers has trusted local service professionals to handle more than, you ready for this, George? Hit me. A thousand different services in and around your home. That's a lot of services. I can't even think of that many. I could think of 50 services, not a thousand, but hey, that's why Neighborly is there because when one of those pops up, they're there for you. All you've got to do is visit neighborly.com slash Ramsey to find

and schedule service today. Today's question comes from Bethany in Georgia. My husband and I are having a disagreement on our monthly personal spending money. We budget for each of us to have a hundred dollars. My husband says I can't visit my family in Florida because we're paying off debt and the cost would be around $500. But he also talks about saving his allowance over several months to go to a concert. Uh-oh. I was under the impression that if you only plan on spending $30 out of the $100, you put the $30 into a spending envelope and use the rest towards debt. Can you clear this up for us?

Uh-oh. Jordan, I feel like I need to get you one of those judge robes. I would love that. This feels like an episode of Judge George. A little gavel? A gavel? Why does it have to be a little? Why can't you have a full-size gavel?

I think a big gavel is a little bit superfluous. Superfluous? It's a little bit much. Oh, you think you're trying to overcompensate? Yeah. I think the gavel should fit the judge. I'm going to get you a giant gavel like where you're like this.

It's like a carnival game. America wants to know. This is a spicy one. Well, the hot take is I think this is less about finances and more about their communication

and expectations around this. So they have $100 each month, but he's saying to her, you can't use $500 to go on this trip even if you saved up your hundred dollar spending money yeah but i can use mine saved up to go to a concert yeah a guy wants to go see white snake and so she's saying my understanding is if you don't spend all your spending money it needs to be used towards debt so can you clear this up so the

question really becomes are you allowed to sort of not use the spending money and then use it for whatever you want down the road? Or does it have to be used every month or it goes away? So that feels like semantics at that point. And there's no Ramsey ruling on this that I can hit the gap. Right. So you know where my brain goes, back to the old school envelope system, right? The day of a spouse for years. So if you had what was called blow money, right? This is like, okay, each of us gets some money, husband and wife. You get to go spend it on whatever you want, right? But there would be times where I had to go to that envelope

and I had to use that money for something else that was a higher priority. So it feels like that's where we're at here. Well, to me, if you said you can use this on whatever you want, as long as it's moral and legal, whatever you want, then she can save it up for five months and go to florida i feel like we got a control freak on our hands i think the guy here is like uh do what i say not as i do yeah so if he's able to save it up for months and go to the concert i don't know why she can't save it up for months and go see family and and listen this is not just a money question can i just talk to guys everywhere

okay dating married listen this guy's missing the boat. What he ought to do is go, yeah, of course you could go see your mom. While you go to the moms, I'm going to go to the concert, hang out with the boys. Time it perfectly. I don't know what his problem is. He's really playing against himself here. This is a not a happy wife, happy life type of move. Well, and there seems to be an unspoken rule book that he has on how this should all go down. And so they need to be very clear as to what this money can be used for, what the stipulations are for each of them, and agree on it. That's what this comes down to. But I don't think she's in the wrong if she wants to do that.

So, Judge George, what is your ruling? She wins. Bethany? Bethany wins. Yeah, I don't know what they say in court. It's not a guilty or not guilty. This is more like a Judge Judy situation. I'm going to tell you, the husband's guilty of being a bonehead.

That's what he's guilty of. That's my ruling. How about that? You can't go to prison for being a bonehead, though. You can go to prison because you're a bonehead. You do something boneheaded, and the next thing you know, you're on an episode of Cops. You do the crime, you pay the time. There it is.

All right, let's go to Austin in Rochester, New York. Austin, how can we help? Hi, I'm 19. I'm full-time, working full-time while pursuing a bachelor's degree online. I'm currently looking, my long-term goal, I guess, or short long-term goal is to buy instead of rent. I'm currently living with my parents. And I was just curious what you guys' thoughts would be in terms of saving up really aggressively for a down payment or, you know, sort of stepping back, contributing to a Roth IRA, that sort of thing, and maybe not being able to put a down payment down quite as soon.

So this is what we would call baby step 3B, meaning you don't have any debt, you have an emergency fund, and you're ready to A, invest, or B, start getting the down payment going. Correct? And so you might be doing what we would call C. And so this is kind of a choose your own adventure. People can choose to invest anywhere from zero to 15% while saving up the down payment. So this is really about your priorities. And if I'm in your shoes, I would try to do both and get my income up to where I can fully fund the Roth IRA and it doesn't derail my down payment goal.

Do you have a specific goal for the down payment? Probably around 20%, you know, ideally, obviously. So what would that be for a place in your area that you're looking at? Probably somewhere between 40, 50, maybe. No, maybe 30, 50, somewhere in there. So 50 grand is your goal then for down payment? Yeah. So real quick question, George here. Austin, what's your professional path look like? I know you're 19 and you're in school, so there's a lot that's up in the air, but what do

you think that looks like? What's your expectation? Yeah, so I'm not entirely sure, obviously, on that right now. I'm working in the state legislature, so I could keep going down that path. My degree will be in public relations when I graduate. So I'm not sure if I'll continue on that route or go into some form of nonprofit work. So I guess that's a little bit up in the air right now. Okay. But just for sake of conversation, George, jump in here. I'm going to hand it to you. I mean, you're looking at, I think it's safe to say 40 to 60. I think 60 is probably on the high end, certainly in the legislature. I used to work in the, so you're kind of the young legislative aid

and they don't pay you guys very well. And I remember that in those days when I worked at, in the Commonwealth of Virginia, the General Assembly. So I've done that um what are you making now well he's in school but he said you're working full-time on top of that oh i missed that so what are you making and what are you doing so i'm making i'm just about where he said uh an eight um and i'm making at that job 37 i've sort of a part-time job outside of that as well, which gets me around five more a year. So I land right around between 40 and 42, I think. That's what I was thinking. Because even if he goes into PR,

I still think he's going to be sub-60,000 starting out. Oh, yeah. So I think that's a fair... Set the expectations. So what's he looking at? What's his play then for his mindset to do what you would have him do? Well, are you going to stay in your area, in the Rochester area? I'd say so, at least in the short to midterm, probably.

When do you finish school? Anticipated to graduate in a couple years here, because I'm doing it part-time, obviously, but working full-time. Okay. My plan would be don't make any decisions until you land a full-time job. So continue saving aggressively, and I think you're going to hit that right on the mark. Fund the Roth IRA for the year. Whatever's left over, let's put in the down payment.

And then three years from now, you graduate. You got $50,000 in that account. Now we can make a decision. But I wouldn't buy a home before you know what job you're going to land because you might find the dream job, and it turns out to be two states over. Right. before you know what job you're going to land because you might find the dream job and it turns out to be two states over right and so that would be my plan to save aggressively if you can invest while i mean at 19 you start to pop in these numbers in an investment calculator it'll blow your brain what that roth ira money will turn into 30 years from now 40 years from now so i would attempt to do both but if you're more prioritizing the house, it's okay to bring down the investment maybe to five or 10% of your income, even 0%. But even at that, George,

he's going to be way ahead of the game. He's going to be a multimillionaire. I wish I was as smart as Austin at 19. I was making bonehead moves. Yeah. I thought he was interning. I missed it. I didn't realize you were full-time in the New York legislature. Yeah. I missed that. That's really fantastic. I don't think many 19-year-olds realized that they could get a job, and he's working for state representatives or state senators. What's your GPA, Austin? Do you know yet? Unweighted, it's a four.

I'm not exactly sure what it looked like weighted. While working full-time. That is impressive, my friend. See, Austin? I appreciate that. He's at the deep end of the pool there. A four, that's what I got on a quiz of one to ten, and I got a four. This guy's a 4.0.

He just dropped that out there. He's like, I'm a four. Well, parents always think, well, Austin, he's got to go do his schoolwork, and he can't work. I'm like, no, he's doing other things than schoolwork. Austin is more talented than I am. We have to be okay with this. They're just people that are smarter, better looking, jump higher, run faster.

This guy, Austin. Stop talking about me. I'm right here. Yeah, well, I'm talking about myself. The only thing you and I do well is talk. And that's debatable to some of our audience. That's very debatable. Some of our audience is like, yeah, I got a comment for you, pal. This is the Ramsey Show.

We're coming back whether you like it or not. Welcome back, America. You're joining the conversation about you, specifically your life, here on the Ramsey Show. We're talking about your money. We're talking about your work. And we're talking about your relationships. All three of those areas are interconnected, and if you're losing in one area, I can promise you it's affecting other areas. So I'm Ken Coleman, George Campbell joins me,

and we're here to take your question. George, specifically on money, I'll chime in, and I'm in the area of work. Specifically, you need to be happy at work, you need to be making the right amount of money at work, that bigger shovel to get through the baby steps faster. So I want to help you there, and we're about ready to get to the phones, but what you got in your hand there, buddy? I'm staying hydrated today, Ken, and caffeinated. So I got my, everyone knows I love a nitro cold brew. I wanted to crack this on the air so everyone can hear the nitrogen escape this can. You ready for this? I love sounds. Dude, beautiful. That's better than anything they could ever put on the show.

Folks, that's real. If you're listening, that was not a sound effect from James and the fearless guys in the booth. That's the real deal. That's the sound of caffeine about to enter my veins, Ken. It's about to be a spicy show. I'm not a fan of that. I tried one of those once, and I felt like I was drinking the bottom of a shoe. Well, at your age, it's dangerous.

My age? What does my age have to do with it? I mean, you know, you're getting there. Getting where? You're a year away from being able to get an AARP card. That's not true. Is that true? I think it's true.

Can anyone confirm? 50 and up? You're on the cusp. Is that true? My man is on the cusp. Studio audience is not sure. But thank you, George. That's ageism.

I'd like to file an HR complaint. Well, technically, 18 and older. 18 and older can open an AARP card, the discount card. So you're fine. You act like I'm ancient. I'm what we like to call seasoned. Wow. Huh?

You like that? So are baseball gloves, aren't they? Now you don't know what you're talking about. Oh, Bobby the Engineer's got a cold brew in there. He's got one, too. All right, great. While you get caffeinated, I'm going to help Micah. How about that?

Micah joins us in Dallas, Texasxas micah how can we help hi so i was calling because i had a little bit of a career question um so my dad's an appraiser and a broker okay and i'm about to have my real estate license and i didn't know what would be the best financial decision to work for him or go and work for like an Evie Holliday or Keller Williams. Okay, Mike, I got to ask, how old are you? I'm 22. 22 years of age. And so you are at this kind of this precipice of dad's offered me something or I can strike out on my own. Is that a fair description of what's going on? Yes, sir. Because I've been,

they have rental properties too, and I've been working for them remodeling homes for about two years now. Yeah. So here's the question. I think it's pretty simple. What is your heart telling you? I don't know. No, I think you do. So here's how I know this. So we have, when we have big decisions like this, okay, and by the way, it seems like both are good options. Is that fair? You've looked at both of them. Neither would be fatal here.

Yeah, so both good options. I believe that in situations like this, every human on the planet has a head voice, and we have a heart voice. And the head voice, Micah, is always going to go the route of is this smart? Is this safe? Is that tracking with you? Yes, sir. And the heart voice always goes with will this be fun? Will this be rewarding? Does that sound like that's true? I would say that my heart voice is a little

bit towards which one is the best to make the most money. No, I know you think that is. That's your head. Okay. And it's okay. We're not going to choose voices. I just want to know which one is which for you. So when you look at the two options, which one, let's go the head voice, okay? Because the best one is smart, safe, most money. So under my analogy here, you chose, I'm listening to my head voice the most right now, okay? So which one of these two, working for dad or striking out on your own for those two companies, which one has the best short-term and long-term financial play for you? I think short-term, probably, you know, the Keller Williams or the Evie Holiday. In the long-term, it would be the amount of, you know, houses that I would want to sell

with a lower, I forgot the word for it, but a higher commission that I get to keep with my dad. So working for dad, there's more upside because he wouldn't take the traditional commission as a broker? Yeah? Okay. And long-term, the work that you're doing for your dad, is that what you want to be doing versus just straight-up selling homes for Keller Williams, for example? So I just sort of grew up with real estate. That's what they live and breathe. And that's what me and my brother, my brothers in the prairie,

what we got into that way. I really like horses, but they don't make any money. Thank you for saying that out loud. I've always felt that way. Well, so Micah, what we're trying to determine for you is help you walk through this fork in the road. And which way were you leaning before you called? Working for your dad or working for another company? I was leaning towards working for a different company just because I live an hour from my parents and drive into work every day. Oh, well, that makes a lot of sense. Yeah.

I mean, so, well, let me just say this. I wouldn't make that decision without going, all right, if I moved and I changed my life to live closer to dad to make more money in the long term, I'd at least consider that option. Have you done that? Yes, sir. But most of my personal own rental properties are an hour away. Great. You've already answered me. So you need to stay where you are because of this other property, right? Yes, sir.

I mean, again, this is coming down to what's the best common sense decision for Micah. And I think I'm hearing go work for somebody else. And I think that's the best common sense decision for Micah and I think I'm hearing go work for somebody else and I think that's the way you are leaning because you just said you were but I think you're questioning it because you're like I could make more money working with dad and it feels like you're making the wrong decision am I starting to get on this yeah sure you're not making the wrong decision George I mean here's my thing judge George let's say you tried this out for two years and you went to work for another company. What's to say you can't work for your dad down the line? Bingo.

Your life doesn't change down the line. I wouldn't make this thinking this has to be the next 10 years of my life. I agree. And I think that will free you up to go, I know what the right next step is instead of the next 17. What do you think of that, Micah? I think that's perfect because it's accurate. I think that's the play. That's where you were, and we agree with you.

You have plenty of common sense. I would use it, I'd trust it, and you can always pivot back to dad. Okay. Yes, sir. Yeah, you got it. Anything else? No, sir. That was it.

I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it. Yes, sir. You know, here's the deal. In your 20s, okay, so the caller's 22. So we just go, all right, at 22, I have my entire 20s for what I would call exploration. Now, that does not mean I'm off on adventure traveling the world not working. I'm talking professionally. I'm going to

explore in a direction. That's why I created the Get Clear Assessment. I don't think every 22-year-old knows exactly what they want to do, obviously. But I think more 22-year-olds, George, than we teach 22-year-olds to believe, I think more 22-year-olds could have a general idea on direction. So one of the things I've said before, and I'm curious to know what you think about this, because we have similar professional paths. I think the direction is more important than destination. Absolutely. I would have never guessed this was the destination for me. I just knew the direction. And so I started exploring and I would do marketing and I was a musician and I got into PR and writing. And I was trying to think what are the threads through all of those to where I can use those skills and talents and passions to do what I meant to do.

And so I didn't know my life zigzagged, which is most people. It's not a direct path unless you're that kid who knew he was going to be a doctor from age eight. For most people, they're meandering. They had a bunch of weird jobs and they went, oh, that was fun. Let me chase that down. But while it is a zigzag, I'd like to see people zigzag up a mountain. Intentionally. Yes.

I'm headed in this direction. In this case, Micah is headed in a very clear direction of being a real estate professional. A lot of ways that Micah can go. But Micah knows I got a couple of options, and I think choosing the one in the moment that feels right for the long term, this is direction, is the right play for Micah. I'm so proud. 22 and having a really good idea on direction. That's impressive.

And a lot of wisdom and maturity for a 22-year-old. I didn't have that. I'm still working on that. I love it. Thanks for the call, Micah. All right. He's George Campbell. I'm Ken Coleman. And don I love it. Thanks for the call, Micah. All right. He's George Campbell. I'm Ken Coleman.

And don't forget, you are listening to The Ramsey Show. Quick break. When we come back, the phones are lighting up. What are you waiting on? 888-825-5225. You're one phone call away from some clarity. This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show.

Thrilled to have you with us. I'm Ken Coleman. George Campbell joins me. The phone number for you to jump in is 888-825-5225. Folks, if you haven't heard, we've got a brand new event. I mean, this event has got that new car smell, George. You know what I'm talking about? Oh, George. You know what I'm talking about? Oh, yeah. And it's called Total Money Makeover Weekend,

obviously named after the goat of all money books, Total Money Makeover. And the event is here on our campus. So in the Nashville area, it's called Total Money Makeover Weekend, May 10 and May 11. And some of you have been out there listening for a while, and you just haven't jumped in all the way. This is the weekend to do it. You're going to get a crash course on everything we teach about money,

brand-new content from all of us Ramsey personalities. It doesn't matter what baby step you're on, George. This event's going to fire you up, get you through to the next step. All of us will be doing live Q&As, I'm told, after we speak. I saw a preliminary rundown of what the event's going to be, and I'm very excited. Very different than what we've done before. It's very, very different. A lot of interaction. Early bird tickets start at just $99. Those will not last long. Only 2,400 seats. It will sell out. Jump on it now. If you want to get the best deal, now's the time. Get

them at ramseysolutions.com slash events. ramseysolutions.com slash events. All right, Miranda is joining us now in Vancouver, British Columbia. Miranda, how can we help? I was just wondering, I have two different debts that I'm looking at, and I'm wondering whether or not I should consolidate those debts just so it's easier to pay them off. What would make it easier? I have a line of credit from my schooling since I graduated in 2019, and it's starting to, like this year it started the repayments, and so it comes directly out of my account where my credit card, I've been trying to pay it down. I've been trying to do the first baby step and right now I'm struggling with

it. So I'm wondering whether or not I should try to figure out if I can consolidate those debts and then it's just a monthly payment. Well, I'll tell you debt consolidation is not the answer to the problem. Okay. We need to address the momentum, the behavior, and debt consolidation is really just kind of moving the debt around, putting it in one giant pile in a corner, thinking that we've actually done something. Yeah. And so when you do these consolidation loans, there's no guarantee that your interest rate will be lower. The lower interest rate doesn be lower. The lower interest rate doesn't always stay low. It usually means you'll be in debt longer and it doesn't equal debt elimination on top of the fact that we didn't actually change the behavior. So what I'd like to see you do is lay this out in the debt snowball method from smallest to largest balance,

break out every loan separately and attack that little one with a vengeance while making minimum payments, regardless of how it's paid and what account it comes from. That part's not that difficult. What's difficult is actually seeing the progress and momentum and getting on that plan and just sticking with it day after day, month after month. So how much can you throw at your debt every month? It's so variable right now with my job. I work like my home base and then i travel nurse as well so my income varies from month to month what are you what are you making in general uh between 44 and uh 55 an hour okay. So that's six figures. Yeah. And so making that six figures, how much

do you have left over? What's your total debt that you have? Around 50,000. So I have a credit card that has a $5,000 max, and that's $4,479 right now. Have you cut up these cards yet? No. I think that's the first step, don't you think, is to stop the bleeding? Yeah. Because then once that card's cut up and you close it, there's nothing you can do except go pay that off and never touch it again. Yeah.

And so that would be my first move. But you're making $100. You've got $50 in debt. This becomes a pretty simple math problem when you can find the margin and do that monthly budget you all right can i throw five grand at this debt a month if i'm bringing home seven you know i don't know what your take-home pay is are you doing an investing right now no i like i haven't even eaten it uh i don't have anything in saving right now okay Okay. So your first step is $1,000 in savings. Can you do that on the next paycheck? That's the plan right now. I'm getting two paychecks from both jobs. And so I'm going to try to put $1,000 into saving. And I know that I've-

Change your language, Miranda. There's no try. Say, I'm going to put $1,000 into savings, no matter what. No matter what I have to cut from my life, no matter how many extra hours I have to work, I'm going to put $1,000 into savings. And it was just poor money management over the past year. I had the credit card paid off this time last year, and I put $10,000 into my line of credit. And what happened? If you had to really look at your heart and go, what happened? Why did I go back into debt after I worked hard to pay it off? What would the reason be? I was working a contract that was higher paying. It was up to $87 an hour. And then it was just poor spending. So it was lifestyle. Making purchases and traveling. Yeah. You made more and then you spent more than you made. Yeah. So it tells me where the things we're spending money on travel. We need to cut that. The only travel we're doing is for travel nursing. The only eating out we're doing is if I'm picking

up food for DoorDash because it's my side hustle. Yeah. And you see when you draw that line in the sand, how it all changes. And that's part of the reason I want you to cut up this card. It has not served you up until this point and it will not serve you into the future yeah and so these are the hard choices to make instead of a shortcut that is debt consolidation that really just leads to people staying in debt yeah we need to change the word miranda george not consolidation elimination that's our word and there's no i wish there was some kind of life hack to just eliminate all your debt through one of these ads that you're seeing that you're being marketed to, they're scams. The only solution is Miranda. So Miranda, I got to ask you, George just laid it out beautifully what you have to do. Where's your

head at on this? Do you believe you can do it? Do you want to do it? Be honest, if you don't mind, be really transparent. I know that I have trips coming up that like for the month of April, I have one week that I'll be working, which I know that if I work really hard at this point right now, then I can start contributing harder to that credit card and making sure that I'm not taking any traveling on that point unless it's absolutely saved up for and I'm not putting it on that credit card. But even then, I think you have priorities. For the next 12 months, what if we cut travel and we just got rid of debt? Yeah. How old are you? I'm 27. So what if at 28, you could travel as much as you want because you don't have debt in your life and you just budget for it and you never put it on a card. From 28 to 68, you get to do whatever you want.

Yeah. That's a nice trail. Like I want to start saving for a down payment on a house or just being able to- And you're in Vancouver. That ain't cheap over there. That's right. So Miranda, what needs to change for you to have a shot at throwing five grand a month? Is that even possible? Like last month, I worked a two-week contract and in it, that was almost $4,500 for the two weeks. So this is the shift. Mentally, you go, this is what I have to do, and I can actually throw close to $5,000 a month, and I believe you can do more than that, but let's just use that as a round number because George brought it up. That's 10 months. That's 10 months. You're done. Yeah. dollar premium. It'll help you make a plan for every dollar coming in, and that'll show you

exactly how much margin you need to create to get to that $5,000. And you might see, oh gosh, I spent $1,200 on food last month. I need to do better at that. And man, I need to cut down my insurance. I'm going to get some re-quoted on my insurance to save $300 a month. When you start to get intentional about every transaction, you take control of it, it's going to be like you got a 30% raise. Okay. So hang on the line. We're going to give you those tools on us because I believe you can do this. But again, it points to the lifestyle is the problem, not this debt consolidation as the solution. And so if you can get control of that person in the mirror, they're going to be very wealthy and debt-free very soon. Do you see a direct correlation in the data, or I know you probably see it from human behavior, any kind of data that says that people pay off

debt, takes them longer to pay off debt once they consolidate? Oh yeah, because they think they've done something and therefore they let their foot off the gas and you need to put it on the accelerator. So the data, this isn't just your opinion. The data backs you up. Yeah. The numbers don't lie, folks. Doesn't solve anything. But as I've said before, and I'll say it again, George,

dusting this one off, numbers change when people do. Ooh, I like that one. So we start seeing some people change, we'll see some number change. Great hour, George. Thanks, James Childs. This is The Ramsey Show. We'll see you next time.