The Ramsey Show - App - Debt Is Overwhelming But There Is a Way Out (Hour 2)

Episode Date: February 25, 2019

The show about you...

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. This is your show. Thank you for joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225. 888-825-5225. Catherine is with us in Fresno, California. Hi, Catherine. How are you?
Starting point is 00:00:56 Hi, Dave. How are you? I've got a question for you. I'm trying to decide what to do with this truck. I'm on baby step number two. I was divorced last year in April, and my ex-husband was supposed to pay off the truck. After six months, he decided to stop paying because the truck is solely in my name. So I have been paying the truck payments for the last five months.
Starting point is 00:01:21 You have the truck? I don't physically have a truck in California. It's still in Indiana where we were married. My brother's trying to assist me in selling the truck and we haven't been able to sell the truck. That's what needs to happen. What do you owe on it? $21,000. Okay and what's it on the market for? Well the Kelly Blue Book showed that i should be able to get 23 or 24 000 for it so i've lowered it now to 21 000 yeah absolutely what's your income um 87 000 okay all right yeah i mean the answer is sell the truck even if you sell it at a loss and write a check to get rid of it okay so good what do you owe who do you owe the money to uh capital one finance oh crap okay yeah there's gonna be no help so i mean you could
Starting point is 00:02:14 even borrow you know if you had to borrow two thousand bucks or something to get it and write a check you know and somebody pays you 19 for it and you get rid of it that's you know you get rid of the truck it's in indiana your brother has possession of it your ex does not yes yes he does and he's the one trying to help me is the market what is he in a large enough city to sell a $21,000 truck or is he out in the middle of nowhere he's in london indiana on the college campus and he has it advertised everywhere on the college um internet site, Craigslist. I've had a couple scammers that have tried.
Starting point is 00:02:48 Yeah, no college kids buying a $21,000 truck. No. So, I mean, we need grown-ups. There's a lot of professionals in the area, too, though. Okay, all right, cool. Yeah, Craigslist is more of an answer than anything else, and just wear Craigslist out with that, and let's just keep pushing on it. How long have you had it on the market? Since November.
Starting point is 00:03:11 Woo! And it's been really cold and snowing there, too, so it's had really bad weather. Okay, so that makes it tougher to move it. Yes, yes. I guess the other question is would it sell easier in Fresno? That was my question. Should I just try to go get the truck and bring it here in California, which is probably a better market for trucks?
Starting point is 00:03:35 Yeah, well, Fresno is a great market for trucks. So, yeah, and it's a bigger market than what we're talking about. You know, if it's been since November, you know, set a deadline that goes by X date. You know, I don't know, middle of March. If it hasn't sold, I'm going to go get it. Yeah, I'm studying for the bar exam right now, so I'm really trying not to do too much else. Yeah. I was thinking of waiting until I finished the bar exam.
Starting point is 00:04:01 That'd be fine. When do you take the bar? In July. Okay. Well, that's okay if you can pay the payment until then. I can, and then after I take the bar, I'll have more income. But for now, I guess I could pay it until July if you don't get the truck in the truck.
Starting point is 00:04:17 Well, that or tell your brother you give him a couple hundred bucks if he'll drive it out there and you fly him back. Oh, that would be nice. You know. I will. Something like that. drive it out there and you're flying back oh that would be nice you know i will something something like that yeah he said he said you're doing your baby step two call dave ramsay i said oh great idea yeah this is all about getting rid of that dad and getting that burden off of you because it's a 500 payment isn't it no sir it's a 700 payment oh that capital one you got subprimed oh you got hammered
Starting point is 00:04:46 bad credit truck in tech we brought the truck in check yeah bad credit it's really it's really his truck it wasn't even my truck well no it's your truck it's in your name i know now here's the thing the divorce decree said he's supposed to pay the bill, right? Yes, that's correct. Has your attorney taken him back to court for being in contempt of the divorce decree? No, we haven't done that yet. I was going to wait, because he had until April to, under the divorce decree, to get the truck solely financed in his name. Oh, okay. So if by April he has not done that, then we will file for contempt.
Starting point is 00:05:25 Yeah, I would do that as well. Because I'm assuming he has money, he's just being contrary? Yes, being very contrary. Yeah. Judges have a way of dealing with contrary exes. Yeah. Yeah. You don't want to mess with a judge on a contempt order in Indiana.
Starting point is 00:05:45 I'm just telling you. It's not going to be a good day for this old boy. So, yeah, somebody ought to call him and tell him, like your attorney, that you're getting ready to knock him into next week, and he needs to get himself motivated. Okay. We'll do that. Yeah, have your attorney call his attorney and say,
Starting point is 00:06:03 we're getting ready to jack Bubba up, and we just want to let you know before we jack Bubba. Okay. We will do that. Have your attorney call his attorney and say, we're getting ready to jack Bubba up, and we just want to let you know before we jack Bubba. Okay. I will definitely do that. Not any reason. Let's just get every point we can pushing on this thing, and maybe you get it sold. Maybe we jack him up. Maybe he gets it refinanced into his name.
Starting point is 00:06:18 That would be awesomeness right there. Maybe you take it to California if nothing happens, and you just decide you're going to give up. It's going to be a little tough to push a contempt order if that truck's in California, though, so you probably better wait if you're going to go that route until you get that figured out. Wait, say that again, Dave? It's going to be tough to push a contempt order where he's supposed to refinance a truck and get it into his name if the truck is in California. Yeah, but he lives in Michigan, and the divorce is in California. Yeah, but he lives in Michigan and the divorce was in Michigan.
Starting point is 00:06:47 Oh, my goodness. This gets more complicated by the minute. Yeah, I know. He did that purposely. He moved to Michigan so the divorce would not be in Indiana. And then he filed in Michigan. Okay. All right.
Starting point is 00:06:58 Well, yeah, we'll still go that route then. But I would, you know, if that's active and looking like that might be your out, I'd leave the truck set until you know about that part of it, okay? I don't want to have to move the truck to California and then turn around and move it back to Michigan. Okay. You know, if he stepped up as a result of being smacked with a contempt order and decided he was going to, then you've got to deliver the truck back, right? That's going to get really inconvenient in the middle of you studying for the bar.
Starting point is 00:07:27 So leave the truck in Indiana until you figure out what's happening with that contempt order. Meantime, continue to try to sell it. And meantime, have his attorney, have your attorney call his attorney and let him know we're getting ready to jack him. Um, because he needs to be jacked. He's not playing and you don't mess with a divorce decree you don't mess with a contempt order with a judge that's just a bad idea it will bring pain and problems to your life not dealing with something just because your contrary is a bad plan hey thank you for calling in you'll get through this you'll get it turned around i'm sorry you're going through it but that's that's what i would do lay out my, three or four different ways I can go and in what order I'm going to attack those.
Starting point is 00:08:08 Moving the truck to California would be the last one on the list, and so it might be summer before I did that. But good question. Thank you for joining us. Wow. Wow, wow, wow. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. With more frequency than you know, I get calls and emails from people dealing with the recent loss of a spouse or a parent. You can hear the struggle and the heartache that they've been experiencing. And at a time they should be grieving, what breaks my heart the most is the strain and tension
Starting point is 00:09:09 that they're going through because of money, especially when it's a situation that could have been avoided. If you have a family, it is your responsibility to have term life insurance. It's one of the things you do to say I love you. And yes, this is an ad for Zander Insurance. But since this is one of the most effective ways I have to get my point across, so be it. For over 20 years, I've been telling you about the importance of term life insurance
Starting point is 00:09:32 and protecting your family. Listen, you need to check out Zander.com or call 800-356-4282. I can't say it enough. Protect your family. It's what you're supposed to do. Go to Zander.com or call 800-356-4282. thanks for joining us america we're glad you're here. Natasha is in Cleveland, Ohio. Hi, Natasha. How are you? Hello, Mr. David. How are you this afternoon? Better than I deserve. How can I help?
Starting point is 00:10:38 Okay. I am on baby step number two. I just completed baby step number one. I did take your financial peace university course. This was in 2016. I am having some trouble with baby step number two with the snowball debt, and I just felt like overwhelmed and not sure how to tackle it. The total amount that I have is $95,800. I am a teacher, so my take-home every month is $380. So I've kind of stopped. Your take-home every month is what? Oh, sorry, $3,800.
Starting point is 00:11:16 Oh, okay, all right. Yeah, sorry about that. So you're single. Yes, I am. And what comes out of your check? What comes out of my check is the following, you know, usually it's taxes because the city that I live in and the city that I teach in aren't the same. So I'm taxed for both of that because I'm an educator, STRS, and then union fees is what comes out. I'm sorry, STRS.
Starting point is 00:11:50 Yes, so that's a retirement fund for educators in the state of Ohio. And it is required? It's mandatory? As far as I know, I believe that it is. I mean, I can always call them to see if that's something I could stop as well. Yeah, stop it. Stop it. Okay. And how long have you been doing this?
Starting point is 00:12:12 This is my 15th year of teaching. Okay. And how much is your union dues? My union dues are like $47.50. I'm actually looking at a paycheck, so $47.50 a month. Per month. So $600 a year. Okay, that'd be nice to save. $95,800 and what kind of debt? It is a combination of the following. The largest is small, but
Starting point is 00:12:39 student loans. I have one credit card. How much are your student loans? My student loans, if I separate them each out, what do you want the whole? Total, it is $70,000. Okay. What's the other $25,800? Okay. Let's see. Medical student loans.
Starting point is 00:12:58 The other is a timeshare, which, again, I didn't make a wise choice. A what? I know that it was a timeshare. A timeshare. How much do you owe on the timeshare? What I owe on the timeshare is $5,000. And then, unfortunately, there are those maintenance fees that come up. And what other debt?
Starting point is 00:13:24 What's the other $20,000? Let's see. The timeshare, city taxes, which is like $6,007, and a couple of just the medical bills and a credit card. Okay, that doesn't add up to $20,000. Okay. I'm not at $95,000. I got $70,000 in student loans, to $20,000. Okay. I'm not at $95,000. I got $70,000 in student loans, a $5,000 times year, $6,700 in city taxes.
Starting point is 00:13:51 How much on credit cards? Oh, that is actually less than $500. Is how much? It's less than $500. Okay. What about the medical bills? The medical bills are a total of $480. Okay. What about the medical bills? The medical bills are a total of $480. Okay.
Starting point is 00:14:09 How much do you owe on your car? The car I just paid off. Okay. Because we're still nowhere near $95,800. Oh, I'm sorry. Did I also share with you the timeshare fee, like the condo fees, which is like $7,000. Okay, that's part of it, all right. Okay, and then if I did a wrong calculation, please let me know.
Starting point is 00:14:34 Okay, I'm still not to 95, but we're close enough. All right. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Okay, get in touch with timeshare exit team about getting out of this timeshare. What do you owe the city taxes for um that was for um a back tax for the city that i live in so that's like six thousand and what has happened what do they tax you on income they they tax me where i live so basically the home that i'm in it's my parents home i do live at home with my mom. And so I don't own it, but it's just how our city works. So unless I set it up to be
Starting point is 00:15:13 taken out throughout the year, then the amount just is kind of like when tax season comes. Okay, I don't understand what they charge you for. They have an income tax in Cleveland, Ohio City? It's in the suburb that I'm in. It's an income tax? Yes. Of $6,000 a year? No, this is over, I haven't paid it, so it's an accumulation of years. Oh, I see.
Starting point is 00:15:42 Yeah. All right. Okay. Yeah. All right. And so $3,800. Did you get any tax refund this year? I just did my taxes, so I haven't received it as of yet.
Starting point is 00:15:55 How much is it? It is due to be $2,000. Okay. So we need to change your take-home pay by $200 a month, plus we need to stop the retirement if you can and stop the union dues, and this will get you some more money coming home to start to address this. And then we list these debts smallest to largest. You're just getting started. You'll clean up the little credit cards and the little medical bills,
Starting point is 00:16:18 and then it will slow down. Are the student loans temporarily on hardship deferral? They were. They're now getting ready to come out so as of um march uh yeah ask for that to be renewed and kept on hardship deferral a little bit longer do you clean up some of these other things if you can get six more months of hardship deferral that would be good and then what do you teach i'm an intervention specialist so i work with students with special needs and different disabilities, learning differences and things like that. Great. Can you do some of that as extra work, like as if you were tutoring, as side jobs?
Starting point is 00:16:58 As a private tutor? Yes. Yes, I can. Yes, I can. Start immediately. What can you charge, $25 an hour? I think for, yeah, I mean, that would probably be a low end, but I could. Yes, I could. Start immediately. What can you charge? $25 an hour? I think for, yeah, I mean, that would probably be a low end, but I could definitely do that. Oh, you get more than that.
Starting point is 00:17:12 I'm also, I also have my master's as well. Oh, my goodness. This is wonderful. Yes. I want you working all the time. Yes, sir. You're single, right? Yes, I am.
Starting point is 00:17:24 And you're sick of this, aren aren't you i'm so sick of it because i just i think you can double your income by tutoring okay and working in your field which is awesome because i i suspect you have a heart for special needs kids anyway and it's your calling in life and i want you to double your income and start throwing money at this like a crazy person so let's see you're making 60 000 so you know we're going to have this done in about two years but you're going to work but you're going to be working all the time for two years people are going to think you've lost your mind because all you do is work yeah i want you to get so much tutoring i want you to work like a crazy girl. Because this has been riding you for a long time, kiddo.
Starting point is 00:18:12 It has, Mr. David. Let me just tell you, I just turned 42. There you go. It's been kicking you around for a decade, hasn't it? Yeah, it has. It ends now. It ends now. You hear me?
Starting point is 00:18:23 Yeah. You stop it now. You get that extra job. You get those tutors. You get so much tutoring. You absolutely are so exhausted you can't breathe, but you are debt-free in two years. Yes, sir. You could do this.
Starting point is 00:18:37 Yes, I can. Because you got the tools. You got the master's degree. You got the heart for the kids. And you go charge whatever it is, $45 an hour, I don't know, whatever. Because you're worth that. And clean this. You can do this.
Starting point is 00:18:53 You're going to clean this mess up. This is going to work. Okay. Thank you so much. This has been such a blessing. Hey, you call me back if I can help, all right? Because I want to hear the end of this story. I want to hear you're winning, all right?
Starting point is 00:19:04 Yes, sir. You got this, kid. You can do this. You got this. Don't you let anybody tell you anything except this is... Today's the day. It ends today. Right now, it ends. It's gone on long enough. It ends today. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. There's nothing smart about smartphones if your wireless plan is blowing your budget each month. Pure Talk USA offers smarter wireless with unlimited plans starting as low as $20 per month. You never pay data overage fees and we never turn off your data. No contracts, no hidden fees. And if you're thinking our low cost means less coverage, think again.
Starting point is 00:20:07 Our voice and data service covers 99% of Americans, and our 4G LTE network provides the fastest internet speeds like more expensive carriers. We operate on the largest GSM network in the U.S. to ensure you receive reliable coverage virtually anytime, anywhere. Plus, you can keep your same phone and number and add multiple lines to save more. We're so confident you'll love Pure Talk USA that we invite you to try our service risk-free. Visit puretalkusa.com or call 844-862-3677. Enter promo code SAVEDAVE and receive 50% off your first month.
Starting point is 00:20:45 That's puretalks.com. Brand new custom blinds from Blinds.com are the easiest and most affordable way to give your entire home a facelift. With Blinds.com, you get free samples, free shipping, and with the new promos they run every month you'll save even more. Use the magic word, the promo code RAMSY and you get the best possible deal. Blinds.com Sydney is
Starting point is 00:21:36 in Ohio. What are your thoughts on purchasing insurance for important, valuable jewelry? Well check your homeowners and see how much your coverage is for insurance. There are three things you usually will add a rider to if you go above the allocated amount that your policy has. It may have $10,000 worth of coverage, and you may have $6,000 worth of jewelry. You don't need to worry about it. I'd take dollars worth of coverage and you may have six thousand dollars worth of
Starting point is 00:22:05 jewelry you don't need to worry about it i'd take good pictures of it keep a copy of the appraisal in your file that kind of stuff so you know you've got it you know you own it and that kind of a thing but the three things that sometimes you'll add a rider and a supplemental policy for coverage over and above is if you get too many of them in other words where you don't have coverage uh would be jewelry guns and art those are the three things that primarily will cause you to bust through and um uh sharon has a lot of jewelry i got a lot of guns and we got a little bit of art might be a redneck f but i have guns and not art but but anyway i got hey so i mean so we've got a supplemental policy i've got a little spreadsheet with all the gun serial
Starting point is 00:22:53 numbers what i paid for them what the market value is uh that is turned in and they ensure those exact dollar amounts and i show them that and the same thing with her jewelry. We keep a detailed, it's called a scheduled rider, where you have a schedule. In other words, an inventory listing. And I keep pictures and serial numbers, whatever you've got on it, and costs. So if we buy an item while we're traveling, a piece of jewelry for her. We were in Mexico right about the first week of Januaryuary and she wanted bracelets so that goes on there you know you don't put every little hundred dollar thing on there but this wasn't a hundred dollar bracelet so anyway you just put put that stuff on there and um you keep a schedule an inventory list of it and then you've got it covered but
Starting point is 00:23:38 do check your homeowners and see what their limits are on your coverage and if you're under that then you don't need to bother with it. Lucas is in Dallas. Hi, Lucas. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave. Thanks for taking the call. Sure.
Starting point is 00:23:51 What's up? Well, I've got a question that I've never heard before. I used to live abroad. I'm back stateside now. While I was abroad, I met a girl. We are now currently engaged. She has a six-year-old daughter working on her visa to get her stateside here with me. I'm on baby step two right now. I've paid off about $35,000. I've got another $35,000 to go. I want to know if I should pause almost like a,
Starting point is 00:24:19 you say, pause for pregnancy, or if I should just put enough aside, take care of travel expenses and the rest of the visa processing fees. And so how expensive and lengthy is this process? So we began the process in August. Everything should be filed and she should be here by June or July. I've set aside five grand right now. That's what I'm anticipating just for air travel and the rest of the visa expenses and to start her green card process once getting here. Okay. And have you guys set a date for marriage, assuming that happens?
Starting point is 00:25:02 Yep. So we don't have a secured date because we don't know when she's going to get here yet. But the visa that we're applying for states that we need to be married within 90 days of her entering. 90 days within her entering the U.S. We're just going to do a very small thing at my local church that I just became a member of. We're just going to do a real small thing, and we're going to have a bigger ceremony once we get that all taken care of. Then once you're married within the 90 days, what expenses do you have following that for her visa and the child's?
Starting point is 00:25:38 It takes a while after you're married to get it done, right? Yeah, so that's going to be the longer process, the green card and everything. I'm not anticipating any more really than $500 or anything. The biggest expense, I'm not too worried about that. I can roll that into my monthly. Okay, so it's just between now and June. Yeah. Okay, and you've already covered what you think is the visa expense.
Starting point is 00:25:58 It's just the travel and you've got the $5,000. What else do you need to save for? Am I missing something? Well, no, I just didn't know if this is, you know, taken into consideration that a lot of things can happen, obviously, with the government and all of the travel bans and everything like that. Yeah, I probably would. I think I would probably wait and just pile up cash.
Starting point is 00:26:22 Because all we're talking about, about really is February to June. And whatever pile of cash is there, once everything is stabilized here, she's here and everything is stabilized, then you're going to take the money out down to $1,000 and throw it at your debts, right? Correct. So in a sense, we're pushing pause on your baby steps, on your total money makeover process, like you would for a pregnancy or something, where you've got this known thing we're facing. Yeah, I probably would, just to ensure that this process. What country is she coming from?
Starting point is 00:26:59 Azerbaijan. Oh, okay. All right. So was this a lot of trouble? I'm just curious. I've never been around something like that. It's a lot of paperwork, and it's just a waiting game basically right now. The government doesn't give me any updates on where they're at on the processing.
Starting point is 00:27:16 It's just I've been told it's – I've had a couple friends go through it. It's just a waiting process basically, but they give you estimated timelines. Gotcha. Okay. Wow. Wow. What a deal. Pins and needles. It's just a waiting process, basically. But they give you estimated timelines. Gotcha. Okay. Wow. Wow. What a deal.
Starting point is 00:27:29 Pins and needles. Okay, man. Yeah, I would just push pause, and let's just pile up cash and get through this. And hopefully it goes about like you think it's going to, and then you can get right back after, you know, this summer, you'll be right back after your baby steps. So, good question. Thanks for joining us. Tom is in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Starting point is 00:27:46 Hey, Tom, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave. Thanks for having me. Sure. What's up? Hey, so I have a question. I'll give you my current financial situation at a high level. I'm unemployed.
Starting point is 00:27:59 Recently I'm unemployed about four months ago or so. And my wife works part-time, call it about, you know, 23 hours a week, does not earn that much money. We've got approximately somewhere between $15,000 and $18,000 in the bank currently for emergency. We have a mortgage payment, and then we have about $5,000 in debt or so of credit cards. And then in terms of savings and mutual funds, we have about $100,000 and about $100,000 equity in my house. Yeah, retirement. So retirement savings, $100,000.
Starting point is 00:28:34 I'm considering, and I'm talking to my wife about this, considering a small franchise opportunity with the season coming up. It's a shaved ice opportunity. Entrepreneur Magazine had it as, you know, the best. And I know somebody that owns it and has grown to call it five trucks in a matter of three years. The total, the cost for it total is $95,000 with the $20,000 up front. And then you finance the rest. When I look at all the math and I've been through
Starting point is 00:29:06 their webinars and spoken to the person I know about it, he is earning approximately 50 to $60,000 net on each truck that he has, which is about five of them. So my question is, do I take the $20,000 out of my retirement and invest it in this franchise for my wife, basically, while I'm still looking for a job. While I'm still looking for a job. And then, you know, hopefully begin to start to bring in some income, you know, secondary to hopefully a job that I'm going to find. And I'm looking for some advice on what I should do here. Yeah, 80% of the small businesses in America, and I'm a huge small business fan.
Starting point is 00:29:48 I work with small businesses with our Entree Leadership brand every day. I'm a small business guy, and 80% of them fail in the first five years. The number one reason they fail is cash flow problems and debt problems. And what happens is things don't go like you think they're going to go. So I never recommend people borrow money to start a business. Ever recommend. I never recommend you borrow money to start a business. So that means you're going to be looking, if you're following my advice, I don't think
Starting point is 00:30:19 you're going to. I think you're pretty far down the path. You're probably doing this. I probably can't stop you. I wish I could, though. It just scares the crap out of me. I don't think this is a good deal at all. Please think about doing something else. thank you for joining us america daniel is in Angeles. Hi, Daniel. How are you?
Starting point is 00:31:08 I'm doing good, Dave. Thank you for taking my call. Sure. What's up? Well, I've got some things, circumstances motivating this question for you. It's a pretty simple question, but I want to quit my day job and start my my own business. Well, I've actually already started it, but my question is how did you gain more customers in your pursuit of doing what you do? Well, a lot of different ways over a lot of different years. What kind of a business are you in? I am a guitar teacher, so I have my own studio.
Starting point is 00:31:53 That's what you're wanting to expand? Yes. So you need more guitar students? Correct. What are the type of students you have now? Kids, adults? Teenagers. Teenagers.
Starting point is 00:32:08 Kids and teenagers. That's my focus. Okay. All right. Good. And where did you get those? One student that I have right now I got from Yelp. Some have been through word of mouth.
Starting point is 00:32:33 That's probably the extent of it at this time. Okay. All right. Here's what I would do, two or three things. One is you need to put you up a little basic WordPress or very easy to do, a little basic website, and put a YouTube embed on it with you sitting and talking on YouTube about how great it is and how fun it is to learn to play guitar. And interview a couple of your current students that say, when I first sat down with Daniel, I didn't know anything, and now I can play guitar, and it's given me great joy. It was always one of my dreams to be able to play that certain song and now i can play that song and a little just a little youtube thing and a little bit of a list of how to get in touch with you a very basic website and then put that and then open up a web uh uh post some stuff on youtube about um how to how to play guitar and if you need to know more get in touch with me then i also want you to um go to
Starting point is 00:33:27 uh local high schools and and middle schools and talk to the music teachers and tell them you're teaching guitar and if they have any students that have an interest that uh you you would appreciate a referral and um i want you to go to all the guitar stores in the area and tell them you're teaching children and teenagers how to play guitar and leave them a card with your website on it and your phone number, obviously, on it. But shoe leather out there, just knocking doors. Think about where are students that might be interested in music
Starting point is 00:34:07 and how to get a hold of them. Well, music class, for one thing, right, at a local school. Also, if there's someone that's teaching drums in your area, get in touch with the – find the people that are doing the same thing you're doing with other instruments. And say, you know, if you got it, if I get any drum people, I'll send them to you. You get any guitar people, you send them to me. OK. And so because, you know, it's just start networking, in other words, and building that out.
Starting point is 00:34:42 That kind of stuff is more powerful than any advertising you could ever do. And just put some stuff out there on social media, stuff like YouTube, because teenagers are more likely to search YouTube than they are to search Google. Okay. YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world. And if you're under 30, you're more likely to use YouTube as your search engine than you are Google. Does that make sense? Yes.
Starting point is 00:35:15 That's why I want you to have a few things already on there. On YouTube. Okay. Well, go ahead and start you a little YouTube channel. They're not hard to start. You can do it. No. But put some stuff on there.
Starting point is 00:35:27 And don't be afraid to give away some of your services on YouTube or on Facebook Live or whatever. And you can do a webinar, that kind of stuff. But poking around. But that's not really your answer because the problem with that is it goes everywhere. And you're in Los Angeles. And you don't need customers in New York, right? Correct. Well, you really do.
Starting point is 00:35:50 I would map out every school, every high school, every middle school, every guitar store, and everyone that teaches piano. Oh, those are everywhere. Everybody teaches piano. They need to know that if their student, maybe the little sister is taking piano, but the brother doesn't want to do it. He always wanted to take guitar, so they'll send you the brother, and then you return the favor and send them business if they have a sibling that needs to take piano.
Starting point is 00:36:17 Or maybe this kid's really good with a guitar, and he also wants to learn piano, and you send them over to them. You know, you scratch each other's back, in other words. And if they send you a bunch of stuff, you make sure you give them a gift card to the local steakhouse and just say thank you um and be generous with your thank yous handwritten notes that are thank yous to anyone that sends you a referral and uh you know starbucks gift card in there and that kind of stuff because you're making money as a result of them sending you business so you just you're really a grateful person then for referrals is what we're doing and we're building up a referral network but you get out there and scratch and claw like that uh hustle
Starting point is 00:36:52 and grind baby hustle and grind and you can get this thing going it's your side hustle and you get enough students coming in then you raise your prices then you got a full-time job and you can drop that drop the day job. I love it. Get after it, man. Hold on. I'm going to send you a copy of our book, Entree Leadership. And if you want to know more about how we run a business, including marketing stuff, you can jump in and you can learn everything at EntreeLeadership.com.
Starting point is 00:37:17 But hold on. I'll send you a copy of that book. Aaron is in Chicago. Hi, Aaron. How are you? Hi, Dave. How are you doing? Better than I deserve.
Starting point is 00:37:25 What's up? Well, my question is, my wife and I are on baby step two, going through Financial Peace University right now, and $40,000 of our $64,000 of debt is a student loan that my wife has with her father. And as you say, Thanksgiving tastes a little bit differently when family is the lender. She owes him the money, or it's a student loan that he co-signed? She owes him the money. Oh, crap. Okay.
Starting point is 00:38:07 So my question is, it's our biggest debt, so it would go last uh we would just make minimum payments right um but i'm wondering if there was anything creative we can do um or maybe we should move it around and baby step two to sort of get off our plate sooner no no you only have two debts uh true. What's your household income? It's about $75,000. Okay. I mean, the only thing creative you do is you get more jobs and sell more stuff and start paying it faster. Yeah. Is her dad broke or wealthy?
Starting point is 00:38:43 He's not broke. He's not broke. He's well off. So why is he making his daughter pay him back for college? Why didn't he send his own kid to college? I'm not sure. This is before we were together. I'm not totally sure. I think he was just trying to be helpful, trying to save her some interest.
Starting point is 00:39:07 Yeah, but, I mean, why didn't he just pay for her to go to college? Yeah, I'm not sure. Yeah, okay. Just sounds weird. Yeah. But I'm not trying to make you bitter or something. I'm just trying to, it just sounds weird, so I need to say it out loud. So, I don't know. I think I would share with him what you all are doing.
Starting point is 00:39:32 He's aware. He's aware of what we're doing, yeah. Okay, good. Then just pay it off. Just pay it off like normal. I was kind of hoping he was going to look up and go, I'm so proud of y'all, you're heading in the right direction, and I'm just going to forgive this.
Starting point is 00:39:47 But I guess he's not going to, so just pay it off. Okay. Okay, yeah, it's been a couple of Thanksgivings and family trips and things like that. It's just Thanksgiving does taste different. Yeah, it does. It does. The borrower slaved the lender. That's why you never loan your kids money,
Starting point is 00:40:04 especially when you're well off and you would have paid for them to go to school anyway. So whatever. It doesn't matter. It's the deal your wife made, and you married her, so you got the deal. So pay it off. Just treat it like it was a Sally Mae loan. Let's just knock it out fast and hard. You ought to be done with this in like another year, two and a half, or two years max.
Starting point is 00:40:24 Don't be any longer than that this is the dave ramsey show this is james childs producer of the dave ramsey show once again you made the dave ramsey show one of the top five most downloaded podcasts last year to get your daily dose of motivation and inspiration, subscribe today.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.