The Ramsey Show - App - Do the Hard Work for a Short Season

Episode Date: March 30, 2022

John Delony & Ken Coleman discuss: Moving while in debt, How to handle a large commission check, Starting student loan payments after graduating, Finding work you love, Staying motivated when the journey feels long. Want a plan for your money? Find out where to start: https://bit.ly/3nInETX Listen to all The Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3GxiXm6

🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, this is the Ramsey Show, where America hangs out to have a conversation about your money, your work, the relationships you're like, pretty much anything and everything. I'm John Deloney, your host today, joined by my co-host and good friend, bestselling author, Ken Coleman. And we're taking your calls on just about everything. Your money questions, what do you do next, your relationship, your work. Hey, and if you are in a toxic work environment, you're trying to figure out this madness that's going on with the work environment and relationships, trying to figure it out, give us a call.

888-825-5225. That. 888-825-5225. It's 888-825-5225. Let's go to Mario Brothers in Grand Rapids. What's up, Mario? Hi, how are you? What's up, man? I'm doing great. How are you? I'm doing well. Thank you for asking. I was just calling to see how you at the Dave Ramsey Solutions would work in moving, or excuse me, how you guys would work moving from a different state into the baby steps.

Is it a good idea, I guess, depending on financial situation, or is that something that's not recommended at all? Tell me a little bit more. I'm not certain I understand your question. You're allowed to move, of course. In fact, you're a grown-up. You can do whatever you want, but tell me a little bit more. Right. No, I guess because my wife and I, we are just trying to work out getting out of debt.

Besides the house, we only have about $16,000 left in debt. And we will just be moving to a more expensive state. And I was just saying, I guess, is that something that you guys get that kind of question a lot, or if it's not necessarily recommended, where usually the cost of living in this state is a lot more expensive. Well, why are we moving? Forget the cost of living in one state. Forget the baby steps for just a moment. Why are you moving? Well, my wife has a job opportunity there for a little bit more as far as money-wise.

But like I said, going back to the cost of living, it is a lot higher. Does it further her career long-term? Is this the last step for her, or does she feel like this is one of the right steps to get where she ultimately wants to go? She does feel like that this is a potential to eventually being manager, yes. Right, which means even more money, correct? Correct. So Mario, you don't want to do this. Why not? It's not that I don't. I just, you know, my cousin has introduced me to the plan not too long ago this past summer. He was actually just on your show this past summer at the debt-free screen.

And, you know, I guess I was just kind of considering that. I really want to get to where him and his family are. So I was just like, ah, I don't know if that throws a wrench into it. You know, it could be possible. Have you run the numbers? Have you guys run the numbers as best as you can on what utilities are going to be? So when you talk about cost of living, you're scared. And it's a very legitimate fear, Mario, that all of a sudden if we make this move and the cost of living is higher, it's going to take us longer to get out of debt.

That's what I think I'm hearing. Is that correct? Right. All right. So have you – You summed it up perfectly. No problem. So have we run the numbers? Have we, cause you can do this. You can actually go, okay, here's what property taxes

are. So if we determine where we're going to live, John, you know, we can kind of go, all right, here's what property taxes are in the state. Here are the local property taxes. Here's what utilities costs in this area. You can actually do a really good cost of living analysis. And so when you get, and again, I'm not saying it's going to be super specific, but you can get pretty darn close and then look at your current budget in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and look at this new location. We go, okay, now we have a real idea. I think it's so scary right now, Mario, because you don't have numbers to plug in. And I think one of the greatest fears in the world is the unknown.

Does that sound about right? That sounds about right, yeah. All right, then. So you've got $16,000 left to go. You're crushing it. You guys got momentum, yes or no? Yes. All right, then.

Plug the numbers in. Your wife's going to get an increase in salary. We get that. All right. Talk to your accountant. Get a good idea what the take-home might be with this new salary and begin to look at all those other indicators, John. I think when he does that, I think then it's managing that emotion. That's right. So, Mario, I've done this twice, a town, a city, a job that was right for all of us. And that meant multiple things. It was better for our family. It was better for me professionally.

It was better in some cases, sometimes worse for her professionally. She made a concession and won and then she won in the next one. But every time it has paid off financially in the long run because all the other things were right and it was a good good professional fit and so i think the key here is making this move without taking on any debt if you have to borrow money to make this move and you're gonna go back 10 grand in the hole because of x and what man you don't have the money to move see what i'm saying? So make this transition. Do what Ken said when it comes to making the budget for what this is going to look like. This is about numbers.

This is not about can I leave the state or not. That's right. And Mario, I know you're new to the plan. So here's what I want to encourage you with, something very practical here. People cash flow things all the time in their debt journey. We hear debt-free screamers come up and they go, well, we paid off this amount of debt, but we also cash flowed getting a new washer-dryer. And so this is just like that. There is a cost to moving.

Now, hopefully your wife, has she gotten an offer for a moving bonus to go towards moving expenses? It's not necessarily a bonus, but just a bump in salary and paying for the move okay so here's my point so whatever the cost of the move is right packers movers whatever there is a cost of moving if you have to cash flow that while working through the baby steps that's fine so you're not doing anything out of the out of the norm to that initial question, yes, it's okay to move if it's to a better life. You and your wife agree that this is the right move for us. The baby steps don't necessarily have to stop, but if you have to pause for one month of the move, that's fine. We pick back up.

We're out of debt. Your wife's got this massive opportunity in front of her that she's going to climb a ladder. That's better for everybody. Nothing to be scared of here. But go get some answers, plug it into your budget and keep walking out the baby steps. So as we head into the break here, Ken, I think two important principles emerge. Use real data when you got it. That's right. We spend a lot of time in our heads. Oh, yeah. Just having imaginary conversations. And what about this? What about this? That a

simple spreadsheet can often solve for us. It's is this a good move for us and the second thing is man use use the baby steps as a path to walk on and don't ever forget that you can pause the baby steps stack up cash if you're having a baby if you got to go to surgery if you have to move you just got fired life happens along the way a kid all sudden is like hey i'm i'm dropping out of college. I'm coming. Things happen. The baby step two just says, don't take on any more debt. We're running like crazy to get out of here.

But, oh, baby, up, surgery, up, cancer, up, mom's got to move with us. Great. That's life. Don't take on any more debt. So I want, Mario, y'all save up a bunch of cash, brother. Get this move done. Y'all are going to move. You're going to love it.

Congratulations, by the way. Very exciting time. Celebrate with your wife tonight. Stuff a little bit of that fear. Get this move done. Y'all are going to move. You're going to love it. Congratulations, by the way. Very exciting time. Celebrate with your wife tonight. Stuff a little bit of that fear. Buy her some flowers. Take her to a nice steak dinner. Or cook it yourself. No, let's go out.

888-825-5225. We'll be right back. People all over the country are discovering a faith-based and budget-friendly way of meeting health care costs through Christian Health Care Ministries. Christian Health Care Ministries, or CHM, is a nonprofit organization that helps members carry one another's burdens with health care expenses. And they have successfully shared each other's medical bills for nearly 40 years. See if CHM is right for you by visiting chministries.org. CHM is a proud sponsor of Dave Ramsey Live Events. 888-825-5225 I'm John Deloney joined by Ken Coleman

and we're taking your calls on money on life, on work all of it. Let's go to Mark in Phoenix. What's up brother Mark? Hey guys, thanks for taking my call I'm about to receive a commission check of about $100,000. Whoa! That a boy!

Whoa! Don't roll through that so quickly. How about Mark? Are you selling chips for cars? No, I think he's selling space shuttles. What are you selling, man? Well, it was a lot of work, right? So, you know, we want to try and celebrate it, but at the same time, we don't want to kind of mess anything up with it.

So we're trying to just figure out kind of what to do with it and where to put it and all that good stuff. All right. So what's your debt situation? So we've been debt-free for about three years maybe except for the house. Excellent. So no debt to speak of. How much do you owe on the house. Excellent. So no debt to speak of. How much do you owe on the house?

$319,000. Okay. What's it worth? Probably about $475,000 maybe. All right. Cool. And so you're walking it out. You're fully funding your retirement in Baby Step 4, correct?

Yeah. So that's kind of what we're trying to figure out is, okay, so we've got this money and it's going to come in probably at one time. So trying to figure out, okay, so we need to fulfill the three to six months, right, emergency fund, but then where does it go after that? Okay, so you don't have a fully funded emergency fund yet? No, no, not fully funded. Okay, so let's just run the numbers. okay, so you don't have a fully funded emergency fund yet? No, no, not fully funded. Okay, so let's just run the numbers. Okay, so what do you think your tax hit's going to be on that? Have you figured that out?

I think it's probably going to be about 25% to 30%. Okay, so you just take that number, and so let's just do easy math, because I have to take my shoes off to count that high, John. Let's take $70,000. That's my point. So take $70,000 and you go, okay, what do we need to put into Baby Step 3, the emergency fund, three to six months expenses? How much would we have to put in there to get that to where you want it? Probably $25,000.

Okay, so now we're dealing with $45,000, correct? Uh-huh. So we got $45,000. Okay. So now you would look at Baby Step 5 if you've got kids. You've got kids? Yes. Okay, so I guess you hit...

One 8-year-old. One 8-year-old, okay. So certainly getting that college, you know, ESA or 529, even if it's a little bit, we'd love for you to get with one of our SmartVestor pros. This is where I want you to talk to them about what that would look like. But I'd certainly look at a contribution there. Yeah, even if it's small, put a little bit in.

To get it started. As the principal, right? Yeah, because now all of a sudden you've fast-forwarded into Baby Step 5, and then monthly you're going to start taking 15% of your income, right, take home and putting that to retirement. So now you're working on baby step five and six, you know, and so, you know, I'd look at a nice chunk on the house if it were me. I'd put the rest.

Here's, tell me if you're struggling with this, Mark. I would celebrate a little bit. That was my only thing. Yes, yes. Take a little bit here and let's enjoy some of it. Yes. There's this feeling, and it's happened to me. You get a check. You did really well, and a thing happened. And we have this imaginary ticker running in the back of our mind, which is, if I could just get a $100,000 check.

And then when we do it, Ken just did, it's kind of deflating. Oh, taxes suck. Then $30,000 goes to the government, and then this goes to the emergency fund, and you end up with like five grand to play with. And that kind of sucks, right? Let's be honest. You would think that a $100,000 check solves all of our problems, and it just doesn't, and it doesn't.

I'm buying an island. That's right, and we're not. So here's the thing. Feel good. Celebrate with it a little bit. Go do something. Have a fun weekend. But you're going to just keep track in these same baby step principles, right?

In the same way as though you got this over the course of a year, and you're going to take 15% of it and put it in here. You're going to give some of it away. You're going to put some of it into, even if it's $500 or $5,000 into your kid's college, you're going to start crushing this house. You're going to start crushing this house. Let's get the house over. Let's have an even better year this year let's get 125 000 commission check that's what i wanted to do a quick follow-up on yeah all right so mark um what are the chances

that you're gonna get another big old commission check like that in the near future now that you know what it's like to scale that mountain be be don't be overly humble don't be cautious what are the real chances that you're going to hit another one of these big boys? I think it's realistic that you could do one a year. So think of the progress that you just made with this breakdown

we just walked you through and go, hey, I've done it before. I can do it again. Next time, I fully fund the kids' college and then I pay off more of the house, and I have no house payment. Now, all of a sudden, the next time I get the check. Now we're buying an island.

Now we buy the island. Hey, what's your salary, Mark? What's your annual salary? Combined? Yeah. It's probably $140,000 to $160,000. Mine's probably about $100,000, $110,000. So you've got $140,000, $150,000, and then this commission check comes in on top of that?

Yeah. So I think you can sit down with the math, my brother. Once you have your emergency fund full, you owe nobody anything except for this house. I think you can have your house paid off in two years. Now it's stupid. Two years, man. You owe nobody anything. Crazy fun.

So how do you divvy up in the 401ks and all that stuff and the Roth and all that? That's a SmartVestor Pro. So we want you to go interview minimum three SmartVestor Pros in the Phoenix area. And Dave has said this a million times, so I'm just repeating Dave's advice. You want to meet with several because you want to figure out the one that's the best fit for you personally. They need to feel like a coach. Heart of a coach is the attribute that Dave has driven in our Smart Investor Pros and that team that works with these fine women and men. Secondly, not only do they have a heart of a coach, are they explaining it well to you to

where you understand they're not just telling you what to do, but you go, oh, I get it. And so sit down with them on the 529 or the ESA for your child because you've got some money to get that thing started and then talk to them about the 15% in retirement. Now you're in baby step four

the minute we do this. So now we get to our budget. We go, okay, and he's going to give you or she will give you a plan to invest the way that Dave teaches. That's why we want you to meet with a smart investor pro. Go to ramsaysolutions.com and search smart investor pro. And there's multiple in Phoenix that'll help you out. It's real important to go, and this is a sales pitch. I hear, so let me just call that out. It's who I go to. It's who you go to. I mean, we use these folks. Here's why.

You knock on the door of a random old financial planner and say, I have a $100,000 check. Their eyes start rolling around in their head. They see dollar sign, dollar sign, dollar sign. They don't see what's in the best interest of you. And a smart investor pro knows our plan. That's right. They know, hey, the best thing for you long term, which ends up being the best thing for me long term, is to get this house paid off. And then we're going to make some real money on the back end. It's awesome. Congratulations. Let's go to Moses in Dallas.

What's up, Moses? Hello. What's up, man? How are you doing? Outstanding. How are you? I'm doing well. So what's up? How can we help? I'm 20 years old. I'm enrolled in a trade school, currently employed at a dealership. Right now I'm in in a trade school, currently employed at a dealership. Right now I'm in the parts department, but they plan on moving me into the shop as a technician when I am about a month away from graduation. I am married, and my wife is currently unemployed. Right now I'm sitting at 20 an hour, right?

I make about 45 hours in a week. That's about five hours of overtime making around 36 a year. I have 50, 50 grand in debt. 20 of it is a car loan, which I'm about to get it down to 15, uh, 15. Cause I got some, I got some money in savings. Um, I was wanting to know what are my options? 15, because I got some money in savings. I was wanting to know, what are my options? I know one option is sell the car, basically pay off the loan,

plus some of this out-of-pocket payments that I have to do for the school. What's your car worth? I recently looked it up the minimum is $15 the most I can get is around $20 and you owe what on it? $15 I'd sell it get yourself a $3,000 $4,000 car

because you know how to fix that daggum thing I'd sell that car ASAP running out of time let me tell you Moses I heard that my wife is not working she can work if she can work she needs to go to work you, Moses, I heard that my wife is not working. She can work. If she can work, she needs to go to work. You're working 45 hours.

You can bust it, put another 10 or 15 hours in this season to get out of debt until you get that higher-paying job. This is about income, I think. You're walking out the baby steps. Keep doing it. Follow the plan. Way to go. I think the wife's got to bring in some income, and you've got to bring in more income.

And now we fast-forward this process. 888-825-5225. We'll be right back on the Ramsey Show. 825-888-825-5225. Hey, Ken, we're getting closer and closer. I got a new book coming out, Own Your Past, Change Your Future. We're getting here, man. Launch day is? April 19th, and it's still in presale.

And I am... The baby's ready i'm pretty jazzed yeah pretty jazzed uh it's for everyone a single 30 year old looking to sharpen their mind a 25 year old who just wants to make friends how do i get reconnected a mom who wants to connect with her kids better people coming out of abusive relationships, everybody. And the reason is, folks, as I interrupt the author, everybody has a past. Everybody. That's right. Everybody. Now, some pasts are nastier and harder than others, but everybody has a past.

It turns out it shapes us in the now, but more importantly, unfortunately, has a tremendous amount of undue hold on our future. That's right. And I think that's why this book is for everybody. Because everybody, you don't get to walk on the earth and go, I got nothing to my past that affects me and the way I look at the future. You don't get to say that. That's right.

It's all her fault. All of it. My boss and the boss I had before that, the boss before that, it's all their fault. So, hey, here's a cool thing. Let's do this. So, this is some inside baseball, but Kelly's running the show today, and she's encouraged us to give away things today on today's show. Oh, we love to give away stuff, because most of the time we're giving away Dave's stuff.

So, I want to give away something of yours. Can I give away something of yours? I feel like that's fair. What do you want to do? Okay, so, if you pre-order the book today. I don't even know folks. This is very exciting. If you pre-order the book today. Today for $20 by the way. It's going to come with the free month of

therapy from BetterHelp. It's going to come with the audio book. I feel like it's like for $19.95 and you get right. It kind of is actually. Price down! That's right. It's 4 a.m. in the morning and we're trying to sell you a carpet cleaner. But let's do this. You read the book to people. Tell people now. That one month of Better's 4 a.m. in the morning, and we're trying to sell you a carpet cleaner. But let's do this. You read the book to people.

You don't know how to tell people now. That one month of better help is incredible. But then they get the audio book. Right. And the digital book. They get the e-book. Plus. Plus, let's do this.

So one of the things, when people close the book, and not everybody. In fact, most won't. I'm going to close it right here. You close the book, and you say, today's going to be the day. Like, I agree that I'm worth being well. I'm worth more in my marriage. I don't want my heart to beat out of my chest when my husband drives up the driveway anymore. I want to not walk past my kid's bedroom and they can't look at me.

I'm ready to make some changes. Some of you are going to pick up a phone and call BetterHelp and say, I'm going to talk to a counselor. Others are going to say, I am worth not living in my job like I have been. It's time. And I don't know what to do. So can we do this? Can I give away, if you order it today, and this is just me making this up here,

so if you do it today, can we give away your career assessment? Let's do it. So that's a $30 assessment. It's 20 minutes, and you're going to get unbelievable clarity, get a professional purpose statement. That's the get clear assessment that John has just decided to throw in there.

And you're giving up your cut on this for it to go out the door. Hey, John, it's okay. My kids need shoes, but it's going to be all right. $30, that is a product in the store at RamseySolutions.com. So here's what you've got to do. So I'll tell you what. I'll agree to give away a product. I get no cut, which is fine.

I'll eat a little less this month, John, because that's how much I love you. That's how much I believe in the book, Own Your Past, Change Your Future. And I really do. This is great stuff. You've got to read it. All right, so here's the deal. You go to RamseySolutions.com and you order John's book today. It's prominent.

You can't miss it. RamseySolutions.com in the store and click on Own Your Past, Change Your Future. Buy it today. You get all those other goodies. And then you're also going to use the word Ken. Kelly, can you do that? Yeah, we're going to do RamseySolutions.com, you're in the store, promo code Ken,

the marketing team will figure it out, promo code Ken, and you get all the goodies of Own Your Past, Change Your Future, all three formats of one month of counseling. Cool. And you get to get clear career assessment. And if you're clear, give it to somebody who isn't. That's fantastic.

Thanks for that. Of course. I'm very excited about it. It's JohnDeloney.com. Ramsolutions.com slash Ken. No, don't go to slash Ken. Yeah. Oh, in the –

Ramsolutions.com. When you go to the store, you put the promo code. In the store, the promo code is Ken. I know, Kelly. I'm trying to hold his hand. Let's go to Carrie in St. Louis. What's up, Carrie? How are we doing?

Hey, guys. How are you? Outstanding. How are you? Pretty good. So I'm 29 years old. I've worked in sales for nine years. I'm currently working in outside sales with a coffee company.

I'm just really over sales and unsure what I want to do I do love the product I sell I really enjoy coffee and I like the company a lot I'm just not feeling fulfilled I am a really good top performer typically 10% and I do have like these dream jobs often that I'll make up in my head but I do change them that's okay I did take the clear career assessment. My top talents are communication, justice, and execution, and my top passions are promoting, performing, and solving. Hold on, slow down, slow down, slow down, slow down. Go back to talents. I can't write that fast. You've been drinking your coffee all day. Yeah, and I just sprained my wrist trying to keep up

with you. Okay, go ahead. Communication, top talents, communication. Justice and execution. Justice and execution, okay. And then top passions, this is work she loves. Promoting was one. What's the other two? Performing and solving. And caffeine. And then your top missional result,

results you want to contribute to the world through work. What was that? I didn't have those write down. I'd have to look back at those. Okay. My guess is, are you, let me ask you this. Do you like solving, because solving was one of your top three passions. Do you like solving people problems? Listen to the options here. We've got multiple choice. Process problems, okay? Idea problems or thing problems. Do you understand those four? Things would be like working on engines. You understand what I'm saying? I would definitely say idea problems.

Idea problems. Like hands down. Okay. Hands down. I like this. Now, for the audience, tell us those top three ideas, because you said, I get all these dream job ideas, and then I change my mind. Give me the last three that were in your head. Don't try to explain them. Just tell me what they are. Opening my own coffee shop would be the top one. The second one, I did go to esthetician school, so I have my esthetician license.

So those are really the two that I've enjoyed or, you know, kind of thought about. Interesting. It's really interesting that you, when you took your Get Clear Career Assessment, did you feel like it nailed you? And if it didn't, that's fine, because it's not about my process. It's all about you and answering the questions. Did you feel like it nailed you? I really did. Yeah, when I read it, I was like, this is me.

Okay. So here's what's interesting. When I hear those ideas, we always want to take those ideas and we want to go, okay, do you have the talent to pull those things off? Communication, justice, and execution. Very quick for the audience that's not used to this language from the Get Clear Career Assessment. Communication, we obviously know what that means. Justice means you have a talent for identifying right and wrong.

You see injustice where others do not see it. You act on it. That's what the idea of justice is. It's a high level of what's right and what's wrong. And then execution is just get her done, as Larry, the cable guy, likes to say, right? Get her done. Okay? So what's interesting is esthetician feels right for that.

Coffee shop, if you're running the shop day in and day out, creating a space for people to come and have coffee and communicate, and you are promoting that service or promoting that product, you get really juiced about it, which is why you're really good in sales. You enjoy promoting something you believe in, true or false. Oh, absolutely. Okay. So here's what I want you to do. I want you to take that purpose statement that you got in your Get Clear assessment.

And I want you to take these ideas, coffee shop, esthetician, there's been more. And I want you to look up a job description of those types of jobs or careers. And I want you to just look it up online so that we turn our brain off. Stop overthinking. I want you to look at the job description. And then I want you to look at your purpose statement side by side. And what you're going to see is, is the purpose statement from the get clear assessment is like a, it's like an overlay that lays over and you go, wait a second. Does this being an esthetician allow me to use what I do best, my talent to do work I love to produce results that matter to me? Do you see how that's going to work? You start testing it out and then we go look into it. What's it going to take to get qualified? And then how much is that going to cost?

How long is it going to take? That simple process will build a bridge for you to the future that you want. Keep pressing in, and you're going to figure it out. And switch to decaf. We'll be you next time. This week we announced that our Building Wealth live event is coming to both Vegas and Orlando this May. Look for John and I at the craps table. It's going to be great. We're going to take down Vegas.

I'm going to be in bed by 930. Of course. I'm not very cool, bed by 930. Oh, of course. I'm not very cool, everybody. Building wealth is a hot topic right now. Everyone and their brother has an opinion on how to do it, whether it's crypto, single stocks, drawing cute pictures on our computers and selling them for trillions of dollars, zero down real estate. And then inflation has everybody freaking out. Join me, Dave Ramsey, Rachel Cruz, George Campbell, and KC, Ken Coleman, as we unpack these hot topics.

Plus, Ken and I are jazzed. We're both going to lead a free bonus session before the main event. Yep. We'll talk through. And John and I are working on being able to bring a tiger to that pre-session. That's going to be incredible. So why would you come early, John and I, on stage with a tiger. One of us is going to get eaten. I just have to outrun you, man.

Bald and named. That's worth the ticket price in and of itself. We'll talk through how to balance your work and relationships so you can live a richer, more fulfilled life. Isn't that what we're all looking for? So get ready. Vegas. Man, arrange an event in Vegas. John and Ken with a tiger. We're coming to you

Thursday, May 5th. Orlando, we're're coming to you Thursday, May 5th. Orlando, we're coming your way on Thursday, May 19th. If you're not in these cities, it's okay. We'll announce more dates this fall. Tickets for Building Wealth start at just $25, or you can get a four-pack for only $60. Incredible deal. Don't wait.

The tickets are blown out the door. Go to ramsesolutions.com slash events. I realize the tiger is ridiculous, but what about a boa? Would you wear a pink furry boa? That's part of my normal speaking outfit. Oh, it is. It's like more of a costume. It's a thing.

All right. So if you want to see if John's going to do it, you've got to come to Vegas. There's a 100% chance. Let's go to Laura in St. Louis. What's up, Laura? Hey, what's up? We're just rocking on, man, making this up as we go. How about you?

I'm doing great. I just had a question. How do I know if my debt payoff date is what it should be? Our debt payoff date is currently June 2026, and we make about $86,000 a year. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Pause. Pause that. I don't make $86,000 a year. We make $7,100 a month, and our debt is about $86,000. Sorry. Okay. So how did you come up with June 2026 as your payoff date?

What information led you to get to that date as the finish line? Ramsey Solutions, actually. We're currently in financial peace, so I use the EveryDollar app, and I put it on our date. So it's kind of a loaded question. Well, there's a question behind the question. There is, yeah. And that question is, you can barely fathom being married in 2026 to this guy, much less being on a debt-free journey. Is that fair?

I mean, he's probably the best person I've ever met, so no. No, I'm messing with you about him, but this feels like a long, long time, doesn't it? It does. It does. It's just, yeah, it's insane. What do y'all do for a living? So I work at a university, and my husband is actually a youth and children's pastor. Awesome.

But so your date, Laura, is based on a budget, yes or no? Yeah. So what would cause the date to go further into 2026, maybe let's say fall? What would cause that to happen? I mean, if we weren't diligent in what we're planning to do. Okay, good answer. Or if we took on more debt, which isn't going to happen. Which isn't going to happen. And let's throw one more out just for logic here.

Maybe you had to cash flow something, so we had to press pause at some point because life happens. Those are your three options, A, B, and C, right? Uh-huh. Okay, so we know two of those aren't going to happen. You're not going to stop being going to happen you're not going to stop being diligent and you're not going to take on debt so life could happen so that might change the date now let's let's do the reverse what would cause that date of june 2026 to move up to january 2026 what would cause that um raises yeah uh getting second jobs yeah but i don't think that that's realistic we have three

young children under four but that's fine so getting to the heart of your question you know what were you afraid of when you called in today and you say hey it seems far away is it how do i know if it's accurate you just answered your own question That's how you know if my date is accurate. By the way, it's going to move from time to time. But we see historically, John, that people pay it off faster than they originally project. Hey, Laura, can I press in on you for a minute? Yeah. One of the things we often see when we lay the plan out is somebody says, yeah, I see that, but. And you have a, yeah, but, which it sounds like you have a picture in your head of what mom and dad and family and three kids all look like. And that is not going to be able to move in your mind. That's the way that is. And so what we're

going to have to do is work around that variable, and working around that variable has ended us up in 2026. And so you're going to have to make a decision. Can you not poison the home, you and your husband, and being frustrated and bitter and kicking the couch because y'all can't go on vacation and not going out to eat until 2026? Or can y'all look each other in the eye and say, we're going to shift the picture of what this looks like for 18 months. And we're going to call Aunt Susie to come watch them, and she's going to be all great anyway, and it's going to be weird, and they're going to have to eat beanie weenies or whatever. It's going to happen, and I'm going to get a job.

You're getting a second job. And then you're going to mow lawns on the weekend, and for 18 months we're going to live maniacally and we're going to live outside of our picture so that in 2024 and a half this thing's done. You see what I'm saying? You've boxed yourself into a corner and you're going to make yourself bonkers because you've made it

either or. Either everything goes away or what I'm saying is what if you did it for just a minute, for just a season and you change everything. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. That's what's got to shake, and that's what's got to change. Okay?

I challenge you. Here's my dare to you, Laura, is to sit down with your husband and say, what if we did things a little bit different for 18 months? Intensity. What would that look like? Right? That would be different. Ken, have you had a time in your life when you just ground yourself down

for a goal to get somewhere? Oh, I'll never forget it. It's one of the funny stories. Dave Ramsey got all fired up in a staff meeting several years ago because he was trying to beat another friend of his company in participation of employees

in the Nashville Marathon, half marathon. So Dave and another friend were like, alright, let's see who can get the most. It's all for charity. Oh, employees. Okay. Yeah, so the company would pay your running, your race fee or something. It was something about charity. I've slept since then. He decides to challenge me in front of the entire staff

because I said, privately, he said, Coleman, you going to run? I go, no. It's for people that are nuts. People that have deep therapy problems. They don't want to go see a counselor, so they go run. Hours a week. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So long story short, he guilted me live in a staff meeting in front of everybody.

He said, Coleman hasn't signed up yet. Ramsey personality doesn't want to contribute to, I mean, literally went after me. It was funny. So, of course, in the moment, I caved. Immediately regrettedted it but i had 12 weeks to get ready for the half marathon 12 weeks and any runner out there knows that's crazy and if you've ever seen the office episode where they have the great race yeah so you were andy yeah so i called up my good buddy bill who you know yeah who had done triathlons and everything and i said there's only one way that i do what's necessary to not basically walk this thing and it's you coaching me because i knew he'd beat me up and i knew he'd hold me accountable and i knew i'd do it and he did it and the

training regimen six days a week it was awful it was just shy of medieval torture. For me, who doesn't love to run? I love to play sports, although I just don't like to run. But I remember going, you know what? It was two miles a day. And I had a goal to break two hours. It was a stretch goal. And we went after it hard.

And I remember buckling down going, this is about the goal, and I'm going to intense, intense focus on achieving the goal. And you know what? I didn't think I could do it. I remember when he emailed me the first time the plan, John, and I was reading it. I was like, this is week one? And then I scrolled down into week five and six and all this kind of stuff. And I remember telling Stacey, there's no way I finished this training. And I'm going to be okay with being humiliated by Dave Ramsey the rest of my life. But I did it. But I will say credit to a great coach.

I'll say credit to you because you changed the picture. Just for a season to accomplish a goal. I decided you're going to have to be intense, so then I'll let it go. And that's what you prescribed to her. Everybody, just do the hard thing for a short season. Yeah. And it pays off in the long run. Yeah, it's good. It's an hour in the books. We'll be righthost of The Ramsey Show. Did you know over 18 million people listen to The Ramsey Show every week? A lot of those people listen on one of our 600-plus radio stations across the country.

To find a station near you, go to RamseySolutions.com slash show.