The Ramsey Show - App - Getting Out of Debt Is Short-Term Pain For Long-Term Gain (Hour 3)

Episode Date: January 20, 2020

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🎵 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. Thank you for joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225.

That's 888-825-5225. Claire is with us in Minnesota. Hi, Claire. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Uncle Dave. I've got a doozy for you, and I really need your help. Okay. 2019 knocked me out cold.

My husband of 22 years revealed that he had a secret child who's only a few months younger than my youngest. I have four kids. My youngest is seven. My oldest is 14. After he told me this news, we tried marriage counseling. Couldn't work. Even the marriage counselor said we should get a divorce. So he moved out, and he moved in with a new girlfriend who's also his boss. I've been a single mom to the kids. I have a part-time job. I make $19,000 a year. He pays the mortgage of $2,735 a month and he gives me $1,400 every month to feed and clothe two kids. His boss is also his girlfriend, and his boss determined his bonus this year. So I got a percentage of his bonus because my lawyer fought

for it. The bonus was $39,000. I used part of that to pay off the credit cards that I'd been living on. I had borrowed money from my sister to pay the kids, pay the lawyer, keep the heat on. And after I paid off my bills, put $1,000 in reserve, I have $26,000 left. I know we're going to have to sell the house, the kids and I, because I can't afford a mortgage for $2735 a month. And I have two questions. Do I just sock away the $26,000 left of my ex-husband's bonus and use it as a down payment on whatever new house the kids and I have to move in? Or do I kind of live on it? Or do I pay my sister and brother-in-law back because they did loan me money?

And then the other crazy thing I have to ask is, should I give up more custody of my kids to work part-time so I can earn more money? I'm sorry. I know. And you're a great guy, Dave. My friend Jennifer introduced me to you about five years ago, and I introduced your seven steps to financial freedom to my husband, and he actually made me choose. He said, Dave or me.

And I chose him. And boy, if I had stuck with you, I probably wouldn't be in this mess. Well, I guess the choice he was throwing out was a little bit of spotlighting, a little bit of telescoping on what was to come, huh? You know, he wasn't this guy when I married him, but he is now. He was shortly thereafter based on the age of that kid. Yeah. He's always been this guy.

Anyway, okay, so the way we answer all of these questions is, what takes care of you and the children's future the best? Okay? And right now you're in the middle, square in the middle of a hurricane. Yep. And when you're in the middle of a hurricane, you don't pay off debt.

Everything's on hold. You hoard cash. You pull cash close. It's your, it's the pad between, it gives you options in the middle of this mess. Okay? So, let's pretend we fast forward a year from now. The divorce is final.

The house is sold. Okay. And you've got some money stashed away still that's been your safety net because Lord knows you need a safety net right now. Okay? Yes. Now, what is Claire doing for a living then?

What is your new career that you're doing to feed your kids? A year from now, I don't know. I'm an optician. I adjust glasses that you buy, and I'm actually great at my job, but it's only part-time because I've got the kids 55% of the time, and the ex has them every other weekend. But the custody thing is we're not giving up custody for money. That feels like you're trading your kids for money.

But you have to align custody with your career that allows you to feed you and your kids. And so we have to have something we're aiming at. And right now you're in the middle of extreme betrayal, a lot of anger, a lot of hurt, and it's hard to think clearly about the future. But the answer to your question lies in the answer to your future. And so what do I do with the kid custody thing? Do I trade some of that for, you know, whatever, so that I can work more? Well, you may have to. That may be part of your career choice that you have to do to survive this and come out of this. How old are these babies?

So the youngest is 7. The oldest is 14. After his dad left, the oldest wanted to commit suicide. So I have him in therapy once a week. So I can't work quite full time to keep him alive. Sure. There's a lot of crisis going on around your place. A lot of things are happening.

I mean, I actually am pretty lucky. I have my face. I have my friends. Great new job. It's good to have all that when you're in the middle of a freaking hurricane. It's also good to say there's a lot of wind blowing around you right now. Yeah. And so, you know, the wind's howling outside

i hear it i hear it coming through the plywood right that's over the windows and so you're in the middle of a storm and uh that's just human you know it's a human thing that you're those those uh betrayal and anger and fear are real human emotions that happen to real human beings when you're in the middle of a storm so i'm So I'm not denying you the right to have all of that. I want you to have all of that. I don't want it to consume you, but I want to admit that it's there while we're making this other decision. So what I would tell you to do is calm your spirit, go on the back porch with a cup of

coffee early in the morning before the kids start and start talking to God about what he wants you to do with your life one year from now career-wise and what are the steps to get there, and then how does that answer what to do with the money? How does that answer what to do with the custody? How does that answer how quickly we sell the house and how much we fight for that? I'm assuming the home has no equity. Barely. We bought a house less than two years ago. We're still paying off PMI.

We have a consolidated spousal loan that we cannot separate according to the loan people. I owe $17,000 of that, and my soon-to-be ex owes $24,000 of that. So we've got about $41,000 in college loan debt. The car is paid off. It's a hoopty, but it's paid off. His girlfriend bought him a new car. I've got the old minivan. Today we do rice and beans, spaghetti, eggs. I mean, we have a pretty sharp shovel. I think you're doing fine for where you are.

And then the question is, what does your new optometry, since you're an optometrist, you can make good money. Oh, no, no, not an eye doctor, just an optician. I just adjust the glasses. Oh, I see. Okay. Well, then I guess I'm going to go back and whiteboard. It's a retail sale. I'm just going to step back and say, if you're my little sister,

let's get in front of a whiteboard and say, well, I didn't know I was going to get dealt this hand, but it's here. Now, what do I want to be in this next chapter? What do you got for me, God? Because he's not surprised by this. You and I are surprised, but he's not. So what do you got for me in my next chapter? What do you want me to do? And that'll tell you what to use some of this money for because you may have to go get tooled up to do some of that and i'm gonna get out from under that house payment as quick as i can so that you can make this money that you have or partner for you through the storm here just pile up cash and hold on to it kiddo till you turn the corner you're doing the best you can do in a really difficult situation.

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A lot of people start their whole debt snowball, start their baby steps for the first time, read the Total Money Makeover, go to Financial Peace University, start listening to the podcast for the first time. Read the Total Money Makeover. Go to Financial Peace University. Start listening to the podcast for the first time. All of that happens during this month. And a great way to get started in this process is our number one bestselling book, The Total Money Makeover. It's on sale right now, $12.99, in the online store at DaveRamsey.com. You can call the Ramsey Concierge team at any time.

We'll help you out. 888-22-PEACE, 888-227-3223. You are not trapped. There is a way out. And the Total Money Makeover will show you exactly how to do the baby steps on steroids. How to kick it into gear, baby. Jeff is with us in Colorado. Hi, Jeff.

Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave. Thanks for having me on. Yeah, you truly are amazing. Thanks for everything you do. Bless your heart. How can I help? Yeah, so my wife and I are on steps four, five, and six, thanks to the Total Money Makeover. And my wife receives Google stock options as additional compensation from work. We're already putting an additional $40 to $50 on top of our $2,000 monthly mortgage payments. And now my wife needs to hear it from your mouth, but should we cash out a certain amount of the stock options to be putting towards our mortgage?

I'd cash them all out and put them towards the mortgage. Even with the tax implications of stocks that have just bested this year? Absolutely. I mean, if you want to hold them another year and hit capital gains instead of ordinary income, it's not the end of the world. That'd be fine. But at the end of the day, I'm not going to borrow money on my house to buy stock in her company. And effectively, by not cashing out stock in her company to pay down your mortgage,

it's the same thing. I appreciate it, Dave. I've looked up every podcast that had that example and showed it to her, but she wanted to know that it applied to our situation. Yeah, it does. It does. And here's the thing. The stock options may end up being very valuable. At some point in your life, you may want to keep a few of them. You may really love that company and love its potential and that kind of thing. But at no point would I do that while I still had a home mortgage. And so I use everything I can get my hands on except the emergency fund and except 15% of your income going into retirement,

not cashing out retirement accounts, which this is not a retirement account. This is a stock option. There's a difference. And I use everything else to get this house paid off in Baby Step 6 because with no house payment, we accelerate you becoming wealthy. We accelerate the speed at which you can become outrageously generous, the speed at which you change your family tree. And that's the reason for all this. I mean, certainly people do this stuff a lot of

different ways. But this plan that we teach for 30 years has worked for millions of people. And so you're right. You look it up. I'm unbelievably consistent in the advice that I give. I don't change it much because it's based in principles, and so my decisions are already made for me. All right, up next is going to be Alex in California. Hey, Alex, how are you? Doing very well, Mr. Ramsey. How about you? Better than I deserve. What's up? So my wife and I got hooked on to your podcast here. We were reading the book, the Beyond Blessed book with Robert Morris. Oh, he's wonderful.

And then switched over to Total Money. Yes, he is. And then switched over to the Total Money Makeover. Love that. And then found out about the free app. And we live in the heart of Silicon Valley, which we're at that point in the area in the country where we're looking to buy a home and going, well, I guess we can get the little patch over here. And here was the question that we've decided through. We're somewhere between baby steps two and three. We have an emergency fund

set up with six months of payments. I am currently in school. She is working full-time. We are 23 and 29. And we've listened to your podcast multiple times, and the running theme was the 15-year mortgage is what you stand by. And the question is, how do we afford a home in this area with the 15-year? Well, Silicon Valley is some of the most expensive real estate in all the United States. Right. Which means when you're a 23-year-old college student, you can't afford a home there. You simply can't afford to live there. You don't have enough money.

I mean, it's just mathematically, you just simply cannot afford to live there. I mean, and you cannot afford to drive a Bentley either. And so there's no shame in that. You're just now, you're just where you are. You're at the beginnings of your career. So if you rent until, number one, let's go back and correct one thing. You don't do baby steps two and three at the same time. You need to reread Total Money Makeover.

You take all your savings and you put it on your debt until your debt is gone, with the exception of the fact that you're cash-flowing finishing college. Now, when are you going to finish college? About two and a half years. Good. And your degree is in what? Chemical engineering. Okay. And you're studying that where? San Jose?

At a community college currently. Yes, sir. Okay. And San Jose or where? Where are you going to school yes sir in san jose okay i was guessing okay um because i didn't think there was a college to my knowledge of that type in actual in silicon valley okay but um so uh and you're renting in that area right now? No, sir. So the situation was my wife and I were living with our parents going to school. She graduated. We got married. We moved in with my parents, and they have been gracious enough to let us live there.

We've been saving and scraping that it's time to look to move on to our own area. So the options really for us are renting or buying. Yeah, you're renting. And renting, okay. Yeah, you're renting for right now because you're finishing school and getting your incomes up, and again, you live in the most expensive real estate market in the whole freaking United States, with the possible exception of maybe the Upper East Side and Manhattan. I mean, per square foot, Silicon Valley is unbelievable.

And so it's a wonderful area, but people that make $200,000, $300,000 a piece and are both working live there, not college students with one of you getting and you just got married and one of you just got their first job. What's your wife make? We make a a household income about 120 yeah well she's got a great job what'd she do uh she's in business marketing great good okay that's a great start and see when you get out with chemical engineering and you're making a hundred and a half so you got a 270 income or something you know yeah we can talk about buying a house in Silicon Valley. The numbers start to make sense then, or at least close as they're going to. And so that's the direction I would go.

But for today, you haven't done anything wrong, nor is there anything wrong with my advice, when you're a 23-year-old broke college student. Now, you're not really broke. You're married to a lady making $120,000. But, I mean, you see my point. This stage of your life is the stage that you rent as cheaply as possible, and, you know, you remember that horrible apartment that you tell your grandkids about someday.

You know, that kind of thing. That's the stage of life you're in. And the problem is making $120,000 is actually still going to put you in a horrible apartment in your area. It's unbelievable. Anywhere else in the U.S., we would be debt-free in a year. Anywhere else in the U.S., you'd be living in a really nice place, you know. But, again, you live in a high-income neighborhood and a high-expense neighborhood, definitely.

Yes, sir. So that's what we're facing, and it's okay to have the patience to finish up. So I agree with you. I'd want to get out of my parents' house if I were you, too, but you're renting for a couple years until you get your income that matches the cost of real estate in the neighborhood that you're in, and there's no shame in that. You didn't do anything wrong, but no, I would not buy a house. You can't afford a house right now. You know, the money, even making 120, you can't. I mean, what you know the money even making 120 you can't i mean what are you gonna buy a shanty not that that's what it'd be in that area i mean it just

i empathize in other words i know the real estate cost i know what you're dealing with there so the only other option is a long commute to school and change the neighborhood you live in and then you could rent something a little better while you're doing this and um talking about a pretty serious commute because you're talking about some traffic around there that's real real for sure hey man thanks for the call five years from now you're going to be sitting pretty you're doing the right stuff this is the dave ramsey show Let's talk about low interest rates, baby. I know right now that Churchill Mortgage can get qualified buyers into a 15-year conventional loan for well under 4% with no discount points or no hidden fees. Listen, if you're even thinking about buying a home or refinancing, do it right now.

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You can secure these low rates now for up to 90 days through Churchill Mortgage. Go to ChurchillMortgage.com or call 888-LOAN-200. That's ChurchillMortgage.com. NMLSconsumerAccess.org. Equal Housing Lender. 1749 Mallory Lane, Suite 100. Brentwood, Tennessee 37027. In the lobby of Ramsey Solutions on the debt-free stage, Matt and Bailey are with us. Hey, guys, how are you? Great, how are you?

Thank you. Welcome, welcome. Where do you guys live? Atlanta, Georgia. Oh, fun. Welcome to Nashville. And up here to do a debt-free scream. Yes, sir.

Can't believe it. How much have you paid off? $147,000. Awesomeness. And how here to do a debt-free scream. Yes, sir. Love it. How much have you paid off? $147,000. Awesomeness. And how long did this take? Four years and one month. Four years and one month. And your range of income during those four years? 100 to 170. Awesome. Nice jump. What do you guys do for a living? I'm in corporate communications. And I'm in a healthcare supply chain. Excellent. Very cool. Both great careers.

Good for you guys. Well done. What kind of debt was the $147,000? It was all our mortgage. Ah, wow. You paid off your house. I'm looking at weird people. It's crazy.

How old are you guys? 32. 31. Paid for a house in Atlanta? Ohanta oh my gosh what is this house worth uh probably about 290 wow how fun yeah ding ding well done you guys excellent man that's that's three paid off houses in a row on our debt-free screams today, all by youngsters, all by people 37 and under. Wow, I'm so impressed. Very, very cool.

So tell me the story. How did you know to do this, decide to do this? What happened? Well, your name has been like a household name for me with my parents, and also my grandparents have been really kind of doing your plan before there was a Dave Ramsey plan. They had told me when I was younger that they you know, they both worked, but basically just lived off my grandfather's income and just, you know, saved my grandmother. So they've always been, you know, living below their means. And

I took that to heart from an early age. Yeah. Yeah. Very cool. So you were kind of grew up a financial peace baby a little bit. All right. And so what happened? How long have y'all been married? Seven years. Seven years. Yes. And I definitely did not grow up with FPU in the house or heard of Dave Ramsey before marrying this guy. And the first couple of years of our marriage, we weren't really on the same page financially. We never had any budget meetings. Anytime I would spend money at Target, he would say, what is this for? Why are you spending $30 here, $50 there? And so we decided it was about time to buy a house. So we looked into your

program more seriously, or I did, and really found that it was going to be successful for us. And it's just so helpful every month meeting and being on the same page with our budget and really knowing where every dollar goes. Yeah. It changes the communication, especially in a young marriage. Absolutely. In every marriage, but especially when you're brand new and you're getting things kicked off. Okay. So, wow. Very cool. You did it.

You paid off your house. How weird do you feel? It feels amazing. I mean, it's just one of those things, like I know you talk about, that you just have that feeling that being tense in your shoulders, and it just feels like it's gone, and it's just unexplainable. It's an incredible feeling. Yeah, there's a peace. And knowing you guys can work together and accomplish any goal, too,

that gives you confidence to face whatever's coming in the future. So very, very well done. Well, you're highly successful in working the get-out-of-debt plan, early 30s with paid-for house. When one of your friends goes, and they're kind of like half sarcastic, but also half wanting to know, how did you do that? You know, what do you tell them? I mean, it definitely takes sacrifice, you know, and just focus. I kind of say that it's a short term pain for long term gain. You're really gonna just, you know, bite the bullet

and do it. And then you just feel, like you said, just that relief off your shoulders and amazing. And people can't believe it when we tell them we paid off our house because people think it's a myth that they have to live with their mortgage forever. And to see some people our age do it, I hope to encourage them and definitely lead them in your direction and tell them they can do it. They just have to have focus and communication, and, you know, it's possible. So focus, communication, the whole process, and sacrifice. Exactly. And those are the keys.

What else? I mean, I think for us in the beginning, since we weren't on the same page, and that was something that as we, you know, moved closer and obviously, you know, followed FPU, that was something I think was like our biggest turning point was just being on the same page and communicating. Because before, you know, I would just, you know, like she's mentioned, I just get after on every little thing. And that was probably way too controlling. No. Not you.

Yeah, I'm your super nerd that, you know, when it comes out on Triple Coupon Tuesday, as you joke about, that's me. So I have her in my life to make sure that we have some fun. That's it. You balance with each other very well. And I'm here to make sure that we don't eat dog food in retirement. There you go. Amen. Well, it's a good balancing act.

It's working for you guys. Proud of you guys. Very well done. Who are your biggest cheerleaders? Well, we actually got Bailey's sister here. She's wrangling the kids and came down to support us. And my parents have been very supportive. My parents as well, yeah.

Our whole immediate family, really. It's just been such a blessing. Okay. Very cool. Very cool. Well, congratulations. We are very, very proud of you. Very well done.

Thank you. Now, you want to try to – the kids are somewhat wrangled. Do you want to put them in the picture? Yeah, let's do it. Let's see if we can get them. And what are their names and ages? We have Madeline over here. She is two and a half.

And then we have Amelia over there. And she will be one on Saturday. Ah, you have an Emilia. We have an Amelia. Ah, yeah, exactly. A little different. That's awesome. They're beautiful.

Thank you. Very, very cool. Madeline's been practicing, so we'll see how well she does. I love it. Well, I'm sure Madeline's right. A little different. That's awesome. They're beautiful. Thank you. Very, very cool. Madeline's been practicing, so we'll see how well she does. I love it. Well, I'm sure Madeline's ready. All right. Very well done, you guys. All right.

A hundred and... Oh, we got a copy of Chris Hogan's book for you, Everyday Millionaires. Next chapter in your story, heroes. Here you go. I love it. All right. All right. A hundred and forty-seven thousand dollars paid off in four years and one month, making $1,000 to $1,700.

Count it down, Madeline. Let's hear a debt-free scream. One, two, three. We're debt-free. I love it. Woo-hoo. Well done, you guys. Very well done.

It's not lost on me. I hope it's not lost on you guys as you're listening. But I take a call from a 23-year-old who has two years left in college. He just got married. His wife's making $120,000, and he can't afford a piece of real estate. He's not ready to buy a house, and the next thing that happens on the show is a 31 and 32-year-old step up on the stage making $170,000 between them. They're making serious bank here. That's a lot of money, but they paid off their house in Atlanta, Georgia in four years, going from we live in an area where we can't afford to

live all the way to Atlanta's not a cheap city. I mean, it's no Silicon Valley, but it's not a cheap city. And they've got a paid for house in their early 30s with two little babies. I mean, if you will do a little bit of math on that, you will realize that it's very important where they are today, but where this can take them when you've got a little baby, that that little baby's life is changed forever. Because if you just invest a house payment from $35,000 to $65,000, that's going to be $10 million. Typical house payment in Atlanta is $2,000 a month. You do the math. You put that, if you just invest a house payment instead of giving it to a bank your whole life. You see, guys, the banks and the life insurance companies and the car companies

have been stealing your wealth for generations. And yet you fight me and tell me how you have to have a credit card. Dave Ramsey's unrealistic. But then I get to talk to couples like that that are going to be worth $5, $10, $20 million at retirement, and you're arguing with me over airline miles because you're stupid. You're still supporting the very organizations that have drained the middle class of its wealth. Now, we gave it to them voluntarily. They didn't steal it with a gun. We signed up with car payments.

We signed up with credit cards. We signed up with Sallie Mae. We signed up with mortgages. We signed up with a home equity loan so we could take a vacation we couldn't afford. We signed up with nothing down on that couch and it ended up being 37% interest. We signed up for a VHS tape deck player and financed it. Now looking at that a few years later, how stupid does that feel? Yeah, this is how dumb this culture has.

We give all of our wealth away to other companies and work our whole lives and end up broke and say, I sure hope the government, which is well known for its ability to handle money, will take care of me. That's just dumb. Instead, be brilliant like that last couple that was just standing here, 31 and 32 years old, with a paid-off home in Atlanta. It's your turn, baby. It's your turn. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. One of my favorite parts of this show is hearing your debt-free screams. You guys are our heroes. You've kicked debt to the curb and you've saved for the future. Now we want to celebrate with you. If you have lived like no one else and are currently in baby steps four through seven,

well, it's time to enjoy some money. And the perfect place to do that is on board our first ever Live Like No One else cruise in March. That's right, just a couple of months away. But get this, it's not too late to book your cabin, so don't miss your chance. This Caribbean cruise is going to be an incredible seven days at sea on a stunning new ship with amazing experiences. I'm talking all of our Ramsey personalities and other world-class entertainers. We're stopping in the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, and Turks and Caicos.

It's going to be an amazing, debt-free celebration designed just for you. Don't miss the boat. Head over to RamseyCruise.com today to reserve your room. our scripture of the day psalm 128 2 you shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands you shall be blessed and it shall be well with you. Martin Luther King Jr. said, Whatever your life's work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.

It's good. It's good. That the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better. It's good. It's good. Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Joshua is in Texas. Hey, Joshua, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Oh, good afternoon, sir. How are you doing today? Better than I deserve.

What's up in your world? Well, I have sort of a conundrum. I kind of got a late start in life because I spent a lot of time taking care of my sick and dying family. And now that I'm getting started, I started to hear about you. I had a boss at an old job that gave me one of your leadership books. And so I've been trying to change things up. I have about $40,000 in debt. About 37 of it is medical bills from when I broke my shoulder and stuff like that.

My thing is, is I right now, I door dash and stuff doing about between $14,000 to $20,000 a year. But I want to get a career going, and I was going to go to school for culinary arts. It's about $46,000. My question is, should I focus on trying to pay down my debt first, or should I go to school and let some grants and know, some grants and the student loans and stuff and go a little bit more into debt to get that career going? Well, I always believe in getting a career going. I never believe in going in debt to do it. There's got to be another way.

I always take debt off the table, and I say, okay, well, with no debt, how can I still pull this off, and what are some other things that I can do, other ways I can get at that? So how old are you? I am 30. I just turned 34 a couple months ago. Okay, cool. And you want to be a big-time chef? Yes, sir.

I've always loved cooking, learned from my grandpa and my grandma and my dad, and it's just something I want to do for my life, you know. I got you. Okay. And so, I mean, I will qualify for the Pell Grant. I know that. So that will get me, you know, between six and eight. For the total course, it's $46,000.

So that takes me down to like $39,000. Yeah. You need to study somewhere else if you can't find a way to pay for this. There's a lot of places to study culinary arts. Yes, sir. Well, this is Art Institute. It's one of the only locations available to me here in San Antonio. So move. Well, see, right now, one thing that I'm liking is that I live in a house that I'm a part owner of, so there's no mortgage payment.

I own my car. It's an 06. So, like, I've been able to keep what I have to pay out is very minimal. Basically, I pay phone and insurance, you know. And your rationalization with all that's causing you to look at going $50,000 in debt while you're already $37,000 in debt to be a chef, most of which aren't going to make enough money to justify the cost that you've paid for this education. Yes, sir.

There's not many $150,000-a-year chefs. There's a few, but there's not many. And so you're spending a lot of money to cook, and there's nothing wrong with that. I've got several friends that are celebrity chefs that make serious money and that own restaurants and are big time in that world and so i'm not saying don't live your dream i'm saying don't live your dream in such a way that it becomes a nightmare and so you need to think about a different way to skin this cat now another possibility is find a company that is opening some restaurants that you can work for in the kitchen and they will consider paying for some or all of your tuition for you to become one of their corporate

chefs okay that's another way there may be but that might that might involve moving too but listen right now you're making you're making 14k let's say someone gave you a job making 40k as a sous chef where you're just chopping veggies okay you're just getting everything ready for the guy to come in you're you're doing all the work and getting none of the credit that's the sous chef okay sorry sorry to you sous chefs but i know you do all the work okay and so uh you know you're in the kitchen doing the work you're in the training program uh but you're making 30 or 40 000 which is a lot more than you're making now you can afford to pay rent and an apartment in that town to go live your dream and oh by the way they're going to pay your tuition to go to culinary arts school maybe a different one

but that's okay but culinary arts is all over the map what you can pay for it and then the results are all over the map in terms of what you end up making it's not like getting an engineering degree you get an engineering degree you pretty much know what you're going to make depending on the type of engineering you're going into but it's a very predictable outcome as a result of getting that deal uh chefing is a little bit like acting. There's some of them that make really big money and the rest of them are broke. And so you can make good money. And I don't want you to not live your dream.

I'm not telling you to do that. But let's not go spend $46,000 because that's a guarantee you're going to make $90,000 because it's not. It's just not. And again, I have friends all in the restaurant business friends that are celebrity chefs friends that do this stuff for a living and not many of them would disagree with what i'm saying uh again i'm not trying to be a dream killer i don't want your dream to become a nightmare because you get halfway through this something happens and you can't finish, and now you've got $30,000 more in debt and you didn't even get the degree.

And that's the way people do this stuff all the time. So this is a different way to skin the cat, and I would skin it differently. Thank you, sir. Sherry is with us. Sherry is in Kentucky. Hi, Sherry. How are you? Hi, I'm doing wonderful wonderful thank you so much for

taking my call my pleasure how can i help all righty well my husband and i have a quandary we are trying to figure out what to do uh we have a farm here in kentucky it uh values probably around $235,000 to $245,000 to $250,000. But the problem with it is it has a mobile home instead of a house. So my husband and I, eight years, put a new high-dollar architectural shingle roof on this house. It's got to be replaced we were cooking in the kitchen two weeks ago and all of a sudden it started pouring through the roof okay we only owe twelve thousand dollars on this this property the mobile home everything right and you put the high dollar stuff you said on this house you mean on the mobile home? Yes. Architectural shingles on a mobile home.

Yes, like house shingles. Yes. It's a double-wide. It's not a single-wide built trailer. It's a double-wide. It's a trailer. It's two trailers. Okay.

Right. We bought it with the property, not realizing what we were getting into, and it has been a mess. It's a black hole for money, yeah. So the whole property and everything you've got paid off down to $12,000? Yes. So you own a $250,000 farm that's almost paid off? Yes. What's your household income?

About $75,000. Okay. All right, cool. Well, we tell folks not to have a house payment that is more than a fourth of their take-home pay on a 15-year mortgage. I would draw up plans to build a house that fit that guideline. Okay. That's what we were considering doing. And I would get a construction loan and a permanent mortgage, and i would have someone haul this trailer to the dump i agree i totally agree uh not only do we have to put a

roof but we also have to put widows in it as well no you don't you're going to haul it to the dump you're not going to put anything i agree you'll put enough in it to live in it long enough to get the house built right because whatever you put it, you're going to throw away when you throw the trailer away. Yes. Well, the area that we are in, most of the houses on the street where we are, this is one of the older properties that were here. Most of them average $325,000 to $600,000. Well, you've got a nice piece of ground is is what you're telling me, with a bad trailer on it.

So build your house that fits your budget on a 15-year fix where the payment's no more than a fourth of your take-home pay and put the trailer in the dump where it belongs. It's a trailer. You don't put shingles on a trailer. That puts us out of the Dave Ramsey Show in the books. We'll be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus. This is James Childs, producer of The Dave Ramsey Show. Once again, you made The

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