The Ramsey Show - App - Here’s How You Actually Stick to a Budget (Hour 3)

Episode Date: September 27, 2022

Rachel Cruze & Ken Coleman discuss: Paying off a vehicle, Taking another stab at budgeting after falling off the wagon, How to increase your income. 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 Learn more about your ad choices. https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy

Девочка-пай Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the pods moving in storage studios. This is The Ramsey Show, where America hangs out to have a conversation about your life and your money. I am Ramsey Personality, Rachel Cruz, co-hosting this hour with Ramsey Personality and best-selling author Ken Coleman. We're going to have some fun. All right, we're taking the money questions. We're going to take the general life questions. We're going to talk about your work, potentially, some of your struggling in your work. Maybe you're feeling like, hey, this inflation's got me down. I need to make some more money. Well, we want to help you make more money. Many times that's getting promoted, maybe getting a better job.

So I'm here to weigh in on maybe on some of those questions. And we're just going to help you out. We're going to have a blast with you. So give us a shout. Yes, at 888-825-5225. It's a free call anywhere in the country. So first up, we have Neil in St. Louis. Hey, Neil, welcome to the show

hey how's it going we're doing well thanks thanks for calling that's good um well my question is mainly about like focus and what i should be putting all my energy into with my life because a lot has changed in the last three years uh first uh well five years ago i got married and then um uh my business has been growing year over year like crazy and uh this year like we're just killing it and uh nice congratulations do you mind telling us about your business what kind of business is it i'm a brick and stone mason no kid that was my second job ever during a summer between my freshman and sophomore year, working for a brick mason.

So I have a special affinity for that. I'm glad business is booming. Well, yeah, it's awesome. And, yeah, I'm about to hire my fifth and sixth guy next week. Wow. And so during that time also, while the business is growing, I've had five kids in three years. Whoa.

Twins? Adoption? What happened? Well, yeah, I had number one, number two, and then three and four came in the first two years. And then number five just came three months ago. Oh. My goodness. Yeah.

Neil, how you doing, Neil? Neil, have you slept in the last five years? Well, my wife hasn't. I'm just kidding. No, she has. Easy. We're a good team, and we love kids, and we have a really good system down for that, and our kids are great.

Congratulations. That's a blessing. That is awesome. Your wife is fantastic. Congratulations. That's awesome. Wow. So what's up?

What's the question? My question is, when i knew this baby number five was coming we've been blessed like our whole life with whatever's coming at us you know and uh we had a van and um i i wanted to donate my van to somebody else because there was someone in need and uh and i was praying about this and uh but i needed a van to come my way and also a big job to come and cover that van you know know? So baby number five comes. The paycheck didn't come in right away. So I donated the van.

I bought a van with a loan because I needed a bigger van than just a four that could hold four. I needed it to hold five. And so I have, like, $29,000 in debt now, and we don't really do debt. And I have the money to cover it i just want to know like but i also would like to use that money for growing the business and focusing on paying people because i have a lot of money set aside for always having payroll going you know and um well is the van is the van in your name it's not a company van correct or is it in your name what what's my name yeah okay so what's the question you don't do debt but you went out and did it so what what what do you want us to tell you should i pay the van off yes uh

pay it off right away yes if you have the money but it also sounds neil like you're you're mixing your business finances and your personal finances because you said i have the money but i could use that for payroll and the business all that that's why that's where things do what that's part of the that's part of the growth like i've hired the six people in the last year and a half and uh and i my business wasn't like set up officially and i've been doing all that like getting all like the like turning it into an s like a corporation oh i got you okay okay so it's all that's all part of the transition i've been going to different meetings with people and like okay so let me

all right so let me just ask you very quickly do you have the twenty nine thousand dollars in the bank right now or in your personal account or is in the in the company account you'd have to do some moving around yeah personal and company account is the same thing right now, you know. Okay, but okay, let me ask a better question. The $29,000, you've got that set aside for what specifically for the business? Nothing specific, just as a, so I don't. Okay, well, you don't have to pay it all off at once, although I would if you could, but I also want you to be responsible because of the fact that that is your retained earnings for your business. So I guess the official answer is we want you to pay it off as quickly as possible. Do you have to pay it off today with $29,000

payment? If you can, and it doesn't hurt you or put your company at risk. Yeah. And that's when, Neil, you really do. I mean, I know you know this because you said you were doing it, but that's where separating personal business is so important you pay yourself out of the business and then out of that that earnings right is where you go and say okay here is our family we have this amount but man i yeah if it doesn't i don't want to put your work in jeopardy i don't want you to like do something and now you gotta you can't pay someone or something like that i want you to have your bases covered and your business but i would get those separated as soon as possible uh so that it's a clear answer for you to be able to say with your wife we have this amount in the

bank as a family do you guys have an emergency fund with your family we're not including the business uh yeah we got all that so i mean we have probably like 30 30 40,000. How much more do you have? What other retain earnings do you have in the business that's going to help it stay afloat? If you paid off the van today, let's just pretend that that $29,000 was gone, where does that put you in your business? I'll probably have about $10,000 less in the bank. But I have these big jobs that I've been working on. I have it set up where I'm getting paid.

Like I'm probably getting $10,000 a week from jobs coming in consistently for the next six months, you know, like at least. And then I got a lot of jobs coming in. So I have consistent money coming in all the time. And I guess I'm nervous that what if they stop paying me or something goes wrong or weird, you know, because it's just all this growth happening at once. It's great but yeah so be so be so be methodical and i want to follow up on rachel

what rachel asked you do your your emergency fund is separate from the 29 000 that we've been talking about correct everything's kind of one together mixed together i know i know it's mixed together what i'm saying is when when she you, do you have an emergency fund, and you said $30,000 or $40,000, that does not include the $29,000 that you would use to pay. That's what I'm getting at. Yeah. Okay.

What I would do is, in this situation, I would put $10,000 on the van today. Let's juice this and get the loan down to 19. Okay. And then let's commit to maybe another 10 each month. And let's see if we can put 10 each month. So within less than 90 days, you've paid off the van, but we still hold some money back. I feel like that's what I do in this situation because you're right. You're in a construction world and they could change things on you and money can be late. So I don't want you to use it all but i would commit to 90 days or less we pay that van yes and having that plan and i think getting you going on it is going to also force you to say okay i gotta separate that personal business and i know

neil it's been crazy growth so congratulations you've had a lot of life change like you said super marriage five kids growing business that. That's awesome. So thanks, Neil, for calling. Make that payment today, though. Let's get that momentum going. Pay it today. This is The Ramsey Show. The welcome back to the Ramsey show I'm Rachel Cruz hosting this hour with best-selling author and Ramsey personality Ken Coleman. And it's a free call anywhere in the country at 888-825-5225. All right. Up next, we have Frances in Cincinnati. Hey, Frances, welcome to the show. Hello. Thank you for having me. I'm a little nervous.

No, you're good. You're good. How can we help? Okay. I'll just give the basics so I can work out the question. Um, my husband and I make 58,000 annually. We have 25,000 left in debt. Um, let's see student loans and actually all student loans. Um, we're on baby step two, we have roughly $15,000 kind of in savings. And so it's a two-part question. I want to take all the money that we have right now that was about nine grand was gifted to us and six is from income tax that came in late.

I want to take that all right now and put it all to our student loans, but my husband wants to wait to see if the Biden stuff is going to be, like the student loan forgiveness is going to go through, which I'm not thinking it will, but he just wants to see. So in that way, it's kind of burning a hole in my pocket where there's the second part of the question, sort of. We've been through a lot of emotional things going on. We just had a miscarriage. We're finding a new church. And we're also trying to go minimalism in the home.

And we have a three-year-old and a one-year-old, and it's lots of people in the home. So I want to go on a vacation. I want to get a different car because we're at, the car I drive right now is at 290,000 miles and it's great, but we also might need to get a new vehicle. So I need some direction because I'm kind of emotionally all over the place right now. Yes. And you're tired. Yes. You're tired. Yep. You're exhausted,

which is fair, which is very fair. So sorry. We're hurting for you. Yeah. So sorry that you guys are going through this period. It's a lot.

So, Frances, I always answer this question if I were to wake up in your shoes. I would pay off this debt. You guys have close to half your annual income still in debt at that $25,000. So I would throw $14,000 at it and I would really, really focus the budget, even though you're exhausted and even though you know, gosh, I feel like we're gonna have to need a new car soon. I want to go on a vacation. All of that is so real.

But I want you guys to really, really tighten up your budget and pay off this debt. Because what's going to happen, Frances, when this debt is paid off, suddenly your income is going to go up because it's not going to be going out to payments. You're going to margin again you're going to be able to breathe you're going to be able to save up more for a fully funded emergency fund and there's just going to be peace and when it comes to the whole you know the bite and forgiveness stuff like we've told people it's not it's not a moral it's not a right or wrong thing um but i wouldn't wait on it and there's claiming that you can do a refund if you pay it off that you can go back so if excuse me if it goes through you can always go and do the refund if that's what you guys want uh but i would not sit and wait on this to go through because there's a lot of opinions right

and we'll time will tell time will tell what happens um but i would not sit and wait on them on what they're going to do. I would be proactive in your own life. And you guys pay this off and you guys need some momentum and you need some quick wins and some rest. Right. Like and I know with when we're paying off debt, we talk about being very intense. You're not going out to eat. You're not doing anything.

But find some time, Francis, because you have a one or three year old. So you're exhausted. So find something for you and your husband to go at night. It's like even if you get a sitter for an hour and you guys just drive and just do nothing, but just have a break. So make sure that you guys can sustain yourselves during this. But this is possible. I don't know if he can even work a side hustle or you could pick something up. But I want this debt gone as soon as possible regardless of what biden does well okay so i guess another i guess a

follow-up question is so we have um we have a car like i said we have a 20 liter highlander that's at 290 000 and you know these things do awesome probably run to 300. And my husband was just for looking, looking at different vehicles, you know, just to try to repair, not repair, but replace this one. And part of me wants to run it into the ground. Part of me wants to get, you know, either a Camry or Corolla or something smaller. But then the other part of me is just like, we still have that money, and I would rather go to debt. I'd rather not have any of the other things that it could be necessary and and then also I how do I get back on the budget we both have been emotionally drawn and I'm it's hard for me to even like think to function to have like dinner on the table at night so yeah we've been going out to eat like for dinner, you know, and that's

emotionally where I am. So it's. Yeah. Are you guys on the same page, Francis? Cause it's sounding like, you know, he doesn't want to do this. You want to do that. He's looking up cars. You want to run it into the grounds. Like, well, we both have, it's kind of like, we've both just been trying to figure this out, trying to figure out whether we should ride the car out. We both have agreed on it. And then we'll come back to this point it's something that we keep like running into yeah yeah it's the same point that we both like yeah can i not looking like actively it's just sure okay okay that's great that's great i just wanted to ask because i think part of this too is you guys as a couple being on the same page and plowing through it because it is going to be exhausting francis but here's the deal too. And then can you jump in? But we hear these stories all the time

and we have people stand on that debt-free stage and it's not easy, right? If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. And so the exhaustion that you feel is justified because you feel that. But also it's expected in this because to pay off debt, there's a level of sacrifice. And I don't know if you get the crock pot out and you look on Sunday nights and say, we're having chicken, we're having rice and beans on Tuesday, we're having Mexican on Wednesday, and we're going back to chicken in the crock pot Thursday. Like just planning out and having, not letting your emotions take over every decision and really being intentional about stuff is going to help. But go ahead, Ken.

Yeah, I just, if I could be an older brother for a second, I want to encourage you. I don't want you to feel in any way that I'm getting on you. But I'm going to tell you that I think it's totally understandable that you feel so exhausted that cooking is the last thing on your mind. I get it. And I get why you went out to eat. But I think today that has to stop because here's what I know. Your heart is hurting,

and stress isn't going to help it heal faster. But I'll tell you that peace will. Financial peace and the emotional and the mental peace that comes with that will allow you to heal faster. But financial stress will hamper the healing. I know that. I know that. And so what I'm asking you to do is for you two to, to draw strength from each other, to draw strength from the piece that comes with the plan that we teach

and decide today, decide today. Decide today. All right, we're going to actually change the way we live. Yes, I'm exhausted, but I'm going to press through this because going out to eat isn't going to heal the exhaustion. Do you understand what I'm saying? So now you've got to choose. We've already made the decision. You know what we didn't do?

We didn't actually do it. We decided, but we didn't do it. And I think Rachel's right I think making these moves are is going to give you some momentum behind the decisions that you guys desperately want to make but now you got to actually do it I hope that encourages you because on the other side of this it's tremendous peace you know it's going to get better. It is, it is. And Francis, like this isn't forever, right? A lot of this, and you look and you guys can crunch these numbers,

but you have a great savings. And again, if you throw it at the debt, all of this, you guys could have this paid off in less than 12 months. Like if you guys really, really focused and again, maybe picked up some income, do what you have to do. And what your life could look like in

three years oh you would have an emergency fund a new car you get to go out to eat again like i mean what it's not going to take that long to build up to be out of debt build up an emergency fund all of it but hang on the line francis austin's gonna pick up and i wanted to give you guys uh a year subscription to financial peace university which has every dollar plus with it um i want you and your husband to sit down and do this together. And the budget is frustrating, but give yourself three months. Okay. It's not going to be great next month. Not the next month by December, January, you're going to get the budget going and you guys are going to have this debt paid off in less than a year. Thanks for calling. សូវាប់ពីបានប់ពីបានប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពី Welcome back to The Ramsey Show.

Going to the phones, we have Thomas in Fort Smith. Hey, Thomas, welcome to the show. Hi, how are you? We're doing well, thanks. How can we help? All right, so I was trying to find out how I could, I guess, get a bigger shovel to get out of the situation I'm in. I'm 28, and I have $23,000 in debt.

$10,000 of it is student loans. Five of it is a car loan. And I've got about five in collections. And then about, I'd say $1,000 in a personal loan. And then I guess miscellaneous, the other stuff. I don't know off the top of my head. What do you do for a living now? So I work at a wholesale distribution center.

We sell electrical parts for electricians. So are you in sales, customer service? So I'm a driver, so what they do is they key in the orders, and then I load the material up and take it to the job site and stuff like that. Okay, so you deliver parts and things of that nature. And how much do you make, Thomas? $16.50 an hour. Okay. Are you full-time, like 40 hours a week?

Yes. Okay, so the answer to this is either a part-time job or a better full-time job or both, right? So A, I'm going to get, I'm going to add a part-time job. B, I'm going to, well, I just messed up my whole line of order. It doesn't matter. It's all three of those. Those are your options. So I'm either going to add a part-time job, I'm going to get a better day job, or I'm going to do both. Those are the three options. So do you have the time, based on your responsibilities and life and everything, to add a part-time job? Add maybe 20 hours, 30 hours a week.

I think it would be possible. So I do have two kids. I have joint custody of my daughter, but her mom would be willing to work with me in the situation and stuff. Okay. So that's one option. Okay. So now we add, let's say you can get an $18 to $20 an hour job and you're adding 20 hours. You can do the math on that. Man, let me tell you something.

That one option alone would allow you to power through the 5K car loan, the 5K in collections. You could power through that in about two, three months. Okay. Just really crushing it. Now, if you get a better day job where you're making 20, 22, 25 an hour with any skills that you have, I would make that move. I would make that move right now and then potentially add the part-time job. So that's the short answer. And it's literally you putting yourself out there. And we are in a wonderful job economy right now. And this is you just shaking the tree here to go, okay, what's available out there where I live, where I can make 20, 25 bucks an hour, even if it's just sheer labor. Right now, you're driving a truck

and delivering parts. So there's no question in my mind that you can go do this, but you got to look intently and then decide. And understand this, this doesn't have to be a major career move. This is a season by which you are bringing in more money. I love that you called to ask, how can I make my shovel bigger? And that's just Ramsey Solutions speak for more income so I can pay off the debt faster. But those are your three options. Right. So I think that I can do all that. I guess one other question I did have was, where do I start?

Because I know you guys say don't worry about the interest rates and everything, but I know the baby steps and how to get there and everything, but I don't know, do I start in the collections? Do I start on the student loans? Do I go on the cars? You know, I, I guess I'm just like, I got my hands in every which direction. I'm like, I need to focus on what kind of debts in the collections. Uh, there's a few medical bills. Uh, there was a Zills card. card um and do you have any savings thomas you have any cash i've got about 100 bucks on me and that and that's the thing too is i don't have stuff it wasn't stuff that i accumulated so i don't really have anything to sell right right no i hear you um the first move i would make is I would call the debt that you have in collections

and just kind of let them know, hey, here's the situation. I have $100 to my name. I'm going to be adding some part-time jobs to get this out or to be paying this off. But what can I settle with you guys? Because sometimes they'll go, I mean, even pennies on the dollar at times. I mean, so I would go and ask and just tell them your situation and be like you're not gonna be getting anything anytime soon but can we settle this and if they agree and you guys go back and forth don't ever give them access to your bank account don't tell them where you work don't do any of that but if they will settle get it in writing and use that

but I would but I would start with the collections of that being behind so i would start with that first and foremost then knock out that personal loan and then the car and then the student loan how much uh you have five left on your car how much how much is it worth just for the heck of it i don't know how much it's worth i will tell you it's a 2011 camry it's got about 200 and something thousand miles on it. And I know the car market from just hearing you guys, it says it's went up, but I don't believe that car is worth it. No, you're fine.

You're fine. I just thought like for the heck of it, what if you could get to, you know, I didn't know what kind of car it was. What if you could get 20 grand for it or something? I'm like, you could use that to knock out some of this debt.

I'd be, I'd be wanting to sell it if I didn't have it. Right. No, and it wouldn't work for that. So yeah. So Thomas, this is going to just be a level of diligence and a level of intensity that you probably haven't felt because a lot of this is so normal, right? You got some car loans, some personal loans, you got some stuff in collections, you know, I mean like this,

what you described is so normal. And so for you, you're going to have to shift out of that mindset. And I know you're ready because you called and we're asking,, you're going to have to shift out of that mindset. And I know you're ready because you called and were asking, but you're going to feel that intensity for not forever and not for long because $23,000, you could really knock this out. I want you to up your income because you're making about $35,000 a year. So I think you can make a whole lot more. A whole lot. And I think that's going to be your best bet. Right. See, that's my thing, too, is, Ken, I kind of wanted to ask you. So I wanted to eventually, obviously not now, because I know you guys talk about cash flow and your degrees eventually. I'd want to go back in cash flow to get my degree as a mental health counselor.

But I'm not sure. I know the concept of how to do it. Obviously you pay out of pocket, but, uh, so for example, there's jobs here where I'm at, there's two jobs. One, you can do like a behavioral tech. And then there was another one was a driver job. And you talk about part-time. Well, the driver job was like 11 to 25 an hour. I'm assuming it's based off your experience or whatever, but that kind of gets your foot in the door and it's a part-time job. Would that be something to look into? Yeah, but I want you to look at everything because let me just give you some anecdotal evidence here. Walmart had a major announcement that it was last year, but they are paying tuition.

They are reimbursing tuition, paying tuition. So if I'm you in the situation you're in, I'm going, hey, am I willing to work at Walmart? I mean, I'm driving and delivering electrical parts right now. There's no shame in your game there. But if I can work at Walmart making $20, $25 an hour, and they're going to help me with my degree later on, I'm going to work at Walmart right now. That takes care of a couple things. Number one, I've increased my income. I go get a part-time job on top of that.

I'm working every time I don't have my little baby girl with me, and you're working hard, man. And so then once I get all the debt paid off, I can pull back, and I'm a full-time Walmart employee. I try to move up within the organization, and I work with them long enough to where I get an opportunity, and they'll pay my way through school, and then I make the transition. There are so many companies that are willing to pay tuition.

I would at least start there and look at it, especially the kind of work you're doing now. Right, yeah. I will definitely look into it. I will say I did look into Walmart, and I have worked for Walmart in the past. I worked there for about three and a half years when I was in school. So I'm sure they would take me back. I will say one more thing, and I'll let you guys go. I don't want to hold you up.

Rachel, as far as the – so I know this is bad to say, but I haven't really started Baby Step 1. I've just been doing Baby Step 2. Oh, I got you. Because I don't really started baby step one. I've just been doing baby step two. Oh, I got you. Because I don't have anything to sell. So my question is, how do I get that thousand? Do I just take, you know, percentages of my check each time I put it back to do that? Like, how would I do that? Yeah, I would do that. And when you're doing this part-time job, you're going to just put

everything extra you're making to fulfill that thousand dollars first and foremost. But hey, stay on the line, Thomas. Austin's going to pick up and we're going to give you 12 months of Financial Peace University because it's going to have every dollar plus with it, which is our budgeting tool. And these two things together really, I think are going to propel you forward. But I'm excited for you, Thomas. I mean, I feel like, man, you have such hope that you can change this around. You're asking the right questions and this is possible. It's going to feel uncomfortable at first, but man, in 24 months, your life's going to look a whole lot different. Thanks for calling. our scripture of the day comes from james 1 19 through 20 my dear brothers and sisters take note of this everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.

Because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Fred Rogers, Mr. Rogers. Oh, I love me some Mr. Rogers. In times of stress, the best thing we can do for each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and be assured that our questions are just as important as our answers. Brilliant. Hey, good question asking with people. When people are having a hard time or they're sharing something, when you just ask questions. Yeah, it goes a long way. Just keep asking. Yeah. By the way, world-class coaches, I've learned from them.

I've sat with some professional, like we're talking about executive coaches. They ask what questions. Just keep asking what. You really want to just connect with somebody. You don't know what to say. Keep asking what questions. Well, what, what, what. It's pretty good.

By the way, one other thing on Mr. Rogers before we move on. He could read from a phone book and you would go, that's amazing. That's brilliant. He could read an ad for a dry book and you would go that's amazing that's that's brilliant he could read an ad for a dry cleaner and you'd go wow i kind of think you should start like changing into a cardigan and changing your shoes before the randy show like he did like mr roger like vibes let me just tell you something if if if dave would allow we could put a closet right here behind me and and i would come in right here this would be great it'd be on day when she chose when dave isn't here because he would like clothesline me if i tried to do it and I would come in right here. This would be great. It would be on shows when Dave isn't here because he would clothesline me if I tried to do it.

But I would come in, open it up, do the whole little thing. What's your shoe game? Mine's just some black glass. Today I got the Air Force Ones high top, folks. I'm pretty drippy today, as the kids would say. Is that a kid thing? I hope it is.

Now I'm terrified. I think it is. Yeah, the fit, here's how they a kid thing? I hope it is. Now I'm terrified. I think it is. Yeah. The fit, here's how they say it. The fit is drippy. You and George. I have teenage boys. You and George teach me these.

I don't know this lingo. But I would do it. Back to that. I would like to take off today's shacket. I would walk in, hang up the shacket, and put on a cardigan and change my shoes. I think it would be fantastic. Turn into Mr. Rogers. Yeah it is all right michael is up next please michael is up in new mexico hey michael welcome to the show hey there superfly can and rachel it's an honor to speak with you you're welcome thank you i am super far thank you you. Yes. How can we help? I have a question in regards to vehicles and things with motors and wheels.

I have quite a few things with motors and wheels to the tune of about $170,000. And I'm wondering if my situation could possibly be an exception to the rule of not having things with motors and wheels equal more than half of your annual income. All right. So what's the situation? That's quite a setup. What makes you the exception? Well, several of these, well, there's vehicles and well, there's three trucks, two cars, a race car, an enclosed race trailer, two camper trailers, a boat, flatbed, and a horse trailer. And a few of those are appreciating in value. Like what? Which ones?

Because they're old. I have two of the three trucks are old trucks. Like collectors? Like a collection collector? Yeah. And are these a collection collector? Yeah. And are these all paid for? Yes. Oh, so you own all these outright?

Yes, sir. And so the value of all of these things together, that's a different application because you've paid cash for these things. You don't have a car payment. You're not overextended either is my guess. I'm guessing that. Is that correct?

I believe so, yes, sir. What do you mean you believe so? What's your financial net worth? Do you have any debt at all? Zero debt. Net worth is right around $2 million. Oh, Michael, you're good. I knew it.

Michael, you're awesome, man. How much do you make a year? My base pay is only about $120, but it ranges from maybe $180 to $350, depending on where in the world I'm working. Yeah, you're fine. You're fine because of your financial situation. But he brings up a very good point.

Yeah, and the reason that the rule is there is because anything with wheels majority of the time goes down in value right unless it's a classic vehicle appreciating yes except for very small exceptions yes and so yeah we don't want people out there that has you know a hundred thousand dollar car and they're making thirty thousand dollars a year or something and so that's kind of where that rule of thumb comes from. But your net worth, yeah, and I think the rule of thumb, too, can apply to your net worth as well, just making sure that you have that. And what Rachel's saying, Michael, is important. It's a general rule of thumb.

We're, Dave, trying to help people see, hey, you don't want to be outsized in the money you're spending that you put towards a cash car based on your income because we're telling you to pay cash. So we want you to pay a higher proportion of your income than you should. In your situation, number one, you make really good income. Number two, you own all these things outright cash. And my goodness, your net worth is fantastic. So, man, you're great. I've got to ask, what are the older trucks? Are they classics? One of them is an 85 K10 pickup truck. It was one of our old ranch trucks that I restored. Oh, that's awesome.

Another one is a 77 F250 that was given to me as my first vehicle, and that's all restored. Rachel has no appreciation. Tim loves cars. I love classic cars. I point out I like classic cars. I don't like newfangled cars. I like the old ones, but I'm a child of the 80s. That 85 F10.

What a beaut. It's fantastic. It's such a great truck, I got to tell you. Yeah, man, you're good. You're in great shape. Thanks for the call. I appreciate it. I take that 85 truck

off of him today I promise you that's a slick vehicle you are so funny you're like Mr. Rogers old man vibes I'm getting all this last segment

Mr. Rogers would never drive an 85 it's on he'd drive a Gremlin I don't even know what that is look that one up isn't that a movie

I feel see this is why we need to be on the show together these generational gaps there are a lot of people you're in that don't even know what that is. Isn't that a movie? I feel, see, this is why we need to be on the show together, these generational gaps. There are a lot of people you're into that don't even know what a gremlin is. What year were you born? Let's get people perspective. What year were you born?

I was born in 74. That's a massive gap. That's a massive gap, Ken. If you were born in the 40s, that would be a massive gap. Just as far as cultural changes. I think it's a pretty big gap. Maybe not massive. A Gremlin was a movie.

The Gremlins, right? Oh, geez. Can we, guys, can you help me out? Can somebody pull up a Gremlin and show all the young people, Rachel's age and younger, what a Gremlin is? It's the ugliest car ever made. Why would you put Mr. Rogers in that? Because I just think that's what he drives.

You'll see. No, he would drive an Oldsmobile like you can. No, wait until you see the Gremlin. I could see him rolling what he drives. No, he would drive an Oldsmobile like you can. No, wait until you see the Gremlin. I could see him rolling up to the old studio, the PBS studio in a Gremlin. Oh, gosh. Maybe a station wagon. All right, it's gone.

They can't get it for us. The wood-paneled station wagon. That's a child of the 80s. That was... They got confused and they're pulling up Gremlins in the movie. The movie! See, even the guys in the booth got confused and pulled up little creatures from the movie. I know.

It's an actual car. Oh, no. No, it's a car. Oh, jeez. I got to do everything myself. Let me pull it up on the laptop. All right, you guys. You may be hating this show, but if you love it, consider subscribing.

Leave a review. Share it with a friend. Why would they hate what just happened? That's fantastic conversation. Because you're talking about gremlins and cars. That's a car. It's a movie. Share it with a friend. Why would they hate what just happened? That's fantastic conversation. Because you're talking about gremlins and cars. That's a car. It's a movie. Oh, look.

There's Jay Leno. Okay. Jay Leno's cool. Here it is. Jay's Garage. And Jay's got a gremlin. Oh, okay. I've seen those, Ken.

Yeah. Okay. I got you. That's a gremlin. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.

What year did they stop making that? I don't know. I gotta look it up. Oh, man. What year did they stop making that? I don't know. I've got to look it up. Oh, man. You know what I'm excited about? You know what I'm excited about? Holding in my hands right here. What is it?

Very exciting details about our SMART conference. You know, COVID knocked it offline like it did a lot of events. And this is a full-day event. All of the Ramsey personalities, including Rachel, myself, Dave, John Deloney, and George Campbell. It's going to be unbelievable. We cover the full spectrum. Obviously, money, your mental and emotional health, your work, marriage.

We're going to have a special guest, Craig Groeschel, and his wife going to be speaking on marriage. It's a great day, and it's Saturday, October 22nd, Dallas, Texas. So we're back. Dallas, Texas, Saturday, October 22nd, Dallas, Texas. So we're back, Dallas, Texas, Saturday, October 22nd, the Smart Conference. We've got incredible deals for you. You can reserve your seats today, ramsaysolutions.com slash events. That's ramsaysolutions.com slash events. And there's a special vibe and energy when you get 6,000 plus people in one room dedicated to just learning and growing. And I'd love to see you there. Join us, ramsaysolutions.com slash events. Yeah, make sure to check that out, you guys.

Ken, great show today. Thank you. Fun times. Enjoyed hosting with you. And thanks to James, Ben, Zach, Andrew, Austin, everyone in the back. And thank you, America, for listening. We'll be back. Hey, it's Rachel Cruz, co-host on The Ramsey Show. If you want to do your debt-free scream live on the show, visit ramseysolutions.com slash debt-free scream. We'd love for you to come to Nashville and tell Dave your story.

That's ramseysolutions.com slash debt-free scream.