The Ramsey Show - App - How Being Debt-Free Helps You Become Generous (Hour 2)

Episode Date: September 11, 2018

The show about you

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, 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. We're glad you are with us. Thank you for joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Kanan is with us in Auburn, Alabama. Hi, Kanan. How are you?

I'm well, Dad. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. What's up? So I was studying at West Point, and when I went abroad my senior year, I acted a fool and got myself kicked out right before I graduated. Oh, Lord. And I owed the government about $300,000.

And while I was there, I also took out a personal loan of about $35,000. And while I was there, I also took out a personal loan of about $35,000. I recently got married in May, and my wife, she can't work right now because we're waiting on her green card. I've bounced around a few jobs since then, and the one I'm working on now is on a bad job, but I'm not particularly passionate about it. And I'm actually on my way now to do my orientation for Domino's. I'm going to go deliver pizzas as a side job. But I don't really know what to do. I had my career path to be in the Army, and I thought I was going to figure it out then, but right now I'm just, I don't know, I feel like I'm working,

and to pay off all this debt, it's going to take me a long time, I feel like. Yeah, how old are you? 24. Okay, so you were how close to graduating from West Point? The day before, they told me I was getting separated. Oh, man, I'm so sorry. What a disaster. Yeah.

Well, I mean, I'm the one that misbehaved, but I take responsibility for that. I understand. Yeah, you did it it but what a mess so I am not positive obviously that is the preeminent military war college do those college credits transfer

to another college yes I actually transferred them and was able to get my degree last month. Okay, that's good news. In what? I got one of those stupid majors you talk about because I probably don't be in the Army, but it's in Russian studies. Okay, but that was the closest thing for you to finish. Yes, sir. I ended up finishing up with the same degree I was studying at West Point.

Right, okay. But at least you come out with a degree. Okay. All right. Oh, my goodness. Well, I think, you know, what I'm going to do, what drew you to Russian studies while you were in the military? Obviously, you were studying it from a military aspect. Is that right? Right. And I just fell in love with the language. I was originally a math and econ major, but I wanted to go abroad and learn the language and then hopefully get a job in the government agency after.

Yeah. Okay, here's what I want you to do. I want you to pursue international business with a specialization in russia and i want you to learn how to do trade and how to do deals because you've got these skills you've got a natural tendency to business with econ and math you've got the skill set to do that and you've got this very specialized set of skills understanding the russian culture language and so forth agreed yes sir yeah i think that translates to international business. And there is a lot of money flowing in and out of Russia.

Legal money, not illegal money, as you probably already know. And so, yeah, I would lean into that and say that's going to be the salvation of this mess because, you know, you've got a really, really big hole here, and delivering Domino's pizza is not going to get the salvation of this mess because, you know, you've got a really, really big hole here, and delivering Domino's pizza is not going to get you out of $300,000. Well, that's my side job. Okay, and your day job is what? I work in a rubber factory.

Okay. Now, making what? I make about $15 an hour, so it's about $30,000 a year. Okay. Well, I want you to forgive yourself for your stupidity and reset your career and go, okay, I'm 24. I did a really dumb thing. It's now in the rearview mirror.

I'm not a $15 an hour guy. I'm a $100,000 a year guy, and I'm going to go about becoming a specialist in Russian international business. And I'm going to find people that work with people in Russia, businesses that interact with that, and I'm going to go work for them. And I'm going to make some serious money to get out of this mess. Even if you didn't have this mess, that would be what you would need to do because you've got that potential, and I don't want you to take a $15-an-hour job

and that is now your future in a factory because you had right on the cusp of graduating from one of the world's finest institutions, you did something stupid. That does not need to define your life. It just needs to cause your life to be redirected. Is that okay? Yeah, I think my biggest thing is just not really, you know, my purpose was to serve in the Army,

and now since then I've just kind of been wandering about. Yep, and it's time to get a new one brother not not having a purpose sucks doesn't it and i'm sitting here trying to give you a new one because i listen listen other than the dumb thing you did you don't get to the final cut the final day at west Point if you're stupid. You're not an ignorant. You're not an unintelligent person. Okay?

You don't get there. It's not possible. It's too tough. Am I wrong? You're right. Okay. You did a dumb thing. That doesn't make you unintelligent.

It makes you a smart guy who did a dumb thing. You put my name on that list. I'm a smart smart guy's done a lot of dumb things in my life so put it in the rearview mirror and let's reset our purpose we're not going that way okay where are we going there's got to be a different adventure and it doesn't mean that you are doomed to a life of slavery next time i talk to you i want a little more hope in your want a little more hope in your voice, a little more energy in your voice. And I want you fired up and wired up about where you're going. Because that's the next step in your life, brother.

And you're not getting out of this debt with Domino's Pizza and $15. Besides that, it'd be a waste of your life. You're too sharp. There's too much good you can still do. And you can have some fun with the skill set you've got, and you may even be able to get involved in policy and some other stuff in the government position.

You don't have to graduate from West Point to use a, you know, use your skill set in a think tank in D.C. somewhere. So, you know, don't camp on the backside of the desert here too long, my brother. You've got stuff to do. And you've got a mess to clean up, too.

But you've got stuff to do. You've got potential. Don't sell that out. So your hope for the future matters. Proverbs says, hope deferred makes the heart sick. But when desire comes, it is the tree of life. Oh, there we go. This is the Dave time to buy life insurance?

My answer is typically now. Life insurance is not part of the baby steps because it's needed when your family has debt and not enough savings to provide for their financial needs. That's when they're at the highest risk. And no matter where you are in your baby steps, it's a necessity, not a choice. This includes working husbands and wives as well as stay-at-home parents. It's pretty expensive to replace those stay-at-home parent responsibilities. I only recommend term life insurance since it's the most affordable way to get the right amount of

coverage and not break your budget. Go to zander.com or call 800-356-4282. These are the guys I personally use. Term life insurance is inexpensive and your family needs this no matter where you are in your baby steps. That's Zander.com or call 800-356-4282. Zander.com. Jared is with us in Oklahoma City. Hi, Jared. How are you? Oh, what's up on this side of the great this morning? So I guess I'm doing better than most. I hear you, brother.

How can I help? I got a question. So my wife and I are currently working on baby step number two, getting our debt paid off and stuff like that. Eventually we'd like to buy a house that has some land on it. We live in the center of town right now. And a piece of property has come up that is a little over five and a half acres with an unfinished home on it and a trailer home on it for $170,000. And basically, I'm just wondering if you can get as bad of an idea as it sounds like. We've kind of thought about maybe selling our home because we've got a lot of

equity in our home. We owe less than $100,000 on it. The appraise is for around $157,000, I believe. And so we've thought about possibly selling our home and using the profit on it as a down payment towards this new piece of property. but we would also have to take out a construction loan to finish the barn home. So, I mean, we've got, like, our total debt right now comes out to be about $27,000 split between a car, a signature loan, and then a loan that my dad gave me when we fell through some hard times and had a lot of debt.

What is your household income? $60,000 to $80,000, depending on bonuses from my part-time job. What experience do you have around construction? I'm sorry, do what? What experience do you have around construction? I'm sorry, do what? What experience do you have around construction? I did construction myself in Botech for a year, and I helped my dad renovate their whole house. I could probably do quite a bit of it myself.

I've got a lot of plumbing experience and some electrical experience as well. What will it take to finish the house, money-wise? How much money? Money-wise, roughly, they've got the frame, the utilities, and the pad already done. So they think around $60 a square foot, and the interior of the home is approximately 3,200 square feet. But we would also turn part of that into an attached garage, which would cost less than the original, than the $60 a square foot.

So you're talking about going another $200,000 in debt on top of what we're already talking about, just to finish this house? Probably, yeah. Which would put you like $350,000 in debt making $60,000, $70,000 a year? Yeah. I don't think so. Yeah, when you said it like that, it all comes together there. Because your initial purchase that is borrowed plus your construction loan,

and you're talking about $200,000 is what your $60 a foot on $3,200 is, $200,000, is going to be $300,000, and you have to have a final, what they call the takeout mortgage, your permanent mortgage arranged in order for them to give you the construction loan. And so it's all packaged together. In other words, you have the permanent mortgage set up for when construction is complete to pay off the construction loan and the original loan all in one new mortgage that would be in excess of 300 grand with what you're describing. And I don't think that I don't think you're going to qualify for it.

You might, but I don't think you will. And so it sounds kind of fun. I mean, I like a piece of ground around me. I'm like you. I've got about 20 acres my house sits on, and I like that. I'm that guy. I don't want people right up next to me. I like people, but I don't want them right up next to me.

And so, you know, I kind of sympathize with where you are, and I know how to swing a hammer, too, just like you do, or turn a wrench. So you can see how you could do this stuff, but I'm afraid the allure of this is causing it to bite off more than you can chew. And doing this construction, trying to do this construction on the cheap, is a good way to get a product, get a house half finished and run out of money or something, and you don't want to be there. I've run into a bunch of people there.

So I think we're probably going to pass on this one. That's kind of what I thought. I think the initial thought of land going for cheap out here, because in Kingfisher County, I don't know how much you keep up track with the oil field. The oil field is crazy in Kingfisher County right now. Yeah, I do. And, you know, the problem is as soon as gas goes down, as they just decide in the Middle East to turn on the faucet

and drive the supply up, then the price drops, then suddenly all of this prosperity dries up for a short period of time. And so the problem with oil money is it comes and then it goes, and then it comes again, and then it goes again. And so I've watched these oil field economies for 30 years come and go several times, and so it's hot right now, which is exactly not the time to buy yeah i mean land lands going for about 20 000 an acre out here which is not the time to buy it's it's insane yeah it's ridiculous yeah um i get your dream i want you to live your dream but what i've always

found is sometimes if i do my dream wrong it turns turns into a nightmare. And that's what I'm trying to help you not do. So there's a lot of appeal to this deal. But there's two or three red flags here that make it a killer for me if I were in your shoes. I'm going to pass, Jared. Hey, man, thank you for the call. You'll get your dream place, by the way. Just don't do it in such a way that it becomes a nightmare. Kyler is with us in Tacoma.

Hi, Kyler. How are you? Pretty good, Dave. How about yourself? Better than I deserve. What's up? So, my fiancée and I are trying to decide whether we should sell our house. We have to relocate to Bellevue, Washington for her job, which she's currently commuting there,

and that's costing quite a bit in gas and vehicle maintenance every month. So we're trying to decide whether we should keep the house as a rental or just sell out and move up there. Okay. When are you getting married? We're shooting for next September. Okay. Why so long? We're just trying to get all our finances in order. Why?

You're already living together. Yeah. Well, because I recently just got out of the military, and then I'm going to start school. So? And she just graduated, so we're just waiting to plan everything out. And you're acting like you own this house together, and you don't. Who owns the house? I do.

Okay. So you have a house, and you have a roommate. I guess so, yeah. Yeah yeah that's what the law says i mean she's not on the deed so we don't have a house because we aren't married so um i wouldn't wait i wouldn't wait till september if i were you to get married i get married immediately and yes i would sell this house no i would not rent it long distance so you are you going to land a new you're going to land a new job up in her area, the new area where she's commuting to? I am going to start college up there at Bellevue College. Oh, okay.

So you're going to be on the GI Bill and you'll get your stipend and everything. Very cool. Yep. Well, thank you for your service. I appreciate that. So if you were my son and you're his age by the way what i would do is as his dad i i would lovingly tell you to get married immediately sell the house move up there go to college rent uh while you get through your degree you've got you've served your country you've

earned the right to this degree thank you go get that degree and get it in something that is actually marketable get a good degree that causes you to be able to get a job. Okay? I'm looking at a network engineer. Excellent. Excellent. That's a perfect thing to do, especially in your area there. Big, big pull for that.

And so you're in a tech corridor, obviously. So, yeah, that's really good. What does she do? She is a software engineer. Yeah. And you guys are 25 or 26? I am 26, and she is 23. Funny how I knew that, isn't it?

Hey, that's what I would do if I were in your shoes, brother. You do what you want, but you call me and ask, and then I will tell you. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. Are high health care costs getting you down? Are you confused trying to navigate your options? Do you wish you could find an affordable, biblical solution to your health care costs? Based on New Testament principles, Christian Health Care Ministries, or CHM, helps Christian families, churches, and ministries join together as the body of Christ to share their major healthcare costs. Christian Healthcare Ministries is the original health cost-sharing ministry, a Better Business Bureau-accredited organization CHM members share to pay each other's medical bills.

It's not insurance. It's Christians financially and spiritually supporting each other. It's what Christian Healthcare Ministries has done for over 35 years, and our members have shared over $2.5 billion in medical bills. To learn more, visit chministries.org. That's chministries.org. Christian Healthcare Ministries is a proud sponsor of Dave Ramsey Live Events. chministries.org. Christian Healthcare Ministries is a proud sponsor of Dave Ramsey Live Events. chministries.org. In the lobby of Ramsey Solutions, Brandon and Trinity are with us. Hey, guys, how are you? Good.

Hey, Dave, we're great. Cool. How can I help today? Oh, you're here to do a debt-free stream. What am I thinking about? I'm losing my mind here. So where do you guys live? From Arroyo Grande, California.

Cool. All the way to Nashville. How much have you paid off? $100,178. $100,178. Way to go. How long did that take? Ten months.

Whoa! Yeah. And your range of income during that time? We started at about $65,000, and we're up to about $110,000 right now. Whoa. Yeah. And your range of income during that time? We started at about $65,000 and we're up to about $110,000 right now. Okay. So you didn't make $100,000 during that time. You must have sold something big. Yeah. A couple things. Yeah. What was the big thing you sold? Well, a couple things. We got rid of two leases, sold a motorcycle just a couple thousand dollars and then the biggest is i was in a car accident in january of 2017 and we got that settlement right about that 10 10 month

mark okay which was fifty thousand dollars so you got fifty thousand for that and then you sold the car two cars what were they were what did they sell for uh we were both they're both leased so about about broke even we had to roll some negative equity into another loan. Were those lease amounts, though, in the $100,000? Yeah. Okay, so what were the cars sold for? Uh, $19,000 and $25,000. Oh, wow.

Okay. So that plus $50,000 was a lot of the whole thing. Yeah. Okay, and then you just cash flowed the rest of it. Yeah. Wow. But you guys went crazy. Yeah.

You sold the cars cars you sold the motorcycle you used the settlement everything boom right on the debt what kind of debt was it oh gosh uh everything money to family credit cards student loans uh the leases yeah and uh we cash flowed her uh master's program as well yeah wow how long have you guys been married? Two years. About a year into the marriage, you look up and say, we're changing directions here dramatically. Tell me what happened. Brandon got on board first. It took

a while for me to get on board. He just kept bringing up your name and I was like, I don't know if I'm for this. This just seems kind of weird. And then, yeah, um, never give up came on about that time. And so we watched that documentary and I was just like full of tears and it just really touched me. So very cool. I'll get on board. Yeah. We sat down and, uh, one of my friends, Brent Vanderveen, he turned us onto it

and, uh, we sat down that night and we did our, we did an Excel spreadsheet with all of our debt. We had no idea where we were. And we saw that $100,000. I did the, added it all up and I said, oh my gosh, we got to change. That was it. We knew it was bad, but we didn't think it was that bad. Yeah, when you add it up, you do have that old crap moment.

Yeah. It's really bad. Okay. And then it's game on, right? Yeah, pretty much. Together. You just said we're going to change, do a hard left moment, yeah. Yeah. That's really bad. Okay, and then it's game on, right? Yeah, pretty much. Together. You just said we're going to do a hard left turn, and here we go. Very cool.

Very cool. Way to go, you guys. Thanks. Thank you. Incredible intensity, incredible focus on this. Yeah, our lawyer said take your wife to Hawaii, and of course we didn't do that. We paid off our debt, so maybe someday Hawaii. So it was a bad car wreck, huh?

Yeah, I was on the side of the road getting the mail and someone came off and hit me head on. Oh! Yeah. Oh, that took my breath away. Yeah, it was about 50 miles an hour. And it was right next to my parents' house, so I lived there my whole life. So I was on the side of the road sitting there off the road

getting the mail, reaching out, and I saw this car coming up. I thought it was pulling off the side of the road. People always pulled off road, getting the mail, reaching out. And I saw this car coming up. I thought it was pulling off the side of the road. People always pulled off right there, but it was quick. So I thought I was either going to get hit or robbed. I don't know what was happening. And then hit, and I was thrown off the road. Yeah.

Man. Nasty. Yeah. Are you okay now? Yeah, I'm good. I'm all good now. Good. Praise God.

Yeah, right. This is amazing. Okay, cool. So what do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is? Because you guys had a little bit of a different journey here. Yeah. I think for us it was communication. We had a lot of detractors, but the few cheerleaders that we had were so strong that I think you just need at least a couple of those in your life and then communicate well.

Who were the cheerleaders? Brent was a big one. He came every week to our house and we did FPU in our living room. Oh, wow. Yeah. And then his uncle was a huge, huge cheerleader. He helped give us a car. That was a cool story.

When we were telling him we were getting out of debt and we were selling all the cars, I was actually online looking for cars that day. And I thought, wow, that car looks real familiar. And it was his. So I called him. I was like, hey, you're selling your car? And he said, yeah. So he worked out.

It was going to be $6,000. He said, just pay me $500 every couple of months when you can. And then he said he wanted me to come over that night. He wanted to give me windshield wipers or something. And he said, you know what? The Lord spoke to me and I want to deed this to you. I broke down in tears. It was powerful.

Wow. Way to go, uncle. I love it. Now you guys get to do stuff like that. Now you're not broke anymore. You live like no one else. Later you can live and give like your uncle. Yeah.

I think another huge thing is just being ready to be different because we've had a lot of people making fun of us i just went on a big trip and all the girls were laughing at me for pulling out my every dollar budget every time i swiped my debit card and you say you're debt free but they don't fully understand what that means so you have to repeat it a couple times. And just being willing to be different has been huge. Yeah, that's interesting. Well, and you probably have that running through your head. I mean, you're on this girl's trip. They're all making fun of you, going, yeah, broke people making fun of my financial plan,

which means I'm on track. Yeah, totally. You just smile, nod your head, and go, you people are crazy. She came home fired up from that trip. She said, they're all making fun of me on the trip. And I said, we're doing something right. Let's keep doing it. That's exactly right.

Normal is broke, and if broke people are making fun of you, you're on track. I love it, you guys. Well done, well done. That's fun. We should mention, too, that about less than two weeks after we found out we were debt-free, we found out we were expecting our first child. Yay! So, yeah, we're due around Christmas time.

What a great year you're having. Yeah. I know. It was a crazy year. This is a great year. Yeah. Wow. Well, good for you.

Well, I'm sure your parents are dancing a jig. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They don't fully understand it, but... They understand a baby's on the way the debt-free they're definitely uh debt-free they were just a little bit concerned about that they didn't fully understand but i think yeah they're they're on board now yeah yeah sharon's mother thought we needed counseling yeah i love it good for you you guys. Well done, well done. Wow.

Well, man, we got a copy of Chris Hogan's book for you, Retire Inspired. And, of course, you know that's the next chapter, that with your $110,000 income and not a payment in the world, you're going to become very wealthy now, become millionaires, some of those everyday millionaires we talk to all the time. And, of course, outrageously generous as you go along. And, boy, you got a good model for that with your uncle that was awesome great great part of the story brandon and trinity from california a hundred thousand one hundred and seventy eight dollars paid off in 10 months two lease cars sold a settlement uncle gives him a car i mean this is just blessed blessed blessed right here 65 to 110 income. Count it down.

Let's hear a debt-free scream. Ready? Three, two, one. We're debt-free! There we go. There we go. I love it! Man, oh, man, oh, man.

That is fun. You know, when you're not broke and God says, hey, that car that I own, that I let you manage for me, that I let you be a steward of, I want you to give it to them. You can say, yes, Lord, yes, Master, because you don't have two masters. You only have one. God is the only master of your life, And you can actually listen and heed his voice when he says to do something like that. But when you have two masters, when you have debt, because the borrower is slave to the lender. Translation, if you're a slave, there must be a master involved, wouldn't you think? Jesus said it's hard to serve two masters

because you'll love one and hate the other but they're in conflict with each other this is how this works people I love it this is the Dave Ramsey Show. alex is in dover delaware hey alex welcome to the dave ramsey show hey mr amzy how are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? I had a retirement question.

I'm 23 years old, and I'm currently stuck between Baby Steps 2 and 3, 3B, sorry. I have a Roth IRA, which I've had for a couple years. How are you, stop a second, I don't understand how you get stuck between Baby Steps 2 and 3B. Yeah. I read your book last April. I told him I wanted to make over, and I started working the Baby Steps. And one debt that I had was student loans, and I started paying off. I paid about like $8,000 of it off. Okay, I got that. But where does 3B come into play?

That's saving for a house yeah so i i had two thousand dollars left on my debt and i found out the army um should have paid uh missed two payments on my my student loans so i would that's been like kind of pending for a while because they haven't taken care of that. So I haven't paid down my last $2,000 on the student loans. Will they not reimburse you if you do pay it down? No, they said if the balance is zero, then they won't repay it. And how long has that been pending?

Since April when I found out about it well how long do they how long do you think you're gonna be before you get the money uh hopefully this year i'm hoping okay if it's not here by christmas just pay it off okay screw it move on move on you're gonna get on with your life so what's your question about retirement? Okay. I have a Roth IRA I've had for a couple years, but I've maxed out for the past couple years. And I just recently started this year a 457B. And I didn't know if I could do both of them at the same time if I'm maxing out my Roth IRA.

Yes. Okay. And if that's so, should I be, should I, because the cap on the 457B is like $18,000 or whatever, should I just do it on that to get the Roth IRA? Well, no, I put the Roth IRA before the 457 because the Roth grows tax-free. 457 is deferred comp. That's just where you are putting off, deferring, holding off, receiving your money. And it can be invested and can grow. It's deferring your compensation.

And so Roth IRA grows completely tax-free. So you fully fund the Roth IRA first. And, you know, we're thinking about baby step four at this point, which is 15% of your income going into retirement. What do you make? I make $60,000. Okay. You don't need to be maxing out that $457,000 then because you need to be throwing the other money towards your house.

And you're saving up to buy a house, and so I throw all that money in that savings. So 15% of $50,000 is $7,500. That means that you put $2,500 or you put $5,500 into the Roth and $2,000 into the 457, not $18,000. Okay. Yeah, I do have a house fund. And throw everything else at the house fund. Okay. So my house fund, I already have the 20% down. Yeah, I want 100% down.

That's my goal. So just keep putting money in there as fast and as hard as you can. $7,500 is all you need to be putting in retirement right now. Everything else, and have your emergency fund in place, and have enough to pay off this stupid student loan thing if they don't clear it by December. And then everything else goes in the student loan. Everything else goes in the house fund. Just pile it up, pile it up, pile it up.

You've done a great job. You're way ahead of schedule at 23 years old. And you're being very bright and you're thinking about all this stuff. Your critical thinking skills are excellent. Very, very well done. So get after it, dude. You're doing great. Candy's in Houston, Texas.

Hi, Candy. How are you? Hey, Dave. I'm better than I deserve to be. And thank you very much for all that you've done in my life to make me that way. So I took Financial Peace University in January, and I started with Baby Step 1, got an emergency fund in July. I paid off my debt, and I was all ready to start on Baby Step 3, and then the problem started. So, um, I, I live on a disability check and I rent two rooms out in my home. Um, because I can't, I can't get a roommate tell me that he was going to be moving out.

And so I'm looking for someone now to fill that spot. But in the meantime, I'm short on funds. And then, of course, then there's a plumbing problem. And it was originally supposed to cost $1,500, but then when they got into it, it ended up being $1,680. So that took my entire $1,000 emergency fund plus about $600 out of money I put into sinking funds for Christmas and for car insurance. Okay, good.

So the reason I'm calling you is because it's kind of discouraging, and I'm thinking maybe there's some magic words that you have to add to something that I'm doing. What's your disability income? How much? It's $12.25 a month. Gotcha. How much are you renting these rooms for? One is $8.75, and one is 600.

Very good, very good. And how old are you? I'm 57. What's the nature of your disability? Well, it's really complicated, but I've been diabetic since I was eight, and that turned into kidney problems and then a double transplant. But the thing that really keeps me from being able to work is I have complications with my autonomic nervous system. That means that my blood pressure, my body temperature, all the things your body does automatically, like your heartbeat and stuff like that, doesn't work right.

Yeah. And so there are days when I just can't do anything. I got you. Okay. And then there are other days when I feel fine. I understand. Okay. All right.

Well, I think you've done very, very well. And then you got kicked right in the knee as soon as you were doing good. And that's discouraging to anybody. I mean, anybody who, everything's going good and then boom, you know, and something drops a bomb on you. And it just, it's like, am I, it's just never going to work. But the thing is, if you were not out of debt and you were not on a plan and you were not working intentionally, this thing you've just been through would have been a big mess.

Thank goodness you had the money. Way to go. Way to go. I mean, wow. Well, I want to say thank you. No, I didn't give you the money. I didn't give you any money. didn't give you any money but you you taught me a lot but i think you you know i'm impressed and so i get how it's just like it's a it's a moment where you say dad gum it and you kind of stick your lip out and i would do the

same thing i understand how you feel that way but i just got to tell you looking at the whole picture not just the last you know a couple days of bad luck or bad mess you got the whole picture looks really good because you've done such a good job so i think you got a whole lot more to to be encouraged about than discouraged about i think this is just speed bump and you're going to be fine and here's the other thing I want you to do. I'm going to send you a copy of Christy Wright's book, Business Boutique, because I want you to start a side business idea that you can do on your good days. Because after talking to you for a few minutes,

I think you've probably got a small business inside you. I think there's something you can do here. You've obviously got some health challenges that are very, very real. They're not pretend. But the days that you have good, I'd have something I was doing to create some more income. Days that are bad, you can just set it down. Structure it that way. Hey, very good. Very good. You're going to be fine. Hold on. I'll have Kelly pick up. That puts this hour of the Dave Ramsey Show in the books.

Hey, guys. This is Blake Thompson, Chief Production Officer for the Dave Ramsey Show. Here's a tip. To keep from missing Dave's classic facial expressions to some of those calls, make sure you watch him live. Just visit DaveRamsey.com slash show each day from 2 to 5 p.m. Eastern.