The Ramsey Show - App - How Do I Handle Getting Passed Over for a Promotion? (Hour 2)

Episode Date: September 22, 2021

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Thank you very much. Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studio, this is The Ramsey Show. It's where America hangs out to have a conversation about your life. I'm Ken Coleman, joined by my colleague, Dr. John Deloney, and we're here to take your calls this hour. 888-825-5225. 888-825-5225. Doc, how are you doing today?

You good? You ready to roll? That's right. We've got a full audience, full crew out here in the lobby. Yeah, I saw you back in the hallway doing some exercises with the throat. None of that happened, but this did happen. Yeah. We greet people a lot

on the show, and I was brushing my teeth after lunch, trying to be a good neighbor and community member, and I don't know how this happened. I'm so excited you're telling this. This has never happened. Never. I grabbed a tube of hair gel, and I brushed my teeth

with hair gel. How long was it in your mouth before? Was it like a half a second, an eighth of a second, a tenth? I'm still struggling with my taste and smell, so I was thinking this isn't right, and then I thought George Campbell played a trick on me. So you had that thought while still brushing with hair gel. This is not right.

How many doctorate degrees do you have? I forget. We don't do taste testing in grad school. This is called being highly distracted. I can't criticize him because honestly, it feels like that's something that I would do, but we're keeping an eye on him, folks, because I'm half worried that any moment, James, he kills over because

I'm pretty sure there's a warning on the hair gel bottle, which by the way, whose hair gel was it? And who uses hair gel still? Well, we do share an office with, we share a dressing room with George Campbell. That's a whole new hair products back there. There was a hair dryer back there. There's a whole thing.

I thought you were going to blame it on Dave. That's another show. Dave is not a hair dryer guy, believe it or not. He's not a hair dryer guy. Anyway, I hope he makes it through the rest of the hour. I don't think you're supposed to have that in your mouth. It's gotten up in your gums. I drank my body weight in Listerine, and I think we're good.

Okay, good. But it was not great. Very good. All right all right to the phones we go we'll keep an eye on him folks i think he's going to be all right angela joins us in lexington kentucky angela how can we help hi um thank you guys for taking my call i'm actually hoping that can you would be on this show today because my question is specifically for you. Okay. And I work with some young adults and kids. I'm a little bit older than them, so I call them all kids. And I am trying to mentor them, kind of, sort of, to stay away from debt and things because I don't want them to have the same regrets that I have, you know, graduating college and going into, you know, their lives as adults.

And so I hear on the show sometimes you telling people kind of what kind of questions to ask themselves as far as careers and like their purpose in life and things like that and so i'm setting up a uh library budget uh day kind of with some of them and so i wanted to ask those questions um so that i can kind of give them a better idea of what they want their future to look like because some have an idea some don't. And some are just choosing college just to choose college. And I'm like, no, don't do that. Yeah. Well, so let me give you a very basic set of questions that really,

it's the whole methodology that I teach. And this is how someone gets clear, and this is how we take this big, giant idea of purpose that seems so intimidating and so mythical and so hard to figure out, and we simplify it. So here are the questions. What do they do best? What do they do best? That's talent. Every person on the planet was born with talent. They'll acknowledge that. So we want to just begin to have some fun conversations with them. Let's not make this big career-oriented conversation. Let's take the pressure off of young adults because they don't have a ton of life experience. So we just start talking about what do you do best? Hard skills, soft skills, right? So for one person, they might

be really gifted artistically, right? Another person might be very good mechanically. What do they do best? That's a hard skill. Then the soft skills, otherwise known as people skills. So you've got hard skills and people skills. What do they do best? Then the second question is, what work do you love to do? Now, again, the younger the person, the more exploration they're going to have to do on this question because they don't have 10 years of work. Maybe they don't even have a degree yet, as you've talked about. They don't have a major, so they're still trying to figure it out. But what work do they love to do? And I would break it down to task and function. You know, you think about doing work one day, work that you think might be enjoyable, or even in high school, if you begin to wonder about it, or you saw somebody else do something, you saw them at career day, even as an eighth grader, you went, that's

interesting. We want to begin to have the conversation and say, what kind of work do you think you would enjoy doing? Just the task or the role itself. And then finally, what results do you want to put out in this world? And all work create results. So this is fun for somebody young because now we get away from career titles. We get away from paths. We just go, what contribution would you like to make to the world through your work? And there's a three-part question within this one, okay?

I know I'm hitting you with a lot of questions, but this is the key. These questions allow people to make everything personal. And so they dig. Who are the people they most want to help? And when they begin to think of the people they most want to help, they can also identify this. What's the problem they have or the desire they have? It doesn't always have to be a problem.

It could be a desire you know a 19 year old could say you know i want to help people that have a desire to look beautiful and so that could turn into a whole career esthetician cutting hair you know whatever makeup artist whatever clothing designer so personal trainer personal trainer so we're looking at who are the people i most want to help, the problem or desire those people have, and then what's the solution to that problem or desire that I most get fired up about. Now, when we start talking about that third little part, the solution to the problem or the desire, then the ideas about occupation begin to kind of surface. And more importantly, what I'm giving you here is a conversation starter and then a conversation returner.

Have these conversations over and over. Have them put out real answers. Have them then talk to men and women that are doing the work that they're kind of throwing out there as maybes. And I think the younger that you can get them thinking about this and exploring and discovering and talking to others, that's going to be really, really good. And I would point you to our Get Clear Career Assessment. We've got a 20-minute assessment online that if you're 19, 18, 19, you're still going to get some good from it, even if you don't have a lot of work experience.

And you can get that at ramseysolutions.com. And that's a wonderful little tool that'll give them a purpose statement, a working purpose statement that's not in stone, but they can begin to have a more detailed conversation. That's great. Yeah. So I appreciate the call. And, John, you were in the education industry. You know, part of the thing that I think I'm trying to fight through our traditional education model, and this comes from culture and parents, and parents are kind of getting it from culture, is that we're sending kids off to colleges that have massive amounts of pressure to pick the right major

and just figure it all out and get the absolute best job, right job out of college. I get that. There's nothing wrong with that. But to me, where we're eliminating the discovery that I think needs to happen from 18 to 21 and just diving deep on that simple of a conversation. I remember when my son was in first grade, they were talking about what college you're going to go to. Yeah, it's nuts to me.

I was thinking, he's learning numbers, dude. Right. I was 35. I don't know what I want to do with my life back then. You know what I mean? Yeah, the pressure we put on people from ages 6 to, it's just bananas. So that little simple process is just about self-discovery. By the way, what you just said about I want to help people look their best,

you can become a chemist. Oh, yes. You can create the weight room equipment. You can run a gym. Yes. You can. There's a thousand ways to solve that problem. That's exactly right.

Good stuff. All right, folks. 888-825-5225 is the number. Your call is coming up next. This is the Ramsey Show. Imagine a world where people never have to worry about money ever again. At Ramsey Solutions, our mission is to teach people how to get out of debt and build lasting wealth. And if

that means we have to take on the toxic money culture that says you need debt to get ahead, then we're okay with that. We've seen millions of lives changed and we will continue to create digital products and services to help people transform their lives. If you want to join our thousand member team on this crusade, we're currently on the hunt for software engineers with expertise in ruby on rails java c-sharp and front-end technologies or if you're a ux designer or an seo and content marketing specialist we'd love to talk with you together we will disrupt the toxic money culture in america find out about all the available jobs by texting careers to 33789. Text careers to 33789 to find out about all our open opportunities.

Welcome back to the Ramsey Show. Thrilled that you are joining us. My name is Ken Coleman, joined by my colleague, Dr. John Deloney. We are Ramsey Personalities. Thrilled to be with you this hour as we take your questions. It's about your life, your money, your work, relationships, your health, mental health, the whole nine yards. We are here to help you out. And I want to remind you that work isn't a four-letter word.

It doesn't have to suck. It really doesn't. We are in this great resignation where people are considering changing jobs and changing jobs because they want meaning in their work. And our proven plan has helped thousands and captured all the details of the seven stages to doing work you love in my new book, From Paycheck to Purpose, The Clear Path to Doing Work You Love. You can pre-order today. It is a proven clear path that will walk anyone in any industry with any experience through the

step-by-step plan to finding meaningful work. Now, if you pre-order today, you get our Get Hired bonus pack for free, which includes the resume templates, the Get Hired digital course, streaming access to our From Paycheck to Purpose live event, a 30-day free trial to Ramsey Plus, and so much more. That's over $100 of free stuff. So if you want to do work you love and make the move in 2022, go ahead and get ahead of the competition. Go to the online store at ramsaysolutions.com

and pre-order your copy of my new book, From Paycheck to Purpose, today for only $20. When you do, you get all that other amazing free stuff. So go get it, ramsaysolutions.com. All right, the phone number is 888-825-5225. Let's go to Kansas City, Missouri, where Earl is waiting. Earl, how can we help? Thanks for taking my call. Basically, the question is this. I'm a minister, and I work in a nonprofit organization. My question has to do with this. You guys have an ethos there with Ramsey Solutions. I have a Christian culture because I hear you guys use a lot of phrases and whatnot, so I can use some language.

So when I say a servant's heart,, say, not receiving a promotion that you thought or you should have received or being demoted from the position that you're in. If your employer says, yeah, this is what happened, but you need to have a servant's heart about this, how exactly is that processed within that mode of thinking? Where are the lines? How does that fit together? Because I want to know. So you were demoted on a church staff, and they said,

you need to handle this with a servant's heart. Is that what I'm hearing? I'm about possibly to be demoted. So I'm just trying to find information. Why are you be demoted so I'm just trying to find information why changes in administration above me

but why are you being demoted other than changes with folks above me I don't know I'm not exactly sure i mean is it is it are they running back on a discipleship i'm sorry is it cutting back on cost are they trying to they're going in a different leadership direction they don't you're not um performing up to the standards that they want it's saying a new a new leadership team came in there's more to it than that right and be honest and reflective

what happened was basically an administrator um one position above me put forth a promotion for me to do a different job okay so right now i run a whole i run a whole program for men okay if i was to take this if i was to be put in this position, I would only, I would like to do one third of the work that I, that I was doing before. I'm trying to be vague just in case. Okay. Got it. Um, so it's not a matter of my performance. I can assure you of that. Uh, but this one person put forth this, uh, well, we can put this person here, and then we can have four people doing case management. Because right now, I just don't do case management. I do everything.

I teach a ton of classes. I do so many different things. So are you being asked to do more work for less money, or are they just edging you out? I'm confused at what's happening. I was trying not to be too specific because of time constraints. Okay, well, okay, go ahead. So basically, there's a different program where clients go to for nine months after my program. My program is six weeks long.

Basically, I assess what caused the homelessness, usually it's addictions or mental disorders, or a combination of both or other things. Then for the next six weeks, I take care of discipling them, telling them about Christ, teaching them, having them classes, classes on addiction, classes on many, many different things. I help them get all the things they need to be prepared for the next program. So is the church saying that we don't want to do those things anymore? No, the church is saying we want to take your program and the next program and put them together.

Okay. So you no longer will run this program, but you'll be a case manager in the next program. There you go. So right now I run the whole program. So, Earl, here's my take on your initial question. John, you weigh in here. But, Earl, it feels manipulative to me. It's Christianese.

I grew up in the church, so I feel like I can say this. You can have a servant's heart. You should have a servant's heart. We should all have a servant's heart, You should have a servant's heart. We should all have a servant's heart, but you still have a heart. This is a demotion, and you don't like it. It's obvious, and you don't have to like it. Now, what you have to decide, though, is they've made this decision. Sounds like it's being made, and I've got to decide, can I serve there? Can I get my head and heart right after I deal with this disappointment? And do I feel like I'm supposed to be there?

Do I feel called to this particular place versus I know the work that I love to do and what I'm called to do? So I don't like the way it sounds because the bottom line is this feels kind of crappy and you're going to have to decide, do I want to stay here because of this? Now, don't leave because you're hurt. I think you need to leave if you feel like the work I'm supposed to be doing, the work that I'm challenged by, I'm not able to do here anymore, so I'm going to look elsewhere. But to answer your question at its simplest form, how do you process that?

You can have a servant's heart and still think it's pretty crappy. You don't have to act like a jerk. Yeah yeah be heartbroken and be angry and pissed off and frustrated the servant's heart part yeah and i agree with you i feel it's manipulative that's just nonsense yeah it's manipulative nonsense i hate that crap um the reality is though you can have all those feelings and experiences you still have an obligation to treat people with dignity and respect. That's right. And you still have to deal with reality. And the reality is,

you worked really hard. This was your baby. You loved it. And a new group of managers came in and said, we're going to contract everything together and move you into a different role. And so heartbreaking,

hard, sad. It feels personal. It's going to be vulnerability shame all stuff and you're going to say uh i appreciate you being honest with me and telling me that and i've got some decisions to make that's right yeah and it's hard i wish it was more complex than that but it's not it is and don't blow up the bridge but you know that you don't have to not say you know or push back and if there is some and is some – and I'm reading into this, John. I am too. I've been there too.

I hate – oh, gosh. But if the decision has yet to be made and if they were just going, you need to handle this with a servant's heart, and they're going, don't push back, well – Or don't ask questions or – You can ask questions and you should. And you can still have a humble spirit and you can be civil and ask questions and push back. But it just felt like to me it was a blanket statement

that was just like, hey, dude, here's the deal. You don't get any say in this. Which I understand leaders have to make decisions. But to put a... Don't walk over Jesus over it. That's it.

Yeah, that's my issue. When you make a business decision in a non-profit and then you wrap people's human reaction and make it a moral or spiritual issue, it drives me crazy because it's weaponizing. Yes, thank you. It's weaponizing kindness. It's weaponizing the gospel. It's weaponizing humanity.

Don't do that. If you're going to make a business decision, look at somebody and say, you've worked really hard and we appreciate it. We're going a different direction. So true. And let me just throw a shot at leaders out there. Don't you dare, whether it's a faith-based organization or not, don't you dare treat people like crap and wrap it in the flag of the cause.

So stupid. Now you've got me all fired up here, Earl. Thinks I was having a great Wednesday and then Earl calls. I'm glad you called, man. Thanks a lot. Earl, you'll get you called, man. Thanks a lot. Earl, you'll get through this, man. Do not let this decision in any way define you. And treat people with dignity and respect, brother,

no matter what happens. He is John Deloney. I'm Kit Coleman. This is the Ramsey Show, where we take your questions about your life, your money, your work, relationships, and so on and so forth. I am Ken Coleman, joined by my colleague, Dr. John Delaney. We're taking your calls. It is a free phone call, 888-825-5225, 888-825-5225.

And through the very heavy glass here in the studio, in the lobby, I see John over there on the debt-free stage. John, welcome. Thank you. It's good to be here. I appreciate it. Where are you from? Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh. All right. All the way here to do a debt-free screen. Yes. Fantastic. All right. Give us the numbers. How much debt did you pay off?

$184,673. Whoa. And how long did that take? Five years. Oh, wow. And give me your range of income. Started at $54,600, and right now I'm just shy of $90,000. Oh, talk to me about that.

What did you do to get the old jump in the pay? Well, hard work. Got a couple of promotions with a prior job, and then COVID was one of the better things that happened. I got furloughed for five months and laid off with about two weeks notice, and now I have a better position, making a lot more money, a

great culture, and it's just kind of happening. Wow. Congratulations, man. Yeah, it's true that the income definitely goes up as you're going through the process. Yes, sir. You've got a much bigger shovel. That is a beautiful thing. All right, tell us about the debt. What kind of debt are we talking about? It was mainly student loans. 118.2 of it was student loans. I had a Jeep payment. I had a home equity loan. I had two credit cards.

And then I had a couple medical bills, some home repairs. I know you mentioned earlier, someone mentioned their air conditioning went out. Mine also went out. So not a need, or not a want, I should say, but it worked out. What did you study $118,000 worth of? Not as much as you, but my undergraduate is... Oh, so you have friends and relationships? I'm not as fancy.

I see what you're saying. Oh, you have a social life? Real cool, John. A little bit, yeah. Who knew? Undergrad is in hospitality from Penn State, and my master's degree is from Robert Morris University in human resource management. Okay, great. And what are you doing now? I'm a corporate trainer. Oh, yeah. So I work for a healthcare robotics company. Good for you.

Awesome. Wow. So five years ago, you start this journey. What led to it? What was the catalytic moment, if there was one? My mom and I, I've been in debt my whole life. And I actually got very fortunate. I got a promotion, which was going to make me travel 80% of the time. So I realized, I said, company's going to be paying for 80% of my expenses. Where's all this money coming from? And I learned of Dave Ramsey. And I took FPU in 2012. And as you say, I failed it. I didn't really, really do. I did the barely even Dave ish. And when I got the new job, I sat down with my friend, Kristen, and I ended up being her first client, did my first

budget. I had $1,500 left over. And I said, where's this money coming from? That was August 11th, 2016. And I said, where's this money coming from? That was August 11, 2016. And I said, where's this money coming from? And she said, you're putting it on paper before it happens. And light bulb. It just went off. And I said, I need to do this. I didn't have any hope up until that point. And once I did that and I had that much money left, yeah, it's on.

It was on. So Kristen was a financial coach? She wasn't. I was her first client. And now she's full time. I was actually here So Kristen was a financial coach? She wasn't. I was her first client, and now she's full-time. I was actually here for enrichment, Ken. We talked, and John, you also pointed to me yesterday. Oh, yeah, I remember your question.

You got a little bit of emotion right there. Yeah, yeah. Thinking about it, what's that coming from? Just it's finally happened, and I'm there, and I can now do some things that I haven't really ever been able to do. Yeah, like what? Well, not worry, for one. There we go.

That day, as soon as I did that budget, I paid my first credit card off. It was $996. I paid that off the next day, and I had had that for years. I couldn't pay it. $25 a month, I couldn't pay it, and I paid the next day, and it just blew me away. So not worrying about money. It was completely gone uh i use every dollar every single day i just bought both of your books back there now by the way that was a good decision i want to tell you i hear it was i hear it was yeah so um and uh you know debit card those credit cards are cut up uh i think what are you

dreaming about though i i just sense there's some big old dreams If our two books are at the top of your dream list you're not dreaming big enough They're close I was in enrichment this week and one of the things we talk about is go from here to there and dreaming and having those goals set up and it's a lot It's very high on my priority list

just to not have that money worry I am very fortunate I've had people very high on my priority list just to not have that money worry. I am very fortunate. I've had very people very fortunate in my life to help me. I like to give back. So I'm very involved in my Rotary Club and my Masonic Lodge. So being able to give back and that outrageous generosity to me is very important. So that's one of the things I really am looking forward to doing and increasing as I move forward. And I know it's kind of cliche enjoying life but man some of the things that that i know i can do down the road and and helping people and some cool vacations uh i may or may not want to buy an 82 or an 86 jeep cj7 come on man you know we'll see we'll see i love the classic

cars yeah yeah so that's one of my dream cars. So I'm looking forward to some things like that. A little bit of material, but most of it is just being able to give back. Have you had that moment where all your bills are paid and the check deposited and you're just staring at it in your online account? Have you had it prior to all this? No, no, no. When did you hit send on your last payment? December 10th, my mother's birthday, actually.

Oh, so you've had it September 10thth about two weeks ago okay so you haven't had the october check that the whole thing lands and you got nowhere to send it not yet um it hasn't really it's all yours man here it is yeah that's gonna be a special moment very cool we're proud of you brother that's absolutely so talk to people what's the key in your mind for your journey to get there? Number one is the budget. I mentioned every dollar. I use that all the time. Even if you're not using that, find a way to do the budget and stick to it. And for me, it's constant motivation and having those accountability partners.

My friend Kristen Recupero, she and I talk very often when I'm kind of struggling. And frankly, I listen to all of you here. I listen to the podcast every day, and it just kind of helps me. I tear up a little bit and get goosebumps when I hear all the other debt-free screams. There was one earlier I heard and gave us some high fives. So that, for me, to help keep me going, especially being single, it's nice to have those accountability partners in your life, friends and family, and some people, quote-unquote perfect strangers on a radio that I haven't met until recently, talking about their stories.

So to me, that's very important. I love that. There's something about the community. It's everything, right? Other people are your emergency fund for life. Did you get involved in a class at some point in this journey as well? I took FPU in 12, as I mentioned mentioned and then i'm also a coordinator i have another class starting october did you take it again or you just kind of remembered it all and

you were like i'm gonna make this happen i just remember it all i still have all the materials yeah just just listening to the podcast it kind of helps remind me of that and then obviously coordinating i'm basically taking it again so that's awesome yeah well thank you for doing that that is so great so you've listened to a lot of debt-free screams. I have. I have. And you've gotten chills and some emotion, and now you're standing there on the stage. Yep.

This is a pretty big deal. Well, here's the deal. We want to give you two things. We want to give you a copy of Dave's book, The Legacy Journey, because that's the next step in the chapter for you, really about building legacy. And you already kind of began to detail how you're dreaming about how the impact is going to change from your life because of your financial freedom and then we're going to give you a copy of dave's wildly best-selling book total money makeover for you to gift to somebody else and uh we were really really excited that you came here to do your debt-free scream you ready to go i am you've earned my life you've earned it all right here we life for this. You've earned it. All right, here we go. John from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, paid off $184,000 in five years, making $54,000 to then $90,000. John, this is your moment.

Let's hear your debt-free scream. I'm going to break your microphone here. Let's do it. Bring it on, homie. Let's do this. Three, two, one. I'm debt-free! There we go.

We got a little WWE happening there. We need a chair and a table to break, don't you think, John? That would have been fun. What a great story. Hey, John mentioned Ramsey Certified Financial Coaches. He did. We got a bunch of them in the lobby. That's right.

So if you were wondering, hey, I want someone to walk alongside, and I know it's embarrassing to say, I hear how to make a budget. I get it. It's a math problem, and it's a planning problem. I need someone to walk alongside me. I want someone I can text throughout a week. Go to RamseySolutions.com and look up Ramsey Certified Coaches. They're an incredible crew of people that will walk alongside you in your journey,

and you will end up here in Nashville, Tennessee on the debt-free stage. That's right. John and I had the privilege of speaking with that group at a great event here this week, as well as getting to hang out with them, and they are on the front lines, man. They are incredible men and women who have truly the heart of a teacher. They walk the journey, and they'll help you. They are invaluable. Great, great point.

Go get yourself a financial coach. It is a game changer. Everybody needs a coach. All right, don't move. More of the Ramsey Show America, where we talk about you, your life, where you want to be, your hopes, your dreams, your challenges. We are here for you. I'm Ken Coleman, joined by my colleague, John Deloney. And it is a free call for you to jump in. 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. If there's one thing, John, that 2020 taught us about investing, it's this. You can't do it alone.

You need somebody in your life who knows the market better than you and helps you make smart decisions. We both love do-it-yourselfers, right? I love these shows. I'm always jealous of these folks that can do anything themselves because I barely can. You know, just to get dressed and get out of the house is a big feat for me. But when there's a global crisis, if you try to do it yourself and you invest in the wrong things, you get caught up in the trends, you're going to make rookie mistakes. And if you build a portfolio based on what you read on Reddit,

oh my word, folks, you don't need the unnecessary stress like that in your life. So never again let your investments be at the mercy of some global crisis. Get some people in your corner who know what they're doing. Text the word INVEST to 33789. Text the word INVEST to 33789. Text the word invest to 33789. All right, to the phones we go. Billings, Montana. Whitney is there. Whitney, how can we help? I have a question on our business side of things.

Okay. So husband and I have a trucking company that we started a year ago. And we started out with a $10,000 semi. And this is him. And we have a trailer payment. And then we bought another truck on top of it. And we have $20,000 on the trailer, $44,000 on a new truck. And in personal trucking, or in the trucking right now, we have $32,000. And I'm wanting to pay off the trailer, but wondering if that's a good idea or not.

Why would it not be a good idea? We believe in paying off all debt. You don't want to be underneath that. So what's the source of your question? No, but when we have $32,000, well, $32,000 in the trucking field bowl right now is $5,000. Work is definitely busy, but relying on income on a personal business, I think sometimes you're waiting two to three months before you get paid. You just gave me more reason why you should

not be leveraged owing other people money. You guys just started this thing. Why do you have two trucks? Keep one going while the other one is broke down. So you borrowed money for two trucks and a trailer, one just in case something happens to the other one. But no, the first truck has paid off.

The first truck, we only bought that $10,000 paid cash for it. And it's an old truck, and it might break down a lot. Okay, but how much does it cost you to fix on average? You've got some kind of track record here where you can say, well, over the last three months we spent X amount of dollars on repairs to this truck. The last three months on both trucks, we have put in over $40,000 in repairs. I'm sorry. Did you say $40,000?

Yep. For what? A rebuild on the motor. Differentials on both of them. The eight pumps on both of them. The eight pumps on one of them. And it never occurred to you to sell one of these trucks?

Oh, well, we can't when one's broke down and we're using the other one as income. So you don't even have the cash to fix the one that you own outright. Am I getting this right? Oh, no. The one that you own outright. Am I getting this right? Oh, no. The one that we own outright is still running.

Okay, then. The one that we owe on is the one that is broke down, and we do not know why it is not. So, Whitney, here's what y'all have done. Whitney, hold on. Y'all have created a big, giant mess, and now you're spending precious energy precious relational capital precious money trying to solve this mess that y'all created and well and then there was another wrench

thrown in the plan our oldest son is diagnosed with brain cancer in march that's right it's a it's there's too much chaos in your world, hun, to have all these payments and all this. We need to keep this one in case that one breaks down. The one that you got as the emergency vehicle is the one that you're spending $30,000 on. It's a lot.

But to answer your original question, yes. Sell one of these trucks. Pay off your trailer. Owe nobody anything. Even if it costs you a day or two in earnings, just do the math on what it costs to hold another truck without any earnings against it. You just got too much.

Except that the one that we owe, oh yes, is the one that's broke down. That's right. Sell the truck. Yeah. You're going to have to, you've got to slow down. You've got to back out of this. We've got to fix this. You guys jumped into this thing and you had some mechanical problems. I get that.

I mean, that's Murphy's Law. It happens. But you have so much else going on and that little boy is everything to you guys. And this trucking business is not the only way you all can make a living. So I know you've got a lot going on, but I want you to consider that, wait a second, we're going to have to circle the wagons as a family and go through this incredibly – I don't even understand what you're dealing with. I couldn't possibly unless I had walked through it,

but I just know that there's other ways for you all to make money, and if we have to press pause on the trucking company or we scale it back to the one that is working and we're just going to only do what we can do there, we have got to get stable, and you've got to get this debt cleaned up, and you've got to get out of this thing. You guys can always get back in it.

You can always ramp it back up, but do it cash like you did on the first truck. I would sell that second truck, pay off the trailer, and you're going to have an old truck that's yours. And if it breaks down, you don't owe anybody any money in the gap. But right now it's not breaking down. It's the newer one that you bought as the insurance against the old one that's breaking down on you. And like Ken said, you've just had a tornado.

You had a bomb go off in the middle of your home, which is a really scary diagnosis. And this is going to take some clarity, some clear thinking, some simplification of a whole bunch of stuff. Because now you're going to get a real clear picture of what matters. And it's that little boy. And like Ken said, if that means one of you has to take another job that's got health insurance, one of you's got to stop the dream we had of on the road, everything changes now.

You are all different now. Everything. So you've got to sit down and say, where are we? Who are we? And then what's the little steps going to look like moving forward? And please hear us.

Neither one of us said, Whitney, that the dream is dead. We're saying we've got to scale back or pause completely. We can get back on this thing. You've learned so many lessons from this. But, yes, get out of debt. Get this thing cleaned up as quick as you can.

And there will be another day. The storm is over you right now. And you've got to deal with the storm. And we don't need to add any elements to the storm. It's bad enough as it is. That's heartbreaking, John. I mean, it's hard to think clearly, too. You know, you've got all this complexity. This business is brand new business. It's still a baby business.

And all of a sudden, your baby comes down with something that just shocks everything. Your whole world shocks it. I tend to overcomplicate things by trying to overplan for contingencies, which is a fear of losing control. And then a good example is having 50 different passwords for every login and making sure those are all written over here and that password is over here. I end up making everything so complex that I can't function.

And that's a simple, obnoxious way, but they started an awesome business. They had a dream. And my guess is that somebody made fun of them about their old truck. Somebody was like, that's what you're driving or that thing's going to break down. You better be ready. You're going to lose a big load. And so they got enough of that in their year that they went and bought a truck that they couldn't afford.

And then that's the one that's broke down. Keep things simple when you're starting. Don't owe people money. People don't understand how freeing that is. And, yeah, get a group of people around you to rally around. Your son's going to be in it for the long haul. Yep. But I will tell you, there are options, folks.

Yep. There are options to make more money to get through any money crisis you need right now. So go to work, do whatever you've got to do, and stabilize. And give us, if we can ever help you, Whitney, give us a call. Yeah, absolutely. All right, I want to thank our producer, James Childs, our associate producer, Kelly Daniel. I want to thank my colleague, Dr. John Maloney. I want to thank you, America.

You're the reason we do the show. This is your show. It is The Ramsey Show. Hey, it's Kelly, associate producer and phone screener for The Ramsey Show. If you would like to do your debt-free scream live on the show, make sure you visit theramzshow.com and register. We would love for you to come to Nashville and tell Dave your story.