The Ramsey Show - App - How Do I Know How Much To Offer on a House? (Hour 1)

Episode Date: February 9, 2021

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live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions broadcasting from the dollar car rental studios it's of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's The Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of BMW as the status symbol of choice. Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, best-selling author, is my co-host today.

As we answer your questions about your life and your money, if you're familiar with Ken's show, it's broadcast now on about 75 talk radio stations across America. Plus, big time podcast numbers and YouTube followers. And he talks about your career and finding joy in your work. Finding work that has meaning. So, if you've got career questions, job questions, maybe you're bouncing back after a little COVID-19 action. I noticed we all had a little of that last year. Well, Ken's here to help.

Phone number 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Ryan is with us in Cleveland, Ohio. Hey, Ryan, how are you? Hey, sir, how are you? I'm great. Good. How can we help? Got a quick question for you. So I'm 24 years old out of Cleveland, Ohio, and looking to purchase my first home. And a little worried because of how the market is right now. I kind of want to

just ask your opinion. You know, with interest rates being so low, it seems like if you're not the first offer and at least $40,000 over asking, you don't have a shot. So kind of wanted to ask your opinion on that. Well, I don't play those games. I've bought real estate my entire adult life. I own a bunch of real estate. I bought a piece of real estate last week, but I did not offer more than asking price in order to get it.

I don't get caught up in that. My guess is you offered quite a bit lower, yes, no, on this particular course. Actually, I hate to say this, but actually we were $35,000 over on our last house we looked at, and we lost it. Yeah, well, you weren't supposed to get it. It was a dumb purchase. That's exactly right, and I'm thankful I didn't get it. Yeah, don't purchase something $35,000 over asking. I mean, you're not desperate, man.

You're 24. You got a long time. It'll be okay. Now, the thing is this. Are you out of debt? I am, yes, sir. I've got no college loans. Grateful for my parents that were able to pay the bill for me to go to school.

I worked through school, and I'm about two years into my working career. Good. Okay. What do you make? $65,000. Okay. You're single? I am single, but a girlfriend of six years.

Awesome. Okay. And you are not buying a house with her. You're buying a house by yourself. It is. Yep. It's going to be under my name and she'll also be helping to pay the mortgage. Nope. Nope. Nope. Don't sleep with your partners. It'll just be on me. Don't sleep with your partners. Bad idea. You'll get yourself in a mess. If you want to do that, it's time to get married. But no, you're going to get yourself into a mess. If you want to do that, it's time to get married. But, no, you're going to get yourself into a huge mess if you set your life up based on something, based on a roommate situation.

So, no, if you're going to buy, you're going to buy based on your numbers or you're going to get married if we're going to base it on both numbers. Because then you've got all kinds of protection. She has all kinds of protection. She's not paying someone else's mortgage on a home she doesn't own i'm her dad right now i'm not going to allow her to do that that's a bad move for her okay it will all be under me then yep all right so you got your down payment and you have an emergency fund right yes sir i've got uh i've got money in the bank and my other question too would would it be smart smart to take advantage of the FHA?

No. Or should I just do it conventionally? Conventionally is the cheapest loan by far. A lot less expenses, and you need a good, solid down payment. 15-year fixed where the payment's no more than a fourth of your household take-home pay. If you change your household by getting married, then you can recalculate that. If you don't, then you're going to run it on yours now the deal is this there's a couple of things that cause people to get uh good buys on anything real estate included number one is patience if you get emotionally married to something you're gonna pay too much and it's dude it's a

stinking house there's houses on every corner in cleveland i've been there there's a lot of houses in cleveland so you don't need just i gotta have this house you know when you when you when you get house fever like that you need need to go home and take a cold shower. Slow your butt down. Slow. Slow. That's who gets the best buy. The second person that gets the next best buy is the person that has the most knowledge.

So you learn the market. You keep looking at this neighborhood. You're looking at that neighborhood. You know the differences in. So you learn the market. You keep looking at this neighborhood. You're looking at that neighborhood. You know the differences in them. You know the nuances. You know the prices over there. There's nothing in this neighborhood that's sold for more than $350 a square foot,

$250 a square foot, $1,250 a square foot, whatever it is. You know what it's going for. And so something comes on the market that is, you know, you can look at the numbers very quickly because you've gathered information. He with the most information, he with the most options, because you don't get emotionally married to something,

and he with the most patience is the one who gets the best buys and a wise purchase. Slow your butt down it needs in this market as hot white hot as it is it may take you a year to buy a house just enjoy the process you're not dying paying a little rent you're not gonna but don't go in there and overpay and it's just man i'll tell you what you you smell like somebody's getting ready to overpay because you're just so freaking excited. He's in his early 20s. He's in a great financial situation. The first house is the first house.

I get why it's so exciting. It is exciting. Stacy and I bought a house two and a half years into marriage. We rented for two and a half years, and we look back on that house now, and we go, oh, wasn't that cute? It's the first house. It was nice. It was a good move for us. We't that cute? It's the first house. It was nice. It was a good move for us.

We were patient. But it's the first house. And the other thing here, and I'm not trying to get into his relationship business, but it's very interesting to me that he, I don't know if he's talked to this girl about this or not, but he was under the impression that she was going to pay some of the mortgage and they had been dating for six years. And I think I don't want people to miss the relationship piece as to why you were so quick to go, hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, we're not going to do that. And that, you know, six years, we need to decide at six years whether or not we're moving forward or not. Six years is plenty of time to decide.

Time to paint or get off the ladder. Yeah. So why are we talking about going into a co-mortgage situation with someone you've been dating six years? I just think that part of life has got to be figured out first. The first house will always be there. Always. Slow down.

Yeah. Slow down. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Now, here's what's happened. The real estate market is white hot. And so that's one of the things that you need to get, like one of our endorsed local providers and you know you may have a high quality real estate agent that says you're going to pay more than asking price to buy in this neighborhood in which case you just go well i'm probably not gonna be buying that neighborhood

take it off the list or i'm not gonna be buying that neighborhood now i'll just wait till this thing calms down a little bit it's okay now. Now, is there a housing bubble? Is there going to be a drop in values? No. I do not think so. Like I said, I bought a piece of real estate last week. And by the way, I did pay retail. I didn't get a deal. I offered it a deal.

You tried to. I didn't get a deal. Right. His kneecap is sore. I bit him on the knee. I love it. I love that. But it's okay.

But my wife was involved, and when my wife was involved, I never get a deal. Because it's SWI. Because she sees the offer. She goes, David, stop. You're going to make them mad. I'm like, honey, it's a spiritual gift. Oh, my. This is the Dave Ramsey Show.

I'm going to go on a little rant here for a minute. I took a call from a father who wanted to know how to plan for the care of his special needs daughter after he dies. Why is it that parents of special needs children are so deliberate in their planning while other parents have a tendency to be sloppy? Do the needs of your family matter less if something happens to you? Oh, I'm sorry, did I just guilt trip you into getting some term life insurance? Well, then good. Your family needs you to step up. Having the right amount of term life insurance is a matter of personal responsibility. If you want to use

the new year as a reason for doing the right thing, then do it. Term life insurance is something every family needs, which is why I talk about it every day. It's not complicated, it's not expensive, and you need to do this now. Zander Insurance is the only place I recommend. Visit zander.com or call them at 800-356-4282. Please learn from other people's mistakes and get this taken care of. That's 800-356-4282 or Zander.com. Ken Coleman, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. I am Dave Ramsey, your host. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Roland is in Oregon.

Hi, Roland. How are you? I'm good, Dave. How are you? Better than I deserve. How can Ken and I help? Well, my wife and I have been doing the baby steps our entire marriage, about 16 months. We've always been on the same page. And recently, we did a Zoom call with a financial advisor that she had before we met. He helped her set up a Roth IRA, and she wanted to introduce me. And he advised us to be fully funding her 401 and also be saving for a home while we're paying off student debt.

And so now she wants to throw your plan out the window. And I want to keep going like a gazelle to pay that debt. And I don't know how to get her back on the plan. I don't either. Yeah. Well, she thinks now that your steps are kind of a broad stroke for people who are making poor decisions and doesn't really fit. They're designed for people like her.

Let me take a stab at this. How much debt do you have right now 134 134 000 made up of what student debt all student loans yeah any of that any of that hers no sir it's all yours how much do you make how much do you make? I make none right now. I'm a full-time seminary student. She makes $340,000. She makes $340,000 a year? Yes, sir. Is she a doctor?

Yeah. She is a surgeon, yes. Okay. That's going to hurt my plan, because here's the stab I was going to take, and that is that she's got to see that while this guy has made this advice to her that you still got this debt and you're and you're going it's going to take so much longer to pay it off doing it his way in her way and you're going to actually make progress faster part of the problem Dave I think is we've got a she's the full-time income she's the only income and she's making big money and she doesn't feel it doesn't hurt her

enough the debt doesn't hurt. And, Rowan, I don't know how to help you. Let me tell you what you're experiencing. Yeah. 30 years of me coaching people in finance, the worst people, the worst category of people handling money are medical doctors. As a category, they suck at handling money worse than pro athletes, worse than anybody. And the reason is that they're very, very smart intellectually, and they make the mistake of thinking that that translates to finance. They don't know beans about finance, but they have an intellectual arrogance.

And they go make stupid butt decisions, and they firmly believe, with all of their intellectual arrogance, that they're making the right decisions. And it's the worst category. Now, not all medical doctors are that way, but it's stereotypical. I mean, I'm in Nashville with country music artists. Some of them do some stupid butt stuff. Some of them are brilliant with money. I mean, I meet everybody from actors to pro athletes to whatever over 30 years.

The worst category are medical doctors. They are perpetually in debt, and they're perpetually underperforming in their wealth building because of their intellectual arrogance. And that's what you're running into and i don't know how to fix that because now she and her little financial advisor who between the two of them don't know beans about money have made a decision so i really i'm i don't know how to help you sir how long before you get out of seminary and start working it doesn't matter i mean well i'm just 340 000 they could pay it all off in one year. But I mean, unless he convinces her.

But instead, the financial advisor is keeping student loans around like they're a freaking pet. She got $140,000 in student loan debt. She makes $340,000. If you can't pay that off in a year, you're a wimp. That's the only shot. It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous that this advisor takes this poor a stance and leaves this couple in debt this far. You should be sued for malpractice as a financial advisor for doing that.

That's just asinine. Just asinine. But they're going to do it. So I honestly don't know how to help you. That's what you're coming up against, though. And truthfully, some humility on her part is in order. And saying, you know what? I really don't know anything about this area.

I just listened to this one guy, and, you know, he disagrees with the other guy. And so maybe now we can have a discussion. But no, no, no, don't doubt Dave Ramsey's a knuckle-dragger. And his ideas are primitive and they're broad strokes how about the broad stroke your idiot financial planner gave you there's a broad stroke for you so i mean just just god aggravating his crud so i i honestly don't know how to help you i really don't know how to convince someone in that situation what to do i think you're going to experience pain before you to do i think you're going to experience pain

before you do and i think you're going to experience that she makes a lot of money and you're not going to get the best use of it as long as you're following this idiot that she had on the phone well the one thing we can do is he can if she's not going to get on board then once he starts working he's going to take all of his salary and yeah but now we're telling people split their money apart and that's going to split couples apart that's not healthy for their relationship well no well i'm not well no hold on i gotta because i don't want to confuse the audience i'm not suggesting that they split their money i'm saying well they have a split plan her plan and his plan well but he's not going to not pay the debt off yeah well he's got to pay it off he is if he goes along with her

yeah so i mean you're not gonna pay it off for 30 years if he goes along with her yeah that's true i think he's got to sit down and show her if we pay this off look how much more we can invest how much quicker that's the only shot he's got is just a little she married a seminary student so maybe we ought to read the bible there is borrower is slave to the lender that's true about that let's try that one yeah i just don't the only thing is dave i just don't think you were clear enough with him and i don't think you showed enough emotion I feel like you mailed that I feel like you mailed That call in

No I get it It's frustrating It's a tough situation Because this is a marriage Well it is And You know He's getting bullied

Well okay So I'm going to bring this up And I don't And if you send a hate mail I'm not going to read it So don't send it Well go ahead and send it We use it for kindling

Yeah that's true We do We use it for kindling. Yeah, that's true. We do. We use it for the fire pit out back. How much, this has nothing to do with her being a woman, him being a man, but how much of this is the fact that it's his debt, student loan debt, and she's the sole breadwinner. I think that's a big factor in this, isn't it? It can be in the fact that she doesn't think he's got a vote. Yeah, that's what I'm getting at.

This is something that should have been handled before you get married. I agree. This is a messy psychological deal, given her status. 100% of their marriage, she's going to out-earn him. Yes. Unless he has some kind of ridiculous career in ministry that most people don't have. Right. I mean, a pastor's income is not going to keep up with a medical doctor's income

in $340,000 a year in 99% of the cases. So this is going to be an issue for 50 years. Oh, big time. If that's what's driving. This is really marital counseling. Yeah. Just like any other problem, whether it be parenting. Hey, she wants to discipline the kids this way.

I think it's this way. This is a big issue. This is marital counseling is what this is. This is the shot to get somebody objective in there in the middle, let both of them hear each other out, and they've got to fight on this as a married issue. This is just like any other major issue in your marriage. In fact, maybe bigger. Let me explain to you what I'm talking about because some medical doctors are all mad at me now

because I didn't call all of you. I said the category. It's a stereotype, which means that some people aren't. But here's the thing the people that have the most trouble with money are oftentimes the most that have the best and the highest intellect because they overthink it they think it's a math problem and personal finance is only 80 behavior 20 head think it's a math problem, and personal finance is only 80% behavior, 20% head knowledge. It is a math problem, but it is not the problem. The problem is your relationships.

The problem is understanding the flow of your income and where it's going to go. Understand the spiritual principles that are underlying all of this. And, you know, sometimes I run into an accountant or an engineer or, I don't know, name somebody, an attorney, someone else, you know. And there can be people in other career fields that have high intellect. But people who are highly intelligent and highly analytical are the ones that struggle the most to win with money. Remember this. Most of the world used to think the world was flat, Dave. And these people are running in a world where it says you just go,

you get the debt, and you're eventually going to out-earn it. It's not a problem. So if everybody says it, then you just believe it. You should just do everything at the same time. The world's not flat. You need to get out of debt. That's right. The world is flat.

Now we've confused everyone. Now I'm just lost, yeah. I am truly a knuckle-dragger. This is The Ramsey Personality bestselling author, is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. If you feel like you will always be stuck paying off your debt, it doesn't have to be that way. It won't take nearly as long as you think it will. With Ramsey Plus, we're going to kick you off with a 90-day guided plan to help you every single day exactly what to do. Small, consistent wins that add up to big results and better habits.

You do not win with money. You don't win at anything big all at once. It's not sudden. It's incremental. You win death by a thousand cuts, and we'll show you how with Financial Peace University, with EveryDollar Premium, with the Baby Steps Tracker, all the tools are in Ramsey Plus. This year can be your year. If you want to do a free trial, text the word trial to 33789.

If you want to take Ramsey Plus as a free trial, you need to get in there and look at it. Text TRIAL to 33789. And you guys have got your six easy-to-use resume templates to help you get noticed. Yeah, so we had such success with our free resume guide, which is also at KenColeman.com, and it came with a free template. We had so much response because we really flip it on its head, and you can learn more about that as you read the free PDF. So we decided we've got our world-class designers, and we've got a bunch of them here in the

building, and they created six new templates that really kind of take in all different styles, also industries, and it lets you have, for $9.99, six amazing templates to make your resume stand out. And it's been a fun resource. So it's a way to pull yourself out of the pile, to not just submit a resume. The free ones are there. Free ones are there. And the $9.99 for six more, you can get it by texting RESUME at 33-789 as well. RESUME, 233-789.

Evan is with us in Orlando. Hi, Evan. How are you? Hey, Dave. Hey, Ken. Thanks for taking my call, guys. Sure. How can we help?

Yes, my question is I'm wondering if you guys have ever heard of a million-dollar baby plan. Yeah, it's a bad whole life policy for kids. Okay. I was just trying to figure out because I heard it from my brother and my alarm bells were going off when he was telling me whole life and investing. Yeah. They should go off. It's just crap.

It's just got a snazzy name. You know how you're going to get a million dollars in there? You put two million in. It's the old joke. How do you make a small fortune in a winery you start with a large fortune yeah they're playing on your emotions it is it is a great name but the chances of you ending up with a million dollars in your baby's whole life policy is almost zero i mean you would have to put so stinking much money in there. The rates of return are pitiful. They keep all the money that you put in for the first three years. It is just a really bad savings account with a life insurance company.

Sucks beyond belief. Great name. I mean, I pulled up one website. It's got a baby standing there with a fistful of dollars, which he's getting ready to give to the insurance company. It's so true. So, yeah, I'm sorry. Your brother got had, man. Tell him to run.

Well, it turns out Ramsey Solutions has had a million-dollar baby plan since inception. It's called the Baby Steps. Because if you actually work them out. Well, you can actually invest money into your kid's name. Right. 5 right 529 plan right you become a millionaire and leave it to your kids yeah there you go that's how you do it yeah yeah no there's no free lunch no no no and whole life i love it they always go it's tax-free growth yeah not really that's true that's semantics the only way you get the money out that you put in and not pay taxes on it is you borrow it and you pay interest on your money. So let me tell you something.

If you put money in a bank and you've got $200,000 in a bank in CDs and you go borrow $100,000 out of that same bank and you pledge your $ you pledge your 200 000 cd against it there's no taxes on that borrowed money there's no taxes on borrowed money duh yeah borrowing money is not a taxable event right because there's no taxes but you're borrowing your own stinking money and paying them interest to get it out so it's tax free growth no it's not it literally makes my head not it's an industry that's been screwing people since... This is the power of marketing language. We've got to wake up. Yeah.

But that's a great... Isn't that a great title? Million Dollar Baby. Are you kidding me? What good parent doesn't want to get the Million Dollar Baby plan? I want my baby to be a Million Dollar Baby. I mean, you're not a parent. What kind of parent wouldn't do that?

Rodney's with us in Little Rock. Hey, Rodney, how are you? Doing well, guys. How about you all? Staying warm? Just barely, brother. How can we help? So I'm in sales, business development, good company, good industry.

And my question is, you know, thinking back to college, the professors that really stood out to me are the ones that maybe just taught a night class or one class and came from the business world. And it's something that I always thought about maybe could do later. would be qualified for or even be considered for a night class or one class, something like that, at a community college or even a four-year school. Yeah, well, you just put all the elements of your plan. So here's what you've got to do. So let's start talking to the community college and go, hey, I've got a college degree. I assume you do.

Is that correct? That's correct. All right, so you've got the college degree. And so the question is, on the community college level, do I need a graduate-level degree to be able to be a part-time professor? No. And the answer is no. And I think it's probably no at your state schools as well.

You have a Ph.D. in life, my brother. I think it's making connections. So what I'd start doing is I'd go audit a class. If it were me, I want to make connections. Best way to make connections? Get in the places where the right people are hanging out. That is the essence of the book, The Proximity Principle, that I wrote. And I'm going to I want to make connections. Best way to make connections? Get in the places where the right people are hanging out. That is the essence of the book, The Proximity Principle, that I wrote.

And I'm going to give it to you as my gift, but here's what I would do. Go audit some classes. They're going to allow you to do that. After the class is over, all the students file out. Here comes a sharp business guy like you, who's on purpose and humble. And you go up to the professor and go, hey, I eventually want to get in here teaching some business classes or teaching

a class on this and this and this. And you get clear on what courses they offer. And you ask that professor to connect you to who's in charge of that. They've got all the information. They've got the connections. And if they put in a good word for you, great. And you go start meeting people and sit down. And when they see a guy like you who doesn't want a full-time job, who just wants to do it for the love of it, and you've always wanted to do it, and they hear that from you, that enthusiasm, that passion, and that humility,

and say, hey, I'm on call. I don't need money. I'll take your part-time pay, but I'm here for passion. I want to sign up. What do you want me to do? Any qualifications beyond my college degree that you want me to get? I'll go do it. And here's what's going to happen.

Eventually, the phone's going to ring. Well, I don't even think it takes that long. I don't either. I'm going to short-circuit your plan. Oh, I thought I had such a good plan. I'm going to stroll into the president's office to ring? Well, I don't even think it takes that long. I don't either. I'm going to short-circuit your plan. Oh, I thought I had such a good plan. I'm going to stroll into the president's office. Of course you are. Well, it's a community college.

Yeah, but you're still not strolling in. That lady in charge of that office is powerful. I'm going to stroll in and talk to her and tell her what I'm doing and say, listen, I've got a Ph.D. in life and I've got an undergrad and I think I can teach a business class at night. I kind of want to do it for fun. What's the chances of me talking to you guys about doing that? If they throw you out, then go do Ken's plan.

Yeah, they won't throw you out, but both of those will work. Try both. Yeah, because I don't think the barrier of entry is that big. Because I've got to tell you, one of my favorite classes that I ever took was exactly what you're talking about. I mean, I got a degree in real estate and finance, and a guy that was doing real estate syndication, was doing what I wanted to do, taught a class called real estate syndication at night. I mean, he was an actual practitioner. And, oh, my God, I was just dying.

He was like Elvis if you were in the music business, man. I thought if I could just be in his class, I'd do anything to take that class. And I got in there and took it, and I learned a lot about syndication from that class because the guy was actually a practitioner. On his day job, he was doing real estate syndication. That's my whole beef with a lot of colleges. We've got professors teaching you theory that have never done it. And I tell young people all the time, I'm okay with college,

but you better go spend some time with people that are actually doing what you want to do successfully because they can teach you. And it's a master class over lunch, for crying out loud. And this guy, he'll have no problem getting in there. I want to see him stroll into the president's office. So I'm looking forward to that. Stroll.

Just stroll. Stroll. Don't walk. Stroll. That's confidence. I'm telling you, he's going to get hired immediately. There's no question. Go do that for sure.

This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you. Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, best-selling author, is my co-host today. Open phones here on The Ramsey Show. The phone number is 888-825-5225. Crystal is with us in Newport News, Virginia. Hi, Crystal. How are you? Hi. Thank you for having me.

Sure. What's up? Yes, I was calling. My husband passed away last year. It's been a crazy year for sure. I'm a single mom. I have 30 children, a 15, 10, and 6-year-old. At the moment, my goal is to go back to work,

but with this COVID thing that's going on, I am currently a homeschooling teacher. And it's just not possible at this time. I'm currently bringing in about $30,000 a month that I'm supporting the four of us on. And I just, Wendy passed, we sold our house, and I moved into an apartment so I could get my bearings, and I'm just kind of ready to get into a more stable living situation. An opportunity fell into my lap. I'm dealing with a special type of loan that can offer me a lower house payment as well as little to no down payment.

And I can have an actual modular home built for myself and my children. Crystal, how old are you? I'm actually about to be 36. Okay. What happened? Cancer. Oh, no. I'm sorry.

I was in school and he got a stage 4 cancer diagnosis and I put school on hold to take care of him and my children and that was also on my list of possibilities after he passed away. I was like

well maybe I can go back to school but again with this COVID thing it's really put me in a bad spot. Yeah. No, the COVID thing's not put you in a bad spot. You lost your husband. Yeah. And your world got turned upside down. That put you in a bad spot.

Yeah. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. So it sounds like you've made some really wise moves so far, and you have good instincts. Your instinct is to try to get things stable for your kids in a world where your entire family's world was turned upside down, and so you're clawing and scratching for stability and for solid ground. And so I think you sit right there in that apartment. Let's not do this house deal.

This is a bad deal you're looking at. Okay. And it's a deal that satisfies you emotionally but it is not um in a time when you're hurting but it is not a good long-term play several things you said there were bad words in the in the world of your future and it was modular it was um nothing down. It was a reduced payment. It was this is a special plan. All of these things mean that you basically can't afford to do this deal right now, and you're being sucked into something here that's not going to be a blessing to you. I want you to take the final stages in the next 12 months out of your grief into your future.

And as you do those, then make a decision on a house. But I think you haven't made the turn completely yet because you don't have a 10-year plan to live like you're living. Yes. Your 10-year plan includes some kind of a career move for you. And, Ken, she needs to start taking some steps that way. Yeah, I just wanted to ask, what were you going to school for? What was the vision?

You had a vision attached to that. Yeah. Nursing, actually. How much do you lack? I'm about three classes shy of applying to nursing school. Oh, great. Oh, of applying to nursing school. Yeah.

And then you've got, what, a two-year plan. Mm-hmm. Yes. And then you got, what, a two-year plan. Yes. I mean, it's been a little bit nerve-wracking because, you know, obviously with the nursing school itself, it's very, you have to show up every single day, and it makes it hard being, again, a single parent with three children. I just, so I was assuming that i would go back you have family in the area um very little um a lot of my dependency relies on my 81 year old grandmother um where where is your family um just various situations my my mother um how did you all end up in newport news well i i was born in newport news um yeah so we've been around a lot it's just that like i said stability is not all there yeah my mother had a stroke when she was 32 and she's disabled and you know my father um i just got him

into rehab a couple years ago and he's and he's been sober now for two years. It'll be two years in May. Honey, you've had enough crisis to last anybody. Yeah. Wow. Crystal, I want to encourage you. Crystal, I want you to hear what I'm about to say. So right now, you are in a storm, and that storm's not going to last forever.

Kids get back into school. That's going to alleviate a lot of things. I want you to focus on trying to build some community, whether you try to go to church or you begin to really seek relationships, because there are people out there who want to help and will help you. And you've got to be okay saying, I can't do this on my own. But you're doing a tremendous job right now on your own, but you're not going to have to always be on your own. You need to embrace that. Now, here's what happens.

Once the kid's situation, when you're not a homeschool teacher, once that begins to alleviate, we want to get you in a situation where you can finish those classes, and if you've got to press pause for a little bit before nursing school to get a really good paying job and get out there and save and save and save and cash flow your way through nursing school, even if that takes you three to five years. Did you get life insurance? You can do it. Yes. I have about $55,000 in a savings account that I haven't really messed with too much.

Good. Good. Keep that. I had a $7,800 credit card from him that I've been paying off. I've got it down to about $58,000 now, and I've got about $29,000 in student loans so far. Okay. It's just... All right.

We're going to send you a bunch of materials. We're going to walk with you. We're going to send you a bunch of materials. We're going to send you Ken's book on careers, okay? I'm going to send you Anthony O'Neill's book called Debt Free Degree. New Way of Thinking About Going to School and Not Going into Debt. And then we're going to put you

into Ramsey Plus, which is our master class on Financial Peace University. It's got all the stuff in it. We're going to pay for every bit of it. Okay. We're going to come around you and put our arms around you. All right. I certainly appreciate it. Like I said, I just didn't know what direction really to go with it you know my husband i want you to wait on buying a house until after nursing

school yep with um with the actual apartment situation the one that i'm currently in i wouldn't say it's necessarily the greatest neighborhood and there's been a couple incidents i don't know it's a gentleman that was if you need to move and rent a little house somewhere that's fine but i would not buy a house right now. Rent. Okay. Crystal. Listen, your brain's on fire.

Yeah. You've got so much going on. You've had so much coming at you that it's very difficult to make large financial decisions when you have this much of a cloud. Every different direction. Yeah. Every different direction. Every morning you wake up with a new idea.

Crystal, I want you to hear this. Crystal, direction. Every morning you wake up with a new idea, you know? Crystal, I want you to hear this. Crystal, listen. Dave gave you great financial advice. You've got to get your financial house in order first. Here's what I want you to hear. Nursing school is still going to be there. Yep. The very reason why you wanted to be a nurse and caring for people, it's still going to be there.

It's not that far away. Don't you let this storm of life discourage you and confuse you from what you want to do. And that nursing job is not going to just be something you love to do, but it's going to be something that takes care of those three kiddos. Get your financial house in order. Do what we tell you. Take all the gifts. Stay focused.

Don't quit. You're going to come out of this storm. And when you come out of it, we'll get our financial house in order. Then we move towards nursing. You're so close. Don't you dare quit. Yeah. Ken's exactly right.

Let me tell you what I heard, okay? I'm talking to a 36-year-old, right? That's what she said, right? Yes, 36. Okay. When you're 56, you will have had a long nursing career, working as many hours as you wanted to work, and you're probably going to have close to a million-dollar net worth. That's exactly right.

That's the end of this story. Beautiful vision. You're going to be there, and I'm going to show you exactly how to do it, and Ken's going to show you exactly how to do it. So he's right. But we don't need to take any missteps along the way to keep us from getting there. You can do it.

You hold on. Kelly's going to get you signed up for everything as our gift, darling. I'm so sorry. This 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 DaveRamsey.com slash show and register. We would love for you to come to Nashville and tell your story.