The Ramsey Show - App - How Much Cash Should I Keep At Home? (Hour 2)

Episode Date: September 9, 2021

Debt, Business, Savings Sign Up for a FREE trial of Ramsey+ TODAY:  https://bit.ly/3rZTUAx Tools to get you started:  Debt Calculator:  https://bit.ly/2Q64HME Insurance Coverage Checkup:  https://bit.ly/3sXwUn5 Complete Guide to Budgeting:  https://bit.ly/3utmVXi Check out more Ramsey Network podcasts:  https://bit.ly/3fHhbVE

Thank you very much. Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and a paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, is my co-host today, number one bestselling author and author of the book that is just released in pre-sale. Pre-order is available. From paycheck to purpose, the clear path to doing work you love. You can get it at RamseySolutions.com right now for $20,

and you get almost $200 worth of goodies with it, goodies being stuff like the e-book, the audio book, a ticket to the live stream. There is all kinds of things happening there. So check it all out from paycheck to purpose. We will actually ship these books in November on the the actual pub date but a pre-sale is where you get the best possible deal and christy's new book comes out next week and so you've just got a few days to get take back your time the guilt-free guide to life balance uh yeah

and all the goodies with it on pre-sale, just a few days to take advantage of that. So you ought to probably pick them both up while you're there at RamseySolutions.com. Chris is with us in Santa Rosa, California. Hi, Chris. Whoa, wait a minute. Try that again. Chris, there you are. Hey, what's up? Hey, Dave and Ken.

Thanks for taking the call. Sure. How can we help? Well, before I get into it, I have listened to Borrowed Future, and that is just really wonderful, first class. Well, thank you. But anyways, so I'm coming into my golden years, and I watched my dad play golf for 25 years, and I don't want to do that. Okay. So what I want to do is kind of go into building families.

I have a mission statement here. Build and equip family teams to produce successful 30-year-olds. And so mostly for Ken, that's my getting clear. Qualified, I spent about 25 years with my wife raising our kids and homeschooling. And they've all graduated from college and are well married and employed and everything. Step three, get connected. I'm kind of there and I'm kind of on the get started and that's the main thing I want to talk about is getting started. So I've got some outline for some training programs but I want to kind of

brainstorm and say should I do that like webinars, podcasts, programs, but I want to kind of brainstorm and say, should I do that like webinars, podcasts, seminars, stuff like that? Oh, yeah. That's my question. Yeah, all of the above. Because you don't know what's necessarily going to stick. We try everything around here, and sometimes we're surprised by what doesn't work, and sometimes we're surprised by what does work, and sometimes we're not surprised at all.

But we try it all i mean we've got youtube channels and podcasts and radio shows and books and live events and digital classrooms and in-person classrooms and coaches and so we're we've got a whole bunch of different ways to help you with your life transformation and training and you probably i mean you you don't have you can't launch them all at one time. It's too much. But there's no reason not to try over a period of time a bunch of different things. Yeah. And Chris, what I would tell you to do is just come up with a basic methodology. Keep it super, super simple.

You know, Dave challenged me on this several years ago and all of the Ramsey personalities. And if you can come up with a very clear path, okay, so if you were sitting down with a couple right now, and they've got five and six and seven-year-olds, and they said, how'd you do it? How'd you and your wife do it well? How would you tell them what they need to do that you know that you all did and you know that it worked?

Keep it really simple. And they're going to come up with a simple methodology. That's where I would start. Before you start podcasting and webinars and things, come up with what your clear path is and then begin to test that because that will change the way you say it, what you add to it. All of that will happen. I'm curious to know if you're involved in a church by any chance.

Yeah, and actually we're transitioning from one part of the country to another to be close to grandkids, so we're kind of... Great. Where we're moving to is a good church with a pretty large homeschool contingent. Great, great. Is this going to be a side hustle? He's retired. Oh, you've retired. Well, I have a, like a handyman sort of business. So it's kind of, I can moderate one and build the other one up at the same time. Perfect. Well, go really slow.

What I was asking about the church is, as you begin to get into community there where you've got this built-in demographic, you know, parents is your demographic with younger kids, and if you can get an opportunity to volunteer your time to maybe teach a class at a church, that is a great way to test this material out and test it out without any pressure. And then the other temptation is to, you you know pour a lot of money in it feeling like well i can pour some gas on the fire when there was actually no flame so really test it test it test it work on it and then slowly begin to put it out a podcast is a great way to do it or even a youtube channel because again your barrier for entry is almost

non-existent this is hardly anything you got to do there the principles in your material won't change the processes that you use will change and they will polish and they will update and so yeah spending a ton of money on your uh first round of product is a bad idea because a lot of it's going to end up in the trash and uh your your prototype so to speak you know here's an example when we started the baby steps the first baby step was not a thousand dollars it was get out of debt and then we kept running into people's tire would blow out and they didn't have the money to fix their tire and so they quit the whole stinking program and so we figured out putting a thousand dollar a little bit of a pad on the front end was the um answer to uh know, fixing the baby steps, making them work. So it iterated.

But if I had $25,000 worth of stuff with the wrong baby steps on it, it would have all gone in the dumpster, you know. And so you're going to change what you do. Now, the principle didn't change. The principle is save money, get out of debt, live on less than you make, you know, live on a budget, be generous. These are the principles we teach from Scripture on money. But how you implement that is the process, and how we teach you to implement it is the process, and it has evolved over the 30 years that we have done this, and that's what's going to happen. Yeah, well, I mean, hey, just another personal example. He called in and he was repeating the seven stages.

Well, you know this, and our leadership knows. That's not what I came up with four years ago. I was really trying to figure out how to create a very simple and explainable process, clear path for people, and it wasn't that. Now it's get clear, get qualified, get connected, get started. That didn't exist for about three and a half years, and it was just constantly trying to listen to the audience. As you coach and as you talk to the people and share the message you want to share, you're right.

The polishing is what's beautiful about that, but that's the activity. Got to stay active. Got to stay really, really busy in delivering that content. Yeah. I think, Chris, you could probably go at this a little bit like I did a long time ago. I had a little small office and did some one-on-one coaching. Yep. And I taught a few little classes here or there, and I taught a Sunday school class.

And the Financial Peace University materials, some of what we teach to this day in FPU was in that original Sunday school class. Not all of it, but some of it. And it was just a place to interact with the user, you know, of the material. Changes everything. 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. Ken Coleman, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. We want to hear from you guys that are listeners of The Ramsey Show.

We're doing a survey of you right now. We want to know what's going on. And one of the things we're asking is how much debt you paid off. So far, we've heard of almost $241 million in debt from just the people that have taken the survey. Not bad at all. So if you'd like to take the survey, you'll be in a drawing for an Amazon gift card, $250. Not bad at all. Not bad at all.

A lot of not bad at all is going on here. Check it out. Text SURVEY to 33789. Tell us what you think about this show. Text SURVEY to 33789. Tell us what you think about this show. Text SURVEY to 33789 or visit RamseySolutions.com slash SURVEY. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Jerry is with us.

Jerry is in Mobile, Alabama. Hi, Jerry. How are you? Hey, I'm so great. Thank you for putting me on. Absolutely. How can we help? Yeah, so I have a small-based, home'm so great. Thank you for putting me on. Absolutely. How can we help? Yeah, so I have a small-based, home-based business, and I teach blacksmithing and knife making just here outside Mobile, Alabama.

As I've been getting to grow, I actually just pulled the trigger on doing this full-time, and so now I'm wanting to open up a permanent location a little bit closer to the beach area to help kind of take advantage of the 7 million tours that we have come each year to visit the lower Alabama area. I found a building that has a great layout, a great location. I've been negotiating back and forth with the leasing agent for the contract terms, but I proposed a early termination clause just in the event in case my business fails. However, he came back and said, no, he will not put in an early termination clause, and even with the penalty, and he wants a five-year lease, but he's also open to subleasing in case the business fails.

I lost a business in 2008, which led to bankruptcy, and so it really kind of changed my perspective. And I'm just trying to see if this is a wise agreement to enter into, but my wife feels like this is going into debt. So she said, why don't you call Mr. Ramsey and see what he says. Okay. Well, I don't consider that going into debt. It is a contractual obligation, obviously, and so it does feel like that.

But we've signed leases here in the days before we owned the real estate that we're in. And we just want to be super conservative about that. And this sounds like it's a little over the edge of conservative. Given that your business is not even running, operating full-time yet, and we're jumping into a five-year lease, if you'd been running it at least for a year, I'd feel a whole lot better about it. Ken, your thoughts? Yeah, this is one of those things, Jerry, where you're really excited. And by the way, congratulations on doing this.

I love this. This is craftsmanship. I love this business. And you've been doing well enough to where you're saying, okay, now I'm doing it full-time. I want you to do what is very hard for human beings to do. And I struggle with this as much as anybody, and that is be patient. There are other buildings. There is another season by which you'll be able to get in that location that's closer to the beach

that would be able to take advantage of the tourism. This temptation to move now comes from, I've got to strike while the iron is hot. And the reality is, it's not hot enough. No pun intended with the blacksmith. That's right. That's right. I'm not trying to do that. But you did it anyway.

You fell right into it. You did it. It's really true. It's amazing how that happens. I've heard legendary stories of Dave doing it. Anyway, here's the thing, Jerry. Be patient. Let's get this business really stable. Moving from part-time to full-time is a

big, big jump. So let's prove to ourselves that we can actually keep this thing going, keep expenses really, really low, build this thing, build this thing, be patient, be patient. The line I want to stick in your head, Jerry, if I can, I'm a big Braveheart fan. Have you ever seen the movie Braveheart, Jerry? It's been a while. It's been a while. You remember that scene where there's the big battle and William Wallace picks the fight

and the infantry, excuse me, the cavalry is coming at him and they got the long sticks and he's saying, hold, hold, hold. That's your theme right now. And there's going to be a season. Yeah. But listen, that's where you're at. I think that is where you've got to be.

Just be patient right now. The time to do this will be so abundantly clear that you won't have to call the Ramsey Show to say, what do you think? I think it will be really obvious. Three things came to mind while Ken was talking. Number one, I do not move forward on large business deals where sharing is uncomfortable. Every time I go against my wife's feeling, I have a bad feeling about this, I make a mistake. You're about to make a mistake. number two the best in 30 plus years of doing business the best business decisions i have made bar none were the deals i decided not to do the ones i look back that i walked away from that and i go oh thank god and i walked away from that and i go oh thank god what if i had done that where

would we be today oh man and uh and so. And so the deals I've walked away from. And then the last thing is this. You have one option. And so you have no negotiating power whatsoever and no emotional margin for negotiating because you only have one option. You've fallen in love with this one place. I want you to go find three other places that you can do this. You'll probably find one you can prop up for a one-year lease. I would do a one-year.

Okay. And your wife would do a one-year. And it's three doors down from the thing you're looking at, and it's kind of like going, na-na-na-na-na, you know, but I'm kidding. I don't know. I mean, it might be a little smaller. It might not be the perfect thing but it's your it's your it's your version one and maybe this bigger deal is your is your version two or version three later and go get in that same general neighborhood and take

advantage of those same the the the the not take advantage in a negative way but i mean to be in a position to serve those tourists that you're wanting to serve, but in a different location than that particular piece of property. I always know when I feel pressured to something and it's like a problem and it's like a hesitation and you called us, so you kind of got that. It's like, I really want to do this. I'm excited about it, but it feels like it's a stretch. It feels like it's over the top. When I start feeling that, it usually means I don't have enough options.

When I put three or four more options on the table, options are power when it comes to negotiation. Options are power when it comes to decision-making. You'll make better decisions when you have three or four valid ways you can do this, but always there'll be a, you know, one's better than two's better than three's better than four. You won't be able to prioritize which one's better, but you've got, I can do it in one of those three areas. Yeah. And that changes the whole picture.

Yeah. One of the things I found, Dave, I know in my journey is that this idea of kicking the door down has been romanticized in Hollywood movies and on some really bad success type motivational posters. But the reality is, is that rarely happens. You know, this idea, if you've got to kick a door down, it's rare that I've had to kick a door down, but I've had some, I've walked through some doors that swung wide open. And timing is really, really important. And I think sometimes when we've got a dream, not sometimes, when we have a dream that we deeply long for, we can get kind of sucked into this, let's go now!

And because of the passion behind it, we love it. I mean, he's a craftsman. He loves the trade. And everybody listening could tell that you and I are both excited about his business. Oh, yeah. Love it. It's a great idea. I'd buy a knife from him.

And by the way, if you've never seen a blacksmith do their thing, if you've never been to one of those historical homes, it really is a lost trade, and it's a wonderful, wonderful thing. And people are embracing that kind of stuff. So, you know, the key here is don't try to force it. Yep. You won't have to. When the time is right, you won't have to force it.

I just found that successful men and women, yes, they push hard. Yes, they work hard. They don't give up. But this idea of kicking doors down and bullying things over, that's been mystified and Hollywoodized. I don't think it's necessary. It gets you in big trouble. But if you're patient, the right door will open. Yeah.

So, I'm not doing that deal. No. Don't do that deal. That deal is too long. His wife's uncomfortable with it. He's really uncomfortable with it, too. He is, too. He's less uncomfortable than she is.

But I don't go against my spouse. Yep. The peace that passes understanding. That's it. You need that peace to move forward on a big deal. And, you know what? He's a pull of Dave Ramsey. This is what I've learned from Dave.

Maybe tell that guy, I'm walking, but I will tell you what I will do. I'll do a year lease. Other than that, thanks, but no thanks. What do you got to lose? When you wouldn't give me my termination clause, you lost me. That's it. Walk on your heel, baby. This is the Ramsey Show. We'll be right back. In the lobby of Ramsey Solutions on the debt-free stage, Sean and Mary are with us.

Hey, guys. Hey, how you doing, Dave? Welcome, welcome. Where do you guys live? Sacramento, California. All right. Welcome to Nashville. And all the way here to do a debt-free scream.

How much have you paid off? We paid off $255,000. Woo! I love it. And how long did this take you? Too long. Four years. Four years.

It's always too long. I agree. And your range of income during that time? We started about $140,000, and we had a couple good years in sales and bumped up over $200,000. Oh, yeah. Good. What do you guys do for a living? Vice president of sales for a tech company.

Okay. I handle the five monkeys off the set right now. The five monkeys. I am the ring leader. I am the ring master. Yep. I love it. All right.

$255,000 in four years. What kind of debt was this? It was our mortgage. You paid off your house? Yeah. You're weird. We did it. I love it.

In Sacramento freaking California, too. I mean, this is not a cheap real estate market. It's been good to us. It's a paid-off house. Wow. What's this house worth? Well, you know, it's been a good year, so I guess now about $600. But it depends on the day, I guess.

It might be $6 650 tomorrow in California. Very cool. Good for you guys. Man, and you're young. How old are you two? I'm 36. I'm a smidge older. Okay.

We don't need to know. We're moving on. I'm 36. 36 plus a smidge. A smidge. There you go. There we go. Now we have the algebra formula now figured out.

Way to go guys man that's impressive so what started you on this journey four years ago well it probably goes back further in 2009 we got married we have some good friends that gave us the total money makeover when we got married and i was getting my mba in finance and i said you know i know all this stuff but i read it and I thought it was interesting. And then I started doing it by myself and I, we got through all our consumer debt, but I was really doing it by myself. It took us four years just to get through that. And because we weren't really working together.

And then we moved to California. They don't teach that in the MBA. No, they don't. No, they don't. Then we moved to California and Mary wanted to buy a house. And I said, well, how about if we do Financial Peace University together, then we can buy a house. Oh. And I said, okay.

What harm? It's just a class. I'll watch some videos. Yeah. And you get me that house. That's great. That's a good trade. What can happen?

Okay. What's the worst thing that could happen? Oh, God. Four years. It escalated really quickly. That's awesome but then she loved it so much we started teaching the class so that's what really kicked us into gear for the house that's serious then yeah you guys so proud of you thank you well done how many classes have you taught oh we taught three well thank you it's like a built-in date night, you know.

Yeah. I got to go coordinate. We got to go. Yeah. Well, I mean, yeah, you got five kids. Any excuse. Yeah. Any.

We love them, but we love them at home. That's right. Good job. Well done. Man, you got no house payment. It's amazing. I mean. How's it feel?

It's pretty incredible. We've had two. We paid it off in July. So we've had, this is our second month of not having a mortgage payment. It's been good. We were able to come out here. So our first big thing, we promised the kids to come out to Nashville. So here we are.

That's fun. That's true. Way to go. Yeah. So we've got a young couple here. And this is because you guys are definitely young. Let me just say that. All right.

And I'm just curious how the conversation changes. Because you're moving towards paying this house off. You get there. Now you're two months post paying this baby off. How are the conversations changing around money and what you're dreaming about? What are you looking forward to? I said this before we left. I said, you know, we've been pushing so long towards getting the house paid off.

And we did our last, you our last big payment to finish it. And I said, I kind of feel poor for the first time in a while because we've sent all this money out the door. And now I don't really want to go spending a lot on things. But there are things we've been waiting to do. But should we do them now? I don't know. So it's the letting go of the intensity,

which for years it's not gazelle, but it's not too slow either. No, that's pretty, that's pretty far. Yeah. Shifting gears has been a little. Wow. Yeah. I think the key there is, I mean, we, we've been very intentional with not doing certain

projects on the house or not doing big vacations, just doing little ones during the house payoff. And now we get to do some fun stuff, but we're also, we want to make sure we do the right things and spend the money in the right places. So we're, we're wise later later but have some fun with it. Way to go. Way to go. So proud of y'all. Thank you.

What a killer hero couple. You guys are just heroes. So well done. Very, very fun. Now, you're teaching the class. You're baby step seven. I mean, you're there. What do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is?

You're actually experts. I think that's to you. I don't know. Gosh. You really can't do it unless you're doing it together. And I love that we've watched both the financial piece, the original set, and then the new set we did that two years ago. Yeah.

We like to be nerds and compare the differences in your little monologues. We kind of prefer the first set to the new set in just a couple places. We like when you throw the Barbie over the shoulder. They like vintage, Dave. Vintage. I did some stuff in there that will get you put in jail. Only in California.

Throw Barbie over your shoulder. That's just like... What kind of maniac are you? What kind of male sexist pig are you? Our favorite kind. So, working together. I'd say the other key is the budget. So, at the beginning, I mentioned I was doing it by myself with our consumer debt, and I

did spreadsheets galore. I'm the nerd, and I would have all sorts of spreadsheets. And I'd sit her down and I'd say, look at all these great spreadsheets. I'm an MBA. Look at this. Blind. Just like numbs up. He would sit me,

I'd be like on a stool next to the computer. And he's in the computer, like the desk chair with the mouse and the things. He's like Captain Kirk. And then you're like off to the side. Yes, I was like. Waiting for it to be over. Yeah.

But when every dollar came out, when every dollar came out, that was the key. Every dollar was huge. We had it on our phones, and we were able to see everything together, and it was not a spreadsheet, but it still was able to keep us on track of what was happening and do our transactions together. It was complicated enough, but not too much. That's what it's supposed to be. Yeah.

Well done. All right. So you've been doing it's supposed to be. Yeah. Well done. All right. So you've been doing the retirement savings all along. Yes, we have. How much is in that 401Ks and Roth IRAs? So last week, when the stock market went up, we were at just over a million. Whoa! So we are with the house.

Oh, so you're Baby Steps Millionaires. So we just hit a million last week, so we're Baby Steps Millionaires. Baby Steps Millionaires. Yeah. And Baby Steps, and you're not even 36 and a smidge. I mean, my gosh. Wow. That's impressive.

It is. I mean, wow. We're talking about major, major money in impact. That's in your future. Yeah. $600,000 paid for house and over half a million dollars in investments is what we're saying. And if you go back 12 years, as you say, anything you do for long enough, you do it the right way. Twelve years from when we first started in 2009, and we built it up, and now here we are.

It really works. It's like a case study right out of the survey. That's right. Well done. Well done. And you brought the kiddos. We sure did. All five of them.

We might have left one in Omaha. I don't know if it made the trip. It was a home alone somewhere. Or in the airport or something. In a locker. Yeah. All right. So those of you at home, his T-shirt says baby.

Mary's T-shirt says step. And then the kids spell out letters on theirs that say seven. Yeah. S-E-V-E-N. It's all right. It's all right. We got it. I love it.

Baby step seven, they're there, and they're not even 40 years old. No. Wow. Very, very, very cool. All right. The kiddos' names and ages? All right. We have Joseph here, who is 11.

We'll go over here, I guess. Ambrose is nine. Mary Augusta is six. And Stephen here is five. And little baby will be one next month. All right, little baby. Good stuff. That's fun.

You guys are amazing. We've got a copy of the Legacy Journey for you. That is your next chapter in your story. You've completely changed the legacy of all of these kiddos. I'm so proud of y'all. You're such a neat couple. Well done. Well done. You deserve every bit of the success and all I'm so proud of y'all. You're such a neat couple. Thank you. Well done. Thank you.

Well done. You deserve every bit of the success and all the hard work you've poured into this. You're proof it can be done in America today. Absolutely amazing. All right. Sean and Mary and the tribe from Sacramento. House and everything. $255,000 paid off in four years, making $140,000 to $200,000.

Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. 140 to 200. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. We're debt-free! Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo! I love it. How fun. Man, that's powerful.

The number of people that are doing their debt-free scream and simultaneously becoming baby steps millionaires are counting up it's happening more and more this is the ramsey show Ken Coleman Ramsey personality host of the Ken Coleman show author of the number one bestseller the proximity principle and the new book that will also be a number one comes out in November and it's on pre-sale now it It's called From Paycheck to Purpose, The Clear Path to Doing Work You Love. We're going to spend a lot of our lives at work. We should be doing something we love,

and we should be doing something that's profitable simultaneously. And they're not mutually exclusive. You don't have to be broke to be happy. That's a mythology thing that floats around. Actually, Ken addresses that. So you can preorder the book at RamseySolutions.com. And right now, while it's in preorder, you get about $100 worth of extras with it. Quite a nice bundle when you order the book for $20 in presale.

Beverly's with us. Beverly's in Boise, Idaho. Hi, Beverly. How are you? Hi, Dave. Hi. Hi, Ken. Thank you you? Hi, Dave. Hi. Hi, Ken. Thank you for taking my call.

Sure. What's up? I have a very simple question for you. How much cash is too much cash to keep at home? And where would you put it? Where should you put it since the banks are only giving you 1%? So you're a cash under the mattress woman, are you? Uh-huh.

Maybe in some coffee cans buried in the backyard? So how much cash do you want to keep at home? Well, you always say pay cash for stuff. Well, obviously, you cannot go down to the car store and put $70,000 of cash on their debt. You cannot go down to the what store? The automobile store. And put $70,000 cash?

Did you say 70? Yeah. You're buying a nice car. To buy a new car. To buy a new truck. You're buying a nice truck. All right. Well, I don't do that when I'm buying a $70,000 item. I wire it. Okay. I don't carry cash in. Now, if I'm negotiating with an individual for a used item, I might use the power of cash like we have taught and wave it under their nose and see if I can get a better deal. I've done that. I'm not above doing that. But I don't think I'm going to recommend Beverly walks down with a suitcase full of money like a drug dealer to a $70,000 car purchase.

I'm just going to let you wire that money in. So you would put the money in the bank. And wire it. And get 1%. Well, you're not getting anything in the bottom of your mattress. That's true. Yeah. So it's, you know.

I know that. It's not the 1%. It's I don't want you to get robbed. I don't want somebody to knock you in the head and take $70,000 out of your house. I don't have $70,000 in my house. So that's just when you say you pay cash for stuff, you keep your money in a bank or a credit union or something, and then you wire it. Yeah, and I wire it, meaning I don't go into debt is what I mean when I pay cash. Now, I have a pocket full of cash right now.

I carry a money clip in my front pocket that's usually got a thousand bucks in it but that just because i like i'm a redneck i like having some money in my pocket you know but that's just walking around money and if i want to buy something or you know most of what that wallet goes for is tips for you know when i park a car or when i'm uh finish up playing a game of golf and a guy cleans my clubs, you know, that kind of stuff. Or when I come over and mow your lawn, you're really generous. Yeah, when Ken comes over and washes dishes for us, we give him a little tip. By the way, I want to point out, don't come to some live event

and try to take money off of Dave because he's also got something else in his pocket. I just think I should point that out. That could be a bad scenario for someone trying to take your cash. I'm not going to get robbed. It's okay. It's okay. Nobody wants to rob me. But I'm not really muggable.

I'm just huggable. But anyway, yeah, I don't walk around with a bunch of cash in that regard. When I say cash is king at the beginning of the show, it doesn't mean that Jesus isn't king. It means that cash has power, and paying for things rather than going into debt to get them is power. And so, you know, I know a few people that keep $5,000 or $10,000 cash in a little safe in their house just in case they, you know, wanted to grab a hold of a little money for some reason or another on a short notice and the ATM was jammed up or something, then that's okay. But, you know, I don't believe in keeping $50,000, $100,000, $200,000. You're starting to get into the land of preppers and stuff like that then, and I'm not that guy, and I don't recommend that.

So interesting discussion, though, Beverly. I have a lot of curiosity about what's going on at your house at this point. I'm not that guy, and I don't recommend that. Interesting discussion, though, Beverly. I have a lot of curiosity about what's going on at your house at this point. I've got to tell you, Dave, part of me would love to see Beverly walk in with some armed security with a suitcase and plop it up on the counter and go, I'd like that truck right over there. I bet she could get a discount. I'll guarantee you she can get a discount. I think so. She's awesome.

Gavin is with us gavin's in chicago hey gavin what's up hey dave thanks for having me sure what's up uh wanted to ask you a question can i afford to go to hawaii with my wife for a friend's wedding. Now, where do you have the money? I think we do. She's worried. We've never spent this much money on a trip before. Do you have the money and cash without going into debt to do it, is what I'm asking? Oh, absolutely, yeah.

We're on four, five, six. Okay. You're in baby steps four, five, and six. And how much is the trip? We're thinking like seven grand. Yeah, sounds about right. And you've got that money. And what do you guys make a year?

We make about $180,000 a year. Why could you not afford this? Because we're so cheap. Now the truth comes out. It has nothing to do with the arithmetic it's the emotional state yeah i mean we're trying we're trying to pay off trying to pay off our houses yeah and and and you know live like no one else and yeah how old are you guys? 39. You ever been to Hawaii? I have on a company trip, so I never paid for it. Has she been?

Yes, she has. She says she has no desire, but we haven't been to Kauai yet. We've been to the Big Island and not Kauai. Okay. But you're not just going to fly over for the wedding and then bolt as soon as the reception's over, correct? Oh, no, no. No. That's a $12 flight.

We're going to go for a week. There you go. My point is, that's the narrative. You guys got to talk about this as an awesome opportunity to get away and reward each other for this sacrifice. You make really good money. You're out of debt except your home. You're executing a financial plan four five six um you should go yeah thank you you should do this you should do guess what she said if you

said yes then we get to go okay there i'm not i'm not making the decision but i'm just saying the arithmetic is that you you are not being okay? And when you said we're just cheap and you laughed, you were sort of kidding but not really. And so the thing you guys want to be careful of, there are three things you can do with money. You can invest it, you can be generous with it, and you can enjoy it. Almost everyone is weak in one of them.

And so watch the one that you're weak in. And the one you guys are weak in is you're not good at enjoying your money. Right. And you need to. Yeah, I mean, we have a million dollars in our nest egg. Yeah. So you're really good at investing. How's your generosity?

Probably medium. Minimal. Yeah, I see. really good at investing how's your generosity probably medium minimal yeah i see the truth is there's usually a correlation between uh the the people who enjoy their money and the generosity so one of the things we do at our house and this might help you is um you kind of feel like you're doing something wrong if you're doing something opulent like a week long in hawaii that's a big time expenditure, right? So one of the things we do is sometimes we'll just increase our generosity by the same amount we spend on ourselves. Okay.

And we're just like, okay, God, who do you want to help today? I want to give $7,000 to, I want to buy two single moms a $3,000 car this week. Show me, lead them to me, Lord. And then I'll go do that. And then I'll go to Hawaii and I don't think about it. Yeah. Gotcha. Sometimes the generosity muscle works almost simultaneously with the enjoyment muscle.

Take some extra cash to Hawaii and bless somebody out of their mind who's serving you. Take $70,000 and buy you a truck while you're there. Call Beverly and pick her up on the way. Drop a truck off at Boise on your way. This is The Ramsey Show. Dave here. We just launched a brand-new listener survey. We want to know what you think about the show. You'll be entered to win a $100 Amazon gift card. No purchase necessary. Take the survey at ramseysolutions.com

slash survey or text survey to 33789.