The Ramsey Show - App - How Should My Fiancé and I Split Wedding Expenses? (Hour 1)

Episode Date: September 22, 2020

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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. Thank you for joining us, America. This is a show about you, your life, your money. We talk about every area of your life. Sometimes the way we get at them is through the lens of money. Thanks for being with us.

Open phones at 888-825-5225. It is a free call, 888-825-5225. Zane starts this hour off in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Hi, Zane. How are you? Good. How are you, Dave? Better than I deserve.

What's up? Just got a quick question. Me and my wife, we've been talking finances and everything, and we've got a baby on the way, and we've been on our debt-free journey basically down to just uh her student loans and uh got them down to about a little less than 13 grand uh paid off about 16 000 worth of debt so far good for you thank you when's the baby day and uh uh in uh middle of february life is good brother good yeah uh just uh yeah we're super excited and everything uh but she she talked to me the other day and she said well because we've been paying on it just intensely and uh everything and she's kind of wanting to push pause good and uh and pause and basically pile up money and then do it after the baby comes.

I'm kind of leaning more the opposite way. I kind of want to kind of punch it in the nose and move on and then pile up the money after that. But I'm just kind of getting your take on which direction we need to go. Okay. We do recommend when a baby's on the way that you just push pause. You stop your total money makeover. You stop your baby steps and pile up cash until baby comes.

And so do you think you would have the $13,000 in a savings account when baby comes to pay off the student loan debt if you did that? I think we could. The last couple months, I'm on commission, and the last couple months have been really, really good. Here's the thing. If you have $13,000 in the account, and that's what it takes to pay off the student loan, did I hear you right?

Yes. If you have that in the account, baby comes and mama and baby are okay and they come home from the hospital, you write a check that day and you pay off the student loan debt. In the meantime, you've had a nice fat cushion there just to make sure that mama and baby are okay. And you need money to make sure of that. So it's a nice big fat juicy temporary emergency fund

because if you had one little hiccup with baby you don't want to think about money you want to think about baby and so it's exciting it's scary it's a wonderful time in your life enjoy that ride the only down the only thing you lose by doing this plan what she's suggesting that we suggest is whatever interest you would have saved between now and then right and so it's interest on 13 000 for four months whoopee it's nothing right and there's no interest till the end of the year from what i understand that's, that's true. So it's not any interest at all then, hardly. So there's no reason. So, yeah, and so you push play again on your baby steps,

and you finish out paying off the debt, and you build up your emergency fund, you go back to normal after baby comes, okay? And you get back into the intensity and finish up your emergency fund, get your baby step three done, all that, and you roll it on out. So, yeah, that's exactly what to do. So, hey, good plan. Good plan. Well done. Open phones at 888-825-5225.

You guys jump in. We'll talk about your life and your money. Corey is with us in Milwaukee. Hi, Corey. How are you? I'm well, man. Thanks for taking my call. Sure.

What's up? Hey, so I just got a little situation for you here. I got engaged a couple of weeks ago. Congratulations. We have not set a date yet. Thank you very much. So we have not set a date yet, but we've been sitting down and kind of talking about our budget. Here's the issue.

My fiance is on baby steps four and six. She is very frugal, brilliant with her money. I am on baby step two. I have about $30,000 left to pay. I expect to have it paid off within the next year. Good. Um, kind of here's the thing though, since we are not married, we have been, obviously we have not combined finances. So she, so she wants to pay like all of the down payments for everything she wants to pay for, and she wants me to continue handling my debt as hard as I can.

But I want to pay 50% of the deposit. Stop, stop. What down payments are you talking about? For the venue, for caterers, all that stuff. Oh, the wedding stuff. Okay, so she's going to pay for the wedding. Well, I mean, at least the first part until i can get closer to my debt payoff date yeah but i think we should split the down payments and split everything that we are

saving you know if she wants a dress for a thousand bucks you know i think i should put 500 towards that okay what do you make uh both of us are registered in uh our ends so we both make about 65k a year great okay it doesn't matter mathematically okay okay because let's just think about it let's say she pays all the down payments in the dress and the wedding budget you get out of debt that's the way that she's talking about and um then when you're married the wedding is paid for and the the student loan is clear, right? Or let's say that we did it your way, and we said, okay, you're going to pay for half the stuff, so you're not going to quite get the student loan paid off before you get married,

but she's not going to have but half the wedding budget, so she could pile up a big savings account over there and write a check and pay off your student loan when you get home from the honeymoon. When you come home from the honeymoon, mathematically, you're going to be in exactly the same place regardless of which plan you use. Okay, so you're saying six to one then? Yeah. You see how I'm doing that? Yeah, I got that.

I got that. And so I'm okay. I kind of like your plan relationally better. Just in case we weren't to get to get married right which will not happen but i know but i'm just saying it just feels better like you're you want to tow your half of this wedding budget and that feels better to you and all she's got to do is pile up some extra cash over here that she would have been covering the other half of the wedding budget with and we can use that to pay off your student loan when we're married i'm fine with all of that after the wedding's over got it hey dave thanks for your

help hey thank you for calling in good good questions man i tell you here's the thing you know where people screw up stuff like that is when they don't do what cory's doing and his fiancee they don't talk about it they don't talk about it. They don't communicate about it. They just make assumptions and they just plow forward as if nothing matters and as if this stuff didn't come up. Instead, they're going, okay, this makes me feel weird. It's a weird feeling in my value system that I'm not picking up my half the wedding, but it also feels weird that she's saving money over here to pay off his student loan later. And, you know, just talk about the awkwardness. Talk about what we're doing with the money.

Talk about how we're doing what we're doing. It's absolutely vital. You can get started as a young couple engaged, working through your pre-marriage counseling. With those kinds of discussions, you are light years ahead of most couples. Most couples don't talk about it, and it consequently blows up. Clear the air. Clear the air. Think it through.

Use critical thinking skills. Come up with a plan that we both can agree to. Execute the plan. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Families all over the country are discovering a faith-based and budget-friendly way of meeting health care costs, whether they're anticipated or completely unexpected. For example, take the Olcheski family from LaGrange, Texas. Jeff and Carice had just celebrated the birth of a new baby boy. Shortly after, they had another expensive medical issue come up.

They could have faced a huge financial setback. But thanks to Christian Health Care Ministries, the Olcheskis were spared from a ton of medical bills. As members of CHM, they're part of a group of believers who financially and spiritually Thank you. nearly $97,000 to help the Olcheskis. To be a part of Christian Healthcare Ministries, visit chministries.org. That's chministries.org. CHM is a proud sponsor of Dave Ramsey Live Events. Thank you for joining us, America. We're glad you're here.

Our question of the day comes from Blinds.com, the number one online retailer of custom window coverings in the world. You get free samples, free shipping, and with the new promos they run every month, you'll save even more. Promo code RAMSY helps you get the best deal. Rachel's in Texas says, I just graduated with my master's in finance. I've been doing social work for the past four years. Love my job. The pay's decent, but I know I could make more and be closer to reaching my full potential if I were to seek

employment in the finance industry. I'm on baby step two. I have lots of debt. Unfortunately, my dad needs a transplant. When he comes up on the transplant list, I will suddenly need to take off six weeks in order to care for him. I have no siblings and my dad lives with me. I love my dad. My current job is very supportive of my dad's health care needs. Should I wait until after the transplant to seek employment in the finance field? Will that be difficult when I'm no longer a new graduate? No, you can seek employment anytime you want in anything. There's nothing that keeps you from doing it anytime you want to.

I think you're assuming that you could never find a company in the finance world that would understand and allow you to have some time off for your dad. I mean, if you were interviewing here, for instance, and you told us that that was the only way you would be able to take the job, we would look at that and say, well, you know, that doesn't work for us. Or that does work for us. We'll take care of you and your dad and let you have some time off if you needed the help, if you come on board with us. Because it might be a year or two even before, you know, transplant comes through. I don't know exactly what's going on here here but sometimes these things drag out a little bit

hope it doesn't but it can so uh there's nothing there's nothing to prohibit you from looking for a position with a company that would also be supportive of your dad's health care needs. Now, if it's hardcore corporate politic crap, and they're just like, no, we're going to fire you as soon as you take one minute off to take care of your dad, well, obviously you don't take that job. You stay where you are. But there's nothing to keep you from looking and pulling out all the options.

It sounds a little bit like you're trying to just stay in your comfort zone kiddo i think you need to go swimming jump in the water's fine open phones at 888-825-5225 hayley is with us hayley's in greely colorado hi hayley how are you doing well how are you better Doing well. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? Well, I called a couple of weeks ago and spoke to John and Anthony, and they helped walk my husband and I through the first step of our journey and got us set up with Ramsey Plus. Wow. Good. Since then, we have figured out our why and set up our every dollar budget. And due to employment and income issues during the height of COVID, we had to surrender two vehicles back in July.

Ouch. Yeah. We received the first vehicle's deficit letter, and our original creditor offered to settle on monthly payments for 12 months in order to not send our account to a collection agency please don't do that did you do that if we did you do that i'm sorry did you do that i have not don't do that okay i don't care if they send a collection agency who cares if you went to a collection agency you're in repoed okay let them sit you got no money they can just sit the longer they sit the more pliable and soft they become okay i see i was thinking that there's a possibility we could settle for a lesser amount if we saved up some cash over the next year or so. Yep. And just filtered through our debt snowballs.

Yep. And, okay. Yeah, what did they declare the deficit to be? The first vehicle is $15,000, and they don't know the other one yet. Okay. You can settle that for about 20 cents on the dollar. So I'm going to offer them about three grand on the anniversary of the repo. Okay.

About July. Just let those people sit. Let me tell you what they usually get. Let me tell you how much of a deficit they usually collect. The typical deficit collection is zero. Most people that go through a repo and get a $15,000 bill file chapter 7 bankruptcy, they get zero most of the time. So if you just keep them on the hook and keep messing with them and offer them,

you know, tell them, I don't have any money. I got $2,000 if you want to take that as settlement in full, but I can't give you $15,000. That's not even going to come close. We're not going to do it. You know, that's a joke. Well, you're a joke. No, I know I'm a joke. joke you took my car i'm already a joke so haha call me in july you know hang up the phone is there any possibility they could garnish our wages for it

only after they sue you okay and they won't get around to that for another two years right because you know what happens when they garnish you people's wages you know what happens when they garner people's wages? You know what happens when they garner people's wages on a repo deficit? They file Chapter 7 bankruptcy and they get zero. All righty. So here's the thing. This matters to you 1,000 times more than it matters to anyone else on this planet,

including those people you owe money to. You're treating it as if those are real humans on the other side of this equation. It's corporate America. They don't give a crap. They're running statistical probabilities on whether they're going to get any money out of you at all, and the statistical probability is they're going to get zero so if you just keep talking to them hold them out and offer them two thousand three thousand dollars cash a settlement in full you're going to settle this between two and five thousand dollars somewhere in there by july and a lump sum and because and they're going to feel really blessed because most of the time they get zero okay so just don't you're trying to there's still

a part of you that's you're an honorable good person and under the heading of doing the right thing you're still trying to think like they have feelings on the other side they don't have feelings over there does that make sense yes sir yeah like if i owed you the money if you owed me the money i might have feelings about it or you owed me the money you know or vice versa whichever way we would you and two human beings we'd have feelings about it but these aren't humans these are just collectors right so they're just you're just a widget in a factory going down the conveyor belt. Chunk, chunk, chunk, chunk. And as soon as they hang up with you, they're sitting in a cubicle with a headset on,

and they call somebody else and harass them. Okay. All day long. Okay, so just chill. Yeah, just settle it. Lump sum, settled in full. That's the thing. Okay. All day long. Okay. So just chill. Yeah, just settle it. Lump sum, settled in full. That's the thing. Okay.

Thanks for calling. 888-825-5225. Fred's in Wilmington, North Carolina. Hi, Fred. How are you? Hello, Dave. I appreciate this opportunity to speak to you. It's an honor.

You too, sir. What's up? Well, first of to you. It's an honor. You too, sir. What's up? Well, first of all, I owe you an apology. Uh-oh. It's not what you did. It's what I did. I should have called you years ago to thank you for financial peace. You're fine. Thank you. Thanks for saying so. How can we help today?

Well, my wife and I are on the verge of retirement. Well, she's actually retired. She retired in June of this year. And I'm considering retirement probably April, May, end of next year. And we are at, we're seveners. We're maybe step seven. Great. We are thinking or have been discussing purchasing either a condo or a townhouse vacation home at the beach. Great. And just wanted to get your thoughts on that and how you would handle – this is all new to me, surreal to me.

This is why you worked your whole freaking life, dude. How much is the condo? Well, we're just looking. What price range? Well, we're thinking around $250. And what's your total nest egg? Depending on the market, anywhere from a little north or south of $2.2 million. Good Lord, buy the condo. You did it, man.

Touchdown. Absolutely. Write a check. Pay cash. Way to go. Awesomeness. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, guys. At The Dave Ramsey Show, we really value your input.

It helps us to know what's important to you so we can deliver relevant content to help you crush your money goals. We just launched a brand new survey, and we'd love your feedback. It only takes a few minutes, and you'll be entered to win a $100 Amazon gift card. No purchase necessary. Take the survey at DaveRamsey.com slash survey or text survey to 33789. Well, if you've spent any time with us, you know that we really focus on how to handle money the right way, how to pay off debt, how to save for emergencies, how to build wealth. Now our number one best selling author and money expert, Rachel Cruz, Ramsey personality is going to focus on the why. She wrote a brand new book called Know Yourself, Know Your Money, which helps you explore your past experiences

so you can understand why you handle money the way you do. This book is for everyone, regardless of what baby step you're on, because your why impacts how you spend, how you save, how you give, how you achieve your dreams. Understanding your why and knowing how will change your family tree. Pre-order Know Yourself, Know Your Money today for only $20 and get over $150 in bonus items, including a free coaching call with one of our certified financial coaches.

Don't miss out. Pre-order at the online store at DaveRamsey.com or call the Ramsey Concierge Team at 888-22-PIECE, 888-227-3223. Callan is in Lincoln, Nebraska. Hi, Callan. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. How are you?

Better than I deserve. What's up? Hey, I really appreciate you taking my call. And first off, I really wanted to say thank you. I've been listening to you for about three years now. And when I first started listening to you, we were $60,000 in debt from car payments to personal loans. Wow. And we got cleared up in about a year and a half.

Wow. Good for you, man. Yeah. We really appreciate it. And you know, it couldn't have, it couldn't have come at a crazier time because, um, after all that happened that we actually, um, we have a third child on the way, but we had just had a newborn and she was only six months old and she, um, she's been cancer free now for about four months. I can't, I can't imagine having to have done that when we were in debt. And we, you know,

we said that all the time and it was crazy when we were, when we first started, we, I had like called up the bank and was like, you know, I'm going to need an extended line of credit. And I got it all extended and everything. And we never had to use any of it the entire time.

Wow. Praise God. That's awesome. I'm glad she's doing well. How can I help today yeah i know thank you it was amazing um the reason i'm calling today is uh we've been you know we have our emergency fund we i'm doing 15 to my 401k my wife um she's a government employee she has 10 to hers and we started throwing you know a little bit of money at the kids college, the five 29. Um, and just the more I've been listening to you and the

more, you know, we're talking about changing our family tree. And, um, we started kind of thinking of maybe pulling back from the 401k and just trying to get the house paid off. Um, and, uh, you know, what, I mean, I I guess what are your thoughts on that? I want to get the house paid off and save up cash to buy the next house with cash. And I know we'd have to live in this house a little bit longer than maybe we want to, but I mean, there's a difference between a want and a need, I guess. What do you think about that? Well, what we teach folks to do is after you have your emergency fund in place, maybe step four is both of you, all of you, should be putting 15% of your household income into retirement. You're not doing that yet.

And then we teach beyond that, baby step five, start doing something towards the kid's college, and you can decide how much or how little to do, but at least start something there. And then above that, let's pay off the house early. We do not teach to go below 15% of your income going into retirement in order to pay off the house a little earlier. It's tempting, and once you get the debt-free bug and want to get your house paid off, I understand why you're asking this, and I understand the temptation, but it is not the shortest distance between where you are in wealth.

And the plan that I want to put you on is the shortest distance between where you are in wealth and the plan that i want to put you on is the shortest distance between two points and so okay uh the all the millionaire data that we have studying millionaires what did they do how did they do it what did they do it take the typical millionaire was 10.2 years paying off their home the typical person working the total money makeover is paying off their home in seven years. That's the typical while doing the baby steps, 15% of your income going into retirement because that's the offense. You got offense and defense. Defense is getting rid of the debt.

Offense is building wealth. And so you don't want to let your guard down over here on the offense in order to just play defense and get the house paid off. But you've been through a baby with cancer. You've been through COVID this year. You've been through some other things, and that makes you put the shields up and think, oh, defense, defense, I want to get the house paid off. And that's a normal reaction.

I wouldn't do that, though. What I would do is do exactly what we teach you to do because we have seen that to have the shortest path to you winning. Our goal is not merely to get folks out of debt. Our goal is to make sure you become wealthy as a result of being out of debt and that you're outrageously generous along the way. And if I can get you going doing all those things, touchdown, baby. I got you dialed in where you want to be. Fred's with us in Paducah, Kentucky. Hi, Fred.

How are you? I'm lost. Uh-oh. How can I help? I'm 72 years old. I have $6,000 in a 401K. And the company that I'm a truck driver in, the company I'm with right now, doesn't match anything on the 401K that I'm doing with the company. So we owe about $217,000 on our house.

My wife is a retired school teacher. And we make about $95,000 altogether. That's gross. So it's about $70,000 to $75,000 net. But I don't know what to do next, Dave. We have about $11,000 at 4%. In savings or in debt? That's, I wish it was savings.

That's debt. That's just a HELOC. Okay. That's your only debt other than your home? Yes, sir. Do you have any money in savings other than the $6,000 and the 401K? We have about $2,300. Okay. Cool. All right.

We're trying to save $100 a month in that, and I'm lost. Okay. I can give you an exact path to follow, and just like dialing in the GPS in the truck, you've got to follow it if you want to get there. Exactly. I do. I do. I do. Okay.

So we call it the baby steps. Baby step one is anything above $1,000, we're going to throw at that. So you've got $2,300, we're going to put $1,300 towards your $11,000 in debt. And then we're going to get you on a beans and rice, rice and beans budget. You guys are not going out to eat. You're not going to see the inside of a restaurant unless you're working there, and you're not going on vacation. Beans and rice, rice and beans.

Because we've got a mess here, and the clock is ticking. Definitely. Okay. So fast, fast, we're going to clean up that little $11,000 in debt. Then baby step three is three to six months of expenses saved just for a rainy day fund. So you need $10,000, $15,000 saved next, as fast as you can. Okay? So that's about $26,000 out of your $75,000, and you're going to do that inside of one year.

One year from today, you're going to have $15,000 in the bank and no debt but your house. That's going to feel better already. You're going to be on a written plan. And again, you're not doing nothing, dude. Then you're going to start really pouring into your 401k really, really aggressively. And if you can't put more of your work in, does your wife have a nest egg or just a pension from teaching? She's just a retired teacher, pre-pension. Okay, cool.

Good news. Okay. But we're going to use this $90,000 income for the next three to five years and try to get some feet under you. Try to get some legs under you, okay? Okay. And then so you get the mess cleaned up with the debt, you build an emergency fund, then you start investing. Now, what's the house worth? About $320,000. Nice house in Paducah, Kentucky.

Well. It is. Well. That's a nice property. Well, you may or may not be able to keep that. It's up nice property. Well, you may or may not be able to keep that. It's up to you. You need to get it paid for, and we need to build you a nest egg. And those are our steps.

And so that sounds like 7 to 10 years' worth of work to me, and that's going to put you at 80 years old working. So you're going to have to work this through and think through the math on it. But your first steps are to get the mess cleaned up. Hold on. I'm going to put you in Ramsey Plus and show you how to do every bit of it. Thank you for joining us, America. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Christina is with us in Daytona, Florida.

Hi, Christina. How are you? I am so nervous, but I am so happy to be calling in because we watch you all the time. Well, I'm honored. Thank you. How can I help? Okay. So we've been following your baby steps.

We are on two. We've dogged out all of our credit card debt. The things that we have left now is our mortgage at $95,000. We have a HELOC for $29,000. And then we have a FEMA SBA loan from a hurricane that we got damaged on a few years back, and that's $21,000. How many years ago was that? Probably about maybe three years, four years ago. Wow. Okay. Yeah. So.

What's the house worth? The house is worth $225,000. Okay. And. What's your household income? $70,000. Okay. And your question's what?

Should we just keep following the baby steps and do the snowball? Or should we try to refi at this time because our interest rate is 4.125%? Yeah. So I wasn't sure which way would be better to go. Well, we could, you know, we probably under what we teach, the answers I give here on the air, we probably could lead you either way. Let's talk through it together, okay? Okay. Number one, you've probably heard me say, if your second mortgage is less than half your annual income, it goes in baby step two. Gotcha. And if we did that, we'd put both of these $20,000 second mortgages with your $70,000

income under baby step two. Gotcha. How much other debt have you got in Baby Step 2? That's it. We wiped it all out. Oh, good. Okay, so that's one option. That's one option, and that is consistent with what we teach. Okay. But I very seldom run into somebody these days with three mortgages.

But you had the hurricane and the FEMA, and they're getting rid of FEMA and getting rid of the SBAs like getting rid of cancer. So it's hard. Yeah. So, you know, we could roll them together and say that $40,000 is your second mortgage, which makes it more than half your annual income, which makes it a baby step six item. And that would mean we would do a refinance and roll them together. Okay. I think that's what I'm doing. You think?

Yeah, I think I'm going to put a 15-year, what, $130,000 mortgage on your $200,000 house. Okay. At two and some change interest rate, right? Fixed rate right now, great 15-year fixed. Right. And just clean this mess up and be done with it. We're not borrowing any extra, and we're not cheating, and we're not saying, oh, the best way to get out of debt is borrow your way out of debt, because it's not.

We're not saying any of that. We're just saying your second mortgage, if we look at the two as one, which is not illogical to do it that way. So I probably would do a refi and knock them out that's probably what i would do if you're all gazelle hopped up and on coffee and you want to knock them out knock them out should we do it uh 15 or 10 year mortgage yeah i like that i mean i don't want to get too crazy, but we're tired of it. We are 50 and 51, and we want to be done with this. Well, the thing is, you could pay the 15 off in 10.

There's no penalties. You just start chunking it on there. So you can set it up as a 15 and pay it off. But you can set it up as a 10 and pay it off in 7, too. Okay. All right. So run the numbers with a Churchill mortgage when you get ready to do this and okay let them tell you what the payment will be on a 10 and the payment will be on a 15

and then you guys just look at it and uh but you you got all the right answers here i mean the goal is be done with them all the mortgages right right and we were so crazy to do that i don't know what we were thinking you were scared out yeah and don't know what we were thinking. You were scared. Yeah. And the government, when we're scared and the government waves free money, in quotes, under our nose, people get themselves in all kinds of butts and cracks. And we got it right now. We got COVID loans coming.

PPE loans are blowing people's lives up. I told you not to take them, people. And you're all completely screwed now that you did that. Try to get that thing certified. Good luck with that. Yeah. Working with the SBA, the DMV of the federal government lending. Yeah, so no, yeah, this is what happens.

That's why I ask about your FEMA loan. I mean, they come along, FEMA's like, we're here to help. We're from the government. We're going to put you deeply in debt on your home, and four years later you still haven't paid off a dime of it. You know, this is what they do. But that, so they follow up with a hurricane with a disaster. And so, um, you know, but, but we're from the government and we're here to help. You should always run when, when people say that run. So, Hey, you're a great lady. I'm proud of you. You're doing good stuff. Thank you for calling in. Let's refinance it and knock it out in 10 to 15 years.

Good question. Amanda is in Lexington, Kentucky. Hi, Amanda. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hello. I'm so excited to talk to you. Thank you so much. You too.

What's up? So my husband is in the MD-PhD program. Awesome. And he has about, yeah, no debt there. Unfortunately, we do have other debt elsewhere. We're just sort of at step two. But as he's nearing the end, he's going to have to be going to interviews for residency programs, which will have to up front the money. To go on an interview? He, to go on an interview for different residency programs. Yeah, I know, but I mean, how much money does it take to go interview?

Well, depending on where it is. Now, I've tried to look things up. Some people say up to $5,000 to save up. I just didn't know if I should pause baby step two. I'm confused. Are we going on a vacation around the world, or are going to interview someplace no just just different interviews um but they're not central so yeah so what it don't take five grand you get in the car and drive your butt up there to the hampton inn and interview okay okay i've spent a lot of money eat the powdered eggs in the morning

and come back home okay so wait a minute what does he make he's making money in residency or no he's applying for his residency yes is he getting a stipend in his md phd program yes yes yes how much is his stipend about 25 000 okay and are you working outside the home and that's about 40 okay so we have a 65 000 household income and he needs to go two or three trips around on the cheap and do some interviews yes this is not this is not rocket science just put yourself a little interview money aside but it shouldn't take five thousand dollars i mean i don't know where he's where he's going you're staying inside the united states right yes yes okay and so like where would

he go as an interview as an example um i know that there's um like wisconsin has a good program there's that's probably the furthest that he's going to go possibly arizona uh but that's like the farthest and then the east Coast is probably another option for him. So a couple Southwest Air tickets here or there in a Hampton Inn bill. Okay. All right. That works for me. Yeah, that's what we're doing.

I'm ready to get this taken care of. But, yeah, I mean, when do the interviews begin? So he is going to start his third year in may and his fourth year is when he does interviews oh so we have uh 12 months before we even need any money for an interview correct and how much debt do you have now we have about 75 not including our mortgage okay cool well there's no absolute stone cold panic here so just chunk along along, chunk along on the 75. Let's just be, let's just keep making progress on it. And as we approach time to start doing interview,

let's lay out some actual numbers, say, okay, we're going to fly to there. Here's what the ticket costs. Here's what the Hampton Inn costs or whoever it is. Right. I don't know who, I mean, whatever holiday,, I don't care. But the, and, you know, and so we need $1,500 for that weekend. And then we need $1,200 for that other weekend. And then we're going to drive to this one, so that one's going to be $400. And, you know, and we just start to put it together as we get closer. And you can pull that out of your budget and slow your get out of debt a little bit in order to pull that off.

If he graduates and you are not debt-free, which I think is going to happen, he's going to be okay. Because when he gets in residency, he's going to make some money there. And finishes up, he's going to be making big money. And you're going to clear this all up real quickly. The touchdown in your whole thing is, the brilliant story in yours is, he got med school free. Holy crap. MD-PhD program is the best. He just became a doc for free.

Well, a lot of work, but for free. Brilliant. Brilliant. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Dave here. We just launched a brand new survey, and we'd love your feedback. You'll be entered to win a $100 Amazon gift card. No purchase necessary.

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