The Ramsey Show - App - I Lost My Job and I Don’t Know What To Do Next (Hour 3)

Episode Date: February 1, 2022

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Starting point is 00:00:00 🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, this is The Ramsey Show. It's where we help you live your best life by being healthy relationally, successful professionally, and peaceful financially. 888-825-5225 is the number. I'm Ken Coleman. Joined in studio by my co-host and colleague, John Deloney. We're here for you this hour. What are your questions? How can we help you out?
Starting point is 00:00:51 Money, relationships, work, they're all intertwined. And if you're suffering in one area, it affects the others. And we're here to help you. 888-825-5225. Let's go to Brennan to start us off this hour in St. Louis, Missouri. Brennan, how can we help? Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my call.
Starting point is 00:01:10 You bet. So I have a career change question. So currently, right now, I'm a teacher, and I teach woodworking and metals, and I also coach at the high school that I teach at. Very cool. With the content that I teach being basically industrial technology, I realized I could be making a lot more with the skills that I have. And I do have a job offer on a table to join a renovation company as a project coordinator.
Starting point is 00:01:39 And the question that I have is whether or not I should leave teaching and pursue this new career, because I guess I'm experiencing a lot of, I guess you could say guilt from leaving teaching, because the hardest thing about leaving it is the relationships that I've built with the kids. But I also want to make more money, so I'm in a tough place and just want your guys' advice. Sure. What I want to focus on first, and I understand both of those things. I mean, I get the pull for money, and I understand the pull from the heart with the kids and the other teachers and as a coach, all that.
Starting point is 00:02:14 I think we have to focus on do you love teaching? Because I understand more money. But I want you making a decision on leaving this particular position for something that's higher up the ladder as it relates to your goals and what you want to do the work that you feel that you were created to do and so i'm just curious um do you love teaching are you going to get over there in this construction renovation job making really good money and not just miss the kids, but actually miss the instruction and the coaching
Starting point is 00:02:52 and everything that goes into what you do? Yeah, I do enjoy teaching. I like the aspect of teaching and leadership, but I guess teaching that I'm doing now, the whole teaching world is different than I thought it was going to be three years ago when I just graduated college. There's a lot that goes with public school teaching now, a lot of factors that I'm just not as excited about as I used to be. Does that make sense?
Starting point is 00:03:22 It does, and that's all I wanted to know, because here's the deal. I don't want you to just go after the paycheck. You're a guy who, obviously, you teach woodworking and metals. You also coach. So that's a big part of who you are, and so you just need to be aware that it's possible,
Starting point is 00:03:39 and it may not happen. It's possible that if you go the route of working with your head in your hands the way that you do, and you get in that renovation world, you not you might not just miss the kids you might miss the instruction and the coaching so i just want you to be clear on that because the public school environment i think it's pretty obvious it's not the right environment for you right now and so the question is do you take the opportunity um and to me, again, I'm never going to tell somebody to just go chase a paycheck because I want my colleague to weigh in here because he's coached.
Starting point is 00:04:11 He's taught on all levels. The paycheck wears off. That fat paycheck's pretty awesome for a while. Oh, yeah, yeah. But then it kind of wears off. We humans adapt pretty quickly. And so I want this to be a strategic move, not just a financial move. Yeah, here's a line that I think is important to keep in your soul.
Starting point is 00:04:29 You earn that money. And so if they're doubling or tripling your income, you're going to earn that money. Right? And that's okay. Yeah, great. You work it and grind it and get it. That's awesome. Yeah, I love it.
Starting point is 00:04:39 It's just knowing that your life's going to change. When I quit being a high school teacher in a giant public school and a coach, man, I loved that job. I transitioned out and took another job. Loved it, too. I missed a lot of it, but also it made my way. So everyone's got to answer that differently, but I love that you said that, Ken. Don't do something just for money. Unless you've got like a, I need in two years to pay this thing off.
Starting point is 00:05:02 I'm going to do this thing short term, and then we'll, I think those short terms are okay. But don't chase a paycheck, brother. So do you want to go work in project management? Yeah, eventually I do. And this has kind of set me up for that. I love being around people and working on a team. And that's something I don't have right now. But eventually I do want to get into project management
Starting point is 00:05:25 and more of a leadership position with a construction or an organization. This is no brainer then. Yeah, you're done with teaching, man. Because the way I look at this is, this is the ladder you need to get on to climb where you want to go. Do you understand that? Yeah, I do. It's just, I guess it would be better sweet to leave the relationships and the kids. I knew that's where we're coming.
Starting point is 00:05:43 So we got the counselor here. Listen, I'm going to give my two cents worth and hand it to my colleague here. I hear this call a lot, especially from teachers who are leaving the industry. They form relationships. They form memories. I get it. But listen, Brennan, you're not doing those kids a disservice by you pursuing what you want to do. You're modeling it for them and i don't think that you lose those memories and i don't think that necessarily you
Starting point is 00:06:09 have to lose those relationships yeah that would be my two cents are you i'm 24 okay yeah he's fresh is this your first one of these hard transitions yeah it is i i got this job at the high school not now right out of college and so this is the first career change i guess you could say yeah so whether you run into this with career change with um one day you're gonna have little ones and you're gonna have to have a hard conversation with your parents or the in-laws or in a dating relationship or with a spouse someday remember this. Just because it's the right thing doesn't mean it's going to be easy. It can be the right decision and still break your heart.
Starting point is 00:06:54 And that doesn't make it wrong. That just means it's hard. It means you cared. It means you invested a lot. It means you love these kids. And still the right thing to do is it's time for me to transition. And there's no such thing as an easy transition like this and i would look at this as a blessing they love you you love them you are leaving with um joy in your heart and
Starting point is 00:07:12 sadness in your heart you're not leaving with hey you get to get out of here pack your bags and get out of here i hate you i hate you you get to leave with a tear in your eye that's a that's a gift question brennan how many of those young men or women that you're working with in those woodworking and metal classes are probably going to go into the trades? They've even expressed that to you. I'm in a pretty affluent district. It looks like it's going to college, but I would say probably an eighth of my students actually will then go into the trades. Great. So here's an idea. As you move into the trades, keep those relationships alive.
Starting point is 00:07:49 Dude, I just want you to see that you might be opening up doors for them by what you're going to do for that eighth. That's right. That wants to go straight into the trades. You're not done with them. You might give them their first job or make a recommendation. Yeah, get some business cards spread off and say, Coach Brennan, we'll talk to you about life in the trades. I'll get coffee at a local coffee shop once a month on a Saturday,
Starting point is 00:08:10 and four or five of them want to show up and talk to you about it. I mean, your teaching will continue. That's it. And you'll also teach some knuckleheaded homeowner like me how a cabinet works or whatever else because that's just who you are. Or you just get money from a knucklehead like me who doesn't even want to know how it works. I just need it to work.
Starting point is 00:08:27 There is that. Hey, man, Brennan, you've got a great future in front of you, man. Thank you for the call. You're going to do some great stuff. Really, really awesome stuff. Love that young man. Hey, don't move. We have more of the Ramsey Show right after this. Did you know money is one of the largest stressors on couples? Several years ago,
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Starting point is 00:09:45 Go to our online store and shop the Valentine's Day special before it ends. Visit our store at RamseySolutions.com. That's RamseySolutions.com. Welcome back, America. You are joining the conversation here on The Ramsey Show. I'm Kent Coleman, and my colleague is John Deloney. We're here together for you. 888-825-5225. If you've been trusting your taxes to TurboTax for years, you're not the only one.
Starting point is 00:10:29 They're the giant in the online tax service industry. But what you may not realize is how they're screwing you. Wow. Tell them, Ken. Folks, I've got to tell you something. I'm interrupting the read because it's right there in front of me. And, John, I'm motoring through it. I didn't see that one coming.
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Starting point is 00:11:22 their main bread and butter is putting you in debt. So we have a problem with that, of course. So we took matters into our own hands and launched Ramsey Smart Tax. How is it different? For starters, you get everything you need up front. There are no hidden fees, no hidden agendas, just taxes done right for less. In other words, we don't screw you over. Go to RamseySolutions.com slash Smart Tax to learn more and put your old tax software on notice.
Starting point is 00:11:49 That's RamseySolutions.com slash SmartTax. Favorite all-time read. I'd like to volunteer to do that one every time. Hey, and for what it's worth, for those of you listening, I say this, I'll say it again. I used Ramsey. I just decided I'm going to try it on my own last year for taxes. I sat down at my kitchen bar area, knocked them out, and I've already logged back in to do them again this year.
Starting point is 00:12:11 Way to go. It's just a great, clean, simple program. I'm so proud of you. It's awesome. I would use it if I would be allowed anywhere near spreadsheets and numbers. It makes it so easy. I know. It's so easy.
Starting point is 00:12:23 I know. All right. I'm going to do it. Are you? I'm going to do it are you i'm gonna do it it's free what i'm gonna do is i'm going to i'm gonna get it at the kitchen table and i'm gonna facetime you like john help me out walk me through this i'm in are you in that'd be the great all right it'll be fantastic all right uh let's get to the phones 888-825-5225. Noah is up in Cincinnati, Ohio. Noah, how can we help? Hey, John and Ken, thanks for taking my call. So here's my situation. Last week, my car's transmission blew out on me.
Starting point is 00:12:54 My car needs more work than what the cars were, and it was a piece of junk anyway. So long story short, I need to purchase a new vehicle. And my wife and I have a difference in ideas about what the correct purchasing choice is. The unfortunate truth of this current car market is that it really kind of feels like no matter what you do, you just get screwed. That's the word we're using in this segment. It is. I feel like we have a theme going on here. Yeah, it's tough. It's really tough. So anyway, so what's your, what's your decision and what's your wife? So you get two different opinions here. What let's, let's list these out. So my wife and I just had a baby and currently her car, she has a car,
Starting point is 00:13:37 she has a four door car. And so she feels like we should buy either like a crossover sedan or a crossover or an SUV or maybe a minivan, something of that nature. My belief is that we can make do with a car, a sedan. Sedans are cheaper, a four-door car versus a crossover with just one kid. We want more kids eventually, but that's down the road. And, you know, of course, they're more affordable. Of course, my wife and I follow the baby steps. We're in baby step four, five, and six, so we don't borrow money on cars. Good for you. So my attitude is, in light of the fact that this is the way it is,
Starting point is 00:14:15 my feeling is I should just buy, like, a $3,000 or $4,000 piece of junk, bite the bullet, accept the fact that it's going to need repairs, and then maybe one day down the road when we have our second child, we can buy a bigger car, a newer car, a nicer car. My wife thinks that we can buy a certified pre-owned something that's like three to six years old that's got low miles. And how much? Whenever I look online and see what those cars are selling for, it makes me want to vomit. Yeah, but forget the vomit. Do you have it? Do you have it in your emergency fund? I've got
Starting point is 00:14:50 it. I've also got it to buy a new car. I don't want to spend... I know that Dave Ramsey's attitude is, you know, you don't buy new cars until your net worth is really high. How much do you have? How much do you have set aside for the car?
Starting point is 00:15:08 Like $25,000. Wait a second, dude. I've got to bring my colleague in here. This is getting to be a major marital issue. You're telling me your first baby. Well, I know, but you're talking about a $3,000 to $4,000 piece of junk was one of his options that he led with. Here's what I'll tell that wouldn't be the car that wouldn't be the car i'd be driving my baby around and we would take her you know yeah so my wife's car oh i didn't catch there you go so i if you're asking me what i would do i would do exactly what you just proposed is or let me just tell you what we did
Starting point is 00:15:40 in my house like just here it is uh my wife had we had two little kids and her and the two little kids drove around in an would be a now 12 year old prius for five years six years and it wasn't big it wasn't nice it's it was safe it got them to where they needed to go actually it was nice it was fine great gas mileage it got got to from. And now my son is about 17 feet tall. And so we just now upgraded. I'm in a different financial situation. We're in a different, all the situations were different. So if I'm you, I'm not going to let a 22-pound little being suggest I need to buy a land tank if I don't have that kind of money right now.
Starting point is 00:16:23 What is your wife driving right now? She drives a Nissan Sentra. It's what they call a compact car. It's a 2016. It's kind of got high miles for the year. It's 127,000. But it's safe and in good condition. Yeah, that's fine.
Starting point is 00:16:38 But my point is that you've got the money set aside. So, yeah, not a new car, but if you want to get a minivan for her that's going to have a little bit more dependability and you can get it in that price range there's no right or wrong here but are you buying a piece of junk for you sure yeah if that's what you want to do but that way it wasn't presented that way it was that my wife wants a a new thing minivan or suv i'll show her yeah she doesn't want to drive the baby around in a Nissan Sentra. That's what you presented with. That's the issue. Right.
Starting point is 00:17:07 Well, she doesn't want to drive the baby around in a Nissan Sentra. Oh, it's clear. That's awesome. So, Noah, is your concern that you want to hang on to this money for a year, two years, and hope that the car buying frenzy that's going on slows down? Is that what you're wanting to do? Just buy yourself some time? Yeah, and also, I hate cars, full disclosure. I hate cars. I'm what you're wanting to do? Buy yourself some time? Yeah, and also, I just
Starting point is 00:17:25 hate cars, full disclosure. I hate cars. I'm with you. You just lose. You just lose, and I get zero joy out of them. They're a means to an end, and quite frankly, my hard-earned cash, there's other things I want to spend it on. Okay, practically speaking.
Starting point is 00:17:41 You've solved your own problem. Let me just ask you this. How much is the Nissan Sentra that your wife is driving? What's it worth right now? I don't know. Eight grand? It's got a lot of miles. Yeah, but listen. We sold it private sale, eight grand probably.
Starting point is 00:17:55 Right, but so let me throw something at you just to consider. It's never going to be worth that much again. So if you were to take that, right, you can drive a piece of crap it's obvious you want to she don't care fine but take the nissan sentra there's eight and if you can get a minivan for 17 and you got 25 put away you still have a whole big chunk of cash but you get your wife a little bit more dependable minivan suv and you both win and you're not spending all the money just an option i'm not telling you. I think that's a brilliant idea.
Starting point is 00:18:27 It actually is, to be honest with you, because I've been married 24 years. I'm trying to give you some marriage advice on top of everything else. You can drive a turd on wheels. Nobody cares. Or go buy her a used car and you drive the Sentra and just call it good. If you know that car and trust that car, call it good. There's that option, too. I'm trying to save his cash.
Starting point is 00:18:46 So basically, you're kind of telling me that there's a couple of decent options in light of the situation. I'm telling you that most couples back themselves into a corner with these kind of fights, and then it becomes you versus me, and nobody wins when that happens. So anytime you feel like I only have this option and she's only got that option, that's when you say, okay, no one's going to win here let's come up with a third a fourth and a fifth option here which we gave you some fantastic options that make for a happier wife
Starting point is 00:19:13 which I'm told leads to a happier life I say make her drive the Sentra you can't make her do anything but I say drive the Sentra that's just me wow bad marriage advice from the relationship guru just my take you guys gotta get her a decent little minivan make
Starting point is 00:19:31 everybody happy all right we'll figure it out during the break don't you move more ramsay show coming up All right, folks, welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman, joined by my colleague, Dr. John Deloney. We're taking your calls about relationships, your work, your money. It's all intertwined. We want to help you win. The phone number is free. And if you're just on the edge, you're going, I need to call.
Starting point is 00:20:26 Today's the day. Call 888-825-5225, 888-825-5225. Let's go to Orange County, California. Derek is there. Derek, how can we help? Yeah, hey, Ken. Hey, John. Thanks for taking my call.
Starting point is 00:20:41 You bet. Yeah, so I've got a question about a rental property. My brother and I, we own a rental property. We bought it in 2007. We made it through the Great Recession. It's cash flowing now. We just refinanced it a few months ago. So the goal is, you know, pay it off as quickly as possible.
Starting point is 00:21:01 But the question is whether I should sell it or keep it. There's a couple dynamics to it. My brother has really been the most reliable person. This was sort of an inheritance. And when my dad passed, we were very young, so we kicked it into real estate because we don't know. So we actually bought two condos. So we sold one, but, um, so my brother hasn't been the most reliable. Um, so he, so, so it's, it's making it complicated to, to, to pay the thing off as quickly as possible. In other words, he needs the monthly money, but it's compounded because you give him the money and he doesn't really do much.
Starting point is 00:21:47 You know, so he's just kind of loafing around. You know, so I'm torn, and I've been torn for years. I don't know what to do. On one hand, it's, you know, a connection between him and I and my father's passing and sort of a legacy thing. And on the other hand, it's, you know, my financial future that is at risk here. So I really don't know what to do. Let me ask you a couple quick questions. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:22:09 Thank you for the call. This is tough. How much is it spitting off in cash flow after you pay FBA? It's cash. Good. After everything, it's cash flowing about $700 a month. So $700 a month. And are you guys splitting that? $350 to him? Yeah, correct. $350 to about $700 a month. So $700 a month, and are you guys splitting that?
Starting point is 00:22:26 $350 to him? Yeah, correct. $350 to you? You're correct. How much do you owe on it? We owe, right now, it's about $196,000. How much is it worth? It's worth about $450,000 now.
Starting point is 00:22:41 Okay. Is there some type of legal binding agreement that you guys have to agree on selling this, or is this just straight up relationally we got to agree on this? I mean, who's in charge, or is it split? It's split. There's no formal documents. There's no LLC, nothing like that. It's actually all in my name. It's not technically in his name. We can get him on title, but I'm nervous because of the liability. Well, let me just say this. If it's in your name, you're in charge. I'm in charge, correct. You can list it if you want. I'm not saying that's what we're recommending right now, but right now it's in your name.
Starting point is 00:23:22 John? Yeah, let's back out of the house thing. Let's put the house thing aside here. Here's the two things that I'm hearing. Number one, this is your tether to your father. Good man. Correct. Yep.
Starting point is 00:23:37 He took care of y'all. Yeah. How old were you when he passed away? 22. How old are you when he passed away? 22. How old are you now? 40. You still miss him, don't you? Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 00:23:53 Yeah. So you're going to have to open your hands at some point, whether it's today or whether it's 20 years, and you're going to have to let your dad be free and go. And that doesn't diminish his role in raising you and making you the man that you are providing you an example providing you a financial none of that stuff goes away but you're hanging on to him as hard as you can and you have you have buried him inside this house the second thing is is let's look at your brother you don't want to do you love your. You don't want to do, you love your brother. You don't want to do business anymore with him.
Starting point is 00:24:27 And this tether between the two of you is choking you both out. And so the best thing you can do for your relationship with your brother is stop being business partners with your brother. I love my wife to the moon and back. We are never going to run a business together. We run a household together. We are not going to be in business together because our marriage would end shortly thereafter. Right?
Starting point is 00:24:48 So you can love him and care for him and say you're a knucklehead with the way you're living or whatever and decide to not be his business partner. And now we come to the house. Do you see how we're going in order here? One is about grieving. One is about, man, I'm just 40. You're 38. We've grown apart. We're not, man, I'm just 40. You're 38.
Starting point is 00:25:05 We've grown apart. We're not business. We just do life different. It's time for us to separate as business partners. I'm going to put this house up. You can buy it from me. I might even sell it to you at a discount, but I'm selling the house. And then you can take your cut and be on your way.
Starting point is 00:25:19 And I think that's the simplest way forward. How does that sound when I lay it out like that? It makes sense. You know, part of this house has been part of, I don't own a home. You know, where I live in Southern California, I'm working towards that. And selling it would give me a chance at owning my own, you know, living in my own home. So it sounds logical when you lay it out like that. but, but it's okay to wrestle with this. There's a weight in your soul,
Starting point is 00:25:49 man. We can still hear you hanging on and that's okay. What's going on? What are you feeling after John laid that out? But we're also looking at the financial case. What do you hold on to? Well, you guys,
Starting point is 00:25:59 you guys nailed it. I mean, it's the, it's the tether and it's the tether between not just my father, but my brother as well. So it's the tether, and it's the tether between not just my father but my brother as well. So there's a whole lot of family drama beyond that for us to talk about. But is your brother going to financially benefit from this? Yeah, he would.
Starting point is 00:26:19 Big time. I know. I knew the answer. I'm trying to get you to realize that this is going to benefit your brother way more through a sale of the home than the $350 he's getting per month. You're going to hand him a couple of hundred thousand dollars. So you shouldn't have any kind of guilt or feeling bad about this. I'm actually going to go back. I don't think it's unhealthy. John will correct me, and I can handle it if he needs to correct me. But I think I'd almost ask, what would Dad want me to do? Yeah. Dad did this. What's the best way to steward your dad's legacy right now?
Starting point is 00:26:52 What would Dad want you to do for you? What do you think? Answer that. Well, you would just want to make sure that we're – he would want what's best for us. I mean, I don't know another way to put it. Okay, so I agree. So listen, you guys aren't making much money on this.
Starting point is 00:27:13 I'm not trying to knock what's going on. But when you said, hey, Ken, it's cash flow positive, it's barely. $350 a month for both of you. You got debt on it. There's risk involved, expenses. You want to be a homeowner. You both have a chance to take something your dad did for you and still remain healthy and both walk away.
Starting point is 00:27:34 I think you got to present it as this is a win for you, bro, and it's a win for me. And I think you just got to make that decision. I think you know what's right, but I don't know what you're afraid of with the brother, but you got to decide, are you going to resent your brother or are you going to disappoint him if this is something that disappoints him but you believe it's right that's his choice that's his that's on him but if you don't do this and bro you're 40 you're going to look up and be 50 you may resent your brother.
Starting point is 00:28:07 That's on you. Do you see what I'm saying? Derek, here's what I want you to do. I want you to get some quiet time, about an hour by yourself, maybe two. And I want you to get a notebook. It can be a 99 cent notebook from Walmart, or you can get some fancy schmancy thing off the internets. I don't care. And I want you to write
Starting point is 00:28:23 your dad a letter, and I want it to start like this. Dear dad, I love you and it's time for me to let you go. And I want you to write to your dad and let him know all of the things about the man you've become in the 18 years since he passed, the things you're excited for about your future, the things that he has missed and you're sad that he missed them, the ways you're carrying his legacy on financially with your kids, with your spouse, all this, I want you to talk to him.
Starting point is 00:28:54 And then at the end, I want you to tell him I love you and it's time for me to let you go. And he's still going to be with you, but it's time for you to let him out of that house and then you can start making the hard calls, the business calls, the nuts and bolts calls that you've got to make. Because your dad's going to be with you forever, my brother,
Starting point is 00:29:10 whether you own that house or not. Derek, you said it. Dad would want us to do what is best for us. Be okay with answering the question, what is best for me, with this awesome property that he bestowed on you both? Hey man, sorry about the stickiness, but thank you so much for being vulnerable with us and calling us. The best has yet to be. Don't move. More Ramsey Show, more of your calls coming right up. Thank you. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman, joined by my co-host and colleague, Dr. John Deloney.
Starting point is 00:30:18 Today's scripture, 1 Corinthians 13, 6-7, Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Today's quote from the legend, Booker T. Washington. If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else. Boy, that would be a great mantra for social media these days. Everybody wants to tear somebody down to lift ourselves up. What a great word that is.
Starting point is 00:30:45 Wow. Good stuff there. 888-825-5225 is the number. Let's go to Boston, Massachusetts next, where Raymond is on the line. Raymond, how can we help? Hi there. I'm honored to be here. I just lost my job yesterday, unfortunately. I'm so sorry, man. That's terrible. Yeah, thank you. What happened? Oh, what happened? It's really, really a long story.
Starting point is 00:31:14 There was a couple people losing their jobs. Basically, upper, upper management was trying to cut down for several reasons. And, you know, I had something, I just had like a mistake. That was like a technical error, like on my, you know, log or whatever on the system from like a month ago. It was the TPS report, wasn't it, Raymond? You didn't put the cover sheet on the TPS report. You didn't want to say it.
Starting point is 00:31:46 Now management's restructuring. So basically a bunch of nonsense. It's not a major stain, right? Yeah, you know, still emotionally it feels a little tough. But, you know, I'm a hardworking guy. I mean, I've worked some really tough jobs for someone who's only 23. How can we help you? Oh, yeah.
Starting point is 00:32:10 Let me get to my question. So I have a couple things, a couple options to sell, things to sell that I was hoping I could just say out loud, and you can maybe help me make sense of it. Sure. One of them is my car. I have a, so also I have $3,000 credit card debt and I'm in school full time as well. And I have a car and I was thinking of maybe giving up the car because I really don't use it to drive anywhere farther than I can walk or I could take a bike. How much do you owe him? I actually don't owe it. I took your advice.
Starting point is 00:32:54 I read Total Money Makeover two years ago and tried to live by that example. Got a $4,000 2010 Toyota Corolla. What can you get for it right now? Well, forgive me. I could get $4,000 for it right now for sure. When I got it, it was like $5,000. That's fine. All right, so that $4,000 would wipe out the credit card debt,
Starting point is 00:33:19 and you'd still have $1,000 as an emergency fund, right? Yeah, and that would be a great help just so I can get a new job. Let's back out 30,000 feet. Do you have a place to live? Yes. You got enough money saved up for food for the next few weeks? That's the other thing is I spent a lot of money on Christmas thinking I had it well and that I was going to work extra hours over the semester break.
Starting point is 00:33:48 Do you have money for food? I have money for food, and that's pretty much it. How many hours? Okay, we've got to solve right now with some stability, okay? So you're a full-time student. How many hours were you working a week, and what were you making per hour? I was making $17.50 an hour. I was working 24 hours a week. Okay, so were you struggling with that, or was that, you know, besides you've got the credit card and you spent too much on Christmas, but that's going to take care of
Starting point is 00:34:22 stability for you. You're going to be able to focus on being a student if we can replace 24 hours a week minimum at 17 15 hour would that make you pretty stable pretty safe pretty calm you know it was a little tough but i'm also a photographer and i'm also starting to make a little bit more money off of that i have two photo shoots planned where i'm going to make a couple bucks this month. Which means you could have more time, which means you could make more and be even more stable. Yeah. See where I'm going?
Starting point is 00:34:53 We need to get you stable. You're a full-time student. That's what you're focused on. I like selling the car because that gets rid of that credit card debt, and that takes all of that junk, and I want you to cut the credit card up. You read Total Money Makeover. You know what we believe on that. If you truly don't need the car, I'm knocking that out, and I'm getting rid of the credit card debt.
Starting point is 00:35:15 I got $1,000. That's a padding of an emergency fund, and, dude, you're in Boston area? I mean, dude. I mean, listen. I mean, listen. Walmart, Amazon, Target. These are all paying somewhere between $15 to $17 an hour. I'm just giving you some big names here. You can go bus it right now and take care of the stability issue and not be stressed.
Starting point is 00:35:39 That's what you do. You're a student. What are you going to school for? Exercise and health science. I lost like 50 pounds over the past year. Atta boy. I did an exercise, so I'm real passionate about it. Way to go, man.
Starting point is 00:35:52 I'm actually sitting in front of the gym in my car right now. We love it. Okay, so you're a guy that can do hard things. You can set a goal and accomplish things that other people go, no, you can't. This is just one of those. And don't blow by this. Ken and I have talked about this in other shows. Getting fired is akin to losing somebody
Starting point is 00:36:11 when it comes to the level of grief. Don't blow by it. Don't let your friends be like, oh, it's cool, bro. They sucked. No, you need to spend a moment saying, this hurts. And it's not tough or not masculine.
Starting point is 00:36:24 You got to sit down and say, this hurts. This is hard tough or not masculine or you gotta sit down and say this hurts it's hard somebody looked at you and said i would rather you not be here that's that hurts i don't care what happened it hurts definitely definitely i'm feeling that thank you listen own it feel it own it and then be about what comes next right and then go set up another goal you lost 50 that's way harder than finding a good job in Boston, my brother. Oh, 50 pounds is way harder. You know what else, too? John, I believe that if he takes care of the work,
Starting point is 00:36:51 he goes and gets a job and he keeps the income coming in. It's going to allow him to heal faster. Absolutely. But if you're panicked while you're hurting, it's like getting left, right. It's like Mike Tyson hitting you from both sides. And I would even go that far. Before you sell this car, I want you to give yourself one week of looking for a job see what
Starting point is 00:37:10 happens okay see if they're gonna land a 25 an hour job and see if you can land a job or two that you can get back and forth through with this car right so i don't you're panicked you're exhausted you got punched in the mouth yesterday and it's easy for us to look at our budget and go, okay, what's the first arm I can cut? I'm going to cut my left arm off because I write right-handed. And so it may be that in seven days when the smoke clears, I'm going to go ahead and sell this car and get out of debt and clear it. But I really want you to see if you can reach out and find another job.
Starting point is 00:37:40 You've got to get some money. You've got to get some security. You've got to get some food money and some rent money. And like Ken said, a little win and a little win somebody looking you in the eye shaking your hand saying yes sir we want you that's going to feel good yeah right yeah and listen raymond there's no shame in what you're going to do man you're a college student on his way to doing some incredible work go get the best stinking thing that pays you 15 17 18 19 20 an hour go do that there's honor in that and i'm with john i don't mind waiting a week but i want him to nail that credit card yeah get that credit card out of your life he can go buy another four thousand dollar card down the line
Starting point is 00:38:17 that's true i just want you out of that credit card debt i want you to stop using that as something to fall back on. And you go get the job. You pay the credit card off. Dude, and now you're off and running. Now you're actually going, all right, I'm going to put a big emergency fund together, right? So what does three to six months look like for a college student? Let's get that number in there, you know? And so now you're coming out of school, and you're on your way. You've got a bright future and all this garbage and stress is out of your life,
Starting point is 00:38:49 and the best is yet to be for you. What's your total weight loss goal, brother? Oh, I went from 185 to 135. Whoa! Good. So are you parked in there? I'm at my goal. I'm parked.
Starting point is 00:39:05 I'm good. Now I'm actually, for the first time in my life, trying to gain some weight and work hard to just put on the muscles. I'm going to say, man. Beefcake, Raymond. Go get it, brother. He's like flyweight, bantamweight. He's just going down. That's exactly right.
Starting point is 00:39:18 Wow, good stuff. Hey, thank you for the call, Raymond. Yep. Sorry that happened to you, but don't let it hold you down. John Deloney, always fun to be with you, pal. Thank you so much. I want to thank our producer, Ben Hill, our associate producer and call screener, Jenna Sears, and you, America.
Starting point is 00:39:32 This is your show. This is The Ramsey Show. If you would like to do your debt-free scream live on the show, make sure you visit theramseyshow.com and register. We would love for you to come to Nashville and tell Dave your story.

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