The Ramsey Show - App - I Owe My Uncle $11K in Overdue Rent and He Isn’t Speaking to Me (Hour 1)

Episode Date: January 11, 2023

Rachel Cruze & Jade Warshaw answer your questions and discuss: The struggles that women face around pink tax, "I owe my uncle $11k in overdue rent and he isn’t speaking to me", "I'm a domestic abuse survivor looking for a fresh start with money", "How can we grow our family without taking on more debt?" When you can go into "storm mode" while paying off debt (but why you shouldn't overdo it), Starting a business on maternity leave. Have a question for the show? Call 888-825-5225 Weekdays from 2-5pm ET Want a plan for your money? Find out where to start: https://bit.ly/3nInETX Listen to all The Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3GxiXm6 Learn more about your ad choices. https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy

🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Pod's moving and storage studio, it's The Ramsey Show, where America hangs out to have a conversation about your life and your money. I am Ramsey personality, Rachel Cruz, hosting today and next to me Jade. Man this is a colossal event Rachel. This is a treat. I'm pumped about this. Me too. That we're gonna spend three hours together America answering your calls so everything about your money, your life, your relationships, your job, anything and everything Jade and I are here for you. So I thought it'd be fun to start off this hour, Jade.

I kind of just want to make this like a ladies theme hour. Just say it. I know you want to say girl power. Girl power. That's exactly what I was going to say. Yeah. So let's make this kind of a ladies themed hour because we're both here hosting. This doesn't always happen.

I feel like we always have like one of the dudes in here with us. So we're going to just kind of take over for this hour. And even if you're a guy listening, you know, you probably have a wife or a girlfriend or a mother or a sister. You can learn something. Hashtag relatable. That's right. For what we have to give today.

So one of the biggest things that I feel like recently I have been hearing about women is pink tax. Oh, my gosh. You heard all about it. Of course I I'm spending my money on it. I know that's right. We are living in the pink tax world. Okay so those of you that don't know what pink tax is the pink tax is a term for the extra amount of money charged for certain products or services that are specifically marketed towards female consumers. The general products such as razors or deodorants can be used by both men and women but the items marketed towards women are

more expensive the pink tax causes women to pay more for similar or identical products that that dudes use and wear and all the things yeah it's weird because i knew it existed but it wasn't until i read this article that i realized how much 13 more on average yes some of them 25 more and it's like the deodorant is pretty much the same but you put a little flower on it and then we gotta like spend more money because of that i mean it's it is crazy what does this mean i will say george camel and i we kind of dug into this subject uh in an upcoming episode of our podcast, Smart Money Happy Hour. And as I was looking, I was like, man, I don't think I even took notice. If I were to be honest, Jade, I don't know if I really knew. But now that I know, now that the veil has been lifted from my eyes, I'm like, oh my

gosh, I look everywhere. I'm like, it is. It's so true. I notice it on like body wash because I'll go and like order what I like for me and then I'll order what Sam likes. Razors. Yes. It's unbelievable.

And I bet dudes razors are even better. They are. I would think. Honestly, sometimes I would rather use my husband's, but because they're in that blue and silver packaging, you know, I go for mine that are in like the cute little pink pack. I like it. I like the way it's packaged. What can I say?

So, I mean mean i guess being taxed i guess it kind of goes under we always talk about control what you can control in life we can't i mean sadly we can't i don't know how we can control what we buy we could buy dude's deodorant and cheaper and save some money so we we have control over that yeah but or buy like one product and decide that you're just both going to use that like we stopped buying like lotion for him lotion for, and we just buy one. Yes, and there you go. There you go.

I know. So, ladies out there, we feel you. Plus, my husband barely uses the lotion, which, let's just say, that's a problem in and of itself. Moisturize your skin, people. Everyone needs lotion. Okay. Always, always, always.

I digress. Okay, so we're going to go to the calls this hour. It's a free call anywhere in the country at 888-825-5225. And first up, we have Leanne in Brooklyn. Hey, welcome to the show. Hello. What's going on? We started the baby steps about a month and a half ago, and we owe my uncle $11,000 in rent. And, you know, we started paying the credit cards, but I think that this should come first. So I said this to my husband. He said, ask Dave Ramsey and let's find out what you guys say.

And here you are. Because he's skeptical about it. Yeah, for sure. So how much credit card debt what you guys say. And here you are. Because he's skeptical about it. Yeah, for sure. So how much credit card debt do you guys have? Credit cards? Not like $15,000. $15,000, okay. All together.

All together, yeah. Not much. We really, but we have car loans too. Okay, and how much are those? $10,000 and $25,000. $10,000 and $25,000, okay. Well, and how many credit cards are in that $12,000 credit card debt? I know you said total, but how many separate are there?

There's a bunch. There's some little ones. There's some little ones and one big one. Okay. So it's maybe four. How is your uncle treating you about that debt? Oh, it's awful. He's not talking to us.

Oh, gosh. How long have you owed him this money? I mean, the rent isn't even that much. reading you about that debt like what's his he's not talking to us oh gosh how long has it been how long have you owed him this money i mean the rent isn't even that much really we we like didn't pay him for almost a year why was that we read the book you know we started paying him again like last month we paid him we're budgeting for it now it shouldn't be a problem at all from now on but now uh and he was he was nice to us for a long time, but just the last, I don't know how many months it's been that he hasn't been talking to us. And specifically because of the rent. Correct. You guys are not having communication because

of the rent, not because of another issue. No, that's it. What's your communication been towards him? I know you said he's kind of been ugly about it. What's been your attitude towards the debt throughout that year that you weren't able to pay it? I mean, I always assumed, oh, next month we'll figure it out. I can't believe how much time went by. And I was always saying to my husband, I was like, it's not even that much money. We have to figure out. And it was always like, well, you tell me how. We really were lost until we read the book. Yeah, for sure.

Leanne, have you guys, I know you're not speaking now, but has there been any conversation from your end with just kind of some humility and apology and wanting to make right with him? Has there been that conversation? I mean, I do. I tell him what we're doing now, and I do tell him. He knows that I'm sorry.

Okay. He knows that I feel bad and that I want us to do things together. We usually do. Yeah, yeah. You know, dinners and whatever, and my kids love him so much, and they miss him, and it's hard. Oh, absolutely. Well, when a relationship is fractured in the middle of money stress as well, I mean, that adds on and that it is, it's heartbreaking. Absolutely. It's interesting, you know, if it were me, you know, in every other circumstance, Rachel,

I'm going to go through and work the debt snowball and pay things off in a situation where there's family involved. Maybe there's a relationship there. It could be worth going and paying that one first. Eleven thousand. What would you say to that? Yeah, you could. And Leanna, what I would even do if you feel comfortable with it, if you guys want to do kind of the rigid way of the debt snowball,

because I think for you guys as a family, your nuclear family, getting some quick wins of these like kind of small credit card debts, you know, that she was saying, getting kind of some of those quick wins under your belt will give you a boost of confidence. And there's even something, Leanne, I would even write out all of your debts. We say to do that for the debt snowball, smallest to largest, every credit card, don't lump it into one, do very specific credit cards, two different car payments, this $11,000 loan, put payments below that of minimum payments of what that's going to be and then how much extra you guys can throw at the debt and build out this plan.

And maybe if you communicate that to him and say, hey, here's the time frame by, you know, what are we in January? So just say by August or whatever it is, we're going to start paying on this. And it's going like, here's our plan. Here's what we're doing. I think just the communication part and showing him actual numbers and dates might help as well. And an apology, Leanne, I think too, like just a humble spirit from you guys, which I hear in you, I think will be very helpful. So I hope that helps. This is The Ramsey Show. Up next is Elizabeth in Providence, Rhode Island.

Hey, Elizabeth. Welcome to the show. Hello. Thank you so much for having me. Absolutely. How can we help? Well, about five weeks ago, my 16-month-old baby and I fled a domestic violence situation and had to relocate to another state and start over. Thankfully, we're safe now, but there's a whole financial situation going on obviously my finances are in shambles and right now what I am trying to do as I'm beginning to work through the

baby steps is figure out where buying a car and saving for a home falls into that process as I have neither yes wow how are you doing Elizabeth I mean that's that is that's as I have neither. Yes. Wow. How are you doing, Elizabeth? I mean, that's intense. I mean, that's a traumatic thing that you've walked through. Yes, it has been very intense, very stressful, and a lot of things I'm working through, you know, as a human. Yes. Do you have good support around you? I do have a couple of good friends and a couple of family members. Good, good, good, good. Because your, you know, your health and your safety is priority.

So I'm thankful to hear that. Absolutely. Where are you staying now? With a friend. Okay. Well, good on you for getting out of that situation. Absolutely. That's so difficult, especially with a 16-month-old baby.

You know, I can't begin to imagine how you're feeling right now, but, you know, you've got this whole new horizon in front of you, and it's a whole clean new start. So, you know. Yes. There's a lot of hope. There's a lot of hope. Do you have a job, Elizabeth? Are

you making any money? No, I'm not. Okay. That's part of the issue. Yeah. That's okay. That's okay. Do you see that coming into play soon for you? Are you applying for jobs? Did you have work experience before? Yes, I do have work experience. what I'm doing right now is I'm currently enrolled in a course that teaches you how to take pictures and videos for food bloggers so I'll be a professional photographer from home and I graduate in April probably in May is when I'll start to be bringing in the money yes is there anything that you could start doing today in order to bring in some extra income? If I could find something from home, yes. Because unfortunately, the friend I live with has a lot of diseases and illnesses, and she's extremely high risk. So to have to put my baby

in daycare would be chancing my friend's safety and actual life. You know, if my baby comes back with some kind of sickness or COVID, God forbid. So I'm kind of hanging tight on state benefits until I have my own income. How much is that? The state is giving me $600 a month cash assistance and then for food, $3.89. Okay. And can you tell us a little bit about like your debt situation coming out of that relationship? Like what's your obligation to the debt? Tell us about that. Well, I walked into that relationship with no debt except for about $4,000 in medical bills. And I walked out of it with $17,000 total debt. So that's $11,000 in credit cards, $5,000 medical bills, $2,000 in a program I'm paying off, a certification program I graduated from two years ago. So some of it's his, but unfortunately it's under my name. So I'm the

one who has to pay it. You know, I think right now the name of the game is just survival. I think that you have, like Rachel said, you've come out of a very traumatic situation and you just need some time to get your bearings under you. And for you right now, that's you going to school. It's you starting to have a stable income so that you're able to move right now, that's you going to school. It's you starting to have a stable income so that you're able to move out of the friend's house. And I think that's thing one is getting some income in, whether that's if there's anything you can do from home now. I'd hate for you to have to wait till April to start working. But, you know, Elizabeth, I would say, too, you know, we talked to so many people on the show and there's so many side

hustles via just your computer, right? That the work from home stuff obviously is everywhere. But even if you can be a virtual assistant for 15 hours a week, you know, you don't have to jump into a lot, but just to bring in some level of income to save because your next big goal, yes, is going to be to find somewhere to live. And then the second is to have transportation. Those two kind of have to happen, I would say, together if you can. And the transportation could be a $2,000 car. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. And even where you live, finding low rent. So look at this next step. I think for me, it would be easy to say I'm starting a new life. And because you've been in such an uncomfortable, insane situation to jump into, I just want to feel comfortable. And so I would say to resist, Elizabeth, just those two big things, your car and where you live, that your car is not going to be the car that you're going to drive forever.

So it's not going to be beautiful and wonderful. And that's OK for now. And then also where you live, you know, it may not be in the part of town that is ideal for you or whatever the situation is, but finding those expenses to be as low as possible as you're starting out, I think will be a really big blessing. Okay. So you guys would recommend that before paying off any debt? Because I know like the payments are honestly very hefty. The cash assistance coming from the state isn't even enough to cover that. I mean, if there's minimum payments you can make, I mean, just minimum, if you're able to make minimum payments, you definitely want to do that. Stay current on that debt if you have it. Yep.

But as far as working a snowball or anything like that, I just don't think that you're in that place right now. I think right now, like I said, you're just getting your bearings, you're working on getting your income up and then so that you can eventually save up enough to find another place, whether it be an apartment or something like that. Yeah, Elizabeth, when we do a budget with people,

we always say the first four main categories to make sure covered are food, shelter, utilities, and transportation. And so I kind of want to build those four walls of your new life before you go and start saving up for the emergency funds and the debt snowball and all of that. And so I think getting that stability under you, I think even just emotionally, Elizabeth, is going to give you a breath of fresh air to say, okay, I'm starting this life, and you're going to have a new schedule. You guys are going to be in a new rhythm, you and your baby. And then that's when you're going to be able to say, okay, I'm in that stable place,

and I'm ready to freaking attack this debt and get it out of my life forever. And you will, Elizabeth. I can hear that in your voice. You've survived. Yes. Again, one of the worst situations ever. And so this debt is going to be nothing. You're going to be able to knock it out. But I would get that foundation under you first. Okay. That makes sense. Thank you for calling, Elizabeth.

I really do. I appreciate you reaching out. And is there anything else that Jade and I can walk you through? Do you have any other questions? I don't think so. I think that answers my question okay wonderful well thanks again for calling so tough but she's such a survivor i mean look at her it's amazing i can't even put my to put myself in that position of taking a 16 month old baby out of a home, which is the right thing to do, but going with no place to live, no car, no money,

more, you know, debt. Absolutely, yep. And you're going into a friend's, like, she is just such a, she's just such a hero right now. And I want her to hear that. And Elizabeth, stay on the line. Austin's going to pick up

and we're going to give you Financial Peace University for a year and every dollar as well to start budgeting and watch those videos because that's going to really reinforce, even from starting from that beginning point. Okay, so what am I doing? How do I start this? And so Financial Peace University really is one of the best things to walk you through that as well. So stay on the line and Austin will pick up and we'll give that to you. And actually, Austin, throw in a total money makeover book as well, because that'll be a quick read. People read that in like two days. It's a quick read. But again, Elizabeth, getting

that knowledge and getting a community around you. So I'm glad that you have that. But even here at Ramsey, we're like, we consider ourselves people's community too. So having books and podcasts and all of that is going to make you feel it. And find a good church home. If you're not connected somewhere, I don't care what you believe. Church is great for everybody. Yes. Get around some community. Strong women out here, Rachel. For sure. Oh, yeah, Jade. I mean, it's a lot of life happening. And all of you listeners out there, everyone's in a different situation, different struggles, different points of celebration in life. But money always seems to be a thread that runs right through people's lives. So that is why we are here. Again,

a free call anywhere at 888-825-5225. We'll be back. Thank you. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. We are doing kind of a ladies' theme hour because Jade and I are hosting the show today. So we're making some calls from some of you ladies and gentlemen out there listening. You know, you can learn something too. You probably have a lady in your life. So hopefully that this is all good stuff for you as well. All right. We're gonna go to the phones and Courtney is up next from Grand Junction. Hey, Courtney, welcome to the show. Hi, thank you for having me. Absolutely. How can we help? Well, my question is relating to family planning while on the baby steps and seeing what the advice is for wanting to grow your family, but knowing that might mean going in debt to increase house size to accommodate.

So we're talking about needing more space to accommodate more children. Yes. Okay. So what's your living situation right now? Well, right now, my husband and I have two young boys. We live in a two-bedroom bath house. Um, we owe, it's a, it's a pretty, um, humble sized house and we owe 146,000 on it still. Okay. What's it worth? Uh, what's it worth? Well, right now where real estate is at, where we are at, our home is valued at around over 300,000 with all the, um, fixing up that we've done to it over the years.

Cool. What's your income like? My husband makes just shy of $70,000. Cool. And you're staying at home with the kiddos? Yes. Do you guys have any debt, Courtney? We do. We have one besides our home. We have a car loan that we are trying to crush out. Sweet. What's the amount of that? About 13. All right. So not much debt to speak of. Do you guys have any money saved anywhere? We do. We have more. We have about 4,000 saved. I'm not comfortable going down to

1,000 saved to put it towards the car loan, just how expensive everything is right now. Why? Oh, just because, I don't know, if anything were to happen, it doesn't seem like $1,000 would last a family of four very long in a true emergency. going through a little thing right now because my husband had a medical incident and he has been off of work for a few months, which has greatly reduced our income. Short-term disability is about 50% of what his normal pay is. So it's showing me how quick, you know, a thousand dollars really could go if we, you know, got into a tighter situation than what we are in. Well, let's, let me take a moment. Let me, let me take a moment and debunk that for a moment because I

understand where you're coming from. But the thing that you've got to realize is most people have no money saved for emergencies. Like if an a thousand dollar emergency came, they would have to put it on a credit card because they don't have any cash saved. So the point, the fact that you have money saved is a really great thing. And, you know, in your situation, Courtney, it's actually, it's wonderful because if you were to keep a thousand dollars saved for baby step one, you could pay off that 13K car note in no time. Now, in the instance where, you know, you have a job loss or something like that, you know, you're able to pause the baby steps and get back on your feet. But, you know, I do want you to see this as a plan that can work for you.

You know, I know that your husband is going through something right now, but once the smoke clears on that, I don't want that to keep you from working the baby steps and getting to where you want to be. Because I agree with you. I think that as a family of four, you want as much stability as possible. And I truly believe that working through this plan is going to get you on the most stable footing because baby step two is going to get you completely out of debt. And then you're going to save up three to six months of expenses in your case, six months of expenses, because it sounds like your husband is the only one working. And that means after that, you're able to save up for a home and you're going into that new home purchase,

whether it's selling the one you have and upgrading, you're going into that with completely firm footing and a firm foundation. Does that make sense? It does. I do hear that. Yeah. And I think, Courtney, for you, the question that you asked for growing a family, I never want money to be the thing or stuff to be the thing that stops you from growing your family. So I would say grow your family. And I know this sounds crazy. People probably hate me for this, but I'm like, I swear, our kids lived in a pack and play in a closet. They don't care.

For a good bit, too. So I know that, like, yeah, it's a small home. But I would not be under the impression. I understand it would be nice to have more room, for sure. Absolutely. And maybe you guys are at a point that you're like, you know what? Another baby would stress us out. So let's just wait another two years, get some things under us.

And as a family, that's how we decide. But we never tell people not to get married or not to expand their family because of their their money situation i think that that is a very personal uh decision that you guys can make and if you want to and you are at a point like i really want another baby then do it cordy you guys are going to figure it out and you may have a few years where it's where it's tight and you're like oh my gosh we got to pay off that car and we're going to save up for the emergency fund it's going to give you that much more motivation you know to then figure out the housing and say okay good you know the house is maybe even worth a little bit more um and we're able to have a good down payment you know and you and you keep

it going so this isn't a plan that's going to take you 10 years right it's a plan that's going to take you maybe 36 months absolutely and so i so I would say, Courtney, if you guys want to keep expanding a family, I would do it. But that doesn't mean you have to, you know, go take on a bigger house because you guys just aren't, I wouldn't say, in a great position to do that right this moment. I would, like Jade said, pay off the debts, have that good emergency fund in place, and then go from there. And I think that's just going to give you a lot less stress. I think that we could be done with baby step three by the end of this year or early into the next year. And so at that point, what do you say about increasing your mortgage? So the principle.

Yeah, totally. I hear you. Yeah. So the principle would remain the same. You know, we teach that we don't want your mortgage payment to be any more than 25 percent of your take home income. And that's all things considered. The insurance, the taxes, all things considered, no more than 25% of your take-home pay. And of course, we want you to get a 15-year fixed rate mortgage. How does that sound?

Yes, I understand that. Yes, I think that, yes. Very good. And I can't stress enough, Courtney, because I don't think that, I feel like you might be trying to go past it. Maybe I misread that, but I cannot stress enough, please, please, please work these steps in order. They work. I could tell that you're like, now let me just see. What if I went ahead and did it like this? I beg of you not to do this thing.

I'm telling you, work the steps in order. My husband and I, we tried it. I'm not trying to be too much of a rebel, but it seems like if I can foresee crushing the car loan and the next, you know, within the year, you know, less than the year, then, um, it's, it's hard. Like I said, it's hard for me to want to let go of the little bit of extra savings that we have. Um, like, I just kind of like to like set it, like, just forget about it back there. Just because, you know, if you had to put your family up in a hotel for a week, you know, like that would be more than a thousand dollars, you know, and then, and not having

to go in debt to do it. But I, I, I'm new to hearing about the baby steps plan and we've been listening to, um, the audio book and I'm like really compelled and I'm really inspired and I you know want to trust in it and trust it Courtney trust it trust it millions of people use this plan to get out of debt to save up money to buy homes to become baby steps millionaires the plan I tell people the plan works if you work it. If you kind of do ish, like Dave says all the time, ish is a wish and you'll be wishing that you had worked the plan the way the plan says.

So that's all I'm saying. I'm saying work the plan in order. You can do what you want to do, but I think that you should work the plan in order. Baby step one, two, three, three B. That's what I would do. Absolutely, Jade. Well said, well said.

But, you know, and, you know, to Courtney, I'm like, I totally get what you're thinking, right? If you've been in the viewpoint of money of the world, then it's like, well, of course, you know, we'll get a bigger house and have a baby and expand and keep some money, all of it, right? Like, I understand where you're coming from, Courtney, but part of this change is feeling the change

and the change is going to be uncomfortable. Any change is uncomfortable. It's not easy, but just, I would say, trust the process. And you know what, Courtney, if you get 18 months into this and you hate it, you can do it. There you go. It's a free world.

You can say, I'm going broke. I'm not doing this anymore. But we really do believe it leads to freedom and stability. So good luck, Courtney. Thanks for calling. so jade our last caller um we talked through you know some things about her wanting to expand her family and her home and all of that but she did mention that her husband's income was cut in half because of a disability and there was kind of this up in the air situation so um i think that what she had said was that they were coming out of that so that's why we were a little bit gung-ho on it but

that's true but for those of you listening just know there is a there is a storm mode, quote unquote, time in life. Right. So that could be if you are, you know, expecting a baby. If there's a medical emergency, if there's a big move coming up that, you know, we do say you can pause the baby steps and pile up some cash to get through those, quote unquote, storms. And then when those past things settle, you just jump right back in. And so for her, you know, if that if that medical situation was going to continue, then she should keep the four thousand dollars sitting there. That's right. That's right.

But it sounded like she was coming out of it. That's why Jade and I were just on her. Yeah, I really wanted to make sure that she wasn't going to go into home buying mode and like do all this stuff without working the baby steps. So sure for sure so wanted to clarify that but but it's great because again that's a question yeah and a situation that a lot of people are in and because of the housing market and people's emotions around that it can be this like wishy-washy feeling of oh my gosh our houses you know yeah that's gone up in value and not all of it. So, so great. Well, to finish out the last segment of Ladies Theme Hour, we have, we have Tiffany in Vancouver. Hey, Tiffany, welcome to the show. Hi, thank you so much for having me. It's really exciting.

Absolutely. How can we help? Well, I'm on maternity leave right now and I'm trying to figure out if it's a good time to start a business for me personally. Oh, congratulations. What number baby is this for you? Baby two. Baby two. Okay, awesome. And how much of maternity leave do you have left?

Well, it's an 18-month leave, but my 12 months of money runs out in April. Okay. So I'll have this six-month period where no money's coming in, but my job's waiting for me. And I think it's a good opportunity to start a business, but I'm also a little worried about expenses. What kind of business are you thinking about starting? Well, I'm a therapist. I'm a registered therapist and I've done some private practice on the side for five years, but I'd like to make it a real thing. I'd like to have a solo practice that I start.

Yeah. So what would keep you from doing that? I like the idea. Tell me the pros and cons in your mind. Pros and cons for me is during the six months where I don't have any money coming in, there's a little bit of a cushion, but not a ton. So for example, if I don't get enough clients coming in, I really, it'll take probably one month to six weeks before I start going in the red. And that seems like a really tight, not enough cushion there really. Um, so that's a concern. There's a little bit of overhead, not a bunch, cause we're going to be a virtual therapy practice, but, um, I have to build a website, which is about $1,000.

And I have $100 a month in software that I'll have to be doing. So not a ton of overhead, but a bit. Was this something that you were interested in, like prior to the pregnancy? Or did this just come about as an idea recently? Oh, no. This has been a long, long-term plan where I thought, okay, I planned it out to have this six months where I'm not at work so that I could build my practice. But now that it's approaching in April, I'm just starting to feel a little nervous that maybe I'm being foolish financially. Tiffany, will you go back to your other job? Will this

just be a temporary thing just to hold over and get some income in? Or do you think you're going to want to do this full-time even after your job opens back up? Definitely want to do this full time eventually. One time a caller called in and they said, you know, I want to jump out of the boat, but I need to build a lifeboat. Like I want to jump off the ship, build a lifeboat. And that's my plan. My main job, my full time job that I'm on leave from, it's really quite stressful. And it's not somewhere I want to be long-term. Okay.

And I do want to kind of build up my own situation so that I can transfer into that eventually. Tiffany, are you the only one bringing in income in your home? No. No, my husband has a good-paying job, thankfully. Okay. So when you said, I'm going to go into the red walk me through that what do you mean is does his income not support the home or what's like the math around that? It does so he we do pretty good our average income is about ten eleven thousand dollars a month which isn't too bad and I've been bringing in $4,000 on my leave per month.

Okay. And then when I, in April, that's the $4,000 is gone. And then daycare is about $1,000 will be, I'll have to start paying for that. So that's $5,000, you know, $4,000 gone and then 1,000 extra. And then with our expenses, our expenses are, you know, between 9,000 and 10,000 a month. And then, but that could get trimmed down. I've really noticed we have a lot of lifestyle. I was going to ask if you're on a budget, are you guys budgeting your money

or is this kind of just you pulling the figures out of? No, no, I've definitely we're we're we're budgeting um the we actually paid off a hundred thousand dollars in debt debt free congratulations sweet yeah thank you um so that was two years ago and we paid everything off and it was a lot of effort and hard work. And then in the past two years, I just, lifestyles crept up and up and up. And everyone's in gymnastics and people do personal training and, and we go to restaurants more than we should. And so you have that three to six months. Um, it's, it's light. It's okay.

We did have it and then it got depleted a bit. So we have 16,000. So that should be higher for us for sure. So here's what I want you to do. I really think you can tighten up this budget. And I think if you can tighten up the budget, and I think because you knew going into this that there was going to be that six month period where you weren't going to have money. And I love that you were thinking of a way to make money during that time.

So I think that you should do it because when I'm looking at the overhead, it's not a whole lot. And it sounds like if it was something that you were planning on getting to, to begin with, is it something where you can get as many clients as you can or work, you know, slowly getting in. And then if you don't have enough to support you long-term, you can do those, see those clients on the side and work your job while you build that business up to take the place of the full-time job? It's true. I can. And I do have a contract that someone has offered me that I could do kind of short term that would provide a little bit of money. It's not my full-time job. It's not my private, but it could provide a little bit of income while I'm building, I guess. Yeah, that as well, for sure. Yeah, I think, Tiffany, if you guys look and just say, okay,

you know, for the season, cutting back. Yeah. Because I think out of this, you know, $9,000 to $10,000, you guys can cut a good bit. You have no debt. Yes. And to be able to say, how many clients do I need to see a month? Or even that could be the game, right?

Yeah. I always hate that, like, cutting the lifestyle part of our plan. It's always when that hurts me because it's just, I hate it. I'm like, I just want people to enjoy your life. Yeah. Even though it is a lifestyle part of our plan. It's always when that hurts me because it's just, I hate it. I'm like, I just want people to enjoy your life. Even though that it is a big part of the formula. But you could be able to say, Tiffany, hey, if I get, I don't even know, I'm making it up, 10 clients a month, it actually will support us. And we don't have to change a huge lifestyle change. And I can get this going.

Yeah, you could do both. But if you had to cut your lifestyle because there's not enough, you're going to survive. This isn't going to be a long-term life that you're cutting the gymnastics or the personal trainer, whatever it is. You can get back to that eventually for sure. But just know if it comes down to cutting that it's for short term, but maybe you can do the math and kind of figure out, okay, I can get enough clients to support and continue on our life. And what a blessing to have that 18 months and to be able to say, I get to go after what I want. And the work that you do is incredible. I mean, people that help people

go through life with therapy and counseling, it's a gift. It's a blessing. And people need it more than ever now. Yes, I know. I'm excited for you, Tiffany. That's great. Very good. Yeah. I feel. I'm excited for you, Tiffany. That's great. Very good. Yeah, I feel like for a lot of women, it's interesting. Having a baby changes a lot, right? It changes your worldview. It changes your priorities. I mean, all of a sudden, kind of this whole other part of your heart and your life opens up.

You're like, what? And so it's a great practice to kind of go through so i love that even on maternity leave she's like looking at so a passion of hers therapy and being a therapist i'm excited for seeing that that pathway come through i'm excited for her i think that i think if she goes after it she's going to be surprised at what she's going to be able to build in such a short period of time yes and it's great that she's not have to go buy a bunch of supplies and start a business that has a lot of overhead. You know what I mean?

Like you're in a great position, Tiffany. I love me a low overhead business. Amen. Amen. Well, thank you, Tiffany, so much for the call. Jade, always fun hosting. Yes. Love, love sitting next to you and all the guys in the booth.

And thank you, America, for listening. This is The Ramsey Show. Hey, it's Rachel Cruz, co-host on The Ramsey Show. If you want to do your debt-free scream live on the show, visit ramseysolutions.com slash debt-free scream. We'd love for you to come to Nashville and tell Dave your story. That's ramseysolutions.com slash debt-free scream.