The Ramsey Show - App - I'm Afraid That Work Is Straining My Relationship (Hour 2)

Episode Date: June 7, 2021

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Music Music Music Music Music Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Ramsey Show, where debt is done, 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, Dr. John Deloney. Ramsey Personality is my co-host today.

Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Danny is going to start off this hour in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Hi, Danny. How are you? Hi, gentlemen. How are you? Hi, gentlemen. I'm doing great. I'm a little starstruck. Dave, I've got to say I've listened to you for years and started when I took Financial Peace University.

My buddies give me a hard time whenever we go out to get a bite or something. They say, I don't know, is that Papa Dave approved? Oh, that's cold. Well, we're honored to have you sir how can we help today all right so the condensed version i'm wondering if i should buy a house that i do not want so a little back story my wife and i've been looking for a house for the past year um financially we're doing we feel prepared as much as we can be. We're in baby step four. We have a good chunk of change set down. There is just no inventory in our area. And I finally broke today when I got a call that a house we put a really competitive

offer on, it went above, it went no inspection, it went guaranteed their offer price. And so just feeling frustrated. So I don't know if we should just keep waiting. Our landlord is selling the house we live right now, and so we're going to be kicked out in August. So we're a little worried. Do we find a place to rent and pay more than what a mortgage would be, or do we settle on a townhome or something really small that we just don't like? I just went through this. Yeah, yeah, I know.

So what's the answer? No. No what? Don't buy a house you don't like. Yeah. Don't do that because you're going to wake up in 12 months or 24 months. 12 hours. Yeah, 12 hours. I don't like this house. Oh, wait. I never liked this house. What the heck did I do? It's like trying to date somebody that you know you have a future with. And you just think, I'll change them. I'll change them.

And I'll grow to love them. That bathroom's not going to move in that house. It's still going to be there. It is. Yeah. I hate this for you. Listen, I just went through this it was brutal it's a frustrating experience in the market right now it really really is

so this is your first home correct and you're how old uh i'm 28 my wife's 25 every time i face something like this i read a study, gosh, probably 20 years ago, and it affected my decision-making paradigm ever since. Here's what the study said. It said that people who build wealth and become wealthy make decisions based on how it's going to affect them 10, 20, 30 years from now. People who are broke make decisions based on how it's going to feel this weekend. Yeah. Thank God it's Friday.

Oh, God, it's Monday. It's what broke people say. But rich people, when they get ready to buy a watch, they say, can I wear this for 10 years, 20 years? Can I get some – or when they get ready to buy, they buy high – they buy expensive things sometimes, but they buy high-value things that last. That's right. Poor people buy – and broke people, and I've been both,

but broke people buy stuff that looks good right now, but that's cheap as crap and falls apart, you know? And so it's kind of the same decision-making. Thank God it's Friday. Oh, God, it's money. I'm a blow on my money on the weekend because I'm a child. And so emotionally. So the way I back up on something like you're looking at when I'm frustrated and tired and feel boxed out by the market, which is all the things you feel.

And it's your first house. And, man, we're going to have to pay more in rent. We're going to have to move twice because I've got to go rent something, and then I'll find something right after I rent something and all that. Then, you know, so what this tells you, when I pan back, I go, what's the best decision 10 years from now? Don't buy a house you don't like. And, man, it's hard, especially with my wife saying I need a home.

Yeah. We've got two little kids running around. Yeah. It my wife saying, I need a home. Yeah. I've got two little kids running around. Yeah. It's real, real hard to be patient. Yeah. Talk to your landlord and go, hey, if I pay you a couple hundred dollars more a month, would you rent for me for six more months? Yeah.

Buy yourself a little time. That's right. Or go somewhere for a weekend, just go on a quick little getaway, do something, just kind of clear the deck. Erase the whiteboard, and you've got to start over again. This is the worst possible time to feel like you're forced into buying something. Right. Because the market's gone bananas, meaning people have gone bananas.

They're nuts. Yeah. I mean, they're like running down the street and driving a stake in the yard. This one's mine. You know, it's crazy the way they're acting. And it's just a freaking house. Yeah. I mean, you can get you another one. There's one on every corner.

But no, don't settle. Don't cheap out. Because if you buy some kind of crappy something, because that's what's available in this market, you know what it's going to be when you get ready to sell it? Something that's crappy that's available in a hard to sell market. You're going to be when you get ready to sell it something that's crappy that's available in a hard to sell market yeah that's you're gonna get stuck well and beyond that you tell me when you buy an ugly house at a deal and you know what it is when you get ready to sell it an ugly house at a deal well and you tell yourself all these these fantasies like we'll just move those bathrooms

we'll build an add-on garage and get a new roof none of that will happen and you set yourself up for so much disappointment when you're there. It's such a good discussion, though, and that's why we're leaning on it a little bit and giving it a little bit more time because there's so much activity in the market. So many people are feeling this. Listen, if you feel like the temperature on your forehead is changing, that's called house fever. It's back away. You need to go take a cold

shower back away from the contract you know you're about to overpay you're about to buy something you're about to settle for something you don't like and that's everybody out there man you're just you're just an example of everybody that's walking around looking at houses right now the opportunity to overpay is legitimate. And yes, moving twice sucks. But let me tell you, 10 years from now, you won't even remember. No, you won't. Or you'll remember how bad it was, but it's 10 years later. Who cares?

Yeah, we rented a house. We sold our house after bankruptcy. Our kids were in these private schools. We moved to another county to get in better schools, and we rented. The first time I'd ever rented since I'd owned. Okay. And I'd owned 1,000 pieces of property by then and gone broke, right? Now I'm a renter.

That kitchen in that rental house, it was a big old house. It was a reasonably nice house. And it was a great school system, which was the whole goal, right? And we cashed out of our other house and cleared up the rest of our debt after the bankruptcy. Paid off the stinking IRS. Right. But to this day, when I mention that street name, my wife's face gets a cloud across it. And all she says is that kitchen. That kitchen.

That kitchen. That nasty brown linoleum floor. That kitchen. That kitchen. Because, I mean, she hated. Hey, but she transferred. That house. She transferred that husband to That kitchen. That kitchen. Because, I mean, she hated that house. Hey, but she transferred that husband to that kitchen, so that's

actually good for you. That's good for everybody. We were in that kitchen. That's right. You're right. She hated the kitchen instead of Dave. That's good. She kept the ire on the correct item. Yes, that's good. That's 30 years ago, man.

It hangs with you. And I've bought a house under pressure, and I still to this day regret that I did that. It's still an ugly house. I put my family through it. I bought an ugly house, and it was still an ugly house when I got ready to sell it. I've done that. I've done it. Don't do it.

Just take your time, brother. I know it's hard. Take a cold shower. Take your time. This is The Ramsey Show. Your number one wealth building tool is your income. For business owners, this comes as no surprise, as you're used to putting in extra hours and watching your bottom line. That's why Christian Healthcare Ministries, or CHM, is a great option for those who are faith Thank you. ministries.org slash budget. Dr. John Deloney, Ramsey personality, is my co-host today.

Open phones at 888-825-5225. Alex is in Cleveland. Hi, Alex. How are you? I'm good, guys. Good to talk to you. You too. What's up?

So I am 22 years old. I just graduated from Michigan State with a mechanical engineering degree. I am a contract engineer right now, so I travel a lot. My question for you guys is, I've got a girlfriend back at home, and she's still in school, but I'm trying to save up for a house for us and a marriage, and I'm wondering how to balance my relationship with her while also always traveling and always trying to save up for the next goal. And I feel like I'm at some points doing one more than I'm focusing on the other one. And so I guess how do I put my life into balance where I'm enjoying my time with her and seeing her, and should I move home?

Where's home? Find a closer job. My home is technically out of Grand Rapids, Michigan. And you're in Cleveland, Ohio, and you travel? What kind of range do you travel? So I'm on my way to York. Stopped at a service station to talk to you guys uh but uh i i i traveled to pennsylvania i've traveled to kansas city um so three or four hundred mile radius three or four hundred mile radius yeah all right and you make what i make 160 000 a year how long you've been out of school doing this uh since

january okay wow that's not bad so man you're 22 years old and what i would tell most 22 year olds who are not married or untethered is to hit the gas on their career this is a time you can stack up and do really great and And there's so much technology that you can stay connected to each other right now that even I didn't have when I was young and trying to figure this thing out.

The question is whether is this going to be seasonal for you? Is this going to be the rest of your life? And that's the hard question you have to ask. And then the other question is, it sounds like you took this job and you were making unbelievable money for a 22-year-old, and you're starting to not like it.

Am I hearing that right? Yeah. I love the money, but I – The road sucks. Sometimes I want to be closer. Being on the road sucks. That's right. Yeah. Here's what I don't want to be closer. Being on the road sucks. That's right. Here's what I don't want you to do.

I don't want you to use your girlfriend or your relationship to your girlfriend as the reason to cash out on this job. If you realize I'm on the road all the time and it's not good for me, it's not the life I want to live, then I want you to own that decision because you're going to run

into money challenges down the road, you're going to run into money challenges down the road. You're going to run into relationship issues down the road, and then you're going to start resenting her for something that really isn't her fault. You don't like the job. You don't like the job, right? And it's a million billion dollars for a 22-year-old. But, yeah, if the road sucks and it's killing you, the road sucks and it's killing you. You've got to do something else. Sure, sure.

So how old is she? Is she in school? Yeah she's uh studying to be an elementary teacher when graduate when yeah she's got a year left uh and then she has to do an unpaid year uh through uh internships uh at a job site okay. Does this job you're in, it says contractor, does it have an end? You cut out. Try again. It's contract. Do you have an end on your job?

No, they keep extending the contract, which is fine by me. How long does the contracts run contract usually about as good as your cell phone service okay um all right so what i what i would say is um for 160 000 a year if you want to see her you can buy a lot of airline tickets um and uh you know you fly over there and see her on weekends or whatever, and you work this out. You're making plenty of money. Spend some money on travel. Spend some money on connectivity.

And then just set a date certain because you're not going to do this for 10 years. Right. And set a date certain. Are you going to do this until she graduates and gets through her one year or just until she graduates? When are we getting married? And you start setting in your mind anyway, and you start going, okay, I can endure this for two years and pile up a huge pile of cash. Or I can endure this until Christmas. Or I can endure this until whatever.

I think the idea that it projects indefinitely into the future is part of what's driving you nuts. And the road is hard. Right? The road is hard. It is not. travel is only glamorous for people that don't do it and it's just not it's just you know it's just hotels oh god and yeah and if he's flying it's even worse because you got to deal with the dadgum airport people so i like the idea of coming up with a dollar amount here's what i'd like to have yeah that's not bad and here i also like this idea a date certain or a dollar certain and then

i'm out and i'm going to use this as an opportunity to learn from all these different bosses and all these different cities use this as graduate school man and if you approach it with that heart and spirit i'm going to work my butt off i'm going to make this kind of money and i'm going to learn what i like about this guy, what I don't like. Then you can set yourself up to what you want to do. But if you just look at it as misery or if you blame her slash encourage her, then, man, you're just setting yourself up for it. I had to quit this because of my girlfriend. Oh, bull crap.

You quit it because you hated your job. You don't like the job. Own that, man. That's what he's saying by don't blame your girlfriend. So, yeah. But I think you've got a two-year window, something like that. And I like to see 22, 23-year-olds grinding. I really do. Yeah, it's awesome. And making that kind of bank for a short period of time.

And again, so get a date or a dollar certain. Figure out what you're going to do when you leave this job and thirdly allocate some money for travel for uh to see her or her to see you and uh buy some airline tickets or whatever it is and um you can land this plane no pun intended with a hundred thousand dollars in cash in a bank or more 125 000 right when she finishes up her internship and then y'all can pretty much do what you want to do. Yeah, more, because they're probably covering the road costs, too. Greg's in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Hey, Greg, welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hey, how are you, sir? Better than I deserve. How can I help? I've got a question for you. My mother is 93 years old. Just had to put her into assisted living a few months ago.

She had a little bit of dementia. We tried the home care option and it got to the point where she was needing 24-hour care. She's in a good place. My father was he's passed, but he was very smart with money. He did the long-term care insurance and it's helped a lot.

My question is, aside from visiting her and trying to make the best quality of life for her, what to do with her home? She's got a paid-for home about three miles away from me. It's probably worth around $300. In a way, I wanted to sit back and just, you know, process this. She's only been assisted living for maybe two months. On the other hand, I've got people around me saying, if you're going to do it, sell it now.

Don't wait. And I want to do what honors her. How cognizant is she of this decision? How much is she able to process it with you? Not. I would say, no process it with you? Not. I would say, no, it's not. Okay, so this is just your decision. It's not going to bother her because she's not going to understand.

No, no. Okay. So what do you want to do? I don't know. I want to honor her, and that's my biggest problem. I don't want to be a landlord. I know that. I don't know that keeping the house is a method of honoring her or selling the house is a method of honoring her.

Yeah, you've backed yourself into a corner that's not real. That's not a real. Honor has nothing to do with this house. Unless you were hurting her by selling it, okay, or keeping it. And you're not. So not emotionally, not financially, not anything. And so I don't want to be a landlord. I think it's just letting go of the past to sell it emotionally,

and that's very hard, but I would sell it. I would too. All right, and now is the time to do that, am I right? Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah. For sure. Get it dolled up. Go to DaveRamsey.com or RamseySolutions.com and click on ELP for endorsed local provider for a real estate agent in the area.

They'll help you max it out. This is not a time to play amateur hour. You need a pro in your corner, and they'll help you from this. We'll be right back. In the lobby of Ramsey Solutions on the Dead Free Stage, Bryce and Lisa are with us. Hey, guys, how are you? Hey, Dave. Good, Dave. How are you doing? Welcome.

Where do you guys live? We're from Wichita, Kansas. Ah, welcome to Nashville. And all the way here to do a debt-free scream. I love the t-shirts. I'm the nerd. I'm the free spirit. So we know who we're addressing here.

It's very clear up front. Very cool. How much debt did you guys pay off? $370,000 in five years. Whoa! And your range of income during that time? We started at $67,000 and finished

at $167,000. Wow. What do y'all do for a living? I'm a registered nurse. And I'm a captain in the Army. Wow. Thank you for your service. Appreciate your support, sir. Thus, Wichita. Okay. So, I'm going to guess and say that might have been your house. It was.

Ha! I'm looking at weird people. I know. You know, we need the subtext on the t-shirt. Weird people, yeah. Or on the back when you turn around. Yeah, way to go, man. Wow.

Paid for. How old are you guys? We're 32. The paid for house. You are truly weird. Yep. That is awesome. Guys, you won.

Touchdown. Yeah. I love it. What's this house worth? Last time we checked it was uh right around 300 000 how does that feel at 32 freaking years old paid for house it's outstanding dave feels great it's amazing congratulations it's a whole different place to be wow i gotta hear this story what inspired you to do this five years ago? So Dave, actually, it started about seven years ago where I married my wife and I took the responsibility of being a husband to heart and I wanted to lead my family. And I ran across you on YouTube. Being a finance major in college, I gravitated towards the money aspect of it. Ran across you on YouTube. I got all inspired.

I was working late one evening, and I binge-watched a bunch of your videos, and I came home all excited, and I blew it. I did everything you say not to do. I told Lisa we were going to get extra jobs. We're going to not spend any money, and we got to be gazelle intense, and she's like, I don't even know what that means.

What does that mean? Yep. You need to stay off the caffeine when you're working overnight. That's exactly right. So, you know, so it took a couple years. Your name was kind of a cuss word in the Johnson household for a few years. But five years ago, the beginning of our story is when Lisa informed me that our daughter Myla was coming. So all of a sudden her tone changed a little bit.

She brought me to the kitchen table, and she goes, you know, we should really kind of look at our money situation, and, you know, I think we should take FPU. And I was like, that's a great idea. Wow. That's wonderful. Now that it's your idea, it's awesome. Absolutely.

It was a baby step. It was. And again, my fault. I totally barged into it, but learn from my mistake everybody there you go i love it way to go so uh so you signed up for financial peace university what a local church or we did in fargo north dakota originally that's where we're from originally and uh we did went to a local church there with a friend page and zach and we took fpu and from there we were rolling in the same direction and our communication improved and our marriage just went to new levels.

So, Lisa, after you were abused with the Dave Ramsey stuff ahead of time, then baby's on the way. So you go, okay, grown-up time, I've got to get serious. And you come into the table and say, I'm going to do this. Was that hard to say, I want to? Put those words out of your mouth, let's go to. It was very hard. I wasn't ready to be weird yet. Ah, okay.

So when you went to class, how long before you started going, I think we might really should do all this? I mean, really. I mean, you started kind of buying in. Like first class or eighth class? It was the end of the class by the time I was like, all right, I think we can do this. And right after Milo was born, he was actually deployed. Oh, wow. And that's where I really realized the sacrifice he was making for the family.

And I was like, okay, I better get on board a little bit more with this. Oh, wow. And that's where we really hit Gazelle. And Dave, I got to say, too, she was a total trooper while I was deployed. So as a nurse with a newborn baby, with me gone, she was working night shifts, weekend shifts. Wow. She was still, she was all in at that end, or totally bought in at that point. And our grandparents, her grandparents, my grandparents, helped with taking care of her during overnight shifts.

Wow. Things like that. So Lisa just was a total trooper. She jumped right on. Wow. Way to go, you guys. But the net result is no payments in the world. I'm sitting here trying to figure out what was harder,

for you to eat a small amount of crow and say, let's take FPU, or for you, the military commander, to be told what to do, and you say, yes, ma'am, I'm all in. I don't know which one had it harder. A little bit of both, John. It doesn't matter. And hey, by the way, you guys didn't just get out of debt. You guys said from the beginning, we're going all the way with this thing.

All the way, John. We took baby step seven the same way we did baby step two. We just kept our foot on the gas. Okay. And we said we're not going to do our death-free scream until we were 100% complete. And what kept that motivation going for year three, year four, year five? I think the biggest motivation was us dreaming together. Once she was on board, all of a sudden at the dinner table,

we were talking about it every night. What happens when we pay the car off? How about when we pay the credit card off? When we get our emergency fund, how good is that going to feel, knowing that every speed bump in the road is just a speed bump? It's not an emergency. That was my aspect of it, my perspective. So you took data and tied it to emotion

and tied that emotion back to data and you just kept working and working and working and working. Just kept dreaming for what was next. I love it. I love it. Lisa, not counting each other, who were your all's biggest cheerleaders? We had some friends and family and not a lot of us knew about the journey we were on,

but they were supporting us even though they didn't know it, helping us watch Myla just in any way they could so we could get it done. Yeah. An FPU class had to be going yay raw. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, we actually, so five years later, I emailed our FPU coordinator back in Fargo after we moved around the country a few times, and he emailed me right back and said that was amazing.

He gets emails all the time from previous classes on how they succeed and how much they've paid off and everything. So we actually coordinated an FBU class at Reliance Community Church in Wichita, Kansas. Wow, thank you. Yeah, and it was great. We had some great couples attend that. And we all got to know each other and experience a little life together. Very nice.

So Myla must be five. She's four and a half. Four and a half. Okay. And you brought her with you. Yeah. And I love the t-shirt. Check this out.

Myla is the why. I'm the why. You're going to get me all teared up on a Monday. Wow. I'm the nerd. I'm the free spirit. And I'm the why. I'm why my parents did this to change our family tree.

You guys are absolute rock stars. I am so proud of you. That is such a beautiful picture. I don't get to meet hero couples like this every day. This is incredible. I appreciate the encouragement just to me and my family personally. What y'all have done inside and outside of this adventure is extraordinary. Thank you, John.

Absolutely. Very, very well done so awesome well we've got a copy of the legacy journey because you have definitely poured on a new legacy here and i copy the total money makeover for you to give away and encourage somebody else with it so very very well done you guys so beautiful beautiful. And she's cute as a button, too. Very fun. All right. Bryce and Lisa and Myla. Wichita, Kansas by way of Fargo. $370,000 paid off. That would be the mortgage and everything.

We're looking at weird people. They did it in five years, making $67,000 to $167,000, including deployment, including lots of nursing OT. Well done, you guys. Very well done. You're free. You'll be able to do anything you want to do. 32 years. You won, guys. I can't look at it.

It's incredible. You won the Super Bowl. I love it. All right. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. We're debt-free. We're debt free.

We're debt free. That's how it's done right there. Man, that's inspiring. I don't get to see a lot of smiling families on my show, Dave. This is incredible. Just incredible. You're getting some of the smile after you told them how to

straighten things out. You cannot be driving in your car right now listening to this and still have an excuse left. You can't. You really can't. I mean, it's ridiculous. You can't. You're either going to be on the sidelines or you're going to be in the game.

You're going to decide I'm in or I'm out. Yeah, you've got to get in the game. You're going to decide I'm in or I'm out. Yeah, you've got to get in the game. You've got to do this. I mean, they're 32 years old. And they were deployed and working night shifts and had a newborn and had to talk to parents and had to figure it out and figure it out and figure it out. And they looked up and five years later they don't owe anybody anything. No excuses. None.

No whining. Solve it. Get her done. Wow. I love it, man. What a crew. This is the Ramsey personality is my co-host today. Jacob is in Knoxville. Hi, Jacob. How are you?

Doing well. How are you, Dave? Better than I deserve. What's up? So I am on baby step four and have $25,000 in my emergency fund. I'm 29. I make $130,000 a year. And I have a side hustle that I'm going to talk about here in a second. But I currently have $54,000 in my 401k and I put in 12%. My company matches 4% and also puts in an additional four, whether I contribute anything or not. Great. And so the 401k has like,

has awesome mutual funds. I'm very happy with them. And so the situation is in my, to get to my question, I started doing a Dave Ramsey ish last summer. I thought I could, I'm in sales. So I always thought I could kind of out,

out earn my dumb decisions. So I never got super intense until recently. But what I did do back then when I started listening was start a side hustle. So since last July, my side hustle has earned me $156,000. Wow. Not bad. Yeah, and it should well outperform that next year. I got a product I created into like 400-some stores. So it's doing really well.

And so my question is around retirement funds. So I know you always say that do 401K first, then Roth, and then traditional to get to the 15%. But I cannot contribute to a Roth making over $139,000. I know you can do a backdoor Roth, but since I like the way my 401k is invested, I was wondering if it's better just to stick with the 401k instead of worrying about doing a backdoor Roth or if it still makes sense to well if you can get to 15 you putting in 15 of your household income are you married uh i have a fiancee okay you're not married not yet okay so no you make what at your day job?

130. Okay, you told me that six times. I'm sorry. And then you made 156 on a side gig. Yes. Yeah, so, you know, that puts us at $280,000 that you need to save 15% of. Okay. You can't do that in just a 401k.

You can't get there because you're maxed out at 19 and some change. And so you're going to max out your 401K, you're going to max out your Roth IRA, and you're still not going to be there. And so what you're going to do is you're going to sit down with a SmartVestor Pro in your area, and they're going to talk to you. On their side gig, do you have any employees? I do not. You can do a SEP over there, and that will get us up.

And you can do all of these in Roths. Okay, so you're going to do a backdoor, you're going to do a SEP, and you're going to do a 401K all in Roth, and you're going to take your match over at your company, all they'll give you, all the match they'll give you over there. You're going to max out every bit of this in order to get to 15% of your household income going into retirement. Now, if your side hustle ever goes away, obviously you're going to reduce what you're putting in because each year you're going to put in 15% of your household income.

But the SEP Roth is the way to go over on your side hustle. It's a very easy way to do it with no employees. Now, if you've got employees, it starts to get really complicated and a pain in the butt. So go to RamseySolutions.com and click on SmartVestor Pro. Click on SmartVestor. Get a SmartVestor Pro in your area to sit down with and let them walk you through doing the backdoor Roth. And you'll do your own max out on your 401K. And then they can also walk you through setting up a SEP, a Simplified Employee Pension Plan.

Okay. I was going to say, what's a SEP? And you can do up to 13.2%, I think is how the formula actually ends up working out, but a large percentage of your net profit on your business. You basically create a pension plan for yourself. Exactly. It's a 401k for a single operator. Okay.

All right. Is what it amounts to. If you have employees that have been with you more than two of the last five years, you have to put the same percentage of their income in. So it's not very good for a small business that has employees. Okay. But for a solopreneur like this, it's very good. Excellent.

It's excellent for doing that. And I actually did one with this business when I started. It was just me. Wow. with this business when I started it was just me. And then once I had been open five years, then I had employees that had been with me more than two of the last five. I truncated that puppy and went to a different direction on retirement savings. But that's the way it went. Dave is in Virginia Beach.

Hi, Dave. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hi, guys. Thank you for taking my call. Sure. What's up? Hi. I'm a 51-year-old, single, no kids.

I'm feeling stuck in a rut and wondering how to get better traction. The job looks stable for, let's say, the next three years. Looks real solid with the contract. Income is about $69,000. We've got about we got about 12 000 in checking a rut on what what kind of rut what are you running career rut a psychological rut a relationship rut it's pretty much a financial rut okay and let's see 401k I've only got about $62,000. I owe $10,500 on a car and $45,000 on the house.

Where do you want to be? Where do you want to be with your money? I just really am almost having anxiety about getting out of debt. Why? As quickly as possible. You mean you're having anxiety that's telling you to get out of debt or to not to get out of debt? To get out of debt. Oh, good.

To get out of debt. Okay, so the debt is bothering you. That's good anxiety, okay. Yeah, I guess it is a good thing. It's an alarm telling you your house is on fire, and it is, right? Yeah, you're right. So you have a $10,000 car debt. What other debt?

House 45, what else? House, that's it. But I do have some upcoming remodeling expenses, like a new roof and a few other things. I'm thinking that's going to be about $16,000. What do you make? I'm holding off on it until $69,000 without overtime. I make more when there's overtime available. What do you do?

I do design work, computer-aided design. Okay, cool. Good for you. So you've got side hustle available to you if you wanted to as well. All right. And so let me get this straight. $55,000 plus $16,000 for the rehab would be like $75,000, we'll call it. All right?

It changes your whole life. It lets you breathe and it lets you sleep. Right? Your house is paid off, your car is paid off, and your house is rehabbed. You don't have a payment in the stinking world and you make $70,000 a year. It changes your life, doesn't it? Yeah. So we need $70,000 a year. It changes your life, doesn't it? Yeah. So we need $75,000.

You're a single guy making $51,000 that's making $70,000. If I need $75,000, that's $35,000 a year for two years. That's overtime on top of overtime, hitting the gas, having some fun. Not much. Just working. Knowing I'm working towards a goal. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's the end having some fun. Not much. Just working. Knowing I'm working towards a goal. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's the end goal is fun.

But right now, for two years, you don't have a life. You do beans and rice, rice and beans, and all you do is work, and you become completely debt-free with your house rehabbed, and you're 53. I'm already feeling better. And that contract you're worried about I'm already feeling better. And that contract you're worried about going away in four years? That contract you're worried about going away in four years? You're debt-free, right?

Yeah, that's a good point. And if you don't have any payments in the world, could you actually start doing some investing and become wealthy? Answer is yes. Yeah, absolutely. I know that. And when you're not so anxious and knotted up and tied up, could you go hang out with some other people, get connected to a community, have some fun? Yes.

Yeah. Yeah. Probably so. Not probably. A hundred percent. Yeah. Yeah. You're right.

No need to do that. That's why we call it financial peace. Two words that don't go together, like Fauci math. Right? Yeah. Okay. All right. $35,000 a year for two years.

You can do it, and I'll help you. I'm going to send you a copy of the book, The Total Money Makeover. It's going to show you exactly how to do this step by step, okay? Awesome, Dave. I appreciate that big time. You hang on. Kelly will pick up, and we'll get you going. Call us back when you're debt-free and tell us about your journey.

I want to hear your success story. You can do this, man. Yes. I think you just need a little bit of a clear path, and you're the man. You're going to get it done, baby. That puts this hour of the Ramsey Show in the books. Good hour, John. Thank you.

Dr. John Deloney. James Childs is our producer. Kelly Daniel is our associate producer and phone screener. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. And we'll be back. This is James Childs, producer of The Ramsey Show. Did you know The Ramsey Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world? Subscribe or follow today wherever you listen to podcasts.