The Ramsey Show - App - Is It Ever a Good Idea To Get a Prenup? (Hour 3)

Episode Date: April 25, 2024

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, this is The Ramsey Show. It's where we help you win in your life, win in your money, win in your work, and win in your relationships. The phone number to jump in, because we want to help you, We want to talk with you. Coach up today is 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. I'm Ken Coleman, and Rachel Cruz, my good friend, is with me. She's a Ramsey Personality multi-best-selling author. Number one's here, number one's there. She's got a new book out in her children's series called I'm Glad for Where I Am.

And all of that is cool. But what's really awesome is today is Rachel's birthday. So if you've been watching, hey, it's a new hour, new people. That's true. Would you just let me celebrate you, please? Thank you. Thank you. If you know Rachel, you love her.

And if you follow her, reach out to her on the gram and say happy birthday to her. And it's a special day for her. She's 36. She gave me permission to tell you that. So there it is. Thanks, Ken. What are we going to do for 40? We got four years to plan. Let's talk about it. I know, a big 40th. Yeah. I didn't bring cake, folks. I've already apologized to her. I'm a terrible co-host and friend. I didn't bring any cake. Her goodness is abound. Don't worry. Yeah, that's all right. Well, let's go. Shall we go across the pond? Because the screen says that Alex is on the line, and I'm going to try to say this right because I care. This is my husband trying to do a British accent. I'm done. And it's going

to irritate Rachel that I care enough to try, but I think it's Birmingham. Let's see how you're supposed to say it. Now, people in Alabama would say Birmingham, but Alex says it a little different. Let's see if this is true. Alex, you're on The Ramsey Show. How can we help? Hello.

Thank you very much for having me on the show. It's a privilege to be talking to you guys. Will you say where you're from? Yes, it's Birmingham. Birmingham. I said it pretty close. You be talking to you guys. Will you say where you're from? Yes, it's Birmingham. Birmingham. I said it pretty close. You're so British, Ken. What do you think, Alex?

Did I do well for a Southerner? Yeah, spot on. Yeah, it was bang on. Yeah, brilliant. Fantastic. Brilliant. I love it. Well, I'm excited to hear you talk.

I really am. So tell us why you called. Yeah, so I was hoping you guys could help me out. My father and I have been having a discussion about credit cards. We agree on the first part of the discussion. However, on the second part, we disagree. When we're comparing a credit card versus a debit card, we both agree that if there was an unauthorized withdrawal from the account, you would be covered under the zero liability policy on MasterCard and Visa. However, my dad thinks that with an unauthorized transaction,

a credit card would be better protected than a debit card. For example, if I bought a suit and then the tailor went out of business, my dad thinks that a debit card wouldn't be protected the same as a credit card. Yeah, so that's my question. I don't know if you guys can help. Yeah, I don't know in that specific scenario, to be honest with you, Alex. But yeah, I mean, obviously, if there's any level of fraud or anything,

yeah, you're under the same protection. I mean, when you have a MasterCard or a Visa logo on your card, you have the same protection, whether it's a debit or a credit. Now, I will say to everyone that's listening, if it is a credit card and there's fraud that happens, none of your money has been touched, right?

It's the bank's money because you're borrowing that money. So when it is a debit card, it will take time to get that money back. But legally, you will get that money back under Visa or MasterCard's protection. So no, I would agree, I guess, with you, Alex, on that. We're on Team Alex today. Yeah. Yeah. But what about if it was an authorized transaction?

So if I authorized the transaction, but then it went wrong. And then it went wrong, that they charged you wrong? Or what do you mean? So let's say I bought something and it wasn't what I expected. My dad seems to think that a credit card would be better protected than a debit card if it wasn't what I expected. So I authorized the transaction. There was no fraud. There was nothing like that.

It's just a crappy product and you don't like it. Yeah. No, I think that would be within the return element. Because when you use the card at a merchant, you have the option to run it as a credit, which is what I suggest people do, because then you do have, it's an easier, you know, way of protection versus going through the PIN route of a debit card traditionally. So from the merchant's perspective, to a degree, I mean, it's run just like a credit card. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So, so no, I mean, I think, I think you'd have the same a credit card. Okay. Yeah. Okay.

So no, I mean, I think you'd have the same exact projection. Yeah. It's just all a myth, and it's out there from the credit card companies. It's become a part of the cultural conversation, and it's global. And so this is not a new question for us. Because you're either disputing, hey, I need my money back, or you're disputing take this money take this charge off the credit card right either way you'd have to to dispute it if you authorized it that's right um but in the same way the merchant would have to um i think extend

the same amount of right policy whether it's a credit or a debit well that's between you and the merchant because you're just you're saying i don this. I want to return it. And every merchant has their own return policy. But again, it just feels like dad's trying to talk you into a credit card because he just thinks it's safer for you. And it just doesn't provide any more safety. And our position at Ramsey Solution is that it creates a lot of traps for you. And it could cause a lot of harm in giving you a very easy, effortless way to incur debt, to pay for something that you don't have the money for. And so we just think it's a trap. And so don't get caught up in the whole, it's safety.

That could be scary. There you go. Good stuff. All right. David is up next in Minneapolis, Minnesota. David, how can we help? Yeah, I'll just go and see if uh prenups are a good idea oh i say no good question um and what kind of i mean the only scenario david off the top of my head that i would say this is maybe something to look at is if there was a tremendous amount of wealth on one side versus the other.

And even in that, you know, we've heard situations of family businesses with voting stock and different things that you want to protect certain aspects of your wealth because it because it is entangled in other things than just the person you're marrying. So in a degree like that, I could see it as an option. But I would say for 99% of people out there, no, I don't think a prenup's a great idea. Why are you asking? I was just asking because I've been dating somebody for about a year and it's probably the closest person I've thought that I could marry, but she's 10 years younger than I am.

She's only 24. I'm 34. She's responsible. How much money do you have? She's not. If I liquidate everything in my house, probably $400,000. No, I would not get a prenup. No, that's ridiculous.

If you can't trust her with that, you don't need to marry her. And if you're worried about a 24-year-old, why are you dating a 24-year-old? Because I've dated a lot of people. I know why you're dating a 24-year-old. It was a rhetorical question, all right? I'm just keeping it real. Hey, no, David appreciates that. This is dude to dude.

You just sit over there and let the dude handle this one, all right? Oh, my gosh. No, David, don't get a prenup yeah and if you're worried about marrying a 24 year old don't date a 24 year old because it doesn't make any sense now there are people with large age gaps that have very happy marriages and i'm not talking about that i'm talking about david who's so worried about the potential marriage to a 24 year old he's got the problem, not me. Yeah, David, no.

No prenup in that situation. Well. Yeah. And I honestly rule of thumb, it's the rare 34-24 combo that works. 10 years is a lot at that age. Yeah, but I, yeah. Didn't say it couldn't work. I'm saying it's a lot to overcome.

I agree. I agree. It's a whole decade. You got a Gen Z and a millennial. That's all I'm saying. You said it well. We're going to debate it during the break. This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. Rachel Cruz is with me. The phone number to jump in is 888-825-5225. Hey, if you haven't heard, we've got an awesome budgeting app. We think it's the best out there. It's called EveryDollar, and this helps people manage money

the Ramsey way, the way we talk about it on the show here. It works with iOS, Android, or online, and you can start EveryDollar, kind of kick the tires, if you will, for free and immediately, just to kind of get an idea, hey, how does this thing work and where am I with my money? Do I know what I have and what I don't have? And if you're new to EveryDollar, we'll show you a long-term financial roadmap, track your net worth, debt-free date, retirement date, baby step progress, and so much more. It really works with you, walks with you in your financial daily path. You can download the free app for iOS and Android or go to everydollar.com to get started. That's everydollar.com where you can just search

EveryDollar in your app store. All right. East Brunswick, New Jersey is where Cole awaits. Cole, how can we help? Hi, Ken. Hi, Rachel. Hi, how are you? First of all, happy birthday, Rachel. There we go. Thanks, Cole. Happy birthday to you. I appreciate it. Thank you. So my question is in regards to pension and annuity, basically saving for retirement. I'm currently saving for a house. I'm part of a union that puts away money separate from my hourly rate towards pension and annuity.

My total loaded rate, it would be about 27%, my pension and annuity. I'm wondering if I should be considering that when it comes to how much I'm putting away for retirement. Should there be extra on top of that out of my hourly rate? And also you guys say to budget your mortgage and expenses, like monthly expenses to be 25% of your income. Should that technically be 25 or should that be part of my total income because I am saving for retirement? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So it would be, um, or yeah, it'd be, well, it's yeah. 25% of your take-home pay. So the, so the amount of money that you bring home, uh, which would not include insurance

or retirement. Yeah. And 25% is just really the mortgage or the rent and some insurances and HOA fees and all of that. But your other bills associated with the house would not be in that 25%. So the 25% really is just that guideline for the amount of mortgage or rent that you're paying with some insurance. The mortgage itself, no regards to taxes or homeowners or anything? No. So sorry. Insurance and taxes and HOA. Yep, all of that together would be part of that 25%, correct? But any other bills, like I didn't know if you meant like electricity and all of that, like all of that's separate.

That's not in the 25%. No. So with your pension and the annuity, is it a variable annuity? So yes, it is a variable annuity. And is that required? Are they making you do that? They do that completely separate. It's, it has nothing to do with what I get paid. Really. You don't, you don't even really see it too often. You can check on your statements and whatnot, but I kind of disregard it. So how much percentage is the

pension that's going in? So the pension is $8.50 an hour and the annuity is $10. Okay. Do you know what... And the annuity gets over time, but the pension does not. Yes. Do you know what percentage of the annuity? I'm trying to get to that 15% because I, well, for the annuity, I probably would not count. I wouldn't count it in the 15%, but your pension, I would say take half of it. So what percentage of the pension is your income right now? So the only calculation I did was I took the pension annuity and hourly rate, added them together, and then got what percentage the pension and annuity was. And it was 27%. Okay.

So, yeah, I would break it out even more, Cole, and see specifically what percentage is the pension, what percentage is the annuity, and then whatever that comes out to be, let's just say, because the pension will be less than the annuity according to the dollar amounts that you just gave me. So let's say the pension ended up being 10% of the 27 or something. I would take 10% of it, divide it in half, so that's 5%. So I would say you have 10% of the 27 or something. I would take 10% of it, divide it in half. So that's 5%. So I would say you have 10% of your income that you still need to invest in retirement. Because the things with pensions and annuities, how it's set up for you is that you don't have a say really in what they're investing in. And so giving yourself way more transparency and ability and options is really key for retirement. So you may have to add

another 8% to 10% and maybe opening up a Roth IRA is a great option. And you can start there. There's a contribution limit. I think it's $7,000 this year, but that would be my next step for you, Cole, is to put some money into a Roth IRA because you'll be able to control what it's invested in with all these other options. They're going to be great for you. You know, when it comes to retirement, it's nice to have a pension, but you don't have control over what they're investing in. So yeah, I would do all of that and then be saving for a down payment. You have a lot going on. Are you debt free? I am. I do use a credit card. I have a lot going on. Do you, are you debt free? I am. Awesome. I mean, I have maybe, I do use a credit card. I have like $200 on it and I just, and I use it for gas to

get to work and then I pay it off. Okay. That's pretty much it. Okay. Cut it up. You can use, you can use a debit card, but what are you, what are you making a year? So I recently got promoted about a year ago. Since then, I made with overtime 170. And without overtime, my base is about 100. Good for you. Good for you, Cole. How old are you? I'm 27. Awesome. So great. Yeah, so I think that would be my next step is I would put a little bit more into retirement on something that you can control. Like a good Roth IRA is, I think, a great option. Before or after the full saving for the house? Like once I'm in the house, do that or pre-plan that now while saving? Yes. So we call saving for a down payment on a home baby step 3b so do you have an emergency fund already saved yeah i have my three to i have about four months expenses oh good for my current expenses

and then i have about a hundred thousand towards a down payment good night cole good for you so yeah i would probably then i would pause on the roth um save up a good down payment i mean if you can put 20 down you can avoid pmi and that would be fantastic 20 for what i'm looking for i was trying to go a little higher because i was expecting um it had to be 25 of like oh yeah so you may have to put more of it yeah that's right depending on what type of house and expensive where i'm at yeah i'm looking at like 2800 okay 2800 a month right now if i put 20 down so it's still kind of high okay good for you cool i'm so proud of like your your diligence and all of this so yeah if you need to take another year or two and continue to put money away for a good down payment you can do that that. There's really no rush in this,

but I do want you to start investing pretty immediately after you get the house. But the house is the next big step for you. So that's where I would focus a lot of my cash flow. So well done, Cole. And let me just tell you, and some encouragement for people watching or listening, you know, the baby steps that we talk about, some people kind of do them out of order, Ken.

They kind of do it at their own, what they think. And I'm going to kind of this, this, and this. And we tell people all the time, if you just do the plan, just do the steps in order. They work. They've worked for millions of people. Just do it. And so Cole is such a testament to that. I mean, he's really doing it.

I'm like, he's literally by the T. And what's crazy is he is going to pay off his house sooner than he realizes. He's going to be investing. He's going to be investing. He's going to have this annuity and pension and a Roth. And he's going to be doing so great in his, I mean, just in a few years, you think about his early 30s and he's going to be killing it. Everyday millionaire. I mean, he's only 27. And so he's such a headstart on most 27 year olds. I wish I knew the data on that mid-20 about how much the average 20-something is carrying in debt at that point in their life.

No savings, and yes, yes. So really good stuff, Cole. Thanks, it's very inspiring. It is possible, and I think you're absolutely right. It is the discipline to kind of withhold early on in life and then not have to worry about withholding much at all later on in life. And I wish that message was more clear.

The current message on social media that we're seeing from young people is they feel like they're just working for nothing. They're working just to barely make rent, as opposed to Cole, who's right in that demographic, and he's working to win big time financially, and he's doing it. So again, Cole, thanks for the call and for the question, sharing your story with us. The best is yet to be for you, sir. Really good stuff. All right. She's Rachel Cruz.

I'm Ken Coleman. We've got to do a quick break, but we'll be right back with more of your questions. This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. Rachel Cruz joins me. I'm Ken Coleman, and you are listening and watching The Ramsey Show. So excited that you are with us. 888-825-5225 is the number. Stephanie is joining us now in Los Angeles. Stephanie, how can we help?

Hi. Happy birthday, Rachel. Yay! Oh, thanks, Stephanie. I appreciate that. You're welcome. Okay, so I am a single mother of two girls i've been a single mom for a long time now and um i own a business i'm a professional organizer um and i actually like coach um families on how to like keep their lives together well i just have am really struggling financially. I ended up having to get a full-time job. Long story short, my savings just got drained when I put employees on payroll. Out here in California, it's super expensive.

Anyway, so I just, I don't know the first thing about, like, good budgeting. I did not grow up. My parents, like, saw bankruptcy three times and I'm just trying to set up a future for my children and I just want to get out of debt. So I need some advice and I want to sell my car and yeah. Yeah. Okay. I got a quick question for Rachel Dives in because she can walk you through this, but I'm just curious, how does a person who is really good at teaching other people to be organized not figure out how to do a budget?

I'm not saying that in a judgmental way. I'm just curious where you think the disconnect is there. No. So I know how to stick with a budget. What happened was I was going, a custody battle came up in the middle of everything, and then my dad got early on to Alzheimer's. This was all like in a short period of time and it just threw me for a loop. And a lot of my money went into custody. And then I ended up taking out an EIDL loan, which I've never been like a credit

card person, a loan person. I actually kind of got talked into getting a business credit card for my business because I was paying everything cash before that. And the custody battle happened. I put the whole custody battle on my business credit card because I was like desperate. And so, yeah, this is where I'm at. And I never coached anyone on finances. I coached neurodivergent families how to like set up systems in their homes, keep their homes like functional and how to like live purposely in their home.

And yeah, so, but right now I just, I'm just in over my head as far as what to do. Yeah, economy is not that great right now. What are you making in your day job? So my full-time job, I make $19.08 an hour. It's a sales job. I do, like, interior design. And so we do get commission on designs, but I've yet to reach that commission

because their whole bonus structure is just, it doesn't make any sense. You have to sell at least $80,000 between installs or whatever. I don't know. So I've never reached that. And then my organizing job, I have three contractors. So I bring in right right now it's not really good. I bring in about maybe $2,000 a month with that. But it's just so slow right now. And I just, I was making pretty good money. And now over the last couple of years, it just hasn't been that great. Yeah. And then you throw in things like a custody battle in the midst of it. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Oh, yeah. I pay for everything for my kids. Like, I don't get any help. I pay for the cars, insurance, everything. Wow. Yeah. Well, let me just say, you know, when it comes to your kids, when it comes to your health, like, we are all about fighting the fight, right? I'm like, it is, you want to do it,

because those are the important things in life. So I want to free you and not pile on any level of shame. Give yourself a lot of grace. So how much debt, Stephanie, do you have? Do you know? Yes, so I have my $20,000 EIDL loan that payments will start coming out in October. Okay. I owe almost $9,000 on a credit card.

Okay. And then my car is, I owe about $13,500 on that. And then here's like the really hard part for me. I got behind on taxes. I just got paralyzed with fear, by the way, but I just, I got behind on taxes three years. Those are just finishing up being filed. So I don't know what I owe on that yet. So I'm waiting on that. So those are my, those are my debts. And you're making 2000 for your organization business. I know you're making $19 an hour for what you're doing, but how much will you bring home a month with that full-time job?

So each check is about $1,200 and some change after insurance and all of that. And you get two checks a month? Every two weeks, correct, yeah. Okay, okay. So it's a little less than $5,000. And have you been able to map out? Are you able to pay your bills, Stephanie, meaning your, your mortgage, food, lights? So I don't even, I don't even have a mortgage. I, so my rent, I'm actually in a great situation

as far as that goes. I live in a two bedroom apartment. It's, um, 1200. I've like refused to move because I'm so, like, nervous. I wanted to get my, you know, finances in order first. So $1,200 for rent. Yeah. And then $404 for my car payment. And then, of course, utilities and all that stuff. How much is your car worth?

Do you know? I'm not exactly sure. I did look on what other people are selling my type of car for, and I saw anywhere from $15,000 to $19,000. Okay. So here's what I would suggest. I feel like for you, Stephanie, a good win would be just a quick win to feel some level of traction because you're going to start to make some changes right when it comes to your money and those changes are going to be uncomfortable because you've never done this before um but the fact that you're not underwater on your car

i mean man if you could get if you could get yeah i mean if you could get 19 000 or something for it and go get a crappy six thousand dollar car car. That takes $13,000 of debt. That's gone. Just gone. And then looking at your credit card, attacking that next. And then the loan after that, the $20,000 loan.

Now, when your taxes come back, Stephanie, if you can't pay them by the tax deadline, go get a personal loan from the bank. I would rather you have a personal loan than owing the IRS, okay? So that will be a step. And what you're gonna do is pay off the smallest debt to the largest debt. And again, the car, I think, would give you some traction.

Do you have any savings? No, my putting employees on payroll just drained my savings. I had about a grand in savings. So you may wanna relook to, I wish we had more time with you. I would relook maybe the structure of your company. I just, I don't know if it's...

For sure. Like, it may be a thing. Are the employees gone? It may be a thing, Stephanie, that you just say, yeah, that you close it down for now. I mean, like, is there something, you know, is there a way to just take that burden off? You're just carrying a lot.

And I'm just trying to relieve some margin for you. So I do not have any employees on payroll anymore. It's all contractor jobs. I just contract. But to be honest, I am thinking about just going back to, because it is stressful, like owning a business. I've had it since 2016. It's really, it's a great business. We were like all around California as far as like

our reputation and stuff, but I just, I'm so stressed about it. So I am thinking about stepping back and just working full time and, you know and maybe taking on jobs by myself for extra income. But as far as selling my car, that was actually the reason why I called you. I wanted to see if you thought that that was a good idea. It's a great idea. I probably would, honestly. I mean, that would be such a relief not to have that car payment every month. Yeah. What is the payment? What's the car payment? 404. 404. I mean, listen, Stephanie, how much would you love a $400 raise per month? I would love to just take that $400 and put it into the rest of my debt. That's right.

No, that's right. If you stay on the line, Kelly and Austin are going to pick up. We want to give you Financial Peace University. It's our nine-lesson course, Stephanie, and Every Dollar Premium. It's our budgeting app. And then also I'll have them connect you with a financial coach in your area because I know as a single mom, you're juggling a lot. And I think sitting down with someone who has the heart of a teacher who can walk through really specific numbers and scenarios, and it may only just take one session, but it's better than a seven minute chat that we were able to have here on the show.

But we want to connect you with some of that stuff, Stephanie, because you're on the right track. You're like right there and you got to just start making those steps and you're going to feel a lot of traction. So we're excited for you. We're going to take care of you. Thank you for calling. This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. Rachel Cruz is with me in studio this hour. 888-825-5225. 888-825-5225 is the number to jump in.

Our scripture today comes from Titus 2, verses 7 through 8. And everything set them an example by doing what is good in your teaching. Show integrity, seriousness, and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us. And our quote of the day from Les Paul, Don't say you can't until you prove you can't. All right. How about that?

There you go. There it is. There you go. Thomas is joining us in ashville north carolina thomas how can we help all right thank you guys so much for taking my call sure what's up um so um my father uh has planned a vacation for this summer for the whole family i'm married we have two children my brother's has three children. Um, he gave us a little bit of heads up on it, basically just asking when the kids would be going back to school. And then he planned this trip, uh, for the end of summer.

Um, we're right in the middle of baby step two should be debt free by looks like November. Um, he's paid for the location and like lodging and everything. Um, but my main concern is, um, I work like 70, 75 hours a week and, um, I don't have any pay. I don't have any paid time off. So my, my main concern is, is missing that income, um, while we're on this trip. So I was kind of hoping to get you guys advice on that. So before dad comes to you with this vacation idea, what was the plan? What were you and your wife thinking about summer? No vacation? Yeah. I mean, we've been, we've been busting it,

just trying to get everything paid off. It's gazelle intense. Yeah. So I'm going to, I'm going to oversimplify it because I think this is the key issue. You weren't going to go on a vacation, and we agree with that. You guys are going hard. Man, you're working 70, 75 hours a week. That's impressive. And you weren't planning to anyway.

Now Dad's asking you to do it. Wait, that's what I – I'll have to jump in. Did he ask or did he tell you guys? Well, yeah. Did he say – well, that's an interesting part of it. It was a little bit of both. You know, like my brother has children. Our children have never met their cousins. He's kind of really loving the whole grandpa role

and kind of wants everybody to get together. They're getting a little up there in age, so he kind of looked at it as an opportunity to get the whole family together one last time and have all the grandkids in one place, because my brother lives a thousand miles away from where I live. I would, so I think, well, I'll tell you what, I'll ask one other question, and I want Rachel to see what she says here. Is he paying for everything or just the lodging, meaning you guys would have to pay for the travel to get there plus meals?

He's handling food and lodging because I'll be doing most of the cooking. That's kind of how it's always worked out is he buys the food and I prepare it. But we'll basically just be responsible for gas to and from. So it's not so much the expense of the trip, but the missed income. That's right. How many days will you guys be gone? Six or seven, depending on when we travel back. All right.

The only other question I have is, can you, man, you're already working 70 to 75 hours. I want you to have a vacation. Yeah, but they weren't planning on it anyway. I know. So this is not so much like an opinion. It's advice. And I think I would do what you believe is right to do. And I think I know the answer to that. I don't think you want to go, Thomas, right? I don't think you do either. I really do. I really want my kids to meet their cousins. And I really want, you know,

my parents the opportunity to have all their grandkids in one place because they're, you know, two, five, six and seven, and they've never all been in one place at the same time. But? But I mean, I'm just, I'm concerned about... But what a week of it. Hold on. I'm gonna be devil's advocate here for you. Hold on. Be'm a B-Devils advocate. Hold on. B-Devils advocate. I want him to finish that sentence. Okay, go. Go, Thomas. Sorry I cut you off.

We've been working really hard, and I'm just kind of, I guess, very apprehensive about what that month's budget will look like with, you know, several hundred dollars missing from it. And I don't want that to take away from what the experience is supposed to be if I'm there, you know, worried about that. So have you added up how much money you will lose out on being there? Probably about $1,100 or so. And that's not counting the gas to and from.

Sure, sure. And how much debt do you guys have left? We've got about $13,000 left. Okay. What would it do to your budget? Would it stress you out without the $1,100? Would that make it super tight? Not particularly. would that make it super tight um not particularly we still have to factor in like um we haven't

you know the kids back to school stuff is going to be that month and the month prior to that yeah in august so yeah i mean it feels like it would be i know here's okay thomas you gotta do what you gotta do here's my here's my devil's advocate no what would you got to do what you got to do. Here's my devil's advocate response. What would you do? To be with, and again, this is if you want to, Thomas. If you feel guilted, if there's some weird emotional thing, if Dr. John Deloney was in here and is asking you like psychology questions of family stuff, right? Like if it was just a healthy situation,

I think giving up $1,100 to be with family for one week because it doesn't happen. It's not like this is a yearly tradition would be worth it for a family situation like that and everything is paid for now they're making you pay for everything that's one thing you can't afford to go everything is paid for and maybe you go half the time maybe you and your wife say hey we're gonna go for four days and there's something about living life still and this isn't taking you guys deeper into debt it may it may slow it down for three weeks the debt snowball i agree but there's something about the situation feels the situation just feels so unique that it's not going to happen and for eleven hundred dollars a100, a partner would say, oh my gosh,

like go be with your family. I agree with that if that's what's going on. And if that's what Thomas wants to do. I don't know if Thomas wants to do it. Let's ask him. We definitely want to. No, forget the want to. No, here's what I'm asking. You're working 70 to 75 hours a week. Is that to pay off the debt faster, or is that to make ends meet, and the $1,100 is going to make things super tight? It makes me feel like that's the case when you're talking about school supplies and $1,100. No. Hold on. Let me answer.

Well, no. I mean, if I was working 40 hours a week, all our basic, our budget could sustain on that. It's just the gazelle intensity. Because we're putting about anywhere from an extra probably $1,500 or so per month on the debt. So back to Rachel's point. It's a month behind. $1,100, not making that is not going to make life tight. It's just going to slow the snowball down.

That's right. Yeah. Then I would, I agree with Rachel now that I have the facts. Wow. You didn't let me, I was trying to get the facts from Thomas. I threw the life raft and Ken said, sure, Rachel. No, I actually agree. I just needed to get to that point though.

That's good. I couldn't tell emotionally if he was, what's the 1100 doing in this case? I think because the kids have never seen each other before, dad and mom are getting older, all the things you already said very well. Thomas, I'm okay with that. And honestly, Thomas, take four days of a paid for vacation as a gift of a little bit of rest too, right? I mean, y'all have been working like crazy, which is amazing.

It's exactly- Yeah, I'm so proud of you. This is a unique thing and I- I unique thing, and I would say go. I agree with you. You've only got one shot around this globe, and I would do the family vacation. Knowing that the $1,100, you're not going to have that. The subtraction of that is not going to make things tight to where you can enjoy the vacation. And I also want to point out, Thomas, I would like to vacation with you because I'm all for buying the food and you cooking it for me.

I would like to point that out, Rachel. This guy's great to vacation with. It sounds great. Hey, Thomas is coming. Great. Let's go get the brisket. You know? Thomas, here you go.

How do you feel now? You feel like this is the right move? You're going to do it? You got to talk to the wife? What's the story? Yeah, I'm going to talk to the wife what's the story yeah i'm gonna talk to her about it i think it's there's a mentality shift that needs to take place because i've been we've been doing this since august yeah i think it's a memory and i don't want you to and i don't want you to lose momentum

either so just see this as like a quick pause a breather paid for a vacation and then you're back at it but i think the the scope of family and cousins and all of that, there's something really special there that I would hate for you guys to miss out on because you wanted to pay off debt one month later. That's right. And I'd make the old man cook one meal for him. Yeah. Maybe go half the time.

All right. Good hour, Rachel Cruz. Thank you, James Childs and our team. Thank you, America. This is The Ramsey Show.