The Ramsey Show - App - JADE RANT: Your Stupid Car Payment Is Keeping You Middle Class! (Hour 3)

Episode Date: January 11, 2023

Rachel Cruze & Jade Warshaw answer your questions and discuss: "Can we afford to buy a home this year?" from the blog: How Much House Can I Afford? Jade loses her mind over insane car payments and tells you what to do about it, "Should we change our investing strategy?" What to do when morning sickness affects your food budget. 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

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🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the pods of 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 this hour with our newest Ramsey Personality, Jade. Good to be back with you. It is good. We've had a good time, Rachel. I am Ramsey Personality, Rachel Cruz, hosting this hour with our newest Ramsey Personality, Jade. Good to be back with you. It is good. We've had a good time, Rachel. I know. It's been a great day. And so we are taking your calls. And it's a free call anywhere in the country at 888-825-5225. Talking about your money, your relationships, your jobs, everything, anything and everything, Jade and I are here for you. So to kick us off this hour, Maria in Orange County is up next. Hey, Maria, welcome to the show. Hi, thank you for having me on. Absolutely. How can we help?

So I wanted to ask if it would be a good idea for my husband and I to start house shopping this year. We are 22 and 23 years old and together we make $100,000 a year before taxes. Okay. Do you have any debt? We have no debt and we have $45,000 in savings. Ooh, very nice. Including our emergency fund. Very good.

You said $45,000 in savings? including our emergency fund. Very good. You said $45,000 in savings? Yes. That's good. Okay. Yeah. So you're newly married? Or how long are you married? Yes, we got married last December.

So we're one year in. One year in. Okay. You know, this is good. This is starting to look good. So, you know, the way we teach it, you've walked up the baby Okay. You know, this is good. This is starting to look good. So, you know, the way we teach it, you've walked up the baby steps, you're no debt. It looks like you've got the 45,000. Would you call that like six months of expenses or between three to six months of expenses? Yes. Okay, great. So you're in prime time to start saving for your house, which we

would call baby step 3B. So I don't want you to take the $45,000 and use that as your down payment, because technically that's your three to six month emergency fund. But I do want you to start saving. Have you done any research on what it would cost, you know, for what you're looking for in your area, home-wise? Yeah, it's expensive. I was about to say Orange County. Yeah. And Maria, I mean, after taxes, your take-home pay for you guys is what? More like 60? That's true. Yes, it's about 60.

Okay. Okay. Yeah. Have you, I kind of cut you off. I'm sorry from Jade's question, but have you guys looked and priced anything where your payment, your monthly payment would be around 25% of your take-home pay? I haven't really done the math, but we were starting to talk to realtors, and they asked us the same question, and then they jumped right into, okay, well, we can go talk to a loan officer.

Yeah, they would. How important is it for you to stay in Orange County? Like, are you guys open to places that are less expensive? Not necessarily, you know, I'm not saying that you got to move to Montana, but I'm just saying, are you open to areas that are, you know, counties that are less expensive or, you know, tell me more about that. Yes, we're open to moving not too far, maybe Riverside or Inland Empire, because both of our jobs are here in Orange County. Okay. I mean, here's the thing. You're ready to start saving for the house, but the rules still apply even in Orange County, even in the most expensive counties.

We want you on that 15-year fixed mortgage. We don't want it to be any more than 25% of your take-home pay. And the reason for that is we want you to be able to enjoy home ownership. We don't want it to be too much of your monthly budget, you know, to where owning a home becomes more of a burden than a blessing. So I think for you guys right now, Maria, it's just going to be about researching the area and really getting a clear bead on, okay, this is what we can afford. And this is what we're going to have to pay in order to make that happen. Like you're going to have to really get a hefty down payment for sure. You know, I want you to be at 20 percent. Avoid that PMI.

I don't want anything else that's going to make home ownership any more expensive than what it needs to be, especially where you're located. And Maria, I would say, too, maybe it's not a single family home. Maybe you guys look at a condo or a townhome or something because you guys are still young and maybe you want to start building equity. If all the math works and it's not just a standalone single family, there might be other options in the area just to build some equity and kind of get you in the game, I think would be another great option. That's a really good point, Rachel. You don't have to start at the top. You can build that real estate ladder. Yes, yes. I know. And I don't want to start at the top. You can build that real estate ladder. Yes, yes. I know.

And I don't want to be Debbie Downer Maria. And I'm not looking at the MLS of your area right now. But it kind of just sucks that 60,000 doesn't go very far in California. And so I know you guys are probably feeling that. So I really do pray, though, that there's something, even in that area, if there is, that's amazing. Or the surrounding areas, like Jade said, because you guys are in the perfect position, baby step wise financially to purchase something, just making sure that it's not out. And I've heard it said, and it's just true that, you know, numbers, they don't have emotions. That's true.

We have emotions when we look at the numbers, but the numbers are the numbers. And so really, I would encourage you, Maria, you and your husband to be disciplined when looking at the numbers, but the numbers are the numbers. And so really, I would encourage you, Maria, you and your husband to be disciplined when looking at the numbers, because it can be very easy to say, well, everyone's house payment here is 50% of their, I mean, we're in California. It's what happens. And don't be in a rush. You guys have got time. You're married one year, right? And I'm sure there's room for your income to grow, to go up. I mean, do you see a trajectory where you guys are, you know, earning more money in the next five, you know, three, five years? Yeah. So I just graduated from university this past May. So I just started my career and my husband, he has two years in his career.

So we're just starting. Yeah, absolutely. I'm pretty sure it's gonna grow yeah it will it will but um yeah i think just i think patience maria but you guys have done a fantastic job thus far i mean looking at no debts you guys are saving your make great income yeah i don't i bet that's not me saying you don't right but you know um so you guys have done a really great job the foundation under you is really strong and i would just say yeah be patient not don't be in a rush you're good you have time um but but looking at your options but that's exciting you know home

home ownership is fun and it's something it's like the great american dream right if like it's one of those those pieces to that puzzle that people talk about. But it is expensive. When you own it, everything now suddenly is on you. That's true. And it quickly can become very overwhelming if you're not wise. And, you know, it's fascinating, too, like, and not in her case necessarily, but just our lifestyles, right? Our houses, our cars, the vacations we take, the clothes, like everything that funds our lifestyles day our houses our cars the vacations we take the clothes like everything that funds

our lifestyles day in and day out sometimes is the thing that prevents us to doing what we really want I was talking to a family and she like really wants to quit and stay home with the kids but their mortgage payment won't let them and so I'm like move like they're like there's something to the American dream I want to shake up to be like yes homeownership is great we want everyone to own a home it's smart all the things yeah but it's also not the it's not the end all be all either. Definitely not. I think that's again, back to the social media. I think sometimes social media and like just everything puts out there a picture of this is what you should have. And these are the things that should make you happy. But that's not necessarily if that's not your

priority, then that's not what's going to make you happy. Yes. If having a giant house, you know, is not your priority. But staying home with your kids are you've got to shift towards what's really going to make it a life that you love. I know. That's right. And it's not worth the stress either. Right. So that's one reason we were so such sicklers on that formula about buying a home is it's not worth the stress, you guys. It's not. And so at the end of the day be wise be smart but Maria I know you guys have a bright future ahead of you you guys have been so diligent so smart so we are excited for you this is the Ramsey show ស្រូវានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលានដែលា� hey guys welcome back to the ramsey show listen if you are enjoying the show if if you love it if it's part of your rhythm share it it with a friend. That's one of

the best ways to spread the word because our jobs day in and day out, yes, is to come here in front of a microphone and talk about this stuff. But truly, we want to see this level of revolution in America today. We want people to get control of their money for maybe the first time ever and be free from debt, have that control. And it's just, it's an amazing feeling when money doesn't have to be a stress point. And so that's our, that's our hope for everyone out there. And so if you enjoy, if you're watching on YouTube or the podcast or the radio, please share it with your family, with your friends, because we want to get the word out to be able to continue to help people truly live like no one else so later they can live and give like no one else. So on the show, Jade, we love to do some reaction videos, right?

On TikTok, Instagram, there's always some fun money videos out there that we see. And sometimes, I'm not going to lie, sometimes before the show, we're like, oh, I'll do a quick watch. Or one of us sees it and finds it before the show to play it. But this clip, James, came in during the break and we have not seen i'm scared and he's like i really want you to see this clip live on the show and so we said what we might find we said okay we are brave courageous women jade we can do this but uh so we just heard it's about car loans so that's all we know Alright, James, play the video Sir, what is your car payment? Mine is $1,325

And what kind of vehicle is that? It's a 22 Ford Raptor Okay, you have another payment? I do, actually my wife's Hers is $1,000 It's a 22 Ford Expedition Perfect Hey ma'am, what is your car payment? 1386. And what kind of

car requires a $1386 payment? A 2022 Grand Wagoneer Series 3. Hey sir, what is your car payment? I got a couple of them but the first one's 1445. What kind of your car payment? I got a couple of them, but the first one's $1,445. What kind of car is that? That's a new GMC Sierra 2500 Denali. Holy crap. It's a wide-body CPSV. That's $1,161.

Nice payment. Oh, my gosh. Okay, so the video is a guy with a phone going through and it looks like an office i don't even know where they are asking different people what their car payments are so they're they're on video it's a car dealership oh it's a car dealership it's the people that work at the dealership these are their cars james y'all i can't speak rachel holy crap i can i say that when i use an example when i just use an example of a car payment on the show and i'm like yeah you know a 500 car payment like well yeah that feels big we're talking we're talking in the thousands i was prepared to talk about the average

car payment which is like 717 i was prepared to yell at people for $717. My guy has a $1,400 for car one. For one car. One car. For one car. Oh, Lord. So that's what's crazy is. Oh, I'm sorry. Rachel, I'm sorry.

Give us some vibes, James. You got this. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my God. Rachel. Go, Jay. Just go. What Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Rachel. Go, Jay. Just go. What is happening?

Go. These people are dumb. This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I got, Rachel, you are so kind. And you need to pray for me right now because this is, I've lost my words. It's the dumbest thing i've ever heard 13 14 1200 on cars on one vehicle you are stealing you are robbing from your future you're robbing you're robbing yourself i said it

i said it before the break i said rachel the car payment that is the thing that is the gap that keeps the middle class from becoming and building wealth because if you invested that car payment what it would be oh what it would be if i was prepared like i said i was prepared to talk about the average car payment 717 dollars right for one person and if you invested that money just over 30 years at a you know 10 rate that's over 1.4 million dollars yep 1.4 million. And then I thought, okay, because the little article that we had here was talking about how people are paying,

shelling out more than $1,000 a month on their cars. And I'm like, okay, well, $1,000 invested for that same term, over $2 million. $2 million. That you can have. $2 million. And we hear all the time, Rachel, people, well, today in today's economy, it's impossible to get two million dollars and i just i hear we hear all the time rachel people well you know today in today's economy it's impossible to get a million dollars it's impossible to get

ahead the way my bank account is set up no the way your bank account is set up is with you spending all that you own a stupid person spends all that they get that's a that's a paraphrase from what the bible says a foolish man spends everything he gets y'all are spending everything you get on a car no for what for it to be parked in a car in a parking lot outside in the rain while you're inside heating up your lean cuisine in the microwave you're not even getting to drive it because you're working all day what rachel tell me to go away because i'm gonna tell you anything i need to go under the desk i need to go under the desk right now no you don't no you don't no because here's the deal it's the truth and what's and what's hard is that we hear day in and day out the struggle that people

are in yes and the problem is for for a lot of people i'm not gonna blame this on everyone but for a lot of people it is the amount of debt that they carry. So then you narrow it down to a car loan, which in my opinion, I told you this at the break, I'm like, it's the hardest piece of debt for me to justify in my head. Because people can say a student loan, my degree, it's going to get me a job or this or that, whatever. But a car loan is an asset that goes down in value. It goes down. And it's a thing that just gets you from point A to point B.

And you don't have to have it, right? You don't have to have this luxurious thing. And then on top of that, going into debt, having that payment where you could be wise and thinking about future self and investing that instead

and still having a great car. I'm not talking about you have to drive a Beater the whole time. You can still have a great car, but you actually save up and pay for it. You own it. There's a sense of ownership

that other people don't own your future and own your life. That's right. And there is something about that car payment, the car loan, that whole debt.

It is a mindset shift. It is. And when you said it keeps the middle class there. It does. Look, we know, and I'm sure the stat,

I mean, the stat is changing all the time, but the last time I wrote it down, 61% of people living to paycheck to paycheck. keeps the middle class it does there look we know and i'm sure this stat i mean it's the status changing all the time but the last time i wrote it down 61 of people living to paycheck to paycheck i think i saw one recently that said like 73 people uh percent of people living paycheck to paycheck and i i i did the math on this i looked at a couple of stats and it said 43 of people have some sort of car loan like car loan through the bank and then the other 25 percent of people have leases not like you know the typical loan so if you add that number up rachel that is suspiciously close to the 61 percent that are living paycheck to paycheck and y'all are wondering

why you don't have any money out here and the magic of the of the eleven hundred dollars that's back of margin in your budget month to month if you didn't have that payment that that paycheck to paycheck stat would be totally different it'd be totally different the paycheck the the car note rachel is keeping american people living paycheck to paycheck it is keeping you broke now we've yelled and we have given myself high blood pressure and all of the things my armpits are sweating i love a jade ray that's my favorite let's talk about what you can do instead let's talk i mean you guys know y'all know my story can i please just tell you guys especially and i have to mention this because culture now is very work from home work from home culture

2020 did that sam and i sold our second vehicle back in what was it sam 2010 and we were a one car family from 2010 until basically four months ago one car if we did it and can i tell you the amount of money we saved and two kids and two kids yes so what does that look like jade like like walk people through because people are hearing you and they're thinking no because my you know my I need a car just to get like I grew up as a one car family yeah and so it's all like what you said earlier it's formatting your brain to go what do I value what what do the world tells us we need two cars and they need to be brand new cars and but what do you value I valued being debt-free my husband valued being debt-free and for us at the time we had a Hummer,

an H3 Hummer, and the payment was like $457 a month. We had a Jeep Liberty. It was $303 a month. We sold the Hummer. We were upside down on it. So we had to take out a small loan for like two or $3,000, but it freed up over $25,000 of debt for us. You know? So we did that and we worked on one car. We paid off that one car. And do you know what we have now, Rachel? Money. Money and a paid off car. And then we bought our next car. We took those payments, added them up, paid for our next car in cash. And that's how you do it, folks. That's it. Not much more to say, Jade. Well done. Well done. This is The Ramsey Show. We talk about wills a lot on this show because everyone needs one, okay? It's a basic adult responsibility, and there's just no good excuse not to have a will. We also recommend an online will because it's fast, it's cost effective, and it's just a

great way to get you taken care of if you don't have a will right now. But there are a lot of questions asking, okay, is a simple will online? Is that for everyone? You know, what if you need a trust? What kind of powers of attorney do you need? Or a mirror will, right? There's some specifics in there. So if you have some of those questions, our team actually built a quiz to help you find the right options for you. You'll get custom results based on basic info, like if you're married or single, where you live,

even the size of your estate. And then you'll be able to understand exactly your specific situation and we'll be able to help you decide, okay, what's the next best step for you when it comes to getting a will. So take the quiz online again to kind of figure out what kind of will you need to protect you and your family's wishes. So visit ramsaysolutions.com slash wills quiz, ramsaysolutions.com slash wills quiz. And take that and check it out and see what your result is. Because again, everybody needs a will. All right. Up next is Debbie in Las Vegas.

Hey, Debbie. Welcome to the show. Hi, Rachel. Hi, Jade. Thanks for taking my call. Absolutely. How can we help? Well, my husband's going to be retiring at the end of this month.

We've been following Dave Ramsey for 26 years and done very well. But now I'm concerned just we're going to keep his 401ks and IRAs in a very conservative portfolio. But mine is pretty aggressive, and I'm wondering if I should stay aggressive. We're 10 years difference in age. Okay, so how old are you? I'm 57. 57, okay. At what age are you thinking about retiring?

Good question. If it was my choice, it would be now. But I'm going to continue working for the health insurance and so forth. So I'm hoping about 62 I'll be retiring. Okay. Perfect. Well, and what kind of funds? Are you in, like, aggressive growth funds?

Do you know the specifics, the categories specifically that yours are in? You said aggressive, but. Yeah, I've kept a bit in cash. My husband is a little leery of the stock market. He's seen it go up and down so much and he has anxiety about it. So we have a large amount in cash, but I have about 150 in cash. And then the rest of my portfolio, which my funds are about 650,000. I have it split 25% with growth, growth and income, aggressive growth and international. Okay.

Oh, perfect. That's great. That's exactly what we teach. So how much does, so you said your cash and what you have in investments. What does he have? I'm curious. He has about a million dollars in his 401ks and IRAs. Oh, wow.

Amazing. So you guys are, you guys are everyday millionaires, Debbie. You've done it. Well, we are. That's why we followed Dave. He's 26 years of following his lessons. Debbie, what's making you say that yours are, you said that, well, my investments are very aggressive. What's making you say that? Because you've got the perfect split. You've got it invested exactly the way we would say it is. Yeah, I'm just worried that, you know, given a shorter

timeframe where I'm looking at 62 years, should I start going back, you know, winding that down a little bit? And I would like to keep money in our portfolio to give to our kids. We do have six children and seven grandbabies that I'd like to, you know, leave something for them. So I don't want to, I'm hoping not to be able hoping not to have to touch the 401k. So I guess in that sense, I think maybe I could stay aggressive. Yes. Yeah, especially if you guys, I mean, so you said he has a million dollars in his 401k,

and is he going to be taking money out? I know you said he's leery of the stock market. Is he planning on taking that all out when he retires next month? What's his plan with that million dollars? No, actually, he's got a couple of pensions. So we also have a fully paid for house. Oh, that's wonderful. Fully paid for cars. And then we set aside knowing that he was going to be retiring when we have a little over $200,000 in a high net, the savings account that we hope to, you know, if we need to draw out during, because he's not going to draw Social Security until age 70. So we're hoping that that savings

could bridge us to that. This is how it's done, Rachel. This, Debbie, you guys are killing it. Well done, Debbie. Yeah. So for your situation, like you said, you're not even probably gonna have to touch your 401k, even his investments. I i mean like you guys are at a place that yeah even though he's entering retirement i especially wouldn't take anything out now i mean if if you guys had run the numbers and you're like we you know we want to start with withdraw withdrawing to retire and all of that i don't need it but at this point i think you're good debbie so i would recommend still staying in it we're talking about this actually with our building wealth event tomorrow night night and looking at the market. And we did a lot of the content, Debbie, for that tomorrow night for me specifically is looking at these graphs of the S&P 500 over even the last 50,

75 years. And you watch it go up and down. But when you have the perspective and span out, you really do see the trajectory, it's an it's an upward tick like yeah it goes up and down in times and we're kind of in a down but I might be Pollyanna but I might believe in the American economy enough to know like we're going to come back from this right like track record Rachel yes and so when you look back on the pattern of that Debbie that's what gives me confidence even though the conspiracy theorist to me kind of my mind can go that way sometimes but don't say that because her husband's gonna but my logical brain would say to look at the pattern of what's happened debbie so i think

you're good and you guys are not in a rushed position to take the money out like i would just continue what you're doing and i'm telling you debbie in five years we're gonna be having a different conversation man i'm so proud of you guys i'm looking at you guys going this is you're living like no one else right here very good okay debbie real quick before i let you go people are listening now that are possibly new listeners they're starting this journey they're in their 20s and they're thinking oh my gosh is this worth it you're on kind of the other side debbie right you're uh you guys have done this you've done the work for over 20 years. It's a marathon.

It's not a sprint. What just piece of advice or encouragement can you give our listeners for working this journey? Because you guys have done it and you've won. Yes. Yeah, well, let me tell you. When we got married 26 years ago, he brought three children into the family. I brought three. So it was a split family. So we knew we had odds against us for making that marriage work, but we were determined to do it.

My husband looked at me right after that marriage. We'd been married maybe three, six months. And he says, hey, I want to try this. I've listened to Dave Ramsey. I want to try this envelope system. I looked at him and I said, I'm not doing that. And he says, give me three months. So we sat down, got the envelopes, wrote on the front of every one of them, and we've never looked back. Every dollar has a name. I keep the budget up every month. We review it every month. We've never fought over finances.

And that's just been, you know, such a great situation. And we're teaching that with our kids as well. They still have that little wild hair where they want to go out and buy the new car, and we're like, no, no, no, no, no. So, you know, we have to let them stumble a little bit. Oh, for sure, yes. Well, that's amazing, Debbie. We've done that.

Amazing, amazing work. Well, you guys have done exactly what you need to do and the results are there so yeah to to answer the question why you called we would say just stay where you are keep going especially since you guys don't necessarily even have to you know withdraw from your 401ks right now even so so you're doing great debbie just keep at it uh even though it's a little bit scary right now right you're hearing the news and people on Facebook all freaking out about what's going on. But just stay the course.

The only person on the roller coaster that gets hurt is the one that jumps off. That's right. You haven't lost any money until you cash it out. That's right. Amen, Jade. Amen. Baby steps millionaires, Rachel.

I love that. That was encouraging to me, I have to just say, because we're in the marathon right now. Yes, that's right. And I love those calls because it's just reaffirming that we know this works. We know that if you stay the course, like you said, if you keep your shoes laced up and you keep running the marathon, you end up like Debbie and her husband. That's right. You end up seeing that finish line. And that's what's amazing. And I think it's so easy to get distracted in the world today, right?

There's like shiny things here, exciting things there. Do this, this, this. And even though it sounds boring and it's like, what? There's nothing exciting about your 401k and your Roth IRA. Is that it? But I'm telling you, just that diligence year in and year out over time. I always tell myself, I'm like, okay, yeah, 60-year-old Rachel is going to be so thankful. Yeah, your future self.

Yeah, the 30s, in my 30s, that you continue it because it's just the payoff is there. And even though there's some down years, you guys, continue the race. Continue the race. Thanks, Debbie, for the call. We'll be back. Thank you. Our scripture of the day comes from Proverbs 5, 20 and 21. Walk with the wise and become wise for a companion of fools suffers harm. Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new. Henry David Thoreau. I like that, man. That's like what George says.

That's some good stuff. George says. It's good stuff. George Campbell. Yeah, like when he says if you follow the trends, you fall for the traps. I feel like that's, all right, George, you're a thespian. That's right. We were just talking about how people are like, oh, 401ks and brothels, they're boring. They laugh at those old-fashioned jades, but man. Man, it works.

It works. For a reason. Well, I am a personality, Rachel Ramsey, personality, Rachel Cruz hosting this hour with our newest Ramsey personality, Jade. And we are taking your calls. America at 888-825-5225. All right. Up next, we have a joy in Watertown. Hey, joy.

Welcome to the show. Hi, how are you, ladies? We are Watertown. Hey, Joy. Welcome to the show. Hi. How are you, ladies? We are doing well. How can we help? Very neat. All right. So before I ask my question, I'll just give you a little context.

But my husband and I, we are on baby step two. He is in the Army active duty, so I stay home with our children, and I homeschool them. And just recently, we have found out that we're expecting our third. And that's great news. Congratulations. Yes. Thank you. Thank you.

But the struggle that's been there is this first trimester has not been easy for me. And I'm afraid that it may mess with our food food budget because it entails me wanting to like not cook from fatigue. And I figure it'd be perfect to call you later because I know you both are mothers. And I really want to honor our budget and get out of the student loan debt we're in. But how do I do that when like all I want to do is go to Buffalo Wild Wings every day? Girl. I feel you. I feel you.

You know, go ahead, Rachel. Well, number one, thank you for your husband and his service and your service as well. Joy, being a being a spouse here while your husband is deployed. So, man. OK, how far along are you? So we found out a few weeks ago. So I'm eight weeks. OK.

I'm in the thick of the morning sickness and all of the fun stuff yes so i mean realistically if i can go back to my pregnancy days you know you may have about two more months yeah of this of this exhaustion so i would be okay joy for two months just knowing your reality because part of the budget is is the reality of your life right like we tell people like don't go and try to budget $75 for food. You're never going to hit that. That's stupid to even try to do that. So if you're in a position, especially, and he's deployed right now, right?

Is that what you said? No, he's not deployed. He's active duty, although he will be soon. Okay, okay, okay. Thankfully, in this first trimester, he won't be. He's here. Okay, that's good. That's good.

So I was going to give you even more grace if he wanted to be like i get it like oh my gosh i can't imagine um so yeah so i would say as much as you guys can plan the food because the food budget is always the thing that that gets people it does and again i want you to speak in because jade does so much of this stuff especially on instagram which is amazing but um but just hear me say, Joy, if it's two months of adding in a little bit more because you just know the situation, but it's going to stop after two months, right? Like you see that end point. I would give you some grace in that for sure. But also, I think there's a way that you don't necessarily have to do that. And you can plan and have a meal plan and do some things that are easy cooking that can still stay within the budget.

I agree. You know, I'm with Rachel. I mean, the fact is sometimes like mamas want what mamas want. And sometimes you just, you know, you find yourself at Dairy Queen, you know, at 10 p.m. But, you know, I do think there's some things that you can do practically that don't involve you, you know, paying that premium of going to a restaurant and I think it at the grocery store as much as you can and I normally wouldn't recommend this but as much as you can buy like pre-packaged things like you know your thing is wings like buy a pre-packaged bag of wings that all you have to do is like throw them on the sheet pan yeah put them in the oven or put them in the air fryer and as much as you can pre like on that one day you know that those few hours that you're feeling good as much as you

can meal prep a couple of things so if it's like all right i'm gonna like make this ground beef right now and i'm just gonna put it in things so that when i'm hungry i can quickly put it on some tortilla chips and eat some nachos you know i'm saying i'm not saying you have to eat chicken and broccoli but if you have those pregnancy cravings that you can quickly open up the fridge it's already sitting there in a Tupperware. It's frozen. You made your chili the night before, you know, you've got your chili frozen. You got your wings that are in there. You've, you know, whatever those favorites are that you have, you've got an apple pie, you know, in the deep freeze that as much as you can do those things,

you keep your own ice cream at the house. So you don't have to go to Dairy Queen. Yeah. That makes a big difference. It really does. And let me say this, Joy, someone said this to me years ago as a mom, and it was such like, hairy queen. That makes a big difference. It really does. And let me say this, Joy. Someone said this to me years ago as a mom, and it was such like, it seemed like such simple advice, but it was so freeing for me. So all the moms out there, she was like, every dinner does not have to be this beautiful gourmet dinner. Sometimes it's just sandwiches. Like sometimes it's peanut butter and jelly and we're going. So I also want to give you permission. Don't feel bad because I think moms can take on that level of responsibility of like, okay,

we need to eat healthy. We need to eat organic. It needs to be gluten free and everything needs to be homemade. It needs to, it's like all this stuff. And sure, there's a place for that, right? But overall too, like it's okay. It's okay that some nights it's like, listen, we're doing cereal. We're doing eggs and bacon.

Yes, breakfast for dinner. But it's like, things don't have to be, you know, you don't have to have this perfect spread every night. So give yourself a lot of grace, a lot of grace, Joy, a lot of grace. Keep it simple. Keep it simple. That's what I, that's one of my meal planning things. I'll tell you this real quick. I always tell people, I'm like, if you're trying to meal plan, cook four, cook four no more.

That's what I say. I cook four things and then I double the recipe and I freeze it. And that way I'm good, not only for that week, but I'm good for the next week because I've got, you know, or, you know, weeks to come because there's stuff in the freezer. And then when it comes to recipes, keep it simple. I mean, I'm talking like two, three ingredients sometimes. Yep. Three, four, you know, there's nothing wrong with, you know, getting a piece of French

bread from the bakery and putting some sauce on it and some cheese and making a French bread pizza for dinner. I like Rachel's thing of peanut butter and jelly. If somebody gave me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich tonight, I would be a happy. I would go to sleep a happy woman. I would be fine. That's right. I know. But it's it's it is so funny that I you or I did.

I felt that. And I remember talking to a French like I was doing sandwiches for dinner. I was like oh my that's an option yes like on on a hard day like that's an option and it's good so free yourself from that joy yourself and uh and good luck and I pray yeah all health and stuff for the baby and delivery and pregnancy and all the things yes for that third um that's so great but yeah that but food it is it's the number one budget buster it's the place that we tell a lot of people even to cut with restaurants um and you've done so much jade on especially instagram about figuring out hey what are healthy you know good healthy meals yes but also quick and easy quick and easy all of it so, you know, for me, it's all about being realistic.

Because if you don't like to cook, then don't plan on cooking like this elaborate meal. Like choose recipes. It's like, OK, I will actually put in the work to do this. This is something that we'll actually eat. You know, I think so much of it is being realistic. And from my point of view, it's about for this season in my life, because that's another part of it, picking things that I can pre-cook keep them in the freezer pull them out when it's ready because your girl is not

trying to cook when she gets home like literally this whole week has been about me grabbing whatever was in the freezer the night before putting it in the fridge so when I get home all I have to do is dump it in the pan heat it up put the rice I pre-cook rice I do so many portions of rice and do them ahead of time so many portions of quinoa and do them ahead of time I you I pre-cook rice. I do so many portions of rice and do them ahead of time. So many portions of quinoa and do them ahead of time. I, you know, pre-cut and steam the different vegetables ahead of time and they're already there, ready to go. And it really takes the guessing out of it for me. It's like the other night we were coming home and I thought, oh, we could stop at Chick-fil-A. I could pick up salads. And I was like, I already have, I already have food.

Already there. And it's things that we like. So it kind of just simplifies it. And it makes life a lot easier. And I got to say a lot healthier. That's right. That's right. And the saving money on that side.

I think it was George that had a video about the average meal when you cook at home. Yes. What it is versus out to eat. And, you know, and you just look at the numbers, you look at the stats and you're like, man, it is, it is so expensive. And for a family of five, like when we go out, I'm like, even the Chick-fil-A. It's painful. I'm like, you're, I'm like, this is like, this is crazy. I mean, it just, it feels, it, because it is, it's so much.

It is so much. You could spend $50 at Chick-fil-A if you're not. Easily. $70 if you're not careful. Oh, easily. Like, it's wild. So all of you on the journey of getting out of debt, cutting the restaurants, eating at home is a great jumpstart to freeing up some margin in your budget. Jade, great hour.

So fun. Love hosting with you. Thank you to all the gentlemen there 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.