The Ramsey Show - App - Living in the Dash Brings Clarity (Hour 2)

Episode Date: April 1, 2019

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Music Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions Broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, 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. You jump in, we'll talk about your life, your money. It's a free call. 888-825-5225.

Julie is with us in Pittsburgh. Hi, Julie. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. The question I have for you is I am completely debt-free, proud mom of four children, and an amazing husband who has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, cancer. We have some amazing things that have transpired since then. Cancer has been one of those things that it's been our biggest reason for praying and our biggest blessing as well. And with that being said, we have close to, well, not close to, I know exactly how much we have. We have $15,700 in savings.

All of our ordinary and customary bills that we do as a family, like gas, electric, all of those things, are taken care of by individual rental properties. Now, with cancer coming into play, we even have a rental property set up to where it covers our vacations and things like that. My question is, should I start a nonprofit or should I take our rental property that takes care of our vacations, and should I liquidate it and put those funds into savings in case if we experience any huge cost from that? I know that my max out-of-pocket for an annual year can be $15,000. How old is he? How old is he? My husband is 50, and I'm age 38, and we have children that are age 3, 4, 6, 16,

and also an adult child who is 27. Does he have life insurance? No, we went ahead and prepaid. He doesn't have any life insurance? No. Prepaid what? Prepaid for the final expenses for taking care of him. Oh, for funeral.

Okay, but I'm talking about he doesn't have a life insurance policy that you will get money should he pass away. Okay. No. And your home is paid for absolutely and how many rental properties do you have seven and soon to be eight so it should be right around nine hundred and fifty thousand dollars uh by the end of uh august okay the rental properties are all debt-free? Yes, sir. Okay. So they're small properties?

Yes, sir. I mean, on average, they bring us in anywhere from $70,000 to $80,000 a year. Yeah. Okay. All right. And that's how you will eat should something happen to him? Yes, sir. Okay.

All right. You know, there's not life insurance, but there is. A lot of paid for real estate. You've got a million-dollar net worth, basically. Yes, sir. Okay. So should I start a nonprofit? No, a nonprofit is of no value.

You can't use a nonprofit for your own use. Right, right. It violates the tax law. Right. own use right it violates the tax law and so right but but um are you collecting are people giving you donations is that why you're wanting to start a non-profit uh there there has been folks that have reached out to us and just truthfully you know we're used to just paying for everything ourselves and not really uh having folks come to us in that way yeah what would the property sell for that you're talking about selling?

It would be one of the smaller, well, I could pick from any of them, but I'd probably start with the one that brings us in the least amount of rent, and that's $450 a month. We could get, I would say, a fair market value for that one would be about $50,000. Yeah, okay. All right, well, let's kind of walk through this a little bit, okay? If you only have $15,000 cash and instead you had $65,000 cash because you sold that property, that would give you – cash gives you power.

It gives you options when you're facing tough decisions. Okay. And so if you decide you need to get on a plane and fly to wherever to get a treatment that maybe insurance doesn't cover, I'd want to have that money available. Yeah. Okay, that makes good sense. Yeah, and then you're, you know, in a best case or a worst case scenario, worst case is you spend the money doing something like that, and it doesn't work.

That would be your worst case scenario. But in the case that you don't use the money and he's okay, his health comes back, you would just take that money and buy another rental property. In the case that something happened to him and you hadn't used that money, you could just take that money and buy another rental property. Yes. So we've not really lost anything except maybe a little bit of capital gains tax or something from selling it.

That's what I was worried about, the capital gains tax. But it's going to be minor because it's a minor-sized property. The whole thing's not gain. It's only what you've gained that's gained, and that's only at 15%. And so you're not going to have – I think you want the cash position to fight the battle of your life. Okay. Because you're in the battle of your life.

Right. And, you know, there's the part of me that definitely wants to be financially responsible, but there's also that part of me too, that wants to capture those moments. And, you know, we're living in a dash right now. You got your birthday, you got your end date and you get the dash in the middle is where it counts. So, you know, um, that's why I was really struggling with getting rid of the vacation, you know, the one that, us with a vacation each year. So would you say that taking a portion of that. Well, one thing about being where you guys are, it makes the dash really clear.

Yeah. We're just here for a vapor. We're just here for a moment. That's right. And I know he's going to be born again into heaven, and I know that heaven is the best vacation you could ever take. But at the end of the day, I want to make sure that we get lots of pictures with these babies.

Amen. And their daddy. Amen. Yeah. Yeah, you drop a little coin on that. Listen, here's the thing. Let's say it out loud this way, okay? You don't talk like this, and so I know you don't think like this, but you're a millionaire.

Yes, sir. You have a net worth of a million dollars. Yes. Go on vacation. Your husband has cancer. Okay. Do it. Absolutely do it.

Okay? You're being very wise. You're being very strong. And you've got real good spiritual clarity. You've got wisdom beyond your years just talking to you. You're going to be fine. But you guys have put yourself in a position to fight this and to take clear advantage of every moment of that dash.

Okay. And listen, you call me if you need me, okay? I'm here. All right. I appreciate you, Mr. Ramsey. Thank you so much, and God bless you. I'm not Mr. Ram me if you need me, okay? I'm here. All right. I appreciate you, Mr. Ramsey. Thank you so much, and God bless you. I'm not Mr. Ramsey. I'm Dave, okay?

All right, Dave. I appreciate you. Have a good day. Bye-bye. Okay. I just got clarity for the rest of the day. Wow. Living in the dash.

And so are you so am i this is the dave ramsey show You know, I still get lots of questions about ID theft, and now is a good time to delve into this a little deeper. ID theft has become a huge problem, and most people think it's all about financial fraud. But there are so many other areas where people are being victimized. Tax refund fraud, for example, is out of control. Last year, the IRS paid out over $3 billion in fraudulent refunds. Thieves are filing false returns and stealing your refund. Credit monitoring and prevention plans don't detect this type of ID theft and don't help resolve the problem. That's why the only plan I have for my family and all my team members

is through Zander Insurance. They cover all types of ID theft, including tax refund fraud and work with the IRS to get your refund resolved. Go to ZanderInsurance.com or call 800-356-4282. This is the smartest, most affordable way to protect yourself and your family. That's ZanderInsurance.com. Mary is with us in Cincinnati. Hi, Mary. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show.

Hi. Thank you. Well, okay, so we, I found your show, stumbled across it, and then my husband lost his job. So, you know, I don't know everything there is to know yet, but he was with them for a long time, several, several years. So he's getting a pretty decent severance pay. They laid him off. So he's getting a pretty decent severance pay. They laid him off. So he's getting a pretty decent severance check. And my question is, should we pay off some of the debts that we can,

you know, eliminate so that we can get rid of some monthly payments? When was he laid off? Well, a couple months ago. He's been unemployed for two months? Well, no, they gave him 60 days of paid, you know, they paid him for an extra 60 days, and then the severance check is coming on the 8th. And so he's been applying for jobs and stuff. In the meantime, he hasn't found anything yet.

But the paid time. How long has he been applying for jobs and stuff. In the meantime, he hasn't found anything yet. But the paid time. How long has he been looking for work? For two months, ever since he got laid off. Wow. And he hasn't found anything in two months? Well, he had surgery and other stuff. Long story. But, yeah, no, he hasn't.

Okay. How long was he at that job? Twelve and a half years. What's he do? Well, he does technical support. It was a technical support job for a cable company, and he is trying to get into IT, but he doesn't have any certifications because he didn't need them to do what he was doing.

Well, because he worked his way up, and I don't know. Does that make sense? Yeah. What did he used to make? $22.39 an hour. And what did he make in a year on average uh well i i think technically he made 42 000 or so but we didn't get that because we have a we have a daughter with cerebral palsy and so we had to um he had to take a lot of unpaid FMLA, so I think we were getting

more like maybe $36,000. How much was his severance? Well, he hasn't gotten it yet, but it's a week's worth of pay for every time, so we figure with taxes and stuff, it'll probably be between eight and nine thousand okay no you should not pay off any debt and yes he needs to get re-employed in 20 minutes doing something doing something okay after 12 years of doing one thing um he is and he's been through some medical issues too he's a little bit emotionally back on his heels. He kind of got knocked down.

And he's not feeling real great emotionally right now. Right. He got knocked out of the saddle. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. So you and me, our job is get John Wayne back in the saddle here. Because he needs to get back after it as fast as he can he's not got a lot of money room to grieve this he's gonna have to get with it yesterday the faster he gets a job

the more this money is a signing bonus for the next job if you burn through this money while he sits around and sucks his thumb and whines about the man laying him off for after 12 years and life's not fair, you're going to burn through this money. You're going to have none of this money to do anything with because you used it for his emotional recovery. Nope. We're going to get after it. Get after it.

Get back in the saddle. Get them right now. This is the hottest job market the saddle. Get them right now. This is the hottest job market in 30 years in America right now. It is easier to get hired right now than in any time in the last 30 years. You can't get a job right now in 20 minutes. Something's up. Now, maybe he needs to get the certifications, but he can go do that at night after he gets his job so just get a job doing something get a job he wasn't making that much to start with i mean let's get after it

and then what that does is you're making some money you can feed the family it frees up this 9 000 to start hitting some of your financial goals which one of those goals would be i would take some of that money and go get those certifications. I would do that. But don't go get this money and sit on your butt and go get the certifications. Go make some money. Okay. Now.

Hustle. Grind. Hustle. Grind. That's what he's got to do. Hey, thanks for the call. Open phones at 888-825-5225 you jump in we'll talk about your life and your money guys i gotta tell you when someone comes

into your office or walks into your workspace and says that's it you're done if you have a pile of money called an emergency fund and you have no debt, you know what your first question ought to be? Great. How much is the severance? Because that gives you opportunity to go look for a job and make more than you used to make, not less. And you wouldn't have been out there looking for an opportunity to make more

if they didn't boot you out the door. Eagles fly because the mother eagle kicks them out of the nest, and they're either going to hit the ground or they spread their wings. Sometimes getting laid off from a job you're stuck in is the biggest blessing that ever happened in your life, but you have to set your mind that way. You have to wrap your brain around the idea that every time I get laid off, it means I get the chance to make more money, not less. Have a better job, a more fulfilling career.

Work with better people, not less. That's a mindset. That's a decision. But human nature is we don't like rejection. Well, I'm the same way. I don't like rejection. Nobody does. Nobody likes after, I've been here 30 years,

and then they walk in and go, you're basically ugly. Hit the door. That is just, that's rejection. Talked to a lady last hour, 24 years of marriage, two months out of a divorce. It's rejection. But who knows? Maybe she'll marry a better guy this time around.

At least she knows what not to pick, right? But rejection says, oh, you've got to settle. You're not worthy and those voices start playing in your head from that teacher that was a jerk or that parent that was a jerk or whoever it was it was a jerk that told you you weren't worthy and you weren't good and you weren't going to make it and we've all got them those voices those tapes play in your brain man and you just gotta look up and go uh-uh no no no i can do all things through christ who strengthens me i can do i can do all i am not a victim and but it's you know what that requires it doesn't require some superhuman strength

it just says you know what? I think I can make more than $36,000 a year. How many times have you heard a success story of someone inordinately successful because they got booted out of something and they got mad and their revenge was success? You ever hear of Mary Kay Cosmetics? That's her story. She became a multi-gazillionaire. Because she was a 50-something-year-old lady and got fired from a horrible job.

It was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to her in her life. It's a great story. You ought to read it. There's stories like that all over the place. Maybe that's your story. Maybe you get Ken Coleman's book, Proximity Principle, and you get in the proximity of someone and something or the thing you want to do

that pays three times what you used to make. And you go, yeah, I'm thinking the best revenge is success. I had a guy fire me off a radio station one time. He said, Dave, your show's so boring, someone's going to wreck in their car after they fall asleep, and I'm going to get sued. He's not in radio anymore. I'm on 600 stations. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. One Dental is a company I've been telling my listeners about

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Hey, guys, how are you? How's it going, Dave? We're doing way better than we deserve. I love it. Welcome. Where do you guys live? We live in Yakima, Washington. All right.

Welcome to Nashville. And all the way over here to do a debt-free scream. Oh, yeah. How much have you paid off? We paid off $87,469.07. Love it. How long did this take? Took us about 10 months. Wow. And your range of income during that time? About $118,000 to $134,000 for the year. Cool. What do you guys do for a living? I was in the Army. I just got out about two weeks ago. Oh, wow. Thank you for your year. Cool. What do you guys do for a living? I was in the Army. I just got out about two weeks ago. Oh, wow. Thank you for your service. Thank you for your support, Dave. And then I just got hired with the police department. Oh, good for you. Cool. And I work for my parents' small business doing finance and operations. Oh, good. What kind of business?

It's logistics and warehousing. Oh, good. Very cool. Good for for you guys so what kind of debt was this 87 000 dollars um a lot it was a lot of cars student loans uh credit card debt and a lot of other stuff that we didn't need so uh end of your military service is coming up the fuse is burning and you're going i gotta do something i'm guessing that might have had something to do with this what started this 10 months ago uh it's a it's a funny story uh i lost in fantasy football and i had a long commute so i used to listen to fantasy football podcasts and then i didn't want to anymore after i lost i made the search. How much did you lose? It was only $50. Oh, okay.

But he won the championship. He was really upset that year. Oh, I see. But I made a search for podcasts and your name popped up at the top and I recognized your name from a book that my dad bought me when I graduated college some years prior. Wow. That I never read. Of course. And at the time, my wife was telling me,

we should sign up for this credit card. We should sign up for this credit card. And I said, I just listened to this podcast. I think you should listen to it. She'll take it from here. And you're the finance and ops person. I am. I graduated with a degree in finance.

And so I was like, okay, I'll listen to it. And I listened to it the entire eight hours of work the next day. Oh! And then I got home and I sat him down. As soon as he got home, I said, we're doing this and wrote down everything. Wow! And then we did it from there. It's just, you don't go halfway.

You go all in. You got sucked down the rabbit hole. 150%. Wow! Look at you. Amazing. And he was ready, too. So both of you were ready. Oh, yeah. Military, I take you. Amazing. And he was ready, too. So both of you are ready.

Oh, yeah. Military, I take orders very well. He's used that line before. Oh, yeah. It works, though. It does work. I'm going with it. I'm sticking with it.

Oh, charming. I love it. Oh, wow. I mean, and you guys, did you sell some of those cars? We sold both of them. Both of them? Yep. What were they?

I had a 2016 Mazda CX-5. It was a fleece. As soon as I moved to Washington, my mom took me to the dealership and we fleeced the car oh uh we turned it in early and then we sold our new 2018 toyota camry that we got a month after we got married because we thought we should get a new car yeah of course and so um we actually sold the camry to my stepdad who gave us his 2010 chevy malibu and we share one car right now so oh but you free. Okay, so how much did those two cars bring? About $30,000 together. Out of the $87,000.

So you left your $57,000 to cash flow in 10 months. Yes. And you can do that making $118,000 to $134,000. Okay, the numbers are working now. Good, good. Way to go, you guys. You went after it. Yeah.

So outside of the two of you, who's on the sidelines cheering you on? Our families, for sure. My brother, Gary, I told him all about it because he was graduating college, and he was worried about a credit score and credit card. I told him all about you, and he was definitely my number one cheerleader. But both of our families were amazing. That's cool. That's good.

It's good to have people you love going, you can do it, and you should do it. Yes. Instead of going, oh, no, people like us. They don't, you know, sometimes families do that stuff, right? Yeah. Negative stuff, but not your, that's great, you guys. That is so great. What do you tell people the number one key to getting out of debt is?

Listen to your wife. Take orders. It's just a recurring theme. I think just being willing to sacrifice and wanting it. I know we shared our journey with a lot of people, and some people are all about it, and some make excuses. And so at the end of the day, you just got to want it for yourselves and find your reason why, and that'll drive you through it.

I mean, it was only 10 months, but it felt like an eternity. Yeah, it's forever. But if you have that end goal in mind, it's 100% worth it. I mean, it was only 10 months, but it felt like an eternity. Yeah. It's forever. But if you have that end goal in mind, it's 100% worth it. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. What's your big end goal? Well, we just wanted to have flexibility.

So when we start a family, we have the financial responsibility. Which we did. Yeah. All right. Yeah. Now I know why your parents are cheering. Yeah. I love it.

Wonderful! Very cool. Good for you guys. Yeah, it does give you the option of, you know, looking at life just a little different. Yeah, and changing our family tree, like you say. Exactly. Oh, yeah. Exactly.

Well done, you guys. We're proud of you. Thank you. You guys are amazing. Congratulations. Thank you very much. You did everything you're supposed to do. Now you just got to follow through the rest of the way.

We'll give you a copy of Chris's book, Everyday Millionaires, How Ordinary People Built Extraordinary Wealth, How You Can Too. That's your next chapter. You're going to be millionaires. Oh, yeah. This new baby's going to be a millionaire. Yep. Multi-millionaire.

Can't wait. Without a doubt. I love it. Well done. I love it. I love it. I love it. Good job, you guys.

All right. Oscar and Carolina from Washington, $87,000 paid off. That's $30,000 worth of cars sold in 10 months, making $118,000 to $134,000. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Ready? Three, two, one. We're debt free!

Boom! I love it. Well done, you two. Very, very well done. Man, don't you wish you knew this stuff when you were in high school? It ought to be taught in every high school. People say that to me everywhere I go. You know, the good news is 46% of the high schools in America now teach the Dave Ramsey high school curriculum. Isn't that fun?

Our Foundations in Personal Finance curriculum. Four million high school students have now gone through the class that's pretty incredible now april is national financial literacy month and you know how we're going to celebrate financial literacy month we're going to celebrate by honoring teachers yep teachers that's right. And we love teachers. We get to work with them in our education department, our ed solutions department, all the time. And starting today, teachers can win some incredible prizes, just like a $5,000 vacation, with our teacher appreciation giveaway that's sponsored by Jackson Charitable Foundation.

So if you know a teacher that teaches in a classroom, if you're a teacher that teaches in a classroom, let them know. There's no purchase necessary. Just go to DaveRamsey.com slash teacher. Enter your information and you will be in the drawing for a $5,000 vacation and some other incredible prizes that you don't want to miss out on. We just want to say thank you. Thank you to teachers. You know, the teachers that are the good ones, not the ones that mail it in,

but the ones that actually care, they change lives, don't they? They really do. And they put up with a bunch of politically correct crap. And they put up with helicopter parents. And they put up with all these other things just to have the opportunity to change that child's life. So we're saying thank you, teachers. Go to DaveRamsey.com slash teacher. Fill in the form and enter the drawing to win.

It's National Financial Literacy Month, and we are celebrating here at Ramsey by honoring teachers. You might want to write your old teacher an email and just say thank you. You know the one I'm talking about. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. We'll be right back. Mike's in Philadelphia. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show, Mike. Hey, Dave. What's up? So a coworker introduced me to your show recently,

and I'm really intrigued, and I've got to say I need a lot of help. I'm $451,000 in total debt, $252,000 of that is student loans, and I have $185,000 in a home loan. And I only bring in $70,000 a year. After pension and all that stuff taken out, it's more like $40,000. I just don't even know where to start. What do you do for a living? Law enforcement.

Okay. And how do you get $252, 000 a student loan debt to be a policeman um i went to a private institution um because my mother wanted me to go there to be honest with you um and i went there originally for finance and I didn't do good at finance, so I switched my major to criminal justice, and then I eventually went on for a master's for it as well, which didn't really help my employment eligibility as much as I thought it would. Mm-hmm. Okay. Is your mother wealthy?

No. No, my mother nor my father. I'm the first in my family to go to college. Okay. Well, what we always look at mathematically, and you were in finance, so you know what to do with this, is I'm always looking at the ratio of what we call shovel to hole, the amount of hole that you're in versus the shovel that you have, your income,

the debt you have to your income. Are you married? No, I do have a girlfriend who lives with me and her daughter as well. And what is this house worth? The house is worth, I actually just purchased it. I'm not even going to, you know, I purchased it in September. Kind of off of a whim, my father passed away in July, and it was the last conversation we had.

It was actually across the street from his house, and he really wanted me to get it. So I kind of, you you know jumped in both feet um i guess to honor him yeah and um so you didn't put anything down so the house is worth 185 uh yeah yeah okay all right And you're how old? I'm 31. Okay. So when are you planning on marrying this girl? She's currently in school to finish up for nurse practitioner school.

So I would say maybe sometime after that. That should be done hopefully after January. um does she have student loan debt she does how much i'm not sure because she's not really on board with all this she can't i've tried to bring this up to her when listening to your show recently and um she's her thing is i'm too busy with school and uh don't want to worry about that right now yeah well i think you're the voice of experience that says it's a good idea to worry about it otherwise you end up up a creek which is where you are right now and your paddle is real small um okay well let's look at this a couple ways how how old are you 28 i'm 31 31 okay yes um you and i haven't been friends long enough for me to be as blunt as i'm about to be but i'm going to tell you anyway okay i'm going to risk our friendship

and just tell you the truth okay you told me in a five-minute conversation of two really stupid financial decisions you made from the influence of your mother and your father. Right. You bought things you couldn't afford with money you didn't have, both because of influence of those two. At 31 years old, you were going to have to decide to love your parents but no longer be influenced to do financial decisions based on their opinions. Obviously, your father, God rest his soul, has passed, but even your perceived opinion of what he would have thought. You cannot please these people anymore. They are breaking your butt. You make $70,000 a year, and you're so far in debt you can't breathe, dude.

Buying a house you can't afford and going to a school you shouldn't have gone to and paid twice or three times as much for an education, most of which you didn't even need to do the job you do. Am I wrong? Right. No. Okay. Not at all. All right.

And so, number one, that influence has to stop. Number two, you can't afford this house as a single guy making $70,000 a year. You cannot afford a $185,000 house making $70,000 a year as a single guy. My girlfriend's bringing in about $89,000. Yeah, well, that doesn't count. You're not married. And if you're going to get married, you guys are going to have to get on the same page financially

because the number one cause of divorce in North America today is money fights and money problems, and she's not even willing to talk about money, so we're not willing to talk about marriage until we're willing to talk about money because you're going to get divorced as soon as you get married. That's what happens to most people. It is the number one cause of divorce.

How long have you been on the force? Four years. Okay. When you go on a domestic call, what are they fighting about? Money. Usually money, yeah. Okay. Tell me I'm wrong, all right?

This is what's happening, and it's a dangerous call for you, too, because people are crazy. Right. But, oh, Lord. So, yeah, you guys have got to sit down and go, we can't keep this house unless we're getting married and we're not getting married unless we're going to get on the same page about the money. And we can't combine our incomes with people we're not married to. You can't go pay in her debt. She can't go pay in your debt. And this house isn't hers. It's yours. It's not in her name. It pay in her debt. She can't go pay in your debt. And this house isn't hers. It's yours.

It's not in her name. It's in your name. So either way, let's just go ahead and get married and combine everything and attack these two student loan debts and try to keep the house. Or let's just call it a day and get rid of the house. And then you guys figure out what you're going to do with your relationship and stuff later. Go rent something or whatever you're going to do with your relationship and stuff later go rent something or whatever you're going to do whatever you're doing before but um but you you know so several big issues i've already hit on real hard number one we can't afford a house number two um you guys you need to be real careful about pursuing a long-term relationship until you can get on the

same page about money number three unless you're, you can't afford this house. Did I mention you can't afford this house? And then lastly, we've got to do everything we can to get your income up with side hustle, side gigs. And you can get all kinds of OT in the department, right? My department, not so much. I'd have to actually go outside of my department. Okay. They allowed you to do side work though yeah yeah and it's good money right yeah security is what 40 50 bucks an hour right particularly private security yeah and you need that money because you're broke

right so income up out go down get real focused and real narrowed in your decision making so that you can clean this mess up because what you've got in front of you this 252 000 student loan debt with a 70 000 income is um is a mathematical nightmare so we got to get your income up over 100 i'm going to guess and say you guys get married and we're probably dealing with almost a $200,000 income at that point when the two of you are going, right? But I'm also going to guess she's got a big pile of student loans too, so I'm probably dealing with $400,000 of student loan debt at that point. So probably you still can't afford the house. You're probably still going to rent something cheap and you're not going to have any life for a while because you both have made a big hole that you're in and you can't get out of

a hole while you're digging out the bottom so this is going to be very tough for you mike you got a lot of influences in your life that have all brought bad decisions so those influences have to stop and then you've got to undo some of these bad decisions or course correct. Because five years from today, if you keep doing what you're doing, well, it's a lot sooner than five years from today. You're going to be bankrupt. You're heading straight at the wall with the accelerator on the floor. That's what's happening right now mathematically.

And that's why you call me. I'm not picking on you. I'm just saying you have to turn the wheel. You have to turn the wheel, and you have to let the foot off the accelerator. That's all this is. Hold on. I'm going to put you and the fiancé through Financial Peace University so that you guys can learn how to handle money, hopefully together,

and hopefully we can salvage your relationship. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, it's Kelly, associate producer and phone screener for The Dave Ramsey Show. If you would like to do your debt-free scream live on the show, make sure you visit DaveRamsey.com slash show and register. We would love for you to come to Nashville and tell Dave your story.