The Ramsey Show - App - Louie Giglio Joins In-Studio (Hour 1)

Episode Date: July 22, 2021

Debt, Home Buying, Relationships Sign Up for a FREE trial of Ramsey+ TODAY: https://bit.ly/3rZTUAx Tools to get you started:  Debt Calculator: https://bit.ly/2Q64HME Insurance Coverage Checkup: https://bit.ly/3sXwUn5 Complete Guide to Budgeting: https://bit.ly/3utmVXi Check out more Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3fHhbVE

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the 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. Doing this show now almost 30 years, and getting to meet some of my heroes along the way has been one of my great joys. And then occasionally actually getting to become friends with them, and even more than that, getting to do some work with them from time to time. Today's no exception for that. Pastor Louie Giglio of Passion Church in Atlanta, a good friend, has stopped by with his new book, and we're so honored to have you with us here, my friend. I couldn't be happier to be here with you. Congrats on the space. It's absolutely

stunning. Well, thank you. Thank you. You know about spaces with Passion and the Passion Movement and fabulous books over the years. If you've never heard Pastor Louis Giglio speak, I don't know where you've been. He's one of the top communicators in the world. And if you're in the Atlanta area always or anywhere, you can catch him, Passion City Church. I've had the privilege of speaking there. And just wonderful people, wonderful family of God, good folks. And I always like getting to hang out with him, especially when we get to talk about a new book that he's doing called Don't Give the Enemy a Seat at

Your Table. That's pretty straight on. It's really to the point. It's one of those books that you don't have to read the whole book. I do recommend that people read the book, but I like the ones that you get the message on the cover. Total money makeover. Total money makeover. That's what I need to do. Oh, you're going to tell me how to do that. you get the message on the cover. Total money makeover. Total money makeover.

That's what I need to do. Oh, you're going to tell me how to do that. This is the message. Don't give the enemy a seat at your table. If this enemy could come into paradise, Dave, think about it, paradise, and lie his way in to the hearts of mankind and say, God isn't good and you can't trust him. If he can do that in paradise, he can definitely do it in my life.

He could do it in anybody's life. He could do it in Atlanta. He could do it in Nashville. He can do it in Dallas and Houston. He can do it when things are unraveling and it's not paradise, if he could do it in paradise. So we've got to watch what we think. We've got to be careful what thought we allow to take a seat at our table you know

this is apparently my week for spiritual warfare um books and information our pastor that did our devotional yesterday was from kansas city spoke on the subject of that and has just written a book on it as well i've read half of it this morning before i came to work and But, you know, he was just making the point that, and you know this more than I do, but I also already knew it, but it was good to be reminded that very seldom does the enemy come straight at you. Instead, he brings you something that's 98% truth. Yeah, I mean, there's very few occasions where the enemy shows up and says hey i'm the enemy i would like to rip your eyeballs out yeah you know yeah i want to destroy your

marriage i would like to destroy your confidence i want to take your business down now he comes in that side door where where i was actually when i got this message i've been through about a four month battle and some things have been said some I'd been through about a four-month battle, and some things had been said, some things had been done. About four months in, I get a phone call, and the phone call is, I bet you've got one like this. You're not going to believe what happened today. It was that moment of vindication.

And I reached out to a friend, and I said, you are not going to believe what I just heard. If you give things enough time, da-da-da-da-da, what did I want, Dave? I wanted commiseration. I want somebody just to come alongside and say, hey, man, you're good, and you were right. But my friend knew I didn't need commiseration. My friend that I sent the text to knew that I needed a wake-up call because I was acting like an orphan when I'm the son of a king. And he sent me nine words in reply. Don't give the enemy a seat at your table.

In other words, this whole four months of consternation, frustration, all this internal processing you've been doing, all that is because you let the enemy sit at your table. And you need to take your thinking back starting today. And that text became the cover of this book the title of this book and that text has literally changed my life over the last six eight years well when you get pounded and uh i have been this year you have been this year a lot of people have been this year by different things um uh but i mean I watched and sent you positive texts during that time as well and

you know we forget to do the basics like take every thought captive and instead we sit and it's almost like in the 7th grade at the lunch table you know when you walk away and you go you know now I know what I should have said and you just play these tapes over and over and over and over and over again about how you're going to hit back or how you're not going to hit back or how you're going to do this all that and all that is just you're you're playing right into this yeah that's what i'm saying you know it's uh we want to control everyone if they really are honest wants to control and we don't

control a lot like this global craziness that we're living in, no one's in control of that. So what are we in control of? We're in control of the truth that God has given us for our lives. And I think that when we get in a moment like that, what we normally do is just say, okay, great, fear, you're at the table.

Worry, you're at the table. Worry, you're at the table. Anger, you're at the table. Instead of going, wait a minute, where did you come from? And that's what this book talks about, asking the thought, where did you come from? And if that thought doesn't line up with the character, the purposes, the heart, and the word of God, then it didn't come from God. And if it didn't come from God, it doesn't get a seat at the table. And so you've got to know the truth because you don't win this battle by fighting against a lie. You win this battle by embracing the truth.

You know, that's convicting and disgusting at the same time because I completely violated that. And I'm not like an immature person. I'm not like an immature person spiritually or emotionally or anything else. And I completely violated that. I can look back in the last nine months and go, I did that there. I did that there. I did that. And I know better.

But this is a good reminder. Yeah, we all know better. And I think the thing that what I would want to encourage people in for me is that you don't win the battle of your mind one time. You win the battle of your mind every day. That's what God's Word says. Renew your mind every single day. Keep renewing your mind to the truth. And it's not something that you do and then walk away from because our minds are an open field to whatever seeds want to get blown there by whatever wind is coming our way.

And we've got to think every single time, I've got the authority to take control of my mind. And isn't that what people really need to start with? I can do this. I can change the way I think. I'm in charge of my thoughts. No one else is. It's one of the few things I actually can control. Don't give the enemy a seat at your table.

It's for sale anywhere great books are for sale. Pastor Louis Giglio of Passion City Church, original visionary of the entire Passion Movement, is my guest this segment. And this is a book we all need as a reminder. Because not only do you become who you hang around with, you become what you think about. And both of those are scriptural concepts.

And if you hang around with and think about the enemy's processes, thoughts, and presence, you're going to get a lot out of him. Pastor, love you. Love you, too. So good to see you. Appreciate you coming by and hanging out with us here in Nashville. Again, the book, Don't Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table. This is The Ramsey Show. Folks, listen up. I know some of y'all are putting off getting life insurance because rates went up, restrictions were added due to COVID, but it doesn't change your responsibility to take care of your family. Lucky for you, insurance companies are lowering their rates again, and there are more options than ever to let you skip the medical exam. Yes, it's actually easier

than it was before all this mess, so now is the time to get it done. If you don't have term life insurance or not enough, you need to take the step, take care of this, and let the team at Zander Insurance help. I've used and recommended Zander for over 20 years because they shop the top term life companies to find you the best rates, and they keep coming up with new ways to make the whole process faster and simpler. Apply online or over the phone, sign with electronic or voice signature, no exams. It just doesn't get any easier. Go to Zander.com or call 800-356-4282. It really is time to get this done. number one best-selling author ken coleman ramsey personality is my co-host today as we take your questions about your life and your money here on the ramsey show open phones at 888-825-5225. 888-825-5225.

Well, happy birthday, Ken. Well, thank you, Dave. It's hard to believe. They sneak up on me every year. I don't know if yours do, but mine do. It's kind of like I didn't see it coming. I got all the old man jokes, right? So it's like life's like toilet paper. The closer you get to the end, the see it coming. I got all the old man jokes, right? So it's like life's like toilet paper.

The closer you get to the end, the faster it goes. Oh, it's so good. Dave, we got this fun tradition. I got to let people in on this where Dave sends out, everybody gets an email. If you're a Ramsey Solutions teammate, you get an email on your birthday, and there's always some fun gif or whatever they call it, gif or gif, I never know what to say. And today was a picture of Albert Einstein saying that studies show that birthdays are good things. You know, something along those lines.

Studies show that birthdays are good. Statistics show that birthdays are good for you. The more of them you have, the longer you live. That's right. So today is a day of gratitude. Another year in the books. 47, Dave. Really?

Yeah. Well, I wouldn't have thought it really yeah i would have thought you're much older than that boy folks that's what's called being reeled in i just he had me the hook and i thought i was gonna bless me with like 41 or something yeah so what is this this is your 30 or your 28th anniversary of your 29th birthday. Yeah. Not bad. It's hard to believe. Not bad. There we go.

Good stuff. The maturity doesn't match the age, as we know. We're still working on that. I'm in heavy, heavy. Listen, if you're mature, you're no good in talk radio. That's right. So let me just help you with that. Yeah.

Phone number 888-825-5225. Callie is going to start us off in Indianapolis. Hi, Callie. How are you? Hi, Dave. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up?

So I'm getting married at the end of August. I'm super excited to marry this man. And we've talked about our debts in premarital counseling. I do have a medical debt for my son. It was about $47,000. He was in a PQ for a couple weeks, and I didn't have insurance, unfortunately, at the time. I do now, so that's taken care of. But I was curious where I put my medical debt that's actually now in collections because it started around COVID time, so I couldn't pay it. Where would I put that in the baby steps? Once we go through financial peace, whenever we get signed up for that,

where would I end up putting my son's medical debt within our other debt? So what do you make uh i make 57 what about him he makes 85 and when you get married august 29th congratulations thank you how's your baby doing uh he's doing so much better he is the light of my life and the light of my fiance's life he's a lot better now just fluke incident he aspirated a peanut so you just uh um you just outlined uh a life that is going really really well and we get to work on and all we have to work on is some math stuff so really good yeah you're in a good place very nice and how much debt do you have not counting this? So we have a car. I have a car that's $7,000.

That's our smallest debt. And then I would say altogether I think we have about $80,000. Counting the $47,000 or not? Not counting the $47,000. What's the rest of the $80,000? Student loans? He has student loans, yeah. He's a GM for a hotel hotel and then i have my car and then i also

so during covid i didn't have insurance his dad doesn't help so i ended up crashing my car and i'm paying them 12 000 for that okay so but the biggest number on this is student loans. The biggest number is just student loans, yes, sir. Okay. All right. Now, are they attempting to collect, or are you paying any payments on the 47? I'm not paying any payments right now. His son was supposed to help me. His father was supposed to help me.

That's actually in our mediation agreement. That hasn't happened yet. But I was paying payments, and then I i stopped and so it's gone to collections i called about it and it's at a collection a collection agency right now but they're not calling on it no yeah um here's the thing you probably can settle this for say 50 cents on the dollar something like that if you had the lump sum and so i would take something like a number like a twenty thousand dollar number and plug that into your debt snowball wherever it really goes it sounds like it's before the student loans but after some of the car stuff and i'd build up

twenty thousand dollars cash and i would call them is this is this a single bill or a total of 47 on medical it's a single bill it's a children's hospital yeah i would also call the hospital administrator and see if you can get an in-person meeting with covet i doubt you can but anytime you can meet with someone in person you can plead your case better and just go you know i don't have any money obviously the reason i didn't have i didn't have i didn't have uh insurance reason i have insurance i didn't have any. So if you guys will settle this, we appreciate the service you gave us. We're thankful for that, and we don't want to be anything but honorable, but we just don't have $47,000.

If you guys will take $20,000, I'll get it to you really, really fast and then make it a priority if you can get a settlement agreement. But any settlements you do do you do in writing and uh and you never give a collector of any kind electronic access to your checking account because they lie it's a problem yeah dave what happens if uh she goes to the hospital and i love that advice the hospital has an option there to call the collection agency i presume and say hey we want to pull this back we've talked to them or we're working this out yeah they can they don't usually if you just call them yeah that's why but an in-person meeting where you go in not accusing the hospital of

having done something wrong that's right like why do you people charge so much you know none of that and you're the problem with you know no you this is a children's hospital to help you with your child you're grateful yeah and uh you start with that and then you go well you know it's just a math problem it's not a matter of intent i don't have the money and if you guys will settle this we can get it knocked out pretty fast if we're going to pay the whole 47 it's going to take a long time yep and you most of the time it's interesting uh even people in the administration in hospitals hospitals tend to attract people with mercy yes merciful people yes and so not always but they have a tendency to do that they move into the medical field for one reason or another and so you you oftentimes find someone with heart uh but again you're not going in

belligerent no you're not going in accusing them of having done something wrong if you're going to do that you need an attorney yes uh but that's you know because the hospital somehow malpractice or something like that but that's not what we're hearing here no in fact i was going to say if you have the spirit that you have on this call yeah this is a woman who sees the end she's going to knock it out she's excited about the days ahead and you know part of this deal is you got a deadbeat dude on the other side of this isn't helping i'd share that story too and go hey but i'm not relying on him i'm here to handle this

you help my baby and i want to do the right thing i think that conviction along with the spirit she has is very attractive it is i mean it's just human nature and it's proper relationships. But sometimes what happens is we get afraid or we are ashamed, and out of those emotions we project something else rather than humility. We project anger. Some of the meanest people in the world are people that are afraid, you know, as an example. So that's not her. And so, you know, I think you knock out your car, then you knock out the car debt where you hit somebody else without insurance,

and then you put $20,000 on the list, and then you get to the student loans. And you guys just attack that as fast as you can. Any money you get from the ex, the dad of the child, this would be called gravy on the biscuit because it's unexpected. And you'll get there as fast as you can now i think we can go a little step further and say uh if you have if you're out there and you let's just kind of do a teaching segment if you have a bunch of debts in collection that you haven't paid on it's been 10 months 20 months since you paid on this credit card it's been 10 months 20 months since you paid on this uh old. It's been 10 months, 20 months since you paid on this old bad debt from whatever, from a medical bill or whatever else.

You make a different list of those things when you're working your debt snowball. If you've got a whole bunch of that, this is one singular debt, and it had an unusual story around it. But you'd knock out your existing debt snowball first, the ones you're current on, because that frees up all those payments you don't have anymore. And then you work through the defaulted debt snowball, one debt at a time. Settle it. Close it.

End writing. No electronic access to your checking account. Do the next one. Do the next one. Do the next one. But freeing up those doesn't free up cash flow because you're not paying payments on them. This is The Ramsey Show. We'll be right back. In the lobby of Ramsey Solutions on the Debt Free Stage,

Ken Bonney joins us from Jacksonville, Florida. Hey, Bonney, how are you? Hi, Dave. I'm good. How are you? Good to have you. I'm excited to be here. All the way from Jacksonville. Very cool. Yes, all the way from Florida. How much have you paid off?

About $43,000. Love it. How long did that take? Almost 14 months. Good. And your range of income during that time? I started at about 81 and then just got another promotion, so I'm at about 97.5. Hey, hey.

I like it. I like it. What do you do for a living? I'm a service executive for a technology company, so client relations, essentially. Yeah, good, good. And obviously good at it. Thank you. So what kind of debt was your $43,000? A tax bill, six credit cards, a personal loan from my parents.

That was pretty much it. No student loan debt. Okay. All right. How old are you? I am 41. 41. Yeah. debt okay all right how old are you i am 41 41 yeah and 14 months ago you kind of have been bopping along with this like lower back pain kind of debt that's what that kind of debt is isn't it it's like it's you're making enough that it's small enough that you can almost ignore it if you take a few advil you know but but but it's but it just keeps coming back and it's always there is that right yes it was what happened what broke you loose um i was planning a extravagant birthday trip to

south africa for my 40th birthday yum yeah um a trip i couldn't afford and i was taking stock of my life and had a come to do this moment with myself what's the it's the old 40th birthday thing. Yeah. So, um, taking a look at my finances and knowing I couldn't afford it. And then I was in a toxic relationship at the time. I didn't like my job. Basically I wanted to change everything and was looking for ways to cut costs. So I, um, enlisted the help of my parents and asked if I could move in with them for a year. Wow. To pay off debt. Yeah.

So they're. And they were one of the debts. And so they said yes. Yeah. I paid them first. And it was a huge blessing because then COVID came along. And so we let the boyfriend go first and asked him to leave. And then I got a different job that I liked a lot more. New job. No boyfriend. No apartment lease, no trip to South Africa,

and we're getting out of debt. Right. Look at you. Yes, thank you. It's been a long journey, but I'm very grateful. Sounds cleansing. It was very, in more ways than financial. Oh, yeah, career, boyfriend, the whole thing.

I mean, this is awesome. This is great. Yeah, I'm very, very grateful. Yeah, I want to ask you a quick progression there. So you gave us the range of income from 81 to 97. Yes. So when you were in this miserable job and you changed to something you like, is that where we pick up 81? Did you get a bump there or was it a parallel move?

I actually went from 81. My first promotion was to about 87. Okay. And then the month after i was debt free i got another permission to 97.5 wow and i feel like god was just saying thank you for being a good steward of what you have and now you don't have to struggle as much anymore little tip of the hat from the holy spirit yeah how much did the loving the work really enjoying the work how much did that play into the any mindset or emotion and performance that led to what you believe?

Did it lead to the promotion is my question, do you think? I think I was just hyper-focused. So everything else that was positive that I was drawing to myself, I think, just led to a job promotion. It was more so my boss I didn't like, if I'm telling the truth. That's not a surprise. People leave leaders, not companies. Right. Yeah, the work was okay.

I'm actually at the same company. I just have jumped apartments. Good for you. Yeah. Good. Much better fit. Not surprising, Dave. You hear that all the time.

Yep. Focus. Yep. Focus to get out of debt led to professional gains, not just financial. Well, and another thing was you cleaned all this junk out of your life. Oh, yeah. And you were in the process of cleaning junk out of your life. I did, yeah.

Of different kinds. And this is such a great story. Thank you. I'm so proud of you. Thank you. Your parents got to be proud of you. I hope so. They're here with me today.

They came with you to cheer, right? Yes, they did. And my niece, Christabel, as well. All right. Very good. Very good. Well, that's cool. That makes a nice Nashville trip.

Not South Africa, but a good trip. Not South Africa. I told my parents when this was all over I would buy them a vacation. So I'm sending them on a cruise for their 50th wedding anniversary next year. That's awesome. That's more fun than going yourself. I like it. Yes.

Yes. I'm very excited. That's awesome. Very cool. So 14 months, $'m very excited. That's awesome. Very cool. So 14 months, $43,000. That's pretty intense. Yeah, it was. What do you tell people the key is?

Living on a budget, for sure. For a while, I did Dave-ish. I took Financial Peace years ago. But like you said, I had enough to manage the chaos. It was just sort of my juggling system. And now it's more of a, this is why I have hope and focusing on investing and planning my future. And when I decided to do this, I was just in a really hopeless place and struggling with depression and going through a breakup.

So I was a hot mess when I moved into my parents' house. Um, but I just, I had a lot of shame dealing with thoughts that I hadn't been a good steward of what God had given me. And I know I was capable of more. So I just prayed that I could be the person I wanted to be. I wanted to be someone

my family would be proud of. And that one day I'd stand here. They are. That's awesome. They are. They are proud of you. And we are too. And that shame flipped to

conviction then and it's game on yeah yes it was game on yeah shame is destructive conviction to get your butt in gear yeah yeah it will it will i'm so proud of you well done very powerful wow what i you know your whole life has changed and it's the debt the debt piece is just part of it it was just part of it part of it but it almost precipitated it in changed and it's the debt the debt piece is just part of it it was just part of it part of it but it almost precipitated it in a sense it started the whole ball rolling it did it did i feel like it really came to a head and i was unrecognizable to myself and that really started my journey um to be gonzalatense and get out of debt and change everything um but yeah i'm happier now than I've ever been.

It's the highest base salary I've ever had. I just feel like it's a reward for being a good steward of what I've been given. You're free. Yes. I feel very free. And you're generous. Yes. And you're in a much healthier place all the way around.

Much healthier, yeah. So when the emotion just grabbed you there, because you were talking about, I envisioned getting to this moment here you are you did it you are standing on the debt-free stage i want you to tell people because the emotion is still all over you it's hard is it worth it standing there moments before you do your screaming was it worth it absolutely absolutely i would say for anyone listening that's struggling you know it's hard to hold on your hope, especially day after day. Like even in the 40, you know, plus thousand dollars, I also paid cash for about $3,500

of car repairs in that time. So anytime something would go wrong with my car is so discouraged and you know, I had a plan for, I will be debt free on this day and then something else would go wrong. And I listened to your podcast, and I would hear the debt-free screams and just think, you know, if I just keep going, just one more day, you know, I can do this. And then the chains start to drop off, and you see the light at the end of the tunnel.

It's not an oncoming train. And here I am. You are there. I'm here. I'm just going to leave and let her do the next segment. Yeah, she could take over the rest of the hour. I think everybody's signing up for Financial Peace University right now. That's right.

I'm amazed. This is so powerful. Well done. Very, very well done. Thank you. All right, Bonnie, we've got a copy of The Legacy Journey for you because that for sure is your next chapter in your story, a chapter of generosity and legacy and control and destiny,

and that's where you're headed. You're a powerhouse. You're amazing. Thank you, Dave. You grabbed every part of your life up by the neck and shook it and made it behave, and it was very, very powerful. It's an honor to meet you. And also a copy of the Total Money Makeover for you to give away

because you haven't shut up talking about this, and somebody that you know needs a copy of it that you've been bothering about this stuff. And we're just so proud of you. And I know your mom and dad are. Thank you. Very, very well done. All right. It's Bonnie from Jacksonville, Florida.

$43,000 paid off in 14 months, making $81,000 to $97,000. What a great story. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. I'm debt-free! Love it! Woo!

Absolutely fabulous. Unbelievable. What a great story. This is the Ramsey Show. We'll be right back. Ken Coleman, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. You guys jump in. We'll talk about your life and your money. If you're in debt, we know it can feel like you're fighting a losing battle with those bills.

Sometimes you can feel stuck like Bonnie in our last debt-free scream there. You may wonder if you're ever going to get ahead. Well, you can. You can get control. You can grab things by the neck like she did. You can build the life you want. We will show you how in Financial Peace University. Millions and millions and millions of people have learned the proven plan to work out of debt and into wealth in Financial Peace University.

And, of course, you're going to be sticking to a budget. That's part of the plan. And you'll have the premium version of our budgeting tool, EveryDollar. Both Entree Elite, both EveryDollar and Financial Peace University are available at Ramsey Plus. You can start a free trial of Ramsey Plus and end this constant battle with and for your money. Just text TRIAL to 33789. Text TRIAL to 33789. Sarah is with us in Los Angeles.

Hi, Sarah. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Well, hello, Dave. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? My husband and I are on Baby Step 2. We've paid off $23,000 and have another 22 to go.

Cool. My mom keeps asking me to help her and my dad figure out their budget, help them start on the Ramsey plan. I just finished reading the total money makeover and I gave her my copy. Good. And now it's leading to us fighting. Fighting? My dad is 57 and my mom's 54.

My dad wants to retire soon. They keep trying to convince me that their 800 credit score is good. My dad doesn't want to stop the 15% that he's currently investing, even though they're just shy of $110,000 in debt. Well, there's no reason to fight. That's what I say. Do what? I said that's what I say. So, I mean, if they don't want to do it, they don't have to do it.

Well, that's what I keep saying. I'm not going to fight over it. You guys do whatever you want to do. You ask me, and so I told you what we were doing. I gave you a copy of the book, but you don't have to do it. It's not a law. Well, and that's what I'm trying to say, and then they turn around, and they're like, oh, well, but we need to get out of debt,

and we want to retire. Yeah, but, I mean, I showed you how. You got to decide which one you want to do. You can't be both. If you want to know how I did it, I showed you how. You got to decide which one you want to do. You can't be both. If you want to know how I did it, I showed you how I did it. I used the Total Money Makeover baby steps. This is how I did it. I don't know how to tell you how to do it other than that.

That's the only way I know. This is you talking, okay? And I'm not going to fight with you. You guys can either do it or not do it. I'm going to love you either way. You're my mom and dad. I'm going to love you even if you're stupid don't say don't say that but you can think that yeah right no they'll kill me i can't say that i know i know but you see what i'm saying that's what's going through your head right but here's the thing the fight the fight comes when they are trying to

convince you to not do it the ramsey stuff the baby steps and the fight comes when you are trying to convince you to not do it, the Ramsey stuff, the baby steps. And the fight comes when you are trying to convince them to do the baby steps. So the best way you can convince them is to continue to do it properly yourself and win. And it sets an example for them. But you can't make people do stuff. Yeah, that's true. You can make little kids do stuff, but you can't make grown people do stuff. Yeah, that's true. You can make little kids do stuff, but you can't make grown people do stuff. And you can only make little kids do stuff until you leave the room.

That's right. Sarah, I hear the tension for you because they keep asking you, and you're so passionate, you're so convicted on this journey that you can't just answer a question. And I think that that's where there may be some tension there. And I think Dave's absolutely right. I think if they keep asking you a question, you go, I'm not sure. I'll text you later tonight. I think it's on page 87 of Chapter 3 or whatever.

And just stay out of the communication. If you're feeling your tension rise because of your tremendous conviction, then you're going to have to just, when they ask a question, say, I'll look it up. It's in this chapter. It's in chapter five or it's in chapter six or whatever it is. And give them the answer, but don't get involved in the back and forth opinion stuff because Dave's right. I don't want to do that. Okay.

Yeah, great. Sure. That's cool. I don't want to stop putting money in my 401k. Okay. I mean, you know, if somebody calls me up on the air here, and I'm the guy, okay? It's not just like a theory for me. I'm the guy that wrote it and did it for millions, tens of millions of people, right? If somebody calls me up on the air and wants to argue with me, I'll talk to them for a minute or two,

and then I just go to the next caller. I'm not going to have a debate with somebody about this because I'm right caller i'm not going to have a debate with somebody about this because i'm right i'm not going to have a discussion about it i mean it's i mean i'm not right about everything but this stuff i mean 20 million people have done this stuff under my direction so it's not like it's wrong anymore you know it's not it's not like an opinion it's not a theory by a broke college professor this is this is we do this and this is i may not be able to do anything else but this i can do so i'm not going to argue with you about it if you don't agree with me you're just what's known is wrong and america is a great place you're

allowed to be wrong yeah and so you know you just have to be kind about it and have a little bit of that in your head a little bit those kinds of tapes almost sarcasm playing in your head and you just kind of don't be mean and don't be unkind and just go, Dad, if you don't want to do that, that's okay. I understand. I love you. This is a plan I'm doing. You are a grown man. You get to choose what you're going to do, and I'm going to love you either way.

Yeah, and that creates the emotional boundary that you need. You need that. You need to be able to put a boundary out there and go, we're doing it. We're all in for us. Mom and Dad, they got their big boy pants on and their big girl pants. So at some point, don't get sucked into the back and forth on it. I'm not going to try to make you do it, and please don't try to make me not do it. That's right.

There's your clearest boundary. Yeah. Because either one of those are going to cause a problem, and we're going to have conflict, and I don't want to have conflict with you. I just want to love you. And there's no point in the conflict because you're grown people you're allowed to do whatever you want to do even if you're wrong i mean i got i got relatives that vote wrong oh you know heard and and i and i love them anyway it's true i mean it's okay they just don't know how to vote and you know no amount of

talking to them helps either. No. So I just quit arguing with them a long time ago, and I just know my vote got canceled out by so-and-so. They just don't know how to vote. There's something you just can't argue about. Doesn't do any good. Jimmy's with us in California. Hi, Jimmy.

How are you? I'm great. How are you, Dave? Better than I deserve. How can we help? I'm calling because I have a quick question. My wife and I are on baby step number two. We recently just sold our condo, made a profit of around $75,000.

In the bank right now, we have $185,000. The issue is we have $170,000 in student loans. My question is, would you save a large chunk of that? We're looking at a home around $600,000. Save 20% of that for a down payment, or would you place a large sum of that towards the student loan debt? Did I understand you have $185,000 in the bank and $170,000 in student loan debt? Yes. Yes, you did.

Okay. Well, what we teach folks is don't buy a house until you're debt-free and have an emergency fund. Okay. folks is don't buy a house until you're debt-free and have an emergency fund okay so i think you're renting for a while because i think you just used 170 of your 185 to become debt-free yeah ow you're not gonna do that are you well i mean he's crying he's laughing like it's the most ludicrous thing he's ever heard well you know as ludicrous as it sounds it also kind of, just for a second when I said that, did you feel kind of free? Yes, yes.

That would be amazing. Yeah. I mean, you have to admit down inside your stomach that something was set free when I said that. Down inside your soul, something was set free. Because that 170 looks like it's insurmountable. It looks like it's insurmountable it looks like freaking mount everest and for just a second i placed you on top of mount everest and you were cheering for just a second and then you started rolling your eyes and going i think this guy's

crazy hey jimmy jimmy are you jimmy do you have a good job you gainfully employed yeah so i'm an ic registered nurse my wife is the emergency department nurse. What's your household income? We are around $160,000. Way to go. Jimmy, here's a fun exercise for you. You and your wife tonight, dinner, okay? Write down what it would look like. What would your financial situation look like if you paid the $170,000 off?

You had $15,000. You're living in an RV, right? Yeah. And then you got really good income. What would life look like? I think you just got to get over it. Oh, man, yeah. You got to write it down on paper and look at that.

How fast could you save $100,000? Oh, my goodness. We paid off two. This was before I knew about your program. We paid off, like, two $40,000 cars within a year. Yeah, so I think you could two $40,000 cars in like within a year? Yeah. So I think you could save $100,000 a year.

And I think you're going to be in a house by this time next year. And you're going to have an emergency fund and no student loan debt. And you're going to look back 10 years later

and go, that crazy guy on the radio is right. And if you don't do this, you're going to limp for a decade. Hey, you tell people what to do all the time in your business, and they either do it or they don't.

This is The Ramsey Show. Have a friend or family member that needs a daily dose of Ramsey advice in their life? Let them know about the Ramsey Call of the Day podcast. It's a quick hit of advice about life and money in under 10 minutes. Check out the Ramsey Call of the Day podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.