The Ramsey Show - App - Making the Right Financial Decision Is Hard (Hour 2)

Episode Date: November 29, 2023

Девочка-пай Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's The Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create amazing relationships. I am Rachel Cruz, hosting this hour with my good friend and Ramsey personality, Jade Warshaw, and we are here to answer your questions about life, money, relationships, career, anything and everything. So give us a call. It's a free call anywhere in the country at 888-825-5225. Up next we have, or up first I should say, we have Kristen in Houston, Texas. Hey, Kristen.

Welcome to the show. Hey, thank you very much for taking my call. Absolutely. How can we help? Well, my husband and I are in a financial transition. So we've been paying off our credit card debt for like the last two years. We've been chasing our tail with it. We're due to pay off our credit card debt by the end of December, maybe the beginning of January. Okay. Coming up. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. It's been crazy. Yeah. Okay. So our next phase that we want to do is work on building our savings for down payment and closing costs to purchase real estate within

the next year or two. This year we made two big decisions. Well, actually, we made two big purchases and one big decision. We're renters right now. And our rent was going up. And my husband and I decided, okay, let's go ahead and move into an RV. Well, I already had one that was paid off. I traded that in and we purchased one. And so that's what we're doing right now is we have a brand new RV and we pay space rent. So that was paid off. I traded that in, and we purchased one. And so that's what we're doing right now is we have a brand-new RV, and we pay space rent. So that's our housing. Then my truck, which was his truck is paid off, my truck is paid off.

But my truck ended up needing like $15,000 in maintenance repairs in the last year and a half. Just to turn right around, have another $1,500 repair, and we said, forget that. We need an upgrade truck for the RV anyway. And so we went ahead and made a purchase for a truck to pull the RV. How much did you spend? We owe $56,623 on it right now. $56,000? Hold on. Did you say you bought a truck for 56,000? Yes, it's a 2021 F-250 diesel for 58,000. I'm shook. It was a deal. It was a great deal.

But our monthly note is nuts. We've already done that with our budget and all. And Kristen, I'm going to just ask the assumption it's on payments yeah yeah the payment the payment is uh 940 six and some change and we had to yeah it's nuts wait no hold on hold on hold on I gotta call you out slightly it's the Christmas season so I'm going to be a little bit light-hearted first you said it was a great deal Then you just now turn around and said it's nuts. And just for the record, it is nuts. It is. Y'all just are about to pay off all this credit card debt.

You had two paid-for trucks. I'm just spelling this out for you. Well, here's the thing is, we thought about this. We went through the budget. We did the budget on the net income not gross and how we could afford all of that and so we have it all in the budget and uh everything together with the truck the rv and the space rent we're at about 2100 okay but his truck is a 2012 my truck used was a 2011 and high mileage on both of them we cannot pull the rv with um

either one of his or mine the difference is in the hard part that you're going to realize is everything that you have that money tied up in is going down in value and i understand that what you really want is real estate but i don't think you guys went about the right way to get there probably not but given our situation at the time, that's where we were at. Okay, so how much can you, let's just, real quick, Kristen, how much could you sell the truck for today?

The 21 or the 2011? 21, the $56,000. The 21? It would have to be $56,600. Okay, so right around there. How much could you sell the RV for? Right now, it's sitting at $43,000. So payoff would probably be around $44,000, $45,000.

Okay, so you do realize your truck costs more than where you guys live. Right. Okay. So there's just parts of this formula, Kristen, I need you to see is not the wisest choice. And I need you to say, wow, we should not have done this because renting is not throwing your money away. What you guys did is you chose to take on more debt by getting an RV.

And then you chose to have to go deeper into debt to be able to move the RV. So you just dug yourself into a deeper hole thinking, you know, it was the wisest, smartest thing to do at that point. But mathematically, financially, it just wasn't it wasn't and so for you guys you guys have have stepped backwards a lot in this process so i almost would say like i would i want everything to be wiped clean you guys had such a great track record with the credit cards like you were paying down debt

no no no let me let me tell you right now that when we were renting, he was making lower income at the time. And we were actually in more debt over our hands. Then you could have gone to a cheaper rent, Kristen. You could have. No, we couldn't. Wait, hold on, hold on, hold on. No. Wait a sec. Wait a sec. Wait a sec. Let me draw it back. We can't help you if you don't want help. And here's what I want to make clear. Rachel and I are going to look at this and we're going to go, hey, this is not the smartest choice. We want you to be free and we want you to be out of debt. Now, here's the difference, because I agree with you in the way that renting, it doesn't feel good.

It feels like we're throwing money down a black hole. No, I could care less about renting. That doesn't bother me. I'm a real estate broker. I understand. less about renting but that doesn't bother me i'm a real estate broker i understand okay but what you're not understanding what you're not understanding here is it would have been better for you to rent because rent is not debt and you're just looking at the payment per month but you're not looking at the grand scheme of it okay payment per month doesn't matter it matters does that make sense you're looking like oh twenty one hundred dollars it's less but i'm like yeah but you're forgetting about the fifty six thousand the forty three thousand actually and then the land

is more than what we were paying how about this kristen what um for you calling in what was what was the main question but my main question was you okay it's not changing what we're doing i understand you know your philosophy and everything like that and i understand what we've done and there's reasons why we did it. Okay. And I understand. I totally agree with you. Normal circumstances.

Sure. Where we're at right now. Okay. Okay. We will be freeing up about $3,000 worth of money every month once we pay off these credit cards. Okay. Which is about to be done at the end of the month and the beginning of next month. Okay.

Maybe. Okay. We have $1, the beginning of next month, maybe. We have $1,000 in savings every month, and we have one month's reserves for bills, all of them. How would you best advise to put that $3,000 to our debt? Yeah, how much are you guys making a year, Kristen? In a year, his gross for this year is going to end up being, year to date, it's 121. 121. Okay. So he'll probably be about 130 by the end of the month. And do you add anything to that as well? No, not right now. Okay. I will, but not now. I what I would do, Kristen, if you guys choose,

we just say not to have things in motors and wheels that is more than half of your annual income. So if it were me, Kristen, I would be selling these two things, the truck and the RV, like I said earlier. I'd go rent somewhere, free up this money, save up a good down payment for you guys to get a primary home for you and your husband. After three to six months of expenses, I'd put that in a money market account. If you don't want to do that, then the next move is you have to start paying off this RV, which is $43,000. And then you need to pay off the truck before you ever think about real estates. This is The Ramsey Show. Hey, you guys.

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Circle back. To that last caller, Kristen. And, you know, I think what's, what can be so hard is we can ourselves talk ourselves into something and into situations. Yeah. And be so clouded by maybe our own judgment, our own ways of thinking

that we keep digging ourselves deeper into a hole and you're thinking you're on the outside yelling down and no come out this way come out this way and I feel like that's what we were trying to do with her is just to show and understand and it's just the numbers there's parts of this that you just go back to just facts and $900 a month car payment and everything. So yeah, I mean, look, I am the first one to say when I hear that kind of talk, there's not much we can do because you've already kind of painted yourself into this corner of my situation is the exception. And all of us can find somewhere where we can say that, but you've honestly got to commit to going,

okay, I've got to just not make these excuses because all of us can say, well, the way my income is set up or well, because we were paying this in rent or well, because all of us can do that. And whenever you do that, you automatically exclude yourself from the solution. You automatically ostracize yourself from why a plan can't work for you.

You just, you create, you're the exception. And if you want to take on that identity, then that's the identity you have. And nothing, nothing we say is going to be able to help you. And I always hate when that happens because I'm a firm believer, Rachel, of the idea that whatever you look for, you find it. So if you're always looking for the reasons that you can't do it, then you never will. But the moment you just say okay I'm gonna open up my heart I'm gonna open my mind a little bit and just say I'm gonna try this plan I'm gonna try something different yeah because look and I don't say this to be anything but real when I first heard your dad talk he's brass like he's strong yeah he comes across and I remember thinking he's got more

money than I do he's he's figured it out he's not living paycheck to paycheck he's not in debt I am so I'm just leaving that because at the end of the day it's like that's where you have like that's the way you have to see it as okay OK, like I'm still trying to figure this out. I haven't figured it out yet. Right. Right. Someone who has gotten a handle on it is telling me, hey, here's what I did. And if you're not going to take advice from a person who's done it, then you're always going to be kind of like trying to fight your way out of a paper bag. Yep. Yep.

And like you said, the light, somebody's shining the light going, it's this way. It's this way. Yes. Sure. Yes. Yep. Absolutely. So good. All right. let's go to uh heather they're in illinois hey heather welcome to the show

hey guys how are you doing great how can we help hey um i'm actually like really excited i got on oh i'm so glad you're here so my husband and I are in baby step number two, trying to get rid of our debt. We have about $62,000 in consumer debt. And we bring in like $6,200 a month after taxes and insurance and all that stuff. So we'd use every dollar budget, the premium, to map out our paychecks. And I was raised in church, so I was always taught that you give 10% of your take-home pay back to church, like to the Lord, because it's His anyway. He's just giving it to us to manage. Um, so in doing that, I typically budget about $600 a month, um, in tithing. And after our expenses are paid for

the month, we have about $150 extra to put towards our debt repayment. And we're pretty on fire to try to get rid of this debt. Um, so my husband got a work truck that he, we don't have to pay for anything of it. He gets to drive it wherever he wants. Um, so we actually sold my nice car and I drive his old 2005 four door truck because it's paid for. Um, so we are just trying to get after this. And my question is, do I can continue to give the 10%, um, to church at this moment, or do I cut it down to 5% or just pause it to take the extra $600 to get rid of, put towards our debt each month. I'm just kind of at an impasse. Like, I kind of feel guilty doing that, but I don't know what else to do. Yeah.

It's a, yeah, I think it's a, I think it's a fair question for sure. And what's funny, Heather, is we get, I get hate on my, the Rachel Cruz show for certain things. And recently it's been this, it's been giving. People have not been happy with the fact that I am pretty set in my ways when it comes to the giving part. So Heather, what I would say, okay, so there's kind of two ways I look at giving. One is from more of a spiritual aspect. If you're someone of faith and then people that are not, there's still a factor here so so for me giving in general regardless of where you stand spiritually it is a practice of character for me there is something

about the continuation of giving and living with an open hand as a practice that I want ingrained in me so deeply regardless of where I am financially because I am a big believer that as that becomes a habit and then you guys start winning, people think, well, if I just had more money, I would give and it would be easier. And the truth is, Heather, that's not necessarily the case. Sometimes when you get more money, it's almost-

Harder. Yeah, it's easier not to give the opposite way, which sounds so backwards, but it's just crazy how our minds work. And I always want money to be in a healthy position in my life. And so to have it far out with an open hand, that's always my stance.

And then if you are a person of faith, which you said you are, I never want any part of my faith walk to be legalistic. Legalistic stuff, it grosses me out. I hate it. I don't like it when people are like, you have to do this and this and this. You have to read the Bible this often. Anything like that rules. I'm like, nope, that's not my thing. You go the opposite direction. Yeah, I'm not a legalistic person. So

I don't want your giving from the spiritual lens to be out of legalism because that defeats, I think, the whole purpose of it. I think there's so much in scripture about being a cheerful giver and the why and the participation that we get to participate in something bigger of what God is doing. And I'm not a prosperity person either. I do not think that if you give, you will be given back monetarily always.

I think sometimes God blesses us, but I don't think it's an A, B equals C thing there. But what I do see though, Heather, and I can say this with confidence, people that give, and I would say even people with faith, if you put that layer on top of it, there is a sense of joy. There's a sense of peace. There's something in there because it is bigger than just the paycheck that's hitting your accounts. The gifts that you're giving, the consistency of giving and giving back to the local church, which is the tithe.

There is something there that I am choosing to participate in what God is already doing. And so for me, it's yes, the obedient factor, but there's also the joy, the contentment, learning to live with what you have. That principle is kind of forced in there, especially on a tight budget like you guys are. There's just so many of these character benefits that come out of giving that I can't in good conscience just say, don't do it. Now, I understand it is tight

and some people choose Heather and I think you're a big girl and you get to get off this phone call and you guys get to decide. Some people choose to lower it. They do certain percentages, but I do stick to that 10% because I think the challenge of it is healthy.

And I think the habits that it causes in us, I just see so many positives. And yes, it may take longer to get out of debt mathematically, but I think it forces something in all of us that I think we just need as humanity. Look, I'm with Rachel, and I can speak to you heather too because i you know getting out of debt you guys yeah the long journey of it is the biggest temptation like and i'm going to speak to it

through that lens since you said you're a cross follower i'm a cross follower so we'll speak to it through that lens but it is a temptation like that's the first thing you go well nothing's going to happen like nothing's going to happen. Like, nothing's going to happen. It's not like they're going to cut my lights off if I stop paying my tithe. Right. And so, but I do think for us, like for Sam and I, it was an opportunity to really test God the way he says to.

He's like, test me in this and see if I'm not going to throw open the floodgates and pour out a blessing that you won't have room enough to receive. And like Rachel said, you don't know that it's going to be money, but it will be a blessing, even if it's just the intentionality in your heart to keep going. Like he's going to hold up his end of this thing. And when you build his kingdom, he builds into you. And it's not like it's a quid pro quo, but it's something you get to participate in. And when you do that, the scripture does say that he does overflow that blessing. So we're saying stick with it, Heather, all the way around. Such a great question, though. Thanks for the call. Today's question of the day is sponsored by Neighborly, your hub for home services.

When was the last time you thought about your dryer vent clogged dryer vents are a cause of thousands of house fires every year so let the experts at dryer vent wizard clean yours visit neighborly.com slash ramsey to schedule service today wow today's question comes from brooke in kentucky she says my husband listens to you every day, so it would be amazing if you would set one of us straight. Here we go. We got into debt when we were in our early 20s. We found the baby steps and haven't looked back. Our home is almost paid off with no other debt. Kids have enough money in their college funds, and we put 15% of our pay into retirement. I've always been a stay-at-home mom, homeschool the kids, and work

full-time from home. Way to go. Here's the problem. When we go on vacation, I want to stay in a nice hotel and a fancy room. I work very hard and am not happy unless this happens. My husband doesn't get it at all. He says, we just sleep there. Why spend the extra money? Financially, the extra cost is in the budget. i don't spend any money on myself it's the one thing i want to splurge on i want my husband to recognize my hard work and show his appreciation by getting the nice room who's right if it's me what can i say to make him really understand oh my gosh number. Number one, Brooke, you're right. Yes, you are right.

Oh man, you're right. Always, always splurge. Here's the deal with a vacation. If you go back to a place you hate, it just takes away from the vacation. Maybe I'm girl mathing this. But when you go to a place that you love, I'm like, I would cut on food before I'd cut on

hotel for me personally yeah a nice hotel or a nicer hotel all day oh all day look and Rachel look I'm just listen Jay and I have stayed in some really bad hotels in our in our days yeah don't do it I'm not risking finding a hair in my bed i am not risking you know the way the sink looks when it's old and crust like i just yep it's not worth it it's not a vacation especially if you have the money yeah okay so bro here's the thing i want my husband to recognize my hard work and show his appreciation by getting all of this this is y'all's money together so that so like him deciding all of it. I'm like, no, you get an exact say in it.

And sure, I want him to appreciate you and your hard work, regardless of vacations and hotel rooms. That's really it. That was kind of the weird. I don't like that. It's like he gets to he gets to decide this and all of it. I don't like that. That was the only weird part about this whole thing is i don't i don't know that i view the vacation like when when sam and i go on vacation i'm not viewing it as this is your chance to appreciate me right that's right i'm thinking

of like okay like this is our family's chance to get away yes and in my opinion the whole point of staying in a hotel is to be somewhere a little more luxurious than where you are right right and don't get me wrong everybody's budget is different yes yes i i mean once she said it's in the budget i'm like give me the green light it's the green light all day i know hope brooke we're on your team and i think your husband appreciating you are you wanting to feel more appreciated whatever that looks like is a conversation outside of the vacation conversation but try and you could try and find a way to relate to him like if whatever he's into that he would be willing to spend money on

yeah kind of try to find a way to parallel it like if he's in the i don't know like golf just say hey like you wouldn't want me to go buy you a i don't know what is a nine iron like i don't know like try to find a way to relate it be like you don't want me to buy you a i don't know what is a nine iron like i don't know like try to find a way to relate it be like you don't want me to buy you a nine iron from walmart so don't yeah don't don't try to buy me a you know and just kind of relate it to something he understands and he sees the value in yeah maybe that'll help that's good that's real good oh man yeah you know so then i know the value of jade what's our friend george camel's new book georgie boy he's got a book right now you guys on pre-sale called breaking free from broke so make sure to check it out he exposes some

of the most common money myths and excuses out there like investing traps and mortgage myths and credit card schemes all of that so make sure to ramsey solutions.com slash store and pre-order that book it comes out in january and you get close to $100 of free items if you pre-order today. So make sure to check that out. And also Jade's quick read that is in the store as well. Money's not a math problem. That's in there too. So check that out at RamseySolutions.com slash store.

All right. Up next, we have Delaney in Washington, D.C. Hi, Delaney. Welcome to the show. Hi, guys. Thanks so much for taking my call. You're so welcome. How can we help? So my husband and I are kind of going through a lot of transitions in life, and we have recently made some decisions that I'm not feeling so sure about anymore, so I thought I'd call in. So for some background, he's 30, I'm 23. We got married last year and we now have a two-month-old baby girl.

We live outside of DC, actually in Northern Virginia. And I was on maternity leave for a couple of months and then have now dropped my hours to part-time. And with our annual household income, we just can't afford rent anymore where we currently are. Our lease is up at the beginning of January and they were going to increase our rent by quite a bit. So we were kind of figuring out where we want to be. My husband is in defense contracting and in a couple of weeks is going to be going completely remote. So we kind of have a lot of leeway in terms of where we want to be, with him probably still having to make occasional trips into his office in Maryland,

but not very frequent. I'm from Vermont and have lived there up until last year when we got moved to Northern Virginia for my husband's work. My husband is from Houston, and so and so we are, we kind of found a place, um, a little bit further out. Um, cause we do really like the area we're currently living in, um, to get a little bit more house to rent, um, for cheaper. Um, but I mean, now we're just like crunching the numbers with what my take-home pay is, um, since I'm part-time and it's just, it's kind of stressing me out it's still

too much I think and so we're just trying to figure out where we want to move and I don't feel like we have a lot of time to figure it out because our move is currently scheduled for next weekend. Oh wow wait yeah so where are you going? So we're going to be in still northern Virginia but out in Leesburg it's like about an hour and a half away from here okay and that plan is not feeling right still right because of the rent yeah um and another big factor i think with with finances um and we're currently in baby step two but um finances and also just it's it's definitely been a difficult transition. Me being a stay-at-home mom and now working part-time and not having any family close by. We have a few friends that we've

made in the last year and a half we've lived here, but it's been really challenging not having family. And so I think that's another thing on my heart. For sure. Go ahead. Is it for his, like, because he's going to be able to work mostly remote. Is that what you're saying? Yes. Yeah. Does he want to move back? So he isn't really, we haven't found places in Vermont. Um, the renting market is horrible. Um, to be close to my parents, um, they've offered to let us move in, but, um, I mean, I would love to, but my husband is definitely not on board with that. Um, so he is okay with making it work. Um, it's a new place out in Leesburg. Um, and, and he's also in school

full-time right now. So, um, once he's graduating with his degree, um, in like a year and a half, two years, jobs will open up quite a bit. And then hopefully we'll be able to increase his salary by quite a bit. So we're still, you know, it's just, it's budget's going to be tight if we move there. And then Houston is the other option. It's a lot cheaper, no income tax, and we'd have his family close by. I've visited Houston many times since we started dating and I just, every time I'm there, I just can't wait to leave. Yeah, it's an acquired taste for sure. It's just really, it's really hard for me.

So Delaney, we're up against the clock. So I hate to cut you off. I hate to cut you off. So what I would say is that on the financial aspect, I think it's going to be really imperative that you guys find something that's at least 25% of your take-home pay. And I think that's going to be really imperative that you guys find something that's at least you know 25 percent of your take-home pay and I think that's going to relieve a lot of that feeling of oh my gosh how much do I have to work you know and like that financial stress but also Delaney I'm like this is you and your husband you guys have to figure out what do we value what do we

want out of our life in the next season do we want to be close to family? I mean, how much of this is, you know, you guys having to transition into like a, it's a different life, right? When you're married with a baby, it's, it's, it's a grownup world now. And if you want to stay home full time, part time, you've got to set yourself in a situation where you can actually do that. And that there's going to be some form of sacrifice, whether it's where you live, how much you work, if he's in school now or saves it for later, there is going to be some form of sacrifice, whether it's where you live, how much you work, if he's in school now or saves it for later, there is going to be a sacrifice that has to be made. You guys have to decide which one it is.

Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I am Rachel Cruz hosting this hour with Jade Warshaw and taking your calls. Just your friendly reminder, you guys, as everyone's doing their Christmas shopping, make sure to go to ramseysolutions.com slash store because we have our Cyber Monday sale all week long this week. And it's everything from every dollar premium for $49.99. You can get a gift card and even give that as a gift.

Audiobooks as low as $7. Junior's Adventure Storytime Collection for $14.99. Books from myself and Dr. John Deloney and Ken Coleman and Dave Ramsey. Books in there that are as low as $10 sales, some $20. So make sure to check that out at ramsaysolutions.com slash store as you are doing your Christmas shopping. All right. Up next, we have Melissa in Minneapolis. Hey, Melissa. Welcome to the show.

Hi. Thank you guys so much for taking my call. Absolutely. How can we help? So my husband's about to file bankruptcy. And to the best of my knowledge, my name will not, I don't have to, this is related to a business, um, line of credit that when he took it out with a former business partner, he signed a personal guarantee. I don't know that he was super aware of the implications to that at the time. Um, that happened, I think back in like 2018 and then the business shut down with COVID

with an insurmountable line of credit that at the point just was not able to be paid back we've been working for since 2020 with a lawyer to reach a settlement and try to you know do the best that we can to pay some of this back at least the the bank. And they've denied us every time. How much is it? To a point now at $800,000. Oh, Melissa, I'm so sorry. Half would be his, half would be the partner. But, you know, they don't really, they're not looking at it individually at this point.

And so at this point. And so at this point, Do you feel confident that working with the lawyer, you will be able to get them to cut it in half, basically? He's not. All the conversations with the lawyer, he's like, we had a call yesterday,

and I'm like, is there any other option? And he's like, do you have $800,000? I'm like, nope. We certainly don't. What's the business partner doing? Or the ex-business partner, I guess.

We don't really have a relationship any longer, so I don't know. And I don't know that they would have it either, to be honest. I'm not sure. We really have no idea. So are they on the line for this or just your husband? No, they are too. They've also been working with a lawyer we just don't have any like personal relationship outside of that so okay but the expectation though is that he has to come up and i see that they're seeing it as a whole 800 000 but if there's a business if there's another person whose name is on the loan too

that doesn't factor so they either like both are filing bankruptcy or they both have to come up with, you know, half. So the partner is going to be filing bankruptcy as well? Correct. Yes, to the best of our knowledge. So you do know that. Okay. And just to clarify,

is that what the court is saying, that they both have to take the same course of action? Or if the partner files bankruptcy does your does you and your husband still have the ability to just pay off the 400,000 if you choose to like on your own time no if it has to be one file bankruptcy then it would be the entire so then that's where it would be 800 so I thought I'm like can we like if we take the whole thing will they have a little more pity on us? Like we, we've asked to settle, we've, you know, offered different lump sums. We've offered different payment plans over, you know, six years.

Or like, can we pay like 200,000 of this over the course of five, six years? They've, and in lack of better terms, they've actually, this has been, like I said, since 2020, they've, the attorneys are quite young for the bank and they keep changing. So we've been ghosted for like nine, 10 months at a time where we're like, oh, this might actually just, there's a statute, I guess, that we were like, well, we might actually hit that. And this might just disappear. What's the statute? They keep dropping the ball. It's got to be at least a decade. It was six years from what we had heard.

We were about halfway through, but then they did do it. They filed last December 31st. They filed something. I'm not exactly sure the terminology, but essentially they filed that, which gave us one year. But then come this December 31st, had they not responded, which they hadn't until last week, that would have been dismissed. But then they came back next week and they were like, all right, this is, you have till December 8th. Is the balance growing or is it like, is it frozen? There is, there's interest growing on it, but they're not really pursuing that for some reason. They're more just going after the lump sum of like kind of when the business shut down

it looks like. I mean because the total on the last statement I got was over $900,000. But they're asking for like $817,000. So what chapter are they going to put you guys in? Do you know? Well that I'm when I've read about it I'm thinking seven.

Yeah. Just because of the ability to pay this back and everything else that goes along with 13 yeah um it seems like seven is our option the the stick to that is like we were just about to pay off our cars like we don't have other debt and this just feels wrong but yet we also just signed it i mean yeah and that's a little bit of that hard reality of and and my and dad dave talks about this a lot with you know his story of bankruptcy yeah where i mean like there's there's a truth that it feels like the system it's like man make it happen we you know i mean like like the system part of it is frustrating um right but then at the end of the day this is is what happens, you know,

when you sign your name to something and it's heartbreaking and terrible as it is. Yeah. It is what happens. How is he doing, your husband? He's actually, I mean, his attitude toward it is much better than mine. I'm like, this is pain and anguish. This is devastation. He's like, yeah, this really stinks. He was like, but we have to just move on. Like, this is going to happen. It's going to be wiped out. He's like, and we just move on. He's like, we're almost on cash anyways. Yeah. That's what we're, that was our goal. That's where we want to go. So we're almost there. And then our, the attorney said that you basically, once we file, it stops the bank from being able to, like, do anything to us about this $800,000.

Right, garnish wages. And the next day, you can just move on. You know, I'm like, we just move on? I'm like, okay, but I guess the kind of things that we're not super clear about or that we're being told by the attorney to do one thing and that I don't agree with is like our cars. So we have some loans on our cars, but the way our income works is my husband kind of makes like large chunks of money at a time. So we'd be able to pay off like we have about $11,000 on one of his cars that we were just about to pay off last month when this kind of came to light that it's like no don't pay off your cars because there's we can only keep like there's like 5200 of equity that's protected in vehicles and then they can take the rest so like if your car's paid off yeah you know don't do that like okay we're holding you know but i'm like we're really close like to paying that stuff off or and now we were told to turn the cars in and lease them and

lease a different car instead. Cause then we don't technically own it. But then I'm thinking in three years, then his car, I'm assuming it'll be trashed and the lease is up and we'll have sunk a bunch of money in that we couldn't save. And then what, you know, I'm like, I, I don't know. What about your home? Is it protected under like the, like do you have the homestead protection?

Our state protects our equity up to $450,000. So I know that with what we owe on our mortgage and our house's worth, that's been pretty clear that our house is safe. Okay. That was my number one question. Yeah. So that's all safe. There's going to be something he said with this that called like a reaffirmation of the loans basically after it's filed because there is going to be something that happens with the house even though it's like we've never missed a payment. We're not behind at all. He's like, it's just unfortunately that's... But it's assets. Do a personal guarantee.

It's your life there. I mean, yeah, it is. And that is how people lose their houses and everything. Yeah. Yeah. My name is not on this. And I guess there are marital protections which help us as well because my name wasn't, you know, I was not part of the business, any of it, you know. So there's a little bit of that.

But yeah, so the house is safe. The cars sound like they're safe, but there's a little like disc that. But yeah, so the house is safe. The cars sound like they're safe, but there's a little like discrepancy. And I'm like, well, you might just have to buy your car back for 5,000 on top of those. It sounds like you're about to walk through a really difficult season.

And this is a season where you guys are going to have to hold on to each other. Absolutely. I was going to say, I mean, it does not, it won't take you out, right? People have recovered and have changed their family legacy because of this event like this. And that's what we want to see you guys' story go through, Melissa.

But it is gut-riching to the identity and the core of who you guys are. And so stay with it. Thank you so much for calling. This is The Ramsey Show.