The Ramsey Show - App - My Band Screwed Me Over - Should I Take Them to Court? (Hour 2)

Episode Date: April 12, 2021

Debt, Business, Insurance, Career 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. The paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of BMW as the status symbol of choice. I am Dave Ramsey, your host. You jump in, we'll talk about your life and your money. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Christy Wright, Ramsey Personality, number one best-selling author, is my co-host today.

Again, the number 888-825-5225. Johnny is with us in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Hi, Johnny, how are you? Hi, Dave, how are you doing? Better Carolina. Hi, Johnny. How are you? Hi, Dave. How are you doing? Better than I deserve, sir. How can we help? Good.

Hey, I was calling. I have a couple of questions. The first one is, if I have a loan with an interest rate of less than 1%, why does it make sense to attack that loan and try to get rid of that debt when I could use the minimum payments and not have to pay a lot of interest and put the extra money from my income into a savings account with a higher return or a Roth IRA or some sort of retirement plan where I'm going to be getting 10% return or higher

if I was doing like investing and stuff. Okay. And so how old are you? I'm 28 and a little bit of my background. I went to the, I went to the United States military Academy. I got kicked out and luckily didn't have to pay back everything. And I enlisted, but I still have that loan payment. So my income is around $2,100 a month, and my minimum loan payment is $618, and it was originally a $36,000 loan. I got it down to about $10,500. Good for you.

$10,500. Good for you. Okay.,500. Good for you. Okay. Well, it's a really good question, and it's asked by a lot of people, and it took me a little while to understand the answer. When I went broke and lost everything because I had too much debt, my first part of my journey was through a faith lens because I had all these letters and licenses and degrees after my name all about finance.

It said I was supposed to know something about money, but there I was bankrupt. So apparently I was a doofus, right? And so I started approaching things first through the faith lens, and I read in the Bible that the borrower is slave to the lender, and I started learning from Christian teachers that the Bible doesn't have anything good to say about debt. So if God doesn't like debt, why would I? Okay, so I quit. I don't borrow money.

And I did it on that basis alone. Over the years, that was 30 years ago, over the years, I also have approached it through the lens of mathematics or academia. And so here's what I have discovered. When you say, all right, I could invest in a mutual fund at 12%, why would I ever pay off my house at 3% because I could use that money and invest it at 12% or 11% or whatever, and I'm going to make an 8% or a 9% spread? And that's the essence of your question, isn't it?

Yeah, I guess, you know, talking about a house or something like that. Well, or whatever or whatever whatever the whatever the debt anytime i can borrow money at a cheaper rate than i can invest it why would i ever not do that as much as i can do it okay yeah and the way to the way to explore that and answer that sometimes is scale something and see if your idea works with scale and so if you could borrow 50 million dollars and go in debt 50 million dollars in order to invest that money and make the spread would you do it and it kind of that causes you to heart to stop a second you go get a little little tightness in your throat and your stomach if you're if you're mature anyway your stomach starts to move

up towards your throat you think you want to throw up. When I put scale to the idea, it scares you. Why does it scare you? Because there's risk. And risk was left out of your formula. Okay? Right. And the honest truth is there's actual mathematical ways to insert risk into the formula.

Let me give you a little lesson here on mutual funds, okay? An aggressive growth stock mutual fund is very volatile. If you were to map it, it goes way up and way down, like a super crazy roller coaster. The difference in the top of that mountain and the bottom of that valley mathematically, in a statistical measure, is called a beta. The greater the beta, the greater the volatility, the greater the risk of the mutual fund. And so if you have an aggressive growth stock mutual fund with a beta of two, which will take your breath away,

or you have, and it makes a 26% rate of return, you do not compare that if you are sophisticated, apples to apples, with a growth in income mutual fund which has a beta of a.5, meaning the kiddie roller coaster. Okay? Right. And so you don't compare 26% with 12% without adjusting for risk, and you use an inverse formula in mathematics with that beta and adjust for risk, and then you can measure

these things accurately against each other, risk-adjusted. You have no risk adjustment in your formula, so your formula's wrong. Right, I understand that. Okay, so don't borrow money because you're not risk-adjusting on your theoretical concept, and you're making $2,200 or $2,100 a month. And the second piece of data that you want to do is the study that we did here. And as we studied millionaires, Christy, and we studied 10,167 millionaires, we did not find any of them that said the way I became a millionaire

was by not paying off low-interest debt and investing the money. Not a single one out of 10,167 that we interviewed, and they were Ramsey millionaires and white space millionaires, meaning they don't even know who I am or we are. And so if real millionaires aren't doing that to become wealthy, and your formula is wrong, both of those things tell you, don't do this crap. Yeah. I think people get caught up in the math,

and it's not that the math is not important. They don't get caught up enough in the math. It's about the motivation, the momentum of one thing at a time in the baby steps. But the other thing I want you to account for, and you talked about this with risk, Dave, the thing that I think people miss is in debt any type of debt with the risk you're losing power and control and options when you own things when you save and put your money in savings when you are debt free then you have more power more control

and more options and everything we teach is about increasing your power and control and decreasing your risk because when you do you increase your probability of becoming wealthy yes and you don't have to start over again like i did because i was stupid and deeply in debt right and so you owe anyone anything you know i never my risk meter was broken i think when they get you in the real estate business they take a hammer to your risk meter and just break it because all these real estate investors they don't even they do not perceive the risk of the leverage yeah and they just buy you know we had all these seminars going on in the 80s, nothing down real estate. The guy went chapter 11 that wrote the book, you know? Yeah.

And so, you know, and all these, I was running into a guy the other day, I had forgotten the name. There was a nothing down seminar on TV, on the first infomercial was a guy named Dave Del Dotto. Okay. And I ran into him at this big, he owns a big house in Cabo when I was visiting down there the other day. And it's like, and he has a big winery and all this stuff. But he made all this money from the infomercial, not from real estate.

Not from the real estate. Yeah, I mean, real estate's fine. But here's the thing. Debt is not the shortest path to wealth because of the risk factor. That's what it comes down to, Johnny. You can try it and be a hardhead if you want, but that's the answer to the question. This is the Ramsey Show. Are you feeling stuck and disengaged in your current job? Are you one of the millions of people who have been affected by the pandemic?

If you're searching for a new job for any reason, the Get Hired livestream event on Tuesday, April the 27th is for you. At this one-night event, you'll learn how to get clear on what you do best, get qualified for the job you want, and get connected to job opportunities. You'll walk away

knowing how to build a great resume that'll get you noticed. You'll know how to nail the interview process from application to offer, and then you'll learn how to seal the deal after the interviews. It's time to take the next step toward doing work you love. No matter what your situation, there is hope. Join me on Tuesday, April the 27th, to take control of your career and start working toward what you were born to do. Tickets start at just $20. Text HIRED to 33789 to learn more. Again, text HIRED to 33789.

If you're feeling stuck or disengaged in your current job, or maybe you just dread getting out of bed to go to work in the morning, if you're searching for a new job for any reason, our Get Hired livestream event on Tuesday, April 27th is for you. This one-night event is going to help you learn how to get clear on what you do best get qualified for the job you want and then get connected to real job opportunities it's time to take the next step toward the work you love no matter your situation ken coleman is going to be holding this, our in-house career expert, host of the Ken Coleman Show. And Ken can show you exactly what to do to land into a position that is more fulfilling, making more money, and get your life back. Life is too short. Now, sometimes we go through dry seasons.

Sometimes we go through ups or downs. That's not what we're talking about. But if you're stuck in a mess, you're going to stay stuck there until you do something about it. Ken can help you do that. He'll give you an exact game plan, step by step. Join him on Tuesday, April 27th to take control of your career and start working toward what you were born to do. Tickets start at just $20.

Text HIRED to 33 789 hired to 33 789 cory is in huntsville hi cory welcome to the ramsey show how can we help hey dave thanks for taking my call today sure Sure. I'm honored to talk to you both. You too. My question is, I started a handyman business about two years ago on the side, and I've got a steady job, but I want to take the handyman business full time. And it's kind of taken off to the point to where I work four tens on my regular job, and my other two days a week I'm working in the handyman business and it's getting to where i can't keep up hardly so i'm kind of stuck i can't make any more rather than what i'm making now on the handyman business why until i dedicate more time to it why can't you raise your

prices well i i guess i could i'm just i'm trying to get my name out there more. They're already too busy. How much are you making right now on the handyman job? Well, last year I cleared about $15,000, and I've got a little nest egg put back in my business. Right now I've got about $10,000 worth of work on the books as far as profit. What are you making your full-time job? Around $70.

And about how many hours a week, realistically, are you working on the handyman stuff? Probably $20 to $25. Okay. okay so if you doubled your income from 15 to 30 by doubling your hours only you're still going to be at half of what you're making now if you quit and go full-time yeah how long you've been doing it two years uh yes ma'am your name's out there cory you've not been doing this two months. Your name's out there. If you're going to get this job to be something you can do full-time and even get close to what you're making now, you're going to have to raise your prices.

Do you see the math of that? Because even like Dave said, even if you double the hours, you're still at half of what you're making. So raising your prices... You'll work a 50-hour week for $30,000 a year? No, sir. Well, 15 is what you're making on a 50-hour week for $30,000 a year? No, sir. Well, 15 is what you're making on a 25-hour week on Handyman. Isn't that what you told me?

Well, that was last year, which I mean, every year I've started getting busier and busier. This year it's really took off. And I'm getting all this work right now. So what do you project if you just keep it going like you're going right now part-time? What do you project you will make on your handyman business in this calendar year? Profit. I think I could make 30 this year

on the side. Okay. Then if you double that and work 50 hours, you could make 60. Yeah. So you still need to raise your prices. Okay. The other thing I want you to not be afraid of, Corey, is a lot of small business owners, especially when you're a solopreneur, you're doing this whole thing yourself,

there's a fear that if I raise my prices, people won't come to me. Pricing cannot be your only value proposition. They need to come to you because you're good, because you're reliable, because you do the work on time. You actually tell the truth. You tell the truth. And then when you raise your prices, they'll pay more than you think because they want a good, reliable handyman that does good work. And what's interesting is you actually may get customers that you're not getting right

now because you're so cheap. What price range home are you working in on average? Probably around $200,000. $200,000. Yeah, you need to kick that up. Yeah, I'm trying to get my name out and more. You need to be working 750,000 to a million and a half homes in Huntsville, Alabama, and they will pay more because, let me just tell you, the luxury market,

if you can give them reliability, integrity, you show up on time you do what you say you're going to do and it's quick it's efficient they don't you don't give them a bunch of hassle they will pay you for that and they don't mind you are not ripping them off i am one of them the other thing cory is the handyman business that is a word of mouth marketing business everyone talks about who did great work at their house. They will tell all their friends. So in case for some reason they don't do it on their own, which they probably will, ask for it. Ask for referrals.

You finish a job, leave your business card. Thanks so much. If you know of anyone else that I might be able to help, get them spreading the word for you. Among their friends. Among their friends. And that will grow your business even faster. With your price increase, you'll see this thing take off a lot faster than it would otherwise. Yeah, the yoga class for the woman that lives in the million two house is full of prospects.

Okay. Once you've taken care of her problem and her husband doesn't have to screw with it, you are a freaking hero, dude. Every person that's ever worked on our house has been a referral i've never brought someone that i just as a random person it's always been someone worked on someone else's the guy that built our deck at our house and by the way friend that built a deck and get a did a good job it's word of mouth yeah and by the way when you do a good job and you charge fairly and you charge what you say you were going to charge and you do it on time and efficiently um you will not be able to beat people away from your door because you don't have any competition because most people doing what you're doing don't do a good job they don't follow up they

you know they don't finish on time come in on the house dirty and by the way they get referrals too where they're that same yoga class knows don't use that that's right that's right because she's going to tell everybody that That's how it works. This tribal marketing, get in these tribes. So I think you need to raise your sights on the price range of home you're serving, the wealth of the client. That way, price is less of an object. Let's work this a little bit more.

Let's get this to where when you double your hours by quitting that you uh are going to at least make what you're making uh if you can get the boat that close to the dock then i'll make the jump but right now you're gonna be swimming because the boat's not close enough to the dock you're gonna hit the water dude uh because you there's too much gap between where you are and where you want to be and you're just it's a wing and a prayer and a wish that you're hoping is going to get you there and it's not and cory write this a wish that you're hoping is going to get you there, and it's not. And, Corey, write this down. Run your numbers through the end of the year.

What do you need to make? How many hours do you need to work? How many clients do you need to have? At what dollar project to know by this goal, by this time frame, I could quit and make the same amount of money? You need to see it because otherwise it's just going to feel like this season is never ending. You're tired from working full-time in this side gig. It'll motivate you to stick with it for this whole season to build that business up enough on the side where you can make that next step. Not a terrifying leap, that step. You know what goes with that?

That's a really good suggestion. And what goes with that, the number two punch with that is start studying what type of work has the most margin. I mean, are you doing some stuff that has no margin in it? And, you know, so you just quit doing that type of repair. This type of, unless it's a long-term client and you've got to do it just as a favor to keep a long-term client busy. But figure out where you're making your stinking money. You may be able to do X type of a handyman job

and make three times as much per hour as you could on Y just because of what people are willing to pay for X versus Y. Yeah, and find out, I mean, while you're at it, you can find out where are you losing money. Someone comes in and goes, oh, while you're here, change the wall. Okay, well, that's going to be extra. You know, add-ons, scope creep. Yeah, exactly.

And it's like, you know, you can have a menu of services but take stuff off the menu that's not selling well and doesn't have margin. And that's a beautiful way to get at this. Man, you've got a great business, Corey. Let's just fine-tune it a little before you make the leap. That's what we're trying to help you do here. Great question, sir. This is the Ramsey Show. Christy Wright, Ramsey personality, is my co-host today.

Juan and Lindsey are with us. They are ready to do a debt-free scream from Denver, Colorado. Hey, guys, how are you? Doing good. How are you? Better than I deserve. Welcome. So good to have you. How much debt have you paid off? We've paid off $79,355.

Awesome. Love it. How long did this take? 15 months. Wow. You kicked it. And your range of income during that time? We started off at $108,000, and we ended at $130,000.

Good. What do you guys do for a living? I'm a nurse. I order selector at King So supers warehouse great very cool good for you guys you've been working your butts off hadn't you yeah so what kind of debt was this 79 000 credit cards student loans car payments and a medical ivs loan wow tons of debt so what happened 15 months ago that lit you on fire? I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, and I couldn't. I was looking at our budget. I'm like,

we make so much money. I can't do this. So we had heard about you, and that night I was Googling how to get rid of debt, and I signed up for FPU, and it was no turning back after that. That's cool. So Juan, wait a minute. She walked in and said, I just signed us up for FPU, and it was no turning back after that. That's cool. So, Juan, wait a minute. She walked in and said, I just signed us up for FPU. What did you say, man? What? Yeah.

So I kind of followed her step. Oh, so no resistance. You just went along for the ride, huh? Yeah. I mean, I just got tired of, you know, we'll pay off one credit card, then, you know, slowly we'll start using it, or I'll start using it again, and next thing you know, it's $3,000, $4,000 on that, and just got tired of that. The second night in FPU, I cut up 22 credit cards, and that was a record for our class.

Wow. That's our class. Wow. That's a lot. Yeah. Yeah, it is. So you guys were just kind of doing the rat in a wheel thing, just run, run, run, run, run, have a heart attack and die, right? Yeah. Lindsay, you bring up a good point, though,

when you said you wanted to be a stay-at-home mom and you looked at how much money you made and you couldn't do it. I think a lot of people have that moment where they realize we are making such good money and we have nothing to show for it. We're making such good money and we can't do it, I think a lot of people have that moment where they realize we are making such good money and we have nothing to show for it. We're making such good money and we can't achieve our goals, whatever that thing is, and you realize in that moment something's got to change.

Yes. And all while doing it, I lost 30 pounds on beans and rice diet. Okay. Well, there's that. Oh, my gosh. Well, discipline begets discipline they say that when you've got your act together in one area of your life it blends over into the other areas very naturally is what i've always heard and i think that's probably absolutely right so very

very well done you guys what do you tell people the secret to getting out of debt is? The cash envelopes. Yeah. Yeah. Budgeting. So you guys were working together in unity, in lockstep, as you went along then? Yes. Yes. Way to go. Congratulations.

How does it feel? So amazing. It's still not real. I can't believe we're even talking to you. This is amazing. Yeah. So when did you pay off the last debt? February.

February 20th. Oh, just the other day. Excellent. So when you paid that off, when you look back at the list of people you paid off, which one debt on that list you go, I hate you people. I'm so glad you're gone. I would have to say it was the IVF medical loan because we had calculated we wouldn't pay off our daughter until she was 15 years old. And she's four years old now, and we paid it off.

So I'm like, never again, never again. Wow. And that's a whole different type of loan because of how personal that is. That's your baby. Yeah. Wow. I told her, if we don't pay you off, mija, the bank's going to come and get you. Oh!

Whoa! You have to sit in the vault until we get you paid off, and then you can put your own layaway. Yeah. She's not up for a repossession. Oh, my gosh. I'm thinking she's probably going to tell her counselor this story when she's older. Oh, my gosh. That's traumatic. traumatic i love it you guys are fun well congratulations you guys we're so proud of you very very well done you're rock stars so will you ever go back in debt never no not for anything nothing big enough

22 cards are gone your wallet's a little thinner now and the best way other than those cash envelopes those cards are gone yeah yeah even with the cash envelopes like i have my debit card but i never use it that's cool i like that yeah i hardly ever use mine i've got a i i carry a a money clip with money in it and that's my redneck envelope, I guess. But, you know, and so I still use a debit card at the gas station and a few other places. But lots of places, I actually, I'm still that weird dude that pays cash. And people are like, how do you make change again? You know, because nobody knows how anymore.

So, way to go, you guys. We got a copy of Rachel Cruz's book for you, Know Yourself, Know Your Money, her latest New York Times bestseller, and help you out with that. And so, count it down, Juan and Lindsay, Denver, Colorado, $79,000 paid off in 15 months, making $108,000 to $130,000. Count it down. Let's hear your debt-free scream. Three, two, one. hear your debt-free scream three two one

that's what it sounds like when you finally get free when you finally get free. That's a big deal. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Rodrigo is writing in asking about Business Boutique. He says, my wife and I are opening a new hair salon. It will have eight booths being rented out. Do we need to have an LLC? You know, Dave, you and I have talked about this before because I actually came to you years ago when we were starting Business Boutique of what are the technicalities. And really, the simplest way you explained it to me, which I thought was really helpful, is are you in a high liability business or do you have a target on your back?

Do you have the perceived wealth or a lot of wealth where people would want to sue you? And if you don't, then you're probably fine to operate as a sole proprietor for those first years, starting out until you really get into the millions. And so I think that you don't see a hair salon as a high-liability business. If you're opening up something like I used the example of a horseback riding camp for kids, it's high liability. You've got unpredictable animals, that type of thing. But a hair salon, I don't think is.

What do you think? Yeah, I mean, you've got eight booths. One of those people could get twisted up and decide to try to sue you or something. So you could do an LLC just to kind of ward them off, because the most they could get would be the things that the LLC owns if you lost the lawsuit or that kind of a thing. But, you know, good business practices, more than anything else, will keep you out of court.

Yeah. And so, I mean, we've run this business for 30 years and have had just a handful of lawsuits out of all that time. Of course, the vast majority of that time we have been an LLC or a sub-S corp. So it would be okay either way here. If you've got eight people, different people at eight different booths that could screw up something yeah um i don't know what it would be but people get pretty emotional about their hair i hear i don't know i don't have this issue but i've heard that heard about stories so people that have hair so uh but the uh uh you know i mean if you got a i don't know uh uh someone felt like

they got a chemical infection yeah getting their hair dyed or whatever. I'm making up stuff here. I don't even know. Yeah, the eight booths is what stood out to me as far as the only thing that made me think it might need to be. But typically, I mean, that's not a dangerous business. But if you've got eight people, that's just by scale and scope, you know. Exactly. And what you and I have talked about in the past, too, is I started this as a sole proprietorship.

And you just open that as a DBA doing business as Dave Ramsey, DBA doing business as the Lampo Group. And then we incorporate the Lampo Group and later took it to an LLC. But that was after we got a little bit of size to where someone there was something to get. Right. But basically, if you're broke and you're starting a business and it's a little startup thing, you don't need to spend the money or the screw with the tax returns to do an LLC on everything you do. Yeah. That's overkill.

Yeah. This one's kind of on the bubble, so it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and do it just because of the eight booth thing. That would be the only reason I would think about it here. But good question riding in, Rodrigo. We appreciate that. This is The Ramsey Show. Thank you. Christy Wright, Ramsey personality, is my co-host today.

Open phones at 888-825-5225. Steven is in Nashville. Hi, Steven. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. How can we help? Hey, Dave. Hey, Christy. Huge fans of what y'all are doing. Thanks for taking my call. Thank you. Sure. Yeah, so right now I'm in a pretty tough situation. I used to be in a band and we spent about four years

building it and eventually got offered a record deal at the beginning of 2020. And unfortunately, the lead singer in my band decided last minute that he didn't want me in the band and cut me out of the record deal. And it's been a back and forth ordeal with our lawyers and their lawyers and just trying to get what I deserve out of it, especially since I tracked on all the previous songs that was sold to the label. At this point, it doesn't look like they're going to want to meet in the middle, and I don't have enough money to take them to court. So my question is, should I keep fighting for what's mine,

or should I just let go of it and trust God with it? So was there a partnership agreement? How was the band formed? Yeah, so it was kind of a, it started off as a thing formed in high school, so there wasn't really a rent agreement or anything like that. It just started off as a hobby. But I mean, what was your understanding was you were a partner? Yes, sir. That you were not an employee?

Right, yes, sir. And was that everyone else's understanding yes sir what happened like why did they kick you out do you know what's the story yeah so basically we had been in for about four years, and when we were forming up, getting to the record deal, basically all four of us, there was four band members, and we had a new guy come in later on in the picture. He wasn't an original band member. And when he had joined, basically, I guess he just started manipulating. I'm confused how, if you're equal partners, how one of the equal partners can decide to kick somebody out. Yes, exactly.

Well, why don't you just say, I'm not kicked out, you are. Yeah, well, apparently the thing is he already went behind my back without telling me. He went and had another contract going and then bugged the news to me what had happened. So I hadn't, there was no form of communication. So they did a contract and everybody else signed it with the record company and you were cut out of the deal is what it amounts to. Right. Okay, and that's how he kicked you out. Okay, that's logical.

I'll see how that happens. All right. Okay, so what's on you is, and we've all done this, but you were young and stupid and you did not do an agreement in writing, and you don't do anything in business without an agreement in writing. And it's not because contracts are magical and make people behave. It's because that way there's a real clear understanding of what the flip is really going on here. Instead, we went from garage band and the back of the van into a deal with no agreement.

And that's where you got screwed. And so I've done stuff where I left myself vulnerable. That's what you did. And I end up getting screwed because I left myself vulnerable. And what I get from that, I call that stupid tax when I do it because I pay. I lose money because I was stupid. And my trick is in life to never pay the same stupid tax twice. You won't ever do this one again, will you?

No, sir. You'll always have it in writing from now on. And so how much money is involved? It was a six-figure project, so it was a $250,000 project. Is that how much money you would have gotten, one-fourth or one-fifth of that? So there would be, they didn't specify exactly how much money up front that the band members would get, but about 90% of that, I'm guessing 80% to 90% of that was definitely used for just marketing,

studio fees. Okay, so you didn't get any real money then. No, that's it. You're going to go to court over $5,000. Gotcha. I don't think it's worth the headache, Stephen. I mean, the money is a piece of it. It's more just like you just feel wronged and i get that but

you're continuing to let it steal your peace of mind by continuing to worry about it and so it's just like dave said it's the stupid tax i think you just cut your losses walk away move on don't make that mistake again and i know you you're on those tracks and seeing them continue to make music without you is like that's got to just like really get to you but i think if you can let that go cut those ties and move on you will feel such a different level of peace because i just can't even imagine how draining this must be on you to worry about stress about yeah i mean they owe you for rent uh in your head because they've been living in your head for a while yeah yeah absolutely that's what christy's

saying and when you just when you give them the eviction notice from your head, then you're going to get back to living life again and move on. Mathematically, it's not worth it to fight. You're going to spend $15,000, $20,000 trying to capture five if you win. There's not a principle here that's worth fighting on for me, especially since you did not get it in writing and that's on you as well um and so i think you know i think the best thing that would end up happening is you end up settling or some silly thing like that and it's some kind of a moral

victory i just i'm with you i think your first up suggestion when you came on the on the line steven was do i walk away and let god handle this and the answer is yes and that has nothing to do with them it has nothing to do with what's right or wrong uh it has uh and it has nothing to do you know there's some things worth fighting for um and you you know you allocate money to fight for it and it's just because i'm that's a fight i need to win just before the lord i'm not going to get messed over on this and I'm going to fight this one to the death. And so, you know, we're going to just put a budget together for the legal fees, and we're just going to be there a while. Let's just do it.

You know, game on. But most things, you're better off to just go water off a duck's back and move along. And, I mean, this will be something you talk about with buddies over coffee 20 years from now that happened to you back when. And it's just that time you learned a lesson. I would turn it loose. And, you know, the other thing is that you're in Nashville, and the music business really is not that big and so now this guy every time you're around music this guy that screws people over he's got another problem because he's got you out here screwing up his reputation because it's screwed up because he lies and steals and so it's going to cost him a lot more than

five thousand dollars over the scope of his life because, again, you're in a fairly small community of people. They're not that large. And so, you know, word gets out on a guy and nobody wants to work with him. And it's, you know, that's going to cost him. He's the one that's really screwed up here. So, anyway, and the other thing is you just learned, America, about record contracts. Woo-hoo, we got signed. We're going to give you $250,000, except we're really not.

We're just going to commit to spend that on you, sort of, maybe. And we're going to run up the studio fees, and we're going to run up the recording costs. And when all this is done, you're going to get $3, and we're going to own your masters. And then if you get a big hit, and it's so big that it out earns all this stupidity, then actually you will be a star and have some money. But most of the time you will just end up with no money and a record. The other thing, Stephen, I just want to encourage you is it feels like that maybe you you're thinking if you decide to move on and let this go, that it makes what they did OK and it doesn't. Yeah, it doesn't make it OK. You're just going to move on and let this go that it makes what they did okay and it doesn't yeah it doesn't make it okay you're just going to move on for your own peace of mind for your own quality of life for

your own progress and not letting it continue to eat at you so don't feel like it somehow dismisses that this was a big deal it was a big deal and that hurt and those are your friends from high school and that was your music and your art you made together that that must really hurt and it's okay to be hurt and still decide to let it go and move on. Agree. Yeah, I mean, there are things that hurt you and piss you off, and you remember them. And you remember the people. And, you know, some of these things, you know, it's not a matter of sitting around

and holding a grudge and, you know, wringing your hands over it. But it is to, you know, if Dr. John Deloney was here, he would is to you know if dr john deloney would hear was there he would say you know it's a loss and it's a valid loss and grieving about a valid loss of friendship grieving about a valid loss of being you know taken to the cleaners by somebody is um that's a valid thing you know you got hurt dude and to christy's point i agree with that so but if i'm in your shoes you asked uh i'd move on i've picked my battles there's some of my fight to the death but most of them i don't so there you go that puts this hour of the ramsey show did you know the ramsey show is one of the most

popular podcasts in the world subscribe or follow today wherever you listen to podcasts.