The Ramsey Show - App - Oh Brother! Mike Paid Off $20K in One Year! (Hour 2)

Episode Date: November 13, 2018

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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. Thank you for joining us. We have a huge lineup of live events beginning in January. The Smart Money Tour will restart. The Smart Conference is in Dallas January the 12th. The Money and Marriage event will be in Nashville, Kansas City, Des Moines, and Dallas next year. And our last live event of the fall season is this Thursday evening in San Antonio. It's a smart money event with me and Chris Hogan walking you through the baby steps. You will laugh.

You will cry. You will learn how to do the stuff we talk about here on the air. And you need to come and bring your spouse. The only problem is San Antonio is sold out. Thank you, Santonio we appreciate you absolutely incredible thank you so much and so we're going to have almost 3 000 folks there live in the audience but wait there is hope you can watch it from wherever you are live, live streaming. And just check out DaveRamsey.com, and you can get a live stream ticket

and watch from the comfort of your home. And even if you're in San Antonio and you missed getting a ticket, you can still watch live. So there you go. We've got about 10,000 homes, so somewhere around 20,000 to 25,000 folks will be watching on the live stream as well as the 3,000 in the audience. And so we are excited about San Antonio at Oak Hills Church. We'll be where we are, Max Licato's place over there. My buddies, good guys.

And looking forward to being there in San Antonio again. I love San Antonio, and San Antonio has loved us for a long time. Thank you very, very much. We appreciate the sellout. We appreciate the interest in the show. Thank you so very much for who you are and how you do things. We appreciate it. We're going to see you on Thursday night with Bellzone.

We'll be ready to go, man. And I won't literally have Bellzone. It's not that close to Christmas. But anyway, we're going to have a great time. So make sure you get your tickets at 888-22-PEACE, 888-227-3223, or, of course, go to DaveRamsey.com. Joe's with us in Los Angeles starting off this hour. Hey, Joe, how are you? I'm doing well.

How about yourself, Dave? Better than I deserve. What's up? That's good to hear. So my student loan grace period will be ending on December 3rd, and I don't know if I should pay off the interest that accrued or if I should pay off the last of my credit card debt. And it's just because I don't know how capitalization works on a loan and if it would even affect me. It doesn't matter. No,

I would pay off the interest that has accrued as part of your now balance, and they're charging you interest on your now balance. And there's no big capitalization here. There's no big secret here. It's just that's what you owe. We're going to pay it off as quick as we can, same as with your credit card. And so whichever one is the smallest debt is the one we're going to attack, and your debt's snowball.

Okay. I assume that's your credit card, right? What was that? I assume your smallest is your credit card. Yes, it is. It's at $1,100. Okay, and what's the balance on your student loan? The balance is $44,359.

Okay, all right. And what do you make in a year? This year I should make about $52,000 a year. Okay, very good. All right. And you're single, it sounds like. I'm not, no. I'm a dad and I have a girlfriend.

Okay, all right. But you're attacking this with your income only then, huh? Yes, that is correct. Okay, all right. Well, I mean, it's going to take you a little while with a family there to uh to knock 44 000 out with 52 income but you'll get there and uh yeah but go ahead and knock out the credit card and then just pay your minimum payments on a student loan until you get the credit card knocked out but you ought to have it knocked out very quickly maybe even by the time we get to december and then it won't matter but um yeah i'm just going to take that

student loan on uh and just wrestle it to the ground, man. Wrestle it to the ground and pull its teeth. Get old Sally Mae kicked out of the house. That's it. All right, Jason's with us in Sacramento. Hi, Jason. How are you? Good, Dave.

How about yourself? Better than I deserve. What's up? So here's our scenario. Me and my wife, we we're currently living with my parents we've saved a total the last three years fifty two thousand dollars and uh like i said we're wondering if we should buy a house in either here california or out of state and we wanted your opinion okay are you out of debt yes we currently have been very blessed in that situation.

We don't have any overhead. We just have our major bills. Our parents have just told us to work and save, and that's all we've done for the last three years. Okay. How much do you have saved? $52K. Good. And that includes your emergency fund, or do you have a three- to six-month emergency fund in addition to that?

I don't have a three- to six-month. We're trying to figure out how to learn to do it your way. Okay. Well, three to six months of expenses would come out of your 52, and then the remaining would be what you have for a down payment. And what's your household income? My wife makes 33K gross. I was currently making about 55 to 60 but i just currently um got laid off um i'm in sales so i'm currently getting unemployment of 1800 a month okay well obviously you need to get reemployed now what makes you think about leaving the state what's the deal well i just see uh that's what we're trying to fare i see so many just you know obviously cheaper houses you know i don't not too much big into this liberal state here also, and just how they do things here.

But I wanted your opinion, just like you said, I'm thinking about, you know, cheaper homes is what basically it comes down to from what I've been told. Okay. So where would you maybe move? Well, we're thinking about the midwest southern states um just uh trying to i'm also wondering should we wait um and continue to save if possible here's the thing my wife obviously wants to spread her wings and fly which she deserves that and i want to give that to her yeah i think i think it's time to leave uh because it's you're at a point of crossroads on your job and if you're going to land a job in, you know, Des Moines, Iowa or whatever,

it's time to do it while you're between jobs. Okay. And, you know, even if you go and you take your money and you go rent for a little while in that area, and you set some aside for emergencies, and then you continue to build your down payment there, and then maybe buy six months or a year later, once you make that move. But you've probably been there long enough.

Yeah. I mean, I'm not saying you have to leave California, but you need to make your decision where you're going to live while you're jobless. Because you don't want to do a job search there and then turn around in four months and go, you know, I think we're moving to Des Moines. You know, or whatever. I made up a town. But, you know, I think we're moving to Des Moines. You know, or whatever. I made up a town. But, I mean, I don't care what town we're talking about. You can come to Nashville.

We'd love to have you. But, I mean, you know, that kind of thing. And, yes, housing's cheaper almost anywhere than California or Manhattan. I mean, that's pretty well it. You know, some of the most expensive real estate in America today. There's a few exceptions, but not many. Sacramento is a wonderful town. But, you know, if you're ready to leave, then now would be the time to do it.

You're at a crossroads. It's a good time. And I think your wife's telling you it's time. I think I heard that in this Between the Lines here. It's probably time. I think it's time. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Let me tell you a story about two families that are very much alike in a lot of ways. Both families have two working parents and a couple of young kids. Each has debt and has struggle to make ends meet, but they're starting to make headway with their budgets and

smarter decisions with money. They have dreams and plans, and the only real difference is that one family has the right amount of term life insurance and the other doesn't. Big difference. If one of the parents die, and that does happen. Their well-being would be destroyed. Paying for the mortgage, utilities, food, and other bills would be impossible, let alone saving for education or retirement. That's why every day I talk relentlessly about getting term life insurance. Just go to ZanderInsurance.com or call 800-356-4282 and see how inexpensive it really is.

Be the family that takes those deliberate steps to be different and responsible. It really does make you the hero of your story, and it puts you on course for better things ahead. Matthew is in Atlanta. Hi, Matthew. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? I'm like $92,000 in debt, and I try and I can't really get started on the baby steps. I'm seeing if you can help me out.

Why do you think you can't get started? I just don't have the additional income. I work out of town, but my budget changes all the time. And sometimes we get paid for dim. The next time we don't get paid for dim. So it's really hard for me to – I want to get a part-time job, but then I can't find anything because I'm only in one location for a couple weeks at the time. And I'm just – I'm struggling. I can't really figure out what to do.

Gotcha. You're single? I'm married. Okay. And what is the $93,000 in debt? I got a personal loan that's $9,800. I got a student loan that's $11,700. My mortgage is $48,000.

And auto loan for $23,000. And what's your income? I personally make $45,000, $46,000. My wife makes $11,000 and $12,000. So a total of $56,000, $57,000 a year. Uh-huh. Okay. Well, you've got a car you can't afford for one thing.

Uh-huh. A $23,000 car does not fit in this equation that you gave me. That's one of your problems. So what I would do is jump on. Have you tried the every dollar budget? I have. Okay. So the system works like this, man.

You've got $57,000 coming in. You look at what your monthly income is going to be for the upcoming month. You can estimate that pretty close. Now, you might be a little off because you may or may not get the per diem. All these other things could pop in or out, but you're going to be pretty close to what your take-home pay is going to be for the upcoming month, the month getting ready to start, December in our case today. And so then you list out what are you going to do with that and you give every one of those dollars an assignment taking care of food shelter clothing transportation and utilities before you do anything else the basics of life right once we've got food

shelter clothing transportation and utilities taken care of then and that's your car payment your house payment your lights and water you got money set aside for food then we begin to work on you know the baby steps as soon as we can find any other room in the budget but you've got room in this budget there this is doable um but you do have a car you can't afford and so part of what you're looking at is you're going to end up selling this car in order to get ahead because a $23,000 car in a household that makes $50,000 is too much car. When you have more than 50% of your household income tied up in things with wheels and motors that are going down in value, it's very difficult mathematically to get ahead and build wealth, like almost impossible. And so this car is what's killing you here.

That's one of the things that's got you stuck. And so I'm moving out of that, and I'm going to get on a detailed written plan. I think you can do this. But I think you and your wife are going to have to sit down together, decide that this is important, and we're not doing anything with money except what's on this page. The budget, you're the boss of it until you get it done. And once you get it done, then it's the boss of you.

It's going to tell you what to do because that way you go, no, we can't do that because we have more important goals like getting out of debt, more important goals like building wealth, more important goals. And you don't need to see the inside of a restaurant unless you're working there. And so, yeah, you don't need to see the inside of a restaurant unless you're working there. And so, yeah, you probably do need some extra work. You may need to look at your overall career track and go, is this working for me? Because you're not making a ton of money considering they're running you ragged out of town. So is there another direction you can go long-term with a career?

That's another thing you could look at here. But I think you can do this, Matthew. You keep working on it. You call me back if I can help more. Steven is with us in Dallas, Texas. Hi, Steven. How are you? Hey, Dave.

I'm great. Good. How can I help? We got 80K in my 401K and 80K in my bank. So I've got a decent amount saved, but I'm not really sure what to do with the savings. Okay. I'm not really sure what the future holds. Gotcha.

Okay. How old are you? 27. Cool. Where'd all this money come from? I'm not really sure what the future holds. Gotcha. Okay. How old are you? 27. Cool. Where'd all this money come from? I'm a programmer, so I just save. I don't send on anything basically. Okay. That works. You're single?

Yep, single. Okay. What do you make in a year? $105, which is actually a $12K raise from like a month ago. Ding, ding, man. Way to go. Very cool. Thank you. Okay, so what do you want to do with money?

Well, there's not much, so I figured I'd get a house or something. Okay. But I don't know if it's the right financial choice, and I want it to be the right financial choice, not just something to do. And I've also considered moving overseas for a couple of years. And something like Sweden, I think it would be easier to buy an apartment there for the time that I'm there and then sell it when I leave. So I'm not sure that I want my money locked up anywhere. And I'm not sure that I want it locked up in the housing market here or index funds here.

Or in Sweden. Yeah, or in Sweden. That's another thing. If I go over there for a couple of years, it could very well get locked up in the market there. Yeah, I'm thinking in a foreign country that you don't know the economy and you don't know the market. That's where I rent. And so, you know, what I would do right now, how old are you? 27.

27, okay. As weird as this sounds, since you just got a $12,000 raise, I'd start shopping for Swedish jobs. Yeah. And I think it's time to go. Well, I definitely in considering it i there's just a couple things that are keeping me here um and that's that i might start working for my dad and if i do that that would put the sweden thing on hold okay permanently and the problem with

renting in sweden is that um they've got long lines and you've got to wait in line for years and basically you have to find a second-hand rental. Mm-hmm. Okay. Well, it's up to you. I don't care. But I would not, if you're heading overseas, I would not buy something here and I would not buy something there.

Okay. I know I wouldn't do that. Is there a safe investment? Well, yeah, I mean, a savings account is safe. If you're leaving the money alone five years or more, then I would move towards some mutual funds with this money and at least park it in something, at least something like an index fund at a minimum. But you've got to be planning to leave it alone a while to do that.

But, you know, I think when you make your life decisions on where you're going to land like are we staying and working for dad are we going to sweden or what's the plan then that's going to tell you what to do with the money the 80 000 is not in the retirement now but part of that money needs to be set aside right now as your emergency fund not to be touched but the other part is what you can buy a property with once you know where you're going to settle right so we set aside three to six months of expenses out of that 80 000 as your rainy day fund your emergency fund and in your world that sounds like uh 15 000 bucks probably something like that uh because you don't spend a lot of money and i think 15 000 go a long

way if you had an income blip um and then you need to decide you know can you make as much money working with your dad is that a career choice you want to do long term is that your best plan and if it is and you're going to do that now then let's do it and just you know sweden is a place you visit on vacation then um but if you're going to make that journey and make the work move, then do it sooner rather than later if I were in your shoes. Because you've done very well. You know how to make money and you know how to save money and live on less than you make.

So you're way ahead of most people, much less most 26-year-olds. I mean, you're killing it, dude. You've done very, very well. Congratulations. But once you make your life choices, that'll tell you what to do with this money. In the meantime, if you're going to leave it alone five years or more, I'm talking about moving some of that above $15,000 towards an emergency fund. I mean, towards an investment, $15,000 being an emergency fund.

This is the Dave Ramsey Show. We'll be right back. Why in the world would you trust some random guy in a cube when getting your mortgage? Do you really think he cares about your long-term money goals? Well, he doesn't. Those companies care about getting you into whatever home loan program they're pushing that week. When it comes to ordering a cheeseburger, the meal deal works fine. But let's get real, people. We're talking about the largest investment you'll probably ever make, so don't be naive and trust an order taker who pressures you into a prepackaged loan.

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NMLS ID 1591. NMLSconsumeraccess.org. Equal housing lender. 761 Old Hickory Boulevard. Redwood, Tennessee 37027. In the lobby of Ramsey Solutions, our own Mike is with us. Mike Colling, one of our writers in our ELP department, not entree, I'm sorry, endorsed local provider area. Mike, how long have you been with us?

Since January. So nine months. Yeah. And you're already doing a debt-free screen. Yes, how long have you been with us? Since January. So nine months. Yeah. And you're already doing a debt-free screen. Yes, sir. Very cool. How much have you paid off? $20,000 in 12 months. Okay. But that was only when I started doing your plan. The previous four years, I had paid off only $15,000 of the total $35,370.65 of my student loan debt. So how much of this is all student loan? $20,000? Yes, sir. The whole thing? Okay. So you started three months before you came to work here, getting real serious about it. Yes. And then you end up actually working on the team after you learned about the plan. Tell me the story. How did all this happen? So I knew about your plan for a long time. I actually took

FPU years ago, recommended by my brother who did his debt-free scream just an hour ago. And it helped me get confident with money, but not enough to start paying more than the minimum payment on my student loan. So it wasn't until last year that I was itching for a new step in my life. I wanted to move to a new city, and I was thinking New York City. But I kept thinking about finances and how I'd barely be scraping by if I moved there. And because of the student loan payments that I kept having, I figured, well, if I could survive, but I'd have this debt for who knows how much longer. And so as I kept looking for jobs there, I started listening to your show again

and trying to get back into motivating myself. And you started talking about open positions here and i thought well maybe i should work there and i bet that would help motivate me yeah talk about peer pressure whoa so i saw a content writer jobs and i i just kept praying to god and asking is this my next step? And doors kept opening along the interview way. And then I knew once I got here that the rest of the people in this company were going to motivate me the rest of the way to be gazelle intense as we teach and have that definite purpose of focused intensity. And what city did you move from to Nashville? Rochester, New York.

Okay, so from New York. And your brother's in California? Yes, yeah, he moved out there. All right, so you moved from, instead of from Rochester to New York City, you moved to Nashville. Yeah. A little different. A little bit further.

A little different, yeah. Wow, well, very cool. So now you're an expert you write content here and you've actually done it now you first first you're a you're like a beauty school drop out i mean you dropped out of financial peace university you you completely ish it you ish it and now you then you get in the group where you kind of have to do it we're not like we're not like up in your business but it's a real popular thing around here to get out of debt. So tell people, what is the secret to getting out of debt now that you've done it?

Well, the secret for me was definitely that focus intensity. I always listen to your friend Dan Miller's 48 Days to the Work You Love podcast, and he always mentions the book Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich. And I read that book on my way here during the interviews, and it kept sharpening my mind, thinking just have one goal. You know, if nothing else works out, just focus on that one goal. And that was I want to pay my student loans off as quick as possible. And I was just projecting with my little limited math skills, maybe two years or so.

But as I got better and I started writing content here, I kept learning more and more. And I'm like, oh, this is going to be done before 2018 ends. Yeah. And here you are, man. Yeah. So 12 months, $20,000 paid off. Well, I'm proud of you.

Well done. Thank you. Good done. Thank you. Good job. Very cool stuff. Very cool. Congratulations. So who were your biggest cheerleaders? Your brother's got to be to get you into FPU, and then you finally end up doing it.

And then you end up working here. So he had to be one of your cheerleaders, right? Yes, yes. Ben was a huge motivator. And who else? The rest of my brothers. We have two other brothers who always cheer me on, my parents.

But I would definitely say my new team here that become family to me and living alone here. So these guys cheered me on every month, every article I write. They're like,

you're going to get there. This is going to, this is how you're going to do it. But also church groups like when i took fpu um you know everyone was really encouraging there um and motivated me but you know i wasn't ready to commit yet so yeah um but yeah yeah definitely a lot of cheerleaders well way to go mike congrats man thank you rats of course you get a copy of chris hogan's book you probably already have that but we'll give you one Congrats. Of course, you get a copy of Chris Hogan's book. You probably already have that, but we'll give you one.

We'll make sure you're taken care of. So good stuff. All right. It's one of our own team members here, one of our content writers in the endorsed local provider area, the Strategic Alliances Department. Mike Colling is with us and been here on the team nine whole months. About 12 months it took him to pay off $20,000. Count it down. Let's hear your debt-free scream.

Three, two, one. I'm debt-free! Yeah! Boom! That's so much fun, and the team goes wild. Yeah, a bunch of his co-workers came down. Now all you people get back to work. The whole lobby is full of Ramsey people.

Oh, my gosh. Way to go, you guys. Very cool. Cherney Mom. Very fun. Well, we love it when our own folks are able to do this stuff. No, we don't get into your business and tell you how you have to live to work here. No, we don't check to see if you have a credit card to work here.

We just assume the people that are smart enough to work here are going to be smart enough to do the stuff we teach because it works. And I've got to tell you, people are doing it inside this building and outside this building without a doubt. Well, if you want to know how to save some money and you want to start planning for Christmas right now, you can take advantage of our famous $10 sale in the online store at DaveRamsey.com. You can choose from over 50 of our most popular books, audio books, envelope systems, and more. Everything just $10 each.

You can even get my best-selling book, the most I've sold of anything. I've sold almost 7 million of these, The Total Money Makeover. And you can learn how to quickly dump your debt. You can learn how to raise money smart kids with Smart Money Smart Kids that I wrote with my daughter, Rachel Cruz, a number one bestseller as well. And we've added our best-selling book, Business Boutique, to the $10 sale. This book's the perfect Christmas gift for mom,

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All at DaveRamsey.com. Don't mess that up. Don't miss it. Susan's on Twitter. Dave, I called a collection agency today to pay an old vet bill. Part of my debt snowballed. They said it had already been written off and they removed it from my credit report so what should i do i feel like i still owe the money uh call the vet and uh you know how much it is and you can just mail them a check if you want

and uh but keep a copy of the check a return check or whatever but um if you you know you want to go back and clean up your debts you can do that there's nothing i think preventing you from doing it and uh you obviously know who the vet is you obviously know the vet bill how much it is and so it's not hard at all just go i didn't pay this years ago and or months ago or whatever it was and collection agency said they've written it off so not to worry about it, but I am worried about it. And I want to send you this check. I'll just send them a note with it.

Because they probably don't even have records, depending on how far back it is. I don't know. They might. But, yeah, nothing preventing you from doing that. It is very hard to go back and pay debts once they're bankrupted. I went back and paid off all my bankruptcy debts years later. It was very hard. It was many later. And it was very hard. It was many years later.

It was very hard. Trying to get a bank to take money that they don't have on their books showing as owed. They didn't have any way to program it. They didn't have any way to put it in their accounting system. It was very difficult. And it was weird. I mean, I'm trying to give them a big check and they wouldn't take it. I mean, we really had to fight with them to get them to take it.

It was hilarious. So, oh well. That's how it works. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Elizabeth is in Little Rock. Hi, Elizabeth. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, thanks for taking my call. Sure, what's up?

My husband and I are planning to build a house next June. The cost of the house will be around $225,000. By that time, we're hoping to have about $110,000 saved. My question is whether we should use that to cash flow the first part of the build or if we should take out the loan and then just throw the cash at the mortgage after we're done building. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter. You're going to do a construction loan with a permanent takeout loan meaning a permanent loan a regular mortgage to take out the construction

loan and so at the end of the build you'll still have 115 000 owed on the construction loan which regardless of which way you go okay and so that will be converted to a mortgage. Am I understanding that right? Yes, sir. Okay. And that includes the cost of the land and everything, right? Mm-hmm. It does. Okay.

Very cool. Very cool. Good job. So what's your household income? Last year we grossed about $100,000. Okay. So how quick are you going to pay off $115,000 on your house? Well, that depends on if I keep working or not not we're hoping to have some kids in there somewhere so my income will probably decrease okay all right cool well yeah i'm thinking you can knock

that out pretty quick though yeah if i were to keep working we could probably do it in under five yeah yeah i think you can how How much of the $100 do you make? I probably pulled in $40 to $50 last year. My income kind of varies. I have several different jobs. Okay. All right, cool. Well, the good news is you've done a great job to date.

I mean, where you are right now, you're in really, really good shape. And so it's not going to take you 15 years to clear up your mortgage. You know, you're going to clear it up really, really good shape. And so it's not going to take you 15 years to clear up your mortgage. You're going to clear it up really, really fast. I don't know if it's five or seven or three or what it ends up being, but, I mean, you might do it in three if you're both working. Because you've been saving at that rate already, haven't you? Yes, we've been saving like crazy. And if you just put that same lean into your mortgage that same way, how old are you? I'm 27.

He's 25. Yeah, I mean, you're stinking house paid for before you're 35. Well, we wanted to do cash all the way, but I don't think we're going to make it that far. Yeah, I mean, you're very, I mean, you've just done such a really good job. I'm just, all I'm saying is don't revert back and start being normal once you get in there. Go ahead. Oh, I don't revert back and start being normal once you get in there. Go ahead and reach over and smack that thing and knock it out. It's within reach. It's right there.

It's right there. Matt is with us in Baton Rouge. Hi, Matt. How are you? Better than I deserve. Dave, what about yourself? Better than I deserve. What's up?

How can I help? Hey, so I am planning on proposing. I'm 23 years old. Planning on proposing in the next six to eight months. And so my question is, should I stop putting extra on top of my note, on my truck note, and an extra $200 a month is what I'm putting towards my truck note. Should I stop putting that towards my truck note and put that aside just to buy a ring cash in the next six to eight months? Or should I keep on adding that $200 extra a month towards my note

and then finance the ring whenever I get to the to the may june july time so your goal is to be out of debt and to get married right yes okay if your goal is to be out of debt the first step to being out of debt is never borrow again right and so that means that you would slow your debt reduction on your truck enough to save to buy the ring. And so what do you make a month or a year? Right now, each check is $1,373, so it's about $2,800 a month take home. Okay, all right. That's net.

And what are you thinking of spending on the ring? $2,000 to $3,000. Okay, good. Yeah, $3,000 is your max budget. One month's income is enough on a ring. Okay. There's no correlation between the size of the diamond and the success of the marriage. Right.

Matter of fact, there might be an inverse correlation. At some point, there could be. So, but, you know, that's neither here nor there. But the thing is, and then the second thing is, you have dad, mom, somebody in your life that buys diamonds occasionally? No. Okay. diamonds occasionally no okay um diamonds are like furniture are some of the largest markup items on the planet and so um learn a little bit about it as you're getting ready to buy it learn a little not to become a diamond expert where you have to grade them or something like

that i'm not trying to get you to be an appraiser. But learn just a little bit about it, and then you can shop with something like a diamond broker, maybe even a pawn shop, and take it, have it appraised, that kind of a thing. But you're looking for a deal. You really are. Instead of walking into the mall jewelry store, which is the highest markup item on the planet now um there are some hometown jewelry stores that do a good job uh that might be an exception but you know your classic chains and that kind of stuff man you

know you just for the money you're spending you could have got twice as much. Right. If you learn a little bit about it. Slow the payment on the note. Yes, in order to save up your two grand. Put it aside, every check. Yeah, you got 10 months of 200 bucks is your $2,000, right? Right. Yeah. And anything else you can squeeze out now. I mean, the faster you save that up, the faster you get back to paying off the truck.

What do you owe on your truck? About $8,500. Okay, cool. squeeze out now i mean the faster you save that up the faster you get back to paying off the truck what do you owe on your truck uh about 8500 okay cool well it'd be nice to knock a bunch of that out too in the process but uh i'd like for you to crank this up even higher and go ahead and knock that out even more you know but but yeah before i would i would never borrow again which means the only way to buy a ring is save up for it, which means that you're going to slow down probably the truck in order to get there. And that's what you're looking at. So, hey, thanks for the call. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Lou is in Chicago.

Hi, Lou. How are you? Better than I should be, Dave. How are you? The same. How can I help? Well, I have a 14-year-old daughter in high school, and to listen to her, she is the last remaining 14-year-old on the planet without a smartphone.

And she wants one desperately. And while we could afford it, It would not be a hardship. We have been following you, and we just got our hands on the book you wrote with your daughter. But I wanted to hear what you had to say about how we could have her pursue some sort of savings towards this. She's a good kid, and she is involved in a lot of giving-type clubs at school, and I don't want to discourage that just to make money to buy a phone, you understand? But I do want her to have a sense of earning. You're right. There's four things you can do with money, and our job as parents is to make sure the kids can do all four.

Work, save, save spend wisely and give she's good at giving um she's probably not afraid of work right and so it's okay to balance the giving with the saving in order to do some wise spending so um it sounds like there's an opportunity for some lessons here, which is what I'm always looking for. I'm not as worried about the actual purchase because you could afford it. You can just write a check and buy the phone, right? But is there an opportunity to create a lesson here?

And it's something that she's highly motivated to do. So maybe we do a matching plan. We say when you save up this amount while maintaining some giving, while maintaining wise spending, then I'll match that and we'll do the phone. Could you expand on that just a little? Yeah, put a price. Does she earn any money doing anything? Actually, she just, it's funny you mention that.

Just in the last week, she got an idea of making these little bracelets, and then she's been getting about five bucks each from, it seems like a number of her friends have been interested. How is she doing giving then? You know, that would be lacking. Oh, I thought you said she was in a giving club at school. That's with time. Oh, I see.

I see, okay. Yeah, so,. Oh, I see. I see. Okay. Yeah, so, all right, let's get her working. Whether she's doing chores at the house, I don't know what she's doing, but let's get some kind of income flowing in. It doesn't have to be a big deal. And you can match her three to one. And so if she saves up $200, you put the other $600 with it or something like that and get

the $800 phone if that's what it is. I don't know which phone you're looking at, but something like that. And have her give some and have her spend some. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, it's Kelly, Dave's phone screener. We finished 2017 with a bang as the fourth most downloaded podcast of the year. Thanks to all of you for listening and helping us spread the word.