The Ramsey Show - App - Ramsey Show Reacts to Stupid Reality TV Money Advice (Hour 2)

Episode Date: March 24, 2022

Dave Ramsey & Rachel Cruze discuss: The YOLO, get-rich-quick mindset of a Love Is Blind episode, Using social security to pay off debt, What to do when you disagree with your spouse about money, Fear of using savings to pay off debt. Want a plan for your money? Find out where to start: https://bit.ly/3nInETX Listen to all The Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3GxiXm6

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey Show, where debt is done, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. Rachel Cruz, Ramsey personality, is my co-host today as we answer your questions about your relationships, your work, your job, your money, your life. It is a free call at 888-825-5225. Some say the advice is worth exactly what you pay for it. Pam is with us in Cincinnati. Hi, Pam. Welcome to the Ramsey Show.

Hi. Thank you so much for taking my call. I appreciate you guys. You too. I have a question to ask about retirement and collecting retirement early. I just turned 65 in February. I lost absolutely everything in a real ugly divorce that I had to end up paying for myself. During that time before then, I emotionally went to college on student loans, stupidly. So I owe $58,000 in debt. I got tired of being told I was too stupid to pass second grade. So anyway,

um, so you proved him wrong and got rid of him. Okay, good. Yes, but I can, um, in 36 months or less, I could pay it off if I chose to,

um, collect the retirement. But I work, I work, um, four part-time jobs right now and I babysit houses and dogs and elderly people in between all my jobs. So I lost my full-time job during COVID. I was a job coach for a local school, and the kids couldn't come back because they were compromised, most of them,

and the businesses weren't opening to teach them. I could teach them job skills. So I work at a local park right now as a park tech, and I sub in schools. So that's my question. And do I need long-term health insurance? Okay. And you're single? I am single.

And you have no money? Well, actually, I did have a lot, well, some in savings, and then I was playing dodgeball and foursquare with my kids at school, and within two weeks, I cracked three teeth, and I had to get caps on them, so my emergency fund is gone so the 65 year old teacher's playing dodgeball and gets her mouth knocked out what are you doing girl well you know they're fun they're my kids yeah it sounds hilarious i'm ready for all this fun oh my gosh i love you you're very cool very cool. Very cool. I just love it.

And I won't retire, and I don't want to retire. That's the thing. I don't want to retire. But you don't have a nest egg. You don't have a house. You have any other debt other than the student loan? No. No, because I don't believe in debt. And I actually had everything.

I haven't had any debt for a very long time. And then I stupidly, because I didn't listen to you, went into college after the twit. I got it. And then I ended up finishing because my dad was in the process of passing. My baby sister was in the process of passing. And they both said, please let mom graduate. So she did, and now I go. Okay, so stop. Here's what we're going to do.

The bigger question is not the student loan. The bigger question is what are you going to do for a living for the next 10 years? Because it's not four extra jobs. You don't have to answer me, but I'm saying that's going to affect the answer to do I pay off my student loans affect the answer to do i pay off my student loans the answer is do i pay off my student loans is yes as soon as you can and yes go ahead and take social security that's fine but but yes i want you to go get a full-time big girl job and start making some serious money and not be walking dogs at 65 years old as your full-time

gig for the next 10 years develop a career track here that you're going to step into with the degree you got. I'm sure you already have that on the table, but that affects the math, which affects this answer. Of what you're going to do, yeah. And Pam, I hope you have good community around you too. I mean, you've been through a lot and everything you kind of just threw at us. I was like, man, that's a tough journey. And so have good people in your corner too that are helping you and giving you stable uh wise advice because you're gonna be making

some big life decisions coming up yeah a divorce a job loss the loss of your little sister loss of your dad there's a lot going on here and drop the whole you know the shame around the student loans listen you did it but but you did it so now we're gonna work our way out don't don't live in that regret because i i kind of hear that i just think i think anybody who's 65 years old and gets their teeth knocked out with dodgeball is a beast and can do anything i think you're so cool i think you can do anything you want to do i'm i'm i'm so impressed and so that tells me that that kind of person can go and fix this and get a thing going. And you're going to be just great. You're going to really, really, really be moving in the right direction.

Megan is in Oklahoma City. Hi, Megan. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hello, Dave. So my question is, my husband and I, our house is currently on the market. And we are about to begin building in two to three months. So me and my husband are at a disagreement whether we should rent, and it's going to be about $15,000 over the next year, or we have a cabin we own.

If we put $30,000 into it, it would be livable, and we could live in that. So we're kind of more, we're at a disagreement on what to do. We did project. So he says his argument is we'll have a larger cash reserve while building the house. And then I'm saying, well, we're putting money into something we own. Oh, so you want to do the cabin? Yes, I do. Okay.

I'm going to tell you, Megan, for the sanity of your life, just renting somewhere is going to be easier than trying to fix up a cabin and live in it and build a house at the same time. Those are two big projects, and it feels – so just I'm throwing that out there. This is another factor I don't know. We will have 435 saved, and our projected house cost is going to be – That doesn't change the fact that you have two different building projects going on at the same time and you're living in one of them rachel's right that's going to be hairy well getting it done beforehand okay before you're where you're

going to live if your house sells tomorrow well we so we're not going to we can't we're not going to put a closing date until uh may 22nd because we're trying to avoid you can do the cabin by may 22nd uh there's not i don't there's not that much like it's already thirty thousand dollars wait a minute what are you doing what are you doing to the cabin uh so it's already there i know what's the thirty? Okay. So we have to put a water line in. It's like a very long water line. Okay. What else?

And then septic system. Okay. What else? And then we have to, so the bathroom, we're going to have to put a shower in and, like, move the toilet. And then we'll put the flooring in and just, like, get a couple cabinets, like prefab cabinets. Okay. So the cabin doesn't have water or a sewage system now?

No, they kind of, the people who did it. How in the world do you go to the cabin if you don't have water or sewage? You go outside. That's so strange. Yeah. Living on the land. I'm renting. I'm renting.

Me too. I'm with Rachel. That's a lot, Megan. I'm renting. I'm renting. Me too. I'm with Rachel. That's a lot, Megan. I'm sorry. And I might not rent as expensively as you were going to rent, but I might also fix up the cabin. This is The a smart move. I get questions all the time about where to start and what to do first. One of the most crucial and affordable

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Rachel Cruz is known among the family as our resident conspiracy theory expert. This is true. She is also our resident gambler. This is also true. And she is also our resident reality show expert. This is true. And all three things most of us don't care about, but Rachel brings us up to date on all of them.

This is true. And I love books. I will read. Oh, and you read. I do. I do. So I bring my book suggestions, too. This is better than playing craps.

Got a lot. This is better than reality show. I'm going to redeem my intellect here. I read, too. I do. I love books. I love books. I read about three a month, so there's that.

But, yes, reality TV. So I was watching a show that I just binged because I loved season one of it. Season two came out. Love is blind. Love is blind? Yes, it's on Netflix. It's on Netflix. So you, so I told. A reality show on Netflix. So you, so I told. A reality show on Netflix. Yeah, so they start talking about money. That's why we're going to talk about it here in a second. But I mentioned it to James and Dave.

I was like, hey, if we want to do a fun segment, this is a great one because they were literally talking about like 401ks and all this. And it's funny and cringeworthy, all of it. He's like, love is blind. I don't know. Are they blind? I don't get it. And I was like, no.

How does this work? He has no idea what the show is about. What is the premise of this what is the premise of this deep show are you ready you're gonna die you're absolutely gonna die so they have men on one side women on the other and they have these things called pods so there's these rooms that they can enter in at those opposite ends but there is a wall in between so you can't see them but you can talk it's like a paper thin wall so you can talk to them but you can't see them, but you can talk. It's like a paper-thin wall. So you can talk to them, but you can't see them. And so the men and women will switch through different pods to meet different people and start these conversations.

And then naturally, of course, you kind of have chemistry with one over the other. So you meet them back in the pod to talk more. Never having seen them. Yep. So you have like four days. This is kind of like a rat in a wheel. I mean, a rat in a maze. So then.

A series of rats in the maze. So then you fall in love just through... Through the paper wall. Through the paper wall. Oh my God, I'm going to puke. And I know you are. I know you are. Just stay with me. It gets worse.

Get ready. So then if you propose, then you finally get to see each other. So you propose. The person accepts or doesn't accept. Then they meet each other. Okay accept, then they meet each other. Okay, so then they see each other for the first time. So whoever does the proposal, then they take them to Mexico for like another two to three days. And then from there, if the relationship continues to go, then they take them to Chicago and they live in an apartment together for like three days.

Because then the wedding is that Saturday. So everything's within like two and a half weeks. Like it's really fast. This is great entertainment. So the clip we're going to. I know. I know you're going to die. I know.

But it's so good. This is so dysfunctional. It's so good. It's not good at all. There's nothing. Chicago is not good. Getting married to someone you've never met is not good. No, they've met.

They just haven't seen each other. Love is blind. So anyways, the clip that came up were of two of the people, and they're in their apartment in Chicago, and they start talking about- So they're about to get married. Yes. Yes. So let's- So they're in love for 35 seconds now through the paper wall.

100%. God, no. Yeah, so Shane and I know. And you actually spent your time- It gets addicting, though. Hours of your your life you will never get back on this crap i know but but you start to but you start to like know the people know the backstory then you meet the families and you're just these are not people i want to know you're just committed you're committed i don't want to know people that would do stuff like this you're committed so anyway they ought

to be committed here is oh my gosh katherine shay if anyone's listening that was on love is blind i am with you dave's not but you're right i'm not i'm so nervous i hadn't i never heard of it until just now i know i that was the best part i was like i'm not gonna tell you until on air so you can just trash it yeah die in your seat okay so here's the clip of them talking are you are you prepared for this i'm ready i'm ready i'm ready here we go i feel like we definitely need a two bedroom but i think we should think about buying for first place only because like i'm like prepared for it financially so i mean yeah but i need to sit down and like look at our finances though because i don't do that at all really which is kind of probably not smart i mean do you spend a lot on going out and like clothes or things like that

where i spend my money is on food oh my god over like probably two thousand dollars a month okay shane we like can't do that anymore we need to be like really aligned on like numbers and like what are our financial milestones and like how much do we want in our 401k? I don't really believe in 401ks. What? I don't believe in 401ks. What do you mean you don't believe in it? I take risks a lot with that kind of stuff. So I guess that's where we are a little different.

I like taking risks. We can't just live a normal life where we just buy a house and put money in our 401ks. That's just beautiful. We can't live a normal life and just buy a house and put money in our 401ks. And we're airing this to 20 million people on our show. Why?

I know, because I saw it. Just to laugh at this poor fool? I'm not laughing at him. Oh, I am. I'm just saying here is the reality. Here's the reality. And the get rich quick idea. So what I was hearing from him as I was watching this, I thought, oh, no, Shane, no.

He says he doesn't believe in 401ks. But there's the reality of the get rich quick, right? Everything that we've talked about, I feel like recently on even the building wealth event, all of it is like there is this need and this desire and this excitement for a percentage of the population that they're like, I don't want to just be safe. I want to go and do something crazy because if I do something crazy and I take risks, it's going to pay off. And the danger in that. No, it's dangerous i'm just i like to ascribe when someone's making that argument i like to ascribe 25 years more emotional maturity to that person than that guy has that guy's like four years old i mean that he's just i spend two thousand dollars on food

and i don't believe in saving money. I'm just going to, he's really not a bright young man. Well, Shane, I mean, not in the financial space. Maybe not the romantic space either. Anyways, I saw it, and I thought, oh, no. I was just thinking of her dad. Her dad is watching this going, oh, my God. Well, they didn't get married.

They got to the altar, and she said no. Thank you, Jesus. She said no. So, probably for a lot of reasons but but it's uh yeah but anyways i saw that and i thought man that's so here's the thing there's a couple things we talk about this in building wealth that drive people to get rich quick okay um one is fear and one is greed yes okay. Okay. And in Shane's case, I think it probably falls in, I'm guessing here, but it sounds like it falls in the greed bucket. Right. Because he wants something for nothing.

Yes. He doesn't want to pay a price to win. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but it yields a harvest of righteousness. You live like no one else. Later, you get to live and give like no one else. Children do what feels good. Adults devise a plan and follow it one definition of maturity is learning to delay pleasure and that's why my brain is melting down watching this good-looking young man who has the emotional maturity of a four-year-old

and um you know it's just a disaster. And sadly, I know him. I mean, I don't know him, but I mean, I'm an old fart, but I used to hang out with people that did that. And I was always the nerd that was forward-looking. So even when those were my friends in college or sitting around, and that guy's sitting beside you telling you the same stupid stuff, you know, I'm always looking at the guy, even back going you you're it's not gonna turn out well for you yeah i know well and i think the the the sad thing is is that the predictability and the stability of the quote-unquote 401k or paid for house all that right that it feels boring and it's not exciting and there's nothing um the only thing it's just the only one that works. That's the only thing.

So I'm just saying, too, it's just sad that we've gotten to a culture that things that do work and that do take time and that delayed gratification, all that, it's not celebrated. It's not, you know what I mean?

For some people, for some people. I guess it fits into a culture, though, where a show like that's popular. Oh, yeah. The culture is failing the culture is failing the end is near the end is near when you just go oh it's blind jeez i mean how drunk were these people when they came up with the show concept and then they go to Chicago what?

Chicago? I'm just telling you what the show's about I'm not endorsing the lifestyle I'm just saying that's what it is but you watched it all oh every episode every episode

this is the Ramsey personality, is my co-host today in the lobby of RamseySolutions.com. On the debt-free stage. Martin and Stephanie are with us. Hey, guys, how are you? Hey, how's it going? Welcome. Where do you guys live? In St. Charles, Illinois, Chicago, western suburb.

Awesome. Welcome. Good to have you, sir. Ma'am, how much debt did you guys pay off? $140,000. Very cool. Nice. And how long did this take you? Four years, two months. Four years

and two months. And your range of income during that time? $85,000 to $118,000, $119,000. Good. What do y'all do for a living? I am an AWS cloud engineer. I'm a stay-at-home mom. Very cool. Good for y'all. So what kind of debt was the $140,000? Predominantly student loans. And then we had a car that was about $11,000. Okay. All right. So a big bunch of student loans. Yes. All right. How long y'all been married? 10 years. Okay. So after five years of marriage, you looked up and said, uh-oh, we got to have a plan.

So tell me your story. How'd you get started on this Ramsey stuff? So I was initially looking at YouTube, and we just recently bought the car, and it was about $11,000 on top of what we had to pay. And so just the absolute despair, depression. We're about to have a third baby. Yeah. Really scary.

Yeah. And we decided, you know, this can't go on. And so I started looking at YouTube, found this old Fox Business video you did and started listening and found your YouTube channel. And then it just just fire was just lit yeah then it's just we got to do this okay so stephanie he comes in and goes i'm seeing this stuff on youtube and we got to do something this guy sounds like it makes sense what'd you say um i just we didn't know what to do we were living in one income so we kind of had to plan that out and a couple months later we found out we're pregnant with number four oh and so that was We didn't know what to do. We were living in one income, so we kind of had to plan it out.

And a couple months later, we found out we were pregnant with number four. Oh, wow. So it was kind of like, can we do it with one income? How are we going to do it? And so it was just submitting to him was a big part of it. And letting him actually take over the finances was big. And it was a relief for me for him to take over actually because were you doing it before that i was and it was very overwhelming yeah for sure for sure so the two of you now working together and you're saying okay this has got to stop we got to turn

the corner so what were the biggest things you did to get out of debt because you were successful way to go yeah um well we sold the second Well, we sold the second car. Yeah, we sold the second car. We were down on the one car that we were trying to pay off. Yeah. And, I mean, having two cars and doing this, it just didn't seem feasible with all the maintenance costs and all that stuff. And so we were just trusting the Lord this whole entire time because we knew that he was faithful. And in our marriage, he's been faithful. And so we used the budget app.

Yeah, we used the EveryDollar app. Yeah, good. Love that thing. It's awesome. Thank you. Cool. And as time went on, I got compensation increases over time and over time.

And then the pandemic hit, and I used to work for a company that was in the airline industry. And all the airplanes were on the ground, and so our company wasn't making money. And so I needed time to figure out what was going on. And so over time, working at that previous company, I developed skills outside of the aviation industry because most of those loans were from flight and maintenance. And so I became more adaptive in the job market as well. And basically, I had to find somewhere else to work and so I saw this other company I was hiring for AWS cloud engineers and so I went and applied and started making man y'all see I've had a journey you've had a job change you had

two kids in the middle of doing that. Or I know you're pregnant with the third when you guys started. But that's a lot, you guys. I mean, that's a lot of life. And I feel like it would have been normal, quote unquote, to have given up. This is just too hard. It's not worth it. Like, let's just go.

We'll just pay them on payments and just go back to life. But you guys continued to track. So what was that motivation for people? Because student loans is the big one. That's the one that most people, it's their last one. It's their biggest debt. What kept y'all motivated to continue chipping away? It was the debt snowball.

I mean, after we paid that first one off, we saw we could do it. And we wrote everything down on paper. We saw how much we could put in every single loan payment. And so we saw we can continue to give extra and extra. And then when the pandemic hit, we got some stimulus check. We threw it at the loan. Bonus came around, threw it at the loan. Any sort of extra money we got, we threw it at it.

And we're here now. It's awesome. Yeah. Oh, amazing. So what was the hardest part of this? Because you guys have four kids, again, job. You've had a lot of hard through this, but what would you say to tell people this was the most difficult part?

I would say saying no. For four years? Yes, for four years. To a lot of things, like vacations. This is, coming to Nashville is our first kind of big family vacation, so it's awesome. Wow. And that fear of missing out is real. Yeah. Was it worth it? Oh vacations. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. And that fear of missing out is real. Yeah.

Yeah. Was it worth it? Oh, absolutely. Yes. How do you feel now? Just absolutely like chains broken off. I don't have to continue to look over my shoulder like someone's going to try to collect debt from me or something.

Way to go, you guys. You guys are powerful. That's a steady grind and you pushed it all the way through very well done very heroic uh very mature you know quite the opposite of what we're talking about a while ago so very very well done excellent job guys and um and now you got the whole rest of your life for vacations you got the whole rest of your life to say yes instead of no because you don't have these payments hanging over your head absolutely so uh you got yourself free you worked your you got free of the chains as you said so well done all right let's bring the kiddos into the shot uh we've got a copy of baby steps millionaires for

you how ordinary people build extraordinary wealth how you too, because that is going to be the next chapter in your story for sure. So what are their names and ages? This is Hezekiah. He is eight years old. This is Ezekiel. He's nine. Zechariah. He's seven.

And Susanna, she's four. Nine, eight, or nine, seven, or I'm sorry, yeah, nine, eight, seven. The three boys. Boom, boom boom boom yeah yeah wow mom i see you i see you and then add three little girl at the end but man that's awesome congrats you guys i like it well way to go you guys also got a copy of total money makeover for you to give away to somebody and show them how to do what you've done that book's about eight million copies out there now so way to go you, you guys. We're very, very proud of you.

You're an impressive young couple. Way to go, way to go. And that's a great family tree right there to have changed, and you have done it. So good stuff. Martin and Stephanie. Ezekiel, Hezekiah, Zachariah, and Susanna from the Chicago area. $140,000 paid off in four years and two months, making $85,000 to $118,000. Count it down.

Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. We're debt-free! And we're on vacation! Yeah! That is awesomeness. Guys, I got to tell you, there's a lot of babies there and coming on. While they're doing all of this, that was a very busy little family.

And he loses his job in the pandemic, gets back up, goes out there, adapts, scratches claws, finds something new, something new ends up with a raise ends up making more money than he did before that's the way it usually works yeah if you're thinking this way if you're thinking i've got to go get something to win and uh scratching and clawing sold the car that went down to one car this time and uh man that's uh sacrificing to win and the is, then you do win. Yep, absolutely. I mean, incredible. Absolutely incredible. I just see that mom being home with all four of them.

It's exhausting while he's out working. I mean, it's just, it's a lot of life, but you just changed it completely because of your decision. So well done, you guys. Congrats. This is the Ramsey Show. Thank you. Well, the wallet is out. The big wallet is here.

The lot's going on. The Rachel Cruz wallet. The Rachel Cruz wallet. A new color. A new color wallet. The Rachel Cruz wallet. A new color. A new color. Champagne is the color. That would make sense for you since it's like your favorite drink. I do enjoy a glass of champagne.

A little bubbly. Yeah, beautiful color though. So we have multiple colors in this wallet. But it really is the envelope system. So when I created it, you know, for a while I had my wallet that I loved, and I just had paper clips on my cash from my different categories, and I decided, gosh, if there was actually envelopes inside, compartments inside, dividers inside, it would make it so easy.

This is a high-end piece, though. I mean, this is a very nice wallet. Went through and… Authentic leather. leather yes so we decided to partner with join who's an incredible organization out of india and they make leather good products so everything from purses and different things and so we've partnered with them yeah to create and they give people jobs that otherwise would uh be on the fringes yes they take people struggling yes out of parts of india and give them trade

and work and skill and all of it so they're they're incredible and the product they make is incredible so uh we are yeah happy so happy to partner with them and so the wallet it's been great too i mean people it's so fun especially on social media to see people use it because they'll tag me in their posts and stuff but i'm like i love it because it's especially if you're first but if you're budgeting for the first time and you're in the first few months of it for sure, that envelope system,

it helps you. It helps you stay accountable. Yes, cash these days, it can be more inconvenient than ever before. But being able to see and be accountable to what exactly is going out

to restaurants or groceries or whatever else you're spending money on, it keeps you on pace. So the wallet is out the new color. So there's black, brown, we have tan, and then this new color. And this is a limited quantity just for the spring. Yes.

When it's gone, it's gone. Yep, exactly. We're not going to leave this color in the line. No. So if you love a shiny, beautiful champagne color, you need to get it because it's so pretty. $68 for these. This, again, is a very nice, high-end, authentic leather product. You will be impressed.

People are very happy with it. For your change, there's 10 card slots inside, so it just gives you all the functionality, everything you need. Very good. So you can put your handgun carry permit in one of those slots. I might. I might. You never know.

Can I just do something off the cuff? Yeah, on twitter during the break yep y'all ice tea ice tea he was trending i was like why is he trending so he hasn't trended in a while on his twitter and he said i was robbed at a gas station in new jersey last night after my hand stopped trembling i managed to call the cops and they were able to calm me down, but my money's gone. The police asked me if I know who did it, and I said, yes, pump number nine. Well done. It made me laugh. I was like, I did.

That was funny. Well played. That was funny. And true. Sadly so true. Yes, yes, definitely. Our question of the day comes from blinds.com they have a 100 satisfaction guarantee that means even if you mismeasure you pick the wrong color they'll

remake your window blinds for free free samples free shipping with the two new promos they run every month you'll save even more use the promo code ramsey to get the best possible deal rules and restrictions apply so today's question comes from Lexi in Texas. I'm going to finish it out. It's on the script. Last year, I started a real estate career and very quickly became successful. So far, I've closed 22 transactions and have four more to close this month. Way to go, Lexi!

I have made more money than I have earned in my past jobs. I have $18,000 in savings, personal loans of $10,000, a $44,000 car loan, and my mortgage is $190,000. I am deathly afraid to give up my savings, and I'm even more scared about doing things wrong. I want my kids to have the best, and I do not want to struggle doing it. How do I get started? It's a lot like, see, but yeah, congrats. Amazing. What a great job to be in right now.

It's real estate, especially when you are the agent. It's awesome. So yeah, your $18,000 in savings. I mean, I would today, depending, and you didn't say how much you made in a year, even though you said you've made more than you have in your past job, which is awesome. I mean, I would consider selling the car.

$44,000 car loan, that's a lot. So consider selling that. But depending on what you can get, the car market's insane right now. So you'd have to run the numbers on that. But I would definitely take money out of my savings. You have $18,000 in savings. Go ahead and pay off your personal loans. And then you can just start chucking away at that car loan as well if you choose choose not to sell but that's even if you do choose to sell and you move in half yeah because

lexi here's the thing you're in the real estate business 22 transactions you're doing a lot of volume you're doing a lot of driving and it's bad driving it's hard on the car and so you are destroying whatever you drive and to destroy a 55 $50,000 car in the real estate business is silly. When a really, really nice 7 Series Beamer or Mercedes or Cadillac will do just fine, and you can get a really nice one for $20,000. And 99% of people walking around can't tell the difference in a four-year-old beamer 7 series or a brand new one i mean they really don't know and and so we're not trying to impress anybody nobody buys a house from you because

of the car you drive you just need something that looks reasonably prosperous and that is reasonably reliable um and that's what you need uh or if you're driving an SUV, that's fine too, but move down, girl. You're destroying an expensive car. Even if it was paid for, I would tell you to do this. I wouldn't tell you to drive a $50,000 or $60,000 car in the real estate business. I wouldn't do it. It's a bad use of money. If you want a car like that and you've got extra money laying around

and you want to leave it in the driveway, fine, but I wouldn't use it in the real estate business. You're making enough money to not be scared. 22 transactions, you're doing fine. You are the secret sauce to this equation and you are very good. You're doing a great job. Norma is with us. Norma is in Memphis. Hi, Norma, how are you? Hi, Dave. I'm great. And you? Better than I deserve. What's up? Well, first of all, thank you for taking my call. I have a question about whether or not I should keep my business.

I'm a small business owner. I own a teacher consulting business where I go into daycares and I implement my little mestreas or my Spanish program. And I do this hard part time and I've been doing it for about 10 years and the business has grown substantially and now it's time for me to hire people. But I've been offered a position in ministry, which I'm very passionate for ministry. I mean, it's a calling and it's a full-time position. And I'm wondering if I should take the job and keep the business or take the job and let the business go. It's really tough because this business has

been my baby. And now I'm at a tug of war here. But the business is hard part time. So what would you do? And Norma, do you see your business, though, as a level of ministry that you can be in ministry and serve and not be, quote unquote, in a church or something, right? But I'm assuming the position you have at this church is something you would rather do that than your consulting business. Is that right? Yes. Yes. I see my business as a ministry to small children, but I'm also called to evangelism. And this is, this is an outreach ministry. It's not, you know, it's not within the four walls of the church.

And it's a great opportunity, but in order for me to keep my business, I would have to, I would have to hire more teachers, which I plan to do that anyway because I've grown tired of trying to do everything in the business because right now I'm wearing myself pretty thin. I think you're about to wear yourself even thinner. Okay. I mean, I think you've already made your decision. I mean, realistically, let's talk about this. Ten years from today, you're running the current business with five employees as a side gig while you're in full-time ministry doing evangelism.

That sounds like you have no life left after those two things. Yeah, and I'm a wife and a mom, too. I have three children. Yeah, there I'm a wife and a mom, too. I have three children. Yeah, there's another ministry. Now, I think you're probably an evangelist. I think that this other one has served its purpose and you're done. Just listening to you. I mean, it's a quick answer on the radio, so that's dangerous.

But I don't know how you're going to maintain all three different areas of your life at a high quality. That puts us out of the Ramsey Show in the books. Hey, it's Rachel Cruz, co-host on The Ramsey Show. If you want to do your debt-free scream live on the show, visit ramsaysolutions.com slash debt-free scream. We'd love for you to come to Nashville and tell Dave your story. That's ramsaysolutions.com slash debt-free scream.