The Ramsey Show - App - Set Concrete Barriers When You Spend Money Traveling (Hour 2)

Episode Date: January 2, 2020

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🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, 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. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Steve is in Atlanta.

Hi, Steve. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave. How's it going? Better than I deserve. How can I help? Oh, I kind of got a loaded question. So preview is that I'm 31.

I'm debt-free. I went through your baby steps. And so I've been out of investing for retirement for three years now. But I just recently sold a condo, so I have a little over $100,000 in liquid cash. So my next question is kind of what to do with it. But the wild card is that I kind of want to quit my kind of dead job I've had for years now. And I kind of just want to go travel for a few months and then kind of resume back to working. So I'm just like, do I start back investing or just keep stacking up more money?

Or, yeah, that's kind of where I'm at. Gotcha. Okay, cool. Sounds fun. So you're single and 31? I am. I am. So what do you make a year now?

What did you say? What do you make a year now? About $78,000, $80,000. Good. What do you do? I do like a project management role right now. Why is that a dead-end job? Oh, no, it's not a dead-end job. I'm just kind of, I'm just kind of, uh, burnt out on it.

And so I haven't always been a project manager. I work for a larger corporation. So I get shuffled around to different jobs every year and a half. And business just changes so much. And I'm just, and I don't really like the industry itself. It's the telecommunications industry. And so I just kind of want to shift out of that industry. Okay. So let's just stay on that path for a second.

If you shift gears, you go on a trip, and you come home, and you go get a job, and your new job is doing project management but in an industry you love? No, I kind of want to shift maybe into investment advising. So I've been on financial coaching on the side, so I kind of like that. I kind of just got addicted to personal finance and helping people with their finances. So I naturally just coach them, but I kind of think I want to get into the selling the investment side of the business. I want to do a whole career shift. Okay.

All right. So what would you spend on your trip? Well, I think I want to travel for maybe like three months straight. So I'm thinking $10,000 to $15,000. As long as $10,000 to $15,000 can allow me to travel, rather. So if I can travel for longer, great. If it's right at about three months, that's fine as well. Okay.

All right. And so you're not talking about spending $90,000? No. No, definitely not. And you have $100,000 in the bank? Right, a little over it. Okay. All right.

I think if you keep the budget under $20,000, I would do it. Okay. That's what you want to do, and you've got the money. You're not going into debt. You've got a career idea lined up when you come back. You've got the money to make the transition if it takes you a month or two until you get back. And you can do some other work while you're making the transition if you come back. You've got the money to make the transition if it takes you a month or two until you get back. And you can do some other work while you're making the transition if you need to.

I would not sit at home after you get home and burn through the rest of that $100. You need to get your butt in gear when you get home. Right. Definitely not. So I guess part B of the question is, should I stop investing because I was building my emergency fund up and then I sold the home, so that boosted me up way past my emergency fund? Yeah, it's a three-month decision on investing.

That's not the end of the world. Right. So stop. Just put everything on hold. Plan your trip out. Make sure the budget does not exceed $20 under any circumstances. You just haul your little butt home if you get up next to that $20,000. Do not spend money.

No more than $20,000, okay? That's it. You just got to give yourself that kind of a concrete barrier, you know? Because the problem with the question you're asking is if you don't put a solid boundary on it, it's the kind of story that ends up being one you regret later where you wandered through $75,000 because you were just having so dead gum much fun. You know, that's just not okay. That starts to be irresponsible at that point.

But, you know, I think you've got the money. You know, you're not damaging your life by doing this. And you come home and you get back in the saddle and you ride hard and make some serious money start plowing some money into investments and you know and we allocate part of this money aside for an emergency fund and we start thinking about buying another property at some point because obviously that piece of real estate was great for you and so on and i but but yeah i would just put everything on screeching hold, put a concrete barrier up on the budget and say the budget is X. I'm making up a number, but 20 percent of your money is not going to kill you.

You get much over that. I start getting nervous in this discussion. And if you just kind of wander past that barrier, I get real nervous in the discussion. So it needs to be a concrete, emotional, spiritual, psychological barrier that I'm not spending any more of this on that. But enjoying money is one of the things we're supposed to do with it. We don't get to talk about that a lot on this show because most people have enjoyed it too much and they're going to have to not enjoy it for a while. They're going to have to live like no one else so that later they can live like no one else. But you put yourself in a quality position here to do this.

Sharon is in Oklahoma. Hi, Sharon. How are you? Hi, I'm good. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? Awesome.

My husband and I are currently in baby step two, including our mortgage of $220,000 personally. My dad is a senior pastor of our church and has been the last 15 years, and he has deemed my husband and I to be a successor. In that process, the church has notes, which he's the guarantor, and he's wanting us to take over the notes and become the guarantors. No. Okay. That's what I was wondering.

No. I would not do that. You did not make this mess. He did. How much are the notes? About $400. Okay. What's the size of the congregation? $300 every week. What's your annual budget?

I'm not sure. I know our income is around $8 a month. That's $100 a year. Okay. $8,000 a month? Uh-huh. $8,000 a month. That's $100,000 a year. Okay. $8,000 a month? Uh-huh, $8,000 a month. Okay. So you have $100,000 a year and you have a $500,000 note. Dadgum, that's a mess.

That's what I'm nervous about. Yeah. So this, what brand, what kind of church? Non-denominational. We're a first generation okay all right good so he planted it and grew it right from his living room to 300 and a congregation but you know i'm like should we just start fresh no i want to pay him honor i want to pay him honor but i think the way the transition of the succession plan goes is that this congregation comes alongside the succession plan and pays this note off.

Okay. And we put a fundraiser in place, and let's get it paid off. And let's get these folks where they're being great stewards of their money in their personal households, but also where we just clear this debt. Let's just have a note-burning party as a part of the succession plan. And that gets him off the hook. But, no, I don't want you guys continuing the – I love the idea of continuing the ministry. I don't want you continuing the legacy of debt. And this is debt that's pretty heavy here for a congregation this size.

I mean, you guys aren't going to be making much money as the pastor of a church that brings in $100,000 a year, total income. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. No matter what time of year it is, focusing on your family's financial plan is always 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 first steps to take is 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 first steps to take is to protect your family and get term life insurance. I know it's not glamorous, but all the other steps mean a lot less if something happens

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Ford in Wisconsin says, is it better to take out loans to get through school fast and start making money or go through slower working and paying as I go. None of the above. Work more and go through fast. I worked 40 to 60 hours a week when I was in college. And I got through in four years. My GPA doesn't matter because you all listen to me anyway. It was a 2.97. I'm still pissed about the three one-hundredths of a point.

But anyway, my GPA suffered. I could have been. I mean, I have the intellect to be a 4.0 student. But I worked all the time and still got through. My net worth was $1.66 when I graduated. Work all the time. Go to an inexpensive school that you can afford and go through fast. So I don't buy these false premises when you set up this false logic between two things that don't have to be.

I either take out loans or I go through really slowly. How about none of the above? That's my answer. A, C, doing multiple questions. You'll take these tests when you're in college. There are multiple choice questions. And C, none of the above. Work like a maniac.

And listen, it's wonderful if you can have a social experience while you're in college. The college experience, it's wonderful. I don't mind you having that. I'm not mad at it. But the idea that you finance that is absolutely freaking ludicrous. It's nuts. Richard is in North Carolina. Hey, Richard, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show.

Hey, Dave, how are you? Better than I deserve, sir. What's up? Hey, Dave, I'm a big follower of your podcast here, and I watch it daily on YouTube. My question is, I have a 16-year-old daughter.

I just retired from the military two years ago, and I'm currently back in graduate school working on a degree myself. Good for you. What are you studying? Computer science. Okay. Good for you. Yeah.

I managed to get my undergraduate degree in IT while I was still on active duty. I've been retired now for two years, so now I'm working on my graduate degree. Cool, thank you for your service. How can I help today? Thank you, yes, sir. Well, my question is, I have a 16-year-old daughter. Obviously, since 9-11, I missed a whole lot with her. I'm divorced.

She lives two hours away. But she's 16 years old. She's currently in high school. And, uh, I've talked to her quite often about life and adulthood. Well, anyways, she wants to go to school and become an artist. And, uh, I understand her reasoning. She has a passion for art. However, I don't think she's looking 10, 12 years down the road. So when I post questions, you know, well, number one, when you go to college, what do you plan on doing with this degree? And she says, well, I want to be an abstract artist. And so then I say, well, what's going to happen if your artwork doesn't sell?

You know, you've got to have a place to stay. You've got to have transportation. You've got to have food. You've got all other bills associated with that. And when I asked her mother the same questions, her mom typically, which is my ex-wife, typically gets mad and I normally get hung up on. And I'm like being blamed for not being supportive and yada yada and all that other stuff. So I'm wondering what you would do in this particular situation in order to try to get your point across to your child that you care about deeply.

Take her on a weekend trip, and let's go look at art studios, and let's talk to artists, real ones, not mythical ones that are in her mind. Sure. You're in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Asheville's got a great art community. And go talk to real artists that are actually trying to make a living selling art and some of them do i'm not i wouldn't say you and you're not saying you should not have an art degree all you're saying is is have a plan on how you're going to eat when you have an art degree absolutely and so let's let's talk this through how are we going to do it let's have a business

plan i want to be supportive but i'm not going to support mythology because I love you. If I'm your dad, I'm not going to support mythology. So we're going to have a plan. I mean, if you want to move to L.A. and be an actor, great. You better get used to waiting tables for a long time. The joke in Nashville where I live is how you get the next country music star's attention. A waiter. Everybody in Nashville can sing.

Very few of them make a living at it. And so you've got to figure out that deal. You know how many people on my staff? I've got people on my staff that won American Idol, and they work for us now. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just they didn't find a way to monetize in the arts, and you've got to be able to do that in any industry, in any world, in any passion.

You can't just point your finger at God and say, this is my passion, give me money. He laughs at that. And so, you know, you take her and walk her through the art community and let her understand exactly the price she's going to pay to get started. And so what I highly recommend, and somebody who's looking at moving into the arts, is that they do it. I don't have a personal grasp of that because that part of my brain doesn't work. But that doesn't mean it's not valid. It's perfectly valid.

But have a plan. And so if it were my kid, I would say, hey let's get a a minor in marketing while you're getting your degree in art or art appreciation and then work on your art but also you know maybe your marketing degree will help you sell it or help you get a job to work while you sell it because most people in order to do something like that have to work something else till they get their passion into the marketplace and get it moving. Very few people graduate from college with an art degree and become a self-supporting painting artist. The percentage is, you know, it's like the number of people who graduate and play professional

football. You know, I'm looking at these football players, you know, they all think they're going to the NFL. One percent of them go to the NFL. You know? They don't go. Absolutely. So you've got to have another plan.

If you're playing college football, you better be getting your degree while you're there. You're going to need it. And even if you do go to the NFL, the average career is 3.8 years. So have a plan on what you're going to do after football. It's the same thing. That's not art. That's athletics. But it's the same kind of thing.

And that's not not being supportive, but blindly supporting and saying, live your passion, little butterfly. That's just crap. And you know it is. And so I don't know how you handle the ex-wife. You know, obviously that's not working. But if you can get a father-daughter weekend, go do two or three of those weekends. Go to some art communities where people are making a living or attempting to make a living and study the difference.

Here's somebody who's starving, and here's what they're doing. Here's someone who's actually making a living. And sadly, it's like writing books, you know. It's the best books, the best written books, the ones that have the most perfect literature, most perfect. They oftentimes don't sell it so you can be a really excellent artist and not sell anything so you you've got to have a system and a plan and a way to think this through uh and that is not that is me helping you live your dream being supportive of your dream but don't let your dream be a nightmare and and that's all you're doing.

So if you can work those father-daughter things out, then that'll work. You know, you can get her there. But to the extent that all you get is hung up on, there's no magic words to say to somebody after you've been hung up on. And if you're supposed to blindly support something that's not going to work and just go along with it just because that makes you a good dad, that doesn't make you a good dad. So love her enough. Hold on. I'm going to have Kelly send you a copy of Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters,

and Meg Meeker's book on the relationship with fathers and daughters and how important it is, the relationship, that relationship is, how much of an indicator it is as to the daughter's future success. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. I love talking about companies that know how to do business right. You've heard of Grip6 belts, right? Well, if you haven't, it's the only belt you can get online with no holes, no flap, and no bulk. I'm talking weightless, and the buckles come in really cool designs and are interchangeable i personally own a number of these belts and they're so comfortable you forget you're wearing it plus these guys have a great story bj minson started grip six on kickstarter from his garage in 2014

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Better than we deserve, Dave. How about yourself? Very cool. Is it Hattie? Did I pronounce that right? It is Hattie. And where do you guys live? We us. Hey, guys. How are you? Better than we deserve, Dave. How about yourself? Very cool. Is it Hattie? Did I pronounce that right? It is Hattie. And where do you guys live? We live in Henderson, Texas. Oh, very cool. Welcome to Nashville.

And all the way here to do a debt-free screen. Yes, sir. How much have you paid off? Just short of $50,000, $49,849. Love it. How long did this take? 23 months. Good.

And your range of income during that time? We started at $34,000, went up to $80,000, and back down to $70,000. Wow. What do you all do for a living? We're both teachers. Oh, good. Good for you. Very cool.

So what kind of debt is the $50,000? We had a credit card. Well, somebody had a credit card. We had a car loan, and we had student loans. Okay. Very cool. How long have you all been married? Two and a credit card. We had a car loan, and we had student loans. Okay, very cool. How long have you all been married? Two and a half years.

Okay, so you got married and started this plan? Yes, sir. Tell me about that. Tell me about the journey. What caused you to do this? Well, we took FPU as part of our pre-marriage counseling. Oh, very good. Best decision we ever made.

Super excited about it. Cool. And Hattie, want to speak on that? Yeah, I was not a huge fan. My mom had told me about you, but I wasn't really on board. I thought I knew everything. I was a teenager at the time. And so anyway, I met him and we started talking about it and went to the class and I joined on board. So we wouldn't go back to save our lives now I hear you very cool

good for you so how old are you two uh I'm 29 I'm 25 perfect okay well congratulations thank you sir very very cool big big uh big accomplishment this early in your marriage yes sir we're very proud yeah you should be you should be very good so what do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is? The biggest thing for me is communication and budgeting, planning, and having that, you know, just knowing where your money is going. That's the huge thing for me. Mine is patience. I don't have a whole lot of it. I'm the nerd.

I'm the saver. And we went from arguing about $5 being spent. And so it tested my patience. I had to develop patience. And so that's one of the biggest things for me. Okay. So you got on the plan, you're working together, you're learning to communicate over this early in your marriage, stuff people don't do sometimes for decades. Yes, sir. Yeah. Very, very cool. Who was your biggest cheerleader? Probably my dad was probably the biggest one he uh he kind of got us started on

this after my oldest brother brought you up probably five years ago and we just thought he was crazy little did we know but um but yeah he's our biggest cheerleader and then both of our parents are magnificent and have supported us the entire way very cool very good so you got a lot of family pushing you yes sir yes sir good stuff Very fun. Well, congratulations, you guys. Thank you. Really well done. What was the craziest thing you did to get out of debt? Craziest thing we did?

We moved three different times. I drove a little hoopty, a 1987 Suzuki Samurai. Oh, my God. What a horrible car. It's about yay wide. Yeah, that's a horrible car. But it was awesome. I got more compliments on it than I believe anybody on a Jaguar gets.

It was fantastic. So I drove that for a while to save money, and we really enjoyed it. Yeah. What did you pay for that? It's actually my parents. They owned it. My car got totaled one night, and so they let me borrow it, and I drove it for probably three years. Okay.

All right. Because it's all tricked out. I just saw the picture of it come out. Oh yeah when you first said that i thought lord what a disaster but it's kind of cute it is it got a lot of compliments we enjoyed it it was a blast everybody wanted to buy it from us but my parents won't sell it so you handed it back to them i did a little bit later on bought a car for cash and then bought a truck for cash love it very good well way to go you guys proud of you thank you thank you are amazing fabulous stuff all right we've got a copy of chris hogan's

everyday millionaires for you because you're on the way to being everyday millionaires that's your next step so very very cool stuff you got started really early your ages again were what 25 and 29 and so when you started this you you were 23 and 27. Yes, sir. Wow, very good. Good stuff. Well, congratulations. Dakota and Hattie, Longview, Texas, Henderson, Texas area, $50,000 paid off in

23 months, making $34,000 to $80,000 to $70,000. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. One last thing, Dave. We wanted to announce that we've been holding this in for a while, but we are pregnant, expecting our first child in July. Whoa! Whoa!

So hold the phone here. So your parents didn't know? They do know. They do know. The small family knows, but most of our friends do not know. All right. very cool. Life is good as it gets. You guys, well done.

Alright, Dakota and Hattie, let's hear a debt-free scream. Ready, babe? Yep. Three, two, one. We're debt-free! Love it! Boom, boom, boom! I love it! absolutely fabulous that is so fun but you can't do what they just did it's impossible see that they don't really exist. We just made them up.

They're a figment of our imagination and your imagination. We know this because Yahoo Finance is reporting that nearly 25% of Gen Xers and millennials believe it's nearly impossible to pay off debt. It isn't surprising or new information that Gen X and millennials have higher debt loads than other generations. Mortgages, kids, parents to take care of, student loans, more financial pressure than any other generation. They're never going to make it.

This is reflected in a survey. The online lending division of SunTrust Bank. Wait a minute. A bank did a survey that said you're always going to be in debt? Hmm. Thank you, SunTrust. The survey says it's nearly impossible quote unquote to pay off significant debt i don't know if it's 50 000 significant

if you're 23 years old i'd say that's significant when they got, Hattie was 23. Dakota was 27. They're 25 and 29. They paid off $50,000 in 23 months. That's a long way from nearly impossible. Nerd wallet Kimberly Palmer says there's definitely cause for concern looking at their finances. The takeaway is to motivate them to pay off debt, especially the high interest rate debt. It takes some motivation because there are steps to pay off debt faster. Thank you, NerdWallet. Appreciate that. But we're meeting millennials every day who don't think it's nearly impossible.

As a matter of fact, they not only don't think it, they have proven that it's not nearly impossible. Is it difficult to pay off $50,000 in debt in your first two years of marriage when you make $70,000 or $80,000 a year? Yes. You sacrifice to do that but you're living like no one else so that later you can live and give like no one else it's a pretty simple thing guys hope changes everything and it is somehow a disease of the media that it seems like they're the very things that they want

to report on or anything that says there is no hope there is Bank. It is nearly impossible, says a survey from SunTrust Bank, to get out of debt as a Gen Xer or a millennial. And then I meet Dakota and Hattie. Well, there you go. $50,000 paid off in 23 months. But it's nearly... You getting the idea? I mean, this is just stupid, y'all.

It's just stupid. These young people are on fire. They can do anything they want to do once they believe that they can do it. And this show, and the Dave Ramsey team, believes in you. We're proud of you. We know you can do it. This is The Dave Ramsey team believes in you. We're proud of you. We know you can do it.

This is the Dave Ramsey Show. So the number of people that walk into here and do their debt-free screen that started doing their budget in January is amazing. They started Financial Peace University in January. It's amazing. They started reading the Total Money Makeover, listening to the audio book in January. It's amazing. Because a lot of people want to do stuff to change their life in January.

The old New Year's resolution, that works. No question about it. And, you know, the way you actually accomplish something, if you want to go somewhere, in the old days, we would get out a map. Now, some of you don't even know what a map is. But you would get out your phone, right? And you would enter in the address and click Google Maps or whatever, and it's going to give you directions right there on your phone. And you go straight, you know, off the GPS right in there, right?

You have a step-by-step process to get where you're going. And if you get off track, it talks to you and says you're off track, right? Well, that's what your budget does. And I figured out a long time ago, of course, years ago, we did the budget with the paper. And in the back of all the books are blank forms that you can make copies of if you want to do a paper budget in the back of the total money makeover or most of my other books it's in there as well and so um the budget is a pretty simple idea here's a couple things your budget is you telling your money what to do instead of wondering where it went well i don't want to do a budget it's restricting not unless you make it restricting it's your budget all a budget is is you're doing it on paper on purpose before the month begins

every dollar has an assignment every dollar has a mission every dollar has a name before the month begins in a unique budget each and every month because every month's a little different some things are the same but something some things are different every month. And you agree on it with your spouse. So if you put, take out the dollars that you have coming in this month, your take-home pay, and you put it at the top of the page, and you and your spouse sit and look at that, and you say, all right, let's spend that on paper before the month begins. We buy food. We buy lights and water. We pay the rent or the mortgage.

We pay the car payment if there is one. We pay the insurance. We put clothes on the kids. Whatever it is, we have to buy this month. And most people don't buy clothes every month, by the way. But, you know, you go right down the list and every dollar has an assignment. And then you squeeze dollars out of that budget and you start working those baby steps. Save $1,000, baby step one.

Two is you start working your way out of debt and so on down the line, right? So every dollar has an assignment. That's called a zero-based budget. You make a list of your income you total it up before the month begins you make a list of your expenses and you spend those expenses on paper and then once that's on paper you stick to it now the reason the budget is not restricting the reason it should be just called a spending plan is because it's a plan for how you're going to spend your money and you're in charge.

I'm not in charge. The budget police aren't going to come in and look over your shoulder. You're in charge. But what it forces you to do is be a grown-up instead of an impulse brat. It forces you to tell your money what to do instead of wondering where it went. It forces you to live on purpose. It tells you when you're out of bounds, you just made a wrong turn. Turn around. Take a left here. Take a left here. Go back up to the highway. You got off the highway. You're going to miss your, you turned off too soon. You're not

going to make it. Just like your GPS would do. It's the exact same thing, only it's not an audio me yelling. I ought to do that. I ought to make a, put that in every dollar app. I yell at you if you overspend a category. That'd be funny. Or I could just say in a stern voice, turn around, don't do that. You know, that would be, no, that's just, that's just spooky, weird. But anyway, so the budget is the key though. You hear people say this all the time on the debt-free screen. What's the key? Communication. What's the key? Being onfree screen. What's the key? Communication. What's the key?

Being on a budget. What's the key? The extra work. Those are the types of things you hear on every debt-free screen just about, every one of them. Now, a couple things you need to know about your budget. I don't know what you're going to budget for food for the first month that you do your budgeting, but you're wrong.

People always spend more on food than they think they do. So whatever you think you're going to put in there for the food category, put some more in there because you're wrong. You're going to spend more than you think you're spending. You've been spending way more than that number you have in your head that you think you're spending. And it's okay to separate restaurants and grocery store, which is not a bad idea because restaurants ought to be like zero while you're getting out of debt.

And the grocery store, if you do go to a restaurant, you'll spend your grocery store money in a heartbeat, and then you've got no food at all, and the family's kind of skinny and hungry and all that kind of stuff. We don't want to do that. The second thing about a budget is you must sit down together and do the budget. If you're married, you have to do this together. Well, I can't get my spouse, but you have a marriage problem.

You don't have a budget problem. And I will tell you, I have found no data points in 30 years of doing this. I've seen almost no examples of people who bust through getting out of debt. I've never, never have I had a debt-free scream on the air, and I said, okay, what's the secret? And they say, well, you know, he doesn't have any idea what's going on. I did it all by myself. He just came down and stood here, you know. It never happens, because it's almost impossible to drag dead weight through a get-out-of-debt

plan and drag them into a budget. You're just not dealing with adults. You have to be a grown man. You have to be a grown man. You have to be a grown woman. You have to make adult-like decisions here. You have to step into this and do it. So once you set your budget, now you got to stick with it. And here's the hard part.

The first month you do your budget, you suck at doing a budget. First month I did a budget, I sucked at doing a budget. It was way off. And so you're going to have to sit down and have emergency budget committee meetings with your spouse and adjust the budget because you under-budgeted some categories. Which means since you spent every dollar, that if you're going to raise one category by $150, you've got to lower other categories by $150. You're not in Congress.

You can't spend more than you thought you were. You can't spend more than you had coming in. You know, it's income minus outgo equals zero, not income minus outgo equals a deficit. We don't do deficit spending in our households. That's called debt. And you're going to do what? Run your budget on a credit card? Now, this is just plain stupid. We're not even going spending in our households. That's called debt. And you're going to do what? Run your budget on a credit card?

Now, this is just plain stupid. We're not even going to talk about that. So every dollar has an assignment, and your first month, you're going to have 17 emergency budget committee meetings. The second month, you'll get a little better at it. You'll only have about five or six emergency budget committee meetings. The third month, by the third month of doing this, it'll start to work. And you'll only have one or two emergency budget committee meetings in a month. Most months, you'll have one. You have

to sit down and do some adjusting mid-month, in other words. Or somewhere along, there'll be something that pops up that was quote-unquote unexpected. It's not really an emergency fund issue. We just need to budget adjust. We need to budget adjust. We need to budget adjust. A budget adjustment meeting. See, once you agree on this with your spouse, both of you are agreeing to stick to it, and you pinky swear and spit shake. We're not doing anything else.

This is it. The good news is, a couple years back, we spent several million dollars in about a year and a half developing and have continued to develop the world's best budgeting tool that is free for you to use. It's called EveryDollar. The EveryDollar app for your phone is so simple, and we've made it even easier by creating a guide to budgeting that'll help those of you that need a little extra help. It goes through everything you need to do to set up your first budget or to make next month's budget even better.

And the Guide to Budgeting is free. You can sign up at everydollar.com, or you can text GTB, Guide to Budgeting, GTB to 33789. You want the free Guide to Budgeting? Covers the stuff I was just talking about? GTB. Text GTB free to 30.

GTB. That's all it is. It is free, but don't say free. GTB. Text that to 33-789. 33-789. Or you can just go over to EveryDollar. The app is free anyway, so you can just sign up for the EveryDollar app,

and it helps you do all this. You can build out your budget in about 10 minutes. It's very easy to do. But the trick then is the both of you have to be involved, and you have to stick to it, and you have to do your mid-month adjustments, which the first two months are going to be a lot of them. It's okay. You're learning something new.

You're course correct. You're course correct. You're course correct. You've got this. You can course correct. You're course correct. You've got this. You can do this. It works so good. So text GTB, Guide to Budgeting, GTB to 33-789. That puts us out of the Dave Ramsey Show and the books.

Thanks to James Childs, our producer, Kelly Daniel, our associate producer and phone screener. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host, and we'll be right back. Hey, guys, it's Blake Thompson, senior executive producer for The Dave Ramsey Show. This hour's over, but you can find more great content on our YouTube channel. Catch the most watched Dave Ramsey, debt-free screams in the very popular Everyday Millionaire segment. Go to the Dave Ramsey Show YouTube channel and click subscribe.