The Ramsey Show - App - Should I Buy a Car or Take Public Transportation? (Hour 3)

Episode Date: August 13, 2021

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Thank you. live from the headquarters of ramsey solutions broadcasting from the dollar car rental studio this is the ramsey show where america hangs out to have a conversation about your life and your money i'm christy right and joining me today is my good friend, Rachel Cruz, and we are taking your calls about money, life, business, time management, relationships, really anything you wanna talk about. We're here for you, 888-825-5225. And I want to remind you guys

that my new book, Take Back Your Time, The Guilt-Free Guide to Life Balance, is available for pre-sale. And when you go ahead and get your copy now, you get the e-book free, the audio book free, and you get a ticket to my event, Take Back Your Time Live, on September 16th. And here's a fun fact. I don't think I told you guys. I mentioned it on my Instagram today.

But that event, Take Back Your Time Live, is on september 16th which is the week of book lunch and that is mary grace's birthday how did you feel about that christine when that happened were you like okay this is literally my book it literally is it's it's her second birthday i don't know i guess i'll bring her backstage to see all see all happening. But here's the reality is we are all, even if you do everything right, even if you're super intentional with your time and your calendar, even if you are doing the right things at the right time, still sometimes those things are going to collide. Still sometimes you're going to have two things that you love very much happen at the same time.

But we will be celebrating little Mary Grace the next weekend and she will not know that it's her birthday she will not know I will spend the day with her before I'm with you guys here on stage by the way if you join us here in Nashville for the take back your time live event you can get your tickets at ramsaysolutions.com but if you come here then not only is it fun because you're in person and you get the book free but we're going to do a book signing and I don't know maybe you'll meet my two-year-old daughter on her birthday there's a group of us here in person so feel free to go ahead and get your ticket you can get the book free that way you can also pre-order your book and get a ticket however you want to do it

are you about this because your last book was was business boutique yeah and i'll just say this when you're in this line of work being able to do a book it's like i get to put all of my my heart my passion all of this into something that's going to live for a long time. So books are always very exciting to get a message out there because it's just in a totally different, obviously, way to do it versus video or podcast or something. Well, and I've been talking about this for a decade. I know. So are you just like, we haven't even as friends.

I feel like it happened so fast. I know it didn't happen fast, but it feels like it did where I'm like, oh my gosh, it's like already on pre-order and stuff. How are you feeling? I'm so fast. I know it didn't happen fast, but it feels like it did. Where I'm like, oh my gosh, it's already on pre-order. How are you feeling? I'm so excited. Let me tell you what I love about it most. And you know this because you've done book launches and pre-sales and all that kind of stuff. I've been doing tons of interviews.

So with podcasts and TV and all that kind of stuff. And aside from the fact that every interview has been different, which I love. We're talking about different things. What is so fun to help people understand is this is not a productivity book. It's not even really a time management book, Rachel. This is about the deeper issues of why we feel out of balance in the first place. You know, earlier when we were on the show together, you know, in the first hour, you use the analogy of spinning plates.

And I think when it comes to balance, we've got a lot of feelings around that word. We've got a lot of pressure on ourselves. Here's what I found. We don't know what balance is. We just know we don't have it. And so it feels like this shadow that haunts us all the time. And we've got all these analogies from spinning plates to juggling balls to walking the tightrope. And we need to know which balls are plastic and which balls are glass and which ones you can let drop. And the truth is all of that feels really stinking stressful. And I can do all that and still feel out of balance.

And so I started asking a different question. What if balance isn't something you do, how you balance it all perfectly? What if instead it's something that you feel? What if it's something that you create in your life where you could be balanced and still be busy in a busy season where you could be a balanced person in an out of balance world where balance looks a lot more like peace, confidence in your choices, actually enjoying your life. That I think is the type of balance we're really after. And that's what I unpack in this book.

And so the whole book is based around my thesis of life balance is not doing everything for an equal amount of time. Like we often put pressure on ourself to do. It's about doing the right things at the right time. And when you do the right things at the right time, you will feel that sense of balance you've been looking for. And here's the great news. You get to decide what's right for you.

Yeah. You get to decide what's right for you in any given season. So someone that is building their business and you're working all the time, you're not failing. You're doing what's right for you right now to get this business off the ground. Someone working three jobs to get out of debt. You're not failing your family. This is a season where you're doing what's right right now for the long-term gain.

Someone that's a newborn. And that has, I mean, someone that's a newborn. I'm talking to all the newborns out there, everyone. I was like, tell me what a balance is for an infant. If you're an infant and you're really struggling. I talk too fast. I get so excited. If you have a newborn and you get one shower a week, listen, that's success for you right now.

Yes, it is. Balance for you looks different because you're not sleeping, everyone. But it doesn't mean your whole life is out of whack. Because I think what we do, Rachel, and I think a lot of women struggle with this, parents or not, I think that what happens is we often do a lot of things right, but then we always focus on the things we didn't do. So right now I'm in a crazy season with launching the book. I'm on the road. I'm traveling.

I'm working a lot of hours. So I'm not doing some things I normally do, like work out all the time or see my friends all the time. Now I could look at that and feel like a huge failure, like, oh, I'm such a bad friend. I'm not working out or my house is not as clean as I would like. Or I could say that's not right right now. So a simple question I love to give people and for any of you listening right now that might be in a season where you're going, I am overwhelmed. I just want to give you a very practical question to ask yourself. It's super

tactical. That's going to help you do exactly what I'm talking about. Ask yourself what's right right now. What's right right now? And you can look at that in this season. What's right this season? What's the most important this season? You could look at it in a week. Hey, what's right this week? What are my top priorities this week? And you could look at it in a given day. Start your day and go, hey, what's right right now? What do I need to focus on today? Then when you actually get clarity around what that is and you spend your time on it you not only get to enjoy that that moment while it's happening and and experience it but you shake the guilt of all the things you're not doing because when i step over toys and my house is a mess i don't beat myself up as a failure i go that's not right right now this is not the season

for a clean house christy this is not the priority right now we've got priorities and that's not it so um i just want to i want it to be a book that sets people free from the pressure to do it all. Yeah. And instead say, Hey, you're doing a great job. Just simply ask yourself what's right right now and do that. And when you do that,

you will shake the guilt. You will create your version of balance and you'll actually get to enjoy your life more. Well, what I love about it is you to, to the point that we all can, you're able to say, hey, I'm going to take control of this.

Yeah. I'm going to be intentional. Right. And I'm actually going to create a life that I want. Yeah. What does this look like? Right? And what a beautiful thing just to give people permission and to be able to walk them through

that. So I'm so excited about it. I think so many people feel like victims to their schedule. Yes. Oh, yeah. Like, oh, well, I have to do this. I have to do that. A lot of it you don't. Yeah. Some things you do have to do, but a lot of it you don't. And so it again comes down to personal responsibility and saying, OK, I'm going to I'm going to make decisions that are right for me and my family. And by the way, your time is not just your time. It's your family's time if you have a family.

That's right. And so this is a great jumping off point to have this conversation with your spouse and say, hey, what's right right now for me? What's right right now for you? And how do we come together in our values? Just like we teach you guys with your money and your budget, your calendar should reflect the values of you and your spouse if you're married or your kids if they're older. That's right. Everyone gets to speak into it. Everyone's values are represented. And then what's really cool is it brings you together as a team where you're on the same page.

And you're creating a life that everyone wants to be a part of. And it's got those shared goals. So good. Take back your time. The Guilt-Free Guide to Life Balance is available for pre-sale at RamseySolutions.com. Your number one wealth building tool is your income. For business owners, this comes as no surprise as you're used to putting in extra hours and watching your bottom line. That's why Christian Healthcare Ministries, or CHM, is a great option for those who are faith-focused and budget-conscious. CHM is not health insurance. Rather, it's a health cost-sharing program. It's not harder,

but it is different. To learn if CHM is a fit for you or your business, visit chministries.org slash budget. I'm Christi Wright. Joining me today is my good friend Rachel Cruz, and we are taking your calls about life and money. And we're going to go to Columbus with Hunter. Hey, Hunter, how are you? Good, ladies. How are you? Great. What's going on? Hey there. So I work from home. I own and operate a professional wedding DJ business. But I also work for a software company. And the software company found me because I use their platform to manage my business.

They were looking for employees to hire. And so they ended up bringing me on and they pay me through my business. And they keep telling me they're going to bring me on as a full-time employee. And I'm wondering whether or not I should keep waiting for that or just find another job because I'm still dealing with, you know, the business income tax and then paying myself payroll and then the payroll tax. And it's just a big headache. So I wanted to see what you girls would recommend. Okay. Give me some details about this position. Was it in writing and was there a timeline established when you were hired at when you would be brought on full-time? So there was no writing as to when I would be brought on full-time, but it's a yearly agreement.

Okay. And how long have you been doing it? I've been doing it for two years. Two years. So when you started, they said, we're going to bring you on full-time. They never said when, and you never asked when. Well, they, they brought me on. I'm doing 32 hours a week, 30 bucks an hour, six hours a day. So I'm doing just under 4,000 a month. So they, they brought me on as quote unquote part-time, but I'm working like every single day, if that makes sense. Gotcha. So you just, I guess I'm confused on the question. You want to not be a contract employee. You want to be full-time on their payroll. Correct.

And I've told them that, and they keep telling me that they'll bring me on full-time, but I'm not seeing any movement on that, if that makes sense. And they never say when, and you never ask when. I did ask when, and they told me back in April when we launched our new software. And it's still no movement since. And have you followed up? Like, hey, guys, April happened. I have.

And what did they say? One of our members of leadership has been desperately ill. So they've been telling me that it's because of that. But I don't think it is because it's been a recurring thing. Okay. Well, let me ask you this. How bad do you want it? Like, do you want this position with this company enough to stick around and try to work it out with them? Or is it like you're not, you don't really care and you kind of are good to have a reason to go find something different well i i love the atmosphere i love the ability to work from home uh and you know i love it uh it's just i would like to be able to take some of that uh

that tax worriness off of off of myself just by being a w-2 employee yeah well for sure um you know i i hate to oversimplify this, but I think that, you know, we were talking earlier about communication. I think this is going to require you being super persistent in communicating with them and following up. And you can be really direct, Hunter, and you can be really kind. And it would look something like this to whoever your leader is. Say, hey, I love working for this company. In fact, I love it so much I've turned down other work in order to be able to do this. But I'm taking XYZ tax burden. And that just doesn't make sense financially for me. Because I could go work a full time job somewhere else that doesn't have that tax burden. So if I'm going to be able to stay with you guys, I'm going to need to come on full time like we talked about two years ago, like you guys promised through April. And if we can't have a hard deadline that that's going to happen by, I'm probably going to need to look for something else. And it's very kind. And what's so important about this, Hunter, is you're putting it back on them.

You're not the one that made this promise. They're the one that made the promise. And taking into consideration health or leadership change or any of that, you could absolutely do that and be kind. And you have been. Because, by the way, April was a long time ago. It was months ago. It's not like it's May 1st and you're like, okay, well, where's the position, which you would have had a right to. But you're not doing that. You've given it plenty of time.

And I think it's very reasonable for you to go to whoever your leader is, whoever the decision maker is that made this promise and so on, and put it back on them and say, hey, here's what we said. Here's what we agreed to. And then here's the timeline that that hasn't happened. And be very complimentary, not as a source of manipulation. You mean it. You love this company. You love the work. You love the culture.

You just don't want the tax burden. You want them to do what they said they would do. And I think you can say that in a very kind way, but very direct that puts a little bit of fire under them to do something about it. Yes. Because I mean, in a way too, don't lock yourself into this one thing, right? I mean, there are other great companies that have worked from home. I mean, like what you need and what you want is out there. So don't pigeonhole yourself into this one thing, even though you love it and you want it. When you at least know in the back of your mind, I have a plan B and a plan C,

it's going to help you because it's going to give you the freedom to be able to let go if you need to, if they don't follow through. Because the deal is too, you get stuck in this cycle of frustration when a conversation like Christy just laid out doesn't happen. So lay it out, clear terms, a time frame to know what's going on. But then in the back of your mind, Hunter, I would have plan B and C just to say, okay, I have something else to fall back on. This is not the end all be all of my career. Yeah, that's good. And good luck. Good luck. I think if you stick with it, you'll end up right where you're supposed to be. All right. We're going to go to Bethesda, Maryland with Yakov. Hi, how are you?

Hi, I'm doing great. What about you? Great. How can Rachel not help? Hi, I started watching the show about a week ago, and today I started reading or listening to Total Money Makeover. Awesome. Awesome.

Just a newbie. Uh, the question I have is, uh, uh, I'm going back to school in January and now that I'm reading the book, I want to, uh, be debt free as much as I can. And I would,

I'm working online, but going to school, I would need to have a car. So there will be a second car for us. And if I use the bus, then it will be an hour and a half each direction. But if I buy a car, that gives me some extra time to work extra hours. So I was thinking it would be a good compromise, buying a car and then use the money from the work to pay for the car. But it's still half a year ahead. So I was thinking maybe I could save some. So it's not 100% debt. So what's your recommendation? Yeah, well, it's a great question. I'll say this,

we are about 100 percent no debt at all. So my goal for you would be to pay for a car in cash. And I'll be honest, it may not be the prettiest car. It may not be the best car. It may not be your dream car. But to do what you need it to do to get you to and from work versus avoiding the bus and an hour and a half commute both ways with that, this is a great investment. So how much – are you married, did you say? Yes. Okay. How much do you guys make a year? We make right now about $60 to $80.

Okay. With overtime. Yep. And what kind of debt do you guys have? We have $5,000 credit card and $75,000 on student loan. $75,000, okay. So what this would be, we talk about our four walls a lot more budgeting, taking a budget and saying, okay, here's the priority of things that we need to take care of and that would be food shelter transportation and utilities so transportation's

in there which is a car and so in order for you to go to work go to school do these things you're going to need a car so do you guys i don't have to have a car but it will be saving on time that i can use towards like extra hours on work. Yeah, absolutely. Do you guys have any savings at all? No, we just started. Yeah, no, it's great.

Sorry, one quick question. Did you say your student loan was $75,000 or $7,500? $75,000. Okay, just want to clarify that. Yeah, so if you were to choose to say yes and a car would be an investment for us to make this process easier, I can work overtime, I can do X, Y, and Z, I would not take out a car payment for it. Again, this is going to be a very cheap, cheap, reliable car. An old Honda, an old Accord. I love Hondas. Hondas are my favorites. You're on a Honda kick today. I am. But the goal here is to completely avoid debt 100%.

And if this is something that you guys say, yeah, we need to invest in this before we start paying off the debt, I would do that. And then I'd get gazelle and tents. And you guys are on it. I mean, you're in it for the first week. And I'm so excited. So excited about your money journey. Awesome. This is The Ramsey Show. if you've been paying attention to the real estate market you've noticed that competition

between buyers out there is intense in part because the inventory of available housing has been hitting all-time lows now when inventory is low it simply means there are more buyers buying than sellers selling and that turns the pressure up on everyone. If you've been looking, you've been feeling that. Buyers want to snag the right house. Sellers want to accept the right offer. This isn't amateur hour, y'all. Low inventory is here to stay. To win in this market, you need a pro by your side. That's why we find, vet, and endorse top real estate agents across the country called endorsed local providers to help you buy or sell.

Our agents have years of industry success and refuse to compromise your financial goals no matter how tough the competition is. Good news is that you could instantly connect with an endorsed local provider in your area today. Just go to ramseysolutions.com slash agent to find a Ramsey trusted agent near you. That's ramsaysolutions.com slash agent. And blinds.com 100% satisfaction guarantee means that even if you mismeasure or pick the wrong color, they'll remake your blinds for free. You get free samples, free shipping, and with the new promo codes they run every month, you'll save even more.

Use promo code RAMSEY to get the best deal. And today's question comes from Casey in Missouri. My husband and I have been battling infertility for three years. We have no debt and our income is $40,000 and we have $10,000 in savings. We have tried less aggressive fertility treatments and they have failed. It looks like we will have to move on to IVF, which can be $10,000 to $15,000. Taking out a loan in order to do IVF doesn't feel right, but neither does spending all of our life savings on something that isn't guaranteed. What advice do you have for

families who long for a baby and can't afford the cost of IVF? I've thought about selling baked goods or craft projects to raise funds. Is fundraising a good option? Okay, see, this is a hard one. I think that this is something in life that I think everyone has had someone in their life where this has been the case, the struggle of starting a family. And I think it's one of the their life where this has been the case, the struggle of starting a family. And I think it's one of the most heart-wrenching ones, issues. So I don't belittle that at all because it's heartbreaking. It's absolutely heartbreaking. So I would say it doesn't feel right to spend all of our life savings on something that isn't guaranteed.

I think trying for a baby is worth it. I think for you guys, you're right. It's not guaranteed. And so taking out loans for this is difficult because I've talked to people that have done this. And if it didn't work, you're paying back something that it did and, and it, and it, and it causes a lot.

It does cause a lot of stress. And so, uh, my encouragement to you would be, um, yes, it's fundraising option. Absolutely.

I think people, uh, are extremely generous in life. I think people start, you know, whether it's go fund me, start places and people love on them and, and help give and support to their causes, whether it's GoFundMe, start places and people love on them and help give

and support to their causes, whether it's adoption or IVF or whatever you choose. It's a beautiful thing. So yes, is that an option? Absolutely. It's an option. It's on the table, I would say. But I'd also say that you guys can, I think you can cash flow at least one of these treatments because I know on the front end of this,

it's usually more expensive through the process. But I would say to still keep that emergency fund, I would still have money to make. I wouldn't cash out everything and go to zero by any means. That doesn't feel wise either. I understand that. So I would have some buffer. Maybe you bring your emergency fund down to three months versus six months, and you guys have that, and then be aggressively saving for this goal because this is a goal of something you guys are longing for as a family and using that motivation to say, you know what? We're going to cut things out of our lifestyle. We are.

I'm going to sell baked goods. I'm going to sell crafts. I'm going to fundraise. We're going to do what we can to get this money and let that longing for a family be part of that motivation to save for it. I really would. But this is hard. It's hard.

This is a hard question. Yeah. And the other thing, Casey, that I would say is this feels super emotional for you because it is super emotional for you. but if you were to just for a minute suspend the emotion of it and look at it differently and say this is something very important to us and we're going to find a way to pay for it just like you would if it was anything else that was super important to you it feels different because it's a baby obviously that is different but don't feel weird about saving up to pay cash or using cash from your from your savings account that you already have or adding to it or fundraising to fund this thing that's very important to you, it just so happens that this thing that you want to spend money on is a baby.

And thank God for modern medicine that there are options like this for you to pursue that path. And so I just want to encourage you that while it is extremely emotional and personal, you have every right and opportunity within your means to find a way to pay for it, if that's what's right for you and that's what you want to do. So we just want to encourage you in that. All right, let's go to Beaumont, Texas with Daniel. Hey, Daniel, how are you?

Good, how are you all? Good, what's going on? So I'm thinking about taking another job. The job that I'm at pays really, really good, but it's shift work. And we have a new baby and everything, and I'm just, I'm only home half the time. And when I am home, I'm sleeping, you know, and I'm just trying to get some guidance on it because I'm going to take about a $2,000 a month cut to move jobs. What's your income right now?

Right now, monthly? Or annual, either one. Monthly is $7,400, and I'd be going down to about $5,400. Do you all have any debt? Yeah. Yeah, I have a mortgage, and then I have $20,000 I owe on my truck and $35,000 on my wife's SUV. Yeah.

And $20,000 in student loans. So when you say the better hours, is it because you're exhausted at your job or because you're missing the baby or both? Both. You know, I work nights. Nights and days, it alternates. So half the time I'm not home, and then half the time when I'm home you know I'm sleeping or whatever because my schedule is all crazy and um I just and then of course once she gets older and everything you know like all the guys I work with they don't they miss their kids you know recitals dance recitals football games basketball, basketball games, all that.

Everybody's making good money, but they're kind of miserable because they're not really free. And Daniel holds the baby. She's 10 months old. 10 months old, okay. Well, Daniel, I'm going to let Rachel answer this, but I just want to point out you just made the perfect case for why you guys need to get out of debt. Because you get out of debt, and you get serious, and you get on a budget.

If you stay on the line, we'll havelly give you guys a membership to ramsey plus so you can take the classes learn the steps get the every dollar budget if you do that now when she's a baby and we'll have zero memories of what's going on right now if you work in these nights then when she's older in a couple years you guys get this debt knocked out you can take that pay cut you can be at her recitals and you can do all of that. But that will not happen if you're always in chains to this debt. I'll let Rachel take it. But you just made a perfect case for why we need to get out of this. Yeah, absolutely.

I was going to say, this is your why. I mean, Daniel, let this to say, I don't want to be those guys. You know, my baby's 10 months. You know, she's not doing recitals right now. She's not doing, he's not doing basketball games right now. But that's coming. Like that day is coming. It's coming fast in the next couple of years.

And you guys kind of got a mess on your hands financially. Lots of debt stuff kind of swirling around. So I would say, let this be your motivator. Yes. Would you have a better quality of life right now in the present if you took those hours down? Yes, you would. Absolutely. And is that the right decision? Maybe it is.

Maybe you guys decide, you know what? We're still going to cut the hours and we're going to attack this debt. It's going to take us longer to pay it off. But the more you buckle down right now, like Christy's saying, and the more you say, I'm going to sacrifice my time with my family to still make this extra. Because I mean, you're talking about, you know, 25 grand pay cut over a year that could be thrown at this debt. So do the math and say, how fast can we get out of debt? If I stayed in this job, how long would it be? This is not forever, but 18, 24

months. What does it look like in two years? If I don't take the pay cuts and we grind it out, even though it's going to be hard, it might be worth it in the end. So good. This is The Ramsey Show. Scripture of the day is Luke 11, 9, and 10. So I say to you, ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives. The one who seeks finds. And to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Maya Angelou said, ask for what you want and be prepared to get it. Such a theme today, ask. what you want and be prepared to get it. Such a theme today. Ask. So often we miss the simple things. Just ask for what you want and ask for what you need. I love that. All right, we're going to go to Alexa in Colorado. Hey, Alexa, how are you?

Hi, guys. Thank you for taking my call. Sure. What's going on? So my husband and I started the Baby Steps back in July. Sure. What's going on? That's awesome. and it has always been that way. And even before I started listening to you guys, it was my pride and joy, you know, we never owed anything on a car. That's awesome. But my husband's a little worried

because, you know, they're both, I think one of them's a 2004 and the other's a 2006. They're both pretty heavy, especially mine is pretty heavy on the miles with picking up the kids and drop-offs and just everything. So I wanted to know what the best way to plan for that is.

Or, you know, I mean, we just started on the baby steps, and we've kind of struggled a little bit to really get some friction going here, you know, get some, I don't know, some umph. Yeah. And so I'm just a little bummed out, you know, that we would, I mean, I guess I didn't know the best way to cancel this. I think that we don't end up having to take the car loan out or whatever, you know? Sure. Alexa, is there problems with the car currently or you're just worried because they're an 04 and 06 and you just, you just know eventually cars give out.

Is there any reason besides just the year? I mean, my husband's car, which is mainly just for him to go to work and back, you know, it's actually turned out to be pretty reliable. So is there anything wrong with the cars, though? Is there anything wrong currently with the cars that you're like, okay, we're going to have to replace the transmission, all that, or you just are fearful in the future? Not right now, no. The main one is like over 200,000 miles already.

Okay, yeah, yeah, for sure. Which cars still run? I understand they're more likely to break the order they are, but we're doing good. We're doing good. Where are you guys in the baby steps? Are you on baby step one? Are you on baby step two? Yeah, just number one. Okay, that's awesome.

We dropped, so we had to readjust our budget just this month. Okay, amazing. And what's the debt situation? I think we're at about $10,000. Okay, $10,000 total. Is that credit cards, student loans? Mainly credit cards, actually.

Yeah, that's great. But a little bit of student loans. And how much do you guys make a year? We're at about $80,000 before taxes. Amazing. Okay. Well, Alexi, I mean, I'm going to be... Shoot her straight.

She needs it. Shoot her straight. I can feel it in you. You're holding back. She makes $80,000. She has $10,000 in debt. I know. Well, I was going to say, I'm about to give you good news're holding back. She makes $80,000. She has $10,000 in debt.

I'm about to give you good news, Alexa. You can do this. This is easy. We got this. You make $80,000. You guys need to do a written budget. You need to cut out everything, Alexa, everything. You guys have been enjoying life. You've been racking up some credit card debt here and there. You got to stop that.

You got to look at your budget. You got to cut everything out of it. And you guys can get this $1,000 quickly. You got to stop that. You got to look at your budget. You got to cut everything out of it. And you guys can get this $1,000 quickly. You can do this. Sell stuff. Work extra. That's so interesting. That's the interesting thing that I guess I am like I felt the same way which is why I was so eager to

have my husband jump on board with me. And then we sat down and did the budget. And I mean literally we haven't gone out since july what um we have where's all the money going where's it all going do you have too much mortgage um i i think it's my mortgage yeah i think we just got the house back in december um so the mortgage and the bills what percent of your income is your mortgage mortgage oh goodness um at this point again because my hours just dropped so they got cut back um at this point we're probably like closer to that half 50 percent yeah and we also have

yeah and we also have three young kids so there's daycare involved yep yeah alex i think your house is a big problem. It's eating a lot of that money. Mm-hmm. And you guys just kind of tighten stuff up. I mean, like, yes, even if half your money goes to a mortgage payment, which, again, you've got too much house, you guys may really, really, really want to look down, run the numbers,

and consider, hey, what if we sold? What if we did something different in this situation? But you guys make 80 grand. So it's there. It's there. It's just a matter of you guys sitting down and saying no to everything, everything for a season, for a season. And it's going to be hard. It's not going to be comfortable. But listen, Alexa, the deeper you sacrifice that lifestyle, the deeper you say, my hours were cut, but I'm going to find extra somewhere else. We are going to work hard again for a season and sacrifice time, sacrifice lifestyle

to get this all moving. It's going to be worth it because if you guys really do buckle down, you're going to be able... The average income is what? $56,000 in America. So within six months, you guys should be able to clean all this up. And I really, really believe you guys can.

You're working as a team, but you're new to this. So give yourself some grace. You're new to this. It's going to feel uncomfortable. Yeah, and Alexa, I want you to stay on the line because you have the income. There's no reason you can't get yourself out of this mess. It's going to take some adjustment, like Rachel said. to stay on the line because you have the income. There's no reason you can't get yourself out of this mess. It's going to take some adjustment, like Rachel said, but stay on the line. I want Kelly to give you a year to Ramsey Plus.

You're going to get the class, Financial Peace University. I want you and your spouse to take this class together. This class is not only going to show you how to get out of debt in a tactical way, it's going to fire you up to care enough to want to. Because most of us know what we need to do to get out of debt, live on less than we make. We know this. We know how to lose weight, eat less calories. We get it. We just don't have the motivation a lot of times. And what's so fantastic about Financial Peace University is it gives you the information and the motivation. It's going to fire you up to want to do something about this

situation, which is exactly what you need right now. And what's great is you already have the income to work with. Now, here's the other thing that I think is important for you to know, Alexa, but also any of you out there. If you are in a situation where you are living paycheck to paycheck and you're just getting by and you're just keeping your head above water, you have to make adjustments to make progress. You will never make progress on your debt or your financial goals by keeping the situation how it is where you're just keeping your head above water, which means here, let's talk about that, what that means literally. It means you have to get your income up and you have to get your expenses down so there is a larger margin between your income

and your expenses. All that extra is what you've got to work with, right? Like that's what goes towards your debt or towards your goals or whatever. So Alexa, even if you make 80,000 a year, if half of it's gone to the mortgage and a whole larger chunk is going to childcare, you may need to take a second job or your spouse takes a second job or you sell the house. Something has to change to decrease the expenses, to increase the income, or maybe both in order to have margin to make progress. Guys, if you're okay with barely just getting by, you're never going to get out of debt. You're never going to make progress. You have to get fired up. I love how Dave says you can wander into debt. You cannot

wander out. What got you in this mess by degrees, a little here, a little there, is not what's going to get you out. A little here, a little there, never got anyone out of debt, ever. You've got to get gazelle intense. You've got to get your income up, your expenses down in whatever way is possible for you. And that's what's going to make the difference. Not, I'm going to save $2 on a coffee. $2 on a coffee. $2 on a coffee is fine, but I need you to make major changes

to increase your income and decrease your expenses to get there. And it's going to feel uncomfortable, Alexa. It's not going to be fun. Change is uncomfortable. It is. And that's what I was going to say. It causes friction and it's hard.

It makes you step out of your comfort zone to say this is not normal. What I knew was normal is not getting me what I want. So the results that I want in the future, in order to get those, I have to change my present. I have to change what I've been doing, just like what Christy's saying. And so prepare for that friction. Prepare to be uncomfortable. And there's a level of this that it's not easy.

If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, right? So it's going to take a level of discipline for you guys. But, Alexa, you can do this. And you guys are so early on in the process, okay? You've got to just fine-tune some stuff, get that fire lit in you. And Ramsey Plus is going to help you do that. Yes. And you can change the game.

It is hard, but it is worth it. No one has called us and said, oh, man, I missed my debt. No one ever, by the way. It's worth it. All right. I want to thank producer James Child and associate producer Kelly Daniel, my co. No one ever. By the way, it's worth it. All right, I want to thank producer James Child and associate producer

Kelly Daniel, my co-host Rachel Cruz. Yeah, Christy. This was fun and you, America, for listening in.

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