The Ramsey Show - App - Should I Sell Stocks to Pay Off Debt? (Hour 1)

Episode Date: August 7, 2020

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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studio, this is the Dave Ramsey Show, where America hangs out to have a conversation about your life and your money. My name is Anthony O'Neill. Co-hosting with me today is the one and only Dr. John Deloney. We would love to have your phone calls. We would love to have your questions. And you guys this is a life and money uh show so we would love to have a conversation about uh your mind uh where

you are if you're feeling a little depressed um how can we help you um if you're dating and you have some questions and even young people we got some young people out there in the studio today we actually have people with masks and and people without masks because we just love all kind of people. So if you're watching this today on YouTube, thank you so much for watching. If you're listening, wherever you're listening, give us a call. 888-825-5225. 888-825-5225. You know what?

Let's go ahead and kick it off with Jacob out in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Jacob, good afternoon. How can Dr. D and myself help? Hey, Anthony. It's good to hear from you. Hey, I had a question. My wife and I currently have baby step two. And I was wondering, do I need to leave my student loans? Because there's four of them. Do I need to leave them in one big section or section them up? Great question. The four smaller ones. How much debt are you in at Baby Step 2 total?

$13,000. And all $13,000 student loans? I have about $3,000 in credit cards, $3,500 on a car that was totaled, and I didn't have gap insurance and about a little over six in student loans. Cool. Great. So to answer your question, no, you're not going to lump sum into one lump sum. What I want you to do is break it down. So if you have four different student loans, you're going to put that in the debt snowball. So say for an example, you have two student loans. One is $1,000, then one is $5,000. But let's say for an example, you have a student loan loans one is one thousand then one is five thousand but let's say for an

example you have a student loan for a thousand then you also have a credit card for two thousand and then the next student loan is five thousand where you're going to put the one thousand dollars first you're going to put the fifty two thousand credit card in between the two student loans you see what i'm trying to tell you so it's like you don't line up the student loans in the debt snowball, wherever they are. Yes, sir. Don't add them in there. Don't lump some of it all together. Just go ahead and

line up the debt snowball and make it work. What did you get your degree in, Jacob? I'm actually finishing up my degree at OSU in history. My plan is to be a teacher. That a boy. Be a great teacher, William is to be a teacher. Okay. That a boy. Be a great teacher, will you? Be a great

teacher. He's going to be a great teacher. I'm going to try. My mom was a teacher. My grandma was a teacher. So I figured I'd continue with the legacy. That's what I'm talking about. Good for you. And congrats on picking a good Big 12 school. Way to go, man. Thanks. I'm a Red Raider, so we're not friends

except for right now we are so good for you man all right it's not a word hey man jacob thank you so much for calling in thanks boss all right 888-825-5225 it is uh dr deloney and myself uh i was about to call you dr d i kind of like you call me anything you i can't call you anything that I want to call you. It's better than the things that you call me off air, so I'll take Dr. D, man. I'll take it. Hey, so is that common, Anthony, that people want to lump these student loans

into one big pot and they don't think as individual loans, individual debts that just go in their place on the debt snowball? Yeah, it's definitely on it. I mean, it's definitely something that I even understand because what they're doing is, well, my student loans, they're making one payment. And they're making one payment that is divided between four of them if they're all in the

same place. Right. Okay. So, which I totally understand. But if you really want to attack the student loan, then what you got to do is go inside and then list all of them off. And you can honestly go log into the student loan portal and actually make payments on each one of them yourself. And so and that's what I always recommend. I always say, you know what? Don't just make one payment and allow them to divide them up. No.

Work to debt snowball. So pay the minimum on all of them. If that's the only project that you do have, which I talk about them in my on my quick read called destroy your student loan debt i tell them to go in there and look at okay what do you have how much you have line it up in the smallest to largest and then attack one by one by one by one don't just make one payment that goes to all of them because that one payment it doesn't have a lot of juice on each one right no it doesn't have a lot of juice on each one, right? No, it doesn't have a lot of juice and really it's going towards interest. It's not really going towards the principle of the payment. Okay.

Man, that's a good question, Dr. D. I'm learning. You're teaching me, Anthony. That's good. It's about time you learn something. Going out to Dallas, we have a conversation with Tyler. Tyler, good afternoon. How can Dr. D and I help? Hey, can y'all hear me? Yes, sir, we can. Perfect. Great. Great talk to y'all. How can Dr. D and I help? Hey, can y'all hear me? Yes, sir. Absolutely. Perfect. Great. Great talk to y'all. Um, I'm 21. I'm entering my senior year this fall at

Texas A&M university. I've read the tall and lame makeover, the retired inspired, and I'm looking forward to reading other books. My question is, um, back in the spring, I was given notice that I was given an individual brokerage account with some single stocks in it, and that total value is about $10,000. My question is, is it smart to cash this out to pay off debt? If yes, should I cash it now, or wait to see if it goes up? I know you really can't time the market or anything like that. Yeah, you know, that's a good question.

What are you going to school for, Tyler? So I'm going to school for construction management, but the degree is called construction science, basically. Construction management. Okay, okay. And how much is it going to cost you per year? Per year, I got it written down right here. Every year, it costs me

roughly $20,000. $20,000. So that's going to be a four-year degree program? Yes, sir. So you're looking roughly $20,000. $20,000. So that's going to be a four-year degree program? Yes, sir. So you're looking at $60,000. $80,000. $80,000. I'm sorry. My math is off.

I'm sorry. $80,000. And you're a senior. You're almost done? I'm a senior. I almost graduated. Yes, I graduate next spring. Okay.

All right. So you graduate next spring. How much debt are you going to graduate with? The day I graduate, I've next spring. Okay. All right. So you graduate next spring. How much debt are you going to graduate with? The day I graduate, I've done all the math. Let's see. I'll have $30,000 between scholarships and my internship that I'm on right now. The day I graduate, I will have $50,000, $56,000. And then after I apply that, if I apply that single stock, that will decrease that to $46,000.

Okay, cool. You know, I'm not a huge fan of single stocks, so you have two options that I'm going to let you choose from. You can pull it out and just put it into a Roth IRA and let it grow from over there. You're going to pay penalties no matter what on that end. Or you can pull it out, and if you want to pay your debt, that's fine. For me, I'm trying to figure out how can I go ahead and just keep that in the investment side and pay off the debt. But if you want to pay off your debt with it, that's fine. Honestly, Tyler, that's fine.

You can go either way. You're young. If you want to attack the debt, go ahead and attack the debt. But if you want to just roll that over into a Roth IRA, it could save you a little bit there. You could do that as well. But I would definitely, I'm not a single stock guy, so don't even invest more into single stocks. All right. On the tax portion of this, I think it's a long term.

So I don't think there's going to be taxes on that. Does that sound correct? Or do I need to talk with a... Yeah, get with a smart investor pro on that. Yeah. I mean, one of our tax EOPs. Yeah. Yeah, it definitely sounds correct.

But I definitely would get with one of our EOPs, endorsed local providers, so they can definitely help you out and get a little more into detail with your specific thing. But for sure, you can choose whichever route you want to go. But with you being in debt right now, I wouldn't be mad with you paying off the debt. Pay off the debt. 888-825-5225. It's Dr. D and myself. We'll be right back. No matter what time of year it is, focusing on your family's financial plan is always a smart move.

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and will take the time to help you find the most affordable term life rates. Go to Zander.com or call 800-356-4282. It's not that expensive, it's not complicated, and you need to do it now. wow man i you know one of the greatest things i love about working at ramsay solutions is our team we have amazing team members here and one of them is kelly daniel our phone and associate producer and i won't say what just happened, but I just want America to know that I love I love. She clowned you. I love. I love Kelly. Hey, you guys, it's Dr. D and Anthony O'Neill. And we're excited to be hosting the show today. So give us a call. Triple eight, eight, two, five, five, two, two, five.

I'm always show love to the YouTube world, YouTube, YouTube. What's going on? If you all didn't know, if you're listening to the podcast, if you are maybe listening in your car every single day from one to four p.m. Central Standard Time, Dave or any of the personalities when the Dave Ramsey show is on, we are live on YouTube. So I want to say hello to Philip Barnett. I see you commenting a lot in there. You're more than welcome to give us a call on the show. I see that you kind of disagree with some things and I don't have a problem having a conversation with you live on the air in front of 17 million people. You're calling them out. But Crystal Harrison, hey, hello. And to Giselle

and Aubrey Miles and Femi Finance, hello. Give us a call uh just saying hello to everyone i love the youtube space i love having a conversation so uh let's keep this conversation going and having a conversation out in san antonio texas with hyatt this is going to be a great day hey good afternoon how can dr d and i help hi guys thanks for taking the call um i'm trying to figure out how to deal with a little bit of heartache over feeling estranged with my 21-year-old brother. We took him and my 33-year-old brother, as well as my mom, in five years ago. My husband and I, and they lived with us for five years until last June. We were financially responsible for everyone, and we were hoping to give everyone a fresh start after some domestic issues that they were facing in their home base.

And so things hit a breaking point for us in June, and we asked everybody to leave. So it was kind of abrupt. What happened? My young brother kind of – things kind of – my middle brother moved back to San Antonio during the corona. Everything happened, and things kind of just became a big load. What was the abrupt – y'all got to go now. Five years up until now, and then it's just like y'all got to get out. What was that? What was that? I think it was, it was coming. I think it was just the family dynamics starting to lock back into old habits

and things we wanted. We wanted people to move on and start new jobs and careers and things like that. But as soon as the third, you know, player in the family dynamic clicked in, everybody reverted back to the old habits and things like that. So we felt like we just can't, like people, you know, my brother came here and he didn't work, started kind of influencing the young brother to take less hours and just lounge around. And we wanted to just kind of push everybody young brother to take less hours and just lounge around. And we wanted to just kind of push everybody out of the nest.

That's at least my feeling. So what's your question? How can we help? Yeah. How do I, I'm reaching out, I'm trying to reach out and bring my youngest brother back in. But I also to connect, reconnect back with him. But my tendency is to say, hey, come back and I'll give you some money. And how do I, you know, how do I like reconnect with

him specifically my youngest one, because I can't arrange him without, you know, going down that path again, where love equals help, love equals money, you know, and how do I... I see he's struggling. He doesn't have a car. He's taking control of the... He's responsible for rent and all that stuff. And I don't know... How old is he? I drove by his workplace. He's 21.

Okay. So, are you feeling lonely? Are you feeling disconnected? Are you feeling guilty? I'm feeling disconnected? Are you feeling guilty? I'm not. Maybe a little bit of guilt, but I don't feel lonely. I have my husband and my son, and I'm pretty fulfilled. I guess maybe I'm just being pulled back by those old heartstrings.

Right. I mean, you love your brother. The best way to love him right now is to let him grow up and the best way to love him right now is to let him develop the muscles and skills and fortitude and grit to put food on his own plate and to develop his own community you'll always be a sister you'll always be the, a strong woman presence in his life that bailed him out for five years that fed him and clothed him and, and got him through high school, got him through college. You'll always be that, but he needs to develop his own community, his own relationships, his own friends that are going to be the folks that lift his arms

up in the desert as he goes through the ups and downs for the rest of his life. And the best way to do that is to tell him, I love him. I love you. You're always welcome at my house. I'd love to have you over for Sunday dinner. Um, and I'm going to be cheering for you. I'm not going to be funding you. And so flip the switch in your head that when you hand him a check, you are hurting him. You are violating his autonomy and his ability to flex his own and grow his own muscles.

That's beautiful, Dr. D. Is that fair? Yeah, that's fair. That's fair. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So just find those tendencies. Yeah, and what you're going to find, my guess is, what you're going to find is it feels so good to have bailed out your family. It feels so good to have been the family hero,

especially if there was domestic stuff. And so this is a whole other call, but if there was any sort of domestic abuse from a male figure in the house, they got out, they jumped into you, you were the hero, you rock and rolled it, you fed and clothed everybody, you and your husband were the rock stars.

And it's easy to let that form your identity let that become you and you're not that you're a sister you stepped up in a time of need which is what sisters do and now you've got to go back to just being a wife and going back to just being a mom and those aren't small back tos those are identities those are beautiful things but you've got to you've got to fight the temptation to go back and try to re-save everybody again right you've got to put a period at the end of that sentence you did you you did incredible things you came through clutch and now you get to be a mom and a wife yeah anthony how do we how do we adjust our how do we adjust seasonal moments and don't let them become our permanent

identities? Does that make sense? That question? Sure. It doesn't. No, it doesn't. It doesn't. Okay.

How do you go to college for three or four years and be able to put a period at the end of that and not walk through life like, I'm just a college dude. How do you have a relationship where you love somebody for two years, you're really invested, and then you ultimately decide we're not going to be together, and you're able to let that go, that she or he is not a part of your identity anymore? How do you step up and help somebody change their tire in a time of need and not wear the –

I get it. I'm the tire changer guy. Yeah, I get it. And I think it comes down to the mindset. I think everything is seasonal. Everything is seasonal, but we make it into a permanent state, into a permanent situation. And I think sometimes we're just driving by a season to get the education, to get the wisdom, to get the knowledge, to get the experience.

But then we take that and say, all right, I'm going to live here. And I think it's because we're uncomfortable for going from here to there because we spent so much time over here. Now we've got to go somewhere brand new. We want to keep a foot in that area because we know we're safe, right? We know we're safe. We've been here. That one there exactly exactly the prime example i come from a predominantly african-american church before here i mean i i lived in that space i

know that world i mean i was in my comfort zone and coming here i came to a you know a very different culture you can say it a very white culture right a very different culture. You can say it. A very white culture, right? A very different culture. And I'm like, whoa. It was nervous. So I tried to keep my feet over there while I had my feet over here. And I had to quickly learn, Anthony, be you wherever you are. Because then if you keep your feet in both worlds, then you're never really anywhere. You're not.

You're not. You're not. And so what I had to realize is, Anthony, you're Anthony O'Neal. And wherever you are, you're going to be Anthony O'Neal. And you needed that season for a period of time. You got it. Now you're over here. Be you and get what you need from over here.

Hi-ya. You heard it here. Anthony O'Neal dropping wisdom. Nah, not me. That's you. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Going out to Baton Rouge, going to have a conversation with Donnie. Donnie, good afternoon. How can Dr. D and I help?

Hey, Dr. D and A.O., how are y'all? Man, we're doing well today, man. Thanks for calling in. How can we help? Yes, sir. I am on my baby step two and want to go back to school for my bachelor's degree. I currently receive $2,000 in incentives per year from my associates, and I'm wanting to continue to obtain my bachelor's degree. I currently receive $2,000 incentive per year from my associate, and I'm wanting to continue to obtain my bachelor's.

The cost would be approximately $10,000, and the incentive would increase to $4,000 per year. Of course, I'd pay cash, and the degree is not required, but it's just a personal goal. So it's not required for the particular field you want to go into? Well, the field that I'm in right now, it's not required for any position increase. It's just a personal goal that I'd like to have. Oh, okay, cool.

So what do you do right now again? Firefighting. Firefighting. That's what I'm talking about man thank you so much for what you do bro for real uh thank you thank you yes so yes so all right let's talk about this so we're looking at about six thousand dollars extra outside of the four thousand that you'll get six thousand dollars a year uh to get this program it's not needed it's not a requirement uh that you will eventually pay cash for.

Let me answer this question before I give you my answer. I'll let Dr. D get in here too with us. If you get this program, what's the income increase? How does this benefit you financially right now?

Right now, nothing. All it is is the incentiveUP, so we get in SINUP every year for the degrees, but it's currently $2,000 for associates and $4,000 for a bachelor. So all it would, all the only financial goals, financial increase would be about $2,000 per year. Okay. All right. All right. All right. And are you in any debt right now? Yes. We'll be debt-free in a few months.

Our goal is by November. Okay. How much debt are you in right now? $30,000. $30,000. Hello? Donnie, did I lose you? No. Oh oh there he is he's back all right and let me get this straight you're thirty thousand dollars in debt right now that's correct okay um that will be taken care of by november here's where i go with okay all right so here's my suggestion for you donnie because i

like you i don't i don't i don't have a problem with you getting the extra education. I believe education is the most important thing we all can obtain. And so getting the extra education and going after that, I am totally, totally cool with that. Here's where I have a problem at, though. I want you to save the six grand that you're going to be paying per year and put that towards your debt. Now, once you get out of debt, once you get your fully funded emergency fund and you're specifically in a career field that I think an emergency fund is really much needed, much so needed. I wouldn't do just three months. I actually would go six months just in case if something did happen. I'm on top of your insurance covering you. you have six months as well to be there. And then after that, man, once you have your foundation laid, if you want to go back, get some education and experience that journey just so you can feel accomplished.

I have no problem with that at all. But right now, I really want you to focus on getting out of debt. If you were to say like, hey, I'll get an extra 15, 20 grand a year for the $6,000 investment, I would be like, yeah, okay, let's go do that. But right now there's no financial investment. It's taking away money you can put towards your debt snowball. I mean, it may add a little bit more stress too,

just a little bit. And so I would advise on the financial end to just go on ahead and cover the foundations and then go for it once you are out of debt. Understood. Understood, definitely. All right, man.

Thank you so much for calling in, man. And again, I mean this, Donnie. Thank you for putting your life online for us, you know, going into a building that's burning up. If it ain't my wife and my kids, I ain't going in the building. I will, but we're different people.

You'll go in for me? I would for your wife and kids, for sure. You had to think about that. That's right. So, Anthony, I found something we might disagree on. Tell me. We disagree on a lot of things. That's right.

That we'll publicly say out to the world. Do you think education has to have an ROI to it or it has a value in and of itself? When I am in debt and I do not have a fully funded emergency fund, yes. If I am in a financially secure place, no. Well said. So we do agree. Well, you just said we disagree. I thought we did, but you clarified it.

It's contextual then, right? So in this world, if I still owe a bunch of money, I just want to get a degree. It's not going to contribute to helping me pay this debt off. It's just something I want to do. Right. Then we're going to pay off debt first. Right. But on the other side, if I'm debt-free, I've covered my four walls,

and I have this dream, I've got this desire to learn more, to hear narratives and stories that I've never heard before. I may not get more money, but education is something worth investing in. Absolutely. So on that flip side, I would ask the question, can you do it without it costing you that much money? Because in today's day and time, you can read a lot and study a lot without it costing you $10,000, $8,000 a year.

I mean, like for an example, I'm a part of Masterclass online, and that's costing me about $200 a year. I mean, like for an example, I'm a part of masterclass online and that's costing me, you know, about $200 a year. And I literally go in there every single day and I learn things that has nothing to do with finances that has nothing to do with what I enjoy doing, but I'm learning and I'm subscribing to these classes because I want the education. I always want to be growing and maturing and learning different things, but I can go online to a university, said university, and spend $10,000 for the same information that I'm spending $200 for. So I would say I don't have a problem with people learning just to learn, but does it have to cost you that much to learn?

And so the way I would characterize that or the way I would – my response to that would be this. Michael Jordan always had a coach. Right. And had a nutritionist and a workout coach and, and, and. And, and, and. And so I think when we think of education as information, yeah, master class is incredible. When I think about education as a relationship, as a coach is going to walk beside me and make sure I'm picking up this information, and not only am I getting the information, but I'm learning how to do the thing, right?

How to become this thing. That's where I think Pampered Coach is good, right? Yeah, yeah. But then you came from the school. Right. Will a professor actually walk through that with me? Oh, yeah. Yeah.

My professor didn't. Really? No. Hmm. No. walk through that with me oh yeah yeah my professor didn't really no no i mean he showed up for class and left as soon as class was over no there's no professors i'm not speaking that's over all of them that's right you know i'm just saying for the that i've experienced outside of seminary seminary they walked me through the process but traditional school they showed up and left and and the same information i could have i could have went to youtube or masterclass or something like that i got that's right but you

said a key word there coach right i don't have a problem with coach that's right i don't have a problem with mentors i think we all need them in different areas of our life i have a mentor who is who's been married for 48 years and he's mentoring me on how to be healthy in my single life to go towards that. That's my mentor. That's my coach. I love it. But from a school university perspective, spending $10,000, $15,000, $20,000 to get that, I would question, like, is that the only route? If that is, go for it as long as your foundation is solid. And I think you're asking a question that a lot of people in America are asking right now about whether I send my kid back with COVID and are they going to go for two weeks and get

sent home? I hope that some of my best friends on planet earth are extraordinary college professors. I hope the whole professoriate is listening and hearing this conversation to say, are you somebody who just shows up, clocks in out because if you're just trading in if if your job is just information transmission yeah yeah and get that 200 bucks for master class absolutely if it is i'm going to be about the the business of human transformation yes people change that's a that's a that's an exhausting job it's a tiring job it's a noble job if if if it's transformation that's a that's a that's an exhausting job it's a tiring job it's a noble job if if if it's transformation that's right human change yep i'm paying money for it i love it if you're just showing up and there's nothing there i'm not paying money for it i love it not doing it

this is dave ramsey show Thank you. do you ever get to the end of the month and have absolutely no idea where all your money went it feels like as soon as the money comes in it goes right back out i've been there i know dr d has been there man here's the thing you guys if you wanted to take if you want to take control of your money you have to be the one to tell it where it goes this means there's no secret to this thing there's no surprise you gotta have a budget and the best tool out there is every dollar because you got to give every dollar a title a name an assignment every single month and the best way to do this is with our brand new ramsey plus membership it gives you all of our best money products including a premium version of our budgeting app every dollar that's where you make your budget track your spending and clearly and

i mean this clearly see where your money is going you can try all of this for free uh with a free trial of ramsey plus today never again wonder where your money is going and to start the free trial i want you all to text begin b-e-g-i-n to three three seven eight nine one more time that's begin b-e-g-i-n to three three seven eight nine um i've been a part of the whole ramsey plus every dollar movement for a while and true star i'm gonna tell on myself today you all can go over to my instagram account and i told myself this morning uh my my ig name is at anthony o'neill and you'll see thousands of people are talking about it right now but i woke up this morning and i said you know what it's friday it's a good time to get some some some pickup food i just go to pizza hut or something like that get some food oh man that sounds so good so good right and then i was looking at my budget and my budget just literally screamed

at me you just went grocery shopping on tuesday huh and i looked at my budget and said i didn't ask you and and and it's like man and i stepped back and i asked myself well why did you spend you know 200 this month to go grocery shopping to go spend $30 to get more food when you have all this food in the house? And my guess is that food in the house was probably planned and thought out so it's healthier for you. Much so. It's not going to be full of trash and sugar and nonsense. It's going to keep you up and not let you sleep well. Yeah, there's no pepperoni or pineapple

or sausage. There's nothing like that in the refrigerator. That's right. My budget was like, you have financial goals. Over the last, I want to say, 60 days, I've really challenged myself

to do something to take myself to the next level um and my budget told me anthony i'll say it here on the show i sold my car i sold my bmw i had a bmw 750 and i sold it and i put the money back in my savings account because within the next three years i just built my house but i want to build my dream home. Then I gave myself a timeline, and my budget said, Anthony, you have goals. You're going to give every dollar a budget. If you go out to eat, you just wasted all this money and time. That's right.

And so, man. So how good did it feel? I think it's easy to sometimes think that the Ramsey folks, this ecosystem, we talk in cliches and we talk in, you know, sound bites. So be honest. You had this – you've got a nice car that you drive, your daily driver. Yep. You had this dope BMW in the driveway. Yep.

It was in the garage. In the garage. Kept it clean. Of course you do. You sold it, and then you have actual money in your savings account. Well, I had actual money in my savings account before that. I know. We got it.

We got it. So walk me through that process. Did it feel good to deposit that check? Did you feel a sense of loss? You know, I think the flesh side of me when I went to sell the car was hurt because I'm coming from this big, brand new. Let's just be real. One hundred and twenty thousand on the car that I didn't spend nowhere near that.

I bought it years, four years old. But you had some you had some identity status built in this fancy car. Yeah. I'm getting out the car. I mean, I feel good. I step out the car differently. And from a guy who is I worked hard about you've slept in a car before. Absolutely.

This feels good to have feels great a six figure car in your driveway feels great okay yeah feels great and so I started really just

writing out my goals and my visions my vision and I was like what is the ultimate thing what's most important to me right now

it's not the car it's not it's not a lot of things like I was telling Dave a few weeks ago I had a Louis Vuitton travel case that I spent all this money for. I probably used it two or three times. I sold that yesterday. Like I'm really just – I'm writing down a vision. I'm making it plain.

And I have two visions, one for my life and one for my budget, for my money. And I make sure that the two are congruent. So my ultimate goal as far as in life is I really want to go ahead and build my dream home. I said by 40, I want to be in my dream home. Then my budget is like, all right, bet, how do we get there? And I was like, yo, let's start. So a lot of things that I won't say on the air because it's personal stuff,

but I'm about to start really transitioning some things and making sure that I'm sticking to my budget even the more because I want to make sure that I get it. And the greatest enemy to our success is our excuse. And so this morning when I'm looking at my budget, my budget, you know, I talk to my budget. My budget talked to me. It sounds crazy, but it's real.

You know, when I look at the money, it's like, man, don't make an excuse. You have goals. eat your food and see i would even go below the excuse line is the lack of intentionality come on man and you painted a picture yeah of a house in a place yes of a a financial security a number yeah that's gonna say i can exhale yeah and that was more important than the picture this fake picture of i'm somebody because i got four wheels yeah on a box of metal in my driveway and you know what yeah absolutely and in answer your question to the beginning dr d when i deposited that check back into my savings account i was like man did you have like a yeah i mean i was like yo this is this is beautiful like a – I mean, I was like, yo, this is beautiful.

You just got somebody's annual salary in your savings account. No. See, you can't say that. I didn't spend $100,000 for the car. No, I'm saying you got somebody else's out in the world, not yours. Yeah, I was about to say. Somebody else's. Yeah, I see what you mean.

Yes, yes, yes. I just put that large amount of money into the account because now I'm getting closer and closer and closer to my goals. I'm getting closer. And I have some major steep goals that I really want to do. And to get to those goals, you're going to have to be super clear and continually refine and ask this hard question. Yes. Who am I and what do I want? Right?

Yes. Good for you, man. And so I say all I have to say, you guys, want right yes and i love good for you man and so i say i have to say you guys like having a budget is a vision for your money anthony's getting growed up and growed up and growed up it's it's it's a clear vision for your money if you really want to be successful with your money you have to have a budget and you have to stick to that budget and your budget is going to make you make decisions that you may not like today but you will love tomorrow and when i'm moving to my home i'm going to be like yes it was every decision that i made was yes and now i'm not saying that i'm eating on

beans and rice again i'm not doing that right But at the same time, why do I need two vehicles? I mean, I've asked that question of you. Really? You never asked me that. No, I mean, I asked it rhetorically in kind of a mocking, making fun of you kind of way. But I'm glad you got there. And we find this out on the Dave Ramsey show. Not in private,

but in front of 17 million people, you tell me that. Oh my goodness, you guys. Let's go to a social question. Listen, again, text BEGIN, B-E-G-I-N, to 33789. BEGIN to 33789 so you can get the free trial of Ramsey Plus. I'm telling you right now, it will extremely bless you. Morgan from the Ramsey Baby Steps asks you, Don,

what's the best approach to budgeting when both me and my husband have dealt with financial abuse in past relationships? You be honest and you call it out together. You put both of your past financial abuse tragedies, bear it open. Lay it on the line. And then, as Anthony just eloquently and vulnerably put out there, you co-paint a picture

of what tomorrow's going to look like. You both decide, what is this house going to look like? Who's going to be sitting at our table? What's the table going to look like? What's Thanksgiving going to look like? Who's going to be involved in that? And then you go build that together.

That's it. And I totally agree? And then you go build that together. That's it. And I totally agree. And I echo everything you just said. Hey, I appreciate your vulnerability, man. I tell you what, I'm super proud of you. And you're inspiring me. Amen. I'm going to go have a conversation with my budget tonight.

That's good. I am. It's about time. It's going to be uncomfortable. Remember, you guys, the caliber of your financial future will be determined by the decisions you make today. Make the right one. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. This is James Childs, producer of The Dave Ramsey Show.

On your smart speaker, you can add our skill by saying, Alexa, open the Ramsey Network skill. From there, you can listen to all our shows. Ask Dave money questions like, how do I invest my money? Or what is the debt snowball? Find out more at DaveRamsey.com slash smart speaker.