The Ramsey Show - App - Should I Start a Side Hustle To Help Pay Off Debt? (Hour 3)

Episode Date: June 16, 2021

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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the 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, America. This is your show where we talk about you right in front of you. The phone number is 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225.

Matt is in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Hi, Matt. How are you? Good. How are you doing, Dave? Better than I deserve. What's up? Awesome. First, Matt. How are you? Good. How you doing, Dave? Better than I deserve. What's up? Awesome. First, I just want to say thank you. In 2015, me and my wife found you and paid off $120,000 in 2018. So thank you for that. Good for you. Yeah, I look forward to seeing

you when the mortgage is paid off. Awesome. currently, uh, I'm a nurse at a hospital, um, in Lancaster that is going to be mandating, uh, the COVID vaccine, which I'm not sure if I'm going to get it yet. Um, so I'm looking at possibly doing a career change. Uh, we have an 18 month old and, um, our second baby is due August 24th. Um, if't get the vaccine, my firing date would be September 1st. We're in baby steps four, five, and six. We have about $55,000 in retirement with my work. We both have IRAs that have about $3,000 each. We're putting in money for our first child's college fund monthly,

and we were putting about $400 extra on the mortgage. So I guess my question is... How much is in the emergency fund? The emergency fund right now has $15,000. And what's your household income? I bring home gross about $63,000, and then take home for my wife. She owns her own business.

She's bringing around like $1,000 to $1,500 a month take home. I don't know what her gross is. We probably bring home about $4,500 a month. Okay, so August, July, and the rest of June. So you've got 75 days. Correct, yep. Okay. All right.

For them to either change their mind or you get a different nursing job, why don't you just get a different nursing job? There's a shortage of nurses i know um so the the thinking is that's possibility um so i'm really into finances after discovering you um and i have been in talks with my financial advisor about uh becoming a financial advisor myself um if that would fall through and I'm also looking at other nursing jobs. The only issue that I see with that is it's one of the largest companies hospital-wide in Pennsylvania on the Philadelphia side, and I believe everyone's kind of just watching to see

how many nurses and people leave. Well, that's happening everywhere, okay? Yeah. And the point is, and you're well aware of this, I don't need to tell you this, but I'm just going to remind you of what you already know. There's a lot of places that have nurses that are not hospitals. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, so I guess I could do that. Yeah, yeah.

Because here's the thing. Here's the thing. You need to make the jump to financial advisor from strength not desperation and weakness and yeah so that's my i also yeah so i've been offered from other people that know that i'm in to finances and stuff they have talked to me about training me to be an accountant and stuff like that and i don't want to that's what me and my wife have discussed i don't want to be taking any kind of job out of desperation just kind of like listening to you and stuff like that yeah i think you need to finish out getting real clear on what this next move from nursing is

and you need to make the jump from nursing um so what i think is going to happen is i think you're going to find another nursing job in the next three weeks okay because you're actually going to start looking yeah do you think now do you think i should wait like say my start date would be in september no i think i think if these bozos are willing to put you on the street i'm willing to put them on the street okay that's kind of my feeling too do you think um now with that would you stop investing? Because we're investing 15%. No, I think I'd go get a job, making more than I make now,

and quit the bad job with the bad people. Okay, all right. So here's what's happening, okay? This is happening all over America. You know, we've got large companies mandating vaccines, and people are leaving them in droves. Okay. So hospitals, I've talked to 20 people in health care in the past three or four weeks, and what's happening is that they're doing stuff like they're talking about doing with you,

and the nurses are saying, uh-uh, I'm not taking this thing. I'm out. Listen, i'm not taking this thing i'm out yeah i i listen i'm not signing up so then what happens is they take where they've already got a nursing shortage at that hospital and they exasperate it and then they're once they once they make the decision then they go back and undo the decision because they realize how screwed they are because half their people walk out it's like causing a strike yeah and that's what's kind of going on here yeah they're i got a feeling as soon as you find a job they're going to change their mind yeah yeah but i'm not sure i want to stay there anyway if they're if they're willing to put the muscle on me like that yeah that's so

again being in the financial situation we are thanks to you guys um i feel like i can leave um well definitely a lot of my co-workers that yeah you can leave because you can go make more yeah because you're in the you're in a fabulous field nursing's a fabulous field you you know you're only as secure not as some company providing you security you're only as secure as your ability to go land another thing doing it and nursing you can always land another thing doing it so you've got security because of your knowledge base and because of your licensing and and because of your willingness to do what you do and thank you for doing it by the way but um yeah i had a friend of mine the other day he's working for a huge corporation he'd been there for years and he was going to retire in two

years and they said you have to have a vaccine to come back into the office. And he said, okay, I'll just retire now. And he's one of their top sales guys, and they lost him. You people in corporate America are idiots. Y'all are idiots. You're just dumb. It's unbelievable. And it has nothing to do with you really think somebody's going to get sick.

You're just virtue signaling. You just want to look like, I'm sensitive. You're not sensitive. You're corporate America. You're idiots. And you treat a guy like this who's been serving people like a slab of meat. And you know what he's going to do? He's going to walk on you.

That's what he's going to do. And that's what you deserve. Golly. Unbelievable. gonna do he's gonna walk on you that's what he's gonna do and that's what you deserve golly unbelievable look if you want to take a vaccine i'm not mad at you but somebody mandating that you have to do that or you lose your job hey they deserve to lose the talent they deserve for talent to turn on their heel and walk out the door see around ramsey we got a rule. We don't have a rule. You can wear a mask if you want to. You don't have to wear a mask if you don't want to.

You can take your temperature at the door if you want to. Or you cannot take your temperature at the door if you want to. And everybody's getting along, and nobody died. It is a wonderful thing. But just don't be pissing and telling everybody else how they got to live. A bunch of people telling everybody else how they got to live. Mind your own business. This is the important than ever.

While some circumstances can't be controlled, there are items within your budget you can take charge of, such as your health care costs. For nearly 40 years, Christian Health Care Ministries, or CHM, has provided a budget-friendly means of sharing for medical bills when our members need it. Learn more by visiting chministries.org slash budget. That's chministries.org. The cost of college has gotten very real. Serious dollars, especially if you're going to a four-year school, right? You need a plan to pay for college.

You got some littles? You want your littles to go to school? You need a plan, baby. An ESA, an educational savings account, a 529. They're both places that you can invest after-tax dollars, and they grow tax-free. Age and income restrictions on the investment options you're given are a little bit different, and to get a better understanding of the choices that are right for you, you need to talk with a real expert financial advisor, someone with the heart of a teacher.

Text the word INVEST to 33789, and we'll connect you with one of our SmartVestor Pros that we have vetted. They're trustworthy. They will guide you, and you will make your decisions about getting your college plan started for your little. Invest. Text INVEST to 33789. INVEST to 33789, and we'll hook you up with the smart investor pro blaine is in tacoma hi blaine welcome to the ramsey show hey dave it's truly an honor to speak with you you too what's up hey sir so um i had a question concerning how do i best navigate the baby steps in regards to purchasing a home?

I am active duty military. I've been in for 12 years. No debt. I've got the fully funded emergency fund. And I've been saving for a down payment for a home a little over two years. I've got just over $20,000 saved. But I'm looking at at least eight years before I'm ready to purchase a home as I'm going to be moving every couple of years. So I guess I wanted to get your thoughts on should I do the all cash down approach?

Is that the best way? Yeah, just throw that $20,000 into a mutual fund. You can get something like an index fund, which is like an S&P 500. It'll have no commission on it, and there'll be no taxes on the growth until you pull it out, if you leave it alone, or hardly any taxes, maybe a tiny bit, because it's got a low turnover ratio. And then just keep piling money in there, and that's the I'm going to buy a house for cash when I get out of the military fund. Now, while doing that, am I still investing in retirement?

Yes, I'd be putting 15% of your income into retirement while you're doing that. This is like your baby step six. It's like paying off your house early. So baby step four is 15% of your income going into retirement. Five is kids' college. And six is pay off your house early okay so maybe step four is 15 of your income going out of time at five is kids college at six is pay off your house early so money that you would normally if you owned a house you'd be with a mortgage on you'd be chunking above the 15 above the kids college you'd be chunking money on there to get rid of that house mortgage as fast as you can okay okay so do my so do my minimum 15 treat my down payment for a house as if it were a mortgage,

and just follow the steps in that order then. Yep. Pile up the cash, baby. Thank you for your service. We appreciate you. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Jason is in San Francisco. Hi, Jason. How are you? Oh, not too bad. How about yourself, Dave? Better than I deserve. What's up? All right.

So my question is somewhat similar to the previous caller in that I am also planning to buy a house in the next one to five years. I have a 401K with my previous employer. There's about $145,000 in there right now. I'm contemplating, or I'm going to roll that over into an IRA account. Good, good. I'm contemplating if I should put that into a Roth IRA or a traditional IRA. No, because it's going to cost you $40,000 in taxes. Correct.

So that was my question. I have no debt. I have about, of my own savings, I have $190,000 currently in between my brokerage account and my Roth IRA. $15K net

net stag. Then I max out my 401K and my Roth IRA every year. You're killing it where'd it go my thank you um my parents have given me 250 000 to essentially buy or support help buy a home um that currently right now i have as cash. I hate it when that happens. Yeah, me too, right? So I can take some of that money to pay the taxes if I convert. No, I would only do that after your home is paid for,

and you're not going to have a paid-for home. You call me from San Francisco. Well, that was my thing. So I'm not going to buy a house in the Bay Area or in California. I will for sure move out of here before I do that. I don't know when and where. I know within the next five years that the housing market's high right now, and I have to get that plan figured out. Just park it in a money market or a mutual fund or some combo of the two while you make that decision. But either way, it's a down payment or the ability to pay cash for a home if you move to a much cheaper area to buy a home, right? And I don't want you messing up the down payment or the killer thing on the home

by having to pay taxes on the Roth. You can always flip it from a traditional to a Roth later. So let me walk you through. Here's what I think you should do. When you flip $140,000 to a Roth and it activates 35 or 40 000 in taxes that's like investing 35 or 40 000 more into your retirement account effectively mathematically does that make sense yeah and i would only want you to do that at baby step seven gotcha after i have the home exactly and the home's paid off because if i got to choose between investing more or than 15 or paying off the home well that's not our steps paying off the

home's maybe step six and so that's how i'm working this through from a critical thinking so i'm making this decision while i'm talking to you is i'm treating you like you need to flip this to seven you need to flip this to a roth when you get to baby step seven and you have the extra cash to pay the taxes it creates gotcha gotcha okay so anything that impedes you being at baby step seven is is in the wrong order and so that that's that's that's how i'm working this through in my head hey man thanks for the call. You are too. Make sure mom and dad got some tax advice because you can't give somebody $250,000.

You can give them $15,000 without gift tax being activated at 55%. You don't want gift tax? There is a way they can do it, but they need to get professional tax advice if they haven't. It's called a Unified Estate Tax Credit, and they have to do a filing in the year that they give you this gift. It's a wonderful gift, but they need to do it with intelligence. Otherwise, the tax man cometh, and he always taketh. Kelly is with us. Kelly is in Indianapolis. Hi, Kelly. How are you? Hi. How are you, Dave?

Better than I deserve. What's up? Okay. So this kind of just came to me today, but I'm really looking to start a side hustle to try to cut through some of this debt I have. I have around $6,000 in debt, and I love photography. I take pictures of my son and all of my friends. I've thought about purchasing a really nice camera with my savings.

So I have $2,100 in savings right now. And the camera set is around $1,200 for a really good set. So I'm wondering if purchasing that set to continue to bust through the set faster while also replenishing my savings would be smart. What kind of camera have you got now? I have a Canon, but it's not like a super nice one i'm looking for i'm looking at the nikon vs 3500 right now take your canon and go make a thousand dollars with it okay and use that thousand dollars to buy the camera okay so you know why i did that

you haven't made any money taking pictures yet you don't buy a 1200 camera set when you haven't made any money making pictures yet right i want you to this is called proof texting in business we put the we put the idea out there and we make it actually make money before we expand it okay so how do you go about taking you know upper level pictures with a bottom level camera oh now you're canon you can make a thousand dollars with okay nobody nobody is hiring you've never done it before no one's going to hire a brand new beginner for $150,000 and expect you to come in with $300,000 worth of equipment. They don't do that.

They expect you to do what you're doing. And so, yeah, this is all about whether you've got an eye and whether you know how to handle this equipment that you have or not. That's not the deal. The equipment is not the issue. You are the issue. You are the issue. You are the secret sauce in this formula. This is the Ramsey Show. in the lobby of ramsay solutions on the debt free stage tj and amy are with us hey guys how are you

great honored to be here thanks for having us we're honored to have you guys where do y'all live california what part southern orange county oh fun. Well good to have you guys. Welcome, welcome. I just talked to a pastor friend of mine out there. I'm going to come out and speak in September in Irvine. Okay. So welcome to Nashville and all the way over here to do a debt-free scream. How much have you paid off? $39,000. All right and how long did that take? 10 months. Good for you and your range of income during that time we started at about 13 000 and got up to 160 there's a story there yes okay so uh what kind of debt was the 39 000 hi that was all me um yeah it was all my name is tj and i had some debt yeah i brought in all the

debt to the relationship and uh it was actually her that was like, yeah, we're going to take care of that immediately. Okay. I'm not living like this. No. And so you just got married, I take it? Yes. Okay.

And how long ago? A year. Okay. So immediately after you come home from the honeymoon, 10 months, boom, we're knocking this out. Yes. So it was you, but was it student loans? It was all student loans. Okay. All right. Cool. right cool what's your degree uh business good and what about yours

education all right fun fun okay so you're dating and you discover he has this problem we were in college together so it was a conversation yeah okay i knew what i was getting into okay before you before you were even dating, you knew. Yes. Oh, yeah. Okay. But then when it starts getting serious, she starts saying, we're doing this immediately. Yeah.

I mean, my parents were doing everything they could to help me out through college, but I still had some debt coming out, and she just basically told me, this needs to be handled immediately, and we're not moving forward until it gets handled. And you're putting all of your fun little hobbies kind of to the side, and we're crushing this. Cool. And you did. You crushed it. Yeah.

I mean, you hammered it. Yeah. So you came out of school, and both of you got jobs. And that's how you go from 13 to 160? Yeah, kind of. Okay. What's the kind of part? So it was a year after we got out of school

that we got married. Oh, okay. So before that, he's a professional hockey player. Okay. So he had played in Sweden. And then by the time we got married, he was unemployed in between seasons. Oh, okay.

And then COVID hits. And all hockey players are unemployed. Yes. Pretty much. Couldn't get back overseas. And it got to a situation where, you know, she's teaching online and I'm training in the morning and not working. And to cope with the stress of not having a hockey job for the first time in my life, I'm just spending money in golfing. Oh, and there it is.

After a couple of months, which is what all hockey players do right exactly yeah and uh she sat me down and was basically like uh i'm doing everything here all the work and you we gotta get a plan we gotta get a plan going so so all the nhl players i know are really good golfers yeah by and large i mean a few of them still try to slap shot with a driver but it's a fairly easy eye-hand connection there. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, good stuff. So are you playing now?

So I just signed back in Sweden a team called Tiring SOSS, which is about three hours south of Stockholm. In the meantime, a guy that I know through hockey for the past 10 years, he is a manager at Tustin Hyundai out in California. So I was just kind of venting to him when we were skating together of, if I don't get a job, my wife might kill me. That's not quite true, but... Well, that and the golf. Right. I'm spending money, not making money. So he's like, why don't you just come sell cars? And inside I'm screaming, no, because that's just not what I ever pictured myself doing. And I thought it's going to be a sketchy

business and then we I go to Tustin Hyundai after a training session and I'm thinking I'm just going to see the place I'm not going to commit to anything and he had me in a flash interview and hired working tomorrow before I even left there uh so I kind of didn't really have that big of a choice in it but uh ever since I got there it's's been absolutely amazing, and I've loved the family there. The management's great. The people are great, so it's worked out. Not sketchy at all.

No, not even a little bit. Good. So how does the Sweden thing work? Are you commuting? I mean... Yeah. We live there half a year. Oh, you're going?

Yeah. You're going with them? Okay. Okay. So I teach all online, so I have my own business teaching homeschool students, so I can take it anywhere. Wow. Yeah. Well, then this is just a great adventure yeah yeah pretty yeah that's fun but now we can take freely without debt you know yeah absolutely gives us a little more options and you now that you're making some money instead of spending it all yeah all that stuff yeah that's good

that's good well good for you guys good you. Where did you play your high school? I moved away at 16 to play juniors in Minnesota, then Manitoba, then Virginia. And we both played college hockey in upstate New York and then transferred together to play in Pennsylvania. So we've kind of been all over. Okay, cool. Cool. Well, very cool. Good for you guys.

So how does it feel to be debt-free after all this gyration you've been through? Such a relief. Yeah. relief yeah uplifting for sure so amy where did you get this idea that this is just unacceptable and we're gonna crush it i found the podcast the youtube channel in college just kind of trying to figure out what the heck like how do you handle money when you have bills and like real things and what can we afford and my dad's an accountant so money was talked about in my house but like the logistics as far as how are we going to handle that um so google a couple google searches later and your name pops up pretty quick so then i got him to listen it became mandatory lessons yeah and trap him in the car and you know yeah but it's kind of like that mandatory job it didn't turn out so bad.

Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Pretty equivalent. Yeah. All right. Very cool. Well, I'm proud of you guys. Very well done.

Who were your biggest cheerleaders outside the two of you looking at you going, you got this, you can do it, and it's important? We had a lot of support, I think. My parents let us live in their house for rent-free, you know, which helped us a lot make progress, and we're super supportive. My parents were supportive as well, and then also have to throw out the name of my former teammate in college, Brett Johnson, who is a big Ramsey supporter and is currently debt-free himself using the same plan. Wow. Yeah. Very cool.

So in college, we both got at TJ a little bit. You got to get on this stuff. I was in the middle and finally cave in, and I'm happy I did. That's great. That's great. We could use some hockey analogies about you getting checked in the corner, but we won't. All right, guys. Well done.

Very well done. Well, we've got a copy of the legacy journey for you because that's what's happening. You've changed your entire legacy by learning to work together, and you've had such a good sense of humor about it. And you poked fun at each other but also got serious and crushed it yeah and very very well done that's good communication style everything's awesome you guys are rock stars very very sharp young couple also got a copy of the total money makeover for you to give to somebody pay it forward maybe you can get someone else's journey started with that and that's the idea so what do you tell people the secret to getting out of debt is now that you've done it? I think for me, you have to have a really clear vision of what you want.

Like some of our best dates, I think we're just sitting down and talking about what we want our future to look like and feel like and things we want to be able to do, and having that really clear vision, then you can kind of work backwards and work your plan as a clear steps to get there. But you have to have that clear vision and not just kind of wander through it. And I found a lot of similarities through hockey my whole life. My whole thing has been to learn to enjoy the sacrifice because you know that the payoff is going to be fantastic.

And in hockey, for me, everything was worth it. So I knew that it was going to be the same way getting out of debt um so just learn to enjoy the pain and the suffering because you know what comes at the end is is really worth it yeah no discipline seems pleasant at the time but it yields a harvest of righteousness well done you two very very well done all right it's tj and Amy from California slash Sweden. $39,000 paid off in 10 months, making $13,000 to $160,000. What a great story. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one.

We're debt-free. This is how it's done. Man, oh, man, oh, man. Everybody here in the audience is looking at them going their future is bright everybody watching on youtube is going their future is bright and if you look deeply into your radio or your podcast you can look at them you can see them right now and say their future is bright their future is amazing absolutely incredible what a cool couple power couple for sure very fun stuff stuff. Very fun stuff.

This is The Ramsey Show. We'll see right back. Our scripture today, 2 Corinthians 4-7, but we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this is all surpassing powers from God and not from us. John Quincy Adams says, Duty is ours, results are God's. It's our duty to plant the corn, then God sends the rain and the sun. We don't get to cause those two things, but guess what? If you don't plant the corn, there won't be any. Duty is ours.

Results are God's. Linda is with us in Gilbert, Arizona. Hi, Linda. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hi. Hi. What's up? What?

I was calling because I have a little boy. Well, he's not that little. He's 15 years old. He's going to be going to 10 that little. He's 15 years old. He's going to be going to 10th grade. He got his permit today. So basically in six months, he's going to be able to drive by himself.

I drive a BMW, and I'm going to pay it off by next month, July. It should be paid off. So I would think I should give it to him or not. His dad passed away when he, like, five years ago, and I get Social Security for him. I get, like, $1340 a month. And I don't know if I should, feel like why should I do with that money? Should I put it in fidelity?

That money should be part of your budget. You spend more than $1,300 a month to raise a child. Okay. That's part of your budget. And then part of your budget is to raise the child and part of your budget is to take care of the child and think about college and think about cars and think about those kinds of things

that money is not separate it's part of your life so because that's what i i'm planning to do just keep saving saving the money like like once i pay this car which is next month uh you know, for Scott, if he has my life. Are you doing a monthly budget now? I'm going to start, like, as soon as I pay this car. No, you can start tonight. You start tonight when you get home. Go to EveryDollar and download the every dollar budget app it's free to start using or go

to or go do a ramsey plus trial for free which is even better you can get the every dollar premium version to start your budget all of that and um you know that'll make all the difference in the world so you get that going and then as a part of that $1,300 in there as a part of your income. You take your income and the $1,300, and that's what you have to operate your household with, and you pay off the car as fast as you can possibly pay it off. And then as soon as it's paid off, you save up and pay cash for something for the 16-year-old to drive. What year is this, Beamer? It's 2016.

And what do you make a year? I make like around $51,000 a year. Yeah, and so this Beamer is worth what? I think it's worth $20,000. This one was like $41,000, $41,000, something like that. You don't give a 16-year-old a $41,000 car. They'll tear it up. I don't like that because I would say

basically Houston. Has he worked at all and saved any money? He wants to work, but he's only 15, so he cannot get a job. He can cut grass. He can walk dogs.

He can scoop up poop. They'll pay you for doing all that. He needs to make some money, and you can put some money with it, and let's get him a little $5,000 car. And you pay cash for it. Okay. Okay. And you drive the Beamer.

So you don't think that I should, like, put it inside this car, like, just sell it and then buy another think that I should, like, sell this car, like, just sell it and then buy another one that is affordable, like, with that cash? You could if you want to, if you want to sell it. But don't put a 16-year-old in a $20,000 car. Okay. I've had 16-year-olds. I've raised several of them.

They don't drive well. They bump into stuff and tear it up and you know your first car you know it just gets something to get them around that you know they'll be proud of it it'll be fine and and don't talk to me about it's not safe it's safe you're talking to a guy who used to sleep in the back window of the car and they slam on the brake and we'd roll down into the floor so you know and i survived it at least some people think i did um we're not sure about the brain damage part but but anyway yeah no hon just get him a little car and if you want to move down in car in your situation you're welcome to i don't care but don't hand a 16-year-old, a 15-year-old, keys to a $40,000 Beamer. No. Bad plan.

Chrissy is with us in Vegas. Hi, Chrissy. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. Hey, what's up? How are you? Good. How can I help?

Okay, so I'm on the collection portion of my debt snowball. And I just wanted to know how I'm supposed to tackle it because none of these places are actually like contacting me or anything. Most of them are like two years or more. So I only have their address. And then one of them is also an Amex that's not on my credit report anymore. So I just want to know how to tackle them because I have all the money already to pay them. Okay, good. And you don't have any debts that are active, only old debts that are in collection?

That's correct. Okay. List them as best you understand the balances, smallest to largest. Contact the smallest one and find out what you can settle that for. Because you may think it's $1,000 and they may have run it up to $3,000 and you'll have to negotiate and get it back down to $1,000. What if they don't have a number? It's only an address on the credit report. You've got to find them.

Gotcha. Just jump online and start looking for a number. They're out there. They've got a phone number. Gotcha. Okay, and for the Amex, it's not on my credit report anymore. Same thing. It doesn't matter if it's on your credit bureau report or not.

You still owe it. Got it. And they can still come sue you. Got it. All right. So here's the rule, okay? Call them, and they're going to act like that all of a sudden they're they're going to get aggressive which is humorous considering they haven't even contacted you

in years right but they're all of a sudden going to get and you're going to go no no no no no no so it's not a thousand it's three thousand now well i'm not paying three thousand i have a thousand dollars it says you'll take it and you negotiate with them and they say okay we'll take a thousand dollars then you have to get that in writing say in writing chrissy chrissy writing in writing if it's not in writing it didn't happen when you're dealing with collectors you can tell they're lying if their mouth is moving, it's a scummy business. Okay. In writing. And then do not give them electronic access to your regular checking account

because they'll step in there and clean your butt out, okay? Okay. So in writing, and you can do a wire transfer or a prepaid debit card or something else, but no electronic access to your checking account. Do not let them get into your account because they'll pull $3,000 out after you agreed to $1,000, and you're going to have trouble getting it back. Right. So in writing, no electronic access to checking account.

How many of these debts are there? Just three. Oh, it's actually four, including the Amex. Okay, good. So it's not a whole lot. Because it's going to be a hassle. It's not going to be like one phone call and it's done you're gonna have to argue with them and call them back and hang up on them and they're gonna call you and it's just gonna be a mess do

not give them a bunch of information on you the where do you work none of your business i'm here on the phone trying to give you money. That's all you need to know. Got it. And listen, I know you're a sweet person. I can tell by talking to you. I need the not sweet version of you on the phone with them, okay? Okay. Because they're going to be nasty.

Now, you don't have to be nasty, but, I mean, you've got to be tough. You with me? Yes. Okay. In writing, no electronic access to your checking tough. You with me? Yes. Okay. In writing, no electronic access to your checking account. That's how you do this stuff. And you settle this

and you work it through. So, good, good stuff. Well, that puts this particular hour of the Ramsey Show in the books. Our thanks to James Childs, our producer, Kelly Daniel, our associate producer and phone screener. I am Dave Ramsey, your host. We'll be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily

with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus. Have a friend or family member that needs a daily dose of Ramsey advice in their life? Let them know about the Ramsey Call of the Day podcast. It's a quick hit of advice about life and money in under 10 minutes. Check out the Ramsey Call of the Day podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.