The Ramsey Show - App - Should I Wait Until After College To Propose?

Episode Date: June 10, 2022

George Kamel & Rachel Cruze discuss: Whether or not to pay cash for a house or take out a mortgage, Waiting for insurance for car repairs or paying out of pocket, Getting out of debt while going through school, Should I propose now or wait until after college? Want a plan for your money? Find out where to start: https://bit.ly/3nInETX Listen to all The Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3GxiXm6

I'm out. From Ramsey Network, this is The Ramsey Show, where we help you get control of your money, get ahead in your career, and get on the path to living well. I'm George Campbell, your host today, joined by Rachel Cruz, and we are taking your calls. So call us, 888-825-5225. Jordan kicks us off in Dallas, Texas. Jordan, welcome to the show.

Well, thank you so much for taking my call. Happy to take it. What's going on with you? Well, I'm a builder, and I've got a subdivision that I'm doing, and I've got a couple of lots, one that I'm going to build the dream house on, but I also have the lot beside it that I'm thinking about putting a spec house on, something I can pay cash for. I guess my question is, should I pay cash for the spec house, which is anywhere from $250 to $300,

or should I go ahead and build the dream house for the wife and kiddos and myself and pay the $250 or $300 down and get a note on the other half of it? So what is the dream house going to cost, $550, $600? $650, somewhere in there, yes, sir. And how much cash do you have on hand? Well, I've got about $800 right now, but I've got to keep putting it back into the business. I build all these homes with cash, so I don't want to have all my money out. So you have no debt, and you've got a fully funded emergency fund outside of that $800,000? Yes, sir.

Yeah, I've got about $35,000 in savings. Good for you, man. You're crushing it. How old are you? I just turned 29 in January. That's amazing. How much do you make a year, Jordan? Well, the past few years, probably a little bit more.

Well, it's been pretty crazy lately, but last year I made a little over $400. Whoa. Nice. That's incredible. Great job, Jordan. Yes, sir. Well, how much do you need for the business? Are you saying you need the $800 because that's basically fueling the next house and the next house?

Well, I try to build them four at a time. And so I've got a couple more that are going to sell here pretty quick. And so that'll get me ready for either the 250 to 300 on the spec house. And then I'll be able to build the other four as well. Or, you know, do you own a house right now? I'll have enough money to do the next four and the spec house, if that's what you're asking. Okay. So are you living in a house right now? Well, yes, sir. Yeah. Well, I bought a, we rent, my wife and I, we got four kids and we rented for a while.

And then I bought a mobile home that I fixed up and I was, I was a flipper before a builder. And so paid cash for it. And it's about tripled in price. So I'm going to have another probably $250, $270 whenever we sell that, but I don't know if I'm going to sell it outright or owner finance it. I've got a couple owner finances now too. Well, my thing is I would just sell it, take the $270 plus the money you have and pay cash for that dream house.

Yeah, that's true. And I don't think it's worth hassling with the owner financing. I mean, this is going to put you in... Well, I don't like rentals, but I like the owner finances so I can, you know, have the money coming in monthly, but...

You got money coming in monthly. You got $400. You got $400 with not a payment in the world. There's your cash flow. Yes, sir. So that's the way I see it. I like this plan a whole lot

of just selling your current home and plus the cash you have on hand. And whatever it takes, you pay cash for it. And with your income and the way the housing market is going, you'll have a nice stack of cash still left over. Yes, sir. To complete your next project. So that's my opinion. Rachel, I mean, you can go another way with this. No, I mean, that's what I would do, Jordan.

I mean, you guys, I mean, I was going to even say, I didn't even think about your current place, but I was even going to be okay for you taking out a small mortgage. Yeah, if you end up taking out a small mortgage, you're going to knock that thing out so fast with your income. So there's nothing wrong financially where I'm going, this is a risky spot. But you don't need to now. I would sell, yeah, I would sell where you guys are at now, put that cash together, and man, that's amazing. I love this place. I'm excited for you. Thank you. I sure appreciate it. But either way, it sounds like I'm going with that dream house.

You've got four kids, and you guys have worked real hard. So let's get out of that spot you're in currently and live it up, man. You've earned it. You've done this thing real, real intentionally with a lot of wisdom. Well, thank you. I sure appreciate it. Yeah, man. Thanks so much for the call. Erin joins us up next in Houston, Texas. Erin, welcome to the show. Hi, thanks for taking my call. Absolutely. How can we help? So I recently had my car die. Its engine just completely gave out.

What kind of car is it? It's a 2012 Hyundai Sonata. Oh, okay. Yeah. So it's currently sitting at the Hyundai dealership waiting to hear if the warranty is going to pay for a new engine or not. Because apparently this is like a factory defect. But my husband and I are a little bit of doomsday preppers, and we're on baby step two. So we paused paying off debt to stockpile just in case the warranty won't pay for it.

So we have about $3,500 saved up right now. And a new engine, if the warranty doesn't cover it, would be between $3,000 to $4,000. But now we're debating, is it worth it to replace the new engine or do we just buy a different used car? Because we don't have any car payments right now. It sounds like it's worth it to just repair the car because you're not going to find a car for $3,500. Yeah. That's kind of what we were leaning towards, but we were like, I don't know, is it worth it? How much could you sell it for? How much could you sell it for fixed everything? Fixed? Before the problem, it was worth about five grand, according to Kelly Blue Book. Well, I'm going to fight to get this thing covered. It sounds like this is not something you should even be shelling money out for if it's

a factory defect. And I'm sure they are not happy to cover it, but I would fight them tooth and nail to make sure it is covered. And then I drive that thing, get out of debt, and then we can upgrade. Okay. Yeah. We definitely weren't looking at upgrading to anything like crazy right now. We just wanted to pay cash for something if we had to. How much debt do you have? Oh man. We have $140,000 in debt right now. What's your income? Right now, I'm finishing up school to be a teacher, so I'm just doing photography on the side, so I bring in like $10,000, and my husband is a medical resident, and he brings in like $50,000 a year, $55,000. Yeah, this is going to take a while, it sounds like. Yeah, yeah. Well, what kind of debt is the $140,000?

Student loans? It's all his med school loans, yeah. How soon is he going to increase that income? He has two more years of residency before it should go up significantly. Okay. And you'll be a teacher soon enough. Yeah, I should start teaching in January. We're just going to plan to live off

of what he makes, and then everything that I make will go to debt. Well, I'm going to stack cash right now until you guys figure out what's next for this car, and then hopefully the engine's repaired and we get back on the road, and all of that money you stacked up, aside from the $1,000 starter emergency fund,

we throw at the debt. Yeah, that's kind of what we were thinking, but we just wanted confirmation. We're like, are we thinking through this correctly? That's what we're here for, is confirmation. We're cheering you on with this debt-free journey. Hope everything works out with the car. But I'm a fighter, Rachel. I get real...

I buckle up. Make them pay. I go to Enneagram 8 in stress. Make them pay. That's right. You go down to that dealership. You tell them how it's going to be. You tell them, Aaron. You tell them George sent you. I'm the least intimidating person in the world. I just realized. That's right. You go down to that dealership. You tell them how it's going to be. You tell them, Aaron. You tell them George sent you. I'm the least intimidating person in the world. I just realized. Oh, my goodness.

Well, more of the show coming up, folks. Give us a call. 888-825-5225. I promise I won't fight you because I will lose. People all over the country are discovering a faith-based and budget-friendly way of meeting health care costs through Christian Health Care Ministries. Christian Health Care Ministries, or CHM, is a nonprofit organization that helps members carry one another's burdens with health care expenses. And they have successfully shared each other's medical bills for nearly 40 years. See if CHM is right for you by visiting chministries.org.

CHM is a proud sponsor of Dave Ramsey Live Events. A lot of people would rather spend their weekend doing yard work than talk about insurance, except for me. But seriously, here's the deal. If you don't take the time to learn about this stuff, you'll always feel like you're getting ripped off and making all of the wrong choices about your insurance. And around here, we think learning about money should be simple and yes, even fun. So our new free five-day guide to insurance called Confidence in Your Coverage makes learning about insurance quick and practical, and you might even laugh out loud a time or two if I did my job right. Every day for five days, I, George Camel, will walk you through a new insurance topic,

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Hi, how are you? We are so great. How are you? What's going on? I'm good. Okay. So I'm trying to go to school to be a physician assistant, and I only have four classes to go to be able to apply. But my thing is with my finances. I have a 2016 Mini Cooper. My APR on it is 20.76. Ouch. super my apr on it is 20.76 ouch and i owe yeah i know and i owe like 11 oh i'm a little bit like 11 935 dollars and change and i'm trying to pay off um trying to get my finances under how can i best do that is this all of the debt you have is just the car loan?

No, sir. I actually have two cards that are on my credit. They tried to settle with me, but at that time I didn't have the money. But I have approximately $92,000 in debt. I went to South University in Savannah, so that's where that debt came from. And others are, all my debt, all my credit report are more like bills and stuff. And I'm just trying to find a way while taking care of those bills and going to school at the same time. So what's the total amount of debt that you owe between everything? $110,000. Okay.

Yes. There we go. What's your income? I am a pharmacy tech, so I make $22 an hour right now. Okay. And how many hours do you work? What will your take-home pay be this year? Do you know? Have you calculated it? I think it'd be at $45,000, but like my paycheck is like maybe

$1,400, $1,500, give or take a couple of dollars. And you still have four classes left. Is that what you said? Yes. And what happens with that is that the four classes that I have to take, I'm paying for those out of pocket by cash. Good. So once I'm done with that, then I can apply to a PA program, the one like in Dallas or in Fort Worth. And how will you pay for the PA program? I'm thinking about getting a graduate loan.

That's why I'm trying to take care of some of this stuff on my credit because I've been going to school since I'm 24. I'm now 37, and everything I've done has been on my own dime, whether it's been by getting a loan or paying for it by cash. Well, it sounds like the loans have been setting you back. I mean, 13 years, and we're sitting here with $110,000 in debt. Yes, for my bachelor's degree. Yes, sir. Oof. Well, I want to stop the bleeding here, so I want you to stop going into debt. And if that means we take a pause on PA school to clean this up, I'm okay with that. Because what I don't want is you leave PA school, and now you've got $250,000 in debt, and you can't breathe.

Yeah. No, I can't. Are you able to pay all of your bills right now? That I am, yes. Yes, I absolutely am. On all your current bills? I mean, I got my car note that's coming up. What is it? What's the car worth the car it's got 87 000 miles on it so it may be maybe 10 10 12 000 are you guess i'm not really sure okay yeah i in this case i might sell this car i mean you got 21 interest on this thing and if you can get out from under it, and do you have any money saved right now?

Do you have any money in the bank? No, that's the thing. I don't. It's like I help my sister who's epileptic, and her two children that have mental and capabilities. So I know some of my money that I give to her, it does go, has been going to my sister to help her.

But, um, that, that's the thing I really, I really want to, you know, go to school. But at the same time,

it was like, yeah, my money. So yeah, totally. So central, I, you have so many things going for you.

Number one, you're a, you're a hard worker. Uh, number two, you Sondra, you have so many things going for you. Number one, you're a hard worker. Number two, you're extremely generous, taking care of the people in your life that you love, that need that help. But what I'm fearful for you is that you're continuing to do the same things over and over again, right? And it's getting you in this hole where you're like, oh, I can't get out and I don't know what to do, which means we're going to have to stop doing things that you were doing in order to get a solid financial foundation under you to give you some breathing room and some peace

so that the things that you want to do, like helping people and go to school and advance your career, all that, so that that can be done in a way that's going to bless you and bless people versus continuing to harm you and digging you deeper in this financial hole. And so there's kind of a, that mental shift that you have to make for yourself to say, okay, what, what can I do now? So I'm with George. There's, you know, I would love for you to get rid of this car ASAP. So really my first goal, you have the money, you said, to get through school. And that's not money saved. Is that like working as you go kind of thing?

Yes, yes, ma'am, because the school I go to, I pay it by on payment plans and so, as a matter of fact, I work as a medical scribe at a local hospital down here. Oh, good. Okay. And when will you be done with school?

If I can really push it, I can be done. Because the classes are very hard to get into, I could be done by the end of this year. Okay, so by December you would be done. Okay. So if I were you, between now and December, my goal is to get out of school debt-free, cash flow like your plan was.

My goal is to take on an extra job where I can to get that income up, to be able to save up some cash, get rid of this car, sell the car, get a car that's $4,000. We were just talking to another caller about this in the last segment, and to be able to replace, you know, to be able to have a vehicle, get rid of the car, and then start looking at paying off these student loans. And I, you're going to hate this advice, but I really would. I would work to be debt-free and pay off this 92, and then with that same work ethic, with that same intensity, continuing to work those hours, have a lot of cash flow coming in and work your way through the school you want to go to next.

And so again, what I want for you is to be able to say, okay, I obviously have, you know, my hope would obviously be no debt. And you have that foundation under you that is steady because it feels a little shaky right now. But it's going to take some time and it's going to take a lot of hard work. And how much money is going to your sister? In the past year, I can say between 500 to 2,000 plus cash. Okay, over the year. Over the year, yeah.

Okay, okay, that's good. I mean, again, that's a value decision for you to make. It's not a huge chunk of this, so if that's something that you want to continue to do, that's an option. Or if you want to pause everything for a little bit and get yourself in a position where you're going to be able to be even more generous when you get out of debt, that's an option too. I know it's hard to hear, Chantrelle, because it sounds like we're telling you to go backwards, but really we're saying slow down so that you can speed up later. So you're not looking at the same spot you're in 13 more years from now. We don't want that for you.

Hey, hold on the line. Austin's going to pick up. We're going to give you a free membership of Financial Peace University for a year and comes with every dollar plus a budgeting app once you get yourself on a budget as well. But go through that class on us. This is The Ramsey Show. so so Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm George Campbell, joined by Rachel Cruz today. Zach joins us up next in Jackson, Wyoming.

Zach, welcome to the show. Hey, George. Hey, I was just talking to you on Instagram just a couple hours ago. And you had a great question. I said, Zach, call into the show, and you did it. I'm proud of you, man. Yeah, thanks, man. I had to carve some time out of work,

but I appreciate the opportunity. So here's the basic situation. George, I kind of talked to you a little bit Monday about my financial situation. I'm in school, and I've been dating this girl for about eight months, and I guess I'm just looking for some direction. I don't know if I should wait. Like I have three years left of school, so I don't know if I should wait till after three

years before I ask her to marry me or if I should, you know, kind of see how things are going, but is it okay to do it while in school? Like, I just, I want to make sure it makes sense financially because I want to set myself up for success as well as her. I don't want to make sure it makes sense financially because I want to set myself up for success. What? As well as her. I don't want to bring her on to, you know, an unstable financial relationship. How old are you, Zach? I'm 19. 19.

And you have three years of school left. Is she in school? She will be this fall and she will have three years as well. Okay. Is she 18? No, no, she's 19. She's 19 too. I'll be 20 this month and she'll be 20 in September. Okay. Sorry. I was thinking she just graduated high school. So there's two parts here. Can you get married while in college? Is it bad? No. Rachel did it. I did. So there's proof. I had a semester left. And you're doing fine rachel you and winston

running great how many years now we're going on 12 or no we're going on 13 there we go i know i had a semester left but i will say zach my semester was full of my elective so i had so she told me she took a walking class i did walking social dance tennis and badminton this is at ut yeah and i was in school. This is a respectable institution. It was on my electives. So y'all are going to have school. How are you going to support, if you go forward, Zach, let's say you do get married,

what are you going to be doing for a job? So I'm right now majoring in electrical engineering and minoring in mathematics. Nice. I have some internships lined out. I'm here pretty soon working, hopefully, at a national laboratory. I have several people tied into that that have told me they're going to help me. And I believe from what I've seen online and heard from some friends who have family members working there, you know, it could be anywhere from $75,000 to $115,000 a year.

While in school? Or once you graduate? Well, this would be once I graduate. Oh, okay. Which would be to get my leg in the door. Sure, okay. So I know I could take care of it. I just, I don't want to,

I'm cash flowing my way through school. I have, well, I have a bunch of scholarships. Like, I think I have like 76,000 in scholarships right now. Way to go. And she's got a bunch of scholarships as well. Like, she's, I don't even know if she has to pay for anything while she's in school. Anyway, so I know I think I can make it all work out.

I just, I don't know. I'm not as worried about it on paper. I just think, you know, let's wait until, obviously, emotionally, relationally ready. The financial part, I mean, you guys both seem like you're pretty nerdy about this stuff. So I think you can figure out the money. Yeah, because marriage, I mean, you guys both seem like you're pretty nerdy about this stuff. So I think you can figure out the money.

Because marriage, I mean, your wedding's going to cost something, but you guys living together, obviously you're going to have to like, you know,

be able to eat and keep the lights on and all that. So I'll say there's no rush and maybe, you know, maybe senior year, you guys are still together,

it's serious, you've been together a few years, pop the question, senior year, and maybe after graduation we have the wedding would that feel good i don't know i don't even put that i don't know you could get married before graduation i'm fine with that yeah and i think it's more like you get married

when you guys are ready to get married financially you're gonna be fine school's gonna take care of yeah you're in school you're adding a level of interesting dynamics by getting married in school while taking classes and having to work i mean you're doing a double load it's kind of what that is because you're gonna have to work and go to school all that um so sure there'll be a little bit of of stress there but people do it all the time so i think y'all totally can but it would it would be more my question and more of a dr john giloney relational angle i would be more worried just making sure that you guys well at 19 to get married and that this is it. Young love. You're just like, I could do that. I'm going to pop the question.

And I get that. But in college, there's so much life to explore. You're figuring out yourself, I feel like, in college. You don't really know what the future holds, what your values are. You're developing all those things. But you guys sound like you have good heads on your shoulders. There's no rash decisions being made. So no, there's no right or wrong as far as should we get married while in college. Just do it when you're ready. I'm not as worried about the money part because you guys are both super sharp. Right. Well, I appreciate that. I just, you know, I try to analyze everything as best I can because I hate when I make mistakes and I know, and I know nobody's perfect, but... Spoken like a true engineer. I was about to say.

Right. Yeah. No mistakes. But anyway, I just don't want to bring, you know, I don't want to start off wrong, but I understand what you're saying, and I know I'm in no hurry. I don't want to put emotion in front of logic. I just, I'm kind of in between, you know what I mean? Yeah.

Yeah. I think you'd be totally fine, Zach. I think you're taking the right level of wisdom towards this, you know, I mean? Yeah, yeah. I think you'd be totally fine, Zach, if you guys decide to get married. I think you're taking the right level of wisdom towards this. Yeah. And it's a serious decision, so don't rush into anything. But I think once you both have, you know, you've had some more serious conversations, you're getting closer towards graduation,

let's figure that out. And if we decide, yeah, now's the time, we can make this work, it's no problem. Yep, absolutely. Thank you so much for the question, man. Appreciate that. From Instagram. There you go.

I know. Nice shout out. If you want to follow us, we've been doing some fun Instagram reels you so much for the question, man. Appreciate that. From Instagram. There you go. I know. Nice shout out. If you want to follow us, we've been doing some fun Instagram reels together. Yes, we have, George. Some Chick-fil-A hacks blew up. We were on the unofficial Chick-fil-A podcast. I know. We've got media reaching out to us.

So you can go check that out. Want all of our knowledge. At Rachel Cruz on Instagram, C-R-U-Z-E. A lot of people forget the E. That's right. It's true. And at George Camel with a K. George K-A-M-E-L.

You can find us on Instagram. We'd love to connect. Alright, our question of the day comes from Blinds.com. Find out for yourself why they are the number one online retailer of custom window coverings. You get free samples, free shipping, and with the new promos they run every month, you'll save even more. Use the promo code Ramsey to get the best deal.

Today's question comes from Leslie in Wisconsin. My 14 year old son has had a successful lawn mowing business for three years and has approximately 25 accounts during the summer months. He also works construction for with his dad when the time allows and will take over the company someday. Wow that's a that's a lot to... I'm sorry, I'm wearing a cape. I'm a 14-year-old. He is very skilled for only being 14. He can roof, pour concrete, frame. He has a healthy savings account of about $7,500.

He has already paid cash for his own vehicle and paid cash for all of his mowing equipment. What should he be doing to invest with all the cash he's making? This kid is a unicorn. At 14 years old. That's a proud mom question. Do you hear all that? That is, yeah.

There's a flex and a brag, but she's well-deserved, Leslie. You raised a great kid. So Leslie, honestly, at this point, I would have him keep saving. So, you know, when you're 14, college is going to be here in what, four years if he decides

to do college. He's going to skip that. He's already crushing it. He might skip it. But I, you know, there's no rush to invest. And yes, we all know compound interest. We know the earlier start, the better off you're going to be. We know all of that. But also when you're 14, that that treat that world between 14 and 21, whether it's college or not, yeah, there could be – I mean, who knows? And I wouldn't even put – this is not even what Leslie asked. I don't even know if she's listening. But I also want to make sure that he was not being pinned into this position.

Yeah, he's 14. Let him be a kid. Take over his company at 14. I'm like, oh, gosh. And how is he – he said he paid cash for a vehicle. How is he driving at 14? Is it just sitting in the garage until he's ready? Hey, that's the Midwest for you.

If you were raised in the country, George. I'm a city slicker from Boston. No, you, those kids, they drive around all the time. 16 and a half to get our permit, Rachel. No. Yes. No. Really?

That's the America I lived in. Stop it. 100%. Maybe it was 15 and a half. Maybe 16 and a half was license. But a half? I've never even heard of that. Who knows where the half comes from?

I don't know. That might have been a camel family rule. Okay. I don't know if I trust. Let's not throw May and Max under the bus here. I'm not throwing you in there. But so as far as investing goes, if you wanted to split some things and go, all right, we're going to take some of this income.

We're going to give some, save some, spend some. If you want to invest, you could open a custodial Roth IRA because he can only open one on his own when he's 18. So you guys would have control, but he could be investing right now. But I would not be shoveling all of his money into investments. Let him be a kid. And it's $7,500, which is amazing, but we're not talking about like half a million dollars. Sure. Right?

Do you know what I mean? So like he's 14. So yeah, he needs to pump the brakes a little bit. I think let him enjoy some of that money. Give some of it. Like you said, save some of it if he does want to invest. Yeah. There's options, but it's not required.

Do you want to put a few hundred bucks in the Roth IRA every month? I mean, he'll be a millionaire regardless. I think he's going to be just fine. He's going to do great. Great job, Leslie. Wow. The ante is up, Rachel. What are your kids doing?

Are they driving yet? We'll get there. This. The ante is up, Rachel. What are your kids doing? Are they driving yet? We'll get there. This is The Ramsey Show. Our scripture of the day comes from Exodus 33, 14. The Lord replied, I will personally go with you, and I will give you rest. John Steinbeck said, it is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it. I like that. That's very Rachel Cruz. You know, just sleep on it.

It's amazing what sleep can do. Especially when James, our producer, is in a crabby mood. I just say, James, go take a nap. Go nap, James. He always feels better when he wakes up. Trey joins us up next in Houston, Texas. Trey, welcome to the show. Thank you guys for

taking my call. What's going on? We're hanging out, man. What's going on with you? Not much. My situation um i haven't paid my taxes in about four years um when i was uh i think i was about 20 23 i started this job at a warehouse and um we get paid uh without the taxes being taken off so we get a 1099 form at the end of the year. And I kind of just have been putting it off, you know, and just not worried about it. I wasn't making that much money,

so I didn't think the taxes would, you know, be that much. But now I'm going to be making about $40,000. And I kind of just want to know what's the best action to take about getting all this under control. What's the total tax debt? Actually, I didn't file or anything for those years, so I just have my income amount. I don't have any idea what the amount might be. What the back taxes are?

Yes, sir. So has the IRS contacted you? No, they haven't. Wow. Well, my first step is to look in the mirror and go, what the heck is going on with all this and what do I owe? Because it's not going to go away. They're not going to just go, well, just let that one slip by. Trey got away. So that's my first thing is I'm going to be proactive and contact them and go, hey, here's the situation. I haven't paid. I want to pay. What is the amount that I owe? What's your other debt? So I have about 600 in credit cards and I have a repossession in collections from like 2014. That's about it. What's that amount?

That amount, I think, was last time I looked at it on my experience, I think it was about $14,000 was the balance, I think. Okay. And is that all of your debt? Is it $600 in credit cards?

It's a really old debt. Yeah, $600 in credit. I have two credit cards. They're $300 apiece. Okay. Do you still have the credit cards? Yes, I do. Okay. How. Do you still have the credit cards? Yes, I do. Okay. How much money do you have in the bank?

About $10,000. Okay. Well, let's clean up those credit cards today. Well, I was going to say the IRS debt. He doesn't know how much it is. I know, but I would... We could disagree on this, George. I'm not sure, but... Listen, we could. I just don't know how long it's going to take to get those numbers.

I know, but I would be saving as much as possible. Because the IRS stuff... That was kind of my plan. I knew I was going to have to pay. So my plan this whole time was kind of just stack up as much money as I can. Yeah, and you can do... So when I do finally do that... Yeah, and you can just go online and do a rough calculation and look at your tax

bracket, look at what you made, pull your pay stubs from the last four years just to get a rough estimate of, okay, here's kind of what it, here's what it's going to look like. And again, but I would contact, yeah, get on a payment plan and pay it off as soon as possible. Cause the IRS stuff is something that's like the first debt that you do not want to mess around with. Yeah. And like I said, it's just a little not scared I'm not scared about it it's just I know it's

looming yeah yeah I'm getting older I'm 27 so totally well I'm really proud of you Trey for like I mean really this is like being an adult right you're looking at yourself you're like okay I'm an adult I got to do adult things. I got to pay taxes. I got to stay on the, but like I got to do this stuff. I have a kid as well, so. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you really want to, yeah, you're starting to turn stuff around, which is awesome.

So if I were you, I'd cut up your credit cards. I would get on a really tight budget, Trey, because you're going to be making great income. You said $40,000. I would see, you know, if there's extra work you can pick up and then get everything in writing from the IRS of what you owe. And then that needs to be your first priority is to pay all that off. And then you're going to be working so much and making so much that by the time it gets down, when you're done with the IRS debt, that $600 credit card bill, continue to make minimum payments. But that'll be wiped off real fast because of how much you're going to be working.

But it really is this plan. I kind of wanted to just throw $600 at it and just wipe it out completely so I could stop worrying about it. Right now, you could. I mean, you could. I'm backing out now, George. I agree with you, Rachel, that IRS debt, we do put at the top of the debt snowball trade, which is when we say list them out from smallest to largest, but IRS debt always goes to the top.

But today, if I had to make one decision today with the information we have, I go, all right, well, knock it. Just write a check. Maybe it'll give you that progress, that little boost of, like, I can do this. I got rid of one. We can get rid of two. If we get rid of two, we get rid of five. So it's just not that big of a number. If it was five grand, I'd go, let's hold off on the credit cards.

Let's focus on the IRA debt. But A1 is figuring that out. That's crazy. And I'd be working 60, 80 hours a week. I know you got the kid, so that could change things. But I'm going to be busting it to try to get that income as high as I can to clean this debt up as fast as I can.

Because, Trey, what's so encouraging to me, though, is hearing you talk where I'm like, you know, you're 27. Up until this point where I'm like, you know, you're 27. Up until this point, it's like, you know, you've probably been working, but you had a repo. You have some credit card debt. You've kind of just been like going through life. And now it just feels like this wake-up call happened inside of you where you're like, I want to do this. Because here's what's crazy, Trey.

With the numbers that we're running, once you are out of debt, you clean up the repossession, clean up the IRS debt, which is going to take a little bit. This is not going to happen overnight. This may take two or three years. But at your age, say you just started at 30 years old, what your life could look like from that point forward financially? You could literally retire a millionaire because you have so much time on your side and you're able to start investing. You're going to have cash in the bank for an emergency fund.

You're going to be saving for your kid's college. Like there's things in your mind. I have a Roth IRA too. Oh, that's awesome. That's awesome. Are you putting money into it right now? Just $60 a week. Okay, let's cut that out because right now we're going to be focused on this debt.

We're going to get back to investing. Yeah, pause it for now. So is there any other source of income you could get right now to help clean up this debt? Are you already maxed out? I'm sure there's some things I could pick up to get some extra income in. Okay. Maybe some handy jobs. Yeah, I want you to point all of those dollars towards the debt. Obviously, we need to cover the four walls, put food on the table, cover your bills, but outside of that,

it's not time to have fun. We're not eating out. We're going to get game on, getting rid of the IRS debt, cleaning this mess up, and never looking back. Right. And we're going to send you Financial Peace University. That's nine video lessons that it's going to encourage you. It's going to give you a lot of education and give you that direct plan of what you need to do.

And it will also give you every dollar premium, our budgeting tool, so that you can make a plan for all this money. It's all included at Ramsey Plus. So hang on the line. Austin's going to pick up, and we'll make sure you get that. Doing great, Trey. It's a lot, Rachel. People are going through some things. Oh, absolutely.

I mean, it's tough. It really is. But we hear it every show when we have debt-free screams, which we've had two this show, and sometimes every hour on the show. And there's this consistency of people that when they decide to change their life, they're the secret sauce is what we say around here.

When they decide, I can do this. No one else is going to come help and fix my life. No one's going to come rescue me. I have to get up and decide what decisions am I going to make day in and day out that is going to change the way I handle my money and the progress that I'm going to make.

It's up to me. It's up to me. And that's that factor. That's a hard decision. And that's where I feel like I heard Trey say like that's what i was hearing the call is i just heard him you know like i don't know what it was this may not even be a story but it's like the light bulb went off and he's like i i gotta do this i gotta i gotta i gotta figure all this out and it's me right and we're the answer you're the answer out there and and yes inflation is terrible

we're on the brink of a recession. It's crazy. It's crazy. Feels like the sky is falling. But it's amazing though, when you don't have debt and you pay it off, you don't have a car loan, your credit card bills aren't coming in every month, you have no debt, you have money in the bank saved. It's a different position. And that is what we talk about on the show all the time. But it is. It's the truth that it's the money principles that work in good times and in bad times. Yes. And even people who think we're crazy are now going, maybe that advice isn't so crazy.

Maybe we should get out of debt and have some money in the bank. Yeah. That could help. So you can do this stuff, America. You just got to decide. Make a decision. Look in the mirror and go, that guy in the mirror, that woman in the mirror, they're the problem and they're the solution.

And that is where freedom starts. We believe in you. That puts this hour of The Ramsey Show in the mirror, that woman in the mirror, they're the problem and they're the solution. And that is where freedom starts. We believe in you. That puts this hour of The Ramsey Show in the books. Our thanks to Austin, Kelly, James, Ben, Andrew, Rachel, and you, America. Thanks for listening in. Until next time, spend wisely, save intentionally, and give generously. Do you love a good day, Brandt? Want to see the latest Ramsey Show videos going viral?

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