The Ramsey Show - App - Should My Boyfriend and I Buy a House? (Hour 3)

Episode Date: September 28, 2021

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Thank you very much. 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. Joining me at the top of the hour here, two Ramsey personalities, George Campbell and number one bestselling author, Christy Wright. The two of them will be with us tonight. With me tonight, we will be doing the three musketeers here.

We're going to be doing a live stream tonight. So far, about 20, 000 of you have signed up so my guess is it'll be somewhere north of 30 000 by the time we get there this evening and looking forward to it it's a free live stream at 7 p.m tonight christy wright george camel me it's called game plan and we're going to be helping you put together a game plan if you'd like to join us this evening text game plan to 33 789 text game plan to 33 789 all one word and this is going to be exciting christy yeah it's huge because i love that we're hitting on topics that affect every aspect of our audience's life from money goals and time these are things that affect everything,

and we're going to show them step-by-step how they can get it together. And man, I love that about our company. We're just talking about this Monday at staff meeting. We give information and instruction and also inspiration. You're going to need both, so I'm super excited. Absolutely. And I get to go up first and talk about

how to not only set goals but see results. And I share my stories of failure, and I've had my fair share when it comes to goals. And I've learned so much from Dave, from Christy, from Entree Leadership, and I'm just lucky to be there. I mean, among you guys, this is squad goals. That's what we call it on social media, squad goals. So to share the stage with you guys and really tell people, here's how you make a goal. Here's how you actually stick with it. Here's how you create a vision for your life for your money and christy you talking about balance and priorities and doing the right things and dave really laying out the game plan that has worked for millions of people i'm just pumped yeah that's gonna be good and big announcement drum roll please drum roll

yeah here we go take back your time debuted at number one. It's a number one bestselling book. Christy's second number one last week. And we just got word over the weekend, actually, that you'll see it on the bestseller list. Like, for instance, the Wall Street Journal bestseller list is a number one. Publishers Weekly will be a number one and so on. Take Back Your Time, all about getting control of your time. The Guilt-Free Guide to Life Balance. Christy, yet another number one.

Congratulations. Thank you, thank you, thank you. So proud of you. Definitely a team effort, but thank you, thank you. So excited. The team at Ramsey works really, really hard on book launches and the marketing. And the whole process we put into this is very dialed in. It's very specific.

And we also, the personalities work hard. Because you have done, what, 200 media hits in the past two weeks? Yes. I think close to that. It's just under 200 was the report I saw. Yes. Yeah, you've been on everything. Yep.

And so talking about it, and that's, you know, your hard work, your work in putting this together. But most importantly, it's a book that life balance is about doing the right things at the right time and you get to decide what is right. That's powerful. That's right. And it's amazing, too, because it is setting people free. I'm getting feedback on social media. They're saying again and again, wow, this is not just another time management book. This is not just a productivity book. I feel one woman wrote in. I didn't just get my time back. I got my power back and i thought okay let's send that to the marketing team send that out on the website that is true that's true that's the essence of it yeah well it is when you've got a control over your money you got

control over your time your life is different that's right that's right when you feel pushed to the edge i mean i'm in about a two-week period right now i've just every little every 15 minutes or something going on in my stinking schedule and it's my fault i did it that's right but uh but it's just busy just a busy season and you just don't have much peace when you don't give yourself some margin and uh you know i'm fine with it because i know it's for a short period of time and i'm not complaining but the point is it's for a short period of time and I'm not complaining. But the point is, when you've got control of your time and you have control of your money, it gives you margin and it gives you a sense of power. Yeah.

She said. Yeah. And a sense of peace. Yeah. And I love that we talk about living on less than you make. But how many people do that with their time? No one has that kind of margin. That's right.

And so I love that we talked about this on the Entree Leadership Podcast, Christy, for leaders. But I love that this doesn't apply to just business. It doesn't apply to just moms. It applies to every human being who has anything going on. And I felt this. I needed the content more than a lot of people because we run hard, right? All three of us, we just go, go, go, go, go. And if we're not careful, we have that feeling of being out of balance and out of control. And the steps that you lay out are so crystal clear this isn't fluff this isn't feelings this is stuff that you have lived out and you've dreamed up for a decade now well thank you and it's interesting too because dave i remember years ago when you did a session for our company on one of our core values of family being a core value and the way that you described balance at that time this is i mean a million years ago the old building a million just keep saying a million years ago, the old building. A million?

Just keep saying a million. I've told you at least 10 million times not to exaggerate. It's my love language. I wonder where she gets it from. It's my love language. Hey, hey, hey. But you would say over the course, you might have a season of hustle, a season of rest, a season of this, that, the other. But over the course of your life, you feel balance overall.

And I think that's a good reminder for someone that's in a season of hustle, in a season of getting out of debt, in a season of your two-week sprint here. That's what's right right now. Now, if you spent a decade like that, you would burn out and be exhausted. But anyone, when we look at,

hey, this is what's right in this season or in the summer. Hey, we're taking Fridays off, going on vacation. That's what's right right now. It just gives you that permission to do the right things at the right time and not feel guilty when you're super busy and also not feel guilty when you put your feet up on vacation because there's a i love ecclesiastes there's a time for everything and so i want to remind people of that and give them permission to focus on what's right for them number one number one national

bestseller as of this week. It launched last week, and so we're just getting the information in on Take Back Your Time, the guilt-free guide to life balance. The author of that, Ramsey personality, Christy Wright, will be speaking tonight at 7 p.m. on this subject, Take Back Your Time, the guilt-free guide to life balance. George Campbell will be talking with you tonight on the subject of goals, hitting them and setting them. And these things all weave together to put together a game plan.

And I'll be speaking to you about some things you can do to get control of your money. And, you know, I'm fairly predictable on that. You've done it a time or two. It wasn't hard to put the talk together. So you won't be shocked. There won't be a new revelation from Dave on money. But if you haven't experienced this, it's a great thing to do.

Sit down with your spouse. Sit down with your friends and watch this live stream. It is completely free at 7 p.m. this evening. Game plan. You need a game plan. you don't want a game without a game plan you at least look at big games you don't you can wander in and with sheer talent knock it out sometimes but if you're going to win the super bowl you go in with a game plan if you're going to win the national championship you're going to go in with a game plan and that's

what we're going to teach you tonight is give you a game plan at all of this it's completely free a free live stream at 7 p.m tonight how do you tonight is give you a game plan at all of this. It's completely free. A free live stream at 7 p.m. tonight. How do you register? You type one word, game plan, no spaces, all one word, to 33789. Game plan to 33789. Congratulations again, Christy. We're all so proud of you. Thank you.

Thank you. Very, very well done. Good stuff. Another number one. Two for her. Thank you. Thank you. Very, very well done. Good stuff. Another number one. Two for her. Boom. Drop the mic. It's done.

Yes. I love it. This is The Ramsey Show. Work doesn't have to suck. There's a reason you can't shake the feeling you were meant for more than just another J-O-B. 61% of people aren't even engaged at work, let alone doing work they love. That's why Ken Coleman, America's career coach and national best-selling author, wrote his new book, From Paycheck to Purpose, The Clear Path to Doing Work You Love. And it's available for pre-order right now.

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Brent is with us. Brent's in Akron, Ohio. Hi, Brent. Welcome to the show. Hi, guys. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. What's up?

My wife and I were in the process of getting ready to build a house last fall before all the pandemonium hit. And as we were finalizing our loan and stuff, the builder came back and said that the prices had gone up to the point where our build was going to be 50% more than what we had planned. So we, we nixed the build for last year and we are, we are trying to decide when the right time settle down or i mean is it going to settle down it's going to settle down uh some of the artificial jump in the real estate and the cost of construction was driven by supply chain interruptions and so uh people were not working in the factories and they were not sending as a result finished goods that are required to build a home uh for instance lumber uh and there was a shortage of lumber so lumber spiked up and it is an artificial spike because what will happen is

is they the factories will get caught up and then when the supply starts to equal the demand a little closer, then the prices will come back down to more reasonable prices. Now, that's not necessarily going to happen with real estate. Real estate shot up, and it shot up just because there was a frenzy in the market. We're not necessarily going to see a drop in prices, but we will see the frenzy dissipate over time. And so I agree with you. This is a horrible time to build a house. I mean, I've got some friends that are building,

and it's just they're getting increases after increases after increases in their stuff. I've got a couple of construction projects going right now, and they're hammering us on, for instance, steel. I just got a nice big bill on steel the other day, and we're building a conference center, even putting in the sound system into the conference center. I don't need it for a year, and I think we're probably going to go ahead and order it this month because they're anticipating increases in prices. But it's artificial because it's just due to shortages of the components. And so I think probably building a year from now or two years from now, you're going to see a whole different world to build a house in than you're seeing today. That's my guess, but, you know, that may be worth what you paid for it, brother.

Yeah, we recently covered this topic on the fine print on the housing gold rush. So, Brent, go listen to that. It may give you some encouragement. We talked to Brian Buffini, and he gave us some great data on what fine print on the housing gold rush. So Brent, go listen to that. It may give you some encouragement. We talked to Brian Buffini, and he gave us some great data on what's going on in the housing market. And it's encouraging. But like you're saying, Dave, you're not going to see a price, the price just shoot way down. What we will see is things will slow down to where it's not frenzied, and it's not all chaos and, you know, bids 50% higher. So I think being patient is wise. And the thing with the housing market is you do it when you're financially ready. So if you follow the parameters that we teach,

50 in your fixed rate, quarter of the take-home pay, you'll be in good shape. But I don't want you to wait five years because you're scared of what the market may or may not do. Yeah, as far as an overall purchase of real estate, I completely agree. Again, lumber, copper, agree again lumber copper those are commodities and they come and go on pricing and um i really do believe there's a artificial height in some of those things right now that is going to correct down which is going to change the price of new housing so your builder's not going to come in and go oh you're going to anticipate a 50 increase now i'll just wait until that's not there because i really don't believe that's going to continue. Yeah.

But I do think real estate's going to continue to be a good investment long term. So what's the timeline, the horizon? I don't know. How long does it take these supply chain wrinkles to get ironed out? That's really what it amounts to. May is with us. May is in Portland, Oregon. Hi, hi may welcome to the ramsey show hello guys thanks for taking my call sure um so i am 20 years old as well as my boyfriend and we have no day we have two vehicles that we paid cash for and we are

currently living at his parents house we also have our emergency fund done and our four months emergency fund for the bills that we do have and we are currently saving for either a house or down payment we are wanting to get married and we also want a bigger truck i have horses and we need a bigger truck to pull the horse trailer and whatnot. So we are just wondering what to do next because all of them kind of are a large amount of money and we can't buy a house with no credit. And so we're kind of just kind of lost in life. So your next goal, you said, is to get married?

Yeah, we want to get married. And we are living at his parents' house, so we are wanting to get a house. We wouldn't like to rent just because we feel it's kind of a waste of money. We want to invest in a house. So based on what you're saying, it sounds like you guys have already combined finances. What's going on there? We actually do not combine finances.

Sorry if that was confusing. So you have separate emergency funds and separate accounts and separate savings and all that? Yes, we do. Okay. Well, for sure. I pay cash with my vehicle. He pays cash with his vehicle. He has his four-month savings.

I have my four-month savings. We both have our emergency fund. But he's just at work, so I'm kind of calling for both of us. And the future kind of involves both of our incomes if we were to get married. So, well, number one, let me tell you, do not buy a house with someone you're not married to under any circumstances because you're going to get yourself into a mess. If this doesn't work out, the breakup is harder to do than a divorce is and um you know it's very difficult to get out because you know he just decides to leave you got the house it's in

your name it's in his name and uh or you want to leave you can't leave because you've got uh a house and a mortgage and you're stuck in the thing so do not buy a house prior to marriage under any circumstances and don't buy any asset of any kind or combine accounts prior to marriage just because of that so let me tell you what i what i've run into 30 years of doing this may this is why okay there's all these worst case scenarios but there's also stuff that's not quite this ugly but here's an extreme one okay Okay. A couple gets engaged. They go buy a house together. He gets killed in a car wreck.

Now she owns a house with his mother because he didn't have a will. You see how messy this gets? This is a mess. However, if you were married, now she owns a house. Instantly changes. If you're married were married, now she owns a house. Instantly changes. If you're married, you're going to get the house. Without a will, even. And so with a will, it's a problem.

So I would tell you, you're 20 years old. You've got plenty of time to buy a house. You guys get married. Go get you a rental property. Or go get you a place to rent. Inexpensive. Pile up cash. Get the truck. Pay cash for it. Do some of the stuff. rent inexpensive pile up cash get the truck pay cash

for it uh do some of the stuff start piling up cash for a good down payment if it takes you two or three years you're 23 years old you buy a house you're not going to die we um well i guess he has one because it's more physical to get the truck but he has like a checklist of a thousand dollars on the line and every time he gets a1,000, he puts it away. Okay. So our goal is to put, you know, or his goal is to pay cash for his truck. That would be the only way he should buy one. Yeah.

Yep, we've been listening to you for quite a while, and we paid cash for both of our vehicles, and they're both nice, so that was kind of rewarding. So my kids are 10, my youngest is 10 years older than you. All right? So here's what I would tell you if you were my kid. I would say, go get married tomorrow and go get you a rental property by the end of the week. Move in a rental and start your life.

Quit trying to play house under daddy's roof. It's a mess. That's what I would tell you. But you called the old guy and asked him, and you're going to get the old guy dad joke, right? So I'm sorry, but that's... Dave's a mess. That's what I would tell you. But you called the old guy and asked him, and you're going to get the old guy dad joke, right? So I'm sorry, but that's... Dave's a boomer. Yeah, dadgum right.

I actually am technically a boomer. So boomers, the baby boomers are an actual demographic, like millennials. It's like, you're a millennial. It's like you're calling somebody a name or something. He's a boomer. I feel like only you can call yourself old, Dave. It's a term of derision.

Yeah. Yeah. But I'm comfortable with it. I like it. I like it. This is the Ramsey personality is my co-host in the lobby of Ramsey Solutions. On the debt-free stage, Rudy and Tracy are with us. Hey, guys.

Hi, Dave. Hi, Dave. How's it going? Better than I deserve. Welcome. Good to have you guys. Thank you very much. And where do you live? Goodyear, Arizona. Phoenix. Phoenix area.

Yeah. Okay. Good market. Love that area. Well, welcome, guys. Good to have you. And you're up here to do a debt-free scream. How much have you paid off? $68,000 plus. All right. And how long did that take? 19 months. Whoa! And your range of income during that time?

It was between $105,000 and $115,000. Cool. What do you all do for a living? I work at a warehouse food distribution center. And I work for our local church. Awesome. Very cool. Good for you guys. Excellent.

So what kind of debt was the $68,000? The majority of it was solar panels and a car. And then the rest was medical and consumer debt. Okay. How long have y'all been married? We just had our anniversary on the 22nd of this month, and it was... This was our 20-year anniversary. We got married twice.

Okay. Never divorced, just married twice. That'll work. I'll take it. I have no idea what we're doing here, but yeah. That's excellent. I'm doing the math. Yeah, I'm take it. I have no idea what we're doing here, but yeah, that's excellent. I'm doing the math. Yeah, I'm so confused.

But all right, so what happened 19 months ago or so that put you guys on to our stuff and you said, we're getting out of debt? Tell me about it. Well, it was actually myself. I was doing some retail therapy while Rudy was working out of town. Uh-oh. I heard a single mom who paid off $70,000 in debt in one year and was not only inspired, but I was convicted.

We were two incomes and, you know, were we doing the best we actually could be doing? And I really, when we gathered all the numbers it was shocking and it was that point that I said you know we we need to do something better and our at our church they had a class we joined it and the rest is history awesome way to go guys congratulations so it worked out so where did you hear that about this single mom it was a had had the TV going on in the background as I was getting ready to go to work. And it was a morning show that they kind of spotlighted. And from there, I was just like, I always knew that we were, I thought we were good at budgeting. I was good at managing debt and not overextending and had a really false sense of security. So we want the real thing, Dave.

George, that's – Dropping mics over here is what's happening. That's good stuff. Yeah, and I love the debt-free scream going from inspirational to convicting. That's powerful to think about it in that way. You guys really had a big mental shift because you had a lot of mess going on. I mean, how much were these solar panels? I'm just curious.

It was over $20,000 for 20 years. And we had leased a car prior that we were upside down in. So we tacked on an additional $6, dollars to a car loan to get you know get it get out of the lease so you're and you're saying i was really good at managing all the debt but we weren't making any progress no not good at managing money but i was good at managing debt so that's half of america right there or more i mean that that's a that's a real insight. That's well said and well observed. Good job. And so, poor Rudy comes home, and you've had this whole experience, and you say, we're going to this class over at the church. What did Rudy say? I was on board. I mean, I'm pretty much, you know,

willing to try anything. I'm not like, I don't have that macho machismo. I'm like, it made sense. I'm like, let's do it. Yeah, you're not hard to get along with like me. Yeah. Okay. All right. Because I would argue.

Just for the fun of it, I think. Just for the argument points. George, you're like him. I'm more like him. Yeah, well, my wife says it makes Whitney happy. I'm happy to do it. Yeah. Yeah.

Well, I generally say that, but I might argue about it a little bit first. Yeah. Well, my wife says it makes Whitney happy. I'm happy to do it. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I generally say that, but I might argue about it a little bit first. Yeah. Good for you guys. Well, the silver lining in all that, Dave, is we were able to, through the pandemic, our son moved back home and finished school, college online. And you always kind of think as a parent, have I departed all we could have? And this is the one topic that was really a conversation we need to have. And he was able to witness the progress in real time and be open to understanding, hey, we want you to have the best, do well in life.

Here's how you do it. Don't wait until you're our age. Yes. I love your legacy videos. It makes me cry every time. But that was what we really strongly wanted to do was change our family tree and leave a lasting legacy. Yeah. Absolutely powerful. That's very cool. So he bought in lasting legacy. Yeah. Absolutely powerful.

That's very cool. So he bought in, too. Yes. He's doing quite well for himself. He moved to Washington to work, and I miss him terribly, but I know he's going to do well in life. Yeah. Well, because he had some good parents.

Yeah. You guys did a good job. I'm proud of you. Very cool. Very cool. Very cool. Okay, now that you've done it, you're debt-free. You pay off $68,019 months. Tell people what the secret to getting out of debt is.

Well, for us, yeah, budgeting and getting reconnected with your finances. We were so disconnected that we didn't know the numbers that were coming in and going out. And it was nerve-wracking when we were doing everything in cash envelopes and pulling out cash at the grocery store. I would literally get so nervous that I'm holding up the line. I noticed that. And so I don't have it in me.

That's getting reconnected to your money. That's a good phrase. Physically reconnected. She's full of phrases. I'm writing all this down. I'm taking notes. That's great. But I like that because we each get our weekly budget,

and when it runs out, it runs out. There's no lying on that number. And we also led a couple FPU classes at our church, so that kind of helps us stay plugged in. It runs out. It runs out. There's no lying on that number. And we also led a couple FPU classes at our church, so that kind of helps us stay plugged in and stays us to be accountable. That's a big deal. There's something about teaching the class versus going through it that makes you, you can't be a hypocrite when you're teaching it. You can't do ish. It doesn't work. You've got to do it full on, right?

Yeah. So what's the name of your church uh grace walk community church wonderful very cool well they're obviously doing a great job obviously doing a great job so well done you guys i'm proud of you excellent excellent excellent good stuff all right well we've got a copy of the legacy journey the book for you that i'll sign at the break for you, and a copy of The Total Money Makeover for you to give away to somebody and get their journey started. You never know if you're going to be like that single mom that you see paying off $70,000. Maybe your debt-free scream today is going to wake somebody up. You never know.

So you'll have the book in your hand, and you'll be able to do that. So good stuff. Very proud of you guys. You're heroes. Thank you. Well done. Very well done. Alright, Rudy and Tracy from Phoenix, Arizona. $68,000

paid off in 19 months, making $105,000 to $115,000. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. 3, 2, 1. We're debt free! Yay!

Love it! Well done you guys. Very, very well done. Very powerful. Good stuff. Inspirational couple. I have so many notes here. I mean, that was just so many mic drops and revelations that they had on their journey that i think will inspire people for a long time well

when you say personal finance is 80 behavior and only 20 head knowledge and then she says i had to get reconnected to my money that means she's observing that yeah she's feeling that there's a visceral thing that's happening there that says, I was just kind of living and my money was in the other room. And now it's right there in my face. And I've got to make it behave. It takes this

sense of power and puts it back on you. Yeah, America needs to get reconnected to their money. Congress needs to get disconnected from my money. How's that for a drive? That's a whole other problem, Dave. We've got to do it one at a time.

See, I did that with only 14 seconds left, and I can't really say everything I want to say. This is The Ramsey Show. We'll be right back. our scripture of the day colossians 323 whatever you do do it heartily as to the lord and not to men and lander said opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don't recognize them. There we go. George Camel, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. Open phones here at 888-825-5225.

Brad is with us in Butte, Montana. Hi, Brad. Welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hi, thanks for taking my call. I've been trying to get in touch with you the last few weeks, but thanks for having me. Sure. What's up? Well, because a couple years ago, my dad left me and my brother. You're kind of muffled. Can you speak directly into your phone, please? Oh, sorry. I'm out in the wind.

Okay. Is that better? Yes, sir. Oh, sorry. I'm out in the wind. Okay. Is that better? Yes, sir. Well, my dad left some land for me and my brother, but I've been in construction and drilling for, no, and building houses for the last, I don't know, 30 plus years. I started really young. I started roofing when I was 12, but I got some medical bills and stuff like that. And that's really the only thing that I got, but I'm looking into,

um, doing like IRAs and everything, but like for medical bills and everything like that, can they go into an IRA or CDs or something like that? Or what would be the best thing to do with the money? Can they go in? You mean, can they take them if you don't pay them? Well, I've been paying on them, but...

How much do you owe in medical bills? If I cut everything up, probably over $100,000. And how much is the land going to bring? Probably right around $100,000. And how much is the land going to bring? Probably right around $100,000. And how old are the medical bills? Well, I'm going back, you know, probably 10, 15 years. The newest ones, I probably only

owe maybe $10,000, but a lot of them, you know, those are the ones those are the ones that I'm fighting because the insurance said that they were going to pay it, and then they didn't. It was for nerve ablations for my back and stuff like that so I can continue working. Yeah, okay. So if you paid that $10,000 out of the $100,000, then there's an old bills all that are 10 years old that are 90 grand yeah within the last you know five to 20 years yeah maybe a little bit longer seven to 20 years let me give you a principle okay they're not going away until you deal with them you can't hide oh yeah i don't want to teach you some kind of technique that gets you off the grid that's not a goal so the goal is

let's wipe them all out and clean them up so here's the way i would do it i would say probably that 10 000 is in the last year i'd probably just write a check and pay those once you get through arguing with the insurance company. All right? Okay. Now, then you've got the other $90,000 worth, and you've got some work to do, my friend. You've got some contacting them and working with them, and you can probably settle all of that for somewhere around $0.10 on the dollar. So somewhere around another 10 or 15,000 would pay off all of your medical bills for 25,000 total, give or take.

Yes. And you should do that. And now you've got 75,000 left, and you don't have the monster in the closet anymore. But that's what I'm trying to, you know, think of what to do with the – because I've been in contact with – No, you were trying to think of a place to put it where you didn't have to pay the medical bills. No, I just changed the plan. No, no, no. You said if I put it in the IRA, can they get to it?

Yeah, no, on that part, but I'm also trying – I just got to set up some time because I contacted, well, I've been in contact with a couple other people in my area for investing in stuff. Good. Good. Yeah, you should do some investing with the money that's left after you get these medical bills settled. And then you don't have to worry about can they get to it. So, yeah, click SmartVestor at DaveRamsey.com, or I'm sorry, RamseySolutions.com, and it'll drop down a list of the people we have in your area there. And some of them can sit down and help you with the investing part of it.

And you might check with one of our Ramsey preferred coaches that have been trained by us. And, George, I think they could probably help him fight through the settlement issues with those old medical bills. What do you think? Yes, you've got to negotiate this stuff. And once you get rid of all this debt, hopefully that's all the debt, you've got to get the emergency fund in place if you don't have that because I don't want you going back into debt. This is a once and for all thing.

And then we can talk about investing and work with a smart investor pro so you can create a game plan to actually do this stuff the right way. Yeah, but you for 20 years have not paid these bills off and on. And so you're going to get back in the habit of paying the bills. And it starts with get the current ones cleaned up and then having the emergency fund for something else comes up. Then you've got some money to cover that. And you make sure you get an understanding of your insurance and what it covers so you don't end up in a mess again with them. And you've got, for your deductibles and other things,

you've got the emergency fund in place. So really, the people that get burned on these things are, they get damaged the most financially by these processes is if you don't actively engage like it's a fight and so like that insurance company situation he's got he's got to get it you got to lean in on those people yeah you got to advocate for yourself and fight this thing and you can't keep kicking the can down the road because the can is still going to be there yeah and your toe gets tired that's true no one talks about that ryan is in cle, Ohio. Hi, Ryan. How are you?

Hey, Dave. I'm doing so well. It's good to talk with you. Good. What's up? Well, I'm just going to get straight to the point here. Kind of question about a used car purchase. So my wife and I, we have $ 118,000 in student loans, no other debt outside of that. And our take home is between 150 and 160. And we have two paid for cars. Unfortunately, one of them really can't be driven anymore. So we're just trying to figure out why, um, a good price. Um, you have to do an e-check and her or one of the cars can no longer pass the e-check. Why? Computer issues is what we were told.

One opinion. Get a second opinion. And the computer costs how much to fix? Well, the mechanic that we were talking to mentioned it can be up to a couple thousand. And then he said that's no guarantee that it's going to start working well. Sounds like we need a new mechanic. That sounds crazy expensive for a computer issue. So what is the car worth?

Well, the car is a salvage title so depending on if we go to a dealer or sell it um it could be up to maybe five thousand but probably not much more than that okay yeah you probably don't spend two thousand dollars on this car to fix it but i think i'm going to get some other opinions and see if i can't get this computer thing fixed and rigged for a while longer. Are there other problems with the car? No, honestly, it runs pretty well. Nice car, Subaru Legacy. It's just the computer issues or sensors in the car are really starting to pile up here. Yeah.

Well, I'm not spending $2,000 on it. I'm getting rid of it and buying another comparable comparably priced car this is not a reason to go and buy a fifteen thousand dollar car because you got a hundred thousand dollars in debt yep so you know if you want to flip it over break even buy something in the five thousand dollar range pay cash for it if you can't fix it for a grand if you can fix it for a grand i'm probably driving it but not for two grand2,000. Okay. Does that make sense to you? I appreciate it. Yeah, that's great.

I really appreciate the advice. Because it sounds like it's not a bad car. $500 or $1,000 is worth throwing at it, but if it's going to be $2,000, it starts to not make sense anymore, and you want to bail out of it. Yeah, and they take home $12,000 or $13,000, so they could cash flow a comparable car in a month and not slow down their debt snowball much at all. Yeah, and so if you want to flip it over and you're tired of screwing with it,

buy you a $5,000, that's fine. But the thing you've got to fight is, oh, I've got this huge mountain of student loan debt. It's going to be a little while. It's going to be two years, three years before you knock that out, sounds like. Then it's easy to go, well, that's permission to go buy Mama a nice car. No, it's not. No, it's not. It's permission to buy Mama a different car that rolls

with an engine that turns and that passes the E stuff. There you go. George Campbell, good show today. Thank you. Don't forget, folks, Game Plan tonight at 7 p.m. Central Time. Text Game Plan to 33789 if you want to watch the live stream. That puts this

hour in the books. 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. Hey, it's Kelly, associate producer and phone screener for The Ramsey Show. If you would like to do your debt-free screen live on the show, make sure you visit theramseyshow.com and register. We would love for you to come to Nashville and tell Dave your story.