The Ramsey Show - App - Should My Wife and I Share a Vehicle? (Hour 3)

Episode Date: May 7, 2021

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Music Music Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studio, this is The Ramsey Show, where America hangs out to have a conversation about your money and your life. I am John Deloney, joined here with best-selling author and brilliant friend Rachel Cruz, and we're taking your calls on anything and everything, on your money, your relationships, parenting, all of it. Give us a call at 888-825-5225, 888-825-5225. We have a lobby full of people here today.

It's good to see everybody's smiling faces, even the not so smiling faces. It's good to see everybody. And Rachel, it's always fun to have you on the show. I'm glad you're here, man. I know. Thanks, John. Always fun. All right, let's go out to Cincinnati, Ohio and talk to Noah.

Noah, what's going on? Hey, John and Rachel. It's a huge honor to talk to you. Thanks so much for taking my call. The honor is all ours. What's up, man? How can we help? So my wife and I are in Baby steps four, five, and six.

I'm a registered nurse, and I have the opportunity to go back to school to become a nurse practitioner. I'm looking at going full-time. My wife and I have looked at the cost and crunched the numbers, and we're able to cash flow the cost of school for the next two years. My question is, a lot of employers offer tuition reimbursement for nurse practitioners along, you know, in other jobs, but in order to get tuition reimbursement, you have to have student loans. So I was wondering, would it make sense rather than paying it off as I go and cash flowing it, rather to just stockpile a bunch of cash to pay off school. And if I'm able to get tuition reimbursement through my employer,

great. They can help me pay off some or all of it. And if not, I can just, you know, I can just pay it all off after I graduate with one stroke of a pen. Does that make sense? Yes, it does make sense. I would say I would not take out loans and just, yeah, write the check at the end. If you have the money, no, I would pay your way through. But there's also another option. Because companies do reimburse tuition, if there is an employer that you could get on board with before you start school and they could help pay your way through as you work maybe at

a lower level position in the company until you get the degree or whatever that looks like, there's an option there that I've heard many people do that they will go and work for a company and that employer helps pay their way through. So that's another angle to look at. No, what's the benefit? Is it just time? Is that why you're going to go full-time instead of working your way through it? Yeah, so my plan is to work full-time and go to school full-time.

Most programs like this are designed for working adults. Oh, I thought you said you were going to quit working and go full-time. Okay. So you're going to work full-time and go to school full-time. Yeah, that's the plan. Outstanding. So does your current employer offer tuition reimbursement? They do, but it's like, and I need to get with HR to know the details on it,

but it's like $1,000 a year or something. I mean, it's better than nothing, but it doesn't cover, doesn't really come close to. And is that the same employer you want to be with after you get this degree or will you change? I'm certainly open to staying with my current employer. I like my employer, but I'm not married to that idea. Sure. So here's what I would do, Noah. I would not – it's been my experience that a number of these tuition reimbursement programs end up being like what you're experiencing now. It's, hey, we reimburse tuition.

It's an incredible benefit, and you get in there, and you sit down, and it's $1,000. $1,000 is $1,000, and no one's going to complain about it. But in your head, it's like, oh, sweet, you're going to pay $35,000 for this program. The other side of it is the ones that I – again, there may be different ones. The ones I know of personally come with strings attached, meaning we're going to pay you back, but you're going to owe us four years. You're going to owe us three years. Or if you work this particular shift, then we're going to pick it up at this level. Here's what I'm going to tell you.

In my head, I'm going to – you. In my head, you've worked hard. You can cash flow this thing. You're going to pay it all the way through. And then you're going to have no strings to anybody at any time for anything. And that'd be my recommendation. What I don't want you to do is to get all the way through and then you're going to start having to look

at particular job options based on how good this particular benefit is the way through and then you're going to start having to look at particular job options based on how good this particular benefit is rather than how good the particular job is for your family and what your family's going to look like in two or three years and so man you're going to that nurse practitioner degree is going to be gold you're going to be able to do and go pretty much wherever you want to go don't add in another variable to that equation which is what's your tuition reimbursement program. And I'd go down to the current job you've got now and take their thousand

bucks or see if you can negotiate that up or man, pay this first semester and get on the market and start trying to find another job in your area. That's going to have a higher tuition reimbursement program. And I've seen it. The most common way I've seen it done is, or the way mine worked was I would pay my tuition and then I would just take a copy of the bill that I just paid and they would reimburse that. I didn't have to have a student loan to come in there and do that.

Yeah. Lots of options around it. That's our recommendation, man. Appreciate the call and good luck to you, man. It's going to be, you're going to be a busy guy working full-time and going to a doctoral program full-time. Good for you. All right, Jessica in Houston. What's going on, Jessica? Hi, how are you? Good. How are you? I'm good. I'm good. Thank you. So I was calling because I have finished baby step two and three. My husband and I are on baby step four. And thank you so much. Thank you. And I have a 401k with a previous company that I was with that is still there. I am no longer with that company. And the reason why I didn't originally move it over because I was silly and I took money out of my 401k. But I've paid it all back. But I wanted to know if I should roll over my 401k to the current company that I'm with,

or if I should just let it sit where it is. Yeah, that's a great question, Jessica. I would say the first thing I would do is get with one of our SmartVestors in your area and sit down with them because the best option is to not leave it there and not roll it over to your new employer. I would roll it over to just a traditional IRA. If you want to pay the taxes, you can roll it into a Roth, but just roll it into more of an independent, just traditional IRA. And you can do that with one of our SmartVestor Pros, an investment professional to help you work on all those details. But that would be my suggestion. That way, if you move it to your new company, and then two or three years down the road, you get a new job, you're not always rolling these things over. You've got a central account that is yours that you control, that you partner with

a SmartVestor Pro on. And then if you leave your company in a few years, you can take what you've accrued to this company and roll it back to the account that you own. But it keeps you from rolling them from company to company. Yes. And I hear that, I was dumb.

I should have, hey man, it took me a long, long, long time, years to go back and go, oh, I still got a 401 at this place and a 403 at this place

and to get it all into one place. One place. It's a lot. It's a mess, and I was ashamed of it and embarrassed about it, and then my smart investor pro that I work with was like,

man, I deal with this every single day. Totally. Oh, yeah. Just get over yourself and stop whining, Deloney, and let's line this stuff up and get you and your family on the road to success. So it's a good deal deal good for you jessica i appreciate the call this is the ramsay

show we'll be right back hang with us Ever wonder how to save more money or pay off debt fast? What about the right way to invest? Listen, I've been there, asking the same questions with no idea where to turn for answers. But here's the good news. You don't have to keep searching for answers. Ramsey Plus will guide you every step of the way so you always know what to do next with money. Ramsey Plus is our step-by-step plan that shows you how to get consistent small wins with money and even some big ones. So you can see exactly how you're making progress.

Then we help you turn all those wins into better habits that last. You can be confident that you're doing the right thing with money, and that means no debt payments, cash in the bank for emergencies, and a plan for your future. Get started today with a free trial of Ramsey Plus at RamseySolutions.com slash Ramsey Plus. That's RamseySolutions.com slash Ramsey Plus. This is the ramsey show i'm john deloney joined here with rachel cruz and we're taking your calls at 888-825-5225 according to the united states census bureau nearly one in 10 people relocated last year that was in 2020 that means year, there's a good chance you or someone you know is planning a big move. Rachel, we've talked about this in the hallway.

Yes. The real estate market has lost its mind. Now, I know it feels like there's a thousand unknowns you're juggling when you're relocating. Should I buy? Where should I buy? Can we even buy? You cannot lose focus of one of the most important personal and financial factors in your move, your housing. I recommend hiring a quality real estate agent like one of our endorsed local providers or ELPs that help you find the right home in your new city. They're top performing experts, not friends of your friend's brother's grandma's roommate. They are top performing experts in their local market and have years of experience

helping folks just like you. To get connected with an ELP endorsed local provider agent text HOUSE to 33789 that's HOUSE to 33789 Alright, let's go to Stephen in, I just learned this recently

Louisville, Kentucky. Stephen, what's going on, man? Hey, how are you doing today? Thanks for taking my call. Thank you. And I just need to shout myself out. I did not say Louisville. I learned the other day.

It's Louisville. Louisville. Louisville. It's just a word spilling out your mouth. All right, so what's up, Steven? How can I help, man? So my wife and I decided we should sell one vehicle. We dropped from about $90,000 in income down to $65,000 when we made the decision to homeschool.

And we owe about $20,000 on our last bet, which is student loans. And so tell us your car situation. Everything's paid off except for the student loans. One vehicle's worth about $18,000, and one is worth about $20,000. Okay. Well, our rule of thumb is you don't want things you own with wheels and engines to be more than 50% of your annual income. So you're at 65, it's 38.

I mean, you're kind of like right there, I mean, on that line, Stephen. So I don't think the cars are your big problem. I mean, yeah, you don't owe money on them and it's not this insane amount that you have, you know, that have wheels on it sitting in your driveway. That seems unreasonable. So I think if I were you, I mean, I would just,

I think you're fine. I think I would just start chipping away at that. You'd grind it out? At that 20 grand. I would. I mean, if you want to sell it, Steven, you can.

You know, if you can get it. Yeah, it's just a discussion we've been having. Yeah, I don't think it's... We've been on this and we've paid off about $100,000 so far. Wow.

Congratulations, man. Congrats. That's amazing. We've been doing it for a while. Yes. Steven, hey, listen, brother. You are so close. You're so close.

I know. And if you have that taste in your mouth and you both agree and you're like, you know what? Sell it. We're going to drive a beater just to be done. You can do that. Absolutely. It's not necessary. But yeah, I mean, it's always an option.

Yep. Always an option. Can your family operate on one vehicle? We can. Yeah. Like I say, she's a stay-at- operate on one vehicle? We can, yeah. Like I say, she's a stay-at-home mom now. I'm doing homeschool, so it could be done. I've got a company vehicle.

Well, right now my wife's a stay-at-home mom, and she puts more miles on the car than I do by triple or quadruple, right? You say you've got a company vehicle, so you actually have two paid-for cars at home, and getting you around during the day is your company car? Correct. Oh, okay. So I'd sell that sucker today.

Yeah, you could do that. Okay. All right. And then you just need to call Kelly back soon, and you can get on here and do your debt-free screen. We're looking forward to it. How long have you guys been cracking away at this thing? Honestly, I think we started out kind of baby-ish, and I think we've been at it for about five years now.

Awesome. Well, 100 grand. Y'all have made a huge stride, Stephen, so congrats. It's awesome. Congratulations. And I don't want to lose sight. It's allowed them this close to do something. Hey, let's stay at home.

Let's start homeschooling yeah but then you can make these values discussions when you have decisions you don't have the money hanging over you so good for you steven all right let's go to alicia in fargo what's up alicia how we doing hi thank you for taking my call thanks for calling how can we help um so i will be getting custody of my six-year-old son in August. Um, and I'm kind of curious how to adjust our budget. Um, I've been kind of putting a little bit of money towards some schooling and stuff, getting certifications for classes so I can, um, teach doing personal training. And, um, so I'm kind of wondering if i should like back off on some of

that stuff um me and my husband already had to move into a different apartment and so we have you know more expenses where that's um you know coming from and then just like unexpected expense of having a kid again in the house so um just like feeling a little anxious about how it's all going to play out and um you know we've been we're on baby step two and we paid off almost half of our debt within the first year awesome but then this last yes thank you um but this last six months with all these changes and trying to invest in a side hustle of sorts, I've seen that, you know, that number is steadily going down and it's kind of disheartening. And, you know, adding a kid to the mix just kind of makes me want to put my, you know, my foot on the gas and get this debt taken care of. So I'm wondering if I should, you know, stop with the school stuff and just, you know, really focus on just trying to save money in the budget. What's the custody arrangement? You say you're taking back full custody?

Yeah. So I'm a recovering addict. And when I was using, I lost custody of my son about three years ago. And me and my husband, we're both two years clean now. We've totally turned things around. My mom has my son. And so it's a very cordial arrangement. We're just transferring the custody back to me, and my husband will then be adopting my son. Alicia, I'm so proud of you.

It's amazing. What a son. Thank you. And as a mom, I'm so proud of you. It's amazing. What a start. Thank you. And as a mom, I'm like, oh, getting your son back. I mean, what a beautiful, like, honestly, where you just tears my eyes. Cause I'm like, it's a beautiful new beginning. This like renewal of, of your life. And you guys have worked hard in so many aspects.

And, and obviously the, the financial side is why you called, but just a bigger picture, Alicia. Like, I mean, it's just, it's incredible, absolutely incredible what you guys are doing. But to answer your question on a tactical level, we find with people getting out of debt, the deeper they're willing to sacrifice, and that's lifestyle, that's future dreams, that's, I mean, everything. The more they're just like, you know what, this is our singular focus, no distractions, nothing, we are getting this paid off, the faster they pay it off. Obviously, it's a mathematical equation at that point. So I think I would ask you, you know, to look out two, three years to say, okay, what are your goals? What are you wanting to do? You can, could you do the certification in nine months and stop stop you know pause right now and pay off this

debt get it cleaned out wiped off um and then be able to build that life off of that you know financial foundation of no debt um do you want to do both because you're trying to do both right now and you're feeling the weight of a while not making the progress and it's that disheartening um so i would say i mean you and your husband i would i would make that decision as a family you called the ramsay show so of course my my knee jerk is like pause everything and pay that debt off because you're gonna get so many options and have that peace of mind but that that would be that's what I would do but again you guys talk as a family and say okay do we want the certification and it's going to take a little bit longer to pay off the debt that's a decision you

guys would make and then I would say this to, as he comes back into your life and you asked, you know, about adjusting the budget. Yeah. You will have expenses, obviously having another member of the family, but, but be careful not to have the guilt and the shame from your past to

overcompensate of any of that, that you're feeling on buying stuff for him and the money portion. So, so he is, how old is he? He's six. Is that what you're feeling on buying stuff for him and the money portion. So he is... How old is he? He's six. Is that what you said? Six. Six, yeah.

So some parents, I know whether it's a divorce or they're getting custody like this, there's a guilt of, I want to provide this amazing life and they end up spending so much out of that and it's a beautiful motivation, but it's out the wrong way.

So just be aware. Alicia, I've worked with addicts for my entire career. I want to see you crush this debt. I want you to pause everything. I want you and your husband to go bananas, pay this off. And that victory is going to fuel you. It's going to give you a lift. It's going to take those shame bricks out of your backpack. And like Rachel said, I want you to get a sleeve of tennis balls and go to a local playground. You're going to have the time of your life with your kid. He's going to be so excited if you mismeasure or pick the wrong color, they'll remake your blinds for free. You get free samples, free shipping, and with the new promos they run every month,

you'll save even more. Use promo code RAMSEY to get the best deal. All right, today's question comes from Nick in Michigan. I'm considering leaving my career where I earn $130,000 a year to support my wife's career. Her company asked her to relocate for a better position and we are on board. We currently earn $270,000 a year, have $1.5 million in net worth, 1.3 in investments. Her income will grow, but it will not fully replace mine. And I'll be a stay-at-home dad if we move.

I think we would still be on track to hit our future goals and our financial advisor agrees. Should we risk? Should we take this risk for the betterment of our family? Sure. This is not a risk.

Go Nick. Yeah. Brother, you got $1.5 million and your wife, she already earns $140. She's going to, let's say, she's going to earn another $100, right? Brother, there's nobody starving. This is awesome. Yep. And you're going to be a stay-at-home dad.

Your kids are going to love having you in their life more. I think this is a no-brainer. For sure. Not even think about it. Yep. I know. And so what's interesting is I'm like, you know,

I love this show because you get calls from every spectrum of income, every spectrum of walk of life. I mean, all of it. And so you get the ones that are,

you know, paying off, you know, $20,000 in debt, making $17,000, bumps up to $32,000, you know. And then this is like,

oh, whoa, it's six figures we're talking about. And it's almost like when you get comfortable in this situation, it feels so uncomfortable to kind of shake it up. It feels like a risk because you're so used to that amount. But listen, Nick, this is what you guys have been working hard. You've been doing the right stuff. For this moment.

For this moment. So now you get to really step out and make a change for your family. Man, Rachel, I hadn't thought about that until just now.

This is why having people in your life is important that are all over the spectrum but ultimately live different lives than you because I think it's easy to step back, I mean to not step back to get so involved and i can see him and his wife sitting there biting their nails saying hey we had this goal of five million sure and all we have now is

1.3 or 1.5 or what could we do this and you need a that buddy in your life that's like, what are you talking? Yes, move yesterday. What are you doing? Do you know what they, and it is fascinating. It reminds me of like the golden handcuffs mentality, right? Absolutely. You're getting paid well. Life is real good.

Yeah. And if we take off the, but yet I'm stuck. I'm stuck in a life I don't really want. Like the way he says it, it's like, oh, the betterment of our family would be to make this move.

And my wife is so excited. Her position, I get to the way he says it, it's like, oh, the betterment of our family would be to make this move and my wife is so excited, her position, I get to be so home dead, like it's all positive but these golden handcuffs keep us in a position just because of the money and life is so much more than that,

you know? And anytime you start a question with or end a question with dot, dot, dot for the betterment of our family, you're probably in the right track. Yeah. Right?

If whatever this thing is going to be, if it's going to make your family better. Rachel, I want to touch on this. Right at the break, James was giving me a hard time at the break because I ended the call with, all your kid really wants is your heart and some tennis balls, man. She wants to just spend time with you. And I realized I said that kind of dumb. But you've written a book on contentment.

And so this last call is about, hey, man, we lost custody of our kid. We are moving to another apartment and we are grinding. And I'm about to get my kid back after all of this stuff, all this shame, all this climate and clawing and scratching. It's the same sentiment to this call, which is, hey, should I take a $130,000 pay cut? I'm going to change my identity, become a stay-at-home dad for this $270,000. It all comes back to this idea of comparison and contentment. What's best for us, right?

You wrote a book on that. Parents trying to say, do we have enough? Do we have enough? And then you've got this, we've talked to parent after parent who's like, I just need to buy my kids affection. i need to make up for what was talk to folks who struggle with that i that i'm only as good as my ability to keep up with my neighbors

of what everyone else is doing right yeah i mean oh gosh it's it's a rat in a wheel mentality that's always the picture i have because i'm like you run, run, run, run after something and you get nowhere. You get nowhere. Sadly, this is our culture. This is our world. This is the country we live in where it's like stuff. The bigger the better. The upgrade. It's just and you run

and you run and you get the upgrade. You buy the bigger thing and you just keep on going. It's like this race that never ends and you never gain traction. It's sad this race that never ends and you never gain traction. And it's sad because it steals the beauty of your life and your relationships and all of that. And this show, we talk about money management to get you to a point, people that are listening, to say, okay, I don't want money to control me. Money controls me in so many ways, whether it's emotional, whether it's debt, it's my

choices. My money is telling me what to do. And to flip that on its head and say, no, I'm going to control my money. I'm going to make a plan and get out of debt. I'm going to live on a budget so my money doesn't tell me what to do. I'm going to do these things to set myself up where money's on an idol, where my stuff is in an idol. And that's the beauty of it.

That's a part of the journey that you have to take on. So it's the math side, yes. We say it all the time. But gosh, that, that emotional side can be as damaging. Then you throw kids into the mix. We've,

we've just been dealing with this at our house. My son came, came home and he's in fifth grade. Dad, I'm the only kid in my class without fill in the blank, a cell phone and a Tik TOK account. And, and, and, and luckily his mom and i've

been telling him for years because we knew this was coming hey we're gonna we're gonna go ahead and tell you up front your parents are weird and we're we're sorry but not sorry right and feel free to tell your friends i don't have any of that stuff because my parents are lame you can use us but at the end of the day man man, your kids don't want stuff. They just want you. You can go to Walmart and get a $19 Zepco, man, and go spend every Saturday for their childhood. And they're going to, man, that's so much more valuable than the next Xbox and the next thing. But it's so hard.

And Rachel, it's been my experience. Moms got this way worse. Dads, we look at each other at the baseball field. But, you know, like, and I might think, that baseball bat's $400. Like, that's a lot. She's going to grow out of it in a week. But there's an industry designed to keep moms from having stable feet on the sidewalk, right? To keep it.

Oh, wow. So much. So much. That's against it. And what's funny, too, is I'm like, you know, our kids are so much so much that's that's against it and and and what's funny too is i'm like you know our kids are so much like adults like i learned so much from my kids and you know amelia will say her new thing and i i'm like makes it cringe a little bit but she does she's like i'm bored well i'm bored and and we have a playroom full of toys i I've been in it. It's the size of my home. Yeah, it's awesome.

No, no, it's not that big. But in my head, I'm like, there's a playroom. There's a garage with bikes and stuff. You know what I mean? There is stuff to do. But I look at her, I'm like, I'm so glad you're bored. Now you're forced to figure out something. You now get to use your mind and do something different now.

But as adults, that's what we do. Oh, I'm bored. I need to go on Amazon and buy something. You know what I'm saying? How often we say, we may not say it verbally, but our emotions are that and that causes that emotional spending too. So we just have to watch that stuff-itis is what

dad would say, but it is. It's a thing that we think is going to fulfill and cause contentment and it does the opposite. I even saw somebody um yesterday and they're probably working on this right now so you know who you are um was just looking at homes on a computer i said are you are you moving no i moved like four or five years ago i'm just i'm just checking out this and i was thinking see what's going on i i did that so much right just

to see what's the neighbor's house and how's this going to be. But it just becomes more stuff. And it's so – I fight it, Rachel. I fight it. But you buy this thing and you're like, okay, I'm just going to hang on to this for a few years so that I can. Instead of just enjoying this thing that I got. Right. It's so good, right? My home gym.

This is good. Now, until I can one day, I'm going to build this thing. This thing over here. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. It's a pretty good gym, man. It's pretty good. This is good. Now, until I can one day, I'm going to build this thing. This thing over here. Uh-huh. It's a pretty good gym, man. It's pretty good. And Rachel's... You got a gym. Super atomic minivan that can basically... It's basically a SpaceX

minivan. Minivan? All I hear is about, but one day the Tesla. Right, Rachel? I know. I do it too. Man, tastes like vinegar. Do you know that movie? Name that movie. The Blind Side.

Anyone? Sorry, I'm too busy playing with my kids to watch movies, Rachel. Yeah, yeah. She's got it. Tastes like vinegar. Tastes like vinegar, America. We'll be right back. This is The Ramsey Show. Today's scripture of the day is from Numbers chapter 6 verses 24 through 26.

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace. Arthur Ashe says, start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can. Man, Rachel, that makes me think of the

debt-free caller from earlier today. $17,000 is what her annual income was. And she says, we start today. We start today. And then 11 months later, she's almost making double she's crushed it it's awesome let's go out to green bay wisconsin and talk to ayanda what is going on ayanda how we doing good thank you how are you guys doing we're doing so good

how can we help thank you so much for taking my phone call you got it my question for today was, my husband and I are currently on AB steps four, five, and six. Excellent. And so we are investing our 15% as well as getting a match from both of the places we work at, which adds up to about 12% extra. Wow, cool. Yeah, thank you. And we also have 529s for three of our kids. They're aged 1, 3, and 5 that we're putting into. And then we pay, obviously, our mortgage, and we've been doing extra payments.

But still, at the end of the month, we have close to about $2,000 that gets left over in our budget. And so my question was, do we throw more money on top of the extra money of the mortgage that we're doing? Or could we actually start maybe looking at like investing that extra money we have left over in the month? So that was kind of like my question or our dilemma at the moment. What do you guys do for a living?

Y'all are crushing it. Sure. My husband's in sales, and I was actually a stay-at-home mom for a while, and then the last two years, I actually picked up three part-time jobs. Wow. Yeah, what was the motivation for that? To get moving financially, or you just wanted to fill your time? Sure. Yeah. So our kids are actually aged one, three and five.

So last year I actually called in and we were on baby step two and I got to speak to Dave and we only had our car payment that we had. And right after I got off the phone, we had an emergency fund. And we just paid that off immediately. We're like, okay. And then we just kind of got moving after that. So we kind of have an emergency fund of about eight months that we've got. Wow. Great job. Great job.

Incredible. And so you're investing, you said 12%. No, 15% in the company. Oh, and then it's additional. Okay, I got you. So that's 27% of your income is being invested right now. Yes, towards our retirement. And I think we have about $250 million total at the moment.

Okay. That's already in our retirement. And that percentage, does that include the employer's match? No. So the 15% is just what we put in of our income. Okay. And then the match comes in my husband's company. Actually, he's got better benefits.

So they match him 10% at his job. 10%. So that's there. Okay. So you guys are sticking to that 15% of your own income. Yes. Perfect. Yeah.

So beyond that, I mean, honestly, I would throw the extra at the mortgage for sure. I think that 15% is going to get you guys in a great spot when you reach retirement. You'll be able to bulk up your investing even more after that mortgage is paid off. So I would get that house paid off as quickly as possible, which you guys are doing, which is awesome. And I'll say this too, because I'm the spender of the Ramsey personalities, is that you can breathe a little too.

You guys are in a great position. We say to have the pedal down real fast on baby steps one through three, lots of sacrifice, like you said, you got your three part-time jobs and you are just busting it. And then once you have that emergency fund, where you guys are at, you can take a little bit of a deep breath. You can enjoy some life.

So just remember that. But if you do have that consistent income at the end of the month that you're saying you don't have a budget for it, then yes, the answer would be to throw it at the mortgage. Okay. All right. Thank you so much. Yes. We were kind of looking for and trying to see, because in all of this, he gets paid a bonus at the end of the year

that we just kind of throw a lump sum towards the mortgage. I love it. You guys are going to kill it. That's amazing. That's amazing. Dave said this the other day when I was on the show with him, and I actually wrote it down and went home, and my wife and I planned a vacation. So I've become, you know, we bought a house earlier this year. Rachel, I hate owing people money.

It drives me crazy. And so we have been treating our house payment as though we're in emergency step one, right? Yes. Whatever extra pennies we have. And Dave's line was that those first few baby steps, you've got to be intense. Yep. And then the other ones, you've got to be intentional.

But you've got to live. Yes, yes. And I'm always telling people to live, and I thought, what am I doing, man? We at least got to go have some memories, right? Totally, totally. We're going to get away for, we're going to take an afternoon this year. Just kidding. We're going to get away for we're going to take an afternoon this year. Just kidding.

I'm going to take two hours off of work. That's right. I'm going to take the kids to McDonald's and we're going to call it. Let's go to Bridget in Columbia Falls. What's going on, Bridget? How are we doing? Hi, guys. I'm so excited to talk to you. And actually, while I've been on hold, I

just got a job offer, which was part of my question. Oh, my gosh. That's amazing. See, you don't even have to talk to us. Just get on the line, and we'll save your life. Well, congratulations. Thank you very much.

Is this a good job? Are you excited about it or what? Yeah. Actually, I was really worried because right now we're just on my husband's income and we're on baby step three B and I was working kind of part-time seasonal job. And I decided, I was like, I really need a bigger shovel if we're going to do this. So I applied for a bigger job. Um, but of course those always take longer.

So it's like been two and a half weeks and being on one income where we live, we're in a destination area. So our, our bills are a little bit more. So it's definitely really tight. So I was feeling kind of desperate actually on the call. And then I got a phone call about the job offer because I was like, shoot, I just need to make cash now. And I have a side business that I'm trying to kick off the ground that's in sales. It's in health and wellness.

It's health coaching. But obviously that takes longer than you think. So, yeah. So actually, after this call, I'm driving down for an impromptu interview for a different position. So great. Do you have a question now or did it get answered because you got the offer? I think it got answered because I got the offer.

Okay, there you go. Well, it was so great to talk to you. Yeah, exactly. We'll be the first to congratulate you. Yeah, congrats. And I think that's a lesson for America. Thank you, yeah. I think actually, Rachel,

that may be the best thing we've done all day. Our advice isn't super great, but man, if you can hang on the line and click over and get a job opportunity. Your life can change. If you can get connected to Kelly in any shape, form, or fashion. That's what you need to do. And get through there. And by the way, it wouldn't be a good idea if we let the day go. It is Kelly's birthday.

We're excited that she's turning 21 today. It is Kelly's birthday. We're excited that she's turning 21 today. This is a big day. It's going to feel weird buying lottery tickets on your way home. Don't do it, Kelly. Don't do it. But we are excited for you. So funny. No, seriously, how old are you?

She's not listening. She's not listening. How old are you, Kelly? 63? I didn't hear what you said. Oh, my gosh. Oh, I was going to say you're a beautiful 63, but you're 47. Okay. Jeez.

Well, I said, Kelly, you look like, I mean, literally, if I were to guess, I would have thought for sure early 40s. See, I would have thought 33 max. Capital M-A-X. Oh, my goodness. And James, your birthday was yesterday. It was? Yeah, he's 72.

Was it? I don't know. Oh, yeah. We don't know. But now the internet's no James. Hey, by the way, James, while I've got you, I want to thank you for a great show today. Kelly, happy birthday.

Happy birthday, Kelly. Thank you for joining us. Rachel, as always, is super fun. And to everyone Kelly. Thank you for joining us. Rachel, as always, is super fun. And to everyone listening, thank you for joining us. Treat each other kindly. Be nice. Say you're sorry. And do your best to get out of debt.

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