The Ramsey Show - App - Should We Stop Paying Off Debt To Deal With Life Issues? (Hour 3)

Episode Date: June 11, 2024

Live from Nashville, Tennessee, this is The Ramsey Show. I'm John Deloney, joined by George Camel. We are taking your calls about your money, your wealth building, the work that you love, your relationships, your mental and emotional money, your wealth building, the work that you love, your relationships, your mental and emotional health, just about everything. 888-825-5225. A couple of opinionated guys. We've got opinions for you. That's me. I think that's us, but that's cool. And we're great at grammar. 888-825-5225. Let's go out to St. Louis, Missouri, and talk to J-O-E. What's up, Joe?

Hi. How are you? I'm outstanding, brother. How are you? I'm doing well, thank you. You bet. What's up? So my situation, my wife and I have been aggressively paying off debt this year.

We had a plan to pay off all of our debt in 2024. And the issue, though, that we're having kind of midway through the year. Oh, Joe, we lost you. Let's turn back on. Joe, we here, brother? Joe, you there? Can you hear me? There we go.

All right, now we're back. Continue. Continue. Go ahead. Hi. Sorry. So I've got a couple of life changes coming up. My wife and I were paying off debt, and we just found out a few weeks ago that we're

expecting a baby. Yay! Thank you. Baby number five. Whoa! All right, I take that back. Just kidding. No, that Thank you. Baby number five. Alright, I take that back. Just kidding. No, that's good. That's awesome. So, and along with that, I'm looking in about a year to have a

career change. And so my question, I guess, is how aggressively should I continue to pay off debt? Because I really want to pay off the debt this year. However, I understand the stork mode concept, but I feel like we may have enough income that we could do both. So I'm just trying to figure out what priorities are. Yeah, you're right about stork mode for those listening, wondering what the heck that is. When you're having a baby and you're in baby step two,

that's when it's okay to pause and just keep minimum payments. Don't put anything extra and just stack up cash in a savings account until mom and baby are home and healthy. And so that's when it's okay to pause and just keep minimum payments don't put anything extra and just stack up cash in a savings account until mom and baby are home and healthy and so that's okay to do how much money do you guys have right now in the bank barely any and this is why i think we may have i don't want to say maybe went too hard earlier this month i looked at my bank account we had about thirteen hundred dollars total so how long have you guys been living paycheck to paycheck like this? Basically this year, since we started paying off debt, all of our savings... But have you been in debt since you've been married? Not the entire time.

So we had all debts paid off a few years ago, but then both my cars were totaled and my family car and my personal car that I take to work. So we, um, then had to get new cars and we got to the dealership and said, give me your most expensive cars stat. No, no, no, no, no. I was able to put a significant amount of money down. I have one car paid off already. Okay. And the only debt we have left is $20,000 on a minivan. All right. So that's everything we got left.

So $28,000 on the minivan. And when is baby due? $20,000. $20,000. When's baby due? Baby's due end of January. Okay. So we have some time. What's your household income? About just north of $11,000 a month. Oh, my goodness.

So why don't we get this van paid off in like three or four months? Well, so this is the thing with saving up for a career change and the baby. Why do you need to save up for the career change? So, my career, I'm an active duty military. Okay. a possibility that with the career change it could be involuntary career change just with a lack of promotion and separation and all that so what are you speaking in code joe you're speaking in code are you about to get laid off no well actually maybe are you about to get discharged i could yes honorably or dishonorably?

Honorably, honorably. So it's just basically being passed up for promotion. It's not dishonorable or anything, but there's a chance that it could happen. If it does happen, it could happen as early as March of next year. So I'm getting a little nervous about having enough money to pay. So what is the career change? What are you wanting to do exactly? So I have an engineering degree, and I'm wanting to be an engineer.

Okay. What does that have to do with you paying off the minivan in the next four months? Well, basically how aggressively I should be saving. Don't save. Because then Justin Falk... Let's get priorities straight. Number one, let's get out of debt, and then let's stack up some cash for baby. And my guess is by the time baby's here, you will be debt-free with a fully funded emergency fund.

And if I'm you, I'm doing six months because you've got a whole lot of kiddos to take care of. And think about this. You're trading, paying this off, and going bananas, right? Paying this off, having five kids, or four kids, pregnant wife. You're trading, paying this 20 grand off for having no job, the potential, and this is anxious thinking,

having the potential of no job and a $20,000 liability hanging around your neck. Right. And I would definitely prefer not to do that. Right. Just having that cushion and not being anxious about it. When I get anxious, I create worst-case scenarios and then I backfill them. How realistic is this?

That I lose my job? Yes. It's, I'd say about 50-50, honestly. Is there anybody you can go sit down and ask? No, because I'm waiting for promotion results to come out and they keep that hush-hush. Okay. And so promotion, I've never heard I don't, I've never heard of this. So you're, you're teaching me live in your particular branch. You either get promoted. It's kind of like tenure in academics, you get tenure or you get fired. Right. So if you, so if you get looked at, so you get looked at twice. And if I were to get passed up for promotion a second time, I got passed up for promotion once. If I get passed up for promotion a second time, I have to be discharged seven months after I get notified of that. How many?

Seven months later? Seven months after I get notified, which I should be notified end of August. So you've got plenty of time to make plans for what's next. But right now, it sounds like we're ignoring the debt and all the things that are really happening in reality today. So here's my plan for you, Joe. You ready for it? Can you live off of it? I am.

What are your monthly expenses total up to? Fuel, utility, shelter, transportation, insurance, all that for the family? So my monthly expenses, it varies when my kids are in school. Give me the average. Okay, so average, I'd say it comes out to be about $5,000 a month. Okay, hear me out. If you do $6,000, you said you make $11,000. So $5,000 a month means there should be, if you do a budget, $6,000 a month. Now you do the math.

In about three and a half months, the van's paid off. Am I correct? Correct. And then three and a half months later, we could have another $20,000 saved up. And then the baby's here. And then the baby's here. So think about that. That could be a reality.

Come January, you're debt-free with an emergency fund looking for an engineering job. Does that sound like a good plan? Right. And that means when y'all are buying back-to-school clothes, y'all aren't going to go hog wild this year. You're going to hang on with those four kids the best you can. You're going to reuse some stuff, secondhand some stuff, Facebook Marketplace some stuff.

Is that ideal? No. Is that what might be in season for you guys this year? Yeah. And seven months making that kind of money is 70 grand. That's a good landing pad for you to go be an engineer somewhere. You're going to be all right, my brother. We'll be right back. Welcome back to the Ramsey Show, 888-825-5225. George, this is happening.

Are you talking about what I think you're talking about? I'm talking about that. You, me, D-Money, Rachel, couple of thousand of our closest debt-free friends, Ken Coleman, and several thousand Ramseyites on a boat

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I think we need a Ramsey Personalities karaoke night. Done. Done. That could be worth the ticket. I think a Ramsey Personalities karaoke night. Done. Done. That could be worth the ticket. I think a Ramsey Personality talent show would be incredible. I could probably find a talent between now and then. No, you can't. But some people can.

That's fair. It's going to be, no, actually, Jade would destroy us all. That's, yeah. I'm not going to be singing on that. I'm out on that. Jade used to sing professionally on cruise ships.

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They're going super fast. RamseySolutions.com slash cruise. C-R-U-I-S-E, not slash Rachel Cruise. That's actually a good point. RamseySolutions.com slash cruise. All right, let'si-s-e not slash rachel cruz that's actually a good point rampsolution.com slash cruise all right let's go back out to dallas texas one of our favorite cities today and talk to amber hey amber what's up hi um thank you very much for taking my call of course what's going on? Yeah, so I have been thinking about my living situation. I live in an apartment, and I don't have an income right now.

I had a baby. He's 18 months old, and I also have a disability. So I have been pretty much just surviving on a long-term disability settlement that I received like two years ago. How much was that for? The settlement was for, let's see, I think it was $80,000. Okay. What's the nature of the disability, Amber? So I have multiple sclerosis. Okay.

And, yeah, so it was kind of crazy that I had just got that settlement, and then, like, a few months later I found out I was pregnant. Wow. Is it just you? Are you solo? Yes, I am solo. That's the other thing. Do you have any family in town? No, no, not at all. What is keeping you in Dallas at this point? Well, I'm from Dallas and dad is in Dallas too.

What is his involvement right now with this relationship? He's there but... Is he paying child support? We're still working through it. Is he paying child... Okay. Have you gone and formalized this with an attorney?

Right. Yeah, that's something I'm looking into, but I haven't done anything yet. I've just been kind of using it the first year to see how things are going to go. You know how they're going to go, right? Yeah, I think I have a pretty good idea now. You do, you know. I know how you want them to go, and I want them to go that way too, but they're not going to. Yeah.

I want you to call Legal Aid Dallas. There's a bunch of resources there, and if you can't get a hold of them, there's a couple of fantastic law school clinics there in the DFW area, and I want you to reach out to one of those clinics and see if they will walk you through the child support process so we can get him on record so he's got to pay. Now, we both know that that system's flawed and it doesn't always work out like we want it to, but I want it on record so that you have that additional support for that little baby. If he's going to choose to opt out of that baby's life, fine, but he's going to put some money down, okay, and support that kid. Is that fair?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah definitely yeah he kind of contributes a little bit but kind of contributes a little bit is not good enough for me yeah i want he is paying six hundred dollars per month yeah every month yeah actually that's crazy you say that because that's exactly what he's doing okay um all right so what i have this feeling that what's your um living situation how can we help you yeah so um so i'm in a apartment it's a one bedroom and um it's about 1700 and like 1720 a month that's including the water um trash all that stuff so about 17 20 a month um and like i said i've been i've been living on this you know amount of money for like the last two years pretty much exclusively but you're burning through the 80 000 what is the balance now? So now we're sitting at like 40. Um, I know. And so I'm like, this is dwindling

really fast. I am really sad because I don't know what to do, but will you qualify for disability? I don't, I don't know. I did apply three years ago, the way before baby was here, but I was denied at the hearing level, unfortunately. But it sounds like, are you going to be able to work for the foreseeable future, or is that not going to be a possibility? I'm going to try, because, yeah, I'd rather try than, because I know it's going to be a long road if i apply again which i might do i think you do both but amber can i just be super direct with you sure you got the rug pulled out from under you in your life didn't you two years ago

oh yeah 100 yes in this diagnostic this diagnosis is scary and it's painful and it's uncomfortable, right? Yes. And then you found yourself with this amazing baby and there was terror and fear and also optimism that dad was going to come through and it was going to work out and it hasn't, right? Right. I'm saying this because we have a compressed time limit together and because i because i care about you the whole time you've been knocked down and you got knocked down a couple of times math has kept spinning right the real reality has kept spinning while you're grieving and so the quicker you can pull the pin on this apartment

that you simply cannot afford, you can't afford a $1,700 a month place plus utilities because you're just burning through that settlement money that you got. And I would love more than anything for you to be able to just stay at home with that baby. It's just not a financial reality for you. And so if you have a local church that can help support you, or if you can figure out a way to work from home, do different types of whatever that is, now that you're wrestling with like, this is going to be the rest of my life with MS and here we go, whatever you can do.

I've worked with some amazing colleagues over the years who had MS and it was tough for them. It was a unique experience, but man, they were contributors. They were A plus rock stars on the team, right? And so it's figuring it out. Okay, this has been my story. This has been my lot, but I'm going to get back out there because it's me and it's this little baby, right? You need a sustainable solution long-term. And for now that might be a you know applying for SSI because right now you got to take care of that baby you got to pay the bills and we also need to get out of this lease and find a cheaper apartment I would apply for SSI ASAP and I would reach out and see if you can get out of your apartment and break the lease say I can't make the payments

anymore I have no job I'm on disability and go from there thanks for the call We'll be right back. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm John Deloney, joined by George Camel. And we've got an amazing, beautiful family on the debt-free stage. We've got Thomas, Suzanne, and Kamen from Raleigh, North Carolina, the Research Triangle. How are we doing, y'all? Wonderful. How are you? Good. Good, good, good. Honored to have you guys. Thank you.. So you're on the debt-free stage. How much debt did you pay off? $167,000. Okay. How long did that take? 37 months. Wow.

Wow. Kim, did you used to have a brother that they got rid of? What happened? He's unamused by John. I love it so much. Okay. What was your range of income during that time? So we started about 113 and we finished at about 133. Way to go. What do you guys do for a living? So I'm a pastor. I'm a nurse. Wonderful. Wonderful careers, helping your community. Love to see that. All right. What type of debt was the 167?

So a little bit of everything. We had credit cards cards personal loans uh we had about 58 000 student loans uh that was actually the last part that we paid off and then we had uh 75 000 in vehicle payments 75 000 man preachers be rolling man i had a f-150 lariat that was fully loaded and uh that was probably the hardest part to let go said and a motorcycle yeah and the motorcycle that's right i feel like you still go in the garage in a dark room and just stare at the wall and be like i miss you ford yeah every time i see one drive by i'm just like so you you like things that go from and suzanne did you have no part in these car loans no i had a uh 2016 explorer xlt leather interior sunroof of course and i kind of had my identity in my car wow and that was hard to let go of too and i miss it every day do you have

any of these now did you get rid of all the vehicles yeah uh we we drive he drives a 2011 subaru tribeca now 200 miles oh that's a pretty picture of it on YouTube. Oh, you're just getting gone with Subaru. Well, that one actually the engine blew up on. Okay. And so we traded in the Explorer, got the Subaru Tribeca, and then he drives that, and I have a 16 Escape.

They're both paid off now, obviously. Wonderful. But hold on, can you say it again? But I miss it every day. We do both miss our vehicles every day. This is intense. So three years, you paid off $167,000. How did you do that? And what got you on the path? We sold everything.

Yeah. Except our child. Wow. And she picked up all kinds of shifts. So I went from a Monday through Friday, eight to five job to a 36 hour a week, 12 hour shift nursing job that I was able to pick up extra shifts so okay so 37 months ago you guys are pretty normal as far as America goes you had all the car payments student loans actually it started like 14 years ago my brother Richard got us two of the financial peace DVDs we watched them them. We started budgeting,

but we didn't change any of our behavior. You just went like, oh, that was fun. That was cool. We were actually just recording the stupid stuff we were doing. He thought it was like a cool movie. Because he didn't get you all the DVDs. He just got you two.

You're like, baby, step four, and just left you hanging. Just left me hanging. That's right. Wow. Okay, so 37 months ago, you were like, hey, remember that Dave Ramsey guy?

Maybe we should go back to that is that what happened yeah so she was starting a new job and we were like we make too much money to um continue to live paycheck to paycheck and uh we knew something had to change so absolutely so were you both on board from the start i mean we're like all right we're selling all the cars what who was on board first like who dragged who into it he's the spreadsheet guru and so he would make the spreadsheet we would do the zero dollar budget i would make the grocery list i guess and we would do rice and beans not literally but we dwindled down the grocery list so you brought your lifestyle down to nothing and you were

willing to go like all these toys that we've acquired that we love that have all these payments attached. We are going to sell them. I was very resistant to getting rid of my car, but because he got rid of his truck, I said, okay, I'll do it. Was this like a, well, if you do it, I'll do it or no, no. But the biggest thing for me was the $8,000 Discover credit card that was in my name only. Once that got paid off, I was whole hog, basically. I was like, okay, well, if that got paid off under my name, then I can do this. And so, once- So, you needed a quick win to go, this is possible for us. Pretty much, pretty much, yeah. That's the power of the debt snowball and Baby Step 2.

Absolutely, absolutely. And we didn't sell our vehicles until a year in. So in fact, the first year we didn't even keep track of how much debt we were paying off. And in fact, it was November that year. I was like, hey, I should probably check this out and see how much I've actually paid off. And we realized that kind of just doing it partially, I mean, not really being intense about it. We paid off $55,000 in that first year. And I was like, whoa. And that was basically like haphazardly. What if we actually really paid all 55 000 in that first year and i was like hey and that was basically like haphazardly like what if we actually really paid attention and had a goal yeah wow so january of that next year we led our first fpu class and uh sold my truck and then uh this is at your church this is another church we've actually led two other times uh in the last uh

that was our second class the first class we did was our small group at our church. Oh, that's cool. Wow. So does your congregation know about this journey? Yeah, they do. They're in on it and they're cheering you guys on? Yeah, most definitely. That's fun. We like to see a pastor live it out and go, oh, this guy's really doing it. Yeah, it's crazy. So I've been preaching for probably 14 years now, and it's changed how I approach money and talk about money.

Like before, I was scared to talk about that. I was like, oh, this subject I want to talk about in front of the congregation because I was just being poor with it. Well, you had your own shame around it. Exactly, exactly. And so it's helped us getting our finances in order has helped us be able to um to share the truth of god's word you know freely uh when it comes to money if if you're okay and you can just say we don't want to talk about this you just have to do that

in front of a whole bunch of people um both of you the last few years just the health care profession has shifted and changed and it's just gotten tough, right? On a thousand different fronts. Absolutely. There's something about going to work every day where you are doing the best you can as a pastor and somebody's going to write you an email, somebody's going to complain, somebody's going to say something that breaks your heart because you really were doing your best that day and this person really goes. There has to be some kind of freedom

that heaven forbid, if either one of you just says, I'm enough, that you're okay. Yeah. Right? And when I've worked with pastors, I've worked with people in the medical profession, there's that angst that I owe so much.

It took me so much money to get here. I had to get a doctorate in theology or I had to get medical school. By the time I get here, I am stuck doing this thing, which means I got to play by all these rules, whether I agree with them or love them or can even stomach them at all.

Both of y'all are completely free now. What does that feel like? It's such a burden just off our shoulders. It's still surreal. I still don't know how to live. Yeah, it's like getting off a boat our shoulders. It's still surreal. Yeah. I still don't know how to live. Yeah, it's like getting off a boat all day. You're back on land and it's still kind of wobbly, right?

Yeah. Wow. What's next for you guys? So we're going to celebrate in Cancun. So we're taking our first vacation. Yeah, we're looking forward to it. We've neglected vacations because of this. And then next is obviously our house.

Oh, that's so great. Next up. And rumor has it that if you say no to some things and pay off debts, your kids will evaporate. But I see your son right in front of you. He's still here. He made it. He's still here.

That's still growing. And he has been told no with some things. And he survived? You made it, Kim? He survived. Yeah? He survived. Wow.

How old is Camden? He's 12. Okay. And he got to see mom and dad hustle and sacrifice to to give him a better life to leave a legacy yeah to see mom and dad because that's something that we weren't taught as as youngins we wanted to change that yes definitely so we uh involved him as much as we could and we actually have a sheet that we had up on the refrigerator that had all of our debts listed and And we started with just our debts. But then when we got to our end, we had to go to every thousand dollars just to

kind of keep us going because it was two student loans that were huge. And so like, it was like, hey, we got to have something. And so every thousand dollars he would mark off and that was his part of it. Wow. Well, we're going to celebrate with you guys. We got two every dollar premium gift cards that you can use. You can give them away just to say thank you for visiting us and to cheer you on the journey. You guys ready? We are.

All right. We've got Thomas, Suzanne, and Camden from Raleigh, North Carolina. $167,000 paid off in 37 months. They sold the motorcycle. They sold the SUV. They sold the truck, making $113,000 to $133,000. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. We're debt-free!

Nothing like it, John. Can I tell you, I would love to go into a hospital and be served by somebody who doesn't owe any money, who can focus on me. I'd love to walk into a church and have a pastor that is beholden only to God and what's right, not to the whims. No lender living in their head rent-free. I love it. I love it. I love it, man. What a gift. Y'all are amazing, good folks.

We'll be right back. This is The Ramsey Show. Today's scripture of the day is Proverbs 12, 11. Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense. Ross Simmons says, hustle beats talent when talent doesn't hustle. That's how I've lived my life, John. I don't think that's true. I don't think that's true at all. I think you should pay close attention to this Ross Simmons quote. Fair point.

Fair point. I'm more of a Proverbs guy myself. Oh, I see what you did there. Let's go out to Indianapolis and talk to Mona. Not Lisa, just Mona. Hey, Mona, what's up? Hi, thanks for your help today. You got it. What's going on? My mom and dad, my elderly mom, parents are moving in with me and my husband, and they

are giving us a lump sum to take care of them for whatever the remainder of their life will be. And we've got a contract, everything's written up. But I want to make sure that the lump sum is not taxable on either part, either side. Yes. Well, when it comes to gifts, which this would be considered a gift, the donor is generally responsible for paying the gift tax. And so, you know, if you look at the exclusions for the year, this year it's 18,000. So each parent could give you 18,000, which would be 36. So that what they could do is split it up over three years. What is the urgency to give you all a hundred thousand at once? Um, not to sit down every month and say, here's a rent. We don't want to like talk about the finances every month. And, and they're going to come with, uh, absolutely no bills. Um, they're going to come with absolutely no bills. They're not going to pay our electric or anything like that. Okay.

Can I tell you what I would do, Mona? Why don't you just take control of their, you know, you have access to the checking account, and you're covering the bills from their account instead of going to you. So even though they're giving me the $100,000, and it's actually for their expenses, I mean, they'll never have rent or anything it's still the 18 you could still only do 18 000 that's still considered a gift 18 000 from each parent because i was just going to say the services that i'm rendering like they're not going to have to drive anymore they're not going to have to shop anymore i know but you're doing this in

the most you're doing this the most complicated way possible. Okay. Like, why wouldn't you not have them not give you... Are there other siblings that are going to take their money? No, there's other siblings involved, but they're the ones that came up with this idea. I would rather you take guardianship of their checking account and you withdraw expenses as needed okay and if they

don't trust you because because here's the deal let's say that the hundred grand runs out in two years and they're still around are they are you just not going to get any more money yeah we haven't thought that one through and i would rather you how old are they yeah they're 80 and 87 but my 80 year old mother her mother is still alive, and she's 100. That's what I'm saying. What's the long-term game plan? Yeah. Are you guys okay to just take care of them forever?

We were just going to do $100,000 and look at it like, you know, whatever, however long they live. We would take care of them if they had no money, so we were just going to do it this way. Yeah, I would rather you have access to their checking account. Do you need this money to cover any bills right now? Like, what if you just left it? No, we don't. Okay, well, split it up when they pass away.

I'd rather them just invest this money if they don't need it, and that $100,000 in seven years turns into $200,000, and it becomes an inheritance that one day you guys get blessed with. Yeah. And I already am on their checking account. I haven't done anything yet, but they put me on it years ago. I would much rather y'all have a contract that said, we'll pay you $1,000 or we're advising you to withdraw $1,500 a month or whatever for groceries and gas and this rent, and you just pull it out. That way, it's not taxable in that way. Okay.

It's just paying for expenses that are their expenses that they're accruing. Because, yeah, you're right. There may be 20 more years. Yeah. And there's also a lifetime. I wouldn't be concerned about taxes. The taxes are the, you know, don't worry about taxes. My husband said my mom's going to outlive him.

I believe it. And so we just need a long-term game plan. It sounds like you guys are financially secure. Do you guys have any debt? We don't. And we've got our house paid off. It's amazing. You're just for this moment.

I've been listening to Dave since 2008. Bless you. you and it's worked out so here's the deal i would just invest that money and invest it wisely and when they pass one day that could be 25 years from now then that'll just be part of an inheritance and it'll you know it'll all shake out but i don't think we need to play this weird monopoly money game where you take money from them every month and you guys manage it because you guys don't need the money. And can I tell you what I think would happen, Mona? This is just me being honest. I think if you take $100,000 from them, this relationship, it's real transactional real fast. And they start looking at you.

It's weird even on my part. Well, they start looking at you as though, no, no, no, no, no, we paid you. You're going to do this, and you're going to do this, and you're going to do this. I would much rather them manage their checking account through you, and they just live in your house now. It sounds like they're feeling kind of guilty about this, and this money is a way of them saying, well, we gave them money. Actually, I think, tell me if I'm wrong, I think brother and sister,

or I think siblings came up with this idea because they feel bad that you're taking the burden. Yes. That's right. And my parents came up with it, too, because some of their friends are broke now, and they've been in, like, a nursing home for two years, and it ate up $127,000 on one of their friends. Okay. Yeah. So I would only use that money if you need to in order to take care of your parents because you guys don't have the funds to do so.

I hope that never happens. I hope this money just becomes a legacy that they get to leave. And if you and your siblings need to feel, if they feel like, if you all feel like you're owed extra money, if you will, for the service, quote-unquote services rendered because mom moved in with you guys or mom and dad moved in with you. Y'all drove them around forever. Split that up during the inheritance with whatever's left, but let your mom and dad spend their money while they're still alive.

Okay, that's a good idea, too. Thank you. I appreciate it. You bet. John's full of a lot of things. Good ideas is one of them. Occasionally. Occasionally.

Just one of the things. Producer Kelly Daniels is shaking her head yes, absolutely absolutely let's go out to los angeles california callie we're up against the clock for the last call of the day what's going on hi george hi john um yeah hi so i'm 47 i'm on baby step six um i'm living in a town down here in Southern California that I've never really been happy with. And I have the opportunity to move. My job is 300 miles away from here. And it's a farm property. That's my business.

And it's owned by my mother. I have an opportunity to move there and live basically rent-free. But I'm emotionally attached to this house here. I've lived here for three years. Like I said, it's in an area that I don't want to live in. I don't want to end up here. But the actual house, I love it. And I don't know how to emotionally tear myself away from this property.

Why are you so emotionally invested in this home? I don't know. Just a bunch of studs and some drywall. What did it mean to you? Did you move there after a divorce? Did somebody pass away? What does it mean to you? Did you move there after a divorce? Did somebody pass away? What does it mean to you? Oh, that's good. Yeah. It is kind of part of the divorce and part of the autonomy that, you know, I bought this house all on my own after my divorce. There it is. Yeah. So here's what I want you to do. I want you to write,

this is going to sound cheesy and lame. There's going to be millions of people across the country who roll their eyes at this, but I'm just talking to you. I want you to write a thank you letter, a letter of gratitude to this home. And I want you to read it out loud in your living room. Yeah.

Cause this home was there for you when nobody else was right. Yeah. And it served a purpose, and it gave you a roof over your head, and it gave you some security and comfort when your whole world fell apart, and we're really grateful for that house. And now we're going to go live the rest of our life because we're back on our feet again. Yeah. Can you build a new dream home on the farm one day?

I definitely can. And in fact, my dad started it and then he passed away. And so it's so close to being done. Go get it. Go get it, Callie. That's your new emotional attachment. That should be your new thing you get excited about working on. George is big on transference.

Just move your emotional attachment. Don't deal with it. Just move it over there. I think that's fantastic. But I'm selling the house and starting a new life on the farm. Absolutely. Thanks for the call, Kelly. All right.

Thanks, everybody in the booth, including Kelly, sitting in for the one and only James Childs. Great show, George. Good times. And thank you, America, for listening and hanging out with us. We'll be back soon on The Ramsey Show. We'll see you next time.