The Ramsey Show - App - The 3 Things to Bring Into a Salary Negotiation (Hour 2)

Episode Date: January 13, 2020

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Music Music Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Dave Ramsey Show, where debt is dumb, cash is king, and the paid-off home mortgage has taken the place of the BMW as the status symbol of choice. I am Dave Ramsey, your host. Thank you for joining us, America. We're glad you're here. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Years ago, when I first met God, a great Bible teacher was beginning teaching me the Bible. I didn't know anything about it.

Said, if you don't do anything else, read a proverb day there's 31 of them so you can do the whole book of proverbs in a month it's the book of wisdom if you just read it over and over again you'll get wiser not only will you grow spiritually but you'll get wiser and if you're not i mean by read it i mean grasp it understand it think about it meditate on it whatever right learn what the words mean, and then apply them. Oddly enough, if you read the book of Proverbs over and over again, you will have a master's degree in finance. It is all in there, everything you need to know. So I do that. I generally read a proverb a day, and I have for 30 years, probably, something like that. And it's interesting how I see different things as I go through the different phases of my life. And I'm going through the exact same words, but I see different things through those same words depending on what's going on.

It's a lot different when you've got teenagers than when you've got grandkids, as an example. And Proverbs 13 is today, right? And verse 14 says, The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life that one may turn away from the snares of death. The reward of wisdom and good planning, in other words, is a fountain of life. And when you think about the context of money on this, you reap the benefits of prudence. When an emergency comes, you're ready. And you've done stuff like gotten

insurance in place gotten your emergency fund in place and you've got a good defense in your financial plan that you know because when the snares come the problems come the traps come you can avoid them and walking around without any health insurance is the number one cause of bankruptcy. Walking around without car insurance is the number one cause of you losing a car. You know, so there's some basic stuff you got to do. And so, I mean, what if you had a $400 emergency today? How would that affect you? What if a window breaks? Your car won't start. You've got a doctor's visit. It's $400.

61% of Americans say they could not answer the call for a $400 emergency. That's 6 out of 10. Now, that's not poverty, people. That's everybody. Not even $400. The other thing you can do is, of course, make sure you're covered with the right kinds of insurance. Get your emergency fund in place. Baby step one, get your $1,000 emergency fund to get started with a beginner emergency fund. Now, our team wanted to make sure that you figure out what coverages you've got, figure out what these basic things

are that give you a defense against these snares, traps of life. And it's weird when you've got all the proper insurance in place, not the gimmicky stuff, but the right stuff. You've got your will in place. You've got your emergency fund in place. When stuff comes at you, it's inconvenient. Nobody likes to lose a $4,000 battle with a heating and air furnace system, right? Nobody likes to write a check, but it sure is different when you've got the money

than when you just go into freak-out mode. So we've got a five-minute coverage checkup tool that's completely free. In just five minutes, you can get a customized recommendation for all the coverage you need. Text the word CHECKUP to 33789. That's the word CHECKUP to 33789. Or you can go to DaveRamsey.com slash CHECKUP and get this five minute check up as fast as you can. The deal is this. I don't find people who build wealth only playing defense, but I also don't find people who build wealth only playing offense. If you're going to win, you have to play defense and offense.

A boxer keeps one fist up in front of his face to block while he does damage to the opponent with the other fist. So you're always blocking and swinging, blocking and swinging. So you've got an offense, and that's your defense up in front of your face, keeping you from getting your block knocked off. Remember those old robots we had when we were little kids? Anybody old enough to remember those things? Right? Knock your block off and that head would pop up when you hit it. That's what happens when you don't have the right kinds of insurance in place. That's what happens when you don't have your emergency fund in place. That's what happens when you don't have your will

in place. You get your block knocked off. And then people go, well, everything was going good until now everything was not going good because you were not ready because stuff is going to happen grandma said save for a rainy day it's because grandma's old enough to know that sometimes it rains as a matter of fact it's always going to rain sometimes something's going to happen you need that gok fund that god only knows fund crap is coming you got to get ready you need your emergency fund you need your insurance coming. You've got to get ready. You need your emergency fund. You need your insurance in place. You've got to play defense.

But if that's all you ever do, and then you don't use that defensive position to do some offensive strikes like investing, that's fine. But you can't invest and earn enough to be stupid. You can't out-earn your stupidity. You will get your block knocked off. And so you need life insurance to take care of your family if something happens to you. You obviously have your car and your homeowner's insurance in place. You have these basic things done.

You know the number of you out there renting a place right now that have zero insurance on all your stuff? You did not get a renter's policy? Dumb. Go get one today. $200, $250 in almost everybody, every state that's listening to me right now. You can cover the contents, $20,000 worth of contents for theft and fire in your little startup, I just got married apartment situation. You need contents insurance.

Because if you come home and all your crap's gone because of a fire or because some bozo kicked the door in and decided he would take all your stuff you're just screwed you get to start over and then you'll tell the story about how everything was going fine until i was a victim you weren't a victim you were stupid you didn't have basic insurance in place you're a victim of your own stupidity. I've done it. I've been a victim of my own stupidity. I got a PhD in DUMB. I know what stupid looks like. I've looked at him in the mirror a lot. But you've got to get ready for these things. You've got to take the time to stop and do stuff like this five-minute checkup and make sure that you're in make sure you're in tune you know make sure you're ready and uh that you're ready for bad stuff to come and then it's not fatal when it comes it's not

financially fatal that's the deal so hey thanks thanks for joining us that's the deal man oh my gosh you gotta make sure you're ready people get. Get that blocker up there and keep them off of you. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you. Are high health care costs getting you down? Are you confused trying to navigate your options? Do you wish you could find an affordable, biblical solution to your health care costs? Based on New Testament principles, Christian Health Care Ministries, or CHM, helps Christian families, churches, and ministries join together as the body of Christ to share their major health care costs.

Christian Health Care Ministries is the original health cost-sharing ministry. A Better Business Bureau-accredited organization, CHM members share to pay each other's medical bills. It's not insurance. It's Christians financially and spiritually supporting each other. It's what Christian Healthcare Ministries has done for over 35 years. And our members have shared over $2.5 billion in medical bills. To learn more, visit chministries.org. That's chministries.org. That's chministries.org. Christian Healthcare Ministries is a proud sponsor of Dave Ramsey Live Events. chministries.org. Thank you for joining us, America.

Trey is with us in South Carolina. Hi, Trey. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? Not much. So just to give you a little bit of background on what's going on here, about maybe seven, eight years ago, I took FPU and I, long story short, basically ignored it. Didn't listen, didn't do what I was supposed to do.

You flunked. Yeah, I flunked, of course, for sure. But I did remember everything that I did learn in it. I just never used it. So about three years ago, I married uh and bought a house a new job a lot of changes in my life uh the company i got a job with they really pushed you know uh self-improvement you had to read books for the company and stuff and so i started and listened to podcasts radio shows and stuff like that and and I remembered, oh, Dave Ramsey. Let me go back and listen to that. So I listen to you pretty much every day.

My wife and I have been trying to get on the same page with budgets and getting out of debt, and so we've started doing your – we're in baby step one, almost out of it, about to start baby step two. And we're – I know that, you know, you either have to lower debt to or raise income one of the two so we have uh a couple of cars one has uh about fifteen thousand dollars owed on it and one is paid for and we don't have a lot of wiggle room in other areas so we're considering possibly selling one or both of them and i was just wondering what your opinion was on, you know, doing that to help knock out some of the debt snowball.

What is your household income? Right at $105,000. Okay. And how much debt other than the $15,000 car do you have or your mortgage? Okay. debt other than the $15,000 card do you have or your mortgage? Okay, so we have a $40,000 student loan and

a few credit cards. Really, everything all together is probably just under $60,000. Okay. Well, that would be just a handful of credit cards then, right? Like $1,000 or $2,000. That's it. Yeah.

Nothing major. So $50,000 and you make $105,000, right? And you have not stopped your 401k yet, and you have not started doing a written budget yet. Yeah, we just, like, literally started doing all this. Yeah, and you're still started doing all this yeah and you're still going out to eat you're still planning a vacation uh actually yeah that those are both true yeah yeah um so my wife has never done your program i'm the first she's heard of you really and uh you're getting ready you're getting ready to sell your freaking cars, what you're discussing.

So the first thing, before we sell our car, we cut other stuff in lifestyle temporarily, and we stop the 401K, and we get on a written game plan together, and we say, all right, how fast can you knock out $50,000 in debt making $100,000? I mean, if you just use those two numbers, $100,000 versus $50,000, okay? Yeah. That tells me that you can do this in 18 months. But you're going to be on beans and rice, and you're not going to be running around all over town like you've been running around all over town. And I would rather rip the Band-Aid off and get this done

than have this thing where I screw around with it for five years and I sell my car so I can go on vacation. That's bass-ackwards, dude. Right? Yeah. Okay. So here's the thing. Here's the thing. You need to go back through Financial Peace University with her, and then you all will start making all these decisions correctly.

Your car is not your problem. The fact that you're not completely submitted and sold out to actually make this crap behave, and you kind of just thought, well, we can sort of address this is the problem. The car is not the problem. Ish is the problem. We're doing dave ish budgeting ish get out of debt ish and you got to go like whole hog like you care like you're playing for the super bowl you gotta you're gonna leave it all on the field and that's when you win at this stuff and that's stopping the 401k the restaurants and the vacations and getting on a budget that both of you agree to, because both of you agree that the best way you're going to have a great life five years from today is to have no payments but a house payment. What would it be like to have no payments but a house payment? It's a good question to ask her.

It's a good question to ask her. Just say, breathe that in. No payments but a house payment. We would have so much money. And then you can go on vacation and go out to eat, right? no payments but a house payment. We would have so much money. You know? And then you can go on vacation and go out to eat, right? But right now, you're just a dog chasing its tail financially and mathematically. So hold on.

I'm going to give you a Financial Peace University. Both of you go, the nine-week class. It also includes a one-year membership to Financial Peace, which gives you access to everything we're doing, every dollar, plus the budgeting tool connected to your bank. It gives you the follow-up class to Financial Peace. We've got a wonderful live event coming up, a money and marriage event with Les Parrott and Rachel Cruz

on February 14th on Valentine's Day. The streaming of that is going to be available to Financial Peace members free. All that stuff. Tons of stuff in here. So I'm going to give you the whole enchilada, baby, free. The only thing I require is that you actually go do it and change your life this time. And someday when you're rich, you find some young couple that's struggling, and you pay for them to go.

But for today, it's my gift to you. Hold on. Kelly will pick up. We'll get you going. Brad is with us. Brad's in New York. Hi, Brad. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave. How are you doing? Better than I deserve. What's up? So I'm about to graduate college in the spring, and I'm starting to get different job offers from an employer that I was an intern under and then other firms around where I live.

But I'm not sure when it comes to the contracts how to best negotiate for benefits and salary. I just wanted to get some input on that. Okay. Well, generally on an entry-level job, if they're hiring college students, they probably don't have a lot of negotiating room. They're probably just figuring you're lucky to get a job and they're right. And benefits package are going to be very fixed, with rare exceptions. But, you know, the only thing you can do is two things.

One is, anytime you're going into a negotiation, there are three things that give you power. Patience, other options, and information. If you know, for instance, what is your field of study? What career field are you going into? Accounting. Good. Okay. And you're coming out of what college?

Siena College in Albany, New York. Got it. Okay. So go talk to the guidance counselor folks there and see if they have any other accounting people that have been placed going out of there and what the average salary is coming out of your school, going into the accounting world, and then do some Google research and find out what the average accounting salary is starting. I'm assuming you got a master's in accounting? Next year, I'm going for my master's. I just finished my undergrad, but I'm in the program.

Tuesday I'm in my master's. It's just a one-year program next year. Okay, so are you going to complete that before this job comes up or as an evening thing while you're in the new job? So the job offers that I've gotten want me – so the program is completely online next year. So they want you to go ahead and start. Okay, so the information is find online next year. So they want you to go ahead and start.

Okay, so the information is find out what people are paying for this position and for people in your situation. And then don't take a lot less than that, which you can't unrealistically expect a lot more than that. That's information. Options are you've got plenty of people chasing you. That gives you more than one girl to go on a date with if one of them turns you down and that gives you power in the discussion then the last one is patience patience take your time and work this don't get all hot and bothered about it take your time

work through it patience options and information you will win a negotiation because you'll be the most informed. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Okay, I need you to listen to this. When you're on Wi-Fi anywhere in public or at home, you're at risk of hackers easily seeing every site you visit and search that you're doing online. It doesn't matter if you're on your cell or laptop. Public Wi-Fi is a hacker's paradise. They can see you visiting websites, streaming, downloading, or uploading photos, uploading files,

and more. I'm not telling you this to scare you. I don't operate in fear, but I want you to be aware and take action. You need to download an app called CyberGhost VPN on any device you access the internet with. CyberGhost VPN helps you keep your connection on your own Wi-Fi and any public Wi-Fi secure and private. Over 34 million people worldwide have downloaded CyberGhost VPN. Download it now. Just search CyberGhost on iTunes or Google Play or go to CyberGhost.com. Live in the lobby of Ramsey Solutions on the debt-free stage, Jeff and Audrey are with us. Hey, guys, how are you? Hey, Dave, we're great. How are you? Welcome. Where do you guys live?

We live in Egan, Minnesota, which is near Minneapolis. Ah, cool. Very cool. Welcome all the way to Nashville. Thank you. Maybe a touch warmer. Just a little bit. I wanted to wear my shorts. She said no.

Well, you don't want that on YouTube. Right, exactly. Well, welcome, man. All the way down here to do a debt-free scream. How much have you paid off? We paid off $158,605. $158,605. $158,605. And how long did that take?

Just over three years, so 38 months. Good for you. 38 months. Good. And your range of income during that time? We started off at $87,000, dipped down a little to $81,000, and then $130,000 the last two years. Great. What do you guys do for a living?

We're airline pilots. Awesome. Cool. Very cool. Can you say who you fly for? I think so. Okay. I fly for SkyWest Airlines.

Yeah. And I fly for Endeavor Air. Yeah. We're both Delta Connection. Gotcha. Regional carriers. Yeah. Yeah.

Know the carriers. Excellent. Well done. So $159,000. Yeah. what kind of debt? It was all my student loans. All student loans. So you got aviation degree? Yes, I did. But there were, there was a lot of stupid tax along the way. Okay. All right. So how long have you guys been married? Three, it'll be four years in June. Okay. So right after you get married, you come home from the honeymoon, you're looking at this pile of student loan debt,

and you decide we're going after it. Tell me the story. Yeah, it was a little bit before that. So I took, it was my last semester of college. I took a class from a guy who actually did your plan and got out of debt. But one of the assignments was to add up your net worth. And that was when I actually took into account all of my student loans, and I had some from three different institutions.

So I added it all up, saw it was like over $150,000, had a huge oh crap moment, and basically just started asking the Lord to pay it off for me. Engine failure, engine failure. Right. And so basically then we started dating that fall. And after we got engaged, I told him the full amount. Or that's when we, like he knew that I had some, but we didn't really talk about like the full amount.

So Jeffrey, what did you think it was before she told you the whole amount? Okay, you put the ring on her finger. You got a figure in your head, and then you find out later it's 165. What did you think when you were putting the ring on the finger it was? I was praying it was less, but it was about as much as I thought. You guessed pretty accurately. I did. She had given you adequate hints.

She did. Okay, good, good. I like that. That's better than being misled. Right, yeah yeah that's good all right and so we come home and the you know the oh crap moments happen we come home from the honeymoon then what happened so then um basically well he took a class from the same professor and um so he heard the story from him and then we also, in our marriage prep class, the same professor came in and shared his story again.

I'm loving this professor. Yeah. He's on a campaign. Professor Dan Malotta. And I actually took two of his classes. So I heard the story twice. Thank you, Dan. It took me three times to get it through my thick skull that this is something I should do.

This has to happen. Exactly. Yeah. But right around the time that we heard that talk for the third time, or I did at least, I had started commuting to work, and I started listening to your podcast, and that's when I stopped using the credit cards and encouraged Audrey to do the same, and she did that.

And then we planned for the wedding and then figured out that we could actually pay it off once we got married in about three years. So you got a game plan coming right in then. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We actually paid like off. I think he got a bonus, like a $5,000 bonus two weeks before we got married.

And so we cheated a little bit and he paid off one loan before we off one loan um before we got married oh that was the cheating yeah yeah two weeks before yeah two weeks before the wedding but um yeah i was really just shocked just because i couldn't imagine you know just having that much debt you just feel like almost un unworthy of really anything and just someone like fully being able to love you in that way just you know wow you're willing to actually do this with me you're willing to pay it off you're willing to you know put your hard-earned money towards it was just really knew he was a keeper at that moment maybe a little bit before that but who would have thought paying off debt was this romantic oh my gosh yeah and then the guy wants to wear shorts.

Right. This is the same guy. You win some, you lose some. This is the same guy. Okay. Well done, guys. I'm very, very proud of you. What do you tell people the key to getting out of debt was?

Well, one of the keys is definitely being on the same page as your spouse. We were very blessed that we were able to enter our marriage being on the same page with the money. We've had our disagreements. We've had the little fights here and there, but we don't really know what it means to feel like our money is a threat to our marriage. So we just started off on the same page, which has been just such a great blessing for our marriage, so being in communication. Sticking to the budget, everyone falls off.

I know we certainly did every once in a while, but you just get back up and get back on the wagon and keep plugging away at it. I got a couple buddies of mine are pilots, and I do a lot of diving, scuba diving. And there's a saying in scuba diving is you you uh plan the dive and then you dive the plan and uh so in flight planning there's somewhat similar right concept you you lay out your flight plan and then you don't deviate from that unless there's a serious reason to do that or obviously the guys on the ground tell you you have to but um uh it seems to me you're all's natural training or the natural result of your training would be you're used to laying out a plan and then submitting to it

that had to help you somewhat in this process yeah i think so definitely and also i'm a little more of the nerd so just being able to see those numbers and saying this is something that we can do. And it also helped, I think, Audrey get on board, too, and just give us hope that we see a path forward that we can follow. Yeah. I mean, you don't really want a pilot that's an artist. You know, you don't want to make this crap up as you go. Right. We want to have a system, and then we stick to the system.

Right. Yeah, he was good at drawing, like, diagrams and making, like, charts that we could, you know, fill in along the way. And, like, just having smaller goals within it, too. So one year we made the goal of paying off $60,000. And we came $200 shy of that goal. But still having, you know, we still paid off, you know, $58,800 or, yeah, $59,800. You got it, yeah. You know what? That's called winning.

You still won. You still won. Yeah. That's awesome. That's very cool. Well, congratulations, you guys. We're very, very proud of you. Other than the two of you and Professor Dan, who were the biggest cheerleaders?

Definitely our parents and our family. They thought we were a little crazy at first. Didn't really think that, you know, kind of, well, that's good for you. We're doing something different. But once they saw that we were doing it, once we saw that we were paying off, you know, $60,000 in one year, they were really impressed and they were really supportive of us. Our friends, the Senate's here. They're doing the babysitting right now. All right.

They've been huge supporters of ours. And then some friends in Grand Forks still live there, the Schmaltzes. They've been huge supporters of us, and they're on your plan, too. They're a little bit behind us, but we're texting back and forth. Oh, I just paid off a student loan. Awesome. We just paid off our student loans loans too. And you brought the babies to cheer with you. Yes, we did. Put them in the shot and their names and ages. This is Margaret.

She's two and a half. And this is Colby. He is 11 months. Yeah. So during the 38 months of getting out of debt, you've also been busy. Oh yeah. Yeah. Look at here. Well done. But it's still possible. Yeah. Well well done you did a great job all right jeffrey and audrey from minneapolis minnesota 159 000 paid off in 38 months making 87 to 81 to 130 count it down let's hear a debt-free scream three two one We're debt free! Awesome! Way to go. We've got a copy of the Everyday Millionaires book by Chris Hogan, number one bestseller.

That's the next chapter in your story. You guys are heroes. Keep it up. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Jacob is with us in Idaho. Hi, Jacob. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hello, sir. How are you?

Better than I deserve. What's up? I have a question. I got an auto loan through, we'll say, Credit Union A for $13,000. We got a lower interest rate from Credit Union B. Once Credit Union B sent the check in to the first credit union, I went and closed the account. They reopened the account and made a deposit and they sent a letter to our home saying that it was for gap insurance. So my wife went in, closed the account, withdrew the money. They just called us and said that that deposit was made in error. And so we have to pay it back, or they're going to send us to

collections if we don't start paying it back to them. I know that morally, I have, you know, because of my relationship with the Lord, I have a moral obligation to pay it back, but I asked her why they reopened the account in the first place. Is that common practice as far as your understanding? Because we didn't find anything that says they can reopen it. And then I asked for a policy, if they can email me or send me a policy that states that they could, and she didn't know, and she said she's been working there for 18 years. So I'm not sure where that stands legally, if they have the right to do that. So I'm just kind of, it's kind of frustrating because it caught us off guard.

I barely started listening to the podcast of the Dave Ramsey show and this thing caught us, caught me off guard. So I'm not sure. You had gap insurance. Why do you, why are you not due a refund for the gap insurance? They just, they sent the letters to my wife um and i'm i'm my you know financial understanding is very limited i'm just i get scared of when my wife starts to talk about money and all that but okay then i think the two of you should take a minute. How much money is involved here? It's what we owe.

What they deposited was like $682. Okay. So it's worth the trouble to, A, understand what happened here, and, B, argue about it. Okay? So can they reopen the account? I don't know. I'm not a lawyer. They probably can.

Probably the original account allowed them to do that. And, by the way, very few people gripe about someone opening an account and giving them money, which is what happened here, except that now they want it back, right? So thing one is I want to understand you and your wife need to understand and go sit down with the manager at the credit union. You know, you can be calm and just go help me understand. You have an obligation to show me what happened here. Do you know what gap insurance is, Jacob?

No. Okay. Gap insurance is insurance on the car that pays the difference in the value of the car and the loan because typically you owe more on the car than it's worth. And so you said it was a $13,000 loan. Let's say the car was worth, just as an example, $10,000, but you had a $13,000 loan. Your car insurance would only pay $10,000 because the car is only worth $10,000 if it got totaled. Gap insurance would pay the other $3,000. And lenders generally require that you take gap insurance to protect them if you're upside down. If you owe more on the car than it's worth, it covers the difference.

You understand? Yes, sir. Okay. So it covers that gap, the gap between what you owe and what the car is worth. Now, what happened was you closed out your gap insurance early. You had bought a policy for the life of the loan, but the loan ended early because you refinanced and so you would do a refund on your gap insurance what i don't understand is where the rest of the money went because if it wasn't 688 dollars as a refund on the gap insurance

what was it where's where's my refund for my gap insurance yeah and uh maybe it wasn't 688 maybe it was uh you know less than that or whatever i don't know what they gave you i want to know how they calculated the 688 and where they made this mistake now if you prepaid the gap insurance for the entire policy, you would be due a refund. If you were paying it monthly, you would not be due a refund. And you don't know, so you're going to have to go in there and learn why it is that you aren't due this refund. I'm kind of thinking you might be. I don't know, right? They need to explain to you why where your gap insurance refund went since they don't want you to keep it yeah once you understand that then then you can work out some kind of a

program with them to repay it because as you said morally and for that matter legally if they gave you money you weren't due you're going to have to give it back but i need to understand how this mistake was made and what the mistake is based on and where did my gap insurance refund go since you're saying i don't get to keep it you follow me here it's going to be a very calm conversation we're not we're not cussing at people or yelling at people or something like that you're sitting down with the branch manager going dude you want 688 bucks you got to explain the paper trail to me and my wife to where we both understand it and then once we understand it if it's the same conclusion then we will work out a deal as a matter of fact since they screwed this

up they ought to eat some of it morally. Yeah. But they probably won't. They're a credit union. So, you know, try, but try and go understand. If you actually owe the $688, how much of it can you pay? I mean, can you pay $300 a month for a couple months and be done with it? No, we can probably pay $100. $100?

Yeah, we're not doing so well financially. Where did that money go when you got it? We were stupid with money, and so we probably spent it going out to eat or buying stuff. How long ago was this? This was back in November, and they barely reached out to us a couple weeks ago. Okay. Well, you understand the program then. You and your wife are going to sit down in person with the branch manager,

and they need to explain all of this to you to where you grasp it. Once you grasp it, then you will know how to put together a payment plan and give them their money back. And in the meantime, this also outlines for you how important it is that you guys get your financial stuff moving because $600 should not be a crisis for you. Agreed? Yes, sir. Okay.

So are you guys on some kind of a program? Are you starting to work our stuff? No. I've just been listening to your podcast and I heard you say something. It was, um, you have to get honest with the man in the mirror. And, uh, and that's what I did. I just, I had to repent to the Lord for being a bad steward. And, um, I just started thinking about my kids and their future. And so, um, I just want to, I want to get it in order. So that's where we're at right now.

Okay. Well, I'll send you a copy of our book, The Total Money Makeover, which has helped millions of people become good stewards, start to manage God's money, God's way for God's glory. And we'll show you not only how to get on a budget, get out of debt, and download the EveryDollar app. It's free. It'll help you get things going too.

Hold on. Kelly will pick up, and we'll get you signed up for that. Speaking of the EveryDollar app, it is the number one new monthly habit that will allow you to crush your financial goals. Getting on a budget. Budgeting. Seven million people are using the EveryDollar app. That's a lot. That means if you're not one of them, you're missing out. It is the world's best budgeting app, and it's why we created it. Every

dollar gets a name. It takes 10 to 15 minutes to lay out your first budget. It's easy to lay it out, but then you got to live it. It's free to use, and there's no excuses, so check it out but then you got to live it it's free to use and there's no excuses so check it out budgeting is the one new habit you need to take up this year if you're going to make your if you're ever going to win with money you've got to make it behave no one accidentally wins the super bowl winning is an intentional act as a matter fact, it's a series of intentional acts. And winning with money is no exception. Every dollar budget. There you go, baby. Check it out, everydollar.com.

Thanks to James Childs, our producer, Kelly Daniel, our associate producer and phone screener. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. We'll be back before you know it. This is James Childs, producer of The Dave Ramsey Show. Once again, you made The Dave Ramsey Show one of the top five most downloaded podcasts last year. To get your daily dose of motivation and inspiration, subscribe today.