The Ramsey Show - App - The Baby Steps Will Give You Economic Immunity (Hour 1)

Episode Date: July 14, 2020

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Hey guys, it's James Childs, producer of the show. Dave and the team are out today helping thousands of small business owners at this week's Entree Leadership Summit event. But in the meantime, we pulled together some of the best moments from the show from previous episodes for you to enjoy. You are listening to the best of The Dave Ramsey Show. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. Thanks for joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Lisa is in Ohio.

Hi, Lisa. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. Long-time listener, first-time caller. How are you doing? Better than I deserve. How are you holding up? I'm doing okay.

My problem is I have a millionaire that refuses to let me have a dryer. He is completely against a dryer. I have no reason. A dryer? Like a washer and dryer? Like a washer and a dryer, yes. So you guys are millionaires?. So you're a husband. You guys are millionaires.

Well, he is a millionaire. I am not. We are not married, but we do live together. Oh. And it's our money until we get to the checkout line. It's not our money. You're not married. You have a roommate.

Exactly. Yes. Okay, so he says it's our money. Well's wrong so i buy exactly that's what i keep telling him it's your money but i've even offered to buy the dryer i have i get disability and my home was paid off by the time i was 30 um and then i didn't drop out of the workforce until I was 38. I had a surgery and almost lost my left leg. Oh, my goodness. And, yeah, so I've had a really hard time.

Okay, so you personally have how much money, not counting your roommate? I have personally saved roughly $25,000. I have 20 of that locked in a CD that will come up next year at 2.5%. Okay. And how much is a dryer? I've even offered to pay it. No, no, no. I said how much is the dryer? Oh, I don't know.

How much a dryer would be? $500, $600? Probably more than that, depending on... I don't know. I don't even how much a dryer would be, $500, $600. Probably more than that, depending on... I don't know. I don't even shop for one in eight years. Okay. Well, I mean, maybe you ought to determine what the price of the dryer is. You have a washer, right? Mm-hmm. Okay. I mean...

I have a washer. All right. And I have a dryer down there. And the dryer, like, I've offered to have somebody come out and look at it. Oh, there's one sitting down there that doesn't work. Exactly. Okay. So I'm confused.

Why can you not just go buy a dryer? He does not want to. It's not up to him. I'm confused. It's not up to him. No, I mean, it's not. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Who owns the house that you live in

he does okay so he owns the dryer that's sitting down there yes and how long have you been living there eight years okay i think the dryer has never worked yeah i think you i think there's a lot of other things that aren't working. This dryer is just part of it. So you are a case study on why shacking up doesn't work. Okay? Well, we both agreed we didn't want to marry. Why? In the very get-go.

Why? Because, well, I've been married once, and it just didn't work out so well. I drove a car once. I had a red, too, but I didn't quit driving cars. Right, and then he's never been married. And then I'm not really interested in getting remarried anyway right now. But you want a dryer in his house. Well, the one reason is I have MS, so I have a lot of medical bills that would be better, you know, if I'm responsible for my own. You are an outline case study.

Everything that's coming out of your mouth is the reason that shacking up doesn't work. It's very, very difficult to manage your life this way because you're trying to act like you're married and you're not, and therefore you don't have a way to solve basic disputes. Whose mustard is it in the refrigerator? It's like when you're in college and you have a roommate and somebody buys mustard and somebody else uses it. And so it's just because you're freaking roommates, legally, financially, and in many cases emotionally.

You're roommates with benefits. You know, that's all it is. And so that's the core of your problem. And so I don't know. If I were living in someone else's house can i go buy a dryer and put it in their house well i guess if you sleep with him you probably could get by with that so you know that's my guess so go buy a dryer girl just have it delivered just trot your little butt down to the dryer store buy a drawer dryer pay the delivery charge have him come up and put

it in the room and have him haul off the old one that doesn't work and if he doesn't like that you can pay him for his old one that doesn't work and then you have a dryer it's magical but you don't really have standing to cause your roommate to buy you stuff you just don't you and this is the problem with this halfway thing of doing it pain or get off the ladder kind of a thing and so um and i've never i mean i've been doing this for 30 years and i've never been able to coach a couple successfully it's not because i'm obstinate about it i've just it's just there's too many things pulling it all this stuff the wrong direction i've never been able to coach a couple how they can sort of be married and you know and it just it doesn't work out so i don't think you have a problem it's it's none of your business what he does with his money

because he's your roommate you don't get to go now if if the two of you are married and you're married and he has a million dollars and he brings a million dollars in the marriage and then he's too cheap to buy a dryer then you've got a discussion which it's absurd he can't buy a dryer of course he could buy a dryer normal human beings have a washer and dryer when they have a million dollars that's just weird so he's just being a tightwad beyond belief he's strange and so um that's what we're talking about here so go buy a dryer girl it's not up to him if you want to go buy you a dryer you're a free person you have you have money in the bank and you have income coming in from your disability and you can make it out there in the real world and

you can make a decision. You're 38 years old. Buy a dryer. It's not that big a deal. All right, Gabe is with us. Gabe is in New York. Hi, Gabe. How are you?

Hi, what's up? I'm good. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? So I'm a senior in high school right now, and I'm going to miss the college process. And luckily, in the past month, I've been admitted to Vanderbilt University, which is in Tennessee. I'm going to miss the college process. And luckily in the past month I've been admitted to Vanderbilt University, which is in Tennessee.

I'm aware of it. It's in my neighborhood. Yes, sir. How are you paying for that? And I'm more blessed to receive. Exactly. That's my question for you today. You got a scholarship?

Yes. So I've received about a $60,000 scholarship for the first three years, and then it goes down to $50,000 in the third year. That doesn't cover one year of tuition at Vanderbilt. It covers, well, I've received $60,000 worth of $60,000 for the first three years. I mean, $60,000 each year. I know, but it's $60,000 a year tuition. What do you mean?

All right, hold on. We're going to talk about this after the break because I'm not hearing you or you're saying it wrong or something. I want to make sure I'm not just popping off at you. I'll try to help you. Hold on. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. you know what disappoints and angers me to no end as folks are going through some pretty hard times identity thieves are using every opportunity to prey on us. With everything that's

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It really is a necessity. You're listening to the best of the Dave Ramsey Show. I'm talking to Gabe in New York, who has gotten some scholarships to Vanderbilt University here in Nashville, where I live. And I'm trying to get straight on that before we wind up the break. All right, Gabe, let me go back and circle back, make sure I understand. Are you getting $60,000 a year in scholarships? Yes, $60,000 a year for the first three years, and then the fourth year I will be getting $50,000 worth of scholarships. And tuition is about $60,000, is it not?

Tuition is about $70,000. Okay, so you're $10,000 short for tuition. Yeah, for three years, and then the last year it's $20,000 short. And you've got to have room and board, right? I'm sorry, yeah. $70,000 is tuition plus room and board. And what is it you're wanting to study? So right now I was admitted into the HOD program,

which is essentially the business major at Vanderbilt, but I wanted to couple that with engineering sciences or engineering studies. And you can get all of that done in that four-year period of time? Yeah, it's quite common, actually. Okay. All right. If I'm unable to do the HOD major, I would just switch into engineering because I value

that and its career prospect more than the business. Okay. All right. Cool. All right. And so what's your question for me? So my question is, is it worth taking out student loans for that 10 grand a year and then the 20 grand outside of that? No. In the fourth year? No. The only thing is I do have my grant. I'm also blessed enough to have my grandparents have saved $35,000 to use for the purpose of school tuition. And I also have about 10 grand of money that I burned cumulatively through my entire life, working life. So that covers about 40 of the 50 grand that I burned cumulatively through my entire life working life so that covers about 40 of the 50 grand that I would be in debt for um do you still think does that change your opinion

on it nope you want to know why yeah uh it's wonderful that you've gotten a scholarship that is this large that is an unusually large scholarship and that is this large. That is an unusually large scholarship, and that is a wonderful thing. Number one, I'm never going to tell anyone to go into debt for an education because it's not necessary. Then number two, the only way I would go there, if I were in your shoes,

if you were my son, the only way he would go there is if we could pay cash for it, number one, and you can't. And the value, the tip, 78% of the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies went to state schools. They didn't go to famous schools. Okay? There is no piece of research anywhere that correlates your likelihood of success with you going to an uber expensive famous school vanderbilt falls in that category not mad at vanderbilt the but uh let me just tell you the typical state school is 10 to 12

thousand dollars a year is vanderbilt seven times more valuable for you to study business or engineering than it is for you to go to your state school, answer, not a chance. Not a chance. The good news is it's not out of your pocket. It's not out of your pocket seven times. And so your out-of-pocket is about what it is to go to a state school, $10,000, plus you've got to cover room and board. Now, you can do that working.

You know, get a job, a good job, work your tail end off. I worked 40 to 60 hours a week while I went through school and graduated in four years with a business degree in finance. And so it is totally possible to do that uh and so you've got to arrange the income to cover this if if you don't take this scholarship and you go to a state school that costs ten thousand dollars a year and you got to cover ten thousand dollars a year plus room and board out of your pocket it It's the same equation, isn't it? Exactly. And so I would do this, but I don't want you to say,

oh, it's worth going into debt because it's Vanderbilt, because it's not. There's no data points anywhere that says where you go to school will cause you to be successful. There's just not. So in terms of the employment while i'm studying do you mean like starting my own business or just doing the casual the typical like student undergraduate careers like working in a bookstore i don't care i don't care where you know what's room and board probably 15 000 so you probably need a couple grand a month you probably need 25 000 a year to cover everything out of pocket

because you don't have any. Well, you've got $10,000 to help you get going the first year, right? Yeah. In cash. Okay. So that, you know, your tuition, well, that covers your tuition, and then you've got to cover room and board. So figure out what room and board costs, and I've got to make that much.

This summer. Yeah. Are you heading've got to make that much this summer. Are you heading in the fall? Yeah, this fall. Yeah, okay. But the great illusion is that it's always okay to borrow money because this is all going to work out in the end, and we've got hundreds of thousands of people across America, Josh, that it didn't work out for. And they call me every day with $40,000, $50,000, $60,000, $160,000 in student loan debt,

and they're up a creek without a paddle. And they're trying to figure out how to get through this, and it's because they justified it. And the problem that's in front of you is that you have a very luxurious offer, a wonderful offer. So you're apparently a phenomenal student. My guess is you've got a wonderful GPA or an uber-high ACT or SAT score, right? I lost you. Okay.

I guess he got tired of me talking to him about it. But, all right. You do what you want to do, bud. But that's my story, and I'm sticking to it. And so here's the thing. Let's just keep going on this. Go to Borrowed Future. Josh, if you're out there still, you can do this too.

And download the podcast. There's eight episodes of borrowed future the student loan debacle the student loan mess that is in america today the trillion dollars of student loan debt it's completely bizarre and what you have to do is you have to make a value judgment okay let's just say you had $70,000 a year. That's $210,000, no, that's $280,000 to go through Vanderbilt. You're going to pay $300,000 for an undergraduate degree, plus room and board, plus books. $300,000. Or, you could do that for 40,000,

plus room and board, plus books. You really do not have any leg to stand on to make the case that Vanderbilt, or Harvard, or MIT, or Wharton, or any other famous school is worth, what are we talking here, 10x?

Not quite 10x. 8x. Eight times more money. Is it worth eight times more to get an engineering or a business degree from one of those places? Absolutely not. There's absolutely zero data that says that. Now, if you've got the money, I've got a friend who's sending his kid to Vanderbilt right now, and he's all jacked up about it, and I'm not mad about it.

That's fine. I'm not making fun of it. I'm not saying he's an idiot, but you just cannot make the case logically it's a luxury purchase for him there's no data points no research anywhere that says going to vanderbilt is going to make it is going to increase your probability of success over going to down the street, down around the corner, 200 miles away, the University of Tennessee. It's just not there. I know this because I went to the University of Tennessee, and people that went to Vanderbilt worked for me. Hello?

And again, I'm not picking on Vanderbilt. It's just he brought it up. But I've got friends that work at Vanderbilt that are professors, and it's not a bad thing. It's not a bad school. Is it worth $70,000 a year? Not in my opinion. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. Ken Coleman, real people are in the lobby.

It's so good. At Ramsey Solutions. It's so good. It's so exciting. It's refreshing. Human beings are here. Yes. I love it.

And speaking of them, they're on the debt-free stage, ready to do a debt-free scream. Adam and Jenna are here from Knoxville. Welcome, guys. Hello. Thank you. How are you? Good to have you. Wonderful.

So you're out in the real world. We are. Humans in the wild. I love it. Very cool. All the way here to do your debt-free scream from Knoxville. How much have you paid off? $1,035,500.

Oh, there's a story here. $1,035,000. Okay. All right. I'm going to keep going. How long did this take? It took us four years and 10 months. Okay. And your range of income during that time?

We began at $83,000, and towards the end of last year, it was $200,000. Okay. Interesting. So what kind of debt was the $1,035,000? The broad majority of it was real estate debt, investments, investment property. We had some vehicles in there. We had some student loans in there. And so how much in investment properties did you sell? We ended up selling, it ended up being $934,000. $800,000 by the time it actually came time for the debt-free, when we discovered you.

We probably had about almost $800,000 in real estate debt. Okay. All right. But you sold about $900,000 worth of property. Yes, sir. Okay. So then that leaves you about $100,000 to $150,000 in other miscellaneous that you cleared up with your income increasing. What do you all do for a living?

I was a full-time teacher and then now turned real estate agent. Okay. And I stay at home and homeschool the babies. Wonderful. How many babies? We have three. Awesome. Did you bring them with you?

We did. Good. We'll get them into the shot before we do the screen. Perfect. Very cool, you guys. Okay. the screen perfect very cool you guys okay so you said i'm getting out of the rental real estate debt business the debt part of the business uh what what happened four years and ten months ago that you had this aha moment because you were you were going headlong the

other way we we were and we you know well i was i was we had in knoxville we had an ice storm two-week ice storm and i was out running around showing houses still yet. And I had, you know, coming to Tennessee, you've changed so many lives here locally. I've heard your name enough. And I finally had opportunity to listen to the show and it just, it grabbed me. It moved me. I was, it was a revelation and I was like, okay. So I immediately went home.

The libraries are all closed. So I got the ebook, um, and read total Money Makeover. Wow. And so I'm all over, I'm a hundred percent or I'm nothing. And I'm all over her being like this, this, this right here. And probably two weeks after I heard you on the radio, I actually called into the show and said, here's my story. I gave a little bit of it and you gave us some good advice. Some of which that Jenna didn't really care for. Of course, we had just got her

a new van. And so we got it in November. I was talking to you in February. And of course, you know, that van was pretty heavy and about $30,000 in debt.

Yeah. And you wisely said, it's in your best interest for it to go. And she's in the background like, Dave, who? Who?

Who is this guy? Get off the phone. Quick, quick hang up before he says something else. So that was a powerful moment for us. You know, come October, my birthday is October 30th. And what reading and listening to your show really said to me was, you know, the idea of financial peace. And what is that?

Again, I'm 100% or I'm nothing. And I work all the time. I love real estate. It's a lot of fun. But I'm working. And I said peace for me would be to stop working. And so I just sat down and penciled out, you know, I don't have to work until I'm 60. What if I worked until I was 45?

10 years from today, what would I do? And I laid out a 10-year plan plan and we're five years into that plan. And it's a dream you've given us and it steadied us throughout this whole thing. And I mean, it changed our life financially, but it's changed our life in so many regards because of this idea of being debt free and retired at 45 years old. It's amazing numbers. I mean, how many pieces of property were represented in that 900,000 that you sold off? That was two, they're California properties. So I made sure to buy them sold it's amazing numbers i mean how many pieces of property were represented that 900 000 that you sold off that was two they're california properties so i made sure to buy them before the crash so they were at one point underwater 400 000 but we held on until the market recovered

and uh we we sold them and brought our money to tennessee okay so were you living in california when all this started no you said the ice storm was in east tennessee so you'd already made the move but you had properties back in California. Yeah, I served in the Navy. I see. I had an uncle who said, you need to get into real estate, so I just started collecting properties out there, and then we held on to them when we moved out here.

Okay. Jenna, did you sell the van? We did not sell the van. Good. I'm glad. But it put a fire in me to get the van paid off. So I kind of started doing some side hustle stuff, and I was like, let's get this thing paid off, and we did it.

We can't keep it unless we pay it off, so we've got to get it paid off. It's in the parking lot. I love it. Ooh, drove it from Knoxville. Very good. That's a great plan. So now you've worked so hard. You've sold off those properties, and really you've had to budget tight too looking

at these numbers uh to make this happen in four years and 10 months how's it feeling was it worth it oh i without a doubt so you talk about the grass feels different so we paid it all up finally paid off the last mortgage we sold the property in november paid everything off uh this is your house and everything's paid everything wow and. Wow. And we still have two, three investment properties on top of that. That are paid for too. Yes, sir. Wow. No debt.

But where it has meant the most is actually right now. With this virus jazz, the unknown, when it hit, you know, we were more outside of it. We're looking in and be like, as observers, like, oh, I wonder how this is going to play out for everybody else. We're immune to it. We're looking in and be like, as observers, like, oh, I wonder how this is going to play out for everybody else. We're immune to it. We're economically immune to this. And not that we wish bad for anybody, but this is what we prepare for. And this is what you've led us to. And we're at a sense of peace that I never had when I had all that debt, even though I wasn't being foolish. I was buying properties, investment properties, but the stress I'd be under right now, you know how a hungry

salesman smells. I don't want to be like that. I want to keep everyone's best interests in mind. Kind of like a hungry landlord, yeah. Ken, that's a great phrase. I'm going to steal that. Economic immunity. I love that.

Economically immune. That's what the baby steps will give you. I'm curious, Adam, how did the focus, because you mentioned you went from 83 to 200K. That's a phenomenal, phenomenal jump in income. And obviously going from education to real estate gives you that opportunity. But just curious, the focus on getting debt free and achieving what you just described so beautifully to our audience, how did that help you win in the job? I mean, it's that work ethic. So, you know, I transitioned.

I was doing full-time teaching, full-time real estate. Sometimes I'd leave before the kids were up. I'd get home. And so just saying, like, I'm doing something. I'm investing in my family right now. That's what we're doing. We're not trying to get rich. I'm trying to invest in my family.

And actually, we want to go back to more ministerial things at 45. So I'm working for the Lord. All things working for the Lord. And so these people need us to do this. So it's something bigger than us. We like pouring into people. And so that's where the motivation came of, I need to get rid of this so I can truly be available to all the people who we can impact. Live like no one else. So later, you can live and give like no one else. Very, very cool. Fantastic. So what do you tell people the key is, Jenna, to getting out of debt?

You've sat here and watched this whole thing happen. You've been right in the middle of causing this whole thing to happen because we know that he married up. So how did this happen? The key, just to keep doing it. You know, I wasn't on board at first when he started bringing me all this information in the ice storm. I was like, okay, I'm totally overwhelmed by this. I need to process the information.

He does this to you all the time. This is the way he operates. He is the total nerd here. Yeah, but he just finds something and then just jumps the time. He does. Because this is the way he operates. He is the total nerd here. Yeah, but he just finds something and then just jumps. Yes, he does. Well, he does a lot of research, and then he'll have the whole spreadsheet, and then we'll talk about it and talk about it and talk about it and talk about it. And I still have to just process everything.

But to just do it. You just have to jump in and do it. One of the biggest things for me was, you know, you talk about the envelope system and using cash, that kind of stuff. I was not on board with that. I was very cautious. I don't like change. And I was used to just swiping my card, you know, when we needed something. And one of the biggest things for me was getting to

use the cash and feel that money go and that was that was a a big thing for me cool all right let's pull owen brody and boone in right quick a hundred a million thirty five thousand paid off in four years and ten months jenna and adam from knoxville count it. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Ready? 3, 2, 1. We're debt-free! Yeah! Woo! Love it!

Yes! You're listening to the best of the Dave Ramsey Show. We'll be back soon with more live content. Has your insurance company ever bumped your car insurance rate for no freaking reason? It's maddening, isn't it? It just ticks you off. And you're trying to get out of debt. You're trying to save money. And boom!

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and consequently they're not the best deal. That's how it works. So go to DaveRamsey.com slash ELP, click on insurance, and it'll save you money. DaveRamsey.com slash ELP. Travis is with us. Travis is in West Virginia. Hi, Travis, how are you?

Wonderful, how are you? Good, how can we help? The company that I have worked for has closed their doors on a facility that I specifically work at. Now there's still a few of us still there working, but the first six years that I worked there, the company paid into our retirement. The rest of the time has been paid in by my union. They have offered me a buyout on that six years. My question is, do I take that buyout, roll it over into an IRA, or I can pay off my bills and pay off all my bills with it? So do I do that?

I still have the time with my union. I've been there for 21 years. So that six years, like I said, would pay off everything that I owe on. The question is, do I take that money, roll it over into an IRA, traditional or Roth, or do I pay off everything that I owe? If you don't roll it to a traditional, it's going to be taxed. Correct. And what's your household income?

Between my wife and I, we bring home about $6,500 a month. Okay. So you're in about a 25% tax bracket. So about a fourth of it is going to go to the government. How much money is involved? They offered me $166,000 before the, you know, penalties and taxes. So you're going to lose between $40,000 and $50,000 in taxes. I would not pay 25% interest to pay off my bills.

And effectively, that's what you're doing. And that's why we tell people to always roll to your 401k, unless it's to avoid a bankruptcy or foreclosure. I roll it to a, in this case, your retirement, your buyout, but always roll it to an IRA to keep from the government from getting a fourth of it. I wouldn't walk away from 50 grand, man. Wouldn't do it. I'd pay those bills out of my pocket, out of my income. And that's what we've always said. Yeah. And then when you get to retirement age, being able to cash it out and then using that at that point with no penalties or taxes to... Well, you don't have the taxes even then. I mean, when you get to retirement age, the money's always taxed. Yeah, the penalties. You don't have the penalty. You don't have the

penalty on this probably because of the SECURE Act. But still, I'm not going to mess up your nest egg here. Not at this stage. You know, you can get to it. If you put it into an IRA, anytime you get in trouble, you can cash it out and have the exact same situation. And I wouldn't do it. I know it looks tempting to create a clean slate, but that's a premium to pay, man. Talk about a quarter on the dollar. $40,000.

That's a lot of money, man. Savannah is with us in Maryland. Hey, Savannah, how are you? I'm well, Dave. How are you? Great. How can we help? So glad to be on with you and Rachel.

So I am calling today because I am in financial peace and diversity, and I'm also on baby step two, but I have $363,000 worth of debt, and I'm just wondering how to stay motivated while I'm paying this off. It's a lot of debt, girl. Does that include your house or is that other? It does not include. Well, you could say it's almost a house. I have $192,000 of student loans.

Are you a doctor or a lawyer? Neither. What is your degree in, for God's sakes? I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up. So I am actually a nurse, and I did not even pay to go to nursing school. I paid to get my master's degree in nursing, but to actually go to nursing school, I did not even pay. Okay. So you have a master's in nursing.

I do. And. So you have a master's in nursing. I do. And what do you make? $120. Okay. Well, that's good news. That's good. Okay. So if you live on beans and rice, rice and beans, how quick do you pay off $300?

If you pay $60 a year, it's five years, right? $300 divided by 60 is five, right? If you pay $50 a year, it's five years, right? $300 divided by $60 is five, right? If you pay $50 a year, it's six years. If you pay $70 a year, it's four years and some change. That leaves you $50,000 to live on. Okay. See the math? Okay.

I see it. But, you know, let me tell you, after taxes, $120, and you take $70 out, you're on beans and rice. Well, I actually have another full-time job. I'm working two jobs. Oh, so what's your total income? So the total is probably $190. Oh, look at you. It gets better and better okay okay well let me just

let me give you a couple numbers to kind of help uh what gives me hope okay the average household income in america household income and sometimes that's two people working is fifty nine thousand dollars let's call it 60 okay,000, okay? Okay. If you lived on the average household income with $190,000 coming in, that would leave you $130,000 minus taxes, right? Okay. That's $100,000 a year. You're done in three years.

It feels much better. It sounds much better. It ain't going to be fun. The prescription I'm giving you, Ms. Nurse, is going to hurt. This is physical therapy after the knee surgery, okay? Okay. Ouch. Okay.

You're going to have no freaking life. You've been ditty-bopping along making a couple hundred a year, making no progress. I'm getting ready to change your life, and it ain't going to be fun. But it's going to get you out of debt of debt well that's what i want to do i want to get out of debt yeah i mean you're gonna have to live like no one else so later you can live and give like no one else you're single i'm married actually okay what's he make but my husband is not he makes 90 oh my god but this gets better every minute um but he's not like into the baby steps yet although he has no debt i've convinced him by just talking so he's paid off two cars he's paid off all his credit cards and he actually gave me um twenty thousand dollars for valentine's day so i paid off a lot of things um okay i want the two of you to combine your finances and your

freaking three hundred thousand dollar household income and i want you to get your little bitty three hundred thousand dollars worth of debt paid off in two and a half years and i want you to combine your goals combine your incomes you make more than he makes i guess he's not going to financial peace university with you is he are you going are you in fpu you said you were yeah yeah he needs to go with you kiddo he's not he needs to go with you he's go with you it's marriage counseling it's's going to change your life. You guys got plenty of money. You've just been wandering around without a game plan,

and you need to bear down on this, and you can do it. The math is more convincing than you are. You've got to get convinced. And you're still not sure it can happen. And I'm sitting here going, $100,000 a year for three years, you're done. Or, oh, wait a minute, my husband makes $100,000. Oh, my gosh, that's $200,000 a year. Yeah.

And that's yet another job. And then, wow, yeah, this is getting better by the minute. You know, I mean, wow. I keep talking to her. We're going to have a whole new story. I may get some money before this is over. This is great. You're doing so good.

All you've got to do is start believing and be willing to pay a price and write that down. And the two of you buckle down, lock arms for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. All my worldly goods I pledge unto you. That's what the old marriage vows said. They don't say that anymore. But they used to say it. And they should.

I'm an old-fashioned dude. Rachel Cruz, good job. Thanks. Thanks for having me on. That puts this hour of The Dave Ramsey Show in the books. Hey, guys. It's James Child, producer of The Dave Ramsey Show. You've been listening to the best of The Dave Ramsey Show.

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