The Ramsey Show - App - The Credit Score Is a Scam to Get You to Borrow Money! (Hour 3)

Episode Date: February 25, 2020

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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'm Dave Ramsey, your host. Thanks for joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Katie is starting off this hour in Fort Worth, Texas.

Hi, Katie. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. What's up? I have a question about dealing with a debt collector. I moved out of an apartment eight months ago.

Since moving out, I've not heard anything from the apartment about owing anything to them. And then last week, I got a letter in the mail from a debt collector saying that we owe $573.49 to these apartments. So my question is, what is my best plan of attack for this? Do I need to dispute the debt with the debt collector? Do I need to call and try to negotiate a lower settlement or just not respond at all and let it pass the statute of limitations whenever that is seven years? I'm not sure. I've read a lot online and I'm just getting a lot of conflicting information.

So when you left the apartment, did you not get a release from them that they signed off on the condition of the apartment when you moved out, and they signed off on the fact you weren't breaking the lease? Did you get your deposit back, or did you break the lease and move out in the middle of the night? No, we did not break the lease and move out in the middle of the night? No. We did not break the lease. We followed all the notification protocols and all of that for moving out. And our deposit was actually only $250, so it wasn't a large deposit anyways.

Why was it not returned? If you followed the protocols? Well, I believe the issue was replacing the carpet. So when I walked through the apartment, they at that time didn't say for sure if we would owe anything above our deposit. And so my understanding was that I would be contacted, you know, if that were the case, if they were going to say that we owed more than our deposit. The proper way to do this is get everything signed off on the day that you do the walkthrough. Right. You need to settle it that day. When you lift it up in the air, you lift yourself open to get your throat cut,

and that's what's happened. So they put $700 worth of carpet in it. They're trying to charge you for another $500. Right. Above your deposit. You think that's where the $500 came from? Yes. Did they say that, or do you know that, or you're just guessing?

Actually, we still live really close to these apartments, so I drove over there last week and talked with them about this, and it was because of the carpet. But my issue is that they never contacted us, and I asked them, I said, did you send a certified letter? No, she said we're not required to. No, no, they can just turn it over to collections if they want. None of that matters.

The bottom line is that you did not close out your apartment deal properly, and so you got stuck with a $500 carpet bill. You got $500? Yes. Pay the bill. You owe it. That's what I thought you might say. Yeah, you owe it. And part of it is part of it's stupid text because you didn't close out the thing right.

I mean, when you leave an apartment, you need to get in writing this condition and what you're liable for and what you're not liable for. Not we'll contact you later if we decide we're going to screw you. Right, yeah. Okay. Lesson learned for Yeah. That's a five hundred dollar lesson. But legally, you owe this because you did not get it signed off on when you left. And, you know, you're not going to get out of it. You're not going to you know, you could you could

whine and carry on, carry on and flop around or whatever. But it's going to follow you and haunt you. You owe it. It's five hundred bucks. Pay it. That's what I would do. Ronnie's with us in New York. Hey, Ronnie, welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? Good. So basically, I've been following you for a while. I currently have $7,000 in credit card debt that I'm working on. And I've been doing a lot of research and everyone is telling me that in addition to paying off my debt, that I should get a secured credit card. And I know how you're going to feel about this. Why? To build my credit. Why? I know. Everyone's telling me that this is the way to go.

Everyone's broke and stupid. Why would you listen to everyone? Everyone runs the worst financial planning firm in America. Why would you listen to everyone? Everyone runs the worst financial planning firm in America. Why would you listen to everyone? I know. I really want to get my credit score up. Why? Because I want to get an apartment. You can't get an apartment without a credit score?

I don't know. I mean, the one that I have now is not so great. I know how you feel about credit cards, and I'm not really comfortable with getting another card when I'm already trying to pay off the ones I have. Yeah. Yep. I agree. The whole credit card, the whole credit score thing is a scam to get you to continue to borrow money. The only way you get your credit score up is to borrow money. Why? So I can borrow money. Why? So I can get my credit score up. Why? So I can borrow money. Why? So I can be a dog chasing its tail my whole life. Right. And that's what you're doing. So don't get caught up in that. There are apartments that will only rent to you with a credit score. That's true. But there's plenty of them that'll rent to you without a credit score. So you think I should just focus on paying the collections and doing that instead of just getting another one? Yes. Okay. Thank you so much dave thank you bob is with us in raleigh north carolina hey bob

welcome to the dave ramsey show thank you dave i just turned 62 cool happy birthday thank you very much what should i do with social security well how's your health wonderful okay disgustingly healthy good good well the longer you live the better better it turns out for you to take it later. If you take the money that you make on Social Security between now and 65 and invest it, the income that that lump sum would create would offset the fact that you're getting less money from 65 on because you took it beginning at 62. So if you're going to take the money at 62 and spend it, mathematically that's not going to work out for you unless you have to have it to eat,

in which case you would do this to eat. Do you have to have it to eat? Not at all. Okay, so it's just a mathematical equation for you. Correct. Okay. So it's just a mathematical equation for you. Correct. Okay. You see what I'm saying? If you take it between now and 65 and those 36 months of payments are in an account that's invested well, it will make you more than you lose from 65 on because you began at 62. Obviously, when you begin at 62, you get a lesser amount for your whole life, right? Correct, 75%. Yeah, 75%.

Yeah, but the three years of investments should offset that. If I start taking Social Security now, will there be a limit on how much money I can make? There's not a limit on how much money you can make, but there's a limit on how much you can make without being taxed on it. And so you'd have to check your tax guy on that. But it doesn't say you're not allowed to make the money, but it's whether or not it's taxed is what it comes down to. Hey, thanks for the call. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. Are high health care costs getting you down?

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Dominic is with us in Germany. Hi, Dominic. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. us, America. Dominic is with us in Germany. Hi, Dominic. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. So I was looking because I'm going through FPU with my church right now, and I'm sitting down with my accountability partner and planning stuff, and my student loans came up, and a lot of the repayment plans are taking like 10 years to pay off, but I don't want it to take 10 years because I don't want to stay in the military for 10 years or even have that over

my head for 10 years. So what are ways to pay that off quicker that are smart and intelligent? Well, what we teach is a process called the debt snowball. After you've got your first thousand dollars saved, then you attack all of your debts, including your individual student loans. Don't look at it by category. You look at it by individual loans, and you list them smallest to largest, pay minimum payments on everything but the little one, and attack the little one with a vengeance.

Now, how much student loan debt do you have? $30,000. Okay, and what other debt do you have? $30,000. Okay. And what other debts do you have? As of right now, I've got like a $600 credit card debt that I'm going to work on getting paid off, but those are really my only debts. Okay. And what is your income? About $2,300 a month.

Okay. And you're single and in the military? Yes, sir. Thank you for serving. How old are you? 24, Dave. Okay. So the military did not help by paying off some of the student loans when you signed up or did not cover you going through school? How did you end up being in the military at 24 with student loan debt? I went to Bible college right out of high school, almost failed out, and decided I needed to join the military for discipline. Ah, okay. All right. So $2,300 a month, but housing is included above that and food is included, correct?

Yes, Dave. Okay. All right. So, well, I mean, what I look at is not the repayment plans. I just look at the shovel-to-hole ratio. Your shovel is your income. Your hole is $30,000. And so how quickly can I pay $30,000? Well, if I do it in two years, it would be $15,000 a year.

Okay? If I did it in three years, it would be $10,000 a year. $10,000 a year is $833 a month. You can do that. Right? I mean, I would probably have to have that. It gives it all intensity. Yeah, I mean, what are you spending your $2,300 on if food and housing is provided for you?

That's what I'm trying to figure out, Dave. Yeah, you need to do a budget. You need to do a budget, and all of a sudden, getting out of the student loan debt becomes a priority. So if you did $833 a month, you're out in three years. That's $10,000 a year. Three years is $30,000. If you did $1,200 a month, you'd be done in two years.

So, I mean, you start backing it out like that that's your repayment plan it's called dominic it's not trying to get on some program or something else unless the military has some kind of a signing bonus and you re-sign or something regarding paying off old student loan debt uh and if they'll if they have something like that a program like that that you're you know the branch that you're serving in has a system like that, and you've got a re-up option and you want to do that and you want to stay in the military, then that's what you would do. But obviously, if you come out of the military, the same formula applies, only you would, you know, when you've served your term, if you decide to come back into civilian life. Obviously, you'd have housing and

food coming out, but you'd probably be making more than $2,300 too. So that's what you're looking for is just running a formula like that and lay out a budget. And a budget is just you have to give every one of those $2,300 a name. Every one of them needs a name. Every dollar needs a name. Our budgeting app is called EveryDollar for that reason. And you can lay it out on that. It's very easy to do, and it's free. Again, thank you for your service, sir. All right, Allie is with us in Cleveland, Ohio.

Hi, Allie. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. Hey, what's up? Okay, so I have a question. I bought my house about a year and a half ago when I was 21, and now my boyfriend also has a house, and I'm supposed to be moving in with him this summer, and my question is if I should rent out my house or if I should sell it.

Okay, so are you getting married? I'm not engaged. No. Okay. All right. Um, well, I would advise you against that, um, for a lot of reasons. There's a lot of data points that indicate that people who are married have a much higher propensity to succeed, uh, in every area of their life. There's all kinds of research that backs that up and, uh, and avoid poverty and so forth. Uh, just playing house, uh, doesn't work. You own a home. You've been responsible. You've been financially responsible beyond your years already. And, uh, you've already got a life going here. And, uh, so I, I would suggest, um, I mean, I've got kids older than you, so I'm, I'm grandpa Dave here, right? But, uh,? But Papa Dave is what the grandbabies call me.

But I'm just saying if I'm talking to a 21-year-old version of one of my kids and I'm going to say, listen, what's the formula for success in life? Shacking up is not on the list. Okay. It's not the best thing for you emotionally, physically, spiritually, financially, career. There's no data points to say that anything is good here except you get to have sex on a whim that's the only thing that's available to you that that's good you know that's a positive right but everything else everything

else lines up says this is a bad plan um and here you are selling your house or talking about putting a renter in your house for a guy that won't even put a ring on your finger. So does that sound like Papa Dave to you? Yeah, that sounds like Papa Dave. And I had another question. So I'm just on baby step four now, which is saving for retirement, correct? Mm-hmm. Okay. So I work for a school district, so I get money put away for that. But also, should I be putting 20% away of my own income as well? No, it's 15% in Baby Step 4. 15%. And anything of your income into something, yes, I would put 15% away for retirement.

Above your emergency fund and your debt-free except your home, right? And you're a teacher? No, I'm a custodian. Oh, okay. Very cool. Good for you. Okay. What do you make? I'm about 60. And you're 20 years old? 22. 22. Rocking it. Way to go. Very strong. I like it. I like it. Good for you. Well done. You've got a bright future ahead of you. Let's just make some careful choices that make the young man be a young man. Okay.

Okay. So just focus on keeping, paying my house down. Yeah. I just live there, and y'all can date. And if the romance continues and it moves towards marriage, then obviously when we get married, we'd be in the same house and we can decide which house to live in. And he owns his own home too. Yeah. Oh, that's excellent. Okay. Well, in the event where you were to get married, I would sell one or the other and live in the one that you choose to keep. Okay. But that's only after marriage. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Thank you, Dave. Thank you for the call.

We appreciate you joining us. Open phones this hour at 888-825-5225. So President Clinton's domestic policy advisor was a guy named Bill Galston. They did a bunch of marriage and living together research among others, just to let you guys know that I'm not just completely crazy here. Okay, here's what they found. If you do three things, the probability that you will end up in poverty is almost zero. If you marry before having a child, and if you have your child after age 20, you stay in what's called the success sequence, you graduate with at least a high school diploma, and you marry before having children, then the chances of you being a millennial in poverty, 97% of the people who do that do not end up in poverty.

97%. Only 8% of the people, I'm sorry, 79% who fail to do all three will end up in poverty. So there's a lot of data that indicates that doing things in the right order, old-fashioned, I know, Some of you don't like it. I don't care. I'm not here taking a poll. I'm here to help you. Only 4% of homes with a married mother and father are on food stamps.

Only 4%. 21% of people living together are on food stamps. These are all kinds of data out there that indicates this doesn't work. Well, we both have good jobs. Yeah, yeah, right. You're trying to figure out some way to beat a system that you can't beat. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. in the lobby of ramsey solutions randy and amanda are with us hey guys how are you great how are you better than i deserve welcome you? Better than I deserve. Welcome.

So where do y'all live? We live just a little bit north of Louisville, Kentucky. Okay, welcome. Good to have you. Thank you. And all the way down here to do a debt-free scream. That's correct, and get a warm cookie. There you go. Yeah, that too. I may get one of those at the break. So how much have you paid off? We have paid off $165,000 in 21 months. Good for you. And your range of income during that time? We started off $110,000 and went all the way up to $200,000. Wow. How'd you double your income? Well, when we started our debt-free journey, I decided not to say no to overtime. So I did all the overtime I could. And Randy here, he's a stay-at-home dad. He picked up a job at the local post office delivering mail. Wow. Okay. So both of you went

to work is what it amounts to. So what do you, he is at the post office and at home. What do you do? I am a pharmacist. Oh, okay. Yeah. That gives you all kinds of upside. Yeah. Good for you. Wow. So I'm going to guess and say 165 was a lot of pharmacy school. That is correct. And how much other debt was there? What other kind of debts? We had a little bit of credit card, not much, maybe less than $2,000, an $8,000 lawnmower. There you go, of course. Yes, and the rest of it was student loans. Ah, okay, cool. So how long have you been out of pharmacy school? About five years. So after three years of being out, you looked up and something lit the fuse. Yes.

What happened to you two? Yes, we had no money at the end of our two weeks. And our student loan payments were more than our mortgage. And we just didn't know where this money was going to. Yeah, you did down the hole. That's true. Yeah, for real. Yeah. Okay. So but what what what prompted you to change? Well, I get it. Okay, things are tight. So then one night we what had a talk or what? I mean, what happened? Yeah, we were just fed up with with being broke and having such a large shovel, but having nothing to show for it. We have a four-year-old daughter, so at the time she was two, and we

wanted to do something better for her and change our family tree. Right, okay, cool. So what'd you do? So my father has been giving me Dave Ramsey books every year for Christmas for like the last six years. I'm pretty sure we have all of them. We have a full collection. We have a book in every room of the house. Yes. And some in the backseat of the car. True. We've re-gifted them and we still can't get rid of them.

We have. So we picked up one of the books, started reading it. And then not long after that, we saw an advertisement for FPU at a local church. And so we attended that. And since then, we've attended FPU twice, but not because we needed it twice. We took back my sister and her husband, and they actually are debt-free, and they were debt-free before we were. Wow. So, yes.

Cool. So it spread all through the family then. It did, yes. And Dad's just sitting back smiling going, I tried to get you to read the book. Yes. Yeah. He didn't push us, but it worked. Yeah.

He was excited about it, I'm sure. Yes. He was cheering you on. Yes. Well, that's a lot of money to pay off in 21 months. I mean, you guys have been on beans and rice. Yes. You made good money, and you worked your butts off, but I mean, you have not done anything except pay debt. Yes. I don't even think we were on

beans, just rice. Oh man. Well, congratulations. Thank you. What do you tell people now that you've done a few twice and you paid off $165,000 in 21 months? What's the secret to getting out of debt um just stay organized make sure you do your budget and i think a big thing for us um was balancing the checkbook and seeing where this money was going um so and then the accountability accountability of going to financial peace university or having somebody to hold you accountable fpu really helped me a lot because i'm not i don't hold myself accountable, but when you sit at the table with other people who have done it and are doing it and you share your mistakes and they share theirs, it really helps you realize what's going on.

Well, yeah, it normalizes that we've all goofed up and we don't have to stay there. Correct. You know, we don't have to stay in goof up land. You're right. That's a good point, Randy. Very good. Very good. Yeah, it does do that. It's a different kind of accountability. It's not like somebody up in your grill necessarily. Yes, it can be. But it's more like just positive peer pressure. Yes, that's very good. So who were your biggest cheerleaders while you were doing this? Obviously, my dad. He's a huge cheerleader. And then a lot of my coworkers were big cheerleaders, too. We did have the naysayers. But since then, those people have come back, and they're asking us what we did.

Yeah. How do you like me now? Yeah. I bet. I'm being paid off $165,000. Yeah. How'd you do that? Yes.

Worked a lot. A lot. Both of us did. Yes. Wow. Did you sell anything big? Nothing super huge. We did sell a white truck, and it took us a while to sell it.

It was a snowplow truck, and it didn't snow last year. So it was one of those boy toys that we had around. Yeah, okay. Yes. So we sold that, and we had a few yard sales, but nothing too crazy. Okay. The lawnmower survived. It did.

It did. Yes. Yes. Good. I love it. That's fun. Good for you guys. Yes. Very well done. Proud of you. Thank you. I know your It did. Yes. Yes. Good. I love it. That's fun. Good for you guys. Yes.

Very well done. Proud of you. Thank you. I know your dad is. Yes. And I know your financial peace class is proud of you too. Yes. We've got a copy of Chris Hogan's Everyday Millionaires book for you.

Hopefully that's one you don't have yet. Not yet. And that's because that's what you're going to be. That's our next chapter in your story to be an everyday millionaire. You've gotten out of debt and now we we keep rolling, and we keep working the steps, and now it's more of a steady rhythm than it was this gazelle sprint that you've been on. Yes. So very, very well done.

Again, congratulations, you guys. Thank you. And we were going to show you also, we had our little visual tool that we used. Each box represented $1,000 paid off, and it just kind of helped us keep ourselves accountable at home. We would color in the boxes as we went along, and that way we knew, like, as we got closer to the goal, it was

more exciting. Yeah, it helps to be able to see things. It really does. That's a great tool. Very well done. Good for you guys. Randy and Amanda, Louisville, Kentucky, $165,000 paid off in 21 months, making $110,000 to $200,000. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream.

Okay. Three, two, one. We're debt-free. Love it! Well done. Well done, you guys. Very, very cool. I love that.

Our question of the day comes from Blinds.com. Find out for yourself why Blinds.com is the number one online retailer of custom window coverings. You get free samples, free shipping, and with the new promos every month, you will save even more. Use the promo code RAMSY to get the best possible deal. Rules and restrictions apply. Today's question is from Steven in Indiana. I'm 24 years old, single, still in school, wondering if I should get life insurance. Allstate, where I have my car insurance, wants me to buy life insurance.

I'll bet they do. They're saying it'd be cheaper to buy it now than when I'm older. Well, wants me to buy life insurance. I'll bet they do. They're saying it'd be cheaper to buy it now than when I'm older. Well, of course, but you don't need it now. Should I get life insurance? No. How much should I get? None. You're single. You don't have people counting on your income. You're a college student. You're a liability. You're not an asset. No, no, you don't need life insurance. And if you were to buy life insurance, you sure as the devil wouldn't buy from Allstate. Very expensive term or rip off whole life is all they sell. So now I wouldn't do any any life insurance business with Allstate. So, Stephen, you buy life insurance to replace your income for people that are counting on your income.

And when there's no one counting on your income, you don't have any dependents, no one is harmed financially by your death, then you don't need life insurance. And when you buy something that you don't need, it's never a bargain, even if it's cheaper. And so buying life insurance because you're young when you don't need it is something you don't need. So it's not a good deal, even though it, yes, it's cheaper. Obviously, the older you get statistically, the more likely you are to die and the cost of insurance goes up. But the difference in a 24 year old and a 28 year old on term life insurance at zanderinsurance.com is almost not measurable. It's almost exactly the same. So when you're 28, married, got a little kid running around or something like that, then we'll talk about you getting some term life insurance and you would

go to zanderinsurance.com and get 10 to 12 times your income on you and the same on your spouse. But today, you don't need any. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. Thank you. Our scripture of the day, Psalm 55, 22, Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you. He will never let the righteous fall. Mark Twain said, Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not the absence of fear. Andrea is in Austin, Texas. Hi, Andrea.

Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi, Dave. Thanks for taking the call. Sure. I have been following, I was lucky enough or blessed enough to take Financial Peace University about two years ago through my church. Since then, I've paid off about $80,000 in debt. I am on my last $10,000. Wow.

So single parent is very excited about this. Good. So here's my question. A part of my compensation, I receive restricted stock units. And I so far have about $16,000 that's fully vested. And in May, I'll get about another $19,000 fully vested. Should I cash out this money and apply this towards my Baby Step 2, the $10,000 that I have left, and then the remaining amount put for Baby Step 3. And then my second question is the remaining amount that will vest over the next 18 months, do I leave it in that stock account or do I cash that out as well?

Okay. Do you remember what we taught you in Financial Peace University? Yes. Okay. What did we teach what do we teach you and when you're in baby step two what do you do with all non-retirement investments you pay everything off you cash them out and pay it on the debt well okay that's what we taught you right yeah okay is this any different well i've kind of like i said i paid a lot, and I've been doing that.

I've had a second job, and I'm just in bare minimum, right? I've been paying off a lot. So how much debt do you have left? About $10,000. Okay. So you're debt-free today. Cash out the stock and pay it off. That feels pretty good.

Okay. And then cash out the rest of it, and let's get your emergency fund in place. It is more important for you to be debt-free and have that emergency fund in place than it is for you to own this stock. Okay. Why? And what about the remaining stock? Why?

Because when you're debt-free and you have your emergency fund in place, then you're in a position to build wealth. Okay. Okay. And you've been working your butt off, kid. I mean, you really have killed it 80 000 bucks way to go you're gonna do you're gonna do great i mean you are on your way you really by the time you cash both these out and then this next one you've got your you're in baby

step four and you're moving right along right okay do you own a home yeah um i i well i don't own it yet no i mean i mean you have a home with a mortgage right yes okay and what's the balance on that um it's around 213 000 so any of this stock that comes to you it's you know when you're doing baby steps four, five, six, after you've gotten out of debt and you have your emergency fund, right, I'm going to start chunking it on this mortgage. Okay. I'm not going to have mortgage debt and be buying stock.

I'm not going to have debt and be buying stock. I'm not going to not have an emergency fund and be buying stock. Does that sound familiar to you from FPU? Yeah, it does. It was just that it was a part of my competition. It doesn't matter where it came from. It's there and it's available to you to hit your baby step goals. And that's what we do.

We take all money that's available to us and we work them on the baby steps. Rebecca is with us in Chicago. Hi, Rebecca. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Well, thank you, Dave. I am standing in awe of God's goodness, and I'm calling to thank you for you and your team for the hope that you gave us. I have two very weird kids. Very weird.

They both received their bachelor's, and one will be finishing his master's in July. Totally debt free. No student loan. Way to go, mom. I can't breathe. I just stand in awe because they did this. Wow. Well, it sounds like you must have guided them in that direction.

Yeah. We ended up what I called the ABCs of college. A was apply, apply, apply. Apply to any college and every scholarship. Oh, I like that. We are going to see which college is going to give us the best scholarship package. And which one's going to give us the best deal. Ooh, ding, ding.

I like it. Yeah, which is the deal. It's a financial decision. You're going to give us the best deal. Ooh, ding, ding. I like it. Yeah, which is the deal. Yeah. Compete them against each other. It's a financial decision. Yeah. It's a financial decision, not an emotional decision. Ooh, wee. I like it.

Don't get your heart set on a college. Okay. And what's B? Be the best student and person you can be. Oh. Both my kids got, my daughter competed for, um, a scholarship and she got a full tuition scholarship. Wow.

And my son had a, got maybe 70% tuition scholarship. Um, and then he worked his way up getting better grades every semester and ended up with a hundred percent tuition scholarship. Wow. And what's the C now? Well, that still means we have to pay room and board. So C was commit to no debt. Apply, apply, apply, be the best person and student, and commit to no debt.

A, B, C. Yes, A, B, C. Love it. Yeah. My kids work two to three jobs all through school and pay for all the things they needed. And their degrees are in what? My daughter is media communications, and my son got a psychology degree, but he's finishing up his master's debt-free MBA. Wow, very good. So a guy the other day, this famous guy, was pissed off at me, of course, and was making fun of me, and he said, yeah, yeah, yeah, you can go to college debt-free if you just

go to a state school and get a part-time job and build yourself a time machine and go back 40 years dave ramsey's out of touch it can't be done and so my answer to him is a lady named rebecca who is a world-class super mom who's guided her kids through abc in chicago both of hundred percent debt-free colleges, no time machine. Yeah. The tree was changed. Yeah. And you guys didn't, or you didn't write a hundred thousand dollar checks either. Did you? Oh, no, no. We, we sacrificed and we had just gotten out of debt ourselves right before our daughter started college. So I think we had $2,000 saved for college. So it was sacrifice and all four of us working together to get all this paid off.

You're amazing. Very, very well done. Oh, God is good. I am so proud of you. Great job. Well, thank you. And thank you for the hope that, you know, it can be done. It can be done.

But you have to make sacrifices. You have to make good, wise choices and decisions. And you don't get everything. You may not have that huge college experience, but you're walking away debt-free, and the world is just open to you now. So I hear all these kids going, I have, you know, $20,000, $40,000, $100,000 in debt, and it just breaks my heart. So I'm just standing in awe that God allowed us to pull through this and get our ABCs done. I love it. Congratulations, Ms. Rebecca.

Well done. Well done. You know, we often say we don't have a student loan crisis in America today. We have a parenting crisis. Moms and dads that don't watch over the shoulder of their beautiful 18-year-old and say, no, don't do that. Don't go $200,000 in debt for a degree in left-handed puppetry. Don't do that. Don't do that. Don't go $200,000 in debt for a degree in left-handed puppetry. Don't do that. Don't do that. Don't do that. Instead, go, hey, let's work the ABCs. Let me

show you what we're doing. We're going to commit to no debt. That's the C. B, we're going to be the best person, the best student we can be. A, we're going to apply, apply, apply, apply to colleges and get them competing against each other and apply, apply, apply, apply for scholarships until we get so many of them that we go to college completely debt-free. What a great lady. What a great story. Wow. That's how you do it. That's how you do it. It's not rocket science, and no, you don't need a time machine, you goob. We're not out of touch, darling. We actually know how to do math. Oh, I love it. That puts this hour of the Dave Ramsey Show in the books.

We'll be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember, there is ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus. this is james childs producer of the dave ramsey show did you know you can now listen to the dave ramsey show on pandora and spotify for all the ways to watch and listen check out our show page at davramsey.com slash show