The Ramsey Show - App - The Importance of Being Honest About Finances in Relationships (Hour 1)

Episode Date: May 29, 2024

From Ramsey Network, this is The Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create amazing relationships. I'm George Campbell, joined by bestselling author Jade Warshaw, and we're taking your calls at 888-825-5225. This is the show where we talk about you right in front of you because we want to help you, and we do that one caller at a time. And our first caller today is Dylan from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dylan, welcome to The Ramsey Show. Thanks for having me, guys. Sure.

How can Jade and I help today? So I recently had to switch from my full-time, or well, I say full-time. It was a commissioned job that I had in sales, and I recently had to switch over to basically just doing this here and there because of moral issues. I don't agree anymore with how they do their sales. When I first started, I was very, very careful to do it the right way. Even if they told me to do it a different way, I'd go out of my way. I've lost sales because of it.

Give us an example. Well, there's been instances. It's point-of-sale systems is what it is. It's credit and debit card processing. My actual boss is amazing, but it's the company above him that really makes this difficult. So they'll tell me, oh, yeah, we integrate with that system that we're going to pitch to these people.

And I'll be like, all right, you sure? And they're like, yeah, yeah, we do. And so we'll pitch it, and then it turns out later down the road we don't integrate. And then the business owner is put into a hassle of having to deal with this. And I don't feel morally obligated to do that to a business owner. Yeah, you hassle of having to deal with this. And I don't feel morally obligated to do that to a business owner. Yeah, you don't want to lie to them.

Exactly. Exactly. I don't want to do that. And so I've gotten my way for a long time to make sure I would even vet ahead of time, hey, do we do this? And if I know we didn't, I would just flat out tell the business owner, hey, by the way, we don't actually integrate with this, even though my sales team wanted me to say we did. And so I'm in a place now where I need to find another sales job or I need to find another job. And I'm going to be putting myself in a major financial stress here soon. They do owe me a little bit of money on sales that are still going through, still going through probably roughly six to eight grand. But obviously none of that's guaranteed because deals can obviously fall through, especially with how flimsy their sales are.

But I was the top rep in my company. I didn't know I was any good at sales until I joined them. I was just a regular old redneck from Indiana. And then somehow I got into sales and did really, really well. So what do you make annually? What do you need to replace? So I've been with them for nine months now. And last year when I first started from August to December, I made about $5,300 a month on average,

which for me, that is phenomenal money. I'd never had that kind of money in my life before, and I absolutely blew it all. Because I didn't have any budgeting. I didn't have anything in place. You said $5,300 per month? Yeah. Okay, got it. So about $60,000 a year. And what are your actual expenses?

What do you need to get by from food, utility, shelter, transportation, insurance? It's not hardly anything at all. Now, I did travel for them, so that upped that a little bit. But when I did the math on it last year with really short-distance travel, it was roughly about $1,200 to $1,300. That includes your rent? That's everything, yeah. Wow.

I pay $500 in rent. So that becomes our next goal. We just need to be able to cover $1,300 to get by until we can replace this income. So you said you're going to be struggling financially. What does that mean? Are you in crippling debt? No, I'm actually not. I'm in a pretty good situation.

I've listened to you guys for the last three weeks now on a roll. I mean, I've read your book when I was 10 years old 11 years ago, you know. Stole it from my mom's room and read it. Total money makeover? Total money makeover, yeah. So give us a snapshot. Tell us what's going on. No debt. Do you have three to six months of expenses saved?

So I have a little bit of debt. I do have like $5,300 in school loans that I'm honestly just paying the minimum on because it's like at 3%, and I'm not too concerned with it right now. And then I owe my mom about 2,300 bucks. She started me out whenever I first started with this company because I was in a pinch, and I did not have any money to start. Okay, what else? So she gave me a little bit of money.

She is not in a good financial situation, so I'd like to get her paid back. I thought y'all read Total Money Makeover. What happened over the last decade, man? It never really got through my head. You're over here talking, bragging about your low interest rates. Okay, keep going, keep going. We won't beat you up too much. Keep going. Well, this one you're going to like. No, I'm kidding. You're going to hate this. I have about $1,900 that I still owe the IRS. I originally had the money from last year, and I was trying to pay them, but for reason maybe I did something wrong online but it would not go it would not go through and so I've got so fed up with it that my work had not paid me for a couple months so I ended up using that as regular everyday

expenses you okay blowing every paycheck can we just say that and yeah and good George is right you're blowing every paycheck but what's really a red flag to me, George, and to you too, is every debt you listed, it had a caveat. I got 5,300 student loans, but it's a low interest rate. So blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I owe my mom 2,300, but I needed it to get started and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I have 1,900 to the IRS and I tried to pay it, but blah, blah, blah, blah. It's like that same. You got to, I think the key to this, yes're great at sales I have no doubt that you're gonna go on find another job you're gonna make 60,000 plus plus plus plus because you're persuasive you're persuading yourself that all of these debt situations are fine

and they're small debts you know they're small debts but that same characteristic that makes you great at sales is also you're pulling the wool over your own eyes here. Yeah, my own downfall. Exactly. So I just want to call that out. And then the next thing we need is we need temporary income in the short term, and that might mean side hustles. And then while you're doing that, you need to be aggressively looking for that next sales job, if that's the path for you. And I would obviously start with some of these, you know, point of sale companies because you have the experience there. But with sales, they just want people who know how to sell and who care. And you have that level of service.

That's what it comes down to. So I would look for any sales job. And if you can find one that's in the point of sale business, that would be even better. And I have no doubt you'll be making six figures. The point of sale companies tend to be a little bit unreliable. There is a couple of them that are, but I'd prefer to get out of that and move on to just a normal sales job if possible. I mean, you can go into tech sales. I mean, the world's your oyster as far as what kind of sales, but I wouldn't just sit around waiting for some dream sales job to happen. Just get the next thing and the next thing and the next thing until you get there. And I do think take advantage of this situation.

I mean, you've got $500 rent. I don't know if that's because you have roommates or you're living at home or what that is, but... It's just a cheap place. It's just a cheap place. I love that. Take advantage of that low rent. And this is an opportunity for you to start cleaning up this debt. Because the good news is it's not a ton.

It's like these little ankle biters that if you put your head down you can pay one off every two to three months right and so i think that that's the plan from here on out do you have any money saved we didn't ask that yeah what do you have in the bank right now down to pretty much nothing um my work has has paid me the bare minimum um because none of my deals have cashed out in the last couple months and so again they owe me about six to eight grand as of right now. But we don't know that you're going to get that. Not a hundred percent. But let's live our life like that's not going to happen. Let's just go get side hustles and get the bills covered for the next few months when this money comes in from your work. Or if it doesn't, you still need to cover the bills. And then once you have some stable income, then attack those

debts. Smalls to largest balance, but the IRS one goes first because they can screw up your life. Before we hang up, Christian, Kim Pickup, and let's give you paycheck to purpose. Let's give you Ken's career assessment. Let's make sure you have all the tools because if I'm you, I'm starting the job hunt today. Like I'm going on all the sites and I'm looking for a new job and I want you to land something in the next two to three months and be out of there and be on to the next thing. But to George's point, until you land the job, any job will do because this job is causing you to be dishonest and you don't even know if they're going to pay you what they owe you. About to go Uber, Instacart, Amazon, Flex,

dog sit, dog watch, dog walk, whatever you got to do to make income happen. I'm also going to send you a copy of my book, Breaking Free from Broke. I hope I convince you that no debt is good, no matter how little, no matter the interest rate, it is holding you back and you deserve better, Dylan. You're a young dude with a bright future ahead if you stop playing stupid games. So wishing you the best. More of your calls coming up. 888-825-5225. Give us a call. This is The Ramsey Show. Hey, you guys. Health insurance costs are only moving one way, and that way isn't down.

And if higher costs aren't enough, the wait times to see your doctor are longer, and it's harder than ever to get anything approved through the bureaucracy. So if you feel like the system is working against you, try a biblically-based alternative to health insurance, Christian Healthcare Ministries. CHM is a health cost-sharing ministry that's helped hundreds of thousands of families like yours take care of over $11 billion in medical bills since 1981. And CHM has also helped them stay true to their values and avoid

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Open phones at 888-825-5225. Well, all good things must come to an end, including our month-long sale, so do not wait. Friday is the last day to shop the sale and get our best-selling products that have helped millions. That includes number one bestsellers like Baby Steps Millionaires for under $16, Building a Non-Anxious Life, less than $18, and From Paycheck to Purposeaires for under $16. Building a Non-Anxious Life, less than $18. And From Paycheck to Purpose, also under $16. So hurry, get these bestselling books. Gain the confidence knowing you have a plan for your money,

your career, your mental health, your relationships, and your life. Go to ramsaysolutions.com slash store. And remember, the sale ends Friday. That's May 31st at 11.59 p.m. Central Time. Oh, there you go. And Jade, they tried to throw me off. It says May 31st at 1159 p.m. Central Time. Oh, there you go. And Jade, they try to throw me off. It says May 31st. They try to get me, but they're not catching old George today. I know how that works.

May 31st. That's how you do it right there. RamseySolutions.com slash store. Beautiful. All right, let's get to the phones. Austin joins us in Chicago. What's going on, Austin? Hi, I was calling because I have about $40,000 in the bank saved. I do a lot of driving for work. I drive around 60,000 miles a year, which is, I know, crazy.

It's not normal. I make about $83,000 a year, and I currently have a Toyota Camry that has 100,000 miles on it. And I was just wondering your guys' perspective on if you think I should sell my Toyota Camry, which is worth about $10,000 right now, or $9,000 or $10,000 and get an electric car, like a Model 3 Tesla, which I wouldn't have to pay for gas. I currently pay about $ thousand dollars in gas per year so i was wondering do you think it's a better idea to keep my current car and drive that for a few more years or um get an electric vehicle like a model three tesla where i don't have to pay for gas are you debt free yes and you've got 40 saved. Does that include your emergency fund? Yes.

Okay, so let's call your emergency fund what, $20,000, $25,000? Yes. So you really have... I had $15,000, but yeah. Okay, $15,000. So let's say you have $25,000 right now to buy a used vehicle. Yes. Plus the $10,000 from the sale of the Camry. Plus you'd make $10,000.

Yeah, so $35,000. And I found a car that was $36,000, so that's what I was calling. And that's a used Model 3? Yeah, it had 5,000 miles. It was a 2023, 5,000 miles, and it had no accidents, nothing like that. How far are you actually driving in a given workday?

In a given workday? Are these like local, or are you traveling across states? Like a given work day? Are these like local or are you traveling across states? Like a half tank per day. I have to fill up every other day. Okay. Hmm. I have thoughts on this.

Number one, I don't mind you buying a used vehicle as long as everything that you own that has wheels and motors adds up to no more than half of your income. And so for you, that means 40 grand all in everything you own. I assume you just have one vehicle. You don't have motorcycles, boats, other toys? No, no, just one vehicle. Okay. But as far as I, the thing I

do have issue with is that this idea that like, I'm not going to have to pay for gas. I have an electric vehicle and it does cost money to charge. Electricity, in fact, costs money. What does it cost you like monthly? So luckily I can charge at Ramsey for free. Thanks, Dave. But I often charge at home as well. And it costs about 10 cents a kilowatt here in Nashville. Now, my parents have an electric vehicle up in Boston. It's triple the cost to charge per kilowatt. So it adds up for me about $20, $30 a month. Now, I have a five-minute commute. I don't drive much.

I can charge at work. So this is different for you, Austin. The other thing to think about is depreciation. You're going to run that Tesla into the ground. It's going to be worth $10,000 within two years, the way you're driving it. So I'd rather you drive that Camry from a hundred thousand to 200,000. Cause that thing will go upwards of three,

three 50 easily. Um, what is the nature of your job that causes this? Cause that's the, that's really the question. Is this longterm like, or is this just something you're doing for the next couple of years? I have a,

a ton of different things I do. I have a bunch of different families I grocery shop for and a personal assistant for. I also use the apps that are extremely, I live in an extremely rich city that tons of people order for like groceries and delivery and DoorDash. But I also have about 10 families that I essentially, I'm like their personal assistant. Got it. And so you're doing all sorts of things. Is that your long-term?

Like if I say, hey, what do you plan on doing 10 years from now? Are you like, this is it, Jade? I love serving. I've been doing it for seven years. I haven't planned on changing anything because it's been so good for so long. Okay. Then I agree with George. You can do it.

I just don't want you to do it under the false premise that you're not going to have to pay something because supercharging is very expensive, way more expensive than just charging at home even. And I don't know about the Chicago area, and there's certain times that are cheaper for charging depending on where you live. So I would do some more homework before you make this jump because I don't want you to think about it in terms of saving money on gas.

I want you to think about it in terms of it's costing me an extra $20,000 or $30,000 to get this car that I will depreciate very quickly. Whereas the Camry's already, most depreciations already happened on your Camry. Yeah, you can run that for another 100,000 miles and be good. So I'd rather you buy an even cheaper Model 3 for now that has a lot of miles on it because those things can go upwards of half a million or more. And so that might be a good test run to go get you a $20,000 Tesla versus a $35,000 Tesla and start there. Okay. So you would get the Tesla if it was $20,000, but if it was more than that, you would not. It's not about the exact dollar amount. I'm just saying because that car you buy is going to depreciate much faster than a traditional car,

than someone else driving it, because of how many miles you're putting on it. So think about it. Two years from now, that Tesla has 120,000 miles on it. So two years from now, you go from a $35,000 car to 20 or less. Yeah. No, that was all my question was. Do you think I would save more money by getting the car without paying? Because currently I have a friend who has a Tesla charging station,

my best friend for years, and he said I could charge it for free. Oh, boy. Until he gets his electric bill and it doubled here's the thing though it's not just about the gas and it's not just about now you gotta go to your buddy's house to sit there for hours and charge whether he likes it or not whether you like it or not and here here my thing on this but yeah you've still you've still got a vehicle that works and is worth something that yeah you know you have to think about how quickly am I going to recoup the $35,000 that I've spent on this? Because right now you're driving a paid

for vehicle that's got a lot of, you know, pardon the pun, but a lot of gas left in the tank. You know what I'm saying? Like you can keep going on this. So if honestly, I'm kind of changing my answer. If I were in your shoes, I'd probably drive this thing into the ground. And all that time you're stacking up money, stacking up money. And maybe you get to the point where you drive kind of like a beater for your job. And then maybe you have another vehicle that's just a normal, that you're not just destroying, you know, every day after day because you're so hard on it. There's an idea. Just a little thought there. Okay. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thanks for the advice.

Absolutely. Yeah, there's a lot to think about there, especially with a newer vehicle will also cost you more with insurance because it's going to cost more to replace. Yeah. In so many ways, he's kind of sitting pretty with what the situation he's got here. It's just not as black and white as I think. And I'm a fan of electric vehicles since I own one and I've experienced the joy of not ever having to go to a gas station. But I also know it can be a fan of electric vehicles since I own one and I've experienced the joy of not ever having to go to a gas station. But I also know it can be a pain. This dude might be on the road and be like, oh, there's no chargers nearby and I'm running this last errand and I got to run back and charge. Supercharging is very expensive comparatively to normal charging. And so I

just want him to do more homework before he bites the bullet on this. What supercharging? Is that like fast? Tesla has their superchargers around the country and so you can charge much faster you can get to zero to 100 within 20 30 minutes and what could that cost um but that can cost a few bucks uh per minute so when you're talking about it might cost you 20 bucks okay to fully charge which you know is still better than gas right right now yeah i think over time we're going to see things even out where electricity starts to become not on par with gas, but it's not as money saving as we all would like to think. I could see that because, yeah, because more and more vehicles are going towards electric. So no matter what you're thinking about buying, upgrading a car, here's what you need to remember.

You're doing it with cash, no auto loans. You're doing it once you're debt free with an emergency fund. And you want to make sure that the total of all the things with wheels and motors doesn't add up to more than half of your household income. If you do it that way, you will drive away with so much peace, and you will drive it differently because you own it, and it doesn't own you. So those are the principles. Austin is spot on.

He's thinking through this wisely. I just want him to pause and do a little bit more homework before he bites the electric bullet, if you will. This is The Ramsey Show. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. All right, so I was born and raised in Texas, and I love the myth of the lone cowboy. You know, the guy who doesn't need anyone or anything.

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How are you? I'm doing well. So my question is, I lied to my girlfriend. That's not the question. That's an admission. That's a confession. We appreciate the honesty here. I'm not a priest, though.

I can't help. Maybe we can help financially. For two years now that I can't afford stuff that I'm broke and that I like staying in, I'm not.

I'm not broke. I can afford pretty much what I want. I'm out of debt 100%. I own my house. And she thinks you're broke because for two years you were like, hey, listen, I'm strapped for cash. Yep, pretty much. And it's not like I've been mooching off her or anything.

Like, I pay my way. I'm not trying to be worthless in that matter or anything. Why then? I just, like, I've got a 95 Toyota Tacoma. She's always asking me, why don't I get something else? And I always tell her I can't afford it. Why? Why not just tell her I'm happy with my truck?

I mean, yeah. What? Yeah. What's behind all the pathological lies? It was pretty stupid, wasn't it? Is it because you just said it, and then once you said it you were like i gotta stick to it now you gotta play this weird character no i mean what is her financial situation is she bad with money is that why are you afraid that if you tell her that you are good with money that she'll start mooching off you

that's that's been my that's what i've had happened in the past ah so there's some past baggage and trauma and so you're going well i'm not going to do that again that hurt yes and so now i'm going to lie because if she knows i have money i could get hurt again yes is that a more accurate picture so because usually behind every lie there's a fear. There's a lie that you've told yourself long before you lied to someone else. Yes, and honestly, I didn't even

realize it's been a lie until a couple months ago, and then I'm thinking, like, I'm wanting to get serious with this girl, and I'm wanting to make things happen, so she's going to have to find out sooner than later. How long have you been dating? We've been about two years. So two years. And

you've been saying this from the jump. Here's what I want to know, because I know you're saying that you've been lying. I'm trying to I want to go a little bit deeper on this so does she think that you have mortgage debt or you just haven't mentioned it does she think that you carry debt she knows my house is paid off okay okay so I was I was uh I was very proud whenever I paid my house off I she was the first one that I let know when I paid my house off about six months ago but like when it comes to doing fun or what you might think of extravagant things, even though you're thinking,

hey, yeah, I might enjoy doing that, you're lying and saying, no, I don't want to spend money on that. I just like a simple life, right? Yes. Is it affecting your relationship? Is she frustrated that you guys can't enjoy experiences and eating out?

No, I mean, she's a very, very simple woman, and that's kind of what's... I would just have to come to Jesus' conversation, take her to a different environment, and maybe a different place, a date, whatever, and say, listen, I got to come clean because I want this relationship to be built on trust. I've done a poor job of that.

And then say, here's what I did, here's why I did it and i am very sorry will you forgive me can we move forward with this relationship with honesty yes okay that's the only way forward and her response is now that's up to her how she responds she might say kick rocks pound sand i'm done with this relationship i just have i have a funny thought about this though like usually okay here's the thing eli usually if somebody says they've been lying i'm like ready to go hard in the paint but i'm listening to you you have no debt you have a paid off mortgage part of me is like how much are you lying because

i'm like you seem like you are kind of a simple guy who doesn't want to spend a lot of money because you've done all of these things so i'm trying to i need an example of like what you said that was a lie like what you've been saying to her because i'm like it sounds you sound pretty simple to me the the most the simplest example is uh i was working on my my pickup truck it's a 95 Toyota. And it's kind of a hunk of junk, but I grew up dirt poor. Okay. And I love that truck.

I don't need anything else. Yeah. I hardly ever drive it. She asked me, why don't I just get something newer and better? And I told her I can't afford it. Okay. When really you feel like the reason is I just don't want it.

It's not a priority for you. Yes. Okay. But you felt weird saying that. It was easier for you to have the guise of like, well, it's too much money for me. Yes. And then her and her family went on a cruise a while back,

and I didn't go because I couldn't afford it is what I said. But really what you're feeling is you came from being dirt poor and it sounds like you're afraid to go back to that. And so certain things that other people might splurge and spend money on, you're like, listen, I don't feel the need to do that. Yes, I really don't. Okay. So maybe it's just a simple thing of changing the language. And next time you talk to her, you're saying, you know what, I've been telling you I can't afford things, but I want you to know my heart. I technically I can't afford it. I just don't care about spending money on those sorts of things. You know me, I've got a paid off house,

you know, I don't carry debt. And my priorities priorities with money I feel like sometimes our priorities with money are different and maybe that's the conversation because I you kind of painted yourself to be a lie like a liar about I don't know it doesn't feel like you don't seem like a terrible person yeah and it's the weirdest thing to lie it's most people would say I lied I'm actually in crippling debt right and she thinks I'm very wealthy yeah it's just your motivation you're not telling her your true motivation but i would say i would i think it's okay to just sit her down and say i need to be honest with you i know like this is a big deal to me it may not be to you but my phrasing and language has not been honest yeah when i tell you that i'm broke i don't have

the money really it's just it's not a priority for me and i don't care to spend money on those things but it's my bad for positioning myself like I was some broke person when truly I'm not that's right and maybe even line it up with the next part of that which you did let us know that you're kind of worried that if she knows that you technically can't afford to do these things you're worried that she's going to try to inflate your lifestyle in a way that you don't necessarily agree with or want to do and I think it's important to have those conversations before you think about things like getting engaged or getting married because you do want to find out you know and it's don't get me wrong it's okay if she's different from you but you guys need to start figuring out what that

balance looks like and to George's point you being very honest in your communication from here on out is going to be very important. Okay. I hope that helps, Eli. That's a very interesting conundrum. Thanks for trusting us with this situation. Yeah. Wow. All right. Let's try to take a quick one here from Mike in St. Louis. Up next, what's happening, Mike? Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. How can we help? Hey, so I'm wondering if my wife and I can pause baby steps four and five to finish baby step six in under 24 months. And the reason I'm kind of feeling that way is because I'm looking at it the same way you guys look at baby step three, B, where you can pause investing for two years or less

while you're saving up money for a house. It's just, I already have a house. So I'm trying to get your guys' thoughts on that. Short answer is I'm always going to tell somebody to walk the baby steps in order. How much do you owe on the house? What are we talking about? Just check. Yeah, it's $137,000 left. And how many kids do you about? Just checked. Yeah, it's 137,000 left. And how many kids do you have? Just one. And how old are you guys?

I'm 30 and she's 28. Okay. And the child, I imagine, is very young? Actually, she's 13. She's from a previous relationship. Okay. So we're talking college in five years. Do you have enough covered right now to cover college or to help pay for it?

We have about $30,000, which would cover the first probably year or two, depending on where you are. And you're doing no investing right now? Oh, no, we are doing baby steps four and five right now. We would pause to do this. I love your excitement to get the house paid off. I don't think the juice is worth the squeeze on this, to pause the investing, to pause college. I would just keep investing 15%, put some money towards college. The house will get paid off probably a year later. Big whoop. I don't think you need the gazelle intensity that you currently

have. You're moving from intense to intentional in baby steps four, five, and six. I'd stay that way. Thanks for the call. This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm George Campbell, joined by Jade Warshaw. If you're enjoying the show today, or any other day for that matter, do us a quick favor. The show is free. What I'm asking you to do is free. Just hit the subscribe button, hit the follow button, leave us a kind review, share it with a friend. Maybe it's a clip or a highlight from the show, a full episode. Tell them, hey, you got to check out this podcast. All of that helps us get higher up on the algorithms. And it's not for our own egos.

It's so that we can reach more people who may not know that this show even exists. And we're trying to displace all the filth and nonsense out there in this toxic money culture. And you guys sharing, you're the best marketing plan we have. So thank you for doing all of those things. Danielle is up next in Houston, Texas. What's going on, Danielle? Hi, good afternoon. How are you doing? We're doing great. How can we help? Awesome. Awesome. So I'm in a little dilemma that I've almost been dealing with for almost a year with my vehicle. Okay. After attempting to make a repair, I started having the same issues.

Now I need a new engine. I still owe about $65,000 on this vehicle that I've only had for a year and a half. Woo! $65,000? What kind of vehicle is it? It's $65,000 and it's an Audi Q8 2019. I did buy it used. So it was a bad decision. I know now, but I do not know what to do. On top of that, I do have student loan debt about $32,000 and about $2,000 in credit card debt. So I'm looking at around $100,000 that I made up. So my question is, I don't know what to do with this vehicle.

The warranty company only wants to cover about $7,000 for a total repair that costs $20,000, so I would have to come out of pocket. I don't know if I should get rid of this vehicle. I don't know how much they would give me for the vehicle, the dealership. They haven't given me that answer yet. I wouldn't give it to the dealership. What's it worth? If you don't repair it, what's it worth if you were to sell it? Now it doesn't have an engine, right?

I would have to get a new engine. So I'm thinking around $30,000. I honestly don't know. And it's going to cost $7,000 out of your pocket, you said, to get it fixed? No. The warranty company is willing to give me $7,000. Why are they only willing to cover a third of it? I have no idea.

Either they cover it or they don't. I'm confused why they go, well, it's kind of our fault, so I guess we'll cover $7,000. Audi made a repair. Two weeks later, I get my car back after a few months. And then two weeks later after I get my vehicle back, I had the same issues, but now my engine went out. I would fight this to where they cover the full 20K. That's personally what I would do is I probably would not sleep, and I would just badger them and wear them down until they go, all right, she's a squeaky wheel.

Let's just cover this repair. Yeah, honestly, we've been doing it at the George Company since November. Speak directly on your phone, Danielle. We're having a hard time hearing you. Sorry. Okay. So they pretty much told me that I've been dealing with this since November of 2023. So as you can see, we're-

What are you driving now? Well, Audi gave me a loaner vehicle, so- That you still have? That I've been driving. Yes, I still have the loaner vehicle, so that's what I've been driving. Yes, I still have the loaner vehicle. Do you have any money saved? I do not have any money saved. Are you single? Yes.

What do you make a year? $65K. Girlfriend, girlfriend, girlfriend. Oh, my goodness. What were you thinking buying a... How much did this car cost you, $70,000? Yeah, around $75, girlfriend. Oh my goodness. What were you thinking buying this? How much did this car cost you? $70,000? Yeah, around $75,000. Oh.

Do you... Yeah. Okay. What's the payment on this amount? I know, I know. The payment is high. What is it? So I'm currently...

It's about $1,600 a month. Girlfriend. $1,600? I'm paying... Yes. What's the interest rate twelve percent jade's stretching she might need to take a walk i need to take a walk i totally i totally got screwed no you didn't get screwed you chose this let's be honest you chose it because here's i just

want you to know i what i want to, I need to be able to sleep tonight. And so I need to understand that had you not had any engine problems, let's just pretend this last year was gravy and you had no engine problems. You're just paying $1,600 a month on a $75,000 vehicle when you make $65,000. I was hoping you were going to say, yeah, make $200,000. And I was like, okay, this tracks. Did you know it wasn't good? Like the first two months were you like, dang. Honestly, at first I was renting out that vehicle, so I didn't have those payments.

You were renting it out like on Turo or something? Yeah, yeah. So you fell for the scheme that I'm going to make money off this and they'll pay the payment for me. Pretty much. And then my other vehicle that I had, it ended up getting stolen from me. So I ended up using the Audi and then... Someone stole your vehicle? Yes. And they never found it?

They never found it, no. Here's what I would... Did insurance cover it? Yes. I got insurance in Gap, so they never found it no here's what i did insurance cover it yes i got insurance and gaps so they did cover it and what'd you do with the insurance money yes they didn't give me anything because i had to owe it on that vehicle oh my it's not your first rodeo making bad decisions yeah i know so this vehicle i i don't i don't know what to do. So tell me again, you said it before, but I was writing down. So warranty so far is only going to pay $7,000. What are you on the hook for? I would have to pay the difference.

They say the total cost would be about $20,000 just to get a new engine. Okay, so you're on for $13,000. Let's play out both scenarios. Let's say you sold it as is and you get $30,000. That's what you told us. That means you're in the hole 35K, where you need to go out and find $35,000, whether it's your own money or getting a loan. You need to go into debt another 35K. The other option is you're in debt 13 extra thousand to cover this engine repair because the warranty company is going to cover seven, right? Yes. So on paper, option B is a better option. They're both terrible, but that's a better option right now is that you get the engine repaired.

And then you're able to at least sell it. So that's what I would do if I was in your shoes. Whatever you need to do to get this engine repaired, do that and then sell the vehicle immediately. But not to the dealer. They're going to screw you on this deal because they already did. So you'd have to sell it private party to get the most value out of it. And I want you to talk to, I want you to get with somebody on this because cars, I know you've been trying to make it your thing, but I don't think it's your thing. And so find the wisest

person that you know. I don't know if that's dad or big brother or a cousin or your best friend's brother, whoever it is, get with that person when it's time to sell this vehicle and when it's time to get this vehicle fixed, because I don't want them taking you for a ride figuratively when it comes to the price anymore on this. I just feel like you've been screwed every way, which way possible. And I don't want that to continue for you on the fixing or the sale of this vehicle. And from here on out, George, tell her the rule on buying these cars from here on out. I think you should buy the cheapest car possible, Danielle, at this point. But the parameter, Ramsey, is you pay cash.

It's a used car unless you're a millionaire, probably four plus years old. And the value of the vehicle is no more than half of your annual income. The value of all things with wheels and motors. So for you, if that's one vehicle, which do you have multiple toys or vehicles? No, it's just my own vehicle. This is it. It's the only one. Okay. And so right now, that would mean with your $65,000 income, you would buy no more than about a $30,000 car.

When the time comes in cash. I still think you don't need to worry about that until you're out of debt completely. You get the student loans knocked out, the credit cards knocked out, you have an emergency fund. Let's get the income up, then let's save up and pay cash. So this could be years down the road. But for now, we need to figure out a way to get that $13,000. That might be you go to a credit union if your credit's not shot already. And you go, hey, I need $13,000 to cover the difference to get this engine fixed.

Do you have the car loan through someone? It's through Wells Fargo. Okay. You might want to go to them and say, listen, you got bad collateral on this thing because it's only worth $30,000 right now. I owe you $65,000. I want to get this loan paid off. It's impossible right now unless you guys loan me this $13,000 in a personal loan to get this engine replaced. Yeah, my credit's good. I don't have an issue with that. Okay, then let's do it. I made a bad decision. Yeah. So that's what I would do,

Danielle, and it's going to hurt. And God bless the USA when we can be $100,000 in consumer debt, but we have great credit by gosh. Look at that, Jade. I got an 850, but I don't have 800 bucks in the bank account, and I'm $100,000 in debt. That is the American way. I can't even respond. I'm shooketh. She hath been shooketh. What a way to end this hour of The Ramsey Show. Thank you to my co-host, Jade Warshaw,

all the fooks in the booth keeping the show flow, including Kelly Daniel filling in on the producing, who's done a fantastic job. Better than James, I might add. We'll be back with you before you know it. Take care.