The Ramsey Show - App - The White House Is Trying To Redefine Reality (Hour 2)

Episode Date: July 26, 2022

Dave Ramsey & George Kamel discuss: How to calculate your net worth, Fixing up the house vs. selling it, How the white house is trying to redefine the word "recession", Getting out of a debt mess.   Want a plan for your money? Find out where to start: https://bit.ly/3nInETX Listen to all The Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3GxiXm6

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the 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. We help people build wealth, do work that they really love, and create actual amazing relationships. George Campbell, Ramsey Personality, host of The Fine Print on Ramsey Networks, is my co-host today. Open phones here at 888-825-5225. Nancy's in Orlando to start off this hour. Hi, Nancy. How are you? Hey there, Dave and George. Fine, thank you,

and thank you for my call. Sure, what's up? My husband and I are in Baby Step 7, and we want to set the goal of being Baby Step Millionaires, but I don't know how to establish our current net worth. We primarily off of his post office pension, but since it's not a liquid lump sum, I'm guessing we can't include it. Well, I can't determine a per-month investment goal because the RIQ process doesn't include the pension or a paid-for home, so I don't know where to start. Ah, very cool. Well, you're right.

Technically speaking, a pension is not part of your net worth because you can't sell it or you can't cash it out and use it. And so it's just a stream of income that's promised to you. In other words, social security is not part of my net worth, but I'll be getting social security someday, right? So it's the same thing. But because net worth is assets minus liabilities, but that's not really your issue. I mean, it'd be, it's fun for you to keep up with your net worth. And, um, you know, you've got a, when you have a baby, a baby steps from when your baby steps millionaire, you have a million dollar net worth. And on top of that, have this pension life's going to be pretty sweet, you know? So what you're looking at is just your 401k and your house and, you know, what you own minus what you owe is the thing. And then as far as calculating what your need is,

you just basically say, figure out what it is I'm going to need per month and working in your RIQ, and then take the pension out of that because you got the pension. So if your need is $5,000 a month and you got $3,000 worth of pension, then your net need is $2,000. That make sense? Yes. With us both in our 60s,

I don't know that we'll live long enough to actually hit millionaire status. Be an optimist, Nancy. What's your house worth? Probably $300,000. Okay. And what's in your 401k? Our IRA is with the SmartVestor Pro 32k. Okay. So you've got a $350,000 net worth probably, right?

You have other assets that we're not discussing here? No. Okay. And are you both working still? Yes. And what's your household income? Oh, i would say 55 okay um i don't just depends on how long you live you'll probably get there in your 70s somewhere if you continue if you continue to save pretty aggressively because the house is going to go up in value and you're going to continue to add to a 401k that's assuming you're working and adding money to it. If you quit work at 62, no, you're probably not going to get there. But it's okay if you don't.

It's okay if you don't. The billion-dollar net worth is not a magic thing. It's just a measure of net worth. That's all it is. And so the question of is it enough, well, what's your pension going to pay you? Oh, we can already live off the pension. What's your pension going to pay you oh we can already live off the pension what's the pension going to pay you um we're getting 24 and then he's already taking ssi and i'm keep i'm holding off until age 70 i'm sorry you're broke up when you gave me the number how much are you getting oh i'm sorry um his pension's 24, and then he's currently getting his Social Security.

I won't take mine until I'm 70. $2,460 a month? Yes. Okay. All right. So you've got a nice pension, plus your social, your SSI and stuff. And so, yeah, you guys can make it on that. So you're not in trouble.

It's just kind of a math game. It's a monopoly game now. It's a fun milestone along the journey, but can it's a monopoly game now you're just it's a fun milestone along the journey but can you have a great retirement and not get there sure can you have a terrible one depending on your lifestyle and what's going on absolutely if you want to spend sixty thousand dollars a year you're gonna have a terrible one yes so we have to adjust your shape to do that uh but if you keep your income your lifestyle below your pension income uh and continue to save and grow the other stuff,

then yeah, you could end up with a lot of situation there. Which goes along with our original principle, live on less than you make. That applies in baby step one and seven. There you go. It's a key principle. And we do have a great net worth calculator at ramsaysolutions.com that if you're listening and you're curious, you can jump on there and it'll add up all the assets, it'll add up all the liabilities and do the math for you joe is in fresno except i pushed the wrong button there joe is in fresno how are you joe i am doing great thank you for taking my call sure how can we help well um my wife is here to keep the story straight, but simply... Because Joe's known for exaggerating. Joe's attorney is present.

We just retired. We were both in education, and our income together is about $6,000 a month. And we live in a house that is worth roughly around $500,000, and we owe about $268,000. And so we're in the valley of decision on, do we spend the money to fix it up, kind of what I want, and then my wife is saying, the heck with it. Let's sell it and go buy another house. So she's saying, is it going to be better for us to fix it up and live in it, or do we cut loose on it and go find maybe a smaller house?

We're empty nesters. Like I said, we're retired and just trying to figure things out. Figure things out. Mm-hmm. Okay. Well, the answer to the question, if it was my house, is what's going to be the – how old are you today? I am 61. Okay.

What's going to be the best story when you're 71? Which one of these plans gets you the best life when you're 71? The fixed-up house and you stayed in it or the downsize into a newer house and you didn't have to screw with the repairs that's a good question that's the answer to the question is which one gives you the best life because oftentimes what happens is these things get so close to our face that we're making a decision based on the emotions of the next 12 months rather than the next 12 years. And the 12-year window will give you a better decision-making paradigm.

Right. What kind of repairs are we talking, Joe? Have you done the math? And what's this going to cost? Yeah, I'm thinking it's going to cost about maybe $30,000, which, you know, being in education, I have decided that I can go back and become a subteacher. And if I work it, I could probably make that much money in a year and get all those little things that she wants done. And it still won't be the right house and be perfect. When it's done, why is it that she wants to move if she didn't like it when it was done? That's a good question. I think some of it is that she wants to move into a little small house

because we're empty nesters and wanted a little small house, maybe easier to clean. Who knows? I think you have your answer, Joe. You just answered it. Happy wife, happy life. This ain't the house. This is The Ramsey Show. I just saw a study that really made me sad.

It showed that families owning life insurance in the U.S. was at its lowest point since the 1970s. After what we've been through the past few years, I'm just lost on how people don't make this more of a priority. How are you going to make sure your family needs are met if something happens to you? This is why getting term life is an absolute necessity. Rates have never been cheaper and the whole process to apply is pretty simple with many companies not even requiring an exam anymore. This is why I send you to Zander Insurance and I have for almost 25 years. They'll make sure you get the right protection at the lowest cost possible and they're there for you and your family every day. I

challenge all of you to make sure your families are protected. It needs to be a top priority. Call Zander at 800-356-4282 or visit zander.com. That's 800-356-4282 or zander.com. George Campbell Ramsey personality is my co-host today what's your one day goal maybe one day I'll be able to buy a house maybe one day I'll be happy with my career one day I'll be able to buy a house. Maybe one day, I'll be happy with my career. One day, I won't have to battle with anxiety anymore. One day, I'll be out of debt. Stop waiting around. Whatever your one day is, you need to start towards it right now.

And that's why we created Smart Conference. Smart Conference is a full-day event where you will hear from best-selling authors in on anxiety on careers on money on leadership on marriage the top people in the nation all day long in every area of your life it's only 39 and you can get a four pack for only $120 and bring some friends. You can't get a concert ticket. I just saw a thing where Adele was $40,000 to get in. So the tickets are going. So, I mean, you could buy out the whole smart conference for that, just about. Your Ticketmaster fees are more than $40.

Yeah, so $120 and you don't have Ticketmaster with us. We are our own Ticketmaster. We are our own master. That's right. We master our own tickets. Thank you very much. None of those janky feats. RamseySolutions.com slash events.

The Smart Conference is in Dallas, Saturday, October 22nd. We're glad you're coming. Several thousand of you are already registered, and it only holds like, I think it was 7,000 people. So it will be a sellout early, and you will need to get your tickets now if you want to go. Well, George, one of the things that happens in a world gone crazy is that people decide they're going to just change the definitions of things. That's called relativism, and you can just decide a new definition of a thing by people do you mean the white house today it was the white house they decided they wanted to redefine because they're the white house and they can do that they get to decide that what we all thought something was what we've

been taught in every class that we've ever gone to that something was that it is not that thing to be fair john deloney wrote a book called redefining anxiety see he there it is he redefined it he redefined it decided but when he finished it was still anxiety i'll tell you that okay so so here's a real article from whitehouse.gov from the white house website how do economists determine whether the economy is in a recession? There's the headline. And what does it go on to say, Dave? This is very interesting. What is a recession?

While some maintain that two consecutive quarters of falling real GDP constitute a recession, that is neither the official definition nor the way economists evaluate the state of the business cycle. Let me just stop you right there. Ball! economists evaluate the state of the business cycle uh let me just stop you right there ball every econ 101 class in the united states that was not taught by the biden administration has defined a recession since god was a boy as two consecutive shrinking quarters of the gdp ball okay now let me just make sure I got that straight. It goes on to say, instead, both official determinations of recessions and economists' assessment of economic activity are based on a holistic look at the data, including

labor market, consumer and business spending, industrial production, and incomes. Based on these data, it is unlikely that the decline in GDP in the first quarter of this year, even if followed by another decline in the second quarter, indicates a recession. If the economy continues to shrink, it must not be a recession because we decided it wasn't a recession. I am dumber for having read this paragraph. Brain cells died while I read this paragraph. How did someone write this in good conscience and good faith? Well, they write word salads up there all the time. Oh, that's right. Oh my gosh. This is a political word salad. Yeah, they write word salads up there all the time. Oh, that's right. Oh, my gosh. This is a political word salad.

Yeah, explain why they're doing this, because there's a very clear reason to me. Well, it's, yeah, it's classic politics. I mean, remember when Bill Clinton said we had to define the word is? That's right. Well, it depends on what your definition of is is. It depends on what you mean by recession.

Well, I actually mean a recession. Two consecutive quarters of the GDP shrinking. And that's not a republican or democrat thing that's just a thing it's called economics that's just marion webster's opinion dave overdrawn on your checking account well unless i decide i don't really want to call it that i kind of feel like i'm getting good use of the bank's money and was the money really there holistic approach to your checking account involves overdraft fees and a holistic approach to your uh student loan is that you keep it your whole stupid life uh there's a whole i mean holistic what are you a witch doctor holistic economics this is a whole new way of getting at this there's going to be a college course about this very topic oh Oh, my God.

So the real reason is midterms are coming up. Okay, so the real reason is politics. Okay, we're going into midterm elections, and the last thing that the Democratic White House wants is for the Republicans to run around saying we're in a recession because we actually freaking are, and so they throw a bunch of Democrats out, or the voters throw a bunch of Democrats out of office. That's all it is.

They just don't want to be in a recession going into these midterms. So this is all PR. And so they have to change the definition of recession this is a thousand percent a pr move uh political bs yeah that's what it is okay so yeah it depends on what your definition of red is blue green i wonder what the definition is. Is this a blue shirt? Oh, I know. Holistically looking at the shirt, it has some little black lines in it. That's right. And I decided it's going to identify as a black shirt today instead of a blue shirt.

So there you go. And I'm colorblind. We're not going to identify this as a recession. I'm going to self-identify it as prosperity. Maybe the White House is economically colorblind. There we go. That's one reason. There's so many things I can say to that that I'm not going to say.

Interesting article. If you want to get dumber, go read it for yourself at White House. Oh, God. I feel like I really have. This is like the 70s were good to the person whose parents wrote this. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Oh, my God.

Their parents had drug use. Cho mad at a child while they were doing drugs and that person wrote this paragraph oh my god wow lsd was involved i'm just saying oh my gosh this makes no sense i don't care i mean listen if trump was going into a recession we're going into a recession if i don't care who puts you there i'm not even sure we're in one i thought we were going into one i at least can tell you that based on the data that will come out this week yep you should get the data this week that the second quarter may not have shrunk so this may all be for nothing so what actually i'm just offended that we get to redefine these terms to the convenience of a politician and if we are or are not in a recession does it depends on how you define is oh you're right i'm sorry you can't define r until you've

defined is i'm gonna walk around with a dictionary from now on it's the only way well it's relativism because you have to do critical thinking that isn't really thinking. There's no source of truth anymore. It's just critical. Oh, boy. You people. This is exhausting. Yeah. So here's the thing.

Let's just pretend that when the data comes out this week that we had two consecutive quarters of the economy shrinking. Here's what we do pretty much know, that it barely shrunk and if it didn't shrink it just barely grew it basically is right around even which means it's not prosperous but we're not all going to hell in a handbasket so it's not going to be a hurricane tomorrow we're not prospering it's not a good economy but it's not a horrible hurricane. We're all going to die recession either. We know that even if it is a recession, it's just not that much of one. It's kind of a light rain, not even a good thunderstorm. And so people are running around with their helmets on because the tornado is coming. But no, hey, so to Biden or the Democrats' defense, the Republicans are going to make a whole lot more deal out of the recession than it really is.

The headlines on their side will make it feel like it's over. You're going to die and it's Joe Biden's fault! That's what they're going to do, right? That's not true either, okay? Because it's just not that bad. It's not that stinky of a recession but it's nothing to walk around bragging about and it's nothing to be so concerned about that you have to redefine terms because we now know that the democratic party does not know the

definition of is or the definition of a recession because they change it at will i just want a fake book cover of john deloney and it says redefining recessions just as a spoof just yeah someone's gonna do it now they're gonna send bring that back for april so the deal is you don't get to redefine a word to fit your agenda boys and girls well you can and some of you have pulled it off um some of you have taken words and they mean completely other things now because of your activism and your areas that you're in but here's one that well not gonna work this time one plus one is two can't change that sorry it's just two consecutive quarters of gdp shrink is a recession sorry joe not getting by with that word salad. This is the Ramsey Solutions on the Dead Free Stage, Joe and Jordan are with us. Hey, guys, how are you?

Good. How are you doing, Dave? Welcome. Welcome. Better than I deserve. Where do you live? Quincy, Michigan. So we're about 40 minutes southeast of Battle Creek. Perfect. Hey, good to have you guys. Welcome to Nashville. How much debt have you paid off? $265,000. Good for you. And how long did that take? Five years, four and a half or four months and 13 days. That'll work. And your range of income during that five years, four and a half months? The bulk of it was $118,000 to $171,000. And then the last six months, Joe had gotten a promotion and I took a job in a new company and that pushed our income to 240 whoa look at you

way to go guys okay but five years and 265 000 is that your house yeah way to go weird people thank you how old are you weirdos i'll be 38 on thursday and i'm 36 you know i paid for a house yes you're weird i love it very cool what's the house worth like 220 yeah awesome phenomenal phenomenal how much you got in retirement accounts about 180 yeah so you're bumping a half million right now net worth on your way to be a millionaire it's probably by the time you're 45 or 50 way to go guys you're killing it thank you and with this income, probably $45,000. Was there other debt in here, too? Yes. What kind? So cell phones was about $2,000. Credit cards, $2,000.

Cars, $20,000. $150,000 in student loan debts. Oh, there it is. And then $91,000 for the house. Okay. Wow. You guys are impressive. You plowed through a bunch of stuff here.

All right. Tell us the story. What happened five years ago that got you guys on this journey and how'd you hook up with this Ramsey stuff so I've heard of you when I was in college one of my best friends um mentioned that her brother followed your program and then I started seeing you on the news with your little segments and then I would be driving and see your billboards and I'm like okay well he's probably got something there but then it was December 2016 Joe and I were getting our um tax refund stuff around all the things we could write off and at the time it was $2,500 in student loan interest that you could write off and so we

you know compiled all our student loans and we realized we paid over 10 grand that year just in student loan interest and in that same moment Joe said just so you know at the time we just had one child but he's like just so you know i want us to pay for our kids college and i was like you're nuts like we're gonna still be paying on our student loans till we're 50 and he's like well whatever we're doing that for them i said well then we need to get our act together so i ordered your book right then i read it in two or three days i relayed the information to joe and we were game on total money makeover yep here we go just all the stuff coming at you and then all of a sudden you went oh i need that total money makeover book now yep sounds like you

annoyed yourself into this plan you're like this dave guy and all the student loan interest you're like fine i'll do it well i feel like maybe I was just too immature to actually listen you know so but once we you know grew up right in that moment and decided to you know follow your plan your plan works if you follow it so so Joe when she comes to you she's not reading this book and she's trying to uh kind of give you the cliff notes version and go this is what it says. Were you resistant? I was Dave-ish. Uh-huh. You know, and stopping the retirement and, you know, saying no to everything and budget.

And I was like, yeah, you know, we can dabble. We can see what happens. And then as we started to get the loans in order and the debt snowballed, then I was gung-ho yeah you kind of saw it you saw it start to click yeah and i was all in he would pull out our spreadsheet almost every day and be like okay like if we could just knock this one out and you know a month earlier this you know he was always looking for ways to speed up the game a little bit so we're both competitive so having that goal yeah and beating it that was yeah that

was fun for us well the traction the traction is a big thing yeah if you don't have that vision and that goal you're going why are we doing this you got to have that piece of the pie to the piece of the puzzle to go now i'm angry and like you said where else can we do we're we got 200 on margin what if we had 500 how could that speed it up exactly and it becomes a little bit addictive yep very process in a good way. Yes, absolutely. What do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is?

I think changing your mindset first. Debt is so normal in our society. I mean, I was going to order a shirt online and I noticed you could sign up for five interest-free payments of $4. Thank you, Klarna. Yes, exactly. Klarna.

Sounds like something's caught in your throat yes so just changing your mindset that debt is just a part of life it it is for so many people but it sucks and it it takes away from a lot in your future so changing that mindset and then also believing that you're deserving of a great life and just following your plan. I mean, truly, if people just follow your steps, they work if they work them. So yeah, there's a lot of shame and guilt and arrogance that we carry around when it comes to money. When you can just be an adult, look in the mirror and go, it ain't pretty, but we're going to fix this.

I'm in control. That changes everything. I'm so proud of you guys. Way to go, you guys. How's it feel to be completely free? No house payment, man. It's surreal. Y'all are whacked.

What do your friends think about all this? They're happy for us. They've encouraged us. They're proud of us. They probably think we're weird, which is fine. You are. Normal's broke. Yeah.

You guys aren't broke. I mean, you've got serious serious net worth not a debt in the world what's the first big thing that uh you guys want to do now that you don't have a single payment we're taking the girls up north to the up in michigan for a whole week and you know experiencing god's country up there so it is pretty up there it is yeah yeah our own uh uh uh courtney's husband is from up there and courtney was actually a uh anchor up there a news anchor up there for a while up in trevor city and oh yeah very pretty makers up there too so yeah it's beautiful area very yeah that'll be a fun fun thing the upper peninsula up to you michigan people

it's like okay hey guys way to go thank you very fun we're very proud of you we we love seeing people like you you're you're an inspiration you're amazing heroes so we've got a copy of baby steps millionaires for you uh that's the next chapter in your story for sure how ordinary people built extraordinary wealth how you can do it's our latest number one and we got a one-year subscription to financial peace university if you haven't been go through it it's the brand new videos with george and dr john deloney and me and rachel and we'd love to have you do that or give it to somebody that needs to get on this plan one of the two or buy it for somebody and you go through i don't care whatever you do and we'll got a copy of total money makeover you give away to let the thing that book that got you started so thank you

very very well done all right you brought the kiddos what are their names and ages okay so the oldest is logan she is six all right this is layton she is four and lane here is two all right the beautifuls are in the picture oh that's so fun that is so fun look at that that's great that right there's a good why absolutely you guys have changed their lives. You've changed their family tree. They don't even know what you've done for them. No, but we'll remind them. Don't worry.

I'm reminding them right now they can watch this video over and over. That's right. The price that their mom and dad paid. Live like no one else so later you can live and give like no one else. So their dadgum college fund, that's what got this whole thing to start. There's a discussion over that. So that's beautiful. Well done, you start a discussion over that so that's beautiful well done you guys you're amazing very well done so proud of you all right it's joe and jordan

logan layton and lane from battle creek michigan area 265 000 paid off five years four months 13 118 to 171 to 240 income. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. We're debt-free! Wow! Go, Logan! That's a pipe. She brought it, man. Wow.

Well done. Woo-hoo-hoo! Yeah! I'm loving this trend, Dave. We're seeing a lot of people in their 20s 30s paying off their homes early and right on the verge of being baby step millionaires already i mean they're setting themselves up but here's the thing that little girl is old enough to remember the oldest one maybe the little maybe the little four-year-old but certainly the oldest one logan the weird day

that her weird mom and dad came to this weird place in Tennessee and screamed they're debt-free, and she'll be a grandma someday telling her kids that have $10 million each where it all started. That's a legacy worth leaving. That's called changing your family tree. This is The Ramsey Show. Thank you. Thanks for joining us, America. George Campbell, Ramsey personality, is my co-host today.

Katie's with us in Dallas, Texas. Hi, Katie. How are you? Katie? Are you there, Katie? Hi, Katie. Yes, I'm good. How are you? Great. How can we help?

So I'm $27,000 in credit card debt. I've used up 100% of my credit, dug myself a hole, and I don't know how to get out. How old are you? I am 32. How much do you make a year? I gross 32. How much do you make a year? I gross 83. Is this the only debt you've got? It is.

This is awesome. I'm so glad you're here. This is a good problem to have with this income, Katie. We can clean this up fast. Is it on one card or multiple? It's on six different cards. Okay. That's wonderful.

Biggest one being discovered 12 000 all right and you clearly want to get out of this how'd you get into it what'd you spend the credit card money on um just transitioning over from one job to another paying my way bullcrap got into debt yep bullcrap you did not spend twenty seven thousand dollars transitioning from one job to another uh i started out that way and then it kept growing yeah so it was kind of an addiction i had a problem kept spending you spent five thousand dollars transitioning from one job to another and you're disorganized and you overspent buying crap you can't afford for the rest of it exactly okay okay so i want to make sure that we at least change the behavior because we can help you get out of debt. I just don't want you back in this mess, you know, two years from now. And so what I want you to do is cut up the cards. We're done with those.

You're going to list out the debts from smallest to largest. So the smallest credit card debt to the largest one, we're not looking at the interest rate. We're not going to do math right now. We're going to work on progress and getting rid of this debt. And so how much could you throw extra at the credit card debt if you're making minimum payments on the rest? So that's the issue I have. After I'm done paying all of my bills, each paycheck, I had $10 left the day I got paid. You make $83,000. Where's it going? All bills. all bills no no you told us that was your only dad you stop you told us this was your only dad bills like for house you know my rent how much is your rent uh eight hundred dollars a month that's not it And then electric and stuff is $450. Mm-hmm. My son goes to a private school.

There it is. So that's $550 a month. Are you married? I'm not. I'm a single mom. Okay. All right. So here, the first thing is this. The grasping the idea that personal finance is 80% behavior, it's only 20% head knowledge.

And so behaviors are what got you into this. New and healthy behaviors are what will get you out of this. Is that logical to you? Yes. Okay. Absolutely. And so what you're going to do, we're going to put you into Financial Peace University and help you.

That is a nine-week class, nine lessons, and we're going to teach you every detail about handling money. And I'm going to give it to you for free. It's usually about $100 to go through it, okay? I'm going to give it to you for free because I've been where you are scared and didn't know what to do and you're scared and you're by yourself trying to raise a kid and you don't know what to do isn't that right yes okay so what i want you to do is i want you to use that fear not as a paralyzing agent to paralyze you, but I want it to use you as the driving agent that says, I will never be here again. I will pay any price. I will sacrifice

anything. I will do whatever it takes so that me and my kid are never on the doorstep of financial terror like this again no matter what it takes i'm getting out no matter what it takes no matter what dave says i gotta do my friends think it's weird and it's uncomfortable to me i'm doing it anyway because i'm never gonna be here again right you got that this is your halftime speech. Okay? It's halftime, and you're behind. We've got to get you to win the game. You can do this. I've got to get there. But you can't keep doing what you've been doing.

So, George is right. Are you going to cut up the credit cards, all of them, no exceptions, as soon as you get off the phone? Say yes and mean it. Yes. Okay. I am. Good. I love it.

Along with that, we're going to send you every dollar in the premium version. It'll connect to your bank. This is going to be your budgeting app. This is going to be your roadmap. This is going to tell you where you can and can't spend. It's your permission to play. And so once you set that up, along with watching the Financial Peace videos, it's going to give you a sense of control you probably never had because you're paying attention to every single dollar that's coming in

from that amazing $83,000 income, and we're going to put it to good use. And every expense that is not necessary for survival is going to go away for a short period of time. No lifestyle, no eating out, no vacations. We're cleaning this mess up because we're sick of living on the edge of terror the rest of our life. Right. You can eat out later. Yep, we stopped eating out yeah well something's wrong with your budget which something's wrong with your budget because you're not something's missing in

what you're telling us which makes me think you're not really doing a good detailed budget i think this stuff is still happening to you but i want to teach you to happen to it so every dollar has an assignment before the month begins you make eighty three thousand dollars a year is our uh stop your retirement temporarily do you have retirement coming out i do stop it temporarily today i want that money to go towards this debt i want you to get where you ten dollars is not okay left over it's not that's the definition of terror when you're by yourself and you have to look in the eyes of your baby and you're scared and you know you're just you're

you're walking around with this 300 pound weight around your neck i want to get it off of you and so and i don't know what else is coming out of your check but if you can stop it stop it anything you can stop that not not your health insurance keep it but oh my goodness and any scorched earth food shelter clothing transportation utilities and other than that kiddo you're getting out of debt because if you didn't have a stinking payment in the world and you had a budget where you were making your money behave instead of wondering where it went your life would be completely different than it is right now and we hadn't even moved you towards building wealth yet right you're going

there though okay now you promise me you'll do this stuff if i give it to you free i promise all right here's what i want you to do i want you to call back and tell us how you're doing i want you to call back if you get any questions if you're scared you feel like you're by yourself you're not we're here for you thank you you can do this do this, but I've got to tell you now, if you don't do it, I'm going to kick your butt, okay? Okay, deal. We go to Dallas enough, Dave might find you out there. We'll be there for Smart Conference. You know what?

I want to send Katie a ticket to Smart Conference as well. Can you do that, Austin? Yeah. Let's do that. We're going to be there October 22nd. Maybe we can get to meet her. I would love that. That'd be awesome.

We'll arrange that. Yeah, and that'll give her some encouragement 22nd. Maybe we can get to meet her. I would love that. That'd be awesome. We'll arrange that. Yeah, and that'll give her some encouragement all day long in every area of her life. It'll light a fire under me. I mean, that event is just... I take notes from every speaker on that. I love that thing. It's some of the best speakers and teachers in the world, and I sit in the audience and take notes every time we have one of those.

Yeah. Yeah. The thing is, folks, you can do this stuff. It's hard, though. But you got to be different than the world. Be not conformed to this world. You've got to be weird. That's why we always yell at these people.

These young couple paid off their house a while ago. You're debt-free. You're weird. You guys are weirdos. People think I'm calling them names. I'm not calling them names. That's a huge compliment when it comes from us. Because normal sucks.

Normal is broke and scared. Making a lot of money and having no idea where it went. Normal is you work your whole life and you retire, and social insecurity is supposed to take care of you. The government, which is well-known for its ability to handle money, is your source. Come on. Come on.

It's ridiculous. And this toxic money culture is a terrible measuring stick to look at your broke friends and go, well, I think I'm doing okay because I'm doing as good as my friends are. This toxic culture, period. You can't look at the normal person's marriage and go, I want to be like that. No, because most of them don't have good marriage. They're not doing the right stuff.

Most of them don't have good mental health. Most of them don't have good careers. You know, you don't want to be normal. God did not put you on this earth to be average and normal. There's a reason we look up to people that are winning in an area of their life. It's because they're winning. You know? It's because they're doing good stuff.

They're making a decision to sacrifice. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but it yields a harvest of righteousness. You can do this stuff, folks. And Katie can do it. And we're going to love her so much that we're going to encourage her, and we're going to kick her butt, both. Whatever we've got to do to get her to go get it done.

And that's because we love her. Whatever it takes. That's how it works, man. That's how it works. This is The Ramsey Show. Dave here. You can find all of our shows with the Ramsey Network app on your smartphone. It's the only place to listen to the entire back catalog of episodes. Download the Ramsey Network app in your favorite app store today.