The Ramsey Show - App - THIS Is Why You Don't Buy Property With Friends (Hour 3)

Episode Date: September 30, 2022

Rachel Cruze & John Delony discuss: How to navigate dissolving real estate partnerships with friends, How to know when you should take a travel oriented career position, The impact that getting out of debt will have your young family, The best ways to maximize your savings, How to do what your passionate about without being a strain on your finances, When to start budgeting together after you get married, How to get get out of massive car debt. 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 Learn more about your ad choices. https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy

🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Pods Moving and Storage Studio, it's The Ramsey Show, where America hangs out to have a conversation about your life and your money. I am Ramsey personality, Rachel Cruz, hosting this hour with Dr. John Deloney, bestselling author, Ramsey personality, Rachel Cruz, hosting this hour with Dr. John Deloney, bestselling author, Ramsey personality, and host of the Dr. John Deloney show.

Your name's kind of a tongue twister. It's a little tough there for a second. You're talking so slow. Was I? Yes, you were. Did I? I just felt like a good cadence. They're saying no in the booth. No. All right, well, give us a call.

Maybe my brain is working slower. Give us a call at 888-825-8255. That's what I'm talking about. 888-825-5225. All right, first up this hour, we have Luke in Denver. Hey, Luke, welcome to the show. Hey, guys, thanks for taking my call. Absolutely. How can we help? I got a multiple two-part question.

I co-own a house with two high school buddies of mine, and I recently decided I wanted to leave for a couple of reasons. One is I'm not really feeling comfortable in the partnership anymore. I feel like they're taking advantage of the property, and I'm feeling a bit taken advantage of. And the other is I would love to use the money, a new house for my wife and son. So I've asked to be bought out, and they're kind of refusing to, and they're refusing to sell as well.

What is the, did y'all open anc or just somebody's yes yeah we have okay we have an llc why don't they want you to to buy out i think they're they're a bit nervous to get um uh alone right now with the interest rates but i'm asking i feel like to me I'm asking a fair price. We got the house appraised. It came in at $800. We owe $440 on it. So I'm asking a third of the equity, which is $120, and they're offering me $80. So I guess my question is, like, is that price fair to ask?

Are there any other any other fees i shouldn't consider how old are you i'm 32 okay is this your first like deal that you tried to make like you and your buddies had an idea like let's do this and is this your first one of these it was uh yeah it was a handshake deal yeah Did you learn your lesson, Luke? Yeah, that's what I'm getting at. Yeah, for sure. And for everyone listening who's like, ooh, the real estate game, I can get in. And me and two guys, two friends, yeah, we're going to get this house and it's going to be awesome. Luke, tell everyone why they shouldn't do that.

Yeah, I mean, they're still my friends, I like to think, but it's definitely changed everything. It changes the relationship. Hey, and the way you said it, I want people to hear, I want to get out of this thing so that I can buy my wife and kid a home. Talk about putting the cart before the horse, right? Yeah, I mean, it'd be nice to upgrade, you know, help just be there for my family. Sorry, we're not trying to just like

dig you in the ground, Luke, but... We get this so often. It's just, it's the reality, and it's why we always say do not go into a deal, especially with debt, with friends and family, because now you're stuck i mean like what do we what do we think is a fair price like we could say that yeah i don't know yeah but i mean at the end of the day they have to be the ones to decide right i mean there's

it's not split three ways you don't legally get to leave until you guys all decide on something and so i if i'm you you 120, they counter offered 80. Take the math off the table and what you think fair market value is and everyone's coming up with their own numbers. Your goal now is you just want to get out with some dignity. So say, let's just settle at 100

and let's shake hands and let's be done with this thing. Yep. And if they say no, forget you. You can, it's been a few years since I sat with a real estate attorney, but you can basically you can go have a judge dissolve the LLC

and force the sale and then split it that way. And that's a nuclear option. Okay. They can't just hold you hostage. I think, okay, that would be for you to talk to a lawyer, though. All right. I'm not in a position to talk to a lawyer, though. All right? I'm not in a position to give you legal advice. But my understanding is, if I remember correctly, you can ask a judge to dissolve it.

All I have to say is, dude, if they're going to offer you 80, and at the end of the day, it's on equity. It's imaginary money, right? It doesn't truly exist. You haven't lost anything. Take your 80 grand and walk away. Okay? Cool. And I know it's exist. You haven't lost anything. Take your 80 grand and walk away. Okay? Cool. And I know it's frustrating. You took it on the chin. It's going to be, Dave calls it

stupid tax. I wouldn't call it that. I would just say you learned your lesson, man. It cost you some money and the next time you're not going to make the same mistake, okay? Yeah. It's a little bit of loss there versus what you were saying with the equity, but just to get out of the deal, Luke, honestly, you'll sleep better at night. And hopefully it doesn't ruin the friendship either.

Well, but let's say this, though. If his friends are trying to rip him off or they're mad at him or whatever. Yeah. Yeah. You know what I mean? I know. I just like having a bunch of friends. I do, too.

I do, too. But it's true. Yeah. I mean, but I wonder what their reasoning is. Of course. What's the thing like you said you were in this for a decade man yeah we're doing everything we always did in your work you're yeah i mean it's it's just it's messy but all the way and then you get married you have a kid also your priorities change that's right that's right all of it okay up next we have andrea in waco, Texas. Hey, welcome to the show. Hi. Hello, hello. How can we help? Okay, so me and

my husband, we've been dealing with this decision for a while now, probably about two years now. So I'm a nurse, and two years ago, 2020, I got a RN instructor's position, and the schedule's great for the kids, of course, was the teaching position, but the pay is pretty low, like to the point where we have been having to work extra shifts, like part-time just to make ends meet, not able to save. An opportunity came up for me to travel starting in the spring. And with that, I will have an increase, I would say like four to 5,000 more a month for our finances, but it'll also take away from the, the good schedule because we have little kids.

And then also I think at one point over, like if I stayed in like the, the RN instructor's position, over time, I think it's kind of better with the 401k and... In the position you're in now? Yeah, in the position I'm in now with college, like, the kids' college will be paid for if I was to stay. So long term, it's a good decision to stay, but then at the same time, short-term, it's tough. Going to travel nursing, it'd be...

And travel nursing is no joke. I mean, if you have little kids at home, that's a lifestyle shift. Yeah, it changes your whole life from the inside out. But you also are doing a good job. I applaud you recognizing reality. We can't continue to burn the candle at both ends. You can do that for a short time when you're trying to pay off debt or trying to save

up for a house or something. You can't do that just to live, right? So it sounds to me like, you know, hang on to the line here because I want to dig into this a little bit more. So hang on to the line. We're going to put you on hold and then we will holler back at you after the break, Andrea. សូវាប់ពីបានប់ពីបានប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពី welcome back to the ramsey show we held a caller over from last segment andrea from waco she is a nurse and between her and her husband's job, they're having to make extra shifts just to meet or make ends meet. And then she had an opportunity to do travel nursing, which she'll make significantly more money, but it's also kind of a change in lifestyle and they have little kids. So there's big question marks.

Did I cover everything, Andrea, correctly? Yes. And I want to be clear too with travel, like the specific travel that I'm thinking of, it's more so local travel. So it's like two hours away from home. We won't be going like far, far, like things like that, going out of the state. Would the kids and your husband, would they go with you?

No. I would just drive back and forth and try to do two hours or less from home. Okay. When I heard travel nurse, sorry, I didn't mean to jump. I was just thinking, yeah, because sometimes they'll just send you somewhere for three months

and then you go somewhere else and then it's just kind of everywhere. But if it's close by that you can travel and get there within a day you know that within a nine to five situation then that could be possibly a different situation okay so what's your what's your question for for me and john i guess it's more so because of the change i know they're precious when they're younger and um i know it it's good to have that schedule but also at the same time I think it's a good idea to also get out of debt and another thing too is with travel nursing

it is not a consistency with it at one point there's always a need but there's but it's not like a constant this amount, this amount every single month kind of thing. So I just want to make sure that it's the right decision going forward. Yeah, for sure. Okay. So how much debt do you guys have? Um, total with everything about 90, 90. Okay. That does not include the mortgage, right? Not include the mortgage or any, um, so if what do you mean not any education not any um like loans college student loans oh how much are your student loans

oh gosh another probably 90 okay so 180 total in consumer debt yeah andrea you have to include that in your debt you can't pretend it doesn't exist. Okay. Okay. I asked you to do the same thing. How much are you guys making now a year combined? A year combined, we make about, well, I'm looking, $110,000. Okay. And how much would you make if you took travel nursing a year? I'll make $110,000 by myself plus my husband makes 45.

Okay. So yeah, you're at 155. What does your husband do? He's a police officer. Okay. Um, man, I mean, if you did this, Andrea, for two years, here's, here's what, here's where my mind went. Okay.

Cause I'm a mom with three little kids and my work, I have have travel too because we travel for events and all of that obviously I know yours will be just a few hours away from home and all of that but it still will be grueling right you have a four-hour commute possibly on some days I mean it's just gonna be longer days potentially uh potentially so for me if I'm in your position I'm like okay I know in two years of doing this it's gonna be hard it's not gonna be fun but I also am gonna be able to pay off all of our debt including the student loans and we're gonna be able to pay it all off if I do this for two years like having an end point you know I'm saying like mapping it out for you guys to say. And then if your husband's able to pick up maybe an extra job at nights. If you're home and you guys...

Working baseball games or working concerts and things like that. Yeah, working. I mean, you could be ships passing in the night, but only for a period of time. Because if you do this over a long period of time, your kids aren't going to know who you are. You're going to lose your family. Your marriage is going to be a disaster disaster you can't live like that forever but for a period of time you guys can do a lot and you have a lot of debt 180 000 so to be able to knock that out uh man as as quickly as possible like it and here's the other side of it so possible

you've got a job as an instructor which helps so you're in waco there so let's just pretend it's baylor you gotta you have an opportunity um you know part of the part of your package comes with student tuition discount right or if you're there for a long long time it comes with you know after a certain number of years that thing which is common across many colleges um i have several close buddies who were police officers who actually were veterans and they were police officers and then they went and worked at a university right as their kids were headed to college and their kids went to school either free or on a significant discount just as police officers um you could go in as a staff nurse

in 15 years when your kids are that old and get the right so there's a lot of avenues into that in the higher education environment to get jobs between you and your husband and that would end up with getting a similar or same benefit does that make sense sense? Kind of. Yeah. So I would not, I like what Rachel has to say. I really think a sprint, you owe $180,000. Let me say this another way. You're going to be infinitely more present with your kids if you don't owe anybody any money. If your body's not constantly banging on the back of your skull, letting you know that you're not safe. Got it. Is that fair? Yes.

How old are those little ones? One, four, and six. One, four, and six. Yeah. A couple of busy years will pay exponential dividends down the road. Awesome. You didn't want us to say that huh yeah i'm sorry yeah and andrea i mean and you know or maybe another option is look to see can you track can you switch maybe it's not travel nursing but is there another position somewhere that needs a nurse and you're going to make more than what you're making now i mean you

know what i mean like look at options i feel like whenever we get stuck in this tunnel, there's ever a this or that. Yes, this or that. There's always option three and four and you guys get creative together. And again, I'm so big. John says it all the time, but facts are your friends. Put numbers on paper and look because to this fear, this idea is it's just in your head and it just looms when you actually look at numbers and you map things out and you can move things you feel like you have control again where you're like okay well if we do this this if we pull this lever we'll be out of debt in three years if we pull these two levers we could be out of debt in 22 months you

know like you you can start to kind of play around and actually have a game plan and you and your husband do it together and remember it's not going to be forever. It's not gonna be forever. It's going to be for a short period of time. But that intensity and attacking it, that's what's going to show you progress. So our careers, they're, they're a big deal, John. I mean, they're a big part of, of our lives and who we are and our careers here at Ramsey Solutions. You know, we have a building full of almost 1000 people. And we talk a lot about the mission that we're on here at Ramsey Solutions of trying to change America's toxic money culture. And it makes us mad when we see people get in debt. It makes us mad when you don't have options because of what you've chosen in your past and now you're tied

up financially. We get mad when we watch, you we watch kids sign away their future to student loans. And so for us here at Ramsey Solutions, it's not just a J-O-B. It really is a mission to change lives. So if that sounds like a passion that you share, you've got to check out all the exciting roles that we have at Ramsey Solutions that we are looking to fill ASAP.

And there's never been a time better than to do work that you love. So we're looking for developers, UX designers, and writers to help us build digital products that actually change people's lives. So to see what it's like to do work that matters with us before, check out our Instagram and Facebook by searching Ramsey Careers and apply for your dream job here at ramseysolutions.com slash careers. That's ramseysolutions.com slash careers. And one important thing,

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You can also send episodes that mean a lot to you or that would mean a lot to one of your friends or family members. You can send it directly to them. Thank you so much for sharing the word on The Ramsey Show. Absolutely. We'll be back. Thank you. welcome back to the ramsey. Taking your calls this hour. I'm Rachel Cruz with Dr. John Deloney. Next up, we have Brenda in Battle Creek.

Hey, Brenda, welcome to the show. Hi, thank you. Absolutely. How can we help? Well, I recently sold a house and I have equity from that house. What do I do with it? Right now, I have it in a money market. It just sold.

I mean, that's why I haven't invested it yet. But I have a 401k. I have an IRA. And my financial advisor suggested going to a CD for this money. Why? I don't know. Are you going to use it to buy more property soon? Well, possibly. I don't know whether I'm going to use the money to maybe buy a fixer-upper and flip it.

That could be a possibility. Yeah. You know, there's so many possibilities that could happen with this money. it. That could be a possibility. There's so many possibilities that could happen with this money. I just want to make sure that I'm getting the biggest bang for the buck in the shortest amount of time. I wouldn't lose a second of sleep over that. Rachel and I were just talking about this off air. Also, put a price on peace and a price on your time.

Like you got it in a money market. Just let it sit there. What else do you have, Brenda? Do you have any debt? No. No. And where are you living now? Actually, I have a house that is completely paid for.

So everything's paid off. Amazing. And you have good cash in the bank? Well, that's from the sale of the house, but yes. Is that the only cash you have? Is this 140? As cash, yes. Okay.

So if I were you, Brenda, I mean, I would put some of the savings away. Are you single, married, kids? I'm single. Single, okay. If I were you, I would get six months of your expenses, price that out, take some of that from this 140, put aside. I would just keep that in a money market account. Then this 140, yeah. At this point, it's kind of like, okay, you're at baby step seven is what we would say when you look because you have no mortgage.

You got nothing, right? So you are just sitting on, just for fun, we'll say $100,000 for easy math. So there's three things you can do with money. You can give it, you can save it, and you can enjoy it. And at this point, Brenda, I would encourage you to do all three if there's i would give some of this um and find someone something uh a ministry a church uh or even just a non-profit something that you love a friend's kid is going to college just get some mystery check you know uh yeah find some way to to be generous with some of it um i would enjoy some

of it i don't know if you need to upgrade a car or if you want to go on a great trip or something. That's the thing, too. I have been saving my entire life, so I can't even hardly afford to let go of $10. Brenda, I'm about to send you on a vacation.

Brenda. Brenda. I don't spend money at all. You need to enjoy some of it. I don't spend money at all. Brenda, how old are you? So you can enjoy some of it. I'm 51. That's not that old. I thought you were about to say 111.

You're 51. It feels like it some days. You're halfway home. You are halfway done. Oh, my gosh. You are halfway done. I am working full time still. I'm trying to start two businesses.

I just need some direction and how to get my businesses going so I can enjoy the rest of what I have without worrying about maybe spending $10 for lunch. You, you, oh, Brenda, you are chasing peace as an external metric. You're never going to find it out there. Right.

You're not. And if you get these businesses stable, you'll enjoy that for about 11 and a half minutes. Gotcha. And then you will either have to deal with Murphy's law. Something will spin off behind you and you have to go solve it. Or you will just knock something over to have something to go fix because that's who Brenda is. You're going to buy a house that's a piece of trash and fix it up. Exactly. I got nothing else going on in my life. Right. Right. I like to stay busy. I like to stay busy

and I like to have my hands in stuff all the time. And I like to make money. I like all those things. And if we're not careful, being busy is our drink of choice. Exactly. We become alcoholics,

except it's, it's, we're addicted to busyness or addicted to the next deal. Then the next deal, then the next deal. And then that deal doesn't get us our hit anymore. So we got to go get two deals and then we start getting real itchy. And so I want you to make yourself go on a vacation.

I want you to make yourself give some money away to somebody. I want you just to bless the abs. Just, just shower somebody with, with, with giving. Okay. Right. And make yourself do it and just sit in it. Okay. Just sit in it. And if you hate it, then, um, you never have to go on a vacation again. Just give it a shot. Right. It's pretty awesome. Okay, but I am kind of looking towards maybe cutting my full-time job now. Am I going to... How much do you make now with your full-time job? About $40,000. $40,000.

Okay. And then how much do you make between the two businesses that you're spinning up? Well, I'm just starting them up, so I haven't really made anything yet. Okay. So how would you make money? That's going to be like a hobby. Okay. So how would, what kind of work do you want to do then? Um, well, it's kind of, it's kind of incorporating a couple different projects, but, it's going to be helping women that have been traumatized. I actually went through that. And when I was going through that, nobody was there.

But since that, all these women that have come to me for advice, I mean, I've been life coaching probably about 10 hours a week now. I mean, not paid, not really anything. I'm just explaining to them how I've been life coaching probably about 10 hours a week now. I mean, not paid, not really anything. I'm just explaining to them how I've been going through this. Yeah. And it's helping them. And I want to get together with these women and just know that they're not alone. That's awesome. That's amazing.

And it just, it's so empowering and so uplifting now because of where I was to where now where I am. And I can see, you know, I dug myself out of that hole. And I want to help other women to know that because when I was in that hole, I didn't see the light. Well, I hear the passion in your voice. And not to make this sound transactional, I had to ask this question, but for life coaching, is that something you think career-wise that you may start making a living off of? Like, hey, I can start counseling people or helping them or mentoring them,

but it's going to be quitting your full-time job to do that? Not really. Okay. It's just more of a gift of your heart that you just love to do it. It is. Because I don't feel like I should get paid for that. Yeah, that's fine. You know, I just don't feel like I should get paid. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you don't have to. I just want to make sure that I just don't want you to quit your full-time job because you need to eat.

You need to have an income coming in, even though you have a great, you know, $100,000 left over after your emergency fund, which is awesome. And you could live off that for a few, you know, if you want to take a break and be like, Brenda's going to chill for 60 days, you know, go chill. That's great. I think you are, you can, but I'm saying mathematically you can with your money because you have no payments and you have $100,000 in the bank. So if you wanted to, that's an option for you, which is amazing. But also I don't want you to

quit your full-time job without at least an idea of kind of where I want to go, because it doesn't sound like the two businesses that you're starting up are paying anything. You said they're basically hobbies, and then you have this mentorship thing on the side that's your heart and your passion, which you just love to do, which is great. So yeah, I would start to kind of narrow down, Brenda. Here's what I recommend you do. Nothing. This purchase for somebody with your background, this is a culmination of a season. And I want you to just sit for six months and just leave the money where it's at. Like Rachel said, I would pull that money out for your emergency fund,

pull it into an account where it goes. But just sit and let the smoke clear on this and continue living your life. Don't quit your job yet. But give yourself about six months to let the smoke clear and say, okay, what's my next move? And you're going to have a lot clearer head in a few months. It's great, Brenda. Thanks for calling. You're awesome. This is The Ramsey Show. សូវាប់ពីបានប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប្� Our scripture of the day comes from Matthew 7, 12.

So then in everything, treat others the same way you want them to treat you. For this is the essence of the law and the writing of the prophets. When you're good to others, you're best to yourself. Benjamin Franklin. I'm Rachel Cruz with Dr. John Deloney taking your calls this hour.

So you'll hear us say all the time that everyone needs a will. And it's true. It's a basic adult responsibility. And there's just no really good excuse not to have one. So you'll always hear me recommend an online will because it's the fastest, that's the most cost effective way to make sure that your will is taken care of. But also I get a lot of questions asking, okay, is a simple online will right for everyone in my specific situation? What if I need a trust? Or what if I get a lot of questions asking, okay, is a simple online will right for everyone in my specific situation?

What if I need a trust? Or what if I need a mirror will? Or what kind of powers of attorney am I going to need? Lots of questions are in people's minds. So our team actually built a quiz to help you find the right option for you. You'll get a custom results based on basic info, like if you're married or single, where you live, even the size of your estate. So you'll know exactly what you need to do in your specific situation. So to take the quiz

and find out what kind of will you need to protect your family, visit ramsaysolutions.com slash wills quiz to check it out for yourself. All right, we're going to John in Tacoma, Washington. Hey, John, welcome to the show. Hi, guys. How are you doing? We're doing great. How can we help? So my question is, my fiance and I are getting married in November and... Congratulations. Trying to figure out... Thank you. Trying to figure out how do we budget for the month of November? Because we're getting married on the 11th. So how do we budget for the month of November? Because we're getting married on the 11th.

So how do we budget for like the first 10 days and then the rest? Do we do separate budgets or do we just do one budget for us together? Because we won't be married until the 11th. John, I so appreciate your question. I really appreciate it. I was going to say something mean. Have you met her? What?

Rachel? No, no, no. Your fiancé. Y'all have talked, right? What are you saying? If you and I were hanging out, I'd be making some jokes, but I don't know you that well. Oh, my gosh.

John, you know what? You're a lovely guy. I would start it in December. And I would say start it November 1. Okay. So there you go. There you go. Ooh. There you go. Oh.

Interesting. He's like, I don't know. We give terrible advice the last time we've been on the show, John. What's the holdup, man? John, I so appreciate that, but you're so diligent. What's making, is she as, like, nerdy when it comes to the budget as you are? Does she care? Oh, no no i'm definitely

clearly hey she is lucky to have married you i know um i bet she's throwing a disco at your wedding look i i think no that's gonna be me i think i think it's a conversation and and like i say i would sit down in november and say hey here's i mean you're both gonna get paid at the beginning of november or the end of october say, here's what our budget is going to look like. And, um, we can move forward this way. Or you both take your budgets and you carry them in and you go get married and then you have your honeymoon and then you come back at the end of November and you settle in for December one. Have Thanksgiving, all that, December one, first budget. That's what I'd say. Yeah, so you're saying you've got about 15 days to just kind of run it up?

Be crazy for 15 days. You've got two weeks, John. Put the nerd one down and just go for it. Okay, because we have the account together already just for the wedding stuff. Yeah. Because I've heard Rachel talk about it in the past where you have like our account together, it's just for wedding.

And when you get married, sure. Throw everything in there. Yeah. Just to count together. So we'll have an account together. Yeah. That's great.

Yeah. Then put all the money in. I mean, you could even do that November. I mean, you're, you're 10 days out. Like when we say,

when you say I do, you combine your finances immediately. I mean like, yes. Like, we don't want people doing that when they're dating or when they're engaged and they have nine more months of planning their wedding. But you guys are 11 days out at that point. At some point, you've got to sign a lease. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So you're good. You're good. I would just take a few deep breaths, John, and I think it's going to be great. Y'all talk about it together and don't the worst thing you can do on the eve of your wedding is to go and say hey i called a couple of knuckleheads on the radio and here's what we're gonna do that's not a way to start a marriage i would go to her and say um what do you think the best way to do this is i'm thinking we settle it up for december and i don't think she's gonna care i 100 know she's not gonna care not even a little

bit she's gonna go hi John I love you and that's great cool November 1 I love you December 1 I love you yes it's great January 15th I love you even more but here here's the key you'll do it together yes yes decide together and you're great thanks John, John. I appreciate your diligence. I really appreciate your diligence. So great. Okay. Up next, we got Drew in New Hampshire. Reading's hard. Reading's hard. What's up, Drew? Hi. Thanks so much for taking

my call. What I'd like to do is just give you my vitals real quick and then I'll ask my question. I'm currently about $192,000 in debt. I get paid about $152,000 a year. $104,000 that is for my salary and $48,000 about my military retirement. I'm currently upside down on two cars collectively at about $10,000. I'm currently enrolled in Ramsey Plus. I'm on Baby Step 2 and I'm side hustling as a

door dasher. So my question is this. Should I focus on paying down those two upside down cars and then get rid of them, or should I go with the traditional smallest to largest debt? How much are you upside down? Did you say $10,000 on each? No, $10,000 collectively. Collectively, okay. Between both of them. What's the total loans on them? Oh, it's outrageous. $38,000 and

$48,000, something like that. Okay, I would honestly, Drew, I would get rid of both of them. Take a loan for the difference, just so you're not paying those payments every month. That's just a lot. You're knocking out $80,000 of debt and dropping it to $15,000. That's a huge, huge advancement.

Yep. So I would sell those. The problem is I can't take a loan. I tried doing the loan because basically I went online. This is what Dave had to say about it. He said take out a loan. But unfortunately, my credit score is so terrible right now that I couldn't take out a loan. I would have to do it.

I would have to literally do minimums on all the other debts and focus on one vehicle at a time. And that's what I was wondering. I guess I got my answer, right? It's just a focus on getting rid of those two cars. Keeping them at the 38 and the 48? Like if you just keep them as is?

No, what I'm saying is like, cause I can't take out a loan. What I was thinking is causing i just paying the minimum on the other debts and then have you gone have you gone to a local credit union drew i have not it's everything online yeah go to a local credit union and look somebody in the eye yeah i would go in person somewhere i mean and go multiple places if you get one no that they won't um you know give you this this loan for the difference go to somewhere else

somewhere else and usually credit unions local or local banks state banks uh will be better than like a bank of america or something a national especially somebody with a guaranteed um pension coming in um you've got a check coming in every month. Yeah. And when you go to an online bank, you're an algorithm. You fall into a ba-boom, ba-boom, ba-boom. Here's the output. When you go shake somebody's hand at a credit union in your local community, sometimes it's different.

It is different. It may not be, but Rachel, the broader question, let's say no, no one will help him out. This is such a massive part of his debt does he pause everything save up 10 grand go in and sell these things and they're upside down or do you just roll them into the baby steps uh i would probably yeah save up the 10 grand i think it would the amount of money he's spending every month on payments yes would would outweigh it accelerate yeah yeah but i wouldn't say oh i'm gonna go try to pay off the 38 000 loan no no we're not saying

that it's just to get rid of all cover the gap yeah exactly exactly uh but thanks for the call drew i appreciate it yikes um it it is fascinating to me always uh hearing people and thank you, Drew, too, for your service, who have kind of like really gone in with this stuff. And they're like, okay, I'm going to change this. And you hear it in their voice. I mean, I just heard it even in Drew's voice. So if you're out there, just as a word of encouragement, and you've not started this process, and you're thinking, golly, we're living paycheck to paycheck, this is how life is, just know like this show is a testimony to the fact that it doesn't have to be that way. What the world says is so normal

and how it's always going to be, that does not have to be your story. And you hear people like Drew and so many others throughout this three hours today, that man, they're making radical decisions with their life and they're actually getting control of their life. So it's a beautiful thing. John, always fun to host with you.

And thank you, America, for listening. Thanks to everyone in the booth. We got James, Ben, Zach, Andrew, Austin, Jenna. Thank you, America. We'll be back. Hey, it's John Deloney, co-host of The Ramsey Show. Did you know over 18 million people listen to The Ramsey Show every week? A lot of those people listen on one of our 600-plus radio stations across the country. To find a station near you, go to RamseySolutions.com slash show.