The Ramsey Show - App - Time Is Precious, Don't Waste It with Debt! (Hour 3)

Episode Date: January 4, 2022

Debt, Relationships, Investing, Retirement, Saving, Education, Home Buying As heard on this episode: Sign Up for a FREE trial of Ramsey+ TODAY: https://bit.ly/3rZTUAx Tools to get you started:  Debt Calculator: https://bit.ly/2Q64HME Insurance Coverage Checkup: https://bit.ly/3sXwUn5 Complete Guide to Budgeting: https://bit.ly/3utmVXi Check out more Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3fHhbVE

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. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host. This is the Ramsey Show, where we talk about your life, your money, your work, your relationships. George Campbell Ramsey Personality is my co-host today. He and I will be helping you if you want the help with any of those areas. You jump in.

The phone number, 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. Sierra starts us off this hour in Tacoma, Washington. Hi, Sierra. How are you? Better than I deserve. How about yourself? Just the same.

How can we help? Well, I've got a question. So my boyfriend is having a lot of money troubles troubles and his family is going through bankruptcy right now. And I'm wondering how I can help. Does he live at home? Yes. Okay. He's 17. 17 years old. And obviously you guys are just dating, and so I don't want you to help him financially. Are you saying more emotionally?

How do you help right now? I don't know. I just want to do something. Well, they're going through the bankruptcy process as we speak? Yeah. How old are you, Sierra? 16. Okay.

All right. yeah how old are you sierra 16 okay all right um yeah the only way you can actually help in this situation with both of you being minors and not being married is just uh love and support emotional support uh there's your it's not your responsibility or your place, and it would be inappropriate for you to put money into this scenario. So you would just care about him, care about his mom and dad. They're scared. He's scared. There's a lot of uncertainty around this. Even if they're acting like they're not scared. I've been through bankruptcy.

It's scary. And so you can just support him. Let me kind of give you a metaphor to think about, all right? How would you help him if his mom was going through chemo with cancer? I guess I'd be there for him. Exactly. You really can't help his mom the doctors have to do that whether she makes it or not it's not up to you it's up to god and the doctors in my

metaphor that i just made up here my storyline that i just made up uh obviously that's not happening at least i hope it's not um be a horrible choice of metaphors if it was. But, you know, so I think it's something similar. The difference with the money thing is it feels like there's something we're supposed to do to, like, buy food or something like that, and that's not necessary. In bankruptcy, are his mom and dad working? Do they have jobs? Yes. Okay, then they have money for food, even in bankruptcy.

Yeah. Okay. And they have money for lights and water. And depending on the type of bankruptcy and what's going on with the house, there's a strong possibility they'll be staying in the house. Yes. So we got food, shelter transportation utilities so the basic necessities of life are there but it's just um they've they've obviously made some mistakes with their money and and now

they're having they've got you know they've got a lot of pain because of it and so if you can just do that if you treat it like his mom's got cancer what would you do you just be there for him emotionally because he can't fix his parents situation and neither can you yeah and he's actually having a hard time too because um his vehicle is not working and he's trying to get it fixed but he can come to work. Okay. And what does he do when he's at work? What kind of job? He actually works for my dad. He does, we do farm work.

Oh, okay, good. Okay. What's wrong with his car? Let's see, something in the transmission broke, but it's right in the middle of the transmission, so he has to take it all apart to try to fix what it is. Any of the guys on the farm able to help with that? Um, well, it's just me and my dad and my sister and my mom. We don't really know how to do cars a whole lot. Okay. Is his income in tax still?

No. Your boyfriend? What does he make when he works at the farm? Let's see. Works two days a week, so he gets about $1,000 a month. Okay. Is he in school right now? Yes. Okay.

Well, we're both homeschooled, so. Okay. All right. That's good news. All right. Well, I think he's probably going to scrape together a little bit of money and if your dad as his employer wants to help him out a little bit with getting his transmission fixed and let him work that off that wouldn't be a bad thing i would do that possibly for one of my employees here or i might even give them a gift to help them get through a rough patch with the by buying them a used transmission or something like that i've done that kind of thing as an employer i don't know if your dad's in a position to do that you're not you're 16 you don't give him money

period okay if that's my opinion and you asked okay and i i think you've got a big heart and I think you are mature beyond your years. You carried yourself well on a radio show here calling in with millions of people listening at 16 years old. You're an impressive young woman. Yeah. And on top of that, Sierra, it sounds like he needs encouragement right now because he feels like his parents mistakes are his mistakes and that their lives are going to become his life. And so the best thing you can do is remind him that it doesn't have to be that way. And as you guys progress in your relationship, if this is a long-term thing or you guys end up getting married, you can change that cycle. You can change that family tree. It is possible.

And the fact that you're calling in gives me a lot of hope that you have a heart to want to change this. So you're doing great. Be there for him, but know that you can't change their situation yeah and if you guys if your dad again wants to step in and help him with getting the car fixed or getting a beater car or got an old pickup on the farm that you can get started and let him drive it until he can get his car fixed or some way like that to give him a little direct help on the car situation only that's fine but that's your dad's call not and it's not a and it's not requirement it would be an act of generosity on your dad an optional act on your dad's part but you're george is exactly right i think you remind him that um you know

everyone had every one of us that have parented or that have parents. And most of us have parents have the idea that we can make better decisions than they did in the next time, the next generation. And that, thank goodness, is true. Thank goodness you have the option of making better decisions than your parents did. And that's a universal human thing that we all have that ability. So I think you're going to be great. I appreciate your heart and appreciate you checking in. It's a powerful why.

A lot of the people on the debt-free stage, some of their whys were, I wanted to do things differently than how I was raised. Yep. Absolutely. Well done. Well done. This is The Ramsey Show. You've got a lot on your plate, a job, your home, your marriage, and your growing family. While you're enjoying the present, you can't help but think about your future and your finances. As you explore your options, consider Christian

Healthcare Ministries, or CHM, for your healthcare. Their generous maternity program and budget-friendly monthly programs have been a blessing to members welcoming children into their families. Visit chministries.org slash budget to see if it's right for you. Christian Healthcare Ministries is a Ramsey Trusted Provider. It's happening in one week. You have six days left to get the deal in one week the baby steps millionaire book will be shipped to your house your bookstores you will begin to see it on the shelves and we are so excited about this book it's the first book i've done in eight years the last one i did i did with my daughter rachel cruz smart money smart kids was a number one best-selling book and so we're

excited to show you how to become a millionaire using the baby steps without any question the proof is in the book we're going to prove it to you with math we're going to prove it to you with experience we're going to prove it to you with research we're going to prove it to you with experience we're going to prove it to you with research we're going to prove it to you that you can do this and that you should do this and we're going to walk you through it the baby steps millionaire book see i i lost everything had to start completely over and i i'm so dumb i had to do it twice so i know you can be a millionaire and it's an it's an important thing to have a goal with your finances so if you want to pre-order your copy of baby steps millionaires today at ramsey solutions.com you can do that it's only twenty dollars if you pre-order it and you get over a hundred dollars worth of items

added to it uh we the baby steps millionaires audio book and e-book. The Legacy Journey audio book and e-book will be sent to you immediately. The Ramsey Smart Tax filing for your federal taxes is completely free and included. And a 30-day free trial to Ramsey Plus, which sets you up for Financial Peace University. It sets you up for every dollar of the app to show you exactly how to become a baby steps millionaire. And George and Rachel and I will be doing a free live stream next Thursday, a week from this Thursday, January the 13th, called Building Wealth in 2022. Yeah, I'm really excited about this. And you're going to, you know, this is not just a pitch for the book. You're really going to show people and talk about trending topics like NFTs and crypto and nothing down

real estate and inflation. These are the things that are on people's minds right now. And so we want to address it head on and say, hey, we know this is what's going on, but here's how you can actually build wealth the right way and not listen to your broke brother-in-law tell you about how you need to put all your money in crypto. Yeah, and believe me, it's out there. And so, you know, we're going to help you. It's not just about trashing something. It's about showing you step-by-step a proven plan of how to win. It's how ordinary people became millionaires and how you can too.

It's that simple, how you can become wealthy. And not become wealthy so that you're a wealthy jerk. Become wealthy so you have options in your life, so you have dignity, so you can retire with dignity, so you can change your family tree, so you can help others with outrageous generosity. These are the reasons to build wealth. John's with us in Sacramento. Hey, John, welcome to the Ramsey Show.

Hey, Dave and George. I appreciate you guys taking my call. Sure. I'll start off with my general question, which is I have a $45,000 bonus I'll be getting this month, and I'm trying to figure out if I should put it towards our mortgage completely or divide it up into putting into some mutual funds in addition. The general information about us is my wife and I are 34 years old. We have one child and one on the way.

Yay. Um, yeah, yeah. Very exciting. Boy and a girl. Um, and our take home after taxes and putting 15% into retirement, um, after both of those is 8,500 a month. And we have a hundred thousand in the bank, uh, 70,000 in our retirement accounts. And we're debt free except

for our house and so i'm just trying to game plan um we have two hundred thousand dollars left to pay off on our house and we have a plan that we want to implement um to pay off our house in the next six years by the time we're 40 uh which we can do um but trying to figure out if i think it's your bonus that was 45 000 and you got a hundred thousand dollars in the bank and you make what you make you make 85 should you make 140 000 a year uh yes okay so let me get this straight what's the 100k doing in the bank um we were stockpiling money for a long time until we pivoted to recently to trying to put a bunch more money into our retirement instead okay well you've got 200k in the mortgage something we should change yeah you've got no debt right except the house

and you've got 145,000 do you have any um you have any money other than the $100,000 like for an emergency fund? The $100,000 would, I guess, include our emergency fund, but we also have $75,000 in retirement accounts. Yeah, so what do you think your emergency fund should be? For six months, assuming that we live slimly for that time if we needed it it would be about thirty thousand dollars okay you got 70 left plus the 45 so you're looking at 115 you could use towards this house yeah leaving you with 85k on the mortgage so you're debt-free in two years not six years sure i'm excited thinking about that.

I hadn't thought about it that way. Admittedly, I think my wife and I like stuffing a lot of money under the pillow, so to speak. But that's a habit we're currently trying to break, which is part of the reason why I'm calling it. Well, it's not a bad habit. I'll just tell you that the reason that you're doing that is the security gland down in your belly is telling you, I feel secure when I do that.

And I will tell you, as someone who's done both, either put money under the pillow or paid off my house, that paying off your house gives you much more satisfaction for the security gland than the pillow does. You know how you kind of feel if you had $200,000 under the pillow? Sure. If you'll 2X that feeling, that's the way it's going to feel if you had $200,000 under the pillow? Sure. If you'll 2X that feeling, that's the way it's going to feel when you pay off your house. Paying off your house is even more cool for your security gland than your pillow is.

That's what I'm saying. Yeah, yeah, for sure. You can't know that until you do it, but that's coming for you. I can see that in your future, and that's what i want for you so that you can go become very wealthy now you need to start putting 15 of your income away into retirement steady as a part of your 401k but that's a part of a budget not a part of a lump sum thing you said you're already doing that and we started doing that yeah we started doing that a couple years ago oh i missed that i apologize i'm sorry i'm sorry yeah so i'm with

george i'm with george let's put a hundred yeah let's put 120 130 000 or something like that on this house and then let's line up and knock off that other 70 grand making 140 uh i don't know two years you're debt free right yeah and you got in the, you're debt-free, right? Yeah. In the meantime, you're sitting on 50 grand with no payments in the world, and you make 140. Your life's pretty dadgum good, man. You're doing well. Way to go.

Oh, and the baby's on the way. Woo-hoo! Yeah, life is great. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, not too shabby, that's for sure. Now, I will tell you this. If you pay off your house and you hate being debt-free, you can go get a mortgage.

They'll let you. Yeah, so I've heard from many. I think there's a little – you can get paralyzed with all the decisions. Well, I could do this, and I could put it in mutual funds, and I could do this. And what I love about the baby steps is it just filters everything and gives you this clear view of how to approach money. And for me, that's pay off the house first. And then you can invest. Yeah, that's exactly right.

And he's got a great question. And your point about the baby steps is this. It is the fastest, easiest way to become a millionaire, which is the underlying question. Not that I need to be a millionaire, okay? But the fastest, easiest way to wealth, okay? So that I can do all the things that wealth will do, like we were talking about a minute ago. But the fastest, easiest way is important. If the fastest, easiest way was put some in mutual funds, I would do that.

What's the fastest, easiest, surest, most proven way proven way 15 of your income into retirement be funding your kids college fund baby step five six is pay off your house as soon as the house is paid off max out all your retirement and you can save like a crazy person and you've got all kinds of cash flow and wiggle room in your life to do that's what people not only have enjoyment but also do incredible investing. Yeah, a lot of people don't think about the fact that if you don't have a house payment, then you have all of the cash flow. And with all of that, you can invest all of it if you want to.

And all of it's like all of it. And then you can become a millionaire times two or three. You know how fast you become a millionaire without a house payment? Oh my God, the math is mind-boggling. Zero to 60. It's the fastest, easiest, most sure way to wealth to follow these baby steps. That's why we wrote Baby Steps Millionaire, to go with the total money makeover with financial peace. It's this path that is very clear and very proven.

And we get to talk about it every day this is the ramsey show George Campbell Ramsey personality is my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. In the lobby of Ramsey Solutions on the debt-free stage, Stephen and Casey are with us. Hey, guys, how are you? Hi, Dave. Doing great. Welcome. Where do you guys live? Arlington, Texas.

All right. Welcome to Nashville. And all the way here to do a debt-free scream. How much have you paid off? $180,000 in three years, 11 months. Woo! Love it. Love it, love it. What was your range of income during that time? Started out, we were around $120,000, and then we peaked a little over $170,000, and

we backed off a little bit, and we're down to about $150,000 now. Excellent. What do you guys do for a living? I'm a firefighter. Uh-huh. I am a nurse, but now staying home mostly with our babies. do for a living? I'm a firefighter. I am a nurse, but now staying home mostly with our babies. Ah, there's the back off a little bit. And you had the opportunity to put some wood on the fire, I'm sure, and work some OT lately. Yes. No

question about that. And that helped push this through. What kind of debt was the 180? Well, this one was on me. We had a Home Depot credit card. Student loans. We paid off a vehicle, new windows that we put on the house, and then we paid off... The house. The house. Woo! Looking at you guys. Well done. So fabulous.

Congratulations. Man, that is neat, neat, neat. I love it. Well, congratulations. We're proud of you. Very cool. What started this journey three months and 11 years ago? We, by accident, had a true $0 budget.

At the end of the month, we had no money. And I was always moving money back and forth to cover the bills because the bills and the paychecks never lined up. And so I figured that the obvious problem was we weren't making enough money. So I was bouncing around on YouTube trying to figure out how to make more money I was looking at doing rental homes and that just didn't sound right and then I kind of sort of landed on this weird bald guy on the internet who was talking about paying off your debt and I just started binge watching your videos wow wow just like that okay it had been slowly building for us um we just kept moving money and i was always calling him and saying are we okay if i go to the grocery store

this week do we need to wait and it was literally paycheck to paycheck and i had been out of nursing school i was working more and more shifts yeah you got big time careers you're making a hundred thousand bucks plus spending time away from our babies and yet the math was not at i'm like okay we should be adding money not taking money away and it's not adding up and the moment that really got me was i called him one day i said i need to go to the store and buy groceries it was a tuesday and he's like hold on a second he did the math and he said no you're gonna have to wait till friday And that just as a mom just really hit me hard. I'm like, I need to buy food for our babies. That's not okay.

This is not okay. And for me, it stemmed from a childhood where money was always a stress in our house. And that really hit those security buttons hard. And I was like, I'm not going to do this with my children. Like something has to change. And he came home and he's like, I found this guy and I think we're going

to get out of debt. And I said, okay. And he goes, but I had a speech. I had the whole thing planned out. And literally walked through the door and said, we should pay off our debt.

She goes, let's do it. So you're ready to fight. Here's why we need to do this. He's ready to convince. He had a persuasive speech laid out. He'd been practicing it at the fire hall. Absolutely. I love it.

Wow. And you were like, no, I'm ready. We're good. Let's go. It was game on at that point. We paid off the Home Depot credit card that day. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. Yeah.

Wow. And we binge watched YouTube like there's no tomorrow. Yeah. And that was the only place you connected to us? We got the book. We read the book. And, I mean, literally, we would put the kids to bed every night, and we'd say, you ready to get your DDD?

And we'd call it our Daily Dose of Dave. And we would just, I mean, it was like we couldn't get enough information, and we just learned from everybody else and from what you said. And, I mean, it was just, I mean, we still play the podcast in our kitchen when we're cooking dinner. Our 10-year-old walks by the other day and he goes, budget, budget, budget. That's a pretty good impression. I said, that's right, buddy. That's right, man.

Change your little family tree. That's right. This food you're eating here, buddy, this is because we've been doing this. Yeah. I like it. Well done, guys. Woo-hoo-hoo. this is because we've been doing this yeah i like it well done guys all right what advice have you got to someone who's right where you were it's tuesday they want to buy groceries and they look at the account and say we got to wait till friday

when the check comes in i've had it what do they need to do what are the things you guys did you say we did these three things and it made all the difference well the first thing is is that being humble and admitting that the way you've been doing things is wrong i think that's the toughest part is people don't like to admit they're wrong and then it might seem like the plan is so far out like for us it was four years and four years in the future seems like it's forever away but four years in the past seems like it was yesterday it really isn't that long that's good oh that's a good line yeah it does i mean that's that is true uh times go really really fast um i mean i'm getting old it's like decades feel like they just went by you know because your grandbabies are

growing up now you're going oh my gosh that's it well i look at that house over there and i go i remember that house when i was getting wait a minute that house is 50 years old that's ridiculous you know that kind of stuff it goes fast the past the past goes fast uh and you're gonna live the four years anyway you might as well do something with it exactly yeah so so the the keys are it's gonna go it's not as hard as it sounds it's gonna go it's gonna go faster than you think it's going to go, it's not as hard as it sounds. It's going to go faster than you think it's going to. What's the other keys? It's a head game. You know, there was nothing that anybody could have said to either of us to make us stop

because we both were in agreement, and that's all we needed was each other. Nothing's going to stop them. Well, the crazier thing for us is, you know, like any couple, we have our arguments. We never really fought over money, but, you know, we'd have our fights, and then when we were on this program and we were just hammering it, like any couple, we have our arguments. We never really fought over money, but we'd have our fights. And then when we were on this program and we were just hammering it, we didn't fight about anything. We were on board with anything with the kids, anything with the house. It strengthened our marriage.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, you've got a common goal. And we said, okay, we're going to set this aside for the common goal. We're going to live like no one else so later we can live and give like no one else. And now when people make fun of me for having five kids i'm like yeah but we have a pay-for house and they're going to college free so you know house and everything she just dropped the mic on all of them yeah there's that gotta answer for that do you yeah come at me bro

how you like me now so what's the house worth uh 370 way,000. Woo! Way to go. We're just shy. He ran the numbers, you want to say? Oh, yeah. We did our net worth before we came here, and we're almost baby step millionaires. $975,000. All right! $975,000? Yeah, we're right there.

Oh, we're giving you a pass at $975,000. We're calling it. You didn't know, but the stock market went up today. So your mutual funds went up $25,000 today. There you go. I just declared it. Congratulations. Thank you.

It's incredible. Paid for house, baby steps, millionaires. How old are you? I'm 43. I'm 38. And five kids. Five kids. Wow.

And a dog. And a dog. You can't do it with a large family. Dave Ramsey stuff doesn't work with a large family. Shut up! They just took away America's excuses right there. You guys just mic dropped on all of them, man. This is so great.

Well done. Thank you. So how does it feel to be a millionaire at 40 years old? It's surreal. There's no stress. Well, except for five kids. There's no money stress. Badger, badger, badger.

Yeah, that kid. That one. We've kind of been so gazelle intense. I told them it's like that movie Finding Nemo when they finally escape from the fish tank badger badger badger yeah that kid that one yeah we've kind of been so gazelle intense i told him it's like that movie finding nemo when they finally escape from the fish tank and they're all floating in the ocean in the little bags they're like now what it's a great analogy now what do we do in the ocean so fun so fun well well done you guys we're very proud of you

we've got a copy of baby steps millionaires to celebrate that you hit that milestone as well an advanced copy because book actually comes out next week and we'll give you a copy you are truly the epitome of a baby steps millionaire very very well done good good stuff and uh we're proud of you heroes excellent job copy of total money makeover for you to give away and disrupt someone else's world that's in the middle of this and needs their world disrupted. That's what we're here for, to cause a holy ruckus. That's our plan around here. So, well done.

You guys are amazing. I'm honored to talk to you. Stephen and Casey Fort Worth, Texas, $180,000 paid off in three years and 11 months, making $120,000 to $170,000. House and everything. And, oh, by the way to $170,000. House and everything. And oh, by the way, Baby Steps Millionaires. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one.

We're debt-free! And you're driving along the road listening to this wondering if you too can do this and the answer george you can simple as that pretty simple answer this is the ramsey show is The Ramsey Show. Thank you. Our scripture of the day, John 15, 16, You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, and so whatever you ask in my name the father will give you dale carnegie said develop success from failures discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success amen and amen george camel ramsey personality is my co-host today

jonathan is in Houston, Texas. Hey, Jonathan, welcome to The Ramsey Show. Thank you to the both of you. It's a good afternoon. Afternoon. How can we help? Yes, sir. So recently, my wife and I just got married back in December, which is great.

And to give you some context, we are both duck-free. We have a fully funded emergency fund, and we're following the baby steps, which is great. And we live with my parents. So as you can see, we are motivated to buy a home. We want to stick within the parameters that you provide, being the 15-year fix and the fourth of our take-home. And we are looking around, but we find ourselves not finding a home that fits our needs. So we've inquired about a grant that's being offered here in the Houston area, and with me being an employee of a national bank, that comes along with some perks.

But even with all that stuff, we're still not finding ourselves with a home that we want to fall in love with and make that big purchase. How old are you? My question to you is, what do we do? How old are you? I am 26, and my wife is is 29 and what's your household income uh gross is about 120 okay um and how much do you have saved for a down payment uh not much uh, we have a fully funded emergency fund. I would say maybe after that I would have just under $10,000 possibly. So we wouldn't have enough for a 20% down payment, maybe not even 10%.

And like I said, we are living with our parents in the meantime. I got you. With my parents, I should say. I got you. And you just got married the other day? December of last year or this year, December 14th. Yeah, like two weeks ago. Yeah, something like that, yeah.

All right. I'm just making sure I know which December. Okay. All right. I don't know that it matters, but I'm just curious. Okay. So, well, George, you can chime in. You just got married.

What would you do? I mean, you got married a couple years ago, right? Yeah, I would. If this is going to be a year or two away, I going to move out and rent somewhere that's my that's my take um that's just going to give me a feeling like i'm actually married and like an adult and stuff and if it's a real short period of time and you guys need this it's okay but i don't think a long-term plan is to live with the parents so how fast could you save up 20% on a house that you guys like? Because I heard you say fall in love with,

and it feels like you're looking for this forever home. And the truth is it's just a box. And find something that suits your needs, that you really, really need, but you don't need to find this dream home right now at 26, newly married. Got it. Well, one of the things with the grant that we're getting is that we have to stay in the home for five years. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop, stop, stop whoa stop stop stop stop stop stop what kind of grant it's a grant that's

being provided here for houston residents it's a for first-time homebuyers correct it's a fifteen thousand dollar grant i'll pass and it doesn't affect i'm sorry i'll pass no thank you okay all righty then well anyway, anyway. You know why? You know why? Because you've got to live in the house five years. You're 26 years old. You've been married 20 minutes. It's impossible for you to plan exactly what's going to happen for five years.

For a lousy 15 grand, you make 120. You're going to let these people control your life? No, thank you. The tail's wagging the dog man so if i'm you i'm looking for an apartment right now get a cheap apartment and save money for a year and like a crazy person set up your life and then go make your down payment on your house the truth is there's no rule that says you have to own a house as soon as you get married and i know you guys feel like well this is gonna make us feel like adults.

But right now you're living with your parents. So go rent for a year, figure out what area you want to live in, what house you want, and be diligent about saving up that down payment. I want you guys to save up 20% and avoid the PMI. And you know the parameters, so you're going to follow that. And that's going to really help you guys get on the right foot with this marriage, even if that's two years from now. I'm okay with you renting for two years if it means getting into a house the right way yeah so guys let me just tell

you we work with all there's a lot of government grant things out there and uh there are a few times that a government grant has a few enough strings attached to it that it's okay to take it but when we hear government grant all of us initially until you've had a bad experience or two with them uh me uh until you've had that experience you you would say oh it's just free money but it's free money that comes with handcuffs and shackles the dumbest one i ever got involved with was i was doing renovations in my 20s when i was buying houses buying selling houses and i bought a historic house in a historic area one of these re-gentrified areas we're gonna you know turn the hood into a neighborhood again that kind of thing and the beautiful old home beautiful old home and there was a historic grant available

from the hysteric society i mean the historic society i thought you got that one wrong but i realized it was a it was five thousand dollars which in in the in in 1980s five thousand dollars was some money it was more than 15 000 right and so but the grant stipulated that the house had to have been put back the way it was originally built to be historically accurate great that's what i was planning to do anyway then codes comes along and says you have to put a rail on the front porch because since this house was built we figured out people fall off the front porches and break their face so you cannot have a front porch this high without a thing. And I said, great.

Go tell the Hysteric Society that you're requiring this. And I could not get these two government people. That was nice. I cleaned that up. That was on the fly. These two government people to come into agreement and in alignment. Because I didn't care whether they put a rail up or not. I just wanted the free $5,000 dollars i spent so much time and energy i

finally just told him stick it put the rail on the porch and said i don't need your hysteric society money and you guys are nuts you're requiring something that the law doesn't allow in order to give a grant now that's just asine. But that's pretty typical when you get involved in government grants, and you're going to get your foot caught in the golden handcuffs, or your ear, or your neck, or something, when you're screwing with these dadgum grants. And occasionally there's one that doesn't have enough nooses built onto it that it's worth doing.

But, man, I'll tell you what, we've looked at them in business. We've looked at them. Remember PPP loans? Oh, yeah. Yeah, it was a grant, wasn't it? No, it wasn't. It was a loan. And some of you are paying that puppy back now after we told you not to take it.

And everybody got real quiet about that whole subject, didn't they? Nobody talking about that much. But we were yelling and screaming in the microphone not to take that, that they were going to grab you guys around the throat, about that whole subject didn't they nobody talking about that much but we you're yelling and screaming in the microphone not to take that that they were going to grab you guys around the throat and that's exactly what's happened to a bunch of you business people out there you now have a big butt federal loan so the lesson is uh if it has an if or a but attached to it it's a government it's a government but that's what it is yeah if the government if someone says i'm from the scariest words in the english language i'm from the government and i'm here to help you know that's that's that's scary language right there that should scare the p

wadden out of you man so enough me railing on the poor young guy he's just trying to get a house but i'm not picking on you jonathan you're a good man and congratulations on your marriage go get you an apartment save you some money buy a house son good man. Congratulations on your marriage. Go get you an apartment. Save you some money. Buy a house, son. Don't try to trick your way into this. And for God's sake, George is right. They're a stupid house.

There's one on every corner. Get you a house that you like. But there's no such thing as a forever home because you're forever changes. You're forever changing. You know, you had a forever home until you got two dogs. Now it's not a forever home anymore. Then we got three kids. Oh, my God, it's for sure had a forever home until you got two dogs. Now it's not a forever home anymore. Then we got three kids. Oh, my God, it's for sure not a forever home.

And then we're going to move again into a bigger house and call that our forever home. But it's not really a forever home because your life changes and goes through seasons. So you're going to go through seasons of change with your house. That's just very few people buy a home. I mean, statistically, it's got to be less than 5% and stay in it their entire lives. Yeah. It's just almost no one. But newlyweds, they get starry-eyed about the home buying process. Exactly.

Exactly. And we want you to get a house. We just don't want the house to get you. So there you go. We certainly don't want the government to get you. Oh, that puts this hour of the Ramsey Show in the books. Thanks, George Camel. Thanks, James and Kelly in the booth.

I'm Dave Ramsey. We'll be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus. This is James Childs, producer of The Ramsey Show. Did you know The Ramsey Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world? Subscribe or follow today wherever you listen to podcasts.