The Ramsey Show - App - We Left Corporate Jobs To Travel With Our Family in an RV (Hour 3)

Episode Date: February 3, 2021

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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, this is the Dave Ramsey Show, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studio, where America hangs out to have a conversation about your life and your money. I'm Chris Hogan, and co-hosting along with me this hour is Anthony O'Neill, and I can't tell you how excited we are to have a conversation with you. So if you're out there and you've got a question about dealing with student loans, dealing with family members and money, or you want to build wealth, you want to get out of debt, you want to get more serious this year about your money than you ever have before, then this is the show to call. I want you to pick up the phone and give us a shout. 888-825-5225. Again, shout. 888-825-5225. Again, that's 888-825-5225.

We are ready to talk to you. All right, Ayo, you ready for this? Man, let's do it, man. All right. All right, listen, we're going to go to the phones because that's what we do. Anthony and I both have a lot of words, and we're willing to talk to you and help you. Ayo's got more than me, but we want to help you get to where it is you want to go. So we're going to get on the line here.

We got Lindsey calling in from Denver. Lindsey, how are you? I'm doing great. How are you? Oh, we're focused and not finished. What's on your mind today? So my husband and I are 27 and 28. Millennials.

Three years ago. Yes, very much so. Three years ago, we decided to downgrade our lifestyle and move into a motor home to live in an RV with our four children. And we've been able to pay off all of our debt. We still owe $22,000 on the RV, but we view it as a mortgage and we pay double what we're supposed to every month so my question for y'all is we um have sixteen thousand dollars in our savings fifteen hundred dollars in our main and we can save twenty seven hundred dollars a month my question is in six months we're going to have thirty thousand dollars more what do i do with that okay so other than paying off my RV, that's been obvious. Okay. So, outside, is the RV the only loan you have? It's literally the only thing we pay on.

Okay. And so, well, hold on. You said pay on. Now, Lindsay, you're throwing me a curveball here. Is that the only debt you have? Yes, sir. Okay. All right.

Because people have debt. They just don't pay on it. So, that's why I'm double checking. No, all the debt. What's y'all's household income? My husband makes about $70,000 a year. What's he do for a living? He's a pipe liner.

He's a what owner? A pipe fitter. Oh, a pipe fitter. Okay, got you. And so are you all traveling in this RV or is just living in it? So my husband was in the military and he's currently in an apprentice program. The military pays for his school. So as soon as he graduates in May, we'll be able to travel, which is the plan to chase the powerhouses to make even more money.

I just want to get a handle on the money that we're making now. So that way, when we are making half a million dollars in a year, we be able to yes be able to move forward yes ma'am so lindsey are y'all comfortable with living in this rv with your four kids like honestly um so i'm a minimalist and i have very few things my children kind of follow suit in that ichooled them and I have since they were little. So I personally really enjoy the everyone together lifestyle. Of course, I would love to have a big house and all of those things back in Arkansas where I'm from. But right now, my family that my husband and I made is more important than having a house and having debt and all of those types of things. Good. Hey, what are the ages of the kids?

Nine, six, three, and two. Oh, wow. Okay. Ooh, you're busy. You guys are busy. Yeah. We're done now, so that's good. Well, you know, I talk to people on the Chris Hogan Show about making sacrifices for stuff

that you're serious about, and you guys definitely did that. Yeah, you sold your house. You're living in an RV with the four kids. You're homeschooling. Your husband is a pipe fitter right now that's in an apprenticeship. So you said, what do you do with the money? You got $16,000 saved up and you owe $22,000 on this RV. Here's the reality.

Right. Okay. Point blank, Lindsay. You are going to want to pay off this RV. Yeah. Like, yeah, get this thing paid off. But here's the other thing. You're going to need an emergency fund ASAP because you're driving your home, right?

So, I mean, you know, anything that's drivable has repairs. Homes have repairs. So, you guys will want to be very intentional after you pay it off about being intentional with the budget to build up that emergency fund, three to six months of expenses. That way, if there is a repair or something that's necessary, you got the money to handle it. Yeah, and I want to commend her. You know, I'm not a huge fan of RVs. I'm going to be real, just to live in them.

But I hear her heart. I hear her purpose. Right. And I can respect that. Yes. You know what I'm saying? I can rock with that. Like, hey, yeah, one day I want to have this,

but I want to make some sacrifices with my family, and I'm a minimalist, so I love living in small spaces. So I agree with you, Hogan. Pay off the RV, stack up this money, and enjoy your future. But eventually you will need a house with teenagers. Yeah, and you follow the baby steps. So you've got your fully funded emergency fund. You guys are going to, after that's in place, you're going to want to start investing 15% toward retirement.

Then you guys are going to start saving for college for the four kids. And, you know, you're going to be putting money away in that realm. When you get ready to buy a home, you want to do a 15-year fixed rate mortgage. I'd love for you to put 20% down, but 10% is okay. You don't want to get a payment that's more on your mortgage, more than 25% of your take-home pay. And so you following through the plan, young lady, is going to put you all on the path. Now, Lindsay, I don't know if y'all have a TV or not.

You said you're minimalist. But if you've got access to the internet, I want to gift you Ramsey Plus. I want to put you all, give you an opportunity. Kelly will get your information. You guys can plug in. Inside of Ramsey Plus, you're going to get a lot of things. You're going to be able to utilize EveryDollar, the best budgeting tool on the planet. You're going to be able to use the debt tracker.

So you're going to be able to track when you guys are going to pay off this RV, when it becomes yours for sure. And you're going to get guidance from me about investing. You're going to get guidance from all of us about different areas of life. So Ramsey Plus, you're going to be able to check it out for free. Those of you that are out there listening, you go, well, I want to be involved. I want to check it out. Go to RamseyPlus.com.

Just Ramsey Plus. Ramsey, Pcom. Yeah. Just RamseyPlus. Ramsey, P-L-U-S dot com. You can check it out and see all the benefits and all the things that are going on. You know what, Hogan? Talking about, you know, Ramsey Plus, and we've learned that within Ramsey Plus, it saves marriages. And so talking about marriages, marriages across the country could all use a date night right about now, an evening to come together and focus on what matters most connection, communication and intimacy, intimacy.

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All right, you all stay tuned. We're going to come back. We're going to take a break. But listen, we're going to talk about your life and your money. We're here for you. Pick up that phone, 888-825-5225. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. If current times have shown us anything, it's that the least expected events can and will happen, and we have to deal with it. That's why everyone who has a family counting on them needs term life insurance. For over 20 years, the only company I've recommended is Zander Insurance.

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Great rates and a simple process mean there's no excuse to not get this done, people. Welcome back to the Dave Ramsey Show, where America hangs out to have a conversation about their life and money. We're here for you, and we're excited to talk to you. So if you have not picked up that phone yet, I want you to. The number is 888-825-5225. Again, that's 888-825-5225. We'd love to be able to talk to you about the things that are on your mind. We're going to go back to the phone, and we're going to go all the way to Traverse City, Michigan. We've got Kate on the line.

Kate, how are you? I'm good, Chris. Thanks. How are you? Oh, doing fantastic. How can we help you today? Good. Well, my husband and I are both millennials, and we just went through a major transition in our lives.

Oh, what happened? We left our corporate jobs in California. We sold our home, and we became entrepreneurs and traveled in an RV with our four kids for two and a half years. Are you serious? Yeah. Did you hear the previous call? I did, and I was cracking up. I was like, oh, wow, we're right there with them.

We just did that, and now we've landed in Michigan. Okay, so you have four kids as well. Yes, we do. What's the ages? Seven, eight, eight, and ten. Wow. Wow. Okay.

My goodness, how interesting. Okay, so you all traveled. You did the thing. What baby step are you all on? We're investing. So we're debt-free. We spent our 20s working really hard and paying off around $68,000 in debt. Wow, fantastic.

Yeah, then we hit our 30s, and we're in corporate America with a bunch of side hustles. We were on like career two or three between the two of us. Right. And we've always been entrepreneurs and knew that that was the next step, but we had to get debt-free first. We just weren't willing to take that risk to take on, you know, starting a business with debt. Okay.

So when we sold our home, we hit the road and traveled for two years and lived below the poverty line because we could travel for almost free in our RV and stay at campgrounds and whatnot. And we built my husband's business that way while we were on the road and could kind of learn some lessons without the financial consequences. What kind of business is he in? What's the line of work? He's a, yeah, he's an IT engineer. Okay. Gotcha. All right. So you all landed in Michigan. What's your question? That's right. So I am a stay-at-home mom.

I have a lot of experience, and I can go out and double our income, go out and get a job and double our income. But we really value home education, raising our kids, and focusing on that. Okay. Our goal is financial independence, and we're just in this kind of spot between a rock and a hard place trying to decide at what point do I take on additional work or do I sacrifice early retirement for staying home with the kids? And we're just trying to find some advice and guidance and how to make that really difficult decision.

Well, let me ask you this. That's a great, great question because it shows you and your husband are thinking forward. Are you homeschooling the kids? Yes. Alright, so you are currently homeschooling. What is your plan

on that? Are you trying to get them to middle school, get them to high school? How far do you plan to homeschool? We are open to it as long as they are willing. It's a family decision. And so they've all expressed that they might be interested in going to public school or private school and high school. But until then, they're really convinced that they want to be home, which we love.

But we're very efficient. So I also have time in my day. Kate, you listen to me here. I like that you're trying to be home, which we love. Kate, Kate. But we're very efficient. So I also have time in my day. Kate, you listen to me here. I like that you're trying to be democratic. I like that you let the little kids raise their little hands and everything, and they feel like they pulled the lever to vote. How does Kate feel about it? Are you enjoying homeschooling or no?

I love it very much. Okay, okay. Having a career and walking away from that. That's right. It's tough. It is. You know, to walk away from money. It is.

And I'm going to tell you something. Yeah. Just as you all navigate. Here's why I've got confidence in you. What's your husband's name? Jason. I've got confidence in Kate and Jason because you all traveled for two years with four kids and an RV.

Okay. You all can do anything. Yeah, we're scrappy. You are scrappy. And you made sacrifices for the sake of what's in the best interest of the family. And so here's the reality. You and your husband, the kids, I like that you include them and hear their feelings. This is a decision for you and your husband.

And what I'm saying is for you guys to sit down and to look at the options and the time frame maybe this is something that you say you know what do we try a year of them in public school um while you work right but but but it's a matter of talking through the options first but then understanding the time frame and you guys making a collective decision of this k Kate, here's the thing. Don't pour cement. What I'm saying is you're not making a final decision that's going to have to stay that way forever and ever. I want you to think like a scientist.

Just like you all tried, scientists try experiments all the time. And if the experiment fails, they say the experiment failed, not them. So you guys did the experiment of the RV, and it worked. So now you think of what's the next thing we're going to do for the sake of the family's financial future? And the kids going to school for a year or for a half a year to see how it goes could be an experiment that you try. I like it. I like it, Hogan. And I just want to commend y'all.

Man, this is interesting seeing millennials do this. I personally like the fact that you are asking your kids you know their thoughts i agree with hogan that that that the decision is on you and your husband um but make sure that you do include your kids into the conversation because it is their life too um but i definitely want to include you in that part but to answer your question will will this lifestyle um get you to where you want to be? I think you and your husband have to answer that question. You know, Hogan is known for saying retirement is not it's not about a particular age. It's about a particular.

You know, how much money do you and your husband want coming in on a monthly basis so that you all can retire, inspire, retire with joy, with peace. And I think that's the conversation you and your husband need to sit down and ask yourself today. Like, hey, what is that number? Is it 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, whatever that number is. Then y'all backtrack to what do we need to be doing today to get there? Yeah. And Kate, here's the deal.

How old are you all? I'm 34 and he's 35. Okay. Now listen here. Okay. You're young. Yeah. You got a lot of time.

So even if you were trying to get the kids up into middle school or into high school, your earning potential is not dwindling and you've got an opportunity. Homeschooling is serious work. I have no shadow of a doubt. But for you to brainstorm what is the goal, if the goal is spending time with the kids and homeschooling, okay, it's great, but which one is the priority? And that can change.

You reserve the right to make that adjustment. You could work from home and bring in extra income now, right? It would be like taking on two jobs because you're already, you know, doing the full-time job of being the teacher and navigating with four kids. So you and your husband getting on the same page, beginning to set some goals, as my brother used to tell me, be prayerful and careful, honey, about the choices that you make and the direction that you want to go. So thank you so much.

I really appreciate you calling in. You know, A.O., people ask me all the time, okay, is it too late for me, right? Or are we going to be able to do it? And you're right. I do tell them it's not an age. I don't care how old you are. If you've got breath in your lungs, you've got an opportunity to improve. You've got an opportunity to impact your financial situation and positioning right now. But you've got to make choices and you've got to make some decisions to get moving in the right direction. And so if you're out there and you're wondering, well, how much do I need to retire? Or what do I got to do?

I've got a free tool called the Retire Inspired Quotient, the RIQ. If you go to ChrisHogan360.com and click on the RIQ page, it's going to walk you through and help you figure out what you want to do in retirement. How many years? How much you have saved. It's going to give you this vision and it's going to walk you through and help you have more clarity. And if you're out there and you are a millennial, you can also send this link to your parents to help them as well. No, and millennials need to take this because, I mean, when you first came out with this, Ogun, I did it.

I sat down with my financial advisor and said hey how do we do this this is where I want to be at and I got all the information I think the younger you are great man let's do it but it doesn't matter if you're in your 50s still take advantage of it you sure do and also I want to tell you all uh AO he's got some recent episodes out I already told you he talked to Matthew McConaughey about his success. But he's also got one where he's having a discussion about why you're not experiencing happiness in your life. This is A.O. He's got a popular online series called The Table as well as a podcast.

So you can go find it wherever you listen to podcasts. Go check him out. But also he's on the YouTube. He's on there styling and profiling, so check him out there as well. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. Welcome back. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. To Blinds.com, you get a 100% satisfaction guarantee. It means that if you mismeasure or you pick the wrong color, they're going to remake your blinds for free.

You're going to get free samples. You're going to get free shipping. And with the new promos that they run every month, you'll save even more. You want to use the promo code RAMSEY to get the best deal. Obviously, rules and restrictions apply. A.O., what's the question today? Today's question comes from Deshawn in Utah. He says, what is your opinion on self-defense

insurance? I am paying only $10.95 a month and this gives me access to an on-call lawyer if I ever have to use my firearm for self-defense. There is no amount cap on this, so the plan is good for both the criminal and for

criminal and civil trials in the event of having to defend oneself is this a wise type of insurance it's a waste of money in my time in my my opinion yeah deshaun i mean you look at this and you you want to ask yourself in that kind of situation where you are dealing with your life, because obviously discharging a firearm and having to defend yourself, any of those situations can be 20 years or more in prison if convicted. And so this is your life. I don't want a $10 attorney. I don't want to deal with a cut rate situation. Now, here's what I'm going to advise you to do. I'm not an insurance professional.

My licenses are retired. But I would want you to sit down and talk to your insurance professional. Talk and get some more details. You might even want to have a consult with an attorney on here because you want to dig into this and you really want to understand what it is you're dealing with. Unfortunately, a lot of these programs that I've looked into with these types of insurances, Deshaun, they work as a reimbursement program,

which means you foot the bill and then they'll look to see if they approve if they're going to reimburse. Now, I know, don't you email me, don't text me and tell me, Hogan, no, no, these are paying up front. I hear you. But you want to understand the magnitude of what it is you're getting versus the value. And so, to me, I think you're better off engaging and talking with an attorney to dig into the

details to really understand what this is. I would not buy this. I'm point blank going to tell you. If I'm in your shoes, I'm not doing this, because I think it's going to give you a false sense of security, and it's just not there. So that's the bottom line. I agree. All right, here we go.

Getting back to the phones. 888-825-5225 is the number to call. We'd love to be able to talk with you. All right, we're going to – oh, I've been here. Bend, Oregon. Lindsay, how are you? Hi, I'm fine. Thanks for taking my call. We'd love to be able to talk with you. All right, we're going to, oh, I've been here, Bend, Oregon. Lindsay, how are you? Hi, I'm fine. Thanks for taking my call. Yes, ma'am. How can we help you today? Well, my husband and I recently, this past summer, moved to the United States after living and teaching overseas with our family for 15 years. Oh, wow. And yeah, we also had early retirement in mind. And yet, with COVID and everything, I ended up getting a job here in beautiful Bend.

And we are now faced with trying to buy a house in an insane market and really just wondering what to do. Should we get a mortgage in this market? We do have savings and jobs. What kind of mortgage should we get? We were originally planning to possibly pay cash in a different state, but that doesn't seem reasonable here in Bend. Okay. So tell me this, what's your all's household income? It's about 140,000. Okay. And do you all have any debt right now, Lindsay? We are debt free and we're significantly invested in index funds. Okay. Very good. What, uh, uh, how, how much do you have saved for a down payment on a home? Well, we currently have enough cash probably for 20%. We have about close to $300,000.

What's the average house? Yeah, what's the average house in Bend, Oregon you're looking for, Lizzie? Yeah, the type of house that we're looking for is probably going to be $700,000 to $800,000 at least. Now, what's the average house going for in that city? Yeah, I think the average is closer to $500,000. It's gone up 15% even since we've been here since July. Okay. Did you all own homes when you were overseas?

No, we did not. Okay. So this is where the significant savings came from, correct? Yes. So you want to know. Okay. And you keep saying in an expensive city and the way you're saying Bend, Oregon, you don't sound pleased about being there. Do you like it? No, we do love it. It's gorgeous. It's beautiful. We're just surprised, I think, by the housing market and, of course, kind of in shell shot from COVID. Right. No, I can understand. COVID has brought many headaches and heartaches in that process. But here's the thing.

I don't want you all to relent and just buy just because of that market. I think you all have shown having being able to live overseas and live and thrive for 15 years, you all have the ability to make decisions. You are masters of your domain to be able to make a decision about where it is you want to be. And if that's too expensive, do you look for jobs elsewhere in a cheaper market, right? And I don't want you to sound like you're having to just give in and do this. I want you all to be active participants having to just give in and do this. I want you all to be active participants in your future. So is this where we want to be? Is this where we want to buy?

Because when you buy the house, then be in Oregon, Lindsay, you also get to sell it eventually. And it's really important to be aware. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. And to answer your question, should you still buy? I think you've got to sit down and do the math. If you put down 300, let's say on a $700,000 house, you're going to be financing a $400,000 home with your net pay income. You're going to be right there around the mortgage payment of 25% of your take home pay. So I think you and your husband need to sit down and say, all right, one, are we going to, do we really want to be here?

Do we really want to settle down here for the next five years? Two, are we okay with just doing something right around One, do we really want to be here? Do we really want to settle down here for the next five years? Two, are we okay with just doing something right around $700,000? If you go to $800,000 with a $300,000 down payment, you are stretching it a little bit. But can you afford a $700,000 house? You can't. Yeah. I mean, and again, looking to go outside the areas, making a little bit of a drive is always going to be cheaper. And so you just make decisions for yourself.

And I think sitting down, running the numbers, yeah, obviously you can buy it. When you get ready to do a mortgage, though, Lindsay, I want you to listen to me. Lean in here. Lean in. Put your ear up by the radio. All right, listen to me. You're only going to do a 15-year fixed-rate mortgage. Yep.

Point blank. The bank, especially out west, they do 40- and year mortgages now. Okay. Those are on, those are out there. Don't fall for that stuff. Okay. You're going to go a 15 year fix. As a matter of fact, I want you to get you and your husband to pinky promise. You're only going to do a 15 year fix. That's the law. The bank don't even let them show you a payment on 30 or 40 or anything else. 15 year fix. That's how how you do it when you get ready to buy. You need to look and see, can we see ourselves living in this house for three to five years? If you can't, then don't do it.

And it's okay for you all to continue to sit on money. I'm proud of you for saving up money the way that you have. You all have been incredibly intentional throughout this whole process and continue to do it that way. Communicating together, working together as a team. It's important. It's so good. You know, Hogan,

when I bought my first home, I moved out to the country. And while it was, I can afford it, I would definitely say if I had to go back, I wouldn't do it again. Because I had a long drive.

I was out there by myself and it just wasn't. Right. Right. So I think when you're looking for a home, don't just do it just to save money, but find a place where, yeah, you can get a good price, but then you also can say, I like pulling into this place. Yes. And that's so important. It is important, man. And you want to understand what's my commute.

Yes. Where am I? Am I around things I want to be around? And again, you make a sacrifice but i'm with you um and and we all live and learn the first one i bought this house was just too big yeah right and it wasn't necessarily in an area i wanted to be in uh so you just live and learn and i think the good the here's what i would tell people if you're going house shopping get a real estate agent that you trust and only go look at properties in your price range.

So good. No, I'm serious. Don't go. Don't let that realtor tell you, oh, this one's 60 grand out of your range, but we can talk them down. No, you won't. And you're going to walk in there and feel like Cinderella because you found this house that you love.

You're going to fall in love with it and you're going to jack up your budget. I'm telling you, don't even go look. I told my real estate agent, you pull up to a house that I've got in my price range, I'm going to fire you on the spot. And she knew I was serious because I'd already done that stupid one time before. Don't look at me like that, A.O. I'll put you on a headlock. I'm riled up right now.

I ain't worried about you. All right, y'all, listen, this is the Dave Ramsey Show. We will be right back. Welcome back to the show I am Chris Hogan and co-hosting along with me is Anthony O'Neill and we've had a blast talking with you Today's scripture comes from Acts 20-35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Today's quote, great things are done by a series of small things brought together by Vincent Van Gogh. That's so good. We got an opportunity, people. We can make a decision about our future, and we get a chance to choose and do all in the same moment. We don't need a permission slip. We don't need anybody deciding to give us permission to have our dreams or to give the effort to chase them down. And I want to encourage you to make sure that you are chasing something down,

something that's worthwhile for you as well as your financial future. All right, we're going to get back to the phones. We got Thomas on the line. Thomas, how can I help you? Hi, thanks for taking my call. Just a quick question that I had for you. Currently, we are renting a basement apartment from a family friend, and they today have just told us that they are planning on selling the house and moving out.

Our contract is due to expire about in July, and they're planning on moving out in June. So my wife and I today, we've been looking at some apartments, and we saw that we would end up paying around $400 to $500 more at any other apartments. So we'd be paying around $1,200. $400 to $500 more at any other apartments. Okay. So we'd be paying around $1,200. And I've looked up some of the houses, and I don't know if we try to stretch ourselves to buy a house. I just don't like the concept and the idea of paying rent and having it go nowhere. I understand.

No, I understand. Now, Thomas, how much are you paying for this basement apartment right now? So because it's a family friend, they're only charging us $850. Okay. And you know if you were out somewhere else, it would be closer probably to $1,200? Yeah, exactly. Okay, all right. So let's be honest. First and foremost, you got the shock of paying an additional $400, correct? Correct. Okay, let's just be real. I hear you.

And you're saying, okay, if we got to get out, what do we do? Do we keep renting or do we buy? All right. Are you familiar with the Baby Steps? I am. Currently, we're on Baby Steps 3. Okay, good. So you're working to get your emergency fund in place?

Exactly, yeah. Me and my wife both are working all right good uh so how much income do you all make a year um yeah so we combined make about um 35 000 a year both of you yeah yeah what y'all doing? My wife's in school. My wife's in school, and so she only works minimal, minimal hours. Okay. And then I'm pretty young. I'm only 20 years old, and I just work at, I'm a supervisor at a call center. Thomas, and I don't mean to cut off Hogan, but you said it earlier, and I think you already know the answer. You said, should we stretch ourselves? Mm-hmm.

And I just, I mean, this is an easy conversation. No, you shouldn't stretch yourself at all. If you're saying, hey, should we stretch ourselves because we want to pay, if we're going to pay this amount of money we want to own? No, you are not ready to purchase a home, young man. Okay. And I just want to be real with you. Go rent something or yeah, go rent. Okay.

You're not ready to purchase a home. I just want to say that. I was screaming inside of me like, no, no, go rent. Okay, you're not ready to purchase a home. I just want to say that. I was screaming inside of me like, no, no, no. But, you know, I know Hogan will walk you through some other stuff, but I just want to tell you no, bro. And you need to rock with me on my show because I help you get into your home real quick in about a year, two years. Yeah, I mean, I want you to stretch yourself. I want you to stretch your effort. I want you to stretch your dreams, and I want you to stretch your reality.

But, no, I don't want you to stretch yourself financially. There want you to stretch your dreams, and I want you to stretch your reality. But no, I don't want you to stretch yourself financially. I agree 100% with Anthony. You know, you guys are not in a position yet. You've got to get this emergency fund in place. 2020 taught us. 2020 taught us the emergency fund is necessary. And so now what you want to do is get that in place, then start saving. But it does stink that you guys had a is get that in place, then start saving. But it does

stink that you guys had a situation and now it's adjusting on you and your budget's going to have to change because you're paying 400 more. I get that. But I'm with you, Anthony. You're going to keep renting. And a matter of fact, I'm probably going to move out into an area if I can get cheaper rent and make a little bit more of a drive uh you got to do that kind of little calculation but no not just because i tell anthony i tell people all the time i don't care how low mortgage rates are right if you're not ready you're not ready no you're not and i tell this all young people especially millennials there's this huge wave of two things they either want to get a house or go buy a duplex and rent out the other side. No, listen. Do the priorities. The baby steps work for a reason. Do not look at just what you're paying out monthly.

Look at everything you have to pay for. Your down payment. Your monthly payment. Your water bill will go up. Your electricity bill is going to go up. Now you're held liable. You got to be responsible for everything that goes wrong in the house. So it's not just your mortgage payment, young people.

Hear me clearly. Now I'm frustrated. So H hogan you got to sit here and calm down for a little bit because i'm upset i'm the calm one i'm talking situation i'm young people are so frustrating to me right now because it's like hey i want to get a house i want to get a mortgage i want to have passive income no what you need to do is get a foundation and then when you get a foundation then let's talk about how do we build on top of that foundation. And a foundation, the first three baby steps, get $1,000, pay off all your consumer debt, get an emergency fund, then 3B, get a down payment so you can get into a house. Don't call into this show again asking, can we break some rules? Because it's going to be a simple answer.

No. All right. See this? Okay. A.O. needs a nap. Okay. He needs a nap. He's getting feisty. He answer. No. All right. See this? Okay. Ayo needs a nap. Okay? He needs a nap. He's getting feisty.

He's getting a little feisty. And that's fine. That's fine, man. I got you. I got you. See, it's good that I'm the calm one. Everybody thinks that I'm the feisty one. You was not calm earlier.

No, but seriously, you don't want to let the situation out there determine your reality. And it's a matter of just being real. i think it's great to have dreams i think it's great to have goals but what you don't want to do trust me i've done this stupid where you outreach your situation just because you want it really bad where you stretch yourself a little bit too far financially just because you just had to have it. And it's not worth it. Again, take a deep breath. Be clear. And people, stop doing ish.

Don't do the Ramsey Plus ish. Do it. Okay? Dig into it. Follow these baby steps. It's going to change your world. When we try to do eight things at a time, we're ineffective in seven of them. When we focus on one thing at a time, we can make some changes happen.

And I'm going to tell you something, you start believing and seeing results, things change. And so we can help you get there. So get plugged in and know exactly what's going on. All right, let's try to take another call. I've got Kimberly on the line. All right, Kimberly, quickly, let us know your question.

Hi, my question is, I am currently disabled. I get Social Security, a set income. I have a student loan that's about $12,000. It's on deferment right now. I applied for loan forgiveness, but I don't know. I haven't got a final answer if that's the best route or if I should just pay the minimum. Well, I mean, first of all, if you applied for it, I want you to follow up, right? Correct.

So we're not going to speculate on what's the best route. You getting the information is going to help you. So I want you, your job is to follow up. You're calling and calling until you get an answer. Ayo, you're the student loan expert. Talk to her. Yeah, Kimberly, here's the thing. I agree with Hogan. Follow up with it. I mean, right now with Congress and the new

system that we have in place, I honestly don't know what this student loan forgiveness thing is going to look like. But until you get a response, I do want you to be making as many minimum payments. Well, not minimum, but I do want you to be making as many minimum payments. Well, not minimum, but I do want you to be throwing something after it as much as possible. Now, you said you're on disability.

How much disability are you getting right now? So every month I get $621. It just went up for California to $629, so a few dollars. How are you covering your $629 a month? And few dollars. How are you covering your... $629 a month. And real quick, how are you covering your four walls, like your housing and your utilities? Is that taken care of?

My husband, yes, my husband works full-time. Okay, sounds good. So then, yes, I want you to take that money, start attacking your student loans, and then keep following up to see what's going to happen with your student loan forgiveness. And in the meantime, attack that. And what I'm going to do is stay on the line.

I'm going to have Kelly send you a copy of my book, Destroy Your Student Loan book. It's only 80 pages long. It'll take you maybe an hour to read it. It'll take you 20 minutes to listen to me via audio. But we're going to get that book to you. All right? Fantastic. Thank you all.

All right. Listen, we want to thank all the callers for taking the time to call in. I want to thank producer James Stout and associate producer Kelly Daniel. And also, thank you so much. Thank you all. All right, listen, we want to thank all the callers for taking the time to call in. I want to thank producer James Stout and associate producer Kelly Daniel. And also, thank you, everyone. And A.O., great job today, buddy. Hey, thank you, Hogan, for letting me call. Appreciate you all. Listen, until next time, stay safe and stay focused.

You can do this. Hey, it's Kelly, associate producer and phone screener for The Dave Ramsey Show. If you would like to do your debt-free scream live on the show, make sure you visit DaveRamsey.com slash show and register. We would love for you to come to Nashville and tell Dave your story.