The Ramsey Show - App - What’s the Best Way To Sell My House? (Hour 3)

Episode Date: September 26, 2023

🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships. Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, and number one best-selling author of the book From Paycheck to Purpose, all about careers and jobs. He's my co-host today. Open phones at 888-825-5225. Dane is in Denver. Hi, Dane. Welcome to The Ramsey Show. Hey, welcome to me. I just, I've always wanted to say this. How are you doing, Mr. Ramsey?

Better than I deserve. What's up, man? Hey, yes, I have a really quick question, hopefully. I'm looking to make a lateral move in housing from one house to another. I currently own my home that I live in, and I'm looking to make a flight move not too far away. And I see it as two different options that I have. I'm trying to avoid getting another mortgage out. I'm trying to avoid moving into a rental temporarily, and I'm trying to avoid storing all my stuff.

I like to just go from one house to the other. I see it as I can do a sale on contingency, or what about these We Buy Your House services? Are they a scam or not? Well, they're not a scam, but they're buying the home to resell it at a profit, which means they have to buy it from you at below retail. Right. you at below retail right yeah the money that I would lose on that would probably pay for the rental for how do you know you know I've done a little bit of

research I know renting is extremely high here and I do work with a lot of appraisers in the line of work that I do. I'm a land surveyor. Well, I mean, all of this is assuming that you think you know what they're going to offer you. Correct. Correct. I've actually reached out. Just, you know, you can fill out those forms, email kind of forms. And none of them have responded with a number, which kind of shocking.

It's a little weird. Yeah, exactly. It's because they don't want to scare you to death. They want you to sell them a house. But, dude, I mean, it's usually 80 cents on the dollar, 70 cents on the dollar. Oh, wow. And so it's not it's not a small it's not like a two thousand dollar discount or something. I mean, it's a lot.

You're not desperate, are you? No, I don't do it. don't just don't do it here's what you need to do you just need to be patient and do a contingency sale okay let's see it's all right i like that yeah i'm not gonna do it otherwise okay i sold my personal residence when everything peaked out two years ago because it was a real killer opportunity to get out of that house. Right. But we sold it and delayed possession by four months. Okay? Okay.

And that gave us four months to get the other house purchased and moved into. But, you know, well, i didn't take a discount i just refused to sell it otherwise so you're going to refuse to sell your home out from under you you're going to sell it on some kind of terms that allow you to make a one move all right and then the person i'm buying it from they also have to agree to this too correct yeah i mean but what i would do is start shopping the area that you think you want to be in and say i could live there there or there and if you want to make an offer on one of them contingent upon the sale of yours fine typically what most markets do there's differences in different markets it's generally culturally uh except the real estate community for some reason it decides it in just culturally in a market but

most of the time you'll have like a 72 hour first right of refusal so if the seller of the other property that you wanted to buy accepted a contingency offer from you it will be contingent upon the sale of yours and they keep theirs on the market. If they get another buyer, you have 72 hours to say, I'll buy it anyway. And you wouldn't do that. You would let them go. Right. Yeah. Okay.

Yeah, you're right. I do have time on my side. I'm in no rush. And so until the right deal comes together and the right timing for you to buy the home that you want and move one time with the sale of yours on a contingency sale, you just don't do it. Well, they won't take a contingency contract. Okay, can't buy that house. Yeah, yeah.

All right, I like this idea, and I can just take my time. It's all out of convenience. It's got a new school down the street. Yeah, and just what you do is you just you know i'm going to carefully line the dominoes up so that when i push them they all fall and make that beautiful design my wife and i can do that we've uh yeah we're totally debt free we um own our house i'm 42 years old you know i'm i'm i'm sitting pretty yeah and and the trick is to not get married to the purchase house yeah yep there's only one if i

don't get that one no no there's lots of houses you can purchase right so if you don't get married to a certain house then you say i want to move over there and I like this kind of a property. And whichever one God arranges for this whole domino system to fall, I'll land in that and I'm going to be happy as a clam. Now, the second thing you got to warn yourself against, and I have to warn myself against this too, and I've done real estate my whole life, is when you've got everything lined up and then someone comes to buy your house you're you you're emotionally motivated to get that deal done so we can push the dominoes and if you're not careful you'll discount your home in the negotiation process because you get all excited

right and just be aware of that that's human nature yeah i got all this lined up and you know i don't really want to take that late little amount, but I want to push the dominoes. And now you're about to take $10,000 too less than you should have. So just play hard to get, and don't get married to the next one. And you can line these up, and you're going to be just fine. And, folks, I want you to know that Dave practices what he preaches in a lot of areas. But you did that on that house.

And I've got to tell you, you were talking about the house. And I've got to tell you, I'm missing that porch. I don't know how you got rid of that house with the porch that you had. Highest point in Williamson County. Yeah, I could see 18 miles off of it. And you took me back there for a second. It was beautiful. I'm being selfish.

It was beautiful. I kind of missed the hangouts out there and the nice people that bought it from us they paid me for that view yes they did and that is the moral of the story folks i mean i i thought you were a little crazy but it was a good move it was good it was a little crazy but it was if you're ever going to sell a particularly unique property during a super the hottest time I've ever known in 35 years of real estate would be the time to do it. And you did. And I did it right at the top of that market.

So it's just, you know. These fall evenings? And I'm yelling at somebody all the time on here, it's just a house. And then, yeah. But that house, the views on that property were astronomical. Astronomical. Yeah. Astronomical.

Moment of silence. I do miss that. Although I'm nestled down in the woods now where I've got no view, which is amazing, too. You like that. Very quiet. I'm back in Walden Pond here. All right.

Quite the opposite. I expect some new poems from you, Dave. There we go. Those will sell. Those poems will be big. Redneck poetry is a big deal. Hillbilly poetry. Poems of peace.

That's it. There it is. From the woods of the hill hillbilly poetry. Poems of Peace. That's it. There it is. From the woods of the hillbillies. I've already titled it. Yeah, there we go. It's the next book. Who knew I was going to do another one? I read it. We just decided. This is The Ramsey Show. Hey, you guys. Health insurance costs are only moving one way, and that way isn't down. And if higher costs aren't enough, the wait times to see your doctor are longer, and it's harder than ever to get anything approved through the bureaucracy. So if you feel like the system is working against you, try a biblically-based alternative to health insurance, Christian Healthcare Ministries.

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to take care of healthcare costs. CHM programs start as low as $98 a month. So learn more today and join at chministries.org slash budget. That's chministries.org slash budgets at chministries.org slash budgets. Ken Coleman Ramsey personality is my co-host today. My friend Willie Robertson is the CEO of Duck Commander and Buck Commander and star of A&E's Duck Dynasty. And they've expanded his family companies from a living room operation to a multi-million dollar enterprise.

Willie spoke with us at Entree Leadership Summit about business, and leadership did a great job back in May, and he emailed me the other day with this film that he's done about his dad and his mom's early days and uh it is and then sent me a link to it i intended to watch just a little bit of it so i would be intelligent on this interview and i couldn't turn it off it was absolutely fabulous willie how are you my friend what's up dave how are you doing good. You're making the rounds pitching a movie, huh? Sitting there in New York City, you know how it goes, doing this thing. So you on Fox this morning?

I wasn't. No, that didn't work out, but we're working on some other stuff for later on. Yeah, I've been pretty much on the phone or on the computer or being interviewed all day long. So this is a big week coming up. So I'm not going to read the film synopsis. I'll let you just tell the story. But I knew a little bit of the story from talking to you and talking to your dad and your brothers over the years that your dad was basically a hellraiser and had an amazing experience.

Talk through what the film's about. Yeah, so the timepiece is set in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. And I want to make everybody aware, it's not Doug Donasty. That's the aftermath of a family that's got it way right and has a strong faith. And this is right at the beginning. This is where Dad really lost his way and just really spent about 10 years just making life really rough for my mother and us as kids.

And then it's the story of his redemption and how he found the Lord and how, probably more importantly, how mom forgave him to keep the family together. You know, Dave, if that hadn't happened, my whole life would be completely different. And, you know, who knows what would have happened. I probably wouldn't be talking to you today. So that's out of that came the company, out of that came the business, Doug Commander, from that came Doug Dynasty, and then, you know, and all the things that have gone along with that. And so we can trace that back to this really spiritual moment.

And I think you'll realize when you see the movie, man, how close it was, just to be it over, completely over. So, yeah, it's a powerful story, and it just felt like one we had to really meet to tell. Willie, Ken here. I'm just curious, was Phil reluctant to share this story in movie form? He just comes across as a guy who's just so humble and just a plain-spoken man. I'm just curious to know what he's feeling about this story being told.

He really was. I mean, they've been so transparent throughout their whole lives. There's nothing in the movie I saw that I hadn't heard them tell us directly, and they've been really open about their lives. But I think once they got down to like making a movie and we're going to, you know, pretty much highlight the worst time of your life, you know, that was a struggle. And I'm so glad he did.

And, you know, we're taught in Christianity and really just generally in life, I think, to not look back, your past is over, look forward, you know, press forward, unless they make a movie about it, which is going to live forever, right? So for he and mom to really dig back into the past and deal with that pain. But you know what? You know, he said if somebody, if one person comes to the Lord over this or saves a marriage or, you know, can help shed some light on something, he was willing to do it.

And that's just kind of the guy he is. And so, yeah, it was difficult. And it was really hard for us to watch. I mean, it's just hard to watch, you know, your parents, like my kids, their grandkids, you know, it's hard for all of us to kind of watch, watch through that pain that they went through. Yeah. Well, until the story arc hits its peak and the story is so well told,

not only is it a great story, but it's well told. The screenplay and the acting are, they're lights out, man. I mean, the guy playing your dad has got the Louisiana accent down. God, I thought it was Phil a couple of times. He can do voiceovers for Phil. He's from England. No way. That's great.

Well, he's good. He's good, man. He he's not even from america yeah isn't that amazing how those you know really all the cast and how they put that you know how they when they showed up and do what they do it's just it was amazing just putting that story the hardest part day was to make it not rated r because phil's life was really rated R. It was hard to make a face-based movie about a guy who pretty much has nothing to do with faith. But that's the gritty story. That's where we all were. We get ourselves in these situations. Yeah, we just wanted to be real and raw and honest and say,

hey, this was it. This is what life looked like. The movie comes out 9-28, the 28th of September this week. It's called The Blind, and it's set in a duck blind, him talking to one of his friends who's asking him how he turned his life around, and then he takes you back through the history as he's telling his friend the story. And it's a great setup a storytelling mechanism is absolutely good and i'm blowing away this kid's from england

because i got to tell you man i thought he was a swamp guy i really did he he completely sold me and when that preacher baptizes your dad in the movie in the in the swamp water and he comes out uh screaming about j Jesus and loving Jesus. I got tears running down my face. It was, I emailed Willie, Ken, I said, I'm not crying, you are. Yeah, it's dusty, dusty in here. Yeah, allergies are bad this time of year. Yeah, so I know what Phil wants.

Phil wants people to meet Jesus. That's Phil's whole thing in life. Everything he does is about that and as you guys put all of this together what was the overall goal for the film i mean really the number one was the same thing i mean we were wanting to tell this story and cory and i got into production really to tell stories and uh we just saw the power that doug honestly had we just we i mean just thousands of people telling us, you know, like what the story meant, what the TV show meant to them, the prayer at the end, the dinner table, all that.

So we were like, hey, we need to put more stories like this out. We didn't particularly want to do our stories, but this was just such a story that we decided to put this one out. And so, yeah, that was our goal, which is to save marriages, help people, and tell the story that, look, we're no different. I think you can see people on TV, and it looks like we've got it all together. It's like, oh, they don't have any problems, and they've got money, and we just wanted to show you, no, our life is just like yours.

And also, having spent time with the current version of uncle sy seeing the youthful version of uncle sy was mind-blowing ain't that fun that's one of my favorite parts because that's what i didn't get to see you know i didn't get to see that growing up i didn't get to see young uncle sy little kid uncle sy and i thought those moments were real fun and the moment with br Bradshaw, too, you know, because Terry Bradshaw and Phil played at Tech together. And Terry told me that story, the story we have in there of Phil Tech and Terry Fishing.

Terry told me that story. He was doing autographs, and I think I was like 13 years old. And he said, hey, let me tell you this story about what your dad did to me. And so we put that story in the movie, which was really fun. And let's not miss that, folks. If if you didn't catch that he's talking about the hall of famer the legendary terry bradshaw and phil hanging out together no phil was the quarterback no i know terry was the backup i know but i'm saying they're hanging out together he quits because he wants to duck hunt right so bradshaw becomes the quarterback right and phil's

duck hunting instead of in the nfl how great is that but just imagine those two having conversations those are some characters yeah and the movie portrays it i love that how do you get tickets and movie information for the blind willie uh yeah you can go to uh theblindmovie.com and find out more about it you can purchase tickets now um and you can rent a whole theater. You can get together at a church. And, you know, here's the deal, guys. We only have a week in the theaters. You know, if it does well, they'll keep it longer, obviously.

And so I think we really got to make the statement, you know, that Hollywood and everybody else who makes movies and says, hey, these are the kind of movies. And we've seen such successful movies, you know, Juice Revolution, Sound of Freedom. There's been some great ones so uh yeah go support it yeah all right the movie is the blind check it out at theblind.com uh see you soon my friend good luck with this and god's blessings on it thank you buddy see you soon be good this is the Ramsey Show. Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, is my co-host.

Again, open phones at 888-825-5225. You jump in, we'll talk about your life and your money. On the debt-free stage is Scott and Rachel. Hey, guys. How are you? Let's try again. Hey, guys. How are you?

We're doing great. How are you guys doing? Better than we deserve. Where do you live? We live in Laverne, California, which is just outside of Pasadena. All right. Very cool. Welcome to Nashville. How much debt have you guys paid off? We paid off $377,708. All right. How long did this take? It took about

five and a half years. Good for you. I love it. And your range of income during that time? Well, we started at around 160. I made a career change right at the end of 2019. COVID hit. I was a wedding planner. Oh, no. So we dropped to about 140 and then I picked up a ton of jobs. So we increased back up to 220 working about seven jobs at one point. Are you back to wedding planning now? I am. Yes. Good. Thank God. Better than seven better than seven jobs yeah wow what kind of debt was the 378 um so about 15 000 was uh cars uh 20 000 was credit cards and then another 340 000 was student loans wow yeah wow way to go guys student loans galore yeah Yeah. Wow. For what? I went to, I'm a pharmacist, so I went to pharmacy school, which was very affordable. Okay.

Yeah, sure. Yeah. And what did you pay? How much of the student loans were yours? All of them? Pretty much all of them. Pretty much, yeah. $300,000 for pharmacy school?

With interest rates and everything? Yeah. Holy, you got ripped off. Oh, my gosh. Wow. Okay. Wow. Well, congratulations. You're there now, and you got a good income Oh, my gosh. Wow. Okay. Wow. Well, congratulations.

You're there now, and you got a good income. That's good. Yep. So you plowed through this. What happened five and a half years ago? You got out of school, got married, and went, oh, my God? Yeah. So what's funny is my parents put my brother and I through Financial Peace University in high school.

So I had the knowledge going into it, Um, but we really didn't discuss finances until premarital. And I realized we were not on the same page. I had FPU in my back pocket, Scott did not. Um, and he was against it. So when we got married, he came to me and said, I want this TV. I knew we couldn't afford afford it and i actually went to my dad and i said what do i do like he wants this tv i don't agree and he was like look tell him if he'll do fpu with you you can get the tv just just make it that and so he agreed dad is all about bribing. Yeah. Yes, he agreed. And by the second class, he was hooked. And no TV. No, we did get the TV.

We did get the TV. That was part of the deal. You followed through on it. You held her to it, Scott. Oh, wow. I'm glad it wasn't a car. Yeah. To be honest, I was very skeptical.

I was not on board initially, even after the first class of FPU. I was like, yeah, we'll see. Let's see how this plays out and then the second class everyone had to total up their debt that they had and we added it together as a class and with my wife grasping my like clutching my hand I realized we had 90% of our class's debt and so we needed to make a change oh wow so that hooked you yeah i was like okay group shaming i was like how is this possible like what whoa we got a lot and we got almost all of it just i have a relationship question on this given how this has been set up so when you've realized that and you go it's done like how quickly do you tell her is it on the way

out is it in the car on the is it at home it was in the class it was in the car it was oh yeah day it was like continuous conversation afterwards i'm in yeah that's awesome yeah so when you flip the switch you flip the switch i was all in yeah after those of us that are uh cynical i'm the same way i have the gift of cynicism um i'm either all in or i'm all out and are uh cynical i'm the same way i have the gift of cynicism um i'm either all in or i'm all out and so uh once i'm out i'm out and once i'm in i'm in yeah that's it yeah and it's it's game on yeah there's no ish yeah it's like i either think you're i either think you're selling snake oil or this is the best thing since sliced bread yeah once i started crunching the numbers i was like yeah i'm in i'm in let's do this let's do game

on game on let's go win the super bowl so five and a half years later you plow through your I started crunching the numbers. I was like, yeah, I'm in. I'm in. Let's do this. Game on. Game on. Let's go win the Super Bowl. So five and a half years later, you plow through your student loans. This is an ironic debt-free scream the week before student loans restart. Yep. Yeah. I mean, big Sunday. Black Sunday's coming.

Yeah. This Sunday is when they start back for everybody, and you've got a $37 378 000 story here that you guys plowed through and it was really your first order of business in the marriage right after a tv yeah yeah priorities yeah well that's it i guess i guess the tv came in handy because you guys didn't go out you were either working or sleeping eating that was pretty much it yeah we still have the tv so i'm grateful all right that's a good move. Wow. Good for you guys. Very, very well done.

I'm proud of you. Excellent, excellent stuff. So what advice do you have to somebody that's got a big old pile of student loans and they're facing it for Sunday? Because this really is a week, honestly. We can joke around about it, but it's a scary week for a lot of people because they're having that realization that Biden is not coming and they're going to have to do this themselves they signed up for it and they're going to have to pay it whether you agree with or not doesn't matter that's your reality and

folks are scared and they're confused they're overwhelmed I mean that's a big old mountain that's Mount Everest 378,000 you come out you write that down you go have an oh crap moment so what's your advice to somebody sitting where you were sitting five and a half years ago? I think for me, it's just having open communication about finances, just being able to come to your spouse and just say, you know what, like, this is what I need. This is what's important to me. This is what we need to start thinking about. And just having that dialogue and being on the same page. What's helped us tremendously to be on that same page is having a monthly budget meeting. We sit down every single month, we go

through our finances, we go through everything that's expected and potentially coming up and we're able to work through it. Yeah. And for me, it's funny, Jade was talking about it last week actually is celebrating the small wins. I know that the life cycle of getting out of debt is only supposed to be 24 to 48 months and ours was five and a half years and it's a long time to be under that amount of stress and we tried to take every opportunity we could to just celebrate the small wins. We made an Instagram page with our dog and we would form our payoff for the month in his kibble and he would then eat it we'd film him eating it we named him the debt-free dude because he's a doodle so yeah that was love the doodles yep and um scott was always really great about

just finding little surprises to celebrate um When we got under 100K, he set up this fake game show in our backyard with lights and fake money. I had to throw a baseball to break the paper to see what our new balance was. It was very elaborate. We have photos of it, but just celebrating that stuff

because it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel if you aren't celebrating okay real quick that's brilliant and and because i've read a lot about there's a lot of research on gamifying goals yeah and that's what you guys did and that really did help you get through each new hurdle because the brain goes all right we have something to look forward to in the midst of all this struggle. That's really brilliant. I love that. We had, I don't know, eight different loans, eight different student loans. And so every single time one, we were able to pay off one. It was like, okay, like we're down one. We only have five left. Okay. We have four left and so on. And so I think it helped a lot. And last thing for anyone fighting that large of a mountain of debt give yourself

grace um it it's easy to get upset if you have a slower month or you feel like you're not moving as fast as you can and just know that you're not going backwards you keep going forward you will see the light you guys are heroes. Yeah. How's it feel? Surreal. I don't know. Hey, we've got the Total Money Makeover book, the Baby Steps Millionaires book, and the Financial Peace University membership for you to live a give in the Live and Give box. Way to go, guys. We're very proud of you. Scott and Rachel, Pasadena, California, $378,000 paid off in five and a half years, $160,000 to $220,000.

Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one. We're debt-free! Yeah! Yeah! Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo! I love it!

Yes! It's amazing. This is The Ramsey Show. Our scripture of the day, 2 Chronicles 15-7. But you take courage. Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded. Herb Kelleher said, The world isn't going to shower gold coins on you just because you have a good idea.

You're going to have to work like crazy to bring that idea to the attention of people. Ken Coleman, Ramsey Personality, is my co-host today. Mark is in Cincinnati. Hey, Mark, welcome to The Ramsey Show. Hey, great to be on here. Good to have you. How can I help? I've got a question about building credit. I just don't know where to start.

I'm currently a student. I'm 23 years old. I am graduating in three months debt-free. I don't have any, like I said, I don't have any debt. I just don't know where to start with building credit. Why do you need to build credit? Because I'm trying to move out of my parents' house in the next three to six months. That doesn't require credit. Hmm.

Okay. Well, from my, I don't know, because from my understanding, I know that most renters want a line of credit or not true at least want some kind of credit history it's not true that's a lie that your friends tell each other okay well that's that's why i'm here i'm here to get some good advice so here's the thing everybody says that in order you have to have a credit score in order to rent an apartment and yet we routinely will pick up the phone and call 10 apartment complexes in any given area and say, hey, I'm a student coming out of college. I have zero debt and zero credit.

Will you rent to me? Nine out of ten of them say yes. And yet all of your friends tell each other that you have to go get a credit card to build up your credit because no one will rent to you. But the truth is, if you actually call 10 apartment complexes, two of them might not, but so what? The other eight will. Some of them may require a slightly larger deposit,

which you get back if you leave the place in good shape and pay your rent. But, you know, don't fall for the trap, Mark. The trap is that you have to go build a FICO score, and the way you build a FICO score is you go in debt. Why do I do that? So that I can borrow money. Why do I go into, why do I borrow money? So I can build my FICO score.

Why do I build my FICO score? So I can borrow money. Why do I borrow money? So I can build my FICO score. Why do I build my FICO score so i can borrow money why do i borrow money so i can build my fico score why do i build my fico score so i can borrow money and you it's a dog chasing its tail and suddenly you're an american making a hundred thousand dollars a year and 100 of your money goes out to some stupid butt bank because you worshiped at the altar of the great fico and that's what your friends are doing and some of your their parents doing, but it's not smart, and it's also not factual. Yeah.

Well, that's what my brother said. He said that a credit score is just an I love debt score. It sounds like he's been listening to the Ramsey show. Yeah, he's actually been on your show before. So what's your future look like? You graduate, then what? Yeah. Well, I graduate in December, and then I'm actually going back to school for a second bachelor's, which I only have two classes

left for. So by May of the next year, I'll have two bachelors, and then I'll be looking at master's program. What are you going to be doing for making money to be able to pay this rent? Right now I'm working full-time, and then I also work kind of part-time as an independent contractor doing group counseling sessions because that's what I'm going to school for. I'm going to be an addictions counselor. Okay. So you're going to get your master's so you can get licensed in the state of ohio good for you yeah okay yeah so i'm already i'm already licensed as an addictions counselor in the state

of ohio i'm going for a they don't require a master's counseling no uh so the way i did it um you you just need a uh master's for higher uh credentials, which is that's what I'm going for. So why the second bachelor's? Just because it's only two classes left. Okay, I got you. I see. Right. You just got to check it off.

It's within reach. Yeah, that makes more sense. Okay. And so I'm just curious. I'm not questioning whether it's right or not because I just don't know. But the second master's higher credentials enables you to do what that you can't do now as a licensed therapist. So right now I'm licensed as an addiction counselor, but I want to go into mental health counseling, which requires a higher level of schooling.

That does require a master's and that does require a master's that does require a master's that's that's what i want to go into i mean they won't give you the license without the master's is what you're saying right so essentially my big goal in five to ten years is to found and own my own uh counseling kind of uh organization and to provide holistic mental health and addiction counseling to people that are struggling. I love that you're working in the field while you're going to get the master's. Love that. That's a beautiful path. It's going to equip you beyond what you realize. Not only are you making the money to pay for everything, but it's going to equip you. Very well done, Mark. Very well done. And one other small practical thing to consider, Mark, I mean, I'd be right for you,

but being single, you're working a lot, schooling, maybe getting a roommate for that first apartment will also help solve that perceived problem as well. Get in, save a little bit of money. You're still renting. You're out on your own, but that's an option and something to think about. Cuts the cost down. Yeah. Beverly's in dallas

hi beverly welcome to the ramsey show thank you and thank you for taking my call sure what's up well i'm a little bit different than a lot of your callers i'm 74 years old and i wish to goodness i'd started listening to you 20 years ago but I didn't so I'm starting today okay um I have about 32,000 $31,959.26 to be exact in uh credit card debt and I know that I want to get busy and as you say, gazelle-like in paying that off. But I also have $57,623 left on my house. Dave, I'm 74, and I'm in good health. I want to pay off all this credit card debt, but is it okay if I just continue making payments on my house while I'm still young enough and healthy enough to travel and do things and

then pay for it i mean obviously continue making payments but you know what i'm saying yeah but the you know the more stable your last year the the sooner your house is paid off the more stable your last years will be right and so that's the trade-off uh obviously you need to clean the credit card debt up before we talk about travel right okay but right and do you have any money um i do i i am i'm retired and um i have like 425 000000 in an annuity with a fixed index annuity with a lifetime rider. Yeah, pay both the loans off tomorrow. Do what? Pay both the loans off tomorrow.

Okay. Out of that annuity. And I have about $40,000 in stocks, text-run and computer-share stocks. Okay. I would cash that out and then take a little more out of the annuity and make sure you have an emergency fund set aside and you're 100% debt-free by the end of the week. No mortgage, no credit cards. Cut up the credit cards, Beverly. It's time for plastic surgery, not because you're 100% debt-free by the end of the week, no mortgage, no credit cards. Cut up the credit cards, Beverly.

It's time for plastic surgery, not because you're 74, but because you use credit cards. Well, I haven't used those credit cards in about three years. Good, then cut them up. I asked my sister to help me, and at the time I asked her to help me, I had about $23,000 in credit card debt, and her suggestion was to get a credit card and have all my bills just go to that. So your sister's not very good at this.

Well, she and her husband are millionaires, which is why I asked them for their help. Her theory took you from 23 to 32, so her idea sucks. Yeah, for me it sure did. Well, I'm just saying. You need to cut up the credit cards completely, get you a debit card like I use and like Ken uses, and a debit card is you have to only spend money that you have to chop up all the credit cards into little bitty pieces,

take out those stocks and enough out of the annuities to pay off your mortgage and your credit cards this week. Be living on a budget where you don't spend more than you make and you never grow any debt back. And travel the world and have a wonderful life. We're so glad you called. Wow, that was easy. Yeah, good for her having that money set aside. There it is.

She's going to feel so much better about traveling tomorrow morning. That puts this hour of the Ramsey Show in the books. 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. Hey, it's Ken.

If you like what you heard in this episode and want to know more about getting started on the Ramsey baby steps, go to ramsesolutions.com and click on the Get Started button. We go to ramsesolutions.com and click on the get started button. We'll help you figure out the best next step for you based on your specific situation. Again, that's ramsesolutions.com and click get started.