The Ramsey Show - App - When a Storm Is Coming, Pause the Baby Steps (Hour 3)

Episode Date: November 15, 2019

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Thank you. Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studios, it's the Dave 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. Thank you for joining us. Open phones at 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225. James starts this hour off in Washington, D.C. Hi, James. How are you? Hey, Dave. Thanks for taking my call. My pleasure. How can I help? So, Dave, basically, to make a long story short, went to go visit family, end up getting to Atlanta, and car just went kaput.

Still got three years on it. I had it told to the dealership. The dealer told me there's about 16 different error codes. Three of the error codes are dealing with transmission. He said that just, he was like, you know, if you were looking to get a new car, he was like, now's the time. But my whole thing is... Wait, wait, a new car? A car dealer was trying to sell you a car?

You're kidding. No, sir. Shocking. What happened? Yes, sir. Shocking. What happened? Yes, sir. And he was just telling me, he was like, you know, basically right now it's just, I'm still making payments on it. I'm trying to knock it out as fast as possible. I'm paying $1,000 a month on it.

But at the time. How much do you owe on the car? $12,000. And what do you think it's worth were it running? I did Kelly Blue Book, and the way it's running, they'd max me out at $5. No, I mean, let's pretend it was running properly. What would the car be worth? What would it be worth then?

$9,000. Okay, so you're $3,000 in the hole, plus or minus your repairs. Okay? And so what you need to do is take the car from this dealer to a legitimate mechanic who's not trying to sell you a car and will give you an honest estimate on actually fixing the car. See, you've never even heard what it'll take to fix the car. You just had error lights on. Yes, sir.

We don't know if an oil change will fix the error light. So we need to find out not whether a car dealer is trying to sell you a car, but we need to find out exactly what it takes to fix this car money-wise. And this guy's not wanting to do that. He's wanting to just say oh you have error lights you look at your place looks like a christmas tree you know and so now we're just gonna um plug the computer into it and let's figure out what those error lights mean and i would take it to a legitimate mechanic away from this car dealer get a bid on getting it fixed, you're going to have to fix the car. You can't sell the car for $5, okay? And even if it's $2,000, you've got to fix the car because that makes it worth $9,000.

And so even if you don't keep the car, you've got to fix the car. So you can't afford to take the hit this guy's wanting you to take. And, of course, he's trying to move you up in vehicle. And the last thing you need to do is move up in vehicle. You're in debt. You're trying to get out of debt. You're trying to go the other way. So, listen, here's the thing.

It is frustrating as crap to have a car break. We are such a car culture that when our car doesn't work, it's like our right hand doesn't work. You know, it's like having your, it's worse than breaking your cell phone. You know, it's worse than breaking your phone. If your cell phone went out and your car went out and one day people just sit alongside the road and suck their thumb, that'd be it. It'd be over. You know, we're so tied into that. It's so frustrating.

So it's such an emotional thing. And every time I get super, super emotional about something around a purchase, I'm getting ready to make a mistake. Every time I get desperate, right after that's when I get stupid. When I get desperate, I feel forced into a corner. I feel like I've got no other option. And I start using language like that that's about the time i'm about to do something colossally stupid that five years later i still regret and that's right where you're standing and so just go get the car away from that guy get it to a you

know do a little research jump on google find out you know some of the people around that car dealer in that area have it towed spend a little little money, move it over to another, to an actual mechanic, and let's get an estimate on what it takes to fix it. And get away from somebody that's trying to sell you a car. Seth is in Phoenix, Arizona. Hi, Seth. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, Dave.

Hey, what's up? Glad to be on the air with you. Hey, I just want to say I believe you're inspired to God, and my wife and I are very grateful for the work that you do. Well, thank you. You've been a huge blessing in our lives. Thank you. How can I help today? My question is, my wife and I, we've been married for a year and a half. We just moved back home from Seattle and are living with my parents. We're $8,000 in debt, and we make $32,000 a year, and we currently have $3,500 in cash.

The thing is, my wife is pregnant. She's due on March 4th. We know what you say about baby step two and pregnancy, so we're currently paying the minimum on our debts until our baby comes. Good. Our car, though, it's on its last leg. It's working great now, but, I mean, it almost has 200,000 miles on it, and the transmission's been a little funny. It's okay.

We just don't know how long it'll last. Well, drive it. Yeah. Just drive it for a while. You don't have to drive it for two years. You don't have to drive it for two years. You don't have to drive it for two years. You've got to drive it for $8,000. Actually, $5,000 because you've got three already.

That's all you are from being debt-free, right? So get debt-free, build you up an emergency fund. If the car goes out while you're building an emergency fund, we'd call that an emergency. If it doesn't go out, we're not going to call it an emergency until after the emergency fund, and then we're going to save up and buy a car with cash. Okay, good point. As far as the house goes, what do you think we should do? I mean, my wife, she loves my parents, but obviously she wants a place of her own where she can. Well, go rent something as cheap as you can rent.

The cheaper you rent, the faster you get through this car and debt issues, and the faster you can start saving towards buying something. I don't blame you for wanting your own place, but don't go rent the Taj Mahal. Go rent the cheapest possible thing you can that's safe, where your family's not at risk in some, you know, some shooting gallery or something. I'm not suggesting that. But, you know, get something that's as cheap as you possibly can. And then the other thing you guys are going to do, I suspect after she has a baby, she's heading to work.

Because your household income is very, very low right now. And so we've got to do some things to get your all's income up meantime while she's pregnant you need to be working an extra job uh delivering pizzas or something and get your income on up even a little bit further i'd like before the baby comes for you to have eight thousand dollars or really about ten thousand dollars in the bank and then the day baby and mommy come home you write a check and you're debt free ding just like that okay and then you finish up your emergency fund and then you save up for mommy come home, you write a check, and you're debt-free. Ding! Just like that. Okay? And then you finish up your emergency fund, and then you save up for a car, and then you start saving up for a house.

But all of that's going to go faster with more money coming in. No kidding, right? That's how the math works. So you work extra, and she's going to go to work when the baby comes after reasonable, normal maternity leave, that sort of thing. Because that's where you guys are right now. It's a stage of your life you're in. And hopefully you can get your income up far enough. If she wants to stay home, then she can later.

But right now, we've got a couple things we've got to pull off here, which is getting this family settled in and get your life started off. You're doing good stuff, man. You've got this. You can do it. And I'll walk with you. You can call me if you need some more help. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Are high health care costs getting you down? Are you confused trying to navigate your options? Do you wish you could find an affordable, biblical solution to your health care costs? Based on New Testament principles, Christian Health Care Ministries, or CHM,

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Christian Healthcare Ministries is a proud sponsor of Dave Ramsey Live Events. chministries.org. You know, the real estate market is so hot that a monkey can sell a house right now. A monkey can sell a house right now. And everybody and his brother and their sister and their dog, too, get in the real estate business when it's like this. And just because you know somebody in the real estate business does not mean they know what the flip they're doing. As a matter of fact, you know a whole bunch of people in the real estate business that don't know what the flip they're doing. They've sold two houses in their life. And just because Uncle Charlie's your uncle doesn't mean you need to list your most expensive asset with Uncle Charlie. Uncle Charlie might be a good uncle, but he'd be sucking as a real estate agent. Think about it.

This is your most expensive asset you own. And you're getting ready to entrust it to somebody that doesn't know what the flip they're doing. So that's why you need to get somebody that has a long track record of doing a great job and sells a bunch of houses. This is a marketing consultant. It's what a real estate agent is. And they know, you know, somebody sells, you know, 50 to 200 houses a year. And if they're not high octane high protein with a

proven track record you don't need to use them our endorsed local providers are the top 10 percent of agents in your area who have the expertise to help you find the right home at the right price and so go to DaveRamsey.com, click on ELP for real estate. One family did that. They said we had the best agent ever from the initial contact to the post-closing phone call and all the steps in between. Rosa, our ELP was incredible. We get that kind of write-up every single minute. These agents are incredible.

So I know your little friend might have their little feelings hurt if they don't list your house with you. But I've got to tell you, that's just stupid. Don't do that. Don't give your most expensive asset to somebody based on the fact that you have a relationship with them, but they have no expertise and knowledge. That's just dumb. You're asking for trouble. And so don't do that, guys. Our question of the day comes from Blinds.com.

They have a 100% satisfaction guarantee. It means even if you mismeasure or you pick the wrong color, they'll remake your window blinds for free. Site-wide savings are happening right now. Take an additional 5% off if you use the phrase Ramsey. Go to blinds.com slash Ramsey. Mia in Massachusetts. Dave, my company recently merged with another, and some layoffs occurred.

Some people I worked closely with were laid off, and I'm worried my job might be next. My husband and I are in the middle of baby step two. We have $31,000 left to pay. My question is, should we pause our debt snowball and start a mini emergency fund in case I lose my job? You would stop all things, and you wouldn't build a mini emergency fund. You'd build a huge one until the storm passes, and the storm will pass one of two ways. The threat of the layoff goes away, or you get a new job. But you don't change the baby steps around.

You just don't do them you just say a storm is coming we're going to stop all debt reduction we're going to pay minimum payments on everything and we're going to pile up cash there's a problem coming then when the problem goes away because it's not a permanent problem you're either going to go get another job or the threat of the layoff will pass one of the two. And, you know, once that goes away, then you take all the cash out of that account and throw it at your smallest debt. And you run right down your debt snowball. You really won't lose much ground if you're just as intense saving as you were paying down debt.

And then you use all that savings if you don't need it because of a job problem. You use all that savings to run right down the net snowball you lose very little ground just a little bit of interest is all you lose because your savings won't earn as much interest as the debt is piling up james is in lexington kentucky hi james how are you i'm pretty good today dave how about yourself better than i deserve how can i help well i'm in got myself in quite a mess right now, and I'm not really sure where to start to get out. Okay. To start with, I have currently about $430,000 in student loans. Good Lord.

Yes. I was in medical school. I had failed two sets of boards after three years and then was recently dismissed. And so about 80 of that, 80,000 is from undergrad, and then other courses later on to get into medical school, and the remainder is from medical school. Right now I have the debt, but no degree that I was planning to use to actually be able to pay that back.

At this point, I don't really know what my options are. I'm trying to dig out of this. You're right. That's a mess. I'm so sorry. That's scary. It is. How did you get that far into it and then not be able to pass the boards?

I did fairly well during the first two years, but it was just, I think, being able to, I guess it was one thing to take an exam every few weeks or every month, but being able to retain that and then to recall it to the level of detail that I needed for the exams. I just couldn't put it all together at the end. Is there any way you can re-engage and still have a shot at finishing? Not without having to reapply and then go through the process all over again. And also have to take out more loans. So when did you flunk the last one?

That was this past spring, and so I was let go this summer. Okay. So since then, what has been your plan? Well, I've basically just been getting by. I was able to find a job, first of all, as a substitute teacher, and I was hired as a high school biology teacher. But my loans are on deferment right now, and I have some forbearance to go. But at this point, I'm not sure. Any of the other career options, I've thought about physician assistant, other programs like that, but it requires going into more debt, because I'm not in a position where I can work and then pay as I go, plus pay off the loans I've

got now, too. Yeah, so what would it take to be a PA from where you are? I would have to take about another year of classes. I would have to take some other entrance classes, and then two and a half years for the program itself. Wow. take some other entrance classes, and then two and a half years for the program itself. Wow. And that's probably at least another $70,000 to $60,000 in tuition and living expenses.

What about nursing? My undergraduate degree was in biology, and then I did pre-med. And so none of the med school work you've done applies to anything else? No, none of it. I have the debt, but none of the courses, none of it actually I can transfer to anything. Wow. Well, I mean, the only thing I know to tell you is to try to assess some kind of a career, and that's what I'm poking at here. I don't know enough about that world to try to help you is to try to assess some kind of a career and that's what i'm poking at here i don't know enough about that world to try to help you but um we obviously need to get to the point that

we're making some good money to begin to pay this through right and so i want to i want to lead you towards something that's six figures uh to try to try to plow through this with and or get on maybe with some kind of a hospital type of a company that would do some student loan pay for you as part of your signing bonus, that kind of a thing. Obviously, you're not going to be doing that as an MD, but the PA idea is a good idea, something around the biology or medical field. But I want to move you well beyond high school biology teacher to pay off $430,000 in debt, right? Exactly. And the other issue, I mean, right now I'm 34 years old, and so I have all this debt and no – I mean, I have an emergency fund, but no retirement savings, nothing at all.

So I don't know. Well, I'm not worried about that until we address your income. We've got to address your career track, which gets you to your income, which solves the debt problem and then solves the retirement problem. I'm not in a panic about that today. I mean, if you were 66, I might be, but you're not. You've got time to work through that. You've just got to reset here and land on your feet from a career standpoint

and find something that you can use this biology and medical aptitude that you have short of MD to try to get some income coming in. James, that's all I know to tell you, man. I'm sorry you're facing this. Wow. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. We'll be right back. In the lobby of Ramsey Solutions, Jared is with us. Hey, Jared, how are you? I'm doing good.

Welcome, welcome. Where do you live, sir? I live in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Whoa, bit of a haul to Nashville. Yes, sir. You can't get there from here. You can. It's a long ways off. Yeah. Well, welcome. Good to have you here.

Here to do a debt-free scream. How much have you paid off? A tad over $30,000. Good for you. And how long did that take you, sir? 13 months. Wow. And your range of income during that time? It was just above $60,000 to nearly $70,000 probably this year. Cool. What do you do for a living? I drive truck over the road. Okay. So you put us on your plan to drop by here then?

Actually, I drove down here myself. Oh, did you? Yes. Okay. Just for this. Wow. Okay. Well, I was hoping you picked it along the route. Oh my gosh. Wow. So how did you start doing this 13 months ago? What got you engaged? A buddy of mine, he kept talking about this Dave Ramsey guy for about six months. And then just driving, I listened to it on audiobook. And it's about halfway through it, and I'm like, got to do this. All right. Cool.

What kind of debt it was, the $30,000? It was $3,300 was credit cards, $7,000 to a family member, and just under $20,000 in student loans. Okay, cool. What was your degree? I don't have a degree. Okay. I just have a debt. What were you studying? First I was studying aviation, and then I was studying engineering after that.

Okay, all right, cool. So you had $20,000 left over from that and $10 was studying engineering after that. Okay. All right. Cool. So you had $20,000 left over from that and $10,000 in other stuff? Yes. Okay. Cool. Very cool. So you're out there in the truck driving over the road, and I listen to the audio book, and you say, we're going to do this.

So what was the key for you that allowed you to get out of debt? What was the main thing you learned that said, I can do this? Doing the budget, tracking my spending, figuring out exactly where all my money was going, and then just having the ability to say no. Your book talks about the excuses the mental gymnastics people make to justify stuff, and I realized I was doing all of them. So I had to stop doing that. Yeah, I hear you. Wow.

Very cool. How old are you? 35. All right. Good for you. Have you ever been debt-free as an adult? No, sir. Wow.

Never. Now you're here. Yeah. How does it feel? Awesome. Well, congratulations. We're very proud of you, man. Thank you.

Thanks for stopping in and doing your debt-free scream here. Very good stuff. Very cool. Now, we've got a lot of over-the-road truck drivers, particularly with XM. Yeah. And in the podcast as well. And picking us up that way. So we're glad you're in our audience, sir.

We've got a copy of Chris Hogan's book for you, Retire Inspired. That's the next chapter in your story for you to be a millionaire. So who was your biggest cheerleader? At first, I kind of didn't have any. Probably the memory of my grandfather. He was Dave Ramsey before there was Dave Ramsey. Yeah. Built his own house with cash.

Yeah. I mean, everything, bought used vehicles. Mm-hmm. And, you know, was very wealthy. Yeah. Yeah. That's a good motivator. Yeah, and then probably about halfway through it, I got a friend on it. And watching him, watching his mind click, hearing it in his voice, and kind of helping him in the early stages, that was awesome too.

Very cool. Well, well done, sir. Very very well done we're proud of you good job can i give a shout out to a couple people sure uh brad scott and jess kyle jason my dad and my grandma you got it very cool well well done sir all right jared from grand forks north dakota thirty thousand dollars paid off in 13 months, making $60,000 to $70,000 a year. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream. Three, two, one.

I debt-day! I debt-day! Woo-hoo! This is how it works. Love it, love it, love it. Well done. Oh, love it. Well done. Oh, fun stuff. Open phones at 888-825-5225.

Brandon's in Fort Lauderdale. Hi, Brandon. How are you? Hey, Dave. I'm doing all right. A little nervous about what I'm deciding to do next, but I appreciate you and your team taking my phone call. Certainly. How can I help? Dave, I just wanted to do next, but I appreciate you and your team taking my phone call. Certainly. How can I help?

Dave, I just wanted to run something by you. I just turned 24, and I currently have about $16,000 worth of credit card debt. Some of it was because of irresponsible spending that I recognize, and another portion of it was I had to lean a little bit on my credit because I was out of work for a few months. I'm calling today because I've been receiving flyers and flyers in the mail from a lot of different debt settlement companies. And I finally decided to just try to call one and get some information. And I've been speaking with a representative from one of them for a while now.

And he's basically put me in a position where it sounds like it's a very enticing offer to drop my debt from $16,000. They say they can settle it for $13,000. But I have done my research. I know my credit would take a big hit. I don't personally morally really want to do it. But as of right now, I'm making the minimum payments on everything. I've downloaded the EveryDollar app, which I highly recommend. I've started your debt snowball. I've cut up their credit cards. I'm doing everything just short of picking up your total money makeover

book. How much do you make? After taxes, I take home about $1,900 to $2,000 a month. What do you do? I fly as a flight attendant for an airline. Okay. Because you're starving to death, aren't you? Yeah, Dave, I mean, it's tough. Yeah. Because you work a pretty irregular schedule, don't you?

Yeah, yeah, I do. And we have a cap on how many hours we can fly in a month, so it's not even like I can pick up extra shifts. Yeah. I mean, you'd have to pick up an extra job, but it would have to be something you could work on on an irregular basis. How much notice do you have on your schedule? Well, I'm lucky enough to know my entire month's schedule in advance,

so picking up a second job wouldn't be totally crazy. Be totally crazy not to right now. So, okay, here's the answer to your first question. No, you don't do debt settlement because they're going to destroy your credit, and there's no point in that. I'm not about you building your credit, but I don't want to just destroy it, especially for three grand. Plus, the vast majority of these things are mismanaged, and you're going to end up in the biggest mess you've ever dreamed with one of these guys. There's only one that I would even possibly recommend, and I wouldn't recommend it in your case. We've dealt with customers for 20 years where we had to go in and clean up where these

guys did not do what they said they were going to do. Basically, their plan is don't pay your payments. You get behind on everything. And so then they try to negotiate a reduced amount based on the fact that you haven't paid your payments. And that's not a plan. It's only $16,000. So here's the deal. $1,000 a month income changes your life. Yeah. In 16 months, you'll be out of debt. And so you need an extra job until you decide what you're going to do with your career field.

And really, you're 24. When you're 30, you don't need to be doing what you're doing right now making what you're making right now there has to be a path there has to be a path out of this agreed yeah yes and i am looking into that right now dave yeah because you don't make enough i mean um and i'm not picking on you and i'm not shaming you i'm just saying saying I think you are worth more than this in the marketplace doing something. And I would try to figure out what that is or if there's a path in the flight attendant world to making good money. And I don't know what that is. I don't know enough about that part of aviation to be helpful to you. But you may know.

You should know. You're in that world. But, I mean, is there a thing where in five years you're going to be helpful to you. But you may not. You should know. You're in that world. But, I mean, is there a thing where in five years you're going to be making triple? I mean, for pretty much any flight attendant, no matter what company you work for, it's kind of just taking your licks and sticking around for 10, 15 years, and then you start making close to $40, $50 an hour. But the thing is, I don't love the job. So I am on my way out.

The nice thing is I have been having interviews recently for a supervisor position that would almost double my income. There we go. There we go. Now you're thinking. Okay. Let's do that, and let's pick up an extra job in the meantime and make an extra $1,000 a month, and let's stay away from the debt settlement program.

You were treating the symptom instead of the problem. The problem was your income. The debt reduction or the lack of debt reduction was the symptom. So let's get your income up temporarily and long term. And then you're going to have this fixed. You got it, Brandon. Hold on. I'll give you a couple of minutes. Our scripture of the day, Philippians 4.13, I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength. Bruce Lee says, if you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus. And you must not stay there. You must go beyond them.

Ooh, that's good. Bill's with us in Tucson, Arizona. Hey, Bill, how are you? I'm doing well, sir. How are you? Better than I deserve. What's up? Bill, a few years ago, I was homeless, living in my car. And one day, God basically told me, you need to do something right now or you're going to wind up under a bridge. And if you wind up under a bridge, you'll die. So I wound up going to truck driving school, and now I'm an over-the-road truck driver. And I'm wondering what to do with this money,

because this job can go away in a heartbeat. Also, my mom's not in a real good situation. I'd like to set her up. I prayed for three things when I got this job. I wanted a decent living doing something I love that would enable me to help people. And I feel like honoring my father and mother, one way would be to help take care of her.

Good deal. And I just want to know where I should start. What should I do with this? Good for you. Well done. So what do you make? I figured it up last night, and at take-home, I've averaged about $4,500 a month for the last two months.

Very good. Congratulations. Well done, sir. Well done. Thank you. You made a decision, and you acted on it. months for the last two months very good congratulations well done sir well done you made a decision and you acted on it very well done all right you're right the jobs don't go on forever nothing is forever uh and so do you have any debt uh yes i've got about $30,000 in student loans, and I've got about $1,500 left on my car. Okay, cool, good. Well, the first thing I would tell you to do is to set aside $1,000 as your starter emergency fund, and then I want you to attack this debt as rapidly and aggressively as you possibly can

with complete focus and reckless abandon, where we're just pounding on the debt. Because the best way to put yourself in a position to survive a job layoff and or to take care of your mom somewhat is to get rid of the debt. Because once that's gone, you've got nothing left to do but pile up some money, right? Yes, sir. So I think you can clear this debt up in no time because you know just keep your expenses down while you're over the road and um knock it out in you know as fast as you can uh as a matter

of fact a few minutes ago i had an over the road truck driver on here doing his debt-free scream did you hear him i heard him yeah he off $30,000 in 13 months. Yes, sir. Making about what you're making. I had one other question for you. This company I'm working for doesn't pay me by the mile. They pay me a percentage of what they make. And I have the opportunity. I'm not ready to do that right now, but I have the opportunity to buy my own truck for about $50,000. And that would more than quadruple my income, but it would also about double my expenses.

So I've got to do some more number crunching, but I believe that would be a substantial pay raise. And I was just wondering, should I hold off on that? Yes. I would not do that deal. I would hold off. I want you to say, if you're going to do that, I want you to pay cash for it, number one. But number two, the grass is not necessarily greener there because what you have to do is you're now running your own business

and you've got to set your own loads up, and you may very well take a pay cut. And so – Well, no, it would still be through this company. It would be the same thing. They would just take a – they would take a smaller cut, and I would get a bigger cut. Yeah, but then when you get laid off, you're on a tractor. Right. No, thank you.

No, thank you. So I'm going to – if I'm going to do that, I'm going to do it with cash, and that's down the road. So let's get debt-free. Let's build an emergency fund after that of three to six months of expenses. Let's set some money aside to send Mom some, and then we'll start saving for the tractor. I've been giving her about $500 a month so far. I want to bump that up, but I also want to buy a piece of land,

partially as an investment, but partially so she can get out of where she's at. Not now. Let's get this mess cleaned up first. Okay. I want you to have no payments and then save up and buy that piece of land if you want to. That can be your mom thing. Okay. But let's get no payments and an emergency fund of three to six months.

I'm talking to a guy who 15 minutes ago was homeless, right? It's the way it feels, right? You know, just the other day, right? I mean, this is recent history in your life. You were living in your car. So what I'm trying to do is get you in a position that you're never there again. That's goal one. And that means no debt and an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses.

And so you got 15,000 cash in the bank you don't touch for anything, and you have no payments in the world, you're not vulnerable anymore. Does that make sense? Yes, sir. Then we start talking about land and tractors and all these other things. Okay. Can I ask one more question? Yes, sir. Okay. Can I ask one more question?

Yes, sir. Sally Mae hasn't been hounding me yet, so I've been pounding at my car trying to get it paid off. Should I contact them now or wait until the car is paid off and then try to get a hold of them? If they get $4,500 a month, you only owe $1,500 on the car. Pay the car off. Okay, and then try to get a hold of Sally Mae? Yeah, like this month. Okay. Where's your money going? Thank you very much. Yeah, you should have plenty of money, right?

I've got a fair bit, yes. Yeah, I mean, when you're making money, you're not used to having any, and you ought to be able to throw big chunks, like I'm thinking $3, dollars a month towards your debt something like that yes yeah which your car is only 1500 right yes sir yeah so that's like a half a month so yeah you can go ahead and call sally you're

getting ready to start pounding her in the face we're about to give that old woman her eviction notice out of your life right on because you're going to clean that old woman her eviction notice out of your life right on because you're going to clean her up in about 10 months then we're going to build up that emergency fund because i want to get the vulnerability the risk away from you then you can be in a position to be a blessing but only the it takes strength to be gentle. It takes strength to be giving. You can't give if you're not strong. And so I want to get you in a place of strength so that you can be a blessing to your mom, so that you can grow a business and own your own deal rig someday if you want to do that.

Those kinds of things are what I'm aiming you towards. And so hold on. I'm going to have our team mail you out a copy of the book. As a matter of fact, I'll just give you the audio book because that will be better in the truck. That's what the other truck driver told me. Jared told me he did. So I'll have them give you a copy of the audio book so you can listen to the Total Money Makeover as you're driving, and it will get you going on this and show you exactly why I'm hounding you on this.

But I'm proud of you, man. You're doing good stuff. And I want you to call me back and tell me how you're doing sometime. And if you need more help or have more questions, you let me know. You got some good goals, some good solid things. You got a good heart, and you pulled yourself up. I'm proud of you. Well done.

Very well done. Open phones at 888-825-5225. I don't know if there's another radio show on the planet. Matter of fact, I'm sure there's not. Where in the same hour, I can talk to a guy that's $420,000 in student loan debt from a failed medical school attempt, didn't get his MD. And 20 minutes later, I'm talking to a truck driver who was recently homeless and has had a job for two months. Where else does that happen?

It doesn't happen anywhere else but here. This show is about you folk, and you're pretty amazing. Some of you get yourself into amazing messes, but you're pretty amazing. The stuff you can do when you decide to. I mean, isn't that guy inspiring to you? He's inspiring to me. And I'm scared for that other guy. I'm worried about him right now.

He's in a mess. And, you know, it's our fault because we allowed Congress to guarantee $420,000 for a student loan for a guy that didn't even get his M.D. And they're not forgivable. There's only, you know, you can't get rid of it. You can't bankrupt it. He's got it forever. And he didn't graduate. Next time you call me about going to medical school, I'm going to remind you of that guy right there.

That puts this hour of the Dave 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. This is James Childs, producer of The Dave Ramsey Show. Once again, you made The Dave Ramsey Show one of the top five most downloaded podcasts last week.