The Ramsey Show - App - Why Are We Buying So Much Stuff? (Hour 1)

Episode Date: August 27, 2018

The show about you

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, 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. This is your show. Thank you for joining us. It's all about you. It's a free call, and some say the advice is worth what you pay for it. The phone number is 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225.

Well, Dave Ramsey doesn't give very sophisticated advice. You know what? That's true. I don't. I teach you to do really, really, really easy to understand but profound life-changing things to do. Like, live on less than you make. No one does it. Those that do become wealthy.

Those that do are in a position to be generous. Those that do become wealthy. Those that do are in a position to be generous. Those that do avoid debt. Those that don't are a victim of society. It's all stacked against the little man. He can't get ahead. Right? Live on less than you make. Get out of debt, because if you don't have payments,

you have money! The problem is not that most of you don't earn a decent living. Most of you give it to other people. Because you couldn't resist buying crap that you didn't have the money for. You buy stuff that you don't really need with money you don't have to impress people that you don't even really like, and you give them all your money. Thus, their building in the skyline and the furniture in their executive offices is way nicer than your double-wide.

You gave them all your money. You work your fingers to the bone and all you got is bony fingers. Remember the old song? No, some of you ain't that old. Okay. Anyway. That's the deal. Live on less than you make't that old. Okay. Anyway, that's the deal. Live on less than you make.

Stay out of debt. Always be giving money away. Be a good tipper even when the server isn't good. You don't really say anything about the other people when you don't leave a tip. You say more about yourself. Well, I don't think they earned it. See what I mean? There you go.

You're just an angry, backward person. And you're all worried about whether some little girl bringing your hamburger did a good job. And you don't even work while you're at work so shut up you say take it easy and you mean it and then you don't leave somebody a tip i'd be ashamed and the worst ones are my fellow christians servers don't even want to work on sundays because christians are notoriously cheap they don't leave a tip and don't blame it on Ramsey, because Dave Ramsey never told you not to tip. Ever. You ought to give.

You ought to find somebody that's having a bad day and hand them $20, $100, $1,000. You'd have to have the money to be able to do that, so you'd have to be doing the other thing, which is like living on a budget. A written plan. No one gets to their destination if they don't know what the destination is. Most people with their money do ready, fire, aim. The proper way to do it would be ready, aim, fire. If you're going to go to Florida, you can make up your route from wherever you are along

the way, or you could just go ahead and map out where Florida is and start heading in the proper direction. You'd have to, however, know where Florida is. Otherwise, you wouldn't be getting there. You'd have to go by proven principles, like which way is north and which way is south. I don't like absolute truth. I get it, but you're just stupid. Because there is absolute truth. That way's north, that way's south.

And it's independent of your little pointed head. There are things that are the absolute truth. One plus one equals two, and you can't get creative about that. Florida is that way. Canada is the other way. And if you don't like that, you're just what's known as wrong. That's all.

It's pretty simple, y'all. So you got to have a plan. You're going to get where you're going only if you know where you're going and you take the steps to get there. That's a budget. Live on less to get there. That's a budget. Live on less than you make. Live on a budget. Don't get into debt. Be generous.

See, this stuff's not hard. Oh, by the way, then you could save, couldn't you? If you saved $100 a month in a decent growth stock mutual fund from age 25 to age 65, you'd have $1,176,000. I don't like your interest rate assumptions. Okay. So change them. That's not the point, stupid.

The point is you won't have any money if you don't save some money. It's a basic concept. You want money in your savings account? You want to retire with dignity? It's not an accident. No one gets to millionaire status at age 65 and they look down, there's $1.2 or $2.2 dollars in their 401ks and go how'd that happen where'd that come from no one is shocked they know exactly how they did it it was over the last 25 or 30 years they put a little bit every paycheck automatically drafted out of their paycheck in their 401k took the company match they did a roth 401k or roth ira

with a with a smart investor pro and they did it over a long period of time, and this is how you win. This is how you win. So, yeah, the stuff we teach is really basic. Here's the problem. Some of the most profound, life-changing things you will ever learn in your life are very easy to understand. Love your neighbor as yourself. Yeah, but he's a jerk.

I know, but love your neighbor as yourself. I know, but he's a Republican. He's a Democrat. He's a Methodist. Whatever. You can always find something. Love your neighbor. He's a Methodist. Whatever. You can always find something. Love your neighbor. It's easy to understand.

It's just hard to do it. Because some people are just not very lovable. If you don't believe me, just get on Twitter. I think that's where all the hateful people live now. It's sad. It's easy to understand. Love your neighbors yourself. Live on less than you make.

Always be generous with money. Always be saving money. Stay out of debt. Always have a plan. These are easy to understand. The problem is they're hard to do. It's a very profound thing to decide to take control of your life instead of letting other people and let circumstances dictate to you how you live you can control the variables you can't control all of them

but you can even put yourself in such a position that big hairy dramatic things are not so big and hairy and dramatic i wrecked my car last night because i'm stupid i turned in front of a woman it was my fault that's a variable i can't control because i was stupid you know what i can control i have the money to buy the insurance and i did and it fixes my car and her car and she wasn't hurt and i wasn't hurt everybody's gonna be okay because i controlled the variables i could control even though I apparently don't know how to drive. So there you go. I've been in a car wreck for years. Decades.

Stupid. But you know what? Those are variables you can't control. I actually could control that variable. My wife told me about it on the way home. But anyway, there you go. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. Okay, I need you to listen to this, because one normal routine that everyone does can cause total chaos in your life.

Folks, I'm talking about the simple act of using Wi-Fi. When you're on Wi-Fi anywhere in public or at home, you're at risk of hackers easily seeing every site you visit and search you're doing online. It doesn't matter if you're doing it on your cell phone or your laptop. I'm not telling you this to scare you. I don't operate in fear. But I want you to be aware and take action. You need to download Hotspot Shield.

Hotspot Shield helps keep your connection on your own Wi-Fi and any public Wi-Fi secure. 600 million people worldwide have downloaded Anchor Free's Hotspot Shield. Download it now. My listeners can save even more by going to hotspotshield.com slash Dave. That's hotspotshield.com slash Dave. You can be secure in seconds. Download Hotspot Shield today. In the lobby of Ramsey Solutions, Tamara is with us. Hi, Tamara.

How are you? Hi. I'm good. How are you? Better than I deserve. Welcome. Where do you live? I am from Atlanta, Georgia.

Well, Marietta, Georgia. Perfect. Wonderful. Welcome to Nashville. And all the way up here to do your debt-free scream. Yes, all the way up here. Love it. How much did you pay off?

$68,854.20. Good for you. And how long did that take? 14 months. Whoa. And your range of income during that time? $55,000 to $55,000. Okay.

What do you do for a living? I work in project management. Good for you. What kind of debt was the $69,000? Okay. So $17,503 was my car. There was $652.39 for credit cards and $50,697.96 for student loans. Okay.

Now, you didn't make $69,000 during that 14 months, so that means you must have sold something or had some savings or something. What happened? I had savings. Oh, how much? Yes. About $42,000 in savings. Oh, how much? Yes, about $42,000 in savings. So 42 of it knocked out, which left you with about 25 more to go, and you did that making 55 in 14 months. Very good.

Good for you. Thank you. Very well done. Thank you. Love it. So tell me the story. What happened 14 months ago that got you on fire? Okay, so initially this came from me wanting to buy a house. I had my career, had a son, and I just automatically thought the house was next.

Forget about the debt that I was in, just the house. And so I had the $40,000 in my savings, and I found a house, and I decided to go ahead and get pre-approved and everything. And then I was. And so when I was talking to the lender, we talked about debt to income ratio. And I never really thought about that. And so after we were doing crunching numbers and everything, I found out that I would only have maybe about $300 left each month after paying, you know, your mortgage and your living expenses and the car and the student loan. And basically that is, to me, the same thing as living paycheck to paycheck. Yeah, I agree.

And so that made me very nervous to not have much left. I went ahead, though, and still put in an offer for this house that I wanted. And it's so crazy because the person who actually got the house, they had the same exact, they offered the same thing. The only thing it was they decided to close in less than 30 days. So I didn't get the house, which ended up being the biggest blessing. And I decided to take the 17,000, you know, over the 17,000 and pay off my car so that that would free up the money, the debt to income ratio. And so I did that and I was so nervous about that. And the check cleared.

I got the title. And so everything was fine with that. So then I was listening to you, the baby steps and everything. And you say, take your savings down to a thousand. I just knew you were not talking to me because it just had to be maybe someone who had $2,000 in savings and then take it down to $1,000, but not me. I had $40,000 in savings and that really made me nervous from having $1,000 left. So the first step was the car and so that was okay. And then so I decided, okay, I'm going to go ahead and do the

baby steps and I'm going to do the baby steps but I'm going to keep my money in my savings okay so so ish yes so um so I said I would pay my student loans pay over each month and so I was doing that, paying more every month. And although it was going okay, still, it just wasn't like enough. You know, you could look at the total balance. So one was for like a Department of Education loan. The other one was for a private loan. All of it at Navi and Sallie Mae. So I decided that I was going to pay more. And then after the momentum really wasn't going as well as I thought,

because you're paying all of this money each month and not really having anything and kind of seeing it go down progressively. So I said, okay, well, I'll go ahead and take some more money out of my savings and pay that. So I took $10,000 and paid that. And so that was a large number and I felt better. And then I went ahead and took the rest of it and took it all the way down and paid the first thing. And so that was fine because I was like nervous and paranoid because you think because that was my safety net. And so I was just like, OK, I'm in debt.

But then I still have this in case something happens. And so but once I did that and paid off that first student loan completely, it was like twenty twenty four thousand and something. I felt good. So then I was like, okay, well, I'll go ahead and continue paying more each month. Because at that point, I don't think I had anything else to save. So you basically waded your way into it and got a little bit more comfortable with the water, a little bit more comfortable with the water, a little bit more comfortable with the water, and finally cleaned the savings all the way out. Yes. Yes.

Yes, I did. Very good. But then that scared you enough that it drove you to knock it all out. Yes, it did. Very good. Well done. Well done. Thank you.

Did you have people cheering you on? Yes. So I had my son cheering me on, and my parents, and my sister, my best friend. And so, yes, I had a lot of supporters. Very cool. Anybody telling you you're crazy? Not necessarily crazy, but I think that a lot of people my age, they think that it's good. And they kind of, I get a lot of questions because even I did this in June.

And so I posted something on Facebook and I have a lot of questions because even I did this in June. And so I posted something on Facebook. And I have a lot of people who ask me questions. But I don't think that a lot of people are just really willing to take a step. So it's like, oh, that's good. And then when you tell them to take your savings down, that's when they think you're crazy. Just like you. Yeah. It's hard for you.

Good for you. Well, very, very well done. What do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is now that you've done it? I would say the key to getting out of debt would be, the Bible says, write the vision, make it plain. So write down everything. The monthly budget is very, very big. Having that, being able to. Now, you're single i am so that became that piece of paper became your accountability partner it was yelling at you to behave yes yes that's right

so i didn't have anybody yeah but i also didn't have anybody telling me no or we're gonna do this so it was just all about you just had to control you. But that piece of paper becomes the one that's in your face then. Yeah. Yeah. And that's good. So at first, when I first started, like I said, I wanted to keep my savings. So at first it was 24 months. Yeah.

And then after I started writing stuff down and like I can see the the balance is decreasing. And so I rewrote the numbers to where i would have it done in a smaller amount of time and i did the dates over again and then i said okay well i'll do this before i turn 30. yay yeah and so how old are you i am 29 i will be 30 tomorrow oh happy birthday thank you you made it very cool well very well done we've got a copy of of Chris Hogan's retire-inspired book for you. That's the next chapter in your story for you to be a millionaire. You're on your way. I'm very proud of you.

Thank you. Thank you. Very well done. And you brought your son with you. His name and age? Tyson, and he's three. Three-year-old Tyson. All right.

Going to do the death-free scream. Been practicing with mom. All right. Very, very cool. All right. $69,000 paid off in 14 months, making $55,000 and cleaning out our savings. It's Tamara and Tyson. Count it down.

Let's hear a debt-free scream. One, two, three. We're debt-free! I love it. How cute. That's fun. Very, very well done. Proud of you, kiddo.

Proud of you. Excellent job. Excellent job. Open phones this hour as we talk about your life and your money. Joining me in the next half hour answering your questions, Ramsey Personality, my daughter, number one New York Times bestselling author, Rachel Cruz, will be with us. So be sure to stay tuned as we answer your questions. Ramsey Personality, my daughter, number one New York Times bestselling author, Rachel Cruz, will be with us. So be sure to stay tuned as we answer your questions together and talk about some wonderful things that are going on on her YouTube channel. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. Let me tell you a story about two families that are very much alike in a lot of ways.

Both families have two working parents and a couple of young kids. Each has debt and a struggle to make ends meet. But they're starting to make headway with their budgets and smarter decisions with money. They have dreams and plans, and the only real difference is that one family has the right amount of term life insurance and the other doesn't. Big difference. If one of the parents die, and that does happen, their well-being would be destroyed. Paying for the mortgage, utilities, food, and other bills would be impossible let alone saving for education or retirement that's why every day i talk relentlessly about getting term life insurance just go to zanderinsurance.com or call 800-356-4282 and see how inexpensive it really is

be the family that takes those deliberate steps to be different and responsible. It really does make you the hero of your story, and it puts you on course for better things ahead. Joining me this half hour answering your questions, Rachel Cruz from The Rachel Cruz Show. If you've not seen The Rachel Cruz Show on YouTube, it is a major hit. Millions and millions of downloads on the Internet. They're on the YouTube channel, The Rachel Cruz YouTube channel. And it's a new video series, basically, that comes out. But it's basically a TV show on YouTube is what it amounts to without the dadgum commercials. So there you go.

And I think we're on how many episodes is this now? Do I? Oh, 13, I think. This is number 13 or something. I always lose track. Because we film. Yeah. The cool about this was the millennial minimalists.

Minimalists. Yeah. Josh and Ryan. They came on our show with me. But you went down and did their podcast when they were in Nashville with them. And they were telling me that the three of you up there, it was like rock stars. Because half of the people loved Rach or Dave or whatever. Half of them loved the minimalists.

And it was like one of the best podcasts. They were, I don't know whether they were being nice, but they were saying it was incredible. But no, but it was. They of the best podcasts they were i don't know whether they were you know being nice but they were saying it was incredible but no but it was really nice guys well the two messages if those of you that haven't heard of the minimalist or if you didn't listen when they were on the on this show they need to go back to your podcast and listen to them a few segments on your show because they're so good but just this whole philosophy that stuff is not going to fulfill you the way we are told right in america today we're told the more stuff you have the nicer your stuff the bigger your stuff it's going to just fill this void in you and everything's going to be better and they went on this huge rebellion from that and basically said okay so what if you just have

minimal minimalists type things like you you don't have the huge big you know everything you have only a certain amount of one oh yeah only you know only a certain amount of clothes and if you buy new clothes you were you know you take some out of your closet uh you only have things that bring value to your life and so i just i watched the documentary on my own one night i think this was gosh probably six months ago because i had heard my friends talk about it like oh it's a really good documentary on netflix you should check it out and i by the end of it i was like fired up i was like going on my own rant i'm, yes, because we have so much crap in our lives, and I still fall for this, where I'm like,

oh, if I could just have that pair of shoes, that would be so great. And it doesn't. It doesn't. It doesn't fulfill you the way you think it does, and people going into debt and borrowing money to keep up this standard of lifestyle that really our culture has set for us, and it's just, it's asinine. It really is.

And so they've combated that. And then with our message of getting people out of debt, living on beans and rice, rice and beans, getting an extra job, right, getting out of debt and the sacrifices in your lifestyle you make while doing that, our two messages together, they just collide in a wonderful way. So a bunch of our folks, while they're getting out of debt, really did sell so much stuff the kids think they're next yeah which is kind of a minimalist thing to do right right now they may or may not go all the way down to uh ryan and josh's level which i mean is almost no stuff at all right but at least you address this spiritual issue of what i called in the very first book uh i think the third chapter or the second chapter of the very first book i ever wrote back in 1992 financial peace we called it stuff itis yeah where we are this strange disease where we are addicted to stuff another book another author came out later that was a bestseller called affluenza yes the disease

of being addicted to a affluence yep uh or the perception of affluence right tom stanley that wrote the book millionaire next door did a book called stop acting rich um i mean and you dealt with it and love your life not theirs right these are all contentment messages right exactly exactly and so yeah so they came on my show when they were here in nashville and was so great i mean it's so fun it's just refreshing to hear other people that speak this language and kind of you know it amps up even our tribe. And those of you listening who have bought into this idea of living, of living on less than you make and saving up and paying for things with cash. And that stuff is not going to bring you happiness. Right.

All of our messages all together. So it's fun. They're fun guests to have on. It's a great message of contentment. And it's not a, I mean, I don't do it. And I don't tell you you have to do it or you're and they don't tell you right you have to do it well they kind of said it's relativism now in a sense that yeah it's i mean somebody posted like a picture of my house after they were on and said like you know dave ramsey doesn't believe in

minimal anything and i'm like no i live like no one else so later i can live like no one else but i did at the start live like no one else i did back down below my means yes yes and uh in order to save in order to invest in order to create my generosity and my home today is a very nice home but it's it's a way small percentage of my network that's right well and it's okay like you always said to us growing up one of my favorite lines it's okay to have nice stuff just don't let your nice stuff have you and that is consistent with ryan and josh's message that's what i'm saying yeah it's just that stuff is not going to fulfill you it's okay to have nice stuff but just don't let that nice stuff have you and so that's it and since they have like 14 items or something i really couldn't invite them to dinner it would be freaking you know

no but they said they said on my show too that because i asked them like if i walk into your home right now what does it look like? And they were like honestly you wouldn't really know that much of a difference. You would just walk in and be like oh wow these people are really

neat and tidy and simple. So it's not like okay there's not a coffee table and there's no furniture. I mean they're living life. They've moved back up in number of items.

They told me that on the show too a little bit. But it's just a great message and they're fascinating men. Yeah they're fun. They're great. They told me that on the show too, a little bit. But it's still a great message. And they're fascinating men. They really are. They're great. Big hearts and kind and easy to be around and not judgmental.

I mean, just really fun. I really enjoyed getting to know them. That's on your Facebook YouTube episode that comes out. Now that episode posts today. Yes. Right now. It was at 11 o'clock, so it's live and going. So you can go to YouTube, Rachel Cruz channel uh channel on youtube the rachel cruz show is there if you don't know about youtube you can subscribe you old people if you can subscribe to a channel on youtube it'll send

you an email every time that person posts a video on their channel like on the dave ramsey show channel we post these every day off of this show. Okay, where all the debt-free screams are posted or all that kind of stuff. So you automatically get that, and you get that if you go ahead and subscribe to the Rachel Cruz Show as well. Changing gears right quick, and then we're going to go to some calls. You and Les Parrott, this money and marriage event has become unbelievably popular, and you have a bunch of them on the books to do. Yes. So this fall, we're hitting the road in September.

So September 11th will be in Orlando. September 27th, Houston, Texas. October 4th, Anaheim, California, right outside of LA. October 13th, oh, is Kansas City Smart Conference, which we can talk about in a second. And then November 8th is Phoenix. So all of those are money and marriage events. Yeah, Dr. Les Parr and myself break down the two areas of life that a lot of people struggle with. And apparently we've just announced Valentine's Day.

Yes, that's right. Oh, it is. Okay, I didn't know if that was still a secret. You can come to Nashville, our town, which is one of the destination cities in America right now. So fun. For your Valentine's weekend. And we're going to do some really special fun things at this event. So if you want to do a destination marriage and money event with Les Parrott and Rachel Cruz,

February the 14th coming up. Valentine's Day. There we go. And we've got two smart conferences coming up, which will have you and Les in it, along with everyone else that's on the lineup here. And that's October the 13th in Kansas City and January the 12th in Dallas, Texas. It was funny that the February 14th of Valentine's, they were talking about it in a meeting. And I was like, do people really come on Valentine's?

I mean, that's Valentine's Day. People come to an event. And we did research and found that one of the number one, number two or number one expenditures that couples love to spend on are going to events together or different occasions where they get to learn something together. And I was like, oh, well, there you go. So all of you out there love it. That's also the Smart Conference. So Smart Conference, again, in Kansas City. Here's the situation.

The tickets are 74% sold out, and it's only a month away. So if you want your tickets, what we're saying is that it is trending towards an early sellout. October the 13th, so it's, what, 45 days away. Not quite, just a touch over a month away. We will be in Kansas City. It's an all-day-long event. Rachel Cruz will be speaking. I'll be there.

Anthony O'Neill, Chris Hogan, Les Parrott, Ken Coleman is doing a presentation from the Ken Coleman Show. First time we've used him on the Smart Conference. That's going to be great. Looking forward to that. Henry Cloud's back with us.

Meg Meeker. So we've got parenting, marriage, boundaries, life, money. I'll be speaking, of course, about the success principles. Anthony O'Neill on teenagers. It's going to be a day-long event you do not want to miss. These things are incredible. It's fun.

So fun. One of my most favorite events at Money Marriage. It's great. It's fun for us because we get to hang out with some of the top speakers and thought leaders in the world, and we become good friends with all of them, and you guys get to see them all all day long. It's truly an all-star lineup. It's absolutely incredible. Smart Conference is Dallas in January, Kansas City in October.

You can get tickets to any of these marriage and money or Smart Conference at DaveRamsey.com or RachelCruz.com. Check them out. Bye. Thank you. Doug is with us in Cleveland, Ohio. Welcome to the Dave Ramsey Show, Doug. Rachel Cruz is with us as well to answer your questions. How can we help? Hi, Dave. How are you?

Better than I deserve. What's up? Good. I'm just looking for some financial advice. I'm in a financial pickle here and not really sure what my next step should be. Okay. How much debt do you have? About $97,000. On what? Student loans. All student loans? Yes. Okay. And what's your income? $55,000 to $58,000, depending on overtime. What do you do for a living?

I'm a respiratory therapist. Okay. And that was your degree field, obviously. Correct. Okay. Cool. How long have you been out of school? Two years now. You don't have any debt payments, and you have a $55,000 income,

except your $97,000 in student loan debt. Correct. There's a car that we're leasing as my graduation gift. Oh, that would be debt. Wait a minute. Do you have a car payment? Well, I don't have a car payment. My father is paying the car payment, and then in January,

we're going to purchase the car, and I'm going to sell it and get something where i don't have a car payment so who's paying the car payment you or him my father as a gift to you until january correct okay so you don't have that debt it's in his name and you're not paying the monthly correct okay. Is there any other secrets in this family? No. I'm briefly engaged. We're planning a wedding in two years. Good for you. Okay.

Rachel? Congratulations. What is your main question, though? I'm sorry. Well, my main question is I've recently seen your YouTube videos, and I'm kind of in a situation now where I want to transition and start paying more of my debt out of my income. Would it be willing or it's really hurting me to take that 8% that I'm contributing to my 403B and put it towards debt. I just kind of need a kick in the butt to do that. And if I were to do that, what like projection

wise, and if I were to live lower than my means, where could I see myself getting out of that debt? Okay. Well, I would say absolutely stop retirement, stop everything. Because like you said, it is so hard to get momentum and to pay off this debt when you are contributing 8% of your income into that 403b, which is a great thing, right? I mean, retirement in and of itself is something that we want everyone to do eventually, but at this time, focus all of your efforts on paying off that debt. And so being, I mean, I think you wrote down the math there, dad, but yeah, but looking at that and say, okay, that percentage going back towards paying off your debt. Is your student loans, is that one huge payment or do you have multiple student loans uh well it's thirty three thousand dollars in my name and they're different groups

with different interest rates and then there's about sixty four thousand dollars that's in my parents names because uh i they had recently gotten laid off from their jobs while i was in college okay and and but the agreement was that you would pay it? Correct. With your parents. Okay. All right, so let me ask you this. How long ago did you get engaged?

About two months ago or so. Cool. How long were you dating before that? About four years. Okay. All right. And is she pretty? Yes.

Okay. There's only one possible answer you have for that. I was like, well, the point though okay dating the reason we tell you to stop your retirement and focus completely on getting out of debt is what you focus on is what you win at dating a pretty girl is an option but you don't get engaged just dating the reason you get engaged is if you've been focusing your attentions on her exclusively to the point that your friends think you've lost your mind because you're so freaking in love you're sickening. Right? Right. Correct. Okay.

That's how you win at something. You go all in. And that's what we have figured out about getting out of debt. That's why we tell people to temporarily, temporarily, temporarily stop your retirement. Because what you focus on, you win at. That's how you got engaged. You can date a pretty girl. Meaning you could put money on the debt and you could put money into the 401K.

But nothing's really going to happen. You're just kind of running around in circles. You'll get a little bit of debt reduction and a little bit of wealth, but not a lot of anything. Right. That's why we tell you, because what you focus on is what you win. But if you want to get engaged, this is how you do it. It's game on. Complete, unbridled focus.

And that's what you do here. So you need to pay off $97,000. You make $58,000. Let's just do some math. If you pay $25, $97,000. You make $58,000. Let's just do some math. If you pay $25,000 off a year, that's four years, right? Correct. That's living on beans and rice. If you pay $35,000 off, it's done in three years.

If you want to do it faster than three years, you're working an extra job. That's the math, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. That works out. Yeah, $35,000 a year means you have absolutely no life, and you're done in three years. I mean, no life. A date is a Frisbee.

Right? You got me? I mean, you got no life, and you can be done in three years. That's $35,000 out of $55,000, because you've got to pay taxes and still eat and pay lights and water, right? Correct. Okay, but if you want to do it even faster than that,000 out of $55,000 because you've got to pay taxes and still eat and pay lights and water, right? Correct. Okay. But if you want to do it even faster than that, it's the extra job because here's the thing. You deliver pizzas four nights a week.

It's about $1,500 a month in your city of Cleveland, Ohio. Okay? That's an example. I'm not saying you have to do that one, but if you made an extra $1,500 a month, that's $18,000 a year. Now add that to the equation. Boom, boom, baby. Boom, boom. So you work like no one else so that you're debt-free by the time you get married. $18,000 a year now. Add that to the equation. Boom, boom, baby. Boom, boom.

So you work like no one else so that you're debt-free by the time you get married. If I woke up in your shoes, I would be working like a crazy man. Well, especially now since you're not married, right? Yeah, you're a respiratory therapist. You could pick up all kinds of weekend work and all kinds of stuff at the hospital. Well, and the wonderful thing I think about in today's world, we're brainstorming for a possible show coming up on debt and paying it off. And all the things just in our group here at the office, there were probably five of us in a room, talking about how you can pay off debt these days.

I mean, there's meal delivery service. There's delivery dudes. You can ship your groceries, and you could be the grocery deliverer. You can do Uber. You can do Lyft. I mean, all these things just from your car now, all the extra jobs you can take on. It really is unbelievable in how efficient you can be to make some extra money.

And you don't have to be a Burger King being a whopper-flopper making minimum wage. No, no. I mean, you can't make progress doing that. You should be able to make $15, $20 an hour walking dogs, baby. And finding people within your education bracket, students, you know, 5, 10, 15 years below you walking up wanting to be you. The online tutoring now has, like, sky years below you walking up wanting to be you. The online tutoring now has like skyrocketed. People paying for online tutors. I mean, it's just, I mean, you have to get creative and think out of the box.

But that's the great thing about 2018. There's so many things you can be doing now. And that $1,500 can come so, so quickly if you gear down, especially your lifestyle. But the deeper you sacrifice that lifestyle, the faster you're going to see that outcome. Dave is in Cincinnati, Ohio. Hi, Dave. I'm short on time. Something happened there.

I think he was in a car wreck while I just picked up the phone. Oh, my gosh. Could have been static. It could have been, yeah, but it wasn't. Okay. Rachel Cruz is my guest this half hour. Ramsey personality, number one bestselling author, and the host of the vastly popular millions and millions of downloads of the Rachel Cruz show. A new one dropped in the day.

It was either the 12th or 13th. We can't figure out what it was. I'm sure our team knows. But Rachel and I don't know off the top of our head. But somewhere around those. It's a video series. It's an ongoing show with Rachel and guests. And the guys from the minimalists uh

josh and ryan are her guests among others and the show is always fun funny and entertaining plus you always learn something about money and about life and uh so be sure and sign up for the rachel cruise show and the marriage and money events are on sale and selling very very rapidly and that's les parrot marriage expert rachel cruz money expert money and marriage events uh orlando in september houston in september anaheim la area october 4th kansas city is the smart conference october the 13th phoenix ari Money in Marriage, November 8th, Smart Conference in Dallas, Texas. Les and Rachel will both be with us.

They will each be speaking about Money in Marriage. It won't be a Money in Marriage event. And then the very special, just announced, Money in Marriage destination event here in Nashville. Start making your plans now. That one will sell out way early because a lot of people are going to do this and make a whole weekend of it. Very cool.

February the 14th, Valentine's Day is coming up fast. Rachel, thank you for dropping by. Yes, thanks for having me. Appreciate it. Rachel Cruz, number one bestselling author. Be sure, again, check out this YouTube show. It's absolutely going Zoom Zoom. And you will learn a lot, you'll laugh a lot, and you'll have fun.

Rachel, thanks again. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, guys. This is James Childs, producer of The Dave Ramsey Show. I'm excited to announce that we're now carried on 600 radio stations across the country. To find one near you, head to DaveRamsey.com slash show.