The Ramsey Show - App - Will This Financially Ruin My Family? (Hour 1)

Episode Date: March 21, 2024

🎵 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 amazing relationships. I am Rachel Cruz, hosting this hour with my good friend and bestselling author, Jade Warshaw. And we are here to answer your questions. So give us a call at 888-825-5225. And we'll talk about your life, your money, your relationships, your career, anything and everything. We are here for you. So first up, we have Ashley in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Hey, Ashley, welcome to the show. Hi. Sorry, I'm really nervous. No, you're good. Don't be. It's just us. It's just us girls. It's just chatting. You're great, Ashley. How can we help? So I'm trying to figure out if I step away from work, if I'm going to financially ruin my family. Ooh. Let's talk more about that. Why do you feel like that could be the case? I step away from work if I'm going to financially ruin my family. Ooh. Hmm. Let's talk more about that.

Why do you feel like that could be the case? So I make about double what my husband brings in and he works at a small business. So they don't offer like healthcare or retirement plans or anything like that. And like, he's never going to leave that. That is his life. Okay. What does he earn? Like what are the real numbers? So he earns about 60 and I earn about 115 roughly. And how old are your kids?

I have a four-year-old, a three-year-old, a two-year-old, and a one-month-old. Oh, Ashley. Oh, my Lord. You're in it. I feel like we should just take a moment and pray. I just almost fell asleep just listening to that. That's crazy. Goodness. Okay, so, and I totally get this, Ashley.

Like, after my third, actually, when I was pregnant with my third, it was the moment I was like, oh, man, do I want to go back to this work thing? What do I what does this look like for me? So like this, this heartstring that moms feel it is so real. And so for you, you're a month in to a new baby, you have three little ones around. And what does your husband say when you're saying, golly, my, I'm feeling, I'm feeling pulled in this direction? Well, he says that we'll figure it out and it'll be fine. But he feels like if I do step away that I'm not going to feel fulfilled staying at home. He feels like I was meant to work and that I'll get bored. Well, I think that you, I feel like no one's going to know that better than you, how you'll feel, right? So it's possible that

being new, you know, after having a baby for the first time and you're just a couple of months in, it's possible that you're feeling more emotions in the moment and that you could step away and feel a little bit like, okay, several months have passed now. I'm feeling better about this. That is possible. But I do think at the core, you probably do know yourself best. My question, like when I'm looking at all of this, I'm just really wondering if you do get to the point where you decide I want to stay home, can you actually afford to do it? Because I feel like that otherwise you wouldn't be calling this show. So that's really the question is what's your financial situation above what you both earn?

Um, I mean, we're, we're doing the baby steps for, we're honestly, we're doing pretty well. We, um,

we're debt free. We have a fully funded emergency fund. We own our house outright. Oh, great. For rental. Okay. And can you, have you, have you done a budget with just his income just to see if you know from basic necessities if everything would be okay no we have and it it's tight it's gonna feel tight covered with my work and so if we went to his we would be about two thousand dollars short a month

oh if we start paying if we get insurance on his so and i don't know where to cut or what to do because two thousand dollars yeah that's a significant gap that's not 200 is there something you could do to bring that in to where you're still not working full time, but you're closing that gap while still staying at home? I'm not sure. I haven't really looked into that. Okay. And why doesn't he look out for another job?

That's another point. I know you said that this is his life, but what's the situation? I mean, this is his life. He's known what he wanted to do since he was 12 years old like yeah but what is it what is it what is it what is it well he partially owns the business it's um he he is a martial arts instructor okay so is there a path is there a path to growing the business to where he's earning more basically basically, is what I'm asking. There definitely is, but it probably won't be for like another year or so. Okay.

So, okay. So I think what it gets down to, Ashley, is you guys, you and your husband, y'all have to sit down and decide what is, what is a priority for our family? What does a priority look like? What are our values? When you both have desires that are conflicting, right? He has a desire to stay in a job where financially you wouldn't be able to do it. It would force you to work.

And is that for him greater than having his wife who doesn't wanna go to work be forced to go to work? Do you know what I mean? Like there's a level for me where I'm like, man, there's something about, and if you work, be forced to go to work. Do you know what I mean? Like there's a, there's a level for me where I'm like, man, there's something about, and then, and if you work, Ashley, I'm like, you're paying childcare for four kids. That's a lot. So there's a point too, that your income at that point, it starts to dwindle really quickly for that. And so I don't know, I, there, there is something in me that I, I don't know.'t know and Jade you can you can correct me on the

other side I fight for the mom that wants to be home with her kids I really do because I think some moms us Jade and I we love to work and so we're working and it's great but when you have that feelings I've had that feeling before Ashley we're like I just know this for this season this is where I'm supposed to be and here's the deal too Ashley it may not be forever it may that you guys do it for three years and then you know know, half of the kids are in school and maybe one has a five day a week program and, you know, like, and you start going back, going back in. But motherhood is such a seasonal time. And, and I really do, I fight for women to be able to honor that. And the thing that sucks is that the math has to math. And so something has to give Ashley. So there either has to be able to honor that. And the thing that sucks is that the math has to math.

And so something has to give Ashley. So there either has to be a level that you say, hey, part time, I'm going to do something on the side to bring an income. Like Jade said, or the only other, or you go back to work full time,

or he has to find a different situation to sustain the life that you guys both wants. Right. So when you're crunching those numbers, find a different situation to sustain the life that you guys both want, right? When you're crunching those numbers, be careful because I want to make sure that you're crunching them. If you're doing your budget, your lifestyle as it is with both incomes and you say, hey, we could get this. We're just $2,000 away. That's pretty good. That might just be the difference in you changing your lifestyle a little bit. Does that make sense? Is this a lifestyle thing or is it, hey, Jade, even with our bare bones budget, we're $2,000 away.

I think those are two different questions, right? It might be. It probably is a lifestyle thing. I mean, there's definitely things that we could cut. Like there's some programs that our kids are in. But you have to ask yourself. Like they do dance. But you have to ask yourself about that quality of life, too, because there's part of this where I could look at this and go, hey, you go out and make an extra thousand. He go out and make an extra thousand. Like that should be easy enough.

But if that still just gets you to a barely baseline, how much are you going to enjoy staying home with four kids when you can't put them in any activities? Yeah. So you got things to weigh out yeah so maybe there's another option Ashley even for you for the time being or maybe you guys say for a season for three years we're going to grind it out and you do and you cut the lifestyle way back but yeah so thanks for the call Ashley I don't know if that helps but I think you guys sitting down and deciding what you value the most because something is going to have to have a sacrifice. And you guys need to choose that. That's right.

Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I am Rachel Cruz hosting this hour with bestselling author Jade Warshaw. And we are answering your questions. And today's question, Jade, comes from Isaac in Ohio. Yeah, he says, my wife and I are recently married and found a house that we would like to buy for $600,000. We earn about the same amount a year, $600,000 a year, and we have zero debt. Good. My wife has over $200,000 sitting in a savings account.

And I own a home that I bought before a marriage. I proposed she put down $150,000 of her savings for the down payment and put the house in her name. She comes from a divorced household so it's why I suggested putting the home in her name. Her family thinks it should be the man's responsibility to pay for the house and she should not be putting down any money. I don't know what type of world these people live in, but it's not the 1950s anymore. They don't seem to comprehend that I already own a house and can't just buy another one.

What can I say to knock some financial common sense into these people? Isaac, I'm gonna knock some financial sense into you, dude. Listen, you're both wrong wrong all of you are wrong um here's the thing there's just a lot of i me his her all these this individual talk and we're married right it my wife and i are recently married and so i just think that the same way that you feel that her side of the family kind of has this outdated or erroneous way of thinking I honestly think Isaac you have a little bit of

it too because you guys are very separate and I understand that you're in many ways trying to honor like some of her previous trauma and her previous pain with the divorce but I would think of that as even more reason to cling on to the fact that we're together. I'm not going anywhere. We're making this work. We are one. And that's the relational side of it that I see that I think no matter what you decide here, I think you're going to run into problems until you solidify the oneness in your marriage. So that's thing number one. Thing number two is yeah six hundred thousand dollar house she's got two hundred thousand sitting there if you've got

some money to put in yeah put as much down as you can you don't have any debt i'm all for that um i don't know what the situation is with the other home that he owns yeah part of me is like there's just a lot of singularity going on. Yes. And yeah, the combination isn't happening like it should of the oneness. And yeah, because if I were you, Isaac, I would sell your home. Yeah. And you guys together go in and pull your money together. See it all under one account. And let's put down the biggest down payment we can, regardless of man, woman, whose money it is.

Like, yeah, it is you guys together. And I think people get in trouble, Jade, sometimes. We could go down this rabbit hole a whole different ways. Go down the rabbit hole, Rachel. But that way of thinking, there's so many splinters, I think, in it. But one of them being that we don't honor personality enough. It's honoring, are you a man or't honor personality enough it's honoring are you a

man or a woman and there's something about you it is your risk it is a it is a personality element that is so key you guys when it's a married couple because if anything people like well i'm gonna i'm gonna let him take care of it or she just does it all i'm just gonna let her i'm gonna be hands off no no it is a hey who, who is really good at this? Who actually enjoys the money? That's right. And here at Ramsey, we call it the nerd. And it's the person that really genuinely enjoys doing the budget.

They really do like crunching the numbers. They like to feel in control. It's fun for them. So let them take the first pass at kind of creating a plan and say, okay, I found this account here and this, this. Here's what I see. And then the free spirit, the one that may not be as excited about things like a budget or planning for the future as much, they're still in the conversation. They have as much say as the other person.

But again, it's regardless of gender. It is truly how you're wired and how you're created to honor that in each other. Cause you can learn from each other in both ends of it. So. Absolutely. I don't know. I don't, yeah, I don't yeah i don't i don't like that yeah way of thinking i i don't either i 100 and i love that you put it in that way it's just a personality trait it's not a gender yeah um on that but they've got it they've got to get together yeah on both ends of y'all are on both extreme ends her family's on one end and i's like the way you view money and relationships is at the other y'all need to find that.

There's a balance there. So come more in the middle. But thanks. Thanks for the question. Good question. Yes. All right. Let's go to Gustavo in Denver, Colorado. Welcome to the show.

Hi. Hello. Can you hear me okay? Yes, we can. How can we help? Well, my current situation is I am 30 years old trying to move out and I have poor credit, except I don't really have any debts to pay off to build credit. And I'm getting declined everywhere left and right. And I'm not sure what to do.

Do you have poor credit or zero credit? Poor. Low 600s, but everywhere I apply, that's all they really look at. Yeah. Why is your credit low? I have two derogatory marks, and I haven't necessarily been smart in the past. But I started following you guys over a year ago ago and I've paid off a couple credit cards and all is left is two like collections yeah and so it's just dropped over time because I've been slowly paying everything off yeah but you still have the

two in collections yep yeah I mean the fact is it's going to be low and bad until you get everything that was on your credit cleaned up and cleared off including the two that are in collections and then after that once everything's off yeah once everything's off your credit it takes yeah you know six months to 12 months for that to drop off completely and then you're at zero and that's where you want to get to so i think it's just going to take you some time. Why are you trying to buy rental properties when you have two items and collections? No, I'm just trying to move out. Trying to rent somewhere.

Oh, rental. Have you had a consistent job at the same employer? I work as a trucker, and I just actually a year ago switched jobs. So I've been employed at the same place for a year have you shown them proof of income at an employer for one year and do you have money saved like do you have first month's rent last month's rent a security deposit do you have cash that you can be up front with yeah I have I have the cash and I have uh all the proof

for you know what I make and all the other bills that I pay on time and just nothing. Yeah, so then you're working, at that point, honestly, you're just working with big corporations where there's probably a manager at that apartment complex and he literally doesn't have the power

to rent you something because it probably is, hey, if anybody's below 700 or whatever, you don't have the authority to go and rent. So either you need to get to somebody with higher authority is hey if anybody's below 700 or whatever you don't have the authority to go and rent so either you need to get to somebody with higher authority and the power to be able to kind of overwrite that or you need to look for somebody that's a landlord and they're a one-off and it's not part of a big you know system like a big apartment complex but maybe it's a small you know one bedroom something

that that there's a owner that you can actually talk to that owner and tell them about your situation. Have you tried that route or has it been just more like apartments that you've been shopping? I've been looking around in Zillow and like all the main places to apply for rent. Yeah.

The only thing is, so there is like a, you know, I'm trying to move out within like two months. And also I had an idea to get a loan to try to build credit but i'm not i'm not really sure like i want to get your guys's opinion on that as well i definitely would not go into debt to try to build your credit um i think in this case to rachel's point you just got to find the right situation and going to basically for lack of a better word like big box apartment rentals may not be the move for you and yeah finding a landlord that's an individual that is willing to look past that I also think no matter what you do

cleaning up these collections needs to be a one because as long as you have things in collections nothing's going to get any better and the the faster that you do pay those off the faster that you can get to a zero position which is still going to look better um yeah yeah and that's that's the distinction here that jade's exactly right it it looks better to have an undetermined credit score that they can't pull numbers for because they don't exist because it's been over a year since you've had any level of debt. So you know, so there's at least a credible story there, where what's being flagged for you, obviously, is that there were issues. And that number is showing, hey, he didn't pay back what he said he was going to. And it's and it is it's it looks bad on you. So I don't know if there's a situation, Gustavo, where you can stay where you're at for maybe six months to a year and you grind it out,

you get that stuff paid off, get that place where you are, have more of a clean credit history and then go out and try to rent or find an individual that you can sit down with and just show them, hey, I'm a person,

here's the situation. And the more cash you have to be able to present, hey, I'm able to cover X, Y, and Z if something were to happen, the better it's going to look X, Y, and Z. If something were to happen, the better it's going to look for you. So I'm sorry you're in that situation. So one topic that we get so many questions on and people continue to ask to have a deeper dive is in investing. So we're so excited to announce a brand new event, Dave Ramsey's Investing Essentials.

And at this event, Dave is going to deep dive into investing and get very specific. And he's going to share his personal playbook on investing, including how he buys real estate. It is a two-night virtual event happening May 21st and 22nd. And it's online. So you can just watch it from the comfort of your couch. And investing again is something that you guys ask about a lot. So at the event, we're going to dive deep into those basics. We're going to talk about specific things like mutual funds and real estate. You're going to learn how to maximize your 401k and mutual funds, Dave's personal investing strategy for real estate investing. And again, all of the trends that are out there because there's so much, so much noise around

this topic. And so him and George Campbell are really going to kind of cut through all of the chaos and really give you a solid plan when it comes to investing. So tickets start at $199. You can go to ramseysolutions.com slash events to get your tickets. Again, Dave Ramsey's Investing Essentials event, a two-night event, May 21st and 22nd. Make sure to check it out and dive deep on a topic that so many people want to know about and kind of get into the nitty-gritty of that. All right, up next, we have Victoria in New York City. Hey, Victoria, welcome to the show. Hi. Hi. How are you? Good. Thanks. So the question I have is I wanted to

know if we should pay off our car or buy or sell it and buy a van or something larger for our family. What do you owe on the car? 21. Okay. So you've got 21,000 and then the option was, or should we buy a van? Yeah. So we're a family of three and I mean, the car that we have is fine, but I feel like we're just like busting out of the seams. So I wanted to know if maybe we should sell it. I mean, it's probably if we sell it, we probably sell it for probably around the same amount that we owe. So break even. Right. And then how much do you have saved? Nothing right now. Okay. So is there another car in the situation too? Like, are you a two-car family right now? Yeah, we're a two-car family. Go ahead. How much do you guys make a year? About 160. Okay. And what other debt do you guys make a year? About $160,000.

Okay. And what other debt do you guys have? We have that car and student loans. How much in the student loans? $34,000. Okay. And no money saved at all? Well, we have an emergency.

We have $1,000. Okay. Okay. at all um well we have an emergency we have a thousand dollars okay okay um we can sell the other we do have another car but it's paid off and what could you get for that one we could probably get um seven thousand if the if the if the goal is to get a vehicle that's large enough for your whole family to fit and pay cash for it, my first move, unless you can tell me why this wouldn't work, because you know more about your situation than I do, obviously, is to sell the one that's worth something so you get a head start saving for the van. So my thought would be sell car number two.

It's already paid off. Clear $7,000. You've already got the $1,000 saved. You'll be a one-car family. You'd be a one-car family. And, victoria you said we're a family of three is it just you your husband and a baby no no i'm sorry we're family of five we have three kids okay i thought okay victoria i think we can stay in this car a little bit longer i thought it was just a family of three okay you have three kids yeah okay that's fair that's fair so what have you looked at like these vans is

there one for seven thousand can you find a junker for seven thousand and you know is this dire straits i guess is what i'm trying to figure out right i mean we've been looking at vans we're looking at like a 2015 um it's looking around 10 to 12000 to $12,000 Okay The only thing will be, y'all have to save for it Yeah, you gotta just save for it Victoria, and it's one of those things that you're gonna put money aside month after month and the fastest way to get there

is what Jade said, would be to be a one car family If you don't want to do that, then it is gonna be saving $10,000 to get to a point where you can just buy it outright, but then also that's $10,000 that's not going to be saving $10,000 to get to a point where you can just buy it outright. But then also that's $10,000 that's not going to pay off just your current car, which I understand you want to have to trade it. I get it. It's just how urgent is this? Because I'm looking at $21,000 you owe on the first car,

$34,000 in student loans. And I get that it's not comfortable for three kids in the back. Like, I don't know, do their car seats not fit? Is it that? I just need to understand how urgent it is. I mean, I guess it's not really urgent, but I'm just thinking of like, you know, it's a growing family. We have sports. We have so many events going on.

And like the car that we do, it a toyota highlander i mean it's just it would be more and it would be more comfortable to have a van i mean wait so you have a toyota highlander already isn't that an suv it is okay i'm changing this i'm changing my vote right now you told me you had two cars i'm thinking like a camry and an ultima so you have a sport utility vehicle that's fine and if i were in your shoes today i would not suck it up for i would not be saving money to buy a new car if anything i would still sell car number two or whatever whatever is not the highlander which one's the highlander, by the way? The paid for one or the $21,000? The Highlander is the one that we owe $21,000. Okay, then I'd sell car number two, put it towards the Highlander, get that thing paid off as soon as possible.

And can you guys survive as a one-car family for a while to pay off some debt before you save up and buy a second one? That would be ideal. However, my husband and I both work and we do commute. Okay, so you're not seeing a way to do that I think it's just a sense, Victoria You're going to have to just pay this car off You're going to have to pay off these student loans But you make $160,000 I mean, you're in New York City

So I know it doesn't go as far But it's just going to be you guys buckling down For 18 months, two years And it will be uncomfortable Yeah, it will be uncomfortable But trading in and the whole car situation, it's so hard for me because it's such a depreciating asset that I'm like, these loans that are racking up interest and all of it. I'm like, I just want so much of

your effort to get these out of your life. And then we can go from there to say, okay, the car is paid for. What does it look like in two years to trade it in we can save a couple of thousand go to a minivan like you know i would make that move later um personally because again all your efforts and straining and saving and sacrificing lifestyle i'd rather that go to debt than to go to a van to feel a little bit more comfortable yeah that's going to be going down in value and pretty you know what i mean it's just another thing so but i get it we have three kids and if they're all in one row that's going to be going down in value and pretty, you know what I mean? It's just another thing. But I get it. We have three kids and if they're all in one row,

they're going to be hitting each other and it's annoying and there is stuff everywhere. Like it is true, but also I think you guys have different priorities and if you're going to

follow the steps to get in control of your money, stop sending your income out to freaking car payments and student loans and actually keep your income and get out of debt it's it's a thing she has a highlander that's plenty of space victoria i'm getting you a little bit that's

plenty of space it's not the same layout obviously as a minivan because let's be honest i can't drive a minivan rachel but i know i have been in one and they are all humility the odyssey it is like a living room on it is the best thing ever you're not cool i get it but it is a minivan it's so easy to get the kids in and out that is very very true but a highlander will get it done it will get it done yeah the minivan has its luxuries and it was so cheap when we went and priced out cars yeah we looked at suvs like we looked at you know all different levels and i'm like i just couldn't stomach buying an suv because'm like, my children, God love you if you listen to this later on in your life, kids. But you're disgusting. I'm like, they take sandwiches and spread them apart and put them

on seats and there's gum in the back. It's just their kids. And I'm like, I just can't stomach a nice SUV personally at this stage of our lives. And the minivan was a third of the price. Really? A third of the price of some of the SUVs that we were looking at. And I was like, all day. It's like a mom set in that driver's seat, Jade. Yeah. The mom said, where do I want cup holders?

Where do I want storage? What do I want? You sit in a minivan driver's seat and you think, a mom designed this car. Thank you, mom. Listen. Honda Odyssey. Minivan is great. The worst part of it is people have to

see you drive it. It's a minivan. You have to drive it. That's the worst part. But I'm with you, Rachel. I know. I know. I'll get my cool mom SUV soon. We'll see. This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I am Rachel Cruz, hosting this hour with bestselling author Jade Warshaw.

We are taking your questions, anything and everything about life, money. Where's Kate Middleton? The royal family. We are here for you. So give us a call at 888-825-5225. Up next, we have Aurora, beautiful name, in Portland. Hey, Aurora, welcome to the show. Hi. Thank you guys for having me. Absolutely. How can we help? So my question is, do I pause baby step two in order to save up money. I just got told last week that we're being laid

off here. Oh no. I'm sorry. Yeah. And so, yeah, it was a little unexpected. But I just, I'm in Baby Step 2. So I'm like, do I save up money now in case, you know, for the future? Or do I just keep going at the debt until it's paid off? Is it just you or are you married? Do you have a family? Yeah. So my husband and I, we started this about a year ago. We paid off almost $50,000.

Good for you guys. Yeah. So we have $6,500 left to pay on one card. And our last day of work, well, for me, is August 30th. So I have a few months of, you know, paychecks. And so, yeah, we're just wondering, like, do we continue to pay on it or do we save up money and then come August in case I don't find a job right away or don't get called back, that we have a little bit of a fund, you know, to live off of for a little bit. Yeah.

So you've got $6,500 left and then you're done done? Yes. Oh, wow. Oh, that's awesome. How much will you guys be, how much will you make between now and August? Or how much per month would y'all bring in? Yeah, so we bring in about um six thousand um it could be it could be between you know 55 on a slow month but usually it's about six thousand okay and we're in march we got april may june

july august um so for your living expenses i'm just curious what what margins you guys have left how much are you throwing at debt every month? That if you paused it, that would go into savings. How much would that be? $1,400. $1,400. We're paying $1,400. Yeah.

So my little calculator that I have on my tracking sheet shows that we should be done with this by August. Okay. Then you have no savings. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. What do you do for work? So I'm a secretary. And they've, yeah, they've laid off about half of us.

So we don't know if we'll be called back. So I guess we're just kind of waiting. I don't want to quit just now and find a new job because, you know, we just never know what could happen. Can you, sorry, can you just clarify what do you make versus what your husband makes each month? Yeah, so I bring in $2,800 a month and he's the rest of it. And that amounts to $6,000? Mm-hmm. Okay. Got it.

Okay. I think that you've got to do a budget here and figure out what's going on because you've got $1,400 left that you're putting towards debt. I do want you guys to have savings. The real question is, what does your lifestyle look like just on his income? And is it something that you guys can live on for a while until you find something new? Or is it something that's going to put you in a state of emergency? One thing I do want to highlight is congratulations for paying down this debt and answering that call when it came because this would feel so much different if you had $ thousand dollars of debt laying around am i right

exactly yeah and uh just a quick shout out like you guys gifted me financial peace last year and it was just it's been a relief i'm so glad i'm so glad um yeah'm so glad. Yeah, I think my first reaction would be what Jade said of, hey, could we live off of, if we had no debt, right? Technically, you'd be debt free. Could we live off of his income for 30 days, 60 days until you find a job if you can't find one sooner than that? I just feel like your skill set, it's so versatile. I'm like, you know, admin stuff, you'll probably be able to get something.

So for the worst of the worst, could you guys live off of his salary for 30 to 60 days? And if you're like, no, we can't, then I would be okay saying, yep, we're going to put one to two months away just for safekeeping because we know this is coming. And again, if these were different numbers, I would probably have

different opinions right but because you guys are so close right and your income is well it is it's pretty much half of what you guys bring in he's got 32 and you've got 28 so we would be very it'd be tight we'd be very limited um. And just right on the cutoff, which I would be like worried to just live off of his income. Well, here's the thing. Yeah, sure. The blessing you have here is, you know, this is happening and you know, it's not happening till August. So there's nothing.

It's not to say that you have to wait till August to find a new job. Right. You can start looking closer and closer and really, truly have something lined up so that you have a smoother transition. Yeah. Do you love the job you're at? Because you keep saying, if I get called back, what does that mean? Is it because another department would need something? Yeah. So with our school district, we have unions. So there is a possibility of being called back once the school year is, we're getting closer to the new school year. They're like,

well, if we have extra students, our number of students go up and then we might be able to hire some some of us back um the other thing is i don't think i would tell on that yeah the other thing is that um i would want to look even if it wasn't a secretary position i would look at a different like a teaching assistant or something else in the district because of just the benefit of being able to bring my son to work with me. He works at the same school that I work at. And even if I move schools, I could bring him with me or school closer. That's the benefit of being able to work in the district. And just the benefits in general, like medical, dental, all of that is taken care of for

us yeah so there's a lot of benefits for your overall life for you to stay if you can and you're worried about not being able to yeah i'm not worried about not being able to find another job i know that i could do it but you want to go back to that school for all of that which i totally get okay so honestly what i would do is i would save up maybe two months worth of it, and you won't have it all paid off by August. You'll have two more months of that debt. But I'm okay with that in the season because it's not two years. It's two months.

And again, the benefit of you, if you do get called back, because I can just hear it, and I'm like, I get it. The convenience of your life overall, what that looks like for the next year or two, for two months of waiting is worth it to me. Yeah. So I would be okay with you guys saving two months worth of expenses to the side, which means you'll delay your debt snowball a little bit, which is okay. And we say this, you know, if you're pregnant, if you know, if you see an upcoming job loss, if you're having to move, if there's situations that you need to pause the debt snowball for, we're okay with that.

I just don't want you to lose momentum. And y'all are so close. That's why it's so hard for me where I'm like, oh my gosh, y'all are like right there. Well, let me ask you, are you guys, is anybody doing a side hustle of any sort to make this go faster? Yeah, we do. On the weekends, we're doing Instacart. I am helping my dad with his business.

Good for you guys. And we've already cut so much out and we're already doing so much. I would hate to just lose this momentum. I'm like, do we stop? Do we keep going? Yeah. But we're doing a lot. The momentum is just going to, you're going to still save at the same speed and the same

rate as you were paying off debt, right? So that momentum goes and that momentum is still for a big why. It is to say, hey, you know, I can get called back to the school where my kids are at and my son's at. And that's a big why to is to say hey you know I could get called back to the school where my kids are at and my son's at and that's a big why to continue what you're doing so so yeah I'm good with you guys saving two months what do you think Jade I you know I'm with it my thought was going to be is there some way that you guys can pick up any extra work so that you can keep almost like doing both you're you're still able to maybe to pay off this debt but you're also able to stack up some savings and then the other side of it is is there still a way to have something um just be in

talks or have something lined up just in case i mean i hope you do get called back but if you don't i want to make sure there's something there and you're not elongating this process any longer than you have to yeah um yeah yeah if your confidence is high that you can plug into something yeah so there is um so we get the month of july off for summer break um so there are summer like summer school um jobs and stuff that we can yeah that's it that's great so that's what i was thinking of doing i'm okay maybe i can pick up a few extra um you know summer school hours and also um i have i there is a possibility of being able to find another job. I have somebody who can help me with that.

Good. Like medical offices and stuff. That's great. I'm just preparing. Yeah. And you know, yeah, and Aurora, you guys are doing an incredible job. I mean, and this is why you do this. This is why you do this.

Man, what? You're not stuck in $50,000 of debt trying to figure this out. So there's a lot more peace, a lot more control in planning. And I'm just, kudos to you guys. You're doing it, doing the extra work, paying it off. And I'm so excited for you guys.

You're so close. You are so close. Well, thanks, Jade, for a great show. Thanks to all the guys in the booth. And thank you, America. This is The Ramsey Show.