The Ramsey Show - App - You Have to Choose Reality About Your Financial Situation (Hour 3)

Episode Date: July 19, 2024

Live from Nashville, Tennessee, this is The Ramsey Show. I'm John Delaney, joined by George Campbell. We're taking your calls on money, building wealth, the work that you do, your relationships, your mental, emotional health, pretty much anything and everything. And if we don't have an answer for you, we will probably make one up. Give us a call at 888-825-5225. It's 888-825-5225. Let's go out to Helena and talk talk to carrie hey carrie what's up hello what's going on um so my question um my husband and i um had you know been pretty financially sound for quite a few years. Due to some health issues with our kiddos and some family tragedies recently,

our debt has kind of spiraled out of control. And I guess now we're kind of at rock bottom and looking for, you know, any way to get out at this point. What happened, Carrie? Rock bottom is a pretty, that's a pretty, that's a left turn here. What happened? Yeah. Take a breath. Take a breath for me.

Take a breath for me. I can hear you. Take a breath. We sold our house about a year ago. year ago and moved into my mom's basement. Our goal at the time was to take as much that we could make off of our house to start settling debt. My younger brother also lived with us. And about a month ago, he chose to end his life. Oh, gosh.

And we found him. I'm sorry, Carrie. What was his name? Zach. Zach. He's a younger brother or older brother? Younger. He was 22.

Yeah. I'm sorry. Can I tell you something? Yeah. You're not supposed to find your 22-year-old brother passed away, and I'm sorry. Yeah. Nobody's supposed to experience that, and I'm sorry. It's really hard.

And I have, aside from my husband and I and my older brother actually finding Zach, my kids are almost six, four, and two. So it's been really difficult. What issues are your children dealing with health-wise? Are these ongoing chronic issues? Yeah. My four-year-old was born with a genetic condition that causes airway problem. Um, so she struggled with breathing and, um, choking, uh, gaining weight because she can't breathe or, you know, she is lacking weight because she can't breathe. Um, and then my son, um, was born, he's two, was born with feeding issues as well, and he's on a feeding tube. So we travel out of state. Last year, our trips were once a month.

We took a little bit of a break just because, you know, our debt's getting so high. Tell us about this debt. What kind of debt is this, and was this happening aside from the medical issues and the family issues? It started out with travel expenses. On credit cards? Yeah, on credit cards. Okay. How much debt total? Between credit cards and student loans, our vehicle, we're right about $98,000. Okay. And what's the household income right now? I'm a stay-at-home mom because my kids can't be in daycare, my younger two.

And last month when all of that happened, my husband had to leave his job. So currently we are both unemployed. Why did your husband have to leave his job. So currently we are both unemployed. Why did your husband have to leave his job? There wasn't a lot of understanding about him needing to have time off. Okay. And so it was just kind of an ultimatum type situation. How are you guys putting food on the table this week?

We live with my mom so she does help. Right now we just focus on making sure that the kids have what they need. But are you basically going to continue living on credit cards in the meantime? We're selling everything that we can. Hold on, Carrie. What your kids need is mom and dad to be able to breathe. Yeah. Okay.

They need a roof. They need food, and they need their medical care but they need mom and dad to be able to exhale and y'all can't yeah okay so um i'm gonna i'm gonna start talking slow and i'm gonna hold this call over okay so we're gonna you're gonna hear some music come up in a few minutes and we're just going to let it roll over to the next uh we're going to stop for a commercial break and then we'll come back okay okay um but listen to me you have two issues going on here at the same time one of those is a deep and profound grief okay actually you got three issues going on you've got the issue of your beloved brother, Zach, right? Yes.

And you've got the trauma of walking in and experiencing what you experienced. And we won't go to it in detail, but it's not like it is in the movies, and it sits in your soul, right? Yeah. Right. And I've been in those rooms, and it's heartbreaking. It's staggering. That's number one. Yeah. Right. And I've been in those rooms and it's heartbreaking. It's staggering. That's number one.

Number two, you have the heartbreak, the trauma of looking at two of your babies and wondering every second of every minute of every hour of every day if they're okay. Yeah. Right? And that's a lot. And then on top of that, you'll have an untenable financial situation. Yeah. And when you're faced

with the first thing I talked about with Zach, you're faced with the kids, it's easy to sit down and just say, screw it. Yeah. And yet,

this is the third thing and this is the part that i'm gonna get in trouble for on the internets and i don't care because i care about you too much it's like i'm not compassionate but y'all have to at some point orientate yourself decide we're going to start choosing reality yeah and reality is we can't live in mom's basement even though it's rent free yeah and still take care of these kids with the health care we're gonna have to move Yeah. And reality is we can't live in mom's basement, even though it's rent free. Yeah. And still take care of these kids with the healthcare. We're going to have to move. Yeah.

And that's not a today thing. It's not a right this second thing. Right. All right. So hang on the line and we're, George and I are going to stop. We're gonna take a break and we're going to come back and we're going to give you a couple of, of really clear tactical tips that you can take right away. Okay.

Okay. Okay. All right. Hang on and we'll be right away. Okay? Okay. All right. Hang on, and we'll be right back. This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm John Deloney, joined by my friend George Campbell. Wow. Sorry, I paused there for a second.

I thought it was a big intro. It turns out you just had a little brain fart. Yeah, I froze there a little bit. So we're talking to Carrie. We held Carrie over the break. Carrie's got three young kids, six, four, and two. Two of them are dealing with some pretty significant medical challenges. Her brother, her younger brother, recently died by suicide.

And there's just been a lot going on in the family. And you guys have reached, and Carrie's reached, almost six figures in just what I would call survival debt. There's a car, there's student loans, there's medical bills, there's travel, and it all feels like too much. Does that sound about right, Carrie? Yeah. Okay.

I want to tell you that i'm proud of you for calling and i'm grateful that you called okay thank you um this is one of those moments that in a real world situation we would spend several hours sitting together unpacking this whole thing so i'm gonna throw some things at you george and i are some steps okay um and it's gonna be um it's not gonna be as as compassionate and kind as I would like it to be. Okay. But I just want you to know, like, cause we've got a time, time issues here, but this is a big deal. Right. Right. Right. Issue number one. And I say this with all the compassion and love in my heart. You know that I used to work crisis situations and walk into homes and scary situations with folks. And there was often me

telling people with love, you simply cannot afford to grieve right now because you don't have any money. And so your husband has to go get a job and it doesn't have to be his forever job or his save the world job but he's got to have a thing that he gets up and goes to every day hopefully two or three things and there will be a deep season of grief there will be a deep season of um of heartbreak but also y'all have to have groceries you got three little kids. Yeah. Is this ideal? No.

And I'm only telling you this because I love you and I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy, but here we are, okay? Yeah. The second thing is, is I don't want y'all to do anything major for five months. And that sounds bonkers too, doesn't it? Okay? Okay?

Okay. You got to wait for the smoke to clear a little bit because what I don't want you guys to do is to do something rash and quick and wake up in six months when the smoke clears and your heart is still broken because of Zach's passing. Your kids' medical situations haven't changed up or down much, but then y'all just went and bought a home

or y'all packed up and moved across the country or y'all went and just did a thing. You sold the last thing that you actually really needed. So anytime somebody's going through loss like you guys have worked through, I want everyone to stop if at all possible. It's not possible for your husband right now because y'all have to have groceries. Y'all have to have insurance. Y'all have to have some basic needs and neither of y'all are working right now. And you can't afford to go get a job because you've got three kids that are at home, two of which have some pretty significant special needs. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Is this an incredible burden on you? Yes. On him? Yes. And this is reality. Okay.

Yeah. Okay. yes on him yes and this is reality okay yeah okay the third thing is y'all are gonna have to begin to make a plan for finances for grieving for moving because you're gonna have to move closer to these medical um medical resources because this is gonna be your life yeah okay and that's okay it's just gonna be a change in reality. And so George is going to walk you guys through some of the money stuff and we're going to give you a whole bunch of resources. But one of the, one of the homework assignments I always give somebody who's experiencing grief, like y'all have experienced is I want you over the next few weeks, I want you to write your brother Zach a letter. And I want you to letter and I want him to know in this letter

that you love him I want him to know in this letter that you're really mad at him I want in this letter him to know that you're going to miss him like crazy that your little kids are not going to have Uncle Zach and then I want you to end the letter

by telling him what kind of mom to his nieces and nephews you're going to have uncle zach and then i want you to end the letter by telling him what kind of mom to his nieces and nephews you're gonna be okay and so what we're doing in this letter is we're gonna we're gonna let our love our heart we speak we're gonna let our anger speak and then we're gonna begin to look to the future a little bit. Okay? Okay. And this will be a very painful exercise. Because there's probably a lot going on inside this home, isn't there? Yeah. Yeah. Probably has for a long time.

All right, George, walk her through her financial path here. So, Carrie, what was your husband making when he was working? He was right about $56,000. Okay. And is that job now out of the cards? Has he severed, burned that bridge? Could he go back and say, hey, listen, it's been a crazy month. I'm ready to get back to work. Will you take me? There has been potential of that. They have kind of chatted about that. And then he has had, um, another interview with a company, um, that is looking into him. Okay. What are you guys doing for health insurance? Uh, right now, um, our kids are on, um, our kids and myself are on the state health insurance.

My husband had insurance through his previous company, but it sounds like it will be added to the state insurance as well. Was his work insurance better? Better coverage? It was, yeah. Okay, because what I don't want is for you to rack up medical debt in the meantime because of these serious health issues you guys are facing right that's number one let's make sure we get income in the door and cover our four walls that's food utilities and your housing and transportation now luckily utilities and housing sounds like it's covered by mom right yeah transportation we got to put gas in the car and make sure it's

working that's what that is and food is basic food is everyone being fed right now no one's by mom, right? Yeah. Transportation, we got to put gas in the car and make sure it's working. That's what that is. And food is basic food. Is everyone being fed right now? No one's going hungry? Yeah. Okay. Hey, hold on.

Carrie, I want to double click on what George just said. Your husband's got to call his work tomorrow. Okay. He needs to go visit them in person. He needs to take a shower. He needs to shave. He needs to put his dress clothes on or whatever the work uniform was. He needs to go visit them in person. He needs to take a shower. He needs to

shave. He needs to dress, put his dress clothes on or whatever the work uniform was. He needs to go up there and say, Hey guys, I'm ready to come back and make them tell him no. Okay. He needs to be that proactive about it because they're, did they treat him with dignity and respect during this loss? No. Is it been painful? Yes. And he needs that 50 to $60,000 a year income right now. Real bad. Yeah. Okay. So we're going to put our ego aside. We're going to put our, that shouldn't have happened aside and we're going to go make money right now.

That's his best shot to go make 60 grand right now. Okay. Okay. And if they say no, cool, he's going to dust his sandals off and he's going to go on to the next thing. He's going to stop at McDonald's and Starbucks on the way home and get jobs there. But we're going to end tomorrow with applications out and hopefully with jobs in hand, okay? Okay. All right. How much car debt do you have?

Right now, it's at $41,000. How much is the car worth? Probably about $55,000. That car is gone today. Today. Really a few weeks ago, but today is better. So what that's going to do, if it's worth $55,000, you owe $41,000, that's going to leave you with money in your pocket to the tune of $14,000.

You can go then take that. Now you have a freed up car payment, which I'm sure is what, $800, $900? Yeah. Now you've freed up $900 in your budget. And on top of that, you're going to have $14,000 to go get you guys a nice budget $5,000, $6,000 car. And the other $8,000, $9,000, we're going to throw at the smallest debt that you have. Likely that's going to be one of the credit cards, right? Sure. Yeah. Do you see how you can almost, you can breathe. You're starting to see the forest from the trees now, and that's the debt snowball. So we're going to gift you every dollar to help

you budget the income, cover the expenses, find the margin, and it's going to walk you through that. And on top of that, Financial Peace University, which is nine lessons. I want you and your husband to watch it. When the kids go down, watch a lesson a night and start to see some hope. And on top of that, we're going to gift you a financial coaching session with a Ramsey Preferred Coach, someone who's been trained that can sit down with you for an hour and walk you through all of this. Does that sound good? Okay. Yeah, it does. And we're going to cover all of that. You're not going to pay a dime. Okay. Here's the deal, Carrie. You're going to feel lonely. You're going to feel scared. And I want you to know you can call us at any time and we'll put

you back on and we'll walk with you. I don't want you to sit down with your husband. I want you to hold both of his hands or hold the side of his face. I want you to look him in the eye and say, we're going to start taking steps towards what comes next. I'm grateful for the call. We'll be right back. Welcome back to the Ramsey Show. And if you're counting, that is the second Smashing Pumpkins song. Let's go out to Raleigh, North Carolina and talk to K.I.M.

What's up, Kim? How we doing? Hi there. My question is, I'm going through a divorce and my husband said that I could have the house. But he wants me to give him $20,000 for his lawyer's fees. And we own the house, trying to preserve it for the kids. And so I don't have any savings. I stayed at home for most of our marriage.

I am working now. And I just need to know where I'm supposed to come up with the $20,000. What's the best way to get the $20,000? So I don't have anything except for the house.,000. What's the best way to get the $20,000? I don't have anything except for the house. I have a debt. I have a car. How old are your kids?

Most of them are adults. I have two still at the house. Why is he deciding who gets what in this marriage? Well, because he can afford a lawyer. Well, no, he's making you a settlement offer. He's making an offer, and I mean, I want the house. I want to be able to stay home for the kids. I want my kids to be able to come back to the house and be able to have events there.

I know, Kim, but you're not metabolizing the gravity of what's happened. You're wanting to preserve normalcy when normal is over. Okay. Can you afford, if he writes you a check for this house and you go down to the credit union and take out a $20,000 loan, can you afford to pay the note on that $20,000 loan and pay the taxes and insurance on this house indefinitely? Well, I have a job. I mean,

it would be buying the house from him basically for $20,000. Right. That sounds like a killer deal. And if that's the case, I would tell you to go down to credit and you can get 20 grand and be done with this divorce and move on with your life, get everything in writing. But I'm asking you, can you afford this house how much is this house worth probably six six fifty it needs some work we've been in it for 30 years over 30 years so do you need all the space still um i i would just like to stay there until my youngest gets out of high school um i kim it's real important i'm only i'm only pressing you because because i care about you okay I would just like to stay there until my youngest gets out of high school. Kim, it's real important. I'm only pressing you because I care about you, okay?

I know there's a lot here that you want to do, that you desperately want to do. What George and I are asking you is can you? Can you afford the repairs on a $600,000 house? Can you afford the insurance and the taxes? Probably to the tune of what, about $1,000 a month. Nope, probably $1,600 a month-ish, depending, I don't know what the insurance rates are in Raleigh. That's for the privilege of keeping your home. I have been able to do that. I have been able to do that. So you've been covering this on your own?

I've been putting a little bit of money away every month. I've been covering on my own since September of last year. Okay. You also told us you have no savings. I don't have a lot of savings, but I'm up to, I think I just went over $4,000. Okay, good. This last month. I'm trying to make sure you have margin to live.

Not just get by. Yeah, that's why I'm trying to work on the margin to live. I'm just getting paycheck to paycheck right now. I'm trying to put some away every month. I've been hit with a lot of his debt. Why are you getting hit with his debt? Hold on. Why are you getting hit with his debt?

Well, a couple years ago, he wrote a bad check to the state, and the state found me in my job. I don't know that he's working or not. I have an order against him. I feel like this all needs to go before a judge, because I think you might get a better deal with a judge looking at this case versus trying to take the first settlement offer that comes your way out of desperation. You just told me he can afford a lawyer. Yeah, his mother, I'm sure, paid for it. Okay. He doesn't have anything. He's in debt. He's constantly in debt. So he's broke? Yeah, he's broke. Why would he not force the sale of the house then and take half the equity?

I don't know. That's why I'm trying to jump on the generous offer. I just don't know where to get it. Yeah, there's almost always a catch with a generous offer like this. Do you have an attorney? I don't. Yeah, I would get one before the day's over. And I know you can say you don't have enough money, but I would figure that out. And if you have to go to a local law school and ask for one of their students to help you out in a clinic,

or if you have to call legal aid, I would call somebody because I'm afraid you're about to get played. For an attorney, because especially a divorce attorney that's going to get paid on a percentage of a settlement, for them to call and offer you what looks like a seesaw with 580 grand versus a 600 on one side and 20 on the other, there's something going on on there this doesn't sound right to me unless he looked at his client your husband and said if she sees these text messages and this stuff and x and y and z you're toast like they don't make offers of compassion is what i'm saying that's i it feels to me that if this went before the judge they they'd go, yeah, you're not paying lawyer fees, and you're going to get the house, and you're not going to pay his debt.

Is that a possibility? I don't know. I mean, he's not been a good husband. Yeah, no question about that. I'm afraid you're about to get taken to the cleaners, and this thing looks so good and so enticing as a guy who's worked i've i've just spent my career with and around attorneys there's something else here that i feel like i would not be a good human being if i didn't tell you you need to get somebody in your corner to at least look at this offer because something doesn't feel right and how much debt are you

taking on on his behalf i I don't understand this. Well, he and I were supposed to each pay half of the taxes on the house this past year, and I paid mine and he didn't pay his. So I've been paying his half of the taxes on the house. And then two years ago, he wrote the bad check for the state taxes, and the state came after me and were trying to take my... This is my worry. He's going to make a lot of half-baked promises and go, well, yeah, half is mine, and then put you in debt on top of the $20,000 you're going to take out while you're already living paycheck to paycheck. Do you see why we're worried for you? Yeah.

I mean, well, I told him I wanted to make sure his debts were his. This is final. I don't want anything else to come to me. And here's what he's going to tell you. The state taxes went to my name too here's what he's going to tell you yeah it's all part of this you just get to keep the house and you're going to go okay and i get to keep the house and it's worth a lot of money and it's not going to disrupt our two youngest and that's my main concern right now and george and I are both, we're worried about you tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that.

And my promise to you is, and this is going to sound bonkers, your two kids who are at home would rather be in a two-bedroom apartment with a mom who's got peace, which means money in a checking account, not knowing who's knocking on the door to tell you that you owe

a bajillion more dollars on your ex-husband's behalf. They would want a mom with peace more than they want this giant $600,000 house and a mom who's just walking around stressed all the time and who's going to ring the doorbell next. I'm not saying you have to sell the house. I'm afraid it's not worth... I'll be in more debt trying to pay rent somewhere than I live free other than the house bill. But rent isn't debt.

And if you sell that house, you get a big pile of money. Even after you pay off all your debt, you'd still have a giant pile of money to go buy something reasonable that suits your needs,

that doesn't need a bunch of repairs, that you can afford ongoing that's what i'm without knowing anything more that's what i would be doing but i'm just i'm telling you that's a clean what i would tell my sister what i would tell my brother what i would tell my friends what i would do myself and i would not sign anything i would not move forward until i was sitting with an attorney who had reviewed this stuff. And there are attorneys, I know them personally, who will go to war on behalf of a grieving,

now single mom because jerk husband left and left them with a mess. Man, I know some great attorneys. They smile and they say, sign me up, baby. I'll go dig into this sucker. You need someone fighting for you. That's right. And for anyone going through this awful situation called divorce, we've got a great resource on the Ramsey Solutions website.

We'll link it in the show notes. It's called Divorce Checklist, How to Prepare for Divorce from our friend, Dr. John Deloney. It'll just walk you through step-by-step tactical things you can do to make sure you're protected. Because as we say, John, divorce turns marriage into a business transaction. That's right.

It's not fun. Any business transaction that looks like, I'll just take 20, you take 600,000, I'm going to go, wait a minute. It's one of those like, trust me, bro. It's a great deal. Take it. Don't.

We care about you. Call an attorney today. We'll be right back. Welcome back to the Ramsey Show. Today's scripture of the day is Proverbs 26 20. Without wood, a fire goes out, and without gossip, a quarrel dies down. The great George Harrison That's snappier. That is snappy. Some would say that is also a quote for Smashing Pumpkins. Let's go out to Dallas, Texas and talk to A-M-Y. What's up, Amy?

How we doing? I'm good. What's up? Amy? How are we doing? I'm good. What's up? Kind of. Not really. Not really. So I have a question. I'm just trying to find a way to get through our debt fast.

So my husband and I have 500, and I just discovered you guys on Monday. So I printed out the baby steps and placed it on our fridge. Oh, you went all in. Did you get the Kool-Aid packets and just start chugging them? Not yet, no. All right, you've got to drink the Kool-Aid if you're going to be part of the cult, but go for it. Oh, yeah.

All right, so go for it. I'm getting there, though, I promise. Excellent. But we're already done with Baby Step 1. We're on Baby Step 2. We have $530,000 of debt. And so I was just trying to figure out what is the fastest way to get through that because I'm eager to get to Baby Step 3 so I can feel a little bit more secure.

What kind of debt is the $530,000? Does this include real estate debt, a mortgage? Yes, sir. Okay. So let's separate. Let's just focus on consumer debt and baby step two. What does that add up to? Oh, okay. Well, we have like a 401k loan of $20,000 and then the rest is the house. Oh, okay. So if we knock out the 401k loan, the rest is your primary house mortgage? Yes. So you owe 510 on your home? Yes.

And I was worried that it was too much. Like if we paid too much or, you know, paid too much for a house. But I don't know. Well, that's too late now. But what is your household income? Let's see. I make 86,000. It should go up 2% in September. And then my husband, he makes, I think about 118. Okay, great. So you guys are bringing in

well over 200K. Yeah. So why haven't we been able to knock out this 401k loan, making 200k? Where is all this money going? Is it to the mortgage? Yeah, our mortgage is like $4,500 a month. And what's your take-home pay every month? What actually shows up in your bank account? So currently it's, so currently it's 48, 4800 for my side, only because I started a new position later, but in September I'll get the 86,000. Oh, so you're not making 86? Yeah, it's, it's, it's been prorated to 73, but then in August or September, I'll get the 86 to 88,000.

So you make 48 a month right now. What does he bring home a month? Oh my gosh, I should have gotten that number. Gosh, and I should know this. It's okay. We can take a wild guess. But my question here is, if the mortgage is 4,500 and you guys bring home 10 grand, well, that's a lot of your world being eaten up by that mortgage. And if there's not a long-term solution to get the income up, this house may not be a sustainable solution for us. So that's one side of this, but here's the key. You're going to knock out this 20K quickly. And the thing is, I think you guys have just kind of been sloppy, a little bit lazy, doing a lot of things at once, right? Yes. Are you investing right now at all, either of you?

Well, no. I mean, I have like a, because I'm a school counselor, so I have the teacher retirement deal, but that's about it. Like, I haven't even gone towards getting a Roth or anything yet. Do they force you to invest in that? Or is it optional? No, they don't force us. It's optional. So how much are you investing right now? None.

Okay. And how about your husband? My husband has a 401k. So, and I, you know, I, I think I had to ask questions. Okay. Well, you got homework to do, but here's the key. I want you to pause all investing until this 401k loan is knocked out. Okay. Because here's the thing, taking out that 401k loan unplugged all the growth and so it's like you keep adding water to a boat that you basically made a giant hole in and so we got to knock out this debt first making 200 grand you should be able to knock out 20 grand within a few

months if you get focused okay and get on a budget and then the mortgage that's the thing we need to figure out with your husband hey if we bring home 18 grand a month, then 4,500 bucks we can manage. If we're bringing home 10 grand a month, 11 grand a month, this is going to be a hard pill to swallow for a long, long time. We might need to eventually sell this house and get something more affordable. Wow. But baby step two, you're going to knock out real quick because it's just consumer debt. Baby step six is when you knock out the mortgage. And so you've got a gap there. We got to get through baby step two, get a fully funded emergency fund. Then we begin investing while

paying down the house. So do you guys have any money in savings? Yeah, we have $4,000, but that's going towards paying off the 401k loan. Any savings, any extra income needs to be getting thrown at that loan. That kind of focus intensity, you'll be done with this thing in a few months. And since you're a new listener, Amy, I'm going to gift you Financial Peace University as well as a copy of my book, Breaking Free from Broke. Go through both of those with your husband, and I think that's going to light a fire under you to stop messing around

and just get focused for a season okay got it awesome hang on the line EB will pick up we'll get you the book and FPU and welcome to the gang of not normal people the hardest part John is just going like okay I got to do something

that's not the way I've been doing it. That's right. So difficult. And then once you do it, you go, oh, this works. Look at my house, look at my cars, look at my fancy boots, right? And being able to say, I'm selling that, I'm not borrowing that, I'm driving that, and I'm going to have something y'all don't have, which is peace in my house. Na-na-na-na-boo-boo.

Let's run out to Chris in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Hey, Chris, we're up against the very end of the show. Get right to your question. What's up? Sure. So my wife and I are in baby step two. We just finished clearing up $46,000 of consumer debt.

Way to go. Awesome. Yeah. 16K of that was a car and 30K of that was federal student loans. So we only have two debts left and they're big ones. Um, one is the mortgage and then one is her private student loans that we, that she had, uh, refinanced. So the mortgage is about 70,000 and the private student loans are about 140,000. So I was wondering, my question is, is it okay to go out of order with the baby steps

and pay off the mortgage first and then the private student loan, or would you stay in order? I'd stick with paying off the student loans. Okay. Oh, I'd be tempted to do it the other way. What's your income? Together, we make about, well, we take home about $150,000 a year. Okay. So if you guys got real focused, could you knock out these student loans in two and a half years?

What are we talking as far as timeline? Yeah, I'd say about three years if we were going to do the student loans first and then half of that. Because these student loans, they're made up of a bunch of loans, I assume. No, so it was refinanced to one giant loan. Oh, gosh. What is the payment on a $140,000 student loan? It's about $1528 a month. What's your mortgage payment a month?

$1562, so it's within $40 of each other. Ooh. All right, George, you go with me on this. He pays the mortgage off, and you guys get, like, this is out of order. This is not the Ramsey steps, but you get B-A-N-A-N-A-S about that mortgage, and you decide we're going to have this done in 12 months.

Okay. We're going to work maniacally, but more importantly for you guys, we're just not going to spend. We're going to be silly. Then we have a house that no one can take away. This is the one, and I'm going against everything I always say, George, so tell me if I'm

wrong. This would be the one time that it feels like I might gamble on some student loan forgiveness. Because I'm going to have this house. I'm going to keep this house no matter what. I'm going to pay this house off and maybe the other thing comes through.

Probably not. I'll go with you on this, John. It's mainly because there's no real debt snowball to do here. You're not freeing up payments along the way. The house is the lower debt. Yeah. And so you'll knock that out half the time, free up the same amount of money, start throwing that at the student loan debt. I think this plan works and with your intensity, it's going

to be a wash either way. So go for it. You have my permission. That's all you need. Did we just agree? We just agreed to agree. We just agreed. Hey, thanks for joining us right here on The Ramsey Show. We will be back in no time. Don't borrow money. We love y'all. Take care.