The Ramsey Show - App - You May Feel Like You’re Drowning but There Is HOPE (Hour 1)

Episode Date: October 8, 2021

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Thank you. Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studio, this is The Ramsey Show, where America hangs out to have a conversation about your life and your money. I'm Christy Wright, and joining me today is New York Times bestselling author and my good friend in real life, Rachel Cruz, and we are here for you. We're taking your calls, 888-825-5225. So if you have got a call about money, if you've got a call about work, career change, starting a business, side business, small business,

y'all know I love to talk about that. If you've got a question about relationships, how to spend your time, it's been a real kick I've been on lately with a new book that I put out, Take Back Your Time. Regardless of what it is, we are here for you. We'd love to talk. We'd love to hear your story, hear your question, maybe give you some advice, or maybe just be a sounding board to help you process what the best move is for you. 888-825-5225. Rachel, I love when I get to host with you because this is one of those

things that we, you know, we were talking even off air. We are friends on real life, but we also get to work together, have our desks side by side, and host the Ramsey show. So this is gonna be fun. Do all of this together. I love it. I love it. So great. So, so great. And it's Friday, y'all. It's the weekend. You got fun plans. Everybody's in a good mood on Friday. So beautiful weather here in Nashville. We are excited to hang out with you. Give us a call. 888-825-5225. We're going to kick off this hour by going to Indianapolis, Indiana with Rebecca. Hey, Rebecca, how are you? Hello. Great. How are y'all? Great. What's going on? Excellent. Yes. My husband and I, we are on baby step six with $2,000 left to pay off the mortgage.

Wow. And yes, we're pretty excited. Thank you. Technically, I guess now we're probably not on six anymore, but I refuse to think that. Hubby had a medical emergency this year, so we now have $6,000 left to pay on the medical bill. So the dilemma that I'm having is typically, of course, we would just if it's actually better for us to go through max the HSA out this year and next year so we can use the tax-free dollars instead of using the emergency fund that we have on hand. Of what it is. How much do you guys have in your emergency fund? So we've got, so we definitely have six, what we consider six months worth. And then we also have, we actually have another fund that we have enough in there because we had a large appliance sinking fund. So we have money in there as well. And how much do you guys

make a year? Just this past year, we got raises. So the two of us were right under 80 right under 80 okay honestly rebecca if i were in your shoes i would that hsa because you guys are are to the point that you're still you're investing you have no debt you have an emergency fund and you can use that hsa actually as an investment vehicle and actually be able to max it out. But what it ends up doing is it rolls into basically an investment that you can keep. So the fact that you can cash flow this medical bill, it's $6,000, right? Is that what you said? Yes.

Okay. If it was $60,000, we may have a different discussion. But I mean, I think you guys have this in your six-month emergency fund. Write the check and just pay it off, pay the medical bill off and then keep those HSA dollars in there and to be able to use that as an investment instead of using it as I started thinking about the fact that it's tax-free dollars, I'm like, okay, is it advantageous to actually go through with the next few months to do that? Or do we just pay it and say we're done? No, I hear you totally. And again, I think if your income was different, if the medical bills were a different amount,

all of that may have changed that answer. But honestly, it's six grand. And I would do that. And man, you're going to have your house paid off here in just like probably two, three months. I mean, you guys are going to be an incredible spot. So if I were you, I would use that. And man, you're gonna have your house paid off here in just like probably two, three months. I mean, you guys are gonna be an incredible spot. So if I were you, I would use the emergency funds or the money that you have in that sinking fund.

I think either one's great and write the check and pay it off. Yeah, and I think one of the things that's so interesting too is you're in such a great position, Rebecca, to be able to do that. You've worked so hard to get to baby step six. So this is a small setback.

It may feel like it, but you're in a great position to pay it. Rachel, for anyone listening right now that's going, what is she talking about HSA as an investment? Will you just explain that really briefly? Because I think a lot of people may not know what you were just describing. Yeah. So in health savings account, obviously you can have cash in there to use for medical purposes. But if you don't touch it and don't actually use it for medical purposes it ends up basically flowing into an investment yeah growing type of yes vehicle and so if you work with one of our smart investor pros you can use that when that's what winston and i do so we'll pay medical because we're on babysit seven we'll pay medical just out

of pocket um i mean obviously we have insurance and all of that but we don't use our we have an hsa but we use it more for investment purposes at this point and again that's what I would recommend for Rebecca because she's at that point but not everyone is you know if you're if you if you have an HSA and you need it for medical purposes and you're on baby steps one two three then that's great yeah use it that's what it's there for

right but if you don't have to touch it then it's another great option for an investment well I think that's good to remind people of because it's called a health savings account. The assumption, and I thought this for years, was that it could only be used for that. Right. And I just love that reminder, especially for those people that are in baby step four or after that it can be used differently.

And so if you don't have a smart investor pro, if you don't have an investment professional in your corner, they can help break that down for you even further and explain why. But this is the goal, y'all, is to build wealth. And that's one more way that you do it. So I love that. I love that example. All right, let's go to Fort Lauderdale, Florida with Christian. Hey, Christian, how are you? Good. How are you guys doing? Great. What's going on? Well, I'm 21 years old. I make about $5,500 a month, and I still live with my mom. I was wondering if, I'm in Baby Step 3B.

I was wondering if you guys think I should start investing in Roth IRA or if I should buy a house or go rent somewhere. Well, you're doing great. What do you do for a living? I work in the marine industry. I work on yachts. Cool. Awesome.

Yeah. Well, how much do you have saved so far? I have about $50,000 saved. Specifically for your down payment? That's what I had it set aside for, was to buy a house.

I'm turning 22 soon, and I still live at home, and I think it's probably about time that I get out. But I also, you know, with the way the market is right now, everything's just crazy expensive. My goal is to buy it this year and then everything's spiked up. Yep, absolutely. So Christian, I mean, I don't think there's a right or wrong here. And Chris, you can chime in if you disagree or agree. But, you know, a little bit of me says, yeah, I mean, if you have the money and if you know you're going to be in this area for longer than five years and real estate is

something that's kind of that next step of, yeah, I'm going to invest in it and I'm going to be here. And then you start your baby step four after you buy the house. I mean, that is all possible. Yes. And I think that the market obviously is higher now and you know what you're getting yourself into. But also you're 21 and you may say, yeah, I may be in Fort Lauderdale now. I may not be in 12 months. I don't know. If you still feel like you're in a transitional season, I would rent. Rent for another year or two.

It's not going to kill you just to be a little safe. But if you know your roots are planted there and you have the cash for a 10 to 20% down payment and that's what you want to do, I think investing in real estate is great. Yeah, I think you consider some of those variables because if you do decide to rent, there's no shame in that. You may learn something about yourself, living on your own, what you want in a home just by renting for six months or a year. Yeah. You could go either way. I could see benefits either way, but you've got yourself in a good spot, Christian. Well done. Great job. This is The Ramsey Show. You've got a lot on your plate. A job, your home, your marriage, and your growing family. While you're enjoying the present, you can't help but think about your future

and your finances. As you explore your options, consider Christian Healthcare Ministries, or CHM, for your health care. Their generous maternity program and budget-friendly monthly programs have been a blessing to members welcoming children into their families. Visit chministries.org slash budget to see if it's right for you. Christian Healthcare Ministries is a Ramsey trusted provider. I'm Christy Wright, joined today by my good friend, fellow Ramsey personality, Rachel Cruz, and we are taking your calls. 888-825-5225 if you have a question about money, business, time management, or really anything you want to talk about. We are here for you at the Ramsey Show. It's Fun Friday and we're excited to talk to you. So we're going to go to Atlanta, Georgia with Curtis. Hey Curtis, how are you? Hi there, good. How are you? Great. What's

going on? So I'm currently a retail manager. I haven't been in it for very long. And I have a master's and a bachelor's degree in music performance. There's not a lot of growth or payment increase opportunities at my current job. And I'm unsure what career path I can pursue with the experience I've acquired with my degrees. So I'm looking for some career advice. Well, let's back up a little bit. I wish Ken Coleman was on the show today. He could jump in.

We could phone a friend, help him out. He has an amazing path he walks people through on getting clear. But, I mean, I've learned a ton from him, and I know a bit myself about just, you know, following your passions. Let's back up a little bit. What did you want to do originally when you pursued this music degree? Originally, I wanted to be a professor at a college for music, and I learned very quickly there's maybe four jobs a year with 500 people going for the same job.

So then I wanted to be just a private lessons teacher, which I was doing. And then when COVID happened, I went from maybe 30 students to five. And it was very, very evident that it's very unstable. And so I teach on the side, but I don't rely on that money anymore. Does that make sense? Well, I totally get what happened during COVID. My question is, and you're right about things being different last year but let me ask you this why have you not built it back up why have you not like poured fuel on that fire you know you can do it you you don't depend on it and

i get that i get that but i mean going all in to build it back up to 30 students to to make this a substantial business why have you not done that? I mean, I think that's a great question. And I think it might just be the fear of failure. It might be a very evident thing. But also, I realized that I wanted to take the financial obligation off of my passion because I felt as I was relying on it to pay my bills, I wasn't enjoying it anymore. So yeah, if that makes sense. It does. I'm curious, would you say that's true all the time or just during the year of when it's not stable? Meaning, let's go back to the peak of it. When you've got 30 students, you're serving them, you're adding value. Oh, by the way, you get a paycheck. You're getting paid to do the thing you love to do.

Was that an issue then or was it only when COVID hit and you started getting desperate and scared when your students were dropping off? Yeah. So in reflection, I would see myself like getting up into the lessons each day kind of dreading it um and I had 30 students but I didn't teach all 30 every month there was always people dropping out and the first thing to go is taxophone lessons when when people are financially struggling um and and so the uh I wasn't have I didn't have my ideal client, if that makes sense. My students were whoever I could get. Where now the students I do teach are excited and into it. And I wouldn't turn away students as long as they were my ideal client going now, if that makes sense.

So if you could do that, is that what you would want to do? Like if you could build this business up, hypothetically, if you could build it up, you could have a full schedule, you're earning good money, you're having fun, you've got your ideal student. If you could do that again, would you want to? I think so. But to be honest, I feel like I've lost all that passion. Like I even contemplated, you know, selling my, my saxophone cause I haven't touched it in over a year. Um, and common thread throughout the music industry, like in terms of the academic side of things, this lack of passion. So I, I'm not sure if it's something I need to continue doing on the side with more stable like nine to five jobs, or if it's something I can pursue. I just am not hopeful that it would lend itself profitable to like my savings goals and to help me get through all the baby steps.

Yeah. You know, Curtis, I want to tell you something that I think could be at play here. And you can correct me if I'm wrong. I may be off base here, but I've had several calls like this. And they all are from people that ran a business, a small business or side business in the pandemic. And because of the pandemic, they lost their clients and they had to close. And while things are open back up and we don't have the restrictions we had back then and they could start it again, they don't. And I don't think it's because they can't, because the world is not there, the clients are not there. I think it's because they've been wounded.

And Curtis, when we have a side business or small business, it's personal. It's your heart. It's you. It's your service. It's your passion. It's your gifts that you're putting out there. And then even though it was a worldwide pandemic

that caused that to slow down and stop, it still feels personal and it feels wounding. And all of us, whenever we've been wounded, we have a fight or flight response and we want to tuck our tail and go home and go, that didn't work. I guess I wasn't cut out for that. I don't, I can't do that anymore. And I just, Curtis, I just want to be a person that says, if you want to do this again, you can. I think if you got back into it, you would find that passion. I think if you could dust yourself off

from the heartbreak you experienced last year, which was absolutely no fault of yours, I'd like to add. If you could dust yourself off and you could get back into it, I think you might love it. And I'm not saying that's the only path for you. I'm going to actually have you stay on the line and have Jenna send you a copy of my book Business Boutique

which is a plan to start your business if you want to look at that again and send you a copy of Ken Coleman's new book From Paycheck to Purpose which is coming out in just a few weeks and that's going to give you a very clear path for pursuing your next stage in your career if you decide to go that route

you'll have both options at your fingertips that hopefully will give you some, um, a path for clarity, whichever route you decide to go. I just, I just want to encourage you to consider the possibility that there is still that fire in you. You've just been hurt. You've been hurt like a lot of business owners and, uh, we want to tuck our tail and go home. But I think those students are still out there that needs you, your target market students that need what you have to offer. Absolutely. And, and I think that students are still out there that need you, your target market students that need what you have to offer. Absolutely. And I think that there is, and I think that you make a great point, because it's almost

like this feeling of rejection. It is. And someone says, oh, I can't. But you take it because it's your gifting, your passion. And someone basically says no to you. Again, no fault of your own. I mean, the world shut down, all of it. But when you hear that 25

times yeah it does something to your spirit it does and so um and so curtis i do i would i would i hope what christy said just spoke life into you that if this is in your future that this does kind of give you this boost to say okay you know what i'm i do i want to try again because i do love it and it is something that i was i was really good And I think I could do it again, but also give you the freedom to Curtis that, hey, maybe even though you have a music degree and music has been part of your life, maybe there's something totally different you want to do. And that's the other aspect we're seeing so much now in 2021 is the amount of turnover that's going on all over the country. And Ken talks about this, that people are now are like, okay, if I'm going to jump into

something new, now's the time because it feels like everything is shifting. What do I want to do? Industries that, you know, we're all the way down in the ground are kind of coming back up again or other ones have been created. I mean, there's just this whole other, feels like this whole new world out there. And so to give you permission to, Curtis, like Christy said, that, hey, maybe you kind of realized, okay, maybe that's the end. Maybe that was a season of my life. And now there's something totally different, maybe not even in the music space that I want to pursue.

And another thing that you love and you're making money doing that too. So I think you have a lot of options, Curtis, for sure. And, um, and it's hard, you know, and I don't know where you are financially. You said, you know, for I don't know where you are financially. You said, you know, for starting the baby steps and so depending on your debt level, your income, your bills, I mean, all of that, yeah, there is math and finances that come into play. That is a reality. And so to kind of map that out and say,

hey, maybe for two years, I put the music stuff aside and I just bust my butt doing something and get myself in a firm foundation financially, then maybe even the stress comes off and you're able to dream more going back into that music. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, that's the beautiful thing about life. We get choices. You get to create this life and create a life that you love, Curtis, and what you get to decide. Yeah. And I think too, if you do spend some time reflecting on the business route or a different career route, like we're talking about, if you choose the career route, you will know you chose that because it's right,

not because you're running from some type of rejection of the business. So I want you to revisit it, even if it's just to give you confidence that the career route is the right one. We're not going to run from this rejection. We're going to consider it and then make the best choice depending on what's right for you. I think you can do either. And I think you're in a good spot. And hopefully those two books will give you some clarity about your direction. Thanks for calling. This is The Ramsey Show. Well, if you are like most people, you feel like you never have enough time to stick with your goals. You set goals in January. They are gone by March.

And by the end of the year, you're wondering where those goals went all together. Y'all, I got to tell you, one of my favorite tools to help you stick with your goals all year long is my goal planner and our new 2022 goal planner is here. It is available. You need to get it right here. Yes. I'm going to take people on YouTube. Open up the unboxing. Yes, please do.

Stop it. Stop it. It's beautiful. Here's the thing. And I don't just say this as a marketing line. Yes, please do. Stop it. Stop it. It's beautiful. Here's the thing, and I don't just say this as a marketing line. They literally sell out. Rachel, they sell out.

They do. They really do. You guys message me and because it's dated, no, we don't order more. No, you can't. We estimate the best that we can, the order for the year.

Typically, they sell out at the beginning of January. Last year, they sold out in the beginning of December. So if you're thinking about getting this for a gift for someone, go ahead and get it. Shipping has been weird across the country. Go ahead and get it so you have it. There's nothing weird.

It'll make it by Christmas. And then you don't have to worry about them selling out. This is where you put your plans on paper on purpose. I give you guys inspirational content every single month, focusing on different areas of your life. You've got journal questions for reflection, templates to help you put this stuff into practice. And of course, you've got your monthly calendar, your weekly calendar, your to-do list. And there's even areas for you to write down how you're taking care of yourself, your family, what you're grateful for. It's very intentional, like everything we put out. Get your 2022 goal planner today at ramsaysolutions.com.

I promise you they do sell out. If you want one, go ahead and get it. I mean, these tabs. Tabs. The tabs per month. So beautiful. It really is beautiful. It's amazing.

It's beautiful. It's amazing. And there's so much in here, Christy. You know what's cool, too? It's so good. This is worth pointing out because this actually relates to one of the values that I teach. Even if you set a goal in January, things may change in your life. I talk about this in my book, Take Back Your Time.

So there's opportunities every single quarter. There's opportunities three times that year for you to check in and see if those goals are still right for you. So maybe in April you go, hey, are those goals right? Yes, I'm going to stick with them, get re-motivated, or maybe they need to change. And so it's incredibly intentional. It's a great tool for you to not just manage your time, but actually stick with your goals. So get your 2022 goal planner at RamseySolutions.com. Rachel Cruz and I are here for you on Fun Friday, taking your calls, answering your

questions. It's 888-825-5225. And we're going to go to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with Phil. Hey, Phil, how are you? Hi, good afternoon. Thanks so much for having me. Sure. What's going on? So I'm projecting to deploy next year with the Army National Guard. And as a result of this deployment, I'm going to be having a pay cut and approximately $30,000. And I'm on baby step two. So my feeling is that I should store some money away for that time for my family while I'm gone, just so there's not a drastic change in income for them.

But I just wanted to hear what you guys had to say, please. Yeah. What do you do now? I'm a therapist, a mental health therapist. Cool. That's awesome. Well, Phil, thanks for your service and doing that. I have a good friend and her brother's been out for five months now out in the Middle East.

And it's just, it's you guys, you guys and your families do a lot. So we want to thank you so much for your service. Thank you. So you guys are on Baby Step 2, and your income will go down $30,000. So how much, when you are deployed, will you be making? I'm projecting $85,000, given it's tax-free plus BAH plus my pay grade. Yes, okay. And how much debt do you guys have left?

So we have just south of $40,000, and that debt is only, before we started Financial Peace, we purchased a shore house, and that's what's left on that mortgage. Oh, okay. So no other consumer debt. It's just the mortgage for the second house. Is that $40,000? Yes. Okay, that's great. Well, you guys are in, I mean, I know the $40,000 obviously

is a chunk, but it's not like it's tons of car payments and credit cards and all this overwhelming. I feel like that can be when there's multiple types of debt and all of that, you guys have really made progress and that this is it. So yeah, I mean, I think that there's multiple types of debt and all of that. You guys have really made progress and that this is it. So yeah, I mean, I think that there's a level of comfort considering that you're going to be gone for your family to have a little bit more cushion than just that baby step one. And so I'm great if you guys want to save up a little bit of kind of a smaller emergency fund just for that. But also with $85,000, I'm encouraged by that number because I think you guys can still be chipping away at this 40,000 even though you are overseas. And we've had just so many, and it's pretty remarkable, but so many military families that will come in and do their

debt-free screen when they'll talk about that they were deployed, you know, even when they paid off the debt or, you know, they were working it while their spouse was deployed, you know, like that that's a part of their story. And so seeing that and hearing that, I know it's possible for you guys to still continue on that baby step two. And so it may give you all just a little bit peace of mind again, because it's a very volatile situation when you're deployed, I know, or I could only imagine, I should say, to have a little bit more of savings. And I'm comfortable with you guys doing that. But I still want that intention and that intensity towards that 40 grand because you can still be chipping away while you're still

deployed. When did you say you're going to be deployed? So it'll be next year. Ballpark is fall. So I have about a year. Oh, about 12 months. Okay. On the track you're on right now, if you didn't set aside any extra for savings for what you're talking about, when could you have that 40 paid off? I'll tell you, my wife is incredibly disciplined. She's such an amazing person. And we have three little girls. And over the last, we did FPU in March. And so we've paid $50,000 in debt since March. Whoa.

Okay. I feel like you're going to get this knocked out before you're gone, Phil. Do you? I agree. But my wife, understandably, this is our second deployment together. Yeah. Understandably, she's feeling it, even though it's a year out. And I just I want to make her feel as comfortable as possible. Yeah, well, I think one of the things that you could do

is you can just continue to pay this debt, even if you want to save it up, save it up. And then once you have the 40, just put it on that, get it knocked out. And then you could save a little extra, I think you're going to get this knocked out and have some extra savings for her by the intensity that you guys have already shown. And I can't even imagine the amount of peace that's going to give her going into you being gone. You don't have that payment and you've got a little extra cushion. You guys have done an awesome job. You can tell you're gazelle intense and you're on the same page. And gosh, it's just awesome of how you're looking out for her and considering her for her feeling good, stable,

secure while you're gone. So well done. Yeah. Six months. I mean, to your point, Chrissy and I, and I, I'm glad you asked that because I was thinking it's coming up like here in

the next month or two, but I'm like, you know, in six, seven months, you guys paid off $50,000 already. Yeah. So I,

I'm on board. I think that you guys can knock it out and have the money saved. Um, but that's awesome. Absolutely incredible. It's going to give you that peace of mind too. Cause you're too, because you're not going to have that payment hanging over your head. Oh, yeah. And then anything else, your emergency fund or extra savings or cushion, like we're talking about, is just bonus on top of that.

And so I think that anytime you're going through a major life change, and we talked to you guys about this, whether you are expecting a baby or something's going on, you know, maybe a health crisis, something major. Yes, that should be considered in your baby steps. But often, sometimes just the fear of the unknown makes us feel like we need to totally change course. And we don't. Because in your case, Phil, I think that the plan that you're on is the right plan. That's right. It's the right timeline.

There's not going to be any major turns. It's interesting. It's not difficult circumstances, I think, that overwhelm people. It's just the unknown. It's just the unknown. Somebody used this example for me one time, but you think about it. You come up on traffic. And if you've got somewhere to be, that can make you feel anxious. Because how long am I going to be in traffic? I don't know. But if you come up on traffic and there's a sign, a construction sign that says, traffic estimated wait time seven minutes,

your fear goes down. Your anxiety goes down because you go, okay, seven minutes. I know exactly how long I can expect to be here. And so when you're going through a life change, it can feel like that scary unknown. But often you don't have to change courses. You don't even have to change the pace in your timeline.

Sometimes it's just seeing on paper how it's going to continue to work and knowing, hey, I've just got to stay the course. I can still do this. Yep. Staying consistent. I think that's good. And I think that's great. I think the knowledge piece of that unknown gives you that. So whatever you can do to get that logical knowledge switch turned on helps that emotional kind of erratic fear that can play in. Yeah, that's a great point. That's why we tell you guys to put it on paper. When you can see it on paper, on a budget, on a plan, when you can see it, you can do it. It gives you that sense of control and peace.

Thanks for calling and thanks again for your service, Phil. This is The Ramsey Show. I'm Christy Wright. Rachel Cruz and I are taking your calls, 888-825-5225. We're going to go to Phoenix, Arizona with Kirsten. Hey, Kirsten, how are you? Hi, I'm good. How are you? Good.

How can Rachel and I help today? Well, I hope you can. I am calling because I need some advice on how to get financially free from some of the mistakes that I have made. I'm a single mom. I lost my job and my home during COVID. I lost my home during a fire. And I moved to Phoenix, Arizona. I currently have a new job.

I'm going to be about $17.25 an hour, and I'm in about $100,000 in debt with student loans, car loans, credit card bills, and things like that. And I'm just wondering what I should do at this point. I thought about selling my car. I was offered $10,000 on it and I owe about $13,000 on it. So I'm just trying to find out what I should do to help eliminate this debt.

I'm really drowning right now and I don't know what to do. Yeah, Kristen, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I can hear it in your voice and obviously your story. It's really difficult. And being a mom, do you have one child? She was just one. She's nine. How old is she? Nine. She's nine. Okay. That's so great. Kristen, I want well,

I'll say this. What I find a lot of the times when we talk to people with really difficult situations, which I feel like we do a lot here at Ramsey Solutions. There is a loss of hope that people have. And I feel like that's a common thread that we hear when people really feel like life has just kicked them and kicked them and kicked them. And they're down and they just think, I don't even know where to start.

I don't know what to do. So I just first want to encourage you that there is hope. That even though it feels hopeless and it feels like this is going to be a never-ending part of your story, this is going to end. This debt, this exhaustion, this financial instability, it is going to end, Kristen. Because you know what? You have the ability to end it.

You have the ability to start making choices and decisions. And we'll talk about that here in a second. To be able to have hope that your situation is going to look different. So I want you to hear that from Christy and myself, that we've heard lots of situations and some very similar to yours. And the beautiful thing is, is that we are able to make different choices day in and day out to put us in a different position. So I want you to, you probably don't feel it now, you may not today, but I want you to start telling yourself that you're going to be okay.

You don't feel like you're going to be okay right now because it's a scary situation, but I just want you to know telling yourself that you're going to be okay. You don't feel like you're going to be okay right now because it's a scary situation, but I just want you to know that there's hope. Okay. Okay. Kirsten, you, what you've done in your past. Yeah. You're going to have to deal with because there's dollar amounts here associated with some decisions you've made in the past, but you know what? You are going to be able to create a plan and have the ability to walk through that where those past decisions no longer have to be the decisions you make in the present or in your future. But it's going to be hard. It's going to be a lot of work. It's going to be a lot of

discipline. There's going to be good days. There's going to be bad days. It's going to be a journey. But we want to walk you through that and help you. Yeah. One of the things that I think is going to help you in this process, Kirsten, and it's not going to be something that's going to flip a switch overnight, but we've got to get your income up because you feel like you're drowning, not just because the debt is so big, but because the debt is big and the income is low right now. And so it feels like you're trying to catch a tidal wave with a teacup and you just can't. And so I want you to think about what are some things that you can do temporarily in this season, maybe a year, two years, three years, like for the short term. And maybe it's something where you take another part-time job.

Maybe you work your way into a better job that pays more. Maybe it's a combination of these things. Maybe you start a business on the side. I don't know what that looks like for you, but we've got to get a bigger shovel to dig ourselves out of this mess. And that is going to give you a sense of confidence. It's going to reignite that hope where you begin to chip away at it quicker. And that momentum is going to actually fuel you making more progress, sticking with it, keeping you motivated and so on. Right now, it feels hopeless because the progress is so small. So I want you to think about ways to do that. One of the things I would love to give you, and when we get off the phone here, if you'll

stay on the line, I'll have Jenna be sure to get this to you. Let's give you a year subscription to Ramsey Plus, which is our money class, Financial Peace University. You watch these videos. It's not just going to get you fired up. It's going to show you step by step how you're going to work your way through the baby steps, how you're going to list your debts, smallest to largest, and dig yourself out of this. You can do it. And this is going to show you in depth how to do it much more than Rachel can. I can even go into, you know, in our phone call. The other thing I'm going to have Jenna give you is a live stream ticket to

our business boutique event. It's this coming Thursday through Saturday, it's October 14th through the 16th. And even if you don't want to start a business, what's so beautiful about this event, Kirsten is we spend a lot of time just injecting hope in people, just talking about, you can do this and you will do this and it's

going to help you push past your fear. It may even spark an idea of how you could earn some extra income on the side when your daughter is in school, after work hours, whatever that looks like. You can get creative to find multiple sources of income. We don't have to feel trapped by this $17.25 an hour. That's not our only source of hope. You are in control of moving some levers and pushing things and getting creative and maybe a combination of these things we're talking about. So whenever we get off the phone, we'll

make sure that Jenna gets you a year to Ramsey Plus to show you the money steps and the money plan. And then also a live stream ticket to the Business Boutique Conference, which you can watch all next weekend. Anytime that you can, you can watch it later. We'll make sure you get set up where you can watch it later if it's during your work hours. And that might just spark an idea of how you could earn extra money to pay this debt off faster. I think those two things will give you a sense of control, reignite that hope that we're talking about, and show you step by step how you can do it. It was like what we were just talking about, Rachel. The unknown is so scary. It's like, I don't know how I'm you can do it. It was like what we were just talking about, Rachel. The unknown is so scary.

It's like, I don't know how I'm going to do it. When you begin to lay out this plan, when you begin to lay out this path, Kirsten, and you see how you can do it, it's going to fire you up and give you that sense of confidence and control. When you see it, you know you can do it. It may be a long road and it may be a hard road, but you can do hard things, Kirsten. You're already doing the hard things. You're tough.

Hard is not scary to you. It's the unknown. You're really, really, but you can do hard things, Kirsten. You're already doing the hard things. You're tough. Hard is not scary to you. It's the unknown. You're really, really tough and you can do this. And I just, I want to give you one word of encouragement that I feel like I need to say. My mom was a single mom and I remember her feeling really guilty when I was growing up that she felt like she was harming me by working hard, long hours, taking me to her business back and forth. And the thing that I tell people today as a grown woman, almost 40 years old myself, I say,

I just want you guys to know I didn't make it despite the struggle. I made it because of it. I am who I am because of my mother and your child will be who she is because of you, because of how you fought for her, how you're a fighter and survivor, and you will not give up and you will make a way and you are her hero even if you don't feel like it right now. You're going to get out of this. You are. You are. You can work hard.

You already are. We just need to give you the steps and the plan to do it. And we're here for you. So you call us back anytime, Kirsten. Okay? You call us back anytime for help, support, resources, anything we can do. We're cheering you on. Yeah.

And on the tactical money side, Kirsten, that's what's going to, that Ramsey Plus, it's going to help you create a budget, know exactly what bills are coming in, what cash flow you have from your paychecks, where everything's going. There will, I'm praying, have a level of control because, let me ask you this, have you ever lived, just even on a monthly budget, I'll say, have a level of control because let me ask you this. Have you ever lived just even on a monthly budget, I'll say? Have you been consistent with knowing where your money's going? I have not, no. Yeah. I don't even know where to start.

Yep, and that's okay. And that's okay. And this, again, we can't deep dive into it right now on this call, but Ramsey Plus will walk you through all of that. And I'm telling you, Kirsten, those little, just even tactical things, it is going to help bring such clarity, such clarity. But like Christy said, Kirsten, you're a good mom. Your, your net worth is not your self-worth. This does not define who you are as a, as a, as a, as a woman, as a person. Your value is so, so huge, Kirsten, even though life has kicked you hard.

And I can hear it. But there's hope. And you can do this. You're going to get through it. And I can't wait to hear from you when you do. You call us back and tell us your story. I want to thank producer James Childs, associate producer Jenna Coletta, my co-host Rachel Cruz, and you, America. This is The Ramsey Show.

Have a friend or family member that needs a daily dose of Ramsey advice in their life? Let them know about the Ramsey Call of the Day podcast. It's a quick hit of advice about life and money in under 10 minutes. Check out the Ramsey Call of the Day podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.