The Ramsey Show - App - You Need To Get Some Mojo Back! (Hour 3)

Episode Date: January 19, 2024

🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, this is the Ramsey Show, where we help you win in your life, specifically with your money, in your work, and in your relationships. The phone number is 888-825-5225. He's George Campbell. I'm Ken Coleman. Thrilled that you guys are hanging out with us today. George is our money expert and the author of a brand new and soon-to-be best-selling author status.

This book, it's called Breaking Free from Broke. Look, I like to make predictions. Honestly, George, it's because I don't mind being wrong. That's fair. I hope you're not wrong. I don't think I'm going to be. I think it's going to be a bestseller. I don't mind being wrong. That's fair. I hope you're not wrong. I don't think I'm going to be. I think it's going to be a bestseller. I think it's going to be a number one.

I'm going to project that. We've got another week. We're wrapping up the first week of pre-sell, so here's the deal. If you're new to the program and you love George, let's be honest, there's no way that you're not new to the program and you don't love George. He's just that lovable. This is the new book, Breaking Free from Broke, The Ultimate Guide to More Money, Less Stress.

By the way, you can get it at ramseysolutions.com or anywhere books are sold. And George, give me 10 seconds on the book. Can you give me 10 seconds? I believe the system is designed to keep you broke, and it's not all of your fault, but it's your responsibility to rise above the system and live with more margin, more freedom, more options, and totally unplugged from this toxic money culture of debt. Yeah.

That's it. It's going to help a lot of people. So get it now, breaking free from BrokeRamsaySolutions.com, wherever books are sold. All right, let's go to Cincinnati, Ohio. Jack is there. Jack, how can we help? Hi, how are you guys? Good.

How are you, sir? I'm good. I wanted to get your input on an impending house purchase for my family and I. We have been renting right now, and we are going to be moving for a new job in a few months. And we've been looking at houses in the $600,000 to $900,000 range. But I feel like our financial situation is a little bit unique, and so I wanted to make sure that my calculations for that being a reasonable budget are correct. Okay. Lay it out for us.

So the bad news is I have $250,000 in student loans. The good news is I've got zero credit card debt, zero car debt, and I use that student loan to become a doctor. Oh, what kind of a doctor? Let's just keep it to one of the higher-paying specialties. Oh, okay. Very nice. I landed my, I'll call it, dream job.

And so in a few months, we'll be moving for that. And my new salary is going to be $600,000 a year. Congratulations. All right. Fantastic. That's the good news on top of the $250,000. We still get the $250, right. Fantastic. That's the good news on top of the $250,000. We still get the $250,000. Yeah, so obviously we're planning on trying to pay that off in a year or less.

Good. Wow, good for you. And so I wanted to make sure that we buy a house that will not inhibit our ability to pay that off as fast as possible. So why not? I'm going to lay out a different option, just option B right now, or C, where you rent for a year where you're going to move to, and you use that year to pay off the debt, to get an emergency fund, to build up a down payment. It might even be two years of renting. What would be wrong with that move?

Yeah, we have considered that. The main reason why we don't want to do that is because we have been moving quite frequently for the last decade. It's kind of how things go with the medical training process. And so we are sick of moving and just we're longing to be able to settle down somewhere and get a community and not have to uproot our lives every two years. Can I push back on that? That's the main thing. Let me push back on it. And first of all, I understand it. Totally get it. Ken has done some moves in his day. I have.

Jack, I totally understand. But you've done it this much over the last decade. You can do it one more time. And I think that's what George is proposing. You can even hire some of those high-end movers that move all of, like, they'll unpack the junk drawer and put it back in your new junk drawer. Yeah, I love that. But just even higher up the ladder on the priority list than that. I love that.

George is right. You can get great movers and it's not that big of a deal. However, you're moving to a new area, starting a new job. I would not put the added pressure. Do you have kids? Yes. Yeah, see, Stacy and I, when we moved, so let me tell you so you know that I'm saying this from experience.

This is what I would do. When Stacey and I moved back here nine years ago, we had lived here for three years, no kids. We move away to Atlanta. Dave brings me back to join the team here nine years ago. It's going to be 10 years in June. And we rented for two years because this time around, even though we'd lived here three years before, it had been 11 years in that gap, George. And we had three kids now, two of which were school age. One was going to be starting kindergarten. And we just said, you know what, we're going to rent

and resettle and get a lay of the land. And I think even more so because of all the moves you guys have made in the last 10 years. I would rent. I like George's suggestion for two reasons. One, financial. He's right absolutely about that. Two, gives you guys some time so that when you settle, you're settled. We are familiar with the area we're going to be moving to, so it's not like it's a totally blind move. All right.

You know what? I still go with George. We are considering doing that path. I was just curious if that number... But you're considering taking on potentially a $700,000 mortgage or more. Yeah. That's going to put you a million or more in debt. So it's going to be harder to pay off the student loans. Rent is

going to be cheaper no matter where you're going when you're carrying that kind of debt. And I recommend you do this with a 15-year fixed rate mortgage where the payment is no more than a quarter of your take-home pay. Now that parameter you won't struggle with because of your amazing income, but I also recommend you guys save up 20% down. So think about your next goals. We got to clean up the debt. We need a fully funded emergency fund of six months. We need a down payment of 20%. We just have some priorities here. And so that's why I don't recommend jumping into the house. You'll be there in no time. And I understand moving one more time is going to be a pain, but when you do it our way, it's going to give you so much more peace and margin,

a smaller mortgage that you're going to knock out more quickly, and then you can afford all the home renovations and emergencies and the HVAC and all that stuff will just be a slight inconvenience. That's our take, Jack. That's probably not what you wanted to hear. What are you thinking? Before you called us, what number were you thinking about spending on a house, which means lending? I'm sorry? What were you thinking price-wise when you called us that you thought, well, I think I can do this. Let me call George and Ken and see what they think. What number were you putting on the house? The average of houses we've been looking at online has been around 700. Yeah. Well, what would that put you? How would that

strain you? Would that strain you at all? Or do you feel about that $700,000? How much could you put down? I think that we would be able to, we would not be able to put much down at all. So you move in with no equity whatsoever with a bigger mortgage. I mean, we're talking, if you did $700,000 with nothing down, you're talking $7,500, $8,000 on this mortgage every month where you could rent for two or three in a nice place. So I'm doing that while you clean up this mess. But you'll be there in no time. You make over $600,000. It's mind-boggling.

It's going to be a blink of an eye before you're in that house. Yeah, I agree with you, George. I think, Jack, if you can just trust George's advice on this, I think you're going to come out feeling so much better on this deal. Have a great house, no debt. This is The Ramsey Show. You're listening to and you're watching The Ramsey Show. We're coming to you from our worldwide headquarters in Franklin, Tennessee, just a little bit south of Nashville. I know you like when I say worldwide. I just thought to myself, yeah, this is the international headquarters. If you'd like to, you know, hype it up a little bit, it is. There is no other HQ. Well, to be fair, people visit us from all over the world now, which is really fun. Thank you. So if you're around the Nashville, Tennessee area,

make us a part of your trip. We'd love to have you. We come out in the lobby and sign books and take pictures and you can get free coffee and baked goods and a mug, and we'll make it a whole experience for you. We really do. It is a lot of fun, and we have some brave souls out here today. It's a winter wonderland all of a sudden in the Nashville area. So, you know, glad you're with us no matter where you're listening, how you're listening, or watching.

888-825-5225 is the number. Let's go to the Big Apple. Christopher joins us there. Christopher, how can we help? Yes, hi, sir. I appreciate you guys answering my call. I'm just kind of in a situation and I want to learn how to kind of start my life independently and also manage my finances at the age of 23. Okay. Can you be more specific? What challenges can we help you through now at the age of 23 that you're thinking through?

So I was living with my father from the time I moved in from the ages of 15 to 22. We were just living in an apartment together. She passed in September of 2022, so I was 22. Oh, so sorry for that loss. I appreciate that, sir. Thank you. And pretty much from there, I kind of stayed in that apartment for a while, just rent-free, and I eventually got evicted. And I had to move in with my uncle so he that was back in April of 2023 so not even a year ago and um whatchamacallit so I've been living with my uncle so my dad's brother uh now for about eight months. And he also has his health ailments as well.

Like, you know, he has COPD. He's been on oxygen for 26 years. He's 70 years old, so he's limited. His time is limited. And basically, you know, he's actually in the hospital right now. It's just me and him living in an apartment. He's going to be okay, but I just want to kind of just plan for the future. What are you doing for a living? As of right now,

I'm just a shift supervisor making $18 an hour at, you know, it's like a fast casual restaurant here in New Jersey. Okay. What are you making per year? I couldn't tell you. I would assume it's a very low income, such as, I wouldn't say it's more than 25. Is this part-time then? No, it's actually full-time. It's 18 an hour, 40 hours a week. Okay. So you're making about 36-ish grand gross pay, but one of the things I want to come back to.

That is coming back to 25. Yeah, Christopher, the fact that you don't know means you don't have any kind of budget, and that's going to hold you back no matter what the professional goals are. We'll get to that. So what do you want to do? Do you have any sense of the direction that you want to take? I do, 100%. What is that? I've never been too interested in any type of profession. The only passionate thing I've ever really found in my life was health and fitness.

So I have a license, like a certification to be a personal trainer through this program called Mazin I have that under my belt Can you go work at a gym and work your way up to being personal trainer at the gym? Sorry, what was that sir? Can you go work at a gym

even if it's for $18 an hour right now to get into that field? Yeah, of course. Yeah, 100%. What's keeping you from doing that? I don't know. I think nothing really aside myself. I think I took the loss, you know, a year and a half ago, kind of rough. And it's just been, you know, affecting me in more ways mentally than I realized. And

it kind of, you know, cause as, as, as a personal trainer, it's mainly predicated upon sales. Yeah. So you have to go and talk, talk up to clients and, you know, you can't be shy. You have to be extroverted and yeah. Um, I'm sure you guys get the point. Yeah. Um, so how can we help you today? How can we help? So basically, sir, I have 45 grand-ish in an estate account

left behind by my father. I'm very thankful for that. And that's essentially, I have the ability to work. I'm willing to do whatever kind of jobs I need to earn money. Do you have any debt? The only debt that I know of that I have is $1,500, so $1,500 in credit card debt.

Okay. I took out a few years ago to try community college. Some FAFSA loans, it's like kind of lower income household, you know, to send you to community college. I might have, that might catch up with me in the future, but. Christopher, here's what I want you to do, because you don't really know what's going on. Go to annualcreditreport.com, and you can pull your credit report for free from all three bureaus,

and that's going to tell you exactly what you owe. You need a very clear picture right now, instead of just thinking and feeling what's going on. And then use that money that your father left you to clean up the debt and get an emergency fund in place. I think long-term, you need to get out of this situation and rent on your own with some roommates, because I know it's New Jersey, it's expensive. But I would rather you rent with a guy your age who's on a similar path versus this situation. Man, you got to grieve. You've had a lot of hard stuff happen, and I think it's sort of just held you back, which is fine, but we need to form a path to move forward. And that means cleaning up the deck, get the emergency

funds, switching our career. We got to get some mojo back, man. Yeah, Christopher, you said something a minute ago that I want to challenge you on because you called today. And so I want to honor your time and the fact that you've put yourself out there. You said, I'm willing to work to do whatever. And I don't think you are. I think you're allowing your fear and doubt, maybe a combination of both. You may have fear hanging out on one shoulder and doubt hanging out on the other. And fear, by the way, is worry that something bad is going to happen if I move forward. Doubt is I don't believe something good will happen if I move forward. Very different, but they gang up on you. And the fact that you've done the hard work to get

the licensing, I understand that building a successful personal training business is sales, yes. But it doesn't mean you have to start there. It doesn't mean you have to put all your eggs in that basket. And maybe just as George said earlier, I think it was a simple piece of advice, but I think it was profound. Just go work at a gym, man, and just get your confidence up, right? And don't rely on being self-employed per se, if you can get one of those jobs. Just get in the industry, get in there, remind yourself why you love. You said the only thing you've ever been passionate about is the exercise, the nutrition, all that goes into that. You need to get in that environment. Because what that will do is get your heart re-engaged and give you that, what I call the

juice, but it's just that motivation that you need to overcome the fear and the doubt. That's what's missing right now, is you're not in that environment to where it is igniting your heart and giving you that real chemical reaction that the brain sends to the body. And you're just kind of stuck and you've had a tough time and we get that and we honor that. But you need to get in the zone, man, where you want to be. Get in those places. And then over time, you're going to start to get more confident to go, okay, I see what it's going to take to build a little side business here. And I start my physical training business as a side hustle. I don't put all my eggs in that basket. That's what I want you to hear today, Christopher. And I think that you've got this

blanket on you of fear and doubt. And the only way to pull that off is to actually step forward one little step at a time much like we teach in the baby steps with get that a thousand dollars you know baby step one ago oh i accomplished that george i just think he needs to get going yeah i mean post in a neighborhood facebook group and go hey i'm doing mobile fitness i'll come to you yeah with a little bit of equipment and i'll show you how to do this. That's a great way to get started at no cost to you and get some clients that way and then work at the gym and start to make connections. Hang on the line. I want to send Ken's book, Proximity Principle. That's what I was thinking. Great minds think alike. It's unbelievable. What's he going to get out of that? He's going to get the

playbook on how to make connections, getting around the right people, getting in the right places, and opportunities show up on his doorstep. That's what that book does. Hang on the line, Christopher. This is The Ramsey Show. Hey, you guys. Health insurance costs are only moving one way, and that way isn't down. And if higher costs aren't enough, the wait times to see your doctor are longer, and it's harder than ever to get anything approved through the bureaucracy. So if you feel like the system is working against you, try a biblically-based alternative to health insurance, Christian Healthcare Ministries. CHM is a health cost-sharing ministry that's helped hundreds of

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slash budget, that's chministries.org slash budgets. That's chministries.org slash budgets. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. George Camel joins me. 888-825-5225 is the number to jump in. And George, you told me during the commercial break you were excited to tell me about something. What do you got on your mind here? This is very exciting. I never know what you're going to hit me with. You like steak? I love a good steak.

This has to do with steak in a roundabout way. All right. So Taste of Texas. What is that? It's a restaurant in Texas. I have no affiliation. They're not a sponsor, but they posted on Instagram and they tagged us. And here's the post, Ken. Our team's going to throw it up if you're watching on YouTube. Oh, they tagged us. They tagged us. And here's what happened. Here's the post. Okay. Today, we celebrated 17 staff members who completed Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University course.

Nina and I had a drawing and two winners got $5,000 each to pay off credit cards and get out Wow. What? Wow. I see what they did there. Wow. The names of the 17 who completed the course went into the drawing for the two prizes. So proud of them. And they threw up a photo. Oh, those are the two winners.

That's amazing. But it made me think, Ken, because you're in the workspace. Yeah. Imagine if every employer across America said, hey, we want to do this for our team. We want to put them through Financial Peace University. Or if you're an HR, an employer, Smart Dollar is the corporate version of this. How encouraging is that to your team to go, hey, we believe in you. We know you guys have money goals. We're a part of that because we're providing income for you and your families.

We want to see you win with money and pay off debt. Well, I'll tell you. That's incredible. It's a benefit because here's what happens. If you as a leader or manager, however you want to do it, Taste of Texas was really innovative. I thought pretty creative in doing this. To not cover the cost, but skin in the game, you cover it. When you finish it, you'll get more than you put in. I love it. It was a little bonus incentive there. I thought it was great. What happens is the end result of that.

And I want you to remind folks again, give us the averages because you know it off the top of your head. People go through the nine-week course of Financial Peace University, and they're saving how much and paying how much off. I believe they pay off $5,700 in the first 90 days and save $2,300. So it's an $8,000 turnaround in three months. All right. So you take that number, and as a manager and as a leader, you help your team member get to that point in their life. And not just that initial turnaround. I don't want to get locked in on that number,

but it's the momentum that comes out of that. That becomes an amazing employee benefit and they're going to be more engaged because they're not stressed out with money. So that leads to higher productivity and higher profitability. There's higher morale. It's a team building exercise. All that leads to higher productivity and higher profitability, which's higher morale. It's a team building exercise.

All that leads to higher productivity and higher profitability, which you asked me the question, bottom line is it's a great business growth strategy. And in a day and age where people are moving on quicker, they're not as loyal because they don't get treated well, candidly, it's a great leadership play. Well, and it says, I believe in you. It really does. And when a leader, a company says, I believe in you, I'm going to be more loyal to that company and more, I'm going to feel like I'm going to stay longer.

So where is this taste of Texas at? It's in Houston. Oh, I was just in Houston for the national championship. So I don't know if they'll, I'm sure, I hope they end up hearing about this, because I started looking at their menu, Ken, and I'm now craving a tomahawk ribeye. Can you imagine me downing 38 ounces of ribeye? Let me tell you something. It would take you three days to eat 38 ounces. You're a little man. I think like the TV networks would be calling

me saying we want to start a new series called Little Man Versus Food. Way more impressive. I know that 38 ounces would give the meat sweats to just about anybody. Taste of Texas, congratulations on great leadership. George and I can be bought. So this is not an endorsement in any way, but if you'd like to send a gift card the next time George and I are in Houston, we would love to come and sample the food and put it on Instagram.

And if you want to check out SmartDollar, you can do that at SmartDollar.com. It's our financial wellness benefit that you can offer to your team. We have huge companies that do this, Ken. That's exactly right. U-Haul and Costco. It's one of the greatest personal benefits that a leader can give to their team member is to give them financial peace.

It's a huge, huge payoff. By the way, before we move on, have you ever had a tomahawk steak? I did at my bachelor party. Oh. That was the one time. How much did you eat? Did you pull it up by the, did you handle it like a man? Well, they ended up, they brought it out.

Did you grab it? And then they took it back and cut it for me to make it more palatable. Now, see, if you're going to eat a tomahawk steak, you got to grab it and just chew on it like Fred Flintstone. That's what you got to do with that. I don't care where you're at. That's what you got to do. At least one bite.

Wow. I don't care if it's a highfalutin, hoity-toity, five-star steakhouse. I'm grabbing that thing. Like Mike Gundy, the head coach of Oklahoma State, said, I'm a man. You got to grab it. You lost me when you started talking about football. You should know better.

It's true. I'll explain it to him on the break, folks. If you want to talk Madonna, I can do that all day. You can talk Madonna? Not much. him on the break folks if you want to talk madonna i can do that all day but you can talk madonna not much me talking to you about college football is is like someone giving me a uh maybe like a crash course on the planet pluto you know which doesn't even exist anymore pluto doesn't exist they took it out of the running in the textbooks that's not true it exists it's just not classified as a planet anymore conspiracy Conspiracy theory.

It's not real. James, are you for real? I didn't know this. This is pretty old news at this point. Decades old. Okay. I'm not kidding you. This is breaking news to me. I had no idea. Please tell me Uranus is still a planet. That one's good.

We're safe. Let's move on. Erica is on the line in Minneapolis. Erica, how can we help? Hi, how are you guys? Well, I hope you're okay, given that last two minutes you had to endure. I'm sorry. I apologize.

You're never going to get that back, but I hope you enjoyed it. That's all right. A little lesson for us all today, I guess. Yes, absolutely. How can we help? I'm just calling because I've got a question in regards to what I'm being paid. I currently work in supply chain in the Minneapolis area, and I've been working as a buyer for about seven years now

for raw materials and distribution. And I have to go for my annual review coming up here soon. And I'm just a bit nervous about what kind of percentage I'm asking for when looking at the duties required to move up to the next phase in my career. Okay, let's break it down. So what are you thinking? Let's just let's fast forward to this meeting with your leader. What are you thinking you want to ask for percentage-wise as a raise? At least 8% to 10%. 8% to 10%. What's that based on?

I would just say just based on looking at ranges on salary.com for what I'm being paid. Are those ranges, could you sit there in front of me, let's forget the boss for a moment, but could you explain it to me right now to show that those are pretty close to apples to apples as it relates to your experience, your skill set, and then the industry itself? Do you feel like that's pretty fair to say that you're being paid 8% to 10% less than you should be? Yes. I mean, in the industry, the ranges go from anywhere from $66,000 to $82,000. Okay. Where are you?

I am total compensation for the year without any health benefits or anything is I'm right at 66.5. Okay, so you're on the low range, low end of the range. Yes, sir. All right, that's really good. So do you have some anxiety over how to bring this up? Is that what you're asking? A bit of anxiety and just when my supervisor gave me the position to move into a buyer's three, and it seems that from the way I'm looking at it and the work I'm putting out every day,

the only difference between a two and a three is that it says you have to have expert knowledge in the industry and materials, and you have to have a bachelor's degree or three to five years of experience, which I do have both of those. Okay. Have they brought up compensation? Yes, we did. We did have quite a few layoffs this year. So I think that's what's giving me a bit of anxiety is pushing back with people. The other buyer that I work with has said that she got 5%, although she's only been there about a year and a half. So I'm just... That's good news for you. That's good news, given that there's been layoffs. Okay. And in 30 seconds, I'm going to give you the playbook for this that I give to everybody. You've got to do your homework. I feel like you've done a good job on homework. And you go in,

you go, look, here's the industry standard. But you also need to know that your leader is probably not the sole authority on this approval. Probably got to go up. So what you got to do is not put them on the defensive. You got to make the case and say, hey, I'm on the low end of the range based on the industry standard. I like being here. I want to be here. I want to grow. And so this is where I'm at on the range. I certainly like to move up on the range. What can I do to help you? What's the measurement? And that's the conversation. It's a posture of humility and hunger, not demanding. This is The Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman.

George Campbell joins me. 888-825-5225 is the number to jump in. That's 888-825-5225. Let's go to our Scripture of the Day. It comes from Isaiah 54, 17. When God is for you, no weapon formed against you will prosper. Our quote. Now, you don't know who this guy is, George. You don't know that yet. Who is it? You assume that. You know what?

Good call. I apologize. I stand corrected maybe. John Wooden, the great coach from... That's where you lost me. I just know he's got a lot of great quotes. I'm impressed. UCLA, I'm going to give you partial credit. UCLA, University of California, Los Angeles, for those that are keeping score at home. Was not on my bingo card. He was called the Wizard of Westwood. 11 national championships. This is what he said. Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be. And I think that has a tie-in to financial failure. Oh, 100%. I mean, Dave Ramsey's story, going through bankruptcy in the 80s to building an empire and helping millions.

No shame in your game is what we like to say around here. So good stuff there from Coach John Wooden. Let's go to Aubrey now, who joins us in Houston, Texas. Aubrey, how can we help? Hello, how are you? We are having a blast today. How are you? I'm good. I'm good. Good. So I was wondering whether or not I should sell 34 acres that I owner-financed or just continue to pay it. Wow. Tell us the details on the land itself. So the land is strictly raw. There's nothing on it. There were cows at one point. It's fenced off for cattle.

But right now I don't have anything actual like cattle based on it. It's just completely empty and it's raw land. What would you say it's worth? It's worth about $200,000. I got a quote from somebody that if I were to sell it, it would be about $6,000 an acre. But that doesn't include like their commission of 6% from the sale. What do you owe on it? I currently owe, as of today, $182,000 at a 1% interest rate.

Okay. What do you think, George? What was the reason you bought the land in the first place? So I had bought the land in conjunction of buying another piece of land that had a house on it. I was newly married, and then in 2021, we started to go through a divorce. So I got the 34 acres, and then he kept the other mortgaged property, however my name was on it. So it's going into foreclosure here soon. So I wasn't sure what I should do because I do have three kids and I gross about $53,000 a year, almost $54,000, but take home is only about $35,000, $34,000 with all the deductions that

come out of my check. And that doesn't include like daycare rent, vehicle insurance, my phone, and then I have to have like a lawyer fee. And basically monthly, I can bring home about $440 and then split that in half. So it's about 219 to spend on living. And so I don't even have a- Oh my goodness. Aubrey, I feel your stress right now and anxiety. And for that reason alone, even if this was your dream to have this land and do all this magical stuff on it, I'm getting rid of this land and getting rid of the payment and starting fresh. I agree. You got three wonderful kiddos. You got a lot of life ahead of you and you're restarting. And part of the restart is we had this dream, we bought this land, the dream crumbled, and now I got to find a new dream and that's okay.

But hey, Aubrey, you get out of this thing unscathed, essentially, this land, if you sell it now. You owe $182,000, and you'll walk away with at least $182,000 after all the fees? Well, no, not necessarily. So I owe $182,000, and if I were to sell it at about $204,000, and then with the commission, I would walk away between 10 and 12 000 dollars after okay so yeah you would net 10 grand yes okay that's great around there depending if i end up having to pay for closing cost or anything sure do you have any any debt outside of that um i have like a thousand dollars on a credit card but my tax return is going to come in i'm

going to pay that off so besides that that's good news and do you have anything in savings nothing okay and where are you living right now rainy day fun uh right now i'm cohabitating so i pay half rent but i assume you want to get out of there yeah i do okay so that is part of the reason i would put a fire under your belly to get rid of this property. Get out. What's the situation with the kiddos? They live with me full time. I pay for everything.

I haven't even got my final decree yet. Okay, so nothing's finalized. Yeah, I don't receive any type of, I guess you could say it's like child support or anything. It's just strictly me doing it all by myself. Do you think that you will get any? I should be getting around $1,000 a month if my lawyer ends up finalizing. Yeah, that too, if he pays. Is he a deadbeat? Oh, right now, yeah.

Well, the fact that you're taking care of him full-time tells me a lot. It tells me a lot, yeah. So we want to move forward, let's assume. Here's my point in asking that question, Aubrey. It's not to add insult to injury here, but George, going forward, I would advise her, let's assume he doesn't pay anything so that if he does, it's gravy. That would be my advice in this situation. I want you to be self-sustaining in that way. So here's my plan.

If I'm doing it my way and I was coaching you one-on-one, Aubrey, I was in your shoes, I would get rid of this land. You pocket the 10K. That's going to become your emergency fund. Let's get rid of the credit card debt. Now let's go find somewhere that we can rent for a while with the kids and start fresh. And eventually, I want you to be a homeowner and have this new dream. But right now, we just got to kind of clean up the mess

and get some foundation under us as we walk through this terrible situation. Yes, sir. Can I ask real quick, Aubrey, about your income? Yes. What are your income possibilities? If you and I were just sitting at your kitchen table and we're going, okay, how could we make $20,000 more, $40,000 more, $60,000 more? What would you say to me if I asked that question? So in the line of work that I do, there is a possibility that I could work like every Sunday and make like $160. So if I'm willing to sacrifice the family time for money, then that's an option.

I think in the short term, every nickel at this point helps, and the kids are going to understand, and you sit down and explain it to them. You're already going through a very tough thing anyway, so you explain, hey, this is what mom is doing and why. I think they're just going to be so grateful for you and your sacrifice. It's the kind of thing that they may mention in a speech, graduating high school someday. So I certainly would do that. But I'm thinking bigger than $160. You know, what can we do to expand your income? What's up the ladder

two or three levels? Well, in April, I'll get a dollar raise. And then the next go around in January, I should probably get another dollar raise. What are you doing for work? I work in law enforcement. Okay. Oh, okay. Do you have good benefits with that? I mean, the extra jobs that you can work, yeah. Is there overtime? Can you work at a church doing security? I don't know what role exactly, but are there opportunities like that? So yeah, like working like an extra job at church for like security,

that's what I usually do on a Sunday is I'll go out and I'll work. Okay. And that's the 160. Okay. I try not to count it. I try not to count it just in case there's a time where I, you know, somebody else takes the job. So I try not to live off that. So are you a deputy or a police officer? Is that what I'm understanding? A police officer. Okay, great. Well, thank you for your service, by the way. Not only are you a superhero as a single mom, you also are out there putting yourself on the line for the citizens of your area. And so you're an absolute hero, and I hope you feel that. We certainly believe that about you. Oh, thank you. Well, we answered a lot more than the question, Aubrey. We apologize,

but I hope it helps you take the right next step. There's a lot of steps to take, but I hope we gave you the right one right now, which is get rid of the land, get some financial footing under you, clean up all the debt, cut up the cards, and find somewhere to rent on your own and just get out of the situation to some stability and safety. Aubrey, real quick question. How are you doing on your budget? Do you feel like you're strong at budgeting? Need a little help? What's going on there? Really strong at budgeting. Literally, the only bills that I pay is daycare, rent, vehicle, phone, and then, of course, have like a lawyer fee just in case I'm sued. And then I pay like $10 for iCloud. Besides that, that's where I'm at. You are a rock star. She is on it. Well, hey, I'm going to gift you every

dollar premium for the next year just to alleviate one more thing and give you one more tool in the tool belt. But we believe in you, Aubrey, and I hope you believe in you. You're going to get through this and on the other side. Yeah. Hang in there. Work the baby steps. Keep going. You're going to be great.

Sell the land. It's going to give you tremendous relief and take off a huge chunk of debt. George Campbell, great show as always. Always enjoy it. Always enjoy hanging out with you. I want to thank James Childs, our fearless leader, and all the guys in the booth. And you, America, thank you so much. This is your show.

This is The Ramsey Show. Thank you.