The Ramsey Show - App - Your Money Doesn't Have Feelings! (Hour 1)

Episode Date: June 29, 2023

Rachel Cruze & Ken Coleman answer your questions and discuss:  What to do when you can't afford the minimum payments on your student loans, from the blog: How to Pay Off Student Loans Quickly: 10 Easy Steps for Success "How can I get my husband more excited about giving?", from the blog: The Importance of Giving Back Millennials taking on $1,000 side hustles to make ends meet, How to start saving for college, from the blog: 10 Best Ways to Save for College If it's worth it to take a pay cut to pursue a new career. Have a question for the show? Call 888-825-5225 Weekdays from 2-5pm ET Here's an EveryDollar deal just for our listeners: get a 14-day free trial PLUS $15 off your first year of premium. Click the link below and start budgeting today! www.everydollar.com/TRS Want a plan for your money? Find out where to start: https://bit.ly/3cEP4n6 Listen to all The Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3GxiXm6 Interested in advertising on The Ramsey Show? https://ter.li/s64ye3 Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy

🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the pods, moving and storage studio, it's The Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships. I am your host this hour, Rachel Cruz, alongside me, best-selling author and Ramsey personality, Ken Coleman. And we're taking your calls, America. It's a free call anywhere in the country at 888-825-5225. Talking about relationships, career, your work, your money, anything

and everything. So give us a call. So first, we have Hannah in Columbus, Ohio. Hey, Hannah, welcome to the show. Hi, how are you? Doing great. How can we help? I have a question about my student loans. My loans are privately owned, so I've been paying them for the last three years, but I can't make the minimum payment right now. And my question is, should I just let it continue to accrue as I work through my debt snowball? Or would that be a really bad idea? I mean, it leans on more of the really bad idea side of the equation because the debt

snowball is paying minimum payments on everything. So you don't get behind and then attacking the smallest debt. So, so how much, how much is your payment every month? So it is about $552. I'm behind $785. And what other debt do you have? So total, it's about $75,000. And then counting everything, I have about $95,000 of debt. Counting everything. What's the other 20? 15 of it is credit cards. And then the remainder is some smaller debts like to family and stuff. Family loans. Okay. So the 75 is your student loan? Yes. Okay. And how much do you make a year, Hannah?

Right around 40,000. I do have a job interview in the next couple of weeks to hopefully increase that. Okay. And I'm not counting my second job, which generally makes about 800 a month right now. 800 a month. Okay. Well, that's great. So how short are you? You're making your payments on everything else, your four walls, but just this actual student loan payment of $552 a month, how much are you short on that? So without touching the income from my second job, I'd be short about $150.

Why would you not touch the income from your second job? Well, right now I need to rebuild my emergency fund, about $600. And I would like to just be able to use that towards other debts. Okay. And your emergency fund for the thousand dollars is that right yes okay so you so you have four hundred dollars in savings you're trying to build that up to a thousand okay and then we're going to start yep attacking that okay so one of the one of the most important things so hannah i would say is to get current on your bills. So with this 800, so I would, what I would want you to do is even pause the baby steps.

Like I like it, the more you continue to go back, the harder it is to go. It's going to be to go forward just on a mathematical standpoint. So if I were you and as your side hustle, are you doing it every night? It's about three to four nights a week right now. Okay. A retail job.

Can you do more? Can you do more? Work more? Yes. Yes. I'm waiting for them to approve that schedule. Okay. That's great.

So Hannah, I really think in a month, in about four weeks, if you up, you're working and you work seven nights. I mean, you work every day because it's a level of urgency because you are in an urgent situation. I mean, you're not, you're getting behind, which again is, we don't want you there. We want you current. And you have $400 in savings. So like all of that can be fixed in about four weeks of making some extra money to be able to build up that emergency fund and get current. So that would be my goal for you to say, hey, in the next three weeks, I got to get this all taken care of.

So that's $780 or $785 that you're behind, plus what's remaining of the emergency fund of the $600. Like, we want to get $1,200, $1,300 in here pretty quickly this month. And then my question is, I want to walk you through this, coming on the heels of what Rachel just gave you, because that's great advice. What is the smallest debt? And when we look at the snowball, you listed them out for us. What is the smallest debt? What's the payment on that per month? The smallest debt that isn't owed to family is $735,000.

That's the total? Yes, of that credit card statement, correct. All right. And so then what's the next one? Then it would be $15,000 in the credit card loan. All right. And so then what's the next one? Then it would be $15,000 in the credit card loan. All right. So the minimum payment on that $700, that's not enough for me to roll this in here. But what I'm getting at is following up with what Rachel said, then you're attacking that credit card because that payment there, we want all this going into that student loan payment. I'm trying to make up the difference between work and then the initial snowball debt that you can knock out to where you're not falling behind at all. You're current on the student loan until that's the last one on the list. And that's going to take you more time, but we want to quickly get urgent to get caught up, to get the emergency fund, baby step one, to $1,000. And then I'm

current, I'm making the minimum payment every month on that student loan while we attack the rest. That's what your urgency is about. Do you understand? Yes. Okay, good. And Hannah, for your family, for the family loans, how much per month are you paying them um right now zero okay okay no that's fine four hundred dollars and three thousand dollars so okay okay the 400 but you're not you're not paying anything currently on those no and they're they're okay with that yeah well i was going to ask to ask them if you can pause any payments to them. I agree, Rach. I was going to ask you.

I think that's okay to do at this point. But you're doing that now, so that's good. So you're already pausing. So you're really getting after this first initial credit card, which is not much at all with you pulling more hours and getting a better job. You can knock that out fast. And before you know it, you can knock that $15,000 card out. That's a game changer.

What's the minimum payment on that $15,000 card out. That's a game changer. What's the minimum payment on that $15,000 card? In July, it'll be $295. I mean, that's a raise. When you knock that out, now you really get this. And for the new job, Hannah, you said you were just interviewing. Do you know how much will the new position, if you get it, how much will that pay? Instead of $40,000 making in your salary job, what will it be? It'd be at least $55,000. That's great. Okay. So Hannah, there's

a lot of upside. I know you feel like it's overwhelming and when you're behind, there's a level of fear and like, oh my gosh, can this even happen? But I think what you can control right now is how much you're working. And to Ken's point, I would go to your part-time job and I would say, I will work. I'll close every night. Like whatever I need to do, go crazy for, at first, like just give yourself a time period, you know, three, four weeks and say, okay, here's what I can bring in. Just again, get on ground level of being current of everything, being able to pay minimum payments, have your emergency fund, and then you start chipping away at this debt, Hannah. Hopefully you get the new job, get the raise of $55,000

and keep this intensity going until it's all knocked out. So I'm excited for you, Hannah. Stay on the line and we're going to give you total money makeover because that's going to give you a step-by-step guide as well and motivation as you're doing this plan. So good luck to you. Thanks for calling. All right, you guys, I have three little ones at home. You have three big ones, older ones, or bigger ones, shall we say, at home. And life, it can just be really hard. It can be hard to connect with your spouse, prioritize that when there's kids and there's life and there's work and there's so much going on, but it is so worth it to prioritize your marriage.

So that's why this fall, I'm inviting you to disconnect from the stress of day-to-day life and reconnect with your spouse at the Money and Marriage Getaway right here at our brand new Ramsey Events Center in Nashville. So for three days, October 19th through the 21st, Dr. John Deloney and I will guide you

through the entire weekend, again, away from normal day-to-day life and with your spouse to focus on your marriage, set goals, and dream about your future. So you're going to learn how to communicate better, build intimacy, set boundaries, and make a plan for your money together. And we've seen it happen time and time again. When you dream together, when you make goals together, create what you want your future to look like, you start acting like a team. And when you become a team, you become unstoppable. So for this getaway, again, it's you guys, you guys that are killing it on baby steps one through three, keep the intensity up, be focused on your goals. But if you're on baby steps four and beyond, this is something that could be really great for you. So tickets

cost $799. So again, talk to your spouse. But if you're out of debt, you have room in your budget, please join us for this incredible weekend to talk about money and marriage so go to ramseysolutions.com slash events to get your tickets today and there's no truth to the rumor that i'll be watching the kids uh in a separate room with a day camp there's a lot of talk about that and i decided to kill that idea oh were you going to be babysitter ken well there was some talk about it on a day camp you know you know mr ken they'll come out be like i know what i want to do with my life and my career mom and dad yeah exactly colman no that's a little too early yeah yeah no we decided against that idea so for anybody wondering that's not a part of the event hey maybe next year yeah I'm good with puppets. You never know. I'm pretty good with puppets.

All right. Up next, we have Grace in San Diego. Hi, Grace. Welcome to the show. Hi, guys. My question is, how can I get my spouse more enthusiastic about additional generosity? Just to give you a little bit of background information, my husband and I are on Baby Step 7. I was raised in a Ramsey household. My parents are everyday millionaires, but my husband was not raised in a family that really exhibited a lot of like above and beyond generosity. And so we have those budget line items in our every dollar budget that outline our generosity to our church of choice and then additional generosity. But I generally find that like I'm the one that is more feeling led to do additional tips or give money to people that I see or meet or things like that. So just looking for any advice that you guys might have on kind of assisting my sweet husband

with building those muscles. Grace, is he hesitant when you come forward and say, hey, there's this thing going on, I would love to give X amount? No, oh my gosh, no, never. He is always on board. Is he the saver of you guys? he the saver more of the nerd um i would say we're actually pretty both pretty much both nerds um he does work a lot and so it's it's like i'm generally the one that handles most of the um outgoing money in terms of like our budget items and things like that.

And so I don't know if it's maybe he just like doesn't have the opportunity or not doesn't have them, doesn't see them as much as I do or that it's just maybe he just hasn't developed those feelings or those muscles yet. I mean, I would tell you, Grace, can correct me if you think that this is off base, but I think I would be more concerned if you brought, if you're the initiator of this and if you initiated something and he was like,

no, that's so stupid. I don't want, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You know, if that was his heart, then I'd be like, okay, let's talk about that. I wonder what is in him that's doing that. But it's just the fact that he doesn't initiate. And Grace, I hope Winston doesn't kill me for saying this. I'm more of the initiator with the giving. I'll get a text from someone at church and they're like, hey, there's a foster family, you know, X, Y, and Z, or a tornado came through and a team member needs that. And again, I don't know if it's

because I get it more but i'm like oh yeah and i text when someone hey there's this thing he's like absolutely do it uh but i feel like i'm more of the one that initiates those random acts of giving in our relationship but i don't fought winston for that just because i think to your point i think it gets presented to me maybe more frequently and winston is he's just more of a saver naturally bent more and he would tell you more scarcity mindset like it's just it's a natural bent but it's not that he doesn't give or doesn't want to it's just not on the forefront always like where i feel like you could you could present like a puppy with a broken leg and we're like let's just adopt the whole family like we'll

fix it all like i get more yeah I get more emotion from it or something you know this isn't a popular opinion in in 2023 but I also think it's the difference between men and women uh you know there's a controversial hot take that women are different than men and and but I do think in this situation I agree with Rachel you kept calling him sweet precious husband every time you bring it up, he's like, oh, yeah, let's give. So I think the question now comes back to you. What is making you call us today and ask us for advice on how your husband can have more of a giving muscle when what we're hearing is he's rarely anti-giving. He just doesn't pop up the idea as much as you do.

So does that bother you in some way? What's going on? What's behind this question? I guess it does bother me a tiny bit because, like I said, I come from a family that's very, very giving to really anyone and everyone. And, um, I just see that as like a big part of my day-to-day life, but, and we haven't been married that long, a couple of years. So I guess maybe it's just like not fully integrated into, you know, his recurring thoughts yet. Um, but I was just kind of seeing, you know, if there were anything that you guys did, um family, or if you had any similar experiences. My experience is much like what Rachel said, except it's flipped.

Stacey is, you know, she's the one that, I mean, it's not flipped, exact same. She's the one that's always coming to me. Do you feel like that's the case with you guys? A hundred percent. She comes to you more. Yeah, and I'm like, great. But I will tell you that I'm the one who tends to be more, and it's not a scarcity thing, but I tend to be like, okay, where are we at?

What else have we given to this month? And we can't give to everything and everybody. Right, right. I mean, because Stacey's amazing. She would give it all away. Yeah, totally. And not that she's irresponsible, but that's what her heart is versus I'm a little bit like, okay.

Like, for instance, okay, this is a window in and this may help or may not help Grace, but I'm going to be transparent. And Rachel's got, she's really good at like putting me on the spot on the show. My natural bent is to say, who are we giving to? What are we giving? And can they handle it? So I'm real sensitive to, are we blessing someone? Mm-hmm. Like they they really really need it not enabling not being the yeah yeah so it depends on the gift if we're talking like like getting george like my wife she brought i had to walk into work last week with a pretty pink bag for george camel's wife whitney because we're friends with them and stacy found a little something something in

downtown franklin and honestly i didn't even look inside the bag i gave it to george and george goes Hamill's wife, Whitney, because we're friends with them. And Stacey found a little something, something in downtown Franklin. And honestly, I didn't even look inside the bag. I gave it to George and George goes, you know what it is? And I go, I don't have a clue what it is. Now that's a dude response. Sure. So in this situation, Grace, you guys haven't been married very long and you're bringing in expectations to how things are supposed to be.

So when Stacey and I got married, I kept expecting her to have dinner ready at six o'clock. It never happened. We're two months into marriage and I would just be watching like the news or something. It'd be like 6.30, 6.45. And I didn't demand it. I would just go, hey, what do we have for dinner? And she'd be like, I don't know.

Haven't thought about it yet. What are we having, Ken? I share the story to say that when we get married, we bring in the culture and the expectations of the way that our house ran. I would give him some grace, Grace, because you've got it. He's a good dude. And I would say this too, Grace.

I think it helps Winston and I. We have like one particular organization besides our church that we love and we both have been impacted by. So when we give that monthly, it's a part of both of our stories. So find that commonality. Like what's the thing? What's the genre of stuff that he would be like, oh yeah, that makes sense and plug into. So I would say that.

I would give him a little bit of grace, grace, just like Ken said. And I don't think he's a bad guy. And it may never be the forefront thing. And that doesn't mean he's a selfish, evil person at all. It's just kind of how he's been. And that's okay. So thanks for calling.

So this headline caught my attention, Ken. Yes. Does America's failed millennials so badly that they're turning to a thousand dollar per month side hustles to make ends meet. Please. So the side hustle has become a big part of people's lives. Two in five adults in the U.S. have a side hustle, according to a recent Bankrate survey of 2,500 people. And 53% of them are Gen Zers and half are Millennials. And then 40% are Gen Xers and 24% are Baby Boomers. So the argument here, which you can read some of these data points, is that millennials have been born into a time where it's just tough, right? As you leave college, it's the Great Recession and the job market was all whacked out when we all entered the workforce. and then we were the

generation that that loaded that student loans you know to to the degrees that we know now we were kind of the first big generation to take those on now the housing market it's like it's it's impossible to buy a house now so that's what this article is is is kind of uh oh yeah come on old kin here we go this is my old man friend this is this is gonna give his old man old cranky kin take now the headline is true though everything i did say is true in defense of millennials it is but let me let me let me just wait a second i think you're gonna agree with me on this one even though you're not old and cranky the headline says america has failed millennials so badly that they're turning to a thousand dollar000 per month side hustles. The article goes

on to say millennials in particular have been struggling to keep their heads above water for years after hopping around a rocky post-Great Recession job market, dealing with inordinate student debt, I agree with that, more on that in a moment, and shopping around a difficult housing market, all of which has made it harder for them to become financially independent. Now, let's dive into this. This sounds like a sob story, but here's the reality. America has failed generations of students by pushing student loans. We have an entire documentary on it. And Borrowed Future lays out the horror stories. So I will say that the government, the federal

government, along with the student loan programs and politicians who want to see a lot of universities popping up all over their state because that lends to more taxes, bigger job bases, which means they get reelected. Now that's all I'm going to say about that, but that's what's going on. And we have failed people because we've put them into this notion that getting a college degree is the best way to success. And that narrative is changing. So for that, I agree, but here's the problem. Millennials and Gen Z are struggling paycheck to paycheck because they think they're supposed to live the lifestyle that their parents live. And they don't realize I got to build up to that.

And credit cards are easier than ever to get. Credit card debt at an all-time high. We hear that headline every month. So you've got young people who are absolutely strapped with student loan debt and credit card debt. You take those two and only those two factors. Yeah. And here's where we go. They need an extra job. And we act like this is a crisis. It's not a crisis as it relates to them having to work a second job. It's a crisis of debt. And if you remove the student. And if you remove

the student loan payment, you remove the credit card payment, then these kids aren't having to work an extra job. So here's what's concerning me. This headline and that excuse making by this writer is what creates the expectation problem that is driving all of this. I deserve this. I deserve that. I want this. I want that. Well, listen, number one, you don't deserve it. And I don't give a crap if you do want it. If you can't afford it, then don't do it. And yet we've created this soft expectation driven society. And then we go, we need to do something about it. it what there's no solution in this article at all it just keeps talking about how many people have to work an extra job well let me tell you something on the Ramsey show we put people on that stage across there that do that extra jobs all the time

and they get debt free and none of them are griping about it so there's the old cranky Ken no I appreciate what say okay well and I don't have any data to back this up so this is where you go into dangerous territory okay but i i i am always fascinated by generationally what you experience right so the boomers were raised by people that had seen the depression even right or or had world war two close relatives from depression to war to the great the great generation right so that's what the boomers saw they take this whole idea of the 1950s the man leaves and goes and works nine to five wife stays home this whole picture that's created you know and then they they have kids that are now me right so i was raised by boomers i I just love that word. I just love it so much. It's not said as a term of admiration. Okay, boomer. That's what the kids like to say.

I know, I know, I know. You know, and so like, so what we saw was something and then it was like, I think our generation was one of the first because the internet really started playing a part of your life. Like, you know later in in college when when facebook came about like like all this stuff started happening this connectivity to the world unlike any other generation so we really became one of the most social conscious generations with giving uh the ability to go do things um that looked different than just the standard lifestyle that we all, most of us, saw in our parents. And so it does create this new world. And then you lay on top of all of this, right? You graduate into the housing bubble had busted. Banks are closing. I mean, the crazy, right? The Great

Recession was nuts. And you're entering that. And at the same same time it's like you you have like you said a level of expectation that again for the first time social media i think this level it's not just billboards and magazines that you're seeing you're seeing real life people living a certain way so subconsciously i feel like there's some level of human mind that just says oh yeah if they're doing that or this or that, yeah, then I should be too. I'm their age. And you know what I mean? Oh, well, you're absolutely right.

Comparison builds that. Yeah, all that starts playing in. And then you add on student loans, and then you can go down the list. But I think the hardest thing, and what's so difficult on this show, we try to communicate so often when people call in with money issues,

is that like math it doesn't have emotions your money doesn't have feelings it is what it is and so there's a level of reality that has to sink in to say i just can't do that and even though i'm frustrated about the housing market i'm frustrated that if i had bought a home in 2018 it would be double the size and if i'm buying it now like all of those all that is so real like that that is a very real um emotion and feeling to have but the problem is is when that starts to drive your decisions yes and there's a level that you have to be able to say here's my here's my situation what what now am i going to do about it yeah great segue so of the

response so what we gave you were the data of of how many in each generation are having a side hustle. Now here's why. 33% of the respondents said they need the extra job, the side hustle, to afford regular living expenses. So these are people that are living above their means. 33%. 33% are going, I need it just to make ends meet or whatever. Just to pay my rent based on what or credit card everything else like oh okay i want this i want this membership here and i got this car right so this car payment i gotta have a car it's eight hundred dollars a month so i gotta go work at kroger and that's not fair sorry that voice just comes out sometimes 27 said it helps with discretionary spending now this would be would be responsible. Okay. So now they're going, you know what?

We'd like to send our kid to a summer camp, or I'm making this up. Right, right. In order to do some of these extracurriculars, whether they be single or married or in a family situation, 27% are saying, I work so that we can have a vacation. Good for you. Yeah. So it's not all snowflakes here that don't know how to handle their money. Right.

Then 12% are using it to repay debt. These would be Ramsey Show listeners and viewers. They're going, I'm getting after it. I'm going to pay off debt. So I did want to at least share that. No, that's good. It's not all people that are just going, I don't know how to handle my money. But a big part of it is we as Americans, we don't have discipline with our money because we want it now. We've been told you get to have it now.

You deserve to have it now. You should have a nice car, nice house, and all these things in your 20s. Well, and it's hard to go backwards, Ken. And I think there's a reality, too. Once everything's paid, like just your general stuff, there's not a ton left always. And so just the price of life and I think inflation kind of plays into,

I think there's like levels of all this stuff that things just have cost more and to go backwards and say, okay, we're actually gonna have to cut things

to keep the same lifestyle that we had. Like that sucks. That's not fun. But sometimes that's the decisions that have to be made. This is The Ramsey Show.

Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. Listen, if you are new to this show and you hear us talking about extra jobs and paying off debt and the baby steps and all this lingo, then make sure to go to ramseysolutions.com and click on the Get Started button because we want you to figure out where you are in your financial journey, be able to name it and know what to do next to help you get financial peace, to have this level of control over your money, to have this level of peace because that is what is so, so key. So go to RamseySolutions.com and click the Get Started button today. All right, going to the phones. We have Kayden in Charleston, West Virginia. Hey, Kayden, welcome to the show. Thank you. How are you guys? We're doing great. How can we help?

All right. So I am 15 years old and I'm a janitor at my church and I make $13 an hour. And I have about $6,000 saved up so far. Nice, Kaden. Thank you. I have two questions. My first question is, at what age should I begin investing? That's a great question. Well, you know, one of the important things that we talk about, especially if we get a young caller like you, is that setting yourself up well

for big life transitions is really important. So do you have any idea at 15 what you want to do when you graduate from high school? Do you know if you want to go into the trades? Do you 15 what you want to do when you graduate from high school do you know if you want to go into the trades do you know if you want to go to college do you have do you have any thoughts um college college awesome do you know how you'll pay for that uh scholarships and working okay good for you so you'll be the one that's going to be paying your tuition. Is that correct? Yes, ma'am. That's awesome. And let me point this out, Ken, that I love, Caden, that you

know that already at 15 because, you know, some families, they don't talk about it until the junior is a junior in high school and starting to think about college and then they have this conversation. So the fact that you know ahead of time, Caden, is really key. So what I would be doing is instead of investing that money, we always say to invest in you at this point in your life. And so that would be keeping that 6,000 set aside and more as you start working in high school to be able to pay for college

so that you don't take out student loans. And Caden, that's going to determine where you go to school is a big factor. School choice is really, really important here. So staying in state, even going to a community college for the first year or two, but making that decision in a wise way is going to help you not only save money, but be able to graduate and not have debt and be able to have a degree that hopefully you can use and that will advance you in your career. So I would not be investing right now, Caden, if I were you. I would keep that money in a high yield savings account or even a money market

account. And right now you're getting a pretty great rate of return for just a good old savings account. And I would put that money in there and not touch it and let it grow and continue to fund that account for college and for that to be your college tuition. Yes, ma'am. That's what I would do. Did you have a second question? I do, yes, ma'am. So I've also been saving up for a car. So I figured that I would save up for my, my car first and then whatever

money I have left over, I'd begin saving for college. So, um, should I, my parents had, um, told me that they would match me up to $2,500 for a car. So, um, now give me a little bit more money for a car and then, um, yeah. And so that's pretty much it. Yes, ma'am. That's great. I think that's awesome, Kaden. So then, yeah, if that's the case, I would take $2,500 of what you saved,

$2,500 from them, and you get a $5,000 car that'll last you through high school and maybe even through college. Kaden, would you go cheaper, Ken? No, I think minimum $5,000. I think you can get something that's going to be somewhat dependable at five. You're going to have to put some repairs into that car to keep it going on a $5,000 car. That's just the nature of it.

I'm looking at it all the time. And so you're going to talk about a high miles car. But if you keep working this plan where I'm going to put emergency fund aside for my car, and then you're working for college tuition after that. If your parents can help somewhat with the repairs, you and your mom and dad just need to be on the same page about who's going to do what and all that jazz. You got gas money. And I remember when my son got his car last year and he started really paying attention to gas for the first time. It was hilarious. He's like, I can't believe it.

How expensive it is. I'll help you with some of the gas. Like if you're going to and from school, I'll help with some of that. But you driving around with your buddies all over the place? Yeah, right. He comes home one night, Rachel,

and we track our kids as any paranoid parent does in this day and age. Back when you and I were teenagers, our parents had no idea where we were. No, we lied to them all the time. What is this address? You've been at the gas station too long. Are you hanging out in the parking lot? So he comes in and I noticed, I checked in on him. I was like, you're downtown Nashville.

What do you think here? I was like, I'm not paying. What was he doing? Oh, they were just checking it out. He'd never been down there. He's feeling free. You know, they weren't there long. I could see he was, he didn't like, they were essentially cruising i'm guessing i love it but i said uh you pay for that i'm not paying for you to drive on a field trip to downtown nashville that's your job you know so getting an idea of what do these things cost this is a young man who's really really driven he's on top of it this is a great experience i agree with rachel's advice 100 kaden but again be really clear on what you want for the car uh think about repairs think about all that kind of stuff that would go into it maybe worth getting a 7500 car you know if you want it to last for a while does this car last you through college it's possible

so mom and dad are giving you a 2500 match if that was me, I'd be going, all right, can I get $7,500? I get the $2,500 from mom and dad. I get $10,000. I got a decent car that should last me through college. Yes. Well, I just did a whole segment on my show. We taped it, so it'll air later, on 10 cars under $10,000. And there's great ones.

That's what I'm saying. It's Honda Civics and Camrys. They'll run forever. Now, you're going to have to put some money in them. I would say rule of thumb, having bought an older Lexus for my son. You get a car that's in that under 10 range, you can look at probably putting in $1,500 to $2,000 in their first year. I think that's a fair estimate. It could be worse, but it certainly could be that much.

But again, if you fix these cars like when the alternator goes we bought ty's car two weeks later he's at prom and his alternator goes thank god it was after he dropped the girl off that would have been devastating the story i had to put a new alternator in it you know that's 600 bucks it was more than that actually somewhere between six 800 bucks right but again that car will run forever if you fix the parts. And so you just got to plan for that. Totally. When you're going to pay for a car for $5,000,

that means you're going to put maybe the same amount in it over the next year to two years. Yep. So good. All right. Let's go to the phones. James in Houston. Hey, James.

Welcome to the show. Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my call. Thanks for calling in. We got about two minutes, James. So what's your question? I want to see what you do in my situation. I am looking at a job change soon.

Offered a position here, local, southeast Houston. Pays about half of what I make now, but also almost half the hours I'm working now. So I'm trying to get out of the field I'm in into a new career. I also have the ability to make up that income with some side hustles, but with a growing family too, baby's third on the way, a little bit of that still to pay off. Just a lot of things to balance on this decision-making line to see what y'all would do. How many hours are you working right now per week? Between 60 and 70. Yeah. And if you were to take this job, which pays you half, I'm guessing you're coming back down to a 40-hour week. Is that right? Yeah, eight to four. So how many more hours would you have to work to be able to

make the budget work and not take a real step backwards financially? How many more hours would you have to work if you take this job? Probably realistically 10 to 15 hours. Okay. So that's a lot better on your schedule. And does that make up the difference financially? It should. I have pretty good revenues for side income that I'm starting to build. Okay. So the reason I'm walking you through those questions is that's what I would do. I would go, okay, I don't want to have to work 60 to 80 hours a week. That's not sustainable. I do have to take care of the family.

I need to be around. I got another one on the way. And so if I can make up the difference and I don't go backwards financially, I'd absolutely scale back. Because you're really not scaling back financially. You're just scaling back in that one job. But it opens up a new path for you.

So in this case, I would do it. That's great. Awesome. Ken, thanks so much for a great hour. All the guys in the booth, Emily, Ibu, gotcha girl. Thanks for your help. And thank you, America, for listening. We'll be back. Hey, it's Rachel Cruz.

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