The Ramsey Show - App - You’re Running Away From Something (Hour 3)

Episode Date: September 20, 2023

🎵 Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's The Ramsey Show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create amazing relationships. I'm Ramsey personality, George Camel, joined by my colleague, Ken Coleman. And we are here for you this hour, taking your calls at 888-825-5225. Now, of course, I would love to take your money questions, and Ken always dutifully jumps in with some great advice. But Ken's expertise lies in the work space. Purpose and work. There are so many people out there struggling with that, Ken.

And it's inextricably tied to money. Yeah. Because Dave always says your greatest wealth building tool is your income. Yeah. 98% of net worth millionaires said that they loved their work. So the idea of getting up on Monday, and you're going to have some bad days, some long days, but the idea that you can do work that you really are good at, that you enjoy, that creates results that you care about, that is not some pipe dream. That's not a fantastical, you know, nursery rhyme. So we're

here to help with that, to get you in the right seat of the bus, on the right bus, and watch your money, watch your relationships, watch your health, every area of your life improve. Love it. Let's get it kicked off with TJ in Chicago. TJ, welcome to the Ramsey Show. Hey, good afternoon, Ken and George. Thank you so much for taking my call. Well, I got kind of a work-life balance question for you, and I'm wondering to try to get your input on it. Sure. Um, basically I'm 43. Um, I've worked multiple jobs my whole life, up to three jobs. My parents owned a local restaurant. I cooked that for 10 plus years and went to college and trade school, um, worked in the automotive industry. And, uh, when I graduated from high school, I actually started, and I currently own

and operate my own, uh, mobile DJ service. So I worked three jobs gone seven days a week. Um, me and my wife, when we, we got married, we were high school sweethearts. We got married. Uh, we made the joint decision that, uh, she would be home and to raise our three boys, which she had done and did a great job with. Well, now, like I said, we're both 43. Now she wants me home a little bit more and I'm finding myself struggling, you know, to try to find mentally and adjust myself to not work as hard or work as much as what I was doing. Like I said, we both own our own businesses. She works part-time. She pretty much picks her own hours.

I'm gone pretty much all the weekends, 43 weekends a year. Doing what? With the mobile DJ stuff? So the mobile DJ? Yeah, yeah. Why can't you hire some young blood to go out there and travel for you? Well, that's the problem. I do.

I do have another crew that goes with me. To me, it's not work. It's a passion. I love it. Okay, so hold on a second. So are you still working three jobs or just the one? Mobile DJ on the weekends and the 40-hour job during the week? Yep, I'm a sales rep for a company in the Chicago area.

What kind of money are you making as a mobile DJ? How close to matching or overcoming your current day job? Over. I make more than what I do at my full-time job. I make roughly $105,000 a year DJing. I make about $93,000 with my sales job. So this begs the question, why aren't you knocking the 40-hour-a-week job off

and more time with Mama and doing what you love on the weekends? Well, health insurance. That's the biggest one. Health insurance, it's bad. And my wife, she says it too. I'm greedy. Why not make the money while I can? You're going to lose your wife?

You're going to lose your wife over this. No, right. And that's what she says to me. She's like, you know, not too many wives would want their husbands gone as much as you are. But I have not missed out on any of our family functions. We do have one. Stop, stop, stop. Our oldest is going to college.

TJ, your wife wants you to slow down. Yes. She may have been agreeable, but I don't think she's going to continue to be agreeable, and this isn't good for you. And I'm going to suggest to you that there's more to it than greed. I think that's a cheap excuse for you as to why you're working all the time. I'm not trying to put you on the spot.

I don't want to in any way attack you. There's something going on with you where you need to be busy all the time, and you've got your wife crying out gently saying, I want you here. I want us to have more time together. You've done a great job so far. You've got your kids out. They're doing their thing.

You're financially great. You've got this passion project, which is spinning off more money than your day job. And I think there's something that you're running from. And I think the busier you are, the less you have to listen to it. Am I right or am I wrong? And I don't mind being wrong. No, you're yeah, you're absolutely right. I feel like I got gotta be doing something all

the time i just can't like sit down and yeah but there's a reason there's a reason for that and you're you're and you need to you need to sit with a counselor and a therapist and let's and i'm not going to put you on the spot here but i'm telling you you're like the people who run all the time ultra marathoners they're running from something they just are i'm not attacking i'm not no no listen some people are smiling in the booth listen i'm telling you if you're all the time like every spare minute of your day you're exercising or running it's because you're trying to stay ahead of something as opposed to meeting it head on and you've admitted this and your wife is crying out for you and you better

listen. And I'm just going to tell you, you need to figure out why you want to be working all the time because that's not natural, which means it's not healthy. Right. Nope. You're absolutely right. A hundred percent right. So TJ, there's a few options here. Number one, you drop the DJ stuff. You choose the local gigs. Drop the DJ. He loves that. He loves it, but what if he could do the local ones and hire the team out, and he still makes some money off of that. He can still choose. Or you leave this full-time job. You just DJ, and that's what you do, and you're home all week with your wife,

and you're gone on the weekends. Get healthy. But we can't continue doing all of this, multiple jobs, never at home, and your wife wondering, did i sign up to be single because the kids are gone now she's really feeling what she said dude that's a word for word of what exactly she said now we only have one of our of our sons is in college and we're cash so he's going to college debt free and we have we have two other sons. One's a junior in high school, and the other is in eighth grade. So we do have money.

But it's even more important that you're in the home. I misunderstood. I thought all three were gone. Now it's even double important that you're there. And don't play the whole, I'm at all their sporting events. It doesn't matter. If you're not around the house and you're not there, you're setting a precedent and an example for your boys

that it's okay to be checked out as long as you say you're working or you're busy. And that couldn't be further from the truth. And listen, I know that sounds tough. It's not. My heart's hurting for you and your wife. I'm glad you admitted it. I want you to go see a counselor. I'm going to challenge you. You need to be in a couple therapy sessions before 30 days is up and begin to dive in deep as to what's got you running so fast. What are you running from? Healing, health, everything's on the other side of that. Thanks for the call, TJ.

This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'morge camel joined by ken coleman this hour open phones at 888-825-5225 so ken as you know i'm now officially a youtuber like you you were always my mentor my role model and so we that's this couldn't be further from the truth you're you're you're crushing it you're out doing all the cool videos. Well, we have a personal finance YouTube channel. A lot of people looking for advice financially from YouTube. And so we're trying to step into that space. We've had the channel since April.

Thank you to all of you who have subscribed. We're already approaching 100,000 subscribers there. But Ken, this video that went up today is currently the highest performing video we've ever done, and it correlates to what you talk about. And here's the title, What It Takes to Be Financially Secure in America. So it's about this magic salary. And there was a report that said people need $233,000 to feel financially secure. Okay.

Which I know, I'm waiting, you were scoffing moments ago at that. Yeah, it's a little high. And so we addressed that in the video, but I wanted your take because a lot of people think, well, I need to make this astronomical salary in my work. Otherwise I'm screwed. I'm never going to make it. I'll never hit my goals. Woe is me. I need to ask my boss for a raise. The corporate toxic culture is the thing holding me down. What is the truth about salary? Well, first of all, let's just go to some real data instead of- Boo! Feelings over facts, Ken.

I know, I know. So first, we know that teachers are the third largest group of net worth millionaires. The average, or not the average, the median, rather, the median salary for teachers in this country is about $61,000, $63,000, one of those two, if memory serves. And so that is a function of those teachers are living on less than they make. And as a result, they are very secure. Were there seasons, were there years where maybe it was tight for them? Yes. But what did they do? They adjusted their income, they adjusted their expectations. That's what I want to drop in here. So here's what happens. The reason I'm shaking my head when I hear that $233,000 is, is this from a study, some type of study or poll? Yes. Yeah. This was a legitimate study. Here's what concerns me about that. Bank rate 2023. Bank rate 2023 study. That means there are a lot of americans a lot

who have unrealistic expectations now let me tell you what happens with unrealistic expectations unrealistic expectations of making 233 000 a year because let me just tell you very few people make that kind of money if you look at the number, I wish I had that number, but it would shock you how few people in America make less than $150,000. Unrealistic expectations lead to unmet expectations. So you think about a kid, when we're parenting kids, we're always trying to help their expectations be realistic. Why?

Because we want them to not be devastated. And so young people and immature people have these crazy expectations. And so you put out this number and it's so hard to get to, and it's so unrealistic based on the way they're living and acting. Now I can teach anybody how to make $233,000, but some people are going to get to it faster than others. Okay. And so their expectations are so unrealistic, and their lifestyle doesn't have anything in it that would allow them to get there.

So here's what happens. Then they start, they hope and they wish and they hope and they wish and they hope and they wish, and all of a sudden it turns into despair and frustration and anger. And I deserve this and I deserve that. That's where this is going for so many people. And so it's so wildly outsized, and it's crazy talk. Because they're looking at their life, how much debt they have, the kind of house they want. So in that number of 233, I'm guessing is a bigger house than they've ever had before based on what their mom and daddy had or whatever and so and no sacrificing of their current lifestyle sacrifice that's another big one yeah

like i drove a piece of garbage the first four years of my marriage i mean i've joked about a ford torres i was driving to work one day didn't have air conditioning and i was driving to work and it was hot and humid and I was at a stoplight and all of a sudden I felt something on top of my head I thought was that a fly or something and I went up and it was the freaking ceiling carpet whatever you call it the liner the liner came down on you fell down on my head and I got home that night and I went and got a stapler power stapler you know oh yeah staple out yeah. Staple gun. Out of the garage. Staple gun.

Thank you. Just went. I was picturing office space, like red stapler. No, no. Just up there. To your point, staple gun, put three staples in the top and drove that way for another year. But it's all about sacrifice. I didn't need a car that was going to cost.

Well, and you learn how to live on what you make currently. That's the point. And suddenly you make more because you're not desperate. With the long view in mind. So you have too many people thinking about a number that's really hard to get to instead of looking at their actual life and what they want their life to look like and where would they sacrifice what matters most. That's the problem.

And in America, we've been conditioned by all the social media, all the television commercials, that the American dream is equal to the American stuff and all the nice sizzle stuff. So this is a real problem, George, for this generation, because you're going to have a lot of really unhappy people because they have unrealistic expectations. I hate to go so deep on it. You're dead on. But that's what's underneath that number. Yeah. And so we always tell people, it's about your income. Yes, you can get your income up, but it's also learning to live on

less than you make. And what that sometimes means is we have to cut our lifestyle down to nothing for a season to get out of debt, which frees up payments. And all of a sudden you go, oh, I can live off $60,000. I just can't also have a car loan, a mortgage, a student loan, and max out my credit cards. So we have to make some compromises here. And I walk people through it in this video. You can go check it out on my YouTube channel. We'll link in the show notes if you want to check that out, or you can just search for George Camel with a K on YouTube and pipe in with your thoughts in the comments as people tend to do, Ken. Do you get in there still? I peruse. Sometimes I'll give a little like or a dislike

what are you what's your big takeaway in the video what are you saying in your video well the big takeaway is that I believe everyone can learn

to live on what they currently make now there's the exceptions to the rule if you're in poverty or you make $25,000 a year and you're trying

to live in a certain area it's going to be tough but for most people Ken they make good money it just disappears because they're giving it all to a financial system designed to take it from them. And so I believe that I could help you budget your way out of most fiascos. Are you getting killed on this or are people agreeing with you? That's a great question, Ken. I haven't searched today's. I've been busy at work. But the top comments are a lot of people

saying, hey, that was me. I was that guy living paycheck to paycheck, wondering when it was going to change for me, wondering when someone else was going to fix all my problems. And the truth is, Ken, I have a lot of empathy because it's a tough time out there with inflation and the housing market and cost of living has gone up and the grocery is a little higher, but I don't think it's impossible. I'm still very optimistic that this is still the best time in American history to build wealth. Our parents didn't have side hustles they could go do like we do today. We can't jump on an app and just download it and go make some money. And so the opportunity that's out there, and we meet these people, they're 18 years old and they're running businesses making six figures

with no college degrees. And so don't tell me it's not possible. Just tell me you're not willing to do what it takes to get there. That's fine. We can agree on that. Not everyone wants to work that hard. Yeah. But I believe there's so much opportunity out there and we've seen too many people on our debt-free stage going, I'm a teacher who made $35,000 a year. I'm 71 years old and I became debt-free. We had a couple yesterday, 58 and 62. Seven years later, they're completely debt-free house and everything. They never made more than $100,000 a year in their lifetime. 62. Seven years later, they're completely debt-free, house and everything. They never made more than $100,000 a year in their lifetime. And they're millionaires with a paid-for house.

And so I'm just here to tell you, it can be done once we put the excuses away. Once we say, all right, despite inflation, despite who's president, despite the grocery costs, we're going to build wealth anyways. And there is something so rock and roll about going, I'm in control. I'm not letting anyone steal my joy, my thunder, my paycheck, my peace. You're invincible at that point. And that's what we see on the debt-free stage, is people who are invincible to life. You know, there's something underneath all of this that

we've been talking about, is that certain people just are able to pay attention, yes, to what's going on in the world, but just kind of go, you know what, I'm going to march to the beat of my own drum. And I'm not going to get hung up on all that other stuff. I'm not going to say I've got to have this car. I'm not going to say I've got to travel on these trips. I'm just going to do my life the way that I believe I'm supposed to do it and not get hung up on all the comparison stuff and embrace contentment. That's huge. And that's so sad underneath that data. It's so sad.

I know. Well, I'm going to be walking people through this. September 26th, I'll do a free virtual training, 1230 Eastern, 1130 Central Time, how to break this paycheck-to-paycheck cycle, how to make your income that you currently have enough, all by doing a budget, by paying attention to your money, and by simple little sacrifices. You can join it. Go to everydollar.com slash budgeting. It's completely free. We'll see

you then. This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm George Campbell, joined by Ken Coleman. Hey, our buddy, Dr. John Deloney has got a brand new book coming out called Building a Non-Anxious Life. You may have heard about it a time or two on this show, but let me tell you, time is running out to get all the bonuses. And y'all know I like to take advantage of a good deal and this is as good as it gets. 75 bucks in free bonus items. And if you're wondering what is the pitch for this book? Well, we all know that anxiety is a pandemic across the nation. It's everywhere. But anxiety isn't the problem, John Deloney says. The problem is that we're unsafe, we're disconnected, we're unhealthy, and we're living like we have no say in what happens next. Life just happens to us.

And so Dr. Deloney walks you through the six daily choices to recognize and break free from a life spinning out of control. And you're going to learn effective choices to recognize and break free from a life spinning out of control. And you're going to learn effective techniques to identify and respond to all of life's challenges and transform your life. So pre-order today. It's 20 bucks and you get 75 in free bonus items by doing that, including access to his newest talk, Smoke, Fire, and Freedom, as well as the ebook and audio book of building a non-anxious Life, all for $20. Go pre-order today at ramseysolutions.com. Sharina joins us up next in D.C. Sharina, welcome to the show. Hi, how are you?

Doing great. How are you? Doing well, thank you. Thanks for taking my call today. Sure. So, yes, I'm calling, and I'm actually new to this whole program. I just started about two weeks ago, so I've been doing the classes online, watching a couple of the YouTube videos.

I did download the EveryDollar app, so I've been working on that, and I'm trying to get clarity of everything that's going on, which is not pretty. That financial mirror is tough to look at the first time around. It's very hard, yes, but it's definitely eye-opening. And I'm just not sure, I guess, kind of where to start. I do have debt. I am a single parent of two school-age kids, and I do work one job, so I'm not really sure where to start. Okay so how much debt do you have?

So I have about $29,000 in school loans, about $9,000 in credit cards and another like $6,500 in medical bills and lawyer fees. Okay. And no car payment? No car payment. Okay. And you're renting? So I live with family, but I do pay rent here and I do own a home as well. Oh, what's going on with this home? So I lived in it for about two years and I ended up moving back in with family just because I needed help with my kids.

Um, so I'm actually using it as a rental property now. Okay. What does that bring in? What's the net profit? Um, so it's about, I know the rental there is about $2,100 and the mortgage is like $1,200. Okay. Now what is your income from this one job? I make about $4,800 a year.

$48,000 a year? I'm sorry, $48,000, yes, correct. Okay, and that's your gross pay versus take-home? Correct. Okay, so you're taking home less than that. Mm-hmm. Okay. Well, that helps us. Thank you for going through all the numbers.

So your question was how do i even get started this debt is crippling um based on your numbers you shared here it looks like you've got about 45 000 in debt total yes okay well the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time so that's what i'm going to encourage you to do do you have any money in the bank currently uh no so let's say $0 to your name, getting by paycheck to paycheck. All right. What's the rental property worth? It's worth about one, or excuse me, it's about $278 right now. $278. What do you owe on it? I owe $166. Okay. So you've got about $100,000 of equity in that home?

Yes. Okay. Well, there's one option that's kind of the nuclear option if you wanted to do it, and that is sell the rental because we're not in a place to be homeowners, let alone real estate investors right now because you're feeling the crunch. You're living with family. I want you to get out of this, and I want you to be a real estate investor if that's what your heart wants, but right now it's not even fun. Right. Like you're making a little money off of this,

but one thing goes wrong. What happens when the HVAC blows on that thing? How are you going to pay for it? I wouldn't even know. Credit cards, personal loans, going further into debt. That's how you pay for it. And we know because that's the calls we get on the show. So that is one option. The other option is increasing your income. Now you've got two kiddos at home. What does childcare look like with the family situation? So they do before and after school. So it's about maybe $250 a month total. Okay. To cover that? And I do get child support monthly, typically. Okay. Is that on top of your income? Yes. Okay. And no alimony, just child support? No, typically. Okay, is that on top of your income? Yes.

Okay. And no alimony, just child support? No, correct. Okay. And what do you do for work? I'm a referral coordinator, so I work in the medical field. Cool. I'm wondering, is there room for growth in that medical field so we can get your income up?

Ken is already nodding yes. What kind of work is that? So I work remotely from home. I used to work as a medical assistant in offices. So yeah, I've always been looking for a second income. I actually used to do Instacart for a little bit, but I ended up stop doing it because when I went to go do my taxes, the tax person said that I need to cut that because I'm going to be jumping into, I guess, a new tax bracket and it's not worth it. Oh, no. See, this is bad advice. You had a CPA that didn't understand how tax brackets work? Yeah.

It's like literally this bonehead said to you, don't make more money because you're going to have to pay more in taxes. I got news for you. The more money you make, you're always going to get more taken out of the check. It's just how it works. Oh boy, they need to go back to school. What does the ladder look like in your world, the type of work you do in the medical field? What would be another rung or two up the ladder? Do you know? I'm not sure. I mean, I'm in school um because i thought i wanted to do nursing but i end up that's not what i want to go for so i'm actually trying to go get my bachelor's in um medical um oh my gosh i can't even think right now that's okay i'm trying to become a

trying to become a leader uh get into leadership in the medical field um like management do you need a degree for that? Yes, a lot of them are requiring at least a bachelor's. Okay, good. How far out? At least in our area. How long before you get that finished? A while. I just started the beginning of this year.

Yeah. So let me say this. I want to throw it back to George real quick. I would be okay with her pausing on that schooling maybe since she's at the beginning in order to maybe get financially stable. Yeah, we need a foundation built. And I want to see what promotion you could get without the degree because if we can get more income, whether it's Instacart or something else, and I know you got the little ones, but if you can start making more money, ideally getting promoted up the ladder where you are or inside of another medical organization, and then we get your debt under control, we pay that debt off, you're going to have a massive raise. And now all of a sudden you're going to have more margin than ever.

And then we can tackle school. But my concern, if I could play older brother with you just for a moment. I mean, first of all, single mom, my heart goes out to you. And you're an absolute, absolute heroine. You're a rock star. You're amazing. Okay.

But I don't want you to try to do too much at the same time. And I think the degree will always be there. And I also know, because I've coached thousands of people through promotions, you can get promoted without a degree. Can you ultimately get where you want to go without it? I'm trusting you on this that maybe the answer is no, but the degree will be there. I'd rather you put all your extra time and energy outside of taking care of those precious little ones into making more money and paying off this debt. George, would you agree with that? Absolutely. Okay, so let's press pause right

now on the schooling because that's money you don't need to be spending either. And you're not paying much in rent, it sounds like. What is your rent every month? $500. Okay. Well, that's good news. So your expenses are low. It sounds like you're bringing in over $3,000 a month with this, if you add in the rental income, right? Yes. Okay. So the question is, how much of that can we start to throw at this debt? And right now, your baby step one, $1,000 starter emergency fund. Could you have that in 30 days if you really tried? Sell some stuff, get on a budget. I could. Great. That puts you at baby step two. Start to lay out these debts, smallest to largest balance, ignore the interest rates and go, what is that

smallest one? I'm going to attack it with a vengeance while paying minimums on the rest. And Financial Peace will walk you through that. You already have that. Every dollar, the app you just downloaded, that's going to help you create this margin. You can sign up for that webinar I'm doing. We'll show you how to use it. Everydollar.com slash budgeting is the place to go for that. But we want to walk with you, Sharina, because we believe that you're going to conquer this debt. You're going to call back and we're going to do your debt-free scream on the air. This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm George Campbell, joined by Ken Coleman. Our scripture

of the day, Luke 9, 23. Then he said to them all, whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Mark Twain once said, The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. Sounds like an old school Ken Coleman right there. I like that. Except it's not. It's Mark Twain.

Hey, bonus points if you can tell me his real name. That's his pen name. Listen, Ken, there's enough I got to keep in my brain. What's his real name? Just a little bonus information for our audience. Samuel Clements. it is a real life name of mark twain look at that see even the audience even the folks in the lobby like thank you can i appreciate that just a little i can drop that at my next cocktail party i was gonna say you're mark twain trivia night yeah or that i love a trivia night invite me folks hey speaking of trivia we uh people got

questions yeah they yeah they do and today's questions today's question of the day is brought I love a trivia night. Invite me, folks. Hey, speaking of trivia, people got questions. Yeah, they do. People have questions. Today's question of the day is brought to you by Neighborly, your hub for home services. It's the one place to find reliable HVAC, plumbing, and electrical providers near you. Brands like AirServe, Mr. Rooter, and Mr. Electric have local pros ready to help. So stop wasting time scrolling through pages of results. Just go visit

neighborly.com today. By the way, one of my high school nicknames was Mr. Electric. I was going to guess Mr. Rooter. It just sounds funnier to me. It's a funnier nickname. Oh man, I got to leave that alone. Mr. Rooter. Mr. Rooter, that's what they called me. Today's question comes from Tess in Arizona. I'm looking to buy a new car soon. I'm seeing lots of incentives, almost $2,000 off when financing. I have the money saved, so what if, oh boy, George, I financed for the discount then paid off before the first note is due? Of course.

Would I be charged interest or any other fees? Is this considered debt? Genius. Okay, Tess, fees? Is this considered debt? Genius. Okay, Tess, yes, this is considered debt. I don't know how you could say I'm financing and it's not debt. Now, what you're saying is, hey, I have the money. What's the big deal? I'm being a smart consumer, getting the discount, and then I'll pay it off immediately.

Well, there's some things you have to consider here. Number one, when you're financing, the dealer can throw in a lot of different extra fees. They tack on there. But they've distracted you, right, with this little carrot they've dangled, which is the $2,000 off. Oh, yeah, you can hear it. $2,000 off. $2,000 off. We don't know.

We don't actually know what a good deal is in this scenario until you really look at the numbers and you start. And once you're at that point, Ken, once you're across the desk in the financing office, the party's over. They know they've got you. Oh, yeah. It's a lot of pressure. A lot of pressure when you get in those offices. And there could be prepayment penalties because they know people are going to do this. And so they say, hey, you can't pay this off within this time frame. And the other thing is the lender, the financing office loses the commission if you pay it off in a short window. So there's a lot of things there to consider. And if you have the cash, I don't know why you're messing with that. I think you're going to get a better deal. And honestly, I would run from that

dealership. It sounds like you're just seeing this incentive online, but I would go get a better deal elsewhere. A reputable, independent used car dealer, you're going to get a better car there. And when you said new car- Yeah, I know. That's also a big- Yikes. That's a big trigger for me, Ken. There's only a few people who should be buying brand new cars, and that is folks with a million dollar net worth and no debt. Yeah.

Because the hit you're taking on depreciation is insane. Yeah. New cars lose 60% of their value in the first five years. Yeah. And I just did a video on this, Ken, on my YouTube channel. Of course you did. Get this. Nine days ago, and it's called

Why is No One Talking About America's Wealth Killer? And it has almost a half million views. And people, for once, are agreeing with me. They're going. You're big time. Half a million views. Well, I think it's me you're going you're big time half a million well i think it's because people this is such a hot topic well of course it is yeah it's you know everybody's driving around the cars and you know what else they say well ken i mean used

cars are as expensive as new cars these days not true it's wiser to just buy a new car yeah it's crazy that's insane by the way you know all this like hubbub about electric cars have you seen the prices on the electric cars? Insane. Now, you bought a used one. Yeah, mine's 10 years old. Yeah. And by the way, it doesn't look 10 years old.

Thank you. I try to take care of it. Yeah, it looks fantastic. But there's this pressure, and there's going to be a whole wave of pressure to buy the electric car. It is all a big, giant collusion, and it's forcing people to really think, well, it's where we're going. We got to get one.

Might as well get it. And next thing you know, they're driving around with the $1,500 car. Oh, my gosh. Because they're thinking, well, one day they're going to force us to drive. First of all, there would be an American revolt if they forced us all.

And I know there's some things in California going on. I can't even count that as a legitimate state at this point for all the stuff they're forcing people to do. But in the great state of Tennessee, you drive what you want. But with that, it's your American right to drive stupidly expensive cars. And they're for your ego. Don't tell me they're for reliability and for your children's safety. I just don't buy it. I'm going the other direction, folks.

I'm going to be driving. Once I get the kids, everybody's out. I've already got, you know, I got my classic 72 convertible. I love that. The Karmann Ghia. Karmann Ghia. Love that thing. Little air-cooled engine.

I'm going old school, baby. I'm just going to putt around and put out all kinds of old emissions. Love it. You just take this emission and shove it. You know, that's what I'm going to do. Old cars. You told them. You can't track me because I'm just along in my little antique. you just take this emission and shove it you know that's what i'm gonna do old cars you told you

can't track me because i'm just along my little oh elon knows where i am at all times yeah he's checking it he'll pipe through my car speaker at any moment exactly another reason why i wouldn't buy an electric car there we go well uh all that to say tess i would not do it for the incentive and financing you're getting screwed and if you And if you think you're winning, you're definitely getting screwed because the dealerships are not losing on these deals. Whenever they're like, well, you're really taking us to the cleaners here. My manager's real upset with me. No, they never even talked to the manager.

They went to take a smoke break and came back because they knew they got you in the bag. I'm so glad you brought that up. You need to do a video on YouTube on that. Like walking through, because you're hilarious. The whole rigmarole. What's actually happening when they do the, okay, let me go talk to my manager. Yeah. They're back there talking about what money they've put on what football game.

Like, I'm really going out on a ledge here for you. Manager's docking my pay for this one. I'm not even making a commission. Yeah. What a ruse that is. It's always, oh, it's exhausting. Give me a break. This is why I rarely buy cars, because it's exhausting give me a break so this

is why i rarely buy cars because it's exhausting when i do i don't deal with these dealerships no thank you how do you feel about buying a car directly from a from a real person that's where i like to you know what we're actually we just filmed a video on this we're going to release it soon on buying used cars selling used cars the right way to do it i think it's great now do your due diligence don't buy a used car from a random joe sch Schmo and then yell at us when it's a clunker. Get an inspection. You can go to Firestone, get this done for 50 bucks. It'll do 120 point inspection. The other thing to do is actually check the car facts, check the history, make sure it has a clean title, meet them at a police station, meet them at the bank, do your due diligence when it comes to these things. But

once you do the- The police station? Yeah. It's a great place, meet them at the bank, do your due diligence when it comes to these things. But once you do the- The police station? Yeah. It's a great place to meet for any transaction. I mean, it is, but that seems like a little much. I think the grocery store is fine. Well, you know, in your neighborhood, Ken. But in my seedy neighborhood, no, it's fine.

But yeah, bring a friend along, do what you got to do. That's good. That's very practical information. I don't think we have time for another question ken i'm sorry diane we love you we'll get you on the next one go well uh it's risky you know what we'll do we'll get her to uh we'll kick her to ken's show does that work yeah okay all right we'll do that diane we'll take you on the ken coleman show christian will make sure we get to you. Sorry, I got excited about cars. Well, listen, we see TikTok videos. We've played it on the show before

where people are bragging about having a combined $2,000 plus of car payments. Two people. They're probably making a combined $60,000, $70,000. That's a new level of stupidity when you're bragging about how stupid your decision was. Yeah, but you know why they don't think it's stupid? Because we've been told that having a nice car is a right.

If you're an American, you have the right to go down to Billy Bob's Truck in Poro and get yourself a truck that costs $80,000. And I'm probably low-balled. The last stat I checked, it was 15% of folks with car payments have a payment over $1,000 for one car. Did you hear that? I got to tell you, I need some mailbox. That's almost one out of five people walking around with over a thousand bucks in a car payment. And then the same people, Ken, who are like, man, this president's really killing us with inflation. These grocery prices are really crushing us, man. Right. And I'm going, dude, you drive a car

with a $1,500 car payment. Right. I can help you with inflation. Stop spending your money on stupid stuff, you bonehead. There it is. That's how I want to end today's show. It feels appropriate.

Well, Ken, it's been fun. Always enjoy hosting with you. Thank you for listening, America. Thanks to all the folks in the booth, Christian, Will, James, Zach, Andrew, keeping the show afloat for us today. We'll be back with you before you know it. In the meantime, spend wisely, save intentionally, and give generously. Hey, it's George Camel.

If you like what you heard in this episode and want to know more about getting started on the Ramsey Baby Steps, go to ramseysolutions.com and click on the Get Started button. We'll help you figure out the best next step for you based on your specific situation. That's ramseysolutions.com and click Get Started.