The Ramsey Show - Small Steps Lead to Big Change

Episode Date: September 29, 2025

🤔 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Think you’re good with money? Take our Money in America quiz!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ George Kamel and Jade Warshaw answer your questions and discuss: “Where should I keep my investments?” “My co-worker is a level below me but is being paid more. How do I ask for fair pay?” “Should I use my credit card to build my credit again?” “Is paying for a van that I live in the same as paying a mortgage?” “My husband is using our emergency fund as a bank...” “Should I turn my HELOC into a mortgage?” “How can I rent an apartment when I’m in bad shape financially?” “I’m not qualified for the job I have. Should I quit and become a nanny?” “Can you help us find an adoption loan that won’t drown us in debt?” “Was it right for my wife to stay at home with our first child?” “Is it wise for me to buy a house?” “I’ve been paying off debt since February but I feel like I’ve hit a wall...” “I’m 71 – everyone is telling me to not pay off my house. What should I do?” “My wife has car fever and wants to go into debt" Next Steps: ✔️⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Help us make the show better. Please take this short survey.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 📞 Have a question for the show? Call 888-825-5225 weekdays from 2–5 p.m. ET or⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠send us an email⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. 📱 ⁠Get episodes early in the free Ramsey Network app! ⁠ 📈⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Are you on track with the Baby Steps? Get a free personalized plan.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 💵 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Start your free budget today. Download the EveryDollar app!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🧮 ⁠Set and actually reach your goals with the NEW 2026 Ramsey Goal Planner! Hurry—they sell out every year!⁠ 🎟️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Two Weekends. One Life-Changing Experience. Get away with your spouse in Nashville. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 👫 ⁠⁠Check out our free Term Life Insurance Guide for helpful info and resources.⁠⁠ Connect With Our Sponsors: Stop paying more and start shopping smarter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ALDI⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Get 10% off your first month of⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ BetterHelp⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Boost Mobile⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to switch today! Learn more about⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Christian Healthcare Ministries⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Get started today with⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Churchill Mortgage⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Get 20% off when you join ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠DeleteMe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Go to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ FAIRWINDS Credit Union⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for an exclusive account bundle! Find top health insurance plans at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Health Trust Financial⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Use code RAMSEY to save 20% at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mama Bear Legal Forms⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Visit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ NetSuite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ today to learn more. For more information, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SimpliSafe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Use promo code RAMSEY for 18% off at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Nokbox⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Get started with ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YRefy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or call 844-2-RAMSEY. Visit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Zander Insurance⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for your free instant quote today!  Explore more from Ramsey Network: 💸 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Ramsey Show Highlights⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🧠 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Dr. John Delony Show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🍸 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Smart Money Happy Hour⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 💡 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Rachel Cruze Show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 💰 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠George Kamel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🪑 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Front Row Seat with Ken Coleman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 📈 ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠EntreLeadership⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brought to you by the Every Dollar app. Start budgeting for free today. Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network and the Fairwinds Credit Union Studio, this is The Ramsey Show. I'm George Campbell, joined by bestselling author Jade Warshaw. We're taking your call. Calls at AAA 825-5-2-2-25. Mandy is going to kick us off in Maine. What's going on, Mandy? Hi.

Great to speak to you guys. How are you both today? Oh, sorry. I said, Mandy. It's Mindy. My eyes have failed me today already. That's okay. So my question is, my husband and I are actually scheduled to be in baby step seven starting off the new year.

Yay. Cool. I know. I'm excited. But I have a chronic condition. And actually, it's a condition that I ended up in the hospital for about a month and in a coma for like three weeks in June of 2022. And since then I've really started to live life a little bit differently. I've traveled more. But I do know that my heart condition is not, I'm probably not going to live to a full life through. retirement, which I'm okay with that. I do well every day, and I feel blessed by it. But my question is, where it's the best place to park our money as we go through speedy step seven so that we can get to it and enjoy it more than if we were to push it off to retirement? That's a very good question. I can't believe you're so level-headed and clear-headed. I would be a wreck. How long have you known about this condition? Obviously, it's been at least a few years.

I was actually born with it. My parents were told that I made it to the HF3 and lived through a surgery. I'd be lucky. Wow. And thanks to technology, I'm here. How old are you now? Miracle. I am 47, and I actually have built my life around this. I'm a nurse, and I used what I was given as a positive. Wow. That's beautiful. Well, you've made it to 40. and you were only supposed to live till three. So I would be very optimistic. Clearly you are. You're living your best life as far as you can live it with the condition you have.

And I'm really inspired by that. What is the current life expectancy at this point? Have they told you anything or it's just like, hey, you probably won't make it to 65 or 70? It's pretty much, hey, you probably won't make it to 65 or 70. The generation before me really didn't make it. I am in that new generation of people that you did make it. So there's not a lot of research. Yeah, you are like the research at this point.

Correct. Wow. I mean, that's a miracle. I mean, so you guys have done really well. Obviously, you're going to be hitting Baby Step 7. What's your net worth going to be when that takes place? So we actually are, I realized yesterday that through our retirement, we are already baby stuff millionaires.

Excellent. How much of that is the house and how much of that is in retirement savings? So, actually, the house is probably worth 400. We'll have that done by January. And our retirement currently is just over the million. Nice. So about 600? Yeah, it was between the two of us.

We have like 1.2. Wow. That's just in retirement. Yes. Oh, my goodness. Do you have anything in brokerage accounts or any kind of bridge funds right now? We have savings, but I don't know, nothing in brokerage that's more. I don't even know if I know what a brokerage is. Okay.

That's just a non-retirement investment account, and so that would be the solution to accessing funds before you hit 59.5. And so you can, you know, and you can take money out of retirement, just the contributions if it's like, you know, a Roth IRA, for example. without penalty, but I would rather see that money grow. You've already earmarked it for retirement. So I would just set aside, you know, whatever that, I guess call it your bucket list fund, whatever you guys want or name it, your dream fund, and start putting money in this non-retirement investment account and just let that money grow. And you can park that in a mutual fund or index fund inside of one of those non-retirement accounts and just start parking money there and you'll, you know, at least have it grow with the rate of the market versus a savings account.

Okay, that makes sense. have children? We do. We have one. That was a very blessed event as well. Wow. Wow. Okay. So there is, I'm asking because there is posterity there. So I'm thinking about obviously the retirement money is there for you, but the hope is that you'll live off of the nest. You know, you will never touch the nest egg just living off the interest when that time comes. But George did make a good point about the Roth IRA. So that's something that could be there. If you were getting down, down to the wire. I mean, I'm trying to think of a situation where it's like,

we must take this trip to Italy, you know, and it's like, do you have actual, like, tactical things you're wanting to do that have a dollar amount attached to it? I mean, I haven't attached dollars to it, but I do. I still currently work full-time. I would love to go, you know, part-time in the next few years and then travel a little bit more. Yeah, what does your husband make?

my husband makes so honestly he's getting a pension and working so i don't know exactly but um i i was doing our every dollar and it we're making good money on a monthly basis okay give us a ballpark number just so i can help help me understand kind of what we're working with is this 10 grand a month 20 grand a month? Yeah, probably 10 grand a month. Good. Okay. I'm just trying to figure out if you just stop working today, could you guys get by now that you don't have a mortgage payment come January? Yeah, I think we could, but I definitely am not quite ready for that. I just... You enjoy working. I love my work. I love my work. I don't know if that was holding you back from these other things that you're wanting to do, because the other thing is, let's say you do live to 65. Well, you don't want to just go,

well, we accomplished the bucket list in two years, and now we're just sitting around. So I like the idea of you working as long as you enjoy it and that your health allows you to. Yeah, no, if anything, I would go part-time just so I could travel more, but I really do enjoy what I do. Awesome. Well, I'll tell you this, your investments, you know, based on what the market has done historically, it'll double about every seven years. So your 1.2 will become 2.4 by the time you are 54 years old? and then at 61 you're looking at you know close to five million dollars and that's if you didn't add anything to it so I want to encourage you that your retirement you guys have done so well

probably even before you had this you know you kind of knew what life was going to look like you guys have just been doing a really good job following the ramsie plan we've been trying we definitely um you know after my event in in 2022 our our cell intensity went down and we traveled a little understandably yeah what is your mortgage payment what are you going to free up in January we will free up um just under 2000 but we also are putting um you know at least 5,000 or more a month away right now towards it you know I really think you know a brokerage is a great idea it's a great bridge between now and retirement but it sounds like your husband makes a good income it sounds like you're contributing to and when the time comes to take these trips it feels

like you could really cash flow a lot of it as long as you planned it a little bit in an advanced to say, hey, over the summer, here's what we want to do. And if you give yourself, you know, eight months to save up for it, that sort of thing, it feels like a lot of this is at your disposal month to month as well. Yeah, I like that idea. I mean, you could do some in the brokerage. I would just up the budget line items and go, fun money for Mindy, dream fund, travel fund, all of those things, I would up it. And that's the beauty of Baby Step 7 is you get to choose, how you build wealth, how you give, and I would encourage you to do all three, save, spend, and give with the time you have on this earth, Mindy. We hope it's a long one.

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up there and the comments have been wonderful. So thank you all for checking it out, using it and changing your life. We love to see it. My favorite line is when you say the margin in the proverbial couch cushions of your life. That's quite the line. Perverbial is underused. It is. You got to know what's under those couch cushions. When you find something under a couch cushion, It is like a magic trick. Yeah. It's always like a fond memory, maybe a goldfish that you forgot about. Not a real life one, like the crackers.

In our household, I find, like, wrappers, like granola bar wrappers because the kids, fruit snacks, wrappers. I thought you were hiding the candy from Sam under the couch, so he can't find it. It's not in the pantry, Sam. Don't look there. Children, it's in the couch cushions. I love it. The proverbial cushions. All right.

Lauren is in Ohio up next. How can we help today, Lauren? Hi, thank you for taking my call. Yeah, how can we help? My question, my question is about fair pay. My coworker and I, I'm a senior graphic designer. He is a regular graphic designer, which is a step below me. He makes $80,000, and I make $68,000.

And I'm wondering, how can I discuss this with my manager without throwing her under the bus? How did you find out? Through discussion. With him? Or with some water cooler, break? talk and they're like, what do you, what are you making? Like, I'm making 80. And they're like, oh gosh, does they know how much you make? Yeah, it's just conversation with my coworker. Okay. Which I know is normally not supposed to happen. Well, it's all the rage among the youth is the

new salary transparency. We should all be talking all the time about how much we make and like fight and like unionize, you know. So I get it. Right. That's exactly what she told me. Have you mentioned it? Have you mentioned it at all to your leader? No, I have not. Okay, so you're just looking for strategy on how to bring it up. And I understand you want to be, you know, cautious and taxful and not be like, well, so-and-so told me that they make this. You know, I think you need to bring it up in a way that's like, hey, like, I found this information out, and I'm just curious how you guys look at valuing these positions because I've been in this position this long. I'm at this role. What does a growth plan look like?

You know, is there a reason why I'm behind on that? Or is it just, hey, the market has changed and they're needing to pay more to get new talent? Like, my guess is that it's not malicious. And my hope is that they do the right thing and go, yeah, no, we're going to, we'll give you a bump. Maybe it's not today. Maybe it's, hey, at your annual review, we're going to relook at this and give you what's fair. And if they don't, if they treat this callously, I think that's also a sign that you need to go elsewhere. If you feel like you deserve more with the role and experience you have, you know, I wouldn't,

hold on to the grudge and resentment and stay where you are, I'd be looking elsewhere. Okay. But there's no, it's going to be uncomfortable. I would call that out. We have a guide on uncomfortable conversations on our entree leadership side for business owners that I think would also help you. You know, you're not in the leadership side. You're on the other side, but just opening and say, hey, I need to have an uncomfortable

conversation and I would leave as much emotion as you can out of it, which is hard. So I would like do your venting privately and then walk in there with a lot of of logic and not a lot of feelings. Yeah, I think George, you nailed it when you said curiosity because I'm just thinking through this and looking at possibilities because the truth is you've got as much curiosity as you can have and as much as it's just, I don't know because the truth is maybe your coworker said no on another benefit to get a bigger, to get more money in their pocket. Like there's different ways that people could have negotiated their salary.

and benefits are a part of that too. True. I'm just saying we don't know the full story. We don't know the full story and you guys are talking. Listen, at the end of the day, I don't know. I would not put all of my stock in what my co-worker is saying. I would give some benefit of the doubt also to your manager. I'm just saying don't come in guns of blazing.

That's all I'm saying. Okay. Have you been getting raises regularly? I've gotten one raise and, well, two raises in five and a half years. okay and do you feel like those were fair or do you feel like hey i went from you know junior to senior there should have been a much bigger bump than just like a cost of living adjustment one of them was cost of living one of them was a raise okay yeah i would i would bring it up do you have an annual review coming up soon or like a one-on-one with your leader that you have regularly

in december okay that's a good time to have that you could start the conversation now and they might say hey let's let's punt this to december and we'll have a big thing bigger conversation around it because your comp will likely change by that anyways. But your feelings are valid. Let me just say that. You're not, I don't like, hey, just suck it up and do your job. You're fine. I think you have very fair and valid feelings.

I just know attacking it with that level is going to feel like entitlement. And I've been there. I have attacked that problem with my leaders going, I just, I feel like I should be making more because other people make good. That's just not going to play well. Unfortunately, in reality. Yeah, that's the thing. I was happy with what I was making until I found out that information.

Yeah. And that's why the comparison game of salary, it's never going to be like, oh, great, we're making the exact same amount and we're doing the exact same level of work with the same amount of effort. It just always turns into one person being resentful and upset. And that's the downside of these salary transparency conversations. So I think just approaching it in a collaborative way, in a curious way, I've just going, hey, help me understand why this is and what a growth.

plan would be like. That's going to put the ball in their court to say, okay, yeah, that's fair. What did you say? So I should not let them know that I'm aware of your pay, correct? You can't, I mean, I think it's honest to say, hey, I heard this like through the grapevine, like this, you know, the conversation came up, whatever it is. You don't need to say they told me. But they're probably, they're probably going to ask like, hey, like, where, how did that come up?

Because that can also mean, hey, we were, quote, gossiping. Yeah. You know what I mean? that can feel like that. So if I'm the leader, I'm going, why are you guys all in the break room? Well, I'd even own that. I'd own that and say, listen, this is probably information I shouldn't know, but I became aware of it. And I, yeah, and that way you're saying, hey, you know, you know we're not supposed to be chatting about this, but at the same time, if somebody just up and tells you something, they just up and told you. So it's like, it's not

men in black. We can't just, you know, what's the little pin, joint, you know. But I would also be, if you feel like this is the case and they haven't been looking at it and been ignoring it, whether on purpose or subconsciously, I would also be looking for other positions. And the job market's tough right now, so it might be, you know, six months before you find something that lands. But if you feel like, hey, it's my time to go anyways, my heart's not in it here anymore, then I would be considering that. But if you love it there and all other things aside, you're like, no, I love it. I just feel like I should be paid what I'm worth based on marketplace value. That's a different conversation.

Okay. That's very helpful. How old are you? Thank you. I'm 35. Call us back and tell us what happened or leave the message. Tell us what happens. I want to know. To be continued.

Yeah, we never know what happens with these conversations. Okay, that'll be a fun report back. Hey, remember I called about that? Well, I got the raise or I know, right? I found a new job making more. Are you hearing this, James? I'm making a note. James is making a...

But I felt this, Jade. I've been at Ramsey, you know, 12 years now. Yeah. And I've had six jobs. You've been here 12 years? Holy smokes. Yeah. I started when I was a week.

a little baby boy. A wee less. I haven't grown physically, but I have grown a lot emotionally, mentally. I can see, yes. And so I feel like I've, I know that feeling because I've been there. And sometimes it was a legitimate, hey, there were maybe some poor leadership. Maybe it was a poor timing. Yeah. But a lot of the times it was just me. It was the guy inside and I was drinking my own poison, creating a narrative that wasn't true. About this versus that or me versus them. Or like why I'm not, you know, just this sort of like little man. syndrome, fist in the air, I deserve. Do you feel like you were, do you feel like you feel like you feel victim to the little man syndrome? Well, I think there's just a level of it's never

going to be as fast as you want and you're always going to feel like, well, I deserve more. I work hard around here. Yeah. And then over time, you look back, you're like, why was I so. Why was I like? Yeah. Yeah. I hear that. Just the way you approached it. It was like the problem was true. But the way you went about it. Yeah. It's like your attitude towards it makes all the difference. Been there. Been there done that. I feel for her. I hope it goes well. This is The Ramsey Show. Life is Unpredictable.

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Kiata's up next in North Carolina. What's up, Kiata. How can we help? Yes, I was calling. You know what? Thank you so much for taking my call, first of all. I was calling because I finally saw this into Dave Ramsey last month. Yes, I found you all on YouTube and was like, huh, this guy knows what he's talking about. I like this.

And I decided to go ahead and pay off my credit card bill. Way to go. I took the revolving debt off my credit card bill, went to my local credit union, got another checking account, and put all that debt to come out that checking account. Okay. Now I'm watching my credit score go down. Now, keep in mind, I still have school loans that's over $17,000. Okay. Should I put some of that revolving debt back onto the credit card?

No, no, no, no. So you've done a wonderful thing here, which is you found some knowledge that was different from the knowledge you had before, right? For the first time you're hearing some guys say, pay off your credit cards, pay off your credit cards. And you go, you know what? What I've been doing is not been working. Let me try what this guy is saying you pay off the credit cards, right? so let me give you another piece of information that is likely going to be very different from what you've heard. Are you ready? Yes. We would tell you, and I'm telling you right now, you're concerned

about your credit score, but you don't need to be concerned about your credit score. And I'm going to tell you why. The truth is, this is the truth, and I get paid nothing for telling you this, okay? The truth is you can do with a zero credit score, all of the things that you can do, do with a high credit score. And if you continue the advice that you heard from Dave Ramsey, which is just keep paying your debt off, right? The truth is, eventually the things that were informing your credit score, which was only debt, right? If you keep paying your debt off, your debt will be gone. And what will happen also is your credit score will be gone. Because your credit score is only a debt measure. That's all it is. It's how much debt you have.

how long you've had your debt, what types of debt you have, what percentage of debt you're utilizing of the debt that you have access to. That's all it's measuring. It has nothing to do with whether or not you, Keata, actually have money, whether you, Keata, manage the money that you have well. And Keata, it has nothing to do with whether you can actually afford something. It is a made up thing for banks to get you to borrow money so that they can make money. That's all it is. And the people sitting next here at this desk have bought houses and lived their whole you know a majority of their adult lives without credit scores so it's 100% possible you just don't hear about it how does that hit you oh that is nice i do not know that imagine you never had to think about your credit score again would that free you mentally that's what's going to happen as you as you become debt free and likely what happened there is again your utilization went down because you paid off the debt and it's going to stabilize. And as you pay off the debt, it's going to get better, might get worse, might get better. And then eventually it's going to disappear once you have

no debt whatsoever. And I can tell you from experience, I can tell you from all of my research. I wrote a whole chapter about this in my book, Breaking Free from Broke in the credit cards chapter explaining every objection. Well, I can't get an apartment. Yes, you can. Here's how to do it. Not that difficult. Well, I can't get a house. Yes, you can. Here's how to do it. Bada-bing, by a boom. And so you're going to realize very quickly as you get out of the matrix, how silly this game is. Because you can admit, it is insane that as you pay off debt, which we can all agree is a responsible thing to do, your credit score goes down. Doesn't it sound insane? Yes, and I paid off part of my suited loan. So I'm looking at my loans right now, and I have

four of them left, and I paid off one. Good. And as soon as I paid it off, I watched my score drop by 10 points. Here's the news. Don't watch it. Yeah, because one of the measures, remember we said, how many different types of debt you have and how much utilization of the debt. Because you went in the opposite direction and went the right way, they went, uh-oh, uh-oh, she's trying to exit the Matrix. We don't like that. And so they dinged you to try to get you to come back and say, oh, wait, because you were really considering putting more money on a credit card just to satisfy their little three-digit number, which is wild. And so, yeah. Say what you were going to say. Yes, because I thought, well, I thought that you have to have, like,

revolving debt in order to qualify for, like, a house eventually. You have the credit to qualify for a house. You need, here's what you need to, to qualify, to qualify, I'm going to tell you the real story. So to qualify for a credit score, yeah, you need debt. But to qualify for a house, it's the same, it's the same process just minus the credit score. So for myself, when we did a zero score, meaning I did not have a credit score, when we bought our first house, they wanted to know, they wanted pay stubs for the last, I think it was three months, three months of pay stubs. Since I am self-employed, they wanted to see our tax returns for a couple of years. They wanted to see trade lines, which is literally things like cell phones, utilities,

utilities, insurance. I mean. And then rental history. Have you paid rent on time every month for the last 12 months? Yes. Boom. And that's called manual underwriting. So the difference between manual underwriting and buying a house with a credit score is manual underwriting. They're actually looking at your actual money. They want to see what do you get paid? How long have you been earning that money? To George's point, have you been paying your rent on time? Have you been paying your cell phone and utilities on time? Whereas you could go over to rocket money or, you know, whatever, and they're just going to look at a three digit number and they're going to go. The computer says, yeah, she's good. Yeah. And you could meanwhile, you could have really, you could really not have the kind

of money you need and be approved way above what you can handle. And so that's how this works. That is, that is the truth. And people don't hear that side. They only hear the credit side. And the truth is there's more than one way to skin this cat. And the way that we're, I feel like this is a terrible analogy, but I'm going to keep going. There's more than one way is to skin this cat. And the way we're doing it, there's not as much tears and suffering. There we go. We finish the analogy. I'm going to finish it out. Kiata, I'm cheering you on to debt freedom, and I encourage you to cut up those cards and stop looking at the score.

Do you have some kind of credit karma app or something, or you log in to look at your score? The credit card company sends me like the little chime thing on my phone, like a little text match. And you know what they're going to say? They're going to say, hey, we miss you. Here's a new line of credit. Well, up your line of credit. Girl, where you've been? Right.

Exactly. I know their marketing. And so I'm not going to trust the credit card company to tell me. me what to do with my money. I know that's right. Because they want my money. And Kiata, I'll tell you what happened to me. So as we, my husband Sam, we had at one point, we had almost $500,000 of debt. And as we were paying it down, yeah, the credit score was dropping. And we had finally paid off all the debt. And I was checking my score. I was going on credit karma to check my score. And it was still like hanging out like 610. It was terrible. And I was like, oh my gosh, when is it going to drop to

zero? Because you're right. You can't do anything with a bad credit score. But with a zero credit score, you're winning. And so I was like, man, this doesn't seem right. And so finally, I went on free credit report. Is it freecreditreport.com? Annual credit report.com. To get the real deal from Equifax, transunion, all that. And it actually was zero. And credit karma was reporting that it was low to entice me to get back into debt products. So please, please be careful. Because guess what? That's how they make money by partnering with all the debt companies and lenders to with affiliate links to get you go sign up for their latest and greatest card you see how much of a scam this whole system is wow so i'm going to send you a copy of my book it'll peel back these layers for you if you'll read

it it's called breaking free from broke hang on the line and just read the credit cards chapter if you just got time for one chapter read that one and i hope it gives you some hope that you don't need to live this kind of way i'm going to need the whole book yeah i got you for a house and get stuff and yes i'll walk you through all of it in that book and how to do it without a credit score every single thing you need. And our partners at Churchill Mortgage, those are the folks who know how to do it. They're the number one of the country when it comes to these no score loans with manual underwriting.

Because the truth is most lenders are just lazy and they'd rather the computer tell them. Yeah, that's right. And have a real person look through these documents. Yeah. They're trying to make as many loans as possible to make as much money. And that's what you said, George is so true. It is worth highlighting. Yeah, you might go down to your local bank and maybe they don't do manual

underwriting. That's very possible. But there are plenty of places that do and we're always going to recommend Churchill mortgage. Because number one they're in almost all of the 50 states so you can get your loan done but yeah it just takes a little all of this george is just that little bit of effort a little more effort a little more due diligence just to just look under the hood you actually have to open the hood to look under it that's a good i'll give you one last one the credit score it's like watching a juggler and you're like wow they're perfectly juggling all of this and you're like yeah but that looks exhausting yeah like yeah but

they're so good at juggling for one second juggling as no unless you're part of of a circus. Just drop the balls, guys. Live your best life. Enough with the debt. Enough keeping up with a three-digit number. Let's focus on our net worth and our life instead of making these companies happy. Y'all, do you want to know a game changer for your grocery budget? weekly shopping at Aldi. Seriously, by making Aldi your first stop, you can easily check off your family favorites, from fresh organic produce to grass-fed ground beef, marinated, ready-to-cook chicken breasts, and high-quality dairy products. You'll be able to make incredible meals while keeping your budget on track. So no overpriced gimmicks or membership fees here.

Now, real families like yours are saving up to $4,000 a year just by making Aldi their go-to grocery store every week. Find a store near you at aldi.us. That's a L-D-I-U-S. Savings based on regional analysis of Aldi versus select competitors. Prices may vary by location, product availability, and the market. Today's question of the day is brought to you by Y-R-R-E-F-I. If your private student loans are in default, it can feel like nobody will work with you. But Y-R-R-R-R-R-E-F-Y was built for this. They'll help you explore a fresh start.

So go to Y-R-R-R-E-F-Y.com slash Ramsey to learn more. That's the letter Y, R-E-F-Y.com slash Ramsey, not available in all states. All righty. Today's question comes from Claire in Nebraska. She says, I bought a van that I planned to live in full time. I bring home $30,000 a year. And the van was $25,000, which I'm financing at $350 a month. My rationale for doing this is that I won't be paying rent except for the occasional camping fees. If I add my $95 a month car insurance, my total monthly payments are $433. I did borrow money to buy the van, but Dave is not against borrowing money for a mortgage. and I see the van loan expense as kind of being like a mortgage. Am I making a smart decision to set myself up for future success? Okay, so Claire, I'm tracking with you on the idea of, hey, if I'm viewing this as a mortgage, then the debt, you know, it wasn't a bad thing. I can

kind of get there with you mentally on how you made that transformation. I'm not saying I agree, but I can make that transformation with you. I think the bigger, the biggest problem that I have with this is, and let me go a step further. I'm also tracking with you on trying to keep your expenses low. I respect what you're trying to do there. My biggest issue with this is it's something that is going to continue to go down in value. And it likely will be upside down before the time that you've paid it off. By the time you're ready to trade it in for another van, you're probably going to have the problem with it being upside down. So for that reason, the fact that it's something that's going down and value versus going up is why I don't like this deal. And my bigger question, George,

for Clara, would be what's happening in your life that you're needing to have your, to live in your van and not get an apartment or, you know, that sort of thing. Yeah, usually people aren't making that kind of move out of a place of strength. Right. Sometimes it's, hey, we want to do something fun and wild and we're going to, you know, get the family to live in an RV. That's, that's different. But usually it's, I try to justify it. because I'm a bad financial position and this feels like the best move when really it's a shortcut that doesn't lead you anywhere. Well, she's not saying there and maybe this is here and what is the long term goal? She didn't say I'm an adventurous person and I just love traveling

the world, you know, traveling the country and it didn't make sense to have a rent, you know, sure, I can get on board with that. You didn't say how old you are either. There's a lot here that I'd like to know if you're 65 and this is the move. Yeah. I mean, I mean, it's Nebraska. Like, I'm thinking about winter in Nebraska living in a van. That just scares me for your health, your mental health, your quality of life. Right. So the bigger question is, where does Claire want to be five years from now? If that's to be a homeowner, I just think we need to focus on getting our income up,

getting the car that we can afford today in cash, rent somewhere that you can afford, and then let's focus on moving up. And right now, your biggest expense is an asset that's going down in value. And so that's the difference. Dave's, the only reason we're okay borrowing a mortgage is because very few people are able to do 100% down on a house. Dave would prefer it that way. So we're only okay in a 15-year mortgage on an appreciating asset like real estate. So I would get out of this while you can while that van is still worth something and just go rent somewhere.

And if you need to get a roommate to afford it, that's fine. But I would stabilize your life in that way instead of living in a van for the foreseeable future. Thanks for the question. All right. Christina's up next in Juneau, Alaska. All right, now we're getting adventurous. What's going on, Christina? Hello, it's my two favorite people.

I'm so grateful to have gotten through. You're my favorite person so far. Oh, thank you. All right, here's my question. My husband is using our emergency fund as a bank. He's using the fund as a way to borrow money without a loan. He is paying the fund back, but he's been using it for non-emergency items. as well as emergency items, and we've gone down from six months fully funded down to $1,500.

So if anything were to happen right now, we'd kind of be at the creek. And I know we fully intends to repay the fund, and I used it as well, so I have to repay the fund. But a little backstory on that. Two years ago, our house went through a flood, and we lost the floors, like we had plywood floors right. because, and we had to cut up all the sheetrock. So we have a whole bunch of house repairs that need to be done. Did insurance not cover the repairs? No, because we didn't have flood insurance.

We were not in a flood zone. And the, you know, climate has changed. And actually, we live near a glacier that is letting out a copious amounts of water. It's not something that we could. plan on and it's not something people saw in the future and so we did not have flood insurance when the river that we live fairly close to um but that do it staying and but when you have an emergency fund it is for emergencies it's for when things happen that you did not foresee happening and it sounds like yes to your point this money has been used for both emergency funds which would

be a green light but it sounds like it's been used more so for non-emergency So I have a question. How much was in there at the six-month point? 35,000. 35,000. And it's now down to 1,500. Is that what I heard you say? Correct. So I want to know what types of things has your husband, non-emergency things, what types of things has he been spending this on? And I want to know, has it been done in secret? Or has he been saying, hey, I really want to do this. I'm just going to pull it from the emergency fund. And are you like, no?

Yeah, are you like no or go ahead as long as you pay it back? Tell us more about exactly how this is going down. I have known about every single time. There are no secrets. That's good. And I have a hard time saying no to him. Okay. And why is that? Is that, are you just like people please her or is he just like, well, I'm doing it anyway? Like is he just very stubborn or both? I think it's both. Honestly. I have a hard time saying no because I just want him to have everything. Are these toys? Give us some examples of what he's used this money for that is not an emergency. Fixing up his truck, so truck parts.

Okay. Just bought a new TV. Okay, listen. What if we just separated this? What if you had a different fund that was just like the savings fund to buy new stuff? Well, before we get to that, though, because here's a thing, before we even get to that, I want to say something that it's not an insult. I think it's just true. And let me frame this up by saying, this is your money, right? This 35,000, whatever it started. It is your money. And the truth is you can spend it however you want. But both of you said, we're earmarking this as an emergency fund. And both of you said that for a reason, you understood either we're working this plan. or we understand the value of having emergency funds set aside, right? So at that point, it becomes a personal integrity issue because you've both said,

we believe that this should be this. And then when you don't uphold it, that's a personal integrity issue to yourself of saying, I'd rather you just do what George said and say, okay, you know what? We've just decided we don't want an emergency fund anymore. We want a truck fund and we want a TV and appliance fund. And then just tell yourself the truth. but this business of saying one thing out loud whilst doing something else here, that is something.

There's a cognitive dissonance here, discongruity there. So to Jade's point, I think we need to do some soul searching and have a come to Jesus meeting and say, we might need to move this savings to a different account that is less accessible so that you're not just dipping in there for everything. So that might be one solution. I don't like it as a long-term solution, but right now it stops the bleeding. That's good. That's true.

Because you're about to have a real emergency. Like that's when Murphy shows up is when you just bought the brand new TV and then your HVAC goes out. And you got $1,500. And now you're taking out a personal loan to cover the HVAC. And when that happens, that's when you're really going to feel like, dang it. And you're going to feel like, man, this is my fault. I didn't keep my promise to myself. And now because of that, here we are.

Whereas if you can at least do what George said and say, okay, this is the slush fund money. This over here is the emergency fund money. We'll keep this much in the EF fund. this much in the slush fund and we'll have our fun, you know. Yeah, I would move it to a different savings account. You can check out fairwins.org slash Ramsey, and they've got a smart bundle for our fans, and they have a saved smart savings account with high yield. It's awesome.

That might be a good temporary fix. But ask yourself these three questions. Is it urgent? Is it necessary? Is it unexpected? If it's not a heck yes to all three of those, do not touch it. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. All right, here's the truth.

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That's BetterHelp. H-E-L-P.com slash Ramsey. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show in the Fair Wins Credit Union Studio. I'm George Camel, joined on my co-host, Jade Warshaw, open phones at AAA 825-5-225. You call us up. We'll help you transform your life. Donna is in Ontario, Canada. What's going on, Donna?

Hi, thank you for taking my call. I'm 63 and retired, and my husband is a little bit younger than me, but he'll be working for maybe another three years. It's a second marriage for both of us, and we both have two adult children. My husband funded my stepdaughter's dental school with our HELOC on our home and cottage for $600,000. Wow. And so now I'm a little nervous about this because it changed a little bit from the beginning. The beginning she was supposed to, we would fund her four-year dental school, and then she would graduate, get a job, and pay us, go to the bank and get a loan and pay us back.

But then she did another two years. That's why it's $600,000 in total. Why did she do another two years? to be a specialist. And you guys paid for that, no problem? Yeah, during COVID, we re-evaluated our cottage so we could borrow more money on that one. So it's a total of $600,000 on our home and our cottage. But now it looks like my husband wants to turn this into a market because of the savings and the interest rates. and then the payments would also help pay down the principal faster. And now he's looking at buying life insurance to pay extra to buy life insurance while he's working in case he dies,

that that money would be used to pay off her debts so that he said she doesn't have to deal with me. What happened to the plan of her graduating and taking on the loan from you guys? Um, because he, they didn't have the right information. Um, she's working in the States and she, um, she's not a U.S. citizen. Right. But I, I understand, um, I'm not saying I agree with the plan, but wasn't the plan that she would then take out her own $600,000 loan and basically give you guys the cash. So you were free and clear. Wasn't that what happened there? Um, yeah, that was the original agreement. that I agreed to, but it wouldn't have been 600, probably would have been 400,000, because it would have been only the four years. But she chose to do the extra two. What was the agreement there? There, nothing has changed because she was still in school.

But did she say, hey, I'm going to do these extra two years. I'll cover it through the future loan, I get? Or was it, hey, we'll cover the extra two years. You go have fun. my husband said that we would cover the total so you guys are on the hook for 200 she's on the hook in theory for 400 no in theory she's on the hook for 600 okay and i'm saying what happened okay but i'm saying did she do her part of the plan which was now when i graduate i'm supposed to go get this loan for 600 000 and pay back mom and dad what happened there um because um

She, a bank will not give her a loan because she's, she would. So a Canadian bank won't give her a loan because she works in the States? Well, because she doesn't have her green card yet. And I don't know if the bank would say, we'll give you $600,000 so you can pay off your parents. Okay. Is she making enough to pay the HELOC payment? Yes. Okay.

Is she doing that currently? Yes. Okay, what's the payment every month? Sorry, I don't have the figures here in front of me. The interest rates are about 4.95 on the house and 5.45% on the cottage. And if she was to turn it into a mortgage, it would be a savings of about $3,500 a year. Oh, a year. Okay.

So like $300 a month is what we're talking to here to do all this work. Does that include all the fees to make all this happen? There would be no fees. Okay. Yeah, I mean... Because we paid off our markets. It's not like a life-changing amount of money saved here, and it may make it more complicated because now it's all rolled up into your mortgage

versus separated out. So it's clear how much is hers and what's y'alls? Yeah, we don't have a mortgage. We have no debt. Everything is hers. The only thing is it locks in. to, if now of a sudden it's become

a long-term commitment. Yeah, versus the line of credit, which is the heat lock. I want you to rephrase that. You said you don't have debt. You guys sign on the dotted line for the $600 grand, did you not? Yes.

So if she skipped town and said, good luck, I'm not paying it. It's on you guys. I want you to remind you, the risk is all on you right now, and there's no risk on her part. And so while that's happening, she's living a good life, because She has no risk. As long as she makes the payments, you guys are happy.

But I want this to get transferred to her as soon as possible. And that's what I would like, too. But my husband seems to want to take care of her, and he seems to be okay. What's your net worth? I think it's $1.2 million. 1.2. And the cottage just has the $600,000? Like, was it paid off before you took on the loan?

We just paid off our market a couple months ago, so the HELOC on the cottage is $275,000, and then the HELOC on the house is $325,000. So we're going to pay off the lower, the lesser loan first, and turn that into a mortgage. Okay. And $275,000. Yeah, I know. And Canada's different with mortgages, and it resets every five years. Is that right? Yeah, and like a term.

Okay. Yeah, I mean, if the interest works out in your favor and you want to save the $3,500, I think that solves one problem. It puts out one tiny fire, but there is a much bigger fire here, which is the 600,000-pound gorilla on your backs. Yeah, I'm a little worried about it. My husband doesn't seem to be. I actually think that right in this moment,

that's the bigger problem than the $600,000, because as long as you guys aren't on the same page, not much is going to be done to solve it because he's okay with it. And so something's got to happen to where you guys either both agree, you know what, this is a gift and we're paying it off or this is not a gift and we're going to be very serious about finding a way to transfer the risk from us to the daughter, which I just got to say, it's interesting to me how this played out because you're feeling this weight of this 600,000. you know like this is not good debt to have um did you know that did you have a debt were you averse to debt before you did this because it's weird that you would want to transfer this burden of debt onto a child or to a kid she's grown now I mean she's out of school but I mean my point is debt is not good for anyone especially someone who wants to retire in three years while you've already retired it just puts you guys at risk that he's going to have to keep working

longer or you might have to sell the cottage if this isn't play out perfectly, which it already hasn't, let me remind you. So there's just a lot of risk here. I want to get this hot potato out of your hands as soon as possible. But if you want to refinance and save some money in the meantime, be my guest. Good luck, Dawn. Hey, you guys, more than a hundred million Americans carry medical debt, and that is so scary. And it shows that traditional coverage often leaves people to face big bills alone. Families need more than just coverage. They need community. So what if your health care costs less and you are actually supported? by other believers in the process.

That's why I love Christian health care ministries. CHM is a budget-friendly, faith-based alternative to health insurance that's been serving believers since 1981. And they've paid over $12 billion in medical bills. Y'all, that is faith in action. So let me say it again. CHM is not insurance. It's a nationwide health cost-sharing ministry.

It's Christians helping other Christians with, their medical bills. With CHM, you get to choose your providers. There are no networks, no surprise bills, and no insurance headaches. Whether you're just starting out as a family, or you're looking for something that fits your budget better, CHM is where your faith and finances agree. Programs start at just $98 a month. So go to CHministries.org slash budget to learn more and take the leap of faith today. That's CHministries.org. budget. Hey, if you're enjoying the Ramsey show or you ever have, do us a quick favor, hit the like button, hit the subscribe button, hit the share button, the follow button.

Just hit all the buttons. It really helps us out. It tells the algorithm that you're enjoying this and someone else might too. And that helps us spread some hope. Appreciate you guys doing that. All right, Jade. What do you got for me? You were supposed to set it up in a better way than this. I got no setup. Jade said, hey, I want to do something and I went, Jade, it's your show. I'm just living in it. No, you were supposed to talk about TRS live and then I was going to segue out of that. Oh, that's true. Do the people know? All right, we're doing the Ramsey show live on the road. It's already sold out. We've got Chicago and Orlando on September 30th and

October 2nd. And we're pumped to hit the road and see what happens in a live environment. And it's a fun combination. Like, your day, the Chicago is different than Orlando. Yeah, Chicago will be myself, Rachel Cruz, Ken Coleman, and then two days later we'll be in Orlando with Jade Warshaw and Dr. John Deloney. That's good. I'm excited. And me. I'll be there too.

Okay. So this is my bad segue for, we were in. So here on campus, we have an office that all the personalities are in, and we were in there talking. And somehow we started talking about the Lion King, the movie, Disney. And we were saying, if we. were playing those roles who would we be oh and so ken got all hung up that he should be Rafiki oh and i was like oh okay even though i kind of saw you possibly being refiki and then we were talking about scar and i said john is definitely scott john a scar yeah he's got that dark humor

yeah and so we asked chat gpt to tell us if we were if the randy show should be yeah who's I feel like Ken is Timoan. Interesting that you should say. You could be Timoan. You could be Timoan energy too. Yeah. I'm going to tell you what ChatGBTGPT said. Okay.

Of course, Mufasa, Dave, right? Ken Coleman, Rafiki. Oh, good. It says that he's full of wisdom and guidance. That's what I was going to say. Calling and purpose.

And a little eccentric at times. Okay, George, you're Simba. What? George, it says the younger energetic leader. He's the leader. training who's finding his place and voice that's beautiful and that means that dave ramsie is my father oh listen there we go the parallel universe that's different rachel cruz is nala i'm not surprised by that that makes sense um john deloney timone oh that may yeah okay i could see that so i'm thinking

oh my gosh he's a chucklehead i'm thinking i'm gonna be scar but who did you get i'm pumba wow they did you dirty with pumba fun loving approachable and totally authentic she helps people feel safe being themselves and also being a young warthog. All right. Moving on. You lost me at the wart hog, but everything else was accurate. That's what Tulva is, right? Isn't he a warthog? Yeah. All right. Just a little

That's beautiful. Just a little fun segment there. That was fun. Yeah, we could do the, redo the live action movie and cast us and see what happens there. Listen, a lot could go wrong. Yeah, I don't want to see Deloni and Dave, you know, go at it. That's a scary premise. Well, if you're listening online, drop in the chats who you think it should have been. That's so fun. to mo I thought I would be like one of the hyenas

I thought you were gonna just laughing in the corner remember Zazu the bird I thought you could have been him so yeah anyway all right that was fun thank you for that can't wait Keith is waiting in Georgia he's going what are they doing I got a real question to ask you Keith what's going on man welcome to the Ramsey show

thank you thank you guys for having me so full disclosure I'm a pretty big ball of nerves right now I've never really Oh, dude, it's just me here. You couldn't have chosen better for a day to be nervous. I got you. Got it. So I'm hoping I can get a nudge in the right direction. So I'm in the process of trying to find a property to move into with me and my wife as a rental. The only issue I'm running into is I did have a home that was foreclosed on about three years ago. and since then I kind of got knocked down again with losing my job where actually the location I had closed so it was I didn't really have a choice in that and I kind of took it upon myself

to go to school get my CDL and I've been doing that now for about six months but my credit's not going up as high as I want it to. And I'm trying to see what the best method is going to be to just getting into a apartment or a home because, I mean, to be honest right now, me and my wife are staying in a camper. So I'm kind of getting stir crazy. What about your wife? What does her financial picture as far as her credit look like? She's not much better off. So when we first got together. She didn't really have any credit. And then she actually ended up losing her job due to a similar situation around the same time I did. And this was November of this past year. So her credit was slowly climbing. And then when that happened, we kind of got behind. Her

credit's actually a little bit lower than mine. So you guys are both working full time now? I'm working full time. My wife is working part-time currently. She did recently just get a job offer to work as a director for a daycare, and she'll be starting out in November, which is good news. Yeah, that's great. What will you be earning once with you, with your CDL and once she becomes director at that daycare? So I've been working now with my CDL since March. I'm currently earning about $60,000 per year. She will be earning roughly $35,000. Good. Okay, so really the big problem here is you're feeling like the credit score is keeping you from getting in that apartment to which I'd say you know if if I were in your shoes I'd try to avoid kind of that big box apartment system

and the corporate ones where they just run it on the computer and they go well it didn't go through sorry you can't read here I would be looking for more of like a landlord or an actual human being who can sort of look at the whole picture and I would just be up front with them when it runs it you're going to say, hey, if you run the credit, here's what you're going to find, we had a foreclosure, here's what we're at now, here's our income, we make about 100 grand a year, we have enough to cover that, you know, they might require a higher deposit, there might be some stipulations. But if you look around long enough, you're going to find a real human being who will allow you to rent. I see. And then the other thing that's kind of got me super anxious is, you know, when we're ready to purchase a home, and, you know, again, in a few years, I'm just so worried about how that closure is going to affect me and what kind of hurdles I'm going to have to go through at that point. Do you guys have debt right now? We do. So we have about 10,000 in auto loans and then there's about another 10,000 in collections currently. Okay. So you have a ways to go by the time you're cleaning that up, get the fully funded emergency funds, save up a down payment. That's going to be

a few years from now. Okay. And the credit, well, that foreclosure will likely stay on your credit report for about seven years from my research. Does that sound about right? That sounds right. It's kind of, in that way, it's like a bankruptcy. It'll follow you around for a while, but eventually it's going to let go of you,

and you'll be able to kind of have that fresh start. But your credit score should improve much faster than that. So as you pay down this debt and you get rid of it, that's going to help to improve it. And within probably two years, which is a good time. timeline for you guys to get rid of the debt, get the emergency funds, and work on that down payment, I think you're going to find that your credit score has drastically improved. And it might even disappear by then, which could actually work in your favor. And you can go through the manual underwriting process at that point, especially if you've had 12 months of rental

history, which hopefully you'll have by then. So I know it feels like, man, I mean, life has truly beat you guys down. The job losses, the foreclosure, I can just feel that you've lost your mojo. I just want you to know that three years from now, you're going to be in a completely different place. But in the moment, it feels like this is forever. Like, how are we ever going to crawl out of this? Yeah, and the last few years, it's just, it felt like every day has been a struggle the last few years. It just feels like I'm expecting another, something else, you know, more bad news to come around the corner. And that's part of why I got my CDL because it's like, well, at least I have this. You know, I have a guarantee way to work. And, you know,

even if the job shifts down, I'll work somewhere else. It's not a huge deal. So that's giving me a little bit of hope. But just given the past, your income is going to create that stability, and that stability will create a foundation for you guys to get out of this situation. So it's all going to change, man. 2026 is going to be a very different year for you guys. I'm rooting you on to get rid of the debt. I'm going to send you our all-new every dollar. It's going to help you guys find the margin, give you recommendations, coach you along the way. And I can't wait to see the progress you make, Keith. I'm rooting for you, man. I hope we can get you out of that camper into a more stable living situation real soon.

Thank you. I've been doing this show for over 30 years, and some of the saddest calls I have taken are from situations that are completely preventable. Yeah, and what's so hard is I feel like one of those, especially, the ones that I'm like, oh, it's terrible. People that call in and their spouse has passed away suddenly, and they don't have life insurance. We actually took a question of a lady, and she had three kids, pregnant, and husband didn't have life insurance. And I'm like, I can't even imagine. or even if it was opposite, right? If a mom passed away, there's a dad with kids and trying to figure out how am I going to afford child care.

How do I outsource some stuff that maybe she was doing? And it just takes the grief and the sadness of something like a sudden death to a whole new level. Like when you have to think through how am I going to pay my bills in the middle of next week. Yeah, in the middle of all that grief. Like it's just, it is. It's terrible. And so life insurance is the one thing, especially as a mom with three little kids that I'm like so big on for people to get because it's inexpensive. Xander is the place that Winston and I actually get all of our life insurance. And we keep re-upping it because I'm like, I just want it there. Like, there's something about that safety of knowing that you have money if something suddenly happens. And it doesn't cost much because Xander shops among a gazillion different companies. It doesn't cost much. You just have to admit that someday you're not going to be here. You got to say it out loud and you got to say, I'm going to say, I love you to my family by taking care of them and taking the time to put this stuff in place. It costs those stinking pizza. It really is. So that is one thing, oh, to do

to say, I love you to your family. So we've used Xander for all of our family's needs for insurance for many years, including, of course, term life insurance. To get a free quote, go to 800, 356, 4282. That's 800, 356, 4282, or go to Xander.com. Anna is up next in Spokane, Washington. Anna, welcome to the Ramsey Show. How can we help today? Hi. I'm so happy to be speaking with you guys today. Thank you. Yeah, we're happy as well. What's your question? Yeah, so I'm kind of having like a midlife crisis.

How old are? I'm 50 years old. My kids are grown. So I was a single mom for 23 years. I've got. 18 credit cards. I've got zero debt, zero retirement. I have great credit score, no mortgage, no house. I do have $25 grand in savings, and I have a good car. My problem is that I, when I was raising kids, I never made more than $34,000 a year when my kids were older and COVID happened and the job market dropped. I just kept going and getting a better, better job, and they were just taking warm. bodies at the time, right? And so I'm now in a job where it almost makes $70,000 a year. Awesome. Now that the job market has switched again, the company, I'm in a tech company as a financial analyst, they're starting to lay off people. We just laid off seven people last week because they could not do their jobs. They were not able to, you know, not smart. Basically,

not growing with the job. And I'm afraid I fit that category. I'm afraid I'm going to get link off. My job is incredibly stressful. I wake up in the middle of the night with panic attacks. Oh. And so I did a lot of research and what kind of job I could get with my type of hobbies, things that I do really enjoy to do, not sitting on a computer. Before you go to that, can I ask a question about your anxiety and about you being afraid that you're on that list before you go to the job search? Is that what you're hearing back in your reviews, that you're not, is that what you're consistently hearing, is that you're not quite hitting the mark? Well, I was, so last week, when we laid off those seven people, that's when I was kind

of told. So it was kind of like, hey, we laid off seven people last week. And I was like, oh, no, you know, why? And they said, well, they were not meeting the mark, and they're underqualified for the job. And it was kind of like a, you better, like, catch up or. do something right but what did they say they said so it i want i what i'm trying to find out is if you're just fearful or if something truly was said to you of hey anna we're making layoffs for people who are not you know up to par and you're fitting that list and so we don't want you to be one of

those people but right now you're headed down that direction have they said something clear to you like that not clear but i think that was the undertone of the assinguation understood. Okay. And that's what's giving you the anxiety. What would it take for you to become qualified, quote unquote? I don't know. I mean, I, you know, I worked in admin assistant for a really long time and I kind of, you know, I got good in Excel and I worked my way up in that. But I've kind of always kind of switched and bounced around in my career. I've never really had a career. before COVID, I actually became a certified yoga teacher. I worked in hospice before an admin, and I became a full-time yoga teacher.

I owned my own business, doing indoor plants and aquariums, and I worked as a hospice caregiver. I was happier then than that I'd ever been in my life. So you're saying this job is stuck in the life out of you? Yes, absolutely. I don't sleep. I don't have life because I am so... If you want to move on, if you want to move on

because the job's sucking the life out of you, that's very different from I feel like I might not be making requirements and I'm scared I won't be able to meet these requirements. Because then I'd say, hey, like... It's both. It's both. Yeah, even if you got the requirements, you're still like, I don't want to be doing this.

And so for those reasons alone, I'd go look for something else, but I wouldn't just up and quit today. I would keep the stability you have while looking for the next thing. Yes. And that's where, you know, I have a lot of conflicting information from advice from other people. And that's why I was calling you guys today.

Because, like I said, I did a lot of research on what type of job I could get that, you know, pays anything. And, you know, then I'm looking at, like, getting student loans. If I wanted to become, like, an OTA or a physical therapist assistant, you know, that maybe I can, you know, the top end of that is 70,000. So I'd maybe start around 50,000, which. I don't want to go down and salary. Yeah, you can't really afford to it at this point. You told us you have no retirement whatsoever? Yeah, no retirement.

So it's all up to you. Yeah, my rent keeps going up. So what I did find was a estate manager or like a live-in nanny type situation where I could actually start at around $80,000 a year and have all of my living expenses covered. amazing you could shovel money into retirement at that point and you like kids other people's kids I do I not only do I love kids but I also have a son on the spectrum and you know it's funny because I thought well maybe I'm not really qualified to do that because I don't have like an early education childhood certification or something and well you do have 23 years experience

of raising kids and also having you know a kid with special needs or sure I'd rather that than somebody with a piece of paper. Yeah. I think you're so focused on what am I qualified for. I want you to start focusing on what am I wired to do and what lights me up? Because I couldn't care less if I'm hiring you as my state manager. What's your resume? Do you have a college degree? I'm like, how are you with my kids? Can I trust you? It's all about integrity and work ethic. And would you treat my family in my house like I would. That's right. And so I think this is a great next step for you. And even if it's not the thing for the next 10 years, it sounds like you're just fired up about making that shift. And is this like offer on the table? You could go take it

tomorrow? It's not, but I did, you know, the other thing is I live in Spokane, Washington, and my mom is in the Seattle area, and she's getting older. So I'd like to be closer to her, but it's a lot, you know, the living expenses are a lot more there. But I did find, agency that, you know, it helps you as a nanny to find a job, and there are several jobs, high-paying jobs in Seattle area. That are 80 grand, live-in, expenses covered. Yeah. Great.

I'd be exploring that, getting interviews, putting your best foot forward. Yeah, they even provide, like, a car and insurance and health insurance, a phone. So I would just have, you know, clothing, basically, as my expense. and then, of course, like, seeing my kids, you know, maybe I'd fly them over four or five times of a year. It sounds like you've put a lot of thought into, you've kind of like started the dreaming phase of it, which is, yeah, I think you're really into this. The only caveat, yeah, is don't quit your current job until you have the offer and a start date. Like, you know that this other thing is happening. Otherwise, you could really jack yourself.

And have they been doing severance packages with the layoffs? They have. Okay. That'll give you even more breathing room. If it does happen, there's a silver lining there that you've got some cushion. Yeah, I do have a three-bedroom home. I need to get rid of everything. And then that's my next step is, like, trying to decide what to keep and what to put in storage.

I already found I can get a storage unit for about $2,000 a year. Why even keep the storage unit? I'd be on Facebook Marketplace this entire weekend, just listing stuff. Yeah, it's hard for me. I have some sentimental things I'm attached here. I think mostly it would just be like keeping Christmas decorations. Of course. Yes.

Yes. Keep that. Yeah. So, I mean, it wouldn't be much. But just something, too, because my goal would be if this does work out that, you know, maybe I would buy like a tiny home or something in four or five years. And that way I could, if I don't, you know, do that, then I would say, okay, the storage unit has to go. Kind of put a time limit on like, you know, okay, kids, you know, take your Christmas to

decorations or, you know, or if I had a tiny home, then I could, you know, certainly move all my things into my home. Yeah. So I like the idea. I like where you're headed. I like the idea. You've got a clear idea for what you want to do, being a live-in nanny. It provides the income above what you were earning before. And to George's point, it gives you the time to start investing 15 percent and you have the goal of one day, yeah, I want to put a down payment on a house and I want to live in a paid for house. I don't know if I'd go for a tiny house, but you get the idea. Good luck. All right.

All right. Serious question, hard question. If you died tomorrow, how would your family Keep the lights on. How would they pay the mortgage? How would they afford groceries? Here's the deal. If anyone in your life depends on your income, you need life insurance. The next question, how do you choose from all the options out there? Because the truth is, there's a lot of garbage options out there. It's simple. Life insurance has one job to replace your income if you die. Not your baby's income. They don't need life insurance. You don't need whole life insurance

or permanent life insurance. You just need term life insurance. It's the only kind that does that. that one thing only replaces your income if you die. The other is like whole life, permanent life. They try to add in investing and they end up doing a terrible job at both. And you only need life insurance while someone depends on you financially. So if you're like most people, you need a policy worth 10 to 12 times your annual income for a term length of 15 to 20 years. Because think about that. If you follow the Ramsey Baby steps 15 or 20 years from now, you are completely debt-free, house and everything you've been investing for likely over a decade. You've got a great nest egg. and it should be a level term policy, meaning the premium stays the same.

It's $50 a month for that 20-year period. So if you want more info and resources on this, you can use our free term life insurance guide. Just go to ramesysolutions.com slash term life guide or click the link in the description if you're listening on YouTube or podcast. All right, Dalia is up next in Chicago. What's going on, Dalia? Hi. So I'm just calling to see about, if you guys have any ideas, on how to find money for an adoption.

Oh, wow. All right, what led you guys to this spot? Yes, my husband and I had been married almost 10 years. We have two biological daughters. Before we had them, we had been told we might not be able to have kids, and that was something we kind of prayed about and really felt God put on our hearts to our family through adoption. So we had our two bio-kids, and then still through all of that,

that we've really felt like this is something God wants us to do. Wow. And, yeah, so it's been about five years. We're on the waiting for a match. And then just about a month ago, we got a call that we got matched with a birth mom. Wow. Yeah, she's due in the next, like, week. Oh, gosh.

So this is coming fast. I don't know. So you'll have to educate me a little here. What's it cost? What's it cost to adopt? Oh, you broke up on us, Dalia, right at the juicy part. Are you with us still? Hello.

Okay, there we go. We're here. Did you hear my question, Dahlia? Yes. So we're right about the average, which is $40,000. Okay. And this is in two weeks. So what do you have laying around money-wise?

Like, what assets do you have? Yeah, so we have our house, our home. We still owe about $320,000. on it. And then we had our savings, which we had about 30,000 or like 27,000. So we've paid already 12,000, like, deposits that have been requested as, you know, the date gets closer. Okay. So we've paid about 12 of our own savings. And then we had a big sale at church and raised about four. And then a few family members giving us some money as well. So we're about at, I think, close to like 20 that we still need. Okay. And how much do you have now? Yeah. Like in the things you can liquidate that you could

use toward this? I mean, other than the house, I don't know. So you have nothing in savings? I thought you said you had 30,000 in savings. Yes. So we have about like 16 and a half left because we also have to pay. She's in a different state than us. So we have to pay to fly. So we have to pay to fly there, stay there for three weeks at least for all the legal process. So that's like Airbnb, car rental. So that's been coming out of our savings as well. So let me let me recap this to make sure I'm tracking with you. Did you tell me it was, forget the Airbnb stay stuff, but just the adoption. You said it's 40,000. And did you tell me you've already paid 12? So you only owe 28? Yes. And then we've raised some money through church and family. Well, let's walk, walk, walk slowly.

with me. So you said 4,000 from church. So now you're at 24. Is that correct? Yes. Okay. And then we still haven't touched your, did the 12,000 come from your original 27 that you had saved? Yes. Okay. Okay. Now I'm How much are you down to across your checking and savings accounts? Should be 15. Yeah, like 16, 5, I think, around there. Okay, so we're about 10,000 off, right? Does that sound right? Yeah, what do you still owe versus what you have? So we still owe the $20,000, about $20,000. Okay, and you have $16.5. Yeah. So we're $3,500 short.

Okay. That's the math we're trying to solve right now, is we're $3,500 short, and we need this money in two weeks, you said? Or when is it actually due? Is all of it due in two weeks? Yes, so it's all due when the papers are signed. And we, because that's all we really have, obviously if we have no choice, we will, but we're trying to figure out if there was like a loan or something because we obviously have, you know, small kids and we're a young family. And we want to make sure we have emergency fund. Right. And you have a community

around you. You've got friends, family, church, and you've tapped into that a little bit. You said there's a go fund? There's a go fund me? Yeah. Okay. And okay. So I would go to all extents to not take out a loan for this. And I don't know if that's you guys reminding people of the story that you're trying to accomplish here with this adoption through the GoFundMe, you know, and trying to kind of amp that up a little bit more. Now that there's a timeline, I think people get more excited, whether it's a child or anything else on the horizon. When you go, guys, we've been placed. I'm sending an update to everyone I know. I'm writing letters to my neighbors, to my church, to my family. We are on the cusp of this. And we are so close.

to our goal, but we're just so short, I feel like my heart just goes, oh my gosh, I want to give. I want to be a part of this. Like, we're at the finish line here at the marathon. So I would do everything in my power to do all of that while doing side hustles for the next two weeks, while selling everything I can that's not tied down. Everything. Like, act like this is the $3,500 debt that must be paid in the next two weeks. Yeah, because this, I mean, really what's on the, this gets you your baby, you know, this gets you your family member. So I'm like, nothing's off the table. I mean, I'm not selling the house, but nothing's off the table. You know, I'm saying. So I would go ham on this. And then there's also, I don't know, we didn't ask you your

income, but how much margin do you have at the end of every month after you've paid your bills and everything? About 2,000. Okay, so that's, I would be saying this whole Airbnb thing and bringing, this can't, this needs to cost us $2,000, like this stay where you need to figure this out. Does somebody know somebody? Have a house that can let us stay crash there or use their Airbnb for free because of what we're trying to do here. This ain't no vacation. We're trying to get our baby home. This is when you take to social media and you make sure everybody knows this story

and what you're trying to do and you're on a tight time crunch and see if people get generous. And I'd be doing everything so that I don't have to take out debt because this is something that's supposed to be exciting and joy-filled and debt just has a way of putting a damper on stuff like that. Yeah, I can't in good faith tell you to just go take out a loan. I think it's going to make it all. the more sweet and joyful when you guys cash flow this whole thing and you write that final check and you just get to go home and focus on that baby yeah listen send me the go fund me put me on

dm it to jay she's on it okay thank you nobody else though don't get any ideas guys don't be DM and jade all your go fund me listen i remember it's dollia from chicago if you're not dahlia keep scrolling okay that's so exciting we're so happy for you dahlia this is a very exciting time and you guys have done a great job getting prepared and what a wonderful thing. You know, the world is a dark place and you get calls like Dalia

and they're wanting to adopt. Really great. They had two wonderful bio kids and they're going, you know what? We just want to take care of another little baby who might need some love and support.

So good. A beautiful thing. Yeah, a calling for sure. Yeah, 100%. And I would be tapping back into that church. I mean, I would have zero shame at this point. Zero, no shame in that game. This is not a selfish thing you're doing.

No, that's why I said, take to the interwebs. Get in there. Tell the story. People love a story. Reddit threads. I'd be tweeting, Xing, Instagramming. And the timeline, too, like, we only have 10 days left. Like, yeah. We're going to get this thing done, Dahlia. I can't wait. Thank you for sharing the story. We're rooting for you. All right, that puts this hour of the Ramsey show in the books. We'll be back. So make good decisions until then. Don't go anywhere. How many times do you end up with too much month at the end of the money? Even if you can cover the bills, there's nothing left over.

You work your butt off and you still feel bad. broke. That's normal for most people, but you do not have to live that way. You can completely transform your money and your life with every dollar. Our world-class budgeting app is better than ever. Now every dollar coaches you to find extra margin every month so you can make real progress and change your family tree. The average person finds $3,015 in just the first 15 minutes. That's extra money. could use to beat debt, to build wealth, to finally breathe again. Don't settle for living normal with money. Start every dollar for free by downloading the app today.

Welcome back to the Ramsey Show in the Fair Winds Credit Union Studio. I'm George joined by Jade Warshaw this hour. And the number to call is triple-8-825-5-2-2-25. If you want to join the conversation and pose your question for the good of the group and for the good of America. Chris has chosen to do that. He's in Washington. What's going on, Chris? Hi, guys. Thanks for taking my call. I really appreciate it. Sure. How can we help? So my wife and I were new parents, well, relatively new. Our son's nine months old. I'm super excited about that. We made the decision to have her stay at home because daycare was too expensive. And we're just trying to figure out if you guys have any tips and tricks to managing our money going forward and making sure that we're setting

ourselves up for success in retirement and setting him up for college and all that good stuff. Yeah. So what was she making before she decided to stay home? She was making about 75,000 a year. Okay. And what do you make? I currently make 110 roughly annually, and then I have a side business that I run that brings them anywhere from 20 to 45 a year. Okay, so we'll just say that you're at 130. Do you feel good about that? Yeah. Okay. And so have you guys done a new every dollar budget with this 130? Because how much does

that allow you to take home every month? you know that's that's been really really new for us and so you know if I had to put a member on it I mean we have our mortgage we have no other consumer debt we've done a really really good job that all of our vehicles paid off and everything like that and so you know our mortgage is roughly $2,400 a month and then living expenses you know I had another you know 300 350 yeah I don't think your mortgage is going to be the problem I think It's feeling tight. I'm wondering, it sounds like you have like a little bit of regret, like,

ugh, should we have done this? Things feel tight. So where is that coming from? Yeah, I just, I'm so analytical when it comes to, like, looking at our budget and we've, you know, both worked really, really hard coming out of, you know, roughly $95,000 in student loan debt, you know, over the past three years. And, you know, we've just worked really, really hard. and I don't ever want to put our family in a place where we're in need for money. You know what I mean?

And we've been a really, really good job of that. We have a bunch of money put aside already, you know. Right. So you're following the baby steps to a T? Yeah, pretty, I mean, I would say so, yeah. You said that, but you didn't answer the question when I said how much you're bringing home every month. Oh, yeah. I mean, we bring home probably, let's see, 40, you know, 60, 800 a month, roughly.

So I'm going to challenge, I'm going to challenge you for your own good because you described yourself in one way, and don't get me wrong, it probably was the way that you were before you had an eight-month-old. You said, I'm very analytical and I'm really on this, but the truth is right now you're actually not on your numbers. You're kind of guessing at them. And I have a theory that the reason that you're feeling that tightness or that feeling of like you don't like the way your money is feeling, I think it's more because you don't know exactly what's going on and you don't have a clear path and plan for it.

That's why I asked about your every dollar budget. Because if you look at that tonight with your wife, once the baby's down, once you guys have had something to eat and you say, okay, we're going to look at every dollar tonight. We're going to plug in our numbers. We're going to log on HR and find out exactly what the check is. And now we're going to plug in the mortgage, everything we think we're spending money on. What does life look like now with an eight-month-old? How much are we spending on diapers now versus when the baby was first born?

All of those things are going to give you a much clearer picture on what it looks like today with the new lifestyle that you're in today. And I think that's actually going to help you because 130,000 where you live, I think you should be okay. Now, don't get me wrong, to lose $75,000 a year is a lot of money. But that actually led me to my other point of it's just one baby, right? Right. And you're telling me that it costs $75,000 a year to daycare one baby. That's not true.

No, no, it wasn't much of that. It was, you know, more so, you know, I want, A, right it was expensive to do daycare and B, for the for the amount of money it was going to cost us, you know, she wanted to stay home and wanted to raise our son which is fine that's fine but the way you framed it was it wasn't worth it for her to go to work you made it seem like it was more of a cost thing so it's just

personal values yeah yeah I guess yeah you're right and that's fine I think all of that though what I'm trying to get you to is clarity and I think if you can clearly say we're doing this because we value mom being at home with baby

that is a whole different conversation then it's too expensive we can't afford daycare right so now you're talking about real things which is no this is a value of ours which knowing that is also going to reflect how you feel now about the budget being shorter because you've said no in our hearts we want this so now we're able to tackle a smaller budget or working with a smaller income do you see what I'm saying I'm just trying to get real I mean George you know how it feels to have an eight month old at the house oh yeah I got a newborn a two year old his life is chaotic and that's where you and your wife sitting down looking at the budget every month and just going, okay, I want to bring seven grand

in this month and our mortgage 2400, we're going to have a thousand left over. What are we going to do with this? And for you guys, you already have the emergency fund? Yes, we do. Are you investing 15% out of every paycheck? We are. Okay. And then beyond that, how much margin would you say you have at the end of every month or is it disappearing into random spending? I would say more disappearing into random spending. I think that's what's making you feel out of control because, because you're analytical, you're going, the math ain't mathing. There should be two grand laying around, and it's gone. And it's amazing. If you, like, take all the receipts of all the money you spent, it'll make a little bitty book of the reasons why we feel that way. And so that's

where budgeting with the new every dollar, with your bank connected, the transactions are flowing in, total transparency and accountability with you and your wife. And then you might decide, oh, you know what? Yeah, we need to be spending more because she's like, dude, I'm spending it on things the family needs, we just need to up the budget line item to account for that instead of going red flag, red flag, you're over budget. So I think there's probably just some discongruity with what you're actually spending versus what you think you're spending. Yeah. Your life has changed a lot. And I mean, there's the kid and then there's, yeah, wife is at home. Money-wise things have changed. And it's just like George said, reflecting your line items to updating your line items

to reflect that change. Yep. No, I appreciate that a lot. And that's something that we've actually embarked on recently is kind of combining our finances, just listening to you guys and kind of buying into that, buying into that idea of, you know, becoming a unit, you know, and we're, you know, working through those things. And so I really appreciate the feedback.

I love it. I think you're doing a great job. And I think that you're a... You're doing better than you think. Uh-huh. And you're a reflection of the fact that this whole thing is a process. Like, no one just in one day or in one listen or in one movement gets it all. It is like building blocks, stacking on each other.

And like you said, first we did the combined finance thing, then we did the payoff thing. All of that is stacking up, and I just think you're doing fabulous. Are you using a spreadsheet right now or are you using a budgeting app? Yeah, we're using a spreadsheet because that's, that's my MO. How many times has she said, hey, can I look at that budget spreadsheet? That sounds fun. Zero. Thank you.

Final answer, Your Honor. I'm case closed on that one. We're going to send you the brand new, all new every dollar for you to have something that not only would a wife like to look at, but now she doesn't have to say, can I see that spreadsheet? You can just say she'll open the app and she'll open her own app and be able to see it. Here we go. That'll help get her on board on top of combining finances. Proud of you guys. You're making progress, man.

That's all you can hope for. Hey guys, I'm so excited to tell you that our new 2026 Ramsey goal planner is available right now. This isn't just your average planner. It's your personal guide to setting clear goals and building habits that stick. So get ready for all new monthly content from your favorite Ramsey personalities, tactical goal setting trackers, and upgrades that may be. make this our most durable planner yet. Last year we sold out, so don't miss out.

Order your 2026 Ramsey goal planner for 4997 today at Ramsey Solutions.com slash store. Big news, guys. The Fed just cut rates for the first. first time all year. In 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages have dropped to the lowest we've seen in 11 months. I'll take that. That's a win. If you're financially ready, now could be a great time to buy or sell. These lower rates could save you thousands over the life of your loan, but if you sit on the sidelines waiting for the perfect moment, you could miss this window and pay more in home price for the exact same house. Buying an affordable home you love is possible

when you work with a Ramsey trusted real estate agent. These pros are handpicked to guide you through the market and keep your financial goals top of mind. They're local to your area. They know it like the back of their hand. So if you want to find a trusted local pro for free, go to ramsysolutions.com slash agents or click the link in the show notes if you're listening on podcast or YouTube. When you were saying that M&M's Lose Yourself was playing when you were like, you've just got this one chance.

One chance. I heard the music in my head. That's the most jade thing I can think of. There's worse songs you get stuck in your head. Oh, boy. I'm sorry. Mom Spaghetti. What can you do?

I know. All right. Let's go to Indiana and joins us there. And welcome to The Ramsey Show. Hi. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. My quick question is I'm in my early 60s, recently divorced.

I am debt-free, but I'm used to supplementing my income versus living off on my own income. So my income is about $40,000 a year. And so I'm renting right now. I found this apartment that I can afford. And just trying to decide for my future, should I consider purchasing or just continue to rent. You know, I know the difference, you know, if something breaks here, they help pay for it versus being a homeowner and all those expenses. So there's no debt. Do you have any assets? Do you have any money anywhere? Retirement?

Yeah. So I have like 150K in retirement. Okay. I've got my emergency fund of 10K. Okay. And then I have another 45K liquid that I have access to. I've got a paid for a car, which is dependable. It's going to last me for years. Good. Um, I do have grandma inheritance. Um, I lost her this past year. But I have about 380,000 there.

Great. Okay. Okay. So I just don't know, you know, you know. Yeah. I think. I'm probably going to work another five or seven years. Okay. Great. What are you paying in rent? Um, right now my monthly expenses are about 1,800 when I was. when I consider rent, all the utilities, internet. Good. I like the idea, Anne, a reasonable house for someone, you know, of your needs, what does that cost you? Because you seem like a reasonable lady who would give me a good answer or accurate answer. If I just got a simple, like a starter home or even a condo.

Or maybe even a townhouse, yeah. In our area, I'm probably looking at hopefully just under $200,000. Okay. I love that as a goal for you. And I think that it's 100% within your reach, considering you've already got a decent amount saved. You've got 45 liquid that's not really earmarked for anything. And you can continue to add to that over time to put down the down payment. Or maybe that is enough of a down payment to get you where you're.

want to be, you can log on to our home calculator, and we'll put the link to that in the show notes for you. But see what it would take to put the write-down payment on. Of course, we don't want it to be any more than 25% in your take-home. And then from there, if you do, say, my budget's $200,000, and then I'm going to work for however many extra years to pay this off, I think you could do that. And if you got to the point where it's seven or eight years later and it's still not quite paid off, you could reach into that inherited money and that that retirement fund that's been growing all this time and is likely doubled, and you could just reach in and take the rest of it out and pay off the remainder after seven years.

Do you like that plan? I've toyed with that idea. I just worry about, you know, it goes out if it needs a roof, you know. I don't know that I'm financially going to be in a place to feel comfortable taking care of all those. Well, George can walk you through the numbers on that because you've got a good start here. Yeah, you can cash flow any repairs and expenses. You'll have homeowners insurance to cover the big stuff. And so you're really worried about those little things and kind of just maintenance and repairs, which isn't going to be, you know, 25 grand a year.

So I would buy a smart house that's not in disrepair. You don't need to go buy a fixer upper. Oh, yeah. I would buy something that's maybe it's a little bit newer and you know it's going to have less repairs and less ongoing maintenance, you know, it's not like a 1950s bungalow that you got to keep up with. But I like the idea. Here's an option. If you paid cash for a $200,000 home today, you would still have like $220,000 left over that you could invest, correct? Yes. So if you invested that on top of your 150, if you were able and willing to work until

like 70, you'd have 750 grand as a little nest egg for you, on top of having no. mortgage that whole time. So you could even, that's without you adding a dime to your investments outside of grandmas inheritance plus your 150 that you have. So I'm just trying to show you kind of the full picture of what your tradeoffs are here because the other thing is homes are going to be more expensive if you wait five years. So that $200,000 home is probably now worth $275. That's right.

And so it's a moving target. And I'd like to stabilize your biggest fixed expense, which is housing. And you can do that by buying a house. you're always going to have homeowners insurance property taxes those will always be ticking up slowly over time but you'll have the cushion to to stomach that and i also want to go how can we get you making more money than 40,000 at your age with your experience what are you doing for work um well i retired from my full-time career but i'm i'm doing more of a medical assistant work it was just something um took time off to to tend to my grandmother while she was ill

and so I was, you know, not working for several years. So getting back in the game in the medical field, which is just something my chose to change from, I used to be crisis social work. Yeah, you seem like just a person who has, like your heart is just to help people take care of people. That's who you are. And you can make good money doing that. So I just want to tell you, you don't need to just settle and go, well, this is all I can get at my age. That's right. I would go, what are the caretaking type jobs that I could get that I'm able to do?

And what will, have you run it out? What will you're, I'm guessing you're waiting to take, obviously take your Social Security? What will it be when you take it? When I take it, then it's going to be about, gosh, what was it? A little over $3,000 a month. Okay. So you'll have that coming into. On top of whatever nest egg you've built.

So I feel good that you're going to be able to sustain, you live a very frugal life, it seems. So if you can keep your expenses low like you have been, I think getting a house in the near future, I mean, you have the money to do it and pay cash. That's what I would do personally and then invest anything left over. Okay. Are you working with a financial advisor right now to help you plan all of this out? Yeah, yeah, I am. Okay, good. I'm just trying to decide on a, should I just, I'm going to continue.

to rent for a year. Okay. So that I, you know, just because after a life-changing thing, well, after a big life change, I don't want to make a decision. I understand. That's wise. Yeah, that's very wise. So it's a year lease, so I'm going to stay here at least a year, rent, and then I'm

happy. I'm happy where I am. Good. And I can make it work financially. I am taking care of myself. Yeah, you are. I was scared I couldn't do. that. I would just caution you not to get too comfortable in that rental phase because George is so right,

you want to stabilize that line item. As you age, you don't, you know, it's hard to control prices of rent and all that. So that's a fluctuating thing and we want to get you stability. So while I think it's great for you to stay there for the year, run out your lease, like you said, get a handle on what this new life looks like, but don't get so comfortable that you forget about the dream and the stability of owning your own home. That's good wisdom. How old was your grandma when she passed? um 92 well and those genetics play out you got another 30 years at least on this earth if you just do what grandma did and so again 30 years from now who knows what rent will be i want to get you in something that you can call your own that stabilizes and gets rid of that payment every month we're rooting for you Hey, what's up? Dr. John Deloney here. The new dates have dropped for the money and marriage getaway over a Valentine's Day weekend in 2026.

This is your chance to hit pause on everything in your life and reconnect with your spouse over a long weekend in Nashville, Tennessee. Me and my friend Rachel Cruz will be digging into topics like sex, money, communication, and more. This weekend is happening on February 12th through the 14th and early bird prices start at 700. $149 per couple, but the prices will be going up soon. Get your tickets today at ramsysolutions.com slash events. Hey, are you staying on track with the baby steps? We've got a way for you to check. You can take a quick quiz to check.

check your progress and receive a personalized plan built just for you. Simply head to the show notes on this episode. Click on the link titled Are You On Track with the Baby Steps and complete the quiz. Nick is up next in Austin, Texas. Nick, what's going on? Hey, George and Jade. Thank you for taking my call. Absolutely.

So at the start of this year, I had a wake-up call. when I tried to take out another personal loan to pay for my shortages on my property taxes. I also took a little bit extra for a trip, but I realized I had no money to live on because I have promised it all away with no interest or personal loans. That's where I found you, George, specifically. And with a little bit of time, I started following the Ramsey plan. I started working 60 hours a week and did that from mid-February, artist. I have attacked

to get like a gazelle, like Ramsey teaches. And I can see myself debt three from my home and everything in five years. But my question is, I'm tired. I'm exhausted now. How do I keep going and moving past this point right now where I feel like it's never going to end?

Well, man, I'm proud of you've already made some serious progress and big changes in your life, and I'm glad you had that wake-up call this year. What's your debt remaining? So I started the year with $82,000, roughly, $82,500 in non-home debt. Today I'm at about $50,000. 500. Wow. Way to go. You knocked out 30 grand so far, and you're like, dude, I'm not even halfway there. How am I going to finish this race? Exactly. What's your income? What have you been earning during this time?

So my take-home pay, or my, not take-home, but my, I guess, gross is I make $75,000 a year. Okay. And, go ahead. So if I break that down, that's about, I didn't want to cut you off, but that's about $2,200 every two weeks, so $4,400 a month. Okay. And are you doing side hustles? No, but I was doing overtime. Okay, good. And so my take-home pay was like $7,500 a month.

Wow. Great. And you're saying you can't keep up with that pace. What pace would you say, hey, I can keep up with this for another year and a half? half if I do 50 hours instead of 60. That's what everyone keeps telling me. I'm in the mindset of like it's all or nothing. And so I think that's where I'm getting like defeated at.

I get that. I'm an all or nothing type of person myself. But the truth is if you get to that wall, you're going to have to, here's the options. All or nothing is I get to the wall, which sounds like you're at now, and I just stop. And then if I stop, that means I didn't accomplish my goal. That means I didn't do what I set out to do. And then I feel terrible about that, right? So it's important that you figure out how to be a person who can meet in the middle and say, here's what I can do.

Here's the most I can do in this season. And then here's the most I can do in this season. And here's what makes sense for this season. So you've had what I'm going to call, you know, however many months, six, eight months of all-out sprinting. And now you're like, you know what? I just need to jog a little bit for a while. let me jog and then maybe that looks like to George's point yeah going down to 50 hours and then you might get your wind back and then you're ready to sprint again do you see how that works

yeah and I think that's what's going to happen because you're still going to realize and get the feeling of oh my gosh this debt is going down I'm making extra payments you're still going to get that high you're still going to get that dopamine hit but you're also going to you know keep your sanity intact at the same time and I'm telling you that number is going to get to a point that 50 at some point going to get to 20 or 30, and you're going to want to sprint again. You'll see some light at the end of the tunnel. And the other thing I would encourage you to do, Nick, spread out the sacrifice. So maybe it's not all over time.

Maybe I'm willing to cut my expenses in this area, and that creates the same amount of margin so I can keep up the progress I was throwing at the debt. So have you looked at all of your expenses and done a pretty brutal, judicious audit of like, hey, I don't need this, I can live without this, on top of I can make more by doing this. so i i have a i i george i purchased your book um like a month ago and then i purchased the audio book because i like listening to the book uh that you that you wrote but anyways um i i started um i think just a couple days ago i want uh you you give a free trial for the

Every dollar There you go Yeah And so I logged in And I've been trying to incorporate it But I do an Excel sheet Dude have you used the all new

Every dollar Like with the coaching recommendations We just launched that I think that's going to be your ticket To give you a little fuel Because there's so much And you can read I have a chapter in the book

Called Margin's Breathing Room Where I lay out a whole bunch of ideas Well, now the all new every dollar does that for you, and it's personalized based on what you have told us in your situation, your life, and what you're willing and able to do. So I think that's going to really help you on this journey, but I want to encourage you, this is a normal feeling. You're going to hit that wall where you're like, dude, I can't keep going, and then you're going to go look at the numbers, find some new ideas, do some new recommendations, and it's going to give you a second win, like Jade said. and also your book The margins of error is Our breathing room is chapter 12

Yeah, I'm still on chapter 8 Oh, I'm reading my guy I don't want to give it away I don't want to give it away Everyone dies in the end No, I'm just kidding That would be wild If that's how I ended the book

Nobody dies only people find financial freedom That's it Hey thanks so much for the call man I love to hear the progress And how our stuff is helping you get to the path on debt freedom he's talking about real things though it's it's the truth is it is it's difficult to sustain a certain intensity over lengths of time and the longer the length of time for you listening the harder it can be some people i mean we see on average yeah it's usually about a two-year span you can knock it out

but some people are on a longer uh you know course on this three years four years for sam and i was seven and a half years and whatever whenever that moment hits the option is never to stop you can uh change the intensity at which you're going. And to George's point, you can start to find tradeoffs in other places in the budget. Another thing I like to do, George, is especially if you're a person who's side hustling and you're like, if I deliver one more pizza or one more Instacart, I'm going to scream. Okay, quit that side hustle and get a new one. You know what I mean? Because there's always the side hustle that you dread and that you hate. And even if it might be making a lot of money, just put it on break for a while and do something else. So it really get creative to keep

things fresh in your mind. And another thing, yeah, if you need to scale it back and jog for a little while, that is okay. You're still making progress. The point is making progress is not excuses. It's one thing if you make an excuse and you stop. It's another thing if you're like, hey, this is really happening and I just need to slow down a little bit. Totally fine. I will never fault anybody or yell at anybody for that. I love that. And you got to think about this. What's more exhausting? Living how you've been living for the next 10 years. or just sticking it out for a year or two of grind where you're like, oh, my goodness.

Because at least you're making progress. The other one is just mediocrity and giving up. Yeah. So you don't look at the baby steps as a pass fail where it's like, if I don't go all in, then I'm not doing it at all. I'm going to hit a wall. If you get a B plus and you become debt free,

but it took you six months longer than you wanted it to, dude, you still won the, like you did it. That's right. That's right. Meanwhile, some people are on the treadmill and they're just walking at a breezy 3.3. And I'm like, you need to click up the treadmill and see. Let yourself sprint. They've got a bunch of savings.

They could pay off the debt. I'm going to keep my match with the employer. I'm not going to cut my investing. Not even breaking a sweat. Some of y'all need to break a sweat. Jade's out here judging you. I just want you to know. Look at the eyebrow.

If you're Ramsey-ish, get out of here. Get out of here. That was a pretty awful accent. I got us. I expected more. Get out of here. The more you do it, the word. it's getting and I like it. What if I go up octaves? Get out of here! Actually got better.

You got older and more curmudgeonly, which made it hit in a different way. I appreciate that. Only you could have brought that out, George. Thanks for playing. This is The Ramsey Show. Our scripture of the day, Proverbs 11, 24, and 25. One person gives freely, yet gains even more. Another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will progress. prosper. Whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. Paul Stanley of Kiss said, Charity is not an option. It's an obligation. Left field quote from Paul Stanley, but we'll take it.

Not what I would expect. The sentiment rings true. All right. Ann is in South Carolina up next. Ann, welcome to the show. Thank you. Thank you for taking my phone call. I'm 71 years old, retired. My husband passed away last year. I still owe on the home of 114,000. I do have money in an IRA account. People are telling me, no, don't pay the house off, but I am taking money from that account every month to make the payment. So I'm afraid I will run out of money over time, so I don't know what to do. Should I pay the house off? interest rate is 1.99% or just keep taking away from my IRA account. How much is in the IRA?

Total with money market, IRA, some golden and silver, $327,000. Okay. How are you living right now? You're needing to make the payment with the IRA money. Do you have other income? I do. I have Social Security. How much is that?

It's 3,300. And what's that mortgage payment every month? Around 1,400. Okay, so let's... With taxes and everything. Okay, so if you paid off the mortgage, you would free up the principal and interest. So it's not going to be all 1,400. Would it be closer to 1,000?

Yes. Okay, because you still got to pay insurance and taxes and all that good stuff. Correct. So you free up $1,000, which means you don't need to tap into the IRA, but you've depleted the IRA down to, let's do the numbers for you here, down to $213,000, if you paid it off today. Right. So the question is, could you still live a full life and have a great retirement with your Social

Security plus $213,000 in the IRA that you now don't need to touch? Well, that's the question. Yeah. So that, well, if you don't need to touch it, then the money's just going to sit there and grow. I would caution you to not keep it in money markets in gold and silver. I would have it in the market working for you to at least beat inflation. Okay. And so you can work with it. Do you have a financial advisor that you trust right now? I do. Okay. And he was telling me to move everything, or at least what I have in the money market over to where he is and let him put it into.

and actually invest it for you? Right, yeah. Okay. You said you're 71, and so if we ran the numbers out, by the age of 80, if you just let that 213 sit there, you'd have over half a million dollars in that nest egg if you didn't touch it. Oh, that was a good. So you're saying you're just going to live off Social Security, but you have no mortgage payment, and you're okay with that. You're still going to do all the things you want to do? Well, probably not.

But I'm to the point that I've done pretty much everything I want to do. But my thing is... You're not skydiving or anything fun. Yeah, do you have an emergency fund? I have some. Very little, though. I'm about 6,000, 7. Okay, I would pull some from that money market and keep it in a high-yield savings and keep it liquid and maybe have $20,000 as your emergency fund to just protect you from all the things that could happen in your life, the home maintenance and repairs and all that stuff.

Right. What's your health like? it's pretty good I do a little part-time job but it's not you know okay that's what I was getting to I was getting to maybe having a little

part-time job would also help supplement the 30 what is it 3,300 that you're getting from social and that way yes you know that's just giving you a little bit more pad like George says you have that emergency fund I really like that plan for you because even if you took let's say you took a thousand dollars a month from that IRA you're likely never going to run out of money

if you do that. It's going to grow faster than you're depleting it. Okay. And so I just think the piece that comes with having a paid-for mortgage at your age is worth it, regardless of the spread you could have made because your friends are like, well, you have a low mortgage. You could just leave the money invested. You're way better off. Don't ever pay off that mortgage. Well, they don't pay your bills. And so I'm not going to give them the 100% voting stock in your life. I would do what you feel is best for you, not just financially, but for you emotionally and spiritually. And for me, that's not owing anyone any money and having more freedom. And you're likely going to be okay. You're not destitute. You don't have debt payments. You have a very low,

you know, cost of living right now. And I would say you're going to be, I mean, you can crunch the numbers with a financial advisor. This is just a guy doing napkin math on a podcast. But it looks like you're going to have a full and wonderful life paying off that mortgage and leaving the money invested. Now, the key is invested. If you leave it in savings, it could get depleted while you're still on this earth. Okay. But if you take that 213 and invest it in the stock market, what we have seen over the last, you know, 50 years

is about a 10% 11% return. And so your money would double about every seven years if you do that. Hence my numbers of having half a million dollars if you just left it alone. Okay. Well, that's, to me, I feel like you're, you know, it would give me relief that this is paid for. I don't have to worry about it. I love it. And Ann, I tell you this, like, you were my mom. This is the same advice I would give to my own mother if she called in. And so I'm wishing you the best. You've done a really good job. I'm so sorry for the loss of your husband. How long were you guys married? Thank you. 30 years. Yeah. It was not expected. So it was. What was his name?

I'm sorry. What was his name? Michael. Michael. Sweet. Well, and I'm rooting for you in retirement, even if it's not the picture you had. You've done a good job preparing for the future. And I hope that you have a wonderful, long life ahead of you and a great retirement. Let's move on to Alex and Raleigh, North Carolina. What's going on, Alex? Hey, George and Jade. I appreciate you guys talking to me. How are you? Sure. We're doing great. calling today because my wife and I, we're a longtime Ramsey listeners. We're on baby steps, six and seven. The only debt that we have is our mortgage. Awesome. And calling today because, you know, we have paid four vehicles with cash flow house improvements. And my wife has decided that she wants to upgrade her Tahoe. And the discussion is, you know,

we can, she's talked about getting a loan, and I have a bonus coming up here shortly that would cover the amount of the loan. But my question is, I'm trying to determine kind of what is, how do you determine what the proper amount to spend on upgrading a vehicle is, given our, you know, where we are in the baby steps. And then also, you know, I'm still pretty confident you guys are against getting a loan, period. Yeah, you got that. I'm more concerned with the fact, I'm less concerned about you spending cash on a Tahoe. I think that you will be reasonable on that.

I'm more concerned with her even suggesting a loan. What's happened there? Why did she get so desperate? That's the same question I asked. You know, like I said, it's a nice vehicle. It runs fine. What's it going to cost to upgrade? It's going to be anywhere between 15 and 19,000.

dollars is what she's suggesting for the loan um the trade and value on it or the sale value it's about 20 grand and like i said we've we finished up our you know our fiscal year with the company i'm with here recently and i you know have a bonus come and feel confident that it will cover the amount of that loan i'm of the opinion now let's just wait till that money you're not getting a loan i'm telling you it right now y'all are not getting alone Alex that's just a value in our house that we don't borrow money so it's an easier conversation. What's your household income?

We're a little over two. Okay. Yeah, there's no, I 100% think that it's well within the balance to spend 15 or 19 upgrading to a vehicle if you spend cash for it. My parameters on this are kind of, you know, it's all about the financially smart adult checklist, and it's five things to go through. You want to make sure you're a person who's budgeting, you're a person who's paying off your debt, you're a person who's saving, right? You've got your emergency fund. You're doing your 15%. You're a person who values generosity

and you're a person who carries the proper insurances. If that's true, which it is, you're on baby step six. You can do this, but you cannot consider debt for this. Get the car, but do it the right way, my friend. That puts this hour of the Ramsey show in the books. Until next time, remember, there's ultimately only one way to financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus.

Thank you. Thank you.