Live Like No One Else So You Can Live Like No One Else!
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Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, this is The Ramsey Show. It's where we help you win in your life, specifically in your money, in your work, and in your relationships. I'm Ken Coleman. Jade Warshaw, my friend and colleague, joins me this hour. We're here to answer your questions. She'll be taking your money questions. I'll chime in. I'll be taking any questions about...

personal growth in your work and do you want to get ahead and how to get ahead and managing this money journey alongside of that. And Jade will wade in on that as well. The phone number for you to jump in is 888-825-5225. 888-825-5225. I'll also say this, I'll say a little bit more as we get closer to it, but a special treat today.

And the clue is the word treat. That's all I can say right now. Well, I can say more. I just don't want to. Don't give it away, Ken. I'm not going to. Give it away. Give it away. Give it away now. I was thinking that. Were you thinking that? I was like, Anthony Kiedis told us to give it away, but don't give it away. Love that. Let's get to the phones. Levi is up first in Tampa, Florida. Levi, how can we help? Levi. Uh-oh.

I hit the button, I promise. I hit line one, so we're not getting Levi. This happens from time to time. That's all right. We can keep it rolling. I think James is going to help us out. Yeah, we hear you, Levi. Levi, what's going on?

Okay. Hi, everyone. So my name is Levi. I am in $200,000 of student loan debt. Whoa. Yikes. I am an attorney. I make $115K a year. Take-home income is about $6,200. I also DJ and create content on the side. My overall take-home income per month is about $6,800. Okay. Here's my question. Here's my question.

um i want to refinance my student loans to get a lower interest payment right now my interest is nine percent if i refinance right now my interest payment or my interest rate will be and somewhere between seven and seven point five percent that's great should i refinance like right now or should i wait for interest rates to lower how long have you been out of school

So I graduated from law school in 2020, which was during COVID. I didn't and my student loan, I never had to pay any student loan, any student loans. And now they've just kicked back in and I've made a couple of payments. Listen, and they're all private. They're all federal. Oh, so you're consolidating them at 7.5 percent. You're not necessarily refinancing them.

See, answers like that, that's exactly why I called it in the ranty show. I don't really know. No, it's okay. With federal loans, you can consolidate them down and they'll group them all together and they'll put them at one interest rate, which is not always, for some people, it's not always the best move, but it sounds like in your case, it is the best move. The thing that you need to realize with that is you get one shot to do it. And so I think that's why you're kind of worried of should I do it now or should I wait? That's accurate. Okay.

With your, well, let me ask you a couple more questions before we get to that. Do you have any other debt? Well, I've been listening to the Ramsey show for about three months and over the last three months, I paid off all my credit card debt. Sweet. Awesome. Anything else? Cars?

Um, my car is 100% paid off as of about six months ago. Um, I, right now I pay and you're probably not going to like this. I pay 1250 in rent, but I'm ready for an upgrade. Sorry. And, and not me.

Well, I mean, you know, right now the debt snowball is 200K. And if I raise my rent, it's going to be, you know, $2,000-ish. But I'm sorry, I don't have an in-unit washer dryer. Like, I'm ready for an upgrade here. Okay, that's your choice if you choose to do that. I mean, if you go to $2,000, you're still not, I mean, you're going over 25% if you do that of your take-home pay.

Right. Okay. So is that like, is 25% like the metric that I should? When we talk about buying a house, it definitely is. And in your case with baby step two, I would highly, I would still consider that kind of a framework. I like where you're at now. And I want you to move up in hotel and hotel. My goodness. I want you to move up in apartment. Is there any, any way that you can save it until after you pay off this debt? Because here's the thing that extra 800 or $750, that's,

We're talking about months of freedom there. And you've got to really weigh the opportunity cost of whether you take that extra $750 and get your end unit because it feels like that's kind of a celebratory thing for you or kind of like a status thing. Like, listen, I deserve this. I've been working hard. I've been in law school.

give me the apartment I want. And I understand that. But man, oh man, having that extra $750 over the course of time knocking out these student loans, that is a big, big deal. And I do want you to weigh that heavily. Have you done the math out on that? You're absolutely right. I have done the math out on that and it's not pretty. What about a roommate?

I'm not willing. Yeah. If he's ready to do that, he doesn't want to live with anybody. You got to make a decision. And I just think this is a bad idea. I think it's a bad idea for you to increase your expenses right now when it's really not that big of a lifestyle issue. I get why you feel the way you feel. But now we're always going to give you the advice that says sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice, because we want you to get free sooner, as Jade said. So we're not going to be in favor of that. How many...

How many, how much of, so you're bringing home 6,800. How much of that is going towards your debt at this point?

So right now I put about $2,000 per month to student loans. Okay. And that's well above. And I picked like an income-driven repayment plan. This is before I became obsessed with the Dave Ramsey show on YouTube. And now it's like my payments are $600-something, which is laughable. So I've been overpaying my payments. What kind of law do you practice?

Workers' comp. What's the ladder look like over the next one to three years, financially? When you say ladder, like how much more can I make over the next one to three years? Yeah, with a lot of grit. I want to know how you can increase this income because that's what needs to happen. We need to be busting it. Well, staying where I currently am, which I'm planning on doing, I could probably go up to probably $130,000, $140,000 over the next three years. Okay, no freelance opportunities? No.

Um, not really. The firm that I'm at, I would need to disclose and get approval for a lot. You understand why I'm asking that, right? I mean, $200,000, very doable with your ability, but you're going to have to increase your income. This is going to be a long journey. Yes and no. Yes, you do need to increase your income, but I kind of think $2,000, are you single?

Yes. I'm saying, yeah. I think 2,000, if you're making 6,800 a month, you have no other payments besides this. I think 2,000 a month is a little wimpy. Okay. What would not be wimpy? I think that there's areas in your budget that you can cut more. And I sense that because I'm looking at the numbers. And I also sense that because you're creeping up on wanting another apartment already. And so I just sense that there's things in your life that you're like, listen, I've earned this.

I want to spend my money on this. And that's true. But again, you're weighing that opportunity cost. I think you can squeak another $500 or $1,000 out of this budget. I think you need to do what Ken did and you need to get your income up. I don't want this taking you eight years to pay off. That's far too long. I want this done in four years and you can do that.

Yeah, good stuff. Thanks for the call. Glad you joined our community. Stay with us. You will get through this. All right, we're just getting started, folks. Merry Christmas to one and all. Don't move. More of your calls coming up. This is The Ramsey Show.

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, are people that call in and their spouse has passed away suddenly, and they don't have life insurance. When you have to think through how am I going to pay my bills...

I'm going to eat next week. Yeah, in the middle of all that grief. Like it's just, it is, it's terrible. 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. Zander is the place that Winston and I actually get all of our life insurance. And it doesn't cost much because Zander 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. The cost of stinking pizza. To get a free quote, call 800-356-4282. That's 800-356-4282, or go to zander.com.

Welcome back to the Ramsey Show. Thrilled to have you with us. I'm Ken Coleman. Jade Warshaw joins me. We are here for you, America. 888-825-5225 is the phone number. 888-825-5225. Take me to your questions about money. I'm in the chair today, so let's take any questions about personal and professional growth, decisions about maybe starting a business. When do I go from side hustle to full-time? Hey, I'm stuck. I need a promotion. I'm not getting any kind of work-related information.

questions because those are always money related and we'd love to take some of those as well. So jump in, 888-825-5225. And if you want to stay with us, it's kind of like, well, we're getting, this is like the, like what, second to the last Friday of the year. Am I right? Did I get that right? And you're kind of just like, I think I'll hang out today. You don't want to miss next hour. Jade has got another special treat I get to

sample it. There's another clue. You're really hyping this up, Ken. Well, you know, I even broke out the cardigan today, the new cardigan sweater. You look like a schtickle of bourbon. A schtickle? That feels right. I don't know what that is, but that doesn't offend me at all. It feels right. Let's get to Steven in Houston, Texas. Steven, how can we help? Oh, hi guys. Thanks for taking the call. You bet. What's going on?

So I'm looking for some advice. We just, me and my wife just recently got on the Ramsey plan. We're on baby step two. I'm a full-time high school teacher. And I've taken a part-time EMS job when I'm out on vacation and on the weekends and stuff. And I do some food delivery to try to just pack as much money as we can to this debt. Wow. But I'm afraid that...

My wife's getting overwhelmed by it. Because you're not home. What's going on, man? You're pretty emotional right now. What are you feeling? I just, you know, it's like a baby Christian, you know. I don't want to be so intense that she's like, oh, you know, you won't let us do anything and this and that.

What's going on? I don't know how to have that conversation. Well, take us to what's going on with you guys relationally. What are you feeling from her? What are you hearing from her that you would call us about this?

Well, like, for instance, she works full time at home. We have two kids. And so when I'm like, all right, I'm going to go. I have a goal to make $50 a day with food delivery. Okay. Five days a week. So that's an extra thousand dollars a month. And then on Saturdays, I go work this EMS job, which are 24 hour shifts.

Oh, man. And that's extra $360 each day I do that. And then, but she's still like, well, you think you can stay home tonight so that, you know, we can clean the house and get ready for our Christmas brunch that's coming up. And I don't...

I'm like, well, you think that maybe you, you know, you could pick up a little bit of that so that we can continue to stay on plan. Okay. I see what's going on here. Yeah. And then I get kind of negative feedback. Well, you know, you will. So now we just, you're not here to help around in the house and stuff like that. Let me ask a couple of clarifying questions. When you said she works full time, does she work full time as a stay at home mom or does she work full time at a job that is work from home?

Yeah, a job that works from home. Okay, but the kids are also there too, so that kind of falls on her as well. Right, when they're not in school. Like right now, we're on Christmas break. I totally get that. Okay, and then can you tell me how much debt do you guys have? Because I'm trying to understand. I mean, I get the intensity, but I just want to get a bigger picture.

Okay, so we have about $26,000 in cars and credit cards. Break it down. What's the cars and what's the credit cards? My wife's car is almost paid off. It's got $3,000 left. My truck's got $11,000 left. And then we have about $15,000 in credit cards. Okay. And then...

um another 10 000 around that that i owe to my uh to my mother-in-law so what's the payoff date if you didn't miss any night scheduled you've got this thing figured out if you stay on this pace what do you anticipate the day would be how far in the future before you pay off this debt i i i i told my wife we can do it in six months not our house i i have sure sure sure sure so let me just tell you hey 23 on that so steven so man-to-man here

I love this intensity, but this is a six-month window. It'd be different if this were a six-year and you guys had to be that intense. I love the intensity. I think you have to downshift in moments like this. When your wife is giving you the signal, you read it, man. You've been married long enough.

you know, going after it. But if there's a holiday party in the situation you gave us, I think the answer, and this is not criticism, you called. So I'm going to tell you as a dude, just my take here in that situation, you take the night off from gazelle intensity and you jump in and help her out. I think if you guys were in much bigger debt and it were far more intense and

I think there's a conversation to be had to say, hey, babe, I got to do this. We got to be all in. But I think given the situation, I don't think this is three or four nights a week. I think you sit down with her and go, hey, I'm doing this to sprint. Hang in there. But if you need that kind of emergency situation, raise your hand, and I'm going to be more sensitive next time, and I'll jump in. That would be my take in this situation. What's you guys' combined income?

You mentioned all the things you're doing, but what does that amount to? So that's recent, the EMS job and stuff. So right now we make about $110 gross together just out of regular jobs. And I'm looking to bring in – I got planned to bring in $3,000 extra a month, so –

about $30,000 more, so maybe about $140,000 if I stay on this track. Okay, so you're basically saying our normal budget stays the same and I'm side hustling to pay off. I get it. Well, that caused a little trouble too because then we stripped the budget way down as well. We cut off some streaming services. Well, that's what I'm saying. It almost needs to be one or the other because you've got $39,000 of debt and you just outlined a plan where you're side hustling to bring in an extra almost $40,000.

So if the side hustling alone is paying off the debt, then like I'm trying to find a way where you guys can balance this out a little bit more. Does that make sense? Because if you're going to bring in $40,000 a year and this is a full year play as opposed to you just trying to like, to Ken's point, just squeak this thing out in six months. I do think that, you know...

If you can get her on board, fine. But like Kim said, you know, if she's having these moments where she's throwing a flag on the play, like, listen, we haven't seen you. We don't we don't even remember what you look like, dude. Like you do have to you have to cool out for a minute. Right. And I think that I think there's room for you to take the pedal off the metal just a little bit. Yeah.

Right, great, because I don't want to burn her out. So I guess that's what I was looking for to say. Your instincts are right. Yeah, she's like a baby bird. Sometimes you've got to get them to keep coming to you. Steven, I think your instincts are right. You called us. We're validating your instincts. Your instincts are right. You're pushing...

really hard and it's affecting her and you don't want to lose her in the midst of this cause. The cause is not as important as her and the kids. Right, because it's not. At that point, what's the point? Especially during this season. That's right. But listen, my man, she seems to be all in. We heard no signs of her not being all in. It's just

Hey, we got a holiday party and I'm swamped with the kids and I'm exhausted. You know, I also think it's important for you to show some appreciation to her for her being all in. And you know what? Maybe take a night coming up in the next couple of weeks and totally surprise her and say, hey, babe, here's a little money.

that I've been making on the side hustle. Go out with some of your best girlfriends. Have a nice night. I'll take care of the kids. All right, Ken Coleman. Do you know what? I mean, what do you think, Jade? I think that's a teamwork play. That's a teamwork play. Because she's, listen, I'm just, I'm honoring all the moms out there because my wife has done both. Stacey has fluctuated between being a work out of the home and a work in the home. Notice I say work in the home because that's a lot of work. And there are times where

where it's really good guys for us to just acknowledge uh the partner in the situation and uh and say hey you know what i appreciate you being on board and what it is when you're going at that pace you have to ahead of time say what the milestones are going to be yes when we pay off this car we get this right when we do this and it sounds like they don't have those milestones in place and that is so important you need like a cheat day you know these big time athletes right like i'm

I follow The Rock. No big deal. I like The Rock. Listen, those cheat meals? Have you seen the man's cheat meals? It's pretty fantastic. So even one of the greatest athletes, actors, get-after guys in the world, you've got those down days. I think mama needs a little time off every once in a while, and you can fund that. And then we keep going with great momentum. Steven, you're a good man and a good husband. This is The Randy Show.

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Welcome back to the Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. Jade Warshaw joins me in studio. We're here for you, America. 888-825-5225. 888-825-5225. Taking your money questions, your work questions. It's a good time to be thinking about next year, and we are here for you. The question of the day is brought to you by Neighborly, your hub for home services. Neighborly has local service providers who can repair, maintain, and improve your home.

Ladies, if you're married to a guy like me, you need Neighborly because I can't do Jack Diddley squat around the house. And that's why Stacey is happy for Neighborly. Their network of experts offer top quality work and customer service by trained, reliable service providers. Find the help you need at Neighborly.com slash Ramsey today. Today's question comes from Sarah in Arizona. Can I donate money in Baby Step 2?

My husband and I disagree about this. I made my husband do FPU and agreed to the principles before I would even accept his proposal. Wow. Dang, son. We just got married in September and we are officially on a budget with combined finances. We have a good income, around $400,000 combined, but our debt snowball is more of a debt wrecking ball right now. $448,000 in total debt.

I have always given $100 a month to charities, and I put these as line items on our combined budget. My husband says giving is for baby step seven, and this money should come out of my discretionary spending if I want to keep giving. I say it is not $100 a month that is going to derail us from reaching our goals. I'm still tweaking the budget, but right now I have our individual allowance at $200 each month.

Can you please be the arbitrator of this debate? Oh, I need to get you one of those black robes and you're Judge Jade right now. I need to give you a gavel too. What say you, Judge Jade? I see a lot in this, so I'm just going to pick it apart. This woman is strong. Okay, I do not want to mess with Sarah. Sarah is coming in hot. Okay.

Here's what I'm going to say about giving. And then I'm going to go back through this thing. I do think it's important to give. I think giving is an important practice that you, you do all the time, all the time, even in baby step two. Now pause for a second. I'm going to tell you my perspective and you have the ability, Sarah, to put this, make it, make it make sense for you depending on your belief system. I'm a Christian person. The way I believe is you just give 10% off the top,

All the time. And you give that 10% to your local church. That's, that's what I believe. That's a spiritual practice for me, but it's also a financial practice and generosity for me. So even while Sam and I were in baby step two with, um,

almost the same amount of debt as what you have, Sarah, but with a smaller income, we continue to give not $100 a month, but 10% of whatever we brought in. And for me, the reasoning behind that is not just like I said, a spiritual one, but it is a practice and just good financial principle. Because at the end of the day, and this is for everybody listening, when you have an open hand,

hand the money is sitting in your hand money can easily get out but it also means money can easily get back in and that's a wonderful thing to know and it's just a blessing we say it all the time giving is the most fun you can have with money so um i agree with you in principle yes you should continue to give matter of fact up it if you're making four hundred thousand dollars a year and you want to give ten percent well there you have it um

What your husband is talking about, baby step seven, he says giving is for baby step seven. That really is if you want to give above and beyond, right? If you're like, listen, we've been at this lower mark of giving for a while. We're ready to increase. There's some dreams that I have. Yeah, baby step seven is the time to do that. I might just...

And it might just be the way it's written. Maybe just, just ease up a little Sarah, just maybe, maybe pull back a little bit. You're very, you're very strong. And all of these things kind of sound like I told my husband we're doing this and I told him we're doing this and you're kind of like dragging him by the collar. She got him like, like the collar on the wall. You know what I'm saying? Um,

And I think that might make him feel a little, he might be feeling some type of way. And maybe this is a way where he feels like he can get a little control back because, you know, sometimes relationships get to be a bit of a power struggle. And so this feels more about a power struggle than it really does about giving. I'm not going to lie. Just reading it. I may be wrong. Ken Coleman.

I think you're right. I think the language implies her attitude towards him. And you don't want to take too many liberties with just a one-sided email. But yeah, it feels like this is not a partnership. This is a dictatorship is what it feels like. And so I think you're right. The budget needs to be adapted to include the giving that you're talking about based on what we teach. So I agree with you lockstep. Sure.

I get it, though. Money creates enough tension. Us telling the spouse how things are going to be, that doesn't lend itself to long-term financial partnership. It doesn't. And, I mean, Sarah, hear me loud and clear. I have a Mr. T personality as well. Okay? I pity the fool. I pity the fool.

Like I come in hot. Like Sam Warshaw, he could tell you right now, I come in hot. And so when I read that, I recognized that. Yeah. And so like we sometimes we have to pull back a little bit. We stomp in the room. You know what I'm saying? We just chill out. And guys, even if she does stomp in the room, never say that she stomps in the room. There's a little bit of advice to all the dudes out there. We float. Yeah.

Man, I'm already getting nervous. I feel like I'm on eggshells already. I'm ready to move on. By the way, the illustrious, incomparable Sam Warshaw is in the lobby. So he gave me a look. He kind of leaned over and gave me a look when you said that. That's all he did. I don't know what that means. I'll find out afterwards. Oh, boy, that's good stuff. All right, Brittany's up next in New Orleans, or as I like to say, Nolans. What's going on, Brittany? Hi, Ken. How are you guys? We're having a blast. What are you up to?

Working his dead snowball. I have a question. Hey, before you ask the question, I got to know. When you live in the New Orleans area, is it a thing? Does everybody have beignets around Christmas? Is that a Christmas morning thing?

Uh, I prefer sweet potato. Oh, okay. Around this time of the year, personally. I just wanted you to know, I order every year a box of the dough from Cafe Du Monde, and we do beignets Christmas morning. Wow. Yeah, that's my treat. Anyway, sorry, I got distracted. Brittany, what can we answer for you? No, they're good. Yeah, they are good. Okay, so...

So I'm working on my debt snowball and the next debt I have coming up is a personal loan for $5,000. Now I was previously married before. And so this is a loan that I hold with my ex-husband. When we split, we did agree to split it 50 50 and we've been paying the monthly payment. Um, since we split now it's the next thing in my debt snowball. So obviously I'm trying to figure out what to do cause he does not have

his half of the $5,000 to pay it off currently. Who do you owe the money to? One name. Okay. So it's a lending service. It's a personal loan from a bank, not like grandma loaned you money. Correct, yes. Is he good for it? Tell me what kind of guy this is. Is this the type of guy who's going to pay it? He's been paying it monthly. He's late sometimes, but he always gives it...

But, you know, is it in both of your names for the most part? Yes, it's in both of our names. I'd probably I'd probably pay my half and set it aside. And then by the time I get done with my debt snowball, if he still hasn't paid it, I'm going to pay it and move on. OK, that's what I was thinking. Should I just pay the whole thing? Now, here's the thing.

If you start to see because here's the thing, you pay half of this and there's still a monthly payment due. So you need to monitor this. And if you see, listen, he's not making his payment. This interest is racking up and it's going the bill is going up. It's not going down. You need to reach over and just pay it off immediately. But if you see, OK, he's making his payment. You know, this this is working because, you know, twenty five hundred dollars is a lot of money. I might change my mind. Hold on a second. How much more do you have in your debt snowball?

If I sell my car, which I plan on doing, I'll have about $40,000 left. $40,000 left. And how much is the car worth? The car is like $20,000. All right. If you don't sell that car, because I think that's a big part of this, pay your half and watch it. All right? Watch it every month because I don't want this going back. If you see even one month that he's late, reach over and pay it off. All right? Okay.

Thank you for the call, Brittany. When you said reach, I thought you said reach over and cuff him right in the back of the head. She could try that too. She could try that too. Hey, Brittany, you're doing awesome. You're on your way and nobody's going to stop you. Thanks for the call. Great advice, Jade. All right, don't move, folks. We've got to pay a couple bills and we'll be right back. This is The Ramsey Show.

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Welcome back, America. You've joined the conversation about your life, specifically your money, your work, and your relationships. We want you winning in all three of those areas. That's why we do this show, The Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. Jade Warshaw joins me. 888-825-5225 is the phone number to jump in. 888-825-5225. Let's go to Toronto, Canada. Max joins us there. Max, how can we help? Hey, Ken. Thank you guys so much for having me on. Can you hear me okay? Yes, sir. What's going on?

Awesome. Yeah. So I'll kind of just give you the question and then I guess we can dive into it. So I'm 23, graduated university two years ago now and thinking of moving on from my first full-time job and taking a shot as an entrepreneur doing some social media and YouTube content. Okay. And what do you make in your full-time job? So right now I'm at 80,000. I also have a side hustle that I'm doing about 5K a month.

Oh, wow. What's the side hustle?

Yeah, so I'm partnering with this company called Odds Jam, and it's a little bit weird, but kind of with a lot of the new sportsbooks and gambling companies coming to Canada, there's a lot of opportunities for different promotions and things like that. So using the software, I've been able to have success and average about 5K a month the past year. Wow. And so where does the YouTube social media venture that you mentioned, is this related at all to the work you just described that's the side hustle, or is it completely separate?

No, so it would be completely separate. Kind of my game plan would be to continue to do the side hustle and then kind of leave this full-time job and then be able to fully dive into, you know, doing 60, 80 hours a week on the YouTube social. Do you have any debt right now? Nope, no debt. No debt at all. You're single? I have a girlfriend of three years. Girlfriend of three years. What kind of content are you planning to do, social media and YouTube?

Yeah, so it would be kind of in the self-improvement, self-development space, specifically geared to a target audience of young men, probably within the age of 14 to 22. A lot of it would kind of be either fitness-related, mental health, building self-discipline, confidence, some stuff with how to have success with women as well as business. Have you done any of that content before, or is this just an idea?

So I haven't done any of that content before, but I am publishing a 300-page self-improvement book in January. So that's going to be coming in the next month, and all of the things I talk about kind of in the book are going to be directly related to the content I'm doing on the channel. All right. Well, then based on what you've told me, I think what I would do if I were you is I would release that book. Proud of you for that. I think that's great. I would start doing this content now.

I would not go all in. To me, it just is not worth taking a $20,000 pay cut. I love that you're making $80,000 in a day job that is allowing you enough bandwidth mentally to be making $60,000. You're on pace to make $60,000 a year in a side hustle.

So I wouldn't just immediately walk away from the 80K and to go all in on the social because I don't think that's the right strategy. I think what I would do is I would come up with a strategy to test this. What's a legitimate test? And I'm making this up. Please don't let me hang this on you. And I want Jay to weigh in here in a second on this too. But I would be thinking –

social and YouTube. So is it three videos a week? Is it one? How many posts a day? Get whatever you think is a legitimate test, not be all in all. Because remember, starting a social media side hustle should have the same mindset as starting a regular brick and mortar business. Meaning I'm not going to go all in on a bunch of inventory, buy a building. I'm going to lease a

I'm going to do small inventory. I'm going to test this stuff. So to me, I would stay put doing exactly what you're doing now.

And what I would do is I would commit 20 hours a week to it, 15, whatever you can do. Let's go full-blown test because you could still hustle right now, put out enough content to test it and see is there anything there. Then what I would like to see is social media, this new side hustle, the personal development stuff. I'd like to see that getting to a point where you can see it generating 20,000.

So that we replace the 80K from the day job. There's just zero reason for you to risk right now. Also, that book, when did you say the book comes out? So the launch is planned for the end of January of this year. Okay. Or 2024, I guess. I'm just asking, is this something you've done on your own? Like you found a publisher and you did this, or is there some sort of deal that you got because of something you did? And there's a little bit more hoopla around it. Can you tell us like the seriousness of this? Yeah.

Yeah, so I wrote the entire book myself and then I worked with another publishing company in Canada, which kind of helped me with, you know, cover design, going through the manuscript, you know, going over everything with a fine tooth comb. But it's up to you to market it.

Yeah, exactly. Okay. So I think to Ken's point, that book is going to be a big test for you too, because you're going to look and see, okay, like, is it selling? Are people interested in this topic? What's the feedback? You know, on Amazon, you'll be able to read those reviews and see everything that's going on with that book. So that's one of the ways you'll test it. But I, you know, Ken and I can both tell you from social media, before I came to Ramsey, I started a channel and it is hard work.

People, you know, people like to look at influencers and go, oh, you're an influencer. How hard could it be? And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's hard work. It's very hard to get people. I mean, it's a constant competition to make sure your content is what people want to see. So do you plan on having somebody to help you with it? Or are you going is the first step just you doing it on your own?

Yeah, so kind of my thought process with, and I know that this is someone you guys have on the show, Alex Mermosi, and kind of something that he says is a lot of people that kind of have one foot in the door, one foot out the door. And that's kind of why I wanted to quit and go full time in it, because I feel, you know, something Ken talks about as well as I don't necessarily have to career capital in terms of editing video skills and stuff. But I feel that the skill I do have is great communication. You know, I believe in myself, but

if I commit to this for, you know, a three-year time window, let's say, and I'm doing 68 hours a week on it, I believe I can be successful. It's more so just having that time that I don't really have, you know, working nine to five and, you know, regarding what Ken said earlier, you know, 20 hours a week, something like that. No, I do think that I can do that, but a big part of it is also fitness, right? So I'm in the gym probably two, three hours a day. So on top of my nine to five and

And the side hustle, I don't really have a lot of free time in the day per se. So that's why I'm at a bit of a crossroads, if that makes sense. Well, let me address, because I've interviewed Alex and know Alex. And so I want to address what you said. I think it's correct what he has said, but there's also scaling involved and there's a season when we're testing and then there's a season when we scale. And what I heard you say is quit everything and go 80 hours a week to be able to do this. Did I hear that correctly? Yeah.

I would still do the side hustle that I'm doing, the August DM thing. So how many hours a week do you have to put into that that's making you 5K a month? Probably two hours a day, every day. Okay. Well, listen, I'm not going to tell you not to do it. I told you what I would do, and I would eventually ramp up. I'm with Alex. At some point, you've got to go all in. I just don't think you're ready to go all in yet. Yeah, how quickly? Okay, let's say you're replacing the $5,000 a month that you're making from your $80,000 job that you're netting.

How quickly do you think by posting on social media and YouTube that you'll recoup that in your mind? How quickly do you think? Yeah, I think if I do two years. On a regular basis. How long? If I do two years, two years, that'd probably be 800 videos. I think I could have a good audience by then. It's very speculative. It's very speculative. I'm just saying it's very speculative because, again...

This is from somebody who's saying, who's doing what you're saying to do. I did it for two and a half years and I had just started making money. Just when I say money, I mean a little bit of money, not much.

not anything close to bank. It's a little bit of money, having some opportunities to like, she's really good. She's really winsome. I'm just going to be honest with you. I mean, she's people like looking at her and listening to what she says. She's dynamic. And it took her that long. She's a big time performer. I would just rather you take my advice because I think I'm right. And you'll get there because I think it's, I think it's not going to hurt you. You got to try this. I,

I know you don't have a lot of time to be able to crank out, but start working that gym time into video time. If you're in the gym for two hours, then figure out a way to film it. Film the whole time. You got some extra money. I'd hire somebody to be following you around. You know, that's what Alex does. Alex has got a guy that's full-time, follows him around, shooting stuff and editing. I'd rather you keep the day job, invest some of that money in somebody filming you while you're at the gym for two hours.

But test it. And then when we know it's really working, then we scale it, Jade. I just don't want you to go backwards financially, Max, but I love your heart and your desire. So thanks for the call. Jade Warshaw, good hour. Thank you, my friend. To our fearless leader, old captain, our captain, James Childs, and the fearless crew in the booth. Thank you, guys. This is The Ramsey Show.

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, this is The Ramsey Show. It's where we help you win in your life, specifically with your money, in your work, and through your relationships. 888-825-5225. That's the number to jump in. Jade Warshaw joins me. I'm Ken Coleman, and we are thrilled to be with you to answer your questions. We're for you. We're for you.

Let us coach you up today, 888-825-5225. Jade specializing in the money questions. I'll specialize in any work-related questions. We'll kind of tag team any question that comes in, and we believe that your best days are ahead. 888-825-5225. Special segment coming up later this hour. Jade, I want you to tease it.

However you choose to tease it, because these are my favorite segments of all segments. And I don't care if Dave's listening, George, Rachel, John, I don't care. This is why I love co-hosting the Ramsey Show. Is that a setup? Okay, King, you didn't have to fire shots. Why? That's fantastic. This is great. Yeah, we're talking about, it's the holidays, right? Christmas is coming up this weekend, and then you've got New Year's, and you're

Hosting parties, Ken. There's always these expectations. How can we save money and have a great contribution in the midst of that? So we are going to have a test, a taste-off. That's right. I'm going to be subjecting myself to your tips. That's right. And then I am just supposed to comment. And this is my favorite thing to do. That's right. There will be beverages. Can you tell the difference between a $10 bottle of wine and a $30 bottle of wine? We're about to find out.

uh in this sweater today you would think i would know but i don't know i don't know i don't know i don't know if it's all surface or if i have a palette that is uh that is good enough so we'll see so that's the that's you don't want to miss it uh you're actually going to learn something and save money thanks to my bright colleague over here so it's going to be a lot of fun i can't wait i'm already getting hungry and thirsty let's go to rebecca in portland maine rebecca how can we help

Hi, good afternoon everybody. How are you doing? Good afternoon, Rebecca. How can we help? Hi, so I'm trying to figure out how I can get stung in on paying down and stumble all of my debt. And what I had told the dispatcher when I called in was that, so we are on a Section 8 voucher and so it goes by income. And so...

Between that and then my son's SSI, like our income is kind of limited. And so I've got already like debt collectors calling me and our rent's going up in a week and a half after the first. So I'm trying to figure out how I can start slowly paying down these debts given what our new budget's going to be. Okay. How much debt do you have total? Roughly about, I would take educated gas, $5,000. $5,000. And it's what, credit cards? Yes.

Credit card, yes. Okay, so 5K and credit card debt, and that's it. What about transportation?

How are you? What's your situation there? We just ended up actually having to junk our car about two weeks ago. So right now we don't have a vehicle. We try to take public transit up here, but the public transit isn't very good. Buses here run about once every two hours. Oh, man. So we've been having to take a lot of Lyfts and Ubers around. So I stay about weekly with that.

Back to do two a day. Let's see. I rounded up about $20 for 20. Yeah, that's expensive. Okay. I'm going to say probably about 100, 120 a week on with an Uber. Yeah. So we need a car. Okay. Now you outlined a little bit of the section eight in the SSI. I'm not an expert on that. So I might ask you a lot of questions. How much are you bringing in and are there any limitations on your income because of the SSI?

Okay, so with SSI, my son's SSI is based off of my husband's income, so that tends to fluctuate. I know for January, he'll be getting roughly, I'm going to just round it off to about $800 a month starting in January, but that could change in the future. What my husband gets...

Bi-weekly after taxes, et cetera, is taking out is about $1,500 after taxes. And then what was the last thing? Our rent is going up after the first to just over $1,600. And obviously with any programs, whether it's Section 8 or any Medicaid programs, they count everything pre-tax. So this is net pay that I'm talking about. So you get $1,600. The Section 8, you pay $1,600 towards. That's what it's worth.

Yes. Okay. All right. So I'm looking at your income and I'm like, okay, I'm seeing $2,300. Is that right? The 800 from SSI and the 1500 from your husband? Oh, he gets biweekly, I should say. Sorry, about 1500 biweekly. Your husband? Yes. Okay. So $3,000 a month.

Yes. And then the 800 from SSI, so 3,800 is what you're working with? Yes. Total? Yes. Okay. Now, what happens if you bring in more money?

I have to report it to our local housing agency, and then they have to calculate what our rent's going to be, which is part of the reason why I haven't worked. I'm also disabled, and I have two disabled. Two out of my three kids are on the autism spectrum, so they're considered disabled. But, yeah, so it does affect.

our housing and anything else we get. Like right now we don't get SNAP because we're over income for SNAP. Okay. Let me, I'm going to just throw out a bunch of stuff and you poke holes in it, but I'm gonna throw it out here. And Ken, you're the career guy. What I know is there's a lot of work from home positions, a lot, a lot, a lot. And you're talking to me on the phone.

And I know exactly what's going on. You're here with me. So my question is, is there anything that you can do from home? You're working on your computer. You're working on the phone lines. I don't want you stuck in this. And I don't think you have to stay stuck in this.

$1,600 like that, you know, a $2,000. I mean, a guy called in the other day that was, you know, that that was his rent. So I want you to consider your options here. And I think that when you feel backed into a corner, you're backed into a corner.

But I want you to really challenge yourself to open your mind up to look like, what could I do? What could I do to make $3,000 a month? Because suddenly, if you make $3,000 a month, now you got, you know, 600, you almost got $7,000 a month. And now we're getting into like a regular income zone, right? Right, right. The average...

Before you say well, but, average is around $67,000. Okay? That's average. Around $67,000 a year combined. That's where most people are. Real quick, because we're running out of time. This is an income play. Yeah. Rebecca, what does your husband make really quick? $3,800 a month. $3,800 a month. Okay. So roughly annually about...

I'm going to say 50, 50 and 52. So, Rebecca, here's the deal. I understand your situation with your kids, but this is the pitfall of government programs. You feel like you can't make more money because then they're going to penalize you and you need these services, these services. But I'm telling you, you making more money gets you out of government housing, gets you off, and you guys can afford it.

It's messing with your confidence. You have got to be making more money. If you just make $18 an hour, that's going to put you right to shade under $3,000 a month that Jade's talking about. Listen, your ability to move forward on all of this...

and getting a car. I'm looking at cars right now. $4,000 for a Toyota Corolla in Portland, Maine. 142,000 miles. Go make money. Get transportation. Go make money. Get out of government housing. Go make money. Supplement your kids' services. This is about increasing your income. Getting out of debt is going to give you freedom. You guys can do this, but you have to attack it like their life and your life depends on it. This is The Ramsey Show.

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Welcome back to the Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. I'm joined by Jade Warshaw. The phone number to jump in is 888-825-5225. We want to help you out on your money questions, your work-related questions. Let's go to Brent in Philadelphia. Brent, how can we help? Can you hear me okay? I can, Brent. What's going on? Hey. Thank you so much for taking my call, you guys. Jade and Ken, I...

Ken, just really quick, I actually just ordered your book a few days ago, From Paycheck to Purpose. That's probably going to help me get some ideas with my career. But the main issue or the main question I have today involves our second baby. We just found out a couple weeks ago we're having our second child. Very nice. Congrats.

Thank you. I appreciate it. So with that in mind, we're trying to find some prenatal care and we're looking at using a midwife. But we're trying to figure out how to cash flow it. I just went through the numbers through our insurance company and found that the midwife is a lot more affordable, but it's still...

We're still going to be about $6,500 out of our pocket before insurance will even cover it. We have a pretty high deductible plan. But our finances are pretty tight at the moment. So I'm just kind of

looking for a little advice on maybe ways that we could, you know, possibly cashflow it or, um, maybe, you know, step up in the work department. Uh, what's making finances tight. What's making the finances tight right now? Well, I, I think it's more of like, uh,

I don't know if it's necessarily an income issue. Currently, I bring home about $4,000 a month, so about $48,000 a year. Our mortgage currently is about $1,266 a month. We currently owe about $169,000 on our house. Okay. And then currently, we have a couple of debts. I have some student loans that just went back into repayment. You guys have spoken of that often. Okay.

So I have about $39,000 there and then $11,000 in person. Okay. So I'm crunching the numbers on there. Currently...

with all of our current expenses we've been trying to cut in different areas but we're only only ending up with maybe a couple hundred dollars extra a month if that like two or three like two or three hundred extra a month okay 300 a month yep okay yeah um so why do you say that it's not an income thing it's

It definitely is. Because I thought, well, Jade's going to sit down and help you with that budget. But after you walk through all this, you're telling me there's not a lot of fat. And then you're saying it's not an income thing. So I'm confused. Okay. It is an income thing. You get my point? Yeah.

Yeah, I get it. Yeah. So I jumped in there real quick. I want to get back to Jade, but I mean, if I'm you, I'm looking at $6,500 as a number that I'm circling on a piece of paper. And I go, as a dad, as a husband, I got to come up with $6,500 for this situation. And I've got nine months and counting. You got nine months. It's ticking down. That's right. So I start with... What's that? Yeah, go ahead. You need to...

You need to find $1,000 extra a month. That's what it boils down to. You need to find $1,000 extra a month. Get after it, my friend. I'd be dividing it by 6500, 9 by 6500, and now I know what my mark is, and I got to get after it. And, comma, and, that's the first thing, because you can go out and door dash that, right? You can Instacart your way into that.

Ken, I don't want him Instacarting forever. No. And you're bringing another person into this world and these people can eat. Okay. These babies eat. And when they turn three years old, it just is off to the races. So you're going to need to find a way long term to increase beyond $4,000 a month. And Ken Coleman, take the wheel. I just want to ask you real quick, until we talk about the future, what are you doing now for the job?

So currently I work for a large automotive manufacturer. I'm one of their field service reps. What does that mean? So, so I basically, I'm on technical support for dealerships. Like computers? So, um, like, so if you have a mechanic, you know, someone that turns wrenches on your car at a dealership, whenever they have questions,

If they have a car that they can't fix, they can reach out to me and I step in and give them advice on how to fix it. Wow. So you're consulting mechanics. Essentially, yes. Which means you can fix cars. Yes. And it feels like that is an awesome way to be making some extra money, is taking one of your top skills that is at a premium. Are you laughing? Yes.

I'm just laughing because I've actually been tossing around the idea of maybe tinkering and flipping some equipment on the side. My friend, I would stop tossing the idea around and I'd grab a hold of it and do it. Because listen, I'm not knocking DoorDash or delivering pizzas. The Ramsey Show is never going to knock any work. However, time is money. Have you ever heard that old phrase?

So using your premium skills, meaning the skills that I can get the most money for my time is the play for you right now. And you fixing stuff up and flipping it. I stink and love that idea. There's real money in that. And again, we've got a target.

And I love what Jade is saying. Long term, we're now going, okay, what do I want to do? Because the reason you bought my book is because you're thinking about the long term, 15 years, 20 years down the road. What does that life look like? What are you doing for work that far down the road? Yeah, that's true. Yep. But what are you thinking? You got an idea? Well, I've been...

That's part of why I kind of wanted to start thinking because there are jobs available like farther down the line, at least for my career, but they're all back where the company is based. It's one of the big manufacturers in Michigan. Brent, when I asked you that question, you had an answer, and then you begin to think through it, and you're dealing with some fear and doubt.

I've coached almost 10,000 people on the Ken Coleman show who call me up and they act like they don't know what they want to do. And I always find out about two minutes in they do. They're just afraid to say it. So because I'm your friend and Jade's your friend and we don't judge anybody, what's that thing that you've been thinking about that you want to do? Just say it. Well, I see. See, you're already trying to couch it. Just say it. I'll tell you if I think you're crazy.

I mean, I really want to work with doing some engineering type work. There we go. But the avenue to do that is to go back. Go ahead. Go back to what? So we have to move back to Michigan. So right now we live in Pennsylvania, but we'd have to move back to Michigan, which my wife is not. Why? That's the only place you can do that type of engineering work?

I mean, I could move to a job similar to the one I currently have for another company. No, my friend. Brent, you know what kind of engineering work you want to do, yes? You are limiting yourself to saying that you can only do it in the state of Michigan. Am I right? I think you're right. Yeah, I know you think I'm right. Did you say you think I'm right?

Yeah. I'll tell you why, Jade. I think that's because, Brent, that's where you think you've got relationships and that's the only place you can get that kind of engineering work because you used to live there and you used to work there. I think you limit yourself because you struggle with a lot of self-doubt. Is this true, Brent?

Yeah, that's true. All right. Brent, now how is it that I know that? I've never met you before in my life. I'll tell you how I know it. I can hear it on you. And I'm not judging you. I'm telling you, my friend, that we all deal with that. I deal with doubt. Listen, Jay, we all deal with it. What I'm trying to get you to see real quick is that you have been limiting yourself based on your own beliefs. When I walk you through it, you laugh at yourself and chuckle.

Because you know I'm just saying straight up common sense that Michigan and the previous company and the previous industry is not the only place that a guy with your talent and your passion and your experience and your desire can do engineering work. Is that true or false? That's true. All right then. So here's the deal. Back to the issue at hand.

Start using that skill set right now because you've got to come up with $6,500 for that midwife, and that's the best way for you to do it. Read the book From Paycheck to Purpose. It's going to be like me in your ear.

with the speech I just gave you. And you, my friend, need to start to connect and begin to look without committing. Look around the country. Look for companies and industries where the engineering work that you are qualified to do, where you can do it. And as you begin to look, you'll begin to see possibilities that you never saw before, Brent. Congratulations on that baby. But right now, my friend, $6,500 on a whiteboard. Circle it and start getting after it. This is The Ramsey Show.

Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. Jade Warshaw joins me. Hey, folks, if you're tuning in right now live or later and you're watching and you're going, should I hang around a little bit longer? Trust me, next segment, you don't want to miss it. Jade Warshaw, special segment, how to save money and still entertain the right way during the holiday season. This is the gift that keeps on giving. Yes, it does.

So I can't wait. I'm excited. And I get to just sample whatever she's bringing in here. So for me, it's just... You just want snacks, Ken. You know what? I'm a simple man. So I'm very excited about that. All right. Clara is up in Louisville, Kentucky. Clara, how can we help?

Hey, guys. I am thrilled to be able to talk to you guys. Well, we are thrilled to talk to you. What's happening? Yay. I have a question more for Jade, my money girl. Uh-oh. Okay. I'm going to smoke a cig while you guys talk. This will be great. Okay. We are looking at buying a house next year.

Um, and we want to know if we're crazy or for we're rushing into it or if our numbers are looking okay and what order we need to do things. Okay. Tell me more. Right now we have, um, $6,200, um, on a credit card.

Okay. $7,000 on a truck and then a $20,000 home equity line of credit. Okay. Within the past, since August, we've paid off $34,000 in credit card debt. Good. So we're on a roll. And my goal is to have the credit card and the truck paid off by March. Okay. And then I didn't know, do I...

not pay on the home well I pay the minimum payment on the home equity line of credit and do our three to six months emergency saving and then when we sell our house pay that off and still have 20% to put down on the new house I'd pay it off I'd work to pay it off for two reasons a it's less than half of the value of your home I'm guessing like it's less than half

Yeah, we owe $124,000 on our house and we could sell it for $230,000. Yeah, because it's less than half of that $124,000, I'd go ahead and pay it off. And here's the thing, if you don't pay it off, it's going to cut into your winnings, right, when you sell the house. Right. So you may as well pay it off so that money goes right back into your pocket. Again, it's that idea of a forced, you're forcing yourself to save the money by paying off this $20,000. Does that make sense? Okay. So you're going to get it back. Yeah.

We still need the three to six months before we buy, or can we take that out of what we make on the house? Again, it's what you're saying. I see what you're saying, but you need to get the three to six months in place first. And then when you sell the house, that money is going towards the next house. Okay. Right. That whole chunk goes straight toward the next house. Because you're going to need it, right? Well, how much are you trying to put down?

Well, we would only need about $70,000 to put down. The house we're looking at is around $300,000. And how much, sorry, you told me this, but I missed it. When you sell the house, how much will it bring in total? $230,000. No, no, no. How much will you take home? So we should have...

Oh, we should have about 110. 110. So you're saying and that's after fee. Is that after fees? And you've considered all that before. OK, so let's consider fees and let's let's knock off 15. All right. And let's say that let's say you bring home 95. So you're saying, hey, we don't we didn't we never plan to put that full 95 down and we can take some of that and put it as our emergency fund.

Right. Well, what would it have the 20 percent? Listen, the way my mind works, I'm like, I want to put the full 95 percent down or the full ninety five thousand down. OK, how long will it take you to save up three to six months?

Oh, maybe two months. I would listen. Listen, save up that six months. It's all the same. You know what I'm saying? It's a big pool of money. And I see what you're trying to do. You're kind of trying to shift it so you can move faster. I would rather you have that extra fifteen thousand dollars to put down on this mortgage. It's OK. In the long run, you're going to thank yourself for it.

And it's only going to, it's not like it'd be one thing if you said, Jade, it's going to take us six more months to save up or another year to save up. That'd be maybe a little different. I might change my answer. Maybe not. But in this case, it's two months. Like just wait two months. Right. You know, and then you've got more money. You've got $15,000 more in your pocket and that's going to go towards your mortgage. I love that idea.

Okay. All right. Well, thank you. You're welcome. That's not my problem. Claire, did you get what you needed from Jade? Do you need anything from me at all? I did. I mean, anything? Nothing? Your cigarette's gone out. No, I don't think I do. Great. I see how this is, Claire. Merry Christmas. I see how this is. No, we love you, Claire. Thank you very much.

Merry Christmas. Yeah. She didn't want to ask me anything. Listen, Ken, in that sweater. I get it. I know. I think it's intimidating. It is. It puts off the wrong vibe, I guess. It's very intimidating. Alex is up in San Antonio, Texas. Alex, how can we help? Yes, sir. Good afternoon. I owe my sister $20,000 that I would like to pay her back.

Um, she won me this money earlier in the year. And, uh,

We invested the money. It didn't pan out. So I was calling for your opinion on getting a loan. And if so, what wish would be the best out of the loan? Okay, hold on a second. So you got your sister to give you $20,000 for some type of business investment. What was the investment? Yeah, what was it? It was property, but it's out of the country. It's in Peru. Okay. We got a little dicey and...

It hasn't panned out. What does that mean? I would like to pay her the money. I know. What does that mean it didn't pan out? Well, we've run into some obstacles, legal obstacles. Evidently, the people that we were dealing with weren't entirely honest with us. So the money's gone and you have no recourse. Right. How's your sister taking it? Well, she's been pretty patient with me. She's not harassing me at all or keep reminding me.

When were you supposed to pay her back? Tell me the initial plan because I'm trying to gauge what your timeline is here. We were supposed to pay her within a couple of months. It's been almost a year and it's gone on.

Just a little bit longer than I would want it to. Got it. Okay. But you're broke. You're broke, and you're thinking, now I've got to get this monkey off my back with my sister, so I'm going to go get a loan, and I'm then going to just pay the bank back. And I just think that's ridiculous. I'd rather you be spending all of your time and effort just paying your sister back. You don't need to go to a bank or a credit union or some private...

loan shark type situation where they're going to charge you enormous interest rates, just start paying her back. Could you pay her $1,000 a month? What would need to be true for you to pay her $1,000 a month or $2,000 a month? Could that happen? Yes, I could pay her $1,000, possibly $2,000 if we really discipline ourselves. Then start doing it. This is your sister, man.

She loaned you the money. Man up. Start paying it back. What was that? I would prefer to just pay her because I see her. You can't pay her $20,000. So pay her what you can. Because here's what can happen. I want to lay out two sides of this. Unless you tricked her.

Right. When you said, hey, says, let me borrow twenty thousand. I have this real estate thing that I want to invest in. When you say the word invest, you any person knows, OK, there's a chance I could make money and then there's a chance I can lose money. So she I'm guessing she knew going in there was a chance that you would lose this money. And if that was the case, she wouldn't get her return back as quick or she wouldn't at least get the money that she invested back as quickly. So, you know,

Go ahead. So there is part of that. There is part of that that's true. You both agreed on this thing. I think it was a terrible agreement, but you both agreed to it. So there is part of that where it's like, okay, like you said you were investing in this. It didn't pan out. So it's going to take a minute to get the money back. I'm afraid of you getting a loan because I think if you get a loan, it's going to cause you to move slower on this than you need to. Because as Ken said, the monkey's off your back. Now you can just be willy nilly with it. When it's your sister, you're going to, you know, move...

I don't know if I can say you can move hell and earth to get this money, right? And so I want that kind of intensity for you to pay her back because you don't like this. And I like that you don't like it because that's what's going to make you move. And you need to move, my brother. And let me tell you something. If you go get a loan, that interest payment is going to be more punishment for something that you already did that was dumb. Don't multiply dumb.

Learn from the stupid mistakes. We've all done them. Move forward. Start paying her what you can each month. You'll get through this. This is The Ramsey Show. Welcome back to The Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. I'm joined by Jade Warshaw. And, you know, we've for years and years and years, decades, been coaching people.

to win with their money, and a big part of it is budgeting. Every dollar, the world's greatest budgeting tool, saving money. And so this segment is all about you saving money in the holiday season. I turn it over to my unbelievably qualified budget queen herself, Jade Warshaw. It's got a plethora of things here that I get to sample. Take it away. Man, okay, so you're right. I love it.

We're doing this money thing. It's that time of year. It's the holidays, Ken. Parties is what I'm talking about. Christmas parties, New Year's Eve parties. They're all over the place. And you want to participate. Even if you're in baby step two, paying off debt, you want to find a way to participate. And the number one thing, I would take a poll.

If you want the number one thing, when you go to somebody's house and you're like, I gotta bring something, it's a bottle of wine, right? Let me bring a bottle of wine. But then your mind immediately goes to, okay, like I only spend like seven to $10 on a bottle of wine, but I don't wanna walk in there, you know, with a barefoot, you know, the barefoot with a yellow tail, right?

So do I need to spend $30? And honestly, can they really tell the difference? Can you tell the difference, Ken, between an expensive bottle? I don't know. I think it's about, let's find out. It's about time. This is a $30 bottle of wine that was brought to me in my home. All right. I'm not going to, so when you pour it, I don't want to look. I feel, I'm going to look this way. So, because I want to be able to figure out if I can tell. Which one is which?

Then I'm cheating. So this is the, it's a $30 bottle of wine that somebody brought me compared to my favorite bottle of wine, which is $9.99. You're kidding me. $9.99. Really? It's my favorite. It's called Apothic Red. Oh, yeah, yeah, okay. Have you poured it? Yes. Okay. Drink the first one. I know which is which.

taste it i always have to do the sound effect kills the guys in the booth that's pretty good that's pretty good okay uh i need to uh no no you're not wiping it you're washing it down already i was gonna eat something okay here we go that's a different portion now this one is much smoother without question which one did i pick you don't know you picked my favorite i picked the ten dollar wine ten dollar wine

I'm not kidding you. You picked the $10 wine over the $30 wine. Folks are watching it. I have no idea. Wow. Okay. So if you're looking for a good one. A little disappointed in my palate. $10. Apothic Red. Okay. I'm going to hold on to these two over here for the commercial break. So what I. Put those right over here. The reason it's better is because it's a blend. So if you're going to get a cheaper bottle of red, go for the blend. Don't go like a Cabernet or Merlot. $9.99. $9.99.

By the way, I want to add a little value to this because you're the budget queen. I would take Jade's bottle and I would show up with pride to the party and just present it and say, this is one of my favorite wines. It's a blend. Say a little something about it. They don't know it's $10 unless they look it up.

I love it. All right, let's try it with the white. All right, I'm going to turn it the other way. All right. Now, I do think that there's a little bit more leeway with the white wine kind of deal. Why? So, Ken, I just, I don't know. All right, I can't see what you're doing. All right, here's the first one. All right, now, what am I choosing between? These are Pinot Grigios. Okay. It's very refreshing. I like that. Now, try the next one. By the way, one of these is a $38 bottle of wine. I think it's $38. It's my favorite Poulet Fusée.

I like the flavor of the second one better. Okay, flavor of the second one better. In this case, you did pick the $30 wine. But is it truly, Ken, a $25 difference or a $20 difference? I would tell you no. So would you be okay if somebody brought this cupcake wine? How much is this wine, guys? I have a picture here. This cupcake wine is...

Oh boy, it's cheap. It's $9.99 I think as well. $9.99? Yeah, there wasn't that big of a difference. There was not a big difference. So let's be honest. Admittedly, I'm not a Pinot guy. If you're truly concerned about this, what I suggest, just get a bottle of that Martinelli's. It's non-alcoholic. It's that apple cranberry sparkling juice. Am I trying that next? No. No.

But the point is there's no expectation. When it's that, it's like, okay, I know what it is. You drop some cranberries in it. It's sparkly. It's still festive. And it's like under $5. So if you're unsure what wine to bring, bring the non-alcoholic kind. Martinelli's, it's great. The sparkling apple cranberry. Then there's no stigma attached. I'm trying to stay on focus, so we need to go to the next one. This $10 wine is fantastic. Now. I feel like my advice is going to be better in the next hour. Listen, I didn't have any. You're hogging it all. Listen.

It's my role. I'm supposed to be the taster. If you want to switch roles, then that's your problem. No, I'm going to do mine off camera. All right. What do we got next? So if you're going, if you're hosting, you're like, Jade, I'm not a wine thing. I'm not doing the beverage. What else should I bring? Sweet snacks. I was going to go with the cheese and crackers next, Ken. Oh, I apologize. Cheese and crackers. Cheese and crackers. Now, here's the thing. Let me be a good co-host. There you go. We lost one. If you're going to do it.

Buy a block of cheese yourself and grade it and slice it yourself. You're going to earn so much more money back into your pocket. Okay. If you buy a block, you can buy a 16 ounce block of store brand cheese and it's 43 cents an ounce. Really? But if you buy it pre-sliced, you're paying almost double per ounce.

okay it takes two seconds it takes two minutes to just slice it up yourself and it tastes better see if you can tell which one now okay so we have pre-sliced and then jade slice yes oh so these are just for me to sample yes all right i'm gonna skip the cracker and go right to a little bit of the cheese okay you're skipping the cracker well you know you know for time i want to get right to it you know there you go not bad okay and then try the other one can you tell the difference

Indiscernible. Indiscernible. I can't tell the difference. But you saved money. And I always say like, listen, it's store brand cheese. Is it the same cheese? It's the same. One is the store brand. You saved $2 by slicing it yourself. And I always say like, buy store brand. Don't go crazy on the cheese. If you want to spend money, get fancy crackers. Okay? The crackers are what makes the plate look

pretty. They're what give it some interest. Have you seen the movie Four Christmases? Yeah, who hasn't? You can always go spray cheese. No, that's disgusting, Ken Coleman. I know, that's not even real cheese. People in the lobby are laughing though. The people in the lobby thought that was funny. You know what I mean?

Horse de verves, anyone? It's one of my favorite scenes. Oh, horse de verves, yes. All right, now let's talk about dessert. If you really, to me, if you bring a dessert, if you really want to look like you did something but not really do something, bring a dessert. Now, here's the thing. If you go to Kroger, you go to Publix, you go to Hy-Vee, wherever, and you get something out of the bakery, do not bring it.

to the party in that old you know that plastic tin that it comes in that's like when you try to open it up great sound effect i wasn't ready for that don't bring it put it on a nice platter oh this is a very nice platter here but better yet just make it yourself

So we have two brownies here, Ken. Which I can't tell. One is made by you. One is made by me. It's a little bit more rustic. It's a little more homey, but it also looks very fudgy and delicious. The other one is a store-brought. And by the way, I was able to make brownies at home for $2 cheaper than buying them. And I got more out of it. Okay. The store-bought ones I spent... That's very exciting. $2.

$14 or something like that on them. So we're running short on time. So I just have a bite of each. Yeah, tell me which is best. Which is best. You tell me and get into it, Ken. Get involved. I don't know if this is store or you, but it looks good. I got some powdered something on the top. Get into it. Oh, oh my. Oh, that's unbelievable. I don't have enough time. James, you have to come in here and help me. Now try that old crusty one over there and you tell me which one. I think she gave it away.

It's light brown. I will tell you, the one I just had, it was very moist. It's fantastic. Listen, don't give me a light brown brownie. What's wrong with you guys at Publix? It's not the same. It's not even close. Whatever you got in there, that was very fudgy.

It had moisture in it. This is dry. If you want my brownie recipe, go to Jade Warshaw on Instagram. I'll post it this weekend. Yeah, I'll post it. How long does it take you to make those? That's what people want to know. Five minutes. You make those brownies in five minutes? That's not true. Yes. You put all the ingredients in one bowl. There's no steps. You put it all in one bowl, mix it up, put it in the oven. They cook for 45 minutes. It's easy. Okay? I'm going to show you guys how to make them. Sam, do you like these?

I'm going to tell you, this man is a lucky man. He's a lucky man. It's amazing he's not 600 pounds. My 600-pound life. Folks, I'm not just saying this because she's my friend and co-worker and co-host. This is the best brownie I've ever had. Jade, seriously, this recipe. You're not the first to say that, Ken. At Jade Warshaw on Instagram. Ladies, go get the recipe. She's going to post it tonight. I've got to go find a glass of milk. We've got to pay some bills. Don't move. This is The Ramsey Show.

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, this is The Ramsey Show. It's where we help you win in your life, specifically in your money, in your work, and in your relationships. The phone number is 888-825-5225. I'm Ken Coleman. Jade Warshaw joins me. 888-825-5225 is the number. We'd love to coach you up. Merry Christmas, everybody. Let's get to it this hour. Chris is joining us in South Dakota. Chris, how can we help?

How's it going, guys? We're having a blast, man. What's going on with you? Awesome. Well, earlier this week, my wife and I paid off the rest of our debt. Whoa, come on. All right. Let's celebrate. How much? In total, let's see here. It was $40,000 for my pickup, another $28,000 for her car, and a few odds and ends along the way. So I'd say $70,000. Nice. Way to go, Chris. How's that feel?

Feels really good. Man, your debt-free Christmas, that's going to be a special day, isn't it? Yeah, that's what we told each other we were going to do for our Christmas gifts to each other this year is we're just going to pick it up and we'll call it a wash. Oh, man, that's great. That's awesome. Congrats. What can we do for you today? So I don't know the baby steps as well as I should.

However, my predicament now is that we're debt-free. The house is paid off as well. I want to start farming. That's always been my goal, but it's very expensive to start farming. So do I invest my money into my retirement, or do I just start saving up little by little and put down on some acres?

You can do both. You can do both. Congrats, number one, on having no home payment. You left out that little nugget of wonderful information. So assuming let's let me kind of pull us back a little bit so that you have no consumer debt. You know, you have no home debt. Do you have any other money saved besides retirement? Yeah.

Emergency fund. We've got $85,000 in the bank. $85,000 in the bank. So that's, I'm assuming, well beyond three to six months of expenses. How much do you earn every year? Myself is about $100,000 and my wife is about another $40,000 to $45,000. Okay, so you guys are $145,000 a year. You got $85,000 in the bank. So let's really look at this. Is there a way, if you had to say three months of expenses, basic expenses, what is that for you?

Oh, boy. Now that the pickups are paid off, it's minimal. Exactly. So cell phone payments are $200. I'd say probably $500 a month, if that, for everything, including all of our utilities. Oh, wow. That doesn't include groceries, though. Yeah, you need to think about your... No, that doesn't include groceries. So a family of three, I don't know, $300 a month.

Okay, let's say... Let's round up to two grand a month. Yeah, let's say $2,000 or $3,000 a month, all right? And so that's $9,000 or $10,000 just for a good measure. Let's say you keep $20,000 as three to six months of expenses, all right? And then you can turn around and take that other $65,000 and now we get to decide, okay, we got $65,000. Are we going to put this towards...

land or real estate or whatever it is that you've said you want to do so we're going to earmark that over there you and your wife can decide what happens with that money the next thing i want to make sure you have in place is with your incomes are you guys investing 15 of your income every month

So not yet. I took a new job here recently and I'm not allowed to have a 401k. Not allowed is the wrong term. They don't offer a 401k until I've been here for about a year. Okay. So I still have eight months roughly until I can start investing in that. I've had a 401k before in my previous jobs. Okay. My wife does like a 403b. Okay, great. So I mean, she's putting in, she takes care of insurance and I mean,

I mean, after taxes, it's not much of a paycheck that she brings home. Well, between the, so they're automatically pulling some into her 403B between the two of you. And this might mean that you need to go and open some Roth IRAs between the two of you. I want you investing 15% of your combined income each month. So that's when you walk away from here, that's the answer to the one question of, Hey, do we need to start putting towards retirement? The answer is yes. And the answer is that 15%, um,

of your guys' income each month. So whether it's going into her 403B, I'd rather you guys start with the Roth IRAs and do those first.

And then if you were able to max those out and there's still money left, then, you know, move it on to her 403B. And then by then, if you still have money left over, you know, you've got your 401k that's opening up. So that's kind of the order of business that I would do that. And then again, you've got this 65,000 there that you can say, okay, with any extra income and money that we have, we can add to that and we can start piling up cash in order to make your next real estate or land purchase. Does that?

Is that fun? It does. However, the way I've been thinking about it is buying land at, let's say, $7,000 to $10,000 an acre here. That's my next career goal. I want to be a farmer. But how to pencil it out with the interest rates right now at the bank, trying to buy loans and try to get land, it just doesn't pencil out.

Yeah. It would, but it is... It is, but you want that portfolio to be balanced. You don't want it all in real estate, just like...

Do you see what I'm saying? You do want to have a nest egg that you know you can get to cash. We're not waiting for a buyer. We're not waiting for like you're drawing money off of that monthly. And so that is really important for you to have because there is going to be a time where you're not working and you want this money coming and you don't want to just depend on Social Security. That's right. So it is important to have a nest egg and investment. And Chris, listen, you know this far better than I, but I read enough about America's farmers and the business itself. It's a very tough business.

and has a tremendous amount of risk involved. So you don't want to take the 15%, which is baby step four, and say, well, I'm going to put it into the land. That's a highly speculative business. You would agree with that statement? I would. Yeah. So let's, real quick, we only got about a minute and a half. I just want to get some quick numbers. What kind of acres would you like if you had the money now? What size, how many acres are you looking for?

I'd love to have 1,000 acres. Yeah. But I know that's going to take a lifetime of working to get up to that. Yeah, but what kind of farming do you want to do? Just corn and soybeans. All right, so what's the minimal amount of acreage that you need to be able to test this idea?

So testing, I was just going to try to buy 40 acres just to start, and I'd have my full-time job. And then gradually, after I've got the 40 acres paid off, I want to buy that up front so I don't have to go to a bank. So I like this idea. I'm going to keep buying more land. All right, so now we've got a number in our mind, right? At $7,000 an acre, that's $280,000, right? Yep. Okay. Okay.

You know what? I challenge the 40 acres. Listen, we talk about people testing side hustles all the time on social media, but listen, man, you can still test something with dirt and seeds. So I guess Jade's giving you great financial advice. Hopefully you do exactly what we tell you to do and invest for yourself because I don't want you to sacrifice your long-term investments in a speculative farming business. However, could you save $150,000, $200,000, buy a smaller plot,

Let's grow it. Let's test it. We paid cash. No risk. We got the land that we could resell. I think this is doable. I guess that's the point. I wanted to give you a hug and an encouragement to say, I think you could get in this game for a lot less money than you think and see if it is a long-term play. I would challenge you to think about that in the days ahead. But we're proud of you. Great job getting debt-free. Way to go. This is The Ramsey Show.

Welcome back to the Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman. Jade Warshaw joins me. Merry Christmas, America. Thrilled that you were with us. We're here to help you win in your life, your money, your work, and your relationships. 888-825-5225 is the phone number. Let's go to Megan who joins us now in Jacksonville. Megan, how can we help?

Hi, I'm a brand new follower and over just this past week have listened to the total money makeover audio book twice. Wow. My husband and I have just begun applying this principles to get out of debt and change our financial future. Cool. And after reducing our emergency fund and liquidating our assets, we'll have about 14,000 to dump into debt, paying off multiple creditors. Um,

So soon it'll be just one creditor aside from the mortgage. So we'll only have one piece of debt. And I would just like advice regarding this particular piece of debt, if it makes sense for our family to pay it off and keep it for the long haul or sell it. What's the piece of debt? Is it a car? Yes, it's a van. It's a 2020 Ford Transit 15 passenger van. Wow. Why such a big van?

Well, we are a family of eight. So we have, my husband and I, we have six sons, ages two up to 11. Bless your heart. You need some rest. Yes. So tell us the details on the van. How much do you owe on it?

Yeah. So, I mean, we bought it in March, which it was crazy. The market was insane. Painful time to buy, but we were kind of maxed out in our prior eight-seater van, and it was just on its last leg. So what'd you spend on it? But...

Um, well, that one has what it was paid off. That one was paid off. But the one that we have now, so the one that's in question, we are balanced right now is $47,663. Okay, $47,663. Okay. And what's it worth if you were to sell it private sale?

So I Kelly Blue Booked it and its value is about $56,600. $56,600. Okay. So the question then is, are you able to get your hands, because what you could do if you wanted to, you've still got the $14,000, you could get the difference cleared up and you could sell this thing. It's a $10,000 difference. Sell this thing and then

Put whatever. I mean, what would the next step be? Do you guys have anything? Do you have other vehicles for the family is my question. This is our only vehicle. The only vehicle period? Yes. Okay. So what would it cost to get, you said before you had an eight passenger van, which is great. What would it cost to get another used eight passenger van?

Um, well, it varies. I mean, there's a lot more options. It's obviously a lot, a lot cheaper. If the advice was to sell it, then that's one thing that I would be asking. What should I be looking for? I mean, should I be looking for something, you know, trying to go as cheap as we can that will be more short term or, you know, just trying to. Here's my answer to that. I think that I do want you out of this vehicle. I think it's

more than you need and it's too expensive for you. In order to say what you need and what you can get, can you tell me what your income is?

My husband, we make, well, our annual income is $120,000. Okay, $120,000. So our general rule of thumb is we don't want any more than half of your annual income in vehicles. Okay? So between the two of you, you could really consider this two ways. That's $60,000 split between the two of you. If this is your only vehicle and you plan on being a one-vehicle family, there is a world that you could pay this off and just keep this as your vehicle.

If you think you can pay it off in two years or less, that's your bag. If you want to do that, if you're like, Jade, I want to get out of debt. I don't want this thing. We bought too much car. Then there's a world where you say, OK, as as we're working to pay off debt, we know that we're going to have to fill the gap on this because there's a ten thousand dollar upside down. And you're then going to need some money somewhere to buy an eight passenger van that's used.

Mm-hmm. Right? So you've got some options here, and you've got to decide, ultimately, can you kick it and pay this thing off super fast, or do we need to really consider some... Ken, you're looking at vehicles. What do you see? Here's a question for you. Can you fit eight people? Can you do the six boys in a traditional third-row minivan?

We could. Yes. I mean, that is what we had before. The question was kind of the reason that we also wanted to go up because we weren't sure whether or not we would expand

expand our family anymore in the future and it was just kind of well we'd rather have you know at least have the space for it and not have to then at that point like okay well and I understand that but now but now you're in agreement with Jade and I that women we probably shouldn't have bought a van for the future we should buy a van for the now yes

The other benefit, like I said, we moved out of the city. We're a little more rural now, and having that extra space for when we do go into town and being able to get groceries and all those things. So I don't want to try to talk you out of it, so I'll answer Jade's question. I've got right here

A 2015 Ford Transit Passenger 150 XL medium roof with a sliding room passenger side door. I feel like I could use car salesman James. You do. But now this is in Murfreesboro. All right, so this is Tennessee. But it's $26,900. It's got 78,000 miles. But it's 26. Okay. That ain't bad. That's a lot less than the, what, 65? No, 16.

47 is what you owe on the current one so you guys can definitely find a van that large she can half she can but she's also got to clear the ten thousand dollar difference no i know and i'm letting you help her on that but we can at least get out of that car payment well i'm glad you found that because now that i'm looking at that i'm like all right that's there she'd have to save up

the $26,000 there plus the $10,000 to get right. So she's already at $37,000. That's $10,000 less than where she's at now. I can do it one better. I mean, I was looking at minivans in the 15s and 16s. Here's one in Jacksonville, 2019 Dodge Grand Caravan, 35,000 miles, 19.8. That's not bad. So for the now...

That's not bad. Here's where I'm at. And there's not a bad decision here because your debt right now is minimum. You've got the 14,000. You'll knock it out. And the only debt left is this. Right.

So if I'm in your shoes, if I were in your shoes, we've laid out all the information and now I'm going to tell you what Jade Warshaw would do. If I were in your shoes, I would keep this vehicle and pay it off this year in one year because it's your only vehicle. It's less than it's less than half of your take home pay like for the year. Right.

And it's your only one. I like that. I'm going to keep this car. It's good. It's serving a purpose. It's going to get you towards the future. You'll like it. And the other options aren't enough of a payoff for, in my opinion, to go through the trouble. It's four grand a month to knock it out in a year. Yeah. Knock it out in a year. Four grand a month.

Do you like that? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah, I was. And it's something that, you know, there's that security. I mean, it was expensive, but I mean, we got it with only 13,000 miles on it. Listen, you're not going to make me feel good about the fact that you went out and got a car note now.

Yeah. But you're in it now. You're learning. Exactly. You're in it now. Pay it off and make me the promise that next time you guys, when it's time to upgrade, when it's time to get another car, stack up that cash because I don't want you guys in car. I don't want you in car debt ever again. The car note is the difference between the middle class,

in the wealthy class, all right? That's the money right there that people, you know, you need that money. You need to invest it. That's where your kid's college is. It's all wrapped up in that car note. So just you and your husband say, all right, we got one out of it, but we're not borrowing money again on cars. I'm proud of you guys. Yeah, absolutely. You guys are going to win. I'll just knock it out. That's right. Yeah, look, get gazelle intense on knocking out that car payment. And when you guys have singular focus on that, you'll be surprised.

All the good stuff that'll start to happen when you think, okay, let's save a buck here. Let's put it towards the car. Next thing you know, you guys have a paid off van. And, you know, I put some more money in the bank before I have another kid. I just wanted to throw that in there. Listen, Ken, you were a used car salesman over there. Ken's car lot. I like, because people need to know their options. Listen, you doing that helped us make the right choice for her. There you go. Hey, listen, money advice, used car advice, whatever you need. We're here for you. This is the Ramsey Show.

Welcome back, America. You are listening to The Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Colvin. Jade Warshaw joins me this hour. And it's such a privilege to be a part of this show that helps so many people. And I want to just kind of give you a snapshot of where we are as we wrap up 2023. We have done 242 live shows. We've talked to 3,200-plus callers.

And we've done 184 debt-free screams. And get this. Ready for this? I wish we had a ticker board for this. Totally. Thank you for the drumroll, Jade. $36,059,064. And don't forget the 47 cents.

And so what an unbelievable year. And so we keep going on that total, Jade, because in the lobby of Ramsey Solutions, standing on the debt-free stage are Donald and Letitia. Welcome. Hello.

How's it going? Hello. And I assume you're here to do your debt-free scream. Is that correct? Yes. That's correct. Oh, boy. Let's go. Let's hear the story. All right. How much debt did you guys pay off? We paid off $152,000. $152,000. How long did that take? That took us approximately 30 months. 30 months. And what was your range of income during that time? The range of income, we started off at about $120,000 and we ended off at about $165,000.

Wow. Nice. What do you guys do for a living? I actually have my own lawn care landscaping company. And my wife, she works at the local hospital in revenue integrity, excuse me. But really, she does everything.

You know, she knew like as a photographer, she do t-shirts. She actually is an author. She does it all. Okay. I like that, Letitia. So was that the, is she responsible for the $45,000 bump or was this a partnership in raising our income? Yes. She actually have a chair rental, a throne chair rental business that she started a couple of years back. Nice. And that's what actually gave us the bump. Way to go. Did you say a throne chair rental business? Yes. Yes.

So if I want a queen's chair, I can rent it from you. Absolutely. Come on, somebody. Okay. Don't get her too excited about this. That's going to show up in the office one day. Is this for like parties and things? Yes, like weddings, baby showers, birthday parties. No kidding. A lot of parties.

pastors use it for their pastor's anniversary okay so it's used for a lot of things photo shoots listen america don't tell me you can't make money this woman is renting a throne okay i know wow that is the american dream right there i love that love it and uh you guys are from the new orleans area is that right oh yes actually from patatula we like 45 minutes north of new orleans okay gotcha all right

Well, fantastic. Okay. So what happened 30 months ago when you guys say, all right, we're going to go on this debt free journey. And by the way, that's a lot of debt in 30 minutes. I know it is. Well, to be honest, I have heard about Dave, um, a couple of years back and, uh, we was already kind of like on a journey without following a Dave Ramsey plan. So we would actually get in, we'll pay off debt and then we'll get right back in it. And we'll just be in this frizz, uh, frizzless, uh, cycle. So what happened was, uh,

COVID hit. So for COVID, that was a blessing and a curse for us. So what happened was I commute back and forth to New Orleans every day. And I heard Dave on YouTube and I was an essential worker, of course. And he was just telling me how crazy I was and how stupid I was. So I had to get myself together. So I go home and I go to my wife and I say, hey, listen, I have this plan. I heard this guy on YouTube. She's still shaking her head.

And I had to get her to buy in. And I was so sold in Jade Ken. And she looked at me. She says, I'm not with it.

Uh-oh. Uh-oh, Letitia. Tell us more. Tell us how did you get into it? You know, he'd be like, hey, let's watch Dave Ramsey. I'm like, you watch it. Tell me what he said. Right. I don't want to watch that. That's great. You're like, wait a minute. You want me to watch what now? Right. I was like, you get the information and you give me a short script of it. And so what he did was he began to like, because it was COVID and it wasn't like

We could do anything. He worked a lot. People still needed their grass cut. So he worked a whole lot. So he was able to save about 10 grand. Wow. And he came home. I think it was like three or four months. He saved 10 grand. And so he was like, Hey, pay these credit cards off. And I'm like, with what? And he was like, Oh, I saved the money because I was listening to, you know, Dave Ramsey. Oh,

Okay. So, you know, I'm like, we don't have like this healthy competition going on. And he always say, you know, I like to spin. And so I was like, I'm gonna show him. And so, you know, I had my businesses going and I was running specials, like with my book specials and throne chair rental specials. I was running it. And so I came home and I said, hey, guess what?

paid this credit card off. And so we had a sheet on the wall and we would, you know, we constantly coming home and saying, I paid that one and we scratching it off. So it became a healthy competition. I love that. And I stopped getting my hair and nails done. I was wearing press-ons. I learned how to do my own hair from YouTube. Not the press-ons. It's a sacrifice. That's a deep, deep sacrifice.

I'm learning things right now. Okay, I got to say this. Donald, you're a genius. Thank you. You need to write a book for husbands. That's what I've been trying to tell you. I actually think you're a genius. I try to force stuff. You just were like, all right.

I'm just going to save up some money and surprise her. You're a genius, my man. You should write a book. Yes, sir. All right. Fun stuff. What was the debt comprised of? Curious. The 152. Okay. So we had a van that we financed. That was 12,000. My wife actually had a Nissan Pathfinder. That was 14,000. We had 28,000 in credit cards. Wow. Wow.

my wife had 38,000 in student loans. Oh, wow. And we actually paid off a home that was 60,000. Whoa. Wait, so we have a paid off home in this? We have a paid off home in this. Whoa. Is it your primary home? No. You can tell the story. Okay, so what happened was in the midst of before the pandemic happened, we were, like I say, already on a journey to pay off debt. So we acquired a mobile home that we say, hey, we'll make this rentable.

property and in the midst of renovating I was like why don't we just live here and rent out our house and there's more money we can save interesting and so we lived in the moment home and renovated it and so you know that's what we did we were on our journey they pay rent we made money and we end up selling the home

you know, because the market is right. Wow. So we sell, uh, we end up selling the home and made $28,000 in profit off of that home. Okay. So now you're still on the Airstream or whatever it is. You're still on the mobile. Yes. And you own it free and clear. Yes. Wow. Y'all don't have a payment in the world. And the greatest blessing.

of it all as well is because of we live in Louisiana where it's a hurricane state they have a program called Restore Louisiana and so because we're in a mobile home and we did acquire some damages Restore actually gave us a grant to get a brand new mobile home so we just was blessed with a brand new 2023 mobile home congratulations so we are really doing

doing great. Y'all are floating. And I got to point out your nails look fabulous. Thank you. Yeah, absolutely. I didn't get these done. We've only got a couple minutes. Real quick, tell people what you believe the key is to getting out of debt. It's discipline. It's knowing that you are worth it, that you are worth being debt free and not having to struggle and stress about bills. The relief it is to be able to travel and take a trip without using a credit card is such

an overwhelming feeling like it's just like wow I never believed that we could really be debt free because you always hear people say you're gonna always have debt but to be able to go through the steps the sacrifice being talked about laughed at like y'all really left y'all house to live in a mobile home it's so rewarding because guess what we could do whatever we want now we're able to give a

substantially we're able to be a blessing and God is constantly pouring out his blessings to us because we decided to sacrifice a little so that we could live like no one else she's preaching I'm ready to do an altar call I know man

and take an offering. I mean, I'm going to do it all. Leticia, that's the final word because that is so powerful. And you guys are on your way to being Baby Steps Millionaires. So we want to bless you with a copy of that book, Dave's latest book, Baby Steps Millionaires, because that's the next chapter in your amazing story from mobile home to millionaires. That's your slogan. I dig that. And then we're also going to give you a copy of Dave's book, Total Money Makeover, to gift to somebody else because you guys

have modeled the way, and we know you're going to continue to bless people by modeling the way. So thank you guys. Okay, you got your son with you, so let's get him up there real quick. Kelshawn. This is Kelshawn. How old is he? 17. 17. All right, here we go. We've got Donald, Letitia, Kelshawn. They paid off $152,000 in 30 months, making $120,000 to $165,000. Take it away. Let's hear your debt-free scream. Y'all ready? On three.

Three, two, one. We're the free! Yes, they are. Fantastic. I love that story. I mean, I got goosebumps. Listen, I'm ready to shout. That's all I'm saying. All right. Let's go do it. Let's go high five and shout with that fabulous family. Hey, they did it. You can do it as well. We'll be right back. This is the Ramsey Show.

Welcome back to the Ramsey Show America. I'm Ken Coleman. I'm joined by Jade Warshaw. The number for you to jump in on the conversation is 888-825-5225. Our scripture of the day comes from Luke 2, verses 7, 8, and 9. And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him in clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.

Our quote today from Calvin Coolidge, a former president. He said, Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas. President Calvin Coolidge. A great contribution there. Cool Cal is what they called him, I believe. You would know. Thank you. Thank you very much. Colorado Springs, Colorado is where we go. Alex is up.

Alex, how can we help? Hello. How are you? I'm doing great, actually. I have some good news, personally. I recently made a pretty big life change. I moved all the way across the country for a new job, and the income here is significantly better. It's about twice as what I was making recently, and I'm about to have a bunch of disposable income that I've never would have had

before in my life. And I want to begin building wealth and planning out my future. The only issue is I still have some debt, but I also want to do some investing. So I was just wondering, how would you recommend going about that? Winning. Listen, I'm excited for you. You got double the income. You've got options now. So how much debt do you have laying around? So I have $9,500 in student loans. Okay. And that's it. Oh, that's it. Okay, great. All right. And what's your income? What's this doubled salary look like?

So I actually do two jobs. I do a teaching job on the side. My main job does $97,000. And then with my teaching job, I make between about $5,000 and $10,000. Okay, cool. And what does that look like monthly? Like what are you bringing home each month? About $8,500. Okay. That's pre-tax. After tax, it's going to be around $6,000. Oh, around $6,000 you said? Mm-hmm. Okay. So what would it look like? Can you get this debt, this $9,500, can you have that gone in four months? Yes.

I could. Okay, great. So that's thing one. Do you have any money or savings laying around? Let me ask that first. I do actually. In my bank account, I have about 8,000. Oh, okay. Well, then we're going to knock this out even sooner. Wow. Okay. So what I'm going to walk you through is our series of baby steps. Jen,

Just in case, I don't know how familiar you are with them. But what we say is first step, you're just keeping $1,000. Keep it aside right quick because we need a cushion. We need a barrier between us and life if an emergency happens. So out of that $8,000 today, I'd earmark $1,000 aside. And then I'd take that $7,000 that's left and I would put it towards the student loan.

And if you can scrounge together, I know it's the end of the month. So this might be in January. If you can scrounge together that other 2000, knock it out and it's gone.

Okay. And then, go ahead. You go ahead. So another thing I was wondering though, is that I was hoping to invest in an IRA. I was hoping to begin that. We're getting to it. 401k going, probably have about 15,000, but the IRA, I know that there are annual contribution limits and I was wondering, is it too late this year to hit that? No, it's not. So I'm going to get to that, but I want to make sure you understand it within our framework.

okay because there's there's method to madness if you everybody wants to build wealth and everybody wants to do that but if you don't do it in the right way you end up taking steps backwards and we hate to see that so it's super duper important that you walk through it with some method okay because if you don't have three to six months saved what happens is that money that you saved in a 401k or an IRA that becomes your emergency fund and then when it rains you have to pull from it prematurely and you get with

hit with penalties and fees and it messes up your rhythm of investing and i really don't want that for you fair enough okay yes okay so you've paid off the student loan in january by february i want your main focus to not be investing i want your main focus to be stacking up three to six months of savings and i want that money liquid i don't want you investing that money

Okay, because if you were to lose your job, if something were to happen, you fall on hard times. You need that money there because I don't want you going into debt to cover an emergency. Okay, so February starts, you're piling up three to six months of expenses, basic expenses. Okay, this is not like your full-blown budget. And for anybody listening, three to six months of expenses, that is not your, that is not every item in your budget. Okay, this is what it takes to keep your household running when we say basic expenses. Okay.

So you're doing that. And then, then and only then are we talking about investing. Now, typically, Alex, we would tell people to pause 401k investing, but you're, I'm not going to tell you that because you're literally going to pay this off in one month. It's not even worth the trouble. But once you stack up that three to six months, you're investing. All right. 15% of your income. If your 401k has a match, you can start with that.

And then after you hit the match, you can go over to a Roth IRA. You can max one of those out. And if you still have money left of the 15%, you can go back to the 401k and keep going until you hit it. Okay. Did I, did I answer your question or you have more?

That makes sense. Yeah, but I was just wondering, is it possible still to invest in the 401k or in starting the IRA this year? I haven't actually opened up an account, but I'm just worried that we're kind of running into the deadline. No, with IRAs, you have until tax filing. So you can invest all the way up until April.

I see. Okay. At least last I checked. Did that change, Ken Coleman? Last I checked. Yes, the wrong guy. I don't check those details much. Yeah, it's not the same as with your 401k. You've got time until taxes. I believe that's true because it's based on the 2023. That's right. So I think that's correct. So yeah, keep going.

I'm right about that. I just wanted to double check it. And Ken is right about that too. But yeah, I love this. I love it. I'm excited for you. You're on your way, young man. Congratulations. Listen, follow what Jade told you to do. If you do that, you're going to be really wealthy. And just be patient. Just walk the steps out. Start that investing plan. Now, how old are you?

24. Oh, come on now. That's exciting. Listen, and again, I'm going to say this again. I don't know if you're going to do it or not, but if you really want to do this quickly, pause investing now. So just pause. It's a temporary, just quick pause so you can get that money back in your hands so you can quickly get the student loan out so you can quickly save up that three to six months. And then you can hit a hard 15%. Oh my goodness.

You'll it's going to make your mind blown how quickly you recoup Uh, whatever little bit you lost off of that small pause. That's exactly right It's all about momentum alex and everybody else I mean, that's the the magic of the baby steps is it allows you to get emotional? Momentum which then leads to financial momentum and that that's what's really great. Uh, okay, so, uh

unbelievable here. I wanted to bring back perspective, Jade, for you as we wrap up the show today. 36 million plus of our listeners and viewers paying off debt. It is doable. And I've got to do this because she's my friend, but this is really good. You see that? I got to tilt it the right way. Look at that. Money's not a math problem. This is her new book. Comes out when? It's technically

out now. Oh, it is. It's on the street. Okay. I know it had been pre-sale. So you can get it now. Amazon, wherever books are sold. Yes. If you buy it on RamseySolutions.com, it'll ship immediately. If you go on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, those sorts of things, it will not ship till January 2nd. So keep that in mind. Yeah. So here's what's great about it. Barely over 40 pages.

It includes her amazing story. This is a woman who's walked the walk. She's talked the talk. The real reason you're broken, what to do about it. Money's not a math problem, and it's about behavior. And that's what I love about this title. And Jade has lived it. She and Sam paid almost half a million dollars off in debt. And as we wrap today's show, I just was thinking the perspective here of all the calls we have had today. Plus, I could say this about every show. It really is...

about the title of your book. It is, I'm going to give you the final word on that. Wow. It is about behavior. Yes, it is. Money's not a math problem. At the end of the day, you're not going to accomplish anything if you don't truly believe you can. And I always say, if behavior is the car, belief is in the driver's seat. Belief is what drives our behavior. Whether you believe you can or you can't, you're right.

And if you're not getting where you want to go, it's because you don't believe you can get where you want to go. And I say it all the time. You can tell me you won't do it, but don't tell me you can't. You can do it, but your belief's got to be in the right place. And this book is all about that. Go get it right now. RamseySolutions.com. It's in the store. It'd be a great gift because it's very affordable. It's the gift that keeps on giving.

Famous line from Christmas Vacation. How about that? Hey, big thanks to my colleague, my dear friend, Jade Warshaw, soon-to-be best-selling author, to our fearless leader, old captain, our captain, James Childs, and the amazing crew. This is The Ramsey Show. ♪

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