You Can’t Heal Your Finances Without Changing Your Habits

10:56Jade Warshaw:Go for it.

10:57Ken Coleman:He hears from someone else. So together we have$39 ,000 in debt. We currently do everything separately. I've brought it to his attention since I started listening in February that I want us to work to unify that. But we have some things to overcome. We've started counseling. Good. that's awesome but thank you um his so his debt is 22 ,650 his two credit one credit card is 1350 one is 2300 a personal loan of 6 ,000 and then his bike is 13. he has told me that his bike is worth around 10, but he has an extra vehicle worth five. So he would have$2 ,000 left over that he could throw towards other debt and finish saving the$1 ,000 emergency fund.

11:58Okay.

11:58Ken Coleman:Tell us about your situation. Tell us about your side. So you laid out his$22 ,000 of debt and what he could do. Tell us a little bit more about your side. so i started listening to you guys in february and i'm like i'm gonna get giselle intense and i have and the timing i've been super blessed i've gotten my tax refund so i paid off in the last two weeks um five thousand one hundred and thirty three dollars in debt okay and i am down How much of that was the refund?

12:37Ken Coleman:90%, and then I got a bonus that I threw towards my last credit card. Okay, great. So what's your total debt left at this point, just for you? So my total is$16 ,698.89. Okay, cool. And what's it broken down? What type of debt is it? um i have we had to get our house lab jack so i have a loan for that um that we did last year how much is that alone um it is seven thousand seven hundred sixty two dollars okay and then a personal loan how much is that it is sixty four hundred okay and then what else some medic um medical debt and i honestly i've gotten the bills but i didn't have the money to pay them so I don't know what the amount is and I did a rough guess of what I looked at and I'm thinking around$2 ,500.

13:29Ken Coleman:Oh$2 ,500. Okay where's the other$2 ,500 or$2 ,000 or$3 ,000? That's all I've got. I've got the$77 for the. Okay close enough. Okay so you're thinking even though you guys are separate even though your money right now is separate and you guys are working to get it together, you're kind of still like, let's act as though our money's together. And I still have opinions on what you can do. How does he feel about that? Because it could be a moot point. If you're saying, I want to combine the money and he's saying, I'm not ready to combine the money. And then you're saying, and by the way, sell your motorcycle.

14:12Ken Coleman:It may not be the best way to get him over to your side, if that makes sense. I agree with you, by the way. Like, let that be known. I agree. Sell the motorcycle. Do this thing together. All that's right. However, I don't want to attempt to level jump on where you guys are in your relationship. And I certainly wouldn't want you to make a very delicate situation even more fragile by going, sell your motorcycle, you know? so so he he has um a side job which will he does landscaping on the side so he's going to start that in like the next couple of weeks and so his thought is he's just going to take all the side money and throw it at that and we kind of calculated that and that would leave him around like 9 000 versus just like 8 8 300 and like one one quick swoop right but the truth is but the truth is if you sell the motorcycle, that side hustle would go towards other debts faster.

15:12Ken Coleman:And you and I both know that. Right. Okay. Yes. It's not his primary. It's not his primary.

15:20Jade Warshaw:I'm sorry. I jumped in. Is that his primary mode of transportation, the Harley?

15:27Ken Coleman:No. In fact, it's not even at our house for storage for the winter.

15:32Jade Warshaw:What's his name? His name is Jonathan. Jonathan? Jonathan? Yes. Your wife says you're going to watch the show. And I've been listening, and I only have one thing to say. You've got to sell the hog.

15:46Ken Coleman:Or at least explain to us why not.

15:48Jade Warshaw:No.

15:48Ken Coleman:But I'm just saying, if we can understand it.

15:51Jade Warshaw:No, he has to sell it. That's my position.

15:54Ken Coleman:He doesn't want to have to save up to buy a new one because we're going into summer, and he wants to be able to write it. There's a lot of things that I want to do.

16:02Jade Warshaw:There's a lot of things that I want to do that I still cannot afford to do. And that is life.

16:08Ken Coleman:I told him, like, it's one season. It's just one season. I just don't think you guys are on the same page, and I don't even think you're close. I agree with that. And I think as long as that's the case, this is not really the issue. The bike is just not the issue. I mean, we can keep talking about it. Ken's right. He needs to sell it. You're right. He needs to sell it. I'm right. He needs to sell it. But he doesn't see it that way. So we're chasing our tails on this until you guys get to the deeper reason, which is, number one, how do we get on the same page on what our goals are? because if we both have the same goals and we both know the reason why, then we can both attack that with the same intensity.

16:43Ken Coleman:So there's something behind this that it's, and at least in his mind, this is more your thing than it is his thing. And he's just kind of going along with your thing. And I think that as long as he views it that way, it's easy for him to go, yeah, I'll do this, but I'm not gonna do that, right? Yeah. So there's more conversations that need to be had. If you really - Yeah, we want to solve this. Sorry. No, no, no. Go ahead. Yeah, we have a lot of other issues. When I started listening to the show, Dave said something once, and I'm like, now I can put my finger on it. We fundamentally just disagree on a lot of things.

17:25Ken Coleman:And I kind of took the pin out of the grenade and tossed it into the living room. I'm like, we have to get on the same page, or I don't know what's going to happen, but I cannot live on different pages anymore. So we have to get on the same page. So he agreed to start counseling, which we've had one session. We have our next one scheduled. So we're making the right steps, I think. Yeah, good. But it's kind of like big question mark, like, are we going to get on the same page? Yeah, I mean, for what it's worth, Jonathan, we think you need to sell the motorcycle. I mean, if he's listening, I definitely think that.

17:58Ken Coleman:But I don't see that happening right away is what I'm telling you, Nicole. I don't see that happening right away. And you can keep jumping on the mattress, but eventually the mattress is going to fall through the frame if you do it, is what I think.

18:13Jade Warshaw:Or Jonathan, if you are listening and watching and you really do want your marriage to work, and you really are serious about what you're about to do in therapy, why don't you pay attention and bring it up yourself in the next session that your wife doesn't feel emotionally safe financially since you're watching, I'll tell you. And I think you should sell the Harley because of what it represents.

18:35Ken Coleman:Well, yeah, because he's essentially saying that his Harley Davidson's more important than his marriage and what his wife wants, which is a problem.

18:41Jade Warshaw:So I don't mind saying that. A problem. Because that's what I'd say to anybody. Yeah. And I just think this is so important. And you nailed it. The counseling, by the way, Jonathan and Nicole, most important thing you guys can do. And it's so amazing when you can sit down with somebody who's partial, excuse me, who's impartial. Impartial. Thank you. and we share our emotions about what we're feeling because this is a money issue, but you just laid out for us, Nicole, that you guys are not on the same page on a variety of issues. And when our values aren't aligned, somebody's got to give. And it's my experience that both of you are going to have to give

19:21Ken Coleman:at some point. Yeah, I agree. I think that it's okay to do something out of goodwill towards your spouse. I agree. Even if you don't want to. You know what I'm saying?

19:34Jade Warshaw:Yeah, there's another Harley down the road.

19:36Ken Coleman:Yes. Yes.

19:37Jade Warshaw:Probably nicer.

19:39Ken Coleman:Yes.

19:39Jade Warshaw:You do what we tell you to do.

19:40Ken Coleman:You know, scarcity mentality. He's like, I got to hold on to this one. No, you don't.

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21:20Ken Coleman:Thanks for listening to The Ramsey Show. We've got Esteban in Los Angeles, California. Esteban, how can we help today? Hi, thanks for taking my call. Absolutely. I'm currently on long-term disability, and I'm going to lose it in June 4th. And it's about$6 ,000 of my income. And I just want to know what the best way to tackle my debt and adjust to the situation. I don't work. I'm on disability. So you're losing the long-term disability money. Are you for sure you're unable to do any type of work going forward? yes um i've tried for several years my conditions um bipolar schizophrenic and like any level of stress causes me to have episodes and so it's in the opinion of my doctor that i remain not working so currently i have my va disability at 4300 i have my ssdi between my daughter and myself i bring $5 ,600.

22:33Ken Coleman:Okay. And then my wife gives me about$1 ,500 to$1 ,800. Okay. Once a month. How much is the VA one? The VA is$4 ,300. So why in the world do you need more money? That sounds like a nice monthly income. It's over 10. It is. Tell me more. But I have that. I have$44 ,000 in consolidation loan. Okay. And I have a$39 ,000 car loan that I just refinanced to lower the payment. Okay. I was writing something when you said the debt consolidation. How much is the debt consolidation?

23:16Jade Warshaw:$44 ,000.

23:17Ken Coleman:$44 ,000?

23:19Jade Warshaw:What's the car worth?

23:21Ken Coleman:The car is worth anywhere from$31 ,000 to$33 ,000. Okay. I also have a$15 ,000 tax bill that I got to pay, and I have$11 ,000 saved up in my checking account. Okay, good to know.

23:38Jade Warshaw:What other debt do you have? That's it. Well, then, my friend, where's your money going?

23:46Ken Coleman:That's what I need to know.

23:47Jade Warshaw:You have plenty of income. You have plenty of income to be paying these.

23:51Ken Coleman:You have over$11 ,000 a month and$11 ,000 saved. I would not be trying to track down more disability checks. I would be saying, okay, with what I have, how can I optimize that? Because it's a good amount of money a month. So tell us more about your living conditions and who's living with you. What do you pay? It's my wife and my daughter. She goes to daycare. We pay$1 ,600 a month for three days a week. Okay. Before you keep doing that, I need to go back to something. because you said my wife gives me$1 ,500. What does that mean? Is there more money there that we need to know about? And why isn't it all pulled together?

24:33Ken Coleman:Well, she makes around$3 ,000 a month, but about$1 ,600 goes to daycare. And then the other check she gets paid biweekly, she gives it to me to pay off my debt. Understood. Okay, this is an interesting system. All right. So what I want you guys to do from now on is just pool all that money together. just mentally it's going to help you tackle this a little better. It's totally fine that$1 ,600 of that check goes towards daycare. I'm not saying any differently. But if you guys are thinking about that we're doing this together, it's not her giving you money to pay off your debt. It's us working together to pay off our debt.

25:06Ken Coleman:I think that's going to just help you emotionally and help your marriage feel like it's on one accord. So that's one piece of advice here. But let's look at this by the numbers. If I look at the$11 ,000 you have saved, what I'd be doing this weekend is I'd be posting that car for sale, private value. And then whatever you're able to sell it for, if you can sell it for$33 ,000 or$34 ,000 or$35 ,000 even, then I'd put the other$5 ,000 with it out of your savings so that you get a clean title on that and actually offload that vehicle. and then I'd take the other$5 ,000 or$6 ,000 left and I'd buy yourself a cash car because you're not going to work.

25:47Ken Coleman:So you definitely don't need a$39 ,000 vehicle sitting in the driveway. I mean, fair enough? Right. That's fair. So that would clear up almost half of your debt right away.

25:59Jade Warshaw:And what's that car payment a month?

26:02Ken Coleman:$6 ,57 a month.

26:03Jade Warshaw:Ooh, yeah. Dude, that's a lot. That's a huge raise. That's$7 ,200 plus a year back in your pocket.

26:11Ken Coleman:that's going to make you feel a lot better.

26:13Jade Warshaw:Can we pause for a second and just, I want to know, are you hearing what we're saying that we think you have more than enough money to pay this debt off? Do you agree with that? Or are you still cloudy on that?

26:25Ken Coleman:I'm just honestly just very used to when I was working, making very high income. And so earning less money makes me nervous. Okay.

26:37Jade Warshaw:But that's not what I asked you. do you see what we see that you have plenty of income to pay down this debt yes okay like this is a this this is um this is a realization i understand the fear um and i totally understand it but that's why i want you getting out of the fear game and looking at the real numbers okay and if you sell this car that's why i asked you what the monthly payment was i I wanted you to register that all of a sudden, if we sell that car in the next week to 10 days, we don't have a$670 car payment. That's even more margin. And are you spending a lot every month?

27:25Ken Coleman:I just moved to a new apartment. My apartment cost$3 ,800. I used to spend a lot on DoorDash. $3 ,800?

27:32Jade Warshaw:Hold on, hold on, hold on. You have a$3 ,800 a month rent? Yes. Where are you staying?

27:40Ken Coleman:In an apartment complex in Monterey Park.

27:43Jade Warshaw:Okay. How could we beat that rental price? That feels pretty high to me. And in other words, maybe not for that area, but you could rent somewhere for a lot cheaper, true or false? True. But you just signed a long-term lease, so now you're stuck. Yes. Okay. Here's what I'm pointing out. You're going to have to adjust your lifestyle, my friend, as you're getting healthy. You're dealing with something that is obviously very debilitating. And who knows what your prognosis is. And so I understand that. But so what we need to be doing is adjusting our lifestyle. And the last thing I would have done if I were you is sign up for a place in Marina Del Rey, one of the nicest areas in L.A., and pay$3 ,800 for one person, especially when you're on a fixed income.

28:30Jade Warshaw:Now, here's the good news for you, as Jade pointed out. You have plenty of income, even though it's fixed. So you can still get out of this, but you have to adjust your lifestyle in the form of a budget. But that's what's going to allow you to overcome this fear are the facts of the numbers. And we can sit here objectively and say, you got plenty of numbers to be able to solve this problem. Based on the calls we get, this amount of debt versus the income you have is very, very. Yeah. This is a classic two-year deal.

29:03Ken Coleman:I don't know how much your wife was willing or not willing to help with this, but obviously if she was willing to take on some extra hours and you guys did this thing together, and if you said to yourself, okay, right now we're making$12 ,000 a month. Is there a world where we can put$5 ,000 a month on this thing? And what type of side hustle what it take to do that. Well, then now you're done in 12 months. You see, that's with you selling the car. And so that's the kind of mindset it's going to take is let's create a world where this happens in like 12 to 18 months and work backwards from there.

29:39Ken Coleman:So that's you putting somewhere anywhere between 35 and 5 ,000 a month on this. And that's going to take you guys working on this together. Okay. Do you think there's a world where she says, yeah, we're tackling this together. It's not just me giving you$1 ,500 out of my paycheck to quote, pay your debt, but this is our life and something that we're all tackling together. Yes. I think she's on board. Okay. So I think that's where you guys need to get because freedom. I look at this Esteban, I got to tell you, I look at this and I go, Oh yeah, no problem. I don't look at the, I'll be honest. There's some calls that come and I'm like, I don't know.

30:17Ken Coleman:You know, this one's going to be tight, but I look at your situation Esteban. I go, Oh my gosh, this could be so much worse. Thank goodness they have all this money coming in. Thank goodness his wife is able to work. And thank goodness, because then my other thought is, I don't know what the nature of your disability, but even the child care thing, the fact that she's able to get out and have actual income coming in, and maybe there's times when you're with the kids, I don't know. But that really does open her up to be able to put in more hours. If you guys buckle down on this and get on a beans and rice, rice and beans budget, which by the way, we'll send you every dollar in order to do just that.

30:52Ken Coleman:You guys are gonna be free in the next 12 months. 5 ,000 bucks a month, that is the goal and you can do it.

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31:48Jade Warshaw:See website for full details.

32:07Ken Coleman:if you're working the baby steps the best and fastest way to do it is by using every dollar it's more than just our budgeting app now it's the plan built right in you can track your progress Plus, get personalized recommendations and coaching for your situation that'll help you free up more money and work the plan even faster. It's like having one of us walking with you every day, showing you the next right step and holding you accountable. Start every dollar for free today by downloading it in the App Store or Google Play. All right. Cody is in Missouri. Hey, Cody. How can we help today?

32:42Jade Warshaw:Hey, thanks so much for taking my call. My brother and I have a pretty estranged relationship, and it's been going on for six years. He has some explosive, outrageous text threads he'll just send.

32:57Ken Coleman:And recently he did this before my birthday and then tried to send me a really nice about$400 to$500 gift for my birthday. And the family is saying, you know, this is him trying to make up for it and all this. And I don't know what to do with it. Anytime he's given a gift in the past, it's always come back against me.

33:17Jade Warshaw:And so I'm actually, I'd rather send it back, sell it. I don't want it.

33:22Ken Coleman:Tell us about the other times where he's done that and what the repercussion was. What did it look like?

33:27Jade Warshaw:Yeah. Yeah.

33:29Ken Coleman:So I've been in the ministry before. He supported our ministry before. That's come back in ways of him through some really aggressive texts or calls of just saying, remember when I did this for you? I've always supported you. You're never there for me. Or gifts to my kids for their birthdays. That's been used against us. And so this in no way does it feel like an apology. Okay, but let me ask this.

33:55Jade Warshaw:What does he want in return? Because of the first example, you know, I get what he's doing, but what does he want and what has he asked for or implied that he wants as a result of supporting you or sending gifts?

34:09Ken Coleman:so he will get mad all right he's quite a conspiracy theorist so he will get mad when i don't agree with him on something and these will be brought up along with you know anything else

34:25Jade Warshaw:of areas where he supported me and so my disagreement with him equals i don't support him in general. So he's not asking for anything. He's just, he's just aggrieved that you don't see eye to eye with him on something. And so he kind of guilts you into this, what he wants. And give me a little attitude here, because I'm digging. He wants you to agree with him. That's what he wants? Oh, yeah. He wants me to, okay, here's the attitude. He wants me to say, you're right. look at what you've learned and because in turn he said i've supported your endeavors please show me where i'm right and honestly uh he's 42 is he is he well mentally like does he

35:16Ken Coleman:does he have some i'm just saying is there a diagnosis or do you think there is a lack of diagnosis here so that's a great question and my wife and i actually think he may he may be bipolar

35:30Jade Warshaw:I was going to ask. If you bring it up to him, it's going to, it would go bad. All right. One more quick dig here. So on this last situation where you, all you started off with is you got this nasty text and then the nice gift. What precipitated the nasty text? Okay. It was a series of when the Epstein files came out. Of course. of him saying, look at how right I was. And then, and then it was to me and his wife was in the

36:02Ken Coleman:text. She actually ended up calling and saying, I'm so sorry that he's doing this. It was F off.

36:08Jade Warshaw:You don't know. I mean, it was aggressive. So that's because you are playing this game with him and you are playing a game. You cannot win. Okay. And the game is, Oh, we're brothers. And we're going to have real honest back and forth on any topic. Could be football, could be politics, could be religion, whatever. And here's my advice because I have someone in my family that this could happen like this. Not quite as intense, but shades of it. And so I want to address this tactically and then we can weigh in on the gift thing. what you're going to have to do is realize that you can't fix him and there's no way you can win this crazy game he's created so you so you know what you do you don't play the game when he fires off that text about the epstein stuff and how right he was instead of you don't have to betray your integrity and what you think instead of engaging with a well i don't know or whatever just go crazy, isn't it?

37:17Jade Warshaw:Wow. Fascinating.

37:19Ken Coleman:See, Ken, you're better than me because I would have just been like, I never saw the text. I never saw it.

37:23Jade Warshaw:Well, again, that's a tactic, but I do think he's unwell. And I think that all this guy cares about deep down is something of an approval from you, but he doesn't, but you don't have to agree with what he says. But I do think if you want to save this relationship and actually try to detangle it. And this is an approach that may or may not work, but I really think it could work. And I just think what you do is you make him feel valued, but you don't have to agree with what he says. And you see what I'm saying? Because you can't win. So just, you know, don't disagree with him on anything. There's a way, by the way, to hear somebody and make them feel seen and heard without rubber stamping what they say.

38:07Jade Warshaw:I have a master's degree in this with someone in my family.

38:10Ken Coleman:Is that what you've been doing with me all this time?

38:12Jade Warshaw:100%. See what I just did there? So now on the gift thing, you know what, man? If you want to sell the gift or give it to somebody because it has such a stain to it, I want you to hear me say, I get that.

38:26Ken Coleman:You won't win for losing with that, though.

38:27Jade Warshaw:But don't return it because that's going to create more of a hornet's nest. You're going to have to take the high road. and I'm going to give you one other piece of advice that somebody gave me recently. It was about parenting. And I think actually this is going to help you with your brother. And this is what my friend said. He said, you have to be the dock, not the boat. And your brother is going to just be the boat. Whatever the waves are doing at the dock, he's just bouncing up and down with whatever's going on in the news. And somehow he secretly has got this weird perverted sense of, I need approval from my brother.

39:01Jade Warshaw:and he tweaks and he tries to throw things at you that he knows you're not going to agree with because it's some type of weird game and you got to be the doc you're you are planted in the ground and so you don't play the game don't take the bait and is it okay so on the gift i will i will get i'll just give it away to someone yeah and with a clear conscience when it comes to engaging i feel like I've tried Jade's approach of not responding. I've tried, uh, I've tried arguing years ago. That doesn't go anywhere.

39:36Ken Coleman:Definitely don't do that. Did you try my approach?

39:38Jade Warshaw:You know, I have, and it comes off to him. The story he tells himself is that I'm being demeaning or sarcastic. And I'm truly not. If I said, Oh, tell me more, man. Thanks for reaching out. Those sorts of things. They just, I just feel like there might be mental illness. Well, then you got to cut him off.

39:58Ken Coleman:Yeah. Or just not engage, not, not engage in those texts. When those texts come through that, you know, like to Ken's point, you know, it's the bait. Just don't engage. Just don't. And he probably will fire off more and more and more and more and more. And pretty soon I think it'll, he'll learn to go, oh, he doesn't respond to these texts. And it will become something that is a new learned behavior is if I, if I text Cody, he doesn't write back and he'll probably get mad and send a text cussing you out. How often do you see him in person? You know, it's, we've actually canceled a trip because one of his outrageous text threads and stuff was that dangerous.

40:37Ken Coleman:And so I see him maybe once or twice a year. And even then there's a sense of the relationships fading. Yeah.

40:47Jade Warshaw:Does he act this way in person or is it just all this bravery via text? It's this bravery via text. That tells me a lot. That's very interesting. Because he doesn't even act that way to you in person. No, no.

41:02Ken Coleman:Huh.

41:03Jade Warshaw:Oh, then I'd call his bluff. That tells me a little bit. I'd put him in his place. Tell me more about that. How would you do that? Face to face.

41:12Ken Coleman:And I'm not talking like... Like don't confront.

41:16Jade Warshaw:I'm not talking fisticuffs. I'm saying look him right in the eye and call his stuff out and go, you try to bully me and manipulate me via text. If you printed these off and had somebody objective read these, they'd tell you how nuts this is. This needs to stop or let's hash it out right now. Let's get the whole family around in the living room and let's hash it out. Let's get it done today. Guarantee he runs like a scalded dog.

41:40Ken Coleman:I might, I'm going to say this and throw this in. I might actually talk to his wife and find out what he's like at home.

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43:13Ken Coleman:Welcome back to the Ramsey Show in the Fair Ones Credit Union studio. We are taking calls about your life and money, and we have Kendra from Minneapolis, Minnesota on the line. Hey, Kendra, how can Ken and I help you today? Hello, thanks for taking the call. Absolutely. I have a quick question about debt collection. So I've never been in this situation before, but I just found out through my mortgage lender, actually, that I had something in debt collection. And I'm wondering what sort of like legal actions I could take or if I have to pay for it myself. Are you contending that it's not your debt?

43:48Ken Coleman:Or do you know that it's your debt? I believe it's not mine. It's from, as far as I'm aware, it's from 2023. From an apartment I lived back in 2017 with two roommates. And I had signed everything over to them and left the situation a decade ago. Uh-huh. And I thought they were paying for it, and then I find out just last month that I owe, like,$500. It's not too much, but I don't know if I should have to pay for it. Was your name somewhere on the lease that you just didn't know about it? I mean, you had to assign something, I'm guessing, if you were a roommate there. Yeah. It was Internet, and it was on my roommate's name.

44:29Ken Coleman:I would pay her by check every month, and she would pay for it. okay well they're coming after you interesting um i mean you can contact how long how long ago was it did you say so i lived there in 2016 to 2017 and at no point were you ever at no point was that was it ever under your name no i haven't been contacted about it at all in the last decade i mean you could dispute it i mean yeah you could dispute it with the credit bureaus and say like Like this account doesn't belong to me or, you know, whatever the thing is and file that dispute. You can do that online and see how it comes back. Okay.

45:12Ken Coleman:But honestly, it's$500 and you're getting ready to buy a house. I don't know that you want to fool with it. I don't, I mean, you get to decide what's easier for you. But can I hate burning the mental calories on stuff like that? It's$500. If you have the money and it's keeping you from getting your mortgage going through, I would just pay it and be done. Okay. I do. Currently, I'm paying for school out of pocket as well. I've had some sort of medical issues, so I'm paying for that out of pocket too. I have the money I could pay for. I'm just kind of tight right now. Okay, let me ask you this. Let's get creative for a second.

45:48Jade Warshaw:By the way, I agree with Jade. Get this out of your life, and even if it were to make life really tight for a bit, you're just going to feel better. However, I do think there's another tactic. Do you have stuff? How much stuff do you have? i have been debt free for since 2018 no no i'm asking how much stuff you could sell i mean you can sell stuff my wife is the queen of selling our kids older clothing stuff we got around the house i'm saying how much stuff general word here do you have that could equal to 500 and honestly

46:22Ken Coleman:not even 500 you could probably settle it for 250 well there you go now it's even better now

46:27Jade Warshaw:Now, do you have some stuff you could sell, Kendra? I could. Yeah, like what? Give me two or three items. Let's walk through this real quick. Let's go. What do we got?

46:38Ken Coleman:Well, I've got an extra TV I could probably sell. Bingo.

46:41Jade Warshaw:Okay, what else?

46:43Ken Coleman:I've got an extra, like a few game consoles. Love it. Great. Let's go. Up there,$2.50 at least. Come on.

46:53Jade Warshaw:That's it. Now, how does that feel as opposed to where we just were 30 seconds ago? Yeah, that feels a lot better just to get out of my life. Then go sell something. Go sell a few somethings tonight and tomorrow and get$500 cash and be done with it.

47:06Ken Coleman:That's what I'm doing. It's not worth it. You can track it down. You can file a claim. You can do all these things. But at the end of the day, depending on how much money it is and what piece of your world financially it truly is, many times I'm just like, settle it, pay it, get it out of your hair.

47:22Jade Warshaw:Mental calories. You said it so well. When I start thinking about that, that's like my only goal in life right now is to burn mental calories.

47:30Ken Coleman:I know that's right.

47:31Jade Warshaw:Actually, to not burn them. I don't want to go burn mental calories.

47:35Ken Coleman:Yes, make life simple. Give me an easy button all day. Physical calories are tough enough. What's the craziest thing you've sold to get money?

47:42Jade Warshaw:Wow. I wish Stacey were on the line right now because she's always been the lead dog on this. But I would say we sold – I wouldn't say it's crazy, but I remember when the kids got out of the double bob. We had a double bob because you know our kids that we had three within three years.

47:58Ken Coleman:A double bob? What's that?

48:00Jade Warshaw:So a huge stroller had the big wheels. You could like – you could climb a mountain with this stroller. It's the name of it. It was called a bob. Got it. We had a double because you know Chase and Josie are seven months apart. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, and then we had one exact same one, but a single for Ty. All that said, one day we realized we don't need these anymore, and they were in high demand. Heck yeah. Because we took care of them. We didn't have for very long. And we sold all three of those. And the reason I'm saying that is because we made a real nice chunk of change.

48:30Ken Coleman:I bet that's...

48:31Jade Warshaw:I don't remember what it was, but it was also very emotional. We didn't realize it. Oh, yeah.

48:35Ken Coleman:To sell your strollers. That is big. I still have mine up in the attic.

48:38Jade Warshaw:I don't know if I have a crazy story, but we've sold just about everything.

48:40Ken Coleman:I sold used bath mats. Sure. And someone bought them on Facebook Marketplace.

48:47Jade Warshaw:For how much?

48:48Ken Coleman:$5.

48:49Jade Warshaw:But see,$5 is$5.

48:50Ken Coleman:But I'm just saying back then, I was selling anything. Right. Used bath mats, people. Everything is possible.

48:56Jade Warshaw:You know, people, you've heard Dave, some of you have not heard Dave Ramsey say this. We've been saying it for decades. But he used to say something effective, and you'll help me out because you're better at this than I am. Sell so much stuff, the kids think they're next. That's it. You nailed it. Is that the exact way he said it? Yeah. Yep. And by the way, he was on to something then, and that's all we're saying.

49:14Ken Coleman:He was on to something then, he's on to something now. Sell so much stuff that kids think they're next, quote Dave Ramsey. All right, we got Kurt in Georgia. Kurt, we're right up against the clock, but we can help you out. How can we help today? Yeah, thanks for having me on. Just calling in. So many of us have been listening to the podcast, Dave Ramsey, and we've got a car payment. We're not sure if we should keep or to do something with. What do you owe on the car? And what's it worth? It's a 2007 UConn 17 UConn Denali. We owe around$31 ,000 or$32 ,000. It looks like it's worth around$17 ,000 to$22 ,000.

49:54Ken Coleman:Yikes. Okay. Is that private sale? No, that's what we bought from a dealer. No, no, no. If you were to sell it private sale, is that the private sale value or is that you trading it into a dealership? Just on Marketplace. That's just what they're going for. Okay. I would check that on Kelly Blue Book and just see what it would go for private sale. And I also want to know, is this your only debt or how much other debt do you have? We also have a home and a land payment. Oh, gosh. Okay. Well, home is off to the side and land probably is going along with it. If this is your only debt, what do you guys make every year?

50:32Ken Coleman:What do you bring home every month? Somewhere around$5 ,000 to$6 ,000 a month, probably. I mean, what you could do if you're really trying to offload this, you could say, hey, we're just going to go down to the credit union and we're going to get a loan, a$10 ,000 loan for the difference. And we're going to pay that thing off aggressively. We'd rather pay off$10 ,000 than$32 ,000. And while you're at it, maybe you get the loan for$5 ,000 more so you can get a beater cash car with the$5 ,000. and now you're paying off$15 ,000 from the bank instead of$32 ,000 from wherever you bought this 2007 vehicle from.

51:08Ken Coleman:Does that make sense? Actually, it does. But we've actually been in this for, we bought it in 2022, and it's at 13.75%. So we've already been in this for a few years now. So we just didn't know if it was, it's not something we can't pay for. It's just something that we don't know if it's feasible or if it even makes sense to pay for it. Well, that's what I'm saying. You called in asking, should we sell it? And I'm saying you can. And I'd rather pay off a$15 ,000 debt than a$32 ,000 debt. If you'd like to pay it and keep it and you can pay it off in the next year or so, sure, that's fine.

52:02Jade Warshaw:Finally, mortgage rates have dropped.

52:04Ken Coleman:And you know what that means? People who have been sitting on the sidelines are about to jump back in to the housing market. So if you've been waiting to buy, this could be your window.

52:13Jade Warshaw:But you've got to be prepared and do it the Ramsey way. You need to contact Churchill Mortgage. Their Home Buyer Edge program gives you peace of mind in a wild market. You can cap your rate for 90 days. So if rates go up, you're protected. If rates go down, Churchill will drop yours automatically. And get this, Churchill will even back your offer with a$10 ,000 seller guarantee. So if your loan falls through due to financing, the seller still gets paid. That's how confident Churchill is. Plus, when you shop as a Churchill certified home buyer, it's stronger than pre-approval. It makes you look like a cash buyer, which makes your offer rise to the top.

52:55Jade Warshaw:So don't let this moment pass you by. Get ready now. Go to churchillmortgage.com to get started today. That's churchillmortgage.com. This is a paid advertisement. Homebuyer Edge and Seller Guarantee are available for qualifying borrowers and select loan types only, and not available in all states or locations. NMLS ID 1591. NMLSconsumeraccess.org. Equal housing lender.

53:30Ken Coleman:Regina is in Michigan. Regina, you're on the line. How can we help? Hi, how's everyone doing? Thanks for taking my call. Sure. I got myself in a bit of a conundrum and I was hoping for some perspective. Just a little context. I'm 44, single, and holding down three jobs, one of which I don't get paid for. Whoa, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. I'm conversed.

54:03Jade Warshaw:By the way you started this call, I'm fairly certain you don't have time for a volunteer job. And that's what you just described. So what in the world are you doing with that one?

54:13Ken Coleman:I've been a caretaker for as long as I can remember. and I'm caring for my auntie. Okay. Okay. Well, that's different. That's fair.

54:22Jade Warshaw:Now I feel like a big jerk, but that's not the way you said it. You said a third job where you're not getting paid. So now I got to backtrack everything. That's not. No, it's okay. I'm trying to help America know that I'm not heartless about your aunt. That's all. Okay. So keep going.

54:39Ken Coleman:So basically I've been caring for her and I was getting paid by the state, but I'm no longer getting paid by the state for caring for her. Me and my mother purchased a house in 2002, and we only have two and a half more years to pay on it. She pays the mortgage. I pay all the utilities. My issue that I'm struggling with right now is I am$30 ,000 in debt. Seven grand of that is a student loan that I'm not even touching. I haven't paid anything, and it's a queuing interest every single day. And we literally have no food budget. We haven't had a food budget since 2019. So how are you eating? Well, we have beans and rice, like Dave always says.

55:37Ken Coleman:And I've been getting some assistance from the state. However, that's going to stop when they find out I have this other job. So that's going to stop pretty soon because I have to report this new job that I got. Right. And that's where I want to camp out because you're either below the poverty line to where you do need government assistance for things like food and what have you, or you're earning through that and you are no longer eligible, which means there should be money for things like food and whatnot and what have you. So help me understand how much you're earning from the two jobs that you're currently working.

56:15Ken Coleman:I get about$1 ,050 a month. What's the nature of these jobs, Regina? I'm currently with a janitorial company. I clean for some attorneys. How many hours a week? 25 hours a week. Regina.

56:38Jade Warshaw:Yeah, it's not a job. It's not a full-time job. No. I want to make sure we understand. You're saying with both of these part-time jobs, you're making$1 ,000 a month.

56:49Ken Coleman:Yes. Okay. And I get$15 an hour at each job. And then the majority of the time I'm running from appointment to appointment with my auntie. Now, here's my question. Me being 30K in debt, I have contacted my creditors and I have gotten on some, what's it called, the hardship. Here's what I want to stop. We got to stop and talk about it and what's going to actually help you move forward today. and it has to all change today because at 44, if you keep going down this route, you're going to end up in a place, you're going to hit a point of no return where it's going to be very, very hard. Do you see what I'm saying?

57:42Ken Coleman:So here's what we need. Ken is going to help you with this, but we've got to find work today that's paying a little more than$15 an hour. and we've got to be able to put, dedicate full-time effort to it. You got to be able to work. And it's not you being a bad person. It's not you being mean or anything like that, but you've got to be able to sustain yourself and you simply cannot on a thousand dollars a month. Something that you have in your favor is you're living in a house where it sounds like you're not having to pay rent. You're simply having to pay utilities, which is helpful for you in this season.

58:17Ken Coleman:But we got to get you somewhere where you're making an income.

58:20Jade Warshaw:Okay, here's what I don't understand. again, you said you've got two jobs and you're making 15 an hour for both of them. Did I hear that correctly?

58:29Ken Coleman:That's correct.

58:30Jade Warshaw:But you're not working 40 hours a week.

58:32Ken Coleman:She's working 23, right? 25 at each job, 25 hours a week at each job.

58:38Jade Warshaw:Okay, well, that's 50 hours. You should be bringing home way more than$1 ,000 a month. I have you. Okay. What are you paying in taxes?

58:54Ken Coleman:Right now, I have to pay in on taxes. I've been paying in for the past five years.

59:02Jade Warshaw:How much?

59:05Ken Coleman:$89 this year. And I get$82 back from Fed. Okay, something's not adding up. You should be making at least$3 ,000 a month.

59:17Jade Warshaw:Yeah, because if 50 hours a week times 15, okay, I'm just doing simple math here, okay? That's$750 a week times four equals$3 ,000 gross. There's no way at that income level that you're getting$2 ,000 a month of taxes taken out. Yeah, something's not right. So something's not right. That's where I'm really struggling. Can you explain that?

59:43Ken Coleman:Maybe my math is wrong. Hence me having these lower paid jobs. But I have did the EveryDollar app, and I've been trying to stay on top of it, but obviously I always go negative. So I do need some help.

1:00:01Jade Warshaw:Well, you do. Here's the challenge. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to put you on hold, and Katie's going to get you connected at our gift to a financial coach. because we, quite frankly, in the remaining three minutes we have or two minutes, we can't not help you. But high level, I will tell you that you don't have a grasp of your numbers. And it's impossible to me. It's impossible for you to only be taking home a thousand bucks a month. Impossible if you're working 50 hours a week. And I don't know how you're working 50 hours a week if you're running auntie around a lot. So something is off.

1:00:41Jade Warshaw:And here's the really sad part. It's actually coming full circle. Someone else is going to have to take care of your aunt. And so I don't even think, and I'm trying to be as kind as I can, but I think your numbers are off on the hours you're working too. I think so. Because I don't know how you're running in these appointments and working 50 hours a week. I just don't see it. So something's off and you need a coach and we're going to give it to you as our gift.

1:01:07Ken Coleman:Yeah.

1:01:07Jade Warshaw:Who's going to walk you through what your next steps are, but you need urgency. see. I want to give it back to Jade because she was going down this lane here. This has got to change today or else she's going to wake up and be 64 and homeless.

1:01:22Ken Coleman:Yeah. It's that serious. It is that serious. And I'm not saying that to be hopeless. I'm doing it so that you can take advantage of the now. There is always a greater measure of peace that people can get from doing the baby steps. But the truth is there are prime times to get started and there are optimal times to start to where you can get the fullness of the value that the baby steps have to offer, which is what we teach here. And so in this situation, yes, the time to start is now for Regina or anybody who's listening out there because compound interest is your friend and wealth building is part of this and having the time, time can, to save money and pay off debt and make those differences, the less time you have, the tougher it can be.

1:02:08Ken Coleman:And for Regina and anybody else listening who's in a similar situation, it's not too late, but you got to start today. And just a reminder, when we're talking to folks, it's actually very simple, the equation that we're thinking about. If you want to affect your finances, there's really only two things that you can consider. You have to think about the money going out and the money going in. That's it. So we're either looking at what we spend and saying, hey, I got to pull back on what I spend. That's not her issue. Or we're looking at income. There is no magical solve for income other than you going out and getting a J-O-B and working hours that actually translate into real cash that is enough in your account to do the basic things of human life there.

1:03:11We'll see you next time.

1:03:20Jade Warshaw:This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. I am here on this show because some amazing women in my life, like my mentors, my friends, my wife, and my mom, because they invested in me. They're all extraordinary. And one of the common themes I've heard from all of the important women in my life is that between the responsibilities and expectations that the world places on them and the expectations they place on themselves, they are under incredible pressure every day. Women are often encouraged to overlook their own emotional well-being to care for everybody else. Therapy offers a space for women to learn how to navigate those competing expectations, learn how to set healthy boundaries, and learn how to communicate what they want and what they need.

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1:04:46Ken Coleman:If you have a simple tax situation, like you haven't had any major life changes or big investments, then you need to be using Ramsey Smart Tax. Ramsey Smart Tax is affordable and it keeps filing simple. Plus it has built-in support in case you need a little help. Filing early means getting the best deals and you get that tax stress off your shoulders. So as soon as you get to all your, so as soon as you get all your tax documents, you need to go to Ramsey solutions.com slash smart tax and start filing. Ken, I know you don't file your own taxes.

1:05:17Jade Warshaw:No, are you kidding me? I'm a free man. I'd be in jail if I did not out of dishonesty, but just incompetence. Tax, same. So I have a pro, tax pro all the way. Love my guy. Love it. Love it. Love it. By the way, I got to give him a shout out. David, he knows who he is.

1:05:32Ken Coleman:That's it? Where can he be found?

1:05:35Jade Warshaw:Oh, he listens to the show.

1:05:36Ken Coleman:So he's going to hear this. So you were just doing it for him not to help the people find someone they might like.

1:05:41Jade Warshaw:No, I wanted to get a tax pro, but I'm also very grateful for my guy, David, and he knows that. That's a shout out.

1:05:47Ken Coleman:All right. I'm going to give a shout out to mine, Nina. There it is. I can't say more. All right. Carrie. Carrie is in Florida. What's up, Carrie? Save us from ourselves. I cannot do that.

1:06:01Jade Warshaw:That is a true statement.

1:06:04Ken Coleman:All right. I'm in South Florida. My name's Carrie. I'm 30 years old. My partner is 39 years old. We have two children, six and ten. Our house is sitting at 196 on a 2.875 loan. I was in nursing school, graduated, and tried to pay for a lot of it out of pocket, so that drained my savings account. Ran out of money. I took out two 0 % interest for the tuition. I paid those both off, but I had to take out student loans as well. FAFSA wasn't paying for it. So I have$35 ,000 approximately right now in student loan debt. Okay. But I have way, way more in credit card debt. 47, I want to say. Oh, gosh.

1:06:43Ken Coleman:47 in credit card. And it gets a little worse. We had a really bad hurricane in 22. A tree went through our roof. We had to get the roof replaced. We had to do, yeah, a lot of new walls. Was that like 60 ,000? So we had to take out a HELOC for 80 because the insurance company didn't want to pay us. Why didn't they pay for that? A hurricane and roof damage? They ended up paying$23 ,000, I think. It was a really long process, and it involved the public adjuster, and they took their percentage of whatever we got. But it was, like, really turmoil in southwest Florida. So our HELOC right now is sitting at$73 ,000, I think.

1:07:19Ken Coleman:The payments are roughly$800 a month. Our payments on minimums for the credit cards are just under$15 ,000. My mortgage comes out to about$14 ,000. And then I have a car payment. It's really crazy. I know we shouldn't do this. I owe$16. I'm paying$625 a month. I am a bartender. He is a mechanic. We make about$130 a year. Southwest Florida is very seasonal work, so summertime, it gets thinner for us. Winter is more lucrative. So our monthly income does fluctuate anywhere from like$6 ,000 to$10 ,000 a month. So I'm a money funneler. I am a save$100 bills in a box kind of person because I don't want to not have cash on hand.

1:08:02Ken Coleman:There's always something happening. How much cash do you have? Yeah, what do you have on hand? Right now I have$24 ,000 in cash, and then I have a separate savings account that's supposed to be dedicated to my kids, and there's 13 in there. What do you mean? Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead, Jade. What do you mean when you say dedicated to your kids? Is that like college fund? I put money in it every month. I am looking to invest it in something that will grow for them, but I'm not sure what to do, how to do that yet. Okay. This is great news. I mean, it's great news. It's not great because I am very anxious.

1:08:37Ken Coleman:I want to ask about the kids' money that you have saved real quickly. I just want to make sure this is money that you've put aside, not money that other people gave you for the kids. Some of it is given. Like I have their birthday gift money separate, so they each probably collectively have$2 ,000 separate that I just have for them. And then I have this other fund that we have put into. That's about 13. Okay. So what I would do is actually 15. What I would do is exactly what you said. Any money that was gifted to them or that they worked hard for or worked for, I would keep that money aside for them because it really is for them.

1:09:13Ken Coleman:For you, you're not at the phase where you can begin saving for things like kids, college kids, cars, kids, things like that. So for all intents and purposes, that money is now pooled in with money that we can put towards paying off debt. Fair enough? So I have this other, yes. Right now we're looking at, we're putting out about$89 ,000 to$9 ,000 a month between living. Okay. So we have our house here. Hold on, hold on.

1:09:44Jade Warshaw:Including these debt minimum payments?

1:09:47Ken Coleman:Yes. All my student loans, credit cards, the HELOC, the mortgage, car insurance. Okay. What's your take-home pay off the$130? It varies. It's going to be a little under$1. No, maybe a little over$1. After health insurance and everything gets taken out, we have really high health insurance rates here for some reason.

1:10:08Jade Warshaw:Okay, but tell me—go ahead, Ken. Where were you going with telling us that? Uh-huh. You were going somewhere. I'm not sure that's where we need to go, but I'm curious.

1:10:17Ken Coleman:so i have approximately so what is that about forty thousand dollars a little more in savings and i know this is going to sound crazy but i ideally would like to rent my house out my husband's mother has property and she has an rv hookup i don't want to pay my mortgage anymore i want my house to be rented out for the next two years so that we can just lock in and funnel money into all of our how much would you make on that On renting it out in my area. So if my house is about$14 ,000 right now, we can probably go anywhere from$18 ,000 to$2 ,100. It's a four-bedroom house.

1:10:50Jade Warshaw:It's not that much money, though.

1:10:51Ken Coleman:Yeah, what's your mortgage worth? What's it worth? You owe$196 ,000. Did I hear that right? I owe$169 ,000 right now. $169 ,000. The original mortgage was like, I bought it in$19 ,000. It was$198 ,000. What's it worth? I think it goes for right now between$3 ,000 and$350 ,000. But the market, I don't know. I haven't looked into it much. Okay. the cell. Tell me what you feel about the house, because I know you're tired of paying it. I know it's been a pain in the butt. It feels like it's been a drain. Do you like the house? We like the house. We don't want to live here forever. We want like, honestly, we want a pool.

1:11:26Ken Coleman:We want different states. It was really good when we had the, like my son was born. It was really good, really open concept. We don't want to keep the house forever. But I'm talking about today. I'm talking about today. No one knows if they're going to stay in the house forever. I want you to answer this in a Ken Coleman fashion, which is quick and simple. Like what's the first thing that comes to mind? Do you like the house or not? I like the house. Okay. Do you want to stay in the house or not? I don't need to. Okay. Now we're getting somewhere. What about your husband? If you could answer for him, what would he say?

1:11:56Ken Coleman:He is the most passive person in the entire world. Okay. Here's what I don't want. I don't want you to make a simple thing complex. complex, making it complicated would be we're going to live with mom and do a rent thing and all these other things. I think that if we can go back to the basics here and go, okay, how much cash do we have? You have$40 ,000 in cash. When we look at the 25 saved and the 15 ,000 of the quote kids money, that's now your money. I'm going back to for now the HELOC because of the amount that's really just going to roll into your mortgage and be part of that. how many credit cards equal to 47 000 of credit card debt i have 11 overall three are paid off

1:12:38Jade Warshaw:good heavens okay so so the 40 000 goes in the snowball do you are you familiar with our debt snowball okay so you take all those credit cards and you go smallest to largest and you start applying the 40 000 up the ladder if you will right if we got a two i started with that method

1:12:56Ken Coleman:And then I'm like, I could pay the car off because the minimums for the little ones don't equate to the same as the car. So the car, if I pay$16 ,000, maybe$9 ,000.

1:13:04Jade Warshaw:Well, you can do it your way, but that's not what we teach. And we're trying to help you with momentum. Okay. And then you could potentially sell the car. It's like, did you want to get out of this mess or not? But the way we teach it is very simple. You called us. You can do whatever you want to. But what we would tell you to do is take the$40 ,000 and you get$1 ,000 out of that in an emergency fund. It's baby step one. Baby step two, we now start taking that$39 ,000, if you will, and we start applying it all the way through. And then from there, and I'm with—Jade didn't say this. I don't want to put words in her mouth.

1:13:37Jade Warshaw:I would sell your house if I were you. Okay. Now, not as a, you know, get out of Dodge easy. You got to accept the mentality that you got yourself in this. But I would sell the house, and I'd start fresh and start building a life that is debt-free.

1:13:52Ken Coleman:It's definitely on the table to sell the house. But at the very least, first thing to go is this car. It's$16 ,000. Get that payment back in your pocket. Then you have the cash to buy something in cash,$5 ,000 or$6 ,000. Now you're$20 ,000 in. Throw the rest of that towards the next smallest debt, which looks to be student loans. Do them one by one. You're going to feel the momentum of doing, you know, because they're likely broken to little chunks. So do that. And before you know it, all that's going to be left is this$47 ,000 of credit card debt.

1:14:48Ken Coleman:So if you don't know, Ask Ramsey is our free AI tool that's built and trained on Ramsey proven principles. And today we're going to break down the most asked questions of the week. So you can go in there and type in whatever questions and we kind of look at it and say what seems to be a theme for the week. And that's what we're talking about. There are questions around retirement savings, obviously investing, but the most asked question this week was around the topic of emergency funds. The main question was this, what is the best option to manage and store my emergency fund? So here's an example of the response.

1:15:23Ken Coleman:Your emergency fund should be liquid and easy to access in the event of a real emergency. You want to store it in a place where value won't go down when you need it most. So putting it in the stock market is not really a good idea. Next, it tells you a high yield savings account gives you better interest rates than a regular savings account, but still keeps your money safe and available. And then finally, make sure the account is FDIC insured or NCUA if it's a credit union like Fairwinds. We always recommend three to six months of living expenses, but Ask Ramsey can help you figure out exactly how much you need in your emergency fund for your specific situation.

1:16:00Ken Coleman:So you can go on there today to ask your question at RamseySolutions.com or just click the link in the description if you're listening on podcast or YouTube. All right, Jeanette is in Kansas. Jeanette, how can we help today?

1:16:14Jade Warshaw:Hi, thanks for taking my call. I'm 61 years old. My husband is 70. We are completely debt-free. We own our home, cars, student loans. We have absolutely no debt, no credit card debt. Awesome. Got out with Ramsey Plan probably 10 years ago.

1:16:29Ken Coleman:We are looking to build a permanent home. I know he doesn't like the term forever home, but as we're getting older, realize we need everything on one level and just kind of makes you a little bit nervous. It's like, is that a wise thing to do at our age? I mean, are you paying cash for it? It would primarily be cash. We could pay complete cash if we took money out of our retirement plans. We could go into it debt fray, but I don't know if that's wise either. We would have to pull out about$150 to$200. Well, let's talk about it. So So what would be the entire spend on the new house? $610. $610.

1:17:10Ken Coleman:Okay. And how much cash do you have to put towards that today? Well, we would sell our current home. We would get about just under$400, between$350 and$400 for that. Okay. We have put about$100 already into the house, which would leave a little bit over$100 left on it. Now I see how you got to the$110. So how much is your nest egg? Um, close to 600. Okay. So the idea is, will it, will it mess us up if we pull out the, the 150 from the 600 nest egg? Right. Um, I don't think so. What's the other option? I mean, are you both still working or are you fully, fully out of the workforce? My husband is retired Air Force after 20 years of active duty.

1:17:57Ken Coleman:And then he just recently retired, um, as a nurse from the VA. Okay. I am still working. I'm a nurse practitioner with my own practice.

1:18:07Jade Warshaw:Nice. What are you guys taking home combined with those benefits plus your salary?

1:18:12Ken Coleman:Probably, well, the practice does over$200. I pull about$90 from it for a salary. Great. So together we probably are close to$200, about$180.

1:18:25Jade Warshaw:With no debt? I mean.

1:18:27Ken Coleman:With no debt. I mean, we travel a lot, so we know that's going to really change with, I mean, I love to travel. I mean, if you wanted to cash flow this and you're both planning on still working for the next one to two years, I don't see why that wouldn't be really, really a priority. And then whatever's left, you could pull off the nest egg. Well, you were just talking about compound interest. I would lose all that. No, no, no. I'm saying, I'm saying, that's why Jade's saying don't touch it. I'm saying don't touch it. I'm saying for the next one to two years, like go ahead and start with the 500 that you have.

1:18:58Ken Coleman:And then for the next one to two years, let it be your deep intention that we're going to throw anything and extra that we can find on this$110 ,000 mortgage. And then when you're ready to stop working, that nest egg will have continued to grow for the next one to two years. And then you can say, okay, now we feel good about pulling out the 50 or whatever's left on the mortgage. And we can go into our non-working years with no mortgage. okay it just seemed like do you take out a mortgage at 60 years of age like okay well it's not about the age considering to do but i was just thought is that is that wise so it's not about the age because truthfully the money's there but if you don't have to touch it today why not and you're both still working you're still both making a really good uh income and i also have a feeling because of his military how much is he going to like what's his retirement going to look like uh well we don't know what his social security will be he just turned 70 um but he's already

1:19:56Jade Warshaw:getting he's already getting his two retirement checks from both of those other organizations right so my point is you're probably not the go ahead the va retirement pension will start next

1:20:07Ken Coleman:month because he just turned 70 and okay and how much will that be um that one we don't know we estimating according to the social security website his social security will be about 3400 and then his current military retirement is about 2500 right not bad and then so my point is what you'll be pulling from your nest egg is not going to be a crazy sum of money just to keep your month to month going on especially with such a low mortgage and to my point okay once you get to that point you can just reach over into the nest egg and pull out the 50 or whatever it is and and pay it off. Okay. How's that?

1:20:45Ken Coleman:Thank you. That feels better. I just was like, I just, you know, it says that there's wisdom in the council of two or more.

1:20:52Jade Warshaw:And I'm like, okay, I'm not a financial planner.

1:20:54Ken Coleman:And I'm like, this is smart, but we wanted something all one level living. And if we end up in wheelchairs or walkers that it's, we can stay there. Yeah, absolutely. And go, go and talk with your smart investor pro and ask him, Hey, here's what I was thinking. I called the Ramsey show. Here's what they said. And ask what they, what he thinks too. He might say that it feels good for you to pull all the money today. And if at the end of the day, though, it's got to be something that you feel good about too. And it felt like, Ken, that hybrid was where it was at.

1:21:23Jade Warshaw:Yeah. I'm just, if I was in their shoes, I just would not touch that$600 ,000 retirement because I know that every seven years, based on history, that's going to double.

1:21:32Ken Coleman:Yeah. If they're making a good rate of return.

1:21:34Jade Warshaw:And so I want to get all of that, that I can. And with that kind of income, They can be patient. And yeah, I wouldn't touch it at all if it were me.

1:21:42Ken Coleman:They seem like they've got more working years in than what I said. I mean, he's 70, she's 61.

1:21:48Jade Warshaw:She's got a great practice. She could probably pay herself more for a year. Possibly. You know what I mean? There's some things she can do. Do I grow the business, juice that a little bit? They just have other options to be able to pay for this house.

1:22:03Ken Coleman:Well, they're in San Diego, but my guess is if they lived on 100 or 120, they'd be done lickety splits.

1:22:12Jade Warshaw:And here's what else we know about both of them. They're going to be more than comfortable on just his benefits alone. You just know that.

1:22:19Ken Coleman:Oh, yeah.

1:22:19Jade Warshaw:You know?

1:22:20Ken Coleman:Definitely. Definitely. And that's what I was saying. If you're not going to really have to touch it, then there you go. All right. We have some questions on the desk. I like these, Ken. These are from the social medias. By the way, Ken...

1:22:31Jade Warshaw:Are these like the Krispy Kreme, hot and now? like fresh off the press? I hope so.

1:22:36Ken Coleman:If people interact with you on social media, what's the one that you're on and like talking to folks on? If they want to know, I want to see Ken for real.

1:22:44Jade Warshaw:The only one that you're going to have a chance of getting a real response from me on is Instagram.

1:22:50Ken Coleman:Me too.

1:22:51Jade Warshaw:Yeah.

1:22:51Ken Coleman:Does that have to do with our age? Because the kids are on TikTok.

1:22:55Jade Warshaw:Since I'm older than you, I'm going to say yes, I guess. I don't know the answer.

1:22:58Ken Coleman:Well, to prove...

1:23:00Jade Warshaw:I think it's the app. I think I see the messages more than I do on other apps. The DMs, I feel like they're in my conscience.

1:23:09Ken Coleman:I don't have the other ones on my phone. The only one I have is Instagram. So for that reason, let's take the Instagram questions. Oh, okay.

1:23:16Jade Warshaw:Oh, that was a setup.

1:23:17Ken Coleman:Yeah, it was a setup.

1:23:17Jade Warshaw:Okay.

1:23:19Ken Coleman:Morgan from Instagram said, we just went to a restaurant that had a robot delivering our food. Oh, I'd love that. When the bill came, we didn't know if we should leave a tip. What are your thoughts on tipping culture, especially when you primarily interact with robots?

1:23:33Jade Warshaw:I have thoughts. So I went to a local place recently where there was a waitress and a robot. And so the waitress came and took our order. I don't say the name of it, but it was a hibachi, you know, where everybody sits around. So you got a big group. So the waitress comes up, lovely lady, and she's very kind, responsive, gets everybody's order. And she takes off. Five minutes later, here comes the robot with the food. And she kind of followed up to make sure we had drinks the whole time. But the robot brought us the food. I still tipped her the normal amount because of her involvement. Yeah. All the robot did was basically do what the 16-year-old kid does at the nice restaurant.

1:24:16Yeah.

1:24:17Jade Warshaw:No, no. I go 20 to 22.

1:24:19Ken Coleman:And you did even in that scenario? Yeah. Good for you, Ken Coleman. Yeah. I probably would have done the same thing. I love tipping, but I'm not tipping a robot.

1:24:26Jade Warshaw:I don't tip at coffee shops. beware.

1:24:29Ken Coleman:Well, what's the difference?

1:24:32Jade Warshaw:It's a coffee show.

1:24:52Ken Coleman:Well, welcome back to The Ramsey Show. We're here in the Fairwinds Credit Union studio. Ken Coleman, Are you ready to get to the phone lines yet again?

1:25:00Jade Warshaw:I'm ready. Who's up next?

1:25:01Ken Coleman:Landon, Reno, Nevada. To this day, anytime I think of Reno, I think of the movie Sister Act.

1:25:07Jade Warshaw:Yeah, good call.

1:25:08Ken Coleman:What's up, Landon?

1:25:10Jade Warshaw:You guys don't think of Reno 911, Lieutenant Dangle, and all of them? Not my genre of television. I do have questions about Lieutenant Dangle. Yeah, I don't even know who that is. I'm not sure I want to. You know, it's a Comedy Central show.

1:25:25Ken Coleman:But, yeah, I know the scene that you're thinking about, Jade, with Hystract. You're down here by the Reno Arch and everything. I know what you're talking about. All day. Man. Oh, Landon, you're one of us. How can we help today? Oh, definitely, definitely. Hey, guys, I got a little predicament. I'm thankful for your call, Ken. I think you're amazing. Jade, I think you're amazing, too. Here's my predicament. I'll keep it nice and short. HOA fee went up to$1 ,008 per month from$450 per month. I know. and I don't know what to do.

1:25:55Jade Warshaw:Does that include a swim-up bar right to your front door? What in the world? It should. Yeah, for that kind of a hike. What's the perks? I know, I know. So no perks. Basically what's going on here,

1:26:07Ken Coleman:we have a special assessment for the time being to do the roads, the roofs, and all of this stuff, some capital maintenance with the entire complex. So it's short-term? Yeah. Well, so it's going to be at least a year, and then from year on out, I mean, there's no way we we're probably going to need to do this for, I don't know, three, four years, if not more. We're probably going to need to get up to, you know, two, three, four million bucks. And we're not there. So it's going to take some time. Wow. I'm sorry. That's not cool. So what's your question? So here's my question. I am going to move out of my house.

1:26:45Ken Coleman:I'm going to rent for fifteen hundred dollars a month. But now I have the home that I own, and basically what I'm kind of going back and forth with is, should I rent my house out or should I sell my home? If I rent my home out, I'll basically be cash neutral. I'm not making anything. I'm not losing anything. But then if I were to sell it, I could probably make about$250 in equity. So I don't really know what to do here.

1:27:10Jade Warshaw:Come on. That's a no-brainer.

1:27:12Ken Coleman:It's a no-brainer. Isn't it a no-brainer? Yes.

1:27:14Jade Warshaw:You don't want to live in this place. We can tell. Here's why. You can push back. Let me tell you what I hear. I hear a guy who's rightfully upset about a ridiculous upcharge in HOA,$1 ,000 a month. Are you kidding me? And you're going, I don't love this house that much. I want to get out. You have no attachment to this house. You got$250 ,000 worth of equity in it. And you're going to get a reasonable rent to kind of reset and figure out what the next step is versus rent it out. And you're saying it's a net net. You're not going to make any money. Well, guess what? That means you're losing money because when something breaks on this house and it will, guess who has to fix it?

1:27:53Jade Warshaw:You. So now you're going in the hole. So for that reason, as George would say, I'm out.

1:28:00Ken Coleman:I'm out. That's funny you say that. So I did the Ask Dave Ramsey thing on the AI chat. Oh, this could be embarrassing.

1:28:07Jade Warshaw:What did that say?

1:28:08Ken Coleman:No, it said exactly what you guys said.

1:28:11Jade Warshaw:The quote that it said was like, it said, you're bleeding. You're bleeding every month. And I was like, that's exactly something that the host would say. By the way, I think the way I said it was far more entertaining than Ask Ramsey. But it's still a great resource. It's going to give you the nuts and bolts. We're going to give you the style.

1:28:30Ken Coleman:We're going to give you the style. And in this case, all khaki, apparently. Thank you very much. You're welcome. So, Landon, did we solve your problem for you? No, it seems like it was a pretty easy thing. I mean, that's the way that I was kind of leaning toward. But, yeah, you know, it's my first home. It kind of sucks to get rid of it, I guess. There's a little bit of sentimental there. It wasn't going to be forever anyway. That's my thoughts.

1:28:54Jade Warshaw:By the way, this is a great reminder of how fun Ask Ramsey is for people who can't get through on the show, don't have the time, maybe you're nervous to call us. This guy went to Ask Ramsey, the AI version of our show host, right, I guess is what you can say. And he got the same answer. So just a fun little plug there because it is very helpful to those of you who can't get through.

1:29:16Ken Coleman:Yes, indeed it is.

1:29:17Jade Warshaw:Fun stuff. There's no universe, Jade, where I'm going to ever deal with a house that I'm not making enormous money on when it comes to rent. In other words, if it's a cash house like all of Dave's houses, that's one thing. But where you're breaking even or barely making money, no.

1:29:33Ken Coleman:So renting by default is never the move. If you're going to have a rental, it's I set out to have a rental and I chose a specific house for the purposes of rental. Right. Like let there be some intentionality behind it. All right. Maria is in San Diego, California. Maria, how can we help today? Maria. Hi. Thank you so much for taking my call. Yeah, you bet. What's up? So I am in a bit of a predicament. I started my own business last year, started getting paid in August, but it has been a little bit slower this last couple of months. And with the work that I've had, my projections for income for the next six months are really low.

1:30:17Ken Coleman:So right now I'm in a position where I'm not sure if I'll be able to make my credit card payment or it's going to be either that or my car. Uh-oh. So tell us what that is in real numbers. What were you bringing in that felt like a good income to live on? And then what is it now? Yeah, so before when I was in corporate, I was making about$8 ,000 a month. When I first started my business, it went down to like$6 ,000. And now I'm looking at like$3 ,000. Okay, so in August, it was like around$6 ,000. You felt good. Now you're at$3 ,000. How many months has it been at$3 ,000? Um, since like November.

1:31:00Ken Coleman:Oh boy. Okay. So there's a trend here. Have you identified what the issue is? Like why business is down? Yes. So right now my most consistent source of income was a subcontractor job that I have, which it's kind of like dependent on how much work the other company has. I just signed a contract with my actual business. We do property services, so we do turnover management. So that should be starting soon, but it is going to be less pay per work because right now where I'm at right now, it's on the military base. So the pay per gig is a lot better here. Okay. And it's just you, you're the sole employee.

1:31:44Ken Coleman:It's myself and my boyfriend, but his debt is a lot lower. So the, I mean, the good news is it's you and your boyfriend and you're working as the work comes in since it's subcontracting. So the best thing that I could do if I were in your shoes is while I'm working to get more business coming in the door or while there's a down season or whatever the nature of that is, I'm also going to have another job over here on the side that brings in the gap of what I need until you can figure out how to get this back up to making you six to eight thousand a month. Yeah. Okay. My, my biggest, biggest dilemma right now is, uh, three of my credit cards already hit the 30 daily.

1:32:25Ken Coleman:Right. Which means you need money. Yeah. That's all that is. That means, okay, yesterday I needed a job. So that means today your weekend is going to be spent pounding pavement and getting online and finding whatever you can to fill that gap. Because if you don't have dollars and they're calling you, all you can do is say, hey, I don't have any money. Check me next month until this happens. So income is the name of the game. I mean, that's the only solution. Kim, what have you?

1:32:56Jade Warshaw:I mean, you did such a great job. You don't add much more to a really good song, except maybe repeat. So there you go. Thank you. You helped me out. I shouldn't be talking music terms with you ever.

1:33:40Ken Coleman:When people hear my story of paying off debt, they say things like, dang, that must have been so hard. I can never do that. And I tell them, sure you can. It's a short-term sacrifice for a long-term gain. But do you know what's really hard? Working your whole life and never having anything to show for it. Never having the long-term gain. just feeling broke and stressed and maxed all the time. And sadly, that's the hard that most people choose. Listen, you're capable of transforming your situation and living a life of freedom, but you need the right tools to do it, like our EveryDollar Budget app.

1:34:14Ken Coleman:In minutes, it'll build you a step-by-step plan that's tailored to your money situation. And every day, it finds ways you can free up extra money in your budget so you can get rid of your debt and actually build wealth. So make the choice today. short-term sacrifice, long-term gain. Choose the tool to help you get it done fast. Download the EveryDollar app and start for free today.

1:34:49Ken Coleman:Buying or selling your home is a big deal. And with all the clickbait headlines and conflicting data that's out there, it's hard to know what's really happening in the housing market. But we're here to help make the latest trends easy to understand. For instance, median home prices dipped a little below$400 ,000 last month, which is typical for this time of year. Mortgage rates also dipped to 5.44 in January, down from 6.27 last January, giving buyers some breathing room. But since rates are unpredictable, the best time to buy is when you're financially ready, not when home prices or rates drop.

1:35:23Ken Coleman:So to learn more about the housing market trends and get free tools to help you buy or sell with confidence, go to RamseySolutions.com slash market or click the link in the show notes if you're listening on podcast or YouTube. All righty then. Haley is in Texas. Haley, you're on the line. How can we help today? Hi. Y 'all are absolutely going to hate me whenever I tell you what I want to be doing.

1:35:48Jade Warshaw:No. Let's test it. That's a strong word. Hate is too strong.

1:35:53Ken Coleman:I am a realtor investor here in Texas, and I have a long-term boyfriend, and we were buying a house together. And I told him I didn't want a ring. I wanted a house instead. We've both been married previously, and we're coming in together, obviously. We're very Dave Ramsey-friendly, and we know it. But he is carrying quite a little bit more debt than I am. I am credit card free. He is as well. However, I'm just trying to figure out how I want to tackle his debt when we buy the house, after we buy the house. It's not, it's, I don't even, you know what?

1:36:34Jade Warshaw:I want to sit back for a second.

1:36:35Ken Coleman:I'm going to let you go first. I would just say for the people who are listening for the first time, because you said that you were Ramsey friendly and then you went off to say things of such nature that it doesn't even apply to Ramsey at all.

1:36:47Jade Warshaw:And you know what's funny about it? You're laughing the whole time. And you know what she's about to say, right? I know. And why are you laughing about it?

1:36:57Ken Coleman:Because, honestly, because of the market that we are in and the real estate, the way it's going, it would just be too good to pass up this property to where, obviously, we would want to live in it for a little bit more time. Why don't you just buy it? How about— Well, I do. I can buy it myself, but I really want him to be on board with me. And it's not bad debt. Like we are selling. He has a camper that he was living in and working out of. So doing like insurance adjustment across the U.S. So that's really the only one that's a major one. The other one is just a minor amount, maybe 10 ,000. Here's the thing.

1:37:35Ken Coleman:It's not about the debt. For me, the debt is part of the home buying equation. Don't get me wrong. but in the bigger picture of what you're talking about, if I'm going to address these things by thing that's most on fire to thing that's not as burning as quickly, I would say the first thing is the idea of buying a house with a boyfriend is very, very risky business because it's, you're doing something that should be very long-term with someone that you can't, you really don't know if it's going to be long-term and if, because of the nature of the mingling of money, it can get really, really messy.

1:38:13Ken Coleman:And if it doesn't have to be messy, the easier thing to do would just be like, Hey, I'm going to buy this house or he's going to buy this house. And then if you so choose that you're going to live together in that way, that's your choice. But at least the monies are clear and free. And that is not adding any insult to injury. If this were to go South and not proceed into marriage. Okay.

1:38:33Jade Warshaw:Haley, that's about as good a word as you're going to get on that. What is your response to that? Cause I can hear you saying yes to her, but you have a retort. So what is your retort?

1:38:43Ken Coleman:So basically with me being an investor, so I do actually show, which I, you know, the banks don't love me, but my CPAs do, you know, that always that joke. And so really with qualifying for this property, you know, he shows way more of an income. I mean, it almost doubles what, or triples what my income is. What do you, okay, pause, pause.

1:39:04Jade Warshaw:What investing do you have? You sound like you're over leveraged.

1:39:08Ken Coleman:no i have 10 rentals um and so basically how much do you owe how much you owe on 10 rentals um i have three loans um totaling about 225 000 okay that's not as bad as i thought i thought it was gonna be worse okay here's the thing here's the thing uh i want to give you props because even though you may not have done some of these things the ramsey way the fact that you have 10 rentals and you only owe 225 unless these are just really crappy properties there's something that you've done that you've not gone ridiculously do you see what i'm saying like for 10 for 10 rentals ken i would think that i thought for sure you're going to say a couple million well why wouldn't

1:39:47Jade Warshaw:you buy it no ma 'am but why so what does that really mean because jade gave you great advice you buy it yourself why wouldn't you why wouldn't you you have 10 rentals because because i love

1:39:58Ken Coleman:like i am an investor at heart so no no stop that's such a crap answer you said that three times and it still didn't.

1:40:06Jade Warshaw:What's the real reason? And you said this, let me tell you what you said. So you said, well, yeah, Jade, you're right. But I want us to be on the same page. I want him to be in it with me. And I even think that's a cop out.

1:40:18Ken Coleman:So what's he shows more income. So with our lender, they basically could not.

1:40:24Jade Warshaw:I know what the answer is, but you won't tell me you're trying to play a game on interest rate. It's not that. What is it?

1:40:30Ken Coleman:I know my lender basically qualified, said that we would be qualified based on his income based off my rental selling. But you're smart. Haley, you're smart. You know today that it's not a thing of numbers or interest rates or anything like that. Because you know today, hey, if I really wanted this property, I could just sell off one of the ones I have. I could buy it in cash. Like, you know that. Are you trying to lock him in? Yeah.

1:40:50Jade Warshaw:I told him that I turned down a ring for a mortgage. Yeah, but, okay, do you know how crazy that sounds? Why don't you just go down to the courthouse? Just get married. Do you want this guy to be your husband or not? Yes.

1:41:02Ken Coleman:Okay.

1:41:02Jade Warshaw:Well, then why don't you let him give you the ring?

1:41:04Ken Coleman:Yeah. That's true. What's the problem? Tell us for real, for real. It's just us. I have been independent for so long. And so with my, you know, being divorced and having my son, it's been, it's definitely scary.

1:41:18Jade Warshaw:Yeah, but you just told us, you just told us you want this guy to be your husband.

1:41:21Ken Coleman:And you were willing to do a more, here's what I want to frame up for you. You said that you want to be independent and maybe you've been burned before all of those things. Do you understand? And I'll validate for you that that makes sense to me that you would have some trepidation getting into another relationship. That makes sense. What doesn't make sense is how you are solving it because you're creating something that has the ability to be even more dramatic, even worse for everybody involved if it were to go south. So why not fuel what you're feeling into a better solve, which is I might not be ready to get married yet.

1:42:02Ken Coleman:Maybe I'm not.

1:42:04Jade Warshaw:Great point.

1:42:04Ken Coleman:That's okay if you're not ready to be married.

1:42:06Jade Warshaw:And Jade's making a great point. If it goes bad, then there's going to be a legal, very clear legal decision on what happens with the house as an asset. But if you guys go in together and there's no legal marriage, then it's a mess. You know this. Yeah. Yeah, I do. I don't think we can sell you on our philosophy, but I think if we come to your page... No, no, I'm not trying to.

1:42:27Ken Coleman:We're going to go on your philosophy, which is you're independent, so be independent. And so be independent or then get legally married. Okay.

1:42:36Jade Warshaw:So that this risk that you're afraid of goes away in the sense of it's going to be clean. If there is another divorce and nobody wants to think about it, but that's your fear, so let's go there. so our our position that you should be married and combine finances while it's coming from a different vantage point than you have it does meet you where your biggest fear is so take call this guy back i wish we could get him on the phone and you because i would make you tell him that that you were foolish and that you will take the ring yeah and with the ring comes an actual marriage and we're going to do our money together and we're going to dominate.

1:43:18Jade Warshaw:Yeah. We're going to heal from our past and we're going to come together and we're going to set out a vision for our life that we both are in lockstep on and then we're just going to do this thing.

1:43:28Ken Coleman:How long have you been together? Over two years.

1:43:31Jade Warshaw:Oh, for heaven's sakes. Two years.

1:43:33Ken Coleman:And where are you guys living now? Where are you living now? So we do live part of the time. We're pretty respectful of our kids. So when he has his child and I have mine, we kind of stay apart. But when we don't, we obviously are living with me, but with him traveling. So he's staying a lot more at my property, which is one of my investments that I'm doing. So I got to tell you, this is exhausting.

1:43:58Jade Warshaw:And by the way, the whole respect for the kids thing, they know what's happening. Let's stop playing games. Let's get married.

1:44:05Ken Coleman:All right, Kim, I'm with you. I'm with you. I don't think she's ready. That's my hot take of the day.

1:44:10Jade Warshaw:I think you're probably right.

1:44:12Ken Coleman:I don't think she's ready.

1:44:12Jade Warshaw:You're always right.

1:44:40Ken Coleman:If you've been working the plan, paying off debt, saving, and changing your family tree, I'm proud of you. And if you're in Baby Step 4 or beyond, it's time to celebrate. The Live Like No One Else cruise is back March 14 through 21, 2027. Join the Ramsey personalities and me as we sail to Half Moon Cay, Cozumel, Jamaica, and Grand Cayman on the ultimate debt-free vacation. Cabins will sell out just like last time. Lock in yours with a$600 deposit at RamseySolutions.com slash events.

1:45:28Ken Coleman:All right, today's question of the day is brought to you by Why Refi. If defaulted private student loans are wrecking your budget, it's time to deal with them. Why Refi helps you refinance defaulted private student loans with a low fixed rate payment based on your ability to pay. So you can stick to a budget and work the plan. Go to whyrefi.com slash Ramsey. That's Y-R-E-F-Y dot com slash Ramsey. Remember, it may not be available in all states.

1:45:53Jade Warshaw:Today's question comes from Jessica in North Dakota. My husband and I are on Baby Step 2 and will be paying off our last$10 ,000 of debt this year. I have a 2014 SUV with three growing boys. We desperately need something bigger. My in-laws have said they would buy us a minivan and we could pay them back when we've paid off our debt. The only problem with this offer is their stipulation that we have to purchase a new vehicle. I'm very grateful to have such a generous family, but I have heard you say never to buy a new vehicle? Should we take them up on this offer? No. And I also don't buy that three growing boys don't fit in a 2014 SUV.

1:46:38Ken Coleman:They have very long limbs. Yeah.

1:46:41Jade Warshaw:I mean, I don't care if they're all six feet two. They can be uncomfortable for the amount of time you're getting them from point A to be. This is one of those things that is just an absolute, it sounds very reasonable in your head, Jessica, but to somebody like me who has no emotion attached to it, I go, well, what kind of SUV were they making in 2014 that three boys can't sit in the back?

1:47:05Ken Coleman:I don't know. Cause I'm thinking about when my parents had a 1995 Suburban and we fit in the

1:47:12Jade Warshaw:back what's the difference uh so that's the first issue uh and and a minivan that's the answer to the three growing boys what are they part giant they'll they're gonna fit in the suv so this just keeps falling apart and then it gets to well they're gonna loan us money that's family we'd say we don't want you to borrow money but it has to be brand new apparently it has to be now it's brand new. So now they're fleecing you on their conditions. Everything about this is just so wacky. And we have created in our minds this need that is not a need. And we are wrapping a desire up in the clothing of a need.

1:47:54Jade Warshaw:And there's nothing about this that is a need. And my gosh, you have 10 ,000 to go. Come on. Just finish it. And then walk forward to baby step three. And while you're doing that, cash flow the car. Get creative. But in no way, shape, or form do I have any sympathy for your three growing boys. And how old? That could be anything. By the way, one of the great hardships of life that every young man needs to go through is to sit in the middle. And I don't think they have a hump anymore, do they?

1:48:28Ken Coleman:With your knees all folded up in the center?

1:48:30Jade Warshaw:Yeah. Do they still have a hump in the middle of the back of these SUVs? That would be great. Because I'm wondering if this SUV has a third row. Sounds like it doesn't. But if it's got a hump in the middle, one of those boys needs to have his knees touching his nose. Yeah. That's just...

1:48:41Ken Coleman:That's a rite of passage.

1:48:42Jade Warshaw:Yeah. It's a rite of passage. I mean, don't get me started. I remember there were times where if we had a friend come with us, one of us would get up in the back window. Because cars backed in. Cars backed in. You know what I'm saying, Kelly. Yes, I do. Cars back then had enough space that you could get a good-sized 10-year-old, 11-year-old, and you would lay the full length. And it was great. You could stare like a freak at the car behind you.

1:49:09Ken Coleman:I was a part of this. Do you know what I'm talking about? Yes.

1:49:12Jade Warshaw:I will tell you, on a sunny day, it got kind of warm. Oh, you were sweating, getting carsick in that window. And just staring at the poor drivers behind you like you're some sort of psychopath. I digress.

1:49:25Ken Coleman:You called a spade a spade on this. I agree with you wholeheartedly, Ken. Sounds like, what did you say? Desire wrapped up in...

1:49:30Jade Warshaw:Oh, this is desire wrapped up in the clothes of a need. Very profound. Very profound.

1:49:37Ken Coleman:Katie!

1:49:38Jade Warshaw:I've got to call my kids and tell them you said that.

1:49:40Ken Coleman:I will. They won't care. They're going to be like, okay.

1:49:42Jade Warshaw:They don't care.

1:49:42Ken Coleman:All right. Katie's in Ohio. How can we help today, Katie? Hi, guys. How are you? Great. How can we help? So my question is, I'm on baby step two with a job that provides a company car. So I don't have a car payment or pay for gas or anything like that right now. Nice. But I recently received a job offer, which it would be a pay increase. But instead of a company car, they would give a monthly allowance for car payment and gas separately. So my question is, if I take this job, should I pause baby step two and try to save as much money as possible to put towards a car? or should I keep throwing money at my debt and then just use the car allowance when I potentially start?

1:50:28Ken Coleman:That's a good question. You're going to need something to drive in right away. Do you have any money saved whatsoever? No, I'm a baby step two, so I have maybe$1 ,500. Okay. How much is the car allowance once they give it to you? It would be around$850 a month, not including gas. Gas would be an additional$200 to$300 a month. Okay. Would you be close enough to the work that in the meantime you could do something like take the bus or Uber or do something short term while you stacked up that, you know, however much the car allowance is in order to just get yourself a quick beater to get started?

1:51:06Ken Coleman:um well the job includes uh it's sales so i would have to use the car to drive to different offices um but the other thing is it wouldn't start until june uh maybe july even so i would have a few months to save up um so i think i'm thinking i could potentially save up 10 to 15 000 so

1:51:28Jade Warshaw:it's great you can get a you can get a fine car for 10 to 15 i think that's great i mean this is That's a real opportunity. And I love, by the way, your suggestion. Because you are demonstrating someone who has got some self-discipline. And if you can do that and use this car allowance effectively, that's a win for you. So that's the play. You just answered your own question.

1:51:54Ken Coleman:yeah that's what i'm thinking i've just been on such a um motivated kick on paying off my debt it's gonna hurt to pause it a little bit but i know in you know in the long run yeah but but

1:52:03Jade Warshaw:you know what's great about this is um it's in the grand scheme of things it's not really a pause you know like you're you're you're not this isn't like gonna put you way behind you're only talking

1:52:15Ken Coleman:about a few months you're not stopping progress that's yeah that's what i meant to say that's

1:52:19Jade Warshaw:You are pausing the act of paying it down, but you're doing it for a reason, and you're going to pick right back up where you left off and not be behind.

1:52:28Ken Coleman:Yeah, buying a car in cash is great progress in your issues.

1:52:31Jade Warshaw:Yeah, good for you.

1:52:32Ken Coleman:Yeah, very good, Katie. Thank you for the call. Next up, we have Gary in California. Gary, what's on your mind? Hi, Gary. Hi, Ken. Hi. My basic question, I've got to give you some details. My basic question is, how can I enjoy monetary gifts I've received from my parents, given I've pithed all my life but found it difficult to save? I'm very late in life, and I'm 66 years old and just came to Ramsey a few years ago. I now have an emergency fund, paid off my house, got a pension, but not much savings. And also, as I'm retired, I'm looking after my folks. So, recently, my parents gave me and my brother$38 ,000.

1:53:10Ken Coleman:And because my mom knows I want to go to Africa on a safari, she says, this is for your Africa trip.

1:53:15Jade Warshaw:Great. Of course, I'm thankful. What do you have in savings? Sorry? What do you have in savings right now? Nothing of my own. You have$0 in savings?

1:53:28Ken Coleman:No, I mean, I've been given some money, so I've got some money. How much? Oh, well.

1:53:39Ken Coleman:Over$100 ,000? Okay, so let me just recap right quick. You're retired, you have no debts, you have$100 ,000 saved, and you got a$38 ,000 gift to go on safari in Africa. Yeah.

1:53:53Jade Warshaw:But you told us that you've not been good at saving. So I'm so confused. Okay. Here's the deal. I've had it very difficult throughout life to save.

1:54:06Ken Coleman:I always made the 10 % for God, but I hadn't learned the Bramsey principle, so I was going through life, and at the end of the month, I just didn't have enough left to save, rather than putting savings number one.

1:54:19Jade Warshaw:Okay.

1:54:19Ken Coleman:So what I've got is a situation where I have a kind of bad taste in my mouth at spoiling things, because I feel ashamed for needing the money for a bucket list trip. I have no sense of satisfaction.

1:54:32Jade Warshaw:Oh, well, let me fix that. Let me fix that. Let me fix it. First of all, this is a gift, and you need to receive it as a gift, or else it robs your parents of the blessing. And a safari trip's not going to cost you$38 ,000. It's not. Go do a great safari trip, and then invest or save the rest of it, and enjoy your life. You're 66. We're not promised tomorrow. Go take some pictures of some giraffes, man.

1:54:56Ken Coleman:Yeah, but you also need to save some retirement for yourself, because you don't have it. I told him that, but he needs to go do the safari, too. He's got$100 ,000 he could start investing. Yeah, he needs to start that immediately.

1:55:20Jade Warshaw:Hey guys, Dave Ramsey here. Every day on this show we help people work through real money problems and figure out what to do next.

1:55:28Ken Coleman:Now you can get that same kind of help anytime with Ask Ramsey. Ask your money question and get answers built on Ramsey principles we use on the show. Whether you're making a decision or just want something explained, Ask Ramsey is here to help. It's fast, simple, and free to use. Go to RamseySolutions.com and try Ask Ramsey today. That's RamseySolutions.com.

1:56:07Ken Coleman:Our Ramsey Show scripture and quote of the day, Philippians 4.13. Ken Coleman, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Yes. Amen. I love it. Dolly Parton, if your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, then you are an excellent leader.

1:56:25Jade Warshaw:How about Dolly dropping some leadership gold? That's actually a really great quote. It is. Inspiration. Oh, she's a treasure, folks. She's a national treasure. Love it.

1:56:33Ken Coleman:Love it. All right. Ellie is in Louisiana. Ellie, how can we help today? Hi. So me and my new husband, we just got married. First marriage for both of us, hopefully the only marriage. We're a young Christian couple. We're looking at buying a place, but we're not sure, like, are we, this is going to sound so silly, are we too young to buy property? We neither of us have debt. We both have college degrees. We have together like over a hundred thousand in savings. Like, would it be a good next step as a couple to buy a house together. How long have you been married? We just got married in January, but we were together for five years prior.

1:57:18Ken Coleman:Okay. And how old are you guys? We are 23 and 25. Okay.

1:57:25Jade Warshaw:Fantastic. What are your incomes?

1:57:27Ken Coleman:I make about 60 and he makes over 100.

1:57:31Jade Warshaw:Fantastic. And what do you do?

1:57:34Ken Coleman:I am an engineer. I just graduated, but he is actually in the finance realm, but he's newer to it and he's very good with money, obviously, or we wouldn't have that much in savings, but we're just like scared almost to have a mortgage.

1:57:52Jade Warshaw:Sure. Well, let's walk through the emergency fund. So based on, you know, your numbers, do you guys have a three month or a six month emergency fund in that a hundred thousand? I know that's more than you need, but what, what would be three months? What would be six months?

1:58:06Ken Coleman:Um, we're currently renting in$1 ,300 place right now. So that would be, you know, probably at least six months plus any expenses we would have in that time more than probably that.

1:58:20Jade Warshaw:Oh,$100 ,000 is more than six months of basic expenses for you guys. So what kind of a size house are we talking about? Not size, actually. What price point are you guys looking at? Because I assume you guys have driven around or you've been on websites looking at houses. What are you looking at?

1:58:37Ken Coleman:Yeah, we're looking between like$250 ,000 to$350 ,000. We're looking at getting a duplex and fixing it up and living in one side and renting out the other. I don't like that. Jade, what do you think about that? We've heard that. All I can tell you is when I was in high school, we moved into a duplex and it started out fine. And then it went south very quickly. And what sucks is if the person on door number one doesn't get along with the person on door number two, you have to see them every day.

1:59:12Jade Warshaw:Those walls are thin. Yeah.

1:59:15Ken Coleman:Yeah, they are.

1:59:17Jade Warshaw:That's a horrible idea, Ellie. You're so sweet. first like yeah oh yeah you're so sweet i i didn't want to say it that way at first but now i just have to warn you this is a this is an awful idea you guys are already thinking you're thinking our first house guess what we'll live in it but it's a real investment and i just think because it's a duplex and all the problems that come with it we don't think that's a strong investment strategy and it sure as heck is not a great young marriage strategy you guys need your own place without any kind of headaches literally next door.

1:59:50Ken Coleman:Yeah.

1:59:51Jade Warshaw:Yeah. Don't do that.

1:59:53Ken Coleman:Please. With our income, do you guys think that we could buy a house then? Yeah, Jade, walk them through. I'm so scared of

2:00:01Jade Warshaw:more kids. Okay. Jade's going to walk you through how you would do it with that really nice income. So there's nothing to be scared of.

2:00:08Ken Coleman:Tell me what you guys are taking home every month. every month um so he gets commissioned so it really depends but we've had months where it's been like 10 grand and then we've had months where it's been like the lowest been like six okay so i would plan based off of the lowest month because that's going to give you a measure of peace so if six grand is the lowest month i'd say okay for us to really feel great we don't want our mortgage to be any more than$1 ,500 a month. That's 25 % of our take-home pay. And that's kind of a parameter that we use here at Ramsey Solutions. And then what I would do, which is what I'm doing right now, I go over on RamseySolutions.com and I pull up the mortgage calculator and I say, okay, let's pretend we're looking for a house.

2:00:53Ken Coleman:You said between three...

2:00:55Jade Warshaw:$250 to$350, right?

2:00:57Ken Coleman:Okay. So let me just, I'll look at$325. How about that? That's kind of somewhere in the middle.

2:01:01Jade Warshaw:That's plenty of house for a young couple.

2:01:04Ken Coleman:And so if I say, okay, what happens if we put our down payment, we need to get to$1 ,500 a month. So I'm going to make this a pretty hefty down payment. And we're still not quite there yet. Let's see. But all I'm doing is plugging in the numbers to see. You're going to have to put down a lot to get there. So I don't think you guys are quite there yet. You're going to be putting down upwards of$160 ,000 to get there at$325 ,000.

2:01:29Jade Warshaw:So sit on that number here for a second. and we're not holding you to this, how long do you think? So this has got to be above and beyond your emergency fund, okay? So if you do three months emergency fund and you're going to calculate that, right? You know how to do that and go, okay, these are our total expenses to run everything, right? We're not crazy about this. What's that number? And so above and beyond that, how long do you think it would take you to save$160 ,000?

2:01:55Ken Coleman:Hunter, from where we are, probably only another year. That's what I'm thinking. It's very low right now. Exactly.

2:02:02Jade Warshaw:So could you wait a year? You guys are just married. Could you wait a year and get a fat down payment?

2:02:09Ken Coleman:And here's what else is going to happen in that year. Your husband, who works on commissions, is going to find his flow, and he's going to have way more months where he's sitting at$10 ,000 as opposed to$6 ,000. You see what I'm saying? So it gives you guys time. It gives you time to get in a flow, both income-wise, and it gives you time to save up the down payment you really need to get in a house that's just yours. We don't want Billy Bob across the doorway. I'm telling you.

2:02:35Jade Warshaw:By the way, yeah, by the way, I mean, yeah, the people that are living in duplexes, you got to do your homework on this. Go drive around. Sit in the parking lot of some local duplexes and watch who's coming in and out of those places. Cool out, Ken, because I lived in a duplex. I'm just saying, and many of us have, but not long term. them i'm calling balls and strikes right now go sit in the parking lot because your husband's not on this call he may go well ken is okay here's what he needs to do go sit in the parking lot of four or five different area duplexes and just take them just just kind of pay attention to what's going on hang out now i also want to say one other thing actually it's a question are you guys in a nice apartment right now what's your situation it's a two by one right now it's a two bedroom

2:03:19Ken Coleman:one bathroom, which is fine. We just, we know we're going to need more space. Oh, stop it.

2:03:26Jade Warshaw:Stop it. You'd been married two months. Is it a nice apartment complex? It's fine. Overall, yes, it's fine. You got a nice pool? Mm-mm. Oh, all right.

2:03:37Ken Coleman:Listen, they'll be okay. You guys have big home ownership goals. I know.

2:03:41Jade Warshaw:I was trying to get her trapped to go, would you just enjoy being married and not having to worry about a roof? Here's the thing. Or the HVAC. I mean, this is the thing that young couples don't think about. Let me tell you something. Everybody wants a house. Nobody wants to deal with the problems of a house. Truer words have not been stated. That's what I want to say to young couples. Cool it. Yeah. Because you have no stress right now living in an apartment.

2:04:07Ken Coleman:You just got none. Yeah, because once you buy a home and I say the word water, the moment you experience water being in the wrong place, owning a home.

2:04:17Jade Warshaw:Let me tell you something right now, Jade. I'm going to be an old man right now. I'm griping about the fact that I just had to spend$2 ,500 to get my beautiful, gorgeous tree in my front yard cut down and get the stump taken out because of an ice storm. Oh, man. I just want to keep it real for all you young couples that are just dying to get a house. Well, guess what? I had to cut the tree down because it split into it, blew up because of the ice.

2:04:42Ken Coleman:To pay an arborist is crazy money. $2 ,500. Yeah, man. I know.

2:04:47Jade Warshaw:And by the way, I have it. But do you think I was happy about it? It's never fun. I'm still griping about it right now. All of America is having to deal with me griping. But guess what? That doesn't happen when you live in a nice little apartment complex. No, it doesn't. And the ice storm comes through.

2:05:01Ken Coleman:Well, yeah, because then you just call maintenance and you're like, hey. Yeah, something goes wrong. They send Roger up.

2:05:06Jade Warshaw:Yeah. And Roger comes in, you know, and he fixes it. And then we go on date night.

2:05:11Ken Coleman:Yeah, exactly. But in a house, it hits different.

2:05:14Jade Warshaw:I'm still griping about that tree. By the way, it's a gorgeous tree.

2:05:17Ken Coleman:Yeah. Gone. Let me tell you, I'm still a little offended about what you said about us duplex dwellers.

2:05:23Jade Warshaw:Was I wrong?

2:05:26Ken Coleman:I don't know, kid.

2:05:28Jade Warshaw:Y 'all drive around this weekend. Spend 45 minutes in the duplex parking lot. Pay attention to who's coming in and out of those places. That's all I'm saying. I'm keeping it real.

2:05:38Ken Coleman:Oh, boy. Remember, there's ultimately only one way to have financial peace, and that's to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Christ Jesus.

2:05:57We'll see you next time.