Stop Living in Financial Chaos

The Ramsey Show

In this episode of The Ramsey Show, George Kamel and Dr. John Deloney provide financial guidance to a diverse group of callers facing variou

Key takeaways

• Adam is nearly mortgage-free but worries that his $700 monthly margin won't cover future home repairs.
• Brandon, a flight attendant with high debt, is advised to use his significant checking account balance to aggressively attack his car loan and IRS debt.
• Kathy, facing a separation involving financial dishonesty, is urged to hire an attorney to protect her equity and retirement interests.
• Thomas, an 18-year-old aspiring psychiatrist, is encouraged to view his savings as insurance and consider gap years to avoid med school debt.
• Xavier is advised to prioritize the debt snowball over aggressive saving to fix the 'hole in the bottom of the bathtub.'

Main topics

• Debt Snowball method
• Financial management during divorce
• Saving for higher education

Notable quotes

Normal is broke and common sense is weird.

Conclusion

The episode highlights that financial success requires intentionality

Transcript preview

Speaker 5 (0:05) Brought to you by the EveryDollar app. Start budgeting for free today. Speaker 1 (0:14) Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network and the Fairwinds Credit Union Studio, this is The Ramsey Show. I'm George Campbell, joined by my ride or die, Dr. John Deloney, and we're taking your calls at 888-825-5225. John, are you doing all right? You need a moment. There's a lot going on. We're good, Speaker 2 (0:37) though, man. Let's dance. This should be a fun show. I'm not your ride or die. I would probably show up. Speaker 1 (0:42) I said it facetiously. Speaker 2 (0:44) Okay. That's Speaker 1 (0:44) a $10 word. That Speaker 2 (0:45) was Speaker 1 (0:45) a Speaker 2 (0:45) big Speaker 1 (0:45) word. Thank Speaker 2 (0:46) you. I Speaker 1 (0:47) went to college. Look at you using ChatGVT. Don't need two PhDs to know Speaker 2 (0:49) that one. Speaker 1 (0:49) You went to Alabama College, so let's don't stretch on that. Okay, roll tide. Adam's in Green Bay, Wisconsin. What's going on, Adam? Speaker 3 (0:57) Hey, guys. Good afternoon. Thanks for having me on the show today. It's a pleasure being on and looking forward to it. Absolutely. I've got a question for you. Speaker 3 (1:08) So, I'm within about 12 months of being completely debt-free. Awesome. Which is great. Yeah, I've been sacrificing for about 15 years. Wow. You know, I met my wife, yeah, probably 12 years ago, and we just had our nose down to the grindstone. We've been doing the right things, following the show, and doing the baby steps. The last thing we got to do is pay off the mortgage. So, if we're... Working hard enough on it, we'll probably have it paid off in about 12 to maybe 14, 16 months, something like that. Awesome. So I don't know. This is going to be a little maybe pep rally or reassurance check or what, but I'm getting a little nervous because now I'm able to forecast what the next year looks like. And it's looking like I'm going to have about an extra $700 per month. to use after I free up that mortgage. So what's the mortgage payment? Well, the mortgage payment is, is actually, thankfully I bought the house quite some time ago. A mortgage payment is $600 every two weeks. So, so Speaker 1 (2:18) 1200 a month Speaker 3 (2:19) or so 1200 a month. Um, but the, you know, that's escrow with my property taxes and, and a homeowner's insurance. So principal Speaker 1 (2:27) and interest side, you'll save 700 a month is what you're saying. Correct. Okay. I was like, man, there should be more margin with a paid-off house. Do you guys have any extra margin now outside of the extra? Because you're paying extra on the mortgage, right? Speaker 3 (2:41) Yeah, we are. We are paying extra. We're living this lifestyle now where we got some extra. We're already saving $400. And this is after everything is, all the baby steps are covered. Everything's paid off. We're doing the right things. We're kind of spreading ourselves thin on purpose just to make sure 401ks and IRAs and all Speaker 1 (3:04) that stuff is covered. Speaker 3 (3:04) Yeah, if you're doing it right, there's not just Speaker 1 (3:06) like a huge pile of money sitting in the bank account every month. You already have a plan for it. Speaker 3 (3:10) Correct. Speaker 1 (3:11) Okay. So you're investing 15%, you're putting some money away for college if you have kids, and you're throwing extra at the mortgage. Speaker 3 (3:18) Yes, exactly. What's your question? Yep, we're right on track. Well, my question is, you know, the light at the end of the tunnel is looking dimmer than expected. And I don't know if I need to maybe take a breath and just realize I am doing the right things and everything. But $700 extra a month is not going to move the needle a whole lot. It's going to give us some breathing room. However, we've been sacrificing so heavily that we've neglected some things around the house. You know, a flooring needs to be fixed or, you know, we may need to, we're looking at buying a shed to put some stuff in. And, you know, these things are going to take quite a bit of time to stave up and pay cash for. So once I start adding all this stuff up in my head, I'm like, oh boy, we're going to be dead by the time we get to pay off all this stuff. By the time you've actually done all the things you Speaker 1 (4:08) need to do as an adult? Speaker 3 (4:10) Yeah, kind of, yeah. And some of the stuff is, you know, you guys would probably slap me a little bit and go, well, you don't need a new car, so let's not worry about that. But that's in the future. You know, one day maybe I do want a new boat or a new car. And if I'm just saving up for cash to pay for all that stuff, it just seems like it's going to take an eternity to do that. Speaker 1 (4:30) Sure. Well, there's levers you can pull here. I mean, there's your income side and the expense side. And it sounds like you guys have been pretty good on the expense side, living fairly frugally. So how much do Speaker 3 (4:41) you Speaker 1 (4:41) guys make? We Speaker 3 (4:44) take home about $5,400 a month. My wife is a stay-at-home mom. We have a four-and-a-half-year-old daughter. Awesome. So I'm currently providing the income for our family. And we live a pretty frugal lifestyle. Thankfully, I bought the house in 2009, and it's quadrupled in price since then. So I'm fortunate enough to pay a mortgage that is a lot less than it used to be. if you were to get one today. Yeah, Speaker 1 (5:10) that's Speaker 3 (5:11) what Speaker 1 (5:11) I'm wondering. So after the mortgage is paid, you should have $4,200 left over today. Speaker 3 (5:16) Well, yeah, yeah, to pay for the bills, and then we got a little... I think you can squeeze more Speaker 1 (5:22) margin out of this, and I think you're also not realizing your income's going to go up over time as a household, especially if your wife ever returns to work. Is that a game plan? Speaker 3 (5:31) Well, that was one of the questions she actually said, you know, you should maybe ask them if they think it's a good idea to, you know, if she were to look for a job or not. As a husband, and we kind of live more of a traditional lifestyle, I like that she's a stay-at-home mom. I'd prefer that, and I would rather take that burden off of her shoulders if possible. So I think I know what you're going to say, and if I had to guess, it would be, well, if you want to live a little bit more lavish of a lifestyle, you just need to... find ways to make more income. Speaker 2 (6:00) Well, don't voluntarily take that weight on your shoulders and then complain about it. Correct. Right. Like if that's a choice you want to make, that's awesome. Good for you and good for her. I maybe call me untraditional, non-traditional. I don't know that that's a decision I think you should unilaterally make. If she's asking you, do you need me to go to work? Do we need to go to work? Versus, hey, I'm kind of burnt out on staying here all day. I would like to get back out with other adults in the world. Like that's something I would hope y'all would make together. Speaker 2 (6:38) I'm struggling, brother, buying the $700 margin thing. That's not passing my smell test. I'm not as good at math as George is, but that doesn't feel right. In what means? Meaning you bring home $5,400 a month, and let's say you put $1,000 away every month for taxes and insurance. Is that too low? Speaker 3 (7:10) Well, I'm predicting that I put away about $500 a month for property taxes and insurance. So that leaves us the $700. But that leaves you $4,800 a month. Speaker 1 (7:22) So we're talking food, utilities, transportation, fuel, other insurances. And beyond that, that's where I want you guys to dig into an actual every dollar budget and sit down together and say, can we find more margin here? Because I think what you're going to find is you're going to be able to squeeze out $1,700 a month once you pay off the mortgage if you do it right, which is $20,000 a year, which should be enough to cover home repairs, upgrading the car over time, and living your best life. Speaker 2 (7:50) Now, I will tell you this. If this is the bigger question you're asking, which is, or the bigger pressure you're feeling, which is, I thought when I didn't owe anybody anything, I wouldn't have to worry about money anymore. Speaker 2 (8:06) Like I thought if I sacrificed for 15 years, I wouldn't have to think about it anymore. And that feeling, brother, is real. And that's the worst. And it's frustrating. And for whatever it's worth, like Dave is our boss, but Dave is also a friend of George and I. And I hear Dave say all the time, I was thinking about buying this, but I don't want to spend that kind of money on this. And so there is always going to be an intentionality. with your money, regardless of how much you have. Hey, I want to talk to you for a second about love and not love like in Titanic or something. I mean, responsible love. The kind of love that moves you to take care of the people closest to you. And one of the most important ways to show that kind of love is by having term life insurance. If you have anyone depending on you, a spouse, kids, anyone, you need term life insurance. Term life insurance gives your family real protection if the unthinkable happens so they can spend their time grieving and not worrying about how the bills are going to get paid. Zander is a broker who works for you, shopping the top companies to find the right coverage options for your needs and your budget. In many cases, there are options available with no medical exam and instant approval. My wife and I had term life insurance through Zander for years, long before I worked at Ramsey, because we trust them. Getting term life insurance is a way of saying I love you when you can no longer say it yourself. Go to Zander.com or call 1-800-356- to find the coverage that fits your family. Speaker 1 (10:18) Brandon is in Nashville, Tennessee down the road. What's going on, Brandon? Speaker 1 (10:23) Hi, I'm a Speaker 6 (10:25) first time caller. I just want to tell you all how much I appreciate you guys. I just think I'm finally reached the point where I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. And I'm a walking example of why not to do everything you'll see not to do. I have, I'm trying to pay off. all my debt first, which is what my original plan was. I bought a house last year, FHA, 3.5 % down, and racked up more debt after I bought the house. And so now I'm a little upside down on the house. I'm upside down on a car that I didn't even have before buying the house. And I have so much debt. I'm just trying to break it down and figure out if... If even keeping the house is an option, and if it is, what do I pay off first? How do I get to where I need to be? Speaker 1 (11:23) Yeah, man, that's heavy. Well, let's walk through this in a very tactical way, because I think when it feels emotional and overwhelming, it helps to just look at the numbers and kind of get the boogeyman out from under the bed. So what is your income? Speaker 6 (11:39) My income is sustained around $115,000, but I am a flight attendant. It's variable. I can pretty much work as much or as little as I want. Beautiful. So Speaker 1 (11:50) I Speaker 6 (11:50) can get way above that if I need to. That's music to my ears. And Speaker 1 (11:53) I will. Okay. That's a great lever we can pull to get out of this faster. Speaker 2 (11:57) And do you have family or dependents or anybody sharing this rent with you, or are you all in your own? My mom Speaker 6 (12:05) lives with me right now. She gives me money. I've just been putting it to the side for her because she's on disability and I just want her to be able to sustain herself. Speaker 6 (12:19) down the road. And so we're teaming together. She watches my dog while I'm flying so I can work as much as I need to. And so I don't have any income coming in, but she lives with me. Okay. Speaker 1 (12:32) And how much debt do you have outside of the mortgage? Outside of the mortgage, Speaker 6 (12:37) $80,868. Speaker 1 (12:40) And what kind of debt is that? Break it down. Speaker 6 (12:42) The car is $33,878. I have a consolidation loan that I should have never gotten, which was $31,099. I owe the IRS $13,041. I owe $1,901 on appliances and $947 on a phone. And it all comes out to about $1,664 a month in payments. Speaker 1 (13:09) Okay, and what do you take home every month? Speaker 1 (13:16) When I'm working Speaker 6 (13:17) like I'm supposed to, it's $8,000 usually. I've just been struggling to go to work with my depression and everything. So I'm trying to get my hours back Speaker 2 (13:30) up right now. What's your mortgage every month? Speaker 6 (13:34) With the HOA, it's $30,000, $46,000. Speaker 1 (13:40) Man, so that's eating your lunch right now out of your $8,000 take-home pay. Right. We recommend 25%. So if it was at $2,000, we'd call this a win. And so right now, a big part of it is your consumer debt. A big part of it is the mortgage. And the part that we can control today is getting rid of the consumer debt payments. So can you afford the mortgage payment every month? You're not at risk of being behind, right? No, Speaker 6 (14:07) I haven't missed a payment. And I mean, by next year, I'll have a 9 % raise. And then I get 5 % every year after that for four years. So I feel like I'm going to keep getting better. I just want to get rid of something. Yeah. Well, the house Speaker 1 (14:20) isn't on fire right now. So can we compartmentalize and put this house on the back burner and say, we're going to be okay. You didn't lose money. It's like a stock. Until you sell it, you're not going to realize a loss or a gain. And Nashville is a solid market. Let's just hope in the next couple of years the market bounces back up. You're out of the water and you've also been adding equity with every payment. Right. So now if we focus all of our energy toward your smallest debt, which one is that? Is that appliances or the phone? It's the phone. Okay. Then we have the IRS debt. I'm going to put an asterisk on that because that one's going to go to the top of the list because they can destroy your life, garnish your wages, all of that. So let's – you have a payment plan with them? Have you talked to them? I do. I pay $170 a month. Okay. So let's knock that one out first. And then this car loan, what's the car worth? You owe $33,800 on it. Speaker 6 (15:10) It's $26,000. So I just need to pay it down by $8,000 to get rid of it. And I just didn't know if I should prioritize that or what to do first. But I feel like that's Speaker 1 (15:22) 40%. Do Speaker 6 (15:22) you have any savings? Speaker 6 (15:24) No, I have $147,000 in my checking, but I also get paid tomorrow, and so I try to budget all the way down to zero. How Speaker 2 (15:32) much do you have in this secret account for your mom that she thinks she's paying you rent, but not really? Speaker 6 (15:38) She does know I'm doing it for her, but it's $4,000 in there. Speaker 1 (15:43) Okay. Because I'm thinking instead of you trying to pay down the car to get it there, because what's going to happen is the car is going to continue to depreciate. Speaker 1 (15:51) So you might be better off just setting money aside to cover the amount you're underwater on or going to your local credit union down the road and getting a personal loan for the difference plus enough to get something to get from A to B. Is this the only car at the house? Speaker 6 (16:06) No, I have another car. It's a 2005 Scion that my mom drives when I'm gone because we live 35 miles away from the airport. Speaker 1 (16:16) Oh, man, that's a hike. Okay, because I'm trying to think. You obviously need transportation, but getting rid of this car, what's the payment on that? $714. Goodness gracious. You could really make a dent in those other debts if you freed up that payment. Speaker 6 (16:30) I know. That's why I realized that was one of my biggest mistakes. Yeah. Speaker 1 (16:35) And is that 26, is that private party value or trade-in? Speaker 6 (16:39) That's Carvana, but I feel like Carvana usually gives one of them. Private party would probably be a little higher, I'm sure. Speaker 1 (16:48) That's Speaker 6 (16:49) what Speaker 1 (16:49) I'm wondering. If you can get private party for 30, you have enough today to clear it with mom's savings. So I would look into what you could get private party because man you just got a raise and you got some breathing room You can live to fight another day and start attacking these debts with the debt snowball, but that's the game plan There's no shortcuts no more consolidation. No more credit cards. We're just doing nothing but knocking out the next smallest debt Can you focus on that instead of the whole big picture the entire mountain? Let's just focus on the next little crest. We're trying to hit Speaker 6 (17:22) Yes, and I believe that as long as I can get back to working as hard as I was at the beginning of the year, that I can create $2,500 to $3,000 extra margin per month to put towards it. I love that. Speaker 2 (17:37) Brandon, is depression something you've struggled with forever, or is this just an ever heavier shadow that's just forecasting over your life as you've taken on more debt payments, got into more situations, your mom moved in? What's the nature of this? I Speaker 6 (17:51) think I've always, I've always, I mean, I've definitely always had it. I was, um, clinical depression was, um, a diagnosis as a kid. I just think that all of the stuff recently has heightened it. Um, and, and I just fell into a deep depression around the same time last year. And then every time I end up being out of work, I just, I. Speaker 6 (18:13) I'm going to the doctor on Monday. Make Speaker 2 (18:16) sure you go to the doctor on Monday. I'm proud of you for that. And hang on the line. We'll hook you up with three months for free with our friends at BetterHelp. You can just do that whenever and wherever, okay? But I want you to talk to somebody. But one of the things I want you to do is exactly what George said, but I want to take it one step further. I want you to not type it. I want you to get a piece of paper, old school style, and write down your debt smallest to largest. Speaker 2 (18:40) I have Speaker 6 (18:40) it right in front of me. I wrote it down to talk with you guys because I didn't know. I just wanted to pull it out of my head. Speaker 2 (18:46) Dude, and getting this stuff out of your body onto paper and then mapping the plan. All right, this isn't pretend. I think I can get three or four. I'm going to actually write this stuff down and get a map. So that at the end of this month, I've paid this off. And at the end of this month, I've paid this off. And over time, the single greatest gift you could give your mom is you being sturdy and well. Speaker 2 (19:11) Okay. And that might mean taking the 4,000 bucks that's in this little account over here and clearing your debt so that you can put $1,000 a month away of your own money or $1,500 or $2,000 away, creating your own emergency fund from the floor up. And you'll have that money back in way, way, way, way more when it's not all flowing out of the house. Two paid debt payments. Speaker 1 (19:32) Yeah, here's the math on it, Brandon. You get rid of that car payment like we talked about, and you free up that $700, you start throwing at the debts, you'll have $48,900 left in debt. And if you chunk $2,800 a month at this thing, you're done in 18 months. Imagine who you're going to be 18 months from now, completely debt-free, with the financial strength to actually help your mom out. You're a good man. Speaker 4 (20:11) Hey guys, it's Rachel Cruz. If you're working the baby steps, every major expense deserves a second look. And healthcare is one of the biggest expenses in most families' budgets. And that is why I recommend that you check out Christian Healthcare Ministries. CHM isn't insurance. It's a health cost-sharing ministry. That means members help pay one another's medical bills. And they've been serving Christians since 1981. CHM programs start at just $115 a month. here's why that matters. If you are paying more than you need to for healthcare, That money could be going toward paying off debt, building your emergency fund, or reaching your next financial goal. And your monthly cost isn't based on your medical history or where you live. Y'all, a lot of families find CHM gives them more room in the budget. That's why so many members say they're better with CHM. And right now, new members can receive a 50 % credit towards their first month of membership. Go to chministries.org slash budget and use promo code Ramsey. chministries.org slash budget and promo code Ramsey. Speaker 1 (21:34) Kathy is in Richmond, Virginia up next. Kathy, welcome to The Ramsey Show. Speaker 8 (21:40) Hello. Hey, how Speaker 1 (21:42) can we help? Speaker 8 (21:42) I'm 56 years old, and I'm currently separated after my husband left of 24 years. He left in January. And I'm looking for some help or advice because I was a stay-at-home mom for four kids and supported my husband in his career. I took care of other family members, my grandparents. My dad, my mom. I have no Social Security points. I have no job history to speak of. I do have some health issues. And I'm kind of in a limbo right now. He left in January, and there's been no separation agreement or anything done yet. And I feel like he's kind of trying to. For months, I felt like he kind of played me that he was going to come back. And then a couple weeks ago, he told me he wasn't coming back and that he'd been seeing somebody. And that he wanted us to get a separation agreement written up. And the cheapest way for us to do that was to sit down and agree to everything ourselves and just have a lawyer write it up. Hey, Kathy. Yes. Speaker 2 (22:57) I'm not doing. So when somebody leaves another person, whether in a business arrangement or in a marriage, when somebody says this marriage is over, this business is over, we now, partnerships now enter into a business transaction. And that's what you are in. And I don't do business with dishonest liars. Right. And so the most unwise thing you could do is have a man who has no character. Speaker 2 (23:30) who lied to your face over months and years, who then says, I want to sit down at a table with you and we'll come up with an agreement and somebody will stamp it for us because it's going to be cheaper for me. No chance, no way, no how. Speaker 8 (23:46) Yeah, I agree. So you need your own attorney Speaker 2 (23:49) that's fighting for you. You go get an attorney. Speaker 8 (23:51) Well, I went to an attorney. I borrowed $300 from my son to go to an attorney. And I went to him and it was before I found a lot of stuff out, but he sat down and did the basics. Speaker 8 (24:07) Didn't look great for me, but, you know, he said what it was and I went on about my business. And recently I got in touch with legal aid here and they told me they couldn't really help me. Speaker 2 (24:21) Okay. So why did you say it didn't look good for you? Speaker 8 (24:27) Well, I'm currently in our home and we have about $400,000 in equity in this home. Speaker 2 (24:36) Out Speaker 8 (24:36) of that $400,000 in equity, about $225,000 of it was from my parents' home that was sold and put into this house for a down payment because my mom also moved in with us at that time. Speaker 8 (24:53) So I could help take care of her. She's here. I'm here. He left the home. He's been paying the bills somewhat because obviously maintaining two homes when you haven't been financially honest and whatnot. There's been issues and a couple Speaker 2 (25:11) of Speaker 8 (25:11) times there's. But Speaker 2 (25:12) let me let me let me interrupt here because we have limited time and I want to make sure I am pretty clear here. Part of you metabolizing the divorce. Speaker 2 (25:23) is coming to grips with, I'm probably going to have to sell this house. Yeah. Me and my mom are going to have to move possibly to a two bedroom apartment for a season. Speaker 2 (25:35) OK, I'm going to demand via my attorney half of the retirement accounts. This my my ex has any other secret accounts he has. And by the way, you can tell him all of that stuff is in discovery. All the secret accounts, all of the all that stuff gets put out on paper. How long you've been having affairs with who all of that stuff gets laid out. Speaker 2 (26:00) And if he comes back and says, I'll give you a 70%, you can have the house, you can have all this, great. He might give you the house and you still have to sell it because you can't make the mortgage payments. Speaker 8 (26:10) Yeah. Speaker 2 (26:11) But it's recognizing most folks, especially once you get blindsided into a divorce like you're in, they recognize the marriage is over and all the grief and all the heartbreak and all of the relational mess that is. But they want to keep everything else the same. I want to keep in the same house, the same car, and the same life, and the same cell phone plan, and the same everything. And it's those who can exhale and say, everything is different now. That's one that can then look at a clean slate and say, okay, here's how much money I actually have. I'm 56, and I got to go get a job today. And it shouldn't be that way, but that's where I'm at. So what are the health Speaker 1 (26:57) issues that are keeping you from working? Speaker 8 (26:59) So I have some immune deficiency issues, and I get sick very often, and I have chronic diarrhea. There's lots of things. My doctor suggested that I go ahead and try to get on disability, and when I talked with them, with him paying the bills here and even after, once I'm getting alimony, the only thing I'd qualify for is SSI, and they said that I would qualify for the disability part but not the financial part. Speaker 2 (27:26) Okay. So Speaker 8 (27:27) I wouldn't be able to get that. And I tried to work, and I got sick a lot, which poses a problem. You know, obviously stress doesn't help it. Sure. Speaker 2 (27:38) I'm Speaker 8 (27:38) hoping that, you know, that'll get better. But I'm worried about my health insurance. I'm worried about just surviving. You know, he makes about $115K a year, maybe $120K with his bonuses and raises. Speaker 8 (27:55) His 401K, he pretty much wiped out during the pandemic to take care of some other things. And when he lost his job, he started rebuilding it, and it's not much there. I mean, I had no idea how bad we were financially. Speaker 2 (28:10) And Speaker 8 (28:11) that was my stupidity. I take full responsibility for that. I trusted him. Speaker 1 (28:16) Do you guys have any debt? Speaker 8 (28:19) We have debt. There's credit cards, some that I didn't know about. There's two parent plus loans. There's a car payment. He actually owes about $6,000 on a utility bill that I didn't know about. On your house? It was at some point on my house. And at one point, he had that bill sent somewhere else because it was late. and didn't want me to see it, I guess, and forgot about it. And this is a small water company where we live, privately owned for our neighborhood. And so he worked something out with the guy at some point. When I did find out about it, I just lost it. Okay, Speaker 2 (29:05) but Speaker 8 (29:05) hold on. Speaker 2 (29:06) Let's do this, Kathy. Let's do this. Speaker 2 (29:11) Let's give those type of what happened to a lawyer and let them dig through that stuff because it's distracting you from this one terrifying question. What am I going to do now? Speaker 2 (29:24) Yeah. And all I want all of your energy focused on what can you do? What are you going to do? It might be I have to make some hard phone calls to my kids because I can't work and I it's going to take four months for me to go through the SSI process. And like, but it's you saying this stuff all happened. He should have been doing this. He's been doing this for years. Cool. Attorney, go go to war on my behalf and get whatever you can. Speaker 2 (29:54) And here I am now. What am I going to do now? Is there an online job I can get just at my house for a year? That's what I'm Speaker 8 (30:04) trying to do, yeah. Right. I've networked. I have a huge network, and I've reached out to everybody, and I'm working on that now. I've been putting applications in for months. Speaker 2 (30:13) Good. Speaker 8 (30:14) Trying to find a work-from-home job because I could do some of that, you know? Excellent, excellent. And I want to. But I'm also, you know, I'm worried about my mom. She lives with me. I can't, you know, I've got to make sure she's okay with me. Speaker 1 (30:30) And all Speaker 8 (30:30) the kids are out of Speaker 1 (30:31) the Speaker 8 (30:31) house? All the kids are out of the house. Is she eligible for Speaker 2 (30:35) Medicaid? Speaker 8 (30:37) She is getting her retirement and my dad's, and Willa's benefits from my dad's job. Speaker 2 (30:43) Okay. Speaker 1 (30:44) Until we know what's next and how this dust settles, it's going to be hard to make a financial plan. So your goal should just be to sock away as much money as possible, get by for now, and try to clear the decks and have the best financial outcome for you so that you're not carrying a load that you can't carry. Speaker 2 (30:59) Sit down with the lawyer, ASAP, and say it's time to buckle up because we're going to war. Speaker 4 (31:24) Hey, what's up guys? It's Jade Warshaw. Now, I know a little something about saving money. While my husband and I were paying off over $460,000 in debt, we went over every expense in our budget to find ways to cut back. Nothing got a free pass, including our phones. And you need to be doing the same thing. And now with Boost Mobile, one of the easiest places for you to save money is your phone bill. Their unlimited plan is just $25 a month. Forever! With a price that nice, why would you ever go back to your old carrier? And with Boost Mobile, there's no contracts, no hidden fees, and no surprises, which makes this a no-brainer when it comes to saving money. Best part? You can keep your phone and your number when you switch. So it's not like you're making some huge lifestyle change. Listen, you need a phone, but you don't need to be overpaying every month. So whether you're paying off debt or building wealth, or you just want to keep more of your money in your pocket, this is a win. Go to Boost Mobile. BoostMobile.com slash Ramsey and make the switch today. That's BoostMobile.com slash Ramsey. Speaker 7 (32:23) $25 forever requires customers to remain active on Boost Mobile Unlimited plan. Speaker 1 (32:41) If you're new around here, welcome. We answer every question through this lens, the seven baby steps. So if you haven't seen them yet, we're going to drop a link to learn about them below in the description of this episode so you can better understand the best plan to get out of debt and build wealth. Thomas is in Boise up next. What's going on, Thomas? Speaker 7 (33:02) Hello, George and John. Good to talk to you guys. You too, brother. What's up? I just want to know how I can save money for medical school. I know it's a really big expense, and I really do not want to go into debt to do it. Speaker 1 (33:13) Love this mentality. How old are you? I'm 18 years old. Speaker 2 (33:17) 18. Nice. Speaker 1 (33:18) So the good news is med school is a little bit of a ways away. Do you guys have any money saved right now? Speaker 7 (33:24) Yeah, so I have $20,000 that I will not need to use. I will not need to use those $20,000 to pay for undergrad. Speaker 1 (33:33) Great. How is undergrad getting paid? Speaker 7 (33:36) So I have a scholarship that covers about maybe 70 % or 80 % of the total tuition. And then my parents have enough money to pay for the rest, well, most of the rest. And then whatever I can work during college, we'll pay for that. Speaker 1 (33:50) Cash flow. So you'll leave that $20,000 alone for now. Speaker 7 (33:53) Yep, barring unusual circumstances, that should be able