Transcript of Live Audience Money Questions in Denver New

Cliff and I have been married for 2 years now. We currently reside in the house that Cliff used to share with his ex-wife.

Do you want to sell it or do you want to burn it to the ground?

Should the guy pay for all the dates or is there ever a time to split it?

You asked her out, you pay.

He put it on credit cards that I'm now paying for as a wife.

Sir, you're done. You don't get to talk anymore.

How do couples continue to stay aligned over time when one spouse is more financially anxious than the other.

If you're scared, can you blink twice?

Have you ever seen somebody for anxiety?

No, I like myself the way I am.

Wow, you know what, I actually believe you.

We both been kind of slowly putting our finances together.

But you're not married.

Wrap it up, homie.

Normal is broke and common sense is weird. Weird. So we are here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network, brought to you by Fairwinds Credit Union, live from Denver, Colorado, this is the Ramsey Show. Yeah.

Oh, to all these lovely people in the room, and of course those watching wherever you're watching, however you're watching, welcome to this special tour edition of The Ramsey Show. So excited to be here, and we're going to get right to it. It's The Ramsey Show, except there's no phone calls. They are live in the room. The good news is we can't hang up on them. The bad news is we can't hang up on them.

Your personal brand is on the line.

And by the way, I meant to mention, when I got— I got so excited when we started the show.

What happened, Ken?

I didn't, I didn't introduce you guys alongside the lovely, the incomparable Jade Warshaw, John thought I was talking about him.

Give Jade some love.

I love it, I love it.

The handsome, the wise George Campbell, ladies and gentlemen. I mean John Delony, I'm sorry. Dr. John Delony.

We get mixed up a lot. We get mixed up a lot.

It's an uncanny resemblance.

I know, I know.

And I'm Dave Ramsey. No, I'm Ken Coleman. It's exciting, exciting to be here. Okay, we have a couple up here.

Okay, so I've got Cheryl and Clifton. Not the big red dog. No, I love that.

Okay, that's Clifford.

Ken Clifford.

Close enough.

That's like Montpelier.

Well, I just—

that's like George Campbell. Dude, this thing's falling off. I know.

Yeah, I probably didn't get enough sleep last night. Sorry, Clifton. You're a dog. D-A-W-G.

Okay, Cheryl, what's the question?

We have a little debate going on. We're hoping you guys—

are we settling a debate?

Yes.

As in maybe like we're Supreme Court justices?

Yep. So Cliff and I have been married for 2 years now. We created a very big blended family between the 2 of us. We have 9 children.

Oh my gosh.

Yeah.

And we currently reside in the house that Cliff used to share with his ex-wife.

Oh, listen to— this audience is on it right now.

This case is not going to survive summary judgment. I'm pretty sure.

No.

We have an extremely low mortgage that would—

How much?

We have $225,000 left on it. We only pay $1,800 a month.

Okay, gotcha.

On a home that's big enough to hold all of us.

Yeah.

I would like to sell it and move to a fresh start because it has bad juju in it for me.

Come on.

He would like to stay. Pay it off and save for our retirement and a long trip that we plan to take when we get the last kid out of the house.

Okay. And how many times, like hours, just gimme a general idea how many hours you've spent talking about this? Look at the faces.

Couple of hundred.

Huh?

Couple of hundred.

Do you wanna sell it or do you wanna burn it to the ground?

If we could get the money out of it and then burn it, yeah.

What's it worth if you sold it? Or earned it?

5 to 5:30.

So you walk away with a nice chunk of change and free of that. So Clifton, this is fascinating. Couple hundred hours, that's why I asked that question. And after a couple hundred hours, you're here live on the Ramsey Show with 3 people that are gonna settle this debate. Are you not picking up the signals? In other words, what is your, after all of the conversation, What's keeping you hanging on to this house?

Honestly, we've gone around and looked at multiple other homes, and we just haven't found something that's the equivalent.

What do you mean by equivalent?

Just the bedrooms have been smaller, the number of bedrooms. I just want to make sure that we have enough room in our house for everybody. If we wait 2 more years, we have a child graduating here in a month, and then the next one graduates the following year.

Okay.

So if we had 4 kids still living with us in the house, then we could get a smaller house.

Okay, I hear you. Now to you. And by the way, I'm going to do my judge part. I'll get out of the way. I want to know, Cheryl, when he says, I'm holding on to it because we haven't found something that works. Have you found something that would work that you could make work? Cheryl, tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God.

The 2-bedroom apartment down the street would be fine.

I knew it. I knew it. She's going to move into a wall tent tomorrow.

Clifton, I've been doing this long enough to know I just put you in a corner and your wife is asking you to listen to her.

You're bringing data to a feelings fight. Yeah, and you're going to lose.

We could go up to about $3,000 a month and still be within the Ramsey parameters, but there you go.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah.

Is it over the shoulder? No, I like it to come over.

There you go.

There it is.

I'm ready to rule.

I don't know if you have any further questions, John. Any further questions?

I just want to— there's a point of clarification here. You said that y'all could move all the way up to $3,000 a month in monthly mortgage and still stay within 25% of your total take-home pay.

Yeah.

So the one question I have for the defendant is, brother, what are you doing?

I think I'm about to lose my head according to Ken here with his wig.

But before he, before he rules, let me— I haven't ruled yet.

Let me be like, for real. Is there a deeper attachment for you to the House besides the numbers?

It's actually the size of it.

Okay.

Because if we could wait that 2 years, I mean, I love my wife tremendously, but if we could wait that 2 years and get a smaller home, the financial gains we'd have there would be tremendous.

I have a question for you, sir. If roles were reversed and you were staying in this awesome house that—

Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

Yeah.

If roles were reversed, would you be wanting to hang on to this house?

I honestly— yeah, I think I would be okay with it for the short time.

Short time?

Has to be the short time, though.

2 more years in your mind is a short, short time with the ghost of the ex walking around the house?

We've already lived in it for 4 years.

Oh geez, Clifton.

Oh my gosh.

All right, I rule in favor of Cheryl.

Clifton, sell the house. You get to do it next.

What am I—

oh, my ruling.

Put it on the table and rule.

All right, uh, my ruling is the current house is is indeed haunted, and for that reason, I'm out.

I not only rule for Cheryl, but you, sir, should go to jail.

Straight to jail.

And before we move on, James, don't y'all wish Dave was here tonight?

Who doesn't?

What if Dave could be here? Because Dave, I think—

What would Dave say?

I think I got a message from Dave to you, Clifton. Are you ready?

I'm ready.

Suck it up, buttercup.

Thank you guys, you've been great sports. Give us some love. Oh, I've waited my whole life for that moment, I think. How's the hair look?

Is it all right? Okay. I can't keep that on the whole time, but I'd like to.

It gets a little itchy, wasn't it?

Yeah. Let's go to Trayvon. Give him some love. Trayvon, how are you?

I'm doing good. How you doing?

Good.

Tell us where you're from.

I'm from Corpus Christi.

Nice.

Okay. What's your question?

So my question today is, it's lovely to meet all of you all today. It's an honor. Would you change your approach to the baby steps if you were 29 today, facing high rent and low wages while prepping for marriage?

Wow.

No, I wouldn't. Because doing so would make me the exception. And I think that when you go through life with that behavior, that I'm the exception, I'm the exception to the rule, it gives you the opportunity to cop out from a lot of hard things. That being said, I do think that there's challenges. Like, I want to validate the fact that there's challenges. There's always going to be a generation that faces challenges that the previous generation didn't face. And I think that you're feeling the weight of that right now. The advice stays the same. So what's the part of the— there's something that you're wanting to go the other way on and tell me what it is and what you want to do instead.

I think I want to invest more, maybe like, so I know it's like, obviously I know the baby steps, even like the emergency fund. Like you want to save $1,000, but I'm like, is that enough for today? Kind of like how far the dollars goes and everything.

No, I mean, $1,000 has never been enough, to be honest with you. I mean, there's a lot of arguments for that, but it's not supposed to be enough. It's— I'll tell you what it was for Sam and I, and I think that these guys could probably chime in in the same way. $1,000 is enough to make you get creative. It's enough that when an emergency strikes, you have to dig deep and go, okay, the washer and dryer went out. If I had credit or if I had more money, I would just go over to Lowe's and get something or buy something off Craigslist or, you know, secondhand, whatever. But when you don't have any money to spend, then you go, okay, what can I do? Well, my mother-in-law's down the street. I can wash the clothes here. I can dry them at her house, right? And you start thinking way more creatively. My buddy is good at fixing things. I think I can call him over and he can, right? So that's what $1,000 helps you do. And then, yeah, it's enough to cover, you know, a flat tire and little things like that. But, um, don't let that be the thing that stops you, especially if it hasn't stopped you yet.

I would hate for you to think towards the future and go, that's, that's something that could potentially stop me and not test it and try it.

I'd love to know your quick numbers. So how much debt do you have?

I have about $6,000.

That's it. What's the $6,000?

So I have like my car is a majority of it, but I have $5,000 in my car. Then as far as my— I got like some tax stuff, maybe like $1,000 or $1,500.

What kind of income do you have?

How much do you make? I make around like $4,000 a month right now.

Okay.

Yeah. And when do you expect to be debt-free? If you're mapping this out and you're getting after it, when do you think you're debt-free?

Oh man. Uh, $6,000. Come on, man.

Yeah. It's not a, it's not a lot right now. I'll say like within the next 4 to 5 months.

Good answer.

I don't, I don't, 4 to 5 months.

I mean, make it, make it 90 days.

I'm with John. I'd like to see it. So here's where I'm going with this.

All right.

So on the other side of that now is Baby Step 3. So you have a $48,000 income. Quick math. What's a good emergency fund for him? 3 months worth of expenses.

I would start with 18.

18. You feel good about that number?

Okay.

All right, let's fast forward. So what's on the other side of Baby Step 3 for you? Baby Step 4. And what are you doing in Baby Step 4? Help him out, crowd.

Yeah, help me out. Investing 15 to 20%. Yes.

And how old are you right now?

I'm 29.

29.

Yeah.

James, do you have, can we do a quick investment calculator?

I got it.

I got it.

All right. I got you.

Here's, because this was the heart of your question, wasn't it?

You were like, I want to start investing. I feel like I'm 29, I'm almost 30 and paying off this debt. You were going, I'm not investing.

Am I right?

Is that what I heard?

Right. I do have, I want to add one little thing too. So if I want to obviously preparing for marriage, how much should I be putting towards a ring from that standpoint as well?

Is she here?

Yes, she's right here to my left.

Well, but which is the bigger question? Saving for the ring or hey, should I get out of order on the Baby Steps? You know what our answer is. Yeah, I've already made the point. You're not far away from being able to be into Baby Step 4, and Jade's going to do a little investment calculator. So pick him up at what, 30 years of age?

Yeah, I'm going to pick you up at 30. Do you already have anything in there?

What do you mean?

Do you already have anything invested?

Any 401 or anything?

Yes, I do.

How much?

About like $3,000.

Okay, so I'm going to put that in there. So we'll start this at age 30, assuming you're going to save up the $18,000. You have an engagement ring to buy. You have $6,000 of debt to pay off. Let's say that— and this is very conservative because I'm just going off the $4,000. I'm not doing it off your gross amount. So let's say $600 a month. Average rate of return annualized, we'll say 10%. Okay, so if I calculate that from age 30 to, let's go with 65, does that sound good?

Yeah.

Okay, that's going to be, drum roll please.

Oh, very nice.

$2.375 million.

Million dollars.

And that's assuming nothing gets better from here on out. So the bar is low here.

Right.

So, Trevon, you see what we just did? Don't go out of order.

Yeah.

You don't need to.

You're a young man. You're going to be very wealthy. You should see the smile on the face of that lady next to you when she saw $2.375 million. Oh my God.

Yeah.

You didn't think he had it in him, did you?

Look at her. She's like, what's up?

Look at this.

And that's not even like, yeah, once you guys get married, you're going to be contributing to that. You guys are going to be off the hook.

That number's low is what she's telling you.

Right.

You got us?

Yes, I got you. Yes, sounds good.

Now, Do you want to add? You want to weigh in on the cost of the ring?

This was a hot topic in Charlotte.

I think, ma'am, next to him needs to weigh in.

Have you picked out the ring? No, not yet. Have you given him any guidance? Not a ton. Not a ton. Did you listen, Trayvon?

I do.

Do you have an idea what that number is without saying anything?

I say between $4,000 to $8,000.

Oh, you went ahead and said it.

Okay.

I'm like, I'm trying to make it easy on him. So 4 to 8, how do you feel?

I feel great about that.

I feel really good about that. How do you feel about that?

I mean, honestly, mine was lower than his.

Okay, great.

Bro, lock this down now.

Lock it in. Do you want to say a little something to her right now?

Have you already asked her? Not right now?

Not yet. Not yet.

Not yet.

We got you. This is going to be big time.

Yeah, because Jake can sing. I mean, John's licensed somewhere on the internet to do something. I mean, we could just get it done and wrap this up tonight. We can play John Legend right now. I love it. Hey, everybody give Trayvon some love. That's awesome. Okay, who do we have next?

Lauren, give Lauren some love as she comes to the mic.

Where is Lauren? Yeah. Come on down. Hi, Lauren. Hi.

Who do you have with you?

My husband.

Oh, very nice. Tell us your names and where you're from.

My name is Christian, origin from West Africa, Benin.

Okay, great.

And I'm Lauren. I'm from Reno, but I live in Denver.

Okay, great.

All right.

So, what's your question?

So, it's— I don't know if we're gonna need judgment.

Oh, I can go get the wig.

We'll give it to you.

You might need to.

We'll see.

So, we've been following the Ramsey Plan for, I don't know, 8 months, and we've paid off about $120,000 of debt. Yeah.

Yeah.

Most of that was my student loans from graduate school, very little credit card debt. We have no car debt. So we've moved through the steps pretty fast, and we're now like in step 6 about, and we disagree on the percentage for investment right now, because we started investing like probably in the last couple of paychecks to the max amount that we can, and now we're in the step where we can start putting more toward our mortgage. We have a 15-year mortgage, and it just feels a little tight, and I can't get him to see that it feels a little tight.

Okay, tell us your position. We'll start with you. So what is your position on how much?

Well, I would like to be within the like 15 to 18%, and right now we're at like 22%.

Oh, investing 22%?

Yeah, Christian is like, let's go!

He—

well, I— and in all fairness, so we're both 38, and we have not saved much for, you know, we don't have a ton in our 401s. He has much more than I do. And so I think the— I won't speak for him, but I've heard the argument.

Let's hear from Christian. So Christian, why are you wanting to invest more than 15%? What's the fear driving this?

Well, thank you, Ken. Maybe because it's the number. So at the beginning of this month, I saw the stock market tank, and I told her, well, let's mass $24,000 for IRS limit for the year because I'm a CPA. So I was telling her that. So she said, no, Ramsey says 15%. I said, I think they say at least 15%, not at most 15%.

Well, you're in Baby Step 6. Is that what I heard?

Yeah. So yes. So yeah.

Yeah. So are you putting anything extra towards the house?

Well, that is where I was telling her that since what is going on on the stock market now, and I think for me is a good opportunity to buy. So I said, well, let's throw in the $24,000 a month for each so that after a year when the markets start going up, we can back up from the investment and now throw in the mortgage.

I hear you, Christian. Your thought process, I get it. You're like, hey, I'm going to take advantage of the stock market while it's down. It makes sense. It does. You're just not in that spot to do it yet. Right now is the time to throw any and all extra money that you guys decide at the home mortgage and start paying that off. You're doing the 15%. That is great. If you want me to bust out the calculator again, although I have a feeling you've calculated this.

We do it like every week.

All the time. Yeah, I can tell. Like, you're going to be just fine. Because the thing is, if you go ahead and start paying this mortgage off, when the time comes, if you wanted to invest, 25%. If you wanted to, I mean, you could really just go hog wild on this. I think you're very, very excited, and for whatever reason, and I tell people this all the time, investing, paying off your home mortgage, that's an investment too, right? It's still an investment. It's just in it on a different median, right? So I would go ahead and follow the Baby Steps and do it that way and go ahead and do the 15% for now.

But your face is saying, but the thing, Jade, I think of— Don't argue with Jade.

No, listen, let's go.

We gross like $250,000. And basically, think about it, our mortgage is like around $2,500. So for me, that's the most, the biggest expense besides other childcare. But like, I think we still have a margin, but she does not think so.

But if you do, you probably do have the margin. I'm just saying put it towards the mortgage because how much is left to go on the mortgage?

Yeah, like maybe $1,000.

No, no, no, I mean total balance.

Oh, total. Oh, about $250,000.

$250,000.

I think—

here's what I think happens. I think it's because the money is the money, right? It's either going to one investment or another. What it is, is it's very daunting to look at a $250,000 mortgage and go, well, I'm going to chip away at that little by little. That feels mentally daunting. What doesn't feel daunting is I have a goal to save up $250,000. Over here, right? And so I think it's just your mind going to what you think is gonna be the easier play when really it's the same thing. You're still, you know, the house is still getting paid down. You're still going to be able to have the money to invest later. So think about that, 'cause I have a feeling that that's what's pushing you is it feels daunting to pay off. Who here is on Baby Step 6? Is it daunting to pay off the mortgage?

Yes.

There you go.

And Christian, can I throw something at you? And tell me if I'm wrong, ma'am, okay? In my house, my wife sleeps just fine with a mortgage. She slept just fine with her payment on her Corolla. It doesn't have a visceral response in her. I can't breathe if I owe somebody money. I wish I could just snap my fingers and say, it is what it is. It— a great gift she gave me was to say, I don't have this same anxiety in my chest that you do about money, but if it means this much to you, I'm in. Let's do this thing. Like, let's make sure we're putting money in retirement, whatever. But I'll forego a vacation. I'll forego fancy stuff because I love you enough that if we do this thing on the back end, when we paid our house off, you better believe we went on the stupidest vacation I could imagine. But it was a gift she gave me, 'cause she said, "It's you and me, ride or die. And if this means that much to you, if we can still keep putting money away, I'll be a part of this thing." And so even if you just set the numbers aside, I'm hearing this mortgage weighs on you.

Yeah, it'd be great to be completely debt-free.

Okay. And I also think this, and this is a totally new variable that we haven't put on the table yet. I think you could get really far if you sold like 2 of those suits you have.

Thank you, John.

You look incredible, man.

That's true.

Yeah.

Thanks.

Yeah.

You know, I would just tell you that, Christian, it's really important to her, and you need to lean in on this because you're gonna be fine. You're every day on the website according to your wife. Like, we're looking at the investment calculator. You know you're gonna be fine. Nobody needs to tell you that. But to her, I think John just laid it out beautifully, and I'm gonna put the pressure on you, man to man. You gotta listen. You and Clifton, man, you guys need to form a group.

I will give in tonight.

You will give in?

Yeah.

Okay.

Quick last question.

How— Oh.

Any tips on making the budget meeting pleasant and consistent?

Okay.

Is this—

So you're the nerd, yes? And you're the free spirit.

He's a big nerd.

Okay. What do you think, Jade?

This is interesting.

Make it fun.

Making it fun and consistent.

I mean, marijuana's legal in— I'm just kidding. Don't do that.

Don't do that.

Don't do that.

What, um, so I'd like to hear from Lauren what causes the budget meeting to not be fun.

I could tell you right now. Can I guess? Can I guess?

Here's what happens.

Christian brings the completed plan, and then Lauren says, okay, but food costs more than $9 a month. And Christian's like, first let me turn the soup this way. And then he says, I think we can make it, right?

You know how to fix that, don't you?

Without a doubt, yeah.

Make him eat rice and beans and you eat real food.

You know, yeah, like our kids don't need to eat, like they'll be fine, you know.

Okay, so it sounds like for you, it's, it's, you're walking into a persuasion, like you're walking in having to already have an argument prepared.

Definitely.

What would happen, uh, uh, what would happen if you sat together and as you go down the line items, you decide together what the amount is versus Christian already having one set and you having to agree to it? Is that better or worse?

Um, there's just so much negotiation on every single thing, and then it's still the same argument.

Christian, buddy, you gotta loosen the purse strings, man.

He does. You realize you pulled off the greatest negotiation of all time getting her to marry you, right? Take the dub, man. Take the win.

You gotta relax a little bit.

You gotta hear this from her.

All right, here, here's the plan. I got you. You bring a completed budget and set it on the table. She, for the next 6 months, has to change at least 3, preferably 5 line items by $1, $50, $500, I don't care. And you gotta be like, I love you for making that change. You can, under the table, you can be like, but you, you have to practice doing this thing together. Y'all are co-creating this marriage together. And also you've got a set of skills, like you're good at numbers, you're good at budgeting stuff, and you also have to practice. I'm gonna trust her to also give us some fun and some joy in this house.

I like that. And I'm gonna do my best.

I like that.

To try to help out.

You need to loosen up. Let's go. Here's a bottle of red wine. The next budget meeting, look at me. The next budget meeting, you drink about half of that before you start.

Okay.

All right. Give them some love. That's fun. Oh man. Quick thing, John, I want to tee you up real quick.

You know, just couples in there. We got a lot of people watching this on YouTube, obviously everybody in the room, but this idea of knowing how your— I want you both to speak this— knowing how your partner is wired about money, you got to get that first or else the budget meeting is like Charlie Brown's teacher. True or false?

Yeah, it becomes a proxy war, becomes a place that we have a fight that really the disagreement is about, I don't feel safe in this situation. And the greatest gift you can give to your spouse is safety and trust. And so if y'all keep having this fight about, I think this line item's wrong and I made this budget, back all the way out and ask yourself, why is it so important to me that this thing be mine and only mine? And ask yourself, what is it about owing somebody money that scares me? And then put that on the table and share that together. And let's, let's get beneath the, the, the budget fight and let's get to the real connection underneath it.

Jade, give us a word to couples on getting on the same page.

Oh, um, that's a good one. You know, Sam and I, we've vacillated between who's the, the spender and who's the nerd. And so there's been seasons where I'm the spender and I know what that feels like to be shut down. And then there's Seasons where I'm more nerdy and he's wanting to spend. So I think just having grace for where each other is in the season. And to John's point, really getting underneath it and go challenging yourself to ask why, why do they value that so much? And then when you can understand it, it's easier for you to, you know, meet them halfway if you can try to understand it a little bit.

Love it. All right, we're gonna go next to Stephanie. Everybody give Stephanie some love.

Stephanie. Hello. Where are you from?

I'm from Salt Lake City.

Salt Lake City, very nice. Okay, what's your question?

So, I'm currently on Baby Step 2, and so, with all the knowledge and information I'm going through, it's extending into my family now. So, my main question is, how do I talk to my siblings about their money habits currently? You know, like, they wanna buy the expensive things, they wanna look this successful, But I was hoping to get some more encouragement to them to like, let's talk about financial security and what it looks like.

How's that gone so far?

Without damaging our relationship. I get the nods, you know, I get the okay, cool.

Did they ask?

Yeah, have they ever asked?

No, it's more like, Oh, you, um, you need money to pay for your, your car payment, or to buy the latest jersey, or, you know, someone's coming into town for a concert and they want to, you know, borrow the money so that they can go, but they'll pay me back when they get paid.

Yeah, I think one of the hardest things for people is when you have loved ones that are making choices that you know aren't healthy or good for 'em. It's hard. And it's really hard when they don't want your advice, they would never ask for your advice, and in fact, they take your advice as an affront or an attack, right? I think, and pitch in, I think the greatest gift you could give them is to just live peace. Don't owe anybody money. Buy presents with cash. Be such a radiant, joyful presence, 'cause you don't owe anybody anything. You're free. That hopefully when the dam breaks, and it will, they know, oh, I know there's a light in the dark somewhere, and I'm gonna make that call. And that call may never come, by the way.

Yeah.

And you grieve that, and you go do the next right thing. But I've just made it, dude, I've ruined, I've got several of my oldest friends, the friends I've been friends with for 30 years here, They'll tell you. I have ruined—

I'd like to meet them later.

They're incredible. I, I have ruined parties, dinner, get-togethers by trying to over-advise and lecture. And I'm, I can be so annoying. So I just a few years ago said like, I'm gonna stop giving advice to people who don't ask for it. And what I've given myself is peace. I have much more pleasant dinners. And weirdly, more people circle back and say, hey, can I ask you your, your thoughts on something? Right? And so if they're not asking for it and you've tried and they just give you that nod like you're trying to sell them essential oils, if you sell essential oils, stop.

But like, like, I think it's like half the audience awkwardly as I scan.

I got a buddy who's like in congestive heart failure and his wife's like, just put some thieves oil.

No.

Oh, I forgot we're in Denver.

You got to read the room, buddy. My bad. My bad. You said that and half the room went, oh. Yeah.

This is my quick take.

Next, we're going to go around and ask each other who you voted for. No.

Well, it's interesting. I want to flip it for you. How many siblings do you have?

I'm the oldest of 5.

Okay.

Has there been a time where one of your siblings started advising you or started telling you about something that they were excited about or who they were voting for? Where they were going to church. Has there ever been a situation like that where they were a little enthusiastic to you and you were like, okay, thanks?

Yeah, the oils.

The oils?

Yeah.

Really?

Essential oils.

Well, that's like big in Salt Lake, right? Isn't that like ground zero?

Yeah, it is.

Mm-hmm.

That's interesting. That's why it smells so good. Salt Lake, I think it smells nice.

In the whole city?

Yeah, I think so. It's wafting. It's just wafting out of everybody's houses. Okay, so back to your situation. You didn't like it, did you? It felt a little uncomfortable.

Weird.

Yeah, for sure.

That's what you're doing to them. And I'm not picking on you. Oh no. I'm just putting the shoe on the other foot there. And I think John's advice is fantastic. I think you just gotta live it out and just grace.

Mm.

A lot of grace. And when you feel tempted to go, but I do this and Dave Ramsey says that, don't. Just live it out and I think you're gonna be okay. And you got your own journey to win, you know? So the best thing you can do is walk through the Baby Steps and get really healthy. And now they're looking at a model of what they want in their life. And John nailed it. It's peace.

How close are you to paying off everything?

I still probably have about a good 2 years.

Okay.

2 years.

Will you call into the show when you're there?

Well, yes. Yes, I do. I plan on it. I hope my husband's on the— Well, is with me when he, when I make the phone call.

Is he here tonight?

No, he's not. He's back home.

Okay, great. Same thing with your husband.

Mm-hmm.

Don't be preaching all the time. Just say, hey, I think this makes sense. What do you think about it? Ask questions. One of the things I learned way too late in life in dealing with people in general, family, coworkers, And I made a living asking questions, but it took me too stinking long in my personal life to stop making statements. I was making too many statements with my kids, with my wife, with my father, too many daggum statements. I was just one big giant conviction. You know what I'm talking about? And if I can be real for a moment, and I want you guys to weigh on this, I'll just say this very quickly, maybe just, to help a lot of people in the room. I had to realize that while my conviction was pure and my heart was pure, it wasn't coming across that way. I was too busy making statements. And when you make a statement, it's like me throwing a ball right out here in the crowd.

And when I throw a ball right here, what are you gonna do? You're gonna react, you're gonna defend yourself, right?

I don't wanna get hit in the nose. And I think, John, I don't know if this holds up clinically.

This is what I did, yeah.

But I was throwing balls at people's faces.

With statements.

I'm as serious as I can be. I don't mind you laughing, but I'm telling you what I was doing. And if you shift this, and John knows more about this from his clinical and his education, all this stuff, but when you shift it to a question, the defensiveness goes away. Instead of throwing something at you, I hand you something. And if I hand something to Jade, she takes it and then it's hers. John, you need to finish that. Even better than, well, maybe she doesn't take it from me, but I took it.

I just tossed it away after.

Even better.

You're, you're not handing them something, you're inviting them, right?

That's the idea.

And, um, I think that's a, I think that's a, that's a gift. There's the old, and you may even know the theologian who said this, but, um, preach every day to everyone always and use words only when necessary, right? So let your, let your life live this peace, right?

Stephanie, you're awesome. Everybody give Stephanie some love. So fun. John, I got to go back to the essential oils thing. You're hating on them a lot, but you have a pretty funny story about your own experience with them. I think you need to tell the audience.

I think we are good.

Then maybe James needs to share it for real.

I was clearing brush out at my house in the woods over Christmas and and I got covered in poison ivy. And I had a whole drawer full of essential oils. And so I got what I thought was like the healer kind. I got this stuff called oregano oil and I rubbed it all over myself. Well, I was like, parts of my arm were falling off. And my wife came in and I stepped out and I was like, hey, Is this— she's always like telling me, you're such a baby, such a whiner. She looked at my arm, she's like, oh, we have to go to the ER now. And I was like, it's Christmas Eve. And she goes, we're going to the hospital now. Like parts of my arm were coming off. And when I got to the hospital, it was one of the greatest. Like when he said this, I was like, you're my doctor for life. This guy walks in in a rural Tennessee hospital Christmas Eve and he goes, hi, I'm Dr. Braxton. Let me just get this out of the way. I'm working at a Doc in the Box ER on Christmas Eve in rural Tennessee.

I'm clearly not very good at my job. I was like, you're my man.

I thought he was going to say he just delivered a goat or something.

No, it was awesome. So no more essential oils for me.

You forgot to put the— you have to put a carrier oil with it.

Well, see, now you're just like— that's like now we're at Hogwarts.

Do you believe that?

Is that right?

I'm—

I— my wife is super—

some of them you can't put directly. You have to Put it with a— it's too strong.

You can't triple stamp a double stamp. All right, listen, raise your hand if you ever get weird spam texts or emails. All right, listen, I joke all the time. I hate being online. And here's the truth. I am online. My whole life and career is online. I'm on podcasts, social media, YouTube, everywhere. And because of that, my personal information is all over everywhere. And somebody whispering to me. Wow.

It was in, it was in our, it was in our in-ears.

Oh, I thought you were saying, John, you're doing this terrible.

No, that's just a voice in your head.

Uh-oh. Does anybody have an oil for that? Yeah, we can rub it on his scalp right now.

I'll rub it on your scalp.

It'll be great.

We're gonna have to edit this back. Is that cool?

It's okay. Just keep going.

Do they know that we're doing an ad?

We're doing an ad.

John has the subtlety of an anvil.

Yeah, just start back over. Hopefully the whispering will stop.

This is a live radio show, so I'm doing an ad. Are we cool?

Yes.

Hold on one second. I'm not good at this.

Good job.

Do you want me to read it?

I don't know. All right, everybody, raise your hand if you ever get weird spam texts or emails.

Right?

Listen, I joke all the time that I hate being online, but that's my whole job. I'm on YouTube, I'm on podcasts, I'm all over the internet, I'm everywhere. And because of that, all my personal information, pictures of me, my stories about my life, everything is also online. But even though you don't host a national show, your information is also all over the internet too.

And we all know this in your personal life, in your professional life, your reputation matters. Think about how many years you spent building trust getting momentum, your character and consistency is what people know you by, and all of a sudden your entire reputation can go up, poof, just like that because data brokers are posting your data online without your consent. So that's why all 3 of us use DeleteMe, and we recommend that you do it as well. This is, and think about this, your phone number, home address, old email accounts, all your family's info, it's all out there and it makes you vulnerable to spam and scams. So this is dangerous stuff. Okay? DeleteMe goes to hundreds of those data broker sites, removes your stuff, and this is the best part, they keep going back and remove them. So you don't have to worry about it. They take care of you. And you can get right now 20% off an annual plan at joindeleteme.com/ramsey. That's joindeleteme.com/ramsey. And that, John, is how you do a professional ad read.

Oh, God. I'm sorry. I mean, I felt like we were in that commercial where they bring the backup QB in. You know, I was like, "Jade." Yes.

"You're in." I was ready.

You were ready.

Oh, Jon, you're awesome.

I'm not good at— I'm trying.

Okay.

You did good.

Hey, while we're here in Denver, we decided to get out on the streets and talk to people about money. If you had a $1,000 emergency today, just out of nowhere, what would you do?

Go to my savings.

What do you have in savings? I don't want to tell you that. Honestly, I don't know.

I don't know.

I'm not too good with my money.

Who would you call?

Uh, probably my family. I would cover it because I've saved.

You got the money.

It's not even a blip.

I've saved enough money where I could easily pay it off. My father is a wonderful human being, and I would probably say, hey, Dad, please help me. I'm crying.

Do you think about things like having an emergency fund at this stage of your life?

Not as much as I should. For instance, my car desperately needs new tires, and I have I'll put that off and put that off. When it happens, I'll have a rude awakening call.

Chris, you have young kids.

They can call and say, "I need new tires." Say, "Well, that's, you know, that's a problem you have, isn't it?" They ask you how you are, you just have to say that you're fine when you're not really fine. Right now, if you have a $1,000 emergency that hits you, what do you do? I can just pull from my emergency fund.

You've got it in the bank?

I've got it in the bank, yeah. What do we call that in Ramsey Land? Baby step number 1.

You've got it. All right, you thought it was a trick question.

Hey, by the way, while we're talking about amazing partners, you know, we're very careful at Ramsey on who we endorse. Fairwinds Credit Union, as you know, they're the title sponsor of our studio in Nashville. We'd love to see you guys come see us, and they're helping us make this tour happen. So we're really grateful to whatever executive at Fairwinds Credit Union made this happen. So we want you to know, great, great organization. We trust them. Go check them out.

All right. Now, We're gonna do something fun.

I'm ready.

Okay. Everybody's been asking us questions and we will continue to do that. But now, Jon, Jade, this is our turn to flip the script. In other words, we're gonna ask you some questions. Okay? We want to hear from you what you think. So Jade, I feel like you're the fairest of us all. Ladies first. What you want to know from the audience?

Hmm.

I want to know, Should the guy pay for all the dates or is there ever a time to split it?

Ooh.

What say you?

If you're dating, this is for my singles.

Who's got an opinion? Raise your hand because we want to hear you. Right here. Tell us your opinion.

My opinion is that when I ask my boyfriend out or when I ask another person out, I pay. And when someone else asks me out, they pay. Now, that being said, I don't assume.

What happens if they're in a relationship?

Like married?

No, dating. You jumped really fast.

It's your question. I wanted context from you. What do you think?

If they're not dating, what's another type of—

First thing, she just said, if I ask a person out, then I pay.

If they ask me out, I'm saying now, what if they've been dating for a long time?

Are 6 weeks in?

It's your question. I'll be honest, I'm always like, the guy pays.

Me too. I'm old school. Dude pays.

But I also— This crowd is mixed. That got a good response.

Decent response. If you think that you should go— is it Dutch? Is that the term?

You should go Dutch?

If you think you should go Dutch, let's hear your applause. Okay.

That didn't hit right.

Very progressive people. That's great.

Very progressive people or very broke dudes.

Okay. Yeah, yeah. I wanna know about that. I wanna know a guy's opinion on this who is, yeah, who feels it in their wallet. Do we have a guy who's brave enough to say something?

Go against, up in the top.

I see him. It was a bold hand raise.

Okay.

We can't, can we get a mic to him? We can. All right, hang on. This is exciting.

What is your answer, sir?

I say regardless of your financial situation, you asked her out, you pay. Let's go.

But if she— what if she makes the plans? What if you're just talking and she's like, "Oh, mm-mm, I'm gonna go to dinner. Do you wanna come with me?" Is that how that sounds? I don't know. I've never asked a guy out.

I was offended on behalf of women for your voice.

I've never asked a guy out. I don't know.

Is it Tinkerbell?

Doesn't change, still pay.

My guy.

My guy. Am I your daughter right next to you?

Wait a minute. Wait a minute.

Now, who—

wait a second, ma'am.

You don't just take over the show.

That's his wife.

Who are you?

I'm his wife.

You're his wife? Okay.

Please, God, please tell me you paid once.

No, no, what I'm saying is he put it on credit cards that I'm now paying for as his wife.

Yikes. Yikes. This guy thinks he's a knight in shining armor and his wife says, hold my beer, and she just jousted you off of your steed. No, sir, you're done. You don't get to talk anymore. You gotta know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em, sir.

Hey, I'm with you, brother.

The gesture was right.

But you're right.

You're right.

But you shouldn't have put it on credit card. But you're still right.

Look at this guy, won't let go.

You thought you were doing the right thing at the time. I get it.

I married him anyway. He's amazing.

No, I agree. I think the guy's absolutely a stud.

And hey, is that your daughter right next to you? Sweetheart, listen to him. Not the credit part, but—

okay, here's what I want to know.

I like this relationship tension. We love it. What's the last money fight you had? Who wants to share? Dr. John's in the house right here.

This lady, she was like the little kid in elementary school that was like right here, down front, right here in the middle.

Raise your hand, ma'am, so they could see you.

Oh, I wish y'all could see his face.

Is your husband with you?

He looks terrified.

Oh, he already knows what it is.

Somebody get him a Valium.

He looks like he needs it. Okay, tell us the money fight.

I'm on the edge of my seat.

About 2 weeks before Thanksgiving, the oven stopped working, and we had somebody come out who charged us $100, and he said, "Stove's fine. I could pick it apart and find something wrong with it, but nothing wrong with it." Okay. I go to make cookies about a week after Christmas, burn them because I couldn't regulate the temperature. And I said, "Honey, we need a new stove." And he said, "No, we don't." And I said—

He wants to go to Hawaii.

You use the convection setting.

No. Oh, that's a lowball.

You sound like the golfer who's always blaming the club.

So I was so mad at him. I was so mad. I'm like, we need a stove. And I was thinking back to like when we got married, and I was like, when I was single, I could just go buy a stove. I didn't have to talk to somebody about buying a stove. Like, I, I could just go buy it. And he's like, no, we don't need a stove. And I'm like, okay, I'm not baking anything. I am not baking. I'm not baking. I'm not heating up a frozen pizza.

What was your reply? Hold on, what was your reply to that? We're going to go get a stove tomorrow.

Atta boy!

I had just gotten a profit sharing check from work. I had cash in the bank. I'm like, we get to spend the money on—

The way to the heart is through the stomach.

Then he went and baked something and he goes, okay, the stove doesn't work.

But we got the stove, so you got this stove.

Paid cash. Paid cash, yeah.

President's Day weekend, they had a great sale at Home Depot.

Oh, so you guys waited. This saga started in Thanksgiving and you waited to February.

He wouldn't let me buy a stove.

Well, to be fair, you can always go buy cookies at the grocery, but they're not the same. I get it. Well, this feels like a pretty mild fight. Dr. John, what do you see there?

I think what you did actually, ma'am, is like, if I could get every couple on the planet to do what you did, it is, here's what the story I'm making up. I need a new stove and you won't let me have it. Here's how I feel about this thing. And then most importantly, here's what I'm going to do because I can only control me. So I am not cooking anymore. And you let it go and then you got your stove. So well played. Well played.

Well played.

Absolutely.

All right, any other quick questions?

We got time for one more.

It's the dumbest thing you've ever done with money.

Yes, let's go.

Somebody raise your hand right over here.

This gentleman. We got time for just one. This gentleman in the hat.

It better be super dumb.

Uh, went to Las Vegas for a, uh, car drag racing show. I like how this is starting out. I came back with a 2012 Camaro SS. Oh, had no intention to buy it. How much? Uh, 20 grand. Gone now. Don't have it anymore. Sold it.

Were you with her at the time?

No, no, no, no, no.

Because even you mentioning you bought a Camaro, she went, "Oh, shoot." She had her hand on her head.

She was embarrassed.

No more.

Miss the car, but glad I don't have the payment anymore. All right. I think what James, the fearless leader, saying we have time for one more. We have another dumb thing with money. Come on. In the room this size.

There it is.

Back in that corner.

Okay. I see that hand. It's another dude with a hat. This could be exciting.

Another Las Vegas story.

There's a theme.

Um, we went to Las Vegas.

We—

Hold on a second. Who are you checking with there?

My wife.

Oh, was she on this trip?

Yeah.

Oh, this is gonna be—

All right, so what happened?

Bought a timeshare. Oh!

Oh no!

We did get rid of it after we started following Dave Ramsey, But we got it and paid it off. We were just paying the maintenance.

Well, I have something for you all. You get the Stupid Tax Award. I'm just gonna— come on down. I actually think I could throw this. Get right there on the— I'm gonna show my skills. Okay, you ready? Can you catch?

Oh boy, I'm a little nervous. Here we go.

Look at that throw.

Oh, he got it.

Hey, is that—

Complete.

What they did going to Vegas and buy a timeshare, that's, that's, that's dumb. I, I, I tell you a story I heard recently. This, this is the dumbest thing I've heard somebody do with money. A guy took out his girlfriend and paid for every date with a credit card, and then he married her and made her pay it all back. How cool is that?

Well, I tell you, I wish that guy was here. That'd be awesome.

Wouldn't that be awesome?

We would roast him. Oh man, that's really good. Okay, we are ready. Our next question is David.

Everybody give David a hand.

Thank you, David. David, where are you from?

Little town of Fairplay.

Okay, very nice. Who do you have with you there?

I have my teenage son Helton, and a few weeks ago on the show, Dr. Deloney said, uh, make sure and embarrass your children as much as possible on behalf of all therapists in the country for future business. So I drug my son with me here.

So And he looks a little angry, I'm not gonna lie to you. No, you're very cool.

I like listening to you guys.

You like listening to us? Thank you very much, sir. All right, what's your question?

So we've been on the Baby Steps about a year, and as a single father working 3 jobs nonstop, you become, you lose motivation after a while, starts to look daunting. So my question today is, as I look at this and I try to stay motivated, I've got a pickup sitting in the yard that I've planned to be my 20-year pickup. It's paid off. Should I part with that and try to rush the process a little further, or should I just continue nose to the grindstone and get this done in hopefully another year?

How much do you have left to pay off?

$32,000.

How long you been chipping away at this? A year. How long you been a single dad?

8.

8 years.

How much does a truck— what would it get you?

Well, I put it up for sale and got no offers, but it's— Kelley Blue Book says should be about $32,000.

Yeah.

Oh wow, so it's, it's worth the amount that you have left, but it's 6 years old, and even though there's not many miles on it, I can't seem to find a buyer. But I'll continue to watch.

Do you think it's overpriced? Do you think you're charging more than somebody would pay?

I'm just going by Kelley Blue Book. I don't know, but I don't know if I want to part with it because I was hoping with the low miles it'll be there forever.

That's the part I'd want to play out. I'd want to play out what's your fear around that, selling it and then what?

Just having to have a junker of some kind, you know, when I've got something that hopefully will last longer than the year that I'm still stuck.

How much longer do you have to go?

Yeah, I really think I can be done in a year.

Oh, keep the truck, homie.

Keep the truck. Yeah, that's something to hang on. Like, that's the finish line. How great would it be to only work one job and drive that truck around knowing it has no debt on it?

Look at you.

That's awesome.

But when you hit that point in a year in, you're like, can I continue doing 3 jobs for—

How many hours you working?

I lost track. Yeah, see, over 80 usually.

Well, I mean, I don't know.

What's your son's name?

Helton.

Hey, Helton, this right here, brother, is what a man looks like. Okay, listen to me, brother. No dad is perfect. I know he's not perfect, but this is what you do when you got kids and you're trying to grind it up by yourself. You work 3 jobs and you are so tired you can't even see straight, and this isn't— not by your hand, but it's in your lap. You've been able to pick up some extra stuff around the house. You able to help out. Hey, Dad, I want to make dinner once a week. Your brother or sister help out a little bit to take some of this from him. I wanna tell you, this is awesome. And brother, this is how legacies change. You got one more year left and this thing's over forever. Okay? Don't quit now. You're crushing.

Okay?

Thank you. Okay, I'm bringing this back to Jade 'cause I feel like we're on the Ramsey Show now.

All right.

'Cause I'm always sell the car. And you know this. And you're always like a little more thoughtful about this. But I'm also gonna throw something out to both of you. So we're gonna talk about you while you're standing there. Is that okay? It's gonna be great. I wonder if for just a short season, he backs it down to 2 jobs. It's gonna push his payoff date back a little bit. Not a lot, but just enough to get a little bit of breath. It's kind of like when I train for that half marathon that you love to do. It's that little 2-minute break goes a long way.

It does go a long way.

And I'm not saying he should do it.

I'm just thinking out loud.

So he should get out the truck, get on 2 jobs, and pay off in 18 months instead of a year.

Yeah, for a season.

Yeah.

For a season.

I gotta tell you, I—

What are you thinking?

I like that idea. There's not a whole lot of sentimental value in the truck. I think I'd let it go.

I'm all for selling the truck, dude.

Now, mathematically, he can keep it, but if I were in your shoes, Bro, I'd cut it loose.

I think so.

Okay.

I'd keep it.

So I'm actually with Jade, 'cause, but I'm always scared to say it.

She's so scary sometimes.

No, I'm kidding.

That's what we love about her.

I know, she's amazing. I think your problem is you're trying to sell it in Fairplay. It's a tough economy right now. And $32,000 for anything is tough. So I think you gotta expand your pool and I'd find some friends in a larger area, list it on Facebook Marketplace, all the places. But I think if you get that truck, in a larger pool, you can sell it. And boy, I think that'd be great. You're home free, man. You're spending time with that kid. More importantly, you're smelling life and just enjoying life. I would sell the truck, but I think you gotta go, you gotta put it out somewhere else. So I say sell the truck too.

Yeah, 'cause what are you putting towards, if you don't mind, you don't have to say this, but what's the amount of margin you're throwing extra at the debt every month?

So that varies because my side hustles vary. So sometimes it's $800, sometimes it's $3,000 or $4,000.

Yeah, I think if you're in that $3,000 and $4,000 range, you're gonna save save up for something so fast that you really want after this is all said and done?

Yeah, I, I think I drive a piece of crap for just the peace of life.

Yeah. Would you rather drive a piece of crap or work 3 jobs for another year? That's the question.

I want to know what the audience thinks. If you would rather drive a piece of crap, let me hear from you.

All right, that's what I would do.

And by the way, I want you to know I'm not just saying this. My wife, Stacy, if she were here tonight, when I took her on my first date, I was driving a 1982 Mazda 626 with 274,000 miles on it. And the cool thing about it was it was New Year's Eve, it was really cold. I went to pick her up and I could take the key out of the ignition and let it keep running. That's how big of a piece of crap it was. And it actually was doo-doo brown. It was a turd on wheels and it was for a season. And I'm just saying, nobody cares in Fair Play. Nobody.

No.

And if you're embarrassed by it, park around the block. They don't know.

Oh, it ain't about embarrassment. It's about functional. That's all.

Well, I figure, you know, a bunch of guys in Fair Play that could keep some piece of crap going for a while, right?

Maybe.

Yeah, you do.

All right.

Hey, this is a great— oh, I got one thing for him. This is great. I love giving out awards. You guys okay if I do it?

Yeah, do it, do it.

This is a single dad, 3 jobs, 80 hours a week. I've got a glass container of uncooked rice and beans. Sir, this is for you.

Come on down. This is a meal. I mean, that's what you eat in the piece of crap on the way to the 3rd job. Give him some love, everybody. This is a great dude. All right.

Okay. So our next question, this is fun, is brought to you by Yrefi. How many of you've heard us talk about Yrefi? Have you heard about it? Yeah, that's great. If your private student loans are in default and you're not sure what to do, Yrefi can help you explore refinancing with a low fixed rate and a payment plan based on what you can actually afford. Go to yrefi.com/ramsey. That's Yrefy.com/ramsey. It may not be available in all states. Jade, tell everybody who's up next. Who we waiting on down here?

All right. Up next we got Lauren C on the mic.

Lauren, ladies and gentlemen, give her some love.

Lauren, where are you from?

I'm from Salt Lake City as well.

Oh, wow.

Do you know the other person from Salt Lake City?

I do not.

That's great.

Do you sell essential oils?

I do not.

Do you use essential oils?

I do not.

You can stay.

What's your question, Lauren?

So, about 6 months ago, I had my first disagreement about money with my boyfriend, particularly about debt, and it didn't go very well.

Tell us what that means.

It was about a car lease, and I have been listening to you guys for a while, so I was really excited. I was like, "No, no way, no chance. Like, let's save up, pay cash." And— I think I came— I know I came on a little strong. He felt a little shut down. Um, and so since then, our conversations have been a lot more surface level than I'd like them to be. Um, we're both in this, we want to further our relationship, and we know that that means having deeper money conversations, but it just feels pretty daunting. So I'm just curious if you have any advice on how to navigate having those deeper money conversations after a bad first impression.

I hear from you that you're taking ownership of melting this poor boy just 'cause he wanted to lease a car. Is that fair?

Yes.

Okay, so the path forward is, I, I wanna take you to breakfast. And I say this all the time, here's why I like breakfast. The sun is out, it's in the morning, nobody's like overly tired.

He's gonna pay.

For sure he's paying. Maybe you'll get lucky and he'll put on a credit card and you can pay it off later. I'm gonna kick this thing till it's just— So, all right, and use I words. I wanna tell you, I totally like came on too strong. I have a real big like thing about debt and I just melted you and I wanna say I'm sorry. And here's the magic. I learned this from my friend Jefferson Fisher. Can I do this one over? Can I try this again? And if y'all can get that in your relationship now, when you're married 10 years from now, everybody says things off the top of their head. They get mad, they get frustrated. Being able to stop and say, I said that wrong. Can I say that? Can I say that over again? And the person that you're with has enough grace to say, go for it, man. You'll, you'll, that will cut off so many of your arguments, future resentments and fights and whatever. But you go first, say, I messed this up. Let me tell you, debt leasing, here's the thing it does in my chest. Here's what debt means to me.

Here's my story growing up. Here's why I believe in this stuff. Tell me your story about money. Like Ken said, ask questions, be invite, be curious, not judgmental. Tell me about how you grew up with money. I just don't think it matters. I don't think it's— and now y'all gonna get to the heart of these values issues, right?

Mm-hmm.

Curiosity over judgment every time.

Okay.

Unless he tries to lease a car and then you just—

You know, it's interesting.

We get these calls nonstop on the show, right? Getting on the same page. And it's just a constant theme. And I'm going to tell you something. It's back to the same conversation that we've been having, but I think we got to emphasize it, right? It's like they're not going to jump on board with you until they know they want to be with you long term. Let's just start there. If you're dating—

That's a good point.

Right? Like, let's just see if we're compatible on everything else. Now, money's massively important. I would never compromise your principles on that, right? On what you believe. But it's a little early, and we're not saying that to judge you, but like, let's just ease into it.

How long have y'all been together?

About a year and a half.

Is he already looking at rings?

Yes.

Oh, that's a little bit more advanced.

Yeah.

Is he here tonight?

No, he's not.

Oh, that was gonna be rich. I was gonna get him on the mic, Jon.

I like this conversation because it opens up the greater conversation of his philosophy on debt in general. And I might try that. Jon, you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I might back the conversation out instead of focusing on this one thing and just talk financial philosophy in general. What are your views on— And if I were you, to Ken's point, I would— don't share your views yet. Seek to learn about him, ask him a bunch of questions and just listen. Because I find, and I know you make fun of me when I say this, but when the love goggles are on and one person says something, the other person's like, "Oh yeah, I agree. I feel that way too," right? Just let him talk and really get a sense of who he is and what he thinks. And then you can take that information and marinate on that for as long as you need to then come back and say, "Okay, when we spoke about this earlier, now you're repeating back a bunch of things that he said." he knows that you were listening and now you can really attack it from having chewed on it a little while versus kind of going tit for tat in the moment.

But he's not going to be open and vulnerable unless you come and say, hey, I blew this. I attacked you and I came after you. I went full Dave Ramsey on you and that wasn't super cool.

Right.

And throw us under the bus.

Yeah.

I listen to this and da da da da da, and it really speaks to me. And understand this, Rachel wrote a great book, and I talk about it on the show all the time because I think it's so vital to relationships. Know yourself, know your money. And so one of the greatest things you guys can do right now, and I love Jay's advice to kind of step back, this is where again, you just want to know what was money like in his house growing up. He's bringing that to the marriage. By the way, he's going to bring in what his mom did. He's going to expect you to do that. We all do this, by the way. First year of marriage is brutal.

Nobody tells you about it.

It's a wild ride.

Because you got two unique individuals bringing their environment with them. I'll never forget. It was like our first week back from our honeymoon. We're in our nice little apartment and I got home from work about 6:00, I think. I changed clothes, turned on the news, was nerding out, fully expecting Stacy was making dinner. About 6:45, I'm a little hungry and I'm looking.

We're in a two-bedroom apartment. Where could she be?

She's in the bedroom, what I call fotsin' around, organizing, doing all kinds of stuff. And I go, so what's for dinner tonight?

She goes, I don't know. I haven't even thought about it.

I was like, I had to go sit in the living room and go, what have I done? Because in my house, Barb had dinner on the table and Ken Senior just showed up like he was an old king.

You know what I mean?

And he's a caveman, God love him.

Yeah.

But that's what I was expecting.

Am I right? I mean, so we're bringing this in on money and everything else. So early on before this relationship gets serious, let's just see what he thinks about money in general. And hopefully after enough questions, if he's a healthy guy, he'll start asking you what you think.

Can I ask you one more question? Oh, go ahead. Are there other things you run over him on? Talk, bring those to the table too. You don't have to share them in front of the internet.

I think I just get really excited. Like I learn, I've learned so much from you all and I just want to bring that here. And like, he's always so ready for the next step in our relationship. And I just wanna say, well, I just want this, you know, this reassurance. So let's talk about this thing.

So that's, that's probably why he loves you. 'Cause you're passionate and you're excited and you're driven. That's awesome. And it's, it's telling him when I'm about to melt you with my excitement and passion or whatever, sometimes that excitement can turn into judgment. That can it turn into beating you up over stuff. Let's come up with a way that you can say, Hey, let's pause, right? Let's back out for a second. Yeah. And man, handling this stuff now is gonna be awesome.

Lauren, see everybody, give her some love.

That was great. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Up next, we're gonna go to Macy. Macy, come on down.

Oh, there she is. Macy. Hi, how are you? I'm so good.

How are you guys?

Great. What's your question? Oh, where are you from?

Oh, I'm from, um, just north of Seattle in Mukilteo, but I go to college about 2 minutes away from here.

Oh, well thank you for making the trek.

Yeah.

So, I did drive. I didn't walk, so I'm sorry.

No judgment.

So I am a college student, like I said, and I work about 50 hours a week. I'm paying for college in cash, and my parents are helping me some, but the money that they had to help me recently ran out. So I'm just working on feeling like I'm burnt out and Yeah, I recently stepped back from working on Saturdays for like a little Sabbath situation, but then I feel a little guilty for not working during that time. So I'm just wondering. Yeah. Oh, also feeling left out from like the college experience and life.

So, you know what? I want to recognize this young lady. She is absolutely crushing it. So I'm gonna let them jump in here, but I just wanna ask, when you took that Saturday, that Sabbath, which I think is so wise for such a young lady, amazing. How much does that, if you were to do that a couple times a month, I'm just throwing that out there, not suggesting it. How would that, would that put you behind the 8-ball financially? Would that put you in a bad spot? Like you're running that tight?

No, it wouldn't, but I just still feel like I either need to be working on homework or actually working, so.

Okay, let me challenge you, okay? I learned this from my friend, she's a psychologist in New York. Her name is Dr. Becky Kennedy. She works with kids, she's amazing. She taught me this recently. Is it a violation of your core values to rest?

No.

Do you think people are wrong when they rest?

No.

Okay. Guilt is a good natural emotion. That our body feels when we violate our own values. I don't think what you're feeling is guilt. I think you're managing somebody else's stories and expectations that they've put on you your whole stinking life, and you're trying to make them okay, and you're paying the price for it because you're burning out. Whose story are you carrying every Saturday morning just because you slept until 8 o'clock?

I feel like I just don't wanna disappoint my parents.

Okay.

Yeah.

Okay. Taking a break is good. Okay. Codependence, needing them to be okay so that you can be okay, will burn you alive. Okay. So feel that on Saturday mornings and say, that's not mine to carry. I'm gonna go do something fun. I'm gonna go to the game. I'm gonna go hang out with my friends. I'm in college and I'm working my butt off. But I'm working so hard, and rest is good, right? Sabbath is good. Restoration is good. And here I say, we applaud you. It's awesome.

Yeah. And I want to add that friends are huge. Friends are huge on long journeys. Do you have a couple of girlfriends that you're thinking of right now that they know what you're doing? They know your schedule and they're for you. They're cheering for you. I mean, just picture one Saturday with them and just being a young kid and enjoying life. You know, friends, people that are for you. It will be like a jolt to your system. So I agree with John. I think you have to plan this. No guilt, no shame. I mean, look at you. You have the disposition of the sun.

I mean, you really—

doesn't she?

Yes.

What grade are you in?

Beaming.

I'm a sophomore in college, so I'm 20.

Okay. Can I tell you this? I'll get choked up, so I don't mean to. I won't make eye contact.

Okay.

With them. My, my potluck freshman in college roommate, who is now my SmartVestor Pro who handles my family's future, is right there. Our, my, a friend, great friend, Kristen, is sitting right next to him. Right next to Craig is his amazing wife, Melissa. I met them in college, your age, and to this day, they're still ride or die with me. Okay? Don't miss this opportunity to make friends that will show up when your things are low, when things are good, or when you win the YouTube lottery and you show up in their town and they come, right? Don't miss this opportunity. What Ken just said, man, friendships and relationships are everything. Everything cool?

Yeah.

Take a Saturday.

Thank you so much, Macy.

You're awesome.

Thank you.

All right. Up next.

Oh boy. You know what this is? We got a couple, Gail and Eric. Everybody give them some love as they come to the mic.

Do I need to get my wig out again?

Is this a Settle the Debate? It's not.

Shouldn't be.

We hope not.

We hope.

Uh-oh. That looks like a challenge. We'll divide it up.

Should we get arms length away?

Oh wait.

That's right, will divide you. Okay, who's gonna ask the question? Be up close to the mic so we can hear you.

All right, how do couples continue to stay aligned over time when one spouse is more financially anxious than the other? The anxiety served us really well when we were working to build a nest egg, save money for our kids' college education, but now that we're starting to approach like retirement and thinking about spending money, it's really hard to picture spending any of the money for retirement.

So what Baby Step are you on?

So like, probably like 7. Like 7.

Wait a second, wait a minute, wait a minute.

You know this crowd, you're aware of the show.

There's no probablies.

Yeah, yeah, so we could pay off the mortgage if we wanted.

Okay, so how much, so what are you comfortable sharing? What's your nest egg situation?

So we own an essential oils business.

Get out, wizards.

There you go.

I love you, man. That's good.

That's well played.

So we've been following Dave from like the really early days with like the 15%. So $5 million.

Okay. And so which one of you— not that I have to ask, but this is for the show— which one of you is the anxious one with money?

The one with the question.

Oh, I knew.

On the piece of paper.

Well, believe me, I knew you had to get that question exactly right. And you did a good job, by the way.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, so let's dive into this thing. What is it that you want to do, Eric, that she doesn't want to do now that we've been gazelle intense and we're supposed to be intentional? Because we've been living like no one else so that we can—

Yeah!

And Gail is like, I'm not ready.

We're not ready. I'm not ready.

I know you aren't.

Yeah.

Gail worries enough for the 3 of us.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's funny. So what do you want to do? I want her to hear. I want you to share. You guys have talked about this. What does it look like now that you want to do? And she's like, no, we're not spending a nickel on this.

Yeah, I mean, it's probably just being a little bit more extravagant with some of the money.

Well, relax, dude, you only have $5 million.

Yeah, and we want to hear specifics.

I think he's scared.

I can tell.

Yeah.

If you're scared, can you blink twice?

He's scared. He just did it, Jon. He's terrified.

Gail.

I, I'm very sorry.

Don't apologize to me. Apologize to him.

Gail, what's, what's your, what's your, what's your core fear? That we run out of, of, but, but okay. Take me to, take me to the table when he pulls up the, the laptop and says, honey, we're, we're, we're out. We're out. Take me to that table. What's that fear?

That we're out of money.

That's, that's the top. Get beneath that. What is that fear?

Uh, that like we would be broke and then we'd be like a, like a burden on our children.

You have a picture in your mind.

You got it.

Yes.

You're a burden on your children.

Yes.

Tell me about that.

I would never want to be a burden on our children. We've worked so hard.

How would you be a burden on them?

We've worked so hard to—

No, no, no. How would you be a burden on them?

By not having any money.

And then what?

And then failing.

Yes.

Where have you seen that story in your life?

Um, I guess like my— like my—

Yep.

Say it.

We know.

I was trying to think like—

Just say it. We know.

Go ahead. Like my parents did great, and they saved like so much money and worked so hard to like make sure that they wouldn't be a burden. So I feel like I have to do the same.

So, you picked up all of their fear, and you thought, "This is how I'm supposed to act." That makes a lot of sense, yes.

I want to know—

And then poor Eric's along for the ride.

I'd love to know what actions need to take. I'd want you to play it out in order. Which actions have to take place that you would blow through $5 million?

The Ooni pizza oven's gonna take us out.

And truly, like, I would love for you to write those things out.

Okay.

And look at them logically and go, are these rational or irrational?

Okay.

I would love for you to do that because the truth, I mean, we're laughing at it, but a pizza oven's not gonna take you out. And 20 pizza ovens are not gonna take you out.

2 homes in Estes Park and you'll still have $2 million left.

Hey, Eric, what do you do for a living and how much do you make?

Uh, so I'm a federal government, a humble civil servant, I should say.

Uh, do you both work?

Yes.

Combined income?

$600.

Stop it.

Okay.

No, that y'all need to stop.

No, no, I'm, I mean, okay, we're gonna get real for a second. All right, Eric, I'm putting you on the spot and I'm as serious as a heart attack. I want you to look at her, not us. Mm-hmm. And I want you to tell her something that you really want to do that's going to cost some money. And Gail, I don't want you to say anything. I'm dead serious. Go for it.

Corvette, definitely.

No, no, say it in the mic. Say it in the mic. Go ahead.

A Corvette.

A Corvette. And how much would said Corvette set you back? Because don't tell me you don't know. You look at it when she's not in the living room.

So it's the new one coming out.

Yeah, what's that going to cost?

Yeah, eh, a little budget.

$140,000.

How about that?

$140,000. Look at Gail right now. She's breaking out in hives.

Meanwhile, meanwhile, you have this— I know you have cash aside from the $5 million. How much is just sitting in cash?

Like $200,000 for an emergency.

Okay, a Corvette emergency?

No, not that.

No, Dave, not that emergency.

She's angry.

I know. No wonder he blinks twice.

So here, Listen, if you were to go— have you ever seen somebody for anxiety?

No, no, I like myself the way I am.

Wow, you know what, I actually believe you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Some people say that and I go, yeah, that's not real.

Well, Eric, we tried.

Here's the thing, um, yeah, it, it's, it's— they, they call it exposure. Okay. The path to stop this nuclear reactor in the middle of your chest.

Uh-huh.

Okay. Is you have to practice. You have to go right through the middle of it. And so what that means is you have to look at data and see $140,000. We could write a check and literally we would not feel it.

Mm-hmm.

We wouldn't feel it. Nothing in our life would change at all except my husband would get these really goofy sunglasses and cruise around town in his new car. And I'd probably look pretty cool sitting next to him in it, right? That is the only thing that would change in your life. And I want you to feel that feeling and then go do the next thing, right? Because here's what you're doing. You're, you're, there will never be enough for you to quote unquote feel safe. Until you go right through the middle of the word what's enough. Because you're gonna get $10 million and then you're gonna be like, well, I don't know, let's get, right? It will, that finish line will never move and you're gonna be 85 years old and you're gonna have a big retirement account and you're gonna have a really terrified husband sitting in a rocking chair on the other side of your porch, right?

He's so repressed that when I asked him to share something, he went to the top of the list and said $140,000 car. Let's, let's do a $25,000 vacation. Can we do that? And you spend a lot of time, ma'am, in the spa. All right.

Hey, I got something for you. You're the ultimate nerd. Here's some nerd glasses.

Oh, I'm dropping my pack. Oh, boy. I got you.

I got you.

Come on down and get your nerd glasses. There you go. You've been a good sport. There you go.

There you go.

Oh, boy.

Thank you, Jade.

All right. Who do we have next? We have Christina up next.

Let's get Christina down to the mic. Everybody give Christina a hand.

There she is.

So I have to defend his honor.

Whose?

Oh, it's the wife.

My husband.

Oh, it's the credit card guy.

Figures he would send you to fight his battles for him.

No, no, no.

He's filming.

No, listen to this. This man. So when I met him, he had a lot of credit card debt. He did want to buy every meal for me, which is noble. Well, when I told him, "Hey, we should do the Dave Ramsey plan," type of thing, I didn't really say it in that way. I kinda was like, "Hey, we should do this." And he was like, "Okay." And then he started listening to Dave Ramsey, and he's like, "We should do this." I was like, "Yeah." So, he stopped all of his credit cards. He turned his spending completely around. We have paid off probably over $100,000 since we got married 3 years ago now. We have fostered 4 children and we have had 2 more babies. Oh, wow. And he works his butt off.

What's his name?

His name's Mason.

Mason?

He's amazing.

I just needed you—

Oh, by the way, that's my daughter also from another marriage, but he asked her permission to marry me. So if you wanna know why I married this amazing man.

Mason, you get the hardcore rockstar wife.

Award. There he is. He's been a great sport.

He is so fun.

You're an awesome lady.

Thanks for sharing that.

I love it.

You married well, brother.

Mason, you're a good sport. This is what happens when you speak up at a live event, you know. Let this be a lesson to you. There it is, the You Rock Award. Is that what that is, John?

Yes.

Yes. Okay, that's great.

Dude, there's a couple of, in our culture, dude, men get kind of kicked a lot. And there's some several pretty, I mean, there's some pretty lame ones. I can see 'em, but there's some amazing men in this audience tonight, man. It's pretty impressive.

It's awesome.

Thank you, Jon. I appreciate those kind words.

Yeah, you're good.

Oh, you weren't talking about me?

No.

Okay, Jon, you're up next.

All right, everybody raise your hand in this room if somebody depends on your income? Kids, spouse, aging parents, somebody. All right. If you have people in your life who depend on you, you need term life insurance. And here's where people get confused. Insurance is not a baby step. You don't get to insurance like it's a milestone. You put it in place so your family is protected while you're working the baby steps and beyond.

Yeah, that's right. And getting term life insurance is so easy. If something happens to you, it's going to replace your income so that your family can keep going. They don't have to worry about losing the house. They don't have to worry about losing the income. Everybody's taken care of and you can have peace about it. It's not an investment. Remember, it's not a wealth-building tool. It's simply protection. We would recommend you get 10 to 12 times your income. It's very affordable. It's straightforward, and it does really exactly what it's supposed to do and nothing more. Nothing less.

We recommend Jeff Zander and their team. We've been recommending them for over 30 years. They're an independent broker. What does that mean? That means they work for you, not for the insurance companies. They shop top companies to find just the right policy at just the right price. No gimmicks, no upselling. I was using Zander before I started working at Ramsey because I trust them. Just the right coverage for you. Bottom line, life insurance is not a baby step. It's part of your financial foundation. If someone depends on your income, you need term life insurance. Term life insurance is a way to say I love you when you can no longer say I love you yourself. Go to Zander with a Z, that's zander.com, for instant online quotes.

All right, fantastic. Ladies and gentlemen, John Deloney, Jade Warshaw. I would love for you to share the dumbest thing you've ever done with money.

I don't know, there's a lot of dumb things.

I want a good one, I want a good one.

Ah, gambling, I suppose. Oh, Tell me about this. Just, you know, casinos.

I do a lot of dumb things with money.

Really?

Is this a daily thing?

I like to spend out of my means. A lot of online shopping. I'm one of the people that if I see an ad on Instagram for anything cute, I'm just going to add to cart, buy immediately.

Recently, I sent the father of my children $2,000 for a car he did not get.

Uh-oh.

We'll keep it G-rated and just credit card debt.

I spent $600 on Hot Wheels one time.

Honestly, move here. It's kind of expensive, but, you know, I'm getting myself back up.

I'm getting myself back up.

Probably get my belly button tattooed. Wow, that feels painful. Can we take a look at that? Yeah, it sucks. Okay. Wow, look at that. How long does that take? It took about, I think, 2.5, 3 hours.

Wow, and how much did that cost?

$300, $400. You think it would be dumb for me to spend any amount of money on a tattoo?

No.

Look at me.

Do you think I could pull a tattoo off? Absolutely, man.

So up next we have Erin. But before we get to Erin, I want to remind everybody, this whole night brought to you by our friends at Fairwinds Credit Union. Thank you so much to Fairwinds. All right, let's go to Erin. Is this you, Erin? Hi, how are you?

Hi.

Where are you from?

I'm originally from Chicago, but I've lived in Denver since 2001.

Okay. What's your question?

Well, I have been following the Ramsey program for about a year and a half. I'm on Baby Step 6, and I noticed you guys do a lot of events for like couples, like Love and Marriage and things like that. And I was wondering, as a financially responsible single person, if you're ever gonna do singles events.

Oh boy, John, that's like your Super Bowl event, isn't it? What do you think about that?

I think we might have done it tonight.

I know, we started, didn't we?

She wants to finish that.

Oh, who do you have your eye on?

I did not. I only saw back of heads.

Listen, before this thing started, we got to talk to, um, a select group of this audience. There's a single guy in here. He started his own business and his mom is here. Now he's with a woman, but they're not together.

Oh.

They made it very clear they're just coworkers. He might be right here on the front row.

I would like to interview his mother first.

Well, you just made that real weird.

Yeah.

I do think this is fun. I will tell you, if there is a single guy in this audience that would like to meet Erin, now is your moment. Oh my God, do we have a brave soul? I won't linger. Pressure, Aaron, just relax, I got this.

We need like some romantic music.

Well, you know, I might break out of some Barry White if somebody makes a move. Anybody? Going once, twice. Wait a second, I see movement over here.

What is happening?

They're pointing.

This guy, he does not look receptive.

Okay, all right, sir, I can tell you're very uncomfortable right now.

He lives in He lives in Fairplay though, isn't that?

You know him?

Is that who you're pointing to? No, the guy with the truck.

He has an awesome paid-off truck.

But he lives in Fairplay.

Oh, the single dad. Okay, I didn't see you there, it's dark.

Oh boy. This would make my career if we pulled this off. All right, any single guy that wants to meet Erin, and if she's willing to go on a date with you, Ramsey Solutions will pay for the first date. You just gotta tell our team.

We'll pick somewhere nice.

That's the best I can do. And they're paying because we're paying, you know what I'm saying?

I love that.

We'll give them an envelope just to see if they're the real deal, you know what I mean? The guy's got to break it out, get his 20s.

Oh gosh, that brings up another question.

Oh, go.

You go on a date and the guy busts out coupons.

Yes.

Is this good or is this bad? This is fine. This is fine for you?

Yeah, that is instantaneous. Bye, Felicia, we gone.

Or how does it—

See you later, Felicia.

That's how Dave says it on the air. See you later, Felicia.

This is what, when I make fun of Dave, this is what he says.

Hold on, let me see if I can get this. Shut up, Ken. Okay, Aaron, I don't know.

It's not a part of John's master plan. It doesn't sound like it. No, we won't probably.

Maybe put it on your list.

We'll put it on the list. I'm afraid of singles events. Because it's a mixture of very awesome people and—

That's life.

No.

At least everybody following Ramsey, if you guys do the event.

Yeah, but you know, I just realized something. For decades, 3+ decades, Dave has said, be like weird people. And if you get a bunch of weird people, it's like a dog whistle.

We need a Ramsey singles cruise.

Oh, Lord have mercy.

I'm not going on that one.

Now you're talking.

I'm not going on that one.

Are you going to anchor that one?

Zero chance.

No.

George Campbell will, though.

Oh, that's fun. You're a great sport. Everybody give Erin some love.

Thank you.

All right.

I do want to ask James Childs a question really quick. What if we did a singles hour on the show and we only took calls from singles about money and dating. What do you think? Do we ever get enough?

I think it'd have to be video calls to make it real.

Yes, it would.

And we would post their, uh, cell number on YouTube in the lower third.

James did not agree to that. I think if anyone's going to create like a— like a Ramsey dating app, I think it would be your brand, John.

No question. I think we need to— I think we need to figure this out.

I think it's a whiteboard session.

I think we need to figure—

we owe Aaron that, at least.

We do.

There's clearly demand.

It would need— the app would have to have a place where you could like put your credit report in so we could see if you were debt-free or not.

I think that's a great call.

It would filter it. All these dating apps filter for height and how much money do you make. We just wanna know if you owe anybody any money.

And you don't— yeah, no photos.

Nope.

No, we need photos.

Just baby step. No, I think you gotta see if they match on baby steps and values and then we show 'em the photos. That makes it interesting.

Interesting.

It's probably a horrible idea, but I'm just fresh. I'm ideating right now. It's off the cuff. All right, we'll move on.

Where is— oh, Nelson is there! Everybody give Nelson some love! Nelson, where are you from, sir?

Uh, Greeley, Colorado.

Get close to that mic. Yeah, oh, Greeley's in the house! Are these your family members?

No, no, no.

Okay, great.

They are now. Are you single?

Uh, no, no, my girlfriend's here.

Yeah.

Oh, that's awkward.

Okay, that's great.

How long have you been in the Ramsey gang?

I'm not gonna lie, I just found you guys, to be honest, and it's through my girlfriend.

Where is your girlfriend?

Right here.

Oh, she was the progressive young lady that said she should pay. Did you ask him out?

Yeah, she did.

And did she pay?

Huh? No, no. I, so, okay.

Uh-oh.

Yeah, so she paid 'cause she's the one that asked me out, so.

I feel like you changed your answer there in front of all of us. Maybe. Have you ever done— have you ever run for office or anything like that?

Like, you'd be great.

You would be amazing at it.

You'd be great.

Anyway, what's your question?

Uh, about a year ago, I was actually in an accident, um, a car accident. A guy on meth rear-ended me.

Oh no.

Like, you're okay, man?

Yeah, sent me to the hospital and everything. Uh, but because of that, um, yeah, I didn't know what I was gonna do with my life at that point. Uh, things kind of changed. I was in flight school. Through my community college, and because of the concussion and everything like that, unfortunately I couldn't, I couldn't continue.

Oh man, I'm so sorry about that.

No, it's, and it's one of those things to where she helped me through, like, to change my life, or help me change my life. And so while I was home, she kind of got me with you guys. And my question really is, I'm getting a large settlement through the accident. I don't know much about finance, I'm not gonna lie, and I don't really know what to do, like the first steps on with this large chunk of money that I've never had this much money before. What should I do with it or how should I invest it?

Do you feel comfortable saying the chunk of money?

Yeah, so right now my bank account's sitting at about $60,000.

Okay, and that's the only chunk? Will there be more in disbursements or that's it?

That's the total right there.

Okay. Where are you in the Baby Steps? Are you familiar?

Uh, not too much. She was showing me, but not really.

Okay, great.

She's saying 4.

Just because— Baby Steps 4, no debt.

Yeah, so because of the accident, the first round of settlement, um, she convinced me you should just pay off all your debt. You're gonna zero everything out. Uh, you'll have no money in your bank account, but you'll have no debt at all.

And how much was that that you paid off?

Um, About $35,000, $40,000.

Okay, so you paid that off. Were you able to set some money aside for Baby Step 3, like an emergency fund?

Yes, yes.

Okay, so this money, essentially, it's not earmarked for anything. You've started investing 15%.

Well, so yeah, I'm trying to figure out exactly, like, to be honest, what to do with it.

Are you able to work now?

Yes.

Okay, so are you gonna have lingering recurring health issues that this money's gonna be You're going to need it down the road?

The VA has been able to help me with it.

Okay, sounds cool.

So what's the living situation? Are you renting? Are you thinking of buying? That's what I'm looking at with this money first off.

Uh, we're currently just renting. Uh, she, uh, actually is, um, well, I don't want to steal her thunder or anything like that, but we've both been kind of, um, um, slowly putting our finances together.

Okay, I'd probably keep this money in a high yield for a while. It, it It sounds like the next thing on your list is probably gonna be a residence of your own.

Okay.

And you're gonna want a down payment for that. I'm guessing $60,000 is a great place to start. I don't know what real estate's going for around here, average price, but my guess is it's pretty, pretty—

A lot of chuckles from the Greeley faction.

My guess is it's rather high.

A little steep.

A little steep, exactly. That's what I'd be thinking of. I'm guessing it's shorter than a 5-year horizon?

Yes.

Yeah. So yeah, I'd keep it there. The hard part is going to be, you were given a windfall, and that's what caused you to pay off your debt. And for most of us, maybe not most of us, for a lot of us, the way we pay off our debt is we go, "Oh, the way I was living wasn't working for me. It wasn't sustainable. I have to change my ways." And then we put in a bunch of effort to change that. For you, you're going to have to make sure that you have had that aha moment. Otherwise, the $60,000 is gonna get piddled away on the same things that the original $30,000. Do you see what I'm saying?

Yeah.

So that's gonna be your personal homework that you're gonna have to work through.

Okay.

But I think you've got it.

One thing I heard, John, I heard you guys are slowly combining finances, but you're not married.

No, so we've been dating since 2022.

Also still not married.

Wrap it up. I know.

Take $4,000 to $8,000 and put it— look, she just looked at him.

Yeah, I know.

She's like, I've been telling him.

So here's the thing. None of us would have a job if everyone's plans worked out. You're up here because you were sitting at a stoplight and somebody changed your life like this, right? And so I'm gonna strongly recommend, y'all been together for a long time. She's a pretty amazing woman. She's walked with you emotionally, physically, like spiritually, like she's with you, right?

I wouldn't be here.

Ride or die.

Yeah.

Okay. A, what are you waiting for, man? And B, um, yet even though I would not combine finances until you are officially married, I wouldn't buy a house together unless you're married. Because here's the thing, I know y'all like, it would never happen to us. The number of calls we've taken over the years of, we were engaged for 4 years, we were together for this long, and then something happened and we broke up and we don't have the legal protection to untangle everything. And so I wouldn't combine your money. I'd keep your money separate from hers until y'all are married. And when you, the day you get married, you get one checking account, everything goes in one. We're not gonna slowly combine. Dude, we're getting married. We're going to put this thing in here and then we're going to do ride or die till death do us part.

Okay.

Right. Is that cool?

Mm-hmm.

That's awesome.

Uh, one thing, uh, if, if it's okay with you guys, uh, can I get her up here real quick?

Come on.

No, no, no. It's not like that. Please tell her. My heart. My heart. What's the matter with you?

Oh no.

So dude, that is not a cool head fake.

Oh man.

Bless her heart.

I thought it was about to happen.

Me too.

I was going to sing.

I was getting my Barry White voice ready.

OK, Nelson, what's happening right now?

So we were trying to visit you and visit the show in Nashville. Unfortunately, it was something really big to her. She's been going through a very— like when— like you said, like this, all this money and everything came in my lap. I was able to pay off debt. For her, she's been fighting. She's been fighting and paying off debt slowly and solely. She applied to try to do, you know, the debt-free scream on your show. And yeah, I just wanted to give her that opportunity, if that's okay.

What say you, Ken?

Well, Nelson, you put me in a tough spot, buddy.

I'll trade you a debt-free scream for a will you marry me.

Wow.

Did I do that, James? I just made things real weird.

Nelson, have you ever—

Did you just say, "I'll take that"?

Did you say that?

Wait a second.

As in right now, I'll take that. Okay, get down on one knee.

Wait.

Let Katie get up there.

Wait a minute. I gotta get my phone out. Can I tape it?

Yeah.

Can we—

I gotta get my—

Get your phones out. This is exciting.

I gotta get my— I gotta get my phone out.

Katie's gonna hold the mic for you, Nelson. Do it right, my man. Get down on one knee.

Oh boy.

So Royce, you've been everything to me. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. You've changed my life in ways that I never thought that was possible. And yeah, I never thought I would be in a situation to where I could love someone as much as you. And I want to know, will you marry me?

She said yes, ladies and gentlemen.

Wow.

Nelson, Nelson, while she gathers herself, tell us your bride-to-be's name. What is her name?

Royce Ogden.

Royce?

Yes.

Okay, let's give the mic to Royce. Royce, what is going through your head right now?

Tell us.

I wasn't expecting any of this.

No.

Hey, neither was John. That's the best part.

That never works. That never works. I'm stunned right now. Okay, we're gonna, James, we're gonna pay this off.

So you guys know how we do this on the show. This is gonna be amazing. Okay, Royce, how much debt have you paid off in how long? Tell us your story.

I paid off about $35,000 worth of debt.

In how long?

Uh, 24 months.

24 months. That's awesome.

That's awesome. Tell us what the debt was.

What kind of debt was it?

It was primarily credit card debt, um, and a little bit of medical debt. And while paying off all of this debt, I stopped twice to cash flow two emergencies with my health, uh, totaling about $25,000.

Wow.

You're so amazing.

What happened 24 months ago where you said, this is it, I'm getting debt-free? What happened?

I was watching a lot of the financial YouTube videos, trying to figure out what I was doing with my life. I had just gotten off a work injury, and it was just so hard to make ends meet on only 40 hours a week, which is insane. Once I sat down and I did the math, I realized I was hemorrhaging about $400 or $500 a month just because of my debt payments. And if I hadn't had them, my work injury wouldn't have ever been an issue.

Wow.

$35,000. $25,000.

Plus $25,000. That's $60,000.

And plus you cash flowed. I mean, it's unbelievable. All right, so for people who are sitting in this room and who are watching on YouTube, they're blown away by what just happened. What would you say to them is the key to getting out of debt?

I think the key is probably setting the goal and walking yourself through getting there. There were a lot of points to where it felt like I just wasn't making any progress. It was hard and the medical issues kept feeling like setbacks, but really they, it was an absolute blessing to be able to get through them cash flowing instead of taking out any more debt.

Love it.

And during this time, you were also loving and honoring a veteran who was struggling with his health too, right?

Yes, it was because of going through all of this in the Ramsey process, it was about halfway through this that his emergency happened.

You're an amazing woman.

Yeah, another question.

Both of you.

It's awesome.

Having all of these changes took it from an emergency to an inconvenience.

Awesome. All right, Royce, you ready to do your debt-free scream? I know you couldn't make it to Nashville. We're going to do it right here, and these people are going to lose their ever-loving minds. Are you ready?

Do I hold the mic away?

No, no, give it all you got. Let her rip. You do— hey, listen, you do your scream the way you want to do it. I'm going to do a version of it.

Okay, I'm gonna lead you through this. Where are you from?

I'm from Greeley, Colorado.

Okay, here we go.

So we got Royce from Greeley, Colorado. She paid off $35,000 in 24 months while cash flowing another $25,000 with health emergencies. Dragging poor Nelson along. God bless his heart. She's helping him. She's an amazing woman. You are the poster child for anybody who lays eyes or their ears on this show. You can do it, and they can do it. Let's hear your debt-free scream. Count it down.

3, 2, 1.

I'm debt-free! Wow!

Wow.

Wow. Wow.

Okay, we're going to keep this momentum going.

We didn't plan for that, but we did plan for this. And you know what's great? I see women snotting all over themselves.

Men are wiping their eyes. You two are such great sports.

Thank you for that. Okay, here's what we're going to do. Okay?

We thought it'd be fun.

Jade, get your calculator out because we're going to do something. Here's what we want to know. If you have become debt-free in the last year, will you stand up? We're going to do a group debt-free scream. If you've paid off, if you've become debt-free in the last year, stand up all around the building, wherever you are. Stand up if you've become debt-free in the last year.

Yeah, you can clap for them.

That's cool.

Look at this.

All right, so here's what we're going to do. Jade's got her calculator. James is backing her up. I'm going to go around the room and we're just going to quickly get the amount that you paid off.

Okay?

Is there anybody up in the upper deck?

I see you. Okay.

How much did you pay off?

$268,000. Excellent.

Anybody else up top? $40,000. And anybody else up there? $36,000.

Got it.

Did I get everybody up there? $7,500? $75,000.

Dang, son.

Are you up to date on that?

I got it.

Anybody else up top?

Okay.

Now we'll come over here.

And I don't think I see— okay, ma'am, your number?

47,000.

47,000.

Sir?

About 300. 300,000.

Amazing. All right, next. Right back here. This couple right here. Ma'am in the white coat and the guy in the hat.

100.

100,000. Okay. Couple, right? Sit down. Couple right in front of them.

28,000.

28,000. Ma'am right here?

Uh, 55,941. We'll round it up to 56,000.

No, I got it. You got it? 55,931.

Don't mess with Jade. Okay, ma'am, right here. $90,000. Right here.

$60,000.

Paid off the house.

Paid off the house. $60,000.

$60,000.

Okay, great. And, oh, we already got yours. But let's get the number. $35,000 for Royce.

This couple.

$235,000. Deb, our favorite person in the world. $102,000. And right here in front. 120.

Did I miss? Oh, sorry.

Wow, I'mma put it at 150 then.

We'll go 150. Way to go. Is that everybody? All right, Jade and James, we'll check your— what do you got?

Announce it.

Can we do it? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Okay, drum roll please. In the last year, this room has paid off.

That's correct.

You say it.

$1.741 million.

How about that?

Wow.

So now you can stand back up. Wow.

Wow.

Wow. For those of you that sat down, now you can stand back up. You've paid off debt in the last year, and then Jon's got a fun idea. Yeah.

All right. So anybody else in the room who is debt-free who wants to join us in this debt-free scream, stand up.

Everybody, everybody, no conditions, debt-free all around the house, up and down. Let's do a group debt-free scream. John, would you like to count us down from 3?

Let's— I'm going to do it.

Don't be the weird people that count up.

No. Yeah, yeah, so true.

Denver, Colorado, you paid off $1.7 million plus everybody else who stood up here. Let's count it down and do a giant Denver "Debt Free" scream. 3, 2, 1.

We're debt free! Yes! Cheer for yourself. How about that?

Wow.

So fun. Congratulations. You guys are amazing.

Hey, before we sign off tonight, we'll have a final word of encouragement, but I want to do something we did in Charlotte. It's so amazing to get out from Nashville, our beautiful headquarters, and get out on the road and do the show. But we couldn't do this. We are sitting and standing on the shoulders of an amazing team. If you're on the Ramsey team, would you stand up? Or if they're behind cameras, would you give some love to our amazing crew?

James Childs, Chris Wright led our entire team. These men and women are fantastic. So I just want to say thank you to them. Final word, 30 seconds from your heart to these people.

Jon, what's on your heart for them?

Um, it's easy to get stuck in, you owe money, childhood was hard, you got, you got debt payments, you got car wrecks. Listen to me, you are worth the work to be well. You're worth the work and it's hard and it's long. And like you, you amazing single father with the awesome truck that you're probably gonna sell, even though I'd probably keep it. Listen, you're worth the grind, you're worth the work, you're worth being free. Thank you for being here tonight.

That's so good. I'm just reflecting back on all the stories that we heard tonight, and all of you were so brave to share with us, and I'm so grateful that you trusted us with your stories. And I just, I mean, my favorite verse, Galatians 6:9, you know, don't grow weary in well-doing. At the right time, at the proper time, you'll reap a harvest of blessing if you don't give up, if you don't faint. I'm thinking about Royce. I'm thinking about our friend who was smiling like the sun, who was working so, so hard. I'm thinking about that single dad. I'm thinking about all those stories tonight. And guys, trust and believe you will reap a harvest if you don't give up, if you don't faint. Please don't give up. Please keep going. I, I just know it. You guys have such a wonderful, beautiful future in front of all of you. Keep going.

Hey Ken, before you give your last words, Nelson, Royce, I'd like y'all to be my guest in October for the Money and Marriage Conference in Nashville. If y'all can make it there, I'll pay for your, your tickets. Okay, cool.

Very nice.

Well, John, Jade, uh, and And to those of you in the room and those of you watching on YouTube, wherever you're watching, however you're watching, the word that keeps popping up to me tonight as I've just been able to observe is strength. Just tremendous strength. And I think that's what I'd want to share with you. You know, uh, there's so many stories in this room and of people that are watching, and we'll never hear those stories, but the commonality between anybody that wins with money is strength. The journey is so very difficult. No matter how much debt you're paying off, whether it's $20,000 or $200,000, we've had people on the air that have paid off $2 million. The struggle is absolutely real, but you have the strength to do it. And I'm reminded of story after story after story in the time that I've had to sit on the Ramsey Show and listen to everyday women and men who have just overcome so much to get peace. And for those of you that are still on the journey, you didn't stand up tonight. I don't want you to feel left out. I want you to feel inspired by looking at the men and women around you who stood up, the men and women that you saw on cameras.

You were watching on YouTube, you're listening, however you're taking this night in. I want you to understand that there's no difference between them and you. You can do it. You have the strength to do it. Focus on your life, nobody else's life. Focus on what you can do in the moment. One foot forward every day, just one foot, and keep the eye on the prize. As Philippians said, I'm looking at the finish line. What does the finish line look like for you? Where do you want to be? Keep it top of mind and you can win. And I'm telling you, We believe in you. On behalf of the over 1,000 Ramsey Solutions teammates that are supporting us back in Nashville, on behalf of Dave Ramsey, who couldn't be with us here tonight, on behalf of my colleagues, Dr. John Delony and Jade Warshaw, I want you to know we love you. We appreciate you. We believe in you. We're behind you. You can do this. Thank you, guys. You've been an amazing crowd.

Thank you.