Transcript of The Ramsey Show Live From Orlando

What's up?

Normal is broken, Common Sense is weird. So we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network, live in the Beachman, Orlando, this is The Ramsey Show. Now we're talking. That's what I imagine everyone does at home when they're listening to the show in their car. Oh, this is so fun. Thank you for being a part of this. We got a lot of people watching this at home, and we're just grateful to be out of the house. I got a newborn, and let me tell you, I was like, Babe, I got to go to work. I don't know what to tell you. The people need me. Well, let's get to what you guys came here for. This is the Ramsey Show Live, and we are going to take your questions. Who's our first question? Oh, yeah, Ramsey. There she is. Step right up. We have a little stage for you. Tell us your first name and where you're from.

Hello, everyone. My name is Michelle, and my husband and I have been married for five years, and debt is something that we have tried our best to tackle time and time again.

Every time it feels we've taken two steps forward, it feels like we take three steps back. Tomorrow, I'm actually going to be laid off from work. Sorry.

You're good. Take your time.

It feels very scary.

We have a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter who is special needs, and she does various therapies, and we have A lot going on with her.

I was the full-timer to be available for her.

My husband is part-time right now. We also have a small business that we are still growing, but it's not enough yet to pay us full-time.

I think there's just so much going on.

I'm just like, What do we do?

What do we focus on first?

Because we don't know how long it'll take for me to either get another job or for our business to really take off or anything like that.

What would you focus on first? Four walls. And you've probably heard us say that, but it gives so much peace to say the first things, the most important things are shelter. That's your rent or your mortgage, making sure that's the top thing. Then after that, we're just going through the line of priority. You got to make sure the utilities stay on. You need AC, all that stuff. You need to make sure there's food in cabinet, and you need to make sure there's transportation. Those are the first ones. Then after that, there might be other priorities. Maybe there's daycare, maybe there's insurance payments. But you can prioritize those down the list. But when you do that, it puts a stop on everything else. It's okay to do that. It's okay to tell the other stuff, Let's talk to the hand. I don't have it right now. They'll be strong. They will be fine. I have been where you're at right now, and it feels intimidating to know that you're money, but you also have the power to say not right now. That's okay. This is a season, and you'll come out of it. But really just dialing in and saying, Okay, with the money that we do have coming in, how far does that get us?

Sitting down tonight or first thing in the morning and saying, The money that we have coming in from the small business, from your husband's work, how far does that get us as far as what our actual needs are in the budget and what's that gap? And putting real numbers around this so it doesn't feel like just this cloud of uncertainty floating over your head, I think that's going to give you a lot of peace. Then you can get about the work of saying, Okay, how can we fill that $700 gap? How can we fill that $1,200 gap? But at least you know exactly what the gap will be. And not only will you know the dollar amount, but you'll know, and that $1,200 gap is these six items or these five items. And that's going to give you peace as well.

Yes, thank It's also okay to pause trying to get a business off the ground. It might be husband looking across. This might be the moment that you say, this can never happen to us again. This might be the moment that catapult you all into taking control of your financial life. But it might be, I love what Jade said about it's really easy to get into dream job or career or small business. Those are all real big passiony things, feeling things. You all have a really serious emergency math problem. And so tomorrow, he becomes a guy with four part-time jobs because he has a math problem to solve. Not a career, not a passion. We have a math problem we have to solve. We're going to knock on every door we can find because we have a math problem. It takes some of the smoke out of it, and we just start putting out that fire.

You got a good community around you, people you can lean on?

Absolutely, yes. It's awesome.

Please don't be afraid to ask for help. Thank you. Thank you. Please. My wife went to the ER today. I'm out of town, I'm scrambling. And next thing, another 17 people texting me, showing up, bringing meals, watching the baby. Just know that I know you feel weird asking for it, and there's shame, and you just want to be alone, but now is the time to lean on your people, and they will show up for you. We're praying for you to get that job real soon. Thank you. Praying for that baby. Thank you so much, Michelle. All right. Something we like What we do in the show, Jade and John, is we like to help couples out by settling debate. People call and say, Can you settle this debate? I think I'm right. Prove me right. And usually the person calling in is wrong.

Most of the time?

They're trying to justify and go, Jade, you're on my side, right? And you're like, Oh, actually. So we thought it would be fun to do this live, which is a little scarier. So do we have a Dawn in the crowd? Are they here tonight?

Please tell me that one of them doesn't know this is happening.

Come on up. Give it up for them. That's nerve-wracking. Welcome, guys. Okay, what's the debate in your house?

So my name's Tom. I'm a saveaholic.

I haven't heard that term. I'm a giveaholic.

It's my wife doing. I'm a giveaholic.

I'm a pleaser.

And nobody's spending money in this house. It's just we're saving, we're giving. We're the nicest people on Earth. That's not true.

But we're Baby Step 7 for about a year, and I make low six figures, and we do okay. But she likes to give to our kids. We're a blended family.

He had three children. I had three children. We've been together 10 years. It's been a 10-year process of blending and coming together. Our family trips and our family time has really... That's how I measure our wealth.

I think it's more about with me, we do these trips, we spend 5 to $10,000. They've been great trips, but Every single time for me, it's like, oh, it's like, whether we want to go spend a few hundred bucks to supper with all the kids, it's like, she's like, let's do this. And I'm like, I'm always glad after, but it always is like, oh, every time. So that's the debate. I need to figure how to be okay with spending. You know what I mean? It's like me and money don't...

How do we budget it?

I think that's our biggest problem. I don't think that's the biggest problem. Now that we...

I mean, now, where is step 8, 9, and 10?

That's when you get back to Dave. I'll send you his Venmo. There's no struggle here. It's not like you're not going to be able to retire because of this. It's just more that Tom is feeling like we should be doing more over here. We could be doing more over here, and we're just spending willy-nilly on the family funding this fun life. Is that what's behind that, Tom?

What scared you here? It took a long time between the two of us to I've been in the same company for 38 years, working my ass off. It's just like, we're here now, and it's like, I want to just keep saving and make sure that there's enough. But I know there's going- But there is enough.

Yeah. My guess is you guys are probably multimillionaires by now, Tom. Is that right? There is enough. Okay. So on paper, if you sat down with a financial advisor, would they be like, Yeah, you could retire, bud? Yes, they have.

And they've said it.

Yeah. They've said it out loud.

Yeah. Well, my brother-in-law is a financial to advise him, and he's like, Yeah, by the time you have 75, he said, You'll have...

Say it.

But we...

Is it like $25 million or something stupid? Okay.

We have six children.

Hold it down. We want to make them a priority while we're alive.

We want to live and give while we're alive.

We want to see the difference made while we're alive.

Can I fill an alternative?

Yes.

Is there a chance, it's a very common thing when there's blended families, that means that somewhere along the trajectory, the forever plan changed, and there's hurt, and there's fear, and there's I want to make sure everybody's okay. And one of the ways I can make sure everybody's okay is to clear the deck of any possible challenge. If you marry somebody and you all together, you all now have resources that maybe you've never had, I want to begin to buy laughter and joy. It's not a bad impulse, but in a weird way, I end up using that money and those experiences to make me feel less guilty, less sad, less painful for the memories I had when they were little, right? When they were asking those hard, hard questions like, Where's this? And why do we have to live? Those things. And so it's almost a both and, which is practicing. I hate to use that word because we turn these into moral issues and character issues. I think it's a practice. I made a joke earlier. I think this is where a budget can really help. Your spiritual exercise, man, is I'm going to budget fun money.

I'm going to practice exhaling You're going to say, Thank you, God. Thank you, hard work. I'm going to budget joy. You begin to practice. I'm going to begin to look in the mirror and say, I'm a good mom. I've done a good job. I'm worth being loved just at a table with a bunch of delivered pizzas, not at some five. And the five-star, those are awesome. But also you're worth being loved. And your kids and their kids and their will have tons of fun. They'll tell the story at your funeral about the time you ran out in the backyard and sprayed them all with the hose, not the seventh vacation that you all spent $20,000 on. And so it's both of you all practicing, we've done good. Let's practice this next layer. You all get to ask yourselves that question, what do you want this to look like? You've worked real hard.

It just made me think of this quote, You can't spend your way into a meaningful life, and I'll flip it for Tom, You can't save your way to a wealthy life. It just goes so far beyond that. I think you both have some homework to do. For that reason, I think the judge is going to preside and say, This is 50/50 right here. It is. Both guilty as charged. Congratulations. Welcome to marriage where nobody wins. Thank you. Great question, guys. Thank you for trusting us for that. Great question. Can I petition to be one of the kids? I mean, you already got six. What's seven? I mean, add me to the vacation.

You all have to understand, though, that when George Campbell tells you, You all should spend some money.

That That's something.

Yeah. Well, what we found, John, there's a great book for you, Tom, by the way. It's called Die with Zero. This is a true book. What did you think of it? Excellent book. Okay, the premise is that you don't need to leave $5 million to your kids when they're in their 60s. Use the money now to have these experiences. That's what's going to create more meaning than just like, Oh, cool. I inherited $5 million when I didn't really need it. Set your kids up now in their adult life when it matters more. That's good. It's a decent principle in there for guys like Tom. Love it. Let's help the people. Can we do that? We have another live question coming up. We get that lined up. Give it up for them, whoever they are. Oh, this is fun. She's running down because the price is right.

This is like the price is right.

Why is that our only reference to someone running down in a game? I don't know. That's great. All right, tell us your name and where you're from.

I am Caroline Goens, and I am from Winter Garden, Florida.

Lovely.

Here's a little bit, and then I'll tell you my question. My dad has recently decided to spend time with me after not being there for most of my early childhood and up to now.

I feel like I should spend time with him because it's the right thing to do. But part of me feels like, why now? Where should I keep my boundaries?

Good question.

Tell me about the word should. Who gave you that story? He did, I feel like.

Okay.

So when somebody opts out of our lives and they knock on the door to come back in, I always want to ask myself, What do I want my house to feel like? And is my body, literally, not sounding like woo- woo, but is it excited to open that door or is it scared to open that door? And if it's scared to open that door, I often... This is me personally. Up in my bag, up in the room back here, I have a journal that I keep with me, and it's just a stories journal. When I start telling myself stories, it's all coming down. I need to do this. I should have done this. I'll write it down, and I just ask myself, Is this true? Am I scared because he might hurt me again? Do I not want to see him because he hasn't changed? Or am I scared that there's still a seven-year-old in the driveway watching him drive off, wondering, What did I do, dad? What was so bad about me? And asking yourself those questions. And those usually frame your boundaries, which you can open the door and say, I'm not ready yet, or I can open the door and say, I need you to know I still haven't figured out why you I left, and I want to have that conversation before you come back.

Or if you come back and you've been drinking, you have to go. Or you can't come in this door, but I'll meet you at another place for a while. Or, Thank you for the invitation, but not yet. But it's often, especially with our parents, when they do something when we were kids, they leave, they were in a different fate, whatever. When they call, my My dad can call me and I go back to being nine like that. I got a good dad. My dad's still around. It's remembering I'm not in the back seat of his car anymore. I'm in the front seat of mine. And that transition can be hard, but it's just spending a little bit of time with yourself. And sometimes a great text message back or an email back is, I'll be in touch in 24 hours. And that's a tiny way that you can reclaim autonomy. I'll answer you tomorrow or answer you later, and that'll give me some space. I don't feel like I have to jump back in. But often, I don't know about you, I go right back to people-pleasing. It's all going to be okay or fear or whatever those things are.

Why did he go?

He cheated on my mom.

Did she send him away or did he leave?

He left.

Out of shame and guilt or he wanted to start a new family with someone else? Maybe both. I'm not sure. Maybe that's the question to start with. Yeah, that's a scary hard one.

How much of you wants to reconnect and reconcile, and how much of you is not interested at all?

I think my heart wants to, but my brain's like, whoa, hold on.

So I think it's more like I feel like I have a very open heart where my brain is the logical, I want to put some boundaries there or something there.

And probably both are true. And both will lie to you also, right? Yes. How old are you now? 28. Do you have a dream of 35-year-old you having him over for dinner? I do. That's usually a cool place to start. And slowly reverse engineering it back to, okay, what must be true tomorrow for that seven years from now dream to come true? Do you have kids? Not yet. Not yet? Okay. Do you have a dream of him holding one of your babies one day? Yes. Okay. And by the way, if that wasn't fair, that was a hard I just asked you. And the fact that you answered it quickly like that is awesome. I would listen to that voice.

I don't think it's all or nothing. I think it's just like John said, just taking that one little step. Let's test the temperature in the water here. Okay, we'll take one step in instead of just rushing in or blocking forever, I think we just need to stair, step into it as you feel comfortable. And hopefully that trust and healing starts to happen.

And remember this always, you're in the driver's seat of the car. You get to choose what happens next. And it's so easy with the people that left us to want to go back. And please, I get to decide what happens next. It's awesome. I'm proud of you, dude. That's cool. Thank you. Awesome. Thank you.

Thanks for the question, Caroline. All right, we're on the road. We can't travel with the whole crew, but we had to bring arguably the most important person to the show who's behind the scenes, and that is producer James. Would you guys like to meet him? Come on out, James. There he is. This is fun.

I feel like you need your own music when you come on.

I should have thought about that.

Yeah.

What would it be? I am glad that John and I wear the same outfit.

Yeah, I got James texted me. He's like, Hey, bro, you want a twindzie up? And I was like, Sure, man.

James keeps It's a show on the rails, and we thought it'd be fun to have him come out for a segment that we've never done on the show, which involves a fishbowl. Yeah. So obviously, most of the questions tonight are from you guys about your situations, but we also got a bunch of fun questions that are more for you all to get a little bit of a peek behind the curtain. Kind of dangerous, but there are some fun questions in here. We've got maybe 10 or 12, so maybe we can do five or six of them now, and then we can do some more later. Yeah. But I think this would be fun. If they're okay with it, it's their show. That's true. Okay, let's do it. All right, let's do it. Thank you. This is the biggest fish bowl I've ever seen. Okay, here we go. Jade can... Okay. Wow. This is very out of her. Very out of her. I was scared of her.

Let Jade do it. You better listen to her.

I was going to pass it down.

I was going to say, do you want me to just get the card out and hand it to him?

No, you read it.

The patriarchy's dead, Jade. Read it.

All right.

She wants you to sing it.

Describe your co-host in three words.

Oh, that was fun. I actually really enjoyed that.

That was more like a jingle. Describe your co-host in three words. Sorry. You never should have done that. It doesn't have to be like, consecutive. I know. Okay.

Different words is fine.

Yeah, it doesn't say consecutive. It Describe your co-host in three words.

Okay, and just top of mind. Don't think about it too long, John. John. What do you think of me?

Awful. Intentional. Ocd. I'll allow it. Great friend.

That was four words. So you're out. I was going to say. You lost the game, but that was very kind.

Hyphen. Very short.

All right, Jade.

Wait, John has to describe me.

Oh, okay. I thought we were going to be all about me first.

Oh, wait. You want to do it that way? No, it's fine. Let's ask her. What do you think?

She'll allow it. I'm describing Jade. This is one word.

Do I need to come up with another jingle?

Truth teller. Lots of hyphens, the most talented person I know. Incredibly beautiful.

Oh.

My dog.

It's so nice.

Okay. George First, I've said this before, I'll say it again, intellectual. I will go with funny and conscientious.

Wow. Thank you. That's so kind.

Yeah. George is an extremely hard worker. Anybody who knows him knows that he puts a lot of effort into everything he's doing.

I just called that OCD, but yeah, he can see that.

Thank you.

Okay, John, I'm going to go with genuine. I wanted to say fun, but that sounds so just like, trite. You're way more than fun. You're like, jovial. There we go. How about that? I'm trying to think of a word that describes how smart you are without just saying smart. I said intellectual for George, though.

I was going to say academic.

Academic. But that doesn't have any cachet. You've got like...

I was going to say savant, brilliant, prodigy.

Okay, listen. Take one of those. You put your John Ness on Everything, and I like that.

That's good. Okay, Jade, I'll go quick. Fierce. Yeah.

Poised. Never do that again, Jade. Okay.

Infectious. There we go. John, I'm going to go tardy. You know John. To know John is to know John is tardy. Generous.

Indeed.

Hilarious. Yes.

I'll take it. That's it.

That's all I got.

All right.

I'm going to do one. Don't be mad at me. We'll pass it around. We'll spread the love.

Okay, but you have to sing this one. You have to come up with a jingles.

This is so long.

Get it.

Listen, the people, they didn't pay to hear me sing. That would cost way more. You can stream my album on Spotify, and I wish that was a joke. If you had to pick one restaurant to spend all your eating out budget on, where would you go?

Something Italian, right?

Why are you looking at me?

I don't know.

I'm not going out to eat with you.

That's true. Publix.

Publix? Is that a restaurant. I mean, we all love a pub sub, but relax.

A pub sub?

Yeah.

You've never heard of a pub sub? Thank you. I can't tell if you're elitist or two for a shop at Publix, John. At the Deli at Publix, you can order sandwiches, and they call them Pub Sub. Pub Sub. Famously, there's one that is technically human food. It's just chicken tenders. Chicken tenders. Inside of a sub.

Yeah, that's the one.

This is why America is the way it is. I was going to say. Even I know that.

I'm always going to have a job. Always.

All right.

What is the restaurant?

Where would John eat? I've never seen John eat.

Yeah. What's your favorite even food?

Without question, a low-fi shack that does seafood right by the water. Like, of any kind. Like any animal that just came from the water, and then we're going to eat it. That's my favorite. Or straight up like, O-G, San Antonio Mexican food.

That's a good answer.

Italian. Hit me with some pasta, some pizza, sauce.

Anything like that. Just saying those words gives George's special gluten-free tummy gas.

I know.

Gosh.

What about you?

I have Middle Eastern descent, and that's the food of my people. This is not technically accurate, but I'm going with a Tzeke's cava type. I could just eat that all day. Mediterranean? Yeah. Okay. There you go. All right, down to John. We got, let's do one more here because John takes forever.

Which personality would you trust the least with your debit card? It's me. It's me. I mean, clearly me.

You trust yourself the least?

You would have more money in your account when I'm done with it.

That's actually, that's probably true. Which person would you trust the least with your debit card?

I don't know why I want to say Rachel.

Oh, we didn't include Rachel. That's true.

I mean, we can include. She's not here, but we can include her, right?

Yeah, but she's buying like, earrings on Amazon. John's buying like, guitars and-That's also true.

That's a good point. No, but hold Rachel posts the Amazon Purchases. You don't see her drive up in the $400,000 car and the bags made of a live alligator. Like, whatever.

I'm still going John. I'm picturing John finding my debit card. I'm like, Dude, we're going to have some fun. You know what I mean? Or is Rachel like, We need to return this to George.

He's probably worried about it. That's true. Rachel, that's right.

If I found your debit card, there's 100% chance I would buy some of the most gonzo things and have them shipped to your house. That's true. I trust me the least with my debit card.

Why am I getting boxes of diarrhea medication? Exactly. Why? I did not order it. Oh, gosh.

Can you see Whitney being like, George, there is a palate of hemroid cream out here. Are you okay? Are you so There's... I'm... You all, just, I'm going to do that.

That was fun. We had a good time. Hope you guys did, too. We're going to do an anonymous question now. One of you in the room submitted this, but you wanted to not put your name on it. We actually had two that are really similar. This is one of the questions that hits it hard. I have been married for going on a decade, and we're on baby step one. I love my husband, but he is not engaged in our finances, and whenever I ask him to work with me on it, we get into an argument. Our finances aren't combined, and we aren't working together on a team to pay off our debt. I don't want to give up hope and pursue a divorce, but I'm so tired of always pushing him.

My first question would be, have you had any form of counseling? Have you sat down with a counselor at any point to discuss this with a third party, right? That'd be my first question.

Yeah. What I found that was unique to coming from the world I came from to the Ramsey world is a lot of people watch the Ramsey stuff, and they get inspired by the plan. And one of two things is true. They have always been a plan person. They brought home a bunch of Avon one time, and now they're like, heard that essential oils can cure liver cancer, so now they got a bunch of... It's always another plan, and their partner just checks out. Like another scheme. It's another scheme. Or they come at somebody with a spreadsheet. Here's the numbers and here's the debt. And we always find ourselves challenging people on air with that question beneath that, or that conversation beneath that, which is sitting down with your spouse and saying, I don't feel safe in my house. I can't breathe in my own house. And I need you to help, like participate in helping me feel safe. And if your spouse says, I'm out on that, that's a question. That to me, is the question beneath the question. And if a spouse says, I'm not participating, Then you're going to end up in one office or another, either a divorce office or in a therapist office.

But you're going to have to involve professionals because that's somebody that's completely unplugged. Most of the time when somebody says, I don't feel safe, I'm out of house, their spouse is like, oh, my gosh, I didn't get it. That was me. My wife was so, I'm just an out of control person. But it was when she said, I feel like you're creating a life without me. And she said, I have to. That sentence I have to was like, oh, I'm so erratic. I don't keep a budget. I don't have any stability. She's having to carve stability out of nothing because... So that was the line. I got to go get help for me so that I be more stable in my own house.

All right. I'm going to play devil's advocate on this. This is a real conversation. You guys can handle it. The truth is, yes to all of that. The truth is, because I'm talking from A personal experience of a best friend of mine. The truth also is you can have a spouse who you've said those things to and say, Well, what makes me feel safe is being able to spend money on these things. I want to be able to live my life. The truth is you can have a situation where one spouse wants to do the Ramsey plan and the other spouse is like, I'm all for doing certain things with our money, but I don't want to go to these extremes. The truth is you can't make anybody change. You just can't make... You could tell them everything in the book. And she was like, Jade, what do I do? And I'm a firm believer. I'm like, there's always something you can do to better your situation, and you can't make this person change. And I told her, I was like, Listen, if I were in your shoes, I would keep having the conversation, but I would do what I'm going to I would share.

I would share what I'm going to do. I would do it, and then I would share again. For the next decade, she did that, and she paid off $90,000 of debt without her husband's true help. He was around, but he wasn't really helping. When the last $10,000 was to be paid, they went to some conference and somebody mentioned the Ramsey plan over the stage, and the light clicked on for him. For the last $10,000 he helped and was on board. There's part of this where you shouldn't be rendered completely helpless.

You still have to go do the next right thing.

You still have to go do the next right thing. I would hate for somebody to feel like, Well, they said we have to do it together. You do. That is the best possible way to do this plan, together, aligned on one accord. But at the same time, it could take a decade. It could take whatever your marriage situation is. Just because somebody doesn't want to do the Ramsey plan, you're not necessarily going to divorce them and move on and go do your own money. So what can you do in the meantime? And I think that's the question that people really want to know is, if this takes five years, am I rendered helpless for five years? No, you're not. Share, do share. And then the hope is that they get on board. And in the meantime, you're in counseling. But don't do nothing waiting for your spouse to do something.

That's a good line. On my show, especially, I always ask when somebody says this or that, one of my first questions is always, are you going to leave them? Right. And if They're instant, No, it's okay. Then you've made that choice. And so then what are you going to do inside that choice you've made? But if I ask that question, Are you going to leave them? There's that long pause. That tells me there's a deeper issue.

I found that there's such a wide spectrum for this question of basically, how do I get my spouse on board? You've been married a decade, and they've made it clear they're not going to opt into this. You have your answer. If you've been married a day, there's probably some hope that we can do this. Did you just hear about the Ramsey plan? Are you just excited and they don't get the vision yet? That's one thing versus someone who's actively dragging you down as you're trying to get out of debt because they're going further into it. It's so personal to your situation But at the crux of this is a couple who has marriage issues for a decade, and money is just the symptom. That's true. That's the hard part when we say, Well, this is a marriage problem, not a money problem. We mean it, because until you get the marriage under control and they respect that person and what their dream and vision is and what their feelings are, then they're not going to change. Why would you?

That's true.

That's a tough one. Whoever submitted that, I appreciate that. I know that there are probably dozens more couples in here who have been there or maybe are sitting in this season right now. All right, let's get to another live question. Tell us your first name and where you're from.

My name is Serena, and I'm from St. Augustine.

All right, what's your question?

What are some tips to stay focused on pushing through Baby Step 2? I'm finding it difficult to get out of the Yolo mindset when I'm confronted with the tomorrow isn't guaranteed internal voice.

Oh, good.

That is good.

So a Yolo thing would be like you're in Baby Step 2 and you buy tickets to come to a club and watch the Ramsey show?

Yes, precisely. Cool. So all cash paid. But instead of sticking with Baby Step 2 and you think, Okay, I really should save for this over here and pay this off. But I really want to... I have the opportunity, so this is what I want to do. And it's hard to stay focused on the right thing.

How long is this journey for you? What are we looking at? Is it seven years or is it one?

So I started with you guys. I say you guys. I started listening to Dave Ramsey in 2021. So we are four years in. Four years. And still in the same spot.

What percentage are you done? Because you haven't moved, you're saying. We haven't made progress in four years? Little progress.

I can tell you from my perspective. So for Sam and I, it took seven and a half years to pay off our debt. And I think for us, the mindset had to shift from there's more ways to enjoy life and there's more ways to get the most out of life. And generally, that has to do with the people that you're around and the relationships that you're investing in more so. Don't get me wrong, experiences are a way to enjoy life. Going on a trip is a way to enjoy life. But at the end of the day, I'm still coming home to Sam Warshaw, whether we went to Paris or we sat at home and made a pizza and it was delicious and we watched Sister Act, right? Either way, that's a really great experience, and there's ways to create memories, and there's ways to truly enjoy and get the most out of life. It doesn't require spending a bunch of money. That's the truth. I think it really is a mindset shift that you're going to have to It sounds like you spent four years not seeing... It's like you're doing all this toil but no traction.

I think that's probably what's got you feeling some type of way more so than the Yolo part of it, right?

What's the thing you've tried in the past that you've been really successful at? As far as? Athletics, academics. Give me an example.

Well, both.

I'm seeing athletics. I'm looking at your guns right now. Listen, gun show.

Don't embarrass me. Don't embarrass me. Yeah, so a healthy lifestyle, definitely.

What does a healthy lifestyle get you?

No pain in my bones. The ability to live life and not have to depend on other people.

So how does it translate to, I'm going to take autonomy and ownership of my body, my health, but I want to depend on a bank and a car dealership?

It is true. That is true.

What is it about this journey that's harder than this one? Because they both seem rooted in freedom, autonomy.

I think it's the being independent, being single, being responsible for yourself when you think, okay, I'm going to take all of this extra and pay it on this debt, then it takes it out. And I've heard this before, too. But it takes it away from being available for groceries, because I depend on myself for all of those things. So it is that shift of using the cash that you have to Pay off the debt, but then you may not have what you need for your necessities. Oh.

So budget-oriented? That's a budget question. I love that you framed it up that way because I feel like now we're getting to the nitty-gritty. If we're budgeting properly, you're You're doing the other things out of excess. If you're starting with those four walls and you're like, Hey, when I get paid, I know I'm paying for my rent. I know I'm paying for my utilities, my transportation, my food, and then on down that list of priorities. Then if there's money left, okay, now I can do... Yeah, now I'm going to go to the movies. I'm going to go... Teenage Mutinage Turtles came out. I'm going to go see that. Now you're able to do those things and actually feel a level of peace about it, or you're able to say, I'm going to take this extra money and I'm going to throw it at this extra debt, and I know I budgeted to do that, and it's written on paper, and I've done the math, and I can feel good about that. So I think it's a little bit of both. And I just want to hit this because I think it's worth noting, and John was getting at this, too.

I feel like your fear is based on, what if I don't do these things I want to do? What if I live my life and I don't take that trip? But there's also a fear that should be considered of, what if I don't do this plan? What happens when I wake up at 50 and I still have the same debt, only now it's higher because the interest is stacked up. So allow yourself to play that out on both sides. And I think that's going to inform what really matters to you and what truly the greater fear is.

Are you lonely?

I am single. I do have a German Shepherd dog. That's an outstanding deflection.

Are you lonely?

It is, isn't it? It's great.

It's so great. You don't have to answer that.

No, that's okay. It's a hard question.

It is a hard question. There is a depth to, I want to hold on for this just in case. This just in case. What if they call? What if there's an opportunity? And spending or another workout or another protein powder or I have a supplement, not a cabinet. I've got a supplement It's embarrassing, right? But that can all serve as a Xanax to... And so I wonder if you became with the same intentionality you are about fitness, about taking care of yourself. If you were that intentional about, I'm going to put myself in positions where I'm going to meet other people and I can become a driver relationally, and that will free up this what if, what if. I'm going to take the what if off the table and I'm going to start inviting people over. I'm going to get weird and awkward and ask people from work to come over. I'm going to find people in my neighborhood and have taco Tuesday, whatever weird thing, whatever the thing is that begins to heal all the way at the root of that, which is I need to hang on to some... I'm not going to pay off this debt.

I'm going to try to get as much fun as I can out of each moment because all I've got, and I've got to make, manufacture my own fund through spending, through cars, whatever.

Well, and with even the world that we live in right now, it's so hard to know, Am I going to be here tomorrow? So it's like, if I have the opportunity to go on trips with friends and do all of these things, it's hard to say no to that, to sitting at home and let me add this extra to this debt because I may not be here tomorrow.

I think at the root of this, there's this FOMO versus JOMO, which is the joy of missing out. When you're very clear in your goals, you're not like, Oh, man, I could have eaten seven pizzas tonight. Instead, you're like, Man, I'm glad I took care of myself tonight. I'm going to feel so good tomorrow. And so to John's point, the chances of you dying tomorrow, slim to none. The chances of you staying the same in this mediocrity, not making financial progress, there's a high chance of that because that's how most America lives. And so you've got to choose your heart here, and you're going to have to say no to the big trips, but we can redefine what the fun looks like in this stage of our life. And knowing that two years from now, it's going to look very different. And you get to define that later on, too, if you have that delayed gratification now. So beautiful question. Thanks for being brave.

I got to flip this on its head for one second. I'm nervous. Listen, I'm just going to go for it. Can I just state the obvious? Because here's what I'm thinking. The truth is, if you tomorrow. You're going to be in heaven eating a sandwich. You're not going to be thinking, Oh, my gosh, I didn't climb that mountain when I was on Earth. You're going to be in heaven. You're right. Living it up.

You'll be meeting Jesus. I am so ready.

Do you see what I'm saying? If anything, the other folks are going to be like, Oh, man, we miss her. Do you see what I'm saying? You're thinking that when you get to heaven, you're going to be thinking about all the things you missed out on Earth. That's not what's going to be happening. I think that's really worth you taking some time and thinking about. This is not the home. You know what I'm saying? This is the temporary.

Yeah, for sure.

Beautifully said. Thank you for the question, Serena. Thank you. That's a great question. Thank you for being here. Give it up for her. All right. We thought it'd be fun to play a little superlatives because as you guys know, we all have our personal brands. What's that mean? Listen to the show. That's a fancy word for most likely to. When you were in high school- Senior superlatives. Most likely to, I don't know, for you, it was probably run a marathon/drop out of You are. You've never run a marathon, and you have three master's degrees. Boo-yo.

See, it worked out good.

Two PhDs. We're going to have you guys vote, and this will also include Ken Coleman and Rachel Cruz, who are not with us right now. But you're going to shout out who you think is most likely to do this thing. You with me? All right, lightning round. Here we go. Who is most likely to show up late to the studio? John. That was too easy. Most likely to use a coupon at a restaurant or order a kid's meal? That's hurtful but true. Whoever wrote that one.

I've been with you when both things have happened.

All right. Most likely to make a collar cry in a good way. All right. I'm hearing a lot of John, a little bit of Rachel. Most likely to make a call or cry in a bad way. Dave. All right. Shout out to Dave. Just glad I wasn't in the running for that one. All right, Jay, will you read a few of these off? Sure. I want to see what Let's see, where'd you leave off here?

All right. Oh, boy. Number four, get the giggles and not be able to recover.

Rachel.

That's an easy one. She's giddly. Leave their mic muted accidentally at the start of a segment. Ken.

Wow. No, that's 100% me.

I was going to say I thought it was me. That's great. I'm glad you didn't notice. All right. Tell an 86-year-old to get a job. Who would do Heartless.

Whoever would do that. That's a hypothetical.

Use the word hemroids on a call with a 52-year-old mom.

Oh, boy. Oh, this one's good. Ask for a bottle of Tums.

Ken Coleman. He loves. He gets a little heartburn after an intense call. I got to get a bottle of Tums.

Yeah, that was good.

I've been working on my Ken and brother. Thank you. That was good.

Oh, gosh. Innocently dropped the worst innuendos on air without realizing it.

Ken Coleman.

Oh, I was going to say Dave.

Oh, Dave has done that.

Listen. We call him Kenuendos. Here's the thing. Ken is the most thoughtful person and the most compassionate, and he's the most decora, right? There's a way you talk to people, especially when you're being a professional, and it just comes out.

Yeah, it does.

It's awesome. It's a good one. And what's awesome about James and his team, literally, you can say something and you can watch the show. The co-host will just look over at the booth. And by the time this segment is over, our phones are already buzzing. Someone's turned it into a meme and the whole company has it.

It's awesome. Oh, yeah. That's my favorite thing to do is when somebody says something sideways, I love just looking at James like, Did you hear what I heard?

That's half my job now is just keeping track of a quote book of what you guys say. It's going to be a memoir one day. I love it. All right, let's get to some more live questions. Let's see who we have next. We've got, Is there a Jean-Pierre in the crowd? Hey. Jean-pierre. You win for Coolest, fanciest name today so far. Thank you. All right, where are you from?

I live here in Orlando, Florida.

Wonderful. Yeah. Thanks for being here. What's your question?

Thank you. It's a privilege to be here. Just a little context. So I've heard of Ramsey when I first graduated from college seven years ago. So I didn't know anything about finances until a buddy told me about Ramsey. And like, wow, this is actually something. You don't learn this stuff in high school. And fast forward several years in the future, now, I guess. I recently graduated from grad school in May. And in that time leading up to grad school, we didn't have a lot of money. We were saving up so I could go to grad school, my wife and I. And now it's done. And now that we are done, we're on baby step six. We're very blessed. My wife and I, we have two kids. How do we grapple with the poverty mindset now that out of that now?

I love that question.

Well, Jade, you've been writing about this, haven't you? I mean, you got...

Yeah, you know, yes, I have been writing, not specifically about this, though. But I do like this question because I feel like I understand it, and I feel like it's relying on... I have this checklist that I go through mentally because I feel that. There's times where Sam will want to do something, and I'm freaking out, why would he want to spend this money or vice versa? It is. It's like your mind goes back to a mode from the past that's no longer the case, right? It's like, if I do this, it could throw everything off the rails, right? I go through this checklist where I'm like, okay, am I... It's what I call a financially responsible adult checklist. It's five questions to ask yourself, and it's based on the baby steps. You're asking yourself, Okay, wait a minute. Am I on a budget? Am I utilizing my budget every single month? I'm still doing my thing on that green light. Then the next question is, Am I out of debt? And is what I'm wanting to do going to put me in debt? No, it's not going to put me in debt. I'm still out of debt.

Okay, yeah, that's great. All right, am I a person who values saving? Am I saving in all the right ways? Do I have my emergency fund? Is this going to affect my emergency fund? Is it going to Is it going to affect my 15% that I'm investing? Is it going to affect me putting more money on my house, which is a forced savings account? If the answer is no, that's a green light. Okay, I can spend this money. Then you're asking yourself, Am I carrying the proper insurances? Did I do everything that I was taught? Do I carry my term life policy? Do I have the right coverage on my home and my auto? Green light. Yes, I do. Then finally, Am I still a person who's valuing and prioritizing generosity? Is this going to affect where that stands in my life? If the answer is no, you've got five green lights that are showing you, I have proven that I am a financially responsible adult, and this is the guiding principle. I'm not sacrificing that in any way. If that That's true, listen, get into it, get involved, go ahead and spend the money.

I think when you do that, it reminds you of what John was saying earlier. It reminds you of what's actually true about the situation. Everything's not on fire. You're not going to screw up your life. You're not going to go back to the hard place you were in before. And that's really good to remind yourself of that from time to time.

What was childhood like for you financially? I didn't come from any money. My parents are two immigrants that came here with two suitcases, and I was born here, and I got to live out the American dream. I love that.

That's cool. That's amazing. What's a practical way you feel like you're still in that poverty mindset? What's something recent that's happened where you're like, Man, why can't I click out of this mode?

I think it's... You guys always say there's a spender and a saver. I always have that saver mentality, and it probably comes back from childhood, that scarcity mentality, and just, I don't know, fighting against that. I want to challenge you on that. In your situation, the way you grew up, it's not a mentality. It's wired into your nervous system. It's life or death. You grew up in a home where two people said, We're going to make a run of it. We got two suitcases, and that's all we got. It's easy to beat yourself up. I just need to change my mentality. This is in you. And so it's got to be something that you're going to have to feel. I feel my body trying to take care of me. It's to the other side where we got nothing. I have to know that's not true. I'm going to not just try to think my way through it or change my mentality. I'm going to practice. I'm going to put, like we talked earlier, I'm going to put money in the budget that we are going to just literally go blow. We're going to go have fun.

We're going to go dancing. And before we go, I'm going to feel uncomfortable, and that's okay. And then I'm going to go do it anyway. And what you'll teach your body over time. It's like the Instagram meme is like, how do I get more confident? You just got to feel confident. No, that's so stupid. You got to go do things and be successful and teach your body confidence, right? And so I'm going to teach my body. It used to be, and now it is. We weren't safe, and now we are. And a lot of first-gen folks who follow this Ramsey plan, I hear there's also this quiet, sometimes loud, often quiet voice of guilt. Yes. Why me? And it's not fair. It's like joy is some zero. If I have joy, it somehow takes from somebody else. And that's not how joy works, man. Joy lifts everybody, right? And so it's being really grateful about what happened. And then I'm going to go practice. We're going to be super generous. Practice this and come back in five years, man. You're going to have a feather boa and you're going to be like, What? It's going to be awesome, man.

Have you used the word subconsciously? Well, I don't deserve that.

Yes.

A way that I fought against that is to literally put it in the budget and use my accountability partner, my wife, to force me to go, hey, do you actually spend the money on that thing that you were scared to spend it on, that hobby that you want to invest in, that purchase, the experience? Do you have a thing in mind that you're like, that just takes my breath away a little bit to put the money there?

Nothing at the top of my mind right now, but yeah, the instances like that come up.

Does your wife have those things? You said, I don't think we can do that right now.

A lot less now now that I'm out of school, but yes, it was definitely a lot over the years. Absolutely. I'm really, really proud of you. Thank you.

That's awesome. You change your family tree. Thank you. I'm so proud of you, man. Thank you for being here. Thank you, guys. All right, we got another question here from Miguel. How can I prepare myself at 19 years old to buy a house. You're 19? Yes, sir. You got a full beard, bro. Listen, you're thicker them all.

George, puberty is coming. Just keep praying.

They keep saying that. Hang in there, hang in there, George. Oh, my goodness. Okay, so you're 19. You got some goals. Yes. Are you working full-time? What's your situation? Are you in school? No, I'm not in school. My family owns a food truck for a long time, and I've always worked with them since I got out of high school. So he pays me a salary. I also do, I guess, hobbies that I get some good money from weekly. Some side hustles? Yes. Okay, what do you want to be doing long term? I'd really like to open up my own food truck and eventually a restaurant and just my own boss, and I've always liked customer service and serving people food. So that's my passion. You're 19? Yes, sir.

I'm just-I was just trying to get somebody to go on a date with me when I was 19. Hold on.

Did you have a childhood? Or was it like, I'm twelve and working in the food truck? You grew up fast, didn't you? Okay, so your next goal is to buy a house? I think about long-term goal, and I think I'd love to get into a marriage with a house or getting into a house. That's my goal before I get married or a couple of years after I get married. I'd like to have a house.

Can I ask why that is? For you, is it a security thing? Is it a wealth building thing? Is it a nobody in my family ever owned a house thing?

It's a security thing and also wealth building because I really like the idea of having something that's mine.

I love that. Do you have any debt?

No. I got a credit card when I was 18, and then I cut it up after I watched your video. I love that. Three days ago, you cut it up. When I was 18, just yesterday. All right, that's fantastic. You're doing great. How much do you have in savings? I have $5,000 in savings right now. Fantastic. Good job. Okay, so you're working on the emergency fund. That's great. That's Baby Step 3. Then beyond that, you could be in Baby Step 3B or 4. It's a choose your own adventure if you want to stack up cash. I would say at 19, there's no reason you should go get a four bedroom house tomorrow, but I would work towards that and just stacking cash. Keep living on less than you make. Do you have any fun hobbies that aren't side hustles that bring an income? I'm working on it I have hobbies that don't include making money. Yeah, well, in the hospitality world, you're just like, I'm working 14 hour days, then I go to bed and wake up and redo. So I'm just trying to make sure that you live life as a 19 year old, too.

Because it's hard to meet a lady other a customer at the food truck when you're in the food truck for 14 hours a day. Right. Yeah. I'm working on that. I'm doing kayaking. I like riding four-wheelers, stuff like that. Cool.

Good gosh. If there's any single people here, he'll be outside in the parking lot when the show is over. Okay, so my temptation to tell him this is the moment he found somebody, the moment they got married, they're going to want their place, and she's going to want input on that place, like a wife someday. I would love to see you have your own food truck that you own outright. So I'm going to start investing in this, not so I have stability. I want to have roots, and this is mine, but I have found buying a house with my wife is a thing that we do together. It's a tree that we plant. And not to say if you're single, you shouldn't buy a house. That's not what I'm saying at all, but like at 19. But man, if you have that degree in whatever, or in your case, I've got my food truck, I own it Nobody owns Miguel. I'm a provider. I'm here. And that to me, feels where I would direct a 19-year-old.

I guess I'm not worried that you're going to get a house. It's like, dude, you're so incredible that I'm like, Sure, we'll save up and get you a good down payment, get a 15-year mortgage, 25% of your take home pay. I have all the faith you're going to do that. To John's point, I would be focusing on how am I going to build a sustainable career for myself where I own it? Man, that food truck is going to cost a pretty penny because I know you're paying cash. Yes. What's that going to cost to get your own food truck up and running the whole thing? I mean, the physical truck, the marketing, the supplies. What's that going to cost? If I build it myself and use my father's business name and just make a part two, it's like $15,000, $16,000. If I want to buy it from a dealer, $22, $25, $1,000, brand new.

I like investing in a 401 Miguel for the next three years. Yes. Thank you. You know what I'm saying?

Yeah, compound growth, you have all the time on your side. If you didn't You start till 25 investing and working on the house, you'd still retire a multi, multi, multi, multimillionaire. What I don't want you to do is get the house and you're tied up and you're working on maintenance repairs and you don't have the money for the food truck and so you're going to take on a loan because you think it'll pay off and work out. I think it's just going to add stress to your life. To John's point, I always love when young people just invest in themselves, especially people as sharp as you, that I'm like, I'm not worried about the income and the money. You have an amazing work ethic. You're living on a lesson you make. You're staying out of debt. I would focus on career at this point. This is your college, except instead of paying money to a college, you're making money and using it to invest in yourself. That's true, man. Man, I'm so proud of you. Thank you. This guy's incredible. Give it up for him. Thank you. All right. Man, I'm inspired. You guys are incredible.

All right.

I was such a bum at 19. I know that's right.

Yeah, I'm just like, Dude, what were we doing at 19?

Hey, I was staring in the mirror wondering, will I ever get a beard? No.

I was taking out student loans.

I was in an indie band and working at the Apple Store. So, yeah, Miguel is crushing all of us.

He is. Good job, Miguel.

All right. If you listen to the radio show for some time, you know that we've had some great moments on air, some hilarious calls, some crazy calls, some heartbreaking calls. And so we're going to play a little game. We're going to play Two Truths and a lie, but with Ramsey Show calls. We're going to tell you the headline of the call that we actually took on air, but one of them was not a call. Okay, you ready to play? I'm going to do A, B, C. Tell me which one is the lie. A, is it okay to work as a stripper if I'm making good money to put toward my debt snowball? B, I'm allergic to budgeting. I break out in hives. Or is it C? I have 35 credit cards. I'm hearing a lot of B. Is that fair?

I break out in hives.

That's the lie.

That was the lie?

I don't think we've taken that call where someone has a physical reaction. Interesting. But the stripper call was you and John.

That was one of the calls on the way home. I was like, I think we actually helped somebody today.

All right, next one. Which one is the lie? A, my husband's been hiding $15,000 in the closet. B, my husband is having sleepovers at his ex-girlfriend's house. Or is it C, my twin sister stole my identity?

Oh.

Very mixed crowd on this one. I heard a lot of A's. Make some noise if you think it's A is the lie. Okay, make some noise if you think B is the lie about the sleepovers at ex-girlfriends. Make some noise if you think it's C, twin sister stole the identity.

That's pretty equal.

That's a perfect split. Okay, it's C. My twin sister stole my identity. We did not take that call, unfortunately.

That would be a great call.

But Deloney took that my husband's been hiding 15 grand in the closet.

I remember that.

I guess there's worse problems to have. I just found out there's all the savings lying around. I'm like, All right.

There's tons of wives that were like, Really? Do you? Do you? It's amazing. It's like, No.

Better than finding you to get 15 grand in debt. The question is, what was he using the money for or going to use the money for?

Listen, George. That's where the call is. It's all coming down. We got to have 15,000 of cash. Who took the call about the ex-girlfriend?

That was Dave.

I was going to say that sounds like a U.

That was an old one. Old-school Dave call when he was solo. My husband's having sleepovers at his ex-girlfriend's. Yeah, we got to go Google that. By the way, you You can literally just type all these into YouTube and find them later for your own enjoyment. All right, next one. Which one's the lie? A, I make $700,000 a year, but I'm miserable. B, I was scammed by a Nascar impersonator. Or C, my daughter embezzled $80,000 from our business. B, I was scammed by a Nascar impersonator. Happy to tell you that was a real call. I was on that call. I remember that. I remember that. Dalona and I were on that call.

I believe that.

It was a lot of money he gave this guy. No, the lie was A, I make $700,000 a year, but I'm miserable. Oh, interesting. A very believable call. It is. Over the Nascar impersonator. So if you ever get a Facebook message from a Nascar driver, just know you're about to get scammed. All right, next one. My ex-wife and baby mama are now friends. Our kids' sports are costing us 20 grand a year, and we're 150 grand in debt. I believe that. Or C, we haven't paid our bills in six years. Which one is the lie? You guys could not be more wrong. A and C are real calls. B, Our Kids Sports are costing us 20 grand a year. We're 150 grand in debt. It's 50,000. Come on, you all. Yeah, it's way more than that for Kids Sports. All right, our next lineup. Which one's the lie? A, My friend wants me to spend three grand for her bachelorette trip. How do I tell her no? B, should I give my misbehaving spouse an allowance? And C, we're homeless and it's my wife's fault. Once again, you guys couldn't... We really planted these well.

It's A, my friend wants to spend three grand for a bachelor's trip. But I feel like we've taken very similar calls.

I feel like I took that call.

James did us dirty on that one.

James, wait a second.

Yeah, Deloney was on these, should I give my misbehaving spouse an allowance? I just don't like the word allowance from a grown adult. I don't even like it on kids, honestly.

I don't like the phrase my misbehaving adult.

That's how they titled it. It may not be their words, but there we go. That's literally what they said. Oh, gosh. We got a problem. I think of Austin Power's, like the ObehayOh, behave. That's all I think of. Next one. Which one's the lie? A, I inherited $1. 25 million from my boss. B, I spent almost $500,000 on med school and didn't pass the boards. Or C, I have rats living in my walls and my landlord won't do anything about it.

C is the lie. That's right. What was B?

I spent almost 500 grand on med school, didn't pass the boards.

I remember that.

I was on that. Well, Dave took that one. I think it's an old-school Dave call. Oh. I took it. I inherited $1. 25 million from my boss. I I had questions.

Yeah, I got a question.

What was the relationship like with the boss? Makes you wonder.

What do you think we'll inherit from our boss?

Precisely zero dollars.

Precisely.

Yeah. He's like, You are inheriting. It's called a salary. It's a job. As long as you're working. Yeah, you get your job. Congratulations on the inheritance. Rachel's not here to defend herself. Okay. All right, let's get to another live question. What's your first name? Where are you from?

I'm Doug, and I'm from New York, but I moved to Florida 10 years ago. Cool. My question is I'm engaged. Me and my fiancé are going to be married, hopefully by September. I just opened up an LLC, and we want to know how the best method for combining finances. We have shared goals. We're already in premarital counseling. So if you could give me some tips on stuff maybe we wouldn't get from practical or traditional advice. That'd be great. September of the next year? Yes. Like, 2026. Is she here? I played the fifth. I'm just telling you right now, I'll perform the ceremony right now if you wanted to just do it. I love that. He's done it. No, we're huge fans of your show. Every Monday, Wednesday. Are you getting married today? I would love it. Harry, would you? I don't think it's going to happen. All right. I was going to say. You did roll right here. You did roll here in short. No, you all do the plan you had planned.

Do the plan you had planned.

That would have been epic.

You want untraditional advice on how to combine finances?

Yes, please.

Or the best method. You know how untraditional it is to combine finances? We get so much hate for telling people, Hey, what if you had a joint checking account?

My independence.

I'll just tell you what my wife and I did. I had a checking account, she had a checking account. We moved the money into mine and made it a joint account. Kept my account number and she shut hers down. We have a joint high yield savings account. That's it. Now, as far as the business goes, is she part of the business? Yes. Okay, then she should be on the business accounts as well. Even business checking, business savings?

We got to open that up. I'm doing the work. She's just helping me with all the admin stuff, which sounds horrible. I just realized. No, I said, I'll do all the work.

I'm doing all the work. Yes. No, I get it.

That's what I'm not like. Yeah, this lady over here is going to come after you. She's not careful. But I heard... I think it was... I'm sorry. Here's some untraditional advice. Yeah. Don't combine money until you're married. Okay. Here's why. It's not like a church answer. I can make a case for that, but this is a, and again, I'm only saying this, I think you all are going to go be married for 75 years. You're going to live to be 140 years old. It's going to be awesome. But if you're married and you end up not making it, there is a legal process for dividing assets. If you're just dating or you're engaged and you all start mixing stuff up, it is a nightmare to untangle it. Can we do a pre-preenup on that? I wouldOkay. What's a pre-prenup? I don't know. I thought that'd be something.

Just making up new legal tools.

Yeah. I would have an LLC in your name, and you 1099 her, and you pay her as an employee. Well, I heard Dave Ramsey, or it was you, John. One caller didn't know where her husband was spending the money, and immediately I was like, Eric, you got to know. I want you to know every dollar that comes in, which isn't a lot right now, so it's easy.

But You can tell her, though. Yeah.

All right. So I'll tell her, and then once we're married, then we do it. Because we heard a lot of different ones where we live off one person's salary and invest the other. Have you guys Have you heard of that? Is there a way to ease into that?

There's really no benefit of doing that because when it's combined, it's both people's salary. So then the question is, well, what are we trying to accomplish? Are we trying to invest? And then if we are, then, yeah, we're taking 15% of money and doing it like that. Now, mathematically, it could work out to end up being, oh, that happens to be the amount of money that you make. But that's just a coincidence at that point. It's really looking at the hole and saying, what baby stuff are we on? And then what amount of our money does it require to accomplish that baby step?

Okay, thank you very much. I can't tell you the importance of changing from mine and yours to ours. Oh, we're all about that. I got debt free because of you guys. I got my-No, you got debt free because of you, brother. Thank you. That's awesome. One line you said that stuck with me. We were just dating then, and she was going through a lot. And I just said, What can I do to help you feel supported? Game changer. We're engaged now.

She said, Put a ring on it. That made me feel supportive, and he did. Way to go, man. That's awesome.

Thank you very much, guys. Yeah, we're rooting for you. Congrats, brother.

All right, let's get to some more fishbowl questions, James. Where did the fishbowl go? John has it? Okay, let's pull a few more out, John.

If you weren't doing this job, what career would you want instead? I know mine.

What's that?

The singing chef.

Well, I already did the entertainment thing. I'd be a chef. I'd open a restaurant.

You got a name for it yet or you not want to leak it?

Miguel's Food Truck Incorporated.

I have some ideas, but I'm not ready to share them tonight.

Okay, so we got chef.

George, what would I like the way it says it. What would you want instead?

What would I want instead? I think right now there's probably some gaps in the late night show host field, so I'd probably put my hat in the ring. It just feels fun. The writers write and I do the monolog. I interview some celebrities. We have a good time. Sneak in some personal finance advice in there. I could see you doing that. Just give people some hope. And part of that is comedy, and part of it is encouragement and fighting against cynicism and nihilism, which is what we're up against with young people today. So that's what I think I would attempt to do. It'd really be a YouTube channel. Tv doesn't exist anymore.

What would you do?

Man, walking into this room, this is like a rock club, right? Walking into this room reminded me when I was 19, I so badly wanted to be the lead singer of a punk rock band that would fill out rooms like this and just have chaotic evenings and then just go to the next town. I'd to do that. But after the last year or two, if I could make a living travel in the country as a stand-up comic, that'd be a fun. That's just a super fun time. It's a blast.

Fantastic. Okay.

Do you have a frugal habit you'll never give up? George's entire life. Oh, man.

I mean, all of them. But namely, after being in Chicago two days ago, now, Orlando, I will circle for parking for a good 15 minutes. If I'm with my wife, 10. If it's just me, 15. And I'm willing to walk at least a half mile to get free parking over a paid lot. That's my frugal habit. That's good. I stand by that. I will not be bullied by the parking lots.

Oh, man.

Are you thinking? He's like, I've never been frugal.

I can think of one. I hate throwing away food. I've been known to eat some questionable food in the refrigerator just to make sure it doesn't go in the garbage. I am the garbage disposal. Listen, 11 days doesn't faz me. I will get into it.

What did you say?

I said, 11 days doesn't faz me. Like lasagna? Come on. It's the gift that keeps on giving.

George is changing color right next to you.

Dude, I'm like three days. I'm like, Hey.

No, most things are good, like seven to 10 days.

It took Jesus three days to rise from the dead. I think we can throw away the food now.

George throws it away 48 hours before the expiration date.

That's what the microwaves are for. They need the poisoning once to go, Never again.

A frugal habit I will never give I guess, man, I have a thing where cars and trucks and clothes and shoes, the price of those things is frozen in my head at the age of I remember buying a truck that I could not afford for $17,000 when I was 20. I went to get a truck a few months ago, and I looked at the guy and I was like, You need to go in the parking lot and set yourself on fire. It's stuck in my head. I think the habit I would give up, I went ahead and bought the truck because I'm insecure, but the habit I'll never give up is dramatic, exasperated dad anger over the cost of everything. That's my habit.

That's strong. All right, pass it down to Jade, because I don't want this lady to yell at us.

All right, here we go. What do you think your life would look like if you weren't following the baby steps? What a great question. I've thought about this actually many times. Because of COVID, specifically, because when COVID happened, I remember looking at Sam being like, I'm so grateful that we did the baby steps, and I'm so grateful we're debt free and everything is safe like we can, because I told you, entertainment shut down. Without Without it, listen, I don't even know. Number one, I hate to say this, but we may have gone through a time where we literally would have been homeless and had to live with our parents, but neither of us can live with our parents. So we might have chosen that street life.

Mom, dad, homeless, we'll take C.

Yeah. Listen, it wouldn't have been good. Terrible.

Yeah, I'm trying to picture going through it. I probably have bought too much house too soon, 30-year mortgage gone, well, I guess I'll be 60 when that's paid off. Probably would be leasing the newest Tesla. It's an iPhone upgrade. I'd be finessing credit card points and convincing myself that I'm the smartest one. That you're winning. Bragging about the hotel I got for free, not realizing that I spent 60 grand to get that free hotel. I'd probably be just that insufferable bro who-You would have a mustache. Just a mustache.

Really tighter jeans than you have on right now.

Probably still single. I think fiscal responsibility is one of my only attractive traits at this point. I think that helped get my wife. See, I would just be an insufferable guy, bragging about how I'm finessing the system, but secretly, I'd be stressed out.

I would be, no question, I would be instituting institutionalized. I'd be insane. That's not me making a joke. I'd be insane.

I hear you.

I owed so much, and every second, there were these hounds that were coming after me. And it was such an insane, anxious mess. And my life was so out of control. The most frustrating thing for me as a scientist, as a guy who did research for years and as a professor, was to meet this guy named Dave, who came up with a neuroscientifically accurate plan to pay off your debt, but also reclaimed stability in your nervous system. And so following that plan also got me into a gym, and it also got me into a therapist, and it also got me sitting down across from my wife saying, we can choose a better marriage. All those things because it gave me... It It gave me freedom, and that allowed me to take a deep breath and then think about what was next. Yeah, I'd definitely be not allowed out in public.

I love that. Yeah, I found when people do their dead free scream, one of my favorite things is they're like, Oh, and I lost 50 pounds and my marriage got better. There's something where discipline begets discipline. What I love about the debt-free scream is, yes, you got out of debt. That's great. But it makes you realize how much agency you have over your life. Once you have that, you're like, Why Why can't I have a better marriage? Why can't I have a better career? It's one of my favorite things about the baby steps is it's really just a little hack to realize that you have more control than you think. That's all. Well said. All right. What do you guys talk about during the commercial breaks of the show?

Tell them about the game. The game? It's time. They can know.

What game? You guys play a game without me?

No, you and Ken taught me the game.

Like the Ramsey After Dark?

Yes. Okay. What we would have said. Oh, okay.

What we wanted to What you muttered under your breath in the car that you couldn't say to your kids. That's what we do during the breaks is the real talk. They were like, just the frustration, the anger, the hilarious thing that we could have said, but may have been inappropriate. Well, I thought It's going to be fun to end the night with something that is one of our favorite moments on the show, and that is the debt-free scream. Can we end with that? All right. We have someone that we've hand selected who we think would be a wonderful way to end the night. Would you help us welcome Jessica to the debt-free stage? Give it up for Jessica. All right, Jessica, this is a different debt-free scream.

Yes, it is.

You look here like you're having an out-of-body That's a good experience.

Yeah. How much debt did you pay off?

I paid off $127,611.

Let's go. Okay, what debt was that?

Oh, Most of it was graduate school loans. I also had a car loan, medical debt, and credit cards.

Wow. A little potpourri.

Oh, and I cash flowed an emergency appendectomy.

Oh, wow.

Yeah.

Okay. Nothing stopping you now?

Not anymore.

What was the grad degree for?

I got my master's in International Affairs.

Wonderful. What do you do for work?

Right now, I work for Grantson Research for a local law enforcement agency in Tampa.

Very cool. Thank you. Okay, how long did it take to pay off? Was that 127 grand, you said?

127,000. Yeah, it took me just shy of five years.

Wow. Okay, and what was your range of income during that time?

Started at 43 and ended at 72 at that time.

You're amazing.

That is impressive.

You're amazing.

Wow.

How did you do it? You lived on nothing.

Were you selling stuff? Were there side hustles?

How much did you sell that appendix for?

Listen, if I could have, no. I did do a couple of side hustles. There was a limited option for overtime at my work, so I did happen to that. I did do a side gig of grant writing. I also did a lot of dog sitting over the course of that time. I did get a promotion, and that's why it jumped up. That was about two years ago, so halfway through. In the middle of the journey. Yes. But honestly, living way below my means. Honestly, all that budget is key. If you're not on it, get on it. But living below my means was incredible. Having really understanding family and friends that when I said I couldn't go out to eat, but can we do a potluck? That thing.

What got you on the Ramsey plan to begin with?

So around COVID, I hadn't heard of you all quite yet, but we started getting these checks from the government for different things, and people were buying Pelatons and water coolers, and I didn't want any of that. I had a lot of anxiety for my school loans, and I just started to pinterest getting out of debt because that's That's fantastic.

Okay, so you get on a plan and you're making 43 grand, and you're like, All right, let's start cleaning up a six-figure mess here.

Yeah, I started with the checks with my car, and then I snowballed my credit card, my medical debt, and then I had three different student loans. Two of them were federal, and so I tried to take as much advantage of that pause in the interest rate as I could. And then the last one was my federal, excuse me, my private loan, which was about 60,000, and that did not have a pause on it. So I just had to flow that through.

You just plowed through that thing. So five years is a long journey. Jade and her husband, Sam, it was seven years because it was a whole bunch of debt, almost half a million. Speak to the person who has that longer journey ahead of them who's like, Two years, sure, but five? I can't stick it out that long.

Yeah, it was just shy. It was three months shy of five years. So I completely understand that mentality. It was hard, but I think it maybe was you, Jade, on the call, You're going to be somewhere in five years. Where do you want to be? I really wanted to be debt-free. I did not want to live the life that I was living. I was like, What needs to be true for me to get there? I love that.

Listen, you've got the mindset. I'm curious because we're kindred spirits on this. What was the craziest thing that you did that you were like, I don't care. I'll do it if I have to get out of debt? Was it something you cut from your budget? Was it a job you did?

Yes. Okay, so it does have to do appendectomy. So I was dog sitting at the time, and I was at work at my day job, and I went to the gym, and I was like, Something doesn't feel right. I think I ate too many chips. Not that. It turned out that I needed to go to the hospital, but I was dog sitting, and I was like, If this is what I think it is, I'm not coming home, and I really don't want to lose this money, this tip. So I went back, walked the dog, figured out everything with the dog, and then drove myself to the hospital.

You left the hospital to walk the dog?

Well, I didn't go to the hospital first. I went to- You waited.

Knowing that this was exploding inside of you. She was like, We got to walk the dog.

I need to walk the dog so the dog doesn't explode inside my house.

I wasn't going to get the full amount because I wasn't going to stay for the agreed-upon time. But I really wanted that tip. I got you, girl.

I'd call that Gazelle Intensity. Yeah.

Is there any chance you're around 19 or 20 years old?

Me? No.

Sorry, Miguel. I tried, brother. Dang it. This was feeling like perfect.

Set you up, brother. You had some cheerleaders. You said friends, family.

Yeah. My family was really supportive, specifically my parents and my siblings and their families. Then I got connected to a really good group at my church. Some of my work family supported me as well.

I love it. So what do you tell people the key to getting out of debt is? Out of all that stuff you did?

Man, I mean, aside from the budget, you have to know your why. Unless you have a bigger why of getting out. And for me, it was just I knew what I wanted my 30s to look like, and it didn't want to be beholden to the man. It wanted to be free for the generosity that we've talked about and just the bigger planes of doing whatever I want. I kept that in mind when the times were hard.

Wow. You're an inspiration. I love it. Amazing. I love it. Let's get to the moment we've all been waiting for. You ready? This is a special dead free scream because usually the person doing the scream has seven people in the lobby. You get 300 new best friends to cheer you on? All right. It's Jessica from Florida. $127,000 paid off in five years. Three months less than five years, to be exact. Making 43 to 72. Count it down. Let's hear a debt-free scream.

Three, two, one. God provides, I'm debt-free.

We got the disco lights out here for you. That's something different. Okay, thank you so much, Jessica. We've got a parting gift for you. We're going to gift you a year of Every Dollar Premium, the all new one that coaches you along this Baby Steps journey. That was a key to your debt-free journey. I feel bad doing that in front of all these people. I feel like we should give it to more Don't you think we should give it to a few more people? Do it. Okay. Look under your seat. We've got a year of Every Dollar premium for everybody in here tonight. No, that's for real. Look under your seat. It's literally there. This is our Oprah moment. Congratulations. You get it. It's tape under your chairs, guys. You're all getting one year of our all new Every Dollar. It's more than just a budgeting app. Now, we just released the newest version that will coach you guys along the journey. It's got a digital coach experience, recommendations. You got group coaching. That's our gift to you to say thank you for being a part of our Live audience. Yeah.

Give it to someone if you already have it.

Guys, this has been so fun. Did you guys have a good time being a part of Ramsey Show Live? I'm inspired by you all tonight. The way you're living out the Ramsey plan, the dreams you have, the visions you have for your life, the people you want to become, the people you've transformed into already. It gives me hope for America that we're going to be okay because of people like you who decided, I have agency over my life. That's what this represents tonight. So thank you guys so much for being here.

I'm just going to say this as directly as I can. I'm not trying to be silly, but right now, leaving your house and joining a room full of strangers on a shared mission is an act of courage. I want to thank everybody who came out and who said, I'm going to go into a room and meet a bunch of new people and hang out with the group of people that we listened to, and we're going to see them and experience them. Thank you all for being brave. Thank you for being courageous. This right here, leaving your homes and being around like minded people that share the same mission as you. That's how this whole thing changes. And so thank you all for leaving your homes and coming to be a part of this tonight. It's awesome.

You guys are incredible. That's good. Thank you, Orlando. We love you guys. Have a great night.