Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships. Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, host of the Ken Coleman show, number one best selling author. He's my co host today. Open phones here at triple 888-25-5225 that's triple 888-25-5225 Gabriel is starting this hour in Atlanta, Georgia. Hi, Gabriel. How are you?

I'm great, sir. How are you guys?

Better than we deserve. How can we help?

Well, I just find out that my wife has $70,000 in debt from her previous marriage, and I don't know what to do, sir. She wants to file a bankrupt, and I'm freaking out.

Okay. How long have you been married?

Three months.

Whoa.

Yeah.

So you guys didn't talk about money before you got married?

Yes.

You're saying she hid this from you?

She did, sir.

Okay. Um, what is the nature. What kind of debt is it?

Okay, so I have all the information here. She was in a busy relationship, and her ex husband took everything for her, and they together had a car repo. That equals $50,000. She had a car loan that she got screwed. That equals $12,000.

What?

A car loan.

A car loan is 50 grand. I got that. What was the second thing?

It's a car loan that she needed to get a new car for her.

Oh, another car load.

Her ex? Yeah, another car on Petri, sir. And she got $60,000 in collection and 2000 credit cards.

All right, I'm sorry. I thought you said it was 70,000.

70,000? That's right.

Okay. 50,000 on a car repo?

Yes, sir.

Okay, and what's the other 20,000?

12,000 in a car loan.

Okay. Do you have the car?

Yeah, she does have the car right now.

Okay. She's driving a car around, and you're engaged to her, and you didn't know it had a car loan on it?

I do know that she had this 12,000 car loan.

Oh, okay. So you didn't know part of this. Okay.

Yeah.

And then the other 8000 is what?

6000 collections.

What?

Thousand and credit card collections.

On what?

Medical bills.

Okay. Medical. Good. All right. And. And then what was the other fourth one?

What medical bills? And a dog.

A dog. Okay.

Yes.

That's the 6000. Okay. Is there. Is there anything. I've got three things. Car loan, hungry, high character. She'll win in the workplace. Cause she's good with people. It's that personal testimony that makes you stand out to where you get the interview. And not only get the interview, but you have a very positive impression, which could be a competitive advantage. So you've got to change your strategy. I know you think you've been putting in the right amount of effort, but I would tell you that all the effort has been wrong because you're playing the lottery.Gina, let me illustrate that for you. At Ramsey, we've got about 1100 team members. Okay? In this building with us, we hire about 25, 30, 40 people a month, something like that. Okay? And so that adds up to be like 500 a year, 400 a year, 300 a year. Some of them are growth positions. Some of them are replacing people that have left. Okay? So we lose about 100 a year. We have about a 10% turnover ratio, by the way, people in our industry right now have about a 30% turnover ratio. So our turnover ratio is very low. But anyway, the. So just a few hundred folks actually get a job here. You got that 15,000 applications come in. That's what you're doing. You're throwing your name in that stack. There's no chance you get hired here in that. I mean, almost none. Almost none. It would have to be a very unique, weird thing that happened. What does happen from time to time is somebody that works here knows somebody and they say, listen, I can vouch for their character, and we don't hire people because of that, but we will talk to them because your kids? Oh, it's a big deal.Yeah.That's why you need a will.And I would add, Katie, once the kids are old enough to understand the concept of all this, I think it's really wise to sit down and explain it to them. What a wild lesson for them to really get the responsibility that you've taken on their behalf. And I believe that will be transferred on. I think it's a wonderful life lesson, once they grasp it, to explain what you've done for them, I believe they'll pass it on and really appreciate it.And so we obviously sat down with the people that were identified to take care of the children, the guardians, and said, okay, there's going to be this number of millions of dollars over here, and here's the terms on it. It's going to send you money to take care of them, so they're not a financial burden for you to take on. Matter of fact, they're going to be a blessing, but it's not going to be 50,000 a month, okay? It's going to be enough to take care of them and not cost you money, a result of having the kids. And if they have a problem, they'll be able to cover the medical, and if you don't have to worry about a car. So it's gonna cost you guys nothing. Yep. You know, you probably actually might pocket a little bit out of this. It might, might be, but it's not. You're not gonna make you rich to raise these kids. But it's not gonna cost you anything to raise these kids. And so then they know that's going on, and then the trustee knows what your intentions are, and you've talked that through the trustee so you don't die.And then everybody has to figure out, this is what you were trying to do. You cover all of it while you're alive.Yeah, we did the same. And it's. It is. There's a great peace.Sobering, too.Well, it is. It's heavy. No question.Yeah. Wow. Leslie's with us in Yuma, Arizona. Hi, Leslie. How are you?Hello, Dave. Thank you for taking my call.Sure. What's up?Question about owner financing and balloon payment. My elder parents are asking me for advice. They've been trying to sell a house that they own in another state for months, and finally, they received an offer for owner financing. The house was originally listed for 179,000, and the offer is a purchase price of 200,000 with 15,000 down financing, five year balloon payment of $513 a month.Run away quickly.Okay.This is somebody who went to some weekend get rich quick seminar. They're overpaying for the house. They're not putting enough down to where they lose anything. And when they hand the keys back to your elderly parents, they will have stripped the house out.Okay.No. Run.And you know what? The. The realtor, she said, oh, this looks like a good idea.And I said, yeah, looks like a good idea to fire your realtor. I think I'm getting a different realtor. It's not a good idea. No, no, no, no, no. Because they'd be better off to rent it, because then they still own it, and then I have to foreclose to take it back later when this goober runs off to wherever. No, no, no, no. I'm gonna pay you 200,000 for 179,000. That's 30,000 more than it's worth, or 20,000 more, 21,000 more than it's worth. But I'm gonna put down 15,000, which means we're still not even into the value. Okay. If you're that desperate to buy a house, there's something wrong with you. Hello? Yeah. Run. Run. I have a friend that says, when in doubt, don't. This is the Ramsey show.Hey, guys.George camel here. No matter what platform you use for news or entertainment, you and I both know it is way too hard to keep your feed from getting junked up with bad content. I know I'm not the only one who's gone searching for the Ramsay show, only to find myself two paws and twelve videos deep in a kittenhole on YouTube. Which is great, but not what I'm looking for right now. And heck, if you're tuning into this digitally, there's probably some weird, scammy suggested content trying to play in the sidebar right now.Cryptocurrency.See what I mean? And that's why I love the Ramsey Network app. It is the best place for uninterrupted, easy access to the content that keeps you focused on your goals. It's all Ramsey, all the time. Which means you don't have to worry about getting off track with over 7000 hours of Ramsey content. Yep, you heard that right. 7000. This is your one stop single destination for advice you can trust and nothing you can't. So do yourself a favor. Get rid of the distractions and dial things in. All you gotta do is search Ramsey network app in the app store or click the link in the show notes to download the Ramsey Network app.Today.Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host, Ken Coleman. Ramsey personality number one, best selling author, host of the Ken Coleman show, is my co host today. The phone number is 888-825-5225 Ava's in Colorado Springs. Hi, Ava. How are you?I'm okay, Dave. How are you today?Better than I deserve. What's up?Well, thanks for taking my call. I'm a little nervous, and it's. It's kind of a lot. So I'm going to try to summarize it because I know time is of the essence on phone calls like these. My husband of over 30 years has left me. It's the third time in five years he's left. And he's told me that if I do not give him. Help him get a heLoc on the house for over $100,000, he'll file divorce for divorce. And I'm just really scared, and I'm not exactly sure what to do. I don't want to do that, and I won't do that. I won't use our house in that way. I have a little bit of savings, but I don't have enough to maintain the bills, pay lawyer.Are you. Are you living in the house and.I am. He left. I was. Yeah, my. He left and I'm sorry. I'm trying to mean figure out how to maintain everything. He just started a new job, and.So why does he want to HelOC?He says it's because he wants to buy some land and a race cardinal. A sports car.I'm so sorry.Yeah.And I'm just not really sure how to proceed because I can't. I don't have enough money right now to hire an attorney and pay the bills because he is no longer getting a paycheck because he just started a new job. He used to get, you know, auto pay and then this all just happened.When does this pay start at the new place?Now he hasn't given me any details. I've asked specific questions via email and he has not given me specifics.Okay. And you don't work outside the home?I do, actually. I make quite a bit less than he does and anywhere between. I mean, last year, so I'm a realtor. Last year my business took a loss. This year I'm probably tracking, you know, to make around 40 right now and, you know, hoping and working towards more.Do you have family in the area?I do.Good family or toxic?I have really, really good family. I just don't want to, you know, I just want to. I don't want to put this on other people. Doesn't feel.Do you have children that are grown?Grown. Where are they here. And then one is out of state as well.Are you in a good church?I used to be. I am not currently, but I am in the word. I read my bible every night. I read my devotional every day.I wasn't trying to judge you. I was just trying to figure out who's around you that can love you. Well, that's all I'm trying to figure out.Yeah. Yeah. I understand.You've got kids, you got family, and you could plug back into a church or if not that church, to have people around you to walk with you through this because you feel very alone. I can hear it.Yeah.It's unsure how to. How to proceed. If I hire an attorney, I won't have enough money to pay the mortgage. If I don't hire an attorney, I feel like I'm going to end up.You know, you need to call today and get an appointment with an attorney because part of his paycheck, when he gets it is going to go to you immediately during a legal separation in Colorado. Okay. So this idea that you're somehow that he gets to keep all of his money and go play wherever he wants to play when he's been married for 30 years is not true. It doesn't work that way in any state. So I'm not an attorney. But you've got a lot more things you can do to get the short term cash issues which are scaring you. So when he starts getting a check, some of it's going to be yours immediately if you get a good attorney.I want to follow up. Ava, is this a pattern of a threat associated with the other times that he's done this? He's done this before. Is it always kind of after he threatens you or in conjunction with some type of a threat? A manipulation?I think a manipulation is a good way to put it. I think he.Yeah, I think he's. I think it's. This is. I think this is emotional extortion, and I think he's full of crap. And I'm with Dave. I'm gonna. I'm gonna. I'm not in any way, I agree with all of Dave's advice. I'm gonna say something kind of like, I'm gonna act like your brother, like you're my sister. And this guy, this guy, I think is a punk. I think he's a coward. No real man does this. This is straight up manipulation, emotional extortion. I'd call his years of living expenses in savings? I feel a bit silly asking this question because I feel like the answer is go, go, go. But I'm also in my peak earning years and don't want to be foolish about the amazing resources I've been given at my current job. Well, a rule of thumb for me on how much money I like to give people advice to have. If you're going to jump into your side business, I'd want to have twelve months of living expenses in the bank. And that's because I just don't want people to have the pressure to survive when going into working for themselves.It's hard enough to be a solopreneur or to run a business without the pressure of trying to eat. In this case, in your situation, because of your financial situation, I'd also say I'd want the side hustle to be making a rule of thumb for me would be a minimum of the side hustle, earning 75% of your current income. That would be minimum for me, not ideal minimum. So, minimum 75% of income and then twelve months of your living expenses in the bank. So that essentially you've got that pipeline of business built up in that you're making a good chunk of your current salary. And we have a very strong account of retained earnings is what we call that here at Ramsey Solutions. In that business account. That would be, for me, a bare minimum. Other than that, I think it's. I think it's too risky. And I. Again, I just don't want the pressure of this side business feeding me. I want to know that it's mature and it's proven.Yeah, when I get desperate shortly after that, I usually get stupid. Yeah, you change your words. People say stupid things about starting their own business, like take the leap, jump into it. So what Ken is describing is you pull the boat up next to the dock and you step into it, and then you actually won't need any of your money you have set aside because you're going to be earning almost as much. And soon after that will be earning more than you used to earn because you're the got the business growing on a trajectory, and it's almost there already. But you can take the step, not the leap or the jump, by pulling the boat close to the dock. But too often what we see is the boat is, it's a hundred yards out, and you come running down the dock and leap like you can make it or something, and all you get's wet. Okay? You're just jumping in. That's all you're doing. It's dumb. And so that's not what you're describing, Gary. You're describing wisdom and thinking through this and all that. But in other words, I wouldn't start, I wouldn't say if you had five years saved up and zero income production on the side hustle and you quit a perfectly great day, career, hoping.See, that's a leap of faith. That's unwise, and that's kind. It's actually foolish. That's what it is. So you don't do that. So there's. Because you could burn through any amount of money if you have no replacement income. So the more replacement income you have, the less pad you need. Let's pretend, let's be crazy for a second. Let's pretend that his side hustle took off all of a sudden, before he realized it, and he was making 150% of what he makes now. How much savings would he need? None.That's exactly right.You're getting a raise, right? You wouldn't have to have a year set back. You would not have anything set back. But if you're going to go with that 75% guideline that Ken's talking about, then I completely agree with the one year. And, you know, six months of that, your emergency fund, six months is set to the other, set to the side just to cover cash shortages, where you're going to burn if you have any cash shortages. And, of course, the other thing you've done wisely is you're out of debt, and you guys are, you know, your wife has a good career, which also will help you make this step.What we're preaching here is moderation, patience, hold, you know, just don't, if you're.Running a business already, guys like, we've got profit centers all through Ramsey. We have different things we do here. Publishing live events, broadcast, all these different things here. They're all different profit centers. We don't leap here.That's right.You know, I'm already running a business, and I don't we don't. Let's. Let's just go see if we can lose $10 million. Heck no, man. No. I mean, we. What we do is we do. We trust. We want to prove the concept. I call it proof texting. That's right. Right. I want to test market. I want to prove the concept before I bet the farm on it. And you're. That's all you're doing with your business. You're proving the conceptYes, I own the flatbed.What's it worth?Probably about $3,000.Okay, then we can keep. Is it. Is it a five, is it a gooseneck or a regular trailer?No, no, it's just a bumper pull up, an 18 foot.Okay, good. That. That's capable. And almost any pickup a pull that. Agreed?Agreed.Yeah. So you don't have to. It doesn't require a $60,000 truck to pull that thing. So it did. It maybe did to pull the travel trailer, but that's a different thing. That's all gone now. So. Okay. The repo can be settled when and if they call you for pennies on the dollar. But I need you to have about five or ten grand ready for when they call you. So you can offer them a settlement in full and they'll take it if they ever call you even. They might not. And I need you to clean up your stinking taxes. You don't want the IR's in your life. And you cut up your credit cards and sell your truck and move down and get your income up. And that's your solution. And that's how you become a baby steps millionaire.Okay, the credit cards, I'm already in default on quite a few of them.Yeah. Okay. Cut them up.So. Okay. All right. No, no problem there.They're no blessing.Already done.They're no blessing. Plastic surgery is due in your life, my mandarin, and chop them up and let's make a, you know, start doing a written budget. But the thing is this, you're by yourself. You're a solo pneumur. You are a great carpenter. You suck at marketing, and so this feels out of control to you. Where Ken and I are sitting on the outside, we see your income potential to be much larger than you feel like it is in your emotions, because you're by yourself and there's nobody around you saying, dude, you got this. And we're telling you, dude, you got this. So hypothetically, you could do all of the work you're doing right now as a side job and work a day job as a carpenter in about 20 minutes. And you get your income up over six figures doing that. And get this mess cleaned up, get the truck moved down, and then build you out. Learn. Start learning some marketing stuff, start learning how to run a business, not just be a carpenter. And you can build your side business back up to a full time gig again. And that's probably what I would do in your shoes, because I just think you're.I'm with Ken. I think you're in an ideal situation in terms of your career. I mean, you didn't call me up with a sociology degree.If I was in Phoenix right now, Dave, I would make him drive me to construction. Construction sites all over the city where they're building homes. And I'd say, you got a clean t shirt. All right. Your jeans look sharp. All right. Get the tool belt on and walk up and say, where's the foreman? And say, I'm a carpenter. I'm ready to go. You might be surprised. Within about 2 hours, you probably be working, if not with a gig. That's how low the shortage is right now on carpenters. That's a fact. That's not my opinion.Yep. And by the way, it's summer in Phoenix.Yeah, that's true, too.Hey, guys, Rachel Cruz here. You know, some people think budgeting means they can't have any fun with money. And I know this because that was me. But the truth is, budgeting doesn't limit your freedom. It actually gives you freedom. A budget is simply telling your money where to go. And the best way to do this is with everydollar, my favorite budgeting app. It'll help you create a plan for your money that fits your lifestyle. So whether it's a spontaneous date night or an epic Disney cruise, budget for some fun, download every dollar for free today.Thank you for joining us, America. Buying a house in this market is crazy. Selling a house in this market is crazy. It's wild out there, y'all. You need to have a pro in your corner if you're going to be moving property right now. And I do recommend you buy a house right now. Now it's a great time. I do recommend you sell a house right now. It's a great time. If you want a pro in your corner that we recommend. We have Ramsey trusted endorsed local providers that are real estate agents that we have vetted that are high performance. They have not just got their license last week and never sold a house before. They do 30 to 300 transactions a year. They're on top of their game. They're the best of the best. They're Ramsey trusted. You can find out who's Ramsey trusted in your area for free at ramsey solutions.com. agent James is in Raleigh, North Carolina. Hi, James. How are you?Good, mister Ramsey, how are you doing?Better than we deserve. What's up?So I want to say thank you so much for taking my call, and I appreciate what you and Mister Coleman, Mister Kim, what everybody does, it really is a blessing. So I appreciate that. Thank you.Thank you.My question is, I guess, kind of related to the previous caller that you spoke with, but I'm kind of at a point where we've been working on baby step number two. We've got all of our credit card debt paid off. We're done with it. We were making headway. I lost my job back in April, so I'm having to luckily, Lord bless me, with another job, but it took about a month and a half, and so it's kind of set us back. But my question is, long story short, what could I do to help my family advance my career? Because I feel stagnant. And the job that I just got was a lateral move. I wanted to advance my career and move up, but it just seems like that most companies right now just want me in a lateral position.All right, so let's start with where you want to eventually go. So we're going to advance to what? What's the operations manager of? What?Project manager of resident of a residential construction company.Okay. An operations manager does what in that role?Well, I guess more or less bring in business, you know, hire online, you know, hiring, keeping business, keeping customers happy.Sure.I guess, you know, making sure the day to day is, you know, rolling smoothly.All right. And then, forgive me for my ignorance, operation managers at one, two, three steps above where you are now. What does that look like?Oh, it's one step.One step. Okay. The reason I asked you to describe the role of operations manager, where you want to be, is because that list, how you describe that to me with each of those duties that you listed out there is a skill set. There's skill, so I'm going to have to learn the skill, and there's also experience that you're going to need to get right to step into that or at least get to the point where they say, okay, James, you are ready, you are qualified. And so understanding what you need to add to your tool belt is really vital. That's why I went through that list. And so now is the time to begin to say, how can I go about getting that skill where I am? So in other words, I've got to look at the next and figure out what it's going to take to get there, but then don't miss this vital thing. And that is you got to win in the now, you know, we all want to move up a thing?Listen, some adults still find the magic.Sure. We also talk about toxic money, traits and girl math. And if you don't know what those are, you have to listen to the podcast.Yeah, there's a lot there.You guys.It's pretty fun.We keep you relevant is what I'm trying to say.We help you out.So pull up a chair to the happy hour you wish your friends were having. We promise you won't regret it. And if you don't have friends, we'll be your friends.We will. We're great friends. So make sure to check it out on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or the Ramsey network app.

hungry, high character. She'll win in the workplace. Cause she's good with people. It's that personal testimony that makes you stand out to where you get the interview. And not only get the interview, but you have a very positive impression, which could be a competitive advantage. So you've got to change your strategy. I know you think you've been putting in the right amount of effort, but I would tell you that all the effort has been wrong because you're playing the lottery.

Gina, let me illustrate that for you. At Ramsey, we've got about 1100 team members. Okay? In this building with us, we hire about 25, 30, 40 people a month, something like that. Okay? And so that adds up to be like 500 a year, 400 a year, 300 a year. Some of them are growth positions. Some of them are replacing people that have left. Okay? So we lose about 100 a year. We have about a 10% turnover ratio, by the way, people in our industry right now have about a 30% turnover ratio. So our turnover ratio is very low. But anyway, the. So just a few hundred folks actually get a job here. You got that 15,000 applications come in. That's what you're doing. You're throwing your name in that stack. There's no chance you get hired here in that. I mean, almost none. Almost none. It would have to be a very unique, weird thing that happened. What does happen from time to time is somebody that works here knows somebody and they say, listen, I can vouch for their character, and we don't hire people because of that, but we will talk to them because your kids? Oh, it's a big deal.Yeah.That's why you need a will.And I would add, Katie, once the kids are old enough to understand the concept of all this, I think it's really wise to sit down and explain it to them. What a wild lesson for them to really get the responsibility that you've taken on their behalf. And I believe that will be transferred on. I think it's a wonderful life lesson, once they grasp it, to explain what you've done for them, I believe they'll pass it on and really appreciate it.And so we obviously sat down with the people that were identified to take care of the children, the guardians, and said, okay, there's going to be this number of millions of dollars over here, and here's the terms on it. It's going to send you money to take care of them, so they're not a financial burden for you to take on. Matter of fact, they're going to be a blessing, but it's not going to be 50,000 a month, okay? It's going to be enough to take care of them and not cost you money, a result of having the kids. And if they have a problem, they'll be able to cover the medical, and if you don't have to worry about a car. So it's gonna cost you guys nothing. Yep. You know, you probably actually might pocket a little bit out of this. It might, might be, but it's not. You're not gonna make you rich to raise these kids. But it's not gonna cost you anything to raise these kids. And so then they know that's going on, and then the trustee knows what your intentions are, and you've talked that through the trustee so you don't die.And then everybody has to figure out, this is what you were trying to do. You cover all of it while you're alive.Yeah, we did the same. And it's. It is. There's a great peace.Sobering, too.Well, it is. It's heavy. No question.Yeah. Wow. Leslie's with us in Yuma, Arizona. Hi, Leslie. How are you?Hello, Dave. Thank you for taking my call.Sure. What's up?Question about owner financing and balloon payment. My elder parents are asking me for advice. They've been trying to sell a house that they own in another state for months, and finally, they received an offer for owner financing. The house was originally listed for 179,000, and the offer is a purchase price of 200,000 with 15,000 down financing, five year balloon payment of $513 a month.Run away quickly.Okay.This is somebody who went to some weekend get rich quick seminar. They're overpaying for the house. They're not putting enough down to where they lose anything. And when they hand the keys back to your elderly parents, they will have stripped the house out.Okay.No. Run.And you know what? The. The realtor, she said, oh, this looks like a good idea.And I said, yeah, looks like a good idea to fire your realtor. I think I'm getting a different realtor. It's not a good idea. No, no, no, no, no. Because they'd be better off to rent it, because then they still own it, and then I have to foreclose to take it back later when this goober runs off to wherever. No, no, no, no. I'm gonna pay you 200,000 for 179,000. That's 30,000 more than it's worth, or 20,000 more, 21,000 more than it's worth. But I'm gonna put down 15,000, which means we're still not even into the value. Okay. If you're that desperate to buy a house, there's something wrong with you. Hello? Yeah. Run. Run. I have a friend that says, when in doubt, don't. This is the Ramsey show.Hey, guys.George camel here. No matter what platform you use for news or entertainment, you and I both know it is way too hard to keep your feed from getting junked up with bad content. I know I'm not the only one who's gone searching for the Ramsay show, only to find myself two paws and twelve videos deep in a kittenhole on YouTube. Which is great, but not what I'm looking for right now. And heck, if you're tuning into this digitally, there's probably some weird, scammy suggested content trying to play in the sidebar right now.Cryptocurrency.See what I mean? And that's why I love the Ramsey Network app. It is the best place for uninterrupted, easy access to the content that keeps you focused on your goals. It's all Ramsey, all the time. Which means you don't have to worry about getting off track with over 7000 hours of Ramsey content. Yep, you heard that right. 7000. This is your one stop single destination for advice you can trust and nothing you can't. So do yourself a favor. Get rid of the distractions and dial things in. All you gotta do is search Ramsey network app in the app store or click the link in the show notes to download the Ramsey Network app.Today.Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host, Ken Coleman. Ramsey personality number one, best selling author, host of the Ken Coleman show, is my co host today. The phone number is 888-825-5225 Ava's in Colorado Springs. Hi, Ava. How are you?I'm okay, Dave. How are you today?Better than I deserve. What's up?Well, thanks for taking my call. I'm a little nervous, and it's. It's kind of a lot. So I'm going to try to summarize it because I know time is of the essence on phone calls like these. My husband of over 30 years has left me. It's the third time in five years he's left. And he's told me that if I do not give him. Help him get a heLoc on the house for over $100,000, he'll file divorce for divorce. And I'm just really scared, and I'm not exactly sure what to do. I don't want to do that, and I won't do that. I won't use our house in that way. I have a little bit of savings, but I don't have enough to maintain the bills, pay lawyer.Are you. Are you living in the house and.I am. He left. I was. Yeah, my. He left and I'm sorry. I'm trying to mean figure out how to maintain everything. He just started a new job, and.So why does he want to HelOC?He says it's because he wants to buy some land and a race cardinal. A sports car.I'm so sorry.Yeah.And I'm just not really sure how to proceed because I can't. I don't have enough money right now to hire an attorney and pay the bills because he is no longer getting a paycheck because he just started a new job. He used to get, you know, auto pay and then this all just happened.When does this pay start at the new place?Now he hasn't given me any details. I've asked specific questions via email and he has not given me specifics.Okay. And you don't work outside the home?I do, actually. I make quite a bit less than he does and anywhere between. I mean, last year, so I'm a realtor. Last year my business took a loss. This year I'm probably tracking, you know, to make around 40 right now and, you know, hoping and working towards more.Do you have family in the area?I do.Good family or toxic?I have really, really good family. I just don't want to, you know, I just want to. I don't want to put this on other people. Doesn't feel.Do you have children that are grown?Grown. Where are they here. And then one is out of state as well.Are you in a good church?I used to be. I am not currently, but I am in the word. I read my bible every night. I read my devotional every day.I wasn't trying to judge you. I was just trying to figure out who's around you that can love you. Well, that's all I'm trying to figure out.Yeah. Yeah. I understand.You've got kids, you got family, and you could plug back into a church or if not that church, to have people around you to walk with you through this because you feel very alone. I can hear it.Yeah.It's unsure how to. How to proceed. If I hire an attorney, I won't have enough money to pay the mortgage. If I don't hire an attorney, I feel like I'm going to end up.You know, you need to call today and get an appointment with an attorney because part of his paycheck, when he gets it is going to go to you immediately during a legal separation in Colorado. Okay. So this idea that you're somehow that he gets to keep all of his money and go play wherever he wants to play when he's been married for 30 years is not true. It doesn't work that way in any state. So I'm not an attorney. But you've got a lot more things you can do to get the short term cash issues which are scaring you. So when he starts getting a check, some of it's going to be yours immediately if you get a good attorney.I want to follow up. Ava, is this a pattern of a threat associated with the other times that he's done this? He's done this before. Is it always kind of after he threatens you or in conjunction with some type of a threat? A manipulation?I think a manipulation is a good way to put it. I think he.Yeah, I think he's. I think it's. This is. I think this is emotional extortion, and I think he's full of crap. And I'm with Dave. I'm gonna. I'm gonna. I'm not in any way, I agree with all of Dave's advice. I'm gonna say something kind of like, I'm gonna act like your brother, like you're my sister. And this guy, this guy, I think is a punk. I think he's a coward. No real man does this. This is straight up manipulation, emotional extortion. I'd call his years of living expenses in savings? I feel a bit silly asking this question because I feel like the answer is go, go, go. But I'm also in my peak earning years and don't want to be foolish about the amazing resources I've been given at my current job. Well, a rule of thumb for me on how much money I like to give people advice to have. If you're going to jump into your side business, I'd want to have twelve months of living expenses in the bank. And that's because I just don't want people to have the pressure to survive when going into working for themselves.It's hard enough to be a solopreneur or to run a business without the pressure of trying to eat. In this case, in your situation, because of your financial situation, I'd also say I'd want the side hustle to be making a rule of thumb for me would be a minimum of the side hustle, earning 75% of your current income. That would be minimum for me, not ideal minimum. So, minimum 75% of income and then twelve months of your living expenses in the bank. So that essentially you've got that pipeline of business built up in that you're making a good chunk of your current salary. And we have a very strong account of retained earnings is what we call that here at Ramsey Solutions. In that business account. That would be, for me, a bare minimum. Other than that, I think it's. I think it's too risky. And I. Again, I just don't want the pressure of this side business feeding me. I want to know that it's mature and it's proven.Yeah, when I get desperate shortly after that, I usually get stupid. Yeah, you change your words. People say stupid things about starting their own business, like take the leap, jump into it. So what Ken is describing is you pull the boat up next to the dock and you step into it, and then you actually won't need any of your money you have set aside because you're going to be earning almost as much. And soon after that will be earning more than you used to earn because you're the got the business growing on a trajectory, and it's almost there already. But you can take the step, not the leap or the jump, by pulling the boat close to the dock. But too often what we see is the boat is, it's a hundred yards out, and you come running down the dock and leap like you can make it or something, and all you get's wet. Okay? You're just jumping in. That's all you're doing. It's dumb. And so that's not what you're describing, Gary. You're describing wisdom and thinking through this and all that. But in other words, I wouldn't start, I wouldn't say if you had five years saved up and zero income production on the side hustle and you quit a perfectly great day, career, hoping.See, that's a leap of faith. That's unwise, and that's kind. It's actually foolish. That's what it is. So you don't do that. So there's. Because you could burn through any amount of money if you have no replacement income. So the more replacement income you have, the less pad you need. Let's pretend, let's be crazy for a second. Let's pretend that his side hustle took off all of a sudden, before he realized it, and he was making 150% of what he makes now. How much savings would he need? None.That's exactly right.You're getting a raise, right? You wouldn't have to have a year set back. You would not have anything set back. But if you're going to go with that 75% guideline that Ken's talking about, then I completely agree with the one year. And, you know, six months of that, your emergency fund, six months is set to the other, set to the side just to cover cash shortages, where you're going to burn if you have any cash shortages. And, of course, the other thing you've done wisely is you're out of debt, and you guys are, you know, your wife has a good career, which also will help you make this step.What we're preaching here is moderation, patience, hold, you know, just don't, if you're.Running a business already, guys like, we've got profit centers all through Ramsey. We have different things we do here. Publishing live events, broadcast, all these different things here. They're all different profit centers. We don't leap here.That's right.You know, I'm already running a business, and I don't we don't. Let's. Let's just go see if we can lose $10 million. Heck no, man. No. I mean, we. What we do is we do. We trust. We want to prove the concept. I call it proof texting. That's right. Right. I want to test market. I want to prove the concept before I bet the farm on it. And you're. That's all you're doing with your business. You're proving the conceptYes, I own the flatbed.What's it worth?Probably about $3,000.Okay, then we can keep. Is it. Is it a five, is it a gooseneck or a regular trailer?No, no, it's just a bumper pull up, an 18 foot.Okay, good. That. That's capable. And almost any pickup a pull that. Agreed?Agreed.Yeah. So you don't have to. It doesn't require a $60,000 truck to pull that thing. So it did. It maybe did to pull the travel trailer, but that's a different thing. That's all gone now. So. Okay. The repo can be settled when and if they call you for pennies on the dollar. But I need you to have about five or ten grand ready for when they call you. So you can offer them a settlement in full and they'll take it if they ever call you even. They might not. And I need you to clean up your stinking taxes. You don't want the IR's in your life. And you cut up your credit cards and sell your truck and move down and get your income up. And that's your solution. And that's how you become a baby steps millionaire.Okay, the credit cards, I'm already in default on quite a few of them.Yeah. Okay. Cut them up.So. Okay. All right. No, no problem there.They're no blessing.Already done.They're no blessing. Plastic surgery is due in your life, my mandarin, and chop them up and let's make a, you know, start doing a written budget. But the thing is this, you're by yourself. You're a solo pneumur. You are a great carpenter. You suck at marketing, and so this feels out of control to you. Where Ken and I are sitting on the outside, we see your income potential to be much larger than you feel like it is in your emotions, because you're by yourself and there's nobody around you saying, dude, you got this. And we're telling you, dude, you got this. So hypothetically, you could do all of the work you're doing right now as a side job and work a day job as a carpenter in about 20 minutes. And you get your income up over six figures doing that. And get this mess cleaned up, get the truck moved down, and then build you out. Learn. Start learning some marketing stuff, start learning how to run a business, not just be a carpenter. And you can build your side business back up to a full time gig again. And that's probably what I would do in your shoes, because I just think you're.I'm with Ken. I think you're in an ideal situation in terms of your career. I mean, you didn't call me up with a sociology degree.If I was in Phoenix right now, Dave, I would make him drive me to construction. Construction sites all over the city where they're building homes. And I'd say, you got a clean t shirt. All right. Your jeans look sharp. All right. Get the tool belt on and walk up and say, where's the foreman? And say, I'm a carpenter. I'm ready to go. You might be surprised. Within about 2 hours, you probably be working, if not with a gig. That's how low the shortage is right now on carpenters. That's a fact. That's not my opinion.Yep. And by the way, it's summer in Phoenix.Yeah, that's true, too.Hey, guys, Rachel Cruz here. You know, some people think budgeting means they can't have any fun with money. And I know this because that was me. But the truth is, budgeting doesn't limit your freedom. It actually gives you freedom. A budget is simply telling your money where to go. And the best way to do this is with everydollar, my favorite budgeting app. It'll help you create a plan for your money that fits your lifestyle. So whether it's a spontaneous date night or an epic Disney cruise, budget for some fun, download every dollar for free today.Thank you for joining us, America. Buying a house in this market is crazy. Selling a house in this market is crazy. It's wild out there, y'all. You need to have a pro in your corner if you're going to be moving property right now. And I do recommend you buy a house right now. Now it's a great time. I do recommend you sell a house right now. It's a great time. If you want a pro in your corner that we recommend. We have Ramsey trusted endorsed local providers that are real estate agents that we have vetted that are high performance. They have not just got their license last week and never sold a house before. They do 30 to 300 transactions a year. They're on top of their game. They're the best of the best. They're Ramsey trusted. You can find out who's Ramsey trusted in your area for free at ramsey solutions.com. agent James is in Raleigh, North Carolina. Hi, James. How are you?Good, mister Ramsey, how are you doing?Better than we deserve. What's up?So I want to say thank you so much for taking my call, and I appreciate what you and Mister Coleman, Mister Kim, what everybody does, it really is a blessing. So I appreciate that. Thank you.Thank you.My question is, I guess, kind of related to the previous caller that you spoke with, but I'm kind of at a point where we've been working on baby step number two. We've got all of our credit card debt paid off. We're done with it. We were making headway. I lost my job back in April, so I'm having to luckily, Lord bless me, with another job, but it took about a month and a half, and so it's kind of set us back. But my question is, long story short, what could I do to help my family advance my career? Because I feel stagnant. And the job that I just got was a lateral move. I wanted to advance my career and move up, but it just seems like that most companies right now just want me in a lateral position.All right, so let's start with where you want to eventually go. So we're going to advance to what? What's the operations manager of? What?Project manager of resident of a residential construction company.Okay. An operations manager does what in that role?Well, I guess more or less bring in business, you know, hire online, you know, hiring, keeping business, keeping customers happy.Sure.I guess, you know, making sure the day to day is, you know, rolling smoothly.All right. And then, forgive me for my ignorance, operation managers at one, two, three steps above where you are now. What does that look like?Oh, it's one step.One step. Okay. The reason I asked you to describe the role of operations manager, where you want to be, is because that list, how you describe that to me with each of those duties that you listed out there is a skill set. There's skill, so I'm going to have to learn the skill, and there's also experience that you're going to need to get right to step into that or at least get to the point where they say, okay, James, you are ready, you are qualified. And so understanding what you need to add to your tool belt is really vital. That's why I went through that list. And so now is the time to begin to say, how can I go about getting that skill where I am? So in other words, I've got to look at the next and figure out what it's going to take to get there, but then don't miss this vital thing. And that is you got to win in the now, you know, we all want to move up a thing?Listen, some adults still find the magic.Sure. We also talk about toxic money, traits and girl math. And if you don't know what those are, you have to listen to the podcast.Yeah, there's a lot there.You guys.It's pretty fun.We keep you relevant is what I'm trying to say.We help you out.So pull up a chair to the happy hour you wish your friends were having. We promise you won't regret it. And if you don't have friends, we'll be your friends.We will. We're great friends. So make sure to check it out on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or the Ramsey network app.

your kids? Oh, it's a big deal.

Yeah.

That's why you need a will.

And I would add, Katie, once the kids are old enough to understand the concept of all this, I think it's really wise to sit down and explain it to them. What a wild lesson for them to really get the responsibility that you've taken on their behalf. And I believe that will be transferred on. I think it's a wonderful life lesson, once they grasp it, to explain what you've done for them, I believe they'll pass it on and really appreciate it.

And so we obviously sat down with the people that were identified to take care of the children, the guardians, and said, okay, there's going to be this number of millions of dollars over here, and here's the terms on it. It's going to send you money to take care of them, so they're not a financial burden for you to take on. Matter of fact, they're going to be a blessing, but it's not going to be 50,000 a month, okay? It's going to be enough to take care of them and not cost you money, a result of having the kids. And if they have a problem, they'll be able to cover the medical, and if you don't have to worry about a car. So it's gonna cost you guys nothing. Yep. You know, you probably actually might pocket a little bit out of this. It might, might be, but it's not. You're not gonna make you rich to raise these kids. But it's not gonna cost you anything to raise these kids. And so then they know that's going on, and then the trustee knows what your intentions are, and you've talked that through the trustee so you don't die.

And then everybody has to figure out, this is what you were trying to do. You cover all of it while you're alive.

Yeah, we did the same. And it's. It is. There's a great peace.

Sobering, too.

Well, it is. It's heavy. No question.

Yeah. Wow. Leslie's with us in Yuma, Arizona. Hi, Leslie. How are you?

Hello, Dave. Thank you for taking my call.

Sure. What's up?

Question about owner financing and balloon payment. My elder parents are asking me for advice. They've been trying to sell a house that they own in another state for months, and finally, they received an offer for owner financing. The house was originally listed for 179,000, and the offer is a purchase price of 200,000 with 15,000 down financing, five year balloon payment of $513 a month.

Run away quickly.

Okay.

This is somebody who went to some weekend get rich quick seminar. They're overpaying for the house. They're not putting enough down to where they lose anything. And when they hand the keys back to your elderly parents, they will have stripped the house out.

Okay.

No. Run.

And you know what? The. The realtor, she said, oh, this looks like a good idea.

And I said, yeah, looks like a good idea to fire your realtor. I think I'm getting a different realtor. It's not a good idea. No, no, no, no, no. Because they'd be better off to rent it, because then they still own it, and then I have to foreclose to take it back later when this goober runs off to wherever. No, no, no, no. I'm gonna pay you 200,000 for 179,000. That's 30,000 more than it's worth, or 20,000 more, 21,000 more than it's worth. But I'm gonna put down 15,000, which means we're still not even into the value. Okay. If you're that desperate to buy a house, there's something wrong with you. Hello? Yeah. Run. Run. I have a friend that says, when in doubt, don't. This is the Ramsey show.

Hey, guys.

George camel here. No matter what platform you use for news or entertainment, you and I both know it is way too hard to keep your feed from getting junked up with bad content. I know I'm not the only one who's gone searching for the Ramsay show, only to find myself two paws and twelve videos deep in a kittenhole on YouTube. Which is great, but not what I'm looking for right now. And heck, if you're tuning into this digitally, there's probably some weird, scammy suggested content trying to play in the sidebar right now.

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Today.

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, it's the Ramsey show, where we help people build wealth, do work that they love, and create actual amazing relationships. I'm Dave Ramsey, your host, Ken Coleman. Ramsey personality number one, best selling author, host of the Ken Coleman show, is my co host today. The phone number is 888-825-5225 Ava's in Colorado Springs. Hi, Ava. How are you?

I'm okay, Dave. How are you today?

Better than I deserve. What's up?

Well, thanks for taking my call. I'm a little nervous, and it's. It's kind of a lot. So I'm going to try to summarize it because I know time is of the essence on phone calls like these. My husband of over 30 years has left me. It's the third time in five years he's left. And he's told me that if I do not give him. Help him get a heLoc on the house for over $100,000, he'll file divorce for divorce. And I'm just really scared, and I'm not exactly sure what to do. I don't want to do that, and I won't do that. I won't use our house in that way. I have a little bit of savings, but I don't have enough to maintain the bills, pay lawyer.

Are you. Are you living in the house and.

I am. He left. I was. Yeah, my. He left and I'm sorry. I'm trying to mean figure out how to maintain everything. He just started a new job, and.

So why does he want to HelOC?

He says it's because he wants to buy some land and a race cardinal. A sports car.

I'm so sorry.

Yeah.

And I'm just not really sure how to proceed because I can't. I don't have enough money right now to hire an attorney and pay the bills because he is no longer getting a paycheck because he just started a new job. He used to get, you know, auto pay and then this all just happened.

When does this pay start at the new place?

Now he hasn't given me any details. I've asked specific questions via email and he has not given me specifics.

Okay. And you don't work outside the home?

I do, actually. I make quite a bit less than he does and anywhere between. I mean, last year, so I'm a realtor. Last year my business took a loss. This year I'm probably tracking, you know, to make around 40 right now and, you know, hoping and working towards more.

Do you have family in the area?

I do.

Good family or toxic?

I have really, really good family. I just don't want to, you know, I just want to. I don't want to put this on other people. Doesn't feel.

Do you have children that are grown?

Grown. Where are they here. And then one is out of state as well.

Are you in a good church?

I used to be. I am not currently, but I am in the word. I read my bible every night. I read my devotional every day.

I wasn't trying to judge you. I was just trying to figure out who's around you that can love you. Well, that's all I'm trying to figure out.

Yeah. Yeah. I understand.

You've got kids, you got family, and you could plug back into a church or if not that church, to have people around you to walk with you through this because you feel very alone. I can hear it.

Yeah.

It's unsure how to. How to proceed. If I hire an attorney, I won't have enough money to pay the mortgage. If I don't hire an attorney, I feel like I'm going to end up.

You know, you need to call today and get an appointment with an attorney because part of his paycheck, when he gets it is going to go to you immediately during a legal separation in Colorado. Okay. So this idea that you're somehow that he gets to keep all of his money and go play wherever he wants to play when he's been married for 30 years is not true. It doesn't work that way in any state. So I'm not an attorney. But you've got a lot more things you can do to get the short term cash issues which are scaring you. So when he starts getting a check, some of it's going to be yours immediately if you get a good attorney.

I want to follow up. Ava, is this a pattern of a threat associated with the other times that he's done this? He's done this before. Is it always kind of after he threatens you or in conjunction with some type of a threat? A manipulation?

I think a manipulation is a good way to put it. I think he.

Yeah, I think he's. I think it's. This is. I think this is emotional extortion, and I think he's full of crap. And I'm with Dave. I'm gonna. I'm gonna. I'm not in any way, I agree with all of Dave's advice. I'm gonna say something kind of like, I'm gonna act like your brother, like you're my sister. And this guy, this guy, I think is a punk. I think he's a coward. No real man does this. This is straight up manipulation, emotional extortion. I'd call his years of living expenses in savings? I feel a bit silly asking this question because I feel like the answer is go, go, go. But I'm also in my peak earning years and don't want to be foolish about the amazing resources I've been given at my current job. Well, a rule of thumb for me on how much money I like to give people advice to have. If you're going to jump into your side business, I'd want to have twelve months of living expenses in the bank. And that's because I just don't want people to have the pressure to survive when going into working for themselves.It's hard enough to be a solopreneur or to run a business without the pressure of trying to eat. In this case, in your situation, because of your financial situation, I'd also say I'd want the side hustle to be making a rule of thumb for me would be a minimum of the side hustle, earning 75% of your current income. That would be minimum for me, not ideal minimum. So, minimum 75% of income and then twelve months of your living expenses in the bank. So that essentially you've got that pipeline of business built up in that you're making a good chunk of your current salary. And we have a very strong account of retained earnings is what we call that here at Ramsey Solutions. In that business account. That would be, for me, a bare minimum. Other than that, I think it's. I think it's too risky. And I. Again, I just don't want the pressure of this side business feeding me. I want to know that it's mature and it's proven.Yeah, when I get desperate shortly after that, I usually get stupid. Yeah, you change your words. People say stupid things about starting their own business, like take the leap, jump into it. So what Ken is describing is you pull the boat up next to the dock and you step into it, and then you actually won't need any of your money you have set aside because you're going to be earning almost as much. And soon after that will be earning more than you used to earn because you're the got the business growing on a trajectory, and it's almost there already. But you can take the step, not the leap or the jump, by pulling the boat close to the dock. But too often what we see is the boat is, it's a hundred yards out, and you come running down the dock and leap like you can make it or something, and all you get's wet. Okay? You're just jumping in. That's all you're doing. It's dumb. And so that's not what you're describing, Gary. You're describing wisdom and thinking through this and all that. But in other words, I wouldn't start, I wouldn't say if you had five years saved up and zero income production on the side hustle and you quit a perfectly great day, career, hoping.See, that's a leap of faith. That's unwise, and that's kind. It's actually foolish. That's what it is. So you don't do that. So there's. Because you could burn through any amount of money if you have no replacement income. So the more replacement income you have, the less pad you need. Let's pretend, let's be crazy for a second. Let's pretend that his side hustle took off all of a sudden, before he realized it, and he was making 150% of what he makes now. How much savings would he need? None.That's exactly right.You're getting a raise, right? You wouldn't have to have a year set back. You would not have anything set back. But if you're going to go with that 75% guideline that Ken's talking about, then I completely agree with the one year. And, you know, six months of that, your emergency fund, six months is set to the other, set to the side just to cover cash shortages, where you're going to burn if you have any cash shortages. And, of course, the other thing you've done wisely is you're out of debt, and you guys are, you know, your wife has a good career, which also will help you make this step.What we're preaching here is moderation, patience, hold, you know, just don't, if you're.Running a business already, guys like, we've got profit centers all through Ramsey. We have different things we do here. Publishing live events, broadcast, all these different things here. They're all different profit centers. We don't leap here.That's right.You know, I'm already running a business, and I don't we don't. Let's. Let's just go see if we can lose $10 million. Heck no, man. No. I mean, we. What we do is we do. We trust. We want to prove the concept. I call it proof texting. That's right. Right. I want to test market. I want to prove the concept before I bet the farm on it. And you're. That's all you're doing with your business. You're proving the conceptYes, I own the flatbed.What's it worth?Probably about $3,000.Okay, then we can keep. Is it. Is it a five, is it a gooseneck or a regular trailer?No, no, it's just a bumper pull up, an 18 foot.Okay, good. That. That's capable. And almost any pickup a pull that. Agreed?Agreed.Yeah. So you don't have to. It doesn't require a $60,000 truck to pull that thing. So it did. It maybe did to pull the travel trailer, but that's a different thing. That's all gone now. So. Okay. The repo can be settled when and if they call you for pennies on the dollar. But I need you to have about five or ten grand ready for when they call you. So you can offer them a settlement in full and they'll take it if they ever call you even. They might not. And I need you to clean up your stinking taxes. You don't want the IR's in your life. And you cut up your credit cards and sell your truck and move down and get your income up. And that's your solution. And that's how you become a baby steps millionaire.Okay, the credit cards, I'm already in default on quite a few of them.Yeah. Okay. Cut them up.So. Okay. All right. No, no problem there.They're no blessing.Already done.They're no blessing. Plastic surgery is due in your life, my mandarin, and chop them up and let's make a, you know, start doing a written budget. But the thing is this, you're by yourself. You're a solo pneumur. You are a great carpenter. You suck at marketing, and so this feels out of control to you. Where Ken and I are sitting on the outside, we see your income potential to be much larger than you feel like it is in your emotions, because you're by yourself and there's nobody around you saying, dude, you got this. And we're telling you, dude, you got this. So hypothetically, you could do all of the work you're doing right now as a side job and work a day job as a carpenter in about 20 minutes. And you get your income up over six figures doing that. And get this mess cleaned up, get the truck moved down, and then build you out. Learn. Start learning some marketing stuff, start learning how to run a business, not just be a carpenter. And you can build your side business back up to a full time gig again. And that's probably what I would do in your shoes, because I just think you're.I'm with Ken. I think you're in an ideal situation in terms of your career. I mean, you didn't call me up with a sociology degree.If I was in Phoenix right now, Dave, I would make him drive me to construction. Construction sites all over the city where they're building homes. And I'd say, you got a clean t shirt. All right. Your jeans look sharp. All right. Get the tool belt on and walk up and say, where's the foreman? And say, I'm a carpenter. I'm ready to go. You might be surprised. Within about 2 hours, you probably be working, if not with a gig. That's how low the shortage is right now on carpenters. That's a fact. That's not my opinion.Yep. And by the way, it's summer in Phoenix.Yeah, that's true, too.Hey, guys, Rachel Cruz here. You know, some people think budgeting means they can't have any fun with money. And I know this because that was me. But the truth is, budgeting doesn't limit your freedom. It actually gives you freedom. A budget is simply telling your money where to go. And the best way to do this is with everydollar, my favorite budgeting app. It'll help you create a plan for your money that fits your lifestyle. So whether it's a spontaneous date night or an epic Disney cruise, budget for some fun, download every dollar for free today.Thank you for joining us, America. Buying a house in this market is crazy. Selling a house in this market is crazy. It's wild out there, y'all. You need to have a pro in your corner if you're going to be moving property right now. And I do recommend you buy a house right now. Now it's a great time. I do recommend you sell a house right now. It's a great time. If you want a pro in your corner that we recommend. We have Ramsey trusted endorsed local providers that are real estate agents that we have vetted that are high performance. They have not just got their license last week and never sold a house before. They do 30 to 300 transactions a year. They're on top of their game. They're the best of the best. They're Ramsey trusted. You can find out who's Ramsey trusted in your area for free at ramsey solutions.com. agent James is in Raleigh, North Carolina. Hi, James. How are you?Good, mister Ramsey, how are you doing?Better than we deserve. What's up?So I want to say thank you so much for taking my call, and I appreciate what you and Mister Coleman, Mister Kim, what everybody does, it really is a blessing. So I appreciate that. Thank you.Thank you.My question is, I guess, kind of related to the previous caller that you spoke with, but I'm kind of at a point where we've been working on baby step number two. We've got all of our credit card debt paid off. We're done with it. We were making headway. I lost my job back in April, so I'm having to luckily, Lord bless me, with another job, but it took about a month and a half, and so it's kind of set us back. But my question is, long story short, what could I do to help my family advance my career? Because I feel stagnant. And the job that I just got was a lateral move. I wanted to advance my career and move up, but it just seems like that most companies right now just want me in a lateral position.All right, so let's start with where you want to eventually go. So we're going to advance to what? What's the operations manager of? What?Project manager of resident of a residential construction company.Okay. An operations manager does what in that role?Well, I guess more or less bring in business, you know, hire online, you know, hiring, keeping business, keeping customers happy.Sure.I guess, you know, making sure the day to day is, you know, rolling smoothly.All right. And then, forgive me for my ignorance, operation managers at one, two, three steps above where you are now. What does that look like?Oh, it's one step.One step. Okay. The reason I asked you to describe the role of operations manager, where you want to be, is because that list, how you describe that to me with each of those duties that you listed out there is a skill set. There's skill, so I'm going to have to learn the skill, and there's also experience that you're going to need to get right to step into that or at least get to the point where they say, okay, James, you are ready, you are qualified. And so understanding what you need to add to your tool belt is really vital. That's why I went through that list. And so now is the time to begin to say, how can I go about getting that skill where I am? So in other words, I've got to look at the next and figure out what it's going to take to get there, but then don't miss this vital thing. And that is you got to win in the now, you know, we all want to move up a thing?Listen, some adults still find the magic.Sure. We also talk about toxic money, traits and girl math. And if you don't know what those are, you have to listen to the podcast.Yeah, there's a lot there.You guys.It's pretty fun.We keep you relevant is what I'm trying to say.We help you out.So pull up a chair to the happy hour you wish your friends were having. We promise you won't regret it. And if you don't have friends, we'll be your friends.We will. We're great friends. So make sure to check it out on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or the Ramsey network app.

years of living expenses in savings? I feel a bit silly asking this question because I feel like the answer is go, go, go. But I'm also in my peak earning years and don't want to be foolish about the amazing resources I've been given at my current job. Well, a rule of thumb for me on how much money I like to give people advice to have. If you're going to jump into your side business, I'd want to have twelve months of living expenses in the bank. And that's because I just don't want people to have the pressure to survive when going into working for themselves.

It's hard enough to be a solopreneur or to run a business without the pressure of trying to eat. In this case, in your situation, because of your financial situation, I'd also say I'd want the side hustle to be making a rule of thumb for me would be a minimum of the side hustle, earning 75% of your current income. That would be minimum for me, not ideal minimum. So, minimum 75% of income and then twelve months of your living expenses in the bank. So that essentially you've got that pipeline of business built up in that you're making a good chunk of your current salary. And we have a very strong account of retained earnings is what we call that here at Ramsey Solutions. In that business account. That would be, for me, a bare minimum. Other than that, I think it's. I think it's too risky. And I. Again, I just don't want the pressure of this side business feeding me. I want to know that it's mature and it's proven.

Yeah, when I get desperate shortly after that, I usually get stupid. Yeah, you change your words. People say stupid things about starting their own business, like take the leap, jump into it. So what Ken is describing is you pull the boat up next to the dock and you step into it, and then you actually won't need any of your money you have set aside because you're going to be earning almost as much. And soon after that will be earning more than you used to earn because you're the got the business growing on a trajectory, and it's almost there already. But you can take the step, not the leap or the jump, by pulling the boat close to the dock. But too often what we see is the boat is, it's a hundred yards out, and you come running down the dock and leap like you can make it or something, and all you get's wet. Okay? You're just jumping in. That's all you're doing. It's dumb. And so that's not what you're describing, Gary. You're describing wisdom and thinking through this and all that. But in other words, I wouldn't start, I wouldn't say if you had five years saved up and zero income production on the side hustle and you quit a perfectly great day, career, hoping.

See, that's a leap of faith. That's unwise, and that's kind. It's actually foolish. That's what it is. So you don't do that. So there's. Because you could burn through any amount of money if you have no replacement income. So the more replacement income you have, the less pad you need. Let's pretend, let's be crazy for a second. Let's pretend that his side hustle took off all of a sudden, before he realized it, and he was making 150% of what he makes now. How much savings would he need? None.

That's exactly right.

You're getting a raise, right? You wouldn't have to have a year set back. You would not have anything set back. But if you're going to go with that 75% guideline that Ken's talking about, then I completely agree with the one year. And, you know, six months of that, your emergency fund, six months is set to the other, set to the side just to cover cash shortages, where you're going to burn if you have any cash shortages. And, of course, the other thing you've done wisely is you're out of debt, and you guys are, you know, your wife has a good career, which also will help you make this step.

What we're preaching here is moderation, patience, hold, you know, just don't, if you're.

Running a business already, guys like, we've got profit centers all through Ramsey. We have different things we do here. Publishing live events, broadcast, all these different things here. They're all different profit centers. We don't leap here.

That's right.

You know, I'm already running a business, and I don't we don't. Let's. Let's just go see if we can lose $10 million. Heck no, man. No. I mean, we. What we do is we do. We trust. We want to prove the concept. I call it proof texting. That's right. Right. I want to test market. I want to prove the concept before I bet the farm on it. And you're. That's all you're doing with your business. You're proving the conceptYes, I own the flatbed.What's it worth?Probably about $3,000.Okay, then we can keep. Is it. Is it a five, is it a gooseneck or a regular trailer?No, no, it's just a bumper pull up, an 18 foot.Okay, good. That. That's capable. And almost any pickup a pull that. Agreed?Agreed.Yeah. So you don't have to. It doesn't require a $60,000 truck to pull that thing. So it did. It maybe did to pull the travel trailer, but that's a different thing. That's all gone now. So. Okay. The repo can be settled when and if they call you for pennies on the dollar. But I need you to have about five or ten grand ready for when they call you. So you can offer them a settlement in full and they'll take it if they ever call you even. They might not. And I need you to clean up your stinking taxes. You don't want the IR's in your life. And you cut up your credit cards and sell your truck and move down and get your income up. And that's your solution. And that's how you become a baby steps millionaire.Okay, the credit cards, I'm already in default on quite a few of them.Yeah. Okay. Cut them up.So. Okay. All right. No, no problem there.They're no blessing.Already done.They're no blessing. Plastic surgery is due in your life, my mandarin, and chop them up and let's make a, you know, start doing a written budget. But the thing is this, you're by yourself. You're a solo pneumur. You are a great carpenter. You suck at marketing, and so this feels out of control to you. Where Ken and I are sitting on the outside, we see your income potential to be much larger than you feel like it is in your emotions, because you're by yourself and there's nobody around you saying, dude, you got this. And we're telling you, dude, you got this. So hypothetically, you could do all of the work you're doing right now as a side job and work a day job as a carpenter in about 20 minutes. And you get your income up over six figures doing that. And get this mess cleaned up, get the truck moved down, and then build you out. Learn. Start learning some marketing stuff, start learning how to run a business, not just be a carpenter. And you can build your side business back up to a full time gig again. And that's probably what I would do in your shoes, because I just think you're.I'm with Ken. I think you're in an ideal situation in terms of your career. I mean, you didn't call me up with a sociology degree.If I was in Phoenix right now, Dave, I would make him drive me to construction. Construction sites all over the city where they're building homes. And I'd say, you got a clean t shirt. All right. Your jeans look sharp. All right. Get the tool belt on and walk up and say, where's the foreman? And say, I'm a carpenter. I'm ready to go. You might be surprised. Within about 2 hours, you probably be working, if not with a gig. That's how low the shortage is right now on carpenters. That's a fact. That's not my opinion.Yep. And by the way, it's summer in Phoenix.Yeah, that's true, too.Hey, guys, Rachel Cruz here. You know, some people think budgeting means they can't have any fun with money. And I know this because that was me. But the truth is, budgeting doesn't limit your freedom. It actually gives you freedom. A budget is simply telling your money where to go. And the best way to do this is with everydollar, my favorite budgeting app. It'll help you create a plan for your money that fits your lifestyle. So whether it's a spontaneous date night or an epic Disney cruise, budget for some fun, download every dollar for free today.Thank you for joining us, America. Buying a house in this market is crazy. Selling a house in this market is crazy. It's wild out there, y'all. You need to have a pro in your corner if you're going to be moving property right now. And I do recommend you buy a house right now. Now it's a great time. I do recommend you sell a house right now. It's a great time. If you want a pro in your corner that we recommend. We have Ramsey trusted endorsed local providers that are real estate agents that we have vetted that are high performance. They have not just got their license last week and never sold a house before. They do 30 to 300 transactions a year. They're on top of their game. They're the best of the best. They're Ramsey trusted. You can find out who's Ramsey trusted in your area for free at ramsey solutions.com. agent James is in Raleigh, North Carolina. Hi, James. How are you?Good, mister Ramsey, how are you doing?Better than we deserve. What's up?So I want to say thank you so much for taking my call, and I appreciate what you and Mister Coleman, Mister Kim, what everybody does, it really is a blessing. So I appreciate that. Thank you.Thank you.My question is, I guess, kind of related to the previous caller that you spoke with, but I'm kind of at a point where we've been working on baby step number two. We've got all of our credit card debt paid off. We're done with it. We were making headway. I lost my job back in April, so I'm having to luckily, Lord bless me, with another job, but it took about a month and a half, and so it's kind of set us back. But my question is, long story short, what could I do to help my family advance my career? Because I feel stagnant. And the job that I just got was a lateral move. I wanted to advance my career and move up, but it just seems like that most companies right now just want me in a lateral position.All right, so let's start with where you want to eventually go. So we're going to advance to what? What's the operations manager of? What?Project manager of resident of a residential construction company.Okay. An operations manager does what in that role?Well, I guess more or less bring in business, you know, hire online, you know, hiring, keeping business, keeping customers happy.Sure.I guess, you know, making sure the day to day is, you know, rolling smoothly.All right. And then, forgive me for my ignorance, operation managers at one, two, three steps above where you are now. What does that look like?Oh, it's one step.One step. Okay. The reason I asked you to describe the role of operations manager, where you want to be, is because that list, how you describe that to me with each of those duties that you listed out there is a skill set. There's skill, so I'm going to have to learn the skill, and there's also experience that you're going to need to get right to step into that or at least get to the point where they say, okay, James, you are ready, you are qualified. And so understanding what you need to add to your tool belt is really vital. That's why I went through that list. And so now is the time to begin to say, how can I go about getting that skill where I am? So in other words, I've got to look at the next and figure out what it's going to take to get there, but then don't miss this vital thing. And that is you got to win in the now, you know, we all want to move up a thing?Listen, some adults still find the magic.Sure. We also talk about toxic money, traits and girl math. And if you don't know what those are, you have to listen to the podcast.Yeah, there's a lot there.You guys.It's pretty fun.We keep you relevant is what I'm trying to say.We help you out.So pull up a chair to the happy hour you wish your friends were having. We promise you won't regret it. And if you don't have friends, we'll be your friends.We will. We're great friends. So make sure to check it out on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or the Ramsey network app.

Yes, I own the flatbed.

What's it worth?

Probably about $3,000.

Okay, then we can keep. Is it. Is it a five, is it a gooseneck or a regular trailer?

No, no, it's just a bumper pull up, an 18 foot.

Okay, good. That. That's capable. And almost any pickup a pull that. Agreed?

Agreed.

Yeah. So you don't have to. It doesn't require a $60,000 truck to pull that thing. So it did. It maybe did to pull the travel trailer, but that's a different thing. That's all gone now. So. Okay. The repo can be settled when and if they call you for pennies on the dollar. But I need you to have about five or ten grand ready for when they call you. So you can offer them a settlement in full and they'll take it if they ever call you even. They might not. And I need you to clean up your stinking taxes. You don't want the IR's in your life. And you cut up your credit cards and sell your truck and move down and get your income up. And that's your solution. And that's how you become a baby steps millionaire.

Okay, the credit cards, I'm already in default on quite a few of them.

Yeah. Okay. Cut them up.

So. Okay. All right. No, no problem there.

They're no blessing.

Already done.

They're no blessing. Plastic surgery is due in your life, my mandarin, and chop them up and let's make a, you know, start doing a written budget. But the thing is this, you're by yourself. You're a solo pneumur. You are a great carpenter. You suck at marketing, and so this feels out of control to you. Where Ken and I are sitting on the outside, we see your income potential to be much larger than you feel like it is in your emotions, because you're by yourself and there's nobody around you saying, dude, you got this. And we're telling you, dude, you got this. So hypothetically, you could do all of the work you're doing right now as a side job and work a day job as a carpenter in about 20 minutes. And you get your income up over six figures doing that. And get this mess cleaned up, get the truck moved down, and then build you out. Learn. Start learning some marketing stuff, start learning how to run a business, not just be a carpenter. And you can build your side business back up to a full time gig again. And that's probably what I would do in your shoes, because I just think you're.

I'm with Ken. I think you're in an ideal situation in terms of your career. I mean, you didn't call me up with a sociology degree.

If I was in Phoenix right now, Dave, I would make him drive me to construction. Construction sites all over the city where they're building homes. And I'd say, you got a clean t shirt. All right. Your jeans look sharp. All right. Get the tool belt on and walk up and say, where's the foreman? And say, I'm a carpenter. I'm ready to go. You might be surprised. Within about 2 hours, you probably be working, if not with a gig. That's how low the shortage is right now on carpenters. That's a fact. That's not my opinion.

Yep. And by the way, it's summer in Phoenix.

Yeah, that's true, too.

Hey, guys, Rachel Cruz here. You know, some people think budgeting means they can't have any fun with money. And I know this because that was me. But the truth is, budgeting doesn't limit your freedom. It actually gives you freedom. A budget is simply telling your money where to go. And the best way to do this is with everydollar, my favorite budgeting app. It'll help you create a plan for your money that fits your lifestyle. So whether it's a spontaneous date night or an epic Disney cruise, budget for some fun, download every dollar for free today.

Thank you for joining us, America. Buying a house in this market is crazy. Selling a house in this market is crazy. It's wild out there, y'all. You need to have a pro in your corner if you're going to be moving property right now. And I do recommend you buy a house right now. Now it's a great time. I do recommend you sell a house right now. It's a great time. If you want a pro in your corner that we recommend. We have Ramsey trusted endorsed local providers that are real estate agents that we have vetted that are high performance. They have not just got their license last week and never sold a house before. They do 30 to 300 transactions a year. They're on top of their game. They're the best of the best. They're Ramsey trusted. You can find out who's Ramsey trusted in your area for free at ramsey solutions.com. agent James is in Raleigh, North Carolina. Hi, James. How are you?

Good, mister Ramsey, how are you doing?

Better than we deserve. What's up?

So I want to say thank you so much for taking my call, and I appreciate what you and Mister Coleman, Mister Kim, what everybody does, it really is a blessing. So I appreciate that. Thank you.

Thank you.

My question is, I guess, kind of related to the previous caller that you spoke with, but I'm kind of at a point where we've been working on baby step number two. We've got all of our credit card debt paid off. We're done with it. We were making headway. I lost my job back in April, so I'm having to luckily, Lord bless me, with another job, but it took about a month and a half, and so it's kind of set us back. But my question is, long story short, what could I do to help my family advance my career? Because I feel stagnant. And the job that I just got was a lateral move. I wanted to advance my career and move up, but it just seems like that most companies right now just want me in a lateral position.

All right, so let's start with where you want to eventually go. So we're going to advance to what? What's the operations manager of? What?

Project manager of resident of a residential construction company.

Okay. An operations manager does what in that role?

Well, I guess more or less bring in business, you know, hire online, you know, hiring, keeping business, keeping customers happy.

Sure.

I guess, you know, making sure the day to day is, you know, rolling smoothly.

All right. And then, forgive me for my ignorance, operation managers at one, two, three steps above where you are now. What does that look like?

Oh, it's one step.

One step. Okay. The reason I asked you to describe the role of operations manager, where you want to be, is because that list, how you describe that to me with each of those duties that you listed out there is a skill set. There's skill, so I'm going to have to learn the skill, and there's also experience that you're going to need to get right to step into that or at least get to the point where they say, okay, James, you are ready, you are qualified. And so understanding what you need to add to your tool belt is really vital. That's why I went through that list. And so now is the time to begin to say, how can I go about getting that skill where I am? So in other words, I've got to look at the next and figure out what it's going to take to get there, but then don't miss this vital thing. And that is you got to win in the now, you know, we all want to move up a thing?Listen, some adults still find the magic.Sure. We also talk about toxic money, traits and girl math. And if you don't know what those are, you have to listen to the podcast.Yeah, there's a lot there.You guys.It's pretty fun.We keep you relevant is what I'm trying to say.We help you out.So pull up a chair to the happy hour you wish your friends were having. We promise you won't regret it. And if you don't have friends, we'll be your friends.We will. We're great friends. So make sure to check it out on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or the Ramsey network app.

a thing?

Listen, some adults still find the magic.

Sure. We also talk about toxic money, traits and girl math. And if you don't know what those are, you have to listen to the podcast.

Yeah, there's a lot there.

You guys.

It's pretty fun.

We keep you relevant is what I'm trying to say.

We help you out.

So pull up a chair to the happy hour you wish your friends were having. We promise you won't regret it. And if you don't have friends, we'll be your friends.

We will. We're great friends. So make sure to check it out on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or the Ramsey network app.