Dave Ramsey

I've been married 43 years.

I'm 23 and a half.

Listen, I think you can respect your parents and still disagree with them.

Your mom and dad no longer get to tell you what to do when you're a man, my son.

They can only advise you.

You still have to do what you want to do.

Understood.

Okay.

Well, that's a completely different set of questions separate from what you called about, right?

Okay.

All right.

So, yes, one month of your income is the maximum you should spend on a ring.

And, yes, one-fourth of your take-home pay is the most you need to put into rent.

not for household expenses, but into rent because you don't create a sustainable situation.

You're short on money.

You're house poor when your rent is 35% or 40% or 50% regardless of where you live.

So if your income is going to be going up like doubling in the next year and a half or two years and you take on a little bit higher rent, then that doesn't kill you.

But if you try to sit there and prosper for four years where your rent is 35% of your take-home, you've got a bad formula.

You're going to struggle with that one.

No, too soon.