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Chapter 1: What is discussed at the start of this section?
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Normal is broke and common sense is weird. So we're here to help you transform your life. From the Ramsey Network in the Fairwinds Credit Union Studio, this is The Ramsey Show. And I'm Rachel Cruz hosting this hour with bestselling author, my good friend, Dr. John Deloney. And so we'll be taking your calls about life and money.
Chapter 2: How can I stop living paycheck-to-paycheck?
So give us a call. The lines are open at 888-825-5225. And if you can't get through, because usually they're all booked up Keep calling, keep trying. You can even leave a voicemail, but we want to get to your questions. All right, so let's head off to Denver, Colorado. Starting us off this hour is Kevin. Hi, Kevin. Welcome to the show.
Hello, hello, hello. I do have a few questions. You see, I am in the Army. And I moved here recently. I am married. I'm 20 years old. And I have my own house back where I moved from. And I am expecting – my wife is pregnant. Oh, wow. And she had to stop working. And, um, see before the army, we, we had an income of around, we brought, we brought home around 10,000 a month.
Chapter 3: What steps should I take to tackle my gambling debt?
And, uh, I guess we got kind of used to that. Um, I have a newer vehicle and, um, and you see now, now that she's pregnant, she actually stopped working and, um, we have to pay rent here in Denver. And, well, close to Denver. And then we also have to pay our mortgage and then the vehicle payments. So right now I'm actually losing about $1,000 a month consistently every single month.
And I got to figure out a plan. We do have a little bit of money in the bank, but I don't quite know what my first step should be.
Are you currently on base somewhere?
Yes, I am.
You are, okay. How much is rent? Do they charge rent? I mean, will it depend?
They do, they do. It's $2,000 even a month. For base rent? For rent, yep, yep, for base rent. It comes out of my paycheck. What's your housing stipend? They give me $2,275, and they take $2,000 out for rent. Can you just use that for your mortgage? I can, but then I have to find somewhere else to live here.
And I can't go into the barracks because I can either live in the barracks or I can get BAH, which is the money for housing. I can't pay for both places. I missed it. Where's your house that you own? Tennessee. Okay.
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Chapter 4: How can I manage my budget with a baby on the way?
You've got to put that on the market today. Because you're broke. You don't have anything. There's no well to it, brother. You can't afford it. You've got to sell your cars. Well, we have three vehicles. We have two paid-off vehicles and one... That's not paid off. It's a 2021. I owe $30,000 on it. What's it worth? What's it worth? Kelly Blue looks for $40,000.
Then sell it today. And then you pocket $10,000. And are the other two cars drivable?
Yes, the other two cars are driveable. This is a little bit older.
That's fine. Yeah, so that. And then, Kevin, for the home, let's just pretend John's world is reality, because I think it is what he just painted you, was this of selling the house. How much would you guys walk away with because of equity in the home in Tennessee? If you were to sell it today versus what you owe, what would you walk away with?
Well, I built the home myself when I was 18. I started it at 18. It's a barn dominium. And the living quarters was done and all of that, but it's not fully finished. And that's why selling it might not be a good move because if I did sell it, I'm not even sure if I can get what I owe out of it because it's not fully finished. Because it's not finished. I owe $212,000.
When are you going to finish it? Well, I was hoping to take a leave in the next few months and go home and finish it. But that leaves me with – I have right now – $30,000 in the bank. I also have a motorcycle that is paid for and it's worth around $10,000 as well. Theoretically, if I sold that I might be able to come up with $45,000 or $50,000.
Okay, yeah. So if you sell the car, you get $10,000 from that. Sell the motorcycle, $10,000. You have $30,000 in the bank, yes. That puts you at $50,000. Do you have any other consumer debt, Kevin? Any student loans, credit card debt, personal loans, anything?
I do not, no. Okay. Just my mortgage.
And you guys are $1,000 in the hole every month is what you're telling me with this mortgage. Yes.
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Chapter 5: How can I stop living paycheck-to-paycheck?
How can we help?
Chapter 6: What should I do about my gambling addiction?
First of all, reality, what a concept, right?
Chapter 7: How do I manage debt while preparing for a baby?
Who would have thought?
Chapter 8: What are the risks of high-risk investments?
Who would have thought we'd make a job out of it?
I have a shirt that actually says that. Funny. So I'm retired, 63 still. I'm set. House is paid for. Cars are paid for. No debt. I have a pension, Social Security. My wife still works. Uh, so our investments are, I'm working with fidelity and the broker wants us to, because I made the mistake of saying that we don't plan on touching anything for at least 10 years.
And he, he thinks we should be in a hundred percent. And that's, that's really my question is, is, is it wise to really at where I am in life and I did all the right things in life and I'm okay. And on top of that, I should also say this. So I have like $450,000 in cash. And he thinks we should put at least $300,000 of that into the market as well. I'll let Rachel talk about money.
My first red flag is anytime you're talking with having a relationship with a professional, whether it's an attorney, whether it's a tax person, or whether it is an investment professional, You should never think I made a mistake of being honest. Like that to me is a big red flag. If you can't sit down with your investment professional and say, here's what I want to do.
And here's what I'm thinking. Of course you pay them to give you their opinion and their perspective, but they work for you, right? And if you feel like, oh man, I shouldn't have said that to them because now they're going to try to snake my money or get me into some high risk, something or other. Man, I would say walk out that door and never go back. That's just how I'm perceiving it. Okay.
Again, reality, what a concept. Yeah, right, right, right. That's not reality. That's just how I'm perceiving it. Well, I think, I mean, you've done well for yourself financially, and you've done well for yourself professionally. You're still married, so I would tell you that your gut is probably a pretty good BS meter on it.
How much do you have with him right now?
Yeah. A little under $600,000.
Okay. And what is it invested in right now?
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