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Chapter 1: What is discussed at the start of this section?
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 amazing relationships. I'm Ramsey personality, George Campbell, joined by the illustrious Rachel Cruz, who also is my co-host on Smart Money Happy Hour.
That's right. Here we are together answering your questions, America.
It's a very different show. We're very serious, very professional on the show. And then we have a good time on Smart Money Happy Hour, just dishing, just talking like us old gals. But this show is very different. You call in with your questions and we will do our best to give you sage advice. And that comes from Rachel. So 888-825-5225 is the number to call.
And Talon, I believe is how I say it, is in Provo, Utah. Talon, welcome to the show.
Thanks so much. Appreciate you guys taking my call. Sure.
How can we help?
Yeah. So I am currently working on Baby Step 2. I'm finishing Baby Step 1. Should be finishing that by the end of the month. I'm kind of planning a roadmap for Baby Step 2. I'm paying off all my debt. And looking on paper, I'm seeing one of my cards that I have is kind of ugly on paper. And looking at the value of it, I'm upside down.
little bit on it and I'm wondering if it would be worth taking out a loan on my 401k to pay down what I'm upside down in it and then to sell it from there.
Well, short answer, no.
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Chapter 2: How can I get out of debt while on Baby Step 2?
But I would just want some relief from this. And the amount of stress that you're probably carrying over a car is It's not worth it. Do you know what I mean? And you guys can go get a great car again. It's not that you guys can never drive a great car, but I mean, this is a lot of your income that is wrapped up in car payments right now. I mean, how much is your car payment?
How much is her car payment a month? I'm just curious.
So mine is about $587. Okay. And hers is $500.
Okay. So over $1,000 would get freed up. Over $1,100, yes. And then, I mean, if you think about it, Talon, like you do that and, yeah, you'll have a small loan. But that means, I mean, that frees up money to be completely out of debt in probably seven months and then be able to save an emergency fund. You have no money in the bank right now. And so that's stressful.
I mean, you guys are one life event or one decision away of this going spiraling down real quick and not having the option of, like, should we sell or not these cars? We're going to have to to be able to do X, Y, and Z if you don't get a paycheck in, right, before they get repoed, right?
I mean, like, that's – and I'm not trying to, like, base all these decisions off of fear, but it's just the reality of where y'all are. And you're so normal, Talyn.
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Chapter 3: Why shouldn't I take out a 401(k) loan to pay off debt?
Like, this is what everyone does. It's what everyone does, but everyone –
You're not even special, according to Rachel.
But like, it's just not worth the stress. And as you're and you know, and I have three kids at home and I'm like, and just even the stress your wife probably feels of like, man, you know, we don't have money in the bank. Like we don't have a lot saved. So just the entire situation talent, I would flip it on its head. I would probably just sell the cars.
And just for the sense of a radical change in your life, it'll free you guys up emotionally, financially, and then reevaluate and be like, all right, we want to buy something else. So let's look at replacing it here in the next year. You know what I mean? You'll have the option to do that soon. But just for the moment of relief, that's almost what I would do.
You've got a few decisions to make. So this is how it would play out, Talyn. You would go to your local credit union. You'd get a loan for $15,000. And that would cover your underwater portion and give you guys a little bit of money to get some beater cars. We're talking you get a $4,000 car, she gets a $5,000 car, and the other six will get covered the underwater portion. Get it? Okay.
So then you have these beater cars. You still have her car you could sell, freeing up that payment at that point. And I would encourage you to do both. Because here's the other side of the coin. It's either this or she's got to get to work and bring in income.
I mean, staying at home is a luxury at this point. Or you're going to be able to work extra.
Or you've got to take on two jobs to bring your income up to 80, 90 grand.
Yeah, because by April, you guys will have your student loans paid off. And then you'll have that $15,000 loan. And just working, and again, working extra...
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Chapter 4: What are the implications of selling my car to get out of debt?
This is where the math nerds show up.
All the math nerds are like, why in the heck would you not pay off the 25% credit card
versus like well you'll save 300 in interest rachel if you pay off the highest interest first that's so dumb and i'm like or you could have paid zero in interest if you never went into debt so why are we having this theoretical discussion yeah it's so silly but the reason we do it again is what i was saying earlier is is these quick wins and when you pay off that smallest debt even if it's a 400 credit card bill that's been just like laying around right you pay it off and
you start to actually win and you start to feel like, oh my gosh, I can do this. And so that's, it's a powerful motivator.
Yeah, getting out of debt is way more about hope and momentum and progress than it is about mathematical interest. And we've done the math. The amount is negligible about how much you're really gonna save by doing the avalanche. And I just have not seen people come in droves saying, Rachel, I did the debt avalanche and that's why we got out of debt.
It's likely you'll stay in debt longer or give up or fall off the wagon if you don't see that progress fast.
Yep.
All right, last but not least, if crypto was yours, George, I feel like this is mine. Married couples to combine accounts. You would think that I just told you... You got three heads, Rachel, telling us to do that. Yeah. I mean, like, I don't even... I mean, like, people get so mad. My last two... Where's the anger coming from?
On Instagram, George, the last two reels I've done about this, over, like, three million views each. And all in the comments, they're like, this woman says a woman, says a woman. Says a woman? That's what a lot of them say. And I'm like, I'm sorry.
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Chapter 5: What are the steps to take if I owe the IRS $150,000?
What are your favorite parts of the show? What do you like? What do you not like? What do you want to hear more about? What kind of topics? Whatever it is, we want to hear from you. And there are two ways to participate in this. If you're a texter, you can text the word SURVEY, S-U-R-V-E-Y, to this number, 33789. SURVEY to 33789.
Or you can go to ramsaysolutions.com slash SURVEY if you're more of a web browser type. Either way is fine. It'll get to us.
Chapter 6: How should I prioritize paying off debt?
And if you sign up today, you'll be entered to win a $500 gift card just for taking the survey and letting us know your thoughts. So go take that survey today. Survey to 33789, ramsaysolutions.com, slash survey. The number to call if you want to jump in is 888-825-5225. Julie has chosen to do so, and she's in Austin, Texas. Julie, what's going on?
Hello. Thank you so much for having me.
How are you?
We're doing great.
We're great. Glad you called, Julie.
Rachel already likes you. I can tell.
She's so nice. She likes your attitude. She's very nice. Oh, gosh.
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Chapter 7: What should I do if my spouse left and I have kids?
I said I can relate to you because you're a mom like me. It's not fair.
I can't be a mother. I'm kidding.
Oh, they're amazing. I have I have a primary question and then I have a few other questions as well. But my primary is. I sell real estate, and so I'm really good at making a bunch of money really fast, and I'm not so great at keeping that consistent. So the last three or four years of my career, I've been living on gross commission income and not net. And so I'm in trouble with the IRS. Oh, boy.
And so I owe the IRS $150,000. Holy mackerel. Yeah. on my home and I'm wondering if I need to sell my home, um, in order to take care of that.
Chapter 8: How can I manage my finances as a single parent?
Um, this last summer we had a series of unfortunate events in our family, which has never happened before. And that was multiple car accidents at different times, which depleted our savings account, our HSA and medical savings. And so we're really starting back at baseline for savings as well. Um, And so I feel very vulnerable just even calling today and asking, like, where do I even start?
So thankfully, our debt is relatively low, and I have $60,000 coming in for income the next three weeks. When these unfortunate events happened in our world late July, early August, The nail in the wall for us was my real estate income, everything that was in escrow, which was about five transactions, exploded.
They fell out of escrow for a variety of different reasons, and I didn't have any income coming in until just now this month. So we were able to pay and cover all of their minimums. We cut our budget in half, do all the have-tos. I mean, we got down to bare bones. Who's we, Julie? I'm really proud of us for doing that. My husband and I. Okay.
What does he make?
We have three teenagers. He makes 84.
Okay.
And I sell about 10 million a year, which brings in growth about 300. But again, it's not consistent. And I think that's, I would say I'm more comfortable saying 8 million.
So are we talking anywhere between 200, two and 300 K is fair. Correct. For the last few years. Okay.
Um, has the IRS been in contact with you? Like, are they, what are they saying?
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