Bonus Episode: Break the Cycle: Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck 01:10:12

Hey folks, Dave Ramsey here, and I'm excited to bring you a special bonus episode of The Ramsey Show. In case you missed it, we recently hosted a free live stream for hundreds of thousands of people that was all about how to break the cycle of living paycheck to paycheck in 2024. Here are the facts you need to make real change and finally get ahead with your money this year. Check it out.

Welcome to Ramsey Solutions Break the Cycle live stream. I'm Dave Ramsey. I've been teaching this personal finance money stuff for over 30 years, showing people how to get out of debt so that they can build wealth, change their family tree, and be outrageously generous in the process. We take calls on our show, The Ramsey Show, which is a podcast, a YouTube show, and a radio show.

Now a billion downloads on the podcast, number one on Apple last month, with the second largest talk radio show in America, just to give you an idea of the scope, and millions and millions and millions of you on YouTube. Thank you. In the process of doing that, we talk to you. Also, Ramsey Solutions has a whole research arm, and we talk to you. We know what's on your mind. It's kind of scary out there right now. When we talk to folks, we find out that most of you are uncertain about

Some of you are apathetic. Some of you have given up. Some of you are working your tail off and you can't seem to get ahead. You've got the rat in the wheel syndrome going. Some people are just plain panicked. So what does 2024 really hold? We've got a crazy economy. We've got inflation all over the place. We've got elections. I'd talk about nuts. And man, on top of that, we've got a high interest rate environment.

Well, tonight we're going to address head on this uncertainty and the hopelessness that goes with it for a lot of folks. In the last quarter, all of last fall, we started doing webinars on money and helping people with their budgets. In the process of doing that, we surveyed a bunch of you. We asked you three questions. What best describes your money situation? 80% of those surveyed said they were in the messy middle or in crisis.

The messy middle is starts and stops, falls off the wagon, can't seem to get traction. Just a sense of chaos. Crisis is we're on the edge of the cliff or the car is going over the cliff. I mean, we're in facing foreclosure or repossession or might any moment. The second question we ask everybody was, what are the emotions you feel when it comes to money? Three emotions popped up most often. Fear, folks are afraid. Shame and guilt, the sense that

I've done something wrong. Guilt that I don't have my act together. It seems like everyone else has Ken and Barbie. Everyone else has their act together, but not at our house. Fear, shame, and guilt. The last question we asked was, how long have you been living in this messy middle, this crisis with fear, shame, and guilt? This is the saddest answer of all. Most people answering that question, tens of thousands of people we talked to, say most of my adult life.

That means folks are stuck. And that's why we're having this conversation tonight. Don't get stuck in a cycle. Break the cycle. It turns out stupid has a gravitational pull. You can get locked into the orbit around stupid. And how do you bust an orbit? Well, you got to expend energy to pull away from the gravitational pull that you've never expended before. And that's what we're going to help you do tonight.

Now, some folks try to do that with stuff like New Year's resolutions. Well, it's January 11th and most of you already blown those. That's a joke. Instead, what we've found is you have to make a decision to change. Not a one-time decision, a permanent behavior shift. Back during the Fauci pandemic,

Like everybody else, I was facing a lot of stress and we were trying to run our business and go crazy. And I ate every donut in a 50 mile radius, everything I could eat. And I got just plain fat. And I looked in the mirror, I thought, this is ridiculous. I've got to stop stress eating or I'm gonna, the whole thing's gonna, I'm just gonna explode like a Willy Wonka character or something, right? So I've got to stop this. And so, okay, we're gonna start watching our intake. We're gonna change things.

our physical activity. So I started doing that and I put it on an app and my little app says that 1,371 days consecutively, I have walked or ran one to five miles every single day, except for three days in September of 2020, when I had some kind of mystery disease and I was in the bed. I don't know what it was. So, but other than that, every morning, rain or shine, I'm out there.

Because if you don't change your behaviors, you're gonna keep getting what you've been getting. You gotta have a new habit, walking, running. I gotta change something. I gotta change what I'm putting into my face all the time. And I still got a ways to go. I'm not like in runner shape or something. But I'm 37 pounds down because of that 1,371 days of a permanent behavior change because I am now a person that walks every morning. 30 years of helping people get out of debt and build wealth. Personal finance is very similar.

It's 80% behavior and 20% head knowledge. It turns out that the mathematics of wealth building is about the sixth grade level. You can do it, but we got to change our behaviors. We got to change our beliefs to change our behaviors. So my question is, what's keeping you stuck? What's kept you in survival mode for so long, for so many years? I mean, possibly even decades. My whole adult life is how people answer the question. Cycles repeat and reinforce.

And the only way to break a cycle is to start a new cycle, to start a new behavior to replace the old behavior. Now, over the next hour, you're going to hear from Ramsey personalities who will teach from all kinds of different angles.

Tonight, you're also going to see a hands-on demonstration of the world's best budgeting app, Ours Every Dollar. We're going to walk you through how to put that together. And we're going to give away $10,000 cash, 10 winners of $1,000 to get you started, to get you moving in the right direction. So hang with us through the whole time to see if you're one of the winners.

First, we want to hear from Dr. John Deloney, Ramsey personality, mental health expert, two PhDs. The Dr. John Deloney show on podcast is an absolute blowout. It's a huge success. His last two books have been number one hits, including his latest one last fall, Building a Non-Anxious Life. Stress cycles devastate every area of our lives, not just our bank accounts. All right, John, take it away.

Hey, thanks, Dave. Hey, listen, good folks, you made it. You made it, 2024. Every New Year's, for my friends that are watching this, y'all know, I overdo it. I'm so optimistic about New Year's. My friends make fun of me. And this year feels different. I was talking to my wife recently. I'm not feeling the optimism this year. And everybody I talk to all over the country, they're feeling it too. Everybody's got a pit in their stomach. Things don't feel right.

And we can talk about it all like Dave was talking about, from politics to the wars going on overseas, from the fact that Taylor Swift finally put some no-name football player named Travis on the map, right? But tonight we're gonna talk about money, between inflation, the housing market, cost of living, student loans, all of it. It's just expensive to breathe in 2024. And the money stress is real. You can't sleep and you're snapping at your kids.

You're just distant from somebody that you love, right? Everybody's anxious. Everybody wants to stop the panic attacks. Everybody just wants to go to sleep. Everybody thinks they're broken. You think you're broken. And I want to propose something you may have never considered before. I think your body, I think your body's working perfectly. The discomfort and the anxiety you feel is your body's way of getting your attention and letting you know you're not safe.

If your credit cards are maxed and you have no savings, if you did some napkin math and you're going to be paying off your student loans for the next 41 years, or if you can't afford to pay for a flat tire, your body would be failing you if it let you rest and relax, if it let you sleep, if it let you goof off with your friends or have a deep, connected, intimate moment with a romantic partner. Your body's just doing its job.

The problem is we've created a life and a financial reality that our bodies were never designed to live in. And this isn't just science nerd stuff. I know about money anxiety because I have lived it. And on the Ramsey show, I talk about mental health and marriage and relationships. I get it. I usually don't talk about my personal finance challenges. This is a vulnerable, vulnerable side of me, if you will. I want to give you a picture of what this looks like on the other side. My wife and I didn't come from much.

My dad was a minister and a police officer. My wife's parents were teachers and they all worked really, really hard. When we got married, I wanted us to have no money stress.

I wanted me and my wife to have no money stress. I want you to hear me say that. And I tried to solve it by earning a lot and borrowing a lot. We took out massive student loans to get degrees that would land us fancy jobs with fancy titles. We bought a house that we couldn't afford. We had cars that we couldn't afford. And I remember my wife being asleep and I remember my kid being asleep and I remember being wide awake and I couldn't exhale.

And I remember the shame because I had all the answer. I had all these graduate degrees. I was responsible for millions of dollars in my job and I couldn't keep my household budget together. And I remember the guilt. I kept buying things all the time, spending money I didn't have, robbing Peter to pay Paul. My marriage suffered. My parenting suffered. My work suffered. And hear me out. My story is your story.

We're in this together. I'm you and you're me. I know how it feels and it doesn't have to be like this. Yes, sometimes I still get scared. I still feel guilty sometimes. Shame still hovers around, but I'm not anxious anymore. I don't have panic attacks anymore. I'm not at war with my body anymore. Now I often fall asleep way before my wife does. I want you to know the non-anxious life, this peace inside of all this chaos,

It's possible for you too, I promise. If you want to break the cycle of anxiety and money in your life, I want to offer you two important benchmarks, two important ideas. Number one, you must choose reality.

You've got to face your particular situation wherever you happen to be. You've been told your whole life if you follow the one normal path, everything's going to be all right. And you did it. You took out the loans. You got the job. You got the degree. You moved to the city to follow your passion. And now you're here and it's not working. The math in your fantasy is not adding up. And yes, can we just call this what it is?

It was easier for your parents and grandparents to buy a house. That was their reality. The market's different now. And yes, it used to be easier for families to live on a single income. Yes, it used to be easier to go down the street and get a job at the local mill without a degree.

Or yes, you want to be a fiction editor and live in downtown Manhattan. And yes, you want to own an organic farm outside of Orange County. Or you just want to get a general admission ticket to see Taylor Swift like my friend George Campbell is dying to do. It all feels so impossible. The world got really expensive. For the time being, it's not going to change. And becoming angry and resentful and railing against the system is like being super mad that it's hot in Arizona. It's not going to change the weather.

It's just chasing against reality. The question isn't what clever post you can put up on Twitter or how angry can you possibly be or who's just the right person to vote for? The question is, what are you going to do now? What are you going to do now? Choosing reality is about owning how life and the world truly is, not stomping around and complaining about how you wish it would be. Own it.

This is how much you owe. This is what it actually costs to live in this city. This is what our life actually is. This is what it will cost to safely buy a home. This is how much this job actually pays, period. This is our country. Of course you want new cars and kids in the right schools and vacations and just a home. I get it. And there's a snake on every corner that's gonna loan you the money to get those things right now, even though you can't afford them.

Choosing reality is not about getting the best interest rate or about your credit score. Choosing reality is about being honest about who owns you. All right, second thought. If you want to break the money anxiety cycle, you must choose freedom. And when I say choose freedom, I'm not talking about putting on an American flag underwear and running around your neighborhood. I'm talking about choosing freedom

is not owing anyone anything ever. And yes, I'm talking about living debt free. And I know you're like, oh, did Dave Ramsey pay you to say that? 'Cause actually, yes, he's paying me right now to say that. But listen, I'm telling you that the data confirms what Dave has taught for over 30 years. If your body knows that you owe money, if your body knows, your nervous system knows that you're not deciding what you do tomorrow, the bank is.

your abusive boss is, the mortgage company is. If your body knows you owe money, it will sound the anxiety alarms. And as I said earlier, my wife and I, we didn't come from a lot. We got married. I thought freedom was new cars, a big house, a whole bunch of graduate degrees. I couldn't afford those things growing up. And by God, I was going to have them. And we found ourselves locked up in some really fancy looking chains.

We decided to choose freedom. We sold our house. We moved into a dorm apartment at a university campus with 175 college kids that were amazing, but the smells were something to behold. But we were relentless. And now years later, we're free. And I remember that last payment and I could finally exhale. My body let me breathe.

My body let me sleep, let me connect with people in a deeper way. And only then could I really, truly start working on being a better husband and a better dad and actually start asking, what kind of job do I want to do? What kind of life do I want to craft for me and my family? What kind of job do I not have to do anymore? You don't get out of debt just to get out of debt. You get out of debt to have an extraordinary, generous life. This is freedom.

Since joining Ramsey, I've had best-selling books. I hit show. I'm on the Ramsey show. My finances look very different right now than they did growing up. They do. Recently, I decided to get a new car. And as a former Texan who's always compensating for something, I was planning to get a massive, giant truck with cash. And I waltzed up to the dealership, and I was like, listen here, show me your biggest trucks. And when it was all said and done, I bought a hybrid Highlander. A Highlander.

the least tough guy car in the world. It's good for hauling groceries and soccer balls and the spare running shoe. I wanted a Tundra so bad and I had the cash for it, but it wasn't right for me and my family right now. So I got an amazing, reliable car. And it's not gonna impress any of my hunting buddies, but my wife likes me, my kids like me, so I don't care. This is freedom. Now listen, that may not be what freedom looks like for you when it comes to cars.

Jade Warsaw, she has an amazing Cadillac. Rachel Cruz has an awesome Tesla. George Campbell also has a Tesla, right? And for Rachel and George, Tesla's battery-powered cars, that's what freedom looks like, except for, hey, real quick, check this out.

See this? See this? See that? You know who that is? That's me. That's me pushing George Camel's Tesla down the highway because he forgot to put AA batteries or whatever you have to put in those things to make them run or whatever. But maybe freedom for you is having a car that your buddy will push down the highway for you. Me and George are just going to a punk rock show. Is there anything less punk rock than two dudes and a Tesla that won't run? I don't... Listen, freedom...

Freedom is what you and your family decided is. But it's not about buying stuff. It's about creating a relationship with money and with purchases that prioritizes peace. You can drive a Corolla and have an extraordinary life. And I know this because I've done it. Imagine this with me. What would it feel like to not owe anyone anything? Air conditioner goes out, ugh, that's annoying. It's not catastrophic.

The price of meat and eggs skyrockets again. It's not something to weep about. It's just something to complain about. Your abusive boss crosses that line and you just smile. Bye, Felicia. I'm out. I'm leaving. This is freedom. This is peace. And listen, you, you are worth this freedom.

You're worth being well. And this life is not a pipe dream. It's possible for you. And it took me and my wife years, but it's possible to choose reality, to choose freedom, to do the hard work, and it will be hard, but you're worth it. We'll be cheering you on every step of the way. And to keep us rolling, I'm going to welcome back a man who only drives gas-powered vehicles, Dave Ramsey.

No batteries for me, John. That's right. Hey, you can see why John's show is so popular and why things are going so well for him. This latest book, Building a Non-Anxious Life, another number one bestseller. Up next is George Camel.

George's new book is Breaking Free from Broke. It releases next week on January 16th. You can still get it with pre-order goodies on our website right now. George has got the George Camel YouTube show, which is the fastest growing YouTube show in the history of Ramsey Networks. It's just going meteoric. It's

crazy how many of you are watching it. Thank you. He is the king of snark. We had to put a special font in this book, the snark font. If you've never heard of it, you'll have to embrace it. It's pretty fun. So this guy is an incredible communicator, going to help you with some of the villains out there. Take it away, George.

Thanks, Dave. I feel like I have to clear the air after Deloney just threw me under the electric bus. So here's what actually happened. What he didn't share was that the reason my car died was because I had to pick him up from his house, which apparently is in Narnia, because he somehow didn't have a single key for any of their family's 17 cars. I mean, this guy lives so far off the grid, anxiety can't even find him on Google Maps. I'm not even sure he technically lives in America, okay? And speaking of America, y'all,

Dave showed you some really sad stats. America has become land of the free and home of the broke. That's the tweet, for real. Elon, if you're watching, I refuse to call it an ex or exes or whatever you want to call it. I'm not doing it. I don't care how much money you spent. You know, it is so wild to me that we live in the most advanced society with so much opportunity, and yet we have more stress and less money than ever before. Make it make sense.

And if you've talked to people lately or, God forbid, been in a comment section, here's the new mantra for the American people. The little man can't get ahead. That's the vibe I get looking at the comments. And as a man of below average stature, I take moderate offense to it.

But I get it, right? Maybe you relate to that. You're not where you want to be financially, and it feels like another difficult year where you're not going to get ahead with money. You're not going to make progress. And the data confirms this. Ramsey Research uncovered some sobering stats in our recent State of Personal Finance report. Get this. One in four people said they rely on credit cards to make ends meet. They got nothing in the bank, and they're hoping Capital One is going to save the day.

50% of people said they struggled to pay their rent. 38% said, I struggled to pay my mortgage. Scary. And get this one. Nearly four in 10 people have $0 in savings.

Y'all, one emergency away from their life imploding. And here's what that leads to. Half of Americans said they worry about personal finances daily. Every day they wake up, that same lump in the throat, that pit in the stomach, they get in their car, they go to the job they hate, just hoping to cover the bills. This is no way to live. That's bleak stuff. And maybe some of those stats hit close to home for you.

Now, there's a whole bunch of reasons for this that we could get into. And in fact, let's do it because I think it's kind of fun to point some fingers. I mean, we could blame inflation, which has had its largest increase in 40 years. We could blame the housing market with home values rising almost 50% over the past decade. We could blame the cost of higher education. College tuition is out of control. It's increased by almost 400% since the 1980s.

And of course we could blame the Fed for raising interest rates, making debt more expensive and more crippling than ever. And we can't leave out the president, whatever old white man or middle-aged woman is elected in 2024, and for whatever reason you think they're going to ruin everything.

You could blame Congress who can't balance a budget to save their lives. And finally, we can't leave out the elder generations like the baby boomers who yelled at us youngsters to get off their lawns from the comfort of a home they paid $30,000 and a bushel of raspberries for back in 1973. Gary's gonna Gary. It's just how he is. And boomers, while we're on it, we love you, but please turn the flashlight off on your smartphone. Yes, it is on right now. And I know you didn't mean to.

All right, that was a lot. And all of that honestly was a little cathartic. I understand why people complain now. It feels really good. But where do you fit into all this mess? Because so far, it sounds like it's everyone else's problem to fix. So how do we get here and what do we do? Well, I've got a theory for how we got here. It all started when you were a wee little lad or less. You were never taught financial literacy in school, so you had no clue how money worked. But hey, at least you remember what year the War of 1812 happened, right?

And to make matters worse, you probably grew up in a home where money wasn't talked about or when it was talked about, it was stressful and there was money fights. And what did our parents tell us? College is a necessary path to upward mobility, so it's okay to take out student loans. It's an investment. It's good debt. So you financed your way through college with Sallie Mae's Monopoly money, and you had no clue how big the payments would be after graduation or how the interest worked.

And then while on campus, what happens? The sales rep lures you into your first credit card in exchange for a T-shirt and a freaking pizza. Because you got to build your credit score somehow, right? This is the gateway drug to a worse life. And of course, you tell yourself, I'll pay the card off every month and I'll get the rewards. I'll be winning. I'll beat the system. And then life happens and you couldn't pay it off in full. And it triggered insane interest rates.

And after graduation, you didn't start out making this amazing six figure dream job that you hoped you would. And as a young professional, you're like, well, it's time to upgrade the car. So what do you do before you know it? You're tied to a car payment that lasted longer than your first job and much longer than your last relationship. And I know she said it wasn't you, but it was you, Brad. It was you.

So you were told renting is a massive waste of money after that, right? Your parents are like, you got to buy a house, you got to buy a house. And you watch too much Joanna Gaines and you too much Zillowing and the bank is going to loan you way more than should be legal. And so what happens? You're chained to 30 years of payments on a house that you're going to be sick of in about five. And all of these decisions leave you financially tapped, trapped, strapped, capped, and zapped.

Y'all, this is the most depressing Dr. Seuss book of all time. You were promised the American dream and you were delivered the American nightmare. And that should make you angry. They told you it would be the land of milk and honey if you just follow this path. This is the way everyone needs to go. And instead of milk and honey, you got soy milk and Splenda. It's disgusting. I know the Splenda, they're very aggressive fan base out there. But you know, the millennials, we've moved on to agave. And you have to say it like that to be as pretentious and annoying as possible.

So at this point, y'all, we got two choices here. We can throw our hands up in the air like we just don't care because you've given up and we're going to rely on the government to fix our problems. Or you can decide to buck the system, to rise above it because you know now the system is designed to screw you over and keep you reliant on debt and stress.

I mean that. Think about this. The entire financial system, the credit score, credit cards, student loans, auto loans, they're designed to keep you paycheck to paycheck and really just steal your income. Debt is a thief, y'all. And in my new book, Breaking Free from Broke, I unpack all of these industries with lots of humor and lots of research to expose the system for what it really is and show you a better way, a way to live with more peace and less stress and more money.

But here's the deal. You have to believe this. It's not all your fault, but it's your responsibility. It's not all your fault, but it's your responsibility. And the good news is the one factor you control in this whole mess is you. And I believe in that guy. I believe in that girl. And specifically the way you handle your money. And in just a few minutes, my friends, Rachel Cruz and Jade Warshaw, they're going to be out here showing you exactly how to do that very tactically.

And my friend John just talked about the importance of choosing reality. And it reminds me of the iconic scene in the 1999 sci-fi action movie, The Matrix. Now, spoiler ahead, but honestly, if you haven't seen The Matrix by now, were you really ever going to watch it? It's been 25 years, man.

So Morpheus in the movie is rocking his signature shades, his trench coat. He's just blowing everyone's minds by revealing that what we thought was real life is actually a simulation cooked up by some power hungry robots. So Morpheus offers Neo, the hero, a choice between the red pill and the blue pill.

The red pill reveals the truth about the Matrix, keeping Neo trapped. And the blue pill lets Neo continue his life in this not-so-blissful ignorance. And Neo, being the hero that he is, he chooses the red pill and he's awakened to the real world.

And y'all, you have a similar choice when it comes to money and for your future. The brutal truth is you were lied to. And I'm sorry. It sucks. I hate that you're frustrated and you're anxious and you're feeling out of control. And it reminds me of this quote from Joe Kloss. The truth will set you free, but first, it will piss you off. Social media feeds, slick marketing, well-meaning family members, misguided guidance counselors, and of course,

The guy in the mirror. Hi, it's me. I'm the problem. It's me. They've all lied to you. And worse, they've stolen your paycheck and they've stolen your joy. They've stolen your margin. And it's enough. We've had enough. If you're riled up and you're ready to fight back, good. I'm happy for you because that means you're sick and tired of being sick and tired. You work too hard to feel this broke. You've had your I've had it moment and you're drawing a line in the sand. You're going to start doing something about it instead of just complaining about it.

That's what happened to me. A little over 10 years ago, I just opted out. I chose the red pill. I was sick of being screwed over. And I followed a different plan called the Ramsey Baby Steps. I went through Financial Peace University. I got on an every dollar budget. And in less than 10 years, I went from flat broke $40,000 in debt to net worth millionaire. That boggles my mind. And now for the past decade, I've been bucking the system, doing money differently. No credit score, no credit card, no debt, just living a life of peace and freedom.

This isn't wishful thinking or pie in the sky optimism. I didn't make a million dollars in Dogecoin or from Dave coin. I didn't get a big inheritance from a long lost rich uncle or have a secret trust fund. I decided to carve a new path with a new mindset and new habits. And that's really unsexy and boring. I want to talk about money so we can stop talking about money. Because get this, when money is no longer an obstacle, we can focus on what really matters and become the people we really want to be.

And money then becomes a tool to help you live a life that you're proud of instead of exhausted by. And it gives you more margin, more options, more joy, and more wealth than ever before. And you guys can start that journey tonight. And I wouldn't be here on this journey if it weren't for one man, and that man is Dave Ramsey. He's gonna keep this party going. Here's Dave.

Wow, way to go, George. You guys can see why George and his YouTube program and his appearances on stage and on The Ramsey Show is so popular and why this book is going to be a number one. Very, very proud of you, George. So the next step after breaking free from the system is to create a new reality with our new habits. And our next speaker is going to talk to you about new habits and also talk about community, which is absolutely important.

She's a multiple number one bestselling author, including a New York Times bestselling author. And her most recent book, a children's book, also hit number one. I'm glad for what I have. My own daughter, Rachel Cruz. Take it away, Rachel.

So some of you guys are here tonight and you're doing great, right? Maybe you've been following Ramsey for a while and you're like, yeah, I'm going to sign up and just be encouraged. But there's a good chance that there's a lot of you guys that are here because you want help. You look at your money situation today and you think, gosh, I'm just not happy with the result. I don't like where I am financially. So when you get to that point in your life, you have to realize, okay, if I'm not happy with where I am today, I'm not going to be happy with where I am today.

then I have to change what I've been doing. The habits that have gotten me where I am have to change. And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you know this. Guys, change is hard. Change is uncomfortable. When you look at something different in life and you look at it in a new way, it's kind of weird because you think, oh my gosh, is that really how that works? Or if you actually go through an action differently than how you have in the past, it feels weird because it's new.

So if you've been following me for any amount of time, you know that when it comes to working out, I've not been the most consistent. I kind of have a love-hate relationship with it. And I actually kind of famously tried to train for a marathon, half marathon,

And I quit on the first long run. And I was like, this is terrible. This is like torture. Why would anyone do this? But I can say I'm very proud of myself, you guys, that not just because of a New Year's resolution, but back in August, I started working out again. And I was like, okay, I just, I'm done having babies. I have three little kids. And I'm like, I just want to feel strong and feel good. So I'm going to start working out. And if you've ever not worked out and then worked out and you wake up the next day, oh my gosh.

I woke up, I got out of bed, I was like, "I can't move. "Like, I literally can't move." I mean, you try to get dressed and every part of you hurts. Every part of you hurts. This is probably TMI, but it's just the truth. I remember trying to go to the bathroom that morning and I was like, "I can barely even sit down." It's terrible. It's terrible.

But what I learned is when you do that and you're sore, it's actually your muscles tearing, which is kind of disgusting, but that's what it is. And so that's why you want to eat and drink protein and put good things in your body, because then your muscles grow and they build and you continue on and you become strong. And that's what happens.

So in the same way, building new habits, you guys, you're going to feel a little bit, hopefully not the physical pain, but you're going to feel a level of pain because it's going to be different and it's going to kind of hurt. But here's the deal. When you do this over and over again, you start a new habit. It becomes a new part of who you are. A lot of you have probably read the book Atomic Habits by James Clear, and I love this quote.

because it's a different mindset when you look at this. He says, the ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes a part of your identity. It's one thing to say, I'm the type of person who wants this. It's a very different thing to say, I'm the type of person who is this. So when you look at your money, you guys take on a new identity, okay? Actually say, man, what are ways for me to break this cycle? If I'm in a paycheck to paycheck cycle, what can I do? Well,

Well, a very obvious one and one that we're here at Ramsey that we always teach is get out of debt, right? When you don't have debt payments, if your car loan wasn't leaving and credit card bills weren't leaving and your student loan payment wasn't leaving, how much money would you have? It's incredible. But you have to say to yourself, I'm a person that doesn't take on debt anymore. That's who I am. You take on a new identity. Even giving, instead of saying, yeah, I want to give some money. No, no, no. You are a person who gives.

you take on that identity. Saving and investing is the same thing. I am a person who delays gratification and plans for the future. That is who I am. Contentment, I am somebody that does not have to keep up with everybody else around me. I am running my own race. You know, even budgeting, I am someone who budgets. That is who I am. And so these habits really start to form into your identity and who you are, you guys, and it is so crucial. And one of those habits that is so key

to breaking the cycle, especially the paycheck to paycheck cycle, it is budgeting. But we're not going to just talk about it. We're actually going to show you how. So to help me with a live demo, I want to welcome to the stage Jade Warshaw, my friend, Ramsey personality. What's going on, Rachel? Hi, Jade. Okay, so we're talking about this idea of breaking the cycle. That's right. And we really want to break the paycheck to paycheck cycle. And let's define that. What does that even mean? That means you have no savings. You have no income.

You have no cushion in your checking account. You have no margin. So if you miss a paycheck, literally don't have your next paycheck,

you're in a position that you're like, I can't even pay my bills. I can't do anything. Absolutely. Look, at the end of the day, if all you're doing is eating, you pay your bills and you have no money left to do the things that honestly make you a financially responsible adult, right? You can't save money. You're not investing money. Forget saving for kids college, right? That is the definition, Rachel, of paycheck to paycheck. That's right. So we want you to live on purpose. And again, most people are not living on a budget, but we're going to walk through this and

If you are somebody that maybe you have the EveryDollar app and you're using our stuff and you're doing fantastic, that's amazing. But if you're not, let me just tell you, when you build out your first budget, there's kind of two camps of people that we find. Some people, they do it and then they realize, okay, wow, well, if I just cut this one category, we're good, okay, okay.

And then there's another group of people, probably majority of people that when you get to it, you see, wow, we were in the red, deeply in the red, and I don't know what to do. So that's why Jade and I are here because we really want to walk through and show you how you can do this so well. That's right. So when we talk about budgeting, there are some blockers. Like I could feel it through the camera that some people have objections. They're like, Jade, a budget? Listen, I've got too much to do already. My kids, the math, like I hate doing math.

If you're talking about writing down numbers, others of you are like, listen, if you knew my spouse, you would know there's no way they're sticking to a budget. Or possibly you've tried a budget before and it just didn't work for you. Here's the thing, you were probably doing it wrong. So we're going to teach you the right way. And the good news is every dollar, which is the best budgeting tool,

app there is, is going to make it so super easy for you. We're going to overcome every single one of those objections tonight, and we're going to show you how to build your every dollar budget in five minutes, Rachel. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. I mean, doing this through every dollar, you guys, it is so easy. It does the math for you, and it's wonderful. So what we want you to do is to click the link in the description, and that is where you're going to build your first budget, you guys. You're

And then later on through that, because we have deals, we have promotions through that website, we want you to go to that link first and foremost. Then you'll build your budget there, and then you'll use the EveryDollar app. And Jade, I usually have my phone on me, but we're doing an event, so I'm being professional and I don't have my phone. That's right.

But what's great about the app, you guys, is it's on your phone. We're all attached to our phones. And so it goes with you in life, which is what we want. This is a thing that is going to be part of your daily habits. And so it's so key to have it convenient where it is, which is what we love. And so again, build your budget there at the link. But what we're going to show you is the mobile version. So you can kind of see what you're going to be doing. And our friend Bobby. Bobby.

Bobby A. He's somewhere out there. He's going to help us fill in some numbers. So let's go straight to this budget. So here's an every dollar budget. Now, when you do this, you guys, you want a zero-based budget, which means your income minus your expenses equals zero. So as you see, Bobby is first filling out the income here. And then all the way down, Jada, are all these expenses. And every dollar will have...

line items in the budget for you. So you can say, oh yeah, that's great. I didn't think about this. And it's really there to help you, but there's going to be some line items that are there that you don't need. So you can delete those. And there's some that you're going to add. You're probably going to add a lot. That's how we are. We add a lot of line items in our budget, which is so helpful. So again, as we're going through, he's just filling out all of these numbers. And the truth is, especially if you have a spouse, probably one of you is going to take the lead

on building the budget for the first time. And as the months go on, but the key is once you've kind of got it started, you need to get with your spouse and sit together and truly decide on those end amounts so that it's not like, I've done this budget, here, follow it. This is the money you get. You do not want,

that energy in the house. So make sure you're deciding on the numbers together. And Jade, a great way to find the numbers if you don't know is go back to your checking account the last month or two. Kind of just average out, hey, here's what we're spending on food. Here's what our electric bill is. But know that those numbers are you not budgeting. Okay, so they might be a little inflated.

inflated. So remember, you may be able to shrink some of those down because with a budget, you're living on purpose. So true. Yeah. And I always say a good budget, if you're doing it right, it should be detailed, realistic, and flexible. So when I talk about detailed, that's literally the line item. So you're going to see things on there that are preset. You can change, you can add more things. The more that you add, anything you can think of that you might spend money on, you need to include it in the budget. That's being detailed. Realistic. Rachel, you're

yesterday's prices. They're not today's prices. We all feel it. Listen, groceries are more expensive. Gas is more expensive. Make sure you're being realistic with these dollar amounts. If you're a family of four, you're probably going to need more than $150 for groceries. I know. We find people all the time. They get really excited about this. You guys are like, oh yeah, we'll eat for $50 a month. And we're like, no, no, no, because then it's going to mess up your budget. Yeah. And it's not going to work because it's not realistic. And you feel like you failed. So just

be realistic and you're going to learn. It takes most people, you know, several, several months to really get it locked in. That's right. And that's okay. Yeah. And then finally, just be flexible. This is living and breathing with you, right? It's going with your lifestyle. I am voted most likely to go over the budget in our household and I received that. But if I go over a little bit in groceries, maybe I can take a little from takeout, you know, to balance it out. And so that's the idea. However, never take from a category that's really important.

important like saving or paying off debt in order to balance the budget. That's right. And just as you guys are watching this, just don't get hung up on these specific numbers. We kind of took an average income of an American and these average numbers. So these are an example, right? You're going to plug in your numbers. And the other great thing is, Jade, you know, with people, you're the adult. Like you're doing this. You get to decide your numbers. Your budget is there to work for your life. Okay. That's what's really key here. So as you can see, we ended here with debt and

and it's always a little bit sad to see, okay, all these payments coming out that if you were, if you didn't have those payments, if you're getting out of debt, and once you are debt-free, all of that will stay in your checking account, which is awesome. But here we are with $325 over budget. So when you're over budget, there's really two ways that you can look at this. You can cut expenses and you can up income. So when you cut expenses, Bobby, let's go up to maybe a restaurant, which kind of hurts, but-

When you're in debt, you're going to be cutting a bunch of stuff, you guys. That hurts, Rachel. It does hurt. I love the reality. It does hurt. But what's crazy too, Jade, is we do these webinars. We've done every dollar webinars with maybe some of you who have been with us, but thousands of you. And there was someone recently that said that they cut all their subscriptions and they saved $5,000.

$500 a month. - That's crazy. - On cutting subscriptions. It's unbelievable. And then we talked to people that get side hustles, Jade, and they're making $1,000, $1,200. I mean, it's wild what people are making. So even up at the income, you can be able to see, okay, where

we can maybe add some money? Absolutely. You know, some of you, you're looking at this and you're like, listen, I have already gone down to a bare bones budget. There's nothing else that I can cut out. If that's you, you probably need to look at bringing in more income. And that might look like a side hustle or raising your income in another way. But most of us, if we went out

and drove Uber, did Instacart. You could probably bring in at the bare minimum an extra $500 a month. So Bobby, let's add $500 a month there and just see how it changes the number up top. So he adds the $500 and it's loading. Oh, there we go. We have extra money to spend.

To spend on- $175 right there. Whatever we choose. Yeah, which is amazing. Now with EveryDollar Premium, which again, we're doing a great deal you guys tonight here on the EveryDollar app. For EveryDollar Premium, click the link and make sure that you build out that first budget. You sign up through that link, build up that first budget on desktop. Then you can download this app and use it day to day.

But what you're going to see are features that are amazing. We've heard you. We know what you want. And Jade, one of the best features, I think. Come on. Oh, it's paycheck planning. Yes. You guys, you've been asking. We hear you. We got you. I love paycheck planning. Here's why. Because I'm sure I'm not the only person in this boat. How many of you have done a budget and you're like, yes, I'm going to do it.

I am adulting and you've planned for everything. You're like, "Grandma's birthday, I thought of everything." And then when the time comes to buy grandma's gift, there's no money in the account. It's so frustrating or worse yet, you overdraw the account. You're like, "What is happening? I've been budgeting. Somebody help me."

problem is you're not planning when to spend your money. Okay. A good budget tells your money where to go, but an even better budget tells your money when to go. And that's what we're doing here with paycheck planning. So Bobby, let's take a look at what paycheck planning looks like, because this is honestly my favorite feature of every dollar premium. So

With paycheck planning, essentially what you're doing is you're going in and you're able to plan out each day that you're going to spend your money. So this person happens to get paid on January 5th. All right. So we need to decide what we can spend money on between this paycheck

in the next paycheck, right? So she's got gas, groceries, electricity, miscellaneous, everything's looking good until we get down here to mortgage and rent. Oh my gosh, she's going over. There's not enough money. There won't be enough money to cover it. So what we can do here is go, okay, how can we rearrange this? Most of us have kind of chunk items on our budget. Things like groceries, right? She's got $500 for groceries. She's not gonna spend that all in one shot. So what I would do is I'd go in here, click it,

And let's spread it out and make it more realistic. Most people go shopping once a week. So let's put it on Fridays, $125 each week. Perfect. Spreads it out. Spreads it out. Now it's not such a weight on her paycheck. And we look down here and it's already looking better. Now she's only got, well, did we clear it up? Oh, she's only got one thing that's in the red. So the next thing I'd look at is, okay, let's look at this car payment. It comes out on the 9th.

Maybe your car payment when it comes out is not convenient for you. Get on the phone and call these people and say, listen, is there any way I can move my car payment? Let's move it to the 23rd. My guess is they're going to say yes because at the end of the day, they just want your money. They don't care when they get it. They just want it. And a lot of people will be flexible with these payments. So ask, yeah. And so now we've moved that and look, it's going to change in a minute. There's going to be, this is going to change from high risk

to low risk. But if you scroll down, you'll see that she's no longer at the risk of overspending. And so that's how paycheck planning works. It's kind of like a fun puzzle that you get to decide how you spend your money. - Yep, it's awesome. And another great feature that we have too, you guys, it takes 90 seconds, but it's to track your transactions.

So what you're going to do is you're going to, on your phone, you're going to touch that. You're going to click that transaction button. And then you're going to go through. And EveryDollar Premium is attached to your bank account. So all of your transactions drop into the EveryDollar app, which is amazing. Love that. And so you'll see Buc-ee's, which, little piece of heaven on earth. We love Buc-ee's. Listen, I'm a Wawa girl, all right? Oh, Jane, you got to go to Buc-ee's. Okay, so Buc-ee's will put in transportation there and gas. Yeah, you have Publix. We'll drop that in groceries down below a little bit.

And then, what was next? Oh, nail spa. Always. If you're not planning, come on. Plan for the nails. Always, yep. Don't forget about that. So we'll put that in, you know, the cosmetics area that I think we do have. Oh, no, there may be a connection issue, it said. And then, last but not least, okay, so you're going to have things like Amazon that drop in. So this is where you have to be a little bit more detailed because what's hard with Amazon, I don't know if this is how you are, Jade. Yes. But we'll get an Amazon transaction, but it's, I bought a book and...

hangers and I don't know, fill in the blank. And so it all is in all these different categories. - That's right. - So you can actually split the transaction. - So important because you want your grocery budget to be for groceries and you want your clothing for clothing. So let's go through here. We could split it. Let's put some of it on groceries, put some of it on clothing. Let's see. And you can, it's easy to search up top. So if you're looking for that category, you can select it and put whatever amount goes in that category. And then you can come down and say, okay, also I had clothing.

as part of that purchase. And that way you're really being accurate about how you're tracking your transactions. Because Rachel, if you're like me, I like to know, like I want to know what I'm spending my money on. And this is going to give you an accurate picture of how you're actually spending your money. Yeah. And let me just speak a little bit to like the nerds out there, or maybe this is for the free spirits. You don't have to do like every little cent. Okay. So if it's like the hangers were $12, like, wait, wait a minute, Rachel, I'm just kidding. I

I know. So just make it easy on yourself. You can make it quick. Just, it's the idea that, again, you're following your life and your spending and your budget is right there with you to give you permission. So again, building out that budget, you guys, click that link, build your first budget through that link because tonight we have so many great deals for you. We want you to get plugged into this stuff, you guys. And then later on, you'll download the app and you'll get all of this there on your phone. Now, the last thing that I think is probably one of the best features is that month-to-month...

every dollar will duplicate your budget. So here in January, you go up there and you can click to February. And then as you click to February, it's going to just duplicate all of your numbers. Now, you still have to be proactive. Go in there because there'll be line items from January that you don't need in February. There'll be new line items in February you'll want to add. So again, you're still being proactive in your budget, but you don't have to start from scratch, which is so great, Jade, because every month is

is different and that's why I love every dollar. - I know, that's right. - So you guys, to recap, remember you can make your first budget in five minutes. Click that link in the description to build that first budget. Plan your paychecks, no matter when you're paid, what you're being paid, plan them out.

And also make sure to track your transactions because that is so key. And Jade, that's what keeps it in every dollar budget, which we love. Okay, so we're going to pitch it back over to Dave to share an exciting announcement about a giveaway.

Time to give away our first $1,000. As a reminder, we're giving away $10,000 tonight. And Eric A. from North Dakota is our first winner. Eric, our team will be in touch with you and we'll get your $1,000 out. We're going to give away another $9,000 over the next few minutes. So be watching. Look for your name in the chat. That's where we'll be doing it. And earlier I said that most of you watching said you're not consistently following a budget.

that you couldn't miss a paycheck. You're right on the edge. You're in this crisis mode. And also, most of you said that your primary emotions when it comes to money are fear, shame, and guilt. And finally, 80% of people in America have said they've been in this financial situation for most of our adult life. Guys, this is the moment to decide. Are you going to break the cycle? You've been trapped most of your adult life. Are you going to break this?

We've all got enough excuses, not enough time, not enough money. It's my parents' fault, it's my spouse's fault, it's the president's fault. It's not. At some point, it's my fault. Now these things may not be your fault, but they are your responsibility. And it comes down to a choice. You have the right and the obligation to do something different. If you choose to stay right where you are, what is this cycle costing you? A life of mediocrity, stress, and anxiety.

Instead, you could choose peace, financial peace. Two words that don't go together, like airline service. You can have peace at life, peace at work, peace in your relationships. And these things all do run together. Now, I value peace because, like some of the other Ramsey personalities, I've lived the opposite. I've lived in fear, even terror. When I was 28 years old, I was at the bottom of a deep valley. I had started with nothing, and I built a $4 million house.

portfolio of real estate with a million dollar net worth and making $250,000 a year in 1982, long time ago. It was a lot of money back then, but I blew it. I borrowed too much money, I got too far in debt, and I fell way over the edge. And the year Rachel was born, I had a brand new baby, a toddler, and a marriage hanging on by a thread, and we filed bankruptcy. It was awful.

I remember standing in the shower with as hot as I could stand it in my face and I'd stand there and just cry because I was so freaking scared and I didn't know what to do. So I had to do something different. You know the old saying, if you keep doing what you've been doing, you're going to keep getting what you've been getting. And you know the other old saying, continuing to do the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. We've heard these things, but when you're in a situation like that, you got to change. So I decided we're going to start doing something different.

And you can do something different. Same is true for you. Take what you've learned tonight, use the tools we're going to show you, and start to win. Tonight's your night. Start right now. Every dollar premium that Jade and Rachel just talked about where it connects to your bank, checks your transactions every day, it's the financial equivalent of weighing yourself every morning after you're working out, doing your run,

Use that paycheck planning that comes with the EveryDollar Premium to get your confidence to spend, get the stuff in the right part of the month where the thing actually freaking works. Get in one of our free one-on-one coaching sessions and daily group coaching from our team. And we put together a 90-day plan with EveryDollar. And it's going to guide you through every next right step with your money. We're going to hold your hand and show you how to do this. EveryDollar Premium is normally $79.99 a year.

But tonight, it's only $64.99. That's less than $6 a month. And we all know that's less than one cup of Starbucks, right? So to get this deal, click the link in the description or go to everydollar.com slash start.

Our second offer is Ramsey Plus. It's the whole enchilada. It's the second option tonight, all in one, and it gives you all the stuff I just talked about with every dollar premium. Every dollar premium's there, plus a ton more. It includes Financial Peace University, which is our nine-lesson class that 10 million people in America have been through to learn how to get out of debt, get on a budget, agree on spending with their spouse, change their generosity, and become Baby Steps millionaires.

There's courses in there in addition to Financial Peace University on anxiety with Dr. John Deloney. We've got parenting stuff in there, career stuff from Ramsey Personality, Ken Coleman, increasing your income. And all of the audio books from all of our Ramsey Personalities bestsellers are in there included for free. And you know, if you start listening to those audio books in your car on your way to work, your car turns into automobile university.

You can get the equivalent of a university degree just listening to this kind of stuff in your car instead of listening to junk.

We've also got Ramsey Smart Tax in there, which is our tax software. It's included free, so you can file your taxes free. And Ramsey Plus is normally $129 for all of that. Tonight, $99, which of course is less than $8 a month. To get that same deal, go to the same link in the description right now, or go to everydollar.com slash start. Either one of them will cause you to

move forward, whether you just get the basic premium or whether you do the whole enchilada with Ramsey Plus. It's a no-brainer, guys. Now, it's time to quit saying one day. Start saying day one. Get on the same page with your spouse. Get control of your money. Be intentional. Start to think out 90 days. What's it going to be like when you get to spring break this year and you don't have any payments? Or you get to spring break and you're in control for the first time ever.

This is crazy. We're going to be walking with you. There's 1,000, 1,100 folks on the Ramsey team right here in Nashville, and we're all thinking about you. We spend millions of dollars on this EveryDollar app, constantly upgrading it, iterating it, making it better. Same with Financial Peace University. We're there for you. We exist to help you change your whole future, to create transformation. So you can create your account right now by clicking the link in the description or visiting everydollar.com/.start.

Now, we got a plan. We've been talking about with Dr. John Deloney. We hear Rachel. You've gotten, of course, George Camel. And I really want you to hear from one of my favorite speakers on the planet, our own Jade Warshaw. She's going to help you talk about someday in a whole different way. So, Jade, it's all yours.

Wow, Dave, thank you so much. Hey, I'm glad you guys are here tonight on this live stream. You know, we've all seen those great action movies, right? That have those amazing car chase scenes. I'm thinking about Keanu Reeves before the Matrix, George, all right? Speed, okay? I'm thinking about Uma

Thurman in Kill Bill or maybe Liam Neeson. Yes, a classic. Come on, the Taken movies, that is Liam Neeson in his prime. But the hero is always in a getaway car, right? He's like speeding to get away from these bad guys. And if it's a really good movie, there's, that's not only himself to save, but he's got like women

and children in the car that he needs to save as well. And inevitably, what does the hero face? There's always a barrier, right? There's always another car or something to jump over, separating the hero from where he needs to go. My favorite barrier, the chain link fence. Man, the chain link fence is awesome.

always in the way. It's always closed tight with one of those padlocks on it. And of course, it's got the barbed wire on the top of the fence. And somehow it's on a bridge too, a bridge with water on every side and a very steep fall if the hero were to go off the bridge. And the hero believes if he can just bust through that fence, there's freedom on the other side, right? If he can just get past those bad guys chasing him, it'll no longer be a threat.

So with sweat pouring down his face and his eyes narrowed, he's focused. He pushes the pedal to the metal. The car rams through the fence. And of course, that sets off a series of like random explosions in the background, ensuring that our bad guy is no longer a problem. And the hero busts through the fence. The gates burst wide open and he drives off into the sunset. Wow. Wow.

What a great scene. That's a great movie. Man, we love movies like that, don't we? We love when the hero is both brave and courageous. We love to see the hero win. But what if the scene were different? Let's take a moment and rewind back. Let's think for a moment. What if the hero approached the fence with his nemesis gaining on him, but instead of speeding the car up,

He actually began to slow the car down. As a matter of fact, he comes to a complete stop when he gets to the fence. And then our hero gets out of the car and he kind of begins cautiously, you know, walking around, seeing if there's a way to get around the fence. He tries the padlock. No, that won't work. And when he realizes there's no way to get around the fence or through the fence, he gets back into the car.

And instead of gunning the engine forward, he puts the car in reverse. He doesn't believe that he has the ability to go through the fence or around the fence. And so he puts the car in reverse and drives back towards the very mess and the very chaos that he was trying to escape. Man, this movie sucks. I don't know about you, but I want my money back. Okay, what happened to our hero? And yet,

This is what so many of us do when it comes to our money, our money journey. It's like we're all hype and no fight, right? We come to the beginning of the year and we're like, all right, I'm ready. This is my year. This is the year I'm getting out of debt. I'm getting on a budget. I'm getting everything on track.

and we feel super optimistic until the moment that we face a barrier, right? We come against that fence and the moment we hit it, we wanna turn and go back the other way because we don't believe that we actually have what it takes to bust through that barrier. Now, Rachel and I, we just laid the plan out for you. We gave you the blueprint, but if there's anything I've learned, it's this. If behavior is your getaway car,

Your belief is what's in the driver's seat, okay? Your belief is what drives your behavior. Depending on what you believe, you'll either ram through that fence, right? Or you'll put the car in reverse and go back the other way. Listen, this plan, the plan we laid out for you, that's not in your driver's seat. Dave Ramsey, he's not in your driver's seat. I'm certainly not in your driver's seat.

Your belief is the only thing in your driver's seat. And I can tell you, you're always gonna encounter barriers, okay? On this financial journey, you're gonna hit mental blocks, okay? These obstacles, they are guaranteed.

but you won't make progress. You won't ram that fence if you don't actually believe that it's possible for someone like you, okay? And I know some of you are like, okay, Jade, I'm getting it. That's me. Like, I'm the one who keeps getting caught up in the same cycle of fear and guilt and shame. And I'll be honest, yeah, Jade, it has caused me to retreat. But what am I supposed to do about that? Can you help me? How can I change that? Well,

I've got two thoughts for you, and this is what's worked for me, okay? Number one, you've got to challenge those beliefs, okay? Second Corinthians 10.5 tells us we have to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. In other words, we've got to take our thoughts and make them obedient to what's

true. Okay. Maybe you're like, Jade, I don't read the Bible. I'm not a Christian person. That's okay. I'm happy you're here. But let's look at what Dr. John Deloney says. He says, we have to demand evidence of our thoughts. So much of what we believe is simply not true. And so this is the time that we've got to get serious about calling out those thoughts. Case in point, I'll be the first example. When I was a kid, a phrase that I heard over and over growing up was this,

We ain't got no money. We ain't got no money for this. We ain't got no money for that. Was it true? Probably not, but it didn't matter because I believed it. And as an adult, I started kind of taking that on as my status in life. I ain't got no money. So that's the reason that I've got to borrow money. I ain't got no money. So that's the reason that there's limitations on my income. It just makes sense. And I ain't got no money. So a budget probably wouldn't help me.

Maybe you've got that same, I ain't got no money thought of your own. Maybe it's somebody like me just can't save money or a budget could never help somebody in my situation or whatever your exception to the rule may be. Listen, this is the time to get your mind right. Man, you got to start challenging those thoughts. All right.

All right, Jade, I hear you guys. You're like, all right, Jade, I'm rocking with you. Like, I can see. I definitely have some money thoughts that could be better. I definitely have some of those screwed up thoughts as it relates to money. What can I do about it? What do I do next? All right, here's the next thing to do. You gotta flood your mind with truth, all right? Romans 12, two tells us, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Simply put, you gotta get new thoughts into your mind, okay?

And at the end of the day, think about that old adage, right? Whatever you feed grows and whatever you starve dies. So it's time to start starving those negative, untrue beliefs about money that haven't been serving you anyway and start feeding yourself

And I can tell you this, when you get involved with Ramsey Solutions, man, you're really just getting involved with a community of truth tellers. We're going to tell you the truth all right through FPU, through Ramsey Plus, certainly through EveryDollar, most definitely through The Ramsey Show. If you're not listening to that, you need to be.

but this is you flooding your mind with truth. Now, when my husband Sam and I were getting out of our debt, we paid off $460,000 of debt, guys, that half a million almost of debt. And I can tell you this, I knew it was a financial journey, but I also knew it was a mindset and a belief journey. I had to get my mind right. So we were listening,

listening to the Ramsey Show every day, okay? I'm opening up that EveryDollar app every single day. And I was engaged with other things like Financial Peace University, even to the point that I even taught Financial Peace University with my husband.

And by doing that, that's us submerging ourself in daily truth to the point where those weak lies that we used to believe about money, man, they started to just sound ridiculous. They started to fall by the wayside and we started to realize how much power we actually had. I was able to change my mind. I was able to change my beliefs and you can too. Listen, I want you to look right here.

I want you to know that you're more powerful than you could ever imagine, okay? You can accomplish more than you ever thought possible. And this year, it's hard pass on anything that tells you otherwise. Listen, 2024, this is your year. You're speeding towards a fence right now. Use this momentum, use this feeling to bust through it.

Now, are you going to be that person who just lets that same old cycle of fear and guilt and shame turn you around? Or are you going to be the hero who busts through the barrier and breaks the cycle? Be the hero. Speaking of heroes, I'd love to bring back to the stage Dave Ramsey.

Thanks, Jade. You're incredible. Wow. If you aren't fired up after that, something's wrong with you. As we said before, personal finance is 80% behavior. It's 20% head knowledge. If I can get the guy in my mirror to behave, he can be skinny and rich.

And the way you change behavior is you change your beliefs. And the way you change your beliefs is you get new information, a new way of looking at things. You can do that through several lenses. And we've tried to help you with all of those lenses tonight. We can go through the intellectual lens, the academic lens. And so we get two PhDs up here with Dr. John Deloney looking at this through all the nerd stuff and trying to get you that way. Hey, we can recognize our outside foes and our enemies. Who's the villain? It's not you.

But it is your responsibility. And George helped you with that. You can look at it through the lens of community, people around you, because you become who you hang around with, that's for sure. And you can look at it through the lens, like Jade helped us with, of the spiritual and what God's got to say about this.

The more lenses that you look at your situation through and adjust your behaviors, the more likely you are to get control of this area of your life. Now we're offering this tool tonight, as we said, every dollar. Buy tonight the premium access for one year with one-on-one coaching, group coaching, 90-day plan. We're gonna walk with you. You can check it all out and be sure and click the link. I'm often asked when I'm being interviewed, Dave, what's the number one mistake people make with their money?

You've probably heard that a bazillion times in the last 30 years. As if there's like the credit card or crypto or there's one stupid thing that's more stupid than the other stupid things. And it's not. The number one mistake people make with their money is they don't pay attention. They're not intentional. No one becomes successful at anything. No one wins at anything unless it's a series of intentional acts.

No one accidentally has a great marriage. No one accidentally has a great career. No one accidentally wins the World Series. No one accidentally wins. It's a series of intentional acts. Now why would you take these intentional acts that are painful usually? Because there's a price to be paid to win. We know that. Why would we do that if we didn't think they were gonna work? I mean, it'd be a psychological disorder if you were just doing it just for the pain, right?

Now, we do it because we believe they're gonna work. When you believe they're gonna work, that's called hope. And hope, when it's not there, man, it lets the air out of everything. Proverbs says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick." Hopelessness makes the heart sick. And the proverb continues and says, "But when desire comes, it is the tree of life."

The great motivator, Les Brown, has always said, people change their lives when they finally get sick and tired of being sick and tired, and they have that moment where they say, that's it, I've had it. When you've had an I had it moment, you don't care what other people think, and you're gonna change something. I hope tonight we can lead you to your I've had it moment, which is where hope is born, because now things change when hope is born. Because hope, hope is what we do at Ramsey.

We know a lot about it. It's very real. We see it light up in people's eyes when they start to believe. And right after that's when they change their behaviors. And right after that is when we see them start to win. Thanks for joining us tonight. We love you and we're cheering you on. 2024 is going to be awesome, baby.