Common Sense Beats Clever Money Hacks

**Dave Ramsey** (0:30)
Michelle Kelly is my co-host today. The phone number here is 828-825-5225.
The call is free, and some say the advice is worth exactly what you pay for it. Michelle is with us in Austin, Texas. Hi, Michelle, how are you?

**SPEAKER_2** (0:46)
I'm broke. How are you doing?

**George Kamel** (0:50)
Appreciate the honesty.

**Dave Ramsey** (0:51)
There we go. Straight to it, baby. Here we go. Oh my gosh, I love it. How can we help?

**SPEAKER_2** (0:59)
Okay, so single mom, and I've been living paycheck to paycheck my whole life, started listening to your show and realized there is a solution. I just have to figure out, you know, there is hope, shall I say. I just have to figure out the solution.
So my question is, should I go to some small school, like real estate school or esthetician school, to try to better my situation?

**Dave Ramsey** (1:27)
What are you doing now?

**SPEAKER_2** (1:29)
I'm in sales. I've been in sales my whole life.

**Dave Ramsey** (1:32)
What are you selling?

**SPEAKER_2** (1:34)
Well, I'm selling forklift batteries for forklifts, but I just started with the company and it's going to take me about a year to ramp up and start making commission.

**Dave Ramsey** (1:46)
And when you ramp up and start making commissions, what are you projecting that you'll be making?

**SPEAKER_2** (1:51)
Close to around $85,000 to $100,000 a year.

**Dave Ramsey** (1:55)
Okay. And what's wrong with that?

**SPEAKER_2** (2:00)
Well, right now I'm making $65,000 a year. And when I, I mean, my rent went through and I'm negative a couple of $100.

**Dave Ramsey** (2:10)
Okay. So you got a side hustle issue until you get your commissions going, not a career crisis.

**SPEAKER_2** (2:17)
Okay.

**Dave Ramsey** (2:18)
So, I mean, estheticians don't make $85,000 a year, most of them.
So no, I wouldn't go that direction. Real estate agents can make well in excess of $85,000. Most of them don't. But most of them don't sell a lot of houses either. So I mean, if you're going to get in the real estate business, you're going to sell a lot of houses.

**George Kamel** (2:39)
And it could take a while before you see some meaningful income.

**Dave Ramsey** (2:42)
Yeah. Again, you're starting again. It'll be six months probably with nothing. Right. So you got some kind of side hustle or you start real estate part-time while you're selling forklift batteries. I don't know. But which wouldn't be a bad idea. And you don't really have to go to real estate school to pass a real estate test in Texas.
Unless they require a pre-licensing. They probably do a pre-licensing class. But it's just one class or something, isn't it?

**SPEAKER_2** (3:12)
There's six classes that I would need to take. I actually...

**Dave Ramsey** (3:18)
In order to sit for the license?

**SPEAKER_2** (3:22)
It's one test and yes, six courses. Principles 1, 2...

**SPEAKER_4** (3:26)
But you have to...

**Dave Ramsey** (3:27)
All that's a prerequisite for taking the test?

**SPEAKER_2** (3:31)
I believe so.

**SPEAKER_4** (3:32)
Okay.

**SPEAKER_2** (3:33)
I've done Principles 1 and 2 before. I just ended up having a kid and couldn't finish.

**Dave Ramsey** (3:38)
I don't mind you, you know, let's take those classes while we're doing this and while we're working a side hustle to make sure the rent... Let's first cover the rent and stay in the current job. And then once you've got that going, then if you want to go ahead and take the test, take the minimum number of classes necessary to take the test. Don't go, you know, getting a whole bunch of certifications in the real estate world until you've sold some real estate. So it's not necessary. If you find a broker that will help you get, that will sponsor you as your affiliate broker's license, pass the prerequisite classes, then take the test and start selling part time as your side hustle. Once you've got the battery business up to income, then that's probably a thing. And then if you can get the real estate business to take off and it passes the forklift battery business, then you drop the forklift battery business, right?
Okay. But I don't...
Today's problem is rent, and that's not solved by anything we're talking about, except a side hustle. Yeah.

**George Kamel** (4:44)
There's a long tail on that. So how much debt do you have?

**SPEAKER_2** (4:49)
My car would be my only debt. Well, I do have about $1,500 in dental work that I just had done, that I'm financing zero interest. And then my car, I owe $19,000 on it.

**Dave Ramsey** (5:02)
Okay. Good for you.