Stop Settling for a Life You Hate

SPEAKER_1 (0:02)

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Jade Warshaw (0:11)

Normal is broken, common sense is weird, so we're here to help you transform your life and your money from the Ramsey Network. Here in the FAIRWINDS Credit Union studio, this is The Ramsey Show. I'm Jade Warshaw. Next to me, you already know the man, Dr. John Delony, taking calls all a couple of hours long here. 888-825-5225 is the number you need to dial. We've got Lexi, who's in San Francisco, California. Hey, Lexi, what's going on, girl?

SPEAKER_3 (0:38)

Hi.

SPEAKER_4 (0:40)

Calling from California. I'm curious to get your recommendations on a housing finance related question.

Currently, I'm in a pretty major metropolitan area. My rent is over 50 percent of my take home income. And so if I had the option to move home and not pay rent, but I would have to commute probably four hours round trip to come a week to get to yeah, so it got gas prices in California. And then of course, like probably down the line, more car related expenses. So curious what you all would make of that.

Dr. John Delony (1:22)

What do you do for a living?

SPEAKER_4 (1:25)

I do communication.

Jade Warshaw (1:27)

So what if we said that neither of those are the solution? Cause they're clearly not, you can't pay 50 percent and you can't have a four hour commute.

Neither of those are an option.

Dr. John Delony (1:37)

Neither of those are a good life.

Anytime I feel backed into a corner, I like to just for fun put options 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, even if they're preposterous, but put them on the table to A, remind myself that there's always more options than bad A and bad B. But also it begins to expand my horizon a little bit. How much do you make in your job?

SPEAKER_4 (2:00)

A little over 100,000 a year.

Jade Warshaw (2:02)

Oh, gosh. And certainly now we have another variable. Certainly not for 100,000, are we driving a four-hour commute? So what can we, you said you're in communications?

SPEAKER_6 (2:13)

Yes.

Jade Warshaw (2:14)

What can you, are there other jobs and communications that are all over the country that you could apply for? And if not, what is it specifically that you feel like is keeping you in the San Francisco area or in a high-expense area?

SPEAKER_4 (2:28)

Yeah, I mean, it's so difficult, right? Because high cost of living, but typically higher wages than maybe other areas in California.

SPEAKER_6 (2:38)

Not necessarily, not if the ratio doesn't pan out.

SPEAKER_4 (2:42)

Yeah.

Yeah. And yeah, I'm feeling that definitely lately.

Dr. John Delony (2:49)

And make no mistake, San Francisco is stunning. It's beautiful. It's got cool things to do.

All cool bands play there. Like it's a cool place to be. And it also costs a jillion dollars.

SPEAKER_4 (3:02)

Totally. Well, and that's where like quality of life, if you can't afford any of the fun things.

Dr. John Delony (3:08)

Exactly.

Jade Warshaw (3:09)

It doesn't even matter.

Dr. John Delony (3:10)

Or what is your 100,000? And dude, I know there's something magic about saying the phrase, I make six figures. But if you make a hundred grand and you can't afford to do anything, what's the difference in making 85 somewhere where you can enjoy your life, right?

SPEAKER_4 (3:30)

Yeah. Yeah.

Jade Warshaw (3:31)

And you laid out the stakes perfectly. You said, okay, if I keep doing this and paying 50 percent rent, obviously, I mean, you already know, you're not going to have the money, you're not going to have the margin to do anything that would make you a financially responsible adult, right? You won't be able to save money, you won't really be able to invest, you won't be able to build wealth, you won't be able to buy real estate, right? Not on 100,000. And then if you say, well, if I do the other option and I do a four-hour commute, well, now I'm just burning myself out, I'm burning my vehicle out, I'm burning myself out a job that maybe I started out liking, now I hate the job and I'm looking up two years from now going, what was I thinking?

Dr. John Delony (4:05)

And my mom's asking me when I'm going to be home, right?

Jade Warshaw (4:09)

So let's get ahead of that. Seeing that, let's go, okay, what can we create that we look up two years from now and we think, I'm so glad that I made this change.

Is it today, starting today, starting this weekend, we started putting lines in the water, we started making a list of 10 people we know around the country, letting them know, hey, I'm looking, I'm searching, I get on LinkedIn, I read Ken Coleman's book, Find the Work Your Wire to Do. I start all that tonight in this weekend, and then I start actually applying for jobs. I start sending out resumes. Maybe in the next couple of months, you land something and yeah, maybe it caused you to go to Denver or you go to Dallas or you go, gosh, to Buttville, Tennessee. Wherever you end up going, you're there and now you're making a living, you're making money, and all of that other stuff is gone now, and you're just able to enjoy your money, you have a new community. I mean, I like this for you.