A 28-year-old caller from Vancouver joined "The Ramsey Show" with a housing dilemma that quickly became a lesson in personal finance denial.
Alexandria said she was living in a dark, windowless basement suite that was taking a serious toll on her mental health. Even though she had recently landed a job paying 40 Canadian dollars ($28.37) an hour, she said she couldn't find a better place she could afford.
Her current rent was CA$980. The cheapest upgrade she could find was another basement for CA$1,300. She said she had already ruled out getting a roommate, having lived with over 40 people in the past, and didn't want to relocate because she believed her income would drop in a different city.
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That's when Dave Ramsey asked if she had any debt. She admitted she still had student loans—but also had CA$35,595 saved in a Canadian brokerage account. Ramsey told her to cash it out and pay the loans off immediately.
"I know that's what you would teach," she replied, "but the investment's doing really well."
Co-host George Kamel didn't hesitate. "You're broke," he said.
That's when Ramsey jumped in. "Why did you call us for help if you don't want to follow the plan?"
The conversation turned to wellness—her justification for not sharing a home. "I need to prioritize living on my own to ensure that I prioritize my wellness," she said.
Ramsey didn't let it slide. "Being broke is going to mess with your wellness too," he said. "You can't just make up your own rules and call it wellness."
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He explained that what was really fueling her anxiety wasn't just the apartment—it was indecision. "Open loops are what bring anxiety," he said. "Meaning decisions that are not made." Leaving every option hanging, refusing to choose, was more stressful than choosing the hard thing and moving forward.
He laid out her real options: move somewhere cheaper, take on a roommate, stay in the basement, or stay broke. But pretending all four could be avoided wasn't a solution—it was a fantasy. "Pick your pain," Ramsey said. "One of those four is coming to you."
Kamel closed with a final reminder: "The best thing you can do for self-care is get yourself debt-free."
What started as a question about rent ended as a blunt reminder that the numbers don't care how you feel. And in her case, the pain she called about was directly tied to choices she refused to make.
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