A recent episode of “The Ramsey Show” featured a tough call from Nicole in New York City. After years of working hard with her husband to pay off credit cards, car loans and most of her student debt, she said their progress came crashing down when he developed a gambling addiction.
“He racked up around $21,000 of credit cards and depleted pretty much all of our savings,” Nicole said. To make things worse, he had been unemployed for five months, though she added he just started a new job that week.
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Financial Infidelity And A Path To Trust
Co-host John Delony took the lead in the call, framing her husband’s actions as “financial infidelity.”
“He cheated on you with money,” Delony said. “Y’all made a commitment. Y’all etched it into stone and he went behind your back and did something else.”
Nicole said she separated their accounts when she realized what was going on, and Delony praised her for that. “You gotta keep yourself safe,” he said.
When she asked whether she should pay off the credit card debt her husband created, Delony said the more important question is whether she wants to stay married.
“If you’re going to stay married, you punishing him by making him earn and pay further… it further separates you guys,” he said. Instead, he recommended laying out a clear trust-building plan. “You get to decide what rebuilding trust will look like.”
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Delony also urged Nicole to verify whether her husband had actually stopped gambling. “You don’t know,” he said directly. He advised pulling all three of her husband’s credit reports, checking for gambling apps, and considering whether he needed to stop spending time with certain people. “You want to see him reinvest in you, reinvest in your marriage.”
“You’ve lost respect for him as a man,” Delony told her, adding that part of the healing process would mean seeing him work hard to get back on his feet emotionally and financially. Delony said her husband should be waking up early to drive for Uber or do side-gigs like working for a moving company, instead of spending time with friends who may have encouraged his past gambling habits.
Cruze chimed in to support Nicole’s decision to protect herself. “He made decisions that now there’s consequences,” she said. “There’s real life consequences to a marriage that he has broken in a sense.” Ultimately, to the hosts, Nicole isn’t being controlling or unfair. She’s setting boundaries after a major betrayal.
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