When it comes to saving money, personal finance advice figure Dave Ramsey is more of a nose-to-the-grindstone kinda guy. His advice usually errs on the side of getting out of debt as soon as possible -- and staying that way. So when one caller came to him with an idea to get out of debt more quickly, you'd think Ramsey would be on board. But that wasn't the case with Wyatt.
28-year-old North Dakota resident Wyatt says that he and his 25-year-old "old lady" are talking about getting married. He tells Ramsey that the pair would like to "simplify things and combine our income[...] to pay off debt." The two had discussed getting married at the courthouse, then, once they were debt-free, saving up and "having as big a ceremony as big as she wants."
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The problem, he says, is that he "can't quite convince her."
Wyatt and his “old lady” are talking about marriage, and he wants to know if they can skip the big wedding to pay off their debt faster. pic.twitter.com/ZeFv48lDXq
— Dave Ramsey (@DaveRamsey) July 27, 2023
For this call, Ramsey personality Jade Warshaw chimes in, helping to illuminate how Wyatt's "old lady" might be feeling about the arrangement. "I just want to make sure you're doing it because you want to get married, not because you want to pay off debt faster," she tells him.
"My guess is that's maybe the part that doesn't sound as romantic for her. If you're[...] serving it up on the platter of 'Hey, honey, we can pay off our debt faster if we just go down to the courthouse and get the paper' as opposed to 'I want to marry you today, I don't want to wait and save up money, I'm ready to put a ring on your finger today,' like that feels different. So maybe just frame it up a little differently for her."
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"You're trying to sell this like a joint venture," said Ramsey.
Based on the couple's combined income of $240,000 and their $205,000 worth of debt, Ramsey suggested a reasonable weekend celebration splurge of about $3,000-$4,000 -- a rare recommendation from a usually-frugal Ramsey.
How does he justify the expenditure? At the end of the day, Ramsey says, "happy wife, happy life."
