On the Wednesday episode of The Ramsey Show, financial expert Dave Ramsey confronted a caller's abusive situation, urging her to seek immediate help after revealing years of financial and emotional control by her husband.
Husband Sabotages Cars, Blocks Work Opportunities
Caller Sarah, 36, a mother of three, explained that her husband had been tampering with her vehicles, making it difficult for her to maintain employment.
"I'm kind of confused about whether I'm in an abusive relationship or not because he's not physical with me, but he's taking my resources away," she said.
Sarah revealed her husband controls her access to money and monitors her movements, giving her only limited funds via Cash App for household expenses.
Financial, Emotional Control Signals Abuse
Ramsey immediately recognized the severity of the situation. "Stop. This is an abusive relationship. Anytime someone calls up and says, ‘My spouse is tampering with my car and he's a bully and he’s controlling and he’s only giving me a few dollars,' this is an abusive relationship," he said.
Ramsey urged Sarah to contact a local pastor or counseling team and explore safe housing options. "You need to get some help and get some distance," he added.
Co-host George Kamel advised documenting incidents to protect herself and her children.
Ramsey Calls Out Financial Abuse
In an August episode, 21-year-old Hunter from Michigan shared how a decision at 18 left him with $10,000 in debt.
His mother had asked him to cosign a car loan despite her bad credit, and the vehicle was later repossessed. "I didn't know anything about finances at all back then," he admitted.
Ramsey called the situation "financial abuse by your parent" and advised Hunter not to pay the full amount. Instead, Ramsey suggested negotiating a settlement starting at $1,000 while warning him to protect his personal information from collectors.
Last month, a woman named Quinn asked whether she or her husband was the financial abuser in their marriage.
She explained that her husband earned about $140,000 annually while she made $50,000 and attended graduate school. Despite the wide income gap, her husband accused her of financial abuse because she had more savings, which she explained came from selling her car.
Kamel dismissed the claim, saying, "There's no abuse here. It's just stupidity." Ramsey agreed, cautioning against labeling normal financial disagreements as abuse.
Read Next:
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock
