Raising 7 Kids On A $80,000 Income

Brought to you by CHL, a budget-friendly, faith-based alternative to health insurance. chministries.org slash budget. Struggling with finances and just can't seem to get ahead. So we're just trying to, I told my wife, I'm like, we really got to do something. We talked, she found out you guys had an app. And so I just decided I was going to take it. Said, you guys took calls and I was going to call and see if there's something you can do to help us out. Cause we feel like we're just constantly drowning and trying to get ahead and it doesn't seem to work out. That's a frustrating feeling. I'm sorry. I've been there and it's no fun. I feel like a freaking rat in a wheel. Worked myself to death and all I got is bony fingers, right? Yes, sir. So what are you experiencing? Do you feel like it's an income issue? Do you feel like more money's going out the door or is it a combination of both? I think it's, I think it's both. I mean, we have a decent money coming in. I mean, we're not living high on the hog by any means. What do you make? I make 60,000 of my salary and then we make about another 20,000 or so with like High Spark doing a second job. And then my wife does it when she can. She's a stay-at-home mom. We have seven kids, five are adopted. And so we just try to juggle everything we can, but we seem like we have to get a loan to get by. And then we try to pay that loan off and then we have to get another one to get something else done. And it just, it's just frustrating. Yeah. I mean, $80,000, you've got a big family, family of nine, that's got to go an awful long way. Do you guys have a budget? We, we sort of do. We write all of our bills down on the paper and then we check them off as we, as we pay them throughout the month. And then sometimes we get to the end and we're a little short. So then I got to go, you know, I stay longer out in the evenings or on my day. We have about 10,000 in personal loans and about 11,000 in credit card debt and almost 70 in cars and auto loans. Okay. And break those down for me. What's the two cars? Um, one is 30,000. One is, uh, almost 38,000. Okay. So one of them is the school bus. Yes. One of them is the nine passenger vehicle. And then the other one I just recently bought, um, like three months ago and that's because it's a hybrid. And so I bought it brand new. So that way I could do the extra income in the evening and try to get ahead and get better gas knowledge. What do you do? What's your 60,000 job? What kind of work is it? I'm a manager at a convenience store. Okay. Your last purchase was dumb. It killed you. It put a nail in your coffin. It was not a help. It was a hurt. Okay. Um, you were trying to do something smart, but I didn't say you were dumb. I said, your purchase was dumb. And dude, I've done some dumb purchases. So I know what they look like. Um, that, that falls in the category. So my experience is we have a lot of large families doing the Ramsey system, the Ramsey plan. And so we see a lot of them. They visit the office here. Uh, we get pictures and videos, they post all these other things. And so we, and my experience is that people that have large families do one of two things happens. One is they completely lose their minds because of the chaos. But most often that's not the case. When you're in the baby steps, every expense deserves a second look. And healthcare is one of the biggest. That's why I recommend Christian Healthcare Ministries. CHM is a health cost-sharing ministry and their programs start at just $115 a month. A lot of families find CHM gives them more room in the budget. And it's why members say they're better with CHM. Right now, new members can get a 50% credit towards their first month. Go to chministries.org slash budget and use promo code Ramsey. Most often people that have large families become highly structured and organized down to the point that we have people come in here with two kids and they can't seem to figure out how to get a picture taken. People come in here with eight kids and they say, get in line for a picture. And 30 seconds later, they're all ready. They're so organized, structured, dialed in. And they know the whole world doesn't revolve around each one of them. Instead, the unit is what matters. And so as a family, we have to learn to serve each other. We have to learn to not be the source of the drama and so on. And so the large family just does that for emotional regulation. It does that for structure and for systems and processes, because otherwise you lose your mind with that many people coming at you. Does that make any sense? Yes, sir. It does. I would suggest that you guys are probably that. Are you? We are. Yeah, we're pretty structured until we got to your money. So I want you to take this same mentality where you crack the whip, so to speak, metaphorically, to keep the children in line and all lined up like little ducks. Let's start making the dollars stay in line and go where they're supposed to do. Go with little ducks because you're real structured and systematized until you got to your money. And then it's chaotic. Yeah. The problem is that you're doing it on paper, which you're not doing anything. Yeah. And even those because I'm sure there's a lot of people listening who think, oh, I write my budget down on paper every month. But what happens when you're spending in real time and you're not going in and putting every single time that you go to the grocery store, you're just checking off. Did we buy groceries? Checking off. Did we pay the light bill? Checking off. And you've got to have the same plan for all the detailed spending and all the nuanced spending in between. So we'll gift you every dollar and on every dollar you'll be able to put in all of your main income, but also everything you make from your side hustles. Don't leave that out. And then plan for every single dime. And that's not just the fixed expenses. It's the variable things. And it's all the fun stuff in between that maybe you guys do as a family. Make sure you're planning every single dollar. A zero based budget is what we would teach for you to do because it works. And then from there, you're going to be able to see, OK, where where are we bleeding? Is there actually margin at the end of the month? My guess is you're overspending in certain areas and that's what's causing you to go into credit. Chaos is causing overspending because you're chaotic in the money piece versus if you were dialed in and you said, all right, honey, the two of us sit down together. This is how much we're going to spend on groceries, period, period. This is how much we're going to we're not going out to eat till we get this debt cleaned up. This is how much we're going to spend on X. This is how much we're going to spend on Y. Nothing else. That's it. This is where this is what we are. It's a statement of fact. And then you hold to that and you don't go over one of those categories, because if you lay all the categories out, no one plans to be in debt except Congress. Right. You are not going to plan. You're going to lay out a plan where every dollar has a name and then you freaking stick to it and regiment the crap out of it. Well, yeah, then because when you have it in your budget, now you can look at it and say we only have a thousand dollars of margin at that rate. It's going to take us four years to pay this off. I'd sell that car in about 30 seconds. Exactly. But when you know how much a thing's got to go, when you know how much you need, then suddenly you can get ahead of it and say at my side hustle, I have to make two thousand dollars, not just picking and being OK with however much the side hustle brings. And that's just what I make. You have to set an amount and go out and get that amount and work until you bring it in. Yeah. And her job, since she's head housekeeper, head. I mean, she's in charge. She's the head home economist is what I'm trying to say. Head home economist. Her job is to make every one of these dollars scream. It has to perform. The food money has to stretch the food that every dollar the clothing money has to stretch. Everything's got she has to manage it with as much regimentation and discipline and strength as she does seven children so that you don't lose your freaking mind. And you can't justify the purchase of this car with a side hustle. You won't make enough by the time you're 100 to justify this car or the side hustle. That was bull crap. You bull crap yourself. So I would sell that car in about 20 seconds if I were you. Christian Health Care Ministries can save your family hundreds of dollars on health care every month. Learn more at chministries.org slash budget.