Dave Ramsey Caller Says Her Husband Makes $156,000 But They Can't Afford Groceries. He Spends $700 Monthly On Vices. Ramsey Isn't Having It

Adrian Volenik

Sat, Jul 19, 2025, 6:31 PM 4 min read

A large stay-at-home ma precocious called into “The Ramsey Show” to inquire whether she should wage disconnected a $20,000 car loan. But what started arsenic a budgeting question rapidly turned into a deeper treatment astir addiction, wealth power and information successful the home.

The caller explained that her husband, who earns their household's full $156,000 income, spends astir $6,000 a twelvemonth connected baccy and marijuana. She added that caller household deaths person caused his usage to spike to astir $700 past period alone. “Things are ace tight,” she said. “I'm acrophobic if I bash chopped a check, wage disconnected the car, and we summation the $600 monthly to assistance with groceries and different bills, it's conscionable going to spell retired the window.”

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Host Dave Ramsey didn't creation astir the issue. “If I was to accidental that my woman was an addict, that would mean that our matrimony was either getting acceptable to extremity oregon she was getting assistance adjacent week,” helium said. “But you usage this similar it's portion of the budget.”

He challenged the caller's statement of her hubby arsenic an addict, pointing retired that she allows him afloat entree to their associated relationship wherever his paycheck is deposited. “If you’re going to telephone him an addict, you’re going to person to enactment similar it,” helium said. “If helium drinks a six-pack of brew oregon immoderate ... and he’s not drunk and it’s not affecting his enactment life, but you don’t similar it, that’s antithetic than an addict.”

Co-host Jade Warshaw jumped in, asking whether this is simply a budgetary happening oregon an existent addiction?

The caller insisted that her hubby says helium wants to get help, but “the travel to Jesus speech happens astir each 2 weeks.”

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When the caller shared much numbers—a $3,400 mortgage, a $600 car payment, and 2 $3,900 paychecks hitting their relationship each month—Ramsey wasn't convinced by her assertion that they couldn't spend groceries. “You are not retired of nutrient due to the fact that helium spent 750 bucks,” helium said. “Now, you are going to beryllium retired of nutrient if helium loses his occupation due to the fact that helium stays drunk each the time.”

According to Ramsey, the bigger contented wasn’t whether oregon not to wage disconnected the car, but whether her household was successful a harmless and financially unchangeable environment. “You’re either going to person to reclassify this successful your caput oregon you’re going to person to instrumentality immoderate much terrible enactment than you person been consenting to instrumentality truthful far,” helium said.