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Dave Ramsey Tells Couple With $300,000 Income They Are 'Broke People', Refuses To Help: Here's Why

Shomik Sen Bhattacharjee

Sat, May 3, 2025, 2:46 PM 2 min read

Personal‑finance guru Dave Ramsey tore into a Los Angeles couple earning $300,000 who still carry $119,000 in consumer debt, calling their plan to tap home equity just moving the “mess.”

What Happened: On Ramsey's radio show, caller Amber said she and her engineer husband juggle $55,000 in credit‑card balances, $22,000 in student loans, a $23,000 personal loan, and a $19,000 car note while spending $5,000 a month on a 2021 home. "We're getting impatient," she said, after erasing $50,000 in the past year.

Ramsey was blunt: "You don't have an income problem; you have a spending problem... You're broke people who make 300 grand." He urged the couple to ditch vacations, dining out, and "acting rich," set an $8,000‑a‑month debt‑snowball budget and become debt‑free in 15 months without borrowing.

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"You’re going to have to decide that I make $300,000 a year, and it’s embarrassing that I can’t pay off a $100,000 grand in a year. It’s embarrassing!" he said.

His advice echoes Ramsey's well‑known "Baby Steps," which start with a $1,000 starter emergency fund and attack debts smallest to largest before saving and investing. The stakes are steep: the average U.S. household with revolving credit‑card debt owes about $10,500, NerdWallet estimates, and the average card rate hovers near 24 percent, according to Investopedia — a costly drag if balances linger.

Southern California housing isn't forgiving either. Zillow pegs the median Los Angeles home value near $980,000, keeping payments high even with a hefty paycheck. Ramsey warned that without disciplined budgeting, "plate‑spinning" big earners risk burnout and zero net worth. "Income does not mean wealth," he said. "Net worth comes from living on less than you make and killing the debt, not from another loan."

Image via Shutterstock

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