May 27, 2025 • 28 mins
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Join Brad Nelson, Amber Taylor, and Ryan Nelson as they explore five costly lies that many people believe about their money, which keep them stuck in debt. From convincing yourself that 'you deserve it' to the misconception that 'small monthly payments' are harmless, this episode tackles these financial myths head-on. The hosts stress the importance of taking control of your finances today instead of waiting for the 'right time.' They share their personal debt-free journeys and offer insights into how anyone can achieve financial freedom. Tune in to learn how to break free from these detrimental beliefs and start making real progress towards a debt-free life.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Brad Nelson (00:00):
So some lies cost you a few bucks, others cost you
years of your life, and todaywe are going to be exploring
five of the most expensive liespeople believe about their money
, and if you're stuck in debt,chances are at least one of
these is playing on repeat inthe background of your life.
Now, these lies are subtle,they sound logical and, worst of
(00:22):
all, they feel completelynormal.
But normal is broke.
So let's get into the truth andhelp you take back control.
Announcer (00:32):
You're listening to the Debt-Free Dad podcast with
Brad Nelson.
Brad and his co-hostsexperience the anxiety of living
paycheck to paycheck beforelearning the fundamentals of
financial success.
They are now on a mission toempower regular people to pay
off their debt for good andenjoy happier, less stressful
lives.
Keep listening forinspirational interviews, tips,
(00:54):
tricks and practical advice togain financial freedom.
Brad Nelson (00:58):
Hey guys, I'm Brian Nelson, founder of Debt Free
Dad.
I paid off about $45,000 indebt.
I've been debt free now formore than 12 years, outside of
my mortgage.
I've also been fortunate tohelp thousands of other people
save and pay off tens ofmillions of dollars with the
work that we do here at DebtFree Dad.
Amber Taylor (01:12):
And I'm Amber Taylor and my husband and I
saved and paid off $54,000 injust 20 months and we've been
living debt free outside of ourmortgage for seven years now.
Ryan Nelson (01:22):
And my name is Ryan .
My wife and I paid off $160,000over eight years, while we were
raising three kids.
Brad Nelson (01:28):
And, after listening to this episode, you
guys, if you are ready to takethings to the next level and if
you're listening to this, I betyou are, but maybe you're ready
to break free from livingpaycheck to paycheck, you want
to reduce financial stress, youwant to build your savings, you
want to finally pay off debt forgood, but maybe you're like
many and you're just not surewhere to get started.
We've created some awesome freeresources here at Debt-Free Dad
(01:49):
and we're going to be sharingsome details about how you get
started with Lowe's later on intoday's episode.
So, guys, as I mentioned in theintroduction here of this
episode, we were talking aboutthe common lies that keep most
people broke, and I got to say,when I started creating this
episode, I was probably guiltyof just about every single lie
that we are going to cover heretoday.
(02:10):
And the reality is, is we talkabout this a lot inside Roots is
not only these lies, but thesealso are excuses and a lot of
ways to stay stuck and, guys, asyou guys were looking through
this list, any of these resonatewith you.
Ryan Nelson (02:24):
Yeah, for sure.
I mean, and I think in general,just with life outside of
finances.
I think most of us do this inour life with.
It might not be money, it couldbe food, it could be getting a
new job, it could be a milliondifferent things, you know.
But we love to lie to ourselvesto make us not deal with the
(02:44):
reality.
I mean I just, I mean I do itto this day.
I know there's certain things Ishould and should not do, but I
make up reasons why I do them,because I don't want to not do
them.
Yeah, you know, I don't want tonot eat pizza.
I don't want to not eat thewhole thing of ice cream, I want
to.
You know what I mean?
It's easy to lie to yourselfand then you just go on with
(03:05):
your day and you're like, yeah,it's cool, you know.
Then you feel guilty in theback of your mind, you shouldn't
do it, but you do it anywaybecause it's it's what feels
good.
Brad Nelson (03:12):
Well, and I think the other part about this is
like and as we go through theselies, you guys are going to
start to understand this a liesto ourselves, but we also hear
this in marketing of products,marketing of debt, marketing of
things like pizza and ice creamthat we should indulge in these
(03:33):
things.
And not only do we hear thatfrom them, but we also see it
around with other people.
Right, maybe you're on thatdiet.
Right, you want to eathealthier.
But when you see your coworkersgoing out for that lunch or
that pizza or that pizza arrivesin the lunchroom, it's like,
well, they're doing it.
Why can't I do it?
Right?
So this really can getchallenging as you kind of go
further down the rabbit hole.
Amber Taylor (03:54):
Yeah, exactly, I think most people are going to
relate to these, yeah, so thefirst one.
Brad Nelson (03:58):
The first lie is I deserve this, I work hard for my
money.
And, guys, I think the onething when it comes to finance
and buying stuff, I would saythis is the lie that most people
tell themselves when they buy abrand new car.
Right, I feel like I hear thisone the most.
Well, what was the reasonbehind wanting to buy that brand
(04:21):
new car?
I was the same way.
Well, I work hard for my money.
I should have something nice todrive.
I deserve that vehicle.
Little did I know that onevehicle was also the reason why
I couldn't save, why I couldn'tpay off debt, why it was causing
more financial stress in mylife.
But I told myself this lie that, well, because I work hard, I
deserve this nice brand new car.
Amber Taylor (04:45):
Well, it's not just us telling ourselves that.
I find other people in my lifesay that to me, like if I'm
thinking about making a purchaseor thinking about doing
something, I'll have, like mymom or somebody else, be like
you, work really hard, youreally deserve that.
Why do they put that in my head?
Brad Nelson (04:59):
Yeah, yeah, it's hard.
I mean a couple of years ago,you know if you guys have been
listening to the show.
It's hard I mean a couple yearsago, you know if you guys been
listening to the show.
I lost my spouse and I had astruggle with this for the last
couple of years.
It's like, well, I've beenthrough a lot in life.
I deserve to treat myself alittle bit.
It's so easy to get sucked inthat mentality with a lot of
things.
Right, you play that victimrole, like this happened to me,
(05:20):
and now I'm going to enjoy mylife and just be frivolous,
right, and at times, yeah, itgot the best of me here and
there, but I also was very awareof that too.
I was like I know what'sactually happening in my brain
right now and this is not thereality, this is not gonna fix
anything.
But you lie to yourself, likeRyan, you said when it opened,
like you get a new job, you sayI deserve this.
You say I deserve this.
(05:40):
I worked hard for thatpromotion or that new job and
you might go and spend extramoney, right.
So this I deserve.
This isn't just working hard,but it's all life events that
you kind of go through.
Ryan Nelson (05:54):
Well, and this is like probably the number one
ploy that marketing and creditcards and just any kind of debt,
I mean this is ingrained in us.
It's kind of like what you justsaid, Amber.
People use that because that'swhat they were told.
You know, credit cards reallybecame popular what?
Probably in the 50s, 60s, youknow so, for the past 60, 70
(06:15):
years now they've learned, youknow, and so now we have
generations of people thatdeserve it and they pass that
opinion and thought process downto their kids.
You pass it on to your kids.
I used to say it all the time.
I still say it.
It's just now I have moreself-control because, yeah, I do
deserve it.
I work hard, but I don't wantthe stress of what it is to
deserve it.
You know, I mean, I used to.
I used to take it and then I'dbe miserable for doing it and
(06:39):
I'd be paying for it.
Have payments be stressed out?
It's like I don't deserve that.
I've learned that I don'tdeserve the stress that comes
with doing the wrong thing, andI used to do the wrong thing all
the time and then be you know,we'd be my wife and I'd be
fighting.
It would just not be fun andit's like is that what you
deserve?
You know, yeah, I deserve thenew car.
(07:01):
Cool, awesome.
I got the new car.
Now we're fighting we have.
No, I don't deserve that.
Brad Nelson (07:08):
That's very, very true.
Yeah, I think the other lie thatreally kind of piggybacks on
this too and we didn't reallyinclude this, is kind of a bonus
one we're going to give you islike right now on social media,
like we are seeing a resoundingresponse from some of the stuff
that we post on there is likeeveryone is I shouldn't say
everyone we post on there islike everyone is I shouldn't say
everyone.
There's a group of people thatare in the state of mind that
(07:28):
the world is coming to an end.
Right, and they may not besaying I deserve this, I work
hard, but many of them might besaying, like, what's the point
of even trying anymore?
Everything sucks right.
So you kind of get sucked intothat mentality as well.
Is that it's not a deservething?
But it's more or less this ideaof everything that's going on
in the world, whether it bepolitics or whatever, that you
(07:50):
kind of get stuck in thismindset of, well, everyone else
is struggling, it's not gettingbetter for anyone, the world's
coming to an end, and you kindof get into this doom spending
mode too.
Amber Taylor (08:00):
Yeah, well, it is crazy with social media and the
fact that it knows what youwatch.
So if you stayed on a couple ofvideos that were like that doom
idea you're, you're gonna seemore and more and more of it and
then, all of a sudden, yourfeed is full of it.
So now you're spending based onthat, when in reality, if you
were to try and search morepositive things, your feed
(08:21):
slowly changes and now, oh, theworld really isn't ending Like.
It's wild how it just sucks usin.
Brad Nelson (08:29):
Yeah, it is.
And then you know, you'resitting there doing the doom
scrolling, you know, before youknow it, 30, 40 minutes goes by
and you're like oh my gosh, whydo I feel so awful?
Yeah, I'm going to go buysomething, Right, I'm going to
go buy something that makesmyself feel better now.
Ryan Nelson (08:45):
Well, and I think if you get stuck in this, I
deserve it mode.
This is going to sound mean,but you're going to reach a
point in your life where you're70, 75 years old, having to work
40 hours a week and I don'tmean to be rude, but you deserve
it because you're making thechoice now to say meh, I deserve
it.
Making the choice now to saymeh, I deserve it.
And there's a lot of people, alot of stories of people who get
(09:08):
to the, you know, to retirement, and that's you know.
It's one of the biggest thingsI'm thankful for.
Getting out of debt is we're ontrack to be okay when we retire
and I don't want to have to workwhen I'm 70 years old and it
would have been easy to stay inthis.
I deserve it mode.
But then when I get to thepoint where I got to work in my
older years, I can't complain.
(09:29):
I deserve it.
I made the choices to do thatand I think if you're going to
stay stuck and you're going tostay in this, I deserve it mode.
Just don't be the one of thosepeople, when you get older,
complaining.
You got to work.
You're choosing that.
Yeah.
Brad Nelson (09:42):
Next slide, guys, is it's just a small monthly
payment, right?
Or the other one we've talkedabout often, is it's only a few
dollars, especially if you'rejust you're paying cash, right?
So it's this whole idea of justeverything you can do in
payments.
Now I mean, we've talked aboutthis man so many times.
I mean you can literallyfinance anything, including, you
(10:05):
know, food delivery now, whichI think is crazy but you get
sucked in this whole mentalityof everything's a payment
because that's sold to us, right?
So again, we just say it's onlythis much a month or it's only
a few dollars here and there,but that stuff adds up.
We've talked about this littlememe and saying quite a few
(10:25):
times but it's, how much does itcost in spending every single
month to waste $10,000 a year?
The reality is it only takes$27.40 a day in spending to
waste 10 grand a year.
That's why I think it's crazythat you're hearing some of
these financial gurus out there,some of these people who are
saying, like you know, the smallpurchases, don't worry about
those, you know, don't worryabout your coffee runs, don't
worry about all those littlesmall stuff, like that stuff
(10:47):
isn't that big of a deal.
But what if all that smallstuff adds up to hundreds of
dollars per month.
That becomes a big deal.
And so when we're just lookingat just that small amount and
not the bigger picture, it'seasy just to say, yeah, we're
just going to do it, because allyou're doing is looking at the
small amount.
You're not looking at the wholepicture moving forward and how
much it's going to cost you.
Ryan Nelson (11:08):
Well, I mean, just think, five bucks a day, even
five bucks a day, it's $150 amonth on average, right, just
five bucks.
I mean you can't even buy afluffy coffee at Starbucks for
five bucks anymore, right, Imean, five bucks doesn't buy you
anything.
So just think, like, even ifyou spend on average 10, $15 a
(11:28):
day, I mean that's three $350,$400 a month out the door, and
$10 a day is so easy.
Brad Nelson (11:34):
And then you look at, 63% of people can't handle a
$500 emergency expense withoutgoing into debt.
That's why the little purchasesmatter.
Because, man, what if you couldget out of that?
What if you could build $1,000,$3,000 emergency fund how good.
And I know, in the grand schemeof things it's like, oh, it's
only $3,000, $3,000 emergencyfund, like how good.
And I know, in the grand schemeof things, like, oh, it's only
$3,000.
That's not that much.
But do you have any idea, goingfrom having hardly anything in
(11:55):
your savings account to havingthree grand, how much less
stress you would feel.
Like, how, man, having likejust a little bit of a safety
net, it's incredible thedifference that it makes in
people's stress levels.
That little flip, that littlemindset flip, can make just a
huge difference in the amount ofprogress that you're able to
make over time and getting someof those small wins.
Ryan Nelson (12:15):
But I totally remember being in this stage of
the monthly payments.
We got out of debt.
Now what?
Five years ago?
So this was really before allthis stuff really kicked off now
, but even before then it usedto be.
You know, you could put nomoney down and no payments for
12 months or something like that.
I mean we financed everythingand it was like it's only 15
bucks a month, it's only 20bucks a month, only 50 bucks a
(12:36):
month, like you said.
I mean, all of a sudden you'relike you're paying four or five,
six, $700 a month on all theseother little things and what's
happened is now you set up allthese subscriptions.
I mean they've learned, weadapt to that.
I mean even software.
I mean you try to buy a pieceof software.
You can't buy software anymorefor a hundred bucks for the.
Amber Taylor (12:54):
you know you got to buy it on a subscription.
Ryan Nelson (12:57):
You know you can't buy anything.
You can't just buy Windowsanymore.
You got to buy a subscriptionto Windows because they know the
10 bucks a month makes themmore money and you're going to
keep doing that as opposed todropping 150 bucks on it.
Brad Nelson (13:10):
Right, right, what's surprising to me too, I
should say surprising, but whatI want our listeners to know is
that I've seen a lot of snowballsheets.
There are so many people thatwill send me their list of debts
, and they don't necessarilyhave a huge amount of debt, and
we'll talk about credit cards.
There are so many people thatwill send me their snowball list
and they don't have a ton ofcredit card debt, but they have
(13:30):
a ton of credit card accounts.
So what's happening is that allof those minimum payments turn
into minimum payment hell and itstifles their entire cashflow
for the month.
That's why, like just you know,using the debt snowball method
and paying off some of thosesmallest balances, like it,
makes such a huge difference tosome of those individuals,
because you're finally knockingout some of those monthly
payments every month, whichfrees up cash flow every month,
(13:53):
which gives you more breathingroom, but focusing on again that
small monthly payment andthat's all you're focusing on.
I've worked with people who have20 credit cards and it might
total up to like $20,000 or$30,000 in credit card debt
overall, which for some people,that might seem like a lot, but
it's all the minimum paymentsthat are just killing them.
You know it's not necessarilythe total amount of debt,
(14:15):
because once they start payingoff some of those lower balances
, they're able to start makingsome really good progress
towards paying off some of thehigher balance cards.
So, yeah, you got to be reallycareful with that, just focusing
on that small payment.
The next one is I'll start whenthings calm down.
No, this is exactly no, youwon't, yeah, no, you won't.
This one, we hear all the timelike my life is just busy right
(14:38):
now.
And again, we all use thisexcuse I don't care if it's your
finances, I don't care if it'syour health or whatever it might
be.
Man, I just don't have timeright now.
My life is just crazy busyright now, and we give ourselves
this thought that one day, theclouds are going to open up, the
blue sky is going to be outthere, the sun's going to be
shining and there's gonna be amessage in the sky that today is
(14:59):
the day that you're supposed tostart.
And the reality is is that issuch BS?
Right, that's never going tohappen.
You got to learn to start rightnow, no matter what you're
dealing with, because life isnever calm at all ever,
especially if you got kids.
So this is a good one, becauseI'm guilty of it Totally.
Amber Taylor (15:23):
Yeah, my life has gone crazy in the last year and
a half.
Like it's been wild how manythings have happened to us.
And the fact is, is if you juststart, if you just make the
conscious effort to start, howmuch more calm your life will be
once you get your finances anda plan for your finances in
check.
It's just going to help calmthat section of your life, so
(15:46):
the other chaos doesn't seem sochaotic.
Yeah, well, it's true.
Brad Nelson (15:50):
It is.
People don't understand that.
That's where, for instance, yousay you're sick, you miss work.
On the surface level, you'resick, you miss work, but on the
back burner is the money side.
So you might be sick today, butthen all of a sudden your
paycheck comes and you may nothave sick leave or whatever, and
all of a sudden you're missingmoney.
Now, right Now, things aretight financially and you're
absolutely right.
Having control over yourfinances, it makes going through
(16:12):
all of the other things thatyou have to go on through life
just a little bit easier and alot easier to handle, because
you don't have to worry aboutthe money side.
Ryan Nelson (16:19):
Right, this also piggybacks.
You know where I'll start wherethings come down.
I used to use I'll start when Iget a raise, I'll start when we
get our tax returns back.
You know, I used to use allthese reasons, these excuses of
how just this perfect moment,when I get our tax return back,
then we'll have this money andthen we can start.
And then in between those threemonths that I said that I was
(16:40):
like spent that money 16 times,you know, on all different
things, and then you get to thattime and say I don't have that
money because you're justdelaying it.
It's just your way of likepushing it off, pushing it off,
pushing it off.
Brad Nelson (16:52):
Yeah, well, and I think the other thing a lot of
us struggle with too is, youknow, when we're getting started
.
A lot of us get started doingit alone, right, and when you
are looking at it and you fallfor this idea that you're not
good with money or you don'tknow what to do, it's easy to
put it off because you have tohave all this energy to try to
figure it out on your own.
And I think that's what makeslike what we do here in Roots
(17:14):
and our membership is so idealis like it gives you the things
that you should be doing everysingle day, step by step, from
day one, no matter where you'restarting from.
Everyone goes down the sameroad.
You're going to start here andwe're going to work with you
every single week and show youexactly what you need to do.
That makes it so much easierbecause you don't have to
reinvent the wheel.
You don't have to figure it outfor yourself.
You don't have to.
(17:35):
You know, do this trial anderror of like will this work, or
question yourself if this isgoing to work.
No, we've proven it works.
Just do the steps that we'regoing to show you how to do, and
magically I like to say magic,because sometimes it looks like
it is.
You know, in six to 12 months.
It's amazing how much progressthat you could make in a
situation, especially that youfelt at the beginning was
(17:56):
hopeless.
A lot of our members will saylike I never would have believed
that I made the progress thatI've made.
I just never would havebelieved it.
So just making those smallsteps every day can make a huge
difference.
Lie number four is we need debtto build credit.
This is a balance right here.
Yeah, if you're trying to builda credit score, here's the
(18:22):
issue with this is that a lot ofpeople go into this wanting to
build their credit and what theyend up doing is building a good
amount of debt with it all inthis excuse and lie and a lie
that's been told to us for yearsand years and years that we
have to have good credit inorder to be good with money and
what we end up collecting isjust a lot of debt, all in the
name of building credit.
Amber Taylor (18:41):
Honestly, we had really bad credit when we had a
lot of debt.
It was bad and when we paid offour debt, our credit went up
and now we have this incrediblecredit score the both of us and
we really don't carry any debtoutside of our mortgage.
So this is a flat out lie.
Brad Nelson (18:58):
It's crazy.
Amber Taylor (18:59):
Yeah.
Ryan Nelson (19:00):
Yeah, we have an amazing credit score.
But I think there's this ideathat an amazing credit score
means you're really good withmoney and I've told this story
before, but I remember being itas, probably 15 years ago, going
(19:26):
to buy a car and our score wasin the 700s.
It was decent, not bad, prettyaverage.
And I remember them being likeyeah, you can't borrow any money
.
Like what do you mean I can'tborrow?
Like, if I have this greatcredit score, I'm financially
responsible.
There are employers that willpull their credit score as a
measure of you know, are youresponsible with money?
And like you can be terriblelike money, like I was, and
still have a good credit score.
Yeah, like it's not a measureof how financially responsible
you are, it's just a measure ofhow much money do you borrow,
how much debt do you play withand do you pay your payments on
(19:48):
time.
That's all it is.
Like we were in over our headsin debt and making our payments
stressed out beyond belief, butwe had a great credit score.
But the guy's like, yeah, youhave way too much debt.
Brad Nelson (20:01):
Yeah, it's true, I was the same way had a great
credit score, but man had nomoney in the bank, broke all the
time, stressed beyond belief.
And you guys, if you want proofthat this is a real lie, just
look at what goes on in theworld.
When people, when there'sstruggle going on in the world,
like when inflation is going up,like people aren't throwing
(20:21):
their hands up screaming I needa better credit score.
A lot of people you alreadylook at like COVID, you know,
when things were shutting down,people were losing hours at work
or whatever People are throwingtheir hands up saying I need
money.
The credit score was not evenreally that big of a deal when
you go through a lot of theseevents.
A lot of people justdesperately needed more cash.
Right, they need higher wagesor whatever it is.
(20:44):
It's not necessarily just aboutthe credit score, but it's
amazing to me, like when peoplecome to us.
If you had 100 people come tous, we'll have 95 people that
will say I need help building mycredit and getting my finances
in order, and only five of themwill say I need to build my net
worth and improve my finances,and that shows you that we have
(21:04):
lived in a broken system becauseso many people are focused on
credit scores to obtain debtversus saying what do I need to
build up net worth and actuallystart to be able to build wealth
in my life?
And that's how broken I feellike some of our mindsets are
when it comes to some of thisstuff.
And the last one, you guys, isnobody lives debt-free anymore.
(21:25):
Nobody does.
When we first started thisbusiness back in 2015, I feel
like you know, obviously, socialmedia has gotten way more
popular, you know, over theyears in the last 10 years too
but I think the whole debt-freecommunity, the debt-free journey
, was just starting to ramp upthen, but there were a lot more
(21:46):
people that doubted it, I feel,10 years ago than today.
But there are still plenty ofpeople who feel like there's no
hope for us.
Like you know, I mentioned thisin lie number one, where
there's this doom and gloom doomspending the world's ending.
Everything is falling apart.
Why even bother trying anymoreor even believing in this idea
that debt freedom or financialfreedom is possible for us?
Ryan Nelson (22:09):
I'll brag a little bit on my son.
I mean, my oldest moved out ayear and a half ago.
He's debt free.
He's putting money in hisretirement account.
He's saving money.
He went to college, paid for ithimself.
He lived here, obviously, butwe didn't pay for anything, we
didn't save money for him to dothat, so he had to work cash
flow it.
I mean, he did all that becausewe learned how to manage our
(22:32):
money and we taught him how todo it.
It can be done.
You know, I think that's goingback to social media and this
doom scrolling of like our kidscan't ever afford to do anything
.
I think what we have to realizenow in this world I will
totally agree Things are waymore expensive.
Things got more expensive.
This new world.
You can't live the way I used to.
I used to be able to pay for myhouse and do all this stuff and
(22:55):
then accumulate a bunch of debtto have all my fun stuff.
You just can't do that anymoreand I get it.
I totally agree.
But to say you can't live andyou can't afford an apartment
and you can't, it's all BS.
You can, you just can't affordit the way we used to do it.
You can't afford the house andall these other things and all
this other debt on top of it togo have your camper and your
(23:15):
boat and all these other things.
That's how we used to be ableto do it.
That's how I used to do it.
I get it.
I would not be able to do thatnow and my son obviously can't
do that.
He can't go acquire tons ofstuff with debt.
I mean there's just not enoughmoney.
But he still has enough moneyto save for retirement, put
money away, go on some vacations, do the things that most people
do.
He just doesn't have the moneyto live above his means, like I
(23:38):
used to right A bunch of debt.
You can do that still today,but you are going to struggle
and I think that's probably akey difference that I see with
this.
Nobody lives debt free anymore.
I think the reason why peoplethink that is because they're
busy trying to still live theway we could five, six years ago
.
You just can't.
To me, you just can't do thatanymore.
(24:00):
You have to make somesacrifices and say we're going
to still be fine, but we justcan't live beyond what we used
to anymore with all this debt.
Brad Nelson (24:08):
Well, even if you leave debt freedom out of it
let's just say get out of debt.
Let's just say, pay off mycredit cards there's people who
even doubt that you can do anyof that stuff.
But if you look at our Rootsmembers, if that was the truth,
then why are Roots members stillsaving and paying off thousands
of dollars in today's economictimes?
They still are, and a lot ofthese people were facing some
(24:29):
pretty harsh circumstances whenthey first got started.
So I look at these people asproof.
Hey, if these people can do it,why can't you do it?
You absolutely can do it.
Ryan Nelson (24:40):
Well, and I think we shared some stats on here
before and I don't have themright in front of me, but I
think the stats are prettysimilar.
You know, 60-ish percent ofpeople back in 2018, when things
were good and things weren'tcrazy about the same amount
percent of people said theycould only afford a $500
emergency, as what a survey said, like last year.
So if only 60% could afford itsix years ago, when things were
(25:03):
great, or seven years ago, andit's the same percent now to me,
back in 2018, it should havebeen.
Only 10% of people said that,but the same percentage of
people.
It's the same excuse.
It's just wrapped in adifferent bow.
Brad Nelson (25:15):
Yeah, yeah, no question.
Well, it's like people who winthe lottery, or we have this
idea that if we just made moremoney, we would just magically
manage it better, and that'sjust not the way it works.
A lot of people who justmismanage their money when
they're making less money andthen all of a sudden start
making more money, mismanage itjust as much.
I mean heck.
We can again focus on some ofour roots members that have come
(25:37):
through.
Some of them, you know, makenormal, middle, middle to higher
income salaries, and we've hadsome people who make upper six
figure salaries, and they comein and they all say the same
thing, though but it's not theamount you make, it's what you
manage or how you manage whatyou make.
So if you want to battle theselies, you can sign up for our
newsletter Simplify my Money,which is sent each and every
(25:57):
Sunday to your email.
It is your step by step roadmapto better financial control,
and you're also going to learnsome easy to follow strategies
to manage your money effectively.
You're going to havestress-free money decisions that
are actually going to help yousimplify your financial life
with proven tips that actuallywork, and you're going to gain
the tools and confidence totackle your financial goals head
on.
Sign up for Simplify my Moneyby clicking the link at the top
(26:20):
of the show notes.
Amber Taylor (26:24):
Let's talk about debt, let's talk about debt.
Tune into Debt Free Debt, tuneinto Debt Free Debt.
(26:46):
And that's how I'm going to endthis time.
For the celebrations of theshow, jim paid off my second
debt, last year's state tax,this week.
Now that money will go towardsgetting my emergency fund back
up then to the next debt.
What a feeling.
Yeah, that's an awesome win,jim.
Brad Nelson (27:03):
Congrats back up then to the next debt what a
feeling yeah, that's an awesomewin, jim congrats.
Yeah, and that's like we talkedabout just taking those little
steps.
Such a great feeling.
Uh, tara says all of our largebills for the month are
completely paid and it's stillearly in the month.
Tara, awesome budgeting win.
Ryan Nelson (27:17):
Great, great job and mary bills are paid.
Traveling with family to see myniece graduate high school and
give her a cash gift Awesome.
Brad Nelson (27:26):
Way to go, mary.
Hey, as always, guys,congratulations to all of you
guys who are taking a stand foryour financial life and you're
wanting better.
Hey, we get that.
Getting out of debt isn't easy,but with our help and hopefully
with your consistency anddiscipline, we promise you guys,
this can be some of the bestwork that you guys do in your
entire life.
Thanks for joining us ontoday's show and we will see you
guys on the next episode.
Announcer (27:51):
Thanks for listening to the Debt-Free Dad podcast.
Connect with us on Facebook,tiktok, youtube and Instagram.
Just search Debt-Free Dad.
If you found value in today'sepisode, please leave us a
rating and review.
We so appreciate it.
For resources, show notes andlinks mentioned in today's show
visit debtfreedadcom.
(28:11):
Catch you next week.
So some lies cost you a few bucks, others cost you
years of your life, and todaywe are going to be exploring
five of the most expensive liespeople believe about their money
, and if you're stuck in debt,chances are at least one of
these is playing on repeat inthe background of your life.
Now, these lies are subtle,they sound logical and, worst of
(00:22):
all, they feel completelynormal.
But normal is broke.
So let's get into the truth andhelp you take back control.
Announcer (00:32):
You're listening to the Debt-Free Dad podcast with
Brad Nelson.
Brad and his co-hostsexperience the anxiety of living
paycheck to paycheck beforelearning the fundamentals of
financial success.
They are now on a mission toempower regular people to pay
off their debt for good andenjoy happier, less stressful
lives.
Keep listening forinspirational interviews, tips,
(00:54):
tricks and practical advice togain financial freedom.
Brad Nelson (00:58):
Hey guys, I'm Brian Nelson, founder of Debt Free
Dad.
I paid off about $45,000 indebt.
I've been debt free now formore than 12 years, outside of
my mortgage.
I've also been fortunate tohelp thousands of other people
save and pay off tens ofmillions of dollars with the
work that we do here at DebtFree Dad.
Amber Taylor (01:12):
And I'm Amber Taylor and my husband and I
saved and paid off $54,000 injust 20 months and we've been
living debt free outside of ourmortgage for seven years now.
Ryan Nelson (01:22):
And my name is Ryan .
My wife and I paid off $160,000over eight years, while we were
raising three kids.
Brad Nelson (01:28):
And, after listening to this episode, you
guys, if you are ready to takethings to the next level and if
you're listening to this, I betyou are, but maybe you're ready
to break free from livingpaycheck to paycheck, you want
to reduce financial stress, youwant to build your savings, you
want to finally pay off debt forgood, but maybe you're like
many and you're just not surewhere to get started.
We've created some awesome freeresources here at Debt-Free Dad
(01:49):
and we're going to be sharingsome details about how you get
started with Lowe's later on intoday's episode.
So, guys, as I mentioned in theintroduction here of this
episode, we were talking aboutthe common lies that keep most
people broke, and I got to say,when I started creating this
episode, I was probably guiltyof just about every single lie
that we are going to cover heretoday.
(02:10):
And the reality is, is we talkabout this a lot inside Roots is
not only these lies, but thesealso are excuses and a lot of
ways to stay stuck and, guys, asyou guys were looking through
this list, any of these resonatewith you.
Ryan Nelson (02:24):
Yeah, for sure.
I mean, and I think in general,just with life outside of
finances.
I think most of us do this inour life with.
It might not be money, it couldbe food, it could be getting a
new job, it could be a milliondifferent things, you know.
But we love to lie to ourselvesto make us not deal with the
(02:44):
reality.
I mean I just, I mean I do itto this day.
I know there's certain things Ishould and should not do, but I
make up reasons why I do them,because I don't want to not do
them.
Yeah, you know, I don't want tonot eat pizza.
I don't want to not eat thewhole thing of ice cream, I want
to.
You know what I mean?
It's easy to lie to yourselfand then you just go on with
(03:05):
your day and you're like, yeah,it's cool, you know.
Then you feel guilty in theback of your mind, you shouldn't
do it, but you do it anywaybecause it's it's what feels
good.
Brad Nelson (03:12):
Well, and I think the other part about this is
like and as we go through theselies, you guys are going to
start to understand this a liesto ourselves, but we also hear
this in marketing of products,marketing of debt, marketing of
things like pizza and ice creamthat we should indulge in these
(03:33):
things.
And not only do we hear thatfrom them, but we also see it
around with other people.
Right, maybe you're on thatdiet.
Right, you want to eathealthier.
But when you see your coworkersgoing out for that lunch or
that pizza or that pizza arrivesin the lunchroom, it's like,
well, they're doing it.
Why can't I do it?
Right?
So this really can getchallenging as you kind of go
further down the rabbit hole.
Amber Taylor (03:54):
Yeah, exactly, I think most people are going to
relate to these, yeah, so thefirst one.
Brad Nelson (03:58):
The first lie is I deserve this, I work hard for my
money.
And, guys, I think the onething when it comes to finance
and buying stuff, I would saythis is the lie that most people
tell themselves when they buy abrand new car.
Right, I feel like I hear thisone the most.
Well, what was the reasonbehind wanting to buy that brand
(04:21):
new car?
I was the same way.
Well, I work hard for my money.
I should have something nice todrive.
I deserve that vehicle.
Little did I know that onevehicle was also the reason why
I couldn't save, why I couldn'tpay off debt, why it was causing
more financial stress in mylife.
But I told myself this lie that, well, because I work hard, I
deserve this nice brand new car.
Amber Taylor (04:45):
Well, it's not just us telling ourselves that.
I find other people in my lifesay that to me, like if I'm
thinking about making a purchaseor thinking about doing
something, I'll have, like mymom or somebody else, be like
you, work really hard, youreally deserve that.
Why do they put that in my head?
Brad Nelson (04:59):
Yeah, yeah, it's hard.
I mean a couple of years ago,you know if you guys have been
listening to the show.
It's hard I mean a couple yearsago, you know if you guys been
listening to the show.
I lost my spouse and I had astruggle with this for the last
couple of years.
It's like, well, I've beenthrough a lot in life.
I deserve to treat myself alittle bit.
It's so easy to get sucked inthat mentality with a lot of
things.
Right, you play that victimrole, like this happened to me,
(05:20):
and now I'm going to enjoy mylife and just be frivolous,
right, and at times, yeah, itgot the best of me here and
there, but I also was very awareof that too.
I was like I know what'sactually happening in my brain
right now and this is not thereality, this is not gonna fix
anything.
But you lie to yourself, likeRyan, you said when it opened,
like you get a new job, you sayI deserve this.
You say I deserve this.
(05:40):
I worked hard for thatpromotion or that new job and
you might go and spend extramoney, right.
So this I deserve.
This isn't just working hard,but it's all life events that
you kind of go through.
Ryan Nelson (05:54):
Well, and this is like probably the number one
ploy that marketing and creditcards and just any kind of debt,
I mean this is ingrained in us.
It's kind of like what you justsaid, Amber.
People use that because that'swhat they were told.
You know, credit cards reallybecame popular what?
Probably in the 50s, 60s, youknow so, for the past 60, 70
(06:15):
years now they've learned, youknow, and so now we have
generations of people thatdeserve it and they pass that
opinion and thought process downto their kids.
You pass it on to your kids.
I used to say it all the time.
I still say it.
It's just now I have moreself-control because, yeah, I do
deserve it.
I work hard, but I don't wantthe stress of what it is to
deserve it.
You know, I mean, I used to.
I used to take it and then I'dbe miserable for doing it and
(06:39):
I'd be paying for it.
Have payments be stressed out?
It's like I don't deserve that.
I've learned that I don'tdeserve the stress that comes
with doing the wrong thing, andI used to do the wrong thing all
the time and then be you know,we'd be my wife and I'd be
fighting.
It would just not be fun andit's like is that what you
deserve?
You know, yeah, I deserve thenew car.
(07:01):
Cool, awesome.
I got the new car.
Now we're fighting we have.
No, I don't deserve that.
Brad Nelson (07:08):
That's very, very true.
Yeah, I think the other lie thatreally kind of piggybacks on
this too and we didn't reallyinclude this, is kind of a bonus
one we're going to give you islike right now on social media,
like we are seeing a resoundingresponse from some of the stuff
that we post on there is likeeveryone is I shouldn't say
everyone we post on there islike everyone is I shouldn't say
everyone.
There's a group of people thatare in the state of mind that
(07:28):
the world is coming to an end.
Right, and they may not besaying I deserve this, I work
hard, but many of them might besaying, like, what's the point
of even trying anymore?
Everything sucks right.
So you kind of get sucked intothat mentality as well.
Is that it's not a deservething?
But it's more or less this ideaof everything that's going on
in the world, whether it bepolitics or whatever, that you
(07:50):
kind of get stuck in thismindset of, well, everyone else
is struggling, it's not gettingbetter for anyone, the world's
coming to an end, and you kindof get into this doom spending
mode too.
Amber Taylor (08:00):
Yeah, well, it is crazy with social media and the
fact that it knows what youwatch.
So if you stayed on a couple ofvideos that were like that doom
idea you're, you're gonna seemore and more and more of it and
then, all of a sudden, yourfeed is full of it.
So now you're spending based onthat, when in reality, if you
were to try and search morepositive things, your feed
(08:21):
slowly changes and now, oh, theworld really isn't ending Like.
It's wild how it just sucks usin.
Brad Nelson (08:29):
Yeah, it is.
And then you know, you'resitting there doing the doom
scrolling, you know, before youknow it, 30, 40 minutes goes by
and you're like oh my gosh, whydo I feel so awful?
Yeah, I'm going to go buysomething, Right, I'm going to
go buy something that makesmyself feel better now.
Ryan Nelson (08:45):
Well, and I think if you get stuck in this, I
deserve it mode.
This is going to sound mean,but you're going to reach a
point in your life where you're70, 75 years old, having to work
40 hours a week and I don'tmean to be rude, but you deserve
it because you're making thechoice now to say meh, I deserve
it.
Making the choice now to saymeh, I deserve it.
And there's a lot of people, alot of stories of people who get
(09:08):
to the, you know, to retirement, and that's you know.
It's one of the biggest thingsI'm thankful for.
Getting out of debt is we're ontrack to be okay when we retire
and I don't want to have to workwhen I'm 70 years old and it
would have been easy to stay inthis.
I deserve it mode.
But then when I get to thepoint where I got to work in my
older years, I can't complain.
(09:29):
I deserve it.
I made the choices to do thatand I think if you're going to
stay stuck and you're going tostay in this, I deserve it mode.
Just don't be the one of thosepeople, when you get older,
complaining.
You got to work.
You're choosing that.
Yeah.
Brad Nelson (09:42):
Next slide, guys, is it's just a small monthly
payment, right?
Or the other one we've talkedabout often, is it's only a few
dollars, especially if you'rejust you're paying cash, right?
So it's this whole idea of justeverything you can do in
payments.
Now I mean, we've talked aboutthis man so many times.
I mean you can literallyfinance anything, including, you
(10:05):
know, food delivery now, whichI think is crazy but you get
sucked in this whole mentalityof everything's a payment
because that's sold to us, right?
So again, we just say it's onlythis much a month or it's only
a few dollars here and there,but that stuff adds up.
We've talked about this littlememe and saying quite a few
(10:25):
times but it's, how much does itcost in spending every single
month to waste $10,000 a year?
The reality is it only takes$27.40 a day in spending to
waste 10 grand a year.
That's why I think it's crazythat you're hearing some of
these financial gurus out there,some of these people who are
saying, like you know, the smallpurchases, don't worry about
those, you know, don't worryabout your coffee runs, don't
worry about all those littlesmall stuff, like that stuff
(10:47):
isn't that big of a deal.
But what if all that smallstuff adds up to hundreds of
dollars per month.
That becomes a big deal.
And so when we're just lookingat just that small amount and
not the bigger picture, it'seasy just to say, yeah, we're
just going to do it, because allyou're doing is looking at the
small amount.
You're not looking at the wholepicture moving forward and how
much it's going to cost you.
Ryan Nelson (11:08):
Well, I mean, just think, five bucks a day, even
five bucks a day, it's $150 amonth on average, right, just
five bucks.
I mean you can't even buy afluffy coffee at Starbucks for
five bucks anymore, right, Imean, five bucks doesn't buy you
anything.
So just think, like, even ifyou spend on average 10, $15 a
(11:28):
day, I mean that's three $350,$400 a month out the door, and
$10 a day is so easy.
Brad Nelson (11:34):
And then you look at, 63% of people can't handle a
$500 emergency expense withoutgoing into debt.
That's why the little purchasesmatter.
Because, man, what if you couldget out of that?
What if you could build $1,000,$3,000 emergency fund how good.
And I know, in the grand schemeof things it's like, oh, it's
only $3,000, $3,000 emergencyfund, like how good.
And I know, in the grand schemeof things, like, oh, it's only
$3,000.
That's not that much.
But do you have any idea, goingfrom having hardly anything in
(11:55):
your savings account to havingthree grand, how much less
stress you would feel.
Like, how, man, having likejust a little bit of a safety
net, it's incredible thedifference that it makes in
people's stress levels.
That little flip, that littlemindset flip, can make just a
huge difference in the amount ofprogress that you're able to
make over time and getting someof those small wins.
Ryan Nelson (12:15):
But I totally remember being in this stage of
the monthly payments.
We got out of debt.
Now what?
Five years ago?
So this was really before allthis stuff really kicked off now
, but even before then it usedto be.
You know, you could put nomoney down and no payments for
12 months or something like that.
I mean we financed everythingand it was like it's only 15
bucks a month, it's only 20bucks a month, only 50 bucks a
(12:36):
month, like you said.
I mean, all of a sudden you'relike you're paying four or five,
six, $700 a month on all theseother little things and what's
happened is now you set up allthese subscriptions.
I mean they've learned, weadapt to that.
I mean even software.
I mean you try to buy a pieceof software.
You can't buy software anymorefor a hundred bucks for the.
Amber Taylor (12:54):
you know you got to buy it on a subscription.
Ryan Nelson (12:57):
You know you can't buy anything.
You can't just buy Windowsanymore.
You got to buy a subscriptionto Windows because they know the
10 bucks a month makes themmore money and you're going to
keep doing that as opposed todropping 150 bucks on it.
Brad Nelson (13:10):
Right, right, what's surprising to me too, I
should say surprising, but whatI want our listeners to know is
that I've seen a lot of snowballsheets.
There are so many people thatwill send me their list of debts
, and they don't necessarilyhave a huge amount of debt, and
we'll talk about credit cards.
There are so many people thatwill send me their snowball list
and they don't have a ton ofcredit card debt, but they have
(13:30):
a ton of credit card accounts.
So what's happening is that allof those minimum payments turn
into minimum payment hell and itstifles their entire cashflow
for the month.
That's why, like just you know,using the debt snowball method
and paying off some of thosesmallest balances, like it,
makes such a huge difference tosome of those individuals,
because you're finally knockingout some of those monthly
payments every month, whichfrees up cash flow every month,
(13:53):
which gives you more breathingroom, but focusing on again that
small monthly payment andthat's all you're focusing on.
I've worked with people who have20 credit cards and it might
total up to like $20,000 or$30,000 in credit card debt
overall, which for some people,that might seem like a lot, but
it's all the minimum paymentsthat are just killing them.
You know it's not necessarilythe total amount of debt,
(14:15):
because once they start payingoff some of those lower balances
, they're able to start makingsome really good progress
towards paying off some of thehigher balance cards.
So, yeah, you got to be reallycareful with that, just focusing
on that small payment.
The next one is I'll start whenthings calm down.
No, this is exactly no, youwon't, yeah, no, you won't.
This one, we hear all the timelike my life is just busy right
(14:38):
now.
And again, we all use thisexcuse I don't care if it's your
finances, I don't care if it'syour health or whatever it might
be.
Man, I just don't have timeright now.
My life is just crazy busyright now, and we give ourselves
this thought that one day, theclouds are going to open up, the
blue sky is going to be outthere, the sun's going to be
shining and there's gonna be amessage in the sky that today is
(14:59):
the day that you're supposed tostart.
And the reality is is that issuch BS?
Right, that's never going tohappen.
You got to learn to start rightnow, no matter what you're
dealing with, because life isnever calm at all ever,
especially if you got kids.
So this is a good one, becauseI'm guilty of it Totally.
Amber Taylor (15:23):
Yeah, my life has gone crazy in the last year and
a half.
Like it's been wild how manythings have happened to us.
And the fact is, is if you juststart, if you just make the
conscious effort to start, howmuch more calm your life will be
once you get your finances anda plan for your finances in
check.
It's just going to help calmthat section of your life, so
(15:46):
the other chaos doesn't seem sochaotic.
Yeah, well, it's true.
Brad Nelson (15:50):
It is.
People don't understand that.
That's where, for instance, yousay you're sick, you miss work.
On the surface level, you'resick, you miss work, but on the
back burner is the money side.
So you might be sick today, butthen all of a sudden your
paycheck comes and you may nothave sick leave or whatever, and
all of a sudden you're missingmoney.
Now, right Now, things aretight financially and you're
absolutely right.
Having control over yourfinances, it makes going through
(16:12):
all of the other things thatyou have to go on through life
just a little bit easier and alot easier to handle, because
you don't have to worry aboutthe money side.
Ryan Nelson (16:19):
Right, this also piggybacks.
You know where I'll start wherethings come down.
I used to use I'll start when Iget a raise, I'll start when we
get our tax returns back.
You know, I used to use allthese reasons, these excuses of
how just this perfect moment,when I get our tax return back,
then we'll have this money andthen we can start.
And then in between those threemonths that I said that I was
(16:40):
like spent that money 16 times,you know, on all different
things, and then you get to thattime and say I don't have that
money because you're justdelaying it.
It's just your way of likepushing it off, pushing it off,
pushing it off.
Brad Nelson (16:52):
Yeah, well, and I think the other thing a lot of
us struggle with too is, youknow, when we're getting started
.
A lot of us get started doingit alone, right, and when you
are looking at it and you fallfor this idea that you're not
good with money or you don'tknow what to do, it's easy to
put it off because you have tohave all this energy to try to
figure it out on your own.
And I think that's what makeslike what we do here in Roots
(17:14):
and our membership is so idealis like it gives you the things
that you should be doing everysingle day, step by step, from
day one, no matter where you'restarting from.
Everyone goes down the sameroad.
You're going to start here andwe're going to work with you
every single week and show youexactly what you need to do.
That makes it so much easierbecause you don't have to
reinvent the wheel.
You don't have to figure it outfor yourself.
You don't have to.
(17:35):
You know, do this trial anderror of like will this work, or
question yourself if this isgoing to work.
No, we've proven it works.
Just do the steps that we'regoing to show you how to do, and
magically I like to say magic,because sometimes it looks like
it is.
You know, in six to 12 months.
It's amazing how much progressthat you could make in a
situation, especially that youfelt at the beginning was
(17:56):
hopeless.
A lot of our members will saylike I never would have believed
that I made the progress thatI've made.
I just never would havebelieved it.
So just making those smallsteps every day can make a huge
difference.
Lie number four is we need debtto build credit.
This is a balance right here.
Yeah, if you're trying to builda credit score, here's the
(18:22):
issue with this is that a lot ofpeople go into this wanting to
build their credit and what theyend up doing is building a good
amount of debt with it all inthis excuse and lie and a lie
that's been told to us for yearsand years and years that we
have to have good credit inorder to be good with money and
what we end up collecting isjust a lot of debt, all in the
name of building credit.
Amber Taylor (18:41):
Honestly, we had really bad credit when we had a
lot of debt.
It was bad and when we paid offour debt, our credit went up
and now we have this incrediblecredit score the both of us and
we really don't carry any debtoutside of our mortgage.
So this is a flat out lie.
Brad Nelson (18:58):
It's crazy.
Amber Taylor (18:59):
Yeah.
Ryan Nelson (19:00):
Yeah, we have an amazing credit score.
But I think there's this ideathat an amazing credit score
means you're really good withmoney and I've told this story
before, but I remember being itas, probably 15 years ago, going
(19:26):
to buy a car and our score wasin the 700s.
It was decent, not bad, prettyaverage.
And I remember them being likeyeah, you can't borrow any money
.
Like what do you mean I can'tborrow?
Like, if I have this greatcredit score, I'm financially
responsible.
There are employers that willpull their credit score as a
measure of you know, are youresponsible with money?
And like you can be terriblelike money, like I was, and
still have a good credit score.
Yeah, like it's not a measureof how financially responsible
you are, it's just a measure ofhow much money do you borrow,
how much debt do you play withand do you pay your payments on
(19:48):
time.
That's all it is.
Like we were in over our headsin debt and making our payments
stressed out beyond belief, butwe had a great credit score.
But the guy's like, yeah, youhave way too much debt.
Brad Nelson (20:01):
Yeah, it's true, I was the same way had a great
credit score, but man had nomoney in the bank, broke all the
time, stressed beyond belief.
And you guys, if you want proofthat this is a real lie, just
look at what goes on in theworld.
When people, when there'sstruggle going on in the world,
like when inflation is going up,like people aren't throwing
(20:21):
their hands up screaming I needa better credit score.
A lot of people you alreadylook at like COVID, you know,
when things were shutting down,people were losing hours at work
or whatever People are throwingtheir hands up saying I need
money.
The credit score was not evenreally that big of a deal when
you go through a lot of theseevents.
A lot of people justdesperately needed more cash.
Right, they need higher wagesor whatever it is.
(20:44):
It's not necessarily just aboutthe credit score, but it's
amazing to me, like when peoplecome to us.
If you had 100 people come tous, we'll have 95 people that
will say I need help building mycredit and getting my finances
in order, and only five of themwill say I need to build my net
worth and improve my finances,and that shows you that we have
(21:04):
lived in a broken system becauseso many people are focused on
credit scores to obtain debtversus saying what do I need to
build up net worth and actuallystart to be able to build wealth
in my life?
And that's how broken I feellike some of our mindsets are
when it comes to some of thisstuff.
And the last one, you guys, isnobody lives debt-free anymore.
(21:25):
Nobody does.
When we first started thisbusiness back in 2015, I feel
like you know, obviously, socialmedia has gotten way more
popular, you know, over theyears in the last 10 years too
but I think the whole debt-freecommunity, the debt-free journey
, was just starting to ramp upthen, but there were a lot more
(21:46):
people that doubted it, I feel,10 years ago than today.
But there are still plenty ofpeople who feel like there's no
hope for us.
Like you know, I mentioned thisin lie number one, where
there's this doom and gloom doomspending the world's ending.
Everything is falling apart.
Why even bother trying anymoreor even believing in this idea
that debt freedom or financialfreedom is possible for us?
Ryan Nelson (22:09):
I'll brag a little bit on my son.
I mean, my oldest moved out ayear and a half ago.
He's debt free.
He's putting money in hisretirement account.
He's saving money.
He went to college, paid for ithimself.
He lived here, obviously, butwe didn't pay for anything, we
didn't save money for him to dothat, so he had to work cash
flow it.
I mean, he did all that becausewe learned how to manage our
(22:32):
money and we taught him how todo it.
It can be done.
You know, I think that's goingback to social media and this
doom scrolling of like our kidscan't ever afford to do anything
.
I think what we have to realizenow in this world I will
totally agree Things are waymore expensive.
Things got more expensive.
This new world.
You can't live the way I used to.
I used to be able to pay for myhouse and do all this stuff and
(22:55):
then accumulate a bunch of debtto have all my fun stuff.
You just can't do that anymoreand I get it.
I totally agree.
But to say you can't live andyou can't afford an apartment
and you can't, it's all BS.
You can, you just can't affordit the way we used to do it.
You can't afford the house andall these other things and all
this other debt on top of it togo have your camper and your
(23:15):
boat and all these other things.
That's how we used to be ableto do it.
That's how I used to do it.
I get it.
I would not be able to do thatnow and my son obviously can't
do that.
He can't go acquire tons ofstuff with debt.
I mean there's just not enoughmoney.
But he still has enough moneyto save for retirement, put
money away, go on some vacations, do the things that most people
do.
He just doesn't have the moneyto live above his means, like I
(23:38):
used to right A bunch of debt.
You can do that still today,but you are going to struggle
and I think that's probably akey difference that I see with
this.
Nobody lives debt free anymore.
I think the reason why peoplethink that is because they're
busy trying to still live theway we could five, six years ago
.
You just can't.
To me, you just can't do thatanymore.
(24:00):
You have to make somesacrifices and say we're going
to still be fine, but we justcan't live beyond what we used
to anymore with all this debt.
Brad Nelson (24:08):
Well, even if you leave debt freedom out of it
let's just say get out of debt.
Let's just say, pay off mycredit cards there's people who
even doubt that you can do anyof that stuff.
But if you look at our Rootsmembers, if that was the truth,
then why are Roots members stillsaving and paying off thousands
of dollars in today's economictimes?
They still are, and a lot ofthese people were facing some
(24:29):
pretty harsh circumstances whenthey first got started.
So I look at these people asproof.
Hey, if these people can do it,why can't you do it?
You absolutely can do it.
Ryan Nelson (24:40):
Well, and I think we shared some stats on here
before and I don't have themright in front of me, but I
think the stats are prettysimilar.
You know, 60-ish percent ofpeople back in 2018, when things
were good and things weren'tcrazy about the same amount
percent of people said theycould only afford a $500
emergency, as what a survey said, like last year.
So if only 60% could afford itsix years ago, when things were
(25:03):
great, or seven years ago, andit's the same percent now to me,
back in 2018, it should havebeen.
Only 10% of people said that,but the same percentage of
people.
It's the same excuse.
It's just wrapped in adifferent bow.
Brad Nelson (25:15):
Yeah, yeah, no question.
Well, it's like people who winthe lottery, or we have this
idea that if we just made moremoney, we would just magically
manage it better, and that'sjust not the way it works.
A lot of people who justmismanage their money when
they're making less money andthen all of a sudden start
making more money, mismanage itjust as much.
I mean heck.
We can again focus on some ofour roots members that have come
(25:37):
through.
Some of them, you know, makenormal, middle, middle to higher
income salaries, and we've hadsome people who make upper six
figure salaries, and they comein and they all say the same
thing, though but it's not theamount you make, it's what you
manage or how you manage whatyou make.
So if you want to battle theselies, you can sign up for our
newsletter Simplify my Money,which is sent each and every
(25:57):
Sunday to your email.
It is your step by step roadmapto better financial control,
and you're also going to learnsome easy to follow strategies
to manage your money effectively.
You're going to havestress-free money decisions that
are actually going to help yousimplify your financial life
with proven tips that actuallywork, and you're going to gain
the tools and confidence totackle your financial goals head
on.
Sign up for Simplify my Moneyby clicking the link at the top
(26:20):
of the show notes.
Amber Taylor (26:24):
Let's talk about debt, let's talk about debt.
Tune into Debt Free Debt, tuneinto Debt Free Debt.
(26:46):
And that's how I'm going to endthis time.
For the celebrations of theshow, jim paid off my second
debt, last year's state tax,this week.
Now that money will go towardsgetting my emergency fund back
up then to the next debt.
What a feeling.
Yeah, that's an awesome win,jim.
Brad Nelson (27:03):
Congrats back up then to the next debt what a
feeling yeah, that's an awesomewin, jim congrats.
Yeah, and that's like we talkedabout just taking those little
steps.
Such a great feeling.
Uh, tara says all of our largebills for the month are
completely paid and it's stillearly in the month.
Tara, awesome budgeting win.
Ryan Nelson (27:17):
Great, great job and mary bills are paid.
Traveling with family to see myniece graduate high school and
give her a cash gift Awesome.
Brad Nelson (27:26):
Way to go, mary.
Hey, as always, guys,congratulations to all of you
guys who are taking a stand foryour financial life and you're
wanting better.
Hey, we get that.
Getting out of debt isn't easy,but with our help and hopefully
with your consistency anddiscipline, we promise you guys,
this can be some of the bestwork that you guys do in your
entire life.
Thanks for joining us ontoday's show and we will see you
guys on the next episode.
Announcer (27:51):
Thanks for listening to the Debt-Free Dad podcast.
Connect with us on Facebook,tiktok, youtube and Instagram.
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If you found value in today'sepisode, please leave us a
rating and review.
We so appreciate it.
For resources, show notes andlinks mentioned in today's show
visit debtfreedadcom.
(28:11):
Catch you next week.
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