- All right, you guys, I know we've been talking a lot
about money tendencies lately,
but listen, winning with money,
it's only 20% head knowledge, the rest is behavior.
80% behavior in order to win.
And that's why it's so crucial to figure out
your money tendencies so it helps you watch out for
trouble spots, you can kind of course correct,
and go through the Baby Steps faster.
It is so important to understand.
In order to change your behavior,
you have to know why you're doing the things you're doing.
So I went on The Dave Ramsey Show to talk to my dad
about his money tendencies,
and some of them might be a surprise to you,
so take a look.
- For 30 years, we've been telling people that
personal finance is 80% behavior, 20% head knowledge.
And we've taught you all the head knowledge
during that time, and occasionally we deal with
some of the behavior things and make sure that
you're adjusting your behaviors, you're transforming it.
But Rachel decided to get under the hood
and say, all right, what does it take to really understand
who you are, because if you do,
then you can say, I need to be the best version of that.
- That's exactly right.
So walking through, understanding not just who you are,
but it really is, it's your upbringing,
how your childhood classroom, if you will,
influenced how and why you handle money
the way you do today.
Your money tendencies, your money fears,
your money dreams, even the amount of grace
that you give when money mistakes happen.
It affects your relationships.
I mean, the whole part of who you are,
understanding that, and that allows you also
have the empathy for others in your life if you're married.
So hopefully this book reveals things,
and you're like, oh, that's why my spouse
does the things he does or she does.
And you really can understand the person,
because when you understand you more,
you can become a healthier version of that,
which helps you create better money habits,
and win with money faster.
- And I think we started scratching the surface years ago,
and we said, okay, some of you are nerds,
some of you are free spirits.
And usually there's one of each in a marriage.
So you wanna be a healthy version of a nerd,
which is the detail administrative thing,
but not the overbearing control freak.
You wanna be a healthy version of the free spirit,
which is a person who enjoys life,
but does it in a mature way where you don't destroy
the entire family's finances. And so,
we started scratching the surface with that years ago,
but you've gotten down into scarcity and abundance,
and safety versus status, and quality versus quantity,
which is one I had not really thought of.
That's an interesting one.
- Well, let's go through them.
Here's your quiz, because in the book, you get,
in the book, the way I wrote it out was
there's a scale, basically, so you kind of
put yourself on the scale between the two.
So saver versus spender, where are you on the scale?
- Me? - Yep.
- Oh, spender.
- Yep, which I think is probably surprising for some people.
Everyone just assumes, and me too,
they're like, oh you teach about money,
so you love to save?
And I'm like, I don't love to save.
- No, Winston is the saver and Sharon's the saver naturally.
Now, I'm a good saver because I've learned that it is
the shortest method to spend more (laughing)
and to be more generous.
I can't give money away if I'm broke.
- And I'm like you too.
I lean way more on the spender.
And again, extremes on all these scales can be unhealthy.
So again, the moderation is key,
but you lean one way or the other.
Okay, scarcity versus abundance?
- Abundance. - Me too.
Are we gonna be the same person?
Safety versus status.
And what this is is meaning why do you wanna win with money?
For some people, it's completely out of safety.
I don't wanna have to worry about it,
it's there, I'm okay.
Some people want it in order to live a fun life,
to go on vacation, so status isn't bad.
I feel like some people read this, status is not bad.
There's an unhealthy version of it,
but it's so that I can enjoy life, go on vacation,
maybe drive a fun car, like I wanna use it for things
in my life versus it just being there, that I'm okay.
- That would often be the safety would be the saver,
and the status would be the spender, wouldn't it?
- Sometimes.
- I wonder if it can be opposite.
- Are you more safety with money?
- Oh, definitely status, definitely.
- Me too.
Okay, quality versus quantity.
- Quality. - Okay, I'm quantity.
I would rather have like 20 pairs of earrings.
- So you get sucked into the Costco 22 pounds
of peanut butter thing.
- Yes, I like having more stuff versus like
one nice pair of shoes, I'd rather have 10
that are like, meh, and then I have to replace.
But you like quality.
You'll research and buy the best of the best,
even if it's just one thing, you just have the one.
- I've got a pair of cowboy boots that I have had
since college.
But they are top line, I mean,
I've resoled them three times.
But not only are they broken in and perfect,
but obviously they had the ability to last
30 some odd years.
- That's pretty good.
- So they were quality boots.
That's fine, and I'd rather wear them than new ones
because I don't wanna break them in.
- When you spend money, is it more on experiences or things?
- I do both. I don't know. I'm probably in the middle
on that one.
You're an experience girl.
- Oh yeah, all the way. - No question.
- Give me a nice dinner out, give me a vacation,
go to the zoo with the kids,
like I wanna go do stuff versus having like a thing.
- Your mom is on things.
No, she does both though because she's like,
I need a vacation.
- Oh both of you, whatever, y'all can do both.
We all can't do both.
No, but this was a good one for me and Winston
because for the first probably two or three years
of our marriage, even when we did our budget
and all of this,
I just valued our out to eat category.
I was like, I love going out to eat.
And he always, if we went, especially at the beginning
of marriage, he was like, I'll just get a water.
And I'm like, get a drink, have a drink,
like it's fine.
And he's like, no, no, no, it's so expensive,
like, no, it's fine, it's fine.
And I'm like, oh my goodness.
But I enjoy that whole experience,
where he, again, would buy something,
and I'm like, why did you buy that?
Like, it made no sense.
But finally, when we had the communication around it,
and I pinpointed it, I was like, oh,
your value around what you spend your money on,
that's what it is.
Okay, planned giving versus spontaneous giving?
- Well, this is a brain versus a natural.
My natural response is spontaneous,
and yet the vast majority of our giving is very planned.
We even plan our spontaneity. (chuckles)
We have categories in the Ramsey Family Foundation
that's just money that's just sitting there
so if something comes up, we can, you know,
single mom needs some help with something that pops up.
We had an opportunity through the legal system
to help a family that was messed up beyond belief
the other day, and we had the money,
so we had planned to be able to be.
So it's, I don't know.
But personally, just walking up and giving somebody,
you know, I leave a large tip.
That, for me, so it's spontaneous.
And I guess it is for you.
- Spontaneous giving, yeah, mine's spontaneous too.
I'll hear of some amazing organization
they're doing all this, and I'm like,
we will give to you. We will give to you
for the rest of our lives.
Because I'm like, yes, I just wanna help,
and it's amazing.
- Until I see someone else.
- Yeah, that's it. I know, right?
So those are the 7 Money Tendencies
as part of the book.
And breaking down the good, the bad, the ugly
of each one, some roadblocks that could be ahead for you,
depending on where you lean on the scale.
But having those in the back of your mind
helps you understand this is why I do
some of the things I do with money.
- What we have known at Ramsey,
and what you've really clarified
and put a lot of work around
is that the biggest obstacle between where you are today
and becoming wealthy is not opportunity.
It's not your income. It's you controlling you.
And you understanding you helps you control you
so that you can win.
The problem with my money is the person in the mirror.
We've said that for years.
And what you're doing here is to say, okay,
if I'm gonna be a nerd, I need to be a healthy nerd.
That way I don't kill my free spirit that I'm married to,
and run them into the dirt and turn Dave Ramsey's name
into a cussword, and all those kinds of things.
And so Know Yourself, Know Your Money.
We're throwing in over $150 worth of free stuff
when you preorder right now,
including for a short time longer,
not very much longer, a free financial coaching call
if you preorder the book with a Ramsey preferred
financial coach.
$150 worth of free stuff including the audiobook
that she's in process of reading this week, literally,
the e-book, and of course we will ship you
the book as well.
You can get it all at daveramsey.com
or you can call the Ramsey Concierge team
at 888-22-PEACE, 888-227-3223.
That's very workable for you.
So the thing is, that if you're not careful,
you end up with your money problems aren't really problems.
They're the symptoms.
The real problems are under the surface
and if you whack on a money problem,
it'll pop up somewhere else.
It's like Whac-A-Mole, you won't be able to get it
until you get down under it and you say,
okay, that's what's going on,
we're not communicating about this.
This is why we can't get our budget done.
This is why we're always screwing up our savings account.
- That's exactly right.
Yeah, your money problems are usually masquerading
as life huge problems underneath the surface.
So you go and say, okay, it's not that my spouse
can't get on board, it's because, oh wow,
we have some marriage issues here,
we're not trusting each other, we're not communicating.
There's lots of other stuff when you can get
under that surface.
- Know Yourself, Know Your Money.
- You get some acknowledgement.
- This is The Dave Ramsey Show.
- So interesting, right?
Love all of this.
So if you wanna learn about your money tendencies
as well as the six money fears
and the four money classrooms,
make sure to check out my new book,
Know Yourself, Know Your Money.
You can go to rachelcruze.com,
there'll be a link in the show notes.
And I cannot wait for you guys to read it
and learn more about yourself,
and for you to take control of your money
and create a life you love.