Dave Ramsey is Wrong: You Are Not Screwed

All I could do was try to force myself to fall asleep. That was the only thing that would numb my hunger pangs. No, not the hunger pangs that you get when you lose track of time and skip lunch-- but a deep, painful ache because I hadn’t eaten a “balanced meal” in days.

If you’ve ever gone without regular meals because you couldn’t afford them, you know what I’m talking about. You likely will never forget the gnawing, the almost stinging sensation well beyond the pit of your stomach. I certainly won’t.

There is being “hungry” or even “starving,” in the way that you might joke with friends on your way to brunch; just passing hyperbole. And then there is real hunger. Hunger that you experience, deeply, because you don’t have enough food to eat or access to proper nutrition.

These hunger pangs are not only warning signs that your body is breaking down, but also a side effect of the sirens going off in your head because you feel like your world is on fire, with questions bouncing around like: Will I eat again? Am I going to be okay? Will I even make it to tomorrow?

Some think that I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I get it. I’m a finance expert. So how could I know what it’s like to not have money, right? How could I know what it’s like not to have food? Believe me, I wish I didn’t.

Even though I’m far from that time in my life (further than I ever imagined was possible), I will always remember the nights I couldn’t escape hunger. Not even in my dreams.

In hindsight, it’s easy for me to have an appreciation for the harder times in my life. It’s clear to me now that my actual hunger drove and continues to drive my career hunger, and a ravenous appetite it is. But, my younger self wouldn’t have wanted or needed to hear that. She just wanted a good meal and to be told it’s going to be okay.

Of course I had no idea just how okay it would be… and then some. I never imagined I would be a network news anchor for a decade and I certainly didn’t imagine I would focus on business and money news or grow into teaching others about it for yet another decade. No, I didn’t set out to become a financial expert or author. I set out to get a job, support myself and use my passion for helping others in some way.

Ét voila. Here we are. Moi: the least likely money expert ever.

For a long time I suffered from Imposter’s Syndrome. I pretended to have a pedigree I didn’t. I tried to bury my real story that included days without a spoon in my mouth, much less a silver one. I thought that going through dark periods of not having money, where I only ate brown rice and beans (because it felt slightly fancier than Ramen) would be my biggest weakness as I grew my career in the financial service space. I thought that if anyone found out, I would somehow be disqualified. Canceled.

Little did I know, this awareness of what it means to have nothing, is actually my biggest superpower. The superpower to honor where I really came from. The superpower to remember and empathize with what that’s like and to champion for those still there.

When long-time financial author and host Dave Ramsey said “you’re already screwed if the stimulus check ‘changes your life,” I felt an immediate déjà vu. The pangs. The pain. And then, the indignation.

Advice is, by definition, given to those who need help. Financial advice isn’t consumed by those who have finances figured out. Rather, it is for those who are struggling and today, during a global pandemic, millions are hard-pressed to make ends meet. That doesn’t mean they are bad. It doesn’t mean they aren’t smart. It means that they are in the middle of a battle in the ring with darkness, likely not for the first time and likely for a combination of macro- and micro-economic issues that won’t be fixed in time for dinner.

People currently going through hard financial times, who need help putting 3 meals on their table for their families aren’t screwed, they are hungry. The people whose lives are changed by $600 or $1400 aren’t screwed, they just need a hand getting out of the ring.

You aren’t screwed if you need help. I won’t lie to you—just like I wouldn’t lie to my former self—and say that it’s going to be okay tomorrow. But it is going to be okay.

There are people who once felt financially helpless, too, who will meet you with extra kindness and compassion. There are experts who remember the pangs; who hold the pain of walking through financial flames deep in our sense memory. We are the ones holding buckets of water for those still battling them.

For now, our Money Minute is up! Until next time, don’t do anything with your money that I wouldn’t do!

xo,