Where this was said
Alice in Raleigh: Fear of Starting a Family While in Debt
At 49:12 · chapter starts 43:50
Alice is apologetically anxious from the first word, but her question cuts to the heart of a common fear: I'm in debt, I want to have kids, and I want to do it right. She and her husband make $110K combined, carry $20K and $45K in student loans (the larger one six months from public service forgiveness), and own a home. Dave immediately identifies the real issue [1] — Dave Ramsey "The fear of not being financially ready to have children is almost always a failure to run the real budget. On $110K a year, you can afford…" 44:20 : it's not whether she can afford a child — she can — it's that she wants to stay home, and she hasn't run the numbers on what that actually requires. Jade walks her through what a faux budget looks like, showing that all the scary questions — daycare costs, 529 contributions, mortgage payments — are answerable tonight with real numbers. Dave closes with the most direct reassurance of the episode: you make enough money to have a child, and planning for this is exactly what responsible parenthood looks like.
The fear of not being financially ready to have children is almost always a failure to run the real budget. On $110K a year, you can afford a child. What you can't afford is the fantasy nursery, the bigger car, and staying home on one income without a plan.
