‘This is kind of a shellshock’: This Missouri man called into the Ramsey Show after selling his 2024 Corvette because he’s ‘missing’ the payments — is having debt good for your motivation?

Adapting to new lifestyles

Brandon’s longing for that “new car smell” and his description of “withdrawal” symptoms highlights how addictive tangible signs of wealth can be.

According to a 2015 AutoTrader survey, 27% of millennial men and 18% of millennial women said they have a “love affair” with their car, meaning they have a strong emotional attachment to it. At the same time, 66% of senior homeowners across America said they were emotionally attached to their homes, according to a recent Opendoor survey.

These sentiments for material possessions could be one of the reasons why debt continues to rise across the country. As of the third quarter of 2024, American household debt increased to $17.94 trillion, with non-housing balances like auto loans, credit cards and student loans growing by $65 billion, according to the Federal Reserve.

For many households, lowering their debt burden would involve selling assets and making lifestyle adjustments. However, Brandon demonstrates how difficult it can be to adjust to a downgraded lifestyle.

“To go from nothing, to having something — and now I’m driving a $6,000 car because I sold my $90,000 Corvette,” he said on the show. “It’s just kind of a shocker.”

One commenter proposed that Brandon was, perhaps, using debt to motivate himself.

“When you are paying off debt, you have goals, ambitions, motivation, drive,” said the YouTube user. “When it's all gone and you are rich, all those things can disappear. You suddenly don't need to stay focused because you can keep a roof over your head, you can feed your family, the drive to success slows down as you start to succeed. Unless you channel your energy elsewhere. This goes to show that it's about the journey, not the destination.”

Those with a similar mindset may consider alternative, healthier ways to stay financially motivated.

Discover how a simple decision today could lead to an extra $1.3 million in retirement

Learn how you can set yourself up for a more prosperous future by exploring why so many people who work with financial advisors retire with more wealth.

Discover the full story and see how you could be on the path to an extra $1.3 million in retirement.

Read More

Healthy sources of motivation

Instead of using debt and interest payments to motivate yourself, you could consider healthier alternatives.

For instance, you could set long-term goals for your personal finances with mid-term or short-term milestones that can be used to reward yourself along the way. That’s what Ramsey Show co-hosts Ken Coleman and George Kamel suggested Brandon do.

If he could afford to upgrade to a $20,000 car while he accumulated cash from his successful business, this mid-range compromise could keep Brandon motivated until he could afford his dream cars once again without getting into major debt in the future.

“Just upgrade incrementally as you have the cash and keep living on less than you make, keep this business crushing and you'll be there, man,” Kamel said. “But I'm not missing the debt payments, we'll get you that nice car smell in no time.”