Couple, 36, Is ‘So Broke’ But Paid $30K For Solar Panels — Dave Ramsey Says ‘Lock Arms And Write Down A Pledge In Blood’ to Stop Overspending

Trying to live sustainably doesn’t work so well when your finances are upside down. That’s what one woman learned the hard way after sinking $30,000 into solar panels—on a combined monthly income of just $3,100.

Jessica, a 36-year-old from Dallas, called into “The Ramsey Show” in a video titled “We’re So Broke, We Don’t Know What to Do!” hoping for a way out. What she got instead was a full-blown financial intervention.

“We do not know which way is up,” she said. “We are just upside down on a lot of things.”

She explained that after buying a house three years ago, she and her husband financed solar panels, racked up $15,000 in credit card debt trying to remodel, and were now renting a car from a friend just to get around. She stayed home with their three-year-old and tried to run a business while her husband worked full time. Still, the bills didn’t add up.

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No More Excuses 

Dave Ramsey didn’t tiptoe around the issue. “You have impulsed yourself into a corner,” he told her — a statement Jessica immediately agreed with.

“You guys have to lock arms and write down a pledge in blood that says, ‘I’m going to quit buying crap I can’t afford,'” Ramsey said. “Solar panels, renovations—anything ever, unless I can pay cash for it, I’m never buying it again.”

Jessica immediately agreed. Ramsey pushed them to return the rent-to-own vehicle “today,” and said they needed to get real about tracking every dollar. But even a budget, he warned, wasn’t going to be enough without more income.

“You should double your income really in the next year,” he told her. “You’re so freaking chaotic and out of control right now, but when you sit down and actually start doing a budget, that’s going to give you a sense of power.”

Ramsey urged them to stop reacting to life and start planning for it. “Everything’s just kind of been happening to y’all,” he said. “You’re going to start happening to it.”

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All Else Fails, Just Sell the House 

If they couldn’t stabilize their income? Ramsey gave them permission to hit the reset button.

“Just sell the house,” he said. “All your mistakes are covered by the equity in the sale of the house. You get a fresh start.”

Jessica and her husband owed about $197,000 on the property, but believed it could sell for around $300,000. That would give them enough to wipe out their $30,000 solar loan and $15,000 in credit cards—and maybe even leave something left over.

“I know I’d cry a little, but I could sell the house and this whole thing would be over,” she admitted.

Ramsey told her that wasn’t failure—it was strategy. “You’re just behind,” he said. “You’re in a Monopoly game, and you’re not winning right now.”

Still, he reassured her they weren’t out of options. “You’re not — you’re not so far in the corner that you can’t get out.”

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Impulse Buys Add Up

Jessica’s solar panels weren’t the root issue — they were just the most expensive example. Ramsey’s advice focused less on the panels and more on the pattern: financing big things without a plan, reacting instead of budgeting.