May 12, 2026
Norah, a nurse, is single-mindedly following Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps method of building wealth, currently on Step 2: Paying off credit-card and loan debt. She's already paid down $83,000 in student loans and plans to eliminate the remaining $76,000 by December 2027.
But she admits she's "exhausted" and she's not getting encouragement from her boyfriend. Norah asked Ramsey Show (1) hosts Ken Coleman, Rachel Cruze and George Kamel for help.
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"How can I manage burnout, stay motivated and help my partner understand why becoming debt-free matters so much to me?" she asked.
Norah said her boyfriend "doesn't understand" why she's so debt-obsessed. She puts every penny of every paycheck she can towards it; he thinks she should just make minimum payments.
Ken Coleman asked if she'd explained the Ramsey Baby Steps method to him. She indicated that she had, but it didn't help. It just made things worse.
"He thinks it's a cult," she said, smiling.
So are people who follow Dave Ramsey's advice in a 'cult'? Or are Ramsey and his co-hosts just preaching good sense? Here's a look at the 'cult' argument and what Coleman, Cruze and Kamel advised Norah to do.
Dave Ramsey is religious about debt repayment
The Ramsey Show co-hosts laughed when Norah raised the word 'cult' to describe their work.
"I've never heard that before," Coleman said. But Norah's boyfriend isn't the only one to toss around the term "cult" in relation to Dave Ramsey.
Over the years, redditors have described him and his followers as cultlike in their adherence to his approach to debt repayment and growing wealth. In the subreddit Dave Ramsey Has Become A Cult, (2) one wrote: "Self-proclaimed financial guru …. His following is cult like weird. He targets churches."
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It's true that Ramsey, an evangelical Christian, links his financial advice to biblical principles. But being religious, charismatic and persuasive doesn't mean Dave Ramsey leads a cult. His fans are devoted to him and his advice, but he doesn't use coercive techniques, and you don't have to be Christian to follow his tips.
Still, he gets pretty religious when it comes to debt paydown. There may be a middle road for people like Norah, one between her all-in approach and the minimum payments her boyfriend suggests. In fact, that middle ground is exactly what Coleman, Cruze and Kamel recommended.
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Finding debt-life balance
Coleman asked if part of the tension in Norah's relationship was that she was always working. He praised her debt-free goal, and her commitment to a December 2027 payoff date. But he suggested she go easier, giving herself more time to get to debt-free status.
"If you're starting to get to a place of physical and emotional and maybe spiritual and relationship exhaustion, dial it back a little bit, you know, until you can get back up on your feet."
Cruze agreed, urging Norah to cut back on the overtime she's working until she has the energy to get back to it.
That's because it's as important to have a debt-life balance as it is to have work-life balance.
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Finding that balance is no easy task, given U.S. household debt reached $18.8 trillion (3) in December 2025. And of that, $1.66 trillion was student debt, like Norah's.
Faced with crushing debt, some people may choose to ignore it, making minimum payments like Norah's boyfriend suggests, or no payments at all. But that can lead to poor credit scores, delinquency and even bankruptcy, which is not a recipe for a happy life. Others, like Norah, may go all in on debt payoff, at the expense of their mental and physical health — and relationships.
The balance is to be responsible, paying off debt at a reasonable pace so you can take care of your own well-being.
You can use Dave Ramsey's recommended Snowball method, paying off the smallest debt and building up to the largest, or the avalanche method, paying off the largest debt first and working down to the smallest.
You don't have to do it alone, either. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau notes (4) that you can approach a nonprofit credit-counseling agency. For a fee, they can work with you and your creditors on developing a debt management plan offering lower interest, lower monthly payments and a longer payoff period.
As Cruze says, paying off debt requires a marathon mindset. And the only way to win in the long run is to pace yourself.
Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
YouTube (1); Reddit (2); Federal Reserve Bank of New York (3); Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (4)
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Laura Boast is an Associate Editor with Moneywise.com and a lifelong content creator who has reached international audiences at Discovery, CBC, Blue Ant Media, Bond Brand Loyalty and more.
