Aug 9, 2025
Courtney of Oklahoma City called into The Ramsey Show seeking advice on how to finance a major home repair. She wants to take out a loan, while her husband is opposed to the idea.
“We are trying to knock out debt, but we do currently live in a home that is proving to be not actually livable,” she told co-hosts Jade Warshaw and George Kamel in a clip posted July 27. “We’re talking about extensive mold.”
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Although the mold isn’t “majorly toxic,” she says it degraded the structural integrity of the home enough that her bedroom floor caved in.
Fitting unavoidable home repairs into your budget can get tricky. And with Courtney currently sleeping on the couch, she’s desperate to find a way forward after dealing with this mold issue for the last five years.
What route to pay for home repairs?
It seems the mold stemmed from an improperly installed addition to the home that didn’t include a moisture barrier and was poorly ventilated.
“Now the support beams under that part of the house have completely rotted away,” Courtney said. “So that part of the house is not habitable.”
Remediation alone would cost between $6,000 and $8,000, she says, which doesn’t include demolition or rebuilding costs that would follow to reclaim use of her bedroom. Since the couple’s savings — around $3,000 — aren’t enough to cover the costs, Courtney wants to take out a loan.
Her husband disagrees — he’s more interested in knocking out all of their debt. After years of working through “other issues,” Courtney admitted the couple was now trying to get on the same page financially.
Warshaw noted that debt “can look like the easy button,” and while Courney may be experiencing “fatigue” after overcoming challenges in her relationship, the co-hosts strongly advised against taking out a loan to pay for this project.
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Kamel suggested cash flowing the remaining costs over the next 90 days.
“Can you save up $1,000 or $2,000 a month out of your paycheck?” he asked.
But Courtney was unable to answer him. Despite estimating the couple earned a combined $75,000 in yearly income, she was unaware how much money could be spared each month.
“That lets me know you don’t have much of a budget,” Warshaw said.
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The co-hosts both suggested Courtney and her husband put a budget together and focus on saving up for this big expense over the next couple of months.
“I can almost guarantee I could find a thousand bucks if I looked at your bank statements and helped you create a budget,” Kamel said. “So, I want to encourage you that it is possible to do this, making $75,000 a year.”
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Funding home repair projects
Home repair costs can add up quickly. And if you don’t have enough savings or a depleted emergency fund, covering those costs can add stress to your life. If you are facing a home repair, start by evaluating how much money you have and prioritizing what truly needs to be done. Also take note of possible expenses on the horizon that haven’t hit a breaking point yet.
Once you have a list of needed and upcoming repairs in hand, get estimates for the costs before you start tackling projects. If you need to make a repair and you don’t have enough savings, but you also don’t want to go into debt, take a look at your budget. Look for temporary spending cuts to potentially come up with the funds over several months.
While it’s tempting to go into debt to solve a house problem immediately, it can end up straining your financial situation.
“Yes, maybe you get the thing fixed tomorrow, but now you’ve got this huge amount of debt hanging around your neck,” Warshaw said.
One way to handle future repair costs is to prepare in advance. For homeowners, this means taking good care of appliances and regularly tucking away money earmarked for household expenses. Unexpected repairs are a common part of homeownership, but being prepared can help you sleep better and tackle repairs head-on when they inevitably arise.
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Sarah Sharkey is a personal finance writer who enjoys helping people make optimal financial decisions for their situation. She loves digging into the nitty-gritty details of financial products and money management strategies to root out the good, the bad, and the ugly. Her goal is to help readers find the best course of action for their needs.
