‘Ramsey Show’ Caller Says Her Husband, 52, Hasn't Worked in 8 Years Claiming He's Religiously Exempt — She Cleans Houses and Uses Child Support for Bills

Apparently, there’s a new career path nobody put on LinkedIn — church volunteer, occasional snow-removal guy and full-time phone scroller. One woman says her husband has spent eight years without steady work while she cleans four or five houses a week to keep their household afloat.

Chris, 32, called into "The Ramsey Show" recently, explaining that her 52-year-old husband hasn’t held a steady job since shortly after they moved in together eight years ago.

Chris said her husband occasionally picks up landscaping work and does some snow removal in the winter, but nothing steady. She cleans four or five houses a week and said the couple also manages a property that brings in about $800 a month — money that mostly covers his child-support payments from a previous marriage.

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Their house is about halfway paid off, but it originally belonged to Chris from a previous marriage. She said she took over the payments and uses the child support she receives to help cover the mortgage. The household, she said, is "just barely scraping by."

His Reason for Not Working Is Religious

Chris said her husband spends much of the day at home on his phone, but his explanation for not working is rooted in religion.

She said he believes God blessed her with the ability to work so he can remain available for church ministry. He volunteers at church basketball games, sets up chairs and has gone on mission trips, some of which were funded by donations. But she said he contributes very little money to the household.

The age difference also came up during the call. Chris is 32 and her husband is 52, and she said she felt she’d made "a very bad choice in the beginning." She explained that he had been going through a messy divorce when he lost his job, and she initially believed the unemployment was temporary.

Eight years later, "temporary" had become the arrangement.

Chris also said she felt she was in "a trauma bond relationship" and had already gone to counseling with her husband and pastor. The advice she’d received was essentially the same choice she brought to the show — separate or require him to get a job.

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Ramsey’s Hosts Say Eight Years Is a Long Time to Wait

"So, Chris, it’s been eight years. A long, long, long time," co-host Rachel Cruze said. She told Chris she had to decide whether she was willing to live with the situation for another 30 years or make a different decision.

Cruze said she and Jade Warshaw were going to tell Chris what her counselors had already told her.

"He’s not going to change," Warshaw said.

The hosts weren’t simply telling Chris what she had to do. Their argument was that after eight years, she had to stop waiting for her husband to become a different person and decide what she was willing to accept.

"If you choose to stay, you can’t complain anymore because you’ve chosen it at that point," Warshaw said.

The hosts also discussed the religious argument, with Cruze referencing Scripture about a person who doesn’t take care of his own household.

But Chris said the financial situation wasn’t the only problem. There were other issues in the marriage, including anger-management concerns, although she said some of those had improved.

"The big issue is this is a marriage, a foundational marriage issue," Warshaw said. "And you have to decide, am I going to continue on the ride or am I not?"

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Building Financial Independence One Asset at a Time

For Chris, getting the household finances on firmer ground would likely come before worrying about sophisticated investing. But once someone has room to invest, building assets that are actually theirs can become part of the bigger picture.

Real estate doesn’t necessarily require buying an entire house. Arrived allows investors to purchase fractional shares of rental properties starting at $100, giving people a way to invest in residential real estate without buying a whole property or handling tenants and maintenance themselves. Investors can potentially earn rental income and benefit from property appreciation, depending on the investment. Returns aren’t guaranteed, and fees and other risks apply.

For someone carrying most of a household’s financial load, the bigger lesson isn’t about finding one magical investment. It’s about building a financial foundation that doesn’t depend on another person eventually deciding to contribute.

Chris has already waited eight years.

At some point, the question stops being whether he will change.

It becomes whether she will.

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