Podcast Summary: Financial Audit with Caleb Hammer

Episode: "$74,000 For New Boobs"
Date: January 9, 2026
Guest: Stevie (they/them), 28, St. Louis, MO

Main Theme & Purpose

In this Financial Audit episode, host Caleb Hammer sits down with Stevie, a 28-year-old nonbinary guest from St. Louis exploring the intersection of self-identity, financial stress, and impulsive spending, centered around a planned $10,000 breast lift surgery. The conversation dives deep into personal finance mismanagement, relationship challenges, risk of unemployment, mental health history—including addiction recovery—and the psychological factors fueling financial decisions.

Key Discussion Points

1. Guest Profile and Job Situation

• Stevie's Background: Works in telecommunications building backend proposals, not client-facing. Earns $45,000/year at main job, plus ~$390/week from after-school child care/tutoring side work.

  • [04:24] “$45[000]. How the fuck are you…” – Caleb
  • [06:04] Side job brings in an extra $1,690/month (seasonal).

• Living Situation: Lives with boyfriend (met in rehab), splitting bills; family available as a last-resort safety net (grandma, age 68).

• Job Instability: Facing pay cuts, potential layoffs due to AI implementation. Recently offered alternate position at work—refused, risking job security.

  • [17:27] “He goes…we’re going to have to be cutting someone from your department. Probably somebody who doesn’t work a full 40 hours a week.”
  • [18:19] “How does that work? Please, in detail. That sounds like a great plan.” – Caleb

2. Identity, Relationships, and Therapy

• Gender & Expression: Stevie identifies as nonbinary (they/them), prefers male-associated terms like “dude/bro,” but is pursuing breast surgery for personal body confidence.

  • [07:45] “Gender identity and gender expression are two different things.” – Stevie

• Relationship: 3-year relationship, struggles with compatibility, financial balance, and divergent views on polyamory and sex due to medical factors (chronic ovarian cysts causing painful intercourse).

  • [20:46] “We are working on it…our relationship dynamic needs to change.” – Stevie

• Therapy: Both partners in couples/individual therapy; new therapist specializes in polyamory.

3. Spending Habits and Debt

• Impulsive, Emotional Spending: Seeking $10,000 for cosmetic breast lift (already $1,000 deposit paid via Klarna—BNPL lender).

  • [09:37] “It’s $9,500” (cost of surgery)
  • [41:52] “So it’s already happening…” (deposit paid)

• Other Major Expenses:

  • Recent $2,000 custom gaming PC “just to play Sims” (to be discussed in post-show).
  • Frequent DoorDash/food delivery, repeated Amazon/Wayfair/Shein spending for events and home goods.

• Pattern of Using Debt:

  • Juggles payments with cash advances, credit cards (at high interest), and BNPL.
  • [11:13] “It was basically just under $6000 [in outflow]…”

• Total Debt:

  • $74,483 across credit cards, personal loan, car loan ($29K for Kia Sportage Hybrid, heavily underwater vs. value), student loans (started in past year, $0 payment currently on income-based plan), and CareCredit (medical financing at high rates).
  • [43:49] “I think it’s like—$74,483.” – Stevie

4. Coping Mechanisms and Risk-Taking

• Overreliance on Others: Noted fallback to grandma and “backup plans” (roommate, child care jobs, possible return to sex work or OnlyFans if desperate).

  • [12:13] “Oh, for fuck’s sake…you’re saying that at 28. What a joke.” – Caleb

• History of Sex Work:

  • Sugar baby arrangement at 22; has done OnlyFans, now deactivated; boyfriend was against it.
  • [32:00] “So I met him on a website, and…he came to visit me every weekend and he would…pay me an allowance.”

• Mental Health Journey:

  • 10-year alcoholic, now 3+ years sober post-rehab. Still struggles with impulse control (e.g., shopping), now vapes (“oral fixation”).

5. Budget Analysis and Practical Advice

• Budget Shortfall: Routinely spends $1,000+ more per month than she earns, relying on debt to fill the gap.

  • [61:03] “You signed up for [these bills]…Welcome to the consequences.”

• Major Budget Violations:

  • Klarna installments, DoorDash, concert trips/clothing for events, “convenience” spending on nightstands, etc.
  • [52:12] “It doesn’t work. It didn’t match the vibe I needed.” – Stevie, regarding replacing a functional nightstand for aesthetic reasons

• Advice Given by Caleb:

  • NO surgery until debt is gone and emergency fund is established. Focus solely on essential expenses, switch to aggressive job hunt, and aggressively pay down debt.
  • [93:02] “You can do this in a year. You can do this when you pay off debt and have an emergency fund…But you cannot do this now.”
  • [93:42] “Go focus on a better paying job right now. That can be a reward after paying off all your bad debt and getting a fully funded emergency fund.”

6. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [12:13] “You’re saying that at 28. What a joke. That’s why you’ve never made any progress in your life. That’s why you’re prioritizing a boob job over literally anything else that would benefit your life—because people will be there and bail you out.” – Caleb
• [39:41] “The alternative is—accept this job change so you don’t get laid off tomorrow…and apply for other jobs like it’s a full-time job. That’s what you do, so you don’t get laid off and all of a sudden we don’t know how to deal with money without grandmother.” – Caleb
• [43:16] “Honestly thought I was just going to support it instinctively, but that was—they’re actually very nice.” – Caleb
• [46:05] “If in a different world…all of a sudden I just came across those, ‘saggy’ is not the word I would have thought of in any way whatsoever. That’s kind of stupid.” – Caleb, on the perceived necessity of the breast surgery
• [64:00] “The thing is, like, I know how to do finances. I just don’t do it.” – Stevie
• [94:48] “About a two out of ten for your age. I didn’t realize Hammer Financial Score rounded up to one. One out of ten.” – Caleb (final assessment)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Job & Income Discussion: [03:44]–[06:33]
• Breast Lift Surgery Costs/Plans: [07:12], [09:37], [41:47]
• Debt and Overspending Patterns: [10:59], [11:10], [43:49], [58:23]
• Relationship/Dynamics/Polyamory: [20:01], [21:06], [22:19]
• History of Sex Work, OnlyFans: [31:50]–[36:40]
• Addiction Recovery: [52:31], [56:41]
• Budget Breakdown, Minimum Payments, Student Loans: [76:43], [82:39], [90:01]
• Financial Score & Final Assessment: [94:18]–[94:56]

Tone & Style

• Conversational, unfiltered, and occasionally irreverent.
• Caleb oscillates between tough-love accountability and dry humor, consistently calling out delusional rationalizations with directness.
• Stevie responds with candor, self-deprecation, and a willingness to poke fun at themselves—maintaining a self-aware but persistently hopeful (or avoidant) attitude about their financial situation.

Summary Table

| Topic | Details/Quotes | Timestamp | |-----------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------| | Main Job & Side Income | Main: $45K, Side: $1,690/mo (seasonal childcare) | 03:44–06:33 | | Cosmetic Surgery Plan | $10,000 breast lift ($1K deposit made via Klarna) | 07:12, 09:37, 41:47 | | Total Debt | $74,483 (includes car loan, credit cards, personal loan, student loans, CareCredit) | 43:49 | | Overspending Example | “It was basically just under $6,000…” spent in a month, income lower than outflow | 11:13 | | Backup Plans (if laid off/breakup) | Grandma’s help, child care gigs, possibly returning to sex work/OnlyFans | 12:09, 31:50| | Reasoning for Boob Job | Not for others, but self-confidence; family history of sagging, past body dysmorphia | 07:22, 08:45| | Avoidance, False Sense of Security | “I have been in like every single industry… I am fully capable of finding something to make it work.” | 18:25 | | Final Financial Score | 1/10 (rounded up; heavy debt, no savings, minimal retirement) | 94:48 | | Memorable Insult | “You’re saying that at 28. What a joke…That’s why you’ve never made any progress in your life.” | 12:13 |

Conclusion

Stevie embodies the archetype of the financially overwhelmed millennial: under-earning, unstably employed, emotionally spending, and reliant on an ever-shrinking social/familial safety net. Despite candid self-disclosure and therapy, Stevie repeats destructive cycles—borrowing for immediate gratification and rationalizing against clear risks—while facing major threats of layoff and break-up. The episode’s final lesson, delivered in Hammer’s blunt style: Cut out nonessentials, reject cosmetic spending, focus all energy on job stability/improvement and debt payoff. Pleasure and confidence come after financial security—not before.

Final Quote:
[64:00] “The thing is, like, I know how to do finances. I just don’t do it.” – Stevie