Dave Ramsey Was Wrong, Now She's F*cked | Financial Audit

Summary

Financial Audit Podcast Summary

Episode Title: Dave Ramsey Was Wrong, Now She's F*cked | Financial Audit
Host: Caleb Hammer
Guest: Nikki, 27, Paris, Texas
Date: May 30, 2025

---

Episode Overview

In this episode, Caleb Hammer dissects the financial life of Nikki, a 27-year-old from Paris, Texas, whose financial reality fails to align with the advice and strategies learned from Dave Ramsey and other personal finance thinkers. The discussion centers on repeated debt cycles, questionable spending decisions, the pitfalls of debt consolidation, missteps in homeownership, and the struggle to change deeply ingrained behaviors while maintaining the hope for a better financial future for her family.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Nikki’s Financial Situation and Income

• Nikki’s Salary: Technical Support Relationship Manager for a veterinary lab software company, earning $70,614/year (plus small annual bonus/raise).
• Husband’s Income: Mechanic, $19.25/hr, paid weekly, averaging $2,560/month.
• Combined Monthly Net Income: ~$6,500.
• Financial Reality: Despite above-average income for the area, the couple is drowning in debt.

“I get paid biweekly, and it's $1,955.11.” — Nikki (01:49)

“Years of repeated debt. Cycles, cycles, cycles.” — Nikki (02:10)

---

2. The Debt Cycle & Ineffective Debt Consolidation

• Recurring Cycle: Nikki and her husband repeatedly pay off debts (often via consolidation loans), only to accumulate new debts.
• Debt Consolidation: Used in 2023, paid debts but behavior unchanged; now considering another consolidation.
• Outstanding Debt: $80,000 in “bad debt” (credit cards, loans) + mortgage.
• Behavioral Issue: Caleb emphasizes that consolidation without behavior change is pointless.

“It didn't work last time.” — Caleb (07:40)

“It worked to pay everything off to get us moved.” — Nikki
“Yeah, but that doesn't mean anything if we're back to where we were before. It's a temporary happiness.” — Caleb (07:44)

---

3. Costly Life Events: The Move

• Relocated from Bay Area, CA to Paris, TX to escape high living costs and familial strife.
• Moving Costs & Logistics: Four trips, numerous vehicles, storage fees (for family “equipment” and keepsakes), led to drained savings and additional debt.
• Vehicle & Asset Purchases: Bought two expensive vehicles ($24K SUV and $28K truck), despite being in debt; purchases justified by need for moving, work, and hobbies (e.g., towing a family boat).

“If it's for a move, then rent a truck. Did we buy a truck to help with a move?” — Caleb (11:18)

“Well, we also have…my dad has a boat.” — Nikki (11:24)

---

4. Homeownership Mistakes

• Bought a Home Remotely: Purchased sight-unseen, with an inadequate inspection, minimal down payment (~$5K), and incurred additional costs/fixes.
• Renovations: Financed through Home Depot and Lowe’s cards, compounding credit card debt.
• Unsold Home: Already shopping for a larger, more expensive house (double the mortgage), based on speculative equity and pre-approval, not actual cash in hand.

“You can’t even afford your current living, you’re in $80,000 of bad debt. Now you’re gonna double your home. You’re full Americanizing.” — Caleb (20:31)

“Our goal was to use some of the equity from the house to pay off some of the debt.” — Nikki (25:05)

---

5. Financial Literacy, Tools, and Communication

• Tracking Finances: Nikki uses a phone tracker for bills—admits to ignoring monthly spending summaries and not reviewing full statements.
• Knowledge Gaps: References Dave Ramsey’s strategies (e.g., the Snowball method), but fails to implement necessary lifestyle changes or prioritize essentials (such as an emergency fund).
• Poor Communication: Husband is uninvolved in finances; Nikki conveys key issues and bill amounts, but the conversation is largely one-sided.

“You put more value into feeling comfortable in seeing things that you like…” — Caleb (29:51)

“I have paid off things before. I've watched Dave Ramsey for a while. I know the Snowball method. I'm working on that.” — Nikki (13:44)

---

6. Everyday Spending & Justifications

• Going Out/Eating Out: Spends ~$650/month, often justified by convenience, lack of time, or family events.
• Other Expenses: Birthday gifts, travel to see family, pet care, and repairs financed via high-interest credit cards.
• Insufficient Emergency Fund: No real emergency fund; when emergencies arise, returns to high-interest debt (CareCredit, etc.).

“If you didn’t go out to eat, that could have paid off a fifth of the CareCredit. That is not cute.” — Caleb (55:16)

“I've had an emergency fund and then drained it; emergencies happened and I emptied it…” — Nikki (39:14)

---

7. Family Dynamics & Emotional Drivers

• Family Dependency: Dad on disability, living with them, unable to work much, retains costly equipment in storage (“for the future shop”).
• Mother/Daughter Tension: Complicated ties with Nikki’s mother, influencing the move; mother exploits living arrangements for control.
• Emotional Purchases: Purchases (like furniture or makeup) sometimes linked to “self-care” and emotional reward, even when finances are dire.

“I really lost myself in motherhood... everything was for everyone else. My husband’s whole thing was ‘Go take care of yourself,’ but we don’t have the money right now.” — Nikki (70:26)

---

8. Host’s Advice, Tough Love & Key Quotes

• No New House: Absolutely not the time to upgrade/double mortgage.
• Behavioral Change First: Debt cycles won’t break until core habits change.
• Expense Cuts: Urges cutting all discretionary spending until debts are under control.
• Family Needs: Focus on “the sacrifice for the kid”—six years of grind for future security.

“You spent more than you made last month… That’s debt, lady.” — Caleb (27:04)

“I have these conversations. I do know what people like you do.” — Caleb (80:41)

---

9. Assessment & Hammer Financial Score

• Spending: Overspending, not tracked properly (0/10).
• Debt: $80K+ of bad debt (1/10).
• Emergency Fund: None (0/10).
• Retirement: Minimal (3/10).
• Real Estate: No meaningful equity (5/10).
• Overall Financial Score: 2/10.

“If you cannot finish this in eight years, I can also consider bankruptcy potentially.” — Caleb (91:02)

“This is the sacrifice for the kid, ’cause by the time the kid’s 10, he’s gonna have an incredible life and know nothing but success and stress free… That’s your path.” — Caleb (92:28)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Debt Cycles:
  “It's not a repeated cycle. You actually just move debt everywhere and then build it back up even further. You just built it up worse.” — Caleb (86:32)
• On Excuses & Justifications:
  “Excuses do happen, but it’s part of life.” — Nikki (14:22)
  “Excuses happen. Yeah. Congratulations.” — Caleb (14:24)
• On Spending Priorities:
  “Guess what? The cost of the new HVAC and heater? But you chose furniture.” — Caleb (30:26)
• On Changing Habits: “A consolidation without changing your behavior first does not break the cycle.” — Caleb (54:14)
• On Sacrifice for Family:
  “The sacrifice for the kid… That’s your path to get there and there will be no excuses to do so.” — Caleb (92:28)

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:10] — Discussion of recurring debt cycles.
• [07:40] — Previous (failed) debt consolidation attempts.
• [11:04] — Justifying the purchase of new vehicles while in debt.
• [20:31] — Decision to buy a more expensive house, “full Americanizing”.
• [25:05] — Plan to pay debt with speculative home equity.
• [29:51] — Spending priorities (furniture over essentials).
• [55:16] — Spending on eating out instead of debt repayment.
• [86:32] — The reality of “solving” debt by moving it around.
• [91:02] — Why bankruptcy may be a consideration.

---

Final Thoughts & Tone

Caleb’s tone is candid, direct, and often blunt—balancing finance coaching with strong accountability. He consistently calls out Nikki’s rationalizations and stress the consequence of “debt shoveling” without deep lifestyle change. Nikki is open about her cycles and struggles but often falls back on old justifications.

---

Takeaways for Listeners

• Consolidating debt without changing behavior results in repeated cycles and higher future debt.
• Emergency funds and tracking all spending (not just bills) are essential.
• Home upgrades and lifestyle inflation are traps, especially before achieving stability.
• Emotional or family-driven spending, though relatable, can easily sabotage long-term goals.
• Real change starts with full accountability—and sometimes, blunt truth serves as the best wake-up call.

---

Listeners witness a cautionary tale of “doing all the right things on paper” while never truly shifting the habits that lead to long-term security. Caleb doesn’t just analyze numbers—he tackles the psychology, excuses, and family dynamics that keep people stuck financially.

Transcript

[A]

To watch episodes of financial audit a week earlier. Check us out on YouTube. You're thousand hours of bed. Now you're gonna double your home. Oh, what are we doing? Oh, you're full americanizing. You're full americanizing.

[B]

I've watched David Ramsey for a while.

[A]

Is what you're doing working?

[B]

Not. Then shut the up. My husband works extremely hard. Cool.

[A]

Congratulations. You guys are completely. Download my budgeting app today and take control of your money once and for all. And for a limited time only, sign up for the annual version of premium and get my cookbook and notebook signed and mailed direct to you. Link in the description and pin comment below.

[B]

I'm Nikki, 27, from Paris, Texas, and this is the financial Audit.

[A]

The Financial Audit. She's here. What do you do for a living?

[B]

It's a long title. I'm a technical support relationship manager for a veterinary laboratory company.

[A]

Okay. Are you just customer support for a product to a vet clinic?

[B]

Not necessarily. I would say I'm more so relationship management or like software. Multiple different lines of software. What do you make, salary? I'm at 70,614 a year.

[A]

Bad. You say salary. Are there bonuses?

[B]

There is.

[A]

Okay, what do you make total?

[B]

So my bonus, I get once a year, and it's about. I think it's 3% of my salary. So this last one was about $3,000. And then after taxes, it was about 1700, 1800.

[A]

Okay, so what hits your account on a monthly basis? Does that.

[B]

Oh, monthly basis.

[A]

And then that salary or that bonus that just hits once a year?

[B]

Y.

[A]

Okay, so what?

[B]

I have a guaranteed raise and bonus once a year in March.

[A]

What's the raise percentage?

[B]

It's so. Oh, gosh, I think my raise is 3%. The bonus is 5%.

[A]

Okay, so it's like cost 11 living raise, so. Okay, that's fair. What hits your account on a monthly basis?

[B]

I make. I get paid bi weekly, and it's 1955. 11.

[A]

Wow. Down to the cent. Okay, so $3,910.22 in a smaller town in Texas should be relatively affordable. Why are we struggling? What's going on? Why are you here? What are we talking about?

[B]

Years of repeated debt. Cycles, Cycles, cycles.

[A]

What? Tell me.

[B]

They've been paid off multiple times and then maxed out again. Paid off, balances occurred. Yeah, it's a repeating cycle.

[A]

When's the last time you've done this?

[B]

I paid almost everything off right before we moved. I got a debt consolidation loan and paid off a lot of stuff that had high Interest rates. And then the move acquired some more cost. So back in the same cycle.

[A]

Move? Where'd you move from?

[B]

The Bay area? California.

[A]

Okay. I mean it's kind of big. How much did you. How much did it cost? So like you can do moves cheaply. People just refuse to.

[B]

So we actually did it all by family. Um, it's been four trips now that's been done over the last year.

[A]

What was it? So the first trip your entire family's moving? Is that what you said?

[B]

So it was myself, my son, my husband and my dad.

[A]

Whoa, whoa, hold on. Okay, kids and husband?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

How old's the kid?

[B]

Three.

[A]

Okay. Does the husband make money?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Am I looking at his finances today? Are you guys together?

[B]

We are together. I believe some of his finances.

[A]

Okay, what's his take home?

[B]

He gets paid 1925 an hour. Gets paid weekly. His paychecks have been looking like 640 a week.

[A]

Okay. So we're talking extra $2,560 on a monthly basis. So why extra? Are we struggling? That doesn't really make sense. I understand the repeated cycle, but why are we not breaking it when we're making decent money in a small town? Well, and why is it taking four trips to move? Are we just packing everything up and just going. Getting rid of most of the. We have.

[B]

We have. So my husband and my dad are both like longtime mechanics, so they have a lot of like bigger equipment that is taking multiple trips. Forklifts, air compressors.

[A]

Does that have to do with his job?

[B]

Not right now.

[A]

I personally don't give a. Like put it in storage there or something. But like, you know.

[B]

Well, that's the problem. Some of it is in storage.

[A]

That's a problem.

[B]

Yeah, because that's a monthly cost.

[A]

Yeah, but how much?

[B]

So it's not necessarily. My dad's paying it because it's his storage unit originally. But some of our stuff is in there. But yeah, it's about 300amonth.

[A]

Why do you need. He doesn't need all these extra toys though. Need sake. A family kid, 5 year old, right. 3. So we don't need, you know, whatever the goal is.

[B]

It's not an excavator, it's a forklift. And the goal is to have our own shop eventually where they can. No, where they can work on vehicles.

[A]

And motorcycles because so expensive to get up and running.

[B]

We have everything though, except for a.

[A]

Storefront and putting like three months down to commercial property. Signing a three year lease at a minimum, starting utilities, all that stuff.

[B]

Definitely more Cost more, loans included. But my dad and my husband will not let that stuff go.

[A]

What? The stuff.

[B]

The stuff for the shop.

[A]

Right. So. Yeah, but yeah, four trips won't prioritize their family. Okay, great. That's wonderful. And it's your dad's. And your dad came out?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

What was this move even for? Where did we come from?

[B]

So my dad was homeless living in California and.

[A]

So did you tell him to stop?

[B]

Stop being homeless?

[A]

No, I was just joking.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Why was he homeless?

[B]

My parents split. It was a very nasty split.

[A]

Why didn't he live with you guys?

[B]

So I actually moved into my childhood home that my mom owned, so I was renting from her, so my dad was not allowed there. Yeah, hence the move across the country.

[A]

Why did the across the country help, though?

[B]

Cost of living so much cheaper here. And.

[A]

Yeah, but that also means incomes are as well.

[B]

Well, okay, so I got a raise living in California because they raised the minimum wage, so I'm getting paid California wages. Living in Texas.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah, your remote situation is pretty good, but.

[B]

And we move solely on my income.

[A]

Your husband's gonna make less here. Dad's gonna make less here. My dad can't get her job here. Is he illegal? Is he.

[B]

No, he's disability. He's on disability.

[A]

Broken. Okay.

[B]

Yeah. So he. If we were to open a shop, his whole thing would be like sitting at the counter doing parts inventory, things like that. My husband would be sitting in that aspect. He can't be a lot of jobs.

[A]

That aren't just physical. I do this job and I sit on my ass.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So do you guys. What's the. What's the heaviest thing you've lifted, Jake? Earlier. A cup of coffee.

[B]

It's been hard to find something that allows his accommodations. He can really only work for, like, two hours at a time.

[A]

Okay, well, I don't know his whole context of the situation. I don't need a scene. So. Okay, so you got an apartment here?

[B]

We own our house.

[A]

You bought a house here already? So that's included in this debt?

[B]

Yes. Oh, my.

[A]

You have so many individual debts. This is insane. What do we have? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18. 18, 17. Before the mortgage. 18. Got a house. How quickly did you get a house?

[B]

So we were working with our real estate agent for about a year prior to buying this one. And we were moving solely on my income alone, not my husband's, because he didn't have a job established here yet.

[A]

When's the last time you did a.

[B]

Consolidation, I believe that was in 20. 20, 23.

[A]

And how many have we done in this cycle of just so?

[B]

That was the only one, but I'm considering doing another one.

[A]

It didn't work last time.

[B]

It did. Until the cycle.

[A]

We're in so much debt.

[B]

Yeah, until the cycle came out.

[A]

So it didn't work. What are you talking about?

[B]

It worked to pay everything off to get us moved.

[A]

Yeah, but that doesn't mean anything if we're back to where we were before. If not worse. It's like. No, it's a temporary. Temporary happiness. Did you pay off your consolidation like that?

[B]

I paid it off early. I didn't pay it off like that.

[A]

Then that's not your debt just being gone. Okay, yeah. Then that's not your debt just gone. It was just debt moved. You didn't realize that, right? Especially since you're considering this again.

[B]

I am considering it. Just because the APRs on the credit cards are so high. They're brutal.

[A]

But again, look, it doesn't fix your behavior. How'd you get here again? How'd you get here again? Self diagnosed. Was it the move? No, not just the move. Even though we're doing four moves for some reason and we have $222,000 in bad debt, or 80,000 of it is bad debt. One's a mortgage. And I doubt the rate's super low knowing today. So. So how'd we get here again?

[B]

Part of it was the move. My husband didn't have a job for the first two months that we were here, so I had to carry everything on my shoulders.

[A]

And then you guys didn't have an emergency fund. We don't move without an emergency fund. We didn't get a house without an emergency fund.

[B]

The emergency fund got emptied for the move.

[A]

That's not the vehicle that broke down during the move. I'd rather put Pops up in an apartment. You know, month by month apartment while we save up a fully funded emergency fund.

[B]

Well, one of the vehicles that we moved with the transmission went out. So how to get that fixed?

[A]

One of the vehicles we moved with?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

How many vehicles did we move with? So, because what if we just like, say, oh, okay, maybe that one's not worth it.

[B]

So we did sell them once we got here. We sold the Suburban to a friend with.

[A]

Did you make up the cost of the fix of the transmission?

[B]

So we agreed to do payments. However, we have not.

[A]

We agreed to do payments to who?

[B]

To a. To a friend. Yeah. Thinking it was trustworthy And I've only received a few payments.

[A]

They thought that you were trustworthy. Wait, what do you mean?

[B]

I thought they were trustworthy to be able to do payments.

[A]

What do you mean? They lent you money?

[B]

No, we sold the vehicle.

[A]

No, I'm saying. Heavy. Oh.

[B]

And.

[A]

Yeah. But for them to make payments for. What number did you sell it for?

[B]

I believe it was 2000.

[A]

How much did you put into the transmission repair?

[B]

So we spent about a thousand dollars trying to repair it. It still did not work. So we were like, we're not.

[A]

And you haven't gotten any of the 2,000? Annie.

[B]

We got, I think 300, 400.

[A]

Okay. Over the course of what?

[B]

Since October.

[A]

What did you guys.

[B]

So we sold all of our vehicles.

[A]

Yeah. So.

[B]

And then bought.

[A]

So if we've been through this cycle so many times, why are we buying new cars? Were they in cash?

[B]

No.

[A]

Why were we buying new cars when. Remember when we just had the conversation? I had to. I had to supplement the whole house because Husband. We didn't rely on his. But we just got new cars. Getting new cars. But we can only rely on one income and moved across the country because also one of the people we're with is homeless. We're getting new cars, used cars.

[B]

Not brand new. But we needed a car so he could go to work.

[A]

You had cars. You sold your cars. Costs.

[B]

He couldn't get to work with those.

[A]

Any of the cars.

[B]

No.

[A]

Singular. One of those cars.

[B]

The only car that we had.

[A]

I want to see him driving that forklift on the side of the road. Then.

[B]

It's not a drivable forklift. It's a pushable forklift. It's manual.

[A]

Oh, my gosh. Okay. How much were these cars?

[B]

So my. My car, my SUV. I think we paid 24,000 for it.

[A]

And the other.

[B]

He got a truck to help with the move. With the last two moves.

[A]

If it's for a move, then rent a truck. What? Did we buy a truck to help with a move?

[B]

Well, we also have. My dad has a boat, so.

[A]

His boat. Sell his boat. I don't give a. He's homeless. He can sell a boat if he's homeless. I literally. You're going to. I'm going to lose sympathy if we have an asset that we can sell for thousands of dollars.

[B]

It's not worth thousands of dollars.

[A]

Worth at least thousands. No, it's worth a thousand. Then we're not buying a truck to haul it.

[B]

It's a happy place for us. Growing up in the Bay Area, I was always on the water, it's not going to sink.

[A]

Okay. They could probably get a couple thousand at least, right? What is it a. Like, what is it?

[B]

I think it's like an 89 jet boat, buddy.

[A]

I don't know, but we're getting a truck for it. I don't care. Again. Put another dock here.

[B]

Well, my husband got the truck, and that was 28,000.

[A]

Oh, for sake. The guy who didn't have a job that. We're relying only on your income, by the way. Three year old.

[B]

He has a job now, but you.

[A]

Guys were relying just on your income.

[B]

We bought the truck after he had a job.

[A]

Okay. What did you say his hourly was?

[B]

1925.

[A]

Okay. And we're getting a $30,000 truck that he doesn't need. Yeah, for a move.

[B]

Well, and other things.

[A]

Join a boat club here. You get better boats anyway. And it's probably cheaper.

[B]

There's boat clubs?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

I didn't know that.

[A]

You get access to a bunch of boats. I don't know.

[B]

Might be something to look into, but that sounds like another debt.

[A]

It's not a debt. It's a monthly payment. But it would have saved you from a $30,000 excuse.

[B]

Well, we also have trailers that we tow around and do side jobs, too.

[A]

Stop, stop.

[B]

That's extra income.

[A]

Extra income. How long until that Extra income equals 30,000 dol plus the interest that accrued on the truck. Exactly. You're not doing the full math behind it. You're just justifying. If I can go make an extra $5 so I can go spend 30,000. Like, no, look where you are. Is what you're doing working? Is what you're doing working?

[B]

Not. Then shut the up.

[A]

Obviously, like, that's how that works. Like, if that was a savvy business venture and everything you're doing is okay, you wouldn't be on this show.

[B]

My husband works extremely hard. Cool.

[A]

Congratulations. You guys are completely cool. And you can get things that are nice when you are disciplined and you pay off the debt that you got in here.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

Can we ban that phrase from here? Like, that's why you're here. What? What?

[B]

Because I have paid off things before. I've watched David Ramsey for a while. I know the Snowball method. I'm working on that.

[A]

You've watched who?

[B]

David Ramsey.

[A]

David Ramsey?

[B]

Yeah. And that's how I got some of the debt paid off before.

[A]

David Ramsey. David, I hope you're watching this.

[B]

But I. I've watched, like, the Snowball method and stuff like that. Had things paid off before. And then life happens. Debt cycles happen. And we.

[A]

No life. You. The. He works hard. We went on something nice. That's what happened. Life happens. Excuses happened.

[B]

Excuses do happen, but it's part of life.

[A]

Excuses happened. Yeah. And we can make excuses on some things, but I can have an excuse to go have these. Except that out there. But it has a little less consequences than you going 80,000 hours in bad debt or. This is a different level. This is a different level. Excuses happen. What do you mean? Okay. Excuses happen. Congratulations, go.

[B]

They're just a couple of excuses.

[A]

Goodbye.

[B]

I'm here to give you this.

[A]

No, no, no, no, no. It's not that. I'm not kicking you off, but what I'm saying is excuses happen. Cool. Keep that mindset. Like we don't need to have a conversation. Keep that mindset. If that's the life you want to live, if that's the life you want to live, then live that life. Then why are you saying it? Because you just said it's justified. You guys are house shopping now?

[B]

We are.

[A]

What are you doing?

[B]

So we.

[A]

What world are you doing?

[B]

We bought our house.

[A]

David Ramsey would not agree.

[B]

So we bought our house and never saw it. We saw an hour before we signed our closing papers.

[A]

So what's the current state?

[B]

Not good. We've done a lot of remodeling and a lot of repairs. That's where some of the debt came into place, too.

[A]

I don't usually like to start with real estate because it's boring, but let me just get a quick thing on.

[B]

It, like the Home Depot cards that's repairing the house.

[A]

Oh, repairing. Why? Well, how was it bad?

[B]

Like, I will never use that inspector again.

[A]

I get it, but why didn't you? Well, I do multiple inspections. Why didn't you? This is such a huge purchase. Okay, we're cutting the address from the video, but what's the address? Okay. What was the purchase price of the house?

[B]

144.

[A]

Okay. How much did you put down?

[B]

I think it was like 10,000. I think it was like 5,000 for the down payment and then 10. Like another 5,000 in additional cost.

[A]

You know, it's only worth $144,000 right now. Says Zillow, which usually overestimates houses.

[B]

I just got my appraisal papers came in and they said.

[A]

Through who?

[B]

Through the county. Lamar County Appraisal District.

[A]

That's his tax, right? Are you talking about your tax appraisal?

[B]

Maybe now and then.

[A]

That's going to be a different kind of Appraisal than you're going to get when it comes.

[B]

Well, the lender also did an appraisal.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Like a virtual appraisal.

[A]

Okay. That's also doesn't count. There's going to be an official appraisal that happens, right? Like the buyer is likely going to request that.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And well, the bank, if they're taking out any kind of loan, so they will, they will contract an official appraisal zer to do it. And it's not a virtual thing. It's not perfect, but whatever. What did you hear?

[B]

194.

[A]

I highly doubt that.

[B]

Well, so when we bought the house, everything was original from 1981.

[A]

The internal renovations of houses aren't doing as much these days anymore. It could help a little, but it's, it's really the land. The land.

[B]

It's on a third of an acre.

[A]

Well, I know we've done a lot of the values of it.

[B]

That's part of the tractor supply build too.

[A]

Well, I, I hope so. I hope it's worth that. It sounds excited or. You sound excitable about it, honestly. And here's the reality. We're in a buyer's market now. In a seller's market, you do not have the say in this. Like you can market there. That likely being overvalued is actually going to hurt you worse because you're going to get less people making offers, meaning you're going to be on the market longer. Meaning psychologically people start seeing something wrong with the house when they see it being on the market for like more than six months. And all of a sudden no one's going to be even seeing your house because they're going to see, think something's wrong with it. This is what happens is what happens.

[B]

My real estate agent already has three people interested.

[A]

Interest is nothing. Interested what in the house, like in what way?

[B]

And buying it.

[A]

What? They've seen it, they've toured, they've seen.

[B]

Pictures from the outside. And then from what the real estate agent has told you're getting ahead.

[A]

You're getting ahead of yourself. It's that virtual appraisal. It says, trust me, as someone who's been in the buy sell game many a times rouses those little exciting things. I remember being excited about those as well when I did my first. And then I realized it means nothing once. Until you get an official appraisal, it doesn't even matter. You don't even know what they're gonna. They might be interested in it. They might be interested in buying it at 150. Okay. I might be interested in buying a house across the street. Maybe not at the price they want.

[B]

When looking at comparable prices. Because there's multiple houses on my street for sale.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like if you're on Zillow, I think there's one on, like, 240. Sorry. I see the 240, and then there's another one down the street for 200, and 240 doesn't.

[A]

That's not a comps. You know, when they do comps, they do comps on sold homes, not for sale homes.

[B]

So there was one that just sold for 220.

[A]

Okay, but tell me about this.

[B]

But they probably have a working H Vac, and you don't have a working H vac.

[A]

Okay, then.

[B]

So that's one of the things. The inspection didn't call out. They said that it's working. It's not great, but it's not.

[A]

You didn't get a specific H Vac inspection done?

[B]

I didn't know.

[A]

Oh, people go through our real estate class. Y' all go through our real estate class.

[B]

I really wish I could.

[A]

One of the other ones that's worth 230 is, like, literally 30, 30, 40% larger than your house, so it's actually 50% larger than your house. So that doesn't, you know, it doesn't fully equate to what we're looking at here. Now. It's Texas public record of terms of what the sale price is. We can't see. We have access to the mls. That's where you can see the official sales price. But I don't know. I just think you're a little too ahead of yourself. I'm not. Oh, my. You guys put in an offer on.

[B]

A home, so it's a contingent offer.

[A]

Contingent on.

[B]

Once our house is in contract, then the seller accepts our offer.

[A]

Is there a time period so the.

[B]

Seller of the house that we're looking at has to go back to Arizona?

[A]

Is there a time period between that where it avoids that? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Where it's like, if you don't sell your house by then, you. We're gonna try to. I haven't gotten a deadline on it, really. Have you signed the contract?

[B]

No.

[A]

Oh, again, we're ahead of ourselves.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

This is just an endless we're ahead of ourselves. Address to the new place.

[B]

Three bed, three bath, three acres. No. No.

[A]

Okay, well, maybe I can't find it.

[B]

I'm like. I think it's.

[A]

It listed for sale right now?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Then I should be able to find it.

[B]

Yes, it's in there.

[A]

So this one.

[B]

S okay.

[A]

Different street. This one's much cuter. I'll be honest. It's listed for 309. God, you can't even afford your current living. You're in $80,000 a bed. Now you're gonna double your home. Oh, what are we doing? Oh, you're full Americanizing. You're full full Americanizing. You upgrading home before you can even forge your own lifestyle. Going out to eat itself was nearly $700. It's like unknown. Shopping was $1,300. You can't. You guys couldn't afford to move your still okay from the previous, and we're looking at doubling our house. No, no. Okay, what was this? Agreed purchase price.

[B]

309 even.

[A]

Okay, so it looks like Zillow's not wrong in this area. Okay. Which means they're likely not wrong on yours.

[B]

And the only reason why we put in the offer at 309 is because of this contingent offer. Otherwise, we would have come in probably at 293.

[A]

Apocalypse bunker.

[B]

Mm.

[A]

Let's talk about student loans. I know it's something we all want to avoid talking about, but if your private student loans are crushing you, why Refi might be exactly what you need. They don't rely on your credit score alone. They look for borrowers who have the desire and ability to repay. That's a game changer in a market where most lenders only see a number interest rates under 6% guaranteed. That's practically a unicorn in student lending. Plus, they offer structured payment plans to lower your monthly bill and even a cosigner release program so your mom or dad can step off the hook. Why? Refi is known for personal service. No faceless call centers. You get a dedicated rep, actually cares about your progress. They've got a 4.6 star rating on Google, which tells you people genuinely like working with them. So if your private loans are burying you, it's time to reach out. Why? Refi wants to help you climb out of debt, not push you further in it. Check them [e-mail] hammer that is y r e f y.com or call 888. Y refi 78. That is triple eight y refi 78. Break free from the high interest trap and get your finances under control once and for all. All right. Rural, interesting life. Okay.

[B]

And we'd consider using the USDA loan, but the lender wants to do an FHA contingent offer to another fha. So we're on an FHA loan right now.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And they want us to put in a contingent offer using another FHA loan and then using the equity from the sale of our house as a down payment for that house. And then I talked with another lender just to kind of compare things and they talked about a conforming loan. And when I reached out to my real estate agent to learn a little bit more about it, she said it was an FHA loan. But the credit union I was talking to with that one said that it wasn't FHA and that it was like a Fannie Mae loan. So I got really confused about all of that and just.

[A]

Well, yeah, I mean this is. It's one of the government holders that, that, that's not a big. My thing is, are you going to have to might not get qualified for a second FHA while you hold the first FHA is the issue.

[B]

So we are pre qualified right now.

[A]

Again, this is you getting ahead of everything. Pre qualified or something that. That means almost nothing. The underwriting process is what exposes everything pre approved for mortgages like this. It is so easy. We could. Lindsey could literally do it before the end of this next sentence. Like, it is so easy to get pre approved for a mortgage. It's nothing.

[B]

The guy submitted all of our pay stubs. Everything. Credit reports or credit scores and all that. They ran a full credit report?

[A]

Yeah. Well, yes, again, that's the basic stuff. Every. Everything you're talking about is like the pre. Before the real thing happens. Okay. I don't know. You might be able to get into it as long as they at least know you're getting your last one. But, but usually. But typically lenders verify that the first FHA loan has been paid off completely before allowing you to get another one. I don't know, man. I think you're a little ahead of yourself here. And why do you think you're able to double your living costs?

[B]

Our goal was to use some of the equity from the house to pay off some of the debt.

[A]

So some of the equity that we might not have. Your contingency offer. Does the contingency rely on you making money on the last house or just selling the last house? Because you might not actually make equity, especially after you lose 6% on seller buyer commission. And then you also get any capital gains, by the way, if you do make profits, you haven't lived there for two years. Yeah, capital gains. Get ready. Nom, nom, nom, nom, nom. It's going to get you. Did you Know that. Were you expecting capital gains?

[B]

No.

[A]

Oh, that's a big chunk. You haven't been there for two years, right?

[B]

No, I've only been there a year, so there's that.

[A]

And then you're going to have closing fees and a bunch of different. So. So honestly, you're probably going to have to sell. You put five down on it. Okay. It was what? 250. What was it for?

[B]

My house.

[A]

Now what was it?

[B]

144.

[A]

144. 144. Probably gonna have to sell it at 175 to break even.

[B]

I feel like that's doable. The only thing is.

[A]

Yeah, but that's break even. There's no equity that you're throwing into something else. So how are you putting money down on this next one?

[B]

So it's going to be from the equity of the sale of this house.

[A]

So you're relying on that because we.

[B]

Don'T even have anything I have talked.

[A]

About, but that you talked about before you've even entered underwriting. This means nothing. This means nothing. You are so pre. Pre, pre on everything. Pre, pre, pre, pre, pre, pre, pre. No, actually, before you even go do this, go through our real estate course. That's the most recent one we've done. You get it for free. You need to learn a lot about this. Right now I'm a little scared that you're getting way too ahead of yourself. And even if you get into this other one and you get the FHA loan which allows you a little less down, that is still a higher minimum payment. Like how the f are you?

[B]

That's what I was worried about.

[A]

Worried about No f. Cking. It's double the house.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

How do you think you can possibly afford that if you have 80,000 hours of bad debt and you can't even afford to live? You spent more than you made last month. Did you know that?

[B]

I didn't.

[A]

Well, you did. Congratulations. Because that's debt, lady. That's the household, by the way. The household of three year old. Remember that one?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay, so how do you think you can live that life?

[B]

My dad also offered to help with rent because now he doesn't. He helps with like childcare. Like he'll help out watch my son if I have a really important meeting I have to do or he'll pitch on some groceries or something like that. But I don't. I don't ask him for anything. Cause he's on a very set disability amount and.

[A]

Okay, well, that's okay.

[B]

And so he just kind of pitches in where he can. But he agreed that if we do move to another house, he would like to pitch in.

[A]

I see you've said it's 7,500 to replace the H vac and furnace. That is better than double the house. Yeah, that is better than double the house. I'd rather you have a $7,500 potentially interest free loan than a house where you're only putting a couple of percent down. Could go under value and a minimum payment that we can't afford, which puts us underwater in a situation you might not be able to sell because who knows what's going on with interest rates. We're in a weird hold period because.

[B]

Right now we've had all kinds of crazy quotes all over the place with interest rates.

[A]

This makes no sense. I have notes that you track what bills are due each week. You have a dad tracker on your phone.

[B]

I do.

[A]

Holds in your notes app. And you up it once a month. You're in charge of all the finances in the household and you're very frugal. Then you have all this bull spending all these. Like, you guys are spending more than you make. You didn't even know that. We have horrible debt and you're thinking about getting a house you can't afford. It doesn't make sense. Those things are so conflicting. Make that make sense for me, please.

[B]

I can't even make sense of it.

[A]

How aware is the husband of the finances of the house? How involved to see in the conversation? Because it sounds like you.

[B]

I try to sit down with him at least once a month and be like, hey, these are our bills. Let's go over everything. Let's figure this out.

[A]

What does try mean?

[B]

He pretty much just leaves everything up to me.

[A]

Is he informed at least?

[B]

Oh, yeah. I update him all the time. Like, hey, the water bill's $114. I just paid that with your check. Or whatever the case may be. Like I tell him about every time I'm paying a bill.

[A]

All right, where do you think your household financial score is? 0 to 10, 0 being the worst, 10 being the best. Where do you think you stand?

[B]

Probably a one.

[A]

Watch your Hammer financial score. See where you are in the world of finances. I'd be happy to assess you. Take the assessment@caleb hammer.com. go to caleb hammer.com apply to come be here on the show. And don't forget, if you download my budgeting app in order to not be a guest on this show, it'll help you a lot. And those who sign up for the annual version. You get my budget friendly cookbook signed by me and sent directly to your doorstep. What is home inspiration? What is this card?

[B]

Ashley Furniture.

[A]

So not only could we barely afford to get the house, we only put a few percent down and now we can barely even afford getting a new house. We went on, we got. Listen, I'm going to be very clear. You want to know how you look at life. You want to know how you look at life. So I'm going to let you in on a little secret and a perspective you probably haven't thought about. You put more value into feeling comfortable in seeing things that you like because this that you finance for hash owned furniture. Guess what? It's the cost of the new H Vac and heater. But you chose furniture.

[B]

Beds.

[A]

Beds.

[B]

The kitchen table. Yeah.

[A]

You did not need. I slept on an air mattress for nine months when I moved down here.

[B]

Me, my son and my husband slept on a queen size air mattress for months.

[A]

There you go. This heating in Texas or. Well, AC in the heat of Texas. We don't with that, especially when someone could die from it. Your dad.

[B]

Well, when we first moved in, it was kind of cooler outside. So the H vac system was running at like it would put out like 72, 70. And then once it started getting hotter, we realized it was not working. Basically it was circulating air. It wasn't actually cooling.

[A]

When does the interest free period end in this?

[B]

I'm not sure.

[A]

Okay, you're the one that's tracking the finances. You're the one that tracks all the bills. How do you not know?

[B]

I don't think there, there is a period where it ends.

[A]

This is a fun one. I get to get you free money and then I get to get myself free money. It's a pure win win for both of us. What do you have to do? Sign up for a SoFi high yield savings account and get a welcome bonus of $300. Sign up for Acorns using my link and get $20 instead of the usual $5. Finally, sign up for Silo and earn up to $5,000 in cash back on your own stocks. These offers have been negotiated to give us both more money than using traditional signup methods. So use the links in the resources section of the description below and get yourself $5,320 right now.

[B]

I've read over every statement, every contract that I had from getting the furniture and there's no like, oh, at this point the interest rate's going to jump up to this like other ones say that where like you get this 0% interest rate for 6 months if paid in full or whatever.

[A]

I think you're called to ask.

[B]

I have and I've called Ashley and they're like, you need to call Home Inspiration.

[A]

Yeah, it's not through Ashley.

[B]

So then I've called Home Inspiration and can't get a direct answer from anybody. They keep transferring me. And so that had me a little suspicious. And then there's also three different login websites to pay my bill that are all different links. So it had me very suspicious and cautious. And so that was another reason why I was considering taking out the debt consolidation loan. So I can get rid of that and any.

[A]

Well it's not the consultation loan, dude, listen, it takes six years to pay off minimum payments only and we know that these period, most of it was 60 months which is 5 years. So defer. Do you know if interest is deferring? I mean usually on these type of cards they do. Listen, you're right, this statement is quite bare, doesn't show a lot. But the fact is six years to pay it off. But it's five years, five equal payments from when it even started. And this was like a half a year ago. Right. So you will not pay this often time before the interest just hits.

[B]

Like I definitely like how many times.

[A]

Have you called them? Be real.

[B]

Probably like six because we went in there, bought our beds and then bought a couch that was on sale. And then I called in after that and was like hey, like how long of a period do I have on this? Or like you need to call home Inspiration. So I called home Inspiration. They're like oh, we have to transfer you over to this department. Get transferred that department. You have to get transferred over to this department.

[A]

Oh, I gotcha. Maybe we'll try in a little bit. CareCredit. What's going on?

[B]

I despise CareCredit. Dog bills, dental bills, medical bills. When we first moved here, my son got bit by something and we had to go to the urgent care and then to the emergency room and that was.

[A]

You don't have dog insurance?

[B]

I do.

[A]

What's your insurance for the kid?

[B]

It's through my work. It's Aetna.

[A]

That is not bad.

[B]

But to go to urgent care it was like $180 for like a 15 minute visit. To be seen the first time.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

And then the next day they said, oh, you can have like a free follow up with it within a certain time. I go in there, they're like, no, you're getting charged because this is another 180.

[A]

This is at $3,000 practically.

[B]

Well no. And then they're like you need to go to the emergency room. So then the Emergency room was 2000.

[A]

That's. That's interesting.

[B]

And then I paid some of that on my health savings account card from work.

[A]

Was it in network that emergency room? Cuz that.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Okay. Well yeah. I mean we just had different insurance via Edna I guess that was not. I mean my co pay.

[B]

I didn't realize I have a high deductible one my deductible for it's like $4,000.

[A]

You didn't know?

[B]

I didn't.

[A]

So you don't sign up for the plan you want to.

[B]

So when I was filling everything out I was talking with my colleague about it and was like I've had like in California we were under the poverty level so we were on medal state insurance. I've never had a.

[A]

You were under the poverty level making $75,000 a year.

[B]

That was before I. That was before my raise and my husband was his job there was just inconsistent. Sometimes he would get five hours a week, sometimes he'd get 40.

[A]

What have you guys been doing in life like work?

[B]

Floundering. That's the easiest way I could say.

[A]

And you don't seem like a person that hasn't had opportunity like I'm. Did you go to college? Are the student loans in here?

[B]

I. My student loans are covered by fafsa.

[A]

So you went to college?

[B]

I went to trade school. I have a associate's degree in the poverty line.

[A]

Well what about the dude?

[B]

He didn't graduate high school.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

So getting a GED he. We ended up.

[A]

He's gonna run a business but he can't run his life.

[B]

He has a high school diploma now.

[A]

Okay but it's not about the diploma for running this business. I don't care about that. So the fact that just like look where we are. And he now is going to have to manage a business financial which is much more complicated.

[B]

Well so they're like the financial part is going to be on you. And I was like I really don't want to do this.

[A]

Not only that, but you probably don't have time. No, because that's.

[B]

I'm a stay at home mom and I salary so Sometimes I work 8 o' clock in the morning to 8 o' clock at night sometimes.

[A]

Do we have pet insurance? Because these are pet bills.

[B]

I just stopped it because they tried to raise the premium for two dogs to 270amonth. And then they're like, well, we can raise your deductible and I'll make your monthly payments.

[A]

Well, you go and get a different pet insurance. Right.

[B]

So they have chronic allergies. So it's considered pre. Like if they already have it predisposed or whatever. So other insurances won't cover that. But with my history being in veterinary medicine, I've got their allergies pretty under control now and can manage it pretty easy. And when they do have a flare up, it's about 200 or $300 to get that taken care of.

[A]

So this is at $2679.02 with the $92 minimum payment made. The minimum last time, $64.76 of interest. How long does this take to pay off minimum payments? Only without anything else being put on, it takes forever. How long?

[B]

Like years. Like three years.

[A]

Okay. Added one in front of that. Three.

[B]

Oh, that's disgusting.

[A]

Yeah, but I. I'm so.

[B]

I don't know what to do without the care credit. Like, I want to have that as like a safe fund.

[A]

Well, an emergency fund. And we get an emergency fund by not spending $500 a month going out to eat or whatever it was. Plus more on. We don't get an emergency fund by getting a house that is double the cost. We don't get an emergency fund by holding on to equipment in storage lots back in California. We don't get an emergency fund by continuing to go into more debt and spending more than we make on a monthly basis. But you need an emergency fund that gets rid of care credit because then you just use an emergency fund for emergencies. But we don't do anything necessary to get the emergency fund.

[B]

Not currently. I've had an emergency fund and then drained it for emergency.

[A]

I don't give a F what you've had in the past. I really don't. I care about what's today. I was a delinquent back in the day.

[B]

So what do you do when you have an emergency and your emergency fund's already empty? Care credit.

[A]

Yes, but I'm talking about how to get to an emergency. You're not living the life that is necessary to get an emergency fund. You'd rather get a house that is double. You're almost about to sign a contract to get a house that is double with contingency, which. Let's see if they even agree to that. What's an emergency fund to you?

[B]

I would like to have like three to six months of like, Regular bills.

[A]

Okay, so David Ramsey did say something similar. I would do six months preferably. But why haven't we prioritized that? Because that's what saves us.

[B]

So I have one.

[A]

Remember how important that 3 year old is to you? Yeah, yeah. They need an emergency fund.

[B]

Yeah, I had one and then emergencies happened and I emptied it.

[A]

I know, but you haven't done what is necessary to build it back up. When you do not have an emergency fund, that within itself is an emergency and we cut everything to build it back up.

[B]

I have money getting pulled out from my check right now. I have $200 getting pulled out and putting into $200 is going to take forever.

[A]

That's a. There's so many emergencies going to happen before that. I need to pay $200 savings. Good job. Thrilled. $650 going to. Going out to eat when I'm working.

[B]

In the morning to 8 at night.

[A]

It's okay.

[B]

We have to.

[A]

What's. How much time is daddy working? Papa. Not yours. The one you're married to?

[B]

My husband.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The dad of the child.

[B]

Yeah. So he works. He was working overtime 10 hours a day, hour drive there.

[A]

Tell me what he's doing now.

[B]

He's working eight hours a day, hour drive to work, hour drive back.

[A]

Cool. He can cook.

[B]

He's learning.

[A]

Well, is he gonna be a bit tired? He's learned how to fry spaghetti. Dude. That's. Dude. When I was growing up and we didn't have money and foreclosure notices we're hitting, we had spaghetti and meatballs every other meal. You don't know how. You don't to know how to cook. To put pasta and boiling water for 10 minutes.

[B]

We do do spaghetti. We have.

[A]

Well, there you go. Mission success. You figured it out. Sandwiches don't need skills. They are two pieces of bread.

[B]

We do PB&J dinners quite often top ramen.

[A]

Better than that. You have for what it's worth the money to have reasonable groceries for reasonable meals. I'm not against that, but it's like the only. Your entire thing is like. I didn't have care credit. I wouldn't know how to live without credit card. Okay, I do. It's an emergency fund. But I'd rather put literally three times more than three times the amount we're putting towards savings on a monthly basis towards just going out to eat. Because we work long hours. You know why you'll work long hours? Because when you don't have an emergency fund, you have to use credit, meaning your minimum payments on life is higher. Meaning you need to work longer hours.

[B]

I get paid the same no matter what I'm salary. I'm not paid hourly.

[A]

You're at home though, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You can still. You can put the pasta in. Dude, ten minutes.

[B]

I've done that and burnt the stove.

[A]

Well, sit there. Sit at the kitchen counter on your calls.

[B]

So I have three monitors.

[A]

Okay. Use one during the pasta cooking. Well, we've all worked those jobs before. I've worked sales trying to go between.

[B]

The different windows and do presentations where I'm sharing my screen from a laptop.

[A]

This is a little tech savviness. Come on. This isn't brutal. Come on. That's gonna be a dumb excuse. That's gonna be a dumb excuse.

[B]

It's a realistic excuse though, when you're trying to have a meeting and you're presenting screens.

[A]

Yes, we've all done this.

[B]

I'm trying to cook. My work would not like that.

[A]

Okay, I guarantee you have 10 minutes in the day. Guaranteed you have 10 minutes. When you're like chilling with a three year old. You said you're equally. Stay at home, mom. Try to be well, there you go. You can do pasta during that time. You can do BLTs during that time.

[B]

And when I do cook dinner, that's what happens.

[A]

Crock pot.

[B]

I do a lot of crock pot.

[A]

Okay, well, you do a lot of going out to eat. I do $650. So more crock pot. When your entire thing is I work long hours, so I don't cook. So we do 650. Going out to eat. No. Q, get an emergency fund. You don't have an emergency fund. H Vac died. Oh, need an emergency fund. Don't have it. What do we do? Kid got bit. Don't have an emergency fund. What do we do?

[B]

I pay some of that on the health savings account.

[A]

Well, that part's good, but obviously it's not enough because you're using care credit. You need an emergency fund. It's not about this Health savings account. I'm glad you're doing that. Tax advantage. Yeah, that's great. But obviously it's not going far enough. And obviously you no longer have the room in your bud to throw more into the health savings account. Okay, let's put this Capital One. Kohl's card. We really need a Kohl's card.

[B]

So the Kohl's card was, I believe, one of the first credit cards I got as an 18 year old trying to establish credit. Everyone's like, hey, you need to build your credit. Get a credit card.

[A]

Sure, but this was nine years ago, and I see a balance of $2,461.17.

[B]

That's one of those ones where I've had it paid off multiple times. And then.

[A]

Cole, what is going to change this time? You're considering a consolidation. What is actually going to be different? Please pitch it to me. Pitch your consolidation.

[B]

Close the cards. I'm worried about my credit history.

[A]

You will open them up again, though. You will open up another card. A credit card will show up in the mail. You'll open it up, look at your history.

[B]

I don't do the credit cards that come in the mail.

[A]

Fine, you'll open a store card. Listen, the thing is, based on your history, I just have no confidence you wouldn't open a card. I want you. I do want you to close the cards. I'm not against that. It's more about the spending, the behavior. It's not just the act of closing the cards. Because then you'll just blow everything in your checking account.

[B]

So my habit with the cards is I've had a card close on me for not using it. So then I was like, oh, I have to use a card to keep my credit established so it doesn't close and tank my credit history and take my credit.

[A]

Whatever is your credit. Because, I mean, you're applying for a mortgage you haven't gone through.

[B]

It's not great. It's 659.

[A]

Yeah. So not even favorable rates. And an unfavorable rate market is coming your way. Do not get this house. I understand what you're thinking, but you move laterally. Maybe, but. Okay, go on. Please. Pitch me on this.

[B]

So then, Nicole's credit card. They did a thing where you can use it anywhere.

[A]

Nicole's.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Just. It was a capital one card, honestly.

[B]

So that paid for gas and food.

[A]

It's not the credit limit.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Right now.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What the. Why?

[B]

That was one of those cars that we used to move.

[A]

How much did it cost? This move?

[B]

About 4,000. So primarily I'm here then in gas and food. That doesn't include the things breaking.

[A]

The total cost of moving.

[B]

I'd probably put us closer to 6,000 so far.

[A]

But that means. You said you drained your emergency fund for that. If you drained your emergency fund for 6,500, you didn't have a fully voted emergency fund.

[B]

Not at that point.

[A]

So then we're not moving.

[B]

We needed to get out of California.

[A]

You did not. But you could have put him up in a month to month place.

[B]

We couldn't even afford our rent.

[A]

How much Was your rent?

[B]

1500?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

You could have my husband, his job again. Sometimes he's working five hours, sometimes he was working 40, 60. Like it was all over the place.

[A]

That's not a flee the state situation. That's a job searching situation.

[B]

Well, and we also couldn't stay in the house.

[A]

You made the same money you made now. Why?

[B]

My mom was moving back into the home and she wouldn't let you live.

[A]

There for a few months to build up. I'm not saying. I'm saying get a fully funded emergency fund first.

[B]

Yeah, well, we stayed there a year over what we were supposed to.

[A]

Cool. But we have an open and honest conversation. Hey, we need six more months just to get to that savings for the is. Does she love you?

[B]

No.

[A]

Solopreneurs. Listen up. You're wearing all the hats. Sales, customer service, marketing, maybe even shipping. Shipping. And that is brutal. You want to automate all of your business headaches into one software? That's where High Level can help. High Level allows you to capture leads, build funnels, message potential customers, and close on your leads, all from one dashboard. No more logging into multiple tools or missing leads because you forgot a step. You can literally be out grocery shopping while High Level nurtures your prospects. Let's talk money. How much money? If you're paying $50 for email, $40 for texting, $20 for booking, you're already at $110. And that's not counting funnel software. High Level can replace it all, possibly saving you some serious cash. I twisted their arm for an exclusive 30 day free trial, twice the standard. If you crave more time, less overhead and better follow up. Check out the link below. Because letting leads slip through the cracks is basically giving away free cash, and we do not do that around here.

[B]

We actually went. No contact.

[A]

What the. Oh. Cause you're supporting Dan?

[B]

No. Well, part of it.

[A]

Why is she.

[B]

So we're talking now. It's not a very healthy relationship. It's never really been healthy.

[A]

Why'd you let you stay there then? It'd be a weird thing, huh?

[B]

To control me?

[A]

Well, what was she able to do to control you?

[B]

She used the house to control me.

[A]

What did she do to control you?

[B]

I'm coming to my house to see my grandson. We're sick right now.

[A]

We're keeping her away from your grandkids.

[B]

We were sick. We had Covid. I didn't want anybody coming over. I didn't want Anybody exposed?

[A]

Well, let's I guess her choice if she wants to get right.

[B]

And then her weird but choice and boyfriend is. We don't like him.

[A]

Why?

[B]

He showed up to a family dinner that he was not invited to. Were supposed to be there. He's cheated on her. The person.

[A]

You just showed up to a dinner? I don't think that's a cancelable offense.

[B]

With a gun legal. No.

[A]

That's a bit weird.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay, go on.

[B]

And then he's also cheated on her multiple times.

[A]

That's not good.

[B]

Okay, so he's cheated on her with messaged me telling me.

[A]

But why are you cutting off the grandma though?

[B]

Your mom, she allows it. She keeps going back.

[A]

Oh, yeah. But what if she's being manipulated in the same way that you're saying you're being manipulated by her, which she probably is.

[B]

And we were just enabling each other.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I finally had to put my foot down. I can't do this.

[A]

Cutting contact isn't well.

[B]

And she also had really bad alcoholism.

[A]

Jeez.

[B]

Okay. Yeah. And it got to a point where she was screaming at me in front of my son and I was like, we can't do this.

[A]

I agree, I agree, I agree. Well, it sounds like the move was okay, but still, you did not have a fully funded emergency fund. You really suggested like you did and it was drained before you moved.

[B]

We were just trying to basically flee.

[A]

But you didn't have a fully funded emergency fund.

[B]

Not fully funded, no. It was started.

[A]

Yeah. Okay. So again, on this card, $2,461.17 minimum payment, 89, 63 cents or 63.96 of interest accruing. Maxed out 13 years to pay off minimum payments only, which is all you're doing. Actually made a little under your minimum last time.

[B]

I think my minimum just went up on that one.

[A]

So the 30.24% interest rate.

[B]

And then I was trying to do the David Ramsey method, the snowball. Pay off the lowest one first. So I was throwing any extra. Like instead of making a monthly payment on a balance that's $240 or non minimum payment that if it's $30, I'm paying 60 or 100. Trying to get those lower cards paid off first.

[A]

Do you like his co host, like Georgie Campbell as well? Georgison Camel.

[B]

I've only really paid attention to David Ramsey.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I had a friend turn me on to him and was like, hey, like you need to start watching him. Because I was venting to him one day. He was in a lot of debt, paid everything off. Was debt free. Emergency fund. Like he's doing everything he's supposed to. So I turned to him and was like, what? What do you do? And so he was like, hey, watch David Ramsey.

[A]

Do you also watch Grandmother and Stefan?

[B]

I don't.

[A]

Okay. Just wanted to check.

[B]

I don't even know who that is.

[A]

It's okay.

[B]

Okay. And then I found you on Tick Tock instead of watching all your videos. And I was like, I need to conquer this debt. My goal is to be debt free. I want to be able.

[A]

It's a good goal. I should do something to do it. I. I still have her spending for last month. This is what everyone does. You're saying a reasonable thing, but then your actions are completely the opposite. Lowe's card. I understand the escape in California. I'm not against that.

[B]

Yeah. And the lowest?

[A]

$145.57 with a middle monthly payment of $72. Well, your husband did not purchase, but interest was accruing $49. Takes 11 years to pay off. It's maxed out. No one's surprised. So what's going on with this one?

[B]

So that one we got prior to moving the house that we're living in California was actually falling apart around us. Like, literally.

[A]

It seems to be a. No. Ongoing pattern.

[B]

Yeah. Like, roof was falling apart, the porch poles falling apart, walls falling apart. Like just everything was falling apart. The kitchen had massive amounts of mold in it. And it actually caught on fire before my mom and my dad bought it, so ended up having to fix stuff in the kitchen. And then after having my son, we had the original carpets in it from when we moved in in 2004. And we've had multiple pets, so we put in the LVP flooring or like that plank vinyl flooring. We found some on sale at Lowe's.

[A]

But 11 years to pay off those renovations. I don't. It's. It's. It wasn't even your house.

[B]

Like to renovate.

[A]

That's what we prefer. That's what we prefer. Huh. Sick.

[B]

Change is good, right?

[A]

Yeah. What about the change in not having debt? That's a pretty good one. That's a pretty good one. Dave would. Would suggest so. He would also suggest that you should get the fizz card instead of any of these cards. I would do that for you. Only allows you to spend on senior checking account, which is good. Okay. Yeah. I mean, this is sitting at a 31.99 interest rate. Well, some of them a part of it. And then 26.99 for the rest.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

The interest, Home Depot.

[A]

That's for more renovations we want to do because change is important. Change is good, right?

[B]

Change is good. Fixing the house is good.

[A]

Fixing the house for necessary things that are danger in life I can kind of vibe with. But again, those emergencies, emergency funds to take care of it. You don't do what is necessary in life in order to achieve an emergency fund. So you're allowing yourself to say that this debt is okay because you had to do it, where in reality it's not, because if you were just a mature person, in the end you would have had an emergency fund. What did you study in Kahatch again?

[B]

Veterinary technology.

[A]

Okay, 3000. This one's over the credit limit. This one's over the credit limit.

[B]

That's my husband's three. I also have a Home Depot card. We have. We each have one.

[A]

What the. Why? What's our obsession with the Depot?

[B]

We only have a Home Depot in our town.

[A]

You have a Lowe's card, too.

[B]

Lowe's is an hour away.

[A]

Yeah, but you have a Lowe's card too. What's our obsession with the deep? I like Home Depot. I don't have a Home Depot card. What are we doing? You're over the credit card limit by $218.62. $3,000. $218.62 with a minimum monthly payment of 103. These minimum payments are stacking up and then you want to double your mortgage. Good luck.

[B]

That's where the debt consolidation loan kind of came in.

[A]

Yeah, but there's still going to be more minimum payments. And then knowing you, just like you've done in the history of your cycle for the last nine years, you're gonna do it again. That doesn't fix it.

[B]

I'm ready to break the cycle.

[A]

You're ready to break the cycle. But a consolidation without changing your behavior first does not break the cycle.

[B]

I'm ready to change my behavior.

[A]

You're ready to change your behavior. But you have not yet. And you should not consolidate until you do. So I don't know what the we're thinking about doing here, especially since this is gonna 15 years to pay off and like the consolidation loans are high interest rate anyway. Are you gonna be able to borrow enough to consolidate all of this?

[B]

Probably not all of it. The ones that have lower balances we wouldn't include.

[A]

I feel like, honestly, you're just really trying to make a reason for this new house to work.

[B]

Even without the new house, I want There, huh? I want the cards gone. I don't want.

[A]

Why are you spending the way you do again? The words are not lining up.

[B]

They're there. The cards are there.

[A]

Yeah, but the words are not lining up. The actions. We can start paying down cards instead of. You haven't paid more than the minimum payment on any of these cards.

[B]

You haven't got to those ones yet.

[A]

I said on any of the cards so far.

[B]

I know there's a big stack there. Keep looking.

[A]

You spent $650 on going out to eat. That is not cute. That could have gone towards this card. That could have paid off a fifth of the care credit. A fifth of the care credit could have gone away if you did not go out to eat, but you did. So that is not cute. That is not cute by any means.

[B]

And part of that eating out was us going to Tennessee. We did spend I think like 200 eating out in Tennessee.

[A]

You. I don't care. Don't go to Tennessee. What are you talking about? You're living.

[B]

My husband's grandpa was dying so I went to Tennessee and we ate out because we were in a hotel. We got some snacks and stuff.

[A]

I understand going to Tennessee. I'm not horribly against this with that situation specifically, but I am very against. I mean you did not need a. The eating out thing when, when my family and I, we did like that low cost of living travel. We grocery shopped when we took road trip slices. So we had to do.

[B]

I tried to find a hotel that had a kitchenette in it so I could.

[A]

We're just fridges and sandwiches. That's what we did. That's what we did. I know other people can do it. Cuz I went through it. Okay. Like I, yes. Go to Tennessee. Grandpa passing away. I hate that. That is so sad. I want you guys to go there. That does not mean we use it as a reason to not continue our sacrifice all around. I'm not against the travel and I know like I said, but we also.

[B]

Ate out with family.

[A]

Okay, but that is different. It wasn't just the eating out with family. Maybe I would have allowed a couple eating out with the family and we're all together and we're celebrating someone's life. Okay, I get that part.

[B]

He is doing better now though.

[A]

The grandpa great. So it was worth nothing. So the me trying to okay off.

[B]

He was not doing well. He's got cancer. It comes and goes. We really like. I'm glad we went because I don't.

[A]

Know, I'm not against that. I'm against the way you did it. You're not willing to sacrifice.

[B]

And that's what I'm trying to change. Now.

[A]

I will never understand this and you know, I might get some pushback in the audience from it. I, I don't get it. Because that seems like a reasonable response, guys. Right. But I've been on this show, I've done this quite a few times. And my question is, and why the is it not in the statements that I'm looking at, if you would want to change something, I would see any indication of it. This is what happens. I swear, people get on here, we've been filming for an hour and one minute. They're getting pushback on their decisions. And the most natural human response to say is, well, now I want to change. Then why wasn't there a single one cent of change before you sat in this, this damn chair?

[B]

That's the cycle. I go, I've changed. I've had therapy. I've done all that. Dropped out of therapy.

[A]

Dropped out of therapy.

[B]

Yeah, or whatever. Moved, lost a therapist, whatever the case may be.

[A]

And then most you can do remote while you're out and about, but go for it.

[B]

Well, I'm starting therapy again. Hence the whole.

[A]

Come on, you complete your entire life collapsed because you weren't in therapy for a second. Come on, if you're that broken up.

[B]

I'm not blaming it all on mental health and not having a therapist.

[A]

What are we blaming it on? Because it sounds like a lot of blame outside of our own just accepting responsibility and saying that. You know what?

[B]

There is.

[A]

Maybe I'm not ready to change because I haven't done anything necessary to actually make ready for change before coming on.

[B]

You haven't got to all of them yet.

[A]

Oh come on, buddy. I have. You spent more than you made last month. The household, we have that going through all this.

[B]

I don't even see how that's possible.

[A]

Because debt cuz spending $650 going out to eat alone.

[B]

And see having it broken down like this, I think helps with the desire.

[A]

Of course this is helpful. But you're not. But you didn't give any indication. You could have used the budgeting app where everything's automated. You could have done that and you would have seen all this information, your little tracking. You said you know where all your bills are. You would have known this.

[B]

Okay, And I have the bill. I have the bills alone. Not the eating out or extra expenses included.

[A]

You don't look back on previous months. Then you're Never going to make progress. There's no point of only tracking half of it if we don't know what's going on with the other half. That's. That's an inconclusive picture.

[B]

I think part of it too is like my dad, he will help pay for stuff. So then I. It's like a. Let's go out to eat because dad's going to pay and then he'll pay for a portion of it. For him, he gets about $800 a month from disability and then little side hustles and things like that. He can get an additional maybe 700, 600. Just kind of depends on how his health is.

[A]

I don't know, man. I don't know, man. I get it and I get it looks good. I get it looks good when you say it and it makes you want to say it and it looks good to the audience when you say it and it helps. You can defer the actual pushback against you. But literally, if I hear every. I literally hear every single person on the show say, I'm ready to change, I'm ready for change, yet they did not do a single scent, like actual scent of change the moment before coming on. Stop. I know what your spending was. I know what you're spending was. It was not good.

[B]

You. But I've. I've made small changes. I understand the spending's not good though.

[A]

Maybe we'll see.

[B]

I got baby sticks. I got. No, no, cuz there's more than monthly payments being or more than minimum payments being made.

[A]

We'll see.

[B]

That one's my husband's.

[A]

Okay, Three in a row for the man. Yeah, Cabela's.

[B]

And that's another use anywhere kind of card.

[A]

$1,786.24 with a minimum to payment of $65. Okay. Yeah. I mean most cards are used anywhere cards. That doesn't mean we get to the credit limit again. Interest occurring, by the way. This also shows the indication of lack of change. They're all maxed out. Some are over maxed out, meaning you really can't spend on them anymore. Meaning that even if you wanted to, you couldn't. So listen, you probably did a few months ago and now you can't. So this other recurring thing, remember I do this like five times a week. If you could have spent on these cards, you would have. This only looks good in these part of the statements because you're not. Because you're at your max. It's incapable to spend any cards, yet you still spend more than you made, which is crazy. 12 years to pay off for this one. 31.24% interest rate on all this. So what are we doing with this card? What happened? Because they're all maxed out. Meaning we did at least recently spend on these cards. And no, they're not all for the moving expenses at this point. Cuz. He said it was 6,500, yet we drained our emergency fund. Only needed a few thousand, but our credit cards so far that we've talked about are nearing $20,000. So no, this wasn't all moving. What?

[B]

Well, the Home Depot ones are for renovations. Those ones.

[A]

Cabala's. Cabalas. Cabela's, Cabela's.

[B]

That one part of that was moving expenses. And then once we got into the house, that was also. We remodeled one of the bathrooms that didn't get covered by the Home Depot costs and buying the tools and equipment to do the. The renovations.

[A]

I just.

[B]

And then some of it was also groceries.

[A]

Did you need to do every renovation you did? You just. You said you renovated the kitchen in your current place, right?

[B]

No, my old house.

[A]

What did you renovate in the current place? Because you said you did renovation.

[B]

We've done the popcorn ceilings.

[A]

Why would we focus on popcorn ceilings and not a broken sink?

[B]

So the sink wasn't originally broken.

[A]

Okay. This shouldn't be a horribly hard fix.

[B]

I'm not sure exactly what's wrong with it.

[A]

Get a plumber.

[B]

So I had my uncle out, who is a retired plumber.

[A]

The family thing gets weird because, like, I don't know, it just. It always gets weird when you ask family for help on those kind of things because they might not put in full effort or even if they don't, or even if they do, maybe they're not as educated as a real person. You want to come in and whatever, you can't push back against them. You can't really push for what you want. It just gets really hard. You just want someone who's only there to provide the value they do. And there's not a family dynamic when it comes to this kind of stuff.

[B]

So we do plan on getting a plumber come out.

[A]

Why haven't you? Just like you planned on fixing all this, but haven't. Come on. Water's leaking everywhere. Huh?

[B]

Part of it's been. I've been worried about getting in more debt, having to take out a loan to pay for this.

[A]

I'm about to double your mortgage.

[B]

I was talking with my neighbor. She had a plumbing issue too, and they had to pay $2,000 for the plumbers.

[A]

Get it done. Get your notes first. You don't know what it is. I don't care what her plumbing issue is.

[B]

I also don't have a clean out, which is really weird. So I had this. The city come out and see if they can locate a clean out.

[A]

Literally, just get a diagnosis. I don't give a. You don't know what's on the other side.

[B]

Every time I tell the plumbers, I've called, gosh, almost every plumber in my area and ask like, hey, like, can you guys come take a look? Like this is what's going on. It's been snaked. Not sure. It's a hundred dollars an hour plus 180 an hour for the camera. Because if you don't have a clean out, we're going to have to use the camera to figure out where we're going in the pipes. It said. Okay, about how many hours? Like could you estimate? They're like anywhere from four to six starting.

[A]

Okay. Another Home Depot card is. This one's yours? Yeah, yeah.

[B]

And again.

[A]

Renovations, $999.98. Renovations, critical things in order to survive purchases $43 on this one. Your card. Come on. Why are we purchasing on your card? The one who's good with finances.

[B]

$35 minimum.

[A]

What'd you get? It was seasonal garden section.

[B]

I don't even know.

[A]

Huh? Yeah. Guys, we're ready to change 30%. Yeah, let's get you back in therapy because you might need it. Listen, I'll give you three free therapy sessions of Sound of Mine. It's the promotion that our audience gets and I get and you get. So do that. How? I'm gonna give the course career certification to your husband because we need to make him more money too.

[B]

He's looking at other jobs currently.

[A]

Well, I heard he wants to start his own shop, which requires upfront capital, so. Okay. America's tire, let me guess, is for tires.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

You ever get a genius video idea while showering or stuck in traffic, but by the time you sit down to make it, you realize you'd need a film crew, an editor, and probably a four year degree in animation. Cause yeah, I've been there. And that's why Today's sponsor, InVideo AI exists. It's like ChatGPT, but a Hollywood production team instead. Type in the idea literally just a sentence and it turns into a full length video in just minutes. So let's try this. Create a 1 minute video in hyper realistic style about what would happen to Humanity. If the Internet ceased to exist. Imagine a world where the Internet suddenly vanishes. No warning, no explanation. It's just gone. The first thing you'd notice, a deafening silence. Your phone stops buzzing. Your computer screen goes dark. Unlike traditional tools with steep learning curves that only solve for parts of the process, Invideo is the creative partner you've always wanted. It removes all friction. No timelines, no layers. Just type commands like add my voice or make it more intense. It even lets you clone your voice for narration. Invideo does all the heavy lifting so you can focus on what really matters, your vision. You can try InVideo AI for free using the link in the description or scan the QR code on screen. It'll save you hundreds of dollars that you'd otherwise be spending on editing, animating, and other production costs. Let's get back to the video.

[B]

I had two slashes in my tires.

[A]

And couldn't flash in your tires.

[B]

I honestly don't know. We don't know that many people here. I'm not sure if it's anything that happens.

[A]

$900. $45 minimum to payment. The minimum must have. Oh, it went off a little because of a card up. Okay. Expiration date of this promotion is in October, so that'll come out pretty soon. Best Buy. What's up?

[B]

That's a use anywhere card. That's a dangerous card.

[A]

Pretty much all.

[B]

Oh, yeah, I've used that one to buy Southwest flight. Family. And then the family.

[A]

What?

[B]

So my mom's actually coming out in July for my son's birthday, so I. She didn't have the money right then.

[A]

Good. Said she can come out when she can afford it because you can't afford your bills.

[B]

All right. So she's like, look, I can pay you from this paycheck and then I can pay you from the next paycheck.

[A]

How's that worked?

[B]

Not well. And then my cousin, who I had guardianship of at one point, is actually going.

[A]

Did you get insurance on the flight?

[B]

No.

[A]

Is it early? Is it too. Can you cancel it? Yeah, it's pretty early. Cancel it. She can redeem it if she pays.

[B]

I don't know if I can try.

[A]

Call, have a conversation. Maybe you can, maybe you can, but it's pretty far ahead.

[B]

Listen, she's paid part of it.

[A]

We. How much? Of hot?

[B]

200.

[A]

Of hot punch?

[B]

300.

[A]

Okay, never mind. We can keep it. Push her for the rest.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Also, there's a Walmart on here as well.

[B]

That's groceries.

[A]

Okay, so we grocery shop and Go out to eat a ton.

[B]

And Ross, that was birthday presents.

[A]

I don't care. We don't do birthdays. We don't do birthdays.

[B]

How do you know?

[A]

For the kid.

[B]

For my son's friend. He got kicked by a horse and got life flighted out, and then it was his birthday.

[A]

Huh.

[B]

My son, he made a friend, and the little boy got kicked by a horse and got life flighted out and.

[A]

Then shortly after was flooded out.

[B]

Yeah. Like, they. The helicopter landed on their property and flew him to Dallas to the children's hospital.

[A]

Is he dead?

[B]

No, thankfully. No broken bones. He's got, like. He. They were joking and said that he looked like Quagmire 3.

[A]

Okay. It doesn't remember things. Core memories start around, like, three or four. It's barely. You don't need to get gifts right now.

[B]

So it's for his fourth birthday.

[A]

Okay, well. Okay. It might just be starting to form core memories. I don't know.

[B]

Like, my son remembers it. He's scared of horses.

[A]

Put it on for now. Well, it sounds like it just happened. Debit cards. Debit cards is where we put birthday presents, not on credit cards that we can't afford to pay off.

[B]

Tractor supply, yard equipment, and dog food. I normally order their dog food through Purina's website. And when they don't have it in stock, I would go down to tractor supply, and oftentimes they would price match for me.

[A]

29 minimum payment at a $297 balance, 33.24% interest. Kill me now.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That's crazy. Oh, I know this ulta beauty.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So what's going on?

[B]

I really lost myself in motherhood. And just.

[A]

What the fuck does that mean? Lost yourself in what way?

[B]

Like, I never did anything for myself. Everything was for everyone else. My son especially. Like, when I went to go put makeup on, I realized everything expired in 2020 or 2021.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And my. I was feeling really down about myself. Had a little bit of a crying moment.

[A]

It doesn't matter. Honestly, I don't need the sob story because it's paid off every month.

[B]

Yeah, that was my husband's whole thing. Go take care of yourself. We don't have the money right now. You have the Ulta card. Use it. Yeah.

[A]

Credit Union of Texas, 15% interest rate. Is this a car? No. 7. $7,000. Is this a personal loan?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Okay. Is this one of the consolidations?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

When.

[B]

So that was actually part of moving expenses.

[A]

What's the current balance? You know, you took out a personal for Moving expenses. It wasn't even a consolidation.

[B]

Okay, so it was for consolidation. We did consolidate a couple cards. And then.

[A]

What's the balance?

[B]

I believe it's at 6800 now.

[A]

6800. 6800. Good. With a minimum monthly payment of 215. 200. 250 dot. 60. So this was from moving. This is not adding up to 6,500 because. How much did you have in savings? 50 cents.

[B]

We had. So my husband actually got five.

[A]

How much did you have in your emergency fund, was the question, please.

[B]

We had 1800, 2000.

[A]

Okay. You set up that whole thing at the beginning when I was, like, pushed back on you not having an emergency fund. Oh, I had one. I had one, but it was drained. No, it wasn't. You had $1,800. That's not an emergency fund. That's like a half a month for you. Come on.

[B]

It was the start of. It was something.

[A]

It was something.

[B]

It was better than zero.

[A]

But you said it. Of course. You set it up as you had an emergency fund. But I had to drain it for an emergency. No, you didn't. You had, like, a half a month saved up. Come on. And then, like, this wasn't all for the move. If it's at 6,000. You said the entire.

[B]

I said part of it was for.

[A]

The move, and then some of it was for consolidation. But some of the other credit cards were for the move.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Like, it's. The math is not adding up here.

[B]

I guess I never really looked at the total of the expenses for.

[A]

Well, maybe we need to know our numbers if we're ready to change, which, again, believes me, makes me believe you're not. I mean, you don't even look at your spending from the previous month. How are you ready to change if you don't look at your spending?

[B]

I just feel like I look at it, like, on a daily to weekly basis. So I don't think you need the full.

[A]

You need the full image because you can't. You can't edit anything for the future if you don't have the full image. Seeing something in a day doesn't hurt, because these little things, they don't hurt. It's the death of a thousand cuts.

[B]

I think that's where we're at with everything.

[A]

Yes, that is where you're at with everything. And the person ready to change would look at it.

[B]

I guess I never looked at it that way. I break it down, like, daily and weekly.

[A]

I thought you said you watched David.

[B]

I do, but I Never looked back at previous statements and stuff. I just. I feel like I pay it and I don't want to think about it again. I just want to keep looking at the future and getting stuff paid off. I don't want to look at what's already been paid. It's paid. I know it's paid. It's done.

[A]

Okay. Not necessarily. They're on credit cards except for the max out ones because now you can spend on them. So. No, they're not already paid. They're already charged. Okay, what about this personal loan of 7%, I'm guessing. Or is this a car?

[B]

That might be a car. I think that's my husband's truck.

[A]

I'm being told. Wait, hold on. What? I guess there's another personal loan through Unifi Cucks. I don't think I have. Maybe that's in here. But they're saying you already took a personal loan for an H VAC system in your current house.

[B]

That's what it was supposed to be for.

[A]

Where is it? What? What? Which one?

[B]

The personal loan was supposed to be.

[A]

The one we just talked about. What is it for? Is it for consolidation? Is it for moving? Is it for the H Vac? I am. So I have you.

[B]

I have two personal loans and a debt consolidation loan. Sorry. So I've had consolidation loans. I've had moving loans, and I had one that was supposed to be for the.

[A]

This one's a 15. It has a current balance of $5,896. So what did this go to in $0.24 with a minimum monthly payment of 250 and 60. No. I'm confused. This is a mess. What is going on? What is this H VAC loan you're talking about?

[B]

So we took out the H VAC loan. My.

[A]

What is it? Where is it? I think it's the last one you said was moving. No way. It was consolidation. Wait, no. Okay. Is it the one that's at 4,000?

[B]

Was the last one that we talked about.

[A]

Okay, which one is it? $4,288.44 with the 16.74% APR.

[B]

I think that's the unified loan.

[A]

And what did that cover?

[B]

That was when we were still in California.

[A]

For what?

[B]

Gosh, I don't even remember.

[A]

Oh, my goodness. Dude.

[B]

That one. Like, years and years and years old. Like.

[A]

And you still have it.

[B]

So we ended.

[A]

What was the four. You don't remember what a loan is for?

[B]

I want to. It was a consolidation loan to begin with, and then we took out we're talking about taking out another personal loan for fifteen hundred dollars to try to fix the transmission in my car at the time.

[A]

So cross out that Last 1. Add $4,288.44 is the new loan with a minimum fee payment of. I don't know what's the minimum payment on this one?

[B]

So the unified one's 250. Credit Union of Texas is 251.

[A]

So 250. Okay, so 250 on that. Is this lasting forever? What about this H Vac loan? What was that?

[B]

So my husband's coworker's brother does H Vac.

[A]

We no longer do that. Don't use these personal little connections. Don't use these things. Go get a professional whose only job is to deliver the value that they are being paid for.

[B]

We've definitely learned so much because after we got the sa, we never got the amount that they actually needed to do this and never had the follow through. So it got used elsewhere. Renovations and car down payments.

[A]

Car down payments. Personal loans for. Car down payments. Oh, for.

[B]

Well, and then I use some of the money.

[A]

You've been in and out of this cycle endlessly. And again, you think, I hope you change. I really do. But again, you haven't. There's not a single scent of change. And you keep promise. It's coming, and I'm saying it. I feel like women always promise that they're coming and then they never do. So it's just like, I don't know, this is it. That's a repeated pattern if there ever has been.

[B]

And it's generational. And I want to break for every woman for my son.

[A]

Oh, not in that context.

[B]

That's the big, like, push behind wanting to change.

[A]

Yeah, but you had your kid. You were given birth. No, you had already given birth the last time you took out his consolidation. So again, what is actually different? He hasn't been reborn.

[B]

The whole idea was debt consolidation. Loan pay off the credit cards, get debt free.

[A]

That's not debt free.

[B]

Okay, not debt free. Okay. Not debt free.

[A]

Listen, David.

[B]

I know. Okay, not debt free. Paying off the cards and getting rid of them. And then it freaked me out when I had a card close on me for not using it. So then I was like, oh, I have to use these so they don't close my account and take my credit score. And then they also messed up my credit history when that card closed. So then when we were trying to buy a house, we weren't able to.

[A]

Buddy, good luck, man. The 7% of this finance was. What did you finance? $28,194.

[B]

That's my husband's truck.

[A]

What's the current balance?

[B]

26. We pay. We do a split payments on it. We do 250 twice a month.

[A]

Oh, 500 payment on a monthly basis. Death. I don't know how you guys.

[B]

I think it's actually 4:80.

[A]

I want to double your mortgage. Good luck. Okay, we'll do 480, but we. Do you want to double your mortgage?

[B]

Okay, we do pay. 500.

[A]

What's it worth? What do you think you owe 26. What do you think it's worth?

[B]

Maybe 25.

[A]

Okay. It's worth $16,425.

[B]

That's disgusting.

[A]

What are you doing? And you guys wanted to go get new cars. Even that you couldn't. I know. Not brand new cars. They're so new cars to you. You wanted to go get new used cars that you couldn't afford. Guys. So he could haul around a little dinghy. Little dinghy. Guys. He has to make four trips from California. You better get a $30,000 truck that's not worth a single.

[B]

Had to have something to tow the trailers temporarily.

[A]

Okay, how much comes in from these trailers?

[B]

Well, the trailer is down right now.

[A]

Oh, sake. Yeah. We're really changing our behavior. Come on. Look where your mindset is on everything.

[B]

It was making us a good amount of money.

[A]

What's a good amount of money?

[B]

Like an extra two grand a month. On.

[A]

Okay, two grand. Net or gross? Gross. Cause what were you doing exactly? So what was it?

[B]

It was side jobs.

[A]

What was it?

[B]

Net two grand. It was just.

[A]

You just said it. Gross.

[B]

It was side jobs.

[A]

What was the side job?

[B]

Hey, can you take a load to the dump? Can you move this car for me?

[A]

Dude. I would much rather you guys put in more effort in enhancing our career, getting him into a better career position instead of this bull justifying a $30,000 purchase of something that we cannot afford that has lost half its value since you purchased it. Or you overvalued purchase. Really? You're trying to justify the out of this truck in every way possible. Which means no. Behavior will not change. Listen, it's destroyed. It's dumb.

[B]

You don't know me well enough to say that the behavior's not going to change.

[A]

But I know your finances and I know what you've done and I know your history.

[B]

Keep looking.

[A]

And I know the language you're using here. You keep saying keep looking, Looking. But I know one thing for sure. Add it all Together you spent more than you made last month. So I'll keep looking and it'll still come to the same result. What is the balance of the car that you have? I also just heard you justify this truck like four times, so. What do you mean like? I. I do know what people like you do. I have these conversations. I do.

[B]

My car. Is 20,000.

[A]

Okay, 20,000 for the car. Interest rate better. 5.7 in. Made a monthly payment.

[B]

405.

[A]

What's it worth?

[B]

I could not tell you.

[A]

What do you think it's worth? 18 basically right about 19. This one held its value a little better, but it's still. Would you get rid of this car today if I told you to?

[B]

I don't have like my husband has to drive to work and my son has doctor's appointments.

[A]

What? Getting another car still. Would you be willing to get rid of it? You're gonna trade down?

[B]

As long as it's something that has the third row.

[A]

Why? You have one kid right now. Even when you have a second kid, you don't need a third row.

[B]

Well, yet.

[A]

Yet.

[B]

Yet we have five. If we had another kid, that'd be.

[A]

You're holding all the cats.

[B]

No, my dad, my. Me, my husband, my son, my dad.

[A]

Just don't have a kid. Listen, it's just. The reality is. Okay, yeah, sure. Shop use third row. Okay, buddy? $20,000 in the car. Listen. Yes. You trade down, you borrow 11,000 hours. 1,000 of the 11,000 goes to paying off the car loan. 10,000 hour car, maybe not a third row. You don't 100% need it yet. We upgrade when you need it. Listen, you can't afford. You can't afford these minimum payments. And if you're not willing to change that, you're not willing to change anything because it's a piece of metal. We don't need sentimental value to it.

[B]

No, it's not sentimental.

[A]

Yeah, we'll see. Okay. Mortgage. This is fine. The interest rate's at 6.1. That's actually better than I thought it was going to be for your guys. Credit. $141,882 owed. What was the purchase? One more time. Price?

[B]

144.

[A]

Oh, you're gonna have to. You have to minimize all 175 and good luck. It's not. I don't. It's not looking good. I'll be honest. Minimum payment with all this included is $1,270.83. Yep. That's fine. That's not bad. Is this. What is a $53,639 loan? Oh, I thought those are other loans combined. Okay.

[B]

Oh, I don't have.

[A]

I almost literally died the amount of death that almost has happened across from you. But there is $957 in our. Oh, no. Actually, yeah. Oh, no. That's combined accounts. So it's not even, like, crazy. Okay. It's an Apple bill. It's. Wait, you said keep looking. We've gone through the debt. What was I expected to find? Yeah. Oh, I looked and I kept going. Apple bill, Amazon Prime, Stopping in some Zelling on money. Apple bill. No. All right, here we go.

[B]

And the Zelas was back and forth.

[A]

Apple Build, Dust Bros, Cracker Barrel, NYAX Vending Ex, Panda Express, Door Dash, Jack in the box. 51 bucks there. Amazon kids plus food fast, CEF company.

[B]

CEFCO, the gas station.

[A]

Yeah, but you went in and got something.

[B]

That'd be my Burger Land.

[A]

Burger Land. Tell him to off and stop stopping and be a big boy. School Bros Barbecue. That place downtown. Paris House, Asian Restaurant. Zone Out, Money, Burger King. Five Below. Five Below. Going in and getting some Mexican restaurants. School Bros Barbecue. Best Smart. Best Smart Man. TJ Maxx Express. Panda Express. Five Below. The Mighty Crab Cash app. I kept looking and it only got worse. Personal loan. Oh, here's that personal loan we talked about. There's some fees. Transaction fees. Personal fees.

[B]

I think that's the interest that they put off.

[A]

They just call fees. No, this is interest. Interest is 72. See? Total fees is 1135. Might just be not having enough money in your checking or savings. $44 in this.

[B]

I used it to pay off my son's medical bills.

[A]

Yeah, that's our health savings. And then $900. No, no, no, no, no, NO.

[B]

That's my 401k.

[A]

Hold on. But you took out a 401k loan against it.

[B]

I did.

[A]

I kept looking. I was promised something. What the are you talking about? This is the last piece of paper, Lloyd. What the.

[B]

Why?

[A]

When? The 401k balance is great, but it's so scary. It's so scary. If you lose your job with them, they can call loan and you can get it owed like that. You'd have to pay it all at once. Like a call date in like 30 days.

[B]

I owe like $800 left on it.

[A]

Well, thank. When did you take it out? What was the total balance?

[B]

At one point, I think it was.

[A]

You never take off 40. Oh, if that was called, man, you would have been.

[B]

And that was years Ago for what? Finally looking at the end of it.

[A]

You only know how to take out that because you've never actually paid off debt. You've only taken out debt to cover debt. If you kick the can down the road, we're still looking at debt from years and years and years ago. Did. You're 27. It's not a repeated cycle. You actually just move debt everywhere and then build it back up even further. You just built it up worse. That's why you have $80,000 of bad debt and you're going to double your mortgage. Don't. Don't you want to get that house? No. Don't. It's as easy as that. I solved that. I solved that equation for you. You. I solved the damn equation. The equation is no. Okay. Not including the mortgage. Your minimum depayments alone are 281. So he's working just to cover your minimum payments. Not including mortgage. And then mortgage we know is $1,270.83. Utilities all together. Internet, everything. Electricity, trash, blah, blah, blah. How much?

[B]

Internet's 86.

[A]

Okay, 86. Fahrenheit.

[B]

Water is usually about 100 around there.

[A]

100. Gas, electric.

[B]

Gas is like 40 bucks.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And electric. Depends on the time of the month. Average, I'd say average 150.

[A]

Okay. 290 for that and then 86 for Internet. Gas from Drive Drive. Both of you combined.

[B]

He spends about 60 bucks filling up his truck once a week. I spend about 40.

[A]

Once a week.

[B]

Once a week. Once. Like a week and a half.

[A]

Okay. I'll put it at 360. Car insurances.

[B]

So I have full coverage on my car. Full coverage on his truck. And it's 240k.

[A]

Phone bill.

[B]

So the phone bill is $420. But it's not. So I have more people on the line to make.

[A]

Do they always pay?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

How much is yours? So the Household, you guys.

[B]

So 420 minus 150. 65. 200 minus 200.

[A]

That's still ridiculous. 220. Switch to helium. Do you own your phones out, right? Or are they financed?

[B]

Some of them are financed.

[A]

Oh. Once you're done with financing, switch to helium. If T mobile's good in your area, switch to helium. We have to put 220 for now. Until you do that. Damn it. Hey. Groceries we can do. We should be able to do 800. That's being generous. Use a budget friendly cookbook. You're going to meal prep. So you only cook a few times a week. Then you can no Longer use the cooking. Excuse me. Use TP funding. Anything else you need to survive goes for kids as well. $250. Medical, health care. Co pays. Anything on a monthly basis.

[B]

Co pays I think are $100 right now because the deductible.

[A]

Okay, what else?

[B]

Each visit it's a hundred.

[A]

How many visits a month?

[B]

So I'm being seen right now twice a month.

[A]

So 200amonth. Okay, 200. Anything else? Medical.

[B]

I think that's about it right now.

[A]

Pet insurances.

[B]

I just canceled them.

[A]

You're going to sign back up. Ah, the chronic health.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay, never mind pet food.

[B]

I just switched them to a different pet food. I saved some money. 120.

[A]

Anything else that needs to be in your budget that I have not taken into account?

[B]

I think that covers everything.

[A]

These are the necessities. Okay. Needed to survive is 5,923.83 at a minimum monthly basis. Your guys's income together not including bonus because it only hits one year. Okay. We have a little bit of bigger bit of wiggle room, which makes no sense why none of this debt is being paid off. Guys, all you have to do is just keep waiting. You'll see. Okay, $5,923 and 83 cents. That gives you an extra $546.39. Let's call wiggle room. 46.39. Say you have 500 left on a monthly basis. $500 left on a monthly basis. $80,000 of bad debt. 160 months. 13 years. Pretty brutal. Okay, a couple options. We definitely need to get him into a better career field. We're definitely not opening a shop yet because you guys do not have the capital nor are we doing a loan to do it. It. Maybe grandpa pays rent.

[B]

Not right now.

[A]

Okay, Grandpa can start paying a little bit of rent. Even a couple hundred bucks helps.

[B]

He'll help out with groceries here and there.

[A]

Well that helps as well. But you're still only allowed to contribute this amount and deduct whatever his does. Cuz a couple hundred, couple extra 100 bucks, I mean that moves us, what was it, 12 years? $80,000. Divide that by $700 instead and that brings us to nine and a half years. Right. So just, just that from grandpa helps a lot.

[B]

So. So.

[A]

Okay, but we need it up. If he can bring in, if we do that, plus an extra 500 hours a month net from the husband, that, I mean with that, that gets us maybe down to seven years. And that's okay, then we can do that we can grind that out. And then you will get pay increases hopefully more than you're guaranteed. 3% because that's just cost of living. We actually want real raises and career advancements. But either way, if you cannot finish this in eight years, I can also consider bankruptcy potentially. That's going to. Yeah, I. It's thin. It makes it really hard to do things in the future. It gets off your credit. But there will always be questions whether or not you've declared bankruptcy. And that's what I do. But you guys can pay off this. Deb, we can pay it off in about seven years. It needs to up that income. Okay. And you can no longer no money going out to eat this is there? There's nothing. It's nothing. No trips, nothing fun, no paying for other people's nothing. It is sticking down to the grind and it's just. It's the sacrifice for the kid. Because by the time the kid's tax 10 gonna have an incredible life and he's gonna know nothing but success and stress free financially.

[B]

And that's my goal for him.

[A]

And that's. If that's your goal then this is your path to get there and there will be no excuses to do so. So make sure you come back.

[B]

And would you recommend like bonuses when I get those once a month? Yeah.

[A]

Throw rate to death.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Once a month. He said once a year.

[B]

Sorry. Yeah, once a year.

[A]

That accelerates the process as well. Maybe we get this down to six years. Okay. And six years is very attainable. Then a fully six month emergency five fund. That's what you do. Show us progress on the follow up channel along the way spending a budget. You overspent. 0 out of 10 debt. This debt's brutal. This is so many cards. Yeah, 80000 hours of bad debt mortgage. There's just no collections or anything. So I'll give you a one out of ten emergency fund. Nothing right now. Zero out of ten retirement. What was it? 50?

[B]

I think it's 20.

[A]

20,000. Okay, 20,000.

[B]

I don't have my husband 75. He's also got a 401k. He just started it.

[A]

Okay. So probably not much.

[B]

Yeah, I'd like.

[A]

Well if you guys. If you combine your both I'm putting you at a 3 out of 10. Real estate, not really an equity position, rough living, bad things with the house. Repairs that are going to need to be put into it. It's not great. Yeah, fine. Interest rate, minimum payment you can afford. I'll give you a 5 out of 10 because you're at least in a position where if you hold on to and put a little bit of money into it, you actually you might make some money in a couple years. It's that step ahead versus having to get into the games from scratch. Rounded up in financial score 2 out of 10. One point higher than you thought. Guys, Join us for the post show we might call the Husband. We have some extra juicy information that we can't talk about in the main show for privacy and demonetization reasons. So come join us. And make sure you join Hammer Elite because if you do best, YouTube membership on the entire platform Platform has told us that themselves and there's thousands of hours of extra content and other dedicated shows we have there. It is incredible. And make sure you download this video Simpler budget app Sign up for Annual I will sign the cookbook and mail it directly to you. See you in the post show. Couch Buying Addiction what the does that even mean?

[B]

I have it. I have just been browsing and looking at couches. But she wants another one. I do want another one.

[A]

Hey hey. By the way, you haven't even paid off your last furniture bill. You're not going to go on a couch Shop free.

[B]

Just wait.

[A]

Elusive Members Content Click the link in the description or pin comment below and watch thousands of hours of extra and uncensored content. Tent.