Financial Audit – "Financial Audit's Messiest Divorce"
Podcast: Financial Audit
Host: Caleb Hammer
Guests: Natalie & Justin (Seattle, WA)
Release Date: December 15, 2025
Theme: Dissecting finances through the lens of a tumultuous divorce, with candid, often chaotic, discussion of money, marriage, open relationships, and personal responsibility.
Episode Overview
This episode features Natalie (27) and Justin (29), a soon-to-be-divorced couple from Seattle, thrusting themselves and their messy split into the searing light of Caleb Hammer’s financial review. This is an unusually raw and at times wild conversation about their marriage, parenting, open relationships, and—supposedly—financial habits, with little left off the table. As the drama unfolds, Caleb attempts to peel back the financial disaster layered beneath the collapsing relationship, often veering into relationship therapy as much as money talk.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. The Walkout & Blame Game (01:07–16:00)
- Natalie recently walked out on Justin, leaving him and their four children after two years of warning that she would leave if he didn't step up with household tasks and finances.
- Natalie’s primary frustration: Justin's lack of engagement with finances or help around the home. She claims to have communicated her needs “over and over.”
- Justin felt the “goalposts kept moving” and didn’t see just how much he was falling short. He describes himself as having a “one-track mind”—focusing on one thing to the detriment of others.
- Notable Quotes:
- Natalie (02:54): “Two years of asking him to figure out finances and help me with it and just do more. And I told him I would leave...”
- Caleb (04:50): “You’re the bad employee. The one who gets a correction, does a little better for a couple weeks and falls back to the old ways.”
- Justin (09:15): “No, I think it was just me like resenting her cuz... she would treat me like shit if I'm being honest.”
2. Communication Breakdowns & Cycle of Resentment (07:01–22:00)
- Both parties admit to bottling up emotions, which led to frequent blow-ups rather than productive conversations.
- Natalie says she would communicate repeatedly; Justin says it never registered and accuses her of gaslighting/manipulating him.
- Notable Quote:
- Caleb (07:15): “That is, no offense, the stereotypical woman thing—where it’s like you have the emotions but you don’t communicate it effectively...”
3. Family Logistics Post-Separation (11:01–16:00)
- The split is unconventional: Natalie moved one street over, leaving the kids primarily with Justin (and her mother, who moved in to assist).
- Natalie struggles with the optics of a mom moving out, but claims it would be seen differently “if a man got up and left the house to get his shit together.”
- Caleb challenges her: “There’s a 1-year-old and 2-year-old there.” – Caleb (12:45)
4. Open Relationships, Dating, & Infidelity Accusations (16:00–41:00)
- The couple’s marriage was open for a period, ostensibly by agreement, but imbalance and unspoken resentments persisted.
- Natalie was actively pursuing other relationships; Justin was not interested or didn’t follow through.
- Both claim the other was fine with the arrangement, but it becomes clear there was significant miscommunication and discomfort.
- Scandals involving Natalie’s sister (fake phone numbers, dating exes) and a chaotic web of overlapping dating partners leads to further accusations.
- Memorable Moment:
- Caleb (17:12): “You moved your mother in so you could move out and get to the cheeks slapped a bit more.”
- Caleb (18:17): “You weren’t plowing.”
- Natalie (20:22): “I'm straight, I'm direct. And that's why he says I'm mean to him. Because I'm brutally honest.”
5. Financial Review: Income & Spending (31:32–54:00)
- Natalie transitioned jobs, moving from Service Advisor to Auto Body Service Area Manager (boosting income from ~$4K to ~$5K/month).
- Justin works as a cook ($3,400/month) and also receives substantial VA disability ($4,447/month)—a point Caleb repeatedly circles back to, noting the income provides a cosseted financial floor.
- Despite high household income (~$12,800/month with child support), their finances are a disaster due to rampant overspending, chronic late payments, maxed-out credit cards, payday loans, overdraft fees, and more.
- Notable Quotes:
- Caleb (55:04): “Minimum survival budget is $9,021.57. Minimum to survive. Now, the rent goes down when your lease is done, obviously…because you're moving back in. If we are going to be together again.”
- Natalie (70:01): “He does know we had this Mac. No, that's what we were talking.”
- Justin (72:59): “So how can you come in and bitch and moan?”
6. Debt Details — Full Meltdown (56:54–88:00+)
- Chronic issues:
- Multiple over-the-limit and/or maxed out credit cards, all with late fees
- Natalie admits to traveling and using credit for non-essential purchases (vacations, retail, tech, etc.)
- Spending on subscriptions, eating out, and convenience items is rampant
- Car loans are upside-down, and both have taken out loans for furniture, electronics, and even an alarm system
- Natalie received money via social media/cash-app for posting provocative content, but it barely dents their debt
- Caleb (66:07): “You have a credit score of 476. What the fuck is that? A credit score under 500. You never even hear about that.”
- Emotional reactions run high as Caleb lays bare the real cost of their choices, and both guests alternate between defensiveness, blame-shifting, and laughter.
7. Attempts at Solutions & Reflection (48:00–end)
- Couples therapy:
- Justin wanted to try but admits to little follow-through; Natalie denies he ever truly facilitated it. Both admit neither is good at communication or follow-through.
- Host’s tough love advice:
- “You moved your mother in so you could move out and get to the cheeks slapped a bit more...” — Caleb (29:45)
- “For a household that makes literally $12,800 a month...you've destroyed your kid’s future. You're ruined. You're destroyed.” — Caleb (97:13)
- What now?
- Caleb urges they create a basic survival budget, sell unnecessary vehicles, slash all nonessential spending, pay off high-interest debt, and, above all, seek professional help—for their finances and their relationship.
- Gut-check moment: Both put odds of reconciliation at 70%, but only if they “buckle down, couples therapy, budget, 14 months and 6 months emergency fund.”
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- Caleb (13:29): “You can afford a year lease if you were afraid of him leaving as the income.”
- Caleb (41:20): “Snapchat. That's how you know it's slut behavior.”
- Caleb (55:07): “Minimum survival budget is $9,021.57. Minimum to survive.”
- Natalie (61:20): “I work all the time, so when I get home, work all the time.”
- Caleb (66:07): “You have a credit score of 476. What the fuck is that? A credit score under 500. You never even hear about that.”
- Caleb (79:14): “It all. Yes, Ben. For your wishes, your desires. And then you try to frame this entire conversation as we’re fucked because he won't sit down to look at my mess.”
Key Timestamps
| Timestamp | Segment/Event | |----------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:07–04:50 | Natalie’s walkout, Justin’s “one-track mind”, root problems revealed | | 11:01–16:00 | Post-split logistics: Who has the kids; Natalie's new living setup | | 16:00–41:00 | Open relationship confessions, family drama, wild revelations | | 31:32–54:00 | Income review; job transitions; realization of high income | | 56:54–88:00+ | Deep-dive into debts, expenses, disastrous management | | 48:00–54:00 | Therapy debate; reflection on what needs to change | | 97:13–end | Caleb’s unfiltered financial and moral audit |
Tone & Style Notes
- Candid, combative, darkly comedic: Caleb does not sugarcoat, openly calling out both parties for hypocrisy, irresponsibility, and willful ignorance—not just about finances, but also about their relationship choices.
- Very explicit: NSFW language and sexual content throughout ("slut", "getting railed", etc.).
- Relatable but raw and often abrasive: The hosts’ exasperation is balanced with a kind of tough-love, shock-jock humor meant to provoke change.
Final Thoughts
This episode is less a sober financial review and more a high-wire tightrope walk across the intersection of personal life chaos and money mismanagement. It’s a wild ride full of uncomfortable laughter, hard truths, and the realization that financial disaster is rarely just about numbers—it’s about dysfunction, denial, and choices, both big and small.
For listeners: If you want a precise, numbers-driven walk-through, this episode is not it. But if you want a no-holds-barred look at a couple airing absolutely everything—finances, sex lives, family feuds, and bad habits—this is one for the books.
Caleb’s Core Message:
Get real. Get help. Stop making excuses. And for god’s sake—stop spending on bullshit while your debts are dragging your family under.