Financial Audit Podcast – Episode Summary
Episode Overview
Podcast: Financial Audit
Host: Caleb Hammer
Guest: Kimberly (25, from New Braunfels, Texas)
Episode Title: "I Can't Do This Anymore | Financial Audit" (April 25, 2025)
This episode of Financial Audit dives into the financial habits and struggles of Kimberly, an office manager in Texas with aspirations of becoming a stay-at-home mom. Caleb takes Kimberly through an intense, candid, and often confrontational analysis of her financial situation—focusing on excessive spending, debt accumulation, and a disconnect between her future goals and current behaviors.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Kimberly’s Financial Snapshot
- Occupation: Office manager at an electric company
- Take-home pay: $3,600/month (net)
- Living Situation: Splits rent with her long-term boyfriend, who is a computer science student about to graduate
Notable Quote
"I get paid every week, like I'm salary." (Kimberly, 01:00)
2. Major Financial Struggles
- Spending Habits: After paying bills, most excess cash is spent on going out—often to bars in Austin or San Antonio. She usually "drains to zero" each week, and sometimes goes into negative by using credit cards.
- Debt: Includes credit cards, IRS payment plans for unpaid taxes, car loan, and a payday loan with a 100%+ interest rate (taken out to cover a dog purchase).
- Savings: No emergency fund, only $11 in savings.
Notable Quotes
"So you drain to zero every week?" (Caleb, 02:30)
"Most weeks. If I'm being honest." (Kimberly, 02:33)
"You want to be a stay at home mom, even though the only thing you caught like a child is a beer bottle." (Caleb, 03:50)
3. Disconnect Between Goals and Actions
- Aspirations: Wants to be a stay-at-home mom within a year, but currently has no child and plans to start a family after her boyfriend graduates.
- Financial Inconsistency: Despite wanting financial stability, continually overspends, relies on credit, and prioritizes immediate gratification (social outings, vacations, hobbies).
- Planning Fallacies: Her self-created plan to save and pay off debts is vague, repeatedly deferred due to ongoing "priority" events like weddings, bachelorette parties, and a cruise.
Notable Quotes
"I think both of them are achievable. I think both are achievable. I understand I spent more than... Yeah, but that's not preventing me from..." (Kimberly, 20:35)
"I would love the equation because you're going to be unlocking some new math that is going to discover how the universe was created or something in order to make this work." (Caleb, 21:37)
4. The Mathematics of Debt & Denial
- Current Debt Load: ~$20,000 total; includes IRS, credit cards, payday loan, and car loan.
- Breaking Down the Math: Caleb demonstrates that, at her current income and debt levels, it would require $2,500/month to become financially ready to have a child in a year and a half—a target Kimberly is drastically far from meeting.
- Misconceptions: Kimberly consistently underestimates how much she spends, especially on food and minor purchases.
Notable Moments
- Fast Food Spending: $1,000/month
- Vague Justifications: Repeated use of "it's a process," "it's overwhelming," and "I'm trying" without concrete action.
"Maybe I just go on the bachelorette, go to the wedding, go to the cruise. That's it." (Kimberly, 22:42)
5. Psychological Patterns & Avoidance
- People Pleasing: Kimberly attributes difficulties in budgeting to wanting to please others, e.g., covering others’ costs for group events and not wanting to miss out socially.
- Hobby Jumping: Frequently picks up and spends on new hobbies (painting, hiking, doing nails), often abandoning them.
- Addict-Like Behavior: Spends on vapes and acknowledges difficulty stopping, “wants” to quit but has not.
"You just upset me. You just upset me." (Caleb, 62:38)
6. Relationship Logistics and Partner’s Perspective
- Support System: Boyfriend, Cameron, is finishing school and has minimal debt. Kimberly occasionally relies on him to cover personal bills.
- Communication Issues: When called, Cameron had grossly underestimated her debt and was surprised by payday loan and spending habits. He expresses that starting a family soon is not feasible until financial habits change.
"You can't even have a dog. Not a chance in this world you can have a kid." (Caleb, 68:04)
7. Extreme Confrontation and Accountability
- Caleb’s Approach: Intensely direct, bordering on exasperated—repeatedly points out inconsistencies and mathematically disproves Kimberly’s rationalizations.
- Recurring Theme: “You are not special or unique in this situation; your behaviors are typical of people in denial about their finances.”
Notable Quotes
"Everything you say is meaningless. I'm being so mean. But you're just like you're not saying real things." (Caleb, 56:19)
"You're the least unique individual I've ever met in my life." (Caleb, 67:10)
Memorable Moments & Quotes
| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote/Comment | |-----------|------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:50 | Caleb | "You want to be a stay at home mom even though the only thing you caught like a child is a beer bottle." | | 20:35 | Kimberly | "I think both of them are achievable. I understand I spent more than... Yeah, but that's not like preventing me from." | | 21:37 | Caleb | "I would love the equation because you're going to be unlocking some new math that is going to discover how the universe was created or something in order to make this work." | | 28:25 | Caleb | "You spent a thousand hours going out to eat. So, I mean, go fuck yourself." | | 41:57 | Caleb | "No, I honestly, honestly, I didn't even listen to any words you just said there because none of the words you've said this episode have been honestly good." | | 56:19 | Caleb | "Everything you say is meaningless. I'm being so mean. But you're just like you're not saying real things." | | 68:04 | Caleb | "You can't even have a dog. Not a chance in this world you can have a kid." | | 76:41 | Caleb | "Just one recommendation for you, buddy. You're on the green. Please don't try to sink one in this hole. Run." (to Cameron) |
Key Timestamps for Important Segments
- 00:49 – Kimberly introduction
- 01:50 – First discussion of end-of-period zero balance
- 03:50 – Stay-at-home mom aspirations
- 05:24 – IRS back taxes and origins of debt
- 08:34 – Admission of negative net spending and use of credit cards to cover overspending
- 10:15 – Bachelorette party spending and covering others’ costs
- 13:35 – Caleb asks Kimberly to outline her debt-payoff/kid timeline plan (mocked for being unrealistic)
- 21:48 – Caleb mathematically breaks down required debt/savings pace and exposes plan fallacies
- 26:22 – Fast food and eating out budget analysis ($1,000–$1,300/month revealed)
- 31:27 – Review of credit card debts (Apple Watch replacement, recurring charges)
- 36:15 – Discussion about lack of motivation and self-control
- 41:57 – Harsh call-out on lack of logic and accountability
- 53:16 – Call to boyfriend, exposure of full financial truth
- 67:36 – 100% interest payday loan revealed, used for a dog purchase
- 68:42 – Boyfriend confirms he is not on board to have a kid yet
- 79:55 – $10,800 car loan at 24% interest, after totaling three previous cars
- 80:59 – Admission that boss covers phone and car payment
Tone and Takeaways
- The episode is unapologetically blunt, with moments of humor, sarcasm, and direct confrontation.
- Caleb is unrelenting in illustrating that Kimberly’s goals are incompatible with her current financial behaviors and mindset.
- Kimberly struggles to move from intentions and vague plans to concrete action, habitually rationalizing overspending and failing to account for the true cost of her choices.
- The conversation starkly spotlights classic millennial/Gen Z "lifestyle creep," people-pleasing financial behavior, avoidance patterns, and the disconnect between aspiring for "better" while not changing underlying habits.
Conclusion
This episode is a raw exploration of the financial self-sabotage that can quietly (and sometimes loudly) derail even the most genuine personal goals. Caleb's unfiltered, sometimes abrasive, coaching style seeks to snap Kimberly out of complacency, exposing how denial, impulse spending, and deflection keep her—and others like her—locked in a cycle of debt and missed opportunities. The episode ends unresolved, with Kimberly resisting full accountability but still expressing hope that she "has time" to fix her finances before stepping into motherhood.