She'd Rather Cheat Than Grow Up | Financial Audit

Summary

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Financial Audit Podcast Episode Summary

Episode Title: She'd Rather Cheat Than Grow Up | Financial Audit
Host: Caleb Hammer
Guest: Mia, 26, Dallas, Texas
Date: August 5, 2024

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Main Theme & Purpose

In this candid episode, Caleb Hammer conducts a financial audit for Mia, a 26-year-old from Dallas who is struggling with debt, unstable employment, and significant relationship turbulence. The conversation peels back the layers of Mia's personal and financial life, exposing cycles of poor money management, codependency, and avoidance behavior. The episode’s goal is to confront hard truths about debt, accountability, and what it really takes to grow up financially and emotionally.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Living & Relationship Situation

• Timestamp 00:04–15:00
  • Mia currently lives with her boyfriend, who pays rent while she covers utilities. The relationship is described as “fizzling out.”
  • The personal dynamic has a power imbalance: the boyfriend often reminds Mia that he can kick her out because he is the primary leaseholder.

    "He kind of holds it over my head that he can [kick me out whenever]." – Mia (11:02)

  • Open conversations have taken place about ending things, and Mia expects she will be the one to move out.

2. Work History & Income Challenges

• Timestamp 00:31–06:22
  • Mia is starting a new job as a property manager at a public storage facility, earning $15/hour for 40 hours/week (~$31,200/year).
  • Previously worked at a garden for $16.43/hr, where she was fired after initiating HR complaints about workplace safety and comfort.

    “I slipped and fell in a concrete room... I was on crutches for a month and had to go to therapy.” – Mia (01:50)

  • Has a substitute teaching job during the school year, which is unpredictable.
  • Past job loss includes being fired from GameStop after a bizarre incident involving a robbery where she opened a safe.

3. Debt Accumulation & Spending Habits

• Timestamp 06:23–22:00; 35:03–72:00
  • Mia's credit cards are maxed out; she carries over $28,000 in debt, including about $15,000 in student loans.
  • Admits to spending well beyond means, including on discretionary items (e.g. Funko Pop collection, Ulta purchases, recurring gaming expenses).

    "You're a victim to your own spending habits and lack of discipline and lack of maturity and lack of just growing up." – Caleb (41:17)

  • Many questionable purchases: Ulta, JCPenney, credit cards used for birthday gifts for online friend group, DoorDash, games, subscriptions (Spotify, DoorDash Premium, Snapchat streaks).

    "I try not to look at [my accounts]... looking at it plummets the mood." – Mia (50:26)

  • Substantial amounts also paid for pet emergencies (her dog), with retroactive realization she should have kept pet insurance.
  • Mia's family is reluctant to help her with housing, due to space and underlying disconnection.

4. Financial Avoidance & Emotional Barriers

• Timestamp 29:07–62:00
  • Mia admits to “ostriching”—avoiding looking at bank statements or budgets because it's emotionally distressing.

    "I try not to look at it. It plummets the mood." – Mia (50:26) "Ostrich head in the sand is not the way to get through life..." – Caleb (50:56)

  • Host Caleb is blunt, pressing the need for personal accountability, regardless of emotional discomfort.

    "Finances are not vibe-based." – Caleb (62:12)

  • Multiple family dynamics are touched upon: her boyfriend is closer to her siblings than she is, and she feels unsupported.

5. Accountability, Victimhood & Real Change

• Timestamp 38:40–62:00
  • Repeated interventions from Caleb about Mia’s tendency to frame herself as a perpetual victim, which inhibits progress.

    "If we're always a victim, then we will always be a victim." – Caleb (40:07)

  • Mia expresses vague desire to change, but struggles to articulate concrete plans or take steps for delayed gratification.

    "Maybe I won't get Starbucks..." – Mia (59:43) "That's not a plan." – Caleb (60:03)

  • Caleb details a blunt path forward: prioritize paying off debt, cancel non-essential subscriptions, limit food expenses, get second job, and only reward progress toward goals.

6. Budget Audit/Action Steps

• Timestamp 64:00–73:00
  • Mia’s total debt: ~$28,000 ($15K of which is student loans at 4% interest).
  • Minimum payments on debts are about $390/month; utilities ~$270/month; insurance ~$182/month; groceries ~$500/month.
  • Budget math shows with current rent arrangement and new job, Mia should have ~$700/month slack—but only if she slashes discretionary spending.
  • Discussion about moving back with family or grinding multiple jobs for a year to stabilize; emotionally difficult but feasible.

    "If you get a fully-funded emergency fund grind and pay off that JCPenney card, yes, I will allow [an in-person trip with friends]." – Caleb (72:28) "This is going to be a sacrifice. Set goals on the way." – Caleb (71:11)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Power Dynamics:

  "The inherent existence of a power dynamic is not necessarily the bad thing. It's the abuse of it."
  – Caleb (12:04)

• On Avoidance:

  "Ostrich head in the sand is not the way to get through life because eventually this gets so bad where you're going to be put in a position that you cannot get out of other than Bankruptcy."
  – Caleb (50:56)

• On Self-Inflicted Problems:

  "You're a victim to your own spending habits and lack of discipline and lack of maturity and lack of just growing up."
  – Caleb (41:17)

• On Change:

  "If the true answer to that is maybe I won’t get Starbucks, that’s not a plan. And we’re done. We’re done."
  – Caleb (60:03)

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Timestamps & Structure

• 00:00–15:00 — Mia’s background, relationship woes, living situation
• 00:31–06:22 — Job changes, being fired, employment instability
• 06:23–22:00 — Debt origin story, cycles of bad spending, dependence on others
• 29:07–32:36 — Power dynamics, family relationship, boyfriend closeness to her family
• 35:03–50:56 — Detailed financial review of accounts, subscriptions, wasteful purchases
• 50:26–62:00 — Avoidance behaviors, emotional struggle to face financial reality
• 62:00–73:00 — Building a realistic budget, planning for change, setting conditions for rewards

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In the Original Tone & Language

The episode is an unvarnished, sometimes harsh but ultimately supportive look at how young adults—especially those caught in codependent or manipulative relationships—can wind up stuck in cycles of debt and emotional avoidance. Caleb's tone is direct to the point of bluntness, challenging Mia to take ownership, while Mia vacillates between self-awareness and defeat.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Show

This episode lays bare the intersection between personal dynamics and financial irresponsibility. If you’ve ever wondered what happens when someone’s “financial rock bottom” collides with a failing romantic relationship, this conversation is a real-time case study—complete with the messy, sometimes embarrassing details. You’ll leave understanding exactly how habitual avoidance and small indulgences can snowball, and why “maybe I’ll try harder” isn’t enough.

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Hammer Financial Score: 0.5 out of 10

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For the full, unfiltered post-show drama—including discussions about Mia’s more “colorful” purchases—check out the exclusive member’s content.

Transcript

[A]

To watch episodes of Financial Audit a week earlier. Check us out on YouTube. And what's your living situation now?

[B]

Living with boyfriend. He pays for the rent.

[A]

You're saying it very weird.

[B]

After everything started going downhill with my current boyfriend, it's a person that I has helped me through this current situation.

[A]

This is a new friend.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Cuz you wouldn't want new friends staying with old friend.

[B]

They probably kill each other. Hi, this is Mia. I'm 26 years old and I'm from Dallas, Texas. And this is Financial Audit.

[A]

Next we're coming down from Dallas. What do you do up there for a living?

[B]

Currently I am actually getting a new job starting Monday. Congratulations as a property manager.

[A]

Okay. Yeah. So what are we going to be making in this new position?

[B]

15 an hour.

[A]

15 an hour?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. Property manager. So are you going to be like showing people apartments and so it's a public storage.

[B]

Property manager. So I'm just essentially taking care of a storage site.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

So the maintenance of it, the customer interaction, stuff like that.

[A]

Gotcha. And how many hours a week will that be?

[B]

40.

[A]

Okay, so 600 bucks a week? Ish.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Call it 52 weeks a year. Do you get PTO?

[B]

Yes. I haven't discussed that quite yet though.

[A]

So 31, 200 a year. I mean that's kind of hard for Dallas.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What are we. What's going on?

[B]

So I used to work at a garden that I made 1643, but then was terminated under false pretenses.

[A]

What's the false pretense?

[B]

I started HR discussions about things and then they didn't like that and they fired me.

[A]

What?

[B]

So there was unethical work conditions and I ended up getting injured and had to. I slipped and fell in a concrete room where our safe was and it led to me having a foot injury for. Because I landed on my foot. I twisted it and landed on it and I was out. I was on crutches for a month and then had to still go to therapy for like three months after.

[A]

Now to weigh the life part of this because, you know, 26 is at the first job you've been fired from.

[B]

No, it's not.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

It's not.

[A]

What else?

[B]

I've gotten fired from one other job and it was at GameStop.

[A]

How do you get fired from GameStop?

[B]

You put a safe code in for a robbery, that's how. Yeah, we got held up. Yeah, we got held up at gunpoint. But like right before the robbery happened, I opened up the safe for my coworker and then I Left, are you? And they were like, why'd you open.

[A]

It for your coworker?

[B]

Because he was busy dealing with the transaction and needed change for his till. And I was like, hey, I'm leaving. I worked Black Friday all by myself. Nobody was here to help me with staffing. And so I was like, I'm gonna leave early today.

[A]

Why'd you leave it open?

[B]

I left it open so he could take the change out.

[A]

He can't open it himself.

[B]

It's on a delayed timer. So I just was there when the timer had went off.

[A]

And then they came in with guns.

[B]

And then they were already there, you know, they said, no, I didn't. So they. It was two teenagers. They were already in the store, looking around, ended up they were kind of waiting for an opportunity for all the customers to leave. And when the one other customer in the store who was a pregnant woman had left, I had also left after opening the safe room. I was like, hey, make sure to shut it when you get your change for your till. I'm going now. And they thought it was fishy that I opened the safe, had then left and then like, it is fired. Yeah.

[A]

So you got fired?

[B]

Yeah, So I got fired. And they were like, oh, these teenagers just opportunity attack.

[A]

And before we go victim, I want to know what were the unsafe conditions at this job that you complained about? So you slipped on concrete.

[B]

Yeah. So they didn't have concrete in a lot of places. Yeah.

[A]

And not that I'm saying it's a garden. Get injured or would be injured and like, but, you know, slipping on concrete can happen. Is that the workplace's fault? Unless there's water without a wet sign.

[B]

So it was when that injury happened, it was raining and they didn't have any mats inside the room, which security had even notif, like noticed that was an issue. And like, the very second I got hurt, then they were put mats in the room to amend the situation.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

The unethical work conditions were that they were revoking things like as heaters and were outside heaters for like, under like 30 degree temperatures. They could still have us outside. They removed umbrellas they were making.

[A]

Complained and you got fired.

[B]

The whole staff complained. And like, this was going up to then.

[A]

Why would you only fire?

[B]

Because I started the HR meeting about it and pulled up emails about how our management was talking an HR meeting. I had like requested HR to talk to me.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And then I had them. I had given them emails from our upper management.

[A]

So hard only getting one side of the story really Is.

[B]

No. And I gave them. I gave them emails from our upper management pertaining to, like, conditions. They had us in a ticket booth that had mold in it in which they renovated after the HR meeting. And we're like, we're fixing everything.

[A]

Does the storage unit know you've been fired twice?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

They're okay with it.

[A]

Okay, well, 15 bucks an hour.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

30. $30,000 a year.

[B]

It's better than unemployment right now.

[A]

It. Absolutely. Well, it's, you know, well, being able to contribute something in general is pretty good. And I would always highly encourage that and, you know, try to make a career, try to make progress. But you're maxed out on all your debt.

[B]

Yeah. It's also not my only job. When.

[A]

Huh?

[B]

It's not my only job.

[A]

Oh, what else?

[B]

School year starts. I'm a substitute teacher as well.

[A]

Okay. So that means up and down, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. Especially when you're committed to 40 hours a week at the storage.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So how did you get into all this debt in the first place? And we're about to get into it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Well, what is happening here? Because I haven't had this much debt, at least in a few weeks in terms of, like, maxed out.

[B]

Yeah. So it started. It started with a bad relationship. I was.

[A]

Bad relationship?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Bad relationship.

[B]

It was one, like eight years ago. That's when a lot of my credit actually started too.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

I was pretty much giving like 75% of my paycheck to my ex.

[A]

What the. Why?

[B]

For rent.

[A]

Oh, okay. Was that giving it to your ex or is that just paying for rent?

[B]

We were living in his parents home. Yeah.

[A]

So who was collecting the rent?

[B]

His parents.

[A]

So it was their fault or was it his fault?

[B]

It was more so his fault. So he was a mechanic and. And he made 26 an hour flagged or not flagged. And then he would make 32 an hour flagged. So when he's working on something versus when he's not working on something, and I was making only $13 an hour.

[A]

So why were you paying such a substantial portion?

[B]

Because I was dumb and I thought, okay, well, this is 50. 50 of what the bills are, so that's fair. I wasn't really thinking of, like, he's making so much, more like percentage.

[A]

Well, it's weird that first of all, it went to his parents so much. What was the rent?

[B]

They were charging us 1,200. And then we still had to pay utilities. To live with them, to not live with them. It was their old, like their old family, like Their small family home, just a rental unit.

[A]

Okay. But they were the landlord. Okay, well, that's different. I get that splitting 50. 50 can be considered fair. It's not equitable.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But it is equal.

[B]

Yeah. And that's how I saw it was like, oh, we're 50. 50. It's okay.

[A]

I mean, I wouldn't be doing that as the boyfriend, to be completely honest.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But I can at least see it and I understand it.

[B]

Yeah. And.

[A]

But how does. So 75 of your money went there. So that's why we're sitting in tens of thousands of dollars in debt.

[B]

So that started. That started my first card, the one that I have had for the longest, that JC Penny card. And when. When I did that, I had to, like, move into a storage unit and stuff like that. Pay that.

[A]

You lived in a storage or.

[B]

I moved all my stuff into a storage unit. The stuff I could take with me because he kept most of everything, including furniture and everything I spent. And so the only really thing I had to my name was the start of my Funko collection.

[A]

What collection?

[B]

A Funko collection.

[A]

I don't know what that is.

[B]

So they're vinyl figures. They're like little vinyl figures. They're collectibles. I started that in that relationship. And then when I moved to my next relationship, I unfortunately spent during COVID Probably like, like the start of this Covid, like $3,000, $4,000 into that collection.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

On credit cards, out of my, like, paycheck.

[A]

Confused. What the are we talking about right now? How did you get into the debt? That was the question.

[B]

Okay. So because of that, I would put things off. I would put things off and then would put them onto my credit card. So like just small things like gas, food, stuff like that. And I would put it onto there because I spent so much money and do other things.

[A]

Okay. Entertainment and what's your living situation now? Is it better?

[B]

Eh, I guess. Yeah. I'm not paying as much into. Into utilities and stuff like that.

[A]

Okay. Are you living alone? Are you living with a boyfriend again?

[B]

Living with boyfriend? Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

Okay, you're saying it very weird.

[B]

It's kind of a weird, weird dynamic in that relationship. It's kind of fizzling out. Kind of, yeah.

[A]

How much longer is the lease if it's fizzling April? Guys, have you guys essentially decided that, you know, in the future it's done.

[B]

We've had convers. We've had conversations.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

On and off again.

[A]

And it finishes in April this year.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And you guys are basically done. So what the is. So you guys are living together through. Or is someone going to move out and someone's going to get financially or even both?

[B]

What's probably me getting moving out? Probably. Yeah.

[A]

So you're living with someone that you no longer like. Okay. At least in that way. Is that awkward?

[B]

Sometimes it's always the discussion of, like, is it working? Is it not working?

[A]

And what did you. What did you mean? It's a little weird. Was it just the relationship part or.

[B]

The financial aspect or what financial aspect? Just because. So he pays for the rent.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And I only pay for utilities. Okay.

[A]

So what's weird? His.

[B]

His note most times is that he can kick me out whenever if. Because he pays rent and he's head of lease, I'm just an occupant. So there's always that.

[A]

Okay, so it's a little weird.

[B]

Yeah, so it's a little bit more of like a power thing. So he kind of holds it over my head.

[A]

Power dynamic.

[B]

Yeah, so he holds it over my head that he can.

[A]

Power dynamics is an interesting conversation in our culture today, that's for sure. This one actually sounds like what people. When people. Because people just throw that word around and it's lost all of its meaning at this point. It sounds like you actually have something that is real and substantial. Because people say the existence of a power dynamic is bad. That's not how this works. Everyone has a power dynamic. You know, I have a power dynamic over every employee. You stand next to someone that's taller on the street, they have a power dynamic. Some stand as someone who's stronger. So a teacher has a power dynamic over a kid. Parents have power dynamics over children's power dynamic is in every single situation, every part of life. Power dynamics inherently are not a bad thing. They exist in every part of the world. What's bad. Bad is the abuse of a power dynamic. It's saying, you know, if I were to say, you know, oh, like, if I were going to abuse a power dynamic here, it'd be like, oh, we're not going to. We are not going to film this episode unless you do this terrible thing or, you know, here's this opportunity. But you only get it if you do something bad. That's an abuse, a potential abuse. The boyfriend situation is him saying, I have control over you living here, and if you don't do this this way, you're not going to live here anymore. And that is an abuse of a power dynamic. The inherent existence of a power dynamic is not necessarily the bad thing. It's the abuse of it. Our cultures, people use words for every single situation and they've lost all power because of it. And it's really annoying. So. That is correct. You are using it in the correct way, which I appreciate. So. Okay. I mean, that's kind of. Does he utilize that quite often? Of course, we're only hearing your side of the story. I'll be honest.

[B]

If I don't put like the forefront of like, of like being like, I guess the housewife of like coming home and like, oh, hello, how are you? Let me take your thing.

[A]

Done. Essentially. It sounds like. So.

[B]

Yeah. But if I still don't do that on. And like Tuesdays and Wednesdays are his days. I have to spend. I have to spend with him. Yeah.

[A]

But you guys have decided.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So why the. That's weird.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

And he's holding that over your head, the living situation, for that.

[B]

It's come up a time or two.

[A]

So if you're not his little housewife on a Tuesday and Thursday or whatever.

[B]

You said if, if he gets to the point that he's boiled down to, like, why do I even keep you around?

[A]

It's because, I mean, you guys were at least together and, you know, still probably technically are. But like, you know, if it's fizzling, you guys have kind of had that conversation, like, I don't know, just being a halfway decent person.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, because you, you know that the lease is meant for April and if it is a move out type of situation, you know, maybe it's like, okay, like four months or something. You know, something to help.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Are you okay? I see some tearage happening. I know it's tough talking about relationships like this, so.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

There are tissues over there if you would need some.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. It's kind of weird sometimes.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It's often an argument that even my friends have kind of heard over a call and they're like, what the heck's going on? Why is he doing that kind of a thing? And it's just like, oh, that's just kind of how life is right now.

[A]

So a really exciting thing that you guys should be thinking about is we now have all these extra things with our YouTube membership program. You can sign up for our post show. We talk about extra drama for the episode that we didn't have a chance to dive into. Why would I want more than one? I don't even want one. You don't them. You just touch them and move on. Why would I want to do that again? Because it's fun is that? And it's wholesome.

[B]

You're good.

[A]

B bro. How is Caleb as a lover?

[B]

I would give a solid nine.

[A]

Wow. How do you get to a nine? I just don't know how to answer that because I mean I just do. I just do. For the upper tier memberships, all the people from the crew from over there, they come together, they make great and they talk about the behind the scenes content and how we do everything here. I feel like I don't want to contribute as much because I'm already so much on camera. That is the greatest thing I've ever heard. Twice a month, Noah and I come here, we have a livestream with you guys and we hang out with you, we answer questions, we chat it up, we talk about the show. We just have a good time. Caleb reads that book every day. I actually wake up and then I goon to that book in the gooned stream. And then most exciting, right here at this table with even more pie charts, we have an exclusive uncensored ad free financial audit episode for the top tier members that no one else gets to see anywhere else. Consider joining because ad rates are always up and down and we're trying to build something great here and I wanted to make sure to provide the best content and the most amount of content that's ever been in a YouTube membership link in the description below. I mean, you were on phone calls with Noah and you probably heard overheard me whipping him because I'm get back to work, you producer. So I get it.

[B]

Yeah, no, like. And it's so if I'm ever on call, I always quickly make sure to turn my camera off and mute my mic because I'm like, I don't know where this is gonna go, if this is gonna be a good conversation or bad conversation.

[A]

How often is these explosive arguments?

[B]

Kind of every other day.

[A]

Oh, that's too often. I would want to get out of there anyway.

[B]

Yeah. At that point that's why I was looking for a job.

[A]

So. Okay, so yeah, depending on getting some income. How long were you in between the last job and this job?

[B]

So got fired in May, got hired last week.

[A]

Okay, so you definitely took some time and you could have gotten like a McDonald's or something by then, but.

[B]

Oh, I applied.

[A]

How many a day?

[B]

I applied a day on average five at least. There were some days that I would apply. There was one day, but there was one day I applied to like 30 places.

[A]

Yeah, it's difficult. I mean in the fast food. It's not this episode So I don't have the openings. But there were hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of fast food openings in the Houston area that we checked the other day. And you know, they have openings. They're still looking for places. It's the service industry that is has still not even come close to catching up to pre pandemic levels, which is why there's like Nowhere that's open 24 hours anymore. And it's really annoying. So. Yeah, but I get it. I mean there's also potential resume issues, potential availability issues, so you never really know. Okay, well I'm glad you are starting a job and then substitute teaching Once the fall comes around. Let's jump into these these monies real quick. Then we'll kind of get back to some of that stuff and address that. Okay, well, I want to self assess. 0 out of 10. Where do you think your finances are? 0 being the worst, 10 being the best.

[B]

What do you self assess?

[A]

3. Okay. Want your Hammer financial score? It's free. Description below. If you have any interesting stories or interesting financial situations or world views you want challenged, anything interesting at all and you think you would be, you know, good to sit in the seat where she was brave enough to be today, feel free to apply to be on the show@caleb hammer.com apply. Discover it.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Everyone loves getting by. Discover it. Okay. Yeah, we're sitting at $5,597 and 85 cents with 150 minimum through payment. How are you paying these without income? Unemployment.

[B]

Unemployment.

[A]

Okay. Because it looks like you're at least not late. Yeah. You made a payment.

[B]

Never.

[A]

But why, why did you go and purchase on a card, buddy? This is over maxed out. This is over maxed out. $5,597 is already aggressively insane for your income situation. Yeah, but you're over maxed out because the the credit line is 5500. So you are already over that. How'd you go and purchase $7.74 anyway while it's accruing $129 while you didn't have a job, didn't have an income. They're only collecting unemployment, can only do the minimum payment and you're over the credit card balance.

[B]

And.

[A]

And it's just occurring. Why the were you purchasing? What are you doing? How does that help your situation in life?

[B]

It doesn't.

[A]

Then why what were we doing?

[B]

I think it was gas or something. I'm not sure what it was.

[A]

It was ebay.

[B]

It was ebay.

[A]

Gas on ebay.

[B]

Oh no.

[A]

What Are we getting some pop heads or whatever?

[B]

It was a birthday gift to somebody.

[A]

What. What's your relationship with them and what was it?

[B]

They. It's a person that I. Has helped me through this current situation.

[A]

What does that mean?

[B]

What. What the. Can we cut that? Sorry, I should not use his name.

[A]

This is the. Yeah, no, no, we'll cut. We'll cut. We'll bleep his name. We'll bleep his name. Okay, but I'm confused what you're saying.

[B]

So it's the per. It's. I'm. I met them in April when kind of everything started going downhill or after everything started going downhill with my current boyfriend. And they've kind of been there as like.

[A]

Is this like a new friend possibly?

[B]

Yes. You put them down and they've.

[A]

Oh, gosh.

[B]

Yeah. They've kind of helped keep me sane. Like, they've introduced me to a friend group that like. Friend group.

[A]

So they're in Dallas?

[B]

No. So everyone lives across the states, which kind of sucks.

[A]

States.

[B]

States.

[A]

So this is all and country.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Which one? We can be. Okay. But there is that lack of. There's a little bit of a lack of connection that you get with your in person friends.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

You know, like tonight I feel like my friend group, like all 10 of us, we're gonna sit in a circle and we're gonna goon for like 50 hours. It's gonna be. It's gonna be wonderful. But we get that connection with each other. But virtual gooning is okay.

[B]

Virtually gooding is okay.

[A]

Yeah. If that's what you guys do.

[B]

Okay. Well, not all the friends. So my. So the. The person I met lives on the west coast and he introduced me into a friend group.

[A]

How'd you meet this?

[B]

Playing Lethal company.

[A]

Lethal company. Assuming this is a video game. Actually, I've never heard of it, but.

[B]

No, it's content warning. We played content warning together. It's a video game.

[A]

Is that also okay?

[B]

Yes, we were playing content. I was playing with my siblings. My siblings got off. I stayed for one game with randos.

[A]

What does current friend think of new friend?

[B]

They don't like them. They very much don't like them. Okay. Have you met new friend in person? No, I had originally planned to. Yeah. So when I was still working at the old job, it was planned that in June I was coming to like. And like, we were still just like getting to know each other. Friend friends. And was just like, oh, your birthday's coming up in June. Like, what? Be totally cool meeting each other in person because we had like video time and like stuff like that. And then I got fired. Which kind of hurt.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And like that was like the one of the biggest things that I kind of cried about. So they got put off and then things just kind of got harder and so like we play. We play games and like chat or whatever every night. And then we had finally. We've come like we planned that in November that we were going to this. Yes. This November that I was going to meet not only him. Possibly. Possibly. It was still kind of up in the air. It was. I wanting this to happen. Like was going to try to save up, get everything paid down and then.

[A]

What a part of what. What a reason old friend doesn't want you to live with them is because a new friend.

[B]

No.

[A]

Okay. Cuz I would feel like that might be the only valid reason. Okay.

[B]

No. Cuz that was. That was things before anything.

[A]

Did you guys sign the lease while this was happening? Because the lease ends in April, so I'm assuming you signed like around in April.

[B]

Yeah, March was when things kind of started happening. We're working on things and we signed.

[A]

So you guys knew things were fizzling when you signed.

[B]

Thought it could work.

[A]

Okay. Okay.

[B]

That's risky. Yeah. Four years though, so.

[A]

Four years. Okay. So max out credit card. Yeah. EBay Gifts for new friend. 27.24 interest rate. Okay. It's over maxed. So I want. I don't know how you'd afford a plane ticket anyway. Maybe a new friend comes or gas or food or hotels.

[B]

And that's true.

[A]

Maybe a new friend visits here.

[B]

So how November was going to work, was going to come here and. And then we were to drive to our other friend who is the reason why we were wanting to. Because she wanted everyone to come down and she had offered like hey, place to stay. So that was kind of on the table of like paying for place to stay was. We don't really have to because we're just going to stay with her. Okay.

[A]

Because you wouldn't want new friends staying with old friend.

[B]

No. They probably kill each other.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But we were going to go to Arizona and then just kind of hang out for like a week. I would get to meet everyone in person because I've only ever really known them this entire time online and current situation partner like living. They thought this was a stupid idea when I brought it up because they're like these people could abduct you. Like I have probably a better time with. With them than.

[A]

That's fair. Okay, well we'll figure that out. Yeah, let's get through the finances. There's still the choices in the end, you know, that have gotten us to this point.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And whenever we're choice, the choices we're making in the future, whether it's that or, you know, whatever else we talk about, this unfortunately is involved in that because again, this one's borderline maxed out. This time you're not over the limit, but you're $46 away. You're at $1954 on your Chase Freedom and a $67 minimum payment. Again, this, these minimum payments are going to stack up for your income of 2,600 before taxes that come in. And you just made the minimum payment. Thank you for not purchasing $48.14 of purchases. But the credit limit on this is 2,000.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So you're like at that peak. I'm sure you were there just recently. You had to have been. You're only.

[B]

The interest is really high on that one too.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Which is why I think me just me making the minimums.

[A]

Minimums, you. It would take nine years to pay off and you'd pay a total of $4,792 on the $1,954.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And you're only paying the minimum.

[B]

So.

[A]

Let'S look at your income versus spending, see how that relates to the cards you have and what you've been doing with your debt. So total income? Well, there wasn't really any. There was a little payroll of $382. But you said you had some. Oh, there's unemployment. 777. So combine those together. Like a thousand. Yeah, 100.

[B]

I think just enough to pay the car.

[A]

What was the ATM deposit of total? 572 across the month.

[B]

So one of them was me helping out my, like an actual friend that lives nearby. He was having issues with his ID and stuff, so I had to put his money into my bank account and then transfer it to him.

[A]

Because again, count these. Okay, so 1,100. What do you think was spent?

[B]

Probably mostly food.

[A]

What number do you think was spent?

[B]

Probably 800 of. No, like 500 of it to credit cards. The rest words.

[A]

Total number. Total number. Total number.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

What do you think was spent.

[B]

On.

[A]

Everything across the board? How much money do you think you spent?

[B]

Probably over like a hundred dollars over somehow.

[A]

$100. Over what?

[B]

Over what I made, cuz I've done.

[A]

Okay, so you, you made 1,100. You think you spent 1,200?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay, 2,620.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So how are we living off that? Like, we're not going to live. There's no future there. You're not going to be. Have independence from old friends, but that, you know, in a sketchy situation where you could be kicked out at any moment.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

There's no independence from that. There are going to be some personal choices and here, sure, there's probably coping mechanisms. I get that. But there are still safety things you need to put in place for yourself in this situation. Yes. Okay. It's mostly miscellaneous. Out of your entire purchases, it was 30%. Goes to that. Going out to eat was almost 9%.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Of total purchases, just as much as your housing.

[B]

All right. So kind of the reason why a lot of it's weird with the current situation and what I'm living in and stuff and dealing with is that boyfriend that I'm living with. It's called boyfriend. Cuz family. He plays almost as much, if not more with my family members every night.

[A]

Plays video games.

[B]

Video games? Yes. So they play Fortnite with my sister and my brother.

[A]

What are they in Dallas as well?

[B]

Yes. And so, like, they'll play video games pretty much every night. And there's been times where I've had to hear them talking about me over. Oh, yeah. Okay.

[A]

Have you talked to them behind the scenes at all? What's happening?

[B]

I've tried. And they always kind of take his side like that. Oh, he's just lonely. You should just show more affection and stuff. You should.

[A]

Okay. Probably decided that it's fizzled. Like, why would you have to be for someone that it's fizzled? Because, like, I get it. If we were trying to make the relationship work.

[B]

We were. And it's just kind of gotten to that point of just like, this is just how life is for me. If I have to, I have to play the show monkey.

[A]

It's gonna be inappropriate.

[B]

Huh.

[A]

But I'm very forward and candid.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And filterless. Now that you guys are essentially not, you know, anymore. But he holds this power over making you live there.

[B]

I still have say in things if it's pertaining to me and myself and how I.

[A]

Which is he leveraged that position for different naughty naughties.

[B]

No.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

That is, I will say the one thing that. Cool. That's good.

[A]

Good. I appreciate that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I appreciate that he doesn't push that further as well.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. Synchrony. Gosh, this is such a complicated situation. The family and everything. Yeah, it's complicated. Okay. Give people more attention. I'd get it. If you guys were trying to make it work.

[B]

Well, that's what they think.

[A]

Oh, they think you guys are trying to make it work?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Well, I don't think they think that anymore.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's a weight off your chest, though, hopefully.

[B]

No.

[A]

Oh, no.

[B]

They probably pick him over me.

[A]

Not in the end. In the end. Why? Do you not have a good relationship with them?

[B]

No, I do. It's just he gets along with them better.

[A]

I get. I get that. But you're still blood. I feel like if, you know, my brother was friends with someone I was dating, I was like, okay, we're done. Okay, well, then your relationship's not great with them. I asked if it was, and you said it was fine.

[B]

But, I mean, sounds like.

[A]

Not.

[B]

I say it's fine.

[A]

Like, but if you guys call each other half sisters.

[B]

No, no, I'm saying, like, we've. We have another sister that we've cut off completely from the family just for what reason? Oh, yeah. She's a mooch.

[A]

Okay, well, that's a good thing. Are you mooching?

[B]

No.

[A]

Are there things I don't know about here? I feel like.

[B]

No.

[A]

Play devil's advocate for a second.

[B]

No.

[A]

So, like, be honest with yourself.

[B]

The closest thing to mooching is, like, borrowing necessarily.

[A]

I'm just talking about why they wouldn't be on your side.

[B]

I just. I don't know. Over the years, they've. They've said, like, such negative things about me that I'm just like, you know, they probably pick him over, and they never have anything bad to say about him.

[A]

Well, listen, if. If the people around you are just always negative, and unfortunately, sometimes this is family.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Sometimes it just don't have to be as big a part of our life anymore as we wish they could be.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And that's really hard. That's an incredibly difficult thing to do. But sometimes that's how it lands. Synchrony, 914.66. Great. With another credit limit of a thousand. So we're basically there again, 35. $30 minimum payment. Sorry, you put 35. Maybe that was the minimum at that point. $4 credit 40. Care card. Sure. Yeah. Under synchrony. Okay. So. And then $4 and 40 cents of interest. Yeah, that was 29.99 interest rate.

[B]

Yeah. That one's medical emergencies for my dog. She decided to cut herself open.

[A]

This is why. And I know some people are against this, but pet insurance has personally saved me so much money.

[B]

She has it now.

[A]

So much money. Okay.

[B]

This. When this Happened. She didn' took her off of it maybe two months.

[A]

And then, of course, that's exactly when it would happen.

[B]

She decided to tear open her chest, wake me up with blood all over me. And so I took her to the emergency vet.

[A]

You got to tell her not to do that next time. Well, is she healthy and alive?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay, then I can make.

[B]

She's a very fat pity.

[A]

Okay, well, put her on diet. Right.

[B]

She's a healthy fat. She's like. She's in her, like, weight range.

[A]

Oh, okay. I was gonna say there's really no such thing as a healthy fat, but if she's in her wealth.

[B]

Yeah, she's in her. Her weight range. She's just chunky to me.

[A]

Ulta Beauty. How much Ulta are you getting? What are you. You purchasing on this one? Even though this one's accruing interest? What is this, your addiction? This alter you Alti in every second of your life? What are you all teen? That started 175. You went to 302. Least you're further from the credit limit of $1,000 on this one. But why are you purchasing $161 on a thing that you're only paying the minimum monthly payment towards and is accruing $8.76? So why are we doing that with Ulta?

[B]

That one? I ran out of my unemployment, and so I had to get things that were like toiletries and stuff and my hair shampoo stuff. I. It's been. It's been a lot. It literally was shampoos and body washes.

[A]

I'm not seeing the purchases. Oh, ulta Beauty Store. 161. I can't see what that was.

[B]

Yeah, it's. It's shampoos and body washes.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Expensive toiletries.

[A]

So you owe $302 and 38 cents on that, and you have a 30 minimum monthly payment. These are stacking up, let me tell you. 150. 67. $30. $30. And if you. If you need to live on your own, that's gonna be. That's gonna be hard. Dallas isn't one of the most expensive cities in the country, but it's definitely not the cheapest either.

[B]

No, I've. I've asked my parents when the last time it was kind of held over my head about the living situation, if I could live with them, and they said, you'll have to give us some time to clean out a room for you.

[A]

Well, how long's the time?

[B]

Indefinite until they decide that.

[A]

So they don't want you to.

[B]

No, they're okay with me living there. It's just my mom is kind of a hoarder, and she. My. My dad and my brother would have to, like, essentially take over her hoard that is in my old bedroom to be able to let me move back in because she. She kind of put it all in there instead of around the rest of the house because my dad gets mad.

[A]

Listen, I don't know. I'm not like. I don't really like the Dollar Store because usually it's his worst value for money.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because you get smaller sizes and like, the per ounce or whatever, you actually get a little less. But if we're literally unemployed and have no money, we're not getting unemployment, we're not getting income. Getting Dollar store shampoo instead of spending $161. That's kind of stupid.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, especially on a credit card that's accruing interest that you're only paying the minimum payment towards because you have no money.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So in what world does this make any sense?

[B]

Doesn't.

[A]

Then why'd you do it?

[B]

At the time, I thought it would be fine because I was about to get another paycheck, so I was like, I'll pay it off. And it's back down to a hundred. I think 100 something.

[A]

100 something.

[B]

Hundred. I think it's back to the original. I think I paid off that purchase.

[A]

So 172.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

All right. 172 for this card instead of 302. Okay. This is a JCPenney card. Well, you have all the store cards. Okay.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You're getting a JCPenney.

[B]

That's the one that started it all. That's my.

[A]

Started it all.

[B]

That's my longest credit card of eight years. That's the one I started putting my storage unit when I moved out from.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

A previous relationship that was kind of getting toxic.

[A]

Okay. So. Okay, trust me, I'm not. I'm not. I don't want to accuse. I'm not. But allow me to just play a little bit of skepticism. Devil's advocate that I'm historically terribly known for. If every relationship has been toxic that we've had to flee. Okay, well, all the ones you've talked about so far.

[B]

Just my adult ones.

[A]

Okay, well, I think those are the ones that count. Not the one or five. No, like with another kid on the playground.

[B]

I'm saying, like, high school or like years of college.

[A]

Very different. Okay, look, I'm just. I'm just like. It just it brings a little bit of skepticism. Not in that I don't believe you, but in the I feel like I might have the full story.

[B]

He cheated on me in that one.

[A]

Go. Yeah, that's bad. Don't do that.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Right. Now, if you guys use my Moomoo link in the description below, you can literally get 8% on your money that's sitting in there for three months. It's absolutely incredible. Plus you'll get 15 free stocks just for signing up with my link. This is literally free money. So make sure you're taking advantage of it. Now. There is no reason not to sign up now. Link in the description below. This is my only fear. And again, the cheating, that's obviously not your fault. I want to be very clear, but if we're a victim in every single situation and every part of life, we're never going to get anywhere.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And that's just the only thing I want to call attention to. Like don't be a perpetual victim.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Not that it excuses any of that. Bad actions or any abuse of power dynamics. It doesn't excuse. But if we're always a victim, then we will always be a victim. Yeah, because you're just, you know, we're just going to be repeating. Okay, well again, not that those are bad. I need to be very clear in what I'm trying to say. And I'm not the best at that. 3059.89 is out on JCPenny card. Again with the purchases. You're now, now you're self inflicting victim on this. At least on your debt, with your expensive shampoo purchases on here. Getting that ebay on the first one. So you pay the minimum. Then you accrued 81.78, which is insane because why would you purchase a 9.73 purchase on here that's accruing that much interest? You basically negated the who thing. Your balance barely went down even though you put $109 towards it. You're just hurting yourself.

[B]

I think I have subscriptions on there.

[A]

You'll make yourself be the victim by continuing to be a part of PlayStation.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You're a victim to your own spending habits and lack of discipline and lack of maturity and lack of just growing up. Lack of budgeting, lack of, you know, anything. If you're gonna use a card, you gotta be responsible. You got to use a card like the Fizz card. That is the kind of card that you have that you put the money on it. You can only spend a certain amount and you have to pay it off on a monthly basis. You cannot take advantage of these unlimited money swipe cards. You're spending over your limit on that other card. You need to do things in a responsible way. Obviously. Just like any guest on the show, we're gonna put you through our budgeting program and go through it. Take the quizzes, go through the whole thing, follow the spreadsheet, build your budget, stick to your budget, go through the education. Same with the investing one. Even though you're not there yet. But go through it eventually.

[B]

But I will say the PlayStation is kind of how I kept in touch with my friends for a little bit.

[A]

What? No, steam.

[B]

I steam now, but then cancel the PlayStation.

[A]

Yeah, cuz you said used to, so. Okay, used to is in the past. Why would we still have it now if it's a used to? For nostalgia to be like, oh, I saw that PlayStation charge. That's how I used to talk to my friends.

[B]

Ooh, no, I think I just forgot about it.

[A]

Okay, no more forgetting. You don't have money. Yeah, okay. And also no more getting fired either.

[B]

Yeah, try not to do that.

[A]

What are all these? These are like little affirms.

[B]

They're. Yeah. So one's a firm, I think the other one might be Carlana. Carlona. I don't remember how to pronounce.

[A]

Obviously pay these minimums to pay them off. I mean this is stupid. You're doing like a 4 payment on like a $33 purchase.

[B]

No, that's how much is remaining. It was like a hundred and something dollar purchase and that's the minimum.

[A]

Tick tock shop.

[B]

Tick tock shop. I refunded that. They gave me some garbage sheen. Yeah.

[A]

So 88. I have a lot of $4. 33. These aren't huge. But you're just allowing. What sucks is your minimum payments. You're allowing just to just skyrocket. Just keep paying these minimums and pay them off in four. Close these accounts, never open them again. Yeah, like I. I can't. This is insane. 45 out there. 45. Okay. No, no 45. Did you just pay in four? Your I go payment?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

So you got co payments already Split down from having to pay it annually or quarterly or buying chase.

[B]

They allow me to split it monthly payment so I can have insurance on my car.

[A]

Oh, I got. I know why you're paying for it. Just to be in this position. You're just making it worse for yourself. Any interest on them?

[B]

No. So those, they don't have any interest.

[A]

If you don't Miss the payments?

[B]

Yeah, if you don't miss the payments. And I've been really good about.

[A]

So you're paying in for Walmart, Target, Geico. Geico. Okay, so groceries. So this is what's happening. Your last Geico payment you pay him for. Now your current Geico payment you're paying for. You're paying both at the same time now.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But this is going to catch up with you. Yeah, it's starting to catch up with you.

[B]

So the reason I'm not going to.

[A]

Put these in your budget because I just pay them off and never do it again.

[B]

Yeah. So the reason I did that was because that, I think that was right when I got fired. And so they, the place I got fired from, they didn't want to give me my pto. And like I had to go in there because I had like.

[A]

Do they owe you PTO after you're fired?

[B]

No. So if after a certain year, like a certain time, they would pay you out your pto, a certain amount of.

[A]

Your pto and if you're fired or you mean if you don't use it.

[B]

Yeah, if I didn't. If I didn't use it, I was fired.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

They. What ended up happening is they fired me just shy of a year with them. And so they tried not paying me out it. Because they fired me just shy of a year. I went in because I was like, there's no previous reports. So they fired me for. They tried firing me for. I think it was like, like a harassment policy.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And I was like, there's no previous. I was like, can I have the reports then? Like, that led up to this.

[A]

This isn't at will state. They really. Yeah, Like, I mean, but that was the reason they don't find you to be a good employee for the company that they run.

[B]

Like, but that was the reason they gave me for getting terminated.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

And so I was like, can I.

[A]

Have maybe to appease you?

[B]

Yeah. I was like, so.

[A]

But you're not entitled to it.

[B]

Yeah. And that's what they told me. I was like, well, there. So there's no notes or anything that I can have saying as to why I was fired for breaking the harassment.

[A]

I know, I get what you're trying to do. But they didn't. It's an at will state.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And so if I didn't want Noah to work for me tomorrow, I would just tell me and I don't have to tell them why.

[B]

And so like the whole back and forth, they eventually pay me my pto. But they paid it like two weeks out. So at the time I didn't have enough money for my insurance and to also get groceries, and so I paid for my insurance so I could get groceries because I was getting groceries for the household.

[A]

So you're fired in April, May. So you had June off, and now you're starting to work in July. Okay, cool. How long did you live together with this dude in this place?

[B]

In this place?

[A]

Were you living another year?

[B]

We've lived in our. Or we've lived all four years we've been together.

[A]

And you were just paying utilities?

[B]

I. Yeah, I was paying utilities and I was paying for groceries and.

[A]

Well, that can be minimal.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So no offense, but your living expenses now are low. Yeah, they are low. Your income's always also been kind of low, but your living expenses are. Are low compared to the average person.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The fact that no progress has made on. Been made on this debt is inexcusable. The unemployment part kind of. I can understand that for a bit. If you got fired and then you're on unemployment. Okay, sure. But the years and years and years leading up to this just screams irresponsibility and immaturity with the management of your finances and your spending and the lack of paying off your debt. So what has changed today? What's different?

[B]

I just don't want to live like this anymore.

[A]

I think the pressure's on you because, you know, you might get kicked out at any moment or you want to leave.

[B]

It's more of a want.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That and then like, I've seen how bad like my parents relationship was with.

[A]

With finances.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Are they together?

[B]

Yeah, they've been together 30 years, so it got better.

[A]

You used the word was recently.

[B]

Okay. Yeah. They. So growing up, they were very much how my current relationship is in my situation. They were always at each other's throats and stuff like that. But they were also low income and were. They are very severely in debt and they hate life and I don't want to be that.

[A]

So what's different? What are you gonna do now? You don't want that, so now it's time to the big boy pants.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

What are you gonna do? What's different? Mind you, your debt is basically your yearly income is $28,000.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's more than you make a year after taxes. You're about to. So what's different? Because listen, here's the thing. You were living on unemployment. We're about to go through your spending and it's. You weren't using Unemployment to survive. You were using unemployment to around like a child. Things haven't changed. Yeah, things better change after those conversations. But things, things haven't changed. Not at all. Not to this very second. Nothing has changed. Doing the paying for. Doing the paying for. There's only 18 in the checking account. Affirming, paying for, paying for, selling out. $140. Spotify. You can listen to ads. If we literally cannot live. I promise, trust me, I Spotify Premium. I like Spotify Premium. If you can't afford to live, ads are okay.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Doordash. How dare you. Honestly, how dare you. Like, yes, a lot of. There are a lot of things in this conversation where the world is against you and I am again not against those. But you have played a victim a lot and self inflicted on a lot of your spending and then you think you can get Doordash Premium well on unemployment because you can't survive and you are not able to get your own place, apply and do a couple jobs a day and you get Doordash Premium. No.

[B]

So it's a reoccurring charge that I forgot.

[A]

It's called listen, laugh about it all you want. It's called growing up. Be responsible and looking at your subscriptions. Yeah, it's looking at your subscriptions. It is not the hardest thing in the world. It is not difficult. You look at a bank account and you look at what were the last. What were the purchases that happened? Oh look, a reoccurring charge. Let me cancel that. Open up doordash and cancel it. That's what an adult does.

[B]

Yeah, just kind of looking at it plummets the mood. So I try not to look at it. I try not to look at it.

[A]

I don't care if it plummets the mood. No offense, I'm not gonna play that game. I don't give a. Listen, I don't give a. Plummets to mood. It's gonna continue plummeting the mood even worse.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

When you're put to a point where you're homeless, you know, or you have to move in back to your family. I'm sorry, like yes, it's emotional. I get it. I, I support the emotions. Feel free. But I will not accept. Oh no, it brings down the mood. Looking at the bills.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Nope, like with that. That's not how we live life. Ostrich head in the sand is not the way to get through life because eventually this gets so bad where you're going to be put in a position that you cannot get out of other than Bankruptcy. And you're going to destroy your credit for basically a decade. You know, so that. Because it brings down the mood is nothing. Your mood is going to be so far down in the future when you're pushed to that breaking point. So this is the moment where we allowed ourselves to have a little bit of discomfort a couple times a month by looking at our checking account. Yeah, that's not an option. You pay for Snapchat. What the. No, I think it's 53 cents for Snapchat. So it's nothing crazy. Well, what the f. I wondered how that company still existed. That talking on the mic, please.

[B]

That was very stupid. It was.

[A]

It wasn't like an extra replay on a snap, was it?

[B]

No, no. So I had. No, no, it's. I honestly think it's stupider. So we had a shriek and huh. You know shrieks, like where you like send each other's streak. Yes, we had a shriek.

[A]

You re enabled the streak on accident.

[B]

Because I was joking about it. And then I left my phone on and then when I went to open my phone, I had to hit.

[A]

Great, let's pay for streaks. No, it wasn't an accident because you did it twice.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Joanne store. No offense, we don't really have hobbies when we're broke and can't afford to live. Joanne stores. Etsy still McDonald's. Paying for. Paying for, paying for going inside, getting some bullshit going to Will Hotis Restaurant, Bath and Body Works. Just. You're getting cheap dollar store crap right now, if anything. You don't really need a candle if you can't afford to survive. But. Or smelly soap that goes. That smells wonderful.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Paying for, paying for. Zelling out. 15 bucks. Okay. Okay. And I love the SoFi checking account. I mean there was honestly probably an ad placement in here for them. Affiliate really. But. And I really do love them. I love them for their high Yield savings account. I don't love when you open the account and you get Taco Bell, you door dash ihop. First of all, ihop's not gonna withstand five minutes in a box, so what the Are you doing the fresh m. I don't know, but that's DoorDash and then JCPenney's.

[B]

That was all birthday gifts.

[A]

Yeah, doordashing. IHOP is a birthday gift.

[B]

I don't live anywhere near them, so Taco Bell to doordash it.

[A]

What do you mean? Do you have a car?

[B]

The friend. The friend in the other state.

[A]

You doordashed for them.

[B]

I doordash for their birthday no offense.

[A]

Happy birthday. I'm gonna get out of debt so that I can afford to visit you some more. How about that? Yeah, like your life. Oh, this continues affirm Fortnite. What's are you getting? Skins. What are you getting? Skins. What skin did you get? Peter Griffin.

[B]

It's a reoccurring church.

[A]

What is the recurring church? The Fortnite. I thought it was free. What is it?

[B]

They have pass type. Yeah.

[A]

Oh, kill me. You literally. You can't afford to live in a place that you want to get out of a. A sketchy situation, yet we decide to have a reoccurring charge. The Fortnite.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What a joke. McDonald's going to the store, getting some something tea. Royalty. Royalty. Ninja ramen and royalty. Oh, my gosh. Torrid gray 72 there.

[B]

Wendy's card payment. 70 is a card payment card. Like my credit card to Torrid. That is my monthly payment to them.

[A]

Did I look at that?

[B]

No, I don't. It should be on the synchrony one because it's. It's synchrony. And then it's also Carecredit. They're from the same company under synchrony together. Torrid is under synchrony with. Oh, yeah. Okay.

[A]

Wendy's burgers. McDonald's. Twitch 21. Twitch. Are you going to charge or donations? Okay, well, that's stupid. Donate to you being able to live in a place with a person who's not going to threaten to kick you out unless you're a homely wife. Tuesday and Thursday only. I don't think that was the correct use of that word. At home. Home.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Oh, whatever. You know what I'm trying to say? Parking. Oh, this keeps going. How do you spend so much money? You literally didn't have a job and you're collecting unemployment. Yes, you paid into unemployment, so yes, you should be able to receive unemployment. It makes sense, you know, you paid into the system, but even still, what a stupid use of it. Milky Tomato. Milky Tomato Galaxy Toys. Oh, is that the bobblehead thing?

[B]

Like, no.

[A]

Coco Kuma Hot Flips Fan Expo. $83. That's a pop thing.

[B]

And it says Pop Fan Expo. That one is. I got the money. I got the money in cash.

[A]

80160 to Fan Expo.

[B]

So I got the money in cash for my birthday as, like, an early birthday gift for me to be able to meet Neil Newbon, the voice actor for Aerion from Boulders G. And I.

[A]

Don'T give a sh.

[B]

I got the money in, like, in hand. And like, they told me to put it towards that.

[A]

And I told you to do that.

[B]

Family member that bought me your family member.

[A]

They're stupid. It already sounds like they suck.

[B]

Yeah, well, they. They gave me the cash for me to go to the convention.

[A]

They won't let you. And they prefer your thing. Guy, whatever over you. Like your family. We're not listening to the family. The family. That's rude. No, no, no. Actually be able to live on your own life. So you spend 100. Oh good. We're getting more Fortnite. So there is not just recurring charges because there's two in the same month. Unless we have multiple subscriptions. McDonald's, Jack in the Box, DoorDash and Starbies for $20. $20. A Starbucks joke. Unemployed. Sorry, I can't allow you to play victim when this is your spending for some of the stuff.

[B]

Yes, to me, but was also to them.

[A]

Stop yourself. Stop yourself. That's a kind heart move. But also dumb as. Yeah, they got PlayStation Network. PlayStation Network. So you're buying some games and also maybe PlayStation plus or whatever and all this dumb. Holu.

[B]

What?

[A]

I don't know. Game exchange and dominoes. So it's just. And then $30 in savings down from 575. So it's like what a joke. $63 in a brokerage at 26. Have you withdrawn from a brokerage?

[B]

No, that was all put in when I was still working. It would deposit $5 every single time I got paid. And so that's what I was feeling.

[A]

More sympathy towards the beginning of this conversation. But it's hard to now. Look at these actions. You're ruining your life. You're destroying it. You're allowing yourself to stay in debt. You're allowing yourself to not be able to pay rent. You're allowing yourself to not have savings. You're allowing yourself to not have an emergency fund. You're allowing yourself to not be able to retire at some point. That's hard. That's on your own actions. And then he says it brings down the mood. If I look at my statements. Brings down the mood. Mood. I don't care. I don't care about that mood. How could you. How could you care about the mood in that moment more than your future? It's not even close to more important.

[B]

It's easier going day by day.

[A]

Yes, yes, yes. But you know what that's going to lead to? An impossible day by day. An impossible day by day in the future without you facing a little bit of uncomfortability right now.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What are you going to change from this going forward. What is different?

[B]

Hopefully not hopefully.

[A]

Oh, we just lost it. Okay.

[B]

Well I don't know what really I can afford if more than the bare minimum payments and stuff.

[A]

Probably the bare minimum payments in life and then anything else on top of that you're spending. Did you. We went through the pie chart.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You're 10 or whatever. Went to going out to eat and miscellaneous. That doesn't improve your life in any way. All the games and all that was 30 of your spending. And you spent a thousand dollars more than you brought in. More than a thousand hours more than you brought in. So I mean that's, that's self inflicted. They're all just a little few purchases. But it's a death by a thousand cuts. It's all. So what's different then? What is different going forward?

[B]

Maybe cuddle to Starbucks. I know I do not give a.

[A]

You're stuck in a situation that you want to get out of and you say maybe I won't get the Starbucks.

[B]

No, I won't.

[A]

It's just so life is a joke now. We've given up. We're done.

[B]

Like not to, huh?

[A]

You would like not to?

[B]

I would like not to.

[A]

Okay, well that's not a plan. We are basically halfway through the year and I need to make sure you guys are saving your money in the right place. In my resources section in the description below, you can sign up for one of the best high yield savings accounts there are. But you can also get $300 for free with qualifying deposits. You can also get FDIC insurance up to $2 million on your money and get 4.6% on the money that's just sitting there. It's exactly where I put my money. Why let your money lose money when it could be making money? It's the biggest no brainer in the world. Open up a SOFI High yield savings account now and get that $300 for free. What is different if. If the true answer to that is maybe I won't get Starbucks. That's not a plan. And we're done. We're done. And you need to hit rock bottom in order to wake up because clearly we're not there, then if that's the case.

[B]

No, I don't. Looking at I guess my subscription and stuff and I say, I say guess just because it's like an anxiety thing. But looking at my subscriptions, getting rid of them.

[A]

There were like five of them. But you going and swiping at all these places endlessly was relentless. And then the last checking account. Your spending categories are out of control. You have no discipline. You have no delayed gratification in the spending. The spending is not anyone's fault but your own. Yeah, a lot of the debt, sure, it may have started through situations out of your control, but you've been in positions where you could have paid them off by now. So the current debts are not anyone's fault besides your own. There's a. There's responsibility here, whether it brings on the mood. Finances are not vibe based.

[B]

They really should be sometimes.

[A]

Well, they're not because you live in the real world. Congratulations.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And that's not going to change. Yeah, but if you want to be under a bridge, you can. I don't know. What. What do you want from me? What can I do here? What is. What is this now? I don't know, I. You don't seem like someone who's willing to sacrifice. Like you want to hear that everything sucks and that I'm sorry, and I am, but I think that's what you want is for everyone to say, I'm sorry you're going through a hard time, which again, I am. But then leave it at that. And just sympathy. Sympathy. Sympathy, no. But that's not going to be a correction to your life.

[B]

Well, that's why I reached out. I. I needed.

[A]

What do you want then?

[B]

I want to get my together.

[A]

Okay. And what are you willing to do to get there?

[B]

I guess bare minimum, like we're not doing anything fun anytime soon.

[A]

On your income side, just like any other guest, I'm happy to gift you a tech certification through course squares, things like accounting, bunch of other stuff. You just let us know and if you want that, you can get it.

[B]

Yeah. Life's gonna be bleak for a little while. I was like, life's gonna be bleak for a little while.

[A]

It doesn't have to be. You can do things in a happy way. There's parks. There's so many free activities that are good. And also there are positives to grinding away and making life good, sacrificing for the future, making life better. Sounds like you have a good community virtually, but. Good community.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Even if you're working 60 hours a week, you still have a good amount of time left. I don't know, man. I don't know. All right, your debt minimum payments. Your Debt minimum payments are 390. What do you have to pay towards utilities on average?

[B]

I think like 2:70 is what it is. 230 goes. Well, 240 goes to electricity and Then the remaining goes to my pet insurance for the apartment.

[A]

Okay. Do you have to do Internet?

[B]

No.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

It's included in our rent.

[A]

This. Okay. I can already tell. I mean we might have a little bit of room here. We're going to go through everything. We might have a little bit of room here. It's obviously your spending that is out of control.

[B]

Yeah, my spending, spending is really bad. I, I don't know if it was on there cuz it was not recent but I spent possibly $180 for pleasures. No.

[A]

Oh off. I think we can save that for the post show. We'll talk about some of the drama, some of the tea in the post show. I think that's, that's fair. I don't think we need to put toy in the budget but yeah, we'll save that for the post show. What's it, what's your phone bill?

[B]

Phone bill is $80.

[A]

Okay. Do you own that phone? All out. Right out.

[B]

No. So I own it with T mobile.

[A]

Okay, good news. Switch to helium. Same towers as T mobile and it's 20 bucks a month. Okay, but you need to pay off your phone first.

[B]

Yeah, I think I have the remainder of this year and then it's paid.

[A]

Okay then switch. So we'll put 80 for now. Gas. Vroom vroom. Drive, drive.

[B]

$30. $30. You get a tank. And I think I go through it like every one and a half weeks. That's what I.

[A]

75.

[B]

Yeah but like that's when I was working.

[A]

Well you are working well now.

[B]

I don't know where, how far away you're working. I don't know how far the location is.

[A]

You know how far away your job is that you're starting next week.

[B]

Yes, because they, they have to decide which store location I'm going to be at.

[A]

Okay. 75. Car insurance. What is it monthly? Not your stupid pay for four because you're not doing that anymore.

[B]

100. I don't know. I had to actually look at that. 184.

[A]

We're also going to do an exercise in the post show where I want you to go through. Sometimes we do it on the show but I mean we're already at the budget. There's really no point in backtracking. We're gonna make you go through your checking account statement with some crayons or crayons if you're an American and check off things that are bull.

[B]

Okay. 182.

[A]

I want to know if you can recognize it. Okay. 182 for car insurance? Yeah. Food do you have to buy for this guy? Even though you guys are done?

[B]

I take care of groceries.

[A]

Okay. Should you still take care of groceries?

[B]

Realistically, no. Am I required to. Yes.

[A]

To live there?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

That's so weird. Okay. $500. Meal prep, meal plan, follow our thing in the budgeting lesson. And that how well, you go out to eat every second of your life.

[B]

No, like when I actually am cooking and I'm actually being the housewife, I spend like 4. I spend about 400 for the month, 200 every time.

[A]

TP fund. Anything else you need to survive. Makeup, shampoo, all that good stuff you order. $100. Any CO pays. Medical things in general. Prescriptions, all the good stuff. Therapy, all the fun little things.

[B]

No, because it's on the care credit. It's already paid off. All the care credit, which I need to pay that off.

[A]

Yeah. But I'm okay.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Jim.

[B]

No, no.

[A]

I didn't want to say it.

[B]

I used to.

[A]

I used to.

[B]

It was $10. And we.

[A]

Hey, let's both go to Jimmy. Let's have a gym off.

[B]

Oh, there's one. There's literally one in front of my apartment. I go upstairs and stuff. I feel like it's enough.

[A]

It's not. I'm gonna let you in on a little secret.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's not.

[B]

No.

[A]

Okay. Anything else that needs to be in your budget? No subscriptions. They're canceled?

[B]

No.

[A]

Okay. I think you're gonna have room from the looks of it, but let's see. Could be a little tight. What's difficult is your living situation. So what's difficult about this is. Okay. Yeah, you have room. You're gonna have. After taxes, about. Let's say what comes in is like 2. 200. You need 1497 to survive on a monthly basis. You're gonna have. Let's go. Let's round it to round down to $700 a month. Now it's difficult is if you move out, that completely changes. And obviously we want you to move out, but we want you to get out of debt. So it's a confusing situation. Should I pretend like you're staying there for a while when you do this? Do you. Oh, do you want to say that for a while? Are you gonna say that for. That's because what's gonna happen.

[B]

That's the plan of staying there?

[A]

If you don't, here's the realness.

[B]

And if not, then I'm with my family and I don't have any rent or anything.

[A]

Oh, I was gonna say and get a second job. Oh, but okay, that's fine.

[B]

Fine. Yeah. Rent, utilities wise goes out the door. They will literally just let me stay there and maybe help with groceries.

[A]

Okay. 700 bucks. I. I pop. The stress, the stressfulness of these jobs. I pop Tums into my lips like they're Zins. Those are my version of zins. Just Tums two months, save up a thousand four hundred. So one month emergency fund, two months, then we're paying off the debt. Small arches, honestly.

[B]

And that's what I tried doing. That's why the discovery happened. I tried consolidating everything.

[A]

That's not paying off. Small star just. That's consolidating.

[B]

Yeah, well, I tried consolidating and then I tried paying off. I had Ulta originally at zero and then I was working on freedom and then.

[A]

And you probably brought it all the way back up again, right? Yeah, that's what always happens. So what? People haven't changed their behavior first? Consolidation is a great tool. If you change your behavior, you obviously haven't. You're uncontrollable.

[B]

Yeah, it's.

[A]

So you need to practice on the behavior part. 48, 000 of debt. 700amonth. No, no, no, no, no, NO. It's 28, 000. Okay. Thank goodness. 700amonth. Obviously this will start to snowball, but it's also not taking account interest. So we're just doing what it might look like. But 40 months, that's not bad. That's not bad. Three and a half years. Work more.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Work another 20 hours a week somewhere. Part time job, boom. Paid off in two years. Yeah.

[B]

Well, this is the substituting score.

[A]

Exactly. There we go. But also get something in the summer. Yeah, yeah. Pay it off in two years. Get a fully funded emergency fund. So two and a half years, I think you could do that. If you work 60 hours a week and you cut back and you just have free fun like discord with your friends and all that good stuff. That's not bad. Starting life at zero, financially, zero at 28. That's not terrible. 28, 29. It's not terrible. You still, you still have your second best decade of growth for compound growth in your life. There's a lot of opportunities still. This is going to be a sacrifice. There's going to be sacrifice. Set goals on the way. If you pay off a card, maybe you have, you get to do a trip out to California, you know, for that month. Maybe the money goes to there. Instead of paying off the debt, maybe you extend this to three years total. Even with the extra job by setting yourself goals and allowing yourself to have those rewards. I would still rather it take three years to pay it off or work in the second job and actually make it. Then bring another two years of the extra job with no rewards and then you don't make it because you just can't sustain that. So there's a lot of different options here. But I think you have this. I think you got this.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It requires a behavior change now and that's my biggest concern because it brings down the vibes. That statement is going to haunt me so like that. I don't know.

[B]

I will say that's where I think right now November is probably not reasonable. Is it?

[A]

Can he come here? Can he pay for half?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Make some substantial progress on one of the pay off the JC penny card by then and have the one month emergency fund by grinding, grinding. Getting a second job maybe 80 hours a week. Just go crazy until then and then pay for half of it. Yeah. He pays for the other half. Sure. That's your reward. Maybe, maybe you can pay for the full thing even. Yeah, but if you get a fully funded emergency funding or one month emergency fund grind and pay off that JC Penny card. Yes, I will allow that. But it's going to take real work. It's going to take applying to 50 jobs a day and working part time and working a lot of hours.

[B]

No, that's, that's why I missed the old job is because I was the one that picked up all the hours. I had like 110 at one one point.

[A]

Okay. Well that's probably unsustainable. I wouldn't push it much beyond 80 if at all. But okay. It was fun spending a budget. You overspent on your budget. 0 out of 10 debt for your situation. It's horrendous. Out of all.

[B]

Half of it. School loans.

[A]

Huh?

[B]

Half of IT school loans. 15,000 of it is school loans.

[A]

I didn't get that.

[B]

You should have.

[A]

I didn't talk about it.

[B]

You didn't?

[A]

And that was included in the 28,000?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. Well I didn't talk about it. But that makes sense for the math then.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Is it federal?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Low interest rate?

[B]

No interest rate yet. It's. It's 4%.

[A]

Okay. That's going to be a 2 out of 10 emergency fund. There's nothing. 0 out of 10 retirement. I'm not going to allow that being considered starting. It's Nothing. Real estate. 0:10. So we only round up. Unless. I hate you. So that's going to be A Hammer financial score 0.5 out of 10 make sure to stick around for the post show. You can join that membership in the link in the description below and check out all the resources there as they are what I use or would use in specific situations, including the best budgeting and investing programs in the history of the Internet which are now bundled at a lower price. And you get $100 in cash rewards thanks to Moomoo Today on the Financial Audit Post Show. Noah was very excited about this. Okay, no I wasn't. You're like I bought a toy and like there's beef around it. How much was it again?

[B]

180.

[A]

What is it, like Hulk's or something? That'd be kind of cool actually. Don't a lot of people do that in public? Self report going to the grocery store and they're like gotcha. Yeah. To watch the Financial Audit Post show, click the join button below.