Financial Audit Podcast: "The Most Hated Couple In Financial Audit History"

Host: Caleb Hammer
Guests: Hannah (26) and Mark (23) from Spokane, Washington
Date: August 18, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode dives into the chaotic financial lives and relationship dynamics of Hannah and Mark, a young married couple described by Caleb Hammer as perhaps his most frustrating guests to date. With a combined debt topping $60,000, chronic underemployment, poor money management, and unfiltered repartee, the conversation exposes not only their financial struggles but also deeper issues of accountability, personality clashes, and mutual enabling. As usual, the discussion is frank, unvarnished, and bordering on combative—equal parts hard advice and jaw-dropping disbelief.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Employment Situation & Income Streams

• Hannah:
  • Full-time DoorDash driver, working 40-70 hours/week (though claims were disputed by the host, who flagged exaggeration).
  • Net weekly income: $500–$700 before expenses; approx. $1,600/month after accounting for gas and maintenance.
  • History of transient jobs: quit McDonald’s four times, worked at a taco stand, and briefly at Overstock.com’s call center.
  • Hopes to start a part-time McDonald’s position again, aiming for full-time later (state minimum wage: $16.66/hr).
• Mark:
  • Unemployed; claims VA disability for a traumatic brain injury (TBI) incurred during military service (Army National Guard, not combat-related): $2,489.96/month, rated at 90% disability.
  • Previously worked as a detention deputy; left after worsening head injury following a car accident.
  • Considering an online certification in accounting through Course Careers.

Memorable Quote:

"You make more permanently forever for the truck driving than you do driving the car on a monthly basis."
– Caleb (05:23)

2. Relationship History & Dynamics

• Together less than two years; married recently (approx. 7-8 months).
• Frequent, sometimes hostile jokes at each other’s expense; Mark is mostly quiet, Hannah is boisterous, and Caleb is openly critical.
• Both admit a pattern of rushing into relationships and struggling with personal boundaries.
• Caleb repeatedly criticizes Hannah, urging Mark to divorce her on multiple occasions.

Memorable Exchange:

"You need to leave her."
– Caleb (65:04)
"I ask him why he hasn't."
– Hannah (65:02)
"What's your answer—desperate?"
– Caleb (65:08)
"No."
– Mark

3. Debt Analysis

• Total debt: Over $60,000, primarily from credit cards, personal loans, car loans, and a camper.
• Credit usage: Multiple cards maxed out or over limit; several late fees and interest charges accruing.
• Notable examples:
  • Quicksilver Card: $4,174.82 balance, $144 minimum/month, maxed out since early 2024.
  • Personal loan for Christmas gifts.
  • $9,829 owed on a defective camper.
  • Car loans on vehicles worth less than owed ("dramatically underwater").
  • Owes $5k to Hannah’s grandmother (from a totaled car), $500 to family for insurance, and money to friends.

Memorable Quote:

"You're negative $11,465 in equity. But I'm gonna drive that thing until the wheels fall off."
– Hannah (80:35)

4. Spending Habits & Money Management

• Both engage in "retaliatory" spending:
  • Hannah overspends on going out to eat and personal care.
  • Mark makes tit-for-tat microtransactions in games as "revenge" when Hannah spends.
• Lifestyle choices:
  • Over $1,700/month spent on fast food—more than is made from DoorDash.
  • Every dollar is accounted for—either in minimum debt payments or non-essential food.
  • Excuses for spending range from "exhaustion" and health issues to lack of planning ability ("quarter life crisis").
• Poor or nonexistent budgeting:
  • No clear or constructive financial conversations.
  • Frequent lying and obfuscation about actual hours worked and money spent.
  • Both lack long-term financial vision and preparation for emergencies or retirement.

Memorable Moment:

(Caleb reviews Hannah’s spending from DoorDash income and finds it almost exclusively spent on fast food, sometimes at the same chains she delivers for.)
– [See 87:00–89:20]

5. Family & Upbringing

• Hannah, only child, is the sole inheritor of her grandmother’s approx. $600,000 estate, though distribution is complex and years away.
• Mark is estranged from his mother after being kicked out as a teenager.
• Both sets of parents/families are enabling financial irresponsibility (e.g., Hannah’s mother buying her tires, grandmother forgiving debts).

Memorable Exchange:

"Disown her. Take her out of the will, make her fight for it, make her learn things. You’re enabling her. You don’t give a s*** about anything."
– Caleb (84:20)

6. Mental Health & Addiction Issues

• Both openly discuss ongoing struggles:
  • Hannah: Addicted to nicotine from an early age, admits to regular substance use and mental health crises.
  • Mark: TBI affects concentration, sleep, and mood; struggles to hold traditional employment.
• Attempts at therapy have been inconsistent and generally unsuccessful.

"It’s not about how do I fix the spending, it’s how do I fix me."
– Hannah (52:55)

7. Host’s Perspective

• Caleb is unusually scathing, at times cutting off guests and openly expressing both frustration and disbelief at their choices, personalities, and lack of progress.
• Frequently questions whether to cut footage to keep listeners from clicking away, citing unprecedented insufferability.
• Repeatedly advises Mark to leave Hannah for his own well-being and depicts both as the archetypes of financial mismanagement.

Notable Quotes:

"She is one of my least favorite people I’ve met in the three years of doing this show."
– Caleb (54:00/65:11)
"There’s no budget that fixes it. You spend all your money that you make just — just alone. On minimum payments. And then you spend all the money you make even more, practically how much you make, on just going out to eat."
– Caleb (91:00)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (With Timestamps)

• [02:40]
  "Because we're in debt and I haven't been able to get another stable job." – Hannah

• [05:39]
  "90%?" – Caleb, incredulous at Mark’s VA disability rating.

• [15:40]
  "What did you attach yourself to here?" – Caleb questioning Mark on why he stays in the marriage.

• [19:54]
  "Stressed about what? Because you don't have money, because you don't work, because you don't have a job. And by the way, ... the amount of hours that you suggested you're putting in at door dash ... it's hyperinflated." – Caleb

• [24:00]
  "This is what he said in the pre interview, quote, direct quote: 'I was interested in two things. Alcohol and p**y.' And you had two. And you had one of them in regards to her."* – Caleb, reciting Mark’s pre-interview comment.

• [40:06]
  "You guys categorize DoorDash as essential in your budget." – Caleb, highlighting their flawed priorities.

• [52:55]
  "It's not the how do I fix the spending, it's the how do I fix me." – Hannah

• [54:00/65:11]
  "She's one of my least favorite people I've met in the three years of doing this show." – Caleb

• [65:04-65:08]
  "You need to leave her." – Caleb

• [91:00]
  "There’s no budget that fixes it. ... You guys are completely immature. You need to separate. You're enabling each other. Your parents have raised a horrible child and they're enabling the out of you. Grandma should make sure you don’t get a cent. What a joke." – Caleb

Timeline of Important Segments

• 01:26 — Introductions and work status.
• 02:40 — Hannah details DoorDash hours and motivations.
• 05:02 — Mark explains VA disability.
• 08:03 — Discussion about Mark's transition out of military/work.
• 12:58–13:28 — Hannah talks about potential inheritance.
• 19:54 — Caleb confronts Hannah about lying to producers and lack of financial honesty.
• 24:00 — Mark's pre-interview quote about reasons for marrying Hannah.
• 28:14 — Reality check with their actual monthly spending ($7,184) far exceeding income.
• 40:06 — DoorDash categorized as an "essential" (fast food) expense.
• 52:55 — Hannah addresses underlying issues ("fix me, not just spending").
• 65:04 — Caleb urges Mark to leave Hannah.
• 79:55–81:38 — Review of car/camper loans, chronic underwater debt.
• 84:20 — Caleb calls out Hannah's grandmother for enabling.
• 90:50 — Breakdown of how nearly all disposable income is spent on takeout.
• 91:00–92:13 — Caleb summarizes the hopelessness of their budget and relationship dynamics.

Final Thoughts

This episode of Financial Audit is a window into self-sabotage, justified resentment, and intra-couple enabling. Caleb Hammer’s tough-love approach is harsher than usual, reflecting his clear frustration with Hannah and Mark’s refusal to face their issues—financial and otherwise. The episode's key lesson: No amount of budgeting tips or interventions can help those unwilling to take accountability and change fundamentally unhealthy patterns, both with money and relationships.

For those who haven’t listened, this is a confrontational, often uncomfortable, but ultimately educational look at what NOT to do in personal finance—and, perhaps, in partnership.

If you’d like to take your own ‘Financial Audit’ score or learn more, visit calebhammer.com or Dollarwise.com.