8 MAXED OUT Credit Cards

21 Jul 2023 · 51 min

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Financial Audit Podcast Episode Summary: 8 MAXED OUT Credit Cards

Episode Overview

  • Podcast Title: Financial Audit
  • Episode Title: 8 MAXED OUT Credit Cards
  • Host: Caleb Hammer
  • Guest: Johnny, a 27-year-old married man with a child
  • Household Income: Approximately $120,000

Key Themes

  • The episode focuses on the financial struggles of the guest, including the reasons behind maxed-out credit cards, excessive spending, and the dire need for budgeting.
  • Importance of addressing financial habits and mindset to achieve long-term financial stability.

Episode Breakdown Introduction (00:00 - 03:50)

  • Johnny introduces himself and explains his job in natural gas.
  • Host praises him for sharing his story, which many can relate to.

Financial Situation (03:50 - 09:51)

  • Monthly income discussed: estimated around $7,000.
  • Initially, Johnny appears to be financially secure; however, the reality of his financial management is dire.

Spending Habits (09:51 - 21:30)

  • Massive spending highlighted, particularly on dining out.
  • Overspending leads to overdraft fees and a negative checking account balance.
  • A significant portion of income is wasted on unnecessary subscriptions and lifestyle choices.

Accumulation of Debt (21:30 - 30:28)

  • Detailed discussion of outstanding debts, including credit cards and car payments.
  • Mention of a previous truck debt that is still being paid off despite not owning the vehicle anymore.
  • Total debt is staggering, leading to high minimum monthly payments.

The Need for Budgeting (30:28 - 40:06)

  • Host emphasizes the importance of budgeting and the need to track expenses.
  • Highlights the couple's inability to manage finances effectively, despite recognizing the need for change.

Discussion on Future Financial Goals (40:06 - 44:00)

  • Host expresses concern about the couple's future and the potential impact on their child.
  • Focus on building an emergency fund and planning for retirement.

Key Takeaways

  • Financial Awareness: The importance of understanding one's financial situation to avoid continuous cycles of debt.
  • Mindset Shift: A change in mindset is crucial for financial recovery, especially with the impending responsibilities of parenthood.
  • Budgeting: Establishing and sticking to a budget is essential for controlling spending and eliminating debt.
  • Community Support: Utilize friends and family for accountability in financial habits.

Final Thoughts

  • Johnny and his wife must commit to significant lifestyle changes to regain financial stability.
  • Emphasized the urgency of addressing their financial situation to secure a better future for their child.
  • Host encourages the couple to cut up their credit cards and adopt a cash-based spending approach to avoid falling into the same traps.

Conclusion The episode serves as a cautionary tale of financial mismanagement, emphasizing the need for discipline, a solid budgeting strategy, and the importance of a supportive community in achieving financial success. The guest's journey reflects the struggles many face, while also offering hope through actionable steps towards improvement.

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Transcript

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0:00The holidays mean more travel, more shopping, more time online, and more personal info in more places that could expose you more to identity theft. But LifeLock monitors millions of data points per second. If your identity is stolen, our U.S.-based restoration specialists will fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Don't face drained accounts, fraudulent loans, or financial losses alone. Get more holiday fun and less holiday worry with LifeLock. Save up to 40 % your first year. Visit LifeLock.com slash podcast. Terms apply. A KFC tale in the pursuit of flavor. The holidays were tricky for the colonel.

0:35He loved people, but he also loved peace and quiet. So he cooked up KFC's$4.99 chicken pot pie. Warm, flaky, with savory sauce and vegetables. It's a tender, chicken-filled excuse to get some time to yourself and step away from decking the halls. Whatever that means. The Colonel lived, so we could chicken. KFC's Chicken Pot Pie. The best$4.99 you'll spend this season. Prices and participation may vary. Supplies last. Taxes, tips, and fees extra. I'm Johnny. I'm from Gerald, Texas. 27 years old. And this is Financial Audit. 27 years old yeah okay normally I just break into this like we normally do but I want to say I want to especially thank you for coming on here because I think this is going to be potentially one of if not the craziest situations we've ever seen okay so I I just want to let you know I appreciate you coming on here because this situation a lot of Americans can probably relate to it and so for those who are watching you are actively helping them by you being here.

1:35Awesome. So thank you for that. What do you do for a living? I work in natural gas. Natural gas? Okay. Like what do you do? So we fix like gas leaks and replace gas services and stuff like that. And you are married. Yes. What is the annual household income? About 120K. Okay. It's always the people with a good income, isn't it? Yeah. Interesting. More money, more problems. Yeah, more money, apparently more. not having any money. Yeah. Jeez, so what hits your guys' account on a monthly basis? We have the car payment. No, no, no. I mean, like, what money comes in? Oh, so we have just mine and her income.

2:19I'm trying to think, like, what's your post-tax and all that stuff? What does it come out to? So... I'm guessing it's... A month, I think it's about$7 ,000. Okay, that makes sense. And, like, health insurance has taken out before, are you guys contributing to your 401ks? No, she just got offered 401k today, actually. Okay, and you are not? No. I don't have any benefits. So you think it's about a 7 ,000? I'm guessing like 7 ,500. Do you think it's 7 ,000? Yeah, yeah. Closer to 7 ,000. Closer to 7 ,000? Yeah. We'll do 7 ,000 then because you would know. So$7 ,000 hits your account on a monthly basis.

2:51Cool. Most people would say, cool. That's great, especially living in a rural town. Cool. 7 ,000 hours. We can do a lot. Yeah. Oh, and by the way, just a reminder, click that subscribe button. And we're trying to get to 500 ,000 subscribers. And we're, I mean, pretty close. Thank you to everyone who has subscribed so far. Okay. I mean, we're just starting with the first account, right? Yep. And I am going to dig into you because I need to make sure you and everyone else out there knows how absolutely dire your situation is. Because if we go to a place where we're like, okay, we know it's good, but it's not bad either.

3:27Right, right. It's like, then you're not going to do what's necessary to actually get out of it. But here we start with negative$222 in your checking account. We start with that. And not only that,$8 ,449 comes in. That's great. Some of it was savings and different stuff. That's a great amount of money. That's fantastic. We ended with$433. What is happening off the bat? What is up with your financial situation? What's going on? Give us anything. I think it's mostly just eating out is where most of our money goes to. You're not eating out$8 ,000 a month. Between, we were paying for two rents for about three months.

4:10We moved out of one apartment into our house because we were in a studio. So we were paying about$1 ,200 a month on the studio and then moved into the house and that's about$1 ,750. During the time of these statements? Yes. Okay. Yeah. Actually, we just paid the last bill on the apartment. Did you buy the house or are you renting it? Rensing. Okay. So you're saying you eat out$5 ,000 a month? Yeah. Among other things. You must be going crazy. Are you going to like the nicest steakhouses twice a day? I think we both - Yes, one child, six months. Okay. Well, that adds money. That adds money. I wouldn't say$5 ,000 of eating out.

4:50No. But no, it's not just that. And by the way,$204 was yanked from your existence in fees because you're overdrafting and crap. Yeah. Dude, it makes no sense. Okay. I mean, I have to ask. I have to ask because we need to get into your mindset. If we have Adobe, we have a Peacock subscription, some security service that you did, McDonald's, the$200 was taken out for auto safety. Safety, and we're going to Hobby Lobby and Whataburger and Starbucks and some tortilla place and Olive Garden and Dutch Bros and Wendy's and going to McDonald's and Major Burger and Netflix and DoorDashing things. We don't even have money on DoorDashing things and Wingstop and Dutch Bros and Rapzozzi's Cajun Cafe, Amazon Prime, Raising Cane's, Dutch Bros, a Hulu subscription, Longhorn Steak, Whataburger, Dutch Bros.

5:45Two card payments, card payments, card payments. Security service fees, again, twice in one month. I don't even know what that is. Getting our car washed, because that's a necessary expense to survive. Dutch Bros, Panda Express, Whataburger, Firehouse Subs, Domino's, Domino's, Credit One. The auto security safety bullshit again. Some, you know, going out to eat, going out to eat, pizza. Going out to eat, going out to eat, dude. And then Prime Video. We have that. We have, we're Venmoing on money. $575, who knows where the f*** that went. Discovery Plus. More Adobe because the one Adobe we had wasn't enough.

6:24The$575 is actually rent. So we break it up into three payments. Oh. Oh. Yeah. Sorry. I was like,$575, great. Yeah, you were going off, so I didn't want to interrupt you. But yeah, the$575 is rent. The$200 autosave, that's just something it pulls from our checking into our Chase savings. Yeah, when you're like over, oh. No, no, no, yeah. Well, that explains all the money that you're depositing from your savings into here. Because we don't have money. And HBO Max subscriptions all we have in Whataburger and Venmo and Dutch Bros and Spotify and Mojo Coffee. YouTube something. Looks like you rented a video, perhaps.

7:01Yeah. Mexican Grill. McDonald's. Subway. Dutch Bros. Some animation thing, I think. I don't know. I can't read it very well. Oh, sorry. That was the security thing. And then the$50 The$50 every week is my old truck Yeah I totaled it and Didn't have insurance We'll get there Let's just get through the checking account first Again a car wash We need two car washes in a month to survive Formswift.com Olive Garden Starbucks, Dutch Bros Chick-fil-A, Taco Casa Starbucks, purchasing things on Steam Overdraft fee, overdraft fee overdraft fee overdraft fee what are we doing buddy if you know we are overdrafting if all this crap is going wrong i need to know any potential logic behind your couple's relationship this marriage why are you guys going to these restaurants and this isn't where you spend all your money this is a thick stack but that's the checking account in every page is just green slices of crap why why are you doing it if you objective you have to know it's bad because you are negative every single month.

8:14Tell me. There's no excuse. We don't have an excuse. It's just... No, no. This episode is brought to you by NBA on Prime. This Tuesday at 8.30 Eastern, it's the Emirates NBA Cup Championship game on Prime. This year's quest for the Cup has been building to this, the championship game, live from Las Vegas. Not a Prime member? Sign up for a 30-day free trial to get started today. The Emirates NBA Cup Championship game, this Tuesday at 8.30 Eastern, only on Prime. Restrictions apply See amazon.com slash amazon prime for details Talk about an excuse I need to know why Where's your mindset at So we can overcome this Honestly I don't know Do you guys not give a No because we always We'll always come to like the end of our You know whenever we go negative or whatever And we're like we have to stop We have to get better We have to save money And then we get paid again And then it's just the same thing over and over Why doesn't it?

9:06I couldn't tell you Is it both of you? Is it one of you more? No it's both of us It's definitely both of us Total overdraft fees Year to date And we're a quarter Of the way through this year $748 That's insane That's insane Justice period$204 The savings that you transfer to Is there anything in there right now? Yes How much? Last time I checked, about$4 ,500. Why? Why are you overdrafting if you have$4 ,500 in the savings? Because she doesn't want to spend the savings money. That doesn't make sense. You've lost$750 this year. Yeah. Wife, if you are watching this, please understand it makes no mathematical sense.

10:02$750 you've lost because you're not willing to transfer$4 ,500? I'm not angry at you I'm angry at the debt No I know But I want Because immediately You don't have retirement No How old is she? We're same age 27 How old's your kid? 6 months Okay Congratulations Yeah thank you 27 Yeah No retirement Stacked in debt Stacked in debt Yeah Riddled in debt And no retirement We Everything else in here is literally just Cards and crap Credit cards and debts Nothing that's ever paid off by the way No And we do get it paid off and then we just don't spend them again Okay First off, before we even get into them Let's just say, you are not credit card people You are not That's fine It's okay not to be a credit card person Chop them up It doesn't matter Whatever benefits someone might get from a credit card You are not getting you are losing so much money so much money yeah so this situation is scary you need to chop those things up use like the Fizz card that I talk about because it can help your credit kind of like a credit card but it's a debit card and it helps spend within certain categories that you want it helps you manage your spending a little better but for example on this card itself 625 previous balance We made a payment of$160.

11:36Okay, cool. I mean, we're bringing in$7 ,000 a month. It should be more than that. But okay, we did that. Then we purchased$130. $130 was purchased. Are you guys trying to get out of debt?

11:54We had them all paid off for a few months. And then whenever my son was born, she was off for like three weeks. And then I was off for a week. and I wasn't making that much money to begin with at the time. She's paid hourly? She's not like salary? Yeah, we're both paid hourly. She was getting maternity leave, but she was only getting 75 % of her pay. Oh, come on. So you only lost 25%. Yeah, but I wasn't, again, I was only making, at the time I was doing pest control and I was only doing less than 20 hours a week.

12:27Why are we possibly putting money on a card? that we're not even... Okay, not only that, but after your payment and after your purchases, plus fees and interest, you have a$620 balance on a card that has a cap of$600. Cap of$600.

12:52So, do we just not care? I need to know something. No, I mean, we definitely care. I just, I don't know what it is. we have the money and then we spend it. It's there and then it's gone. Whether it be gas or eating out or going shopping or whatever. Now these cards that you have are shit cards. Right. Yeah, because we both have terrible credits so they were the only ones that we could get approved for. And what are we doing on here? We're Dutch Bros-ing and we're McDonald's-ing and Chick-fil-A and McDonald's-ing and Chick-fil-A and and tacos, and Dutch Bros, and Willie Gay, and really Grill, and Ice.

13:34I'm not happy about that. That is where I'm a little upset at you. That's stupid. That is stupid. If we're over our credit card balance, we're not making any progress when we're spending on it? That's objectively stupid. And guess what? Total fees charged in 2023 because you're overspending. These have monthly fees just to be a member of the card. So not even if you have balances, these terrible cards have fees on a monthly basis with no benefits. So total fees, again, we're only a quarter in of 2023. $78 on one card. One card lost in total interest of$70. Lost. And then we're still with the same company here, but we have a new, a different card.

14:22Previous balance,$789. on an$800 credit limit, paying$94. Okay, we're making progress, but then we put on it$86.34 with interest charge of$25.65 and congratulations, fees again of$12, meaning that not only one card now, two cards, two out of your like a billion cards, we are over the credit limit. Over the credit limit, yeah? Yep. So again, the mentality, whatever it was, it's applying to this. It's like we don't have money, but we kind of do. Pretty much all of them. And with this, it was like we went to Walmart and Star Mart. It's either gas or groceries, but we do that from our checking account when we're not credit card people.

15:16We're going to talk about all those methods in the end, but this is the painful part where we go through the pain. It already hurts. We'll get through the good part. It should. And you need to know how much it hurts. And people who are going down the road, you need to know how much it hurts so that we can just improve people's lives. But, again, fees charged in 2023 so far,$61. Interest charged,$71. And, again, that's two cards out of the billion you have. Okay. Credit one now. Oh, my. No, it is Credit limit$300 But your previous balance was$557 No, you didn't pay on You didn't spend money with this card Because there was There was no money to spend Your balance is completely gone You made a$30 payment, so that's like the minimum monthly payment

16:12With$8.25 of fees $12.83 of interest New balance 548 so really no progress is made total fees for 2023 $24 total interest$40

16:33let's go to another card shall we credit limit$600 you are under at this time at 583 but that gave you an excuse to spend money which makes no sense that is not an excuse to spend money just because we have we have 18 bucks on there that we can spend$30 in payments. Boston with the boys is here to let you know that every college football Saturday, FanDuel is dropping profit boosts that can turn wins into bigger wins. Sounds like we should rename Saturday booster day. Nice. 21 plus and present in select states opt-in required bonus issue does not a withdrawal profit boost tokens, restriction supply, including any token expiration and max wager amount.

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17:21We spent$37. No fees for this one, but interest of$14.26. And now we're over the credit limit by$3.90. So total balance now,$603. With total interest charge, 2023,$41. And you went to Star Mart, probably gas, right? Yeah. I assume. Not credit card people. Not credit card people. Say that in your sleep, not credit card people. Because you are not. Now, with a visa, because we just opened every credit card that we can possibly apply for, right? That we can possibly get approved for. Swipe, swipe, swipe, swipe, apply, apply, swipe, swipe, swipe, yeah? Yep. Okay. $269 previous balance payments of$82.

18:03But congratulations for making purchases of$132. Fees charge of$54.25. $54. Within the last month $8.83 of interest Charged Now our balance is$383 With the total credit limit of $300

18:29In Fabletics Do we need to be going to Fabletics? Fabletics do we need to be going to Fabletics? Again In$29 of additional Card fee Monthly servicing fee of$6.25 Annual fee of$48 My goodness. I should go into the credit card, the predatory credit card business because these people just make money off of you. It's insane. And then interest on purchases,$883. Total fees charged, 2023,$96. Total interest charged in the year so far,$26. We have another card. We're getting through the pile slowly. Previous balance, 521 on a credit limit of$500. You made a$25 payment, so you had$4 on there, which gave you an excuse to go purchase.

19:24You purchased$76 of stuff, giving you interest of$14.70 with a balance of$587 on a credit limit of$500. I'm disgusted right now.

19:40I mean, that was like optimum, so like some health thing? That's our internet. Oh, okay. Again, interest,$14.70. Total interest charged year-to-date$26.46 with a 30 % interest fee. We're back to credit run. We just can't leave him. We love him too much. Credit limit,$300. Previous balance,$3.23. $30 payment. You didn't purchase anything on here. probably doesn't have any money yes that's exactly it because there's a new balance of$309 because fees were charged$825 interest charged for$748 total annual fees $333 total interest charged$29 last but not least credit 1 $481 previous balance but there's a credit limit of$500 So we're below that.

20:36But that means we have an excuse to go purchase things. Again,$30 of payments,$45 of purchases,$12, 12 cents of interest charge with total interest this year,$35. Had a 30 % interest rate essentially. And I went to Dutch Bros. Dude, you guys are screwing yourselves. Yeah. You are f***ing up your entire life. Yeah. Okay. I want to make that crystal clear before we put any plan together. Do you understand? Do you both understand? Are you on the same page that your life right now is just f***? Yeah. We know what our finance situation is. Okay. How long have you been in this financial situation? Since we've been together.

21:18How long has that been? About three years. Okay. So what immediately makes me nervous, if nothing has happened for three years and we've known it's been f*** since we've been together, what's going to change now? I'm hoping having our kid would kind of change around. Yeah, absolutely. That's a good reason. If there's a reason, that's a reason. Yeah, because we don't want to live like this forever, especially having him around. You mentioned the car thing and some other things as well. So what's up? What's that? I don't have the statements for those. So I had a truck back in 2017, 2018. I was making payments before I met my wife and everything making payments on it I didn't have insurance on it I wasn't paying that and then I flipped it and totaled it and so they yeah so they're basically in collections now in collections so I'm paying$50 a week so you have a payment plan with them yeah and so that's the security interest no I don't think so Okay, and what's the balance remaining?

22:29It should be around$3 ,000-ish now. What about your current car? So that's, I think we owe around$30 ,000 left on that. The interest rate is pretty high. I think it's 10%, 11%. Maybe more. Could be more. I'm just right high. Yeah. What's the minimum monthly payment for that? 680 Is that just one Is there another car No No I drive her old car That's paid off Good Yeah What is that car The one we're paying on A 2020 Chevy Equinox Yeah We might be selling that I'm not sure yet Okay But we might have to See how far in the hole you are Any other debts Not that I can think of No Okay So that's all You only have that much We only have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 credit cards that are either maxed out or well over maxed out.

23:34Plus a truck that doesn't even exist that you're paying on. And a ridiculous car with a ridiculously high interest rate. So your minimum monthly payments on your debts are over$1 ,000. And this is for nothing that's even benefiting you except for one of the cars. Everything else is just money you've spent and whatever you've spent it on is gone. Fees and interest, not including either of your cars, by the way. This is just on the credit cards. Fees and interest, first quarter this year,$632.41 has been ripped from your existence. Thoughts? Yeah. Yeah. and your total debt owed is$35 ,720.15. Which actually does not sound insane.

24:25This is insane the way you've done it. Right. Your minimum payments on your debts are$1 ,000, but the amount that you spent on food going out to eat was$1 ,578.50 in a month. Is that not insane? This is a real good story about Bronx and his dad Ryan, real United Airlines customers. We were returning home, and one of the flight attendants asked Bronx if he wanted to see the flight deck and meet Captain Andrew. I got to sit in the driver's seat. I grew up in an aviation family, and seeing Bronx kind of reminded me of myself when I was that age. That's Andrew, a real United pilot. These small interactions can shape a kid's future.

25:04It felt like I was the captain. Allowing my son to see the flight deck will stick with us forever. That's how good leads the way. Oh yeah, it's insane. It's ridiculous. It's aggressively insane. And all your bills and fees are$1 ,751. Overdraft fees, 204. Subscriptions,$175.

25:25Walmart, whatever. Is that only grocery store shopping? Yeah, usually it's baby formula. $571 in a month of baby formula? Yeah. Not just baby formula, but yeah, diapers, wipes, clothes, all that stuff. He grew out of all the clothes that we had for him in the first month. Yeah, babies do that. Yeah. and then he has to have expensive formula. He's got a sensitive stomach, so it's like$35 a can. He goes through that like every two days. You're killing yourself. You guys are killing yourself. So what is very clear from my situation, this is a disaster. Credit cards need to be gone today. Like it's not even an option.

26:04When you guys are home, are you guys on the same page relatively? If you guys are, then burn them. Have a ceremony. Burn them. All of them? Every single credit card. All of them? You can ask all of them after this? All of them? All of them. What? We're just trying to build our credit back up. Your credit. I don't give a shit. Credit is awesome. For those who can utilize it, you are being taken advantage of by that system. Someday we can talk about it. Again, I've mentioned it millions of times. I think I may have said it in this episode already. I don't know. You can use the Fizz card that I recommend.

26:42And that builds credit and it's a debit card. Dude, insanity is what this is. Build credit? You guys are over maxed out on that build credit. Fuck you, build credit. No, build credit's not in the conversation. Maybe we can talk about that eventually, but no. Build credit. Build credit. So, every person is situation to situation. Your situation is Dave Ramsey is perfect for you. You know him? Yeah. Okay. We've listened to Dave Ramsey. He is perfect for you. Your debt is laid out in such a perfect way to follow his whole baby steps model. And he does the snowball method when it comes to paying off debt, which, of course, was invented when money was invented.

27:30So he didn't invent that. But it's a part of his baby steps, and it would work for you. I would probably modify this first one to meet your situation and we will get your budget here in a bit especially since you have a kid it's a little more risky but I want if this wasn't already clear enough about how dire this situation is I want to talk to you about the child aspect of this thing you guys have zero retirement barely anything in savings yes you guys are below 30 but with where you guys are headed with nothing in retirement and always in debt for the rest of your lives, that is irresponsible of a parent because you are forcing your child to have to deal with you as a required expense later instead of you sacrificing now saying, okay, let's not live this extreme lifestyle we're living now.

28:20Let's take care of ourselves and we will actually have money to set ourselves up for the rest of our lives eventually, when we're in our 60s. And they won't have to worry about it. What is happening now is irresponsible parenting. Yeah. Do you agree? Yes, I agree. Good. So if none of that else mattered, that should. Yeah. That is critical. And show them this video at some point. Do it. Be like, this is why you shouldn't go into death. Mom and dad made that mistake. Yeah. Learn from our mistakes. So we need to build a budget and then we need to attack this thing. because it's as easy as that. I mean, that's what it's going to come down to for you.

Read the full transcript

29:07Rent, what is it? $17.25 a month. You're rural. Why is it so expensive? That was the cheapest place we could find. I guess it's small, so not a lot of options, right? Yeah. Everything in Cedar Park was like$2 ,000 over. Cedar Park? Yeah. We're from Liberty Hill originally, So Cedar Park is like kind of halfway between both of our jobs. Oh, okay. Utilities, internet, renters, insurance, all of that combined, best guess? Probably about$300. Gas between the both of you for cars?

29:46I probably spend close to$100 in gas a week. Okay, and her? She spends a little bit less. her car gets better gas mileage, but it's probably about$50 to$60. It's about an hour drive for me to work and about $30 to$45 for her. It's an average of... Oh my gosh, dude. That's something bad. That's$693 a month on average. That's insane. Car insurances? Yeah. It's for both of them. I think it's about$600. Oh! No, it's a lot less than that. I'm sorry. A lot less? Yeah. Because I think for her new car, it's only about$200. Okay. And for the Camry that I drive, it's like$110. So,$310? Yeah. Sorry. No, it's okay.

30:39Good. Good, good, good. Okay. So, with the baby stuff, and yes, babies are expensive, but you don't have to go crazy. And a lot of people, I've looked at the baby budget breakdown. I know what can be spent on food and babies and stuff for a household. I think, think you can do about 500 bucks for the household, maybe 600. We'll say 600 and hope to cut it to 500. We'll do that for food for the household, okay? Yeah. What are your thoughts on that specifically? That sounds about right, probably. You don't have to eat fancy stuff. Right. Healthy, sure, but we don't have to be going crazy. And then stuff for the household to keep it in order, 100 bucks a month is fine.

31:21Yeah. Don't have to go crazy. And then the debts What are we at? $1 ,000 $10 a month Any other minimum monthly payments? No, not that I can think of Health insurance is all taken out of Before income? Yeah, it's on hers It's just her and the baby It's about$800 a month Why don't you want it? You need to be on it You're a dad now Yeah Get on it But it's already$800 a month for just her You gotta get on it Okay You need to make sure you're getting your yearlies. Get blood work, get everything. You're a dad. Take care of yourself so you're there for your kid's future. Yeah. Okay. And no, car washes are no longer in the budget.

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32:39They're in the budget. And all that other crap that was relentless and McDonald's and Chick-fil-A and all the other crap you guys are doing. Subscriptions, they're out of the budget. Internet, yes. Watch YouTube videos. It's fantastic here. It's a good time. Everything else is out. No more Netflix, no more nothing. You cannot afford it. You have minimum monthly expenses to survive of$4 ,738. Okay? If you guys are actually going to do this, if you guys are going to be adults, responsible parents, you will follow that budget and go crazy. because congratulations and I don't mean that in a sarcastic way for once I don't think this is going to take forever you've been incredibly insane and stupid and just like terrible with credit cards but all of it added together is creating a balance with an income that you have that you can just beat down yeah so 2000 strictly following the button $2 ,262 is left.

33:46And with$5 ,720, take 15 months. For the situation you're in, that's not crazy. Your kid will be a year and a half old. And then your entire future is ahead of you. You guys will be 28, 29. A year and a half. That's crazy. And what do you do? I mean, with this$2 ,262, With that, you kill your smallest four credit cards. Actually, what I would... No, no, no. How much was in your savings? $4 ,500? Perfect. We're keeping it there. That's like your minimum monthly expense. That's perfect. Keep it there. Don't use it. Now. For now. $2 ,262. Kill your bottom three credit cards. Bottom four. And then kill your next three.

34:31Two and a half to three. You just keep going until the smallest credit card to the largest credit card is paid off. and then you kill the truck and then you kill the car. I don't think you need to sell the car in this situation. What you can do, if you want to sell it, what's your credit score? Last I checked, it was like a 560, 570. Hers is about the same. I was going to say, with the income you have, okay, let's just pay this car off and then keep these two cars for as long as you can. We'll build up a car fund. What's the car you're driving now? It's a 2011 Camry. Okay I'll need a car fund at some point Yeah But seriously A year And a half A year and a half What is that in the grand scheme of things?

35:19Yeah Dropping the bucket Yeah It's nothing Your kid won't even have any memory Nothing's even like Being like imprinted on him Yeah He's He? He, yeah He's a couple years away They won't know you guys are not having fun and going out to eat. Yeah. And work extra hard. Do some Ubering in the new car or something like that. Some Uber Eats if you want in the end. Cut this down to a year instead of a year and a half. Right. I mean, as hard as you want to work, as quick as you will get out of this situation, yeah? Right.

36:00So, from there, what is critical, now you'll have$3 ,000, because the debt minimum payments are gone,$3 ,272 a month. We probably want you to have about$21 ,000 in an emergency fund. You already have$4 ,500. divide that by the$3 ,272, you'll have extra. So boom, two years. Two years, you have a fully funded emergency fund, and you have no credit card debt, no card debt. You don't open up another credit card because you'll go back in this situation. This is clearly y 'all's instinct. So if we recognize that, then we say, okay, we're just not going to do it because our lives actually matter. And you can take advantage.

36:55if you get out of these credit cards get out of the car and get into

37:06what I would allow if credit is super important at that time what I would allow is like a get you a hundred dollar gas card that you put one fill up on a month on there and pay it off every month and nothing more but that still scares me But if credit is that important to you, then do that in this later situation in two years. But burn these cards now so you never spend on them. Remove them from all your virtual wallets. Anything. Destroy them. Burn them. Kill them. They do not exist because they're killing you and making it so that your finances do not exist. Then you have so much money to work with.

37:48Let's say your income stays the same. $3 ,500 which is about what your needs will be that's rent, utilities your gas, your car insurance $600 a month for groceries $100 for the whole paper stuff like that that'll be your needs category that's perfect you don't need to go extra grocery shopping from there unless you increase your income or minimize your rent you know cut back on something your car insurance will be a little cheaper as well on the car that has debt right now but from there What I'm going to recommend for you guys is of the$7 ,000,$1 ,400 a month is invested. Whether that be in the 401k or Roth IRA or brokerage, you know, or a hybrid of all,$1 ,400.

38:38That's 20%. Right. Okay? You can spend that exact same amount on going out to restaurants again, budgeted in a category. Budgeted. You don't spend over that in fun. If you're going to go on a vacation that costs twice that much, you don't have fun for one month, then you can spend double the next month. Does that make sense? Yes. Yeah. You never touch your emergency fund for anything either. Yeah. Never. And then that additional 10 % that's missing from the pie, it's going to go into a car fund. You're going to take that to like, if you want a$20 ,000 car, you take that right at the 20 and trade in your car, sell your car, get as much as you can, buy your car in cash.

39:17just don't go into debt again because you guys cannot do debt right there are smart ways to do debt it is for the vast minority of people you cannot do it and that's okay it doesn't matter who gives yeah and um once you get that car i'd keep that 10 going and what you can do is use that 700 a month continue going ramp it up a little if you want to cut from your what's going on i'm arch manning viore athlete and college quarterback whether i'm running training traveling or just unwinding at home, I love doing it in my core shorts from Viore. With a breathable boxer brief liner, they're quick to dry, super versatile, and stand up to even my most intense training sessions.

39:56Plus, they come in three inseams and a ton of colors. Ready to try a pair? Go to viore.com slash arch and get 20 % off at checkout. I think you're going to love them as much as I do. That's viore.com slash arch and get 20 % off your first order. Exclusions apply. Visit the website for full terms and conditions. Not only will you receive 20 % off your first purchase, but enjoy free shipping on any U.S. orders over$75 and free returns. Have a great day. Cut from your needs where you can, or cut from your wants, especially don't cut from retirement though. Yeah. And what that can be is a down payment fund on a house because eventually you'll want a primary residence.

40:35Right. That's our goal in the next couple of years. That is not going to happen in the next couple of years. Yeah. Two years, you're out of debt and have an emergency fund. and only then you're starting to save up to get a car and you're starting to contribute to retirement. House doesn't happen for probably about six to ten. But that's okay. Who cares? You'll be in your mid-30s. Most people can't buy their homes until then anyway. That's fine. That just makes you someone who's doing well. Okay? So don't be ashamed of that. Don't get rushed into it. Once you get into the personal finance space, I get the lure of like, I want to pay rent.

41:14I want to have my mortgage going into my overall equity of my home. And while my home value goes up, it's a piece of property. It's great. You pass it to your kids eventually. I get it. You do not have to rush into it. Put the overall grand, boring grand scheme of your financial life. Take that into account over rushing into something. Because if you just save up a little, do an FHA in this area, the minimum monthly payment on that would be beyond unaffordable fair income. Right, right. Even in the edge of suburbia will still be beyond unaffordable, even if interest rates are good. So that's what I do.

41:53We do need, like I said, in two years, when you guys are 29, 20 % is going to retirement. We'll just base it off the average stock market return instead of the average S &P 500 return. I'm a slut for the S &P 500, and it does 10%, a little over 10 % on average. Historically, stock market, it's like 8%. So we'll just do that. And we'll do, what was it again? So 7 ,000, 20 % of 7 ,000, 1 ,400. Doing that for 31 years. So that's great If that follows the average return of the stock market historically for 31 years So when you guys are 60 $1 ,400 a month Which by the way will go up Because your income will go up over those 31 years But let's just say that for an example $2.27 million Which is great Or we can take into account the average inflation Take into account the average inflation That'll be$857 ,000 Which is still pretty good Still pretty good in today's money in today's money.

43:02That's what it would feel like if you had it right now. Oh, wait. No, sorry. No, no, no. I did that wrong. It would be$1.24 million. I was going to say that did not seem right. I typed in the wrong number. And if you use the 4 % rule, you can withdraw$50 ,000 a year in today's money for the rest of your lives. And you'll have a paid off house at that point. You'll have no debts. $50 ,000 in today's money would stretch a lot if you didn't have any debts. Now, of course, Again, as incomes go up, your contribution amount will go up. So it's going to be like$75 ,000 in today's money,$100 ,000 in today's money.

43:37There's always 20 % of what you're bringing home that month? Mm-hmm. Okay. I would do that. At least 20 % of post-tax. So, yes, there's a certain percentage that you're doing pre-tax when, you know, well, depending on what 401k you have. Either way. As long as it just comes out to a minimum 20 % post-tax. because that's what we need to do. I'm, I am, not to go back to negativity. This situation in general deeply scares me. The track record, being on the same page and knowing that this is f***ing you for three years, yet nothing has been done, and what you bring me are overbalances and negative balances on your checking account?

44:20I'm terrified. I'm scared. I'm scared that you're going to be 60 there's going to not be a single cent in retirement I'm scared that you're going to be 60 you'll have like 20 credit cards with overbalances and we're still negative on our checking account and we've never owned a piece of real estate I'm scared of that based on the history prove me wrong do you know how much of an incredible success let's just pretend I'm the most selfless person in the world and I only care about me for a second let's just pretend like that because sometimes when people see people being YouTubers they forget they're actual people and they just assume they're like an entity.

44:57Let's assume that. Even if you do all that, do you know how good that looks for my channel that you have succeeded? Yeah. In the most selfish way possible? So please prove me wrong. I actually really want you to prove me wrong so that you guys can have an incredible life, so your kid can have an incredible life. And then we can put the situation on display for everyone so they can have incredible lives. that only does it if you change what's been happening if you follow the budget that we laid out and put on screen if you follow that two years fully funded emergency fund no more debt 60 years old we're retiring comfortably and setting up our kid for success along the way and maybe having more if that's what y 'all are into depends on who you ask but yeah

45:51Tell me, realistically Knowing your history You two, together What is actually going to happen when you leave here? I think We'll follow it, for sure I've been talking to her about cutting up the cards for a while now What has been the pushback on that? She wants me to use it to build credit And then just having him as a backup For gas and stuff whenever our checking account Is negative We can talk about building credit again after you're out of this whole situation. It doesn't matter. You guys are doing this now and your credits are in the, what, what was that, 400s, 500s? 560. It doesn't even matter at that point.

46:23So who cares? Sorry, continue. But yeah, I think it doesn't seem too hard to follow. It's just about sitting down and putting our heads together and actually doing it and actually sticking to it for longer than, because we've done good for, we'll do good for like one or two months and then something will come up or whatever. We went on vacation last year and pretty much just blew all those savings that we had. Sorry, vacations don't exist for the next two years. It needs to be known. Do you guys have close friends here, close family here? Everybody, yeah. Friends, family. Good. So good groups?

46:56Yeah. Let them know your situation. Show them this episode and use them as a tool to keep you accountable. Because I get that. That happens to a lot of people. Even me with my diet. I'll do great for two months. I'll do great for six months and then I'll have terrible. if you have people holding you accountable and you're actively trying to have them hold you accountable you know like you're encouraging it it's going to help so much this fire will be lit under your ass right now yes and you'll burn the cards yes probably but where are we going to be in three months so please take advantage of the amazing group around you make sure you're being held accountable and we will definitely hold you accountable when you come and do a checkup we'll do a checkup in like six months because in six months what the card should be gone The cars, the vehicle is what's going to take forever, but the credit card should be gone.

47:45Any final thoughts? Not really. Hope to stick to it. Hope to get her on board to stick to it. Hope to be out of debt. For Johnny, okay, that's a scary mess. I really hope they get it together. They can have a great life, but they have to get it together starting now. Now, Hammer Financial Score, let's break down those categories. Spending within a budget, obviously 0 out of 10. That's not even a question. Debt, 1 out of 10. Only because it's not like there's any crazy high-interest student loans or anything in collections or like IRS debt, but it's still really bad. Retirement, there's nothing.

48:250 out of 10. Merchants fund, there actually is money there saved up. 3 out of 10, which helps them get this process started, by the way. Real estate, well, they're not even close to in that game yet. 0 out of 10. That comes to an aggregate hammer financial score one out of 10. Don't forget to check out the resources in the description below. And don't forget to follow my Instagram and Twitter. Thanks.

From the publisher

Check out these fun things: Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/calebhammer⁠  My socials: ⁠https://linktr.ee/calebhammer⁠  Do you want to be in a Financial Audit and you're in the Austin area? Email castingcalebhammer@gmail.com Sponsorship and business inquiries: calebhammer@creatorsagency.co  _______________________  Timestamps: 00:00 Job and income 03:50 INSANE spending... 06:38 WHY?! WHY?! WHYYYY 09:51 Maxing out EVERY credit card possible 15:00 SPEND SPEND SPEND 19:36 Oh sure, let's just add some CAR DEBT too! 21:30 This just sucks... 23:22 BURN THEM ALL 26:27 You need to budget! 30:28 time to clean up your mess... 40:06 I'm scared for you... 44:00 Hammer Financial Score --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/calebhammer/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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