31-Year-Old With More Debt Than Anyone Should Ever Have | Financial Audit

My name is Florian Love. I'm 31. I'm. based out of San Antonio, Texas, and. this is financial audit. So, what do you. do for a living in San Antonio, Texas? I'm a middle school orchestra director. Oh, very nice. So, music nerd? I'm a. music nerd. I started to go to school as. a music major in college. Is that what. you studied, I assume? Okay, very cool. Started as architecture, then went back. to for music, yeah. Oh, okay. Didn't. finish architecture. I'm a big fan of sports and arts and.

stuff all throughout public school cuz. it gives kids like me a reason to go to. school when I absolutely despise school. So, Yeah. and a good reason to keep, you. know, relatively good grades so you can. participate in those fun things. What do. you make currently? I'm currently at I. think it's 58. Okay. Yeah. I think I get a statement, so it might be up to 60, but I think I'm. at 58. How does it feel living off of. $58,000 right now? It's okay. It's okay. I'm single. My rent's not super high. Mhm. Um, but I do have, you know, debts.

that I'm trying to pay off, and so it. does become a little bit tight some. months. Mhm. So, yeah, San Antonio hasn't had. like the big uh, crazy crazy price increases like Austin. has had even though we're like super. close our cities, but. I assume rents are still going up a. decent amount. I had to move out of my previous. apartment that I had for 2 years uh, about 6 or 7 months ago. Uh, I fortunately found something that.

was cheaper. It was uh, it had gone up. to like 1,300, and then I moved into. like somebody's house like in the back. They have like a little mini house, and. it's like 850, so 850, that's your. current rent? Yeah. Okay. Which is. that's an incredible rent. Yeah, nearly impossible to find. Yeah, I. all right. Good for you. So, I want to hear from your perspective. before we jump into things, what is your financial situation? And. it's always worse than people think, but. All right. I'm pretty sure it's.

All right. not great. Yeah. Um, I've. always been able to like kind of float. along. Uh, previously I was a lot better at uh, like before school, I was a lot better. with my money. Uh, before college? Before college, yeah. Uh, my parents are very Well, when did. you go to college? Like I'm So, I'm 31, you so you can do. the math. Like I went late. Uh, I went. back to school late, so I started like. 25, 26. I'm 25, 25. And so, before that. I was like doing odd jobs and working, so I was a lot tighter on my budget, so.

I was pretty good about it. Um, but when. I was in college, I did accrue a lot of. debt, uh, credit card debt particularly. So, yeah, sucks. Um, but I always pay my. bills. I'm never late on anything. Uh, so I have 100% like pay. uh, pay history, but yeah, I'm trying to. get out of that hole right now. If you want to never miss a payment in. your life, uh, push the subscribe button. It's a good. luck button. Actually, can't promise it. will help with anything, but it's a good. luck charm. Are you subscribed? I am.

Bless. Bless, bless, bless. Okay. Well, I guess we should dive into this. It. doesn't sound like it's going to be. particularly fun, but. uh, let's see. That's why you're here. I I. do appreciate you being here and willing. to get bullied for the good of everyone. else who might be able to relate to you. and then hopefully also improve your. life as well, so. Yes, I see some credit cards. Let's see. what this is. We want to go to a. checking account first. Not good. So, power protected checking in San Antonio?

Mhm. Uh, not good, you say, but I mean. it's not like insanely terrible or. anything. Started with 912, and then 5,210. in, 4,552 out, 250. $54 in there. You know, not as. comfortable as the balance as I would. like, but it's not like dire. It's not. like you have like $5 in there. So, what. do you mean? It did go down It lower. than that. To what? Uh, it went down to. almost zero at the end of the month like.

after I sent that. Um, because I paid. off a card. Well, okay. Well, that's for. good reason though then. Yeah. It that. that was the main reason why. And then I. I had to I bought. See, I bought a a suit jacket for. contest I was taking my kids to contest, so I bought a suit jacket for that and. some shirts. And so, that plus the. credit card brought it down pretty low. Yeah, it was quite low. Well, going here, see, what do you What.

immediately gets me is if I mean you've. self-diagnosed a debt and you're here to. get help, but why are we $35. Uber Eats, $35 Uber Eats, $12 to. Waterburger, we're going to Starbucks, we have a Spotify subscription to Kira, and Uber Eats, and Uber Eats, and Pinch. of Oil, and Apple subscription, and. Starbucks, and, you know, another PayPal. thing, and an Apple subscription, and.

the the Jerk and Sprouts. No, Sprouts is. okay. We're okay with that. And Uber. Eats, and an Amazon, and Starbucks, and. Uber Eats. What are you doing? Apple, Apple, Uber Eats. Yeah. Dude, the statement continues. Yeah, it's a lot. Okay. It's a lot. I I. did stop cold turkey. I haven't used I. deleted Uber Eats and DoorDash and all. that stuff. Um, but I wanted you to see like what I. what I had been doing. When did you delete it? Cuz yeah, even.

on through the next part it says Uber. Eats, Uber Eats, yeah. Coca-Cola, and. just crap, crap, crap, crap, crap. Yeah. Um, I think I deleted it. It was before I sent that to you, so it. was a couple weeks I think before. Have you had it once? Not since, no. Good. Cuz that's actually a very hard. habit to break. Have you gone out to eat. at all? Yes. Not as Not as much. I've. been cooking at home. We're just not. ordering in for delivery through Uber. Eats. Now, interesting thing about that. that's kind of hard is actually I used.

to have a roommate. who. um, like who'd Uber Eat more than he'd want. to. He's like, I deleted my Uber Eats. That can happen. Then the moment he. wanted to Uber Eat something again, he. just downloaded it. So, it's not like it. doesn't really. change anything, but I I like the effort. going into that, and I really like the. part that you just haven't done it since. it's happened. So, that's really good. I think for me it was more a lack of. planning. Um, so a lot like a lack of.

like buying things in advance. And so, when I had a craving, go to the store, buy the stuff, cook it, it's cheaper. Uh, so I've been doing that a lot more. Uh, out my meals for the week, uh, doing my meal prep like I used to. do. Uh, getting back into those old. habits that I had built up. Um, now over. the pandemic, depression kind of got a. hold of me, and so that was the main. issue. Uh, I was I started doing that a lot.

That's where the Uber Eats and DoorDash. came in. Mhm. And it got really bad. Um, but I've been doing a lot better. lately, so that's helped. Like having like more focus has helped a. lot. Okay. Okay. Now, what card did you. pay off? I want to touch that card first. before we hit all these others. That was the Bank of America, and then. right before I sent this, I had paid off. the Security Service one. That was the It's at the bottom of the. checking account, I think. Oh. It says zero. I think that's the one.

that says zero. Cuz I think on that. statement it has it. Uh, let's take a look at that. Secured Security Service? Yeah, and then. it's like the secured credit. Yeah, I don't see it, but what was the. debt on there? 350. And that's what you paid off? Yeah, I paid that one off, and then the. and the Bank of America was 304. I had been paying off that one for a. while, so I just got it. the total balance of it at that time? Uh, the total balance was 300 something. No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. At its peak, what was it? Sorry, I asked that way. from the beginning? It was part of a.

balance transfer. I think it was like. 1,500. Okay. been paying it off over time. Okay. Yeah. So, I'll get some happiness out of the. way before we get into debt. Yeah, that's bad. But the happiness part is I am glad that. you've paid off those balances. The part. that I hate as I've been going through. these, I wish it was one of the larger. balance cards. Yeah, I'm working on. that. that we touched have been the smallest. Now, it makes sense if you're following. like. uh, the snowball method where you do. lowest balance. That's what I'm trying.

to do. That's the method you're going for? Okay. And it's an effective method, I. think, especially for people like you. But let's see what else we have. We have. an Apple Card. So, on here, $1,353.46. Yeah. With a minimum monthly payment of. $87.98. It's, you know, it's a chunky minimum. monthly payment just for one thing. I've. been paying uh, 100 to 120 every month. on it. Yeah, I see 100 bucks was put there.

See, this is what I don't get. Why do. people do this? You're in the situation, you're ready to go, you're starting to. make changes, even with all the Uber Eats and which. you stopped, but even with all the. Starbucks and stuff that you're doing on. your checking account, this card that. we're putting $100 to on a monthly. basis, why are we going to and spending. $15 at Starbucks on here? What's the. purpose? No explanation. Oh, actually, that $15, that was I bought some of my.

students' parents stuff. Like The. parents. I don't care about them. I care about. you not having to accrue more debt on a. 26.24%. interest rate. Spoil the parents of the. little when you are out of the debt, yes? Yeah. I I do overspend with for my kids a lot. $30 of interest you lost. $30 of. interest you lost in this statement. And. I know you got to make the parents happy. because parents are pretty much the.

teachers' worst nightmare. as far as I understand it because. every parent thinks that their opinion. is the most important and unique thing. when you're dealing with like hundreds. of kids cuz you're an orchestra teacher, so you have a lot of kids. I'm fortunate. with my with my parents, they're they're. pretty good, but. Good. my first year I had some terrible. parents, yeah. Oh, yeah. I guess it ebbs. and flows, right? Oh, now we have Capital One. That one is what 12 was 13, I think.

Wait, so it's 17. There you go. Yeah. Seven 17 uh $1,749.47. With a minimum monthly payment, see, it's getting stacked. This is where the. minimum monthly payments really start to. hurt. Yeah. Of $57. Oh, okay, that was interest charge. I. was about to just Yeah, no, I didn't. check. I have a charge on that one, yeah. But still, 40 bucks of interest. lost. yeah. That just sucks cuz these interest. charges that are accumulating just. between these two cards so far, I mean,

you're getting. bullied on a monthly basis. Oh, but rounded up, I mean, it's. basically 30% interest you're losing on. this. Yeah. Damn. It wasn't that when I got. it, but it's a variable. not, yeah. And then it's going to just. continue to go up and up and up and up. and up and up. And you're only you're I mean, you did a. few dollars higher than the minimum. monthly payment. It No, yeah, it's It's. not a lot.

Bank of America, that's the one you paid. off. Good. And no purchases, no interest, fantastic. Doesn't that feel good? Doesn't that feel good? Very. We have a Have you Have you chopped it. up yet cuz you are clearly not a credit. card person. Okay, why? But I I don't use it, but I like I have. them on my desk. I don't really use. them, though. The one that I have used, unfortunately, is the. the one you're getting to, the Discover. Oh, that's the one I just swiped too. Cuz I bought a violin and I bought a I. bought bows at TMEA, so.

I needed them. I just auditioned for my. master's. I I needed. No! NO! WHY NO! WHY ARE WE considering. going back to school? You're not even out of your original. student loans and we haven't even talked. about that. And then we have this. freaking Discover with basically $10,000. on it. Why are you even possibly. considering. going back to school yet? I want to. level up my career and it's little like. I I just want to. get that over with. What do you mean?

But it make makes no sense when we're. over $10,000 in terrible credit card. debt. You only made $406 of payment on. which I mean, it sounds like a good. payment, but on $10,000 because guess. what? You charged $1,592. to what was a previous balance of 2,000. or $8,266. with a minimum monthly payment of $194, dude. $194 and now you're like.

$300 of minimum monthly payments with. interest. Interest charge of $172.58. So now we're at hundreds of dollars. being lost in interest on a monthly. basis, dude. Yeah. I. Ooh. You purchased what again? A violin and. bows? Yeah, I I got a violin bows at. TMEA. I traded in my pernambuco bows. Right now, pernambuco is a controlled. commodity, so since I I travel a lot.

You traded in a what? Pernambuco bow. Oh, okay. Brass. Yeah, yeah, yeah. strings. The sticks are expensive. Um but I traded that in and then I got a. carbon fiber as well. So. I got those Yeah. Yeah. And then I in December. You have a Prime thing on here and. you're going to Walmart as well. It. doesn't make sense. This is your highest. balance card. Yeah. Dude. I I will let you talk about that college. in a bit, but I.

This doesn't make sense right now. Yeah. Can you return it? No. And total fees, total fees of $41. What? What happened for $41? I don't know. I I. I've never missed a payment. Oh, return. check charge. Oh, yeah, cuz like I hadn't transferred. This is stupid. I Yeah, okay. It's all stupid so far. It's it's worse. Um so, for some reason when I first got. the card, my auto payments, I put them.

in my savings account, which I don't know why I did that. I was. stupid. I did that when I was like 23. and at the time I. paid everything fine, but. I didn't do that I like I hadn't. transferred the right amount at that. time. So I I switched it. I did switch. it. So now it's pulling out out of my. checking account, so I don't have to. worry about that, but yeah. 23.24%. interest and it's probably going up.

There's another one, Citi. Oh my god. Yeah, that was a balance transfer. I've paid off my cards a couple times, yeah. bad for you. Please don't even be. considering master's right now. Oh my gosh, you're like every music. major I know, endlessly going to school, endlessly going into debt. Please be the. exception who actually just. lives a financially successful life, my. dude. As someone who was in that world and. still would love to be, I would love a.

commission to write some music for an. ensemble. Please, I promise you do not. all have to constantly be in school for. your entire life. My gosh, I swear. that's the only thing they know how to. do, music majors, is be in school. Yeah. We have $5,192.79. No new charges, fantastic. And it's on. No interest right now. Yeah, that's a that's a balance transfer. and that's what I wanted to talk to you. about, which one I should pay off the.

quickest. Obviously, that one probably. We'll get there. You did $79. Minimum. monthly payment is $79. And with the snowball method I So I just. did my taxes and so I'm getting back. like 1,900. So I was trying to decide. which I I was thinking either the Apple. Card or the Capital One and then. continue to pay off larger bits on the. others, but I wasn't sure. We'll get to. that. Yeah, I hear you. I got it, but. Okay.

We need We're getting the whole thing. That's the last card, right? I think. Yeah. Yeah. Uh there there's a CareCredit, but. that's 0% interest. I forgot to put that. one on there. For my for my teeth. Your teeth. And so it's $100 a month. And what's the balance, though? Um. I'm going to say 12. That 1,200. Not 12,000, god damn, no. I don't know, I don't know, man. I wouldn't have been surprised at this. point. 100 bucks minimum monthly.

payment? Yeah. Zero interest. Yeah, but there's zero interest for so. long. Like when is the zero interest for. Citi done? Uh end of the year. Oh. Okay. And the CareCredit is zero. interest as long as you make your. minimum monthly payments till the end? Yeah. Okay, you don't cut it up. Nope. Ooh. Okay. You drive that. Yes. 54-month loan term. Pretty long, but not, you know, the. longest we see. We see lots of 72s on.

here. Yeah. Not as good as. just 3 years, but whatever. Whatever. You have a. 2020. Kia Ni. Niro? Niro? Niro? Okay. Uh balance of. of death of $15,624.08. with a minimum monthly payment of Dude, your minimum monthly is 500 essentially.

Your minimum monthly payments, man. How. are you even living with your minimum? Good thing your rent is low or else you. wouldn't be able to survive. Yeah. What is the interest rate on this? 6.5. Not great, but. we've just had so many absolutely. disgusting ones on here that that almost. feels good. But. Oh. Gosh, and you got this like a couple. years ago. Mhm. Now, what I don't have on here is. your student loans, so we should. probably do that. What are your student. loans? 13,000. Oh, not bad. All federal? Yeah. Okay, so they're paused. I'm.

sorry? Uh yeah, no no private, yeah. Oh, good. Yeah, I got mostly Pell Grant. So I was. I I was fortunate. It was the last like. year I had to take out loans. Bad news. for you, they are not going to get. forgiven. Uh there's like no chance with the. Supreme Court. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. But I don't think so. But yeah, yeah, I'm pretty sure. I So your minimum monthly payments for. those will probably be. like 200 bucks? 150 bucks? Yeah, something like that.

Last I checked, yeah. Congratulations. You have $47,786.72. of debt across 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 different. debts. So yay, I get to use the title. and thumbnail that I love to use, 31-year-old has more debt than anyone. should ever have with the fire and all. the good stuff. Yeah. The. It is not good that I get to use that. because that means your situation sucks. What matters is how to get out of it, but before we do go to that,

Well, actually, your minimum monthly payments on your. debt, not including student loans cuz. you don't have to pay them right now, is. $1,000. More than your freaking rent, dude. $1,000. And with your student loans, it'd be. like 1,200. Oh, you're probably. are you bi-weekly? Yeah. Mhm, no. you? Monthly? What's your monthly check? Like $4,500?

About that, yeah. Yeah. So, boom. Immediately a fourth of it. goes straight to minimum monthly. payments on debts. It's crazy. It doesn't feel good. And. that's why we need to have a very, very. serious conversation about this grad. school thing. What is in your mind? Tell me. Uh so, my. my plan for grad school is to go back. for a performance pedagogy. What? Okay, sorry. I that's how most people respond.

Um. the reason is I want to do research into. performance anxiety since it's something. I kind of struggled with and the music. ed uh degree doesn't really cover the. stuff I want to do. I want to do more. research-based things and do more like. um. traveling, lecturing, and stuff like. that at the college level. So, that's. the degree that kind of fit. If not, it. would be moving to England and going to. the Royal College, which I'm not doing.

No. You know what makes the best qua You. know what will pay the top dollar for. someone to travel to their institution. to talk about a subject they studied on? It wouldn't be a degree. It'd be the. research they've actually done. Yeah. Why don't you pursue that in any way? Your own studies of any kind using the. methods you probably already know the. methods. You probably don't need the. degree to do it. You know, people aren't just going to. bring you around to different. institutions just because you hold a.

piece of paper. Oh, no. I know that. Yeah, absolutely. So, why don't you just do this as if. this is what you want to do, why don't. you just do it on the side and I'll. spend every moment that isn't put. towards teaching right now and towards. that. I'm trying to pivot out of teaching at. school just because it's. But, instead of just going into debt for. something you don't necessarily need, Yeah. why not do this, start doing all the. research necessary, write papers. that I I have been doing the research. I. In fact, in my car I have a stack of.

books. Then, why aren't you need to go do this? No offense, Mhm. almost almost worthless degree. Yeah. And by worth, I don't mean There's a lot. of definitions for worth. When on the. show we talk about just straight-up. return on investment, money. And there's not going to be much worth. with that. Mental worth, sure, you'll. walk away with some things that are. great. Uh and it can be worth it in a.

variety of things. But, when it comes to. return on your investment, not great. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I I'm How set are you on this? Kind of set. Like, I mean, the fact that. I made the audition and, you know, my. statement of purpose To where? Uh it's. just UTSA. I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay where I am. Yeah, but you're. going to take out more debt for aren't. you? I'm trying to figure that out right now. I got a I did get a scholarship. It's. very small. Um. but, they also want to offer me like to.

work at the college. Yeah. Like assistantship. So, I want to see. how much that'll pay for as well. What would the 2 years cost? I'm. assuming 2 years, four semesters. Yeah, yes. It's It's 2 years. It's I. think it's 20. I think the total is maybe 40 45. Yeah, it's a lot. So, that's I'm trying. to figure that out at the moment. But, if you think about it, that $45,000 is. probably You're probably not going to. receive $45,000 because you have the.

degree specifically. So, why do it? Cuz it's interesting, I guess. You're You're You're doing it as a want. more than it actually being good for. your life. What pursue this? I do not have the. expertise in that field specifically, but I know for a fact the people that. become the qualified individuals that. travel to different institutions are the. ones who have published, you know,

successful studies and papers, stuff. like that. And do. That's the goal. That That is the goal. But, do you need the degree to do that. specifically? Not necessarily. I do also. want to. continue my craft in my instrument. Yes, but do you need a degree to do that. specifically? I could take lessons, but. Why even Are you good at your. instrument? Yeah. Then, you. Play for different ensembles. around San Antonio. I do. Good. Again, this obsession with.

people in the arts, of which I love the. arts, big supporter of the arts, but the. obsession that it's constantly needing. to be in school, constantly needing to. be going in debt, it's not a necessity. It's not necessarily beneficial for your. life. For your total life. You'll be. putting yourself You've already missed. the best decade of your life for. retirement. Yeah. Now, you're going to. be essentially missing the second second. best decade of your life cuz you're. going to be going to debt for a couple. years. Then, you're going to spend all. the time trying to get out of the debt.

and all that stuff cuz I doubt the. whatever they're going to pay is going. to fully cover it and all that stuff. What was your scholarship amount? Uh it. was only a thousand for semester per. semester. Yeah. I don't think there's any convincing you. out of this though. That's the issue. No, like I'm I'm I'm open to. suggestions. Like The suggestion is you. don't go. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Uh but, I also do know that I can. teach I teach private lessons as well. and that can be really lucrative. It can be. That doesn't mean let's go. into debt. True. Or or let's go just.

Even if you fully cash flow it, again, the return on investment doesn't make. sense, mathematically speaking. Yeah. I. know. You can do this stuff, man. Some of the. best composers I personally know have. like a bachelor's degree in composition. That's what I was really into. Um Some, yes, they do get the masters. Some, yes, they go get the whole enchilada with. um you know, uh doctorate and. everything. Fantastic. You don't need it. though. You don't need it to be successful at. your craft.

One of the best tuba players I know in. the world who is now the. uh. uh tuba player at Kansas City Symphony, uh Joe, shout out to Joe, um. he just has his master's degree. That's. all he has. as far as I know. And I highly doubt he. even needed his master's degree. to go do that. This is cuz he's a bad at. playing tuba. Be a bad at playing. violin. Be a bad at conducting research. successfully and accurately and writing.

papers correct uh writing papers in a. way that uh I'm just I'm losing the. terms I want to have. In a way that they are dignified and. qualified in any way whatsoever. You. know, you're following the proper. methods methods essentially. Peer reviewed. Just peer review everything, whatever. you have to do. Not necessarily needing. a $45,000 piece of paper behind you. while you're doing it. Just. Dude, I promise for your life, financially speaking, which is what this. channel's about, you do not need this.

Please, please. Plus, you're giving up a. $60,000 a year job while you are trying. to pay off $47,786. of debt, none of which is going to be. forgiven. None. Thoughts? No, well, that's why I came here for. like reality check. So, I. I agree that it's it's not going to be a. it's not a. good.

um financially I it's not a financially. sound path. No, it is not. Yeah. That's. Yeah. Cuz you're going to be forced to be. working in your like 70s and 80s if you. keep going down this road. Yeah. All right, you're bringing $4,500 a. month. Well, let's make you a little. budget and get out of this mess. Tell me. that you will do anything and everything. in your power to get out of debt. Button. Russian. I'm not that good. Oh. See, this dude. This dude comes walking into the office.

I'm not fluent. This dude Brandon, step. in front for a second. Peak, say hi. He's He's behind the camera and he's the. editor. Uh and this dude comes walking in and. all of a sudden I I come in after. scrunching my hair and they're both just. speaking in Russian and German and I. have no idea what's going on. $4,500 a month. Okay. So, with that we have $850 of rent. and we are putting this on a pie chart. for all y'all to follow along or.

watching the video and not just. listening. For $850 a month for rent, what are your different insurance, you. know, renter's insurance and car. insurance? What are those monthly costs? Uh car insurance is a hundred and see, hundred fifty a month. And then, Renter's probably like what, 10, 15, 20? Yeah, about that. I'm going to call it. like a hundred seventy-five for. insurances. Then, uh health insurance, how much do I pay? It comes out of my check. Yeah, it comes out of your check. We're. We're working with posts. Okay, yeah.

Okay, yeah. hits your checking account. So, uh utilities? Paid for. Oh, okay. Okay. Yeah, lucked out. And let's think of like your phone bill. and other subscriptions that you have. What do you think? a month uh for yeah, 45 a month. Uh. subscriptions and internet and stuff. Internet is 65. and then, let's see, Netflix, I just do like set it down to. it's like thing nine.

$9 or $9.99, whatever the second lowest. one is. Um. Okay, so we're going to do like. uh subscriptions and utilities. essentially cuz phone, internet, stuff. like that. We'll call it like a hundred. twenty. That sounds about right. Just Just be extra safe. Okay, any other monthly expenses you are. forced to pay in order to survive? Netflix isn't one by the way. It was. only nine bucks. not a need. Yeah. Um, I was thinking about just canceling.

it. Um. I don't think so. Okay. Yeah, I don't. pay anything else monthly. Gas, how much. in gas? Um, I do. maybe $60 a month on gas. Cool. $850 for rent, $175 for different. insurances, $120 for utilities, phone, all that stuff, $60 for gas. That's a. budget. Then we have minimum monthly. payments right now. Oh, what was that number we had? Oh, it's 1,000 bucks. 1,016, yeah, 1,016. 116, so 1,016 for.

debt minimum monthly payments. Then we're going to give you cuz guess. what? Eating is a necessity. $300 for. groceries. Okay, so now with all those. categories put together, in order to for. you to survive, $2,521. a month. Yeah? Sound good? That's without student. loans. Student loans could, you know, start back up in the summer and stuff. like that. We'll just see what happens. We don't know for now. So And then I have 125 that I take out. per month for savings. Nope. I just.

started that right now. Incorrect. Okay. Cool. How much do you have in savings right. now on the side? None. That's why I wanted to start. You literally just started it? Okay. So this is where I think this snowball. method does work best for you. We want. to cover your minimum monthly payments. uh. for at least a month. So with this, the 4,500, 2,500 is gone. We have. uh. $2,000 left.

So with the $2,000, and this is if you. go strict, which you should cuz if you. know how bad debt is and how much better. it is on the other side when you can. start saving for retirement and all this. stuff. Once you know. how important this all is, you are. willing to go to the extremes and not. spend money on fun. You can have fun. Doesn't cost money. Or you can have. other people pay for fun, you know, depending if they really want to do it. and they're your friends or family and. stuff like that. So. in this situation, $2,000 of month. number one, guess what? $2,000 goes into. a savings account.

Woo! Good. Okay. The next month, $500 goes into a savings. account. Woo! But we have $1,500 left. Why do we do this? Because your minimum. monthly expenses, what are needed for. you to survive, that will cover it. That $2,500, you know? I would I would. preferably go to two months, but $5,000, you know, we need to start attacking. these debts. So $2,500, it'll put a fire. under your butt cuz it's not much to. live off of if something were to happen. So $2,500,

we have month number two, $1,500 left. What we do with that? Snowball method, perfect, absolutely. Core. I know it's not accumulating interest. But we kill it. $1,200 gone. Okay. Cuz. this frees up some minimum monthly. payments. If we were worried about. interest, we'd be worried about interest. if you had insanely high balances on. things. We could talk about refinancing, different methods. But right now you. have. reasonable. balances on things and minimum monthly.

payments are what's sucking you dry cuz. you have a lot of different accounts. So. $1,200 gone of the $1,500. So now you. have $300 left in month number two. $300. goes to your Apple card. That brings it. down to 1,000. Okay. Now you have $2,000. again. Starting month number three. Of the. $2,000, 1,000 goes to Apple card. It's. gone in month number three. Then $1,000.

goes to Capital One, leaving it with. $749. Okay. So month That was month number three, right? So month number four of your. $2,000, and you're going to have a. little more now because your minimum. monthly payments are, you know, less. So. but essentially $2,000, you know, 800. bucks goes to Capital One, boom, paid. off. Now you have $1,200. Where do we. put that? We put it towards Citi. And then with Citi, uh you're going to.

go from Citi to. Discover. Mhm. Essentially paying those from Citi to. Discover with $2,000. That'll take us from. Now beginning of the month of month five. going to take an additional seven and a. half months. Okay. So now we're on year. number two. We're starting year number. two. Of that. So that takes us a full year. But congratulations, after that full.

year. you only have the car debt. and you only have the student loan debt. That's awesome. Your credit cards are gone in a year. But that's if you go insane, and you. should go insane because this is insane. Agreed? Agreed, very much so. Bless, good. Good, good, good. So from here, student loans. I it determines with the interest. What. What are Do you know what the interest. rates are on those when they start back. up? I know they're low, but I don't know.

how. low to you? Like two? Oh, if they're two, then we're paying. off the car as quick as possible because. it is above 4% interest. So with this, you're going to have $3,000 left now cuz. the minimum monthly payments for those. things are mostly gone. No, you're going. to have a thousand No, $2,500 extra now. So of the $15,000. of your car loan, hopefully it'll be a. little less by then, but you know, we'll. see. Yay, six months. So we're a year. and six months in.

And your all your credit cards are gone. and your car is gone. Student loans, if they are below 4%, this is what I would do personally. I. would do the minimum monthly payments. until they're paid off. Okay. If they're above 4%, I would try to. tackle them sooner. Yeah, I'm pretty. sure they're not though. Yeah. Okay. I'm. pretty sure. With your living situation, I'm going to say emergency fund around. $15,000 is good. You already have $2,500. saved up. So we need to get an extra. $1,200 or uh 10. $12,500.

saved up. And with your minimum monthly payments. gone except for student loans. potentially around then, we should have. an extra about $3,000 to do. So your. emergency fund will be fully funded in. about four months. So now we are talking. uh a year and 10 months from the start. of when you start this. You know, there's things that determine. quite a few things that happens. throughout here. That sentence was a while. I'm very.

hungry. Okay. Either way. what matters, do you actually go crazy? You should cuz this is insane. That's. the intention. Good. And do you go to. grad school? That is a big determining. factor here. Cuz the income. The answer is no. If you want to, you can do it at this. point. Not this point. I would say maybe. an extra six months at this point cuz. you should say you you should continue. going crazy to save up the money to cash. flow what is needed for grad school. You can delay it two years.

For what's important for the rest of. your life in being set up for the rest. of your life, two years is worth it. Yes? Yeah. If you do this now, you're delaying this. all. Interest is still going to accrue. and this is going to be like a 10, 20-year operation. You know, depending on how things look. Cuz you'll be taking on more debt and. allowing this to all accrue. So That. sucks, but. That's how it's laid out. You know, if. you want to go to school, it's probably. a two-year operation of not having fun. once that costs money.

If If you don't end up going to school. at this point, then, you know, I'd look. at. uh. you know, your pension plan that is. available and what you want to have by. retirement and what you need to save on. the side. Probably an extra 10, 15% as. well on the side. I'm I'm going aggressive right now with. my 403b and then the TRS as well. Beautiful. So whatever you have to do at. that point, we'll just have to But I. mean we're so far away from there, there's really no point of even having a. conversation, but.

it's dire. Medical diagnosis is stage four. debt. Please. You have the opportunity to do well in. your life. It just requires a little bit. of sacrifice now. Please. Grad school, what are your thoughts on. that right now? After this whole thing, please. I'm less convinced of going. I'm a lot less convinced of going. Um What What are your I I still really. really like I still really want to do.

that cuz it's, you know, And I want you to do what you want to. do. Do it in a smart way though. Yeah, and and that's that's why I came. I. wanted to see like, okay, on paper, what. is it? Cuz, you know, I can think really positive about it and. reason myself out of it cuz I'm that. kind of person, but seeing it on paper. is kind of scary. And you know what? People can make a killing doing lessons. If you do a lot of lessons on top of. this, you could decrease this from a. two-year thing to a year and a half. thing to a year and a quarter thing, depending on how hard you get cuz you. can make a killing off of lessons.

my summer plan is is lessons. Yeah. Well, no, no, I would be doing that. after school. The more you work, the more you make, the quicker you pay this all off. Yeah. It It's really up to you how long you. want this pain to be. It's your choice. It's all in your. hands. So hypothetically, I could cut it in. half. Yeah. You could if you just go. crazy. If you go crazy cuz People What. What What are you charging for lessons. right now for an hour? Uh 35, which I. really low. Yeah. Nope, not even close. Come on. When I was in college, I had.

some composition students who, you know, 50 bucks an hour. And that was years ago. now. Come on. Yeah, I I I charged less than I. would. you know, more kids to learn. So. I I'm overly nice with my money. fine. Do that when you're out of debt. Right now, you. you're able to give so much more to. people and society when you yourself are. taken care of in the first place. When. you do not have to stress about all. these minimum monthly payments and. getting out of this debt, you can give. back more. So, right now, it's the. temporary let's take care of ourselves.

and then for the rest of your life, you. can do free lessons if you want to for. disadvantaged kids and I will be. high-fiving all the way. I will donate. to that. I don't even care. That's. incredible. I love it. Make sure you're in the situation where. you can do that first though. Agreed? Yeah. All right. So, that's the plan of how I. would personally do it cuz I know how. dire it actually is. It's terminal. It's. bad, but I want to hear from your. perspective actually knowing yourself. Be realistic with me. What will you do?

I will most like I will like almost. certainly. be doing that. Like for going very. aggressive. Um cuz I've already kind of shown the. tendency to do that, so I'm going to. go hard on it cuz I I really want to do. all of those things. I want to go to. grad school. I want to be free of debt. I want to. like not have that weight on my back, so. I'll do it. I started in such a happy mood and the. debt has worn me down. I'm sorry. But, I. still love you. You're still a great.

person, so everyone's a great person. Just do this. Better your life. Is there anything else? No. I think that's it. For Florian, that. is one of the hardest situations we've. seen on here so far. Uh it's just so. much debt. It is not going to be a good. hammer financial score, but I really. hope he buckles down for 2 years cuz 2. years is nothing in the grand scheme of. your life. And if he wants to go, he can. cash flow it after 2 years, but right. now, it's a big struggle and there's. really not anything looking up. So,

hammer financial score for Florian, 1 and 1/2 out of 10 just because he does. have a little bit in retirement that he. has been contributing to aggressively. 1. and 1/2 Check out the resources in the. description below and other things like. my Instagram and Twitter. Don't forget. to subscribe. Thanks.