Burning All His Money On… “Apps” | Financial Audit

What's up everyone? I'm Mikey, I'm 29, I'm from Kansas City, and this is. Financial Audit. Welcome down to Austin. What do you do. for a living in Kansas City? Uh, I am a Tableau developer. I Oh, I actually don't know what that. is. What is that? Um, so I It's a It's a software. Um, it's a BI tool. Oh. Uh, so I was a ETL developer before. Yeah. So, Tableau is just a specialized. software. It's uh specifically in data. visualizations and big data sets. Oh, okay. Yeah, I didn't work in the.

data part when I came to my. uh past. So, that's that's really cool. So, developer in that. Probably making. decent money then, right? all right. Yeah. Well, okay. What are you bringing in? Uh, 80,000 right now base. 80,000, good. How long have you been in. this position? I just started this one in May. Yeah. So, it's it's been fun. Uh, the last job. I was at, I was an ETL developer and. similar line of work in Kansas City. It. was like 65 there. 65, okay. Wow, so we're going up. Yeah, for sure.

What did you get a degree or. certification in? Uh, so. I was hoping to avoid that one a little. bit. Uh, okay, but I'll I'll just tell. you straight up. Uh, Tell me straight up. in 2019. I have my bachelor's, and I. actually studied finance. Okay. And uh. You were hoping to avoid saying that. because you have a pile of debt? Yeah. Well, yeah, just the this part. But uh And then after I graduated, I. uh. I actually took a bunch of certs and I'm. still in cert courses. You know, I'm I'm. a lifelong learner, so I'm always.

studying. Um, I'll say this though, even though I. studied finance, you know, I shadowed. somebody that was a financial analyst. First thing he told me was, "Hey, you. know, you need to learn SQL." And that. was As an ETL developer, I was really a. SQL developer, right? So, So, it really. got me into the right path. Okay. Yeah, for sure. That makes sense. And you know, I always talk about I like. certifications and stuff like that. I. also like college degrees when done. right, and I talk about course careers. and everything like that for different. tech certifications. So, it's definitely. I mean, it sounds like you've kind of. been on the right path when it comes to. that, but you have not been on the right.

path when it comes to your. Yeah, 29. How long have you been in the career. field? Uh. Just like for the professional career. field I'd say. I um. so, I studied finance and originally I. thought that I wanted to be a like a. financial analyst right now. I told you. I talked to the guy. So, I I found out. that I didn't like the financial side as. much as I did the data side, right? I'm. a data guy but I really am. And so, my. first job was not great out of college.

Um. So, like the first 3 years I I just got. a job that had data in the title and. then I got promoted to a senior role. there. So, it had data in the title. how long though? How long have you been. in the professional. So, 5 years. Why have we built up so. much credit card debt in 5 years? So, yeah. I really I told you what I. made at my last gig, but uh really in. the last year and a half before that I. was making like 30,000. Okay, so $30,000. That's. I'm actually a little surprised that. that's. the salary you went into straight out of. school with a finance degree, but either. way.

okay, so $30,000. Are you just living. well beyond your means or what got you. into all this debt in the first place? Um. So, yeah. Personal loans. Yeah, that was a recent thing. Credit cards. So, I can. Recent. What you do? So, I can explain. So, I. um when I went and got that job in May, um. you know, in my line of work it's not. uncommon. So, I turned in my 2 weeks. notice at my last job and they are a. great company. You got nothing bad to. say about them, but uh you know, they. actually let me go that day. Uh that was. a little bit of a shock. So,

Wait, the day that you were putting in. your 2 weeks? I turned in my 2 weeks notice. get severance? Uh no, they just let me go at the end of. the day. Um. and it was. Yeah, but uh nothing I have got nothing. bad to say about them, but it was fun. while it lasted. You know, that I I went. there, tried it out, and um I just I'm a. big picture guy and I knew that it just. really wasn't going to work for me for. what they did. They didn't do Tableau. Now, I do Tableau only, right? So. Yeah. I uh yeah and so I left there um really. what got me started into this path is uh.

you know this new got job. My first day, so I got let uh laid off. and then the next day this new company. said, "Hey, do you want to go to Vegas. on a work trip for a conference for. Tableau conference?" Which is like if. you're in Tableau, it's like the big. thing. They do it annually. It's you. want to be involved in that. So. I was laid off, so I didn't have as much. money as I thought. I had less than a. thousand bucks to my name. Even though the trip was paid for, you. had to. buy everything yourself and then they. reimbursed you, right? Well, it. trip like four to five thousand dollars. like for like all in all. So.

had maxed out credit cards and. Why'd you do this? Like if even if. things were Okay, if. Why'd I take the trip? Well, yeah. Why'd you choose You didn't. need to though, right? No, no, no. It well, it's well, it was. uh. I thought it was like a sign for real, man. You know, like uh I was really. bummed when I got let go cuz other. people left and they were celebrated, you know, and and me I was just kind of. like. like I I shook my boss's hand and my. direct manager and he was like, "Hey, man, no hard feelings. We'll get you. taken care of. Uh they'll do an exit. interview at some point." But then um.

you know, the director and the VP came. down in like a couple hours later and. they're like, "Yeah, we're just going to. What is this this trip though again? So. if did any of it have to come out of. pocket versus reimbursed? It was all paid for. I just. No, that's not answering the question. then. Why why are you in the Why'd you. take out this personal loan and all this. credit card debt? Yeah, so the personal loan, that's what. I was getting to. Um. So I had maxed out credit cards before. that, right? And um I needed to go on. the trip because it was like essential. for me to get like it was essentially. going to be like a training opportunity, right? Okay. Yeah.

Um. So I had to go to my mom and borrow some. money and then um you know, I was just. not a great thing, you know, like uh. so, it was reimbursed later. Yeah, yeah. So I paid my mom back, but. you know, when when you get let go and. then uh you have like less than a. thousand bucks to your name and rent. everything and all the bills you had to. pay out. So I had like literally nothing. and. Why didn't you have an emergency fund? Uh you know man, I just I really didn't. um. I didn't think about it that way. I was.

living paycheck to paycheck. I just it. is uh I really just found your channel. like in July and that. Ignorance is okay. I mean. I was ignorant. Yeah, I mean I used to I. used to be like I don't need money in. the bank. I'd rather have like silver. and whatever else, you know, like. crypto, all the other stuff. Well, uh your see well, I don't think. your ways have changed too much from. that. Going by your statements, but. Okay, so I see $2,235.70. hits per paycheck. Is this bi-weekly or. semi-monthly? Uh it's bi-weekly and then that one so I.

actually get a stipend for a cell phone. once a month. included in this? Yeah, it's at the top there. It's like. 65 a month they give us for our cell. phone cuz we use our own. versus, you know, in the old days they. used to just give company cell phones. out. So, post taxes. if we even it out throughout the year, that's 58,000 and and you know, retirement and all that stuff, 58,000. $128. Or on average, cuz uh if you're. bi-weekly, you're going to have a couple.

months that are three paycheck months, on average though $4,844. is what comes in on a monthly basis, on. average. Sounds about right, yeah. Yeah. Cool. So. Did you. Okay, so you didn't have a fully funded. emergency fund. You got laid off. What. was the gap between first job, second. job? It's like I turned in my two weeks. notice I was set up to go like two weeks. and start the next one. I didn't have a. gap, you know what I mean? Were you accepted into that position.

already? I literally passed everything. I was I. made sure I was 100% set before I turned. in my two weeks. Okay. Okay, and you had a thousand dollars. saved up. I'm just trying to figure out. out. We have a $21,000 personal loan. So, you had to borrow $21,000 to survive. for 2 weeks? No, so that came because after I took. that out a little after I was already. working because. you know, I I I owed my mom some money. still and uh. Which was supposed to be reimbursed. So, that money should have just gone to her. in the first place. reim- I I reimbursed the a big chunk,

but I still owed like a little less than. half of what I owed her, so. For why? Something different? Uh no, it was it was just like, you. know, I didn't have any money coming in. and then since I didn't. So, you you So, you used. paycheck to paycheck, yeah. But, the money that was reimbursed. specifically to pay for the trip should. just go to pay off the trip, especially. if it's loaned to a family member. That's not something. And also, this shows again not having an. emergency fund is an emergency. You did. not have an emergency, even though you.

had a next job lined up, which is. incredible. 2 weeks, man. We got to be able to get. you to survive for 2 weeks. That. shouldn't be complicated. So, I I I survived the 2 weeks, you. know, and and that wasn't the problem. The problem was I took So, you're asking. about the loan. I took out the loan to. you know, I I was trying to consolidate. the debt. I had I mentioned I had the maxed out. credit card, so I was I was bleeding for. a while, man. You know, I was I was I. had three different credit cards and.

I was making payments, but you know, So, that's a consolidated credit card. credit cards? Well, it's that and a number of other. things and then I owed my mom money and. some other people. So, yeah, I mean, it. was to get it was to kickstart it and. and. If those are consolidated credit cards, why are we still putting money on credit. cards? That's why many people are against. credit card consolidation because people. consolidate their credit card, beautiful. Now, their balance is low on. their credit card, so they just go do. the same exact thing again and build up. the credit card debt. Buddy, first. credit card, there's a previous balance.

of $14,000. Yes, you made a good payment. to it, but then you purchased $1,228 and. then $200 of interest accrued on it, bringing it to $8,902. If $200 is accruing in it on a month in. a month, why are we purchasing a $1,228? Why possibly? So, yeah. Um. Especially after we've. consolidated it. Yeah, I mean, I I took out that that.

loan and I never I I guess it wasn't in. all It wasn't a credit card. consolidation loan. It was a personal. loan, obviously, right? But, my goal was. to pay off as much of the credit cards. And I paid off one of them and this one. I I made some good progress on, but now, you know, I've I've. I I you've seen like you've probably. seen the bank statement it's the money's. all gone now, you know, it's it's I'm. back to square one. I've plateaued, so I. This is why people do not like the. consolid. dation.

$8,902.28. is owed. with a minimum monthly payment of $221. That's a lot of That's a lot of dinero. those right there, Zose. $200 of interest accrued on a monthly. basis. Absolutely disgusting. Your credit score 6. 40-ish. So, I took out that personal loan and. then my credit score went up 50 points. So, you know, that's. credit scores are Yeah, they're. Well, and then that's. still, on this thing uh What is this? What is this? What is this CC bill? Is.

that a credit card bill that you're. paying on a credit card? No, I don't know what that um uh. Oh, is Is that with the disc golf stuff? It's probably another disc golf item. it's a disc golf thing, then guess what? We have $83 of disc golf, then Jimmy. John's, then taquitos, then what's. Queen's Price Chopper? It's a grocery store. Okay, that's chill. Well, I would still. wouldn't put it on a credit card, though. The credit card that we can't. pay off that we have interest in and. you're making a good amount of money. Uh-uh. Marco's Pizza, Paramount Plus. Out of all the subscription services.

they have in the world, Paramount Plus? What are you even doing Paramount Plus? There's nothing to watch on Paramount. Plus. Arby's, eBay, that's going to become a trend. $203 that time, and that's one out of. about a thousand we'll go through. Some. taquitos and Panda Express and Jimmy. John's paying for LinkedIn, which I. guess made sense in your job situation, but why are you paying for LinkedIn. right now? Yeah, it's a fair point. Uh I'll tell. you it was 100% beneficial to me when I. was on the job hunt. But, if you're. saying now that uh.

you know, now I've locked in a job, maybe I should cancel it. It's probably. fair point. Uh so, you know, it's draining $43.73. from you on a monthly basis, and you're. paying $200 in interest on this card, and you can't fully pay it off. Yeah, I'd say it's about time to cancel that. thing. And Jimmy John's, and you know I. like Jimmy John's, so. I like Jimmy John's, I like Panda. Express. We're not doing anything on that credit. card that we cannot pay off. If you feel bad for my blood pressure. right now, you should hit subscribe. because I'm trying to get to 2 750,000. subscribers here, and thank you to.

everyone who has gotten us so close. I. love you all so much, and my blood. pressure has decreased cuz I got excited. for a second. But, now it's going to go up again cuz. we have to talk about the personal loan. So, you Dude, you took out 21 or I don't. even know what you took out, but. Oh, no, no. On July 14th? July 14th, this was a month ago? Yeah, man. Like 2 months ago? So, I'll tell you. I really like. I I just found your channel after like. like literally like a couple weeks after.

that because you know, so I I was I was. I was my back was against the wall, you. know. I was just trying to figure out. what I could do. And you know, like I came from a dark. place and. What dark place? Uh. uh uh uh uh. I um. you know, man, it's. it was tough. Uh you know, I was. I guess to give you an idea, before I. tried to get into my finances to get. them figured out, I had to fix a couple. other things in my life. Um.

you know, I've lost probably 60 lb and I. had to get my mental health right. So, this is At the time I I all admit I I. neglected and ran up my credit card. bills, you know, and but you know, I was. just taking it one day at a time. Uh you know, I was just trying to. survive the day as they say and you. know, now I'm at a point where I I was just. trying to, you know, instead of surviving the day, I'm trying. to build something worth sticking around. for. And so, that's I I I was looking at. this and and I I was just, you know, my.

back was against the wall. It was, you. know, my credit score, if you looked at. it, was just going straight down. So, I. thought, you know, there's no way. I'll be able to cuz I I was draining, right? I was I was paying I was making. payments every month. I was making over. $1,000 in credit card payments every. month and I was making no progress and. I I I took out the loan as a way to. like, you know, kick-start it. So, I I. was able to pay down some of the bills, you know, lower the payments, lower the. util rate, pay back my mom, pay back. everybody, you know, get everything. straight and then.

you know, I was I I I focused on credit. score before. I I just, you know, once I. found your channel, I I it really gave. me a brand new perspective on a lot of. things, especially for like this, you. know, so. and that's really kind of how I got. there, but. Well, congratulations on losing 60 lb. Over how long? Uh it's been about 2 years. That's awesome, dude. So, what makes me. excited about that other than not other. than obviously you improved your health, which is awesome, and I'm trying to do. that as well. Okay, that shows that you. there's you have the ability to buckle.

down, have some true discipline to. improve your life. Having that ability. is incredible. And I that gives me uh. slightly more optimistic outlook on this. whole situation. Slightly? Well, slightly because I look at this. again. It's a $339 minimum monthly payment with. a $20,000 $20,567. personal loan at basically 20% 20 death.

end of the world kill me now. Yeah. percent. Like I said, I I I had a weird. perspective. You know, my credit score. was down. The way I saw it was I needed. help. I don't give a your credit score. I Well, it wasn't just that. It was like. I said, I I I The way I saw it was like. the credit score like I couldn't get a. better interest rate anyway. You know. what I mean? So. Well, I mean with where with where rates. are right now anyway and then yes, you're right. And and so like before I found your. channel, I just, you know, I I would.

have changed my whole approach, right? I. would have, you know, I And when you are. like. I was getting flooded, you know, like I. I looked like an option like and and. then once you start typing like. consolidation like that's all you get, you know, it's you just get flooded with. the bad information. So it was hard to. find the good information, you know, I. was just getting told all this stuff and. I thought that was my best option at the. time. Which which is exactly why this show. exists. You're putting an example out to. everyone who might be considering it who. are in similar situations to yourself. So. Okay, now we're getting back into the.

credit cards again. So we have a. Quicksilver card. Quicksilver at $955. which you should easily be able to kill. Your income situation was $935 and you. made a $200 payment. $200 payment. Awesome. Lovely. Woo. But. then you went and purchased $220. Like. okay, I get it. I get everything you. said is great and the weight loss stuff. is great. If you did that personal loan to. kickstart your situation, why are we.

spending more on a credit card than we. are even putting towards it? I know this. is interest-free for a moment, not for. very long probably. But even still, if we're trying to get. out of the situation and even Yeah, just. found my channel recently. This You. found my channel within the time of this. statement. Why do you put more money on. the balance? Um I guess you know the the 0% interest. is what I justified it with at the time.

But the 0% interest only works if okay, I finance something at 0% and I make the. minimum monthly payments necessary to. pay it off by the time it that 0%. financing is done. You're putting more. money on this. You're keeping the. balance higher. You're making it go. You 0% and it goes. until it's done and that's when the. interest will start accruing. You're. going. No. The pitch shouldn't go higher when I'm. doing that example. The pitch goes down. So,

buddy, it's $100 of eBay and then $120. Okay, we're about to get into a lot of eBay. So, what the are you possibly doing. on eBay? explain. Um. 30% interest. You know what? I actually I can You. know, you had a guy on here and uh. he was a Yu-Gi-Oh! or some or uh a card. collector, right? So, so, so, this is how I found your channel. It's. kind of funny. I I I I'll admit, I was not a big Graham. Stephan guy, but I watched one of his.

reaction videos to you and it was that I. think it was that one and he said. something like, "Don't collect Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. You guys should be collecting old. money." So, all the eBay stuff, man, I I. have a coin collection. Um that's. actually something not accounted for in. there. What's it worth? Probably I mean, what what I'd be. willing to sell or what I what it's all. in total? What is it worth? Probably 4,000. Okay. Stop. Yeah. Stop. Well, yeah. I mean, it's been it's been.

over years, but I I mean, yeah, it's. just something I I don't know. I I I. I mean, I have one if you want to see. it, but I mean, it's uh. On you? Yeah. Oh, sure. I'll see it. This is for credit card people only. If. you're not a credit card person, close. your ears. People always ask me what. credit cards do I use personally or what. credit cards should they use in specific. instances. I've partnered with. CardRatings to create specific list of. good credit cards based on specific. situations. So, we have the best no.

annual fee credit cards, the best travel. credit cards, the best secured credit. cards, and the best credit cards for. people who have no existing credit. So, to check out those list that we've. specifically curated, head down to the. description below. I mean, so yeah, it's a. You know, I I and the basis was I I I. did always try and just justify it, right? You know, like the basis is like. at a minimum in Japan or China. China, yeah. The the panda, that's the panda. coins are like super famous among coin. collectors, but um. So, and and that one's really cool. because it's got like a case that's like.

colored, you know, normally they're just. boring white ones, but the justification. I guess I always used for myself was. like, you know, at a minimum, if nobody cares about the. coin or or the grade, you know, cuz that. one's graded. Uh if nobody cares about. that, at a minimum, it's got a silver. price. Really cool, but I say I give about your. future. And if you were in the place. where you didn't have debt and minimum. monthly payments and interest accruing. and things were going towards investing.

and you had 30% of your money, if not. more, to spend on fun based on your. needs, buddy, you could put so much more money. towards this awesome lovely collection. of pandas on on pieces of round metals. I'm all about that. Do whatever you. want. When you can do it, you're not. there yet, and you could do it so much. more if you actually sacrifice now in. order to get there. Thought you were about to say it was all. Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, but. No, no, no. So, so that's why I was he. And I and that's I saw Graham and he's.

like, "If you're going to collect it, collect money." and then I I I didn't. like his stuff before, but I I I I like. you did, Graham? See what you did? I I. liked him after that. You know what? I. changed my perspective on him, too. And. then I started watching some more of his. videos cuz, you know, as I got in this. hole and was, you know, just trying to. figure out my situation and what I could. do, I realized the ones he was reacting. to, I like yours the best. So, that's. kind of what stumbled me onto your. channel. Oh, thank you. It's not a competition. But. No, no, no, but that's just how I got. drawn in. See what you caused, Graham? $896.01.

on a Capital One with a $62 minimum. monthly payments. Your minimum monthly. payments are stacking up. You made a. huge payment. You didn't fully pay off. the balance. No. I I paid it off now. Um that since then, yeah. This has no balance on it. This has no balance now. Good. And the moment of this card. though, still, you didn't pay off the. full balance and you made $394 of. purchases and $53 of interest accrued, bringing it to a $900 balance. This was. what's Invicta stores. Oh, gosh. Uh those those are watches. But I It wasn't a It wasn't all on a.

watch. other things. But yeah. Which he would also say is probably a. good buy eventually. Does it make sense. when you have a 30% debt? No. No. I don't really know much about watches. I'm an Apple Watch boy. But do Apple. Watches on average accrue 30% a year? No. I I don't know. I don't like I I. don't have an iPhone or Apple Watch. No, no, no. Not Apple Watches. Do those. accrue at 30% a year? No, I mean, but this is I mean, it's. it's a relatively inexpensive watch. What is that? And how much did it cost?

I I It's just like one of their diver. watches. It's only like 100 bucks. What's your most expensive watch? Only like 100 120. Okay, so you went and bought four. watches? No, I bought a case with it. So. Okay, well, that's not going to. appreciate, is it? No. Or maintain value. What's a used case? Unless it's from like. Well, it's to store. Frank Sinatra or something. but yeah. And then some potential tequilas and. Great Clips, that's fine. But. Oh, the good news is hey, you hey, life changed. You know, I lost weight. I. also no longer so 50 bucks a month we.

can save in the budget. I no longer go. to Great Clips or anything. Yeah, okay. So, you spent $394, $357 of it again on. watches. It's not going to be competing with your. credit cards and personal loan and even. a personal loan at 20% interest. It just. doesn't make sense. Then we have student loans. Yeah. Where did you go to school? Doesn't matter, but. University of Missouri-Kansas City. Cool. Very cool. The Kangaroos.

Sure. $21,412.23. So, I went to community college first. and I actually got a scholarship and you. know, they offered the best rate. They. took most of my credits and so it was a. very educated decision, right? Okay. Minimum monthly payments are. starting out 250 bucks probably. Have. you set up automatic payments yet? Not yet. Go ahead and do that cuz you have just a. couple couple days. Um. yeah, and but your highest interest rate. is five and then your lowest is just. below four, so. We'll we'll we'll we'll talk about the.

student loans when it comes to that. Now, Cash App, you do a lot of your uh. spending through Cash App? Yeah, so. But 30 32 dollars of fees in that month. just alone. Yeah, so so. so so the fees are are from Bitcoin cuz. you can buy Bitcoin on Cash App. But but. listen, listen. I I I. I'm listening. I I I I found your channel and you said. something you were like, "Hey, having. money in crypto is not an emergency. fund." That was my emergency fund, so I. would just toss some into Bitcoin and. then you know, I had like I had close to.

like $800 in there as as my emergency. fund, but then. I opened a high-yield savings and uh. yeah, I switched it out. I sold the. Bitcoin and then. You have zero dollars of Bitcoin now. Zero dollars of Bitcoin. Good, cuz that is not an emergency fund. What were you doing in here? You're. getting taquitos and coffee. I don't. know what uam. d. is, but. maybe doctor of some kind. Either way, good scent subscription. No, it's it's not a subscription that.

subs. It's a. Sorry, yeah, that's that's food. Sammy's. Stikitos. and there's yourself selling the Bitcoin. that you're putting in then you and. purchase Bitcoin and then. So this is interesting. As someone who. is a subscriber to Hinge Premium Plus. Extra Extreme. like deluxe. You okay. We have some things to figure out here. Like you go hard I I thought me just. having a subscription to that was wild.

enough, but dude, you're paying $32 for. Bumble here, $16 to Bumble there. Let's keep going and then we'll come. back through some of these other. purchases eventually. But I know we saw a good amount. Yeah, where is it? Tinder, we're giving $38 there. Bumble, $16 to Bumble. We're giving a.

lot of money to Bumble. How successful. is all these dollars that you're. throwing at Bumble? Um I canceled the subscription, but. yeah, I mean. So you're buying the. what? Super Swipes? No, no, I mean like I I'm I mean yeah, I. did at one point, but I I I canceled all. of it now. So I don't buy it anymore. Well, there's the cancel the. reoccurrings, but you can still go on. there and purchase one time. Sure, yeah, but those were what some of. those were. You know man. The boost and the. super swipe. It's pay to win, right? I mean you got.

to. Well, did you win? I mean. I'm I'm not dating anyone, but you know, I met some people absolutely. You know, it's it's kind of weird on the dating. apps. People are weird on them. They do Morgan Freeman impressions in. British. Well, I ain't I don't. We don't have to get into all of but I. it's just. You also spend like 50 bucks a month on. OnlyFans. Yeah, okay, listen. So, that's not every. month. It It was It was I I think I know.

what you're talking about. There was. like one weekend when there was like It. was a bad weekend. I I uh. You know, you. you're giving me a look. You can't kick. a man while he's down, right? I So-. Something happened and. I'm going to say is there's a. There's free stuff. Yeah, there's free stuff, yeah. That's all I'm going to say. Would I go. spend $50 like. I had a money spending problem. Like. There's some dot com options, I promise. Smoothie King, McDonald's, Chipotle.

DoorDash and Mr. Green and some taquitos. and DoorDash and Outback taquitos and. House. DoorDash and there's the Bitcoin stuff, some VOV and OnlyFans and OnlyFans and. food at Pizza Wall, Bitcoin, eBay $129, eBay $23, eBay $65. and some taquitos and coffee and there's. your tender.

Bitcoin, taquitos, Hulu subscription. yearly maybe 77 bucks or cable might. might be cable. I It was the cable, but I I've recently. switched that off. So, it's down now. Do you feel, I'm curious, just be as. honest as you can be, addictive. tendencies to those watchy watchy. X. No, um. naughty things? No, no, I just I. That's a lot of money to spend, but. maybe that's just what people do these.

days. is tough. I. I. I I uh. That's not going to cure loneliness, man. Paying 50 bucks on the OF. No, it won't. Yeah, but go ahead. No, I mean, that's you know, it's tough, you know, you you. spend a lot of time, you know, you just. deep hole, I I guess, you know, you just. go down the hole, I guess. I don't know. Okay. So, in another checking account, we have $181. And this looks like where. the bills are coming out of. That's a. very low risky balance. Yeah. Now, a lot of the stuff we don't know.

where your spending went is cuz Cash App. went out, Cash App went out, Cash App. went out. Then we withdrew $420. of monies from the ATMs, so we don't. know where that went. And Cash App went. out, and Venmo went out, Cash App out, Cash App out, Cash App out, Cash App. out, Cash App out, Cash App out, Cash. App out. That went to your Cash App. stuff, of course. But the ATM. withdrawals we don't know, and the Cash. App out. Did the ATM money go? I think one was a tattoo, and you know, just split a life. What's more important, paying off a 20.

to 30% debt or a tattoo? Why don't you. tattoo 30% on your skin? That'll remind. you how bad the debt is. Yeah. Why? Listen, um. thought of that way. a new Bumble picture? No. Man, this is. I don't know, the spendings just on wild. things. It's just out of control. It's. just those extra things. Plus,

I don't know, man. It's There's a lot of thoughts going. through my head. This other bank account, 350 bucks. And. it was just mostly transferring things. to accounts. Yeah, I should probably just close that. one. 1,290 in Capital One. high yield. I think it's a what, like 4.1% these. days? It's like 4.3 or something like that. 4.5 is so fine. That's all I'm saying. Yeah, I I. uh. It was I guess I just put it on there. because I had the other Capital One. accounts, you know. a bad one. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And so, I would just, you.

know, it it I would go in, and now I'm. like constantly checking it, right? So, it's kind of like. Why? So, I I don't know, it's kind of like a. motivation to like pay off the other. credit card, you know? So, I'll see all. the balances, and then. What's in there right now? Uh, that's the most recent balance and. then uh um. It's like 1,200 some uh yeah. Yeah, so we have uh in retirement a 401k. 1,190. and it's a target date retirement fund. Lovely. And Fidelity is this.

So that's that's from the old company. the. Roth IRA? Uh, I just haven't explored those. options yet. Oh man, I would have explored cuz. getting that started before 30 but. you're already basically there. I just turned 29 so I still got a year. to figure it out, right? So it's 370 bucks from this one and this. one's mostly just yeah well diversified. at the new one, yeah. Yeah, it's also a target 2060. Okay. Well, and to be fair, I had more in the. other one but yeah um you know, if you.

don't stay for the vesting balance. period, I guess you know, yeah, I got. hurt there. You've made changes to your health and. you've done things there. That's great. You've been successful on the discipline. thing. The spending on that OF, the spending on. the dating apps, the spending on the. tattoo, the spending on the. coins and stuff and the watches and all. this stuff that is even if things at. least maintain or even appreciate a bit. is it going to keep up with a 20 to 30%?

I don't think so. Are you ready to. change cuz we're going to lay out we're. going to lay out what's actually. necessary but it only matters and I'm. only going to use my time here doing it. and these people's time if you're. actually going to listen to what I say, make action and change and then come. back and give us success. Yeah, no, I mean that's that's the whole. reason I found you and and like I said, I learned the most. from like people who are like. like-minded with me but have different. perspectives and different inputs to. offer, you know, it kind of ties into.

like the lifelong learning thing. I'm. I'm never close-minded. I'm always open. to new ideas and new thoughts. Um I took. out that loan and I actually made. an extra payment just to kind of see. I mean I the goal all along was to pay. off that personal loan before the the. term, right? But the pro. and you know, I I was just always going. to make. the thought process with the credit. cards was I had I'd always carried a. balance and I couldn't couldn't seem to. beat it, right? So that's why I took out.

the loan and with the loan it helped me. close like destroy one of the balances. you've been spending on them anyway and. there's a couple you haven't paid off. You paid off one, but we're just. transferring so we can continue. around. That's not That's not progress. No. We need to stop looking for shortcuts. Yeah, it was definitely a shortcut I'd. say. Like I said it I I had I had. you've extended your road in fact cuz. you then built up the balances still on. the cards. So, no more shortcuts. We're.

going to lay out a budget. We're going. to attack it and go hard just like you. did with your health over the course of. 2 years. Hopefully we can tackle this. quicker because you have a strong income. and that income should only go up. So, whether that be job hopping or you. know, more money's through raises and. everything like that. So, $4,188. just went out on just what we considered. other large purchases. That's $1,520. of ATM withdrawals, Venmo'd out 83.

bucks. Great Clips again, that's fine. DMV, you're going to do that. You did a. certification type thing which is great. American Airlines, was that to come. here? American Airlines, let me. I don't know. We had uh aa.com. Um, no, I'm not sure what that one is. actually. I'd have to look into that. Under 34 bucks which our travel. reimbursement will cover. that for sure. But and then unknown. draws 800 bucks cuz we just don't know.

and different points of service. withdrawals of 1,352, we don't know. So, yeah, I mean, it was a weird month, right? As the cuz I took out that loan. and then I I had money was on fire to. me, you know? I took out the personal. loan. happened. This just happened. I took it out in July and and it So, like, I had it like a large starting. balance. those all that that we don't even know. We don't even know those 40% of your. money. 40% of your money was just. And then extra miscellaneous bull.

taquitos and just whatever. uh OF and Tinder and Bumble and eBay and. a couple extra stores and Fashion Nova. 19.2%. percent of your spending, which was. $2,000. And then subscriptions 1.5% not. including the dating apps. And. bull food 4.1% of the. 4.1% of your spending. Not a crazy.

percentages, but if we add up all this. money, it is more than you are bringing. home on a monthly basis. Cuz guess what? What we said you're bringing in $4,844. on average? $4,118. was just burned. So, no wonder the. balances on the credit cards just go up. You're spending double You're spending. You're spending triple. Triple If this. is how much money you bring in, this is. how much money you bring in on this. month itself with where money went, you spent. Of the money that you spent, 33% of it. actually came in to spend.

Don't forget you have until the end of. this Friday to fill out the survey near. the top of the description below to win. $250. Four lucky people will be selected for. that prize. We're just trying to become. educated on who our audience is. And. then we'll be keeping you up-to-date. with exciting things going on here. End. of this Friday, $250 for four people. At. least from the math that we were able to. make up, you're right, not every month. is the same. But out of the month we looked at, Yeah, it was it was a weird month. Like. I said, I out that loan and I was. planning to make steady payments and I I.

I was making steady credit card payments. and trying to just balance everything. else. All I'm saying is I can make a budget, but if you go and spend 66% more money. than comes in, there is no point of even. having that conversation. Cuz we can. make a budget, but that's just one. thing. Then you have to follow it and. you have to actually do what's. necessary. I'm I'm here for the budget. I'm all. Like I said, I'm ready for. you followed it more than like a month. or two? Absolutely. If you If you could lay. something out and said, you know, 6. months to a year you got to.

You got to suffer for a little bit and 6. months to a year you can be done with. this and that and only will have to. worry about students, I would do it in a. heartbeat. I would I would. Done. Let's do it in that heartbeat. What is your rent? Uh so I I have three roommates right. now. portion? 450. That is incredible. Everyone move to Kansas City apparently. Well, so where I'm at it's actually. really expensive to live, but my buddy. owns the house. Um. the the area I live in is pretty. affluent. Um It's on the Kansas side. It's It's honestly I was looking online.

What Kansas? No, it's it's comparable to uh Austin to. where I have to give you an idea of the. cost of living. Really? Yeah, really. Um I I I did one of the. calculators. Um it said 80,000 in Kansas. City to make the same you'd have to make. 82,000 in Austin. I didn't do a lot of. looking into that. That was just like. this morning before I was coming here. I. was just kind of looking at it. Okay, and your your portion of utilities. and na na na on average? Probably 150. Your phone bill? Um So yeah, it's it's 100 flat, but I.

get 65 as a stipend. So it's really like. 30, you know. Right, but we're going to call it 100. flat because we included in your income. that stipend, so. Beautiful. Car, you don't have a car. payment. No, it's paid off. Good. What's your car insurance? Uh it's like 55 a month. Therapy? Yeah, I'm in that. Uh is that 125 a month? 125 a session? That's great. There's probably like. 60, maybe I'd say.

80 in prescription medications as well. with that. So, probably like 200 a month on average. for therapy and medications. Yeah, about 205. Okay. Good. All about it. All about it. Groceries, how do you do it with your. roommates and everything? Is it. individual? our own, yeah. Okay, I'm giving you $300. 300 for groceries. This is meal prepping. twice a week. Lots of the same, not. thrilling meals, but it's the temporary. sacrifice we do.

I did meal prep for a long time, man. That's uh it's you know, you had to. develop healthy habits to. after you've lost weight that you've. been gaining weight at all? No, I I. I'm pretty steady, you know, it's all. about developing healthy habits. Like I. said before. just saw a lot of eating out, so I just. wanted to make sure. Well, it was a weird month and like I. said, I thought money was on fire cuz I. took out that. Every month is going to be a weird month. in every other in a different way. for sure. No, I agree. Um but it's just. like. since I had it I I thought since I took. out the loan I was like, I need to spend. all this money, right? Because I just. took out the loan. I can't have like.

5,000 sitting in the bank from the loan, otherwise why did I take out the loan, you know? So, I had to spend it all on. the credit card, so. Oh. So, I was I guess that's why the. spending was a little crazy as well, you. know, cuz I had to. you know, money was on fire in my mind, I guess. And. Oh, okay. Yep, there's the. prescriptions. Cool. So, um toilet. paper, anything else you need to. survive, toothpaste, all that crap. Keeping the world operating in your. life, 100 bucks. So, use that what you need to for that.

I'd stop taking money out and spending. it. I want to be able to track. everything. Unless unless you want to. fully either fully operate on cash that. you are doing like an envelope system. where things are designated or just. operate on the debit card so you can. track within a budgeting system where. money is going cuz it's hard to do both. together. Yeah, for sure. I definitely need to I I. was. Storage you have to continue? Was that. like phone storage? Yeah, I I I do have to continue the. phone storage. have $151 in subscriptions. This is. storage, Hulu, Spotify, uh that CCB, which you said you.

canceled. Paramount Plus and LinkedIn. This is what I'm going to allow. I'm going to allow for $12 a month in. subscriptions. Spotify's got to stay, yeah. Then it's Spotify and storage, and. that's it. Cool. Spotify and storage, those are the only. subscriptions you have. I'm good with getting more. certifications and all that stuff. Uh do. you want to have that in a monthly. budget? How often do you do them, or is. that like a quarterly thing? By annual? So, the way this this one that I was. using, you can actually go on there and. try their certificates and courses for a.

week, and then. you know, after the week's up, then you. would pay that fee. So, that one was. just like I forgot to cancel it before. the week was up, you. Um. Okay, is there anything else that needs. to be in your budget besides your debt. minimum monthly payments? No. Let's see, car, phone. Yeah, no. Uh. Mom's fully paid off? Yeah, mom's fully paid off. That's the. first thing I did. This is with student loan starting next. month, so there's no reason not to. include it in the budget. $835.

a month is your debt. It's a crazy number. What you need to survive is $2,367.01. It's not an insignificant number. Your. rent is cheap, that's what's good. But. if it's in the 50/30/20 with those. incre- incredible, insanely high debt. payments, so it's actually I'm very. happy that you're in that below 50% for. your needs. So, with that, you would.

have. on an average month. $2,476.90. left. That's Yeah. So, let's just call it 200 or 2,476. dollars. Lovely. So, that's what you have left on. a monthly basis. You have What was it in savings again? What was that number? Uh it's like 1,300. Okay. So, we're doing first month. This month is almost done, so let's call. it October Let's call it No, October is.

next month. Okay. We're going to call setting a thousand. dollars of that 2,470 dollars aside, and. then you have a fully funded one month. emergency fund in case anything happens, so you don't have to. like you did last time. Okay, lovely. The additional 1,470. dollars or so that you will have. Quicksilver card is paid off. It's done. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh. Wait, are you saying I. The The one that I have left, yeah, yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, yeah, I.

can. That one's done. Unless let's call that. the end of that month just to be. conservative with the emergency fund and. stuff like that, and just adapting to. the new budget. Okay, cuz there's going. to be you're going to figure out that. there was oh, there's another expense. that has to be in life. Just make sure it's not both. Put it in. there. Some things might be less, some. things might be more. So, we'll call. that. you know, the first two months of wiggle. room. Full one month emergency fund and the. Quicksilver card is paid off. Now, we're. going to start attacking the Discover it. card. It's going to be about 8,700.

dollars at the time cuz just the. interest and the minimum monthly. payments are nothing. So, divide that by your. 2,006 dollars, you now have 2,000. Never mind. Divide that by your 2,000. 500 do you now have left on a monthly. basis cuz that minimum monthly payment. from Quicksilver is gone. That'll take three and a half months. So, we're going to round it up again,

just play a little conservative. So, we've completed month number five. We've completed month number five. Personal uh the Discover it card is. done, the Quicksilver card is done, and. we have a one month emergency fund. Now, we're probably going to have about. $19,000 of the personal loan. And we are going to have approximately. $2,000. $700 to attack it on a monthly basis, bringing that to 7 months. Uh that's.

going to be that's going to take a total. of 7 months. To to to pay off the credit card. Personal loan alone. So, this is 12. months, a full year. Full a full year, your personal loan is gone, Discover it. is gone, Quicksilver is gone, and we. have a one month emergency fund. That's nothing. A year of your life, who. gives? You're 30. Lovely, there's. decades and decades of your life yet. left. So, that's just a little sacrifice. just to get that. Now, what you need to. survive has all of a sudden decreased to.

about $1,750 bucks a month times it and. you're going to adjust that when you get. a more expensive rent eventually. Yeah, it's coming soon. That's going to be an $11,000 emergency. fund. That's really all you need. $11,000 six month emergency fund, you're. going to subtract. your. th-. $11,000, subtract the $2,300 you have saved up on. the side, so you need an additional. $8,700. We're going to divide that by the 2,000.

no, $3,000 you have left on a monthly. basis now, which is awesome. That's. going to take just 3 months. So, a year. and 3 months, all your bad debts are. gone and you have a fully funded six. month emergency fund. A year and 3. months. No going out and going and having a. bunch of bull fun. No, we have free fun. If we go out with the boys, the boys pay. for the drink. That's how it goes. So, 1 year. 3 months.

Now, we have the student loans, 4 to 5%. What I'm doing is I need you to catch up. on investing cuz you basically have. nothing in investing yet. What you're doing is you're setting. aside. 25%. of your money on a monthly basis to. retirement. So, would you say like right now, should I. just like not put anything into like the. 401k and then wait. 401k, what's the match? It's half of what they match half of. uh what you put in up to 6%. So, if you.

put in six, you get three. I'd still do that cuz that's a 50%. return on your money and that's higher. than anything else you're getting. So, I. would at least keep that, but I wouldn't. do anything extra. Okay. So, what we're doing at that time, 50% of. your money goes towards your needs. If. you're continuing the same situation, your needs are actually going to be less. than that, which means you can have more. fun, but either way, you're maxing out. your needs at 50%. That's what you need. to survive. Those are the necessities. 25% minimum on a monthly basis is going. towards investing to start playing. catch-up. You're doing the minimum.

monthly payment on the student loans. until they're paid off and you're for. that 10 years cuz you're going to do a. traditional repayment plan. That is included in your needs. Whatever. is left over, which should be about 25, 25 to 30 to 35% of your money based on. if your needs are a full 50 or less, can be spent on fun. You can go you can. start the extra collections again. If. those they surely maintain value or they. might go up, but that's still kind of. fun money to me. That's not going to. beat the S&P 500 probably. So, the. investing we're not considering that a.

part of. So, whatever you want to spend. your money on, if that's DoorDash, if. that's whatever, your fun money is your. fun money. Spend it on what you want as. long as we're doing 25% on investing and. no more than 50% on your necessities of. life. So, probably 25 to 30 to 35% of. your money can be fun again. But, that's not after. a year and 3 months, which is when all. the bad debt is gone and you have a. fully funded 6-month emergency fund. People always ask me what high-yield. savings account do I use for my own. money? Some of you know by now it's.

Sofi. I love them. It's great for my. checking account needs. It's great for. my high yield savings account needs. And. right now I'm getting 4.5% interest on. my money. I love that rate on my money. So if you want to get a great rate like. that on your money, just check out the. link in the description below. I have a. paid affiliate link there. You can get. bonuses all the way up to $250 and I. took advantage of that and you should. too. Now around until then. The exciting thing is a year and 3. months from now, I want you to sit right.

there again. I want you to sit right there again and. then we celebrate. We go, "I've been. doing this for about a year and 3. months." So double the time I've been. doing this channel and you should be. here again. 2024, huh? Let's do it, man. I think that would be actually, yeah. Yeah, but doesn't this sound incredible? That's life changing. I. I that's why I wanted to see what you. would say and I'll tackle it. Um. It's really good when you say like I. don't know. I I tried to crunch the. numbers myself and come up with ways. I. just couldn't.

balance it all, I guess. It's it's it's sometimes hard and. getting an outside perspective can be. helpful and it's again the conversations. I have here are the conversations I. would someone had with me a decade 11. years ago or so. So. that's really good. And then if you want. to attack the student loans, you can. I. just want you to start catching up on. investing because I'm a little nervous. of that and I don't want you dying on. the Walmart floor because you have to. work in your 90s in order to pay rent. because you never saved up enough money. to get a house. So. I don't want you dying on the Walmart. floor. That's why we're playing catch up. on retirement. If you want to attack the. student loans, you can, but we're at.

least starting to invest. I would do 25% of the time. Maybe more. Maybe more to play catch up, but that's. up to you. So do you have any final thoughts, any. questions for me? Um. I guess a final thought, yeah, sure. Um. you know, one of the things that really. drew me to your channel and you. personally is like your respectfulness. for mental health. Um I did have one. thing I wanted to add about that. Um. Yeah. So yeah, I struggled with depression. I.

had severe recurring MDD. I'm currently. in therapy. Can you tell us what MDD is? Uh it's it's just the clinical diagnosis. term. It's like. uh something something depressed The D. one of the D's is depression. It's. Sure. just whatever they write on their little. thing. Um. but the point I wanted to get across. was, you know, I feel like there's a a. misconception with depression. Um. You know, like like sometimes people. just say like, "Oh, I'm sad. I'm. depressed." But there's another aspect.

to it. And I want to be clear, you know, I'm not saying if all you are is sad and. you've been diagnosed or people have. like said you're depressed, that I'm not. saying they're wrong. I'm saying there's. other forms and it affects everybody. differently. Me, I I would get really sad like I was. talking about. I had an episode and and. I was it's like a blanket of sadness. Try to It's overwhelming. But the other. thing is um. until I heard somebody saying describe. exactly what I had thought and felt and. was going through without me even saying.

it to anyone, it it. You know, basically what happened for me. was I told you I'm trying to build. something beautiful. Um. worth sticking around for. Basically, I. was in just a bad head state, right? I. was in this hopelessness state, which is. another form of depression that people. don't often mention. And. Yeah. You know, you you would wake up every. day and you know, I would know that some. of the spending was bad, but you know, like I said, I was taking it one day at. a time trying to survive the day. You. wake up and and it's not that like.

you're sad every day, but you're in this. like. state of hopelessness where you like you. could see somebody walking down the. street walking their dad their dog like. maybe a happy couple holding hands. walking their dog. And you would just. look at them and be like, "Look at these. Oh, well. Why are they trying? They're just It's. hard to escape that, you know? And. that's why they say talking about it. helps. Until I like heard somebody else. online describe it exactly how I was. feeling without saying it, it it kind. of, you know, that was when I really. started to take the therapy and things, you know, and really started to align. everything. So, you know, if anyone is.

in a similar situation where, you know, they're just like, "Hey, well, you know, you wake up and you're. just already predetermined outcomes for. everything, you know, you're like, "Fuck, everything's bad. Why try?" You. know, you. you got to try different things, you. know, if you find that you do have that. kind of headspace, you got to, you know, maybe some of the things you say no to. cuz you would always say no, you got to. say yes, and maybe you'll wake up the. next day and be a little less miserable. That that's just all I wanted to share. No, that's great. You're. for being on here and for wanting to. take that change when it comes to.

personal finances and creating that. beautiful life to living for us. So, I'm. very glad we were able to easily fit in. your budget therapy and medications and. everything. It's very important. So, continue that. Make sure you're talking. to your mental health expert that you're. going through this process cuz there's. going to be times where this is. stressful and you want to do those extra. things and all that stuff. So, we want. to make sure you're in a mentally good. place cuz that's what matters more than. anything. You're nothing if not your. mind. So, make sure you're very open and. communicative with your therapist and. about this whole process and what you're. going through.

Keep care of that. Let's get through. this. A year and 3 months, you come back. on here, we celebrate, and then you live. an amazing rest of the decades of your. life. A year and 3 months, I could do that. easily. Yeah, absolutely. For Mikey, a year and. 3 months. That's it. A year and 3 months. to sacrifice and I want him back here. kicking it. and improving his Hammer Financial. Score. His Hammer Financial Score right. now, spending a budget, come on. Spending 66% more money than you're. bringing in. We can't be doing that, especially when it's a lot of it's on. both. Zero out of 10. Debt, no. collections, no IRS debt, but still.

pretty darn bad, so one out of 10. Emergency Fund, I'm glad that it's. gotten started. Still not great, but two. out of 10. Retirement, again, started, but really, really behind for his age. One out of 10. Real Estate, not a part. of the conversation yet. Zero out of 10. It's going to ham That's going to be a. hammer financial score of one out of 10. for now. When he gets back, I hope. that's around three or four or five. Make sure to check out all the resources. linked in the description below. They. are what I use or would use in specific. situations. If you want to be in an. episode of Financial Audit and you're.

able to make it down to Austin, Texas, fill out the survey in the description. below.