Lost Everything In Divorce, Takes Out Payday Loan For Macbook | Financial Audit

My name is Joel. I'm out of Houston. Texas, and this is financial audit. And. how old are you? I am 31. Perfect. What. do you do for a living in Houston? I am. an information security analyst. Ooh, that sounds like a job with the moneys. Yeah, I I'm kind of entry-level right. now, but it's. it it it can grow. Is this a recently secured job? About 2. years ago. So, what do you make in this. position then? Uh currently, I am making. um 58.5 a year. How do you feel living off of that in. Houston? Um.

well, currently, I'm I'm divorced. Um. so, I'm kind of recovering from that. So, I'm living with mom and dad at the. moment. Oh, really? Um so, rent is kind of free. When did. the divorce happen? Uh in August 2021. I'm sorry. That's. definitely Yeah. pretty recent in terms. of time. I bet. Absolutely. Um yeah, I'm sorry you went through. that. I just know that's a stressful. situation in general. For sure. And then obviously, on a. finance show, finances can get beat up. pretty aggressively when it comes to.

that. How did your finances get impacted in. this divorce? Um they were greatly impacted. I mean, I. took on a a vehicle payment. Uh. obviously, I still have the vehicle, but. I I was the primary payer, I guess you. could say. And. um I don't want to get into like, you. know, he said, she said, but. Sure. But, just the finances. Yeah, the finances. um. I mean, I left that relationship kind of. um. in a lot of debt, and she left it. without. Wow. Why? I think um well, sh- first.

off, she didn't have a whole lot of. expenses. Yeah. And I I was. mainly the money maker, and she was the. spender. Yeah. Um So. So, uh is a lot of the debt coming from the. spending that was done from her, and now. you're responsible to pay it off? Um. some of it. Most of it's on my own. Um but, I I do feel. a large por- portion of it um is. um. primarily the responsibility of the. divorce. Interesting. Interesting. And.

out of like anything net worth building, any. was there any property type of thing? were renters. Okay. Now, I see what hits your account. Is. this an hourly thing, or is this a. salary thing? It's salary. Okay. I have 3,677. that hit in the previous in the most. recent statement. Okay. And we're we moved in with the parents. Now, what was the choice to move in the. with the parents? Um they said, "Well, you can get back on. your feet. Uh we'll we'll kind of help.

take care of you uh in at least a little. bit financially until you get up onto. your feet." Um and currently, I'm just. riding that out. Um they helped a lot. with like lawyer and everything like. that. So, I do have a pretty big portion. of of money to pay them back, but of. course, it's interest-free, and um I can. take as much time as I need on that. Obviously, I don't want to like drag. that out and, you know, cause cause. issues, but um I have a pretty. understanding family. So. Okay. That's good. I love that you have. a supportive family. That's that's. really awesome. I mean, that's that can.

be such a game-changer. And then, you. know, a big. I We actually we were a little confused. when we were going through everything. We just couldn't nail down what the. housing was in our spending breakdown, and that makes complete sense. Do you. chip in anything? Um I. gas mainly. They pay for my gas. Um. and that's like 250 a month. Wait, they. pay for your gas? Well, so I pay them. back. Oh, okay. I see. It's a gas credit card. So, a lot of the. there's a lot of debt. Yeah. And a lot.

of this stems from you taking. responsibility post-divorce. A little bit. Um so, like I said, she was the spender. Um so, I got out I got credit cards in. my name to help her spend. So, I was. kind of the um what what's that word. called? Um. Yeah. I Uh you were the I I don't know what. that word would be called, but I'll call. the action. You getting. Yep. And if you don't want to get in the bad.

way, or you want to get in the good way, you should hit the subscribe button, cuz. we're trying to get to 750,000. subscribers. Thank you to everyone who. has subscribed so far. I love you so. much. What would you give yourself 0 to 10? Your financial score. So, I'd probably give myself about a. three. All righty. Let us see how that shapes up by the. end. First, we have got to get through. an entire This is a thick stack, sir. I. know. the vast majority of this is debt, if. I'm not mistaken. Yes. First of all, we just decided to finance. through You own Mhm. a MacBook Pro. Yep.

K. I mean, I I do have a reasoning. make the moneys. I do. Um I'm trying to. get another certification. Um and that's. my CYSA certification. What's that in? Uh it's in. cybersecurity. Oh, yes. Absolutely. So, one of my best buddies here. uh has a certification in cybersecurity, no degree, and I think makes the most. out of like the thanks for the so it's. so good. kind of I mean, certifications are.

great, and I I partner with uh Course. Careers for a lot of tech. certifications, and they're great. I. don't think they have certification uh. in cybersecurity at this time, but no, that's awesome. I'm super happy that. you're doing that. But, financing a. laptop to do that. So, um And you make. the moneys, so Yeah. Uh I've got other. debt that other things that hit my. account that, you know, I had to finance. it at the time. I like I mean, I mean, only 11.8% of your spending goes.

towards debt. That's true. I mean, going to call you on your right. there. That's an immediate excuse, especially when. uh 30% of the money goes to fast food, food, stuff that is not necessary. Taquitos. Yeah. Yeah. Which by the way, 4.2% goes to actual. groceries, so. Again, did we have to finance a MacBook. Pro? Um probably not. Yes, there we go. There's the correct. answer. I'm not going to let you just.

come in here and bull. I know. Love you, but I This is a no bull room. Yep. So, what is still owed on this? Well, I just got that. Wait. Total Wait. The price of the laptop was 1,000 bucks. Yeah. Then a 2-year warranty you got. So, there's a I I I think I got fudged. on that one. Sorry, go on. Um so, there's a 90-day. payoff, and then. the financed payoff.

Why is the total cost 2,910? I don't. know. I need to look that up. When did. you do that? I got the hiccups. Great. Perfect for. audio. Uh about. like 3 weeks ago. I know. Buddy. I know. 28 biweekly payments of $102.52. Yeah. $28,000 is left.

If it helps any, I've I've paid more. than the minimum payment. Yeah, you have. to, because if you just purchased a. property and pay only 1,200 Did you. basically took out a payday loan for. this? Yeah. Do you even know what you. signed up for? What's the interest rate. on this? 100%? I'm so confused. It doesn't say what the. interest rate is. I I don't know. What what did you just sign up for? Like, who did you go to? Did you just. Google how to get buying a MacBook Pro. and took that? Like, what the what did. you I'm just confused. How did you get.

this service, of which I've never heard. of? Uh well, they're on I I found them. on TikTok, and it's a. it's a store in of Ohio. Well, this is a. new one. I've never heard of the Let's. Shop financing via TikTok before. Uh. a dude, I don't know what the entire. situation looks like in terms of every. Well, I kind of do, but we're going to. lay out the entire situation, but. spoiler, we're probably paying this off. immediately, so that you're not paying.

double, more than double. Right. Just a. on a MacBook. And not even probably a. good MacBook. A $999 MacBook that I feel. like that's the bottom of the barrel. MacBook. Uh. 2008 model. Uh sorry, 2018 model. Oh, I was going to You almost just Yeah. made me die a bit. I bet. Oh. K, so we owe like 2,850, interest rate. of a billion percent. It's a payday loan. to take the.

This company's making their money. Yep. Biweekly payment, by the way, so. And a monthly payment of. 205. 04. a thousand trillion percent interest. Okay. Yeah, we need to pay this early, cuz it. says you can pay it early, and there's. no It's not a baked-in type interest, but this is. wow. Th- that's wow, dude. Yeah.

Why have you not just paid it off? Um. Cuz you know you're getting. right? Right. Um. Or is this the first time you found. you're figuring this out? Just first time figuring it out, actually. Okay. Okay. You can tell me. the truth. Yeah, no, that is the truth. Okay, good. Because like. Yeah. Olo? Oyo? Uh they got bought out. by Ally now. Really? I mean, they that's. just what their old one was. Um. what they called themselves, but then. they got bought out by another bank. Balance of $1,801.70.

on a credit limit of 1,900. You started with 1,598, made $250 of purchases, but or payments, but you purchased $408. Yeah. Uh on that card, um $44.71 of interest lost. I had a a. charge that um. I talked to them about. Um. I had gotten a free backpack and or. something like that. I just paid the. shipping and they signed me up for a.

subscription. So, I talked to them. They. canceled the subscription. I talked to. Aullo, they're going to refund me like. 150 bucks. Only 150 bucks of the $408? So, you still purchased more? Yeah. Still purchased $100 more than you paid. plus the $44 of interest you lost. Yep. I love you. I'm going to give you some. tough love and punch you around a bit. need it. Yeah, exactly. You need it and hopefully. it's beneficial to people out there in. your situation as well. You're wearing. the Taquitos shirt. I love it. That. means you've been a member of the. audience and stuff like that. You've. seen other people's situation. Why the. possible.

on a card that you're losing money on. with interest that is at the credit. limit essentially are you purchasing. money? Purchasing things. So, Why? I've hid away the cards. I I've. So, I've given them to my dad. I'm not. asking them. I don't have access to the cards. You. need to close the accounts. Okay. I need. you to close the accounts. If you have. cuz you can just request a new card. You. could just connect it to an online. thing. I need these to not be able to be. spent. And if that negatively affects. your credit score in any way, I don't.

care because whatever negative. consequences are happening with that. Divorce screwed that one. So, Yeah, well. Either way, I want to take a brief moment to thank. today's episode sponsor, Sounder Mind. As you all know, I'm a massive proponent. of therapy. Often times when people are. in a lot of debt, it's that mental state. and mental health that can prevent. people from getting out of it. So, that's why I'm very excited to talk. about today's sponsor and I was really. excited when they reached out cuz I'm a. big proponent of theirs as well. They're. a game changer when it comes to the. world of mental health. Sounder Mind is. all about helping you on the journey to.

getting better. Most of us, including. me, don't start therapy with a clear. vision in mind of where to go or what to. get out of it. We just know there might. be something wrong or maybe not, but we. just want to feel better. And that is. where Sounder Mind steps in. They. understand the power of the right care. with the right person at the right time. So, Sounder Mind makes finding a. therapist easy. Just hop on over to. care.soundermind.com/caleb. Answer a few questions about yourself. and let Sounder Mind find the right.

person for you. In as little to 24. hours, you could be connecting with a. therapist that can help you get on the. right track. Within as little as 24 to. 48 hours, you can be connecting with a. therapist who truly gets you. And the. best part when it comes to the price of. all this stuff, they accept a wide range. of health insurance policies. And if you. prefer face-to-face, they have. therapists near you as well. It's all. about your comfort and journey. And as I. always say, we are nothing if not our. mind. So, mental health is very.

important and that's why again, I was. very excited to take these guys on as a. sponsor. So, check out that link at the. top of the description below. Thanks. again to Sounder Mind for sponsoring. this episode. Getting into bad credit. card debt has much larger negative. consequences than having than not best. credit score. And it's Amazon and it's. Amazon and it's Amazon. Amazon Amazon Amazon Original Appliances. That's that charge that I was talking. about. That's the reverse one only 50 bucks? I. just talked to them like a few days ago. They're still investigating to dispute.

it. Race Track Taquitos probably. A Lyft two. rides. Yeah. I was I was traveling at that time. and I I spent some money on some fun. Um, so that was just going to be. dude. You have a payday loan for a. MacBook Pro. I'm sorry, fun doesn't. exist when we have a payday loan for a. MacBook Pro. Right. Grubhub. Yep. $213 of interest lost this year so far. Stolen from you. Grabbed from your life.

Mission Lane becoming very popular on. this show recently. Mission Lane we owe $2,386.56. on a balance a credit limit of 2,400. $150 minimum monthly payment. Good, but. we purchased again $58.57. Of course, that's less than $150, but there's still. interest of $70.28. So, this interest rate is death. $94.28. minimum monthly payment. Again, I'm. purchasing, dude. On a card that we're.

at the credit limit already. Why are we. purchasing? I mean, I've I've I've made concessions. I'm I've No, no, no. You've hid the card. away. You said that when I said why are. you purchasing? I need to know why. you're purchasing still. So, that was. the previous month. This month I've I've. not spent anything on those cards. Why did you purchase? I just I'm trying to get that to the in. your brain, man. I'm trying to get to. the why because okay, maybe you've. corrected it for a couple weeks. Awesome. But if we don't know the why of.

why we're doing this in the first place, we're going to end up back there, dude. Yeah. I mean, I'm I'm not I mean, I guess I. I'm a spender. I'm not necessarily. saver. I know that's not really an. excuse, but. you know, I see something and I'm like I. got to have it or something like that. even stuff, dude. It's DoorDash. It's. DoorDash and it's a public data check. Yeah. That's canceled, too. Good. $166 of interest lost this year so far.

We can't be doing that. I need to ask. from the psychological perspective and. emotional perspective, the divorce. sucks, hate it, and I'm so sorry. Do you feel that in some aspects of life. that you've just given up because that. was such a big thing? It could be. Um, I seeked therapy after after divorce. like two sessions. Good. Uh-huh. Just to make sure like. um, I wasn't wrong in it. Sure. Um,

so. I mean, I could probably use some more. therapy. Um, I think everyone can benefit. regardless of the situation. Someone can. have the best life ever and I think they. could benefit from it. Yeah. Okay. How do you feel that therapy. went? Do you did you feel that it was. effective the couple sessions? Um, It's hard for only a couple sessions. to be effective. I I think it was to a. degree, but not maybe not as much as it. needed to be. Mhm. So, do you feel you've given up on some. parts in life post-divorce? Possibly. Okay.

And that's okay. That's okay. I'm not. going to say that giving up itself is. okay, but the feeling of it Yeah. after. such a life change, some big thing like. we're not going to get into, you know, the divorce and why, but you know, it's. possible that you didn't even want it. You know, it's who knows and then the. finances around it feeling like you're. getting moving in with the parents. Dude, looking at a person who has the reason. to feel like just giving up, it makes. sense.

We need to start backtracking that. We. need to reverse that mindset cuz your. life matters and we need to get you to a. point where you recognize your life. matters and you're improving the. situation so that. your life's not defined by the time you. were married and then ended up in a. divorce. You have decades of your life. left. Decades of your life left. And. we're going to make sure it's amazing, yeah? Yeah. That's the point, dude. Your. life matters. So, we have another debt. We have an. Affirm. So, it was only $540.

That's the CertMaster course for CISSP. for a certification. Oh, good. Well, not. good. Not good, but you know, afford it, dude. You have a good income. for someone who doesn't pay rent. Right. This was a. 12-month installment loan. I plan to pay. it off by October. Next month, wow. Okay. Well, you. probably could and you probably should. payments.

paid off first probably cuz it's like a. trillion billion percent. What's the minimum monthly payment on. this thing, by the way? I believe it's. like 53 something. Okay, 53 at a 30%. interest rate of death and insanity. $545. Oh, yeah. I see that one. Yeah, SST. I I don't know what this is. Is this a card? No, it's a it's a personal loan. So, original balance was 7,000.

and it locked away like 3,500 for. once you pay it off, you get the 3,500. Um, it was through Credit Karma. a Is this like a credit building thing? It could be. Oh, well, yeah, it is. It is. There are some good credit building. things and I'm good with like well, in. specific situations. Not probably when. you're in as bad debt as you are in. People who pay like a monthly thing for. a credit building thing, it can make. sense because the amount of money you.

spend on that can really help with your. interest rate on like a mortgage in the. future which will save you tons of. money. This is wild cuz it's a ton of money. Right. And. it's like a long time until money is. unlocked. And it looks like it's probably very. expensive. $125 minimum monthly payment. What's the interest on Is there what. like how is this? I don't believe that. there's. a baked in fee at the beginning then? Do. you know how much that was? I don't. recall. Okay. So,

the the it was $7,000, right? Yeah. 7,000 and once you pay it off, what gets released? 3,500. Okay. So, you're losing the rest. I got 3,500 up front. and then. they lock away 3,500 to get some. interest and then once once the loan is. paid in full, I get that 3,500. So, there's nothing you lose from it? I mean, not that I mean, I obviously I'm. paying for it. Yes, but So, they get the.

money interest free and they're probably. investing it in something, but. That's that's my understanding of it. 0% Mhm. Okay. And I believe that's biweekly as well. Oh, biweekly. Okay, so 250. Yeah, that's. taken out of my paycheck every every two. weeks. It obviously gained money if you had. like missed payments or late payments. Right. But, you're not doing that, which. is good. Thank you. Grain, another credit card. I've never. heard of this one. Yeah, it's like a. credit card. It's a it's a line of.

credit where you can hook it up to your. bank account and it's like, "Oh yeah, if. you need to borrow money, you know, send. it. Apparently it did cuz right now we have. $775 $795.98. out. Previous balance $886.05 $100. payment. No new purchases, good. But, interest of $9.93 $9.93. So, I believe with auto pay on it's like. 15% auto pay off it's 17, which is And. you have auto pay on? Yes.

Good. $35.80. I tried to pay Oh, you did not purchase. that Tequito shirt, did you? I did. I know I shouldn't have. I every single post I made and I was. worried about it. This was my skepticism. of going into merch cuz I like merch cuz. it helps build community and one I just. love it. I love I love the Tequito meme. I'm not wearing it right now, but you. know, Tequitos Tequitos Tequitos. I made. very clear, man, if in bad debt, not. having a fully funded emergency fund and. only if it fits in your 50 30 20 after. getting out of those situations, that's. when you purchase it, buddy.

You're. Come on. Yeah. Foolish me. That's why I was skeptical of doing. merch and you're making me not want to. do merch cuz I don't want people to go. across that line of when they should buy. it. So upsetting. That's upsetting. I love. the community part, the connecting with. the audience, and I love the meme of it. I don't want put it put it I don't want. to encourage anyone to go in a worse. situation. Don't do that. Purchase Tequi.

That's essentially a Tequito type charge. anyway. Yeah. Both unnecessary spending. No more merch. No more merch. Credit One. I feel bad for this cuz this. is like the just I worked hard to pay. that one off. Oh, good. I'm glad. Yes, you paid it off. So, you made a huge. payment. It was $700. Mhm. Balance Many. many little payments as well. They added up in a in a month. Yeah, of. 816, which is lovely. Cuz yeah, with. Credit One there's fees and there's.

interest and this is death. Uh I. actually talked to them uh and said, "Hey, you know, I want to get out of. debt. Um can you help me out any?" And. what they did was they lowered the. interest rate to from I think like 28. variable to like 18 variable. And then. they got their fees though. And that's what Credit Credit One does. I said, you know, they said it would be active for about 6. months. I said, "No, that's not going to. work.". We're going to pay it off. it? I closed it. Good lad. Good lad. On. here we it looks like we had some.

homeowners insurance and Yeah, that's. for my insurance for my stuff. Easy Tag. is the. Yeah. So, a little bit of purchases. Payment fee and payment fee. Yeah. Terrible people. Yeah. My goodness, this doesn't end, does it? Nope. So, Cap One Venture. A lovely new balance of $3,014.96.

Great. $54 of purchases, dude. Yeah. We're done. Close the credit cards. It's. no longer an option. Don't allow. yourself to be tempted. Your balance. barely moved anything even though you. made a $202 payment, but what's actually. it's only made $80 towards your progress. cuz again $70 of interest lost. Oh, with a 99 minimum monthly payment, which is aggressive. Good thing you. don't have a rent. So, And this was a T-Mobile payment. So, even though it's an automatic payment, I.

still I want it coming out of checking, well budgeted, not in a place that we're. not paying off and it's accruing. interest. Uh I am financing some. equipment from T-Mobile, so that's what. that is. You see that. Interest lost this year, $538. Mhm. It's a lot of money to be sucked. away. That That would have paid for your. certification. Right. So, at a 27.49% interest rate. Now, these. Are these student loans? They are. What's your student loan total. balance? Uh I believe less than it's. like 4,900. Okay.

And I actually went to um trade school. So, that's where I got most of my. certifications. Uh but I did have to take out. fiend. Yep. And those are federal, by the way. So, those are about to get paid off. Yeah. So, well, good because the federal it's. going to range from four to high sevens. percent interest rate. So, depending. uh because it doesn't say on here what. the rates will be Mhm. for the.

two different loans. Are they subsidized. or unsubsidized, do you know? I believe one is and one's not. Okay, perfect. So, one of these we'll. probably want to attack pretty quickly. and then the other one we'll probably. leave for minimum monthly payments. Leaving on This one I'm going to be like. a $50 minimum monthly payment, something. like that. Yeah. Okay. Oh, that's all the debts. That's. all the debts. No more. No vehicle debt. Yeah, it's paid off. Good lad. Good lad.

That was. uh done in May of this year. Good. Good. job. Good for you. What's your car? It's. a 2014 F-150. Okay. Real Texan. Yep. Got to have my truck. Got to have your. truck. And. how many miles on that bad boy? Uh. almost 174,000. Okay, so we want to be in a place in. case that breaks, yeah? Yep. Yeah. $154 in our checking account to start. with. We're clearly not in a place if. that breaks, if anything happens, really.

473 ending. It's better. Less than. $1,000 in a checking account makes me. nervous in general cuz when payments. hit, man, like rents and stuff like. that. And then again, you know, said you. had to finance the Mac the MacBook. because there just wasn't money anywhere. else. Well, guess what? And McDonald's and. DoorDash and DoorDash and Apple bills. and Easy Tag. We don't need to be taking. highways, we can take the off-roads. I. know it's a little longer, but come on, $320. Burger King Agua Dulce Agua Dulce. and Waterburger and Okay, what what is. Liberty means because it pops up.

everywhere. Yeah, it is a. uh a charity that funds um. wheelchairs to those in need. Um it's a. libertarian movement, a. political party of sorts. Um but it. funds the wheelchairs. Yeah, for or. wheelchair vans, I'm sorry. Um Interesting connection. Yeah. So, um. I should I'm good with charity work, especially something that's helping. disabled people. That's That's That's. great uh regardless of any political. connection. I mean, but I'm sorry. Yeah.

have money and we're taking out a payday. loan for the MacBook. We're just not. We're not giving money now. And the. reason because I mean, a lot of people. are like, "Why is Caleb against helping people in. wheelchairs?" No, when you get out of. debt, you have a fully funded emergency. fund and you're starting to invest. money, you can give so much money over. the course of your life. Right. if you actually do that instead of just. giving a little bit now. I agree. Yeah, you can help so much more. It is tax. deductible, by the way. Well, that's. good. Um I mean, your taxes probably.

aren't insane, but. I mean, that that is good. But again, with where interest rates are on these. death debts, 30% a billion percent on. the payday loan, whatever, whatever tax deductions you're getting. at the end of the year, it's not even. close to mathematically you know, beneficial when it comes to that those. insane interest rates. So, again, wheelchairs. and Jersey Mike's and Microsoft. payments. Ooh, Starfield came out today. I need to go buy that right after this. my Xbox subscription. So, I've gone. through and canceled I've cut back a.

lot. sorry. You don't get to get Starfield. right now. I'm really sorry. Uh Salata. and Green Technology Green Tech. So, that's the that's the Grain card. Oh, oh, that makes sense. Uh some Apple. bills and Apple bills and McDonald's and. Apple bills and Taco Bell and Amazon and. wheelchair donation and Torchy's. Memorial? That's Torchy's. Uh Torchy's, yeah. Okay. Brownies. and Philly cheesesteaks Kickoff.

That's like a credit card builder type a. credit builder. So, you have another credit builder. We. have two credit builders? Uh That's. probably more towards one that I would. actually support, but not when we're in. really bad debt and we don't have a. fully funded emergency fund. We do that. afterwards. Yeah, but it You're putting. that in your wants cuz you want to have. a good credit score. Right. I believe that it's less than a. thousand. What did you owe still? No, well, so. it's a it's a line of credit. Um but. they do automatic payments. Um I can. pull it up real quick.

Remind me when we're doing our budget. Yeah. Domino's, NBC's Smart Shop, and. Swa Inflight Wi-Fi. I'm sorry, we do not. need inflight Wi-Fi when we can't even. afford to live. Amazon. LA Neapolitan Mexican Embassy Suites, and Spotify. We can listen to ads when. we're in really bad debt. First. canceled. And Miller's Ale, Amazon. Jacksonville C and So, that was those. Jacksonville charges uh was when I was. in Jacksonville for work. Um obviously I.

don't really have. comped? Uh those are not. But I get reimbursed. Oh, okay. For that, but not for the. foods, right? So, like my meals So, how. they how it works is they pay for. flight, hotel, uh and then I get a per diem whatever. the local rate is. So, between like 59. is the standard. It can go up from. there. Based on 59 a day? Yeah, 59 a day. Okay. Um Madelyn Kiosks, maybe, and Swa.

Inflight Wi-Fi is back again. Car wash. Yeah, we need to be doing We need to be. doing car washes when we're in death. debt. Grubhubbing, getting some. Tequitos, Apple bills, Taco Bell, Amazon, Chick-fil-A, some Tequitos, Grubhub, donuts, Grubhub pepperonis, and. Amazon I bought. and Firehouse Subs and taquitos and. taquitos and taquitos. Logan's. Roadhouse. Logan's Roadhouse, I haven't. heard of that in forever. Didn't know.

they were down here actually. Interesting. Yeah, there's one in. Houston. I think there's like only. one or two. I haven't been to Logan's in. forever. That's a blast from the past. Okay. And Amazon. Then we have a checking account with. Credit Karma, which I didn't even know. was a thing. $51 ending. So I've. actually. moved all of that over to the Chase. account and I'm going to close that. account. to consolidate in your situation. Makes. it easier to And I've opened a a SoFi. account. But of course, what are we. doing in here as well? Burger King, Sonic, and taquitos and taquitos and.

there's the wheelchair thing and. DoorDash and DoorDash and Qdoba and. taquitos probably. Man, I got $100 to. the. wheelchairs and. Beatfi, taquitos, credit builder. So two. credit builder payments within the same. statement across two different accounts. So that's that'd be $40 sucked from you. on a monthly basis. Christ Epic. Uh that's church. Okay. Again,

give to where whoever you want to give. to and whatever. I don't care. But I. need to be active. Yeah. Vivid Seats. Do we need to be going to. concerts or whatever right now? Nope. Taco Bell. Subway, so we're just eating trash. anyway. Like doesn't even taste like. anything. There's no meat. It's all pre-prepared. Taquitos. AARP Driver Safety. Did you get a. ticket? No. So I was trying to get a discount on. insurance.

I don't think I finished it. You're going to pay for it. Finish it. I know. Taquitos, taquitos, taquitos. Venmo $75. DoorDash, DoorDash. Taking. out $300 to the ATM. Who knows what that. one? 10. taquitos and taquitos and parking. Sonic, taquitos, taquitos, Taco Bell, DoorDash, DoorDash. Spot the row. Spot the row. Oh, yeah. That was parking.

for a Astros game. Parking, great. $0 in savings. I've closed that account. There wasn't anything in it to begin. with. I know. And you opened a SoFi? SoFi's good. Yeah. Like great rate, good sign up. bonuses. I don't know if you got the. sign up bonuses cuz you probably didn't. have enough to sign up for it. Did you. get the full 250? it Did you get the full 250? Uh my. paycheck just hit, so it's it's still. processing. Ooh, yeah. Like today. Okay, cuz I know. you can get it up to 250 if you sign up. So that's lovely.

And Credit Karma savings. We had $700. Yeah. You pretty much brought it to nothing. So what's in your savings right now? Uh. savings right now is. 360. Okay. What's in retirement? Uh 12,000. Okay. Something like that. Glad you've at least, you know, having. to do anything. Definitely behind for. your age. I've paused investing in that right now. What about a match? Are you getting a. match? I think a 3%. Take up to 3% cuz. that's 100% return on your investment.

That's going to beat all the interest. rates here except for maybe the MacBook. cuz I don't know what that is. It's probably close to that. So maybe. yeah, after the MacBook maybe we But. yeah, 100% return on your investment. Always take the match. Now yeah, we have a minimum monthly. T-Mobile. So your phone bill, which. we're putting in the budget, is $164.62. Now with a lot of these things, and I'm. not 100% sure on this one cuz you have. an equipment thing that's for. hotspot or no, the service is hotspot.

And then Your plan is $150. Financing my. phone and financing a hot a mobile. hotspot as well. You're financing the hotspot? Wait, wait, wait. It's like a thing you can. take? Yeah. That's the little like hot spot. Why not just have a good service on your. phone? I I Probably. So you don't need a hotspot. Cancel that. Yeah, cancel that. Um often. times the fees and everything are baked. in with the phone financing, so it's. kind of doesn't really make sense to pay. those off early. It depends. I'm not. 100% sure. It's hard to tell just looking at this,

but that's something you would have to. look at, but. So which one's the puck? The service or. the equipment? Uh it's. both. The service is an interest. insurance, which I don't have to have. I can cancel. that. Uh. Um but I also have an equipment charge. It's like. $4. So you only save $4 getting rid of the. puck? Yeah. No indication of any kind of interest or. anything, so I think everything's just. baked in. Yeah. Okay.

So that's it. No other accounts? No. other accounts. So again, when it comes to your spending. and everything, miscellaneous bull, which is taquitos. and a bunch of extra crap, that's 9% of. your spending. 9% of your spending that. could have been going towards debt. 34. 30.4% of your spending was going out to. eat, basically $1,000. And then. miscellaneous bull taquito bull was. basically $300. You only put 11% towards. your debt when that bull We already. calculated up to 40%, right? Unknown. shopping. So with the unknown shopping,

that's Target, Amazon, Walmart. We don't. know 100% what that's going to, but. that's an additional 14.2% that could be. could be groceries. We don't know. But. necessary food grocery shopping, that. was 4.2%. So. Dude, you're not budgeting, are you? No. No. And we need to start budgeting. immediately. Transportation, mostly gas, insurance, tolls. That is 10.5% of your. spending. Phone and internet was 12.6. because it's pretty expensive. And gym. and fitness, 2.2%, but I'm good with. that. That's good. Yeah. I've actually canceled that. Don't.

go. Go to the gym. Okay. Gym's good for mental health. Or work. out at home. I mean, I prefer if I once. I get on the workout train, which I fall. off and get back on. I I prefer the at. home, but subscriptions, 120. Microsoft, Kickoff, Apple, car wash, which. canceled, Spotify, but I'd cancel every. single one of those. Yeah. You can get ads. It's fine. Temporary. Some large things. ATM, you took out. $300. Venmo $75. ATM, $104. Amazon, $91. Who knows? And there's yeah, the.

the the church thing and gas station. spending was $110. of not gas. That was just going in and. getting bull. So. Yeah, gym gym's good. Okay. Unknown. shopping, Target, lots of Amazon, Walmart. Floors. What was it? Fluers or floors? a concert. Yeah, that was a big spender. That's rough. Mhm. But we're working on getting it better. I'm I'm very I want to get better. You're ready? Yes. Ready to just be done.

because again, 40 if not 50% of your. spending when you're living at home that. could have gone towards debt or paying. for the MacBook or paying for the. certification went to just. you burned. Mhm. You know, you lit it on fire and. it's gone forever. It made no progress. towards anything. So phone, $164.62. Now we have renter's insurance of $43. looks like. Right. Kind of expensive for renter's. insurance, isn't it? Uh I think so. Honestly, I probably don't have to have.

it. What do you give to I would, but what do. you give to just maybe not that one. What do you give to the utilities? Um I. don't give anything to the utilities. whoa, whoa. I thought you said you paid. for gas. Uh. car gas. Oh, that's it? You don't pay for house. gas? Mhm. Oh, okay. So nothing utilities, but. for transportation with gas, insurance, I'm cutting out the tolls, so. tolls is done. And usually gas is about 250.

internet at the house? Mhm. Uh and then. okay, so. with gas and insurance, 295 is kind of. what we got. Okay. That's about right. Gas is about 250-ish. Mhm. Um insurance is about that. Another 250? No, no. Oh, like the 95. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Now. How's your health insurance through. work? Yes. How's your health insurance.

through work? Uh how? Yeah. So. and took therapy, what's your copay? I believe it is Ooh, I don't know. Like. 20 bucks. For therapy? I I haven't. looked into it. I'd be I'd I'd guess. more like 50. Okay. Uh sometimes those. more specialized things are a little. more. I don't know. Look into it. But. what I'm going to say is 100 bucks. You. want to start with two a month and see. how you feel there? Okay. So every other. week. We can definitely go weekly if you. want. You can go monthly if you want, but maybe just start there. See what.

happens. Okay. Are you down with that? If I put it in your budget, will you go. to therapy? I will. Good. So we're going to say 100 for now. Adjust that as needed. That's my prescription to you. Thanks, Dr. Hammer. Uh so. How's the food situation work at home. with groceries and stuff? So I mean, it's kind of I'm kind of on my own. So to speak. To- totally chill. I mean, I can join the meals. with them and they'll.

But I'm I'm not necessarily required to, you know, put a portion to food or. anything like that. But but do you eat the groceries that. are there? Yes. That you did not pay. for. Right. And their thoughts are? They're okay with that. And do you put things on the list? Yes. And they pay for it? Mhm. Okay. So can I. put your grocery budget at zero? I would to play it safe, I would do. maybe put put it like something like cuz. I do want to start cooking for myself.

Um But with the groceries provided, are. you getting groceries? Possibly getting. my own groceries. Do you want to be. fully Okay, I'll give you $300 if you. want to be fully self Yeah, I I want to. be self-reliant. Okay, but you don't. have to be. I'm. like I'm chill with you using this time. and money in this situation that you're. very fortunate to be in of living at. home. I'm good with you putting all that. towards that. I don't need you to be. self-reliant right now when it comes to. that. But what do you want? So I want. eventually I do want to be self-reliant.

Are you good with still leaning on the. fam that they've embraced? Yes. Okay, then you know what I'm going to. say, zero. That's fine. Up it whatever. If they cuz you eat out a lot so a lot. of the meals are eating out. If they all. of a sudden they're like, oh this is. costing us some money and they're like, chip in lad. Yeah, we're chipping. But. let's just say zero for now. Okay, toilet paper. and so I mean you buy your own. toothpaste and Yeah. Okay, so that kind of stuff since you. live at home it's really not going to be. crazy 50 bucks a month.

Yeah. It's what you need to survive. there. Oh, gym. Yeah, let's get back into that. That was 70 a buck a month? Uh was it. 70? No, it was closer to about. a Planet Fitness. So it was like 25-ish. What else do you have to take care of on. a minimum monthly basis? We have your. phone, we have your renter's insurance, we have your gas and car insurance, therapy, toilet paper fund, gym. What else do you have?

I can't think of anything else other. than that. Okay. Okay. I'll be because because you actually. have extra money here to play with, I'm. going to be a little more flexible in. this situation. Okay. It's not going to be a lot. Sure. You. have $100 woo of fun. Whether that be a subscription, multiple. subscriptions, going out once a week 25. bucks, you know. Cuz you're going to be working your off. Right. Cuz.

paid for fun besides that. When people. just have a little room I'm not going to. allow that but I think we have room. here. So let's see what your budget is. Oh, and then also your debt minimum. monthly payments of course. Oh, and then. calculating in the travel. But that's reimbursed. It is reimbursed. Then it's not going to. be in the budget cuz it's reimbursed. Okay. Make sure you have enough money to pay. for it of course but. this is your I'm getting out of debt. budget. Would you I mean obviously. probably question time later. Um.

but would you advise just going to like. a grocery store locally and kind of. getting microwaveable meals. to kind of cut back on the travel? Well, like if I go out and to travel. So like. that's a lot of like. Yeah. I mean, microwaveable meals they can be. a little expensive as far as groceries. go for someone just trying to get out of. debt. Sure. But But the cooking the cooking options. are a little bit better. ham and cheese sandwiches Oh, that works. too. But yes.

You know. Rather you get like a frozen pizza and. make two meals out of it than. Okay. than going and buying a pizza. Right. Okay, so this is the big one. Your debt. minimum monthly payment is $850.12. So let's see if I can still give you. that $100 in fun. Let's add up what your budget would be. without it. So $1,828.14. is what you need to survive. I'll put. $100 in there for fun.

Thank you Caleb. You're welcome. Thanks Dr. Hammer. I appreciate the $100. So 100 Now of course you lose your job. or anything like that, that's cut out. Oh, for sure. Uh I think this pen's running out of. ink. 860 $1,748. is what you have left over on a minimum. monthly basis. First month, what you're. doing? Setting that all aside, okay. You. pretty much have a one month emergency. fund. Actually include that with the 360. you already have, boom. Okay, you 100%.

have a one month emergency fund. That's. awesome. Okay, month number two. We're putting that all towards the. MacBook cuz we got to avalanche the. MacBook a little Yeah. because the. interest rate's insane. It just does not. make sense. So MacBook. uh you're putting $1,748 towards it that. month. Then the next month, month number. three, you're putting the rest of it. towards the MacBook and you're finishing. the Affirm. So both of those are gone. Right. So of the $1,748.

you now have. $2,000 left on a monthly basis. Woo. This is yeah, 2006. So that's exciting. Now I think we can. snowball from here except for the. student loans. So Grain, yeah, definitely paying off Um. I do need to Sorry, I I need to include. the $6,400 to mom and dad. What the. That's they helped pay for lawyer and. other things.

Sorry. tell me. I I just realized it now. You ask what high yield savings account. I use and that is SoFi's high yield. savings account. The rate recently went. up to 4.5% and I'm taking advantage of. that high rate all day. And with bonuses. all the way up to $250 when signing up. and getting direct deposit, I mean I had. to take advantage of that and so can. you. So check out my affiliate link in. the description below. It's the one I. use and you can use it as well. It. changes things. I'm sorry. Is there. interest on this? Is there a minimum. monthly payment on this? Yeah. Okay.

Are they good with you getting out of. the debt debt? Yes. Before you pay? Okay. So we're paying off. We're leaving the balances the same just. to make things easy. We're paying off. Grain. This is month number four again. So now. we have $1,211 left. Next month we're going to start. attacking. Olo. And we're bringing that down to 509. 590. Now. we have a little more again. So.

what we have to put towards things now. is. 2041. We're paying off the rest of that 590. Olo. Olo is dead. Will no longer exist ever again. Next we're paying off a bit of Mission. Lane. This is month number five. Bringing Mission Lane down to 935. Cool.

Now thanks to Olo being gone, what we. have left on a monthly basis now. is one Oh. Wait, am I? 2204. Paying off the 935. remaining of Mission Lane. This is month. number six mind you. Cool. So then. we start putting it towards the Venture. Venture would be paid off by the end of.

month number seven. So Venture's paid. off. Now we have $2,397. left on a minimum monthly basis. Obviously Okay, so the student loans. would be next in the snowball. Doesn't. makes. Well, the SST the SST the interest kind. of confused me on that so I'm not 100%. sure with that. So actually with this, I. think what I would do and you should be. able to do this within. We're on month number eight, right? So. Yeah. month number eight I would pay off.

the unsubsidized student loan which is. going to be like 2,500 something like. that. Pay that off that month. Okay, boom. That's done. So month number nine. we have SST, we have mom and dad, and we. have the lower interest student loan. That lower interest student loan is. under 5% minimum monthly payment until. it's paid off. If SST truly has no fees. or truly has no interest, minimum. monthly payment until it's paid off. Take the money that's released at the. end of that. So mom and dad are what's.

left. Right. In two and a half months. So call this a. year and a half a month total. Mom and. dad will be paid off and all those other. debts are gone except for the things. that you were minimum monthly payment. in. Right. So with what's left we have about $2,500. left on a monthly basis. I'm going to save up $10,000 for an. emergency fund. So with what you have in. there already, I need you to do that for.

basically. call it. three and a half months. So. year a year and four months. A year and. four months all the bad debts are gone. Mom and dad are paid off and you have a. fully funded emergency fund. Take the match through this once the. MacBook is paid off. So that'll be about. Wait two months and then get the match. going again cuz that's again like a. payday loan. Some trap you fell into. through TikTok. It's crazy wild. insanity.

From there. cuz you still are a little behind in. investment, I need you to do about. minimum 25% of your money on a monthly. basis will go towards investing. 50% can. be your needs. You can get your own. place again. So you can get your own. place and all your other needs and. groceries and everything like that. combined, 50% no more of your income. Especially for the Houston area, I know. you can do that. And hopefully we start. making more money. The certification, you know, that's going to take time to. go through but you're going to level up. in the cybersecurity. Again, you'll be. in an entry level position but over the. course of years definitely going to get. you over six figures. That'll be lovely.

So those. each of those percentages are going to. account for more money at that point. And then 25% of your money can be spent. on fun again. Mind you, of the spending. again, 50 if not more percent where you. both me Yeah. 25% is what you're locking. it into. You're budgeting going forward. You have your budget here but when you. make your own budget at one point, you. know, when you're out of the situation. in a year and four and a half or. whatever we said months, a year and. three and a half months. You're.

budgeting, you're tracking, you're. understanding what you're doing, you're. making progress, you're retiring a. multi-millionaire, you're having fun, you're having vacations but you're. budgeting them in and your needs are not. taking your money like many people that. have been on the show as well, completely. What do you think? A year and 3 and 1/2 months, what do you. think? I just need to be really intense about. it. What do you think about the. intensity? Mind you, in this intensity, I did what I've done with. like 0.01% of the guests on here. I gave. you fun money. You did.

That should help with the intensity, yeah? Yeah. It it. um it's really doable. Have you started the certification. course? I have. How much time does that. take a week? Um I mean, I can I can. usually put in. it's not really tracked, but I I can. definitely put in like an hour or two. A. week, that's all you need to do? Yeah. Okay. That's fantastic. How many hours a. week do you work at with a $58,500 a. year job? 40. Okay. Why don't you go work an extra. $15 uh 15 hours a week somewhere else?

Not much money, bring in like an extra. thousand dollars a month cuz that what. what that does, you could you could. bring this down to instead of a year and. 3 and 1/2 months of intensity, uh just a. little more intensity and do this a. year. Do this 11 months, maybe 10. months. That'd be great. Yeah. That'd be great. Then you're like 32 instead of 33 and. you're starting our life again. Yep. You're having a brand new restart. Yep. You're getting out of what was. given to you. Right. A lot of it yours, yes, but some.

uncontrollable. Right. And you're having a fresh start and. you're going to live an amazing life. It's worth it, my dude. It's worth it. You're right, sometimes it's a lot of. sacrifice, but do it. And seek the. therapy that's in your budget. Yep. Fun. money, it's in your budget. This is good you're set up for success, man, if you follow this. Yeah. I do appreciate your work. It is really helpful. because. I wouldn't have known where to start. On.

a budget. I mean, I've I've tried to. budget before and it's just failed. Yeah. Like big F. Budgets are only as. good as the actions behind them. You. know, just writing down a budget, that's. not going to do anything. of it has to be behavior-based. Yes. And. you got to track it on a monthly basis, see what you did, see where you failed, see where you've made progress, and. adjust the budget as necessary. You could be out of this Yep. in a year. if you get another job as well. Yeah, I could. Any questions? Any. thoughts? No. I mean, everything's been enlightening.

All right, man. Let's do a follow-up in a year. year? You should almost be out of debt. Okay. If you want to wait for a year and. 3 and 1/2 months until you're fully out. of debt, let's do it, but let's. celebrate. Fresh start, man. New life. for you. Do it. I will. Your future. matters. Uh absolutely. For Joel, he gave himself a three out of 10 for. his financial score, but when it comes. to his spending and his budget, come on, 50% if not more, if not 60 or 70% going.

to bull. zero out of 10. His debt with the payday. loan on the MacBook, I can't give it. higher than a zero out of 10. Emergency. fund, I'm glad there's at least. something there, even if it's only 300. bucks, one out of 10. Retirement, certainly behind for his age, but he is. actually contributing or he has before, so three out of 10. No, you know, let's. be generous, four out of 10. Real. estate, eventually, not a part of the. conversation now, zero out of 10. Hammer. financial score, it is going to be a one. out of 10. Make sure to check out those. resources linked in the description. below. They are resources that I use or. would use in specific situations. Also,

whoever has the most viewed TikTok or. YouTube short using a clip from this. video, I'll send you $100. Post however. many times you want, but you must tag my. YouTube/TikTok at and put YouTube Caleb. Hammer in the title/description.