Missing Payments And Borrowing Every Cent From Her Friend To Survive | Financial Audit

My name is Amity. I'm 26. I'm from. Austin, Texas, and this is Financial. Audit. What do you do here in Austin for. a living? I am an insurance agent. Fair. nice. What do you bring in with that? Um. I make 18 an hour, but I think monthly. it's like. between 28 and 3200. Mhm. Okay, how many hours a week are you. working? Between like 35 and 40. Okay. Now, with this are you getting insurance. agent are you getting commission people. signing up? Yeah, so I get 5% commission on.

everything that we charge. Um. but it's not really as much as it seems. What do you mean? Cuz like usually we'll. do maybe like 900 to to 1,000 a week, but really I'm only getting like 30, 40. bucks, maybe 50. What What are What What are your. coworkers. About the same. About the same? Mhm. So you'd say you're pretty well. average in that then? You're not like. underperforming? No, it's just the. commission. It's really low in in the. office that I'm in. It's pretty low. Oh,

so that office specifically? How long. have you been? 3 years. Have you. considered going to other offices to. make more money? Um. I've thought about it. I've tried. And. there is more money, but when I did it, um it wasn't very. like it it wasn't close enough for where. I lived. And what was like convenient. Do you like sales? For the most part. If. you like sales, why don't we get a. better sales job? Now, how much How much. hits your account on a monthly basis on. average? Um. I think about 28.

Maybe 32 at the most. When I have a good month. 20 is what came in. $2,801. Yeah. So I'm going to just say that. Uh with that, I mean that can be pretty. difficult to live in the Austin area. That's $32,600 a year post taxes, post. contributions, post health insurance. So. that's. Yeah, how do you feel living off of that. in Austin? I mean obviously we racked up. a good amount of debt. Um it's. not as bad as It doesn't feel as bad as.

it looks, I guess. How so? Cuz I. I'm in debt, but it's not like. I'm not struggling. other than the debt. If that makes sense. Isn't debt a big struggle though? Yeah. I was going to say, I mean one of the. reasons I go so hard on people is cuz. people are like, "Yeah, it's not good, but it's not that bad either." No, this. is bad. This first thing we're going to. look at Yeah. is a late fee. Yeah. So. late fee. So I mean.

I don't want to be rude off the bat, but. off. Yeah, I know. They're like, "That's not just not. struggling. You're missing payments.". Yeah. We're in collections. Yeah. The collection stuff is like three, four, five years old though. Okay. Okay. So in three to five years you haven't. touched it. No. Okay. So yeah. I'm. getting to that. though. 2,800. Well, I'm just saying like if. you're good at sales, like I'd want you. in a better sales position. I worked in. tech sales. And I mean I work to get.

other people in tech sales with like. Course Careers and stuff like that. because that was one of my first post. job colleges. uh or post college jobs. And like. when you're good at sales and you find. an avenue that you can excel in like the. cap is almost limitless depending on the. job. Some actually do have literal caps. And in that you can just work your ass. off and be at the top of the team. Cuz it just depends how hard you work, how smart you work, and then you can pay. off your debt quickly. So if you're into.

sales, I'd want you to be making more. than this. That's all I'm trying to say. more than anything. I mean I like. insurance. I've been doing it for really. long time. Um and preferably I'd rather. stay in insurance. It's just hard to. find a decent insurance job that's going. to pay you Okay. enough. Cuz like right now with where. I'm where I'm getting paid at is like a. little bit above average. What do you like so much about. insurance? It's just easy. It I like. numbers. not taking the easy way when we're in. collections and we're not making.

payments. Yeah. Like you're taking the hard way of. life by. wrecking this up and missing payments. Yeah. So I don't care if the work's. necessarily easy temporarily. Your debt. Okay. So we've gone into debt. Why have we. gone into debt in the first place? So a. majority of it, except for like my. Capital One card, a majority of it is. from when I was like 19 and 20. I was in. an abusive relationship that just kind. of.

was not very stable and as far as like. money and spending. And so I just kind. of let everything go. And I at that time. I had in my head that I was basically. going to. be in poverty and like not really. not really have like a stable job based. on where I was going. Um and then when I. got pregnant, I tried to make those. changes. Yeah, I have a 5-year-old. Um.

And when I did that, um I started to. make the changes to stop spending so. much. So I fixed a lot of the. collections. Um to where now I'm just kind of stuck. with like the big stuff. And now I. haven't been like How'd you fix them? You mean you negotiate? You paid? Okay. Yeah. Um I paid stuff down. And so now. it's just those big ones that are stuck. there. And then like sometimes some. months are a little bit lower than. others. And other other times it's like.

I don't really want to pay anything. And. that's bad, but yeah. Okay. What would you give yourself a zero to. 10 financial score today? Maybe like a. one, two at the most. So we have a. credit card. This is a Capital One. This honestly this one pisses me off for. you more specifically. Right now $610. owed on which is not that much. Especially I mean your income is lower. for the area, but. with your income we shouldn't have this.

balance. We had a previous balance $332. You made a $150 minimum monthly payment. which is great. More than the minimum. monthly payment, more than double. Then you purchased $390 on it. But what. upsets me even more is you didn't fully. pay it off and then you doubled the. balance on it. You then missed a. payment, had a $25 fee on it, and then. you lost $12.96. in interest bringing it to $610.29. If we're losing money with interest, if.

we can't even make the minimum monthly. payments, why are we possibly. possibly putting money on it? Why are we. spending money? And by the way, not even. money that's helpful to you. Casa Moreno, something, Juice Land, McDonald's. Um. hopefully that's gas. It could be. taquitos or gas depending on that price. range is who the knows. An Apple. subscription and Best of Books. There's. your past due limit. Yeah, that was one of those I was.

right before I got paid. And I needed a few things. Why is it Why Okay. Okay, again this is. like that you're choosing the easy job. thing. I'm going to keep coming back to. that cuz right before you got paid. So. what? You had $0 in your account? You. couldn't make the minimum monthly. payment? Pretty much. So if we have $0. in our our account, I don't give a. the job's easy. We want a better job, right? Yeah. I've applied. I've um done like. three or four interviews for different. things. For what? What industry? For. what? Um for another insurance company. And. then for um a position doing like.

accounting and bookkeeping. Um. and then yeah, two insurance and then. bookkeeping. And they were all paying a. lot more, but it was one thing or. another. I just didn't have enough. experience or. they went another route. Only four? Over how long? Um What do you mean? Over what period have you been searching. for this better paying job? Um It's been maybe like three or four. months. A lot of them have been How many. have you been applying to on a weekly. basis? On a weekly basis I'd say about.

four or five jobs. Are you actually? Yeah, through Indeed. or whatever. That's obviously not enough when we're. making low income and we're missing. credit card payments. 8 to 5, no. It's. like, "Okay, if when you get off work. you're not working a second job, your. second job is applying for jobs on a. full-time basis." Working 80 hours a. week, 40 at this, 40 applying. Yeah, and then the money was funny. anyway. So it's not even This wasn't. even required. Like, "Okay, yeah, you. missed the payment." But then we're just.

building a balance that we can't even. pay off anyway for Juice Land? For Casa. Moreno? McDonald's? A subscription? Potentially taquitos? Apple thing? Well, I have my Apple subscription come. out on there. Like my storage. Well, like. the Best of Books. Like, "Okay, great.". But we have a good library system in. Austin. Let's not pay for books. Huh? I have a problem with books actually. This year I got back into books and I've.

spent a lot of money on it. Dude, books are great, but again, we. have an incredible library system in. Austin. I like to own them. Fantastic. I like you to BE OUT OF DEBT. And then you own all the books you want. Yeah. That's actually the first book. I've bought in like 3 months though. I. will gift you whatever book you like. when you get out of this debt as a. little reward, but come on. I A book is. not worth missing payments on a credit. card. Having a $25. And this is the 32% interest I think. I've I've seen for a credit card on the.

show. It's disgusting. I hate it. Now, I don't have other debt statements, but we have other things. So that's your. credit card. Now we have student loans. So these are all federal? Yes. So they're in forbearance right now. They're about to restart. I'm guessing. the payments are going to be about 150. bucks a month. I Starting in 2 months. What? Two of them are like both of them. together is like $80 a month. I know that for sure. Wait, are you on like a income based. repayment or okay. Yes.

So what's interesting about that is the. income based repayment has been. successful as of late. But it almost seems like an. administrative thing cuz when you're. first of all, you have to be very very. disciplined with it. You up once. and your whole process starts over. again. Yeah. And that's if they even get forgiven. The income based repayment forgiveness. historically has just not been really a. thing. Mhm. Uh it's just been a failure.

of a system until these last couple. years. But who's to say it's going to. continue being a success? You know, what's the Department of Education at. the time going to look like when you're. ready to do yours? So is it something I. want someone to put all their you know, their eggs in that basket? I don't know. That makes me nervous, but. So 80 bucks a month? Yeah, for two of. them. The other two I honestly don't. know. I haven't talked to them about. those. Uh uh. let's look at that. So 80 bucks a month for that and the. credit card is 69 bucks a month.

30. Plus if it's not forgiven, dude, I mean. the interest that's accruing on this. Even though federal student loans are. like lower interest rate. Especially for the ones unsubsidized, I. mean we're paying lower than. what you should for a minimum monthly. payment. And interest just accrues and gets. aggressive. We also have a personal loan? Yeah. I do have a statement for this, so one. second. Personal and this is.

$1,171. What's your minimum monthly payment? 155. What is this for? Um when my. grandma passed, I had to get out a loan. to help pay for her. um cremation. So. Why you? Nobody else has it. Like my. uncle didn't help and my mom is You said. no one else have it, but you didn't have. it. Yeah. So why again you? If it wasn't me, nobody would. And I kind of take on the. responsibility for my family most of the. time. Like financially at least.

For how many people? Like what what does. this family situation look like? My. parents and three brothers. Yeah. I got a lot of like the big food. purchases are usually me feeding. all. five. parents taking care of their children? My dad's blind, so he doesn't work. And. my mom. he should have He gets a very small. amount of assistance. not like substantial, but there should. be supplemental.

They. Well, what about the mom? She is his. caretaker um and she has my. there a government provided caretaker? They don't know. Have you looked into that? Have they. looked into it? I don't know. As far as like my dad's like health. stuff, I'm not really sure how any of. they how any of it's set up or what they. actually get for everything. Might be something worth looking into. Uh see what services exist because.

obviously, I mean we're not just going. to let someone in our society who's. blind just get like. you know, that's not a thing. I don't. think anyone encourages that. So there. are things in place. I would start. looking at it because you have a child. You are trying to build a life. You want. to build. uh. a great life for your child. You taking. care of your parents right now and for. the rest of their lives and then taking. care of your siblings. because they can't.

That's a very difficult position to be. in and it's. Ah crap. Yeah, that's What's the. interest rate on this personal loan? Um I'm actually not sure. I think it was. like 19 maybe, but I'm not completely. sure. 19? Yeah. Oh. You think? I wouldn't be surprised, but. that's disgusting. When'd you take it. out? In Your credit score is bad, so. November. Uh. And then we have 2,000 in collections. Yeah, that's like the really old stuff.

that I just can't seem to get paid off. What do you mean you can't seem to get. paid off? I I start to save money and then it just. doesn't happen and then I call to. negotiate with them to try to lower it. down or to settle and they just give me. a runaround about it. They won't. agree to do anything like by paper. No, they won't. Well, you have to. essentially call them like once every. couple weeks. Just do it over and over. and over and over and over and over and. over and over and over and over and over. and over and over until eventually it. does work. I spent like a good year doing that last. year. single week called them?

Yeah. Okay. I they they were on first name with them. like with each other and it just never. Doesn't always work. This is $2,000, so. we should be able to knock this out. Yeah. Financially speaking. working with a credit guy. but I don't really feel like it's a it. was a good plan. Mhm, probably not. Um but he did help my. credit go up from like a low 500. So. What what does that mean? I don't know. I don't really know what. all he did um.

from the back end. He was kind of like. sending those letters out for me and. fighting with them to take them off or. to lower them and stuff like that. Oh, so someone to Mhm. Everyone always asks me what checking. account I use and what high yield. savings account I use. Recently, I. switched over to SoFi. The reason I did. it is because their app is very. intuitive and it's super easy to use on. your computer as well. But even better. than that, their high yield savings. account is all the way up to 4.4% at the. time of recording this clip. That is so. hard to beat and I am taking advantage.

of that all day. And not only that, but. there's additional bonuses that I took. advantage of that you can as well. Set. up direct deposit, get a $50 bonus or. all the way up to $250. That's free money. That's free money. I. took it, you can take it, too. So check. out my affiliate link in the description. below. It's seriously awesome. I use it. each and every day for my banking needs. I'm okay in specific situations of. people like taking advantage of a. program that you know, costs like a few. bucks a month or something like that to. improve their credit. I thought that's.

what you were talking about and I'm good. with that. This, how much is this cost? 499 a month. Wait, $500? for six months. Um. I all this month is my last month paying. for it. How much did he take off? Um. I don't know yet because actually all of. those are the same ones that have been. there. Um but a couple of the ones that. were paid off that they just hadn't. removed, he had those taken off and like. the inquiries and stuff like that and. late payments. He had all of that.

removed and it got my score up. So want. to help get my score up, hit that. subscribe button and that score will. just keep tick tick tick tick ticking. We're trying to tick that all the way up. to 750,000 subscribers and thank you to. everyone who has subscribed so far. I. love you so much. Thank you. I really do. appreciate it. Other accounts 264, what's those? That is a charge off from. like 2019. Um I called the bank and I kept telling. them to stop the payment and they said. that they stopped it, but then it tried. to draft it again and that's late fees.

and. yeah. Oh. Yeah, the student loans. No other debt? No. What I just laid out is the debt? Well, just my friend. I um have What? So. a friend of mine has loaned me money. throughout the years and I've just kind. of paid him back when I can. It's. interest free and he doesn't really care. about getting it back. How much? He. estimates about seven grand. Estimates. in seven? First of all, why isn't it an.

estimate? Cuz the way he sees it is you. know, a lot of him taking care of me is. I should be paying back. Are you getting child support? No. Are. you with the person Why are you not. getting child support? He's um. a POS. And he was in jail for the first three. years. Okay. Um Have you gone to court? No. He doesn't work. And there I. wouldn't get anything anyways. He just. kind of I know, but they can still. legally squeeze him and get him to a. position where he like has to.

No, they he they would just send him to. jail. Okay, then he goes to jail. It. doesn't It doesn't He still He still. owes this though. So whenever I want to whenever I get an. address for him, I can. um they'll start billing him. But being. that we don't know where he is, that I. can't really they they won't be able to. send him any bills or subpoena him or. anything like that until they know where. he is at. Baby daddy on the loose. Yeah. Okay. He's playing step dad to somebody. else's kid though. That's cool. Lovely. So you have a.

minimum monthly payment to this dude? To this friend? No. No, he If you want If I can pay it. back now, that'd be great. If not, it. can wait like 20, 30 years, you know. 20, 30 years? What is this What is this. relationship? He's He's a He's a really. good friend. No, that's great. Oh, I guess that does answer my. question. Okay. How do you feel about it? It's not where. I want to be. I want I don't want to. have. that that hold with my friend over me.

Um I don't want to have all the debt cuz. eventually I do want to buy a house and. leave a house for my daughter, but Oh. jeez. Okay, that's yeah. I'd love for you to get a house, too, but that's. it's going to be It's going to be a. while. This parent situation before we. get into your checking account, I need. you. I need you to look at the different. services are out there because the. further we can get you away from having. to take care of them, the better cuz you do need to be able to. take care of yourself and you need to be. able to take care of your child.

It's not a selfish thing. This is you. building a good life for your family. And if you have to take care of your. parents because there's no resources out. there, then that's a different. conversation. But right now, I feel like. it's it's just like okay, child support we didn't pursue that. We. didn't pursue. and then we're not pursuing and we. haven't. Let's. help with the parents and different. resources. Like is there steps we have. to take to at least see what's out. there. How old are your siblings? Um 22. Okay, don't take care of him. No, I don't.

Them. Um 16 and 9. Okay, 16's close. The 16-year-old, he. goes he's in school like work at from. home. So, everything that he does my mom's. kind of like teaching him, I guess. But. every majority of it is online. And then. the 9-year-old, he's in school. Yeah, cuz what we need is a helpful caretaker. through, you know, different resources. that we have. And. then mama needs to get a job. And I like it. I don't give a.

Yeah. Time for her to work. She she said she wants to, but when I. give her the opportunities to do things, like she she knows insurance because of. me. Um and I tell her, you know, get a. simple job, something to get some kind. of money in and. Then that's a different conversation. I'm going to cut you off. That's a. different conversation. If you have set. up these these helpful avenues and. suggestions and she's choosing not to, then you need to cut off support right. now cuz you're enabling bad behavior. Yeah. Cuz if she has been given. opportunities that she can do and she is. actively choosing not to, then no longer. support. No longer support cuz they she.

is just being able to choose to not do. those things because you're providing. So, cut off. That's done. That is done. because. it's not that I don't want them to get. support. It's not that at all. They will. be better off. if she actually starts taking care of. things like she can because you've shown. her how to. You're hurting her. Yeah. in a way. Enabling him to do it. himself, right? Yeah. Yeah. What's she going to do for. the rest of her life? What's she going. to do for the rest of.

kids' life? I don't know. No. It's kind of gross. I I'm obviously very outside on the. situation and I'm having I have a very. narrow window. looking in, but from what I picked up. and from what you just said right there, we're we're cutting off support today. Or if you want to be sympathetic, have a conversation. I'm cutting off. support a month. Get a job, even if it's. extra job. And then, you know, work this. many hours, bring in this much money and. I then I can provide this because of. course we know that you're taking care.

of dad until we figure out a situation. where there's a caretaker. Yeah. Now, in. your checking account, started with 1,400, so. ended with 900. I don't know why we're. missing minimum monthly payments on. credit cards. Withdrew 100 bucks. No one. knows where that went. Oh, here it is. Okay, so you give your. mom 115, you give your mom 21, you give. your mom 210, you give your mom 50, you. give your mom 103. We can't be doing.

this. We can't be doing this. If it's the only. option, that's a different conversation, but from everything we've talked about. this so far, it's not. We cannot be. doing this. Amazon, Amazon. So, I bought myself a Kindle so that way. I wouldn't buy any more physical books. No. We go to the freaking library. I pay. a good amount in property taxes. Take advantage of the property taxes I. am paying, please. You don't need a. You don't need. You don't need to. We're trying to get.

out of debt. We. So, majority of my Chase account is for. like my rent and my daycare money. So, that's where that goes. Yeah, daycare. How much is daycare costing. you? It was 210, which is surprisingly cheap. cuz I had like the assistance. Um but now it should be nothing cuz. she's in school now. Oh, right. So, I'll be saving 200 a month. I got my. rent cheaper, too, cuz I moved. Very. good. Spotify, I'd listen to the ads right now. if I was in your situation. Sonic, I.

definitely would not be doing We're not. going to Kindle thing anymore. Cancel. Amazon Prime, Gatti's, McDonald's, McDonald's, Church's Chicken, Raising. Cane's, CubeSmart, Casa Moran, Sonic. We're not doing this. McDonald's, Popeyes, tacos? Cash App-ing out $22, Whataburger Cash App-ing out $47, Spotify Cash App-ing out $50. We're not. doing this. We're not doing this right. now. This is inexcusable, unacceptable. when we are in bad bad bad debt.

You've also had insufficient fund fees. of $48 this year so far in here. If. we're doing that, we are not getting. Popeyes and McDonald's, to be very. clear. I'm raising my voice out of love, to be. very clear. It's cuz I want you to be in. a better position, but don't make me. want to be you be in a better position. than you want you to be, okay? And these actions are demonstrating you. not giving a. in my mind. So,

you have a lot of your budget. So, rent. 1415, that's the cheaper rent? Yes. I. used to pay 1560 for a one bed. Now I'm. in a three bed. Ooh. Oh, well. Yeah. 133 for insurance. Oh, okay. Car. 1. Wait, what's happening with the car? So, the car's in my friend's name. Um he. The $7,000-ish friend? Yeah. Um it is on it is financed. And right. now I don't pay it, but it's one of.

those I kind of want to pay it, but if I. can't really afford it, it's fine. But. it's in your friend's name? Yes, completely in his name. Did he buy it for you? Technically. Okay. Okay. Do you know what's owed on it? Um. I think it's like 3,000 left. I'm not completely sure. I don't have. access to that. What's the car? It's a 2005 Honda Civic.

How's it holding up? Um. I mean, every like three or four months. something pops up, but they're like. really minor fixes. And he's one who. pays for the main the maintenance. I. just kind of pay for gas and insurance. right now. If you did not have this friend, how. would you be surviving? I wouldn't. Then that's why I want to pay him back. cuz he he does help a lot. For an example, just knowing this area, we had someone come on who worked at a.

Whataburger in a small town. Like, you. saw the episode? Dude is making like. $75,000 a year. Yeah. Is it insurance? No. Is it hard. work? Yes. Is it late night? Yes. You have the choice to not be borrowing. the $7,000 from your friend and having. someone pay you for your car. You are. actively choosing it because you're not. willing to go do something like that. Yeah. Why won't you go do something like. that? I can really only work a certain amount. of hours because of where my daughter.

goes to school. Like, with her being in. school, I'm the only one who really is a. parent for her. Yeah. Um so, that's why. I had to like lower down my hours. I. used to work, you know, 10 hours every. day. Yeah. Okay, so there's after-school. programs. I would try to take advantage. of them when we can. I have to wait till. November. Now, November's when they start? Well, I have. to wait till after her birthday um cuz. she's still five and they don't accept. anybody under six. That is. counterproductive. It's really stupid and I hate it, but.

she's a late bloomer, so. The your two brothers that are 16 and. eight or whatever are at home with mom. and dad? Yes. Can Can 5-year-old not hang out there? Um right now she does, but the. relationship that I really have with my. mostly my dad is. kind of strained and he just doesn't. like. having her there a lot because of her. attitude and the way that my brothers. interact with her.

What? How do they interact? They fight and they yell and then it's. just a lot of Well, where's the. parenting? Yeah. They're yeah. They They My mom tries, but. a lot of it's kind of hard. I mean, I've. never raised one of those stinky, nasty. little sticky things, so I can't comment on the parenting, but. it's difficult. That's why where where I. moved, it's the same complex as my. parents. Um so, the idea now is that my. mom would take my daughter to my place. and just watch her there so that way it.

keeps the separation. And will she? Uh. that's that's the goal. What What do you. mean that's the goal? Is it going to. happen or not? You're paying your mom. Is she going to or not? I'm not Well, yeah, I am paying my mom technically. Um. I I just had her key yesterday, so today. she's over there. She is? Yeah. Good. Then a loop back around, you can work. Yeah, that's. if if my dad allows her to, basically. What do you mean? So, a lot of what my.

mom. don't like these relationships you guys. got going on. My mom is very hands-on. My mom can is. willing to help me. Um if I told her I'm. going to work till 11:00, she's going to. watch her till 11:00. She'll put her to. bed, take her a shower, feed her and. everything. But it's my dad that comes. in and he's very. I guess toxic in a way where he's like, "No, you need to be home with us. You. need to be with your kids." Okay. And he's. Dad, I'm not giving you guys any more. money if she's not willing to help. Boom, there it is.

If he chooses, okay, then good. Good. luck on their on their own. And the. money that you're doing this will pay. for after-school programs, private ones. That's If necessary until there's. the more public option. So, there we go. There's an alternative. But you need to work. And there's many. other uh single parents out there who do. work relying on family or not because. there are This is a privilege that we. have in a larger city, you know, top 10. population city in the country. There. are options. Some of them cost money, some of them are public, some are.

resources that are, you know, provided. based on income situations. There are. things. It just depends how hard do you. look into them? Yeah. Well, so the. daycare that I had her at, I can pay. $200 a month again and I would have to. take essentially like an hour and a half. from work to go pick her up and then I'd. be able to work on the way back. an hour and a half? Well, traffic to get. there and back, it's about like 30. minutes. What do you mean? Find a place closer. Like daycare? Yeah. There's not many. that I've seen. Have you looked? How.

hard have you looked? of few times. Yeah, see this doesn't. sound like. a new area. I have to I do have to look. It's called Google Maps. I mean. Yeah, I'm I'm also very protective my of. my daughter. I don't. Good, you should be. Cuz like right now. her daycare is right. interview them. Yeah. I'm not against. that. I'm not saying put her in a. dumpster and let the raccoons watch her. while you're working. No one's. suggesting as much. You know, there's. personal responsibility that has to be. taken into account of them making sure. that they're good to go, but also you.

looking and finding people so that we. don't just keep making excuses. Yeah, I. mean I I. I like the daycare that she's at because. it's right by my job. So, it's like I go. home and I come back and then. stop and then finish. So, it's it's a lot. it sounds like we have to get another. job anyway. So, that might not be a. factor. Yeah. My goal's to work from home. Well, yeah, but okay, that's a fantastic. goal. Right now, I don't give a. You're working anywhere you can make. money. Go be a bad Panda Express. manager, general manager, go through the.

training. They pay a ton of money here. They pay a ton of money for second and. third managers there here. Even you're. making 18 an hour. I think their. entry-level position is something like. $20 an hour. So, come on. Now, you're. getting a little commission, but we can. get you more money in Austin. We can. Gas, 120, fair. Credit, minimum monthly payment. That's. the credit guy that I pay. Oh, so. But, this this is the last month that. I'm going to pay him. Loan, 160, that's. it's like 155 or 160. What is? The loan.

What loan? That same loan that is on my on my. credit. The 1,100 that I owe. It's like 155 or. 160. What? The personal loan? Yes. Oh, okay. Subs, 40. Done, doesn't exist. No point. 100 for. your phone, okay. Sounds like it's financed probably or. you're with an a carrier that's too. expensive. expensive. Okay, switch to like Mint.

Yeah. There's really no reason to have a. my phone. I had to get a new phone cuz. it wasn't updating. So, I had to get a. new phone. Did you take it to a place to. make sure. Yes. Yeah, so we tried to update it with. like the phone company and then like. with one of those like little little um. phone repair shops, but they couldn't. make it update either. Okay. Okay. And electricity, 50. Okay. No gas? No. No, everything's included in the rent. Okay. So, that's your budget, huh?

Close, you don't have your credit card. minimum monthly payment. Or your student loan's minimum monthly. payment. But, that's okay. So, So, immediately makes me nervous. I'm. actually going to minus that credit guy. of 109 cuz this is the last month and. then it's done. But, this still makes me nervous. $2,357. just to survive on a monthly basis. No, we're minus in four for subs 40 for.

subscriptions as well. That's cancelled. my gym. I go to the gym like Okay, well, that one's fair, so we'll add 15 back. So, $2,332 to survive. Okay. Which makes me nervous cuz you're. bringing in 2,800 post taxes and. everything, meaning your needs are 83%. of your income. That's gross. It's a. lot. We can't be doing that. It's not. even close. Why'd you have to get a. three-bedroom? What What about that. complex having a one-bedroom? Like Um. You think you'd be. They didn't have any one-bedrooms. available for when I needed to move. The.

two-bedroom was only $100 cheaper. So, I figured. I know that doesn't seem like much, but. an extra $100 that you can put towards. your debt makes progress though. You. don't have a bunch of you much of wiggle. room here in your current job. You have 400 $68. No, we didn't put. I actually don't spend a lot on. groceries. That's what you were thinking. I spend. like. Well, you go out to eat every other day.

300 for groceries. Kids older now, so $100 for total paste. per toothpaste, makeup, blah blah blah, everything else needed to keep the house. survive. Now, now, now we have 60 $68. left on a monthly basis. $68 left on a. monthly basis. $68. Cuz what's needed to survive is 2,732. death. You say your average income is. 35, that's not even close to what you. said. You said lowest 2,800, so what you. made this last month was your low? Yeah.

Yeah, in July I didn't work so much cuz. we were trying to figure out where we. were going to move. Average is actually 3,500. Usually, yes. The first half of the year. I was averaging about 3,500. Second half. of the year? Two months in? and. not been the best. But, again, like I've. been So, this month and last month was. mostly focusing on moving and trying to. figure out where we're going to move to, and then this month was actually moving, and then I got sick, and now I'm back at. work. All right, 3,500. We'll say that. then.

So, now. this is just me taking your word for. that. We have an extra $768 on a monthly. basis. Cuz you're about to work this off. You're doing that. We're not having low. months anymore. It doesn't exist. A big. part of my my monthly payment my. income though is also um I work we get. bonuses if we hit like certain quotas. And so, the first half of the month the. year I got all of the bonuses. Um it's just June and July I didn't get.

them. Yeah, well, kill it. You got to make it. now. You got to do it. Gas, you only. spent 84. Bills were pretty expensive. Subscriptions was 30. Eating out, $400. $400 is what you ate out. $400. was like. $450. 42 on Amazon. Church's Chicken, Keep Moving, it's. expensive. I had to store my stuff for a. few days.

during the move, so I had to pay for the. first month anyways. And of course, you sent your mom a lot. Save money. Okay, $768. For 3 and 1/2 months following this. exact budget, you were saving up $2,732. You're putting that in a high-yield. savings account. I use SoFi, you can use. whatever. I like that cuz of sign-up. bonuses and it's 4.5%, which is like. amazing, but whatever. Put it in there, that's your emergency. fund. It's lovely. Lovely. Good, so that's 3 and 1/2 months. Let's.

just call it 4 months because we're like. a few cuz you're starting right now. Half of this month is already over. more months. Okay, so we're 4 months in. considering this being month number one. 4 months in. Capital One paid off, month number five. That is paid off. Personal is what we attack next. That'll. take two more months. So, 6 8, personal. loan is gone. What gets a little complicated is this. $14,308.

Student loans. So, what I would do is I'm going to. assume. we're going to take anything over 5%. pretty aggressively, which I'm going to. assume is about $7,000 of it. And now we have a little extra money to. put towards that. We have about $850 we. can put towards it now cuz the minimum. monthly payments are decreasing. Oh, we have more than that. We have. about 900 now. So, 7,000 minus 900. taking additional 8 months. So, we're 16. months into this. So, 16 months into this, student loans.

are paid off, the high-interest student. loans are paid off, personal loan is. paid off, Capital One is paid off, and. you have a one-month emergency fund. Okay. That's still That's just too long for me. for what these balances are. Now, after that, it would take another. another seven, eight months to pay off. your friend if you want to. Have a conversation, figure that. situation out. That is for you guys to. figure out. I personally would, me, but. you guys have a unique relationship, whatever. Do your thing. What I would do.

before I pay him off actually, over the. course of about 2 and 1/2 to 3 months. So, call it month end of month number. 19. Collections is paid off. This is This is. 2,144. paid off. Get it off your credit cuz you. want to buy a house, when you start. building the credit score now. Well, the problem wasn't like paying. like getting them paid off. Every time I. would save, I had the money, but. whenever I would write them to agree to. completely remove it to where it didn't. show up anymore, they would they would.

they would say that they going to send. me a letter, but then they never did. And so, that's why I held off on paying. it cuz I didn't want to pay it and then. they'd be like, "Oh, we never agreed to. that.". Okay, so we just restart that process at. that time and just really try to. work with them on that. I mean, they're trust me, they're. they're. they can be a pain, but. I got down like four, five thousand. though on negotiating before now. And. then probably need another six months or.

so No, six months. No, that'd be great, uh but it's not. Cuz before you pay your friend off as. well, as long as the relationship is. still good, I want to have a fully funded emergency. fund. You'll have an extra. $1,000 at that time. So, you need $16,392. for a six-month emergency fund. Minus the one month you already have. Damn, it's going to take another 13. months. to have a fully funded emergency fund. It's the It's the income situation for. the area for the area. Your income is so.

low compared to what's needed to survive. here. Yeah, I'm trying to get a raise to. like 20, 22 an hour. It's not going to. do it. We need to get you Again, 75,000. being a manager at Whataburger. They. want overnight managers. McDonald's. wants overnight. I can't work overnight cuz I don't have. anybody to stay with my daughter. overnight. True. Like my availability is basically. stay at Nana and Papa's. Mhm. No, cuz they're five deep in a. three-bedroom as well.

Okay. Well, we're trying to do what we. can do to get daytime jobs. I get that. Overnight's definitely easier for that. quick income. But. I just want to do like a work-from-home. thing so I can do the overnight. Work. from home is lovely. It is so much. harder to get a job working from home. right now. So, what we're doing right. now is Yes, of course, apply for those. and keep applying for those. But right. now, what we're also just doing is much. money as we could can get as quickly as. possible. So, this is a three-four year situation. in your current job. Let's go make more money, turn it into a.

two-year situation cuz you're not having. any paid for fun Yeah. for four to two. to four years depending on how you go. about it. Yeah. No paid for fun, not a. single cent of the people pay for it. You're no longer paying your parents. That wasn't included in the budget. Nope. Nope. Not a thing. Not. a thing. I want to take a brief moment. to thank today's video sponsor, Aura. Are you sick and tired, just like me and. everyone else, honestly, of receiving. endless spam calls every day? I mean, look at this. Let Let me open my phone.

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for sponsoring this episode. I can relate to the getting out of debt. situation. I've never been in a. situation where I've had to take care of. family members and I've been very. blessed and privileged in that. situation. This is hard. I can't fully relate to it, but I at. least get it from mathematically and. emotionally that it is difficult and I. sympathize and I am sorry that that is. the situation that you and your family. are in. I really do. One thing we just cannot accept is. enablement, enablement of bad behavior.

That's kind of what's happening from at. least how you've described it. And. that's that's no longer an option. It's. no longer an option because. you not taking care of them and sticking. with this job when you have good months. all the time, still takes four years for you and your. child to be in a decent position. Long. Four. Long time. You give them money as much as you give. them now, what is this going to take? A. decade, decade and a half? You have nothing for retirement, do you? No. You have nothing in your savings.

account? No. So, you're going to be in a position. where your child is forced to take care. of you at some point. Do you want to. pass that burden on to another. generation? Mhm. That's what I'm working. to get out of, actually. That's exactly. it. We are making a generational change. by making the sacrifices now. And a lot. of that sacrifice might be a bur might. be kind of a rift in a relationship with. people who have expectations because you. have coddled and catered to.

I guess, as Dave Ramsey would say, misbehavior. And that's what they're doing. You just. you cannot you cannot enable them that. anymore. And I know it's so much easier. said than done cuz of your They're your. parents. You love them. You don't want. there to be a rift in the relationship. You guys live in the same complex. I get. it. Mathematically speaking and emotionally. speaking, we just can't do it anymore. Yeah. My My biggest worry is like if I don't. help them as much as I do that it would. be like, "Oh, we can't watch your. daughter anymore." And I have to figure.

that out and spend even more money. somewhere else. I know. So, if they do. if if if they do watch your. daughter, okay, monthly allowance for. that, a set amount that you do. But that. extra time that you're they're watching. your daughter, you're making up in. additional income. That's the alternative in that. situation. So, yes, a monthly allowance. for her watching your daughter when you. need it, not just when it's convenient. for her cuz you're paying her to do it. like a job,

and then you're working those extra. hours, making at least double what. you're paying her. Otherwise, there's no. point. Yeah. So, that's the alternative. Does that. sound good to you? It does. It helps my. friend agrees with you. Ha, yeah. He's like he he listens to. your videos and he's like, "Everything. that he says is the same I I agree with. it." And I'm like, "Yeah, but he he's. nicer about it." He's like, "He's not. nicer. He's mean." And I'm like, I don't think I'm mean. I think I'm just. very forward. I I try to. and I make sure to try to get the point.

across because again, we had the. conversation at the beginning of this. episode where you were kind of like, "It's not good, but it's not that bad, either.". No, you, it's bad. Yeah. But that's a. that's a loving you. Yeah. Cuz I just. love the word. It just rolls off the. tongue. Comes off nicely. Yeah. So, no, everything here is out of care and. concern and. but it does come across in a aggressive. way. So, I do get that. But there's a. point to it. There's a reason name. behind it. And I've seen it from updates.

that people have sent us via email. who've been on the show. People are making progress. You can make. progress. There is a good side at the. end of this. Yes, the whole show Sure, it's fun to film. It's fun to be here. I. have fun having these conversations. I. love talking about money. People love to. You all love to see insights into other. people's financial situation. That's, you know, that's great. I wanted that. show. That show didn't exist. So, I'm. made that show. Yeah. But there's a bigger point here.

People And this makes me excited and so. happy. Just. like dopamine is flying right now. People are literally sending us email. updates. They are getting closer and. closer to out of debt. They are making. more money. They are making progress. And if you follow what we talked about. today, that's you. That's you. You have the ability to get. out of this in two years if you go get a. better job or work another job. while the parents watch the kids and you. take care of public resources as well.

That's you. You have an incredible life. ahead of you. All you have to choose right now, and. only you can. only you can choose it, will you make the sacrifice necessary to. do it? That's your choice. I want to. I'm going to try to. Mhm. I don't like. the word try. Yeah. Don't like the word try. It leaves. a lot of room for excuses. Yeah. But yes. Try. I want you to, as well, but. wants without actions is just bull.

It's nothing. So, put the actions to it. Have the tough conversations. I believe. in you. Get out of debt minimum by 30. Then you're probably contributing 25% to. retirement. Live no more than 50% for. your needs, which means your income's. probably going to be higher for the. area. This is the reality of the. situation with the single parent. household. Cuz wants or needs can be no higher than. 50% of your income. in this area and 25% to play catch-up is. going to go to retirement. Then you can.

have 25% for fun. Spoil the kid. That's. awesome. Do it. Go on vacations. That's. awesome. We're not in that moment right now, but. minimum by 30, I want you to start that. But you can do that by 28. What are you. actually going to do? You know you more. than I know you. Well, you know you more. than anyone. What does this look like. when you leave here? I I'm going to stick to it as much as I. can. Cuz I I do want to. not be in the situation that I'm in. So,

What is this much as I can, though, to. you? Um knowing myself, I'm I'm probably. not going to be as aggressive about it. as I should be. But Why, though? You see how bad it is. And. this, being aggressive, still takes four. years. What does it look like not being as. aggressive as that? Mid-30s? Early 40s? Maybe. How is that. worth it to you? I thought.

Okay. Well, I'm a little upset. I. thought what was most important to you. was breaking that cycle of the. generation of kids having to take care. of their parents. You don't take care of this now, your. kid takes care of you. Is forced to. Choose the adult, responsible, mature. choice and break that cycle. Not for the. sake of you. Not for the sake of you. For your kid. It's worth it. Come on. I'll look for a better job and.

if I can once I get it, I'll start. there. And And I also don't want to forget at. the end of the four years maintaining. this situation following my very strict. budget, you still have the friend to pay off. You guys just need to deal with that in. your own way. Whatever way is possible. If he forgives it, that's awesome for. you, obviously. He won't forgive it, unfortunately. Oh, I thought you mentioned earlier he. might. No, he's he's not. worried about me paying it back. Um but. at some point he does want it back.

After you have your fully funded. emergency fund, just because I'm I'm. sure he cares about you being in a safe. place more than he cares about getting. his money back, then pay it off. So, it's probably going to send like 6 and. 1/2 or. 4 and 1/2 to 5 years at this point. Probably 4 and 1/2. Maintaining this with a very strict. budget, not paying parents. So, there's a lot of variables here. This is up to you, but. I wish I was walking away more. optimistic. You've ruined that at the. end. I still love you. I still want you to. succeed. Ugh, don't go into it with that mindset.

that you just had. Go into it with a. we're going to kick ass and I'm going to. give my kid a better life and I'm going. to. change the cycle of. whatever. Any final thoughts? Um. No, I think that's it, really. I don't know what else. It's definitely a very complicated. situation, especially when it comes to. the overall family situation. So, tough. conversations to be had, tough choices, and tough sacrifices. Hammer financial. score, spending within her budget, I.

mean, it was ridiculous, zero out of 10. Debt in collections, zero out of 10. Emergency fund, there's nothing, zero. out of 10. Retirement, there's nothing, zero out of 10. Real estate, not even. part of the picture, zero out of 10. So, Hammer financial score, zero out of 10. Make sure to check out all the resources. linked in the description below. I. either use them or would use them 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.