She Hates Me | Financial Audit

Uh, my name is Erin. I'm 26 out of. Austin, Texas, and this is financial. audit. What do you do here in Austin for. a living? Uh, I'm a PhD student in. literature. Wow, okay. UT? Uh, yes. Yeah. Very cool. What is coming in. through that? Um, so. I have a 9-month salary of like 20,000. Um, I get summers. Um, but the the pay scale for summers is a.

little bit different. Um, What does it look like? Well, it's I basically miss a month of. pay um either way. Um, but I get No, that's not true. If I get. If I get a teaching assignment, I get. the same pay as I would for the full 3. months of summer. So, it basically comes. out to. um like 26 for 12. 12 months. Um, but if I don't get a. teaching assignment um which I have. every year so far um but I'm out of. guaranteed teaching assignments, so it's.

just possible I might not get one. Uh, 20,000 on 9 months is hard to live. in such an expensive city like Austin. Yeah, it's very tough. Um, and then. uh. if I don't get a teaching assignment in. the summer, it's like 2,000 like 2,500. something like that. For the entire. summer? full summer, yeah. Okay. Yeah, we had I work as a I also work as. a writing tutor on campus. Oh, is that where the extra coming in? Yes, yeah. So, that's that's another. like uh 1,200 a month. Um, but I'm not.

guaranteed to work summers with that. Yeah. it's possible. Uh, so how many hours a. week are you putting into being a TA, right? Um, so I was a TA and now I'm uh. my title is assistant instructor, so I. teach my own classes. Oh, sure. How many hours a week are we. putting into that with the grading and. the prep and then the teaching? Yeah. Um, so. it just it varies. Um, sometimes like. just a handful of hours and sometimes. it's like 40, 50. Um, like and that's.

with um my school work as well. Like uh. I'm not taking courses anymore. I'm out. of course work, but um prepping for. exams, getting ready for my. dissertation. And how many hours a week do we think. we're putting into everything for the. school side of things? it it varies, but like up to 40, 50. Uh, like like totally. to figure out where time is being spent. bringing in 20,000 hours every. 9 months plus an extra you said 1,200 a. month? Yeah, I mean it comes out to a like.

around 38, 39 a year is what I'm. bringing in right now total from. everything. Nah, okay. Let's let's let's let's be a. little more conservative and say 38. Even I mean even still in Austin, it's. kind of expensive. Yeah, it's So, that's 3,166. before any taxes. Not that your tax. burden would be huge by any means. Anyway, but. what's your rent? Do you have uh Is there extra. right because my my take-home pay before.

taxes is like it's like 38 and my like. after taxes is or sorry, my actual. take-home pay is like 32 something. So, maybe the numbers are wrong. somewhere, but. it's been a while since I've actually It. might be like 21 or 22 for 9 months. I. can't really remember for sure. Well, that's $28,000. for 9 months post taxes. Why? I don't. know. How do you not know what you were signed. up for? Well, they they just say. um They just tell me like 20,000. Um,

They just tell me like 20,000, but uh. I get. My my take-home pay is 32. So, I get I get like. 3,200 a month. And then the tutoring on. top of that? No, that's total. Oh. Yeah, sorry. Sorry. Okay. So, this is. Okay. I'll put that down then. $32,000. So, tutoring something you do personally.

on the side or is it through a company. or anything? Um, it's at UT. It's at the. writing center at UT. Okay. Yeah. So, it's through the writing center that. you're being paid for? I get a single paycheck. So, the tax already comes out before you. get the money. Okay, perfect. Got got. that. Wonderful. Give yourself a score zero to 10, your. financial score. Where are you sitting. today? Like the. a one, generous one. Yeah. Very generous one. What is your rent, by. the way? Uh, it's like 1,200. Um, including including water and.

electricity, it's just south of 1,400. No, okay. That's uh yeah. Rent plus utilities and we'll use this. later when coming up with your budget, but. so that's. 43% 40 44% of your take-home. So, obviously that's a massive allocation. lot, yeah. Which makes everything else. harder. Apple Card. In the Apple Card,

we had a previous. balance of 885, but we've gone up to up. to 2,733. Yes, so. What the what? Um, but I would not qualify this as a. lot of necessities, to be clear. So, what. Um, I can be pretty bad with my spending for. sure. Um, some of this was as well. I uh. I went to a Baltimore for a trip. Why?

Uh, well, it was for work. I had a Oh, so they paid for it. Uh, they're going to pay for it. I have not. gotten that money yet. But um that's just how academia That's. the sort of the speed of academia is. that like I gave a paper at a academic. conference and my department is paying. for it. And I I know and have. confirmation that they're paying for it, but I had to pay for it first. they giving you? Um, like something like. 1,200 in that range. Well, in here. wasn't a lot of uh.

I didn't I didn't find That may have. been added in a different monthly. statement because here I don't have. hotels, I don't have flights, I don't. have gas. Is this Is this October or September? The statement? Uh, October. Hm. What I have in here is said is. Amazon and Amazon and Amazon and Amazon. and ramen and Uber and now that could. have made a little sense like if you're. in a place where you obviously don't. have a car, like that can make sense. And Olive Garden and getting some coffee.

and Shake Shack doing $200 at Macy's and. Amazon and having Subway which is like. the worst sandwich you can get anyway. It's not great. Renaissance bar, Chick-fil-A, Uber. and. Ah, these are missing letters. I I knew. what this was before, but it's. essentially a food court. A lot of that um at the end there was. from Baltimore. Um, it's like I had to eat while I was. there. Um, and then. the Macy's was I needed something to.

wear to the conference. Um, definitely. spent way too much money there. Um, Well, you're getting reimbursed 1,200, but you spent 1,841. Yeah. Yes, I did. So, so far so not mathing. Plus, you. probably had to buy a flight and. probably needed a place to live while. you were there. I'm uh guessing. Mhm, yeah. So, we're very much in the hole. for this. Yeah. So, we did not do this travel correctly. No, we did. Just a lot of that is not. the travel. Definitely definitely coming. out of square on the top. No, like some of it's not though. Like.

we Percentage-wise, how much would you. say is the travel versus not the travel? I mean whatever the number is there. that's like it says like 2,700. Um, I did not go very much over what I'm. getting back for the travel. Probably. only the clothes was over. Okay, so the. then So, the rest of it like uh Amazon So, the. ramen um my partner paid for paid me. back for. Um, Full thing? Uh, maybe half. I can't. remember. That makes sense. Um,

and then um. it's not about the nitpick of every. single purchase. It's about the entire. picture and the fact that 26 years old. massive percentage of her income is. going to rent. We need to look at the. entirety of the financial picture that. we have. We have student loans that we borrowed. to go to school. Mhm. And instead of. trying to take progress on things. and by the way, these are not low. interest student loans like most are. not. So, instead of trying to make progress on. all these things, what do we do instead? Even if 1,200 of the 2,733.

was for a work thing that was. reimbursed, the rest is. So, we're choosing the. over actually taking care of our life, trying to get on the right track, and. making sure when we get out of school, we are able to jump full force into the. actual adult career, building the life. that we want to build. And that's what. upsets me out of the gate. No, I mean that's fair as well. Um, another fair bit of that though like a. lot of the Amazon purchases were like. medical supplies. Like um I just had.

surgery in September. Yeah. Um, so I um What What surgery, if I can. ask? Um, it was. uh gender-affirming surgery. Okay. Um, so the recovery was pretty intense and. um some of what's on the credit card as. well was uh a little bit of overflow. from that trip cuz I was in the. hospital. Um, Like is this 100% necessities that you. needed to get? Why wasn't it not do like. through medical, you know, like through. medical? like. Like when I think of Amazon, I'm.

thinking When I'm thinking medical. through Amazon, I'm thinking of like a. uh like the the stupid what not naughty. potty or what What is that called that. you stick up your nose and it just like. I don't know. That's what I think of. medical when I think Amazon. It's It's like quality of life stuff. There you go. Yeah, but I'm fine to I'm fine to go a. little bit over for quality of life. stuff. Like I can live with that. was a want then. Uh, I mean like mostly. better. To make like the recovery. process feel better. Which is pretty important, yeah. It sure.

is. No, no, no. I'm not knocking against. that. Yeah. I'm not knocking against it. It's when we have a bunch of debt and we. have a lot of things and we're. prioritizing something that isn't 100% a. necessity. Yes. So, I'm a I'm a little. bit over on the credit card, but I keep. a monthly budget. and I run. uh like a surplus on that budget of like. 800 bucks a month and that's I'm putting. that towards my Why is the card not paid. off? If you've been keeping up with the news, you're likely aware that inflation is a. popular topic, showing that the cost of.

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uninvested cash. Um I don't think that's. how it works. It's not a surplus if we. have debt. Well, I paid it off and then I accrued. the debt in the last 2 months last few. months. So, okay. So, we are not in a. budget of surplus. We we were, but. Well, were is were. Stuff happens, right? Like I'm not going to Baltimore. every month, right? Like I'm I'm also. not having a surgery every month, right? It's like Yeah, stuff happens is the. definition of life. And that's why we. have in budgets and we have uh. prioritizing taking care of the debt. before. Right. But, I'm. putting 800 towards this every month.

Starting when? Cuz you said you just. brought it up. So, like if you do it for. 1 month, I don't know if we can consider. that $800 every single month Starting. already. Okay. So, starting now. Like if I dieted. for a day, I can't say I'm on a diet, though. Well, no, but like the. statement, I think I paid that I paid. $800 on my card. right after I sent the statement to you. Immediately because of how many. conversations I've had on this show, a. little bit of skepticism and.

justification. Typically and without being able to. prove otherwise, it's hard for me to. think otherwise. I think just the. important part is like it's not. it's not like superfluous spending in. the sense of like stuff like for fun or. like clothes or stuff like that. Like. it's. say that. Okay. Yeah. But, it's also. stuff you couldn't pay for. Sure. Oh, come on. I want to make sure you at. least understand credit card debt as. we're going through this stuff. card debt, yeah. Okay. So, you could not pay for it. At.

the time, yes. Okay. Yes, I understand that. Okay. I just. want to make sure because if we have a. dangerous. No, I I understand thought of what. credit cards are, then okay, good. Good. Good. And by the way, sorry, I don't want to. harp on it too much. Only the four first. four things were Amazons. The rest was. still you know, coffee, Olive Garden and. Yeah, some of some of that I get I do. get back. Um like some of that is going. out with my girlfriend. Like like it's. um like half paid for, but um I'm pretty.

bad, admittedly, about putting that back. into the credit card. Like that usually. stays in my checking. thing and that's why I'm a little. skeptical on the budgeting thing. What. we're going to what I'm going to. prescribe you Mhm. is you're going to go. through our budgeting program. Go. through our budgeting program and it. will teach you how to actually like. stick to the budget so that we don't. have these months Yeah, things are going. to happen and that's where the budget is. important because that kind of stuff is. built into the budget. No, I understand that. Um definitely the. problem is just like spending outside of.

my budget is the issue cuz like I have. the budget and I have like the breathing. room. a budget and we're spending outside of. the budget, then we're not budgeting. It's really simple as that. So, go. through go through that program, go.calebhammer.com. It's the best budgeting program that. exists anywhere online. We're going to. put it you through it for free. So, I. think that's going to that's going to. help you out a lot. Student loans. I assume undergrad. mostly. Um. Maybe a little bit of grad. Some of it is graduate. So, my graduate. school's paid for. Um which is how it works. But, I did. have to take out um actually like.

um way too much of loans in graduate. school. So, when I came to Austin, I was. married. Um and so I was in I was in a student or. I was in a I was in a. two-income household. When was this? Um. that was the. um summer of 2020. Okay. Um so, I. started my program in the fall of 2020. Um so, I was married and we were in a it. was a two-income and so um our debt. situation was not terrible.

Um we had no credit card debt and I had. um it was something like combined maybe. 40 grand in student loan debt between. the two of us. Um. when we separated, um it was a little bit abrupt and I was. not I was not prepared And so, you're. filing for a marriage separation, too. Yes. Yeah, I was I was 23. Yeah. Wow. Um or 24, I think, when How long have. you What were you married at that point? 4 and 1/2 years. I'm sorry. It's really.

all right. Um. Yeah, it was it was a difficult. situation and especially like. um when. we separated uh to begin with or when. when she moved out, which was after like. 10 months of separation, um I was not. prepared to be financially independent. and even with like the 10-month headway, like I was doing everything I could to. be financially to to get to a place. where I could be financially. independent, but she was really bad with. money um just to be frank um which is.

definitely like rubbed off on me in a. lot of ways. Like I was not bad with. money before I got with her. Um she spent a lot of my money and like. um like When you guys were together, it. was more of our money, yeah. it was our money, but um. Yeah, yes, absolutely, but um. when she moved out, like I didn't have. anything. I had a fair decent amount of. debt. Um and. interrupt, but just confirm there was no. emergency fund of the household at that.

time. Um. By the time we separated, no, it was all. gone. Okay. Um. Sorry, continue. No, that's okay. And um. my friend, fortunately, let me live with. them um. and pay like $600 a month. Good friend. Um and they. uh. like saved my life pretty much cuz I. would not have been able to stay in. Austin if I didn't have a second job. Yeah. Sure. Um so, it just wasn't feasible to stay. in Austin and then I worked on getting.

another job and then um they asked me to. move out, which is fine. They wanted to. live alone. Mhm. Which I respect. I have. a dog. Mhm. They gave me a little bit of money to. move out and I moved out. Okay. Okay. Um And that was March of last year. So, um the the student loan debt a little. bit was to like um have money to move. and like survive until I got another. job. Uh. Um I just had to. Like it was just.

I I had that reaction when I did it, but. it was either that or go back home. So, not having an emergency fund is an. emergency. Yes, I agree with that completely. Um. and then um. That's That's hard. Um. So, we built up. Oy. Okay. Student loans, we built up. So, now it's a 69,000.

Balance went up. Make the monthly. Um so, you're still in school. not paying I'm not paying anything on my. student loans right now. Um everything is in deferment cuz I'm. still in school and it will be until May. of 2026. But, it has accrued interest, but. It has. Yeah, some of them have and some. of some of them are and some of them. aren't. But, the high interest ones are. Yeah. That's the hard part because. Mhm. $69,779. of student loan debt is not an. insignificant amount of debt. No. Not by. any means. And the big balances are.

sitting at 6.5%. Okay. 7%. Okay. 7 and. 1/2. And then 8%. It's all the way up to 8. Yeah, but that's that's like it's a. fortunately, it's a pretty small. balances like 4,500. Um Well, 10,000 and. 10,000 and 10,000 and 45 and. The 8% is 4,500, but the 10,000 um All. right. 6.5 and 6.5 and 7. Those are Those are not good Those.

10,000 ones are not accruing interest at. the moment, though. Uh well, I see deferment in the 8 and 7, but I see the unsubsidized loans of the. 10,000, 10,000, and 10,000 are Okay. Well, they might be, then. The big ones. are the ones accruing interest. Great. Yeah. Oy, oy, oy. Yeah, that's that's hard. I. Okay. So, you went in a lot of student. loan debt and you're not making a ton of. money right now as you're going through.

the PhD program, which is you know what. happens when you go through a PhD PhD. program. So, it's expected. What I'm curious about. writing literature, writing in uh. say the degree one more time. Um it's literature. I study Shakespeare. Okay. Shakespeare. Lovely guy. Would give him. a handshake if I could. What are you. going to do with that? Um well, there. That's such a complicated question, like. Okay. I was really hoping for a more you knew.

what you were going to do with this much. school in six months. to like say you we come from different. worlds, you're not going to understand. this. What do you mean? Well, what do you mean? Like you won't. understand like the precarity and why. it's really all right. What What do you. mean though? Um, like like I'm not Like. I could be a professor, like that would. be the goal. Um, this is a very hard job. to get. But I have a lot of other. skills, like I will get a job. It just. may not be. different world do we come from? Like you're just you're just not used to. that precarity. Like you you like you.

like that your reaction there was like, "Oh, I I got to say that.". composition in college. I was in the. arts. I was in the College of Arts, School of Music. And my peers around me, they were going through their master's. schools, through their masters, and then. they wanted to go through their. doctorate so that they could become. professors. But I asked the job. and then you didn't know what to say. So, I was just hoping there was going to. be at least a what do you want to do, which is what the question is. Yeah, be a professor. Okay, cool. I mean, that that I mean, that's good. So, we at least have a path.

of where we want. have lots of backup paths, too. And I'm. like very good at what I do. So, I will. have a job. Like that's not a concern at. all. Okay. Um, yeah, I mean, yeah, sure. It's just like. what the job will be. There I graduate. in May of 2026. There's just no way to. know what jobs will be offered. 2026? Yeah. Why is it How long is this. PhD? Six years. It's pretty standard. Guess we do come from a little different. worlds, cuz music composition is like. two to three years. after masters. to get a Yeah, that In In fairness, it's.

not after masters. I entered with a with. a um bachelor's degree. I'm sorry. Say that again. Yeah, I did. not have a masters when I started my PhD. program. Oh, so that essentially goes. through that whole thing, too, then. Okay, so that that definitely makes more. sense. I was going to say I was going to. say cuz Okay, that makes more sense. Ooh. Okay, so you want to be a teacher of. Shakespeare. Mhm. Yeah, of literature, yeah. Cool. And as. far as the job market goes for that, and. again, coming from the more arts world,

I know it's a very competitive. competitive, yeah. Okay, so. out of the gate, maybe we don't get the. job right away, which Okay, we're. obviously going to always aim to get it. What are we looking at career potential. wise? Um, so I have a lot of experience. working at writing centers. So, I could be a director of a writing. center. Um. that, you know, there are there's. availability for those kinds of jobs. I would be qualified to do it. Um, I.

also Something I really enjoy is like. working with people. who. uh are like applying to graduate school. or applying to college. I've I've like. played around with the idea of like. opening a business doing that, um. something like that. Um, I have a lot of. experience and a lot of success like. helping people with resumes and getting. jobs. Um, so I could do stuff like that. Um, I. also could You're not going to like. You're not going to like this, but it's. something that I I. in the back of my head want to do. Yeah,

I know there's the look. I already know. what you're going. Um, get another degree, get my MFA in. poetry. It's something I enjoy. Look. Enjoy, yeah, but what does that require. going spending time getting a degree. when we're putting off our life? It's not See, yeah, cuz I don't see it. that way. It's not putting off my life. Okay, but do you ever want to retire? Sure. So, you're putting off your. retirement. Yes. Okay. To do something. that I find worthwhile. No, that's. great. Do we have to get a degree for it. though? Does everything have to be the.

piece of paper for it? No, so it's actually the piece of paper. like. it's not as used It's the experience, like. Yeah, it's it's really not for the piece. of paper. What about the opportunity cost. surrounding it? It would be. great, but um. Like I I I am confident that I can get a. handle on my finances not making more. than 40,000. Like I don't think I need. more than 40,000 to get a handle on. everything. Yeah, I know.

Well, um. don't know. That's what I make right. now, and it's all right. It's all right. The The issue is spending. Yeah, I know. The issue is spending though, not. spending on unnecessary things. Like. it's more of it's more of a habit issue. than a than a spending. is basically 45% of your take home, and. your needs should be no higher than 50%. I wouldn't say we're exactly thriving by. any means. And also, we just had one. little thing happen, and things will. always happen, and our credit card. balance ballooned. And guess what? One.

more thing, I'm sorry. You're not calculating the fact that. there's $791 of minimum monthly payments. to your student loans that are not being. had to paid right now. Right. No, I'm thinking about that. You are? Of course. 791 divided by 3200, that would take an additional 25% away. Well, what do you want me to say? I. don't know. I just don't think you're a. correct. Okay. That's fine. All right. Can you explain how you would make it on.

$40,000 if it just doesn't if the. numbers just don't say that? Cuz I I. This isn't a prove wrong, prove right. type situation. It's a. if you actually have that thought and. you're totally okay with it or just so. nonchalant about it, it's like if you. end up actually being in that point. where like $40,000 is like for the rest. of our life, cuz this is like what we're. okay with. I don't want you to end up in a bad. situation. Like that scares me on behalf. of you. Mhm. So, that's where I want to try to dispel.

that. I mean, it just depends, right? Like I. What comes, I'll figure it out. Like. that's sort of my It sort of has to be. my attitude about it. Why does it have to be your attitude? Why not a a more mature attitude where. we like have objectives, we figure out. what it takes to meet each objective, and we do that. I'm certainly doing that. Okay, well, that's not figuring it out. And that's. not kicking the can down the road. That's. down the road. But I'm saying like I. don't know how much money I'm going to. be making now. Like I don't I don't. know. I'm just trying to like. I know what I have right now, and I'm.

trying to stabilize with what I have. right now. That's that's what is in. front of me. And then in two years when. I'm done with the PhD, my income will change. It will change. some. I will make a little bit more money. unless I go back to school. I would. would stay the same. Yes. Which you seem equally happy with. though. I mean, I don't know if it's financially. feasible yet for sure, but it's. something that I play around with. Like. it's something that I might want to do. It just depends. Like I don't know if. that will be possible. I have no idea.

Are you a little defensive? I'm just. going to ask. Well, sure. Well, I just. think. I don't want you to feel like I'm. attacking you. Just. No, I don't think you're attacking me. Um. I think that I'm coming off less. prepared to handle all of these things. than I actually am. Okay. And, you know, I'm probably doing a bad. job of like painting myself in a good. light. I don't know. whatever you want to say. I mean, paint. yourself. I mean, I'm trying I'm Yeah. Okay. Just It's just in general, I mean, you.

are a human being on this planet. I want. to see you do. awesome in this world. If we're just. saying we could live off of $40,000 when. math is clearly suggesting that. you're going to have like. 5% to live off of, maybe. And that's not. even including anything being a set set. aside for savings or retirement or. paying off that quicker. It's just like. I can't have you think that way, because. you just In the situation that you've. landed yourself in, it's just endless. school, endless school, endless school, endless school, building up the credit. card debt, building up the student loan.

debt. say let me. clarify, like going back to school to. get another degree is not the A plan. It. is not the B plan. It is It is one of. the things that I have considered, that. I might do. Well, what would we make. before we're a tenured long-time. professor in your position? So, more. entry level. Uh, it varies, but. Yeah. Um, let's think average. 65 to 80. Okay. Now, 80 in a good situation. What. about the director of a writing program? Um, 65 to 80. Okay.

How competitive are those positions? Um, it just depends. It depends on where it. is. Um, can't predict what jobs are. going to be offered in. two years. Um, there might be It might. be a good year with more jobs. It might. be a down year. Um, you know, it might be. a university in rural New Mexico. It. might be in Seattle. It just really. depends. Sure. Um. How do you think your interview skills. are for these positions? Extremely good. Yeah, like yeah, very.

very good at that world of like getting. jobs, applying, like a lot of experience. with stuff like that. Okay. And by the way, when you when you go and. you spend this type of money, I want you. to take advantage of things like rewards. and stuff like that. I want you to take. advantage of building your credit. But. if we can't pay it off, I need you to. like essentially rip this up, use. something like the Fizz card, which is. at least geared towards people in. school. good. Okay, yeah, but we're building a balance. and we're losing interest. So, I'm just. saying like so we're at least paying it.

like a debit card. It's like that that. would be a good resource for you. Yes, I'm I So. I finally got rid of See, you're just. going to get You're going to. I unders- I know what I'm doing. Just to. be clear, you don't need to point this. out to me. I realize that I did this. myself. What did you do? Um, I. had The credit card was maxed out um. at the Yeah, I know, in the spring. because that was like debt that I had. accrued.

partially from my. um. my ex-wife. uh who, you know, when it was our money, she put that on that card. Um, and then um just like trying to. survive that separation, which by the. way, my mental health situation like. made it just difficult to stay on top of. finances. Oh, I'm sure. Of course. I mean, that's. It was It was a really hard time. Um. sorry. It's okay. Take your time.

Some of the student loans was to get out. of that credit card debt. Um I turned it. into student loan debt. It's way I'm I. know, but it's a way lower interest. Um. and then the when the balance was at. zero, um. I had to when the balance was at zero, I. didn't have the money in my bank account. to pay for Baltimore. So, I put that on. the credit card. And then. and then a few other things and like a. lot of um. unnecessary stuff, but I. I'm in a situation I'm getting another. another like bit of money from the.

school that's not loan money. It's just. um like grant money. Um so, that will like I I do think that. I would have the credit card at zero. by February without issue. Okay. I hope. so. Like I I I am prepared to do that. Now, in the checking account, we Well, first of all, we have. savings $10. What? Okay. Well, that's that's um. I'm required to have that account. Yeah.

Um and so, that's just what Do you have. savings anywhere else? I do. Yes. I have a um I have like 450. something in a Marcus. Okay. Um now, I. had a. Oh, I think I have that. I had a a full. emergency fund of like $4,000. Where'd that go? Um That's not a full. emergency fund. Well, yeah. What I meant. more though um. that's a that was like about that was. like a month and a half. Um I spent it. uh. on my surgery. Okay. And going to San Francisco. Yeah,

it was Staying in San Francisco was more. than I expected. And that's obviously. would be a. controversial conversation if we. determine if that's an emergency or not, right? Right. Yeah. Um. I just I more want to use it like I. totally I totally get it. I just more. want to use it like if we can't afford. to live. No, I understand I understand that. I. understand um completely. Um. I. Yeah.

Amazon, Amazon, Amazon, Sonic. Amazon, Chipotle, Spotify. Don't need to. listen to ads even at the discounted. student rate when we are in debt and. can't afford that. Sonic. What's Spotify? Need it. What do you mean? It's 10 bucks a month. It's really all right. You know what's not all right? What? $75,000 of student loan debt. that. It's not 75, but I understand. that. 69, you're right. Should I. Should I save the 120 a year and.

Yeah. Okay. Cuz if you scrape together 120 a. year here, 120 a year here, 120 a year. year here, it's the small things that. usually I understand that. Yeah. It's typically the small things. that are. hurt Americans' finances Sure. on a month-to-month basis. Sure. But But. But But I want to like enjoy my life, you know? It's really not. that bad. Aren't you delaying more than anything. though the true enjoyment of life? True. enjoyment of life is not stressing about.

extra finances. True enjoyment of life. is actually being able to thrive and do. the things you want to do. When we're. delaying and kicking the can down the. road, delaying actually taking control. of our finances and being mature. No. No. Hang on. So, I need you to stop. using the word mature. Why? This is very upsetting. I'm not. immature. We just view things. differently than you. Well, well, well, well, there's immature. financial behavior. That does not mean. you as a whole person is immature. I don't I don't disagree with you about. taking control of things. I just. disagree about like how the Spotify.

charge fits into that. It's just not So, you don't agree with the death by a. thousand cuts. The thousand cuts are not spot So, Spotify is something that I have in in. my budget that gives me a lot of room. Then your budget is in trouble. No, but I spend outside of the budget. sometimes. That's the problem is the. spending out of the budget. What did you come in here for? What do you mean? Like I mean. do you want my take? Like you're just. like you're just disagreeing with it.

Like even something as simple as. the Spotify. It's Okay. So, people like. there's the people out there that's like. don't ever go get Starbucks. You're. ruining your entire future. That's not. me. I'm not that. But I'm like. we do that stuff when we're out of debt. and we have a fully funded emergency. fund. I'm not saying this Spotify thing. is what's killing you. This is an. example of one of the many things that. have been added up that we went over. Yeah. I just don't consider it in that. category. That's all. The other things, sure. How How do you not? I just don't. But go on as of why? I feel like I.

already explained that. No, you haven't explained by why Spotify. itself is some special entity. I use it. I use it all the time. I. listen to hours and hours and hours of. Spotify. Cool. Can I listen to an ad? It's It's worth it to me. I'm sorry. I. don't know what you want for me to say. It's worth it to me. Apple Cash, Domino's, Apple Bill. And.

That's my therapist. Oh, well, obviously. I definitely support that. Yeah. Um. So, that's a that's um $30 four times a. month. Really, there's not like an in-school. therapist? Um I tried. It was way worse. quality. Okay. Well, that's good. I. mean, you got to find the one that vibes. with you and your brain. Uh okay. So, I think this statement shows 250, but I had put another 200 in there. So, Two? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, it's a it's.

at about 450-ish now. Is that what you. said? Mhm. So, 4.4 is pretty good. I use Marcus. I. switched to Spotify because Spotify. I. switched to uh. SoFi because they are at 4.6%, but. uh I'm glad we're at least getting. started on this because before we attack. before we attack a lot of the high. interest debt, we definitely want to have a little. money saved up. on the side for emergencies. Charles.

Schwab, 2,121. Cool. Um. So, I'm reticent to. to. sell my positions here, but I. I could if you think it's a good idea. Well, what kind of account is it in? It's um it's just a brokerage account. Just a brokerage. Okay. Yeah. So, I. could I could just sell my positions and. It's split between like an S&P 500 fund. and then individual stocks. Mhm. And I definitely want to. Yeah, I think I think where I was like.

if I I was thinking like if I wasn't. doing better with my debt in February, um. then. uh. I would close the positions and then, you know, try to build try to. you know, build it back up after I had. my emergency fund and like. you know, more money to put to that. 9.2% of your spending went to necessary. food, but 4% went to like eating out. type food.

9.6 went to unknown shopping. So, usually yeah, unknown shopping here is. Amazon, which we discussed with the. Amazon with potentially for Walgreens. prescriptions. Yeah, prescriptions. Yeah, I see. It's always a little hard. to tell. And then Target is also hard to. tell. Could be groceries. Could be, you. know, a fluffy stuffed animal. Um. What month was it? How much was the. Target? October. Uh Target was total 140. for the month. Yeah. So, that was um that was my first. grocery trip when I got back from San. Francisco and I just needed a lot of.

stuff. And of the unknown shopping, that was. about 10%. 10% of the spending. Medical. is 4%, which is actually more than that. if we add the uh. but there's uh still massive balance on. that. Transportation, we had 14.2. Let's. see what that was. What do we have for.

that? This is gas, Zuber, Sparkin. Car payment. You have a car payment? I do not have a. car payment. I'm not sure what that is. What What is the value on it? Well, it was marked as $352. Uh is that from my Is that from credit. cards? I have car insurance, too. I did spend $300 fixing my car. I forgot. that was a charge on my credit card as. well. Oh, maybe that's what uh maybe it was.

just misprinted in here. Um Yeah, that that was another thing. Yeah. Your car's paid for? Car's paid for. Oh, really? Really good. What What do you. have? Uh it's a 2005 Honda Accord. Okay. How many miles? Like 150 151, something like that. Okay. Okay. You a little worried about the age? No. No, it was in fantastic shape when I. got it. Um it. When did you get it? Um. last summer. So, a little over a year. ago. Um it had some wear on the timing. belt or not the timing belt. It has a.

timing chain. Um it was the serpentine. belt and you know, if that if that goes, the car goes. So, it was like Yeah, just. get it fixed so I don't have to worry. about it. Um power steering is showing some wear. Like that could be a problem down the. road, but. I think that the car is fine. So, total money that went out, by the. way, mind you, $32,000 32 3,200 comes in. Mhm. 5,205. Mhm. What's total spent? Mhm.

But I. at least 1,500 of that was to get out. Baltimore in the car. So, Yeah. Well, in in it's still not great, but in. the program. that you're going to go through, it'll. tell you how those car things come up. and how they fit in our budget and where. it makes sense so that it's not like you. know, things don't go overboard. The Baltimore Yeah, I mean it's but. still obviously we're still dramatically. over where we'd want to be especially. when we're going to make progress on. that. So I think what matters most you.

you talked about liquidating this. I don't want to go out with that out of. the gate. I want to get your total. budget. So let's see where we stand. We. have the rent and utilities 1400. Is. that also internet? Um. Can I get Can I get my phone out? yeah. And while she gets her phone up, you. should hit subscribe because we're. trying to get to a million subscribers. and thank you to everyone who has. subscribed so far. Love you all so much. Don't do it. He hates Spotify.

I use I use YouTube music actually. That's cuz it was bundled with a YouTube. Premium. You know, I. That sounds nice. I. YouTube ads are starting to make me very. grumpy person. Uh Yeah, so I but then I. like went to look I just can't. I didn't spend 18 a month on YouTube. Premium. Remember, it supports your favorite. creators which is good. It is good. It helps pay their income. No, I I I. like not having a an ad blocker cuz it.

supports but like Um there was one I was. watching a an NBA highlight. video and I was like trying to scroll. through the beginning of the game I got. So I watched ads at the start of the. video, scrolled a minute watched another. slate of. 30-second ads and it's like. Unskippable? I got unskippable. Maybe. Uh or maybe it. was like one 5-second and then another. uh 5-second skippable and then another. 15-second and I was like I'm a minute. into the video I haven't watched. anything all I did was press the arrow. keys. That was a little Interesting. So I went That was when I looked.

Um Okay. So my rent is 1229. Yeah. Um internet is 80. Uh. I need to lower that actually cuz I'm. paying for way more than I need I think. Interesting. Okay. Sure. Um it's like roughly 120. I So I budget. 120 for electricity. Um it usually comes. in a little bit under. Um 50 for water usually comes under.

Um car insurance Oh, so that's all for. the place. yes, that's all for the place. Okay, yeah. What's car insurance? Um. 107 Yeah, so we have. Perfect. And gas on average, what do we. think? Um. Not too much. I have. I have. budgeted um twice or like in my plan. monthly thing.

uh two times of $25. Um We have $56.38. Yeah, so that's. put 60. Okay. But I was close. Very. No, you were. Necessary food was a lot. For uh. Well, I was going to say single person. You're in a relationship. What do you. Who do you live with? Um I live by. myself right now. Okay, how Okay, so you. just live by yourself. Yeah, the. relationship is 6 months we're 6 months. in just about 6 months in. Okay, I'm. just trying to think of the eating.

situation versus. Of course. Um. Fun fact, $300. For Is that groceries? Yeah, food only. What do you have? For groceries? Yeah. 300. Good. You did uh 4. I lost it. 476 at grocery stores. Now, some of that could have picked up. cleaning supplies, toothpaste, stuff. like that. Yeah, um I think. I think um.

definitely. when I when I got back from San. Francisco I was like I'm not going to go. eat out especially cuz like I was. recovering from surgery I didn't really. eat out in the first few weeks. Um I. spent a lot more on groceries because of. that cuz I was going through my. groceries a lot faster. Well, we did do. $200 of eating out. Yeah, well I got. better. and I went and started eating out. Yeah, not great. Um. Okay. For sure. And then I'm giving you a.

toilet paper fund. And what this really is is anything you. need to survive. Anything extra that is. just thrown in here all the extra little. stuff. You put that where it needs to be. whether it be toilet paper, whether you. know. that stuff. Mhm. 100 bucks. Health insurance through the university? Mhm. Cool. Uh yeah, I don't I don't pay for. my health insurance. Therapy, how much a. month total? Uh. For those co-pays? 120.

Not too shabby. Medication monthly? Uh it just it's different every time. It's actually terrible. Um roughly. 75. Okay. Roughly. You have to do a lot of parking or was. that for the trip? The parking's a problem. Um it's not good. How much How much was. on parking? 85 That's bad. It's actually. lower than I expected.

Um Uh is this campus parking? Yeah, oh I know why it's lower than You. don't have a semester pass? No, um. Why is a teacher not get to park? I. could get one. I actually didn't know. about it until my friend told me about. it recently. Um they they're pretty bad. about sharing information like that. Um. I tried to take the bus but the bus. that's right by my apartment is like. super unreliable. Um and it either makes me late or they. just like. what has happened a lot of those parking. situations um. what has happened was like I'll be.

sitting at the bus stop and then all of. a sudden like the bus I'm waiting for is. just crossed off the schedule and I have. at that point my options are Uber or hop. in my car and drive and park. Uh the pass for someone in your position. is free or costs how much? It costs some amount of money. Um. You don't know how much? I don't know. how much. I think it's like um. a few hundred for the year. For the. year? Which might be worth doing with how much. we're doing on monthly basis for. parking. Ideally though I would like to.

figure the bus situation out like yeah, but. If it's not going to be reliable. unfortunately that's out of our control. but that sucks. Yeah. it does. Cuz I would love you to do. that. I I tried walking to the. like nearest rapid bus stations like. that's a more reliable bus but then like. that stop was closed that day. It was. just horrible. Just like the worst luck. But I'm going to I'm working on it. figuring it out but. 60 bucks for Apple. is the minimum. Obviously student loans would.

be a massive percentage of this but. we're going to firm it. Man, I can't believe 2026 is graduation. He. You're. You're going to be You're going to be. close to 30. 29, yeah. I'll be. Yes, 29. Want you to get on to the adult section. of life. You know, the post-school. Oh, that just feels so dismissive about. like what graduate school is like. Well, no, no.

I just mean more career. Yeah, I. understand that. It's a career. it's a career. career but you're getting a degree. You're in school. You're learning. You're doing school work. So I want you. to get into the point where you are just. the one paving your own career path. Sure. Okay. Okay. Car payment, yeah, that was just the the. repair. We just had that wrong. Should I be a lovely little lad? No, I'm not. I was going to give a subscription. percentage but I don't I don't know if. we're going to have the room for it.

Let's see where we are right now. Uh. before we Oh, phone bill. Phone bill? Um I don't I don't pay for. my phone. Oh, okay. At the moment. Um. Yeah. So I have my I have my. full paycheck amount right here as well. actually. Uh it's 3496. every month. Good, that's a little better. That helps. Any sense.

at this level certainly helps a lot. Is. there anything else that you need on a. monthly basis that we're not. calculating? I didn't put parking in. there cuz I don't know what to do right. now. I think you should do the pass. Yeah, I'll figure it out. Yeah. Okay, cuz even even if we do public. transportation that is going to cost. something so we need to put something in. the budget. I just don't know what it's. going to be. You're going to have to. decide that. public transportation is free for UT. students. Oh, good. So I don't have I don't have. to pay for the bus at all. Yeah, yeah. Um so it's like my preference but it's. just so See you how you used the word.

student by the way? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Caleb, I'm a graduate. student. It's I I. I teach college students. It's a career. I am considered an early career. academic. Yes. Okay, so. Trust me, I'm going to get bullied for. this so hard. It's all right. 1479. I'm definitely defensive about the. school stuff because I think. I mean. it's it's not like being a college.

student at all. It just isn't. Dude, I wanted to be a uh. teacher for the longest time. I I love. school. I love teaching. I I. I I like learning new things. I didn't. like the process of I didn't like being. a student in the more college setting it. where you just learn a bunch of. that I would never use for the rest of. my life and have never used but either. way. um I get it. I do I do get it. I'm just. a cheeky little. bad word. $2301 is what we need to survive from.

what I have here. I don't Are we missing. anything? Is there I really want to make. sure because it does give us a wiggle. room of a hundred ninety. five dollars. What it What number did you have? Two thousand three hundred one with what. I have. But I didn't put in subscriptions. I. didn't put in parking. And that gives us wiggle room of how. much? A hundred and ninety five. From.

How so? Uh in the way that I did math very. wrong. Gives us wiggle room of one thousand one. hundred ninety five. some things are missing. No, that's not. sure. Maybe. Oh, yeah. Subscriptions. Uh my dog. Oh, yeah. How much? Um so I. have budgeted. eighty one For food? For food and his. medicine. Okay. How old? Um he's six.

I'm looking at getting uh pup insurance. I know it costs Sucks to have something. taken from us on a monthly basis, but it. saved me thousands of dollars. Okay. Just within the last few months, honestly. Cuz they always eat something. dumb. You know, just like you you look. you step around the corner for one. second for some reason they swallow. something that'll never be able to get. through their intestines. Mhm. Okay. So I'm going to actually level that up. to a hundred and ten. Okay. Saving that money. I love when my money.

is making more money in the SoFi high. yield savings account I use has 4.6%. interest on that money. It's the savings. account I personally use for my tax. money that I set aside and other money. that I just want to be building while. it's just sitting there. And you can get. bonuses by signing up all the way up to. two hundred fifty dollars by using my. affiliate link in the description below. And it's not just cuz they're my. affiliate. I personally use them. They're great. I've had a great. experience with them so far. And I only. recommend those who I like working with. and who I like using. So if you have. money sitting in savings, have that.

money make some more money. and use that high yield savings account. Link in the description below. 4.6%. and bonuses all the way up to two. hundred fifty dollars. One thousand. thirty five left on a monthly basis. Does that make sense? Mhm. Yeah. Okay. So with that then really Apple Card. shouldn't exist in my opinion as far as. the debt goes. Mhm. Um And I I completely agree with. you. So like I had like with my little. sheet that I have. um two hundred fifty into savings and.

eight hundred into the Apple Card at the. start of the month every month. The. problem is that will be different for. December cuz I have to. yank a little bit of that for gifts. Christmas gifts. A little bit. You're going to hate me, but no. Yeah. It is no. Yeah. I I mean like it it. would be nice, but yeah. Make something. Do something thoughtful, but Not a lot, but like I'm going to. How much? Um I mean it's more. fifty probably. I know. It's usually the way I go about.

it is Merry Christmas. I'm trying to. better my life and I will give you. amazing Christmas presents in the. future. Mhm. So one thousand thirty five. So yes. The savings. I do agree with you with. that. Um okay. Since Since we're not going to. face any penalties for withdrawing the. stocks, you're right. I might look to do. that because it's not in a tax advantage. account of any kind. No, it's not. You might have to pay a. little bit in taxes. I would, but it's.

not going to be a lot. It would be. whatever. dramatic. Like. 15% or so. It would not be very much at. all. I don't actually. Uh so yes. I I yeah. Let's withdraw. Set. uh figure out what your tax situation. might be on that. Mhm. At least one of. these. uh Apple stocks is a free stock from. Robinhood, which is hilarious. Yeah. I. know. It's a good free stock. It's a great free stock. It was pretty. fun. Um. And things you can do in the future too,

by the way. If you don't even want to. like manage these, just like you know, I've used Acorns in the past. Now I use. Voracity invest the same way, but it. gives you 1% uh match. That's something. to look forward to in the future. We're. not there right now. That's okay. But. instead of having to buy buy individual. stocks. So yes. Let's just Let's take. this out. Let's call it a thousand. Let's call it nine hundred. Let's say. the taxes are going to be crazy. Nine. hundred. The nine hundred I would put towards. your savings. And then this next month I'd put the.

rest of this towards the savings instead. of any extra on Apple. And let's call. that a one month emergency fund. Cuz I. One thing again, I I want you to be. successful. I want you to live a good. life. And you've been through the. situation where you didn't have anything. and something happened. And I don't want. that to happen. There is a There is a. sense of safety and. everything with the school program, which is good. That helps minimize the. risk. But even still, I want you to be. protected. I I do not want you to get. into a bad situation again. That scares. me. I don't want you to be there. For. sure. Yeah, I know. So. one month emergency fund. After that.

then for the next essentially two and a. half months, I'd pay off the Apple Card. And then let's just say there's going to. be some, you know, just adapting to the. budget, everything like that. Let's call. that our total three months. So now. we're four months in. What I would do, and this sucks, but as you're going through the. remainder of school, all the fun money that exists outside of. this, I wouldn't I'd have one.

You're dating someone? Mhm. Maybe dates paid for food. Two. Free fun. Parks. Can I say her name? Did you hear that, Bailey? I know you're. watching this. Get on it, Bailey. Uh we have great parks. We do. And hikes. I don't know if you're into. that thing, but that's a good free fun. or the sun. I don't know. No, we do. We. We do. People are very spooky. I get it. Uh. I'm an introvert myself. But instead of that, what I'd be doing.

is the extra thousand bucks a month, let's just say. Mhm. I'd be putting that. to the student loans that are having. interest currently accrue to them. Mhm. So you have uh the twenty nine uh twenty. nine. You Wait. No, no, no, no, no. Twenty. six. Twenty six is when you graduate. So let's just say twenty four months. Thirty months? Uh yeah. Closer to thirty. Times a thousand. That's you paying down. thirty thousand dollars student loans.

Mhm. That makes your post graduation. life so much better. That also says that. if you do not find the dream job right. away, it gives you wiggle room. It also says. if there are things you want to go into. that are less paying, it minimizes your. risk, which is incredible. Because I'm. not saying go make a billion dollars. anything like that. I'm saying we need. to make a certain amount of money in. order to uh combat the debt situation. that we built along the way. Minimizing the debt post graduation. gives you the flexibility to prioritize.

what you want to do over what you need. to do to survive. So this is This is. actually a really exciting That makes me. excited. That number just hyped me the. Like let's go. You're You have the. potential of graduating bringing that. down from sixty nine thousand almost. cutting it in half. That's awesome. By. sacrificing just focusing on school, by. Bailey paying for some things. I mean, this is great. Yeah, that's fair. Um it's definitely a. balance, right? Like.

um. enjoying and being good at what I do, which is English literature. Yeah. I've had to sort of like. force myself into this mindset of like, you know, I'm fine without having money. And it's definitely like. you need someone to be like, okay, but. you have to worry about that at some. point, right? And it's good to hear and. think about like, yeah. I also just. remember it is temporary. Right. The now always feels much more. important. Mhm. And to a degree, of. course it is. But the now of your future is going to.

be so much better if you sacrifice the. now of now. Right. Uh your future has. potential to be amazing. Let's just have. it Let's just temporary sacrifice for. just a few years. And when you get out. of this, if the remaining student loans. are just the lower interest below 4%. minimum monthly payment till they're. paid off. Totally fine. Let's catch up. on investing cuz we'll be entering our. second best decade of our life for. compound growth. We already got rid of. the first. Like, you know, it just. time is time and it will be gone at that. point. That's fine. We need to start. putting 25% minimum towards investing.

Mhm. So cuz I want you to be able to. retire. Right. Uh like. if we're grinding throughout life. working hard, I want you to be able to. kick back. Not in the sun. We hate the. sun. Sun is very scary. You know, no sun. No people. That's. okay. I want you to kick back. Do whatever you. like doing. And have those golden years. In order to do that, we need to. sacrifice now. And we need to sacrifice a little less. then. Mhm. What are your thoughts on all this? Um no, I agree. Um.

definitely like. maintaining my spending in a spot where. I can put it put that thousand um or. even just like if I wasn't perfect like. nine hundred eight fifty like makes a. huge difference. Um I know your reaction. to that, but like. building in some like room for like not. being perfect is like good for just my. mental health. It's like staying on. track of things. Just like understanding. that like. you know, I can make a lot of progress.

Yeah. Yeah. And I I agree with you in a. certain way. I'll just try to reframe it um just for. a different perspective. If we build. room in our budget to mess up, we enable. ourselves preemptively to mess So it. wasn't what I meant. I meant more so. like um. not kicking myself if I. don't meet the thousand every month. But. like that would be the goal. I get you. I get you. Yeah. I I definitely don't. want you to mentally berate yourself. If. we don't hit certain things, we learn. and we adapt. That's the important part.

One reason why I'm willing to go so. aggressive is cuz when I put myself in. bad debt, worse than yours in different. ways cuz I had private student loans and. I had car debt and all this terrible. credit card debt. More credit card debt. than you have, more than twice. I sacrificed everything in the moment to. pay it off as quick as I could. And then I was able to build a net worth. well before I started YouTube of a. quarter million dollars at the age of. like 27, 26. Like. that's well above. And so because I've. been able to see that I was able to do.

it, me with all my mental health. and stuff I struggle with, me, the that. I am was able to do that. For sure. I'm like, so that's where I. project it onto other people like I know. you can do this. It's temporary and I. promise, I promise the rest of your life. is so worth it if you just do it. Mhm. Any final thoughts? Any final questions? No. No, I think I'm good. Okay. I see a thought. No, I don't know. I. feel like I should have a thought, right? Like something in your Is that.

you? I don't know. I don't know. Well, I wish you the best. Thank you. Come back on here. Let's see where you. are, yeah? Yeah, for sure. Spending and a budget. wasn't the worst, but certainly not the. best given her situation. So it was. three out of 10. Debt, again, not the. worst, but the high interest student. loans that really brings it down, three. out of 10. Versus fun, barely anything, but did get it started, so one out of. 10. Retirement, barely anything, but did. get it started even though we have to. drain it. But because of that, even. still, did contribute a little, one out. of 10. Real estate, not a part of the. conversation yet, zero out of 10. That.

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