This Dude Is Choosing Yu-Gi-Oh Cards Over His Financial Future | Financial Audit

Uh, my name is Joey. I am 26 years old, based out of Rome, Georgia, and this is. Financial Audit. Thanks for taking the. trip down. I know you and your friend. just had a long road trip. Also, by the. way, new set, work in progress, don't judge it too. hard. It's a work in progress. This is. the This is the absolute first time we. filmed in it and it was barely even. built 2 hours ago, so. Yeah, I'm lucky to be the first, man. Yeah. So, yeah, thanks for coming down. Yeah, of course. What is your job? What do you. do in Georgia? Um, so right now I'm an.

intern at a trucking company. Intern, okay. Yeah. So, what does this internship. involve and how long is it? Um, so the internship is through a. program called SkillBridge, which is a. DoD-endorsed program that allows. military members to separate from the. military 6 months early and go work an. internship. But, during that time you're. still getting like all your military. pay, your benefits, your housing. allowance, all that. Yeah, so you served. in the military? Yes, sir. Yeah, I was. What did you do? I was in the Air Force for 4 years. Um, my. AFSC, if anyone cares, was 2M0X1A.

Sure. And uh, yeah. Okay, very cool. So, this internship, how long does it last now? How much. longer do you have? months. So, my contract with the Air. Force expires on September 2nd. And. after that expires, then they can either. hire me on or they can tell me to like. kick rocks. And if they tell you to kick. rocks, at least it's some resume stuff. So, you want to go into trucking? Mhm. Um, no, I don't know if it's what I want. to do forever. Okay. But. you choose this internship? So, I was It.

was more based on the location. I was stationed in North Dakota when I. was in the Air Force and I wanted to get. out of North Dakota and my wife wanted. to move back to Georgia. So, I was. looking at internships that were like. around our area, where we're from, and. yeah, it was just the only one that was. in that area, so I picked it, I got. accepted, and. yeah, and now we're there, but. that don't necessarily want to stay in. that industry forever. Mhm. Um.

but it's it's a pretty good like stable. job for now. What are you making within the. internship? So, I'm still getting like. paid as if I'm an Air Force member. Which is how much? Um. I'd say roughly what hits my bank. account every month is about 3350. uh after taxes. And then you have a. wife, so this is a dual income. household? Uh yes, sir. She wasn't. working for about 2 months after we. moved home just because we were getting. settled in settled into the place and. everything. Is she now? Yeah yeah, she. just started her job about 2 months ago. in on a month? She's So, her job is.

about $16 an hour and she's working Yes, sir. Yeah, 40 hours a week. Okay. And if her time off on average is I'm. going to call it 30 hours a week. Yeah. And how much 16 you said an hour? Yeah, she makes 16 an hour. That's an additional $2,634. before taxes. Let's call it an. additional Yeah. 2,000. And I haven't really felt the effects of. that yet because she had like she. recently just started her job. especially since everything on here is. just looking to the future. Right. I'm.

going to say what hits you guys on a. monthly basis in the household is going. to be. about $5,500. Yeah, and if it matters at all um I. don't know if it matters for your. budget, but if I get hired on at the. place I'm interning at, my uh salary. will go up to about 62k a year before. taxes. Okay, very good. Yeah. Well, what's your. salary now? Um so, with the like I only. make 3,300 a month, so whatever that is. times 12, like 40,000 I think.

Yeah. in the military, so a good like 1.5. times increase. Okay. So, what's the financial situation? Why are. you here? What's happening? What's your. life? What's going on? Um. so. I feel like I need to kind of give a. little backstory on myself just to like. explain the context of that. Um. but. I've kind of always just seen money as. like. uh just a way to just get shiny things, I guess. Um so, like when I was 18 years.

old, for example, uh my first job I ever. got was at UPS. And the only reason I. got that job was because there was a. Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament coming up, and I. wanted to build a Yu-Gi-Oh! deck for it. You play You ever play like You know the. anime at all? You know anything about. anime? No, I mean I know what Yu-Gi-Oh! is. You know what Yu-Gi-Oh! is. There you. go. Yeah, I think everyone knows what. Yu-Gi-Oh! is. Yu-Gi-Oh! cards are also. popular. Yeah, exactly. So, yeah, I. wanted to build a Yu-Gi-Oh! deck, and it. was going to cost me like 400 bucks. So, I got a job at UPS. I worked for like 3. weeks. I got my paycheck. It was $400,

and then I quit the job. And I spent all. of that money. Uh yeah, and uh. Okay. So, I've kind of just always been. like, I see money, I spend money, kind of guy. What are you. at today, though? What's up? Um so, I. just a lot of my extra money just goes. into my hobbies. Still? Okay. Yes, still. So, you've acknowledged this, but for. some reason, you're still doing that? Yeah. Um I really don't have much of a. justification for it, but you know, now.

like I'm getting a little older. I'm 26. now, like I said, and um my wife you. know, we're talking about you know, getting a house here in like a couple. years or so, and I'm like, man, I'm not. good at saving money. And like, I just. need someone to just like. just you know, give me that wake-up call. or whatever. But, and stuff? Have you gone into debt. following all this? I haven't gone into like crazy debt. Like, I honestly didn't like I didn't. think of debt um.

as like a way to get things, if that. makes sense, back in the day. Like, I. kind of just thought of debt as like. Like, my parents always told me, don't. go into debt. Like, if you go into debt, you will like you'll be dying on the. Walmart floor kind of You know what I'm. saying? So, like I They He told me like, stay away from credit cards, and like. you know don't don't go out like stay. away from like predatory loans and stuff. like that. And so like I don't I have. credit card debt but it's not like not. as much as I. you not Okay, so you made it sound like. you listened to them but you're just. like. listen to them but like I said like.

I just all of my like actual cash that I. had I just you know I just kind of spent. it all. Like I'm not good at saving. money at all. Okay, what would you give yourself zero. out of 10? What's your score? Ooh, I prepared for this one. So. for me I'm going to say a four out of 10. on my scale but I know for your scale. it's probably going to be lower cuz What. do you think on my scale? On your scale it's probably like a two. Okay. Well let's take a look. Let us. dive into where things are document.pdf. Let's see what document.pdf is. Yeah, I.

think I sent over a lot of my documents. to you. Some of them. like are kind of irrelevant but I just. sent them anyway. Okay, well this is. your checking account. So let's see. here. In the checking account I mean there's. only $189. Yeah. Especially if you're doing like a road. trip for 12 hours. Having only $189, what if something happens? Yeah, I mean. that was from last month. It's I just. got paid yesterday so there's more in. there now. I know but this is if this is. how a month if this is how a statement. ended I mean I just got paid yesterday. that's exciting for now but how long. does that last until it's $189 again?

Couldn't tell you man. Yeah, for a brief. moment we can celebrate. Now. this. What's with five star food? I feel like. you you're getting lots of cheap foods. Um. Five star food five star food. Are these. taquitos are you taquito taquito. taquito? No, I don't think that's. taquitos. Um. So. Appetize Appetize. Yeah, so Okay, so I know at the at the. beginning of that month my wife and I. went to a anime convention. Hey you did sure play. And yeah, so we we spent a lot on food. when we were at that convention.

La Parea and Duncan. and Red Duck. Yeah, you're spend a [ __ ]. ton of money. Great wraps, ice creams. actually there's there's is there is. there is there anything in here that's. not bull? There's some bull in there. No, well this immediately makes me. scared. I don't know how you gave. yourself a four out of 10 if you. transferred in $500 from savings. You. only have 180 bucks in the checking. account. If you only have 180 bucks in. the checking account, and that's after. you transferred $500 into the you know, from savings into there. Yeah, I I kind.

of. So, what you were choosing What were you. choosing to be clear? Is Chick-fil-A, El. Pollo Loco, Dunkin' Donuts, Red Deck, Cop and Suki, Happy Son, Wraps, Natural. Ice Cream, Zaxby's. You were choosing that over having money. in your savings. Yeah. I mean, I. transfer in from savings a lot. That's. what I do. I transfer in from savings a. lot. So, that was the thing. I I didn't. really know much about like a savings. account before I started watching your. videos. it was? So, I kind of just saw it as a. way to separate money. Like, I'd be.

like, all right, this is my checking. account. This is the money that I can. like I have available to me right now, and the money that I need to like not. have available to me, I'm going to put. it in the savings account, and then when. I do need it, I'm going to move it back. over. I do that a lot. Got you. Yeah. Like, I've always tried to. Well, fun fact, that's not how to use. savings. It Yeah. I've always tried to. keep it at a minimum of like a thousand. dollars just cuz that's what I was told. a long time ago is like, oh yeah, thousand dollar emergency fund, good to. go. Yeah, maybe in the '90s. Not good to go, man.

No, not good to go at all. Yeah. What. was this What was this Floyd tags? Oh, the $700? Um so, like I said, I was stationed in. North Dakota, and I had to transfer my. car tag to Georgia, and it cost me 700. bucks to do that. Brutal. Steak and Shake. Ridiculous. and just bull [ __ ] and bull, and bull, and bull. Mercari, Mercari, PlayStation. Dude, it just goes and.

Roam Dorff House. Yeah. Ticketmaster. I mean, come on, man. The statement. doesn't end in movies, frontier. So, we're traveling a lot. Should have. looked at your debts first. I should I. should have understood where your debts. are even going into this before we did. this. You're more than welcome to look at. them. You're going to be mad at me when. you do, though. What are you happy about that? No, no, I'm not. I'm just I'm I'm one of. those people that I can find like. you said your credit card debt wasn't.

that bad, but I'm looking at this and I. see 3,000. $672. Yeah, that was um You're just like, "Mhm, that's nothing." That was an. unfortunate thing that that happened. What? In. It's just So, like I Like I said, I. spend a lot on my hobbies. I'm I'm a. collector. I collect trading cards. Mhm. And uh You should collect wealth. Yeah, I I really should. That's That's That's. a good thing. I'm going to I'm actually. going to um I'm going to I'm going to. live by that for now. Sorry, what were you saying? No, yeah, but uh. a very uh rare, like once-in-a-blue-moon.

opportunity came up for me to purchase. something for my collection. And so, I did. Do you pay these off every month? Uh I. usually do, yeah. Probably not going to. do this one. Well, this one I I don't. really have the cash on hand to pay it. off right now. 180 bucks, yeah. Yeah, but I mean, I'm. I'm aggressively trying to pay it off. Um I also have an eBay uh store. You know, if you can't afford it, you. can't buy it. Uh yeah, I understood. that. I like I completely un- like It.

was It was unfortunate cuz it was right. before I was about to go on your show, too. Like when we had just started. talking. do it? Did you legitimately know it's. bad? Why? I knew you were going to roast me for. it, but it was one of those things that. was like You know, if I'm going to roast. for it, that means it's probably. something you shouldn't have done. So, why'd you do it? Why are you choosing. this over your life, man? So, like if So, I had just paid that. credit card off fully. And like I said, a a really rare, like. once-in-a-blue-moon item came up for me. to like own in my collection. And I was. like.

Your blue moon. I don't give a. "I have the cash, but I got the credit card. And so I'm going to put it on the credit. card. What's your car? Uh, so. the car that you see on there, that's my. wife's car. What's the car? It's a 2018 uh Subaru. Crosstrek. What's the interest rate? It's at about 6%. Yeah, it's like 5. something. But I was. going to say whenever you. term is it? It is a 72. But uh whenever. you do the little graphic on the video,

you know that sometimes you put the car. up, just make sure it's the blue one cuz. that's the one it is. And my wife likes being identified by. the blue Subaru. Got you. Yeah, yeah. So it it's important to her. If it's important to her, it's important. to me. exactly. Thank you. I appreciate that. Is that the only car debt? Yeah, that's. the only car debt. My car is paid off. And then PayPal credit, is this a. balance or is this paid off? That's a that's another. another thing that I purchased using. credit.

That's going to get paid off really. soon. But but PayPal credit is a zero. interest uh for 6 months. And are you. making the appropriate payments to pay. it off in 6 months without any issues? yeah. I'm just I'm prioritizing paying. off the credit card right now. Um so. everything that I'm making off of like. my eBay and uh like a portion of my. income is going towards paying off the. credit card. And then I'm making the. minimums on the PayPal until. amount on the PayPal? Um I don't think. that there is a like a minimum amount on. there yet. Cuz I just I just used like. paid or bought that like last month. So.

there's no like minimum payment due. yet, if that makes sense. So you haven't. made a payment towards it? Not yet. because uh it hasn't given me like a due. date or anything. it's going to be about 54 bucks a month. Something like that, yeah. I'm I'm not. necessarily opposed to 0% financing. things and then investing the money that. you have instead, but you're financing. things cuz you just don't have the. money. And that's is not how you do it. Yeah. Is this another Yu-Gi-Oh! thing? No, I mean I don't I don't collect. Yu-Gi-Oh anymore, but I collect like a. variety of other TCGs.

And uh like trading card games. I was. Yeah, yeah, okay, good. You know that. Oh, well, I know it now that you said. it. Okay, cool. Yeah, but yeah, I collect. other trading cards now, and uh that was. another thing that popped up, and I was. like I don't really like I don't want to. see the money in my bank account go. down, so I'm just going to use PayPal, and I'll just like finance it at 0% cuz. like why not? But also like not why not because I. don't want to be in debt. You're going to. piss me off here. because.

you said. again. you you made it sound like you'd never. gotten a credit card debt cuz your. parents told you it's always just bad to. have a credit card debt, and then you're. like, "Oh, but I have a credit card. debt." And then you're like, "But my dad. always said I should have a thousand. dollars in savings, you know." And then. I see five dollars. Oh, no, that So, okay, so I sent that to. you. That was one of the things that I. sent to you that doesn't really matter. That's a savings account that is uh. connected to a checking account that I. have, and I don't use either of those. Oh, okay.

But I sent it to you just So, the. checking account that's connected. is the one that matters? Yeah, the other savings is the one that. matters. That's That's a joint savings. with me and my wife, and like most of. that money is my wife's money. Huh? It's. your Well, it's both of your It's both. Oh, it's most of it her. bank separate still? Um so like we our. checking accounts are connected, and. that savings account is connected. Um. Did you get any 0.5%. 0.15% interest? I know. I didn't 4.4%. interest high-yield savings account. SoFi, link in the description below. It's what I use. Use it, dude. At least.

try to keep it up with inflation. Yeah, I'm about to switch it over to either. that, or my dad was saying something. about a 5% Maybe. savings account that he has. the $250 bonus I got from switching, though. Oh, yeah, I didn't think about. that. That's a good little perk. But. you're pulling money from here all the. time, though, as you were saying. All the time. So, what? What's like the normal. balance? Like has it been up, and now. it's going down or what? So like So when we when we moved out of. North Dakota, um. we like we had like a decent We had.

about 11k in there. And. we we kind of like So that the Air Force. was going to pay for our move down. there, but we spent a lot of the money. that was in that savings account while. we waited for them to like pay us back. if that makes sense. And then you would. have just replenished it. Yeah, but also. my wife wasn't working for a few months, so she Okay, so Well, also like that's. not only what we were doing but I don't. want to only put it on her. Like we both. kind of took out of that money, too. Okay, but if it was just waiting for.

money to get paid back it would have. just been replenished and it would have. been what it was before. Yeah. So you guys are just choosing to be a. little lazy. Yeah, we were using that. savings account to like we were we were. taking money out of it to like pay for. rent. What was the peak? Like 11,000. So. you've cut it in half. Basically, yeah. Yeah. It's not a good friend. You guys may. have had a fully funded emergency fund. at that time. Yeah, I know. That would. have been nice. Is military paying for. housing? Uh no. Well, they're giving me a housing. allowance, but it's not like it doesn't.

equate to my rent. included in that money that's coming in? Uh yeah. 3,300? Yeah, that that's included in that. Yeah. Before that my paychecks were like. $1,000 every 2 weeks and now they're. like 16. something. 1650, 1675. Also on your credit card yesterday was. the main purchase, but we're doing. Wendy's and Cook Out, and Chili's, and. Chick-fil-A, and Outback. You guys eat. out every day. Yeah, we eat out a. you do the checking account statement. and the credit card statement,

you guys eat out every single day. Yeah. Like I mean, we do buy groceries and my. wife's a really good cook, but we like. to eat out like more than we should. So. tell me about the benefits that you get. in terms of retirement and stuff like. that. Um what do you mean? Like Just from. the time you served? Um so like. just getting out like all I all I'm. really getting is my GI Bill. Like I. didn't retire or anything. I just I I. did my four years. I got out. And I. tried to get out as fast as possible cuz. I was not trying to stay in North.

Dakota. that's good. But um maybe um maybe like. a uh VA claim in my future. Why? Do you. have anything? Um just like my knees are. really messed up and I made sure to get. it documented. But I'm like too early on. in that process to really say if I'm. going to get anything or not. Was it actually from service? Yeah, it. was. Okay. Yeah. Okay, then absolutely take Yeah, the the job I worked we had to like we. had to bend down for like hours at a. time and we worked in really cramped.

spaces. Mhm. Um yeah. Sure. Then definitely take. advantage of that cuz. yeah, you should get that if that's if. it was actually from there and sounds. like it was. So. Then what I'm concerned about is. retirement. How much is saved up in your. retirement? How much is saved up in her. retirement? Um so I sent you a a retirement like. document, but I don't think it was the. right thing to send you cuz it doesn't. tell you how much is in my retirement. Um but I did take a screenshot if you. want me to show you on my phone.

Sure. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Cuz yeah, I just had like the regular. like military um. the TSP is what it's called, the Thrift. Savings Plan. And I took a screenshot of it on my. phone to like show you how much is in. there. So that's in my retirement right. now, about 13,000. About 13,000 in her? I guess so. I don't really know what it. is. her? Huh? Oh, her? My bad. Uh she. doesn't have anything. Oh. Why? What has she been doing? How.

old is she? She's 24. Uh. she she worked at Chili's for like four. years before I joined and then when I. joined she just worked as a barista and. she She making like she was making hell. of money as a barista. What's hell of. money? Like she was making like 15 bucks. an hour plus like tips and the tips were. like decent. So she was probably making. more than me, but. Um yeah, she she doesn't have a. retirement fund or anything. I'm happy. you started. We want to be a little more.

than that at your age. Yeah. Uh but I am happy that you. started. For the household we're. definitely dramatically behind them. For. sure. For sure. Okay. So the. future in terms of that. What does she want to do? Um so she is. in school right now. She's going to be a. Oh man, I'm so bad at remembering. surgery tech or something like that. Surgeon tech. Oh. Uh yeah. So she Yeah,

she's in. school doing that right now and uh. right now she is like she just started. this job as a uh scrub tech. Okay. And she And instrument tech. Instrument. tech. That's what it's called. Yeah, so. she like cleans instruments at a. hospital. And I guess that's in the field she. wants to like continue on. Oh, very cool. Yeah. Okay. And then. you're potentially going to be a. trucker? No, yeah. I'm just working at a trucking. company right now, but I'm going back to.

school to do cybersecurity. cuz I want to make the big bucks one of. these days. No, definitely. That makes. sense. But like the Well, have you looked at. getting different certifications and. stuff like that? Cuz I mean I mean you. hear me talk about Course Careers all. the time. Yeah. I don't know if they. focus on cybersecurity. They deal a lot. of tech, but either way. their certifications and stuff for cyber. cur- One of my one of my best friends. here, out of all the incomes combined in. my friend group here, everyone else has degrees, almost. He does not, but he has the. certification in cybersecurity and he. makes the most. Yeah, I know. Like.

Well, it's just because I have the GI. Bill and so like I'm going to be getting. paid basically to go to school. Uh so. like. Yeah, that's true. But, then there's. also the cost opportunity cost. Like, imagine if you got a certification in 6. months and then you're working the other. 3 and 1/2 years that you're getting a. degree, and you're contributing 20%. towards retirement. 3 and 1/2 years of. compound growth within the best decade. of your life for compound growth. By the time you're out of school, even. though of course, you know, you're not.

necessarily paying for it and. everything, Mhm. though you're you're not making. anything, you're not putting things in. retirement in your best decade at this. point of compound growth for retirement. will have been gone. Yeah. So, there's the opportunity cost. I. definitely get it. A degree is nice. I. am not anti-degree by any means. So, definitely go that path if that's what. you want to do. Just highly consider the. math around everything. Yeah, well, the the thing is like. you know what you want to do. Yeah, the. thing is like I'm going to be working at. this company that I'm working at. like while I'm in school. If they accept you. Yeah, if they hire.

me on, which like knock on wood, but. like they're acting like they're going. to hire me on. They're they're they they like me a lot. And like I've I've kind of been like. bending over backwards to like show them. that like, you know, I'm good. Like I. can do the work, you know, cuz. yeah, it's not really hard. And. so, like the schedule that I'm on right. now is 3 days on, 4 days off. Mhm. So, my plan is just to work those 3 days. Is this long haul? No, no, it's I'm not. I'm not a trucker. I'm a manager. Oh, I.

heard it completely. manager. So, yeah, well, it is for a trucking. company. And I don't think I clarified. on that, and that was like my bad. But, yeah, I'm just working as a. transportation manager. So, I I pretty. much just do computer stuff. Got you. Okay, which makes sense with the. cybersecurity and all. Yeah, so like I'll be working 3 days, and then I'll have my 4 days off to. focus on school. And the school I'm. going to. you. you might have heard of it before. It's. called WGU, Western Governors. University.

I think so. They cuz they advertise. everywhere on there. Yeah, I see YouTube ads for all the. time. And it like I. I don't want to just like jump into. something and like realize that it's a. scam. But uh it's. Well, I feel like everyone goes there. because of the advertisements. So, why. specifically there do you is where you. want to go? Well, it's it's just because it's at. your own pace, and like you don't you. pay in like the way I understood it is I. think you pay in like 6-month. installments, and then you just go as. fast as you can. That's That's called paying for a. semester. Yeah, but you're. not.

going at the pace of a semester. You're. like. Yeah, like you can you take like one. class, you finish that class, you go on. to the next one. So, you can finish your. degree in like a year if you really want. to. And I already have like transfer credits. from like when I went to school cuz I. did uh 4 years of school before I was in. the military. 4 years, but no degree? No degree, yeah. Okay. I messed around a lot. Yeah. Yeah. You've done a lot before 26. You're 26, and you're not even close to old, and. you've done a lot. I feel old.

of school and 4 years of military? Yeah, I I feel old. Really? Yeah. Like the reason I joined the. military was because like my parents had. They had a deal with us when we were. growing up that if we uh So, in Georgia, we have this thing called the HOPE. Scholarship where if you graduate high. school with a 3.0 or higher, you can uh. get 80% of your college tuition paid. for. And then if you graduate with a 3.7. or higher, you can get 100% paid for. Can or everyone does? Yeah, like everyone who graduates high. school. 3.0 is so easy. What What do people Wow.

Yeah, it it it's just a thing in. Georgia. Who's in Georgia? Yeah. But uh so, I. graduated with a 3.7 from high school. So, I had 100% of my tuition paid for. So, they were like, "As long as you are. keeping that, we will pay for 4 years of. school. Like we will supplement your. life for 4 years." So, I was. supplemented for those 4 years, and I didn't make the best opportunity. of it. Yeah. Yeah, cuz I was messing around a lot. Yeah. And I was also like Like I said, I. have a lot of hobbies, so like I was. really into like mobile games, I was. really into gaming, I was really into.

playing competitive card games. Like I. was just in general just messing around. a lot. And. so that 4 years came by and I was 22 and. I didn't have my degree and I dropped. out of school for the second time and uh. I was just like, "Mom, I don't really. know what I want to do." And my mom was. like, "Well, you know what I would do if. I were you? I'd join the military." And. I was like, "That's stupid." And then 2. weeks later I was leaving for basic. training. Okay. So yeah, I have I've I've had a wild. ride up until this point. Well, even.

with all that, I'm a little nervous just. with and your mind's already set. You're. already going to go to the college. whether or not that makes sense. mathematically the opportunity cost for. what you want to do. You know what I. mean? Your mind's set on a specific. college anyway that goes about a route, I don't even know. And then you. obviously um. You've gone You paid You got You finally. got out of credit card debt and then you. get. went in right back into credit card. debt. And you only have 180 bucks.

in the checking account and then you're. there's a savings which you're like the. majority of it's my wife's. Yeah. Like I mean, what are we What are we. trying to do? Your mind's already set on. so many things and your your ways or. things like. Dude, I just. I just need to change my habits, man. And like I said, like my wife and I, we. want to like get a house in a couple. years and I'm like, "Man, if I'm going. to get a house like I've never budgeted. before." And I'm like, "Man, like I just. I need to just like you know, I need to. just bunker down and just like Plus. you're going to lose your housing. allowance as well. But your income. should be higher. Yeah, well, I'm also. going to have housing allowance while.

I'm using the GI Bill. Oh, right. Yeah. But it's. not a lot. It's like a thousand bucks a. month or something like that. Well, also. what we just want to make sure is once. you're, you know, out of school and. everything like that that even though. you have incredible benefits you get to. take advantage of that the monthly. payment is still affordable for your. income. Yeah, for Like no higher than 30% of. your post-tax would be preferred. Yeah, 100%. which in many places getting harder and. harder to find. It's easier as a couple. Luckily, you're a couple and you're both. going into a good income fields.

Does she have any other debt? Because I. consider that your debt at this point. Yeah, she she's got about 6,000 in. student loans and I couldn't find a. statement or anything for it, so I have. no idea what the interest rate is. Federal or private? They're federal. And for some reason I thought they. didn't have interest on them, but that's. that was that was wrong. doesn't have to pay for it right now cuz. she's still in school. Yeah, but she we're she's definitely. going to have to start paying for it. And she's probably going to take out. more when she like like the more school. she goes into. Yeah.

I wish. cuz I know you can pass like. some of the bennies you got to like kids. and stuff. Oh, yeah, I'm not doing that. Why? Them kids, bro. Will you be saying that when you have. kids? I mean, probably not, but. to her as your wife? And then you just. get a certification for a few thousand. bucks? I mean, I could, but I'd rather like use. my benefits. Like that's basically the. whole reason I joined was to get my. benefits. I like to try to find solutions that. make the most sense mathematically and. everything that, but your mind's so set.

on things already. So, we're just like, "Okay, she's just going to go into. student loan debt.". And what is this? What is this a. 6-year type degree, you know, bachelor. and then masters or is this a four? I. think she only has like a year left. before she's done with it. Does she have to fully finance the other. Yeah, she's going to have to fully. finance the other year, unfortunately. But I mean, I'm I'm open to suggestions. Like don't like don't don't think I came. here with that mindset. a few already, but it's like you I mean, you're already doing your thing. Yeah. So, I don't know, man. Well, like the whole.

reason I want to like go to that school. um is also during the like degree. program, you also get 14 certifications. along the degree as well. And that's. like built into it. So, it's like I'll. be graduating with a bachelor's degree. and also with 14 certifications. Well, I mean, I see the advertisement of. the school all the time. I have not. looked into it, so I can't speak. educatedly on them and what they're. offering and I was getting a lot of. YouTube ads for them and I usually don't. trust YouTube ads, but then I like. started watching some like reputable. YouTubers who were talking about it and.

I was like, okay, this is not a scam. I. might look into this. Because. like I kind of I always feel like I'm. running out of time and I'm like, man, I. don't want to spend another two, three. years in school finishing up this. degree. I'd rather do this school where. I can finish it in like a year, you know. what I mean? Mhm. So Okay, well, what's. the what's the new rent? Uh so my rent right now is 1366. a month. And that feels ridiculous to me, but. that's just how it is. And utilities uh including gas,

electric, water, internet, trash, sewage. So it's about. $90 for internet. Uh. Dang, I don't know. Uh probably like 200. all together a month. With internet? No, yeah, without internet, so Yeah, cuz. it's like. Um. in typical I'm about to go on Caleb. Hammer fashion, I just got a new phone. like last week. Okay. Yeah, but my phone bill's like 40. bucks a month.

I think. And her? Um. I think hers is also like. 25 or something. Her phone's paid off. Mhm. And you guys have like a. Well, she So she's still on her parents'. plan. I'm still on my parents' plan. Do. you guys pay them? Yeah, we pay them. Okay. So I'm only giving them like 40. bucks every month. Okay, do you guys. groceries? We go a little less. I feel like we could do 500, but we'll. do 600. I was going to say 500 a month.

We'll do 500. Yeah, cuz that we usually. spend about 250 every grocery trip. Okay, and you go like every other week? Every other week, yeah. Okay. And then. just keeping the house order and all. that stuff, I'm going to give 150. Toilet paper, groceries, mirror, uh toilet paper, makeup, all that stuff. Yeah, works for. me. Toothpaste, all those goodies. Now, the. debt minimum monthly payments, 54 plus. 54 plus 36 plus 319. is four. So, you have a paid for car?

Yeah, my car is paid for, luckily. Um I. got really lucky on that. But And uh. both car insurances together? Yeah, it's. about 275 a month, but that includes. renter's insurance, too. 275? 275, yeah. of you? Yes, sir. Yeah. It's actually it's not crazy. Yeah, not crazy at all. Just living. And. um. Let's see. Any other minimum monthly. payments that you can think of in your.

life that exist? Just want to think. I'm trying to think. off the top of my head. Uh. Gyms? No, I mean I do have. subscriptions. What? Tell me your. subscriptions. off top of your head. You're going to. roast me, man. Okay. Uh well, I have HBO. I feel like. everyone should have HBO, but I also. have Peacock. Cancel Peacock. Stupid. I can't. Yes, you can. I I mean, I don't want to. Okay, cancel Peacock. I don't give a Cancel Peacock. HBO's good cuz HBO's fantastic.

Peacock is Peacock is the only streaming. service that I can watch track and field. on. Does anyone even know what that is? I. love track and field. That's my sport. It's all I've ever done in my life. like it's an actual thing to watch? It's. not a show? Yeah, yeah, track like track and field. the sport. Like that's the only. streaming service you can watch it on. And it's five bucks a month. What are your other subscriptions? I think that's it. Fine, $30. Well, I had GoDaddy, but I canceled that. cuz I had a I owned my domain for a. while.

$30. Anything else? I'm trying to think off the top of my. head. Oh, I have I have PlayStation, but. that comes out yearly. It's like 120. bucks a year. Okay. PlayStation Premium. I remember when all of the. PlayStation. bros. during the PS3 days were bragging. against the Xbox people cuz Xbox people. had to pay money for it but got a much. better service anyway. Yeah, Xbox was. winning during those days. to pay for it. I think.

Yeah, I think Xbox is still kind of. winning. Cuz. We have Game Pass. Yeah, Game. Game Pass kills. all foreign above better, but I can't I. can't get an Xbox because I'll have no. one to play with. Yeah, and there's the. exclusives that PlayStation has. Yeah. Except Xbox is buying all of the big. developers. Yeah, something like that. So you guys need $2,900. to survive. A minimum monthly basis. That is your. survival number. That's not bad.

I don't think that's bad at least. Well, let's see. Uh it's just slightly into bad, but. barely. It's 53% of your income. We want. to cap that at 50. So you're like right. there. So we're like. We're not good, but like we're fine, I. guess. You're like if we could cut from. anything, that'd be good. So you know, can you afford the Can you afford the. subscriptions? No. Cut from the grocery. and toilet paper money a little.

Try to get the absolute cheapest phone. service even though I think you guys. already have that. And maybe move down. in rent a little. But if utilities go up a bit, then I. mean your needs become 60% and that. should be capped again. Yeah. Uh 50. And. our apartment complex keeps asking us. for more money. And I'm like, dude, stop. asking me for money, man. Oh, and gas to. drive. Yeah, gas. 164. So I'm going to We're going to. throw that in the budget as what you. spent last month. Okay. Yeah, that works. for me. So you need $3,064.

to survive. Yeah, I forgot about gas. You got to get. places. Yeah, unfortunately. Also, can I just say. of your income goes to your needs. Can I just say while we're talking about. gas, I I'm very anti-car. I hate cars. Oh, yeah. And I hate that our country is. built around cars. Yeah, car developed. It's not people. Yeah, people should be first. I just I. feel like I should say that because. you're always like, "Oh, Americans and. their cars." Yeah, no, it's true. I hate cars. I wish we could get rid of. them.". It's like the worst tax we have as a.

culture is that you're forced to have a. car in order to survive here. Yeah. We don't. build our infrastructure around humans. We build it around double sofa mobiles. that people like to park somewhere and. then take it somewhere else to park. But. $400 of both is spent. No, actually. No, no, no, no. $400 of eating out, but in. total with everything cuz you spent a. lot on both and travel and conventions. Yeah. $900 on both. $900. I'm really good. While you're in the debt.

And of course, it's actually more than. that cuz of the stupid crappy you bought. on the. not Yu-Gi-Oh or whatever. a It was a rare item, okay? Once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity. You. know what's rare? Americans having enough money to retire. Amen. falling into that trap of not being able. to have enough money to retire. Amen to. that, brother. Oh. Why are you agreeing to that, but yet. you're you're doing everything that does. not agree with that? I can agree to things, but at the same. time. with it, shouldn't it be actions.

following? I Yes. Okay. But you don't do. that. Like I said, like I was I was like I was. aggressively paying down that that. credit card. broke it immediately after. it. Yes, yes. And next time a golden items, whatever, pops up, they're just going to do it. again. Yeah. Then you're going to PayPal finance. another stupid thing over and over. again. You're just going to borrow twice. as much student loans as she has now. But like I said, I do like I do eBay on. the side and I'm selling a lot of my.

collection to pay off that purchase. You. should. You better. Like as as because I'm not about like. you know, going into just stupid debt, but it was just like that one time like. I was like, man, It's not even a choice. jump on this right now or I'll never. like be able to own this item in my. collection. Yu-Gi-Oh! over your survival. What's. It's Naruto, actually. No, [ __ ] you. It's Yu-Gi-Oh! Ching you, dude. You got the ching sound effect. Ching. you back, dude. But you're This is.

actively I I don't know what I can do. here. I don't know what I can do. I can. lay out a plan as I always do. I have. next to no confidence that you'll follow. the plan just based on historical. performance and based on this. conversation. Anytime I've thrown up. anything so far it's been like, yeah, but I have this other plan, so all. right. Really? Do you really I felt like it was a. pretty productive conversation. Well, it's productive in terms of maybe. maybe laying things out for you to view. it, but again, every time I've laid out. something it's just been like, yeah, but. I'm going to do this. Yeah, but I don't know. I feel like I'm. pretty I'm pretty receptive to I That's.

how I feel about myself, but I'm also. like a big advocate for myself. Sure, but I'm like a big advocate for you. knowing like. how bad the debt is cuz I was in much. worse debt than this on point. Yes, absolutely. And then I got out of it and. now I'm in a, you know, I I was in a. good position before YouTube and I'm in. a good position now with YouTube and. everything like that because I got out. of debt and I'm on track for retirement. You're not. I know what the freedom. feels like on the other side. Yeah. So I'm advocating for you. You're.

advocating for your wants. That's true. [ __ ] your wants. I don't give a Yeah. you to be able to retire and not. work when you're 90 and die on the. Walmart floor. course. Yeah, I would like that, too. Yeah. Yeah. So how about like it's let's do. what's necessary in order to do it. That's true. So mathematically speaking. again, go to college if you want. That's. totally fine. But, again, you're giving up 3 and 1/2 years of the. best years of your life for compound. growth. And we could pass the bennies to wifey.

And she could just do it. But, I'm also. going to be working during that time, too. So, it's not like I won't be. working. many hours are you actually going to be. able to work? Well, my I'll be salaried. So, I'll be getting paid no matter how. much I work. They know this that you're going to be. doing school and you might not be able. to take 40 hours a week. Yeah, it's it's it's 3 days on, 4 days. off. nights. Yeah, it is Yeah, that's true. Well, it's was 3 nights, technically. Like Are you going to be able to do that. and school? I hope so. Realistically, knowing yourself, that's. a lot, man. That's legitimately a lot.

Yeah, I kind of feel like the military. just like kind of made me like I know, but when you flip that day-night cycle, man, it gets hard. For real, it sucks. But, I had to switch schedules a ton. when I was in the military. Do I trust. you? If you think you know you can do. it, I mean, that's fine. It's fine. Yeah, but Yeah, like I don't. know, like I have confidence in myself. and I. Like, I'm kind of surprised that you. didn't get like the You didn't get like. the same vibe from me like during the. conversation. I thought it was pretty. good. No, what his What historically have you.

demonstrated that would give me any. confidence? I mean, nothing to you. But, like in my. life, I have. No, exactly. No, I mean, that's great that you signed. up and. you know, did military stuff. That's. incredibly Like, I respect that. immensely. It doesn't mean you're going. to be good with finances. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I've been awful with finances my. whole. life. And I'm only here talking about. finances. I'm talking about nothing. else. No, yeah, I agree. As Like I said, as far as money is concerned, like I. definitely do need a kick in the ass to.

like. tell myself. kick in the ass. Thank you so much. Listen. Actually listen, cuz again, what am I. going to do? Am I going to lay out a. plan or are you actually going to follow. it? I don't know. Yeah. Are you going to. spend $900 a month on bull Next. Yu-Gi-Oh! thing pops up, and you just. start, you know, getting like flaunting. after it and then spending all the money. you don't have on it. Can you continue. having $100 in checking account? Can you. save withdrawing from savings from. taking it from $12,000 to $6,000 because. oh, we don't want to work these next.

couple months. Working is boring. I don't like working. I'd rather play video games and. Yu-Gi-Oh! all day. Yo, honestly, I would rather. But like if I was still. making money. be your retirement. Yeah, that would be my retirement. fired up, dude. Fire. Financial independence retire early. I. yes, I would love to. Well, you're not. even close to being I know. to being close to being close Yeah, I. know. to doing that. That's not even a thing. That's kind of why I'm like wanting to. go into cybersecurity though cuz like.

they make a lot of money. but do the people where you've been in. your life in terms of what you've done. with your income, that doesn't [ __ ]. matter. Your expenses are going to. follow the same trend that your income. your income will go up, your expenses. will go up, your lifestyle will inflate. yourself. In fact, you might follow the. average American trend where your income. goes up $40,000, but your expenses go up. $60,000. Dang, I I I I really would hope not. I'd. hope not too, but again, what have you. demonstrated. All right, we're talking in circles. Yeah, you're right. Yeah. So, what can I do here?

Um I mean honestly like I I do. appreciate you talking to me and like. having like this and like obviously. making the budget and everything like. and I'm going to like. you know, like I said, I really need a. kick in my ass. Like I'm going to follow. that to the best of my ability and um. yeah, I've been trying to cut back on. the hobbies for a long time and usually. I just try to keep it self-sustaining. where I'm like buying stuff and using. the the money that I made to. you know, to buy more stuff. I'm buying. stuff and then selling stuff and then.

using that money to buy more stuff if. that makes sense. But it's just that one. time like I just You say that, but the. money has only been going down. So, clearly that's incorrect. Yeah, it it yeah. Because or else it. would just fully replace itself. Yeah, that's just the way I see it. But. you're seeing it wrong, so why are you. even looking at it like that? I'm sorry. I I feel like I'm not really. coming across as a dick, but you just. keep saying things that are wrong. Yeah, I Like that I needed you to get. out of that mindset because that's. leading you down a bad place. Yeah, I. can't disagree with you. It's your show, you know, at the end of the day what you.

say goes, but. but it's not even about me, it's about. you and then someone who can relate to. your situation out there. So, if someone. else has that mindset that you have and. then that's clearly mathematically not. working out for them they're like, "Oh, man, I should probably, you know, correct my life.". That's what it's like. Yeah. But if you. just keep saying all these justification. justifications for all these things that. do not add up correctly. What's. going to happen in 20 years, you know? Where are you going to be? That's completely true. Yeah, we I mean, I wouldn't be anywhere. Like I said, I've. What can we do though? That's That's. what I'm trying to figure out. We've. been talking for 46 minutes. 46 minutes,

do I lay out how to get out of the debt? Does it even matter? Yeah, I mean, it definitely matters. Like the minimum payments matter and I. plan on like making on that like with. all my extra income that I'm like, you. know, going to be making is going to be. going towards debts until I'm out of the. debt. Okay, well, I'll tell you what to. do. First, stop with the. uh Yu-Gi-Oh! [ __ ] Second, stop with. draining from savings. You don't You. don't do that to go to Jack in the Box. or whatever else you were going. I don't. even remember. Lots of Chick-fil-A's.

So, no more Chick-fil-A. How much was in that savings again? Uh about 5,000. Okay. You're keeping $3,000 in there cuz. that's what you need to survive with. your new wife for a month. You're taking. $2,000 and throwing that at the Capital. One and there's $1,600 left. And of the. money that you have remaining on a. minimum monthly basis to survive $100 or. $5,500. Mhm. minus the 3,064. of expenses, you have 2,436. You're. taking uh a.

thousand of that, 1,500 of that and. you're paying off the Capital One. then. you have $1,000 left. What I would do is. I think just for you guys situation. makes sense to just get rid of the car. So, get rid of the car debt. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I was going to say she's not going to. like that. No, I'd throw the $1,000 towards that. then there's $9,500 left. Of the $9,500, of the $2,500, you can throw at on a. minimum monthly basis following my.

method, which I don't think you're going. to do. I think the Chick-fil-A and the. Jack in the Box and all the. is going to continue forever. I don't. have to be too negative. I feel like I'm. being very negative right now, but it's. just I don't know. There's nothing that. has. shown me otherwise. But either way, it'll take 4 months. 4 months of that. So, 5 months total, 1 month of emergency. fund, Capital One is gone, and then the. car is paid off in four in 5 months. total. That's incredible. Really? We can get that paid off in 5. months? And then just minimum and then. do the PayPal Credit.

Make sure it's $44, which is already. equated into your budget. A month will. be paid off before the interest. Boom. And then everything else after that, I. think. Mhm. Cuz the student loans are going to be. three to six or four to six percent. Probably. That's what she's taking out. Yeah. Maybe. And. at that point with a year left, I want you to start taking advantage of. the growth train.

So, while she's in school and it's at a. 0% throwing like 25% of your income to. start playing some catch-up on these. last few years, especially cuz she has. nothing. 25% is being thrown in. So, you're going to do 50, 25, 25. 50% is on needs. Mhm. Adjust where the. money is going to get that down from 55. to 50. Actually, the minimum monthly. payments on debts will be gone, so. you'll be below 50. It'll be great. Uh. you can actually increase your. subscriptions and other stuff like that. But actually, that'll be in your wants.

But you can increase your You can. increase your rent. So, 50% on needs, 25% on wants, so you. can go back to, you know, [ __ ] Mhm. But, like appropriately. Yeah. No more. than 25% of your income, then you're. investing 25% of your income. And then. she needs to start investing 25% of her. income immediately. Yeah. As well. Well, not immediately, cuz her. income is going into the situation. But, after the car is paid off and and the. Capital One is paid off and the PayPal. is paid off in 5 months, then actually. you still need to go aggressive. You'll.

have $3,000. I need you guys to get to. about. $16,500. Okay. In terms of an emergency fund. Mhm. And would I put that in like a SoFi. account or like a or like a high yield. just have it sit there for a while? Yeah. Yeah, that I I would Yeah. And that one's the best at this point, so or the the best that I like cuz just. ease of use and an app and everything. Yeah. Uh but, divide that by the $3,000.

you have extra, like you'll be able to do that in let's. call it 5 months. So, this is 10 months. total. 10 months total, your debts are. gone except for the student loan debt, and you have a fully funded emergency. fund. That's incredible. It's less than a. year. You kidding me? Yeah, we'll take. it. And then 25% of both of y'all's. income is going to, you know, max out your Roth IRA and then. other investment sources. She can take. advantage of a 401k probably. Um and. then. Yeah, so 25% of income goes to that.

Yeah. And that like 13,000 that I have in. retirement, like I'm I'm kind of. financially illiterate, so like am I. I just roll that over to my company, right? But, I need to have an outside. Roth IRA outside of that or. Yeah, Roth IRA is outside of the. company. Okay, so keep the 401k and then. also put into a Roth IRA as well? Uh so, yes, you you have your company. 401k, but max out your Roth IRA every. year. Absolutely. Yeah. 6,500 at this. point and it goes up with inflation.

typically. Okay, cuz I put like 10% of my income. into the retirement right now. Right now? How much is being matched? Uh. so the military is matching 5% cuz. that's the military. it down to 5% until all this is paid off. and you have a fully funded emergency. fund. Then amp it up to 20. and then Okay, I don't know how much the. company is going to match me when I get. paid. take the match. Always take the match. cuz it's 100% return on your investment. That's better than any negative interest. rate is out there. Okay, so so put 20% of my take home into. retirement and. you'll you'll just have to figure out.

the math. After you max out your Roth. IRA, how much percentage is left to get. to the 25% of your income in order to. hit that hit that 25%. How How many. percentage points is left? Then put that. towards your 401k. Cool. Um. So that's what I would do, but again. No, I'm not going to talk in circles. I'm not going to be super negative. I'm. just not overly thrilled cuz you already. have your own plan. You already have. You were You You've been since I brought. that up, you've been more open. especially since the debt about the debt. payoffs and stuff like that. If you guys.

follow this, your life is amazing. You. guys become multi-millionaires by the. time you retire. If you go down your own. plan, you try to finesse some things, you try to do this, maybe you end up. that same way, maybe you end up richer. Mhm. I'm gut. tells me poorer, but it's up to you. It's up to you. I I can tell you. This is what I would do and I only. recommend what I would do because I know. how bad the debt is based on where I've. been and I know how good it is to be on. the other side of it. So this is the. exact plan that I would follow if I was. sitting on that side of the table. That's what's up, man. Yeah. Yeah.

Are you actually going to do any of. this? I I would love to follow that plan. to a T. You would love to? I would love to and I'm going to. Oh, you're going to. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, well I mean I'm going to try. my best to. I say that, but I can't. predict the future. You know what I. mean? Mhm. But I'm going to to the best. of my ability. Okay. Because that's what Caleb Hammer. wants me to do and I'm going to do what. Caleb Hammer wants. it for me. It's not for me. I mean, we're we'll do a checkup at some point, probably in like a year because that's. when this should all be taken care of.

Don't do it for that. Do it for your. life. Do it for the remainder. Do it for. your wife. Do it for your future kids. Do it for everything. Do it for the future Yu-Gi-Oh! cards you. can actually afford. It's Naruto, actually. Nope. Yeah. Any. final thoughts? Um. yeah, like like I said, I felt I felt. like this conversation was very. productive. Um I I was kind of shocked to think. that, you know, to realize that you. didn't think the same, but I really I. really do appreciate you having me on. here and trying to help me out and.

laying out this plan for me. And like I. said, man, I'm I'm going to follow it to. the best of my ability. Um and I guess. that's all I can really say for now. because, you know, my my dad's always. taught me to don't talk about something, go do it and then talk about it. So um. He also taught you not to go into debt. You got that, right? And I went into. debt anyway. But I'm going to do it. I'm going to do. it. For Joey, he and his wife could have. a good future, but he just needs to. buckle down and actually follow a plan.

instead of making up all these plans. and, you know, not taking in new. information. Uh but I mean, overall, I. think he's going to do okay. Just might. take longer than the plan that I. prescribed for his Hammer Financial. Score. Spending and a budget, I mean, come on. All those Yu-Gi-Oh! Come on. Zero out of 10. His debt, not the worst, but because of that stupid credit card, I can't give it a higher than a two out. of 10. Retirement, he's definitely. getting started. Uh. A little behind for himself, I would. have given him like a six out of 10, but.

because it's the household, it has to be. a three out of 10 cuz it's pretty behind. for the household. For savings, been. draining it. There's still something. there. Four out of 10 for that emergency. fund. And for his house, not even part. of the conversation. Zero out of 10. Hammer Financial Score right now, two. out of 10. Check out all the resources I. linked in the description below. They're. either resources that I use or would use. in specific situations like a high yield. savings account and investing only $5. and you get a free $5 using Acorns and. then a lot of other stuff like education. as well. And don't forget to follow my.

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