Throwing Away His Financial Future For A Wedding | Financial Audit

My name is Juan. I'm 30 years old. I. live in Palm Bay, Florida, and this is. Financial Audit. Ah, from Florida. Thank. you for coming on over. I appreciate that. 30 years old there. What do you do for a living? Uh I work. in growth, which is a mix of product. management with marketing and data. What's your position called? Well, right. now it's called growth strategist. Okay. Um but yeah, I'm actually I just signed. a new contract at a different company, so. For doing what? Uh it's going to be.

senior growth lead. Ah, okay. That. sounds like some. It's getting there. What are you making now and what are you. going to make at your new role? Right. now, 110 grand a year. Very nice. And the new contract is for 135. Nice. When do you start the new one? 2. weeks. Ooh, congratulations. Thank you. It's very exciting. Are you excited? Yes, super. Good. All right. So, from your perspective, kind of jumping. into your finances uh before we actually. take a look at it,

I want to know how you would. self-describe your financial situation. and what you would rate yourself one out. of 10 or zero out of 10. Um I guess right now I would say I'm at. at a two. I mean, you make a lot of money, but. okay. Yeah. Um I haven't always, and we'll get. to that probably. Mhm. Um but I would. say maybe even just 1 year ago I I was. at a zero. So, and I'll just. So, what is it? Well, where did you come. from and what is it now? Like, what's.

up? Right. So, I'm not from the US. I moved here 3. years ago under a really. weird and rough situation. immigration-wise with my wife. Oh. And. basically, for my I've been here for 3. years, but the first year and 11 months. or so I didn't have a work permit. Mhm. So, uh I would say. my situation is 50% life-changing. events, 30% stupidity, and 20% just ignorance about the system.

and how everything works. Fair enough. So, what country did you come from? I'm from Venezuela, but I've lived uh. for the past 13 years in now four. countries, just moving around, trying to. get like a work visa and stuff. It's. pretty difficult before. Primary goal here or Primary here now. here, yeah. Now it's permanent, hopefully. Very good. Well, what's your. current uh status? Um I'm in the process of an asylum. seeking process um. with my wife. Oh, so. applicant. Very good. Where's she from?

Venezuela, as well. Okay. Okay, very. cool. So, were you fleeing anything. specifically? Like I know Venezuela's a. mess right now, but Yeah, so that's a a. sensitive topic, but basically. my wife's family under threats because. of owning land and the government and. militia and drugs and trying to get as. much as they can from. productive lands. And because it's so. close to the border with Colombia, as. well, like there's a lot of smuggling. and militia and guerrilla from Colombia.

It's a pretty tough situation basically. Did y'all flee? So, we my now wife, uh at the time. girlfriend, we were living in Colombia. and basically uh when she got here. they saw her as a profile, like. Venezuelan living in Colombia. coming here to the US seems. to fit a specific profile of people that. just come here as a tourist and then. just stay forever. Mhm. Um when the. reality is that she we were just.

visiting for the holidays and she was. going to come back cuz I had I was. have family here or something? Yeah, her. family was here. Um but she was living. with me in Medellin, in Colombia, and. we were planning on getting married. there, in Colombia, and just have a life. there. But they said, "You can't come into the. US. Um we got to return you to. Venezuela." And she's like, "No, I can't. go to Venezuela.". And let's just say, long story short. that whole process lasted at least a. month and a half until she basically had. to stay here and request an asylum.

And I was in Colombia and I said, "Okay, I'll I'll just go there." And. we got married, processed the. application. Administrative errors or {slash}. potential negligence from our lawyer, maybe. Not saying that was the case, just. a lot of assumptions go in hand, but. my work permit got denied the first. time, so I had to do another application. process and just understand that all of. this is also money. Yes. Um a lot of money. So. How much in total you think?

the past 3 years we've spent at least 19. grand uh just in legal stuff. Now, where'd you go to school? What'd. you graduate in? Cuz I mean you've. landed a great position. You're landing. an even better position. Yeah, it's it's it's So when I first. left Venezuela when I was 18 years old, I got a scholarship and I moved to. London, UK. But that was only for. tuition, not living expenses. Sure. And. because Venezuela at the time, and still. does, but they have exchange currency uh. currency exchange, sorry. So. basically if you want to purchase US.

dollars or any other currency outside of. Venezuela, you need to go through the. government Mhm. through an application. process to actually be able to buy. And. there was like a super big loophole. there though where There was. Um my. parents being the very honest people, they didn't take advantage of that, of. course. Oh. That's a shame. Yeah, but I mean I. think, you know, good karma comes. around, I think. Okay. So basically got a scholarship, couldn't. afford really to live there just so I. worked and studied, graduated in 3 years.

instead of 4 to save up 1 year of living. expenses. Um graduated with honors or whatever, but 1 week after graduation the UK. government said, "Hey, awesome. You got to go.". So went back to Venezuela, things got. even worse. I was working there teaching. English classes English classes, um. uh working project management in IT. stuff, whatever. But then things got really messy in 2014. when um there was a lot of revolts. I.

participated in some of them. Uh. it got nasty and I applied to get a. scholarship to do a master's degree. And. that's how I first came to the US in. 2014 to do a master's degree. First year studied, second year worked. uh with a work permit associated to my. graduation in my program. Then [snorts] I didn't get an an H-1B. visa, which was the typical process. I had to leave again, couldn't go to. Venezuela, so um reached out to my. network, moved to Colombia.

and was able to work there and grow. professionally there for 3 years. Love. Colombia, neighbor country, love the. place. And uh that's where I mostly grew my. career. Damn. Such a pain in the whole. thing. Yes. to America. Yeehaw. Thank you. [laughter]. Yeah. Cool. Well, let's look at that money's. then, yeah? Oh, yeah. Oh, no. Okay. I need to fully confess that I did not I. did not look too far into your finances.

before. Good. But I just see Okay, I just see. so many credit cards and stuff. Okay. Either way, we can start with. uh Bank of America. Is this your primary. checking? Um. Advantage Plus Banking Yeah, I would say. primary together with my co-primary with. Discover checking's account. Okay. Co-primary, interesting. Beginning. balance of $189 and we're ending with. $3,979. Yeah, I use it for automatic payments,

basically. So, this is for automatic payments, yet. we're ending at 40 bucks. Isn't that's. that's risky? Yeah. Automatic payments. So, with my current job they only. allowed me to do direct deposit changes. every cycle, so every 2 weeks. So, it. was a pain in the butt to actually try. and put enough money for every paycheck. to go to this account for the automatic. payments. in was Zelle from yourself. 900 bucks, that's what came in. So, that was during that period that I. was moving things around, but should.

have that should come from the Discover. card. The Discover account. Mhm. All right. And yet, we did an auto pay. uh Chase credit card auto pay. another $900 I think card payment, and. then. pr- uh Premier life. Uh that's uh life insurance. Yeah, okay. 70 bucks. Yeah, what? Kind of life. insurance? Uh 35-year. term uh with a rider every year.

Okay. Um. Funny thing is uh when I first got here, I couldn't get health insurance. And. COVID hit. And it was the first time in. my life I didn't have health insurance. and the pandemic happens. Yeah. So, I. figured, well, if I die, at least my. wife gets something, so I got a life. insurance. That'd have been a bad time. for you to get sick, yeah. Yeah. Well, I'm glad glad you're alive. Me, too. Congratulations. Let us see. Well, you sent some of your wife's. stuff.

Yeah. it is the full picture. Which is good. Yeah, so we shared brokenness, shared. finances. Um she lost her job. mid-February, so. basically she gave a 2-week notice, and. within those 2 weeks she had a paid. vacation week, and we were counting on. that money, and they basically told her. not to come. for those 2 weeks, and they never paid. that vacation, so that little bit. disaligned our finances. know what the point of this is, uh. common common commune checking. 50 bucks.

went in, and that was the only thing. that ever happened, and there's a total. 50 bucks in there. In that account, yeah. So, that's an. account from a. neo bank that I'm reviewing for a video. that I'm doing that that I did. basically. And I did the same with. another one. So, I just sent money to. like activate those cards. uh to test them out. What's your other checking? What would. it be called? The Discover one? Discover is that That's what we're. looking for, Discover? That's a Yeah. Oh, it's through spreadsheet.

Oh. No, it should be a PDF as well, right? I. don't see the PDF, but from a breakdown. we did. what I can see with your. checking. Yeah, I can't view it on the iPad cuz. it's not a PDF. But, you did do large purchases of Best. Buy at $476. Yes. Zelle payments, this must be Is Is. Amanda, your wife? Yes. $1,000. When you. Zelle her $1,000?

So, the reason why she quit / lost her. job is because she's dedicating right. now to study to become a dental. hygienist. No, no. Um and basically we. had been saving up in one of the other. accounts that you'll see some money. Um. and I figured I would send her to pay. for like the exam, some stuff that were. like 950 bucks. Yeah, cuz that checking. account we just had was like It was like. nothing. Yeah. Yeah. But, in this one we had 4,545 payroll come. in, but left 5,656.

Makes sense. $1,000. You had an Amex payment of. $1,450. You had large purchases like Best Buy. $476, car payments $366. The Best Buy payment, that was a card. payment cuz I have a card Yeah, a card. with Best Buy. So, it was a payment to. the card. Yeah. Great. All right. Well, sure I. could see in more detail what that is. here, but it's just it's a It's an XLS. format. Can't get it on my iPad.

Uh okay. Well, I think I saw one more. little savings thing that we'll look at. before anything happens. Current. And that was the current, so. everything that was seen there left in. any case. What So, this doesn't exist? Oh, yeah, you have a dollar in there. Yeah. Are we putting money in and out of our. savings? Why are we taking it out? So, yeah, the idea was that my wife. wanted to separate the money that was. dedicated for her studies first, and. then when it was time to pay things that. we would take it from there. that's what that's from is to her to her. studies. Okay. Yeah, and then Okay. Also.

realizing all of this that we all had. money stationed there, and then I saw. like balance on some cards. I said, "You. know what? I'd rather pay the cards now, and once it's time to actually. to have a little base though, especially. since you have that more risky situation. of, you know, immigration and. everything. Isn't it. Like, if we have all these debts and we. need to make minimum monthly payments, doesn't it make sense to have a little. extra on the side? So, what do you have. on the side? Is there nothing? Right. now, at this moment that is not there. obviously because of the times. Right. now, I have $400 there. Okay. All right.

That's 15% of the paycheck that is. coming now direct deposit there. What's. in your retirement? What's in her. retirement? She doesn't have She's She's. never been offered 401k through her job. or anything. I have 401k that I've only. been able to qualify for since last. year. I have $5,500. Okay, you're definitely behind for your. age, but I'm glad within just the last. year we've done that. Yeah, it's 4%. match, and yeah. Well, I guess we'll.

just go down the debts one by one, yeah? Oh, yeah. We have a PayPal credit. That's a credit card, yes. Yeah, I see the transactions in there. I. don't have. Do you not Do you not have the PDF? Well, let's see if I have a PDF, too. Cuz this is a. CSV. Okay, yes, I do. Okay. Okay. Okay, so you pay off the PayPal credit. Yeah. uh. now I'm. I only have two credit cards with a.

balance right now. So, I had multiple. credit cards with balance and. So, you've been paying it down. Yeah. Okay. That's why I have no savings though. Okay, got you. Canva. Calendly, you pay for Calendly. You pay. for Zoom. Why is this not covered. through work? I was doing uh freelance I. was doing freelance gigs and paid that. on the side. I need to premium and. Office Depot and AMC. Why are we AMC? Nothing. Nothing in AMC is ever worth anything.

more than a cent. AMC is the worst movie. theater chain that's ever existed. VidIQ. 24 bucks, WeWork 63 bucks. We're trying. to get out of debt, mind you. bluehost.com. PayPal purchase for Canva. We've done. that twice now and Calendly twice. Twice. Calendly in this month. So, I'm glad you've paid this off, but when. did you pay this off because guess what? Total interest paid in 2023 so far, we're only a few months in, $73.30. Yeah. I paid that off maybe 2 weeks ago.

Okay. I don't think you're a credit card. person, dude. Probably and I don't want to be. I brought them if you want to cut them. uh on purpose. Cut them. It makes no sense. Stop. spending it. Well, you're spending on it. so I don't know how done we really are. We're spending on it. So, the the PayPal one I'm using for. like business expenses stuff like just. to have it separate. Have a business checking account. Yeah, I. want to create a business to get a. checking account. Okay. We'll get there. Bank of America.

balance. All right. Well, at least you're not spending on it. and at least it looks like it's in an. interest-free period. Yeah, um. so they finish the interest period one. of them in November and one of them in. December or January next year. So, there're two of them. And they're both. interest-free, good. Yeah. I mean, not. that they're good, but they weren't. they weren't for a while. Well, we have a minimum monthly payment. of $41, but you made a $250 payment. So,

a little better, you know. Yeah. That's a lot of debt. So, all this. credit card debt you were accumulating. trying to get through this whole process. and everything. Then also, I assume I. mean there's probably some bull. spending, yeah? Yeah, for sure. So, on those two particular cards, I transferred a balance to them because. it was a mess. I had them across many. different credit cards, stuff like that. So, I just tried to consolidate it on. those two those two cards.

I could have already paid everything. off, but we did get like a church. wedding last year. with. that cost us huh? How much? Uh 15 grand. Why? Just go to the courthouse and get. your single. Then why extra? If you were already. married, are we doing that? It was like. the Catholic church wedding to. Congratulations. Do it in a few years. when you're out of debt. What?

You're already married. There was no. point of doing it. It was a emotional. decision, not logical, for sure. Yeah, no. Yeah, that was all caveman. brain. That was nothing else. I agree. Oh, what is this current thing? Current is the. savings or where I'm putting like the. $500. Oh, that's right. We already. talked about that. We already talked about that. Car, Toyota. Toyota something, Corolla 2020. See the total balance.

is $15,000. debt. $15,000 of debt. of minimum monthly payment looks like. 366.43. Yeah? Yeah. Debt. That one's in auto pay. with the Discover card. With your credit card? That no, that's a Discover checking. account. Okay. Uh 48 months. So, she's a long one, but.

it's not definitely it's definitely not. the longest we've ever had. I only realized recently that they gave. us 75 months like the terms. 75 months. Okay. Didn't realize it was so long. And. what's the interest rate on this thing? Uh 6.68. That was December 2020. Yeah, December. 2020. So, it was high, but my wife had. only had uh. literally a social security number for. like 3 months. And she was only 1 month. into her job, so it was like This is a. great credit score for This is a great.

car loan for today. So, let's still bad, but we want to pay it off because it's. about 4%. Yeah, and we figured we wanted to like. refinance or something, which I figured. it was a thing like a few months later, but I my credit card and my credit score. at that point was like really bad, and. [clears throat]. we we had to get a cosigner for it. Yeah, no not at this point. Then we have This is a different Bank of. America credit card? Yes. We have two. Bank of Americas. Yes. Why? Credit cards.

Um one of them I got when I started. working as a student during my masters, and that was. whatever like I I would pay it off every. month, but then when I left to Colombia, I figured that it was going to be hard. to get a job the first few months like. visa expenses or whatever, so I got a. travel card, which no longer a travel. card changed the. type of credit card that it is now. Um. but that those two. were basically the ones receiving all. the punches. Why are we making purchases. on here? You put through $250 towards.

it. Good, that's more than the minimum. monthly payment. Why are we making $40. of purchases? And by the way, there was. a little bit of interest, so it's not. fully interest free. Yeah, so But, should be like it says interest ref, which is refund. Basically, I had put. this card literally in a box in my. closet. And apparently, and that was in. August, but in October. they started like with our Walmart. subscription or something, so I had to. call Yeah, Walmart subscription. And. what is this Prime? $25. Where? Amazon.

Prime right here. In that card? Yeah. $25. That shouldn't be there. Well, it's there. Yeah, okay. That's. didn't realize. I hadn't touched those. uh cards in a while, so I didn't know. that was there. Thank you. Best Buy credit card. What are we doing $489 of purchases on a. Best Buy credit card when we're trying. to get out of debt? Yes, guess what? You.

have paid off this card. Congratulations. That's good, but why. are we making new purchases on this when. we're trying to get out of stupid debt? Let's see where it went. Wawa, is that. gas? Yes. Okay, good with that. Best Buy. $320. Refunded. Oh, thank god. Yeah, so I I I I thought I was going to. do like. some other stuff, and then I regretted. it, and So, you're just using this for. gas? Yeah, it's 3% cash back on gas. So, I figured if I have it. Again, getting it in the first place was. stupid.

know. You should I think you should more. use like Fizz, the card that I. recommend, which is a debit card, helps. build credit score. But, I cuz I don't. know, you're in debt, but you are starting to pay I don't. know. That's why I got it. situation you're having a credit card. Yeah, that's why I came here. I really. wanted to see like how to handle it, cuz. it's everything seems tricky. Like, I. don't know what I should be moving. where. It's weird. This American Gold Card? American Express. Yeah. Yeah, that's like my catch all.

Catch all of You paid off last month's. balance, but then we did $900 of. purchases. Yeah, I mean, I keep paying every month. like the balance statement. Okay. No. interest so far, which is great um in. our year and a half that I have it. Paying for parking, Cafe Milano, Chipotle, I love it. Uber, Squid Lives, Burger King, Five Guys, Apple Pay for something some brew thing.

We are getting some gas here, but a. cigar shop? A cigar shop again? Hilton? [snorts]. Oh, that Hilton. So, I got paid that I. got that paid back. I helped my in-laws. move from Florida to Albuquerque, New. Mexico. The Placery? Palacery? Uh. and yes, I do see that Hilton. Hyatt. Place, that better have been paid back. as well. United Airlines, that better. have been paid back as well.

Apple Pay for some waffles, United Airlines, insurance. Okay, that's. Flora Taco, probably don't need that. Notorious Poke, Little Madrid, some restaurant. AT&T we go. Why is it $249. AT&T? It got to a 380. So, I have the a family. plan and I'm the one paying for it, but. uh starting this month, I started. getting paid. So, my mother-in-law paid.

for a few things and my for my wedding. and I said like I would pay back by. paying their bill on the phone. But, you shouldn't have even done the. stupid wedding right now. Trying to get out of that. Imagine if. you saved $15,000 for your $15,000. stupid. car. You wouldn't have a car debt. If you. didn't do the ceremony that you didn't. need to do right now cuz you're already. married anyway. And Chipotle in La. Crepes France and Winter Park and. Chipotle.

and yes, we're getting gas. You filled. up for a lot of gas. And a little bit of. groceries or something and then cigar. shopping Uber Eats. Something 50 bucks from the pharmacy. I. don't know. That seems I don't know. That's weird. Crepe de France. That's. Sunday brunch. Yeah. Yeah. IHOP Sunday breakfast. Sports Clips. Just take care of scissors. Chop chop. B dubs. Come on. Pretty expensive for. what you need.

La Crepe La Crepe. So we're obsessed. My. wife and I used to live in Miami which. was extremely expensive and we moved to. Palm Bay and the other thing to the only. thing that we can actually do there to. not go crazy is eat. No. Congratulations. No. You. No. No. Absolutely not. Yeah. Eat. Cook and then. eat. Take her to a park then eat. You're. trying to get out of debt. We are not. doing Uber Eats. We're not doing. Chick-fil-A. We're not doing La Crepe de France.

We're just not. It doesn't make sense. More United Airlines. What is this? This is Amanda's card? Uh. One. Either way, more Apple bills, more. restaurants, Thunderbird something. Yeah, that the Apple Pay though those. are the Apple bills. Testing fees at the school? Yeah. So on. the Apple subscriptions are also like. apps that ask her questions for the. exams. So she's like taking as much as.

she can. She tried several, canceled. them, but then. looking for the ones that have like the. best questions to prepare her. Mhm. She's doing 2 years of schooling in 3. months. Uh. it's intense. Okay. Hopefully she does well. Wife. Amazon. Why is it all separate by the way? Are. you How How combined are your finances. or are they all separate? Uh what do you. mean all separate? Yeah, like here's the. wife's account for this, here's my. account for this, blah blah blah. What's. the. So, I didn't want I don't want to add.

her to like any of my credit cards just. because like the amount of balance in. some of them, stuff like that. We are. together in the American Express. How do you guys together in paying them. off? Combined income and stuff like. that? Combined income for paying for school? Yeah. Okay. Everything combined. Uh yeah. Oh, we. paid off this card cuz again, it's not. the one we're holding balances on, the. two we're holding balances on. But, we. did make $88 of purchases and you know, just the last card was purchases. Here's. Amazon, Amazon, Amazon, Amazon. I doubt. you needed them. Yeah. You just buy crap. you don't need on there and we're trying.

to again get out of debt. I highly doubt. this was all necessary. This is American. Express transaction. Did we already go. through that? Which one? American. Express, is this another one? that's the one with the crap difference, the eating out. Okay. Bank of America credit card now. $29 of purchases. Spotify, Netflix, Entrust Insurance, that's fair. SunPass, I don't know what that is. that's a tolls. thingy for the car.

Spotify, Netflix, you don't need to be. doing those now, my dude. Oh, and then for your Oh, no, this is. the American Express we haven't looked. at. Okay. Two cuz we I haven't looked at this one. It's it's one Oh, so it's there's a PDF. and then like a CSV, like a two files, but it's the same account. The same card. What the MX Gold is the. exact same Yeah. as the this you sent.

There's but there's two PDFs. Okay. Yep, okay, whatever. Yep, it is the same. Okay. Probably duplicated, my bad. No, it's okay. Yeah, okay. Some card, Kay Jewelers. Okay. Yeah, that that that was probably. the stupidest card that I could have. gotten. But, you didn't even fully pay off the. balance. I I did. So, they have 12 months. financing for free, like zero interest. What did you do? What did you buy? Let. me guess, a ring? So, 2 years ago, the. engagement ring, a year ago, the wedding.

bands. Um. Yeah. Upstart, looks like you're done. Sorry, what? Are you upstart with done with. Upstart? No. Personal loan? No. Oh. So, your payment. Yeah. [snorts]. Yeah, that's a 3-year loan. When I had. more credit card debt, I figured the credit cards had much. higher interest, and I figured I'll just. get the loan, pay them off, and. try to pay the least amount of interest.

down, minimum monthly payment, $780.55. yeah. Dude. Naughty. What is the interest on this. crap? So, it technically says. 7.something%, but they take a. commission, so re- really is like 11%. Like, if I Yeah. Outstanding principal, $15,000 is still. left. Yeah. 2 years more. Yeah, you just started the second year. Yeah. So, this is insane. Just on the Amex.

itself, you spent $900 on both. On food, food specifically, going out to. eat, plus another $150 on. uh cigar shops, and $125 on Hooters. Yes. Stupid spending. Why are we doing stupid spending if. we're trying to get out of this crap? You make good money, but you're You are. making progress, but you're not making. progress the way you should. Yeah. As fast as you should. Cuz you. don't have an emergency fund. Trying to. cash flow school. And we're not getting. out of this debt, we're just losing all. this interest crap. So, I started.

grabbing freelance gigs. Um so, I just I'm about to finish one, and that's an extra two grand that I'm. going to get. Very good. How frequently will you be. doing those with those kind of values? So, the first one will always be the. biggest one. So, now This one was two. grand. Probably I'll get maybe 1,200. more per month that I I'll be able to. make. The problem is that it really burned me. out. Um I don't give a Are you. setting money aside for taxes? For that, uh.

I I haven't yet received the first. payment, so I haven't yet, but that's a. good point. since you're making Yes, good. $135,000 a year. Now, of course, I get if you're burning. out, but you don't get to burn out until. your debt burns out cuz you're a big. boy. I I got severely. You'll suffer, and that's okay. I got like really burned out. What do you. Like I couldn't I couldn't get out of. bed, so I had to like get. Are you seeking mental health? Uh not at. the moment. I have in the past. You should. You should. And if you. actually get to the point where you.

can't operate, of course, that's. something different. Most people when. they say burn out, they're just bull Uh. well, I I I was doing my full-time job, I was training an hour and a half per. day, I was doing the freelance gig, I. was doing like the my business stuff, which is a YouTube channel stuff that. really How many subscribers do you have. on YouTube? Uh about 300 now. It's. making money? No. Well, I got this. freelance gig through a company that I. reviewed in the YouTube channel. So, I. mean, it's related. It's really.

Thank you. It's in Spanish, though. Like you speak Spanish. Or like the sound of Spanish. That's there. So, I mean, I can definitely get more of. this work freelance gig. Now, with the. new job, obviously, I'll need to balance. it out cuz I don't know what to expect. from the new job, like working hours, stuff like that, like amount of load. Uh but I'm definitely open to continue. grinding out the freelance gigs. So, your post-tax contribution. everything like that in your new job is. probably going to be like.

Right now, it's $4,545. The what, sorry? It's right now, it's. $5,400, $5,545. What What is that number, sorry? That's what's hitting your account for. your pay. 6060. Uh. Right right now I'm getting per month. 6060. Post taxes and contribution? Yeah. Per month, yeah. Interesting. I must have received a wrong number. So, it's going to be what like. 7,100 7,200 after With a new job,

probably around that, yeah. Makes sense. Call it 7,100 to be extra safe. Let's build you a budget because it's. time to cut this up, dude. Yeah. And. we're not spending we're not going out. to brunch anymore. You just find new. things. Pack a picnic. It's weather. weather in Florida is relatively nice. compared to the United States rest of. the United States. What's that? The weather in Florida is relatively. nice compared to the rest of the United. States. Pack something, go to a park, go. to the beach. and eat that. What is your rent? Or what.

Oh, she doesn't make money. So, yeah, what's the rent? Yeah, um including everything except. electricity is 2050. Yeah, I'm all right. It's a better round And electricity? 100 a month. Internet? Was that included in. included, yeah. Renters insurance? 14 bucks. I'll include that within rent. Yeah.

Debts. Yeah. Minimum monthly debt payments, dude. Debt is $1,236.78. Just minimum. Yeah? Yeah, does it have the Kay. Jewelers? Cuz it's like 90 You said you paid that. off. Not yet. It's the 12 months, so. it's still not over. It's 91 a month. Debt is now $1,332.78.

Woo. Well, you are two people. I'm going to. give you $500 a month for groceries. Yeah, that that would be more than. enough. More than enough. In fact, since you said that I'm giving. you $400 a month for groceries. Uh yeah. And toilet paper, all the good stuff, hygiene, all that crap, 100 bucks both. of you. Anything else? Uh car insurance? Car is. 200 uh car insurance is 200 of uh.

And she's on your health insurance? Yes. Okay, and that's taken out before you. get the check. Yeah, that's already yeah. What are you contributing to your 401k? So, with the current job, 4% because. they do 4% match. That's fine. 100% return, okay. The new The new one is weird because. they say match up to 3% and then half a. percentage for any any additional point. that I contribute. Uh don't do that. Yeah, just take the 100% match. So, they just do 3%. Well, I mean, the. other one's worth. Cuz I do like 5%, they'll basically. match 4%. So, it's I don't know.

Yeah, I would do the full five, actually. Cuz even a 50% return on the. last 2%. Still good. Still better than your worst interest. So, I would take the whole thing. Then we're getting. like $7,100 a month after Okay, minimum. monthly payments we talked about. Rent, electricity, debt, groceries, toilet. paper, car insurance. The The problem. with the minimum. What's your phone? And her phone? 110. Just because she got a.

No, actually no, that's that's wrong. That's uh. 40 40, that's 90 bucks. Sorry. On the. phones. Yeah. Anything else? So, the with the minimum monthly. payments, like if I just do that in. November, then I'll still have a bunch. of balance left when the promotional. period ends, so Oh. I'm just hoping to keep putting more. Like so far I've been putting 250. Well, that's fine, but we're I'm just going. through your budget. What else do you. have? That you're required to pay for on.

a monthly basis. car. Gas. What about gas? You're You're. spending a lot of money on gas there. So, that just stopped because my wife is. no longer working and she had to drive. like an hour twice. uh an hour What do you think gas is. going to be on a monthly basis? What. will you budget for? Tops, 120. Okay. Anything else that you're required to. pay for on a monthly basis? Um, so that with the PayPal card, that. one's going to be at least. 90 bucks.

But that's paid off. Right, but though I. have the subscriptions there that I use. for the freelance gig and the YouTube. channel. So, without a specific tool, it's going. to be 90 bucks a month. Yeah, so. subscriptions 90 bucks a month, okay. But there's one tool that I use. depending on the freelance gig that is. $99 additional. So, probably around 200. bucks a month if I'm Subscriptions $200. Yeah. Cool. So, in order for you to. survive, $4,557.

a month is what's necessary. Also known as your needs category, also. known as for your new job, still 64%. of your post-tax. So, your needs category is absolutely. ballooned. Get rid of those minimum debt. payments and it's in a much healthier. place. But even with your current job, what are you bringing in on what hits. your account on a monthly basis? What's. that? What hits your account account on. a monthly basis right now? The current job? Yeah. 60/60. Oh, 60/60? Yeah. So, 75. So, I don't think your new.

income. No, that's fine, yeah. No, okay. Well, right now your needs category is 75%, but then it's going to be like, you. know, 62 or whatever that was percent. Still disgusting, very bad. But if you strictly follow this budget. and you actually use it, do you strictly. follow a budget? I have a payment. calendar. Not a budget. So, you don't. budget. No. It's time to budget. We're budgeting. just like this. What I lay down what. we're putting on screen. Yeah, I I tried using some apps. The. problem is that they don't connect with. a few of my accounts, so I still would.

need to do. use an Excel spreadsheet? That's fine. Or just use cash. I don't even care. Whatever is best for you to budget. Either way, if you strictly follow that, you have $2,543. left. No more putting a $250 towards. this stuff on a monthly basis. To what? We are putting the full $2,543 plus any. bonus money, but we're not even going to. think about that right now. We're just. going to actually just use this number. Where does this go first? That goes to. paying off the Bank of America. The the the smaller balance of the. $3,310. So, actually first what I would do, first.

month. So, put that aside just in case anything. bad happens. Okay. It's just good to have so we can take. care of some of this stuff. You can do that for 2 months if you want. because your actual minimum monthly. payments in order to survive are $4,557. So, actually for 2 months, I'd say we. put that until we have $5,000. in there. So, for 2 months we save up. Everything else we're doing minimum. monthly payments. Then, month number. three, we're putting that full $2,543. towards the Bank of America smaller.

balance of $3,310. Then the first half. of month number four, we're fully paying. that one off and putting the rest. towards the Bank of America that's. $4,103. Then, month number five, we're paying off the majority of that. larger Bank of America and then whatever. we have left we're paying off in month. number six. Then, what's remaining we. are putting towards the Upstart loan. Yeah. The Upstart loan, now your minimum. monthly payments are a little lower, really nothing crazy, but let's just say. you have $2,600 left of the Upstart loan.

which will be about $15,000 at that. time, maybe a little less, we'll call it. $14,000 at that time. Divide that by. the $2,600 you have left on a monthly. basis, and it'll take 5 and 1/2 months. to pay off. So, now we're what? 10 Yeah, basically a year and we'll just call it. a year. Some wiggle room. Basically a. year and. and the two credit cards. are paid off before interest starts.

accruing and the Upstart death loan with. the terrible fees and all that extra. crap and terrible interest is gone. Wow. Now. you have a reliable car, you have a good. car. It's up that 7%. If it was closer. to like 5% I would think about it, but. since it's 7% we're paying it off as. quick as we can. Now that Upstart $780. minimum monthly payment is gone. I see. no reason why the. car isn't paid off in 4 months. 4 months? Yeah. Because you just freed up a lot of money. from having that Upstart minimum monthly.

payment gone. 4 and 1/2 let's call it. Just go crazy. You're not spending money. on both. Yeah. [snorts]. And then you're saving up to do probably. about 15 to $20,000 in an emergency. fund. So we'll call that another 6 months. So. we're almost. 18 months so Yeah, we'll call it 2. years. Yeah. This is a 2-year and without you. going out to eat once, without you doing. any fun that doesn't cost that costs. money. Do free fun. Again, picnicking, going on walks, all.

the stuff. You do a lot. Any second that. isn't working and having those moments. in the relationship should be working. Yeah. And she's focusing on school, she's condensing 2 years in 3 months, that's fantastic. So she's just going to. do that. But you got to work for the future of. the household. Yeah. Because then and. only then after that fully funded. emergency fund and paying off all that. debt within 2 years. are we starting to contribute minimum. 20% of post-tax into retirement, minimum. And then she should be doing. the same as the household. And then you.

guys will be on the right path. You. might want to play catch up for a little. bit cuz you are falling behind. So maybe. 25% for a bit, drop it down to 20%. And. then start talking about getting primary. residence. But either way, there's no. point of even thinking about that now. cuz for the next 2 years you were just. grinding. Work those extra jobs. What. did we not take into account? You. bringing in the extra money. You do. that, bring it down to a year and a half. until this is fully done. But right now, no matter if the absolute pain in the. ass was for you to have to deal with, you know, the wife fleeing and all that stuff,

regardless of whatever sympathy anyone. might feel, which is all justified, it is there, it has happened, and the. money has been built up, and now it's. time that we have to take care of it so. you can have a great future. But what. matters most right now, what's most important? The remaining. decades of both of your lives Yeah. or going out to eat? Yeah, that that makes a lot of sense. I. think, you know, we we had a lot of. lifestyle creep once I started working. cuz the our first few years here were.

rough, man. Like, we, you know, we we. first got here with um. and moved in with her parents who were. living here in the US and her uncle and. aunt, like six people in the house. Um. First month was amazing, second month. not so great. And then I had to. basically rent out an hotel room for a. month because. it got um. pretty bad. And I I did get help at the. time. Um. Then I couldn't pay for help. Um then a.

friend of mine gave me like. bought me like a. an hour of therapy and stuff like that. And so. Okay. But it it it got really rough. Like I I. I got to a really low point. Mhm. Um. had some really bad thoughts. Sure. And [clears throat] um then we. when we started actually having some. money and. we started eating out, I think that was. that's definitely our coping like. mechanism and it's. Yeah. I get it. But but yeah, we we now. different paths, so that's what I want.

to show. It doesn't have to be going to. a specific restaurant. We can, you know, we can pack lunch, take it to a park. You know, uh just go to the beach, all that stuff. I mean, there's a lot of nice natural. things you could take advantage of in. Florida. When we left the Yeah, that was a. problem that when we when we left Miami. as well, like even though it had all the. negative negative stuff, when we left to. save money as well, we we were just very lonely. And we have. a cousin there, and like we see each. other like maybe once a month or every 2. months, but it it got, you know, pretty.

bad. So. Have you guys made friends? No. Okay. What I recommend is. um. There's there's. uh Well, sorry. What We're moving out. Like we can't stand the the the the. town. you going? Orlando. Um Do you Well, you. have friends there? Family and. Yes. Family and friends. Um so, the rent. is actually pretty much the same. She'll. have more opportunities with the new. dental hygienist work. No, never mind. I was going to suggest. joining some local groups and stuff like. that, but never mind. You're in a good. Good. Good. Cuz that's important. Having. a good support group, especially if you.

go through uh a struggle situation that. will be in the next year and a half, 2. years, depending on what you do with. income. But, one thing that everyone. should do no matter what, but especially. you in this situation, budget and mental. health. Yeah. Take care of it. It's most. important. Everyone should do it no. matter the situation, but with where you. are, with where your history is, take care of it on a weekly basis. And. it might be helpful, um you know, once a month doing doing a. couple sessions as well. Yeah. Cuz this is good for couple. health. That's for sure. So. It's going to be what feels like a long.

road while you're in it. But, the good. part that no one ever, you know, that I. we don't talk about enough is after this. couple years, dude, you're going to be living a great life. She's going to be bringing in great. income. By the way, if she's bringing in. great income during those 2 years, that'll also help, you know, after the. whole schooling thing. That you could. get this down to a year, depending. I. mean, it's fantastic The The opportunity. you have is so great. [snorts]. But, you know, if you follow the 50/30/20, you're just playing catch-up for a bit. 50% on needs. You can have a nice place. with the dual income. 30% go to those.

restaurants every day. Like I don't care. That's awesome if it. fits in the budget. Do it. I encourage. it if it fits in the budget and that's. what you guys do is bonding. I'm all about it. Take your friends. And 20% senior retirement grow, so you. know you have security. Yeah. Yeah. In. the golden years, but. it just takes a sacrifice now and then. you get to reap those rewards. Don't put. it off. It just elongates. You've. already missed the best decade best.

decade of your life for compound growth. Don't miss the second best decade. Yeah. Yeah, that's true. Um. I was just going to say that, you know, with our current immigration situation, it was also very hard for us to actually. plan out financially because. you know, we have specific court dates. and stuff like that like with. immigration and just the thought of, you know, at any moment technically we. could just be kicked out of the country. Yeah. Literally. Well, not kicked. literally, but just deported. So, even.

though we we're like in a different. financial situation by far from a lot of. immigrants. Yeah. Um that is a reality. and it was like it was very scary not to. take opportunity of like, oh, let's go. out and eat something like. Of course. I I I get it behind it. And. we should prepare in some instances for. the realities of that and whatever that. looks like. That's not my field. I don't, you know, the immigration. system is incredibly complex and I do. not have the insights into it. necessarily to advise on that. Just when it comes to the future,

just because anything can happen doesn't. mean we want to be unprepared for the. rest of our lives. So, of course prepare. for those situations and then also. prepare for this situation. I can only. speak on this situation when it comes to. the money's. But in a year, two years, depending what. the income situation looks like, if you. really buckle down, you guys can have a great life. And it. is so worth it. So worth it on the other. side of that terrible hill to climb. I promise it's worth it. Do you have any.

final thoughts? I think you cuz I I think I was like. at least going in the right direction. Like I'm seeing the light at the end of. the tunnel, but there was there's just. so much. Sometimes it's just hard to. organize everything. Um so, I think just. looking at it like literally in paper. what you you're building, it's I really. appreciate it and I know my wife. appreciates it as as well. All right. For Juan, he's clearly come from a lot. of just struggle trying to get cemented. anywhere and he's gone into a lot of. debt throughout that whole experience.

And of course, there's a lot of BS. spending that has gone into that debt as. well. And there's still some now. But. for his Hammer Financial Score, when it. comes to spending within a budget, it's. going to be about a four out of 10. Definitely not sticking to a budget, but. isn't drastically overspending as he is. putting more towards his debt than is. the minimum monthly payment. So, four. out of 10 for that. Three out of 10 when. it comes to his overall debt. It's not. great debt, but he doesn't have any. insane interest rates. He doesn't have. any payday loans or anything in. collections, either. So, three out of.

10. Retirement for his age, he's. certainly behind, but he does have some. there. Two out of 10. And emergency. fund, there's nothing. Zero out of 10. Real estate, I mean, he's not in that. world yet. Eventually, hopefully, but. zero out of 10 for now. That comes out. to a total Hammer Financial Score two. out of 10. Make sure to check out all. the resources in the description below. Don't forget to follow my Instagram and. Twitter. Thanks.