YouTuber Refuses To Pay Taxes | Financial Audit

My name is Chandler, I'm from Kansas. I'm 23 and this is financial audit. Thanks for coming down from Kansas. What. do you do for a living up there? I am a. maintenance technician for an apartment. complex. Cool. What are you making? Uh I'm making. about 3,500 a month gross. 3,500 a month gross. Okay. Now in. Kansas, you know, not necessarily known. for being one of the more expensive. cities unless it's like, you know, in. like Kansas City, it's a little more. expensive. How do you feel 3,500 bucks a.

month? I mean, it's okay. Uh I'm definitely. living a little bit paycheck to paycheck. right now. I've not had savings since I. was like 19 years old. So. Why? I mean, why? Poor spending habits, to be honest with. you. Uh rent out there is pretty. expensive for like the income level of. the area. I'm spending about, I think, $900 a month for my one-bed, one-bath at. like 650 sq ft there. Um Yeah. Certainly cheaper than you'd.

get here, but I definitely get it. I. mean, you're under 30% of your gross. when it comes to your rent, so. I mean, we're okay there. Uh we're at. about 26%. And no, we're not using a. voice filter. You actually do have like. the deepest voice ever created in this. room. do have a little bit of a deep voice, yeah. Yeah, I actually I I heard that. you used to have a YouTube channel, but. you quit because uh people thought your. voice was fake. Yeah, for the most part. Um I got to 100,000 subscribers in about. 2 years, which was really good. A lot of growth there. I got 50 50,000. my first year, but yeah, it was just.

there was so much hate towards the. voice. That's why I was like, "Yeah, it's just not worth it at that point.". And then. I mean, there's always things to. complain about. Always things to complain about, for. sure. You know, YouTube, full of hate. out there, but there's a lot of good. there, too. But it's also a great. platform. It's a fantastic platform. like creating stuff. Uh I'd love for you to get back into. that at some point. love to, as well. It was a lot of fun. It's just It wasn't super sustainable, either, for me out there. Is that why. you owe IRS debt? Uh yes, yeah. That is. exactly why I owe that IRS debt. Okay, so how how much did you make from.

YouTube? My first year, I think I made about. 40,000 on YouTube. That was my first job. ever. Like, I didn't have any jobs. before that, no. you doing? What was it? Um. Before that? No, no, no. What was the. YouTube channel? I was a gamer, just. YouTube gaming. That's like the lowest. like revenue you can get. 100%, yeah. And you made 40,000. Yeah, it was It was. mostly just like some good negotiations. with sponsors and stuff like that, but. That's still incredible.

And you were not setting 30% aside. No. I set about 0% aside during that. time. That's uh that's lower than 30. Yeah, that's a lot lower than 30, unfortunately. Um and I learned after. that first year that, you know, I needed. to set aside 30% and after that I was. really trying to, but I was just like. super stretched on income at that point. because. didn't know. Yeah, I just didn't know. It was my first job. No, not really. Well, I mean, I mean, did you live with. your parents during this? Uh yeah, I. lived with my mom during that time, yeah. And. What You said your mom? Yeah, yeah. Was.

she like, "Yo, taxes are a thing?" Yeah, she was a. little bit. I just didn't really take it. seriously, which was my biggest issue. there. Um. I think my first year I owed like $8,000. in taxes. And like, I got it down a lot. with deductibles, but even then I still. like wasted all my savings away. That. were this is from? That's actually from. my second year on YouTube. So, what happened your first year? Did. you pay it? I managed to pay it, just. kind of like barely, but then after that. I was going paycheck to paycheck a lot.

because YouTube had like kind of a slow. season for me after that first year of. taxes, where I just couldn't be posting. as much and I just had to like focus on. other things. So, the second year, you. felt like you were living more paycheck. to paycheck. What was the income that. you brought in the second year through. YouTube? The second year, it went down a. little bit. I think I made about 35,000. Why do you think it went down? Uh I stopped producing videos as much, which is the biggest key. Like, I went. from about like every other day. Yeah, I.

I don't know why. I just didn't really. take it as seriously as I should have. I. was like, you know, that young. I just. want to like explore, try things, and. stuff like that phase. A gamer making a. literal living within their first year. of YouTube. You were living. You were. living the dream that every child wants. to absolutely live. Absolu- I was living. the dream and I really, really abused. that fact. I was like, "Oh, I have extra. money. I can spend it." I I did not have. extra money to spend at all. I was at. the time spending more on rent than I am.

now. I was spending about $1,000 a month. on rent. Uh I left I left the city I lived in. originally and went to another city. It. was just the cost of living there was. getting higher, and that's why I moved. out of that city. with your mom. No, no. I moved out of her house a long. before that. It was Well, why'd you move. out? I moved out of her place because it. wasn't a good environment to record in. It was like a really noisy townhome in. like a really small space. I didn't have. any room to record. Man, I wish you did.

not quit. The small minority that end up. being haters, and I know I know it's a. loud. Like, it can be point It can be. point zero one percent of the people, and for some reason it's what cuts. through the noise, and I get it. It's. gotten to me before. I've learned how to. deal with it better now. It's gotten to. me uh before, and there's always people. that are going to want to just like beat. you down, you know, they see you rise. and they're like, "Like, why is this person, you know, why. why why'd they do okay on this. platform?" And it's because of the. amazing supporters that obviously. support you. But then.

people just see that growth, and they. just want to. they want to beat you down. Now, it's. like point zero one percent. Yeah. And. I'm really sorry that that minority. took away the actual viewing experience. that the majority wanted to experience. by you uploading what you just say every. other day was your standard. I was doing. about every other day, uh about two to. three times a week when I could. And I. the second year I kind of went to once a. week, and sometimes a little bit longer. than that. I was playing a game called. ARK. It was a I love it. It was a very.

big game. Like, it was a great game at. the time. And. I was doing the PvP category, which is. really hard to make content in. Like, Okay. you pretty much just had to really. hope and dream that you're finding the. right amount of content, otherwise you. just weren't getting a video. know the hard part about gaming content. itself is like, a lot of it depends on. the popularity of the game at the time. And if the popularity of the game at the. time falls off, so does a lot of the viewership and. income related to that. Now, then you. try to switch games, but then your skill. level might not be there. Your audience. in general, your core audience, might.

not be interested in that game, and it. becomes very difficult. Yeah. Being in a niche was very. difficult. I couldn't really play other. games cuz like, ARK viewers are very. dedicated to ARK, and that was another. big reason I ended up leaving the. platform cuz I just wasn't into ARK. anymore. And I was like trying to go. into other games, it just didn't work. out. I'd post like an ARK video, get. about 100,000 views, and post another. gaming video and get like 2,000 views, you know. See, the little shits that. were making fun of your voice. I think. you have an incredible voice for. YouTube. I think you I think you should. try to get back into it cuz that You. didn't delete the channel, right? No, no, I still have I'm verified on. there and everything. I still have the.

account. I It's hard I mean, it's hard. to take something, you know, that hasn't. been. used in a while and grow it again. But I. think you should get back on there, man, and find something you should. I really think you should. You want to. send the link it? Yeah, go for it. Um. Check it out in the description. But. next time, fun fact, next time pay your. taxes cuz this is. This was 2021. This was 2 years ago. Yeah, still paying. taxes. You Okay, okay, okay. You know, a little.

more taxes are owed than you thought. You weren't fully prepared. We're young. Okay, a number populates. Then we take. care of it. Why? Why the 2 years 2 2 Almost 3 Almost 3 at. this point. Almost 3. Why? Why is this. not dealt with? Cuz you're. You're looing your You're allowing. yourself You're allowing yourself to. have interest accruing, my dude. Yeah, I. think it's taken like almost $500 in. interest. So, what's the point? Why. haven't you paid it? Unfortunately, ever.

since I got that debt, I've been. literally living paycheck to paycheck. Like, I I probably overdrafted a good 10. times. I mean, honestly, off. Bought food, you're you're spending You're You're. total spending. 11% of your total spending with the. food. That is not paycheck to paycheck. That is you choosing choosing. to put 11% or more than 11% TOWARDS BOO-.

YEAH. BOO-. SUBSCRIPTIONS. Terrible shopping. So, you're not living paycheck to. paycheck, though. You're just not. I. mean, just straight up, you come in. here, paycheck to paycheck. No, you're not. You're not. Yeah, no. Paycheck to paycheck is if your needs. your needs are 100% of your expenses and. you're scraping by. Paycheck to. paycheck, I'd shake your hand and say, "Yes, sir, you are. Congratulations. Paycheck to paycheck." 11.2% Uh-uh. 2.1%.

went to the grocery stores. 2.1% were. 11.2%. went to. food. Subscriptions, like. a Microsoft trial, Webflow, ChatGPT, Dropbox, Spotify, Amazon Prime, Mango. 3D. Yeah. All that. So, that's another 4%. I. honestly feel like I have a lot of those. subscriptions. Not paycheck to paycheck. in that scenario. Do you need those. subscriptions to have a roof over your. head? No. Interesting. Then you're not paycheck to.

paycheck. Okay. Now, I get wanting it, and I want you to have it. Don't get me. wrong. Don't get me wrong with that. Then unknown shopping, things that were. harder for us to qualify. figure out what it is cuz you can spend. like a lot of money at Walmart. And SmartPay reports with. Uh SmartPay reports one is gas. Okay, so. that goes to gas, then. And then Home. Depot? Home Depot and Amazon and. Menards. My new job, they don't provide. tools at. You have to buy your own. tools. And so, I had to go out and. like hourly or are you salary? Uh, I'm.

hourly, I guess. What's the hourly? $17 an hour. And they. make you get their own tools. Yeah. Are you a contractor? Uh, no, I'm not a. contractor. It's just I guess they've. been screwed over so many times with. tools that they make you buy them. To be. fair, I love my job. Everybody's great. there. But yeah, that part is very. unfortunate. It is a massive pain. hoping we could, you know, take some. write-offs. Um, okay. But yeah, no, that was about, I think, what, $400 I spent on tools recently. I mean, your unknown shopping, which.

includes that, which goes to work. But I. mean, making 70 bucks an hour, 23.1%. you're spending. 23.1. See, and I don't think I can write those. off cuz I'm not a contractor, which is. unfortunate. So, because you just got yourself into. bad debt all along the way, we just didn't make any progress on it. Yeah. What's your monthly payment for. this IRS? $50 a month. Which is allowing. this interest to accrue and just I think. 50 was like their minimum, and that's. why I ended up doing that. Absolutely.

naughty. I will say though, recently I. managed to get my like. required monthly stuff down a little. bit. My car payment, I had insurance. that was $300 a month, and I was also. paying. For what kind of car? I have a 2014. Mitsubishi Outlander. Okay. It's an SUV. Yeah. I bought it from my stepmom, so I. didn't have like interest on like a loan. or anything. It was just like. From or for? I bought it from them. Oh, thank. goodness. No, no. My other car had like. a massive engine issue, so I had to get.

a new car on the spot and bought that. from her. I just finished paying that. off. That was $5,000 for the car. The. $600 car loan from the family, what. about that? Um, it was actually $5,000. I was just paying it back monthly. I was. paying them. is what's owed still or is that your. monthly? I've just finished paying it like last. month. Just last month I finished it, yeah. So, that's gone. Yeah, that is gone. What about the 900 from girlfriend? Um, just over the years, just having to. like help with the rent and stuff like. that.

That's what that is. live together? We do live together now, yes. We just moved in together. Like, how many did you borrow at a time? Give me an example. What's like one of. the times you borrowed? It was just. like, "Oh, I'm not going to be making. this money back in time. Like, I have. rent tomorrow.". me a number that you borrowed like at a. specific instance. It's probably only. like $50 at a time or something like. that. $315 eating out. Yeah. I'm You. chose to eat out I did, yeah. and borrow from the girlfriend instead.

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or through the link in the description. below. I am terrible about shopping. I. don't know what it is. It's like that. shopper's anxiety that you get at. Walmart and like, I don't know what to. buy. I don't know what to make. I'm. terrible at cooking. That's why I just. end up doing like Subway all the time. going to put you through our budgeting. program. We have grocery examples in. there. Uh, that'll help. And we'll just do the. meal prepping, man. Just. Tacos and easy just there's so uh. It's honestly not that complicated once. you just get in it. It can be. complicated starting. Yeah. There's like. that barrier of intimidation and just.

like, you know, changing up things that. you're used to. Absolutely. Go through the program, man. Link in the description below. But go. through the program. We're going to put. you through it. Um, highly recommend it. It's a few hours and you're going to. learn a lot. And then we're going to get. you on meal prepping and you're going to. budget 300 bucks a month for just. groceries so you don't have these. combinations, all these things adding up. to hundreds and hundreds and hundreds. and hundreds of dollars. Plus, it'll be. healthier anyway, which is always good. The other big thing is like, I'm always. working so much that when I get off. work, all the stores are closing. Like, the Walmart in my town doesn't stay open. too late. I think it's open till 9:00.

p.m. So, I'd be getting off work, going. home, showering. By the time I get. there, I have like an hour to shop. Okay, so $42,000 a year, how many hours. a day are you working for that? Um, it kind of depends. During the. winter, we have snow removal and all. that that we have to sometimes come in. at like 4:00 a.m. to do that, so. Until? Till usually like 8:00 a.m. Then. we just clean up. are you out? Like, what do you mean? When do you leave? So, I I work from. 5:00 or sorry, 8:00 to 5:00 is my normal. day. And then I'll go home, you have to,

you know, take care of everything there. So, I have like, I guess, 3 hours or. something. after 5:00? A lot of them do. Unless you're in like a What? Is it like. a single grocery store ran by like two. people type thing? Walmarts in our town. They both close at. like 9:00 to 11:00, depending on the. day, but I I mean, just. I'm going to sound like a Answer this. question. Is 9:00 after 5:00 p.m.? Yes, yes, it is. Then I'm struggling to. You stop on the way home. Like, I just really don't like going. shopping, so. Well, there you go. That's the actual.

answer. Don't give Don't Don't give me. the. excuse of, "Oh, it's closed after I get. out of work." We get out of work at. 5:00. 9:00 is later. And you can go. definitely later, yeah. I mean, okay. I'm willing to have the conversation. I'm willing to understand your reasoning. of why of some things. And the reason of. just like Uh. it stresses me out, I'm too lazy. That's. an actual reason. Justifiable? Not. necessarily, but it's an actual reason. But don't come in and just try to brown. and just lie and say come because uh.

it's closed after I get out of work. We're not going to make progress there. Yeah. We're not going to do anything. There I I will say there's definitely. time after work. It's just one of those. like. stressful for me. There you go. That's. an actual answer, and that's. understanding. Justifiable? No, not. necessarily, but we at least gets us in. the right direction. That's fair. We'll. find something in the end. So, you still. owe the 900 from the girlfriend. Yes. Is. there like a minimum asking for it back. or anything. It's just like Yeah, but do. you want to owe money from your. girlfriend? Exactly, yeah. I don't really want to.

owe her money. We do, yes. We moved in. together a couple of months ago. to help, you know, lower monthly costs. for both of us. Medical debt. Yeah, so my 18th birthday, I had to go. to the ER. Oh. And, you know, once you. turn 18, it's your debt. And um, I had. to go to the ER. My entire face was like. swollen from some infection, and it was. terrible. I was in there overnight and. had, you know, IVs. I had CT scans, all. the fun stuff, all those expensive.

things. And. yeah, it was originally like $20,000. in debt for that. And then suddenly in the middle of this. year, it just vanished off my credit. report, and I don't know why. It was 5 years. But that is definitely a stress point. that I'm like, what if it comes back? report? You mean like Credit Karma or. have you pulled the free credit reports? yeah. I would pull free credit reports. You can get an annual free. like actual pull. Yeah. Um, so I would. do that just to make sure. Is this Are.

you Are you on like a payment plan or is. this just what's. No, I didn't even learn about it until. 2022. I went to get like a car loan, and. they're like, "You have $20,000 in debt, so you can't get this." And yeah. So, it's 11 to $20,000. Somewhere around there. I don't know. exactly. at least 11. It could be up to 20,000. Yeah, that is correct. No payment plan. So, you said 2021 when you learned about. it? Uh, sometime around 2021, 2022. I. don't remember exactly when, but yeah. In a few days, it's going to be 2024.

Yeah. Again, why have you not at least like. tried to do something about it? So, when I learned about it, I talked to. my mom about it, you know, for her like. advice on there. And she was like, "You know, it falls off at 7 years, so. maybe just don't pay it." And that was. her advice was just to kind of ignore. it. Do you want to have things, you know, get triggered with collections and. everything like that? Do you want to.

Like, what if you need to borrow for a. car in the future? What if you need to. borrow for a house in the future? That. Mitsubishi isn't necessarily brand new. How many miles is on it? Uh, 160,000. Certainly not brand new. What if you. need to borrow for a car? What if you. need to do anything? What if you need to. qualify for any kind of loan? This I. mean, it's going to hurt you. That has already definitely been a. problem. Cuz when my last car broke, it. was like completely can't drive anymore. It had like a head gasket break on it. Yeah. And so. current car? This current car is.

actually running really well. Okay. So, I haven't had any problems. with it since getting it other than like. normal brake stuff and stuff like that. Is that all your debt? I think so. What do you mean you think so? Um, I. don't have any credit cards, so. Good. I wouldn't. No credit card debt there. Your. spending's ridiculous, so I I certainly. wouldn't. Yeah, I think my biggest. problem is I I tend to eat out almost. every day, probably like twice a day. sometimes. And sometimes I buy food for. my girlfriend when she's like at work. She's a nurse, so she Well, she's a CNA.

Why do you think you're eating out every. day? Just like in general. It's mostly. just the aspect of going shopping, to be. honest with you. Like, I'm also terrible. at meal prepping. I've tried in the. past. I just end up making like box. macaroni every day if I meal prepped. You know, the thing is. Uh, we had across everything. First of. all, what is this cleaning and. restoration thing? Is that an extra job. that you have? Yes, that is another job. I am a web designer for that company. I. used to be full-time with them doing. like IT support and stuff, but now I.

just maintain their website and develop. everything they need for it. get 500 a month? Yeah, it's just like a. salary thing. Salary to 500 a month? Yeah. You're W-2'd? Yes. Okay, so. uh after taxes then it looks like we had. a total income of 3,075. For What was that? For after-tax 3,075? Net? Yeah, sounds. about right. If you had no bad debt and you're. contributing 20% to your retirement, if.

the fun money you wanted to spend was. literally on going out to eat, you could spend $922 a month going out. to eat. Okay. That would be your entire fun. category to be very clear, so that. nothing else would go anywhere else for. fun. Like there would only be. currently that is kind of like my fun. thing is going out to eat. but you have IRS debt that is a few. years old, so it doesn't make sense, does it? We owe money to our girlfriend, so it doesn't make sense, does it? Yeah, no, you're right. I'd be sad. And I.

think that IRS debt interest goes up. every year, if I'm not. What I don't understand why you. Of your eating out that you did last. month across everything across the. keto's across subscriptions, let's put. it Let's put it all together. Your your. like entire spending minimum minimum. It's probably like 600 bucks. Okay. So, what? 3 months 3 months of your and the IRS. would have been done, but instead you. stretched it to 3 years. Yeah. So.

what Okay, but the point I was trying to. make is that almost $900 is like 30% of. your income. And if you did 50/30/20, 50% on needs, 30% on wants, 20% to. investing, you're in the age range where. I'd do 20% to investing, it's totally. fine. You have all bad debts gone, you. have a 6-month fully funded emergency. fund, your needs are less than 30 or 50%. or less. Uh If you're investing 20% on a. monthly basis, 30% which was almost 900. bucks could totally go to Mickey D's. every single second of your life. I'd be. down for that. I'm fine with that. Yeah.

You can't do that right now. So, you. think it'd be better to just kind of pay. off the IRS debt in full than like. staying on a payment plan with them or. Why would you be on a payment plan? I don't know, it just feels like it's. less than But I guess it just feels like. it's less than the amount of money I. account every month, so it just feels. like it's. it's more over time. You're diddling. yourself, dude. A savings account with 1% annual yield, so I would just do SoFi which is 4.6. anything in my savings account. You.

know, I keep it all in my checking. account. Yeah, you got 13 bucks in. there. In checking account. 501 This is a service charge of almost. 30 bucks. Yeah, that I think that was an overdraft. fee then. No! No! Yeah. No! Last month. when. When I initially filed for taxes this. year, I went through TurboTax and used. their services and everything and it was. supposed to come out of my return, but. because I owed the IRS money, I didn't.

have a return. And so, a few months down. the line, you know, last month it hit my. account for $300. Yeah. And I was not expecting that, so I. overdrafted on there a little bit. Ended. with the $500, started with $200. That. is sketchy for a checking account. Okay. Something. What's in pink? What's in. pink or red? It's like a reddish pink is. Everyone, kindly take a look. Take a little peek. Take a little peek.

You want to take a peek? Take a peek. Out of this, what is there? 20 30 things. on this page? One two. Actually, not even purchases. There was. one purchase two purchases that weren't. complete. One being work at Home Depot. Mhm. That. was work related, which just sucks. It. It was. one being Walmart and we just don't know. what that is and you just said you don't. like to grocery shop, so they're. probably not groceries. I probably went there just to buy like a. couple of groceries, but I'm pretty sure.

that Walmart one was actually like. buying a heating pad for my girlfriend. And the other two were just income, so. Microsoft subscription, Taco Bell, Sonic. Drive-Thru, Hy-Vee, Subway, Dairy Queen, Game Nut, Venmo Yeah. Sonic Drive. First of all, Sonic sucks butts. The Taco Bell, Subway also sucks. Two. Subways in a row is like the worst. sandwich ever made in the history of the. world. It's crap. Almost every time I go to Subway, I use. coupons there. That's why it's two.

transactions. you're disappointed. IHOP, Hy-Vee, food at Tri-Ac-Key, Sonic again, just it's not even food. Taco Bell, ChatGPT subscription, why? What do you need this? Uh I was using it. to help write copyright material for the. website that I help with and also trying. to come up with like some business ideas. like little side gigs. side gigs. Uh are you going to be like one of those. like drop shippers through ChatGPT or.

something? No. That some finance guru came up with. Sonic Drive-In. Okay, you're obsessed with Sonic. You. just you. doing their fruit drinks, yeah. Yeah, no. no no, you're glugging that every second. of your life and it's like and it's not. cheap. It's not like drink cheap. Yeah, I think it's like $3 per drink. It's like What are you getting? Three. drinks then? Two drinks usually. One for. me and one for my girlfriend. Some trans temporary transfer temporary. transfer.

What is that? Uh I'm not sure what that. is, to be honest. Sonic Drive-In, Hy-Vee, Venmoing out $600. Almost everything for Venmo is usually. bills. If it's $600, that was probably. rent. Sonic, McDonald's, subscription. Uh the temporary transfer thing, temporary transfer thing, Taco Bell, SmartPay Rewards. Oh, that's gas. That's gas, yeah. IHOP, Hawaiian Bros. I. do like Hawaiian Bros.

Hawaiian Bros is pretty good. Also. expensive, so on 20 bucks. Stop. Done. Okay. Dropbox, you're purchasing. your you your expending money with. Dropbox. the YouTuber I edit for. Uh we use. Dropbox. Well, what is this? Is this a different. thing? Yeah, I also edit for a YouTuber. Where's that money? That's $200 a month. I'm just further VODs. it? Under taxes, yes. Um But yeah, what I do for them is they. just want their VODs to have like their. intro and outro edited and that's what.

those videos are, so. More Venmo, Raising Cane's, Sonic. Drive-Thru, Amazon, Spotify, there's the little Hy-Vee thing. again. Can listen ads on Spotify while. we're in debt. We can. I promise you. won't die. I promise. I listen to a lot of Spotify. Ooh, that's great. You're going to. listen to a lot of ads. I listened to. like 30,000 minutes last year. Mhm, cool. Listen to some ads. Regal Cinemas. when it comes to movie theaters anyway. Yeah.

IRS 50 bucks, 300 bucks for. filing taxes. Taquitos, Barnes & Noble. I mean, I'm good for books, but just. like free audiobooks on YouTube is also. a thing. that you can do temporarily. in Barnes & Noble, too. Which is not better by any means. It's. probably worse. Not even It was probably. worse. It's a billion times worse. What. are you What are you on? Amazon, Mango, Venmoing out money. Mango is a 3D.

printing software. You have every. software. You have everything. lot of softwares. ATM withdrawal. Yeah. How did you know? Total overdraft fees. 2850. Oh. Okay. Yeah. I have a couple bad spendings on there. A couple. Um. I don't know if I have any excuses for. it, either. It's just I tend to go out a. lot. I tend to eat out a lot and I don't.

know, it's just like one of those fun. things I do when I'm not working is like. just go out. One of the fun things I do while working. is asking for you to subscribe cuz we're. trying to get to a million subscribers. and I love you all so much who have. subscribed. You're the best. Thank you. And thank you for being on here. spreading financial awareness and just. I'm definitely happy to be here. Not so. happy looking at my own spending, but. yeah. Hopefully it helps. I kind of tend. to avoid it a little bit. Like I try to. keep track of my spending pretty well. Hopefully this is exactly what you need. and then the budgeting program I'm going. to put you through that's hopefully.

extra exactly what you need. Yeah. So, this is my. personal budgeting sheet that I made. That was like what I was trying to use. for budgeting. So, rent. $607 50 cents. my half of rent, yeah. Renters insurance. 23, Mhm. water 55, internet 35, IRS 50, kill me. Webflow, what is this? That is the. service that I run the website under. Part of the agreement. pay for They don't pay for the website.

and. you're not a contractor? Uh It kind of. feels like it sometimes, yeah. Well, it's 500 bucks. Like that's post. their withhold post withholdings? That's. before anything. So, I I think. technically I am a contractor through. them. So, are you setting money aside. for taxes? I. So, I try my best to. taxes, probably. Yeah. I try my best to for the most part, I. kind of just hope that my actual jobs. that withhold money covers enough Car. insurance 87, which fortunately went. down this last month. It's 87 now, it.

was $293. That is certainly down, wow. 50. bucks down $10. Electric 72, Yeah. Health insurance. 8122. You said you're not contracted, you work. they just don't do health insurance? Um. as I. am contracted to I used to be a W-2. employee. I think I went to contracting. I just kind of forgot. setting aside for taxes then? If If. you're full contractor person. Buddy, we've been down this road before. Fun fact, fun fact, we've been down this.

road before twice. Twice. Double. Double. the fun. Now we're triple. Okay. Three strikes and we're out, you know, that kind of I don't know how many how. many things could I say to make it This. last year I had that the whole last year. and just from the fact that I was other. jobs cuz I am contracted to multiple. different companies, it kind of covered. that. Listen, your taxes. Your tax bill is not going to be high. Well, at least you can write off some of. the stuff like the tool purchases. But. your taxes aren't going to be insane cuz. you don't make an insane amount of. money, but still want to make sure it's.

not adding to your IRS debt that you're. not even adding. Yeah, I definitely. should be setting aside because between. both of my side jobs, I think I'm making. 700 a month but like gross. That's not. being taxed by companies. Okay, so you. need 2,800. No. 2,088.77. $2,088.77. to survive according to you and your. budget. I think this is after bills for.

that part is what should be left in my. account. Oh, less than Really? All right, so you're going to make me. out to be. a thousand. Oh, thousand? To survive a thousand? Isn't that crazy? Buddy, there's no. reason. There's no There's no reason you should. be in this debt. There's no reason you. should be borrowing from girlfriend. There's no reason why you're putting. your adult life on hold. Yeah. There is no reason. This is a choice. you're making. I've been really bad about keeping jobs, so I just got this job and uh When?

Uh I just got this current job that's. paying me $17 an hour last month. Uh before that I was making $15 an hour. and I think I've had like five jobs in. the last year. No, buddy. No. Oh. Buddy go pal. That's not going to work. If you ever. want to like get into tech, hit me up. I. can gift you a certification through. Coursera or something, but like I want. you to stick with an actual job. Yeah, absolutely. I mean they're good if.

you want to get into sales and. stuff. It looks I mean you already have. some. tech skills. You're doing some uh. What are you What are you doing for that. company again? For which one? something, right? Yeah, I was a web developer for them for. a while. I was doing I was fixing all. the electronics in the building for a. bit and then I was like, "Hey, I can. probably do some web design there, too.". And they're like, "Yeah, let's do it.". And I like took the website and. What if we get like a web design. certification or something like that and. then we get into web design as a. full-time career? I mean, we can we can. make some money with that, probably.

double what you're making now. Uh yeah, probably. My only concern with those is. like I'm a little bit worried AI is. going to like take over that part of the. industry in the next few years and. that's another reason I just like never. pursued that is with all the like AI. stuff coming out in the industry. Even. if you still did Even if you still did. that and let's just pretend that uh. the Autobots take over. uh the Decepticons. design. Yeah. Even still, if you just do. it for three years and you're making. double what you're making now, you made.

six years of this income. Okay, boom, you quit and then you can just go get. this job again. I'm sure they need. people to do the job you're doing now. Sure it's a pretty uh in-demand. job. So, what? You double your income. for a few years and then Autobots take. over. Whoa. And then. we go get this job again if we have to. Now. I mean, industries are always going to. change. Technology is always going to. change. You think that whole thing is. going to be AI? I don't know. I don't. bet on that kind of stuff. I'm like. Where's the economy now? Where's a good.

place where we can make some money that. makes sense? That's obviously look. forward to the future, but I don't do. the like fear tactics. I don't do like. the fear-based investing. I kind of end up doing that a lot, which. is a big like problem I have is I'll. think in the future and be like, "Oh, but what if this happens with that?" So. I like take myself down from doing it. because of that. Everyone who thinks that is afraid of. getting in the market. They're afraid to. buy a house because at some point I mean. the rates could go lower. At some point. housing prices could go lower. The stock market could go lower. Everyone who has that just endless fear,

they always end up in the end with less. than the people who just who just stuck. to it and Yeah, if you just. whether it's consistent investing or. it's just getting in the real estate. market or it's. getting into a good paying job. This is I don't want you to just be. afraid and preventing yourself from. actually taking steps to living a better. financial life. For sure, yeah. I mean, that's obviously what I'm looking for as. well. Saving that money. I love when my money.

is making more money in the SoFi high. yield savings account I use has 4.6%. interest on that money. It's the savings. account I personally use for my tax. money that I set aside and other money. that I just want to be building while. it's just sitting there. And you can get. bonuses by signing up all the way up to. $250 by using my affiliate link in the. description below. And it's not just cuz. they're my affiliate, I personally use. them. They're great. I've had a great. experience with them so far. And I only. recommend those who I like working with. and who I like using. So if you have.

money sitting in savings, have that. money make some more money. and use that high yield savings account. Link in the description below. 4.6%. and bonuses all the way up to $250. So. again, total income that came in was. $3,076. Now this is all contract, so. 3,076. Lovely jubly. Let's set 30% aside, self-employment taxes, all those lovely. things. There's lots of ways to write off. We. can talk about different things, but. See, my main job I'm not a contractor.

through for like the maintenance job. were. I am for the web design and the YouTube. editing, but not the main job. The main. job I am not. Okay. So, I think that's what about. 2,800 a month that is being taxed. through my job. I am a W-2 for them. 700 we're setting. $210 right in your budget to set aside. You have to for taxes. Okay. So, what. you need to survive.

is now what you need to set aside or put. in bills or whatever, $1,261.44. Okay. That's your minimum. Mhm. That's. not Well, that's not your minimum. We're. going to go back to the original. We're just going to deduct it from your. income, actually. So, what came in from the payroll was. $2,576.78. Now add the 500 from one job, add the. 200 from another job. Now let's minus.

the 210 that you're going to set aside. for taxes in a high yield savings. account. Not the 1% you're getting now. Set up SoFi with direct deposit, dude. Get some money. Mhm. $3,566. is what you should have after the fact. Now why did you not make that last. month? What happened? Why are we almost. a thousand dollars less? Um probably cuz. I just started the job if I had to. guess. Okay. So this doesn't make sense. again. Even if you switch jobs up a lot, man, the gap here of what's needed to. survive according to you is $2,515.34.

The IRS debt's gone in a month. MHM. A. MONTH. YEAH. There's no reason this should. exist. It actually kind of pisses me. off. Yeah, I mean. I guess I just never thought about it. that way to where I could pay it off. that fast. I just always think like. added up the numbers yourself. You wrote. this for me. I just always thought like, "Oh, I'll just leave it on this payment. plan and just kind of" cuz I didn't even. know it had debt until last month when. they sent me a letter. Where like I like.

that it had interest, I mean. Okay. That. other extra $2,515. Do you know that you had that left over. after your needs on a monthly basis? Okay. What were you planning to do with. it? You obviously haven't done anything. I was going to try to build up a an. emergency fund. That's what I was planning to do before. just like paying off debts was trying to. build an emergency fund cuz cuz I've had. none at all since I was like 19 years. old. Like, you know, when I was first. starting YouTube, I was like, "Oh, yeah. I have all this money. I'm just going to. put it in savings." And then taxes hit.

and I was like, "Well, there goes all. that money that I thought I had for. savings." And it was just ends up being. uh debt. Cuz I wasn't saving super well, you know, first job I was making a lot. of money and I was just blowing it away. because, you know, I didn't know that. much about taxes and all that. Like I. heard about it, obviously. Everyone. hears about taxes going up, but. you never really think into it when. you're it's your first job being a. contractor. Yeah. So, I mean, first month, set aside a. thousand bucks.

and pay then pay your girlfriend back. Then you have a one-month emergency fund. and you paid your girlfriend back. Okay. The month after that, pay off your. IRS. Just find out. Yeah. Are you kidding me? Absolutely. It's not even a question. IRS, we don't. The IRS, if we don't mess with anyone, it's the IRS. That is very fair. Yeah. Yeah. Uh after that, let's pretend it's 11,000. that you owe medical. Yeah, my gosh. I'm really worried about. that coming back. Like if maybe that. that collections company sold it to. another collections company and it's.

just going to come back and that's what. I'm worried about now. And like I didn't. really think about it cuz, you know, my. family's recommendation was just to. ignore it. Um. so that's what I did. So, I mean, if. it's $11,000, you then paying it off an. additional 4.5 months. So that's another. that's six six and a half months total. and you're completely debt-free. Completely debt-free. Not even just all. debt. Just just all debt. sounds good. uh to be debt-free. It'd be great. Um But it just seemed so hard to do to.

me. I don't know. I don't know. It just I guess it always. seems out of reach. Okay. Well, I mean, you're not used to. you're not used to that, so. I I I can. I can I can understand that. So, what. what what what what parts of it seems. out of reach to you? Well, let's get. down. to understanding the why. Why is it out. of reach? Uh it just seemed like it because I. guess my spending habits have been super. I didn't even realize that I was eating. out that much to be honest with you. Like I know I'm eating out like every.

day, but I was just like thinking like. oh like. I'm putting aside, you know, 10 15. dollars for food a day and calling it. good and. Dude, give yourself give yourself 100. bucks a month to eat out and you still. take care of this in like 7 and 1/2. months. 7 7 to 7 and 1/2 months. Give yourself. 100 bucks. Maybe put it in an envelope. Yeah. You only use that cash to go out. to eat. If you spend over it, sorry, done. You can't pull up You can't. go out to eat anywhere else. It's It's. in there. I mean, there's no reason this. shouldn't take like 7 and 1/2 months.

And even from there, just you barely. You'd get 10,000 dollars as an emergency. fund. That's. what you need. What do you recommend as an emergency. fund? I've always just thought of it as. like two three months rent, but. Rent only? No, I would do everything you. need to survive for 6 months. If you're. full-time into the YouTube like you were. your own business, I would do a full. year like that. love to get back into that and that's. another thing like. If you do, make sure you have a year's. of emergency fund on the side. That's. what I would do. I'm because what you.

need to survive is less than 10,000. dollars. I'm rounding you up to 10,000. dollars. cuz I do 6 months of whatever you need. to survive or 10,000 dollars, whichever. one is the largest. Got you. 10,000. dollars minimum cuz medical things are. can be expensive as you have learned. Car things can be expensive expensive as. you have learned. This 10,000 dollars. Okay, what I would actually do, you know. what I would do? Since it only takes 4. months to save up 10,000 dollars, uh there you go. You have your emergency. fund. So, that's 7.

8 9 10 11. So, 11 months and you're. totally debt free. You've have a 100 bucks a month in terms. of fun spending, which I never give. people, so congratulations. And you have. a fully funded emergency fund. From. there, what I would do is I would do 50%. on which isn't which isn't a thing. So, okay. Do you have anything invested? No, I have no investments. No, we we I need you to be able to. retire at some point. Once you in 11 months and you are at. 11%. 20%. 11 months and you're.

completely debt free and you have a. fully funded 6-month emergency fund. 20%. is going to investing. If the work has a 401k plan, take it. Max out a Roth IRA if you can. They do. and I can get into that after 90 days of. the job, so. If you ever get to a point. when you're, you know, done with like. the investing, like maxing out your. 401k, maxing out your Roth IRA, you can. go brokerage. You can. You could do I I've started investing in.

Vor because they have like a match and. everything. It's like automated. investing kind of like acorns, but at. least it has a match. Uh there's a lot of options, but we're. going to at least try to max out our. Roth IRA then our 401k. Absolutely, yeah. Even individual stocks like I've been. having fun gentle fun like 5% of my. overall portfolio like just buying and. holding Apple and stuff like that a. little bit. think I've ever gotten into any like. Roth IRAs or anything at any of the jobs. I've been in just cuz I haven't really. stayed at them long enough. In the city I'm in, it's just like most.

of the bosses have been really bad. Well, this is good though. This is this. is I mean, you're young enough where. this is okay, but this is the fun part, man. If you're a nerd like I am, this is. the fun part where you're getting to do. this. being a nerd and I I love thinking about. finances. I've just not been too good at. them. 401k, single stocks I like I use Moomoo. for single stocks. It's really good for. that for analysis on company analysis. And just maximizing investing in these. different things. It's so much fun and. I'm can't I can't wait for you to do. that. So, after that point at 11 months. from now, 20% goes to investing.

Then your needs, it's not going to be. over 50% if your living situation's the. same. So, what I would actually do is. 15% starts going to a new car. fund. Yeah, that's probably a good idea. cuz I don't know how long this will. last. With it being 160,000 miles. 50%. Then big old question mark, what oh. what. goes to needs?

Right now, 28%. So, let's say it's 28%. Sounds like a lot less than I thought it. was to be honest. It's cuz you're spending money on. Yeah, yeah. stupid with your money. I'm starting to realize that through. this for sure. Yeah, good. Then I'm I'm glad you're. here cuz it's a it's a it's certainly an. important wake-up call. So, if we're. doing 20% towards investing, 28% for our. needs if it stays the same. It can go up. to 50%, but if it stays the same. And. uh new car fund goes to 15%. That's 60%.

meaning. even while saving up for all that. uh that gives you 32%. 32%. to spend, which is more than the. traditional 30 because you've kept your. needs low. 32% goes to fun. Whatever you want fun. to be. So, that's what it would be. That's exciting because your needs are. so low. If you can keep your needs that. low, you can spend more money on fun. But I need you to start investing cuz I. don't want you to die on the Walmart. floor because you need to work in your. 90s in order to afford rent because you.

never saved up enough money to put a. down payment down on a house. You never. saved up enough money to be able to. withdraw from retirement in order to. survive in order to eat food. And you. can't rely on social security. No who. knows what it will be you know, even a. decade from now. So, minimum what we got to do, man. You got. to stop around. A YouTuber that didn't pay his taxes? I feel like that's an overly common. thing, unfortunately. Unfortunately, yeah. And it's been like. I think a big thing was it was it was. just my first job. I didn't even know. what I know. It happened. It happened.

It happened. I'm not like. I can't believe that happened. I can't. believe you haven't paid it off in the 3. years since then. Yeah. It's crazy. It makes no sense to me. I. think it was originally like 4,000. dollars. So, no. I think it was like. 4,000 dollars. case you could pay off in a month and a. half. It makes no sense that you're. allowing. Getting worked up. Okay. Sorry. This is. IRS debt. Ooh, yeah.

IRS is nothing fun. I can understand. getting worked up. It's not fun for me, that's for sure. No, it's not a. delicious debt as far as the debts go. I. want to get you to a place where you can. be a homeowner. All that stuff, man. I I. definitely like that idea, yeah. And I'm. hoping we can get there, too. Cuz I. mean, the way you explain it, I think I can easily stick to that. I. think I can. Crazy thing is, man. Your. net is 42,800 dollars a year. Mhm. It's. not what a lot of people would consider. rich by any means. No, no. You have so. much money left over because your needs. are so minimal. that you could.

you could almost start pursuing like. financial independence retire early type. stuff. It's It would take a lot of work. and cut back and it will still take a. while. It will still take quite a while. But because your needs are so low, man, you have a lot to play around with. We. can get you into homeownership. We can. get you to the point where you're. retiring, you know, with a couple. million bucks. We can get you to the. point where you can focus on YouTube. Maybe you'll become a very successful. YouTuber and then this all gets even. better. There's a lot of things, man. You just got to stop around now. Stop.

around. Reduce the fun now. Make sure you save. up before you do that. to not be a. These are good rules to follow. You need. an emergency fund, rule number two. You're breaking that. How does that fit. in the budget? Obviously not. You have. IRS debt, rule number one. You're. breaking it. You're breaking rule number. one. If you break number number one, you're bad. You hold the credit card. balance, you're not breaking that rule, that's good. Stop driving cars you can't. afford. You're not breaking that rule, that's good. Live someplace you can actually afford. You're doing this. This is good. See, you're you're not breaking a lot of the.

rules. Is it overspending on useless. things? breaking rule number one, number two. Uh and rule number eight, this is a big. one. You're a self-employed queen. Congratulations. I'm glad. Good job. Save for taxes in the future. Yeah, yeah. two times, maybe three. Yeah, I do. Cancel them cuz guess what? They weren't. in your budget. I followed the budget. that you laid out cuz it wasn't.

terrible. It didn't have 90% of the. subscriptions that you're actually. currently. Anything that wasn't on here, I'm going. to be honest, I didn't know I still had. Well, you do. So, cancel them. immediately because this is no longer an. option. You have any final thoughts? Any. questions? Honestly, I think. once you laid out, I can follow pretty. easy cuz I mean, you explained it really. well. I I think it's going to be pretty. easy to follow. I will admit I tend to. spend a lot of my fun money on going. out. I'll definitely try to cut back on. that. and try to go shopping more. It's just.

one of those things that's like really. hard to go shopping and like actually. make a meal plan. I really suck at that, but. Yeah. Go through our program, man. I. promise life-changing, dude. Seriously, for someone in your position, it's. great. Perfect. Well, I'll definitely give that. a try. When it comes to his hammer financial. score, I mean, just with the IRS debt. and what he was choosing to do with his. money, it's I'm it's going to it's going. to be a zero. I'll tell you why. Spending over budget when you have the. IRS debt and you're spending that kind. of money on food, it was crazy. All the. money that should be left over, zero out. of 10. Debt, IRS debt, zero out of 10.

Emergency fund, if you have zero dollars. in there, it's a zero out of 10. Retirement, if you have zero dollars in. there, it's a zero out of 10. No real. estate, zero out of 10. So, hammer. financial score, zero out of 10. Make. sure to check out all the resources. linked in the description below. They're. what I use or would use in specific. situations including the best budgeting. program in the history of the internet. Thanks to all of our Patreon producers. for making this episode possible. If you. want to participate in an episode of. financial audit and you're able to make. it to Austin, Texas, please fill out an.

application in the survey linked in the. description below. You can also send a. link to your friends or family who who. think might be good to be on the show. If you have any questions, you can email. casting@calebhammer.com.