Monday, April 1, 2024

New Cash, Old Problems E4

 How to Get Rich 

Season 1, Episode 4 

New Cash, Old Problems 


To give a couple a taste of the rich life, Ramit takes them on a fantasy getaway. Then, he meets with a reality star who needs help with his spending. 

( upbeat music playing ) 

Donnell: This is kind of fancy. 

Yeah.

Monique: Kind of fancy, I know. 

Would you call this a date?

 It's just me and you. 

That's true. 

Yes, it's a date. 

Without the kids. Yeah, I would consider it a date. 

Yeah. 

We just went out. 

No. 

Just us. 

'Cause we went out with the kids.

 If we can't remember, it's been too long.

Too long. 

How are you feeling about following Ramit's plan, and, you know, the joint account, and how do you think that's going so far? 

Oh, I think... I think the joint account is... is good. 

Mm-hmm. 

Um, it's... it's still an adjustment. 

I don't know about you, 'cause I do look at how much you spend too. 

I don't spend a lot, though. 

You think I spend a lot? 

I think that you spend unnecessarily. 

( pensive music playing ) 

Having secret purchases at times. 

I don't have secret purchases. 

I don't have secret purchases. 

Monique: Do the walk of shame. 

What walk of shame? 

Monique: I didn't buy no new sneakers or no new clothes. 

Wait. 

This... 

You don't need new sneakers or clothes.   Don't you wear a uniform? 

So...

I'm not with you on the spending habits. 

You buy more frivolously than I do. 

Once you admit it, then you can see... that there's actually a problem. 

The fact that you don't admit it is why there's still these packages coming. 

Donnell: I will say, I look at it as though, if I have the money, and I want something, I'm gonna get it. 

Because I have the money to do it. 

'Cause, obviously, I had no money before, growing up. 

Everybody had the latest sneaks out or whatever the case, and I didn't. 

You know, and it's like, you can't hide your feet in school. 

Mm-hmm. 

Like, now, as an adult, if I have the money, and there's something there that I want, and I know I can get it, I'm gonna get it. 

I don't got to hide my feet now.

I grew up poor. 

You know, there's a huge difference between being poor and being broke. 

All right? Right now, I'm broke, you know, but I'm not poor. 

I grew up poor. 

There was no talk about finances because there was no finances. 

So is it, like, I got us here? 

Not once have I said that we are in debt because of your spending. 

It is... 

We are in debt because, from a young age, we have handled our money wrong. 

Okay. 

We are in this position to be able to reach our goals and learn a new way of spending stuff because you signed us up to be here. 

If you can slow down on your frivolous spending, when you have the extra money to do the frivolous spending, you're going to think twice about it. 

It's extremely hard to break old habits when you're used to doing something for so many years. 

But I want what's at the end of the tunnel, what's at my rich life. 

It's just taking a little longer than I would have liked. 

I do agree we do need to clear out the storage unit as much as possible, recoup some funds that were spent on a lot of the stuff in there. 

This is new because we've never thought about it like this before. 

Your money is my money. 

Mm-hmm.

My money is your money. 

I get it. 

I get it. 

("Clap Your Hands" by Ms.Triniti playing) 

Amani: Can't wait to eat this brownie. 

This'll be a cute spot for us. 

Hello. How's it goin'? 

Amani: Hi. How you doing? 

How are you? 

Ramit: When I first met Matt and Amani six weeks ago, they couldn't talk about money without getting in a fight. 

But now they are creating a shared vision for how they want to spend their money. 

What is the latest on the homework that I gave you last time I saw you? 

Um, honestly, for me, it was more the exercise, us going through it together. 

He saw, like, everything in detail. 

Some expenses, even though he wasn't paying them, he was aware of them, which I actually respected a lot. 

Right. 

Meaning, I do pay Wi-Fi every month, but there's a service fee that I didn't even know about 'cause I wasn't reviewing all my bills. 

He was like, "You forgot the service fee."

And I'm like, "I did." And it's nice because when you're only that one person looking at this stuff all the time, you lose attention to details. 

And I thought he didn't care about these details because he wasn't managing them, but he knew things I didn't know. 

Matt, what was it like for you to get a full picture of the finances? 

Matthew: It felt good. 

We put a lot of time and a lot of communication into it. 

Ramit: Yeah. I mean, I just felt more secure after it. 

It felt nice. 

He got to see what goes to, like, our health care, what goes into our 401(k), all these things. 

And it felt good for him to see the burden that I had,you know? 

The more she talked, the more comfortable she became, and that was very, very enlightening. 

It's like we got back to where we were, like, five years ago. 

My husband understands the constant worrying about the bills, um... not wanting to say "no" when your kid wants to buy something. 

And... ( sighs ) 

Oh God, I hate this. Sorry. 

Going through this show has helped me realize that I always put money as the most important thing in life. 

And... ( sniffles ) ...it's not. 

It should be family then money. 

Yeah. 

I love that you said, Amani, it's not about the actual numbers we worked out.

It was about the exercise. 

Amani: Yeah. 

And this exercise goes on forever. 

It's just the beginning, I guess. 

Yeah. I love hearing this. 

I just... I love seeing the energy too. 

Now, did you agree on a number that each person gets every single month? 

Five percent each, so that's going to be a total of 1,500. 

For both of us. 

Split by two. 

Amani: Split by two. You got it. 

Okay, great. 

So what're you gonna do with that money?

I think, for a little bit, I would like to build up a cushion for an emergency. 

Cool. 

Matthew: But after that, I would find small investments. 

Ramit: Great. 

What about you? 

What are you gonna do with that? 

I guess do my guilt-free spendings. 

Perfect. 

The two of you have come a long way. 

Now, when you get into tricky situations, you know, "We have our plan." 

"We created it together, and let's make sure we focus on it." 

I want you two to keep a positive outlook about money. 

So, I've got an idea, and I want to get something rolling. 

I love this energy that I'm feeling from them. 

And I want to give them an experience that shows them there's a lot of overlap between their two visions of a rich life. 

( upbeat music playing ) 

Amani: Oh, look, it's an Airstream. Oh my God. 

I love it. I always wanted to try one of those, actually. 

Hello. 

Matthew: Hello. 

Amani: Hi. 

This is so pretty! 

Ramit: Come on in. 

This is yours for the evening. 

Amani: Oh my gosh. I really like it. 

Ramit: Let me give you the tour. 

Several months ago was probably the lowest point in our marriage. 

Cheers. 

Cheers. 

Amani: I think we needed help with money but also help like counseling help with our relationship. 

To combine both of those in one world was, like, magic, for sure. 

The reason I brought you out here is, the first time we met, we started talking about your rich life. 

And, Amani, you said you like nicer things. 

Amani: Mm-hmm. 

You wanted a place where you didn't have to think about details. 

Right. 

Matt, you wanted to be out in the open. 

Amani: Simple. 

Yeah. 

I think this is just an example of what your rich life could look like. 

It's beautiful. Thank you. I feel like I'm gonna cry. It's just... 

I believe, before, we were corrosive, but now we... we work well together. 

I want to trust him. 

And, so far, he's proven to me that he deserves that. 

Aw, you love me. 

( Amani scoffs ) 

We're in a so much better spot than where we were first time we met with you, Ramit. 

We had to go through that journey of exploring the pain points for us to get this far. 

I feel like I understand myself way better. 

I understand him better, and us, as a couple, better as well. 

Um, and it wouldn't have happened if we haven't gone through that part. 

Well, tonight, this place is yours.

And one last rule. 

Don't talk about money tonight. 

Amani: Yeah. 

Exactly. 

All right. 

Well, cheers to both of you and your rich lives. 

Thank you. 

I've seen my wife be more patient financially, and I've seen her be more compassionate emotionally. 

Aw. 

The experience and the growth has... has changed us both for the better. 

Will you accept this last rose? 

Will you accept this champagne? 

( chuckles ) The rose is better. 

( uplifting music playing ) 

I love you. 

I love you, honey. 

Amani: So much. 

Matthew: A whole bunch. 

Amani: Bunches. 

( upbeat music playing ) 

♪ Yo! Monday mornings are just so sad ♪ 

♪ You got a 40-hour work week To get that bread... ♪ 

All right. 

I just got some information about Frank. 

Let's take a look at the numbers. 

First thing I see are student loans. 

Okay. 

Frank's got $237,000 of loans. 

And he has paid off 0% of these loans. 

Okay. 

We got our work cut out for us. 

Let's take a look at the Capital One statement. 

So, he's got a balance of 2,000 bucks.

Frank's spending at Wawa, Rosebar, and Cinnabon. 

So what do I know about Frank? 

Frank likes to go to bars, and Frank likes to eat at Cinnabon. 

Sold! 

Let's look at your banking, shall we? 

He's got a $457 car loan. 

Okay. 

How's he depositing $9,000 a month? 

That's a lot of money. 

But withdrawing 12,000. 

So, he's spending more than he makes. 

Debit card, Savage Fenty. 

Isn't that the makeup brand? 

I know. Rihanna. I admire you. 

Secret Lounge, Washington, DC. 

What kind of secret lounge are we talking about here? 

It's only $48.80. It can't be that good of a secret. 

( chuckles ) 

So here's what I know about Frank. 

His income is $82,000. 

His debt is $250,000. 

The majority of that is student loans, about 237,000. 

And his rent is only $800 per month. 

Frank's fun. I mean, he has a strong point of view on his spending. 

I like meeting people like this. 

( "The Drip" by 4TVmusic playing ) 

♪ Yeah, I got the drip, drip, drip ♪ 

♪ You know I dip low in my whip slow ♪ 

♪ Gettin' dough is on my wishlist ♪ 

♪ Uh-huh! ♪ To-do list... ♪ 

Frank: Y'all ready? 

Cheers! 

all: Cheers! 

Frank: All right. 

That's what I'm talkin' about. 

I'm Frank. 

I won The Circle. 

And the winner of The Circle is... 

( cheering ) 

( upbeat music playing ) 

Oh, Frank. ( chuckles ) 

I won $150,000, but girls, I need lots of help breaking my bad habits 'cause I like to spend money. 

( upbeat music playing ) 

Sunday funday is where we bring out the big guns, baby. 

Brunch is a sport, and I am an Olympic champion. 

( upbeat music continues )

I'm gonna spend at least $200. 

Anything less than that, somebody else bought my drinks, which is what I be praying for. 

Jesus. 

( speaks in tongues ) 

( music crescendos ) 

( in English ) We done finished the bottle! 

Frank: Man, we in rare form today. 

Ramit! 

Frank? 

Yeah! 

( chuckles ) 

How you doing? Hey. 

How are you? 

Nice to see you. 

Nice to meet you. 

Join the party.

How you doing? I'm Ramit. 

Nice to meet you. 

We gonna have you sit right here. 

Ramit: Sweet. 

Have a seat. 

This looks like a good party. 

Frank: Of course. 

Somebody get Ramit a glass. 

Pineapple, cranberry, orange. 

Which one you want? 

You know what? 

Just stick me with the champagne straight. 

Time to celebrate. 

To the rich life! 

Cheers! 

To the rich life! 

( clamoring )

woman 1: Yeah! 

So, basically, I'm gonna ask you some stuff, and then I'm gonna get the truth from everybody else. 

man 1: Yeah! 

( all chuckle ) 

What do I need to ask Frank that he's not gonna want to tell me? 

How many designer items he's ba... bought in the last year. 

( clamoring ) 

I think you're the only friend I have today at this point. 

( all chuckling ) 

Wow! I saw your numbers, and I was, like, wow. 

Uh, you look like you're pretty young, from what I saw.

It looked like you were making a really good income. 

Mm-hmm. 

So that was pretty amazing. 

How come nobody talked about that? 

Jasmine: Because he's... Why? 

Why? 

Jasmine: I'll give it to the bae! 

You know, your rent was really low. 

You have roommates? 

Uh-huh. 

Right there. 

Ramit: You're roommates? 

We are. 

Nice. 

Then, I saw a lot of Venmos. 

( all chuckle ) 

I started to say, "I think these Venmos are happening late at night." 

2:00 a.m., 2:30, 3:00 a.m. 

all: Ooh! 

( all laughing ) 

But I said, "This guy likes to have fun. We're gonna get along." 

Because I like to have fun, and I totally get it. 

So, that's why I was excited to meet you. 

So what do you think Frank needs a little more of?

man 1: Discipline. 

Yeah! 

man 1: Discipline! 

Did you prep that ahead of time? 

No. 

Jasmine: No. 

man 1: No. Discipline. 

Why, why? 

What is that? 

He do too much! 

Ramit: Going out too much? 

man 1: No, no. 

So, he works very hard. 

Yes, he does. 

man 2: Yeah. 

But his three weeks of working hard deserves a pair of Gucci slippers. 

all: Yeah. 

Oh, you agree? 

Oh yeah. 

I work hard. 

Oh, this is gonna be easy then. 

If my current relationship with money and my finances doesn't change, I'll never be wealthy. 

Hopefully this helps me make more money. 

That's... that's the goal. 

Figure out how to keep my money and stop spending it on crazy sh¡t. 

You know, half the time I try to help somebody, they say they want help, but they're not ready for it. 

man 2: He's ready. 

Ramit: You think he's ready? 

You ready? 

Help my sister, Ramit. 

( Ramit laughs )

I'll cheers to that. 

all: Cheers! 

Frank: Cheers to your bae! 

( all chuckle ) 

man 3: Cheers to that! 

Ramit: I wanna go through your numbers. 

Frank: Come back to my house! 

We'll talk numbers and get into it more. 

It is interesting to hear Frank's friends say that he has a discipline problem. 

But discipline is on the surface. 

There are lots of common problems when people come into money like this. 

Just imagine an NFL player or a lottery winner. 

They come into a lot of money, but they haven't built the skills of how to manage it. 

So I want to know more about Frank's money psychology so I can understand where he's coming from and try to help him. 

Ramit: You guys are too much fun. 

woman 2: Yes! 

( 'Lessons" playing ) 

♪ I've been livin' life lessons ♪ 

♪ I've been goin' through stresses ♪ 

I am not ready to tell Ramit all my financial secrets, but I am willing to go through this process because if I want to get to the next level in life, I have to be a little bit more vulnerable with my finances. 

It's probably the only part of my life that I don't really talk about with people. 

So, brunch was fun. 

Frank: Did you have fun? 

I love your friends. 

That was funny. 

When I asked them, they went right for the jugular.

Oh, no. They took me down a back alley, baby. ( chuckles ) 

Do they know how much you make? 

Mmm... 

I feel like nobody actually knows because I have so much money coming from different places. 

Like what? 

So I'm a school social worker by day. 

So I'm salaried. 

Okay. 

And how much do you make from that job? 

Um, 71,150 bucks. 

I also do contract therapy on the side, so I provide therapy to children and their families. 

I can make, in a month, about 4,000, if I'm really hustling. 

In a month? 

Yeah. 

Wow. 

And I'm also an influencer. 

Franknthecity is my social media handle. 

That's kind of like my alter ego. 

It was before the big influencer boom. 

I always saw plus-sized women in the space, but I never saw a lot of men in the space. 

So I was like, there's a space for me, and I'm gonna make money from this one day. 

My goal is to make six figures from franknthecity this year. 

I've already made 11,000.

Really? 

Yeah. So my biggest partnership was Adobe. 

First contract was 4,000. 

Uh-huh. 

The second contract was 5,000. 

Going from... And it's just March. 

I really like this because there's a limit to how much you can cut. 

But no limit to how much you can earn. Yeah. 

It's pretty amazing. You're earning almost $50,000 a year on the side. 

And that's before your prize money from The Circle. 

That's impressive. 

The prize money was 150,000. 

Really? 

So I have my first 75,000. 

Is it still there? 

No, absolutely not, Ramit. 

Wait. How much is left? 

Oh, about 20. 

20,000? 

Mm-hmm. 

After my first payout, I definitely spent it like a wild woman, honey. 

This is one of the reasons why I contacted Ramit. 

I want to be smarter this time around. 

I want to do something to where this money that is about to be deposited in my account is going to set me up for the rest of my life to live a rich life. 

It kind of makes me feel guilty. 

'Cause I don't feel like I did anything with it but party, buy clothes... 

Yeah. ...which, it made me happy in the moment. 

Mm-hmm. 

But, when thinking about longevity, what is that really gonna do for me? 

Yeah. 

Mm-hmm. 

I've been really down. 

Mmm. 

I've had to live on $13 in a week. 

I was evicted in 2018. 

Uh-huh.

I've come from a... a long lineage of "not having." 

So, now that I'm making a good amount of money, I spend it. 

So what is that... When you grew up, what was it like? 

Uh, growing up was very tough for me. 

My dad died when I was five. 

So, from that moment on, it was just me and my mom, up until I was about 14, and then she passed away. 

And when she passed, I started getting money. 

Like, $800 a month, and... What was that from? 

It was from, like, I guess, her insurance. 

And I spent it every month. 

Nobody collected it for me.

Nobody said, hey, let's sit down and, like, save all this. 

I was buying my friends clothes. 

I would pay for the food at McDonald's, I would pay for them to get into parties. 

And this is back when you were 15. 

Mm-hmm. 

Any similarities to today? 

It's the exact same. 

Yeah. 

Unfortunately, I was never taught the true value of money. 

And, as an adult, I'm kind of paying for it now. 

( whoosh ) 

Growing up, I was given money to kind of appease the fact that my mom had died. 

And that always helped, but look at me now. 

When I'm having a bad day, I want to go to the mall and ball. 

But, looking back on it, it's very traumatic. 

I lost everything. 

It goes back into me kind of feeling abandoned. 

I feel like I can't ask people for help, but I'm hoping with Ramit, I'm gonna get on the right track. 

Ramit: What's your rich life? 

Um... 

Okay, so I have some more money coming in, of course.

Um, so I want to figure out how I can make that money work for me. 

I want to be able to go on vacation without feeling bad about it or feeling guilty. 

Okay. 

Do you pay attention to the student loans? 

No. 

Is it 230, if I'm not mistaken? 

Yeah. 

Yep. 

Sallie Mae student loans. 

She ought to be ashamed. 

She shouldn't have let me take that money if she was going to ask for it back. 

When I took them out, I never thought I would ever pay it off. 

I felt like I would go into the grave having student loans. 

( upbeat music playing ) 

Student loans are different from other kinds of loans. 

You cannot discharge them in bankruptcy. 

And I hate that, but that is the way the law works right now. 

That means these loans will follow Frank around until the day he dies. 

I wish I could just erase that. 

There's a path towards paying the debt off and being able to live a rich life. 

Okay. 

Well, hey, I... I trust you.

Ramit: Here's my plan for Frank. 

I want him to take control of his spending. 

He can still spend on the things he loves, but he's got to have a plan. 

Next, he needs to address his student loans. 

Because right now, they are just growing and growing. 

And finally, save and invest automatically. 

If he does these three things, he's on a great path forward. 

And, uh, we'll talk again. 

Frank: Okay. 

I'm gonna walk you out. 

All right. 

'Cause you don't let a rich man leave your house by himself. 

( Ramit chuckles ) 

( upbeat music plays ) 

You should not ignore your debt. Because it's not going away. 

It's actually getting bigger and bigger. 

Let's say you owe $100,000 in student loans. 

If you pay $600 a month, it'll take you the full 30 years to pay it off, and you'll pay about $116,000 in interest. 

That is money out of your pocket. 

But there are ways to pay it off a lot faster. 

For example, if you pay just $100 more per month, you will pay it off in 20 years. 

That is ten years shorter. 

You're also gonna save $40,000 in interest.

One last thing. 

You can call up your lender and ask if they can help you refinance or bring your payments down. 

A lot of times, it can save you thousands of dollars over the course of your loan. 

( "King of Hearts" by Sophie Ray playing ) ♪ Don't play about the things you do They tease me ♪ 

♪ But they won't keep me ♪ 

Oh, I didn't like that. 

Sophina's the perfect example of someone making the wrong decision for the right reasons. 

She's been told her whole life that buying a house is the best investment. 

Unfortunately, she can't afford it. 

To stay there, she's got to earn a lot more. 

Hey, guys. 

It's your girl Sophina. 

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. 

Lots of people want to earn more money. 

The number-one thing holding them back is, "I don't have an idea." 

We've all got a lot of things we can do that other people would pay for. 

And I want to show her the possibilities for her business. 

Hey, guys. Happy Monday. 

Quote of the day. 

"Don't tell people your plans. 

Show them your results." 

Have a great day! 

Ramit has really had my head spinning on, like, what opportunities I can do to earn more money. 

Well, that was cool. 

When I originally blew up on social media, it was because of gymnastics. 

I'm an expert in gymnastics. 

I feel like that's something that I can really tap into or make into a business. 

Hey, guys. 

So a lot of people have been asking me, what makes you stand out in gymnastics? 

We all have something that makes us pop. 

Right? 

Let's explore those unique qualities that you already have and help you to allow yourself to actually stand out. 

Hit me up, DM me, and let's start your privates now. 

A lot of business owners spend the first year in business getting a website set up, getting business cards, and thinking about how to create an LLC. 

I think this is a total waste of time. 

You know what matters in business? 

Getting people to pay you. 

So I want to help you get customers as quickly as possible.

 Start by doing your research. 

Look at your competitors. 

Talk to prospects. 

Think about how you might be different than everything else out there. 

Next, focus on getting three clients as quickly as possible. 

The first one might be your mom. 

The second might be your grandpa. 

But the third one is not a fluke. 

And finally, now that you've gotten those three clients, you know exactly how to get more. 

Focus on more clients, and raise your rates steadily. 

( upbeat music playing ) 

♪ I know my fans get gassed Every time that I rhyme ♪ 

♪ They know That I come different with it... ♪ 

Yeah. 

Put it on to... All right, cool. 

Monique: How much are you thinking of selling the microwave for? 

The lowest I will do is 60 there. 

I don't think Ramit was wrong with wanting to downsize the storage unit. 

So we're going to try and sell stuff at the flea market. 

( upbeat music playing )

"Sexii." ( chuckles ) 

Monique: What you got for him? 

Donnell: What y'all got for me? 

Yeah. 

I need something. 

( Monique chuckles ) 

Monique: Flea markets draw a particular crowd. 

Donnell: Hi, how are you? 

You'd know that crowd if you ever went to bingo. 

Donnell: Mmm. 

That's true. 

producer laughs: What is a bingo crowd? 

Oh my God. 

You've never been to bingo? 

You got to go to bingo. 

This is only scratching the surface. 

Donnell: Hopefully, we get some traffic. 

( upbeat music playing ) 

♪ I got big dreams and I'm never... ♪ 

When I first met Monique and Donnell, they were in pretty big financial trouble. 

But they made some great progress. 

( inaudible ) 

They closed their accounts, they simplified their credit cards. 

They made a debt pay-off plan. 

They've asked me to meet them at a flea market because they are finally selling some of the stuff from their storage unit. 

( upbeat music continues ) 

We got these ugly plates. 

They're not. 

All right. Good morning. How you doing? 

Donnell: Hey! What's going on?

Monique: Good. How are you? 

Nice to see you. 

So this is the spot. 

Monique: Yes. 

Donnell: Yeah. 

This... ( chuckles ) 

Donnell: Yeah. 

Here it is. 

But see, this, I only paid, like, $17 for it. 

Okay, so, if somebody comes in here today and they go, "I'll give you 30 for it"? 

Then I would say, I'll do 60 bucks. 

That's it? 

That's your bottom line? 

Sixty bucks. 

Ramit: So... 

( chuckles ) 

Donnell: Sixty. 

So 60 or bust. 

Donnell: Yeah. 

( chuckles ) 

Ramit: Being here and selling this stuff, in the past, what would you do with the money? 

Well, we usually split it because our money wasn't together. 

We would split it, and I'd pay my bill, and he'd pay his. 

I'd probably pay, like, two credit card bills, but it would be their minimum payment. 

Mmm. 

And what about now? 

Put it in savings that could help go to the savings part of our conscious spending plan and the investment part. 

What do you think, Donnell?

Donnell: She answered it better than me. 

Um, I would have thought it would just go right into the joint checking account to pay bills, but I guess you have a better answer than that. 

Well, no, everything is filtering down into the bills, so it would make sense to add more to the sections that don't really have as much. 

That's cool to watch the two of you just have that conversation. 

'Cause you came a long way. 

Thank you. 

Our communication has opened up more, definitely. 

You know, instead of two individuals... 

Donnell: Mm-hmm. 

...we look at money as a couple. 

Yeah. 

Yep. 

You said it. 

( chuckles ) 

Donnell: The steps that we've taken put us on the right track. 

Cards are closed. 

Accounts are joint. 

Things are automated now. 

I'm happy with the progress that we're at. 

When I think about the way that the two of you treat money now, it's actually really different from the first time we met. 

It's still a bumpy road. 

Ramit: Yeah. 

Like, don't get me wrong. 

It's still bumpy. 

But, um, I think if we just continue to have you on our shoulder saying, "Hey, hey, nope, nope," you know? 

Monique: I think you're stuck there. 

But also, yes. 

Donnell: Mmm. 

You're telling me, "I want to have $50,000 in savings." 

Yes! 

"I want to start saving for a house." Yes!

Yes to your rich life. 

Monique: Yes. 

No to all the stuff that doesn't contribute to it. 

Yeah. 

That's what gets me excited. 

♪ We shake it, break it Flip it, groove it... ♪ 

Change is really hard. 

Monique and Donnell are used to living life a certain way. 

Financially, they're used to treading water. 

But the beautiful thing in my work is when they can start rowing in the same direction. 

I love hearing how things are starting to change for you. 

Donnell: Thank you. 

Ramit: Thank you so much. Pleasure. 

We definitely needed a swift kick in the behind to jump-start us. 

But I think... continuing on this track that we're on, that Ramit has kind of aligned us to, we'll see huge changes as things go forward. 

We're not there yet, but we are on the right track. 

woman: You have a microwave too? 

( chuckles ) 

A little bit of everything. 

Donnell: We need to get off the microwave, like... 

( Monique and Donnell chuckle ) 

( upbeat music playing ) 

Sophina: I'm overwhelmed with this whole process at the moment. 

I told you I was doing Ramit's online course. 

It's, like, a lot of videos. 

And one of the things was to post on my Instagram my business idea. 

I was, like, "Hey, you want to learn how to stand out in gymnastics?" 

"Well, you're in the right place," type of thing. 

I got a lot of messages. 

But they were all non-gymnasts or men. 

Right. 

Oh. 

So that's not helpful. 

Oh, yeah. 

And what'd they say? 

Like, "I wish I was a gymnast." 

( both chuckle ) 

Then I asked Ramit, and he was like, 

"Don't listen to that guy, and ask him if he wants to take lessons." 

Sophina: I have a great relationship with my mom. 

She's my best friend. 

She's like my sister. She's my mentor. 

I go to her for pretty much everything. 

So, before I can even commit to making big decisions, I think it's important for me to talk to her. 

I feel like she knows me better than I know myself. 

I'm still stuck on what I want to do. 

The whole selling of the condo thing. 

Oh. 

So Ramit had said that I could save $500 to $700 a month by selling it and get into an apartment. 

I've been going back and forth 'cause I don't know if I'm ready for this big jump. 

Because I do love my condo. 

But there is a lot of stuff happening with my plumbing, um... 

You still don't have hot water? 

No. 

And the HOA is super-duper expensive. 

Right. 

And so now I have to decide. 

What's the best option for me. 

I don't think that you're making, like, a bunch of money off the condo. 

I think what you're doing with the condo is your happiness.

 Right. 

I'm enjoying my living. 

When you come home from work, and you work really, really hard, you want to come home and be happy. 

And I think that your happiness, that's... 

that's all that matters to me. 

But then I know that I fail. 

Does that... You know what I mean? 

Like, oh, man.

 Mmm. 

Because it feels like a step-down. 

I don't want to sell my condo because I worked so hard to get here. 

And then also just selling it, I feel like, what will people say? 

Like, "You just bought it. Like, what are you doing?" 

It feels like it's... I succeeded. 

And then to, like, take that away can be, like... failing. 

I would feel like a failure. 

Because I feel like, in life, buying a home, buying all that, it's, like, it's another step and a level up in life. 

I think you should re-think that. 

Doing you is never a step-down. 

It doesn't matter whether you have a condo or apartment, a house, whatever. 

I will move on and be better later on. 

Sure. 

But, at that moment, I'm gonna be, like, "Oh, I'm not really, like... feeling great about it." 

So we're still back at the question. What are you gonna do? 

Um... What's your initial thoughts? 

No, no, no. You have to make that decision. 

No, I... 

Sophina. 

I don't want you to make the decision. I want you to help me make it. 

I can't. 

Why? 

Because it's time for you to start making your own decisions. 

What do you want to do? 

It's easier to have someone just tell you what to do than it is to, like, figure it out on your own. 

I don't know what to do. 

I know you'll make the right decision, whichever decision you make. 

( dramatic sting ) 

( upbeat music playing ) 

man: Apple camera. Baker. Charlie camera. Let's do it. 

Ramit: Okay. A man named Drew reached out. 

I don't know anything about him, but let's take a look at his numbers. 

Let's start with his debt, shall we? 

Drew has $21,000 in loans. 

Some of it is in forbearance. 

Uh-oh, missed some payments, okay. 

Let's look at Drew's credit cards. 

So you can see his credit score is not particularly great, 630. 

He's got about $5,000 of credit card debt. 

He's not paying it off. 

He was charged 56 bucks in interest and $29 in fees. 

It's not a good sign. 

Let's see. 

What else can I discover about him? 

Eighty in checking. 

He has zero in savings. 

Uh, looks like he's in... 

Chicago. 

He's got some food deliveries and stuff like that.

This is pretty interesting. 

Look at the times he was paid. 

He was paid on the 29th, $204. 

Then he was paid on the 8th, $879. 

And then he was paid on the 12th. 

The money is very spiky. 

It goes up, and it goes down. 

And he's probably got some type of gig job. 

So here's what we know about Drew. 

Drew makes $37,200 per year. 

His debt is $21,700. 

He's only paying $750 a month for housing. I'm curious how he's doing that in Chicago. 

He has no savings. 

He's struggling to pay off his debt. 

And I wouldn't be surprised if he wants to know what he can do to break out of this financial pattern. 

( whooshing )

 ( uplifting music playing ) 

I love what I do. 

I get to travel all over the country and meet people in different places, in their hometowns, and get to know them. 

( all cheering ) 

( upbeat music playing ) 

Wow, this is quite a scene. 

I did not expect this today. 

Are you Drew? 

( "What Have You Got to Lose" by A VOID & Maphe playing ) 

♪ Ooh, what have you got to lose? ♪ 

♪ What have you got to lose? ♪ 

♪ I'm gonna take it from you ♪ 

♪ Ooh, what have you got to lose? ♪ 

♪ What have you got to lose? ♪ 

♪ I'm gonna take it from you ♪ 

♪ Ooh, what have you got to lose? ♪ 

♪ What have you got to lose? ♪ 

( song fades )


Episode 5 here: Pet Checking Accounts





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