Episode 7:Bills & Wedding Bells

 How to Get Rich 

Season 1, Episode 7 

Bills & Wedding Bells

One couple has an honest dialogue about credit card debt, while another throws their wedding budget out the window upon finding the dream dress. 

("Won't Worry"by Extreme Music playing)

♪ I wanna be, I wanna be like them ♪ 

♪ I wanna be, I wanna be like them ♪ 

♪ I can be, I can be like them ♪ 

woman: Bring this hand, put it on here, and we're gonna start here. 

Mikey: Okay. 

woman: So let's try that part together. 

See, that was beautiful! 

Yeah! 

Mike and I want to do something fun for the first dance, and so we looked it up and we found a local, like, dance studio, so we've been going there, doing lessons. 

We gotta keep sturdy and straight. 

You'll both be holding up your own weight. 

I'm very excited to get married to Mikey, but I'm still struggling with talking about money. 

woman: Eleven days away and we have the whole thing together now. 

Mikey: Thank you very much. 

Of course! Thank you. 

( sighs ) I'm so sweaty and gross.

No, you're not, you're fine. 

Drew: I feel like I have been perpetuating a lie in not telling Mikey about my finances and what's really going on with them. 

Recently he overheard a conversation I was having talking about the credit card debt, and he's like, "Excuse me?" 

And he thought I'd paid them off, and I was like, "Well, I'm working on it." 

So he knows that. 

He doesn't know how hard I'm living paycheck to paycheck. 

Drew: Um... So, I just wanted to talk. I know it's been hard for you. 

You get frustrated. 

You think I'm unwilling, and I don't want to talk about money. 

I don't talk about it because I don't know how. 

We don't have the same vocabulary to talk about it. 

No.

 Some things that we need to talk through. 

Like why you use your credit card when I thought you had paid it off. 

Which kind of makes me angry. 

But those are things we can get over. 

You know, it's not like it's a $45,000... thing that's hanging over our heads.

It's gonna take some time to fix, but we can fix that. 

I want you to be able to come to me when you have $5 in your bank account. 

But I always get so scared, like, I'm always afraid the other shoe's going to drop. 

That someday you're just gonna be like, "Enough is enough, b¡tch." 

I think it's time... This is one of the good things about this, is we're gonna have that ability to talk about this more, I think. 

And it's gonna be a change on me too. 

I'm gonna have to really start thinking and, to be honest, being more considerate of what you make. 

I don't want to rely on you, and I don't want you to think I'm relying on you or taking advantage. 

I think I just need more money, period.   Like, I want a better job. 

I want to make money so that I can, like, start contributing more. 

I don't want to be like, "Mikey, let's stay in this nice hotel," when I know you're the one that's gonna be taking care of it. 

I'm okay with that because I save for that. 

But where I would like to go is where you start saving too. 

( sniffles ) Yeah.

Drew: My Mikey is the best boyfriend ever. 

He had a nice life before me, like, you know, he was a single man making good money and going on vacations. 

Quick, quick, slow. 

He's willing to alter that to make sure I'm still in the picture. 

( Mikey chuckles ) 

I love you. 

Come here. I love you. 

( kisses ) 

( mellow music playing ) 

( sharp sting ) 

To-do list is life. 

This is my wedding to-do. 

The biggest part for me is obviously the guest count. 

I could wrestle around with this for an hour and be like, "Wow, I can't get under 100." 

So I'm emailing some venues back for the wedding, and Cooper decided to join me. 

( chuckles ) 

So this was kind of a breakdown of, like, how much the venue would cost, how much the tabletop and, like, decorations would cost. 

All right, so just us two, our parents... six. ( chuckles ) 

And we're gonna add our entourage, our wedding party. 

That puts us at 19.

So, there were some local options that we were considering, so I rated them myself, like, out of a five-star rating. 

Uh, the venue name, what event it was for, whether it was the wedding reception or for the engagement party. 

So I'm at 54... 54 guests. 

I'm not even gonna fill out the rest of the list. 

If these people made it, I would be okay. 

( upbeat music playing ) 

( knocks on door ) 

Frank: Who is it? 

Ramit. Oh my God! Is that Frank? Frank, can I get an autograph, please? 

Get your ass in here. 

( Ramit chuckles ) 

How are you doing? Nice to see you. 

For Frank, the stakes are high. 

He's about to make a ton of money through this windfall that he's made. 

Have a seat. You want some water? 

Sure. That'd be great. 

And he's got a lot of debt.

He could go on the rest of his life treading water the way he's been, but it's gonna get him nowhere. 

He has the chance now to make big changes and get big results. 

Ah, so, how you been? 

I've been pretty good. 

Yeah? 

I went on vacation. 

I remember. So you still planning on leaving your full-time job? 

So franknthecity will be a full-time job. Okay. 

You feel good about it? 

Mm-hmm. 

Any issues with it? 

It's just the actual jump to do it. 

Yeah. 

Um, going to school all these years, having all this debt, to quit a full-time job with benefits, so... 

Yeah. Okay, when I think about money, I have a plan so that my back is never against the wall. 

Because when your back's against the wall and you have debts, and you can't afford your fixed costs like your rent, you start to have to make some really bad decisions. 

Yeah. 

I don't want you to go back there again.

Me either. 

I think I've lived... 

29 years of my life with my back against the wall. 

Yeah. 

Do you like it? 

No, it's just what I'm used to. 

What if you created a different story for yourself? 

I think I should. 

By the way, what is that? All that mail over there? 

Bills... probably. 

Oh, it is? 

Go grab it. 

Oh God. 

Oh man, look at this stuff. 

My God, it's stuffed in there. 

All of it? 

Yes, bring it over. 

Ramit is all up in my business. 

I do have the money to pay these bills. I've just been avoiding them. 

Hell, you see I hadn't even opened them. 

It's not that I never will pay them, I just don't think about them. 

Ramit: Open that one up. 

This is a ticket.

Ramit: Why do you get so many tickets? 

See, $50. 

We know that's not paid. 

Yeah. 

Ramit: Poster fee for $105. 

Amount due, $100.

 Amount past due. 

Okay. 

Read that out loud for the camera, please. 

"Second delinquent violation notice." 

Second delinquent... Do not put it back in there. 

What you want me to do with it? 

I want you to pay it.

"After carefully reviewing your application, we regret we are unable to approve the terms of your credit request." What is this? 

Oh, I had tried to get a new car. 

Not anymore. 

"You've been prequalified for a secure..." 

Uh-uh, hold on, now! 

"Just deposit or cash this $200..." 

Oh, wait, hold on now. 

They're giving you this check to trap you. 

Tear it in half. 

I don't know. 

Hold on. 

I don't know, but I feel like we're making a mess. Hey. 

( sighs ) Frank, this stuff is stressing me out, man. 

Well, you did it. 

I don't want your financial life to be chaos. 

Me either. 

Let's do it. We could knock this out in five minutes. 

Give me the damn paper. 

Here we go. 

I want Frank to start taking decisive action over these little bills so we can focus on the big stuff, the $200,000 in debt, the rich life, all this money coming in. 

We cannot let these envelopes get in our way. 

It seems like a small thing. 

You know, we... we open up these envelopes, but it's actually a really big sign to yourself. 

"I'm not scared of paying bills anymore." 

Let's just get rid of all this stuff. 

Yeah, let's do that. 

It's gonna make us feel much better. 

Taking decisive action over something as small as a traffic ticket, is taking control over your money. 

Because if Frank can make a decision right now to pay this off, not tomorrow, not next week, right now, then he can start to do that with other debt. 

Grab your conscious spending plan for me. Let's talk through it real quick.

Tell me what your best estimate is of how much you're gonna make. 

Frank: I don't know. 

Be conservative. Let's pick a number that you feel comfortable that you can do. 

I know for a fact I can bring in 4,000. 

Okay. 

Okay, so bottom line, here we are... 

You're over by almost a thousand dollars a month. 

Frank: Mm-hmm. 

So, what do you think about that? 

Frank: Mmm... 

I got to cut back somewhere. 

Yeah. 

I'd like to see you paying the debt off. 

I'd like to see your savings be built up and your investments. 

And the reason I'm talking about this now is you're about to get another $75,000 from your winnings. 

I suspect it's gonna get spent. 

On me spoiling myself? 

Yeah. 

Sounds good to me. 

Yeah, but I can't do that every weekend. 

Why? 

You just got all this money. 

Frank: Mm-mm. 

I mean, I can afford it, but I don't want to be just on that same note for the rest of my life... of having money, you spend it... 

Yeah. 

...wait on another check, and the cycle continues. 

Mm-hmm. 

I don't want to live that life. 

Tell me what kind of life you wanna live.

I want a life where, if I want to do those things, I'm doing it comfortably, but I have a savings, I have investments. 

Money is flowing to me, but what am I doing with that money? 

I want you to be conscious about it. 

Okay. 

That's how you wanna do it. 

Frank is making small steps in the direction that I want him to go. 

I'm happy about that. 

Look, I can't undo 30 years of financial habits in six weeks, so as long as Frank is making steps towards his rich life, paying that debt off, saving a little bit each month, investing, he's gonna see the power of taking control of his money. 

That is my greatest wish for him.

When we first started talking, what were you hoping to get out of it? 

Just, uh, really, a different perspective. 

I make more money now than I ever have, I have more money than I ever had, but I'm still doing the same thing I been doing since like, I was a teenager with money. 

So, like, spending it frivolously, using it to make me happy... 

Mm-hmm. 

...shopping when I'm upset or stressed. 

So it's not about how much money I have. 

It's about my mindset around the money. 

Okay. 

Yeah. 

That's a pretty big realization. 

I just am more conscious, so I guess that's what the point of it is. 

That's awesome. 

( Frank chuckles ) 

I didn't get this way overnight. 

And it's gonna take me a while, but I'm gonna get right. 

I'm gonna get on the right track.

It's... it's a work in progress. I'm learning every day. 

Looking at your debt number, it's high, but there's definitely a path forward. 

I know you can pay it off. 

And with your business, with all the attention you're getting, you can turn that into something amazing. 

So thanks for letting me see what you're doing. 

And I know this is only the beginning, so I can imagine myself a year from now... 

Next time I'm in DC, let's do brunch. 

Oh, you already know I'll be there. 

Just let me know. 

( Ramit chuckles ) 

( upbeat music playing ) 

Can I ask you a question? 

Sure. 

Hi, how's it going? 

My name's Cary. 

Hey, Cary. 

Nice to meet you. 

Do you have time for a question? 

Sure. 

So I'm a freelancer. 

Oh, okay. 

I'm a realtor. 

I... I work in a restaurant. 

Some people say, "You know what? 

I want to freelance." 

"I don't wanna have a boss. 

I wanna be my own boss." 

Other people say, "Cool, I'll have a great job, then I wanna switch every two years." 

Your rich life is yours. 

I'm a voiceover artist. 

Oh, really? 

Mm-hmm. 

How do I save for retirement? 

Uh, okay, so what have you been doing so far? 

Um, nothing. 

Okay. 

( both chuckle ) 

Being that I am a freelance artist... 

Ramit: Yeah. ...sometimes some months are not as good as other months, so... It can be volatile. 

Yeah, sure. 

When I had freelance income, I said, I'm gonna invest at least 10% of my money. 

And then as my earnings went up, I would put more in. 

Okay. 

At this moment, I've just been investing in, like, a Roth IRA, but I'm wondering if I should also be looking at a traditional... 

Ramit: Are you incorporated? 

Uh, no. 

Okay, okay. 

You're gonna wanna start talking about, do I want to incorporate as a business owner, LLC, S Corp, etc. 

woman: Cool.

You can do a variety of different types of investment accounts for freelancers. 

Okay. 

And some of them are actually amazing. 

Some of them are even better than what you can get as an employee... 

Oh, wow. 

...which is amazing. 

You might have access to a SEP IRA, a Solo 401(k), and some of those you can actually invest over $50,000 in. 

Ah, okay. 

It's tax advantaged. 

Cool. 

The beautiful thing is if you use money to design your rich life, then you can create your own path.

 Awesome. 

Thank you very much for your time. 

You got it. ?

Nice to meet you. 

Have a good day, all right? 

( "Different Eyes" by George Arthur playing ) 

Christian, in Spanish: I was looking at our floor. 

I want to change the flooring.  

We want a dark color. 

This is the darkest option, right? 

( "Different Eyes" continues ) 

Christian, in English: My mother means everything to me. 

Both of my parents immigrated to this country.

They left Colombia for the American Dream. 

Christian, in Spanish: Which do you like? 

I've seen a lot of homes using this one or this one here. 

( in English ) My mom always had part-time jobs, like cleaning homes. 

( in Spanish ) But it's a good idea, papi. 

You like it? 

Yeah. 

Have a seat. 

Would you like some water? 

Yes, please. 

( in English ) She works from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. 

And she just picked up a part-time job taking care of an elderly woman from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. 

So my main financial goal is to retire my mother, and then everything else is second.

Gracias. 

( in Spanish ) Working today? 

Yes. 

Not at my morning job, but I'm working in the afternoon. 

Why did you decide to get another job, Ma? 

Ay, papi. I just don't want you working into your 70s. 

You've already put in 30-plus years of work. 

It's true, it's tiring. 

Your body starts saying, "Hey, give me a break." 

I'm 29, and I get tired, and I imagine how you must feel, Ma. 

Yes, it's true, but what can you do? 

( gentle music plays ) 

You know that you'll always have what you need, right?

Like, I'm not making investments just for Millie and myself, it's so you'll be okay. 

Mom: But as long as... 

( in English ) I don't know. 

( kisses ) 

( in Spanish ) But while I'm still able, Christian, I also have to help myself. 

I know you've seen how hard it is on me, but as long as I'm able... 

It's just you've worked so much. 

( in English ) I know, Christian. 

( in Spanish ) I get it. 

You keep saving. 

Exactly. 

You don't feel like you have enough for your retirement. 

No, Christian.

And so what is enough? 

Let's talk. 

How much would you need to retire? 

I see the woman I work for now. 

She pays a lot for care because someone else comes at night. 

Because someone is caring for her. 

She has someone there 24 hours a day. 

She spends $1,000 a week. 

But as I told you, as long as I'm able, Christian, I'll keep saving... 

But there's things that you could change, like not working as much, right? 

Right now, you're working more than ever. 

Exactly, Christian, because I want to save. 

( in English ) I look at it like, my parents came to this country to give us a better life, but not really thinking about themselves. 

They were just thinking about their children. 

So I need to be successful enough where I can give them the life they deserve. 

( inspiring music playing ) 

( upbeat music playing ) 

♪ Gather 'round ♪ 

♪ Get ready to do the breakdown ♪ 

♪ So clap your hands... ♪ 

woman 1: Oh, wow. Look at this. 

Oh, wow. Gorgeous.

woman 2: Hello. 

Who is the bride? 

I'm the bride. Bride-to-be. ( chuckles ) 

I'm Arminé. Nice to meet you. 

Sara: Nice to meet you. 

Congratulations. 

I feel like wedding dress shopping is every girl's dream. 

( upbeat music playing ) 

I'm very excited. I've never tried on a wedding dress. 

This one for sure. I like this one. Yeah. 

friend: This one's so you. 

I've been looking forward to this day for a really long time. 

Look, this one has a deep V, which I really love. 

I have to feel amazing on my wedding day. 

It's a non-negotiable. So the wedding dress is very important. 

This is silk duchess satin, almost buttery look, you know? 

I wanna try them on. I wanna touch them.

Currently, I have $4,000 budgeted for this wedding dress. 

I wanna stick to that as much as possible, and I wanna feel like a princess. 

Arminé: So, tell me about any styles you're thinking of. 

I do like minimal, contemporary, um, you know, simple. 

I'm also open to having maybe two gowns? 

Like, I've thought about having one for the ceremony that can be a little bit more princess-y, and then for the reception, maybe that's a little more free-flowing, a little bit more comfortable to walk around in. 

Yeah. So, the budget issue is very much involved in this. 

We do start from 4,000 and we go, I mean, I've done to up to $80,000 gowns. 

friend: Wow. 

( chuckles ) That would be a dream.

Arminé: Yeah, I know. 

Hearing that the dresses could go up to $80,000 is a complete shock to me. 

That's definitely not what I was expecting. ( upbeat music playing ) 

Oh my goodness! 

Oh my... 

Arminé: This is dress number one. 

Sara: I love the back. And the long train. 

Sarah Fe: It's so Sara. 

It's very Sara. 

Looks really pretty. Obviously fitted to her more. 

Do you see how this is? 

( upbeat music continues ) 

Wow. 

Arminé: Princess gown. 

Wow. 

This looks good on you too. This is... gorgeous. 

Arminé: It's very elegant, the cup is all pieces, you know. 

Decisions, decisions. 

Right, yeah. 

Which one is your favorite? 

I really like the second one. I think that might be the most my style. 

The second one really looks great on her. 

I like the second one a lot. 

Good budget too. ( chuckles ) 

Yeah, the second one's more comfortable. 

Yeah. ( chuckles )

I'm a little nervous to tell Reggie that we might have to up the budget for the dress. 

I'm hoping after talking to Ramit and having that mindset that we want to spend money on the things that we love, he'll understand that if I really love the dress, that we really can't put a budget on it. 

( upbeat music playing ) 

♪ Everything that glitters is not gold ♪ 

♪ The story's to be written, not told ♪ 

Sara: I tried on wedding dresses. 

Uh-huh. 

I feel like I learned a lot 'cause I didn't know everything that goes into it.

Um, I had my Princess Diary moment when I came out. 

( chuckles ) 

So, I think I have a really good starting point. 

So you didn't find the one that you actually wanted? 

I don't know, there was one that was, like, really close. 

Um, she said, like, we could always change the fabric, or, like, we could change the silhouette a little bit. 

All right, what does pricing look like? ( chuckles ) 

Uh... 

Just lay it on me. 

Yeah, so, I mean, they... they range. 

Yeah. 

She said... 

Okay, so she said they could range from 4,000 to 80,000. 

( pensive music playing ) 

Uh, the one I liked was closer to, like, 6,500. 

Okay. 

It includes all the alterations and everything like that, so... 

So, you're saying the price that you might fall into is around, like, 65? 

Maybe, yeah. 

And that was just for one? 

So, how do you feel about that number?

6,500? 

I think if I'm gonna do that kind of dress, then maybe that's just the one dress that I do instead of two. 

Reggie: Mm-hmm. 

We set a budget of about $4,000 for what she wants to get is two dresses. 

So, hearing that she found one dress that's already over that entire budget is problematic, to say the least. 

Sara: I still haven't fully decided if I wanna do the two dresses or just do one. 

I think I'm still open to both. 

It goes back to Ramit telling me that I'm being too conservative. 

And in the same moment, I'm not gonna dream-crush right away, and be like, "Hey, you know the budget that we set is not that." 

I mean, I try to hide it on my face as much as possible. 

It's just something to think about. I don't think I'm set...

At least you kind of got an idea for, like, the styles and what you might like. 

Yeah. 

Well, I guess we have to kind of factor in the budget on that and we'll see. 

That's fun, though. 

It was fun. 

I wanna go dress shopping. 

( Sara chuckles ) 

( upbeat music playing ) 

Hey, Drew. How's life? 

Oh, just getting married tomorrow. 

Tomorrow? 

That's exciting. 

Yup.

Here's the advice I give couples who are getting serious and potentially leading up to marriage. 

You got to have a series of conversations. 

Not one conversation, lots of conversations. 

Ramit: Okay, so tell me, are you talking to Mikey about money? 

Yes. 

You have to put your money on the table. 

How much do I make? How much do I owe? How much do I invest? 

What kind of lifestyle do I want for us together? 

And it's a discussion. 

It's very important to have this before you get married. 

It's not like you waved a magic wand or whatever, but, like, now it's just easy-breezy-lemon-squeezy. 

We just talked the other day, like, I did my taxes and I'm getting a cute little return back, and that return's gonna go to a credit card. 

Yes! 

It'll cut one of them pretty much in half, so... 

Oh! Amazing. 

I wanna catch up on your job situation. 

I actually went to a job fair yesterday. 

It was okay. 

But I stood in line for an hour and a half, two hours, to be told to apply online.

So that was annoying. 

Yeah, it was annoying, but don't write it off. 

You're actually sending yourself a message by doing these kinds of things, which is, "I'm putting myself first." 

"I'm putting my career first." 

So, let's... let's do this. 

No more waiting in line for an hour and a half. 

I want you to have a list of roughly five to ten companies and you're gonna start hunting. 

Then, you're gonna know exactly how to tweak your résumé and your cover letter for you to land the right job for you. 

Okay? 

Cool. 

The average job candidate sends their resume through a random job website and and then waits for someone to respond to them. 

That's not how the best jobs are found. 

The best jobs are found through a network. 

In fact, 80% of jobs often involve your network. 

Now, if you're thinking, "I don't have a network," then the answer is get one. 

The simplest way to do it is an informational interview. 

This is not a job interview. 

It's an interview where you're asking for career advice. 

And you'd be surprised. 

A lot of people are willing to spend 15, 20 minutes with you to give you career advice, and certainly to talk about their career choices. 

Even if nine out of ten of those informational interview requests go nowhere, one out of ten of them could change your entire job search. 

I'm excited for the two of you. 

By the way, funny enough... Thank you. ...uh, my wife, who inspired the drag name that you gave me, Cass Money, I went home, and I told her, and she laughed her ass off. 

She loved it! 

Good! 

You're my drag daughter. 

I have a drag baby. 

You poor thing.

( chuckles ) 

I couldn't have asked for a better drag mother. 

Have a great wedding. 

I'm so happy for you and Mikey. 

Congratulations. I'll talk to you soon. 

Thank you. 

( upbeat music playing ) 

( sharp sting ) 

I'm still having a hard time trying to sell those DraftKing shares that are down $100,000. 

But part of me feels I want to wait it out until it comes back up and I recover some of that money. 

It's also the thrill of making that quick money that keeps me wanting to keep doing that.

But then when things start to go bad, you start questioning if you actually know anything at all. 

( upbeat music playing ) 

Now that I met with Millie, I want to talk to Christian also. 

When we first met, he dropped a bomb about DraftKings. 

And now that he's had some time to think about it, I wanna know how he's feeling. 

Ramit: Wow! This is cool. 

Good to see you. Yeah. 

Do you play? 

Ramit: Uh, no, I just watch. 

I play miniature golf. I got you some right-handed clubs, because I'm left-handed. 

Thanks. 

Uh, you'll definitely see me using those later on... 

Awesome. 

...after the cameras stop. 

Awesome. 

( Ramit chuckles ) 

So the $80,000, um, now that you've had some time to reflect, what does it mean for you to be down $80K in the market?

 Looking back on it, that $80,000 is two or three more multifamily homes that can build positive cash flow and get me closer to retiring my mom, which is one of my ultimate goals. 

Yeah. 

Which, by the way, she came. 

Yeah? 

Yeah, she stopped by. 

How was that? 

It was great. 

We had a great, great conversation. 

Um, she told me things that I didn't know. 

She's like, "I never had the guidance when I came to this country," right? 

"I was cleaning toilets. I was scrubbing bathrooms." 

"I was trying to make it through so you guys can have a great life." 

"I never focused on myself." 

And that was deep, man. 

It makes you realize how lucky you are to be born here.

And what your parents do for you that you don't see and they don't mention just to make it look like they can afford everything that we were asking them for. 

Totally. It's a beautiful rich life vision. 

Christian wants to retire his mom... amazing. 

It's beautiful. 

But I also teach people that just like in an airplane emergency, you've got to put your oxygen mask on first. 

You can't help anybody else if you run out of money. 

Before you start jumping in to help your mom, I want you to really take a second and understand your finances. 

Once you understand where the money's going and how you want to allocate it, then you can actually help the people you love even more. 

We got to start with step one first. 

We got to stop with the get-rich-quick and the gambling moves. 

I've paid for it with $80,000. I paid $80,000. 

At least you admit it. I kind of love it. I love it.

You know what? If all you had to pay was $80,000 for the rest of your life, that's a lesson well-learned. But I don't want you to have to pay one more dollar for these gambling lessons. You paid it. Let's just be done with it. Right? 

So, I have some homework for you. 

I want you to create the conscious spending plan. 

Millie has a copy. 

Then we're gonna start getting very specific about what you need to do to live your rich life. 

Sounds good. 

Ramit: I want Millie and Christian to talk about money, and the conscious spending plan is a perfect excuse for them to do exactly that. 

As they work through the numbers, I want them to realize that they'll need to make changes if they want to live the kind of life they told me about. 

Christian: There you go! There you go! 

Okay! 

( chuckles )

( upbeat music playing ) 

Millie: Hi. 

Christian: Hi. 

host: Table for two? 

Yes. 

host: You've been here before? 

Millie: Yeah. 

Millie and I have always been focused on our personal finances, but I think we never really were as detailed as to what exactly and where the money was going. 

Oh man. 

( sighs ) 

All right. 

( groans ) 

The conscious spending thing. 

So, you ready? 

No. 

It gives me anxiety. 

Christian: Let's take a look at it. 

I can do it here. 

All right. 

I'll just follow along. 

Tell me the numbers. 

Yeah. 

For gross annual income, we can start with mine. 

$45,600. 

Ugh! 

That number makes me so mad. 

It's okay. 

I made... double that. 

I know. 

We'll get you back up there. 

Okay... um, then for yours, gross annual. 

So, that's gross, 130,000. 

My investments monthly are $2,128. 

We'll put what we owe on the mortgage. 

That's fine, I guess. 425,000. 

Millie: 425,000. 

Car payment, 669 on the months that I end up paying it. 

350 for gas and other transportation costs. 

Okay, so dining out, I had put 500. 

Christian: Utilities, I put 330. 

Car payment. 

You don't have a car payment. 

Other debt, none. 

And then golf because... 

Golf, $300 a month. 

Millie: Looking at the percentages, the bills and fixed costs... 

Mm-hmm. 

...we should be at 50 to 60%, and I'm at 82%, like, on my own. 

You, my friend, are at 32%, so you're under because it should be 50 to 60. 

I... 

My... 

Mine is the bills and fixed costs. 

I just need to... 

Make more. 

I feel like, make more, right? 

This is like, a huge eye-opener for me that I'm just not making enough. 

I've plateaued at a point that, like, literally cut my... my salary in more than half and it just, like... I need to do something else. 

So it definitely is an eye-opener to, like... get it together. 

It makes me feel great that my partner is doing so great, but personally, it feels like I need to do more. 

More contributing, I need to do more for myself, I need to do more in life. 

I feel like I'm not doing enough. 

And that's what that makes me realize. 

Christian: I hear you, but we're a team, so, like... Yeah. ...what's mine is yours. 

So, like, I want you to count with what's mine too. 

I hear you. 

If I can afford it, it's both of ours. 

I just, it's hard for me 'cause, like, I don't ever wanna depend on anyone else. 

And I feel like that's what that is, like, I never want it to be like that. 

Don't think of it as, like, we're separate, like, 50/50, or two people just living that don't know each other, like roommates, like... we're a team. 

Let me pick it up. 

Let me pay more while you figure out what it is you want to do, or, like, what it is you want to focus on and grow money on. 

What if you look at is as, like, the 4,000 I have left over every month, is our 4,000. 

Would that help? 

Instead of thinking of it as it's my... it's Christian's 4,000? 

No, 'cause it's not. 

Okay, next question. 

( dramatic sting ) 

( "Money Float" by Balance playing ) 

♪ Baby, can I tell you something? You's a pro ♪ 

♪ I'mma, I'mma throw it up And let it float ♪ 

♪ I'mma, I'mma throw it up And let it float ♪ ♪ Cash money in the air fall slow ♪ 

♪ Fall slow ♪ 

♪ Baby, can I ask you something? Drop it low ♪ 

♪ I'mma, I'mma throw it up And let it float ♪ 

♪ I'mma, I'mma throw it up And let it float ♪ 

( song fades )