250. "We spend 97% of what we make—and can’t stop"
3/3/20261 hr 23 min
Ramit Sethi of I Will Teach You To Be Rich talks to John and Victoria, a couple in their thirties with three children who own a home they adore in the suburbs of New York. Despite a beautiful house and growing family, their financial reality is grim.
They are facing a structural financial problem, with 97% of their take-home pay consumed by fixed costs and less than a week's worth of savings. Ramit helps them confront the deep-seated issues that are keeping them in a constant state of financial precarity, from their avoidance of tough money conversations to...
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsRamit Sethi· Host0:00
If you or your partner has fallen for a scam, I wanna help, especially if you've recently fallen for an email or text scam, or you've gotten bad financial advice from someone who did not keep their promises, or maybe you just have not even told your partner because you are embarrassed. If this is you, I wanna talk. Apply for free coaching with me by being on my podcast. Apply today at iwt.com/apply. That's iwt.com/apply. How do you reconcile having [money rustling] $55,000 of credit card debt and still buying thousands of dollars of Amazon purchases every week?
Victoria· Guest0:38
You avoid it. I just don't open them out.
Ramit Sethi· Host0:41
You ever say no?
John· Guest0:42
To myself, no.
Ramit Sethi· Host0:44
You're spending 97% of take-home pay on fixed costs alone. You are broke.
Victoria· Guest0:48
Yeah. We are. We barely paid the mortgage.
John· Guest0:52
That was the story of my childhood, avoiding financial responsibility.
Victoria· Guest0:57
Our expenses are more than his income, and that's why it's crushing. The credit card interest is killing us.
Ramit Sethi· Host1:03
You have less than one week's worth of savings with three kids. What does that tell you?
Victoria· Guest1:09
We're not doing this right.
Ramit Sethi· Host1:10
Severe danger. Red flag.
John· Guest1:14
We can maybe worry about that in a few years.
Victoria· Guest1:16
We don't have a few years. I don't even know if we have a few weeks.
Ramit Sethi· Host1:19
[gentle music] Today, I'm speaking with John and Victoria. They're in their 30s, they're married with three kids, and they own a home that they love in the suburbs of New York. So