Mar 5, 2025
Earning $161,000 a year and living in Texas, which is a relatively low-cost, low-tax state, should present an easy path to financial freedom. But for this Fort Worth couple, reckless spending has left them with roughly $90,000 in credit card debt — and no clear escape.
On an episode of Caleb Hammer’s YouTube show “Financial Audit” posted Nov. 6, Alyssa, 40, and Connor, 32, described how a series of poor decisions and a lack of discipline had thrown their finances into chaos.
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Hammer didn’t hold back, accusing the couple of “living a millionaire life” while holding tremendous amounts of debt.
He warned that without drastic action they will remain in the red heading into retirement.
'Bad decisions'
As a registered nurse with 20 years of experience who was promoted to management in 2022, Alyssa earns $111,000 per year. Connor works in construction, earning a relatively modest $25 per hour, and estimates his annual income to be around $50,000. Their combined income puts them ahead of many households.
“We make enough to live well,” Alyssa said. “We just made some bad decisions.”
One of those bad decisions was pushing off several expenses to credit cards and only paying the minimum monthly balance on them. Altogether, the couple has over $90,000 in total credit card debt. Hammer noted that it would take around 25 years to pay off one card’s debt and 17 years for another if the couple continued paying only the monthly minimums with no additional purchases.
“Congratulations, you're going to be approaching 60 by the time this is paid off,” he quipped.
Despite accumulating so much debt, they have struggled to reign in their spending. In 2022, for example, the couple spent around $20,000 on a month-long family vacation in California.
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“You guys are acting like you’re multimillionaires,” Hammer exclaimed. “I couldn’t even imagine [spending] $20,000 on a vacation!”
In addition to their credit card debt, the couple also have nearly $8,700 in student loan debts and over $53,500 left on a Tesla car loan, for which they pay over $1,000 monthly.
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Drastic changes
While financial experts would typically recommend either the snowball or avalanche methods to pay off debt, Hammer estimates these strategies would be insufficient in this case.
To make better progress, he suggested first closing all credit accounts immediately. He then floated the idea of selling off their home and moving somewhere less expensive or applying for a home equity line of credit (HELOC) to help pay off the debt and lower their monthly interest payments.
Interest rates on HELOCs can be significantly lower than the high rates that typically come with credit cards. However, borrowers should be aware of the risks, including the potential to lose your primary residence, closing fees and fluctuations in variable interest rates. If spending issues persist, all one could end up doing is dig a bigger hole for themselves.
If you’re looking to consolidate debt in a similar way, consider reaching out to your financial advisor to understand this strategy.
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Vishesh Raisinghani is a financial journalist covering personal finance, investing and the global economy. He's also the founder of Sharpe Ascension Inc., a content marketing agency focused on investment firms. His work has appeared in Moneywise, Yahoo Finance!, Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha, Mergers & Acquisitions Magazine and Piggybank.
