Adam’s Financial Blunder - Audit Prep
Prepping for My Time with Caleb Hammer a.k.a Hammer Time
11/09/2023
I promised an update and today it's a big one. If you have read my previous blogs you know I started watching a newer type of Youtube content, Financial audits. I came across Caleb Hammer and his Podcast style Financial audits. At the end of his latest episode ,at the time, he was asking for people to apply to be on his show. I found him very entertaining and so of course I applied, and to my surprise I was selected to be on the show! In my previous blogs I stated this was what started me on my current financial journey. I did my own audit and I think I can get out of this mess in about 1 to 1.5 years as things stand and if I get a second Job this can accelerate to less than a year.
If you have not seen his show, he asks his guests to score themselves, on a scale of 10, what they think their financial score is. For my guess, before I travel and talk with him, I think my Hammer Financial Score is maybe a 1.5/10. This is due to my overall debt ratio. I think my “saving grace” is that my retirement for my age is decent, not great, and over the past month since I have started this journey my spending has improved greatly. Over the last month I have reduced overall spending on bullshit to near 0. I did get a couple items from Dollar Tree/Wal-Mart that I did not “need” but made my meal prepping much easier and allowed me to be more efficient with my cooking. So not bullshit but not necessary.
I have started this blog at the airport. Yes this trip is definitely not in the plan but I do think that it will be more than beneficial overall. I paid for my plane tickets with points from my AMEX Delta card. The Hotel is $100 and I did look at the cost of Uber vs rental and Ubering in Austin from airport to hotel to his studio and back and then back to the airport would have been an easy $100 and I would not have the option to drive around a little and walk around Austin. So around $250 for this trip I feel is worth it.
If you have read some of my other blogs you will know I have Crohn’s Disease, so food is one thing I definitely have to take into consideration. Thanks to flying Delta I do get a carry on and personal item, and for Christmas last year I got a backpack cooler. Since this is a 1 day trip, my clothes can go in my tiny tote and my food is going in the backpack. I will have $0 for food for the trip. I know Caleb will appreciate that at least. If you want to know, I packed some sandwiches, protein powder, bananas, minute rice in baggies, and some gluten free baked goods I made for myself and Caleb and his team. I did want to bring some carrots and apples but I forgot about them. Luckily my hotel has complimentary breakfast so it should have apples and eggs and some other stuff I am hoping I can have. If not, not a big deal as I am gone for only 24 hours.
Now back to the subject. In preparation for the Audit I sent over all my financial statements. The Audit will deep dive into all my spending and debts, and we will come up with a game plan as to what he thinks will be the fastest way out. I am curious if he will want me to tackle the Car debt first or Personal loan first. Also if he will want me to increase my student loan payments back to the 10 year payback now or wait until I pay off the bad debts then increase the payment as I did the Income Driven Repayment plan.
Well that's it for now as I am boarding the plane in a couple minutes. Keep an eye out in the coming days for part 2 of Hammer Time!
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