Texas couple makes $161,000 per year, but is drowning in $90,000 credit card debt, spent $20,000 on California vacation

Vishesh Raisinghani

Thu, Mar 6, 2025, 5:22 AM 4 min read

Earning $161,000 a twelvemonth and surviving successful Texas, which is simply a comparatively low-cost, low-tax state, should contiguous an casual way to fiscal freedom. But for this Fort Worth couple, reckless spending has near them with astir $90,000 successful recognition paper indebtedness — and nary wide escape.

On an episode of “Financial Audit” posted Nov. 6, Alyssa, 40, and Connor, 32, described however a bid of mediocre decisions and a deficiency of subject had thrown their finances into chaos.

Host Caleb Hammer didn’t clasp back, accusing the mates of “living a millionaire life” portion holding tremendous amounts of debt.

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He warned that without drastic enactment they volition stay successful the reddish heading into retirement.

As a registered caregiver with 20 years of acquisition who was promoted to absorption successful 2022, Alyssa earns $111,000 per year. Connor works successful construction, earning a comparatively humble $25 per hour, and estimates his yearly income to beryllium astir $50,000. Their combined income puts them up of galore households.

“We marque capable to unrecorded well,” Alyssa said. “We conscionable made immoderate atrocious decisions.”

One of those atrocious decisions was pushing disconnected respective expenses to recognition cards and lone paying the minimum monthly equilibrium connected them. Altogether, the mates has implicit $90,000 successful full recognition paper debt. Hammer noted that it would instrumentality astir 25 years to wage disconnected 1 card’s indebtedness and 17 years for different if the mates continued paying lone the monthly minimums with nary further purchases.

“Congratulations, you're going to beryllium approaching 60 by the clip this is paid off,” helium quipped.

Despite accumulating truthful overmuch debt, they person struggled to reign successful their spending. In 2022, for example, the mates spent astir $20,000 connected a month-long household abrogation successful California.

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“You guys are acting similar you’re multimillionaires,” Hammer exclaimed. “I couldn’t adjacent ideate [spending] $20,000 connected a vacation!”

In summation to their recognition paper debt, the mates besides person astir $8,700 successful pupil indebtedness debts and implicit $53,500 near connected a Tesla car loan, for which they wage implicit $1,000 monthly.