Living On Under $30K A Year In 3 U.S. Cities | Millennial Money Marathon

Make It Marathon journeys to Washington, California, and New York to connect with three individuals earning less than $30,000.
Chi Baik, 26, lives in Seattle, Washington and earns $27,000 a year as a Ph.D. student. Baik used to work as a teacher outside Washington D.C., but then moved to Seattle to get her Ph.D. in special education at the University of Washington. Despite earning less money and having higher living expenses, she is grateful for the money she is making and still finds ways to treat herself.
Tiara Simmons, 39, is a lawyer in Long Beach, California and earns roughly $26,000 a year between her job as a law clerk and her social media marketing side hustle. She lives in a one-bedroom apartment with her husband, 3-year-old and chihuahua. Simmons is a below-the-knee amputee and has been disabled for nearly her entire life, and she wants people to know that those with disabilities are "disabled, not lazy."
Hector Carvajal, 26, owns Don Carvajal Cafe, a Dominican-inspired coffee roasting company based in the Bronx, New York. In 2022, his business brought in roughly $190,000 in sales and from that, he lives off a $25,000 salary.
Produced by: Valentina Duarte, Mickey Todiwala
Managing Producer: Beatriz Bajuelos Castillo
Camera: Tristan Pelletier, John Paget
Editor: Marisa Forziati
Animator: Elham Ataeiazar
Reporter: Kamaron McNair, Jennifer Liu
Additional Footage: Tiara Simmons, Chi Baik, Envato Elements, Getty Images
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Living On Under $30K A Year In 3 U.S. Cities | Millennial Money Marathon

[@beaniemac]

Her family member stole her settlement. That is super upsetting 😭

[@bihsaidwhatnow2392]

. . . .and then claimed, "bad investment." Ump! I think the "bad investment" was the purchase of clothes, purses, shoes, wigs, dinners, alcohol-dranks, weed . . . . .😡

[@mamatheregoesthatwoman]

who would you assume wigs and weed? straight weirdo@@bihsaidwhatnow2392

[@GlitznGlamourUS]

Hot as fish grease!!! They prayed on her for that money

[@dontbanmebrodontbanme5403]

It's not even my money and I'm angry. I've always said we need to all be taught one basic finance class in high school. If they put that $2.5 million in conservative investments (50% in the S&P 500, 50% in more conservative investments) earning 6%, that's $150K a year EVERY SINGLE YEAR! Basically, the hospital told her family, "Look, we screwed up. But here's enough money so that you'll at least never have to work again." Her family failed her big time. It wasn't their money. It was hers to be able to deal with life. It's so infuriating how people don't understand what a gift having a large sum of money is. Once you've built up that much money, it's literally working harder for you than you are for it.

[@gachamemestories2991]

@@dontbanmebrodontbanme5403the recession took her money not her family

[@egresham02]

I like that I can finally see some people who I can relate to. I had to stop watching the series because I found the episodes where people make 121k a year hard to relate to as a person who works full time and went back to school to have a better life still struggling to keep up with the increased cost of living. These people are more relatable and provide me comfort that I'm not alone.

[@atiyarise4131]

Yes. America's wealth gap is widening. While the media has mentioned it more and more recently, people have been effected for decades now. The average person is being priced out of housing and etc so they are just catching on to the decades long concern of the working poor. What these episodes have solidified is that We all have our own paths. We all have been given a measure of luck. Some people's measure of luck leads to them fairing "better" than others. The people featured in this segment are closer to the true depiction of average working americans

[@ecclairmayo4153]

Exactly! This is the first time I have seen regular people on this series. It made no sense to feature so many people who already had money

[@egresham02]

Right!@@ecclairmayo4153

[@christopherdessources]

Ok legit no one here is the normal sub 30k salary person. One bought a house at 17, one has a brother that can afford to lend her 15k and she has 70k in her 401k, and the last guy is a business owner who just chooses to reinvest and pay himself that low. Imagine elon musk gave himself a 27k salary and was in this video. Every one of them either had or has significant equity. I expected someone who just graduated with a ton of debt and can only find a retail minimum wage job. Instead you choose an ex millionaire, a woman who has significant financial support, and a guy who brought in 6 figures and is talking about makig another business. The korean said 26k was doable. The dominican said it wasnt a big deal. He even said rent was a business expense (how relatable). This seems to be another big media attempt to downplay how horrible this wage is for the average american. The only one i feel is genuine is the ex millionaire and thats only because the negative consequences of her disability cant be hidden. Without her saying anything you know she's having at least some struggle. But nothing here has implied the difficulty of surviving on 26k in CALIFORNIA?! What happen to the house she sold at 2020? One of the best times to sell were around there. She could have bought another house soon after with the crazy rates. I felt like that was veey shady that they just skipped over that.

[@redloveeee]

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

[@Jilly_mr]

YES, ABSOLUTELY!

[@jeffamell3501]

FACT

[@AHLIYON]

💯 EXACTLY!!!!

[@RosalindGash]

Tiara, if you're watching this the conditional discharge period for the Total and Permanent Discharge (TPD) of your student loans is *3 years.* You don't have to keep your income low forever!

[@cham2001]

Chi makes $27k, but spends $3700 mo. She is upside down over $17k a year. She is not “making it”. She is going in debt!

[@Eveningbreeze721]

Right. Her spending vs income isn't adding up. And nothing in her piece explained it. I assumed she was using credit for much of it. But, unless I missed it, that did not reflect in the credit card debt she explained.

[@MJ-hd7nr]

She literally said, “I owe my brother money but can pay it back when she gets on her feet.”

[@turtleanton6539]

Yes😊

[@lalakuma9]

Ok as someone who was perpetually in school throughout my 20s, I also needed my parents' help to cover the costs of living. But I would never claim that you can "make it" that way. I honestly felt guilty the entire time because I didn't make it on my own. It's definitely a privilege that a lot of people don't have.

[@whoawoahh]

Don’t feel ashamed. But always be humble

[@TooMuchMiracle]

I also feel guilty at times having their help but I understood I wouldn’t be able to live on my own if not

[@A22DNAL]

I appreciate Tiara's tenacity.♥ Chi, get that education, girl! Hector has had an excellent setup. Most of us aren't as fortunate, not discounting your success, but you have had AMAZING help along the way. Bravo!

[@kennediroadtolawschool]

Agreed!! Hector is working hard!!! But I feel like he just lives day by day and understands his money and has help -oppose to a single mother who actually makes 25k a year with no other resources.

[@A22DNAL]

@@kennediroadtolawschool Facts! I just hope he recognizes that NO ONE succeeds alone! He has sharp business acumen and it shows but man does he have it much better than most small/medium business owners starting out!

[@ashlamccammon4196]

I hope the free domestic labor and support that the women in his life has given him that has enabled him to succeed the way he is/has is repaid through him supporting their care in the future. He’s incredibly lucky that they care and support him the way they do without guaranteed return in regards of finances and time, that they’re doing it out of care and love for him and his wellbeing

[@alexander2685]

He pays himself 25,000 his company makes 190,000 mmkkk.

[@A22DNAL]

@@alexander2685 it just means he is making enough obviously to pour back into the business to help make it grow. Still doesn’t change the fact that he. has. help.🤷🏾‍♂️He doesn’t HAVE to pay himself a lot B/C his personal living expenses are low.

[@hotmessmom]

Awesome segment! I love that you showcased people from different backgrounds and life experiences. I really felt for Tiara.

[@davisholman8149]

How on earth does someone spend over $800 a month on food, then consider themselves on a tight budget?? NO YOU ARE NOT!🧐

[@kathyharmon2093]

I’m not a mathematician but the monthly expenses for the teacher are more than she states her yearly income is 🤔

[@JenniferBrooks-eq3rn]

Yes! This. I taught kindergarten and even my students knew 36 is more than 27. Don’t need to be great at math to know she’s in way more debt than this story let’s on and that’s not only NOT “doable” , it’s unsustainable.

[@yourbestdailymomentsfix7518]

What is Onlyfans?

[@happycook6737]

​@@yourbestdailymomentsfix7518 Google it.

[@Nacole_Lashoun]

Wait..Bought a house at 17 and rented an apartment in the heart of the city? Not sure what happened to the house, but paying for both AND traveling! Sounds like you at least enjoyed those years! We all live and learn!! You likely now have some financial literacy that will help you moving forward! Best wishes to you on this next stage of the journey! ❤❤❤

[@mamatheregoesthatwoman]

right, she spent the money. she just felt embarrassed to say it was all gone I think

[@29battles10]

Imagine spending 2.5 millions this fast

[@mamatheregoesthatwoman]

@@29battles10 madness

[@titibibi]

2.5 million USD at 17 and below poverty line at 39 ?

[@chelseajennings5969]

you invest that money in the future, you don't blow it all at once... you diversify your savings... simple... if one thing goes down, another will flourish... you don't put all of your eggs in one basket...

[@CWHankerson]

Why get 4 degrees and $400k in student loans if you know you dont intend to get a job that pays enough to repay the loans?

[@ddo920]

Exactly. They broke because of choices not circumstances.

[@MrEric2cu]

Thank you! Makes no sense. Did she think she could bundle them all together and get a 'SUPER" job?

[@JarrelEmmanuel]

It's feels like a poverty cycle. she's either very aware of it and ignorant /stuck or lacking desire to change. The student loans thing would probably only apply if she remains in the states.

[@Life_of_A_Man]

Many employers will only entertain you if you have a college education even though they appear to take people with just their high school diploma. Jobs that didn't require a degree many years ago now want candidates they interview to have at least their associate's and many times their Bachelor's.

[@gorgeousfrazier5903]

Like she had a home that’s paid off in ny but decided to pay rent for 3 years before she sold it, financially none of this makes sense. And the husband taking Uber to work is less expensive than having a car… meeehhh I don’t believe that

[@ashleymulti]

I love hearing stories of people who have their own business. I really enjoyed Hector’s story here

[@EmbroideryThreads]

Same cause I believe I was an entrepreneur in my past life 😂

[@SH-iy7ju]

@@EmbroideryThreads my husband has a small business and it does well but it does times he doesn’t get business which is very nervous

[@Enrique-Garcia]

Wait, so Tiara was renting an apartment WHILE she owned a house in New York? Why didn't she move back to the house so she could avoid paying rent? Or if she insisted on living in CA she should've sold the house sooner.

[@k.a5765]

So what happened to the money she made from selling her home? And why doesn’t her husband work full time.

[@yazx2434]

definately noticed a theme, all of these people have had extensive help from family, their situation affording them extra income circumstances, and dual income to barely keep above water. "making it work" is something everyone does unless they die lol. It's rough out there, you basically have to choose between healthcare and a car at that income. I for a time was living on 13k a year, Without the kindness of family Id have lived in the streets. its sad to see so many people suffer and somehow paint them as hard working, moral, good people, because of it.

[@valynciatodd3362]

A few takeaways and tips: $800 on food?! There’s no way!Take the recipe cards from hello fresh and cook the meals on your own buying the groceries yourself saves money! And perfume could be cheaper there’s scentbird for $30/max

[@doubledutchclutch]

Lol, I once heard that this is why Hello Fresh and its competitors are losing money. Their customers hold onto the cards and just learn how to shop for themselves a little bit better.

[@happycook6737]

No one needs perfume. Perfume is a want, not a need.

[@chelseajennings5969]

I'm like what are they eating? Filet mignon and salmon filets three meals a day? Insanity is right!

[@reginafisher9919]

Working at Amazon full time, making 32,000 a year, knowing its a slave wage, and criminal compared to the companies earnings

[@CuteAnimeGirl]

I work at amazon but I make 65k pretax due to overtime opportunities. You really need overtime or side hustles to afford bills when you work at amazon.

[@faureamour]

I see so many people commenting that instead of spending $250/mo on uber to buy a cheap car for $3-4k. But what if you don't have that saved up? You can't just stop spending that money to try to save up because you need to get to work. It's a vicious cycle. And getting a loan could potentially affect the student loan forgiveness and Snap benefits. Again, it's all speculation on both sides, but it is expensive to live paycheck to paycheck and to try to get out of that. Good ol American society does not make it easy.

[@mamatheregoesthatwoman]

That is like saying why rent and not save up to buy. People really are ignorant.

[@librarianrose4472]

Plus then you’re paying gas and insurance 😭

[@sizzlingrl820]

​@@librarianrose4472and maintenance. Cars need regular maintenance to continue functioning properly long term

[@EricaGamet]

I live in Seattle and the price of a car is sky high... I got rid of mine 7 years ago when I moved here. Whenever someone says, "Buy a cheap one for 5 grand" my first thought is, "Do you KNOW how crappy a 5 grand car will be and how much maintenance that's gonna need?" Also, gas and registration here is high. Also, it's about $200 a month if you want a guaranteed parking spot and that's not even going to be in a garage probably. And you need a parking permit or pay to park (and in Seattle you have to move your car every three days). All that being said, Chi needs to stop taking Ubers so much... we have great transit and the area she's in is prime transit area!

[@billy2069]

The guy at the end 100% only claims 25k, but I guarantee he's making 50k with 25k unreported.

[@atiyarise4131]

Everything else is used for business. If it is a business related expense but used personally like a vehicle, you don't out it under a personal expense. He only needs 25k because of the tight family unit

[@kocoaberry7041]

Exactly, unless he only give his girlfriend money for rent and she pays for everything else.

[@arpitjain7366]

The second girl (teacher) doesn’t care about her debt

[@atiyarise4131]

Oh she cares, just not to the extent you think she should.

[@NasirLawson-si5pu]

Yall both don’t realize that any teacher who teaches for 10 years the debt gets forgiven

[@Eveningbreeze721]

​@@NasirLawson-si5pu she has no school loan debt though.

[@jeannewesly1723]

@@NasirLawson-si5pu Really? after I paid my loans I find out that. LOL shoot! I graduated, got a job, never looked back.

[@kaze987]

Definitely need more episodes of folks who reflect your audience - makes $150k combined household income or less. I just ignore the eps of folks making more than that. Like 1.2M a year? Geez, impossible to relate. Maybe get more reaction vids of O'Leary as well? Those are quite interesting

[@thaanonymous776]

Some people want to relate, others don't mind watching something to aspire to. Why does it have to be one or the other? Why not both?

[@atiyarise4131]

@@thaanonymous776 the OP didn't say ONLY, they said MORE.

[@ecclairmayo4153]

This is the first one I have seen where they weren't featuring people who already had money

[@stefanossmitty3318]

Am I the only one who has questions about Tiara’s situation? First of all, hats off to her for preserving through her circumstances. What was the “bad investment” and who made it? Was all the money gone? Did she make a profit from the sale of her New York house? How much and where did it go? Why is her husband spending $250/month on Uber when he can buy a used car $5,000 or less. A lot of this isn’t adding up for me.

[@UpUpDnDnLtRtLtRtBAStart]

Tiara mentioned that they don't have much to save. $250 a month is more like $125 a paycheck = 12.50 daily = $6.25 each way. That's not really bad considering he's getting door to door. But to your point, to save up a few thousand for a car might not be attainable to them at least not quickly like you might suspect. Even producing that for a down payment might not be doable and him having to actually pay that full $250 plus for a car note plus insurance plus gas which can be like another $240 ($60/week for gas). So that's almost $500 and that's not including insurance or parking.... Those expense add up quick. For her settlement money. It looks like the person who was dealing with her money probably made a bad investment on the market, a scam, a bad busienss deal - a number of things. I did catch the sale of the house which to me looks like she just broke even. Not everyone makes profit when they sale a home especially if there was no real equity in it. Tbh most people use their current home as collateral to leap frog to the next big him meaning they're using the appreciated value as a transition and not profit in the traditional sales sense. hope that helps

[@stefanossmitty3318]

@@UpUpDnDnLtRtLtRtBAStart thx. You raised some great and valid points. Buying an older car for a a couple thousand still makes so much more sense than constantly paying for Ubers. Another thing that I’m curious about is her claim that she bought a house at 17. Minors can’t buy real property till 18 in most states, so that makes me a bit more skeptical about her claims.

[@francescaeve8776]

@@stefanossmitty3318 what do you mean "claims?". You make it seem like she is lying. She's probably just scarce on specifics because she has to consolidate her life into soundbites. Plus you don't know what the editors have cut out.

[@stefanossmitty3318]

@@francescaeve8776 and neither do you. Which is exactly why I said “claimed” because I don’t know how much of what she said was verified. For instance, she claimed she bought the house at 17, which is impossible because 17 year olds cannot enter into a contract for the sale of property in New York or any other state. 🤷🏾‍♂️

[@uoohknk6881]

She milkin the cow

[@porthospatel1683]

Finally, someone relatable. I support her decision to do law for the every day person. She's a trooper.

[@saulgoodman2018]

At least Chi have 70k in retirement. Just don't touch it. in 40 years, without additional deposits, she'll have 1.5M.

[@YRDX]

Yes but 1.5million then will get you barely anything, think about it... house prices have gone up average 500% in the last 30 years (in UK. Maybe different in USA), where as inflation has not been anywhere near that.

[@saulgoodman2018]

@@YRDX Even in 40 year, you should have no house payment. So it will still be a lot.

[@stephenlee5525]

​@@YRDX I never understand why people say "but 1 million dollars won't be worth anything in 30 years". Even if you factor in inflation, it'll still be a sizable nest egg. Obviously she should still be saving money on the side, but just that one account alone will work out in her favor, given the sad state of retirement for many folks in the US.

[@kmiknik4861]

Love the trade vibes at the market. That's community support and resilience in action!

[@ilikeramyeon]

The way I punched the air when the Lawyer mentions going independent and virtual. So inspiring.

[@SeriouslyLeslie]

I am a person with a disability, and I just finished up my second Master’s degree. I have almost $200,000 in student debt and the whole time I was working on my second Master’s, I was very worried about repaying my student debt. I realized just a few days ago that Joe Biden changed the law that this video refers to, and people with disabilities can now have their loans forgiven, and there is no longer an income requirement to maintain student loan forgiveness. It makes an incredible difference in peoples lives, and I am so grateful to know that this happened in my lifetime.

[@LarimaBeyondBorders]

I hope Tiara and all disabled people get this information.

[@Gstunfisk]

How does it feel to scam money from hard working taxpayers?

[@anonymousanonymous-tw3wm]

Don't hate in her Blessings! She said she felt " grateful " Reading is fundamental 🥰

[@typewriter6885]

@@Gstunfisk ask wallstreet bail outs first vs disabled citizens

[@Gstunfisk]

@@typewriter6885 at least they pay taxes.

[@palamoi]

I love seeing my former campus. The quad is gorgeous in the spring when the cherry blossoms bloom. GO HUSKIES! Nostalgia aside, I relate a lot more to these people rather than those making 6 figures. Having to budget in the face of inflation and stagnant pay is more the norm. I am comforted that I am not alone and that I am not a failure.

[@mindyourbusiness4369]

Tiara’s husband needs to find a Full Time Job NOW.

[@Gstunfisk]

why when they can maintain easy free ride on taxpayers dime?

[@nkwari]

Since he is part time, he can be there for the baby instead of paying for daycare or babysitter.

[@emyayran6040]

Wait nobody saying anything about the teacher making 27k a year but spends more than 3k monthly like I watched it what did I missed😂😂how is it possible

[@CountChronicle]

It's wild - her one-bedroom apartment rent is more than what I pay for my mortgage on a four-bedroom, three-bath, 3000-square-foot house in Florida, now valued at over half a million. Pretty unbelievable! And seriously, how does someone mismanage a 2.5 million settlement? You could retire early and live it up with that kind of money. Lesson learned: always go with a pro to handle your finances.

[@money0436]

WOW this is a very inspirational video. This video motivated me to push even harder and save more money for the future.

[@erikg666]

Even if she lost most of the settlement money to a “bad investment” how does she have nothing to show for it besides 400k in debt? She bought property at 17 and just sold a place in NY, something seems off

[@NatalyaBliss]

Exactly my thoughts . None of it makes sense

[@MJ-hd7nr]

Going from, living rent free with your parents, to paying $3000 a month for rent, just to split it with your girlfriend is crazy to me. If you can, please stay home and save money. Wait until the business is launched off completely or until you’ve saved enough for a house.

[@economicdevelopmentplannin8715]

most ppl only need a bedroom bathroom suite on bus stops, in a shared house in any city - on avg, with a paid off mortgage (

[@brownsugarbabe0823]

The first young lady Tiara would benefit from geoarbitrage to a cheaper state or country. That would improve her situation ALOT. If you read this comment Tiara I implore you to research living in another state or abroad to somewhere like Mexico. You deserve better dear ❤️ Edit: I keep thinking about this girl lol. Another option is applying to one of the remote worker relocation programs with her virtual private practice. They'll give her at least 10k towards the purchase of a home. She can then use that 1700 rent towards her mortgage. There's great options out there for her.

[@sandman8996]

Don't you understand she doesn't want to do better because if she does, she'll have to pay back the 400k in loans she took out to get her 4 degrees

[@brownsugarbabe0823]

@@sandman8996 I still believe she has options

[@nvidiasniper]

​@@sandman8996I understood this quite clearly and you're making lots of sense 👍

[@Ripside2]

Why can't her husband work full time?

[@brownsugarbabe0823]

@@Ripside2 another question I asked myself. There's alot about her story I don't understand.

[@cherylcarlson3315]

Bdcoming disabled at 58 kicked me back to square one, except I knew how to manage on next to nothing. Good to see others doing the same

[@Jiezid]

I don’t think her disability has anything to do why she is “poor”. Just bad money moves.

[@cherylT321]

And, 800 dollars a month for food for two people and a small child is way too much. She needs to look at the frugal cooking channels to get ideas as to what food she could buy that is affordable and nutritious!

[@angelicavasquez3870]

The second girl just keeps making horrible decisions. Girl, you are not careful with your money and if you had to pay $100 for a traffic ticket for your parents then neither are they.

[@user-gi8yr9il1h]

I was astonished with the amount of her student loan. 400,000 USD!!! In Japan even one digit less, many struggle to pay back and some go bankrupt. I wonder why American people don’t care about such a big debt….

[@happycook6737]

We do care about huge loans but some silly people don't care. I can't imagine $400,000 in student loan debt. That is seriously crazy!

[@Oxymera]

It is assumed that if you become a Doctor or Lawyer that you will have a lot of debt. Most of them expect to be making a large salary ($200,000+ USD a year) upon graduation so it’s feasible to pay that debt off (still would take 5+ years though)

[@Geneiveve]

People live off of the loan checks.

[@marielromero193]

I love this video, they show incredible people, my respects!

[@ponceprmitierra9957]

Tiaras husband need to go full time

[@EricaGamet]

He might be taking care of their kid.

[@kortyEdna825]

As an elder millennial, one of the few advantages is having lived through the Great Recession. My advice. Reduce unnecessary expenses, increase your savings by investing in financial markets and do not sell. One thing I know for sure is that diversifying your income can help insulate you from much of the craziness going on in the world.

[@Justinmeyer1000]

The stock market is a way to hedge against inflation. Most notably amidst recession, investors need to understand where and how to allocate funds to hedge against inflation and still make profits.

[@carssimplified2195]

@tudorrwilson That's fascinating. How can I contact your Asset-coach as my portfolio is dwindling?

[@carssimplified2195]

@tudorrwilson Thank you for this tip. It was easy to find your coach. Did my due diligence on her before scheduling a phone call with her. She seems proficient considering her resume.

[@proud2bnumber1]

What is good in living through a recession???

[@NubianOne]

@@proud2bnumber1The lessons.

[@nisabikram]

Don Carvajal Cafe is absolutely delicious! It is great to be able to put a face to the coffee!

[@micahartisansoul]

How does this work?...Tiara says she bought a house at 17...but lived in an apartment...where she payed rent. And now she lives in a rented place. WHERE IS THE HOUSE??????

[@sunocky952]

it mentioned she sold her house in new york in 2020(?)

[@martavega2860]

I do not understand how one person can expend 800 dollars per month on groceries

[@happycook6737]

I agree that $800 for one person's food is extremely expensive.

[@albertmatunda5387]

Vital eggs from whole food.

[@shysmile534]

So the first lady - I am confused with her situation, I know she got a settlement of 2,5 mil. USD, with this money she bought a house, but was NOT living in a house, but lived in a luxury apartment? So did she rent her house, or why did she not live in the house, so she wouldn´t have to pay rent for the apartment? But let´s say that a family member "stole" her money, so she lost the 2.5. mili. (still a lot of money), She moved to California, and SOLD her House in NY, so where is the money from the house? I would assume, the money from the NY house, which she sold, would be also in amount of Millions. So where did it go? She could have used the money from the house to buy a new house in California, or like invest, or whatever? I am confused with her situation. Second lady - teacher. Well seems to me, she is just irresponsible with her money, because when I calculated her income she is making around 2250 USD per month but her spendings and expenses per month are over 3000 USD? She is way over budget. And to say: I hope i will be better with money, when I will start to earn more - This does not work like that. If you don´t know, how to manager your current budget, you won´t be able to manage your budget even when you get another 20 000 more. Seems to me she is out of touch with reality.

[@robyearwood76]

Absolutely correct!

[@jessiebush7318]

She has her parents to fall back on that's why she is carefree

[@realSimoneCherie]

You think all home sales are profitable?

[@Gstunfisk]

she probably laundered the money

[@Gstunfisk]

@@realSimoneCherieof course, when basis is $0.

[@MsEriKaT]

This should have been labeled a compilation.

[@RobbsHomemadeLife]

I grew up in a family that was broke and never made a lot of money in my life. I'm now retired. I try to live on my Social Security. I also have a small income from my KZbin videos. Where I am lucky is I own a very small inexpensive one-bedroom apartment in a 55 and over retired community. The property taxes in Florida are low and my monthly maintenance fee is only $400. If I had to pay the average rent in my area or try to buy house it would not be possible. I think that is one thing that is changed. For most of my life I have always found relatively inexpensive places to live. They might not be nice but they were cheap. Now everything is expensive. It's hard to find low-cost housing. Something is broken. It is possible to make dietary changes and save a lot of money in the same can be said for other areas like transportation, etc. For example, I have started using a small refurbished electric E bike I got for $249. It is ideal for an urban area. It folds up. Also people can be proactive with their physical and mental health and reduce costs by staying healthy. Exercise doesn't cost anything. My plan B for housing was always to get a small boat and anchor it out somewhere in case I could not get inexpensive housing. Now that has become difficult and no longer possible in many places. I think housing is going to come down sharply soon. I hope all of those giant corporations buying up all the houses increasing the prices have to embrace their losses.

[@YRDX]

$400 maintenance fee?? That's ridiculously high. Imagine paying that and renting or paying the mortgage and utilities on top too, that is only a little cost to you as you've paid off the apartment. But as a maintenance fee by itself that is too much

[@career5690]

I subscribed to your channel I wish that my aunt who’s retired would move to Florida with my mother.

[@career5690]

@@YRDXCondo fee is higher I think.

[@starrjohnson1327]

People laughed at me when I found a low cost apartment. I've been able to save money, pay off my car, buy things I like(during sales) and keep my grocery bill low!

[@career5690]

@@starrjohnson1327 👏🏽

[@nso5625]

So the lady with the settlement… who spent it? Why was she shocked to find it gone? That made me so mad for her!

[@vanessaandreatta9098]

At least she has a mission... Sounds very interesting on why she moved to California but did not buy a home there... Didn't make sense, she was still spending too much... She could have just sell the ny home. Last time I watched the same video I didn't noticed

[@missdesireindependance5194]

One of her family members.

[@brownsugarbabe0823]

The more I listen to the story the more confused I get. She said she bought a house at 17 and then right after that said she was renting a luxury apartment. What happened to the house? I don't understand anymore

[@vanessaandreatta9098]

@@brownsugarbabe0823 seems like she bought the house for the entire family but she decided to move for the weather (I can understand, but still California is pretty expensive...). She decided to have a goal and didn't care about the money. Even if you are disabled you should worry about student debt... The issue is having money and not caring about it, if she found out late it was still on time to decide what to do with it or to not to get any debt in the first place. I admire her willing to helo the every day person, but she should find a way to helo herself first, that would make more sense and would be more reliable

[@stefanossmitty3318]

@@brownsugarbabe0823right! I need answers. For starters, you can’t enter into a contract for sale of property until 18, so I’m already skeptical about a lot of her story.

[@6ftNaturalBeauty]

I’m on the first minute of this video. However, I don’t know not one teacher that makes 30k a year… I’ll be back once I finish this video

[@doubledutchclutch]

She's a grad student, not a teacher. The title is messed up. When she was a teacher she earned $60k.

[@lesliebrown5446]

I live on $16k a year. I have a house in another state (daughter lives in it) i live in another house. Im not rich just smart with money. Spend less then $100.00 a month on food. Dont live above your means.

[@mykamcgane6726]

So no disrespect, I appreciate the hustle and heart of all these people… but they are living off 25k a year. They all have significant external support.

[@donaldlyons17]

Yep and that is a serious problem!!!

[@Ripside2]

Soooooo we are not going to explain why husband doesn't work full time?

[@pearlie_maes_pantry3725]

Exactly 😑

[@stefanossmitty3318]

Or why he’s spending $250/month on Uber when he can easily buy a used car to get him around for probably less than 5k.

[@ajh.4131]

I didn’t even catch that. The only thing I can guess is the income threshold she talked about. Not working full time hours means less pay so she won’t owe her $400k student debt. That’s my speculation.

[@Ripside2]

@@ajh.4131 that’s dumb with income based repayment capped at 10% of gross.

[@MichaelGoydich63]

She admits that other taxpayers are paying their student loan(s) as long as they keep their taxable income below the threshold.

[@nicford548]

Why did Tiara marry this guy and tie herself to him with a child? Also, the government is keeping her in poverty because of that $400k student loan. She needs to have it FORGIVEN!

[@realSimoneCherie]

Why are people always litigating someone who is struggling ?

[@Gstunfisk]

How about she pays for it instead of taxpayer footing the bill? nothing is forgiven, it is bailed out. She spent it all in luxury trips and god know what other drugs.

[@A_Sen_0]

The system of bailing out is created by u r politician, in my country no loan is bailed out actually getting student loan for bs degree is not possible in the 1st place

[@Daveyjonesvi]

This feels very much like propaganda. Such light hearted music, inspirational story telling etc. These people are making due with what they have but they are all struggling.

[@happycook6737]

I agree! This is propaganda to say people can be happy living at the poverty line!

[@emmy2831]

She could buy a Habitat for Humanity house in CA on her income potentially.

[@janjust4205]

This is very relatable. Most of you tube are so grandiose- blah blah my millions

[@Boring_Deborah]

Unfortunately when you are poor there are more incentives to stay poor including Medicaid, subsidized housing and food stamps.

[@mikmil2020]

Second girl spends $200 a week on food and still her fridge is empty..

[@philly1559]

Everything is a bit more expensive now a days especially for example here in nyc

[@safuu202]

Not just groceries, they included Hello Fresh Subscription and Dining Out/Takeaways

[@atiyarise4131]

@@fresapichardo3470 Comparisions. Comparisons. Comparisons.

[@doubledutchclutch]

Lol, I noticed that too. I liked Chi, but that was crazy. What was in there? Like six eggs and a leftover Jell-O cup?

[@CamJames]

You won't be more responsible later, if you aren't responsible now. It's a fallacy.

[@economicdevelopmentplannin8715]

most ppl only need a bedroom bathroom suite on bus stops, in a shared house in any city - on avg, with a paid off mortgage (

[@mugglescakesniffer3943]

All these people had safety nets if something went wrong. This article is a big huge nothing burger.

[@angelawood1639]

Not hating, but how you get a big settlement and you decide to rent instead of buying a small property or investment properties to ensure you are financially secured due to your disability.

[@ALLworldCONSTRUCTIONLLC]

If you own a business and write everything off as a business expense (hector) just cuz you only move 30k a year into a personal account, doesn’t mean that’s what you live off of. In that case, I live off 0$ a year cuz I don’t “pay myself” anything. The way it’s structured is misleading to non business savvy people. Homeboy is closer to 250k a year and doesn’t pay his student loan debt 😊

[@atiyarise4131]

His choice.

[@naomim5746]

That's what I was wondering about. 🤔

[@doubledutchclutch]

I appreciate this. I didn't bother watching Hector's segment because I thought I'd seen his story somewhere else. I vaguely remember it being very surface level or having a shallow analysis of his finances or something, which is irritating since it's supposed to be a story about a young entrepreneur. Glad to know I didn't waste my time reliving whatever song and dance that was the first time.

[@gorgeousfrazier5903]

And having your girl pay half the rent. Childddddd

[@NotoriousNine11]

I would absolutely consider investing my money with that Dominican guy; he's a highly motivated entrepreneur who shows great potential for business growth, and all he requires are additional resources to expand his enterprise.

[@CamJames]

$800 a month on food is unbelievably high lmao. I'm a 33 yr old grown man and i spend less than $300.

[@happycook6737]

She is skinny so not eating much. What IS she doing with $800 of food per month. No, Asians don't have a fast metabolism.

[@CountChronicle]

Spending $800 a month on food for one person caught my attention. Her fridge was practically empty, and she claims she's not big on eating out. Now, I'm curious about the HelloFresh expenses. Kudos to her for managing in this economy and is still able to make some room for discretionary spending. Honestly didn't think there'd be much left for that in her budget.

[@123abc4u]

There are 3 people in her family.

[@nso5625]

Also 800 dollars a month on food?! Is that standard in America? My jaw dropped 😮😮 that’s more than a mortgage payment here in Spain

[@TheRusschannel]

i spend about $50 a week lol.. one person though, and shopping sales.

[@Ripside2]

LOL man. Don't lie 700 euros isn't crazy. How much is paella?

[@nso5625]

@@Ripside2 700€ a month is some people's monthly salary after tax. So yes it is crazy. Paella can vary from 5€ to 18€pp, depending on where you eat it.

[@ajh.4131]

No, this is absolutely NOT the standard. This is called living above your means/poor money management. As a single person with no kids, I spend around $300/month on groceries.

[@Minzalin]

For a family of three living in California, $800 per month for food is average.

[@Jarris2]

Am I the only one that was screaming at my screen. What happened to the 2.5 million dollars!

[@Vladimir-JT]

THe bad investment, was living in Cali with the highest tax rates on everything and being financially illiterate and living in a luxury apartment in California.

[@flyingknee23]

Rent is the killer

[@donnaallgaier-lamberti3933]

The Holland (Michigan) Public Schools just gave their teachers a 22% raise. A first year teacher will be making $45,000 a year now. Holand is an expensive place to live....

[@atiyarise4131]

That's it.

[@Discovery_and_Change]

How do they find these people? Do they put out an advertisement? Are they paid for participating?

[@starrjohnson1327]

Yes they are paid. Different companies ask for people to be featured in a segment or documentary. I did it before. I only got paid $150 for 1 day. I'm sure they got paid more.

[@Discovery_and_Change]

@@starrjohnson1327 Cool! Is your feature on KZbin too?

[@Tashas_Travels]

The teacher - Chi How do you keep owing, borrowing money and yet have expensive perfumes and are broke, hoping your bad spending habits will change when you start earning more? If you can't manage $1000, giving you $10,000 will not make you manage it wisely either.

[@atiyarise4131]

To be fair, she acknowledged her irresponsible spendng habits

[@Tashas_Travels]

@atiyarise4131 and yet she continues with the same behaviour even though as years go buy she'll be deeper in debt if she carries ok living like this.

[@atiyarise4131]

@@Tashas_Travels You are correct, she keeps doing it. It is an option for her that she obviously doesn't see as problematic. Maybe she is one of those people that only changes their habits when the situation becomes dire.

[@rhondahoehne9143]

She isn’t doing to bad… I bet most of the perfume that she has, was bought when she was working as a teacher. She stated that she also had $70,000 in savings from her 4 years of teaching… she must be doing something right.

[@JenniferBrooks-eq3rn]

First rule of being a responsible adult-a retirement account is NOT a savings account. Practically forget you have it and keep your sticky fingers off it unless your plan is to die at work. She had $70k in retirement.

[@GameFuMaster]

man, having 2.5 mil, but still not paying off student debt

[@atiyarise4131]

She didn't have all that student debt when she had access to the 2.5 mil. She was a teen when the settlement was made. That means an adult was over her money.

[@durrere1973]

For the Teacher, she must be in the wrong school district. I've seen teachers earn at least $60,000 per year which still not much for Washington State which is expensive.

[@cherylT321]

Yep, she should try New York for teaching because the salary’s pretty good, though finding affordable housing might be an issue!

[@doubledutchclutch]

I think the show kind of screwed up her title. When she was teaching she was earning $60k, but she's no longer a teacher. She went back to school and is pursuing a PhD. That's why her income is currently only $27k. Also, I think she may have been a teacher somewhere other than Washington state. She said she grew up in Maryland and only came to Washington to complete her PhD studies, so she was likely earning $60k as a school teacher somewhere outside of Washington.

[@brianbaxter6647]

@@cherylT321 I did it for 9 years...Cost of living is to high

[@atiyarise4131]

Tiara. The T in your name must be for tenacity. May doors of opportunity open for you and yours. Hopefully you'll benefit from the student loan forgiveness bill. I know some will, some won't. Keep your head to the sky. Chi, I cant wait to read your research on education's influence on the wealth gap. Hector, nice branding. I can appreciate the reverence you have for your family. I'll support.

[@alejandromoreno5056]

400K in student loans!?!?!?!?!? WTF!!! What a rip off!

[@Vettejocke]

I was going to for accounting and business and in my business courses we had a couple of kids that wanted to go on to law school and I remember the marketing professor expressly advising us not to go into law school since there’s a “glut” of law grads, and a quick look at average entry level law jobs in glassdoor for any U.S. city shows how disappointingly low salaries are for this profession.

[@austingray6885]

I bring in about 25K after taxes even from working full time, I’ve pretty much given up.

[@eligreg99]

Wait a minute so she moved to California which is just as expensive as NY if not more and did not work while spending the settlement money?

[@valeria-militiamessalina5672]

She said that the weather made it easier for her to get around in California as a disabled person, she wouldn't gave to face winters, etc.

[@eligreg99]

@@valeria-militiamessalina5672 I get that but there are a ton of other places with warmer climate that aren’t money pits like California is my point.

[@stephaniejohnson583]

Hey, CNBC, how about a link for that coffee. 😊

[@dontbanmebrodontbanme5403]

For the first lady.....ugggggghhhhhh!!!! We truly, TRULY need to be taught money management. It should be a class. Over any 30 year block of time, the S&P 500 has always returned 10% interest. This includes during the great depression. If 50% of that $2.5 million was put in the S&P 500 and 50% in more conservative investments and she was getting, I don't know, 6%, that's $150K a year EVERY SINGLE YEAR... ***FOR LIFE*** !!! That principal should NEVER BE TOUCHED! The fact that it's already gone makes me angry, and it's not even my money!

[@abbyoneill4473]

This makes me so angry for Tiara. She would’ve never had to work a day in her life if that money was invested as soon as they got it. It would’ve grown to about $6mil by the time she entered college and she could’ve lived off the growth alone every year after that. I’m sorry your family failed you and apparently stole from you, girl. I would sue.

[@maul5832]

50 hours a MONTH??

[@louietoltolvlog9699]

I also did not hear or try Dominican coffee yet. Wonder how it tastes

[@agoogleuser2369]

Interesting article. I'm just trying to figure out how someone with a PhD can live on 27K in Seattle. Something doesn't add up.

[@Tashas_Travels]

She borrows money from her family to fund her expensive lifestyle, and buys expensive perfumes to build a collection of things that smell nice and evaporate in thin air.

[@agoogleuser2369]

😂

[@hayfield11]

Her spending was more than her income.

[@ajh.4131]

And WHY she has a PhD only making $27k? 🤨 I work in retail customer service and I make more than she does. It’s definitely not adding up!

[@hayfield11]

@@ajh.4131 She is getting paid to study for her PhD. She hasn’t graduated yet. This is common and pretty cool. She may have some teaching responsibilities.

[@robinly]

400,000k student loan to get a 50k/yr job? That was a bad idea.

[@missgui4400]

This girl likes to spend the dollars. She probably spent those $400k on trips and luxury bags too

[@SHY_2003]

I just feel bad for that baby boy from the beginning of the video 😟

[@inspirebeinspired4388]

So why don’t you work big law and pay off your student loans. Donate your time to clients that are less fortunate while building your net worth to a level that will sustain you being a public defender later in life. Why would you choose living check to check just to get out of paying your loans back? Makes no sense. My aunt makes 300k or more a year as an attny. You can too.

[@dealerofgame]

i thought my money was low.. idk how they can live off such low income

[@Mentallect]

Respect to her.

[@Tashas_Travels]

Family and money are a bad combination, imagine her settlement money gone just because of some greedy useless family member. This is why I don't borrow anyone money coz family just disappoints ,Rob's you and doesn't even care. I wish she could sue that family member

[@chantelvenessa]

Was it a family member that lost her money, she didn't say? She only said she was told it was a bad investment.

[@safuu202]

​@chantelvenessa read between the lines it was definitely an older family member investing *her* money for themselves and then losing it when the deal went bad.

[@safuu202]

I think it was bc she was a minor at the time and for precautions sake, they wanted some adult to oversee the money bc who in their right mind would just give multimillions to a 17 year old? But in hindsight a judge should have put that money in a trust for her to access once she turned 18.

[@atiyarise4131]

@Simply_tasha, unfortunately it smells of greed. Money, large sums especially, is like a facial mask, it brings everything to the surface.

[@Tashas_Travels]

@@atiyarise4131 you are so right.

[@tiberiusinuk]

getting a cheap car is much cheaper than taking an uber to work every day , that's just poor budgeting

[@EricaGamet]

Not in Seattle it's not. That being said, she could spend about $300 a month and do transit most trips and an Uber once or twice a week. She is right in the heart of things with tons of transit.

[@DonnyRamsoondar]

That's so funny, studying Law is tedious but everyone has his or her own choice when serving the people.😃

[@noelarmstrong2780]

This girl gets me mad,I understand you were a teenager when you got the 2.5 mil but to now say "one day you wish to buy a house" is wild crazy to me

[@atiyarise4131]

Are you mad because you are thinking of all the things You could do with that money? If you understand that she was a teen, then you should also try to understand the greed this settlement, that someone filed on her behalf, unleashed. That was then, this is now. She has decided to move forward unhinged.

[@noelarmstrong2780]

@@atiyarise4131 People like you will justify anything no matter how elaborate your excuse has to be.

[@keerthanrrao579]

I get 2008 was bad but how did Tiara lose the $2.5 mil settlement? And the second lady, wake up and smell the coffee! Don’t say you’re comfortable with what you make! I’m a grad student too and nobody I know will say they’re comfortable with money as grad students. Third guy adds immense value for everyone here!

[@saulgoodman2018]

Yeah, something is fishy about Tiara's story.

[@brownsugarbabe0823]

Did you all not read the notes on the screen during Tiara's story? She didn't "lose" the money. A family member mismanaged the funds. THAT person is the fishy one.

[@no_name5002]

$2.5M is prretty much retirement money. With a safe withdrawal rate of 4%, she can spend $100K/yr plus inflation adjustment for rest of her life if she just put it into broad market index funds and bonds.

[@thebbiddim882]

Banks are paying 4.5% right now in interest. Because the lawsuit was a medical settlement she wouldn't have to pay a dime in federal taxes. $2,500,000 x 0.045 = $112500 a year doing nothing. Treasury bonds are paying 3% that's 75k a year, tax free! Someone did her dirty.

[@saulgoodman2018]

@@no_name5002 But someone supposedly made a bad investment. 2.5 million, I'll be suing over that. Or maybe that was a lie. Why wouldn't the judge put that in a trust. Where no one but her could access it?

[@festaazul]

Life isn't about money, getting by and making a difference is a currency of higher value than dollars for many. And knowing yourself enough to do that, means you get more value than those that just listen to everyone around them.

[@elis8669]

Say this when your relatives get ill… 😢😢

[@Nb-ll8kp]

She’s in 400k in student debt…. She’d be better off working minimum wage and not going to university at all. Probably had terrible grades since there’s a lot of scholarships out there especially for disabled people.!

[@29battles10]

The guy spent the whole video drinking coffee and giving coffee

[@dzikijohnny]

The median income IS $35k

[@ajh.4131]

Where exactly?

[@atiyarise4131]

This is 3 of the most expensive states and cities in the USA. I highly doubt that 35k is the median. Maybe in Nebraska small towms or Iowa.

[@lucyben9173]

Most rich people stay rich by spending like the poor and investing without stopping then most poor stay poor by spending like the rich yet Not investing like the rich but impressing them

[@bosssss2920]

People prefer to spend money on liabilities,rather than investing in assets and be very profitable.

[@lucyben9173]

@@bosssss2920 You are so correct! Save , invest and spend for necessities and a few small luxuries relatives to on’s total assets ratio.

[@bosssss2920]

@@lucyben9173 Even with the economic recession or downturn,I’m so happy I’ve been earning $60,000 returns from my $12,000 investment with multifx

[@Cm-xo9jf]

@@bosssss2920 Sounds good 😊how do you do that ? I’m interested,how do I go about getting started?

[@bosssss2920]

@@Cm-xo9jf Actually I trade cryptocurrency with multifx, I have been trading with them for 8 months now... I've really made a lot from their strategies in trading of cryptocurrencies.,