Original subtitles

My name is Daniel Babic.

I moved to LA four years ago to live my American dream,

because I wanted to be a TV host.

I was working the red carpets, interviewing all the biggest

celebrities in the world.

I was living the high life, traveling the world.

I have all these fabulous outfits--

I mean, the best time of my life.

But the problem now is I'm broke.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: Here are the facts.

The numbers are massive.

44 million people have borrowed over $1.5 trillion

in student loan debt, and it doesn't end there.

My name is Dan Rosensweig, and I'm

the CEO of the multi-billion dollar company Chegg.

This is my mission.

With the help of my financial expert, Danetha Doe,

we're going to help young people--

the walls are closing in?

Yeah.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: --who are drowning in extreme debt.

How many credit cards?

10, 11, in 12--

12--

DAN ROSENSWEIG: --to build a life of financial independence.

I just want to get out of debt, and I want your help.

When the world is pushing down on you, it's very hard.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: This is an economic crisis

of epic proportions--

I don't use that much.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: --and we have to fix it.

No, come on.

[SCREAM]

DAN ROSENSWEIG: They're going to hate it.

But, when we're done, they're going to be on the road

to financial freedom.

Do you feel good about what we've done so far?

I do.

Thank you.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: This is Going From Broke.

It's another day and another dollar that somebody owes.

Yes, they do.

Who is the lucky winner today?

The lucky winner today is Daniel.

He's a 23-year-old, originally from Australia,

now living here in Los Angeles.

He's making $1,900 per month.

He's got $80,000 in total debt.

$26,000 of that is credit card debt.

Wow.

He is not going broke.

He is broke.

Yes.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: All right, Daniel, here we come.

[KNOCKING]

Hello.

How are you?

I'm Dan. Come in.

Come in.

Hi, Dan, I'm Danetha.

Very nice to meet you.

I'm Dan as well.

Oh, there we go.

I love your little pocket square.

Come in. Come in.

All right, thanks for having us.

- OK if we go in here? - Yeah, yeah.

Come in here.

Come to the kitchen.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: Nice place--

so, Daniel--

DANIEL BABIC: Yes.

Tell us your situation in your own words.

Yeah, well, I booked a TV show upon moving

to Los Angeles at 21.

And I was earning hundreds and hundreds

of thousands of dollars.

So, I was being young and dumb, and I lived like a superstar

and a rock star.

So, I spent all that money.

When I was working as a TV host, obviously you treat yourself.

I'm on a TV show, so you start buying

some designer things, $5,000 on a bracelet here,

$8,000 on a watch here.

Everything-- even my friend would say

you don't even think when you buy.

I was like-- no, if I want it, I buy it.

It was the best.

And then, you know, it all came crashing down.

When the show ended, I thought, oh, well great.

I'm going to book another TV show

with the same amount of money, but it didn't happen that way.

Well, let's sit down, and go through the numbers,

and see if we can't help.

Unfortunately, the Daniel situation is not unique to him.

It happens in Los Angeles.

It happens in sports.

It happens in Silicon Valley.

It happens everywhere.

You get a job for big money, and you

think that that's what you're going

to earn the rest of your life.

Things change.

Companies close, job gets eliminated.

People get fired.

All those things can happen to you.

Let's start with how much you made from your first TV host.

About $300,000--

DAN ROSENSWEIG: How much of that is left?

DANIEL BABIC: Well, none.

Let's walk through your expenses.

So, your rent-- how much are you paying per month?

$1,250--

DANETHA DOE: Food?

I think it was $600.

$600?

$600, yeah.

DANETHA DOE: So, that right there is $1,850,

and you're bringing in $2,000.

Yeah.

So, you got a hundred--

And that $2,000 is before taxes.

Before-- yeah, before-- yes.

DANETHA DOE: So, we've just covered rent and food.

Yeah.

And you're already deficit spending.

Yeah, yeah.

DANETHA DOE: When you add in all of Daniel's other expenses

beyond food and rent, he's spending $4,800.

But he's only bringing in $1,700, which means,

every month, instead of paying down his massive debt,

he's adding $3,100 to it.

And that's before interest, so it's

really much worse than that.

Anything else that we should know about in terms

of your monthly spending.

I used to have a car.

The car got totaled, and I didn't--

I only had liability insurance, so I'm

still paying off that car.

So, you have a car payment but no car.

DANIEL BABIC: Yes.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: And how much is that?

DANIEL BABIC: From the top of my head, I can't remember.

Because you seem very smart.

DANIEL BABIC: Yes.

And, my guess is, if you wanted to know the numbers,

you would know them.

So, when we show up, we expect that they've

done at least as much work on their own life

as we have done on their life.

I'm very concerned that Daniel really has yet to accept

how dire his consequences are.

How many of your credit cards have been shut off?

They're all maxed out. They're all maxed out.

And are you making payments on them?

DANIEL BABIC: No.

What's the one with the highest balance?

I think the highest is like $25,000--

I think.

I can't remember, because it's-- there's a lot of numbers.

I made some very big mistakes financially.

I laugh at myself now.

I'm like-- what an idiot.

I'd be at the Beverly Hills Hotel,

and I'd buy everyone's dinner.

So that's $1,000.

It feels to me like, for most of your life,

you've been able to avoid the responsibility

that comes with adulting.

Correct.

If we asked you to pick up your phone

and call your parents, would they be shocked?

Yeah, they would be shocked-- correct.

Well, it's interesting.

I'm actually going to Australia for a week in--

do I have to cancel that?

[MUMBLING]

Doesn't that cost money?

It does, yeah.

Who'd pay for it?

I was actually going [INAUDIBLE]

with my credit card.

I was going to go and surprise my mom for her birthday

for a week.

Yeah, yeah.

I think a nice phone call-- so, you're going to tell them--

maybe that's what you say.

It's like-- you know what?

I wanted to come and surprise you,

but I've got a different surprise,

and it's not going to be pleasant.

What if they say--

you know what?

You're out of control.

Come home.

I don't like living in Australia, and it depresses me.

I'm from a small town.

It is so boring, and it is so--

just not who I am-- and I don't connect with anyone,

because I am so different.

And I just feel like an alien.

Well, let that be motivation for you

and change your spending habits.

DANIEL BABIC: Yeah.

Change the decisions you've made

up to this point to get you into the situation that you're in.

Look, Daniel comes from a very small town

in a beautiful but small country where he felt that it was not

the right environment for him to actually be himself,

and so I empathize with him.

And I want him to achieve that level of happiness and success

that he's looking for.

The good news is you're healthy, and you're smart.

You're making bad decisions.

There's a way out of this.

Yes, yes.

I love that.

Thank you.

It's like-- the other day, I went out and spent

$60 on going out for dinner.

Why?

Because I was like-- you're in so much debt.

What's another $60?

DAN ROSENSWEIG: OK, well--

And I just want to have fun, because my life's

been so serious.

Can I ask you a question?

DANIEL BABIC: Yeah.

Why don't you get a full time job?

I have been applying for TV hosting, yeah.

But there probably aren't a lot of available TV host jobs.

Yeah, correct.

Have you contemplated a career path that would allow you

to grow and to use some of the skills that you've worked on,

some of the education that you've got.

Because, if you're going to hold on and try

to be available for when TV host jobs come up,

there's no certainty around that.

That's the nicest way I can say--

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, yeah.

I'm 24.

I don't think, at 24, giving up on your life dream--

I think that's giving up.

First of all, none of this is about giving up

on your life's dream.

Yeah.

We're talking about-- are you prepared to live a financially

responsible lifestyle that will put you back into a position

to be in control of your own destiny and so that,

if you want to take that risk at another place in your life,

you're more capable to do it.

Because you've got-- dreams and opportunities

come all through your life, but you're in no position

to take them unless you can afford to take that risk.

Yes, correct.

So, do you understand the gravity of the situation?

I do.

There's every reason to believe you

may not be able to stay here.

Yeah, there is.

You know, that's obviously the last option,

and I hope that's not the case.

It may not even be your option.

In other words, you owe this money.

You don't pay it.

It's not like they just let you stay here.

If I don't take the advice of Dan and Danetha,

my future is seriously at stake, because I might be kicked out

of the country by the US government

and never allowed to return.

I might face serious legal action

and will lose complete control of my own life.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: Do you understand

the gravity of the situation?

DANIEL BABIC: I do.

There's every reason to believe you

may not be able to stay here. DANIEL BABIC: Yeah, there is.

You know?

It turns out hanging around waiting to become a TV

host has not worked out well.

You're going to have to delay that.

Delay-- delay--

As we said, we're ending our dream.

We're just postponing the dream.

DANIEL BABIC: Post-- I like that.

Good.

OK?

We're going to give you some homework.

So, journal on your expenses.

Step number one for everyone is to do

a daily financial journal, writing down every dollar

they spend and what they spend it on, because only then

does it become real, and only then can

they do something about it.

On top of that-- to find as many jobs as you can,

working as many hours you can, whatever it takes,

whether it's getting second, a third, a fourth job--

here's a tough one for you.

OK.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: You need to cut your expenses by $3,000

a month.

Time to move out.

Yeah.

What are your options to get out of your lease?

Well, I have to talk to them.

I don't know my options.

You own your life, but you're going

to have to treat it like it's a business with a balance sheet,

and with making tough decisions.

And, actually, you'll feel really good about your future.

It will be a funny story to tell in many years, hopefully.

Yeah, well, let's hope it's not that many years.

DANIEL BABIC: That many years-- yeah.

Daniel has the ability to take full advantage

of the side hustle economy.

We've got so many apps these days like Airbnb.

We've got Handy.

We've got so many opportunities to make money on the side

that it's a great time for Daniel

be able to increase his income without really making a ton

of changes to his spending.

OK, I think we're done here.

Yay!

Thank you so much.

I really appreciate it.

These are common mistakes made by millions of people.

Unfortunately, I'm increasingly worried that Daniel

has yet to do the work to fully embrace his situation.

So, Daniel has racked up a huge amount

of credit card debt.

There are options out there to make

those numbers more manageable.

You can refinance your credit cards into one payment.

Another option to look into is to call

your credit card companies and see if there

is a balance transfer option.

For some more ideas and more options

on how to manage your debt, be sure to check out Grow By Acorns.

As part of my homework, Dan and Danetha

have told me to get some more income coming in.

So, today I've booked a gig cleaning someone's house,

so I'm excited.

Hi, I'm Daniel.

Very nice to meet you.

You too.

Are you a cleaner?

Yes, I am.

Perfect, let me show you around.

Awesome.

So, I want to get the pool clean.

Yep.

Definitely this entire upper deck needs to be swept off.

So, it's a mess.

We have a broom here for you.

Perfect, yeah.

And we got the pool net so we can get all the leaves out.

Just let me know whenever you're done out here,

and I'll show you the pool house.

DANIEL BABIC: OK, perfect. Thank you so much.

Time for the pool house.

I don't really like cleaning, I've discovered.

But, I also don't really like being in debt.

I'm quite weak physically, and I'm

not really used to cleaning.

I have a cleaner, and I'm not very good at it.

Even though I secretly, deep down

hate it and don't want to be here,

I'm remembering that I put myself in this mess,

so I'm the one that has to clean it up, so to speak.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: So, how have you been?

Good-- very good.

We asked you to keep a diary.

Yes.

Did you do that?

DANIEL BABIC: Yes, I did.

Can we see it?

I don't actually have it on here,

because I'm-- it's in my-- it's packed,

because I'm actually flying to Australia tonight, still.

And I thought we agreed we weren't going

to go to Australia, because we didn't

have the money to do that.

I, um-- yeah, well I--

my grandma is very ill, and I tried to get

the money back from the flight.

So, I made the executive decision to still go.

And I think I still need to really talk to my parents

about what's going on, and they agreed.

They said we'll talk about your financials when you get here.

I'm glad to see you're bringing your diary,

but I'd really like you to get it for us here now.

OK, yeah.

It's just packed away, so I--

I would love you to unpack it.

DANIEL BABIC: OK, yeah.

I will actually be happy to wait.

OK, yeah.

It's important that we do this with a process

and with the discipline necessary.

So, how about we wait here, and you--

Yeah, cool.

I'll be like five minutes. DAN ROSENSWEIG: I'll be here.

DANIEL BABIC: Thank you.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: OK.

Keeping a journal, for someone like Daniel,

is absolutely critical.

Writing it down, and actually seeing it

in writing and acknowledging it, is the first step in ending

this vicious cycle of debt.

So, uh--

It's been 15 minutes.

Yeah, I think he's full of crap.

DANIEL BABIC: Hello.

A-ha--

DANIEL BABIC: We can't find my journal,

so I just got a notepad to take notes.

DANETHA DOE: So, you haven't been keeping a journal.

I have been keeping a journal.

We just can't find it.

You said you just packed it.

I did, yeah.

You can even have-- we looked through my stuff

for five minutes, and we just couldn't find it.

But I've definitely been keeping a journal.

I'm not lying.

OK, all evidence suggests that's not the case.

It is true.

If it's not true, I'd rather have you tell me.

Dan, I didn't do it yet.

I want to do it.

I will do it, but I didn't do it yet.

Then we can continue.

I don't know where I [BLEEP] put it.

I don't know where it is.

I haven't seen it for two days.

I thought I packed it last night in my thing,

and I can't find it.

I'm just frustrated, because it's like--

it would almost be easier to just say I'm lying

and I never did it.

It can only be in two places.

You come and look with me, but I cannot find it.

And I've written it.

And I almost feel like--

Let's do it.

I'm ready.

So, I'm pretty sure I packed it, but I'm not sure.

And I've searched my bedroom for over two

hours this morning looking for it, and I couldn't find it.

We presumed it would be in here, because I was going to write

in my journal this morning.

And I just presumed that I packed it in here last night.

OK, well, we'll take our time, because I

believe you that you wrote it.

Yeah, I did.

And that's why-- and I've torn apart my--

DAN ROSENSWEIG: But we want-- look.

I can't find-- did you hear me?

I cannot find it.

You know what?

Yeah.

It's clear to me that you've got

a lot going on in your life.

You've got a lot going on in your head,

and you're not ready for this conversation.

I'm, like, really putting some really good changes, and I

can't find my [BLEEP] journal.

And it's like--

OK, I've lost the journal, but I've

done all these other things.

And I've wanted your help, and I'm li--

and I've listened to you.

You haven't listened to us. DANIEL BABIC: Well, I've--

So far all you're doing is yelling at me.

Yeah, I am.

I'm sorry.

I'm going to continue to yell at you.

Well, then I'm going to go.

Because I have really been listening to your--

the advice that you gave me.

OK, so I'm going to give you one--

I'm going to give you one last chance.

Danetha can stay as long as she would like.

I'm not going to, because lashing out at me

doesn't solve the problem.

I can respect the fact that you're under stress,

and I would be as well.

But raising your voice, yelling, isn't going to get us there.

So, when you get back from this trip,

we're going to try it again.

And it's very important that you have the journal completed.

Yeah.

These conversations and relationships are about trust,

and I just don't trust that Daniel has done the work.

So my hope is, on his trip to Australia,

he will come clean with his parents,

and his parents will give him the necessary kick that he

needs to turn his life around.

The benefit of a journal is that you're

actually seeing what you're spending your money on.

The numbers don't lie.

The reality of your spending history doesn't lie.

So, get honest with yourself and keep that journal.

And then you may find out ways to cut back.

You'll be inspired to make changes, because now

you know where you want to go and the mistakes

that you're making.

And that's the beauty of it.

Maybe you'll find out that you have,

actually, a little bit of money left over to splurge.

My parents don't fully know the situation I'm in,

because I would never want to disappoint them

and let them know.

And I really do believe in taking responsibility

for your own life.

Hey, y'all.

I'm so excited, because I'm currently in Australia

at my childhood home.

Mom, say hello to all my American friends.

Hi, American friends.

How are you?

I'm cooking up some potatoes to go

with the shrimp on the barbie.

I'm feeling so relaxed right now,

and I feel like a massive weight has been lifted off

my shoulders, because I finally just told

my parents about everything that's

going on financially with me.

And I have to say I feel like a bloody idiot.

I feel like a [BLEEP] head, because I

worked myself up so much, and I really

didn't give them enough credit.

Of course they were firm with me,

and they were really disappointed,

but they were mainly just wanting to help.

You know, they said to me you never should

feel embarrassed or ashamed.

We're your parents and, you know, we're here for you.

[KNOCKING]

Hey, guys, how are you?

Hi, Daniel.

- Can we come in? - Yeah, come in.

Yeah.

All right.

Even though Daniel was on a family trip,

it's still important that he did his homework

so we can get a true assessment of his

current financial situation.

You know, I want to be optimistic.

DANIEL BABIC: Yes.

The first two times you and I met didn't go very well.

No.

The third time's a charm.

That's the hope.

How do you think you're doing?

I'm doing much better than I was before,

and I think I've made some great changes, so--

Well, that warms my heart.

And--

You have a heart, Dan?

Yeah, and-- well, we'll find out.

Whether I have a heart or don't have a heart--

It's irrelevant, because it's just business.

Well, it's irrelevant because, if you don't

get your act together, then there

won't be a second act for you.

My goal isn't to get you to like me.

My goal is to help you get out of a situation

which makes you very unhappy.

Yes.

I'd love to see the infamous diary.

I don't like writing things down.

So, no, you didn't do it.

Do you know what?

I-- the diary's not really my thing.

Well, that's pretty clear.

DANIEL BABIC: Yeah, so I fail in this one,

but I get an A plus in everything else.

Well, we don't know that.

Yeah.

Yeah, so let's go through what we had asked you to do.

Yeah.

First and foremost, your monthly income--

and we asked you to look for ways to increase that.

Where are we at with that?

Now it's currently at $2,800.

Great, OK.

So, the next item that we had you do

was we asked you to cut $3,000 out of your spending.

Yeah.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: A month--

A month, yes--

were you able to do that?

DANIEL BABIC: I was able to do that.

So, just so I'm clear, how have you cut spending

when you haven't been here?

Well, I've just changed.

Now I'm very aware.

I was living mindlessly, whereas now

I am very mindful of what I'm--

So walk me through where you cut out the $3,000.

So, I have your expenses listed here.

We have rent at $1,250, and you're still in your place.

Oh, well, actually on Monday I'm moving, so--

To where?

Oh, OK.

I'm actually house sitting for a friend for free for a month.

When we suggested to move out, you said that you couldn't

because you had a lease.

I did.

Even though my name's still under the lease,

I can still actually legally sublease my bedroom.

Right, have you done that?

I've done that.

They're already subleased.

They're already in there.

OK, what's her name?

DANIEL BABIC: Her name is Karen.

I'm encouraged.

I really am encouraged.

I want to believe all this.

DANIEL BABIC: OK.

Let me ask you a question.

Where is she now?

DANIEL BABIC: She's out.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: There must be a sublease.

- Yeah. - Do you have the document?

No, I don't have that yet, because we're

signing it tomorrow.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: Can we call Karen?

Yes, we can. Yes.

Let's try her.

DANIEL BABIC: Yeah, let's give her a call.

Yeah. - OK.

I don't hear anything.

DANIEL BABIC: No, I don't I know why.

It's ringing.

It's got that thing in there.

You know what?

Maybe it'll make this easier, if she's not going to answer--

this would make me feel very comfortable.

How about we go in the room and see her clothes?

Look, with Daniel it never seems to add up.

And he's making a lot of excuses,

and his story keeps changing.

I'm going to get to the bottom of this.

I don't feel comfortable going in her room.

I promised her I wouldn't and, if [INAUDIBLE] shooting today

is that we wouldn't go in her room.

Maybe just open the door.

DANIEL BABIC: It's trash, so I don't feel comfortable--

DAN ROSENSWEIG: There's nobody living in there.

DANIEL BABIC: There is. - How can I--

Do you know--

I'm like-- do not-- do you know?

I think you should just go. Goodbye.

- I agree. - Goodbye.

- Thanks. - Goodbye.

Good luck.

OK, bye.

Sadly for Daniel, he is not interested in solving

his problem yet.

Hopefully one day he will be before it's too late.

Look, if you're going to lie to yourself,

then you can't fix your problem.

So, that's that.

But I'm happy for the-- you know,

they did help me with the advice,

and I've got my parents on-board.

But, yeah, I think I'm very upset.

You control your own future.

You control your own destiny.

It may not be easy, and you're going

to have to make decisions at a young age

that you don't want to have to make.

And you're not going to think it's your fault. In some cases,

it might not be.

In the case of Daniel, it is his fault,

and it's his responsibility.

And he wants to own the responsibility for none of it.

He's just disrespectful.

He's disrespectful of his own life.

He's disrespectful of us.

This is not the kind of person that we

need to spend time helping.

DANETHA DOE: Yeah, he's not taking it seriously.

I didn't think so, and it's not worth our time.

DANETHA DOE: We can't help someone who isn't

willing to help themselves.

Hopefully one day Daniel will go from broke.

To find more resources to empower

your own journey of financial freedom,

visit GoingFromBroke.info.

Hey, it's Danetha.

If you need to increase your income, one way to do that

is to use your previous work experience and skills

to land a side hustle job.

Handy is a fabulous app and platform

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cleaning services to customers.

Handy is your first stop if you need

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You can use Handy to book professionals

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You name it.

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