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Money For Couples with Ramit Sethi

258. "We had $900K. Now we’re $100K in debt"

Money For Couples with Ramit Sethi

Ramit Sethi

Business, Relationships, Society & Culture, Investing

4.6124 Ratings

🗓️ 28 April 2026

⏱️ 96 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Ramit Sethi of I Will Teach You To Be Rich talks to Kristina and Erin, a married couple who have been together for 10 years, raising two children in Toronto. They make good money, but they have no system for their finances, which has led to years of avoidance. They've accumulated $106K in debt and have only two weeks of savings. While Erin, the "stable one," has a full-time job, Kristina’s entrepreneurial journey has been marked by wildly inconsistent income, including a $50K loss on NFTs. They both admit they don’t trust each other or themselves with money. Ramit helps them confront their fears, redefine their relationship with money, and finally start working as a team. In this episode we uncover: • How Kristina lost $50K in NFTs • Why Erin struggles with "spending with emotion" • The cultural component of their Catholic guilt around money • How their childhood experiences influence their money habits • Kristina's fear that her income won't last • The surprising truth about their combined income • Why they avoid tracking their spending • Their identity as "coach collectors" who avoid real change • Ramit's "60-second truth-telling" exercise • Why they need to be aligned as partners to achieve their goals • The true cost of credit card debt • Why their "guilt-free" spending is holding them back • Ramit's radical advice on cutting fixed costs • How they can quickly pay off their debt Chapters: (00:00:00) Introduction (00:02:40) Feeling stupid about money (00:05:23) Unspoken financial conversations (00:08:44) Fear that money won't last (00:09:25) Lack of trust around money (00:15:16) Emotional spending and guilt (00:19:55) The surprising truth about their net worth (00:22:52) The impact of high fixed costs (00:27:00) "We work too hard to feel like we don’t have anything" (00:30:45) Why past coaching failed (00:34:54) Childhood money lessons and scarcity (00:41:46) The impact of Catholic guilt (00:49:30) Goals for debt and savings (00:54:30) Ramit's 60-second truth-telling (00:58:33) Fixing the Conscious Spending Plan (01:07:07) Aligning on a Rich Life together (01:17:35) How Kristina and Erin are going to get on the same page (01:21:40) Why they're afraid to talk about money with their kids This episode is brought to you by: DeleteMe | Get 20% off all consumer plans when you go to https://joindeleteme.com/ramit and use promo code RAMIT at checkout Shopify | Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at https://shopify.com/ramit LMNT | Get a free LMNT Sample Pack with any order at https://drinklmnt.com/RAMIT Superhuman Mail | Turn your inbox into momentum. Sign up at https://superhuman.com/podcast. Connect with Ramit • Get my new book, Money For Couples • Get Money Coaching with Ramit  • Download the Conscious Spending Plan • Listen to my book—now on Audible • Get my New York Times best-selling book • Get my no-numbers journal • Other episodes • Instagram • Twitter • YouTube Have you or your partner fallen for a scam? Maybe gotten bad financial advice from someone who didn't keep their promises? If so, I want to talk. Apply to be on my podcast at https://iwt.com/apply

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

If you or your partner has fallen for a scam, I want to help, especially if you've recently

0:05.5

fallen for an email or text scam, or you've gotten bad financial advice from someone who did

0:10.6

not keep their promises, or maybe you just have not even told your partner because you are

0:15.6

embarrassed. If this is you, I want to talk. Apply for free coaching with me by being on my podcast.

0:22.9

Apply today at IWT.com slash apply. That's Iwt.com slash apply.

0:29.9

I got really deep into NFTs. I went up to like 900 at some point.

0:35.6

$900,000? How much did it go down to? Like, nothing. Didn't recoup. You mentioned that you have $100,000 of debt. What's the plan for this debt? We don't have much. Why we're here? It feels like heavy. I'm a very emotional person. I lead with emotion. So I think sometimes I spend with emotion. There's a lot of shame.

0:56.0

You know, I'm 42.

0:57.0

I shouldn't be having to sit down and have this conversation.

1:00.0

All the things that we say to ourselves.

1:02.0

Sometimes the story we tell ourselves is not necessarily reality.

1:05.0

You find yourself doing that a lot with money?

1:07.0

Yeah, until it's really bad.

1:09.0

If nothing changes in the next five years, what will happen?

1:13.4

We'll probably be divorced.

1:15.7

It feels hard, it feels like we tried.

1:17.4

I think we're stuck in a signal that's not going to end until we end it.

1:21.8

I think I have an allergy, and that allergy is this godforsaken phrase that goes like this.

1:28.3

Investing feels like gambling.

1:31.3

You ever heard this phrase?

1:32.3

Oh my God.

1:33.3

The people who say this do not understand investing.

...

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