30-year-old Brooklynite Christian makes a good salary: After taxes, he takes home around $3,500 a month. But even though he shares a three-bedroom apartment, contributing $1,300 toward rent and utilities, he can't quite make ends meet — because he's gotten in the habit of spending $1,100 a month on takeout food and more on subway cards and Uber rides, bar tabs, dates and so on.
Unfortunately, a Seamless addiction is only one of his problems.
Christian, who for these purposes is going only by his first name, is the subject of CNBC Make It's new digital series "Saved," starring CNBC anchor Dom Chu and comedian Carly Ann Filbin. He owes $93,000 in student loans, which he's been avoiding for the last decade. Because he hasn't started making payments, his credit score is a low 540.
Ideally, he wants to move out on his own in the next few years, but right now he's stuck, because a good-to-excellent credit score is key when it comes to unlocking real estate in the Big Apple.
The 30-year-old told CNBC he is feeling a little helpless. He has to get out of the cycle, and he knows he has potential but doesn't know how to change.
After all, he's not broke, he's just bad with money. Luckily, he wants to improve.
Enter Chu and Filbin. With a little tough love and a lot of wisdom, the hosts of "Saved" are able to help Christian overhaul his expenses and create a budget that will help him achieve his goals.
The big red flag, Filbin and Chu agree, is the takeout bills.
Christian, like many young city dwellers, doesn't cook. He buys three meals a day, spending about $40 a day and $1,100 a month. When he explains what he's buying, it becomes clear that the meals — chicken and quinoa, pasta — aren't that advanced. He could be cooking for a fraction of the price.
"Saved" looks at what it takes to overhaul the millennial's personal finances and help him build good habits that yield big savings so he can pay down his student loan debt and start working toward living on his own.
Want to see what happens next? Here's the second installment of "Saved"!
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