Caleb Hammer on YouTube

[theninthwall]

I'm not sure if there is anyone else here who watches the Caleb Hammer YouTube channel. He puts up videos where he interviews people from around his hometown on their financial circumstances -- mostly people with a large amount of debt.
I'm not sure most of the people here will learn anything (hence why I'm posting in this sub-forum), but it does make for interesting anti-mustachian viewing. There are certainly some people who have just bad circumstances, but others are at the end of many, many bad decisions.
The thumbnails are a little dramatic (as per most of YouTube) but the content is good.

https://www.youtube.com/@CalebHammer/featured

[JAYSLOL]

I'm not sure if there is anyone else here who watches the Caleb Hammer YouTube channel. He puts up videos where he interviews people from around his hometown on their financial circumstances -- mostly people with a large amount of debt.
I'm not sure most of the people here will learn anything (hence why I'm posting in this sub-forum), but it does make for interesting anti-mustachian viewing. There are certainly some people who have just bad circumstances, but others are at the end of many, many bad decisions.
The thumbnails are a little dramatic (as per most of YouTube) but the content is good.

https://www.youtube.com/@CalebHammer/featured

I love those videos, I like to listen to them while I’m working on stuff around the house, I actually posted a link to one of them on here already, was a guy with crazy debt on literally everything you could imagine.  One of the ones that stands out recently was a girl who had really bad credit card and car debt spending more than she earned, who sold (spiritual) life advice etc as a job.  Yikes.  Some of them are pretty put together, but most are entertaining train wrecks lol

[theninthwall]

The spiritual coach was wild. When he told her how much tax she would have to pay on her income you could tell she had never even considered it. And the car...she said she had a $30k loan for a 2020 Rav 4 she bought four months ago and I thought, "Well, that's not exactly the cheapest car you could buy, but it's not too bad." Then she goes on to explain there was a $15k down payment so she actually paid $45k for a two year old Rav 4....ouch.

[JAYSLOL]

The spiritual coach was wild. When he told her how much tax she would have to pay on her income you could tell she had never even considered it. And the car...she said she had a $30k loan for a 2020 Rav 4 she bought four months ago and I thought, "Well, that's not exactly the cheapest car you could buy, but it's not too bad." Then she goes on to explain there was a $15k down payment so she actually paid $45k for a two year old Rav 4....ouch.

Yeah, that hurt my brain about the car down payment, and I had forgotten about the tax thing, double-yikes!

[FIREisCOOL]

Wow thank you for suggesting this channel!  I had never seen it before but watch other financial channels.  This stuff is pure gold.  I have watched two so far and I am hooked!

[LD_TAndK]

Interesting. It's facepunches for zoomers.

The style is not for me but it's great he's making financial responsibility entertaining for people that might not otherwise think about it.

[Chris Pascale]

The featured one on his home page is interesting. The guy is 19, the title is that he's a leech, but the kid is fairly introspective, and said that talking to Caleb helped him see he's letting time slip by with no plan.

[sonofsven]

I guess his channel is fine if you want to just watch and gloat over how the anti-mustachians live. He gets all riled up at their spending but so far I haven't seen an equal response from any of the clients. Most of them just have that weird eye-roll that I associate with cluelessness and I don't see that it improves after his coaching. Am I wrong?

I'd describe the show a little differently.
It's more of a warning/public service on how not to handle money.
Of course the folks on the show are going to feel exposed, shocked, or humiliated, and they may or may not change their behavior, but to a viewer who sits through an entire episode, and then watches even more episodes, how can the message not start to sink in?
I think he's having a pretty big positive impact.
I've watched a number of episodes and I can't really fault his advice; it's a more realistic and less extreme version of Dave Ramsey.
There's been a few episodes lately where folks have started to clean up their act just in the last few months and said their motivation was seeing Caleb's show.

[JAYSLOL]

I'd describe the show a little differently.
It's more of a warning/public service on how not to handle money.
Of course the folks on the show are going to feel exposed, shocked, or humiliated, and they may or may not change their behavior, but to a viewer who sits through an entire episode, and then watches even more episodes, how can the message not start to sink in?
I think he's having a pretty big positive impact.
I've watched a number of episodes and I can't really fault his advice; it's a more realistic and less extreme version of Dave Ramsey.
There's been a few episodes lately where folks have started to clean up their act just in the last few months and said their motivation was seeing Caleb's show.

You're right, it almost doesn't matter if the subject of any particular video takes the advice. I think he has almost 100k followers, surely someone watching is getting the message. Thanks for re-framing that for me, I guess I was having a cranky moment.

He skyrocketed to 500k in the last few months, looks like a crazy ride, other financial personalities including the Ramsey team have noticed and made videos about his audits

[wonkette]

This is a fun channel if you like schadenfreude, especially if you share my dislike of Dave Ramsey. It kind of reminds me of watching Suze Orman 15+ years ago, I loved hearing her DENY people from buying boats of whatever bullshit. My favorite Hammer videos are the ones with more "new economy" forms of employment, the spiritual coach, the e girl, there have been several people on 1099s. They *never* consider taxes, it is a meme in the comments now that the IRS is watching this channel.

My main criticism is I don't like how he recommends app based "hustling" like Uber Eats to get out of debt for everyone. Besides the tax issues, often the people have other skills. There was a grad student who had CAD experience and Caleb told him to start doing Uber Eats to pay off credit cards when I know they could get contract work fairly easily.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

This is a fun channel if you like schadenfreude, especially if you share my dislike of Dave Ramsey. It kind of reminds me of watching Suze Orman 15+ years ago, I loved hearing her DENY people from buying boats of whatever bullshit. My favorite Hammer videos are the ones with more "new economy" forms of employment, the spiritual coach, the e girl, there have been several people on 1099s. They *never* consider taxes, it is a meme in the comments now that the IRS is watching this channel.

My main criticism is I don't like how he recommends app based "hustling" like Uber Eats to get out of debt for everyone. Besides the tax issues, often the people have other skills. There was a grad student who had CAD experience and Caleb told him to start doing Uber Eats to pay off credit cards when I know they could get contract work fairly easily.

I checked out Caleb Hammer after reading some comments about him here. For the most part it's a show that helps people to feel superior. Someone once described him as the Jerry Springer of personal finance. I like his approach in terms of breaking down different aspects of a person's financial picture and quantitatively evaluating their choices. The squeaking? Entertaining, but a little bit goes a long way.

The bit with the Uber Eats suggestion, instead of the side hustle idea, could potentially be a way to work around a non-compete or exclusivity clause in the employee's employment agreement. Depending on where the employee is, local laws can allow employers to be very controlling and dictatorial about how the employee spends his or her off-work time.

[JAYSLOL]

This is a fun channel if you like schadenfreude, especially if you share my dislike of Dave Ramsey. It kind of reminds me of watching Suze Orman 15+ years ago, I loved hearing her DENY people from buying boats of whatever bullshit. My favorite Hammer videos are the ones with more "new economy" forms of employment, the spiritual coach, the e girl, there have been several people on 1099s. They *never* consider taxes, it is a meme in the comments now that the IRS is watching this channel.

My main criticism is I don't like how he recommends app based "hustling" like Uber Eats to get out of debt for everyone. Besides the tax issues, often the people have other skills. There was a grad student who had CAD experience and Caleb told him to start doing Uber Eats to pay off credit cards when I know they could get contract work fairly easily.

I checked out Caleb Hammer after reading some comments about him here. For the most part it's a show that helps people to feel superior. Someone once described him as the Jerry Springer of personal finance. I like his approach in terms of breaking down different aspects of a person's financial picture and quantitatively evaluating their choices. The squeaking? Entertaining, but a little bit goes a long way.

The bit with the Uber Eats suggestion, instead of the side hustle idea, could potentially be a way to work around a non-compete or exclusivity clause in the employee's employment agreement. Depending on where the employee is, local laws can allow employers to be very controlling and dictatorial about how the employee spends his or her off-work time.

For me, it’s not so much feeling superior, but an entertaining reminder of why I can’t be impulsive and disorganized with my money.  It’s hard enough going through life without actively sabotaging my own finances through bad choices, so I can only imagine how hard things are for people that do.  I genuinely feel bad for a lot of the guests (except for a few that were hard to stand), and while I am in a better position financially than most of them, I have my own struggles in life, and it’s easy to relate to a lot of them in that sense.

[gdborton]

I like him a lot.

I agree with the sentiment that there isn't as much to learn beyond basics, and have said as much in his subreddit.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CalebHammer/comments/14tc1vi/fire/

To the comment about the show being about feeling superior, I don't think so. The format of the show is basically auditing bad habits and providing a plan to get out of trouble. He's had interviews w/ more successful people, but it's difficult to cut together an entire episode as there isn't as much to go over.

He's stated that he's exploring other shows that he'll place on a separate channel. 🤞🏻 he'll have a much wider variety in the future.

[merryt]

What is the point if  Antimustachian Wall of Shame and Comedy OTHER then about feeling superior to otherpeople?

[getsorted]

What is the point if  Antimustachian Wall of Shame and Comedy OTHER then about feeling superior to otherpeople?

Sometimes it's just to have somewhere to vent your shock and horror to people who will actually understand. Like, I've been listening to a comedy audiobook where the author talks about her financial vices a lot, and I'm so full of "OH MY GOD," and I have nowhere to put it!

[TheGrimSqueaker]

I've gotten hooked on his show as a direct result of this thread. Not for the audit perspective quite as much as for the compassionate strategies he uses when addressing his guests' decision making patterns. As a person who sometimes gives financial advice to others (at their request) I do benefit from seeing it done well.

[gdborton]

for the compassionate strategies he uses when addressing his guests' decision making patterns

DEATH! DEATH DEBT! DEATH!!!!!!

[TheGrimSqueaker]

for the compassionate strategies he uses when addressing his guests' decision making patterns

DEATH! DEATH DEBT! DEATH!!!!!!

And the squeak. I've been trying to imitate his squeak but mine is still too grim.

[Pushkina2]

What happened to his episodes being available in podcast form?

[lucenzo11]

Heard him talking recently about how they get 30-40 submissions a day with people who want to go on the show so almost everyone that goes on there is doing it because they want to get called out on their BS. Unfortunately, some are on there just to get their face on youtube, but he's tried to screen those people out. He likes to diversify his guests but he also genuinely cares about his guests and wants them to get out of financial trouble which is why it trends towards those in bad situations.

He also said that he's given financial assistance to some of his guests. One guy was homeless and he said he gave him money for a security deposit on an apartment and was going to buy him a fridge so he could store fresh food and wouldn't go get fast food all the time.  At first I thought he was a big jerk but after watching more of him, I do think he actually cares and now that he's really raking in the money, he is trying to give back too.

One more comment, some people have called him out for suggesting Uber Eats. While I agree that most people have some additional skill that could get the a better side hustle, I think a lot of the time he suggests someone go find supplemental income and they make a lame excuse or say that can't find work. So his default has developed into something that is just so incredibly easy to do, that even if it doesn't generate much money, it's not something that most guests can argue against.

[theninthwall]

His recent episode on himself was actually pretty cool. It was interesting to see he wasn’t invulnerable to making mistakes of his own, like an expensive house after his income had only been higher for a short time.
As someone who got married before the online dating thing began, it was also interesting to watch his struggles with dating apps. Is there a channel that does dating app profile audits like Caleb does financial audits?

[JAYSLOL]

Anyone been watching the more recent episodes?  Absolutely nuts, some of the wildest financial mismanagement I could ever dream of lately.  The guy in the episode from today had 4 cars, 3 of which he had blown the engines of by modifying them and racing… and they were all financed at 13-18% interest! 

[TheGrimSqueaker]

Anyone been watching the more recent episodes?  Absolutely nuts, some of the wildest financial mismanagement I could ever dream of lately.  The guy in the episode from today had 4 cars, 3 of which he had blown the engines of by modifying them and racing… and they were all financed at 13-18% interest!

It's as though Caleb and his team have been picking the most self-destructive people they could possibly find. Some of them, I'm certain, have one or more mental illnesses. It's become such a freak show, I can't make it through an episode anymore.

[JAYSLOL]

Anyone been watching the more recent episodes?  Absolutely nuts, some of the wildest financial mismanagement I could ever dream of lately.  The guy in the episode from today had 4 cars, 3 of which he had blown the engines of by modifying them and racing… and they were all financed at 13-18% interest!

It's as though Caleb and his team have been picking the most self-destructive people they could possibly find. Some of them, I'm certain, have one or more mental illnesses. It's become such a freak show, I can't make it through an episode anymore.

Yeah, he’s said that he tries ti help the people that really need it the most, and with a bigger audience, he’s getting more and more terrible case studies to pick from.  But seriously, a lot of these people really do need a different type of professional help.  I’m still there for the train wrecks, but I do wish he’d have on some people that actually live on the same planet as the rest of us. 

[theninthwall]

I'm coming back to this review now as the channel seems to be taking a direction that feels a bit...mean. Lately a lot of the guests seem to have some kind of borderline mental issues. That makes them more outlandish which is good for the channel's views but also it feels like a lot of the original spirit has been lost. There's an element of 'punching down' that makes me uncomfortable with the videos lately. Anyone else have thoughts?

[Dave1442397]

I'm coming back to this review now as the channel seems to be taking a direction that feels a bit...mean. Lately a lot of the guests seem to have some kind of borderline mental issues. That makes them more outlandish which is good for the channel's views but also it feels like a lot of the original spirit has been lost. There's an element of 'punching down' that makes me uncomfortable with the videos lately. Anyone else have thoughts?

He actually discussed this with Graham Stephan on a recent podcast. He said everything he discusses with a guest is planned in advance - no surprises. He said many guests actually ask him to be mean to them, for whatever reason. He also tries to screen out the complete whack jobs. All potential guests are vetted by his production team before he ever sees them.

I've only ever watched a few episodes myself, so haven't noticed any particular trends.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

I'm coming back to this review now as the channel seems to be taking a direction that feels a bit...mean. Lately a lot of the guests seem to have some kind of borderline mental issues. That makes them more outlandish which is good for the channel's views but also it feels like a lot of the original spirit has been lost. There's an element of 'punching down' that makes me uncomfortable with the videos lately. Anyone else have thoughts?

Yeah, I stopped watching a month or two ago. It was too much like financial Jerry Springer or Maury Povich. There's someone who's self-destructing financially, in urgent need of help, and they're held up as a laughingstock.

I hear Caleb recognized mental health issues as a very common theme, so much so that he's looking at ways to incorporate psychological and psychiatric help for some of those folks.

[JAYSLOL]

I'm coming back to this review now as the channel seems to be taking a direction that feels a bit...mean. Lately a lot of the guests seem to have some kind of borderline mental issues. That makes them more outlandish which is good for the channel's views but also it feels like a lot of the original spirit has been lost. There's an element of 'punching down' that makes me uncomfortable with the videos lately. Anyone else have thoughts?

Yeah, I’ve been disappointed with a lot of the guest choices lately.  I get wanting to have people on that actually need help, but there’s a point where if people are in such a bad spot because they are so messed in the head, a financial audit is no help anyway.  I have some hope that the show can correct itself and have more normal people that just suck at money. 

[Sugaree]

My kid has recently discovered his show.  He says that some of the guests' decisions "gives his brains the hurts" so at least he gets it.  But the kid has also been subjected to "Mommy Money Classes" for awhile now and has a decent grasp on things for a kid his age.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

I've just discovered Caleb Hammer's second YouTube channel, which is a FIRE-friendly animated series that illustrate important financial principles. I like it a lot better than the financial audits.

Yes, the titles are just as click-baity as his main channel, but the animated shorts feature the kind of discussions people should be having. I sent the channel link to some younger people I know because this is an example of good viewing. It introduces things like the Safe Withdrawal Rate, which aren't discussed much in mainstream money management classes (those usually focus on rudiments like balancing a checking account).

[zolotiyeruki]

I've just discovered Caleb Hammer's second YouTube channel, which is a FIRE-friendly animated series that illustrate important financial principles. I like it a lot better than the financial audits.

Can you post a link to it?  I've got some kids who would benefit from a more kid-friendly representation of FIRE concepts.

[JAYSLOL]

My kid has recently discovered his show.  He says that some of the guests' decisions "gives his brains the hurts" so at least he gets it.  But the kid has also been subjected to "Mommy Money Classes" for awhile now and has a decent grasp on things for a kid his age.

That is by far the most accurate way to describe how I feel listening to the people that come on his show, nice job, kid

[TheGrimSqueaker]

I've just discovered Caleb Hammer's second YouTube channel, which is a FIRE-friendly animated series that illustrate important financial principles. I like it a lot better than the financial audits.

Can you post a link to it?  I've got some kids who would benefit from a more kid-friendly representation of FIRE concepts.

https://www.youtube.com/@centsmakesmoney

The titles are still click-baity but the content is good.

[freeree]

I'm coming back to this review now as the channel seems to be taking a direction that feels a bit...mean. Lately a lot of the guests seem to have some kind of borderline mental issues. That makes them more outlandish which is good for the channel's views but also it feels like a lot of the original spirit has been lost. There's an element of 'punching down' that makes me uncomfortable with the videos lately. Anyone else have thoughts?

I've watched a few of the earlier episodes in which Caleb genuinely seemed interested in helping his guest "see the financial light." Nowadays I  occasionally watch snippets of the show, but not the whole episode since it's become increasingly rote. If you ask me, Caleb seems to have lost his joy de vivre. Perhaps his path to attain wealth has lost its allure but now he's locked in - larger payroll, increased responsibilities, larger house, etc etc

[getsorted]

This seems like a good place to ask -- a friend asked me for recommendations for beginner financial advice videos or blogs that "don't make you feel like shit." I honestly couldn't think of any. Suggestions? 

[reeshau]

This seems like a good place to ask -- a friend asked me for recommendations for beginner financial advice videos or blogs that "don't make you feel like shit." I honestly couldn't think of any. Suggestions?

When I was in Ireland, I really came to respect the content of Eoin McGee.  Originally as a radio News guest and then with his own show, How To Be Good With Money, he helped people in all kinds of situations, being direct without being patronizing.  He now has a video / podcast called Understanding Money with Eoin McGee:  https://youtu.be/lyrzqPOvtEk

The specifics and jargon will be Irish, but the ideas of spending less than you earn, saving for emergencies and retirement, etc. are universal.  Also good are his shorts with "salt and pepper."

Also, while most here espouse index investing, with good reason, if your friend wants to dive into individual stock investing, there is BetterInvesting, a 70-year-old, nonprofit investment education organization.  In general terms, they follow a GARP philosophy, and have a 2-page form (now electronic, of course) to guide novice and expert investors through an investment decision.  Their YouTube channel has a lot of content, including a lot for beginners:  https://youtube.com/@BetterInvesting

[TheGrimSqueaker]

I'm coming back to this review now as the channel seems to be taking a direction that feels a bit...mean. Lately a lot of the guests seem to have some kind of borderline mental issues. That makes them more outlandish which is good for the channel's views but also it feels like a lot of the original spirit has been lost. There's an element of 'punching down' that makes me uncomfortable with the videos lately. Anyone else have thoughts?

I've watched a few of the earlier episodes in which Caleb genuinely seemed interested in helping his guest "see the financial light." Nowadays I  occasionally watch snippets of the show, but not the whole episode since it's become increasingly rote. If you ask me, Caleb seems to have lost his joy de vivre. Perhaps his path to attain wealth has lost its allure but now he's locked in - larger payroll, increased responsibilities, larger house, etc etc

I too am losing interest since the emphasis is on criticizing the guest. Also, the kind of guest who makes it on the show tends to be an idiot.

His new "money makes cents" channel isn't mean-spirited, but he's waffling back and forth between introductory content and more advanced content. I don't think he's hit his stride yet on that channel. The bubble-popping sound, which is used relentlessly in every episode, drives me up the wall. I doubt he will keep many subscribers as long as he keeps using that. He also needs to focus better on specific topics, if financial education is his goal.

[HandleBarred]

I had stopped watching very often as I felt it had gotten meaner and it was just Caleb yelling at desperate clueless people, but I completely stopped since the interview with the woman with five kids. When he said to her "Well, we know you like to get fucked. Because you have five kids", I was done. She has also said since that she didn't agree to the thumbnails or a good bit of what was in the episode.

As someone who is Irish I'll echo the Eoin McGee recommendation above. It featured him giving financial advise to people who needed help but they were extreme cases. It was generally people who had an overdraft, or no savings, or had a personal loan for 10k.  Nothing like I owe 25k on credit cards and I've just bought a boat extremes you see in some YouTube shows.

It is very Irish advise for investing though, primarily due to our tax laws, so that will be less useful for an international audience.

He has two books as well and now has a podcast series which does include interviews and advice to ordinary people, but less going to their finances directly.

[theninthwall]

Ramit Sethi has moved to a studio format now. He had some low key shade for Caleb on his latest episode, and I’ve got to agree with him. Caleb is algorithm chasing without any concern for his guests lately.

[2Birds1Stone]

This seems like a good place to ask -- a friend asked me for recommendations for beginner financial advice videos or blogs that "don't make you feel like shit." I honestly couldn't think of any. Suggestions?

I don't think Calebs roasts are a good starting point for foundational stuff, here's a much better (IMHO) channel: https://www.youtube.com/@TwoCentsPBS

[theninthwall]

So I've gone full circle and finally unsubscribed. Just got sick of the porn-ified titles and Jerry Springer-style presentation the channel evolved into.

[merryt]

So I've gone full circle and finally unsubscribed. Just got sick of the porn-ified titles and Jerry Springer-style presentation the channel evolved into.

Agreed, I probably didn't see how bad it was before, but it is awful for everyone involved.

[roomtempmayo]

This is a fun channel if you like schadenfreude, especially if you share my dislike of Dave Ramsey.

I recently learned that my wife and several of her friends at work (lawyers, 35-45) listen to Caleb Hammer and talk about him.  I think there's a certain social dynamic like reality TV had going 15+ years ago: did you see?!

I suspect there may also be a certain Jerry Springer dynamic at work, since most of her friends live in million+ dollar houses and spend pretty freely.  Maybe a bit of the yeah, I make some bad choices, but I'm not as screwed up as those people dynamic.

And none of them would sit through an episode of Dave Ramsey.  The know-it-all exurban Boomer dad with a goatee who owns an HVAC company vibe is just way too strong with him.

[sonofsven]

So I've gone full circle and finally unsubscribed. Just got sick of the porn-ified titles and Jerry Springer-style presentation the channel evolved into.

Same here!
I watch a lot of YouTube,  but when they devolve into gross clickbait,  I move on.

[JAYSLOL]

I’ve been skipping some of the episodes lately with the less-than-likeable guests and crazy drama, because it’s all becoming a bit much, but I did make an exception today for the return of Taquito Man out of morbid curiosity, and boy was it an unhinged clusterfuck of drama and mental illness.

[41_swish]

I used to watch his channel quite a bit, but after watching religiously for a year all the videos started to blur together. I still watch the ones that catch my attention, but I don't watch them as much as I used to.

[TheGrimSqueaker]

It stinks that he went from being a positive content creator to a destructive one within only a year. This is what comes from chasing clicks.