272. "We own two houses, but can’t afford dinner out"
August 4, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readA couple making $296,000 a year told Ramit Sethi they couldn’t afford to eat out. Nicole and Drew, both 39 and 40, own homes in two different states—Southern California and Maui—and were expecting a baby in two weeks. They had applied to the show in a state of panic, but when Sethi pulled up their numbers, the problem was not a lack of money. It was that 85% of their income was going to fixed costs, meaning they were spending more than they earned every month.
Two houses, two states, one fragile plan
Nicole is a psychology professor with a pension and a house in Southern California. Drew is a life coach and grad student who co-owns a house in Maui with a friend, renting out parts of it for income. The couple splits their time roughly 50-50 between the two locations, but the arrangement has become financially unsustainable. Their combined housing costs—mortgages, utilities, insurance, and maintenance—total $10,000 per month, or 40.5% of their gross income. Sethi’s general guideline is to keep housing under 28-33% of income, even in high-cost areas. At 40.5%, and with Drew’s actual net income lower than initially reported (because taxes were missing from the spreadsheet), the couple’s fixed costs ballooned to 85%. They were in the red every month.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:30) **The Core Problem: Two Houses, No Breathing Room** - Nicole and Drew, expecting a baby in two weeks, say their two homes are consuming all their money and preventing them from doing anything else.
- 2 (02:36) **The Financial Snapshot: High Income, Crushing Fixed Costs** - Ramit pulls up their Conscious Spending Plan, revealing a $296,000 income, a $516,000 net worth, but a dangerously high 77% fixed cost ratio.
- 3 (04:41) **The Bi-Coastal Lifestyle: Two Homes, Two Communities** - The couple explains their living situation, owning a home in Southern California and a 50% share of a rental property in Maui, splitting their time roughly 50-50.
- 4 (07:28) **The Origin of the House Purchase: An Ultimatum and a Timeline** - Nicole describes being a frugal professor living with roommates, but Drew's need for privacy forced a rushed home purchase that derailed her savings plan.
- 5 (13:14) **Money Conflict Under the Tree: The Stress of Housing and School** - Drew recalls a tense conversation about housing and tuition that made her want to "hit the eject button," highlighting their different approaches to numbers.
- 6 (21:23) **The Shared Vision: Community, Spaciousness, and a Baby** - The couple articulates a rich life centered on community, good food, and work-life balance, but they haven't modeled how their new baby fits into the financial picture.
- 7 (25:00) **Digging into the Numbers: The CSP Reveals the Truth** - They review their Conscious Spending Plan, discovering they make nearly $100,000 more per year than Drew thought, yet it doesn't solve their problem because their fixed costs are so high.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Ramit Sethi of I Will Teach You To Be Rich speaks with Nicole and Drew, 39 and 40, who are expecting their first child in just two weeks. They split their time between Southern California and Maui, where they each own a home. Nicole bought her house after Drew made it clear that continuing to stay with roommates was not an option.
Today, they earn $296,700 a year, own $1.25 million in assets, and have a net worth of more than $500,000. But their two homes consume over 40% of their income, and once their numbers are corrected, their fixed costs rise to 85%. Despite their high income, they feel unable to eat out, attend concerts, or enjoy the life they have worked to build.
Nicole is a psychology professor who plans everything down to the dollar and worries about having enough savings. Drew is a life coach and therapist-in-training who admits that she often goes by “vibes” and trusts that things will work out. With a baby arriving and their savings falling, they must decide whether Drew can realistically double her income or whether they need to sell the Maui house.
In this episode, we uncover:
• Why Nicole bought a house within months of Drew’s housing non-negotiable
• How they ended up supporting two homes in two different states
• Why earning nearly $297,000 still leaves them feeling financially trapped
• Their $1.25 million in assets and nearly $1 million of debt
• Why their fixed costs jumped from 77% to 85%
• How their two homes consume more than 40% of their income
• Nicole’s numbers-first approach and Drew’s habit of going by “vibes”
• How grad school, flooding, and a $29,000 sewer repair drained their savings
• Why the baby may not increase their expenses as much as expected• How Nicole’s sabbatical gives them a temporary financial window
• Why their Maui house is co-owned without a clear written agreement
• Whether Drew can realistically double her income after graduating
• Why depending on one future income increase is a major financial risk• How selling the Maui house could release around $150,000
• Why selling could reduce their fixed costs to approximately 65%
• How they could keep Maui in their lives without owning property there
• How they can build a plan that does not require everything to go perfectly
• Why “spaciousness” becomes the center of their new Rich Life vision
• The decision Ramit believes they need to make before their savings fall further
Chapters
(00:00:00) Introduction
(00:03:09) Two homes in two different states
(00:07:03) Nicole kept her housing costs at just 12%
(00:08:18) Drew’s housing non-negotiable changed everything
(00:14:43) Nicole tracks the numbers, Drew goes by “vibes”
(00:21:26) What does their Rich Life actually look like?
(00:24:47) Ramit reviews thei
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