Ramsey Solutions financial expert George Kamel gives advice on an episode of his latest series ‘Debt Intervention’ and PEOPLE can exclusively reveal the episode

NEED TO KNOW

• Couple Rich and Ami appear on George Kamel’s new show Debt Intervention to discuss their finances and how they could work on paying down their $85,000 in consumer debt in an exclusive clip from the episode
• The married couple had already reduced their debt from about $123,000 but were still working toward finding ways to put more toward their debt each month
• While working with Kamel on the show, the couple found places to cut expenses, which freed up $2,850 monthly, putting their goals of homeownership and children closer within reach

While a net worth of -$50,000 and $85,000 worth of consumer debt might look like an overwhelming combination on paper, financial expert George Kamel is committed to helping one couple find their way out.

In the first episode of his latest series, Debt Intervention, Kamel sits down with Rich and Ami, who are 40 and 34, respectively, and living in Ami’s mom’s basement.

Together, Kamel and the couple calculate their net worth, including all the debt they have accrued, both consumer debt and loans to pay back, in an attempt to sketch out a path to start paying it down and ultimately investing in their retirement and savings worry-free.

During the episode, Ami, a credit analyst for a steel company, and Rich, a delivery driver, share that they have been married for two years and together for six, but admit that thus far, marriage has “not necessarily” been everything they hoped for, as a result of their rocky financial situation. Ami admits that she had “huge imposter syndrome” when she first started her job, “because I’m like, ‘Who am I to call people and tell them to pay their bills if we can’t even do it?’”

Together, the couple earns about $100,000 per year. Other assets include about $600 in their checking account, about $1,000 in savings, and around $28,000 in a retirement account. Including the couple’s two cars, total assets come to about $38,100. Their credit card debt amounts to about $36,600. Other loans, including student and car loans, total about $48,246. According to Kamel’s EveryDollar calculator, the couple’s net worth totaled about -$46,816.

Despite the shocking number, the pair tell Kamel they had already paid down from about $123,000, where they started a few years ago, after Rich lost his job for a period of time and they moved into Ami’s mom’s basement. Ami, who says she’s been tracking the couple’s spending and debt payments in a spreadsheet, estimates that, if all goes to plan, the pair could become completely debt-free by November 2027.

However, according to Kamel, crunching the numbers using EveryDollar with all of their minimum payments predicts that the couple will be debt-free by November 2031. To achieve Ami’s prediction of being debt-free by the end of 2027, the couple would need to find an extra $7,000 a month to put toward their debts. From there, Kamel breaks down with the couple where they can allocate funds and what they can sacrifice in order to pay as much of their debt down within the year.

“It’s going to take some pretty intense sacrifices to come up with that,” Kamel shares. Together, the couple walks through where they believe they can reasonably subtract some expenses from their monthly spending. Throughout the episode, the pair commit to no more restaurant meals and even cut their Amazon Prime subscription entirely. (“We live right down the street from a warehouse,” jokes Ami, when Kamel asks if they’re willing to give up on same-day delivery.)

After going through their budget with a fine-tooth comb and cutting unnecessary subscriptions and more, the couple “found” an extra $2,850 to put toward their expenses.

“Let’s go back to our debt-free date here,” says Kamel in the episode. “Right now we’re hoping for the end of next year as the goal. Currently, with 2,850 extra going onto the debts, and it looks like we have — let’s see, in our debt payments — we have about 1,863 planned. So if you do the math on that, that’s 1,863 plus all the margin we can get, let’s say 2,850, that’s 4,713 going towards your debts every month.”

He continues, explaining that those numbers mean that in about “13 months, you’ve paid down over 61,000 of your 84,000.”

“So now we’re closing in the gap instead of feeling like this is so far-fetched that we’re going to pay off 85 grand in a year. Now you’re going, ‘It’ll be tight, but we can make this happen.’ And over time, as you free up those payments, you’re going to get a little bit more motivation.”

With Kamel, the couple discusses their goals for paying down their debt as soon as possible. “You guys need to keep front and center the reasons why you’re doing this, and you gave me several. We don’t want to live in mom’s basement. We want to have kids one day. We want to own a home one day. We want to be able to send our dogs to doggy daycare and have it not be detrimental to our financial future. All of that matters. All of it, you might prioritize it, but all of that matters.”

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