Netflix Reunion with Drew—Where Are They Now?

I was tired of living the way I was living, with, like, the secrets, I guess, and the guilt. I went to bed stressed. I woke up stressed. During the day, I was stressed thinking about money. That has all definitely changed. Tell me for the better. By Thursday, I'll have zero credit card debt.

What is that gonna mean for you?

The world is the first time I've said it, like, out loud, period, to anyone. If, like, not even, like, my therapist, I've talked about with that much. But I'm doing it.

You're doing it.

Finally. You know, we're here, we're queer, Ain't got nothing to fear.

Welcome to my special update with Drew from my Netflix show, How to Get Rich. You're gonna find out what has changed since he appeared on the show. So if you haven't already finished it, please go do that right now. Now, all I knew about Drew when I met him was his name, and I had seen his financials. I didn't know anything else. And the producers had me show up in front of a bar, and I was waiting outside. I heard the music playing. I said, okay, cool.

I walk inside.

There's a bunch of people sitting around having drinks.

Cool.

I said, this is a party bar. Great. Let's do it. But I didn't know who Drew was. I didn't know anything. Then I heard the music get really loud. Then I saw the dancers come out. I realized, okay, cool, this is a drag bar. But then I realized Drew was one of the dancers. So today you get to find out what has changed since Drew and I talked on the show.

Let's watch.

It's been a minute. Almost. Oh, my God, Almost here.

I have so many questions. I follow you on social, but I also want to know, like, the intricacies financial. What was your experience like working together? I want to know it all.

Well, I'm sitting in my condo right now in Chicago. Still at the same job. Well, because I think when we were working together, I had switched. I was getting ready to switch. Yep. So I'm still at the same place that that happened. Doing great, still loving you, still busy, still making that money, honey. Love it. So there's that. You know, we're almost not a year being married. Love it. Yeah. 15th of April will be our one year anniversary.

Amazing.

They're kind of a bunch of the same old, same old, but also very much not like in the head, you know, especially like, you know, with talking to Mikey about money or planning things and saving things. That has all definitely changed. Tell me for the better yeah. So. And just we will want. I'm making more money, so that's. That always helps. Yeah. So, like, the biggest thing I've been working on this last year, which, you know, I've been working on keeping you up to, is getting rid of that credit card debt. Because I think that's kind of just the biggest. The biggest one, the easiest one to fix right away, especially with, you know, just the discussing interest rates. Yeah. So it's kind of like, let's get this shit going. I thought we met next week. So I was going to be like, oh, it's going to be gone. But are you ready for it?

I'm ready.

Thursday. By Thursday, I'll have zero credit card debt. Yes. My man.

That is amazing.

Yeah.

Wait.

Okay. It's really fucking cool.

Let's. Let's talk about the importance of this, because when we met, that credit card debt was a huge secret. It was like, between you and Mikey, and it was causing a lot of. You guys were getting married. It was like a huge problem. And then you paid it off. 200 bucks a week. So 800 bucks a month you put towards that credit card debt.

Oh, my God.

That's insane.

Congratulations.

What does it feel like to see the end coming by Thursday?

Really good. Like, it's proud. I'm really, really proud of myself for, like, buckling down.

What is that going to mean for you?

The world?

It's like the credit card debt became part of your mission, part of your identity.

Yeah.

And when you make it that it becomes a lot easier to put money towards it.

I was like, okay, credit cards, we're not talking anymore. You know, we're on a break. And so I would just, like, make the payment. So I wasn't really paying attention to the balance so much because I knew it wasn't going up. I knew it was only going down. And then one day I saw, because I think the card was left at like 500. And, you know, I had a good shift or a good week. And I was like, I'm knocking this out. I'm like, you know, let's just get her done and put her away.

That's awesome. What does Mikey say about it?

Mikey's really, obviously really excited. Really proud, of course, with him. Because he is, you know, type A always thinking. He's like, okay, great. So next we can work on this.

He wants to go to the next, which is like, me. I'm like, okay, great. What's next? And then a lot of people, I've learned, need to celebrate and take a second and say, like, oh, my God, look at what I accomplished.

I feel like I'm more part of the team now, which, you know, was not how I felt when we first met.

It's no surprise that you have absolutely crushed that debt. That's awesome.

Thanks.

One thing you notice about people who make huge changes with their life is that they confront it head on. It's quite amazing. You can make dramatic changes in your life when it comes to money, fitness, relationships within six months. But you'll notice that the people who do this tend to go all in. And that's exactly what Drew did. Now, of course, we're not all ready to do that. That's fine. There are parts of my life that I'm not going all in on, but I just want you to know that it is indeed possible.

I think the biggest thing that I'm stuck on, but I've also done the most work on, I think, and taken the most from our work together, is the job search and the job hunt and just really, like, getting out of the industry. Like, yeah, it's great that I'm making more money in the industry, but I don't want to be a server for the rest of my life.

Yeah, that's smart. That's smart to know when you've reached a limit in a certain industry and you're like, look, I could spend the next 10 years trying to eke out an extra 10% or I can just switch industries. So what's the. What's the progress on that? Have you been applying?

I've been applying. You should see. I should send it to you. My resume is, like, night and day.

That's exactly what you should do. Awesome job sticking with it.

The other thing I've used and twisted, I keep saying, adapted, adapted, adapted, adapted. The other thing I've adapted is the informational interviews. I've worked with the Chicago Board of Elections doing training, and so really figuring out, can I see myself doing this 9 to 5, Monday through Friday. It's almost like an internship with those in a way that I can, like, get that information, but I'm also making money doing it.

Do you have a. Do you have a deadline for yourself or is it open ended?

Right now? It's open ended, but obviously it is very much like, the sooner the better. I'm making decent money now, so it's kind of sometimes easier to be like, ah, you know, no, I'm, you know, I'm good. Summer's great in Chicago for waiting tables, so I'm ready. Like, I Can't let myself fall back on that. Well, you're going to make great money this summer. You can wait till the fall to start looking like, no, let's just get this done now. So in the fall, I have that, hopefully, that, you know, nine to five.

One thing that I'm hearing from you, this pattern, is you are going from being reactive to proactive. You were reactive with your money when we first met, then you got super proactive with paying the debt off, and you saw the results. And my dream for you is to connect that feeling and that behavior with the job search. All right, so you'll keep me updated when you land the next job?

Oh, absolutely. You'll probably be one of the first. You'll probably be, like, second after my queue.

Okay. Love it. What are you going to do once you start making more money? What are you going to do with the additional income?

Get some more dogs.

Is this a joke? So before, when we first started talking, how much were you making?

I was probably making, I think, 35 a year then.

35,000 a year.

35,000. Yeah.

Okay. What are you making now?

Now this year? Oh, shit. I just looked. It was. I think it was 50. I was right about 50 this year. $50,000.

What does that feel like?

That felt was really good, too. Like, and then again, it was kind of like, whoa, where's it been going? And I almost, like, went back to that old headspace of, well, you know, you're wasting money. You're not doing something. I was like, wait, bitch, you have knocked down $5,000 in credit card debt. That money hasn't gone nowhere.

Yeah, it went. It went exactly where it needed to go. Like a fire hydrant, it went. Or fire hose, boom. Straight to where it needed to go.

Yeah. Now I feel like since I had. I'm being able to contribute more financially to our trips, I feel like I can help make the calls more and be like, hey, I want to go do this. I want to see that. No, we're going to stay in this hotel because, you know, I want to. That's what happened. We just spent, you know, a week out in Palm Springs in Joshua Tree. And for the first time in. In the seven years we've been together, I planned the vacation. Like, I found our Joshua Tree rv. We stayed with friends in Palm Springs. But then, you know, I was like, I found, like, what to do, what sites to see. Like, we. Well, that was a combo. Like, obviously he found some cool stuff, too. But, like, for the most part, it was like, I took charge for most of the trip. I think I'm finally accepting and you know again seven years later that Mikey and I are a team in that, you know, this money at this point is. Yes, exactly. It's our money.

Ah, that is cool. Didn't you do that on the honeymoon? I remember you sent me a message like you were going to surprise Mikey with something on your honeymoon.

Yeah, we did jet skiing. Awesome. Um, so yeah, I just, I was like, okay, I'm going to plan something for the day. And we did it and it was super cool.

It's amazing. You know, after seven years that you are uncovering this new layer of your relationship. I think that to me is the coolest part of the whole thing. You uncovered your own new layer. I can do this. I can make more. I can dedicate the money towards this and crush this debt in a year and.