Caleb Hammer/YouTube
- Caleb Hammer has become a fixture on finance TikTok.
- He ruthlessly goes through his guests' finances hoping to drive change — three spoke to Insider about it.
- While it could feel chaotic and uncomfortable, they generally said it spurred lasting change.
Duncan Bell was in a really bad spot when he appeared on Caleb Hammer's financial podcast.
He was $57,000 in debt, and the minimum monthly payments were eating up a good chunk of his income.
He felt like there was no way to dig himself out — he had a low-paid job delivering cookies, and his hours kept getting cut back.
He had also been struggling with his diagnosis of bipolar 2 disorder, which led him to bad decisions and a debt spiral. He had just started medication which had curbed his spending habits and made him realize how bad his situation had become.