Deep Dive
The 900% PlayStation mistake
Caleb opens with a woman who took a $500 payday loan at 900% interest to buy a PlayStation 5. The total repayment: $4000. When pressed on why, she admits she just really wanted one. This isn't an outlier — Caleb shows a second PS5 buyer who took a $792% interest loan for $500 and ended up paying $4000 total. The predatory math is stark: lenders collect $3500 in pure profit off a single $500 advance.
Wage garnishment and desperation
One borrower mentions the lender started garnishing her wages without a court order. Caleb clarifies these aren't government agencies — lenders can only garnish if you voluntarily give them bank account access. A $500 advance for a Galveston vacation spiraled into a $573% payday loan. The pattern is clear: people in liquidity crunches treat payday lenders as emergency credit, never calculating the true cost.
The consolidation trap
A borrower with roughly $50k in total debt consolidated under a 35% interest rate, thinking one payment was better than juggling multiple debts. Caleb's incredulity is sharp: even at 35%, she's still being extracted from. She doesn't grasp that consolidators are also making outsized profits off her lack of financial literacy. Caleb ends with a dark aside — the margins are so good he questions why he doesn't just ditch morals and start a payday lending company himself.