Firing Back at Our Comment Section Haters

🏠 Check out the Mortgage Calculator! Comment section check! That’s right—we’re fearlessly addressing your questions, comments and criticisms . . . all in the name of your financial future (and also just for fun!). Next Steps: · 🏠 Already have a mortgage? Check out the Mortgage Payoff Calculator! · 🎙️ Catch our episode 10 Signs You’re Doing Better Than Most Americans! · 💵 Create a free budget and find more margin with EveryDollar. · 🍸 Follow Smart Money Happy Hour on TikTok: @smartmoneyhappyhour. · 📱 Submit a Guilty As Charged question for Rachel and George! Send a DM to @rachelcruze or @georgekamel on Instagram! Be sure to type “GUILTY?” at the top of your message so we don’t miss it. Connect With Our Sponsors: · Check out the FAIRWINDS Credit Union exclusive account bundle. · Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe. · Get 20% off with code SMARTMONEY at Cozy Earth. Today’s Happy Hour Special: 🍹 Apple-rol Margarita Recipe By: @cocktailswithval · 2 ounces tequila · 1 ounce Aperol · 1 1/2 ounces apple cider · 1 ounce lime juice · 1/2–1 ounce agave · garnish: thyme, apple slices and a sugar or salt rim Instructions: In a shaker, add Aperol, tequila, apple cider, lime juice and ice, then shake. Grab a glass and coat the rim with agave and salt or sugar, then add ice. Pour the shaken drink into your salted rim glass. Garnish, serve and enjoy! Explore More From Ramsey Network: 💰 George Kamel 🎙️ The Ramsey Show 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 📈 EntreLeadership Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:05George Kamel?

  Comment section check. That's right. We are fearlessly addressing your criticisms, your questions, your comments, all in the name of your financial future.

• 0:13Rachel Cruze?

  Don't be hitting on Bluey.

• 0:14George Kamel?

  No, God bless Bluey.

• 0:15Rachel Cruze?

  I will, I will get on this chair and knock you down for Bluey.

• 0:18George Kamel?

  That's not a reality for me. We can't all be Winston Cruz out there on our zero turn.

• 0:22Rachel Cruze?

  We're allowed to judge you if you are.

• 0:29Rachel Cruze?

  Hey guys, I'm Rachel Cruz.

• 0:30George Kamel?

  I'm George Kamel.

• 0:32Rachel Cruze?

  And this is

• 0:33George Kamel?

  Smart Money Happy Hour.

• 0:36Rachel Cruze?

  Cheers.

• 0:41Rachel Cruze?

  Oh man, a salted rim.

• 0:43George Kamel?

  Can't beat it.

• 0:44Rachel Cruze?

  So good.

• 0:44George Kamel?

  Hits different.

• 0:45Rachel Cruze?

  Well, this is the show where two friends who happen to be money experts talk about what you're talking about. So everything from pop culture, current events, and money.

• 0:52George Kamel?

  But first, let's talk about what we're sipping on today. It's an Aperol Margarita.

• 0:57Rachel Cruze?

  Oh man.

• 0:57George Kamel?

  Keyword apple.

• 0:58Rachel Cruze?

  Aper- oh, apple raw.

• 1:01George Kamel?

  It's a play on words.

• 1:02Rachel Cruze?

  There's apples in there.

• 1:03George Kamel?

  Apples, Aperol.

• 1:04Rachel Cruze?

  Delicious.

• 1:05George Kamel?

  Stick around. We're gonna give you the rating and reveal the cost per glass at the end of the episode. Alright Rachel, you know who I was thinking about recently?

• 1:12Rachel Cruze?

  Who?

• 1:12George Kamel?

  Jonathan.

• 1:14Rachel Cruze?

  Oh Jonathan.

• 1:14George Kamel?

  Sweet Jonathan.

• 1:16Rachel Cruze?

  Can I tell you?

• 1:17George Kamel?

  Can you recap for the audience who Jonathan is?

• 1:19Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my gosh. I actually just told my friends about Jonathan this weekend because one of them was like, Rachel, I never do this, but I went in some of your comments and people kept talking about your pool and like, thanks for, so glad you posted about your pool again. She was like, what is going on? So I told her. So I'll tell you about Jonathan. Well, George and I were doing, I think we were doing an episode about the haters. And then I told you, I was like, George, I literally just got a hate message last night. And I went back through a DM from a story. I had done a story and I did a little thing with our pool. Maybe just a, maybe just a picture. I don't remember. Had the American flag in the background, kids jumping in. This was back in the, this was back in the spring.

• 1:56George Kamel?

  Pure American.

• 1:57Rachel Cruze?

  And I was like, what a, what a spring day in Tennessee or something. Jonathan did not like it. I got hate. Should I DM someone back?

• 2:05George Kamel?

  Well, you know what, you know, here's the hack. You respond with a voice memo.

• 2:08Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, I'm about to do it. We had a warm weekend, this past weekend in Nashville.

• 2:12George Kamel?

  Okay.

• 2:12Rachel Cruze?

  So my kids swim in a pool. And I just thought, this is really sweet and pretty. And our Tennessee flag was flying at a great angle.

• 2:18George Kamel?

  Yeah, I saw the photo. Capture the moment.

• 2:20Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, and I just put it up on stories. I tried to be active a little bit, just like, you know, cool. So you're rich and have a, and have a pool. Super interesting. How tone deaf can someone be? What should I say back? What should I say back? Hey Jonathan, so sorry that my pool picture was so triggering to you. So I apologize if that was tone deaf. I will make sure that my backyard is concealed in upcoming photos. Okay, actually, I realized that the summer's coming up and I do post my life. So I probably will post some photos of it. You can unfollow me. I totally get it. So don't worry. And yep, hope you're having a great day.

• 2:55George Kamel?

  Nailed it.

• 2:56Rachel Cruze?

  But haters gotta hate. You know, we, we don't get a ton, a ton. Sometimes we get some that are not too happy with us. And we decided to make a whole episode about it.

• 3:05George Kamel?

  And then I just got this DM as we were sitting here that I think I need to share with you. Someone was at Costco. Jenny was at Costco and said, diss you returning a tree to Costco with a picture of the most dead Christmas tree.

• 3:19George Kamel?

  Basically roasting me for being like, you would return a dead Christmas tree to Costco.

• 3:23Rachel Cruze?

  George would return a dead Christmas tree to Costco though.

• 3:25George Kamel?

  Well, the question is, when did it die? Did it die before it should have died?

• 3:29Rachel Cruze?

  Exactly. See? Oh my gosh. Like, no, it's nine months old.

• 3:33George Kamel?

  This is the kind of stuff I have to deal with. That and like rate of return in the stock market. Those are like my two areas that I have to deal with.

• 3:39Rachel Cruze?

  Oh yeah, they just get so mad.

• 3:39George Kamel?

  Where are you getting 10 to 12%?

• 3:41Rachel Cruze?

  They get so mad. Unbelievable.

• 3:42George Kamel?

  It's exhausting.

• 3:43Rachel Cruze?

  It is exhausting.

• 3:44George Kamel?

  But we do love interacting with you guys on social. And there is a lot of positive, wonderful, sweet comments. And we read your comments. Shout out to all the guilty as charged submissions that you guys send in the DMs.

• 3:54Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 3:54George Kamel?

  I enjoy it probably more than any of the Ramsey personalities. I enjoy

• 3:58Rachel Cruze?

  The hate.

• 3:58George Kamel?

  The comment, well, just the comment section in general.

• 4:01Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. Yeah, you like to just go in there.

• 4:03George Kamel?

  I like it all.

• 4:04Rachel Cruze?

  I will every now and then.

• 4:05George Kamel?

  Yeah, but you don't seek it out.

• 4:07Rachel Cruze?

  No, no. But some posts, some of my posts, I'll go through.

• 4:10George Kamel?

  I would just get a feel. Like, are people vibing with today's post, today's video?

• 4:14Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. How's it feeling? How's it feeling?

• 4:16George Kamel?

  Cause I like to know the truth. The good, the bad, the ugly.

• 4:18Rachel Cruze?

  And we can't respond to every comment, DM, criticism we get. So again, that's why we thought, we'll kind of weigh in on some comments that we've gotten recently. See if we agree or disagree with them.

• 4:29George Kamel?

  And see if you disagree or agree.

• 4:30Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, let us know what you think.

• 4:31George Kamel?

  Let us know in the comments. This is very meta now. They're commenting on the comments.

• 4:37Rachel Cruze?

  What's the, oh, inception.

• 4:39George Kamel?

  Good reference.

• 4:40Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 4:41George Kamel?

  Did you ever see it?

• 4:41Rachel Cruze?

  I did, but I'm, now that I'm saying it, I think, I mean, I saw it a long time ago.

• 4:46George Kamel?

  I don't remember it.

• 4:47Rachel Cruze?

  I don't remember it. I really don't. I probably should go back and, man, what a, what a guy.

• 4:52George Kamel?

  I'm an Odyssey guy now. You know, I'm, Christopher Nolan doesn't miss. He did Inception.

• 4:56Rachel Cruze?

  And he did Inception too.

• 4:57George Kamel?

  He did the Odyssey.

• 4:58Rachel Cruze?

  Alright, you're in, you're in.

• 4:59George Kamel?

  He likes the high concept.

• 5:00Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my gosh. Alright, well, before we get to all the drama, I'll tell you something that just says low drama in my life.

• 5:06George Kamel?

  What's that?

• 5:07Rachel Cruze?

  The banking part of my life.

• 5:09George Kamel?

  It should be low drama.

• 5:10Rachel Cruze?

  It's low drama because I bank with Fairwins. And because they are on our side as customers, their customer support is amazing. Signing up for things like the Smart Bundle, which gives you up to 10 high-yield savings accounts, a no monthly fee checking account, and a Ramsey debit card. You can get the debt as normal.

• 5:30George Kamel?

  So exciting.

• 5:30Rachel Cruze?

  Be weird or the live like no one else. Like all of it, they just make it easy. There's just not a lot of drama with them, George, and I appreciate that.

• 5:35George Kamel?

  Yes. And more than accounts, there's a banking system involved here that makes it easy to organize your financial life. They have a ton of great features. The app was one of the most impressive ones I've seen. And I, you know, I love a good app. And the fact they made it so easy to sign up, a person actually called me. And I was like, is there a fraud? They're like, no, we just want to check in, say thank you. Let us know if you have any questions. I was like, wow, thank you so much.

• 5:58Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 5:58George Kamel?

  No one calls me to just say hi to me. So I was so appreciative of them reaching out.

• 6:04Rachel Cruze?

  Fairwins and George are BFFs.

• 6:06George Kamel?

  And the good news is they're federally insured by the NCUA. So your money is safe. So check it all out. Get the Smart Bundle. Go to fairwins.org/Ramsey or click the link in the description. Alright, we're gonna come in hot with an offended lifted truck owner.

• 6:19Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, this is you, George.

• 6:21George Kamel?

  One of my favorite people to offend is a lifted truck guy. I don't know, because here's the thing. I would never interact with these people in real life because I'd be so scared of them. You know what I mean?

• 6:29Rachel Cruze?

  Cause they're pretty, they're probably intimidating.

• 6:31George Kamel?

  But in the comment section.

• 6:32Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 6:33George Kamel?

  I'll have a good time. So here's the comment. You know, some people drive their vehicles in places other than the highway, right? Have you ever stopped and thought that maybe the guy with the lifted truck has to drive off-road in rough terrain? Or maybe the guy with the loud car goes to the racetrack on the weekends? No matter how much money you have, judging people you don't know is always classless.

• 6:51Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my, sure.

• 6:52George Kamel?

  Honestly, that was one of the, it was very well worded for a guy with lifted truck. That's all I'm gonna say. The full sentences, good grammar, proper punctuation. I respect that. Now, I want, I have beef with this part. That maybe the guy with the lifted truck has to drive off-road in ru- who has to drive off-road in rough terrain?

• 7:09Rachel Cruze?

  Unless you're a rancher.

• 7:10George Kamel?

  Yeah. Which ranchers aren't driving like super nice lifted trucks. I guarantee you that.

• 7:15Rachel Cruze?

  No, no.

• 7:15George Kamel?

  A true cowboy would never.

• 7:17Rachel Cruze?

  You know what it kind of reminds me of a little bit? Cause I see this in our car line at our elementary school, which I'll say with the caveat, like we're in a nicer part of Nashville. Like, but you see all these just luxury SUVs, you know? And you're like, man, that Range Rover, it was built to be on a rock. Like even when they sell it at the dealership, like it's on a rock.

• 7:37George Kamel?

  Play sideways?

• 7:38Rachel Cruze?

  And I'm like, that, that Range Rover will never see a rock. Will never see a boulder.

• 7:42George Kamel?

  No.

• 7:43Rachel Cruze?

  It'll see car line and some gravel.

• 7:45George Kamel?

  Maybe a pebble on the interstate.

• 7:46Rachel Cruze?

  It ain't ever seen a boulder. What it's made for.

• 7:48George Kamel?

  On the way to 38, it might get a pebble on the windshield. That's it.

• 7:50Rachel Cruze?

  I know, I know. But they're made, these SUVs, these trucks, like they're made, right? I think they, like, they're made literally to, like, go, to go off-road.

• 7:59George Kamel?

  But I think they're made for people to feel like, wow, I'm so rugged. Even though I'm never gonna use this for its intended purpose.

• 8:05Rachel Cruze?

  Right. Like, the intended purpose of some of these vehicles really is to go do something. But like, no, it's just, yeah, I know. So maybe that rugged, maybe that lifted truck guy.

• 8:15George Kamel?

  You're going to the racetrack on the weekends?

• 8:18George Kamel?

  What?

• 8:19Rachel Cruze?

  You know?

• 8:19George Kamel?

  Unless you're a race car driver, you're not going to the racetrack.

• 8:22Rachel Cruze?

  Unless you're under 25, I'd be okay with it. Over 25, unless you're, aw, Fast and Furious. Who's the guy that was so good looking and he died?

• 8:30George Kamel?

  Oh.

• 8:31Rachel Cruze?

  Who is that?

• 8:31George Kamel?

  Paul Walker.

• 8:32Rachel Cruze?

  Paul Walker, yeah.

• 8:32George Kamel?

  I thought you were going Vin Diesel. I was like, I didn't know you were into Vin Diesel.

• 8:35Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, Vin Diesel, no, Paul Walker.

• 8:37George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 8:38Rachel Cruze?

  Man.

• 8:38George Kamel?

  Sad.

• 8:39Rachel Cruze?

  RIP.

• 8:40George Kamel?

  But yeah, you're not Fast and Furious. I'm sorry. You're not gonna go to the, I don't, what, the monster truck rallies?

• 8:45Rachel Cruze?

  And we're allowed to judge you if you are. Like, I feel like we're allowed to talk about that.

• 8:48George Kamel?

  And here's the thing. Be whatever you want to be into. But please do not try to flex like this and go into debt for it while thinking that you are the coolest guy on the block.

• 8:57Rachel Cruze?

  For sure. Yeah.

• 8:58George Kamel?

  It's a car.

• 8:59Rachel Cruze?

  It's a car.

• 8:59George Kamel?

  Whatever. Lift it or don't, but please don't think it's gonna make you

• 9:02Rachel Cruze?

  I feel like this episode's gonna be for you, George. You ready for this?

• 9:04George Kamel?

  I'm really, this is cathartic.

• 9:06Rachel Cruze?

  Next is a Bitcoin rant. I feel like this is for you.

• 9:09George Kamel?

  This is why I love the comments.

• 9:11Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 9:11George Kamel?

  Okay, go.

• 9:12Rachel Cruze?

  Wish they would, oh, they, aw, man, I got lipped in with you.

• 9:16George Kamel?

  Who's they?

• 9:16Rachel Cruze?

  Lumped in. They, me and you.

• 9:18George Kamel?

  I think they mean the whole Ramsey team.

• 9:19Rachel Cruze?

  Someone is commenting, I don't know, it feels very Smart Money Happy Hour.

• 9:22George Kamel?

  Okay.

• 9:22Rachel Cruze?

  Pointed. I wish they, me and you. Would spend a measly 10 hour, 10 hours.

• 9:29George Kamel?

  Measly 10 hours?

• 9:31Rachel Cruze?

  I didn't say 10 minutes.

• 9:32George Kamel?

  I have children.

• 9:34Rachel Cruze?

  Spend 10 hours and learn the Bitcoin basics. Bitcoin itself is not a scam and it's not the same as other cryptos. True. There is a great hedge against inflation. They're keeping themselves purposely ignorant.

• 9:50George Kamel?

  Wow.

• 9:51Rachel Cruze?

  Okay. You know what? I'll be the first to admit 5% of me is like, yeah, maybe digital money is gonna be the future. It probably will be eventually, genuinely. And so there is a point that I'm like.

• 10:03George Kamel?

  Kind of already is in many ways.

• 10:05Rachel Cruze?

  The future.

• 10:06George Kamel?

  Yeah. Think about your bank account. It's just digital numbers moving around.

• 10:09Rachel Cruze?

  Fair.

• 10:10George Kamel?

  You know?

• 10:10Rachel Cruze?

  Totally true. Yes, yes, yes. And so again, it's not what it, it's one of these things that I am like, we're so cautious on when people depend on it for their future. I'm like, you just, you can look at the chart of it. Like it is so volatile, like it like you can look and prove. So if you want long-term investments, don't do something that's going so volatile. Go something that's like maybe a little up and down every now and then.

• 10:36George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 10:37Rachel Cruze?

  But something that is very, pretty predictable for the most part is what you can say over the long term. Now, if you, if you're out of debt and you're on Baby Sub 7 and you want to put some money in crypto and you find something like a Bitcoin, something that you're comfortable with, then sure.

• 10:52George Kamel?

  It's a small part of your world.

• 10:53Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 10:53George Kamel?

  Less than 5% of your total net worth.

• 10:55Rachel Cruze?

  It's this whole bro movement of like everyone putting their chips in the center.

• 10:59George Kamel?

  If you're not all in, then you're missing out and you're, you don't get it.

• 11:02Rachel Cruze?

  And I'm like.

• 11:03George Kamel?

  It is very cult-like.

• 11:04Rachel Cruze?

  I'm doing great.

• 11:05George Kamel?

  You're thriving with no Bitcoin.

• 11:07Rachel Cruze?

  I'm thriving with no Bitcoin. My Roth IRA.

• 11:10George Kamel?

  Yeah. You know, Graham Stephan, personal finance YouTuber guy. He forced me to buy Bitcoin with his own money. So he bought me a Bitcoin. He actually Venmo'd me for a single like, it was like an ETF of Bitcoin.

• 11:24Rachel Cruze?

  Great. How'd it go? Tell me about it.

• 11:26George Kamel?

  It's down right now. So.

• 11:27Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 11:28George Kamel?

  Thanks, Graham.

• 11:30Rachel Cruze?

  Thanks, Graham.

• 11:31George Kamel?

  He was like, well, now you can say you actually own Bitcoin. I'm like, fine. I own $40 of Bitcoin. Great. But to me, you're like, it's investing in gold or any other store of value or currency.

• 11:42Rachel Cruze?

  Something, yeah.

• 11:42George Kamel?

  Yeah. It's just, I want to invest in something that produces value, that has something behind it, that produces cash flow. So mutual fund does that for me. It's hundreds of companies producing revenue, producing products that actually, you know, people like and use. Whereas crypto, whether you like it or not, it just doesn't produce anything. It's a cool technology.

• 12:01Rachel Cruze?

  Sure.

• 12:01George Kamel?

  Love the ledger. Love that for you. Big fan of the old blockchain, but.

• 12:05Rachel Cruze?

  The old blockchain.

• 12:07George Kamel?

  I don't need to invest in it and I'm fine with that. So I'm fine. And I'm fine to be on the wrong side of history. I think we can all build wealth in our own way and I hope the Bitcoin bros do that as well.

• 12:15Rachel Cruze?

  That's good. That's good. All the eggs in one basket. Don't do it.

• 12:18George Kamel?

  All right. Next comment. As Gen Z, I can't believe you'd assign Skibidi to us. That was 100% Gen Alpha. They're weird.

• 12:26Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my gosh.

• 12:28George Kamel?

  Okay.

• 12:28Rachel Cruze?

  Okay. This was from our Ramsey Sling episode. Do I even remember saying that?

• 12:33George Kamel?

  We covered Skibidi and we thought it was a Gen Z thing, but truthfully.

• 12:36Rachel Cruze?

  They're like, it's Gen Alpha.

• 12:38George Kamel?

  Anybody that's younger and cooler than me, I just, in my head is Gen Z. Like truthfully, I don't think about Gen Alpha.

• 12:43Rachel Cruze?

  No, because they're still so little.

• 12:44George Kamel?

  In my head, that's like my, my kids.

• 12:46Rachel Cruze?

  It's like middle school.

• 12:47George Kamel?

  What about, what's my kids? I got a three-year-old and one-year-old.

• 12:49Rachel Cruze?

  I think they're Gen Alpha too.

• 12:50George Kamel?

  Okay.

• 12:51Rachel Cruze?

  Cause I, I think it's before, I think it's 2017 is where Gen Alpha starts.

• 12:56George Kamel?

  Interesting.

• 12:57Rachel Cruze?

  That's my kid. Or no, that Amelia would be out of that. Is it 2015, 14?

• 13:01George Kamel?

  Nobody knows.

• 13:02Rachel Cruze?

  Hold on, I'll look. I'll look.

• 13:03Speaker 02

  Alpha ends at 20, 2024. 2025 is a new generation.

• 13:09Rachel Cruze?

  So Gen Alpha.

• 13:10George Kamel?

  So what's the next gen then? Are we going Gen V? Gen Beta?

• 13:15Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah. Gen Beta's next.

• 13:16George Kamel?

  That's weird.

• 13:17Rachel Cruze?

  Gen Alpha, yeah. So Gen Alpha is 2010 to 2024. And then next, 2026.

• 13:24George Kamel?

  We skipped 25 for some reason.

• 13:26Rachel Cruze?

  Well, 2024 is last 2025.

• 13:27George Kamel?

  Okay.

• 13:28Rachel Cruze?

  2026, yeah. Um, I think will be, uh, Gen Beta.

• 13:32George Kamel?

  Wow. So my kids are on the very tail end of Gen Alpha.

• 13:35Rachel Cruze?

  Okay. And mine's, yes. So Amelia was 2015. So she's like a little bit in the front end of it.

• 13:40George Kamel?

  On the very front end of that.

• 13:41Rachel Cruze?

  So that's middle. So, so the, so Gen, so that's good. So Gen Alpha is like, they're like sophomores in high school right now, is the oldest. All the way, all the way to Henry.

• 13:52George Kamel?

  Yeah. To our one-year-old.

• 13:53Rachel Cruze?

  My gosh, what a span.

• 13:55George Kamel?

  Weird to think about.

• 13:56Rachel Cruze?

  What a span. It's like the millennial span though. You know, you got millennials and you got like AOL Instant Messenger. And then you got like Camp Rock millennials. Like you got like a.

• 14:04George Kamel?

  That is a very big gap.

• 14:06Rachel Cruze?

  It's the gap.

• 14:06George Kamel?

  Yeah. I think we need more generations.

• 14:08Rachel Cruze?

  Dial-up, yeah. To like, um, Justin Bieber. Like Justin Bieber was like a.

• 14:13George Kamel?

  We should have split it into like five-year chunks. Cause I feel like that's really where you get a splice of culture.

• 14:19Rachel Cruze?

  A time.

• 14:19George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 14:20Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, that's true.

• 14:21George Kamel?

  But hey, I'm sorry.

• 14:22Rachel Cruze?

  So sorry. Okay. Oh my gosh.

• 14:24George Kamel?

  A true apology.

• 14:25Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, no, no. This was a Gen Z that responded. Oh, I thought a Gen Alpha responded to her. What if we got Gen Alphas? What if our high schoolers watching us? Oh my gosh.

• 14:34George Kamel?

  You would feel so cool.

• 14:37Rachel Cruze?

  I would. Did I tell you that story that my neighbor?

• 14:40George Kamel?

  Your neighbor's kids?

• 14:41Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. They're in high school and we had to stop by to get her moshong set. And she had like all her friends over and all I wanted to do, y'all, was sit and talk to these girls. I sat down and I was like, oh my gosh, all I want, all I want to do is talk to them. I want to talk to them about technology and phones and how I have a middle schooler and what social medias they would give their kid. I'm like.

• 15:01George Kamel?

  But secretly you want to be cool in front of them. Like do you want them to be?

• 15:04Rachel Cruze?

  I do. I would want to get up and leave the room and then be like, she's a pretty cool mom.

• 15:10Rachel Cruze?

  But I also wanted the intel. They were great girls.

• 15:13George Kamel?

  Is this because your like biometric age is 10 years younger and so you're like, I'm.

• 15:17Rachel Cruze?

  My metabolic age, I'm 11.

• 15:19George Kamel?

  That's what it is. Not biometric.

• 15:20Rachel Cruze?

  11.9 years younger than my biological age.

• 15:23George Kamel?

  Congrats. Based on your blood work.

• 15:24Rachel Cruze?

  Based on.

• 15:25George Kamel?

  Something to celebrate.

• 15:26Rachel Cruze?

  Y'all, I'm doing great.

• 15:27George Kamel?

  Considering your diet of mostly Sonic and Schlotzsky's for the last decade. It really is a feat. Science will study your body and go, how did she do it?

• 15:37Rachel Cruze?

  What is happening? Lift weights and eat protein.

• 15:40George Kamel?

  I think it's something in that Ramsey DNA.

• 15:42Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my gosh.

• 15:43George Kamel?

  That was a good one. Well, I apologize. Happy to be wrong on that one.

• 15:46Rachel Cruze?

  Yep. All right. Next. Uh, a $300,000 mortgage for 15 years is about $3,300 per month. With your 25% rule, your take-home pay would have to be $13,200 a month. And your gross income would have to be at least $230,000 a year before taxes. Just for a $300,000 house. The median house right now is $440,000.

• 16:17George Kamel?

  Pretty nerdy. Thank you for that comment. Okay. But I get what they're saying. They don't like our parameter that you should always do a 15-year fixed rate mortgage. 25% of your after-tax monthly income going toward the mortgage no more. Which means if you back that out, how much house you can really afford, probably shrinks compared to what the bank approved you for. Which is frustrating. We don't control prices in the housing market. This is just math. And as much as we want to go, hey, just make it 50% of your take-home pay on a 30-year, you'll be fine. We get calls where people call in saying, should I sell the house? We are stressed out. We really shouldn't have bought this house. We couldn't afford it at the time. So all this means is you need to put more of a down payment down or adjust the type of house you're buying. And if this is your first home, you don't need to buy the median home price.

• 17:01George Kamel?

  That's including places like California, New York. If you're living.

• 17:05Rachel Cruze?

  High-income.

• 17:06George Kamel?

  Anywhere else, houses, you could probably find some decent homes for two, 300 grand.

• 17:11Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. Well, we get calls on the Ramsey show. I had two today. Yeah. And they're, they're looking at a, one of them was looking at a $200,000. I think it was a town home and where she was. And then someone else, yeah, they were going to buy and their home was like 320. So again, where you are, location, location, location, that, that literally is everything. That's everything. Cause if you're in LA, you think about these areas, you have to be making six figures. At least to be able to like keep cost of living going, right?

• 17:41George Kamel?

  To be a homeowner.

• 17:42Rachel Cruze?

  To be a homeowner, yeah.

• 17:43George Kamel?

  You might need two incomes.

• 17:44Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 17:44George Kamel?

  So you might need to wait until you're married with two incomes. And yes, that feels unfair in today's world because back in the day, you could just buy a home on a single income and have a great house. But also the standards have come way up. Houses are nicer now than they used to be.

• 17:57Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 17:57George Kamel?

  And so people want to live in cool areas with nice houses and good schools. And all of that is going to cost you a pretty penny. So, uh, I, we've got a great mortgage payoff calculator and a mortgage calculator. So, and the mortgage calculator helps you figure out how much house you can afford. The mortgage payoff calculator shows you how much sooner you could pay it off with extra payments, how much interest you could save. And so I'm going to link both of those in the description. Cause this just helps you face reality. As much as you might not like the numbers. It shows you, all right, we need to save up another 40 grand to make this work. Or we need to lower the home price by 50 grand to make this work.

• 18:29Rachel Cruze?

  Exactly.

• 18:30George Kamel?

  But I'm sorry we offended you with math.

• 18:33Rachel Cruze?

  Well, while you're on the internet, George, you should probably check out Delete Me. Because they are an incredible company that they go into these data broker sites and remove your personal data from the internet. And you guys, in 2026, like it is more important than ever to really watch where your information is. Because your home addresses, phone numbers, kids' names, I mean, like so much of your information is online. And what happens is these data brokers will sell your data and scammers and spammers and, you know, companies that fish. You know, they'll throw out like a random text message. With a PH. They send out text messages to you, all of it. You want your, your information not on the internet. So that doesn't happen to you. And Delete Me again goes and removes it.

• 19:19George Kamel?

  Yes. They have incredible technology and real data privacy experts. And all of that helps reduce the risk of spam and scam in your life. And you know, we're, we always talk about offense on this show, but defense is just as important. And so this is part of that. You gotta have insurance and you should have some good data protection as well. And so Delete Me helps you take back control of your data privacy. Check them out and get 20% off their data protection plans at joindelete.me/smartmoney or click the link in the description. All right. Our next comment. How am I supposed to direct my college-age daughter when she is told she needs a credit score? Are there workarounds for her at age 20?

• 19:56Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, well, that's a good question. I'm, I sort of hate.

• 19:59George Kamel?

  I feel like I can breathe. I was ready to get riled up and now I'm getting riled down.

• 20:04Rachel Cruze?

  Look at us. Look at us. Up and down the roller coaster like crypto. Just up and down, up and down. Um, yeah, well, there are workarounds for sure. So the biggest places, I think, that you're gonna feel kinda hit with the credit score, or when people pull your credit report, the big one is a house, okay? And so the house, just to go ahead and debunk that, you can do what's called manual underwriting. And so if she's living at home especially, make sure you're tracking her rent, because you have to prove rent, and you have to prove that you've been on a job and pay all of your bills on time for at least two years. So there's kind of some like foundational work you have to do in order to get underwritten by a mortgage company. And then you can, yeah, you can get a loan doing that. You don't have to have a credit score. But sometimes a credit report, employers sometimes will pull this.

• 20:49George Kamel?

  People confuse score with report.

• 20:52Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, yeah, two different things.

• 20:53George Kamel?

  Your employer's not checking your credit score. They're pulling your credit report to see if there's delinquencies, bankruptcies, things they need to be aware of financially, not do they have one or not.

• 21:02Rachel Cruze?

  No, and cellphone, like cellphone plans and cellphone companies will do that. So there will be places that may pull your credit report. And if there's nothing on it, because you've never borrowed money, yeah, you may have to have a conversation about that. But there's all, there's literally workarounds to everything.

• 21:18George Kamel?

  Even rental cars, there might be a slightly higher deposit that you get back. But other than that, I've rented cars all the time without a credit card, to my name, without a credit score. So after six to 12 months of paying off your debts, if you have them, and closing all those accounts, your credit score will become indeterminable. And for a 20-year-old, I'm asking, what does she need a credit score for?

• 21:37Rachel Cruze?

  Right.

• 21:37George Kamel?

  Usually the answer is, well, she's gotta get a car. Not with debt, she doesn't. Therefore, she doesn't need a score if she's gonna pay cash and upgrade in cash over time.

• 21:45Rachel Cruze?

  That's right.

• 21:45George Kamel?

  So a lot of it's a moot point, and the credit score really just creates a system where you're reliant on debt, you wanna stay in debt to keep up your score. Nobody understands the algorithm, and we put so much weight on this three-digit number that is really useless. It tells you nothing about how someone's actually doing financially.

• 22:00Rachel Cruze?

  That is what's wild. You could inherit $10 million and your credit score doesn't change, one point. It's not about how much money you have. Yes, it's about, it's your debt score.

• 22:08George Kamel?

  It's how well you've played the debt game. No, thank you.

• 22:11Rachel Cruze?

  Uh, next, this is for you, George. I guess it could be for me too, technically.

• 22:15George Kamel?

  No, it's for me, I know. It says my name on it, so.

• 22:18Rachel Cruze?

  Does it? Oh, it does. Not ever mowing a lawn is embarrassing. You should do a video of George mowing his lawn for the first time ever. I'm sure someone would loan him a mower for it.

• 22:30George Kamel?

  I've never mowed a lawn in my life.

• 22:32Rachel Cruze?

  Really?

• 22:32George Kamel?

  And I know, people who already didn't have respect for me lost somehow even more. Well, growing up in Boston, our backyard was just like, it was like boulders and rocks. So there was no, there was nothing to like really mow. My dad would just do a little quick mow.

• 22:44Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, George.

• 22:45George Kamel?

  I didn't know it was embarrassing. I'm not embarrassed.

• 22:48Rachel Cruze?

  No.

• 22:48George Kamel?

  To me, it's honestly, it's a flex.

• 22:51Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, uh, a little like, listen, I don't have to mow my lawn.

• 22:55George Kamel?

  Yeah, I can afford $40 a week to have someone do it for me, and that is a flex. So I'm honored by that. And I mentioned that most places I've lived didn't require much lawn mowing.

• 23:06Rachel Cruze?

  You didn't grow up with like a big yard?

• 23:08George Kamel?

  No, and I live in a townhome where it's covered by the HOA, part of my dues.

• 23:12Rachel Cruze?

  See?

• 23:13George Kamel?

  And then when I needed it mowed, there was a kid in the neighborhood.

• 23:15Rachel Cruze?

  He didn't need a pickup?

• 23:17George Kamel?

  I like to support small businesses.

• 23:19Rachel Cruze?

  He don't need that?

• 23:20George Kamel?

  Yeah, well, here's the thing, when I see them mow it with their very professional equipment, the zero-turn mower, they are moving so fast. I'm like, that would've taken me three hours and I would've been in a terrible mood for the rest of the day, in 95 degrees in Tennessee, which it is from May through October.

• 23:35Rachel Cruze?

  George, is there any part of you that you're like, if I could, if you could wave a wand, would you be a little more handy if you could?

• 23:42George Kamel?

  Oh, 100%.

• 23:43Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 23:44George Kamel?

  Let it be known. I dream of like just me mowing out there, shirtless. I look good, I'm tanned, I'm drinking a beer, like, yeah, that's the American dream. That's not a reality for me. We can't all be Winston Cruz out there on our zero turn.

• 24:00Rachel Cruze?

  He sold his zero turn. He did buy one, though.

• 24:02George Kamel?

  See, eventually, we all grow up and sell our zero turns.

• 24:05Rachel Cruze?

  I always, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But you're, but you're good.

• 24:09George Kamel?

  Yeah, I don't understand this idea that we all have to do these things or else we're not adults.

• 24:13Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, I agree.

• 24:14George Kamel?

  Like, I take care of my family.

• 24:16Rachel Cruze?

  Love your kids well.

• 24:17George Kamel?

  I'm a hard-working American, I pay my taxes.

• 24:19Rachel Cruze?

  Love Whitney, yes.

• 24:20George Kamel?

  There's no, there's no law that says that you don't mow a lawn, you're not a man. I am capable of mowing a lawn, all right? 12-year-olds can do it.

• 24:27Rachel Cruze?

  And you know what, George, honestly, if...

• 24:29George Kamel?

  My OCD would actually, I have really good lawn lines.

• 24:32Rachel Cruze?

  You would be a detailed...

• 24:33George Kamel?

  Crisscross.

• 24:34Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, you would be a detailed lawn guy. I'm not kidding, I think you'd be good at it.

• 24:37George Kamel?

  I dream of that, but it's a, it's a hobby for someone who doesn't have a three-year-old and one-year-old.

• 24:42Rachel Cruze?

  Amen.

• 24:42George Kamel?

  If I was like, sorry, babe, I gotta be out there for three hours making our lawn look good. That would affect my marriage, so. I'd rather play with my kids while, you know, the landscaping company handles it. What can I say? Rather be a good dad than a manly man for some random commenter. I'm not gonna apologize for that.

• 24:59Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, my gosh.

• 25:00George Kamel?

  All right, next one. I guarantee that if you pay your mortgage off with accelerated payments, you'll ultimately have a much smaller retirement nest egg. Your accelerated mortgage payments are not compounding like they would in an IRA. Just make your regular mortgage payments, build equity, and use that equity when you retire to pay cash for your retirement home.

• 25:17Rachel Cruze?

  How about no? And how about we just pay off our house, invest the mortgage payment?

• 25:27George Kamel?

  You're gonna be fine.

• 25:28Rachel Cruze?

  And live our lives. I'd rather have peace.

• 25:31George Kamel?

  I'm not gonna live with the regret of retirement going, well, I got $7 million, could've had 7.4 if I listened to Brad on Instagram.

• 25:38Rachel Cruze?

  But you're gonna have peace and sleep that you may or not have had by the stress of a mortgage.

• 25:43George Kamel?

  Yeah, you're assuming life works out perfectly. What if there's a job loss, a health crisis?

• 25:47Rachel Cruze?

  Hey, we just had a friend pay off their mortgage and they talked about how wonderful it was.

• 25:51George Kamel?

  That's right.

• 25:52Rachel Cruze?

  You know? And they were like, man, it's so right.

• 25:54George Kamel?

  And this is the person who is always said, it's so dumb to pay off a low-interest rate mortgage.

• 25:59Rachel Cruze?

  And they're like, I just can't explain it, it's just amazing. And I'm like, uh-huh.

• 26:02George Kamel?

  Just do it.

• 26:03Rachel Cruze?

  See, we're so emotional, y'all. You're listening to an emotional podcast, some money podcast. All they do is run numbers. No, no, no.

• 26:10George Kamel?

  No, no, no, we're more than numbers.

• 26:11Rachel Cruze?

  We're more than that. We're the, we're the whole person. We are emotional, spiritual, and financial and mathematical. We will add those in there, but as people, we are more than that.

• 26:22George Kamel?

  Co-host that can do it all.

• 26:23Rachel Cruze?

  Mm-hmm, this podcast is more, and that's what we bring you. So this person, whoever this person is, is only running on 50%. We're running on the 100% of you.

• 26:33George Kamel?

  Why would you have any payments if you could invest? Invest every dollar to your name, never give, never spend, just invest, invest, invest, because you'll have a smaller retirement nest egg if you don't.

• 26:42Rachel Cruze?

  Golly, unbelievable.

• 26:43George Kamel?

  Big brain thinking.

• 26:44Rachel Cruze?

  Stop that, don't, don't go on vacation. Why are you going on vacation? You could invest that, do you know your opportunity cost? What are you doing? That's how these people feel.

• 26:49George Kamel?

  Just live your life, man. That was a long comment to write, like, they spent a good portion of their life, they could've been investing instead of writing this comment. Oh, boy, this one's for you, Rachel.

• 27:00Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, oh, crap, okay, this is me. A woman needs zero luxury bags regardless of net worth. A TJ Maxx bag will last just as long. I do not understand the desire unless you're running out of things to waste money on.

• 27:16George Kamel?

  I shouldn't have written that on your Instagram.

• 27:18Rachel Cruze?

  I know, it's unbelievable, George.

• 27:20George Kamel?

  Sounds like something I would say.

• 27:21Rachel Cruze?

  Unbelievable.

• 27:21George Kamel?

  I don't even know what the context was.

• 27:24Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, I don't know, we're just talking about luxury bags.

• 27:25George Kamel?

  But you're right, nobody needs...

• 27:26Rachel Cruze?

  You're right, I would say, you're right.

• 27:28George Kamel?

  A luxury bag.

• 27:29Rachel Cruze?

  You don't.

• 27:30George Kamel?

  It's a want, we can own that.

• 27:31Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, and there's a certain point in life that you're like, yes, I wanna upgrade a car, a bag, a vacation, all of that. We would say, if you have the money for it, and it doesn't take you out financially, it's not a big part of your world, you're allowed to do it. You have to do three things with money. Give it, save it, and spend it. You need to do all three.

• 27:51George Kamel?

  That's all you can do with it.

• 27:52Rachel Cruze?

  Now, if you believe this designer bag is gonna get you something from like a self-worth perspective, like, yeah, you're wrong, it's not. But listen, if you want a nice bag, and would I personally have a closet full of them? No, I wouldn't. But I probably have maybe three nice bags, and I'm great with them. Like, it's great, it's all I need, and I enjoy them, so sue me, Cindy.

• 28:16George Kamel?

  It's that simple. Sometimes you can just want something, pay cash for it, and enjoy it.

• 28:21Rachel Cruze?

  Mm-hmm, that's it.

• 28:23George Kamel?

  It's that simple, and I've come around on this, because I have had a bad attitude towards things that I don't understand the practicality of. Because I miss your practicality. I'm like, well, you can hold things in a different purse that costs less. Like, well, that's not the point of the purse sometimes. It's fashion.

• 28:39Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, and...

• 28:41George Kamel?

  You like it, it's well-made, you'll pass it on to your kids, who knows?

• 28:44Rachel Cruze?

  And again, Cindy, whoever wrote this comment, I don't know why, I feel like her name's Cindy.

• 28:48George Kamel?

  Wow, shots fired at all Cindys. Not all Cindys are credit equal.

• 28:52Rachel Cruze?

  No. But you know, a well-made bag, it's like a pair of well-made shoes, like, real leather shoes is gonna get you more years. They will.

• 29:03George Kamel?

  But yeah, you're right, need is, if someone says, I need that, you're right. They are wrong.

• 29:07Rachel Cruze?

  Can I maybe like be a complete hypocrite now?

• 29:11George Kamel?

  Absolutely, it's a Tuesday for you.

• 29:13Rachel Cruze?

  I do.

• 29:13George Kamel?

  Just kidding.

• 29:17George Kamel?

  We're shooting this on a Wednesday, so technically Wednesday.

• 29:20Rachel Cruze?

  I was gonna say, I do need Cozy Earth in my life, though.

• 29:24George Kamel?

  That's a requirement. It's beyond the want category.

• 29:26Rachel Cruze?

  I know. It goes, it toggles between, you know, it's a want, but it's kind of a need. Those bamboo sheets, I can't go back.

• 29:33George Kamel?

  That is true. Once you get a certain level, it's hard to retract.

• 29:38Rachel Cruze?

  Going back, it's just not possible, you know?

• 29:42George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 29:42Rachel Cruze?

  It's just not possible.

• 29:43George Kamel?

  I warn people before buying Cozy Earth. I'm like, are you sure you're ready for this? Because you can't go backwards.

• 29:49Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 29:50George Kamel?

  You will now know what luxury and quality feels like.

• 29:53Rachel Cruze?

  The Cruz family literally had two Cozy Earth blankets on the couch, two separate couches, watching Toy Story 5. It was wonderful. But yeah, from their blankets to the sheets, the bedding.

• 30:03George Kamel?

  Towels.

• 30:04Rachel Cruze?

  The towels, the loungewear. I mean, literally all of it.

• 30:07George Kamel?

  The socks.

• 30:08Rachel Cruze?

  I have like a, I have a, like a jersey type shirt, black shirt, just looks plain, you know? Never think a difference. It is different. Like, the material. I'm telling you. It's unlike anything. You can't get a dupe like it.

• 30:22George Kamel?

  No. And they got something for everyone. It makes a great gift. And so you can check it out and get 20% off at cozylearth.com/smartmoney. Use code SMARTMONEY at checkout. And if you get the post-purchase survey, let them know that we sent you. We appreciate it.

• 30:35Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, I love it. Love it, love it.

• 30:38George Kamel?

  I enjoyed those comments. Those are fun.

• 30:40Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah. I think there's always gonna be some hate. And you know what? There's some hate I'm okay with. It's just to the point that I'm like, listen, you do you. You know, if you're mad about our housing situation, go up to 40% and take a 30-year. Like, if that's you, like, you do you, right? We're just here to offer advice, to offer a...

• 30:59George Kamel?

  One point of view.

• 31:00Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, a system that we feel like works, is wise, maybe too conservative for some, maybe not as like risky and like out there.

• 31:09George Kamel?

  Less exciting.

• 31:10Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah. And it's maybe a little boring, but you know, as we say here, it's like God's and Grandma's ways of handling money. Like, it is what it is.

• 31:17George Kamel?

  As I get older, I just crave simplicity and peace, more than I do chaos and complexity.

• 31:23Rachel Cruze?

  Wow, you should put that on a pillow. That was amazing.

• 31:26George Kamel?

  I don't want to fall for it at TJ Maxx.

• 31:28Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah. That was amazing, though.

• 31:30George Kamel?

  Thank you. I appreciate that. That's true.

• 31:32Rachel Cruze?

  Well said.

• 31:32George Kamel?

  I'm an old soul, I think, in a lot of ways. Like, I don't crave the like, oh, what's the new hot trendy? I'm just like, can I just live my life?

• 31:39Rachel Cruze?

  And you know...

• 31:40George Kamel?

  Not be overstimulated by everything that's...

• 31:42Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 31:42George Kamel?

  I need to go try and buy and mow.

• 31:45Rachel Cruze?

  This might be a judgy comment, as we're talking about judgy comments. There, I think there's something about, you have a life, George. You got a wife, you got two little kids at home, you're working full-time, you're hustling. The last thing you need is worried about a big mortgage payment, the investment going up and down, we don't know, or the, the extra small business loan you took out on your friends, right? Do you know what I'm saying? Like...

• 32:09George Kamel?

  The arbitrage opportunity.

• 32:11Rachel Cruze?

  It's like, you don't have time for it, you know?

• 32:13George Kamel?

  I'm going straight from here to hang with the kids, to get them down, and then you maybe have one or two hours until it's shut eye.

• 32:18Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah. And you want good shut eye.

• 32:20George Kamel?

  That's your life.

• 32:21Rachel Cruze?

  You're chasing peace, people. Chasing peace.

• 32:23George Kamel?

  I want to sleep well.

• 32:24Rachel Cruze?

  And money, sadly, in our world today, is such a topic of chaos for people. They're so leveraged, there is so much consumer debt, yes, incomes have not kept up with the rate of tuition for college or housing, right? Like, there is so much. So what can you do to mitigate all of that, right? Like, there is this point that you don't want your money just to be the thing that controls so much of your thoughts and your stress points. Like, we want you free of that. And so that's probably why the conservative take, and some people don't like it, and it's fine.

• 32:55George Kamel?

  And it's a free country. I mean, I'm glad to be in a country where we can just comment whatever we want. As much as I think sometimes you shouldn't comment that, you can do it.

• 33:03Rachel Cruze?

  You can.

• 33:04George Kamel?

  Like, that's pretty cool.

• 33:05Rachel Cruze?

  And we still love you. George might not.

• 33:07George Kamel?

  I truly find it entertaining.

• 33:08Rachel Cruze?

  I really do, though. I'm fine. Y'all can be mad.

• 33:10George Kamel?

  If therapy works, but I feel like I'm in a healthier place with the comment section. I truly look at it as entertainment and some interaction with, with people that are interacting with my content. I go, thank you for that, or, great comment. And sometimes I do look for the persnickety ones, and I like to poke the bear a little bit.

• 33:25Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, that's fine. That's you.

• 33:26George Kamel?

  That's it. And again, it's a random guy on Instagram, and usually, after we DM for a little bit, we realize, we're on the same page. Why are we, why are we fighting?

• 33:34Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah. Okay, before we spill the tea on our Guilty as Charged segment, George?

• 33:38George Kamel?

  You crushed this one.

• 33:39Rachel Cruze?

  Y'all, it was everything I like in a drink.

• 33:42George Kamel?

  Wow. That is high praise to the producers.

• 33:45Rachel Cruze?

  For sure, the salt rim. I love a salt rim.

• 33:48George Kamel?

  It's the Apple Roll Margarita. Apple Roll, if you want to tidy up. So it's got apple, cider, to be clear. It has real apples in it, some actual apple slices, which I always appreciate, a garnish like that. Really adds to the drink.

• 34:02Rachel Cruze?

  The tea was great, thank you.

• 34:03George Kamel?

  It's got tequila, Aperol, lime juice, and agave. So it truly is a take on a margarita, but I think it's so much more interesting.

• 34:12Rachel Cruze?

  It's so good. I don't want to say it's complex, because I don't know if it really is, but it's enough, like, sweetness.

• 34:18George Kamel?

  Because the Aperol's got this kind of bitter herbal nature.

• 34:21Rachel Cruze?

  Sour with the lime. I don't know, it just works.

• 34:24George Kamel?

  The apple cider's got a little sweet tanginess to it. The lime juice and agave balance it all out.

• 34:29Rachel Cruze?

  I'm going 10 out of 10. I would order that at a restaurant.

• 34:31George Kamel?

  It's a 10 out of 10. I hate to admit it. I hate to be on Rachel's side for once, but she's right.

• 34:36Rachel Cruze?

  It was excellent. It was excellent. It was so good.

• 34:38George Kamel?

  Especially for the fall. And this one comes out, she knows her worth. It's $4.70 a serving.

• 34:43Rachel Cruze?

  We are bougie.

• 34:45George Kamel?

  But listen, you would pay 20 bucks for this at a nice cocktail bar.

• 34:48Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 34:48George Kamel?

  So I always go, as expensive these cocktails are to make at home, they are 10 times more expensive to go buy.

• 34:53Rachel Cruze?

  You could have five friends over.

• 34:54George Kamel?

  And in Nashville, we've talked about this, you're paying 9.75% sales tax, 15% liquor tax, plus the tip, which if you're doing it right, is 20% or more. You're talking 40% extra, whatever the menu says.

• 35:07Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, it's true.

• 35:08George Kamel?

  That's crazy. So I make drinks at home now with a, with a lot of pleasure. So check out the recipe in the show notes. Give it a try for yourself. If you hate it, you'll get your money back from yourself.

• 35:17Rachel Cruze?

  All right, now it's time for Guilty as Charged. And this is where we ask each other a Guilty as Charged question every week, and if we're guilty, we take a sip. All right, George, are you guilty of going back on something as a parent you said you would never do?

• 35:32George Kamel?

  Oh, boy. I feel like I haven't been a parent long enough to have that, that hard stake in the ground of like, when I'm a parent, I'll never let my kid do XYZ. But I will say, we were big on no screens.

• 35:46Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 35:46George Kamel?

  And we gave in pretty quickly.

• 35:49Rachel Cruze?

  Pretty quick.

• 35:49George Kamel?

  And then screens turned into, well, anytime I get a popsicle, I get screen time.

• 35:55Rachel Cruze?

  You've said this on other episodes. It's so funny.

• 35:57George Kamel?

  It's a Pavlovian response from my daughter. And so it's like, she gets a popsicle, she gets screen time. So it's like, she's double dipping.

• 36:03Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 36:04George Kamel?

  And it doesn't feel fair.

• 36:05Rachel Cruze?

  Give us a picture. What does that mean? Screen time is the TV? Does she have an iPad? Like, what's happening?

• 36:09George Kamel?

  So we'll pull up, you know, YouTube, and we'll, you know, pull up some Blippi, Bluey.

• 36:13Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, sure.

• 36:13George Kamel?

  Maybe it's a, it's like some clips from the movie Frozen.

• 36:16Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 36:17George Kamel?

  Sometimes a little Miss Rachel.

• 36:19Rachel Cruze?

  I love it.

• 36:19George Kamel?

  Little Wiggles if we're feeling crazy.

• 36:21Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, yeah.

• 36:22George Kamel?

  You know? Sometimes it's Leo the Truck.

• 36:24Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, I don't know Leo the Truck.

• 36:26George Kamel?

  He's just, it's a little sweet cartoon.

• 36:28Rachel Cruze?

  I love it.

• 36:28George Kamel?

  But I try to find the less stimulating ones.

• 36:30Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think that's great.

• 36:31George Kamel?

  And the ones that don't bother me. Like, I, this is no offense to Bluey, I'm sure he's a nice person, but I just, it like makes my skin crawl. I'm sorry, Blippi.

• 36:39Rachel Cruze?

  I was like, don't be hitting on Bluey.

• 36:40George Kamel?

  No, God bless Bluey.

• 36:41Rachel Cruze?

  I will, I will get on this chair and knock you down for Bluey. We still watch Bluey in our house.

• 36:45George Kamel?

  I love this the hard way.

• 36:46Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, but middle's, y'all, it is. It's just so good.

• 36:48George Kamel?

  Can I tell you, my mind was blown when I found out both were girls. Bingo and Bluey.

• 36:53Rachel Cruze?

  Sisters, I know.

• 36:54George Kamel?

  Which I get, like, I don't judge by the, by, but you can't tell with a cartoon named Bluey, if it's a boy or a girl.

• 37:00Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 37:01George Kamel?

  So egg on my face for thinking for far too long that Bluey was a boy.

• 37:04Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, no, y'all, that is like the...

• 37:06George Kamel?

  But that's how it goes down. And sometimes I enjoy popsicle with her if she asks. She said, Daddy, popsicle too? And I say, yes, ma'am. I get bossed around in my house. I have no power.

• 37:17Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, that's good.

• 37:17George Kamel?

  How about you? Anything you said you'd never do?

• 37:19Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, I'd say, I probably was the most judgy on screen time.

• 37:24Rachel Cruze?

  I'll say, we, we have TVs, so the, the, yeah, our kids do watch TV.

• 37:29George Kamel?

  If there's screens, there's gonna be screen time eventually. It's hard to break.

• 37:32Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, we don't, I will say, we've stayed, we have, for so long, our tablets, we have them, but we only do them when we travel.

• 37:40George Kamel?

  Oh, that's good.

• 37:40Rachel Cruze?

  So our kids don't have like iPads around the house. No judgment, because listen, judgment-free zone here. But...

• 37:45George Kamel?

  And they don't have, like, phones that they can...

• 37:47Rachel Cruze?

  No, they don't have phones. Yeah, yeah. Amelia has an Apple Watch.

• 37:51Rachel Cruze?

  But, but, so here's what, here's what I was gonna say, though, is like, yes, there have been times, for sure, especially on vacation. This is where I remember the most. And Winston and I are like, at a great dinner, and the kids are there, and they're just kind of like, they're done with dinner, because they bring the kids' meals out first. We're waiting on our tray, and it's like...

• 38:08George Kamel?

  Now they're antsy and bored.

• 38:09Rachel Cruze?

  And they're like, Mom, can we please, yeah, can we watch like an episode of, you know, whatever? And I'm like, man. You know what I think, George? Here's my bad parenting. I don't care if they do. Genuinely. I'm like, sure, I don't care.

• 38:18George Kamel?

  You personally.

• 38:19Rachel Cruze?

  But it's everyone watching.

• 38:21George Kamel?

  The other parent's judging.

• 38:22Rachel Cruze?

  And I want to put up a sign and be like, we don't let our kids watch screens at dinner usually.

• 38:26George Kamel?

  This is all the screen time they get for the week.

• 38:28Rachel Cruze?

  I just want everyone to know, but for the next 20 minutes, they're gonna watch a screen, and Winston and I are gonna have our own little date night on the side of the table.

• 38:34George Kamel?

  Oh, that's smart.

• 38:35Rachel Cruze?

  It's more for other people. It's my issue. It's my issue. And I would always say no, but I, and you do, you humble yourself, and you're like, and even if someone does judge, what are they gonna do?

• 38:44George Kamel?

  That's true.

• 38:45Rachel Cruze?

  Sandy, sitting at the table next to it. Like, I don't know. Like, what are they gonna do? So yeah, so we do, we have, yes, we have let the kids watch the phone at the table, and...

• 38:54George Kamel?

  Have screen time with Richard.

• 38:55Rachel Cruze?

  And I had to swallow that pill. And, and let me tell you, that's not the only one. You do that a lot as a parent.

• 39:01George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 39:02Rachel Cruze?

  A lot, from...

• 39:04George Kamel?

  Just to buy yourself a couple of minutes to do whatever.

• 39:06Rachel Cruze?

  The way that my kids talk to me versus how I would talk to my parents, are you kidding me?

• 39:12George Kamel?

  They're lucky to be alive.

• 39:13Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, my gosh. And I always tell them that. I'm like, if me and Papa, have I ever talked to me and Papa like that? Yeah, I mean, you just, you eat your words sometimes, because you're tired, you're exhausted, you're just trying to get through the day.

• 39:24George Kamel?

  Well, I'm the king of making...

• 39:25Rachel Cruze?

  And that's why we just, we just lift up parents. They're doing a good job.

• 39:28George Kamel?

  I make wild, like, if you don't blah, blah, blah, then this is gonna happen. And when he's like, why are you saying, you're not gonna do that?

• 39:34Rachel Cruze?

  You're not gonna do that.

• 39:35George Kamel?

  And now you just become a liar, and she knows that you're not gonna do that.

• 39:39Rachel Cruze?

  She'll pick up on it.

• 39:39George Kamel?

  So I'm working on that, out of my own...

• 39:42Rachel Cruze?

  Listen, George, we do crazy things as parents. Things that come out of my mouth sometimes, I think.

• 39:48George Kamel?

  It's very overstimulating.

• 39:50Rachel Cruze?

  It's a lot.

• 39:50George Kamel?

  But the latest one is when she's potty trained. So when she's on the potty now, she gets to watch some screen time. But now I have to be like, are you actually going potty? And she's like, yeah, I'm trying. You know?

• 40:01Rachel Cruze?

  Sweet.

• 40:01George Kamel?

  She's watching her little show.

• 40:03Rachel Cruze?

  Sweet thing.

• 40:04George Kamel?

  I'm like, all right, it's been five minutes, you know?

• 40:06Rachel Cruze?

  Sweet.

• 40:06George Kamel?

  Painter, get off the ladder.

• 40:07Rachel Cruze?

  Painter, get off the ladder.

• 40:11George Kamel?

  Oh, that's fun.

• 40:12Rachel Cruze?

  Too good. Well, if you have a Guilty as Charged question for us, make sure to DM us at Rachel Cruz and at George Kamel.

• 40:18George Kamel?

  Kind messages only.

• 40:19Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, we love it, though. We screenshot them and send them to our producer Jenna, so we appreciate that so much. Now, if you enjoyed this episode, you're gonna love our next episode, 10 Signs You're Doing Better Than Most Americans. We will link it for you. And make sure to subscribe so you don't miss an all-new episode of Smart Money Happy Hour.