Judging Lifestyle Upgrades: When Is It Finally Okay to Splurge?

📚 Grab a copy of George’s book, Breaking Free From Broke! At what point does “treat yourself” become a line item in the budget? Today we’re talking about “splurging responsibly” and how to strategically upgrade in your wealth-building journey. Next Steps: · 🎙️ Catch our episode Are These Common Money Habits Broke, Average or Wealthy? · 🍸 Follow Smart Money Happy Hour on TikTok: @smartmoneyhappyhour · 📱 Submit a Guilty As Charged question for Rachel and George! Leave us a voicemail with your question at 877-306-1517 or 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. · 💵 Create a free budget and find more margin with EveryDollar. Connect With Our Sponsors: · Check out the FAIRWINDS Credit Union exclusive account bundle. · Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe. · Get up to 40% off the exclusive bundles with code SMARTMONEY at Cozy Earth. Today’s Happy Hour Special: 🧨 4th of July Mocktail Recipe By: mocksontherocks · 2 ounces grenadine · 2/3 Sprite or lemon-lime soda · Splash of blue Gatorade Instructions: Add grenadine to a glass, then fill glass with ice. Fill 2/3 of glass with Sprite and top with blue Gatorade. 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?

  At what point does treat yourself become a line item in the budget? Today, we're talking about how to splurge responsibly as you build wealth. Can I tell you something that is embarrassing, but also unsurprising?

• 0:15Rachel Cruze?

  The confession is real, and especially if they're watching these episodes, George.

• 0:18George Kamel?

  And it makes me want to say, "No tip for you."

• 0:20Rachel Cruze?

  Stop that, George Kamel.

• 0:26Rachel Cruze?

  Hey, guys, I'm Rachel Cruz.

• 0:28George Kamel?

  I'm George Kamel.

• 0:30Rachel Cruze?

  And this is Smart Money Happy Hour.

• 0:37Rachel Cruze?

  Cheers, George.

• 0:38George Kamel?

  Cheers to America.

• 0:42Rachel Cruze?

  Very patriotic there.

• 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. If you're watching visually, you'll notice that our drink is red, white, and blue.

• 0:58Rachel Cruze?

  How fun is that? And the fact that it's staying and not mixing?

• 1:01George Kamel?

  Yeah, it's pretty impressive. Now, you're just getting a hit of grenadine at the bottom. So just, you may want to stir it as we get going.

• 1:07Rachel Cruze?

  Should I?

• 1:08George Kamel?

  Now that people got to see how beautiful it is. Yeah, I think we're good to stir.

• 1:11Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 1:12George Kamel?

  This is a 4th of July mocktail in honor of this great nation. And we'll give you our rating and reveal the cost per glass at the end of the episode. So stick around for that.

• 1:20Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, much better sip after that.

• 1:23Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, so I got a message on Instagram, George, a DM.

• 1:25George Kamel?

  Uh oh, was it more hate?

• 1:28Rachel Cruze?

  No, no, no, no.

• 1:29George Kamel?

  Oh, good. I don't know why I assume that now.

• 1:31Rachel Cruze?

  I know, they keep coming out of the woodworks.

• 1:33George Kamel?

  Do you post your pool again?

• 1:34Rachel Cruze?

  I know, they keep coming out of the woodworks. It's fine, though. No, but she was asking that, there's a woman, and she said, "Okay, I've been married for a while. Our only debt is a mortgage, and I really want to upgrade my wedding ring." She said, "My husband feels like it's frivolous, that's silly, why? He doesn't get it." And she's like, "Yeah, but we have the money for me to do it, and I really want to upgrade it." And it made me think, okay, yeah, when in the point of the journey do we get to have upgrades? Because you and I, we're bougie in our own ways, George.

• 2:06George Kamel?

  Yes.

• 2:06Rachel Cruze?

  We love an upgrade. We're not mad at it.

• 2:09George Kamel?

  Yeah, people think we're like anti-spending. Anytime we talk about buying something nice or expensive, they're like, "I thought you told people..." No, like, no, just not when you're broke.

• 2:17Rachel Cruze?

  That's right. When you don't have the money, don't buy those things. That's right. Because eventually, if you do the baby steps and you get out of debt, you save, you're gonna have margin, you're gonna start having savings off to the side beyond your emergency fund, you know, and you kind of get to a point of like, "Okay, when can I upgrade?" And there's different parts of life that we can upgrade, right? It's not just jewelry, but vacations and cars and homes, all the things.

• 2:40George Kamel?

  Yeah. Well, let's talk about it, because it can feel rebellious, and when you've been so gazelle intense, it feels like you're doing something wrong by buying something nice for yourself, like you don't deserve it. And so there's parts of the journey you can sort of unlock a little bit of that and, you know, let your foot off the gas and enjoy life a little bit more. So we'll talk through different, you know, stages of life.

• 3:00Rachel Cruze?

  What do you love to splurge on? What's like the, what are a couple of things besides the dogs?

• 3:03George Kamel?

  Hmm, I will say-

• 3:05Rachel Cruze?

  Or is that the main? That might be the main.

• 3:06George Kamel?

  Yeah, I would say anything that is involving, things I'm putting into my body, like food, like supplements, like I'm like, "That is worth it."

• 3:14Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 3:15George Kamel?

  Things that will help increase my quality of life, so to help me sleep. And then the other one is buying back my time.

• 3:21Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 3:21George Kamel?

  I am the quickest person to be like, "Can someone else do that for money?" Great, let's do that.

• 3:27Rachel Cruze?

  I will pay for that.

• 3:27George Kamel?

  Because I will screw it up, it's gonna cause a marital fight. And you know these guys, the types like, "Babe, we can just renovate the bathroom ourselves. I saw a YouTube video." Like, I don't want to pay a guy $7,000.

• 3:37Rachel Cruze?

  Who needs an electrician? I can do it.

• 3:39George Kamel?

  Seven weeks later, the bathroom is unusable.

• 3:42Rachel Cruze?

  Someone may have gotten electrocuted. Not good.

• 3:44George Kamel?

  Yeah, the spouse is angry, there's an ER visit. You're like, "We should have just paid the guy."

• 3:48Rachel Cruze?

  Why don't we just pay someone to do it? I know.

• 3:50George Kamel?

  So those are some areas for me. How about you guys?

• 3:52Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, that's good. That's good. I would say, you know, I'm gonna go the health thing, too, because I feel like we got a sauna, we went and kind of splurged on some workout stuff that we actually do use, it doesn't just sit there, like thing, and that we don't leave the house for.

• 4:07George Kamel?

  Oh, that's nice.

• 4:08Rachel Cruze?

  Do you know what I mean? Like, that's great.

• 4:09George Kamel?

  Like, we would have had to go somewhere to do this.

• 4:11Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 4:12George Kamel?

  Now we can just do this at home.

• 4:13Rachel Cruze?

  It's like we upgrade, yes. I'd say in the last season of life, I'd say that. But then, I will have little things.

• 4:20Rachel Cruze?

  Like, you know me, I love a valet at the airport.

• 4:22George Kamel?

  Nothing like it.

• 4:23Rachel Cruze?

  I talk about it all the time.

• 4:24George Kamel?

  You actually have to convince me.

• 4:25Rachel Cruze?

  I.

• 4:26George Kamel?

  Cause I've had just nightmare scenarios trying to even like park at the airport garage. And now I'm going to be late for my flight because I've been circling.

• 4:32Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 4:33George Kamel?

  And it said there was a spot on this floor, but there is not a spot on this floor.

• 4:35Rachel Cruze?

  And you can't find it.

• 4:36George Kamel?

  It's where it's baldo.

• 4:37Rachel Cruze?

  And what garage are you in? How far away are you? But we will never buy snacks at the airport. Right?

• 4:43George Kamel?

  No.

• 4:43Rachel Cruze?

  So I'm like, we bring our snacks.

• 4:45George Kamel?

  Nine dollars for bugles? Get out of here.

• 4:47Rachel Cruze?

  Get out of here. I know. Uh, yeah, so are like consistent. I know that's one of my things is I'm like, I will, I will valet. So that feels a little like a splurge, but.

• 4:54George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 4:55Rachel Cruze?

  I love it.

• 4:55George Kamel?

  But that's again, you're buying convenience and I feel like at your stage of life, you just need a little more convenience.

• 5:00Rachel Cruze?

  I know. Um, and my other, which you always hate this, I don't want to set foot into Costco.

• 5:05George Kamel?

  Oh, that's right.

• 5:06Rachel Cruze?

  Someone to do it, which is always a large bill. We know the Costco bills.

• 5:10George Kamel?

  Yeah. So you're just like.

• 5:11Rachel Cruze?

  So I pay for it, but guess what? I don't have to have that big cart and be like, ah, ah, ah, ah, long line to the back of the freezer.

• 5:19George Kamel?

  There was like a my size cart at Costco. You know what I mean?

• 5:22Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 5:22George Kamel?

  Like, give me a, give me a small, medium, large.

• 5:25Rachel Cruze?

  Small, medium, large carts at Costco.

• 5:27George Kamel?

  But here's why they do it.

• 5:28Rachel Cruze?

  Because everything is.

• 5:29George Kamel?

  You want to fill the cart. It's like, if you have a big dinner plate, you want to fill the dinner plate.

• 5:34Rachel Cruze?

  That's right.

• 5:34George Kamel?

  If you have a small plate, you can only fill it so much.

• 5:37Rachel Cruze?

  They do it psychologically?

• 5:38George Kamel?

  Yes, to get you to spend more.

• 5:39Rachel Cruze?

  No, but all their things are large. Like you buy a big box of.

• 5:42George Kamel?

  True.

• 5:43Rachel Cruze?

  Popcorn, not just like a box of popcorn. So you gotta have room.

• 5:46George Kamel?

  We're not always going to Costco for a huge haul. Sometimes you're just going for a couple of things.

• 5:50Rachel Cruze?

  True.

• 5:51George Kamel?

  But then you have room in the cart, you go, hey, might as well.

• 5:53Rachel Cruze?

  Might as well search the aisles up and down. And I think actually the way I do it saves me money.

• 5:58George Kamel?

  Wow. Cause you're not.

• 6:00Rachel Cruze?

  I'm not shopping, I'm not aisle shopping. Yeah. I get the things we usually get and that's it.

• 6:04George Kamel?

  That's girl math.

• 6:04Rachel Cruze?

  I don't know new stuff.

• 6:05George Kamel?

  You're saving money by doing Instacart for Costco.

• 6:08Rachel Cruze?

  A hundred percent. All day.

• 6:10George Kamel?

  I love this.

• 6:10Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 6:11George Kamel?

  Wow. Well, you know, we work in personal finance and we are proudly bougie in certain areas and we're going to talk about how to splurge responsibly. And before we get to that, it's worthwhile to go over the teaching we have around personal finances, the baby steps, so that you kind of know where you are in the journey.

• 6:28Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah. So the non-splurge times for sure is baby steps one through three. So baby step one, a thousand dollars. Baby step two, get out of all consumer debt. And baby step three, have an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses. So like, it's kind of like, yeah, there's no splurging in that time. And that may take you two, three, four years possibly, right? So there's a level there to say, okay, timeframe, short amount of time, but we're going to really buckle down and do this. And again, some people longer or shorter. But then when you get to baby steps four, five, and six, you're funding 15% of your income to retirement, saving for kids' college, trying to pay the house off early. That's where you can kind of start to say, okay, we can buy a new couch if we need the new couch. We can go on a trip. Like, there are times to spend in that, because that baby

• 7:13Rachel Cruze?

  step is a while. That could be a decade, right? So you want to enjoy your life throughout that decade.

• 7:17George Kamel?

  You can go on a vacation.

• 7:18Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. But then especially baby step seven.

• 7:21George Kamel?

  That's where no mortgage, no payments.

• 7:24Rachel Cruze?

  Kids are good for college. You're just continuing to invest on the side. And then, yes, any extra margin you have.

• 7:31George Kamel?

  That's where like extravagance can come in.

• 7:33Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. That's where I feel like you can really enjoy. Yes, you can really enjoy.

• 7:37George Kamel?

  All right. Well, let's draw a category. And most of these are actual line items for us in an every dollar budget, which is fun. And we're going to share some tips and tricks for upgrades that have been worth it for us as we build wealth and hopefully free some people to enjoy their money.

• 7:50Rachel Cruze?

  That's right. Yes. We love, we love people that follow the Ramsey Plan, but some of them, George, a little too tight in their

• 7:58George Kamel?

  Loosen up the purse strings.

• 7:59Rachel Cruze?

  Say, enjoy.

• 8:00George Kamel?

  And let us know your thoughts in the comments as well. I'm sure you might disagree with us on some of these.

• 8:04Rachel Cruze?

  That's true.

• 8:05George Kamel?

  That's fine. It's a free country. America.

• 8:07Rachel Cruze?

  Go America.

• 8:09Rachel Cruze?

  Uh, okay, house, George. So.

• 8:12George Kamel?

  Oh.

• 8:13Rachel Cruze?

  Things around the house that you can upgrade. Okay, let's talk services. This is a place where we do, we have splurge on the services. So a house cleaner.

• 8:21George Kamel?

  Yep.

• 8:21Rachel Cruze?

  We started that a couple of years ago and God bless them. You know, there's nothing like walking into a house that smells like a cleaning solution that you didn't buy. It's theirs and you're like, that smells amazing.

• 8:33George Kamel?

  That shower tile is so much cleaner than I remember it.

• 8:35Rachel Cruze?

  Well, I seriously think, you know, sometimes when you cook a meal, you like, by the end of it, you're like, okay, I'm gonna just eat it because it's made and whatever. But then someone else can make the same meal and you walk in, you're like, this is the most amazing meal.

• 8:48George Kamel?

  You didn't have to cook it or clean up.

• 8:50Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. And I think that's about cleaning for me.

• 8:52George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 8:53Rachel Cruze?

  Because I'm not a picky, I'm not picky when it comes to cleaning. My sister and mom, love them, but they are. They're like looking in the corners and like, if they paid someone to do it, they're gonna be, they're gonna be looking.

• 9:03George Kamel?

  Sharon is gonna find a dusty baseboard. It's the last thing she does.

• 9:07Rachel Cruze?

  It's like, listen, you know, where I'm like, I don't know, I don't pay attention to that stuff.

• 9:11George Kamel?

  It's more of a vibe for you.

• 9:12Rachel Cruze?

  It smells good. And I'm like, oh my gosh, everything feels so clean.

• 9:15George Kamel?

  It seems clean.

• 9:16Rachel Cruze?

  It seems clean. That's my, that is my cleaning company's slogan.

• 9:22George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 9:23Rachel Cruze?

  It seems clean.

• 9:25George Kamel?

  So you're saying they may not be doing the best job, but you're convinced.

• 9:29Rachel Cruze?

  And all the type B people say, amen, hallelujah. Yep.

• 9:32George Kamel?

  But house cleaner, totally worth it. And again, at some stage of life, maybe you hit baby step four, you go, great, we'll do it once a month.

• 9:38Rachel Cruze?

  Totally.

• 9:38George Kamel?

  And then maybe baby step seven, you go, you know what, twice a month.

• 9:42Rachel Cruze?

  Sure.

• 9:42George Kamel?

  Every week, go crazy if you want to.

• 9:44Rachel Cruze?

  Hundred percent.

• 9:45George Kamel?

  It's again, buying my sanity back, buying my time back, totally worth it.

• 9:48Rachel Cruze?

  Yep. How about lawn care for you?

• 9:52George Kamel?

  Can I tell you something that is embarrassing, but also unsurprising?

• 9:55Rachel Cruze?

  What?

• 9:55George Kamel?

  I've never mowed a lawn in my life.

• 9:59George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 10:00Rachel Cruze?

  Really?

• 10:00George 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 bold, it was in rocks. So there was no, there was nothing to like really mow. My dad would just do a little quick mow. And then growing up, I just never like, even when I owned a home, it was like a town home in the HOA desert or.

• 10:20Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. Okay, that's fair. You know what? You're a city boy.

• 10:22George Kamel?

  Did it for 15 bucks.

• 10:23Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're a city boy.

• 10:25George Kamel?

  And then I'm like, where am I gonna store a zero turn mower right now? You know what I mean? I don't have the space for that.

• 10:30Rachel Cruze?

  No.

• 10:31George Kamel?

  I got a Bluey bounce house to store.

• 10:32Rachel Cruze?

  That's right. You got, you got too many priorities, George.

• 10:35George Kamel?

  And I saw him come by the other day and I'm like, these guys get it done in five minutes.

• 10:39Rachel Cruze?

  They do. They're so fast.

• 10:41George Kamel?

  It would take me all day in the heat. I'd be complaining. I'd have a heat stroke and be in the ER. We can't risk it.

• 10:46Rachel Cruze?

  That was like one of Winston's identity crisis. When we moved to our new house, uh, he sold the lawnmower and like got lawn care. So for about, I don't know, 10 years, you know, he always did our yard work. Uh, and then when we moved, he was like, I think that's one thing I'm going to do. I'm going to give it up to be just to have the Saturdays back. Cause it would be all day. And if we, if he mulched, you know what I mean? It would be all day. And so, uh, yeah. And so we, yeah, we outsourced the lawn care.

• 11:11George Kamel?

  That one's worth it.

• 11:12Rachel Cruze?

  They come in with these massive lawnmowers. There's like three of them and they're done.

• 11:16George Kamel?

  They have better equipment. They're faster.

• 11:18Rachel Cruze?

  And they're better and they're good.

• 11:19George Kamel?

  It's dialed in.

• 11:20Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. Dialed in. They know what they're doing. For sure. Um, okay. How about like furniture and stuff? Upgrading.

• 11:27George Kamel?

  Ooh.

• 11:28Rachel Cruze?

  Throughout the, cause I mean, we went from like goodwill, college furniture.

• 11:32George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 11:33Rachel Cruze?

  It's like a little bit nicer, a little bit of a splurge to like, okay, we're gonna, we're gonna keep up stepping.

• 11:40George Kamel?

  Yeah. When to upgrade furniture? I would say, once you're married, there's sort of like another level, right? Cause if you're a guy, you've had the worst furniture known to man. And now someone else in your life cares more.

• 11:50Rachel Cruze?

  And you need a bed frame.

• 11:51George Kamel?

  No bed frame.

• 11:51Rachel Cruze?

  And you need a bed frame.

• 11:52George Kamel?

  Why do you need a bed frame?

• 11:53Rachel Cruze?

  Gentlemen.

• 11:54George Kamel?

  I'll sleep on the floor. I had a roommate that just slept on the floor, like mattress on the floor. The entire time I lived with him.

• 12:00Rachel Cruze?

  As an adult.

• 12:01George Kamel?

  Yeah. We were in our twenties.

• 12:02Rachel Cruze?

  It's great. You know what?

• 12:03George Kamel?

  It's totally fine.

• 12:04Rachel Cruze?

  You do you.

• 12:05George Kamel?

  But yeah, furniture is one, I think over time, especially as you get out of debt, you enter that baby step four through six phase, it's time to upgrade some things, especially if they need to be upgraded.

• 12:15Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 12:16George Kamel?

  There's holes in it. It's been worn down. There's stains.

• 12:19Rachel Cruze?

  Seen the better days.

• 12:20George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 12:21Rachel Cruze?

  So get a new rug.

• 12:22George Kamel?

  And some people truly just don't care that much about furniture and aesthetic and.

• 12:26Rachel Cruze?

  Sure.

• 12:26George Kamel?

  You know, and that's fine. It doesn't have to be a value for everybody.

• 12:29Rachel Cruze?

  Mm-hmm.

• 12:29George Kamel?

  But I think when you walk into someone's home and they have like nice furniture, you're like, oh, they're adults. They have adult money.

• 12:35Rachel Cruze?

  They have, they totally, totally. No, it's so true. I know. It's fair.

• 12:40George Kamel?

  And then baby step seven, I think is another level where you can get like some higher end pieces and really start to.

• 12:46Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. And even hire someone to help.

• 12:48George Kamel?

  Oh, yeah.

• 12:49Rachel Cruze?

  Right?

• 12:49George Kamel?

  Putting together the furniture is its own beast.

• 12:51Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my gosh.

• 12:53George Kamel?

  Now, when I see, this is the bougie part. If I see white glove delivery, I'm like, yes. Yes, I will pay the extra $50.

• 13:00Rachel Cruze?

  And then the company that moves people and like sets everything up.

• 13:04George Kamel?

  That's right.

• 13:04Rachel Cruze?

  That's called a white, isn't that White Glove too?

• 13:06George Kamel?

  Yes, it's like a white glove moving service.

• 13:09Rachel Cruze?

  And it's like.

• 13:09George Kamel?

  They literally will like, if it was in this drawer, they will take it all out and put it back in that drawer after they move it. So it's real, they're doing every single little thing.

• 13:17Rachel Cruze?

  That's a rung on the ladder that you've made it.

• 13:19George Kamel?

  I'm uncomfortable, people going through my junk drawers. I don't know what's in there.

• 13:23Rachel Cruze?

  But they do it, and they don't care, right?

• 13:26George Kamel?

  It's like a doctor, they've seen it all.

• 13:27Rachel Cruze?

  They've seen it all, they're not worried, they're not worried. Yeah, that's pretty good.

• 13:30George Kamel?

  That's a fun one.

• 13:31Rachel Cruze?

  I love upgrading areas in my home that like I, like my sleeping, for instance, like my sheets, my pajamas, um, my, my robes, I love a robe. Like all those things when you're like, okay, I'm gonna like buy some nice quality items like that. And I always go to Cozy Earth for those because it is just spot on. And actually with Cozy Earth, we created a George and Rachel, two separate bundles.

• 13:56George Kamel?

  I didn't know we could do this.

• 13:57Rachel Cruze?

  They're our faves, I know. Y'all, I am, I'm so excited. So I picked out my favorites, okay? So mine is the Luxe Bath Sheets, so it's not just the towels, it's the sheets, which are bigger and they are luxurious and soft and beautiful. And then of course, the bamboo pajamas, the sets, so top and bottom, love. And then my bamboo kimono robe. And so this is like a lightweight, beautiful robe. So that's the Rachel, that's the Rachel set.

• 14:28George Kamel?

  That's great. And my bundle includes the Lake House Clog. And then, so I've got the Clog, and then I have the First Layer Pajama Short Sleeve and Tee Set, which Whitney was like, whoa, okay. And I was like, what can I say? I'm Cozy Earthed out. And then I added this one because it's just very me, the Calf Sock Four Pack.

• 14:46Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, you love a calf.

• 14:47George Kamel?

  I love a sock.

• 14:48Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, but you usually do no, a no-show sock, George.

• 14:50George Kamel?

  Well, here's the truth, I realized I am out of touch. And so I thought, let me give the people what they want, which is a calf sock.

• 14:56Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, that's popular.

• 14:58George Kamel?

  And maybe it'll convince me to get rid of the no-shows. But I love my Cozy Earth no-shows too. So these bundles, they're letting our audience get 40% off.

• 15:07George Kamel?

  Of these bundles. So if you want to live like Rachel, look like Rachel.

• 15:10Rachel Cruze?

  Live like George.

• 15:12George Kamel?

  Very if you want to live like me, but if you do, the bundles are available at cozylearth.com/smartmoney. And again, you'll get 40% off our exclusive bundles. This is a limited time offer, so be sure to get yours while supplies last. And if you get the post purchase survey, let them know that Smart Money Happy Hour sent you.

• 15:29Rachel Cruze?

  All right, George, next topic. I'll let you.

• 15:30George Kamel?

  All right.

• 15:31Rachel Cruze?

  Draw out of the old fishbowl.

• 15:32George Kamel?

  Thank you for letting me do the honors.

• 15:33Rachel Cruze?

  We love a fishbowl.

• 15:34George Kamel?

  Uh, one of your favorites.

• 15:35Rachel Cruze?

  What is it?

• 15:36George Kamel?

  Let's talk about travel.

• 15:37Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. Love language.

• 15:39George Kamel?

  And this is transportation too. We kind of lumped that in there.

• 15:41Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 15:42George Kamel?

  So let's start with the cars.

• 15:43Rachel Cruze?

  Cars, everything.

• 15:43George Kamel?

  When to upgrade to the new to you car, to the brand new car.

• 15:48Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 15:49George Kamel?

  And this one, we do have pretty specific parameters on.

• 15:51Rachel Cruze?

  Okay. So when it comes to a brand new car, you need at least a million dollar net worth. So that's kind of our baseline. If you got a million bucks, you can take the hit of the depreciation that happens literally as you drive it off the lot. Like when it goes from new to used, just of the boop, boop, onto the road.

• 16:07George Kamel?

  Yep.

• 16:07Rachel Cruze?

  You lose out. It's just like that.

• 16:08George Kamel?

  Average new car prices are like $50,000 now.

• 16:11Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 16:11George Kamel?

  So you're talking about like 5% of your net worth, if you're a millionaire.

• 16:15Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 16:15George Kamel?

  Is tied up in that car and now going down in value.

• 16:17Rachel Cruze?

  That's right. So, uh, yep. So when you have that, but let's go from like even the bottom, George. Let's go with like the, maybe you had a car payment with a nice car. You sold it to get out of debt.

• 16:29George Kamel?

  Now you get the beater cars, as we call it.

• 16:30Rachel Cruze?

  You're driving like a seven, $6,000 car and you're like, all right, it's got 250,000 miles.

• 16:38George Kamel?

  It's, it's gonna kick the bucket at some point soon.

• 16:41Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. So when does the upgrade happen past that?

• 16:45George Kamel?

  Well, I, I just got a message about this and they were like, hey, if I has constant repairs, should I pause baby step two, my debt payoff journey and do it? I'm like, if you have to.

• 16:53Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 16:53George Kamel?

  Get the cheapest car possible and, and restart. But ideally you can drive that thing, get out of debt, get the emergency fund and then begin saving up for a new to you car. And this may not be a car that you have for five or seven years. It might just be a year or two.

• 17:07Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 17:07George Kamel?

  As you get to a better place financially to where you can save up 10 grand, 15 grand, 20 grand to go for that upgrade. But the key is you're doing it with cash.

• 17:15Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. No loans. Yep. And you know, and I think people get in the mindset of like, I'm going to have a car and I'm going to drive it till the wheels fall off, you know? So they, they think I'm going to go buy a brand new car and I'm going to drive it forever. And it's like, and it is going to be eight, nine, 10 years till I sell it. So sometimes that long-term thinking messes with people when we say, hey, you can buy a car for nine months. And sell it an upgrade, right? Like you really can just start stepping up in car. Like a car, it is a big purchase, but when you're purchasing on the lower end price point wise, those upgrades could happen faster and faster and faster because it's not going to take that much more to get an extra, you know, two, $3,000 once you're out of debt to put with your $6,000 car, right? And you automatically then have a $9,000, $10,000 car. So when you, when you think

• 17:59Rachel Cruze?

  of it like that, you can swap out these cars to continue to upgrade. It doesn't have to be that you have a car for 10 years.

• 18:06George Kamel?

  Well, the problem is when you upgrade too soon and with debt and it's brand new, it is so hard to then downgrade.

• 18:12Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 18:13George Kamel?

  When you go to sell that car.

• 18:14Rachel Cruze?

  It hits the ego.

• 18:15George Kamel?

  Yeah. I mean, I'm driving a loaner Tesla right now.

• 18:18Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, poor you.

• 18:19George Kamel?

  It had a little rattle noise, so it's in the shop. They gave me a loaner and it smells new.

• 18:23Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, shoot.

• 18:23George Kamel?

  And I'm like, oh, this is nice.

• 18:25Rachel Cruze?

  This is good.

• 18:25George Kamel?

  Mine smells like toddler.

• 18:27Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 18:28George Kamel?

  And dog, mostly dog.

• 18:30Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 18:30George Kamel?

  I can't blame the toddler.

• 18:31Rachel Cruze?

  Is it the same type of car? Like is it like basically your exact one, but it just smells great?

• 18:36George Kamel?

  Yes.

• 18:37Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, that's the worst.

• 18:38George Kamel?

  And it's white. I've never driven a white car.

• 18:40Rachel Cruze?

  Ooh, alright.

• 18:41George Kamel?

  I feel like a, you know, a very Williamson County mom.

• 18:44Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 18:45George Kamel?

  In my yoga pants and my weighted vest going to Target.

• 18:48Rachel Cruze?

  I was in car line in my white Honda Odyssey and there were literally five in a row. And I was like, well, there we all are.

• 18:55George Kamel?

  Wow.

• 18:55Rachel Cruze?

  Those white Honda Odyssey's. A white car, it does feel, I think it feels more feminine.

• 18:59George Kamel?

  It 100%. No, if it's a white truck, that feels masculine.

• 19:03Rachel Cruze?

  Well, sure, you gotta.

• 19:04George Kamel?

  But I'm just saying, like, not all white cars.

• 19:06Rachel Cruze?

  True, true. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 19:09George Kamel?

  But I just feel like you gotta clean it more often. Every single thing shows on that.

• 19:12Rachel Cruze?

  No, but it's the opposite, actually. I think black cars actually show more dirt faster.

• 19:16George Kamel?

  But if one bug gets on that white car, it is just so obvious.

• 19:20Rachel Cruze?

  You can't really see it though, but all the mud.

• 19:23George Kamel?

  I'll take you out to the parking lot. I hit, I had a lot of bugs on the way here.

• 19:27George Kamel?

  I killed some bugs.

• 19:28Rachel Cruze?

  Hold on, hold on.

• 19:30George Kamel?

  Are you Googling this?

• 19:31Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, I think it's a fact that that.

• 19:34George Kamel?

  Visually?

• 19:35Rachel Cruze?

  What cars show dirt and bugs more? White cars or black cars? I think I'm right.

• 19:43George Kamel?

  Who are you asking?

• 19:44Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, come on. Chat GPT, sorry, sorry.

• 19:48George Kamel?

  See if I had my voice one with that friendly lady.

• 19:50Rachel Cruze?

  Black cars, that's right. Dirt, dust, pollen, water spots and scratches. White cars tend to hide dust, dirt, scratches.

• 20:00George Kamel?

  Just saying. That's a fun one. Oh, and the last parameter, make sure that all the things with wheels and motors in your life doesn't add up to more than half your income.

• 20:09Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 20:09George Kamel?

  So that's kind of how you know, like, what is the limit here? How much can you afford in cash? Make sure it's not too, if you make a hundred grand, make sure all the cars and boats and whatever other toys don't have more than 50 grand.

• 20:19Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 20:20George Kamel?

  That just keeps you from going overboard.

• 20:22Rachel Cruze?

  I love it. Um, okay, so travel, when you think vacations, George, would you rather have a nice place that you're staying accommodations wise? VRBO or, um, I say VRBO still, Verbo, sorry, Verbo. Um, or like a nice hotel, but you have to cook, which I guess is weird in a hotel, but like, your meals you have to cook in, or would you rather go out to eat?

• 20:47George Kamel?

  Like cheaper hotel, but you're eating out more?

• 20:49Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 20:52George Kamel?

  I would say like I'm fine with mid-tier hotel and eating out more because I'm not in the hotel a lot, like I'm really there to sleep. If you're on that kind of vacation.

• 20:59Rachel Cruze?

  Yep.

• 21:00George Kamel?

  Where you're like exploring a city, you're really there just to get some shut eye, wake up, shower and go.

• 21:05Rachel Cruze?

  Totally, yes. But food would be like.

• 21:07George Kamel?

  I'd rather enjoy some good food.

• 21:09Rachel Cruze?

  Mm hmm.

• 21:09George Kamel?

  Because I don't really get to enjoy, and you don't want to go somewhere and then just sit in the hotel room all day.

• 21:14Rachel Cruze?

  So true. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's fair. Okay, I think I'm with you.

• 21:17George Kamel?

  How about you?

• 21:17Rachel Cruze?

  I think you convinced me. I first was going to say accommodations.

• 21:21George Kamel?

  Well, in your case, you're doing both room service.

• 21:24Rachel Cruze?

  No, I gotta pick one or the other. Stop that. That is where I splurge though.

• 21:28George Kamel?

  Room service.

• 21:29Rachel Cruze?

  Man.

• 21:30George Kamel?

  Now that's a good one.

• 21:31Rachel Cruze?

  Even at a Marriott.

• 21:32George Kamel?

  When to upgrade.

• 21:32Rachel Cruze?

  Even at a Marriott, getting an Eggs Benedict to your room.

• 21:36George Kamel?

  Wow.

• 21:37Rachel Cruze?

  Nothing like it.

• 21:38George Kamel?

  Cause when else do you eat an Eggs Benedict? Other than room service?

• 21:41Rachel Cruze?

  I know, it's like the only thing I get.

• 21:43George Kamel?

  I'll take the freshly squeezed grapefruit juice.

• 21:45Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, please, please, please.

• 21:47George Kamel?

  That's a good one. Okay, what about like first class or like time preference when booking flights? When is the time to upgrade?

• 21:53Rachel Cruze?

  Man.

• 21:54George Kamel?

  To the better flight instead of the red eye or the 5 a.m.

• 21:58Rachel Cruze?

  I think that's down the line. I feel like that's a, that's a luxury. Because you could spend an extra, like as a family, easily an extra thousand bucks, 200 bucks per person.

• 22:08George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 22:08Rachel Cruze?

  Right?

• 22:08George Kamel?

  To get a better flight.

• 22:09Rachel Cruze?

  For a family of five, to get a better flight.

• 22:10George Kamel?

  To choose your seat, they want to charge you more. Thanks, Southwest.

• 22:14Rachel Cruze?

  Gee, Southwest.

• 22:16George Kamel?

  I'm traveling with my toddler and I'm like, well, I can't. If I can't bank on sitting next to my toddler.

• 22:22Rachel Cruze?

  I know, you can't be family boarding after group A like we always did, like we always did. And you took it from us.

• 22:27George Kamel?

  So I had to upgrade to the choice seat on Southwest just to make sure I can sit with my toddler.

• 22:32Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 22:33George Kamel?

  It's exhausting.

• 22:33Rachel Cruze?

  Exhausting, I know. So all I think, I, you know, and having a direct flight is, is obviously amazing, so convenient. But if it's an extra 200 bucks or something like, and you don't have it, like to me, like that's one of the last things that you say, like, okay, we're gonna splurge on that.

• 22:47George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 22:48Rachel Cruze?

  I don't know, that's how I feel. In times, I'm like, sorry, kids, like we've had multiple 5 a.m. flights. I know you hate that.

• 22:55George Kamel?

  Well, for me, it's just like how much stress is gonna add to my day and to my life and to this trip? Cause it's already a trip if you're taking the kids.

• 23:02Rachel Cruze?

  Yep.

• 23:03George Kamel?

  Let's at least alleviate that. So I have been, been better about booking times that are, you know.

• 23:08Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 23:09George Kamel?

  Less frustrating. I don't like an early flight, as you know.

• 23:11Rachel Cruze?

  I know you don't.

• 23:12George Kamel?

  I know you don't mind.

• 23:13Rachel Cruze?

  I don't mind it at all.

• 23:14George Kamel?

  But the idea of waking up at 3 a.m. and being so bleary eyed all day.

• 23:17Rachel Cruze?

  It's almost a little adventurous to me.

• 23:20George Kamel?

  Oh, wow.

• 23:21Rachel Cruze?

  There's like a little bit of like with the kids.

• 23:23George Kamel?

  You wake up with a little bit of like, ooh, we're traveling today.

• 23:25Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, yeah. And like the sun is still down and like you gotta like get everyone up.

• 23:30George Kamel?

  Head up in the dark.

• 23:30Rachel Cruze?

  The house is kinda dark and you know, you're all, I don't know, there's something kinda fun about it.

• 23:33George Kamel?

  The kids are too tired to cry yet.

• 23:35Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 23:35George Kamel?

  That's, that's how you do it right there.

• 23:37Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, it's real, it's real.

• 23:39George Kamel?

  But I have found as I, as I got out of debt and started investing, like everything, I just wanted the slightly better flight, the slightly better hotel.

• 23:46Rachel Cruze?

  Yep.

• 23:46George Kamel?

  Cause it was just worth it. Again, it's about your quality of life at that point.

• 23:49Rachel Cruze?

  Hundred percent. So good. All right. Next category.

• 23:54Rachel Cruze?

  These are folded so nicely.

• 23:56George Kamel?

  Great folding job, team.

• 23:57Rachel Cruze?

  Shopping. Gosh, this is my episode.

• 24:01George Kamel?

  This really is. You're freeing so many people.

• 24:04Rachel Cruze?

  So upgrading shopping. So let's think more actual material things. Okay. So watches and shoes and purses. And then also shopping, which we'll throw this in, is like the tech side of it.

• 24:16George Kamel?

  Oh, yeah.

• 24:17Rachel Cruze?

  Upgrading all the technology.

• 24:19George Kamel?

  Your devices.

• 24:20Rachel Cruze?

  Your devices. Let's think. When to upgrade? This would be, this is a preference thing. Kind of that quality over quantity. And again, I would do it baby step four, five and six.

• 24:30George Kamel?

  Out of debt with the emergency fund.

• 24:32Rachel Cruze?

  And you know what? I'm going to say a big statement here. Ladies, I think we only need, if you're going to do it, if you're going to be in this, if you're going to be in the realm of luxury, okay, I think you only need like one or two luxury bags and that they will last you eight, nine years.

• 24:49George Kamel?

  Versus like five?

• 24:51Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, you don't need five.

• 24:52George Kamel?

  Do people have just like five or six or seven luxury bags?

• 24:55Rachel Cruze?

  I assume so, like the Real Housewives.

• 24:58George Kamel?

  Oh, Real Housewives. Okay. Well, that's your bar.

• 25:01Rachel Cruze?

  It is. That's what I think of though. I do.

• 25:03George Kamel?

  As if that's reality.

• 25:05Rachel Cruze?

  But I'm like, for a woman to have one nice bag in her life, I think is like, I think that's good. That's a good goal, right? We might be in our late 30s when we do it and that's okay. Or early 40s, but I don't know. There's one, there's something about me that I'm like a one.

• 25:19George Kamel?

  One or two nice luxury bags.

• 25:20Rachel Cruze?

  One nice bag. Big bag and then like a small bag.

• 25:23George Kamel?

  Something to aspire to. Now, do you think it's something that should be gifted by the spouse? Or is it something that? Is a known thing that we're all gonna, you know, go shopping for this.

• 25:32Rachel Cruze?

  No, I think you need to pick it out. If you're gonna spend that much money, you wanna make sure.

• 25:36George Kamel?

  I can't be trusted with that decision is what you're saying.

• 25:38Rachel Cruze?

  Unless you've had like a dream bag that you just talk about over and over and over and over and over and over and over and he knows exactly what it is. But if you're gonna spend that much, if you're gonna spend more than $200 on a purse, you need to pick it out. So.

• 25:52George Kamel?

  Sorry, guys. Don't even attempt it.

• 25:54Rachel Cruze?

  For sure. Yeah.

• 25:55George Kamel?

  Not the thought that counts on this one.

• 25:57Rachel Cruze?

  God, no. What if you opened it and you're like, you spent all that money and I don't really like it?

• 26:02George Kamel?

  I just, I think purses have the least amount of utility. Not that everything needs to have utility.

• 26:08Rachel Cruze?

  Do you understand what is carried in my bag?

• 26:11George Kamel?

  I understand that. I'm just saying.

• 26:12Rachel Cruze?

  I have, I have an event name tag right now. Two Hot Wheels, granola bars, trail mix, brushes, lipsticks, a sweater? There's literally a sweater in my bag right now, George.

• 26:24George Kamel?

  Okay, so.

• 26:24Rachel Cruze?

  Not utility.

• 26:25George Kamel?

  Let's change the analogy.

• 26:26Rachel Cruze?

  What are you talking about?

• 26:27George Kamel?

  If you're going to have all that garbage in a vehicle, it's like, would you rather have that in the old Honda Odyssey or in the G-Wagon? If you're going to have Cheerios in both.

• 26:37Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, I see what you're saying. Have the Target bag.

• 26:39George Kamel?

  With a purse, the Target bag can hold all of that just fine.

• 26:43Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 26:44George Kamel?

  The luxury bag feels like special occasions.

• 26:47Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 26:47George Kamel?

  Date night.

• 26:48Rachel Cruze?

  But I, but I wanna, but I wanna wear it all the time because it's, because I paid so much for it. So I wanna use it every day. It's my everyday bag, you know?

• 26:56George Kamel?

  She convinced me. Girl math wins again.

• 26:58Rachel Cruze?

  There we go. There we go.

• 26:59George Kamel?

  That's a good one.

• 27:00Rachel Cruze?

  The G-Wagon versus the Honda Odyssey. Thank you. Thank you for my.

• 27:03George Kamel?

  You're like, here's what's in my purse. Junk.

• 27:08Rachel Cruze?

  And food. I know. It's terrible. It's terrible.

• 27:10George Kamel?

  That have gone bad that I forgot were in there.

• 27:11Rachel Cruze?

  It's terrible. I know.

• 27:12George Kamel?

  That's a good one. But clothing in general.

• 27:14Rachel Cruze?

  But I'd say baby steps seven for a lot of the luxury stuff. Is that bad to say?

• 27:17George Kamel?

  Yeah, I would say if it's in luxury category.

• 27:19Rachel Cruze?

  Except we had a guy buy a luxury watch and we told him it was okay. He was on baby steps four, five and six and he'd save for it.

• 27:24George Kamel?

  Yeah. If that's a passion of yours.

• 27:27Rachel Cruze?

  Maybe like one, maybe like one nice luxury purchase in there.

• 27:29George Kamel?

  If it's a pattern, that tells me there's a red flag here. If you're just constantly needing and wanting all of these luxury things in your life.

• 27:36Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. Yes.

• 27:37George Kamel?

  If it's a huge part of your budget to where you're just using that instead of investing or paying off the house early.

• 27:43Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 27:43George Kamel?

  Not that every dollar has to go to those things, but I think there's some balance needed.

• 27:47Rachel Cruze?

  For sure. Does Whitney go through, I'm asking, because this just happened to me this past week?

• 27:53Rachel Cruze?

  Did she go through like shopping days? And then she didn't shop for like weeks and then it's like again, okay, that happens to her.

• 27:59George Kamel?

  She's in one right now.

• 28:00Rachel Cruze?

  I'm in one right now and it's giving me, it's all in my EveryDollar. I've been tracking all the transactions. But I had to up a category and I usually don't up the categories and I upped it. And I just, I just feel a little like, gosh, did I do too much, you know?

• 28:12George Kamel?

  Yeah. Well, at what point does it become a spree?

• 28:16Rachel Cruze?

  That's, I think I'm in it. I think I'm in this, I think I'm in this spree.

• 28:19George Kamel?

  If you keep it under a thousand, is it not a spree?

• 28:22Rachel Cruze?

  But I'm taking back two pairs of pants to Abercrombie this weekend.

• 28:23George Kamel?

  Okay, now you sound exactly like Whitney.

• 28:25Rachel Cruze?

  So I'm, I'm taking them back. So that's credit back to my EveryDollar line item. So that feels better.

• 28:31George Kamel?

  And to her credit, she usually returns most of it.

• 28:33Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah. And, and I just got an email that one of the things I bought is out of stock. So that's going to credit back. So I'm like, oh, I feel like I like, okay, yeah, I'm feeling better.

• 28:41George Kamel?

  Well, she explained this to me. So she doesn't like shopping in person as much anymore. Because she's had a lot of terrible like retail experiences. Like they're just like mean to her and super rude. To where she's like, I'll just shop online and then return it.

• 28:55Rachel Cruze?

  Do you think they're like trying to scare people off to shop online so that they don't have to like deal with this?

• 28:59George Kamel?

  That's what I'm wondering. Oh my gosh.

• 29:01Rachel Cruze?

  On their side where they're like, I'm done.

• 29:01George Kamel?

  It's hard to feel bad for retail stores struggling when customer service is gone.

• 29:06Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 29:06George Kamel?

  They're never happy you're in there.

• 29:08Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 29:08George Kamel?

  You're just a bother to them.

• 29:10Rachel Cruze?

  That's sad. Not everyone though, right?

• 29:12George Kamel?

  No.

• 29:12Rachel Cruze?

  But there's enough that she's like, oh, no, thank you.

• 29:15George Kamel?

  Yeah. I think until you get to the, the upper end, like you go to like a Dillard's. And of course, I'm, I'm always like, how are all these people employed? No, but every time I walk in there, there's like nine people working at the, just the perfume stations. I'm like, no one is here. How are you guys getting paid?

• 29:32Rachel Cruze?

  It is so true though.

• 29:33George Kamel?

  There's no way they make enough money at a Dillard's.

• 29:35Rachel Cruze?

  Do you think department stores will forever be around?

• 29:38George Kamel?

  Well, ask Sears how that went.

• 29:42George Kamel?

  I don't think they'll always be, I think they'll be around in some form or fashion. I think the big ones will figure out how to adapt.

• 29:49Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 29:49George Kamel?

  But they're, they're essentially billboards now to remind you they still exist.

• 29:53Rachel Cruze?

  That they're there. I know.

• 29:54George Kamel?

  But the actual foot traffic in there and amount of transactions happening in there.

• 29:57Rachel Cruze?

  That's what I would be so curious. Yes.

• 29:59George Kamel?

  It's going to take just a few rich people to keep those places alive.

• 30:02Rachel Cruze?

  Keep them going.

• 30:03George Kamel?

  Cause otherwise the common person is shopping online at this point.

• 30:06Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, I agree. I'm with you.

• 30:08George Kamel?

  It's a hot take.

• 30:08Rachel Cruze?

  Um, okay. What about technology? How about phones? AirPods, all of that.

• 30:14George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 30:14Rachel Cruze?

  I think that could be Baby Steps 4 through 6.

• 30:16George Kamel?

  100% because you're talking, you know, a few hundred bucks for some of these. An iPhone now, that's like $1,000.

• 30:21Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 30:22George Kamel?

  So that is something you gotta almost have a sinking fund for.

• 30:24Rachel Cruze?

  Mm-hmm.

• 30:25George Kamel?

  To just put up, you know, 50 bucks away a month so that in a couple of years, you have enough to get the newest phone.

• 30:30Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 30:31George Kamel?

  Now, I also think if you take care of your stuff, it lasts longer.

• 30:34Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, but I think they're in there. This is my conspiracy.

• 30:37George Kamel?

  Who's in there?

• 30:38Rachel Cruze?

  The tech people are in my phone and they drain my battery. They slow things down. I think that's real.

• 30:46George Kamel?

  You ever think about the fact that you could be doing all that by the way you use your phone?

• 30:51Rachel Cruze?

  Um, I use my phone like a normal person uses their phone. I talk into it a lot. I text and I go on Instagram and email. And maybe the Southwest app every now and then.

• 31:02George Kamel?

  So you don't have a lot of, are you constantly charging your phone?

• 31:06Rachel Cruze?

  Every night, but now it drains so fast. I have to charge it at work every day usually.

• 31:10George Kamel?

  Oh, no.

• 31:11Rachel Cruze?

  I think they're in there.

• 31:13George Kamel?

  Guys, pray for Rachel.

• 31:14Rachel Cruze?

  I think they're in there. I do. I think the tech, I think it's a...

• 31:17George Kamel?

  Well, I meet people in the lobby of Ramsey Solutions because, you know, they, we get a photo with them during the breaks on the show. And I'm, if I see a single lens, I'm like, wow, they're like troopers. A single lens on an iPhone, I'm like, bro, it might be time to upgrade. And they're always like, we're Baby Steps millionaires. We paid off our house. I'm like, dude, time to upgrade.

• 31:35Rachel Cruze?

  Upgrade the phone.

• 31:36George Kamel?

  There's been nine phones since you've had that one.

• 31:38Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 31:39George Kamel?

  So you don't have to get it every year or two, but if you take care of it, it'll last longer and you'll know when the time is right. And I have a, here's my, here's my tell.

• 31:46Rachel Cruze?

  What if you still had the swipe phone? Remember those?

• 31:48George Kamel?

  Oh, gosh. What's the swipe phone?

• 31:50Rachel Cruze?

  You know, when you open it, oh, gosh, wait, is that what we still have?

• 31:53George Kamel?

  Like a flip phone?

• 31:53Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know how we swipe up? Remember the ones that would go to the side? You have to unlock to the side?

• 32:00George Kamel?

  Oh, yes, yes. Those are the older iPhones with the older software.

• 32:04Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, love it.

• 32:06George Kamel?

  I was like, what is she talking about? I've never heard of this phone. It's a software thing.

• 32:10Rachel Cruze?

  It was a software thing, it's not a phone thing.

• 32:12George Kamel?

  Yeah, I think if you can upgrade to that software, I think there are older phones can't get to that software potentially, kinda like Macs.

• 32:19Rachel Cruze?

  Yep.

• 32:20George Kamel?

  But it's an interesting one, but here's my tell that someone is doing pretty well in life, naked iPhone.

• 32:25Rachel Cruze?

  What's it?

• 32:26George Kamel?

  No case, no screen protector.

• 32:28Rachel Cruze?

  Naked iPhone, bare, bare bones.

• 32:32George Kamel?

  You know what I mean? It's like driving without a seatbelt, like wow, you're really risking it. You must have a good life insurance policy.

• 32:37Rachel Cruze?

  It is true. Why would people do that, though?

• 32:39George Kamel?

  They like the feel of it.

• 32:41Rachel Cruze?

  Really?

• 32:41George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 32:42Rachel Cruze?

  Not wise people, not wise.

• 32:44George Kamel?

  I'm just saying, it's a tell. I haven't met a lot of like, super broke people who just have like a naked iPhone. They got that thing in an otter box, it's been through war, it's all cracked up, I mean, but it's still alive.

• 32:57Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, I love it, oh my gosh.

• 32:59George Kamel?

  But the truth is, no matter what iPhone version you have, always invest in protecting your personal info online with our friends at Delete Me.

• 33:05Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, protect that information, maybe not your iPhone, like some people, but protecting your information.

• 33:10George Kamel?

  It's a physical object, but the unseen is even more dangerous.

• 33:13Rachel Cruze?

  So scary, and in 2026, how much our information is out online and data brokers collect that data and then they end up selling it to other companies and that puts you at risk for scams and fraud and phishing and so Delete Me goes in and removes your information from those data broker sites.

• 33:28George Kamel?

  Yeah, and that reduces your exposure, it limits unwanted contact and you regain a sense of control over your digital life. So it's well worth it and I love the report they send you every couple of months, letting you know where they removed your info from, how much time they saved you. And just for our audience, you can get 20% off their annual plans when you go to joindelete.me.com/smartmoney. It will be the greatest investment for your digital privacy.

• 33:51Rachel Cruze?

  So beautiful, yep, joindelete.me.com, it is amazing. All right, next up, we got two more, George, what is this one? Ooh, self-care.

• 34:01George Kamel?

  This really is the Rachel Show.

• 34:03Rachel Cruze?

  I love all this stuff, what do you do with that? What do you do with that?

• 34:07George Kamel?

  I'm more selfless, so I care about others.

• 34:09Rachel Cruze?

  Can I tell you what I'm about to do tomorrow?

• 34:12George Kamel?

  Oh no.

• 34:13Rachel Cruze?

  Speaking of self-care.

• 34:14George Kamel?

  Does it involve fillers?

• 34:15Rachel Cruze?

  I've done, no, I've never gotten filler, George.

• 34:20George Kamel?

  I'll know when you got fillers, trust me. I'll call it out.

• 34:22Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, my Lord. Yeah.

• 34:23George Kamel?

  You might be like 70 when you get them, but I'll know.

• 34:26Rachel Cruze?

  You know what? I feel like when you reach a certain age.

• 34:28George Kamel?

  Did you get stung by a swarm of bees, Rachel? And you're like, no, I just got some filler.

• 34:32Rachel Cruze?

  I just got a filler in my lips.

• 34:33George Kamel?

  Can't move my face.

• 34:34Rachel Cruze?

  Um, okay, so there is a place and it keeps coming up on my Instagram because those algorithms, they're so powerful.

• 34:39George Kamel?

  They know you.

• 34:40Rachel Cruze?

  And when you stop somewhere for five seconds and think, that looks nice, they just keep serving it up. It's one of these, um, oh my gosh, I want to say.

• 34:50George Kamel?

  Choose your words.

• 34:51Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 34:51George Kamel?

  I can tell you're so cautious.

• 34:53Rachel Cruze?

  Let me just go broad. Head spa.

• 34:57Rachel Cruze?

  A head spa.

• 34:58George Kamel?

  What is that?

• 34:58Rachel Cruze?

  You, I'm gonna say it's a Korean head spa or is it the Korean mask I'm thinking of? Korean mask, okay, different, different part of my face, my head, but. Day you lay on a table, George, and this woman

• 35:14Rachel Cruze?

  washes your hair, massages your scalp, uses brushes, uses glove with spiky things, not spiky, like stuff on them.

• 35:23George Kamel?

  Okay.

• 35:24Rachel Cruze?

  Your neck that rinses with this like wands that has, that has like a waterfall. And then she does it again and does it again and you get your head massaged and your hair washed for like almost an hour and a half.

• 35:40George Kamel?

  Wow.

• 35:41Rachel Cruze?

  And it's.

• 35:41George Kamel?

  That's all they do.

• 35:42Rachel Cruze?

  It literally gets me chilled right now and I booked it for tomorrow and I, can I tell you?

• 35:47George Kamel?

  Is this your first time or second?

• 35:49Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, it is my second.

• 35:50George Kamel?

  Or a third.

• 35:51Rachel Cruze?

  I went, I went, no, no, no, it's my second. I went like maybe two years ago. And it's expen, I mean, it's expensive.

• 35:59George Kamel?

  I would imagine.

• 35:59Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 36:00George Kamel?

  I wouldn't want to do that for less than a couple hundred bucks, if you ask me.

• 36:03Rachel Cruze?

  I know, I know.

• 36:03George Kamel?

  An hour and a half.

• 36:04Rachel Cruze?

  So when I did it the first time, I was like, that is life changing, but I did feel like, God, you could get a full body massage for that amount. Like it did feel not wasteful, but I was like, I don't, that doesn't need to be like part of my world. But here's the girl math. So I took out my, I took out my extensions, obviously. So now my hair appointments are like a fourth of what I was paying. So I was like,

• 36:28George Kamel?

  Saving on hair appointments?

• 36:29Rachel Cruze?

  I can treat myself to one morning at the head spa. And I'm still gonna be less than a hair appointment that I would spend money on anyways.

• 36:39George Kamel?

  That's some brilliant maneuvering.

• 36:41Rachel Cruze?

  If people just like touch me anywhere, I'm like,

• 36:46George Kamel?

  I'll give you money.

• 36:47Rachel Cruze?

  I will give you money. Just please. Scratch my arm, massage my arm. I don't care. It is,

• 36:52George Kamel?

  You're really conniving with your EveryDollar budget. And you're just like, well, I want to move it here. I'm surprised EveryDollar's not like, hey, we gotta stop with the girl math.

• 36:59Rachel Cruze?

  You can't do that. I know. I know. It's been some girl math this month.

• 37:02George Kamel?

  Well, now that makes you want to get Whitney that as a gift.

• 37:04Rachel Cruze?

  It's, I'm not kidding you.

• 37:06George Kamel?

  And she doesn't listen to the show, so she'll never know that I'm gonna surprise her.

• 37:08Rachel Cruze?

  And I think the videos are almost more satisfying to watch than even the experience.

• 37:11George Kamel?

  But even that's relaxing. Just watching someone experience it.

• 37:14Rachel Cruze?

  I'm gonna show you. After we finish this episode, I'll show you a video. It's amazing. It looks amazing. So anyways, that's my self-care. That's my self-care this year, I will say.

• 37:24George Kamel?

  That's very exciting.

• 37:25Rachel Cruze?

  Uh, yeah. What do you do for self-care?

• 37:27George Kamel?

  Um, let's see. Self-care. I do an occasional massage. I can tell when my body's like, especially if I like move something heavy and I'm a little bit stiff or, you know, a little sore.

• 37:36Rachel Cruze?

  Do you like massage envy or do you go like spa?

• 37:39George Kamel?

  Um, I guess they're more of like a spa.

• 37:41Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 37:41George Kamel?

  I'm a man of convenience, so kind of whatever's closest that I've had a decent experience at. But it doesn't need to be like a corporate spot. It can be a kind of a mom and pop location, but I do find those to be worth it. I mean, I get my, my haircut every two weeks. That feels like self-care.

• 37:56Rachel Cruze?

  That is true.

• 37:56George Kamel?

  It's not the most exciting. It's not like I leave going, man, I feel great.

• 38:00Rachel Cruze?

  I feel so good. Yeah.

• 38:01George Kamel?

  But it's a necessary evil in my world.

• 38:04Rachel Cruze?

  With that face.

• 38:04George Kamel?

  You don't want to see me with skater hair again. That was a bad phase.

• 38:08Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah. And I would say some of that self-care is maybe step four through six too.

• 38:10George Kamel?

  Yeah. And then even like therapy and counseling. Once a month. That's my current, uh, you know, that's as much time as I can afford to it right now, but it's worth it.

• 38:19Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. No, it's great. Um, and they, they, they've been up charging.

• 38:24George Kamel?

  Oh, yeah.

• 38:25Rachel Cruze?

  Like our therapist.

• 38:26George Kamel?

  They know they're worth.

• 38:27Rachel Cruze?

  They do. And they are worth every penny. I will say that for sure.

• 38:30George Kamel?

  But I'm trying, what else falls into self-care category?

• 38:33Rachel Cruze?

  That's what I think of.

• 38:35George Kamel?

  I guess like toiletries and like nicer, you know.

• 38:37Rachel Cruze?

  And it's sort of like makeup maybe, or is that shopping? Yeah. But I'd say, and I think anything less than, hmm. 500 bucks? I'd be okay in that baby steps four through six. On this kind of stuff, right?

• 38:51George Kamel?

  And then something more extravagant, maybe like a luxury trip with a spa package and all that stuff, maybe more baby step seven beyond.

• 38:59Rachel Cruze?

  That's kind of what it feels like. Yeah. I mean, a trip, you can't really do it for 500 bucks if you've got a family and you're gonna go more than a few nights. But, but I just mean like those everyday purchases, like what we're talking about.

• 39:07George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 39:08Rachel Cruze?

  I don't know. I just threw that out there.

• 39:09George Kamel?

  There's some of those, like, there's one here called South Hall. That's real bougie and you can

• 39:13Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 39:13George Kamel?

  do a whole like couples spa day out there and spend a whole lot of money.

• 39:17Rachel Cruze?

  That feels like baby step seven.

• 39:18George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 39:18Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 39:19George Kamel?

  Especially if there's an overnight involved in one of their, you know, like

• 39:21Rachel Cruze?

  For sure.

• 39:22George Kamel?

  resort rooms.

• 39:23Rachel Cruze?

  Yep, for sure.

• 39:23George Kamel?

  But that's something to aspire to.

• 39:25Rachel Cruze?

  But any of this, right? And again, some people value certain things over others, which is fine. But it is all about once you are debt free, you got your emergency fund and you're paying cash for all this stuff. And it's a little bit of that, like you can throw it in the middle of the table and burn it and your life doesn't.

• 39:40George Kamel?

  Yeah. If you're like stressed out about letting go of this much money right now, that either tells me you need to break out of that sort of scarcity mindset because you do have the money. It just feels like you're doing something wrong.

• 39:50Rachel Cruze?

  You're telling me this, George. Thank you.

• 39:51George Kamel?

  I'm freeing you.

• 39:51Rachel Cruze?

  Thank you, George.

• 39:52George Kamel?

  Or you might go, you know what? That is too much to spend out of our world right now.

• 39:55Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 39:55George Kamel?

  With the season that we're in.

• 39:56Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 39:57George Kamel?

  Because you might have the kids' stuff going on activities.

• 39:59Rachel Cruze?

  Even if you do have the money, if you do get in a bad cycle of just spending and spending and spending and spending on stuff that's not really improving your life, right?

• 40:07George Kamel?

  It's just sort of a habit, like a dopamine hit?

• 40:10Rachel Cruze?

  That's what I would, I would gut check that. But I will say, taking care of your overall, I think physical health is important, emotional health. And for some people, you know, like a therapist, like having someone regardless of your baby step, but it's part of your rhythm in life, especially for certain seasons, like, do it. Put it, put it in the budget.

• 40:28George Kamel?

  It's hard to be financially healthy when you're unhealthy in other areas. So if you need to include that in your budget or take some time to work on that part so that you can move forward financially, that's well worth it. We've told people that on air.

• 40:40Rachel Cruze?

  For sure.

• 40:40George Kamel?

  Hey, don't cut that. Or hey, you do need to pause right now.

• 40:43Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 40:43George Kamel?

  And deal with this.

• 40:44Rachel Cruze?

  A hundred percent. Yep. But I do find whenever I am out and probably at the head spot tomorrow, George, I'll probably pay with my fair one's debit card.

• 40:53George Kamel?

  Are you gonna do it with a Magic wand, have you seen those?

• 40:55Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, I want one so bad.

• 40:56George Kamel?

  The star wands where they put their card in it?

• 40:58Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, I love it. Oh my gosh. But Fairwin's Credit Union, you guys, is amazing. So they actually have a smart bundle for all of the Ramsey listeners out there. And so you can have a no fee checking account, up to 10 high-yield savings accounts, and the Fairwin's Ramsey Debt is Normal Be Weird debit card, which we love. And all together, it is. We love Fairwin's. We were just switching money around the other day. Putting money, it was in the savings.

• 41:24George Kamel?

  It's nice that it's connected.

• 41:25Rachel Cruze?

  Dropping it into the checking and like all of it. It's great.

• 41:28George Kamel?

  You can have the 10 savings accounts and so you can be moving that money around for your goals. And for all these things that you want to purchase, it's nice to store it somewhere that's earmarked for it. And so Fairwin's helps you.

• 41:38Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, you guys, so make sure to check it out. Whitney and George use it. Rachel and Winston use it, and we love it.

• 41:44George Kamel?

  It's so freeing to just use your own money and you don't feel guilty after.

• 41:48Rachel Cruze?

  It's the best.

• 41:48George Kamel?

  So go check it out. Go to fairwins.org/Ramsey. We'll also drop the link in the description.

• 41:53Rachel Cruze?

  All right, last one, George. Oh, this has been like a therapeutic episode for me. I feel like I had some confessions, some conviction.

• 42:00George Kamel?

  I feel like I need to go spend more.

• 42:02Rachel Cruze?

  A lot.

• 42:02George Kamel?

  You know what? Maybe Whitney should listen to this because then she's gonna be like, see, Rachel said,

• 42:06Rachel Cruze?

  See.

• 42:06George Kamel?

  I need to go to the head spa.

• 42:08Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 42:08George Kamel?

  Oh, you're gonna love this last one, entertainment.

• 42:11Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, man.

• 42:12George Kamel?

  When you think about splurges, it's rarely on stuff that's boring and necessary. It's usually the fun stuff.

• 42:16Rachel Cruze?

  What is entertainment? What would you consider that?

• 42:18George Kamel?

  Well, let's start with concert tickets.

• 42:19Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 42:20George Kamel?

  Here's the one that I've, over time, I'm done with this, nosebleeds. Every time I go into a nosebleed, I just did this, I saw Jerry Seinfeld

• 42:28Rachel Cruze?

  Uh huh.

• 42:29George Kamel?

  Do stand-up comedy in amphitheater.

• 42:30Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 42:31George Kamel?

  Outdoors, and I'm staring at the screen that they're filming him on to just try to see his face.

• 42:37Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, yeah.

• 42:39George Kamel?

  That was far away. Still a great show.

• 42:40Rachel Cruze?

  Sure.

• 42:41George Kamel?

  But every time I go into the nosebleeds, I saw John Mayer at Bridgestone Arena in the nosebleeds. The sound was so delayed because of where I was, all the way in the backseat.

• 42:51Rachel Cruze?

  Bridgestone's tough.

• 42:52George Kamel?

  And so everything he was saying, I would hear it three, four seconds later.

• 42:56Rachel Cruze?

  That's terrible.

• 42:56George Kamel?

  It was so jarring and frustrating that I was like, why did I, I should just be home right now, listening to a live album.

• 43:01Rachel Cruze?

  What did I do?

• 43:02George Kamel?

  So that's one, is splurging on better seats, I feel like is now worth it at this stage of life.

• 43:07Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. I don't feel like I go to enough shows.

• 43:09George Kamel?

  Yeah, you're not really a concert person.

• 43:11Rachel Cruze?

  Backstreet Boys, we know.

• 43:13George Kamel?

  You'll do that all day.

• 43:14Rachel Cruze?

  We did buy tickets.

• 43:15George Kamel?

  Sports is another one.

• 43:17Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, we don't really. I now go to a lot of sporting games.

• 43:21George Kamel?

  Wow.

• 43:22Rachel Cruze?

  Sporting games.

• 43:22George Kamel?

  Sporting games. Now I feel like the sporty one. Season tickets. When is the, when is the time to upgrade and get season tickets if you love a team?

• 43:30Rachel Cruze?

  I feel like that's baby seven.

• 43:32George Kamel?

  Cause that's, I don't know how much season tickets are.

• 43:34Rachel Cruze?

  Like that's a lot.

• 43:35George Kamel?

  Imagine they're over a thousand bucks for most.

• 43:37Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, I would assume, unless it's just like a cheap crappy team and all, all the tickets are cheap. But I'm thinking like UT football. I'm thinking of like, you, I mean, that's an investment. Like that's a lot.

• 43:47George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 43:47Rachel Cruze?

  That's a lot. So yeah, yeah, tickets don't bother me as much. You know, uh, I did buy tickets. Hopefully my kids won't listen to this episode before it happens, cause it's gonna be a surprise. Um, Forrest Frank.

• 43:59George Kamel?

  Oh.

• 44:00Rachel Cruze?

  My kids are obsessed.

• 44:02George Kamel?

  Really?

• 44:02Rachel Cruze?

  With Forrest Frank. And so I went, but talk about, I paid, I guess, I guess I'm just not in the like concert world.

• 44:11George Kamel?

  So just shocking.

• 44:12Rachel Cruze?

  And we didn't even get great tickets. Like, I mean, it wasn't even like, but yeah, they were like a couple hundred bucks a piece.

• 44:17George Kamel?

  A piece?

• 44:18Rachel Cruze?

  A piece. And I did, I didn't, I wasn't in the like queue, like you know, when they open up concerts.

• 44:25George Kamel?

  Okay, so they may have been like reselling.

• 44:26Rachel Cruze?

  They were reselling.

• 44:27George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 44:27Rachel Cruze?

  Um, yeah, y'all. That's a lot.

• 44:31George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 44:31Rachel Cruze?

  That was a, and they're not even great seats. That's the problem. So I was like, man. But our kids have never been to a concert.

• 44:38George Kamel?

  This is their first concert?

• 44:39Rachel Cruze?

  This is their first concert.

• 44:40George Kamel?

  That's special.

• 44:41Rachel Cruze?

  They've been to, um, Monster Truck, Hot Wheels Jam. Uh, and that was like $12 a ticket.

• 44:48George Kamel?

  Now it's more my pricing right there.

• 44:49Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, I know. Uh, but this will be a, they'll know every song. It'll be an experience. I remember my, I went to Celine Dion was my first concert.

• 44:56George Kamel?

  Oh, that's fun.

• 44:57Rachel Cruze?

  With my mom and sister.

• 44:57George Kamel?

  That's a memorable one.

• 44:58Rachel Cruze?

  And I remember it. What was yours?

• 45:00George Kamel?

  30 years from now, your kid's gonna be like, oh, my first concert was Forrest Frank. And no shade to Forrest Frank.

• 45:05Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, man.

• 45:06George Kamel?

  But you know, Celine Dion?

• 45:07Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 45:08George Kamel?

  As your first concert?

• 45:09Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 45:10George Kamel?

  That's like me being like, yeah, Elton John and Michael Jackson were on tour together and got to see. It's like, that's crazy.

• 45:16Rachel Cruze?

  Totally, I know.

• 45:17George Kamel?

  Yeah. Well, uh, my daughter's first show will likely be Blippi Live. That's coming to town and I was like, should we?

• 45:24Rachel Cruze?

  Are you gonna do it?

• 45:25George Kamel?

  I'm thinking about it.

• 45:26Rachel Cruze?

  Y'all, that would be funny.

• 45:27George Kamel?

  But it's a 6pm show. I'm like, hey, she's got a bedtime, guys.

• 45:31Rachel Cruze?

  Come on, she's got a bedtime.

• 45:32George Kamel?

  She's gonna be, but she'll be so hopped up.

• 45:34Rachel Cruze?

  She's a 7 o'clocker. Oh, she'll love it.

• 45:35George Kamel?

  She's not going to bed that night.

• 45:36Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, we never did any of those, um, like, bluey, like, there were certain, like, shows that would come to town and we never, yeah, we've never done that.

• 45:43George Kamel?

  Weren't into it.

• 45:43Rachel Cruze?

  Nope. But that'll be fun for her. Good for her. Okay, well, I guess, you know, moral of the story, George, you gotta get through those baby steps 1 through 3.

• 45:52George Kamel?

  Yep.

• 45:52Rachel Cruze?

  And then 4, 4 through 6, there's some enjoyment, okay? Relax. You can, you can have some fun.

• 45:57George Kamel?

  It's sort of a, have fun but be reasonable.

• 45:58Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. But then the extra, over the, over the peak, over the hill, where you can do a lot more, because you have more money, right? If you don't have a mortgage every month, like, you have the ability to...

• 46:08George Kamel?

  You're just freed up, you know, maybe 2, 3 grand for some people.

• 46:11Rachel Cruze?

  So, uh, yeah, it's an amazing place to get there. And some people are getting there in their late 20s. I mean, we have people doing, like, their debt-free screams, paying off their house, you know? Or some people, it's in their 60s, 70s. Regardless of age, got this, y'all.

• 46:25George Kamel?

  And enjoy life, because here's the thing, you can hoard the money and you might have millions of dollars on your deathbed and you might be going, probably could've enjoyed some of that more.

• 46:34Rachel Cruze?

  I should've gotten a good seat set at Slippy.

• 46:37George Kamel?

  Tight-fisted. And this is a message to myself.

• 46:39Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 46:39George Kamel?

  So this is not a, talking at you. I'm with you in this journey of how much can I enjoy, but at the end of the day, especially when you have a family, you want to provide them with a great life, great experiences, without causing any level of, you know, entitlement.

• 46:53Rachel Cruze?

  That, yes. And just the, you know, the wherewithal to have some delayed gratification. So when you do something, you can do it well, right? Instead of doing a bunch of little things, maybe it is, hey, we're gonna save up for that concert and we're gonna give up a couple of things to be able to go.

• 47:07George Kamel?

  Yep. And generosity. That's a big thing you can do and get to do more of as you have more margin.

• 47:13Rachel Cruze?

  Absolutely. All right, George, before we spill the tea on our guilty as charged segments, uh, let's share the details. What do you think?

• 47:20George Kamel?

  This was the 4th of July mocktail, which, it turned Republican real quick. It just turned to red as soon as we stirred it. That was not intentional, but, uh, it was really good. It's got grenadine, lemon lime soda, and blue Gatorade.

• 47:34Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 47:35George Kamel?

  And I thought it was actually really nice.

• 47:37Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 47:39George Kamel?

  I'll give it a six out of 10 because it's just, you know, it's a mocktail.

• 47:43Rachel Cruze?

  Yep.

• 47:44George Kamel?

  It tastes like kind of a berry flavored Sprite, if you will.

• 47:47Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, that's probably a fair way of saying it. I know. I don't know. It was just a little too sugary for me. Too sweet.

• 47:52George Kamel?

  Yeah, I think we used an Ollie Pop in this one instead of Sprite. So it's even less, you know, syrupy sweet. Less sugar.

• 47:59Rachel Cruze?

  I don't know. Maybe it's just my mood right now.

• 48:02George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 48:02Rachel Cruze?

  But I'm gonna go five out of 10.

• 48:04George Kamel?

  Okay.

• 48:05Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 48:05George Kamel?

  That's fair. It's just, it's a very simple drink. There's not a lot going on.

• 48:09Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 48:09George Kamel?

  For a mocktail, but it was a-

• 48:10Rachel Cruze?

  But actually, the look of it at the beginning.

• 48:12George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 48:13Rachel Cruze?

  That could bump up a few points for me.

• 48:14George Kamel?

  You serve that at a party, it's gonna be a real crowd pleaser.

• 48:17Rachel Cruze?

  I'm gonna be saying-

• 48:17George Kamel?

  Comes out to 70 cents, though, to make this drink, so.

• 48:19Rachel Cruze?

  There you go.

• 48:20George Kamel?

  Make a batch for the family.

• 48:21Rachel Cruze?

  Do it. Love it. All right, George, now it's time for

• 48:25George Kamel?

  Guilty as charged.

• 48:26Rachel Cruze?

  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 downplaying a situation, financial or otherwise, to keep the peace?

• 48:38George Kamel?

  Oh, gosh. For me, okay, this one happens in my family. My dad is very, he's pretty frugal.

• 48:45Rachel Cruze?

  Mm-hmm.

• 48:45George Kamel?

  And so he always wants to like talk about how much something costs because he's, you know,

• 48:49Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 48:49George Kamel?

  bragging about it. And so we got some like new, like Whitney loves antique pieces and furniture. Like it's kind of a thing in her family, her grandma, her aunt, they love to buy these antique pieces. So we got some, and they were really expensive.

• 49:02Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 49:03George Kamel?

  To where like it hurt my soul.

• 49:04Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 49:04George Kamel?

  But again, based on this episode, I was like, it's gonna be great.

• 49:08Rachel Cruze?

  We're gonna be fine.

• 49:09George Kamel?

  We're gonna be okay. It's gonna look beautiful, and it does.

• 49:11Rachel Cruze?

  Mm-hmm.

• 49:12George Kamel?

  And so my dad is always like, how much did that cost? I'm like, I can't, I can't tell him. I can't tell it. I cannot tell-

• 49:18Rachel Cruze?

  They'll throw it up, ask though. That is so funny.

• 49:20George Kamel?

  They're just curious. They're like, oh, where'd you get that? I'm like, oh, we gotta, oh, how much did that cost? I'm like, um, I don't remember exactly.

• 49:26Rachel Cruze?

  So do you take money off when you say it?

• 49:28George Kamel?

  Yeah, so I always downplay it. I at least probably half it, if not more. Because it would just hurt his Middle Eastern soul.

• 49:35Rachel Cruze?

  I know, where he's like, George, what are you doing?

• 49:37George Kamel?

  Yeah, and he probably would have haggled them down because he's so good at that.

• 49:41Rachel Cruze?

  Totally.

• 49:41George Kamel?

  So he probably just feels wasteful at that point.

• 49:43Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 49:44George Kamel?

  But that's something I have recently downplayed.

• 49:47Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, that's good.

• 49:47George Kamel?

  Sorry, Dad.

• 49:48Rachel Cruze?

  It's like, I remember we checked into a hotel and they ended up charging us more because there were two of us. And I guess when I booked the reservation for me and Winston, it was just me, I just did one person. And I guess I should know that like, per person is charged for the room.

• 50:02George Kamel?

  Is that a thing? For a hotel room?

• 50:04Rachel Cruze?

  I don't know.

• 50:06George Kamel?

  They for sure don't charge more if there's two people versus one.

• 50:09Rachel Cruze?

  I got a person charge on my bill.

• 50:12George Kamel?

  Maybe it's at fancy enough hotels. At the La Quinta, you know, you can have five people stacked in there, they don't care.

• 50:18Rachel Cruze?

  I don't know, I don't know, but I don't question it. Like, I'm like, I won't raise.

• 50:23George Kamel?

  If there's a charge, there's a charge.

• 50:24Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, absolutely. I will just be like, oh yeah, no big, no big deal. But in my head, I'm like, what, what, what? Didn't know that was a thing. But I'm like, I don't question it. I just, I just keep on moving.

• 50:34George Kamel?

  Just play it cool.

• 50:35Rachel Cruze?

  Keep the peace, yep.

• 50:36George Kamel?

  Wow, you're a better person than me.

• 50:37Rachel Cruze?

  I know, I probably should have pushed a little bit, but yeah.

• 50:40George Kamel?

  I will call this in.

• 50:41Rachel Cruze?

  Isn't that funny? I'm more downplaying other people than the people I know in my life. What does that say about me?

• 50:46George Kamel?

  With strangers?

• 50:46Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 50:47George Kamel?

  You like to keep up appearances.

• 50:48Rachel Cruze?

  I like, I know.

• 50:49George Kamel?

  Is that Enneagram three?

• 50:50Rachel Cruze?

  Image management is what that's called, George.

• 50:53George Kamel?

  Image management.

• 50:54Rachel Cruze?

  My parents would say. I'm like, I'm easy, I'm cool, I'm not high maintenance.

• 50:57George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 50:58Rachel Cruze?

  But why'd you just charge me an extra person for a hotel room? That's insane.

• 51:01George Kamel?

  Well, I just feel like it's happening more and more to where like, I'm like, low key getting scammed everywhere I go, so.

• 51:06Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, the radar's up, really.

• 51:07George Kamel?

  I order a kid's meal for my toddler, this taco place we go to, and it's eight bucks. And it should be eight bucks, it includes a side. So I go, great, for the side, I will do the chips and guac. I look at the receipt and I go, extra $3 for the side, it should include the side. And this has happened multiple times.

• 51:24Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, but it's because guac.

• 51:25George Kamel?

  To where now I'm just angry. Well, I just think they're charging for an extra side to charge me. Because you can't see the screen as they're doing it, I just hear a total and I go, hey, is that, is that right?

• 51:34Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, yeah. You're getting scammed.

• 51:37George Kamel?

  Yep, and they always talk nice to me when they turn that tip screen around all of a sudden, which again bothers me and it makes me want to say, "No tip for you."

• 51:44Rachel Cruze?

  Stop that, George Kamel.

• 51:45George Kamel?

  I'm standing at the, I've been standing for 20 minutes to, for counter service to just place my order.

• 51:49Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, for the counter service, okay, I'm sorry. I thought you meant at your table.

• 51:52George Kamel?

  Not a server or wait, just a person taking my order.

• 51:54Rachel Cruze?

  Fair, fair.

• 51:55George Kamel?

  Don't like that.

• 51:56Rachel Cruze?

  I know. Oh, well, if you have a guilty charge question for us, make sure to DM us, @rachelcruisen, @georgecamel. We love getting them. Guilty, we'll take the sip.

• 52:06George Kamel?

  Yeah, we've gotten some good ones lately in the DMs, so keep them coming.

• 52:08Rachel Cruze?

  I know, we appreciate it. And if you loved this episode, you're gonna love our episode, "Are These Common Money Habits Broke, Average, or Wealthy?" 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.