10 Jaw-Dropping Money Stats About the Average American

💻 Shape what comes next for Smart Money Happy Hour by participating in our Spring 2026 audience study! We’re not encouraging you to keep up with the Joneses, but have you ever wondered what their finances are actually like? Today, we’re unpacking jaw-dropping money stats that’ll make you reevaluate your own money situation. Next Steps: 🎙️ Catch our episode Weird Money Habits That Will Make You Rich. 🍸 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 20% off with code SMARTMONEY at Cozy Earth. Today’s Happy Hour Special: 🍹 Tequila Aperol Spritz Recipe by Join Jules 1 cup tequila blanco 2 1/2 cups Aperol 1 bottle sparkling rosé 1 cup sparkling soda water Instructions: Add all ingredients into a pitcher and mix together. Pour approximately 8 ounces of the mix into a glass filled with ice. Garnish with a strawberry, grapefruit wheel, edible flower, etc. Explore More From Ramsey Network: 💡 The Rachel Cruze Show 💰George Kamel 🎙️ The Ramsey Show 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 🪑 Front Row Seat with Ken Coleman 📈 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?

  We're not a fan of keeping up with the Joneses, but have you ever wondered how much debt they have? Well, today, we're going to drop some jaw-dropping money stats that will hopefully make you feel better about your own finances.

• 0:15Rachel Cruze?

  Dave Ramsey's daughter wouldn't be gambling? And I was like, "That's me."

• 0:19George Kamel?

  The median age of first-time homebuyers is now 40 years old.

• 0:23Rachel Cruze?

  No way. You work on commission? Big mistake.

• 0:31Rachel Cruze?

  Hey, guys, I'm Rachel Cruz.

• 0:33George Kamel?

  I'm George Kamel.

• 0:35Rachel Cruze?

  And this is...

• 0:36George Kamel?

  Smart Money Happy Hour.

• 0:39Rachel Cruze?

  Cheers, George.

• 0:43George Kamel?

  That was a 90-10. I think we can all agree, I really reached for that one.

• 0:47Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, yeah.

• 0:50George Kamel?

  Wow. That's not what anyone expected.

• 0:54Rachel Cruze?

  Cough syrup, anyone?

• 0:57George Kamel?

  That's exactly what it's reminding me of.

• 0:59Rachel Cruze?

  It tastes like cough syrup. So sorry. I think it's great.

• 1:03George Kamel?

  You know, they used to put alcohol in cough syrup, so it tracks.

• 1:07Rachel Cruze?

  This is a 1920s cough syrup.

• 1:11George Kamel?

  Dymatap.

• 1:11Rachel Cruze?

  This is also the show where two friends, who happen to be money experts, talk about what you're talking about. Everything from pop culture, current events, and money. George, it's terrible. I'm so sorry, the taste that is happening right now.

• 1:25George Kamel?

  Well, if you're in a wait for Rachel's rating, I don't think you need to, guys. Here's what we're sipping on. It is not cough syrup. It is, in fact, a tequila-apronol spritz.

• 1:35Rachel Cruze?

  God, that sounds so wonderful.

• 1:37George Kamel?

  Three things that you would think would go together. The spritz, the apronol, the tequila. It's all there. So we're going to find out where this went wrong at the end. We're going to give you our rating and reveal the cost per glass. Stick around. I think it's actually kind of delightful.

• 1:50Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, you're fine with it.

• 1:51George Kamel?

  You've never drank cough syrup for fun?

• 1:53Rachel Cruze?

  I know, just for the heck of it.

• 1:54George Kamel?

  Just to feel something?

• 1:55Rachel Cruze?

  Just to have a little something.

• 1:57George Kamel?

  Pop a little Dayquil?

• 1:59Rachel Cruze?

  You know what? I did Dayquil once in my life. That was like two years ago, and I came to work. I don't even know. And we were filming my show. I...

• 2:06George Kamel?

  I don't know how it's street legal without an ID.

• 2:08Rachel Cruze?

  It was bizarre. It was a bizarre experience, you know?

• 2:11George Kamel?

  Dayquil on an empty stomach? That's a nice buzz.

• 2:14Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, like, what?

• 2:15George Kamel?

  I'm just saying. All right.

• 2:18Rachel Cruze?

  You're gonna be feeling good.

• 2:19George Kamel?

  Rachel, it's April, one of your favorite months because it's the month you were born.

• 2:23Rachel Cruze?

  That's true.

• 2:24George Kamel?

  Happy early birthday.

• 2:25Rachel Cruze?

  Thank you.

• 2:26George Kamel?

  And that means we're in the month where showers bring me flowers.

• 2:30Rachel Cruze?

  That's right.

• 2:31George Kamel?

  Very excited about that.

• 2:31Rachel Cruze?

  And we're in tax month, too.

• 2:33George Kamel?

  Also excited about that.

• 2:34Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 2:35George Kamel?

  Because I got mine done.

• 2:36Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, completed. So did we.

• 2:38George Kamel?

  You get yours done?

• 2:39Rachel Cruze?

  Feels good, you know? Thank you, Winston, for all the work you put in.

• 2:43George Kamel?

  Forty minutes with my tax pro. I was in and out and we were drinking Margs and...

• 2:46Rachel Cruze?

  That's right, you went to a Mexican spot after.

• 2:48George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 2:49Rachel Cruze?

  Great.

• 2:49George Kamel?

  Wonderful, but we got the spicy marg and the salsa was spicy, so my wife's mouth was just on fire.

• 2:56Rachel Cruze?

  The whole time.

• 2:56George Kamel?

  She couldn't taste anything.

• 2:57Rachel Cruze?

  It was just like, I'm just, you're done.

• 2:58George Kamel?

  I enjoyed it. Again, I like to feel a little pain.

• 3:01Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, just pain in life. That's what George likes.

• 3:04George Kamel?

  There we go. We got it done.

• 3:04Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my gosh. Yeah, well, we're gonna be talking about some crazy money stats in this episode.

• 3:10George Kamel?

  Why don't we kick it off with this? Can you guess what the average tax refund was?

• 3:14Rachel Cruze?

  Refund?

• 3:15George Kamel?

  Yep.

• 3:16Rachel Cruze?

  I bet the average was $1,833.

• 3:24George Kamel?

  You are so wrong.

• 3:25Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, jeez.

• 3:26George Kamel?

  2025 IRS data.

• 3:27Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 3:28George Kamel?

  Around $3,100.

• 3:30Rachel Cruze?

  Good night!

• 3:30George Kamel?

  For the average tax refund.

• 3:32Rachel Cruze?

  Wow!

• 3:33George Kamel?

  Pretty crazy.

• 3:33Rachel Cruze?

  $3,100.

• 3:35George Kamel?

  People are out there making bank.

• 3:36Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, they are. Or not, you know, paying too much taxes.

• 3:40George Kamel?

  Making bank, as in got a refund from the government.

• 3:42Rachel Cruze?

  Well, here's a great stat.

• 3:43George Kamel?

  People forget it's called a refund for a reason.

• 3:45Rachel Cruze?

  82% taxpayers who have a refund plan to pay off debt or increase savings.

• 3:51George Kamel?

  Yay!

• 3:52Rachel Cruze?

  My gosh!

• 3:53George Kamel?

  82%. Now, the key word there is planned.

• 3:55Rachel Cruze?

  Planned.

• 3:56George Kamel?

  Will they? I hope so.

• 3:57Rachel Cruze?

  I hope so.

• 3:58George Kamel?

  If you've got some debt, you don't have savings, this should be your A1.

• 4:01Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, I know we did ours because of April. Did you remember in 2025, Tennessee had a state of emergency because of all the flooding that was happening in East Tennessee and like the Carolines? And we didn't have to file till November. So Winston...

• 4:14George Kamel?

  What's the life hack here?

• 4:15Rachel Cruze?

  Winston Cruz loves that.

• 4:16George Kamel?

  So floods equals you can kick your taxes down the road.

• 4:19Rachel Cruze?

  I guess if it's a state of emergency, your tax, yeah, the taxes get pushed. I don't know. I don't know what the governor, I don't know who decides this. Um, but yeah, and so we didn't have to pay till November. So Winston, because we usually end up owing. Like I felt like we never get a refund. If anything, we like, yeah, we owe. And so because it's the normal rhythm, Winston was like, well, hold on, we don't have to pay till November. So let's just keep our money in a high yield savings and earn 3%, you know?

• 4:44George Kamel?

  Life hack.

• 4:44Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, through the year and then in November we'll pay, but we'll just earn money on the money we would have paid Washington, you know?

• 4:50George Kamel?

  That's smart. Yeah, I did that for two months because we, we did it on Valentine's Day.

• 4:54Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 4:54George Kamel?

  Our, our taxes and he was like, hey, do you want to pay now? I was like, no, I want to pay on April 15th and no earlier.

• 5:00Rachel Cruze?

  That's right. That's right.

• 5:01George Kamel?

  I did the math. I was like, I could make like $200 extra in my high yield savings.

• 5:05Rachel Cruze?

  I could pay for this dinner and another dinner and it'd be free.

• 5:09George Kamel?

  You know what? That paid for the lunch that day.

• 5:10Rachel Cruze?

  See? Don't you love that?

• 5:12George Kamel?

  That's boy math right there.

• 5:13Rachel Cruze?

  I.

• 5:14George Kamel?

  I love it.

• 5:14Rachel Cruze?

  I love, I did that recently, George, when we went to Vegas for the Backstreet Boys.

• 5:18George Kamel?

  That's right. For the second time.

• 5:20Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 5:20George Kamel?

  And by we, you mean a girl's trip.

• 5:22Rachel Cruze?

  It was a girl's trip.

• 5:22George Kamel?

  Winston not invited.

• 5:24Rachel Cruze?

  Winston did not go and um, it is that like that kind of math, that girl math is my favorite because and everyone knows this, this is a known thing. People get mad at me and I'm so sorry, but if I'm in Vegas, I love playing craps.

• 5:36George Kamel?

  Yep. And they go, Rachel's a degenerate gambler.

• 5:38Rachel Cruze?

  Yep. And I love being, yeah, I love being the shooter, you know, rolling those dice. And actually I got a little lady. Did I tell you this story already?

• 5:46George Kamel?

  You got a little lady? I don't remember this.

• 5:48Rachel Cruze?

  No, a little lady came up to me. Sorry, I was mid story and then I thought, have I told you this?

• 5:52George Kamel?

  I don't remember this.

• 5:53Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, the sweet lady came up to me, older woman. She was like, yay, hi. She was like, are you Rachel? And I was like, I am. And she was like, my husband over there kept saying that was you. And I told him, oh, Dave Ramsey's daughter wouldn't be gambling. And I was like.

• 6:09George Kamel?

  Oh my gosh.

• 6:11Rachel Cruze?

  That's me.

• 6:11George Kamel?

  That is amazing.

• 6:12Rachel Cruze?

  Playing craps. And I said, don't tell my dad. She's like, I won't. So.

• 6:16George Kamel?

  That is so funny.

• 6:18Rachel Cruze?

  Way to do the Lord's work at the craps.

• 6:20George Kamel?

  Were they also gambling?

• 6:21Rachel Cruze?

  But here's, no, they were walking through.

• 6:23George Kamel?

  Oh.

• 6:23Rachel Cruze?

  Probably good people.

• 6:25George Kamel?

  Like good Christians.

• 6:25Rachel Cruze?

  Good people, good people, I know. No, but all to say, my friend had never played and so I roped her in and was like telling her what to do. And there's like, there's like a whole like superstition in Vegas of like beginner's luck, like the first roll. And it was, she rolled for, I mean 20 plus minutes, y'all. And we made so much money and it paid. I only ended up out of pocket on that whole trip, except for airline tickets, because I paid for those like months before.

• 6:50George Kamel?

  That's right.

• 6:51Rachel Cruze?

  Hotel, everything, and not concert tickets either. Huh, this is getting worse. This is getting worse. But food, hotel, I'll put that.

• 6:59George Kamel?

  Okay.

• 6:59Rachel Cruze?

  I only out of pocket paid $72.

• 7:02George Kamel?

  Wow, because of your winnings?

• 7:03Rachel Cruze?

  Because of my winnings, y'all. And I wasn't even like betting a ton, but you just kind of keep winning a little bit.

• 7:08George Kamel?

  Yeah, well in craps, they get on a hot streak, it just keeps adding up.

• 7:11Rachel Cruze?

  I mean, it was crazy, George, so.

• 7:14George Kamel?

  Good for you.

• 7:14Rachel Cruze?

  Don't you love when life works out like that? You don't have to pay tax, your tax bill for two more months, you make 200 bucks. Pay a little craps in Vegas, pay for your trip.

• 7:21George Kamel?

  It's kind of like found money.

• 7:22Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, and it's the best.

• 7:24George Kamel?

  It's money that you didn't like work for, quote unquote.

• 7:26Rachel Cruze?

  Right, right, it just happens. That's why I love investing and I look at compound interest, I'm like, I can't wait just to live off of that one day. Like I didn't work for most of that.

• 7:33George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 7:33Rachel Cruze?

  It just was working for me.

• 7:34George Kamel?

  That's gonna be the wild part, I can't wait for that day. Where the money just shows up and like, I didn't have to go to work for that.

• 7:40Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, I put in this much and I get to make this much.

• 7:43George Kamel?

  Passive income that exists in my book.

• 7:45Rachel Cruze?

  Are you so excited for that day? I am.

• 7:48George Kamel?

  Can't come soon enough. No, I'm gonna be here until they fire me, so.

• 7:52Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, George.

• 7:53George Kamel?

  As long as you'll do the show, Rachel, I have a job, so please never quit.

• 7:57Rachel Cruze?

  Never quit, never will we quit.

• 7:59George Kamel?

  Well, let's get to some juicy stats.

• 8:01Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, there's some good money stats in here, we're not gonna talk about taxes the whole time, people.

• 8:04George Kamel?

  No, I mean, as far as jaw dropping, shock and awe, I feel like a lot of people will, maybe their jaw won't be fully dropped.

• 8:09Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 8:10George Kamel?

  There's some ones in here that make you question humanity.

• 8:13Rachel Cruze?

  Uh huh, shall we start off with the average credit card balance by generation?

• 8:17George Kamel?

  That's a good start.

• 8:18Rachel Cruze?

  You ready? Uh, so the lowest balance is Gen Z and the silent generation.

• 8:23George Kamel?

  Way to go, old people and young people.

• 8:25Rachel Cruze?

  Done, y'all, the bookmark, the bookends.

• 8:28George Kamel?

  To be fair, the silent generation, are they all there? Are they even able to go into credit card debt at this stage?

• 8:34Rachel Cruze?

  I mean, I'm sure they could.

• 8:36George Kamel?

  Okay, and Gen Z I have found is kind of spooked by credit cards and going into debt.

• 8:41Rachel Cruze?

  Yep, so they're, um, yeah, so that average is 3,400.

• 8:44George Kamel?

  Okay.

• 8:45Rachel Cruze?

  Uh, the highest is Gen X. Come on, yeah. Yeah, 40 and 50 year olds out there. Um, approximately $9,600.

• 8:55George Kamel?

  That's high.

• 8:56Rachel Cruze?

  And our mid-range is our millennials and our baby boomers. And they're anywhere from $6,000 to $7,000 in credit card debt.

• 9:03George Kamel?

  Wow.

• 9:03Rachel Cruze?

  What do you think about that?

• 9:04George Kamel?

  Yeah, well, I've seen, because I've done a lot of videos around the money stats. And Gen X does seem to be in the worst spot.

• 9:10Rachel Cruze?

  Because they're like, helping their parents and have kids.

• 9:13George Kamel?

  Yeah, and I think they were raised up in a generation. It was like the first generation to truly just grab a hold of debt and go, well, it's normal. You gotta have a payment. You gotta build your score. I think that was the first generation that had to deal with that.

• 9:25Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 9:25George Kamel?

  And the millennials got a little bit wiser with it. Not great. We took on probably the most crippling student loan debt out there.

• 9:31Rachel Cruze?

  Yep, yep.

• 9:32George Kamel?

  And then baby boomers, I think are, they're in a better spot financially. Where they did have a good, you know, economic.

• 9:40Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 9:41George Kamel?

  Rise there for a while, but it's still kind of sad to see. Everyone's got thousands of dollars.

• 9:47Rachel Cruze?

  I know, and credit cards. I know.

• 9:49George Kamel?

  If you have credit card debt.

• 9:50Rachel Cruze?

  Yep. And that's the average. And a lot of people, again, get credit cards like, well, I'll pay it off every month. But we do see, time to time again, that just doesn't happen. And how high the interest rate is with credit cards. It just keeps rolling to the next month. And even to keep up with minimum payments with the high interest rates. Like, it's just, it's a lot, so.

• 10:06George Kamel?

  It's what drives me crazy about a lot of financial experts out there. They go, well, just pay it off. Be responsible. I'm like, well, if it was so easy.

• 10:13Rachel Cruze?

  Everyone would. There wouldn't be this.

• 10:15George Kamel?

  If it wasn't for the fall of man in Genesis, maybe this plan could have worked. But here we are, $1.2 trillion in credit card debt, and we are $0 in debit card debt.

• 10:24Rachel Cruze?

  Yep.

• 10:24George Kamel?

  So I'm sticking to my debit card. That's the math. I didn't have to look up that stat.

• 10:28Rachel Cruze?

  That's good. I like that.

• 10:29George Kamel?

  All right, next jaw-dropping stat. 26% of Americans have purchased cosmetic procedures for themselves.

• 10:37Rachel Cruze?

  Okay. 19% of these were dental-related. So celebrity veneers, really, they've gotten out of control, George.

• 10:44George Kamel?

  Is that the big one? Are celebrities getting the veneers? Or can you get veneers that look like a celebrity's teeth?

• 10:50Rachel Cruze?

  All the above. I feel like celebrities are doing the veneers. I feel like that's like a thing.

• 10:54George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 10:55Rachel Cruze?

  You see like the perfect teeth and then you see.

• 10:56George Kamel?

  Who do you think of when you think good teeth in Hollywood?

• 11:00Rachel Cruze?

  You know, I just thought of, and I don't, uh, well, Julia Roberts and hers aren't veneers. That's a classic smile from like-

• 11:06George Kamel?

  Oh, really? All natural?

• 11:08Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah. I mean, I think, I don't know her, but she's had that smile since Pretty Woman days. I mean, she's just, you know what I mean? Uh, you know who I thought of? Maybe because she's in court, but, uh, Blake Lively. I think she has a really beautiful smile. Margot Robbie, I think, has a beautiful smile.

• 11:24George Kamel?

  Okay, I'm picturing it now.

• 11:25Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 11:26George Kamel?

  I mean, Barbie. She was in Barbie.

• 11:28Rachel Cruze?

  And I'm, I'm pretty sure they have all veneers. Yeah. I feel like if you have like-

• 11:33George Kamel?

  Good to know.

• 11:33Rachel Cruze?

  I think.

• 11:33George Kamel?

  I feel like veneers used to be for old people.

• 11:36Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, no, they're going, yeah.

• 11:37George Kamel?

  The young-

• 11:38Rachel Cruze?

  And you know, it was like really a hot thing, and then I feel like people are going back to natural. I don't know. But the thing with veneers, you know, they have to like shave your teeth into like little pointy, like, things.

• 11:48George Kamel?

  Oh, and then they like put something on it?

• 11:49Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, George. It's not, it's like your teeth are forever gone.

• 11:53George Kamel?

  Are you under for that? Because I wouldn't want to know if that's happening. Because there's probably like a drill.

• 11:57Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, I'm sure there is.

• 11:57George Kamel?

  That's like hot. And it's like, vroom, that sound?

• 12:01Rachel Cruze?

  Can't do it.

• 12:01George Kamel?

  I'm out on that.

• 12:02Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 12:03George Kamel?

  Wow. Well, all these procedures, that's one out of four Americans-

• 12:06Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 12:07George Kamel?

  Have purchased a cosmetic procedure, which is obviously an elective thing. It's not necessary.

• 12:12Rachel Cruze?

  I wonder what's considered, do you think botox, is that considered a procedure?

• 12:16George Kamel?

  Fillers, botox, all of that.

• 12:18Rachel Cruze?

  I believe it. And only, only a, only a fourth. So you think about the human population, I don't know what the stats are, half men, half women.

• 12:28George Kamel?

  I do wonder if it's more women than men.

• 12:30Rachel Cruze?

  So then I wonder if it's like half of women in the United States get those.

• 12:33George Kamel?

  That would be wild.

• 12:34Rachel Cruze?

  But dudes get botox and stuff, you know?

• 12:36George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 12:37Rachel Cruze?

  Not a lot.

• 12:37George Kamel?

  I mean, not me.

• 12:39Rachel Cruze?

  Not-

• 12:39George Kamel?

  All natural. You can tell. My face is melting.

• 12:42Rachel Cruze?

  Will you color your hair, George, when you start getting grays? Or do you like the, the pepper, the salt and pepper?

• 12:46George Kamel?

  I'm hoping for that Steve Carell look. Jeff Goldblum. That's kind of what I'm aiming for.

• 12:51Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 12:52George Kamel?

  That's aspirational.

• 12:53Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 12:53George Kamel?

  I don't think it's realistic.

• 12:54Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 12:55George Kamel?

  But I think, uh, men tend to age into like, what a silver fox he is. He's so handsome.

• 13:00Rachel Cruze?

  Hundred percent.

• 13:01George Kamel?

  And women, society tends to go like, oh, gosh.

• 13:04Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, look at the grays.

• 13:05George Kamel?

  This is what happened. And then they go, women should just age naturally. Like, well, when they did, you were mad.

• 13:09Rachel Cruze?

  You didn't like them. Thank you, George.

• 13:11George Kamel?

  I'm just in support of the women here.

• 13:12Rachel Cruze?

  Way to, way to help us out there.

• 13:14George Kamel?

  But I don't know a lot about cosmetic procedures, but it scares me because I, it can go wrong. And we don't have the long-term effects on what all this is doing.

• 13:23Rachel Cruze?

  What all this is doing.

• 13:24George Kamel?

  But I think our society has gotten a little more vain and they've just become easier. Like, anyone can go get a procedure and it's a few hundred bucks.

• 13:30Rachel Cruze?

  That's the thing about today. You think about it, you're like, okay, travel, whatever it is, like, things that our parents never would have had the accessibility to. It's just down the road.

• 13:39George Kamel?

  Yeah, you don't need to go to a plastic surgeon. There's like a little clinic down the street.

• 13:42Rachel Cruze?

  Dase, what do they call it? Spa? Dase spas. Med spa, thank you.

• 13:46George Kamel?

  There was a party in my neighborhood, at a neighbor's house, where they were doing botox.

• 13:50Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, I hear about those.

• 13:52George Kamel?

  And I got invited, and I went.

• 13:54Rachel Cruze?

  You went?

• 13:55George Kamel?

  I went to the party. I didn't do the botox.

• 13:58Rachel Cruze?

  You went to the party? Was it a bunch of women getting botox?

• 14:00George Kamel?

  No, the guys were drinking some bourbon. So I was like, well, I'll go for that.

• 14:04Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, and then the girls got the botox?

• 14:05George Kamel?

  Yes.

• 14:07Rachel Cruze?

  Okay. I don't want you to spill the tea about Whitney, if she did or not.

• 14:10George Kamel?

  She did not. I can tell you that.

• 14:11Rachel Cruze?

  She did not? Okay. She said no. Good for her.

• 14:14George Kamel?

  Above the influence, as they say.

• 14:17Rachel Cruze?

  She is. Well done.

• 14:18George Kamel?

  All right, next stat. Hit me.

• 14:19Rachel Cruze?

  Uh, half of US adults worry daily about their personal finances.

• 14:24George Kamel?

  Probably half in credit card debt and getting cosmetic procedures.

• 14:27Rachel Cruze?

  And I do think half are living paycheck to paycheck right now, too. So that makes sense.

• 14:31George Kamel?

  That tracks.

• 14:32Rachel Cruze?

  It all adds up. And I would worry, too. That's tough.

• 14:34George Kamel?

  But that's a heartbreaking stat.

• 14:36Rachel Cruze?

  Money stress is real.

• 14:37George Kamel?

  Like, every day you wake up, there's a little bit of financial anxiety.

• 14:40Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 14:40George Kamel?

  Underneath it all.

• 14:41Rachel Cruze?

  100%. Yep. Yeah, there's some heartbreaking situations out there.

• 14:44George Kamel?

  What do you think is the cause of that feeling?

• 14:48Rachel Cruze?

  What's the cause of the stress?

• 14:49George Kamel?

  Yeah, just to worry daily. Do you think it's like, how am I gonna pay my bills?

• 14:53Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, I think it's the paycheck-to-paycheck living. If one thing bad happens, we're doomed. And that's like, today, it's basic survival, right? I mean, that money is what we have to survive today. Where I feel like you go back hundreds of years and it was, can we find clean water? Do we have shelter? Can we hunt to eat? Like, that was survival. Today, this is survival. And if you can't pay for things... I mean, that's, that's hard. And if you have a family on top of that, right? And you're taking care of kids, you have responsibility, like, it's just, that's a heavy, a heavy load to carry.

• 15:25George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 15:26Rachel Cruze?

  So that is a lot of stress.

• 15:27George Kamel?

  Like, if you're truly broke, paycheck to paycheck, that is ultra stressful. But even middle-class people who are carrying a bunch of payments that they can kind of afford, maybe.

• 15:37Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, 100%.

• 15:38George Kamel?

  But they know your body's kind of keeping score going, hey, we're not safe.

• 15:41Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 15:41George Kamel?

  We're not safe. If you lose this job, we're gonna, we can't make these payments anymore. We bought too much house. And so as you kind of cross the spectrum from broke to people making hundreds of thousands of dollars. We get the call on the Ramsey Show, they're stressed.

• 15:53Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, they're making 130, and they have no savings. And you're like, wait, why?

• 15:57George Kamel?

  Or making 300,000, and they're like, we have no money left at the end of the month. And I have to yell at them and say, America has no empathy for you.

• 16:04Rachel Cruze?

  No one is sad for you.

• 16:06George Kamel?

  But just know, this is a you problem.

• 16:09Rachel Cruze?

  But the amount of people we call, and we're like, do you have any savings? And they're like, I have nothing. That's a common, yeah, that's a common.

• 16:15George Kamel?

  Which adds to the 40. So, solutions here, get out of debt, stay out of debt, and have emergency savings. Those things alone will give you a sort of a baseline of peace.

• 16:25Rachel Cruze?

  That's right. Absolutely, guys. And put systems in place that are for you, and including where you bank. And that's why I love Fairwin's Credit Union, because they are people that not only really do care about you. I mean, they've aligned with Ramsey values of their messaging, the celebration of wanting you to win financially is for you. It's not for them. A lot of banks want more of your money. They sell you crappy products where they make so much money off of you. That's not Fairwin's. Fairwin's is there because they want your banking experience to be easy and enjoyable. And again, they want you to hit your money goals. So you can open up a smart bundle where you get the smart checking account with the Debt as Normal Be Where debit card. We love it.

• 17:05George Kamel?

  Got to use mine yesterday at Trader Joe's. Real conversation starter, let me tell you.

• 17:10Rachel Cruze?

  Can I tell you, my old debit card at our old bank, the chip didn't never work. I was always still a slide-in or a swiper.

• 17:16George Kamel?

  Now you can tap.

• 17:17Rachel Cruze?

  The tapping, which I know is not big for a lot of people. It was big for me. So, thank you, Fairwin's. Thank you for the technology. But it is great. So, Fairwin's is where George and I both bank, and they're fantastic.

• 17:28George Kamel?

  So, get that smart bundle, no-fee checking, high-yield savings. Go to fairwins.org/Ramsey, or click the link in the description.

• 17:35Rachel Cruze?

  All right, what's the next jaw dropping stat, George?

• 17:38George Kamel?

  This one does not shock me because we've taken many a call on the Ramsey Show where someone's in this situation. 28% of car trade-ins have negative equity.

• 17:47Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, that's the worst.

• 17:49George Kamel?

  Think about that. More than a fourth of the cars that we see on the road are worth less than their outstanding loans.

• 17:54Rachel Cruze?

  Because they're usually rolling over from another car loan, too.

• 17:57George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 17:57Rachel Cruze?

  That can happen.

• 17:58George Kamel?

  Then depreciation hits.

• 17:59Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 18:00George Kamel?

  And you got hosed at the dealership, so you paid $40,000 out the door and as soon as you drive away, the car's not worth $40,000. But that loan stays there and the interest is racking up.

• 18:11Rachel Cruze?

  And as it decreases in value and you go try to sell it and you've been paying more and more because of interest and it's just that keeps doing this. And the negative equity is what's so sad to me. We'll talk to someone and they're like, "Yeah, I've got a, I don't know, a Ford Focus and I got $40,000." And we're like, "Wait, how? How is this possible?" They're like, "Well, I rolled over negative equity." And then you talk to them, "We got this car, remember this George and the kid had like made $45,000 a year, but his car was..." And you just think, that's criminal. Whoever gave you that loan, like, it's horrible. So...

• 18:44George Kamel?

  And then the interest rates. I was talking to a guy the other day. He's paying 28% APR.

• 18:50Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my gosh, on a car?

• 18:52George Kamel?

  On a car.

• 18:52Rachel Cruze?

  That's like a credit card.

• 18:53George Kamel?

  Exactly.

• 18:54Rachel Cruze?

  Oh.

• 18:54George Kamel?

  $15,000 loan.

• 18:55Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 18:56George Kamel?

  It's just brutal what's happening out there.

• 18:58Rachel Cruze?

  When you're buying cars, you guys, not only do you need to use cash, but be smart. Like, some people really do stumble on car lots and they're getting... People, you know, the dealers like tell them this.

• 19:06George Kamel?

  And all they say is, "What kind of payment are you looking for?"

• 19:08Rachel Cruze?

  Well, and they sit down, they got a board and they're drawing, and they're here and this, and they move this number around, like, "Here, you want it?" And you're like, "Yeah, I just need a car. I'll sign it."

• 19:15George Kamel?

  Then you've been there three hours and you're just like, "Get me out of here, whatever. I'll sign whatever."

• 19:18Rachel Cruze?

  I wonder if that's part of their system.

• 19:20George Kamel?

  100%.

• 19:20Rachel Cruze?

  To keep you in there for longer.

• 19:21George Kamel?

  It's like a timeshare presentation. You're just like ready to get out of there. You're like, "All right, fine. I want to see my kids again, man."

• 19:28Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my gosh.

• 19:28George Kamel?

  Pay cash for your car because you can't be underwater on a car that you fully own that doesn't have a loan attached to it. So depreciation can hit and you can still sleep well at night.

• 19:37Rachel Cruze?

  Be aware.

• 19:38George Kamel?

  All right.

• 19:39Rachel Cruze?

  Uh, next, people earning over $100,000 are more likely to use buy now, pay later. I'm shocked. What? Okay, this is a survey by Morgan Stanley. And yeah, and I think it's because apparently people, obviously in this kind of income bracket.

• 19:57Rachel Cruze?

  They have disposable income and they're paying to kind of maintain credit and just keep that life afloat.

• 20:04George Kamel?

  Just keep up with my payments and I'm good.

• 20:06Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, that is an interesting stat, though. I'm kind of shocked by that.

• 20:08George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 20:09Rachel Cruze?

  Because I would have thought if you're having to break up those payments, you may not be able to afford it in total. But for them, it's just like they're, they may have the margin, but still, it's just like, hey, I can just do this.

• 20:23George Kamel?

  They'd rather kick the can down the road into payments, add it to the tab. And we also know there's a lot of stats out there about how a lot of people making over six figures are paycheck to paycheck.

• 20:32Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, absolutely.

• 20:33George Kamel?

  But they still want the nice things. This is sort of the, I think, a terrible sweet spot for the middle class.

• 20:38Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 20:39George Kamel?

  That are making six figures, but there's a lot of lifestyle creep, there's a lot of payments in their life. And so they really, they can't justify paying $200 now, but they can justify $50 now.

• 20:49Rachel Cruze?

  Right.

• 20:50George Kamel?

  And $50 next week and the week after.

• 20:52Rachel Cruze?

  168 here or there, and it's totally.

• 20:54George Kamel?

  Yeah. So that makes sense to me.

• 20:56Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 20:56George Kamel?

  Because they're the most likely to try to keep up. Where someone making 40 grand is not trying to buy things they can't afford as much.

• 21:02Rachel Cruze?

  That's right. That's right. Okay, next, ooh, this is a fun one. Citizens of Hawaii are least likely to carry student loan debts.

• 21:11George Kamel?

  That's interesting.

• 21:12Rachel Cruze?

  Island life, financial health. Hawaii's very expensive to live in, though.

• 21:16George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 21:17Rachel Cruze?

  It's a very high cost of living.

• 21:19George Kamel?

  And I don't know how many colleges and universities are in Hawaii compared to.

• 21:23Rachel Cruze?

  What if Mia came to you and was like, Daddy, I want to go to Hawaii University? Would you let her go?

• 21:27George Kamel?

  I would be heartbroken, but also not a bad place to visit, my little girl.

• 21:30Rachel Cruze?

  Mm-hmm.

• 21:32George Kamel?

  I mean, if it's what she wanted.

• 21:34Rachel Cruze?

  Wait, seriously, you would say yes?

• 21:36George Kamel?

  I mean, at that point, they can kind of do what they want.

• 21:39Rachel Cruze?

  Well, with your money.

• 21:41George Kamel?

  Maybe. I mean, I'm saving up. I already, I crunched the numbers this morning on her 529 to make sure we're on track.

• 21:46Rachel Cruze?

  That's great.

• 21:47George Kamel?

  We're looking good.

• 21:48Rachel Cruze?

  So you have no, you have no bounds with college?

• 21:52George Kamel?

  Well, what I'm gonna do is, yes, I'd like to have bounds. And Dave Ramsey did this with you guys. He said, I will pay for in-state school.

• 21:59Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, but you have to do it his way, yeah.

• 21:59George Kamel?

  You're gonna finish in four years. So I would love, I love that model of, hey, I will pay for college if you do it this way. Now, I want to say you will not go into debt.

• 22:08Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 22:09George Kamel?

  I hope that she's raised with that value. I also know I can't control an 18-year-old. At that point, legally, they can make their own terrible decisions.

• 22:16Rachel Cruze?

  But you don't have to do a Parent Plus loan at that point.

• 22:18George Kamel?

  I would never do a Parent Plus loan.

• 22:19Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, I know you wouldn't.

• 22:20George Kamel?

  I'm gonna say, here's the money we have. If you choose to go over that, just know that God is watching.

• 22:24Rachel Cruze?

  God is watching.

• 22:26George Kamel?

  The borrower slave to the lender.

• 22:27Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 22:28George Kamel?

  Go read some proverbs.

• 22:29Rachel Cruze?

  So, uh, but, but yeah, Hawaii, you'd be like, yeah, girl.

• 22:32George Kamel?

  It wouldn't be my first choice. I want her close to home for obvious reasons. But I flew the coop at 20 and went from Boston to Alabama and never came back.

• 22:40Rachel Cruze?

  That's true.

• 22:40George Kamel?

  So I feel bad for my parents in hindsight.

• 22:42Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 22:43George Kamel?

  I was just talking to Whitney today. She was at a coffee shop and behind her was a dad reconnecting with his daughter who's at college.

• 22:49Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, my gosh, make me cry.

• 22:50George Kamel?

  And she said it was so sweet, but also so sad because she was picturing that being her and our son or daughter.

• 22:56Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 22:57George Kamel?

  And you're just like, this is all the moments you have.

• 22:59Rachel Cruze?

  The worst, and I was this woman in Winston's life, they marry someone that's not nearby and then they move.

• 23:04George Kamel?

  Yep.

• 23:05Rachel Cruze?

  And then you, that's sad. It's hard.

• 23:07George Kamel?

  Now, it worked out for the Ramsey family. Did they instill in you that like you will not move?

• 23:12Rachel Cruze?

  No.

• 23:12George Kamel?

  How, how did that work out that all the siblings live here?

• 23:15Rachel Cruze?

  I mean, I was working here.

• 23:16George Kamel?

  That's true. Your job is tied to here.

• 23:18Rachel Cruze?

  Maybe he wrote us in with that.

• 23:20George Kamel?

  If you work at Ramsey, you ain't going nowhere.

• 23:21Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, you ain't going nowhere. There's no long distance trips here. Yep. Well, if you were to fly to Hawaii to visit Mia, you probably want to be cozy. So you probably should wear all your Cozy Earth items that you got, George.

• 23:33George Kamel?

  It's a long flight.

• 23:34Rachel Cruze?

  And I bet they will still be around because they're that amazing of a company.

• 23:38George Kamel?

  Yeah, they're not going anywhere. And I would be rocking the bamboo joggers the whole way to Hawaii.

• 23:42Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, you would. I could see it.

• 23:44George Kamel?

  Because that looks classy in an airport.

• 23:45Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah. And then if you got first class and you guys are extra bougie, Whitney could change into her Cozy Earth pajamas while going.

• 23:51George Kamel?

  On the flight.

• 23:52Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 23:52George Kamel?

  Like time to lay down in our bed.

• 23:54Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. At that point, when Mia's that age, you will be in a lay down first class bed.

• 23:59George Kamel?

  My hot take is that air travel will get worse and worse over time.

• 24:03Rachel Cruze?

  Don't say that.

• 24:04George Kamel?

  I don't think it's getting nicer.

• 24:05Rachel Cruze?

  Cozy Earth will not. The, the quality will not be shaken, will not be shaken with rough times. But yeah, whether it's bedding, whether it's blankets.

• 24:13George Kamel?

  Athleisure.

• 24:14Rachel Cruze?

  Athleisure. I mean, all of it, you guys, like the stuff is so great. The socks, we say it over and over again.

• 24:20George Kamel?

  I don't know why it's the socks for me.

• 24:21Rachel Cruze?

  They're amazing. They are. Winston got pairs. I got pairs.

• 24:24George Kamel?

  It's the little things in life, guys. So give the gift of everyday luxury. You can go to cozylearth.com/smartmoney. Use code SMARTMONEY at checkout and you'll get 20% off their luxury goods and you won't regret it.

• 24:37George Kamel?

  All right, our next stat, Rachel. The median age of first time home buyers is now 40 years old.

• 24:42Rachel Cruze?

  No way.

• 24:44George Kamel?

  That's halfway to 80 if you're doing the math.

• 24:46Rachel Cruze?

  Man, I mean, if you did a 30 year, you'd have it paid off at 70.

• 24:51George Kamel?

  That is weird.

• 24:52Rachel Cruze?

  If you stayed in the same house and didn't upgrade.

• 24:54George Kamel?

  Yep. Which a lot of people move. A lady called in the Ramsey show the other day and she was like, well, we're going to live in this house forever. So it makes sense. She was trying to justify these super expensive renovations, like hundreds of thousands of dollars. And they were like 42. I was like, you're guaranteeing, I said, call back when you're 97 and tell me that you're still in this home.

• 25:13Rachel Cruze?

  I know. Yeah. I mean, the housing market, we've talked about it a lot. It's, it is just more expensive these days and it takes people longer to save up for what they want. And so that is a reality.

• 25:23George Kamel?

  But also life expectancy is going up. So.

• 25:25Rachel Cruze?

  That too, yeah.

• 25:26George Kamel?

  Got to take that into account.

• 25:27Rachel Cruze?

  But I think that is one reason to get out of consumer debt. Cause if you do free up two car payments, student loans, credit card debt, like all of that money added each month, hundreds of thousands of dollars, right? Um, that could be going towards saving up that much faster for a down payment. So.

• 25:40George Kamel?

  So you can make homeownership a priority.

• 25:43Rachel Cruze?

  That's right.

• 25:43George Kamel?

  By saying, I'm not going to take on this other debt. I want to really focus on something that's going to build equity and give me a better quality of life.

• 25:49Rachel Cruze?

  That's right. Uh, next, uh, oh, I just read ahead and I like it, George. I like what I see. I sound like Ken Coleman there.

• 25:56George Kamel?

  I like it a lot.

• 25:58Rachel Cruze?

  I like it a lot. So it's what Ken Coleman would say. Uh, 23% of couples have no shared bank account. That's lower than I was expecting. So.

• 26:08George Kamel?

  That's the ones who are honest.

• 26:09Rachel Cruze?

  Only a fourth.

• 26:10George Kamel?

  They probably have a shared, but they probably have their other accounts too.

• 26:13Rachel Cruze?

  They don't, don't bust my bubble. I love a unified checking account. And that means 75% of couples do.

• 26:19George Kamel?

  Okay.

• 26:20Rachel Cruze?

  I'm reading that right, right?

• 26:21George Kamel?

  Well, 77 if we're doing the math.

• 26:23Rachel Cruze?

  But yeah, so majority of couples have a shared checking account. That seems so low to me. I feel like the amount of hate I get on social media when I talk about this feels way more.

• 26:33George Kamel?

  People act like no one's doing this, Rachel.

• 26:35Rachel Cruze?

  I feel like only 20% of couples share an account is what it feels like out there. But this, this gives me hope, George. Yeah. Share an account, you guys. It is, uh, one of the best things that you can do from not just the money perspective, but for your. Marriage.

• 26:46George Kamel?

  And here's the hot take, don't have also your separate accounts that you both use on the side with like your own secret money. The way I do it, we have one joint checking and our joint high yield savings. Everything is together. She has access and can see it at any time.

• 27:01Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, and because the whole like separate thing is because you don't want them to see it, right?

• 27:07George Kamel?

  You don't want them to control your spending.

• 27:09Rachel Cruze?

  So, so why is that? Is it because they are too dominating and controlling, which means they probably are doing that in other parts of your marriage? And or are you too passive and, you know, a little bit like, oh, I just, I just don't want them to see it because I don't want to have to deal with the feelings of what I have to feel like, right? It's all a level of sleeping, sweeping under the rug. Like, that's why.

• 27:31George Kamel?

  I don't want him to judge me. I don't want, I don't want to judge him. Like, it's our business.

• 27:35Rachel Cruze?

  Yep. Having everything out in the open, it creates unity. Like, you're getting married. You're married. That's, that's part of it.

• 27:39George Kamel?

  Make a budget, use one account.

• 27:41Rachel Cruze?

  Love that.

• 27:42George Kamel?

  All right, next up.

• 27:44George Kamel?

  Americans have 4.5 trillion dollars in cash earning little to no interest. So we're talking between checking accounts and these savings accounts making 0% interest.

• 27:54Rachel Cruze?

  Ooh.

• 27:56George Kamel?

  That's a 2025 Federal Reserve data. That's legit and recent. So here's what they're missing out on.

• 28:01Rachel Cruze?

  That's how, that, I like that people have that much cash, though, in general.

• 28:04George Kamel?

  4.5 trillion.

• 28:05Rachel Cruze?

  That's a lot.

• 28:06George Kamel?

  I guess we have to divide that by the number of Americans to get the real number.

• 28:09Rachel Cruze?

  That's probably true. Quick math, do your 73% math there, George. Just kidding.

• 28:13George Kamel?

  Put the matrix numbers behind me. No, I can't do that math.

• 28:15Rachel Cruze?

  I know, I'm just kidding.

• 28:15George Kamel?

  100 trillion divided by 330 million carry the one.

• 28:18Rachel Cruze?

  Don't waste your time. Not worth it.

• 28:19George Kamel?

  It's fine.

• 28:20Rachel Cruze?

  What it just means is it's a lot of cash sitting there earning no interest. So that, that is probably more than just an emergency fund. Right? I mean, because we tell people not to invest when it comes to your emergency fund.

• 28:31George Kamel?

  People are scared of investing and so they just keep it parked.

• 28:34Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 28:34George Kamel?

  Especially, um, I've found people who are a little bit older, a little more fearful of the market. And so they go, well, I'd just rather have it in a CD or keep it in savings. And I'm going, hey, you're missing out on potentially, you know, over 3% right now.

• 28:48Rachel Cruze?

  A lot of money.

• 28:48George Kamel?

  With high yield savings accounts. So make sure, oh, we mentioned Fairwind, that's a great place to park it in that high yield savings. To actually have your money grow, at least at the rate of inflation.

• 28:56Rachel Cruze?

  That's right.

• 28:57George Kamel?

  Right now inflation's eating that 4.5 trillion.

• 28:59Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 29:00George Kamel?

  Because your buying power goes down every day.

• 29:01Rachel Cruze?

  So much, George. Well.

• 29:05Rachel Cruze?

  I just, I just feel like there's a lot of things happening in the world with our money. And so having a plan and knowing what you want to do, and you're not following these stats, because some of these stats are encouraging, some are not, but to do what's best for you. And I know one thing that's best for me in the world today is getting my info off these crazy websites.

• 29:24George Kamel?

  Something you can control.

• 29:25Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, Delete Me, you guys, is a great subscription to have because the team of real people go in to these websites that are like sketchy websites, data broker websites, and take your name off of them because those sites will sell your information to other companies.

• 29:40George Kamel?

  Which leads to phishing and identity theft and targeted fraud.

• 29:43Rachel Cruze?

  That's right, and spams and scams and all of it, so.

• 29:46George Kamel?

  No, thank you, ma'am.

• 29:47Rachel Cruze?

  Take your name off the list, get it out of there, and Delete Me helps you do that.

• 29:50George Kamel?

  That's right, and you can get a sweet discount, 20% off their annual plans when you go to joindelete.me/smartmoney or click the link in the description. And that report is sadly something I look forward to.

• 30:03Rachel Cruze?

  I know, the report, but you see the amount of hours that they work, that you didn't have to do anything.

• 30:08George Kamel?

  That's right. Yeah, you could try to do this all on your own, but goodness gracious, your time is worth more than that. These people are experts in this field.

• 30:15Rachel Cruze?

  Yep, so make sure to sign up at joindelete.me/smartmoney because it is well worth it, you guys. Well worth it. Oh, man, well, how do you feel about the stats right now, George? What's your feeling?

• 30:29George Kamel?

  It's not super inspiring.

• 30:31Rachel Cruze?

  Is it? Yeah.

• 30:32George Kamel?

  But I will say this.

• 30:34Rachel Cruze?

  Should we go to Hawaii?

• 30:35George Kamel?

  I want to go to Hawaii now. That was my big takeaway.

• 30:38Rachel Cruze?

  Me too.

• 30:38George Kamel?

  I need to go to Hawaii.

• 30:39Rachel Cruze?

  I know, sounds right.

• 30:40George Kamel?

  But here's the thing, I don't think people watching need to be a part of the stat. So that's the encouraging part of just because 70% of the world or 50% of the world are doing things in an unwise way, taking on a bunch of debt, not saving the right way. This is good because it means you don't have to be a part of that stat. You can do things differently, and it's why we post this show, to show people a smarter way to handle their money, and it starts with Smart Money Happy Hour. We want you to be happy and be smart with your money.

• 31:11Rachel Cruze?

  Yep, so speaking of that, George, before we spill the tea on Guilty as Charge, what do you, what do you rate it? What's the drink deets?

• 31:17George Kamel?

  Let me go back to my dime a tab here. At least not room temp.

• 31:24George Kamel?

  Yeah, well, I didn't think that, but then you said it.

• 31:26Rachel Cruze?

  I'm so sorry. I have to go 2 out of 10. I'm so sad about it.

• 31:30George Kamel?

  All right, I'm gonna go 3 out of 10.

• 31:31Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 31:32George Kamel?

  Because if you weren't here, I'd be sipping on this happily. You go, okay, it's interesting. I like all the ingredients separately. Here's what's in it. Tequila, Aperol, Prosecco, and sparkling soda water. Which I think soda water is already sparkling, but they wrote sparkling soda water to remind us that soda is sparkly.

• 31:52George Kamel?

  And it comes out to $5.08. But hey, if you want to find out for yourself if it's as bad as we say, 3 out of 10 for me, 2 out of 10 for Rachel, collectively, a 5 out of 10. Still not great.

• 32:03Rachel Cruze?

  Well, that's not the average.

• 32:05George Kamel?

  The average is 2.5.

• 32:09George Kamel?

  Either way, it's bad. Go get the recipe in the show notes, give it a try this weekend if you dare.

• 32:16Rachel Cruze?

  But thank you to our team who made it.

• 32:19George Kamel?

  They're trying. Hey, they've had a lot of great, they've had a hot run for a while.

• 32:22Rachel Cruze?

  It's not their fault. I feel like it's always personal when we give a drink rating.

• 32:26George Kamel?

  They're doing the most.

• 32:28Rachel Cruze?

  All right, now it's time for Guilty as Charged. And this is where we ask each other a guilty charged question every week. And if we're guilty, we take a sip.

• 32:35George Kamel?

  All right, I'm gonna ask it this time, Rachel. When is the last time you were enraged by a customer experience?

• 32:43Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, wow.

• 32:44George Kamel?

  I don't see you getting enraged much, especially in public. You tend to be the one who, you hold it inside if you have any tension.

• 32:51Rachel Cruze?

  And I'm more like, I need everyone to be okay.

• 32:54George Kamel?

  Yes. You don't want to cause a scene.

• 32:58George Kamel?

  That's why I'm curious. Have you ever actually been upset?

• 33:01Rachel Cruze?

  No, I have. I know I've probably used the phrase, like, I'm trying to give you money. Like, why is this so difficult? Like, I'm sure there has been moments like that. I don't, I don't know. I remember, ah, this is going way back. We're going six years. We're going COVID year. Are you ready for this story? This is what came to my mind. I remember going to a spa, which we live in Tennessee. So like everything was open during this time. And they had me wear a mask during a massage, which made sense during the time we were living in, but they were doing facials with people without masks in the room next to me. People were getting facials and I was like-

• 33:39George Kamel?

  That's hypocritical, isn't it?

• 33:40Rachel Cruze?

  Well, that didn't make, it didn't make any sense.

• 33:42George Kamel?

  It's not logical.

• 33:43Rachel Cruze?

  And so like three different times, it's like, that doesn't make sense. Like, it doesn't make sense. How is someone literally right there getting a facial, doesn't have COVID, you're not worried about them, but you are worried about, like, that makes, it make no, so that was the only time I feel like I remember. I just kept pressing and pressing. But other than that, I'm sure there's been a time, which I can't think right now.

• 34:02George Kamel?

  Well, I think you're just a good person.

• 34:04Rachel Cruze?

  No, what about you?

• 34:05George Kamel?

  I'm petty on a daily basis. It's a sport for me.

• 34:07Rachel Cruze?

  I know. You have good stories. Give us some.

• 34:09George Kamel?

  I literally have a list of like four things I could mention. I'll mention the most recent because it happened this weekend.

• 34:14Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, my gosh, George.

• 34:15George Kamel?

  I was in a store. I was excited to make a purchase of a nice jacket. You know, I like my jackets.

• 34:20Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, you love a jacket.

• 34:21George Kamel?

  And I was like, wow, they have the one I want. It's in my size. Very exciting. It was the right price point. And I walk up to the register and it comes up with the wrong price.

• 34:31Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, then was on the price tag?

• 34:32George Kamel?

  Yeah, it was like $27 more than was on the tag. And I went, hey, um, the tag says this. And she brought over a manager and like, hey, the tag wrong. And she went, oh, yeah, um, we changed our pricing. And I was like, what? And then she changed her too. And it said, well, um, that's actually a different jacket and it was mislabeled. And I said, well, will you just honor the price? Like, I'm trying to stay in my budget here. And she said, no, that's the new price. And I went, okay, well, I'm just gonna hold off for now. And I gave it back to her.

• 35:00Rachel Cruze?

  For $27?

• 35:01George Kamel?

  Over $27.

• 35:02Rachel Cruze?

  Didn't get what you wanted.

• 35:03George Kamel?

  They didn't make a sale that day that they easily could have made.

• 35:06Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 35:07George Kamel?

  It was 8% difference. So they were unwilling to give me an 8% discount and lose the sale.

• 35:14Rachel Cruze?

  Do you think they really did mislabel the jacket though?

• 35:19George Kamel?

  Did they or didn't they?

• 35:20Rachel Cruze?

  It doesn't matter to you.

• 35:21George Kamel?

  It doesn't matter.

• 35:21Rachel Cruze?

  Doesn't matter.

• 35:22George Kamel?

  I did go online, the jacket was more expensive. So they did raise their prices at some point and they probably just didn't update the tag.

• 35:29Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, yeah.

• 35:30George Kamel?

  That's what happened.

• 35:31Rachel Cruze?

  But you're like, listen, just give me the price.

• 35:34George Kamel?

  Yeah, it's not that hard. But then I go to the website and I see a 10% off if you sign up for our newsletter. So I signed up for the newsletter and it was cheaper to buy it online.

• 35:42Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, no.

• 35:43George Kamel?

  Even with shipping costs than to buy it in their store.

• 35:46Rachel Cruze?

  Stop it. So you got a better deal. You know what?

• 35:49George Kamel?

  And I bought it online. I still supported that business, but based on principle, I walked out of there.

• 35:54Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, and if they were gonna, you should have been like, pretty woman, like you work on commission. Big mistake.

• 36:00George Kamel?

  That's exactly what I wanted to say.

• 36:02Rachel Cruze?

  Huge, huge.

• 36:02George Kamel?

  But it's like a local business and they're well loved by the community. So I wasn't gonna raise a big stink.

• 36:08Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 36:08George Kamel?

  But it was just enough that I went, well, I'm not gonna make the purchase.

• 36:10Rachel Cruze?

  What do you think they thought of you when you left? Do you think about that?

• 36:12George Kamel?

  I'm sure they talked. I'm sure they're like, well, that guy was a little much.

• 36:15Rachel Cruze?

  Wow, that was a reaction.

• 36:18George Kamel?

  All over 8%.

• 36:19Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, my gosh. Oh, so funny. Well, you guys, you've been sending us so many guilty search questions. I have like three right now, screenshot it, I gotta send to y'all. Cause it's like, they keep coming, which I so appreciate. So at Rachel Cruz and at George Kamel, give it to us. We love hearing from you. And if you loved this episode, you're going to love Weird Money Habits That Will Make You Rich. We'll put a link so you can check it out and make sure to subscribe to the channel so you don't miss an all new episode of Smart Money Happy Hour.