Pod Insights Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel Out With the New, In With the Old: Money and Lifestyle Trends About this episode 💵 Have a money question? Ask Ramsey is here to help.
If you love 90s nostalgia (or you just hate change), you’re in luck! Apparently, right now it’s trendy to do life the old-school way—and when it comes to your money, we 100% agree. Next Steps:
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Today’s Happy Hour Special: 🍹 Dr. Pepper Margarita
Recipe by Lauren Milovich (@thats.thespirits):
1 1/2 ounces tequila
1/2 ounce orange liqueur
3/4 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce cinnamon syrup
1 ounce Dr Pepper
Instructions: Rim a glass with cinnamon sugar and set aside. To a cocktail shaker, add tequila, orange liqueur, lime juice, cinnamon syrup and ice. Shake to combine. Strain over the rimmed glass filled with ice, and top with Dr Pepper. Garnish with a lime wheel and maraschino cherry.
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Transcript Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:00 George Kamel? If you love 90s nostalgia, or you just hate change, you are in luck, because the old-school way of life is trending. And when it comes to your money, we 100% agree.
0:08 Rachel Cruze? 80s, 90s.
0:09 George Kamel? Which feels like 20 years ago.
0:11 Rachel Cruze? But it ain't. We over-parent in the physical world and under-parent in the digital world.
0:16 George Kamel? Throw them under the bus.
0:17 Rachel Cruze? I want to like it, though. That's what's happening.
0:24 Rachel Cruze? Hey, guys, I'm Rachel Cruz.
0:26 George Kamel? I'm George Kamel.
0:27 Rachel Cruze? And this is...
0:28 George Kamel? Smart Money Happy Hour.
0:35 Rachel Cruze? George Kamel! Don't you not cheers me?
0:39 George Kamel? I just wanted to see what it was like. I didn't have the arm strength. I got excited.
0:45 Rachel Cruze? I went an extra 60. I told myself, I said, Rachel, make sure to reach.
0:50 George Kamel? Go as far as you can go.
0:51 Rachel Cruze? And then you made me up way.
0:52 George Kamel? Can you guys tell on camera, is that even 50%?
0:55 Rachel Cruze? Do what? No, no, no, go back. I was gonna go, keep going.
1:00 George Kamel? I've never seen you this far in the shot. It's like a 3D movie. I'm like, it's too close.
1:06 Rachel Cruze? Very much intentional. I don't always think during that time. And then, friendship rejected.
1:11 George Kamel? Cheers.
1:13 Rachel Cruze? This is great, though. Okay.
1:14 George Kamel? Honestly, I was just so excited about the drink.
1:16 Rachel Cruze? I know. Well, this is the show where two friends who have to be money experts talk about what you're talking about, everything from pop culture, current events, and money.
1:23 George Kamel? But first and foremost, the drink.
1:26 Rachel Cruze? Very important, apparently. More important than our friendship, but it's fine.
1:29 George Kamel? Well, it's such a fascinating drink. We're sipping on a Dr. Pepper Margarita. And it's exactly what you think it would be, and yet so much more, and yet not enough. It's a very confusing drink. We're gonna give you our rating and reveal the cost per glass at the end of the episode. You don't want to miss that.
1:45 Rachel Cruze? Oh, I like it. Okay, George, I don't know if you know this, but society, everyone's kind of going back to the basics in life. It's kind of a trend happening right now.
1:55 George Kamel? Like Little House on the Prairie? How far back are we going?
1:57 Rachel Cruze? That's pretty far.
1:58 George Kamel? Okay.
1:59 Rachel Cruze? Let's go back to, like, 80s, 90s.
2:02 George Kamel? Okay. Which feels like 20 years ago.
2:05 Rachel Cruze? I know, but it ain't.
2:06 George Kamel? It's not. The 80s.
2:07 Rachel Cruze? Is that not weird? Do you do that math, too? In my head, if someone's like 1980s, I'm like, oh, 20 years ago. Forty years ago.
2:14 George Kamel? Eighty-six to twenty-six is forty years.
2:16 Rachel Cruze? Is that not wild? That's crazy.
2:19 George Kamel? Which makes sense because we were both born in the eighties. And yet, we know our ages and it still feels like it was more recent than that.
2:26 Rachel Cruze? Oh, very much so. So bizarre. So bizarre.
2:29 George Kamel? Gosh.
2:29 Rachel Cruze? Anyways, but yeah, everyone's kind of going back a little bit. I mean, everything from housing styles, right? Your interior design to clothing, to even money habits. Like, people are kind of trending back, and I like it.
2:42 George Kamel? I like it too. This, it's called "Out with the New, In with the Old." I like the name.
2:48 Rachel Cruze? Switch it up.
2:48 George Kamel? I saw a video that I think kind of helps sum it up. Would you watch it with me?
2:52 Rachel Cruze? I would love to.
2:52 George Kamel? And the people at home, we'll make sure to put this clip up there. Here we go. I love when I get to pull my phone up during an episode.
2:58 Rachel Cruze? Oh, it's the best.
2:58 George Kamel? It feels like I'm in class and my teacher's like, "You can pull out the phone."
3:01 Rachel Cruze? You can pull out the phone.
3:02 George Kamel? Okay, here we go.
3:03 Rachel Cruze? Let me see.
3:04 Speaker 02 Starting out strong with open concept homes. Those are new. We're kicking them out. The outside world already feels like a stale, old asylum.
3:11 Rachel Cruze? George, we're...
3:12 Speaker 02 We don't need our homes feeling that way. We want character. We want charm. We want cottage. We want vintage. We want colonial. We're bringing back old-school health benefits. We're not buying the new gadgets that are coming out. We're not buying the vibration plates. We're not buying all of these things. Go outside. You have arms and legs at work? Go do some jumping jacks. Go do some cartwheels. Whatever you gotta do. Get the sun in your face. Maybe take some protein, some fiber. We are not doing what all the new influencers are saying because our bank accounts say no. We're laughing now.
3:38 Rachel Cruze? We love this.
3:39 Speaker 02 We're not doing this new sensitivity training. This new, "My feelings matter more than reality." It doesn't. The new saying is "Suck it up, buttercut." Move on. We're going back to the old way.
3:49 Rachel Cruze? Now, that's the eighties living.
3:51 Speaker 02 It's really draining us. Speaking of that, we're out with modern therapy.
3:54 Rachel Cruze? What?
3:55 Speaker 02 We're done with the word "therapy." We don't need it. We're going back to the old way. We're getting in smaller villages. We're getting in stronger, solid biblical churches. That's what we're getting. Out with the new, in with the old. We're done with AI.
4:07 George Kamel? Oh.
4:07 Rachel Cruze? Don't...
4:08 Speaker 02 We're done with it. It's new. Maybe it can advance things, but here's my philosophy.
4:12 Rachel Cruze? It's not gonna be done though, girl. I hate to say it to you.
4:13 Speaker 02 Something that doesn't have a soul should not be feeding our souls. All the breaking news, we're done with it. We're out with it. We're gonna get back in our small villages. We're gonna know what's actually going on with our neighbors. With our small churches.
4:25 Rachel Cruze? I like this.
4:26 Speaker 02 With our community. We're gonna invest there. And we're gonna shut off the outside world. We weren't made to know everything.
4:32 Rachel Cruze? Agreed.
4:32 Speaker 02 So say it with me. In with the old, out with the new.
4:39 George Kamel? Wow, it was a lot there.
4:41 Rachel Cruze? Well, we went from cottage living to AI taking our souls. Even though I don't like AI, I don't like the, I don't like the girl you talk to on your phone.
4:52 George Kamel? Feeding my soul is not what I'm looking for from AI.
4:55 Rachel Cruze? I agree, I agree. I'm not, but some people might be. Have you seen the robots that are being built that look like humans? Have you seen this?
5:03 George Kamel? Are they accurate? Like, they look like a human being?
5:05 Rachel Cruze? It's, I'm just telling you.
5:07 George Kamel? Not like Elon's.
5:08 Rachel Cruze? I do, I don't know who they are.
5:10 George Kamel? They don't look like.
5:11 Rachel Cruze? It came up on my, um, feed. I don't know, but she had like a face, like a real crazy. So, I'm with, I'm with parts of this a hundred percent.
5:20 George Kamel? Yep.
5:21 Rachel Cruze? I do think, yes, we, we miss the neighbors, you know? And I've heard people talk about this, like, you don't ask for rides anymore to the airport. You call an Uber. You don't, like, right, there's a level of, like, our souls, I think, do die when you're like, okay, I just wanna like be with people.
5:34 George Kamel? We've isolated ourselves, like, we don't wanna be a burden, we don't wanna annoy people.
5:37 Rachel Cruze? That's right, yes.
5:38 George Kamel? We want convenience over everything.
5:40 Rachel Cruze? Yes. So I think, I think a lot of that is true. I do think we can't hold everything. We're not supposed to know what's happening all over the globe at any moment. Like, we can't.
5:47 George Kamel? It's simply too much.
5:48 Rachel Cruze? I don't think are we, yeah, our anatomy can't hold that.
5:50 George Kamel? Well, now you're, you're hated if you don't care as much about, I do about the thing that I'm angry about.
5:55 Rachel Cruze? That I think about, yes, I know. Everyone, I agree with that. I know, I know. But, back to the housing thing, George.
6:01 George Kamel? Yeah.
6:02 Rachel Cruze? Man.
6:02 George Kamel? Heard from.
6:03 Rachel Cruze? I've been seeing some aesthetics, though, that are beautiful. And it does, it looks like 90s homes again. Like, you have your smaller rooms, cozy, darker colors, it's warm. I could do it. I could do it.
6:16 George Kamel? You could.
6:16 Rachel Cruze? Yeah.
6:17 George Kamel? All right, you heard it here first, folks. She's selling the house, moving to a, a little cottage.
6:22 Rachel Cruze? A little reno.
6:23 George Kamel? Uh, we went last weekend, and my wife loves, like, the vintage antique stuff.
6:28 Rachel Cruze? Yes.
6:29 George Kamel? And we bought some pieces.
6:31 Rachel Cruze? Oh, good.
6:31 George Kamel? That are like from, I don't know, a different time.
6:34 Rachel Cruze? Time.
6:34 George Kamel? A different time.
6:35 Rachel Cruze? It's beautiful.
6:36 George Kamel? You know, you smell it and you go, yeah, that's a different time.
6:38 Rachel Cruze? So like a true antique. It does like, it's not new, but looks antique.
6:41 George Kamel? No, they, they felt like it was, it was worth the money. This is not like a.
6:45 Rachel Cruze? Antique.
6:45 George Kamel? This is not like your Goodwill in, in teaks. This is like, this was scoured across the globe.
6:50 Rachel Cruze? Antique roadshow. Great show.
6:53 George Kamel? Must have. I'm like, I think royalty must have owned this at one point. You're gonna be charging these prices.
6:57 Rachel Cruze? Wait, wait, can I ask?
6:58 George Kamel? Yeah.
6:59 Rachel Cruze? Upwards of like more than 500?
7:01 George Kamel? Yeah.
7:02 Rachel Cruze? Up, over a thousand?
7:03 George Kamel? Yeah.
7:04 Rachel Cruze? Oh my geez.
7:05 George Kamel? You could not go high enough.
7:07 Rachel Cruze? Whitney, his wife, has such good style.
7:08 George Kamel? But it is very tasteful.
7:10 Rachel Cruze? I bet.
7:10 George Kamel? She deserves it. So now we have this beautiful, two antique lamps on this beautiful sort of bureau.
7:16 Rachel Cruze? Yes.
7:17 George Kamel? I'll show you a picture, you're gonna love it.
7:18 Rachel Cruze? Look at you.
7:19 George Kamel? You're gonna love it.
7:19 Rachel Cruze? I love that.
7:19 George Kamel? That's to say, my wife is very much in with the old.
7:24 Rachel Cruze? With the old, yes. Um, what do you think about like parenting styles? Like where you would just go roam the neighborhood? You wouldn't know where the kids are.
7:33 George Kamel? I do miss that.
7:34 Rachel Cruze? Yeah.
7:34 George Kamel? And there was no phones, like I'm almost shocked that my parents just let me. Like I would take a train into downtown Boston, skate all day. And then I would just be back.
7:45 Rachel Cruze? How old?
7:45 George Kamel? They would just trust.
7:46 Rachel Cruze? How old?
7:47 George Kamel? 14.
7:47 Rachel Cruze? Really?
7:48 George Kamel? Yeah.
7:49 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, that's intense. Public transportation.
7:51 George Kamel? That's a wild one.
7:52 Rachel Cruze? For a 14 year old, just to jump in?
7:54 George Kamel? And I mean, I probably maybe had my first little tiny flip phone.
7:57 Rachel Cruze? Yeah.
7:57 George Kamel? Where they could call.
7:58 Rachel Cruze? Eventually, uh huh.
7:58 George Kamel? Or like you borrowed someone's, I mean, I remember going to payphones and calling my family.
8:01 Rachel Cruze? For sure, absolutely.
8:02 George Kamel? Simpler times.
8:03 Rachel Cruze? Simpler times, I know.
8:04 George Kamel? And now we need to track our kids at all times. And they better be in before the sun sets. I will be that dad.
8:11 Rachel Cruze? Why, I know. Why are we like that?
8:13 George Kamel? I do, I think we know too much.
8:15 Rachel Cruze? I think that's it too. It's back to the knowing too much information. We know too much, you know?
8:19 George Kamel? And your algorithm will scare you into being like, you shouldn't let your, you're a terrible parent if you let your kids stay out.
8:24 Rachel Cruze? I did, I let my kids walk to school one day and, cause we're pretty close to our school and I had posted it. Did I tell you the story?
8:29 George Kamel? No.
8:30 Rachel Cruze? Just on a story, I think I was, and I was driving to work, I was driving by them and there were the three of them down. And, and it's a full sidewalk, like.
8:36 George Kamel? Yeah.
8:37 Rachel Cruze? Kids bike and scoot, I mean, it's a very like walkable area where we live, especially for elementary school.
8:42 George Kamel? They're like in a remote forest.
8:43 Rachel Cruze? No, no, um, but in the shot, there was nobody, which I remember thinking, oh, okay, I'm gonna take a quick video of them. And that's so cute, it's just them. Anyways, I put it on my story and I just said like, oh my God, you know, them walking to school, I don't even know what I said. I got more.
8:57 George Kamel? Roasted?
8:58 Rachel Cruze? Yes. How I'm, how I'm negligent, how could you put your kids' faces on social medias and then let them be by themselves? Like all this stuff. And I was like, okay, well, number one, if I had just panned the camera this way, you would have seen. 20 other people around walking to school and kids biking on their own, you know. But yeah.
9:15 George Kamel? They thought this was gonna be an episode of 60 Minutes.
9:16 Rachel Cruze? I don't know, but I thought, oh my gosh, we literally, we, that's it, you, we over-parent in the physical world and under-parent in the digital world. That is not my quote. That was from the Angstuation book. I will not take that quote.
9:30 George Kamel? That's a great quote.
9:30 Rachel Cruze? But yeah, people just throw their kids an iPad or an iPhone and like, here, good luck. But God forbid, you walk down to the neighbor's house and you know what I mean? Like, no, no, it should be flipped.
9:41 George Kamel? Well, this is perfectly into the next one. Treating processed foods like the sixth love language and forcing kids to finish every bite of it at dinner.
9:47 Rachel Cruze? Yes, the clean plate award.
9:49 George Kamel? I don't remember looking at ingredients when we were young. Or our parents looking at ingredients.
9:53 Rachel Cruze? No, no.
9:54 George Kamel? And some boxes, you can see the cereal boxes and it's like, well, it was simpler ingredients.
9:58 Rachel Cruze? I do wonder, is that true?
9:59 George Kamel? But also, we ate like lard and Kool-Aid and that was our meal. So I'm like, we ate toaster strudels all day.
10:05 Rachel Cruze? She would make sweet tea, y'all, every night for dinner in this like yellow pitcher. Old school sweet tea, I mean, sugar. I mean, and we would.
10:14 George Kamel? That's a good woman right there.
10:15 Rachel Cruze? Down sweet tea almost every night at dinner. But then you had to clean your plate. And I remember sitting there.
10:21 George Kamel? Hating the last piece of broccoli.
10:23 Rachel Cruze? And I'd sit there till like 8:30 because I was so stubborn. They're like, you're not getting up until, yes, you had to finish.
10:28 George Kamel? I love that attitude.
10:31 Rachel Cruze? Do you? That's exhausting.
10:33 George Kamel? I'm a clean plate club kind of guy. I don't put on more than, on my plate than I know I can finish.
10:37 Rachel Cruze? Oh gosh, you would hate, this is why we can't double date, George.
10:41 George Kamel? Because Rachel's like, I'll take all the apps.
10:43 Rachel Cruze? I did, I ordered five appetizers when we went on, we went out with Winston's brother and his wife last weekend to a great Italian spot in Nashville. I mean, it was Artichonese, I was like, I love that camera, I love that. And they had a, they had a pizza in, they had a pizza in the apps, which is like, well, duh.
10:58 George Kamel? That's a meal.
10:58 Rachel Cruze? That, I know, well, I don't care. I ordered five appetizers and Winston was like, pick. And I was like, it's okay, it'll have leftovers, you know? And we, and we did because everything came out a lot. And I was like, maybe we shouldn't order dinner.
11:10 George Kamel? Did you eat all the leftovers?
11:11 Rachel Cruze? Uh, no, George, no, I didn't.
11:15 George Kamel? You weren't excited about it the next day, were you?
11:16 Rachel Cruze? Who wants to eat calamari the next day?
11:18 George Kamel? That is a bold move.
11:20 Rachel Cruze? Sketchy, sketchy.
11:21 George Kamel? I'll give you that.
11:22 Rachel Cruze? So anyways, all I'd say, I am a classic, eyes bigger than the stomach gal. But it's so fun.
11:29 George Kamel? I just got roasted on Instagram because I posted gluten-free Cheez-Its. I was very excited. They were hard to find.
11:34 Rachel Cruze? Oh, I'm very happy for you.
11:34 George Kamel? I finally got my hands on a box.
11:35 Rachel Cruze? Why'd they get mad?
11:36 George Kamel? Uh, this lady replied and said, wow, way to poison your body. Maybe check the ingredients before you... And I was like, lady, listen.
11:44 Rachel Cruze? My gosh.
11:45 George Kamel? Nobody's policing my snack choices except for me and maybe my wife.
11:49 Rachel Cruze? And you guys are hell... And you're... And, uh, Whitney's very...
11:52 George Kamel? I'm doing great. I just got my physical, alright? I'm... You worry about your own self, lady. Anyway, she apologized after I called her out on it.
11:58 Rachel Cruze? No, she didn't?
11:59 George Kamel? Yeah.
11:59 Rachel Cruze? Stop it.
12:00 George Kamel? She was like, oh, I didn't...
12:01 Rachel Cruze? Wait, wait, why didn't you call her out? Did you DM her back?
12:03 George Kamel? I confronted her in the DM.
12:04 Rachel Cruze? No, you didn't.
12:05 George Kamel? Yeah.
12:06 Rachel Cruze? Give me the detail.
12:07 George Kamel? If you DM me trying to spew that hatred, I will not stand for it.
12:11 Rachel Cruze? Okay, I got hate. Should I DM someone back?
12:14 George Kamel? Well, you know what? You know, here's the hack. And I think, um, was it Annie F. Downs or Carlos Whitaker?
12:19 Rachel Cruze? Yes.
12:20 George Kamel? John Deloney, they all agreed to this.
12:22 Rachel Cruze? Yes.
12:22 George Kamel? You respond with a voice memo.
12:24 Rachel Cruze? Okay, I'm about to do it.
12:25 George Kamel? Responding to them.
12:26 Rachel Cruze? Should I do it?
12:27 George Kamel? And it disarms the situation every time. Alright, read the...
12:30 Rachel Cruze? Mine was, we had a warm weekend, this past weekend, in Nashville.
12:35 George Kamel? Okay.
12:35 Rachel Cruze? So my kids swim in a pool. And I just thought, this is really sweet and pretty. And our Tennessee flag was flying at a great angle. A great angle. And I thought, oh, that Tennessee flag looks good in there too. Not gonna lie.
12:46 George Kamel? Yeah.
12:46 Rachel Cruze? And I was like, oh, that's sweet. So I just did. I was like, I'm, you know...
12:49 George Kamel? Capture the moment.
12:50 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, and I just put up on stories. I try to be active a little bit, just like, you know.
12:55 Rachel Cruze? Cool, so you're rich and have a, and have a pool. Super interesting. How tone deaf can someone be?
13:01 Rachel Cruze? Okay, okay, what should I say back? What should I say back?
13:04 George Kamel? I mean, there's no good response to that. But I want to see you try live.
13:08 Rachel Cruze? Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
13:11 Rachel Cruze? Hey, Jonathan, so sorry that my pool picture was so triggering to you. So I apologize if that was tone deaf. I will make sure that my backyard is concealed in upcoming photos.
13:26 Rachel Cruze? Just sent it. Oh, maybe, oh, I should have said, you can unfollow me, because he follows me.
13:32 George Kamel? The old you should have said.
13:33 Rachel Cruze? I'm gonna do one more. Okay, actually, I realize that the summer's coming up and I do post my life, so I probably will post some photos of it. So if that is, you can unfollow me. I totally get it. So don't worry. And yep, hope you're having a great day.
13:49 George Kamel? Nailed it.
13:51 Rachel Cruze? If he responds, I will-
13:52 George Kamel? I found mine. Can you guess her name?
13:55 Rachel Cruze? Mine was Jessica.
13:56 George Kamel? No.
13:56 Rachel Cruze? Oh.
13:58 George Kamel? Think, think older.
13:59 Rachel Cruze? Karen.
14:00 George Kamel? Patty.
14:01 Rachel Cruze? Oh.
14:02 George Kamel? Really? You better read the ingredient label with an A instead of an E there.
14:07 Rachel Cruze? Oh, she misspelled it.
14:08 George Kamel? If you're smart enough to control your money, you should be able to control what poisons you put in your body. Sorry, George. I said, appreciate the concern. I manage my finances and my health just fine. Don't have time or interest in strangers policing my snack choices. Cowboy hat emoji. My favorite passive aggressive emoji. She said, oh darn, I didn't mean to interfere that way or give you that impression. Please forgive me.
14:28 Rachel Cruze? No, she didn't. Do you think Jonathan's not gonna ask for forgiveness?
14:32 George Kamel? I love Patty. I think Patty.
14:34 Rachel Cruze? Look at you, and you just got a fan.
14:35 George Kamel? I just got a fan. I don't know if she's a fan, but I hit the heart button on it. I didn't respond, but I thought, I see you, not ready to apologize, to accept your apology yet, Patty.
14:44 Rachel Cruze? This is a fun game. This should be a new segment of the show, George.
14:47 George Kamel? It's great.
14:48 Rachel Cruze? We respond to the haters. I think that's great.
14:51 George Kamel? But then they're just gonna be sending us hate, hoping we'll respond.
14:53 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, not you people out there. Y'all would never. The Smart Money Happy Hour audience is nice.
14:58 George Kamel? Wow. All right. So in with the old, back to the basics. Let's go into thrifting.
15:04 Rachel Cruze? Well, yes, you guys, well, vintage is what she, it wasn't necessarily thrifting.
15:07 George Kamel? I wish. It was the opposite of thrifting.
15:09 Rachel Cruze? But all the, it's the opposite of thrifting, yes. But estate sales, Facebook Marketplace, all of that, they are, they are bustling.
15:16 George Kamel? We want the, the old school charm. We don't want the new fancy gadget that was, you know, on a production line made with shoddy quality.
15:23 Rachel Cruze? Yes. So yeah, there's something about, people are doing this also with their kids' toys. I saw a girl that I follow.
15:28 George Kamel? Yes.
15:29 Rachel Cruze? And she like went back to the old Fisher Price and she found it on Facebook Marketplace. I mean, it had to have been from the 90s. Like, it reminded me of like- What I played with as a kid and she paid like 120 bucks for it like it was a pricey, but it was like kind of vintage, but then it was like the old, I don't know.
15:44 George Kamel? The nostalgia from when she was a kid.
15:46 Rachel Cruze? Yeah.
15:47 George Kamel? That happens with kids books a lot for me. I want to read her the books that I grew, I read growing up.
15:51 Rachel Cruze? Okay. Well, you still have to introduce her to bear hunts if you haven't already.
15:54 George Kamel? Uh, well, someone came to Ramsey Solutions and gave me a copy of that book, a fan of Smart Money Happy Hour. Gave me the book and said, Hey, I know you haven't read this to your daughter.
16:02 Rachel Cruze? We talked about this in another episode.
16:04 George Kamel? And then I read her the book and it's frightening.
16:08 Rachel Cruze? It's not too scary.
16:09 George Kamel? The bear shows up at their door as they all frantically try to escape. What kind of Gatlinburg Don Ron book is this?
16:17 Rachel Cruze? And the covers. We're never going on a bear hunt again. Oh, it's so cute. I like it. Okay. Uh, debit over credit. So this less is more is coming back. Get this, ready? Gen Z, 56% of them say the spending method that they use most frequently are debit cards. Oh my gosh.
16:36 George Kamel? Way to go.
16:36 Rachel Cruze? I've never felt so connected.
16:38 George Kamel? I love this.
16:38 Rachel Cruze? To Gen Z.
16:39 George Kamel? Here's what I get a lot. Debit cards are so dangerous. You should never use your debit card. Oh my goodness, the fraud. And then I see the headline today, credit card debt at an all time high, 1.28 trillion. I say, oh, but my dangerous debit card.
16:53 Rachel Cruze? God forbid, God forbid.
16:54 George Kamel? Goodness gracious.
16:55 Rachel Cruze? I know. And it is hard because I will say it can be inconvenient for a moment in time. If, if your identity is stolen or you know, your card number is stolen, whatever it is, money's taken out of the account. It takes a hot minute for the bank to put it back in, right? All that. So I, I get that. But again, that rarely happens. The fraud protection, at least on mine, like I will be somewhere and swipe it and it is like you're, you need to call your bank or.
17:20 George Kamel? Oh yeah. If it's a transaction amount that's over a certain amount, they won't even let it go through.
17:23 Rachel Cruze? I mean, so much. So yes. So like, I feel like the protection is so high right now.
17:27 George Kamel? Yeah.
17:27 Rachel Cruze? That's how I feel on my debit card.
17:29 George Kamel? I mean, there's a lot of protections. I'm not going to go into the nerdiness of it, but there's the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, which protects debit cards. And so you're only liable for like 50 bucks if you report it. And so there's all kinds of things that you can do. I write about it in my book, neither here nor there, but I do love that Gen Z is really going, hey, I don't want to even have the chance to go into debt. I want to be more aware of my spending.
17:51 Rachel Cruze? And just spend what I have. Cause that I, that is a psychology. That's so real. When you swipe money and knowing it's coming, it's gone, like it's out of your account. There's something about that that number one gives me peace just because I'm like, okay, I have no bill at the end of the month. Like, I'm done. I'm done spending, like, the transaction's over. There's no, there's no baggage at the end of the month, right?
18:09 George Kamel? Yeah.
18:09 Rachel Cruze? You're done. And then also, it does subconsciously make you think twice of like, okay, this is actual cash leaving. That's a different psychology than like, I'll worry about it at the end of the month.
18:19 George Kamel? Yep. A great analogy, you're a kid at Chuck E. Cheese. You have $10 of your own money versus mom and dad's line of credit. And they go, hey, just have fun in there. Try not to spend too much. You're gonna spend 30, 40, 50 bucks.
18:32 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, totally.
18:32 George Kamel? If it's mom and dad's money that you have to pay back later versus your precious $10. Now you're like, should I play skee ball? Is this worth it?
18:38 Rachel Cruze? Man, what a dad analogy.
18:40 George Kamel? Bring some friction back in.
18:41 Rachel Cruze? Go Chuck E. Cheese, huh?
18:43 George Kamel? I have not taken my daughter yet. I'm still scared.
18:45 Rachel Cruze? Um, yeah, the kids are obsessed. I mean, my kids are out of that now. They're done with it.
18:51 George Kamel? They're done with Chuck E. Cheese.
18:51 Rachel Cruze? But, man, there was a, there was a three, four, five-year-old time span, and it is like, Vegas for kids.
18:57 George Kamel? I'm always shocked it's still open.
18:58 Rachel Cruze? I know. The franchise has stayed strong.
19:01 George Kamel? Way to go.
19:01 Rachel Cruze? Uh, you know what else is back in is trade schools?
19:04 George Kamel? Yes.
19:04 Rachel Cruze? So how much all the college stuff is crazy, the tuition, the student loan debt. So a lot of people are just like...
19:09 George Kamel? Like, I can avoid debt and go make upwards of six figures.
19:12 Rachel Cruze? Putting brakes on it, yeah. So welders, cosmetologists, woodworkers, medical techs, car mechanics, linemen, I mean, so much. And a lot of them can make so much money.
19:22 George Kamel? Oh, yeah.
19:22 Rachel Cruze? Like, you can have a great living by doing the trades.
19:24 George Kamel? I just hired an electrician. He came by, very nice guy. It was kind of an emergency situation. The fridge was out and the food was about to go bad.
19:31 Rachel Cruze? Oh, no, George.
19:32 George Kamel? He showed up in less than 10 minutes.
19:35 Rachel Cruze? No way.
19:35 George Kamel? Swapped the, swapped the breaker and charged me his, he was like, hey, I'm not even gonna charge you for the breaker. It'll just be the, the, you know, fee to visit. 125 bucks. He made in 10 minutes. Plus his drive time.
19:46 Rachel Cruze? How'd you find him? Like, how?
19:47 George Kamel? Uh, it was through a Facebook group recommendation.
19:49 Rachel Cruze? Okay, good.
19:50 George Kamel? So shout out to Facebook groups.
19:52 Rachel Cruze? Yeah.
19:52 George Kamel? You know?
19:52 Rachel Cruze? Well done.
19:53 George Kamel? I just searched "electrician" in the Facebook group.
19:54 Rachel Cruze? Oh, yeah, yeah.
19:55 George Kamel? It pops up. Reach out to this guy.
19:57 Rachel Cruze? Love it.
19:57 George Kamel? So, all that to say, the trades are where it's at. You know, I'm not calling Junior with his philosophy degree to help me change the breaker. And so there's a real need for these kinds of jobs.
20:05 Rachel Cruze? Real problems, real needs. That's right. Real solutions. Trade school.
20:08 George Kamel? You just are happy to pay them.
20:09 Rachel Cruze? That should be the, that should be the tagline.
20:11 George Kamel? What was that tagline?
20:12 Rachel Cruze? I don't know. It just came out.
20:13 George Kamel? Mike Rowe, if you're listening, that one's free.
20:15 Rachel Cruze? Real problems, real solutions.
20:18 George Kamel? Trade schools.
20:18 Rachel Cruze? Trade school. Trade schools.
20:22 Rachel Cruze? Oh my gosh. Well, I know one solution that has helped me in life a lot.
20:26 George Kamel? To what problem?
20:27 Rachel Cruze? To not being cozy enough.
20:30 George Kamel? Is that a real problem for you?
20:31 Rachel Cruze? It could be. Yeah, Cozy Earth's products, the quality and everything that it provides me is just solution after solution. I feel like, I don't even know I had a problem until I was introduced to Cozy Earth. And after you put it on, you're like, where, how was I living? How was I living?
20:46 George Kamel? New tagline for Cozy Earth, they can have this one. First-class solutions to first-world problems. Not being cozy enough.
20:54 Rachel Cruze? Not being cozy enough.
20:55 George Kamel? Put me on the marketing team already. This is great. But it's so true. This morning, threw on the joggers to take the dog out.
21:01 Rachel Cruze? Yes.
21:01 George Kamel? It made it a pleasure.
21:02 Rachel Cruze? It was a great, it was just.
21:04 George Kamel? Big pleasure to hang out back there with them.
21:05 Rachel Cruze? I know, it is. Their stuff is so, it's so, so nice. The sheets are still my favorite. My kids now want them. I probably need to get some sets. Speaking of sheets.
21:14 George Kamel? Already bougie, these kids with their luxury bedding.
21:17 Rachel Cruze? They always like, does Mia get in your bed? Does she like jump in?
21:19 George Kamel? Oh yeah, she loves it.
21:20 Rachel Cruze? So yeah, but they're always like, Mom, your sheets. And I'm like, I know.
21:23 George Kamel? Say, one day, if you work hard enough, you too can own Cozy Earth sheets.
21:27 Rachel Cruze? Yes, Cozy Earth.
21:28 George Kamel? But the good news is for everyone out there, these grown adults, you can just go buy this stuff. And you can even get a discount by going to cozylearth.com/smartmoney. Use promo code SMARTMONEY at checkout and you'll get 20% off. We'll also drop a link in the description.
21:43 Rachel Cruze? All right, up next is side hustles.
21:45 George Kamel? This is in with the old?
21:47 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, well, all the trades, they can definitely translate to side hustle money too, right? So usually, like what your guy did, if you can go direct to the person, you usually can make more money. So whether you're like teaching piano, helping, you know, someone fix, if you're an electrician.
22:01 George Kamel? If you're handy.
22:02 Rachel Cruze? Yes.
22:02 George Kamel? Just hired a handyman. He's my go-to guy.
22:05 Rachel Cruze? Oh yeah.
22:06 George Kamel? 125 bucks he charged me for like an hour and a half.
22:08 Rachel Cruze? I feel like your rates are very consistent for all the people helping you.
22:12 George Kamel? Listen, I try to keep it right there in that window. But he hung up like a 70-pound mirror. Again, vintage. I was like, I'm not gonna attempt to hang this thing.
22:22 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, no.
22:23 George Kamel? Try to find the stud?
22:24 Rachel Cruze? No.
22:24 George Kamel? No, thank you.
22:25 Rachel Cruze? No, and he did.
22:26 George Kamel? He crushed it.
22:27 Rachel Cruze? Look at you. George, you're such an outsourcer.
22:30 George Kamel? Thank you.
22:30 Rachel Cruze? You're a delegator.
22:30 George Kamel? I am a delegator. I know my strengths and being a handyman isn't one of them.
22:35 Rachel Cruze? Yeah.
22:35 George Kamel? And I don't care how uncool that is.
22:37 Rachel Cruze? I love it.
22:38 George Kamel? I'm gonna support local people to do it for me.
22:40 Rachel Cruze? Um, okay, something else of the old coming back in. And it's been around for probably a year or two, but I love it. It was the cash stuffing. So the envelope system. Yeah. I think that this still like makes me laugh because I get it. It's been going on for probably two years or so, this trend cash stuffing. But people like, they're on TikTok and they're like, this is what you do. You cash out your paycheck and you have envelopes for all the areas you spend on.
23:06 George Kamel? Mind blown.
23:07 Rachel Cruze? And you put the amount of money you plan to spend in each envelope. And that's all you spend in that category is what's in that envelope. You know, yeah, and they're all like, oh my gosh.
23:15 George Kamel? And like, hey, Dave Ramsey from 1993 called. He wants his method back.
23:18 Rachel Cruze? He wants his method back. But old school.
23:20 George Kamel? I love it.
23:21 Rachel Cruze? Which I appreciate. Uh, Tyler, who we work with, he was just saying that there was a meme that was like, I'm so frustrated with today's world because to find $7 for my daughter's field trip.
23:30 George Kamel? Impossible.
23:30 Rachel Cruze? The amount of work it takes to find a $5 bill in two months. Like, it's just, it is. But hey, it's coming back around. The old cash system.
23:38 George Kamel? It is, and I'm happy for it. And those videos are very relaxing. There's something calming about someone just calmly putting the money into each envelope. Very tidy. For those of you who are like, hey, I'm not gonna go get cash and stuff envelopes. We have a great digital app for budgeting called Every Dollar. You can check that out in the App Store. And that's for people like me.
23:56 Rachel Cruze? Yes.
23:56 George Kamel? Who feel like money is dirty. But I handle it. I handle it frequently every week. Well, every two weeks of my haircut. So I have, I go to the bank and I get envelopes with the exact amount I need for that haircut plus tip.
24:08 Rachel Cruze? Yes.
24:09 George Kamel? And I have it ready.
24:10 Rachel Cruze? Oh, my gosh. You know what? I did the envelopes for, I did a girl's trip to Vegas. Did I tell you the story already?
24:14 George Kamel? Yes.
24:15 Rachel Cruze? And I, and then.
24:16 George Kamel? Put the gambling money in the envelope.
24:17 Rachel Cruze? I did. Okay, and then this sounds super bougie, but it just is the truth. But it was a bunch of 40th birthdays, so we went to Vegas and then we ended up going to Cabo.
24:25 George Kamel? Oh, my goodness.
24:26 Rachel Cruze? For just three nights. We did a two hop, which never done that before. That's, that's some living.
24:31 George Kamel? Ultimate trip.
24:32 Rachel Cruze? That's so fun. But in Cabo, you spend cash like a lot for like, like we had a driver take us from the airport to the house. You know, that kind of. But I did. I got envelopes for everything.
24:42 George Kamel? Genius.
24:42 Rachel Cruze? Yes. And I felt like so good. And I texted all my friends and I was like, if anyone asks if I practice what I preach, you can see our girl's trip is all in envelopes, including an envelope called Vegas.
24:53 George Kamel? All right. Cash envelopes into, in with the old, openly talking about budgeting.
24:59 Rachel Cruze? Oh, yeah. Well, you mentioned every dollar.
25:00 George Kamel? They're calling it loud budgeting now. I don't know what makes it loud because we're doing it out in the open.
25:04 Rachel Cruze? I think just saying like, oh, it's not in my budget or I budget. And so I can only have this much to spend like.
25:10 George Kamel? Just having boundaries.
25:11 Rachel Cruze? Just talking about it. It's so good. It's so healthy.
25:13 George Kamel? Being honest and having boundaries. Now that I can get down with. That's a great old school concept.
25:17 Rachel Cruze? That's a good old school. We're gonna put back in, put back in. Yep. But the, yeah, the normalizing, normalizing, budgeting, that you live on a budget, that you're aware of where your money's going, that all of that is.
25:28 George Kamel? Just admitting, I can't afford this right now and not being ashamed by it and just putting the boundary up.
25:33 Rachel Cruze? That's right.
25:34 George Kamel? And you know what else is out in the open, Rachel, if you're not careful? Your personal info.
25:38 Rachel Cruze? Oh.
25:38 George Kamel? That's not a good one. That's something you don't want out in the open.
25:41 Rachel Cruze? Yes.
25:42 George Kamel? Keep it to yourself.
25:43 Rachel Cruze? Keep it to yourself. So Delete Me actually will go in and remove that info. Yeah. And we're not talking about budgeting here. No, no, we're talking about your home address, your cell phone, your kids' names, like stuff that is out there and there are, it's on sketchy websites too. These websites are bizarre. Like when Delete Me sends you the report and like.
26:02 George Kamel? Oh, yeah. Just got a fresh one the other day.
26:04 Rachel Cruze? You did?
26:04 George Kamel? It's so exciting. I know I nerd out. I've said 139 hours.
26:08 Rachel Cruze? Yeah. It's that you're like, what kind of website is this?
26:10 George Kamel? Well, new ones pop up every day. And so it's like whack a mole. And so instead of you having to keep tabs on that, search it, try to remove it, fill out the right form, wait for them to remove it, Delete Me handles all of that for you. And so if budgeting helps you take control of your money, Delete Me helps you take control of your digital privacy.
26:25 Rachel Cruze? Yes.
26:25 George Kamel? How's that for a analogy?
26:26 Rachel Cruze? Well done. That's the tagline. I love it.
26:29 George Kamel? I'm coming up with a lot of taglines for everyone today.
26:31 Rachel Cruze? Yes, you are. Yep. So make sure to go to joindelete.me/smartmoney and you can get 20% off an annual plan, which comes out to be around $9 a month. So make sure to check it out.
26:43 George Kamel? That's a deal. We'll drop a link in the description as well. All right. Next up on In With The Old, Out With The New, no spend challenges.
26:51 Rachel Cruze? Oh.
26:52 George Kamel? Like a dry January for your money, which you've tried that.
26:54 Rachel Cruze? I did do this.
26:55 George Kamel? I say try with a heavy emphasis on try.
26:57 Rachel Cruze? No, I did. I did pretty good, actually. Yes. It's easier to do it for my kids and tell them they can't drink.
27:03 George Kamel? It's easier for your kids not to drink?
27:05 Rachel Cruze? Drink and spend.
27:06 George Kamel? Oh.
27:07 Rachel Cruze? Oh, you're saying I tried Dry January. Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you meant to say.
27:10 George Kamel? I was like, Rachel, I don't think this is an activity for the kids. They, if.
27:15 Rachel Cruze? Oh, Dry January.
27:16 George Kamel? If they're doing Dry January, there's a problem in the Cruz household.
27:18 Rachel Cruze? You know, I think that it's good at the beginning and then. But then I'm like you, I'm like, okay, I don't know. And I know like, not good. Like I, we know the health.
27:29 George Kamel? Literal poison to the body.
27:31 Rachel Cruze? Right. But then a part of me, I'm like, I'm a grown woman. I work out. I eat semi healthy. Like I can have a glass of wine.
27:37 George Kamel? Yeah. You have the bone density to support a glass of wine.
27:39 Rachel Cruze? I don't know. So that's where, that's where my attitude's at. I know.
27:44 George Kamel? Wow.
27:45 Rachel Cruze? And even the, yeah, we don't get into it, but anyways.
27:48 George Kamel? I didn't know it was very upsetting to you.
27:49 Rachel Cruze? No, no.
27:50 George Kamel? But you publicly talked about it on Smart Money Happy Hour.
27:53 Rachel Cruze? Yes. No, no, no. I'm.
27:54 George Kamel? Cause you chose to do it.
27:55 Rachel Cruze? I did. And I didn't drink something. Yeah.
27:57 George Kamel? Make you a mocktail or not sip the cocktail.
27:59 Rachel Cruze? I know. And I did that for a few shoots. It was great. Yes.
28:02 George Kamel? And I'm a method actor. I have a job to do and I'm gonna do it.
28:05 Rachel Cruze? Method actor.
28:07 George Kamel? But no spend challenges, I think it'd be easier for you to do no spend challenge. What do you think?
28:11 Rachel Cruze? I think I did it. That's what I was saying. I did a no spend challenge.
28:14 George Kamel? How did it go for you?
28:15 Rachel Cruze? For a month. That's what I'm saying. It did. I did okay. I did okay. And it is very revealing. It's very revealing.
28:21 George Kamel? It's less about how much money you'll save. It's more about what it reveals about your heart.
28:25 Rachel Cruze? That's how it is for me. Cause I'm such a spender.
28:27 George Kamel? Your vices of like, well, I need this thing.
28:29 Rachel Cruze? Yes. And when I would go and I'm like, not gonna do it. Not gonna do it.
28:34 George Kamel? What's the last useless expense you noticed in your EveryDollar budget that you're like, I need to cancel this or I did cancel this?
28:40 Rachel Cruze? Um, okay. That did happen yesterday when I was tracking my EveryDollar expense, my transactions. I had an Uber one is what it said.
28:49 George Kamel? Oh, yeah.
28:49 Rachel Cruze? Nine ninety-nine. What? I didn't, where did that come from?
28:54 George Kamel? Yep.
28:54 Rachel Cruze? Why? What is it?
28:55 George Kamel? Nobody knows.
28:57 Rachel Cruze? Nobody knows.
28:58 George Kamel? You signed up at some point when you were, you clicked it in the Uber app. Probably in Vegas.
29:03 Rachel Cruze? Well, I was, that was the last time I did Uber.
29:05 George Kamel? You can save $2 if you do a trial.
29:06 Rachel Cruze? I don't think I even remember doing that. And then I went to my profile on the Uber app and I can't find it anywhere.
29:11 George Kamel? That's how they like it.
29:12 Rachel Cruze? So is it gonna charge me every month?
29:14 George Kamel? If you didn't cancel it.
29:15 Rachel Cruze? I can't find it, George.
29:16 George Kamel? Our new segment called Tech Support with George, where I help Rachel cancel a subscription.
29:20 Rachel Cruze? You really are, though. That came through. And I have a stupid line item in our Every Dollar Budget, because stupid stuff comes up, like the kid goes to the doctor and they're not sick. And you're like, oh, that's so stupid not to pay for that. Like, you know, that's one. Winning the stupid category. Because I said, I didn't sign up for you. And now you're charging me 10 bucks.
29:37 George Kamel? It's brutal.
29:38 Rachel Cruze? Yes.
29:39 George Kamel? And they never tell you beforehand. They're never like, hey, it's about to come up. You want to cancel?
29:43 Rachel Cruze? I didn't know I signed up for, like genuinely, I don't even remember hitting a, I mean, I must have legally.
29:47 George Kamel? If I search your email, I guarantee you'd say like, Uber One membership initiated.
29:52 Rachel Cruze? All right, one more, George. And this is one of my favorites. Being debt-free is a flex.
29:58 George Kamel? Love this.
29:58 Rachel Cruze? That you're like, oh, I'm debt-free.
30:00 George Kamel? Which means you're sort of flexing on your, you know, used 10-year-old car that impresses nobody.
30:06 Rachel Cruze? That's right. Yes.
30:07 George Kamel? That's sort of the new flex.
30:08 Rachel Cruze? That you got no payments on it. It's kind of the, it's kind of the new way to live, if you will.
30:13 George Kamel? That you have a simple home that doesn't have all the bells and whistles and the modern kitchen. And you go, this is what I want. Because it allows me to do X, Y, Z.
30:21 Rachel Cruze? That's right.
30:22 George Kamel? And I'm not in debt. And I can actually afford this life.
30:24 Rachel Cruze? Yes. Being in a massive amount of debt to keep up a lifestyle that you can't keep up with and causes stress. It's out. We're not living that life anymore. Simpler things that we can afford within our means that creates peace and margin. That is, that's the new, that's the new trend, George.
30:40 George Kamel? Well, that's a person who's just secure, you know? They don't need all the things. They're not trying to compare their lives to other people. They're happy with what they got. And they have their values in the right place.
30:50 Rachel Cruze? That's right.
30:50 George Kamel? That's it.
30:51 Rachel Cruze? I love it. You know who else has their values in the right place?
30:54 George Kamel? Who's that?
30:55 Rachel Cruze? Fairwin's Credit Union.
30:56 George Kamel? I thought you were going there.
30:57 Rachel Cruze? Yes, they did because they are a, they're a credit union, but essentially like a bank, right, that you have your savings account with, high-yield savings, your checking account. But they are not sitting there trying to pull you into debt like so many banks do. They're not trying to sell you all these products. They are there to actually support you in your financial goals and doing it the Ramsey way, which we love. That's one of the reasons we partner with them is because who they are behind the scenes is as wonderful as the service that they provide in their credit union. So their app is amazing, their banking system's amazing. We love them.
31:30 George Kamel? Yes, and that Smart Bundle is incredible. And with their high-yield savings account, you can actually have up to 10 accounts within there, which I like for all my sinking funds.
31:38 Rachel Cruze? You love a sinking fund.
31:38 George Kamel? So the vacation, the car upgrade, the home renovation, you can just add all of these sinking funds and keep it all organized right there within the Fair Ones app and sign up within minutes.
31:47 Rachel Cruze? Yep, so Fair Ones Credit Union is where it's at. Make sure to check it out and George and I both use them, love them, they're great.
31:53 George Kamel? Go to fairones.org/Ramsey to get that Smart Bundle. We'll drop a link in the description as well.
31:59 Rachel Cruze? Okay, so I would say, yeah, going back to simpler times, I think is great, but I do think there's new things that can help us advance in the world, right? Obviously, like that lady was kind of dogging on AI.
32:12 George Kamel? It's feeding your soul.
32:14 Rachel Cruze? But we actually created a Ramsey tool called Ask Ramsey that's AI-generated with all of our shows and content on The Ramsey Show and articles. So if you do have a money question, you can actually go to Ask Ramsey. It is AI, but everything that's feeding that engine within that specific, you know, search engine is all Ramsey stuff.
32:33 George Kamel? Stuff that we've said on the show.
32:34 Rachel Cruze? All Ramsey answers.
32:35 George Kamel? Articles on our website. And so you don't have to wonder, is this accurate information? Is this on-brand with the Ramsey plan? And it does have a soul because all the information came from something we've said at one point.
32:45 Rachel Cruze? That's right.
32:45 George Kamel? So there you go. Check it out, ramsysolutions.com. You'll see the big search bar there, says Ask Ramsey. Use it, try it.
32:51 Rachel Cruze? Well, I love, I love the trend that we're kind of going back old school because that is the principles we talk about every day with money. Like, it is kind of common sense, old-school way of living with money. It's not flashy, it's not new or trendy or exciting. It is kind of just like, hey, it just works. And so the fact we're going back there from going back to more walls in our homes.
33:11 George Kamel? More walls.
33:13 Rachel Cruze? Talking about budgeting, I love it.
33:15 George Kamel? Well, and there's a level of, you know, the world feels chaotic. Everyone's super anxious and I think simplicity just sort of helps you stay centered and grounded in a sense, too.
33:25 Rachel Cruze? Yes.
33:25 George Kamel? So I love all of these trends and appreciate Gen Z really leading the charge.
33:29 Rachel Cruze? I mean, they've done great.
33:30 George Kamel? Without them and their content, how would we know that these even exist?
33:33 Rachel Cruze? We do appreciate that about you guys. All right, well, before we spill the tea on our guilty as charged segments, um, what do we rate the drink, George?
33:41 George Kamel? Hmm.
33:42 Rachel Cruze? I like it. I'll go an 8.5.
33:46 George Kamel? I'll go six and a half.
33:49 Rachel Cruze? Mm-hmm.
33:51 Rachel Cruze? I think it's fun.
33:51 George Kamel? But it keeps drawing me back in.
33:53 Rachel Cruze? I know, why does it keep like?
33:55 George Kamel? It's such an interesting combination. So here's what's in it if you're curious. If you're not curious, scroll on by. The Dr. Pepper Margarita has tequila, orange liqueur, lime juice, cinnamon syrup, and Dr. Pepper. And the cinnamon syrup and Dr. Pepper combo is beautiful. The rest of the ingredients are a traditional margarita.
34:15 Rachel Cruze? Yes.
34:16 George Kamel? So, but you don't really get the hit of lime and orange liqueur.
34:18 Rachel Cruze? Not too terribly. And the aftertaste is great. You know, some of these drinks that are kind of bizarre, they have like a weird aftertaste.
34:25 George Kamel? It's not medicinal at all. It almost is like a, like a nice tea, if you will.
34:30 Rachel Cruze? What a word.
34:30 George Kamel? Like, think about like a, like a fruit tea. Is that a good description?
34:34 Rachel Cruze? Yes. Yeah, but it's got all the chemicals of a Dr. Pepper in there.
34:38 George Kamel? Yep.
34:40 Rachel Cruze? That's what, that's what, uh, your friend would say.
34:43 George Kamel? The chemicals.
34:43 Rachel Cruze? What's her name?
34:44 George Kamel? Putting more poison in our body, Patty.
34:46 Rachel Cruze? Patty. Sorry, we're drinking a Dr. Pepper.
34:48 George Kamel? She would hate that I enjoy a diet Dr. Pepper.
34:50 Rachel Cruze? Oh, she would not be okay with that.
34:52 George Kamel? But once I migrated to the South, we don't have diet Dr. Pepper in the North. I don't even know if they sell it in Massachusetts.
34:58 Rachel Cruze? Really?
34:59 George Kamel? I just don't remember anyone drinking that growing up.
35:01 Rachel Cruze? Man, Dr. Pepper's great.
35:02 George Kamel? Diet Dr. Pepper really hits. It comes out to $2.84 per drink. So if you want to make it for yourself, get the recipe in the show notes. I think you'll enjoy it.
35:11 Rachel Cruze? All right, now it's time for guilty as charged. And this is where we ask each other a new guilty as charged question every week. And if we're guilty, we take a sip. All right, George, is there a pricey trend that you jumped onto that did or didn't live up to the hype?
35:25 George Kamel? Ooh, that's a fun one.
35:28 Rachel Cruze? Yep.
35:28 George Kamel? This one's pretty easy for me. It's the Tesla full self-driving.
35:34 Rachel Cruze? Okay, didn't live up to the hype?
35:36 George Kamel? No, it did for me. It said did or didn't.
35:38 Rachel Cruze? Oh, I'm sorry. Gotcha, gotcha.
35:39 George Kamel? No, this one changed my life.
35:41 Rachel Cruze? It is amazing.
35:42 George Kamel? I can't, if I'm going down the street to pick up the mail, I'm hitting the button for it to drive me there. And I feel like a little prince. It's so great. It really is. Like, at first, you're like, this is how I die. This is my final destination.
35:55 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, because you watch that wheel start to move and you're like, oh my.
35:57 George Kamel? But then it saved my life the other day. And I went, now I need it.
36:00 Rachel Cruze? Wait, what?
36:01 George Kamel? A car pulled out.
36:02 Rachel Cruze? Shut up.
36:03 George Kamel? And I couldn't see it. And I was like barreling down a hill toward a stop sign. Car pulls out and the car just jerked to a stop. And I was like, whoa, why'd it do that? And then I see the car.
36:12 Rachel Cruze? Do you think you would have seen the car if you were actually having to drive?
36:15 George Kamel? I wouldn't have seen it.
36:16 Rachel Cruze? Genuinely?
36:16 George Kamel? I would have had a much later reaction. I'll say that. I would have seen it later than the car did. Because of all the cameras and it's constantly watching. I think it's actually 99% of the time safer than a human driving who's distracted.
36:29 Rachel Cruze? Yes.
36:29 George Kamel? Okay, how about you? Is there a pricey trend you jumped on that did or didn't live up to the hype?
36:33 Rachel Cruze? Yeah. Man.
36:36 George Kamel? Throw them under the bus.
36:38 Rachel Cruze? I want to like it, though. That's what's happening inside my heart is I'm like, no, it's so great. But then I'm like, the reality is like, it is fine. The Dyson blow dryer.
36:47 George Kamel? The air wrap or whatever it's called?
36:49 Rachel Cruze? No, it's not the air wrap. It's just like the, I don't even know. It's, it was actually very confusing because I bought it on Black Friday back in November.
36:56 George Kamel? Okay.
36:56 Rachel Cruze? And there's many different model. I ChatGPT, I AI'd.
37:00 George Kamel? What's the model that I should get?
37:02 Rachel Cruze? To compare all the different versions because there were so many. I was so confused because they're kind of expensive.
37:07 George Kamel? Hundreds of dollars for these Dyson's.
37:09 Rachel Cruze? I know. So, you know, I'm like, it is fine. My, the hair dryer I had before, I think was as good. Now there's like the really cheap ones. You can get 20 bucks at a drugstore and it's loud and it's not very efficient. So there's definitely like that range of blow dryer. But then you can get a nicer one that's like not a Dyson, but like. I think it has the same, like, it's quiet, but it's like powerful, which is great. And the Dyson's like another level. And I just don't know if the levels.
37:34 George Kamel? If it was worth the jump in price.
37:36 Rachel Cruze? I know, I don't know.
37:37 George Kamel? For what you're getting out of it.
37:38 Rachel Cruze? I know. So that would be mine.
37:39 George Kamel? Wow.
37:40 Rachel Cruze? But I want to like it, but maybe I do. I don't know.
37:43 George Kamel? Well, Dyson's not sending you anything in the mail.
37:46 Rachel Cruze? I'm torn.
37:46 George Kamel? Thanks for the mention, Rachel.
37:48 Rachel Cruze? Oh, man. Well, if you have a guilty charge question for us, make sure to DM us at Rachel Cruz and at George Kamel. We use them. We appreciate it so much. And if you loved this episode, then you're going to love our episode, Weird Money Habits That Will Make You Rich. 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.
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