The Ups, Downs and Lessons of 2024

💵 Start your free budget today. Download the EveryDollar app! It’s almost time to put out the flame on 2024, and we’re feeling reflective. In this episode, Rachel and George look back on the best (and worst 😅) Smart Money Happy Hour moments of the year, including money lessons you won’t want to forget in 2025. Next Steps: 🍸 Follow Smart Money Happy Hour on TikTok: @smartmoneyhappyhour. 💍 Get your tickets for Money & Marriage Getaway! 💸 Beat debt and build wealth with Financial Peace University. 📱 Submit a Guilty As Charged question for Rachel and George! Send a DM to @rachelcruze or @georgekamel on Instagram! Be sure to type “GUILTY?” at the top of your message so we don’t miss it. Best Episodes of SMHH 2024: Why Short-Term Rentals Are No Vacation “Harmless” Purchases That Drain Your Bank Account Connect With Our Sponsors: 🔒 Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe. 🌿 Get up to 40% off at Cozy Earth with code SmartMoney.  Today’s Happy Hour Specials: Reddish Rita Episode: Financial Realities You Learn as an Adult Ingredients: 1 ounce Reposado tequila 1 ounce Blanco tequila 3/4 ounce orange liqueur 1 ounce lime juice 1/2 ounce agave nectar Corpse Reviver No.2 Recipe: Difford’s Guide Episode: Are You Guilty of These Financial Turnoffs? Ingredients: 3/4 ounce gin 3/4 ounce Cointreau triple sec liqueur 3/4 ounce aromatized wine (e.g. Lillet Blanc) 3/4 ounce lemon juice (freshly squeezed) La Fée Parisienne absinthe Lemon Drop Mocktail Recipe: Food Banjo Episode: Why Nothing Is Enjoyable Today Ingredients: 1 1/4 ounces lemon juice 3/4 ounce simple syrup 2 1/2 ounces club soda, chilled or sparkling water Sugar Ice Listen to More From Ramsey Network: 💡 The Rachel Cruze Show 💰 George Kamel 🎙️ The Ramsey Show 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 💼 The Ken Coleman Show 📈 EntreLeadership Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

• 0:05Rachel Cruze?

  Hey guys, I'm Rachel Cruz.

• 0:06George Kamel?

  I'm George Kamel.

• 0:07Rachel Cruze?

  And this is

• 0:08George Kamel?

  Smart Money Happy Hour.

• 0:11Rachel Cruze?

  Cheers, George.

• 0:11George Kamel?

  Cheers.

• 0:14Rachel Cruze?

  Man.

• 0:16George Kamel?

  Happy 2025, almost.

• 0:17Rachel Cruze?

  2025 in a cup. Well, this is the podcast where two friends who are happy money experts talk about what you're talking about, everything from pop culture, current events, and money.

• 0:27George Kamel?

  And today, we are revisiting the highs and lows of the year of our Lord 2024.

• 0:32Rachel Cruze?

  That's right.

• 0:33George Kamel?

  And boy, where there's some highs and lows.

• 0:35Rachel Cruze?

  There are highs and lows in the world, highs and lows here on Smart Money Happy Hour, highs and lows of drinks and cocktails, like, we got it all, people. We have it all. And we're about to jump in, because this is a good year recap. That's the fun part of ending a full calendar year, is you get to look back. We all need to do that. It's good for us.

• 0:55George Kamel?

  And if you're wondering why there are six drinks on this table, 2024 has been a year. But there's a better reason why we have so many cocktails. I mean, we're talking about best and worst, Rachel. Why not do the same with our cocktails of the year?

• 1:07Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, so we're just sampling a couple of our cocktails from the past year. And yeah, pretty good.

• 1:12George Kamel?

  We'll have some fun with it. We're gonna guess what the drink is, what it's called, and we'll see if the rating we give it today aligns with our original reaction.

• 1:18Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, and we actually have some faithful signature drinks that fans have submitted as well, so make sure if you're watching and listening, you know, be thinking, huh, did I submit that one or not?

• 1:29George Kamel?

  Yeah, and drop your favorite in the comments if you've tried any of them.

• 1:32Rachel Cruze?

  All right, George, let's start off with the first drink, shall we? Let's go here.

• 1:34George Kamel?

  Here we go.

• 1:40Rachel Cruze?

  Delicious.

• 1:41George Kamel?

  That is a classic delicious margarita.

• 1:45Rachel Cruze?

  Definitely a marg. Do you remember the episode?

• 1:47George Kamel?

  Could not tell you the episode. I think we've done a few margs, but this one, I think, was Michael Reddish's, our mixologist, his best margarita recipe. That's my best guess. I'm gonna say I gave it a 10 out of 10.

• 1:59Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, absolutely, for sure.

• 2:01George Kamel?

  New rating, still 10 out of 10. It hits.

• 2:03Rachel Cruze?

  I know, I'm going 10 out of 10. And just, that's a classic marg. Sometimes you just need a classic marg.

• 2:07George Kamel?

  I don't remember the name, though.

• 2:09Rachel Cruze?

  Michael.

• 2:09George Kamel?

  Michael's Margarita?

• 2:10Rachel Cruze?

  Michael, Michael Rita.

• 2:12George Kamel?

  Reddish Rita?

• 2:13Rachel Cruze?

  Reddish Rita.

• 2:13George Kamel?

  Reddish Rita?

• 2:14Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, Jesus!

• 2:16George Kamel?

  Wow, that was really sad.

• 2:19Rachel Cruze?

  Wow.

• 2:22Rachel Cruze?

  Ow, that hurt my ear.

• 2:23George Kamel?

  They'll edit that in post to make us look cooler.

• 2:25Rachel Cruze?

  Third time's a charm.

• 2:28Rachel Cruze?

  All right, let's talk about category.

• 2:30George Kamel?

  Was it with ratings, correct?

• 2:31Speaker 02

  So this is a reddish Rita.

• 2:33George Kamel?

  Booyah.

• 2:34Speaker 02

  Yep, this came from the Financial Realities You Learn As An Adult episode.

• 2:37George Kamel?

  Great episode.

• 2:38Speaker 02

  Yep, you both gave it a 10 out of 10 originally, so consistent.

• 2:42Rachel Cruze?

  Oh.

• 2:43Speaker 02

  Nice. And this has Ropasato Tequila.

• 2:48George Kamel?

  Yep.

• 2:48Rachel Cruze?

  See?

• 2:49Speaker 02

  Blanco Tequila, Orange Liquor, Lime Juice, and Agave Nectar.

• 2:53Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 2:53George Kamel?

  Beautiful. And we'll put the recipe in the show notes if you want to check out some of these all-time favorite drinks.

• 2:59Rachel Cruze?

  And our episodes, we'll put there.

• 3:00George Kamel?

  And the links to the episodes.

• 3:02Rachel Cruze?

  If you missed it, just in case. Yep.

• 3:05George Kamel?

  Okay.

• 3:05Rachel Cruze?

  All right, George, category number one when we look back is pop culture.

• 3:09George Kamel?

  Best and worst pop culture moments.

• 3:10Rachel Cruze?

  All right, top one, it's gotta be Taylor Swift, because she is still on her Eras Tour, and her romance with Travis Kelsey, which some people thought was an absolute conspiracy.

• 3:23George Kamel?

  Like a publicity stunt or something?

• 3:25Rachel Cruze?

  And look who's made it this far.

• 3:27George Kamel?

  How long have they been together now?

• 3:29Rachel Cruze?

  Take another sip of my cocktail, because they are still going.

• 3:33George Kamel?

  That's right. And Taylor's net worth is sitting at approximately 1.6 billion, Travis's at 90 million. And we want to know when they're inviting us over for dinner? Question mark? Has nothing to do with the money. I just think it'd be a good time.

• 3:47Rachel Cruze?

  I had a dream I was friends with her, like genuinely. I was like.

• 3:50George Kamel?

  Wow.

• 3:50Rachel Cruze?

  Do you ever have celebrity dreams?

• 3:52George Kamel?

  No, I think it's literally just you. Okay, next up on the list, Paris Olympics.

• 3:57Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, the Olympics.

• 3:58George Kamel?

  I forgot that this existed, and then Halloween happened, and there was all of the ray gun.

• 4:04Rachel Cruze?

  And the breakdancing from Australia. That was a memorable moment, for sure.

• 4:08George Kamel?

  So Simone Biles now holds the record for longest gaps between gold medals won in individual all-around and vault.

• 4:15Rachel Cruze?

  And we got Steven, who was on the horse. Love Steven.

• 4:19George Kamel?

  He made nerds cool again.

• 4:20Rachel Cruze?

  And he was on Dancing With The Stars.

• 4:22George Kamel?

  Oh, I did not know that.

• 4:23Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 4:23George Kamel?

  Was he good?

• 4:25Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, he made it pretty far. I don't know, I don't follow that show very much, but I kept seeing it. But he'd like take off his glasses and like all this stuff. I mean, just so great. But he was like the specialist and he won the bronze for that event. And he got them like all in the all around to like actually, yeah, get the bronze for the whole team too. So, so great.

• 4:41George Kamel?

  Lot of other athletes here. Alona Maher?

• 4:44Rachel Cruze?

  Oh yeah, she's funny.

• 4:46George Kamel?

  Female rugby star, won the internet over with her comedy about having a crush on other Olympic Village athletes in 2020. Very relatable content there.

• 4:53Rachel Cruze?

  Yep.

• 4:53George Kamel?

  And Tara Davis-Woodall, won gold in long jump and her sweet embrace with her husband Hunter, who also won gold at the Paralympics, went viral.

• 5:01Rachel Cruze?

  Just precious. The Coca-Cola Company is the longest standing sponsor of the Olympic Games. And a relationship dating back to, wow, when Coke still had cocaine in it.

• 5:12George Kamel?

  Simpler times.

• 5:13Rachel Cruze?

  I mean, that is a fact.

• 5:15George Kamel?

  Ask your parents, kids, they remember.

• 5:17Rachel Cruze?

  If you needed that, yeah. But yeah, they spent almost $20 million for advertising.

• 5:23George Kamel?

  It's gotta be worth it. I mean, these companies are smart. They're not doing this without ROI.

• 5:27Rachel Cruze?

  Totally, yeah, yeah.

• 5:28George Kamel?

  And the average cost of a ticket for smaller events for the Olympics is in the 300 to 800 range, but for finals events or opening and closing ceremonies, you're looking at a couple thou.

• 5:37Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 5:38George Kamel?

  Per tick.

• 5:40Rachel Cruze?

  The Golden Bachelor became a thing. So I used to watch, I was a big Bachelor fan. Did you know this about me?

• 5:46George Kamel?

  I did not know.

• 5:47Rachel Cruze?

  I watched, golly, golly, golly, shucks, The Bachelor, golly. I watched from probably 2007 to 2007. I bet I watched a solid 13 years of The Bachelor.

• 6:05George Kamel?

  That's impressive.

• 6:06Rachel Cruze?

  Every season.

• 6:06George Kamel?

  I have never dedicated my life to anything.

• 6:08Rachel Cruze?

  But I stopped. Like I fell off the wagon. I fell off the wagon.

• 6:11George Kamel?

  Wow.

• 6:12Rachel Cruze?

  I'm not back on. I'm still on The Real Housewives. They're on my prayer list too.

• 6:15George Kamel?

  What about The Mormon Wives? Are they on your prayer list?

• 6:17Rachel Cruze?

  Never went there. Never went there. Yeah, no, I don't know. I hear about them. It feels a little useful for me.

• 6:23George Kamel?

  Interesting.

• 6:23Rachel Cruze?

  I need older 60-year-old women on the OC.

• 6:26George Kamel?

  I'm guessing.

• 6:27Rachel Cruze?

  Spending money they don't have. That's what I enjoy.

• 6:29George Kamel?

  Wow. That's your cup of tea. Well, you saw what happened with the Golden Bachelor couple.

• 6:35Rachel Cruze?

  They broke up, right?

• 6:35George Kamel?

  Filed for divorce three months after publicly tying the knot on national television. So receipts for this wedding are hard to find, but we do know that Trista and Ryan had the first Bachelor TV wedding back in 2003, and they were paid a million dollars to get married on camera.

• 6:49Rachel Cruze?

  I watched it. He was a firefighter. We all loved him as high schoolers.

• 6:53George Kamel?

  What's he doing now?

• 6:54Rachel Cruze?

  I don't know what they're doing now, but they're still married with like kids and like living their life. They're a, they are a success story. It's what they hang the whole franchise on, I think, is Tristan and Ryan.

• 7:03George Kamel?

  It's hanging on by a thread then. All right.

• 7:05Rachel Cruze?

  Uh, okay. You know what came out was one of the best movies, Inside Out 2.

• 7:09George Kamel?

  Did not see it.

• 7:10Rachel Cruze?

  What?

• 7:14Rachel Cruze?

  Are you serious?

• 7:15George Kamel?

  You acted like, I mean,

• 7:17Rachel Cruze?

  George!

• 7:17George Kamel?

  I had a father of a one-year-old. I haven't been able to go to the movies.

• 7:20Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my gosh, anxiety comes and literally it is, it is so good. I think every millennial.

• 7:27George Kamel?

  They really made this for millennials. This is not for kids anymore.

• 7:29Rachel Cruze?

  I think we all cried. And you know what? I'm gonna be honest, you know, I have, I have my issues. Anxiety's not at the top. I know it is for a lot of people.

• 7:36George Kamel?

  Yeah, you're not a super anxious person.

• 7:37Rachel Cruze?

  It's not, it's not at the top, but I relate. And you go there and you see, wow, that's how anxiety and joy try to coexist. And then they can't find Riley's self, like, um, uh, they couldn't find her, um, sense of self. Oh, oh my gosh. That I could relate to. Where's your identity? Where, where's it going? And now your long-term memories, whole things.

• 7:59George Kamel?

  Did you take the kids?

• 8:00Rachel Cruze?

  It's just so good. Yeah, we did.

• 8:01George Kamel?

  Did they get it?

• 8:01Rachel Cruze?

  Uh, Amelia, our nine-year-old kinda did, yeah.

• 8:05George Kamel?

  But Charles, none the wiser.

• 8:06Rachel Cruze?

  No, Charles and Caroline, I don't think really got it.

• 8:08George Kamel?

  He's just excited to get out of the house and get some popcorn.

• 8:10Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, yeah, he's, he's not. And then Caroline is definitely not our anxious kid either, so she probably didn't relate as much.

• 8:15George Kamel?

  Wow.

• 8:16Rachel Cruze?

  But, yeah.

• 8:16George Kamel?

  Well, you contributed to someone making a lot of money, because it earned more than 1.6 billion.

• 8:20Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my gosh. Worldwide. That has to be one of the highest grossing movies, right? Like,

• 8:24George Kamel?

  Yeah, it's up there.

• 8:25Rachel Cruze?

  I would think, yeah.

• 8:26George Kamel?

  But the, the healthy messaging about emotions and childhood development, that's priceless.

• 8:29Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, how about this? This gives me claustrophobia.

• 8:32George Kamel?

  What is it?

• 8:34Rachel Cruze?

  The astronauts that got stuck in space.

• 8:37George Kamel?

  Oh.

• 8:38Rachel Cruze?

  When I read about that, I was like, oh, I can't, I can't, I can't breathe.

• 8:42George Kamel?

  I saw the headline and was like, no, thank you. No, thank you, I'm good. So Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are, are just vibing at the International Space Station till early 2025.

• 8:52Rachel Cruze?

  But we can go to the moon, walk around and come home, but we can't go get them.

• 8:58George Kamel?

  She has a point.

• 9:00Rachel Cruze?

  That's all I'm saying.

• 9:01George Kamel?

  She has a great point. How long would you last without getting in maybe a floating fistfight? Being stuck in close quarters like that.

• 9:11Rachel Cruze?

  And like, these people are married with kids, I mean, like, they have lives, obviously, on Earth. And then you get stuck with this person that you may or might, may not even get along with.

• 9:20George Kamel?

  I think you'd have to learn how to get along. Now, that would be a better reality TV show.

• 9:24Rachel Cruze?

  I would talk your ear off if we were in space together. I'd be like, "Hey, George, what you doing? What are you doing? Are you doing good now? Are you, can you breathe right now?"

• 9:34George Kamel?

  I would pray to God that I brought my AirPods Pros to put noise cancellation on. Be like, "Sorry, I'm listening to my audiobook, what'd you say?" And I'd let you talk. I think you would need to get the energy out, like a dog, before bedtime. I would have to let you talk in order to just, so we could just pipe down. Wow.

• 9:53Rachel Cruze?

  Like, can they talk to people on Earth?

• 9:55George Kamel?

  I think so. I don't know that people on Earth want to be talked to 24/7.

• 9:59Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, man.

• 9:59George Kamel?

  I don't know what the time changes.

• 10:00Rachel Cruze?

  It's so rough. And I think Elon...

• 10:02George Kamel?

  Is it on mountain time?

• 10:03Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, my gosh.

• 10:04George Kamel?

  I don't know. How do you know?

• 10:05Rachel Cruze?

  Asteroid time. Uh, and Elon tried to get them because SpaceX is like advancing above NASA right now. Did you know that?

• 10:11George Kamel?

  Oh, yeah.

• 10:12Rachel Cruze?

  Crazy. Uh, and that, but their space suits, some of them wouldn't be compatible. It takes a lot of science.

• 10:19George Kamel?

  Come on, Apple makes a dongle for that. Give me a break.

• 10:21Rachel Cruze?

  A lot of science to get up there and, yeah.

• 10:23George Kamel?

  All right. Well, according to NASA, the average salary for astronauts in space is more than 152 grand a year. I think you'd have to pay me more.

• 10:30Rachel Cruze?

  I think I'd have to have double that to consider it.

• 10:32George Kamel?

  Knowing that, like, I could die at any moment.

• 10:35Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 10:36George Kamel?

  Or never come back to Earth. You'd have to pay me... What's your number? I'm going 5 million a year.

• 10:42Rachel Cruze?

  I mean, I would need like, yeah. I, I may need...

• 10:46George Kamel?

  I would need to come back and retire. Like, I did one, I'm good.

• 10:49Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, if someone's like, you get half a million, I'm gonna say, "I'm good." Not because I don't need half a million, but like, to get up in space, no.

• 10:57George Kamel?

  The risk is just too much.

• 10:58Rachel Cruze?

  No. Yeah, nothing about that. Would you rather go up or down?

• 11:02George Kamel?

  I feel like going up feels safer.

• 11:04Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, versus scuba diving.

• 11:06George Kamel?

  Oh, you're saying down in the water.

• 11:08Rachel Cruze?

  Go like Titanic.

• 11:08George Kamel?

  No, I have water. I have issues with deep water.

• 11:11Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, so that's more scary than space.

• 11:12George Kamel?

  Yeah. I don't know why.

• 11:14Rachel Cruze?

  I would agree.

• 11:15George Kamel?

  I feel like the technology is better when I'm in a capsule going up than a capsule going down.

• 11:20Rachel Cruze?

  I would agree with that.

• 11:21George Kamel?

  Don't know why.

• 11:21Rachel Cruze?

  That feels right. Okay, here's a social media thing that went viral, and I honestly heard it here first. The team introduced me, and now, I don't even follow them, but they come up in my feed. It's Pookie and Jet.

• 11:33George Kamel?

  Pookie.

• 11:35Rachel Cruze?

  And she's pregnant, probably had her baby by now. But they became like this whole thing.

• 11:40George Kamel?

  All based on one phrase.

• 11:41Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 11:41George Kamel?

  They would just post videos, they'd both be dressed up, looking nice, and he would say, "Pookie's looking absolutely fired tonight." And he's kind of this bro-y guy. He probably went to Knoxville with him, I imagine.

• 11:52Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, I think he went to like Harvard.

• 11:53George Kamel?

  That makes sense.

• 11:54Rachel Cruze?

  I think he actually went to like a legit law school. Not that UT Law is not legit.

• 11:57George Kamel?

  But he's got like a cool uppity guy vibe, but seems like a really nice guy.

• 12:01Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, here's a question for our world today. And this is not, I'm not judging them by any stretch of the imagination. But you know, people like this that are on social media, and they're just putting outfits on and having funny names like Pookie and all that, and they make merch, they get advertisers. I mean, they're probably making, these people can make millions. I mean,

• 12:19George Kamel?

  Oh, absolutely.

• 12:20Rachel Cruze?

  Make a ton of money.

• 12:21George Kamel?

  Brand deals, sponsorships.

• 12:23Rachel Cruze?

  So the question is, is there like a weird thing in society? I was talking to a guy, he's a lawyer for a firm that helps with like, within like lower income, like does like really good work as a lawyer, and makes obviously nowhere near that.

• 12:36George Kamel?

  Yeah, people think lawyers just automatically make six figures.

• 12:39Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, and we were talking about it, and it's like, man, is it like, is there a weird thing in society that like people that are doing really good work and helping the world don't naturally make as much as people that like put out like

• 12:55George Kamel?

  Go viral on social media. Dancing videos, yeah.

• 12:57Rachel Cruze?

  Do you think this is like where like Rome collapses, you know, that phrase?

• 13:02George Kamel?

  Wow.

• 13:04George Kamel?

  That's a, that's a strong pendulum swing, but I, I see where you're going.

• 13:10Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, anyways.

• 13:10George Kamel?

  Are we doing well as a society based on who we value?

• 13:14Rachel Cruze?

  All right, let's move on to drink number two, George. And we're gonna talk about the best and the worst of Smart Money Happy Hour.

• 13:20George Kamel?

  There was worst?

• 13:21Rachel Cruze?

  There were some worse. There were some episodes y'all just did not click on.

• 13:24George Kamel?

  Are we ranking worst based on least amount of views?

• 13:27Rachel Cruze?

  I think it's on viewership. Yep.

• 13:29George Kamel?

  Or how much they liked Rachel.

• 13:31Rachel Cruze?

  All right, let's do the middle drink.

• 13:34George Kamel?

  All right, switching, switching gears.

• 13:41George Kamel?

  Does it have licorice in it?

• 13:42Rachel Cruze?

  I don't know if I like that one.

• 13:44George Kamel?

  Okay.

• 13:44Rachel Cruze?

  I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go three out of 10.

• 13:47George Kamel?

  What is that? I know this liqueur. I just can't put my finger on it.

• 13:52Rachel Cruze?

  Or four. I'll give it a little higher. I'll go four out of 10 for me.

• 13:54George Kamel?

  What has a licorice flavor? Is it absinthe? Okay, I'm close.

• 13:59Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, good job, George.

• 14:03George Kamel?

  It's got absinthe, it's got lime.

• 14:05Rachel Cruze?

  All right, what is it, Kelly?

• 14:07Speaker 02

  This is called a Corpse Reviver.

• 14:09George Kamel?

  Corpse Reviver.

• 14:10Speaker 02

  Who knows? Sorry, Corpse Reviver number two.

• 14:12George Kamel?

  We loved Corpse Reviver.

• 14:13Rachel Cruze?

  This is my favorite cocktail of all time.

• 14:15Speaker 02

  Yeah, you, you both gave it a 10 out of 10.

• 14:18Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, no.

• 14:19George Kamel?

  It doesn't taste, you know what? I think the margarita skewed our taste buds.

• 14:23Rachel Cruze?

  And the ice has melted.

• 14:24George Kamel?

  And the ice has melted, which watered it down.

• 14:26Rachel Cruze?

  Shoot.

• 14:27George Kamel?

  Okay, what's my rating now?

• 14:29Rachel Cruze?

  This was the one I asked Michael to make.

• 14:33Rachel Cruze?

  And I said four out of 10.

• 14:34George Kamel?

  I'm still gonna give it a six.

• 14:37Rachel Cruze?

  No, I should have had you rate it before you heard like how great it was.

• 14:41George Kamel?

  I said six out of 10.

• 14:43Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 14:43George Kamel?

  For my, for the new rating, right now.

• 14:45Rachel Cruze?

  Let's blame Michael. Maybe this wasn't his best work.

• 14:47George Kamel?

  I think it's still a 10 out of 10 drink. I just think.

• 14:49Rachel Cruze?

  The Corpse Reviver's amazing. Yeah, we love it.

• 14:52Speaker 02

  So this came from our Are You Guilty of These Financial Turnoffs episode?

• 14:55Rachel Cruze?

  Mm.

• 14:56Speaker 02

  And this has Jen. Triple sec, Lillet Blanc, fresh lemon and absinthe.

• 15:03Rachel Cruze?

  Literally love all of those things.

• 15:06George Kamel?

  You love Lillet Blanc?

• 15:07Rachel Cruze?

  Uh, I do that in my Vesper martinis. Yes, I do. I have Lillet Blanc in my house.

• 15:13George Kamel?

  That is really impressive.

• 15:15Rachel Cruze?

  Thank you. Uh huh. Don't you, don't you talk down to me.

• 15:18George Kamel?

  I'm just impressed.

• 15:19Rachel Cruze?

  George.

• 15:20George Kamel?

  I don't know many people that just have Lillet Blanc.

• 15:22Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 15:23George Kamel?

  It's a life luxury.

• 15:25Rachel Cruze?

  Isn't that the, isn't that the part in, in a Vesper?

• 15:28George Kamel?

  You tell me.

• 15:29Rachel Cruze?

  I'm pretty sure it is.

• 15:29George Kamel?

  It must be. You're making them.

• 15:31Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 15:31George Kamel?

  Well, I'm sorry that our rating changed, but.

• 15:34Rachel Cruze?

  Man, that makes me sad. I'm gonna drink it just out of solidarity.

• 15:36George Kamel?

  Yeah, don't let that sway you.

• 15:37Rachel Cruze?

  I know. I think the licorice came real quick on the tongue. Maybe that was from the tequila, from the earlier drink, but.

• 15:43George Kamel?

  Yeah, the absinthe.

• 15:44Rachel Cruze?

  Uh, let's talk about, okay, so our best episode, George, you ready for this? And this is all on YouTube. So podcast, we love you, but they write it on YouTube, uh, was why short-term rentals are no vacation. So we talked about hotels versus Airbnbs.

• 15:57George Kamel?

  Mm-hmm.

• 15:58Rachel Cruze?

  And how the Airbnb quality is really declining because lots of fees, you gotta clean it yourself. Like, there's just so much work involved now with Airbnbs. It's not as turnkey. And man, people, uh, they love the episode. They clicked on it, but we had some love hate to it, always.

• 16:13George Kamel?

  Always.

• 16:13Rachel Cruze?

  With some high viewing episodes, but that was our, one of our top ones, George.

• 16:17George Kamel?

  Wow. I still think it holds up. I, you know, everyone's traveling, everyone has thoughts about vacations and hotels and Airbnbs. And their one story of why they'll never do one of them again, or whatever it is. Uh, but there's also the investing part. A lot of these desirable city homes are getting snatched up by hedge fund investors. And my, our take was, we're kind of more hotel people in most situations.

• 16:39Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. Yeah.

• 16:40George Kamel?

  And not just financially, but from an experience standpoint.

• 16:42Rachel Cruze?

  That's right. Yeah. Having someone come in, make up your bed. I mean, so nice. That didn't happen in my house.

• 16:47George Kamel?

  She's not trying to live like a local, taking out her own trash.

• 16:50Rachel Cruze?

  Or go to the grocery.

• 16:52George Kamel?

  To the grocery.

• 16:54Rachel Cruze?

  To the grocery. Now, I will on a beach trip, I don't think I said that in the other episode. There's certain vacations that like,

• 16:59George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 17:00Rachel Cruze?

  But if you're gonna be gone for like a long weekend, give me a hotel. All day, all day. All right, one of our other best ones was harmless purchases that will drain your bank account. So this was, uh, Eboo's favorite.

• 17:13George Kamel?

  Yes, one of our producers.

• 17:14Rachel Cruze?

  Yep, and it's like the little treats.

• 17:15George Kamel?

  Little treat culture.

• 17:16Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, just gonna, just have me a little treat.

• 17:18George Kamel?

  You do anything. You could do your own laundry and be like, you know what, just have a little treat. And you get an eight dollar latte because you did laundry. That's the energy of little treat culture.

• 17:26Rachel Cruze?

  Celebrate yourself, just a little treat, just a little treat.

• 17:29George Kamel?

  So, and here was our take on this. I still think you should go listen to it because it was great. But here's the TLDR. Little treats are great, but you gotta plan for it in the budget. And so if you want to know the best budgeting app out there, be sure to check out Every Dollar. You can even have a little treat line item in Every Dollar and put 50 bucks in there.

• 17:46Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 17:46George Kamel?

  And when you spend it, that's it.

• 17:48Rachel Cruze?

  That's right.

• 17:49George Kamel?

  You got your little treats.

• 17:50Rachel Cruze?

  All right, one of the worst, man, this was my idea.

• 17:55Rachel Cruze?

  Money motives hidden in shocking true crime stories.

• 18:00George Kamel?

  Wow.

• 18:01Rachel Cruze?

  Listen, I love a good murder, you know? It's just like, like when there's a story about a murder, I'm in. Give me a 2020, give me a book, give me a whatever it is, but I am listening. There's that new one on, with Anna Kendrick, she's directed it.

• 18:15George Kamel?

  I have not seen this.

• 18:16Rachel Cruze?

  On Netflix, yep, serial killer.

• 18:18George Kamel?

  Oh.

• 18:19Rachel Cruze?

  Anyways, that was the most recent murder.

• 18:20George Kamel?

  So people love true crime, they just don't want to hear about it on a money podcast. That's what I'm realizing.

• 18:26Rachel Cruze?

  I hear you and I will take your non-watching that episode to hearts.

• 18:33George Kamel?

  What if there was a true crime podcast that was like, hey guys, today we're gonna talk about the murder of your bank account and why you should do a budget? They're like, I'm out, I'm out.

• 18:40Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, that's not fun. No, but there were some murders like for money and murder for hire and how much they pay, like.

• 18:45George Kamel?

  It was interesting. We talked about the true crime industry. Should it be profiting off of these tragic stories?

• 18:50Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, because these podcasts and stuff, y'all, they're making, talk about influencers on social making a lot. These other people are making a lot too, so.

• 18:57George Kamel?

  It's just weird.

• 18:57Rachel Cruze?

  Yep, um, another worst one was explain investing like I'm a five-year-old.

• 19:02George Kamel?

  I thought that was a good one.

• 19:03Rachel Cruze?

  You know, we were really trying to like, you know, be boots on the ground, cookies on the bottom shelf. We really tried to be like, hey, we're gonna explain it in a way everyone understands. Um, not to talk down to people, but just like, hey, give me like, give me, give me the, Yep, give me the easy version and they just did not appreciate it, George.

• 19:20George Kamel?

  Yeah, I'm a little disappointed in you guys.

• 19:22Rachel Cruze?

  I'm not offended.

• 19:22George Kamel?

  I'm gonna be honest.

• 19:23Rachel Cruze?

  Might be a little offended.

• 19:23George Kamel?

  I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed.

• 19:25Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 19:27George Kamel?

  But I moved on.

• 19:28Rachel Cruze?

  Thanks, Dad.

• 19:28George Kamel?

  And if I, I don't check the stats on these. You know, the team sends it once a month. They'll update us, hey, here's what the people liked, here's what they didn't like. But I don't lose sleep over it, so you can't hurt me. I want you to know that.

• 19:39Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, my God.

• 19:40George Kamel?

  But hey, you know what? Sorry we let you down with these episodes, listeners. We don't think they're all that bad. And we, we're gonna put the links in the show notes for you to find out for yourself. If you didn't listen, or if you wanna listen again.

• 19:50Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, you can't, you can't win them all. But George, what was one of your favorite parts of an episode? Maybe the funniest part? Tell me that.

• 19:56George Kamel?

  Oh, my goodness.

• 19:57Rachel Cruze?

  Like, where did you laugh the hardest?

• 19:59George Kamel?

  I think you're-

• 19:59Rachel Cruze?

  I've had a couple of, like-

• 20:00George Kamel?

  Your Miley Cyrus impression with the French Bulldog.

• 20:04Speaker 03

  The journey is usually the part that you remember anyways.

• 20:08Rachel Cruze?

  Is that a French-

• 20:11Speaker 03

  One of the journeys that-

• 20:13George Kamel?

  That one has stuck with me. I don't know if it's good or bad still. I'm working out with my therapist. But it really stuck with me. And I was tickled by it.

• 20:22Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, just-

• 20:23George Kamel?

  Anytime you attempt almost anything, singing-

• 20:27Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 20:27George Kamel?

  Accents-

• 20:28Rachel Cruze?

  Can't do impressions.

• 20:29George Kamel?

  Impressions, it's the best.

• 20:31Rachel Cruze?

  It's 'cause I don't hear tone. I've decided that. I can't, my voice-

• 20:36George Kamel?

  Is that tone to you?

• 20:37Rachel Cruze?

  We've talked about this, yeah, where you go like, up and then low.

• 20:39George Kamel?

  Ah.

• 20:40Rachel Cruze?

  I'm not, I'm not good at the range. I'm pretty like, not monotones, but like, my range is-

• 20:46George Kamel?

  You're a great talker.

• 20:47Rachel Cruze?

  My range is limited. But people that can do impression, I mean, it's impressive, and I can't. But anyways, Miley, I see you, girl. And I was praying for her, too. She's been on my prayer list.

• 20:57George Kamel?

  Oh, wow, I didn't know that.

• 20:58Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, she's doing great.

• 21:02George Kamel?

  I love that you're taking credit for these people's lives based off of a single- I don't know how often you're praying for these people.

• 21:08Rachel Cruze?

  The Lord is good.

• 21:08George Kamel?

  Is it daily? Is it monthly?

• 21:10Rachel Cruze?

  Just whenever the spirit moves.

• 21:12George Kamel?

  When they come to mind?

• 21:12Rachel Cruze?

  When the spirit moves. George, you should pray for people. It's just good for you.

• 21:15George Kamel?

  I do, just not celebrities.

• 21:17Rachel Cruze?

  All right, okay, let's go-

• 21:19George Kamel?

  But maybe I should.

• 21:19Rachel Cruze?

  Let's go to our next drink. Uh, we got this one right here.

• 21:22George Kamel?

  Okay.

• 21:24Rachel Cruze?

  And this is in the fancy glass.

• 21:27George Kamel?

  This is a sugar-rimmed glass. I can tell because my hands are already sticky.

• 21:31Rachel Cruze?

  Mmm, this is a good one.

• 21:36George Kamel?

  This tastes like a mocktail margarita, maybe with some sparkling water?

• 21:40Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 21:42George Kamel?

  Am I close?

• 21:42Rachel Cruze?

  It's very refreshing.

• 21:43Speaker 02

  Yeah, you're close. You want to go ahead and give it a rating?

• 21:45George Kamel?

  I'm gonna give this, I think for a mocktail, if the ice hadn't melted, I would probably say 10 out of 10.

• 21:50Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, 10 out of 10.

• 21:51Speaker 02

  Awesome. Well, you both gave it a 10 out of 10 originally. And this is the Lemon Drop Mocktail.

• 21:58George Kamel?

  Lemon Drop.

• 21:59Rachel Cruze?

  That's it.

• 21:59George Kamel?

  So not a margarita.

• 22:01Speaker 02

  Right.

• 22:01George Kamel?

  Lemon focus versus wine.

• 22:02Speaker 02

  But you're right in the fact that it does have club soda.

• 22:05George Kamel?

  Yes.

• 22:06Speaker 02

  And lemon juice and simple syrup. And this came from our Why Nothing Is Enjoyable Today episode.

• 22:12Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, that was yours.

• 22:13George Kamel?

  That was mine. So that came from my sort of emo, Eeyore spirit.

• 22:17Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, very Ecclesiastes of you.

• 22:18George Kamel?

  Why don't I just enjoy things anymore? And we explored it. We talked a lot about the financial aspect of why we don't enjoy things anymore.

• 22:25Rachel Cruze?

  That's right.

• 22:27George Kamel?

  Inflation's part of that.

• 22:29Rachel Cruze?

  So expensive.

• 22:30George Kamel?

  What do you enjoy these days?

• 22:31Rachel Cruze?

  What do I enjoy?

• 22:32George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 22:34Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, we have puppies.

• 22:35George Kamel?

  Oh, that does bring joy.

• 22:37Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah. That's been like a part-time job, the dogs.

• 22:40George Kamel?

  I didn't realize that. Like when you're, I mean, you guys, how many puppies did she have?

• 22:46Rachel Cruze?

  Six.

• 22:47George Kamel?

  Six puppies, and you have to take care of them. After she's, you know, given birth, there's still another, how many weeks?

• 22:52Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, well, that's controversial, depending on how attached.

• 22:56George Kamel?

  Seven, eight, 12?

• 22:56Rachel Cruze?

  The attachment theory. But it's about eight to nine is what we're doing. The vet said that was okay. Some people keep till 12.

• 23:03George Kamel?

  The vet said it was okay?

• 23:04Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 23:05George Kamel?

  That's a fun one.

• 23:06Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah. So I'd say that's, I'm enjoying that right now.

• 23:09George Kamel?

  Yeah, I realized having kids is secretly enjoyable.

• 23:13Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 23:13George Kamel?

  That's my hot take. Well, you know, I mean, people out there, there's this vibe of like, oh, like kids, it's a lot of work.

• 23:18Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 23:19George Kamel?

  Ruining your social life. I'm like, didn't have one to begin with. I'm doing fine.

• 23:23Rachel Cruze?

  We're good.

• 23:23George Kamel?

  But no, truly, like, making her laugh is my favorite thing and only thing I want to do.

• 23:28Rachel Cruze?

  Sweet George, I love that.

• 23:29George Kamel?

  It's the best. Because honestly, no one else will laugh.

• 23:33Rachel Cruze?

  All right, let's do some rapid-fire rounds. We're gonna do the highs and lows, you know, the hills and the valleys of our year, George. You ready?

• 23:41George Kamel?

  I'm ready. Wait, personally?

• 23:43Rachel Cruze?

  Yep.

• 23:43George Kamel?

  Oh, wow.

• 23:44Rachel Cruze?

  Here we go.

• 23:44George Kamel?

  Okay.

• 23:45Rachel Cruze?

  Best meal of 2024. Go.

• 23:47George Kamel?

  Leroy and Louis in Austin, Texas, on a work trip with, none of these people are in the room, but some of the best barbecue Texas has to offer.

• 23:56Rachel Cruze?

  So good.

• 23:58George Kamel?

  So good.

• 23:58Rachel Cruze?

  Man.

• 23:59George Kamel?

  How about you?

• 24:00Rachel Cruze?

  Um, I'm gonna go, I don't remember the name, which is so not fun. It was a place in Dallas of sushi.

• 24:07George Kamel?

  Both Texas.

• 24:07Rachel Cruze?

  You know what I loved about it?

• 24:09George Kamel?

  What?

• 24:09Rachel Cruze?

  Was, um, this is so funny, we drank the Corpse Reviver on this episode because it's a really hard drink to find, and I asked the waiter, it was kind of a high-end sushi restaurant, great bar, and I was like, hey, can y'all do a Corpse Reviver number two? And he was like, shoot, no, because we don't have like, whatever, this thing, but I can do something really close, and he made me a great cocktail, I like remember it, it was great. But I love sushi, and it was.

• 24:31George Kamel?

  That's a good one. All right, next, best album of 2024?

• 24:35Rachel Cruze?

  Taylor Swift.

• 24:37George Kamel?

  Wow.

• 24:38Rachel Cruze?

  The Dead, well, I was gonna, uh, yeah, Torture Poets, yeah.

• 24:42George Kamel?

  Did I say that right?

• 24:43Rachel Cruze?

  I was gonna say Dead Poets, that's a movie.

• 24:45George Kamel?

  Also great.

• 24:46Rachel Cruze?

  Torture Poets.

• 24:46George Kamel?

  Some of Robin Williams' best work.

• 24:47Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, um, yeah, man, I would say, um, oh my gosh, I'm blanking, but Haunted, what's the Haunted song?

• 24:55George Kamel?

  Some would say you have a blank space.

• 25:03George Kamel?

  Welcome back, guys, thanks for bearing with us through this episode. I did, in fact, drop my mocktail, but it was because the drink was so sticky, yet slippery, that I could not grab it, and it just fell right out of my hand. So I apologize, are you dry?

• 25:18Rachel Cruze?

  I'm great, I think Taylor Swift's Ghost from Who's Afraid of Little Old Me? May I come in here and I said, how dare you not remember the name of my song?

• 25:27George Kamel?

  Way to bring us back.

• 25:29Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, I'd say that one.

• 25:30George Kamel?

  Moving on, rapid fire, best purchase of 2024 for you?

• 25:33Rachel Cruze?

  Um, can I go bougie?

• 25:35George Kamel?

  Please do.

• 25:36Rachel Cruze?

  I feel like we're very like, oh my god, we get everything on sale, and we get dupes, and like, we love to save money, which we do, that is who we are, but also, there is a time to spend money.

• 25:46George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 25:47Rachel Cruze?

  So I got a purse, uh, for my birthday, in April.

• 25:51George Kamel?

  Can you mention the, because ladies who know purses wanna know.

• 25:53Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, so it's a, and, and people all pronounce it so differently, so it's either Goyard, Goyard.

• 25:59Rachel Cruze?

  Goyard, I don't know, people have a different pronunciations. You know, I can't do like, I can't.

• 26:03George Kamel?

  I was waiting for a French accent.

• 26:05Rachel Cruze?

  I know, I know. Uh, yeah, so it's out of, yeah, it's like an old French designer, I guess. Um, yeah, but it's not very known and kind of go super bougie.

• 26:17George Kamel?

  Please.

• 26:17Rachel Cruze?

  You can only buy it in the store. So you can't buy it online. And they only have four stores in America.

• 26:23George Kamel?

  Wow.

• 26:23Rachel Cruze?

  So.

• 26:24George Kamel?

  Where'd you go?

• 26:24Rachel Cruze?

  I was in LA and for work and Winston met me out there because it was close to my birthday. And he surprised me. He said, babe, we're going to Rodeo Drive. Like classic, like the stereotype of just shopping, you know? Pretty woman style.

• 26:39George Kamel?

  That's amazing.

• 26:40Rachel Cruze?

  But I'm married, so it's really pretty woman.

• 26:42George Kamel?

  A little different. I think that's clear. Well, a lot of reasons why it's different than Pretty Woman, but yes.

• 26:47Rachel Cruze?

  But yes.

• 26:47George Kamel?

  So it's a green purse?

• 26:48Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, a green Goyard purse.

• 26:51George Kamel?

  Wow.

• 26:51Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 26:52George Kamel?

  And it's worth it. Worth the splurge.

• 26:54Rachel Cruze?

  Sure. And I like it because it's a little understated. Not everyone recognizes it. It's not like a Louis Vuitton where it's like, oh my gosh, everyone knows, you know, that print. So it's like a little bit.

• 27:01George Kamel?

  Quiet luxury, stealth wealth.

• 27:03Rachel Cruze?

  A little stealth wealth, yeah. Even though the, the like, the pattern.

• 27:07George Kamel?

  Like I wouldn't know. You could be like, I got this on Amazon. I'd be like, oh, cool.

• 27:10Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, yeah. It's not a very well-known.

• 27:12George Kamel?

  Someone with poor taste like me would not know.

• 27:14Rachel Cruze?

  Stop, stop. Okay, how about you? Give me a bougie purchase you made or one that you would.

• 27:18George Kamel?

  I mean, okay, one thing I did is very not like me. I would say, I wouldn't call it a purchase because it was inherited, but then I spent a lot of money to get it fixed, was this watch.

• 27:27Rachel Cruze?

  Mmm.

• 27:28George Kamel?

  This old Rolex from the nineties inherited from my wife's grandfather who passed a few years ago. And grandma said, hey, would you take this watch? You can't sell it. And I said, yes, and I'll get it fixed up. Little did I know fixing it up is still 10 times more than I've spent on any watch in my life.

• 27:45Rachel Cruze?

  Sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 27:46George Kamel?

  This was the, the splurge purchase of the year.

• 27:49Rachel Cruze?

  How fun.

• 27:50George Kamel?

  And it's cool because number one, it's like a family heirloom.

• 27:52Rachel Cruze?

  Yep.

• 27:53George Kamel?

  And number two, this is not, you know, people know me as like Apple Watch guy.

• 27:56Rachel Cruze?

  Mm-hmm.

• 27:57George Kamel?

  So to be wearing like a bougie like luxury watch, I feel.

• 28:00Rachel Cruze?

  Very like, it makes you.

• 28:01George Kamel?

  Elevates me.

• 28:02Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, and it puts some years on you, some wisdom on you.

• 28:04George Kamel?

  I'm a dad now.

• 28:05Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 28:07George Kamel?

  What am I doing?

• 28:07Rachel Cruze?

  What am I doing? What am I doing?

• 28:09George Kamel?

  So there we go.

• 28:10Rachel Cruze?

  Yep. Okay. Uh, George, what's the worst purchase you made in 2024?

• 28:14George Kamel?

  Oh, gosh. Regrettable purchases.

• 28:18George Kamel?

  That's a really difficult one for me. I would say I got a bed jet, which I've talked about, a bed jet, and it shoots air into your sheets to keep it cool under there.

• 28:28Rachel Cruze?

  Wow.

• 28:30George Kamel?

  But I've got a weighted blanket. I've got the dogs. There's a lot going on.

• 28:33Rachel Cruze?

  We've got cozy earth sheets.

• 28:34George Kamel?

  And I just couldn't, yeah, the cozy earth sheets are great. I just could not get the bed cool enough with this product.

• 28:40Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, just failed you.

• 28:41George Kamel?

  So that was a return for me.

• 28:42Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 28:43George Kamel?

  Used the return window. How about you?

• 28:46Rachel Cruze?

  I know. I was trying to think, honestly, top of mind, which is kind of lame. Caroline got a Halloween costume. It was one of those blow up ones and it was a

• 28:54George Kamel?

  I love the blow up costumes.

• 28:55Rachel Cruze?

  flamingo with like a leash, like she's riding the flamingo. It was hilarious. And it broke within 15 minutes. Boo. I know.

• 29:02George Kamel?

  They don't make them like they used to, the blow up flamingo costumes.

• 29:05Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, still bitter about it. Best book of 2024. Oh, my gosh.

• 29:10George Kamel?

  I'll let you go first because you read a lot more than me.

• 29:12Rachel Cruze?

  Well, I gotta get my good reads up.

• 29:13George Kamel?

  You're a true reader.

• 29:15Rachel Cruze?

  Hmm. First Lie Wins was a great one. The Boyfriend was actually really good, too. Ooh, The Only Plane Left in the Sky was September 11th. That was really good, too.

• 29:27George Kamel?

  So we got some historical novels there?

• 29:29Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, The Women was about Vietnam War. That was good. Okay. Yeah, I'd say that. And then, like, from a spiritual sense, Practicing the Way, John Mark Comer.

• 29:36George Kamel?

  Oh, yeah.

• 29:37Rachel Cruze?

  I just finished that like a few weeks ago.

• 29:38George Kamel?

  Author of Ruthless Elimination of Pride?

• 29:40Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, so good. I'm a fan of him.

• 29:42George Kamel?

  I need to check that out.

• 29:43Rachel Cruze?

  I'm a fan of him. He's great. Just, I love it. Okay, that's mine. Yours?

• 29:47George Kamel?

  Uh, I'm, it's an audiobook. I don't know if that counts.

• 29:50Rachel Cruze?

  That's great.

• 29:51George Kamel?

  But it's Michael Richards, who plays Kramer on Seinfeld. He did a memoir called Entrances and Exits.

• 29:57Rachel Cruze?

  Ooh, funny.

• 29:58George Kamel?

  And, yes, at times, but also, like, very deep and heart wrenching and poetic. And like, he's just, I'm like, did he, how did he write this? It's very poetic.

• 30:08Rachel Cruze?

  Really good.

• 30:08George Kamel?

  The way he, and he narrates it, which I love.

• 30:11Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, always.

• 30:11George Kamel?

  And so that's why I did the audiobook. And I really enjoyed that.

• 30:14Rachel Cruze?

  I love that.

• 30:15George Kamel?

  As a big fan of Seinfeld.

• 30:16Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, favorite live event of 2024 at Ramsey?

• 30:20George Kamel?

  Money and Marriage Getaway.

• 30:22Rachel Cruze?

  That's mine. Was it really?

• 30:24George Kamel?

  Yes.

• 30:25Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, my gosh. What did you like about it?

• 30:29George Kamel?

  I just think the spirit of that event is infectious.

• 30:32Rachel Cruze?

  I agree.

• 30:33George Kamel?

  You know, it's an event where we're helping people become stronger spouses, get better communication, intimacy, all the things. And just to play a role in that with my talk and then see you and John Deloney do your thing, it just feels like a special event. And all of our events are special. This one feels like the transformation is palpable in the room.

• 30:52Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, yep, it's so true. I agree. I'm with you, yeah. Money marriage, so fun.

• 30:57George Kamel?

  There's one coming up, February.

• 30:59Rachel Cruze?

  That's right, yeah, yeah. Some tickets probably still available.

• 31:01George Kamel?

  So, check it out. Come see us in Nashville.

• 31:03Rachel Cruze?

  Favorite family memory of 2024?

• 31:05George Kamel?

  I'm gonna say, we got a play, we got a play set for Mia.

• 31:08Rachel Cruze?

  Cute.

• 31:08George Kamel?

  And she goes down the slide. It's my favorite. She squeals every time and then claps for herself.

• 31:13Rachel Cruze?

  Love. Okay, mine's puppies. Worst financial trend 2024, go.

• 31:17George Kamel?

  Oh my gosh.

• 31:18Rachel Cruze?

  Crypto, go.

• 31:19George Kamel?

  Sports betting.

• 31:19Rachel Cruze?

  Okay. Best TV show or movie watched in 2024?

• 31:23George Kamel?

  Nobody Wants This.

• 31:24Rachel Cruze?

  Nobody Wants This. Ah, I'll take it with you. So good. Adam Brody, Kristen Bell.

• 31:29George Kamel?

  Not a rom-com guy, but really enjoyed that.

• 31:32Rachel Cruze?

  Not kid appropriate, but funny. So good. Okay, uh, real quick, money topics. One mistake that people should leave behind in 2024?

• 31:40George Kamel?

  Oh, this one's gonna be controversial.

• 31:43Rachel Cruze?

  Go.

• 31:44George Kamel?

  Using the credit card even if you pay it off every month. It's just, that one has irked me all year long. Cause I've been just debating people and I'm like, it's a useless task. They think they're winning, but I truly think you would do so much better to cut up the card, stick to using your own money.

• 31:59Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 31:59George Kamel?

  And save up for the things you want.

• 32:01Rachel Cruze?

  I'm gonna go car loan. I think like the, it's just the dumbest piece of debt. I mean genuinely, you know?

• 32:08George Kamel?

  That we justify.

• 32:09Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, you get a $40,000 car when you could've gotten a 10. I mean, like, it's just that, like, you know, that idea that, man, it's just a lot of money that's going out in interest with something that's going down in value. It's really tough. Okay, so what would you say to someone that's fallen off the wagon this year? How will you get them back on, George?

• 32:26George Kamel?

  Ooh, I would say, number one, drop the shame and the baggage. Because usually when you fall off the wagon, you go, "Oh, that's so like you to do this. I knew you would never actually get out of that." You gotta just put that down, get in community, and then take like a course that's gonna keep you accountable, like Financial Peace University.

• 32:43Rachel Cruze?

  Mm-hmm.

• 32:44George Kamel?

  That is the best thing you can do to get back on the wagon and stick to it. Because it's nine courses, you know you gotta do all nine weeks, and you will make progress if you do that.

• 32:52Rachel Cruze?

  That's good. Yeah, I feel like money's such a reflection of who we are, because we're the ones that are handling it. And so I think there's something to be said about like asking more of the why. Like, what's causing me to continuing to go into debt? Why do I feel like I do overspend in this area? Why am I scared of the budget? Why am I scared to spend? Like, I have so much savings, but like, why am I scared to spend it, right? Like, going underneath that and understanding why. Because I feel like we can try to willpower our way. This is John Mark Comer in Practicing the Way. We try to willpower so much. And good intention is great, putting good habits in place, not against that. But we can't just like tell ourselves to do better.

• 33:25George Kamel?

  Just white knuckle it.

• 33:26Rachel Cruze?

  Because human behavior, there's always an inflow. Something else is happening underneath that. And get into that and fixing, well, fixing you sounds shameful. But you know what I'm saying? Like, understanding why you are the way you are, then the outflow of everything in your life is in a better spot.

• 33:42George Kamel?

  Well, my favorite question to ask is, "And then what?" You get to the thing and you do, and then what?

• 33:47Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 33:47George Kamel?

  And then you're, you didn't actually solve the root problem of why you were striving for the thing. So I think it's good to be rooted in healthy motives and a healthy self.

• 33:55Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, so before we get to give us a charge, we drank some good ones, 10 out of 10s. Let's give some honorable mentions to the ones we hated.

• 34:02George Kamel?

  To the least of these.

• 34:04Rachel Cruze?

  The drinks that were no bueno.

• 34:06George Kamel?

  Who could forget lemon milk? This was a supposedly creamy lemonade mocktail that just tasted like weird curdled lemony milk.

• 34:16Rachel Cruze?

  It was disgusting. Uh, we had the mocktail margarita, not good. If you need a margarita and you gotta do mocktail, just skip it. You go lemon drop.

• 34:24George Kamel?

  It was good, there was just so much salt that all we tasted was the sodium.

• 34:28Rachel Cruze?

  It was a lot.

• 34:29George Kamel?

  Another one, I gave this a 1 out of 10. I called it harsh and viscous, which I reserve for my worst enemies. It was the pumpkin pie espresso martini. All things that are good on their own, not great together.

• 34:39Rachel Cruze?

  Not great together. And then last was the Dirty Shirley. So this was a melted red popsicle.

• 34:45George Kamel?

  Literally, right?

• 34:46Rachel Cruze?

  Just a sweet syrupy.

• 34:49George Kamel?

  Liquid.

• 34:49Rachel Cruze?

  All that red 40. We don't, we don't need that.

• 34:52George Kamel?

  We don't need that.

• 34:53Rachel Cruze?

  Get that out of here.

• 34:54George Kamel?

  RFK is not having any of it.

• 34:55Rachel Cruze?

  We learned about that in 2024. Get those poisons out of here.

• 35:00George Kamel?

  Oh, that's fun.

• 35:01Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, my gosh. Well, George, that was great.

• 35:04George Kamel?

  It's been a fun year of talking about money, making it easy to digest while enjoying some great drinks.

• 35:16Rachel Cruze?

  And I think it's time for Guilty as charged. And this is where our producer Kelly gives us a new guilty as charged question every week. And if we're guilty, we take a sip. Kelly?

• 35:25Speaker 02

  All right. Have you ever lied to get out of something with family or friends?

• 35:30George Kamel?

  Hmm. What if they're listening to this right now and they find out from this podcast?

• 35:35Rachel Cruze?

  We gotta go real cryptic. Yes.

• 35:38George Kamel?

  Has anyone not done this? That's the question. If you haven't, you aren't living. You're not okay if you've just said yes to everything regardless of what it is.

• 35:46Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, no, but they could be healthy and say no and tell them the real reason. We're lying about it.

• 35:49George Kamel?

  Who does that?

• 35:52Speaker 02

  Okay, let's take it a step deeper. Okay? Did you get caught? Have you ever gotten caught?

• 35:57George Kamel?

  Oh, let's see. I faked sickness. I faked appointments. I have a doctor's appointment. Um, let's see.

• 36:08Rachel Cruze?

  You know, I've, okay, I'm gonna say this. When I say friends, it's not like my, like my close people. I can totally be like, I don't wanna hang out. Like, I don't need to lie to them. But it's like the one or two removed and you're like, shoot.

• 36:20George Kamel?

  Not your inner circle, but like the slightly outer circle.

• 36:23Rachel Cruze?

  We, it's been, it's been a crazy week and we're busy this weekend. You know, we'll try, we'll try it again soon. And then like you, you put an Instagram story out there. You're out at a restaurant.

• 36:36George Kamel?

  Do you do that? You're out there posting, trying to get caught?

• 36:39Rachel Cruze?

  No, but I mean, I'm sure there's been times I'm like, we're just so tired.

• 36:43George Kamel?

  Oh, yeah.

• 36:43Rachel Cruze?

  Guilty, guilty, guilty.

• 36:45George Kamel?

  But I tried and I try to be more honest these days as I get older, more mature, healthier. I just need to be like, hey, can't make it.

• 36:53George Kamel?

  Maybe not even a here's why. I've been trying to be less defensive.

• 36:56Rachel Cruze?

  You don't have to give people a reason.

• 36:57George Kamel?

  Like, hey, so sorry, gonna have to reschedule.

• 36:59Rachel Cruze?

  I feel you.

• 36:59George Kamel?

  And if they're a real one, they'll understand.

• 37:01Rachel Cruze?

  Yep. Oh, man. Well, if you want to stay connected to us, make sure to check us out on TikTok for more entertaining videos, you know, of what's happening when it comes to pop culture and finance. Well, you guys, it's closing time. And if you enjoyed this episode, you should check out our episode about revisiting our on air money advice from the past.

• 37:21George Kamel?

  One of the top episodes we did.

• 37:22Rachel Cruze?

  I know. So you guys, here's to 2024. Thanks for being here with us and the journey of life. And we will see you next year and next Thursday on an all new episode of Smart Money Happy Hour.