Dave Ramsey Answers Your Most-Asked Questions

📈 Are you on track with the Baby Steps? Get a Free Personalized Plan Today we’re giving the people what they want: the man himself, Dave Ramsey. In this special episode, Dave plays 20 Questions with inquiries you submitted about his life, wealth and the things he won’t waste a dime on. Next Steps: 🏅 Help us make the show better! Please fill out a quick survey. 💵 Start your free budget today. Download the EveryDollar app! 🎥 Watch our video Cheapskate or Resourceful? A Wake-Up Call With Sharon Ramsey. 🍸 Follow Smart Money Happy Hour on TikTok: @smartmoneyhappyhour. 📱 Submit a Guilty As Charged question for Rachel and George! Send a DM to @rachelcruze or @georgekamel on Instagram! Be sure to type “GUILTY?” at the top of your message so we don’t miss it. Connect With Our Sponsors: 🔒 Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe. 🌿 Get up to 40% off at Cozy Earth with code SMARTMONEY. Today’s Happy Hour Special: 🍸 Black Manhattan Ingredients: 2 ounces rye whiskey 1 ounce amaro 3 dashes black walnut bitters 2 dashes orange bitters 2 brandied cherries Instructions: Add the rye whiskey, amaro and bitters into a mixing glass with ice and stir until well-chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with two brandied cherries. Listen to More From Ramsey Network: 💡 The Rachel Cruze Show 💰 George Kamel 🎙️ The Ramsey Show 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 🪑 Front Row Seat with Ken Coleman 📈 EntreLeadership Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

• 0:05Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, are there any large purchases that you've ever regretted?

• 0:08Speaker 01

  The worst one was 2003.

• 0:10Rachel Cruze?

  What was it like raising Rachel?

• 0:15George Kamel?

  What is one financial principle or piece of advice you've changed your mind about over the years?

• 0:23Rachel Cruze?

  Hey guys, I'm Rachel Cruz.

• 0:25George Kamel?

  I'm George Kamel.

• 0:26Speaker 01

  And I'm Dave Ramsey.

• 0:29Rachel Cruze?

  And this is...

• 0:30Speaker 01

  Smart Money Happy Hour.

• 0:32George Kamel?

  Cheers!

• 0:40Rachel Cruze?

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

• 0:47George Kamel?

  And today, we've got the one and only Dave Ramsey in studio. You guys asked, we delivered, and he's gonna be answering your questions.

• 0:53Rachel Cruze?

  That's right. Well, welcome.

• 0:55Speaker 01

  Well, it's good to be here.

• 0:56Rachel Cruze?

  What a fun world.

• 0:57George Kamel?

  Longtime listener, first time guest.

• 0:58Speaker 01

  I get to come on the show where they drink. It's the first time.

• 0:59Rachel Cruze?

  It's actually a very exciting show.

• 1:01Speaker 01

  Took a long time to get me here.

• 1:03George Kamel?

  It's crazy that we had your wife on way before you.

• 1:05Speaker 01

  Yeah, it is.

• 1:06George Kamel?

  She was a fan favorite. I hope you beat her.

• 1:08Speaker 01

  It's crazy that she's way more popular than me.

• 1:10Rachel Cruze?

  I think she might be. I think she might be. We'll see what your count is of the episode. We'll compare it to Sharon's and let you know.

• 1:17George Kamel?

  I think Sharon will be watching the view count on this one.

• 1:20Rachel Cruze?

  That's true. That is true. So in this episode, we're gonna be actually answering, having you answer some questions from the fishbowl that people have submitted that they wanna know about you.

• 1:32Speaker 01

  Oh, good.

• 1:32George Kamel?

  Not the traditional stuff. Not how to get out of debt.

• 1:35Rachel Cruze?

  Get excited!

• 1:36George Kamel?

  Way more.

• 1:37Speaker 01

  My favorite subject: me.

• 1:38Rachel Cruze?

  Get excited! It is. It's gonna be fantastic. And while we learn about Dave, we're sipping on a great cocktail. What are you sipping on, George?

• 1:47George Kamel?

  This is a Black Manhattan, which is mixologist Michael Reddish's signature cocktail. He made it extra special.

• 1:53Speaker 01

  Oh, it's a signature.

• 1:54Rachel Cruze?

  Brings out the signature drinks for you, Dave. We don't always get that.

• 1:57George Kamel?

  It's one of my favorites.

• 1:58Rachel Cruze?

  Sometimes we get cocktails with milk in it, so... Do that for you.

• 2:03Speaker 01

  I missed out on that.

• 2:04George Kamel?

  You chose a good day. You chose a good day.

• 2:06Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, this was good.

• 2:07George Kamel?

  So, stick around till the end, we're gonna give you our rating and reveal the cost per glass.

• 2:12Rachel Cruze?

  All right, so we are, um, we are gonna lean into some of that, like, fangirl energy is what they call it out there.

• 2:17George Kamel?

  We asked the people, if you could ask Dave Ramsey one question, that is not a financial question for The Ramsey Show, what would it be?

• 2:24Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, so it's gonna be great. There's some family questions in there, there's some, uh, purchasing questions. Dave likes to spend. That's actually a misnomer. People really do think.

• 2:33George Kamel?

  You're still rice and beans.

• 2:34Rachel Cruze?

  If you're an average, you know, if you're like a Ramsey person, then you like have to drive a crappy car the rest of your life and you can, you always have to have coupons. George still loves a good deal.

• 2:43George Kamel?

  Me and Sharon Ramsey, I think, are holding it down in that department. We like frugality.

• 2:48Rachel Cruze?

  But, but yeah, you love to spend, so there'll be some good spending questions in there. But it's gonna be, it's gonna be a good time, George.

• 2:53George Kamel?

  Let's get to the fishbowl.

• 2:54Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, are we going? Okay, okay. Um, all right. What does it look like to treat yourself? So, what do you do to treat yourself?

• 3:04Speaker 01

  Uh, so many things, but the biggest one would be luxury travel. Like Uber luxury travel. Like, the coolest thing I ever found in my life is when we go international, for somewhere around four or 500 bucks, sometimes 1,000 bucks, you can have someone meet you at the gate, a personal, uh, customs escort.

• 3:30Rachel Cruze?

  They do this at Crazy Rich Asians on that movie.

• 3:32Speaker 01

  And they walk you past everything.

• 3:35George Kamel?

  It's a fast pass, but for travel.

• 3:36Speaker 01

  Straight through, like, like you own the place. And boom. One of them, we went to in Egypt, they sit you in a lounge and bring food while they run all your stuff, and then you go get in the car and leave.

• 3:49Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, wow.

• 3:49Speaker 01

  It was, I mean, that's bougie travel right there. I mean, that was, uh.

• 3:53Rachel Cruze?

  That's Crazy Rich Asians.

• 3:54Speaker 01

  That's, that's money well spent when you've got, when you're living like no one else. So, yeah. That, that kinda like, just make my life good when I'm traveling. I don't want travel stress. I wanna enjoy the whole thing and stuff like that, where I'm not standing in line, is, life is good.

• 4:09George Kamel?

  Do you do the flights that have like their own bathroom and like, are they like when you go international?

• 4:12Speaker 01

  I haven't done that. I saw that one on Emirates.

• 4:14George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 4:14Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 4:15Speaker 01

  That thing, you get like your own apartment or something?

• 4:16Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 4:17Speaker 01

  I've gotta do that one of these days, but I understand it's pretty expensive. I might not be willing to spring to that, but.

• 4:21George Kamel?

  It's more of a willingness, though, at this point.

• 4:23Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's just, it's pretty cool, though. But that kinda stuff, I mean, we wanna. We don't want to go travel, you know, halfway, 24 hours or 20 hours on a plane, and then stay in the freaking Motel 6, just to say we got to go to X country, right? Uh, so, yeah, we're, we spend money on travel.

• 4:39Rachel Cruze?

  You know, that is an interesting thing, because growing up, we never really, when we were little, we didn't really travel. We camped and did all of that, but then when, the only memories I have of like, when we actually, like, we never went to the beaches, kids. Like, it wasn't like, oh yeah, we have an annual beach trip. Like, we never did that. But then when we started traveling, we started traveling, where it was like, oh, like Disney World. I think Disney World was my first trip, which wasn't cheap, right? You could do the beach cheap and like, do all of that probably before that, but y'all wouldn't. So that is funny, because that is probably still consistent on how you were.

• 5:08Speaker 01

  You know, we did not do vacations until we had the money. And, and to do it right.

• 5:13Rachel Cruze?

  To do it right, that's what I'm saying, is I feel like even then.

• 5:15Speaker 01

  A lot of times when people are doing stuff like that, in my world, anyway, I don't know about necessarily our customer or the viewer of this, but the, in our world, growing up, people going to the beach couldn't afford it. It's like they're buying a car they couldn't afford.

• 5:26Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 5:26Speaker 01

  And they needed to be home working, they didn't need to be dropping that three or four grand, or whatever it was. And, um, to get their dad to live like no one else a little, or you can travel like no one else.

• 5:35Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 5:36Speaker 01

  Yeah, but that's been, that's, that's what we spend money on.

• 5:40Rachel Cruze?

  Arthur Brooks talks about experiences, when you spend money on experiences with people that you love, and you and mom travel together really well.

• 5:47Speaker 01

  We do.

• 5:47Rachel Cruze?

  And y'all do it with friends a lot, too.

• 5:49Speaker 01

  We do.

• 5:49Rachel Cruze?

  You bring us once a year, so thank you.

• 5:51Speaker 01

  Yeah. Still haven't got the invite?

• 5:53Rachel Cruze?

  But it's fine.

• 5:55Speaker 01

  Have a drink, George.

• 5:58Rachel Cruze?

  But like, that is not just like,

• 6:00Speaker 01

  Yeah, it is.

• 6:00Rachel Cruze?

  piling on more and more and more stuff. Like, you guys experience it, and that's, yeah, a great way to spend your money.

• 6:06Speaker 01

  And again, you're, you're right, in the, um, you know, 43 years of marriage, we were both planners, we don't, uh, some couples, and like, we've got some friends that enjoy just going somewhere, and they land in Europe and they have no idea what they're gonna do, and they come home two weeks later.

• 6:20Rachel Cruze?

  Mm-hmm.

• 6:21Speaker 01

  Oh, that would drive me nuts.

• 6:22Rachel Cruze?

  No, you would die.

• 6:23Speaker 01

  You need an agenda, like, we're doing something. Every single, if, if, if we do something spontaneous, it's a change in the set agenda.

• 6:31Rachel Cruze?

  We get PDFs emailed to us before our Christmas trip every year with exact times of every detail that you need.

• 6:38Speaker 01

  Patty, my assistant, lays out exactly who's gonna be where, the confirmation number.

• 6:41George Kamel?

  And that's not a type A OCD thing. You just wanna know we're doing something.

• 6:43Rachel Cruze?

  No, he's type A.

• 6:44George Kamel?

  Like the productivity.

• 6:44Speaker 01

  If I have to plan it on the go, it's not relaxing.

• 6:48George Kamel?

  That adds stress.

• 6:48Speaker 01

  If it's all done, I just show up. This is, I'm checking in and I'm already checked in when I get there, most times. You know, cause again, I'm doing luxury stuff and it's like they just meet you at the front door and go, here's your keys, Mr. Ramsey, you know? Cause you came through the gate and the little guy with the thing in his ear talked into his sleeve and all that junk, you know?

• 7:04George Kamel?

  Eagles landing.

• 7:05Speaker 01

  And that's life. That's, that's, uh, again, that's. But mom and I are both, we're both planners and we're both, um, detail people and we're not, uh, you know, I don't know what you'd call it, impulsive.

• 7:18Rachel Cruze?

  No.

• 7:18Speaker 01

  You know, just go for Sunday afternoon drive and have no idea where we're going. Not a chance.

• 7:23George Kamel?

  Alright.

• 7:25Rachel Cruze?

  You would be terrible in The Amazing Race.

• 7:27Speaker 01

  I would be terrible.

• 7:28George Kamel?

  Don't let him, don't think that was ever on his bucket list anyways.

• 7:31Speaker 01

  There's so many things about that I would be terrible at.

• 7:36George Kamel?

  What is one financial principle or piece of advice you've changed your mind about over the years?

• 7:41Speaker 01

  Churchill said, when you're young, if you're not a liberal, uh, you, you don't have a heart. And when you're old, if you're not a conservative, you don't have a brain. And part of that is, part of the thing that kinda goes with that idea is when I first started this stuff, I was a Pharisee about it. Everything, exact and hardcore. And so, um, you know, one thing we've changed is, it's not a principle change, it was tactical changes. We forced people, like, uh, at threat of being, uh, reprimanded to carry envelope, lots of envelopes with money in them. Actual cash, you know, envelopes. And, and we don't push that anymore. One of the, um,

• 8:27Speaker 01

  Famous financial people came out years ago and said, "Well, here's what I do, but my advice for everybody else is something else." Do as I say, not as I do. I'm never, that was so hypocritical to me. And so I'm not gonna do that. So if I pay for my gas at the pump with a debit card instead of cash out of a gasoline envelope, then I'm not gonna scream at somebody else for doing that. But in the old days, we did. Sharon and I, every, we had stinking envelopes everywhere. The tactical implementation of the principles, we have changed. And they are more convenient and easier now. The stuff you can do in every dollar is so much better than what we did on a piece of

• 9:11Speaker 01

  paper and pencil with envelopes with cash in them.

• 9:14Rachel Cruze?

  Did the down payment change to 5%? I feel like we low, that was somewhat lowered. I feel like it was always a hard 20%, but now for first-time home buyers, we went down, you know, the advice is now down to 5.

• 9:27Speaker 01

  Yeah, we pushed 20 really hard. I still push it hard because you save the PMI.

• 9:31Rachel Cruze?

  Sure.

• 9:32Speaker 01

  You save the private mortgage insurance, which is stinking $75 a month per 100,000 borrowed. So you talk about 400 grand, it's $225, I mean, or 300, 300 bucks a month, just for the stupid insurance that you don't even need. And so it's costing you a lot of money to not put that down. So I really encourage it. But yeah, I think some things like that, that might be one, that might be true, that we light, lightened up a little bit on that. But it's not because of house prices, it's more because we've just learned, you know, getting involved in real estate and being an owner is more important than some of the tiki-taki details.

• 10:07Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 10:08Speaker 01

  Because you do want to ride these waves up as these prices go up.

• 10:11Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, for sure. It's good. All right, next, how do you balance family and work?

• 10:20Rachel Cruze?

  You can go back to like high school days when you actually had us living in the house. Cause I feel like that's probably more, or maybe now.

• 10:27George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 10:27Rachel Cruze?

  They just travel. They just travel. You don't really see them anymore.

• 10:31George Kamel?

  Leave.

• 10:31Rachel Cruze?

  They just leave.

• 10:32George Kamel?

  Cause you love work, but when you're in play mode, you go hard.

• 10:36Speaker 01

  I don't do, yeah, my, I do not sit on a beach and read, ever. Under no circumstances.

• 10:42George Kamel?

  Don't look for them. You won't find them out there.

• 10:44Speaker 01

  Not, not, not gonna happen. So, um, my sitting still mode is, I got two, two speeds, asleep and moving.

• 10:51Rachel Cruze?

  One of my favorite stories of, in this, like this is him. 24/7, seven days a week, when Winston and I were dating, Winston came to the lake house. And we had some friends, college friends over that weekend and, you know, and, um, I guess maybe the night before you asked if anyone wants to ski or barefoot in the morning. Cause if you're gonna get good skiing or barefooting on the lake, you gotta get up like.

• 11:11Speaker 01

  Dawn.

• 11:12Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, at dawn. Really, really, really early.

• 11:17Rachel Cruze?

  Bang on the door, day, it's 5:30. Fellas, you ready? Winston was like, yes, sir.

• 11:23Speaker 01

  Well, they said that.

• 11:24Rachel Cruze?

  I am, I am, I am.

• 11:25Speaker 01

  Wait a minute. That sounds, that sounds like they didn't approve this.

• 11:28Rachel Cruze?

  At the lake.

• 11:29Speaker 01

  You signed up for this. You signed up, you said, yes, get me up. So I got you up. Why is this a hard thing?

• 11:36Rachel Cruze?

  I'm just saying, it's that mode everywhere in the morning. It's 5:30 and, and yeah, so anyways.

• 11:45Speaker 01

  So the question was what?

• 11:47Rachel Cruze?

  Work and family.

• 11:48Speaker 01

  Oh, balance, balance. Uh, the great mythology of, and it's really come on lately, like a big time thing. There, there is no such thing as balance. Cause as soon as you're balanced, one second later, you're gonna be out of balance. It's impossible. You know, what is this perfect moment in time? You have to take a picture of it because it's gonna tip. I mean, it's ridiculous. So instead of trying to balance, sometimes.

• 12:15Speaker 01

  Uh, work-life balance is code for, I don't wanna work much. Sometimes it's that, but, but the answer to the equation is, um, be where you are, a hundred percent. If you're at the lake and you're gonna go skiing, get your butt up and let's go. Don't be checking emails. But that, yeah, and we're not, we're not sitting there, you know, I'm not writing a blog instead of doing that. I'm, I'm doing that. And, and so when I'm at work, I'm at work. I'm game on. That's what I do. And I'm not doing sixty-three other things. And when I go home, I turn it off. I'm not gonna sit and take seventy-three emails during dinner with my wife. The, the problem I think people have is they, uh, they get all this anxiety because they're trying to do two or three things at one time.

• 12:57Speaker 01

  They're trying to be a great mom or dad while simultaneously working at home on their computer. Or they're supposed to be working at work. Instead, they're on a dad gum Facebook page, trying to be a friend to somebody. So you oughta be where you are. Wherever you find your feet, be plugged in there. Be a hundred percent on that. And then what we did tactically in the old days, because I drive so hard, I, I had to learn, I actually learned this at a marriage conference we went to, to stop at the bottom of the street before I go home. And just sit and listen to a praise and worship song. I just gotta change gears. To reset. I gotta change gears, cuz I can't use the same tonality, energy level,

• 13:42Speaker 01

  weapons on my family that I've been using to fight battles all day long. So I need to reset. And the guy said, the other thing he said was, when you get home, in the olden days, the warrior would take his musket or his sword off and put it above the mantle. I'm changing gears from warrior to dad, or warrior to mom. The other thing we did tactically was, we just said, okay, there's some things that are important and we're going to signal to the family that they are more important than work by doing those things. So in the high school years, Rachel referenced that, you know, a hundred percent of the prom dates were on the calendar before we started booking live events. And we just simply, "Well, we have a venue and the only time it's available is then."

• 14:23Speaker 01

  "Well, we're not going because I'm going to be home cleaning my gun when that young man picks up my daughter." "And so, we're gonna have a discussion here."

• 14:32Rachel Cruze?

  You were much nicer than that.

• 14:34Speaker 01

  Not much.

• 14:35Rachel Cruze?

  You were.

• 14:36Speaker 01

  But the, I mean, I'm gonna be having a thing and, you know, Daniel, I coached his ice hockey team growing up. And, you know, I, we just put the ice hockey schedule on there and I worked around it. Because it generally was in the evenings and weekends and so, on an event or speaking gig or something, we'd come across some of those things. We just can't go. I've got, I've got nine-year-olds I have to count that are counting on me. So, I gotta be down there. I can't take that gig. And so, we just set things on the calendar, but then, when I needed to go work, you know, on a weekend and I might have missed a, I, I made no attempt to make every stinking softball, soccer, hockey.

• 15:15George Kamel?

  Imagine with three kids, there's always something happening.

• 15:17Speaker 01

  It's impossible. It's impossible. I made no attempt to be that guy. But that's not work-life balance. That's out of balance. If you have 73 sports for your kids and you make every single game, you are not in balance by definition. And so, you know, that's the kind of stuff. So, anyway, that's, but we just said prioritize, be where you are 100% and prioritize some things to where we're setting the bar that marriage is first, kids are second, work is third, and above all of that is God. And that's a priority. And so, you know, we're gonna lay it out that way and we're gonna actually live our lives in a way that indicates that that's true.

• 15:56Rachel Cruze?

  I'll say as a Brentwood middle cheerleader, I remember basketball games, you and mom coming to watch us cheer. So, y'all did come. I mean, it sounded like I was in sports.

• 16:06Speaker 01

  I was not at every game, but I remember you were, what did they call you, a flyer?

• 16:10Rachel Cruze?

  I was a flyer.

• 16:11Speaker 01

  A flyer.

• 16:12George Kamel?

  Wait, that mean you were in the air?

• 16:13Speaker 01

  That means she was the little kid and they would toss her.

• 16:15Rachel Cruze?

  I was.

• 16:16George Kamel?

  That's the most frightening one.

• 16:17Rachel Cruze?

  But here's the thing. Here's the, here's the secret to it all. I can't touch my toes. My hamstrings are very tight. I'm not a very flexible person. So, when, when they started advancing the flyers where you had to like do the thing where you like hold your leg up or the scorpion, I got kicked out. I wasn't a flyer anymore.

• 16:33George Kamel?

  Yikes. Didn't hurt your confidence, so that's good.

• 16:36Rachel Cruze?

  That's a little Rachel background that you.

• 16:38George Kamel?

  It's my turn.

• 16:38Rachel Cruze?

  Mayor May didn't know. What?

• 16:40Speaker 01

  True confessions.

• 16:41Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, it is your turn.

• 16:42Speaker 01

  True confessions.

• 16:43Rachel Cruze?

  That's right.

• 16:43George Kamel?

  So we talked about what you are willing to splurge on to treat yourself. What's one thing you still refuse to spend money on? You're just like, I'm not, I'm not gonna spend a dime on that. It's not worth the upgrade or the charge or whatever.

• 16:54Speaker 01

  What, what I learned from watching rich people is I wanna, I wanna model after that is that if I'm going to spend what feels like money, like a lot of money on something, whatever that means, um, I wanna get something of high quality that's going to last even, maybe even generationally. So what I refuse to spend money on is cheap stuff that's not gonna last. Instead, I'll double the amount and buy one good one instead of five bad ones, you know, and, um...

• 17:26Rachel Cruze?

  Qual- quality over quantity.

• 17:29Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 17:29Rachel Cruze?

  That's where we're opposite. That's great.

• 17:31Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 17:31George Kamel?

  Yeah, I guess your, your Amazon history is pretty light compared to Rachel's.

• 17:35Speaker 01

  I don't have an Amazon history. That's how light it is.

• 17:38George Kamel?

  There we go.

• 17:39Speaker 01

  My wife has one and I participate in hers occasionally, but that's about it.

• 17:44George Kamel?

  We pay good money to see it.

• 17:45Speaker 01

  I don't even have an account.

• 17:46George Kamel?

  Wow.

• 17:47Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, man. You're missing out.

• 17:49George Kamel?

  There's so much. Fun life on the other side.

• 17:51Rachel Cruze?

  There's a lot, a lot of much.

• 17:52George Kamel?

  There's so much stuff on Amazon. You should check it out sometime. That's a fun one.

• 17:58Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, are there any large purchases that you've ever regretted?

• 18:02Speaker 01

  Probably a few, more than, uh, in the early days, you know, before all this stuff happened. I mean, I bought a Jaguar when it was broke, to say.

• 18:11Rachel Cruze?

  Well, soon in the, in the last like five years. Was there something really expensive?

• 18:14Speaker 01

  No, last five years, no.

• 18:15Rachel Cruze?

  That you really bought that you were like, eh, I shouldn't have done it?

• 18:17Speaker 01

  The worst, the worst one was 2003, um, when we signed the, um...

• 18:22George Kamel?

  Twenty-one years ago with five scores.

• 18:24Speaker 01

  You can't go back five years. I'm sorry, I don't have one, but, um, the, uh, I, I remember it distinctly because it was, you know, it's a problem. And so I, we, uh, did the Total Money Makeover deal and I got this massive, uh, check to, uh, with the publisher we were working with at the time. Uh, the check hit my account the day I got to New York City. Um.

• 18:50Speaker 03

  That's fun.

• 18:50Speaker 01

  To start the book tour. And I had been researching, uh, an expensive watch. And I thought, okay, I'm gonna celebrate this largest check I've ever seen in my freaking life. And this big deal and the launch of this book and the start of this forty-three days I'm gonna be on the road pushing this book. I'm gonna celebrate, I'm gonna go buy that dad gum watch. I've been, I've been looking at it, looking at it, looking at it. And all these people got Rolexes and got super whatever nice watches, all these cool watches and, um,

• 19:20Speaker 01

  the watch was a Breitling watch.

• 19:22Speaker 03

  Oh, yeah.

• 19:24Speaker 01

  And gold, solid gold, solid gold band with a diamond bezel. And I knew it was like, in two thousand and three, it was like sixty thousand bucks or something. And so I go up on, um, I think it's Fifty Second or whatever, where all the pawn shops are in New York, right?

• 19:39Speaker 03

  You bought it from a pawn shop?

• 19:41Speaker 01

  About four blocks down, yeah, I bought it for thirteen thousand. Same watch. And, um, a- and the thing weighs like seventy-three pounds. That's solid gold. It's. It's heavy.

• 19:51Speaker 03

  And it's probably pretty gaudy, right?

• 19:54Speaker 01

  It's bad. And it, you know, it, um, you know, the, the fa- the fabulous watches, the expensive ones all have a, they wind when you move them. You don't, they don't have, they're not, um, quartz movement, they're not digital, you know, and so, um, you gotta keep, you gotta maintain the dad gum thing, it doesn't even keep time. You know, it's like this super expensive thing and then if you don't do it just right, the timing, the time's off. Versus something like, you know, my golf watch, it's just an automatic, it's GPS, it sets itself with the phone and everything else. I don't think about it again, it's the right time, who knew? And, um, you know, so I got disgusted with the thing and put it, it's gaudy, doesn't keep good time, it's heavy.

• 20:36Speaker 01

  I put it in the safe and then I thought, well, I'll trade it for something, I'll get a, at least get a Rolex or something else, I'll, I'll trade it. I can't give the stupid thing away. So it's like, it's like sits in my safe glaring at me.

• 20:47Speaker 03

  Do you still have it?

• 20:48Speaker 01

  Yeah, I've still got it, it sits in my safe glaring at me.

• 20:50Speaker 03

  You need to wear it.

• 20:51Speaker 01

  We need a photo of this.

• 20:51Speaker 03

  We need this watch.

• 20:54Speaker 01

  That's ama- will you hand it down to your kids as a generational heirloom? I'm gonna hand my mistakes down to my kids. I don't know, it glares at me and says, you're stupid every time I open the safe. Wow.

• 21:03Rachel Cruze?

  That's good.

• 21:04George Kamel?

  But you never bought like a massage chair that was like, I don't never use the dang thing, or a sauna, which you guys love.

• 21:10Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, you have a sauna too.

• 21:11Speaker 01

  We use the sauna.

• 21:13George Kamel?

  So no regrets, you've learned over time?

• 21:14Speaker 01

  Oh, no, I don't have many.

• 21:18Speaker 01

  If something is quote unquote expensive in ratio to your life, I'd spend enough time thinking about it, I don't impulse that stuff, and studying it to where I generally don't. This watch was closer to an impulse, like this celebration that should have never occurred.

• 21:38Rachel Cruze?

  That's good, alright, let's do a, we got a few minutes George, let's go, let's go lacking rounds.

• 21:42George Kamel?

  Okay.

• 21:42Rachel Cruze?

  Let's get a few more in there before we close this out.

• 21:46George Kamel?

  Best meal you've ever had?

• 21:48Speaker 01

  Fine dining with wine pairings is like my favorite sport, so the, like a lot of best things in your life, things are relative, so I remember some of the first few times that we did like a chef's tasting with pairings, and I'd never done that before, it was out of my league.

• 22:06George Kamel?

  It was like 13 tiny courses?

• 22:07Speaker 01

  Yeah, well, or just really well done, eight courses, or whatever, seven courses, but I mean, the first five or six times I did that, my mind was just, it was like the best thing ever.

• 22:18George Kamel?

  Every bite just blows your mind.

• 22:19Speaker 01

  But you can get used to it, like anything else, and so now I'm a little bit more selective with that, I guess, but I'm not like a foodie, but I do enjoy that stuff, and I enjoy the quality and the experiential, again, part of it, but yeah, that's, we did one of those in Paris one time at the Four Seasons, and dropped some serious coin on the wine and stuff, and it was memorable.

• 22:40George Kamel?

  Wow, well paired with that, what is your kind of guilty pleasure, like just fast food, late night, no one needs to know about this, where are you rolling through?

• 22:49Rachel Cruze?

  Oh yeah.

• 22:49George Kamel?

  And what are you getting?

• 22:50Rachel Cruze?

  Are we going Sonic, we going Taco Bell, we going?

• 22:52Speaker 01

  None of that.

• 22:53Rachel Cruze?

  Shalat, Shalat's?

• 22:54George Kamel?

  Filet of fish perhaps?

• 22:56Speaker 01

  No, no.

• 22:58George Kamel?

  A McRib?

• 22:59Speaker 01

  I might, I might hit a Jesus Chicken, I might hit Chick-fil-A.

• 23:03George Kamel?

  Ooh, what's your order at Chick-fil-A so the people know?

• 23:05Speaker 01

  A sandwich, chicken sandwich, but probably pizza is probably it, actually.

• 23:08George Kamel?

  Okay.

• 23:09Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 23:09Speaker 01

  Good pizza.

• 23:11George Kamel?

  That's where you get it from?

• 23:11Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 23:12Speaker 01

  I'm about to buy it, honestly.

• 23:13George Kamel?

  It's genetics.

• 23:13Speaker 01

  Honestly, I got into it, I just hate fast, general fast food.

• 23:17Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, it's so good.

• 23:17Speaker 01

  It just makes me sick.

• 23:18Rachel Cruze?

  You should try Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich.

• 23:21Speaker 01

  I don't know, it's not, oh, it's just bad.

• 23:24Rachel Cruze?

  Mozzarella sticks from Sonic?

• 23:27Speaker 01

  Those things are 73 years old.

• 23:28Rachel Cruze?

  Cheese curds from Culvers? Phenomenal, okay?

• 23:32Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 23:33Rachel Cruze?

  All right, real quick, most influential person that you've met that you were a little bit starstruck?

• 23:37Speaker 01

  You know, I guess from going broke, I lost my fear of man. It's not that I'm arrogant about it, or I just don't.

• 23:47Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, but who's like one person?

• 23:48Speaker 01

  I'm trying to think, I'm trying to think somebody.

• 23:49Rachel Cruze?

  Just someone that you met that you're like, that was, that was crazy.

• 23:51Speaker 01

  Okay, George W. Bush, I interviewed him twice.

• 23:54Rachel Cruze?

  Mm-hmm.

• 23:54Speaker 01

  And had lunch with him, and, yeah, my pulse rate probably changed on that, but I wasn't, I don't know if I was starstruck is a bit much.

• 24:01Rachel Cruze?

  It's okay, you can say it, it's fine.

• 24:03Speaker 01

  That's not, that's good.

• 24:04Rachel Cruze?

  That's a good one, though, I mean, for any, any sitting former president, to me, is like a, that's a bucket list for me, I would love to meet a president. Not just anyone, just any president, anyone who's been president.

• 24:16George Kamel?

  Come on, you've interviewed many now, I feel like it's time.

• 24:18Rachel Cruze?

  Just let me know.

• 24:19George Kamel?

  Bring Rachel along.

• 24:20Rachel Cruze?

  All right, just let me know. All right, what's your drink of choice?

• 24:24Speaker 01

  Bourbon.

• 24:26George Kamel?

  Neat, or on ice?

• 24:27Rachel Cruze?

  No, on the rocks.

• 24:28George Kamel?

  Ah.

• 24:29Rachel Cruze?

  Favorite bourbon, though?

• 24:29Speaker 01

  A big rock.

• 24:30Rachel Cruze?

  Give your favorite.

• 24:31Speaker 01

  Oh, it was my favorite child, no, oh, so many.

• 24:35George Kamel?

  What about the Angels' Envy Unicorn? Is that up there for you?

• 24:39Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's in the top 10, but it's a barrel pick we did that will never happen again, and so, yeah.

• 24:43George Kamel?

  Which is the ultimate flex, I feel like, it's like, it's kind of like, yeah, it's a band you can never listen to.

• 24:48Speaker 01

  It doesn't exist, so.

• 24:50Rachel Cruze?

  All right, I went through some, and I wanted this one, selfish, what was it like raising Rachel?

• 24:57George Kamel?

  Did you put this one in? Nobody asked that.

• 24:59Rachel Cruze?

  No, I didn't put this one in, no.

• 24:59Speaker 01

  How do you raise a child that's so humble?

• 25:01Rachel Cruze?

  I don't know.

• 25:02George Kamel?

  How'd you do it?

• 25:05Rachel Cruze?

  How'd I do it?

• 25:05Speaker 01

  Self-proclaimed. You know, Rachel, she was fun. She was a fun kid, obviously.

• 25:12George Kamel?

  More fun than the others, we could say.

• 25:14Speaker 01

  No, she was just wide open. More fun and more trouble. But I remember she was about four and we took the youth pa... We were broke. But we got this neighbor of ours owned this little restaurant. And we decided to... He said, "Come, here's some cards. Come over and eat." And we don't get to go out and eat because we had no money. So we're gonna go take these cards. And we grabbed the youth pastor at church after church. Said, "Hey, jump in." So David jumped in the car with us and the three little kids. And we're driving along this old beat-up car going out to eat. And you know, when you got little kids, yours aren't old enough yet to know this, but before you get to the restaurant, you have to give a speech. Like, "I'm going to kill you."

• 25:53George Kamel?

  Here's what's gonna happen.

• 25:54Speaker 01

  "If you do not behave inside this restaurant, here's what's gonna happen. I'm going to pull..."

• 25:59Rachel Cruze?

  It was the Olive Garden, wasn't it?

• 26:00Speaker 01

  No, this wasn't Olive Garden. This is a different story. We're pulling into the parking lot and I said, "All right, you guys got it? We're gonna go in here, sit. You're not wild animals. You're humans. You're gonna sit here, you're gonna say please and thank you." You know, I gave him the speech, the dad's speech, right? And I left out something. So Rachel pops up from the backseat and says, "And no Fiat's!" And David, that youth pastor for the rest of our lives said it. Rachel said, "And no Fiat's!" With that good southern accent, right?

• 26:30Rachel Cruze?

  Don't you throw Fiat's.

• 26:31Speaker 01

  Because Rachel might have thrown a Fiat in a restaurant.

• 26:35George Kamel?

  That was your thing. It was your signature move.

• 26:38Speaker 01

  It's a flex.

• 26:38Rachel Cruze?

  So much happening.

• 26:39George Kamel?

  She always loved the drama. You've always said, "You've said if we didn't aim her at something..."

• 26:45Speaker 01

  She was gonna... We had to aim her at something because she was gonna go off.

• 26:49Rachel Cruze?

  Me?

• 26:49George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 26:50Rachel Cruze?

  What?

• 26:51George Kamel?

  It was like you were such a wild child that we had to like give her some structure.

• 26:55Speaker 01

  There's a lot of energy and a lot of talent and a lot of... It was either gonna be used for the devil or it was gonna be used for God. So you gotta aim it at something, right?

• 27:02Rachel Cruze?

  End up in jail or this chair.

• 27:07George Kamel?

  Just be glad you end up with a chair.

• 27:08Speaker 03

  And we have one of those. We have one of those. I think every family does, right? Where you're like, alright, this one is like the...

• 27:13George Kamel?

  That's how God teaches us.

• 27:14Speaker 03

  It's the one, and it's usually the middle child, which is so funny.

• 27:17George Kamel?

  You had the bowling bumpers, you didn't end up in the gutter.

• 27:19Speaker 01

  They turned into something.

• 27:21George Kamel?

  That's wise.

• 27:22Speaker 03

  This, or this, or this.

• 27:23George Kamel?

  I've got one. What are you most proud of personally and professionally? Maybe and/or professionally.

• 27:28Speaker 01

  Personally, it's easy. It's, um, I didn't grow up in a Christian family. And so, God's intersection with my life and how much it's changed how I do everything, how I view everything, um, and then how it's changed my marriage and how it's changed my kids and now my grandkids. Because we're weird. I mean, we actually have all three kids that we like, and they all turned out, and we like their spouses. We like their spouses so much, I actually do stuff with their spouses' parents.

• 28:01George Kamel?

  Wow.

• 28:02Speaker 01

  So, like Winston's dad Buddy and I go hunting together. I mean, we hang out together. I like Buddy Cruise without Winston around even. That's, it's not a requirement, you know, so it's not like mandatory. So, we're really, really, really blessed that way. I'm very, very proud of that. Of course, nothing is perfect, but it's, compared to other people that we know and the families we see torn asunder by whatever craziness, um, we're really blessed. I'm very proud of that. It turned out, it worked, you know? God's ways of doing things, including family, work. And so, professionally, it would be our team. Uh, we have an incredible team at Ramsey. And, um, I have, and the leadership team,

• 28:45Speaker 01

  the other people here have worked very, very hard, very hard, with a lot of anxiety, a lot of stress, a lot of hours, a lot of tears, a lot of anger, to form that team, get the right people on the bus, as Jim Collins says, the wrong people off the bus, right people on the right seats on the bus. But the quality of human being all through Ramsey... It's unparalleled. And that's a professional accomplishment. Again, it's God's blessing, but it's a professional accomplishment and I'm very proud of him.

• 29:21George Kamel?

  Well, I can speak to that because I met my wife here and my joke was if she's good enough for Dave, she's plenty good for me. Like, if you can make it through the interview process.

• 29:29Speaker 01

  You can get through Ramsey's interview.

• 29:31George Kamel?

  Yeah, you're a person.

• 29:32Speaker 01

  You can join the FBI or the CIA, easy.

• 29:33George Kamel?

  Exactly. A person of high character right there.

• 29:35Rachel Cruze?

  I know. It is a good team. I was thinking about all of you guys.

• 29:38George Kamel?

  The people that we're looking out at. It's not just Rachel.

• 29:40Rachel Cruze?

  It really...

• 29:42George Kamel?

  She's part of the team. Technically, you're part of it.

• 29:44Rachel Cruze?

  I am part of it, yes. I know.

• 29:46George Kamel?

  Technically.

• 29:46Rachel Cruze?

  But that is one thing I do tell people is I'm like, you know, I don't know, something will be talking about work and I'm like, I do feel like I live in a bubble here. And maybe it's, you know, the 50 people that I'm like surrounded with. I mean, there's, I'm sure there's others, but like genuinely, the people that I interact with every, I'm like, I genuinely enjoy our team. Like, we laugh, it's funny, it is enjoyable, we like fight hard. Even in meetings, if there's like a, like a disagreement, that's even fun where it's like, okay, let's fight. Like, we really do fight for the customer and like what we're doing. So, yeah, I agree with you.

• 30:18George Kamel?

  When you have co-stars like me, I imagine it's easy to enjoy your job.

• 30:21Rachel Cruze?

  It is. George, you make that right.

• 30:23Speaker 01

  Hot and icy butter working with you, George.

• 30:24George Kamel?

  Co-star.

• 30:25Rachel Cruze?

  I was, I felt so lucky.

• 30:27George Kamel?

  I couldn't even get co-star out and mean it. It was that. Wow, no, it's true. People ask me what my favorite part of my job and I'd say, it's not a thing I do, it's the team I work with.

• 30:37Rachel Cruze?

  I mean, seriously.

• 30:38George Kamel?

  It's the meetings behind the scenes.

• 30:39Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 30:40George Kamel?

  More than in front of the cameras.

• 30:41Rachel Cruze?

  I'm not kidding. That is, that is like a yes, because there's a lot of miserable people out there and a lot of people work with miserable people and...

• 30:47George Kamel?

  Yeah, we breathe rare air.

• 30:48Speaker 01

  We've had a few, but they just don't get to stay.

• 30:52Rachel Cruze?

  They just don't get to stay.

• 30:53George Kamel?

  Are you out of questions?

• 30:54Rachel Cruze?

  I think we're done. I don't know, should we keep doing?

• 30:56George Kamel?

  Are you emotionally done?

• 30:57Rachel Cruze?

  Well, I went, I went through a bunch of them.

• 30:58George Kamel?

  How about this, skim through and choose a fun one?

• 30:59Rachel Cruze?

  I know, I just, well, my fun one was me. I asked about raising me when I started.

• 31:03George Kamel?

  There's the humility showing.

• 31:05Rachel Cruze?

  Drink of choice.

• 31:06Speaker 01

  When in doubt.

• 31:07Rachel Cruze?

  Um, what's the best piece of non-financial advice that you could give?

• 31:13Speaker 01

  You know, I was in my, um... 20s and Sharon and I had just gotten married and I went to the sales conference. And the speaker was incredible. He really did a good job. And he got up at the end of the talk and he said, each of you in here are, there are four components to your life. And if you want to be successful, if you want to have a high quality, rich life, you have to feed your intellect. So you need to read good nonfiction books and add to your knowledge base.

• 31:46Rachel Cruze?

  Not like murder mystery, like kidnappings and stuff?

• 31:50Speaker 01

  You can read fiction books too. I read fiction books. They make airplanes fly fast. But the, um, what I'm talking about, you need to add to your knowledge base. If you're going to be successful, you have to grow your intellect. You take care of your body. You get one. Garbage in, garbage out. I mean, you take care of your body. Um, you need to deal with your past and your emotional state and figure out, you know, how you navigate forward based on where you came from. And everyone's got something there that they get to deal with. And so the, the emotional, the intellectual, the physical, and the fourth

• 32:32Speaker 01

  one's the spiritual. And he said, if you don't know this man named Jesus, you need to get introduced. He'll change everything. Change the way you do relationships. It changed your way you walk out with your spouse, with your kids, with your business, your leadership, your sales technique. It changes everything and it changes your eternity because you get to spend it with him. And so if you don't know him, you need to get introduced. And so I think that's probably a pretty good plan. And that was in your early twenties? Mm-hmm.

• 33:01Rachel Cruze?

  That was the first introduction to Jesus for you, right?

• 33:03Speaker 01

  I came home and told Sharon, we're going to church. And she said, who are you and what have you done with my husband?

• 33:07Rachel Cruze?

  Wow.

• 33:09Rachel Cruze?

  Just like now. Pick the Baptist church or the Methodist church. Flip a coin. We're going somewhere.

• 33:15George Kamel?

  All right.

• 33:16Rachel Cruze?

  Wait, wait, hold on. Before we get to that, can we just talk about our world today online? And how much of our information is out there? Put that down.

• 33:24George Kamel?

  Yeah, we can talk about it. It's fine.

• 33:25Rachel Cruze?

  It just really bothers me, George. I just feel like I'm everywhere on the internet.

• 33:29George Kamel?

  That's how you know you're getting older.

• 33:30Rachel Cruze?

  And not because of like, the fact that we have a podcast like this and a YouTube show. But everyone's info is out there on the internet because of how often, you guys, we are filling out forms, we are creating accounts on different websites. And did you know that hackers love that?

• 33:47George Kamel?

  I knew it. Yeah, that makes sense.

• 33:48Rachel Cruze?

  Not good. That is why I love and I use Delete Me. Because they go through and they go to all these data broker websites and remove your information. Because people are making money off your information. It's crazy.

• 34:00George Kamel?

  And try this at home. Google your name, your email address, your phone number. You're gonna be shocked at how many weirdo websites have your personal info. And I love knowing that my info is secure and safe. And Delete Me is constantly protecting me from the risks of online scams and data breaches. So check them out. They're gonna give you a crazy discount as a listener. 20% off any of their plans. They're already crazy affordable. Go to joindelete.me/smartmoney to get the deal.

• 34:24Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, and it's very inexpensive. So just for, you know, not a lot of money a month. It's amazing how you can protect your information, which is so important these days, you guys. So you must do it. So again, click the link below and check out Delete Me. All right, you can draw.

• 34:37George Kamel?

  Thank you.

• 34:41George Kamel?

  I'm gonna end on a fun one.

• 34:42Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 34:42George Kamel?

  What has been your most awkward or challenging moment as a consumer? So maybe Dave's out in public and he's buying a thing. I imagine you've had some awkward interactions.

• 34:53Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah, we've had some fun ones. You know, in general, if somebody has a Dave thing, when I'm dealing with them, they either go one of two ways. They think I'm gonna cheap them out and they have to give me the best bargain and sell me the stuff at half of what they paid for it, or I'm gonna be mad.

• 35:09George Kamel?

  Cause you're hard driving salesmen.

• 35:10Speaker 01

  I'm gonna beat them down to nothing. Or they think, this guy's got so much money, I'm gonna mess him over and I'm gonna charge him triple.

• 35:17George Kamel?

  Charge the day tax.

• 35:18Speaker 01

  I get, would you just be normal? You know? So in general, we run into, people fall into one or two camps a lot of times there. And they're like, you know, I didn't say anything. I just stand in here and trying to, you know, and, but yeah, the price is triple. But the fun one was, we, there was a place that's closed now that, it was an electronics store. And Sharon's washer and dryer went out and we went down there on Saturday morning to get one of those new, at that time they were new, those front load, big deal washer and dryers, right? Twenty-five-hundred bucks or whatever the thing was at the time, I don't remember. And we go in there and I'm like, "Okay, that's the price." I'm like, "Have you got last year's model?" And he said, "Yeah, I think we got one back here, let's go look."

• 36:00Speaker 01

  I said, "Then I want a deal on last year's model," because it was towards the end of the year. "Has it got a dent in it? That'd even be better, you know, I want a deal on that." And I wasn't trying to just beat the guy up, but I'm, you know, and I- You're being George. A little haggling. Yeah. I thought, I'm just asking, just pleasantly asking, and I thought, pardon my ego, that the guy had recog- I thought he knew who I was. And I was just being kind and, you know, nice and whatever and then, "Let's go." He takes me back there and he goes, "Okay." He goes, "Well, it'll be, this one'll be eighteen-hundred," or whatever the number was, less, right? And Sharon said, "Well, it's not exactly the color I want." And I said, "Well, what's the price on it? It was the best price for cash right now. I'm gonna pull out hundred-dollar bills and lay them on you." And he goes, "Well, you need to add the extended warranty." Oh, boy.

• 36:45Speaker 01

  And I went, "No, dude." I, I, I was positive he knew who I was, that I don't- Because you hate extended warranties. I hate extended warranties. For those of you listening, yes. Been railing on them for thirty-plus years. I've been railing on them for decades. Yeah, yeah. They're in all the classes, all the books, everything. Don't buy extended warranties. So I thought this guy was like, trying to be funny, bad funny, but I, I'm like, "No, no, I don't buy extended warranties." He goes, "Oh, no, you really need extended warranty." I'm like, "No, dude, not funny, I don't buy extended warranties." And he goes, "Well, Dave Ramsey shops in here, and everything he buys, he puts an extended warranty on." And I went, "No, pretty sure he doesn't." Oh, no. Because now I'm starting to realize, this guy does not know, it's, and Sharon's

• 37:29Speaker 01

  looking at me like, "Oh, God, this is not going well." Because my blood pressure's starting to go up, because this, this guy is not only saying that, he's been telling every customer that comes in- You're not the first. That, "Oh, I'll guarantee you, he tells everybody this to sell these stinking extended warranties," as if I endorsed it, you know, and he's like, and I'm like, "No, I know Dave pretty well." And he-

• 37:54Speaker 01

  He does not buy extended warranties, ever. I don't believe you. And the guy's like, "I can show you in the file. I'll guarantee you he buys extended warranties." And I pulled out my driver's license and I handed it to him and he looked at the license and he looked at me and he looked at the license and he said, "Oh..." Expletive. About passed out and I said, "Sharon, we need to go to the car because I'm angry and I'm going to say something more that I don't need to say." And we're just walking out and he's chasing us towards the car because I've got to get away from him because I'm afraid I'm gonna go off on the guy and then he's gonna have a real Dave Ramsey story. Yeah. You know, that's not good. So I can't do that. I don't have that as an option, being

• 38:38Speaker 01

  me. So I have to get, I have to escape. And I'm walking, he's like chasing me, "Look, I'm sure we can work out a deal. I'm sure we can work out a deal. I can get you the best deal ever. I can get you the best deal ever." And I got to the car and I just, we went to Lowe's and bought it. And, um, uh, the next morning, I got up and told staff meeting because, but when I was happening, it wasn't funny. But the next morning when I woke up, I thought, "This poor guy, he is melting in his shoes right now. This is hilarious." And I, now, and now by now, I'm just like, "This is funny. This is funny. The poor guy, I mean, he really just got caught with his pants down completely." And, um, so I get up and tell the story at staff meeting and everybody's laughing.

• 39:19Speaker 01

  On the way, walking across the parking lot back to the office, seven people stopped me and said, "Oh yeah, they told me that. They told me that." So now I'm mad again. What a roller coaster of emotions. Yeah, it's like, "Oh my God, this guy." So I picked up the phone and I called them. I said, "Let me talk to the manager over there." And I said, "Hey, man, I don't want to be a jerk or anything, but we got a problem." And he goes, "I'm so glad you called. Please don't talk about this on the radio."

• 39:45George Kamel?

  He knew.

• 39:46Speaker 01

  It's a mistake. He goes, there's another Dave Ramsey in another town adjacent to here. I can show you the file. He does buy extended warranties and it's not you. And we have called every store and we've emailed every store and told them to never say Dave Ramsey buys warranties. Again, it was part of our sales pitch. We took it out of everything. He goes, we're so sorry. We're so sorry. Don't yell at us. And I said, that's okay. That's all. That's good. So we ended up buying a bunch of stuff from him later and.

• 40:10George Kamel?

  Wow. And they still went out of business.

• 40:12Speaker 01

  And they still went out of business. That was awkward. That was an awkward experience. A little bit of a long story for your clock, but yeah, there we go.

• 40:18Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, man.

• 40:19George Kamel?

  I'm sweating thinking about that.

• 40:21Rachel Cruze?

  I know. Those front load washers.

• 40:23George Kamel?

  They'll get you.

• 40:24Rachel Cruze?

  I was thinking Sharon probably was like, mom was probably like, but it's a good deal.

• 40:27Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 40:27Rachel Cruze?

  So just take it.

• 40:29Speaker 01

  Let's stand here and talk to him. I'm like, no, if I stand here.

• 40:32Rachel Cruze?

  Just take the deal.

• 40:32Speaker 01

  This is not gonna go well.

• 40:33George Kamel?

  It's gonna be a hillbilly fight.

• 40:34Rachel Cruze?

  Just take the deal.

• 40:35George Kamel?

  Wow.

• 40:36Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, my gosh. Too good. Too good. All right, George, you know, one thing that needs to be put in the budget, though.

• 40:42George Kamel?

  What's that?

• 40:42Rachel Cruze?

  It is so worth it is a Cozy Earth product. Anything that they have, sheets, blankets, pajamas, worth everything.

• 40:50George Kamel?

  It might be worth its own line item in your EveryDollar budget.

• 40:52Rachel Cruze?

  I mean, probably, George. I feel like you need something, do you?

• 40:56George Kamel?

  I'm a man who is now willing to spend on luxury goods and I like getting a discount on said luxury goods, which is what you get from Cozy Earth because you're a Smart Money Happy Hour listener.

• 41:06Rachel Cruze?

  You know what? I think George needs something right now.

• 41:09George Kamel?

  And just like that, I'm a tiny king.

• 41:11Rachel Cruze?

  But let.

• 41:13George Kamel?

  I.

• 41:13Rachel Cruze?

  I want to just hold your hand.

• 41:14George Kamel?

  I feel loved. I feel seen. I feel known.

• 41:18Rachel Cruze?

  I feel like you.

• 41:20George Kamel?

  There's not a lot that a big, giant luxury blanket can't fix.

• 41:24Rachel Cruze?

  And it is so heavy as well. So the fact that it brings so much comfort to your life, it is unbelievable.

• 41:31George Kamel?

  You ever just like hug a big fluffy dog and it just gives you so much joy? That's what this feels like.

• 41:36Rachel Cruze?

  It's unbelievable.

• 41:36George Kamel?

  But it's not made of dog at all.

• 41:37Rachel Cruze?

  No, it is not.

• 41:38George Kamel?

  Just to be very clear.

• 41:40Rachel Cruze?

  No, but seriously, their stuff is incredible. Absolutely incredible.

• 41:43George Kamel?

  Sheets, PJs, hoodies, blankets, you name it.

• 41:46Rachel Cruze?

  The socks? That's what Winston likes now. The Cozy Earth socks.

• 41:48George Kamel?

  I haven't tried the socks.

• 41:49Rachel Cruze?

  Throw the socks in last minute. Worth the purchase. Worth the purchase. Yeah. And Cozy Earth is giving our listeners an incredible deal.

• 41:56George Kamel?

  Up to 40% off when you use the code SMARTMONEY or go to cozylearth.com/smartmoney. Because we love a good deal and we love nice things.

• 42:05Rachel Cruze?

  That's right.

• 42:06George Kamel?

  We can do both.

• 42:06Rachel Cruze?

  I know. Well, George, you may have to say goodbye to the blanket.

• 42:10George Kamel?

  You're right. This would be awkward to wear for the rest of the episode.

• 42:12Rachel Cruze?

  Are you ready?

• 42:12George Kamel?

  Yeah. And we're back.

• 42:15Rachel Cruze?

  So sad.

• 42:15George Kamel?

  I feel cold and lifeless without my blanket, but we have a guest here, Rachel. Back to the conversation.

• 42:21Rachel Cruze?

  Well, thanks for answering all the viewers' questions.

• 42:24Speaker 01

  There we did.

• 42:24George Kamel?

  Hopefully it didn't feel like an interrogation.

• 42:26Rachel Cruze?

  How does it feel? How's Smart Money Happy Hour for you?

• 42:28Speaker 01

  Oh, it's awesome.

• 42:29George Kamel?

  Best show you've ever been on?

• 42:30Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah, definitely. This week.

• 42:35Speaker 01

  Best show I've ever been on today.

• 42:37George Kamel?

  I'm sure you're proud. It's on the Ramsey Network and one of the best shows on the Ramsey Network.

• 42:41Rachel Cruze?

  I fully agree.

• 42:42George Kamel?

  Because the other ones are like our shows. So we're kind of competing with ourselves. Well, before we spill the tea in our Guilty as Charged segment, Rachel, let's share the drink details and reveal our ratings.

• 42:52Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, so we're sipping on a, is it a Black Manhattan?

• 42:55George Kamel?

  Black Manhattan. And the difference here in the Black Manhattan, the Michael Reddish mixologist's signature, it's got rye whiskey and Amaro instead of sweet vermouth, and it's got black walnut bitters, orange bitters, and of course, a branded cherry. And it costs $4.52 for each of these. So drink up. We paid cash for these, Dave.

• 43:13Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 43:14Speaker 01

  Bring it.

• 43:15Rachel Cruze?

  That's a high-priced cocktail.

• 43:16George Kamel?

  I'm gonna rate this. I mean, I would order this at a fancy cocktail bar and happily pay good money for it. So I'm giving this a 10 out of 10.

• 43:23Speaker 01

  Whoa.

• 43:24George Kamel?

  I could not improve on it.

• 43:25Speaker 01

  Wow.

• 43:26George Kamel?

  I can't make a better Black Manhattan.

• 43:27Rachel Cruze?

  I'm going 9 out of 10 just because it's not my, a bourbon-based cocktail is not my favorite.

• 43:33George Kamel?

  Not your thing these days.

• 43:34Rachel Cruze?

  Anymore, no. Do you remember Manhattans used to be, when we would all travel for live events, after a long event, we would, you know, a lot of us would go out.

• 43:40Speaker 01

  Old Fashioned Manhattan.

• 43:41Rachel Cruze?

  But Old Fashioned and Manhattan, that's all we would order.

• 43:43Speaker 01

  If you can't get a good bourbon, you gotta mix it with something.

• 43:45Rachel Cruze?

  And now it would be different. I would do a dirty martini.

• 43:47George Kamel?

  Oh, wow.

• 43:48Rachel Cruze?

  I know, I've switched.

• 43:49Speaker 01

  Look at you.

• 43:50Rachel Cruze?

  I've gone, yeah, I've switched.

• 43:52George Kamel?

  That means you're becoming middle-aged.

• 43:54Rachel Cruze?

  Stop it.

• 43:55George Kamel?

  That's what happens. It's a rite of passage for all moms.

• 43:57Rachel Cruze?

  No, really?

• 43:58George Kamel?

  Eventually, they switch to dirty martinis. It's fine. All right, what's your rating, Dave? Did you give it a rating?

• 44:04Speaker 01

  Hmm.

• 44:05George Kamel?

  You don't have to be generous. You know Michael very well.

• 44:07Rachel Cruze?

  Be honest, yeah, because you just like bourbon.

• 44:08Speaker 01

  I, um...

• 44:10George Kamel?

  You're not really a cocktail guy.

• 44:11Speaker 01

  I'm not liking the black walnut in there.

• 44:13George Kamel?

  Okay. It's hitting you weird.

• 44:15Speaker 01

  Didn't like that. That bitters through it for me.

• 44:19Speaker 01

  But yeah, probably six or seven, somewhere in there.

• 44:22George Kamel?

  That's pretty good.

• 44:23Rachel Cruze?

  6.5, we'll tell him. He texts us after every episode.

• 44:27George Kamel?

  What'd you rate it?

• 44:28Rachel Cruze?

  What'd you rate it?

• 44:29George Kamel?

  He wants to know.

• 44:29Rachel Cruze?

  So we will let them know that, uh, we'll let Michael know.

• 44:31Speaker 01

  He knows I don't want to mix my bourbon with stuff.

• 44:34George Kamel?

  Yeah, he knows. He should have known.

• 44:35Rachel Cruze?

  He should have known better. Michael, unbelievable.

• 44:38George Kamel?

  Well, hey, if you want to see who's right, is it me or Dave? It's Dave, but you can get the recipe in the show notes. If you want to try it for yourself, you decide.

• 44:45Rachel Cruze?

  All right, now it's time for

• 44:48George Kamel?

  Guilty as charged.

• 44:50Rachel Cruze?

  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?

• 44:55Speaker 04

  All right.

• 44:56Speaker 01

  Whatever it is, I'm taking a sip.

• 44:57Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, go ahead.

• 45:00Speaker 04

  Have you ever been awkward around someone famous or someone that you really respected?

• 45:06Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. I have a story.

• 45:09Speaker 01

  Oh, no. I know this story. Oh, this is so bad.

• 45:14Speaker 04

  Have I heard this story?

• 45:15Speaker 01

  Don't tell it.

• 45:16Rachel Cruze?

  Don't?

• 45:17Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 45:18Speaker 04

  Now you have to. We have to hear it.

• 45:19George Kamel?

  Now.

• 45:20Rachel Cruze?

  This is my worst. This is one of my worst.

• 45:21George Kamel?

  If I could ever veto Dave, I'm gonna, I'm gonna use that card right now to say, please tell the story.

• 45:26Rachel Cruze?

  I know. We're gonna, yeah, this is an honest show.

• 45:28George Kamel?

  It can be edited out later.

• 45:30Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, stop it. Stop. It's not that bad. It's not that bad.

• 45:35Rachel Cruze?

  Um, yeah, my worst celebrity experience. We were in Las Vegas because Dad, Dave, was being inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame, which was a really big deal.

• 45:46George Kamel?

  That's amazing.

• 45:47Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, it was incredible. Yeah, so we all flew out as a family, because we all went as a family, and, um, went to this, like, you know, they had a big ceremony. The night before, we were eating at a restaurant, and everyone was talking about the guy that owned the restaurant. And I don't watch the Food Network. I don't, I don't watch cooking shows. I don't know famous chefs. Like, that's not my thing. And, um, Bobby Flay owns the restaurant. And, and, and this was a pairing, exactly like you're talking about. And Sweet Rachel, in her, like, early twenties, that didn't get these experiences, is very excited. I talk a lot. I'm, you know, I'm having my, probably dirty martini, my, probably my Manhattan. You know, and you get wine pairing, you know, all of it.

• 46:30Rachel Cruze?

  So anyways, I mean, I think, I think it's fair to say, toward the end of the dinner, I was like, oh, wow, I probably didn't eat enough for the whole pairing situation, you know?

• 46:38Speaker 01

  That's how we explain it.

• 46:39Rachel Cruze?

  So I am, yeah, so it's a, yeah, so I'm just like, oh, yeah, okay. So we're getting out of the restaurant.

• 46:44Speaker 03

  And everyone's like chattering in our group and they're like, oh my gosh, he's here, he's here, he's actually in town, he's coming up to like say hi and congratulations. I was like, what are you all talking about? And they were like, Bobby Flay is coming, he's coming up, he's coming up to say hello. And everyone's freaking out and I'm like, oh my God, I don't know, but Rachel is very like, I want to meet him.

• 47:05George Kamel?

  You don't know who this guy is, you go, I want to meet him.

• 47:08Speaker 03

  I do, because everyone's freaking out.

• 47:09Speaker 01

  His name's on the front of the restaurant, I gotta meet him.

• 47:11Speaker 03

  Yeah, so it's like, I don't know. And so he comes up, he's talking.

• 47:22George Kamel?

  This cannot end well.

• 47:23Speaker 03

  It's not good, it's not good. Um, yeah, well, I first walk up, again, Rachel's, yeah.

• 47:29George Kamel?

  You're not seven, you're in your mid twenties.

• 47:31Speaker 03

  I know, I know.

• 47:32George Kamel?

  You act like I was just a mere child.

• 47:34Speaker 01

  She's kind of bashful.

• 47:36Speaker 03

  And I, the first thing I said was, hi, um, I said, hi Bobby Flynn.

• 47:45Speaker 03

  Ready for this? I don't know why. Hi, I'm, oh, I'm Dave Ramsey's wife.

• 47:53Speaker 03

  And mom and dad were like, Rachel? And I was like, oh my God, no, not his wife, I'm his daughter. Sorry Bobby Flynn, I'm his daughter. I said his name wrong, twice, twice. And Amy Severson, who's on our team, was there and she grabs my arm and she says, hey, let's, let's go over here Rachel. And, uh, yeah, and we walk out.

• 48:14Speaker 01

  Get away from the famous person.

• 48:15Speaker 03

  And they said his name is Bobby Flay.

• 48:16George Kamel?

  Oh no.

• 48:17Speaker 01

  This is so painful to watch.

• 48:19Speaker 03

  It was terrible, it was terrible.

• 48:20George Kamel?

  What I really want to know, I want to hear Bobby Flay's version of this story.

• 48:23Speaker 03

  He probably doesn't remember it, but in my head, it was my worst interaction, yeah.

• 48:27George Kamel?

  Wow.

• 48:28Speaker 03

  Yeah, uh huh, Bobby Flynn.

• 48:29Speaker 01

  Overly excited chick at the restaurant.

• 48:31George Kamel?

  Yes. Wow, uh, well Rachel, if it makes you feel better, I'm guilty too, mine's way more recent, I was in my early thirties.

• 48:37Speaker 03

  Okay, tell us.

• 48:39George Kamel?

  And Dave was there and Dave reminds me of this story all the time. I was at an event that Dave put on. Dave put on for an event for guys.

• 48:47Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 48:48George Kamel?

  Men that he respects. I happened to get, I was a late addition to the list. Say that. No, George.

• 48:53Speaker 01

  Not true.

• 48:54George Kamel?

  And there's some like, there's some like, big time people there. You know, I'm not gonna name drop. This was a famous comedian. He's got a big podcast and I was filming a magic trick that was happening that he was involved with. Thought this'll be a cool moment. I heard this story, George. To see this magic trick, you know, come to life. We're four and a half minutes into this trick. Things aren't going as planned and he sees me filming and goes, hey, are you filming? I'm like, oh, I'm just, anyway, I gotta get out of here. And I, apparently to Dave's, Dave's version, I forced him to leave the party. Because of how uncomfortable I made him. George. And to this day, I think about it every night before bed. And I feel terrible. I didn't know that it was gonna make him uncomfortable, you know? Yeah.

• 49:38George Kamel?

  We're used to camera, he's used to cameras. This particular incident, he wasn't having it. And you're just filming him right there. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. So haven't lived that one down. Don't know if I'll make it back on the invite list, but.

• 49:48Speaker 01

  Oh, you're fine. He's gonna take your phone away from you at the door.

• 49:51George Kamel?

  Yeah, I've learned. I've learned, ask for consent before pulling out the phone. That's a good one, that's a good one.

• 49:57Speaker 01

  That's a good one.

• 49:57George Kamel?

  Yep. And Dave's never been awkward around anyone.

• 50:00Speaker 01

  I'm awkward around everybody. It's just a problem. I don't know. I, yeah, I mean, uh, the first time I was on the Today Show, Matt Lauer was on and Katie Couric was on. And, um, I'm just like, uh, me and Matt are sitting right there and we did the little interview thing and my little scissors, I'm chopping up credit cards and, um, it was the, you know, a classic routine. I'd done a bazillion times, but never done on the Today Show. So I'm like, oh, this is cool. I'm just happy to be here. Life's good. And so Katie's over there at the desk, you know, across the room. They had like three sets in the room, big, big studio. And so I'm like, ah, hi, Katie Couric. And she says, hi, Dave Ramsey.

• 50:42Speaker 01

  So I start walking towards her to say hi and shake her hand. And like, three security guys jumped between us and I'm like, okay, not shaking her hand.

• 50:54George Kamel?

  Goodness gracious. You were a guest on the set. It's not like you were a stranger.

• 50:59Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, but those morning shows, it's a... Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not in a bad way, but they...

• 51:02Speaker 01

  I mean, they were the stars of the show in those days. I mean, they were the...

• 51:07Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 51:07Speaker 01

  They were hot commodity, so... Actually, Matt wasn't. He was just starting then. But Katie was a big deal.

• 51:14George Kamel?

  Wow.

• 51:15Speaker 01

  And, yeah, I mean, I'm sure they worried some weird guy from Tennessee with a huge set of scissors.

• 51:21Rachel Cruze?

  Excuse me, I'm Katie!

• 51:22Speaker 01

  Coming towards Katie.

• 51:23Rachel Cruze?

  Katie Couric!

• 51:25George Kamel?

  Maybe put the scissors down.

• 51:27Speaker 01

  Every scissor hand attacks Katie Couric.

• 51:29George Kamel?

  Don't approach Katie with scissors.

• 51:30Rachel Cruze?

  Katie!

• 51:31George Kamel?

  Those are big scissors you have there.

• 51:34George Kamel?

  Wow, all right, guess what? This is the first time we're all guilty.

• 51:36Rachel Cruze?

  We're all guilty.

• 51:37George Kamel?

  Cheers to that.

• 51:37Rachel Cruze?

  Cheers to the guilt.

• 51:39Speaker 01

  We're in enough rooms with famous people. We got lots of things to be guilty about on that one.

• 51:43Rachel Cruze?

  Bobby Flay, never forget you.

• 51:44George Kamel?

  Wow.

• 51:45Rachel Cruze?

  Never forget. Never forget.

• 51:47Speaker 01

  Bobby Flynn.

• 51:48Rachel Cruze?

  Bobby Flynn. Oh, so fun. Well, if you guys enjoyed this episode, make sure to check out that we actually have an episode about Cheap Skate or Resourceful with Sharon Ramsey, his better half. So make sure to leave that episode. You can check it out here. Or if you're listening on podcast, we'll leave a link in the description, because that's a fun one, for sure. Dave, Dad, thanks for being here. Being a great guest.

• 52:13Speaker 01

  My honor, this was a lot of fun.

• 52:14George Kamel?

  One of my favorites. Not the favorite, but one of my favorites.

• 52:17Speaker 01

  I can't.

• 52:18George Kamel?

  We had Sharon on, so...

• 52:19Speaker 01

  Yeah, you be careful with that. It'll get you in trouble, but, yeah.

• 52:21Rachel Cruze?

  It was so good. All right.

• 52:23Speaker 01

  I don't get to drink on other shows, so this is interesting.

• 52:25Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, it's good!

• 52:26George Kamel?

  A real treat for him.

• 52:27Rachel Cruze?

  It was so fun, so fun. All right, you guys, make sure to like and subscribe, and we'll see you next Thursday on an all-new episode of

• 52:34George Kamel?

  Smart Money Happy Hour.