Our Ultimate Guide to Budget-Friendly Travel

📈 Are you on track with the Baby Steps? Get a free personalized plan. Is dragging yourself to the airport at 4 a.m. for a $90 round-trip flight worth it? In this episode, Rachel and George weigh in on travel budget hacks you can try to save big on your next trip. Next Steps: 🏅Help us make the show better! Please fill out a quick survey. 🍸 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. 💵 Start your free budget today. Download the EveryDollar app! Connect With Our Sponsors: 🔒 Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe. 🌿 Get up to 40% off with code SMARTMONEY at Cozy Earth. Today’s Happy Hour Special: 🍸 Seabreeze Recipe: Difford’s Guide 1 2/3 ounce Ketel One vodka 2 1/2 ounce cranberry juice 1 ounce pink grapefruit juice Instructions: Select and pre-chill a Collins glass. Prepare garnish of lime wedge and shake all ingredients with ice. Strain into ice-filled glass and garnish with lime wedge. Explore More From Ramsey Network: 💡 The Rachel Cruze Show 💰 George Kamel 🎙️ The Ramsey Show 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 🪑 Front Row Seat with Ken Coleman 📈 EntreLeadership Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

• 0:05George Kamel?

  Today, we're talking about the latest travel hacks and also owning up to our travel tendencies.

• 0:10Rachel Cruze?

  I know two people that have lost their TSA. I've heard a flight attendant say this, never drink coffee or tea on planes. It's been proven through the travel industry that the cheapest times to book on travel is...

• 0:27Rachel Cruze?

  Hey guys, I'm Rachel Cruz.

• 0:29George Kamel?

  I'm George Kamel.

• 0:30Rachel Cruze?

  And this is... Smart Money Happy Hour.

• 0:38Rachel Cruze?

  Well, this is the show where two friends who happen to be money experts talk about what you're talking about. So, everything from pop culture, current events, and money. All right, George, well, as we're talking about traveling, what are we gonna sip on?

• 0:47George Kamel?

  We're sipping on a Seabreeze, which feels appropriate.

• 0:50Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, yeah, Seabreeze. You know, that was a song.

• 0:52George Kamel?

  Was it?

• 0:53Rachel Cruze?

  Back in my day. I think that was like when I was like in college.

• 0:56George Kamel?

  Back in your day? Like, we're talking 2000s?

• 0:58Rachel Cruze?

  Tyron Wells or something. I mean, I think I had it on a legit burnt CD.

• 1:01George Kamel?

  Wow.

• 1:01Rachel Cruze?

  That's where we're going.

• 1:02George Kamel?

  If you know about a burnt CD, you know.

• 1:04Rachel Cruze?

  Kazaa Days. Seabreeze, look it up! Ooh, I just got that warm, like, nostalgia feeling.

• 1:09George Kamel?

  I feel nostalgic thinking about a burnt CD with handwritten songs on it.

• 1:13Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, y'all. It is, it's a...

• 1:14George Kamel?

  Gen Z will never know.

• 1:15Rachel Cruze?

  It's a good song.

• 1:16George Kamel?

  You listen to that album, you burnt a CD.

• 1:18Rachel Cruze?

  I wonder where he went? Where did he go? Is he still making music? Okay, well, anyways.

• 1:22George Kamel?

  Hey, stick around till the end. We're gonna give you our rating for this drink and reveal the cost per glass.

• 1:27Rachel Cruze?

  That's right.

• 1:28George Kamel?

  So, here's the latest in travel hacks.

• 1:30Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, I can't wait.

• 1:30George Kamel?

  This one is a game changer. I saw an ad for this service called Trusted House Sitters, and immediately, I felt like I was Kate Winslet, or Cameron Diaz, the holiday. They exchange homes.

• 1:41Rachel Cruze?

  I rewatched that this, uh...

• 1:43George Kamel?

  This Christmas.

• 1:44Rachel Cruze?

  Christmas. She's got a bob, like me. Cameron.

• 1:47George Kamel?

  Oh, I didn't think about that.

• 1:49Rachel Cruze?

  I mean, wow.

• 1:50George Kamel?

  You are...

• 1:50Rachel Cruze?

  I felt good.

• 1:51George Kamel?

  The Cameron Diaz of Ramsey.

• 1:53Rachel Cruze?

  So blonde and everything.

• 1:54George Kamel?

  Who am I? Do I get to be one of the guys?

• 1:57Rachel Cruze?

  You know what just came to my mind was Gru from

• 2:00George Kamel?

  Gru? I was expecting like, yeah, I could see you as a Hugh Grant type.

• 2:04Rachel Cruze?

  I don't know why.

• 2:05George Kamel?

  Gru?

• 2:06Rachel Cruze?

  It just came to my head. I don't know, you're just like a

• 2:10George Kamel?

  You're like Gru meets Groot, just kind of a

• 2:12Rachel Cruze?

  I don't know.

• 2:13George Kamel?

  All right.

• 2:14Rachel Cruze?

  I'll give you that.

• 2:15George Kamel?

  Thank you for that.

• 2:15Rachel Cruze?

  You're welcome.

• 2:16George Kamel?

  I take it all back, Rachel. Where apparently people with pets who travel for weeks at a time, they're matched with trusted sitters who come to live in your house and care for your pets for an extended period of time. So you can do this, I have a friend who does this.

• 2:28Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 2:28George Kamel?

  They'll go to Europe and stay for free and, you know, watch someone's pet while they're there.

• 2:33Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, what would be more of a scary situation? You being, you going into a stranger's home and watching their dog? Or having a stranger come stay at your house and watch your dogs?

• 2:43George Kamel?

  I trust myself more than a stranger.

• 2:45Rachel Cruze?

  That's fair.

• 2:46George Kamel?

  Call me egotistical, but

• 2:47Rachel Cruze?

  That's fair.

• 2:48George Kamel?

  So I'd rather be in someone's house.

• 2:49Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, yeah, it's probably a better way to make money than to actually use the service. Like to have a stranger come in, I don't know.

• 2:55George Kamel?

  But I would trust a stranger who loves dogs more than a family member who does not like dogs. I would rather a stranger who loves dogs.

• 3:01Rachel Cruze?

  You know what, that's fair. We had a great dog sitter when we had the puppies. Sorry, everyone that gets mad at us because we had puppies, but we had the puppies. And we had to go to fall break and those puppies, y'all, were like two weeks old. And we got, there was a recommendation from our vet. There was a tech vet and she was so sweet, young in her twenties. And when she pulled up, she had all these dog bumper stickers on her car.

• 3:21George Kamel?

  That's how you know.

• 3:21Rachel Cruze?

  That's who I want watching my dog, seriously. And she was fantastic. And we didn't really know her, but we did have a wreck from someone we knew.

• 3:28George Kamel?

  That's, and yeah, and they're vet techs, so like they've got some experience.

• 3:31Rachel Cruze?

  She knows what she's doing.

• 3:32George Kamel?

  They know how to deal with puppies.

• 3:33Rachel Cruze?

  It was fantastic.

• 3:33George Kamel?

  Love that, so I would do this, I like this deal.

• 3:35Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, it's pretty good.

• 3:36George Kamel?

  As long as they're vetted, you know, I want some reviews.

• 3:38Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 3:38George Kamel?

  I want a service that's backing this, maybe some insurance, that'd be nice.

• 3:41Rachel Cruze?

  I think so, that's good. Well, George, you and I, I'd say we're opposites in life in some things.

• 3:46George Kamel?

  That's fair.

• 3:47Rachel Cruze?

  We have some similarities as friends, but our travel Forte's, if you will. We're different travelers, I think.

• 3:54George Kamel?

  Yeah, I'm living more, I guess, nomadically. But you also are simpler in a lot of ways.

• 4:01Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, you're looking for-

• 4:02George Kamel?

  Simpler minded, some would say.

• 4:03Rachel Cruze?

  You are so terrible. You're looking for that, you're looking for coupons, you're going discounted. Like, you are wiggling your way through to save every little dime and penny.

• 4:16George Kamel?

  Well, I just feel like especially post-COVID. Travel is meant to screw you over. Travel is meant to just squeeze every dollar.

• 4:23Rachel Cruze?

  The enemy isn't travel.

• 4:24George Kamel?

  But I feel like everything, like hotels more expensive, flights more expensive, rental cars more expensive.

• 4:29Rachel Cruze?

  Y'all.

• 4:29George Kamel?

  You can't travel for less than a thousand bucks these days.

• 4:32Rachel Cruze?

  No, you can't, and it is pretty, it does make my stomach hurt because we've been looking for an upcoming week with the kids and stuff, and when you're looking for like a spring break or a summer, probably a prime time.

• 4:43George Kamel?

  Put a fork in me, I'm done.

• 4:44Rachel Cruze?

  To travel, y'all, to travel. And not even going anywhere crazy, but it was like going up from like 800 to 1,000 a person round trip, and we were like, mm-mm, mm-mm. I mean, is that not crazy?

• 4:56George Kamel?

  That's insane.

• 4:56Rachel Cruze?

  Wild, so.

• 4:57George Kamel?

  Thank you, you're coming to my side.

• 4:59Rachel Cruze?

  I have a gauge, I have a gauge.

• 5:00George Kamel?

  Okay.

• 5:01Rachel Cruze?

  But also, I think it's part of enjoying life, and if you're looking for shortcuts in every little decision, it kind of takes the fun out. So, that's what I think about you, George.

• 5:11George Kamel?

  I get it, you're more of a free spirit traveler, you don't want to think about it, you just want to have a great experience. I am constantly in a state of anxiety while traveling, and I'm always just looking out, always, you know, someone's gonna steal a dollar from me, I don't know.

• 5:25Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, let's go through some of our travel traits, you ready? Carry-on or checked bag?

• 5:29George Kamel?

  Left my own devices, I'm going checked.

• 5:32Rachel Cruze?

  Wow.

• 5:33George Kamel?

  I just don't have to worry about shoving it all in there, and what, I know I had a four and a half ounce toiletry, going to jail now, it's too stressful.

• 5:41Rachel Cruze?

  Winston did get his hair product removed, TSA from Montana two weekends ago.

• 5:46George Kamel?

  And I bet it was a pretty nice hair product.

• 5:48Rachel Cruze?

  And he was pretty, yeah, he wasn't very happy about it.

• 5:50George Kamel?

  He's gotta go to a CVS now.

• 5:51Rachel Cruze?

  It's like a gel.

• 5:52George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 5:53Rachel Cruze?

  So it wasn't even liquid.

• 5:53George Kamel?

  What is this motion?

• 5:54Rachel Cruze?

  You know how you pull it up, it's like, chchch.

• 5:56George Kamel?

  Yeah. All right, do you know the brand he's using?

• 6:00Rachel Cruze?

  Uh, I think it starts with an I, Imperial, I M P, I don't know, it was on Amazon.

• 6:05George Kamel?

  Oh, alright, go instant.

• 6:06Rachel Cruze?

  Um, yeah, I am carry on, all day, every day, even with the kids.

• 6:12George Kamel?

  Wow. When's the last time you had a checked bag? Like a week trip, you're not taking a checked bag?

• 6:16Rachel Cruze?

  You know what, well, okay, so I say all of that, yeah, because most of our trips, we don't go weeks. That's another one of my hacks. I'd rather go for a short amount of time and go real nice, and go for four nights than stretch it out for a week and all that.

• 6:27George Kamel?

  Oh, that makes sense.

• 6:28Rachel Cruze?

  But we, we did go for a week, and I think I did check one, yeah, big bag, but if we, but we usually travel for four nights. And if that's the case, carry ons, all day. And you know the secret carry on trick, y'all, that is chef's kiss?

• 6:41George Kamel?

  Well, don't gatekeep.

• 6:42Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, going back, just listen to some Seabreeze and then pull out your Vera Bradley duffel, because those things will fit so much in there, and they are clothed.

• 6:53George Kamel?

  It counts as a carry on?

• 6:55Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. It is a dream to travel with, and it's a throwback. It's like vintage these days.

• 6:59George Kamel?

  Yeah, and there's a bonus, nobody's gonna steal it. Nobody wants to be seen with that.

• 7:05Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, like, looking with that thing, and they're like, I need that Vera Bradley.

• 7:08George Kamel?

  I'm so glad. Is that trend over? Are we done with Vera Bradley?

• 7:11Rachel Cruze?

  I...

• 7:11George Kamel?

  I don't want to offend anyone.

• 7:12Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, no, oh, we got some no's. I don't know. Oh, it's going. It is, it is back.

• 7:16George Kamel?

  And those are the same people calling the Cybertruck ugly? I'm sorry. Can we trust your taste?

• 7:21Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, uh, TSA Pre-check?

• 7:23George Kamel?

  All day long.

• 7:24Rachel Cruze?

  All day.

• 7:25George Kamel?

  Because I'm all about efficiency. So this is one...

• 7:27Rachel Cruze?

  It's my favorite.

• 7:28George Kamel?

  Eighty bucks for like five years? Are you kidding me?

• 7:30Rachel Cruze?

  All day.

• 7:31George Kamel?

  Now, here's the thing, if too many people use it, the TSA Pre-line becomes longer than the normal line.

• 7:36Rachel Cruze?

  That is true.

• 7:37George Kamel?

  But to not have to take off my shoes and laptops and deal with the riffraff?

• 7:40Rachel Cruze?

  It's a dream.

• 7:41George Kamel?

  Because it's never a first time traveler going through TSA Pre. They know what they're doing.

• 7:44Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 7:45George Kamel?

  It's like, these are my people. Let's get through.

• 7:46Rachel Cruze?

  I know two people that have lost their TSA because of situations on accident. John Deloney is one of them, y'all.

• 7:52George Kamel?

  What?

• 7:52Rachel Cruze?

  He doesn't have it for a year.

• 7:53George Kamel?

  It got revoked?

• 7:54Rachel Cruze?

  And Savannah, who helps us with this show, revoked.

• 7:59George Kamel?

  Okay, I need to know what it would take to get my TSA Pre.

• 8:01Rachel Cruze?

  I think for John, I think he left a hunting knife in his bag.

• 8:04George Kamel?

  Oh, that makes sense.

• 8:05Rachel Cruze?

  And I want to say Savannah had her dad's bag, or borrowed it from her dad and had it in her bag and forgot about it. Yep. So if you have a weapon, you could lose it, which would be so heartbreaking to lose TSA Pre check. Okay, do you do CLEAR? You see the CLEAR people?

• 8:18George Kamel?

  I've never done CLEAR. I think CLEAR is a ripoff personally.

• 8:20Rachel Cruze?

  Go into, because I keep seeing them around. I'm always like, hey, you CLEAR people.

• 8:23George Kamel?

  If I was like, if I was traveling for work a lot, I would find CLEAR to be helpful. But as often as I travel, it's not worth it. It's much more expensive than TSA Pre. I want to say like 100 to 200 bucks a year.

• 8:34Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, okay, yeah.

• 8:35George Kamel?

  In a lot of cases. And you get to skip to the front of the TSA Pre line.

• 8:39Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, which usually you can skip.

• 8:40George Kamel?

  Which is fine, you know. I guess in a real busy airport, that'd be helpful.

• 8:43Rachel Cruze?

  You know what scared me early on with it? Now TSA like takes your video, but CLEAR, you'd have to like, they did an eye scan. And I, you know, I mean, conspiracies. I was just a little nervous. I was like, I'm going to have my retina.

• 8:53George Kamel?

  Can I be honest? The CLEAR people always felt a little pushy. It felt like an Apple store. It's like, whoa, there's five of you. You don't need to be hassling me about CLEAR.

• 9:00Rachel Cruze?

  I see more of that. I was at TARGETS yesterday and there was someone outside like trying to get me to switch my cellphone carrier at TARGETS. She was like, ma'am, ma'am. And I was like, I don't know, it's a work phone.

• 9:09George Kamel?

  I didn't know they could do that at TARGETS. It's a solicitor.

• 9:11Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, and I lied to her and then she said, do you pay for internet? And I was like, no. She was like, you don't have internet? And I just kept walking.

• 9:16George Kamel?

  I wish you said, my husband makes all the decisions in the house.

• 9:19Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my goodness.

• 9:20George Kamel?

  Just kept going. Just play trad wife all the way.

• 9:22Rachel Cruze?

  All the way. I don't know what's going on.

• 9:25George Kamel?

  So yeah, we're both TSA Pre.

• 9:26Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, TSA Pre, all the way. Um, no CLEAR, but TSA Pre.

• 9:30George Kamel?

  Yes.

• 9:30Rachel Cruze?

  Uh, plain drinks. You drink it on the plane, George?

• 9:32George Kamel?

  Um, I will say if it's free. So I used to have, I used to have the Southwest coupons. This really bothered me.

• 9:38Rachel Cruze?

  Did they take those away?

• 9:39George Kamel?

  They took them away. And here's what happened. I had like nine left. And they're like, either they didn't ask for them or they expire, whatever. I tried to use them and they went, "We don't do those anymore." And I was like, okay, salty Southwest.

• 9:52Rachel Cruze?

  Oh no.

• 9:52George Kamel?

  So I can't, they're, they're done. And now I'm not paying 10 or 12 bucks a drink. I don't think it's worth it unless it's free.

• 9:58Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 9:58George Kamel?

  Or unless I'm really desperate, which in which case I'm like, maybe you shouldn't if you're desperate for it. You know what I mean?

• 10:04Rachel Cruze?

  Well, plain drinking is some of my favorite drinking. And I'm like, no one's bothering you? I never pay for internet either, so I got no, you can do free texting, so I will turn my texting.

• 10:12George Kamel?

  What do you mean, no one's bothering you?

• 10:15Rachel Cruze?

  My children, I love my children. I don't know, but they're not like, "Mom, mom." Like, they're, they've got their stuff. I've got mine. And you're just in this peaceful tube in the air with a cocktail. And it's just great. It really is. I love flying. I do.

• 10:30George Kamel?

  I respect that. You ever do anything else than a vodka soda?

• 10:33Rachel Cruze?

  Uh...

• 10:34George Kamel?

  It's the go-to?

• 10:34Rachel Cruze?

  I'll do a champ's champagne.

• 10:36George Kamel?

  Alright.

• 10:36Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah. A little sparkling wine on Delta.

• 10:40George Kamel?

  Yeah, that's fine. I guess in a special occasion I would. If it was like an anniversary trip or something, you know.

• 10:44Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, I don't know.

• 10:44George Kamel?

  I'm not saying I would.

• 10:45Rachel Cruze?

  And, you know what's funny too? You could walk through an airport at 6:50 in the morning, and there are people at the bar just...

• 10:51George Kamel?

  It's a dark time.

• 10:52Rachel Cruze?

  Drinking a beer. I mean, not even like a Bloody Mary or a mimosa. They're like, beer in it.

• 10:57George Kamel?

  Yeah, I don't know what it is about a beer that early. It feels different.

• 10:59Rachel Cruze?

  I don't know. It's just funny to me that airports, there's like no time. You know? Just, whatever.

• 11:04George Kamel?

  It's a maritime law.

• 11:05Rachel Cruze?

  So no, I do pay for it. Winston will not. He refuses. He thinks it's a ripoff.

• 11:09George Kamel?

  Thank you, Winston.

• 11:10Rachel Cruze?

  He will not. He's like, no.

• 11:11George Kamel?

  But he's like, drinks are a ripoff anywhere you go. So actually, on a plane, it's cheaper.

• 11:16Rachel Cruze?

  That's true.

• 11:16George Kamel?

  On a Southwest flight.

• 11:17Rachel Cruze?

  That is true, yep.

• 11:18George Kamel?

  There we go.

• 11:18Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, that, okay, what's the most expensive airline for drinks? I have it right here. What would you guess?

• 11:23George Kamel?

  If I'm gonna guess?

• 11:25Rachel Cruze?

  Which is so opposite than what you would ever think.

• 11:27George Kamel?

  I feel like Delta would get you.

• 11:28Rachel Cruze?

  You'll guess this. Guess two more, real quick, for fun.

• 11:31George Kamel?

  Um, Frontier.

• 11:33Rachel Cruze?

  No.

• 11:33George Kamel?

  Am I close? Is it a budget airline?

• 11:35Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 11:36George Kamel?

  Spirit. No, it can't be Spirit.

• 11:37Rachel Cruze?

  It is Spirit Airlines, y'all. It has the most expensive drinks, on average, $10.61.

• 11:44George Kamel?

  What?

• 11:44Rachel Cruze?

  The cheapest is Southwest. Look at you getting all mad at Southwest.

• 11:46George Kamel?

  I don't buy that.

• 11:47Rachel Cruze?

  They're $6.67.

• 11:49George Kamel?

  Who did this?

• 11:50Rachel Cruze?

  Spirit Airlines and Allegiant.

• 11:51George Kamel?

  There's no $6. alcoholic drinks?

• 11:54Rachel Cruze?

  No, because the budget airlines, they charge you for everything. And they upcharge you. That's how they make their money.

• 11:57George Kamel?

  To be fair, if I was on a Spirit flight, I would have to drink. Like, you're like, this could be the last on a Spirit flight. I get why, they're like, people are gonna pay whatever. Trust me.

• 12:06Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my gosh. Well, that's true. Isn't that crazy?

• 12:09George Kamel?

  God bless.

• 12:10Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, do you buy anything at the airport?

• 12:12George Kamel?

  Try to avoid it, but if I'm with my wife, things will be purchased.

• 12:16Rachel Cruze?

  What does she buy? What does Whitney like?

• 12:17George Kamel?

  Like, I'm the guy who's like, I'm not buying a $9 water at the airport. I'll bring the empty one, I'll fill it at the little filter station.

• 12:24Rachel Cruze?

  Funny, yes, yes.

• 12:25George Kamel?

  But that's the one thing I will buy, is a bottle of water.

• 12:28Rachel Cruze?

  Me too, George.

• 12:29George Kamel?

  Other than that, if I really need a meal, I'll do it. I'll try to find something affordable, maybe Whitney and I will split it. But I just feel like every, it's like you could spend $90 just waiting for your plane to arrive.

• 12:39Rachel Cruze?

  Totally, yep. No, I'm the same way. I will always have a bottle of water. Have this like weird fear that you get like stuck on a plane, on the taxiway, and they can't serve you or do anything, and then you're like, oh my gosh. I don't know why water feels like my escape.

• 12:50George Kamel?

  That's a real fear.

• 12:51Rachel Cruze?

  It's like my, water is my, what's what you need.

• 12:52George Kamel?

  I will pay for good coffee in an airport, because I have a distrust of airplane coffee. I've heard things.

• 12:57Rachel Cruze?

  I have too, the water filter.

• 12:58George Kamel?

  Don't want to start any theories.

• 12:59Rachel Cruze?

  It is so sad. I've heard a flight attendant say this, never drink coffee or tea on planes.

• 13:03George Kamel?

  And that's from a flight attendant?

• 13:04Rachel Cruze?

  I know, because they never change the water filters. So the water coming out is like...

• 13:09George Kamel?

  This is how scurvy comes back, I'm telling you.

• 13:11Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my gosh!

• 13:11George Kamel?

  I don't have any proof, I don't know what it takes to even get it.

• 13:14Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, that's funny, because I will not pay for good coffee at airports, because you know what happens to me? I get eight sips in, and then I got my, I got all my carry-ons. I don't have any hands!

• 13:23George Kamel?

  Get my Vera Bradley.

• 13:24Rachel Cruze?

  And I'm like, I, I, I gotta, I don't know what else to do with it, you know? And I end up throwing it away.

• 13:31George Kamel?

  Wow.

• 13:31Rachel Cruze?

  So, I don't get, yeah.

• 13:33George Kamel?

  Yeah, I do bring a little baggie with different snacks.

• 13:36Rachel Cruze?

  Do you?

• 13:36George Kamel?

  I do have a snack bag, at all times, in my bag.

• 13:39Rachel Cruze?

  Not because of Mia, but because of you.

• 13:40George Kamel?

  No, Mia has her own.

• 13:41Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 13:42George Kamel?

  But, yeah, yeah, yeah. We don't, we don't do the same snacks yet. I think eventually we'll have a crossover, which will be really special for us. But I'm not really into like yogurt melts, you know what I mean? It's not my thing as an adult. Yeah, I want a little dark chocolate, something a little refined.

• 13:56Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, alright.

• 13:57George Kamel?

  A little something salty.

• 13:59Rachel Cruze?

  I got it. You know, I'll always have a big bar in my bag.

• 14:01George Kamel?

  I do have, this is my travel must haves. Neck pillow.

• 14:05Rachel Cruze?

  Ah.

• 14:06George Kamel?

  Eye mask. It's an inflatable neck pillow, so it's easy to travel with. I love inflating on a plane, because no one's gonna bother you. They see that guy, they're like, don't, don't even start a conversation with them.

• 14:15Rachel Cruze?

  George, you really use a neck pillow?

• 14:17George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 14:18Rachel Cruze?

  On every flight?

• 14:19George Kamel?

  I wouldn't say every.

• 14:21Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 14:22George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 14:23Rachel Cruze?

  I've never used a neck pillow in my life.

• 14:24George Kamel?

  With a neck pillow.

• 14:25Rachel Cruze?

  Never used one in my life.

• 14:25George Kamel?

  You're just gonna stand there holding your own head up?

• 14:27Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 14:27George Kamel?

  You're an insane person?

• 14:28Rachel Cruze?

  Um, okay, and then an eye mask?

• 14:30George Kamel?

  Eye mask? Got my, uh, AirPods Pro.

• 14:33Rachel Cruze?

  We're not talking about like an international flight here. We're talking like Nashville to Dallas?

• 14:37George Kamel?

  I don't say I always use it, but I always carry it.

• 14:39Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 14:40George Kamel?

  Eye mask, neck pillow, the noise-canceling headphones. I use the AirPods Pro.

• 14:44Rachel Cruze?

  Mm-hmm.

• 14:45George Kamel?

  That's a big one. And portable charger.

• 14:49Rachel Cruze?

  Which I've used when we used to travel for work and we had a group of us, I'd always, I would always get low.

• 14:54George Kamel?

  Do you have your charger?

• 14:54Rachel Cruze?

  I know, I do. Do you have your charger?

• 14:56George Kamel?

  I'm the boy scout.

• 14:57Rachel Cruze?

  You are a boy scout of traveling though. You have, you do carry a lot of things.

• 15:00George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 15:00Rachel Cruze?

  It's very helpful. Okay, but one thing that I never travel without though is Cozy Earth joggers.

• 15:06George Kamel?

  Oh, that's your go-to for airport travel?

• 15:09Rachel Cruze?

  I carry them now. Yes. Whether I'm wearing them or I pack them for the hotel, it's what I always do. Cause Cozy Earth has like literally the best products. Winston just wore their hoodie the other day. It looks great.

• 15:19George Kamel?

  I think I saw that in Insta sort of, I was like, he's an influencer.

• 15:22Rachel Cruze?

  Maybe so. We should have linked it. I know, but no, for real, Cozy Earth's quality products, they're amazing. Their clothes are like, I'm on a high of the clothes right now. They're just good quality, soft, that bamboo. So like the pajamas and everything, they're so soft. I have a robe too. I mean, it's literally, it's amazing.

• 15:37George Kamel?

  Wear that on the plane, see if you get any looks.

• 15:39Rachel Cruze?

  With the eye mask and the pillow. Uh, their sheets are amazing, their blankets, I mean.

• 15:43George Kamel?

  Wish I could take that on the plane.

• 15:45Rachel Cruze?

  What if we did?

• 15:46George Kamel?

  But I'd have to burn it after because of all the plane germs.

• 15:48Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, that's true.

• 15:48George Kamel?

  I have issue with that. If it touches anything, it's over. So I keep that at home.

• 15:51Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 15:52George Kamel?

  Keep the blanket at home. But yes, Cozy Earth has amazing quality products. It is truly, if you're living your best life, you want the bougie experience, get it. And we can make it bougie frugal because you can use promo code SMARTMONEY at checkout and get up to 40% off. So go check it out. Go to cozylearth.com/smartmoney and use the promo code.

• 16:09Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, so since, um, a lot of people loved our past travel episodes, uh, we have an updated list though. If you're traveling on a budget, right, what are some good hacks, some good things to implement to make your vacation worth it?

• 16:24George Kamel?

  That don't involve trying to get enough credit card points. My least favorite hack.

• 16:28Rachel Cruze?

  That's right, boo.

• 16:29George Kamel?

  Just spend 50 grand in three months. Months and you'll get a million points. You can use that to redeem it. Stop, just stop. You're exhausting.

• 16:36Rachel Cruze?

  Cause here's the one part of life, if you're gonna have points and stuff, not credit cards, but just in general, travel is great. Marriott Bonvoy, I have a Bonvoy account. Uh, Southwest, like we get free.

• 16:46George Kamel?

  Rapper awards.

• 16:47Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, we get a lot of free tickets and stuff uh for the kids and things. I don't know. It's just, there are some great programs out there without debt. So take advantage of them. Do your frequent flyer miles, even if you don't fly that much, just have an account with these airlines, cause it is.

• 17:01George Kamel?

  It adds up. Okay, let's do it.

• 17:04Rachel Cruze?

  All right. First and foremost, um, you love this one. Costco travel. There's also travel arrow extension and Skyscanner.

• 17:13George Kamel?

  Yes.

• 17:14Rachel Cruze?

  Tell us, George.

• 17:15George Kamel?

  Okay, so Skyscanner basically aggregates from all of the travel websites in existence. So it's kind of your one stop shop and you can search like an entire month and just go, give me the cheapest flight for the month. And it will pull all the different airlines, the best prices. And so I like, that's a good go to to kind of start your research.

• 17:32Rachel Cruze?

  Okay. Can I tell you where I research?

• 17:33George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 17:34Rachel Cruze?

  And then give me the no, no, Expedia.

• 17:37George Kamel?

  Okay, that's fine. There's, you know, you could do worse.

• 17:40Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 17:40George Kamel?

  I wouldn't book through them personally.

• 17:42Rachel Cruze?

  No, no, I don't book through them, but just research. That's what I use. But you like this one better.

• 17:46George Kamel?

  Well, Skyscanner will include Expedia. It will also include a thousand others.

• 17:50Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, okay.

• 17:51George Kamel?

  So it's just sort of like, I want to know I'm getting the best possible deal. So that's a good one. I do love Costco travel. I've done uh honeymoon and an anniversary trip through Costco travel. Had a great experience. They include a bunch of bonuses and goodies and credit for the resort and you know, gift card to Costco, all kinds of stuff. And I like their travel agents. They're very nice. And I say, hey, here's my budget. Tell me like, out of these three locations, give me the best resorts. And they'll go boom, boom, boom. Save me hours of time researching.

• 18:21Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, yeah, that's true.

• 18:22George Kamel?

  So they know all the things. And then travel arrow is an extension that I use that basically will see through the Priceline deals. Cause with Priceline Express, you get a good deal, but you don't know what hotel you're booking.

• 18:32Rachel Cruze?

  It's like a gamble.

• 18:33George Kamel?

  And so travel arrow is a little extension that lets you see through that to go, hey, it's the Kimpton eventi.

• 18:38Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 18:38George Kamel?

  I truly don't know how it's legal, but there's still. Around.

• 18:41Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 18:41George Kamel?

  They're doing it.

• 18:42Rachel Cruze?

  Take advantage while we can, right?

• 18:44George Kamel?

  Yeah, and I I've used this multiple times. I've helped John Deloney save hundreds.

• 18:48Rachel Cruze?

  That's what I heard.

• 18:49George Kamel?

  A hotel for for him and his family. And so this is a go to when I want a great hotel at a reasonable price because I know it's a five star in midtown Manhattan.

• 18:58Rachel Cruze?

  Yep.

• 18:58George Kamel?

  Great. And then I can use Travel Arrow. It'll show me, oh, it's the Kimpton Aventi. Great. That has great reviews and I'm saving big money. Even when I pulled up to the front desk, they were like, how did you get this rate? I was like, I'll never tell.

• 19:10Rachel Cruze?

  Watch Smart Money Happy Hour. Maybe you'll know. All right. Tell us about eDreams.

• 19:16George Kamel?

  OK, eDreams popped up because of a wonderful team member that made this drink today, Ebu. And so Skyscanner pointed her to eDreams. I personally have never used eDreams. Use at your own risk. Sounds sketchy, probably is sketchy, but she claims it worked great and saved her a lot of money.

• 19:32Rachel Cruze?

  And what does it do? It scan for hotels?

• 19:34George Kamel?

  It's just a sort of a discount airline.

• 19:36Rachel Cruze?

  Airline, airline hotels, all of them.

• 19:38George Kamel?

  I don't know how they do it, but they're undercutting all the competition somehow.

• 19:42Rachel Cruze?

  It's amazing.

• 19:43George Kamel?

  So again, you might have a terrible experience. Don't at me with that.

• 19:47Rachel Cruze?

  Don't blame us.

• 19:48George Kamel?

  It's a risk you're willing to take.

• 19:49Rachel Cruze?

  Um, how about strategic trip timing?

• 19:52George Kamel?

  This one's simple.

• 19:53Rachel Cruze?

  I this is this is up my alley. I think this is very true.

• 19:55George Kamel?

  I always do this. I'll go a day before and after and see what the flight times are.

• 19:59Rachel Cruze?

  Yep.

• 19:59George Kamel?

  Sometimes you can't help it. You got to fly in on this day. You're not going to have great luck, but if you can sort of look around and go, all right, I'm going to fly early in the morning. I'm going to fly late at night. I'm going to fly on a Thursday instead of a Friday. You can save a lot of money going off season to popular destinations.

• 20:15Rachel Cruze?

  Sunday is very different for airlines. Like you will save money if you just go on a Sunday than a Saturday. It's crazy. So yeah, that's why I do like Southwest website. Well, I guess a lot of them do it, but you can change it so quick, the days.

• 20:28George Kamel?

  Yes.

• 20:28Rachel Cruze?

  And price compare. But you're right, too. The high season is real. Like, we are looking at some hotels.

• 20:33George Kamel?

  Spring break.

• 20:33Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, we're looking at hotels for spring break. And I was like, there's no way these are the these are the prices. And then for fun, I went to October, half the price, half the price. And I'm like,

• 20:44George Kamel?

  You can't change the school schedule.

• 20:46Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, seasonality is real and they take advantage of it.

• 20:48George Kamel?

  Could have homeschooled. Could have solved all of this, Rachel. Could have been a, what, like world schooling? Have you heard of this? You just travel with your kids around the world and it takes the place of school. Sounds awesome.

• 21:00Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 21:01George Kamel?

  Way more cultured, way more socialized. They probably know seven languages by the time they graduate.

• 21:05Rachel Cruze?

  For sure. Are they learning, like for real?

• 21:07George Kamel?

  They're learning things.

• 21:09Rachel Cruze?

  You know what?

• 21:10George Kamel?

  They're not learning the Pythagorean theorem, but who cares?

• 21:12Rachel Cruze?

  All more power to you. All more power to you.

• 21:14George Kamel?

  Think about it.

• 21:14Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, but also really knowing, because I think, you know, it's been proven through the travel industry that the cheapest times to book on travel is Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Saturdays. So to book on those days and to use fair comparison websites, again, you can shave off thirty, forty, fifty dollars from your total, which is amazing.

• 21:33George Kamel?

  That's a good one. And a lot of these sites, you're having to input a lot of personal info, especially the ones that you don't know all that well, it can be scary.

• 21:40Rachel Cruze?

  We're just putting our info out into the world.

• 21:42George Kamel?

  I will pop that in with confidence because I use DeleteMe.

• 21:47Rachel Cruze?

  And DeleteMe is amazing because it goes through all these websites that have your information out there. Because again, when we put our names and our addresses and our work and like all this stuff out into the internets, people get that information unbeknownst to us and then they sell it to data brokers and the data brokers end up selling that information to other companies. And our information, they're making money off of us, people, and we get spammed, scammed, all of it. So get our information off the internet where we don't want it. And again, DeleteMe helps us do that and it's fantastic, you guys. It's a great service. You can get plans as low as nine dollars a month and it is a subscription worth having in today's world.

• 22:23George Kamel?

  Yeah, super affordable. Go to joindelete.me/smartmoney and you'll get 20% off. I just got my parents on this. They're stoked on it.

• 22:31Rachel Cruze?

  I love it. So great.

• 22:32George Kamel?

  Now I don't have to worry about them getting scammed.

• 22:35Rachel Cruze?

  Stay safe out there.

• 22:36George Kamel?

  Get your loved ones on this.

• 22:37Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, next is one of my favorites, rebooking flights. This is like a game for me. And I will go through, again, I say Southwest because it's usually what we fly. Ninety-nine percent of the time, we're flying Southwest. And if you see the rate goes down, you can go back and rebook it and they credit your account. So then when you go to fly again, you got like 120 bucks sitting right there in the account that you get to use for the next flight.

• 22:59George Kamel?

  And you don't even have to cancel. You can just go to like reschedule it and it'll Recheck it and if it's lower, it'll show you, hey, you're gonna get negative 70 bucks back as a credit. And if you have a bunch of people traveling, this can be hundreds and hundreds of dollars.

• 23:13Rachel Cruze?

  It adds up so much and we use that all the time. I mean, I will, I'll go through like. If I, if we book something, I'll re-look at it probably three times every week till the trip.

• 23:22George Kamel?

  Just check it every week.

• 23:22Rachel Cruze?

  I do, I'm like, it's kinda fun.

• 23:23George Kamel?

  If they drop a sale, they're like, oh, they just dropped a sale. Maybe it's my flight's on sale.

• 23:27Rachel Cruze?

  Yep, it's so great. So rebooking flights will save you some money.

• 23:30George Kamel?

  That's a good one. All right, how about this one? So we get a lot of flack because we say, hey, you don't need a credit card. And they go, Rachel, what about renting a car? Everyone need, first of all, every major rental car company has a debit card policy.

• 23:42Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, we use Hertz and Enterprise, y'all. You can do it.

• 23:45George Kamel?

  There's plenty of ways to do this, but there's also an alternative called Turo. Have you heard of Turo?

• 23:51Rachel Cruze?

  I have heard of Turo.

• 23:52George Kamel?

  So you can actually rent Rachel's car because she posted her car on Turo for rent. And they handle all of the, the pieces, the insurance.

• 24:00Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, it's like an Airbnb for your car. Now, I've never used it. I wonder, is it cheaper? Do you know price comparison?

• 24:05George Kamel?

  A lot of the times it's cheaper.

• 24:06Rachel Cruze?

  Than a rental car?

• 24:07George Kamel?

  Depending on the type, you know, you can get like crazy luxury cars and depending on the timing in the city, but a lot of the times it's cheaper than all the fees that these rental car companies have on. And you can easily use a debit card to rent a car with no issue.

• 24:19Rachel Cruze?

  There you go.

• 24:20George Kamel?

  So again, none of these are sponsored. A lot of people think, well, she mentioned an app. No affiliation.

• 24:26Rachel Cruze?

  No.

• 24:26George Kamel?

  Use it at your own risk, but we're saying this is one to check out.

• 24:29Rachel Cruze?

  It's an option for you. Okay, how about Going?

• 24:32George Kamel?

  Oh, yes, this is formerly known as Scott's Cheap Flights. They changed their name to Going. You can find deals 40 to 90% off normal prices with great attenderraries, great airlines. And so the free version, they'll send you like US-based airfare. Sometimes it's like a mistake deal and it's like, hey, they get this while it's good.

• 24:51Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, funny. Like in the, do you remember when the gas pumps, there was like one gas pump that like.

• 24:55George Kamel?

  Two cents or something crazy.

• 24:56Rachel Cruze?

  Two cents and everyone was like lining it up. And they've got, is that kinda what it is? Like where the airline messes up?

• 25:01George Kamel?

  Yeah, it's mistake fares and then they'll just send you the best deals on the internet and they'll, you let them know, hey, here's my home airport. Here's the places I wanna go and they'll send you notifications to you based on what you said you wanted.

• 25:12Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 25:12George Kamel?

  And with the premium, you can, you know, they'll have international deals. And so if you're a big traveler, this is a must have.

• 25:17Rachel Cruze?

  It'd be worth it for sure. Okay, how about Schwab?

• 25:19George Kamel?

  Okay, this one I found because a lot of people said, "I can't believe you're using a debit card when you travel. You're getting dinged with all these fees. My credit card doesn't..." Blah, blah, blah. And so I found Charles Schwab. If you have their investor checking account, which is free to open, and you fund it with any amount of money, they'll send you a debit card that has no international fees.

• 25:38Rachel Cruze?

  That's right.

• 25:39George Kamel?

  They'll refund all ATM fees. You can use your card anywhere you go without foreign transaction fees. And so this is one that I have in case of international travel. And it doubles as a safeguard because you can transfer whatever amount you want for that trip to that account, so it's not your checking account.

• 25:57Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 25:57George Kamel?

  If there was fraud, your checking account isn't exposed, just that one account.

• 26:01Rachel Cruze?

  I like it. It's like an extra safety net when it comes to your money.

• 26:04George Kamel?

  So that's just my retort to anyone who says you can't do it.

• 26:06Rachel Cruze?

  George, you got so much.

• 26:07George Kamel?

  I got hacks on hacks.

• 26:08Rachel Cruze?

  Can I just say, you do. Hacks on hacks on hacks. I know. Mine's just be loyal to one.

• 26:13George Kamel?

  Just be loyal and you rack up points.

• 26:15Rachel Cruze?

  Just Southwest and Marriott. You know, just stick with what you know.

• 26:18George Kamel?

  Do you ever have friends who brag about the lounges because they have the whatever credit card?

• 26:22Rachel Cruze?

  Y'all, I went in a lounge.

• 26:24George Kamel?

  With a friend? Did they, did anyone recognize you and was like, "How'd you get in here?"

• 26:28Rachel Cruze?

  No. But our friends we traveled with, y'all, 100%, they had some...

• 26:33George Kamel?

  And they have like a guest pass that can take you in?

• 26:35Rachel Cruze?

  They had two guest passes. And then, yeah, they even asked like, "Are you allowed to come in here?" And I was like, "Yes, I'm allowed to come in here." And they, uh, we went in with them. I've only done it once, though. So, and you know what? I'm not saying this because we're Ramsey people, for real, though. It was fine. It was. It was fine.

• 26:54George Kamel?

  The bar at the airport's low, so anything above that is like, "Wow, this is nice."

• 26:58Rachel Cruze?

  Again, fine. Like, not like it changed my life, that they were like the most gracious, wonderful people. It was very crowded. If, yeah, you could get a drink, but then like you had to kind of like, I don't know, figure out up at the bar because they had some that were like on tap, some not. We tried to order food. I don't know. It was like, it was just a little crazy. It was not as, it was great, right? Because you get free stuff in that sense.

• 27:21George Kamel?

  But it didn't feel like room service level.

• 27:22Rachel Cruze?

  No.

• 27:23George Kamel?

  Everything at my beck and call.

• 27:24Rachel Cruze?

  Not our experience, but...

• 27:25George Kamel?

  Okay.

• 27:25Rachel Cruze?

  But yeah, I think I have a big bucket list item, George.

• 27:28George Kamel?

  What's that?

• 27:29Rachel Cruze?

  I keep seeing now, because of my algorithm probably on Instagram, travel an international, like...

• 27:37Rachel Cruze?

  Big suite on the airplane.

• 27:39George Kamel?

  Like the little apartments.

• 27:40Rachel Cruze?

  This is what made me think, little apartments. And then the lounge is there. They have like masseuses. Have you seen this? Especially in other countries like Dubai and stuff. Like the lounge is there for the first. It looks like a five star hotel.

• 27:53George Kamel?

  So that's your new.

• 27:55Rachel Cruze?

  That would be.

• 27:56George Kamel?

  I'm guessing that's, you know, is that five or 10 grand a ticket?

• 27:59Rachel Cruze?

  I don't know.

• 28:00George Kamel?

  It's gotta be.

• 28:00Rachel Cruze?

  I'm just dreaming. A girl can dream, George.

• 28:03George Kamel?

  But I feel like you'd be going to Dubai just for the plane experience.

• 28:07Rachel Cruze?

  I might, and then I might come home. That's how much I love. I love a plane experience.

• 28:11George Kamel?

  Just go get a massage.

• 28:12Rachel Cruze?

  I know, but wouldn't that be so? I don't know. Do you not just, doesn't that just all that stuff make you feel so good inside?

• 28:17George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 28:18Rachel Cruze?

  Foods you travel like that?

• 28:19George Kamel?

  Yeah, I want to experience it. But again, I'm not willing to pay $5,000 for a massage in a tube.

• 28:24Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 28:25George Kamel?

  You know what I mean? Mediocre food. I'm good.

• 28:28Rachel Cruze?

  Ooh, or the bars in the plane.

• 28:30George Kamel?

  I have a bar at home with a full sized bathroom.

• 28:33Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 28:33George Kamel?

  So humble brag.

• 28:37Rachel Cruze?

  Humble brag.

• 28:38George Kamel?

  Oh, can I give you one last one?

• 28:39Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, go.

• 28:39George Kamel?

  This one pops up a lot, but if you're a Southwest traveler.

• 28:42Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 28:42George Kamel?

  I often find they have gift cards on sale at Costco or Sam's Club for a $500 gift card for $430.

• 28:50Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, so you're saving.

• 28:51George Kamel?

  70 bucks.

• 28:52Rachel Cruze?

  70 bucks.

• 28:52George Kamel?

  So, hey, if you're, if you know you're gonna travel, go ahead and get the gift card.

• 28:57Rachel Cruze?

  Why not?

• 28:57George Kamel?

  Pay cash, put it in the budget, and then you have the money.

• 28:59Rachel Cruze?

  So good. So travel is one of these things. I feel like it could be a double edged sword. Cause I feel like sometimes if you're in a season of sacrifice and you're not able to travel, how you want, when you want, all the things. Like it can be hard because you're seeing people posting travel and you're like, especially if you love to travel. You're like, man, that's like a sacrifice we're making in this season of our life. Cause we're trying to get out of debt, you know, we're trying to save up. We're trying to be wise about it, like, ugh. So it can be hard, that whole comparison game when you see other people travel, right? And then on the other end, the positive thing about it, and we talk about this, Arthur Brooks talks about this, but having experiences with people you love is a way to bring joy. So a way to make your money actually cause joy in your life is experiences.

• 29:39Rachel Cruze?

  And that can look a lot of different ways, but I do think experiencing things outside your norm with people you love, uh, it is, it's very exciting. And that could be, again, you know, driving an hour and. Hiking and going camping, like doing something that or like a big fun trip with friends or family. Uh, but I do think this is a place that I personally value and.

• 30:01George Kamel?

  For you, it's a better use of money than just another thing.

• 30:03Rachel Cruze?

  Than just buy another purse or something like seriously, I would rather, uh, which Winston and I are so opposite. Cause like we were just talking about this trip and we're looking at how expensive everything is. We're like, and he's like, okay, we could take this total and like redo the playroom furniture upstairs. Like we can take it and like do stuff with it.

• 30:19George Kamel?

  Something more practical.

• 30:20Rachel Cruze?

  More practical versus like four or five days.

• 30:23George Kamel?

  Good man.

• 30:23Rachel Cruze?

  Somewhere, but I don't know, there's just something about experiencing life that I don't know.

• 30:28George Kamel?

  It's the YOLO part of you.

• 30:29Rachel Cruze?

  Personally, not everyone does, but that is a place I, I enjoy.

• 30:32George Kamel?

  Is it more for the kids at this point or is it really for you?

• 30:34Rachel Cruze?

  It's for me. Yeah, I love it.

• 30:36George Kamel?

  I appreciate your honesty.

• 30:38Rachel Cruze?

  Having them with us is fun too, but, um, but I just love it.

• 30:41George Kamel?

  That's some of the best memories you have as a kid is traveling.

• 30:44Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, like we went to Denver randomly. We randomly just picked Denver. Uh, and they still talk about it. Like we did this like dinosaur hike. I don't know. It was just like the most random little trip. And our kids still like talk about it. So I don't know. I think it's fun.

• 30:56George Kamel?

  Dinosaur hike?

• 30:57Rachel Cruze?

  I think it's fun in life, but in order to do it, yes, um, being in control of your money, knowing where your money is at, how to plan for it, budgeting is one of the best ways to do that. Every dollar helps us. We always have like a travel line item, especially if we're like leading up to it. And the hard thing about travel and the budget is you have to usually put down a deposit for the hotel.

• 31:16George Kamel?

  There's some expenses.

• 31:17Rachel Cruze?

  Buying airline tickets, you're buying them like right then, not right later on.

• 31:22George Kamel?

  You can't wait till last minute.

• 31:23Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. So be budgeting that, but that allows you to be in control. And then it is kind of nice because once the trip actually comes, then you are probably paying for the food, like things in the present. Uh, but you can plan for it and every dollar helps you do that. So make sure to check it out. You can create your free budget. We'll put a link down below. Uh, but it's a great way to make travel have a level of peace because you have planned for it.

• 31:44George Kamel?

  Yes.

• 31:44Rachel Cruze?

  And that's the most beautiful part. Don't go into debt for those people. We are paying, we're saving up bank cash.

• 31:48George Kamel?

  I'm watching you.

• 31:49Rachel Cruze?

  We see.

• 31:50George Kamel?

  I don't have access to your every dollar budget, but just know I'm judging you for using credit. Yeah. And it's easy with every dollar because you set up a sinking fund line item for travel and you can add $500 every month. So that 12 months later, you have six grand.

• 32:02Rachel Cruze?

  That's right.

• 32:03George Kamel?

  To spend on this vacation. So it's not a big surprise. It's not impulsive. Everything's done with intentionality.

• 32:08Rachel Cruze?

  Yep.

• 32:08George Kamel?

  That's the key.

• 32:09Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, okay. So let's talk about the sea breeze before we get to guilty as charged.

• 32:13George Kamel?

  Okay. Let me, let me give it another second opinion here.

• 32:15Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 32:18George Kamel?

  I'm gonna be honest, it's not doing much for me.

• 32:21Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, I'm gonna say my number and you say yours.

• 32:23George Kamel?

  All right.

• 32:23Rachel Cruze?

  One, two, three, four.

• 32:25George Kamel?

  Four out of 10.

• 32:26Rachel Cruze?

  Four?

• 32:26George Kamel?

  Four.

• 32:27Rachel Cruze?

  George!

• 32:29George Kamel?

  I've never been so proud to give a low rating.

• 32:32Rachel Cruze?

  I know, y'all. I just, I just don't, it's just not, not working.

• 32:36George Kamel?

  It's not the bartender's fault.

• 32:37Rachel Cruze?

  No, no, no.

• 32:40George Kamel?

  It just tastes, you know what, it's a little elementary for me.

• 32:43Rachel Cruze?

  The effort was an A+. You need a little complexity.

• 32:45George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 32:45Rachel Cruze?

  Because what's in it?

• 32:46George Kamel?

  Here's what's in the Seabreeze. Vodka, sweetened cranberry juice, and fresh pink grapefruit juice.

• 32:52Rachel Cruze?

  Mmm.

• 32:52George Kamel?

  I think the tartness of the cranberry, the bitterness of the grapefruit, it needs something to sweeten it up.

• 32:58Rachel Cruze?

  And the vodka really doesn't have a taste.

• 32:59George Kamel?

  And the vodka is tasteless here. So, the drink comes out to $2.40. If you wanna make it at home, be my guest. I'm not gonna stop you, it's a free country. Just know, this is a four out of 10, so don't DM me saying, "This drink was terrible."

• 33:13Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my gosh.

• 33:14George Kamel?

  But it's an easy one, you probably have these ingredients at home.

• 33:16Rachel Cruze?

  Yep.

• 33:17George Kamel?

  Give it a try.

• 33:18Rachel Cruze?

  That's true. Um, all right, now it's time for

• 33:22George Kamel?

  Guilty as charged.

• 33:23Rachel 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. Was there a time that you tried to be frugal and it backfired?

• 33:32George Kamel?

  Oh, gosh.

• 33:33Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, that's a good one.

• 33:34George Kamel?

  Rachel's never tried to be frugal, so I don't know that she's gonna...

• 33:39Rachel Cruze?

  Let me think, let me think. Okay, I'll say this, I think the ones that have backfired the most is, because you can save money, but when we travel with the kids, we would take a late flight or early flight. If you take a 6 a.m. flight, y'all, you gotta, you have to leave your house, or at least here, like where we are in Nashville, 3:45, 4, by the time to get there, they're a disaster. Or we've done a late night flight, we did, I don't know why we did this, like at 8 p.m. or something, by the time we did a two-hour flight, landed, we had to drive an hour. It was like midnight when we got there, and the whole next day was ruined because they were exhausted, I don't know. So I'd say the hacking of like, with kids. Adults, we can handle it, like, we can suck it up, figure it out.

• 34:21Rachel Cruze?

  But the, the family experience, early morning or late night flights...

• 34:26George Kamel?

  Everyone's miserable.

• 34:27Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, it's the hack that backfired.

• 34:28George Kamel?

  Okay, I can think of a very particular time because I think my wife is still mad at me for this one.

• 34:32Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my gosh, I can't wait.

• 34:33George Kamel?

  We went to New York City, saw the Thanksgiving Day Parade, whole bit, freezing cold. And I decide, I'm not spending another $50 on an Uber to get, we can take the subway and the bus line or whatever that's free to get to the, it'll be, it'll be an adventure.

• 34:48Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 34:48George Kamel?

  So this is post Thanksgiving meal. We paid a lot of money for this gluten free meal. This is my bougie frugal, is we paid a lot of money for the gluten free meal. We were full after three bites and we have 19 pounds of food and I went, I paid good money for this. I'm lugging it back to Nashville. So I'm lugging this, all of our stuff and this food on ice from the hotel, hoping it stays good, through subways and buses.

• 35:12Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my gosh, George.

• 35:13George Kamel?

  And Whitney is just like, why are we doing this? And this is not a joke and it's kind of disgusting. But at some point, we wheeled our luggage through a puddle of blood? And I think there was, there was someone nearby coughing what I imagine was...

• 35:28Rachel Cruze?

  My.

• 35:29George Kamel?

  Some sort of disease?

• 35:31Rachel Cruze?

  George!

• 35:32George Kamel?

  I don't know. So I lysol the wheels when we got home. But that was the last time I think I'm allowed to take the subway with my wife. I think she was done after that. She was like, do you see why we should have Ubered?

• 35:44Rachel Cruze?

  George.

• 35:46George Kamel?

  I mean, we're talking lugging luggage up, you know, flights of stairs through a subway?

• 35:51Rachel Cruze?

  Oh.

• 35:51George Kamel?

  Not the vibe.

• 35:52Rachel Cruze?

  With food on ice, because you're so frugal that you have to bring your food home to Nashville. For $50.

• 35:59George Kamel?

  I don't know, it was probably even more.

• 36:01Rachel Cruze?

  $50, $5,000? We'll talk about it. $50, George.

• 36:05George Kamel?

  But you know, five bucks versus 50 after an expensive trip, I'm like, ah.

• 36:08Rachel Cruze?

  You're on baby step seven. That's my thing, George. What are you doing?

• 36:11George Kamel?

  I need to do better. I should have done it for Whitney. I really should have.

• 36:16Rachel Cruze?

  For Whitney, for your soul, for you.

• 36:18George Kamel?

  I learned my lesson. When I'm with my wife, we Uber. When I'm by myself, you have a little, you have the time of your life, little guy.

• 36:25Rachel Cruze?

  Do what you want to do.

• 36:27George Kamel?

  But when you're with your wife, like, give her a great experience. Don't make her regret all of this. Don't leave a sour taste in her mouth.

• 36:33Rachel Cruze?

  That's fair.

• 36:34George Kamel?

  But I did eat that food for like four days straight.

• 36:37Rachel Cruze?

  Went all the way back to Nashville. Oh my gosh, George. Well.

• 36:40George Kamel?

  Frugality can backfire.

• 36:42Rachel Cruze?

  Y'all, happy travels. Happy travels. Hope you enjoyed this. And make sure to leave a review. And for more financial hot takes that people love to hate, catch our Airbnb episode. You can click here or the link in the description if you are listening on podcasts. And make sure to subscribe so you don't miss an all new episode next Thursday of Smart Money Happy Hour.