Reacting to the Most Unhinged GoFundMe Campaigns

📈 Are you on track with the Baby Steps? Get a free personalized plan. Is starting an online fundraiser for yourself so you can go to Yoga Teacher Training really cringy or kind of genius? In this episode, Rachel and George react to the wildest GoFundMe campaigns out there. Plus, find out why giving is actually the most fun you’ll have with money. Next Steps: 🎥 Watch our video Dupes, Counterfeits, Scams, Oh My! Is Anyone Safe? 🍸 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. 💵 The simplest way to budget. Download the EveryDollar app for free! 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: Love Gun 🥃Recipe: @anatomyofadrink 2 ounces light rum 3/4 ounce lemon juice 1/2 ounce raspberry syrup 1/2 simple syrup 1/4 St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram 1 1/2 ounce club soda Instructions: Add all ingredients to shaker tin, add ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a glass over a large ice cube and top with club soda. 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?

  You've heard that it's better to give than to receive, but we might have some caveats today. We're talking about giving gone wild.

• 0:12Rachel Cruze?

  Some of the wildest GoFundMe campaigns. This creator said that he's broke and trying to have a lit summer.

• 0:21George Kamel?

  Get Brett to yoga teacher training.

• 0:30Rachel Cruze?

  Hey guys, I'm Rachel Cruz.

• 0:32George Kamel?

  I'm George Kamel.

• 0:33Rachel Cruze?

  And this is Smart Money Happy Hour.

• 0:42Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, 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.

• 0:49George Kamel?

  And before we get to giving gone wild, let's talk about what we're sipping on here. It is called a love gun.

• 0:55Rachel Cruze?

  That's fun.

• 0:56George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 0:57Rachel Cruze?

  Love gun.

• 0:58George Kamel?

  We're going to give you the rating and reveal the cost per glass at the end of the episode, so stick around for that. This is a good one. I'll just give you a little warning. It's good.

• 1:07Rachel Cruze?

  You think that good?

• 1:09George Kamel?

  I'm just saying.

• 1:09Rachel Cruze?

  So far, a little blends for me. I like the name better than the taste.

• 1:13George Kamel?

  It gets better.

• 1:14Rachel Cruze?

  I can't wait.

• 1:15George Kamel?

  OK, so we got to start by saying that generosity is very important to us. It's a major part of the Ramsey plan, and we believe it's the most fun that you can have with money, truly. More than spending, more than saving. But it can apparently be fraught with shock and scandal.

• 1:30Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. I don't know why you're surprised by this, George, because you had donation gate at your daughter's birthday for people to fund his daughter's education, even though George has a full-time job and he is fine financially, but he's having other people fund his daughter's education. Tell us about it, George.

• 1:51George Kamel?

  I don't know what character you were turning into, but I wanted to see where it was going.

• 1:56Rachel Cruze?

  I just like this is you. I don't know. Tell us about it.

• 2:00George Kamel?

  I talked about this. We had a whole episode around financial faux pas and I shared the story about how I set up. It was just a fun QR code for some family and a few close friends. And I thought, this will be fun. If they want to donate to her college fund on her first birthday, they're welcome to do so. It turned into people saying, I can't believe you're using social media to try to fund your daughter's education. Fund, go fund yourself. And I was like, whoa, guys, that's not the intent here. I don't need your money. I just thought, hey, instead of buying my daughter crap that will send to Goodwill, why not give her something that will actually help her future?

• 2:33Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, and you're not asking strangers. You're asking your good friends and family to fund your daughter's education.

• 2:38George Kamel?

  The 10 people that were invited to her birthday party. Not you guys.

• 2:41Rachel Cruze?

  I'm kidding, George.

• 2:42George Kamel?

  But I posted about it for fun. I'm saying like, this is the kind of dad I am. The nerdy dad who has a QR code to... It was more of making fun of myself than it was soliciting donations.

• 2:51Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. But the funny thing ironically is that it wasn't like a joke. You were being very for real. But you know, you're in good company because funding people's life events is now very normal.

• 3:02George Kamel?

  We've normalized it.

• 3:03Rachel Cruze?

  Funding people's, yes, weddings or honeymoons or vacations. Like, this is what people do. But I will say, there is a funding that is great. Like, if there's a tragedy that hits, you know, that's, that's one place the internet is wonderful because you are able to get the word out and people are able to help on a bigger scale, which is beautiful.

• 3:20George Kamel?

  Yeah, medical bills or, you know, a house fire, things like that. Those are legitimate needs and it's a beautiful thing to get, outsource it to a community of friends and family and strangers.

• 3:29Rachel Cruze?

  Um, okay, but it has gone bad. Like, there's been so many different scam stuff. Do you know one of my favorite podcasts last year? And then they turned it into a TV show? Scamanda. Did you ever listen to it?

• 3:38George Kamel?

  Oh, I heard about this. I think you probably told me about it, if I'm gonna be real.

• 3:41Rachel Cruze?

  O-M-G.

• 3:42George Kamel?

  What happens in Scamanda?

• 3:43Rachel Cruze?

  O-M-G. This woman...

• 3:45George Kamel?

  Very, very great. It's a great name.

• 3:47Rachel Cruze?

  Such a great name. Like, great title.

• 3:49George Kamel?

  Glad her name was Amanda.

• 3:50Rachel Cruze?

  Just like Top Gun or Love Gun. What's this called?

• 3:52George Kamel?

  Love Gun.

• 3:53Rachel Cruze?

  Love Gun, okay.

• 3:53George Kamel?

  Not Top Gun. Different.

• 3:55Rachel Cruze?

  Top Gun, Love Gun. Um, yes, she faked cancer, George. This woman faked cancer. And I don't want to give it all away, but at first came out, like, her neighbor was like... Oh my gosh, something's not adding up because the girl Amanda was like, oh, I'm getting a port done because of my brain leakage.

• 4:14George Kamel?

  So she's posting videos from the hospital?

• 4:16Rachel Cruze?

  Well, you are jumping the gun, Top Gun, Love Gun over there. Stop that. No, listen. She first was telling this neighbor, like all this stuff, like her brain was like, had fluid in it. So she had to get a drink because of the cancer, but then she'd like go to the neighbor's house and tell her office and then go swim. And the neighbor was like, you just had a major procedure done. Something isn't adding up. So this neighbor was on it from the top. She's like, something's wrong. And then for years and years and years and years and years and years, this woman was telling like church family, family, friends, and would go check herself into the emergency room, y'all. And take pictures of herself with like an IV and different things. But anytime anyone was like, hey, I'll go to chemo with you. She's like, there was always an excuse, like,

• 4:58Rachel Cruze?

  oh, no, you can't. They won't let you, you know, so no one ever like legitimately saw her. But later to then, here's what's crazy. So she goes online and it becomes this massive like GoFundMe. All of a sudden, people are funding her life because she can't work and she's married and all this stuff and kids. So sad. And so she ends up, um, they catch on to her because the neighbor, the first neighbor contacts an investigator, basically reporter and was like, hey, I think this woman is faking cancer. Like you can't ever say that aloud. How terrible would that be, right?

• 5:29George Kamel?

  And if you're wrong, that's probably the worst thing to be wrong about.

• 5:32Rachel Cruze?

  Not good. You don't want to be wrong about that. But she, you know, told this reporter and the reporter starts like digging into it and realizes, yeah, it is a scam. And they end up getting the FBI involved because of wire fraud. And when you give money, I guess across state lines or something, there's like a federal law or whatever. So she ends up, it's more the IRS that takes her down out of everything.

• 5:53George Kamel?

  Wow. Because she wasn't paying taxes on?

• 5:55Rachel Cruze?

  No, it was because of like the government agency of like of of wire fraud and so it turned into that. So anyways, it's a great podcast.

• 6:02George Kamel?

  And I'm seeing here, she got over a hundred thousand dollars in donations?

• 6:08George Kamel?

  And the husband's in on it.

• 6:10Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, he's got, well, I, his name is Corey, and we're not sure. I don't think he was official. I can't remember if he was officially charged or not, but there's no way he couldn't have known.

• 6:17George Kamel?

  What about the kids? These poor innocent kids, were they in on it?

• 6:20Rachel Cruze?

  Terrible, terrible, no, no.

• 6:21George Kamel?

  Were they old enough to know what was going on?

• 6:23Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, she had, yeah, it's a big family tree, but it was wild, George, anyways.

• 6:28George Kamel?

  Thanks for the spark notes on that. You saved me hours of my life.

• 6:31Rachel Cruze?

  You're welcome. You should listen to it. That's really a good podcast.

• 6:33George Kamel?

  Way more entertaining than actually watching it. So it's clear that with Scamanda, people were seriously misled about what they were giving to. But I've seen some bold GoFundMes that aren't hiding a thing. Here's an example. Someone from our team had a friend who made a GoFundMe to raise money for her twins' college education. Both were going to expensive private universities. Zero dollars. That's embarrassing.

• 6:54Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, they didn't raise anything?

• 6:55George Kamel?

  No. Posted about it, "Hey, we really need the help to send our kids to these very expensive private universities." No empathy from her friends on Facebook.

• 7:04Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, I mean, I could see, I could see. And our team found a list of some of the wildest GoFundMe campaigns. And we're gonna start with the first one. And I'll say with the caveat before we begin this, again, the internet is a beautiful, wonderful place that, again, you get messages out about situations that are happening that you actually can give to that are legitimate. Like, it is, it is not, we're not bashing this, but like every great thing, George, there's always a downside.

• 7:32George Kamel?

  Every rose has its thorn.

• 7:34Rachel Cruze?

  And we, this is what we do on this show, is talk about the downside. So you ready for the first one?

• 7:40George Kamel?

  What's the title?

• 7:41Rachel Cruze?

  Titled Booze, Drugs, Cigs.

• 7:44George Kamel?

  Okay.

• 7:46Rachel Cruze?

  And this creator said that he's broke and trying to have a lit summer.

• 7:52George Kamel?

  I think that's he stole Kid Rock lyrics. I think that's literally the, this song of the summer from Kid Rock.

• 7:58Rachel Cruze?

  He's trying to raise money for his booze, drugs, and cigs.

• 8:01George Kamel?

  I love the honesty, though. Cause there's no-

• 8:04Rachel Cruze?

  You're not getting scammed on that one.

• 8:05George Kamel?

  There's no limits. It's not like GoFundMe is like, hey, this has to be a legitimate thing. You're really going through something. He just wanted to fund his summer, and he was very honest about it. He didn't try to lie, I need to go to college. No. He just wanted booze, drugs, and cigs, which I don't condone any of those things for all the children watching. And my mom. Would I give to this? That's the question. I might, just to say I was a part of history. No, not a lot, not enough to enable, but like a dollar.

• 8:32Rachel Cruze?

  Just to-

• 8:33George Kamel?

  Enough to show up on the side that shows like, George Campbell donated one dollar. Would you?

• 8:38Rachel Cruze?

  I think I'd scroll past it, but I appreciate the effort, you know? At least there's effort. Didn't like rob a bank or something.

• 8:45George Kamel?

  That's true. You could be committing actual crimes.

• 8:47Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, that's right.

• 8:47George Kamel?

  So there's always a silver lining with Rachel.

• 8:49Rachel Cruze?

  He's not hurting anyone.

• 8:50George Kamel?

  Okay, here's the next one.

• 8:52Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 8:53George Kamel?

  The campaign name, "I booked the wrong plane ticket lol." That's what they named the GoFundMe. So a girl was having her wedding in India, but accidentally booked the wrong tickets for two of her friends and needed 1,200 bucks to fix it.

• 9:07Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, stop it.

• 9:07George Kamel?

  How do you book the wrong ticket? Are there that many Indias?

• 9:10Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, my gosh. What if she went to like Indiana instead of India?

• 9:15George Kamel?

  I feel like...

• 9:17Rachel Cruze?

  How terrible would that be?

• 9:17George Kamel?

  Who married her? No offense. But if you... That's a big typo.

• 9:22Rachel Cruze?

  That is bad. I wonder if her the dates were wrong. Surely not the destination.

• 9:26George Kamel?

  She just said booked the wrong...

• 9:27Rachel Cruze?

  She booked the wrong ticket, so we're gonna give her the benefit of the doubt.

• 9:30George Kamel?

  Maybe a wrong date, like...

• 9:31Rachel Cruze?

  You know what? I may give to that. That would be so sad, that you were just trying to do something good for your friends. Probably trying to help them and try to get like, oh, let's all get tickets together on the plane or something. I don't know, like... It's so good-hearted of her, and then she messed up a detail. And I get that. I've messed up details, George.

• 9:46George Kamel?

  I would have contacted the airline first, but I guess she tried that to see if they could switch a ticket.

• 9:51Rachel Cruze?

  And what if it's non-refundable?

• 9:52George Kamel?

  Yeah, it sounds like that's the case. 1,200 bucks, would I give to this if I knew her? I don't think I would give to a strangers' campaign, but if I was like a friend or family, I would consider that my wedding gift. I wouldn't get... I would say, hey, I'm gonna give 50 bucks, 100 bucks, but no wedding gift.

• 10:07Rachel Cruze?

  Are your wedding gifts 50 bucks?

• 10:09George Kamel?

  I don't know what people are doing these days. Nobody invites me to weddings, to be honest.

• 10:12Rachel Cruze?

  You know what? That's fair. I haven't been to a wedding in a long time either.

• 10:14George Kamel?

  I'm only friends with people that are already married, and the people that are single, they don't want me there, apparently.

• 10:20Rachel Cruze?

  Well, play matchmaker.

• 10:22George Kamel?

  I only get invited to weddings from strangers, like fans of, you know, fan of Smart Money Happy Hour will send one to the office. And I'm like, are they trying to get free product? I don't know.

• 10:31Rachel Cruze?

  My gosh.

• 10:32George Kamel?

  But I'm not gonna travel to, you know, Portland to go to this wedding.

• 10:35Rachel Cruze?

  Really trying to figure out all these things, George.

• 10:37George Kamel?

  I would give 50 to 100 bucks if I knew the person.

• 10:39Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, that's fair. All right.

• 10:41George Kamel?

  I would feel bad for a bride going through a lot.

• 10:43Rachel Cruze?

  I feel bad.

• 10:43George Kamel?

  Lot of details, lot of stress.

• 10:45Rachel Cruze?

  Whoopsies. That's so funny. Well, 1,200 dollars online whoopsies aren't just a risk when you're booking travel, George. It can happen if you fall for a scam. And there's phishing out there, there's harassment, so much of our information that's online now can be used against us. People are tricking us now, and they're getting, and they're getting good. That's why Delete Me is a service that everyone needs.

• 11:09George Kamel?

  That's right. Personal data isn't just about spam anymore. There's a lot of just fraud and these phishing attacks where they make you think they're a legitimate company, organization, government, whatever, and you click a link and next thing you know, you've sent them a bunch of money. And so, to avoid them getting your information in the first place, Delete Me can help protect you against all of that. So, they remove your personal info, they send you a report showing you here's where it was, here's where we removed it, and here's how much time we saved you, and I sleep better because of it. And they do this all year long, in the background, site by site, listing by listing, with a real person doing all of this.

• 11:42Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, and then they send you the report, so you know what's going on, you know the data, your data that's been removed from what websites. I mean, it's just amazing. Like, they are an incredible service, you guys. So, we'll put a link down below for you to check out, or you can go to joindelete.me/smartmoney, and you can get 20% off the annual plan. And, again, it comes out to just about $9 a month, which is amazing. So make sure to check them out.

• 12:08George Kamel?

  Worth it, worth it, worth it.

• 12:09Rachel Cruze?

  All right, you ready for the next campaign? GoFundMe, someone out there, titled, "Big Move to LA." One woman decided she's gonna move to Los Angeles, but she needs $3,000 to do it. And she says, "I promise I would not be asking if it wasn't absolutely necessary. In my research of the entertainment industry, I found that Los Angeles is the best location for me to be, to launch my career."

• 12:34George Kamel?

  You needed research for that? You probably shouldn't be in the entertainment industry if you to Google, "Where is entertainment industry? How to get job in entertainment industry?" But good for her.

• 12:47Rachel Cruze?

  She says it is.

• 12:48George Kamel?

  I like that she promised she wouldn't be asking if it wasn't absolutely necessary.

• 12:51Rachel Cruze?

  Promised.

• 12:52George Kamel?

  Like, she doesn't have secret money laying around, and she's doing this for fun, as people tend to do.

• 12:56Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, no, this is, uh, this is what she absolutely needs. But just a big move to LA, help with the move. Would you give to it?

• 13:04George Kamel?

  I don't think I would. Because number one, this is the person that's on American Idol, who's a terrible singer, but people in her life have lied to her. I think this is that similar person.

• 13:14Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, no, you do?

• 13:14George Kamel?

  I don't know that they have true talent.

• 13:17Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, gosh.

• 13:18George Kamel?

  So that's the thing, I would want to see, like, give me an audition video. Really sell it to me as to why I should invest in your career.

• 13:23Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 13:23George Kamel?

  That's really, I'm buying a share in Rachel Cruz.

• 13:26Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 13:27George Kamel?

  As the actor.

• 13:27Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, are you ready for this? This is so Ramsey, but this is what I think, too. I'm like, it's 3,000 bucks, let's get a thousand dollar side hustle.

• 13:34George Kamel?

  That's the thing.

• 13:35Rachel Cruze?

  Let's move in three months, we can, we can do this. Do you know what I mean?

• 13:38George Kamel?

  What happens when she moves to LA and doesn't have a job? And then goes, I need more GoFundMes now, because rent is expensive.

• 13:44Rachel Cruze?

  What do you do? I know, we gotta start this, this ball early, if you know what I mean.

• 13:48George Kamel?

  Yeah, I mean, I've seen La La Land. Go work at a coffee shop, go, you know, serve tables a night. Do what you gotta do for the dream.

• 13:54Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, I know.

• 13:55George Kamel?

  You love that documentary.

• 13:57Rachel Cruze?

  I know, I think, I think I'm...

• 13:58George Kamel?

  Ryan Gosling, he's, that guy is going places.

• 14:00Rachel Cruze?

  Did you like it? I thought it was a little boring.

• 14:02George Kamel?

  Did I like it? It became my personality for six months.

• 14:05Rachel Cruze?

  Really? See, my personality was The Greatest Showman.

• 14:09George Kamel?

  That was more realistic to you?

• 14:11Rachel Cruze?

  Love The Greatest Showman. No, such better music.

• 14:14George Kamel?

  You know what I liked about La La Land? The sad ending. I thought, now that is reality of LA.

• 14:20Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, my gosh.

• 14:21George Kamel?

  Heartbreak, but silver lining, personal growth.

• 14:25Rachel Cruze?

  Come on home, or what's he, Jackman sing? From Now On? That's such a better song to end a movie than your sad, sad movie.

• 14:33George Kamel?

  I thought Greatest Showman was great. I don't think you can even compare the two movies.

• 14:37Rachel Cruze?

  Why?

• 14:38George Kamel?

  They have nothing to do with each other. Well, they're both about the entertainment industry.

• 14:41Rachel Cruze?

  They're both musicals, George, what are you talking about?

• 14:44George Kamel?

  That's a, that's a thin thread.

• 14:46Rachel Cruze?

  It's like Pearl Harbor and Titanic, both terrible events in history. We can compare those.

• 14:50George Kamel?

  One was about a war, one was about a ship sinking. Just because they both involve ships doesn't mean they're similar movies.

• 14:57Rachel Cruze?

  There's a love story, something terrible and tragic happens.

• 15:00George Kamel?

  Who got painted nude in Pearl Harbor? Where was the, where's the through line there? So you can end it there, so I can end this conversation.

• 15:10George Kamel?

  So the key is you would not give to this poor woman who's trying to launch her big career.

• 15:13Rachel Cruze?

  Sorry, no, I'm giving to the bride above if I need to give so far. Not to, not to LA, sorry.

• 15:18George Kamel?

  I just like skin in the game. Upload the audition tape and if I'm like, wow, she's going places, I want to support this. I can say I was there when. I was there when she was just trying to make it to LA and look at her now, she's Adele. Or whoever. Katy Perry.

• 15:33Rachel Cruze?

  Who would you go, no. Oh, man.

• 15:36George Kamel?

  All right, next up. Get Brett to yoga teacher training. My guy Brett asked for 650 bucks for yoga teacher training.

• 15:45Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, no.

• 15:46George Kamel?

  What are they training them to do?

• 15:48Rachel Cruze?

  To do yoga. You have to be an instructor.

• 15:51George Kamel?

  Have you seen the things they say?

• 15:53Rachel Cruze?

  They're incredible. Very flexible, George.

• 15:57George Kamel?

  All they do is just quietly tell you about your day and tell you to breathe in peace and exhale your target return and it's very like woo woo.

• 16:05Rachel Cruze?

  It's not, I mean.

• 16:07George Kamel?

  When's the last time you went to a yoga class?

• 16:08Rachel Cruze?

  Um, four weeks ago. I don't go regularly.

• 16:12George Kamel?

  What was the instructor's name?

• 16:14Rachel Cruze?

  Um, I don't remember.

• 16:17George Kamel?

  Guess she wasn't a great, I remember all the names of the great teachers in my life.

• 16:20Rachel Cruze?

  I, I like it. I like it. It's a great workout, especially the flow, the flow classes.

• 16:26George Kamel?

  Vinyasa.

• 16:27Rachel Cruze?

  Where you're constantly, you're moving and all your warrior, but you're go, I mean, you can really, and then if you do hot yoga, that's crazy. Where it's hot in there and you're doing it, it's great. I used to do that a lot.

• 16:38George Kamel?

  I don't like to sweat on purpose. If I want to do it, it's accidental.

• 16:42Rachel Cruze?

  Do you not do a sauna?

• 16:44George Kamel?

  I've done saunas.

• 16:45Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, yeah.

• 16:45George Kamel?

  But that doesn't feel like sweat. That feels like there's a forced thing happening there. You know what I mean? It's like, I don't know where this condensation is coming from.

• 16:52Rachel Cruze?

  What about yoga for you? Have you ever done yoga?

• 16:54George Kamel?

  Yeah, I did it once and it was a terrible experience.

• 16:56Rachel Cruze?

  Was it?

• 16:56George Kamel?

  Because they never told me what, I want instruction. When you say yoga instructor, tell me what to do. All she did was suggest things.

• 17:04Rachel Cruze?

  Perhaps you find your arm leaning over your head.

• 17:08George Kamel?

  There's a chance you find yourself surrendering to your pelvis. I'm like, what do you, why do they have to make it so weird? You know what I mean? Maybe your, maybe your knees find a natural safe place. I'm like, tell me what to do. That's all I want. Is that too much to ask? Just like, tell me, hey, okay, now here's what we're gonna do next, guys.

• 17:25Rachel Cruze?

  That's what, that, I'll be honest, that's usually my instructors. Like, go to Warrior One, you know what I mean? And they like, tell you what to do.

• 17:32George Kamel?

  Now there's different moves I have to memorize?

• 17:34Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 17:35George Kamel?

  Here's the best part. I was in a dark-

• 17:37Rachel Cruze?

  Downward dog.

• 17:37George Kamel?

  I was in a dark, quiet room for an hour, without being bothered. That was the best part of yoga. I thought, I could do this at home. I could lock myself in a closet with the door closed, with some nice music-

• 17:48Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, George.

• 17:48George Kamel?

  Without Amber telling me, suggestions. So no, I didn't go back. I felt nothing, other than uncomfortable.

• 17:56Rachel Cruze?

  Man, okay, that's not a great experience, and I'm sorry about that. Yes, you're definitely not giving, is it Gary, Greg, who's going? Brett.

• 18:04George Kamel?

  Brett.

• 18:04Rachel Cruze?

  Brett, the yoga instructor.

• 18:06George Kamel?

  Okay, he says, this is the direct quote. "I am starting this campaign to help raise money for myself, so that I may start my journey into yoga teacher training." You lost me at calling it a journey, Brett. It's training. Don't call it a journey. You're not finding yourself. You're learning how to suggest poses.

• 18:22Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, look at his next quote. "This will provide me with the tools so I can better serve each and every person in my life, and I've got them with positivity and light." Namaste.

• 18:34George Kamel?

  Would I give to this? No. And honestly, if you can't save up $650 to take the training-

• 18:42Rachel Cruze?

  There's a part of me I'm with you.

• 18:43George Kamel?

  What are you doing with your life?

• 18:44Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, I got you. He's fine.

• 18:46George Kamel?

  Like, it might take a while. Hundred bucks for six months, he's got the training covered.

• 18:49Rachel Cruze?

  He's on a journey, you know? He just needs the journey funded.

• 18:52George Kamel?

  I would just go to work before GoFundMe. You know what I mean? I would try that first, and if all else fails, if tragedy befall me, I will then go to GoFundMe.

• 19:02Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 19:02George Kamel?

  But as your first effort, I would not start at GoFundMe.

• 19:05Rachel Cruze?

  Would not do that.

• 19:06George Kamel?

  Sorry, Brett. Should we send Brett a treat to celebrate the start of his new career, though? Because you know who has some great athleisure? That'd be very comfortable to wear while instructing yoga?

• 19:16Rachel Cruze?

  Not a yoga company that I'm thinking of. I'm thinking of Cozy Earth.

• 19:20George Kamel?

  Now we're talking.

• 19:21Rachel Cruze?

  They have athleisure and other products that are absolutely incredible.

• 19:25George Kamel?

  Sleepwear, bedding?

• 19:27Rachel Cruze?

  Sheets, blankets, yes, pajamas, athleisure, all of it. I mean, it is, it is phenomenal. Their stuff is very high quality. It's incredible. I mean, it really is. They're pajamas. Some of my favorites. Still the same. Incredible.

• 19:41George Kamel?

  I love it. And if you want a sweet discount, you can get up to 40% off if you go to this site, toseyearth.com/smartmoney, or click the link in the description. Use promo code SMARTMONEY at checkout.

• 19:52Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, I would say get yourself some stuff. And it's a great gift.

• 19:57George Kamel?

  Speaking of generosity, what a tie-in. Full circle.

• 20:00Rachel Cruze?

  We should do like a GoFundMe for like people that need Cozy Earth products, you know? Like everyone give to it. Because no, but really, it is. It's incredible. The... I think my favorite that I've recently got is the blanket. And it's not the like really big, heavy one. It's like the medium one.

• 20:14George Kamel?

  Okay.

• 20:15Rachel Cruze?

  But it's the one that is on our couch currently, when we all watch, because we'll usually watch Wheel of Fortune at 6:30 at our house after dinner.

• 20:22George Kamel?

  Wow.

• 20:23Rachel Cruze?

  Us and the kids. And that's the blanket that is on my couch.

• 20:26George Kamel?

  It's the Wheel of Fortune blanket.

• 20:27Rachel Cruze?

  It really is.

• 20:28George Kamel?

  So if you want to see how the other half lives, get the Cozy Earth blanket, turn on Wheel of Fortune, lights out by 7:30.

• 20:34Rachel Cruze?

  Amen. Hallelujah. It's a good thing.

• 20:36George Kamel?

  So Brett, reach out if you somehow see this and you truly are that yoga instructor. Number one, I hope you've made it through the training and you are thriving. And number two, we'll send you a gift for roasting you.

• 20:45Rachel Cruze?

  All right, George. So this last campaign we're gonna look at, it actually worked, you know? Because a lot of people are now asking for funds to go on trips, to concerts, you know, they want tickets to these music festivals. Ready for this? A girl requested and received $600 to go to Burning Man. She said, "I have the opportunity to get more in touch with myself through this rich experience, and will have a spiritual impact on me that I can't put into words. I view Burning Man as a way to recharge my battery and level up my abilities to help people and be more aware of the impact to their emotional well-being."

• 21:21George Kamel?

  What?

• 21:22Rachel Cruze?

  Um, it's rumored that in 2025, the headliners... Okay, I don't know any of these people.

• 21:29George Kamel?

  Can you even say these names?

• 21:31Rachel Cruze?

  I'm so scared to say this one.

• 21:32George Kamel?

  So these are rumored 2025 headliners at Burning Man?

• 21:37Rachel Cruze?

  Diplo.

• 21:37George Kamel?

  Correct.

• 21:38Rachel Cruze?

  Carl Cox.

• 21:39George Kamel?

  Sounds good.

• 21:40Rachel Cruze?

  Nina Kravitz.

• 21:42George Kamel?

  I think it's Kravitz.

• 21:43Rachel Cruze?

  Kravitz. Tycho? Tycho?

• 21:45George Kamel?

  Tycho. You're doing good. The rest are easy.

• 21:48Rachel Cruze?

  Major Lazer?

• 21:49George Kamel?

  Yep.

• 21:50Rachel Cruze?

  And Skrillex? I don't even know what Burning Man is.

• 21:55George Kamel?

  Think like if a

• 21:56Rachel Cruze?

  I've heard of

• 21:57George Kamel?

  If there was a club, but it was outside and there was a lot of drugs.

• 22:01Rachel Cruze?

  Isn't that the one that everyone goes to in like Arizona or something? Isn't there like a cool one?

• 22:06George Kamel?

  They basically create this like art exhibit and community and they burn it all down at the end.

• 22:11Rachel Cruze?

  No.

• 22:12George Kamel?

  I think that's what happens there, correct? You can fact check me on that. But they have this big like art thing and they burn it down.

• 22:19Rachel Cruze?

  There's one in Tennessee, what's like the real big music festival?

• 22:21George Kamel?

  Bonnaroo.

• 22:21Rachel Cruze?

  Bonnaroo.

• 22:22George Kamel?

  There's also Coachella.

• 22:23Rachel Cruze?

  Coachella, that's what I'm thinking of.

• 22:24George Kamel?

  But Bonnaroo's a big one in Tennessee.

• 22:26Rachel Cruze?

  Can I tell you, festivals make me so sad. You have to stand so much.

• 22:33George Kamel?

  So much standing.

• 22:34Rachel Cruze?

  Don't like standing. I need a designated seat.

• 22:37George Kamel?

  No shade is the biggest issue for me.

• 22:39Rachel Cruze?

  I mean, a festival sounds, I can't, I don't like it. Being out in a field, because we're usually in fields, right?

• 22:46George Kamel?

  Yes.

• 22:46Rachel Cruze?

  Walking.

• 22:47George Kamel?

  I guess that's the proper term for where these take place.

• 22:50Rachel Cruze?

  Walking around, like no seat, no place to sit and eat, there's no tables.

• 22:56George Kamel?

  I think what you're thinking of is a restaurant. I think that's what you're looking for.

• 23:00Rachel Cruze?

  I don't like it. Call me old, but never have.

• 23:03George Kamel?

  The thing that gets me is how expensive everything is. They're charging these people out the wazoo for water bottles and a slice of pizza, thirteen dollars.

• 23:11Rachel Cruze?

  See, they'll do that at like a

• 23:13George Kamel?

  Nickel and diming would get me.

• 23:13Rachel Cruze?

  But they'll do that at like a, like a, like a game, like a professional game or something.

• 23:18George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 23:18Rachel Cruze?

  That I would go, I don't know.

• 23:19George Kamel?

  Well, you saw the stats. Sixty percent of people at Coachella use buy now, pay later.

• 23:24Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, man. To finance it.

• 23:26George Kamel?

  Oh, man. So not helping Rachel's take.

• 23:28Rachel Cruze?

  Isn't that the rich one, Coachella? Isn't it like the really like bougie one?

• 23:31George Kamel?

  I think it's bougier. There's more like VIP experiences. It's not like in the middle of nowhere.

• 23:37Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, that is just

• 23:38George Kamel?

  So you're out. You're not gonna support our friend.

• 23:40Rachel Cruze?

  I like restaurants, sporting events and spas. That's where I would spend my money.

• 23:45George Kamel?

  Never invite Rachel to Bonnaroo or Burning Man or Coachella. She will not go. And also, she doesn't know any of the artists. It's a waste of your time. She's not gonna

• 23:54Rachel Cruze?

  Do you know, have you heard of any of those?

• 23:55George Kamel?

  Yes, at least three.

• 23:56Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, man.

• 23:57George Kamel?

  Yes, Diplo, Tyco, Skrillex, and I've heard of Major. So four.

• 24:01Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 24:01George Kamel?

  I don't know who Carl or Nina are, but I'm sure they're very nice people, very talented, very successful. Otherwise, they wouldn't be headlining Burning Man.

• 24:10Rachel Cruze?

  I don't get it.

• 24:11George Kamel?

  Would you, what festival would you actually attend and pay 600 bucks for? Who would the artist have to be?

• 24:17Rachel Cruze?

  I mean, I'm not kidding me, getting me to a field is like, I just don't, it's not my thing.

• 24:23George Kamel?

  What if you were carted around, you were back on a tour bus with AC?

• 24:26Rachel Cruze?

  Alright, if I had like a VIP experience, if I had like a glamping experience.

• 24:29George Kamel?

  There's waiters serving you in the shade, there's fans blowing, people are feeding you grapes.

• 24:34Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, then what would I need to go, what would be fun?

• 24:38George Kamel?

  What artists would need to be there?

• 24:39Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, I would go like straight, like whatever was good in like 2003, like put all those people on a stage, that'd be fun for me.

• 24:45George Kamel?

  Okay, so about 22 years in the past.

• 24:47Rachel Cruze?

  Like my highlight of my high school years, that would be enjoyable. Cause other than that, you know this, my playlist is literally.

• 24:54George Kamel?

  She wants the hits.

• 24:54Rachel Cruze?

  Taylor Swift and the Goodness of God, this is the only songs I listen to on my Spotify.

• 25:00George Kamel?

  And you want Rachel Cruze to be there, that's what, who needs to be there?

• 25:03Rachel Cruze?

  That's right.

• 25:04George Kamel?

  Who does Goodness of God? Is that like a Hillsong situation?

• 25:07Rachel Cruze?

  No, that's Bethel, is it Bethel? I think it's Bethel, yeah.

• 25:10George Kamel?

  That's the new Hillsong.

• 25:11Rachel Cruze?

  If when Bethel and Taylor Swift come together, Rachel will be there.

• 25:14George Kamel?

  Stranger things have happened. I mean, Bon Iver and Taylor did a collab and he's my favorite. Never mind, you don't know any of the words I just said, you don't care.

• 25:24Rachel Cruze?

  I don't do music, George, I do books on tape, I do audibles.

• 25:27George Kamel?

  For the record, I would not give, I think, you're not gonna.

• 25:31Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, no, I'm not giving to this.

• 25:32George Kamel?

  Be any more aware of the impact of your emotional well-being by going to Burning Man.

• 25:36Rachel Cruze?

  I would pay 600 dollars for therapy for this woman.

• 25:39George Kamel?

  That's at least four sessions.

• 25:42Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, that would be great, that's what she needs to do.

• 25:45George Kamel?

  Now, we had fun roasting them all, Rachel, but let's reiterate, we are very pro-giving, pro-generosity, it should be a regular thing you do with your time and your money, and not just when tragedy strikes or when a GoFundMe hits you right. So if you want to help a stranger by going to Burning Man and the spirit moved you to give some money, knock your socks off.

• 26:01Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, I appreciate that.

• 26:02George Kamel?

  I'm not mad about that.

• 26:03Rachel Cruze?

  No, but I think, yes, having a spirit of generosity, I think, is really important. And studies show that you are a happier person when you give. Like, there is something about it. And I would say, too, challenge yourself not to give out of the motivation of what you're gonna get, your happiness, because we know that now. But it's like, it's the decent human thing to do. When you see people in need, right? When there are situations that need help, like, fill in the gap in life, right? That makes the world go round.

• 26:29George Kamel?

  Yes.

• 26:30Rachel Cruze?

  And then you get the benefit of being happier.

• 26:32George Kamel?

  Yeah, there's a lot of scientific benefits. There's a lot of spiritual benefits. And think about the last time you gave. It felt amazing.

• 26:38Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 26:39George Kamel?

  Even more than when you receive.

• 26:40Rachel Cruze?

  Yep. And if your giving becomes stale, because we have a lot of people that have been watching Ramsey stuff for decades, for, you know, 10-plus years. Some of y'all are the hardcore, yes, Ramsey people, which is great. So, a lot of people, you know, we've been talking about giving and giving 10%, and that's always been a core part of our message. So, a lot of people do that. But I will say, Winston and I have found that sometimes, like, when it's just kind of automatic, you don't always feel the impacts, right? Like, there's something about having-

• 27:06George Kamel?

  It's not always magical.

• 27:07Rachel Cruze?

  Spontaneous moments, though, to put back in, to, like, bring life back to your giving, if you feel like it has gone stale. So, find some creative ways to do some stuff for people, like individuals. I always think that's fun. And you may not get, like, the tax write-off or whatever, but, like, throw all that out the window. Just, like, let the spirit move. And it's really fun to help individuals when you know. So, like, the GoFundMes we joked about, right? But sometimes you will see individuals that truly do need help. And if you have the ability and the margin, that's one of the reasons you want to win with money. It's not just to keep giving to yourself. It is to be a generous giver.

• 27:37George Kamel?

  Beautiful reminder. And the way I have made this a habit is, in my EveryDollar budget, I have a line item for spontaneous giving.

• 27:44Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 27:44George Kamel?

  I call it, like, the Bless Up Fund. You can have whatever clever name you want. But it's just a way for me to basically plan for the spontaneous. So that if an opportunity arises, I don't have to go, "Oh, gosh, I didn't budget for that." You just have it ready to go. So, if you guys want to check out EveryDollar, we will put a link in the show notes, and you can create your own line item for giving.

• 28:02Rachel Cruze?

  Yep, that makes it really fun. Super, super fun.

• 28:04George Kamel?

  It's a good time. Now, on the flip side, depending on the generosity of others, it's not great to just, your whole life to go, "I need this to happen or else." You've got to be able to take care of your own needs and work to afford your goals and wants. That's kind of part of the roasting, is just- Put some sacrifice in, work for it, make some money, and don't expect everyone else to fund all of your dreams. And if you're ever genuinely in need or you're being randomly blessed, receive it graciously. I love this quote, "Don't block a blessing." If somebody wants to give, it's not up to you to say, "No, no, no, I can't." Don't try to humble your way out of it. Just say, "Thank you so much." They're so kind.

• 28:38Rachel Cruze?

  That's good.

• 28:39George Kamel?

  Let them get the benefit. It's not all about you.

• 28:42Rachel Cruze?

  As you're receiving it, yeah. No, that's fair. I think that's good. That's really good. Yeah, and I will say too, the internet is a beautiful place that if stuff does happen in tragedy, real tragedy does strike. It is a place that, yeah, you get to understand and learn about other people and their stories and their situations. And if you have the means and maybe you know someone or you're one degree separated or not, and you're like, "No, this is something I want to give to." It really is a beautiful thing. And GoFundMe, it is a great website to be able to do that, right? So you see, I mean, you can go on there and there's so many different categories and situations and everything. And I mean, some of it's heartbreaking. I mean, it is. It's just, it's horrible.

• 29:21Rachel Cruze?

  But, but yeah, I always find with, whether it's like medical events that come up, people can use that and they're able to email out those links and people are able to help. Because especially medical bills, it's one of the leading causes of bankruptcy in America. So to help like bridge the gap there, I think is like a really beautiful thing. And then some other spontaneous stuff, Carlos Whitaker, we were talking, he does a great job with generosity, but he even did like a GoFundMe with a piano player at an airport.

• 29:50George Kamel?

  Oh, I saw that.

• 29:51Rachel Cruze?

  And he raised like-

• 29:51George Kamel?

  60 grand.

• 29:52Rachel Cruze?

  Was it 60 grand? Was it like 50 grand or something? You know, it's like spontaneous moments like that that you're able to get people involved. It's just a, it is, it's a beautiful thing. Beautiful world we live in.

• 30:00George Kamel?

  Yes. And here's a, one of my favorite GoFundMe success stories. Here's the campaign. "Support rock star pizza driver's dedication." Here it is. Pizza delivery driver delivers pizza a half a mile on foot in a snowstorm to an affluent neighborhood, only to receive a $2 tip. This is me when I did the Instacart driving. This is exactly, this is my version of it.

• 30:21Rachel Cruze?

  All the sacrifice.

• 30:22George Kamel?

  A police officer witnessed the whole thing. The police officer puts it on TikTok and viewers wanted to donate to him. So the officer created a GoFundMe to raise $500 in honor of this guy's work ethic. And he raised over $45,000.

• 30:36Rachel Cruze?

  No. See, I like that.

• 30:39George Kamel?

  It gives you faith in humanity a little bit.

• 30:41Rachel Cruze?

  And I like that it wasn't him that created the GoFundMe. It's something about someone else seeing a situation. I think people are more up to give to that.

• 30:47George Kamel?

  Yes.

• 30:48Rachel Cruze?

  You know what I mean?

• 30:49George Kamel?

  I don't know what that, what do you think's behind that?

• 30:51Rachel Cruze?

  Versus the driver is like, oh my gosh, I only got a $2 tip. Does anyone want to give me a GoFundMe? Like, you know what I mean? Cause I feel bad for me. It's kind of that, like, they're not asking for it. And you almost want to bless that because it's like the unexpected blessing.

• 31:02George Kamel?

  And the fact that someone else has the heart to create this and try to, there's something about that.

• 31:08Rachel Cruze?

  I love it.

• 31:09George Kamel?

  Very beautiful. Yep. There's a guy Jimmy Darts who's out there and he was actually on my YouTube channel.

• 31:13Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, yes.

• 31:14George Kamel?

  Wonderful guy. And so what he does is he'll go up to people in need. He'll kind of source stories locally and say, hey, does anyone know someone in need in this area? He'll vibe it out. He'll surprise them, find them in a Walmart and go, hey, do you have a dollar for me? I'm, I'm hungry or I need a bus ticket. And they'll give him a dollar. And he goes, hey, since you were so nice to me, here's $500. And they're always taken aback.

• 31:34Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, yes.

• 31:35George Kamel?

  But it doesn't stop there. He then shares that video on social media. It gets millions of views and he starts a GoFundMe for each of them, raising another 50 to 100,000 dollars.

• 31:44Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my gosh, for each individual?

• 31:45George Kamel?

  For each individual. And he does this every single week. So here's the latest GoFundMe. I just pulled it up to see what he's up to.

• 31:51Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 31:52George Kamel?

  So let's help get Jeff off the streets. So it's a guy who's experiencing homelessness. He works at Sprouts now and he was sleeping outside. And so he ran into him. They went through this whole situation. The GoFundMe currently has almost $90,000 raised out of a $100,000 goal. Three days it's been up.

• 32:08Rachel Cruze?

  Stop it.

• 32:09George Kamel?

  And so that's all he does is he spotlights people in need, gets a community around them. And so that really does inspire me. And this is probably the best use of GoFundMe instead of drugs, booze and Burning Man.

• 32:21Rachel Cruze?

  I would agree. And when Jesus says, Did you feed me when I was hungry?

• 32:27George Kamel?

  There it is.

• 32:28Rachel Cruze?

  He gets front of the line.

• 32:29George Kamel?

  That's right. Extra jewel on the crown in heaven.

• 32:31Rachel Cruze?

  A hundred percent.

• 32:32George Kamel?

  Meanwhile, they're gonna be like, "Why didn't you give to that girl who wanted to go on her journey?" I'm like, "Oh dang it, I didn't think this would come back to haunt me."

• 32:38Rachel Cruze?

  He gave to the bride because she booked wrong tickets.

• 32:41George Kamel?

  Yikes.

• 32:42Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, give it to the people actually in deep need.

• 32:44George Kamel?

  That was fun. It does make me want to give more, seeing these stories.

• 32:47Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, for sure. It's beautiful. So beautiful, George. Love it. Love giving. And, uh, love this.

• 32:53George Kamel?

  And Love Gun, which is the name of the drink today.

• 32:55Rachel Cruze?

  So before we spill our guilty as charged question and answers, uh, what is this?

• 33:00George Kamel?

  This is the Love Gun. The drink comes out to $2.84 per glass. Here's what's in it. Can you guess at all what's in it?

• 33:08Rachel Cruze?

  I would say lemonade.

• 33:10George Kamel?

  Okay, it does have lemon juice.

• 33:12Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, right, okay.

• 33:13George Kamel?

  It has light rum, lemon juice, raspberry syrup, simple syrup, St. Elizabeth allspice dram, and club soda.

• 33:20Rachel Cruze?

  Man.

• 33:21George Kamel?

  So it's a very...

• 33:22Rachel Cruze?

  It was nice.

• 33:23George Kamel?

  Kind of a, almost like a berry lemonade type drink.

• 33:26Rachel Cruze?

  It feels like a brunch cocktail.

• 33:28George Kamel?

  Yes.

• 33:29Rachel Cruze?

  So I'm gonna go...

• 33:30George Kamel?

  If I'm not in the mood for mimosa, I'll take this.

• 33:32Rachel Cruze?

  I'm going nine out of 10.

• 33:33George Kamel?

  Yeah, and it got better as it went down. So, uh, mixologist Michael told me that the club soda was sitting on top. So it's a layered drink. So it kind of changes and gets more interesting and a little more boozy as you make your way down.

• 33:44Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, I like it. Nine out of 10 for me.

• 33:45George Kamel?

  Nine out of 10 for me, too.

• 33:47Rachel Cruze?

  It's great.

• 33:47George Kamel?

  All right, get the recipe in the show notes. Give it a try this weekend if you are of age. Good disclaimer. Proud of that.

• 33:55Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, very good disclaimer. Remember that, kids. All right, now it's time for

• 34:00George Kamel?

  Guilty as charged.

• 34:02Rachel Cruze?

  And this is where we ask each other a guilty as charged question every week, and if we're guilty, we take a sip. All right, you ready, George?

• 34:08George Kamel?

  Yep.

• 34:09Rachel Cruze?

  Have you ever passed up an opportunity to give because it was a bad pitch?

• 34:14George Kamel?

  Oh, gosh.

• 34:17Rachel Cruze?

  Do you have a story?

• 34:18George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 34:18Rachel Cruze?

  You do?

• 34:19George Kamel?

  This happened recently. I was walking the dogs in my neighborhood.

• 34:21Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 34:22George Kamel?

  You know how kids will sit like on the sidewalk and like sell stuff? Little table lemonade stand? Well, this kid, a few doors down, he didn't have a table. He was in an SUV with the sunroof open and his head was poking out. And he was just yelling, candy for sale, candy for sale. What kind of candy? I don't know. What price point? No idea. And so Whitney, my wife, is just like, come on, you have to like acknowledge him and talk to him. And I went, no, I'm not going to enable this terrible version of entrepreneurship that's happening right here. He needs to learn a lesson. This is not how you solicit customers. And so I walked right past him and on the way back, he was now sad.

• 35:02George Kamel?

  And he was saying out loud in earshot of me saying, nobody wants my candy or my flowers. And he was still sitting in the sunroof just all...

• 35:10Rachel Cruze?

  How old is this kid?

• 35:11George Kamel?

  I don't know, probably seven, eight. But he was all myth that nobody wanted his flower. I was like, have a table, give me a price list, show me what you're selling me. You know what I mean? Is it a Butterfinger? Is it Reese's? Are they Magnolias? What do we got here?

• 35:25Rachel Cruze?

  What do we have?

• 35:26George Kamel?

  Let me know what kind of product you have. Sitting in the driveway in your SUV poking out of the sunroof? That's not how you sell.

• 35:32Rachel Cruze?

  You're not doing that.

• 35:33George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 35:34Rachel Cruze?

  Who's in the pa- who's like in the driver's seat? The mom, dad?

• 35:36George Kamel?

  No, nobody. It was just a car wasn't turned on. He was just in the driveway, car turned off with his head out the sunroof.

• 35:44Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my.

• 35:45George Kamel?

  Do you understand how wild of a situation that is?

• 35:47Rachel Cruze?

  It's a little dangerous. I hope he can like get out of the car, you know?

• 35:50George Kamel?

  Oh, he's fine. He was just poking his head out the sunroof, you know, in the backseat kind of thing. So anyways, that's, I turned him down hard. I did not acknowledge him. And I didn't have time, I was walking the dogs, didn't have time to coach him up and be like, hey, man, if you got a nice little table out here, get a setup, lay out your items nicely. You know, aesthetic matters.

• 36:07Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 36:07George Kamel?

  Show me the inventory. Give me a very clear price list. What's the value proposition here?

• 36:13Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my gosh.

• 36:13George Kamel?

  Nothing, none of that.

• 36:14Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, just screaming and you said nope.

• 36:17George Kamel?

  So that was, uh, yeah, Whitney was still, I think she's still mad at me.

• 36:19Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, man.

• 36:20George Kamel?

  For not being nice.

• 36:21Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 36:22George Kamel?

  I don't just give kids money because of effort. You gotta really put the right effort in.

• 36:26Rachel Cruze?

  Mine's tough, because I don't always have cash on me. Like, especially in the neighborhood, if I'm walking or something, I just have my phone and my AirPods, and that's it. Like, I don't carry-

• 36:32George Kamel?

  They don't take Venmo these days?

• 36:34Rachel Cruze?

  Some will, and that's the smart thing. You gotta do the Venmo thing.

• 36:37George Kamel?

  Cash app? That's my thing. If you had a big QR code, hey, scan to pay, here's the price list.

• 36:42Rachel Cruze?

  Hey, you can get your-

• 36:43George Kamel?

  Here's what I'm raising this for.

• 36:44Rachel Cruze?

  Get your QR code template from yours. He should have asked you, George.

• 36:49George Kamel?

  Honestly, I should train him up and say, hey, man, I just did a very unsuccessful campaign for my daughter's college. You could take some notes here.

• 36:54Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, my gosh.

• 36:55George Kamel?

  Maybe that's why. I saw myself in him. I saw my own failures and insecurities in this kid.

• 37:00Rachel Cruze?

  And you said I can't give to that.

• 37:01George Kamel?

  But if you see a Girl Scout, are you acknowledging? Are you buying?

• 37:05Rachel Cruze?

  Girl Scouts, yeah, I'll do that. Our Boy Scouts will do, like, wreaths at Christmas time. So, like, I'll buy some, yeah, I'll buy some things. I will. I used to be a little bit like, we've already done our giving and it's not in the budget. But if it's like a neighborhood kid that we know, I will.

• 37:21George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 37:21Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, I will do it.

• 37:22George Kamel?

  I've done it before.

• 37:23Rachel Cruze?

  I got scammed with giving. That's what came to my head.

• 37:27George Kamel?

  What happened?

• 37:27Rachel Cruze?

  I had, yeah, we had someone ring our doorbell, and I went, and they gave me this whole pitch about, like, there's a food desert. I think I may have told this story like a year ago. A food desert in a part of, like, Nashville, like, an hour away. They don't have fresh crops, and they're trying to, um, get inner-city kids to create this garden. It was a, it was a beautiful idea, and I was like, you know what? I will. Like, I'll give. I'll use that spontaneous line item in my EveryDollar budget, and I'll give. So, I, I fell for it, and I, he gave me, like, a packet and everything. Like, it was legit. And I wrote a check and gave it to him, and I got the packet, and then Winston came home, I don't know, like, an hour later, so I was telling him about it. He was like, let me see it. And he went and looked up the website and everything. Doesn't exist.

• 38:09Rachel Cruze?

  Complete scam. So Winston had to call the bank and, like, void the check and all of this. I was like, oh, my gosh. How terrible.

• 38:16George Kamel?

  Who's putting the kids up to this? It can't be of their own volition.

• 38:18Rachel Cruze?

  It was an adult.

• 38:19George Kamel?

  Oh.

• 38:20Rachel Cruze?

  Like, a guy can, it was a guy, like, a grown man. I know. Complete scam.

• 38:24George Kamel?

  I'm so sorry.

• 38:25Rachel Cruze?

  I fell for it, because I thought, what a great idea.

• 38:27George Kamel?

  But to be fair, he found his target demo. Sweet, gullible Rachel. Because you know me. I'd be like, let me, what's the website?

• 38:34Rachel Cruze?

  I know, y'all. I didn't look up anything. I know. Yeah, it was not, not great.

• 38:39George Kamel?

  What's the, uh, what's your 501(c)(3) code here?

• 38:42Rachel Cruze?

  I'm trying to think if I didn't give because of the pitch. I don't- I'm sure, yeah, I mean, I don't give every time I'm asked.

• 38:48George Kamel?

  Yeah. The problem I have is if it's like a friend's kid. Like I had that happen to me once that came to my door.

• 38:53Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, I know.

• 38:54George Kamel?

  To sell me, I'm like, hey, you want the tumbler we're selling for band camp? And I was like, alright, fine.

• 38:59Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 38:59George Kamel?

  So I just bought it, never used it, immediately goodwilled it.

• 39:01Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 39:02George Kamel?

  But I supported, I wish I just had given him 20 bucks and said, I don't need the cut.

• 39:05Rachel Cruze?

  I don't need the thing.

• 39:06George Kamel?

  Don't need to order your thing.

• 39:07Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah. I think food is the best way. Girl Scout cookies, popcorn, like, that's like.

• 39:11George Kamel?

  You can consume it and enjoy it.

• 39:13Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, it's good.

• 39:14George Kamel?

  Or re-gift it.

• 39:15Rachel Cruze?

  Well, if you have a guilty as charged question, make sure to DM us at Rachel Cruz and at George Kamel. It's always helpful to get your ideas. And if you love this episode, you'll definitely love our episode on dupes, counterfeits, and scams. You don't want to miss it, we'll put a link down below. And we're also going to talk about Winston's Craigslist trauma that happened in that.

• 39:37George Kamel?

  I forgot about that.

• 39:38Rachel Cruze?

  Scam. Scams everywhere, y'all, what is happening?

• 39:40George Kamel?

  Oh, and we need, I need to solicit reviews. Speaking of generosity, would you be so kind to leave us a review wherever you're listening? We love to see them, it helps the team know what you're liking, what you don't like, so we can keep making some sweet episodes.

• 39:53Rachel Cruze?

  We love you guys, you are the best. So we'll see you next Thursday on an all-new episode of Smart Money Happy Hour.