Pod Insights Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel ’90s Status Symbols That Screamed “We’re Rich!” About this episode 📈 Are you on track with the Baby Steps? Get a free personalized plan.
From Abercrombie jeans to Juicy Couture tracksuits, some things just felt fancier in the ’90s. In this episode, Rachel and George invite you to play along as they reveal the price of nostalgic status symbols and decide if they’re still worth the splurge today.
Next Steps:
🎥 Watch our video Do We Have It Harder Financially Than Our Parents?
🍸 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: 🍹Coconut Mojito Mocktail
Recipe: Kale Junkie
1/4 cup light canned coconut milk
1/2 lime
2 ounces ginger beer
2 ounces sparkling water
10 mint leaves
Sea salt for rimming the glass
Instructions: Cut the lime into slices and rub one of the slices along the rim of a tall glass, so that the lime juice coats it. Place the glass rim-down into the sea salt and rotate until the sea salt sticks to the rim. Add the mint leaves to a
tall glass , then, using a muddler or a spoon, muddle the mint leaves together until the minty smell begins to release. Add all the ingredients and stir.
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
Transcript Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
0:05 George Kamel? Today, we're talking lava lamps, waterbeds, and other signs of extreme wealth in the 90s.
0:10 Rachel Cruze? A 64-pack of Crayola crayons with the sharpener built into the box.
0:15 George Kamel? You kidding me? The name-brand Crayola with the sharpener?
0:18 Rachel Cruze? Lunchables.
0:19 George Kamel? People gathered around to watch you assemble that pizza.
0:28 Rachel Cruze? Hey, guys, I'm Rachel Cruz.
0:29 George Kamel? I'm George Kamel.
0:31 Rachel Cruze? And this is Smart Money Happy Hour.
0:39 Rachel Cruze? Well, this is the show where two friends who happen to be money experts talk about what you're talking about. Everything from pop culture, current events, and money.
0:46 George Kamel? And before we get to the 90s, let's talk about right now, what we're sipping on. This is a coconut mojito mocktail.
0:52 Rachel Cruze? Yeah.
0:52 George Kamel? We're gonna give you our rating and reveal the cost per glass at the end of the episode, so stick around if you want to learn more.
0:58 Rachel Cruze? So, George, I feel like we could probably list 100 different things in life in the 90s that makes you think like, oh, my gosh, that family was so rich. But now, looking back, you're like, okay, it didn't even cost that much. But we thought like, oh, yeah, they must be rich because of, fill in the blank.
1:14 George Kamel? What's the first thing you think of?
1:16 Rachel Cruze? A fridge in the garage. If you had a refrigerator in the garage that was like for drinks, you were doing real well.
1:24 George Kamel? I can think of the friend, and they not only had a drink fridge in the garage, lived in a cul-de-sac. And I thought, oh, my gosh, who can afford to live in... It just ends?
1:34 Rachel Cruze? In a cul-de-sac.
1:35 George Kamel? The privacy.
1:35 Rachel Cruze? You're there. You know what? My friend had a driveway that was a circle, like you could pull in one end and it connected to the other. It wasn't a straight one.
1:45 George Kamel? Who has the time?
1:45 Rachel Cruze? And she had the garage fridge.
1:47 George Kamel? That's how you know.
1:48 Rachel Cruze? I'm looking at you, Kate. That's right.
1:50 George Kamel? Shout out to Kate.
1:51 Rachel Cruze? Exactly. And she had the cool tube socks in the sixth grade.
1:55 George Kamel? There was cool tube socks.
1:56 Rachel Cruze? The socks that were up and then you just crinkled them a little bit up at the top. Oh, that was, that was the thing.
2:01 George Kamel? Missed that trend.
2:03 Rachel Cruze? And you know what? They're kind of back. It's a little lower for the Gen Z'ers, but they're, they're here.
2:07 George Kamel? Oh, yeah. I don't know what's going on with Gen Z and the tube socks, but it's a lot.
2:10 Rachel Cruze? Have you done it yet? No, no, you haven't.
2:12 George Kamel? I'm still showing a little ankle.
2:13 Rachel Cruze? I see that.
2:15 George Kamel? Hey, these people are paying good money for this show.
2:17 Rachel Cruze? I haven't done it. The socks?
2:19 George Kamel? No, I only wear socks that go above my ankle at home.
2:23 Rachel Cruze? Okay.
2:24 George Kamel? Otherwise, no need to show that off.
2:26 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, we don't need to see a sock.
2:28 George Kamel? No, I'm fine. I still wear skinny jeans, so I'm out on all the trends.
2:31 Rachel Cruze? That's good. That's good.
2:32 George Kamel? Well, uh, we could, we could go through the list, but we're gonna put the theory to the test and play a little game. So we have a list of throwback status symbols and our team looked up how much each of them cost today.
2:42 Rachel Cruze? Oh, good.
2:42 George Kamel? So we're gonna guess the current price, reminisce a little bit, and give each one a yes or no based on if we would pay today's price to scratch that nostalgic spending itch.
2:50 Rachel Cruze? Ooh, that's a fun one. Okay. I love it.
2:52 George Kamel? So, and you have to play along at home.
2:54 Rachel Cruze? For sure, yeah.
2:55 George Kamel? Encourage the viewers and listeners.
2:56 Rachel Cruze? And let me put a little asterisk that I think some of these items, possibly, I haven't looked at the full list. But some of these items may have been more expensive back in the 90s, right? From like a inflation standpoint, and they've gotten cheaper because they...
3:11 George Kamel? Technology.
3:12 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, yeah, yeah, because they're more, more available, if you will, right?
3:15 George Kamel? Okay. Let's start with, uh, the home category.
3:17 Rachel Cruze? Oh, my gosh, the trampoline. We got, we got one when I was in the fourth grade.
3:21 George Kamel? Wow.
3:22 Rachel Cruze? And no nets. Nets didn't exist then.
3:24 George Kamel? Oh, like the net that goes around the sides?
3:25 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, no, we didn't have those.
3:26 George Kamel? That did feel like ultra luxury. It was like, wow, all right, you get it.
3:29 Rachel Cruze? I don't think we knew people that had those. Those didn't come in till like, I was like later high school.
3:33 George Kamel? It was like a safety thing. That was 2000s.
3:35 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, so I'm talking like, straight up 96. And I sprained my arm on the trampoline. I did a flip off of the trampoline.
3:43 George Kamel? You what?
3:43 Rachel Cruze? Sprained.
3:44 George Kamel? Oh, sprain. I thought you said sprang.
3:46 Rachel Cruze? Aw, man.
3:47 George Kamel? I sprained my arm? I was like, wow, you did grow up into anti-...
3:50 Rachel Cruze? Spranged, sprained my arm.
3:51 George Kamel? That's gotta hurt.
3:52 Rachel Cruze? Uh, it did, yeah. But, uh, yeah, a lot of doctors do not recommend trampolines.
3:57 George Kamel? I would say any doctor doesn't recommend it.
3:59 Rachel Cruze? Yeah.
3:59 George Kamel? You should get a trampoline. It'd be good for you.
4:01 Rachel Cruze? They don't like them. I know. I, I like them. We, we don't have one.
4:05 George Kamel? Well, the thing is, you also need the yard space. So part of it was, if you had a house that had a big enough yard, you were probably doing pretty well. To afford a trampoline on top of that?
4:13 Rachel Cruze? Okay, let me say this, though. True, true or false? I feel like back in, when I was like, middle school days, it was way more common to have like, an acre lot with like, a rancher home on it. Nowadays, people have an acre lot and build like, a 6,000-foot square home or something. You know what I'm saying?
4:28 George Kamel? More home, but less yard.
4:29 Rachel Cruze? Yes, we're back in the day, I think the yard was more precious than the home. Nowadays, it's the home versus the yard. Do you agree?
4:36 George Kamel? Yeah, that makes sense.
4:37 Rachel Cruze? Yeah.
4:37 George Kamel? And I grew up in New England, in the Boston area, so we didn't have much yard. It was like, it was kinda like rocky. We didn't play much. Like, I had, I had a little trampoline that was this big, you know, like...
4:46 Rachel Cruze? Oh, like the little, like the exercise ones?
4:47 George Kamel? The little solo, the little solo trampoline, that's what we had.
4:49 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, 100%.
4:50 George Kamel? We had a good time.
4:51 Rachel Cruze? And look, you turned out great.
4:52 George Kamel? I was out there skating.
4:53 Rachel Cruze? Alright, so today's price at Walmart for a trampoline is $200.
4:57 George Kamel? Wait, you're talking about the full-size giant trampoline that's only 200 bucks?
5:00 Rachel Cruze? At Walmart, yes. Would you get a trampoline for Mia?
5:03 George Kamel? No.
5:04 Rachel Cruze? Oh, doctor, what, why?
5:06 George Kamel? I, I pay for health insurance. I know what it costs. I don't need to have a sprained, especially on my little girl.
5:13 Rachel Cruze? Oh my god.
5:13 George Kamel? If she hurt herself under my care and tutelage, I'd never forgive myself.
5:20 George Kamel? That's a, that's a good start, though, the trampoline.
5:22 Rachel Cruze? Oh, man, okay.
5:23 George Kamel? Okay, next up. Clear phone with colorful wiring inside.
5:26 Rachel Cruze? God, all I wanted, all I wanted.
5:28 George Kamel? Loved a clear phone.
5:29 Rachel Cruze? We didn't have it.
5:30 George Kamel? Why did it cost more for you to see what was inside?
5:32 Rachel Cruze? I don't know, but they were so, and the, and the wires, they obviously did on purpose. That they're like, green and yellow and like, lime green and like, hot pink and, ugh, so cool. Do you know what, you know what I had, what kinda phone I had at one point? And I got it for Christmas one year. I have no idea why I asked for this phone. You're not even gonna believe it. I don't even know where mom and dad found this. I asked for one of those Victorian-style phones that you pick up, and there's like, a, this, and like, a skinny handle, and then the mouthpiece, and then you lay it on top.
6:04 George Kamel? And it was working? It was a functional phone?
6:05 Rachel Cruze? Yes, and I thought...
6:07 George Kamel? Did you talk in an old-timey voice the whole time?
6:10 Rachel Cruze? No, but I had that phone in my room for like, a few months, and then I realized it's very uncomfortable. And then I got a portable phone when those came out.
6:18 George Kamel? Oh.
6:19 Rachel Cruze? With a headset attached.
6:23 George Kamel? Like you're running a call center out of your bedroom?
6:27 Rachel Cruze? And I could walk around my bedroom and like clean or do what I needed and talk to my friends on the phone.
6:31 George Kamel? What did you even talk about?
6:32 Rachel Cruze? I don't know. Isn't that funny?
6:33 George Kamel? Like what was happening on AOL Instant Messenger?
6:36 Rachel Cruze? We talked on the phone all the time. Like we, I would get home from school and call my friends on the phone.
6:41 George Kamel? Just for fun?
6:42 Rachel Cruze? Yes.
6:42 George Kamel? Because you could.
6:43 Rachel Cruze? And then you had a call out of the school directory if you were calling like a boy, if you had the number memorized. And then the house phone calls and you're like, "Hi, Mrs. Anderson. Is Tyler there?" You know. You had to talk to the mom. She's like, "Oh, hi, Rachel. Who is this?" "Oh, it's Rachel Ramsey." "Oh, hi, Rachel. How are you doing?" "I'm good, thank you." "Yeah, let me see if he's available," you know.
7:02 George Kamel? Wow.
7:02 Rachel Cruze? Like you had to have a whole conversation with an adult. When you were in freaking like 8th grade.
7:06 George Kamel? Can you imagine Gen Z having to go through an adult today?
7:08 Rachel Cruze? I mean, seriously, I'm like, we had zero fears.
7:11 George Kamel? They would faint.
7:12 Rachel Cruze? Zero fears about the phone. I would even call the back of like potato chip companies.
7:18 Rachel Cruze? They would have a 1-800 number on the back of like food.
7:20 George Kamel? You're just trolling?
7:21 Rachel Cruze? We did, and we got free food. They sent us like free coupons in the mail.
7:25 George Kamel? Wait, you just said, "Hey, we'd love some chips."
7:27 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, but you'd talk to a 50-year-old operator, but you didn't care. Zero intimidation with adults on the phone. That was back in the day, George. That was in the 90s.
7:34 George Kamel? I was prank calling. That was our thing.
7:36 Rachel Cruze? Did you ever use Star 67 so like they couldn't?
7:39 George Kamel? Yes, we did.
7:40 Rachel Cruze? It would be like a private?
7:40 George Kamel? So it's anonymous.
7:41 Rachel Cruze? Yes. Crazy.
7:42 George Kamel? That was a life hack. I can't believe they built that in.
7:46 Rachel Cruze? Here's another question, real quick. On your answering machine, did y'all do like a family answering machine at all?
7:51 George Kamel? Oh, I think that was my dad. Like my dad, dad had the privilege of leaving, of doing the voicemail.
7:56 Rachel Cruze? What did it say? Do you remember? Do you have like any memory of it?
7:58 George Kamel? I think it was a very standard like, "Hello, you've reached the Camel family. We can't get to the phone. Leave a message and we'll get..." You know, very standard.
8:06 Rachel Cruze? Okay, very simple.
8:06 George Kamel? You had a crazy one?
8:07 Rachel Cruze? Noel, uh...
8:08 George Kamel? Who got to do it?
8:09 Rachel Cruze? At Christmas, we would all sing.
8:12 George Kamel? You have themed voicemails based on the season?
8:14 Rachel Cruze? My family, yes. "We wish you a merry Christmas." "We wish you a merry Christmas." Could you imagine the Ramses singing? We did. We sang on it for Christmas seasons. And mom would gather us around the, y'all, the machine. Yes, it'd be like, "All right, we're recording." "One, two, three," and we all'd sing, "We wish you a merry Christmas."
8:32 George Kamel? Wow.
8:33 Rachel Cruze? We did. Anthony and I had a rap on ours, but I've already, I've already...
8:37 George Kamel? We have a fa- yeah, that's a famous clip from this show.
8:40 Rachel Cruze? Yeah.
8:40 George Kamel? Can you use the beatboxing from it? Because that's my favorite part.
8:51 George Kamel? Really good, really good stuff.
8:53 Rachel Cruze? Yep.
8:53 George Kamel? Eminem been real quiet since you dropped that.
8:56 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, it's, uh, we were real good at the raps.
8:59 George Kamel? That was simpler times.
9:01 Rachel Cruze? Okay.
9:01 George Kamel? So today's price for the clear phone with the colored wiring, seventy-five to two-hundred forty bucks on eBay. Hope you have one laying around to make some serious money.
9:11 Rachel Cruze? I mean, seriously, that's like, that's legit.
9:12 George Kamel? That's crazy.
9:13 Rachel Cruze? All right, next up is the lava lamp.
9:15 George Kamel? Mmm.
9:16 Rachel Cruze? Today's price, I'll just go and break it to you, twenty-five bucks.
9:19 George Kamel? That's cheap.
9:19 Rachel Cruze? My girls love a lava lamp.
9:21 George Kamel? To this day.
9:21 Rachel Cruze? Yes, and then the other thing that Amelia has saved up for she bought was one of those things with fish in it, fake, fake, like jellyfish, that they have different lights and water and they
9:33 Rachel Cruze? it's like a little container.
9:33 George Kamel? Do they make that noise? It's like bubbling up to like move them?
9:37 Rachel Cruze? It's bubbling up, yes, to move the jellyfish, the fake jellyfish. But my kids love lights and like things moving and tubes or something, I don't know.
9:45 George Kamel? Okay, it's a very specific niche.
9:47 Rachel Cruze? It's a very thing. Anyway, so lava lamps were very cool, and they're still cool. So that's what I'm saying, it's like, that's one that has not.
9:55 George Kamel? I still don't understand how they work. It's still a little bit of magic to me.
9:58 Rachel Cruze? Okay, that's a good point.
9:59 George Kamel? We know it's not real lava.
10:01 Rachel Cruze? That is true.
10:01 George Kamel? So what's going on, what kind of sorcery is this?
10:03 Rachel Cruze? What is it, what's going on?
10:04 George Kamel? We don't know, but I do feel like my friends who had other nice things also had lava lamps.
10:09 Rachel Cruze? Yeah.
10:10 George Kamel? So it's sort of like wealth adjacent.
10:10 Rachel Cruze? I never had one, did you have one?
10:12 George Kamel? I don't think I was a lava lamp guy.
10:13 Rachel Cruze? Yeah.
10:14 George Kamel? And again, I don't know if I asked, like, was it too expensive? I don't know, was it a hundred dollars at the time?
10:18 Rachel Cruze? Right, right, right, like, that's one that could have been, yeah, a lot. All right, next, two-story houses.
10:23 George Kamel? Oh.
10:24 Rachel Cruze? And here's a fun fact, today, two-story houses are actually cheaper to build than one-story homes because they have a smaller footprint.
10:32 George Kamel? Oh, because you can build up.
10:33 Rachel Cruze? You can build up, not out.
10:34 George Kamel? You don't need a lot of like acreage.
10:35 Rachel Cruze? Man, that's, yeah.
10:36 George Kamel? Versus like a ranch-style home, it goes further back.
10:39 Rachel Cruze? That's right, that's right.
10:40 George Kamel? That's interesting.
10:41 Rachel Cruze? Yep.
10:42 George Kamel? You know, our house was a, was a split, so it was like a...
10:45 Rachel Cruze? Yes, we had a split level, my first one, yes.
10:48 George Kamel? That's the house I grew up in, so it was technically two floors, but there was this middle floor.
10:51 Rachel Cruze? You walk in on the middle floor.
10:53 George Kamel? Yes.
10:53 Rachel Cruze? And then you go up or down.
10:54 George Kamel? It felt like a three-story, but it was a two.
10:57 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, that's right, it's so true. Yeah, our first one, you walk in, actually the kitchen was on that one. You walk down some steps to the living room. And the steps you would walk up was in the bedrooms. So it did feel, I mean, like honestly, it felt like a, third story.
11:10 George Kamel? Luxury. Stairs equals luxury.
11:13 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, that house was my, um, OJ Simpson car chase and trial.
11:17 George Kamel? Wait, what?
11:18 Rachel Cruze? Nancy Kerrigan.
11:19 George Kamel? What are you saying?
11:19 Rachel Cruze? Situation. I was saying, that was the house I remember certain news stories in.
11:23 George Kamel? Oh, I was like, what is the connection to OJ and the house you lived in? It just happened. Okay.
11:29 Rachel Cruze? Yep, that was the house that I remember watching the OJ Simpson trial in. And Nancy Kerrigan, you remember Nancy Kerrigan? That was the, I remember watching that.
11:37 George Kamel? What was her line? Was it, why me?
11:41 George Kamel? She had a thing she got.
11:42 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, she did when she was crying, yes. Um, oh, man. Why, yeah, it may have been, why me? Yeah.
11:47 George Kamel? I don't know why, that's my one memory of Nancy Kerrigan.
11:50 Rachel Cruze? Yes, but her in that white leotard grabbing her knee, yes, anyways, I, yes.
11:55 George Kamel? This won't shock anyone, but the median price today for a suburban home, $419,000, which has increased by more than $90,000 just since 2020, which is pretty wild. In 1980, $63,700.
12:08 Rachel Cruze? Oh, my gosh.
12:09 George Kamel? Simpler times.
12:11 Rachel Cruze? I mean, wow, unbelievable. Uh, next is the waterbed mattress.
12:16 George Kamel? Yes, did you know people with a waterbed?
12:18 Rachel Cruze? My grandparents had a waterbed. They were the only ones I knew about one, though.
12:22 George Kamel? Oh, wow.
12:23 Rachel Cruze? They were a little scary to me.
12:25 George Kamel? They were a little unnerving when you got on one.
12:27 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, I was like, I don't know if like, I feel like something's gonna happen. You know what scarred me?
12:31 George Kamel? Did you fall off a waterbed?
12:32 Rachel Cruze? What movie? Can you think of the movie with the waterbed?
12:35 George Kamel? There's a movie with the waterbed?
12:36 Rachel Cruze? Edward Scissorhands.
12:38 George Kamel? There was a waterbed in that movie?
12:39 Rachel Cruze? Yes, and he poked him with his, with his scissors. Why my parents let me watch Edward Scissorhands as a young child? I don't know.
12:47 George Kamel? Hold on, so no Rugrats, no Ferngully, Edward Scissorhands totally fine?
12:51 Rachel Cruze? Hundred percent.
12:52 George Kamel? God bless.
12:53 Rachel Cruze? Unbelievable. But no, I don't, I didn't know a lot of waterbed people. Did you?
12:56 George Kamel? Well, the people that had a waterbed, the kids got to like live in the basement and it had a pool table. They had the biggest DVD collection I'd ever seen in my life. And so to me, I was like, this all is part of it.
13:07 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, it's like part of the culture.
13:08 George Kamel? Comes with the package of life.
13:10 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, that's fair. It's good.
13:11 George Kamel? To this day, I only know one person that still has a waterbed.
13:13 Rachel Cruze? But you know someone with a waterbed?
13:14 George Kamel? You know him well. Director of, uh, production for the Ramsey Network, Chris Wright.
13:19 Rachel Cruze? Oh, that was, well.
13:20 George Kamel? Famously, still has a waterbed and loves it. Yep.
13:24 Rachel Cruze? Their primary bed is a waterbed.
13:26 George Kamel? Yep.
13:26 Rachel Cruze? Him and Dee Dee.
13:27 George Kamel? Yes.
13:28 Rachel Cruze? Waterbed.
13:30 George Kamel? He's single-handedly keeping the waterbed industry alive.
13:33 Rachel Cruze? I-
13:33 George Kamel? I think you have to have it serviced. I think. It's like a pool. You gotta get like the water filtered out.
13:38 Rachel Cruze? Is it for his like back or something?
13:40 George Kamel? I think it just comes, like they just like it.
13:42 Rachel Cruze? Stop it, stop it. Oh my-
13:45 George Kamel? It's amazing. It's one of my favorite fun facts about Chris.
13:48 Rachel Cruze? The guy that had to approve this show sleeps on a waterbed is what everyone needs to know.
13:52 George Kamel? But I love that about him.
13:54 Rachel Cruze? Oh, good for you, Chris.
13:55 George Kamel? So here's the current cost of a waterbed. $250 on Amazon for a waterbed.
14:00 Rachel Cruze? Hey, there you go.
14:01 George Kamel? How do you ship a waterbed? That's physically, you have to fill it with water, I guess.
14:04 Rachel Cruze? It is so true. Do you fill it after or before?
14:06 George Kamel? But it needs like special chemicals in the water, I think. Cause one time he had to siphon it out and he called Poison Control.
14:12 Rachel Cruze? Stop it.
14:13 George Kamel? And he had to say, am I gonna die because I drank waterbed water?
14:16 Rachel Cruze? But why did he drink it?
14:18 George Kamel? He was trying to do something. It was a leak.
14:21 Rachel Cruze? History to tell.
14:21 George Kamel? He had a, yes. God, if he was here, he's gonna watch this and go, oh my gosh, that's hilarious. So here's the, the fun fact. Most mattress stores do not sell them anymore because they declined in popularity due to high maintenance leaks, the heavy weight, and they're difficult to transfer.
14:36 Rachel Cruze? I believe it.
14:37 George Kamel? Makes sense.
14:37 Rachel Cruze? A hundred percent. Oh my gosh, God bless. Alright, next is a computer room. So computer prices have dropped nearly 50% between 2006 and 2007 after the iPhone 1 came out.
14:50 George Kamel? So people went, I have a computer in my phone.
14:52 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, you basically had a computer on your phone.
14:53 George Kamel? So they had to cut their prices down. That's interesting. Did you have a computer room?
14:56 Rachel Cruze? Uh, no, ours was in our playroom.
14:58 George Kamel? Okay, it was all in one?
14:59 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, so like our playroom and that. Yeah, did y'all?
15:02 George Kamel? We didn't start out with one, but then we eventually converted like a little tiny, I mean, you, you barely could fit three people in there.
15:08 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, just a little closet, yes.
15:09 George Kamel? It was a little nook.
15:10 Rachel Cruze? Yep.
15:11 George Kamel? And that's where the computer room was. My parents eventually renovated it into a bathroom once computer rooms were extinct.
15:17 Rachel Cruze? Yes, that's right.
15:18 George Kamel? So we had a second bathroom.
15:19 Rachel Cruze? Yeah.
15:19 George Kamel? After I'd moved out, they decided, let's finally put a second bathroom in here. Must be nice.
15:25 Rachel Cruze? Must be nice.
15:25 George Kamel? But yeah, the computer room, that was special. Like, if you were in the computer room, you were there, you were planted. We were about to play some Wheel of Fortune on a compact disc.
15:33 Rachel Cruze? Yes, 100%.
15:35 George Kamel? You ever have the, the old school, like, uh, before CD-ROM was invented? They had the floppy disk.
15:40 Rachel Cruze? The floppy disk, oh yes, my Oregon Trail was on the floppy disk.
15:43 George Kamel? Yes.
15:43 Rachel Cruze? Okay, so today's price for a basic Dell desktop computer, $750. More expensive than I would have thought, I'm gonna be honest.
15:51 George Kamel? Also, weird question, are people still buying desktop computers? Is that a thing? Call me ignorant, but I feel like laptops, or do you just get laptops?
15:58 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, I don't know.
15:59 George Kamel? I guess if you're a gamer, a lot of gaming people get the old school, they gotta get the full-on tower. And musicians as well, you need the power, you need the computing power to handle it.
16:08 Rachel Cruze? Oh, okay.
16:09 George Kamel? Or not just browsing the web.
16:10 Rachel Cruze? Just not looking on Instagram, scrolling through.
16:13 George Kamel? But $750 is expensive, in 1995, a Gateway Solo 2000 would have cost around $6,300 in today's cash.
16:21 Rachel Cruze? That's insane, I mean, for real, that's crazy. I remember, and I was in the sixth grade, because we had, we moved to middle school, and that, all the teachers got new computers, and they were the Apple computers, because it used to be on Dell. But they were the colored ones.
16:35 George Kamel? That were kinda clear, you could see through them?
16:36 Rachel Cruze? Yes, and we thought, like, we've made it, like, this is, like, this is the big leap.
16:40 George Kamel? That's true, my friend who had the Macintosh, that's another sign of wealth, bonus.
16:44 Rachel Cruze? Yes, because we all had Dells.
16:45 George Kamel? If you had a Mac, I was like, oh wow.
16:46 Rachel Cruze? Yes, with the Apple, yes.
16:48 George Kamel? They had some money.
16:48 Rachel Cruze? I know, with the Apple, listen to me, I'm going back to my.
16:51 George Kamel? With the Apple. We had, like, remember the Compaq?
16:54 Rachel Cruze? It was a big deal.
16:54 George Kamel? We had the Compaq, C-O-M-P-A-Q, I think.
16:57 Rachel Cruze? You know what, yes, totally, yeah, yeah, yeah.
16:59 George Kamel? That's what we could afford.
16:59 Rachel Cruze? I get, no, I think that was us, I put viruses on ours, a lot, I know.
17:05 George Kamel? Did you ever have the one where you clicked it and it would open your CD-ROM? It would eject, it would, like, basically hit the eject button?
17:10 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, and a tray comes out.
17:11 George Kamel? With like smiley faces all over your screen?
17:13 Rachel Cruze? Oh no.
17:13 George Kamel? That one scared me, I still, I've dreamed about that one.
17:16 Rachel Cruze? That's terrible.
17:17 George Kamel? Viruses were a real threat back then.
17:19 Rachel Cruze? It was bad, yes, gosh, simpler times, George.
17:22 George Kamel? But you know what, you know how I avoid viruses these days? Avoid the spam and scam, that's the modern-day version.
17:27 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, I'd love to know.
17:28 George Kamel? Delete me.
17:29 Rachel Cruze? It's so great. Well done.
17:30 George Kamel? If I had Delete Me back then, who knows what I could have avoided?
17:33 Rachel Cruze? I could have been on Kazaa all day, downloading illegal songs, and no viruses would have come.
17:38 George Kamel? God bless.
17:38 Rachel Cruze? If we had Delete Me.
17:39 George Kamel? Simpler times.
17:40 Rachel Cruze? No, but Delete Me is an incredible service because unlike us not being on the internet a ton in the 90s, today, we're on it all day, every day, right? I mean, like, you are on it constantly. Your information is out there, you're filling out forms, you're doing stuff, and so because of that, people will get your information and sell it and make money off of your information. It's terrible. And then you get scams and spams and all of it. So Delete Me goes in and removes all of your information from these data broker websites, and they're phenomenal, you guys. They have saved me over 60 hours now. I got my report.
18:12 George Kamel? Wow. Your time is worth that.
18:14 Rachel Cruze? Yes.
18:15 George Kamel? You don't need to be on there filling out forms, trying to get your info removed from these weird bobo sites?
18:19 Rachel Cruze? No, because their annual plan that's 20% off for listeners of Smart Money Happy Hour, it comes out to like, less than like, $10 a month, is what it ends up being. So it is worth all day. Oh, gosh.
18:28 George Kamel? Go get the deal, guys. Join DeleteMe.com/smartmoney, or click the link in the description below. Worth it. Worth every penny to sleep better at night and take control of your privacy online.
18:38 Rachel Cruze? 100%.
18:39 George Kamel? All right, next up.
18:40 Rachel Cruze? Oh, this was me.
18:41 George Kamel? Bedroom door beads.
18:42 Rachel Cruze? Yes.
18:43 George Kamel? And bonus, a doorbell attached to the little door frame, if you were really fancy.
18:47 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, and I got mine from Limited 2, and it was...
18:50 George Kamel? Makes sense, that's what they sold?
18:51 Rachel Cruze? Yes, was, yeah, and I had two rows, and I put them... It was very difficult, because if you shut your door, because they were on the outside of my door, but when you shut your door, they would, yeah, they would come in, so you had to like,
19:04 Rachel Cruze? move them and then shut your door.
19:06 George Kamel? Oh, that's right.
19:06 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, it's very difficult.
19:08 George Kamel? What a hard life.
19:09 Rachel Cruze? Dude, I made it very hard on myself.
19:11 George Kamel? What was the point of the beads? Was it like, for semi-privacy?
19:13 Rachel Cruze? I just know Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears, like, their first albums had like, beads. It was just like a, it was a thing. And then I moved them from my doorway to behind my bed, on my wall.
19:24 George Kamel? Oh.
19:25 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, I had them then as wall art.
19:26 George Kamel? To sign maturity and growth.
19:28 Rachel Cruze? It's wall art. Yes.
19:30 George Kamel? That's nice. Were you a posters on the wall kinda person?
19:33 Rachel Cruze? Yes. Oh, my gosh.
19:34 George Kamel? Of what?
19:35 Rachel Cruze? I never did it on the ceiling, though.
19:37 George Kamel? That's a weird one.
19:38 Rachel Cruze? Jonathan Taylor Thomas. He was my first one.
19:41 George Kamel? Like a Tiger Beat? Like, where'd you get these from? Do you go to like?
19:44 Rachel Cruze? Where were these from? They were, no, because they were rolled up.
19:47 George Kamel? They have like music stores that have posters for sale?
19:49 Rachel Cruze? I think so, yeah.
19:50 George Kamel? I remember flipping through the posters. Remember that?
19:52 Rachel Cruze? Yes, yes.
19:52 George Kamel? Like Walmart had them, like the big poster sections.
19:55 Rachel Cruze? A hundred percent. Yes. Yeah. Oh, yeah. We had all, we had all the posters. Mine, I was not covered, though. I did have a bulletin board that I would tack on my CD, when I would buy a CD and you would take the cover out.
20:07 George Kamel? Oh, yeah.
20:08 Rachel Cruze? Open those up and like make a collage.
20:09 George Kamel? That's fun.
20:10 Rachel Cruze? That was super cool.
20:11 George Kamel? I was cutting up skateboard magazines, like the best photo, and I'd tape them with just Scotch tape to the walls, all over.
20:17 Rachel Cruze? Oh, that's cool, too.
20:18 George Kamel? Inspiration.
20:19 Rachel Cruze? Yes. Just really embody who you want to be.
20:22 George Kamel? Pretty rock and roll.
20:23 Rachel Cruze? All the way around.
20:23 George Kamel? That's a good one, so.
20:24 Rachel Cruze? They don't do that anymore, right? Kids don't tape up, I mean, they don't like cut magazines. I mean, no, no.
20:29 George Kamel? What are they doing to their walls? It's like an insane asylum in there?
20:33 Rachel Cruze? My girls do hang stuff on, but that's like art that they make and stuff, but they'll tape stuff to their walls.
20:37 George Kamel? I prefer JTT. No offense to their art, but.
20:42 Rachel Cruze? I know. Home Improvement. He was so cute.
20:46 George Kamel? Still has a crush on him. He's a grown man. He has a family, I think.
20:49 Rachel Cruze? He had his little hair that did this, you know?
20:52 George Kamel? That's what you have now.
20:53 Rachel Cruze? He was so good.
20:53 George Kamel? It's the JTT cut. He famously made the.
20:58 Rachel Cruze? He did. He made the middle part real good.
21:00 George Kamel? And then Jennifer Aniston after that, but.
21:02 Rachel Cruze? Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, man.
21:04 George Kamel? That's a good one. So today's cost for bedroom door beads, in case you want to go and jump on there, 15 bucks on Amazon.
21:10 Rachel Cruze? There you go. All right, next up is the pool table.
21:14 George Kamel? Gosh.
21:16 Rachel Cruze? If you had a pool table, a foosball table, air hockey, I mean, if you had a table.
21:21 George Kamel? Even like a game room.
21:23 Rachel Cruze? Well, that's like a, yeah, that's another level.
21:25 George Kamel? Did you ever have a pool table?
21:27 Rachel Cruze? No, we did not have a pool table.
21:28 George Kamel? We got one later in life.
21:30 Rachel Cruze? You did?
21:30 George Kamel? It wasn't like a nice one, if I'm gonna be honest.
21:32 Rachel Cruze? Yes.
21:32 George Kamel? Like, my friends had one. It had like leather corners. You know what I mean?
21:35 Rachel Cruze? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
21:37 George Kamel? Oh.
21:38 Rachel Cruze? Oh, yeah.
21:38 George Kamel? We had like the budget friendly one. It's still fun. We had it in a sun, eventually we built a sunroom.
21:43 Rachel Cruze? Oh, good for you.
21:43 George Kamel? Off the house.
21:44 Rachel Cruze? Yeah.
21:44 George Kamel? We put a pool table in there.
21:45 Rachel Cruze? In there. So fun.
21:46 George Kamel? And I had a good time with my friends in there, you know?
21:48 Rachel Cruze? I know. I miss the game room. It's great.
21:50 George Kamel? So, that's, do people still buy pool tables? Is it a lost art?
21:55 Rachel Cruze? I think it kinda is.
21:57 George Kamel? They're still expensive to me.
21:58 Rachel Cruze? It's like they're like a basement thing.
22:00 George Kamel? Yeah.
22:01 Rachel Cruze? If you have a basement.
22:01 George Kamel? Not a lot of basements anymore.
22:03 Rachel Cruze? Yeah.
22:04 George Kamel? It's like houses.
22:04 Rachel Cruze? Especially not in Nashville. I feel like Nashville's on a basement community. I feel like you go to like Minneapolis, basements.
22:10 George Kamel? Interesting. Everyone knows Minneapolis is known for their basements.
22:16 Rachel Cruze? Those are our best friends from there. They always talked about, oh, Nashville, like Tyler knows, Nashville like never has basements. And they were like, this is so weird. Every home has a basement there, is what they would say.
22:24 George Kamel? Wow.
22:25 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, I don't know.
22:26 George Kamel? That's a good one. Well, here's the current price for a pool table, $670 at Dick's Sporting Goods.
22:31 Rachel Cruze? Oh, wow.
22:32 George Kamel? That feels expensive still.
22:33 Rachel Cruze? That is a lot. I'm gonna, that and, and the, and the computer. Still high for me.
22:37 George Kamel? Shocking.
22:38 Rachel Cruze? Okay, next, uh, this is how, what we felt like was real wealth, George. A 64-pack of Crayola crayons with the sharpener built into the box.
22:47 George Kamel? Are you kidding me? The name brand Crayola with the sharpener?
22:50 Rachel Cruze? Uh, oh, man.
22:52 George Kamel? Opulence.
22:53 Rachel Cruze? When you had like turquoise as a color in your crayon.
22:56 George Kamel? You probably could afford a Tudor at that point, too. You know what I mean? I was that kinda kid.
22:59 Rachel Cruze? Just so crazy. So crazy.
23:01 George Kamel? Today's price, $3.99 at Target.
23:04 Rachel Cruze? There you go.
23:05 George Kamel? I don't know that I ever had it.
23:06 Rachel Cruze? Kids don't appreciate crayons like we, we had.
23:09 George Kamel? I'm trying to think if I had the 64-pack of Crayola, like eventually if I worked my way up.
23:14 Rachel Cruze? I, I don't remember. I remember gel pens being a deal.
23:18 George Kamel? Did you leave that in your desk at school?
23:20 Rachel Cruze? That's what I'm saying, is I think at school and stuff.
23:22 George Kamel? I'd be scared of theft.
23:23 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, we had gel pens that you would wrap a scrunchie around to keep them together.
23:28 George Kamel? Oh.
23:28 Rachel Cruze? Gel pens were.
23:30 George Kamel? That was, those were premium. And the scented markers.
23:34 Rachel Cruze? Oh, those were cool, too.
23:35 George Kamel? You ever get into those?
23:36 Rachel Cruze? Yes, those were cool. Just sniffing markers.
23:38 George Kamel? That was the Tide Pod of our day. We didn't vape. We had scented markers.
23:43 Rachel Cruze? Who knows what happened to us? That's why we are what we are today. Because of the scented markers.
23:47 George Kamel? It is wild that parents were like, this is probably fine.
23:50 Rachel Cruze? This is fine, just...
23:52 George Kamel? I'm sure it's all natural and not just chemicals that are huffing.
23:55 Rachel Cruze? All right, next up is the North Face jackets. Oh, this was like high school for me.
24:01 George Kamel? Yep.
24:01 Rachel Cruze? The fleece North Face jacket.
24:03 George Kamel? And if you had the Uggs to go with it, and you were at a Panera on a Friday night, are you kidding me?
24:08 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, it's so true.
24:11 George Kamel? You got the U-Pick 2 at a Panera?
24:12 Rachel Cruze? That was my senior year. That was the pinnacle of senior year, was that.
24:17 George Kamel? Those girls never talked to me. I'll say this.
24:19 Rachel Cruze? Oh, George.
24:19 George Kamel? I'm not sure I ever, no girl was interested in me that owned a North Face.
24:22 Rachel Cruze? Oh, really?
24:23 George Kamel? Yeah.
24:24 Rachel Cruze? Because y'all actually needed one in Boston. We didn't really need them in Nashville.
24:26 George Kamel? No, we actually had real winters. So you guys wore them just as a flex?
24:30 Rachel Cruze? I guess so.
24:31 George Kamel? I mean, it gets cold here.
24:32 Rachel Cruze? They would get gross, too, because you'd throw them in the back of your car and like... Yeah, they weren't flattering either. They're very bulky. I don't know.
24:40 George Kamel? But that's come back. North Face has stuck around, much like Ugg.
24:43 Rachel Cruze? The fleece jackets come back?
24:45 George Kamel? Well, just the North Face brand in general has stayed strong over the years.
24:48 Rachel Cruze? Oh, it has stayed strong, yeah. Now Patagonia in college, that was the fancy, fancy people.
24:54 George Kamel? You matured into Patagonia over time.
24:56 Rachel Cruze? Yes, 100%.
24:57 George Kamel? Wow, so today's price for a North Face jacket, 180 bucks?
25:00 Rachel Cruze? I mean, I...
25:01 George Kamel? That's pricey.
25:03 Rachel Cruze? Oh, this one is so true. Lunchables.
25:06 George Kamel? Chef's kiss.
25:07 Rachel Cruze? If you had a Lunchable, god...
25:10 George Kamel? People gathered around to watch you assemble that pizza.
25:13 Rachel Cruze? The pizza was the... Yes, because you could get the ham and cheese cracker one. If you had the pizza and you took that sauce out of the plastic thing and dribbled your cheese on top... I mean, it was, people watched it happen.
25:26 George Kamel? You might as well have had some Tchaikovsky or Bach playing in the background while I assembled that thing.
25:31 Rachel Cruze? So true. With some caviar on the side. That's how it felt. I mean, it was...
25:36 George Kamel? And it tasted like nothing. It was like negative amounts of flavor.
25:40 Rachel Cruze? See, but I thought they were so good.
25:41 George Kamel? They were.
25:42 Rachel Cruze? Yes.
25:43 George Kamel? But why? I think the pepperoni was carrying it.
25:47 George Kamel? Like the sauce was like meh.
25:48 Rachel Cruze? But parents would never buy it.
25:49 George Kamel? The weird like cold cracker thing that it was on, meh.
25:53 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, it's true. I know, I know.
25:54 George Kamel? But we loved it.
25:55 Rachel Cruze? So fancy. Uh, well, today's price for a Lunchables, a dollar seventy-seven.
26:00 George Kamel? I don't know, would you give your kids a Lunchable today? I think my wife is too crunchy, like based on the ingredients, like.
26:07 Rachel Cruze? You know what we have, though, and we use it in the summer a lot? I don't pack them for like their everyday lunches, but in the summer, Uncrustables.
26:14 George Kamel? Oh, that's like a real treat.
26:15 Rachel Cruze? I will do that. Yeah, I'll throw Uncrustables in for like snacks and stuff.
26:19 George Kamel? Did you ever get packed a lunch where you were like, oh, we're doing well? You know, if there was a certain snack, like for me, it was.
26:25 Rachel Cruze? That's a good question.
26:25 George Kamel? If there was Cape Cod chips, like a little baby bag and a, and gushers, I was like, Dunkaroos? Are you kidding me?
26:31 Rachel Cruze? Oh my gosh, yes, yes.
26:33 George Kamel? Wow.
26:33 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, it was all the individual snacks, because mom never bought individual snacks, because I think they were too expensive. You just get the big thing and you pour it in the baggies.
26:40 George Kamel? Oh.
26:41 Rachel Cruze? So I always had the baggie. I never had like the individual wrapped thing.
26:45 George Kamel? Well, I brought a lot of Arabic food to school, because that was my mom's cooking.
26:48 Rachel Cruze? Oh, yeah.
26:49 George Kamel? So nobody was like excited to see what I had, because it was like little kebabs, looked like tiny turd logs and, you know. Hummus wasn't cool back then.
26:58 Rachel Cruze? Hummus was like.
27:00 George Kamel? So no one was like.
27:01 Rachel Cruze? She was so ahead of her time, Ms. Campbell.
27:02 George Kamel? She really was.
27:03 Rachel Cruze? I mean, seriously, people flocking out of Mediterranean food.
27:05 George Kamel? And to be fair, nowadays, a kid would be so excited to have some good food at lunch.
27:10 Rachel Cruze? Oh, yeah, that's what they want now. It's crazy. Uh, okay, next is the Juicy Couture tracksuit.
27:18 George Kamel? That's a lot. That's a lot for me. This is Victoria's Secret? Is that their thing, the Juicy Couture brand?
27:22 Rachel Cruze? Nope, George.
27:23 George Kamel? Oh. What was the one that said juicy on the back? That was at Victoria's, right?
27:27 Rachel Cruze? No, no, Ju-, uh, Victoria was pink. Okay, so I never had the Victoria's Secret pink line.
27:33 George Kamel? That's the one, pink, okay.
27:34 Rachel Cruze? But I did have a Juicy Couture outfit. I did. Mine was purple and Denise's was pink. We got it for Christmas one year. I'll never forget it.
27:43 George Kamel? There's gotta be a photo out there, a few in Denise and the matching.
27:46 Rachel Cruze? Because the zipper was even a J. On the jacket, I remember that.
27:49 George Kamel? Wow.
27:50 Rachel Cruze? I know.
27:50 George Kamel? Are they still around? Are they still doing it?
27:52 Rachel Cruze? I don't know.
27:53 George Kamel? That was though, like even to this day, that feels if someone was wearing that, like they must have money. They don't have taste, but they got money.
27:58 Rachel Cruze? They got money. Well, it's funny because the Amy Poehler on Mean Girls, the mom.
28:03 George Kamel? Oh, yeah.
28:04 Rachel Cruze? I'm not a regular mom, I'm a cool mom. She had a Juicy Couture like pink suit. So like, that's what I think of. That's like the pinnacle of like, oh yeah, the Juicy Couture.
28:11 George Kamel? Here's today's price on that, 220 bucks.
28:13 Rachel Cruze? No!
28:15 George Kamel? Yep. I won't be buying you that. Don't even think about it.
28:21 Rachel Cruze? Oh my gosh.
28:23 George Kamel? What is the more on trend version of Juicy Couture now that you would actually buy?
28:27 Rachel Cruze? That is actually quality and beautiful. Anything from Cozy Earth.
28:30 George Kamel? Now we're talking.
28:31 Rachel Cruze? That's what I would do.
28:32 George Kamel? That's class.
28:33 Rachel Cruze? Give me some joggers and like a nice like hoodie that maybe same color. I'd go monochromatic, not mad at the monochromatic juicy like thing that they're doing there. But give me like a gray, gray all day. And from Cozy Earth. Because like the Cozy Earth stuff, the quality is amazing and it's comfortable. Like it's actually like silky wonderful, wonderful material. The bamboo stuff for like sheets.
28:57 George Kamel? Oh my goodness.
28:57 Rachel Cruze? And pajamas. It's like you're just swimming through life.
29:00 George Kamel? And even for the guys, great stuff.
29:02 Rachel Cruze? Just feels so good.
29:03 George Kamel? Like Winston loves the hoodies there and he-
29:05 Rachel Cruze? Yes, he got the hoodies and he got the socks.
29:06 George Kamel? I need to see Winston in a full monochrome.
29:08 Rachel Cruze? One says Earth, the socks.
29:10 George Kamel? That's what I'm getting Winston for Christmas. I'm gonna get him a Cozy Earth jumpsuit. Basically, you know, the hoodie with the matching sweats.
29:16 Rachel Cruze? He genuinely would say, "Thank you. Thank you for this" because he loves Cozy Earth.
29:19 George Kamel? That's what a true friend does.
29:21 Rachel Cruze? It is amazing. Cozy Earth is, it's incredible, you guys. So make sure to check out their products.
29:24 George Kamel? Yeah, they're giving our listeners up to 40% off with the promo code SMARTMONEY at checkout or go to cozylearth.com/smartmoney and check it out. Good stuff.
29:34 Rachel Cruze? All right, next up, George, is the new backpack every school year. And if you had an LL Bean or a JanSport.
29:41 George Kamel? Oh, man.
29:42 Rachel Cruze? You were, you were something.
29:43 George Kamel? You know what I had?
29:44 Rachel Cruze? What?
29:45 George Kamel? Eastpack. Couldn't even afford the JanSport. Go to Walmart, get me an East- it was just like JanSport, but like Timu version.
29:53 Rachel Cruze? The Timu version.
29:55 George Kamel? Yeah, LL Bean was like, you were pretty like mainstream, fancy. JanSport, you were a little bit edgy.
30:00 Rachel Cruze? We were a JanSport.
30:01 George Kamel? A little edgier with the JanSport.
30:03 Rachel Cruze? You know what else came into a trend, which is so funny? I forgot about it, but-
30:08 Rachel Cruze? I'm trying to think what grade I was in. I may have been like high school, y'all. We're the side messenger bags.
30:14 George Kamel? Oh.
30:15 Rachel Cruze? We had like these messenger bags, y'all, and that was our backpack.
30:18 George Kamel? Wow.
30:19 Rachel Cruze? Yes, I don't know why we thought they were so cool, but that was the season. I remember that.
30:24 George Kamel? That was the vibe.
30:25 Rachel Cruze? That was the vibe.
30:26 George Kamel? My brother had an LL Bean with his initials on it, but that took him all through high school. Like, it wasn't a you get a new bag every year.
30:32 Rachel Cruze? Yes, yeah.
30:32 George Kamel? That's straight privilege right there.
30:34 Rachel Cruze? I know.
30:34 George Kamel? But today, today's world, nylon LL Bean bag, forty to sixty bucks.
30:38 Rachel Cruze? There you go. You know, oh, you know the other fancy one? It may be LL. It was the multiple layered one. Do you remember these? It was like, um, they would be like pink or orange, but they were like really long. Cause there would be like four compartments that went out and they were backpacks.
30:57 George Kamel? I think I got minor scoliosis from the bag, though.
31:00 Rachel Cruze? I believe it.
31:00 George Kamel? That was diagnosed. Like, that was, it was heavy. You had all the textbooks in there?
31:03 Rachel Cruze? Yep.
31:04 George Kamel? We should not have been carrying that.
31:05 Rachel Cruze? Mm-mm. All right, last but not least, George, custom ringtones. Do you remember those? Instead of the
31:12 George Kamel? How can you not? I just remember thinking like, you want to pay a dollar for a ringtone? That's luxury.
31:19 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, I did it. Did you?
31:21 George Kamel? Maybe once.
31:22 Rachel Cruze? Uh-huh.
31:23 George Kamel? But I don't know, like, the ringtone is really more for you.
31:25 Rachel Cruze? I'm trying to think, but it's so true. Yeah. What was your first cell phone?
31:29 George Kamel? I had the, uh, this, it was known as the smallest cell phone of all time. And I loved it. It was a little flip phone and it was literally like a two by two square.
31:39 Rachel Cruze? Yep.
31:40 George Kamel? That was my first, I think it was, it was like a Pantec, maybe, was the brand? Something like that. How about, how about you? I may have had the Nokia brick at one point with the snake on it.
31:48 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, I had Nokia, yeah, I had that one. And then I went to a flip phone with an antenna. That was so cool.
31:54 George Kamel? Wow. Did you ever, did you have the first iPhone?
31:57 Rachel Cruze? No, I had a BlackBerry.
32:01 George Kamel? Yikes. I wouldn't tell that to anyone.
32:04 Rachel Cruze? I had a BlackBerry. That's when I was in college. I had the Razr when Winston and I got engaged. I remember, I had the Razr phone. And then my next one after that was a BlackBerry Touch. Not like this, I didn't have the old school BlackBerry, but mine was the touchscreen one. It was trying to compete with the iPhone.
32:22 George Kamel? How'd that work out?
32:23 Rachel Cruze? Uh, not great, because then I moved to a Droid after that.
32:25 George Kamel? Oh, no.
32:26 Rachel Cruze? And then I went to an iPhone. I know. You know what? I didn't leave and cleave because Dave hated Apple products and I just stayed with that opinion.
32:34 George Kamel? Like, he still kinda does.
32:35 Rachel Cruze? Till I, yeah, and I stayed with that opinion till I was like 24. And I was like, why don't I just get an iPhone like everyone else? But I had the BlackBerry Touch. And it, I thought it was so cool.
32:46 George Kamel? That's a good one.
32:47 Rachel Cruze? Yeah.
32:47 George Kamel? I had the first iPhone. I remember sitting in freshman year of college, zooming into a website on my phone and I was like, where in the future?
32:54 Rachel Cruze? Using the touch, oh.
32:54 George Kamel? This is crazy.
32:56 Rachel Cruze? Crazy.
32:56 George Kamel? On 3G? Took about seven minutes to load the page.
32:59 Rachel Cruze? Sure.
32:59 George Kamel? It was worth it when I got there.
33:01 Rachel Cruze? It was amazing.
33:02 George Kamel? Here's the fun fact, you can still purchase ringtones through iTunes.
33:05 Rachel Cruze? Okay.
33:05 George Kamel? For a dollar. Don't know who's buying it. I love it though. I would make custom ones in GarageBand and then I would export them and upload them to my phone. So I was doing it for free.
33:15 Rachel Cruze? Good night, Mr. Technology.
33:16 George Kamel? You're welcome.
33:16 Rachel Cruze? That's amazing. Okay, so some takeaways, George. So listen, I think the appearance of what we think in the moment is cool and awesome. Like, it fades. Like, trends come and go. And don't ever like set your identity or your happiness or joy like on that thing. To think like, I will be accomplished if I have that juicy tracksuit, right? Or like whatever the thing is.
33:40 George Kamel? Definitely that one.
33:40 Rachel Cruze? Because the trends, they just change constantly. And I do feel like there's still that comparison trap that there was now then, but it's harder now. Because I do think you see way more content and images and all of that today than you did then. And I do think it's an uphill battle. It's tough.
33:55 George Kamel? There was less access to debt. It was less normalized back then. And nowadays, it might look like someone has this amazing life and they're just in crippling debt up to their eyeballs.
34:05 Rachel Cruze? Yes, it's more normalized. That's right.
34:06 George Kamel? And so you gotta go like, even if you are envious, just know like you don't see the full picture all the time. So don't always be like, well, if I just had that. We don't know what they're going through. Maybe they've done really well and they paid cash for that pool. Or maybe they took out a HELOC against their home and they're stressed out every day. We don't know.
34:22 Rachel Cruze? Yep, totally. And I would also say that we were able to practice delayed gratification more then because you did not have. Amazon, or like you could just ship something to your house that day. Right? You had to like go to the store and get what you wanted. And what they had is all of the options. You didn't have all the options in the world. So there's something there that like going back to that mindset is wise. I think there's a wiser.
34:44 George Kamel? Well, there's almost like a simplicity minimalism to that. I'm just like, we have access to everything all of the time. No matter what we want, we can get it on the internet in two days.
34:51 Rachel Cruze? Yes, yes.
34:52 George Kamel? I think it was kind of better back then. Where you didn't know all the options. You didn't have all the access.
34:57 Rachel Cruze? Yeah, just a couple of things that you can get and that's it.
34:59 George Kamel? I guess we're the old people in the room now.
35:00 Rachel Cruze? Oh, man. I know. My girls said something the other day. Some kind of drink with like little beads in it or something. And they were like.
35:09 George Kamel? Boba?
35:10 Rachel Cruze? Yes, that was it. Actually, I think it was here. They were talking about it and I didn't know what it was. Had never heard of it.
35:17 George Kamel? Yeah, the little tapioca pearls in there.
35:19 Rachel Cruze? Don't know what that means.
35:20 George Kamel? You can also do like little mango jellies.
35:22 Rachel Cruze? I don't know what you're talking about. What are you buying at the store?
35:25 George Kamel? Can, but usually, uh, there's like boba tea places. You know what I mean? Like they have their own store for boba tea.
35:32 Rachel Cruze? Okay, is this like the same trend? What's the trend? Aciballs?
35:36 George Kamel? Acai bowls?
35:37 Rachel Cruze? Yes, yes.
35:39 George Kamel? I guess. I don't know.
35:40 Rachel Cruze? So stupid.
35:40 George Kamel? I don't think it's as much of a trend. It's just made it stateside more.
35:44 Rachel Cruze? Everyone's into it though. And it's all of a sudden, you're healthy if, you know, it's like this whole thing. And I'm like, what is going on?
35:50 George Kamel? Yeah, Nashville's just getting on the boba tea grind, but they're big in other places. On the boba tea grind.
35:55 Rachel Cruze? Boba tea grind.
35:57 George Kamel? Yeah, I added grind for fun.
35:59 Rachel Cruze? Okay.
35:59 George Kamel? Yeah. Yeah, so it's perfectly sealed and you take a big giant straw and you punch it through.
36:04 Rachel Cruze? And what's in the balls?
36:07 George Kamel? Uh, either tapioca or like a jelly. Which is like a rice, essentially. It's like a chewy, just like a chewy rice ball almost. Or you can do jelly if you're not into that.
36:19 Rachel Cruze? And you stir it together?
36:21 George Kamel? Kind of. You just sort of, as you drink it, they pop through the straw. It's a really wide straw. So it just adds like some texture to your drink essentially. It's like eating candy while getting a sweet drink. Think about it that way.
36:32 Rachel Cruze? Okay, so it's not hea- is it healthy for you or no?
36:35 George Kamel? No, I don't think anyone would consider it a health drink.
36:37 Rachel Cruze? Okay.
36:38 George Kamel? There's healthier versions depending on what tea you get, how sweet. I'm not claiming to be a boba expert. Don't come at me in the comments, but.
36:46 Rachel Cruze? Anyways, it's these tr- I don't know. I can't keep up with it.
36:49 George Kamel? You can't.
36:49 Rachel Cruze? Never heard of it.
36:50 George Kamel? No one expects you to.
36:51 Rachel Cruze? Never heard of it.
36:52 George Kamel? No one thought Rachel would know about boba.
36:54 Rachel Cruze? A kid had a Squishmello pillow.
36:56 George Kamel? Yeah.
36:57 Rachel Cruze? When we were traveling last week, my girls were like, oh, my gosh, that's a boba pillow.
37:03 George Kamel? Oh, like the actual.
37:05 Rachel Cruze? I guess so. The Squishmello was the boba. It's very confusing.
37:09 George Kamel? God bless the children.
37:11 Rachel Cruze? That and all the initials. If we could just go back to TTYL and LOL, I would be good.
37:16 George Kamel? I don't think boba's an initial. I think that's just a word.
37:19 Rachel Cruze? I know. I'm just saying, go back to, I don't know, not a lot of options in life. There's just too much going on.
37:25 George Kamel? I agree. Keep your simple life. It's better that way.
37:29 Rachel Cruze? Okay. All right, before we spill the T L guilty as charged, what are we sipping on?
37:34 George Kamel? We are sipping on a coconut mojito mocktail. It's got light canned coconut milk, some lime, ginger beer, sparkling water, and mint leaves. Comes out to $2.34.
37:45 Rachel Cruze? Oh.
37:45 George Kamel? What's my rating on this? I'm gonna go with a six out of 10.
37:50 Rachel Cruze? I'll go an eight out of 10.
37:51 George Kamel? It kind of just tastes like a ginger ale at some point.
37:54 Rachel Cruze? You gotta get the salt and then drink it, because it's like.
37:57 George Kamel? That adds a little zing.
37:58 Rachel Cruze? It's so good.
37:59 George Kamel? All right, wait. Check out the recipe.
38:01 Rachel Cruze? Eating my salt.
38:02 George Kamel? Instead of boba, make the kids a little coconut mojito mocktail. They'll feel really fancy this weekend. Rachel will not be making one. The girls are into boba.
38:12 Rachel Cruze? I need to re-watch this episode and just like, that's what I look like drinking a margarita at a restaurant?
38:19 George Kamel? Yeah, I'm not doing it. The people deserve better than watching me lick this glass like a maniac.
38:23 Rachel Cruze? All right, now it's time for guilty as charged. And this is where we ask each other a question every week, and if we're guilty, we take a sip.
38:31 George Kamel? Here we go. Rachel, are you guilty of buying anything on this list as an adult because it makes you feel fancy?
38:38 Rachel Cruze? Ooh.
38:39 George Kamel? What have I actually purchased from this list?
38:42 Rachel Cruze? Uh, the lava lamp for the kids. I did, I did get those, cuz I did, that was like a, I never had one as a kid.
38:48 George Kamel? Did they know about it? How did they know about it?
38:50 Rachel Cruze? I don't know. It's like, um, they've seen it and they asked for it. So I was like, I will get y'all a lava lamp. I think they got it for Christmas one year.
38:56 George Kamel? Wow.
38:57 Rachel Cruze? Um, I will say a new pack of crayons. This is all for the kids. Or new markers.
39:02 George Kamel? Heroic mom.
39:03 Rachel Cruze? New art supplies. New art supplies. It does kind of give you like this like warm feeling inside.
39:09 George Kamel? Yes, and they're doing something very creative and active.
39:12 Rachel Cruze? And you're like, oh my gosh, and new coloring books, like that kind of thing just makes me like.
39:16 George Kamel? Something analog and creative feels like that we're hearkening back.
39:19 Rachel Cruze? Okay, here is one that I will do for my own self, is a drink fridge.
39:24 George Kamel? Yes.
39:25 Rachel Cruze? And can I tell you, when you open up a fridge and there's just drinks in there, it makes me feel safe. The guy feel very like.
39:33 George Kamel? You felt in danger before.
39:35 Rachel Cruze? I feel safe when you open it and it's poppies and like Capri Suns for the kids. Sorry, don't get mad at me. Um, like all this stuff and you're just like, like different IPA beers even, you know what I mean? It's just like, like it's a colorful.
39:46 George Kamel? Whatever the kids want.
39:48 Rachel Cruze? And it just feel, it, so no, but it just, it just feels good.
39:53 George Kamel? Especially if it's organized?
39:55 Rachel Cruze? It's how I feel about snacks too. Like when you see like options of individual snacks, it's cuz I have a child. I didn't, we didn't have all this. But it makes me just feel good, like it does, like it gives me something.
40:05 George Kamel? But then Sharon Ramsey comes over and she says, Rachel, why are you giving the kids this Capri Sun?
40:10 Rachel Cruze? Rachel, Rachel.
40:11 George Kamel? Eat some gluten free snacks.
40:12 Rachel Cruze? I'll take you to Costco, Rachel. I'll take you shop. I'm like, it's okay. I don't need a personal shopper for my food mom. She wants to teach me salmon recipes. She thinks I'm like making Lunchables for my kids every day, you know?
40:23 George Kamel? Are we far from it?
40:24 Rachel Cruze? No.
40:25 George Kamel? The one, yeah, the one I'm guilty of, we got an out, like a garage freezer. And I truly am like, we're doing pretty well. It was like 150 bucks. It was a very cheap, deep freezer. But the fact that we have extra freezer space, because growing up, our fridge was constantly so packed that it was like Jenga. I was scared to touch it. Because if I pulled one thing out, party was over.
40:44 Rachel Cruze? Totally.
40:45 George Kamel? So now having the outdoor freezer, I can breathe.
40:47 Rachel Cruze? Just so good.
40:48 George Kamel? Can store all my frozen gluten-free pizzas in there.
40:50 Rachel Cruze? I love it. So good, George. Love it. Well, if you guys liked this episode, then you will love our episode on, "Do you have it harder than our parents?" Talking about the 80s. We're going back another decade for that episode, so make sure to check it out. And subscribe to the channel, so you guys don't miss an all-new episode of Smart Money Happy Hour.
Previous Reacting to the Wildest “Am I the Jerk?” Reddit Threads Next Are You a Quality or a Quantity Person? (And How That Affects Your Money) Page updated November 3, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated