VIRAL Trends Taking Over Your Algorithm in 2026

💻 Take the Side Hustle Quiz here! If you can’t beat ’em, follow them? Today we’re reacting to the biggest social and spending trends of 2026—let us know in the comments if the algorithm “got ya” with these, because this list definitely has range! Next Steps: · 🎙️ Catch our episode Waste or Worth It: Rating “Life-Changing” Products. · 💵 Create a free budget and find more margin with EveryDollar. · 🍸 Follow Smart Money Happy Hour on TikTok: @smartmoneyhappyhour · 📱 Submit a Guilty As Charged question for Rachel and George! Send a DM to @rachelcruze or @georgekamel on Instagram! Be sure to type “GUILTY?” at the top of your message so we don’t miss it. Connect With Our Sponsors: · Check out the FAIRWINDS Credit Union exclusive account bundle. · Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe. · Get 20% off with code SMARTMONEY at Cozy Earth. Today’s Happy Hour Special: 🍹 Peach Basil Tingle Mocktail Recipe By: @themindfulmocktail · 2 ounces peach purée · 1 ounce lemon juice · 6–8 basil leaves · 1/2 teaspoon honey · Kombucha or soda to top Instructions: In a small dish, combine the honey with 1/2 teaspoon water and microwave for 5–10 seconds to create a quick honey syrup. Add peach purée and lemon juice to a shaker. Toss in the basil leaves and gently muddle. Add the honey syrup to the shaker with ice, then shake well. Strain over fresh ice and top with kombucha or soda. Garnish with basil if desired and serve cold. *To make the peach purée: Blend 3 tinned peach slices with 1–2 tablespoons of the liquid from the tin. Fresh, ripe peach works too—just blend with a splash of water until smooth. Explore More From Ramsey Network: 💰 George Kamel 🎙️ The Ramsey Show 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 📈 EntreLeadership Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

• 0:05George Kamel?

  If you can't beat them, follow them. Today, we're calling out the biggest social media and spending trends of 2026. Let us know in the comments which of these trends you have succumbed to with regret or delight.

• 0:15Rachel Cruze?

  Hey, George, don't be all boo-boo.

• 0:17George Kamel?

  I think the good people at Sam's Club were like, hey, man, that's between you and the Lord. Oh, boy.

• 0:21Rachel Cruze?

  My gosh, have we?

• 0:22George Kamel?

  It's more like, what's the latest regret?

• 0:24Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 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.

• 0:37George Kamel?

  Cheers, George. Cheers.

• 0:42Rachel Cruze?

  Oh.

• 0:43George Kamel?

  Oh, so that's delightful.

• 0:44Rachel Cruze?

  It's wonderful, actually, and I usually don't like ginger. Ginger, right?

• 0:47George Kamel?

  I'll never tell.

• 0:48Rachel 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.

• 0:54George Kamel?

  That's right. And today, we're sipping on a peach basil tingle mocktail. What ingredient involves the tingle? You'll find out. Wait till the end, we're gonna reveal the rating and the cost per glass. Stick around for that.

• 1:07Rachel Cruze?

  So good. Oh, it looks like a, like a go-big-orange, you know?

• 1:12George Kamel?

  It is giving Tennessee balls.

• 1:14Rachel Cruze?

  I know, I know. And what's funny is this summer, so go back in your mind a little bit, okay? Think World Cup.

• 1:21George Kamel?

  Yep.

• 1:22Rachel Cruze?

  In social media, like in the SEC, we were loving having all, all people all over the globe to America, but especially to the South, because they're like trying new things.

• 1:33George Kamel?

  All the Europeans exploring Tennessee.

• 1:35Rachel Cruze?

  And small, like, mom-pop restaurants, like, it was my favorite content on social media.

• 1:39George Kamel?

  They love ranch dressing, we know that.

• 1:40Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, they love ranch.

• 1:41George Kamel?

  Apparently, they don't know how to make ranch in Europe, which I think is sad.

• 1:45Rachel Cruze?

  I know, oh, my gosh, but that was a great trend.

• 1:47George Kamel?

  They have amazing architecture, and ranch, they're like, I don't know, we don't have the ingredients.

• 1:51Rachel Cruze?

  We gotta learn, we gotta learn.

• 1:53George Kamel?

  Well, for better or worse, no matter how you feel about social media, nothing bonds us as a society more than trending social media content. And it won't find you, even if you're like, well, I'm not on Facebook, you'll find out about it, it just might be three months late.

• 2:04Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, so there's a new trend, a new game going on, a little friendly competition, since it's Smart Money Happy Hour, we thought it'd be fun. So we have these little, little cups, little sips, about two sips. One is water, one is tequila, and the game is, we'll each take a sip of each of these, and we have to judge each other which one you're drinking.

• 2:24George Kamel?

  You kind of have to need, you need a bluff.

• 2:26Rachel Cruze?

  If it's tequila or if it's water.

• 2:28George Kamel?

  So if you do your job right, I don't know which one was the tequila, which one was the water, because you didn't make a face at all. I saw this, and it was a son and a dad, and he had this, like, an older man, and all three kept being tequila.

• 2:42Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, no, for the dad or the son?

• 2:43George Kamel?

  The dad did three full shots in a row.

• 2:46Rachel Cruze?

  That's tough.

• 2:47George Kamel?

  And I felt so bad for him.

• 2:48Rachel Cruze?

  That's tough, that's tough.

• 2:49George Kamel?

  The poor guy, that's called trolling.

• 2:51Rachel Cruze?

  That's called trolling, so the son set him up.

• 2:53George Kamel?

  So if you guys did this to me, I'm gonna be so mad.

• 2:54Rachel Cruze?

  So mad, you old man. Okay, do you want to go first, or you want me to go first?

• 2:59George Kamel?

  I feel like it's a ladies-first situation.

• 3:01Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, which one shall I take first?

• 3:04George Kamel?

  Go for the one closest to you, yeah, right there.

• 3:07Rachel Cruze?

  I don't know why I'm gonna start laughing, okay.

• 3:13George Kamel?

  Okay. Saw that.

• 3:15Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 3:20George Kamel?

  Hmm. Now I'm wondering if you did a face for the water on purpose to throw me off.

• 3:25Rachel Cruze?

  But how would I know, oh, like, instantly?

• 3:27George Kamel?

  Well, if it was water and you went, hmm.

• 3:29Rachel Cruze?

  I feel like I probably looked very, I tried to look very the same.

• 3:32George Kamel?

  Okay, is the goal to be stoic? Because I feel like you could cheat and go...

• 3:35Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, my gosh, just guess, George.

• 3:38George Kamel?

  The second one was tequila.

• 3:39Rachel Cruze?

  Yes! That was pretty good.

• 3:42George Kamel?

  Can I tell you how I knew?

• 3:43Rachel Cruze?

  Well, no, don't give me your secrets, because I want you to go next.

• 3:45George Kamel?

  Well, I'm not gonna do the same thing as you, I'm not that...

• 3:47Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, whatever, so it's just an individual.

• 3:49George Kamel?

  All right, fine, I'll do mine.

• 3:50Rachel Cruze?

  What is it, how could you tell?

• 3:51George Kamel?

  No, no, no, we'll wait. We'll see if you're right.

• 3:54Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 3:55George Kamel?

  I'm gonna laugh, it's too funny.

• 3:56Rachel Cruze?

  I know, that's why I was laughing, too.

• 3:57George Kamel?

  Which one do you want me to do first?

• 3:59Rachel Cruze?

  Do the closest one to the camera, yeah.

• 4:08George Kamel?

  Okay, next.

• 4:14George Kamel?

  What do you think?

• 4:15Rachel Cruze?

  He just laughed.

• 4:18George Kamel?

  What do you think?

• 4:20Rachel Cruze?

  Everyone over there is laughing so hard, they're both tequila?

• 4:24George Kamel?

  They're both tequila.

• 4:28Rachel Cruze?

  They troll you!

• 4:29George Kamel?

  I should've known.

• 4:30Rachel Cruze?

  They troll you!

• 4:31George Kamel?

  They saw the same video I did.

• 4:33Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, man! Well, at least I'll be on Good Afternoon for you.

• 4:37George Kamel?

  You know what, I would've been more upset if both were water, to be honest. So, thank you.

• 4:42Rachel Cruze?

  That's funny, George, wow. How did you know for me?

• 4:46George Kamel?

  You, you had like an involuntary twitch in your mouth, like a... It was like...

• 4:53Rachel Cruze?

  Just a little tequila, oh, my gosh.

• 4:55George Kamel?

  The second one was shocking to me, so that makes sense why you did that.

• 4:59Rachel Cruze?

  You're expecting water.

• 5:00George Kamel?

  Because you're waiting for the water, you're like, all right, this is what was water.

• 5:02Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, my gosh, that is so funny. Well, it's pretty good, though.

• 5:08Rachel Cruze?

  It's pretty good.

• 5:09George Kamel?

  No, they were the same. Yeah, not bad. I do prefer, if you're gonna do it, you do it officially. You do the lime on the, the salt on the hand.

• 5:18George Kamel?

  Kosher salt, it's gotta be kosher.

• 5:20Rachel Cruze?

  Some lime.

• 5:21George Kamel?

  Let's be respectful.

• 5:21Rachel Cruze?

  Some lime.

• 5:22George Kamel?

  And then you do the tequila shot, then you do the bite of lime.

• 5:25Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 5:26George Kamel?

  A lime wedge.

• 5:26Rachel Cruze?

  There's like an art to it.

• 5:28George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 5:28Rachel Cruze?

  It's fair.

• 5:29George Kamel?

  Scientifically.

• 5:29Rachel Cruze?

  So good, well...

• 5:30George Kamel?

  Great trend.

• 5:31Rachel Cruze?

  Well, you know something else trending right now?

• 5:32George Kamel?

  What's that?

• 5:33Rachel Cruze?

  High-yield savings accounts.

• 5:34George Kamel?

  A big trend among the youth.

• 5:36Rachel Cruze?

  They are loving it, and actually, the ones with Fair Winds, I love the most. But with high-yield savings accounts, they're great, because you're gonna make, you know, up to 3% or even a little more, and you're gonna be able to get to your money quickly if you need it, and then with Fair Winds, you can transfer money between your high-yield savings accounts and your checking account with...

• 5:52George Kamel?

  Such a blessing.

• 5:53Rachel Cruze?

  The Smart Bundle. So, all of it together is why I love Fair Winds, they make managing your money easy.

• 5:59George Kamel?

  Yes, and you can have up to 10 high-yield savings accounts. Because I'm a nerd, I like to have different things for different goals, so I want my, the car upgrade fund, the emergency fund, the vacation fund, all of it in different places earmarked, and Fair Winds lets you do that, and you get a cool Ramsey-themed debit card of your choice. We now have two options.

• 6:16Rachel Cruze?

  Two options, that's right.

• 6:17George Kamel?

  The debt is normal, be weird, or the new live like no one else theme, which I opted for.

• 6:22Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 6:23George Kamel?

  That's the one on my Apple Pay right now.

• 6:24Rachel Cruze?

  I like both, I mean, I really do.

• 6:25George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 6:26Rachel Cruze?

  But it's great.

• 6:26George Kamel?

  Just support them.

• 6:27Rachel Cruze?

  But I love the, the app is easy to use, amazing customer service, so make sure to check it out. Go to fairwinds.org/Ramsey and sign up for the Smart Bundle today.

• 6:36George Kamel?

  Love it, we'll drop a link in the description as well. Okay, so we're talking about social spending trends, and there's one I keep seeing that requires a good chunk of cash to buy all the gear.

• 6:44Rachel Cruze?

  What?

• 6:44George Kamel?

  I don't understand it, and I need you to explain it, or one of your daughters, because they're into it, too. Explain like I'm five, what the heck is mahjong? And why is it taking, why is it taking over women's minds?

• 6:56Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 6:56George Kamel?

  It's all they think about.

• 6:57Rachel Cruze?

  It is, it's weirdly addicting.

• 6:59George Kamel?

  But it's silent, that's all I know about it.

• 7:02Rachel Cruze?

  I know, because you really can't, you, I've gotten to a point, I can talk some, like, I'll get my line and I'm good, but at the beginning, when you start out, yeah, you're probably, you're really concentrating.

• 7:10George Kamel?

  Is it stressful?

• 7:11Rachel Cruze?

  It can be.

• 7:12George Kamel?

  It's just like sort of a quiet strategy game.

• 7:13Rachel Cruze?

  Yep, yep, so it's, um...

• 7:16George Kamel?

  Can you explain it in 30 seconds? If I had a timer on the clock, or is it too complicated?

• 7:20Rachel Cruze?

  Uh, give me a, can you give me a minute?

• 7:22George Kamel?

  I'll give you a minute, I think you deserve that.

• 7:24Rachel Cruze?

  Give me a timer, so that it dings at the end, and let's see if I can do it.

• 7:27George Kamel?

  Okay, here we go. Ready, set, go.

• 7:29Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, so you know how a deck of cards has like diamonds, hearts, you know? Mahjong has really three main sets, bams, cracks, and dots, 1 through 10. Each of those, each has a dragon, you can kind of give it like an ace, so they're dragons, so you got the, you got the crack dragon, red dragon, you got the green dragon that goes with the bams, and then you got the soap, which goes with the dots. So you lay them all out, then you also have the winds, so you have north, south, east, and west, and then you have jokers. I play with blanks, some people get mad about that, but I love a blank, so we have about four, six blanks in the set. You turn them all over, you make walls, there'll be 19, or if you're playing with blanks, 20 across, then on top, all four. You roll to see who is the dealer, then you deal, I call it breakfast, lunch, and dinner,

• 8:12Rachel Cruze?

  so, so if you're the dealer, you take four, four tiles, the next one gets four, four, four, you deal to the right, you do it again three times, and then, lastly, you take the first and the third for you, and then you go, so you end up basically with 13 tiles, the dealer has 14. You have a card, and there's like...

• 8:33George Kamel?

  I'm so sorry. That's all the time we have. Thanks for playing. You're a great contestant. You don't go home with anything.

• 8:39Rachel Cruze?

  I was getting you the names of the tiles and I was doing the walls. And then we'll stop there. But anyways, it's great. It's so fun and it's so pretty, George.

• 8:47George Kamel?

  It does look beautiful.

• 8:48Rachel Cruze?

  The tiles are so pretty.

• 8:50George Kamel?

  It's artwork.

• 8:51Rachel Cruze?

  My gosh, I love them so much. You know what I bought? I bought a floating mahjong table for my pool.

• 8:57George Kamel?

  How big is it?

• 8:58Rachel Cruze?

  I played for, from one to five on Sunday with friends. Oh my gosh. Yep, you're in the pool, so you're all cool.

• 9:04George Kamel?

  Is there like cup holders for drinks?

• 9:05Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, because you gotta do, if you have the one band bird, you cheers. So you gotta be cheers in. Yeah, it's so, it is so fun. It's like a big puzzle. It's a big puzzle game.

• 9:13George Kamel?

  Okay.

• 9:14Rachel Cruze?

  You're figuring it out, but you're trading, you're dealing, discarding.

• 9:17George Kamel?

  I get why only women play this because men are not intelligent enough to understand what the heck you just said.

• 9:21Rachel Cruze?

  It's probably true. And it sounds crazy. And honestly, when I first started learning it, I was like, this is the stupidest game ever. Like, this is so dumb. All the weird rules that you can't use a joker with pair. I mean, like, there's so many rules.

• 9:33George Kamel?

  Who made this up? They must be billionaire.

• 9:35Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, it's, it's like, I think it's the Chinese.

• 9:37George Kamel?

  It's like an ancient, is it like an ancient game or has it been around for?

• 9:40Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, oh, hundreds of years. Yeah.

• 9:41George Kamel?

  Okay.

• 9:43Rachel Cruze?

  Uh, or even longer, thousands.

• 9:44George Kamel?

  I love that guys are just like, I wonder if I can get that ball into that hole over there. You wanna throw it or hit it? You're like, alright, either way.

• 9:50Rachel Cruze?

  It's so true. Oh, man. But yeah, that's a fun one, but it is expensive. Because some of these sets, I mean, they're, they can run upwards of, over, over $500. Yeah. I know, it's expensive.

• 10:02George Kamel?

  But dazzled, bejeweled?

• 10:03Rachel Cruze?

  But you can get cheap ones, you can get cheap ones on Amazon, but.

• 10:05George Kamel?

  I saw it at like Costco or Sam's Club and I was like, wow, they have really made it mainstream.

• 10:09Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, it's crazy. I know. Weirdly, it's addicting, but you know what else is on trend now?

• 10:14George Kamel?

  What's that?

• 10:15Rachel Cruze?

  Is movies.

• 10:16George Kamel?

  Now you're talking my language.

• 10:18Rachel Cruze?

  There's some really good movies. The Odyssey, Devil Wears Prada 2, you got Spider-Man.

• 10:23George Kamel?

  Toy Story 5.

• 10:24Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, I mean, there's so many good movies out.

• 10:26George Kamel?

  A great year for movies.

• 10:27Rachel Cruze?

  I feel like people are really coming back, or they're, they're giving us good movies for a while, desert.

• 10:32George Kamel?

  And even like some indie movies, like Obsession.

• 10:35Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 10:36George Kamel?

  I've heard big, uh, big things about this one.

• 10:38Rachel Cruze?

  I haven't watched it, but it has become like a massive thing, like the Blair Witch Project, you know how they like, always spend like $20,000.

• 10:44George Kamel?

  Yes, tiny budget, 750 grand, shot in 20 days by a YouTube comedian.

• 10:49Rachel Cruze?

  My gosh.

• 10:49George Kamel?

  For under a million and sold it to Focus Features for over 15 million. That is some ROI.

• 10:55Rachel Cruze?

  That's great.

• 10:56George Kamel?

  And you know, they made money off of it. So this is crazy. I did see The Odyssey twice already.

• 11:01Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, was it good? I haven't seen it. Well, obviously you went twice.

• 11:03George Kamel?

  Can I be honest, though? I should not have taken my wife.

• 11:07Rachel Cruze?

  Why?

• 11:07George Kamel?

  I took her to Opry Mills. It's one of the only 70 millimeter theaters in the country for IMAX, which is the biggest screen, biggest format.

• 11:14Rachel Cruze?

  Got you.

• 11:15George Kamel?

  As Christopher Nolan, the director, intended it. It's like the closest you can get to being inside of that camera.

• 11:21Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, okay, got you.

• 11:22George Kamel?

  She left 45 minutes into this three hour movie.

• 11:24Rachel Cruze?

  Why?

• 11:25George Kamel?

  It was too dark and disturbing for her. She was like shaking. So she had to go, she's, went to Old Navy, spent a bunch of money. Did some retail therapy.

• 11:35Rachel Cruze?

  Whitney!

• 11:36George Kamel?

  And all I was thinking was, I paid $36 for that stupid IMAX ticket.

• 11:40Rachel Cruze?

  So she hated it.

• 11:41George Kamel?

  She didn't hate it, it was just like, she didn't know, everyone told her, oh, it's fine, it's not dark, like, it's not, but there's some like horror disturbing type elements in it. Because like Greek mythology, some crazy things happen.

• 11:51Rachel Cruze?

  Sure, sure.

• 11:52George Kamel?

  Whereas I'm like, wow, this was shot with practical effects. How do they do that? How did that guy get eaten by the Cyclops? That's what I'm thinking the whole time.

• 11:59Rachel Cruze?

  For sure, for sure.

• 11:59George Kamel?

  But it was incredible. I had to see it again solo, so I could really take it in.

• 12:03Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 12:04George Kamel?

  Plus, I went to the bathroom like five times. It's just so long.

• 12:07Rachel Cruze?

  It's such a long movie.

• 12:08George Kamel?

  So if you get a, bring a drink, I try to dehydrate myself the second time, just so I can make it through.

• 12:13Rachel Cruze?

  Just to do it. It's so good, yep.

• 12:15George Kamel?

  A lot of fun things coming back.

• 12:16Rachel Cruze?

  Something else, small business hacks, if you will, that, these have gone viral. Everything from like buying a laundromat, vending machines.

• 12:23George Kamel?

  Why is that the new thing?

• 12:24Rachel Cruze?

  All this stuff of like, hey, let's get a small business going. And yeah, people are, uh, they're jumping on the trends. It, it, because it feels a little get rich quick, like it feels easy.

• 12:32George Kamel?

  But it feels more like sophisticated than a get rich quick scheme. Like, well, it's, I own a business.

• 12:37Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, right, right, right.

• 12:38George Kamel?

  That's smart.

• 12:39Rachel Cruze?

  But you get into it. It's a lot of work.

• 12:41George Kamel?

  I had a friend do this. They actually bought a laundromat.

• 12:43Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 12:44George Kamel?

  And they, they gave it up. They had a partner, it went south, it was a whole lot of work. They were just spending so much time on this on top of their full-time jobs. And so they were like, we're done.

• 12:52Rachel Cruze?

  We're done.

• 12:53George Kamel?

  We're out of this, but.

• 12:54Rachel Cruze?

  That's a, that's a thing. Now, I will say, if you're looking for a side hustle, if you do need extra money, there's a great side hustle quiz we have. I'll link it down below.

• 13:00George Kamel?

  Yes.

• 13:01Rachel Cruze?

  Because to earn extra money is great, right? And we're not mad at small businesses in general, obviously, but it's kind of this like viral, like hacky feel.

• 13:08George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 13:09Rachel Cruze?

  And sometimes there's just not a hack. Sometimes it's just.

• 13:11George Kamel?

  Most side hustles are, the harder you work, the more you'll make.

• 13:14Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 13:14George Kamel?

  So choose the right one, never go into debt for these, and the side hustle quiz will help you figure out which one is right for you. So go check it out, link in the description.

• 13:21Rachel Cruze?

  Yep, that's right. Well, one thing that is not a hack, it is pure gold.

• 13:27George Kamel?

  Timeless.

• 13:28Rachel Cruze?

  Cozy Earth. So Cozy Earth products, you guys, the quality is outstanding. So this is anything from the blankets, the sheets and bedding, the towels, the athleisure, the pajamas.

• 13:40George Kamel?

  And can I tell you, in the corner of my eye, I see some of our team using the, the cuddle blanket right now to stay warm in this very cold studio.

• 13:47Rachel Cruze?

  As we speak.

• 13:48George Kamel?

  And I'm a little jealous.

• 13:49Rachel Cruze?

  They love it. We should have had it, George.

• 13:51George Kamel?

  They look very cozy.

• 13:52Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. Oh my gosh, you just cuddle up with that. Oh, it's wonderful. So yeah, the quality products is what I love the most because you can buy some like cheap, kind of like dupes. But when you wash stuff and over and over again, the things that hold the shape.

• 14:05George Kamel?

  You get what you pay for.

• 14:06Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, it is real. So to have some good investment pieces with Cozy Earth, it's the way to go.

• 14:11George Kamel?

  They really are my favorite products in my house now. And you guys can get a great discount, 20% off when you go to cozylearth.com/smartmoney. Or you can use the link in the description. And this is great, not just for you, but for gifts as well.

• 14:23Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 14:23George Kamel?

  People you love.

• 14:24Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, a gift set for sure. Find something you love, give it to a friend, family member. It's the way to go. Love it.

• 14:30George Kamel?

  All right, next up.

• 14:32Rachel Cruze?

  Nostalgic concerts.

• 14:34George Kamel?

  With fun dress codes, apparently.

• 14:35Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my gosh, we love it. As millennials, we're back!

• 14:38George Kamel?

  Like, you've been to Backstreet Boys, I don't know, seven times?

• 14:40Rachel Cruze?

  Twice. Oh, guess who is going tomorrow night?

• 14:44George Kamel?

  To Backstreet Boys in Vegas?

• 14:45Rachel Cruze?

  My sister and like five friends. They flew out today.

• 14:48George Kamel?

  Denise, let's go!

• 14:49Rachel Cruze?

  I told her, your life will be changed. Get ready to come back a different person. Oh, it's so good.

• 14:55George Kamel?

  So dress code is all white for Backstreet Boys?

• 14:57Rachel Cruze?

  With like touches of baby blue. It's like off their millennial, um, millennial album. But yeah, so silver, baby blue, but lots of white.

• 15:07George Kamel?

  As the main color.

• 15:08Rachel Cruze?

  My gosh.

• 15:09George Kamel?

  I love it.

• 15:09Rachel Cruze?

  And they are still so good. I know, we keep talking about them.

• 15:12George Kamel?

  I know. But they also seem like good guys.

• 15:14Rachel Cruze?

  Such good guys. And they're still dancing great, singing great, all of it. We are for them. Keep the sphere full of.

• 15:21George Kamel?

  I hope to have that kind of glow up in my 40s.

• 15:23Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, so Hilary Duff came to town.

• 15:25George Kamel?

  Yes.

• 15:25Rachel Cruze?

  I missed it. Your wife went though, Whitney went?

• 15:27George Kamel?

  I sent my wife. I found, someone was listed tickets here and I was like, I'm scooping them up. She went with our previous producer, Lindsay.

• 15:34Rachel Cruze?

  That's right, Lindsay.

• 15:35George Kamel?

  And she had the best time.

• 15:37Rachel Cruze?

  She said it was so good.

• 15:38George Kamel?

  So I feel like I am winning on the husband award side of like, I sent her to Backstreet, the Sphere, sent her to Hilary Duff.

• 15:43Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, you're doing great.

• 15:44George Kamel?

  Her inner child is healed.

• 15:46Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 15:46George Kamel?

  Everything as well.

• 15:47Rachel Cruze?

  It's all we need. I know. Uh, Yellow Card was in town, Winston went to that.

• 15:50George Kamel?

  Oh, nice.

• 15:51Rachel Cruze?

  That was like a throwback, yes.

• 15:52George Kamel?

  I feel like all the old bands are like, guys, we could make money again.

• 15:57Rachel Cruze?

  Should we go out on the road?

• 15:59George Kamel?

  And nobody's mad about it. They're like, great.

• 16:01Rachel Cruze?

  I know. You know who I would go see? Matchbox 20.

• 16:04George Kamel?

  Oh, they were great. I miss Matchbox. Nobody's talking about Matchbox 20.

• 16:09Rachel Cruze?

  Where's Rob these days?

• 16:10George Kamel?

  Rob Thomas.

• 16:11Rachel Cruze?

  Hope he's okay. Rob, get back on the, get back out there.

• 16:15George Kamel?

  Where's Carlos Santana? What happened to him?

• 16:17Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my gosh, Carlos Santana!

• 16:19George Kamel?

  He was forced upon us. Like, you want a Carlos Santana solo? I'm like, I don't think I have a choice in this song.

• 16:27Rachel Cruze?

  I forgot about that.

• 16:27George Kamel?

  God bless it.

• 16:29Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, and you know who probably will not be coming back, I don't think, is NSYNC.

• 16:32George Kamel?

  No.

• 16:33Rachel Cruze?

  I think JT is like, y'all, I'm cashing my, cashing, counting my money. I don't need to go on the road.

• 16:39George Kamel?

  But don't you wonder what those guys are doing?

• 16:40Rachel Cruze?

  Lance Bass and Joey, I think, are all like, let's go! You know, I think JT is like, I'm good.

• 16:44George Kamel?

  I'm sure they have enough money, but like, they've gotta be.

• 16:46Rachel Cruze?

  Dude, they got Pearl, that, that Luke Perlman guy that like was their manager?

• 16:50George Kamel?

  Oh, he like took it all from them.

• 16:52Rachel Cruze?

  I think he took a lot. I mean, I think they're fine.

• 16:54George Kamel?

  Maybe they're crushing it on Cameo or something, like making videos. I don't know.

• 16:58Rachel Cruze?

  Maybe so. Maybe so.

• 17:00George Kamel?

  But yeah, nostalgic concerts, I think people want to do things in person. They want to relive the glory days.

• 17:05Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. Okay, get this, though. Backstreet Boys are grossing $4 million a night at their residency at the Sphere. A night.

• 17:12George Kamel?

  That is insane. Now I get why they do it night after night, no matter what.

• 17:16Rachel Cruze?

  I love it.

• 17:16George Kamel?

  They're like, do you want to make another 4 million or not? They're like, alright, sure.

• 17:20Rachel Cruze?

  Guess we'll do it.

• 17:21George Kamel?

  Whatever.

• 17:21Rachel Cruze?

  One more night.

• 17:22George Kamel?

  I wonder how much they net, though, after?

• 17:24Rachel Cruze?

  All the, yeah.

• 17:25George Kamel?

  They've gotta be paying a thousand people.

• 17:27Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, it's probably a lot.

• 17:28George Kamel?

  And the Sphere's taking their cut.

• 17:29Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, sure. Okay, George, don't be all boo-boo. Let's just talk about 4 million dollars.

• 17:33George Kamel?

  But even if it's like, yeah, we each get a half million, I'm like, okay.

• 17:36Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, we ain't mad at that.

• 17:37George Kamel?

  Don't complain.

• 17:38Rachel Cruze?

  Don't complain about that.

• 17:39George Kamel?

  Dance your heart out, boys.

• 17:40Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, the next one is fun. It's the trendy, to be thrifty. So it's kind of the like 90s butter mom aesthetic. So Levi jeans, 100% cotton. Uh, you got the warm tones back, the old books. It's kind of this like Nancy Meyers feel, you know?

• 17:55George Kamel?

  Yes.

• 17:55Rachel Cruze?

  It's a little bit like, it doesn't have to all look together.

• 17:58George Kamel?

  High quality.

• 17:59Rachel Cruze?

  Very lived in, yes. But it's a little bit of that.

• 18:02George Kamel?

  Thrifting blazers.

• 18:02Rachel Cruze?

  It's kind of that thrifty feel.

• 18:05George Kamel?

  Learning to knit and crochet?

• 18:06Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 18:07George Kamel?

  Is cross stitching back? I feel like it is.

• 18:08Rachel Cruze?

  It's back. Mahjong and cross stitching, you know?

• 18:10George Kamel?

  I think we all want something like tangible, physical analog. Because we're tired of like digital and AI. We want something to do with our hands, something to go to, something to see visually.

• 18:20Rachel Cruze?

  I like that.

• 18:21George Kamel?

  Get off the screens. I love it. All right, next up, you'll love this one. Trending celebrity gossip.

• 18:26Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, is it back?

• 18:28George Kamel?

  You tell me. You keep up with it.

• 18:31Rachel Cruze?

  No, it's great. Yeah, there's been a lot of headlines.

• 18:32George Kamel?

  Did it ever leave? I don't know.

• 18:33Rachel Cruze?

  It's been a lot of headlines. You got Taylor and Travis's wedding. You got a thousand guests.

• 18:37George Kamel?

  Still shocked you weren't invited.

• 18:38Rachel Cruze?

  Madison Square Garden, I know, it's fine.

• 18:40George Kamel?

  But they had to cap it at some point. You were probably on the next list.

• 18:44Rachel Cruze?

  It's just like one tier down, probably. Uh Bradley Cooper and Gigi, you know, they're spotted wearing matching wedding bands. Oh my gosh.

• 18:53George Kamel?

  Anne Hathaway pregnant in her early 40s. That's crazy.

• 18:56Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, that's.

• 18:56George Kamel?

  And she's had quite the year. I feel like she's been in every movie ever.

• 18:59Rachel Cruze?

  Every movie. Every movie. What is she?

• 19:02George Kamel?

  Every hit movie of the summer, she's in it.

• 19:03Rachel Cruze?

  You know what? She may just be like, let's just, let's just go. The quantity.

• 19:08George Kamel?

  This is it.

• 19:08Rachel Cruze?

  Come back to us though. Anne Hathaway, come back to us.

• 19:11George Kamel?

  That's pretty incredible.

• 19:11Rachel Cruze?

  Yep. Well, we love some celebrity gossip, but one thing about the internet that's tough though, is that your information is out there and that's why Delete Me is so crucial to have. So that when you are filling out all these applications online, whether you're buying stuff from stores or companies, sometimes they will collect that data and then they will sell your data to other companies. And so you want to be careful because data brokers too will pick up your data.

• 19:34George Kamel?

  Yep.

• 19:34Rachel Cruze?

  And they're the ones, man, that's like mass produced out.

• 19:37George Kamel?

  And I like to test this. I've done this on our own team members. I'm like, hey, bet I can find out where you live in about three seconds. So I bet and then I do it. I'm like, see, you need Delete Me.

• 19:47Rachel Cruze?

  Yep, absolutely. So yeah, they have a fabulous service too, because they will send you an email, a report on all the hours that their manpower has spent of what you would have spent doing it and.

• 20:01George Kamel?

  All the removal requests.

• 20:02Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, and where they have removed your information. So it is so great to have.

• 20:06George Kamel?

  You'll be shocked at how many places had your info that you did not give consent to. They don't care. So go get Delete Me and reclaim your data privacy. Go to joindelete.me.com/smartmoney and you'll get 20% off their annual plans. We'll also drop a link in the description.

• 20:21Rachel Cruze?

  All right. The last trend that I'm loving, George, it's the oversharing about money on the internet. Gen Z is not scared to talk about money.

• 20:28George Kamel?

  They are not. They're very vulnerable, transparent. I don't know what the word is. They just sort of like, don't care. They're like over everything. Like, you know what? We're just gonna say it.

• 20:37Rachel Cruze?

  We're gonna say how much we make.

• 20:38George Kamel?

  They're tired of everyone gatekeeping.

• 20:40Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, yes. And I kind of like it. I'm like, good for y'all. And I love them too, because they will take old concepts, we talked about this on the show, and make it fresh and new. So it's like cash stuffing, right? That used to be the envelope system. Money maxing is like a new trend where they're basically like.

• 20:57George Kamel?

  Being intentional.

• 20:58Rachel Cruze?

  You use, max out every single dollar you have. So pay off debt, be intentional with a budget, save. And we're like, go Gen Z.

• 21:08George Kamel?

  We love it. We love, and you know what it's like? You know, when restaurants decide are we're gonna do deconstructed?

• 21:13Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 21:13George Kamel?

  Which is just like, instead of putting it all together, we're just gonna not do that and call it a meal and make it more expensive.

• 21:19Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 21:19George Kamel?

  I feel like Gen Z is really good at that.

• 21:21Rachel Cruze?

  Very good.

• 21:22George Kamel?

  Like, we're not gonna do budgeting, but we're gonna deconstruct it and call it like cash stuffing and money maxing. Like, great, whatever you call it, I just love that we're paying attention to our money again, being transparent, sharing our debt-free journeys. I've never seen so many Instagram accounts of people sharing their debt-free stories and people are encouraging them. They're even helping them pay off debt. These accounts are getting like sponsors.

• 21:44Rachel Cruze?

  Yep.

• 21:44George Kamel?

  They're making money from social media to help pay it off. Like, that's a pretty cool side hustle.

• 21:48Rachel Cruze?

  It's so great. And I think it's encouraging because I think real people want to hear about real things going on, right? For so long, it's gotten a little bit better, but it's just that like best foot forward feel.

• 21:58George Kamel?

  The facade.

• 21:59Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah. And now people are like putting out their real stories and what's going on in their life.

• 22:02George Kamel?

  They're sharing the struggles instead of the wins.

• 22:04Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah. And you know what? I think it's great, especially when it comes to money. Share it. It'll, it'll inspire people. It really will. So I love it.

• 22:11George Kamel?

  That's fantastic.

• 22:11Rachel Cruze?

  Too good, too good. Okay, well.

• 22:13George Kamel?

  Trends out there.

• 22:14Rachel Cruze?

  There are. There's a lot. But here's the thing too, is you don't have to spend your money on all the trends. That's what I love about the idea that money is just, it's a tool to create a life that you love. So what are the things that you enjoy? I love mahjong and Backstreet Boys. So that's where my money is going.

• 22:29George Kamel?

  And there's no ulterior motive. You're not trying to impress anyone.

• 22:31Rachel Cruze?

  No.

• 22:31George Kamel?

  You're doing it because you truly love it.

• 22:33Rachel Cruze?

  So what trend are you spending money on these days?

• 22:35George Kamel?

  Oh gosh, probably for me, it's coffee and movies are my two right now. And going to, going to shows, going to concerts, my kind of concerts.

• 22:44Rachel Cruze?

  Which is what?

• 22:44George Kamel?

  More like bands you've never heard of that make me sound pretentious if I said it.

• 22:48Rachel Cruze?

  I know, very just like, oh my gosh.

• 22:50George Kamel?

  I actually had tickets to go see American Football with Soccer Mommy opening.

• 22:58George Kamel?

  Exactly. I rest my case. But I had a speaking engagement and so I couldn't, I couldn't make it. I had to sell my ticket.

• 23:05Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, so sad. How much did she sell it for? 12 bucks?

• 23:07George Kamel?

  It was like 30 bucks. See, my shows, what I love about the music I love is that less people care about it.

• 23:12Rachel Cruze?

  They do. They don't care.

• 23:13George Kamel?

  And therefore the tickets aren't gonna be.

• 23:14Rachel Cruze?

  Did you say Soccer Mommy?

• 23:16George Kamel?

  That's a band, yes.

• 23:17Rachel Cruze?

  It's really unfortunate.

• 23:18George Kamel?

  Yeah. But you know, you know producer of The Ramsey Show, James Childs?

• 23:21Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 23:22George Kamel?

  They're kind of, it's his kind of music.

• 23:23Rachel Cruze?

  Okay, I got you.

• 23:24George Kamel?

  It's a Midwest emo. It's American Football.

• 23:28Rachel Cruze?

  Weird. Have you heard of the Knox?

• 23:30George Kamel?

  No.

• 23:31Rachel Cruze?

  Uh, Not the 1975. Have you heard this?

• 23:34George Kamel?

  The 1975? I know that.

• 23:35Rachel Cruze?

  No, Not. It's the song called Not the 1975.

• 23:38George Kamel?

  Okay, that's a weird title.

• 23:39Rachel Cruze?

  By the Knox. Anyways, it says something about Caroline in it and Winston like loves that song. So Caroline now has become obsessed with it. So that's the only emo song that I listen to.

• 23:48George Kamel?

  Wow.

• 23:49Rachel Cruze?

  I'll send it to you, George. I feel very hip.

• 23:52George Kamel?

  Good.

• 23:53Rachel Cruze?

  When I listen to it.

• 23:53George Kamel?

  You know, I saw a block party. Have you heard of Block Party?

• 23:57Rachel Cruze?

  No.

• 23:58George Kamel?

  Saw them at the Ryman here in Nashville.

• 24:00Rachel Cruze?

  Never heard of them.

• 24:00George Kamel?

  I do like a good Ryman show. I think the venue matters more.

• 24:03Rachel Cruze?

  You know who I saw at the Ryman? Ashley Simpson. Back in the day.

• 24:07George Kamel?

  What?

• 24:08Rachel Cruze?

  When I was in high school.

• 24:09George Kamel?

  That is wild.

• 24:10Rachel Cruze?

  She's so good. I love her.

• 24:12George Kamel?

  Really?

• 24:13Rachel Cruze?

  She should come back.

• 24:13George Kamel?

  Name three songs.

• 24:15Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, I don't know if I could right now.

• 24:17George Kamel?

  That's tough. That's always my true test. Are they so good if you can't name three?

• 24:21Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my gosh, Ashley.

• 24:23George Kamel?

  I love it. I love the nostalgia trends coming back. I like the transparency we're seeing. I like the return to analog.

• 24:29Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 24:30George Kamel?

  Tangible, tactical things that actually like fuel our spirit.

• 24:34Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah.

• 24:34George Kamel?

  Instead of drain us.

• 24:35Rachel Cruze?

  And y'all, get in a great position with your money so that you can spend it on things that you want, right? If you, if you have a ton of debt, you're paycheck to paycheck, you don't have an emergency fund, buckle down, get a good financial foundation under you. And we talk about the baby steps, the Ramsey baby steps. That's the first three steps. So get a thousand dollar emergency fund, get out of debt and have a fully funded emergency fund. And then beyond that is where you can kind of like loosen the purse strings a little bit.

• 24:56George Kamel?

  And we have a line item in our budget in the Camel family of just fun money, blow money. And so you can budget for the new mahjong table.

• 25:04Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 25:04George Kamel?

  And not have it be a huge fight in the house.

• 25:06Rachel Cruze?

  Yep.

• 25:07George Kamel?

  Like Rachel, you spent what on what?

• 25:09Rachel Cruze?

  Right. So it's talked about before. Yeah, it's great. Fantastic. So being smart with your money. Then I feel like the trends you can like really, you know, indulge if you want.

• 25:17George Kamel?

  Yeah.

• 25:18Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah. But get yourself in a good financial place. And, and yeah, so fun.

• 25:23George Kamel?

  And don't feel like you have to do it just because it's a trend. There's a lot of times you feel FOMO.

• 25:26Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, it's true.

• 25:27George Kamel?

  You might go, eh, it really wasn't that special.

• 25:29Rachel Cruze?

  True. Well, George, before we spill the tea on our Guilty as Charged segment, let's share the drink details and reveal our rating.

• 25:36George Kamel?

  Let's do it. This is the Peach Basil Tingle Mocktail. Still confused about the tingle part. There's no information. Uh, but it's got peaches, lemon, basil, honey and kombucha.

• 25:47Rachel Cruze?

  Oh.

• 25:48George Kamel?

  Lemon ginger kombucha.

• 25:49Rachel Cruze?

  There we go.

• 25:50George Kamel?

  You were correct. It does have some ginger in there via the kombucha. I'm guessing the kombucha is the tingle portion. Am I right?

• 25:58Rachel Cruze?

  Such a bad.

• 25:58George Kamel?

  The apple cider vinegar of, you know, that, that taste.

• 26:01Rachel Cruze?

  That's what it is. Yeah, yeah.

• 26:02George Kamel?

  It does give you, I forgot to really enjoy this.

• 26:05Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, I know. It's a pretty great mocktail. It's got some good stuff.

• 26:07George Kamel?

  This would be really nice with some tequila in it, but we already had that. So kind of dumped it in there.

• 26:13Rachel Cruze?

  You should have had a little extra.

• 26:15George Kamel?

  I'm gonna rate this, I'm gonna go nine out of 10 in the mocktail world.

• 26:19Rachel Cruze?

  Wow.

• 26:20George Kamel?

  This is up, this is my speed.

• 26:22Rachel Cruze?

  I'm gonna go seven out of 10. It was a little too gingery for me, but it was good. I liked it, but a little too gingery.

• 26:28George Kamel?

  So if you have taste, culture, class, you're gonna love this drink. Comes out to a dollar 84 cents, which I think is well worth it for a drink of this caliber. Get the recipe in the show notes. Give it a try this weekend and this is one the kids can enjoy too.

• 26:41Rachel Cruze?

  All right, now it's time for Guilty as Charged. And this is where we ask each other a new Guilty as Charged question every week. And if we're guilty, we take a sip. All right, George, question. Have you ever bought something for your kids and you regretted it?

• 26:55George Kamel?

  Oh boy.

• 26:56Rachel Cruze?

  My gosh, have we?

• 26:57George Kamel?

  It's more like, what's the latest regret?

• 26:58Rachel Cruze?

  I know. My gosh.

• 27:00George Kamel?

  Something I've personally purchased, okay, we did this one for my daughter to try to get her off the Passies.

• 27:05Rachel Cruze?

  Okay.

• 27:06George Kamel?

  Cause her teeth are, you know, it was jacked up. She's about to turn three and we're like, we gotta do something. This is getting drastic. So we said the Passy Fairy is gonna get you a Bluey Bounce House. So we got a Bluey Bounce House from Sam's Club.

• 27:19Rachel Cruze?

  My gosh.

• 27:19George Kamel?

  And it was on sale from like 300 to 250. And I was like, you know what? If this saves me a lifetime of dental visits to fix the problem, 250 is well worth it.

• 27:28Rachel Cruze?

  Good night.

• 27:29George Kamel?

  So we get this bounce house. It is an absolute nightmare. It is 100 pounds. Whitney cannot carry it. Had to get it delivered instead.

• 27:37Rachel Cruze?

  Oh no.

• 27:37George Kamel?

  Cause we couldn't even move it and she couldn't move it to the cart.

• 27:39Rachel Cruze?

  Oh my gosh.

• 27:40George Kamel?

  So we get it. It's a nightmare to blow up, to deflate. We're both laying on it trying to deflate it back to like not a 10 by 10.

• 27:48Rachel Cruze?

  Yes.

• 27:49George Kamel?

  You know, thing taking up the lawn. We have nowhere to store it.

• 27:51Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, George.

• 27:52George Kamel?

  Cause we can't get it compact again.

• 27:53Rachel Cruze?

  So bad.

• 27:54George Kamel?

  Then it rains for like two weeks. It's just covered in dirt and spiders. And I'm just like, and finally I hosed it down and went, I'm taking this back to Sam's Club.

• 28:03Rachel Cruze?

  And you took it back?

• 28:05Rachel Cruze?

  And they took it back?

• 28:05George Kamel?

  And I took, I don't even think they looked at it. I think the good people at Sam's Club were like, hey, man, that's between you and the Lord.

• 28:11Rachel Cruze?

  We get it. We wouldn't want it either.

• 28:14George Kamel?

  And the price kept going down. So I kept, I was like, can I get a refund for the difference?

• 28:18Rachel Cruze?

  Yep.

• 28:19George Kamel?

  And so that was a whole, now it's super cheap. Cause I think everyone had the same experience I did.

• 28:23Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, I'm like, we don't need it.

• 28:23George Kamel?

  Super fun for two times. So then we had to explain to our sweet daughter where the Bluey Bounce House went.

• 28:29Rachel Cruze?

  Did the tooth fairy take the, or did the passy fairy take that too?

• 28:32George Kamel?

  Yeah, we said it was gonna be replaced with something even better.

• 28:35Rachel Cruze?

  What is it?

• 28:36George Kamel?

  I don't know. We'll come up with it. TBD. I hope that she just forgets.

• 28:41Rachel Cruze?

  She will.

• 28:41George Kamel?

  She hasn't mentioned it yet.

• 28:42Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, she's three. She'll forget. She'll be fine. That's so funny.

• 28:45George Kamel?

  How about you? Any regrets for kids purchases?

• 28:48Rachel Cruze?

  It's the thing that annoys me the most right now.

• 28:51George Kamel?

  A recorder?

• 28:52Rachel Cruze?

  No.

• 28:53George Kamel?

  Oh, good.

• 28:54Rachel Cruze?

  Squishies.

• 28:55George Kamel?

  Oh, are they on the squishy train?

• 28:58Rachel Cruze?

  Needles and dumplings and like all.

• 29:03George Kamel?

  Are these different characters?

• 29:04Rachel Cruze?

  These, they're all different types. And I finally put a hard stop. I was like, no more, y'all. No more. No more. But they get them for birthdays and they save up their money and wanna go to the toy store and buy it and.

• 29:14George Kamel?

  What do they do with them?

• 29:15Rachel Cruze?

  Nothing. They just sit there.

• 29:18George Kamel?

  They sit in a corner?

• 29:19Rachel Cruze?

  And I squish them sometimes. But like Caroline has a big bag of them. And I'm like, this is, and they want more. There's not like food looking ones, like a banana or like a waffle.

• 29:27George Kamel?

  Avocado.

• 29:28Rachel Cruze?

  Yes. And I'm like, y'all? So we're done. They, I don't know why it annoys me so much, but it does.

• 29:33George Kamel?

  Cause they're pretty, like they're older. It's like older kids are loving squishies.

• 29:36Rachel Cruze?

  Oh, yeah.

• 29:37George Kamel?

  Cause it's not like a kid's like stuffed animal.

• 29:39Rachel Cruze?

  Amelia's probably a little out of it now, but Caroline, oh.

• 29:43George Kamel?

  She loves a squishy.

• 29:44Rachel Cruze?

  And when a friend comes over, she's like, please tell her mom to bring all her squishies.

• 29:47George Kamel?

  Bring all of the squishies?

• 29:48Rachel Cruze?

  It's a thing, I'm telling you. And it's, I hate it.

• 29:51George Kamel?

  But they don't play with them. It's not like a toy.

• 29:53Rachel Cruze?

  Caroline, no, no. They just squish them.

• 29:57George Kamel?

  Is it like an anxiety reducing thing for children now? Is that what we're doing?

• 30:00Rachel Cruze?

  I don't know, but I don't like it. But people like line up outside the stores.

• 30:04George Kamel?

  Like grown adults?

• 30:05Rachel Cruze?

  Like dumplings. Like there's like rear dumpling of it. It's, I don't get it.

• 30:08George Kamel?

  So it's labubus for kids? It has no real purpose?

• 30:11Rachel Cruze?

  That's right.

• 30:12George Kamel?

  It's kind of just like a flex to like, I have 20 squishies.

• 30:15Rachel Cruze?

  That's it.

• 30:16George Kamel?

  I got the latest avocado squishy.

• 30:17Rachel Cruze?

  Seriously, yes. It's so bizarre. But Caroline, sorry Caroline, sometimes I don't like to name my kids' names if it's in a negative connotation, but it's fine because she.

• 30:27George Kamel?

  She would actually love the shout out.

• 30:29Rachel Cruze?

  She got one.

• 30:31George Kamel?

  To see what's in it?

• 30:32Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, yes. And I was like, oh my, it's stuff everywhere. And I was like, if that gets, I was like, clean it up.

• 30:38George Kamel?

  What does it look like?

• 30:39Rachel Cruze?

  Clean it up. It's like, it's like worse than slime. Cause it's all supposed to be contained. When it's not contained, oh.

• 30:46George Kamel?

  Look, there's a lot of forever chemicals in there.

• 30:48Rachel Cruze?

  I can't. It's just.

• 30:50George Kamel?

  It's like a nuclear reactor.

• 30:51Rachel Cruze?

  It's the most annoying thing right now with kids. Squishies. So just.

• 30:55George Kamel?

  Prepare my heart?

• 30:56Rachel Cruze?

  No, it'll be over. It's a trend. It's a trend. It'll be over. And they're, and some of them are gross. Like because they'll fall on the floor and depending on the material of it.

• 31:06George Kamel?

  Oh, it'll collect everything?

• 31:08Rachel Cruze?

  Can like collect, yeah, like lint and stuff.

• 31:10George Kamel?

  Well, I have dogs that will also just like attack it, eat it, and then it becomes even grosser.

• 31:14Rachel Cruze?

  Yeah, let's don't do it. So anyways, there's my grief and story about children and trends.

• 31:18George Kamel?

  On this paper, there was a reference that you might mention a pogo stick story. I was excited about that. We'll never hear about the pogo stick.

• 31:26Rachel Cruze?

  This was like two years ago. This was so stupid too. We bought a pogo stick. I think it was Caroline again. Sorry Caroline.

• 31:34George Kamel?

  So she said, we bought a pogo stick.

• 31:36Rachel Cruze?

  I think she saved it for money. She was begging for a pogo stick. And I think I even told her, you're not gonna probably be able to do it. You're too little. Like a real pogo stick to get on.

• 31:44George Kamel?

  It's effort.

• 31:44Rachel Cruze?

  It's effort. It takes balance. Like.

• 31:46George Kamel?

  Like it looks stupid, but it's actually hard to do.

• 31:48Rachel Cruze?

  Yes, exactly. And she wanted it so mad. So we buy it. And of course she can't do it. So she gets frustrated, so mad. So then I feel bad. And I go on Amazon and order like a, another pogo stick. It was like, it's like a, it's like a.

• 32:04George Kamel?

  Like a training wheel version?

• 32:05Rachel Cruze?

  It's like a rectangle blow up foamy thing with a cord that's like stretchy with a handle. So you can kinda like.

• 32:14George Kamel?

  Get the motion?

• 32:15Rachel Cruze?

  Get the motion and you can bounce on it. Well, when you bounce on it, squeaks. It's like squirr, squirr, squirr, squirr, squirr. So now she's all around. And then everyone fought over it. And then she hid it so that no one else could touch it. And then about a week later, I was like, where is that pogo stick? And she was like, can't remember where I put it. We lost the pogo stick, the second one. Can't find it. And then about a year, I think last year it showed back up. Anyways, so that was, that pissed me off. You know, that pogo stick. So mad.

• 32:44George Kamel?

  I didn't know those were bad. I didn't know they still made them.

• 32:46Rachel Cruze?

  You know, I don't, I don't even know. She decided to get one. She was like seven at the time. I mean.

• 32:50George Kamel?

  Who's buying these? Is the hula hoop community? I feel like hula hoops and pogo sticks go together.

• 32:54Rachel Cruze?

  I know. I don't know, y'all. But that one made me mad. I'll never forget that one.

• 32:58George Kamel?

  R I P pogo stick. Wherever you are.

• 33:00Rachel Cruze?

  I know.

• 33:01George Kamel?

  Rest in pogo.

• 33:02Rachel Cruze?

  That was it. That was it. Oh, well, listen, if you have a fun guilty as charged question for us, make sure to DM us at Rachel Cruz and at George Kamel. Uh, we'll screenshot it and send it to our producer Jenna and use it. So thanks so much. And if you enjoyed this episode, you're gonna love the next episode, Waste or Worth It. Rating life changing products. We will link it for you. And make sure to subscribe. So you don't miss an all new episode of Smart Money Happy Hour.