George Kamel - Are Single-Income Households a Luxury Now? (Money Expert Reacts)

Episode Date: August 20, 2025

📈 Are you on track with the Baby Steps? Get a free personalized plan.   Is the cost of living making it a requirement for American families to have two incomes? Or is it still possible to make ends meet with one parent staying home? Today, I’m reacting to a popular TikTok that hits this question head on, along with the usual suspects of internet brain rot.    Next Steps: • 🎥 Watch my video You’re Cooked if You Have a Job? (Money Expert Reacts to TikTok Advice) • 💵 Start your free budget today. Download the EveryDollar app! • 📙 Order my book, Breaking Free From Broke, in hardcover.   Connect With Our Sponsors: • Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe. • Learn more about opening a high-yield savings account with Laurel Road. • Get up to 40% off Cozy Earth with code GEORGE. Explore More From Ramsey Network: 🎙️ The Ramsey Show 🍸 Smart Money Happy Hour 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 💡 The Rachel Cruze Show 🪑 Front Row Seat with Ken Coleman 📈 EntreLeadership   Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is the cost of living making it requirement for American families to have two incomes? Or is it still possible to make ends meet with one parent staying home? Today, I'm reacting to a popular TikTok that hits this question head on. And of course, I'll also be weighing in on the usual suspects of internet brain rot, which is sure to include some overly caffeinated finance bros who really want you to know they do CrossFit. So grab some popcorn and a can of fresca because it's time to dive in. People that wait in Costco line for Costco gas are brokies. If you wait in line at Costco Gas, you're a brokey.

Go there on a Saturday. You'll see a 30-minute line for Costco gas. Everyone's lined up. To what, save $3? You're going to sit in a 30-minute line to save $3. You are now officially valuing your time. I mean, do the math, that's $6 an hour. You are valuing your time below minimum wage.

Minimum wage in California is $15 an hour. And you're saying you value your time at $6 an hour. A lot of those people have kids in the backseat. And so they're teaching their kids the value of their time. Yeah, you have to really evaluate. And the shift for me was thinking about growing my income versus saving my expenses. And you have a lesson about this. you say where people focus on saving, $4 Costco gas, $5 Starbucks, areas that actually matter.

Negotiating your salary, $20K,000, house hacking, $30K, starting a side hustle, $40K, decision of college, $50K, mortgage interest, $20K. Stop focusing on $4 choices and start focusing on $40,000 choices. Okay, there's a lot wrong here. There's so much wrong, but for the sake of this video, I'll just address a few pieces. Number one, you are not a brokey if you wait and land at Costco gas. So let me free you of the guilt for my Kirkland Kings and Queens out there. This is how idiotic this take is.

If that's true, then if I wait in the Costco line for one minute, I am basically making $60 an hour. What? That doesn't make, you agree. I agree. It doesn't make sense, does it? Nobody's on the clock while getting gas at Costco. So stop acting like you're valuing your time. Then why do anything in life that isn't work? It doesn't make sense.

So do I agree that there are some things that are not worth it in life? to save a buck? Would I drive 48 miles and wait four hours to save a dollar? No, but is waiting in line of the Costco gas station after you went to Costco or before? A big deal? Absolutely not. And if the line is 30 minutes long, I'm probably not getting in it, bud. Go at night on a weekday like a smart individual. That's all I'm going to say about that. Moving on. Give me one valid reason why someone who's responsible would put anything on their debit card and not put everything they can on a credit card. Go ahead. I'll wait. I'm right here, bro.

Okay, you got it? Comment below. If you put everything on a credit card, it does not mean that you're going to be charged interest. This is a common misconception people have. So they're out there putting things on their debit card, and that debit card is directly tied to their checking account, putting their checking account at risk. If your debit card is ever cloned, or if there's a skimmer put on a credit card,

swiper at a gas station, they have a. direct access to your checking account. If you put everything on a credit card and pay it off within your billing cycle or pay it off before it's due, you will never ever be charged a penny in interest. Now I get it. There's a lot of reasons that people say you should never use credit because you can get in trouble. This is about education. This is about financial literacy. Stop putting things on your debit card, put it all on a credit card, protect your bank account and learn how to control your spending. No, thank you. No, thank you, my guy. Okay, there's a lot, a lot of things I want to say about this. I wrote a whole chapter on credit cards in my book, Breaking Free from Broke, that hits this

head on, talking about the people who are like, well, bro, you're putting yourself at risk. You're putting yourself at risk using a credit card because there's a much higher chance of you making yourself broke than a scammer or a spamer or some skimmer out there. And by the way, one thing I do to avoid all this, just use Apple Pay. It's going to block your card info. You don't have to worry about getting scam there. And on top of that, if your debit card has a Visa logo or a MasterCard logo, you have their zero liability policy. Let me look it up just to prove it. Visa, debit, zero liability. Our guarantee you won't be held responsible for unauthorized charges made with your account or account information. There you go. Here's the short end, because we don't have

time to get into it, but there are legal stipulations that protect you as a debit card user, including the EFTA Electronic Funds Transfer Act, which make sure that you're not going to get scammed out of all of your money, and the bank will give you a provisional credit as they look into it to make sure that you get your money back. Yes, you're using other people's money on a credit card, so there's less worry there. But here's the issue.

We know half of people don't pay their full credit card balance in full every month, which then triggers 29% APR. I will happily take the very small risk of my debit card getting hacked versus the much higher risk that I will make myself broke by not spending less than I make using other people's money and hoping to pay it back later. End scene. Wow, that was so powerful.

Academy Award. In 2005, these were the ultimate flecks. Now, nobody's wearing them. In 2009, these were absolutely everything. Now, they've completely fallen off. In 2012, these were the ultimate status symbol. Now, everyone just hates on them. In 2015, these drops were everything.

Now the hype has completely died. In 2022, these were the hottest thing. Now, they're just gathering dust in the supermarket. Invest in yourself. It's the only trend that never goes out of style. I got to say, big fan of Mark Tilbury's work. He's giving big Batman Alfred energy for the finance world, and I appreciate it, and I love hearing him say status.

Status. Status. Status. Nothing makes me happier. And he's so right. I've always said, if you follow the trends, you will fall for the traps. And the issue is most trends will die faster than you can keep up with them. So what do you do instead? Make timeless choices that never go out of style. Live on lesson you make.

Don't know other people money. Have money in the bank ready to protect you for emergencies, invest for the future, and buy things that you enjoy and can afford in full in cash, but don't go trend chasing because the chances are you'll be at a trend before you know it. Go, 10, 9, 8, 8, 10, we get to spend. Okay, that's fake money. I know pay playing when I see it.

Are you kidding? We got one? He got a $100 to. And go. Oh, she's terrible too. Okay, she got some. There we go. Seven, six.

You're doing great. I know. Oh, there we go. Get it, get it. I can feel it. Nice. Two, one. Time.

Wow. Wow. Look at you. Ooh. Three and a fun game. What a fun game. The blindfolded. money scoop game. This is posted by the Quist family. I don't know who they are, but they are clearly

very popular influencers because they do fun games like this. We don't do games like this at the Camel House. We just have a line item on a budget for fun money, but I feel like I'm happy to swap that out for the old money scoop game. But here's the issue. Do they have $10,000 to spend? I don't know. That's the scary part. Just because you scoop it doesn't mean you have it. Make that the tagline of the game right there. Also, So can I actually invent this as a game you can buy with fake money? Is that legal? Look into it, lawyers.

Get back to me. I'm not even going to entertain that idea. I don't think it's real. I just don't think it's real money. Can I get a... I cannot tell. It just looks too perfect. It looks too crispy.

You know what I mean? But who am I to judge? Maybe these influencers do have $10,000. Love the idea, though. Very creative, very entertaining. Makes sense why it has 172,000 likes. And yet nobody likes me. I don't do the scoop game.

Might need to be more fun. Let's get to the next one. What has been the most amount of money that you've ever made in a single year? At a single year? Probably about 13 million. When it comes to the way that people look at money, what would you say is the biggest thing that separates the middle class from those who really end up building that wealth?

Okay, hand me that bag. See this little bag right here? If I said, I will sell you this bag for $1,000, what would you say? Probably not. Okay. That is how a poor person thinks. A rich person would ask what's inside? Because what if I had $100,000 in cash in this bag?

You just lost $99,000. Because you simply didn't ask what's inside. Rich people, they worry about what they get, not what it costs. And when they understand what they get, they understand what they stand to lose. Poor people never ask what's inside. They never ask what it's worth. They just ask what it's cost. That's all they care about.

And that's why life goes by and it costs them everything. Okay. I don't know how that guy made $13 million because that was a ridiculous hypothetical. So there's a $1,000 backpack that has $100,000 in it. What idiot is selling that bag? I may be an idiot. But I'm not stupid. And by the way, this whole, like, School of Hard Knocks channel, I've seen a lot of this.

They're clearly very staged, because just because you're wealthy doesn't mean you're a good actor. And so I take all of this with a giant grain of salt. Although, occasionally there's some good life advice here. I don't know that I buy anything that's happening in that video. And there's not $100,000 in that bag. I can tell you that. We'll get back to the videos in just a second. But first, let's talk.

scams. And let's talk about how much I hate them with a burning, undying passion, especially fishing attacks and harassment, which are becoming a lot more common these days with the help of AI. And if you're not doing anything to protect your personal data online, you've got a big target on your back. And that's why I use Delete Me, a sponsor of today's video. They combed through hundreds of data broker sites to clean up your digital footprint and keep your personal info away from shady spammers and scammers, helping you stay safe and save time. And right now, you can get 20% off their annual plans by going to join your digital friends by going to join your Join delete me.com slash George or by using the link in the description below.

And you know it's technically not a scam but feels like one? Making pennies on your savings. You can do better with a high-yield savings account, like the one with online bank Laurel Road, another sponsor of today's video. You're going to earn top tier APY so that your money actually grows for you and works for you. And there's no minimum balance required to open an account. There's no monthly maintenance fees and your deposits are FDIC insured, meaning it is safe and secure.

You can rest easy at night. So if you want to upgrade your savings, go to Laurelroad.com slash George to get started, or just use the link in the description. Make it easy on yourself. All right, back to the videos. The creation of the double-income household was one of those changes which went from being an option to an obligation. The principal beneficiaries were government,

who had twice as many people to tax, okay? Property owners, because now you needed two salaries to buy a house. So the option of running a household on one salary basically disappeared. The unit of the household, the family, lost 35 hours of discretionary leisure every week with no commensurate increase in living standards because the money got soaked up by property prices and by taxation. And that obviously what I'm not suggesting is that women remaining at home while men go out to work or anything upset at that. I'm simply saying that there are many, many things that start as an option, and then they become an obligation.

They become an imposition. I think that's a really interesting point, which is that what economists are trying to optimize in terms of GDP style and tax revenue doesn't necessarily translate into an optimal quality of life. Okay. I don't know that I have enough brain calories to process all of the $10 words that man used, but I'm very impressed. between his accent and the word choice, commensurate, commensurate.

That's some Sherlock behavior right there, and I respect it. But let's talk about this idea that the two-income household is now a necessity. I do think it is a luxury to live on a single income. That is definitely more difficult in today's America than it was back in the 40s and 50s. I won't argue with that. But we do know that 46% of married couples in America are dual income, so about half. And the other part we don't know is, are they choosing to work? Do they have to work?

Could they make it work on one income? Are we just not good at living on less than we make? Do we need six figures just to live a decent life? Or is it the lifestyle that we've kind of propped up and have to keep up with? We don't know. I don't know everyone's situation. So let me know what you think in the comments below. Do you think a two-income household is an obligation these days?

Or is it an option? Is it commensurate? Do we make it an option? Cast me in the next Harry, Potter. Happy to be in it. You're a wizard, Harry. But I do want to know what the people are saying, and here's what ElectroNerd said. UK quality of life is awful for how much money the country makes. See, this is where it quickly goes from, okay, that's a fair observation to, all right, this is a victim mentality. Well, the government makes so much and I don't make, just go make more, bro.

It's a free country. All right, I mean, America became free from the Brits, so we know a thing or two about a free country and the sky's the limit. All right, the sea is your oyster or whatever they say. So just go make more if you're not happy. And if you choose for one spouse to stay home or one spouse to work, make peace with that choice and move on. That's all I got to say. Nothing more, nothing less. And as per usual, my producer has given me a bonus video that may or may not be helpful or for the benefit of society, but we're going to check it out anyways. Here we go. See, you promise the kids Disneyland what your budget is. Oh, okay.

Okay. Oh, wow. Who the hell is this? Oh, my God. Wait a minute. What's wrong with your eyes? No. Perkinset, Perkinset, Perkinset.

Bonnie on the stuff. The talent, oh, my God, they're so poverty-stricken. Oh, my God. Oh, wow. Oh, boy. Baby this old girl, who is you? Yeah. Oh, my God, what is going to?

Oh, that dog is the priest. Who made these? Oh, hell, no. You made me. What in the Timu Disneyland is going on here? Is this a real place? That Shrek is very upsetting, only to be outdone by the Barney. Although Barney's looking, Barney's lost, I think we need to shout out Barney.

I don't know if he did the, like, Ozempic for dinosaurs, but he's looking pretty good. Definitely lost someone the torso. I don't know what's going. He's still got some chunky legs, but he needs those as a T-Rex or whatever the heck he is. Do we know what kind of dinosaur Barney is? What kind of dinosaur is Barney? You got to wonder how many millions of people have Googled this before me.

How many brave souls came before me to find out this information? Purple Tyrannosaurus Rex. First try. What a great note for us to end on. That's it for today. Thank you for watching. Be sure to like, subscribe, and share this video with a friend who would definitely take their kids to Timu Disney World.

See you next time.