George Kamel - Is Rachel Cruze Secretly Frugal? (Bougie vs. Frugal)

Episode Date: July 24, 2024

💵 Start your free budget today. Download the EveryDollar app!    Financial expert and my favorite partner in crime Rachel Cruze is back in the studio for another competition—and this time, it's personal. We're putting our friendship, egos and street cred all on the line to settle once and for all who deserves the title of Most Frugal.    Next Steps  🍸 Check out Rachel Cruze and George Kamel’s podcast, Smart Money Happy Hour!   📗 Order George Kamel’s new book, Breaking Free From Broke.  Offers From Today's Sponsors  This episode is sponsored by DeleteMe. 🔒 Remove your personal information from the web at http://joindeleteme.com/george and use code GEORGE for 20% off. 🙌    This episode is sponsored by Tello, a mobile service plan designed to save you money. Go to http://www.tello.com/George for $5 off your first month of Tello’s unlimited data plan.  Listen to More From Ramsey Network  🎙️ The Ramsey Show    🍸 Smart Money Happy Hour  💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights  🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show  💡 The Rachel Cruze Show  💼 The Ken Coleman Show  📈 EntreLeadership    Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well, back by popular demand, we've got my personal favorite partner in crime here at Ramsey, Mrs. Rachel Cruz. Well, back. I've never been in here, George. Never been in the room. Uh-huh. Thanks. Thanks for the invite. I think you got lost in the mail. When they told me, I was like, he's going to have me, like, in studio? Oh, my gosh. Anyways, thanks for having me.

It's a pleasure. You did great on Millionaires and Cars getting coffee, so we were on the road for that episode. But you've never done an official in-studio G-G-Y-T episode. And some other people have. Pretty much everyone but you. Yeah, exactly. But to be fair, we have our own show that we filmed right down the hall, Smart Money Happy Hour. So we're hanging out plenty. Ken needed to win, all right?

You needed to win. You don't care about me. I don't care about you. Because you are a fan of competition, as you know, if you listen to Smart Money Happy Hour, a show that Rachel and I co-host together, we thought we'll have a little competition today. Okay. See a little fishbowl. And by competition, before you guys get too excited, think less athlete, a little more math.

fleet, okay? No sweats will be broken in today's episode. It's not that kind of competition. Well, could be broken, Rachel, is our spirits, our friendship, our street cred, as self-recret. It's a lot on the line. I'm self-proclaimed frugal money-saver guy, and we're going to find out today if that's really true. Yeah, because you're a, you're a boozy frugal, which I would probably say about myself too. And you're frugal, but we're, yeah, that's it. It's flipped. It's different. Yin and yang. All right, before we get started, give some love to our special guest. hit that like and subscribe button. Let her know that you're happy to have her here.

So if you don't know, Rachel just celebrated her 15th Ramsey anniversary. So she's been here a long time. She's a bestselling author. Ramsey personality has her own show, The Rachel Crews Show, co-hosts Smart Money Happy Hour with me, has some amazing kids books as well as adult books that you've written over the years. And I'm so proud of all of your success.

Oh, thanks, George. From one friend to another. It's been fun. It's been fun. So today's game, Frugal. Bougy. Dun, dun, dun, dun. So here's how it works.

We have a bowl right here. We're going to pick a budget category out of the bowl. Okay. And you're going to rate yourself from a scale of one being very frugal to five being very bougie. We'll have commentary. And then our team is keeping score. And so there will be prizes. Of who's like more frugal versus bougie?

Yes. I don't know what the goal is. Are you trying to be trying to win in bougie? Are you trying to win in frugal? We'll see. Do I go first? Special guest goes first. Here we go.

the card? Oh, public parking. Are you frugal or bougie when it comes to parking? And I know the answer so you can't lie. I'm going, I'm going five. She's a five. Explain. I am about convenience in life.

That's where I put my money. Convenience. So if valet is more convenient, I'm going valet. When is valet not more convenient? Yeah, I know what it is. It's like if it's more convenient. But I will not circumvent. a block eight times to find free parking.

Not my, not my jam. I'm going five. All right. That's fair. And unashamed. That's the right answer for Rachel. I'm going one. I am that guy who will circle the block.

I will find the self-part. If there is self-parking, I will take it every time. Listen, God gave me legs. I can hustle too. I'll run to the car and I'll drive it up front for Whitney. That's the kind of chivalry. Shivalry's not dead. I'm very charming.

All right. Next up. Fitness. Are you frugal or bougie when it comes to fitness, Rachel? Okay, you know what? I got a... I also know the answer to this. I'm going three.

Because, are you ready for this? Okay. I am frugal when it comes to, like, the equipment. Like, I don't need a ton. Like, I need maybe a couple of sets of weights, some bands, and I'm good to go. But where I'm not like a one because of it is I do like to have a trainer. And that's a convenience you're willing to pay for. So is that fair or is that four?

Does trainer outweigh, like, equipment? Well, you don't have a gym membership? No. Okay, and you don't really own much equipment. No. So there is money saving there. Yeah. Even though a trainer is expensive.

But how often are you doing it? Three times a week? Yeah, three times a week. Okay. I'll give you a three on that. Okay, thanks. That feels right. That feels like a good, solid.

I'm letting you know that's generosity on my part. Okay. This one is rigged because I'm a one because I don't do it. I don't do it. I don't pay for anything. My brother just added me to the, like, family account for his Peloton. So I have access to the video. I will never watch said videos, but I'm sure they're great.

I'm sure they're great. And Whitney just found a great YouTube, like fitness thing, like free, you know, 25-minute fitness for beginners thing. Yeah, it's great. So I'm like, great. That's my version of, I'll take it if it's free. The last time I exercised was never. All right. Your home.

Oh, frugal or bougie on a home? All right, what's your rating on this one? Here's what I want to believe about. You thought this was going to be easy. This is what I want to believe about myself. So we built a home in 2019. And we saved for like 10 years. I mean, it was a long goal.

We said we're going to do what we can. We had to budget. We had to cut things. But we did it. Like, we were like, we're going to do what we want to do to be in this house for 20 plus years, you know. So we did it. Big, I would say.

But I want to believe in my heart of, I'm giving myself a three. Because I want to say, in my heart of hearts. And I've always said this. If crap hits the fan, we're all running around looking for meat and stuff. And I had to sell my house.

to get money to survive. Like, we could serve, like, we could, as our family, I'm like, put me in a smaller home. Put me in a car, put me in a apartment, condo, whatever. And I think my, like, dignity would not be shattered. Like, the ego is not wrapped up in it. Does that make sense? Yes. So I want to give myself with three because of that.

So you're saying during a meat apocalypse, a strange way to go, you would downgrade to an apartment in order to survive the meat apocalypse. And I would be totally fine. Yeah, it's a nice home. You guys have nice things, but you're also not obsessive. It's not over the top. Yeah, nothing. It's not like, I don't know. It's not pompous. So I'm going to go, is three fair or do I got to go four?

I'll give you a three again out of generosity. Okay. Because that one's a hard one. You have to be a five on this one. What? Okay, if I'm a five, you have to be a four. I'm a four. We've always been pretty modest in like what we could afford versus what we purchased.

Yes. Like our first home was a town home a little further out. Yeah, that's fair. That's fair. And we finally upgraded. And your furniture, your furnishings, you like, you really researched and find deals. Okay, okay, fine, fine. Shoot.

You know, it's overstock. I think you're a three, I'm a four. You know what? I think that feels right. She's the referee. We'll take that. Don't you think? Mark that down.

George is a three, Rachel's a four. I think that's more fair, if we're going to be honest. I think we might have a hustler here here. I probably care more. Do you think I'm a five or do you think it's a four? George is. George is. The blue tooth fan.

The fans are connected to your phone. George, all right. If you can't hear commentary from our friends back here. You're never coming over our houses again. Ew, somebody's a sore loser. How about we meet in the middle until we're both a four? I think that's fair. I think that's a fair.

All right. Change our numbers. All right. Next up. That feels great. I love. You actually might be sweating bullets over this. Okay.

I feel like this was rigged against Rachel from the start. Next up, we have books. Is buying a book, boogey? You tell me? Yeah. If buying a book is boogey, I'm a five. I don't do the library. I don't do Kendall. I buy books off Amazon because I support authors who work hard to produce great things out into the world and I will support them.

So I'm a selfless five. A selfless five? You can't add adjectives now. Okay. I do it for the author. How often do you buy a book? Once a week? I'd say once every two weeks. Okay. I'd probably buy in two or three months. Two books a month. We're talking, I don't know, 30, 40 bucks? Oh God, cheaper than that. Mine are like $9. All right. So what does that mean? It doesn't mean. It's not a judgment call.

No, four or five. I'll give you a four. Okay. I don't think just for the fact that you buy two books a month, you know? Yeah, perfect. All right. I'm going to go, I'll go two because I do buy the occasional book. I don't read them all that often.

But I do like to try to use the Libby app and I'll get free books from the library through that digitally. Things like that. I don't mind buying a used book if I can save some coin. Yeah, that's good. There you go. All right. Next. Close.

This one's dangerous. Because to me, boozy is the type of clothes, not the quantity. Okay. So I'm going two. Wow. Fashionista claims she's a two. I'm Amazon, Old Navy, Target. That's fair.

You guys get with two on that? We're going to go to the two? I am not a, I don't go to boutiques and stuff, you know? That's fair. I've never seen you at a boutique. You may have nicer quality. That may be true. I'll put myself at a, I'll put myself at a,

of three because I'm very frugal. I like quality brands, but I wait for the sales. I'll find the promo codes. Yep, yep. You know, and I'm pretty simple. You know, like I, you don't look at me and go, wow, that guy must have some money to dress like that. It's very simple. It's a t-shirt, it's black jeans. Yep. You know. Yeah. Let's do another one here. Groceries. So in your every dollar budget and the groceries line item, which you consider yourself, bougie or frugal, It's a tough one. Are we talking brands? Are we talking the amount spent?

I know. I'm going two and a half. I did know you could do that. Sometimes you can't play by the rules. I don't shop at boozy grocery stores. I guess, well, Publix, is Publix? Is Publix boozy? I think it's higher tier.

Yeah. It's not your older, your proger, but it's not your whole finish. No, I'm going three. I think three would be fair because I'm like, I'm Publix. Change her. And I do Instacart. I do delivery. That does add a point to the boogie scale.

I know, I know. But I buy a ton of. public sprained stuff. Like, I'm not looking for, like, some fancy schmancy food. Okay. Well, I do, I applaud you for, like, you get the cookbook out, you find the recipes and you're making the meals. Yeah, we do. I cook a lot. Yes, we cook. So I respect that. Thanks. I'm a smash burgers tonight. Dang. I know. I'm very excited about it. Send the invite, Winston. Ready to wrap this thing up. All right. You're a three. I'm going to go, I'll go two. Okay. Here's why. I usually only shop what's on sale.

Oh, yeah, that's frugal. And when I do Instacart, I choose the stores that have the same prices in store. Yes. So, like, I did this this weekend for Sprouts. And not only did I do that, I picked it up. Yeah. To save $10. It's fair.

All right. That's fair. Travel. All right. Travel. How do you rate yourself from Bougy to Frugal? One to five. It's okay to be honest.

There's no wrong answers. I know. It's a five. I'm going to have to go five. It's out of all these categories, besides books. Yeah. We can, come on, guys. Do better than books.

It's the one place I will spend. Yeah. I'm going to go three. I think I used to be a two, but my never again moment was I rented an Airbnb that was a shared room. For Whitney and I, while other people were living there in this little condo in Panama City Beach, we just had one of the rooms in this little condo. That's right. I do remember you talking about this.

And I still have shame about it, clearly. Never again. So I've moved up to a three from a two. Okay. I think I'm a three because I like the luxury experiences, but I'm willing to, I'm not going full luxury and I'm also going to try to get a deal. Like I'm doing the price line express with the travel arrow to, you know, my travel hacks. All right, before we continue with the game, I got to ask you, are you frugal or

bougie with your phone plan? And if you're bougie, I can help you save some money here. With Tello, one of the sponsors of today's show, it is easy to be frugal because they have plans for as low as five bucks and up to 25 bucks for the unlimited everything plan. And you can keep your boozy phone if you want. You get to keep your phone number so you have a perfect mix of frugal and bougie. Frugie, if you will. Or boogel.

Nope, I immediately regret that. Let's go with frugel. Plus, Tello has flexible plans and no contract. So it's easy to switch. In fact, I signed up in one minute in my boozy pajamas at home. So go to tello.com slash George and you can get an extra $5 off Tello's unlimited data plan for your first month of service. That's tello.com slash George or click the link in the description below.

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All right, back to the game. Who's next? Me? You. I did travel. Cars. Oh, got her again. I got my.

Now I'm going, I know mine. All right. I'm a three. Because I have a minivan. I have a minivan, George. If you're a three, what am I? You're not driving a minivan. Are you driving a minivan?

I would love to. Minivan automatically makes you frugal. I only have a nine-month-old. Feels a little bit unreasonable to jump minivan status. That is true. Okay, I have that and then I have the Tesla. That's why I'm giving myself a three. I would give myself a one.

I feel like I'm leaning four. I'm leaning four. Because it is a nice minivan. And it's a nice Tesla. All right, we'll go four. Man. That was a nail biter. Man, but that minivan really holds me to that frugal standpoint.

Okay. But is it like blacked out, like murdered out? No, it's not. That's what I want. If I was going to get a minivan. What did you just say? That's what the kids call it. Murdered out.

It's when it's all black. Like black on black on black on black rims. For a minivan? Every detail is black. I feel like you had to go white minivan. Oh. White on white on white, white tires? Wait, I don't know why we have to go all the same color on everything.

Listen, it's the opposite. Is it murdered out? I'm living out. I'm living out in my white minivan. Ain't no shame in the minivan game, baby. Okay. If you're four, then I think I'll go three. I used to be like a one.

But Whitney has a nice guy. You all have nice parts. And then Dave Ramsey would make fun of my car live on the Ramsey show and be like, George, you got to get your bumper's hanging off. You're embarrassing me. I was like, all right, fine, I'll upgrade. So we waited until our house would pay off to even upgrade my 09 Honda Civic with the bumper hanging off. Okay.

And even then, I got a, you know, decade-old Tesla that I love. but more recently we got my wife, we upgraded her. She deserves it. Yeah, she got a nice car. So she has a newer, it's still used, but it was a newer luxury SUV and she loves it. So for that, I can't say I'm a one and you know. No, you're not a one. But can I tell you, it hurt my heart to write that check.

That's a lot of money to spend on a vehicle. That's true. But worth it. Cars are expensive. All right, here we go. Self care. Haircuts, products, skin care. I'm going two for myself.

That is. So low maintenance. I know. You could use just like, whatever, you know, Garnier fructice. I don't know what you're into these days. I do that's why I give myself a two. The only, like, kind of boozy thing I do is my shampoo.

I do have nice shampoo. Okay. If you're a two, I'm going to just be generous and give myself a five. Oh, I hope you would, George. This is an honest space. A haircut every two weeks. The beard bomb. You have to check your bag when you travel because of your...

There's a lot of toiletries. Toiletries. I was like, I got to have my lufa. That's weird, man. All right. Eating out. Boojier frugal. No, I go three.

Okay. I can go Chick-fil-A. I can go steak-house. I'm kind of happy either way. And you don't care really either way. Yeah, I might even say Chick-Fleight. Taco Bell. Whoa.

That goes a little too far. I can go fast food and be happy. I really can. I'm great. Yeah, eating out, I would say I'm going to, I'll go three with you. Yeah. I don't eat an entree, though. I do, like, that's where I'm like, I'm not that boogie because I split.

I'll try to, like, if there's a coupon, I will use it. Yeah. But I also enjoy, you know, a nice meal out if it's worth it. Yeah. There's nothing worse than spending a lot of money and then it being mediocre. I know. I know. Versus like, Taco Bell, you know what you're getting.

You know, no one's ever like, I can't believe I spent eight bucks on that. You know? It's like you knew what you were getting into. Concerts and events. Oh. Okay. I got my answer. And I'm not good at these.

Well, like, this isn't my, like, this isn't how I spend my money or time. Well, you just went to a concert slash event. I did because the tickets were given to me free. So I'm going to go one. That feels like a. and six on the boogie scale. What? Well, you no longer even pay for things.

I wouldn't pay to go. That's fair. And I don't go to things, because it's not like people just give me free stuff. Well, you did go to Taylor Swift twice. Shoot. One of those was free. No, it was, and I paid.

Very significant. No, a lot of money, though. Oh, okay. Okay, but when I go, I, like, oh, I want good seats, though. Yes. So two. I'm going to go two.

Choose a two. How about you? You're five. I'll go two. Really? Yeah. I thought you were, like, like, are like, If you know my story about my Seinfeld tickets, I will not pay above the actual ticket price.

Okay. And I, if I can avoid paying ticket master fees and all that. So I found below retail tickets to Seinfeld last minute by doing a lot of effort. Took hours. Okay, that's fair. That's fair. So that's where I'm like, I'm a two. And I really, I'm not willing to pay a lot of money unless it's my favorite band of all time.

The most I paid. It was like 300 bucks to see Blink One 82. But it was all included, like unlimited drinks, food. good seats with John Deloney and my friends. It was like, this is worth it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. My friends convince me. I love that.

So, there it is. There we go. All right, last one. Coffee. You're a one. I'm a one. Give me a cure egg and no cream or anything. Just a black coffee.

From the Hilton to the, to the cure. If you're using a Brentwood Hilton coffee maker, I might get you go to a doctor. No, we don't use hotel coffee makers. We've already talked about this. That's right. It's where many happy hour. We don't do that. But, but yeah,

Give me a Waffle House coffee. Give me... I don't care. I do like diner coffee. So you got to go... I'm a five. Yeah, you got to go five. Because I just know too much.

You know, I'm like, I want the single origin. I want the flash cold... You know, it just... I'm boozy there, and that's fine. I'll own it. This is Fulgers. This is not allowed in my house. Please go throw it out of cat.

Is it right or wrong to be boozy or frugal? No. No. You know, it's like you... It's all about what you can afford. Yes. And so it's easy to balk at someone who's willing to spend X, Y, Z on this item, but if they have the cash.

Okay, I would say this, but I would also add, I think motivation is big too. Your motivation in being frugal or boozy. Are you trying to show off? Yes. Are you trying to show people how much you skin? Because there can be some pride in both, right? Like the booji, there's obvious.

There can be obvious, like, oh my gosh, like, I need the nice things so that I can, like, put on social media so that people can be impressed about the thing we did or do it have or whatever. They're not good, right? The motivation, that's not, even if you have the money. That's true. Not good.

And then there are people on the other ends that are like, oh my God, they're judgy. Very judgy. And Barry just, yeah. I would never. Oh, my God. What's your quote that I love about buying things? If nobody sees this purchase, do I still want it? That's it.

That's a great filter. Yeah. So to me, it's not wrong, frugal or bougie, not right or wrong, but you need the money. And then I think your motivation needs to have like a level of health to it. Or you can spiral. And then how do you decide what? to spend more or less on what's worth it to you? Because that's a difficult one.

There's some things that I'm, even if I have the money, I'm like, well, this is not something I care about. That's right. With coffee. Yeah. Convenience for me, I pay for. You're willing to pay for convenience. I'm willing to pay for quality.

Yeah, and I don't pay for quality. So I think you kind of find the thing that you're like, oh, yeah, that's what I was got money on. And as long as it's in the budget, there's no guilt. No. Regardless of what I'm spending. Well, there's a little or a lot. I'm like, well, it's in the budget.

The plan reflected it. That's right. This wasn't impulsive. It was intentional, and that's all that matters there. What budget categories do you personally use for luxuries? So, like, you've got your every dollar budget laid out. How do you start to list these things? Are you one that puts everything in one big category, or do you separate it all that?

You say luxuries. What does that mean? For your personal luxuries, like the things we talked about, some of them today. Yeah, but I have a Rachel line item. Self-care, you know, manicure, pedicure, clothing. Okay, and if I know. It says Rachel. Yeah.

That's wonderful. Yeah, and then we have a Winston. And our kids each have one. And I do love, like, the budget can be what you want it to be. Some people want to keep it real simple. Some people want to split out every single transaction into a different line item. Do what works for you and what works for you and your spouse. Yes, that's right.

So that's what's big there. What areas do you differ with Winston on when it comes to spending more or less? He is a, well, not spends a lot, but when he spends, it's a lot. So it's rare. It's a ticket item. Like, he'll buy, like, we've got an infrared sauna. Yes. He hadn't spent money

and probably, I mean, that Winston Lide item never gets used but then he'll randomly be like, hey, you know what I mean? Like,

he'll do that kind of thing. It'll be like a big splurge randomly where I have like an Amazon shipment probably four times a week. Yeah. So you're more like ankle biters. Yes.

Just like a pair of earrings here. A little sprinkle. Yes, I sprinkle the happiness around. All right, Rachel, the results are in. Oh my gosh. Yes.

The higher the number, the more bougie you are. Okay, okay. We'll take it. We'll take it. We'll take it. Oh, boy. I'm so nervous.

Rachel's clocking in at a 38. Okay. Yeah, boy, clocked in at a 29. Oh, man. Rachel, you are the boozy one. I am more bougie. So what is that? I'm presenting you with a diamond-encrusted crown,

and I will wear my Burger King Premium frugal crown. Their chicken sandwiches are fantastic. They really are. Well, you know what I learned? I have a lot more respect for you. Wow, why? Yeah. You know, I think just talking it out makes me understand you more.

I'm like, okay, this is why she is the way she is. Yes. And this is why the way I am. It was just good to talk it out. Yeah, just to hear different perspectives. Because no right or wrong. That's what the world needs. Yes.

We just need to hear each other. Because the truth is, there's areas I'm way more boozy for my reasons. There's areas you're more boogey for your reasons. There's areas you're more frugal. There's areas I'm super frugal. That's right. And the key is, We're doing it out of our own values.

That's right. And we're not trying to impress everyone. And we're doing it with cash. Yes. Be unique. Be yourself. Be unique and be on a budget. So be sure to check out every dollar.

You can go to every dollar. com slash George and get started for free or click the link in the description. And that way you can be boogie frugiegeal boogel-fugee. Whatever you want to be. The world is your oyster. Oh, Rachel. This has been so fun. Where can people find you?

You can here on YouTube, a channel and podcast. the Rachel Cruz show and all the socials. And Smart Money Happy Hour. And Smart Money Happy Hour, of course, with George. Of course. So if you enjoy this type of conversation, this is pretty much what happens on Smart Money Happy Hour every single week. So go check that out on YouTube or podcast.

And comment below with what you are bougie or frugal about and maybe add up your own score. That would be fun. Go back, add up your own score to this little game we played. We had a great time. Rachel, you're a great guest. Thanks for being here. Thanks for...

Don't lose the crown that costs a lot of money. Thanks for having me. We'll see you guys next time.