George Kamel - Money Experts React to the "New Economy" (feat. Rachel Cruze)

Episode Date: December 19, 2025

🎥 Watch my video This Tax Advice Will Get You in Trouble.   You ever feel like life is getting just a wee bit too expensive? Today, I’ll be reacting to TikToks featuring people coming to grips with the cost of living in these here 20s. And it won’t just be me. Because I’ll be joined in this endeavor by my friend and Smart Money Happy Hour co-host, Rachel Cruze.    Next Steps: • 📈 Are you on track with the Baby Steps? Get a free personalized plan. • 💵 Start your free budget today. Download the EveryDollar app! • 📞 Save on your phone plan. Go to Boost Mobile to switch today! Connect With Our Sponsors: • Get up to 40% off Cozy Earth with code GEORGE. • Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe. • Go to FAIRWINDS Credit Union for an exclusive account bundle!   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

You ever feel like life is getting just a wee bit too expensive? You know, you add up rent, groceries, taking the kids to the economy museum. Just kidding. That's still free. And still the best place to make your family actively hate you. Ugh, this is the worst. But that other stuff has been getting more expensive. And today I'll be reacting to an assemblage of TikToks featuring people coming to grips with the cost of living in these here roaring 20s. And it won't just be me because I'll be joined in this endeavor by my friend and Smart Money Happy Hour co-host, Rachel Cruz.

For the un-initiated, Rachel is a best-selling author and personal finance expert who also helps people ditch debt, find margin, and build wealth. And fun fact for your next trivia night, she has seen the Backstreet Boys at the sphere two times. I'm not mad, I'm just jealous. Let's get to it. Rachel, welcome. Thanks, George. Thanks for having me. This is so fun.

It's so weird seeing you at my desk in my studio. I know. I think I've only been in your world like once. We only allow you in doses. Like every, you know, 48 months. It's so fun. feels right. Well, we host a show called Smart Money Happy Hour together, and so I thought it'll be fun to bring a little Smart Money Happy Hour energy to these React videos. I love it. Are you ready? I'm a little nervous. Not gonna lie. Because you're a nice person. Well, you know, I've done these in the past and then I just feel bad after, but we are entering brave territory. I'm gonna be brave, George.

Are you gonna be good cop or bad cop? I'll let you choose. Oh, I'll be good all the way. I'll always find the good in the story. You know what that means? It's not gonna be entertaining, but George gets to be his best. I'm bad cop. Oh my gosh. Just kidding. I'm Joe Biden. Stop back. I'm not kidding around.

Oh my gosh. Not kidding around. And another thing. All right. I'm done. But I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed it. Did you put those on over your glasses? No, I took my glasses off.

Yeah. Okay. Figure that? I'm not that lame. That's talented. That's talented. I'm lame, but I'm not sunglasses over glasses like. You sure about that?

Throw it out. Go. Not the overspending. It's the cost of living. is a breakdown of the average Gen Zian millennials cost of living in today's world. So number one is rent. Everyone knows that Gen Zian millennials have to have a roommate. So splitting a two-bedroom apartment with utilities is around $1,500. If you have a car, a $12,000 to $15,000 used car is still going to run you $400 a month. Car insurance and gas is another $300. Student loan payment, $500.

You're going to have groceries for $500. You're going to have personal care, doctor's appointments, hair, gym, about $150, and then cell phone and miscellaneous $150. That's $3,500 a month, which is baseline. Do you know how much $3,500 a month is? $70,000 a year or $34,000 an hour. Because after you take out taxes, put $300 for health insurance and do a healthy $500 $400,000 $4,00. That leaves you with $3,500. This is no fun, no savings, no maintenance, no clothes, no traveling, no vacations, no bachelor parties, no weddings, no funerals, no school supplies, nothing. Wow. He sounds fun. And this is paycheck to paycheck. And on top of it, they're holding $40,000 a student loan debt, a $15,000, $1,000, $1,000,

car and if they ever wanted to buy a house with closing costs and the down payments another 50,000. So they'd $105,000. So even if they were somehow able to scrounge up after $70,000 of paycheck to paycheck, $5,000 to go to a concert, to have avocado toast, whatever it is, $5,000 a year, it would take them 20 years to pay off this debt and save up for a house. 20 years of living with the roommate where that rent's going up and they're making $70,000 a year as a college graduate. If the average person in this country makes $50,000, it is not the overspending. It is a cost of living crisis. First of all, is he okay?

Should we, someone check on Freddie? Well, my question is, I would want to know, okay, so what's the point of the video? There's no point. There's no solution. It's just anger. It's rage bait is what they call it. Okay, got it. I will say he has wonderful empathy for those that are out there struggling.

And a lot of these numbers make sense. but the idea that you have to pay $1,500 in rent as a single person, the idea that you have to have a $400 car payment, you have to have the student loan payment, and you're going to have it forever, and you're never going to get a raise. He's leaving a lot out. Yes, 100%. Well, I look at this, and I'm like, okay, well, where are things that we can change?

And that's why one of the biggest things is getting out of debt, because if you didn't have the $500 student loan payment, if you didn't have the $400, that's $900, and talking about the 401K, $500 a month, I would put towards debt. Yeah. Versus putting in a 401k. You're trying to do everything at once. Yeah, that's right.

So you want to do one thing at a time. And then you have to factor in that, yes, this picture is normal for a lot of people, but that's not what we would say is a firm financial foundation. That is why babysaps one through three. Getting an emergency fund in place and paying off debt is so important, which means you're going to have to cut expenses and you're going to have to work extra. And we find the people, George, they make $2,000 by doing extra jobs. Like when we do our, some webinars and stuff and talk to people, like people are making extra money.

So that's what you have to do to get above this. You can't make more money. It's just too hard in today's world. And the other piece here, if you just do some like napkin math, you get a roommate, okay, now you rent $750 instead of $1,500. You just save $750. You get rid of the car payment student loans using our plan. What he's saying you are, you do have a roommate with that rent. So it's $3,000?

That's what he's claiming. That's what he said at the beginning. I'm pretty sure. Okay, maybe in a high cost of living city. Right. $3,000 to get an apartment. But you get rid of the car payment, the student loan, you free up 900 bucks. You change your cell phone provider to like boost mobile instead of 150, it's 25 bucks. So the idea that all of this is immovable and you're screwed forever, that's the part I disagree

with. Yes, 100%. But there's a truth to it that it's not all overspending. But there's also a piece where if you're door dashing, you're already overspending. Yes. So it's hard for me to listen to you complain when you are having all these luxuries in your life like a door dash. Yeah, 100%. Versus meal prepping and getting groceries. Yep. So thank you for that, Freddie. Well, there you go. And I still think it's just a lot. He's just a lot for me, Rachel.

Is he? I just, if he's married, like, can you imagine when she comes to him with a problem? And he just... It sounds like me after I've learned a new conspiracy theory. I'm like, we're all going to die. We're all going to die. It's like a nihilist Eminem. Well, and always, always, always, always, whenever I want to show a problem in life,

because there's problems. Not everything is a walk in the park. Like, this is not a naive state. But whenever there's a problem, I want to be a person that provides solutions. So that's what I would encourage him, that like, you can like, I was going to say a bad word. I don't know if we're allowed to say it. Say it. Simone, are we allowed to say that?

That's solid. I don't know. About everything in life. We have a large section of our audience is homeschooled. Okay. So do a version that is safe for homeschoolers. You just want to complain and moan about how bad the world is and no solution. Like, that has to eat at your joy in life, you know?

100%. I think he and everyone, including myself, should do a gratitude list every morning. What are you grateful for, Freddie? I'd love to know. Let us know in the comments. Safe for homeschoolers. All right. That was fun.

We're off to a great start. Okay, okay, good. You're doing a great job. Okay, thank you. As good cop. All right, next. Just moved into my first solo apartment a few days ago, and I want to break down exactly how much it cost because I had a few questions, wondering what my rent is, how much to save up before you move out, things like that.

So I'm going to break it down for you and give you a grand total at the end. So the first thing that I paid for was the $50 application fee. I feel like that's pretty standard for most apartments. The next thing was the $150 reservation fee. At my apartment complex, they charge a reservation fee when you get accepted for the apartment. Basically just to hold the apartment for me. And then the next thing was the security deposit. I did pay the full month's rent security deposit at my apartment.

It ranges from $300 to a full month's rent. so I did pay $1,650. I don't have a lot of renters history, so they gave me the max amount that I could pay for the security deposit. And then I had to pay the prorated rent for the month of December, which was $1,65.52 because I moved in on the 13th. And then there's a $31 valet trash charge that I will be charged every month, and that was $31. I did go ahead and pay that for December. And the last thing was the U-Haul. I did get a U-Haul for four hours on the day of moveout, and it was $61.

So that brings us to a grand total of $3,083.83. Don't let this numbers carry you. That's just what I had to pay. And a lot of people don't have to pay the full security deposit. So in every apartment complex is different. There may not be a $150 reservation fee. But honestly, my best advice when moving out is to save up as much money as possible. Obviously, that's what everyone would say. But it's so true. You just never know what kind of charges you're going to get or different fees and stuff like that. But that's how much it cost me to move out. Love it. Love it. Yeah. Thank you for that video. Sounds reasonable. Is her name Tyler? And she had multiple rooms in that.

So back to, okay, back to our first Freddie conversation, remember? Yeah. He was saying $1,500 with a roommate. She has no roommate. No roommate, but she could have one. As far as we know. Yeah. But her rank could be half of what she just showed, right?

If you had a roommate split it. So back to her at that point. From 1650, it goes down to, you know, less than $800. Yep, that's right. Which is reasonable. Yep. So that goes to show. I don't know where she lives, but it's a nice apartment.

It looks like it's a newer. newer apartment, some fresh carpet there. And I appreciate how she did not gatekeep. There are things you have to think about when you're moving out of your parents' house into your first apartment. Yes. And if you're moving out of an apartment to an apartment, there could be cleaning feet. There could be other things of the move out as well, possibly.

And you get the security deposit back. Yes. So, yes, that cost is locked in while you live there, but it's not like you're never getting that back unless you really screw something up. Don't do that. Don't punch a hole in the wall. Be smart. Be smart.

Be an adult. Just be an adult. Go. Do you always get your security deposits back when you? Do it? I think we did. Yeah, we moved in. I remember in college to a brand new apartment. It had just been built. We were all nervous. That makes me feel good, though, because you know that toilet has never been sad. I know, right? Feels good. Feels right. It's the number one reason to get a brand new apartment. I just don't have trust issues. I don't care how much Clorox you're using on that thing. You just don't know. Well, what about a hotel?

Yeah, yeah, we're stressing him out. Now I'm stressed out. Now I'm really kicking in. How much scurvy can you get from a hotel? Get back to Hayton on the internet, George. It depends on the hotel. I'll say that. Nicer hotel, I think they do a better job cleaning. Sure. I don't know. A quality in? What quality levels the cleaning?

What quality is clean? The Ritz Carlton? Sign me up for that toilet seat. We're fun. I'm the grossest person to sit on the toilet at the Ritz Carlton. Why are we talking about? All right, we'll edit that out. We like to find the edges here.

We like to find the line. Wherever the boundary is. Yeah. That's part of the fun of this channel. Okay. All right, here we go. Your dad build a house at 30. You're renting at 30.

Same effort? new economy. Your mom raised three kids without a degree. You have a degree and three-side hustles just to survive. They bought groceries for a week with one day's pay. You work two jobs to fill half the cart. This isn't about who's working harder. It's about how much the game has changed. Stop comparing your progress to theirs. They played in the rookie mode. You're an expert with inflation, digital pressure, and a world that never sleeps. You didn't fall behind. The starting line moves. The rules shifted and you're still in the game. So stop the guilt, stop the shame.

You're not too late. You're building under pressure they never had to face. Keep going. You're not broken. You're just building in a different world. Wow, what a journey that was in 45 seconds. I feel like I am in a whole new world. I like her.

The way she presented was very, it was like performative, like theatrical. It was almost like she was the Shakira of the personal finance world. Gosh. Now, there's things I agree with her on. Yeah. The first part, though, was very, like, victim mentality, comparing your life to how your parents had it. Like, what good does that do? Well, yeah. And if anything, I feel like sometimes it makes you want to fast forward your life. Because I feel like when you're in your early 20s, I feel like, wait, why am I not far ahead? Right? You start to really feel that. I should be further ahead. Yeah. And I can't because of exas. Yeah. And some people make bad decisions because of that. And we don't want that either. So, yeah, maybe a little victim mentality. There's just, it is a different. world. And I don't know if we have it harder, but the opportunities we have, I think are so much greater than our parents. That's a good point. Like, even to make money, what we have today, what we can do, the fact that you can like work from home, the fact that you can, I mean, the internet opens up so much, right? The normalization of renting out a spare bedroom on Airbnb or like, you know, Turo for your car or like, I'm not saying you have to do all of these, but I'm like,

even that is a very creative way to make money. To start a business using technology, you can do that in a week. Yeah, yeah. So I think there's more opportunity we have today. But your dad built a house at 30. Did he build it with his bare hands? He built a house at 30. I mean, it sounds so like Abe Lincoln. Let's get the logs out and go to town here. I don't build a house at 30. You're renting at 30. Same effort, new economy. Your mom raised three kids without a degree. Mom's raising. Why are you talking about my mom? You don't know my mom. My gosh. Raised a kids without a degree. My mom got a degree and she raised two kids. And three side hustles. Just to survive.

Yeah, there's a lot of this kind of just to survive and you're never going to get ahead. And then at the end, she actually ended with some good encouragement. You're not broken. Keep going. You're not broken. You're building a different world. That's the part I actually like. Yeah.

And I agree. You're building in a different world. So why compare to what your parents built? And I am going to say, we had different expectations, George. We have different levels. Where we want to live, how we want to live. Yes. And our parents, I'm like, literally, like, growing up, I'm like, our birthday parties,

our kids' birthday parties, we're like in the garage. And my parents would, like, draw hopscotch with chalk. Like, that's what we did. Like, that was it. And now you've got to go to, like, the trampoline part. Well, yes. Now it's just... I mean, all of it.

It's just, like, it's so much. And not that that is necessarily bad, but you can't compare our parents' world to our world. Our world is, like, so much bougier of what we expect and what we want. It is. Yeah. Like, if you took a house that, like, what our parents bought in the early 80s, you wouldn't want to buy that house.

You would call it a fixer-upper at best. Yes. where I'm like that was like a one bathroom for the family. That's, back to the toilet. Back to the toilet. But like everyone shared it. That's what it was.

Like our show your shower always had a tub. Like there was no stand up just regular shower. Like do you know what we expect of normalcy today is just really high. Yes. Our parents did not. And it's not all our fault. Like HDTV ruined us. Social media's ruined us.

No, it's not their fault. It's our fault. Yes. I know I'm just saying like there's a there's a lot of reason. Ownership. Now I'm the victim? Yes. George is playing the victim now.

I wasn't at a birthday party where monkeys were involved. You don't tell me about how we used to just have parties in the garage? It wasn't ours. We didn't throw that birthday party. You attended a birthday party. I had two. Whatever. Okay. But.

Live monkeys. Stop, stop. No. Let me remind you. Like, our parents didn't see the beach until like my mom was like in middle school, right? Yeah. And nowadays it's like, oh, you always just get in the car and just drag to the beach. every summer. It's like, you know what I'm saying like the expectations. And like eating out was a big tree. It was a big occasion. It was a birthday a graduation and it was the olive garden for our birthday. Always the all of garden. We got the olive garden. That's all we got. We had a Bertucci's. We had some class in Massachusetts. Wow. It was a local olive garden. Oh, that was way better. Probably better. Free breadstick and salad though. I think so. All you can eat. Yeah. Okay. I want to say. Okay. Well, they have good competition. Google it. But I don't think I think the world the compares. I think it's like it's not. It's not. All you can eat. Yeah. I want to say. I want to say. I think it's not. I'm. I think it's. I. I. I. I. I. I.

apples to apples, in my opinion. All I was thinking of is I need to change up my presentation to be more like coral. I think if I had more piano music and I used more hands and it was a little more rhythmic and I could talk about, you're building an, you know, it was like she spoke in tweets. Get your Boston accent out more too. Wicked sick dude, what are you doing? You're building a different world kid. Different world kid, suck it up.

That was a pretty good accent. Thanks. All right, let's see what's up next. You feeling good? Yeah, this is fun. Just checking in. I'm doing good. Wellness check on Rachel.

Good. the cheapest thing ever. When people vacation here, they spend a lot of money because they're doing experiences and going to restaurants that, you know, they obviously want to enjoy since it's their vacation time. But if you're living here day to day and renting long term, my rent is $350 euros a month, which is $400 a month pretty much. I probably spend like $50 on groceries a week, max. If you go out to dinner to like a pizzeria, you might spend $10 a person. Health insurance is free, which is another huge bonus. I don't drive a car here, so I take the train everywhere, so I don't have car payments or gas to pay for. I buy a monthly.

train pass for 60 euros and I have unlimited trains the whole month. Those are just a few examples, but let me know if you'd like to hear more. Should we be in Italy right now? I was sold on unlimited trains. What are we doing? Every five-year-old boy is like, give me unlimited trains, mom. That is a good point is that when you're on vacation as a tourist, it costs you a lot more than living like a local. Yes. And I've heard people do this. Like they are leaving to go to Europe to live. Because they're like, are they called expats? Is that what it is? Like when you permanently leave the U.S.? You're an expat. An expat.

Like ex-patriot? I think so. Oh, no. I think it's for a patriot. Boston Patriot, New England Patriot right here. A big Patriot over here. An American Patriot. I'm going to be honest.

All of it. You know what? I'm going to be honest. I think that would be so fun. Yeah, especially if you're like a young single gal and you're like, I'm going to go live in Italy. It's Emily and Paris come to life. There was a girl and I was on her podcast like years ago. And then I was on it again.

She's so great. And I was like, how are you doing? She's like, good. It's actually crazy. Our family. and our best friends and their kids, we moved to Spain. And they're living in Spain for two years, and they got houses next to each other. The kids are doing, like, an international school, and they are, like, walking.

They're, like, in a little village. Wow. They're, like, doing it. I'm like, that is the coolest thing ever. And your kids are going to be the coolest kids, because they're cultured. Sure. They're well-mannered. I don't know.

So, you know what? Chow. Chow. Chau, Caroline. I just like that she didn't have a single accent the entire time, but then she said, pizzeria. Pizzeria. Pizzeria. Pizzeria.

Pizzeria. You know what she reminds me of? What? Giana de Laurentis or whatever. What's her name? Is that our name? Oh, pop culture. You know the cooking, the cooking girl.

Oh, Ina? There it is, Giada de Laurentis. You know her. Oh, Gianna, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. She'd be like, so next you wanna grab your mazzarella. I'm like, all right, relax, Giaada. Oh my gosh. Mozzarella.

Mozzarella. Mozarella. All right, Rachel, before we move on, I think I need a little break. Brought to you by Fair Wins. They're like the good cop of the bankers. Where did you get those sunglasses? I don't know, but I think you're jealous of these aviators.

No, but Fair Wins is amazing. I actually lift out my debt as normal, be weird. Fair Wins debit card the other day. And the lady was like, oh, look at that. She just kept moving. And I thought, if you asked. Planted a seed. If you follow, yeah, if you have a follow-up question,

I'm here to answer it. She didn't, but it's fine. But yeah, we do the smart checking and bundle savings. Yes. So we get our checking account. No fees on that. That's great. Which comes with the debit card.

High yield savings account. Yep. Which is awesome because you can move money back and forth. And their online baking experience is so easy. So we actually put like our other checking account that we had had in it. Oh, nice. So we can move money so much faster into Fair Wins, which I love. Yes.

Because Fair Wins, they are up to date. My other bank didn't. The chip on the card didn't work. I've never had a chip that works. So when I got Fair Wins, the chip worked. I thought, I am welcome to do. That's the bar, Rachel said. Does the chip work? I know, but it made me so happy. Well, that and so much more. And they have tons of credit union partners, thousands across the nation.

So go check them out. Go to fairwins.org slash Ramsey. Open the smart bundle today. And you will at least be as cool as Rachel and I. Minimum. The bar is low. I think you're cool. And we're back. Please tell me why I just went through McDonald's to get a Diet Coke. That looks so good. And I was on the phone to my husband while I was ordering. And he's like, wait, you're a McDonald's. Get a Filet a fish sandwich. He's like, get me too. It's Friday and Lent at McDonald's. We're like, great, I'll just eat that for lunch and then we'll make something else for dinner.

So, whatever, I order three filet of fishes in a separate order because she wouldn't let me add it on to my Diet Coke order. Anyways, that's a whole other story. It pissed me off. I love her energy. Go around order three filet of fishes, not the meal, just a sandwich. She clarified. She said, the sandwich or the meal. And I said just a sandwich.

And she said three of them. I said, yes. Tell me why it was $17. for three filet of fishes on Friday during Lent at McDonald. During Lent? I'm not crazy. I sat there and blinked my eyes and then I just pulled away because it was so angry, which probably was rude, but like $17 for three filet of fishes at McDonald's.

Are you kidding me? That's amazing. But it is like five bucks a pop, right? I know. I was in my head. And it's fish. Five bucks a pop plus tax gets you to 17 pretty quick. I know.

I went to the, uh, through the Taco Bell Drive through the other week. and it did get more expensive. I mean, I used to be able to get out of there for like six bucks. And now it's... I think it's like, yeah, 10, 13.

I mean, it was more. I thought, man. Wow. But that's $5 for... But what, normally she's thinking, what, three bucks? In her head, she must have thought, well, that's probably $3. Filet fish is a premium sandwich. Let me make it clear.

At McDonald's. All right. But, I mean, that's Trump's order. It's probably three filet fish, so... At McDonald's is always something to have... I like the fish. I like it. He's dropping at least $17.

The more concerning part is what that's doing to his, you know, small intestine. I'm just looking at the calorie count on a filet of fish. All right, $3.90. I just don't want fish. I don't feel, I don't trust fish. Fish at a... Oh! Oh my gosh, a stink bug.

Oh, no. Oh, my gosh. You can't kill a stink bug, right? I know. That's why I did this. It's like illegal? I think it's like a... I think it's like a bald eagle.

Like it's illegal to kill it. No, it's because it stinks up a room. But honestly, that was huge. Pretty genius move on the stink bugs part to be like, hey guys, don't kill me. I'm really going to stink things up. Keep me alive. Oh, he's climbing on my leg. Oh, it makes me shipper.

I'm going to forever associate filet of fish with stink bugs now. He's like, blah. Honestly, though, this is good marriage advice. I think all marriage, you need to find your other filial fish person. I think you can't have one person. Yeah, if one person hates it together. Yeah, if one person hates. Filet of Fish. And also, does she think there's a discount because it's Friday and Lent?

I know. She loves Lent. She's like, it's Friday. It's Lent. You're going to charge me $17. Oh my goodness. Oybe. I hate to admit it, but she's right. All right. What a journey we've been on. We have been on. I told you, never a dull day around here. I mean, it's like we have gone through it all, George. All right, here we go. Let's go. Ney got the Seorted Camry 2020 with the red interior. Miss Ney, how much did you put down? Zero down. How much was your monthly pay? 599.

For how long? 426. No. Take a look. I don't buy any of that, first of all. Oh. I've seen these videos. Have you seen these on Instagram?

People send them to you? No, I don't think so. Okay. Well, I can tell you that it's got to be satire. They do this, there's a legitimate... Because it's so ridiculous. Yeah, I mean, we can just do the math. Let me drag this over.

47, divided by 12. Oh, I was going to go $5.99 a month for four hundred 27 months. Oh. that too. I just want to know. She did not pay $255,000 for that car. I can tell you that much. So that's how you know it's fake. Oh, you think they're trying to pull one over. They do it to get clicks and views and they're all like the same kind of characters. Now, I don't know who's agreeing to these videos. Yeah. Surely people did not sign in. But it also, it seems like they're preying on people who truly can't afford these cards. We do here sometimes. Like 23% of, yes. Remember that one? We got that. Call. Goodness gracious. Unbelievable. The internet is already so confusing and there's so many,

so much noise and lies out there. Why are you adding to it? With these like weird parody videos that aren't funny, they're just upsetting. All right. As normal, producer Alex is going to surprise this with one final video for it. All right, and I'm being told by producer Alex, this is your average Facebook Marketplace interaction. Okay, funny. Hey, Facebook Marketplace. I've got an air friar. It's brand new. It's in the box. Retails for 150. I'm asking for 80. Address. What? Address.

Are you interested? Silence. Do you want it? What is address? Well, I don't want to give you my home address, but I can meet you in the Walmart parking lot. $30. I come now. The lowest I'll go is 60.

It's brand new. It works. Is that a question? Yes, it works. It's brand new. The box has never been opened. How many times used? Never.

It's brand new. Silence. Just ghosted. Oh, it's so bad. Oh, man. That is too accurate. It's just. Thank you, Mark, for that great content.

The comment, the top comment here is really sending me. Marketplace is great because it lets you meet people that have never interacted with another human being before. It's so true. It's like their first day on Earth. Yes. And they come to Facebook Marketplace. Oh, my goodness. Oh, it's so true, though, man.

I use Facebook Marketplace. You know what? I make my wife do it now. Sparingly. Oh, because you can't handle the people. I can't handle the people. Yeah. And then one time I ran into someone who, like, knew me.

They were like, oh, yeah, we've met before. Oh, no. I'm like, I don't want any part of it. Like, I want you to remain a stranger when we're done here. Yeah, we're not looking to make friends. I'm not looking to make friends. So we need just a switch-switcheroo. I don't want to know you.

I'm sorry. I have other avenues for making friends. Facebook Market. Ain't it? But this is very accurate. George is really fun. I'm the most fun. Did you ever have like a personal Facebook?

You know, I did back in college and then I got rid of it. So no, I've never had it. So I'll be honest, I've never been on Facebook Marketplace. You are not missing out. I know. I don't feel like. Does Winston have a... Yeah, and we did Craigslist.

Oh, that's even dice here. It's just scary. Okay, here's my life hack. I like to go look at their profile. Yeah. To make sure I'm dealing with... Like a person. A real human being who does.

doesn't have a, like, they're not holding a gun in their profile picture. That's the bar. Unless they have, like, I don't know, camo and a deer in front of them and a gun. That's different. That's different. Yeah, not of people. Like, you're not going to hurt me because I will show up unarmed. I don't know if that's wise or not, but that's just how I live my life.

Wide open, baby. But they always say to meet in a public space, right? Yes. I don't want to give you my home address. I will meet you somewhere nearby. I do not follow me home. Oh my gosh, that's good, Joel. Too good.

That was a lot of fun. Thanks, Mark. Yeah. And thank you. Okay, so I would say, George, like, most of these videos were high cost of living. And I think we do acknowledge, like, what inflation has done. Housing, especially, college tuition. Like, there are very glaring parts of the world that you're like, oh, yes, that does feel and look different. But also, we always want a solution.

Like, there's always a way out. Whenever we talk to people and they're like, this is it. Or it's just, I have this. or this and that's the only options. There's always going to be option A, B, C, D, E, F. And it may not be every single thing that I would want or you would want, but also that's part of being a grown-up.

It's like, okay, I don't get everything I want in this moment. There are sacrifices, there's jobs I have to work that I don't like to earn some extra money to get myself and my family out of debt. But what gives me hope is even the Ramsey Show, like the call-ins that we get of people that are doing it, that have paid off debt, that have the emergency fund, they've gotten an increase in income.

It's great. Do you know what I'm saying? It wasn't always easy for them, but you're like watching their story play out in front of you and you're like, yes, you're doing it. So I just always know there is hope in these situations. So people that are hopeless and just complain and offer no solutions or no help, what are you doing? Yeah. I think changing your inputs is very helpful. Because if all you hear is it's too hard, it's too hard, why would you even try to overcome it? And so no matter the hand that you were dealt, no matter what your income is and your debt is, there is a way out. Is it going to be harder for you if you had a really bad hand dealt and you have a bad hand dealt and you have a

bunch of debt and you don't make a lot of money, that's going to be harder. But to just go, well, that's never going to be me owning a home or being out of debt. Well, you're likely never going to do those things. So start betting on yourself, stop playing the victim, face the reality of the numbers, and then figure out the life you want to live and how you're going to get there. That's really the only solution. Yep, 100%. It's going to be hard.

We see that it can be done. And last teaching, beware on Facebook Marketplace. Yeah, that's right. You know what I love to see? A mutual friend. There's nothing more. I loved a mutual friend on one of those profiles that I check out. I go, oh, God, they're a real person.

Oh, look at them. I know someone who knows that person. Yes, yes. I trust you. I trust you with my whole life for some reason. That was a lot of fun. Thank you, Rachel, for joining us today. Thanks, George Brown.

Grudgingly and reluctantly, I might add. We did it, though. But it was a lot of fun. And if you enjoyed this episode, you're going to love Smart Money Happy Hour, a show that we record just down the hole right there that is so much better than this show. It trumps the show. It's way more laughter and joy and less sadness. So we'll drop a link to that in the description below.

And check out Rachel's YouTube channel as well. She crushes it. Thanks. And if you enjoyed this video, I recently did this exact same thing with tax attorney and YouTuber Jasmine Delucci. We reacted to the internet's worst tax advice, and you can watch it by clicking here or using the link in the description. That's it for today. Be sure to subscribe to the channel. Hit the like button.

Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.