Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel - Are You Financially Insecure?

Episode Date: September 21, 2023

Cocktails, quizzes, condiments and more! Find out how well you’re doing financially (and what to do about it) by taking George and Rachel’s Buzzfeed-inspired quiz. And don’t worry, this isn’t one of those money quizzes that will put you in a dark place—we promise. In this episode: - George and Rachel sip this week’s cocktail with bravery and, once again, discuss George’s first CD. - Which condiment are you? (And other bizarre Buzzfeed quiz topics) - George and Rachel lead you through the Ramsey money quiz and tell you what to do next based on your score. Helpful Resources:    ·    Follow along with Rachel and George as they take Buzzfeed's Starbucks quiz: https://www.buzzfeed.com/angelicaamartinez/starbucks-budget-quiz-20 ·      Start making memories. Go NOW and get Tapple at Walmart or wherever you buy board games! ·      Booking a flight with Going is the best and simplest way to pay less to travel more. Sign up for free today at Going.com/smartmoney. ·      Get your finances organized, make a plan, build your confidence, and kick money stress out of your life for good with the EveryDollar budgeting app. Go to www.everydollar.com/smartmoney to get a free two-week trial and $15 off your premium membership to EveryDollar. ·      Do you have 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. ·      Learn more about your ad choices: https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices ·      Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy: https://www.ramseysolutions.com/compa...   This Week’s Happy Hour Special: Crown Stag Cocktail Ingredients: 5/6 ounces Chambord raspberry liqueur 1 1/4 ounces Jägermeister 1 1/4 ounces vodka Instructions: Combine all ingredients in ice-filled glass, garnish with lemon, and enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey guys, I'm Rachel Cruz. I'm George Camel. And this is Smart Money Happy Hour. Cheers, George. Cheers. Oh, wow. That's something. That's something to write home about.

I mean, yeah. Okay, well, this is the podcast for two friends who happen to be money experts talk about what you're talking about. I have the worst taste in my mouth. Everything from pop culture, current events, and money. And today, Rachel, we are bringing the best. of the BuzzFeed Quiz's Money Edition. Yes, we are.

We love a good BuzzFeed quiz in general. And not only that, we have won up BuzzFeed with our very own financial quiz for all of you beautiful listeners to take at home. I know, y'all. This is going to be a great episode. We're very excited. So what are we sipping on? What is this, George? Well, this is called a crown stag.

Mm-hmm. That's about the nicest thing I can say about it. Here's the good news. It has three ingredients. So if you wanted to make it at home, it's easy. I don't know that you want to. But you need to stick around until the end of the episode because I can't wait to hear Rachel's rating. We're going to break down the cost and the recipe will be in the show notes for you.

My sister-in-law, when she was growing up, she used to tell her parents that corn made her head shake. Her shake wasn't because she hated it. She'd be like, it makes my head shake. To avoid eating vegetables? Yeah, uh-huh, corn specifically. And you feel the same way. I literally am like channeling this like, it's making my head shake. But anyways.

This feels like what they gave to children to cure scurts. You know what I mean? It was like, just get it down. The gullet. You'll be fine. So it feels medicinal. And you'll find out why at the end. You'll find out more at the end.

But no one has drank this since scurvy existed. I will say that. It feels like this is what you drink on a pirate ship. Can't wait for more. Wait, let's get to the quiz, Rachel. That's what the people are here for. Why do we love quizzes? What is America's obsession with the quiz?

Man, I'll tell you, if you were a girl in, like, like 1999, 2001, I mean, like teen magazines would have quizzes all day long. And I took every single one where it's like, learn about your dream man. And you're like, okay, I'll take this quiz. Or like. Was it Winston? Was it? Your dream man, name is Winston.

Just a picture of him when I'm 12. No, but I even remember as a kid, I always loved a good quiz. I don't know. Is that how you felt? Not like at school. I didn't read like Tiger Beat. But what I did was take quizzes in school and I think our brains have been trained to want to be like, good boy, I will get the quiz. I will get a good grade on the quiz. Okay. I don't know if it's much that to me. It's more I think we're obsessed about learning about ourselves. And it's like if you can diagnose me in a sense, like even like an eneogram or like any of those like personality tests like that came on that. We love that. We love to know about ourselves. We're obsessed with ourselves. Welcome to America. Welcome. Welcome. That is the key. So there's a lot going on there. The magazines.

the training of the education system plus the narcissism of humanity. There we go. We got deep real quick there, Rachel. You know, it's what we do after you take a sip of that. Yeah, it brings out the truth. So for those of you that don't know, BuzzFeed is famous for a lot of things, and one of those things is a robust library of curated and user-generated quizzes that tell you a lot of useless information about yourself.

Like what kind of condiment you are based on your dream house? I mean, that's so funny. What do you think you would be? A ranch? A ranch? I do love a ranch. Not Trader Joe's ranch, though. I will say I'm a hidden valley.

Very specific dig at Trader Jones. Maybe that means I'm bougie, which means my house is... I'll have a flat in London. That's like what a ranch feels like. How about you? What kind of condiment would you be? I'd probably be an A1. Like rarely...

Rarely useful. But when I come in, I'm like, I'm adding some spice and possess. Yeah, you know when something's great and people are like a nice steak, like, I need A1. like, no, don't do it. So we're like, George. I save food that is about to go bad. That's what A1 does.

And then you ruin really good quality food is what happens. I ruin a lot of things. No, I do love an A1. Yeah, because ketchup's a little too, like, simple. Sure. Mustard has a little kick to. Oh, no, a honey mustard would be nice. I'm a barbecue sauce guy.

I'll be honest, in case anyone's wondering. Like, I don't know why you would choose ketchup when barbecue sauce exists. Do you go spicy, mile? Yes, I want a kick, a little sweet, a little spicy. I love it, George. ideal sauce for me. That feels right. Thanks, BuzzFeed. So there you go. Well, there are several of these quizzes based around money, which is what this podcast is about, Rachel. Let me remind you. So the people are here for. And here's one. This is an actual title. It shouldn't be that hard to

spend under $20 at Starbucks, but I don't think you can. We're going to take that quiz live, Rachel. Are we? And if you want to take it at home listener, you can find the link to this in the show notes. But I thought it would be fun to put ourselves. This is not sponsored by BuzzFeed in any way. shape or form. But I thought it'll be fun because I think I'm going to beat you in this quiz. I think I can spend... What's the point of the quiz? Do you want me to try to spend 20 or are you try to, am I just trying to be me? The goal is to try to spend under $20 while choosing the items on this quiz. That I genuinely want. Sure. You've been given a $20 gift card. Here's the challenge. Buy five items without exceeding the $20 on the gift card. And are these items that I personally

want? Or am I trying to go under 20? The goal is to hit under 20. Okay. Okay. So, Question number one, first pick a cold drink. Out of the six options here, what are you going to choose? Cameron Machia. Again, I'm trying to, this isn't what Rachel would drink. No, I don't think you would drink any of this. No, I would not. I'm trying to stay under.

Also, this quiz is definitely sponsored by Starbucks. I can already go. I'm going to go Camero Macchiato because everything else looks really fancy. Okay, next, pick a drink without coffee. Oh, oh, oh, oh, hot chocolate for sure. I'm going ice black tea lemonade. Next, pick a Frappuccino. Those are always $19.

Let's go. Cheapest would be espresso, right? I'm going espresso as well. It doesn't have the whipped cream on it, which makes me things cheaper. What kind of milk do you want in these? Oh, gosh. You got to, none because that keeps cheap. I'm going to go none too.

Cheap, cheap, cheap, cheap. No milk. Go on, grab some food. Oh my gosh. The bacon, good egg sandwich is my favorite at Starbucks. Wow. It's delicious. If you're ever going to order for Rachel at Starbucks, now you know.

I'm going to go sauce. cheddar and egg because I used to get that when I could eat gluten. I'm going to go baking Gouda because I think it's one of the cheapest on here. You think Gouda is ever the cheapest? Ah, shanty. Finally, pick a bakery. Slim around A1. Cheap, cheap, cheap.

Trying to go cheap. Chocolate chip cookie, cheap. I'm going to go birthday cake pop and you went chocolate chip cookie. Okay. I did it. Success, me too. You only spent 20 and stayed within the 20. I spent 19.

Oh, crap. So we both won. I just won more. Now, I'm not convinced you could actually go to Starbucks today and do that. I think that was a bold-faced lie. They definitely weren't factoring in tax. Yeah, no, no, no, no. All of that together would not, no, you couldn't do all of that for $20.

And who could even order all for one person? That's what they're ordering. That's a lot of stuff. Golly. Okay, I think we are expert budgeters, and I'm not itching to take another one. But here's the weird, weird stat. I don't know who came up with us, probably BuzzFeed. 96% of BuzzFeed users finish a quiz after starting one.

So they just keep going. They binge them. Okay. Here's some fun ones. Are you ready for this? I'm going to quiz you on which is not a BuzzFeed quiz title. Okay. So which of these not like the others?

Because you would be better at this than I would. Ready? Hit me. Walk us through your spending habits and we will reveal which Marvel character you are. That's a real one. Let's find your hidden money personality based on your favorite win liners from Barbie. Keep going. Build a weird sandwich, and I'll tell you if you're going to become a billionaire.

We're back on track. That sounds like BuzzFeed. So I'm going to go, B, is the least likely. Do you know Lens? Yeah. B, you were right. Wow! How did you know that?

It wasn't weird enough. And your hidden money personality? I don't know. Yeah. Build a weird sandwich, and I'll tell you if it'll become a billionaire. That sounds like the stupid crap BuzzFeed would come up with. Okay, so actually BuzzFeed announced in January that they're going to use AI to start generating quizzes is and make them more personalized.

Watch out of buzzfeed writers. You're going to be out of a job soon. What do you think? You think that it'll, like, be more accurate? Well, it says the AI quizzes will produce infinite results uniquely personalized to you. I don't think people care who came up with the quiz. As long as it's weird and piques my interest, I'm not like, is this human generated or robot generated? This is it?

Well, before AI, you know, takes over everything, George, we actually created our own quiz. Not with AI. Human-made quiz. Here at Ramsey Solutions. Just to get a pulse for people like, hey, am I financially secure or insecure? Especially with money. People want to know where they stand, how they measure up against their peers. And, you know, so I think this is, this is not one of those that's going to leave you in a dark place.

This is just kind of a checkpoint. Where am I at? Because with people's, with money, I feel like people really do want to know, like, okay, what is like the average salary in America? What is the average home, you know, worth? Like, yeah, you want to kind of know how you're stacking up against people. And if you have debt, it's like, okay, what is the average person? Am I doing better than the average person? Yeah, it's just like, am I, you know, because I think we can all look on social media or look around on our friends' family.

And it can kind of maybe all seem like everyone's doing in a similar way, right? Well, and if you compare yourself to broke people, you're already not doing great. Yeah, but you don't always know if they're broke or not. So that's why you're like, oh my gosh, what's really going on? What's actually broke? And how am I? Yeah. That's true.

Well, let me say that before we take this quiz, I want everyone to know that 10 years ago, I would have failed this quiz miserably. Oh, yeah. And so regardless of where you stand on this quiz today, just know that you can improve your score over time. That is the whole goal of this podcast to help people get better with money and actually talk about it. So if I took it today, I'm going to ace it. But 10 years ago, not so much. So if that's you, I just don't want to have anyone leave feeling shamed. 100%.

Because they didn't get a great score. And again, just like you said, you have the decision making skills within you to make different decisions with your money. So we are all about the power people. Get your pencils out. Just kidding. You can keep track of this mentor. I haven't done this one yet. Oh, I'm excited to see.

Okay. These are all yes or no questions. And there's 10 questions. So all you have to do is count up how many knows you have. Okay. You ready? Yep. Question number one.

Yes or no. Did your parents talk about money growing up? Yes or no? Number two, did you ever take a personal finance course in school? Yes or no? Do you do a monthly budget? I hope so. Number four, can you pay for a thousand dollar unexpected expense in cash?

Number five, do you pay off your credit card balance in full each month? Number six, did you pay cash for your car? Some people just got their score knocked down. It's okay. It's okay. and just keep on moving. Hang with us. Keep on moving.

Yes or no. Number seven, are you investing at least 15% of your income into retirement? Number eight is your mortgage or rent 25% or less of your take home pay? And number nine, do you have three months of expenses saved just in case you lose your income? And finally, the last yes or no. Number 10, if you have student loans, will they be paid off in the next two years? Wow. Okay, so the results are if you said no, one to three times.

you're so secure. If you said no, four to six times, you're not annoyingly insecure, but you're not super financially confident either. Oh. And if you said no, seven to ten times, you're financially insecure.

So. Wow. Let's talk down, like, you know, some of the reasons of these because these are very, you know, Ramsey-esque. There's a method to the madness. Questions, yes.

Unlike BuzzFeed, there's no method, and it's all madness. It's just all madness, yes. Yeah. We actually have a proven plan And so knowing these yes or no for you out there watching or listening, it's important because you're able to like really pinpoint, okay, where am I financially?

Because this is a good barometer of truly how you're doing. Agreed. So let's go through them. You start. Okay. So number one, did your parents talk about money growing up? Okay. So this is one though.

I think you can like get over though. Like I know a lot of people who get over it. No, no, like get over the hurdle. Oh, okay. Get over the hurdle. Because, yes, there's a. disadvantage there because you're having to figure it out all on your own, right, unless another adult in your life talked to you about it. So totally recognize that. But also I think that everyone grew up with things that they were taught or not taught. But as an adult, you kind of start to see, okay, I need to, I'm going to change this or do this better. So you really get to make your own, right, regardless of how you grew up. But if you did grow up with parents talking about money, at least the right way, that gives you an advantage. Because some parents talk about it, you know, Well, when they did talk about it, it wasn't really talking.

It was yelling and there was money fights in the household. Stress, yes. And so that can cause some trauma later in life as you start to handle money because you think, well, money equal stress. Yep, yeah, exactly. So that's a big one. And I'm going to say for me, it was kind of a middle ground. I'm going to say no. It wasn't talked about in the sense of here's how to handle it.

Yeah. It was just more. We're talking about, like, you know, getting a deal. I'm couponing with my dad on a Sunday with the paper. You know, we're having a good time. Totally. We're out shopping. So I was around it a lot, but I don't remember specific discussions being like, son, this is what a budget is.

Yeah, totally, totally. So it was more, it was the more is caught than taught. I would see how they handled money, but we didn't talk about it. That's right. How about you? Yes, we did. I imagine. Now, you joke that, like, you didn't have mutual fun birthday parties.

Yeah, yeah. It wasn't. People think like, wow, Dave Ramsey's daughter. Oh, yeah. We weren't like obsessed about it because that's what some people think, yeah. All we talked about was money. Dave has a life, guys. He has hobbies.

Yes. It's not what we all. talk about. But yeah, I mean, they were, they, I mean, they taught us. They showed us bills how to write checks, how to do a budget. This was back when you had Quicken, the CD that would go into your and you used a CD ROM. Yeah, and then you got your bank statements mailed and I had to learn how to check off and you check it off on Quicken. It was terrible. So before you got to sign on AIM, they were like, you got it, Rachel. You got to get on Quicken first. Wow. Such a throwback. Learned about a mutual fun. Yeah, all of it. So it's very helpful. I mean, like,

You have to master roller coaster tycoon. And then you got to do it all. Sims, you know, the whole thing. Next one. Did you ever take a personal finance course in school? This is a no for me, too. So I'm already O for two. I don't think I did E-Con and had a great teacher my senior year.

I don't think I did like a high school curriculum. That's fair. At my high, I don't think we did. Yeah, we for sure didn't over at Dedham High. They were, that's the town I grew up in. It's not a joke, Rachel. How you spell it? D-E-D-H-A-M.

It's a real boss. You know, Dedum. Dude, you're from Dedum high. That I'm high. Frigan go socks. Anyways, here's the good news, Rachel. Our personal finance curriculum, foundations and personal finance, is now in 48% of high schools. I know.

That is so encouraging to me. It was, what, 7 million students graduated from it, have graduated? That sounds about right. Yeah, I mean, it's amazing. So we want to empower the next generation. It's way more normal. We're doing our part. Yes.

It is so normal now to have a personal finance course. And a lot of states are mandating it, which I love. Yeah, they're mandating financial literacy, which is, Great. So we're all for it. I think all state should require it. You know? And if you're looking for a good curriculum, look no further than the Ramsey Foundation's and personal finance curriculum, not because we're both in it.

We are. Bias aside, it's just a good curriculum. It is so great. Okay, next. Do you do a monthly budget? Yes. Now I do. I know.

Didn't always do it yet. College. And even when Winston and I got married, we didn't do it for a few months when we were married. And then I do remember, like six months in, he was the one that was like, we need to do a budget. And I was like, oh, man. man so then we did it that was 13 and a half years ago now it's easy like we've done it for so long we know what to expect pretty much like well money has gone from stressful to a tool that you can use to live your best life yeah so that's the goal of budgeting it's not that you have to be

in that spot to begin with the goal is to move from hey I'm in debt I'm going to get control my money I'm going to pay these debts off yep and I'm going to start to plan for what's ahead when did you like truly start budgeting how old were you I I was 24. It's when I started at Ramsey in 2013. I went through Financial Peace University. We didn't have a fancy app at that point. We didn't launch every dollar yet.

So it was still, you know, pen and paper and Excel and some like online tools. And now it's sitting there on my phone. Oh, every dollar is the best. If you have never budgeted, give every dollar a shot, not because we're biased, but we are. But because it's so much easier. Now that it's just an app and my bank connects, I just drag the transaction up to the category. and I move on with my day. You know what I love?

I went to Costco on Sunday, and I just like click groceries, how much we have left. Wow. And you kind of just figure out, okay, what can we? You know, I mean, like, it just does all the math for you. It's all right there. It's great. I love it. Love every dollar.

Also, you went to Costco on a Sunday. That is a bold move. You know what? I was just telling someone, I couldn't believe I braved it with two kids. Yes. I was there on Saturday. No way. And if you show up before they open, it's hilarious.

Because it looks like a bunch of people running a really sad marathon. They're all waiting outside with their cart. It's like supermarket sweep. Yes. You're like ready to go. So there you go. Hit those aisles. Costco fans unite.

Okay. Number four, can you pay for a thousand dollar unexpected expense in cash? I can now proudly say yes. Yes. It wasn't always the case. Yeah. So that's a big one because I think the status, four out of ten Americans. Can't cover a $400 emergency.

Yeah. That one. Yeah. No savings. And so what happens is you then turn to credit cards. Yes. Or you borrow from family or you borrow against your 401K or you do something stupid because you're desperate.

And so having that baby emergency fund is so key. Because yes, it's not enough to cover everything. But most of those ankle biters that get you off track, it'll cover. It's there, yeah. Because especially if you go into debt for the emergency, not only do you have the issue with the emergency, but then you have a money issue after that, right? It keeps

going, yep. So that's big. That is baby step one of the seven Ramsey baby step. So that's a big one. All right, next. Do you pay your credit card balance off in full each month? This one's going to ruffle some feather I was shocked this one made the quiz. Yeah, I know, because we're not fans of credit cards around here, if you haven't heard.

So usually it's like negative. But some people have credit cards and they are like, oh, no, they claim, oh, I pay it off every month. But the stat is like less than half of Americans actually do. Yeah. Which means 52% don't. Yeah. And those are the ones that are like, maybe they were telling the truth. We don't know.

I have sneaking suspicions considering we just hit over a trillion dollars in consumer credit card debt that some people are not telling us. the truth. No. Little liars out there. So, and even if you are paying it off in full each month, I think it's still a bad financial habit and you're spending more and you're stepping over a dollar to pick up your 2% cash back. Yep.

And it's just not worth it. And I've had, I cut mine up because I had credit cards. So I'm not this guy who had never had credit cards and I'm above it all. I had the MX Delta Sky Miles card because I was like, bro, how would you pass up to Sky Miles? Totally. And I had the Discover cash back card with rotating cash back. back in it rotate so it's like one month it's like restaurants are 5% cash back and I'm like I'm gonna be smart and go to restaurants this month and go out to eat and spend hundreds of dollars

because that's smart when you're 40,000 dollars in debt and I thought I was winning I thought I'm playing the game Rachel I'm beating the system and there's a psychological thing as we're talking about every dollar there's something about going out to eat and you pay for it it comes out of your account and you're done you're done versus getting a bill at the end of the month that you're still having to pay you don't know what I mean like living just in the present with your money and you're just spending as you're going you're still aware of it. You're so aware of it and there's not that bill at the end. So there is a mental game to it for sure. I encourage you all. If you have a credit card and you refuse to cut it up,

do the 90-day no credit card challenge. Just put it in a block of ice, lock it in a safe for 90 days and see if you spend your money differently. It's good. Love it. All right. Next on the list, ooh, number six, did you pay cash for your car? Can I tell you another crazy stat that I found out? I can't wait, yes. Car loans have now surpass student loans. $1.58 trillion in auto loans. Yes, ma'am.

I just checked the latest stats because I've no life. Because we would all go like, oh, car loans, like not good debt. People look at student loans like, well, it's an ROI. I know. It's an investment in my future.

Most people, which I find fascinating that are in this financial space with us that we've had on our shows or we've talked to, you know, we'll disagree on some stuff of like, do you keep your accounts separate when you're married? Or, yeah, student loans,

even some of the credit card game. Almost everyone, though, was like, don't do a car loan. Like, I feel like it's the one piece of debt that, like, everyone kind of across the board pretty much agrees in our space. Yeah. Well, there's a reason. You are getting a loan on a depreciating asset, meaning that car is going down in value. And you're paying more because of interest for it.

So it's like... So you buy a $40,000 car. You end up paying $50 because of interest. The car is now worth $16,000. Yeah. Tell me how that works out mathematically. So here's the thing. They say, Rachel, the car market's so insane.

You can't pay cash for a car. I have done a lot of dumb things. I've never had a car payment. I bought a Honda Civic for $6,000. And then I got an old Tesla. It's now 10 years old. He's about to be a teenager soon. And he's doing great.

You accidentally tried to get in my car one day thinking it was here. And I was like, greatest compliment of all time. So there's that fact. They look the exact same. So there you go. But yeah, I paid cash for that and it was very reasonable. Yes. And it's been such a blessing to not have a car payment and get to use that money for other things.

And you make different choices. Like when we were even looking for our, after we had three kids, we had to sell my car because all the three car seats went and fit. And we were like, okay, do we get like an SUV, a minivan? And even looking at that, I'm like, the minivan was a third of the cost of like these like luxury SUVs. And you're like, where am I going to, where do we want to spend our money? Like, it makes you just like, when it's your money, you're like, where do we really want this? And like I would be sick to my stomach if we bought like a crazy nice SUV with three little kids and like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I don't know.

Draw Sharpie on the same. seat. Not that they would ever do that. They did that. That's a real thing. But on the minivan, so it's fine. There's a level where you're like, I can have peace with my stuff because I own it. When you treat it differently. When it's yours and you had to save up and pay cash for that thing, like you are taking care of it. Yeah, tell my kids that because they're not, they're not living that life. I don't know that I could talk any sense into Charles. The man's on a queen-sized bedroom. Living a better life than me. I put him on Instagram on my stories and I had like two or three people that were like,

think about is that queen bed when I see it. Truthfully, it's all I think about, too. My life changed after learning that fast. So here's the key. You can save up and pay cash for a car. Does it mean driving something real dumpy right now? Probably. You'll be fine.

You're not going to burn down while driving on the interstate. No. Just have some delayed gratification. Pause, save up, and it may be a $6,000 car until you can get the $8,000 car. And then you get the $10. Upgrading cash, your life will be better. That's right. Okay.

Let's speed these last couple. Okay. Are you investing at least 15% of your income into retirement? So this is going to be after all your debts paid. You have a fully funded emergency fund at three to six months of expenses. Then press play on investing and you start investing 15% of your income. So yeah, this mathematically is what we found gives you a great head start into retirement. But then also gives you the margin to like save for kids college or pay off your house early or upgrade your car.

or like do other things with your income while still saving up for retirement. That's huge. And that is baby step four in the Ramsey baby steps. And you don't need to overcomplicate this. Have you have a 401K, a Roth IRA, that's all you need. You don't need to get crazy. You don't need to get fancy. You don't need to do single stocks and crypto.

Yeah. Just mutual funds on a 401K will get you a million your status. Park it. Just let a ride. Let a ride. I love it. Okay. Number eight is your mortgage or rent 25% or less of your take home pay?

This is a hard one. that's that's tough for a lot of people right now yeah it really is this is the this is when we kind get knocked for because people are like oh gosh it's so conservative but the hard thing is is I'm like again our goal for you is to have you know most of your income to be able to do things with it like pay off debts save invests like spend enjoy give like do other things and it not just go towards a mortgage or your rent so that spacing is really important so that's why the 25% is there locked in for housing and then everything else is a tool to use to really better your future with your money.

Yes. And if you're currently investing but you have a pile of debt and no savings, please pause. We love investing. But when you do it at the wrong time, you end up doing too many things at once and you don't make any progress. And so there is a time and place to invest. Yeah, people paying off debt, we found the biggest things to do to actually get more margin is pause your investing. Shop your insurance because that's something that people do quarterly or annually and the rates are so different. so you could actually save so much money if you just drop your insurance again. And then if you got a big tax refund, adjust your withholdings to get more cash in your paycheck. So like, so that 15, that can give you a head start just doing those three things.

Yes, exactly. So. Love it. But once you're out of debt, fully funded emergency fund, be investing. All right. What's next? Do you have three months of expenses saved up just in case you lose your income? This is a big one.

Yeah. This is the fully funded emergency fund after you pay off debt. And yeah, this is this is one that I think like once you, you finish babysept three, which is this three to six months of expenses in a fully funded emergency fund, this is where I feel like people are like, okay, I can breathe. Like, if you think about it, you have no bills, but your mortgage and you have money in the bank, like, it just gives this, like, it gives this peace and this freedom. Well, it takes away all those what ifs that are burning brain calories and living rent free

in your mind. Yes, exactly. And it means like, oh, I can cut up the credit card because I use that as some like little security blankie. Yeah. And just for the just in case and the what if. That's right. You become the bank at this point.

You don't need a lender. That's right. You can cover life's emergencies. Yeah. So three to six months is what you need. Of expenses, not income. That's right. There you go.

And last one, number 10, if you have student loans, will they be paid off in the next two years? Mm. So you might have student loans, but you're like, it's going to take, based on what I'm doing right now, four, five, six years to pay off. We need to make some changes because you are financially insecure if you don't have a game plan to get rid of these fast. And we found on average for people following the baby steps, it takes 18 to 24 months to pay off all consumer debt, including student loans. That's right. Yep. Which is amazing.

But people get intense. They up their income. They work extra. They cut everything. They really hung down and focus on this. This is not minimum payment lifestyle. That's right. We're throwing an extra $500 and extra $1,000 of these student loans.

And we're not waiting on someone else to solve this problem. That's right. So that's it. That's so good, George. Okay. We want to hear from you guys. So put in the comments. Yeah.

Yeah, if you are financially secure, insecure. Yeah, how many knows did you get? So let's remind them in results. If you said no one to three times, you're very secure. Love it. If you said no, four to six times, you're somewhere in between. And then if you said no, seven to ten times, you're financially insecure. I'm proud to say I got eight out of ten.

So I got two no. So I am secure, according to this quiz. Yes. I mean, I'll be honest. According to real life, very insecure. But financially, crushing it. Killing it. I think I said no to one.

But I feel like I had a leg up with old Dave. That's true. Being the dad. And there's nothing wrong with that, you know? I know. Like I hope to be that for my kids. Sure. Totally.

Yes. Yes, it's yes. Second gen here representing. That's what so. Okay. The knowledge. All the knowledge. I can't wait to see all the comments and see where people stand.

I know. And share the quiz, too, with your friends. Because maybe we'll go viral. Can we go viral? Oh my gosh. If we were bigger than BuzzFeed. Let's not get out of hand here, Rachel. Die.

Okay. Talk about going viral, Rachel. I want to talk to the listeners for a second. Have you guys played Tappel? This is a, it's been around for a while, but it went viral on TikTok with almost 172 million views. I don't know about you. It's crazy. I have not gotten 172 million views yet.

We haven't. So this game only takes about 10 seconds to play each round. You pick a category and then you hit the first letter of each word you say that goes with that category. So to keep things fun, we came up with five categories that we think would make for an interesting game, Rachel. Yeah. So it's a little Smart Money Happy Hour edition of Tappel. you will. Yeah, I think you could play Taylor Swift songs. Okay, so songs to start with a certain letter that are from Taylor Swift. That's a fun one. Brands of coffee. You would appreciate that. That would be yours.

Folgers is the one that comes to mind. Not my favorite. Sure. Reality TV shows. That would be me. I'd be great. Be great at that. Selling sunset? I love it. I know you. So basic. What's another, what's another category? Slang words for money. Oh, I would do great at that one. Doe. Lesser Scrella? That was my rap name in high school I'm just kidding

Nobody called me anything in high school Why am I even saying that? How about this one? Names of drinks? Oh, that's good, yeah. Make it difficult, only mock tales. That's really hard.

Coke. Sure, that counts. You guys, start making memories today and pick up Tappel at Walmart or wherever you buy games and tag us if you're playing because we want to see it.

What if they've filmed? I filmed a little round on Instagram and tag this. Oh. Just one little round. Especially using your categories. That would make my day. I would never felt more relevant in my life. Just more so in.

Oh, all right. Well, it's almost the end of this episode, and we close out every episode with guilty as charged. And this is where our producer, Lindsay, gives us a new guilty-as-charged question every week. And if we are guilty, we have to take a sip. So, Lindsay, hit us. So about quizzes, I was curious. What quizzes are you guilty of taking? Taking.

Oh, gosh. Can you remember one that you're embarrassed about that maybe you took as a kid or? A guilty pleasure quiz? Oh, man. Like what Britney Spears song are you? Did you not take that? I didn't not take it. So I don't know.

It's all a little blurred at this point. Did I own her album? Was it my first CD? I don't remember exactly all the details. Did I buy it at strawberries in Dedham? The Dedham Plaza? I don't know. So any quizzes you can remember taking?

I don't. In recent memory. I did a ton in those magazines. So it was probably like, you know, what color eyes, you know, does your dream boy have? Or, like, I mean, like, I feel like they always had, like, it was always a guy quiz. Like, where are you most likely to have your first kiss or like whatever, you know, like, it was those kind of quizzes. Yeah. I feel like I do the, like, which TV show character are you?

Those are the ones I fell for in my quiz era, if you will. Like, which character from the office are you? And you would be like, I'm totally a gym. And I'd be like, you're Kevin. I'm like, okay. Thanks, gosh. doing great. So I stopped taking those quizzes. I found they are unhelpful to my self-forced. Have you guys ever taken the what season are you quiz? Oh, that's a thing. That I recently took. Oh, that's fun. I didn't have to take it. Someone just told me.

What are you? They spoke it over me. Your winter? That I was a winter. Oh, I guess it. When it comes to fashion, if y'all don't know, Google fashion season color quiz. Wait, did you do like your colors? I don't know that it had any science behind it because it ranged from like Navy. and maroons to bright Barbie pink, and I was, I didn't understand how this works scientifically. No, there is. They look at your skin color, your hair, all that. Based on my skin color, nothing goes with this. That was a thing back in like the 2000s.

Well, I took it recently. And it's like back. All that's coming back. Yeah. It's so funny. We love a quiz. We love a quiz. Love a quiz.

All right. Who, I, look at me, George. I'm surprised. I was too. Did you ever drink cough syrup growing up? It got better. It got better as the segment went on, as the episode went on. That's fair.

So this drink is called a crown stag, a very cool name for a very interesting drink. I will say it draws you back in, like a toxic X. You know what I mean? It's kind of like you're like, is it good? That's kind of how I felt. I was like, I hated it at first. And then you kind of just get used to it. And then you're like, wow.

I know. Then you kind of get used to it. And then after you're like, man, why did I do that? But then it's sitting here and you're like, well, I'll go on me again. But I will say it's very complex. It's kind of blueboos forward. What's in it? raspberry liqueur. So that's where that fruity raspberry comes through. Wow, wow, wow, wow.

Yeagermeister, which is a German herbal liqueur that has like 52 spices blended in there. Oh gosh. That's where we get that kind of licorish medicinal flavor. I don't think I've ever had Yeagermeister. I've heard of it. Well, only like dudes did it as a joke in college. It was like Yeagerbombs. Yeah, Yeagerbombs. You remember that? So they kind of ruin the brand. And then vodka. Okay. So it's just different types of- Like one out of the three. Yeah. But it's honestly not bad. Like if you just showed me those ingredients, I would be like hard pass. But it's decent. If you enjoy cough syrup, you will like this drink.

We've all, you know, enjoyed a little NyQuil every now and then. Yeah. The cost breakdown. $3.20 a serving. What's your rating? I'm going to go 7 out of 10. Wow. It's a strong rating.

Really a C? I wish we could replay the clip of Rachel at the beginning when she took a sip. I would have never guessed 7 out of 10. I'm going to go 5 out of 10. Okay, maybe I'm a, I mean, now you're convinced me. I mean, six to seven out of ten. Like, it's not like the best. I would not drink it again unless it was the only thing at the party.

Yeah, I would agree with that. Yes, I would never order this. If I was at the cruise house and it was like, we made a punch bowl of stag whatever. Crown stag. Crown stag. Okay, I will say this. Michael Redis got so mad at me in my Emerito Sour, I rated it very low because it was just way too sweet for me. And I think I would drink this over that still.

Wow. Okay. There you go. Well, I said five out of ten. You went seven out of ten. Six and a half out of ten. Okay. It's getting lower as the night goes on.

But hey, make it at home because you might love it out there. That's the thing. Yeah. This is all very subjective. 100%. This is just one man's opinion, one woman's opinion. That's right. So you can get the recipe in the show notes and give it a try this weekend.

Well, if you like this, if you like a BuzzFeed quiz, if you like anything you saw here, make sure to click that subscribe button. And also leave a review because our reviews help us. much. We just want to know what you're thinking about the episode. Give us a little inside joke in that review because we look at him and we're like, oh yeah. But don't troll me and just write Expresso because that happened. Or do it. That was so great. It's fine. So great. Go ahead. You know, it only helps. It only fuels the fire. It was great. You guys. You guys, we'll see you next Thursday on a new episode of Smart Money Happy Hour.