Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel - Baby Q&A: Costs, Essentials and Honest Advice

Episode Date: August 14, 2025

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Is there ever a right time to have a baby financially? Today, we're getting real about a question that many couples and young families are asking. This is where it gets practical. And this is where I spend money. Like, they are adamant that you go visit people in the hospital. Boomers feel entitled to seeing this newborn. If I can be a dad, anyone can be a dad. Hey, guys, I'm Rachel Cruz.

I'm George Camel. And this is Smart Money Happy Hour. Cheers, George. Cheers. To the babies. To the babies. Well, this is the show. We're two friends who have to do money experts talk about what you're talking about.

So everything from pop culture, current events, and money. And before we get into it, let's talk about what we're sipping on. Today, it's the bourbon orange. Yeah, it's light. To be a bourbon drink already, I can feel it's not too heavy. It's borderline refreshing. Stick around to the end. We're going to give you our rating and reveal the cost per glass.

Okay, Rachel, having kids do be expensive. It is. It is expensive. From start to finish. And you're adding on, George. I just keep piling on. I mean number two. Yeah.

Coming soon. In a few weeks, if you're watching and listening to this, I'm on Baby Watch coming up here. I know. How are you feeling? How's everything? I think because we're also like moving, we just decided to do the most at one time. You know, we did that too. Isn't that how it goes?

Not to make this about me. No, please. Tell me your experience. No, no. But it is. I'm like, what happens like that. I don't know why it piles on, but it does. Obviously, obviously harder on the mom, the person who is pregnant while doing all this.

Sure, yes. Or postpartum. Yes. for sure. How's Whitney feeling? She's feeling it. She's, you know, third trimester. Yes. It's where it's like, it was kind of fun and now you're like, okay, now back to not being the most fun. Now I'm ready to have a baby in my arms, not in my belly. Yep, I get that for sure. Well, today, that's what we're going to be talking about because babies are expensive, a lot of time and money that goes in.

But also, you don't have to waste your money on things that are unnecessary. So we're in chat about that too. We'll just cut right through all the noise and tell you the truth. How about that? Yes. Because it is hard. I think even with this like influence, or culture we see so much out there of like everything down from the baby shower to the delivery. Like people like Megan Markle had a video of her dancing in the hospital.

Do you see that right before? No. She like, you know, and you're like, good for her. Like I could, I was like waddling and she's like getting down. You know, but you see that. Like you're literally seeing someone right before they're having a baby now.

Like that's what social media has done. And then everything after and all the gear and what they're all doing. It's just a lot. And then some people are brutally honest and telling you only the bad things and some people only tell you the magic, and you're like, well, it's all of it.

Yes, that's right. It's complicated. That's a good point. Some people have built a brand. I'm just like, here's everything that's horrible. And then some are like, and hang on, I'm so perfect. Which is Rachel. No, I don't want that. I want to be real.

Well, let's get real. There are some things that I think are worth it, are worth the money that you spend, especially like on items and then some, not so much. So we'll spare you guys today. And we'll talk about our different theories on when is the right time to have a baby, where you should be financially before you start a family,

things to think about what you should spend on a stroller. It's all there. All there. Okay. I'm going to have to, and I'm going to be guilty of some of this as I did buy some nice things for my kids, like actual things that last, but we'll get into that. Okay. What a tease. What a T's. Okay. Well, let's answer some baby questions that we get a lot when it comes to having a baby today. Okay, let's start with this one. When is the right time to have a baby? This feels like a trick question. Because if you call the Ramsey show, What is Dave Ramsey going to say?

He's going to say, just go ahead and have a baby. You're married, you love each other, you want a kid, have a kid. It's great. I'm on his side. Are you not? No, I am.

You want to be debt-free and like all the things. But I think it's a simplistic answer for a lot of people who go, no, but really. They want something more complicated because they go, well, Dave, I'm in debt and we feel like we're not ready because of our age, because of our life situation. Because we're renting an apartment.

We can't have a baby. All kinds of reasons you can justify in your head. why you shouldn't. Seeing all those reasons, I'm like, get him out of here. Get him out of here. Have a baby. Do it. Babies can live in apartments that are rented.

They indeed can. They don't care. They're going to cry either way. Whether they're in a mansion or your little apartment. Yeah, I think my big reason, and I'd say the same about marriage, is if there's a moment in life, because those are like really crucial, beautiful parts of life. And to hold that at a distance so that you can like get another goal in order, like, my financial.

Like, I get it. you're probably going to be more stressed if you have a lot of debt, no savings, and have a baby? Sure. But also, I'm like, I hate to wait because then in your head, it's like, well, once I get to this point, I'm okay. But then you're like, oh, man, but it would be really nice if we had this next. And you just kind of keep pushing off something in your life that's really invaluable, you know? Well, here's the tweet.

There is no baby step for having a baby. So if you're wondering, where in the steps does this fit in the Ramsey plan? It really doesn't. It's inconvenient to have a baby. a baby and it's also the biggest blessing of your life. And especially if you're a person of faith, like it's a gift from the Lord. For sure. And you don't know if you're even going to be able to.

I know. That's a reality, especially as people get older, having babies older and older. And so you wait, well, once we're both out of school with our third master's degree and we're established in a home that we own, then we'll think about it. Yeah. You just don't know. Yep. You don't know.

What the journey's going to look like. And there's some pros and cons to all of these, right? So some of the pros, if you have kids earlier, you're, you're, you're, younger. So physically, you are like, you're going, right? Babies take energy. Yes, it's a very different feeling. Even in pregnancy, it's a very different feeling, you know, as you keep aging, right? You're going to feel different if you're 45 having a baby versus 25, like it is. You're going to feel different. But I would say, too, when you're, if you have babies later, I do think emotionally, for most people, they have more of a bandwidth to hold the chaos of life.

because when you're kids having kids, there's a level of stress there that you're trying to figure out life while also raising a baby. But the more established you are, I think there's a level of security there that's really good too. So there's pros to both.

Because as you get older, hopefully you're doing better financially than you were in your 20s. But also, you know, young couples have kids all the time and you figure it out financially. It's not as big of a burden as you think. You can make it as expensive

or practical as you want to. That's right. But I do think there is some truth to the... From what I've heard from everyone that has kids is that I do it, wish we had had them earlier, if they had kids really late. Yes. So there's some middle ground.

Like you and Winston didn't have kids, you were married for how long before you had your first kids? Okay. And I think it was about the same for Whitney and I, five years. Yeah. So that's a good amount of time. For sure. But if you get married at 35 and then you want to wait five years, that's a different scenario. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So it's all dependent upon, yep, the situation. All right. Next question. Top five items worth buying for a newborn, other than like diapers and the obvious stuff. Like, what are things? This is where it's practical. And this is where I spend money. You need a car seat.

Car seat. That's a non-negotiable. Yes, and they have the new ones, which they did not have, and I have babies, and they're yellow. They have yellow wheels, and they're a car seat, turn into a stroller. The duna. It's amazing. Did y'all have one? We did get a duna.

We spurts on that. I think it was actually gifted from one of our showers, and it's a game changer. I think they're good up through when they're a year old. Dang, a long time. I didn't realize it was that long. And especially if you're traveling, like, airports and getting out of the car. It really changed our life to have that.

So that's one I would recommend. Was that your main car seat that y'all used? Yeah. Up until, you know, she was one. That's amazing. So that's a great one. We're definitely going to be using that again with the new baby. And we saved it.

So we're going to use it with the new baby now. And because they're expensive, you can get them used on Facebook Marketplace. Just check for the expiration dates on those things because it's crazy. But I found this out. Car seats have expiration dates. I know. Didn't know that. Didn't know it was like milk.

I personally think it's still a scam Is it because of the technology? I don't think so. I think it's a safety thing because of how crucial the integrity of a car seat is to protect the baby. Like over 10 years?

I think the expiration dates are years and years and years. Okay. Still. Yeah, our infant car seat was used for all three of our babies. Good. It was nasty. Hey, they survived.

It was nasty. So car seat is a big one. According to babylist.com, which is a popular registry site. The best infant car seat of 2025 is the key fit 35, and that's priced at $229. Key fit 35. What is that?

Do you know what that is? I think it's a Chico brand, because we have a Chico right now. It's the 360. It swivels. Oh, yes. So that's my personal recommendation. If you can swing it,

and I have a hack from Whitney that she wanted to share. So I am a vessel for her to share this information. Oh my gosh, you can't wait. What is Whitney is saying? So Target has a car seat thing they do in April and September, where it's 20% off. car seats if you bring in any old car seat. You can go one off the side of the road and bring it in.

You'll get 20% off a new car seat. And if you pair it with a sale that Target has on a car seat, you can get a great deal. So that's what we did to get this Chico 360 that rotates. And you're going to rotate it because Mia's facing backwards, but soon she'll be facing front and you can use the same one. Yes. And you can turn to face her toward you so that's so much easier to get them in and out of the car. It saves your back.

Wow. So there's pro tip, Chico 360, game change. hashtag not sponsored but reach out chico reach out all right next up on the items worth buying stroller got to have it and this is the one i had i think is the appabababia vista yeah they're up to v3 now okay i don't know i don't know what ours won i think you may have a v2 or maybe the just the normal one so it was 10 years ago because we had it with a million oh then yeah you had the i think i had the original v1 there wasn't even a v it was just the vista and this whole set right now costs say it out loud

$1,479. Yeah. Some people's first car cost that much. For sure, for sure. But it does come with a bassinet. I don't remember how much I paid. I don't think it was that much. Ours came with stroller.

Yep. Car seats, bassinet, and then a toddler seat. We bought an additional toddler seat to go in the front, but you kind of had... That's the key with the Vista, is that you can add two kids. It can be a three-person stroller, like with all this stuff. And it's amazing.

It lasted us. I mean, we haven't done strollers and probably like two years or so. So I'd say a solid eight years. That's impressive. And it folds real quick down. Yes. You can fit it anywhere.

And it's a light, too, compared to some other strollers. That's what you've got to think about. Is weight, how easy is it to take out, put back in? You don't want to be lugging something heavy around that, you know, cumber something is the word. So we used ours and beat it to the ground. I mean, that thing went everywhere with us.

It saw some things. Yes. Mia is doing a stroller? Yeah, we have the up of baby as well. Okay. And we have a travel one that is a little bit easier and more nimble. So we keep that one in the car and keep the... It's like a little umbrella stroller?

Like a smaller one? It is smaller. I don't remember the name of it. Okay, so you have two. We have two. One that we keep in the car, one that stays out in the garage so we can go walk around the neighborhood. Boogie.

So that's the baby step seven life. That is. You know, that's aspirational. Good for you. Good for you, George. Because it is. It's so great. Okay. Next is a bottle sterilizer.

Okay. I wish I'm iffy on this one. I wish I had this. I'd never had it. But I've heard about them now, that that's what they hit that now, I think it's like, I think you like push down

and it cleans the bottle for you. Where before I had like the brush and I was like scrubbing it. Do you have one of these? We were doing the brush for a while and then I think my brother got us the bottle sterilizer. I find it to be very helpful.

It was like, you can just do the brush. It's not that hard. Okay, okay. So it's a 50-50. She underestimates how lazy I am. I'm willing to help if it's easy. You know what I mean? I mean.

If I got to sit there with a little brush, so there's, yeah, there's a lot of gear there. But here's the one that is a non-negotiable for me, a nice monitor. Oh, yes. That is nice. Camera. Yes. We did the one that's non-wifi. Because I heard, I don't know if this is true, but I got creeped out by the fact that

people could like tap into the monitor. And if it's non-wifi, they can't do that. Am I right? That's what I heard. Okay. I'm getting some yes. Heard, that's a thing. So ours, I got the model for you because people want to know.

I think ours is Motorola. Would that be a... Motorola? They're still making stuff? Not it! They made the razor phone. Are they out here making baby monitors? I swear, let me ask Winston.

I swear that this was our... I started with an elm. The one that we have is not Motorola. Maybe I'm missing out. We have the infant optics. What was the name of our baby monitor? The brand, question mark. I'm a boomer.

I voice it all the time. Every time I see you voice it to... Puppy stops wagging. its tail when you voiced the text. I'm fully convinced. Question mark. Exclamation point. I just don't like it.

I feel like text messages are a private entity that should not be shared publicly. Well, I just shared mine. You keep going. Interrupted you. Anyways, the ones that we have are infant optics is the brand. They're a little more expensive. They're 200 bucks. But there's a cheaper option called Hello Baby.

That's 90 bucks. That does the trick. It's a Motorola. I knew I wasn't crazy. Yes. Good for you. Thank you. And it was great.

I always wondered, like, who was keeping Motorola in business? The Cruz family. She's got to raise her phone and she's got the monitor and they're doing well. No. Well, we stopped using, yeah, that's a beautiful day when the baby monitors go away, George. I can't wait. Yeah. To not constantly like, she's crying.

I know. She good. And I remember the signal, you wanted a strong signal because across the house or like if we were at the lake, it's like you're down at the dock. Oh, long range. Yes, I remember that being a big thing, like when I had babies. to be like, can I just have, like, long range? What did our parents do? They just had to, like, go check?

Yes. Like, how'd you know what was going on there? They would go and check, like, just, yes. Wow, now they have, like, her ankle monitors that check the heart rate. Now, that scares me. I don't like that. And then they have a thing for under the mattress that, like, that, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's a lot going on.

No, no, I don't have any of that. Yeah. We just do the monitor. Okay, I like that. Because of what I'm, we're listening for, like, or there's the baby crying. Yes, that's right. That's right.

The baby's silent. We're going to assume that she's sleeping. It is sweet. So sweet. There's nothing like looking at the monitor. Does me talk in her crib? Will she just sit up and just talk? Oh, yeah.

Because she's doing like that, you know, she's just sort of mumbling. Jabbering. Oh, my God. With those little PJs and they're just sitting up with like their little messy hair and they're just talking. Yes. And she like knows now.

Like she'll like look up at the camera and like talk to us. It's great. She's very smart. So cute. Baby genius. Last one. Oh yeah. And I believe in this.

This is something we still use. a sound machine, but like getting a nice one. So we got the white one. The dome, D-O-H-M. Yes. Yep, that's a solid one. I mean, and it's like 50 bucks probably. Yeah, they're not cheap.

No, they're not cheap. But it's so great. And now, gosh, people are so brilliant. It's crazy what changes in technology. Six years. It's not that long. But like even since Charles, they have portable sound, tiny miniature sound machines

to put in car seats and stuff. Brilliant. We use one. It's the yoga sleep hush. It's like 25 bucks. Okay. And we have one in her room on low because you don't want to, you know, that's a real thing that.

You can hurt the baby's hearing if it's on too loud, if it's like blasting in the room. Oh, really? Yeah. Then we have one outside the room because the dogs are barking and doors are closing. We don't want that. So we have two minis that are plugged in at all times when she's napping and sleeping. And do you take those with you on the go?

Yes. How big are they? I actually take them when I go to like a hotel. That's what I use for me. How big are this big, like a puck? Okay. Like Google Home signs. You're not a dome guy.

No, we have the domes in our room. Oh, okay, okay. The adults deserve the dome. They got the dome. We'll upgrade one day. So, yeah, those are the things you actually need. There's a lot that you don't need. We're going to cover that next stuff that's overhyped.

Yeah, because there's some overhyped stuff, but something that is definitely not overhyped is cozy earth. Thank you. I was waiting for you to say it. I mean, just the absolute most amazing clothes, shoes, everything. You got shoes. Yeah, I got their like lakehouse clogs. and let me tell you, why would I ever own crocs?

Yeah, no. When I can wear beautiful. Cozy earth. Cozy earth clogs. Thank you for saying clogs. I'm a clog guy. I think that's what they're... They're great.

They're not like, don't think like Dutch wooden clogs. These are very comfortable. Yes. Very nice. Just feel ritzie walking around the house. Get your clogs. Get your cozy earth clogs. Get the clogs.

But yeah, they're blankets, their sheets, the bedding, the clothes, the pants, the shirts. I mean, all of it. The socks, like, it is incredible. quality is amazing. And there's stuff that's like that soft silk material. Yes. And it keeps you cool. Unbelievable.

A lot of like that bamboo viscous material. Amazing. So especially for the ladies out there, if you are with child, if you are postpartum, guys, this is what she needs. Just trust me on this. The PJ sets, no matter what,

you can't go wrong. Go to cozy earth.com slash smart money and you'll get up to 40% off your purchase. Or you can click the link in the show notes, use promo code smart money at checkout. So wonderful. All right, some overhyped. I could tell you my number one.

Hit it. When I was having Amelia, the cool thing was the Mamaroo. Oh, what's that? It looked like an egg. And the baby would lay in it and it like does this. Oh, like a motion bassinet. It's like the swing, but it's not.

And you know what's funny? Amelia hated it. Like, it wasn't good. But it looked like futuristic. Like it looked really like cool or at the time it did. And you know what she wanted? Just the old school swing. And Denise, like, let me borrow hers.

Just the one that's, like, throwing them. Yeah. Oh, Amelia loved it. So I ended up with, like, the big, clunky, old school swing and not the cool, like, new things. There's a lot of fancy bassinet. There's one called a snoo that we were lucky enough to borrow from a friend for free. Okay.

So I would say if you can get the snoo for free or cheap, it's awesome. People love the snoo. And it does, like, the motion, it does noise. But it's like a bassinet. It's like when they're sleeping. Yes. So my question is, if you use the snoo, but then you, like, go to a hotel and they have to been like a pack-in-play. Are they bothered?

Oh, I didn't think about that. Are you conditioning them? I think they're okay temporarily for that. Okay. But it does help because as they make noise and get fussy, it'll start to go a little harder, get a little louder. It picks up their voice? Yeah. If they start crying,

it has a sensor. So that's what makes it fancy and smart. So it kind of like calms them down for you. And so it really, and it like ties them down. It has a special like swaddle. And so they can't like roll. over. They're kind of just like stuck in a little straight jacket. It's really crazy looking, but it works. But it's amazing. But it's crazy expensive. Are you going to borrow it for baby number two?

That is my only hope is that my friend still has it and will let me borrow it because I will not pay $1,500 for this. It's $1,500. I want to say it's that expensive. And how long are they in it for? Not that long, right? Six months. Oh, okay. Yeah. So if you can get it cheap or free, go for it. Otherwise, I personally wouldn't spend retail price on it. Overhyped a white form. Oh, yeah. We never had one of those. They acted like babies cannot handle a room-temp baby wife. Yes, I know.

They'll be fine. I think it's fine. A diaper pail. We never did one of these either. I always just had like plastic bags, like grocery bags. Yeah. That I would just keep. And then like every day just...

We use one for a while, especially early on. But nowadays we just got rid of it. And number one's going the trash. Number two is go into a little grocery sack into the outside trash. Yeah, that's right. I think that's great. It's perfect. How old's Mia right now?

She's two. Okay. Do you have a potty training? Yeah. We're being told that we should start by people in this room. By our producer, Jenna. So we'll see. I think we're on the cusp.

But there's a lot of life change happening right now with the house and the baby. Yeah, I know. I know. We'll wait it out. Fancy clothes. Overhyped. Thank you. Listen, those babies just need to be in PJs.

Just let them be in little PJs. Other than what Rachel bought for our daughter, which was so cute. Oh, I did. Is that a smock? Smock. I bought Georgia smock dress for me. Listen, every Southern girl needs a smock. It's just part of the package. I think they're cute.

But the amount of clothing in her closet that was just given, gifted, tags on it, busy clothing that I'm like, when is she going to wear a puffy, fuzzy, furry coat? I know. She's not leaving the house for the next six months. I know, but it's so cute, though, you know.

I know. I was a, I was a I was a consignment sale queen. There's a school in Nashville. It's called Oak Hill. I'll tell you Nashville moms. I'll give my secret right. The Oak Hill consignment was one of the most sought after. I stood in line spring and fall for that thing

because there's all these Green Hills moms with all of their moms. Which is a fancy part of Nashville. Oh, and I'm not kidding, y'all. I mean, rows and rows and rows and rows and rows of just cute, nice. Designer clothing. Well, I wouldn't know if, I don't know if it's a designer, but it's just... Well, stuff that would have cost 50 to 60 bucks sometimes. Yeah, maybe. Yeah, yeah.

I mean, just some nice stuff. And you could just... I mean, it's like $3, $2. And I was just, I'd go crazy. And I would... The supermarket sweep in there. Oh, it was the best. It was the best.

I will say that if you're going to get clothing, the ones that we've enjoyed for the onesies are the magnetic me's. The snap magnets. Yes. So my brother just keeps gifting us more magnetic me's and it changed our life. If you put buttons on a onesie, I will punch you. I know. What are you doing?

Are you a zipper guy? Love a zipper. Yeah. Love a zipper, love a magnet. Yep, let's do it. Buttons will be the death of me. All right. Last.

Last over-hyped item. And I feel this so passionately. Baby shoes. What are we doing? Infant shoes. The infant. That four-week-old doesn't need shoes. Do not put shoes on an eight-week-old baby.

No. It doesn't need boots. It doesn't need tennis shoes. No. That baby needs socks. And that's it. Can't walk. Baby can't walk.

Do not put big old shoes on that baby. I don't like it. Well said. How do you feel about that? Yeah. I can't believe. This is the most aligned we've ever been in an episode. You don't like baby shoes either?

No. Yes. People had like ugs on their like six weeks. I can't even hold up its head. It's like. Here's the thing. You're doing it for yourself as a parent to go like, look how cute my baby is. They're already cute.

If your baby's ugly, putting hugs on them is not going to change that. I'm sorry. So just have a cute baby. It solves all of the problems. I don't like it. Okay, so that was it. That was our five items overhyped. The next question we get a lot, George,

is daycare versus stay-at-home parent. This is a big baby question. Should we get real on this one? Do you want the real answer? I mean, yeah, I think we're always real, right? Because we get calls on the TV show. Yeah. And the people can just decide, hey, she's going to stay at home.

Yes, yes. And then I go, well, this is a math problem. Yeah. If the guy makes $34,000 a year and she stays at home and you guys have all these bills and debt, mathematically you're going to continuously go into debt. This will not work. And so the hard truth is staying at home

is a luxury and a privilege. And as much of it is a choice, it's also a choice that has consequences if you can't stomach it financially to live on one income. Well, and your current lifestyle, that's the gut punch is, yeah, he makes 34, she's making 50 household income of 84.

It's great until she's like, oh, I'm the one that wants to stay home. She makes the bulk of the money. so now you're going to have to make a decision is the value of her being home, which for some people it is, that it is worth saying, okay, we're going to move.

We're probably going to have to move. We can't afford this, or our housing situation. We're going to not be able to do the things we are doing. Like, we're going to cut our lifestyle way back in order to accommodate this idea that she's going to be home, right? And people do it.

And that's great. I mean, genuinely, I'm like, if that's what people want to do, I think that's a value call for them. But it's just, it may change the circumstances. you don't get the same life with half of an income. You just don't. You can't mathematically. So that's the thing that you have to realize.

And then the other gut punch is daycare is freaking expensive. So expensive. So there's really no like wonderful scenario here financially. Both are going to be hard. Let's go through some of the average costs. Okay. So this was in 2023. And any time we do we do costs like this, George, we see in the comments, we got Nancy that's like,

I'm in New York City. These numbers are insane. And then we got Sarah in the Bay. area. And she's like, y'all are living under a rock. So just Nancy and Sarah, chill. Or Brenda and Ankeny, Iowa, who's going, are you serious? That's so expensive. Yeah, that's right. That's right. And with these stats, again, I think they're from this year. It was maybe last year offcare.com. Okay. And then we're going to compare them from 2023 numbers because they've all gone up, as you can imagine, except for one. Which is great. Comforting.

Average weekly nanny costs is $827, which is up from $766. in 2020. Average weekly daycare cost, $343, which is up from $321, in 2020. So not a huge increase there in the last few years. Average weekly family care center costs, $344, up from $230 in 2020. So a big jump there. And then lastly, average weekly babysitter cost, $167 down from 192 in 2023.

I don't know how it went down. I don't feel like it went down, but... Babysitter costs, apparently. Yeah, what is the going rate for babysitters? I found it to be about 18 to 25 bucks an hour is like normal. Okay. Maybe more if you got a bunch of kids? I pay different on ages, the age of the babysitter.

Oh, that makes sense. So if we have like an eighth grade girl versus an 18-year-old versus a 32-year-old, I shift depending on their age. The older you are, the more experience, the more you can demand as far as hourly rate. But honestly, for a lot of women out there, if you want a side hustle and you enjoy taking care of kids, this is a great side hustle, especially through a care.com. For sure, absolutely. Okay, so these costs, though, they are very expensive.

And so what you really do have to weigh is, you know, is it, is the daycare costs paying what I'm paying in that, what I'm making in my job, right? Because there's a point that it just cancels each other out. And it's like, is it worth the headache, right? Maybe for your mental health, you're like, no, I want to be working and get out of the house. That's great.

But, like, there is a point that you're just paying for daycare. If daycare is $2,000 a month and your take-home pays $2,000 a month, and your take-home pays $2,000 a month, you've got to go, okay, maybe it's worth it for me to just stay home and do full-time care. Yeah, be thinking about that. But there's some ways to minimize these costs. Obviously, ideally, if there is family in town,

to be able to help. Grandparents and laws. Once or twice a week, you know, not everyone has that, but that would be ideal to help cut costs on this. And then nanny share is a new thing. So you can kind of split this with other friends and it could bring the cost down

if there's more than one kid there. That's a good one. And then, you know, having a spouse pick up a side hustle a few days or nights a month to offset some day care costs. Again, it's one of the sacrifices that you might have to make to bring them the income to cover those costs. That's right. And again, just kind of figuring out, is there a pivot for me in my work that I may have to do? You know, maybe I do stay home for a season. Maybe I go part-time and only pay for half of these costs, right?

Because I'm making more part-time or, you know, whatever it looks like, there just may have to be some pivots there. but think through that because that could end up saving you some money. Yeah. And I think we should call out that no matter what decision you make as a woman, you will be judged by people, by society, by the internet.

Nobody is happy with whatever decision you chose. Yes. What does up with that? I don't know. And is it mostly women judging other women? Yeah. Yeah. Of like, I can't believe you would leave your career

and give an MBA and you make great money. Why would you leave that to stay home with a kid or the opposite? Yes. Why would you stay at work when you could take care of this? kid full-time. It's the most important job.

Everything is true. Yes. And there's always a thousand little details of life behind those comments, right, of the person's situation. Like, you have no clue what's going on with them. So, listen, everyone's doing the best they can. All of our kids are going to be in therapy at some point. And it's fine.

Yes. It's fine regardless of what we do. And I'll have the personal anecdote. My wife Whitney decided to stay home when Mia was born. She did come back to work for a few months. I said, hey, just try it. What's the worst that could happen? Go back to work for a little bit.

see what you think. Because she loved her job. Yes. She loved her job here at Ramsey. She was here for nine years. She was crushing it in her career, executive assistant, making great money. And she still decided, you know what, I'm called to be at home. And because of our financial situation, it wasn't like a, how are we going to do this? Because we put ourselves in a great situation by then, we just went, okay, cool. If you want to do that, go for it. And she's loved it. It's the hardest. I truly, it is harder than being at work. And I know, depending on your job, you can argue with me. I would rather be.

here for my own mental and physical sake, then be at home chasing a toddler. And I love hanging out with my toddler. This is not me trying to avoid being a dad. I'm just saying it's hard. You can't compare it of like, well, who had a harder day? That baby will wear you out, especially in the toddler face and being pregnant. It's exhausting. She's going through it. So shout out to the moms out there. I had to have like little schedules if I was home with the kids. Oh, just set some. Just for myself, my sanity. Because you look up, I will never forget. You look at the clock and it's like 10.38 and you're like, I thought it was three o'clock in the afternoon. How was it only, it's not even lunch yet? Oh my guys, what are we going to do the rest of the day?

I mean, it is. You lose track of time, what day it is? When's the last time I washed my hair? Yes. When was my last meal? These are the questions that a mom asked because she's putting everything else before herself. She is. The most sacrifice. She's so sacrificial. I know. Do one else is really sacrificial. What's that? The work that delete me does for us, the consumer. Doing the most behind the scenes. They go in and they remove. They remove. your data from data broker websites, you guys, that collect your data, and they sell your data to other companies,

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Oh, my gosh. So take advantage of that. But for real, though, it is an incredible service. There's so many subscriptions you can have these days, but your online, safety so that your information is on like a billboard out there, it is worth a subscription because, man, they help you out so much. I got my parents on it. Shout out. They're in a crowd today. Love it.

And I feel better knowing that they're not going to gullibly fall for a scam or something. It's real. Because they get a random text message. It is so real. All right. Question number five, what to ask of people when they offer to help? Oh. So let's start with showing up to the hospital.

What are your thoughts about this? Not a fan. So Rachel just had a baby And I'm like, hey, we'd love to come visit No, that's asking at least. Yeah, oh, versus just showing up unannounced. Yes, yes. What room are the cruises in?

That happens, yes. It is my parents' generation. Like, they are adamant that you go visit people in the hospital. Boomers feel entitled to seeing this newborn. They're like, this is my doing. And like some of their friends, again, very kind. It's very like, but man, they will show up at the hospital. Isn't that funny?

I'm like, I don't know what that. It is, but it is, it's real. And the first baby I was like... So who do you want there? And when? Family. You know, I had people in my delivery with the Caroline.

Mrs. Don't show up unannounced and you have a party in the delivery room? That's the key. That's my thing. That's my asterisk. People that just show up, they knock on the door and they walk in and you're like, yeah.

You invited, hey, I want you there. Yes. That's different. I know. I had people in Caroline's delivery. Wow. I know not funny. I don't know why.

I just want people to experience it. people in my life, they're like, I've never seen a baby be born. I'm like, we'll come to my delivery. Wow. You do love a delivery. Rachel wants to make a show of everything, apparently. It's a performance. I know.

Some people probably think it's real weird, but I did. But yeah, I don't know. Yeah. But the hospital visits after I would want, I want family. And then like good friends. Yeah. But like I don't like love the coworkers, but like I don't need a co-worker showing up. Okay.

Duly noted. You know what I mean? Like, like, there's. There's just certain things that I'm like... No, I can take the hint. No, not anyone in this room. I consider everyone here friends. So, yes, you would be...

But people that, like, we're a leader or like, I mean, yes. Well, they feel like, well, maybe we should stop by. Yes, because they think we're going to love it. Yeah. It's what my dad always says. I'm totally riding on Dave right now. Dave's always like, everyone wants to show off their baby. I'm like, not when you've just pushed me out of your body.

No, they don't. No, they don't. Like, they want to show it off like two weeks later. Not a fresh eight-hour-old baby. No, do not be showing up to my home. Well, mostly for the mom. Like, mom is recovering here. She just went through a pretty traumatic.

There is something about that. I don't know what it is. But, man, they are, like, going to show up because they think you want it. And you're like, no. Don't assume. Yes. Okay, how about meals and food?

Like bringing meals and food. Oh, it's the best gift you can give anyone. What are your thoughts on that? Best gift you could give anyone. Do you think it's helpful to say, hey, do you want us to stop by or just drop the food at the door? Mm-hmm. Because there's a different.

Sometimes you just don't want to, like, have to be social and see people. Yes, that's right. Sometimes you want them to come in and have some social time. Yes, Sam, my public says she had her baby, and she's very social like me. So I was texting and I was like, hey, I'm going to pick you up. Food, what do you want? She's like, I want to Zikis. Perfect.

I'm bringing you to Zikis. What's your order? What do you want? And she was like, come in and eat with me. And I'm like, no. And I'm more like, no, no, it's fine. And she's like, no, I want you. And I'm like, okay, like, if they are adamant,

because they, like, want to talk and hang out. And that's great. I think that's so fun. Yeah, and you stopped by, and you came in, and we hung out for a little bit. I did. You actually made me a cocktail. That's right. Well, gin and tonic.

Oh, can I say? Mixologist at heart. And I think even then I was like, guys, just kick, do not, I don't want to stay if you do not want me. And Whitney was so sweet. She said, oh, my God, just come here. So I helped me in. Yeah. Well, you also have to know, like, some people are a lot when they enter your house.

Yes. And some people, you know, they're not going to take. they will give. Yes. So it depends on the person and it's okay to set the boundary and be firm with it.

I had a friend come. She was older. She had older kids and she came and I will never forget. She held Amelia. I think it was with Amelia and she was like,

just she goes leave for an hour. Just go into your room, shower, lay down, watch TV, do whatever you want and I'll just be in the living room with Amelia. And if you need,

you know, if I need you, I'll let you know. And I came in Amelia. She was sleeping. and she had done my dishes, like, all this stuff. And I was like, that is like, that's just the best gift. Like one hour. What a gift, you know?

So. We experienced that because Whitney had really tough pregnancy and then postpartum. Hey, y'all had some stuff after her. And to scarlet fever. Yes, I remember that George. I thought that was like scurvy. I thought we eradicated it. Just from little women.

Yeah. So she was on the struggle bus to where I was like, any warm body can enter my house and help. I know. And that was such a gift for friends that showed up while I was at work. They would show up, do laundry, let her shower, or whatever she needed to do, they would just show up. So be that friend, if you can. So sweet, I know.

And don't bring your little kids that you think are so cute around the baby. Yeah, like, no, my kids are great. Yeah, my kid, don't worry. You might as well bring a rot while into the house. And they're like, running around and you're just like, oh, my God, get out of my house. So don't bring your kids to see the baby. It's like bringing a zoo animal being like, no, no, they're really well-behaved. And then I'm cleaning up after your kids.

Yes. No, thank you. Social awareness, everyone. social awareness, especially for new moms. Yeah, just be self-aware and think, would I want someone to do this? And then the answer is still, let me ask. Yeah, that's right, that's right.

All right. Question number six, final one. What is the number one tip for financially preparing for this season? Ooh, is there a number one tip? There's a lot here. I've got a lot. Okay, so after delivery, raid your hospital room. That's such a good idea.

And you know what I did? I learned this trick. I did it with Caroline Charles. I brought an extra little duffel. And every night, I would clean my stuff and put it in a duffle and they come back and restock you. Brilliant. Oh, it is the best.

The key teaching here is when you're paying for this delivery and labor, you're paying for all of the supplies that are in that room at any given moment. So you can take it. Take it. Like a hotel shampoo. And I'm going to say, ladies out there, if you've had a bit, you know this. The underwear they give you, the hospital underwear, it's amazing. You really can't find it anywhere else.

Really? I haven't heard about this And then the squirt box I mean everything that's involved For you as a mom Take it all Take it all as much as you can Oh it's the best

And then for the babies My favorite was the little brush Did you get Did y'all have this? Oh yeah I took like four of those home Tons of diapers They give you like tons of diapers

And wipes Loaded up Creams Yeah Loaded up Circumcision If you have a boy And he circumcised

All the You'll learn this Oh gosh, George, get ready for this. This will be new for you. All the ointment and all of that's. Take all of that and the gauze. That's what I've always wanted. I know.

Ointment and gauze. Get ready. How exciting. Get ready. So here's the take. Ginna knows. If it's, you just take everything if it's not plugged in or bolted in. There you go.

Do it all. Don't like take equipment, but you know, that's illegal. Taking this bed. Although Rachel loves a hospital bed. I love a hospital bed. I love a hospital bed. I love the hospital. I hated at BMA to where I'm confused.

I thrive. I think Whitney gave birth to the same hospital. And I'm like, did we have a very different room? Did you have a presidential suite? No, it wasn't big. I just love it. And the nurses come in and they take the, but let, and that's it. I would say this.

Now some moms don't like this and it's fine. Just don't get mad of me. Let the nurses take the baby to the nursery at night. So you can sleep. And then they will bring you that baby. And you get to hold that baby, feed that baby. And that baby leaves again. And then you get to sleep.

and then during the day, you get to hold the baby all day, and it's wonderful. But like, take advantage of the help there. That was my opinion. But everyone doesn't different. That is true, because once you leave, it's just on you.

Like, I found them very unhelpful when we were leaving. We had a bad... What you don't realize is you have, like, six nurses while you're there. It's not like one person. Yeah, no. Everyone's just shifting in and out.

And so our last nurse was the most unhelpful. To her, I just put the baby in that car seat and head out. I'm like, I don't even know how to do that. I thought they were supposed to, like, do that. help you take it to the car, make sure that the car seats installed safe. None of that. Yeah, you just walk out.

And in Tennessee, you don't get a wheelchair. Some states, they wheel up the mom. Oh, that's nice. Yeah, that would have been nice. We don't have that in Tennessee. And then driving home with that baby for the first time, I've never driven slower. I know.

Did Whitney sit in the back seat? I don't even remember. It was all a blur. Okay, yeah. I slept very poorly. And let me just say, dads, they're like mean to the dads. They do not care about you,

which is understandable. The focus is on the mom. But goodness gracious It was just like I was chopped liver Yeah They just ignored you Yeah Really?

Yeah Like the doctor didn't even make eye contact with me When he would walk in the room To where I was like I'm here too I might be shirtless in a corner Looking disheveled

But I'm here too I'm paying money to be here too Can I say this I don't know why this reminded me We're going off now Do you know what pictures Kind of cringe me a little bit On social media?

The dad's shirtless holding the baby Yes I just saw one I don't skin with the dad I don't know why Today, and I went, I'm going to unfriend this guy. Don't post that. I think it's important to do.

Like, it's like an actual thing. I don't know why. It feels very vulnerable when I see it. I'm just like I shouldn't be seeing this. Capture it for you. I know. Isn't that funny? Do not post that on your side.

I don't want to see your chest. I don't want to see your chest here. It's gross. It's gross. That baby's face. George, I'm with you. I'm picturing it right now. God, we are such on the same team this episode.

I know. We like have a lot of this. same opinions. Let's talk finances. I'll give you my number because we said tip financially. Okay. The surprise does count because you paid money for it. Yeah. Yeah. But researching the cost of your birth plan, I think, is very wise. And they'll usually explain to you if you pay attention, here's how much the total birth will cost out of pocket. That's the number you want to focus on. What is my total out of pocket cost? What is my insurance cover? What is it not cover? What is my out of pocket maximum? All of that stuff matters because you think, well, babies are expensive.

Well, they're expensive up to a point, but insurance will kick in. Yes, that's right. Yeah, so here's some just data from the past two to three years. So the average cost for pregnancy visits, hospital childbirth, postpartum care, all of that is around $18,865. Insurance typically covers about $16,011 of that, leaving you out of pocket with on average $2,854. So about $3,000.

The sticker shock just kind of faded away. when you hear 18 grand and then heard less than 3 grand. Yeah, that's right. That's right. Yeah. So insurance is a wonderful, wonderful thing for sure. And again, making sure that you're just planning ahead. So you've got nine months when you find out you're pregnant. So be thinking and putting some money away and you always want to pause if you're on baby step two,

the dead snowball. So just pause that and just stockpile some money and be saving, saving, saving, saving for this, saving for, you know, when they come home. And you're starting to adjust to a new life. There's going to be a new line item in your budget. doing a budget every dollar incredible budgeting app but put a line item for baby in your every dollar budget because you're going to be spending money on that baby and just and it takes a few months to kind of get in the rhythm of like okay are we doing formula what kind of diapers are we buying and

wipes like you get into your rhythm of how often you're needing to buy these things and all of it so that's a good reminder so give yourself a few months to kind of get in that rhythm and know what how much it costs and don't get overwhelmed by the cost because a lot of things will be covered by your registry. If you have a shower, people will want to buy things for you, especially if you have family. And on top of that, what we did was just buy a lot of things used. So the recliner, we got a nice like pottery barn recliner, but we got it used off Facebook. It was super cheap. Same with our crib. It was a high quality crib, used off Facebook. And so don't be afraid to go used. People are getting rid of baby stuff all the time. So you don't need to spend high dollar amount to get high quality.

Yep. So great. All right, George. So takeaways, you know, I think babies are wonderful, so fun. And I think you get to make a lot of decisions on what you're spending on them when it comes to like the gear and all of that. But, you know, I think it is one of that we talk about this a lot as kind of putting the blinders on with your life. But especially the comparison thing is so real, so real. And especially if you're a new mom, it like piles on even more. So doing what is best for you guys and staying within your budget. Don't go into debt for this stuff. But there's something about just like getting in the habit and the rhythm of making decisions that's best for you. So epidural or not, let the nurse take the baby, or not nurse or bottle feed.

Or, you know what I mean? Like, you get to make these decisions for what's best for you. And so remember that, be very secure in it. That's what I would tell new mom, Rachel. That's really good. I'll add to that. There are so many unknowns, and you will never have it figured out. I don't care how many books you read.

You just figure it out on the fly. And just like marriage. You can do premarital counseling, but until you live together and deal with all the actual reality, of it, you just don't know. And so I would say, jump into it, figure it out, and rarely will you ever find someone to look back and said, I wish we never had kids.

Kids are truly a wonderful blessing. And it's hard, just like marriage is hard. That's right. But marriage is still worth it. And so I'd recommend it. To anyone out there who's wondering, should you have a kid, do it. Because I truly, I have not felt that level of joy in my life

as looking at that baby's eye, especially when you can, like, they get older, you can interact with them. Because for the dads out there, you think, like, oh, having a baby's going to be fun, to have this little person, they're really not fun for the first, like, six months to a year.

They give you nothing. They just lay there. As someone who wants to get a, you know, needs some applause, some affirmation, it took a good year, year and a half for that baby to even, like, smile at me. Oh, my gosh. But now I can get her to laugh,

and it's the best thing. Sweet. It's the best. So great. Oh, so fun, George. If I can be a dad, anyone can be a dad. If George can do it, you can do. You can Google it.

We have chat GPT now. Our parents didn't have. this you'll be okay you're a great dad george all right before we spill the tea on our guilty is charged tell us about the drink all right here's the drink the bourbon orange cost four dollars and 46 cents per class it's up there it's up there and the ingredients are bourbon fresh sumo citrus juice orange juice will work as well i don't even know what sumo citrus is orange liqueur a little simple syrup for sweetener orange bitters and some soda water to add a little bubbly to it okay i thought it was nice it kind of felt like a she drink.

Yeah. I don't know that I would order it at a restaurant. I don't think I would either. Just give me a mimosa or a bloody man. Six and a half? I'm going to go six. I think six and a half is generous.

And Michael's going to get mad at us because he didn't like the ice that we used this drink. But the ice melted it. So I did kind of make it watery. Yeah. It got water down pretty quick, which he warned us about.

I know. Still a good drink. I just, it's not something that I would order, which is Rachel's take on how you rate these. I'm going to say, yep, six and a half. Hey, maybe you will. love it. Give it a try. Recipes in the show notes. Let us know what you think.

All right. Now it's time for Guilty as charged. And this is where we ask each other a guilty charge question every week. And if we're guilty, we take a sip. All right, George, you ready? Yes. This is funny. Have you ever told someone you loved them without meaning to? Oh, gosh.

Someone that was not your spouse or family. I did. Like a stranger? No. To Jeremy Breeland. He's my boss. We were on the phone about something I was traveling and all this. We're like this, this, this, this. And I was like, all right, love you, bye. And I was like, oh my gosh. No, I don't. Had you already hung up? Or was it not late? Like, no, and he started laughing. He says, okay. And I know Jen, his wife,

like, she's so great. He gets that a lot. He was like, I do that, you know. He's like, oh, I've done that, don't worry. He is a lovable guy. I was like, I can't have, like, I just told Jerry Braylin. I loved him. Oh, my gosh. I will say, I do it, but I mean it. I'll do it to, like, if Winston was on the phone with you right now and you said, all right, love you, I would chime in. Love you, Winston. Thanks, Winston. Love you. Oh, gotcha. So I do it to troll, but I also Not an accident, though. Well, it's a troll,

but I can secretly mean it, and he doesn't know. Oh, so you're kind of being vulnerable, but truly I'm being vulnerable. Sweet yours. Because I do love Winston. It all wrapped in humor. Is it a Smart Money Happy Hour episode if I don't show love to Winston? But I do, you know what I do? When I say, like, have a good flight, I'm like, you too, I'm like, you're not going on the flight.

Oh, I know. You work in the airport. What am I thinking? People, though, cringe. that they do that. It's very cringing. I know. It's a very human experience. Yes, I know. To have that level of regret.

Yeah, the waiters like, hope you're enjoying the meal. You too. I hope you get to eat today. Sorry, I hope everything's okay. Oh, we'll make sure to DMS your guilty is charged questions and hopefully in the future

we'll use them on an episode. So if you guys enjoyed this episode, you'll definitely enjoy the episode with my kids. A million Caroline. One of my favorites. I left Charles out of this one. but make sure to check out putting our financial knowledge to the test with some special guests.

So you can click there to watch that episode or we'll put a link in the description. And make sure to subscribe to the channel so you don't miss an all new episode of Smart Money Happy Hour.