Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel - “Harmless” Purchases That Drain Your Bank Account

Episode Date: March 28, 2024

💵 Create a free budget! Sign up for EveryDollar today.  Life is hard, but it’s nothing a “little treat” can’t fix . . . right? Get Rachel and George’s take on the true cost of those seemingly innocent serotonin splurges. Plus, we’re keeping our hosts honest about the treats they secretly love to indulge in! Next Steps ·      🔎 Get help from a financial advisor to avoid those sneaky loopholes that will leave you broke. ·      ➡️ Don't miss out on the tax deductions you qualify for—get help from a pro. ·      📱Submit 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. Today’s Happy Hour Special 🍸 Mudslide Ingredients: ·      2 ounces vodka ·      1 ounce Bailey’s Irish Cream ·      1 ounce Kahlúa ·      1 1/2 ounces heavy cream ·      Chocolate syrup Instructions: In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine the vodka, Bailey’s, Kahlúa and heavy cream. Shake until well chilled. Decorate the inside of your favorite cocktail glass with a drizzle of chocolate syrup. Strain the shaker into the decorated glass and enjoy! Listen to More From Ramsey Network 🎙️ The Ramsey Show   🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 💡 The Rachel Cruze Show 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 💰 George Kamel 💼 The Ken Coleman Show 📈 EntreLeadership Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy 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. Yes. That's going to leave a mark. Well, done.

Well, this is the show where two friends who happen to be money experts talk about what you're talking about. It's everything from pop culture, current events, and money. And today, we are coming for one of our own, Rachel. Our associate producer, Ibu, it's going to sting her a little bit, and she's in the room. But try to remember that mom and dad are here for you. And this is all out of love. That's right, yeah, because it's time to have an honest conversation about how little treats, if you will, are leaving money leaks.

So if you don't know what those terms are, don't worry. We will inform you and educate you. We're going to keep you relevant if it's the last thing we do. That's right. But before we get going, George, what do we sip it on? We have something called a mudslide, Rachel. Mm-hmm. It sounds disgusting, but...

dessert in a glass. It's kind of like... Chocolate milk. Yeah, it's like if an ice cream Sunday melted, but then you added some alcohol. So, stick around. If you want more deets on that, we'll give you the rating, the cost per glass, and the recipe in the show notes. That's right. So there's two terms right now going around the internet, George.

Little treats and money leaks. Okay, I'll cover money leaks. We're going to combine them in this episode so that we all can learn a little something. Well, one thing leads to the next. That's how it goes. So a money leak, as you could imagine, is a little small expense. It's a leak. It's not something drastic, but...

We're not worried. A little drip, drip from the faucet. You know, when you combine with a few dozen money leaks, it starts to add up and drain your budget. So that $9.99 charge from Apple every other week. Who knows what that's about? You don't know. Rachel just keeps paying for it.

The gym membership that gets used and sometimes doesn't get used, maybe that X-Finity bill that crept up from $79 to $119,19, and you're like, how, why? And you were too lazy to call customer service. That's a money leak, too. And then the seven different streaming services that you have that are all less than $20 a piece. But add it up, it's $217. The money leaking. I can hear it from a mile away, George.

And it's probably been a minute since most of us have really done a deep dive on some of these little leaks. And so we're going to help you with that today. And they're real, because here's what's hard about it, is in the very moment, Even when I'm doing my every dollar budget, it hurts when you say $999 from Apple because I get those. And I'm like, I just put them in the subs. That's High Club for me.

I just put them in the subscription category. And I'm like, I don't, because in the moment I think, oh, I need to check on that. And then dogs barking, you know. What does that have to do with this? The microwave breaks. Your microwave broke?

What's the song? What's the country? song. Living like a dying? In the microwave? Truck, yeah? But I'm just going to say it's a great day to be alive. Anyways, that unfolded quickly. I'm just saying life happens, George. Life happens. In the moment you drag that expense, life starts happening. Rice is cooking. Wice is cooking a microwave. Rachel's known for her microwave rice. Wow. That's it. I'm just saying, not to justify it, you just don't have time to go back.

Yeah, dogs barking, microwave is breaking. Life happens. I get it. So describe what little treat is. Okay, so a little treat. It's a term on all the TikTok girlies they're using these days where it's basically just harmless, you know, little purchases that you make throughout the day or the week and you're just like, it's just my little treats, you know.

That's how you justify it. It's just a Tuesday. Just sort of, I deserve it. It's a little treats, you know, it's Starbucks, Starbucks run. Treat your self. $8, you know? Just need a vent. I think of parts and rent.

You know, some. Skin care. It's all for health. You know, just a little treat there. That's a treat? Okay. You know, extra guac, $3, $4.

But you just ask. $4? Is that what they charge these days? Do you not get it? I don't do it. It's a scam. No little treats for George. I'm not getting scammed into little treats.

Well, it's just all those like, yeah. You know, just. The extra cocktail? Yeah. That girl's night. That's right. It's McKinley Gracie's. Burnsley Grace's birthday.

Had to get her in every. Mr. Mojito. She loves those little things. Loves those mojitos. So yeah, you just enjoy life. Just a little treat here and there. I feel like this started kind of in the COVID era where we had this sort of like existential crisis. When like life is short, get the guac. Like that's kind of how it felt. Yeah. Well, it's just like, yeah, life is short. So it's kind of like the Gen Z version of retail therapy, right? Where it's kind of like, listen. Let's just enjoy life. Just spend a little. We're just going to enjoy life. It's not that big of deal. It's $3 for extra quack, but it makes me happy.

So how do we? It's a little treat. How do we find this balance, Rachel, between enjoying life, spending money, also having goals? I know. It's hard. It is hard. Because I do think we need permission to spend and enjoy some little treats. But it's when the justification of those little treats start to be money leaks. And you look up and you're like, oh, my gosh, I have no margin.

But then you go back and you're like, I bet I could probably find $200, $300 worth of little treats and money leaks. And life's couch cushions. That's what I call them. Oh. Just the wisdom of the ages. Okay, Rachel, like any important movement throughout history, the culture shifting work, it has to start with us. We need to make sure that we're practicing what we're preaching here.

Yes, yep. And so, you know, we love to lead by example. Do you? So I think apparently Skyler, there's a surprise that's going to happen, Georgia, and we don't know this. It's not on our papers. We did our work before this episode to prep for you all listening and watching. It took days of prep work.

We really. Calisthenics. We tried so hard to prep for this episode. And then half of the episode we can't prep for because we don't know what's about to happen. So Skyler. We don't like being unprepared, Skylar. Do you know something that we don't? I do.

We actually had producer Ibu dig some dirt on both of the all. Oh, crap. Yeah. Listen, what I tweeted in 2013 was my business. You don't need to go searching back that far. So we had producer Ibu reach out to Winston and Whitney. Wow. You think you know someone.

And we're going to talk about your little treats that you like you. George! Do you feel violent? I do. I think trust was broken in my marriage. Yep. So we're going to read off your little treats from Winston and Whitney. Wow.

We're going to go through Rachel's first. And I'm going to talk through what Winston deems as a little treat of yours. Just the sacrificial lamb. And we need George to rate it. And I weigh in on these little trees. You need to weigh in. So I want you to rate it from one through ten. Yeah, I think you're asking for judgment, which I'm happy to do.

Yeah. Okay. Judge it, yeah. Oh my gosh. I'm so nervous. I go. Rip the Band-aid off. All right.

So the first one from Winston is reflexology. Oh. And quote, she gets reflexology foot care at this random tiny massage place all the time. Aqua? Aquafoot. And you've been there. You can't judge me. I can't judge.

I do the chair massage. Okay. Y'all, it is the guys from the mall. You know, all the guys in the mall that have their stations up? There's no context. People don't know what you're talking about. You say guys from the mall. Well, I'm giving it.

It's the same guys that give the chair massages at the mall who are so good. They have a store in a strip mall right beside the mall. It's right by a subway and a CBD store. It's in between subway and a CBD store. That gives you some context clues for how classy. this place is. But it's so cheap. And they do reflexology.

And you know who told me about it was bartender Michael Reddish. That's true. I think Michael actually was the original one that told me because we used to have our office of Ramsey's Solutions right by there. So on lunch breaks, I would go get subway and reflexology. Subway and reflexology.

Can we be clear? Reflexology is not like a scientific, fancy medical. You're getting a foot massage. That's all it is. Hold on. The holistic body would prove otherwise. that parts of pressure points and your feet are connected

to your liver and to your, like, all these things and apparently it is healthy. Our next one is books. She'll order books all the time. She probably eventually reads them but usually sits them all around the house for a while.

And he also said you don't read some of them. Wow, Winston just threw you under the bus. I do. Probably reads them eventually, maybe. I do know. I do on the fly. And then leaves them all around the house. was another tip. Because I opened my Amazon package somewhere as I'm getting my rice from the microwave

and I'm like doing all my life. So I end up setting it somewhere and then I don't move it. That is true. It is true. Wow. So Winston's just going around the house picking up your old water bottles and books. He's like Bell from beating the bees just gathering books around in a basket for me. Must be nice. Our last one is any small clothes related purchase. Yeah. He says, I think we single-handedly keep Target and Amber Cromby in business. Wow. What are these little clothing-related purchases? I just like, like, if there's a great, I don't know, sweater, jeans.

Okay. You know what Whitney uses as a justification? She's like, I just need something I can just throw on. I'm like, how many things do you just need to throw on? I have a lot of comfy clothes. I'm like, this is just a comfy. That's how I say. comfy pants or comfy shirt.

But I have a lot of them. So much comfort in your life. I know. Okay, George, I need you to rate these one through 10. One is least damaging. 10 is most damaging. Wow. I mean, I don't think like her salvation is at stake here.

Thank you. So I feels aggressive to be like, this is damaging. I mean, she's budgeting for it. We know that. She's the budgeting queen. So I'm going to say, I'll give these a three. A three. What about, I think the massage is a little higher than a three, though.

Wow. That's just like a little treat. Judge Judy over there. Skyler. I think the subway plus reflexology, that is truly a treat. I do love a subway sandwich. I don't care who you are. There's no shame in that.

There's just judgment and disappointment. Just great. Okay, so reflexology is worse. Probably close. And then books, books are educational. Rachel. I read about the war. Rachel.

None of these books are educational. Yes, some of them are World War II. Half of them are murder mysteries. Yes. But what's the last, like, non-fiction? No, I see, with one eye open. What's the last biography you read? The Escape Artist.

It was one of the only one of three Jews that escaped Auschwitz. And that was the book I read before my other two murder mystery books. Wow. It's actually a great book. Snuck a little historical read in there. I do love War II. Those are pretty tame. Thank you.

All right, George. So your first one is fancy sparkling water. Whitney says, What makes it fancy? Whitney says, George always needs to buy at least one case when he goes to the store, and he is always auto-shipping them from Amazon. That's true.

What kind of sparkling water do you get? When I get Autoship from Amazon a spin drift. Oh, okay. That's fair. Which is a fancy sparkling water, to be fair. But it's far above the loquoise in a world. It's in a can, not glass bottle, like a Toa Chico. I am drinking the BPAs.

So good. But yes, I do love my sparkling water. And truth be told, Whitney drinks more of it than I even do. And we are addicted. I'm talking like probably three, four cans a day of sparkling water we go through. Wow. Yeah, that's a lot. Topo chico at all?

I do love Topo, but that feels like a real treat. If I get some topo, I'm like savoring it. Okay, good to know. But yes, that's a good one. All right, so your next one is techie gadgets. Oh, I think she said tacky gadgets. I was like, that's rude. No, she said techie gadgets, mostly random chords that make his life easier.

She says that you get dramatically long iPhone cables and cables that charge faster. And this is true. Because you came into a meeting the other day saying, look at my six foot long iPhone cable. It wasn't a flex. Yes, it was. No one's impressed. Okay, here's the truth. I was trying to be a good husband.

And so for the nursery, when we're sitting in recliner. Don't blame me up for this. I needed to get a longer charger. So I got a two pack on Amazon of iPhone chargers, even though we have like a bunch. I just wanted one in every part of the house. Do you have a, do you have like a Velcro tie for all your cords? keep them in a circle. Like, you know, I feel like...

I do have a few of those. Like our audio people are really good at, like, chord management. Are you, like, good at that? I do have, like, the box of cords and cables when I try to keep them fairly organized. Yeah. I did just buy, this is a guilty pleasure.

I bought my first thing from TikTok shop. Wow. What was it? And it was drawer organizers. Techy gadgets? And I used it to now get all my... So my junk drawer next to my bed is now less junkie. Well, there you go.

So... Feels good. There you go. And Whitney benefits from keeping her phone charge. All right. The next one, Whitney. said was fancy soap. George always has to be...

George always has to have foaming or a bar soap. This man is always washing his hands. That's true. Oh, it's so damaging. Oh, that one's hurtful. That one's hurtful. If I have to use like the liquid...

You know, like the little liquid soap, it bothers me. Oh my gosh. I can't. If I have to create the foam. That's an eight on our scale from one to eight. Yes. Soap is an eight for me.

We have the method foaming hand soap all over the house and I do use bar soap. This is the real, real, I use bar soap in the shower and I wash my hands between. Like if I do shampoo, I can't. I'll wash my hands with bar soap before putting conditioner in. Oh, wow. To get the oils off of my hands.

They bothers me. George Camel. It's called obsessive compulsive disorder and it's a medical condition, Rachel. So judge all you want. I want to give you freedom. Like, oh my gosh. I know. Such a sad life.

Thank you. My latest fan. Nancy soap is Dr. Squatch. Oh. About six bucks a bar for this soap, and I'm excited to report back how it goes, so keep you posted. Can't wait.

Yeah. All right. Oh, George. Okay, soap is an eight. I'm sorry. I feel so triggered. Listen, if soap and sparkling water is a little treat, then I'm a loser.

Soap is, like, really bizarre. Like, that's a... What kind of soap do you guys use? Dove. What do you mean dove? Like a bar of soap? Oh, I mean like by the kitchen. You're a foaming family?

Method? Foaming? No, but I mean, but one is foam. One is not. And I think because I just went to target and grab some. You just grab one, willy-nilly, without any intentionality or care for your family. Don't read the labels. Those poor little girls, Charles having to create the foam himself.

So gel soap makes you sad. Gel soap makes me sad. Wow, okay. I don't like it. We do have a follow-up. the soap. Our last one is Keel's ultra-hydrating cream. So Whitney says he gets this for his hands

to counteract the excessive hand-washing. Oh, that's so funny. First of all, it's the hand-saf that they make. And I have that my bag at all times, and next to the bed. So I can re-moisterize after stripping my hands of all the moisture because I wash my hand so much. How much is this?

How much is this? Oh, that lotion. That hand-sav, I think, is like 20-something for a thing of it. And they took it away from me at the airport because she was like, hey, this is over four ounces. And I was like, ma'am, it's hand lotion. She's like, yeah, but I can't see through it, so I don't know

what's inside it. My crackly hands, ma'am, please. So she took it. And I was like, that's at least $14 left in that. Oh, man. She didn't care. No, she didn't. Thanks for throwing us under the bus spouses.

You think you know someone. You think you know. Unbelievable. That was fun. Yep. Okay, so now that we've come forward and, you know, paid for our sins, literally. We have a toned.

We are here. We have been judged. We want to hear from the people. That's right. And today you're going to get a double dose of the listener's favorite guilty-as-charged segment. So don't worry, we still have our usual question at the end. But we're also going to react to a list of common money leaks

and confess if we've ever been guilty of these little treat crimes. So, Skyler, do the honors for us. Great. So our first one is, got the free trial on Apple TV for Ted Lassow. Never canceled my subscription, and it's been three years. I had empathy, and then they said three years, and it turned to sympathy, and it's now turning to judgment. Three years is a long time to forget that you're paying $6 to $10 a month now.

Apple has been upping it over those three years, by the way. What do you think? I think I'm guilty. I think that maybe where my $9.99 charge is going from. See, I fell for the Apple free trial. Not newsroom, morning show. That's when I fell for the street. Ted Lasso.

Yep. Yeah, I'd seen a cancel. But then Ted Lasso ended and we're like, what are we using this for? And I know there's some great shows on there, but I don't watch them. No. So that one we're guilty of. We're guilty. Not three years, but still guilty.

Yeah. Okay. Our next one is, my mother buys new lives on Candy Crush and she realized she spent $150 last month. Oh my gosh. I am not guilty of this. I think buying lives on games is silly. I've never done it. Oh, George.

What did you buy? Can I be honest with you? No. I've never been a gamer in any sense of the word. Not since I was a kid. But I downloaded this game called Monopoly Go. Oh my gosh. Don't do it, guys.

I'm telling the audience right now, don't do it. Like, if you have a family, you have goals, you have priorities, do not download this game. It's addictive. But they are so good at getting you. Because at the first, I was like, who would spend money on a game? And then I was. You did on Monopoly Go. And I was like, 99 cents for a shield?

Sure. Not 150 bucks in a month. That's a lot. How much total Monopoly go? I couldn't tell you. Fifteen? Yeah. Okay.

That feels right. Okay. It's very rare. It's out of desperation. But I'm about done with it. My brother and my wife had an intervention with me. You have to delete this. Oh, my gosh.

It's just sort of like a go-to vice when you want to just veg out and stare at your phone. You know, you just... It's better than social media, right? It's like going to Vegas and you just hit the button, and it's just bright garbage in her face. Just watching. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Totally fair.

Thank you. All right, our next one is Amazon is the new Target. We've all recognized that we spend way too much at Target, but I deleted my Amazon app last month and literally saved hundreds. Honestly, good on them for deleting it. I don't know that I'd have that kind of courage. I'm guilty. Yeah.

Amazon is the new target. I'm going to go with that. I would agree with that, too. I would agree with that because it's just so cheap. Do you remember the last thing you bought off Amazon? You know what I bought? It was last, I don't know, it was like the exact last thing. one of my last five, I needed a nail file.

I could not find a nail file around my house. I'm like, oh, my gosh. Go on Amazon. I just, it's $4.99. I should order it. Y'all, a box of 20 nail files come to my house. And I was like, oh, my gosh. I know, so that's my thing.

I'm like, you spend five bucks. You get an excess that you don't need, but. Hook your boy up. These nails be crispy. I can use them. It's got to wash your hands so much. Lotions on working. It's all losh.

All right. Our next one is ordering. caseo every time I go out to eat Mexican food. Oh, wow. That's a Rachel move right there. Because we eat cheap Mexican when we go out. Like you go to the whole-in-the-wall Mexican places. Oh, yeah.

I did a fancy Mexican place this week with mixologist Michael Reddish. Yeah? Guess how much we spent. I got three tacos, two margaritas. Is this plus tip? After tax and tip. I'm going $83. Whoa.

What was it? No, not nearly that. much. Oh. It was $58. Okay. Which still shocked me to my core. Well, I'm going 20-20 for the Margs.

40 bucks. Yeah, they were like 12 bucks. Okay. That's not bad. Okay, I went two, two, two-two. But still, I thought like I didn't get much food. I went 60 and then I went tip-tax 80. Yeah.

Um, okay. Well, that's, that's a fancy Mexican place. It is. You can get a pitcher of Margs for that. You really want to go crazy. Yeah. But I don't do queso. I'm more of a guac guy. Okay, we're queso.

You're a queso family. Yep. All right. Guilty. All right. So our next one is I get a $6.00 latte from Starbucks every day on the way to work and a $2. Sonic sweet tea every afternoon. This almost adds up to $2,100 a year.

That's a lot. Dang. That's a money leak right there. Eight bucks a day, just gone. You know, I'm going to be honest. And I get there's joy there. You know, it's like your routine. It's like, oh, I'm looking forward to my little treat.

I know. Can I say this? Maybe a little prideful. You can say it. I've never been the Starbucks run through girl. You're better than all of us. But it is not a guilty pleasure for me. Yeah.

It is not the thing that I'm like, everyone's like, oh my gosh, so Starbucks, Starbucks. I'm like, I mean, I just, I don't go to Starbucks. It's not my thing. That's fair. I go to Abercrombie. That's your thing. That's your thing. Starbucks.

Yeah. Well, I get that people, like Starbucks has created a very addictive sort of, I know it's going to be consistent. I know it's going to be filled with sugar, which is most people. Yes. Because if you drink your coffee black, I used to do this on the way to work. And I calculated it. It was like $1.80 for my, you know, tall black coffee. And I knew in my budget, this is what I'm going to spend every day, every weekday on the way to work. Yeah. But $6 plus the $2, $8, that's a lot. It just sorts to, yeah, add up. Goodness gracious. Yeah. I'm not guilty on that one. I'll say. that. Our last one is meal delivery services at least twice a week. Probably should cut back.

Ooh. What constitutes meal delivery? Like the little kits that you get? Or is this like Uber Eats? No, Uber Eats is what I would assume. For some reason, meal delivery feels different. I just do, no, our consistent is pizza delivery, but I feel like that's okay. Does I feel like more like a sin? Why is it a sin? No, more than like meal delivery. Oh, I mean, I think Uber Eats is wildly more expensive than just getting pizza delivered. Yes, yeah. Because Uber is charging, they don't make food. They're charging, the restaurant charges a premium, plus there's Uber fees.

And so that adds up real quick. So if that's a habit, I think that one is legitimately keeping a lot of people broke. Yes, it's very expensive. They don't realize how much they're spending out of convenience. Because I get it. Like you don't want to go out. It's been a long day at work, and you're just like, I'll just get someone off Uber Eats. Yep.

So great side hustle to make money, but. Yeah, don't spend it. Not great for your wallet when you're spending it. Oh, man. Man, sweet treats. A lot of little treats causing these money leaks. Are we Debbie Downers on this episode? Because at the end of the day, you're like,

well, what is the point of life, Rachel? If I can't just have these little joys? I mean, there's a part, yeah, where I'm like, is it just going to be the 401K that gets the smile? Or am I going to be happy? You know, I feel that sometimes, where I'm like, you're welcome kids.

But mom's not getting, yeah. I think the key differentiator is, are you self-aware of what this is really costing you and is it holding you back from your other financial goals? Yes. Because if you're complaining that you're broke and inflation while still doing all of these things, I don't have much empathy for you.

That's right, yep. I know. And I will say the little treats, like we have to acknowledge the lifestyle expectation that we have. I mean, you think about the Oregon Trail, George. They got diseases. They're dying from animals.

I mean, it's just terrible. And they... Why you got to bring dysentery into this? We're having a good time. really survived. You know, and we just are living the good life. We are privileged. From a basic level, y'all, we are bored as humanity.

We don't have to hunt for food. We got our water when you... I mean, like, there's not much to do. That's how I know. Which I think we have to realize. We've come so full circle that we are so bored and so privileged with so much wealth that we're like, what if we camped for fun and lived outside and hunted for fun, even though we can go to the grocery store to get our food?

Yes, I know. And then like exercise, they had... You had to build an exercise. and your routine, because back in the day, you'd carry wood on your shoulder. That's right. You didn't have to lift weights. Your life was that, you know?

Man, what if, that would be a very interesting movie. If you got, like, a group of a society, you know? A group of a society? Like Brentwood, Tennessee. And, like, you snapped your fingers, and it was like, survive. Yes. Who could do it? Thank you Winston for being who you are.

Like, Winston could survive. Oh, my God. I would never survive. reality TV show. Yes. Survivor. Yes. We put normal people,

normal jobs, and they have to... With rice and no microwave. No microwave. Dogs barking. That's genius. But it's true. Our ancestors were trying to survive.

We are now thriving. Like by all measures, while it still feels hard because we can't own a house and we're going to tweet from our $1,500 iPhones how hard life is. But like truthfully,

we have it really good. Especially like in America. I can't speak for all countries. Sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know how Luxembourg is doing. Yeah. Western society, especially in America.

It is, yeah. I mean, shake my head a little bit. Right? SMH. At all. Shmaha. Well. No.

Yeah. There it is. Throwback to another episode. If you know, you know. If you know. So how can we remedy this, Rachel? What do we do? Okay.

So I think one of the things you can do is, If you're going to have these little treats, budget. Boo. Fuddy-Duddy. No, but for real, though. Be able to have the plan and say, okay, it's there, right? I mean, that's what I do from, like, the dip manicure, right? I'm like, it's going to be there.

And I put it in the budget. I know it's going to be there. And then the money leaks. We have to be accountable to ourselves. Like, when you see it come through on the every dollar app, I'm telling myself this. Don't just ignore it. Follow up, right? Because I'm like that, it really is.

I mean, we have a gym membership, y'all, we've been paying. and our work, like we get a... Like a reimbursement. Yes, but you pay a little bit, you know? Like, so it's a very small amount. It's like $40, I think. But we don't go to the gym. So I'm like, oh my God, that.

Fooled me? I just feel very convicted. I work out in my garage. Same. But the money leaks are real. So the budget really does help see where the money leaks are happening. You can budget in the little treats.

And some of them you just got to cut out, though, because it's just too much after you see how it's added up. But every dollar, it really does help. Yes, and you can't just bear your head in the sand. Like, if you go to your bank statements, just have a brave moment and just actually add up what you really spent on food. Not what you think you're spending on food.

That's the one category I think is tanking a lot of people, probably followed by subscriptions and little shopping things here and there and those little daily visits to the gas station snacks or your favorite spot drive-through. It adds up. It does, yeah. And it sounds like, okay, whatever. But truly, that's hundreds, maybe thousands.

of dollars a year, you could be spending on things that really matter, like getting the emergency fund or paying off debt or investing. Yes, especially, yeah, if you're in debt and you don't have savings, that's the time to buckle down. You know, ooh. That was good. We made it. Money leaks and little treats, y'all. It's real.

I feel so exposed. All right, it's almost the end of the episode and we close on every episode with Guilty as charged. And this is where our producer, Skylar, gives us a new guilty-starch question every week. And if we are guilty, we take a sip. All right, we do have. a little surprise for you both.

Oh my gosh. Do you have a little treat for us? We have a little quick surprise. Oh my. It's sponsored by associate producer Ibu. And it's just a little treat for you both of you. Look at this. Gluten free butlet.

Oh my gosh. Thank you so much. That is unbelievably kind. That's really kind. Thank you. Especially after we got just thrown under the bus. I know. Have you tried?

That's good. Have you had nothing bun cake? Yes, I have. But you've had their gluten-free bunlet? Can you do me the honors and try it? May I? Is it great? It is.

Your gluten-free snacks are very interesting, George. Well, this you would never be able to tell. It doesn't look gluten-free. I guarantee you that. Holy man. She's very good. I'm telling you, you pop that in the microwave for about 15 seconds. It'll change your family tree, Rachel.

I'm telling you. Not an ad for nothing bun cake, but if you got one. And gluten free. And gluten free. They nailed it. Thank you. All right, so today's guilty as charged question is, have you ever hidden sweets so no one else can find them?

Oh. Genuinely, no. I'm not a sweet person. It can be like anything or a treat, sweet. A piece of pizza, whatever it could be. Yes. Yes. You've hidden pizza around the house?

No. Is there something that you're like, hey, you've got a big family. I have a bag of chips. And if I love my bag of chips, my kids will devour them. My favorite is the jalapeno. It's called July. Late July. Late July.

The jalapeno lime. Oh. My gosh. So I'll hide those. They're not allowed. They're expensive. The kids don't understand. Yeah.

This is not your, like, lays. So that's what I do. I'm not a candy. I'm not like a sweet person. Yeah. But no, I'll hide my kids their own candy, like after Halloween because they'll just... Wow. Monster it up.

That's good. What about you? Yeah, I have... We got an outside fridge. Like a little, like a, just a freezer. Just like a standalone freezer when Mia was born. And now I hide ice cream in there because if I leave the Jenny's gooey buttercake or... Their ice cream, their birthday one.

Your wife. Then she will access it and it will be gone. The adults in the house, you hide from, not children, because obviously Mia can't walk. She can't even eat real food. So that's not a problem. But I hide it. But you hide it from Whitney. Well, I'll enjoy it with her.

But if left her own devices, I will never get to try that ice cream. You'll never know. You never know. Oh, man. So there you go. Whitney, throwing you back under the bus. I'm sorry. She's great. We have a good time.

Oh, love it. Also, can I say, I was once in Dave and Sharon's house because we filmed a home alone spoof. I remember that? And I opened the freezer and I saw three pints of jenny's. And my first thought was, this is wealth. This is how the true wealthy people live. Three pints of jenny's at the ready.

Just there. So shout out to Dave and Sharon for, number one, wealth. Number two, great taste in ice cream. Great taste. All right, George, speaking of, who finished first? You're closer to finishing this one. Oh, really? Yeah.

Oh, yeah, yeah, I am. Yeah. It's rich. It is rich. I mean, I feel like I just drank ice cream. So this is a mudslide. And what would you rate this? It's hard to knock.

Okay, here's what I would say. It's the kind of drink I would order with desserts. Because normally like an espresso martini or something like that. Oh, yeah. It reminds me of that without the caffeine. So almost if I wanted that fun dessert drink, I would get that. Wow. So I'm going to go 9 out of 10 because I don't...

Well, it is dessert. I wouldn't get it with dessert because it is a dessert in an other self. You know what, that's fair. That's fair. That's fair. Yeah. But it's the after-dinner drink that I would do. Okay. What's your rating? So 9 out of 10 because I'm not an after drink or I'm not like an after-dinner drink kind of person. But if I was and I didn't want the caffeine of the espresso martini, let's slide. That's good. What about you?

Yeah. I'm going to go 8 out of 10. And only because it's so sweet that I almost want to cut it with the bitterness. of like espresso. Yeah. Do we like espresso martinis better? I think we do, but this was literally dessert in a cup, and I think anyone who enjoys ice cream, chocolate. Desert and cups, you'll like it.

Check it out. Here's the cost breakdown. She ain't cheap, Rachel. Oh, wow. She knows her worth. She knows her worth. She comes out to $3.92 per glass. And here's why.

You've got vodka. You've got Bailey's Irish cream, which is another liqueur. You've got Kalua, which is a coffee liqueur and heavy whipping cream and chocolate sauce. Wow. It's a fancy one. Yeah. And Michael did a great job with the decor if you can see the Kutramans here. Yeah, because some of our drinks you can make at home, this would be a hard one to make at home, in my opinion.

Because there's a lot going on. Yeah, it would be a restaurant drink. Yeah. That's fair. But it's really good. So check out the recipe in the show notes and give it a try this weekend. All right. It's closing time.

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