Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel - How Matt and Abby Went From Broke College Kids to “Unplanned” Influencers

Episode Date: September 25, 2025

💸 Want to see how fast you can pay off your house? Use our FREE Mortgage Payoff Calculator.   Matt and Abby from The Unplanned Podcast join Rachel and George to reminisce on early married life working the Ramsey plan, dancing through their pandemic TikTok success and so much more.   Next Steps: 🎥 Watch our video Baby Q&A: Costs, Essentials and Honest Advice. 🍸 Follow Smart Money Happy Hour on TikTok: @smartmoneyhappyhour. 📱 Submit a Guilty As Charged question for Rachel and George! Leave us a voicemail with your question at 877-306-1517 or 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.  💵 Create a budget and track expenses with EveryDollar.   Connect With Our Sponsors: Check out the FAIRWINDS credit union exclusive account bundle. Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe. Get up to 40% off with code SMARTMONEY at Cozy Earth.   Today’s Happy Hour Special: 🥃 Moscow Mule Mocktail Recipe: Mallory the Dietician   1/2 cup light ginger beer 1/4 cup sparkling water or soda water 2 tablespoons lime juice 1 teaspoon fresh mint, muddled Ice cubes   Instructions: Pour the ginger beer, squeeze of lime juice, and sparkling water or soda water in a glass over ice and give it a good stir. Garnish with a slice of lime and fresh mint and enjoy!   Explore More From Ramsey Network: 💡 The Rachel Cruze Show 💰 George Kamel 🎙️ The Ramsey Show 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights  🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 🪑 Front Row Seat with Ken Coleman 📈 EntreLeadership   Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt and Abby from the unplanned podcast are here, and oh boy, do we have a wonderful show planned for you today? I think I'm more than a saver. Could you actually put a couple of shots in this straight right now? We are going to live like no one else so we can live like no one else. And it's great word, baby. Hey guys, I'm Rachel Cruz. I'm George Camel.

I'm Matt. And I'm Abby, and this is Smart Money Happy Hour. Cheers. Well, this is the show where two friends who happen to be money experts talk about what you're talking about. So everything from pop culture, current events, and money. And before we get to the riveting conversation, which I know will happen, we've got to talk about what we're sipping on. This is a Moscow mule moktail, a mule, if you will.

And we're going to give you the rating and reveal the cost per glass at the end of the episode. So stick around for that. Guys, welcome. Thank you for having us. You know, we have many guests on this specific podcast. We're trying to get more and more. But y'all are her first, I think. Non-Ramsy guests.

Non-Ram. Yes. No way. I know. Wow. So I'm so glad you're here. So make it go well. Okay. We'll try our best.

Fantastic. No, it's going to be so great. Okay. Yeah, I'm so pumped for, I'm sure a lot of our audience knows who you guys are. But for those who don't, kind of give us a little backstory. Who are you all about? What are you guys? Oh, man.

Well, we are high school sweethearts that got married during college. And when the pandemic happened, we lost our jobs, started just having a lot of time on our hands and making videos together. And it... Oh, yeah, and for whatever reason, it was TikTok dances of... That was the beginning of... It really was. It really was.

It was. It was. We were what took off for us. And I think it's because we met doing musical theater in high school. And people just wanted to see us dance on TikTok. I don't get it. But yeah, it worked. It launched what we do now, which is just a social media.

We get to work together. And we have two awesome kids. And we just talk about marriage, family, real life. it's just so great. What we do. But it's mostly on social media and podcast and YouTube and all the things. All the platforms you guys are there.

That's amazing. I'm scared to dance on TikToks. I'm scared I'll go viral and it'll be my new career path. So that's why I haven't done it. Oh man. It's funny. You go back.

I'll look at our old videos and I'm like, man, there's some cringy dance videos we post in the past. It's kind of scary sometimes to look back. I don't look back. They stuck around. I guess people watch and go,

I could do better than that. Probably. That's probably why we've got so many views. They're like, how is this guy so bad at, dancing. You're like, I don't know. But you do it with a smile.

You guys have an infectious joy about you that I think is contagious and people just you bring them in. You bring, it's very welcoming. Yeah, and you're being very humble, but you guys really exploded like from a digital standpoint, right? I mean, like social, all of it. Because your whole footprint overall is what? I don't even, between like TikTok and everything.

I think, yeah, somewhere in the millions of followers or whatever. Yes, it's a lot. Yes, I know. That is wild. I'm fun doing it. Oh, yeah. I'm like, the biggest perk of this job is that we get to work together. and like to have this flexibility and get to meet really awesome people like y'all it's i can't even

believe it's what we do yeah that's so sweet i love it well what is your uh ramsie connection like when did you first hear about ramsie did one of you tell the other okay so here this is my ramsie story so when i decided i wanted to marry abbey in college i just basically told everyone like freshman in college i walked in everyone knew that i was the crazy freshman that like was going to marry his girlfriend And first week of school, I went and applied for like 10 different jobs. I needed a job. I needed to make money because I wanted to marry her.

And I did all that because I was reading Dave's book. I was reading, I guess it was the extreme. Total money makeover. And so followed the steps, really focused on saving every penny. And so a big part of why we were able to fully do social media when the pandemic hit and we lost our jobs as college students. was we had a pretty established like emergency fund so that we didn't have to rush and go get new jobs

to help pay our bills as newlyweds. It was like your safety net. It was our safety net. And so we took a chance on the, on, you know, YouTube, TikTok, all that, and it works. So I'm so thankful that I read Dave's book because it really taught me, it was like the ground floor of like what I learned of just like the basics of all money, you know?

So did you avoid like the crippling debt that comes with adulthood? Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, like, in college, we both, we ended up buying a car together, cash. We always, like, paid for things cash. We found one of the cheapest apartments we could live in just to save money. Our rent was only $6.50 a month. At first, I thought we actually couldn't live there because it was low income and I was like, well, I guess we're not, I was like, I didn't consider myself low income. But then I looked at the numbers and I was like, oh, we're poor. So they let us live there. Yeah, they let us live there. And yeah, it just like, it was so helpful through all that. So good. Okay, do you feel like those humble beginnings have, like, helped ground you guys from, like, the success you've had from today?

Like, when you look back or you're like, oh, my gosh, I'm so glad we started where we were financially, like having to figure it out and kind of scrape together, do all of this to now, like, you guys, I'm sure, enjoying, like, a level of success, right? Totally. even then, I didn't feel like I wanted for anything. Like, I wasn't really like, oh my gosh, like, this is, we're putting in the work now,

but hopefully one day, like, I feel like we were just, like, so happy to just be together and to, like, have our independence, because we literally just went from living with our parents to, like, one or two years of school. Then we were married and, like, living on our own. Like, everything was just, like, Disney world. Yeah, it was, like, yeah, you're like in the present. Totally. But I think that beginning definitely established a discipline that,

has still stuck with us. Like, we still have certain habits that we just will never probably step away from. Yeah, and I think, also, I think we did dodge a bullet because we never took on, you know, we never did like the whole debt thing. We just stayed out of,

we never actually went into debt for school. So we paid for our college. No student loans at all. I don't know if you should say this, but you can actually get paid to go to college. Oh, we actually were getting paid, because we had enough scholarships to pay us to go to school.

Yes, I had friends like that. They would go to the, is it an burser's office? What's the? Yeah, bursers. Burster's office. Yeah, great word. And she would get, I know, I was like, what word is that?

And she would literally get a check. We didn't know it was a thing. We got a grant because we were married, so we were no longer filing. With our parents. With our parents. Oh, that's cool. And we had scholarships, so. Yes.

Don't think this is advice. It's not going to happen to college. Definitely don't get married in college. But it was like a wonderful surprise. We were like, oh. And so, yeah. That's great, all. That's amazing.

So was this attractive to you have? that this man was trying to be fiscally responsible while still... Of course. Like, what was in you that you were like, I got to get a job and make money for her? Like, where did that come from? We like, we like talk to 45-year-olds that don't even have that, like, gumshould.

I actually still wonder to this day, like, what in 18-year-old Matt? Like, wanted to step up to the plate like this. I think it was just, in my brain, I was wrong thinking this, but I thought if I could make enough money, it would solve literally all my problems. So I worked very, very hard,

and it worked. But turns out not all my problems are solved. But it is nice not having debt. I mean, we have mortgages on, we have some rental properties. But like, you know, it's, it's nice to not have student loans. It's nice to not have a car payment. And it just, it feels really good to go to sleep at night with that. So I feel, I feel super thankful.

And I'm so thankful to be married to Abby because she is so frugal. She's so good with money. I feel like, I want to say I've heard Dave is more like this where I'll work really, really hard and, you know, be a penny pincher when we have to. But also, there's, like, there's some nice things I like to splurge on. Like, when we, when we got to a place where we could afford it, I wanted to get a Tesla. And so we did, but Abby's very frugal and she'll go buy her clothes at a thrift store, you know, like she's just, she's very good with money. So I'm very blessed. That's great. You work together as a team will. Yeah.

It seems like, especially in the financial space. I love it. Thank you. Okay. So we're going to do a little quick quiz, if you will, on your money personalities. There's no right answers just honest ones. George, if you want to chime in for you, but I think the audience knows your answer. I think they've had plenty of me. Okay, and I may explain, I can explain these two if you're like, wait what?

Okay, so between the two of you, which one is the spender, which one is the saver? I want to know Matt's answer. That's so tricky. I think it just depends on the season. I think last year was probably, you were probably the spender last year. Rapid fire.

Just natural. Natural, natural. Who's just more to like enjoy spending who's naturally? I'm going to say, oh, I'll say Abby, sorry. That I'm a spender? Maybe. Okay. That's not bad?

Sure. Okay, so you say, do you agree? Or do you think you're more of the saver? You can disagree. I think I'm more the saver. Let me just, just read, expose to you right now. Wait, that means you have two wheels. He has two wheels.

Do you know what a one wheel is? No. It's like a boosted board. it's like an electric skateboard, but there's only one wheel. Oh, people have them here. Yeah. Yes. I got the answer.

I'm more likely to make smaller purchases than he is. He's way more likely to make bigger purchases. Yes, that's fair. Okay, that's fair. Yeah, yeah. So I guess I'm more of the spinner because it's going to happen more frequently. Yeah, okay, that's good. Well, let me say it like this.

So, like, I think the reason I said that was because we bought a house last year, but we were already in a new house before that. So I was team like don't move. And then a house is very expensive, obviously. So that's why I said Abby was this. Okay, that's fair. That's fair. I bought a one wheel, but you bought a house.

That's true. That's true. That's true. All right. All right. Fair. Well. All right.

Next one. This is kind of tied to it. Who's the nerd and who's the free spirit? Nerd. Yeah. He like knows everything. Who's got the spreadsheet? Who's tracking it and who's just vibing?

Yeah. All right. Yeah. I'm kind of scared about it. For sure. My vibe is a little scared. Abby's a party. She's funny.

She's funny. She's funny. I'm glad I'm married to you because you. like make me laugh so much. Thanks, man. Oh, I love it. Yeah, I love it. Okay, if you were to spend money,

would you spend it on experiences or actual things? Experiences. Both experiences. Unless it's an investment. Like, if it's like, oh, what, like, physical thing are we getting? Like, if I'm going to buy a physical thing, I want it to be something that can create, like, revenue, like make me money, you know?

Okay. Like a one wheel. Like a real estate. Like the lower. Can you start renting that thing out? No. I Airbnb be my one wheel. We weigh, we way lean towards experiences.

Okay. Love it. Are you more of a quality person or quantity? Quality? I'm going to say quality? Yeah. I guess I'd be maybe more quantity. Okay.

Me too. That's the racial crazy. I like options. I'm like, I don't need very expensive clothes, but I want a lot of them just to choose. That's how I feel, especially with clothes. Yes, just to choose. Okay. If you want to win with money, do you want to win because you want safety, you want to feel like we're secure?

Or do you want to win for status? And status sounds bad here, but meaning like we want to do things. We want to buy a Tesla. We want to take our family on big trips. And like we want to win because we want to do things with our money. Or do you want to win because you like want safety and security? The motivation of it. I want to do things, I feel like.

Yeah. I'm going to say like this safety to be in charge of my time. Like not having somebody else telling me like when I have to do everything. Yes. So good. Love it. Financial independence. That's what it's about.

Okay. How about this one? Are you an abundance person or a scarcity person? I don't know how to answer that. What's your mindset? around money. Like, he's like, how we got to save, that's kind of scarcity, or is it, hey, we'll find it, we'll find more money, it's fine. What's the attitude? Scarcity, probably. Probably scarcity, yeah.

More cautious around it. Yeah. Yeah. We just got really serious there for a second. I'm like, wow, this is very serious. Talking about our finances right now. Can we put, right to a couple shots in this thing right now? Is that okay? No mocktail. Okay, thank you. Okay, can we change this mocktail to a cocktail? Okay, last one. When you're, when you're giving, are you more of a spontaneous giver? Like you see something or hear something

and you're like, yes, absolutely. Or are you more planned out? Like I want to investigate the organization. I want to be more diligent. Okay. That's me. Charity Navigator, is that what it is? I want to be more spontaneous.

Like, I want to be the guy that just like hands 20 bucks to the homeless person on the street. Because like, first of all, I never have cash on me. But like, it's all like, oh, percentages. I want to make sure that we're doing this percentage of our overall revenue and then give it to the charity that's going to use it the best. Like, that's my brain.

Total plans. Yeah. Yeah. You're a plan. me, I'm like, who's ringing a bell? Like, you got my donation. Does the Girl Scouts count as a donation? I don't count it as a donation, but I will always buy it.

And Abby bought every single Girl Scout cookie that the Girl Scouts were selling us one day at her front door. She was just good on the list. You cleared them out? Or you just get one of each? Did I? Did we get it? Did we buy everything they have or just one of each? I bought a good amount.

We had cookies for about six months. Can I ask? Is this her personal consumption? I didn't really eat them. I don't love them. It's just like the little kids. That's how I know you're a good person. That's really true.

George will like kick them off as well. No, I would buy them and resell them at a table next to them and undercut them a little bit. You guys. Just to teach them a lesson. You got to teach them a lesson early on. This is how life worse kids. This is commerce. This is capitalism.

You guys, it was bad because they were camped outside of the grocery store that I go to for like a good season. Every time I was like, got to get another box. Wait, I didn't know that happened. It's so bad. I'm cool for that. I love that. I love giving money to kids. You know?

We love the kids. If you're a door-to-door salesman trying to sell us on like a new security system, I'm like, go away. But if you're a kid coming to my door, we're going to buy from you every school time. There's some young entrepreneurs in our neighborhood.

There's a kid that will put a flag out for every holiday in your yard for you. It's like a service. Yeah. Our high school. Like an American flag? It depends. Like there's holiday sports.

Does he do it himself? I think so. Some of them will clean your trash cans. We'll put a flag out. Yeah. Or take your trash out to the curb. That's amazing. We had a teenager.

your car detail in the neighborhood. Oh, that's great. That's good. I gave him like a solid B plus, but I was happy to like, I'm like, go, man. Tell me something I would want to trade my time for. You know what I mean? That makes sense.

Yes, I love it. Okay. So funny. Rachel, you know, people are always commenting, where'd you get your outfit? Blink it, don't gate keep. And what do you tell them? I mean, there's a lot of places to buy some comfy things in life.

But my favorite place in the outfit I'm wearing today is from cozy earth. Yeah, I got the- the outfit. The massive, massive, and then they call it the cuddle blanket. And it is, it is like, I just want to sleep.

It looks like an extinct woolly mammoths. I just want to rub my cheek on it because it's so soft. It is so great. But all cozy earth products, they're incredible. Like their quality is just phenomenal. Yeah, everything.

From their blankets to their loungeware, to the bedding. Yes. Incredible. And a lot of their materials are made from premium viscos, from bamboo,

which keeps you comfortably cool all night long. So even under that amazing blanket, you can stay warm and cool at the same time. Yes, it's incredible. I don't know if this is bamboo though, George. I think this is fur. I think it's mammoth is the only description. No, but it is. Cozyest products are incredible, you guys. And we have a great discount for you guys. 40% off when you use the promo code smart money at checkout or go to cozyearth.com slash smart money. I'm feeling uncozy looking at you. I need my own blanket now. I'm going to go in the night now. Night night. Rachel go night night. You go check it out. We'll link it in the description.

if you want to get the deal. Okay, thanks for playing that game. Of course. Had to get vulnerable real quick there. So you guys got married fairly young. How did the money side of that go? Like, did you guys combine finances? Was it awkward?

Was it seamless? We combined our finances before we were even married, which probably wasn't a good idea. Wow. Hey, they're all trusted. They were 19. Yeah. Joint checking account. During engagement?

Is that when you did it? It might have been before engagement, actually. Wow. How long we all engaged for? A year. A little over a year. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So you guys were just very trusting.

What was the purpose and motive behind that? There wasn't much to go around. So we were like, what's, oh, it's because we bought a car together. So we had to get a job, but we had to have a car to get the job. So we shared a car. So we found a place that would hire the two of us, which was kind of a hard sell because they're like, you get me and him. So I was like, we kind of go together because we have a car together. But we both got to work.

But luckily it was a pizza restaurant that was opening up. So they needed a lot of servers, and we were like, well, we could be two servers. That's better than one, right? And so they hired us, and then oftentimes we could do shifts together so we like to drive together and carpool. Save gas money. I'm picturing you guys showing up at the table together, like, I'm Matt and I'm Abby, and we'll take your order. Actually, our customers would be like, you see that guy over there? I was like, I think he likes you.

They'd be like, you should. And I'm like, you think? Like, I may not know him. They love being a part of this, like, romantic adventure. Yeah, I was like, he's pretty cute. Now that you say that, I remember having, like, I have a vivid memory of, like, looking over at you and seeing you in your, like, little bellicino's t-shirt and being like, that girl is hot. I'm so glad she's going to be my wife. Yeah, the little bellicine that's funny.

Oh my gosh, but that's actually really what sparked. We're like, if we could ever work together someday, like, this is so fun. Like, we love, like, spending the most time together. I don't know. Does it shock you guys when couples, like, don't combine their finances, like, knowing how you've done. Are you like, how are you doing it like on your own? Like you're like, like you're paying these bills. They're paying, you know.

Yeah, it seems logistically confusing. But I can see where it's like if I had my own like career before. It was easy because it was so low stakes at that point. We were just like, you know, working part-time jobs in school. But if I was like really proud of like this money that I had earned on my own and saved, I feel like that I could see that being a lot more challenging. Yes. But we do have friends that like one person plays mortgage, one person pays this bill, one person pays this.

Yes. It seems so confusing. I'm like, how do you not miss something or like... Or get resentful because, like, well, the mortgage is more than groceries. This doesn't feel fair. And so there's... Yeah. It just builds up.

Yeah. Have you guys ever venoed each other? Never, ever. I actually don't even have a VINMO. Wow. I'm like, please Venmo Matt, because I don't know. I don't have one. Are you like off the grid in that regard outside of content creation?

Yeah. Like off the grid on like financial stuff? Yeah. Yeah, surely. So he handles it. Yeah. You're making sure, like, utilities get paid. Yeah, but we did have one issue once because now everything's up on auto pay, right?

Yeah. Well, I set everything up on auto pay, but one of them, for whatever reason, it didn't go through. So this happened like two or three years ago. Our water got shut off for a day. So I had a call. I'm like, oh, shoot, it was ridiculous. I made a TikTok about it. It was so funny.

People thought they were so irresponsible. Yeah, they thought that we were like bankrupt or something because our water got shut off. But I just thought that the auto, but then it got off. auto pay or something like that and didn't catch it. And so, yeah, the water gets shut off. Exactly. That's so funny. Okay, so speaking of TikTok, you guys, as you're starting your career, as you were saying,

like you're making these dances, all of it. And how fast do you feel like everything kind of took off? Do you feel like it, did it feel like overnight? Did you feel like you just woke up? You're like, oh my gosh, you can't believe this is our life? Or was it kind of a slower progression? Yeah, I think it's both in a way. And let me explain because we, when we got married,

Abby had been watching like different couples on YouTube vlog and I grew up making videos for fun I did a video for every school project I was a part of the TV crew at my high school this thing called MHS TV and so when she told me

that she was watching people vlog their life I'm like babe like I love making video like I love all that we should like try that ourselves so I was posting weekly videos for almost a year but nobody watched them and I was hoping to maybe like make a little bit of a like side hustle, you know, money on the side. And I, and nothing was working. So I was like pretty defeated.

But then we made a YouTube video about us trying viral TikTok trends and viral dances because that was like a trend on YouTube at that time. And that's what got us into TikTok. It was a whole accident, really. Okay. Yeah. So nobody cared about your personal life early on. Nobody did. Just dance, monkey dance.

Exactly. Nobody cared about our personal life. then what's funny is when the dances took off, and we started posting clips of our personal life and teasing the vlogs on YouTube, and they kind of like cross-promoted. Who's the man behind the dance moves? Now we want to know.

What's going on? I love that. So what's a common misconception about making money from digital creation, from the internet? Because a lot of people are listening out there watching Jen's ears, kids, this is their hope is that they become Matt and Abby one day.

So what are some of the misconceptions? What's been surprising or rewarding to you guys? Yeah. Certainly audience size doesn't really tell you much about what they make. I feel like that can be a really common misconception. Oh, true. So, like, the vanity metrics of a subscriber count or, like, you have 100,000 followers. You must make amazing money.

Yes. And then you can even look up, like, any creator and be, like, net worth. That number is probably not even close. I remember my grandpa has since past, but I remember this day. He pulls me aside. He's like, I saw something on Google. And he's like, and then he, like, push. shows his phone to me and it said like this crazy number for like Matt and Abby

Networks. I was like, Pop-ball, I'm very grateful for where we're at. I was like, that's not even close. Like that is like literally not even close because they have these like weird conversion charts for like subscribers and followers to like somehow they arrive at a number. Like bad AI math is coming up with this. I don't know how they're coming up with these. And do you feel like it's usually overshot? Way. In our case, it was. Yes, yes. And I think it's wherever shot. Or for some people it's maybe under. Who knows? But I'm just saying, follower account is not going to tell you.

how much people make. So good. Yeah, I think that's a major misconception. I was like, that's sweet that my papa was looking up, my network. I know, I love that. What about the misconception that, like, this is sort of passive income? Like, upload video, boom, that pays your bills for the month. Not true, obviously.

Here's, okay, let me first say this, though. We are so grateful for, like, the life we have and getting to make videos on the internet. Like, we're so grateful. It's cushy. But I will say there's a lot more work behind it than people would realize. Like, you know, I'm guilty of this too. I see people all the time that I'm like, oh, man, I wish I could have their life. But you don't see all the hard work they did to get there.

And for a lot of our, you know, you go to our YouTube channel, you look at some of our more viral videos. I'm speaking long form because we have had some short form videos that went crazy viral and we don't really know why they did so well. But the long form ones, like a lot of those videos, I was spending, you know, 20, 30, 40 hours editing. One video I spent over 100 hours editing. and you just, people don't see the late nights and me literally editing through the night until 5 a.m. to make sure the timing is right

and that the way the story is told is the way that I think is like fun and entertaining and represents us. But it is, I do love getting to do what we do because I've started up vlogging again. We had to take a break with starting our podcast and Abby and I were watching our YouTube vlog a couple weeks ago and she was like, man, like this is fun.

I love like seeing this highlight reel of all the fun stuff we're doing. So it's a blast. Yeah. One more misconception, too, is like you'll hear, like, so-and-so made X amount of money for doing a 30-second video. And you're like, they didn't actually. They made that for making that 30-second video and all the other videos they did to build their audience that's going to watch that 30-second video. I think that's where it can get reduced.

It's like, yes, but no. That wouldn't be worth that if they didn't make all those other videos and all these free videos in between. You also don't get paid for every video you post. I think some people think, like, for every single Instagram posts, they make X amount of money. It's like, no, most of them are free. Like, they aren't, they're making anything on them. So I think that's also a misconception. Totally.

For your kids, your boys, would you want them going into this space, like, as a career? I want them to do. Oh, we got to know. So I would be fine with it, but I want them to, like, fully understand the full scope of what it is. And so I hope they can kind of, like, watch us and learn from us. But I'm going to support them in whatever it is they want to do. Sure. Yeah.

Yeah. Love it. So good. How are you guys looking at college for them? Have you already. started thinking about that? You're like, yeah, by that time, it's not going to be a thing, or are you like, we're going to put money away in college savings? I think it's more of that thing of putting money away and for them, if it's, them starting

their own business, if they want to go to college, cool. But I think for a lot of degree paths, like, I've heard of people getting degrees in social media and I'm like, I don't think you. They have degrees in social media? I know. And I'm like, I don't need a degree in my bracelet has it getting a degree in social media. And I don't want to speak. I'm, I'm sure they're all wonderful people, and I'm sure there's some good information there, but us and everybody that we know that does this for their job just figured it out.

Totally, totally. So. I love it. I would be so proud of literally, if they even went into a trade, I'd be like, I think that's awesome. I could get behind literally anything they want to do at this point.

I would be hesitant with social media because I'm a mama bear. Like I'm like, I don't, like, my child. I'm sure it's hard for my mom. And I know it's hard for. Because they're exposed to the world for anyone to say anything. Yeah, whatever, yeah. Yeah, at least I'm an adult making that choice.

Especially your personal life. We can hide behind money, George, of our topic. Topic of money. We can, like, hide behind that. We'll do some personal stuff. But I'm not, like, personally vlogging my life at home. Yeah. So that is really, I mean, it's a different step.

Like, that's a big deal. It was weird. Like, about probably a year ago, the switch happened to my brain where I went from, like, this is so cool. I can vlog my life all the time and, like, show everybody what I'm doing. And then eventually I'm like, I have absolutely no privacy at all. So it's just been fun, like, discovering what that looks like again, you know? Yes, yes, for sure.

No, I'm sure that reality has to hit. When you get settled into, like, a pattern of life and you look up, like, oh, gosh, this is what we're doing. Like, this is it? Yeah. Yeah, that totally makes sense. Okay, is there an issue around money or a subject around money that you guys kind of work through, through marriage? We're here to help. We kind of keeps coming up.

We are here to help. No, we're not kind of like, no, we are not your therapist. You know, we actually prided ourselves for a long time. For years. We were like, people fight about money. We don't fight about money. We're like, that was something we don't really have an issue. Yeah, never.

And then it came into buying houses, and we both had, like, very different visions for what we wanted in the house, like, location-wise, like, what needs we saw, what was a need and what was a want? What were priorities? And that was the first time we were like, this really is a money issue. It's really, like, it's more complicated than that. We're like, this is the first time we're having, like,

we're not seeing eye-to-eye money-wise. Yes, yes. And that was really uncomfortable. We're like, I think that was the first time we were like, oh my gosh we're fighting about money i hate this did you find some middle ground was there just compromise yes we just bought the house we just no there was compromise

who won is what I'm saying I did pretty well for myself okay if this was a court of law we'd be like oh Abby came out ahead on that one what did you want what were a couple of things that you're like I want this was it like like neighborhood or whatever and you're like I want land like what was

it's so tricky right he's like what we have is great and I'm like I want to be an different area. Yeah. Okay, from the current situation. And it's so tricky too because the area, like the actual neighborhood that we were in was wonderful and the house itself was wonderful. But we were almost just isolated from everyone because we were tucked away near a not

as safe area of town, but our neighborhood was safe. Yeah. But then to get to the family friendly areas of town. We're always driving like 25 minutes. Yeah, you just have to drive a while. And so that was, you know, I didn't deal with that headache as much because I would stay home and work. I'm like, you're always home.

You don't have to do with this. Totally. Yeah. But it all worked out. We're very happy. Yeah, we're very happy with their house. Yeah, you get flags in the yard. Yeah.

Got flags. I mean, it's really great. And we turned our house that we used to live in, into a rental property. So that's been, that was good. Yeah. So did you guys agree on getting into the rental property game? Yeah. Yeah.

Was that one person's idea? I mean, initially the whole plan that I had was to own a bunch of just like rentals, like short-term rentals because I know those can be very lucrative. And I thought that'd be a, a wise way to go. But we kind of dipped our feet into an Airbnb, and I realized how much more of a time, you know, it sucks away your time, right?

And it was less time I had for my family, less time for our business. And so I kind of realized, you know, we're just going to keep investing into ETFs, stay diversified that way, and that way we could just like forget that that money exists and let it grow in the background and not have to manage all these rentals.

You know, I didn't want to deal with that. Wow. That's very wise. Thank you. I'm going to move it into just investments in the market and let that create truly passive income instead of dealing with people, destroying a house.

Yeah. Yeah. Is there like a terrible situation? Like were you guys the ones that like did the win in and like did the cleaning and everything? Or did you have a management company or? And was there like a bad who was like the worst story? There's a lot.

It's a cool turn green. Blood on beds. Here's the thing. Oh no. Yeah. Yeah. Better than blood in the pool, I guess. I don't know. I don't know. I think you can chlorine that.

You know the movie Money Pit? Have you heard? Like, have you heard of that movie Money Pit? I don't think so. This house is a money pit, basically. We actually still own it. But we need to figure out, we're like, do we try to? I'm like, do I make a whole YouTube series on trying to make our Airbnb profitable? Do I sell it? Because it's just kind of a headache, you know? Yeah.

Or just make it Airbnb Nightmares and you basically screen people who are going to destroy the house. and then that becomes a profit center. Our friends have an Airbnb and crazy things have happened in their Airbnb. Yeah. Wiles stuff. Unspeakable things. Unspeakable. I don't know what your content is,

but unspeakable things have happened in their Airbnb. Can I tell you this is like one of my boozy goals in life? So boozy. But if I were ever have a second home, I think I would want to like own it free and clear where I wouldn't have to rent it out. Yeah. Because of that.

Like I'm like if you went down to like your mountain house, I don't know, somewhere that you like feel like is your place. and there's blood everywhere. You don't even mean? Like, I know they clean it up. Yeah. It doesn't feel like ours at all. But that would be like, yeah, that would be like my boogey goal.

That's Dave Ramsey stands too. As he says, hey, if I have vacation property, I'm not running it out. I want it to be for me. Dave can do that. He said rentals for rental. We all can do that. But a lot of people get starry-eyed. They go, well, it'll make sense because we can make money off of it.

And we can use it. And so it sounds good in theory. You almost have to like, yeah, like emotionally unplugged from it to be like it's not really art, like where you're going in. We can stay there for free, but yet, like, other people have lived there. I don't know. That's my boogie goal. I respect that.

Thank you. Thank you. Green light. So Matt and Abby are for sure, like, internet famous, right? I mean, like, they have done such a great job with their platform. But also, with the internet, it can be great because you can watch, you know, Matt and Abby, but you can also get scamped. And we don't want that.

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So much of y'all's life has been unplanned, but what are some ways you are planning for the future financially now? Great question. Something that I started doing just in the past year was rather than manually putting money into our investment accounts, I just forget about it. I don't check it. I might look at it once every other month,

but I just have an automatic withdrawal going in and just automatically money's being invested every month. That's what we do. So love that. It sounds like he's got it figured out. Oh, yes. He has it all figured out financially. He's like, this is how much we're going to give

and this is how much we're going to... Is there a spreadsheet? Are you guys doing a budget? What's going on here? You know, it's funny, we always... So in high school, not high school, we did meet in high school. I don't know, we met in middle school and then started in high school. But at the time that we got married, we were so frugal that we didn't really have an

official budget because we just are spending was really low. We would we would go out. Just don't do it. Yeah, we would go out to to get ice cream with friends because just like for the- You ever heard of Brahms? It's in southern Missouri. I think they're in Texas maybe too. We got one head shake. It's like a dairy place. They also have like a little grocery store. They have really cheap ice cream too. Like I'm talking about like it was a dollar or something. And we were like, we're just, we're pretty full. Like we just. We would. We would. to buy it. Because we didn't even have a budget for it because we were like, this is just

totally... What wasn't about the budget? It was just like, the reality is if I spent a dollar on ice cream a week, and then that's 52 weeks in the year, and then there's two of us, now we're over $100, and like $100 for college food is a lot of money, and we're trying to get married. So it's just, the math wasn't math, and I'm like, we are going to live like no one else, so we can

live like no one else. And it's freaking word, baby! Yeah! So is that guy still inside? The guy who's crunching the numbers on the dollar ice cream? Certainly, you guys. If I want to buy bottled water, I'm literally like side-eyeing him. I'm like, I'm going to buy this. Well, no, no.

I get it. Because I know in his brain is like, why would you ever pay for water? Like, and like, and I'm just like, please don't say anything. So like luxury is that I think this, the stuff that means a lot to me is like anytime that I want a Chipotle burrito, I get a Chiple burrito. Like it could be, it could be every day now. And college. With guac. With guac.

Dude, he gets quark now. It's a big deal. And steak and guack. I did that. Hey, stay humble out here, man. Yeah. I was like, that's exactly. Street.

And she can't get a bottle of water? No, no, I got chips. And he was like, you got chips? He's like, we'll never financially recover from this. Like, he was just kind of like proud of me. Like, he was like, oh my God. But it feels amazing though because like there was a time where like buying Chipotle was like we did not do that, you know, at all. Yeah, it's a big deal.

We have Chipotle at home. Exactly. And now you're out there living. I know. We don't really get drinks at restaurants. That was Winston. I remember y'all. I mean, it was probably, we were five or six years in.

And the man wouldn't order anything but water. Yeah. And I was like, please, like, just have a glass of, like, enjoy. And he's like, I could buy a whole bottle of wine for that. Oh, like, he went and did it. Now he's turned the corner and he's living the good life with me. This begs the question. Were you guys an appetizer and dessert family growing up?

No. Or was it an entree and water situation? You know, we weren't even a movie theater popcorn family. But they weren't even eating out family. Because when I took Abby on a date to the theaters, she was like, we're just going to like eat, not eat anything. anything and watch a movie? Like, that's freaking weird. I was kind of surprised there was no popcorn. So you had a, your upbringing was a little more, like, let's go out. Yes, you went out to eat.

We certainly did. And that was like my parents, like, that was their fun thing to do. We lived in a small town. We didn't like get, that was like the activity. Like apples. What was the restaurant? What was the go-to? Applebee's was good. Yes. Do you have an all-garden? No, we did not. Oh, okay. We did have a T-J Fridays. That was like a bougie time. T. Those appetizers were great. I remember getting so mad at my little brother, though, because he would order ribs at T.J. Fridays as like a seven-year-old. He's like, I'll get a half-wrack and a lemonade. I was like, Blake, this is so extravagant. Like, my parents didn't really put restrictions on what we ordered. Yeah.

But in my head, in my own head, I was like, I'm going to get the cheapest thing. I don't know why. Oh, interesting. It's the scarcity mentality. Yeah. Even from, like, a little kid. Oh, yeah. I would be like, get water.

Like, I was like, stop. My parents weren't telling him to do that. My brothers and I would put the sweetener packets in our waters because we're like, hey, it's like our own soda, you know? Like, this is kind of cool. Just sweet water is what you were drinking? Yeah, yeah, you put like the sugar packets or the sweet and low in the water. At least have some lemon in there.

I know. Sometimes it's a lemon wedge. Oh, my gosh. Wow. So good. Look at you now. That's impressive. I know.

Well done, you guys. So current day, what does money look like for you guys now that you're out of that phase of life? Like, are you talking about, hey, here's what's coming in this month. Here's what our big. expenditures are, or are you just vibing? We really should have more conversations about it. In my head, I'm like, the

more I know, the more it stresses me out. But I know it shouldn't be, it shouldn't be that way. Like, I think the more I know about it, the more it should be like, okay, we're going to make it happen. Like, I don't know why. If anybody convince you that a budget is permission to spend, it's Rachel Cruz. She can do

it. We're going to get you there. No, but I get it. Like being oblivious. Yeah. Almost just feels better sometimes. So I get that. No, that makes sense. It shouldn't be how I do it. I think, yeah. It's less scary than you probably think. Yeah.

I would say it's more so like we budget, like at least the way I do it is I like budget in my head. So I'm like, okay, like percentage of overall revenue like a Chipotle burrito is not that much. So we're good there. If it's a larger purchase though, you're like, okay, you know, this, this is expensive. Like you can't, if you're going to make a big purchase, you can't make many of those. Like maybe it's just like a once a year thing. Right, right. So you have to be wise with that.

And also make sure that you have enough left in your left. in the bank to give, because we're always wanting to make that a big part of what we do as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love that. Yeah. Okay, so for your life today, if you guys, like, if everything went away, you're like anonymous tomorrow, what would you be doing? I told Matt that in my 30s or 40s, I'm going to be a real estate agent.

Oh. Nice. I love houses. Like, I love, like, I just, like, look at listings around us all the time. Wherever we go, I love looking at listings. But more than that, I love, like, being, like, with people and, like, talking about, like, what do you need? Like, what do you envision for your future, like in this house?

Like, you're going to host? You need to have a good guest space. Like, what do you need in a backyard? I, like, love all of that. And I loved every part of, like, the house searching process. So I know there's definitely not glamorous sides to it. But, no, you would be good, though. Abby would be great.

Yeah, you would do really well with that. That's fun. I like came out to our family. I was like, my next career, guys, everyone ready? Encore career. Yeah, at 32, I'm retiring. They were like, thank God. She's not doing this anymore.

I think when we realized that, though, we did a brand deal with this travel company and they wanted us to do a tour of the house. So naturally, like, Abby is, you know, so good on camera. I'm like, babe, I'll just record you. You just give it to her. And she does this tour of the house.

I'm like, babe, you're really good. I don't even know what you're talking about. Remember the Wanderhouse in Bannon, Oregon. Like, when you did that first house tour, that's funny. You're just a natural. Thank you. What are you going to do?

What are you going to do? If this all went away, I probably, like, day job would be something in financial planning, probably. Yeah. Because I think that's like what I was going to school for. But like passion project, which would be if it would have worked, assuming this didn't happen, would be something in entertainment.

So maybe music, just have, you know, doing something with film or television. I don't know. Professional dancer? Potentially. Who knows. That sounds so seedy. You guys were in the like theater world. You said that's like, oh, yeah.

Do you want your boys to do it? Like, do you love, I don't have kids in that world, but my middle, I feel like could. Okay. And I kind of, they did like a camp this summer. Oh, no. It was so sweet. And I loved it. I'm like, I think I could be a theater mom.

Did she thrive in that environment? Oh, oh, yeah, yeah. It's happening. It's on video. And it's funny. I was like, oh, my gosh, girl. But y'all, would y'all want to be theater appearance? I would love it.

I would love any. I'm like, wherever. I can't, I keep trying to put interest on. I'm like, oh, he's into such and such. And I'm like, it's just me, like, just so excited to see what they're going to become. Yeah, totally. But I'm like, I'm putting this on you right now. I'm like, let's just follow where they go.

I love it. So, yeah, I would love it. So fun. I mean, every performance. Oh, cheer in a while. That's how my family was. They went to every show, not even just like every show. But every performance of every show.

They went to every single one, like the matinee and then like the, like, all of it. Oh, yeah, they were there. Good for them. That's so sweet. I think it's so fun. Okay, so as we kind of wrap up, some takeaways, there's been a lot, you guys. Thank you all so much for like all the lives and stuff. I feel like it's always really interesting to hear from people.

So there's one question we're all four going to answer. You ready, George? What's the biggest financial lesson that you've learned in the last five years? So, oh, that's 2020. So we're going back, like, let's go, like, think of COVID. Oh, boy. Yeah, I guess.

Well, timeline-wise, that's what it was. That's been five years. That's just math. That's the math. And how long guys been married? How many years now? Six years. So pretty much your whole marriage.

Yeah. Okay. Nothing creates a bond like that. Yeah. Biggest financial lesson. Yeah, biggest lesson you've learned. This isn't really on track because I don't really partake in finance as much. But as far as like money goes, like a lesson I've noticed is that what people spend is not an indicator of what they make.

And like, I think that's like a lot. So I'm like, some of the people that have the flashiest things, I must be like, they are rolling in it. And then the more you kind of like crack beneath the surface, you're like, no, they actually have a lot less than what this person has who's living a much more humble lifestyle. Yes. Yeah. Well done. Well said. That has surprised me because we've met some very affluent people.

Sure. Yeah. And I'm like, I don't think the rest of the world has any idea like what's going on. Yes. And vice versa. Yes. Yeah. Making like snap judgments of like what you assume.

Yeah. That's the world. It's so true. They have this car. And I'm like, I don't know. I don't know what's going on. Totally. I don't believe it.

I don't believe it. I don't believe it. It's basically never assume the internet is telling you the truth. It is true. That's a good life last year. That's good. Yeah. And I think.

I think for me it was probably money can't fix all your problems. I think like there was a point in time where I essentially just got to like a really low point and not to get like too deep and stuff. But it was just, it was like, wow, I've been more successful than I ever thought I would at this age. And yet I'm like, yeah, things are tough. And it's just, it's like coming back from that, it's been like really, eye opening just to fully spend time with my family. I actually work less now than I've worked

in years. Like for a while, I was working like 80 hours a week just with all the editing and stuff. But I've just found so much joy in being a dad and hopping in the pool with the boys every day at 5 o'clock and just like teaching my son how to swim. And like that, you can't put a price tag on that. Totally. And Jim Carrey has a quote. He said, I wish every person could become rich and famous so they could know it's not the answer. 100%. Because, yeah, it's like this belief for some reason that like these things are going to satisfy.

Yeah. Like you're saying like solve everything. And then if you get it, you're like, nope, there are still issues. And it's still me. You know, like, yeah, it's good. Mine will be that the biggest financial lesson is that the goal post is always moving. So you have to learn to be content and to be present. Because I've met with an interview to a lot of people who are doing very well financially.

and I always go, it sort of made me ask the question, and then what? Well, I want to have this money proper. I want to have this net worth, and then what? And there's really no answer other than just an endless chase. It feels very ecclesiastical and very email. But that kind of gave me perspective to be okay with my current situation, my current goals, and not always want to chase more. Because as you hit it, you go, well, yeah, we hit this network,

but now we want to go for this. And there's an unhealthy chasing there that I think the people who are the most grounded, they're just present, they're here, they don't care about the next goal and the next goal post. They're still driven, they have goals, but it's not the end-all be-all.

So that's the lesson I've learned as I've been chasing for the last five or ten years. It just feels good to just let go and be okay with where I'm at and be present. That's really good. Let go and let go and like God.

Let go and like God. There it is. I didn't want to get too biblical because that's, I think, Proverbs, second opinions. Is it really from Proverbs? No. No.

I was like, no, it's not in that, like a quote. Could be in the message. Haven't checked. The message version. I would say for me, it's a little bit along, it's kind of the same token

a little bit of what you guys have said. But I think the more creative and free something is, the better experience I have. Oh. So like I can go and like buy a really great vacation and it's awesome.

And so like nice hotel, all of it. But it's like the quirky parts of life that like you kind of have to like be creative or think through or something spontaneous happens that you weren't planning, but it wasn't expensive. Like, those create more memories for me

than, like, the big thing. So, like, with our family or kids, we were talking about it earlier, like, even, like, riding bikes in the high school parking lot. Like, you know, like, these, like, quirky things that my kids, like, latch on to, especially. They're not, like, the big extravagant stuff.

It's, like, these, like, random little things that they want to do. Like, dance parties around the pool or whatever, like, that's all they're wanting to do. But I'm like, oh, yeah, it takes more effort, usually from me versus, like, paying someone to do something. I'm like, oh, it's like me being involved. and it usually doesn't cost a lot.

So that's where I find more recently. It's probably because the kids, but I don't know, it's more enjoyable. Isn't that funny how kids operate that way? I mean, they can't tell that, like a three or four-year-old is not going to care if you spent, you know, 20 bucks on their birthday party or, you know, $1,000.

Oh, yeah. It makes no difference, really. Like, they just want to know that you're there and you love them and you're going to, like, be physically present and mentally present. Yes, yes, it's so true. It is so true, yeah. Beautiful.

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let's give a rating for the drink and George and let us know what's in it. Okay, this is the Moscow mule mocktail. Who finished first? I'm going to go with Matt on this one. Maybe I did. Yeah. downed it. I might be next.

I might be next. Then Abby, then George. All right. It was really good. I'm going to give this mocktail a 10 out of 10. I cannot improve upon it. That's how I view it. If I was going to make this myself at home with no alcohol,

it's going to have to be this good. Wow. I'm going to go 8 out of 10. It was like a hint too limey for me. That's what I love about it. I've always complained with mocktails are not punchy enough. Okay, this was a punchy one. It's like when you drank it, it was like, wow.

It's great. Yes. 10 out 10. Yeah, I'm going to go 8 as well. Yeah, I thought it was wonderful, but I want to say I've had a better one before. You like sweet more. It was great, though.

It was nothing wrong with it. Totally. I love it. I'll bring you a Capri's on next time. Wait, who made them? Now I feel bad. No, we always, no, we've given our mocktails and we love her. Hey, come on out of me.

No, we've given them a zero. I've given a negative one out of it. Oh, my gosh. Sometimes she goes negative. Oh, my goodness. So just know that honesty is the best policy around here. Their feelings aren't hurt. They have no feelings.

It's just ingredients. They were given a recipe and they'd give them. make it, you know what I mean? Yeah, okay, so like when your wife, if your wife cooks you a meal, do you have the same point? We don't do that. We do not do ratings at home. I just, I just, I just eat in silence.

It's just the recipe, right? It's just the recipe. If I love it, I eat in silence. If I hate it, I eat in silence. Oh, wait, I have a story for you. I one time made dinner. I come downstairs the next morning in the trash can was door-dashed, chick-fil-A.

I said, Does that count as cheating? It kind of felt like cheating. I was like, I saw something in the trash where he's like, he's like, I'm still hungry. No, you did not eat your dinner though. And I was like, I'll never make that again. Wow.

Can't blame that on a child when they're two. Nice try. Winston will always say, I wouldn't make this again. Okay, good to know. That's a nice thing he could say. No, we make our kids say that. We're like, thanks. What do we have?

What does Griffin say? It's not my favorite. He's allowed to say it's not my favorite. That's like the southern diss. It's not my favorite. Well, you want to know how much this drink costs to make at home? Yes. $1.55.

Wow. Some 1950s pricing right there. It's got ginger beer, which again is non-alcoholic. It's just like a spicier version of ginger ale. It's got sparkling water and lime juice. That's about as simple as it gets. Oh, my goodness. Yeah.

Easy enough. Get the recipe in the show. show notes. If that wasn't simple enough, give it a try this weekend. Give it to the kids. It's safe. They can drink. Mark, safe for homeschoolers on this drink. Here we go. We're having a good time. 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. So here it is. You're right? Guys ready? Is there a harmless habit your spouse has that makes you unreasonably angry? So many to choose from.

Oh my gosh. Matt has alarms going off all day long. Oh, that's a good one. Okay, for what? This morning I was like, turn all those off. I could see like four on. Is it just for waking up? No, to get out the door to like, to, I don't even know.

Oh, it's like a neurosis. Sometimes he doesn't even know what they're for. Like it goes off and he's like, like I don't see him thinking. Doesn't label it. And he doesn't turn. If he can't find his phone, it's just going off in the house. What alarm sound do you? you use on the phone?

Just like the da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da- The really loud, annoying one. The most jarring one. The worst and the offshoot of this habit is he loses his AirPods constantly and then he'll just do that ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

Ding, ding, ding, ding. Forever. I hate like little sounds like that. And it's just constant. It's just so many. I'm like, get it under control. I've got ADHD so it like, it kind of helps keep me on track if I have alarm set.

Yes. Because I'm like, why is this alarm? I'm like, oh, the conference call. And then I, like, like hop on my computer, you know? So it's just make sure that I don't miss the things on my calendar. Hey, keep it going. We got all day for this. He has a very heavy foot. So we have a two-story house.

This could be a whole hour long episode right here. I literally give me the mic. Okay. Here's my time to shine. We don't want to talk about finance. I love you. I yield my time to Abby. Spend so much time with him. Okay, so our bedroom is directly below our kitchen and living room. I can literally just sit there and I'm like, it's like Matt's foot. It's like, dung, dung, dung, dung, dung.

Like everyone in the house can hear where Matt is at all times because his heel is just so heavy. Wait, did you say this, that our son got that from me too? And then our son doesn't too, like, thung-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-. And I got it from my mom. My mom has that heavy foot too. So it's just like a generational DNA thing. Yeah, just walking on our heels, you know.

Oh, my gosh. Like, everyone's like, that's just Matt. What's happening? You just probably went pee or something. Hey, I will say the alarms, though, where I want to say in a way to take care of you because I know you wanted to get McDonald's before I recording this morning.

So then I was like, okay, I needed, if we're gonna, it's a 40 minute drive, so then we have to leave at least 10 minutes before that, and then we can schedule it. And it worked out. We got McDonald's. It did it. Four alarms later, we made it.

We got it in, ding, ding. You know, I'll do with Alexa, and I'll do a random number just because it makes me feel better, but I'm like, Alexa, set an alarm for, oh, no, people's, Alexa's going to go off from me. I'll say, set an alarm for eight.

minutes and I'll like clean the kitchen just for eight minutes. And when the alarm goes off, I'm done. But it like makes me feel like, it's not 10, but like it makes me feel like I can do, or I clean my closet and my closet gets sick. That's a hack. It's so terrible. But I'm like, just six minutes, just for six minutes and I can do it. And then regardless of if it's clean or not, I get to leave.

Wait, why six? Why not five? Exactly. That's it. Because you got to go off. You can't do like a random number. Yeah, you got to do a random number. Oh weird.

Because it feels better. Oh, I don't know. Mine is always five. Like if I can just start for five minutes, sometimes it'll like make me, like, actually have fun doing the task that I didn't want to do. Yes. And so that's what I do sometimes. You get a time, I know. Clean for five minutes.

I know. Before Alexa, I would do our microwave timer, y'all. Like, this would be Winston's. He would laugh. I would like go on our microwave instead of timer for like eight minutes and be like when that alarm goes off. I don't even know you could do that without turning on the microwave. Yes, George. What monster uses our microwave as a timer?

Before Alexa, I would all the time. Wow. All the time. That's a good one. Matt. It's your time to shine. What do you got on? He can never come up with something for this stuff.

Wait, it's like it's something that drives us crazy. I can't, I don't, I don't have a good one. I don't know what to say. I'm sorry. Harmless habit that makes you unreasonably angry. Butter water, bottle water. Do you drink it all? Sometimes I like, if I buy bottled water.

Oh, oh, this kind of ties into it. So like, I feel like Abby is so good at cooking. Like, she's a chef. Like, she's so talented. So I really like her food. I think it's really good. So I'll compliment her food a lot. But if it's a time that I don't say a compliment,

I feel like I get worried. I'm like, crap, I can't say it's bad. So then I don't know what to do it. Because I feel like you're on to me. You know that I don't like the dinner. Yeah, I'm like, say it right now. So she corners you. Yeah.

She's like, you don't like it. And I'm like, no, the chick filet that I got has nothing to do with this at all. I love it. I love it. That was a really bad one, but I'm sure there's something. She's perfect. We get it. No, Winston's for me would be driving.

He's so, he can be so inconsistent. He either drives like a grandpa, and he like, literally will pull out of our driveway, like, go, go, just go. Or he speeds and gets so close to people, like, with their tail, and I'm like, I'm a gasper. Like, I'm like a, oh, my God. I grab the ceiling. Because you're so close, yeah. Oh, yeah, it was, I saw this, it's not going to be funny, but I saw this Instagram, he sent it to me. We were both dying laughing.

So it's like a car. So they have one dog driving. And the other one is like the chihuahua. Have you seen it? It's like crying. It looks like this really sad chihuahua. And it says above it when I see brake lights, but my husband has already given me that do you want to drive speech so I can't say anything.

Oh. Cry in the passenger seat. I was like, that's relatable content. That's how I feel. That's really how I feel. That's a good one. I'm either like, speed up, speed up. I made him get a ticket.

Did you know that, Winston? On our second date, y'all. Because I told him he could drive faster on the interstate. And he did. And he got pulled over. Got a ticket. That's the last time. So all the driving with Winston

trusts me out. No, he certainly gets annoyed when I make comments when he drives. This actually happened last night. I believe it. From the airport.

I do it all the time. And parking spots, I always see a parking spot. I'm like, park there. Go there. Go there. Oh, yeah. I can't see.

Hey, note to anybody watching gasping never helps. I don't know. I always get lost at the airport. I actually got lost at the Nashville airport and the Phoenix airport. Even with the navigation, too. Like, it's just,

there's so many ways to go. You're like, wow, crap, and then you missed the turn. Yeah. And then I get stuck. It's hard. Yeah, so that did happen. Okay, that's fair. All right.

I'll go quick here. Laundry. My wife will leave the clothes in the dryer just sitting there. Who knows how long? Could have been days. Yeah. Now all my clothes are wrinkled. It's clean and dry, though.

It's clean and dry, but now wrinkled. It's all kerfuffled with the other clothing. So now I have to re-dry it. I throw a few ice cubes in there. Redry it to get the wrinkles out. Is that a thing? That's a hack. Ice cubes and laundry.

What? Exactly. I have heard that. So that's my daily task is ice cubes in the dryer for whatever it's been sitting there. I knew you could do that with rice. Like if you want to, if your Chinese food is a day old, you throw some ice in the rice in the microwave it. Oh, that's nice in the rice. I didn't know about the laundry thing.

That's cool. Blessed to be a blessing. Here we go. All right there. Your clothes are wrinkle free. Thank you. Wow. Yeah.

Not a single. Chris. Straight from the dry cleaner. No, but here's the thing. She doesn't take it out of the dryer because that means she has to fold it and she hates folding more than anything. I appreciate that. So therefore she's going to wait for a meal.

to re-dry it and fold it. You know what? Case closed. Honestly, that's pretty smart. Good for you, Whitney. I'm proud of it. How are you guys team Whitney? I think it's great.

I think that's good for her. We should be a better husband. Thank you. I get that a lot. That was fun. Thanks for playing. So make sure to DM us your guilty is charged questions

and maybe we'll use one on a future episode. All right, Matt and Abby, thank you all so much. Thank you guys. Thank you. Matt and Abby, Unplanned podcast.

Yeah, the unplanned podcast. That's our show. And we also have our YouTube channel, Matt and Abby, as well as our TikTok. Well, thank you guys again so much. It was an honor. So fun. And if you guys enjoyed this episode, make sure to check out our episode, Baby Q&A, the Costs Essentials and Honest Advice from me and George that's coming up next.

We'll put a link down below and make sure to subscribe so you don't miss an all new episode of. Smart Money Happy Hour. Cheers, guys. Cheers, everyone. Oh, yeah. Thank you guys. Thank you. I'm going on.

So, cool.