Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel - How to Negotiate Like a Pro (Even When It’s Awkward)

Episode Date: September 7, 2023

Scoring a great deal can save you big—but how do you negotiate the price down when it feels downright awkward? In this episode, George and Rachel talk about strategies to getting the best deal, then Rachel tries them out in their own mock-negotiation. In this episode: - George uncovers the depths of Rachel’s shame - George and Rachel share their negotiating dos and don’ts - Another great way to save money (that doesn’t require an awkward situation) Helpful Resources: ·     Start making memories! Go NOW and get Tapple at Wal-Mart or wherever you buy board games! · Booking a flight with Going is the best and simplest way to pay less and travel more. Sign up for free today at going.com/smartmoney. ·     Get your finances organized, make a plan, build your confidence, and kick money stress out of your life for good with the EveryDollar budgeting app. Go to www.everydollar.com/smartmoney to get a free two-week trial and $15 off your premium membership to EveryDollar. ·     Do you have a Guilty as Charged question for Rachel and George? Send a DM to @rachelcruze or @georgekamel on Instagram! Be sure to type “GUILTY?” at the top of your message so we don’t miss it. ·     Learn more about your ad choices: https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices ·     Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy: https://www.ramseysolutions.com/compa...   This Week’s Happy Hour Special: Tangerine Mojito Cocktail Recipe from La Croix Ingredients: 5 tablespoons Agave nectar 2-3 mint leaves 2 cups tangerine juice 1/4 cup lime juice 2-3 Tangerine slices 2 cans of Tangerine LaCroix Instructions: In a tall glass, muddle the mint and agave. Add the tangerine juice, lime juice, Lacroix, and tangerine slices. Stir and garnish with mint leaves. 🍊 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. So fresh. That is a bomb to the soul. So good.

Incredible. Well, this is the podcast 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 today we are talking about how to negotiate. Rachel, I can feel your anxiety. It's not like major anxiety, but it's not. It is a little bit like, are you just cheap?

Do I need to call Dr. Delonion to help you with this? I think he's got like a whole book about this. I know. We're going to dive in because it to me can be a little awkward depending on what the thing is, but you're shameless. Whoa. You always ask for a deal, George. You're happy to throw the shame, that's for sure.

My dad will ask for a deal. I mean, like people are very, very particular about their deals and I just... I'm going to show you how to do this without it being like this weird, awkward conflict. Because you really can save a lot of money. So we're going to dive in because it's a great subject. Yes. Just like this drink. That's right.

What are we sipping on, George? This is really good. So this is a mocktail from a mocktail garlies out there. The Tangerine Mohedo Mocktail, and our team pulled the recipe from the La Croy website. No way. There's a hint. There's a hint for what's in it. So stick around to the very end.

We'll give you our rating. We'll reveal the cost per glass and give you the recipe at the end of the episode. It's very refreshing. Very refreshing. It has no business being this good. I'm going to just caveat it with that. It's really good. Yeah.

Okay. So it honestly surprises me, Rachel, that you're not more into negotiating. Because your personality, like, you're not afraid to spar. But when it comes to dollars, you're like, uh, well, how does the budgeting queen not want to negotiate? Like, you love a good sale, but you're not wanting to negotiate. Yeah, because I don't, it may just be like, I don't know, childhood wounds that come out during this. I don't know what it is. Where's my yellow pad?

I'm certain things that I'm like, I, it's unnecessary to negotiate. Because some stuff, it's like the little, you know, 22-year-old manager at the store can't do anything about the price sometimes, right? And then you just haggle and haggle and he's like, I really can't do anything. Now, big items, there's room to negotiate there. But I'm just talking about the everyday just, I don't know. I'm not going to like the price of bananas at Trader Joe's. stuff to the grocery store.

Like all, like, people that, like, do all this stuff. Shots have been fired. You do, George. And we are just two different people. Why is it not okay to bring stuff back to the grocery store? We can all love each other in this world. I just don't have time and I just don't feel like, oh. Send me.

I will go. Send me. I will be the returner. There we go. Sounds like that's like in the script. By the end of this episode, we will uncover the depths of racial shame and get her to be an expert negotiator. But I want to know growing up as, you know, Dave Ramsey, Sharon Ramsey's daughter, like, did you see them negotiate for things growing up? Yes. Yeah. We would be at like appliance

stores and they would be like, y'all need to go to a different aisle, you know? And they would like get the, you know, I always heard always ask for the manager. That's true. And it'd be like, well, you know, open a box for an open box special. Like let's like find the thing. Yeah. Oh yeah, they were always asking for a deal. always about conflict. It's just like, hey, do you guys have any open box? Yeah, and like a way to like get around the system too. I feel like there's a like it's that same mindset. Like I don't look to like game the system on places. It just is what it is and I participate. And other people, you try to like find a way around the thing. Because it's fun. Is that is that what it is to you really though? Is it really fun? Well part of it, you know, I know this is it's stereotypical. But, like, my dad is from Egypt, a Middle Eastern. So haggling is kind of, like, a sport for us. It's fun.

And we do it in a very fun kind way. And you do it at, like, you know, like, R-E-I outdoors. I don't know what you would be in that R-E-I? That I've been inside of an R-E-I. It's the jacket. It's the jacket. I can only guess. When George goes camping and buys North Face gear, are you negotiating?

Wouldn't I have R-E-I get? gear there instead of North Face gear? I don't know. No, they sell outdoorsy brands. Oh, they have them all. They got them all. Thank you for telling me what they have. Where would you negotiate, George?

I would say... What's the cheapest thing you would negotiate? Like, what's the thing that you're like... Oh, there's no bar too low. I will stoop there. It's not necessarily a price point for me. It's an environment location. Okay, that's fair.

It's like the grocery store. I'm not going to be like, hey, the frozen pizza was $10. Can you do eight? I'm not going to do that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But if I see something on sale and then it doesn't ring up, Rachel's just going to be like, hey, it's fine. I'll pay whatever price.

I'm the guy who's like, I'll go take a picture of the barcode to show you. Okay, if I caught the mistake in the moment, I would say something. But the idea of you watching the screen to make sure that it rung up for $9.99 instead of $12. No, no, I don't look. I don't look. I don't read labels and receipts. I'm the guy. I had that Target $1 off coupon for the Lara bars in there.

It didn't scan. Would you go? How far physically? do you have to be away from the store that you would come back to it. Would you be home and go back? I've done that. No, you went, George. I've done it.

And Whitney's like, are you serious? I'm like, yeah, I got to go back. George. Can I tell you my most shameless one, though? Yes. Because there's levels. There's a spectrum. A hundred percent.

And I wasn't unkind, but I resist stupid processes and policies. Fair. I was at Target. Okay. And I bought something. Okay. I went to a different target, like 10 minutes away. Sure.

Later that day, it was a weird situation. And I went to return. it. And they said, oh, no, no, no, you can't return this. I said, why? They said, well, within a 24-hour window, you can't return the same item to a different target. It hasn't processed in the system yet. So it throws the system into a tizzy if you do this. So I start to go, this is stupid. I was just at this target. I bought this. I have the receipt showing I bought it, and you're telling me I can't return it when you have that same product here. And they went, no, it's just the, it's the policy. And I went, okay, what if I didn't have a receipt?

and her eyes were like, oh no, he just cracked the code in the matrix. So I crumpled up the receipt and I threw it behind my back and I said, Hi, I'd like to do a no receipt return, please. And it was like, she was like, oh my gosh, this guy just figured out quantum physics. And she did the return. I'll applaud that, George. That's very smart. And I wasn't unkind.

I didn't berate her. I was just like, okay, then I'll do a no receipt return. So that is my most shameless, like, I'm not going to have it today. Like, I'm just not going to deal with stupid processes. Okay. See, and I think I could get more on board on that whole philosophy than, like, give me a dollar off, Bob. You know, it was just like, I just. If that is how I talk, then I have an amazing personal brand.

But truthfully, a lot of people in their mind, I want to reframe negotiation. Okay, yes, yes. Listener's minds, your mind. I'm just being kind of funny. It's rarely me at the car dealership being like, you got to do better than that. Go talk to the manager. MSRP. Usually, it's more slick.

It's more subtle. Yeah. It's more, you know, like, I'm following the rules. I'm not trying to break any rules. So we're going to get to the do's and don'ts of negotiation and take you all to school. I'll give you mine. My dues and don't. Okay, let's start with those.

I'm going to do the don'ts. Don't be rude. 100%. And I think that's some of it. I'm not scared of conflict. We can, like, do conflict. But it's just when people, like, belittle other people, like, do you not have the power to do, do, do it. Like, it's that, that rhetoric that it's just like, oh.

Yeah, I'm not better than any. If you have that vibe, it's gross. Also, I learned this from real world experience. Don't, like, dream in front of the cellar. So, like, if they, like, have the car or the item, you're like, oh, my gosh, that would look so cute and X, Y, Z. We did this when we were looking for a house. We were with a realtor, and we went in, and I just was like, the nursery could go here.

I mean, I was, like, I was moved in. I was emotionally moved in, and I was saying everything I was thinking, and we got done. And when someone's like, hey, you cannot do that because now she freaking knows we were locked in. Like, it feels like there's no room to negotiate when you emotionally show your cards. 100%. That's a good one. I've done that. I've done that a few times.

Okay. I'd also say, you know, if you're in a situation and you really feel good about the negotiation, don't apologize for it. I think there is a time and a place. Who's apologizing? I think that people could just be like, oh, I'm sorry. I'm going to ask, you know. Oh, yeah.

Don't feel bad about it. Again, if it's the right time and place and you're not being mean, Yeah, I think there's a level of confidence you can have. Confidence, kindness. I'm seeing a theme here. Yeah. So I would say also don't trust everybody. Sometimes I'm in a buying situation and whatever they tell me.

I'm just like, yes, absolutely. It's what they said. I'm all for it. I trust people a lot. But, you know, as Kristen Wigg would say on bridesmaids, don't trust anybody. Do you remember when she says that? I will always remember that. She's spoken to my heart and helps me through.

Who knew? Chris and Whig was your negotiating guru. Just always, yeah, look a little behind. Okay. And then also I would say, don't be afraid of the silence. This is a big part of negotiation. Yeah, you know, lay out your argument or your wishes. And just be quiet.

Don't feel like you have to fill the silence with talking because sometimes you can talk your way out of the negotiation. Or talk yourself into something stupid because it's fine. Yep. And they're just sitting there like, okay, perfect. I just landed this deal. That's exactly right. walked her way into it. Okay, George,

that's really good. You're just like the pro of it. So tell us the dues. Those are my personal don'ts. What makes me cringe about negotiations, it's that. But you're great at this. So what are the dues? What do we need to do, George?

Well, I think for starters, I want to start with the fact that always tell the truth. Like, your integrity matters. Yes. So I'm not in the business of just, like, lying and scheming your way into a deal to save a buck. That's gross. And it's going to affect a reputation. It's going to plant a seed in your heart. I'm not for that.

So your character is priceless. Yep. So make sure you're always telling the truth. Next, here's a interesting one, haggled towards the end of the day or the end of the month, because businesses are more inclined to give out discounts. Oh, for like inventory purposes and stuff. Sure. Well, and if you're out like a flea market and they got to haul all this stuff home.

Yeah. And the deal is like, hey, it's five for ten. And I'm like, hey, would you do ten for ten? And they're like, yeah, sure, why not? Maybe that's my thing. When it's an individual person like that, a flea market, a gross. Raj Sale, Facebook Marketplace, like, an individual, I'm way more comfortable with negotiating than, like, the J-Crew sales manager.

You don't want to hurt J-Crew Corporation. It's not that I want to hurt. I just think it's just like it's a dead end usually. They can't. So when you said that, especially at those kind of places, that's a great, I think that's a great deal. Yes. Yes.

And I think you'll get a better deal. So I think that's a great deal. Oh, 100%. Facebook Marketplace is a great place to do this as well. Yes. Something's on Facebook Marketplace for $75. I'll be like, hey, I can come two-day. I will Venmo you $50 or bring cash, whatever you'd like.

And I'm very professional. And the fact that I form full sentences and say, I will meet today with cash, it usually gives me the deal. People love that. Ooh, that's another good deal. Because a lot of crazy people on Facebook. Bring cash. Bring cash. Cash is king when it comes to this stuff.

Because people don't want to hope that your check works. And they don't want to deal with the privacy issues of like, will you cash or Venmo me or like Zell me. There's too much risk there. Yeah, it's all there. Cash. when it comes to negotiating. Another one, this is interesting. Always ask for a discount. Never hurts to ask. Do it kindly. You don't need to be a jerk. But just speaking up can lead to savings.

And this is one that I use all the time. And I heard this fascinating episode of This American Life, the podcast. Oh, yeah. Radio show. And it was from 2015. They did this experiment called the good guy discount. And one guy said, I do this thing. I go into a store. And when I'm at the register, I just say, hey, can I get the good guy discount? And they say, what? They said, well, I'm a good guy. You're a good guy. You know, can you work with me on the price here?

Uh-uh. Did it work? So they do the experiment. Four out of five times, it did not work. Okay. But the fifth time, it worked. And so he went back to the friend. He said, I don't understand.

I've been failing at this. How often does it work? And he's like, oh, 15 to 20% of the time. It's not an all-the-time thing. So you have to be very okay with rejection and the awkwardness of them going, no, we don't do that. And I go, oh, okay. And you just go. And you just move on.

And so if you can just get used to rejection, I'm so used to rejection from girls in high school that I think it has made me a very comfortable negotiator. Yeah. So that's a really good one. I did this with my handyman the other day. He bills me and I'm like flabbergasted by the bill because they were there for like days. Yeah. And so I see the bill and he's like, hey, like here's how you pay. And I went, I noticed here there's a like you're charging a fee.

And I was like, if I do cash, would you guys make it cheaper? Like, oh, yeah, we could take, you know, 4% off you do cash. So, great, I'll go get, I'll go to the bank, I'll get cash, come by tomorrow, and I'll give it to you. And so you can save serious money just by asking for a cash discount. Yes, that's good. Because businesses pay 2, 3, 4% when you're doing a card. When you swipe that card. Which, by the way, use a debit card if you're listening to this show.

Right, always swipe with your own money. Well, if you swipe an Amex, there's a reason businesses say we do not accept Amex. Because they lose 3% on those transactions. Oh my gosh. So, cash. That's good. That's a great one. Using cash.

And it shows you're serious. You show up with cash. I'm like, oh, they have the money and they're ready to make the deal. So that's an great one. And it's an instant deal. Yes. Again, they don't have to jump to the hoops. They don't have to wait.

You mentioned this, but I love it. Don't be desperate. So the do here is be patient. Yeah, you're good. I'm good. Are you good? Yeah. We're good.

Act like you have all day because you can wait them out. This is a stake out here. And then be transparent about your budget. Because if they know, Rachel can't go over. Well, not in a sense, because if we know Rachel can't go over 50 bucks for this item, we're not going to waste your time going, well, could you do 60? Could you do 70? Right, right.

So depending on the situation, it can lead to more flexible negotiations. If they know right up front, I will not go further than this. Okay. So that's an option. Another one is just being direct. Yeah. So if you're not satisfied, I'm okay saying that's not good enough, especially in a customer service scenario. where I'm, I've been wrong somehow, right?

Like, Southwest cancels my flight at 2 a.m., which they did with my pregnant wife. Boo. And so they, you know, we get to the desk and she's all, you know, everyone's flustered, giant line. Totally. And I was just like, that's not good enough. Like, we've been here for eight hours. You canceled our flight last minute with no warning. And so they ended up giving us like a billion dollars in vouchers.

They're going to like buy Whitney a new suitcase because the wheel broke when they were transporting it. And so just put a, give a little fight, you know, have a little ghost. A little tension in there. Yeah. See if they cave. And here's the last one I'm going to say, give before you take. Oh. Here's what I mean by that. Here's the heart. If you're going to ask for a discount, offer something. So what I'll do is I'll say, hey, would you guys do any kind of discount if I left you like a raving review in my neighborhood Facebook group and on Yelp? And they go, yeah, oh, it'll do 10% off. You do that. That'd be great. And so therefore, it's not, someone doesn't have to lose in order for me to win. It can be a win-win for all of us. So that's my final.

You can do this. I've got stories all day, Rachel, of moments I've done this and done it tastefully. There's been moments where I've, you know, Whitney was like, you need to apologize to that customer. But oftentimes customer chats online are the best because you don't have to deal with them face-to-face. Yeah. You just can keep asking for a, yeah, for a better price. You don't have to have this awkward social interaction. It's just a chat. And so that's been my best scenarios is when I can get on customer service chat online. Okay. That's good.

That's good, George. So overall. There's some good dues. And here's the deal. We're all about saving money here. Yes. Right? And this is not a moral dilemma.

You're doing nothing wrong. And yeah, and I think it just, here's my thing. It just takes energy. It takes time. Like, there's just these things, you know. And again, the bigger the item, the more willing I am to do it. To do the research, put in the effort. Yeah, for sure.

You're not going to spend six hours to get a dollar discount. Right. Right. Not worth it. No. But I love this quote. I heard it from Dave Ramsey on an old Ramsey show clip, and he said, he with the most patience, the most information, and the most options always wins.

And that stuck with me. I was like, yes, if I can just be patient, not in a rush, not desperate. If I can have researched, I have all the information. I know more than they do about it. Yes. And I have options. So I have walkaway power. That's right.

Oh, walkway power is a big one too. That's huge. And so if you have those things, you will win and you will walk away with no regret. going, I made the best decision and I got a good deal. That's so good. For something I needed. Yeah, I love it, George. So negotiations are a great way to save money, but also another great way to save money,

because people ask about this a lot, especially if they're getting out of debt or saving up for an emergency fund, is we say, cut your lifestyle because when you go to the movies on this, you're spending money. So in order to save, stay home. Yes. And play a game. You guys, board games are back. It's back, baby. With a vengeance.

And it is so fun with friends and with family and one of my favorites, George. brought with me. Tappel. Are we going to do it live? Yeah, we're going to do live. Me and you're going to play. This is fun. Usually it's with a big group, but George and I today. We're a big group. We're big personalities. That's all you need, okay? And I wish we could play with all of them. That would be fun one day. Group Tappel. So this game is less than 20 bucks, and it fits perfectly in your budget, and you can play within a few minutes. So it's not like monopoly where you need three hours. You can just kill some time and do a few rounds of this real quick.

So here's how it works. You choose a category. Then you press the timer on the top, a little gray hand here, and then you shout out words related to the category that start with one of these letters. And if you get it, you hit the letter. You only got 10 seconds. And when the letters down, it's out. So you got to pick another letter than when your turn's next. So imagine playing with a group and the letters are disappearing and now you've got to think of a color that starts with N and you can't get there in time and the tension is maddening. Okay, let's do it. Let's go. Lindsay, why don't you give us a category? Okay. Since it's happy hour, let's do names of cocktails.

Oh, Chanty. Oh, Shanty. Even though technically it's a mocktail today, but, you know. Okay. Okay. Well, we can't do mocktail names. I don't know enough mocktails. No, we said cocktail.

I was just saying. Yeah, cocktails. Okay, I'm going to go first. Get the timer going. You got ten seconds. Ready, go. Manhattan. Old fashion.

I'm going to say, oh, no, is there not a V? Dacquerie. She barely made it. Okay, George, so we'll stop. play all the rounds. That was really fun. And again, imagine for all the new people, I kind of nervous. You know what's sad, Rachel? I don't remember engaging my brain that much in a while because I scroll social media, which is the opposite. The opposite of that. And so I feel like my brain grew just by playing a board game. I know. Yeah. Wonderful. So if you guys want to check out,

Tappel, make sure to go wherever you buy board games, including Walmarts, lots of options. So make sure to check it out. All right, George. I think we should like have a practice round of negotiation. Wait, like, we're going to roleplay this? I think we should. I think like I'll, I, I'm gonna, I'm gonna try and do my best. And then as the master negotiator, you can afterwards critique me and say like, here's what you could have done. So, I, but it needs to be something like really expensive that I'm negotiating. Yeah, it can't be like a banana. I'm not gonna be good on like, yeah, an apple. Okay. How about this? You and Winston are shopping for a speedboat. That's an expensive purchase. And it's something I can picture Winston driving.

Like he's got the little captain's hat on. You're a lake family. You're a lake family. You grew up on the lake, lots of boats. And you're like, I want a boat. I want a cruise boat. And boats are expensive. All right.

And I'm the boat salesman. Your goal here is to negotiate it down by $10,000, down to $65,000. Okay. You ready? Yeah. I'm just looking at. I'm not coming up to the salesperson because I'm just going to eat my power. Hey, ma'am.

How can I help you? Here are Rick. Rick's boats. I'm Rick. Are you Rick? Pleasure to meet you. Do you own the store? I do, ma'am. I owned it for 25 years now. We've been selling used quality boats. Right here in Middle Tennessee. Parentheses, in Rachel's mind, that's great because I'm the owner of the store. He has all the power. Play. Well, my dad, Rick Sr., he was the owner, but I took it over when he's his passing just a few months ago.

Rest in power, Rick. How can I help you, ma'am? So sorry for your loss. Oh, I appreciate that. He was older than a tick on a boat. Let me tell you right now. So he had a good, long life. Did he die on a boat?

Died on the boat. That's how he wanted to go, man. Well, just like the memories you have of your father, Rick. I want memories with my family. Wow, that's a real personal to you. And I grew up on the lake. With my dad? Are you crying?

Wow, what's your dad's name? Must have been a heck of a dad taking y'all in the lake all summer. Yep. Well, I don't want to tell you his name. I recognize you. No, you don't. I swear I've seen you before. No, you don't, Rick.

Rick, my husband is gone. He's not dead. He's just not there. He's out of here. And do you need a spriters? Can I get you a sprit or something? You got cash? And I only have $65,000.

You have $65,000 in cash on your person. In this bag right here. Wow. And I want to walk away with a boat today. Well, ma'am, I could show you boats in your price range that might do that for you. No, Rick, I want this boat right here. Oh. Yeah.

You want old Sally? I want to know what the MSRP is. Oh, MSRP on that thing is at 95 grand. Oh, she's okay. We've got a sale right now. It's ending today at 75. That's a heck of a deal. You won't find that deal anywhere in the state of Tennessee.

Well, I might down it. You talk to Bubba? You've been down at Bubba's? Dick's most. Rick and Dix. Rick and Dicks. Dicks's my stepbrother. We don't get along too kindly.

Oh, man. I've been doing this for 25 years, ma'am. You ask anyone a quarter mile radius. They'll tell you, I'm the best in town. This is what I have. And when I looked online and saw other deals, there's one out in Chattanooga. I can drive an hour and a half and go get it down there. So would you match the price of another boat that I found?

Wow. What's the making model on it? It's a MasterCraft 21. Okay. What kind of engine are we talking? A V8. That's got a V8. Well, I'll tell you.

For the specs on this thing, you're not going to find a better boat of this price. I don't know what the horsepower is. I mean, at this point, I'm losing money on this deal, but I just don't have the... Oh, man. I don't got enough slips to store these things in that. I'm going to pick up my duffel bag of $65 grand and... Well, hey, before you go, I'd love to show you some other boats in your price range. No, Rick.

This is what I want. Well, hey, if you can't get that deal in Chattanooga, you come on back. I'll take good care of you. That's what my daddy would have done. I'm terrible. Negotiation over. Oh, man, I failed. That was terrible.

You were tough, though. You fell for every trap. You immediately went, I want this boat. I have all the money. You have to tell them my budgets. Dude, George Camel. I didn't even ask for your budget.

You tell me, and the doest part of this episode, give them your budget. But wait for me to ask. I would have said, what kind of payments you're looking for? And I would have cash right here in the stuffful bag. Oh, well, what's your budget? 65,000. And here's the boats I can do for 65,000. Whatever.

I would have said, hello, I'm Rachel Cruz. Pleasure to meet you. And he goes, okay, cool. Good start. First of all, you got very emotional and desperate real quick. I was like, she's great. We're about to make this deal. She's emotional.

She's falling for this whole hoopla, but my dad's passing. My gosh. That got you. Don't trust anybody. Don't trust anybody. What if he really did pass? That's still. I was believing you.

But then you, that made you go, I'm willing to pay full price because I feel bad for him. I didn't know. I walked away, George. But I felt it. I don't care what you felt. Facts are your friends. What I forgot to say was, what I wanted to say. I walked away.

What I wanted to say. I won. I kind of feel like I won. What if when you walked in? I didn't get the boat. I kept my money. How would you respond when you walked in? I said, is there a decision maker in the house?

household that you could bring along with you? I'm just kidding. That's my favorite. You really did great. It was an odd scenario. But what I would have done, Rachel. He's your death in the picture, Doran. What I would have done.

Obviously, this is a fake scenario. I would have come in knowing so much about that particular boat. I told you the engine that make the model. Sure. In our pretend world. I would have looked at the boat and would have found, I went, you know what? Oh, I see a ding. Yeah, the pictures online, it didn't really show all the stag.

And I want you to be a little bit like not excited about the book. You're looking at it and you're kind of like, it's really, I mean, it doesn't excite me. It's not what I was hoping for. The pictures aren't, I mean, if you were willing to come down on this, I might be able to make the deal today. But otherwise, I got to keep looking. I got a few other boats I'm looking at. I would have been like, oh, well, you know, that right there, that's probably a $2,000 fix. I could come down $2,000 for you on that.

Oh, so you start to later. So Rick and George are making deals. We're making deals at it. Rachel and Rick, no budget. But the key is stay calm, have options, do all the research. You know so much about that boat. You're kind of, and then maybe coming at the end of the month, end of the day. And Rick, you know, Rick's like, well, I got to move the boats.

I got to get my quota. I need to get, yeah, yeah, may make you a deal. Yes. And you could say, you know what, if you still have this boat, a month from now, I'll come back. Chances are he calls you a week from now and goes, you know what, I talked it over. I think we can make this deal work.

Come up at that 65, we'll make it happen today. Okay. So just some tips. Guys, I hope that helped. You know, save you some money. Some negotiating power. If it didn't help, at least you were very entertained. That was free.

All right, George. It's almost the end of the episode, and we close out every episode with Guilty as Charged. And this is where our producer, Lindsay, gives us a new, guiltiest charge question. every week, and if we are guilty, we have to take a sip. Lins? What are you embarrassed of haggling?

Like something that you have haggled, that you're embarrassed that you did. Now, Rachel, this may not imply. Well, I did. There was a couple of times, like, in college, so I'm kind of going back on my word. Maybe college Rachel was a little more. But when I was, like, shopping and stuff, like, I would ask them, like, I would find, like, something on the shirt and be like, can you give me 10% off? Can you, you know.

I did it work? Sometimes it did, yeah. I know. So you're saying there's a chance. But I look back now and I'm like, man, I really went, yeah. I don't know why nowadays. I don't know. The fear of man.

I don't know. Yeah, I guess the embarrassment would be the environment, people around me watching, but not necessarily the one-to-one interaction wouldn't embarrass me. Yeah, but I tried real hard in college. It's been more where like I feel like I'm making a scene now and other people are in line. Like, do you have a petty haggle? you're like, or something that you aggled for that was like less than 20 bucks. Taking stuff back to the grocery store.

To me like. Oh, yeah. Oh, what was, didn't you do one with Trader Joe's? Yeah, I take stuff back to Trader Joe's all the time. Oh, but you're allowed. They tell you that. I forgot. Yeah.

Costco, I mean, that's an embarrassing one. When you've had an item for three years and you take it back to Costco. And their return policy is like, you take it back anytime for any reason. Yeah. And so I took a vacuum back once. But you just felt like. But the vacuum just wasn't working like it used to. Because it's been three years.

Because it's been three years. And they just returned it. And I was like, I know. But like when you pay for something expensive and it doesn't hold up or a period of time, in the return policy states, you can return it. That's fair. And the people at Costco are very friendly. They're just like, what's the reason for, like, yeah, just not working like it used to.

They're like, oh, okay, cool. And so you realize the shame is usually mostly internal. Sure. And it's not this thing you're spreading to everyone around you. Sure. So, again, be kind. It's good. Please rewind.

But I would, my wife will have stories for days. We need a tell-all with Whitney around this topic. Yeah, she probably would have a lot. And guess who gets to do all the returns in the Camel family? Because Whitney has too much shame to do it. This guy. This guy, George. All right, so the mocktail has been great.

I think we've been, yeah, you finished it before. What would you rate this one? I'm going to go 10 out of 10. Wow. I don't think you could improve a mocktail. without adding something less mocky. Okay. I think I'm going to go an 8 out of 10.

Okay. What's your take? Is it the mint? Is it the tangerine? The after taste is pretty like, it's a little punchy after. Yeah, it's a little punchy after. That's what I've been waiting, America,

is for a little punchy beverage. Especially for a mocktail. It's hard to make them punchy. That is true. That is true. It's delicious, though. Okay. So I'm going to go 8 out of 10.

Here's what is in this tangerine mohito moktail. It's got tangerine juice. It's got lime juice, agave nectar, mint and tangerine LaCroix. So great. And you can make a whole picture of this for four people for $7.28 cents or $1.82 per glass. And you can find the recipe in the show notes and apparently on LaCroix's website.

So thanks, LaCroix, hashtag not sponsored. Thanks. Well, it's closing time, George. So you guys leave a review of this podcast if you haven't yet because it helps with the algorithm and getting the show in front of people that may not see it and tell your friends to spread the word. It's always helpful. And make sure to subscribe so that you don't miss a new episode every Thursday of

Smart Money Happy Hour.