Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel - Pros and Cons of Shopping in 2005 (Should We Go Back?)

Episode Date: September 18, 2025

💸 Want to see how fast you can pay off your house? Use our FREE Mortgage Payoff Calculator.   Claire’s, Sbarro, Great American Cookies—can we go back to ’90s mall culture? In today’s episode, George and Rachel are taking a nostalgic trip down memory lane to weigh the pros and cons of shopping in 2005 vs. 2025.   Next Steps: 🎥 Watch our video What Today’s Teens Are Buying (vs. Us 20 Years Ago) . 🍸 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: 🍹 Enzoni Recipe: @deadendwest    1 ounce gin 1 ounce Campari 1/2 ounce simple syrup 3/4 ounce lemon juice 5 grapes   Instructions: Add ingredients to a shaking tin. Muddle grapes. Add ice and shake. Fine strain into rocks glass of ice. Garnish with a grape.   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

Do you ever just want to teleport back to a Sabarro in the mall food court and live your best life? Well, today, it's throwback shopping versus modern day swiping. I think they were probably happy I quit, too. I think I took a lot of time off. You were not a great mall employee. I don't know if I was... This is me, George. Because who knows what the future holds?

You never know. What if Blockbuster comes back. Hey, guys, I'm Rachel Cruz. I'm George Camel. And this is Smart Money Happy Hour. Well, this is the show where two friends who happen to be money experts talk about what you're talking about. everything from pop culture, current events, and money. And before we get to the throwback, let's bring it to present day.

Talk about what we're sipping on. Yeah. This is the Enzoni, which sounds very Italian and makes me also want pizza. Yeah, Sabaro. It's all clicking. Unbelievable. This is a new conspiracy theory. That was a great pizza stop.

In the mall? Yes. It hit. I mean, it took me back to Italy. It took me back to Italy. Like Michael Scott in the office when he goes to Italy and finds the Sabaro. The best. Or you're in New York, and it's like the one in Times Square.

Yes. And you're like, no, don't go to that one. But oh, so good. That one's not authentic. So good. Anyways, we'll give you the rating and reveal the cost per glass on the Enzoni at the end of the episode. Stick around for that. All right.

Nostalgia is, as the kids say, popping off right now. Yeah, I feel like it is everywhere. There's some of my favorite reels that come up are, they're like, women my age. They're like usually like in their, I feel like late 30s, maybe early 40s. And they have items and dress up. like it's like 2005 or 2004. Oh, yeah. Like their style and stuff.

Oh, and it just makes me so happy. Because it's like that was us. Like, that's like what exactly- Is it because we're not happy in the current chaos that is America? No. Surely not. Do we pine for a simpler time?

Is that what's going on here? I do wonder if we do. We introduced my kids to Sandlot, the movie. Oh, how did that go? Great. They watched the whole thing. It holds up. They laughed.

There's a lot of cussing in it. So every time there was a cuss word, and my kids were like, and I was like, ugh. But it's really funny. And they were like, Mom, Caroline said, well, I want a neighborhood like that. We live in a great neighborhood with kids everywhere, but it's not like that.

It's no sandlot neighborhood, you know. It's just like there is something about it. And again, I know that wasn't 2005. That was like based in like the 60s. But I don't know, George, maybe we all crave. Maybe we all have a little craving of a little back in time. I wonder if every generation feels that way. It's like their era,

growing up was the best. I do, because people that grew up in the 80s, like we're like little kids in the 80s and loved the 80s. People in the 90s love the 90s. Like I feel like everyone loved their like area. But I wonder if kids of the 2000s will feel the same way.

Like 2010-10-ish. Will like Gen Z and Gen Alpha look back at this time be like, oh, simpler times with chat GPT when it didn't take over the world? I don't know. Like what's going to be their version of this? I know.

That's a great question. I don't know. Like I miss when the computers weren't implanted into our brains. We had to look at it with our hands. It was crazy. Do not put a computer in my brain. Don't do that.

Conspiracy, Rachel, is going to go. But it's true. Every generation wishes it was 20 years ago. And I do think there's a simplicity to our former lives when we were kids. Yes. And when we talk about money and buying and shopping and that all kind of plays in.

So there's some pros and cons to, I don't know, we could say two decades ago. Yeah. Let's go back to 2005. Mall culture. When Hot Topic was at its peak, Clares was where we all met up. It was the meetup spot. So good.

Great American cookie. Oh, man. This is a true story. One of our first dates, Whitney and I, went to the mall. I was not convinced she had a true gluten allergy. And she said, hold my beer. She went to Sabaro, ordered a slice. They were heating it up, runs across to Great American Cookie Co, gets a double doozy, gets back to her pizza, eats both.

immediate Kardashian lips. She swelled up like a blowfish. Why don't you do that? I think to prove it to me, because she was so fed up with me saying, oh, you can have a little bit of gluten, no. I mean, how many times have you heard that one? George, terrible.

She proved it that night. Oh, my gosh. But Smarrow and a great American cookie co where she knew exactly what she was doing. She knew. She said, I'm going to get to the heart of all this. I think she liked it. I think she wanted to prove it.

I know. But yeah, those were good times. Small culture was a great culture. Yeah. I love it. The times have changed. Christmas time? The mall at Christmas was something special.

Oh my gosh. It just gives you butterflies. Now it's depressing. Have you been to a mall lately? Yeah, not lately. We went, it was probably six months ago or so. And it was kind of the bougie mall. Oh, yeah.

Different vibes there. I think a little different vibes. But it was still like, who goes to the mall? You ever wonder how these stores are staying open? A little bit. I think it's a conspiracy. Especially the weird ones where I'm like, I've never seen someone to step up.

foot in the store. Yes, I know. And now that everyone doesn't like scented candles, like how's Yankee candles still like a thing? You know what I mean? Like, I don't know. How's it still happening? Some new conspiracy theories there. Well, we're going to talk about some drastic changes in spending trends over the last couple decades. And here's the question. Are we really missing out with the way consumerism has evolved? We're going to talk about the pros and cons of 2025 and 2005. So a 20-year span. So grab your Bermuda shorts from Hollister. Let's get into it. Let's do it. All right, 2005 pros. You're ready for this?

Okay. We're going to think like T9. You're going to do T9 on your Nokia cell phone. Playing snake on the Nokia? Nothing like it. Nothing like it. Wonderful. Is that it was a social event to go to the mall.

You know, you had the food course. What we were talking about? It was like really the place to be. The world was your oyster. Sarko Japan at your disposal. Just right there, all the samples, you know. But yeah, there was something about the hangout of the mall specifically. maybe you bought something, maybe you didn't.

But it was like a social thing. Yeah. And you had the in-person advantage, so that was a pro. You got to see and try things on in store. Now we just stare at a screen and squint and hope that things fit. And we're like, well, we'll just return it. And that becomes a hassle in and of itself to order a bunch of stuff knowing you've got to go return it later. Yep.

That can be exhausting. Yep. I'll say this. It was an active time, especially when you were shopping, you know? You're moving. You're moving. You're moving. You're a walk.

I mean, and there's them all walkers. Right? Love a mall walker. There is, there's some exercise there. You worked at a mall. Right? I did, yes. Did you see the mall walkers?

No, because I was tucked in a department store. Oh. Within a department. It was like a little store within a department store. Yeah. So I wasn't like in the chaos of, yeah. With the people. And just remember, I worked there for about six months.

It wasn't a long stint for Rachel. Sure. That's fair. I realized, I can make more babysitting. I think I. I'm going to leave and quit. Yeah. I mean, you're just, that's economics.

That's capitalism. I think they were probably happy I quit, too. I think I took a lot of time off. You were not a great mall employee. I don't know if I was a great mall employee at 16. Did you get a mall discount? That was one of my favorite things about working at the mall. Is you had like a discount at different places.

No, I don't think so. How did you get a discount at different places, not just the store you worked? Because if you were a mall employee, certain stores would discount the food, for example, the food court. They'd give you a 10 or 20% off if you were a mall employee. Oh, nope. We didn't have that in Tennessee. It's one of the perks.

There must be a Massachusetts thing. One of the many perks of working at the Apple store, circa 2009. Yeah, there you go. Yeah, go back 2005. That's where we're at. That's close. Okay, how about this?

Less decision fatigue. You got the Gap Store. That's all you got. Whatever you see on the rack is what you got. It's what you got. They don't have your size. Kick rocks and pound sand. Keep moving.

Get out of there. Get out of here. They may ship it to you. That was the case. But yeah, what you had was there. That was it. That was it. I like that.

And so there's something about, Like I even went on Loft, Ann Taylor Loft, the store. Like to the website? Yeah. And I think I typed in like dresses or something. And it was like 58 pages. Oh my goodness. And you're just like, that is like, I mean, probably a, like,

it's a part-time job just to click the filter button and try to filter it all down. And you're like, man. So it is kind of nice. The simplicity of it I liked. And just to see it in person is a much better gauge than to see something online. Yes, for sure. Because then you're trying to find photos of people actually wearing it, like in the reviews, to see how it actually looks on a person.

Yeah. It's convenient. the online shopping. We'll talk about that later. But like, man, there was just nothing about the, yeah, all the decision fatigue is gone. You got what you got. Less overspending, less overconsumption.

Next on the list, physical payment only. Bam. No phone waving. Cash check or card. Pick your poison. 100%. I even remember before cards. Because they would chink, like if you had a card.

Oh, back in those days. Yeah, I remember when it was like literally you just carried cash everywhere. that's all you did. And maybe if you were fancy, I had a card in 2005 because I had a teen checking account, so I would have had a debit card at that point.

But before that, I mean, even my parents, like I just remember everyone using cash all the time. Yeah, it was very normal. Very normal. Now we don't have cash on this ever. No, they freak out if you use cash. They're like, uh, uh, uh, uh, I don't want that.

Don't touch that. I can't count change. I have to get a special marker to make sure this isn't counterfeit. Yes. That's kind of the vibe now when I use cash. Totally. Next on the pros, a catalog.

The original Amazon. Love a catalog. Delias. That was my favorite. Yeah, that was a girl catalog. And they never had a store. I think they may have eventually came up with the storefront,

but not, oh, and you would just circle what you wanted. That felt like an endless, wonderful time. Yeah. Did you ever get what you wanted once you circled it? How did that work? Sometimes. You got a mom and dad and say, here's... Yeah, well, Delias was the first on, quote unquote, online.

No, it was not online. It was a catalog, and you had to, like, fill out a form and mail it in. Yeah. See, that's how you did the order. That's how you did the order. It was crazy. But Limited 2 would give out catalogs, Toys R Us, would give out catalogs for toys. Love the Toys R Us catalog.

All of it, yeah. How did you, you like catalogs? I loved it. Because it was like a book, but with just pictures. I know. So fun. Way better. I don't remember if I got ever yet all of it.

But part of the joy was just circling stuff. It didn't really matter if I got it all. Right. But you just kind of felt like you were shopping. Yes. I know. It's kind of like adding to Cart Now on Amazon. Yes.

You know? It just feels like it. All right, George, let's head to the cons. Let's. Of 2005. The things that were not great. One thing that wasn't great is that there were no online banks or credit unions. Just brick and mortar to my least favorite words.

I don't like brick. I don't like mortar. Yeah, get it out of here. Yeah, but Fairwin's credit union is an incredible place to keep your money. You guys, they are a credit union, not this. massive big bank where you get lost and you're just a number and they nickel and dime you to death. Like, no, Fairwinds does not do that.

They care about you, the person, and they're actually really big Ramsey fans, which we love. And so when you go and you actually bank with Fairwinds, they're going to guide you along the Ramsey plan. Like, they want you to win. They want you to get out of debt and have an emergency fund. This is stuff that most banks don't care about. And the best part of our credit union, it's owned by the members, not by Wall Street. And so with all the savings, they pass it on to the members with lower fees, better terms, you name it.

So if you want to go check them out, go to fair wins.org slash Ramsey and win on the Ramsey plan by doing it. Yep, it's incredible. You guys make sure to check them out. They're fantastic. All right. Next con for 2005, more effort. Yeah. That's true. I don't think we minded back then. We didn't have anything else to do other than put effort into going places. But, you know, you had to hitch a ride, block out an afternoon. It was a whole experience. Yeah, the traffic. The traffic.

The mall traffic. Christmas traffic was crazy. It still is crazy. Yeah. I feel like even still today, but it was like another level then. That was part of the fun back then. It was.

Now we dread it. And now you just buy your toilet paper on Amazon from a cubicle, get everything instacarded. Don't have to leave your house. But more effort, that's a true con for some people. I get it. Also, fewer options.

So while it is nice that you just have, what you have and you don't have like decision fatigue. You don't always get exactly what you want. And it is kind of nice that if you have the money to buy something, nowadays, you can pretty much get whatever you want. Like my girls, I remember, they would ask for the craziest stuff for Christmas. It would be like, we want, I want a llama that has a scarf on it and it's a pillow. And you're like, what? And you can like literally type it in the Google and there it is. Someone's made a llama with a scarf and it's a pillow. And you're like, there you go. So it is pretty crazy that you can kind of get what you want.

Etsy has gone too far. Isn't that what? I know. I'm serious. Wow. So I guess we just love the comfort and ease of having exactly what we want, what we need at our fingertips. So that's part of it.

That's a con, fewer options. Yep. Then you've got trial and error. We didn't have reviews. There was no like, this is rated 4.6 stars with 4,000 reviews. You just hoped. There's no influencers who swore by it. Yep.

Just you with a hope and a prayer. Yeah, and it's not always great because you could buy something crappy We not know it until you've used it, and you're like, oh, this wasn't a great purchase. We're nowadays people are like, do it or don't do it. Yeah, I don't remember the return policies back then. Were they generous? Would you, like, just take stuff back if it didn't work? It's a good question.

I feel like they were 90-day, 60-day, 90-day. I think it was pretty average. Yeah, but you still had to go through more of a process. Yeah, for trial and error there. Even though now, I don't know if I can trust reviews. Okay, is it true, though, that companies will, like, go on other companies, competing companies, reviews at, like, restaurants and stuff? definitely bash them and give them more stars.

Yeah, I could see that happening. That would be terrible. And people, I mean, Yelp, you basically have to, like, you pay them like a mafia bribery fee to, like, kind of hide the bad reviews and keep the good ones. I didn't know that. It's all about money. Okay, so would you not use Yelp? I don't, let's, I'll put it this way.

Yelp is only one place I go to check. Okay, so you spread out. So I have to vet it against Google reviews and Yelp and other places to get a full vibe. Okay, okay. And then some places you realize they're only going to leave a review if they had a bad experience. If it's like a service-based business. Totally, totally. And that makes sense.

So it's hard to trust anything these days. And back in the day, I didn't have as many trust issues. You know what I mean? Just the older you get, is that what it is? The older I get, the more trust issues I have. I'll work that out with my therapist. All right. Those were the pros and cons of 2005.

Let's fast forward to today, George. 2025. Here we are. Hit me with the pros. That's the pros. I'm going to say online brands. Yeah. Because if you didn't have a storefront back in the day,

besides Delia's in their catalog, you didn't, there's nothing else you could do. I mean, like, but there's all these now, whether it's like clothing brands or even electronics. Or direct-to-consumer brands, where they're not sold in a store, they just sell it directly through their website. Yes, and so it's nice because you can get other options,

and people can start things too. I like that. The entrepreneurial spirit is very alive and well, because you can start your own thing, but you don't have to have brick-and-mortar. There's my two words again. bringing back brick and mortar. Brick of mortar.

A great example, though, of a direct-to-consumer brand. You ready for this? Yeah. Cozy Earth. Oh, great one of the great direct-to-consumer brands. Yes. You're not going to find them like in a target. You go to their website.

You order it. You know it's going to be good. And you get all your stuff. They have a great return policy, 10-year warranty on betting. So that I can trust. It's incredible. And the fact that they can spend so much of their effort on their quality,

we love that versus trying to manage. or pay a middleman. They're not having to do that. Yeah, that's true. It's direct to consumer. It's so nice. They pass the savings on to you. Yes.

If you go to cozy earth.com, you guys, slash smart money, it is an incredible place. Go and just bask in the beauty of cozy earth because the quality is fantastic. And so is the discounts that they're giving. 40% off. They're giving our listeners, you guys. So you guys out there, you get 40% off all cozy earth purchases.

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You can't see them. They're the John Cena of socks out here. The no-show is real. The no-show is real. So check it out, 40% off, cozy earth.com slash smart money, or click the link in the description. All right, here's a pro of 2025 shopping. Convenience.

Mm-hmm. You know, you get it. You're a busy mom. The kids are crazy, works crazy. It's nice to be able to purchase something right there from your phone. And get it in no time. It's so bad. This is like my, this is my number one.

Your kryptonite. My kryptonite. I love it. I love it. And I'll do anything. Do you get a dopamine hit to this day when you just hit that Add to Cart purchase button? Especially if it's something I want. Even it's like face wash and I like, quote unquote, need it, you know?

It's like not an exciting purchase, but even that. I'm like, yes. It just feels good knowing you're going to get something in the mail. George, I have a sickness. I have a sickness. I've been doing this job way too long and still feel like this. Why don't I love it so much? The question is, does Winston get to get anything in this marriage, or is it just you?

Yes. He has a line item. What is the last thing he bought? Nothing really, you know what I've started putting in his line item? Because he doesn't buy anything. He'll get lunch out with friends, and I usually would put that in the restaurant category. I've started putting in his. Because he's like, hey, give him something to put it in there.

I'm like, just stick it in there. So it doesn't take away from our restaurants, and you're not going to use your money anyway. You ever think about buying something for him? threw his line item? That could be nice. Does he need a new rock to add to his rock wall? No. Can I tell you? I got to see the rock wall this past weekend. You did. You guys came over this weekend. It's a beautiful rock wall. I threw shade. I thought he was like he was like collecting rocks like a seven-year-old. These are the biggest rocks I've ever seen. These are like Jurassic rocks. They're like boulders. Like they have dinosaur fossils in them. I don't even know how someone was able to move

this rock for one place to another. It was a feat. It's like whoever built the pyramid. made's delivered this rock. Same guy. Built the rock wall. You see it? It was impressive. What do you think? All the rocks.

I think that's quite the hobby to have, and I respect it after seeing it. It was like an eighth wonder of the world. I was like, how did someone even put all these rocks here? How did they do it? It looks good, doesn't it? Looks beautiful. Yeah, they did a great job. You got to have a rock guy.

Winston, he gave me the contact for his rock guy. Hard to come by these days. And are a porch fence person. And a fence guy. Yeah. These are the adult things we do with that fun money. Wentz's like George texting me again. I was like about what?

And it was like a fence guy. Yeah, he needed someone. I was like, well, there you go. I love it. But if you don't have a Winston, you know, good luck with your life. That's all I've got to say. Convenience. That's a big one.

Yeah. Next is price comparing options. So you can quickly pull up different websites at different stores and compare the item, which is fantastic. Versus before, you may have to take a little... Just fingers crossed. A little Saturday and be like, I'm going to hit H.H. Greg. Best Buy.

Sears, you know? Yep. And then you'd figure out who has a price matching policy that I can play. Yeah, they used to do that. That is right. They did. I think Target just got rid of theirs. No way.

It was a long time thing they had. They're just doing fine. Now it's just unbraddled capitalism. We're going to do what we want to do and charge what we want to charge. Just moving up. But I use price comparisons all the time. And for a hack, this is not a sponsor, but there's a site called camel camel camel.com. No relation.

and you can track Amazon price history. So you'll know, am I actually getting a good deal? Is it really 70% off MSRP? Or is it always this price or even higher than it should be? Okay, that's good. And there's different plugins you can get like all kinds of different ones that do price comparison. So when you're shopping online, when you're on an item,

it'll be like, bloop, you can get this cheaper over here. Right there. I love it. So that's definitely a perk of 2025 that saves me time and money. Also a pro is that there's more options for small businesses, so you can do like Venmo, cash app, even things like Etsy, where you can sell your products. Yeah.

What did you do back in the day? I don't... Just go to like the local farmers market? What are you talking about? Like if they wanted to sell a handmade good, you couldn't do it online. Oh yeah, you go to a flea market. Sometimes like, or they do a craft kind of like fair.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it was probably a rough go for the handmade. Yeah. But you know the problem with Etsy now, it's all a bunch of crap. that's not handmade anymore. Really?

From like Alibaba and, you know, T-Moo, and they just, yeah. No. It's a huge problem. That's sad. It's hurting the true artists out there trying to make a living. I believe it. So shout out to the true artists out there. Keeping it real.

Very passionate. Yeah, I think Etsy needs to do something about this. Get rid of all the kind of spam. Are you on Etsy a lot? Like, I haven't been on Etsy in years, I'm going to say a lot, but I like to peruse. You do? Okay. Yeah.

Like, you know, looking at Turkish rugs. Yeah. They have a great selection of Turkish and Persian rugs on there. Okay, on Etsy. Yeah. You know I was thinking the whole time you've been saying this, Pinterest? Pinterest. But you're not talking about Pinterest, you're talking about Etsy.

Yeah, we actually buy stuff. Yeah. I was a little confused. Pinterest is just sort of like you're dreaming. Yep. You're dreaming it up. Etsy is like, we're making it happen. I don't go to either of those websites.

And it shows. Way to support local artists. It's fine. I kid. But no, that's true. More options for small businesses is wonderful. I'm a fan of that. Next up on the pros list for 2025, buying secondhand is way easier.

Because you've got Poshmark and eBay, Facebook marketplace, which reduces waste and allows people to buy nice things way cheaper than you could at retail prices. Yep, I love this. Because we would always say, sell your stuff, and usually it would be a garage sale. And when it was a garage sale, I mean, it was like, I mean, you're selling it cheap. Yeah. I mean, at that point. Garage sales can be brutal these days.

People just show up with like a dollar bill. Like, I'm taking this. You're like, no, no, no, no. that's worth, it's worth 50 bucks. Yeah, totally. And then you just give up and take it all to Goodwill. Right, right. Now you can list it on Facebook.

Actually, we're strategic about it, about selling. We've done this a lot with furniture, and it's been a lot of fun. Oh, yeah. Get rid of stuff, and I'm helping people get things at a deal. Basically, I'd give it away, but at least you're getting something for it. Yeah, for sure. So we probably made a few grand, just selling stuff before we moved. Yeah, good for you guys.

Thank you. Well, and was it, what was your number one site that you used? Facebook Marketplace. Okay, that's the number one. Especially for furniture. Yeah. I had to get Whitney to start posting, though, because I was doing it for my personal Facebook. And I'm not great.

And so people would think it's a scam because they'd see my profile and go, wait, that's the, why would the Ramsey guy be posting stuff on Facebook Marketplace? But it really was me. Yeah, you're like, I can practice what I preach? Yeah. Man. So I made some mistakes. Okay.

But I took a photo with some people in my driveway. Well, there you got that box from you. Yeah. And it was like, hey, you're the guy. I'm like, yeah. I was like, can you mind if we get a photo? I'm all sweaty from helping him move this guest bedroom suite. and so we took a nice sweaty photo.

There we are. Somewhere out there, it's a nice sweaty photo of me. I love it, George. People will be stalking you now, figuring out what they can buy from George Camel. I'm not listening anymore. You're not going to find me out there. All right. Those were some good pros. Now there's some cons to our world today, George.

Many cons. One of them is online scams because we are online all the time, and that's why we love Delete Me. Delete Me goes in and removes your information from online data brokers. And they take it and they're like, Well, we're going to remove this. Because if they don't, data brokers then go and sell your data to companies, and that puts you at risk for fraud, fishing, the pH fishing, which is not great, harassment, all this stuff.

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you need delete me. Let's just say that much. So link in the description if you want to check it out. So great. All right, some cons. constant returns. This is me, George. I think I have 12 returns sitting in my garage right now.

I have some right now too. I know. You know what I can make a business of doing the returns for other people. Oh. You send me like the QR code for the Whole Foods Amazon return and I'll go do it for you.

Yeah, and you'll do it. Okay, that's good. So Amazon, I always take mine to Coles. Oh, wow. I haven't darkened the door of a Coles over a decade. What's it like in there? Who's in there?

Where else do you? return your Amazon stuff. I go to the Whole Foods drop off. It's way faster and I don't have to go into a Coles. Wait, wait, how do you return stuff at a Whole Foods, though? So you know, I don't know if you know this, Amazon bought Whole Foods.

Oh, I do know that too. So now they put an actual Amazon return like kiosk and a desk with real people staffing it. Okay. That's all they do. Yeah. That's all they do. Hey, well, Coles has a similar setup.

You're not going to try to win me over on going to Coles to do my returns. I don't know why. It's really easy. It made it easy. I don't know. This is not a shot at Coles, but it's also, it's a shot at Coles.

Do you have Coles Cash? You're also trying to use while you're there? No, but they give me Coles cash because I do Amazon returns there. See? So I have a lot of Coles cash. They are. I mean, serious. Oh my gosh.

You know, now that I'm thinking about it, Coles does kind of feel like 2005, like you're stepping back in time a little bit. Yeah. They haven't changed much. But it's great. I'm sure they're very nice people over there. Don't get me wrong.

But I find I can be in and out of Whole Foods. Yeah. Very quickly. Yeah. But yeah, I have a lot of returns to make, and it just feels constant because half the time the stuff on Amazon didn't work out. I know. It was wrong, defective, not the right size, yada, yada.

Not good. So it is. The returns are always there. Do you ever have the ones where they go, hey, just recycle it, donate it, and we'll give you your money back? Yes. I'm like, this feels like a scam. Okay.

I did the same thing on a bathing. suit website, you guys. And I ordered a bunch, because they were really inexpensive. So I was like, well, I'll get a couple and just see which ones I like, and I'll return the ones I don't. And I went to return it, and they were like, we'll give you 75% your purchase and you can just keep it and not return it. Or we'll give you 100% if you return it. I was like, well, I'll take the 75%, so I'll have to go and return it. Wow. And I thought, is that a...

Rachel's getting paid to shop out here. I mean, literally, I'm like, that doesn't make sense to me. But I guess that they're just so they're so cheap that in order to hire someone to do all the picking and stuff, they're like, oh yeah, we save money there from the returns we get, I guess. It can cost them more to return. But here's the thing, and I didn't do this because I am a honest, good person,

I think. But couldn't you lie and say, like, I don't want these anymore? And then go and get 75% of your money back, even if you're still going to wear it? You could, but you'll be judged by me and God. I know, I know. It's up to you. None of our viewers or listeners would do that. They're people of integrity.

So we don't worry about them. I know, but I did think, like, how are they still in business? Why isn't everyone doing this, you know? Just makes you think. It's crazy. Crazy, crazy. Okay, up next, a con. Comparison culture.

This is real. This is social media and the trend cycles and what's in and what's out and what the heck is a babaloo or whatever they're called. It just feels exhausting. All of it. Back in the day, you didn't know what the trends were except what the cool kids at school were wearing. The popular girls. That was it. Yeah.

Now you're learning about Dyson, hair wraps, all these things that you're like, I never would have that existed. You didn't know you needed it, and now you're insecure because you don't have it. Yes, I know, terrible. I like old school. I like old school where the popular girl at school was wearing it, and that made you insecure. Yes. Not the popular boy, but the girl.

Let's go, let's go back. Let's go back to that day. What were the jocks wearing? I guess Abercrombie and Hollister, that was like top tier toxic bro. Yes, that was a thing. Yeah, for sure. Aeropostle was like a tier. down from that?

Yes, tear down from there. Abercrombie was pretty... I think Old Navy, I was like, you're a real American. You know what I mean? Yes. With the American flag t-shirt. It felt like that was the common man.

It was like, Old Navy was the common denominator. Just go old Navy all day. If you were wearing anything, that's highfalutin. If you were wearing Abercrombie, it was like, okay, tell me you have money. Fancy. Fancy. What was there, a polo?

LaCost? Oh, God. Now you're a money. The LaCost polo? Now you're money. Double polo? A billionaire. Billionaire, unbelievable.

You summer and the same vein, the fast fashion, I think, is a con. Yes. This is like the really, really, really, really cheap websites, and the quality is terrible. Do you want a name one? You want a name drop? Sheen, I would say. Yeah, that's true. Well, and truthfully, Amazon.

T-Mu? T-Mu's another one. A lot of the stuff on Amazon would be considered fast-fashioned. Don't say that. Rachel feels better because she buys it through Amazon instead of through Sheen. That's fine. But yeah, quality decreases, profits, go up, waste increases, because it's not made to last.

Yeah, it's just kind of crappy stuff, but we end up buying it. And it's just very like, it's on trend, I'll buy it now, and next season I'll throw it away or goodwill it. Right. And the trends change so much, like even your jeans. I'm like, it would be like wide leg and now it's barrel. I mean, it's like, oh my gosh, the cuts are all different. It's just crazy.

Who can keep up? What are we at right now? As of this recording, what is in trend? I think barrel jeans are like kind of the like on the cutting edge, I would say, but I don't know, I could be wrong. I mean, how wide can we go before there's a revolution back to Skinny? I don't. You know what?

It gives flavor of cargo. You remember the baggy cargo pants that guys would wear? The, like, Jinkos? Yeah. Yeah, that's kind of what I see now with the women. They're wearing basically Jinkgo jeans. That's what I'm saying. It's kind of funny.

I'm like, yeah, yeah. But mom jeans are kind of out? I don't know. Maybe. Gosh, I can't keep up. By the time I figure it out, it's already moved on. It's changed, I know. You went away from Skinny, though.

You're now it's slimmed. I'm trying out some baggier jeans. I have a... Let me caveat this with this is my version of a dad bod, so I don't fit in a lot of the clothing that I used to fit in. Oh. Like my skater kind of tight jeans and all. It just doesn't...

It doesn't work. I can't breathe. Yeah, just can't... Your boy's got to breathe. Can't get the oxygen flowing. Yeah. So I've been going a little, you know, more athleisure. Yeah.

Things that can have a little more stretch to it. Yes. Next con. Not to make it financial, but sneaky debt. Like, buy now, pay later. Oh, that's a great. It's a great one. It's poison in the waters.

Yes, Clarna and all these things. And it's like, hey, get this $20 sweater. For $4.4. For $4.4.4. for the next four to five months, five months, terrible. Yeah. So the whole idea of pushing out payments and pushing out purchases, not a great idea.

Yeah. Buy in the present. Swipe the debit card, use the Apple pay, do what you got to do, and then be done. Yeah, debt has become more subtle, more normalized, more frictionless. And so now just that checkout, one button, boom, it adds to your tab and just puts you into debt without you really thinking about it.

So this is one you got to watch out for. always make sure you can afford it in full at the time of purchase without derailing any other financial goals. Otherwise, it's a not now. That's right. Okay. Last but not least, the ads, they will find you. They're insufferable. Unbelievable. And it's not even just like the ads themselves. It's even the people on Instagram that show up in my feed showing me things that they have. Oh. And like wanting to buy from them too. I'm like, how does it know? How does social media know? Everything. Do you think your phone does listen to you? 100%.

Okay. I've tested it. Yeah, when we talk about like olives or something, I'm like, olives, olives, and olives show up. You're like, how do, like, this is insane. You're getting ads for olives, the food? I mean, like, I just talk about something random. Cruises.

Like, I'll be talking about a cruise, and then cruise ads come up. I mean, like, yes. Does that not happen to you? It does with specific products. Okay. If I mention a brand, like I mentioned Abercrombie, it would not shock me if I'm getting ads for Abercrombie. As I scroll my Facebook, as I like,

to do. Yeah. No, you don't. I do. You're a Facebooker? I've returned to Facebook. Because you're the thing, LinkedIn got too toxic. Everyone's fake on there trying to find their next job. Hold on. Who's on LinkedIn? Like, hanging out? Exactly. It's the dark time over there. They always have some crazy first line

that's like, I quit my job today for one hour to hang out with my kid because I'm like, hey, all right, we get it, you're a great dad. But Facebook is where the true true honesty is still happening over there. And Facebook groups is where I find Joy now. So I'll just go to neighborhood.

It doesn't have to even my neighborhood. Any neighborhood Facebook group. I'll just try to work my way in there to get into some drama. Oh, my gosh. I'll just post a picture of dog poop on a lawn and be like, hey, someone needs to handle this. No, you didn't. Do I have a fake account? You'll never know.

I don't have hobbies. We've made that clear. Oh, my gosh, unbelievable. But the ads will find us. That's all I need to say about that. For sure. Okay, so we've been talking about shopping, the good and the bad. But the truth is, George, we have to do it today.

Like, we have to shop. You got to buy stuff. You don't have a choice, right? But you can be intentional. You can. So there's some tips that I think are important to think through when we are shopping. Okay. First and foremost, check your motivation.

Saying it to myself, why are you buying it? Are you buying it? Are you buying it? Happy, sad, mad, glad? Oh, look at you. Great one. Yeah. Yeah. What's the emotion going on in you?

What's the comparison? you want people to see it, you want to feel better about yourself. Like, what's going on with the purchase? What's your motivation? I try to be emotionless when I make a purchase. Just stone-faced. Just no emotion. I'm not happy about it.

I'm not sad about it. We just need toilet paper. It just is what it is. Exactly. I love it. Next, never use debt to make a purchase. It's that simple. And it's easy to be tempted.

Let me just put it on the card. We'll pay it off next month. Let me do the buy-and-out pay. No. Full stop, no. If you're not comfortable using your own money to pay for it now, then you should not be buying it at all. And if America believed that and took it to heart, we would be $0 in consumer debt. I believe it, George. Well done.

Should you run for president? I don't think I'd be very good. I need people to like me. Yeah, I don't know. People pleaser. I would please nobody. Please nobody doing that job. All right. And last but not least, check the purchase and the budget. So if you have not done every dollar and every dollar budget, you guys do that. Download the app. And it's Great, because when you know where your money's going and you know, do we have enough money in the budget, it's a much easier, yes, right? And there's no guilt. Yes.

And you're like, oh, yeah, it's in there financially. I'm not being stupid. I'm being wise with it. So it's a fantastic thing. Even for the fun stuff that feels frivolous, if you just put it in the budget, you go, oh, this isn't impulsive anymore. Yes. Yeah, you know what you're doing. I love it.

So there you go. Some budget, smart shopping tips. And those work, whether it's 2005 or 2025. I like my financial advice to be timeless. Because who knows what the future holds? You never know. What if Blockbuster comes back? We don't know.

Stick to your guns. Now that would be a great time. If Blockbuster came back? Would you actually go? But I feel like you say you would go, and then no one would go? Probably not. And they would just shut down again.

But I wish. Insult to injury. I know. I just wish it would. Like if Toys R Us still existed, would your kids go? Yes, because there's a toy store called Brilliant Sky in Cool Springs and Franklin.

And my kids, they always ask ago just to look around. I haven't been there. Should I take my daughter? We did take her to Barnes & Noble. It's like the last toy store. I'm like there's no toy stores anymore. Yeah. But it's great. It really is. And the people working there are fantastic, really sweet. You've got to be. If you're working at a toy store, like you've got to love it. I know. And they have like great stuff, but my kids, they love it. So see, it's in us, George. Like in human nature, we want to be present or we want to be like in person.

Connected to real things and real people. And see it and look at it. Yeah. So bring back 2005 shopping. I love it. All right, before we spill the tea on our guiltiest charged question, let's share the drink details in the rating. Yes, this was and is the Enzoni. The cost $2.96 per glass? Hmm, what is my rating on this drink? I didn't drink a lot of it.

I'll go 7 out of 10. Wow, you're going less. I can sense it. I may go 6. That feels generous based on your... Because it was fine. It was fine. I don't know if I'd ordered it. a restaurant. But if it was at a restaurant, I wouldn't be mad. Like if someone like ordered it

for me, it was like a rounds of azonis. So what's cool? I could see it pairing well with pizza. Yeah. Yeah, it's kind of a fun summer drink too. Yeah. Here's what's in it. It's got gin, Campari, simple syrup, muddled grapes and some lemon juice. And for some reason, it just tastes like a really nice grapefruity cocktail. Yes, that's fantastic. Not a great cocktail, but grapefruit. Yes, I agree with that, 100%. So get the recipe in the show notes. Give it a try this week. and maybe you'll prove Rachel wrong. Maybe it's a 10 out of 10 for you. Maybe you love it.

I don't know. Maybe you love it. None of my business. All right. Now it's time for guilty as charged. And this is where we ask each other a guilty charge question every week. And if we're guilty, we take a sip. All right.

You ready for this, George? Hit me. Have you recently made any impulse purchases? Oh my goodness. Yeah. I mean, come on. I'm guilty too. I did one just last week.

What was yours? A Kindle. I went to the other side. Like you bought an Amazon Kindle? Yeah. To read books off of? Yes. What was the other side?

Physical books. Oh. Like actual books. Because I love to read. And I, and I refuse. How are you going to do your book giveaways now? I refuse. I'm telling you, it's very hard.

I refused to get a Kindle. And then I was on a trip once I were taking a trip. And all of our team, they started a text message with me. They were like, eight of them. And they were like just convincing me over. And they happened for a while. I'll be like, you need a candle, get a candle. Because I was going to pack three books, like, in my suitcase.

Oh, I can't imagine. And they were like, get a candle, get a candle. And I was like, I was like, I don't want one. You know, it was this whole thing. And finally, they were like, just get it. And if you hate it, you can return it. And I was like, I guess. So I bought it.

And I love it. Wow. It doesn't, you don't miss turning a physical page? I hate that I love it, but I love it. Wow. What are you going to do with all your books? Burn them? No, I give them away on Instagram.

Oh, that's true. Yes. So hold on, I'm still confused. You took three books on one trip to just read the whole time in a different place. Like, what are you actually doing on this trip? Nothing. You're just reading in a different environment.

That's what you're paying for. In the pool. Yeah, Winston I. You have a pool now, so you can just sit in your pool. No. Once I take a trip every summer for three nights. What is Winston doing the whole time? is like you're ignoring him reading sleeping i mean we we that's our trip we want to do nothing give me drinks by the pool and books nice dinners out and a show at night and i'm good new idea you pay me i'll come to

your house serve you drinks and give you a little show that's a great side gig for me you're supporting a local business you don't have to pack your bags sleep in your own bed does that that's vacation to me sitting by a pool and yeah i guess i'm just shocked because i'm realizing now that you don't take trips you just go to places to read and be served drinks. But okay, that's great. That's it. That's what I love. It's like you go to places to experience that place and that culture. Oh, yeah. No, not necessarily.

Sometimes. So you're in Miami, just reading a book at a different pool. Yes, exactly. Cool. Okay, what about you? Impulse purchases. Mine involve things that are on sale that I stock up on, like it's an apocalypse. Oh, okay. So this happened yesterday, stocked up on spin drift, because it was Bogo.

Oh, I love spin drift. So it brought the price down to like 40 cents per can. Oh, geez. Because your boy did the math. You can't beat that. Yeah, no. And so I did a pickup, and this poor soul unloaded 17 cases of spin drift into my trunk. The other one was ice cream bars.

I got Jenny's ice cream bars, 50% off ice cream. So we're talking Jenny's ice cream pines for like three bucks, four bucks. Amazing. Your boy stocked up. And you said. Yeah. So you're telling me you could eat ice cream. I don't know.

I was trying to. No, say it. I was trying to give you a hard time, but I can't come up with it. No, give me a hard time for having joy in my life. I dare you. I know. You're made fun of my trip.

It's my nightly... Hence the dad bodd. My nightly treat is having a little bit of ice cream. No ice cream. I don't like ice cream. So those are my impulsive purchases. They hurt nobody. They only bring me and others joy.

I'm so glad. So if you ever come over, I got plenty of spin drift. Every flavor that exists. I believe it. I believe it. You want the island punch? We got it. Good purchase.

Great purchase, George. Oh, my gosh. Well, if you have any guiltiest charge questions for us, make sure to DM us at Rachel Cruz and at George Camel. And if you loved this episode, you're going to love our episode, what today's teens are buying. Wouldn't you like to know?

And it's fantastic. So to find out, make sure to watch that episode coming up next. And make sure to subscribe. so you don't miss an all new episode of Smart Money Happy Hour. Cheers. Cheers.