Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel - Revisiting Our On-Air Money Advice From the Past

Episode Date: December 14, 2023

Ho ho ho? Oh no no no. Rachel and George look back on live calls from The Ramsey Show that they wish they’d handled differently. Stay tuned for a budget-friendly cocktail and money advice served up with a twist of #noragrets.   In this episode: ·     The one where George put (the horse’s) foot in his mouth ·     The one where Rachel gets corrected on air ·     George and Rachel redeem themselves with quick thinking and solid money advice in an exciting round of “Don’t Get Buzzed!”   Resources:   ·     Listen to or watch The Ramsey Show now. ·     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. ·     Start making memories. Get Telestrations at Walmart today! ·     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 started today. Use code 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. ·     Pre-order George’s new book, Breaking Free From Broke, today! ·     Learn more about your ad choices: https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices ·     Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy: https://www.ramseysolutions.com/company/policies/privacy-policy   This Week’s Happy Hour Special: Bourbon Apple Cider Mimosa Ingredients: ·     1 ounce bourbon ·     2 ounces apple cider ·     3 ounces champagne ·     caramel sauce ·     apple slices (optional) Instructions: Rim the champagne flute with caramel sauce. Pour in the bourbon, add the apple cider, and top it off with the champagne. Garnish with a few thin apple slices, take a sip, and enjoy! 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. Oh, that was so sad. You couldn't hear the cheers because there's caramel. Well, it's happy because there's a nice caramel rim. Caramel or caramel? I'm a caramel guy because I'm from Boston, but now that I've been in the south, I'm a caramel man.

All right, caramel man. Well, this is the show where two friends who happen to money experts talk about what you're talking about. So everything from pop culture, current events, and your money. And today we're taking a humble trip down memory lane. So for any new listeners out there, you might know that Rachel and I also co-hosts the Ramsey show every week where we talk to live callers. We answer their personal finance questions on the radio, live on the air. And we've been doing this for a while. Yeah.

You know, we're pretty good at it. I mean, you get shows and you think, we just nailed it. Like, that was so good. And then you get shows and you think, ooh. We're only human. We're only human, Rachel. And so there are. We do mess up something.

Sometimes. There's moments that we wish we could take back, wish we could do differently. If we could go back and revisit them. Some callers that you think, oh, man, I would have done that differently. But unfortunately, it's live on YouTube for the rest of your life. So there's perks of the job and there's also that. So that's today's episode. It's hashtag no ragrets, but like maybe a few. A little bit. And so while we're going down memory lane, what are we sipping on, George? We are sipping on a bourbon, apple, cider, mimosa. And we're going to give you a rating, reveal. the cost per glass at the end of the episode, and give you the recipe in the show notes. So stick around until the end for all of that. It's very, it's very great. Very delicious. Very great. I can't tell if that was sarcasm, but you'll find out at the end.

Oh, my gosh. Okay, George, so here is what we need to know first. Like, in social situations, work situations, right? You got speaking engagement. You got media hits live on TV. You have interviews. You're doing with other podcasts. You know, even down to, like, church small group.

events or I don't know, you could insert any situation. Do you find yourself naturally more cool and collected and have fun with those things? Are you, you know what I mean? Or are you more introverted? You're like self-conscious, like thinking through everything. Like, where do you typically lean? I think above the water. I try to look calm and cool, but underneath my legs are, you know, we're doing this. Are you? We're doggy paddling to make it through. But I think it's like a defense mechanism almost. where I try to like play off the awkwardness and you know diffuse the situation in any room I'm in. So I think if you met me, you'd be like, wow, he's calm, cool, collected. Yeah.

But on the inside, it's like my body is constantly working to make that happen. You know, whereas for Rachel, it's natural. Who you are is just who you are. There's no on and off switch. You know what I mean? Like if the camera wasn't rolling, there would be zero difference with Rachel right now. other than more conspiracy theories. But do you have any weird social tendencies?

I feel like you're like bell of the ball in any room you walk in. No, George. You just light it up. So kind. No, you know what? The older I've gotten, the more I will leave a situation and replay something.

I used to never do that. Like, I should have, oh. I never would do that. And now I look back and I'm like, oh, man. I hope that was okay that I said that. I will like overthink it. I mean, maybe like two out of ten times. It doesn't happen a lot.

But I find myself doing that where I used to not. That's fair. Would you consider yourself extroverted versus introverted? Yeah, for sure. I need people. Okay. Yeah, you're a people person. You're...

I think I'm introverted. I think you are. I think you are. I like people. Yeah. But then I can go stare at a wall all over the end. It's all about how you recharge. You recharge?

Yeah, I don't recharge unless it's the right people. With you, recharge. Oh, George. Full battery. With some other people in this room, Rachel, fully drained. But you know what I mean? In our line of work, some people, they look take from us. And it's not a malicious thing, but they're looking to be entertained. Rachel's going

to tell us a funny story, you know, Georgia's going to have a little quip that's going to make me a lot. Dance, dog. Dance. That's how it can feel internally. Dance, little poodle. That's the pressure I feel. Do you feel that? Yeah. Oh. People are wanting to be entertained. I've set that bar too high, Rachel. No one expects that from you. They expect, well, here comes Rachel. She's going to be a real boar, real snooze fest. Snooze fest, Rachel. Yeah. George, be funny. Be funny, George. That's tough. Okay, the Ramsey show. We're talking kind of about that this episode of our ragrats. How were you the first time on the Ramsey show? I was a little bit nervous. It was a different environment because I had done a lot of hosting here.

It's not like it was my first time on camera or on stage or whatever, but there's a nervousness. Like when you're next to Dave Ramsey, the goat, you're just like, don't screw this up, don't screw this up. Don't screw this up. So that's constantly going through your mind. Now I just came off the Ramsey show. I don't know that my like heart rate changes. Yeah. There's still an element where you know. Your body knows. Like you're It's the most nervous I get. I don't anymore, but I look at my job overall. It was the most stressful.

You weren't just like looking forward to it. Like, wow, this is going to be so fun. No, it was tough. Versus like going on stage, you light up. I could do that. I could do a media hit, right? Yeah, you love the media hit. Yeah, you're on TV.

That's great. I'm great with that. Like all of it. But the Ramsey show in particular, I don't know. I just didn't. I didn't. It's a different level of pressure. My heart would be fast.

I don't know. I didn't like it. And then one time I had a host by myself. And I almost had a panic attack, I swear. I really think I did. Well, and last time you did it, you grabbed Winston. I did, because it was my second time ever doing it, and I thought someone's got to save me. And then America fell in love with Winston Cruz.

And that's when the spouse comes in. Saves the day. What's the most challenging part of the job as a co-host on the Ramsey show? On the Ramsey show? I mean, I do feel a level of responsibility that people call in, and my prayer would be, that they have other people in their life, that they... That we're not just the one thing. And then like, whatever they say, I'm going to go do it right now.

But George, I think there are people out there that it is. It's like whatever you say, they really are going to do, which I appreciate that. Trusts, but I take that... It's like a big responsibility. It's a heavy weight. So when you think through it, it's like, oh, my gosh, I take that of, like, any question that I answer, I do try to think through, like, if they take this action today, am I setting them up well? Right?

It's kind of, that's a, I don't know. It's a, I feel that. It's a responsibility. And we answer a wide variety of questions, some of which we don't have the answer to. There's not a pretty answer or it takes a further, you know, third party or a professional to get involved. And so that's hard to do in like five minutes while getting to another call while handling the dynamics. And then when you host with friends, like when you and I host together, you know, stuff can happen. I think that's the first call, George, the infamous call with Katie.

The horse girl. And her horse. Can we just talk about horse people for a second? Is that like how? I would love to. Are we allowed to? Because there's like kind of a stereotype. And everyone's going to hate us probably for this.

Do you find it to be true that horse girls? Yes. Have a certain stereotype. Yes. And they will admit. Now, you can't say it about them. They have to come forth with this information. Yes, but they are obsessed.

They are crazy. They are obsessed with it. There are a certain type of person. Have you seen on Instagram, and I've seen it on a reel, and that they have confidence. petition to people with a horsehead and a stick, and it's not a real horse, and they themselves physically run and jump over things, and there's prizes and metal, and it's very serious. Have you seen this?

Yes. Can I be honest with you, Rachel? I wasn't surprised. I wish I was more surprised. So anyways, all of that plays in to Sweet Katie calling in when you and I hosted on the Ramsey Show. And I will say, this is as close as I've been. ever gotten to being canceled. Katie joins us up next. She is in Paducah, Kentucky. Katie, welcome to the show.

Hi, thank you for taking my call. Absolutely. How can Rachel and I help? Back in March, I decided to do Financial Peace University, and I'm in Baby Step 2. I'm working my way through it. Awesome. I work full-time for the USDA, and I make quilts for people. and I also own two horses and give horseback lessons. Wow. Unfortunately, last week, my main horse that I do all my lessons on is injured, and we're taking him to a performance vet here in a couple of weeks to try and figure out what's going on.

So my side income of horseback lessons went from $300 a month to zero. and I only make about $34,000 a year at the moment. So every single penny counts at the moment. And I'm racking my brain, trying to think of new side hustle ideas to make up the difference since my main lesson horse is out. Okay. So what are you making from the quilts every month? It's very inconsistent.

It ranges from 200 to 350 every other month or so. Every other month. So let's call it $100 a month. Yes. Okay. And you're making $34. Do you think that you could make more elsewhere? Is it time to look for a different job doing the same thing?

I started this job back in January. I graduated college in 2021, and I was a veterinary technologist for three. three years and I was only making $12 an hour. And then this job with the USDA opened and so I switched to the USDA and I jumped from $12 an hour to $17. And so now this is the most salary I've ever made. So I've already hit a big difference, but I'm not opposed to trying to switch jobs to increase salary.

That's impressive. So I just wonder, Katie, if there, I mean, I know, I'm sure you have a love for horses and a love for what you do, which is awesome. I just wonder if there's a. way for you to either take those same passions or something you're doing in your previous job where, you know, maybe animals are still part of your career. But right now is the best time to be making money, Katie. I mean, the job market, it's unbelievable what people are paying now for labor is incredible. So for you to replace $300 a month, I don't have any hesitation that

you can do that, even by just drive an Uber and doing Uber eats. I mean, there's so many so many side hustles like that that you could pick up and oh god a heartbeat could be making more than 300 a month but your goal too is to have a career of something that you're passionate about and that you love Ken Coleman talks about that a lot here on this show so I would

love for you to find something that maybe is just more full time instead of kind of piecing these things together that gives you more of that consistent lift to be making more money unless you find a different way to make more money doing these things but I'm not sure I was thinking dog sitting, dog walking, pet sitting, boarding.

You can make really good money doing that, Katie, with your love for animals. Have you seen a need for that in your area? Well, I live in a very rural area. I know it said Paduca. I actually live in Murray, Kentucky. I'm about an hour from Paducaa, and I live in a town about $30,000. And I switched from being a vet tech to working for the government because of the pay raise that I got. And so instead of working 60-hour weeks as a technologist, now I work 40 hours a week, make more money, and then I had extra time to do the lessons and the quilts.

And with this cost of fuel, I'm scared to like door dash or anything. But since I live in such a rural area, I'm not even sure if that would be a possibility or dog walking or dog sitting. Yeah. Katie, I'm going to give you a hard challenge. Could you sell the horse? Would you do it? I can't. Why not? I've had this horse 11 years. Katie, Katie.

There's other horses out there. It doesn't even know your name. There's more horses for you on the other side. George! Listen, I want Katie to win. Oh my gosh. She's got a mess to clean up. I'm doing whatever it takes.

I'll get another horse later. This is the Ramsey ship. The audacity. I was just like, this is the Ramsey show. And you're like, and sell it. This is the Hercin's show. It sounded like the best idea. And to be fair, I still think it was good advice.

I went too far when I said the infamous words, the horse doesn't even know your name. There have been internet memes made about this, Rachel. With my own dogs, the dogs. dog doesn't even know you sell the dogs. My dog doesn't eat a farm. I'm not broke. My dog's on a side hustle.

And the best part of all of this is we went to a live event in Indianapolis or Cincinnati. And Katie's there! She confronted me. Katie is there in person. And out of 2,500 people, over 2,000 people there, Katie and George get the official in person. We got to meet. I got to apologize in person for what I said. I made her tell me that the dog doesn't even know my name so that she could feel what you felt

Yeah, oh man. And then we moved on. But she's very sweet and she's she's on track to pay off debt, which is great. She was like working on her house, we're paying off her house. Yeah, she's doing great. But that was one example, Rachel, of me wishing I could go back in time. What would you have done differently? I would not have said the horse doesn't know your name.

I would have said, Katie, you're going to have to make some hard. You're going to have to choose your heart. You're going to have to either double your income or. Or we have to figure out a way to... A different plan with the horse. To make some income from this horse. And that might mean selling it for now. Maybe you can get the horse back.

I don't know how... Apparently there's horse leases. Oh. The horse community really came at me after this horse. I believe it. Telling me how little I knew about horses. And we would say that is true. But what I did know is that horses are one of the most expensive hobbies you can find.

Yes. Oh, yeah. And now I know like horse, yes, horses know your soul. and they are like their family and I understand all of that. And they like do therapy. It's like horse therapy. That's real. Like their heart rate matches your heart rate.

It's one of the only animals on the planet. Are you a secret horse person? No. I've just found Rachel, there's two types of people when it comes to horses. There's broke horse people and there's wealthy horse people. I was going to say because the stereotype about horses are like like polo matches. Yes.

Europe. Like right? Like you think of this like abundant life and you have horses. Kendall Jenner has a horse. Like you just think of, I don't know, it's very extravagant feeling to own a horse. Yeah. That's the stereotype. But there's also, you know, rural Kentucky and people who make 30 grand are out here with their horses that cost 10 grand.

I mean, you know, this is a prized horse here. Yeah. And so in my head, I was doing the math for her going. She's in six figures of debt. She's making $34,000 with no real potential to increase her income in her rural area. I was out of options for her. So that was my Hail Mary to say. And I did.

couch it by saying, I'm going to give you a hard challenge here. Could you sell the horse? That's true. I didn't come down and say, you have to sell the horse tomorrow. Yes, that's right. What I didn't have to do is be mean about it. That's right. So that's the lesson learned.

That's the lesson learned. Be kind. Sorry. And Rachel was there to be kind of rewind. And we did a whole other segment. We did. We went back to it. Rachel came back to help me soften the cancellation of George

Cameron after that. She was like, he didn't really mean that. He's trying. He loves horse people secretly. So thank you. you for that, Rachel. There's no one else I would have rather chosen to be on the show with than you that day. Thank you. Can we move on

to one of your stumbles? Yeah, we can do mine. I'm emotionally done. Any cringe-worthy clips that come to mind for you? I had one. From my memory, a guy called in and he needed, I want to say a significant amount of money. I want to say it was like $20,000, maybe $30,000. And it was for his girlfriend's mom.

And so as we started digging, because she was sick. So we were like, oh my gosh, okay, medical stuff. And he, I think, had the money to help her. I think it was all of his savings. And he actually had the money, I want to say. And as we dug into it, the girlfriend lived in a different country. Oh, boy. I want to say, like, Brazil or maybe somewhere in South America.

Okay, so he's in the U.S. Yeah, he was in the U.S. She lives in another country. Has he met her? I think he had met her, like, a few times maybe. Okay. He had never met the mom and basically was asking us what to do.

And we were very, from what I remember, very sympathetic at the front ends because we were like, oh my gosh, it was terrible. Like, I mean, it's an illness. And if you have the money to help somebody, become healthy again, yeah, you, I mean, that's like a reason to spend money, right, and give money. And so as we were digging in, and then we went to the break. And I think we both looked at each other and thought, that something's all. off, something's off.

And the more we thought about it, the more we're like, oh, no, I bet it was a scam. Oh, no. I bet it was a scam. You saw the red flags in hindsight. And then on YouTube, YouTubers, commenters, sometimes we pick on you all. Sometimes you have use. Because you're not kind. There you go.

You were actually very helpful. And everyone in the, I think everyone in the comments was like, he's being scams. He's being scams. He's being scams. He's being scammed. He's being scammed. So I wish I had gone back. I would have, I would have seen right through it.

But I'm naive, George, right? I'm with him. I'm not. Your word's not mine, Rachel. Somebody needs help. I don't think you're naive. I think you are. We help them.

We help them. You live like no one else. You are blissfully kind. You live and give and help like no one else. Blissfully kind. That is what you are. So that is what. You see the best in people. Yeah.

And if that's a crime, put her in jail. Lock me up. Lock me up. Throw away the key. But sometimes on the air, like people also have to remember, there's a lot of things going on in their brain. A lot of mental calories being burned. Sometimes we just miss the flags.

Yes. Yes. Yep. get in touch with them? Like sometimes we can get in touch. I want to say we went back and tried to, yes. Sometimes we can find their number system. I think it was that extreme at the end that we thought, oh wow. Let's have a producer call them and be like, hey, just FYI. So yeah, I think that we like all decided collectively, even all the guys, the engineers in the booth and everyone. I think we all got together and were like, oh, yeah, I think he's being scams. So we actually, I think called him back.

Oh, and let him know. Yeah, we were like, hold on. We wish we had said something different. Before you cover this fake medical procedure. I want to say it was tens of thousands of dollars. So it's pretty wild. But yeah. That was one mistake. I would have gone back. I wish I was just a little mean. George, can you shoot some of that meanness and me? I can definitely give you some of that. Well, I wouldn't say, I'd say, dude.

What would you have said, Rachel? Don't break up, I don't know. I don't know. I'm like, you're getting scammed. There you go. You're getting scammed. I feel like the dude softened it. I would just go with, you're getting scammed.

You're getting scammed. I would tread very cautiously with this fake relationship. I would tread very cautiously with this fake relationship. And I would end it. And end it. Long distance, Rachel How that feel? Rarely works out.

That was really good. I'm proud of you. Thanks. Okay, George, let's just play the clip so we can... I'll enjoy the cringworthiness that happened. I know where you're thinking, scam, scam. And here I am, just, oh, no, let's help her. Let's help her out.

Play the clip. The only, like, question mark I have my head is I just don't know what health care looks like in Columbia, right? Like, if this was in America, we could talk about insurance, we could talk about company. we can have more of a directed path. So I don't have a lot of knowledge when it comes to the health care system in Columbia. And so it would just be me taking your word that this amount is going to be fine and that there's another $30,000, but they're going to waive that. Just like you said, like at all, I don't understand it all. And so, I mean, what I would say to you, James is like, this is your money.

I want to say you're not obligated to do anything, right? like if this was your your wife who I know she's about to be your your child like you when it comes to those kinds of relationships like you would go above and beyond right and for some people you know their their parents extended family you know whatever it may be when it comes to medical expenses and if you have the means to be able to help in I just don't want to put you in your situation in unsteady with an unsteady foundation so I'm thankful that you don't have debts you feel like you have margin in your budget because you've been able to save up this emergency fund and this is for your house. So if you made this move and helped her with this and really gifted her that $50,000,

I think that that's extremely, extremely generous and kind if that's the decision you chose. But also you want to be able to know, okay, for my fiancee and I, who's going to be my household, you know, what are we going to have to do? What moves are going to be on pause for us? A lot of things that you guys want to go forward, we'll have to go on pause. So I want you to map that out as well. It's not saying that's a reason not to do it. All right, George, what's yours? Next one. Set us up. There's a recent one that comes to memory. You know, Rachel, I'm, I'm rugged. People know me as that was not, okay. You didn't need to laugh that hard. It's not, like, it's not even in the realm of possibility that I could be rugged. But. You're a handyman, George. Know how to fix stuff.

I'm not an outdoorsman of sorts. I don't know much about tools and woodwork. I own like a blower. I think that's it as far as tools go. I have like a little, you know. A leaf blower. I have a small drill. But what I don't know about is saws.

I have scissors. So on the show. SaWS. S-A-W-S. And on the show, I thought that a circular saw was apparently far more expensive than they actually are. Here's the clip. All right. Today's question is a good one.

from Sam and Utah. My wife wants to buy a $1,500 stroller for our baby to be born next year. I think it's unreasonable and stupid to spend that much money. That spend so much money on it. We are debt-free, including the house, with a household income of $300,000. She makes about half of our income, and she thinks she has a right to spend $1,500 on a baby after four years of infertility treatments. Am I off base? Whoa, that was a loaded question, Rachel. Okay. So does she have a lot of? the right to spend like oh that language we're not let's remove that just for the fun of this even if she was a stay-at-home spouse and made zero dollars i don't like this language like well she has no right because she doesn't make this or she makes this yeah it's not about it's just weird yeah she she has a right because she's part of the partnership of marriage that you guys are in so she has a

right to voice her opinion and all of that right just like he would um yeah you guys are debt-free including the house, making $300,000, I'm saying yes. I'm saying yes. And let's be clear why, Rachel, because this is an interesting conversation. It goes beyond strollers. People who get mad at me for saying that, yeah. When people say, I think it's stupid and unreasonable to spend that much money on a blank, on a car, on a house. And what we always go back to is, are you doing it with cash and are you doing it for the right reasons? or are you doing it with debt to impress people? Right.

And this is not one of those situations. They follow the baby steps. They make $300,000. Now, she probably looks at him and goes, you're going to buy a circular saw from Lowe's for $1,200. That's stupid and unreasonable. And he's going, well, honey, I'm going to, instead of paying for this project or renting it. And she's going, I'm going to be walking around town with the baby.

I want a nice stroller to do that with. Yes. So, George, $1,200 for an old saw, huh? Well, Rachel, I must have been thinking. So do people comment about it? Did people panic? Because a circular saw is what? 300?

Like max. Like a really nice high-end circular saw. We're talking 50 to 100 bucks. You jumped a thousand dollars. My brain went, if you're going to lows, you're dropping 1,200 bucks on the old circular saw for the house project. At least you know what a circular saw was. I know it's circular. And so that's why my brain went there.

I was like, can't go wrong with a circular saw. Yeah, not just a regular saw. It's round. Yeah, no. I went a step above. Didn't he cut down trees? Oh, he had an axe. Oh, my gosh.

Yeah. Okay. We're not good with tools. Let's stay away from tools. Let's leave that to Winston Cruz. Okay. But that's when I decided I'm not going to talk about just any kind of tools anymore. Power tools, non-power tools, saws.

Circular saws. I'm done of it. And even then, I will say, guys spend a lot of money on random tools. That is true. That they say they need. Yes. That they maybe use once. That we claim.

That they could have rented cheaper. That is right. Especially large equipment, for sure. All right. Okay. George, yeah. So the next one I was, here's the worst. It's not like the, it's not a, most people probably wouldn't hear this clip and think like, oh my gosh, that's a big mistake, Rachel.

But in my heart of hearts, if I'm just being honest and vulnerable, it's when you have a non-money personality, a Ken Coleman or Dr. John Deloney on with you. and they correct your money advice. That's bad. And you're like, yeah, it's true. So I was on just, it was like just last week with John, and we were talking to this young kid, and he was in like a pile of debt, no money, had a massive car loan, like almost as much as what he made per year.

Like he owed, I think like 30 grand on his car, and he made 40 grand. I mean, it was just like a terrible situation, and we're like, you've got to get out of the car. He was upside down on it. So we always encourage people like, just go get a smaller loan for the difference. Like sell it, get a small loan for the difference. Because you'd rather have $6,000 loan than a $36,000 loan, right?

Like we can figure out the get a crappy car, you know, all the things. So yeah, I just threw out the idea for him to do that. Go get a small loan for the difference. And John nicely just pointed out, well, he can't get a loan. No bank's going to give him a loan. And I thought, yeah, that's true. Did you do this on air? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So we had this whole moment. So for me, this clip, which, here, let's just play it. We'll just play it. Hey, Dylan. Welcome to the show. Hey, guys. Thanks for having me. Absolutely.

How can we help? Well, I'm 20 years old, a college dropout. And I put myself and kind of, I would say a decent amount of debt, a 20, which I'm not very proud of. I owe about $70k in loans. And I just, I mean, I stress every day about it when I wake up. So I'm just trying to see you guys' view on how I should start attacking my loan. Okay. And how I can pay off my debt.

Okay. What's the debt in? Well, I have $32K in a one semester of student loans. And then I have $36KK. Wait, wait, wait, one semester? Where'd you go to school? On Mars? I went to a private Christian school in Minneapolis.

But one semester was $32,000? Yes, sir. So their total annual is $64,000 per year? Yes. Okay, that's okay, Dylan. That's okay. We're going to keep moving. We're going to keep on moving.

What else? What else you got? It's already happens. I'm not very proud of this for I'm by at the old 36K on a car long. Okay. We can get rid of that. That's okay. What else?

And then I have a personal loan for like $3,700. Okay. What was that for? Well, basically, when I dropped out of college, I got a job in car sales. I needed a place to live in Minneapolis. That was like in a safe area, and that's how much the market rent was, 1570. And then I had some income problems of that job. So I moved to Indianapolis to my roommate and I had to buy out at lease.

How much would the car sell for, Dylan? Well, I had some negative equity in my last car, so I kind of carried over to the new loan. I bought this car. How much? Okay. So the car is probably worth about like 27 in the market right now. Okay. Okay.

So, yeah, I mean, I would, I mean, I would take out a loan of like 15, pay off the 36, get a cheap car. There's no way they give them 15, though. You, do what? I don't think anybody's going to give them a loan for 15. I'll get the personal loan out. Could you go to a credit? credit union and get a loan for $15,000? I mean, I barely get one by my...

I couldn't even get one for like the $3,000 about my dad co-signing. Yeah. Without the co-signing. Yeah, I think there's no way. So, yeah. So again, not like the biggest mistake, but it's one of those like, quick,

you're just thinking on your feet. And then that's where I hate when I give some... When I give advice out that I'm like, oh my gosh, that's not realistic. You know what I mean? For him. Like, he can't go and take what he called in for to actually implement in his life.

And that's our goal for the show. It's like, we want to give you things that you can actually do. So when I'm mental health professional, Dr. John's a loaning correction. He's not, he's not getting alone. Yeah, you can't do that. I was like, oh.

Good point, John, good point. Well, next, you catch John on some anxiety-related question. I should. I'd be like, it's the front cortex, not the back cortex. What are you thinking? Post-frontal. Are you kidding me? What are you thinking? Come on.

It's a cerebellum, John. The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. That's right. A mental health professional should know that. dopamine, it's serotonin. Come on, we all know that. Oxy-toastin, Rachel. We all know that. We tried. We tried. Okay, George, you got one more? Yeah, this one I got absolutely roasted for. And it has to do with 401K loans, Rachel. Oh, oh. You remember this one? No, 4-1K. Was I on with you on this one? No, it was just an epic failure that I imagine everyone knew about it. Oh, no, I don't think I know it.

Oh, well, you get to find out. Oh, perfect. Let's watch. Thank you for having me. How's it going? Good. How are you? We're doing great. How can we help today? Okay, I have a question. I have $18,000 on a HELOC loan at currently it's like 9.2%. Okay? So when I was reviewing some other financial things and looking and thinking of ideas of how to, you know, reduce this, I looked into my 401k. Now, my current rate of return is only 4.7. So I can borrow 14,000 of that from my 401K. Is that smart for me to do? No. That would be equivalent to you having an arm injury and going,

you know what, I'm going to break my leg to move the pain there, to make the arm better. And so we're just robbing Peter to pay Paul. And even worse, you're robbing Angela's future with interest. What kind of friend would Angela be? When you put back your interest, I was told when you pay back your interest, you're paying your interest to yourself. That's not a lot. That makes no sense.

Then why wouldn't we all be borrowing from our 401Ks because it's a money-making scheme? I just found the gold mine. No. It's got, it's going to the company. You're not giving yourself interest. You're paying the payment back into the account, but the interest, you're not gaining. I'll never forget it, Rachel. And let me tell you, I still.

studied up on my 401k loans after that card. Ouch. So the interest on a 401k loan gets paid back to you. You're basically reimbursing yourself. So if it's $10,000 you took out on the loan, 5% interest, you're paying that 5% interest back into your account. Into your 401k, not to the bank. Yes. I was like, well, it's going to go to the company.

I had a real bad mental flub there. I don't know what. Sometimes you just have... Well, you know what? Can I say this? Sometimes they get so nitty-gritty down. into very specific stuff, right? You get into taxes or all that.

Like, yeah. There's a lot. There's a lot. So sometimes, you know, you learn on the go. But that's how we learn. 401K interest. I imagine, you know, Dave Ramsey when he started doing the show, didn't know the ins and outs of every single area of finances.

You learn. So I looked and I learned, but the comment section did not forget, Rachel. No, they... I don't even know if they forgave, to be honest. Yeah, they... There's still some people that have made of their personal mission. to cancel me over a 401K loan question. Really?

Get a life, man. Oh, no. I'm sorry. It's all right. I'll live to fight another day and help another caller. That's the spirit. Live another day. All right, George, I think we do a little exposure therapy, if you will, Dr. John Deloney.

What kind of sick game is that, Rachel? Would be so proud. But before we dive into that game, I want to talk about a game that I'm loving recently. It's been so fun to play, and that's Telestrations. Oh, smash it with my family. I mean, it is so fun. It's kind of that game of like, Pictionary, old school telephone.

And I feel like most, you know, any age, lots of laughter, lots of fun. If you got a group of people and you don't want to just sit and stare at a giant screen, this is the one to play. I'm telling you guys. It will guarantee laughter. Lots of laughter that you hear on this podcast, the same people that are laughing here. The same joy. Have been playing Teletraations with their friends and family and laughing too.

So great. So make sure to pick up at Walmart and enjoy the memories. Oh my gosh. Okay. So I think it's time for a little expose. Your Therapy. Speaking of Dr. John Deloney, he'd be so proud of this. Sounds very risky.

So we're going to replace these traumatic show flashbacks with some positive experiences. I need that. Because we really do. We love helping people with money. So we're going to redeem ourselves. So we pulled some of the most common money questions, George, that we get. And so we're going to give each other like a one minute, boom, boom, boom, live on the show. Live on the show.

What if we get these wrong? How embarrassing would be that be. Give us your answers. You got 30 seconds to a minute. It's got to be quick. Okay. Who's keeping us on track? Me.

Mr. Lindsay? Okay, I'm going to go first. Ready? Go. If I've been investing in retirement for a while, but I've recently decided to pay off my student loan and credit card debt, can I continue investing at least in my 401k match while I try to pay off debt? Got it. So the controversy here is we tell people to pause all investing in even if you're getting a match in order to pay off debt faster. And people go, it's free money. Why would I do that? Well, we found that psychologically and financially you're able to pay off the debt faster. with a higher chance that you'll actually make it to the end when you have that fire under you of not having the investing match, of going, I want to get back to investing. And when you do, you're going to invest way more than you were, and you're going to get out of debt faster. And so we found it's the best way to do it

if you're following the Ramsey plan. You still had time. George, just. I might do 30 seconds. That feels more hard. 30 seconds. Wow. Good luck, Rachel.

Here we go. Will you, like, will you be like a, like a, like, it's Dan from New Orleans or something. Can you like, oh, channel it. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I'm on the Ramsey show. All right, Rachel. Sarah and Boston asks,

my husband and I have been married for three years and we never got around to combining bank accounts. Is it really that big of a deal? We both bring in a salary from work and we like our spending independence as it is. Yeah, Sarah. I mean, I understand what you're saying because a lot of people live that way,

but what we have seen over and over again is it's not just about the money. It's amazing. When you combine so much of your life and you actually lock arms with this person and say, hey, I trust you in all of these aspects and we're going to work together as a team. Not only financially is it easier to work out of one account, but there is something emotional that happens in a marriage when you are so united on something. Now, if you can't trust your spouse, for some reason, right?

If there's a... Oh. Time's up. No. Ouch. I'm so sorry, that's 30 seconds. This is traumatic. Sarah, you're cut off.

It's doing great. Good luck, Sarah. You'll never hear the rest. You can finish you. You'll never hear the rest of that amazing answer. All right, next up, I'm... Now I'm nervous. I'm Mary from NYC.

My income is above six figures and I feel financially secure. It's a credit card and a monthly card payment. Really that big of a deal because I can afford. for them. Is it that big of a deal? I mean, you probably won't go through bankruptcy, but do I believe you could build wealth faster with more peace and less stress? If you just decided to use your own money and got rid of the car payment and got to invest that instead, think about all the wealth you'd build. Go use an investment calculator, crunch some numbers, and you'll be paying off that card today and cutting up the card. Are you serious? I don't get to use the buzzer.

I got super freaked out after Rachel got buzzed. Okay, I can do the next one. You got this, Rach. My gosh, I didn't know this was like so competitive. Go. Sam in San Francisco asks, why do I need a budget if I don't have any debt? I get my paycheck, I pay my bills and cover my four walls,

and then I spend the rest on whatever I want throughout the month until that money runs out. What's the problem with that? So a budget is one of the places that you're going to be able to look back on a year, five years, ten years on the road. and actually say, well, I know where my income went because that frivolous spending that you're doing with all that margin, well, it's fine and good.

I would actually want some intentionality behind it because when you actually put intentionality, you could make different decisions and probably better decisions for your future, Sam. Wow. Wow. You should enter a pageant. And download every dollar for a free budgeting app

or upgrades a premium for paycheck planning and bank connectivity. She had time for the bonus. I should have added that in too, because that's helpful as well. I forgot just how competitive Rachel is. And just how petty. I forgot. It's in there.

How competitive you did. I didn't know there was a buzzer. Put a buzzer in me and I got to like, I know. I think we need a new segment on the show called Don't Get Buzz and it's a drinking game. It's a drinking trivia game. That one's free. Nobody steal that for your next Netflix show. That's so good.

Now it's way better than Is It Cake? Don't Get Buzz. Why is a Netflix creating a Don't Get Buzz? Don't Get Buzz. The Trivia Game Show and. involving drinking. That's great. That's funny, George.

That's so funny. All right, George, well, you know what. So fun. You know what? I think you're going to say something very important after. You know what? I'm just transitioning. I was waiting for like the lesson I learned today is.

Oh, okay. So the lesson I learned today is don't make mistakes. It's okay to fail. It's always on camera. It's okay to mess up. Just don't do it on a nationally syndicated radio show. That's right. Because you will get roasted.

With internet. You got to have thick skin, Rachel. And you do it with grace. Not always, George. Okay, it's almost the end of this episode, though. It is. We end every episode with guilty as charged. And this is where our producer, Lindsay, gives us a new guilty-as-charge question every week.

And if we are guilty, we have to take a sip. Lins? Yes. Okay, when you're shopping in a store and you realize you don't want something anymore, that's in your cart, do you put it anywhere? Or do you go put it back where it belongs? That's a great question. Can I caveat it with I always put my cart back?

No. The cart goes back, but the items do not. Here's my caveat. With that, I will put back refrigerated items in a refrigerator. Not always in the spot it was supposed to go. But you know what I mean? I would really judge you if you just left that to the side. People do it.

A refrigerated item? Yes. Oh, that's sad. That is sad. Sorry. I'm just saying. That is my caveat. That's my line. But if I'm taking an item, I don't go back to, like, Isle 7C and put it back in its rightful spot. But it's rare that I do that. So it's not like I'm going around town, you know, just moving items around. Willie nilly. That's my thing. The items around the Walgreens.

Like, it's my tiny prank I like to pull at Target. I don't do that. But occasionally, it's happened, I will admit. Okay. Yeah. I'm going to say I'm with you, George. I think I'm guilty of it It's usually a small item It's not like, you know A giant pack of paper towers

I know And if I'm like an aisle away You'll do it Two aisles, forget about it She's leaving it No on the other side of the store What's an item you would leave? You know what I actually

You know what I do more of And I'm fine with it Is I actually end up bringing it to the cashier And I just tell her I don't want these things Oh yeah That's what I do too sometimes Which is actually better Because there and then control

They can flag someone down to go put it back in the right aisle. I will say if it's at Publix, I don't feel bad because it's such a pleasure for them to be like, I would be happy to go take this back to its rightful spot, you know? Do they ever ask you to if they want help, like taking groceries out? Always, and I always try to tip them. They say no. Oh, that's sweet.

I've never accepted the offer. And you know what? They will take you to the aisle. Oh, that's right. If you ask for something, they walk you to it. This is not an ad for Publix, but it is a pleasure. It is amazing. It's amazing.

Walmart, they're just like, I don't know, I don't work here. I'm like, you have a Walmart 10. You know what I mean? Help me. Help me. They're like, you're the employee now. Here's my badge. Oh my gosh, so funny.

That's fun. Okay, George, who finished first? I think it's you. I'm closer. How'd you feel about this one? It was okay. I know. The caramel.

You didn't get my goat. You know what I mean? I think that's an old time he's saying that people, kids are using that now. Are they? Either that or elderly people. I'm not sure which. Oh, my gosh. I get confused these days.

Oh, my gosh. What were we drinking? We were drinking a bourbon, apple, cider, mimosa. Yeah. It was okay. It was a little harsh. I kind of needed a more, like, a mellow, sweeter drink. Like, I feel like this would be one.

If you drink too many, the headache is for sure happening. Like, there's some drinks that I feel like you can enjoy. Like, you know, you're fine. What's your rating? This would be six out of ten? All right. I'll go five out of ten. Okay. Yeah.

Here's what's in it. It's got bourbon, apple cider, and champagne. Oh, that's it. That's it. Okay. That might be why. I think it needs, it needs, like, another acid in there. It needs some kind of sweetener in there. Like, the cider wasn't enough acid and sweet for me.

Yeah, just not. And the champagne and bourbon, I don't know that those should mix. I know. And the taste after, it's not great. There we go. I don't know. But, hey, if you. Sorry, Michael Redis.

really convincing people to make this. Bar-Tender Michael Redis is going to be very angry with us because every time we text him a number that is less than... Less than 10. 8.5. 10. He's low-key disappointing. So we're sorry, Michael, but we really appreciate the effort. But hey, here's a cost per glass. If you want to make it at home, don't let us dissuade you from trying this fine beverage.

It's $3.32 per glass. And you can find the recipe in the show notes. That's expensive compared to what we should do. But you can get like, you know, $6 champagne at Trader Joe's or whatever. And the headache comes. There you go. Give it a try this weekend, if you so dare, and let us know what you think. Yeah, we could be wrong. It is a beautiful presentation with the caramel a rim.

Yeah, it is pretty. It's a pretty glass. Carmel rim. Carmel rim, yeah. Well, you guys, it is closing time. So, as always, if you'll leave a review, it's always helpful. We love seeing it. Love hearing what you love. And make sure to subscribe and share the episode with a friend as you share these around the world.

Wow. It is helpful. We're international. to help people be like, well, money can be fun and funny. And it's great. And we can be smart about it. Live, laugh, love. Build wealth.

So we'll see you next Thursday on the all new episode of Smart Money Happy Hour. We're going to have to add that in post.