Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel - Roasting the Latest Financial and Social Fads (Here to Stay?)

Episode Date: May 14, 2026

❓Have a money question? Ask Ramsey is here to help!   The trend pendulum never stops swinging. Today, we’re unpacking financial and lifestyle fads that we’ve seen before . . . and we’ll probably see again in another ten years.     Next Steps: ·   🎙️ Catch our episode Ranking the Worst Financial Habits (and Admitting Our Guilt) ·   🍸 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 free budget and find more margin with EveryDollar.   Connect With Our Sponsors: ·       Check out the FAIRWINDS Credit Union exclusive account bundle. ·   Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe. ·   Get 20% off with code SMARTMONEY at Cozy Earth.   Today’s Happy Hour Special: 🧊 Cold Brew Cocktail  Recipe by: Cocktails ·      1.5 ounces vodka ·      0.5 ounce simple syrup ·      0.5 ounce coffee liqueur ·      cold brew ·      1/4 cup heavy cream ·      1 teaspoon caramel sauce   Instructions: Add vodka, simple syrup, coffee liqueur, and cold brew to a glass filled with ice. Froth the heavy cream and caramel sauce to create a cold foam. Gently pour cold foam on top of ice. Serve immediately.   Explore More From Ramsey Network: 💰 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

The trend pendulum never stopped swinging. Today we're unpacking financial and lifestyle fads that we've seen before, and we'll probably see again in another 10 years. So that was an investment I did, but I got a deal. It was like a Black Friday. Like, get one airy. That always worries me. Like, I haven't found a group on, though.

I know, I know. Whoa, them fighting words. That's a good one. Are they trying to get me in hot water? I can't believe you're putting that poison in your body. Hey guys, I'm Rachel Cruz. I'm George Camel. And this is Smart.

Money Happy Hour. Cheers, George. Cheers. Oh, that was delicious. Silky. Oh, my gosh. Well, this is the show where two friends who have to be many experts talk about what you're talking about,

so everything from pop culture, current events, and money. And let us start by talking about the cocktail we're sipping on. This is a cold brew cocktail. Yes, giving espresso martini vibes. It's good. It's giving like a masculine espresso martini.

I like it. Well, stick around until the end of the episode. We're going to give you our rating and reveal the cost per glass. So, George, apparently, adults are trading Pokemon cards again. Have you heard the fad? Oh, have I ever? It has happened. The card trading is back.

I don't know what happened. You know what? Honestly, go back to crypto, guys. It somehow felt better when it was crypto. A little bit more masculine than Pokemon cards. I mean, I used to, like, do Pokemon when I was a child. Is it Pokemon or Pokemon? I think the technical, definitional, Merriam-Webster's pronunciation,

It's Pokemon. Pokemon. What if I go over? What if I could... I do the theme song in my head. Pokemon. Okay, ma'amon. I used to do the Game Boy.

I think... Pokemon. Just like that, yeah. I can't do it any better. I'm nailing the theme song right now. Oh my gosh. But I used to have the cards. I'd play with my friend, but we actually played Pokemon.

It wasn't like a collectible thing. Yeah, because they had like powers, right? That like you could kill one and you get this point or like the little white and red ball. I love hearing you explain this. That was just. And then I had the Game Boy games. I had the Red and the Blue.

Yes. I think I had red. My friends may have had the blue. Yes. Okay. And then it became, you know, video games. So there was like that Pokemon Snapshot game where you go. Okay.

Pokemon Go. Now that became a big thing. It really has staying power. It has. So I'm laughing at the adult. So maybe it's been around longer and continued on longer than I think. Yeah, I don't think it ever died. It just became a high.

commodity where people were buying and selling for more and more money. But like a lot of money too. Now people like line up outside of Best Buy. You're like what is this? It's not even Black Friday. They're lining up for the latest drop of the Pokemon cards, hoping they're gonna strike it rich. But the pendulum of fads, it swings.

It's like what was popular comes back sometimes. Low-rise jeans. Oh yeah. That was in the Christine Aguilera days. And apparently, according to, well, they're saying it. But you know who I saw recently that had very low-rise pants? Who's bringing it back? And I thought, what are you doing, girl?

Pull your pants up. Is that Frankie girl from Mormon wives, who was the Bachelorette, but then they canceled it? Yeah. Yeah. And I don't watch Mormon. I want to say Mormon Housewives. I watch Housewives. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives?

Thank you, Mormon Wives. I don't watch that show. But I do watch Dancing with the Stars when Whitney was on. So I knew Whitney through Dancing with the Stars. And then this whole Bachelorette, you know, stuff, which that happened like, I don't know, a month or two ago. Anyways, she had lower ice pants on. in one of the videos on Instagram, and I thought, what are you doing?

What are you doing? Stop that. I wonder if that's a sign. Don't bring it back. You think it's a sign that someone's unwell if they're wearing low-rise jeans in 2026? Yes. Why? Why do we need that?

We don't need them. These are high-rise jeans that you're wearing currently. Always. Okay. I always have my old lady jeans on. Yeah, you really adopted the trend as soon as Jan Z told you. You were like, I'm on it, girls. I just appreciate it.

You got rid of all of your, like, no more skinny jeans. And a wide leg? Yeah. Love a wide leg. So no low rise, no skinny. Correct. Wide and high. Wide and high, George.

Got it. I can remember that. So we want that for sure. And then on the masculine side, MMA has become really big. It's coming back. Mix martial arts. I know what it stands for. That's all I know.

I was thinking of the wrestling. What's the letters that are wrestlers? Are you talking about the W.W.E? That's what I was thinking of. Oh, I read M.M. backwards. Now, M.A is like, I feel like wrestling is now known that it's theater. And people still like it for that. But MMA is like real fighting.

Oh, it's the guy that had the Pokemon card around his neck. Logan Paul. Yes. $16 million dollar Pokemon card that he sold. Look, we're connecting all the dots here. I think he did MMA. I know he also boxed or is that his brother. They get mixed together as just one toxic human.

So I don't ever remember them. So MMA is just, are they punching? I think there's, are they kicking too? There's punching and kicking, I think. Punching and kicking. Because it's mixed martial arts. Mix. So it's like a karate.

with a boxer. Sure. I mean, I'll let you pass because I barely know. What's the thing that people do? This is what I would learn in that world. I wouldn't do kickball, kickboxing. Actually, it's a great workout. Not karate.

What's the thing that people do? Jiu-Jitsu? Yes. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Now that, well, why the Brazilian? Why did you do that in there? I feel like they invented it. I don't know.

I hear it as like BJJ, like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Maybe it's a type of jiu-jitsu that's very popular. I don't know, J-Jitsu. I just like the name. name of it and I hear that's the that's the route to go. I could do it because that one's good because I can learn self-defense that way. That's it. If you're like in a street fight, you can like take someone down with their arm. Yes.

Or something. Yeah. Because I like that I don't look at a guy you could, that could take you in a fight. Yes. But if I knew Jiu-Jitsu, they'd be like, we didn't know, but you went for the knees. You just like twirled me over his legs and flipped me on my back and I was done. Oh my gosh. Chokehold. How fun would that be.

How fun would that be. Now it would be super fun as a superpower just to know I could take that guy. That I could do it. I'd be walking the streets just. I wouldn't worry. Yeah, I could take that guy. I could take that guy. Yeah, you wouldn't worry.

Wouldn't worry about anything. Pickleball. I could take that guy. Pickleball's a fun one. Yeah, and it's... Pickleball's like an ML. Like, someone's always trying to talk you into joining their pickleball... Stop it.

Like, rec league. You know what I mean? It's a very like, oh, you should come out and play with us sometime. Like, I'm not buying what you're selling, bro. George, we were on a pickleball team together. We were. What a team. You know what?

We were an underrated team. All the personalities. We went out for like a half-day team building thing. You want to tell them whose idea this retreat was? Not mine. It was Ken Coleman's idea. Oh, yeah, Ken. He's like, we should play pickleball together.

The semi-amature player, he is. It was actually pretty fun, but they paired us up together. Yeah. Which at one point I was thinking, why would y'all put two people together that don't ever play? We are, now you're athletic, you are strong, you are brave. Thank you. But we are some of the least athletic as far as the personalities go. You have John Maloney, Jade Warshaw.

And Ken, who plays pickleball on time. And Ken who's really good at pickleball. Yeah, yeah, we're at the bottom of the list. I can appreciate that. You know what I mean? If this was kickball, I'd be last on the team to be picked. It's fine. It's fair.

We know our strengths. Yeah. We know the value we bring to life. But we got pretty good by the end. I think we did pretty great. We did. Anyways. But pendulum, I think if it goes down, it'll be back in 10 years.

So just get ready. So you think pickleball will die out? Mm-hmm. Really? I feel like old people can keep it alive longer than we want them. No. because if the game where you hit the ball on the wall and you, boop, boop, boop, what's that game?

Racquetball? Indoor. Yeah. If that didn't come. You know, I mean, racquetball's the same thing. Yeah, I don't see a lot of racquetball these days. I do think tennis is coming back because of pickleball. But it's coming back, but racket ball will come back too.

Mark my word. Mark my, mark my word. Mark my words. I believe you. Thank you. You know what else has come back? Trucker hats. Not on my bingo card.

Yes. Oh my gosh. I got to show you. The hip girlies on our team wear trucker hats. And my wife has now has a collection of trucker hats. Okay, I'm going to get your wife on a Winston's Winston made hats, y'all. And they have like cute little sayings on them. Yes, this is my hat.

I sent it to him because I was wearing it. And I was like, babe, I'm totally supporting you. Is it Southern Gentleman? Yeah, it's a Southern Gentleman hat. I need one of those. Oh, wow. Good one, huh? It's a really cool hat, and it's a different look for you.

What does that mean, George Camel? I don't know if it's your face that you're making. It may be. But you're not selling it. What? Yeah, I'm going to be honest. Good night, George. There's another me in a hat.

That one's better. That one's better. Oh, gosh. I'm sorry. Do you want me to be an honest friend? I'm glad we're not married because when I sent that to my husband, he was like, yeah, babe, you're so hot. Unbelievable.

You're wearing his podcast. I don't know. You're wearing his podcast merch. That's every man's dream is for his wife to care about his podcast. That's what he's excited about. But front porch philosopher, Southern Gentleman, and it's a red trucker hat. I love it. Oh, I like that.

I do like that podcast, good guys over there. Oh, my gosh. Anyways, didn't mean to jump on that bandwagon, but. But I wore a lot of trucker hats when I was a skateboard punk in Boston. That was, like, real big. We all had trucker hats. Oh, really? Yeah.

Yeah. And we'd have our hair flipping out of the sides. You know. 100%. The early 2000 skater hair. Man, I would think of like a baseball. People wore those baseball. Oh, yeah.

Like in their hat. And then they'd take the hat off. and it looks like a bowl was on. Not a good look. That's why you leave the hat on. Yes. But those have really come back from the ladies. I don't know. Van Dutch is a popular brand for trucker hats for some reason.

Yep. I like to go a little bit more local, you know. Shop local. Shop local. With your husband's podcast. Really sold them on the merch there. That was fun. Well, trends move a lot quicker now.

You know, as soon as they come, they're gone by the time I find out about it. That's why I don't jump on them. They are quick. Is it the internet, you think, social media? Because back in the day, you had like your best friend and your hairdresser. Well, now it's like someone can make a TikTok that goes viral that then becomes a trend. But then by the time it like reaches the zeitgeist of millennials and Gen X, it's kind of like, oh, it's not really cool anymore. It's been done.

It's been done. A lot of the sayings are like that. So I try not to jump on the slang. Yes, the slang. Now, your son I've heard is hip to the slang. Oh my gosh. Charles says it all the time. What's his current?

I'm cooking. I'm cooking. Like he'll shoot basketball on the driveway or something and he like makes, he's like, I'm cooking. Literally. Apostrophe. Cooking. Funny. Funniest thing.

No, he's not cooking. Well, I said cooking at one point and someone shunned me. It may have been in this room. I don't know. So if he's doing good at his sport in the moment, he's like, oh, mom, I'm cooking. I'm cooking. It's adorable. So funny in kindergarten.

I'm like, where did you hear this? Kindergarten. That's great. Oh, God bless. And speaking of TikTok, Rachel, this is taking the world by storm in the, sweets world and that is Dubai chocolate. Have you heard of Dubai chocolate? Maybe. It's a style of chocolate. It's got pistachio. It's got some some wheat in there. Is it a little crunch? And I want you to try it. I brought you some. Oh my gosh. I'm so untrend.

This is probably a hundred dollars worth of Dubai chocolate. Wait, are you serious? No, it's not. But it is expensive. Like anytime you see it, you're like, where do you buy it? Target? Almost anywhere. Like if you go to Costco and peruse the chocolate aisle, there's probably no less than four or five products that are labeled as Dubai style. Okay, and the Dubai style is the pistachios. It's pistachio mixed with the wheat. It's called katefe? In Arabic, it's Knafe.

Knafe. Yeah. Sure. Which is like a wheat, it's like flour, sugar. I always forget you speak Arabic. Starch. Isn't that weird? I'm teaching my daughter.

Still crazy. Because my parents got her a little like Arabic book. Give us a sentence. I mean that is just the craziest. You are so... It's really fun. So I'm teaching me a little words. Like, butteach is watermelon.

Oh, yes. So I'm trying to get her to say the... So I'm like, but? And she's like... But? Teach. She's like... It's so cute.

So good. So good. All right. Oh, wow. The packaging is gorgeous. Beautiful. All right. Is that the only thing in that box where you just pulled out?

Is there another one in there? This is it? I mean, it's a big old boy. Let me see how it's a... Big old boy. How do I? I have Roy D. Mercer. Who's ever listen to Roy D. Mercer?

Oh, wow. This little canna. Get a load of this. Oh, my gosh. All right. Take a big old bite. Okay, and if you knew me, you would know I, sweets are not my thing. Yeah.

If this was a tortilla chip? You're salty. I would be excited. You're a salty person. I am. I'm not a big chocolate fan. I mean, I mean, chocolate's fine, but okay.

Oh, I don't think she's a pistachio girly either. But let it cook. It's cooking. The face is, we're going south now. I'm going to say, you've offended all of Dubai. This is their national pastime, and also this was made in New Jersey. I apologize. distributed.

It's really rich. Not for you. Okay. Well, this is why. I like pistachios, though. Some trends, they don't hit. Okay, does all, is that what it looks like? Every, is that the style?

It's the style. I don't think they all look like that. A little chocolate bar. But like Starbucks now has a Dubai, you know, latte. So like everyone's got it. I'm going to toss this over to you. The team can enjoy this. Yeah, just cut off what I ate.

Rachel doesn't have the palette for this quite yet. We'll get you there. Just a little too. You know, we can auction it off for charity and say this is the Dubai chocolate bar Rachel took a bite of. Rachel took a bite of. Mm, yeah. So Rachel, overall take on the Dubai chocolate fad.

Yeah, and a. If it was thinner, I could get on board. But yeah. It's an A for you. Yeah, that's fine. How about you? Well, you didn't have it, but. I like the style of it because I'm a big pistachio fan.

That's big in the Middle East especially. Pistachios, very common food. Yes, very nut to have in desserts. Okay. All right, moving on next fad, stock market panic. That's a fun fad. Always. You know, there's always one, you know, especially during a presidency,

you're going to get something, right? This one was some tariffs. Made the stock market dip. Iran, the war. Dip. Barrel of gas goes to 116. You're like, that's going to cause the market. So you just see it.

And people panic. They freak out. And then sometimes the fat is like, okay, just get out of the market. Everything's going to collapse. The world is ending and just everyone take your money out. And it's like, no, no, no, no. Stay in. Write it out.

It's going to dip. It's going to come back. Like, everything's going to be fine over the long haul. But, man, people love a, yeah, they love a panic. They love a panic. They love to see the little red down arrow on the news going, oh, my gosh. The Dow is down. They don't like that.

But here's my life hack. Only look at your investment account when the market's up. Oh. I'm a glass half-fold kind of guy. Look at you. Oh, positive. Well, what's the point of looking at while it's down? Yeah, yeah, 100%.

I lost thousands of dollars on paper. Yep. Well, don't pull the money out. Yep. And keep buying. That's like, it's on sale. Yes. If that mutual fund was trading at $100, now it's at $85, it's 15% off.

100%. Congratulations. And it's going to be back to record highs within a year or two or three, as it always does. Before you know it. Love it. So I'm not a fan of that fad. Yeah, me neither. Let's don't panic.

Let's ride it out, y'all. Ride the roller coaster. It's going to be fine, we promise. And you're not taking all your money out, even if you're in a retirement. You're not doing it all at once. Yeah, yeah. It's just a little bit. Try to avoid dipping into your retirement accounts as much as you can,

and it's good to have some cash reserves if you're in that phase of life. So that you're not selling when it's down. All right. Next up, George. Health and wellness. Oh, man. You got your canola oil, your hot, your cold plunges. Oh, yeah.

Your sonnas? Are we anti-canol. No seed oils. We're anti-seed oils these days. Yeah, everyone loves a canola oil, right? No, canola bad. Oh, sorry, bad. What am I talking about?

Canola is, you might as well just clog those pipes. What is it? Can I ask that? It's like a vegetable oil. Okay. I think they just, like, re-label it. I don't know. Someone's going to come out in the comments.

Because we have vegetable oil that we use. Not good. With, like, like, mixes. Like, if you do like a cake mix or something, then you have to have like a half a cup of vegetable oil. It would be preferable by the health and wellness world if you would use a cleaner oil. I know, stupid.

Alicado, perhaps? Gross. Gross. You're going to have the... Coconut oil? No, definitely not coconut oil. You taste it. I cooked with coconut oil for a bit.

You taste it. Cook it with something sweet, and it's not that overpowering. You know, it's a nice flavor. I just think, you know... Olive oil. Again, that olive oil has some flavor to it. This is grim. This is grim.

But I think... You'd rather... We're all going to be in the ground at some point, George. So might as well crack open that bucket of Crisco. And feel good, you know. Wow. Be in the sun. Have a sippy, sippy, sippy of...

Have a sippy, sippy and be in the sun. Rachel is your... Just enjoy your life a little bit. You're like a de-influencer for the health and wellness space. Okay, and I eat broccoli and Brussels sprouts. Like, whatever. Like, we do it. It's fine. But, like, also, people, I just, I think it's stressful.

I think the stress that people take on who are obsessed with this world. Yeah. I think does more harm than good. I believe that. I think you can just sleep great. You meet a grandma who's like 98 and she lives off of diet Dr. Peppers. She's smoking with a martini. And you're like, oh my gosh.

Dr. Pepper for breakfast. 100%. She's thriving. She's rocking. Rocking it. Yeah. So there you go. People are going to be mad at me.

Some of these other ones you have fallen for, though. Cold plunges? Asana perhaps. Okay. I do love Asa. That is one of my favorites. You gave up the cold plunge. Yeah, I gave up the cold plunge.

I read that it's actually not good for women. It actually ages you. Wow. Reverse effect you're looking for. Yep. And so there's not enough science behind it. You know who else told me? Her good friend, Arthur Brooks.

He said the science is conflicting on cold plunges. And I thought, I like you. I like you, Arthur. Conflicting science is what you're looking for. Yeah, yeah. I want a hundred percent like this is the best thing for you. Sana. And Sona.

Everything you read about a sauna. Good. Detox it. I'm going to detox my vegetable oil out of my system. Let that canola oil through the skin be gone. Wow. That's life balance. Oh my gosh.

Yes, that's life balance right there. Do a little sauna and enjoy your life. So my overall take with health and wellness is... You're very healthy. Y'all are very crunchy. Well, I just go, like, I think the Mediterranean diet is sort of like try it in true. Yes. Eat whole foods.

Get your fruits and veggies in. A good complex carb. Throw it in there. fine. I don't do a lot of liquid calories either, you know, so I think that helps. But I wouldn't say I'm a picture of health. But my blood work came back spectacular. Wonderful. After doing nothing for years except kind of trying not to eat terribly. Yeah. Mine came back great too. I did like a women's panel. Oh, yeah. Blood tests. And it was like 25 things. A plus. Pretty average down the center. And I just thought, all right, I'll keep doing

what I've been doing. That's all you need. Just a little like, a little something here, a little something there but work out get your steps in eat some chicken and broccoli you'll be good oh that's not that's like the every health bro that's all they do is they meal prep just no flavor chicken broccoli I didn't say no flavor get you some Greek seasoning it just reminded me of that that's all they eat just and you just shuddered like I just can't stand what it's like just get your protein in it just at all cost just eat the most depressing meal oh yeah to get your protein in it's just life is too short add some hummus hummus hummus humas Does that come from a seed?

No. Chickpeas. Chickpeas. Garbonzo beans, if you want to get a little crazy. Okay, so more of a bean than a seed. Yeah. Learning a lot. It's a bean dip, basically.

Think about it that way. Oh, yes. So Winston's doing the keto diet. He can't have beans. So would that mean he can't have hummus? No legumes. What? Yeah.

I'm sorry. I didn't know it was going to like freeze your brain with the word legume. I don't know what a lagoon is. What's a lagoon? It's the bean family. Oh, yeah. Sounds like a 90s insult. You lagoons?

Yeah, lagoon. Yeah, lagoons. Laguna Beach. Oh. There we go. That's a spinoff. Oh, God bless. Starring beans.

Wow. Oh, man. Well, while you're looking up all your recipes for your chicken and broccoli, right? No recipe needed. Just don't fill out a ton of forms, because if you do, you're going to need delete me because every form you fill out online is what it feels like that these companies sell your data data brokers then collect that data package it and then sell it off to other companies so gross yeah so then you get spam texts and calls and weird emails and they know your address your

kids names like all of it's really scary and there's more out there than you think and you can even try searching this for yourself and you'll be shocked at how much is just out there and like i didn't put that how do they know my past address and my family's info And that's why I love Delete Me. They'll scour these data brokers sites, hundreds of them. Remove your info, send you a report on a silver platter, showing you what they've done, how much time they've saved you. All right there.

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Well worth it. I've saved like, what, 160 hours, they told me. have time it would have taken me to go do all that so good well worth it we'll drop a link in the description as well all right next up is the gold rush oh it's back so there's like gold bros out there those like Pokemon bros and crypto bros there is precious metal bros and they love it yep they love to be like you guys aren't wrong yes i got gold i got gold relax you little lepracons i got gold where the gold at yeah well march yes if you know you know oh my gosh okay well as of march of 2026. Gold was sitting at a value more than $5,000 per ounce, more than a 60% increase from $3,000 just a year prior.

So it has gone up. And there's usually a correlation with gold in the market that you see. When fear goes up, because the market's going down, sorry, fear goes up, gold goes up. Yes. I was trying to do my correlations. thumbs up, thumbs down. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But both up both are not good. If you're listening on podcasts, you're just very confused as to what's

happening. Rachel is just getting her directions all confused. Yes, but... When people get spooked, they go out and buy a bunch of gold thinking it's going to save them and it's going to be a hedge against the stock market collapsing. Yes. But I don't buy anything based on fear. Like, it's just a fear-based commodity. It's usually kind of peddled

in the fear-mongering space. If everybody go buy gold and silver right now because in the apocalypse that's what we're all going to be bartering it's not worth it and yes on paper you could say well it's up 60% compared to the stock market but it will eventually go back down and what are you going to do just hoard a bunch of gold yeah well i don't think it's even 60% from the stock market is it i think it was just from the prior year yeah value of what it was yeah but they're going you can't get that in the stock market 60% up you know what i mean so and then it's going to go back down so trade instability often follows the geopolitical instability

So U.S. threatens Greenland. Gold's going to go up. European countries send military support there. Gold goes up. Trump threatens tariffs on eight countries. So all of this affects the prices of precious metals, but I personally don't own any. If you want to do it for fun and make it a small part of your net worth, like less than 5%, go for it. But I would not trade investing in the stock market to go buy a bunch of gold. No, not at all. So as far as fads go, I'm out on precious metals. Yeah, not for an investment. I mean, you own a lot of fake precious metals from Amazon.

You're wearing it right now. I do. Lots of fake. Lots of fake gold. That's all you need. Yeah, I'll fake. It would be scary. But who cares?

Maybe I can trade this little bracelet for some bread if the world collapses. I'm like, players. I think they can tell it's fake pretty quickly. All this discolored. What do you mean? What do you mean? No, it's real. I promise.

It's real. It's real. Give me some bread. Give the lady some bread. We won't be doing that. We won't be doing that. Okay. How about here's a fad, not money related.

The no contact boundary setting. Oh, this is a nice. a new thing relationally that people are like, my parents, my family, we don't agree, we don't see life the same and they're just toxic and I just have to get them out of my life. And they're like shutting off their family, like on the reg. I think this started during COVID. That's my hot take. Yes.

Is that when things got extra heated. Because you're like, we got a social distance. No, we don't. A lot of extremes. No, you don't. Did you get the vaccine? Did you not? Then you're not coming for Christmas.

Yep. And your politics are wrong. And so all of that caused a lot of no. contact boundary setting or LC, low contact. Give you a new acronym there. Low contact. Yeah, low contact is like I'm going to try to avoid contacting, but it's not like a, you can't reach me.

I blocked your number. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's different. I know. But I think, you know, I don't agree with my relatives and family on everything. And I just try to, like, why go to that conversation when you see them? Out of all the things you could talk about. Yeah, talk about anything in life.

Yes. That's your own poison right there. It's unless they're like super passionate about it. and that's what they're going to end up. Well, the problem is they bring it up, then you have to take the high road and go, hey, we're not going to do this. And I just imagine some crazy girl at Easter lunch

talking about the newest conspiracy she read about. Is that you? I'm guessing your family shuts that down. I don't think they're entertained by it anymore. Because you are the crazy one of the family. They think I'm crazy. They're all very logical people. Like Daniel.

That's why you've got to kind of stir it up. Denise never wants to stir anything up. Yeah, you can have stir a little something up. That's the Dave Ramsey in the DNA. Just say, we didn't walk on the moon in 1969. And then they're bah, blah,

and it's fun. But without Rachel at the dinner table, would it even be fun? It's not fun, no, and they wouldn't know all the stuff,

man. Is Selena Gomez really her? We don't know. We don't know. Listen. Where do you find this stuff? I know,

I wouldn't even know where to search on the internet. No, it's on Instagram. I get into a, I get into a conspiracy reel and then...

The algorithm goes, oh, we know the type. The algorithm says, oh, this is what she likes, and then it starts feeding me more. And here's the thing, George,

I've realized thought myself, I can be convinced kind of easily. I have like my core convictions about life and like what I do believe. But I have other things that I'm like, someone really could, open-minded. They could really talk me into one way or the other. If they're persuasive. 100%. Okay. So a logical persuasive. But they have some evidence about something. I'm like, I can get on board with that. I can get on board with that. Wow. And now you've become that person. I'm convincing other people. It's contagious. I know. You're welcome. Because once you've been convinced, You're like, everyone needs to know about this.

Yes, that's what I'm saying. You can just fall off the earth, guys. So that's what I'm saying. You're like, they could just talk about something else, and they could. But also. But that's what's on your mind constantly. You're like, listen, I want you all to know. Antarctica, I ain't what it seems.

What's going on in Antarctica? Oh, we don't have time. You got tea on that? All right. But if I was on Antarctica, I'd want to be warm and cozy. And I would hope my cozy earth blanket was with me. Take it with you. That's for sure.

Pack that, bad boy. Pack that. Yeah. That's like a freaking Eskimo suit. You just wrap yourself in the warmth of wonderfulness, and you're good to go because cozy earth products, they keep you warm and even in the summer. Keep you cool. Keep you cool. Because they use this viscose from bamboo material.

And it allows it to breathe if it needs to. It traps the heat if it needs to. It's crazy. I don't know how they do it. I don't either. The sheets, the joggers, the athleisure, the sleep sets, all of it. If I'm cold, I swear it, like, keeps me warm. but then if I wear it like walking the kids to school in the morning

and I'm like oh it's kind of hot out here it's cool I don't know science if you still believe in that Rachel I think that's how they do it but it's great everything there if you want to upgrade your life you want a little taste of luxury meets affordability they got a 10 year warranty on their betting a hundred night sleep trial it's all incredible and you can get up to 20% off at cozy earth.com slash smart money and use code smart money at checkout and if you get the post purchase survey which I think you will Be sure to let cozy earth know that smart money happy hour sent you. All right.

Next up, George, everything is beddable. Oh, that's exhausting. Man. Why? Why can't we just enjoy things and not have to put money on it? So during March Madness, I was reading like an article about a game, the Tennessee game, against Michigan, which was very important. I'm guessing it didn't go well by the look on your face.

Very unfortunate. Terrible, actually. I could have guessed that, though. No, but sometimes there's the upsets, you know, Yukon and Duke. Not with Tennessee. Tennessee, Michigan, even I know. Well, that's what I'm saying, March Madness. There's always the upsets.

Like, this could have been an upset. Okay. And they were a really good team, George. They actually very well. Why am I defending them? They lost really bad. Anyways. But there was an entire article, and it was like section after.

And I started reading. I was like, oh, this is interesting. And then halfway through, I was like, I can't. About all the betting of you bet on this, this, you know, whatever, spread here, and then how you know here. and then the Vegas odds are here. I mean, it was so much info about it. And I thought, oh, my gosh, people are reading this.

Like, this is like, they're sucked in. Oh, yeah. It's crazy. So, yeah. Well, when there's money on it, you're glued to it. And so it's the, they love it as far as advertising go because I know you're going to watch the game if you start betting on it. So Polly Market, Kalsh, Draft Kings, Fandul, Bet MGM, all of these companies are cashing in

by making you think you could win. It's just a lottery, but kind of socialize with your hobbies and things you love, which is sports. But now it's like, is Trump going to burp today? And you can, there's a $200 million pool of yes or no. Like it's crazy. Yes. You can bet on anything in life. It's insane. Yes. Let's, uh, let's say focus. Who's going to get married on love is blind. You can bet on that. And so it's gotten out of control. And I think it, sadly, this is real talk. It's going to lead to addictive behaviors, gambling in other areas. And people are going to lose big money. It's going to hurt relationships. That's not a guess on my part. That's just what's happening and what will continue

to happen. Well, and the trend is showing that. Like, data is coming out. The, yes, like the rate of people who gamble, the amount of money they are, the frequency at which they're gambling. It's just continuing to increase. And because it's apps, they'll lure you back in saying, hey, have a free bet on us. Well, that's the hard thing, too. If you lose money, you're like, okay, crap, how do I make that back? You're like, well, maybe I'll just bet a little bit more and try to win it back. And yes. It's going to be different this time. It's a spiral. It's an absolute spiral. All right. All right. Next step is, oh, cosmetic procedures. Dun, done, done.

So there's, I guess the fads. People are actually a removing filler, though. That's a fad happening. Oh, is that like getting rid of a tattoo? People, I guess so. You get the filler or you take it out. You get the filler and the lip filler, cheek, all of that. And a lot of celebs are apparently removing those.

Man, all the treatments, laser care, all of it. What do you think I should get done? You don't have hooded lids because I can see your eyelid right now. So you're good. Maybe a chin implant? Oh, you can have a little bit. I could use a better jaw line, we can all agree on that. Go a little bit further out.

Yeah, George, sure. I don't have a lot of neck. Can I extend my neck too? I guess. Is that a thing? Go up with the neck. That'd be a sad procedure. Now, the one that's really sad is the height surgery.

Height? Yeah. They literally like break your legs and then add to it and then, yeah. No. It's a thing. No way. It's a real thing. Don't do it, George.

I never said I was. Don't do it. But if there was a way to do it without having to break it, both of my legs. Terrible. I would consider it. You know the one that's kind of going out, the people were all in, veneers. Oh. People were getting like those just like perfect veneers. Yeah, and everyone can tell. Yes, and people are going back to more natural looking teeth. Wow. Do people accuse you of having veneers? I don't know. I don't know. Check the comment section. What are they saying? No. But I do think it's become more normalized. Did you know that?

Really? Never had braces. That's impressive. Did anyone in your family have My mom didn't. And I want to say dad didn't either. Denise and Daniel did, though. Wow. I know. You are highly favored. I'm not crazy.

That's good. Well, these smaller procedures now, they feel more affordable and people are putting it on payment plans. And so they go, I could afford that. It used to just be for celebrities and athletes and rich people. Now it's like, well, I could afford $500. Yeah, the meds ball down the street's doing this and this and we can do it. And you can afford one, if not two, three, four, five, six and do it over time.

Yes. And so these are popping up, I've noticed. These sort of, they're not like hospitals. They're not surgical centers. They're just little offices. Yeah, a little med spa. Yeah, 100%. A casual.

You're going to Target. Let's stop by the old med spa. Okay, you know one thing I did. The ladies will appreciate this. And it was worth the investment. Time and money. Laser hair removal. Oh.

Y'all. Game changer. Legs, armpit, all of it. It is fantastic. How many times you have to do it? You have to go eight times. Six to eight sessions. It's a, it's a, it is a consistent thing.

But then it works forever. My gosh. Yes. So that was an investment I did. But I got a deal. It was like a Black Friday. Like get one area. That always worries me.

Like I found a group on though. I know, I know. But it was at a local like plastic surgery center that was doing it. So I trusted them. I figure it's not that expensive for them. I think a lot of these are high margin procedures. Yes. I think so too.

That's why they can do some like, yeah, big discounts. Yeah. Would you ever do that for like your neck or something? You know what? I do hate shaving the neck To keep that clean I would consider that Because never in my life Am I going to be like

Man I just wish I had more hair on my neck Gosh I missed those days You're not gonna miss it You're not gonna miss it Okay so the fad I'm okay with this fad To an extent Yeah Right the beauty treatment? I think it's easy to go overboard

Because once you get a little It's kind of like tattoos Where you get two and you're like well why not Get a sleeve Why not get another one? And then all of a sudden unlike tattoos. It's a slippery slope.

You look like it got stunned by bees. Yeah. So keep your face, ladies. Oh, you know where I love to keep my money is a safe place, George. And Barry Wins Credit Union? Spot on. That's my safe place for sure. Yes.

It's a safe place because not only the people behind it that are actually running it, they are amazing people. But the system at which you're putting your money in, it is a place that wants you to win with your money. And to have any level of a banking institution to be for you with your money. That's amazing. Because usually they're trying to make so much money off of you through debts and fees and all of this. Yes. But Fairwinds came in and they're like, hey, we want to like be pro the Ramsey plan. And so we love them for it.

This is true. Their CEO watched my YouTube video on Travel Hacks and I said, hey, don't make sure you're not getting charged international fees. And he looked into it and he said, hey, are we doing that? And they said, yeah. And he said, let's get rid of international fees on our Fair Wins debit card. And they did it from watching my video. And so they truly want the best experience for their fans. They have a great high-yield savings account.

One of the top questions we get, where should I store my money so it can make some money. And you can have up to 10 different savings accounts in there for all the different savings goals in your life. So check it out with their smart bundle, no fee-checking, high-yield savings, and the Ramsey branded. Dead as Normal Be Weird debit card,

go to fairwins.org slash Ramsey or click the link in the description. Okay, George, wow. What are we thinking about these fads? It's exhausting. I feel like a lot of them were negative. you know? Yeah.

Something's like really popular. I mean, besides pickleball, but like, if something's really popular right now, there's a little bit of me that's like a... Well, if I had to sum it up, like what's behind each one, right? If we go back through, you kind of realize you got Dubai chocolate. That one I feel like is a harmless one, all right?

A food fad, I'm fine with that. Sure. But then stock market panic. Yeah. That's not good. People are going to lose a lot of money. Health and wellness, there's a lot of toxic negativity of like, if you don't do it my way, I mean, I posted just a bag of these like Girl Scout

like granola cookies. Yeah. And just granola, that kind of mimics the flavor of their coconut caramel cookie. And people were like, I can't believe you're putting that poison in your body. I'm like, I'm not a health influencer. Totally like, this is not my job. Straight up said that to me. And I was like,

people need to relax a little bit. Yes. I'm not hurting myself. I'm not the problem. Okay? If you've seen me in real life, I'm doing okay. You're doing great. I'm not thriving. Rhonda, calm down. Rhonda. I'm not going to be on my 600 pound life anytime soon.

Yes. So don't at me, Debbie. So health and wellness, there's some toxicity there. There's some vanity there. But overall, I think motivated in a good way, though, trying to keep us healthy. People want to look better, feel better. And live longer, not be as sick. And then you got Pokemon and Gold Rush.

That feels a little bit get rich quick, fear-based, a lot of hype around that. No contact boundary setting, I feel like is a good mode of gone too far. Yes, that's true. You're trying to do a healthy thing in an unhealthy way. Yes. And then everything's bedable. Again, get rich, quick, gambling, addiction, a lot of that happening there. So overall, not great.

Not great. State of America. Yeah, we'll see. Give it a C-minus right now. Oh, man. But if you do have questions about your money in specific situation, whether it is about the gold rush or sports betting, like whatever your question is, you can go to Ask Ramsey. And this is actually pretty amazing because it's an AI tool that we have now that you can put in your specific question.

and it'll give you an answer, just like you called the Ramsey show. I do love that. Yeah, so check it out. It's timeless. No fads here. And that's what I love about Ramsey that I think we don't talk about enough, is the principles and the values have stayed the same. Consistence.

You go back and- It's not a fad. It is what it is. Find a video of Dave Ramsey from 1995 and you're like, he's saying the exact same things he says now. Like, he believes it and he's stuck with it. I think that's actually such a pro in today's world. Yes.

Where everything's constantly changing and evolving. You've got to keep up. Just follow the plan. live on less than you make, stay out of debt, build well for the future, don't fall for the traps and the hype and the trends, you're going to be okay. Love it. Okay, before we spill the tea in our guilty is charged segment, uh, George, tell us what we're sipping on. What's in it? We're sipping on a cold brew cocktail that is made up of vodka, simple syrup, coffee liqueur, cold brew, heavy cream and caramel sauce. Okay.

Or caramel sauce, if you're Rachel. I'm a caramel, not a caramel. I'm from Boston. Carmel. I like it. 9.5? Whoa! That's higher than I thought you'd wait.

I would have that if someone was like, hey. Would you choose it over an espresso Martino? That's exactly what I was just thinking. I know. An espresso feels more lighter. This is heavier. The heavy cream kind of sits on the top.

Yes. I think that's probably what's messing with you. It just feels, I don't know. The viscosity is a little thicker than an espresso martin. Yeah, because it's a cold brew versus just an espresso shot. Yeah. You know what I mean? And so like it's kind of like a black coffee versus an Americano.

Yeah, because the ingredients are very similar to an espresso martini. But it's just kind of packaged differently. I'm going to go, I'll go seven and a half out of ten. Okay. I like a stronger like coffee feel. And this one's more like a vodka latte, if you will. That's what we should have called it. The vodka latte.

But it's good. I'm not really a fan of like vodka drinks in general, but this one I think it makes sense to have the vodka just kind of be a clean, let the other flavor. shine through. Yep. And it comes out to $2.49 if you want to make it at home. Not too bad. That's cheaper than anything you'll get at Starbucks, and it has alcohol in it.

Pretty crazy. There you go, kids. I really sold you on that one. Cheaper on all fronts. Cheaper than a Frappuccino. So get the recipe and the show notes. Give it a try this weekend if you're of age. If not, just make a latte.

Make a lot of thing. But honestly, kids shouldn't be drinking caffeine. Make a cold brew. No, not the kids. You're drinking chocolate milk. Yeah. I think he should be at least, what, 16, 17, for you're drinking coffee. coffee. I think you should be that age to drink anything from Starbucks because it's all sugar

bombs. Sugar bombs. Like what these kids are drinking? It's 50, 60 grams of sugar. There's pink drinks. Speaking of toxic health and wellness, that's the, I'll stand on that. It's crazy. I'll stand on that. You get a venty whatever. It's just pump after pump after pump in there. There was a, I saw an Instagram reel of a Dunkin' Donuts. Yeah. And the sugar, it's like, br-br-br- It shows you how much sugar is actually in there. I was like, oh my gosh. Yeah, that's, okay, you know what? I'll take my canola oil, which I don't really use, but vegetable oil with my water.

I drink water, literally. I don't drink. I don't drink. I don't drink coffee. I have never seen you have a soda. I really don't drink soda. Do you have a Diet Coke every now and then or something? Yeah, sure, yeah.

Okay. But like, I don't crave it. That's not my thing. Yeah. So like when you said you don't drink calories. But to be fair, I've never seen you drink water either. I do. I drink water.

But also, to be fair, I only have a drink with you where we're having a cocktail. That's true. It's usually something there. I don't know what you do in the privacy of your own home. Yeah, but I don't drink all those sugary drinks. I don't do Starbucks. I don't do any of that. That's true.

So you know what? Give me a half a cup of vegetable oil and a brownie mix. Gosh. Sue me. Okay. I just have justified myself. I've never seen someone just like throw canola. Oh, Sharon Ramsey would definitely be listening to this and like,

Oh, Sharon Ramsey would definitely. be like, Rachel. She's like, you need activated charcoal if your stomach hurts. And I'm like, I'll just take Advil. Terrible. Am I going to be okay? I'm going to be okay. You shouldn't be, if you're asking me, you will not be okay.

I'm not a doctor. Oh my gosh. I lift weights. That helps, right? Yeah, I could say that factually. Okay, now it's time for guilty as charged. And this is where we ask each other. our guilty-as-charge question every week, and if we're guilty, we take a sip.

All right, George, the question is, this came actually from Instagram, from Lorena. Have you ever heard an argument on the Ramsey's show or online that made you second-guess a baby step? Whoa, them fighting words. That's a good one. Are they trying to get me in hot water? I know. It's okay. Dave will be okay.

An argument that made me second-guess it, to where it was like, should we update this step? Is that kind of thing? I can just, yeah, second-guess a baby. Baby Step. Okay. How about you got one? I have one. It's coming to mind? Yes. Okay. I think it's I think the the baby step one thousand dollar emergency fund. I understand why we do that because you need money in a short amount of time and like 40% of Americans can't cover a thousand dollar emergency in cash. So like to get a thousand dollars for a lot of people is like a big step. Life changing. In general. And you want to do it quick in order to start paying off debt. So there's a balance. But I could see if you got a small kids, you have one income earner in the house, all of that, that feels very insta-

like the instability feels big to just have $1,000. So I could, and then someone loses a job, and you're like, oh, my God. Like, I get how that feels very uncomfortable. Yeah. So that one, I could see someone being like, that's not enough. And I wouldn't teach it differently because I think the pros of doing it that way are greater as you're getting out of debt. But I get it.

I get it. That's a good one. If I, I mean, I'm trying to think of the arguments I've seen on the show with like debt avalanche versus snowball. Yeah. And can have more than six months. Would you be the pause retirement while getting out of debt? That would be a good one. I understand people's hesitation when they're getting like an employer match, for example.

And we say, hey, go down to zero percent investing to put all of the focus towards debt payoff as fast as possible. And they go, why would I give up my 4% match? So as I'm like a math nerd, I get that. Yeah. And so I connect with, I empathize with them. Totally. Going like, why would I give up 100% return for 4%? Like, you'll get out of debt a little slower, but you'll get this return and you guys talk about compound growth and starting early.

So that one is a harder one for me because I get it, but I also know it's so much more than math. And I realize that now on the other side of all this, the people that struggle the most with the baby steps are the ones that are so focused on the mathematics. Yes. And on what happens on paper. And I forgot how much is emotional and behavioral about money. 100%. That would be the one I understand. That was a good call.

Get it. Well, there you go, y'all. Look at us going rogue. Well, if you have a guiltiest charge question, make sure to DM us at Rachel Cruz or at George Camel because we see them. We use them and we thank you. You are seen and you are loved. Yes.

Well, if you enjoyed this episode, then you are going to love our episode, ranking the worst financial habits and admitting our guilt. So we will link that for you. And make sure to subscribe to the channel so you don't miss an all new. episode of Smart Money Happy Hour.