Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel - Savvy or Sketchy: Do These Money-Saving Hacks Go Too Far?

Episode Date: March 16, 2023

There’s genius––and then there’s evil genius. Rachel and George go head-to-head on some of today’s ethically questionable penny-pinching hacks to help us all find the line between smart spending and just acting shady. 🧐   In This Episode:   ·     The streaming platform that George and Rachel temporarily shared a password for ·     How techies tap Google Voice for extra cyber security . . . and shopping discounts 🛍 ·     The money-saving dating game everybody has an opinion about Helpful Resources:    ·     Get your finances organized, make a plan, build up your confidence, and kick money stress out of your life for good with the EveryDollar budgeting app. Go to everydollar.com/smart to get started today! ·     Be entered to win a $100 Visa gift card when you take our listener survey! Click here to let us know what you think.    ·     Do you have a Guilty As Charged question for Rachel and George? Send a DM to @rachelcruze or @georgekamel on Instagram! Be sure to type “GUILTY?” at the top of your message so we don’t miss it.   ·     Learn more about your ad choices. https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices ·     Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy   This Week’s Happy Hour Special:    Blackberry Mojito Mocktail ·     2/3 cup blackberries ·     1 tablespoon fresh lime juice ·     1 cup berry flavored sparkling water ·     Fresh mint ·     Lime slices Muddle blackberries and mint in the bottom of your cocktail glass and add lime juice. Fill the glass with ice, then pour the berry flavored sparkling water over the top. Garnish with lime slices or extra mint. 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. Can we just admire our brand new Smart Money Happy Hour branded cocktail glasses? Very exciting, George. I feel like we are official. What a day? We have made it.

Video cocktail glasses. What's next? It's happening. I mean, just another great episode of Smart Money Happy Hour, which is a podcast that two friends who happen to be money experts talk about what you're talking about. So everything from pop culture, what's going on in the world, and of course, your money. And today we are talking about how to ethically save a buck. And this is very dangerous, Rachel, because there's a spot where it crosses the line.

And I'm worried that I'm much more willing to cross the line than you. So I'm curious to see how this goes. There's a level of life that is black and white, and then there's the gray. I live in the gray, baby. So it's like, are you in the darker shade of gray? Are you in the lighter shade of gray? You know, which way are you? So we're going to be talking about it because some of these ways to save money could be sketchy to some.

could be savvy to others. So that's a good way to put it. We're going to dive in. But first, what are we drinking, George? This is a mocktail. It is a blackberry mojito moktail. Oh, it's a mocktail. Yes, so there's no alcohol in this.

See, that's a fun about a great mocktail. You just feel like you're drinking something fun. You don't need the alcohol. And this has like real muddled blackberries in it, fresh mint. And it's really good. It's delicious, actually. So it's not too sweet, not too sour. For those that don't imbibe, you're winning today if you make this one.

So we're going to give you a rating and reveal the cost per glass. at the end of the episode and tell you what's in it. So stick around. That's right. All right, George. Let's get down to business. Brass tax. Is that what they say?

I don't know. Let's get down to brass tax. Let's get down to it. I'm kind of nervous. I feel like I'm going to be real vulnerable. I can't wait. I'll get a judgment for this. No, because I feel like we do differ in this subject.

So I'm really excited. I'm curious. You're a good person and I'm not. No, it's not a right or wrong, George. People have feelings. There might be a right or wrong. But we're going to get it. I feel like I live in the gray.

So I'm curious to see where we land on this. Yeah, because with inflation and everything going on these days, people are really trying to find ways to save. And that's legitimate. Now, in the economy we're in, the world we're in now, obviously people are like, gosh, I want to cut back. So that's a natural bent. But there's also, I think you're just born to want to save a buck or two.

There are those that don't really care. And they're like, you know what? I'm going to just pay for it or do what I need to do. And there's those that want to beat the system. Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Mapleene. Maybe it's Mapleene. We don't know.

We're not sure. That's what you're going to stick around and find out. Maybe we're going to figure it out. So we're going to break down some situations here and see who's maybe guilty of being savvy or sketchy. Yeah. All right. Should we go right into it? I'm nervous, yes.

Okay, let's play the game. You ready? Yep. Subscriptions. Okay. Sharing, streaming services, passwords. I think it's savvy. What's your take?

I think it's cheap. That's not even an option. It's savvy or sketchy. I may have told the story on this podcast before. it floored me. I didn't realize how often people really do share passwords, especially among family. If that's where you draw the line,

this is going to be a hilarious episode. Because we had a Ramsey family trip. I'm so throwing my family into the bus right now. And we all were at breakfast one morning. And my sister, who is older than me with three children, was like, yeah, the Netflix messed up. And my dad was like, yeah, the password got messed up with the things. We had to change it.

And here's the new password. And I was like, I'm sorry. do you all share a Netflix account? They were like, yeah? And I was like, you are all adults in this room that have jobs. Like, be responsible and pay for your own. What is their response to you calling them out on this? Oh, so it's not a big deal.

There's a family. You can have so many profiles on it and all of this. I just think it's a per household thing. I think you were jealous. You weren't invited. They're like, they're all sharing this without me. They didn't tell me. Wow.

So it is technically against their terms of service. Oh, is it? Okay. Yeah. I mean, if you look into it, they would say, hey, it's her household. No, that's the thing. No one's going to jail over this. Netflix knows people are doing this.

It's just a part of life at this point. And I'll say this, George, you came over to our house. That's true. Do you remember this? Yep, we watched Dumb and Dumber. Winston invited me. Yes. I was elated to say the least.

I told Winston at one point, George had never seen Dumb and Dumber. So he was like, we're calling him right now. seeing what he's doing tonight. He's coming over. We're going to watch Dumb and Dumber. Well, it was, I was free on HBO Max. Which you guys didn't have. We did not have. So George gave us his password to log in, but I felt okay with it because he was in the room. Sure. I'm logging into my account. Yep. Well, fast-forward. I don't know. I've told you this, George.

You never logged out. I didn't. I forgot. And my children were watching, like, different movies and stuff, and I didn't even think twice about it. and it came up at one point and it said log in and it had George Camel and I was like, we've been using George as a gift. Wow. I brought you to the dark side in your children. But I logged out. I couldn't.

You logged out? I couldn't do it, George. I couldn't do it. Uncle George gave those kids a generous gift and you decided to strip that joy from them. Wow. I think I might, I don't know what it is in me. You need to go to like counseling for this. I don't know what it is.

It just feels wrong. Other things don't, but that one does for me. Okay. So I'm in the savvy boat. You're in the sketchy boat on that one. Here's one. Turning on Amazon subscribe and save to get the discount and then immediately canceling. Because you can cancel any time with subscribe and save.

Savvy. I've never done. I didn't even know it was an option. Where's the turnaround on this one? Because it says cancel any time. You can cancel any time. So I don't forget. So they don't say like you can't cancel within five seconds.

So you're really not subscribing. You're just getting it one time saying your subscription. and then canceling. I feel okay about this one. Wow. Do you feel okay about this one? Oh, 100%. I'm just shocked that you're okay with it.

I am. I'm okay with that one. It's Amazon. Bezos isn't hurting. He doesn't even own the company anymore. Okay, with travel, do you take unused toiletries from your hotel room? Yes, if they're good. If it's like a high-end hotel, you know, you paid for that, by the way.

I agree. I'm with this. The toilet trees aren't like a free amenity. It's included in the cost of the room that you paid for. Yes, I'm all about taking it. And you know what they're doing now in some hotels? We stayed in a great hotel in Virginia Beach. But now it's like the pump.

It's like a big. Oh, you can't take anything. They don't have the small ones. Yeah, they don't have the small ones. Yeah. Now, I'm going to take her. Do you take, like, toilet paper and stuff? No, gosh, no.

And don't take things that are like part of the hotel. I'm not taking the blow dryer and the coffee machine, you know. Right. Like, but occasionally a tea bag for the road. I've taken a hand, I've taken a hand towel. A hand towel. Yeah, my makeup. So it's falling out and stuff.

I was like, I need a towel. I did take a towel. Like one of those, not like a washcloth, not a towel, but the medium size. Hotel price includes your usage of those towels. I know, I did steal it. What did you steal though? Earlier I missed it. I went right over.

A tea bag? A bag? You know, a spot a tea. Like in the... Yeah, I'm like the coffee, a little machine thing. Yeah. Because you just like the tea? Yeah.

And I'm not really a tea guy. And so when I see tea, I'm like, that'll be good for the future in case I want to be a tea guy. Try it out. Just have my little stash. I don't have to commit to an entire box. Just get, but you pay for it, technically. That's what I'm saying. I think that's great.

So I'm glad we're on the same page. We both think that's savvy. Okay. Giving only a penny to suggested donations at museums and attractions. I've never experienced this, but I don't think, first of all, I'm not like carrying around pennies. So minimum, I think emotionally, I would do $5. I'd do $1.00.

Now, we weren't at a children's play the other day. Oh, what were you doing at a children's play, George? Well, our friends, they direct these. Okay, it was for support of a friend. Yeah, like, youth theater, and so they want us to go. So I went to the play. All of the snacks are donation only. And so I'm like, I don't know what, like, what's a LaCroix to you, donation-wise?

Do you put more or do you pay less? So I put a dollar. That feels very fair. That feels like market price. Okay. Like, I don't know, you know, is it going to the kids doing, is this, I already paid for the ticket. Yeah, no, that felt right. Okay. But no, I'm not doing the penny to suggest the donations. I'm not that... Yeah, I throw a bill in of some value. A paper bill. A paper bill, yeah.

Okay. Data capture discounts. So using multiple emails to sign up for free trials and score more discount codes. All day. Okay, so how many emails? All day. We need to play new girls. Infinite. I mean, I have about four or five emails that I rotate through. No way. Yeah. All like Gmail? Mostly Gmail. And are they all close? Like, how do you keep up with them?

Is it like George 1,2,3 at Gmail.com or George, 5, 6, 7? They're all different. They're all different. There's no real rhyme or reason to it. I just go, I don't think I've tried this email. I'll sign up with this one. And if I get the email, then I know it's a new one because I got the discount. It feels like a lot of work to me.

Can I say that? To enter an email address on a website? Multiple. Like, this is saying, like, I'm going to go to the same website. Well, I'm not sign up for seven free trials at once. It's like, oh, the free trial ended three months ago. I did at a local restaurant the other day. They have a 10 off 20 for takeout.

Okay. And so I was like, oh, well, I'll just use a new email address and I'll get a new $10 coupon. And I did it. Okay. I'm not mad at it. I just wouldn't do it. Why?

Keeping up with so many emails feels exhausting to me. And a part of me is like... This is one email. You're not keeping up. I'm not signed into seven at once trying to maneuver them. They all go to the same email. Inbox. I forward them all to one inbox.

But then you have to go to another inbox, George, to forward it to your inbox, right? No, no, they're automatically forwarded. Oh. All emails forward to one inbox. I didn't know technology could do that. It's very nerdy with emails. Me either. I didn't know that was a thing.

Email forwarding has been around. Wow. All right. For a while. Wait, but no, but I'm actually serious. Like, I didn't know this existed either. Yeah, it's great. How does it work?

You, when you sign into your other email address, there's in the settings, there's a forwarding tab and you just type in the main email address. And so all emails can be forwarded to that inbox. We now have so many people after this that are starting doing this. Yeah, I'm not mad at it. Yeah. But now I have to go create other emails. That doesn't take long. There's also websites that let you create like one-time throwaway emails that can be for a limited period of time. So there's a ton of services out there that make this easy. And I think it's worth it. It feels like a lot of work. 15 seconds of my time to save 10 bucks. And the restaurants getting my business that they otherwise wouldn't have gotten. I love all your justifications. Just to keep going.

I'm not scamming the system. They offer this. They offer this. I'm just using it multiple times. How about using a Google Voice number to sign up for a stores text message in exchange for a discount code? I don't even know what Google Voice number is. That's another thing that I do, which makes sense. If you are forwarding to different g-mails, you probably have Google Voice.

I feel so overwhelmed. Well, and the Google Voice number, it's not tied to your phone number. What is that? How do you get it? You can just say, like, you're going to, you create a totally unique phone number. Where? Google. So I go to Google and I type in fake number.

No, you go to Google Voice and through your Google account, Google Voice.com. I mean, for real, Google.com. I think it's like voice.org.com. Just Google it, Rachel, and it'll come up. It's that simple. So what it does, it creates a new phone number for you that you could use anywhere and you can get voicemails, you can get calls.

The calls can forward to your actual phone without ever revealing your true phone number. That feels like defeating the purpose of having a phone that you don't want anyone to bother you because now all this stuff is coming to your phone. Not all this stuff. First of all, you can hit stop to stop any numbers at any time. You can block numbers. Okay. But I find it very useful for situations where I don't want to give out my real phone number.

You're a celebrity, Rachel. You can't just be going out there with putting your phone numbers on websites. I do. And nothing sketchy has happened. Well, it's about to. Maybe so. Not to know. So it's going to find it.

So, yes, I've used Google Voice to sign up protection. So the data, the data capture discounts. I'm not mad at any of them. It just feels like a lot of technology and a lot of time. So I don't do them. But I respect those that do. Thank you for your respect. That's the first.

Let's move on to something in your wheelhouse, Rachel. Return policies. Have you ever bought something, kept the tag on, wore it, and then returned it? Savvy or sketchy? old, young Rachel probably did do this. I can't think of a time. Are you saying you're old now? Not old.

I am mid. Are you saying like teenage, Rachel? Yeah, like teenage or even early 20s. Like the first like few years of working, like I may have done that. So what do you do these days? No, I wouldn't do that. I would wear it and... Would you ever return it?

No. You never return clothes? Not after I've worn them. What? Have you done? George, you've kept the tag and you've worn it? I mean, not on, like, I've worn clothes and I'm like, this ain't it, chief, and then I'll return it.

I'll keep the tag. Sometimes they're off. You can return it with the tag. You don't need to have it still attached. And you just give it to them and say, I wore this last night to a party and I just don't like it. I don't think they care about the situation. Like, so here's what happened.

We were at the party. I didn't get any compliments on it like I was hoping for. And so I got to tell you, I'm going to return. How long, is there an hour time limit for you? How long do you wear something to return it? It's whatever their return policy is. and if I remembered to return it within the return policy window. Okay.

You know? It doesn't happen often. I'm not like buying clothes and just like renting the clothing and then returning it. That's ridiculous. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But sometimes I'll be like, oh, that's a cool jacket. I buy the jacket. I wear it and I go, no, this is not for me.

Okay. I regret this purchase. Maybe I should because I do regret purchases, but I don't think about returning something after. So you just keep it forever? Well, I end up donating it, yeah. Wow. Where are you donating? We all need to go wherever Rachel's donating.

very nice, gently used clothing. Okay, so when a company accidentally ships you two of something, what happens? Oh, I would keep the extra. I know. That's the user error. That's on them. Do you know that's like currently happening to us, like as we speak? What do you mean currently?

Like as we, it's happening right now? We ordered a mattress for Charles because he moved out of his crib and got a big boy bed. Sweet Charles. And we got like one of those mattresses that's like an online company, right? So it shows up in a box at your door. And they shipped us two. Can you tell us the company name because they're very generous? We even went back to the receipt and we only paid for one, but we have two.

So we have one currently a queen-sized mattress, brand new sitting in our garage right now in the box. You're telling me, Charles Cruz has a queen-sized mattress? Isn't he three? Is this normal? When you bought... For a tiny child? Time out. When I buy a bed frame and a mattress, it is going to last him for seven to eight years and beyond.

I'm not buying him a tiny little bed and then I have to buy a whole other bed two years later. That's a waste of money for me. Charles, one day you're going to watch this and know your mommy loves you. You invest all my kids we did queen size because I'm not going to go and like get a new bed for them. This is just a new level of luxury. This is not me being high maintenance. This is not me being high maintenance. Would a fool be better or a twin?

That feels more appropriate for a three-year-old. No, it's not going to be serious right now. It is not bad. That is not bad. He will have that into high school. Wow. You know what this is right? Rachel, this is mom guilt, and I rebuke it.

I don't, I'm just shocked. I disagree with y'all. I disagree with the shock. I'm honestly, like, I'm jealous because I never had a queen. Like, when I was growing up, it was full-sized bed my whole life until I moved out. But then again, my little room in New England was like 200. I mean, it was so tiny. There was no.

I know. I'm sorry. A queen-sized bed fit in the room, and that's what I did. Respect. Charles is living like a little king. My small king. I love that guy. Okay.

Wow. I think that was where this was going to go. I think if a company ships you the wrong thing, an extra thing. So what do we do with the mattress? Would you call the company? You can contact them. Honestly, they would say keep it. It's too expensive for them to even do anything with it.

So what do we do with it? Y'all need it? You all need a queen-sized mattress? Yes. We should do a giveaway. Me and you deliver this mattress in person across the country. Wow. Oh, yeah.

So my answer is it's, it's a thing. Basically, if you want to sleep better at night and you're like actually worried about it, contact the company. Let them know. I would keep it, though. Generally, this has happened on Amazon where they just go, nah, just keep it. Donate it or keep it. That's the best. Pet ramp. Hashtack. Pet ramp. That's right. All right. Social situations. There are some interesting ethical situations that could happen here. Number one, in the dating world, people that go on a lot of dates solely to get free meals and get out of buying groceries or paying for yourself. What do you think about that? That was a little bit of my dating Rachel vibe. I was like, stop. Yeah, if a guy asked me out, I'd be like, sure. Free meal. Pre meal.

Worst case, terrible date, premil. Unless he's like a complete terrible person, and I'm like, ew. But if it's like a nice guy and he's like, oh, I'm getting out of not having to pay for groceries. Oh, no, no, I wouldn't go like. Not a third day. But if he asked and I'm like, you know, that's fine, sure. A girl was doing this every single day. Like she never.

Oh, okay. Yeah. Like different date, every day, free meal, don't have to cook, don't have to buy groceries. Oh, that would be like emotionally exhausting. Agreed. Is it worth the price you're paying emotionally? No, you can go to Wendy's, go home. Is it ethical? Yeah. I'm going sketchy on this one.

It's ethical? Yeah, say, no, I don't think that's wrong. From an ethics standpoint. You don't think that's wrong? No. You think it's savvy and I say sketchy. If a guy's offering to pay for your dinner and you're like, sure, I'll go out to dinner. You're going out to seven dates, though. Oh my gosh.

I'm so judged this episode. Absolutely terrible I mean you did it for a month of That's a lot of free food We are not here to tell you for a bad person or not You don't need to feel judged The YouTube comments will do that for us But I think if you have the intent

Of never going on another date with these guys And you're just like free meal, free meal Now if you're going Hey he asked One of these guys could be the one I mean yeah Maybe it works Maybe it's like oh I actually had a great time

But I think if you go with the intention Of like, it's another free meal for me I don't know that you're going to be willing and open to make the connection. I don't think it's a ethical thing financially. I just think it would be exhausting emotion. That's fair. It wouldn't be worth it on an emotional standpoint where I'm like, oh, you got to ask all the questions and keep conversation going for this food. Like, that's not worth it.

Okay. Well, we'll redeem you because I think I know your opinion on this one. Breaking the pay-it-forward drive-through line and getting a free meal. And you drive away, Scott-free. No, I would not do that. You would pay for the one behind you, regardless of what's going on. Pretty much, yeah. But someone has to break the line.

He can't go on forever. Yeah, you will break the line. You're a breaker chain through. Whoa. A chain breaker? I don't know. I don't know how to say this. Chain breaker.

Dream maker. I always will pay it because it feels so good. But I, then it's happened like a handful of times. Not a lot. But there is something to say when you pull up and they're like, that's Rachel Cruz behind me. I want to pay for her meal. But it feels good when you drive up and they're like the person behind you paid.

Would you like to, do they offer? I forget, do they offer? I think they usually say, do you want to pay for that? You want to keep it going? Absolutely. Because it's a good feeling. But you're a breaker. I feel good breaking it.

Now, I'm not doing it to get the free meal. Sure, because you don't know what's happening. Yeah. If someone's like, hey, the guy behind you have paid for your meal, that is, I mean, it's a weird situation. Yeah. Because I'm leaving, I'm like, I didn't pay for anything. I'd honestly, I'd be like, hey, I'd be like, what's his total? If it's around the same, I'm good to pay.

Oh my God. Because then I was like, I would have paid for my meal anyways. Because here's my thing. when you do the things we teach you at Ramsey, you get to live like no one else. You get to live like no one else. So in my head I'm like 20 bucks, whatever it is.

Like I can pay for that. Sure. So why not just like move the joy on behind me? Because it's forced generosity. It just feels different. It's like there's social pressure involved. It's surprise generosity. Because when that car behind you pulls up there,

he'll be like, that person was so nice. I just don't get that. I mean, I'm, yeah. So breaking it, I would say, I would say you're, I would say you're sketchy. Sketchy, breaking the drive-thru chain. Next up is food.

This one I think we can all agree on, sneaking your own snacks into the movie theater. Yes, savvy. Always, yeah. We're doing it. We're doing it, especially after my last trip to the movie theater. And it cost me like my whole paycheck. Oh, that's right. You walked us through the numbers.

It was like $200. Never again. Never again. So, no, yeah, I would. yeah, put stuff in my purse, for sure. What's the craziest thing you've snuck in that you're, like, the most proud of? Alcohol.

Oh, nice. That's next level. In a Yeti. You brought the entire Yeti full of alcohol? No, it was like a... You made a drink. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I put it in a Yetty, and I held it in my back so it wouldn't like,

because it didn't have a... Smart? Yeah. I did do that. Are you waiting for me to affirm? Yes. I brought an entire cocktail kit into a thing. I made my own old fashion.

But I brought a very tasteful gold-rimmed plastic glass. And I brought the orange peel. Stop it. And I expressed it. And I promised it was the best movie experience. With you and Whitney? No, I was with our friend Chris Wright. It was a bro night.

Yeah, Whitney's not going to sit there and take that. That's so on brand. She'd be like, you're making this awkward. That feels right. She'd be elbowing me like, people are watching. That feels right. Totally. So I'm a big fan of that.

and movie theaters are price gouging. And so until they change their pricing models to make it affordable, I'm not doing it. And I learned this from my mom. Mom always is like sneaking food in. Sharon is like she's exactly my spirit animal. And my mom listens to this podcast, so I love you so much, Mom. But she will take food from events.

So like even here at Ramsey, if there's like a board event or something, and there's like a charcutory board, she has them bring saran wrap up. So she can saran wrap the cheese is. And then if we have a. family dinner, like a few days later, she brings them out. And we're like, mom, was this from the meeting a few nights ago? She's like, yes. So she like reuses the, oh yeah, she will pack up any food, any food and reuse it. And then freeze it too. So we do have to ask her when she's like, did you like that cake? And we're like, what year was it, mom? She's like it's been in there

for like three years. She freezes. It's like wine. It's a vintage. I mean, I'm not kidding. It's like, it's a little much. We're like, mom, you can't. She's like, you would never have known. would have never have known. Did you know? Nope, but that's still so sketchy. That's a win for Sharon. I love it. Because the food gets thrown away. I know, not at Sharon Ramsey's house. I'm like, that charcutory board is very expensive. And someone took a lot of time and love to make that. She'll tell me when we, because we have a full like kitchen here at Ramsey Solutions. She's told me so many times, Rachel, you just go and go and get you ask if they have leftover so you want to cook dinner. That's a great idea. I can't. I'm with Sharon. Okay, here's another one.

eating a decent part of your meal at a restaurant and then sending it back in hopes that you get a second meal count. No, terrible. Now when I'm going sketchy. Sketchy. Now, if something is truly wrong with your meal, then say something immediately. Are you a food, cinderbacker person?

Yes, if it's warranted. Not like super picky, but there have been times where the food is legitimately cold. Yes. And I'm like, I'm paying too much to eat a cold meal. Yes, yep. And so I've sent it back, and my wife hates it with a burning, undying passion when I do this

because she can't handle the awkwardness. But I'm like, I'm not paying for this. Yeah. And so then if something's truly wrong, like we're gluten-free. So if they bring something out and it's not a gluten-free bun, I'm not going to, you know. Sure. They missed the allergy.

That's fair. That's fair. And if something's actually wrong in the order, or I, you know, order the stake a certain way and it's wildly off. Yep, yep, yep. Are you? No. You just deal with it?

I've done it, like, once or twice. But I feel like, who. before I do it. Well, I'm not mean to the, first of all, be nice to your servers. Yes, for sure. It's generally not their fault. You know what I'm more worried about is like the people around me if they're like, oh my gosh, who's this girl?

Again, the social pressure. Yes, a little bit. You have too much shame. Where does this come from? So much. Enneagram 3, man. Oh, you want to look good and win? I just want to make sure that like I'm not the, like, I don't have a sign to be like,

I'm not high maintenance, I promise. Wow. Because I've only done it like twice. But sometimes it was really bad. The times I did it, it was like disgusting. And I was like, I just genuinely can't eat this. Yeah. So I didn't feel bad about that.

And sometimes they'll tell you, say, hey, if you don't like the drink, we'll be happy to take it back and make a new. I love when they do that. I do, too. It frees me. Yes, it does. It frees all the person to shame. Oh, so much shame coming out today, Rachel. Okay, so I would say what, most of it was half sketchy, half savvy.

And I was probably more like an 80% savvy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you are. You are. Okay, so let's do a little pop quiz. Okay. Is it a lie or a white lie? Okay, wow. Like a legitimate lie or just like, oh, yeah, yeah.

All right. Okay, not correcting the server when they think that your kids are under a certain age because you know it means a cheaper meal. So the server assumes that the kid's under 12. I keep moving. I keep moving through it. Yeah. Yeah, I'm not going to correct them.

I'm not going to make a scene here. No. Who am I to doubt? Who am I to doubt? Okay, here's another one. Lie or white lie, presenting your student ID when you're no longer a student, so you get the discount. Yes, I would do that. to this day.

No, I don't have my student ID, but I probably did after college after. Yeah, I did it for a short while. You pay a lot for college tuition. If that little car can get you some discounts for a few years after, I'm not mad at that. I can't think of a lot of places physically that I'm going to that do that.

But I wouldn't lie about a occupation because, you know, sometimes they're like, if you're a teacher, you get a discount or like military or something. Oh, my God. If you lie for a military discount, and I'm sorry, that was terrible. And you're not in the military.

You're a terrible person. I agree. That's what I'm saying, but I'm sure some people or a teacher, your discount, you know what I mean? Like, they will give an occupation discount. Yeah. And I would never lie about that.

A lot of the ones that I am sad about, like, are the ones where you have an online subscription and you can get something for free or really cheap if you have a student email address, which I no longer have. Oh, I know. Yep. I would have used it. So that's a white lie to me. That doesn't bother me.

Glad you're, glad we know where the lie and the lies for your ethics. Lie or white lie. Underreporting tip income on your taxes. Lies. That goes beyond lie. That's just fraud. That's like, you can go to. jail for that. Not correcting a waiter about your kids' ages is one thing. Tax fraud. There's a spectrum. Yeah, I wouldn't, I wouldn't mess with that.

Glad we agree on that. Okay, lie or white lie, using a coupon that you know is expired to see if the store will still honor it. 100%. I'd give it a go. Yes. What's the worst thing that happens? I go, uh, sir, this coupons expired. And I go, oh, oh my goodness. Oh, well, look at that. Or I'll go, is there, is there any way you guys could still honor it? Do you have any other promos, discounts? Yes, that doesn't bother me at all. Always be nice. Don't put up a big stink about it. That's right. Yeah, don't throw it fit.

Lie or white lie. Getting a water, quote-unquote, at a quick-serve restaurant, but then you go and get a soda instead. That's a lie. That's a lie, too. I feel like that's stealing. That feels off. Here is the gray area for me that I'm guilty of.

Okay. What if you get the water cup, but you feel it with soda water? No syrup. Just soda water. Just bubbly. That feels like an upgrade. That doesn't feel like tap water. It is an upgrade, but it's not costing.

them anything other than the CO2 involved. The syrup is where the real money is. But isn't there a cartridge for CO2 to make it that way? Sure. So that costs them something. Yeah, but the syrup is where the hard cost is. Okay, and is there a lot of... And it's not a...

It's out of one of the buttons next to it, not out of one of the normal dispensers. Yeah, I think that's a lie, George. I can live with that. I think that's a lot. Because if someone said, sir, sir, is that water? I go, yeah, it's water. There's no sugar. in this. There's no syrup. There's no flavoring.

Technically, it's right. It's just water. Yeah, it just feels like an upgrade that you should be paying for it. I agree. It's an upgrade. And you just weren't smart enough to do it, Rachel. Apparently not. Apparently not. All right. Okay, so here are some things that your neighbors are secretly annoyed about. So, you ready? Is it ethical to throw away your trash in someone else's dumpster? Can I say, I didn't know that this was wrong?

until like probably like five or six years ago. I just thought dumpsters were dumpsters. I just thought you could just use them and it was fine. Someone else is dumpster. Now someone else is dumpster versus a trash can. What are we saying here? I think like... Do you sound like a trash can,

like the one you pull out from the garage and put it out in trash day? No, I'm thinking like a dumpster dumpster, like behind businesses and stuff. Like do you go throw trash away? Got it. Yes. I now know that is illegal, but we are guilty of it. I didn't know that it wasn't.

When we were, like, moving into our new house, you have a thousand boxes. You're like, I don't know where to, I can't bring this box anymore. Yeah, so go find a dumpster and throw it in, and it's fine. I didn't think it was a big deal. I didn't realize, like, it costs money to, once it gets filled up and all that. The construction company is paying for the usage of that dumpster. So that is, that's a. It is illegal.

So be careful and probably don't do it if you want to avoid getting in trouble. I wouldn't do it. Yep. All right. Is it ethical to put your pet's poop bag in someone else's trash can? I'm going unethical. Not illegal, but definitely unethical. That's like very personal.

I mean, that's like you're throwing poop away. It's someone else's property. Is it ethical to mooch someone else's Wi-Fi? If it's public. Yeah, I agree. If you're not hacking into it, you know, because it's password protected and you made it in, that's not cool. But if it's just a public Wi-Fi and you don't have a password, that's on you.

I agree with that. Use it. Which everyone, please put a password on your Wi-Fi if you don't have one. Yeah, because people can, like, get in the Wi-Fi and see what you're doing, right? Well, some people are near, like, an establishment, a business, and they can kind of get the Wi-Fi. I would do that. I can't imagine it's strong enough for me to survive off of that. I need very strong Wi-Fi.

Wow. Someone at work did that for a whole year. Oh, my goodness. That's wild. That doesn't bother me. That's a bother me. That's a bad. I mean, do you know, what's your megabits per second at the house?

Have you guys gone to a full gig? You don't know what kind of Internet? you're paying for? No! Winston would. I could text him right now. He could tell you. See?

Text them. No idea. Say how fast is our internet speed? Oh my gosh. What are we paying for? How fast is our internet speed? Question mark. She's a voice texter.

I think that says a lot. I think that says a lot. It says, I don't care who's around. They should get to hear my text too. It's a gift for them to get to hear my text messages. Wow. Is anyone else in your voice texters? You're all just kind of talking amongst yourselves.

Sure, while driving. Not in a public setting while on camera. Now we know Wi-Fi, it's acceptable, but please protect your own. Yeah, that's good. That's good. All joking aside, an ethical money decision is simply a money decision that adheres to a set of moral standards. Oh, how do you define that? What is our moral standards when it comes to the ethics of money, George?

I'm going to just be truthful and not like, well, my moral standards, the three point, I think here's where I stand. Yeah. I look at the consequences of the decision and if it hurts other people. So does this affect someone else? Okay. For example, me bringing my own snacks into the movie theater doesn't actually affect someone else. Yeah. Except that the movie theater is not getting your business and then they're going to be low on concessions.

They're not going to be able to. I paid for the movie, which is what we agreed on. Yeah. They're not getting the side business of me. Which is where they make all their money. Don't they make all their money on concessions? They make a large percentage of that. Yeah.

And so that keeps that movie theater and business. And if it's not in business, it's not employing the 40 people that work there, and now they're out of a job. I don't put that on me that your business can't survive because I paid for your main service and not your auxiliary service. That's on them. Auxiliary service. You like that? Yeah, it's fair. So, yeah, the ethical standard comes like tax fraud, not worth the consequence to not report cash.

That's right. Yeah. If I'm going to go to jail, if it's going to disqual, if it's going to disqual. destroy a relationship. What did Winston say? This is real time. One gig. My man. I knew he was a gig man. We're a gig family.

That's a thousand megabits per second, Rachel. That means nothing to me, George. It means you have internet privilege. In our queen-sized beds. In the queen-sized bed with baby Charles. The dude must just be making swan angels in that bed. What is he doing with all that space? He could have a slumber party with seven other charleses.

I know. Anyways. It is cute. Precious. So what are your moral ethical stance? Mine is, am I going to go to jail? Does it affect anyone else? Is it going to destroy any part of my life for a relationship?

I like the, um, those are, those are great filters, the consequences and is it hurting someone else? You said, is it worth my time. That was a good one for you. The time is, yeah, the time is a big one for me. And I just have like a gut about me, George, that I just, just feel like if it's right or wrong. So there's a part of me that's like, trust your gut. Like if something feels, if it feels off, it's probably because, like, your personal conviction

isn't letting you. So I do think that some people are just wired, that they kind of can, like, get away with more and they're okay with it. And I think that's fine. And then others, they're much more strict, much more legalistic, and they just can't. And if they do it, eats away at their soul. So then I'm like, it's not worth it to you. So it comes down to self-awareness.

I would say a personal conviction. No, your convictions are. In the gray. And again, some of this was, some of the, we talked about, was, like pure stealing. So like, not that. Yes, we are anti-stealing. We can make that clear.

We don't want you to steal. But yeah, personal conviction would be big for me. That's good. So know your values, your beliefs, your convictions. Yep, yeah. And don't stray from that because you'll lose sleep at night. You will. It's not worth it.

That's not worth that extra 10% code with that extra email address. I think that's strong. That'll preach, Rachel. All right, George. We're almost the end of the episode. What a journey. And we like to close on every episode with Guilty As Charged. And this is where our producer, Lindsay, gives us a new.

guilty as charged question every week. Oh boy. Lindsay? I'm ready. We are prepared. I feel like you are. Okay, how about we do something fun

where I give you like each 30 seconds tops to give an answer but it's like rapid fire because this whole thing was kind of guilty as charged. You know what I mean? You're right. It was like an entire episode. So we had more.

What a joy. Okay, okay. Okay. So first one up. Have you ever paid for one movie and then snuck into another? Without paying. Yeah.

Yeah. When I was a teen. I was a teenager. Okay. Is it ethical as an adult or not? Real quick. Yes? No.

Teens are stupid. Rachel is not sure, so I think that's yes. You paid for one movie. Like, I don't want it to be a habit, but if it was like, just like one day, I'm sorry. You're so fascinating to me. You paid for one movie and one movie only. And I had all day Saturday, and there's another one playing. I probably would pop in.

Pop it. You're not staying the whole time, just a pop in. Just visiting. Again, I thought I have it. I'm not doing it every weekend, but if the opportunity presented itself, I might. It presents itself when you choose to do it. I'm not at the movies all the time. True.

All right, have you ever gotten a better order in a drive-thru than what you actually ordered and drove away without saying anything and just considered it a blessing? Oh, blessing, yes, gift from the Lord. Absolutely, I'm off. I don't think I've ever experienced that. It's usually my order was just wrong. I know. Or they missed something.

So I got less than I paid for it. and then I have to turn around and I will go back in. Yeah. But ethical or unethical if you did decide to do that. Ethical. Ethical. That's on them. That goes to user error on their part. Yeah. Okay.

You didn't do anything wrong. Yeah. Have you ever taken condiments from a restaurant to restock at home? Restock is a strong where I'm not like, I got to get 17 ketchup packets because we're out of the bottle. That's insane. Okay, here's something. Chick-fil-A sauce.

Yes. We have a whole container in our pantry full of chick-fil-a-s sauce. When do they go bad? Because they don't have an expiration date on them, and then I get nervous because I'm like, how old is this? Is this Chick-fil-A sauce a weird color to you? I know. We have a lot of Chick-fil-A-Sat. And I will purposefully, in the order, you get two sauces.

So I will personally keep, like, even though I know we're not going to use them because we have more, like we don't need it. But you just keep up. So I don't think it's unethical. They give you the sauce for free. Now, if it's a full bottle of ketchup at a restaurant table, like you can't take that or like a salt pepper shaker. Are people doing that?

I don't know. I just thinking of exactly. I'm just thinking of exactly. You're taking an entire bottle of ketchup. I'm not, but if you did that's wrong. Wow. No, I would now, I would take some bag of. There I have some restaurants that the condiment is at the table.

Okay, I have another one on this line? Oh, my gosh. Is it ethical, or have you done this? Where, like, say you go somewhere where they give you rolls. And you ate your rolls, but then you said, can I have another basket and then you asked for it to go box? Just so you could take some extra rolls home. Oh, sure.

All day. That's great. That's ethical. That's ethical. The rolls are free. I know, but then to go out of you, like, we've obviously eaten them all, but can you bring another set? That's fine. I don't think the server cares.

You're probably right. I'm just curious. Yeah, it's not affecting his tip. In fact, they're going to get a better tip. Because you got more rolls. My question is, have you done that? I can't eat rolls, so that was a hurtful question. What about tips and salsa or something?

I don't know. Yeah. So extra. I'll take food to go all the time. If there's any food left over that I know I would eat the next day, I'm taking it. Are you guilty of if someone else hasn't finished saying, I'll take that too? That rarely do I trust anyone enough to take their food unless it's my, like, direct family, like my wife. Well, that was a lot of fun.

If you guys have any more guilty as charged questions, we need them, we love them, we want them, send them our way, put them in the comments on YouTube. You can DM us at Rachel Cruz, at George Camel of the K, and maybe we'll include it in a future episode. And that's it. All right, George, let's see the drink. I think I did better than you. We're about equal. It's good. It's so refreshing.

I would put some ice in it and sip it like in the summer. It's great. So this was a blackberry mojito moktail, no alcohol at all. It includes blackberries muddled in there, fresh mint, lime juice, simple syrup, and some berry sparkling water. And the drink comes out to about $1.90. That's not bad. No, not at all.

So if you want the recipe, make sure to check out the show notes. and if you try it out, take a picture, send it to us on social media. What's your rating on it? Gosh, I mean, maybe 10. I'm going 9 out of 10. I might say 10 out of 10. Like, I would drink this again tomorrow. Like, it's great.

Agreed. And if you want to add something to it, if you're of the persuasion, you could do that. You could do that as well. And I think it would be delicious. Yep. Wow. That's a win. I picked this drink, so I'm really proud.

You did? Thanks, George. Well, someone sent it to me a fan, and I went, that actually sounds delicious. Delicious, and it was great. And it was time for a mocktail. for our mocktail fans. Yes. All right,

George, this closing time. So if you liked this episode and want more episodes, make sure to subscribe, and please leave a review. It helps so much with the algorithm world

that we live in, and we just enjoy hearing from you. We do. And we love when you tell friends about this. And it's such a fun podcast to share with a friend. It is. Because it's not one of those like,

you stink with money. It's just like, hey, have fun. And I love hearing about people going, hey, life's hard, life's crazy. I love a little bit of levity in my day when you guys do this podcast.

And we love making it for you. Yep, absolutely. So hopefully it brightens your day. And we will be here next Thursday on a new episode of Smart Money Happy Hour.