Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel -  Savvy or Sketchy: Reacting to Crazy Cost-of-Living Hacks

Episode Date: September 26, 2024

💵 Start your free budget today. Download the EveryDollar app!    Would you park a mile away to avoid pricey parking? Or let your home become a sauna to keep AC costs low? Just how far are you willing to go to save on cost of living? Stick around to hear some of the most extreme money-saving hacks out there.     Next Steps:  🎥 Check out our video Girl Math: Smart Financial Strategy or Huge Money Mistake?  📱 Submit 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.    Connect With Our Sponsors:  🔒This episode is sponsored by DeleteMe. Remove your personal information from the web and get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to joindeleteme.com/smartmoney.    Today’s Happy Hour Special: 🍸 Tequila Manhattan  Recipe: Food & Wine    Ingredients:  2 ounces añejo tequila  1 ounce sweet vermouth  2 dashes mole bitters  Instructions: Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir until thoroughly chilled. Strain into a chilled coupe or over a large whiskey cube. Garnish with a maraschino cherry and/or an orange twist. Enjoy!    Listen to More From Ramsey Network:  💡 The Rachel Cruze Show  💰 George Kamel  🎙 The Ramsey Show  💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights    🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show  💼 The Ken Coleman Show  📈 EntreLeadership    Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey guys, I'm Rachel Cruz. I'm George Camel. And this is Smart Money Happy Hour. Cheers, George. Cheers. Yours looks more full than mine, but that is delicious. Only one way to explain that, Rachel. We will take that.

Well, this is the show. We're two friends who happen to be money experts. Talk about what you're talking about. Everything from pop culture, current events, and money. And Rachel, you've heard this Michelle Obama quote. When they go low, we go. We go high. There it is.

But are you familiar with the lesser known saying when cost of living goes high, we go even lower. Lower. That's when I just made up. Go as low as we can to survive the world today, George. We're going to unpack that little haiku together today. But let's talk about what we're sipping on. Yeah, we are sipping on a tequila Manhattan. Two of your favorite things.

I know. I enjoy a clean tequila these days. That could be for another episode. But it's when you find a clean tequila without preservatives, so none of the celebrity tequilas, they're full of preservatives. Wow. Clean tequila.

It's like you're about to launch your own celebrity to fill on the show. And that's why I created... And that's why I created... Middle Wilson. I don't know. Was that your best name for a tequila? I was trying to come up with it on the spot. I mean, Cruz already has like a Mexican vibe.

Oh, I could use my name. You could have just went... Yeah, I could. That's good. No, all right. Don't invite me to the marketing meeting. I was trying to go like location. Okay.

No, but I was reading or listening to a health expert on a podcast and he said, if you're going to drink, a clean tequila, clean is the key here, is the healthiest for it because of the agave plant and the way you're bought. It's the healthiest poison you could imbi. For your body to, yes, like as it goes through everything, I don't know, because it's a agave plant or a bolden, are you ready for this? A bolden, Italian red wine. That's the second best.

I love that when you listen to health experts, you become one. Did you know? You fooled me. They basically got a degree. That's impressive. So anyways, that's it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay.

But American wines, they said no-go. They just add a bunch of crust to it. Yeah, they said it's not good. That's the American way, though. It's the American way. You know, okay. So anyways, we're sipping on a, I would think, a clean tequila. We're going to just go for that.

Sure. You can think that. Manhattan. And we love a Manhattan. It's great. It's very good. And wait till the end. We're going to give you our rating, reveal the cost per glass.

And as always, the recipe is in the show notes. And this is one we might recommend making. Yeah. Pretty good so far. Well, Rachel, today's topic is, it's giving the same energy as I can't even. I know. You know, remember when that phrase became an overnight staple

in millennial vocabulary? And then Gen Z was like, that's chuggy. And by the way, don't say chuggy anymore. It's not cool. I can't even. See, I can't even feel, doesn't feel millennial. Millennial to me was like the Valley girl,

like, my gosh, as if, like clueless. Oh. Like that world, the dumb blondes. That's elder millennial. That was like my high school. Like, that was the lingo there, you know? Yeah. But anyways, whether I can't even, or like, oh my gosh, Valley Girl, it is, we are all exhausted with the world today and the cost of living, George.

The cost, it's out of control. It feels out of control, people. I can't walk out of the house without spending 100 bucks. Like, prove to me I'm wrong. If you leave, it parties over. So I just don't leave anymore. Okay, so we're going to talk about some ridiculous trends of people saving money during the world today because, again, it is so expensive. But yeah, I'm curious, George, you got any crazies?

Any skeletons in your closet? When it comes to how I've survived the cost of living increases, how I save money. I do have one recent that I feel like is not impressive. Most people are unwilling to do it. But you can go do it today. Okay. So you know I'm a frugal guy. I want to see Twisters.

I don't want to pay the $15 plus $4 convenience fee that they now charge to see these movies. So I'm a AAA member. So I went, they got movie tickets on the AAA website. So I bought the tickets at a discount from the AAA website for like eight or nine bucks and that you scan them. Then I realized, well, if I enter the code on the AMC app, it's still going to charge me a convenience fee of three bucks. And so I went, screw that.

I'm going to go to the movie theater the day before and get my tickets in person to avoid the convenience fee. Wow. So I double hacked. I was like, I'm not paying full price for the ticket and I'm not paying the convenience fee. Okay. And that's how I saw Twisters for $9.

Can I tell you this? This is that Rachel sold Twisters for 12. You're ready for this? Okay. You go to a matinee. Yes. You got to sit her or the whole thing, right? Go to a matinee, 25% off.

Yep. And then you become an AMC member. The Stubbs member over to you. The Stubbs member, and your fees waived. It's only waived if you buy four or more, though, unless you're paying for the premium subscription. Rachel paid a fee. Shoot, am I paying?

Am I paying a subscription? I hope not. They have different levels. Okay. But the first one is just a free... Mine, my convenience fee was waived when I... Good for you. Apple paid.

That's legit. That's me Apple Paying for my ticket. Anyways, that's the last... The latest thing I did, you know, for frugality sake. That's so great. Let's go to the labor and statistics, shall we? That is so great. The consumer price index rose...

You know what that energy was? I love that for you. Energy. That was like, could not care less, but glad you took the time. time to share. Thank you, George, for sharing. Now, tell us about the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics which, so that sounds fascinating. It rose 3.1% in 2024. The Consumer Price Index, you say, the CPI, if you will. Yeah, so this is less growth than the 5.6% year over year from 2022 to 2023,

and 6% from 2021 to 22, but it's still an increase. Okay, so what we're seeing is, you know, the prices have cooled, but that doesn't mean things are cheaper. And they're building on each other. So it's basically a 15% increase overall in the last four years. Because they're compounded. You're adding these up over time. I mean, it's just, it keeps going up. If something was $1, now it's $1.3, and the next year it's $1.8, you're adding all

these up. So something that was, let's say your grocery budget in 2020 was $500. Well, in 2024, it needs to be $5.75. It depends on why you shop. We've talked about this in other episodes, but there's a lot of things you can do to save on groceries. Let's look at some more state-specific data. Yeah, this is good.

because people are moving. We actually have a new team member here on this team that came from California. And it's like, yeah, there is going to be a significant price difference from L.A. to Nashville. Have you been to Airwan, which is like Whole Foods on steroids in California? No. Like fancy schmancy. I just heard about this. There's some hilarious TikTokers that are like, I'm going to make a PBNJ.

And they buy all this stuff from Airwant. It's like a $400 peanut butter and jelly. And their smoothies are like $25 to $30. Yes. Oh, my gosh. I went to one just to see. How is it beautiful? though.

Oh, they're just it's unbelievable. Gospel gorgeous. Yeah, it's unbelievable. Absolutely. Absolutely. But no, I bought like one thing. I'm like...

That's the Lisa Harper. Isn't it? If you know, you know, Harper fans, rise up. Lisa, we love you. Oh my God. Deep cuts. So good.

So good. Anyways, things do be expensive. And Forbes published an article unpacking recent data around cost of living. So let's test our knowledge in some of these stats. which state in the U.S. has the highest cost of living, Rachel. If you just guess, 50 states. California. No, Hawaii. I'm going to say Hawaii.

You are correct. The average annual expenditure, $55,491. Man, okay. And this is largely due to high housing prices. It's a popular vacation destination. It's a lot of tourism. High income and tourism taxes. High cost to import goods to a remote island location.

So they're having to bring in a lot of stuff, which makes your grocery prices go up. Oh, that's fair. When you think about that. Yeah. So that's a tough one. Would you ever move to Hawaii, George? It feels just inconvenient, you know?

It feels crazy to say I would never. But it's not on my list because it is so far to get to and with family and all that. I wouldn't want to be that far away from family. And I'm not truthfully, I'm not really a beach guy. I don't know if you can tell for my complexion. Haven't been there much. Don't know much about it. You just blend in well.

Yeah. Camoufl. If you hide me in the sand, you'll never find me. You'll never find me. Never find you. Where would you move? If you had to move to any other state in the world, cost of living is not a factor.

Oh, wow. That's a different kind of question. No, like, I'm going, I'm going Manhattan. Wow. You could handle the seasons? Upper East Side. Yeah, I'm going to Manhattan. The rats, the smells.

If I wasn't married to Winston, I'd go to Manhattan. Okay. If I genuinely had to move somewhere else, I think I may go Phoenix. I like Phoenix a lot. I like Phoenix. Okay, I could see you as a Phoenix. Mm-hmm.

I thought, you know, I contemplated Texas for a while. Dallas, too big. Houston too hot. You know, San Antonio, I go through all the, I'm like, Austin too cool. Can't do Texas. Austin's real hot as well.

Okay, so you're a Goldilocks. You're talking Manhattan. Not who, yeah. No, but Phoenix is hot. Maybe a Carolinas, one of the Carolinas. Oh. Sound good, too. How about you, George?

This is a weird one. one, but Whitney, my wife, went to Arkansas, University of Arkansas. You're going to go to Arkansas? I'm going to Fayetteville. What? It's a hidden gem. It is a hidden gem. Ask people who live there.

That was not on my bingo card. That was not on my bingo card. I know. I want to get out of the hustle and the busts. I don't need to be in the big city. You know, just give me a good coffee shop and I just want to chill. I don't want to be in traffic ever. Emo George is going to, okay. You know?

I would literally would have not one. I'd get burnt out in a big city. Oh my gosh. And I think in too small of a town, I would go crazy. Is Fayetteville rather small? It's got a vibe. Have you been? What was the last time you went to Fayetteville?

September 2020. Okay. Does that not count? Does that not count as a time I've been to Fayetteville? Why is that funny? This is very specific. I don't know. Well, I remember because we went to pick up our French Bulldog Olive from Paris, Texas.

So we flew into Fayetteville, got a rental car, drove to Paris, Texas. Oh, well, yeah. Got the dog, went back to Fayetteville, and then flew out. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. That's great.

All right, Rach. Okay. Back to expenditures. Which state has the lowest cost of living in the U.S.? Kentucky. Incorrect. Think further south. Okay.

Think Forest Gum. Mississippi. Now we're talking. Okay. Notice I didn't go blindside. It felt a little, you know, too easy. I wanted to saw a deeper cut. Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, I got you with the forest gum.

Okay. Because I could watch that as a child at the Ramses. Couldn't... Isn't there nudity in language? Shall I remind America or the world? Ferengully, no. Rugrats, no. Forest Gump?

Sure. Angelica, that was a character flaw. You know, Jenny, like, she was going through. It was a season for her. All right. average annual expenditure in Mississippi, Rachel, $32,336 versus Hawaii, which was $55,000. Oh, wow. Big difference in annual expenditure.

Okay. All right. Which state has the highest amount of disposable income? This is extra money to spend on non-essentials. So who's got the most margin? You would never guess this one. I'm going to Oklahoma. Couldn't be further.

Well, I don't know that you couldn't be further. California? Washington. Okay. Which is, that's up there. Yeah. average of $30,893 in disposable cash to spend. They got money in Washington.

And I wonder if it's like, because you look at the whole state, which is I guess some states, but Seattle, right, is your main. Yep. And then everything else, like, you look at a Spokane, all that. I mean, it's very like. You get the West Coast income without the West Coast cost of living. That's right. Okay.

I can go there. I can go there. State with the lowest disposable income. California. Close. You guessed it right the second time last time. Kentucky? Who had the highest cost of living?

Cal, New... Hawaii, Hawaii. Hawaii. So, highest cost of living... I don't know the same answer could be on this quiz. This is very tricky. Yeah, so the highest cost of living, and they also have the lowest disposable income.

Okay, that's fair. So that makes sense. Mathematically makes sense. That makes sense. So residents have the least amount of extra money to spend at just 9,550 per year on average. There we go. So there's a lot of factors that go into cost.

cost of living, Rachel. And a lot of people, like we mentioned earlier, they're basing this off emotion and feelings, and ah, it feels like it's out of control. But the budget helps you look at reality and things you can control and the actual facts. And it actually helps you because you go, oh, it's not as bad as it seems. We're make good money. We're just not really paying attention to it. And that's why I love budgeting. And we have a really great app called Every Dollar that Rachel and I both use. You can check it out for free at every dollar.com slash smart money and get started. Yeah, and I think the pro, honestly, of that, though,

is having your numbers visual because that brings the facts actually to reality where you're like, okay, I'm seeing it. I know how I can control it, and it is powerful in that way. So yeah, every dollar, we love it, you guys. Go check it out. We'll drop a link in the description as well,

make it easy on you. Yep. All right, George, so this world today, cost of living is high, so people are doing these hacks to kind of get around it, if you will. Hacks is a nice word. They're insane things they're doing.

Some of them. Some of them, yes. So let's go through some of them. And I want to know if you would do it or not. Airbnb is a permanent residence. So according to statista.com, the average nightly Airbnb in San Francisco is $392 a night, which means you'd pay $12,000 a month. So that wouldn't work.

But in New York City, again, the nightly rate is $156 a night. So that's $4,600 a month. So technically that could be less rent that you're paying via an Airbnb. That's still a lot. I feel like I could do better with $4,600 in New York City. I don't know how much rent is in New York. And like what area is this? Is it a room in someone's condo?

Is it the whole place yourself? There's a lot of factors here. But the idea that people have just Airbnb instead of renting or buying. Yeah. I mean, I guess in certain cities it could make sense. But I feel like there's too many. I would want to have a little more, you know, like I'm going to live here for six months and this is what it's going to be.

With Airbnb, they could just... That's what I was going to say. Almost going through a third party is scary to me, like an Airbnb or a Verbo, VRBO, whole thing. Versus going to the actual person that owns the unit, right? Like, if I had their contact and you could bypass the third party, so it's like renting it at that point. This is one I could see doing if it made financial sense.

Yeah. I could see that. Now, there's also been stories of people living in all-inclusive resorts for months at a time because it's cheaper to rent in certain cities. This one I can actually get behind. Wow, yeah. It feels like a lot, though. More than the cruise ship one, you know, which is a whole other thing.

Yes. Of like living on a cruise ship to save money. All-inclusive resort, different. I feel like it's a little more... You have your agency. Yes. I mean, for a year, it would be kind of fun. Just to say, I'm living here.

I wonder if I'd have to have, like, friends or like, you know, a spouse there, versus just solo. Solo would be hard. We're built for community, you know? There we go. We need people. I love that. Here's one in the Dominican charged $3,100 a month. Another one in Mexico charged just over $4,000, which, depending on your city,

could be comparable to rent utilities food. But to your point, though, $4,000 is a lot. That's a lot. That is a lot. I could do better than most cities. And I would put that in a property, right? Like, start building equity at that point. Build something for yourself.

Yep. Okay. How about house or dog sitting in Europe? We actually knew someone that did this. That's right. Yes, they dog-sitted all through Europe, like literally went on, I guess, an app or a website. Yeah, there's a different sites you can use for this. Yeah.

So it's a little different than couch surfing where you're just sort of crashing on someone's couch. You're doing some work for people. But you could actually get paid in this case to dog sit or house sit. And live there for free. And live there for free. Because people are like, hey, I need a trustworthy person. And they're like, hey, we are traveling for a month or whatever and you can be here for

20 days. Which is very European. I feel like all Europeans are just traveling. They just go all the time. I just get on the two. They work like two months a year, 10 months off. It is so true. And even if they take a napter in the day. Ciesta. I could go for that.

They got something right. They got something right. Wow. So that's a different one. I could get behind that. I would want to, here's the thing. I don't want to be in Europe being like, I'm stuck in this house. Now, if your house sitting and dog sitting, you can get out for hours at a time, I imagine.

Sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So this one feels better to me. Yeah, that's good. How about rent a storage cube to use as your office? Like a windowless prison? as my office. I don't think I'd be very productive.

I know. I think that's a thing, though, because it's cheaper than renting an actual office somewhere. Yeah. I feel like the newer version of this that millennials and Gen Z are gravitating towards is co-working spaces.

Now, that I can get behind. So it's like a good vibe, there's good coffee, you pay a certain fee, and you kind of, you have a spot. And if you want your own spot or your own office, you pay a little more.

Yes. So I like that. Or even the girl that does my hair, she will share her space with another girl for two days a week. she's on three-day. That's smart. Yeah, yeah.

So that kind of situation, I'm like, oh, that's brilliant. So nice, right? They're not paying for a full, you know, property or room or whatever it is that you're not using for certain days. Yeah. And you're splitting the bills. But at that point, I would just work from home and try to create a private space. Would you, though?

You would? Well, I'm saying instead of renting a storage cube. Well, yeah, yeah, yeah. I would just go, like, I'm going to renovate this closet to be an office at that point. Yeah, right. That could be sketchy. All right. Next step on the list.

This is one that I am all for. Wear all your clothes on the plane to avoid checking a bag. All? All? All? All? I could carry on. But this is saying where all of your outfits add once.

Well, to avoid it. So, like, if you had a big jacket, that would take up room in your suitcase, like, just wear the jacket. Like, you know, you can layer up, the big stuff. I mean, I literally could pack. I bet for 12 days. I don't carry on. Okay.

What about just small backpack? Could you do it? No. you need at least a carry-on. I would need a carry-on. Sure. I mean, just toiletries and clothing and a pair of shoes alone. Unless it was a quick, like, I've done a day trip

where it's kind of like you're in, you're out, maybe one overnight. I can do a backpack for that. All right, fancy traveler one day on the airplane and the back home. Yeah, most situations, I would need a carry-on. But I can go far in the carry-on. Where you, George, shall I remind you, when we would travel for live events with our team, would check a bag for a overnight.

I brought my pillow from home. I have a distrust of... It's not a, like, dirt thing. It's a comfort thing. Like, you know, they just... All the hotel pillows now are, like, pancakes that just flatten. Mm-hmm. If you use, like, four pillows just to, like, have your neck.

So I just bring my own. Do you have a memory foam pillow? Do you have, like, one of the... It's not memory foam. It's, like, one of the Casper ones. It has a pillow within a pillow, is how there is their strategy. Okay. Fair. There you go.

Next hack, retired couple books, 51 back-to-back weeks on a cruise ship. Oh, we talked about that, yeah, yeah. I don't know if I can do it. I would do a all-inclusive resort over a cruise ship. How about you? Yes, agreed. I just don't like being stuck on a cruise ship for a year straight.

That's too long. Yeah, how about Wi-Fi, George? Stealing neighbor's Wi-Fi. Oh, gosh. How would this even work? I think I would do that on an accident. Like, I feel like my phone is set up for Wi-Fi and you just, like, live your life,

and then you look up. You're like, oh, I'm doing his Wi-Fi. You have to know the password. Not all. Is your Wi-Fi just open? No, because I'm married to Winston. Thank you. Thank you.

God bless Winston. Oh, my goodness. So the idea here is like you pretend your Wi-Fi is down one day, you befriend the neighbor, ask them to borrow there so you can do your work, then you hope they never change the password.

I personally would not do this. I would just pay for Internet and suck it up. Yeah. And this is like you'd have to live in like pretty tight, you know, condos apartments where you're close enough to where the signal would still reach well. Yeah, and we talk about the four walls, food, shelter, utilities, transportation,

in utilities these days. I mean, I have, like, in my head, that includes Internet and includes cell phone. Like, there are things, I guess you... It's become a base, like, a universal... I guess you definitely don't need to, like, survive in the world today, but you kind of do. I mean, there is a point that, like, if you're working, you probably need access to Internet. Email. You don't mean, like, those kind of things, that I would wrap that in your four walls.

100%. Like that's what you Your baseline. I would never tell someone hey cut the internet to save some money. No, right, exactly. I would tell them to reshop it

and make sure you're getting the best rate for the much speed as you need which I'm sure you know all about the internet speeds these days. Yeah, all the 11 kG Yep, it's 11 kilograms is how much internet is required. I'm guessing because I know Winston well enough you guys got gigabit.

I don't know. I'm sorry, I don't know, just for fun. I bet he'll text back. I know it is. I know he's got fiber. What do I ask him? What's the... How fast is our internet speed?

Like, what are we paying for? Okay, let's, I'm going to keep it right here. All right. We'll see. All right, last one. All right. This is one that I don't think either of us would do, but people will share electrical outlets in common spaces,

meaning if you're in an apartment or condo, the hallway outlet, you'll plug in, I guess, everything from your to your toaster to your hair dryer, but you use the buildings, right, electrical outlets versus your own to save on electricity. If you are blow-drying your hair in the hallway, I will pay for your electricity that month. I will be your financial coach.

I know, people are doing it, though. And if I was the landlord, I'd be blocking those plugs. I know. I'd have like a lockbox on them because that's weird. Yeah, I wouldn't do that. I mean, unless I was in a real terrible situation, but I feel like... So here's the deal, George.

Here's the takeaways for me. And again, this is after, when I think about it, honestly talking to people, constantly on the Ramsey show and I get DMs from people, all of it. Getting, I think there are, like, hacks you can do in life that are fine, but I also think that they can be so inconvenient and not worth the money, right? Blow drying your hair in the hallway. While they're possibly making a $700 car payment a month, right? Like, you can make significant changes in your life.

You're not going to hack your way to financial stability. Yep. Oh, we got an answer. What? I said a thousand A gigabit. Fiber 1,200

GbPS. What does that mean? I'm sorry, M.BPS. Yes. What is that? I said 1,000. He's at 1,200. He's always trying to one-up me.

First, it was the Merv with the air filter. I got Merv 16, bro. And now it's... Is that a lot? It's very fast internet. We do have, like... like Disney Plus. That's what's doing it.

And like multiple accounts on TVs. Like we do have like a lot of internet happening. Sure. No, that's great. That's great. That's exactly what I thought. Was it too much? Am I too bougie?

No, you didn't even... Is that a bougie thing? No, you thought it was kilograms. I don't think anyone thinks you're bougie when it comes to internet. I think they think you're the opposite. My big takeaways. Number one, I have a lot of empathy for people who feel like the cost of living, inflation, the economy, it's all out of control and something needs to be done.

That's number one. hear me say that. Number two, I do think there's way more in our control than there is out of our control. Yes. When you look at debt, your lifestyle, your income, these are all things you can control to some degree. Whereas inflation, economy, the price of whatever the thing is, I don't have control of that. I have control of whether I buy it or not in some ways, some things we have to buy that are expensive, like rent or housing. But you can get creative, you can stick to a budget, you can get out of debt, have an emergency fund, build wealth of the future, of what's happening.

Yeah, and I think to George, part of like adulting, if you will, is, and I've learned this over the years where I'm like, okay, you have to adjust with the times. And I think that we have like a human nature to stick to what we've always done. Well, I've always shopped at this store. I've always bought this. But we've always had this, you know, X, Y and Z. And when times change, you have to be able to say, and we've done this in our household, we're going to have to change and pivot to this.

And so I think part of being an adult and a level of maturity is just saying, yeah, we can't live how we've lived. right? I mean, when prices go up, there is going to be a natural pool. If you don't have the margin in your budget to say, okay, something else has to give, right? It is math. Or we can't afford to live here anymore. That's a reality for a lot of people. Totally. Which again, it's so sad. Like, it's a big deal. When you're uprooting your family, I mean, these are not light decisions. But at the end of the day, you're like, okay, what's going to give me peace, right? And some of those decisions have to be made. And it is really difficult. But again, looking at the, the big things you can change, and I think debt is a big one.

I think car payments, I think when you're, I'll talk to a girl today on the Ramsey show, and she had, I think it was like $8,700. It was $8,700 on Klarma, which is the buy now, pay later. Yeah. And she just kept racking it up. And I was like, oh, my gosh. So, again, there are things that you can just make a line and say, I'm not doing that. And then you have to make other choices, right?

Which gives you other options. and that's what you have to do in times like this, because it is really difficult. So don't rely on debt, take debt off the table, use your own money, figure out if you can afford to live the place you're choosing to live. And we had that call on the Ramsey Show yesterday. She was making $70,000 living near San Francisco.

And I was like, you might need to either make more money in a different career or a better job in that field or you need to move further out. Yep, that's right. So you have options, but they're not always fun. But if you're blow-drying your hair in the condo hallway... I'll pay for electricity. Just comment and George will send you his debit card information.

I, okay. Rachel is more likely to do that. All right. All right. We're almost to the end of the episode and we close out every episode with guilty as charged. And that's where our producer, Lindsay, gives us a new guilty-starch question every week. And if we're guilty, we take a sip. So, Lindsay.

What do you got? What boy or girl math are you guilty of doing that worked for you? Oh, so that actually worked. Not like you tried to justify it. No, that it actually worked. Oh, I'm guilty. I can think of one recently, Rachel. Wow.

Okay, go. Five years ago. I know. Before a girl mom. Let me take you back to 2019. We bought a concrete dining table, like a four-foot round concrete dining table from overstock with four-black little leather chairs. And they were like, hey, do you want to buy a warranty?

It was 50 bucks for five years. that covered, and I was like, well, I've never had a concrete dining table. I don't know, this thing's going to stain. Sure. So I bought the $50 warranty for five years, and lo and beholds, ever since having a baby, there's more stains in the house. And this table finally had a stain, I could not get out. I don't know what it is, but it's kind of a round stain.

Are you like four years and eight months into this country? We are four years and ten months into the warranty. And I file a claim. And I go, hey, I can't get the stain out. This thing should cover stains. They send a guy to my house. He shows up, and I kid you not, he goes, oh, it's concrete. I said, yeah, I put that in the...

He's like, oh, I can't do anything to concrete. I'm just going to have to mark this. I was like, I could not repair. I said, what happens now? He says, well, they're going to contact you and give you a choice. They're going to either write you a check and pretend this never happened, or they'll give you a credit and take away your table, and you can go rebuy something with that credit.

Oh, my gosh, George. And so they wrote me a check for $340. No way. No. And I get to keep the table. That was their policy. So this is my boy math. I made money by buying the warranty.

I spent 50. I got back 340. 100%. I rest my case, Your Honor. Wow. Wow. That's some George-level conniving. That is conniving. I don't think you can beat that, but can you even come close?

No, mine would be on my 30th birthday, I went to Vegas with two of my girlfriends, and I had an envelope. with cash in it for gambling. And I said, this is the amount of money. Just a little bit of fun money. And when this envelope is empty, I'm done. But I'm going to have fun. And then I brought, true story,

I genuinely brought another envelope and put my winnings in the other one, right? So I kept this like balance going throughout the trip. And I made money in Vegas. I came out with more money. I can't remember how much I had to gamble. Let's just say, I genuinely can't remember. Let's say it was $400.

Okay. And I came out. with like 650. I came out with more money combined than I came in. And the night I had at the craps table was one that I will never forget. Wow. I was on a hot street is what they call it in Vegas. And at the craps table, if I'm not wrong, it's like a community.

Everyone's cheering yon. The adrenaline rush. It was everything I would hope for in life. For everyone to experience, people were cheering. I was getting high fives with guys with lanyards from like a technology conference. They were all. We were making, I was making everyone money. It was amazing.

Because everyone wins when you win. That's how craps works. That's how craps works. Oh my gosh. So they loved you when you, and I was on a hot streak and. So you walked away at $2.50 up from when you walked in there or something like that. Yeah, I made money on Vegas. I don't know if that's girl math, but that is Rachel's proud of the moment.

And had a great time. And felt very important. But you spent a lot of money to go to Vegas. So that's factored in that. But there was a gambling money. It was separate. Got it. So not the trip itself.

You know, I paid for a dinner with my winnings. Oh, good, like a nice dinner. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm going to treat myself. I did. I treated everyone. My friend, not the crap statement. Just me and my two friends. Yeah, just me and my two friends.

And I was like, I'll pay for tonight's dinner because I made so much. I know. Anyways, that's the only thing I can think of. That's what came to my head four years ago or whatever your... That's a great story. Number was. I'm glad you had to win. Looks like I'm...

Yeah, you did great with this drink. You did really good. You had a strong start. before we even started. And you beat me. It was great. This is a tequila Manhattan. I'm going to give this drink.

I think it's a 10 out of 10 drink. I would order this at a restaurant. I would too. 10 out of 10. Congratulations to mixologist Michael, because you know he's going to text us later and be like, what did you think of the drink? Mm-hmm.

He will. He will. Cost breakdown per glass, $3.19. So not the cheapest drink we've had, but I think one of the top-tier drink. The ingredients are an ehio. Anejo Anejo.

Anejo. Anejo tequila, which is an aged tequila versus like a blanco, which is clear. That's why it's got this color. It's got sweet vermouth and it's got Molae bitters,

which is fun. Oh, very nice. That's it. Come out to a glass. Three ingredients. 319. You would pay probably, I'm going to guess,

18. Four to five times at a restaurant. I'd say 18. So you can make this at home for four times less. You're welcome. Get the recipe in the show notes. give it a try this weekend or whenever you'd like.

Yep, so great. And if you guys enjoyed this episode, make sure to leave a review. And our episode on Girl Math is coming up. So make sure to check that out if you haven't already. And, yeah, subscribe, you guys, share this show with your friends and your family. And we will see you next Thursday on an all-new episode of Smart Money Happy Hour.

Cheers.