Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel - Settling Money Debates in Our Comments Section

Episode Date: March 14, 2024

💵 Sign up for EveryDollar today. Create a free budget!  What do Smart Money Happy Hour viewers really think about cutting up credit cards, the Baby Steps, and combining finances with their spouse? Tune in to find out! This week, George and Rachel react to your comments and raise their glasses to all the keyboard critics, trolls and BFFs who keep things lively in the comments section.   Next Steps ·      🎥 Check out the popular video where we explain our most hated financial advice.   ·      ➡️ Need a plan for your money? Check out Financial Peace University.   ·      📱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. Today’s Happy Hour Special: 🍸Gold Rush Recipe by: Difford’s Guide Ingredients: ·      2 ounces bourbon whiskey ·      3/4 ounce lemon juice ·      3/4 ounce honey syrup (3 honey to 1 water) ·      3 drops saline solution 4:1 (20g sea salt to 80g water)   Directions: Serve in an old-fashioned glass. Garnish with lemon wedge. Shake all ingredients with ice and fine strain into ice-filled glass. Listen to More From Ramsey Network 🎙️ The Ramsey Show   🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 💡 The Rachel Cruze Show 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 💰 George Kamel 💼 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. Delicious. Wow. Well, this is at this show we're two friends who happen to be money experts.

Talk about what you're talking about. It's everything from pop culture, current events, and money. And today, we are giving a voice to the people. It's about time, Rachel. We get hundreds of comments a week. You get thousands. I don't know about that. On YouTube, Instagram, podcast apps, you name it.

So we thought it would be fun and maybe a little traumatic to react to some of the gold y'all are dropping for free in the comments section. Some people leave. They leave some gold. That's for sure. Well, because some of these comments are gold, we are drinking a gold rush. That's right. And I get a rush when I read the comments.

So that's what this is all about. So you're going to want to stick around for our rating and the cost per glass and the recipe at the end of the episode. Don't go anywhere. Delicious. George, do you read the comments? out of all your platforms, you got, you know, you have TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Amazon. Oh, yeah.

Where are you more likely to go? Ooh, I think YouTube because of my YouTube channel and it's very YouTube focused, that's probably where I read the most comments. Okay. Instagram, I'll kind of, you know, meander. Yeah. Twitter is really only mentions, which is more rare for me. Facebook, I don't really, it's a lot on there. There's a lot going on on Facebook.

and podcast reviews, Amazon reviews, now that I have a book out, I've been watching the reviews, and it's been fun. So those are mostly, I would say, YouTube for me. Okay. How about you? It's good. Instagram would probably be my first. It's the platform I just, I enjoy.

I feel like one of the biggest internet status symbols these days is saying phrases like, I've been getting so many DMs or all of you who have been asking about, like, that's what I see from Rachel. You know what I mean? I'm so, it's so annoying. But here's the deal. And to me, so many means like, a flood of like 30 to 40 of the same question. So to me as I'm going through, I'm like,

oh my gosh, they just kind of keep coming about this one thing. So that's when I will jump on and say. What is your one thing? Do you have a thing? I usually get about what I'm wearing. Oh, from the ladies, I imagine? Yeah. The guys are not as interested.

Close is a big one. Yeah. Well, you're a fashion icon. Well, thank you, Georgie. I don't know about that, but I, you know, loft in Target and Amazon. What's the number one question you get? The big comment I get is that I'm an out-of-touch boomer.

Oh. I don't know why. You're not a boomer. I know, but they think I'm a boomer living in a millennial's body. I think I'm more out-of-touch than you are. I don't think you're out of touch. That's what I think too. That's what's frustrating.

I'm like, I'm so in touch. I read every comment. I'm the most in touch. Is it like because of like our real estate advice? Because of my advice, which is like, hey, get out of debt. And they're like, this guy's out of touch. You know, don't use a credit card. Ah, you know.

So a lot of our advice. It's because you hang out on like those platforms, I feel like. Yeah. I just don't buy into the negativity of the younger generations. And I think that makes me come across as old. Yeah. Because I don't have as much sympathy. Yeah, that's true.

I can see that. Do you comment on other people's posts? Like, influencers, celebrities, friends. You know, I'm tit. And you barely comment on my posts, which I think is rude. I don't comment a lot. I probably should. Like if it's like my sister just posted today,

my nephew's birthday was yesterday. So she put some pictures up. So I saw it this morning and I was like, love you, Zamba. So like I posted on that. The one comment, I don't think so. Sometimes I'll go to, if like a fan posts something, like, hey, we're debt free and they tag me and I can see it, I'll go comment.

Like, way to go, it's awesome. So proud of you. So those are fun to like go into see the winds that are happening out there. Yes. But I only see those if people are like tagging me and commenting and all that. Right, right. The one comment I get that is not money related that I now find funny, is that I look like the Dolphins coach, Mike McDaniel.

Yes. I don't think it's a compliment. I got to look him up. I think it's just like, is this guy secretly living a double life as the Miami Dolphins head coach, Mike McDaniel. I think if he updated his glasses and put a little more effort into his hair care, we could get there.

He's far more tan than me. People like his personality. Look at him. George. Dang it. George, it's pretty dang similar. Yeah. I can see that.

Squirly little face. Do you ever get comments that are helpful, that are constructive? And you're like, oh, I actually appreciate that. I just had one right before I got it on here. Maybe it's a little, it's a little fresh. Yeah, and it was from a guy. And I was like, he told me I should put on lipstick. Whoa.

Because he said, you look pale or something. You should wear, yeah, it was a comment about my, like, complexion. Travis? Why? I've known you for a decade. I've never once thought. You need lipstick, Rachel. I can show you the comments.

Right before I sat down on this chair and I thought, that's so bizarre. Are you wearing lip gloss? No, I didn't. To his point, my face was all one color. So I guess he was actually correct. It just was funny to me. So I thought, wow, I need to remember lip color, lip shades.

Can you vouch for this? Before my videos. Do women get a lot more comments about their physical appearance? Oh, I think so. Like rarely are people commenting about the dudes. That just remind me, I get this my hair. Oh. I will move my hair a lot, especially on the Ramsey show.

People are like, tell her to stop playing with her hair. And I'm like, oh, sorry. Okay. So that, you don't have to do that. What if you were swish that, George? Play with your hair. It is immovable. I know.

I'm going to say, it's pretty much. But it's also very malleable. And there you go. Can I just say that? It's not. Do you get comments about your appearance? Yeah, I mean, some people just think I'd have a punchable face. Oh.

You know, they don't like my beard. I do get a lot of comments about my hair. People want to know what it takes to have this. Because it's great. Well, especially on Instagram Live, your face is right up there against the camera, and so you get a real close-up look of the quaff. It is good.

If you will, the pompadour. So that's it. That's my claim to fame. Okay, that's good. Yeah, I would say the stop playing with your hair comment. I see, and I take notes. Thank you. I'll take it.

You know, I do try to take the constructive. criticisms. Yeah, I don't know if there's any other they're rarely constructive. Oh, yeah, they're there just to put you down. They're there to put you down. So let's get into the money talk, Rachel. We're going to focus this conversation around the comments we get when it comes to money stuff, both good and bad.

So this is not a full-on haters episode, but some of them we have to respond to. These are real people, by the way. Michael Carter. Michael Carter, 26-6. Credit cards are like alcohol. Burp. Some people can handle it. and others can't.

If you can't, then don't do it. Okay. You know what, Michael? I understand where he's coming from. I get it, because I think that there's a reality to that. We have a hard stance here, Ramsey, have no credit cards, no debt. We're on the extreme side of it.

Even if you pay it off every month, which is our version of, even if you have one drink a week as a social drinker, no drinks, Rachel. I don't see credit cards and alcohol as in the same camp personally. Here's the truth. Are there people out there that have credit cards and do pay them off every month?

They use them for their utility, whatever, whatever. Right? We hear it all day every day. Sure, absolutely. But in my head, I'm like, I don't want to, number one, be part of a industry that basically their whole wrap is just to make more money off me. So I'm like, I'm good. And number two, you statistically spend more when you spend the credit card. Do you know what I mean?

So I'm like, okay, if all those things are there, I'll just spend. in my own money, and I'm good. I'm fine. I'm really trying to I understand the analogy. Split the hairs with the drinking. Alcohol is a product. It's a consumption thing. A credit card is a vehicle. It's a method. It's a method of payment. That's good, George. And so I don't see them as apples to apples for that reason alone. But I get the analogy of, well, alcohol is still bad for you. Sure. We all agree that this is not good for you. So is sugar. What he's trying to say is, well, in moderation, if paid off in full, credit cards can be fine.

I've just found that for anyone that doesn't use a credit card, they build well faster with more peace and they spend less. Yes, that's right. So I don't see, you can't make that argument about alcohol. Would you spend less if you drank water? Sure. Technically, yeah. Dang it, Michael.

So I see your point, Michael. Michael. We raise a glass to you, Michael. Yeah, it was good, Michael, good. But I'm probably not going to run out and get an American Express, but I may run out and get a gold rush. Hey, now that's a worthwhile purchase. I don't know. Okay, we got a K-girl. I agree with never loaning money to family. My dad wouldn't even

co-signed for me to buy my first car, and to this day, I agree. Wow. She learned. That's interesting. I said my dad wouldn't even co-sign for me to buy my first car, and to this day, I agree. Well, clearly she didn't agree, because she asked him to co-sign at one point. Yeah, that's true. But I guess later in life, she's like, that was a good move. Yeah. We just in the last week, we've taken calls on the Ramsey show of people who co-signed for other people's debt, especially people they're not married to, and it goes south. And so realize this, y'all, when you co-sign on someone else's debt, you just took on that debt. Full on, that is now your debt. And there's a reason that they needed a co-signer.

They didn't trust that the other person would even make the payment. That's right. And what happens a lot of the time is the person can't or doesn't make the payment, which then puts it on you. And what's hard is when someone comes to you, you feel like, oh my gosh, I'll help them out, right? They need a new car. They need this. So the intention of it is so good and pure, right, that you're helping. And then you get screwed in the process is what ends up happening. And the worst part is a part you have to protect yourself. A boyfriend, girlfriend, fiance, and you co-sign the debt.

You put love in the middle of it. And it is, yeah. We just took a call this woman co-signed. She actually bought the RV for him. Like the loan is in her name. They break up. And now it's by her. The wedding is off.

And now it's all on her to deal with this underwater RV. I'm like, oh gosh. It's so hard. Never. Never do it. If you listen to this show, I'm going to come after you if you go do this now. Don't go sign. All right, DJ Juicy, as one does, said, tried the baby steps, had a $2,200 emergency and ended

up $5,000 in the hole. Still doing the baby steps, but I went with a $2,500 emergency fund and have been fine ever since. The $1,000 emergency fund put me in a worse position. Definitely time you update it, Rachel. He didn't actually call you out, but I thought that would add some spice to it. That's funny. Do you want to know, like, kind of a funny moment in my career? Yeah.

I was writing my first book, Love Your Life, Not There's. And I was pushing so hard to change the baby steps. Wow. To update the $1,000? Baby Step 1, yes. I really was pushing to do it a month. A month of expenses. One month of expenses being Baby Step 1.

And, of course, me and Dave, I should imagine, went back and forth, back and forth. I was like, I just feel like, and he kept saying, which now I'm like, oh, I get it. he kept saying $1,000 was never enough anyways. Like the point is that it's not enough. Like there is a, yes, a reality that it won't be. But you will never start paying off debt. It's going to take too much time. People will give up before they ever get to that

month of expenses or $2,500. And for most of the things that are over $1,000, you can kind of pause the debt snowball and say, okay, here's a bill. It's due in 30 days. What can I do between now and then to figure it out, right? And most emergencies, I think on average, or like $800 or less, I think we saw a statistic about that.

If you kind of bucketed it like normal, small emergencies and then big emergencies, well, $2,500 isn't enough either. Yeah. And speaking of comments, there was another financial influencer that does the opposite and says you need three to six months of expenses first before you pay off debt. And I went in their comments. I was curious about it. I was like, oh, interesting.

And so many people commented and said, I tried this, but I never got to the point where I was paying off debt. Because the point is to get there so much faster when you start paying it off. Well, and why you have debt payments is even harder. When you're out of debt, it's so much. It's easier because you free up a payment. That's right. When you start paying off that credit card and you start paying the stuff off, it frees up your income then. So it's doing the opposite effect. So the $1,000, we get it.

We hear you. And for a lot of people, they pause it at snowball. If something big comes up and they take the extra job, they work and figure out with you. Sell stuff, stack up cash, whatever you need to do. Yeah. And that may or may not happen. And being your 10 years, I've heard very few situations. I can count on maybe one hand. How many people actually were like, I had the emergency over 1,000, and it totally threw me off. Most people, they cash flow it, they figure it out, they pause the debt snowball, and they're back on the horse. Yes, yeah. But when you take so long to save up for a massive emergency funds, you never get to the point of paying off debt. And you're paying interest, I mean, you're doing all this other stuff over here. When you can free that up, it flows that much faster.

So I see it. Take that, DJ, juicy, juicy. All right, next, I am a single income with more than $1 million net worth, debt free, and I eat mostly peanut butter and jelly sandwiches until my mortgage is paid off. to these wise people. Wow. That's very nice. I've never given that advice. Nothing wrong with a good PB&J, but I mean, there's other food you can eat.

Other food you can eat, I know. Is she getting all of her vitamins in, her protein? I'm worried about Christine. Yeah, because we talk about with your mortgage, we want you to pay it off, but you don't have to be that like gazellantin. It's like the peanut butter and jelly phase is like babysaps one through three. So if you're getting out of debt, working on the emergency fund,

Don't eat out, make food at home. We say rice and beans. It can be P, B, and J. The idea there is not that it has to be a specific food, but you're eating very minimally. Yes. No luxury foods here. That's right.

We're just as cheap as we can make it. We're doing it. And some people get really good at this. I mean, you can go to Aldi and get a big old basket of groceries and make some great meals on the cheap. What's your favorite peanut butter? America's been wondering. We do Jif.

Oh, wow. Because Costco, you get the two big ones. Yeah, but. Oh, all the preser. Oh, man, ma-ma-man. But the Kirkland signature peanut butter. Very high quality. Okay, and my mother.

Are you crunchy or creamy? My mother, Sharon. No, we're creamy. I would prefer crunchy, but the kids. Oh, those little kids with their little mouth chicklets, they can't chew through the crunch. Is that what it is? Is that it? Because Charles was like, Mommy, I can't chew through it.

Mommy, my queen bed, the sheets are dirty. Did he say stuff like that? that? I can totally picture him whining about the crunch and the peanut butter. Is this true? And then he's trying to wash it all down and he's like, Mommy, I ask for oat milk. This is almond milk.

I can taste the difference. My gosh, George. Is it true? No, stop that, no. When you were talking, I was imagine a little baby bird pecking through the crunchy peanut butter. That's chiklets. You remember chicklets little gum? Oh, my God.

No. That's what your teeth are. Anyways, sorry Charles No shade my man Charles is going to watch this as a grown man Here's what I don't like about peanut butter And all you healthy people are going to be like That's the best peanut butter And my mom has this

Were you open it and all the oil And you gotta stir it Yeah Like stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid I'm not trying to churn my butter Like a little house in the prairie We need all that We need Nutella

Jelly and peanut butter Our house and we are wrapping it up I have to agree with George on this one I'm so sorry Rachel The Kirkland signature Just healthy peanut butter I'm a healthy peanut butter gal

Oh my gosh, I can't hear you. Here's the key. Look at the ingredients. It should have two or three ingredients. Peanuts, salt, oil. If there's anything else, you're doing it wrong. It has so much as sugar. I'm sure it does. And it has preservatives. Mononucleites, probably. Mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell. They throw that in there for fun. I saw this meme and I thought this is so good. It said, my kid is getting a face tattoo, so bottle feed. And it made me laugh. So your kid's getting a face tattoo.

buy whatever peanut butter you want to buy. Like they're going to make their own decisions. Don't you think? Feels like a weird way to just go like, well, my kids are getting face tattoos, the peanut butter. The peanut butter was the least of their problems. That is funny.

All right, we can't move on. Here we go. Taylor Anderson said, I used the debt snowball method with everything. That's how I did my homework in high school. I started with the assignments that were easiest or the least amount of time and worked my way up.

Works like a charm. Oh, there you go. That's interesting. Taylor? Is he in high school watching us? Well, he said that's how I did my homework in high school. He could be 45 years old. Oh, okay.

I thought I was like, for you, Taylor. But I think that's good. I think if you read like Atomic Habits by James Clear, one of those, I feel like it's always, hey, start with these small, incremental, sustainable steps versus trying to do the big thing first. That's right. And that's what we talk about paying up debt, pay out the smallest one first, regardless of the interest rate.

And you do get momentum much faster. You feel the progress, and it makes you stick with it. Yeah. That's the key. All right. This one's from R.D. Minor. Minir? One.

Combining finances is occasionally an error. My wife of 29 years was a shopping addict. The Sears, pennies, goodwill, didn't matter. And I would say that's true. What is a pennies? Does anyone know what a pennies? J.C. Penises. They call it pennies?

Yeah, pennies, yeah. What level of addict do you have to be to call J.C. Pennies just pennies? Like, where have you been? I was at pennies. Mm-hmm. I was at The Sears. He calls it The Sears. Did he?

But he calls J.C. Penny. Oh, he did call it The Sears. Oh, yeah. That's a boomer if I've ever seen one. Yeah, that is a boomer. Let's sit down. No, but there is a time. Oh.

Producer Skyler just called you out for VRBO instead of Verbo. He will forever be VRBO. I don't care what you all say. Just like Airbn. And brv-r-v-r-v-v-. I don't know that the combining finances is the problem here. It sounds like he married a spending addict and never addressed the behavior. Yes, but if she's not choosing to address her own behavior,

I would say he probably needs to protect himself. So if there is that. If there's an addiction, for example. Yes. Or, you know, infidelity. If there's something there that you're like, I need to protect myself, it is fair because I do feel like, not always, but I feel like the woman can sometimes be the one in the situation that's like,

crap, what do I do? I feel like that's what we hear a lot. So I think there is legitimate reasons, legitimate reasons why you keep it separate. I really do. Yeah. We had a question of the day on the Ramsey show last week. They were like over $500,000 in debt.

He bought a tractor. He bought a car for a new business. He was doing all this stuff. And it had been four years. She kept trying and trying and trying. And again, there's obviously marriage issues there. Like he's not listening to her, respecting her.

I mean, there's a lot there. But that's why money can cause divorce. I mean, that is why it's one of the leading causes of this tension. Because when someone goes out and you're one with them, it can. So that's why we do say, like, there are asterix to that to protect yourself. But for majority of people out there, when you work together, to someone you're married with, which should be a relationship that you're on the same team, you're working towards the same goals, that unity is so much more powerful than just doing separate because I just want my own money.

Right? So like there is that balance there. And on the other side of this pendulum, if I may, keeping your finances separate does nothing long term for your marriage. So in a short term, while someone gets to act together, deals with an addiction, whatever the infidelity may be, that's fine. But 29 years of marriage without combining accounts, because this was never addressed or fixed, that is a problem.

Yes. Like at some point we have to fix the problem, combine finances, create that trust and accountability. the George is that he can't fix her. She's over 18. She can go sign up for whatever she wants. Like, at that point, he, he, yes, we need to address the issue. I could not survive 30 years of a marriage in the situation.

Exactly. Well, that's the problem. Yes. So that's just my take. I know, I know. But that's what ends up happening. Sorry, R.D. KG, the agent, said, I don't hate any of the Ramsey advice.

It's the, you're dumb if you don't do this attitude that gets an eye roll from me. Oh. Have you ever said that? That would never come out of your mouth. I've never said that. I do feel like the you are, like it's you, it's the decision. Yeah. Like car loans, I always say is the dumbest debt.

Like to me, getting a car loan with the interest that you pay on, something that's going down and value. Yeah, like, it's more of that. But I will say those things, but I don't call people dumb. I don't think I've ever called someone dumb, but I do think there are times when if I'm not getting through to someone and they're clearly just wanting to continue in their misbehavior. There's sort of this anger towards them because you want to help them.

Imagine a friend. Like when someone calls in, I just picture them as a friend who called in for my advice. Obviously, these are strangers, but I might be the only person in their life who tells them the truth. Sure. And some people are being dumb. They are not dumb people. They are just being.

Yeah, they're making dumb decisions. They're an active state of dumbness. Yes. And they can stop that by quitting. making other misbehavior. So I think that's what the heart of behind this is, but I understand this point. With our principles,

they have been proven over time, factually, statistically, I mean, like all the things. So there is a level in us that we're like, no, no, no, if you literally do this over time, it's going to help you. And this is a wiser way. Yes.

Than this over here. So I think if anything, it stems from our confidence in the plan and our frustration. Maybe that's it. Next is from Meow Me and Me. You do You. It's called Personal Finance for a Reason.

What works for one person doesn't necessarily work for the next. I don't think they understand what personal finance means, but okay. Doesn't it mean personal? It is personal. Well, comparatively to an economic business context. Yes. You know, we call it kitchen table finances, Rachel. Oh, really?

Kitchen table issues. So I get what they're saying, but I also think this person is justifying whatever terrible decisions are making by saying, well, like, personal finance is personal. So like if I feel like I need to go $30,000 in debt for a car, like let me live my truth, Rachel. That's the vibe I get from meow me and me, who I think just lives with cats? I don't know. I don't know. Well, I think she does like cats. Personal finance is personal.

I take it as it is very personal. So I do think you either naturally lean towards like, oh, you're a spender, you're a saver. You feel this way about money or that. Like we're all going to have our natural events. Yeah, we all have our attitude or our feelings around money that are very different, very personal to us. So there are going to be moments that you're like, oh yeah, this is a very, like, as an individual, this is how I feel about. Like Winston and I have different feelings around money at times, right?

Like he's naturally a saver where I'm more like, let's go here. You know, to that, there is a personal context in that. But an overall plan and goal for your life that you walk through a process, though, is a numbers process. And with the baby steps, it is... Math works for everyone. It's the math, right?

If you don't have debt and you have money in the bank and you invest for the future, you will build wealth. That's right. So that's what's hard about it is like, yes, that we all bring our personal take and our stories and everything with it. But at the end of the day, we are talking about money.

And money comes with numbers and figures. And we do the math. And to give this person credit, the heart behind this is this plan doesn't work for me because of my mistakes, my baggage, my situation. And I just want to give them a hug and say, it can work for you. Let's talk about it. If I could do that in the YouTube comment section, I would. Oh, George, I feel your internet. I think they're just hurt.

You know what I mean? They're hurt and they're like, well, must be nice to go make that money and pay off that amount of debt. But I can do that. Don't put those words in his or her mouth. Meowmi did not say that. They just said this. I'm sub-tweeting. Is that what it's called?

Sub- tweeting. Sub-exing? All right. Okay, here are some non-money comments. Finally. Pretty fun. My family had a French bulldog. His name was Winston.

10 out of 10. That's amazing. Our worlds have collided. And Winston will tell you that's the number one comment he gets. That's a bulldog's name. That was my dog's name. I think that's rude. That is true.

But also, it speaks to how great of a name Winston is. Like, you don't name dogs things you have. hate. You name things... Oh, there you go. You know, like dogs have names of things you love. Yeah, he's not... He's okay with it. It's very comfortable. Like pizza and potato. Seth Godwin says, I can confidently say George is a good person.

Aw. Thank you, Seth. I know Seth personally, so that one feels like, of course... You do? Your friend is going to say he's a good person. But he's defending me amongst the filth on the social media... So nice. Comment sections. I appreciate that. Can Sudelect 46? What did she say?

She said, I love Rachel. It's so nice to see a smart woman who is a professional in finance, a great example for all the girls. Wow. Very kind. Sleigh. Just sleigh. We love a queen. We love a queen.

She's beauty. She's great. She's Miss Smart Money Happy Hour. Well, what's funny is that now I feel like women dominate the personal finance space. Yeah, there's a lot of women out there. It's amazing. Yes. So, way to go, girls.

Just have good advice. That's all we want for. out there, you know? Yeah, well, I think honestly, women are more prone to want to learn and grow, and men are not. And so therefore, women gravitate towards, like, personal growth things, whether it's finance or otherwise. And men just want to, I don't know, sports bet on the next game or something stupid.

That's it. All right, George, what do you think the moral of the story is with all of this? You know? I think it's simple. There's always going to be people in your life who love to share their opinions about the decisions you make and the things you said and did. and some of this is done, I think, out of a dark place. Jealousy, bitterness, rage, envy, hurt.

Sometimes, more rarely, it's done out of love. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I agree. Is that fair? Yeah, I truly think anyone who's commenting negatively on the internet, especially to strangers, which if you're doing to friends, what are you doing? But to strangers, they're just hurt. And so I try to remember that, that hurt people, hurt people,

and the trolls are really just looking for a hug. I mean, can you genuinely, though, get yourself in a place where I would type something mean to somebody that I don't know. Like, do you know what I'm saying? I'm like, it's just a little bizarre. I did it, Rachel. You know about my Steve Martin tweet. Oh, yeah.

And he called you out. He called me out. He called me a sad idiot child on the internet. What did you say to him? I said not. It wasn't like super cruel. I was just like he's kind of like a crazy old grandpa that you keep around out of pity. Something like that.

I was 18. It was a different time on Twitter. Okay. Things have gotten a lot darker since then if you ever been on Twitter. So I feel like it was pretty tame for 2009, you know. But since then, I've realized like, oh, real people see these comments. Number one, it will affect your future people out there commenting things that your employer will one day see.

Yes, you can pull comments. I mean, entire careers have been demolished because of a tweet 10 years ago. Yes, that is true too. But I've seen people that like find the person and like go up and like, let's talk about this. And they're like, wait, what? Oh, yeah. It's real. That's a strategy.

I want to do that where I DM, like someone leaves a mean comment, I DM them with a video of me. And I dress it very casually and professionally. Carlos Whitaker talks about that. Yeah. I think that's a very smart kind of high road flex. We actually did that at the last conference. We did.

Some guy said to George, we answered my question because Rachel apparently doesn't... She never responds. Responds or something. So I get on George's right there. And I was like, hey, Rick. Hi, Rick. I'm so sorry.

I'm so sorry, Rick, that I didn't respond to your DM. But here's me and George, and he wrote back, he was like, that just made my day or something. He was like, that was amazing. Wow. Still waiting for Dwayne the Rock Johnson to respond to my DMs. Anyways, that's the moral. Okay, so here's the thing.

Regardless of other people love us, they hate us, their comments. We have a plan that we really believe in, you guys, when it comes to this part of your life, which is money. So whether you're using every dollar of the budgeting app, whether you're doing the baby steps, whatever it is. We really do believe that we want to help you take control of your money, and we really think this is the best way. Yes.

From all the factors that we have together. You've got to stay focused on your reality, your resources, your goals, and put the blinders on. And your truth, right, George? And your truth. Usually that just means I'm going to make terrible decisions. But in this case, we're talking about, hey, I want to become dead free, and I don't care what anyone else thinks about my plan because they don't pay my bills.

Yeah. And so that's my last thought on that. Consider the source and your inputs. And if there's a lot of negativity, you control that. Shut it down. Get off social media. Block them. Who cares?

Yeah, totally. Move on with your life. 100%. Love it. All right, George, it's almost the end of the episode. And we'd like to close out every episode with Guilty as charged. And this is where our producer, Skyler, gives us a new guilty-as-charged question every week. And if we are guilty, we have to take a sip.

So, Skyler? Have you ever let someone else use one of the best? of your memberships and then regretted it. Oh. Oh, man. Yeah, I mean, I've got a good one, Rachel. Do you? This is a like, we got to eat the chair.

It's that bad. Before stabbing myself. Are you, okay, I'm ready for yours. I genuinely don't think. No? I don't think I have. No Netflix, Hulu. Could be digital.

Costco. I know. I'm thinking all of it. I feel like you're the one to mooch on someone else's membership. You know what I mean? No. Do you even know any of your membership logins or is that Winston's job? Winston does most of it.

I rest my case, your honor. If I see my email, I know the one password. I have one password, which I know is not like the security thing to do. Tell it to me privately right now. Pretty good, actually. Got it. You all will never get it. Unless you turn up the volume in post.

Thanks, Ben. Ben's got it. Okay. What's your story? This happened very recently, like a few weeks ago. Oh, I can't wait. I'm at Costco with our friend Chris. Chris. You know Chris.

Yeah, we know Chris. We're walking in. A man approaches us, and he's like, older man, probably in his 50s, maybe 60s, and he goes, hey, listen, I forgot my membership. Do you mind if I just, like, walk in with you guys? Is this in the parking lot? This is in the entrance area of Costco,

which, as you know, you can't get into Costco without flashing your membership with your photo. And this guy's kind of, like, approaching us, and he's like, hey, can I just, I don't have my membership. Like, I have a picture of it on my phone. I was like, well, great. I do too. That's what I use.

I use the Costco app and I click the membership. And he's like, no, no, no, it's like a picture of the membership card. I'm like, okay, he's a real boomer. So I'm like, you know what? This is my good deed for the day. Maybe the Lord put this person in my path so I could bless him. That's great. And I'm just letting him into Costco.

I'm not committing a crime. Sure. So I pretend like he's my dad and we walk in together. So we're chatting it up. I'm flashing the car real casual while talking to dad. So he walks in. I go great. Like, good luck.

I ask him, what are you going to do in the way out? Because you need to now show your picture. your picture with your card when you're in line or else they won't let you through. And he goes, I'll figure it out, I'll find someone. Guess who he finds at checkout. He found you, George. He ends up right behind me in line.

No, he doesn't. And he goes, well, what are the chances? And I go, I think this man's committing a crime now. Okay, okay. A guy was being followed. But you always knew that he didn't, though, have his card. Yes. So he obviously.

But now I'm thinking, I don't even know if he has a membership. I mean, it's a free country, but also Costco has rules. Yeah, yeah. Oh yeah. Winston experienced that last week. I'm like, what if they take away my membership, realizing that I'm helping a criminal? I'm an accomplice to a crime. What happened?

Well, he's already behind me. What am I going to do? Get out of the line and be like, no, sir. You just say, Gary? You got to figure it out. No, you're too nice. You're too in it. I'm too nice.

So what happens? So he follows me in line. I go, all right. You pay for his groceries. I hatch a plan. No, no, no, no. You pay for his Costco. No, but we go in together.

I flash my card. I go, hey, it's my dad. He's with me. we're just checking out. We have two cards, very different items. So we get to the little self-checkout register, and I go, all right, here's what I'm doing. I'm going to scan my card.

You scan your stuff and pay and then leave. And so he scans his stuff, he pays. I scurry him off, and I start checking out with my separate transaction to keep it all kosher. 100%. Because I don't want this guy on my tab. I thought you paid for his Costco. No.

And so that's where I was like, okay, maybe this is not a scam. Maybe he's a true. But as we left, I just went, that whole thing was he's done this before. Gary's. I don't think he has a Costco membership. He's unwilling to shout out the $60 a year. So I'm not sure I did a good deed or if I committed a crime.

Wow, George. But that was a regret and it won't happen again. But Costco, it is pretty, Winston went last weekend, you're ready for this, took Costco with my card. Because he didn't have a card. It's my card. You didn't add him as a, it's free to add him as a...

I don't know. This is too much detail, George. And he says, and they did not. And he had to leave. He had to leave with all his card. And he texted said, fail, absolute fail. I was like, what happened? So then we had an Instacart and paid the tip.

Oh. Oh, it was terrible. He's like literally my car is. He should have done what that guy did and went, hey. I know. I'll pretend to be your hotter, older brother. Let me check out with you, Gary. Man.

Anyways. That's my story of regret and membership cards. Have your story. boundaries, George. Have your boundaries. I'm a people pleaser. You know what? Gary genuinely may have gone out for his wife to get the stuff and he really may have looked at his wallet. Basically when he was in his cart, he was a very reasonable man. He had a lot of Clementines. I went, this guy loves Clementines. It could have been real, George. I believe it. You could have done a great deed. Why do you? Why are you going negative? Nothing negative happened.

I thought you were going to say he swooned you. You paid for his groceries and you're going to Venmo and it was going to be a whole. The whole thing just felt odd. I was skeptical. be a whole thing. But this is me trying to be a good person and not be skeptical of humanity. It felt good. I'm with you. Okay. Well, I'm not guilty.

I'm actually innocent on this one. So I'm very proud of that. Because she has no clue what the memberships are, what the logins are. She couldn't give someone the login if she wanted to. Couldn't even give your own husband a membership. Possibly true. Just go to Costco with him. I'm home with the kids.

And add him as a member. And too much work. Okay. Who finished her drink first? We both finished. Which means it was a winner. This was the gold rush. And here's what's in it.

Bourbon, ginger liqueur, lemon juice, lime juice, honey simple syrup, and saline, which is a mixture of salt and water. Wow. And I will say our resident bartender, Michael Reddish, he really, honestly, he made a lot of this. He made the honey on himself and the saline. Way to go, Michael. So he put a lot of efforts and love into this. And it showed.

And the cost breakdown. is $2.66. Which I think is a steal for a drink of this caliber. I would order this at a restaurant. Yeah, it was delicious. So good. Okay, I give it a 10 out of 10. I'm going 10 out of 10.

I could not improve on it, and therefore, he wins. So get the recipe in the show notes. Go make it at home. Give it a try this weekend. You'll save a lot of money doing that way. That's right. And you guys, leave a review. As you can see, we read the comments.

We are genuinely in there. So make them nice. Yeah, be kind. That would be great if you want to. I will block you. I'm not scared. And make sure to share these episodes with friends and family to get them in, talking about money. Lure them in.

This is the gateway drug to get them debt free and building wealth. Yep, and subscribe so you don't miss an all new episode of. Smart Money Happy Hour.