Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel - Spilling the Financial Tea With Our Better Halves

Episode Date: February 13, 2025

📈 Are you on track with the Baby Steps? Get a free personalized plan.   Today we’ve got two very special guests in the studio . . . Winston Cruze and Whitney Kamel! In this episode, Rachel, George and their spouses spill the tea on married life, money, and how the two mix.   Next Steps: 🏅 Help us make the show better! Please fill out a quick survey.  🍸 Follow Smart Money Happy Hour on TikTok: @smartmoneyhappyhour.     📱 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.  💵 Start your free budget today. Download the EveryDollar app!   Connect With Our Sponsors: 🔒 Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe. 🌿 Get up to 40% off with code SMARTMONEY at Cozy Earth.   Today’s Happy Hour Special: 🍸 Hanky Panky Recipe: Liquor.com   Ingredients: 1 1/2 ounces gin 1 1/2 ounces sweet vermouth 2 dashes Fernet-Branca Garnish: orange twist   Instructions: Add the gin, sweet vermouth and Fernet-Branca into a mixing glass with ice and stir until well-chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange twist.   Explore More From Ramsey Network:   💡 The Rachel Cruze Show 💰 George Kamel 🎙️ The Ramsey Show 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights   🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 🪑 Front Row Seat with Ken Coleman 📈 EntreLeadership   Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cannot believe it, but Whitney Camel. And George is better half. Winston Cruz, ladies and gentlemen. Unbelievable. Wow. Who is the nerd and who's the free spirit in a relationship when it comes to money? I've never heard this question before. What's a harmless pet peeve your significant other is guilty of?

It's got dark real quick. Yeah. Hey guys, I'm Rachel Cruz. I'm George Camel. And this is Smart Money Happy Hour. Special drink for some special guests today. That's right. Highly requested.

Cannot believe it, but I'm going to go ladies first. Whitney Camel. George's better half. Winston Cruz, ladies and gentlemen. Unbelievable. Wow. You got.

Thank you for having them. I don't think you understand how long the people have been wanting this. This has been the longest sales job ever. It feels like it. It feels like it. Finally closed the deal today. I'm not sure.

I think people thought I was lying that I even had a wife. Well, this episode is going to be very special. I think you'll prove it after today. I think you'll prove it after today. Well, overall, this is the show. We're two friends who have to be money experts. Talk about what you're talking about.

Everything from pop culture, current events, and money. And this episode, obviously, we're going to chat our marriages, which is so fun. Marriage and money. And we're going to sip on a. Hanky-panky. Oh, a little hanky-panky. I know it's a family-friendly show. That's about as edgy as we're going to get today.

And we're going to tell you what's in this drink and give you our rating at the end the episode and reveal the cost per glass, so stick around for that. That's right. Well, this is going to be a fun episode. We got questions in the fish bowl that we're going to draw. You see that fish bowl over there? I see that fish bowl. Yeah.

No fish, just questions. Draw some questions out. And we're actually going to play a newlywed game. We have dry and erase boards and everything. It's going to be pretty entertaining. I feel like this is really a tell-all episode. People are just hoping that our spouses roast us. I know.

Do you all have lots of roast us on, you think? Hmm. I don't know. No, it's not. It's a pretty mild episode. Okay. All right. We'll roast you then.

It's very exciting. I'd love for you to roast me, George. Wouldn't dare. People know I love Winston. Okay, so before we draw the first question, I want to hear how you two met. And I'd like to hear it from Winston's side, if that's okay. Oh, wow.

Because I've heard it from your side. I feel like there's a different side. We had like three stories. Exactly. I know the very first time that I, like, met her in person. she was coming over to the house that I was renting. This is in college. And she was with one of my roommates.

Oh. He brought her by. And then she comes in and she shakes my hand like we were like. Business acquaintances? I mean, like she was in a job interview. I had never played. Rachel Ramsey. I had never played the handshake game with a female until then.

But it was like this like, bro. standoff. And so she does the tour of the house with my roommate, and they leave. And that's the first time we met. Wow. But I walked in, I was like, classes hadn't started yet. I was just a freshman. To this house.

And legitimately, I was like, there are so many good-looking guys that, like, love Jesus. They're, like, good guys. They're, like, young life leaders and stuff. And they were, like, all had, like, visors on and, like, outdoor bags. And, like, y'all were all, like, campers. And this Brentwood girl is walking in, like, wow, what's an outdoor? outdoor bag. I was like, who, what is,

there's a whole other world of men out there. But I always thought, I thought you were good looking. Oh, thank you. You said like it was like surprising. Yeah, I was fascinated by you. So when was the first like Spark? When was the, okay, I think there's something here. I think we should date. Was that months later? A year later.

It was a great, I mean, Rachel alluded to it. She actually went on dates with multiple roommates. Oh, wow. So this is literally, this is the Bachelorette. It was the Bachelorette. I went out. I did not overcook that statement at all, but she went out on dates with one other,

maybe two. Listen, my rule is if a guy asked me out to dinner, sure. So you gave three out of the four roommates before you landed on. No, no. Not dated, but she went out with a few. And then, you know, and then. It was not serious. I was trying to figure out life.

as I still am. And so then she became great friends with my younger sister, and the circle started to get tighter and closer, and then she was available. That's a good start. Green flag? All the roommate stuff had kind of like watched out. Wow.

And so I called her and specifically remember asking her on a date, because I'm old school. Represent. And, uh, no, No, I didn't. I didn't. I didn't. You hung out with me twice. I went in with the can I drive your car method. Yeah. That's not a method? He wanted to like hang out a couple of times. And then I remember saying, I'm not hanging out

with Winston Cruz anymore unless he asked me on a date because I don't know, I don't know what this game is like. She said that to me. I think by that time I just said date. Wow. That's the magic word, I guess. Hey, can I borrow your car? No, not borrow it. No, he was like, you had a new car. Let's go drive it. I'm going to drive your car. Like, you know.

Okay. I know. similar to borrowing, but the person is in the car, the owner is in the car too. I didn't, like, need a ride to CVS. Wow. It's very different. Much less romantic than Rachel's version. Wait, what?

Oh, man. Rachel's version, like, I saw him and I just was so enamored by him. I did. And Winston's like, yeah, I mean, she was there. I was there. I was there. She dated a few of the other roommates. I was still there, and I was like, yeah, let's go for a ride. Oh, my gosh.

That's the spark notes. No, this is the how we met story. And then we went into, oh, then how did it start to go? First date, sparks fly, bada bada boom. She's Rachel Cruz. So much sparks. Many. Wow.

Multiple. Multiple. All right. Okay, how about you guys? Settles it. I think equally as unromantic. We were co-workers. I think I'd like to hear your side.

Yeah. And it was my first week and George came and said hi to me. And he was one of the first few people that was super friends. family to me, but it wasn't in a flirty way. It was actually in a like, oh, this guy is so nice. Yeah, just a nice guy. But we didn't start dating to like two years later because at the time, Ramsey was a lot smaller and you had to kind of know if you were going to like actually date or work out because the whole company I feel like was watching you at the time. Totally. So you all worked at Ramsey for about two years before you actually like started dating.

Yeah. How long did you date for before you got married? A year. Yeah, just over a year. Yeah. We did hide it for three months. We didn't tell anyone at work. And someone came out to be in there like, that George guy is really weird to you. Yeah. And I was like, oh, is he? I don't know why.

People are watching, but you weren't a personality then. No. You're doing social media. Yeah, yeah, this is before personality. He wasn't even in the whole role. I was like an email marketing coordinator. Yeah. You know, social media guys.

Were you intimidated to like walk up to her randomly? Oh, I was. He didn't even ask me out. He did it over Snapchat. Messaged her over Snapchat. And I'm a grown man at this point. I'm not 17. To ask her.

And I was like, hey, Michael, Michael Reddish, mixologist, and his wife Ficky, they want to know, like, what you would say. No, they think we should go on a date. They think we should go on a date. Oh, no. So she called me. I would rather drive her car. I agree. Be honest.

Yeah. Yeah, I should have asked, hey, can I drive your car? And I was on my way to church. A lot of people are saying. And I literally said to him, I was like, I'll get back to you after church. So I was mad. Because I had sneakily given him my number. So I was like, you have my number.

and you're doing this like... You're putting me in a trap because he's not actually asking me out. So then you're making me feel weird. It was like, let me just get my thoughts. Because then it was, you know what? It was protecting myself. You were.

Self-preservation mode. Yeah. Unhealthy George. Exactly. She says no, then it's their fault. Yeah. It's just like, well, she said no to the idea of them saying that we should. Yeah.

She wasn't interested in their idea. Arms-length proposal. She didn't reject me. She rejected their idea. That's right. Oh. They're great. They're, yeah.

But I came back and said I go on one date and then I regretted it because we had fun. but we didn't start dating again until Christmas party of, what was it, 2017 or something? 2016 Ramsey Christmas Party. We danced the night away on Broadway. Oh, y'all, that's fun. And I hate dancing. That's so great. It worked out.

I don't think any, like, no relationship was like it was just as beautiful, so romantic, everything went perfectly. It's always a little awkward from the start. Sure. Yeah. I'm not saying I had the best idea to do a car, and that, you know, it worked. Yeah. But I never did that story, so that's good to hear. There we go.

I love it. All right, let's get to the fishbowl's. the people came here for. Oh, are we drawing for them? What is this? Are these questions for them? They're for all of us, I think. Okay, all right. No one said. I'm ready. But I think they should answer because they are sick of us talking. For sure. All right. Who? Who is the nerd and who's the free spirit in a relationship when it comes to money? I've never heard this question before.

Yes. Let me take a minute. Take your time. I think we were going to cover this. I think your wife wrote a whole book about this. Yeah. We were. I was born a nerd, and she was born a free spirit from the beginning. 100%. How about you guys? Or as opposite as it gets.

I feel like same. But I do have my nerd tendencies. You don't give me enough credit. Once the last time you opened up a Google sheet. Just tell me. Wait, y'all are the same? No, I'm free spirit. He's the nerd.

I'm like the nerd spender, and she's like a free spirit saver. Oh, you're like a Dave and Sharon combo. Oh, look at that. Look at that. Am I the Sharon? No, she's the Sharon. The free spirit saver And you're the nerd spender, yeah

Like I'll eat my vegetables I need like to know I have my Ex-N-Y access for this I don't understand I know Because I'm the spender Free Spirit And you're the nerd saver

Just a straight one or the other For us Yeah, we don't mix it That's amazing That's good to all I feel like if you guys weren't together You'd have some problems I probably might

Like we need the Winston in your life We'd either be like Living crazy or in a hole if we were both one or the other. Either way. Oh yeah. No fun. Or just all crazy.

Yeah. We're going to show her out. It's good. One down. One down. Here we go. Are we doing all this? All of them.

Possibly. What's one challenging aspect of being married to a Ramsey personality? I would definitely say, what do you call it? Energy something. Energy management? Yes. Like just going from podcasts to camera to everything all day and then coming home and then I'm a stay-at-home mom now. So I'm like, hey, talk to me, but there's literally nothing left in the tank.

So I think that's probably the hardest part is you have to just lay it out there all day. I'll leave it on the dance floor at work, and then I go home, and I feel like I have no energy or like mental capacity to give. Hey, what did you talk about today? She's like, ugh. Luckily, she's here now. So you do have a battery. Yeah, I've got a battery. I'm human.

All humans have batteries. I know, but Rachel's goes up and most people go down. What? Ah, it's amazing. It is amazing. Which is maybe why is the challenging part of a resume. No, that's great. And then Winston's drained when you come home to talk about your day.

All right, I heard enough. You did a podcast. Cool, good for you. Yeah, Rachel charges while she's driving. It's weird. It's amazing. What's the biggest challenge for you, Winston? There's a few.

I'm married to a Ram Z too. We can go top three. We got some therapy sessions. Here's what's, here's a interesting one. I think most people think that we have, it all together. And so if you're always treated like the guide or the

person that led you somewhere or taught you something or helps you celebrate a milestone in your life, sometimes you're like over here with your story, you know, and it's like, okay, that's great. But we're not like perfect, you know, at all.

You feel like you can't really put that out there because there's an expectation that you have it all together? I think it's just the assumption that because Rachel is a Ramsey personality that we have all the answer. Yeah. And we don't. Yeah.

You're right? So. That's a good one. Yeah. The humanity of life is very real. Yeah. For us, regardless of job or not. Yeah.

And some people don't always expect that or see that. But yeah, that's good. And on the flip side, though, like, if people come up to Rachel in an airport, I don't have to do anything. Yeah. And that's awesome. I know. It's so awesome. For an introvert.

She'll talk to all of y'all and I'll hang and just kind of like part B as we go. Do you ever want to be introduced? Do you feel awkward to not be? No. I actually have learned like you don't know her? To embrace the awkward and just be like... Just stand there. At first I was like...

Shaking hands. I taught you that, babe. Yeah. She taught you how to shake hands? Hi, I'm a good. It's a firm of sand shake ever. Wow. I didn't know that about you.

Very stiff, like, just... Well, no. No, but as an 18-year-old, Girl. One day you taught you. Hey, look him in the eye, shake their hands. She called me, sir. It was so crazy.

Yikes. Nice to meet you, sir. Who handles money in your marriage? Why do you read it like that? Well, it says underneath, spoiler both. So I feel like. Yeah, but I think there's different skills sets. Yeah, I mean, honestly, in our marriage, who handles the money?

Me? Yeah. You don't think so? Who knows the login is to the utility account to pay the bill? Oh, okay. From that perspective, I do it. It's not like she's not involved and doesn't know what's going on. I get the mail.

I could tell you what our last electric bill was. I could tell you the gas prices too, but, and Rachel's like, she checks, she's at this level up here and I'm down in the weed. Yes. Got it. Right. Would you describe it that way? Yeah, oh, 100%. So she's CEO, your CFO.

We have our roles. That's exactly right, George. That's exactly right. A real fun spending CEO and a Grinch. She calls the shots, you tell her how much those shots cost and if it's if we're going to be okay.

She does ask me that. I am like, hey, how much is... You're like her business manager. At a big picture, she's like, are we going to be okay? And I'm like, do you think we'll be okay? You're seeing the same thing I am. We're really a pool this year.

There was a lot of checks being written. And he's doing all that, right? and I can log in and see the account, but I am like, okay, how much is left? Like, well, and you have the spreadsheet, like the details you have a lot of that covered. Yeah, I just have more control issues than you. Probably.

You do. That's great. Very similar would you say? Yeah, I'd say almost exactly the same. No changes. Wait, who's who? No notes. I'm you. Yeah.

We're the same. We're so much more alike than I thought. I know. I thought we were exactly alike. People mistake us. I mean, the boots are just identical. I'm like, walking through Costco.

And they're like, are you Winston? No, I know we get that a lot. You get the wrong guy. He's a little shorter. Do you want to draw one? I think you should draw it. I don't know. Are we?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You read one. Yeah, this is fun. This is fun. This is fun. It's not an easy job. People think it is. I'm going with whatever I get.

Yeah. I read. What's a harmless pet peeve your significant other is guilty of? It's got dark real quick. Yeah. Rachel is wild to live with for like a Grinch. You know, like the control Grinch. She likes everything neat.

Half-eaten, like, breakfast bars. Nothing's ever finished. She's never just done. She's like, she gave up midway through anything. But it's like, even if it came with two bars, she'll eat one and a half. Like, one bite is there. And it's in the cup holder. Of the car or something.

I'll make her coffee in the morning. Always some coffee left. Because it gets cold. Some. Yeah, but every day. Water bottles? always like a little bit left. And they're all crunched up.

She just doesn't finish anything. I'm like, are we the same people? Are you same with you? I know that's going to be yours. I would consider that a harmful pet peeve. I mean, you're wasting food. You're causing other people to clean up after you. I don't ever ask him to clean up after me.

It's on my nightstand. Well, three days. My nightstand too. And my cup holders. Eventually, someone's got to do it. No, I'd still do it. I don't even. I'm for two spaces.

Yep. Two toothpaste. Thank you, the Lord. My toothpaste is terrible, y'all. It looks like it got murdered. Ever since I was a child. Never. It looks like a crime scene. Is it all over the counters?

In her bathroom drawer is a crime scene. Like, how many, are we talking multiple toothpaste? Is there just two? It's just one. So it just got, I know, I'm a child, Joe. I'm a child. It's just, um. How hard are you squeezing the toothpaste?

Well, I just don't. It's not about that. It's not the squeezing. It's the, like. It's the. Oh, you don't know how. It's the transition. I don't get it off.

She doesn't know how to get it on the two-thage. It's the motor skills. Okay. It's the motor skills. All right. Cool, cool, cool. Done closed the lid, because it can't. It's no longer, it won't go on.

It's gunked over. Yeah, yeah. I know. That's bad. It's fascinating. Yeah. I'll say, I guess you need to go for me. Rachel didn't say her.

I mean, it's kind of on the same lines. His tolerance for, like, the kids in, like, his bathroom drawers and stuff. Like, we have three kids under nine. Like, kids are going to be, they're going to be everywhere, and they're going to, you know. But when he, like, opens his drawer and everything's not, Who's been in my drawer? My cotton balls aren't, you know, whatever, whatever, whatever, whatever. And it's just like a...

Is that the big item for you? It's a big toilet tree? It's in the drawer on the side, and it has, like, the kids' homework in there. I mean, it does. I mean, it can get crazy. But the level of... I have, like, three spaces that you cannot touch. That's what he always tells us.

My wallet, my bathroom drawer, and my network gun closet. Yeah. Well, that's a safety issue. Well, I say the same thing to all of the spaces. And I don't have any cotton balls in there. It's just like you got to be flexible. Like stuff's going to happen. Yeah, be flexible.

You got this whole house, but you want my bathroom drawer, which is perfectly organized. It does feel very personal. Okay, y'all, let's go. Mine for you. Very similar. I'm a very kind of tidy, clean freak. So, like, there's, like, a little bit of LaCroix left. It's been three days.

I'm feeling for temperature, like, oh, the body's dead. It's gone. It's gone room temp. It's gone room temp. Let's toss it. Empty water bottle. Let's crush that up and toss that. It's that kind of stuff.

The bathroom counter, like mine, my side, tidy every night. I get ready for bed. It's clean. Her side? Could be a few weeks before it gets tied up. But if everything's out, you can see. see it all. Yeah. So it makes it easier. But it causes stress and trauma

for the other person who has to live with it. He does like two things get ready for bed. I'm like, yeah, so that's why you don't have a bunch of junk all over your counter. I'm a simple man. So in the same vein, mine is also the tidying. He has to tidy every night.

And if I'm not in the mood to tidy. What's my worst toxic trait? I care too much. I simply care too much. Then he is passive aggressive about it. And he's like, see the two, an eagram two, and he's like, why aren't you helping me tidy this house? And I was like, oh, because I've tidied after a toddler

all day, I'm out of tidying. I need to lay here. Yeah, tightening. Yeah, I need to lay here on my heating pad and chill. So, and I'm, it's 10 p.m. and I'm just wiping down countertops. Oh, no. George, yeah. You got to sleep better. You got to let go of that stuff, man. It feels good. All right, George, one thing we can all agree on, though, is that Cozy Earth has the best products. That's nonpartisan.

I mean, obsessed y'all. from the PJs and the sheets and the socks. I got some lounge pants. Love them. I mean, like, seriously, everything I buy, and I even bought a ton of Christmas gifts off of cozy earth because it's just they're amazing. And our spouses have reaped the benefits of these products

because we sleep on their sheets every night. And Whitney and I, we're making the sheets and we, like, unfurled them to, you know, throw them on the bed and you're like, wow. That's amazing. Luxury. Especially when they're tidied, even better. Love it tidy.

Love a tidy. So they have great products. And, you know, we are considered bougie frugal. So we like nice things. We want to get a deal. And so for our smart money happy hour viewers and listeners, they get up to 40% off when they use the code, smart money at cosierth.com slash smart money.

And that's our gift to you. Yeah, which is a huge code, you guys. I mean, because I will say, again, it's quality products. You're going to pay a quality price for the stuff, but it lasts. The material is amazing and you're going to love it. So make sure to, yes, use the smart money happy hour code. And Winston famously paid full price.

That's how good it was for him. He bought a sweater. Oh, yeah. A hoodie at full price. I did. I did. I couldn't wait. It hurts my frugal soul, but hey, that just speaks to the quality.

It was very out of character for me. I love it. But it was so good. So check them out. We'll have a link in the show notes as well or go to cozy earth.com slash smart money. So great. All right, Wendy. You, you draw one.

Let's see what we got here. Name the top three qualities you admire most in your spouse. That's a nice one. Wow. That's supposed to be fun. A switch. Gosh, here we go. Happy Valentine's Day.

Roasting. My number one for Winston is he is a man that, like, continues to work on himself. Like, he's not a guy that's like, oh, I'm too, I'm fine. There's, like, a major level of, like, oh, yeah, I want to continue to learn and grow. And I'm curious about this part of me and all this, all this. Like, it's one of the best. To be married to that type of man is, like, the biggest gift ever. I would say his kind of pairs with that humility.

I feel like there's a level of just an honesty, a vulnerability, like here's who I am and here's what's going on. And there's not a lot of pride in that. And so that's been like so helpful in marriage. And then third, I'm going to say, okay, it was my pet pee. See, it's a blessing and a curse. I'm going to say your level of taking care of things. his organization, his like, he can do stuff, like, oh, yeah, your tire's low.

Here's the tire pump thing that I have. Or here's the, there's this, this, the washer dryer broke. Like, it's like a, I just, you just take care of things. He's like a proactive, proactive guy. So there you go. Off the top of my head. Thanks, babe. Very nice things.

Fifteen years of marriage. Let's do this again tomorrow. That's great. I'm going to go with authenticity is probably my number one. Because I feel like Rachel's the same wherever she goes, which is really hard to do. On camera, off camera. On camera, off camera. And then she's really intelligent.

And so I love watching her have conversations. And she is so, like, smart and quick and up to date and has great perspective and things to say when we're talking with people and with us, obviously. and I'm going to go with her nails. I like her nails. I've always liked her nails. Always one of my nails. Like natural. He's a scratcher.

He's like a cat or a dog. I am? Yeah, just like he likes to be scratched. Oh yeah, I am a dog. Head back, like, that's his love language. Yeah, yeah. But she's had, she's always had great nails and I've always liked them. So I'm going to go with the easy one.

Surprise you did none of that for Winston. No physical traits. Best qualities are on the inside. Well, she hadn't finished her hanky-panky yet. Okay, I'll go... You want to do me? Yeah, my favorite thing is her calming personality. I'm a naturally anxious person.

She's a naturally very peaceful, calm person, and that was what initially really attracted me to her, and I appreciate that about her because I can spin out pretty easily. Not you, George. Not me. Me, no. Number two, her intentionality,

especially seeing her become a mom. I've never seen someone do the research, want to do the right thing, the right way, even if it's harder, even if it's more expensive, she's going to do it the right way because she cares that much about our daughter or our dogs. And so I love that about her. That's good.

And number three, I just think she's really cute. It's very, I know, I know, but I was... Obviously, that's what initially attracts you to someone at face value. Yeah. You only get three today, so it's hard to... Yeah, well, truthfully, she's also shorter than me, which was a big win as a short...

king to find your short queen, that's special. But I did think I was taller than him until our first picture. That's her toxic trait. And I had to pray about it, so I think she's taller than that. So for the record, I would have paid him about it. If I was taller. She had to pray to be like, Lord, help me get over his tiny

tiny body. I mean, it's admirable. I guess you would say. Whitney. Speaking of what, say, say three nice things about me. Good luck. Same thing. I would say, even though, yes, I give you a hard time for tidying, it does give me a great, like, mental, like, my mental space is not free of, it's free of, like, all the clutter and stuff in our home.

Like, I don't have to, like, worry about those stuff because I know you got it. Watching you become a dad, you just love Mia and she obviously loves you so much, like all day long, it's just like, da, da, da, da, da. And I'm like, he's not here. It's mama, right? I'm like, I'm doing all this right now. But that's been so sweet, just to see y'all's really. relationship. And then the last one would be, I just know I can trust that you, like, have the best intentions for our family and our future. Like, I feel like George is already 10 years ahead all the time. And it's, and he'll bring me in, which is great and all his like spreadsheets and stuff that he just nerds out over. But it's cool that he cares enough about where we're going instead of just, like, us waking up one day and being like, oh, shoot, what's happening here? So I know that I can trust him

in that just to like care about you know our family and our finances and all the things so it's really sweet that's so good thank you man well done you like george even more now well done that was a really sweet time let's get back to roasting each other george's bored more comfortable no it was really sweet i think people tuned out yeah what are your and your spouses love languages this should be easy there's only five of them right Winston's physical touch i mean Oh, bingo. And the key in the book is not necessarily sexual because everyone's like, oh, yeah, of course, physical.

But like... What's my number two? He always says, like, can I just have a hug? Like, I just need a house, right? And Rachel's flying around the house. Making a schedule for, like, next year. I know, I'm like, I'm sorry, sorry. And then I pat him sometimes.

And he says, don't pat me. It's patronizing. No, I'm sorry. It's like we're buds. Brod, thanks for that hug in the kitchen. Wow That's rude Okay that

You want to throw darks later Second would be Quality time Yeah I mean Way to go I got you babe I got you

Okay Rachel's Words of affirmation Acts of service Yeah Yes Did I get him in the right order Oh boy

Yeah No no no Yeah I'd say tie Yeah interchangeable So say nice things And do nice things Yes

About and for Rachel Love your nails. Well, I'm doing the dishes. That's called a callback. Good job. If you know, you know. Pay attention.

Okay. Yours is acts of service. 100%. Really? Because I'm always the one doing all the things. Someone does it for you. So you'll notice something and you're like, that's a big deal. Yes.

That means the world. Well, let's just say it's not things that always need to be done in that moment. Did you know we were still roasting? I thought the pet. The P part was over. They'll act like you do all the things. Keep going. If I see a task needs to be done, I don't care what's going on. House could be on fire.

I'm like, well, I'm finishing this. You know. Let me do it. Through priorities. It's like, what do I see in front of me? The priority is whatever I'm doing right now. Whatever's there. Whatever gives you therapy.

Whitney's quality time. Yeah. Still figuring out what that means, but. His version of quality time is us sitting together in silence on our phones, but we're still together. Where I'm like, no, we need like, be speaking to each other. We're like watching a show together. other that we both are into.

I think that's quality time. Nope. Yeah. I think she wants like a conversation. I think she does it. I agree as a fellow quality timer. Wow, thank you. All right.

Next question. Let's see this one. Were you and your spouse on the same page financially when you first met? Well, that's easy for us. We met at Ramsey. So the answer is yes.

And Whitney was debt-free when I met her. which, you know, green flag, for sure. Wouldn't have been a red flag if she had debt she was paying off? But the fact that she was debt-free was just like, oh, that's awesome. Like we're going to be leapfrogging when we're married completely debt-free.

So that was really nice. How much said did you have? I had paid it off by the time I met her. Okay. So you were debt-free too. Yes. Yeah, yeah. So that was a game changer.

And we didn't have to have a ton of financial conversations because we both believed in the Ramsey Principles. We both had been through Financial Peace University. So that made our life a lot easier, I would say, on that front. Agreed. That's great. So Rachel, obviously, coming from Dave and Sharon, very Ramsey, very, has her financial principles. But were you in the same, did you even know Ramsey?

No. I was a college kid not listening to talk radio. Which, fair? They're pretty much all of them. Yeah. And. So where were you at with your money? Back in the day, too, right?

I loved work, and I loved, like, earning money. I was into the credit thing. I remember getting my first $500 limit because it was all strategy for me. You wanted to play the game? Yeah, yeah. And I was going to be great at it, you know? I wouldn't say we were on the same page

when we started dating. And then I don't remember having specific conversations around it, but I just think as I got to know her family, I just started to adopt certain principles, probably. We did go through financial peace. Yeah, I think we did watch it. I think Dave made us do that.

He made us do that. He did on engagement. I had a thought about that in 12 years. We went to a class, y'all. Like, we went to a class. Did they know? Yeah. Like, do they...

Not until I was on the lesson. Not to where we were like, she looks familiar. Yeah. Did you ever have red flags, Rachel, when you see a credit card? No, I remember thinking of this is pretty funny But I'm out of

You did? We're getting pizza and like there's the Did you really? Yeah, it is your Eagle credit card But you didn't say any, I mean I didn't really count me honestly I'm 19. You're 20 years old.

I'm out with Winston Last thing you're thinking of He's driving my car He's driving my car It's great, I'm fine What car was it? I want to know what kind of car What kind of car was this?

It was like a SUV Yeah Lexus SUV Nice Yeah But the money stuff Because people ask us this a lot And I'm like yeah

Number one, we were so young and it was kind of like this. And you weren't like a crazy like, oh my gosh, I want, no. I want this crazy nice car. He's not a consumer. Like consumerism is not Winston's like top issue, right? So because of that, he's like very practical. And so the idea of living with what you have, not going into debt. It fits my personality. Yeah, I was like, it wasn't this big like, yeah, it wasn't this like, oh, I have to change my mindset. I was going to work hard and be practical with or without credit. I really was. So I was like, okay, without. Okay, yes. FPU. is a great class, right? Worth the money you pay. You know what else is worth the money you pay?

What's that? For Delete Me, a subscription that literally this company goes in and removes all of your data that is online. So data brokers come in and get your data from websites that you filled your, you know, your information out. And so these data brokers, they have your address, your number, your name. I mean, it's crazy the information that you have that's out there. And Delete Me goes in and removes your information from all of these websites. So it helps you, you know, stay away from like scammers and spammers and everything out there. Oh, yeah. It's one of the ways I say I love you to my family is by using Delete Me,

our information is being scoured online, remove, delete me, sends me the report. And I sleep easier, which as an anxious person, very nice. That's what you need. Very, very helpful. Some peace. So I encourage everyone to check it out. They're giving our listeners and viewers a great discount. If you go to join DeleteMe.com slash SmartMoney, you'll get 20% off any of their

plans just by going to that site. Joinbleatle.com slash smart money. And their plans start as low as $9 a month, you guys. So it's really inexpensive. And in the world today of technology and internet and all of our information out there, it is worth it protecting your information. So it is a great service.

I love it. And it's so fun to get the emails and the report to see how many hours you've saved, they saved you from removing your information. And I'll always beat you because I started first. I'm at 66 hours and I brag about it. George is there. I'm in the 40s, but it's fine. Check it out. We'll drop a link in the description below.

So great. Okay, next I think we should play a game and we could play like the not-so-newly-wed game because we've all been married, you know. Yeah, how long? Six years. Jinks, you owe me a Coke. Six years, 15. Wow.

That's pretty wild. If they beat us, we're screwed. This episode. You guys should do better than us. This episode comes out. This is like a trivia. At Valentine's Day, do you remember when you proposed? The day before Valentine's Day, like a true. strategist.

I know. The 13th. Get into the restaurants now. That's true. Notice that menu on this time? Actually, I don't know why I did it. Maybe that was it. I didn't want to be cliche.

That's kind of my fore coming out. Yeah, but I thought about that. This time of year, this is when we got engaged. That's so funny. Okay, so Caliare producer is going to ask some questions. So let's get our whiteboards. What is your wife's favorite fast food order? Oh, man.

This is hard. I have a lot. I just wrote one, and then I thought, oh, but it was another one in my head. That's really good too. Gosh, George. That's a long order. It's an exhausting life. We have dietary restrictions.

Okay. I'm ready. All right. Winston, what you put? I went with Taco Bell. Non-specific. It's the dirtiest fast food. I know. You just went Taco Bell.

Rachel? Yeah. All right. Do you know what her taco Bell is? Two soft-shell beef tacos. Yeah. That is true. That's correct.

That's not what you wrote. No. Oh, wow. Can we see? For the good of the group, can you read? Italian, sorry, Italian. I don't think I've ever got that. Firehouse sub.

Fully involved? Fully involved? You see, signor. Yes, that's exactly right. We just did our fast food Smart Money episode a little while back, so. Okay. I learned a lot about her fast food habits.

Oh, that would have been helpful. You should be worried. George, what did you put? I said, Chick-fil-A, grilled chicken club meal, gluten-free bun. Wow. Wow.

Chick-fil-A-O-N-Fri-Gla. Nailed it. Unbelievable. Wow. Had to add the gluten. You gotta tell them. That's true. Wow. All right.

Y'all are waiting. All right. Second question. What is your wife's vacation dream spot? Oh, gosh. Not even a dream. She doesn't even know. This isn't fair.

I don't like dream. That's different. Yeah. Then where are we going to go? Okay. All right. Winston. New York City.

Oh, New York City. Wow. Look at that. I said Alice Beach. and I went beach first But then I went Dream Europe Cross that out Back to Realistic

And Beach See how you try Wait with a what? 30A So you're right She covered the whole highway for you I went very specific That was good

Okay All right last question for the guys What is your wife's favorite place To shop for herself Oh gosh this is tough It's like there's where she would like to shop And there's where she has to shop No her favorite place

Like where does she go most often I don't shop He doesn't give me money I'm kidding She acts like there's an allowance He doesn't give me money You won't let her have any money I'm gonna

I'm gonna go perfect world type I don't know Alright Winston Target with question mark Yes Yay Such close I'm waiting for her to finish

To be fair I can't even Okay I don't want to be accused of cheating I know Sorry sorry What do I like? I don't know

I'll tell you what you like. You can go. I'll tell you how much money you get. I said anthropology. Dang, that's it. That is it. I put Nordstrom. I know her better than she knows her.

You know her better than she knows herself, George. All right. It's me and the Lord. You get internal points. Whitney and Rachel. What is your husband's favorite music album of all time? Can I say an...

That's the hardest question. I don't know albums. I mean, I genuinely... Can I say like favorite artists? favorite music artists. Okay, that's better. I can do that. I can do that. Artist. I got album and artists. We're going to album and artist, which gives us a bonus point. No. No. Shoot. Yeah.

That's fine. Rachel can change the rules at any time, but I can't. Okay, no. It's fine. I get it. Makes sense. Make sense. All right. All right. Whitney. How do you even say it? Bonnie-Veer, Bonnie-Veer. Bonnie-Ber. Okay, that's the same word. It means good winter in French. Well, that's the album. It's his self-titled. Okay. Wow.

All right, Rachel. Winston loves Gavin the Girl. Oh, where to go, babe. Yes. Nice job. I guess what I thought you would guess. He did the sweet chariot song. Was that his big hit?

You don't sound too enthused about that. You're like, well, you got to listen to his deeper cuts. It's actually... No, a piano. No, he's awesome. What's one chore around the house your husband hates the most? Ooh, easy. Don't process it.

I'm going for it. All right, Whitney. I said deep cleaning specifically the shower. Oh, yeah. I got that one wrong. I said washing baby dishes. Which, how many times have you done that? That's why I said it.

I'm being honest. Never. I draw the line. His brother has washed more dishes. Rachel? I said laundry. Oh, shoot. I said dishes.

Oh. How did we both say? We both hate the dishes and they don't know. No, you love adult dishes. You don't like baby dishes. What was the laundry? I think we were married like four or five months. And you did laundry?

And I was like... Probably perfectly. And what did I say? We joke about time. I think laundry's your thing. So I taught him. I was like, I think laundry might be your thing. I was like, I need to stop doing laundry so often.

I love that she considered it. She considered it like it's one of his greatest talents. I did. I was like, you're really good at it. I understand. I'll wash and dry and wait until George gets home to fold. Okay, it's the polling. It's the polling.

I'm a grade folder. All right. Last question, unless we have to go into tiebreaker. Okay. Oh, Lord. If your husband had to pick one TV show to watch for the rest of his life, what would it be? Oh, man. Oh, my gosh.

One TV show for the rest of your life. It's not a good sign when I can't think of it. I know. Oh, man. It's not that deep. All right. Okay. This is for the championship.

Uh, Seinfeld. Yes. Oh, wait, this is his. I almost said breaking bad. I'm not friends because I love friends. Rachel. Okay, I'm putting this. because it's kind of my two real housewives, R-H, real housewives.

Because I have to... You laugh at it a lot. Babe. Oh, no. Oh, shoot. How it's made. Yeah, that is once in. Totally.

Okay, the camel's won. Woo! I went me. I went so selfish. Do you need time to grieve the loss, or are you good? I mean... Save it for therapy. We've got to keep moving.

I just hate that I went selfish with Real Housewives, but you do think it's funny. Oh, gosh, if I have to... That's where I sacrificed to be with you. Okay. There it is. There it is. Congratulations on the win.

Yeah, well done, gosh. You didn't have a sore loser on one of her top traits. Y'all are way ahead. No, she's... She'll bring it back up. Cool, cool, cool. All right, so if we could all each leave a final money tip for the viewers and the listeners

when it comes to... Are we going to money in marriage specifically, or just life money tips, George, what do you think? Ooh. I mean, I feel like this has been a very marriage focus, but I think we can open it beyond that. Okay, so just a money tip. Yeah. What would you say to people out there?

Top of my head, I would say just practicing contentment. Like, one of my biggest traps. I'm always kind of like looking at the next thing, which is great to have goals. But sometimes you need to be okay with what you have. So even in singleness, like you don't have to be chasing the next thing all the time. Well said. Well sad.

Well sad. I would say that the way that my relationship with money is always telling a story about me on a deeper level. So if I'm wanting to spend, then there's probably a lot of reasons why. And so it's not just the money of it. It's telling me a story about where I'm at. So it could be because I want some control. It could be because I want a little hit of dopamine, so I'm going to do a little Amazon shopping. It could be because I want to feel powerful.

It could be because I'm scared. It could be, you know, all kinds of different things. And so my tip would be it's telling you something about where you're at in the moment. Yeah, on that same kind of idea, I would say to have money in its rightful place. Because I do think even being in a career where we talk about money a lot and we're like, budget, get out of debt and save and invests in all the things, which is very important. And you need to do to create peace in your life. but put money in its proper position in life because I do think people just chase it and chase status and there is an underlying belief if I just had more kind of what you're saying

Whitney like I'll be okay and to a degree that it's an unhealthy part of your life more does not mean that it's going to be better so when you can kind of get to this place like it's great and we want it under control we don't want it to be a stressful thing in our life so we're going to do and make wise things make wise choices around us so this that it's not the thing that we're chasing all the time because it kind of leads to a dead end. Beautifully said, I'm going to put a bow on it along the same theme and say that you go with you.

It doesn't sound like it's about money, it is. The question to ask here is, and then what? You're going to achieve this financial goal, and then what? Well, then my life will be, no, it's not going to be fixed. And so I think money is a tool to accomplish goals, but if money is just the thing that you're trying to solve for, you're going to be really disappointed when you get there. So have a bigger goal,

a bigger vision for who you want to become, whether you're single, as a family, whatever it is, and chase that instead of the next financial goal. Yep. Love that, George. That's good. Well said. So well-s-well. And marry the correct person. Do you know, I do feel like marrying the right person is a wealth hack

in and of itself. You know, I saw an Instagram real, and I don't know who the guy was, but he was like an older-looking guy. He looked very smart and rich. And the interviewer said, what's the number one thing you would say to people? Like the number one piece of advice ever, ever. And he said, marry the right person.

That the spouse, I mean, truly, the spouse creates a lot of dynamics in life. I don't want that to cripple people to be like, well, there's a soul made out. No, it just means make sure you're aligned with that person versus going, oh my gosh, he's not on the same page and I'll never get there. Yep, exactly.

So good. Okay, well, before we get to get to get used charge, George, tell us what we sipped on because I am almost finished. We sipped on a hanky-panky, which is appropriate for this episode and at the same time inappropriate. I'm going to give this drink a 8 out of 10.

How about you? I'm not usually a dark liquor cocktail person anymore. But I think I would order. I'm going to have 10 out of 10. I think I would order it at a restaurant. It was really good. Winston? Wow.

Rating? I am, honestly, it's growing on me as a cocktail does, but I'm like a 6.5. All right. Thanks for being honest. 6 and a half. I'd say 9. That's good.

All right. We just like stair stepped there. We got a full range from six and a half to ten. So here's what's in it. If you're curious, it's got gin, sweet vermouth, Fernette Branca, which is an Amaro, and an orange twist as a garnish, and it comes out to $3.96 a glass,

which is probably a fifth of what you'd pay at a restaurant for this. So make it at home, the recipes and the show notes, and tell us who's right on their rating. Is it a six and a half or is it a 10? Or somewhere in between. All right, now it's time for Guilty as charged.

And this is where our producer Kelly gives us a new guilty-as-charged question every week and if we're guilty, we take a sip. Kelly. So this one's a little bit different. This is, what is your spouse's most toxic money trait? Oh.

Are you trying to cause Merrill's safe? Why would you do that? We were going to have a great night after this. In Rachel's haste, sometimes she has fallen for scams. Oh, gosh. Sometimes. Our audience is very familiar with this.

Because of her authenticity, they know. They know. I'm not telling you anything you don't know. That's it. I mean, that is it. She just goes. I've fallen for a lot. Click, click, click.

That doesn't look real. Wow. You know what I mean? Do you remember that one? Yeah. Yeah. I fall on for the good ones. I know.

I don't wonder you need delete me. So her most toxic trade is that she's too trusting. I don't think that's what I said, George. I've seen worse. That's all I'm saying. I just don't think through things sometimes. Just get excited. Yeah.

I'm not going to go as far as toxic. We've all got that text from USPS. Hey, you owe us money if you want this package delivered. Click this tracking number. So exciting. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Rachel, what's Winston's? Winston's toxic trait is that he claims in his undercover a saver doesn't spend.

I mean, literally, we will go through it. We'll go through, like, I'm not kidding, a month, two months, maybe three months. And the Winston line item in the every dollar budget, like there might be like one Starbucks in it. I mean, like, nothing. And then he comes to me. And he's like, hey, I kind of want to buy a piano that's against the wall that's silent, even though we have another piano, but he wants to practice piano

where the kids don't bother him, and it's a lot of money. Or I want a sauna, but I kind of want the really nice son and the three-person sauna, it's going to cost a lot of money. And I want to, like, he never spends, but when he spends, it's like a lot of money.

Lifelong product. Lifelong product. And I'm like, sure. I mean, I'm great. I mean, that's fine. Right, we're not going in debt for it. Like, we got it. So, but when he spends, it's like, I could buy.

My Amazon packages, don't equate to what he spent. I think if we added it up, you actually spend dollar amount more than I spend. Thank you. A thousand cuts versus... Yeah. So he focuses on life-changing things that really matter,

and you focus on the trivial. I think that's a fair assessment. You know? And don't you reap the benefits of said sauna and said piano playing? No, the piano's silence, because he wanted away from the kids. Which has its own benefits

when you don't want to hear piano. which I think is very thoughtful of him. She just wants more hangers. It works out. More clothes, work? Just like, we gotta get some of these hangers out of here. More hangers, you gotta get more clothes because now you have empty hangers.

Well, the closet's full. So you have to... Okay, what's y'all... All right, Whitney? I mean, it's weird how, like, similar we are. That's exactly what I was going to say about George. When he... So the same thing, he won't spend frivolously for months,

and then all of a sudden he wants a bed jet that will air-condition his day. bed. Wait a minute. Side at night. Wait. We talked you'd tell them how much it was. We hung out this long and the bed jet

didn't come up. Yeah. And he just bought a bed jet mini because the big one had too much air conditioning. I returned it to be fair, I returned it to save us money and purchased the mini version, which was a few hundred bucks cheaper.

This is fascinating. Do the viewers know? Is this the viewers know about this? I think I've mentioned the bed jet before. Yeah, it's not an endorsement. More of it. I mean, if I could afford the eight sleep, I'd probably go with that, but that's $4,000.

So I thought $350 for the bed jets of steel. But even minor things, like just girl stuff, like, but he gets his haircut every two weeks. So that's in the budget. So obviously it's like normal. But then when I go and get highlights, he's like, whoa, whoa, like freaks out. But I'm going twice a year,

which is way less than his twice a week. That's right. Haircut. Toxic. So, yeah. Toxic. Okay, is it my turn? Yes, it is.

How much time do we have? No, your toxic trait, unequivocally, is the fact that you will buy hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of clothing, but she's going to return at all, maybe more than she bought, so where somehow she's going to make us money. It's a money-making scheme for her. I put money back in the budget. She's like, hey, I'm going to spend $500 at Old Navy, but I'm going to return most of it. And I don't know my size anymore. I just had a baby. She's on a throw that card in there.

Yeah. So, I have to buy multiple pants. If you just say the word postpartum, I'm like, okay, I can't win. Like, you want you want. It's the trump card. So she, and to be fair, she does return it all. A month later, there's a $400 credit back to our account. But in the moment, as a saver, I'm like,

that's a lot of money to spend on clothes in one month. But also, I'm not doing it every month. You have to be honest. This is like once every two years. Don't even. Hey, you know what? Mia's going to love you. I just took my girls to Target and I was like, eh, should we get some new boots?

They're like, yeah, I was like, okay, okay. So we went on new boots, and it's so fun. I know I got me with three pairs of shoes that day, and he was like, what is this charge? He's like, your daughter needs to be happy. She can't walk. She cannot walk. But she's cute. But she's cute.

That's all that matters. But she does look cute. I know. Oh, it's so fun. Girls are fun. I think what we've learned is that toxic money trades don't mean you can't have a great marriage. That's what I've learned. Thousand percent.

That was fun. Kind of say thank you, too, for being here. I know this, maybe you both were dreading this. We kind of forced you into it, but we appreciated it. Very much. Thank you. Thank you. Happy Valentine's Day to y'all.

Happy Valentine's Day. Glad you know each other better than we did. Love to get dinner on Valentine's if you guys are free. Let us know. Double date. Double date. So great. Rachel still wants to finish the newlywed game.

What am I like, Rick? I'm trying to race sports at dinner. Thanks for having us to dinner. I'm like round two. Should we do round two? It's three to two, I think, from what I remember. Best out of three. Best out of three.

Best out of three. Oh, man. Well, thank you guys for listening and watching as always. You can check out our episode on why fewer people are having kids today. It's not us because we got kids. But make sure to check that out. Subscribe and like. And we will see you guys next Thursday on an all-new episode of.

Smart Money Happy Hour.