Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel - The Internet Came for Us . . . Here’s Our Response

Episode Date: April 3, 2025

📈 Are you on track with the Baby Steps? Get a free personalized plan. “Does George Kamel even know how much things actually cost?” In this episode, Rachel and George react to savage comments and defend their controversial money takes with facts even the haters can learn something from. Next Steps: 🎥 Watch our video Revisiting Our Most Viral Financial Advice. 🍸 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: 🥃 The Professor Recipe: @Timthetankofficial 1 can Dr. Pepper 2 ounces whiskey 2 ounces rum 2 ounces cherry liqueur Juice of half a lemon Instructions: Pour Dr. Pepper into a glass. Add to the empty can ice, whiskey, rum and cherry liqueur, and squeeze in the juice of half a lemon. Top off with the Dr. Pepper. 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

Today, we are asking to be roasted. The Smart Money Happy Hour podcast is like a cocktail party thrown by accountants. You show up expecting fun, but instead, you're debating Roth IRA strategies over mocktails. Why are you lumping in Dave into this one? Hey guys, I'm Rachel Cruz. I'm George Camel. And this is Smart Money Happy Hour. This is the show where two friends who happen to be money experts,

talk about what you're talking about, everything from pop culture, current events, and money. And before we roast each other, well, not really each other, I guess our own advice that they roasted us on. Yeah, y'all roasters out there. Let's talk about what we're sipping on. This is the professor. And I guess because there's a doctor on the can, hashtag, not sponsored, but reach out to you, boy, if you're interested. Yeah, we'll take the money. So if you're interested in this canned cocktail concoction, you like that, play on words.

We're going to give you our rating and reveal the cost per glass at the end of the episode, so stick around for that. I'll just say the aftertaste. Not great. Similar to roasting, I feel like, not a great aftertaste. Yeah, I mean, but, okay, roasting, this is like, I feel like become more and more popular, especially like in the comedic world. I love watching the roast. The famous roast of Tom Brady.

That was a good one. Yes. Little edgy. Not family friendly. Don't have the children around, but man. And recently, Nikki Glazer at the Golden Globes did a roast intro, massive hit in the comedy world, crushed it. Yes.

And now Gen Z is asking ChatGPT to roast their social media profiles. So a lot of iconic behavior. Everything's iconic in their world. If they like it, iconic. You know what say what you want about them. They don't take themselves too seriously. I appreciate it. They don't get easily offended.

At least not from AI. If a human says anything bad about them, different. But we decided to follow their lead and have some fun. So we asked ChatGAPT to roast Smart Money Happy Hour. What did it say, George? Here we go. Give us the read. Again, not my words.

This is the robots. The Smart Money Happy Hour podcast, is like a cocktail party thrown by accountants. You show up expecting fun, but instead, you're debating Roth IRA strategies over mocktails. Hurtful, but it gets worse. Their, quote, happy hour energy feels like you took one sip of wine and then decided to create a spreadsheet for fun.

Where's the chaos, the oversharing that makes happy hour legendary? This vibe of this, quote, cocktail hour is so sober, you could deduct it on your taxes as a business expense. Stop it! In conclusion, this show needs to loosen up, pour a real drink, and tell us about a $600 air friar impulse purchase. Now, that would be relatable. Wow. First of all, who has the gall?

Man, the audacity. A.I. Unbelievable. But honestly, other than it being wrong, I think we are a fun show, they're kind of right. You bring the party. I bring the accountant. It's not as accountant. That's so silly. That's not true.

We're cooler than most accountants. So offended. Okay, well, I did this for you, George. What'd you do? I put in your YouTube channel. That's a little too specific. I know. Are you ready for this?

Okay. George Camel's YouTube channel is like the financial version of a kale smoothie packed with nutrients but could use a little more flavor. No. Why is that so on brand?

I know, and then you're ready for this one. The Millionaires in Cars Getting Coffee Series is like watching a budget-friendly remake of Jerry Seinfeld's show, but fewer laughs and more Excel docs. Oh my gosh. Did you do mine? That is so harsh. I did not.

You did not. I didn't know you could handle it. What? I could have handled it. Oh, man. That does hurt. And you know what? To be fair, I don't use Excel.

I'm a Google Sheets guy. All right? You are very kale smoothie-esque. That was pretty fine. I haven't had a kale smoothie since I can. Who's ordering a kale smoothie on purpose? You put kale in it. You don't know what's in there.

Oh. They don't feature that. for obvious reasons. I don't think so, just like we don't feature you for obvious reasons. It's fine. I'm just kidding.

I feel like this whole episode was made just to roast me. I'm kidding, George. You make this funny. Hey, a little self-reflection can't hurt. I can take the joke. Yes, we can take the heat, y'all. It hurts a little bit, but we can take it.

We can do this. So our team compiled a list of the most critical comments about our money teachings and we're going to read them aloud and defend each other. I love that. Co-host don't leave co-host

in the hands of angry keyboard warriors. No. Which can I just say, If you leave any comment on the internet that isn't just like a positive, cool, you're not okay. You're really not. I will always say this.

Because you know what? I see things on the internet. A girl that I follow an influencer. She's an ugly jacket. But guess what? I think about that for 0.2 seconds, ugly jacket. Now what do I do. Just keep moving.

Why would I feel the need to tell her her jacket? Pause. Comment. That's an ugly jacket. I mean, seriously, you think about that. Who does that? It's hurt people, hurt people. That's what it is.

It is. So go find healing. Go be a whole person. Wow. Beautifully said. Very sad. That's our roast to you roasters. It's a roast of the roast.

All right. Okay, George. Here's an investing critique. Someone felt this about me. This is a real comment. Imagine being so out of touch that you not only assume people have $1,000 a month to throw in a lockbox of savings that can't be access for 30 years, but you also assume you can get a 10% rate of return over. over those same 30 years.

Delusional! I assume that's how they sound. It feels right, because here's the deal. Average car payment right now in America for a new car. It's like $732. Yikes. And that's just one piece of debt that they may have. One piece of debt, yeah.

That's always going to come back as my like comeback. I'm like, okay, well, what are we paying out in payments versus paying ourselves? Yes. Because debt is robbing you literally. And for a lot of people, like, that's it. Now, $1,000 a month, yeah, that can feel like a lot, right? But again, when you look at the average stats of the average American and you cut out the debt and actually get out of debt, you're going to have that money freed up.

That's right. So we're not assuming anything here. You know, I know people don't have a bunch of extra cash laying around to invest. And that's why it's step four in the Ramsey Baby Steps. Get out of debt first. Get your emergency fund that will free up those payments that you're putting to lenders. And instead you can put it in the stock market. Again, the 10% rate of return, I will come back for you all the time.

Thank you. Okay, and again, the market is different every year. Where are you getting 10% every year, Rachel? We had mutual funds, you guys, 18% last year, 18%. Yeah. And we say 12% sometimes. And everyone's like, oh, my God. Well, if you look at the S&P 500, the top, you know, largest 500 companies based on market cap,

the S&P 500, which represents the overall U.S. stock market, returned 23% last year. Yes. So you're like, where are they getting this? I don't know, just the general. stock market. Just facts? Just like what's happening out there. And that's if you just track the stock market. And again, some years it's not as great, right? Like it says... Some years it's negative 22%. It goes up and down. It goes about... I guess we need to explain how an average works. Over a 10, 20, 30 year period of time, you can take the average annualized return, which is 10 to 12%. There you go. And then it's not a locked vault. I don't like this idea. You can't access it for 30 years. Yes, there's retirement money. We want you to live in the meantime. You can also invest outside of that. You can save up for. purchases, but what are you investing for other than the long term? Yep.

So I don't know. I don't know how to make you happy. I wish I knew. All right, here's a comment I got. Reality check, only 1% of Americans will ever be able to build wealth, and it's because they've inherited it. Oh, wow. So this stat, if it was correct, that would be very depressing, if only 1% of America could

win with money. That would be very depressing. But that's not true. Yeah, that's saying one out of every. 300 people will build wealth only because of inheritance. Everyone else will remain broke for the rest of their life. So according to the U.S. Centious Bureau, 65.6% of Americans currently own a home,

which is a big deal because your home is adding to your net worth. The Federal Reserve said that more than half of Americans have retirement accounts. And as of November of 2023, employment in America reached an all-time high of 161.9 million people working. All right. And we know that nine out of ten millionaires today, 90% in America are first generation wealthy.

Like they became millionaires because of themselves, not because of inheritance. So it's actually the opposite of what this person's saying. Clearly this person's hurt and they feel like they can't build wealth themselves. Back to the hurt people, hurt people. I wish I could just hug them and say, hey, bud, we're going to show you how to build wealth. You can do this.

It might be the first in your family, but you can do it. Our approach, I will always say it does take levels of sacrifice depending on where you are. It's hard, right? I mean, the life is expensive, right? I'll say that too, that caveat. And this process is over a long period of time. It is not something that like, oh my gosh, you're 28 and suddenly when you're 32, everything's going to be great and dandy. No, this is, you're building wealth over the long term.

So it does take a level of patience, and it's not as exciting and flashy, but it's steady, which is what we want. Here's another one. Who cares about building wealth if all my personal info gets stolen online anyway? This is actually a very valid comment from Janice. I think so. Very relevant in today's world. Yeah. This is an easy answer.

Delete me. Okay, this will protect you online. They find and remove your personal info from all these data broker sites who sell it for a profit so that you can have some peace of mind, sleep easy, and it reduces the risks of scam and fraud. Yes, because so much of our life is online right now, you guys. I mean, almost everything we do, we're online. We're filling out forms.

and we're just doing so much, whether we're buying or banking, and whatever it is. And so making sure your personal info is off the Internet. You do not want people to make money off of you and your information. That's what they're doing. They're literally buying, selling your data, and it's like not great. So get your data off the Internet with Delete Me.

Check it out. Go to join DeleteMe.com slash smart money, and you'll get 20% off any of their plans. And I love this. It saved me 77 hours already. In my report, it shows me how much time I've saved. I feel pretty good about that. And I just got my parents on, delete me.

And they are loving it too. I'm trying to protect the boomers I love. Good for you. You're such a loving son. You got to look out for them. Such loving son. All right, here's one about credit scores. Ooh.

You and Dave Ramsey probably have a 500 credit score. Debt isn't a bad thing, especially if you need to build credit. I love your... Okay. The way you're reading these. Why are you lumping in Dave into this one? Yeah. Number one, guarantee you Dave doesn't have a credit score because he doesn't have debt,

which is all the credit score manages. And I can tell you for a fact I don't have one because I check. Once a year for fun. It's one of my only hobbies. I just go, yeah, let's see if I, oh, still don't have one. Okay, cool. Keep on going. So here's the truth people need to understand.

Once you pay off all of your debt, you have no open lines of credit, you pay off your mortgage, your credit score eventually disappears after about six or 12 months. Yep, and it's, yep. And it turns out. And determine it is what it is. So they can't pull it. They're like, oh, there's no information here for it. And you're going to live life and be totally okay.

Yes, your credit score will be pulled for certain things in life. They might be maybe a job interview. Sometimes for insurance, like those kind of things. And all you have to say out loud is, oh, I don't have a credit score because I don't borrow money. And usually if you're talking to a human, it's great. And then you can actually still get a house without a credit score. That's one of our biggest pushbacks through manual underwriting. and so it is possible to get a mortgage

because it's the one type of debt we won't yell at you for. And I've actually done this, so don't come at me with but the rates, no, you don't know, because you never done it, okay? So maybe listen to a guy who actually did it, who can tell you it's not that difficult and the terms were equal to someone with a great credit score because I did a 15-year mortgage with 10% down at least, and you're going to have great interest rates and great terms.

That's good. Have we felt a little feisty? I am a little feisty. I feel like we need to take a breath towards together. All right, less defensive. Yeah, we don't need to be as defensive. Everything's fine. We have a great life.

I just wish they knew what I knew. Oh. It's out of love. What a sage you are. Thank you. If only everyone had my knowledge in life, everything would just be better. George Camel.

Not the roast of George Camel today. But thank you. That's true. Oh, my gosh. I'm going to have fun with this one. Get this. Oh, wait, this is about George. Oh, man.

Oh, good. They couldn't find any more mean comments This is a comment about George. Oh, this is funny. Here we go. Get this kid off drugs. Does he even know how much things actually cost today? Wow.

George, get off your drugs. You're talking to a guy who knows prices like the back of his hand. And by drugs, do they mean vitamin A, vitamin B complex? Vitamin C, vitamin D. Yeah, because I'm on those. Might even throw a fish oil in there. Get those omegas. Come at me, bro.

You think I'm Medicaid, you should see me off my supplements. That's all I have to say about that. Okay, so does he even know how much things actually cost today? Yes, I do. George, you do. But what I won't stand for is people complaining all the time about how everything costs so much, and yet they're unwilling to do anything about it,

to cut their spending where they can, to control the controllables. Listen, I shop for eggs. I know what my eggs cost. I know what stores have the better egg prices. Do your research, and if you can't afford it, don't buy it, find the best alternative you can within your budget. Yes. I have something to say.

Lady in the gray sweater. You know what I think? I think this person, I'm going to just like take a stab at this. Because you know on the internet, this is all internet, right? World that we're living in here. And I think some people, because I know accounts out there that just complain. And the accounts are like, oh my gosh, in 1983, blah, blah, blah, blah. And now today, how are we supposed to?

And that's the whole video. That was a perfect summary of every one of those videos. And all they do is just that. Like, that's it. That's their whole account is just that. The movie theater was 50 cents back in the day. Now it's 15 bucks. How was anyone supposed to go to the movies?

Tuition was $53,000. And now it's 59,000. Like, how are we? You know, whatever, whatever. And that's all the accounts are. Facts are correct. Like, it's fine. But, again, all they're doing is just, like, stating the facts and then that's it.

And I think some people love that world. They want to sit in the... In the problem. Here's the problem. And now we're just going to complain. And just, you know. And if you offer up any solution that requires any level of sacrifice, screw you, man.

Yeah. It's hard times out here. Yeah, yeah. So I think this person... Our entire job is to try to give solutions to problems. I know, right. It's called Ramsey's Solutions. It's not Ramsey Problems.

That'd be a terrible company. Such a bad company. So, yeah, I think that comment about you, George, is somebody that would like an account that just complains. Yeah. And when you give a solution, they don't like that. Oh, finally, a comment. about Rachel.

Oh. Can you handle this one? Maybe so with my Dr. Pepper. This one's pretty light, honestly. This has to do with a call that you and Ken Coleman took on the Ramsey show regarding a Taylor Swift concert. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

No way I would have gone to the Taylor Swift concert. Sell those tickets and keep moving with the baby steps no matter what. Wow. Dave. Yeah. Does that Dave Ramsey chiming in? This is a burner account? So can you explain what you told the person on the call

and what the context was? Okay, yeah. that call, if I can remember correctly, was a mom that called in, and she had given her daughter Taylor Swift tickets. And this was during the heyday. So the mom gave the daughter tickets, and now the mom's calling. It was like, should the daughter sell the tickets? Because she could make like a crazy amount of money. Because of resale. Yes. And pay off her debt with them. So our take was, that's up to your daughter. Like if your daughter called and said, I have these tickets, should I sell them, we could give you, you know, our opinion on that. But as the mom,

you already gave the gift. Like, there's something you can do about it. Like, you can't tell her to sell them. And so we gave them permission to, like, go because the daughter really wanted to go to concert. So we're like, let her go to the concert. And a lot of people were like, yeah, not happy with that. That she should have sold it and paid off the debt.

Yes. And I think this is a classic example of opportunity cost. Because you do think, because I think she could have sold all the tickets for, like, 15 grand or something crazy. I mean, right? And so you take that amount of money, go have a great night for five, six hours, which was a wonderful night.

The Ears, it was amazing. You've done this twice, so you can vouch. That's really good. So that, or if you had debt, how long would it take you? How many hours would it take to work to make 15 grand? And that's a lot of hours.

That's a lot of nights, a lot of days. And so do you give the opportunity costs, right? So some people would say, absolutely, why would you, yeah, I don't want to work all that extra time to pay off this debt. I could get this gone, you know, in a second with the sale of these tickets. But then also, you don't want to miss once a lifetime event. What do you do, you know?

So I think it's all about if you want to have fun in life or not George. And Rachel is the first person to tell you, have fun in life. Go enjoy your life. And pay for quality experiences that will make memories. But getting out of debt, though, I do think from a long-term perspective, helps build your life in a better way. And from a math perspective, it does. math perspective, you're like, this is crazy to not do, to not sell the tickets and get this much money and you made all this profit.

But you can't look at it as a business transaction. You know, you bought the tickets in order to provide an experience for your daughter. Right. Not to create a spread to get out of debt. Totally. That's right. And that's my take. That's a guy who would tell you, sell them.

Sell them. All right. Let's do some rapid fire here. We have critiques of the Ramsey principles from time to time. And so we're going to take turns reading. has to respond in two sentences or less. Okay, but first, besides the EARS Tour, what we were just talking about,

something else that I have serious regrets on buying, cozy earth products. 100%. Love them. That's an experience in and of itself. Y'all, can I just say, when you have clean sheets, it's one of my favorite days.

When you wash your sheets, you know, you have, and it's, your bed's remade, it is, like, with the best feeling, and it's even better when it's cozy earth sheets. It's giving fancy hotel energy when you crawl into those sheets. I mean, you literally feel like you're on vacation or something. You go in, you're like, oh, my gosh, I cannot believe this is my bed. I love him.

Obsessed. Love the pajamas. There's some of my favorite pajamas that I own. And everything from, like, I have a shirt, I have joggers. I have like these, like lounge pants. I have a robe. You've got the whole collection. I know, I bought a lot of them.

And the blanket. The epic blanket. Yes, ma'am, that is an epic blanket, for sure. But it's great. So Cozy Earth products, they are amazing and worth every penny. So check it out. They're giving our listeners and viewers. up to 40% off a steep discount if you go to cozyearth.com slash smart money and use the promo code

smart money at checkout. We'll drop a link in the description as well. All right, let's do some rapid fire, George. Here we go. Here's the comment. Okay, here. You and your spouse can be on the same team while still not combining finances. My husband and I have had separate accounts for 10 years and it's working just fine. What do you say? Yeah, I mean, I would say it could feel like it's working, but there is an element of your relationship that you're not fully on board together. You're just not. I mean, It's like we're going to have two completely different parenting styles and choose to parent our kids differently.

And it's like you have to be on the same page. And so combining your accounts is a tactical way to show that. But ultimately what it's doing, it's like the ultimate trust in each other of saying, no, we are all in together. This is our life together. Not your life, my life. It's our life. And it's so much better that way.

Marriage is so much more fun when you feel that versus like, you pay that bill, I pay this bill. What you're saying the goal shouldn't be just fine. That's how my marriage is going, Rachel. It's a sign we're doing real well. That's right. Everything's just fine. It's just fine.

Just fine. All right, George, you ready for this? Okay. Charging hundreds of dollars for Financial Peace University is hypocritical when you're telling people to save money. Oh, wow. Okay. Coming at us.

First of all, 95% of our content, including this show, completely free. And so when we take a bunch of information, package it, have a team around it, things cost money. All products and services cost money. and it's not hundreds of dollars, it's less than $100. And it's totally worth it if that course gets you out of debt, changes your family tree, changes your life, helps you build wealth. It's the same reason people pay for a gym membership or for a personal trainer.

Yeah, I can walk around the neighborhood, and I might make some progress, but it's very different when someone teaches me exactly how to do the workout is they're showing up with accountability over a period of time. That to me is worth every penny. For sure. And I would say when you pay for stuff, you're more likely to do it. I mean, that's real.

I think that's real. Here's one. Here's your turn to respond, Rachel. Here's the comment. Absolutely no sympathy for emergencies. What are we supposed to do when a kid breaks an arm? How cruel are you, Rachel? Wait, why don't I have sympathy for emergencies?

I don't understand. Because I tell you to save for them? This is the comment. Because I tell them to save for emergencies? I guess. This has absolutely no sympathy for emergency. So what are you supposed to do when a kid breaks an arm? Well, yeah.

take them to the hospital. It's a good first step. Yeah, I mean, make sure everything's fine. And then, yeah, you'll get a medical bill. And if you have your $1,000 emergency fund in place is what we say. And if you're getting out of debt, pause the debt snowball, save up the money and you pay the medical bill. Yes. And hopefully you have insurance to where this is not going to tank you.

Yeah, it's going to help too. Right. Maybe you'll pay 20% of that bill, not 100%. That's right. Yep. And you've had, I mean, sweet little Chuck Cruz, didn't he break his leg? Chuck Cruz. Charles. I call him Chuck.

It's his aspirational name. He did. He broke his leg, y'all. And what did you do? And we talked about this on the show that I am not a good, like, medical mom. Like, I like see things. Like, y'all are fine. You're fine.

You were fine. I didn't say suck it up. I didn't say suck it up, but I was like, he's fine. Winston had to convince me he's not fine. And sure enough, he was not. He broke his leg. So you thought, oh, you just a little spraying. You'll be all right, buddy.

Get up. When he was two and a half years old. So I was like, he's fine. He's crying. I'm sure it hurt. He fell off the slide. That hurts. And then Winston's like, he's not walking.

Just give it a minute. Winston is like a human web MD. The man is a genius. I see a kid not walking and go, maybe that kid's not okay. Rachel says, pull yourself up by her bootstraps. I know. I was like, Kobe Biden.

And then Staples in the back of the head for Amelia. And I didn't take her in either. And then once I got home, he's like, this is really deep? I was like, is it? Winston. Winston took her again on. I'm terrible. I just don't know when things are.

are like an emergency. I think you should stop assessing medical emergencies and just go ahead and call Winston immediately. I know, I know. I want to say those were the only two. You know what I don't do? Maybe this is my skin thing. Rashes.

You don't do rashes. I always take pictures of rashes. We'll always call the doctor for rashes. That's your one thing. Yeah. Broken leg, you're probably fine. Yeah, yeah. A little rash.

You're like, no. Emergency. Bones and blood, fevers. I'm like, no, they're fine. A rash? What's this thing? And you don't, you're not touching it. Just a photo.

No, I'm all in there. Zooming in with a 3X. No, I'm all in there. I'm all in there. enough 30 years ago when Dave Ramsey came up with this. And the reason he did it was because he was telling people immediately, go get out of debt, go get out of debt. They'd have one little ankle bite or emergency and it would throw them off course from getting out of debt. So he decided, well, we need some buffer between you and life that can cover the little things, not the big things.

So if there was a big thing over a thousand bucks, pause the baby steps, stack up cash, sell whatever you can. But the truth is most people don't have 10 grand laying around that were telling them to throw a debt. And the truth is, if you wanted to save up three months before you started getting out of debt, it would take you so long. Like, there is something to be said about like just getting to it. Get to it. Like, snap, snap. Thank you.

Well said. All right. Next, George. Last one. Try living in any metropolitan area for just $100,000. Budgeting is impossible if the income isn't high enough. Can I say this? Please.

Yes. So you can't afford to live there. Living whatever life you want in New York City. $100,000? I don't think you can do whatever you want. And I don't think you may not be able to afford it. Yeah. So you can't live there.

Like, do you know what you mean? Like that was like a hard reality. That's what we had to learn? It's like when we moved, it was like, okay, yeah. What do you, like, when we moved to Nashville, it's like what area can we afford? But in the Constitution, it says you can live in any city you want and money won't be an issue. I know. It's my American right.

Man, why am I getting all sassy, George? Little Miss Defensive, Rachel. I love this energy. No, but the truth is, now, could I figure out how to live anywhere? on $100,000, absolutely. It might take having two roommates and living further out of town and not eating out and going out

and living the lifestyle of the metropolitan city. Yeah. So you can make it, let me tell you, go to New York City. A lot of people don't make $100,000 and they're making it. Now, what I will say,

if you're strapped with debt payments and trying to live this lifestyle, you're never going to make it. No matter how much you make. You can lifestyle creep your way out of it. But if you can get out of debt, have an emergency fund, you can learn how to live off $100,000.

I mean, that is a great salary, even in today's world, and you can make that work depending on what lifestyle you're aiming for. We are finding that people are moving out of big cities and going to more like suburbans outside so that they can enjoy their life more. And I will say it, not to throw them under the bus, L.A.

We had a lot of calls on the Ramsey Show that are Southern California and people are moving out. It's getting out of control. Because they can't enjoy life because it is so expensive. So people do find... And taxes just crush you. you over there versus Tennessee, no state income tax. Yes. So there is this point of like,

we're going to choose to move somewhere different, maybe make the same amount because it's a remote job, but we have more money... Higher quality of life. To use to, like, go do stuff and have fun. Like, that is, that's true. So rarely are you stuck where you are. You can move. I have moved across the country to be here. And so I'm telling you, you're not stuck where you are.

You have to make a choice. That's right for you. Yep. So I think some of the takeaways are, it's easy to get defensive as George and I displayed on today. episode. But it also depends just about the reality of life, the advice sometimes.

But there is a, like, there's a part of being an adult George with money that like, you just kind of, like, rubber meets the road. Like we don't get to like live like a Peter Panlands. What we do is we show people reality. And sometimes the reality of their situation hurts to look in that financial mirror. But we're doing that so that we can take you

to where you want to go. That's right. Yes. Not to just shame you. Yeah. So I think you have to drop. There's a lot of shame and baggage that comes with a lot of these comments. the context we don't have, which is, well, I grew up a certain way, I made mistakes, I feel like I'll never climb out of this. And have a hard situation, right? Sometimes life just deals you a really hard deck. And like, that is true too. So, yeah, I don't know. I think one of the biggest things early on is that mindset shift to, all right, I'm going to grow up, face reality

about my money, and figure it out. Here's my final thought. A lot of the comments have to do with things that are outside of that person's control. And let me tell you, it is easy to get angry about things that are outside of your control. That's most of life, most of the world. The people who win, the people who have success, the people who have happiness, focus on what they can control, which is a very short, simple list.

What you can control is your money, the way you spend it, you taking on debt, the way you budget. All of those things are in your control, and I find those people aren't in the comment section. They're too busy living their life. They're not there. They don't have the energy to comment there.

No. No, well said, though, George, well said. Thank you. All right, before we get to guilty as charge, tell us about the old professor. The professor. I think am I closer? I'm over halfway.

No, I still have half. Okay. I might be beating you on this one. What rating would you give the professor? Six out of ten? Five out of ten? Yeah. It's a five out of ten for me.

I've had much worse. And here's what I'll say about this drink. After I give you the ingredients, which is a can of Dr. Pepper. You need the can. I don't know how much Dr. Pepper is actually in here because clearly some was emptied out. out to make the drink. It's got whiskey, rum, cherry liqueur, and lemon juice.

Oh, okay. All up in there. And so the drink comes out to $6.60. Good night. Because there's a lot of ingredients, including multiple alcohols. The professor, the doctor, getting a doctorate is expensive. There we go. It's an expensive drink. It's an expensive drink. I think we've come full circle now. All the way around. This drink went to med school and it wants you to know. So there you go. Six dollars and sixty cents.

I'm dead along with it. are feeling risky and you can make the drink. And fun fact, you can take a can and remove the entire top of the can to make this drink. I did not know you could do that. I wasn't on Pinterest enough to learn. Learn something new everyday, Judge.

So yeah, the drink recipes and the show notes, give it a try this weekend if you're a fan of Dr. Pepper. I think it tastes like a, like if a Chick-fil-A drink got watered down with all the ice and then you just kind of poured some booze in it and went to your kid's soccer game. Very specific scenario. I know you've been there.

That's the energy it's giving. George, no. That's funny, though. Funny take. I appreciate that. Do you go to all the games? I'm just curious. Yes, yes.

You're a great mom. You know, they're fun. I want you to know that. And we will, we dog on kids sports a lot. They are fun now. Do you get into it? Are you the mom yelling on the sidelines? I'm a yeller, but I'm an encourager.

I'm an encourager. Okay. There's something, there's, I will say. Two types of loud moms. This may be too fresh because it's currently happening as we're recording this like in my life. There are certain, there are yellers at the refs, parents, which

we don't need to yell at the refs. And then you got the parents critiquing, get open, get, you know, they're yelling. You know what I yell? Good job, girls! Let's go cheetahs! That's so cute.

The golden cheetahs. The golden cheetahs. They name themselves. Anyways, that's my, I'm a yeller, but it's always... It's always positive. Oh yeah, I'm like, girl, this great pass, great pass. Are there really parents just yelling at the refs? Oh, double team, ref, that's a double team.

They're nine. Also, they should be the ref. Can't anyone do this pretty much? No, they hire, like, well, I say legitimate. No, I think you do have to have like some training. I'm not saying, hey, the reps are great. I'm just saying these are not like professional sports refs. No, but they're not parents.

Yeah. Like they legitimately like, yeah, they're calling plays. But I've heard it's a good side hustle, which is why I ask. It is. People can jump in and become a ref and get paid, you know, I don't know, 50, 75 bucks a game. Yeah, and y'all, it is so fun. I love it. Can't wait.

I know. I'll be there. You will. You really do. I'll be the encouraging. And do the wreck. I'll go on the John Deloney rant. Like, you don't have to go travel sports crazy.

Yeah. But just like having some competition for the kids where they're part of a team. I mean, it is so, it's so sweet. And the girls, I'm partial, but they're so cute. I would be yell screaming encouraging those girls. They got their little skirts on their little bows and they're just dribbling down the court. It's adorable. Doing the most.

I would encourage only because I don't know what's going on in the game to even have any, like... What's one sport? You hope me a place if you had to pick one. I know you wanted to skateboard. None of them, honestly. I mean, the one that damages your body and self-esteem the least? Is that fair to say as a girl's head? Is that fair?

That's honest. Okay. Like ballet. I've heard like your feet are going to get mangled doing ballet. Like that will destroy you. And you're like the way you have to keep your body, like that just worries me. That's a lot of pressure. You know?

Yeah. My wife did, she was like on the Arkansas cheer team, Palm Squad. No way. So like somebody else like dance, but not, you're not getting like thrown 80 feet in the air. Okay. So very like. Safety. Yes.

Okay. That would be something that I'm okay with. No soccer. No. Soccer's probably the best. I feel like there's, I mean, basketball maybe. I don't see her being a baller just based on height and athletic ability. I think she's going to be more of a violinist or something, you know.

More on the creative artsy work. I love that. But hey, anything goes. Anything goes. All right. Now it's time for guilty as charged. And this is where our producer Kelly gives us a new guilty-charged question every week. And if we're guilty, take a sip. Kelly?

All right. Have you ever responded to a hater? Oh, when? Today, yesterday, four minutes. I think I responded while I was sitting here. I do this way more than Rachel. A recent one. Okay, let me give you a good story quick and then a bad story.

Oh, I love it. Love George Hater Stories. Good story. I decided this new strategy where I kill them with kindness. So this person, I don't know, blasted me in an Instagram comment. So here's what I do.

I go to their profile to see if there's anything interesting I can talk about. And they were a great photographer. Like I was genuinely impressed by their photography skills. Yeah. Beautiful photos.

So I just responded with, hey, just, you know, I think your photography is really great. To their very negative comment. George. So what happens is the algorithm, because people started replying to that, it started pushing it to the top.

So at the very top of this post was their negative comment followed by my super positive... And you look so kind. And I look like a hero. I mean, give me a medal of honor for that performance. And it was just... And are people like, George, you're so great.

Yes. Did you love it? I loved it. Let me tell you. I get an egram three. Okay, let me read you the one that went. Oh, I can't wait. You ready for this?

Oh, I cannot wait. They go into... We both know credit cards are more secure. There's obviously value to building your credit in this country. Rewards are free money. Back, mac, mac, mac. Here we go. But it's also super one-sided,

and I would bet my house that you guys use credit cards just like I do, pay them every month like clockwork. My response, you bet your house that I use credit cards? Bet I show my credit report, and you must transfer the deed of your house in my name. Otherwise, delete all of your comments and stop trolling. You have until 12 p.m. central time to accept otherwise block. You know what his response was?

dodging all the facts that credit cards are obviously a great tool. Don't worry. I'll take care of the block. It's giving... No, you know what? I'm going to break up with you first. That's the energy it gave and I was elated. Because best case, I own a house.

Yeah, you get a house out of the deal. Yeah, can't comment. Worst case, I get blocked by some random dude on Instagram. My favorite is like, unfollow, unfollow. And you go and you're like, oh, they haven't unfollow? Like, they're still follow. They'll follow you? They're like, hate follow.

Okay, what's your story? Oh my gosh, that's so funny. I responded to somebody about Dave, my dad. You defended Dave's honor? I did. Because I usually take, I mean, I can take a lot. Like, I hear everything. In this one comment, it was basically, it was about real estate.

And they were like, he has no idea what he's talking about. And I was like, oh, you can say a lot of things. I was like, you don't know. That's not the one. Oh, shoot. He's owned like 500 properties over the course of his life. I mean, he, like, went into foreclosure on half of them and went bankrupt. But, like, Dave knows.

Like, if Dave didn't do what he's doing now, he would just be doing real estate. Yeah. Like, I'm like, oh, gosh, no. Like, you could say that about a lot of things about him. Like, oh, he doesn't know about golf. Like, he golfs. Yeah, he may not know everything about it. Like, but I'm like, oh, no, that's like the one thing.

Like, you can't say it. I did. I did. And it was so early in the morning, too, y'all, I remember? And I was like, and I wrote out this whole thing and I just sent it. And then after I was like, that was so stupid. Why did I? Because it wasn't even on my page. It was some thing that came up and then underneath.

It was a blasting Dave Ramsey real. And I responded to it. Wow. I know. Is it still out there? It's so funny. You didn't delete it? Probably. Probably it's like two years ago.

Wow. But I usually don't ever, yeah, I usually don't respond. And I don't look either. Very often. You don't. Because I think Reddit is like the really bad place to go. Sure. There's a lot of just angry people out there.

I don't go there. Yeah. But I'm proud of you. Two years ago, That's a win. I'm like, well, pick a day, and I'll tell you what comments I left. There was a girl that blasted me who has a big following. I didn't know where people were sending me her stuff

because she, like, blasted me in a reel, because I'm Dave's daughter and, like, which I get. And I so want to be like, women supporting women. Like, I wanted to give, like, a little, like, super passive aggressive. So passive aggressive, but I didn't. I wish you were that petty. Honestly, sometimes I think you're too nice and too, like,

well, but maybe they had a bad day. And I'm like, or maybe they're a terrible person. Or maybe I'm going to take their house. That's what George is going to do. Leave people homeless. I thought this is the greatest game show ever. If I went a house out of this comment and this guy follows through because he has integrity, it'll be the greatest story of all time.

That'd be so funny. Like, how'd you get that house? Yeah, I just left a comment. It just got the deed. I want to bet. I don't know. Don't know how it happened. Oh, that's fun.

Oh, so great. We'll make sure to DM us your guiltiest charge questions because we get ideas from you guys. So on social, on Instagram. Where are you? where do you love to be? Instagram is my place. Me too, George. Are we so millennials?

I'm on X and Facebook, but I'm like, I go there to just see what the other side is doing. Instagram are my people. Yeah, I agree with you. Millennials is what I'm talking about. Yeah, yeah. So give us some ideas about Guilty's Charge.

You're always helpful. And if you enjoyed this episode, then you definitely don't want to miss our episode on our most viral advice. So make sure to subscribe so you don't miss an all-new episode of Smart Money Happy Hour.