Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel - The Ups, Downs and Lessons of 2024

Episode Date: December 26, 2024

💵 Start your free budget today. Download the EveryDollar app! It’s almost time to put out the flame on 2024, and we’re feeling reflective. In this episode, Rachel and George look back on the best (and worst 😅) Smart Money Happy Hour moments of the year, including money lessons you won’t want to forget in 2025. Next Steps: 🍸 Follow Smart Money Happy Hour on TikTok: @smartmoneyhappyhour.     💍 Get your tickets for Money & Marriage Getaway! 💸 Beat debt and build wealth with Financial Peace University. 📱 Submit a Guilty As Charged question for Rachel and George! Send a DM to @rachelcruze or @georgekamel on Instagram! Be sure to type “GUILTY?” at the top of your message so we don’t miss it.     Best Episodes of SMHH 2024: Why Short-Term Rentals Are No Vacation “Harmless” Purchases That Drain Your Bank Account Connect With Our Sponsors: 🔒 Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe. 🌿 Get up to 40% off at Cozy Earth with code SmartMoney.  Today’s Happy Hour Specials: Reddish Rita Episode: Financial Realities You Learn as an Adult Ingredients: 1 ounce Reposado tequila 1 ounce Blanco tequila 3/4 ounce orange liqueur 1 ounce lime juice 1/2 ounce agave nectar   Corpse Reviver No.2 Recipe: Difford’s Guide Episode: Are You Guilty of These Financial Turnoffs? Ingredients: 3/4 ounce gin 3/4 ounce Cointreau triple sec liqueur  3/4 ounce aromatized wine (e.g. Lillet Blanc) 3/4 ounce lemon juice (freshly squeezed) La Fée Parisienne absinthe   Lemon Drop Mocktail Recipe: Food Banjo Episode: Why Nothing Is Enjoyable Today Ingredients: 1 1/4 ounces lemon juice 3/4 ounce simple syrup 2 1/2 ounces club soda, chilled or sparkling water Sugar Ice Listen to More From Ramsey Network: 💡 The Rachel Cruze Show 💰 George Kamel 🎙️ The Ramsey Show 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 💼 The Ken Coleman Show 📈 EntreLeadership   Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey guys, I'm Rachel Cruz. I'm George Camel. And this is Smart Money Happy Hour. Cheers, George. Cheers. Man. Happy 2025 almost. 2025 in a cup.

Well, this is the podcast for two friends who happen winning experts talk about what you're talking about. Everything from pop culture, current events, and money. And today, we are revisiting the highs and lows of the year of our Lord 2024. That's right. And boy, where there's some highs and lows. There are highs and lows in the world. world. Highs and lows here on smart money happy hour. Hyes and lows of drinks and cocktails. Like, we got it all, people. We have it all. And we're about to jump in because this is a good

year recap. That's the fun part of ending a full calendar year. You get to look back. We all need to do that. It's good for us. And if you're wondering why there are six drinks on this table, 2024 has been a year. But there's a better reason why we have so many cocktails. I mean, we're talking about best and worst. Rachel, why not do the same? Same with our cocktails. Yeah, so we're just sampling a couple of our cocktails from the past year. And yeah, pretty good. We'll have some fun with it.

We're going to guess what the drink is, what it's called, and we'll see if the rating we give it today aligns with our original reaction. Yes, and we actually have some faithful signature drinks that fans have submitted as well. So make sure if you're watching and listening, you know, be thinking, huh, did I submit that one or not? Yeah, and drop your favorite in the comments if you've tried any of them. All right, George, let's start off with the first drink, shall we? Let's go here.

Here we go. Delicious. That is a classic, delicious margarita. Definitely a marg. Do you remember the episode? Could not tell you the episode. I think we've done a few margs, but this one I think was Michael Reddish's,

our mixologist, his best margarita recipe. That's my best guess. I'm going to say I gave it a 10 out of 10. Yeah, absolutely, for sure. New rating, still 10 out of 10. It hits. I know, I'm going 10 on 10. I mean, just that's a classic marg.

Sometimes you just need a classic mark. I don't remember the name, though. Michael's Margarita? Michael, Michael Rita. Reddish Rita? Reddish Rita. Reddish Rita?

Oh, you did it! Wow, that was really sad. Wow, that hurt my ear. They'll edit that in post to make us look cooler. Third time's a charm. All right, let's talk about category. Was it with ratings, correct? So this is a Reddish Rita.

Boo-ya. Yep, this came from the financial realities you learn as an adult episode. Great episode. Yep, you both gave it a 10 out of 10 originally. So consistent. Nice. And this has ropasado tequila.

Yep. Blanco tequila, orange liqueur, lime juice, and agave nectar. Okay. Beautiful. And we'll put the recipe

in the show notes if you want to check out some of these all-time favorite drinks. And our episodes we'll put there. And the links to the episodes. Yeah.

If you missed it. Just in case. Yep. All right, George. Category number one when we look back is pop culture. Best and Wars Pop Culture Mom.

All right. Top one. It's got to be. Taylor Swift, because she is still on her airs to her, and her romance with Travis Kelsey, which some people thought was an absolute, like, conspiracy, like, all this stuff. And look who's made it this far. How long have they been together now?

Look what you made me do. Take another sip of my cocktail because they are still going. That's right. And Taylor's net worth is sitting at approximately 1.6 billion Travis's at 90 million, and we want to know when they're inviting us over for dinner, question mark. It has nothing to do with the money. I just think it would be a good time. I had a dream I was friends with her, like genuinely.

I was like, wow. Do you ever have celebrity dreams? No, I think it's literally just you. Okay, next up on the list, Paris Olympics. Oh, the Olympics. I forgot that this existed and then Halloween happened, and there was all of the Raygun... And the breakdancing.

From Australia? That was a memorable moment, for sure. So Simone Biles now holds the... The record for the longest gaps between gold medals won an individual all around and vault. And we got Stephen, who was on the horse. Love Stephen. He made nerds cool again.

And he was on Dancing with the Stars. Oh, I did not know that. Yes. Was he good? Yeah, they made it pretty far. I don't know. I don't follow that show very much, but I kept saying it. But he'd take off his glasses and like all this stuff.

I mean, just so great. But he was like the specialist and he won the bronze for that event. And he got them like all in the all around to like actually, yeah, get the bronze for the whole team too. So great. A lot of other athletes here. Alona Maher? Oh, yeah, she's funny.

Female rugby star won the internet over with her comedy about having a crush on other Olympic village athletes in 2020. Very relatable content there. And Tara Davis Woodall won gold in long jump and her sweet embrace with her husband Hunter, who also won gold at the Paralympics, went viral. Just precious. The Coca-Cola Company is the longest-standing sponsor

of the Olympic Games and a relationship dating back to wow, when Coke still had cocaine in it. Simpler times. I mean, that is a fact. Ask your parents, kids. They remember. If you needed that, yeah.

But yeah, they spent almost $20 million for advertising. It's got to be worth it. I mean, these companies are smart. They're not doing this without ROI. Totally, yeah, yeah. The average cost of a ticket for smaller events for the Olympics is in the 300 to 800 range, but for finals events or opening and closing ceremonies,

you're looking at a couple thou per tick. The Golden Bachelor became a thing. So I used to watch, I was a big Bachelor fan. Did you know this about me? I did not know. I watched, golly, golly, shucks. The Bachelor, golly. I watched from probably 2007 to 2007.

I bet I watched a solid 13 years of The Bachelor. That's impressive. Every season. I have never dedicated my life to anything. But I stopped. I felt. I fell off the wagon. I fell off the wagon.

Wow. I'm not back on. I'm still on the real house wives. They're on my prayer list. What about the Mormon wives? Are they on your prayer list? Never went there. Never went there.

Okay. Yeah, no, I don't know. I hear about them. It feels a little useful for me. Interesting. I need older 60-year-old women on the OC. I'm guessing. Spending money they don't have.

That's what I enjoy. Wow. That's your cup of tea. Well, you saw what happened with the Golden Bachelor couple. They broke up, right? Filed for divorce three months after publicly tying the knot on national television. So receipts for this wedding are hard to find, but we do know that Trista and Ryan

had the first Bachelor TV wedding back in 2003, and they were paid a million dollars to get married on camera. I watched it. He was a firefighter. We all loved him as high schoolers. What's he doing now? I don't know what they're doing now, but they're still married with, like, kids and, like, living their life. They are a success story.

It's what they hanged the whole franchise on, I think, is Tristan. Wow. It's hanging on by a thread then. All right. Okay, you know what came out? It was one of the best movies, Inside Out 2. Did not see it. What?

Jesus. You acted like, I mean, I father a one-year-old. I haven't been able to go to the movies. Oh my gosh. Anxiety comes and literally, it is so good. I think every millennial. I think we all cried. I think we all cried.

And you know what? I'm going to be honest, you know, I have my issues. Anxiety is not at the top. I know it is for a lot of people. You're not a super anxious person. It's not at the top, but I relate. and you go there and you see, wow, that's how anxiety and joy, try to co-insist.

And then they can't find Riley's self. Like, they couldn't find her sense of self. Oh, oh my gosh. That I could relate to. Where's your identity? Where's it going? And now your long-term memories. Did you take the kids?

Just so good. Yeah, we did. Did they get it? Amelia, our nine-year-old kind of did. Yeah. But Charles, nonetheless. No, Charles and Carol, I don't think really got it. He's just excited to get out of the house.

and get some popcorn. Yeah, yeah, he's not. And then Carolina's definitely not our anxious kid either, so she probably didn't relate as much. Wow. But, yeah. Well, you contributed to someone making a lot of money because it earned more than $1.6 billion worldwide.

That has to be one of the highest grossing movies, right? Yeah, that's up there. But the healthy messaging about emotions and childhood development, that's priceless. Okay, how about this? This gives me claustrophobia. What is it? The astronauts that got stuck in space.

Oh. When I read about that, I was like, oh, I can't. I can't breathe. I saw the headline. There's oxygen here. There's oxygen here. No, thank you. I'm good.

So Butch Wilmore and Sunni Williams are just vibing at the International Space Station until early 2025. Uh-huh. But we can go to the moon, walk around and come home, but we can't go get them. It's all I'm saying. She has a point. She has a great point. How long would you last without getting in maybe a floating, fist fight being stuck in close quarters like that. Okay that's the other thing y'all and like these people

are married with kids. I mean like they have lives obviously on earth and then you get stuck with that you may or might may not even get along with. I think you'd have to learn how to get along. Now that would be a better reality TV show. I would talk your ear off if we were in space together. I'd like hey George what you doing? What do you think? Are you doing good now? Can you breathe right now? I would pray to God that I brought my AirPods pros to put noise cans. insulation on. Sorry, I'm listening to my audio book, what would you say? And I'd let you talk.

I think you would need to get the energy out, like a dog before bedtime. I would have to let you talk in order to just so we could just pipe down. Wow. Can they talk to people on Earth? I think so. I don't know that people on Earth want to be talked to 24-7. Oh, man. I don't know what the time changes.

It's so rough. And I think Elon. Is it on Mountain Time? Oh, my gosh. What do they, I don't know? How do you know? Asteroid time. And Elon tried to get.

get them because SpaceX is like advancing above NASA right now. Did you have that? Oh, yeah. Crazy. But there's space suits, something wouldn't be compatible? That takes a lot of science. Come on. Apple makes a dongle for that.

Give me a break. Give me a break. Get up there. And, yeah. All right. Well, according to NASA, the average salary for astronauts in space is more than $152 grand a year. Seems cheap.

I think you'd have to pay me more. I think I'd have to have double that to consider. Knowing that, like, I could die at any moment. Yeah. Or never come back to Earth. You'd have to pay me. me, what's your number? I'm going $5 million a year.

I mean, I would need like, yeah. I would need to come back and retire. Like, I did one, I'm good, we're out. If someone's like you get half a million, I'm going to say, I'm good. Not because I don't need half a million, but like to get up in space, no. The risk is just too

much. No. Yeah, nothing about that. Would you rather go up or down? I feel like going up feels safer. Okay, versus scuba diving. Oh, you're saying down in the water? Like Titanic. No, I have water. I have issues with deep water.

Okay. So that's more scary than space. Yeah. Okay. I don't know why. I would agree. I feel like the technology is better when I'm in a capsule going up than a capsule going down. I would agree with that.

I don't know why. That feels right. Okay. Here's a social media thing that went viral. And I honestly heard it here first. The team introduced me. And now I don't even follow them, but they come up in my feed, is Pookie and Jet. Pookie.

And she's pregnant. Probably had her baby by now. But they became like this whole thing. All based on one phrase. Yeah. They would just post videos. They'd both be dressed up looking nice. And he would say,

Pookie's looking absolutely fired night. And he's kind of this broie guy. He probably went to Knoxville with him, I imagine. Yeah, I think he went to like Harvard. Like I think he actually went to like a legit law school. Not that UT law is not legit. But he's got like a cool, uppity guy vibe, but it seems like a really nice guy.

Okay, here's a question for our world today. Then this is not, I'm not judging them by any stretch of the imagination. But, you know, people like this that are on social media and they're just putting outfits on and having funny names like Pookie and all that. And they make merch, they get advertised. I mean, they're probably making, these people can make millions.

I mean, make a ton of money. Brand deals, sponsorships. So the question is, is there like a weird thing in society? I was talking to a guy he's a lawyer for a firm that helps with like, within like lower income, like does like really good work as a lawyer and makes obviously nowhere near that. Yeah, people think lawyers just, to automatically make six figures.

Yeah, and we were talking about it, and it's like, man, is it, like, is there a weird thing in society that, like, people that are doing really good work and helping the world don't naturally make as much as people that, like, put out, like, dancing videos? Like, is it fair? Do you think this is, like, where, like, Rome collapses, you know, that phrase? Wow. That's a, that's a strong... Pendulum swing, but I see where you're going.

Are we doing well as a society based on who we value? All right, let's move on to drink number two, George. And we're going to talk about the best and the worst of smart money happy are. There was worst? There were some worse. There were some episodes. Y'all just did not click on. Are we ranking worse based on least amount of views?

I think it's on viewership. Yep. Or how much they like Rachel. All right, let's do the middle drink. All right, switching. switching gears. Does it have licorice in it? I don't know if I like that one.

Okay. I'm going to go three out of ten. What is that? I know this liqueur. I just can't put my finger on it. Or four. I'll get a little higher. I'll go four out of ten for me.

What has a licorice flavor? Is it absinth? Okay, I'm close. Okay, good job, George. It's got absinth. It's got lime. All right, what is it? Kelly.

This is called a corpse survivor. Corpse Reviver. Sorry, Corpse Reviver number two. We loved corpse Survivor. This is my favorite cocktail a whole time. Yeah, you both gave it a 10 out of 10. Oh, no. It doesn't taste.

You know what? I think the margarita skewed our taste buds. And the ice is melted. And the ice is melted, which watered it down. Shoot. Okay, what's my rating now? This was the one I asked Michael to make. We're out of 10.

I'm still going to give it a 6. No, I should have had you rate it before you heard how great it was. I said six out of ten For the new rating right now Let's play Michael Maybe this wasn't his best work I think it's still a 10 out of 10 drink I just think

The Corp Survivor's amazing Yeah we love it So this came from our Are You Guilty of These Financial Turnoffs Episode And this has gin Triple Sack Lilit Blanc

Fresh Lemon and Absinth Literally love all of those things You love Lilit Blanc I do that in my Vesper Martini's Yes, I do. I have Lilibonk in my house. That is really impressive.

Thank you. Uh-huh. Don't you, don't you talk down to me. I'm just impressed. George. I don't know many people that just have Lilibonk. Yeah. It's a life of luxury.

Isn't that the part in a Vesper? You tell me? I'm pretty sure it is. It must be. You're making them. Yeah. Well, I'm sorry that our rating changed. Man, that makes me sad.

I'm going to drink it just out of solidarity. I still think it's a great drink. Yeah, don't let that sway you. I know. I think the rickress came real quick on the time. Maybe that was from the zoo. from the earlier drink. Yeah, the accent.

Let's talk about, okay, so our best episode, George, are you ready for this? And this is all on YouTube. So podcast, we love you, but they read it on YouTube, was why short-term rentals are no vacation. So we talked about hotels versus Airbnb's and how the Airbnb quality is really declining because lots of fees.

You've got to clean it yourself. Like there's just so much work involved now with Airbnb's. It's not as turnkey. And, man, people, they love the episode. They clicked on it. We had some love-hate to it, always. Always.

With some high-viewing episodes. But that was one of our top ones, George. Wow. I still think it holds up. You know, everyone's traveling. Everyone has thoughts about vacations and hotels and Airbnbs and their one story of why they'll never do one of them again or whatever it is. But there's also the investing part.

A lot of these desirable city homes are getting snatched up by hedge fund investors. And our take was we're kind of more hotel people in most situations. Yes. And I know I was just financial. but from an experience standpoint. That's right. Yeah, having someone come in, make up your bed. I mean, so nice.

That doesn't happen to my house. She's not trying to live like a local, taking out her own trash. Or go to the grocery? To the grocery. To the grocery. Now, I will want to beat strip. I don't think I said that in the other episode.

There's certain vacations that, like... Yeah. But if you're going to be gone for, like, a long weekend, give me a hotel all day. All day. All right. One of our other best ones was harmless purchases that will drain your bank account.

So this was Ibu's favorite episode. Yep, and it's like the little treats. Little treat culture. Yeah, just having a little treat. You do anything. You could do your own laundry. They teach us these. You know what, just serve a little treat.

And you get an $8 latte because you did laundry. That's the energy of little treat culture. Celebrate yourself. Just a little treat. Yeah. So, and here's our take on this. I still think you should go listen to it because it was great. But here's the TLDR.

Little treats are great, but you got to plan for it in the budget. And so if you want to know the best budgeting app out there. Be sure to check out every dollar. You can even have a little treat line item in every dollar and put 50 bucks in there. Yeah. And when you spend it, that's it. That's right. You got your little treats. All right, one of the worst, man, this was my idea. Money motives hidden in shocking true crime stories. Wow. Listen, I love a good murder, you know. It just like, like when there's a story about a murder, I'm in. Give me a 2020. Give me a book. Give me a whatever it is. but I am listening.

There's that new one with Anna Kendrick. She's directed it. I have not seen this. On Netflix. Yep. Serial killer. Oh. Anyways, that was the most recent murder.

So people love true crime. They just don't want to hear about it on a money podcast. That's what I'm realizing. I hear you. And I will take your non-watching that episode to hearts. What if there was a true crime podcast that was like, hey, guys, today we're going to talk about the murder of your bank account and why you should do a budget. They're like, I'm out. I'm out.

That's not fun. No, but there were some murders like for money and murder for hire and how much they pay. It was interesting. We talked about the true crime industry. Should it be profiting off of these tragic stories? Yeah, because these podcasts and stuff, y'all are. They're making, talk about influencers on social making a lot. These other people are making a lot, too.

It is weird. It's just weird. Yep. Another worst one was explain investing like I'm a five-year-old. I thought that was a good one. You know, we were really trying to like, you know, be boots on the ground, cookies on the bottom shelf. We really tried to be like, hey, we're going to explain it. in a way everyone understands, not to talk down to people,

but just like, hey, give me like that. Just simplifying some of the jargon. Yep, give me the easy version. And they just did not appreciate it, George. Yeah, I'm a little disappointed in you guys. I'm not offended. I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed. Okay.

But I moved on. Thanks, Dad. And if I don't check the stats on these. You know, the team sends it once a month, they'll update us. Hey, here's what the people liked. Here's what they didn't like. But I don't lose sleep over it. So you can't hurt me.

I want you to know that. Oh, my God. But hey, you know what? Sorry we let you down with these episodes, listeners. We don't think they're all that bad. And we're going to put the links in the show notes for you to find out for yourself if you didn't listen or if you want to listen again.

Yeah, you can't win them all. But, George, what was one of your favorite parts of an episode? Maybe the funniest part. Oh, my goodness. Like, where did you laugh the hardest? I think you're... I've had a couple of, like... Your Miley Cyrus impression

with the French Bulldog... The journey is usually the part of the journey. That one has stopped. That one has stuck with me. I don't know if it's good or bad still. I'm working out with my therapist. But it really stuck with me. I was tickled by it.

Yeah. Just. Anytime you attempt, almost anything. Singing. I know. I just can't do impressions. It's the best. It's because I don't hear tone.

I've decided that. I can't. My voice. Is that tone to you? We've talked about this. Yeah, where you go like up and then low. I'm not good at the range. I'm pretty.

like, not monotone, but like, my range is... You're a great talker. My range is limited. But people that can do impression. I mean, it's impressive, and I can't. But anyways, Miley, I see you girl. And I was praying for her too. She's been on my prayer list.

Oh, wow. I didn't know that. Yes. She's doing great. I love that you're taking credit for these people's lives based off of a single... I don't know how often you're praying for these people. The Lord is good. Is it daily? Is it monthly?

Just whenever the spirit moves. When the spirit moves. George, you should pray for people. It's just good for you. I do, just not celebrities. All right. Okay. Let me I should.

Let's go to our next drink. We got this one right here. Okay. And this is in the fancy glass. This is a sugar-rimmed glass. I can tell because my hands are already sticky. This is a good one. This tastes like a moktail margarita,

maybe with some sparkling water? Yeah. Am I close? It's very refreshing. Yeah, you're close. I want to go ahead and give it a rating? I'm going to give this, I think for a mocktail, if the ice hadn't melted, I would probably say 10 out of 10. Yeah, 10 out of 10.

Awesome. Well, you both gave it a 10 out of 10 originally. Oh, man. And this is the lemon drop mottale. Lemon drop. That's it. So not a margarita. Right.

Lemon drop. But you're right in the fact that it does have club soda. Yes. And lemon juice and simple syrup. And this came from our Why Nothing is enjoyable today episode. Oh, that was yours. That was mine. Yeah.

That came from my sort of emo, Eeyore spirit. Yes, very ecclesiase of you. I'm going like, why don't I just enjoy things anymore? Yeah. And we explored it. We talked a lot about the financial aspect of why we don't enjoy things anymore. That's right. Inflation's part of that.

But it was so expensive. What do you enjoy these days? What do I enjoy? Yeah. Oh, we have puppies. Oh, that does bring joy. Yeah. That's been like a part-time job, the dogs.

I didn't realize that. It's a lot. I mean, you guys, how many puppies did she have? Six. Six puppies, and you have to take care of them. After she's, you know, given birth, there's still another, how many weeks? Yeah, well, that's controversial, depending on how attached. Seven, eight, twelve?

The attachment theory. But it's about eight to nine is what we're doing. The vet said that was okay. Some people keep till 12. The vet said it was okay. Yeah. That's a fun one. Yeah.

So I'd say that's how I'm enjoying that right now. Yeah, I realize having kids is secretly enjoyable. Okay. That's my hot take. Jesus. Well, you know, I mean, people out there, there's this vibe of like, oh, like kids, it's a lot of work. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Ruin your social life.

I'm like, didn't have one to begin with. I'm doing fine. We're good. But no, truly, like, her, making her laugh is my favorite thing and only thing I want to do. Sweet, George, I love that. It's the best. Because, honestly, no one else will laugh. All right.

Let's do some rapid fire rounds. We're going to do the highs and lows, you know, the hills and the valleys of our year, George. You ready? I'm ready. Wait, personally? Yep. Oh, wow. There we go.

Okay. Best meal of 2024. Go. Leroy and Lewis in Austin, Texas on a work trip with none of these people are in the room, but some of the best barbecue Texas has to offer. So good. So good. Man.

How about you? I'm going to go. I don't remember the name, which is so not fun. It was a place in Dallas of sushi. Both Texas. You know what I loved about it? What? This is so funny.

We drank the corpse Survivor on. this episode because it's a really hard drink to find. And I asked the waiter, it was kind of a high-end sushi restaurant, great bar. And I was like, hey, can you all do a corpse survivor number two? And he was like, shoot, no, because we don't have like, whatever, this thing. But I can do something really close. And he made me a great cocktail. I like remember it.

It was great. But I love sushi. That's a good one. All right. Next, best album of 2024. Taylor Swift. The dead, well, I was going to. Torture Poets Society?

Yeah, torture poets. Yeah. Did I say that right? I say Dead Poets Society. That's a movie. Also great. Torture poets. Some of Robin Williams' best work.

Yeah. Yeah. Man. I would say, oh my gosh, I'm blanking, but haunted. What's the haunted song? Some would say you have a blank space. Welcome back, guys. Thanks for bearing with us through this episode.

I did, in fact, drop my mock tail. But it was because the drink was so sticky yet slippery that I could not grab it. And it just fell right out of my hand. So I apologize. Are you dry? I'm great. I think Taylor Swift's ghosts from Who's Afraid of Little Old Me? May I come in here and I said, how dare you not remember the name of my song? Way to bring us back.

Okay, I'd say that one. Moving on, Rapid Fire. Best purchase of 2024 for you. Can I go boogie? Please, do. I feel like we're very like, oh my God, we get everything on sale and we get dupes and we'd love to save money, which we do. That is who we are. But also, there is a time to spend money. Yeah.

So I got a purse for my birthday In April Can you mention the Because the ladies who know Purses one or not And people will pronounce it So differently

So it's either Goryard Goyard Goyard Goyard, I don't know People have a different pronunciation See I can't do like

I can't I was waiting for a French accent I know I know Yeah so it's out of Yeah It's like an old French

designer I guess Yeah But it's not very known And kind of go super bougie. Please. You can only buy it in the store. So you can't buy it online.

And they only have four stores in America. Wow. So... Where'd you go? I was in L.A. And for work and Winston met me out there because it was close to my birthday. And he surprised me.

He said, babe. We're going to Rodeo Drive. Like, classic, like, the stereotype of just shopping, you know? Pretty woman style. That's amazing. But I'm married.

So it's really pretty well. A little different. I think that's clear. Well, a lot of reasons why it's different than pretty well. woman, but yes. But yes. So it's a green purse. Yeah, a green goyered purse. Wow. And it's worth it. Worth the splurge. Sure. And I like it because it's a little understated. Not everyone recognizes it. It's not like a Louis Vuitton where it's like, oh my gosh, everyone knows, you know, that print.

So it's like a little bit. We call that quiet luxury, stealth wealth. It's a little stealth wealth, yeah, even though the like the pattern. Like I wouldn't know. You could be like, I got this on Amazon. I'd be like, oh, cool. Yeah, yeah. It's not a very well known. Someone with poor taste like me would not know. Stop, stop. Okay. How about you? Give me a bougie purchase you made or one that you did. I mean, okay, one thing I did is very not like me. I would say I wouldn't call it a purchase because it was

inherited, but then I spent a lot of money to get a fix. Was this watch? This old Rolex from the 90s inherited from my wife's grandfather who passed a few years ago and grandma said, hey, would you take this watch? You can't sell it. And I said, yes, and I'll get it fixed up.

Little did I know, fixing it up is still 10 times more than I've spent on any watch in my life. Sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But this was the splurge purchase of the year. How fun. And it's cool. Because number one, it's like a family heirloom.

Yep. And number two, this is not, you know, people know me as like Apple Watch guy. Mm-hmm. So to be wearing like a bougie, like luxury watch. I feel. Very like, it makes you. Yeah, and it puts some years on you, some wisdom on you. I'm a dad now.

Yeah. What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? So there we go. Yep. Okay. George, what's the worst purchase you made in 2024?

Oh, gosh. regrettable purchases. That's a really difficult one for me. I would say I got a bed jet, which I talked about, a bed jet, and it shoots air into your sheets to keep it cool under there. Wow. But I've got a weighted blanket.

I've got the dogs. There's a lot going on. We've got cozy earth sheets. And I just couldn't, yeah, the cozy air sheets are great. I just could not get the bed cool enough with this product. Yeah, just failed you. So that was a return for me. Okay.

Use the return window. How about you? I know, I was trying to think, honestly, top of mind, which is kind of lame. Caroline got a Halloween costume. That was one of those blow-up ones, and it was a flamingo with like a leash. Like, she's riding the flamingo. It was hilarious. And it broke within 15 minutes.

Boo. I know. They don't make them like they used to, the blow-up flamingo costumes. Yeah, still bitter about it. Best Book of 2024. Oh, my gosh. I'll let you go first because you read a lot more than me. Well, I got to get my good reads up.

You're a true reader. Mm. First Lie wins was a great one. The boyfriend was actually really good, too. Ooh, the only plane left in the sky was September 11th. That was really good, too. So we get some historical novels there? The women was about Vietnam War.

That was good. Okay. Yeah, I'd say that. And then, like, from a spiritual sense, practicing the way, John Mark Comer. Oh, yeah. I just finished that, like a few weeks ago. Author of Ruthless Elimination of Pré?

Yes, so good. I'm a fan of him. I'm a fan of him. He's great. Just, I love it. Okay, that's mine. Yours? It's an audiobook.

I don't know if that counts. That's great. But it's Michael Richards who plays Kramer on Seinfeld. He did a memoir called Entrances and Exits. Oh, funny. And yes, at times, but also, like, very deep and heart-wrenching and poetic.

And, like, he's just, I'm like, how did he write this? It's very poetic. Really good. The way he, and he narrates it, which I love. Yes, always. And so that's why I did the audiobook. And I really enjoyed that.

I love that. As a big fan of Seinfeld. Okay, a favorite live event of 2024 at Ramsey. Money and Marriage Getaway. That's mine. Was it really? Yes. Oh my gosh.

What did you like about it? I just think the spirit of that event is infectious. I agree. You know, it's an event where we're helping people become stronger spouses, get better communication, intimacy, all the things. And just to play a role in that with my talk and then see you and John. John Deloney, do your thing. It just feels like a special event.

And all of our events are special. This one feels like the transformation is palpable in the room. Yes, yeah. It's so true. I agree. I'm with you, yeah. Money and marriage. And there's one coming up, February.

Oh, that's right. Yeah, yeah. Some tickets probably still available. So check it out. Come see us in Nashville. Favorite family memory of 2024. I'm going to say, we got a play set for Mia. Cute.

And she goes down the slide. It's my favorite. She squeals every time and then claps for herself. Love. Okay. Mine's puppies. Worst financial trend, 2024. Go.

Oh, my gosh. Crypto, go. Sports betting. Okay. Best TV show or movie watched in 2024. Nobody wants this. Nobody wants this. I'll take it with you.

So good. Adam Brody. Kristen Bell. Not a rom-com guy, but really enjoyed that. Not kid appropriate, but funny. So good. Okay, real quick, money topics. One mistake that people should leave behind in 2024.

Oh, this one's going to be controversial. Go. using the credit card, even if you pay it off every month. It's just, that one has irked me all year long because I've been just debating people and I'm like, it's a useless task. They think they're winning, but I truly think you would do so much better

to cut up the card to use your own money and save up for the things you want. I'm going to go car loan. I think like the... It's just the dumbest piece of debt. I mean, genuinely, you know. That we justify. Yeah, you get a $40,000 car

when you could have gotten a 10. I mean, like, it's just that, like, you know, that idea. that, man, it's just a lot of money that's going out in interest with something that's going down in value. It's really tough. Okay, so what would you say to someone that's falling off the wagon this year? How would we get them back on, George?

Oh, I would say, number one, drop the shame and the baggage because usually when you fall off the wagon, you go, oh, that's so like you to do this. And I knew you would never actually get out of it. You've got to just put that down, get in community, and then take, like, a course that's going to keep you accountable, like Financial Peace University. That is the best thing you can do

to get back on the wagon and stick to it because it's nine courses, you know you've got to do all nine weeks, and you will make progress if you do that. It's good. Yeah, I feel like money's such a reflection of who we are because we're the ones that are handling it. And so I think there's something to be said

about asking more of the why. Like what's causing me to continuing to go into debt? Why do I feel like I do overspend in this area? Why am I scared of the budget? Why am I scared to spend? Like I have so much savings, but like why am I scared to spend it, right? like going underneath that and understanding why,

because I feel like we can try to willpower our way. This is John Mark Comer in practicing the way. We try to willpower so much. And good intention is great, putting good habits in place, not against that. But we can't just like tell ourselves to do better. Just white knuckle up. Because human behavior, there's always an inflow.

Something else is happening underneath that. And get into that and fixing, well, fixing you sounds shameful. But you know what I'm saying? Like, understanding why you are the way you are, then the outflow of everything in your life is in a better spot. Well, my favorite question to ask is, and then what? You get to the thing and you do it?

And then what? Yeah. And then you didn't actually solve the root problem of why you were striving for the thing. So I think it's good to be rooted in healthy motives and a healthy self. Okay, so before we get to give us charge, we drink some good ones 10 out of tens. Let's give some honorable mentions to the ones we hated. To the least of these. The drinks that were no bueno.

Who could forget lemon milk? This was a supposed. cruisedly creamy lemonade macktail that just tasted like weird curdled lemony milk it was disgusting uh we had the mottale margarita not good if you need a margarita and you got to do mottetail just skip it you go lemon drop it was good there was just so much salt that all we tasted was the sodium it was a lot another one i gave this a one out of ten i called it harsh and viscous which i reserved for my worst enemies it was the pumpkin pie espresso martini all things that are good on their own not great together. Not great together.

And then last was the dirty Shirley. So this was a melted red popsicle. Literally, right? Just sweet and syrupy and liquid. All that red 40. We don't need that. We don't need that. Get that out of here.

RFK's not having any of us. We learned about that in 2024. Get those poisons out of here. Oh, that's fun. Oh, my gosh. Well, George, that was great. It's been a fun year of talking about money, making it easy to digest

while enjoying some great drinks. And I think it's time for Guilty as charged. And this is where our producer Kelly gives the same new Guilty's Charge question every week and if we're guilty, take a sip. Kelly. All right.

Have you ever lied to get out of something with family or friends? Oh, boy. What if they're listening to this right now and they find out from this podcast? We've got to go real cryptic. Yes. Has anyone not done this?

That's the question. If you haven't, you aren't living. You're not okay if you've just said yes to everything regardless of what it is. Yeah, no, but they could be healthy and say no and tell them the real reason. We're lying about it. Who does that? Okay, let's take it a step deeper. Okay?

Did you get caught? Have you ever gotten caught? Let's see, I fake sickness. I've faked appointments. I have a doctor's appointment. Ah. Let's see what else. Okay, I'm going to say this.

When I say friends, it's not like my close people, I can totally be like, I don't want to hang out. Like, I don't need to lie to them. But it's like the one or two removed. And you're like, shoot. Not your inner circle, but like the slightly outer circle. We, it's been a crazy week and we're busy this weekend. You know, we'll try to get in soon.

And then like, yeah, you put an Instagram story out there. You're out at a restaurant with cocktails. You're out there posting trying to get caught? No. Oh, but I mean, I'm sure there's been times I'm like, we're just so tired. Oh, yeah. Guilty, guilty, guilty. But I try to be more honest these days.

As I get older, more mature, healthier. I just need to be like, hey, can't make it. Maybe not even a here's why. I've been trying to be less defensive. You don't have to give people a reason. Like, hey, so sorry, you're going to have to reschedule. I feel you. And if they're a real one, they'll understand.

Yeah. Oh, man. Well, if you want to stay connected to us, make sure to check us out on TikTok for more entertaining videos, you know, of what's happening. when it comes to pop culture and finance. Well, you guys, it's closing time. And if you enjoyed this episode, you should check out our episode

about revisiting our on-air money advice from the past. One of the top episodes we did. I know. So you guys, here's to 2024. Thanks for being here with us in the journey of life. And we will see you next year. And next Thursday on an all-new episode of Smart Money Happy Hour.