Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel - Things That Scream “I’m Pretending to Be Upper Class”

Episode Date: January 9, 2025

💵 Start your free budget today. Download the EveryDollar app! We all know that person who wears flashy designer logos like they’re personally endorsed by Michael Kors. In this episode, Rachel and George react to ways people pretend to be upper class and discuss how to be smart with your money instead. Next Steps: 🍸 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.     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 Special: 🍸 Japanese Slipper Recipe: Difford’s Guide 1 fluid ounce Cointreau triple sec liqueur 1 fluid ounce green melon liqueur 1 fluid ounce lemon juice (freshly squeezed)   Instructions: Select and pre-chill a martini glass. Prepare garnish of Luxardo maraschino cherry dropped into drink. Shake all ingredients with ice. Fine strain into chilled glass. Listen to 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

Hey guys, I'm Rachel Cruz. I'm George Camel. And this is Smart Money Happy Hour. Cheers. Cheers. It's a lot of flavor. Well, 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 today's episode is all about things that scream I'm pretending to be upper class. Yeah. I mean, these days it's cool to care about your money, right? But sometimes we care about the things that we shouldn't care about. about. Putting the care in all the wrong places. Dun, done, done. So think about words like, try hard. Remember when that was a thing? Yeah, humble brag.

Yeah. Now, the new one, according to Gen Z, is pick me energy. Oh. She has pick me energy. Ooh. When you're trying to sort of flex and, you know, get the attention. So we're going to talk about what showing off looks like when it comes to your money. But first, let's show off what we're sipping on, Rachel. Yeah, we are sipping on a Japanese slipper. Well, stick around to the end. We're going to give you our rating and reveal the cost per glass at the end of the episode.

So great. So like we said, it's cool to care by your finances, and we're trying to make that fetch. But that doesn't mean flaunting name brand stuff just to prove something. In fact, it's become kind of a social turnoff. Yeah, people aren't liking it as much, and I appreciate that. It's almost like when people just use big words to feel like, oh, I'm smart, you know? Like ibuprofen. Say again?

Stop. Are you serious? Yeah. That's not the hard one. That's not the hard one. That's not the hard one. Yeah, but what's the hard one? Acidomenephine. Acetaminophen.

Acetamineepine. Supercalifagic. She got that one. You know what I always mispronounced. I always say nuclear. Oh, you and George Bush. Strategory and nuclear. Nuclear.

Nuclear. Yeah. Nuclear. That's why we're friends. I love correcting you more than anything. It's the only thing that gives me joy. Oh my gosh. But yeah, I like the Gen Z level, though, of,

listen, we don't have to show up. right? There's like a downplaying. It's cool to not care in a way. It's cool not to care. But yet, yet, people are still caring about the wrong things. Let's talk about some of the pick-me moves according to the internet and see if we agree with them. You're ready for this one? Yeah.

And again, this isn't good fun. We've all been guilty of these. We are not above this. One-upping. Oh, so annoying. That's so someone's sharing a story and you go, oh, one time. And sometimes it's not malicious. Yeah. But a lot of times, you know the person is trying to one-up.

You. Okay, can I say, I may be guilty of this, but I do, and I hope it's not a one-up, but I do love in conversation to, like, hear something that someone's saying, and I'm like, oh, my gosh, me too. You're relating to it. It's a relating thing. I don't think it's a one. I mean, it's not like, oh, we went to the store and I was like, I went to Fiji. Like, it's not, it's not like that level. Yes. But, like, I'm trying to think, like, yeah, I'm drinking a green drink. I'd be like, oh, my gosh, I love green. I love wicked. That's your next move. Like, I don't know. I don't know. But you just try to like, weave conversation in and relate to the person.

Yeah, I think a general curiosity is the best move you can do in conversation versus, ooh, what's something I can do to steer away the conversation back to me? That's, I think, a good sort of rule of thumb. Yeah, that's good. Another one? Name dropping. Hate it. That one, this one personally bothers me.

This one brines my beans. Maybe because I don't know anyone, I don't know anyone like famous enough to name drop other than you. No offense. Sorry. No, I, and you know who does, you know, the most annoying. Going one. So you ready? A little enneagram talk. Okay. Enneagram three males that are unhealthy,

this is what they do, and it drives. So, and if you wanted to explain her of an enneagram three male, they want to win and they want to look good doing it. They want you to know that they're important. And so they will let you know all the names of all the people. It is just, and I think it's a universal. Have you ever been guilty of this that you remember? You're like, I mentioned this name and it fell, it came across this way.

I hold on to my, I hold on to the name so tightly in my life that I will not. I don't. I don't like it. I don't like it. I don't like people that like famous people. It's just like, I don't know anyone. It's just like it. Yeah. Do you ever name drop, Dave? I did twice in my life. Did it work? Did it get you what you wanted? Yes, it did.

That's not helping anything. One of them was my econ class, my econ one-on-one with Ken Baker at UT. I was failing. And you were like, my dad. Because I didn't go to class. and I had a D and it was one of those classes at UT it was a massive lecture hall, massive. So like if you never,

they don't take role. I mean, it's one of those like, you're an adult. And your grade was literally the midterm and the final. Like it was one of those like, but then all of his exams, old exams were at the sorority dorm.

So there's his file cabinets that you could study the old exams and be fine. Not true. The midterm. I failed. I think I got like a 60-something and I was like,

oh no, oh no. And so then he had office hours you could go to. And I was like, I have to find a way in to Ken Baker's heart. I'll never forget him. Ken Baker, Professor Ken Baker. Is he still out there? I don't know. I don't know.

That was 20 years ago. And yeah, and I totally in the session with like other students, I figure out a way to drop Dave's name. And he was like, wait, what? And I was like, wait, what? Oh, yeah. I know. It was terrible, y'all. And then your grade suddenly went up?

No. I got to be. I took a final, so I did better on my final. But also, then apparently the study sessions, he gave people extra credit. So I don't know if it was because of Dave. But I, I don't know. I don't know if the University of Tennessee

would appreciate me telling that story. That's fine. Statute of limitations, I think, is just passed on that. Yeah, it was true. So, yeah, I did. I dropped the same then, and then there was one other time, and I can't remember.

Wow. But I've never done it for, like, a police officer or anything like that. Not that I've had many encounters That felt way too specific to just be an example. I was thinking like a speeding ticket or something. I've never done it while getting pulled over on I-65. I did do it one another time.

So I've done it twice in my life, yeah. Okay. It worked out. I'll be honest. How about you? Again, if you looked at my phone Rolodex, you'd be very unimpressed. You'd like, I don't know any of these people.

You should know cooler people. The coolest people I know are in this room. Mostly Kelly, a producer. But no, I've never, I try to avoid name-dropping at all costs. Yeah, boo. What's next? What's another one? Bragging about kids.

Oh. So respectfully, no one cares that John Williams, Fitzgerpatrick, the fifth, is crawling at four months. We're experiencing this now because our daughter Mia is not walking yet, and she's about 15 months. Yeah. So there's a lot of, even from my own family, accidentally, they'll just be like, well, you know, Jimmy was walking when he was only nine months. Oh, the comparison. It's like, what are we doing here? Oh, yeah, 100%.

She'll be walking the rest of her life. She'll be fine. Yeah. Oh, she'll be good. The funniest, though, is parents that, and I probably have done, I mean, I feel like every parent's probably guilty at some level of this, so I'm sorry to anyone that may have heard that. But you do talk to parents and when their kid is so specialized or so smart that they can't be in that sports league or that school anymore because they're just so smart. They're too advanced. They're so advanced that, like, we just can't.

And you're like, they're five. Like, I don't know how long you, like, really. That's the stage of life we're in. Now, when they're in high school and they're legitimately, like, who knows what, there's legitimate ages of like, no, that is like legitimate. My rule is if you're still wet in the bed, you don't get to brag on your kids. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're not there yet.

Yeah, I know, I know. But Amelia had a piano recital, and you were bragging about her? She did great. Yeah, but I was not like she is a prodigy. I was like, how did she do? Yeah, she just did a little recital. Nothing like out of the ordinary, but I was proud of her. But she is a prodigy.

But if I was like, y'all should listen to this. She's a young Mozart. It is literally the best. Like, it's just, it's unbelievable. No, another one. This one personally bothers me. I don't know if it's southern guys do this, but sunglasses inside. Oh.

And it's always like, what's the sunglasses that have the O on them? Oakley? Yeah, it's always like an Oakley guy. Yeah, that describes them well. And you're like, you don't need a, or the big ones that the baseball players wear now. I haven't seen those. Have you seen those? Yeah.

I don't know enough baseball players, I guess. And you're just like, you don't need to wear sunglasses. I could see Winston Cruz accidentally keeping his sunglasses on. He wears him. Is he a head, wear him on his head or is he like a crokey guy on the neck? He's still in Knoxville. When I showed up to the South. You can take the man out of Knoxville.

You can't take the Knoxville out of the man. I moved south from Boston and I was like, what are these men doing? But the crokey is a very, very, very, very, it's like a wire almost. Yeah. And Winston does make it look cool. I'll give him that. Yeah. Yeah.

Here's another one. Ordering in another language to sound cultured. You know, you went on that one little trip in college, and now you feel like you need to really exert that. Can I tell you a shared story? We were in Peru when we were like, gosh, when was that? That would have been like in high school, like on a mission trip. And mom said aloha to one of the children.

Oh, wow. True story. Was it like in a southern accent? Probably, yeah. That makes it even better. Yeah, but if you're at a Mexican restaurant, and you're like, Ola, how'stas, me, I'm a yama, Rachel.

No. Keso, por favor. You know, and you're just like, you don't, yeah. I try not to offend. I just, I point. And I say, this one. And they go, okay, cool. This one.

I don't want to mess it up. Yeah, that's true. That's true. It is fun to go to restaurants, though, and you're like, I don't know how to pronounce this. I don't know what this is. Will you tell? And the genuine, like, genuinely curious.

And if you have a great server and they're like, love the food, and you can, like, sit there and have a big conversation and learn about it, love it. That's a good one. Just happened to us recently. I loved it. All right.

What's next? Giving expert advice when you're not qualified. Oh, a lot of armchair experts out there. They listen to one podcast about the microbiome, and now all of a sudden they are expert nutritionists. They know everything. I think people have gotten more staunch about their takes on things. Yes.

Because of their media sources, whatever they listen to are read. It's now like they kind of jump on the trend. For sure. And they're very like, well, if you don't do it this way, you're so wrong. You're so wrong. Yes. I agree. I agree with that. This is another one.

Waiter's trying too hard to be your friend. I like a waiter who plays it. Cool. Who's... Funny, yes. Uninterested to me and wants to just do the job. I don't need the whole, like, hey, like, they get down on the table, you know? When they kneel down on the table, I'm like, oh, Brad, we're not that table.

We got that. We got to Brad. Or they slip into the booth with you. You ever had one of those? No! They slide onto the bench and they write on the table, like, they're just hanging out with us. Like, what are we doing today? No.

What are we thinking? No. I don't like that energy. That is so funny. Captains of the four-way stop. Oh, what happens here? When someone gets there first, but they gesture that you go first. Oh, wow.

Yeah. Oh, that's a funny one. I guess I've done that, but mostly out of like, I don't know who got there first. So I give benefit of the doubt that they were there first. You were a distracted driver. To me, it's not worth the road rage for me to assume that I was there first to go. Sure, sure. So sometimes I'll do that.

And then lastly, stuck in the glory days. Oh, these people bother me. Do you hear it a lot? Do you hear this a lot? I don't hear it as much anymore of people reminiscing. Well, like back in college, like, yeah, I almost went pro, but, you know, I got an injury. And I was like, mm. Did you though?

Did you almost go pro? But no, honestly, I don't think I had glory days, so that helps. Like, I can't be stuck in my glory days. It never happened. That's right. You know, I will do that with skateboarding because I'm very proud of my skateboard heritage, and I was decently good at it. a very specific skill set in skateboarding.

So sometimes I'd be like, hey, do you want to see my skate video? I did this, you know what? You saw it. You saw him on a skate video? I ran into a kid skateboarding the other day. I ran into this kid skateboarding and he landed this trick, Rachel. It was incredible. It was four stairs and he did something called a hard flip.

And it was first try. He landed it so smoothly. And I had to go up to him. And I went, hey, man, like, I just saw you from over there. That was incredible. And I saw he was filming on his phone. I said, do you mind if I watched that with you? So we watched the footage and I said,

I used to skate and I, so then I pulled up my phone and I pulled up, we watched my entire skate park. It's four and a half minutes. I made this teenager. George, you're the worst. Watch 15-year-old George, watch me. And halfway through I went, I shouldn't have done this. What am I doing?

So I'm so guilty of this. Okay. Let's focus on money now. Let's talk about the financial habits that are trying to be upper class but are actually a waste of money more often than not. I'm going, you could build so much more wealth if you just stopped carrying what other people think of.

Yeah, because there's a lot of these. All right, here's the financial habits that people use to try to look upper class. First up, we got flashy designer logos. So big logos plastered on there trying to say, look at me. Look at the brands I wear. Look at this.

Where, in fact, some of the nicer brands are, like, you know, very understated, if you will. But it's like a really nice bag. Right? So like a Celine bag. There's not Celine everywhere on the bag. I'm learning. It is, yeah, very chic, very nice.

nice. Very demure. Very demure. So that's the key. When you meet real wealthy people who aren't trying to flex, you wouldn't know the brands they wear. That's right. Yes. But they're very nice. But they're probably very nice. Like a real cashmills, cashmere sweater, but I don't have like labels all over it, you know. We've talked about this idea of stealth wealth, quiet luxury, where it's not as flashy. And I think what's hard too is, you know, in today's world with money, right? Like you look at big wealth purchases of like a house, for instance. But if you can't afford a $50,000. down payment, but you can afford, you know, or buy a $2,000 bag. There's kind of that, like, quick hit of, like, feeling luxurious without, like,

looking actual real net worth, if you know. Priorities are out of whack. Yes, it's so true. So true. Next up, ordering expensive wine when everyone knows, you have a beer budget. You ever have a little champagne taste on a beer budget? I have. That's a great one.

I have. Yeah, that's a good one. We prefer affordable cocktails. For sure. This is why. I mean, you know, we were out to dinner this past weekend. and you're paying 20 bucks for cocktails these days and I go, take me back to Smart Money Happy Hour

where the cocktails are $1.77. It's like the 1950s over here. Just such a, such a bougie, boogie, stealth, wealth way to live. Absolutely. That's Smart Money Happy Hour or life. Okay, next is talking about money too much. Ooh.

This is real. There's just some people, and they, and again, I don't know what it is, but we just did not grow up talking about dollar amounts with people. maybe like the idea of like as a family like we talk about you know budgeting or like concepts the people that like ask very point blank how much something costs in your life you're like but it's not weird to them

sometimes maybe it is weird but then to some people it's just like oh yeah didn't this oh yeah how much money for that and they're just wheeling and dealing but I just I get like dear the headlights I'm like you can't ask that I don't know it makes me very well it's funny because we talk about money for a living and outside of work we never bring up money in conversation. Right.

You know, maybe with our close friends, if they bring it up first, I'll be as open as I can. But other than that, it's a weird thing to constantly talk about. And this is why the crypto bros are exhausting. They have hashtag Bitcoin in their, like, Twitter bio. You're not okay if you do. I want you to know that. If Rachel had a hashtag mutual fund in her Instagram bio, would be like, Rachel, contact the therapist.

Just simmer down. Simmer down. It's just odd. Yeah, I agree. I agree. Next, one of our favorite topics. flaunting wealth on social media. You got that, like, you know, nice dinner out

and you're posting the meal. I may have done that recently, actually. Well, you had a great trip to New York recently that I was impressed by, a little jealous. I do love... But I didn't think, wow, Rachel's trying to... Can't hide money. Can't hide money!

You just wanted to capture a moment. Yeah, I was just capturing the weekend. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't read into it. Yes, okay. Well, thank you. Well, I just saw that.

Now, Winston, on the other hand, always trying to flex on social media and I'm sick of it. I'm sick of it. It's always in the background going... Tell him to simmer down. Rachel, put the camera on me. Yeah.

Yeah, giant, like if you got a vacation, people flex with that, cars. If you take a pick in front of a private jet, I already don't like you. Like, there's no way we're ever going to be friends. I think that's the worst. Or worse, you're on the private jet

and you rented it by the hour to get a social media pick, you need... I heard that's a thing. You need better friends. Yes. They'll make videos To make it look like

They're really successful So that people will buy their course or whatever It's gross Okay, do you think you could have You know, let's just say Sally and Sarah On Instagram Okay They both take the same vacation

But depending on how they post What they post about Can you feel a difference With people's spirits via like a situation? Yes Do you know what I mean? Yeah Yeah. Is it bad? I don't want to be judgy. But there are people that I'm like, oh my God, they're just, like, it's real hard. The pose, the, I mean, the whole thing. It's just a whole thing.

I like the, if you're posting the, like, funny moments behind the scenes, the drama, then I know you're a real one. Yes. But if you're only posting, like, beautiful, manicured highlights. Yes, I know. It's kind of just gross. Yeah, I agree. And then on the other end, as a consumer of social media, there are a few people that I follow that I genuinely like, stock when they're on a trip because they post and I'm like, oh, I want to see. Like, if they go to Disney or something, I'm like, I intentionally go to their stories because I want to watch their vacation. Wow. What does that say about me?

Sounds like you're the problem. Not that. They're living their life. Yeah, and I'm not mad at them, though. Like, it's not like a, oh, they're annoying. It's actually, I'm like weirdly interested. That's fine. I think you have a dark curiosity.

That's human. I know. And some of them are nice. Just don't let it consume. you. Thank you, George. I'm here for you. What a great friend. Next one, leasing luxury cars. This is a big one. It's another status

symbol. And I feel bad for those that lease. Like, I truly, it's not like a judgment thing. I feel bad for how much money they have wasted while thinking they're winning. Yeah. Because you're prepaying all of the depreciation for that car. The dealership is winning. It's why they push leases

so hard, especially in the bros out there who have to have the nice... And they go, Rachel, I'm saving money, because I don't pay the insurance. They cover all the maintenance. And I get to have this really nice car for a low payment. And I'm like, bro, they really hosed you. Yeah.

That salesman did a great job. Yeah, leasing is the most expensive way to finance a vehicle. You would be better as the consumer to go get a car loan. Yeah. I mean, if you're going to rank the car products out there, leases are the worst. You know what I heard? This isn't fact-checked, but I heard Dallas, Texas is the number one city of lease cars. I believe that.

Think about who's in Dallas. I mean. All the like bros, crypto bros who are like driving fast, taking chances. It's like a southern boogey city. I don't know. But in that interesting? Yeah. I don't know why that is.

And do you think majority of lease cars are luxury? More on the higher end? Yes. Yeah. Because they can, quote, afford the payment while they have this great income. And they usually are people who are doing fairly well for themselves. They could be doing a lot better because they're drowning in payments usually. Yeah.

If you've got a lease, I guarantee you you have debt payments all around you. It's rarely the only debt you have. That's right. That's right. Totally. Totally. So don't do it. Just save up. Pay cash. I know it's painful. Go for the used luxury car if you really want that luxury car. And until you're a millionaire, do not buy new. It's too much of your world wrapped up in that thing going down in value.

Yes, 100% agree. 100% agree. You got one more for us? Okay, last is like the over-accessorizing, flashy nails, expensive watches, loud makeup, strong perfume, extensions. Like you get the whole spray tan. I mean, it is the whole kit and caboodle. I don't know.

What do you think? I think this is a pot call in the kettle black situation, Rachel. And I might have nails. And I might have an... Yeah, how many of those are you guilty of? I have a watch from Amazon. Oh, okay, that's fair. My nails are real. I don't have tips on them.

Okay, I didn't know what you meant by that. These are my real nails. Okay, versus like a stick-on nail situation. Or tips. I don't know what this is. Why are we doing this to ourselves? None of these are bad, though. I would say,

Having a good perfume? Over-accessorizing? It's not bad. And if you're chewing it to try to be flashy. This is it. That's all about the motivation. Yes. It's the heart behind all of this.

Although strong perfume, I don't think, is ever like a great thing. If it's like, whoa, I can smell her from a mile. You know what Winston. Winston Cruz. Winston Cruz loves smells. Like he loves candles. He loves incense. He loves perfumes, colognes.

It's like his thing. It's funny. He always has. Can you tell us what cologne he's like his go-to? He just bought some new one, a new one when we were on a trip. And I don't can't remember. what it is. Wow.

But he wanted like a nice col. And it's not a cologne. It's a perfume. A de perfume. Perfume. Perfume. Perfume. Perfume.

Perfume. That's it. That's it. That's it. That's it. But he said, you should never be announced. You should always be discovered. Oh, that's right.

You want to discover the scent. Yeah. It's like, huh, I smell. I need to discover what that is versus like, wow, Hollister. Like, we got you. Those were the days. We got you. Sometimes I walked into Hollister.

just to get refreshed and go, hey, they'll deodorize me. Just go out. Get a little buzz and go out. It's good, though. Yeah. I will say, this one's for the ladies. A lot of overdone makeup out there where I'm like, I don't even know what your real face looks like, home girl. Yeah. Like, we need to tone it down. It would be interesting. Again, no judgment. I just, I don't want to be judging. I don't want to be judging. But there are people that you're like, okay, if you took out all your, if I saw your real hair, your real face, no spray tan, real complexion, like let's like strip it all away how do you feel right and if you can feel comfortable in your skin

yes that's great like i'm like you know what i mean like i don't know that that's what i want for people for women that's what rachel wants for women and then if you're like yeah i want longer hair this season i'm going to get so that's great like again none of these things are in of themselves wrong but it's portraying yourself as maybe trying to look just like yourself first and then let's build from there. That's a great. Be a healthy person. The right motives and then add on and do it with cash.

And if you want to know the right way to do this, it's with a budget. And that's how you know you're not living beyond your means. You're not doing it for the flex. You save up, pay cash for things that are reasonable. And I use every dollar to do that. Rachel uses every dollar as well. And it's a free app you can go download in the app store

or go to every dollar.com slash smart money and get started today. And that will give you the confidence. Yeah. And one of my thing, I think a great filter. I always say it, but it's a great filter. so true. If nobody sees it, do you still want it? Do you know

I mean? Have you ever said no to something because you've asked yourself that and you went, I guess I was doing it for the wrong reason? Yeah, yeah, sure. Well, mine over the years has gotten less actually about people. I feel like that was a strong, like, late 20s, Rachel. Yeah. Now it's more like it just is exciting and feels good. And I'm like, yeah, I don't, I can, you know,

I probably don't need that dopamine hit. Like, I'll just move on. Just move on. Just move on. So here's my final takeaway. Okay. Not caring what other people think is a superpower in today's world. Yes. The people who are going to build wealth, be their healthiest selves, accomplish what they want to accomplish. They don't care about other people's opinions, and therefore they don't need to strive for that with their purchases.

Because you end up spending so much money living that life. It's exhausting. So much money to keep up. At some point, you've got to wake up and go, this is so exhausting to keep up this facade. Yes. I mean, I think it would be hard. It would be very hard. And I think it is too.

Let me say this. There's another little thing. It's who you're around to. Your friends and your people, that shapes so much of your life and the way you view things and the expectation. I mean, all of it. You're like a chameleon. You sort of become those people you hang around. Very much so.

And start to value what they value. I mean, like, yeah. I mean, it's. And so if they're toxic in vain, you will become toxic in vain. It's like a survival thing as humans we do. Yes. We were at a... Change your friend group. We were at a store with some friends on this last trip we were on,

and the guy asked one of the salespeople just out of fun. Like, what's the most expensive, like, purchase someone's made? Like, what's the thing that, like, someone, like, walked out, and you were like, dang. And the guy said, I think it was, like, $129,000 bag. It was six-figure bag, and they bought it. It was, like, a seasonal, whatever, leather, whatever. I don't even know.

I don't even know. And afterwards, I was like, oh my gosh, number one, you have to have god-awful amounts of money just to like spend on that. Was that a flip? Do they even ask the price with those? I don't know. And then number two made me think, like, in order for you to like genuinely want that bag,

you number one have to know what that bag even is, and I'm sure that level of people. I personally didn't know that $100,000 bags existed. Apparently, you know, but apparently they will, they know some level of it, which means that, the people around them or the information they get, you know, what the conversations are

are probably around that level of living. Does that make sense? Yeah. So then naturally, it's going to shape the way you think about life and all of it. That's a good word. I hope my wife never finds out that $100,000 bag is. Is that not crazy, though? I mean, crazy, crazy.

But all that to say, have good people in your life, and they can have extensions. Like, that's fine. But just know that, like, yeah, the people you're around, and what they value over time will start to shape your worldview and what you value. Yes. And if you are going into debt for any purchase, please don't.

Get it out of there. Like don't live beyond your means. Don't use it as a flex and then make payments on it. That's a really sad way to live your life when you could be free, making your own decisions, owning your own life, and, you know, follow the baby steps. Get out of debt, get an emergency fund, be investing for the future,

and then budget for the things that you want because you want them and for no other reason. Absolutely. Amen, how old are you? We did it. So before we spill the tea on our guilty is charged part of the episode, give us the details on the drink, the Japanese slipper. Yeah, let's reveal our ratings as well. So this was the Japanese slipper.

I'm going to give it a 10 out of 10. Wow, George, that's very generous. I like sour candy, and it tastes just like sour green candy. It's the only way I know how to explain it. Yeah. I may go 9 out of 10. And it looks nuclear. This is a very nuclear green color,

which is really fun. Yes. Here's what's in it, in case you're curious. Cost breakdown is $1.82 per glass, so very affordable. It's got Maduri, which explains the green color. Yeah. It's kind of a sour liqueur.

Lemon juice and triple sec. So it's just a very sour with a little bit sweet. It's really good. Yeah, I like it. Citracy, delicious. The recipes in the show notes, if you want to give it a try this weekend. All right.

Now it's time for Guilty as charged. This is where our producer, Kelly gives a new guilty search question every week, and if we're guilty, we take a sip. Kelly? All right. Have you ever made a purchase that made you feel like you had made it? Oh.

Yes. Can you tell us what it is or no? I'll take my sip first. Yeah, I bought a pair of shoes. A pair of shoes? After, yep. Gosh, this was probably seven, eight years ago. That were designer, because I'd never owned a pair of designer shoes.

and I was like, I'm going to buy a pair of red bottoms. Because, like, why not, right? And, yeah, saved up, bottom. And I've worn them like four times. Why is that? Are they too fancy? Are they uncomfortable? Are they all the above?

Not comfortable. I'd be afraid to, like, destroy it. A fraction of the price. It's kind of like really fancy sneakers. But see, these are what, this is the thing. This was my ill motivation. This was, again, early 20s Rachel, or late 20s Rachel.

it's a very obvious like shoe like people like people go oh that's the shoe terrible and I also had extensions once oh no this is confessional I'm guessing they weren't great what's it gone when you're like oh no and then you spill the tea about yourself but you're masking it for other people mine are lame because they're not to impress anyone only to impress my because here's my thing the thing that makes me think I made it is what I see, like, wealthy people have in their house or whatever? And I go, if I have that, I will now consider myself wealthy. So here's what it was.

Two sets of sheets. We moved into our new house. Two sets of sheets is number one. 64 pack of crayola with the sharpener built in. That's another. Then third. Is this as a kid? This is now and as a kid.

Okay. Epoxy garage floors. Oh, yes. So we got that done. We moved into the new house. I was like, this is my splurge. I'm going to get epoxy garage floors. And I was like, this is the 1%.

Yeah. Most people's garage floors, just concrete, oil stains. Not me. Not George. I've got little bespeckled, beautiful floors. It's great. You know, swiffer wet jet to keep clean. I don't know how else to do it.

It's good, though. But it's great. Every time I walk in my garage, I'm like, I might work out in here one day. It's that nice. The workout bench is there. It has been sitting idle. It's ready for me. There you go.

It's calling your name. So that's the thing I thought when we got that. done, I was like, we made it. It felt like you made it. Yeah, because it's a luxury purchase. It's something nobody needs. Yeah, not a necessity. It's generally just aesthetic. 100%. Although I will say Whitney's car was just draining oil out, just dripping oil, and it was so easy to clean. Oh, that's good. It didn't say it. Versus a normal garage floor, it would have just stained forever. For sure. Yeah, yeah. Good for you, George. So yeah, I'll come wear my shoes on the garage floor and we can just feel like we've made it. I have not posted a pick of my garage.

I don't think anyone cares, but. I did not post a pick of my shoes. I think now it's time. We should both be vulnerable post picks. Oh, man. So good. So good. Well, both guilty. It happens.

You are to America. We all have it, right? You know what? Let us know in the comments on this guilty as charge. That's good. When you bought something, you thought I've made it. You thought I've made it. I'm curious to know.

I've really arrived. And stay connected. Do you know we're on TikTok now? We have a smart money happy hour TikTok account. Okay. So if you're on there, the proud of the few, go check it out. go hit the follow button on TikTok. I had two young girls at the airport

and the security line say, oh my gosh, we follow you on TikTok. And I thought, wow. Never heard that yet. And there they were. That's how you know you've made it, Rachel. Maybe so, maybe so. Well, hey, if you enjoyed this episode,

please leave us a review. And for more consumerism traps to avoid, be sure to check out our episode on ridiculous things people spend money on. That's up next. Yep. And make sure to subscribe, you guys, because we launch a new episode every Thursday. So we'll see you then on Smart Money Happy Hour.