Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel - Unique Holiday Traditions You Won’t Find in the U.S.

Episode Date: December 21, 2023

Put your tray tables up and hold on to your drinks, George and Rachel are taking you on a world tour of the national holidays that you never knew existed (plus a few that you did) and sharing their money-related hot takes along the way. Grab your party hat and join the fun because, hey, it's a holiday somewhere! In this episode: ·     George is cast as Grinch—or is he Scrooge? ·     The fast-food favorite that the Japanese eat every Christmas Eve ·     A holiday reminder not to let “December you” financially sink “January you”   Resources:   ·     Booking a flight with Going is the best and simplest way to pay less and travel more. Sign up for free today at going.com/smartmoney. ·     Start making memories. Get Telestrations at Walmart or wherever you buy board games. ·     Get your finances organized, make a plan, build your confidence, and kick money stress out of your life for good with the EveryDollar budgeting app. Go to www.everydollar.com/smartmoney to get started today. Use code SMARTMONEY to get a free two-week trial and $15 off your premium membership to EveryDollar. ·     Do you have 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. ·     Pre-order George’s new book, Breaking Free From Broke, today! ·     Learn more about your ad choices: https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices ·     Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy: https://www.ramseysolutions.com/company/policies/privacy-policy   This Week’s Happy Hour Special: Christmas Mocktail Recipe from Love Bakes Good Cakes Ingredients: ·     Ice ·     2 ounces cranberry juice ·     2 ounces apple cider or apple juice ·     1 ounce orange juice, fresh squeezed ·     2 ounces ginger ale Instructions: Fill a tall glass with ice. Add the cranberry juice, apple cider, and orange juice, stir to combine. Top with ginger ale. Serve with garnishes of your choice. Notes: This can also be made in a large pitcher. Keep the measurements the same, 2 cranberry juice, 2 apple cider, 2 ginger ale, to 1 orange juice. Want to add alcohol? Gin, vodka, rum, or tequila are all good choices! 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. Merry Christmas to you and to all a good night. To all a good night. Well, this is the show.

We're two friends who happen to be money experts. Talk about what you're talking about. So everything from pop culture, current events, and money. And today, in honor of Christmas, we're talking about some of the most interesting holidays around the world. We're going international, Rachel. I mean, this is like Mardi Gras. on steroids. Like we are going big. Have you been? All around. No.

You have never been to New Orleans. It's time. I know. I've ever been. Well, and if I'm, I lived in Mobile and Mobile's claim to fame is that Mardi Gras started there. That's right. I did. I have heard that. I have heard that. So yeah, we are going to talk about all the different holidays and celebrations and festivities around the world. So, join us. Jump, jump on the old plane. Wow. We're going to go around the globe this Christmas celebrating people everywhere.

Wow. I don't know what that was, but I enjoyed it. Really enjoyed that. Did that feel like inspirational? I wouldn't call it inspirational. I'll call it strange. But also entertaining.

It was nice. Up on the plane. Yeah, not all of these are a party, Rachel. Some include forced silence. Some include vegetarianism. Okay. So it's not all fun and games around here. Merry Christmas.

But at the end, we're going to share some of the most interesting ways people celebrate Christmas around the world. And we're going to include money in this because we do have the word money in our podcast title. I like my intro better, but it's fine, George. So what are we sipping on? It's a Christmas moktail, Rachel. And it is delicious.

Can I say that? In the spirit of non-alcohol, we have a macktail because people have been really enjoying the moktail recipes. They've actually been, I will say, they rival the cocktails. Yes. The team has been doing a great job. I feel like we've had some great moktails. So we have a, it's just a Christmas moktail. It's a very cranberry, gingery,

drink doesn't have any other name, just Christmas mocktail. On the internet it's called a Christmas mocktail. Lindsay is giving me a little bit of lip. But okay, Google Christmas mocktail, and apparently this is the one drink that comes up. I don't know. So when you get to your destination, because people, you guys could be listening

to this or watching this, you know, on the road to family. Gutintag. I don't know. Driving down the road. So hey, stick around until the end of the episode. We're going to give you our rating, reveal the cost per glass and the recipe. So some of you are in the car Driving down the road

Inspire us, Rachel, with more I tried and then you cut me off again Are you fights since then? I forgot to get to the Merry Christmas Grinch What is happening? I'm more of a Scrooge than a Grinch I think we can all agree on that

Scrooge, yeah, that is yours And who are you? What's your Christmas character? Oh, hmm I feel like I'm an elf You are, you are, I was going to say that too I can see that What am I? I'm not Mrs. Claus

Not Rudolph. Elf, elf-like. George, what do you love about the holidays? Why do we think the humanity loves to celebrate the holidays? Well, I think, number one, time off work, if we're going to be honest. Sure. You get a break. It's a break.

It's just a break from the chaos into a different kind of chaos with family. Yep. But it's a chaos that's somehow familiar and endearing in its own strange way. Yeah. And I think there's like a consistency that it's predictable. There's something about eating turkey on Thanksgiving. opening gifts on Christmas morning. Like there's things about the holidays, you know, fire in the fireplace.

Stockings hung. Getting into a fight with your siblings. Dysfunctional families getting together all of it. That's true. But there is something about the consistency and the prediction. Yeah. We did this when we were kids and we still do it today. It's nostalgic and all of it.

So yeah, there's something about it. It's almost a safety thing. We love to have that safety in our life. Yeah. And because it's an important part of us as humanity, again, we're going to go around. and talk about different holidays. So the first one is from, is in Rio in Brazil, George. Oh, Rio de Janeiro.

Talk to us about the old Brazilian carnival, if you will. Oh, so sorry. Touche, which is not Brazilian. I'm going to mispronounce everything, you guys. It's just. Yeah, can we caveat? I don't do phonics. I think we need a caveat here, disclaimer, Rachel, that we are going to offend all people groups in this episode.

We don't want to. We will mispronounce a lot of things. We will laugh at it. things that we think are funny that you may say don't laugh at that. That's someone's culture. We're not meaning to offend. We're just having a good time and we're learning together. That's right. Carnival takes place in February, March, in Brazil, and it's an all-out party during the week leading up to Lent. So there's a lot of carnival-ish celebrations in the world, like Marty Grail, like you mentioned. But Brazilian carnival is the biggest. Two million people

a day flooding the streets. That's frightening. That's a lot. Yeah. So they think I'd get run over, Rachel. I don't want to be in that crowd. It's so fun, though. So why do they celebrate this? Yeah, so they do this to take a break from normal social roles and behaviors. So again, it's kind of that like what happens at carnival stays at carnival, if you will. Pure debauchery.

I don't know what's going on. Yeah. What it really means is farewell to the flesh. The name carnival was allegedly inspired by the Latin phrase carnival. Carné was meat. Yeah. Take away the flesh or take away the meat. So since lintz,

is a time of fasting until Easter, you know, kind of tracks. That makes it. So it's kind of like, let's go hard before we have to give this up. Yep. So lots of food, lots of alcohol, extravagant costumes. I mean, all of it. The city's top samba schools competing at the samba drone. Oh, that's fun with over 70,000 spectators.

So here's what's crazy is it can cost up to $2 million. And some of the costumes are up to $1,000 each. It's a lot. That's a lot of money. Do you have any $1,000 costumes at home? No. What's the most about you've ever spent on a costume? On a costume?

Oh, gosh. You know what? I did Mary Poppins one year. Actually, I bet I could find a picture. And we get thrown up in the end. Did you nail it? Yes. And Winston was Burt.

Oh, nice. And it was fantastic. But I did one of those DIY ones. So I ended up buying a bunch of stuff. And I think it costs more after I did it all. It probably looked better than like the one you get at Party City or whatever. I looked fantastic. I was Mary.

For sure. So I would, yeah. But it was not $1,000, George. Okay. It was not. And the whole production didn't cost $2 million to put this on, I imagine. No, it did not. That's a lot of money to spend.

What about you? Are you a costume guy? I am weirdly, you know what? This may make me the Grinch. I don't like being in any kind of costume. Yeah. I'm a little bit the same way. I'm kind of grumpy about it.

Every time I'm like, ah, it's a costume party. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know why. But then once you do it, it's fun. Sometimes. Okay. But I'm, like, very excited to go home and, like, get this costume. I'm off and be in PJs again, especially one involving, like, makeup.

So I'm going to say old carnival in Rio, probably in your jail. I have been at a parade. Okay. But it was like the Flag Day parade in my hometown of Dead of Massachusetts. Yeah. Okay, next up is a holiday that takes place in March and Bali. Nype in Bali, Indonesia takes place in March, and it marks their religious New Year. Here's what's interesting.

Instead of the debauchery, it's a day of silence. Reserved for self-reflection, fasting, and meditation. Yeah. I think that's beautiful. To detox and cleanse from the previous year. So there's no traveling, transport work, sound or light allowed on the island for 24 hours. That's incredible. Sabbath vibes, you know?

Oh, yeah. Chill. TVs and radios are turned off, airports closed. The state-owned internet is shut down. Everyone must stay home. I think that's scary. I think we need one of those in America. And I think we wouldn't know what to do with ourselves.

Well, it says even tourists are required to stay in their hotel rooms. Ooh, make sure when is it? Make sure if you're going to Bali. Unless you just want to hang in a hotel room and silence with like no light or sound. Make sure in March that it's not that. Yeah. I'd be down for that, though. But I think a day of silence, like a silent retreat.

People do those. Would you ever, is that sound like appealing to you? I would love that. I don't know if that's in with the cards for me with a newborn. No, no, no, not for a while. But here's a money related. thought for you, Rachel. Yeah.

What if there was a day of no spending or a month of no spending even? Yes. We talk about doing a no spend month for your budget, because here's what's crazy about this holiday. You can't even get money. The bank puts out a PSA every year reminding people, even tourists, ATMs on the island will be shut down. Banks are closed. Everything's closed. So this is kind of a nice financial cleanse too for people.

For sure. Because you can't go anywhere, no travel. What I like about those kind of challenges is it does. forced you to realize, oh, my gosh, I can live with less than what I'm doing, right? Like the consumption has to stop, and it can stop and we're going to be okay. It's almost like living in that for a bit because we live in such consumption. It is. It's a reset.

Well, we need this like constant stimulation. Yes, yes. Not just with spending, but lights and sound and screens and you're just looking your phone for the 17th time in the last hour. I know. So I think it's a beautiful thing we should all practice. And especially the no spend month. If you've never tried it, try doing a no spend month.

month where in 2024, where you spend on nothing except the necessities, food, utilities, shelter, transportation. See how much you save. I know. It's a lot. It's great. All right. Next one, George is in Hong Kong and it takes place in April slash May.

This is the Chung Chow Bun Festival. What a fun name. Yeah. Folklore says this festival started as a way to celebrate the end of a plague. Ooh. That's, hey, you know, end of a plague is if there's ever been a reason to celebrate. We're going to celebrate that. Yeah.

No more scurvy. guys, let's have a party. All right. Steemed bun offerings were allegedly made as a way to end the plague. Thus, buns became the heart of the celebration and a symbol of luck. Oh, and I love this. They're very specific. This is what I appreciate about this kind of tradition, because it's very specific.

Steamed rice flour buns contain sweet fillings that are stamped in red with Chinese characters Phingon, which is safety in English. Oh, that's nice. So safety from the plague, like for your health? Yeah. That's nice. Very specific. The reason they celebrate is to remember the end of widespread illness on the island and to pray for continued protection and prosperity. Yeah.

So what happens is part of the religious fast is that the entire island goes vegetarian, even local McDonald's. Ready for this? Takes meat off the menu. There's meat in McDonald's. Mushroom burgers. Oh, my gosh. That's a shock. You don't know where my children are right now with my husband eating dinner.

They offer mushroom burgers at McDonald's during this time? I know. Yes. And there's a parade throughout the town that features local children, dresses historical characters. And they even put on stilts to hide their costumes. They look high up in the air. Wow, that's a thing. It's so fantastic.

The best part, here it is. There's a bun scrambling competition at midnight on the last day of the festival. Competitors scale a bamboo tower covered with 9,000 imitation buns and try to collect as many buns as possible in three minutes. So fun. I love it. Okay, what's your favorite, like holiday food, George? If theirs would be buns for this festival, what's yours? Oh, man.

I'm going to go with my heritage and culture, which is Middle Eastern. Yes. And it is grape leaves. Yes. Is that a holiday thing? It is for us. I don't know why. But it's, you know, it goes along.

We've got some ham and turkey and whatnot. But grape leaves are a staple. It's my favorite. It's my mom for her home for the holiday. She's always making a big old pile of grape leaves for us. I love it. That's so great. How about you guys?

Um, gosh, I don't know what I've tried that I feel like you guys do, and correct me if I'm wrong. Okay. But Dave Ramsey makes an incredible beef tenderloin. Oh, he does. Yes. Is that part of Christmas? Yeah, well, usually we'll do a meat on Christmas. So yes, with the, with the Ramseys, that would be it.

Yeah. On the smoker? Yeah, he'll do that. Green egg, he does do a great. He crushes it. That is a specialty. Um, I feel like I do a lot of, like, I see, it's not holiday-esque, but it just reminds me of, like, Christmas. It's like breakfast casseroles.

Like we have a lot of that kind of stuff that's just like you're reheating and you're doing this and that. And it's you're kind of like living in that mode. Do the kids now look forward to a certain type of food? Charles asked for the breakfast casserole this morning from Thanksgiving. That's so precious. He asked for a casserole. Did you deliver it to him in his queen size bed? In his queen size bed?

No, I'd thrown it out. I'd thrown it out. Oh, sweet Charles. That's really cute though. They're already starting to understand tradition. Yes, I know. I know. It's that kind of like warmth food that's like good to me.

I love it. Beautiful. I think it's so fun. So, so fun. Okay, before we go to the next celebration, George, around the world, let's talk about one of the games that I think is so fun, especially during the holidays to play with friends and family, and that is hellistrations. Another great tradition.

Seriously? Make it a part of your holidays. Yes, you guys. This is a really fun game. I mean, it is, and it's hysterical. And I like it because you can kind of be social and talk. I mean, it's kind of competitive, but it's not like crazy. Where you're waiting on like seven people to take a turn.

Yeah. It's a very active game. Yes, it's active, but it's not like, oh, I have to think on my feet real fast. Like you can kind of like enjoy the game too. So yes. But it keeps moving. Yeah, the speed of it is good. It's great.

Lots of laughter. So think of Pictionary and Old School telephone together. And that's illustrations. So make sure to pick it up at Walmarts and enjoy the holiday season. Make it a tradition. It's so fun. Making the memes, as they say. That's right.

All right. Next George is the new. YAM festival? A classic in Western Africa slash southeastern Nigeria. That's right. This takes place in August and September. That's when they have new yams, apparently. And it's celebrated by West African ethnic groups like the Ebo. And the festival marks the end of a rainy season and the beginning of the harvest season for yams. So I was correct, Rachel. This is when the new yams show old yams, get out. New yams are in. But it's a staple crop in the region. I did not know that. And the first harvested yams of the season, aka the new yams hold significance.

I love it. Yeah, and they do this for gratitude for the fruitful harvest. It bonds the community. People come together. They just celebrate a job well done. So, yeah, parading and displaying yams in prominent places within the community.

A grand feast with a lot of yam-based dishes and traditional attire and performances. I love that. Wow. I want to see just like yams in different parts of the community just displayed beautifully. I know. What a sight to behold.

What a sight to behold? Are you a yams person? Is that a southern thing? I don't know that I had a lot of yams growing up. It's kind of a sweet potato. So like I would say, yeah, it's like a yes, casserole and all that. I don't even think I saw anything of the sort until I moved to the South. What if I added a sweet potato casserole, sweet yam casserole to this festivity?

I think they would appreciate it. I think they would enjoy it. Some brown sugar and pecans on top? They'd probably think it was strange. They'd be like, why did they add marshmallows to? What did they do this? Vegetable. That's strange.

Americans are very strange. Those Southerns. But here's a money-related thought for you, Rachel, to tie it back. Festivals equal economic growth. So in this case, it's a platform for farmers to showcase their produce and promote local trade. So think about like a farmer's market here in town. Yes. It's a great way for farmers to create some revenue, get the word out about what they're doing.

Yeah, I love it. So these celebrations encourage spending in tourism, which then creates jobs and stimulates the economy. All of it, yeah. We got one more, Rachel. Okay, next up is St. Lucie's Day. Oh. I love that. Primarily in Scandinavia and Italy takes place on December 13th.

St. Lucy's Day is a Christian feast day in honor of Lucia of Syracuse, who was martyred in 304 AD. So the legend is that she brought food and aid to Christians who were forced into hiding in Rome. Wow, and the catacombs. Ooh, that's dark. She wore a candlelit wreath on her head to light her way because it left her hands free to carry as much food as possible. Now, that's resourceful. I got to say, that's innovation. St. Lucy, that would be a woman.

Yes. You know what? I can use both hands. I'll put the wreath over my neck. It'll be fine. That's why women rule the world. Follow me. Here's why they celebrate to honor the legacy and faith of St. Lucy to bring light to the darkest day of the year, the winter solstice.

And what this looks like, Rachel, families observe this day by having one. one of their daughters, traditionally the eldest, dress in white and serve coffee and bake goods. That's really nice. I think so, yeah. Feels a little off of the original mission. That would be Denise, and I'd say, give me baked goods, Denise. But she was there to carry food to the Christians hiding.

Yeah, it's great. Yes, I totally. So in Italy, St. Lucy brings gifts to good children and coal to the bad ones. Oh, kind of like Santa. Yeah. Interesting. Santee Claus. There we go. That's really nice. Would you ever try that?

Would you have Amelia dress in white and bring you coffee and bake goods? I think that's a great tradition. My kids do bring me coffee. They will make a curag. They know how to do the curing. A curing? What do we teach in these kids, Rachel? It is possible. Oh, George. I love all that, though. I think traditions and holidays are so fun. Okay, so the fact that we're near Christmas, let's just do a couple of rapid fire Christmas traditions, specifically Christmas trillions, a Christmas trillions. traditions around the world, okay? Okay. And Iceland's books are exchanged as Christmas gifts, which is great. They spend the night reading the books in bed and eating chocolates. It's called Yola Boka Flaude.

Yola Boka Flaude. The Christmas Book Flood is what it stands for. Oh, that's fun. You can see Flaw, Flood, Flood. And book, book. It's all there together. Are you trying to do... I feel like I'm a literary genius at this point.

Teaching me, teaching me the same thing. That's fun. Ready for this one? in whales, they do caroling with a real horse skull. George, you love horses. Got dark real quick. Part of this. I never said murdered the horse.

I said sell it, Rachel. A part of this gray mare tradition is to sing carols and then challenge the people you're singing to to a rhyming insults battle in Welsh. It's just like pitch perfect. I was going to go eight miles. I love that I went eight mile with Eminem and Rachel's like pitch perfect. Our difference, that's awesome. Okay, in Australia, the winter holiday is so warm that they celebrate on the beach with picnics and swimming and volleyball and, of course, some surfing. Santa's.

Now, that's fun. That's fun. I would love a warm winter holiday. Are you a fan of a cold holiday? I guess you would love, like, it's snowing on Christmas. Yeah, sure, ain't Christmas. Yeah, I do like a, yeah, and then take me warm. Right after.

Right after. 26, get me out of there. Oh, on the 26th of December. Yeah, yeah. Got it. Wow. All right. That's a fun one.

In Venezuela, it's tradition to roller skate to early morning mass on Christmas Day. In fact, vehicles are banned from many parts of the city until 8 a.m. Now that's fun. There you go. Okay, the next one might be, this might be the last and best. Eating KFC on Christmas Eve in Japan, an estimated 3.5 million Japanese families eat fried chicken every year for this holiday. Did KFC and were they like, hey, guys, new tradition? We're all doing.

All day. Because KFC could not make that happen in America. No. Only in Japan. That's a good, that's a fun bucket list thing to go to Japan on Christmas Eve. Literally. Bucket list. What?

KFC bucket. I was, I thought, wow, Rachel's really on it today. You old man. Little did I know. Unbelievable. I'm sorry. Oh, my goodness. So, yeah, I think it's great.

And you know what? I think holidays are great for the community, boosting the economy. the economy overall. But always remember you guys, regardless of the holiday, there's joy, there's festivities, but just be wise. We always like to say, don't let the January you hate the December you. But we are late in December, as you are listening here watching this. So it might be a little too late for you, but that's okay.

There's always. There's still time. There's always time. Yeah. But it's, yeah, there is a piece of the holidays that makes us a little lackadaisical. Yes. You know, we get a little lazy with our spending and we'll figure it out next month. It's the holidays.

You know, it's kind of like it's a It's a justification. Totally. We can overspend. We can buy ourselves a little something while we're buying other people's stuff. Did you do that this Christmas? I did. I did too.

What'd you buy? What did I buy? Oh my gosh. Okay, can I tell you something I bought? That was really just for me. I bought like really nice guest towels. It's been a dream of mine, Rachel. I can see you at the old carnival having lots of fun.

You're a fun one. You're a fun one. You know what? This is why I don't share things, Rachel. I try to be vulnerable. Guest towels? Come on. I'm not talking like a new pair of shoes or something that you got.

Shoes are shoes. Guest towels are... Wow. You're not even using guest towels. That's how generous I am, guys. What's the brand? Give us the brands. What is it?

Matuk. The Matuk Milagro towels. Where do you buy them? Where did I buy them? Nordstrom, maybe. Oh, wow. Yeah. So we're going to a apartment store.

Yeah. These are luxury. Where did you find that? Or like, how did you hear about them? I tried them at a relative's house and I was like, what is this brand? This feels luxurious. Oh, wow. Did you get you and Whitney some?

No, we don't deserve it. It's for the guests. No, that's bizarre. That is a little bizarre. I want the guests to feel like they're living in luxury when they're at our house. How many times do you have guests, George? Lately a lot with a new baby. Okay.

You know, a lot of family coming through. That's fair. I appreciate a great guest room. I like setting something up. It's nice. Someone walks in like, oh, wow, these are nice towels all of it. But I would have gotten another set for me. You're right. Maybe it will work on that. How about you? What's the big Christmas splurge for yourself this year? It wasn't a splurge, but I, yeah, got some clothes, got some clothes, you know. Okay, upgrade the wardrobe. You'd see the old Abercrombie sale. You'd think, sure, throw in a few

sweaters, you know, old Jay Crew. Got some sales, we'll get some new earrings. Oh, showing off the new earrings. Those are nice. They're festive, aren't they? They actually match our drink part. Can you hold it up against the ear? Oh my gosh. Hold on.

Hold on. Those are from Jay Kroo? Looking to this camera right here. We'll go. We'll do a zoom in. Is that good? And your shirt. But anyways, yeah, so I did.

The key is, it's in the budget. We got a Christmas budget. Yes, for sure. And mine came out of a clothing line item. I didn't even take it out of the Christmas budget. Do you guys have your line item for each person you're going to get gifts forward and do it that way? What's your style? In every dollar, we do just have Christmas gifts.

But I keep a tally on my notes. That's what I do. Yeah. George. Same zines. Jinks. You owe me a Christmas mocktail. You owe me a Christmas mocktail.

Oh, so good. All right, George. It's almost the end of the episode. We close out every episode with Guilty as charged. And this is where our producer, Lindsay, gives us a new guilty-charged question every week. And if we are guilty,

we have to take a sip. Lins? Have you ever re-gifted a gift someone got for you to someone else on Christmas? Re-gifted the same gift I got that day to someone else? No. Like you got a gift sometime this year and you re-gifted it to someone else specifically on Christmas. No.

I have re-gifted a gift and I was caught. Yes, you told us about that one. And then I did, oh man, last Christmas. We draw names. We draw names like for the Ramsey kids. I got Denise. Oh, no. Oh.

And I kind of had to throw it together last minute because I didn't prep well. So I did open up the bottom of my sink and I had had, like I was on a makeup subscription, like foundation subscription. And I got like too many before I canceled it. Three one of those in there. Just made a little like self-care kit out of nothing? Does she know this or is this the first? I'm sorry, Denise. And sweet Denise was probably like, Rachel, this is so thoughtful.

Oh, my gosh. I know. I did do that. It's not really re-gifting. Does she know? She doesn't know if she listens to the show. I don't think she listens to Smart Money Hap hour though. She has better things to do.

Yeah. She's a busy mom. So I did do that. I threw together a gift. No, that's okay. That's not re-gifting, though. What about you, Georgia? I plan on it this year.

Yeah. Can you tell us? We tell us? Well, it's more for like white elephant. There's not like a specific person like, oh, I'm going to give them this. But there's things. Like I got a little like, fancy salt container as a gift.

Like the pinch thing. Yeah, a little pinch salt thing. Give it to me. I'll take it. It's really cute. But I'm like, I don't know what we already have one. I don't know what to do with this. So I'm going to re-gift it to Rachel this Christmas. Act surprised.

I get like a sprinkle salt. But I think it's great to re-gift things at like a white elephant. We just need to bring it, you know, dirty sand, whatever you guys call them. I don't want to offend anyone. People get offended. What do you call it? White elephant? Favorite Things party

That's cute That's different Is white elephant what you don't like? Yeah No not necessarily They're kind of gag gifts a little bit Yeah Something from around your house

Because dirty Santa's like you steal gifts There's one that's like a gag gift one I thought that was white elephant I thought they were like one in the same I think we'll let the comments tell us They're going to have strong opinions about this But that's where I think the best time to re-gift is is when it's not going to a specific person

Okay. Yeah. But the people on my list, they want very, it's become kind of like, you lose the spirit. When they're like, I want these hoka sneakers. Yeah, so we decided not to do that this year. You don't get to tell the person what you want. They have to like genuinely buy you a gift. Oh, wow.

Yeah. I like that. I like that. With a certain budget, do you say 50 bucks max? Yeah, yeah, we set a budget. Or around 50 bucks per item, whatever it is. Exactly. I like that idea.

Yep. But it's also more stressful because you're like, crap. Well, because like you send someone the link. That's what we used to do. And you just buy it. And then I'm like, well, they could have just bought it at this point. Just Venmo me the expense. You wrap it, you open it.

Yeah. Call it a day. I know, totally. There it is. So great. All right, George. Guilty for sure. Drinks.

What are we thinking? Who's almost done? I'm closer. Yeah, you are closer. It was really good. This was a Christmas mock tale. And I will say nothing else about it because that's all it is. And I'm going to give this drink a nine out of ten.

I was saying the same thing. I thought nine out of ten. There's not much else I would do to improve it. And I'm not usually a ginger beer fiend. But it works really well with this. It's very nice. It's what, ginger beer? You're close.

Cranberry juice. Okay. Apple cider. Okay. Orange juice and ginger beer. Okay. So simple ingredients that you can get at the store. And it comes out to $1.60 per glass.

That's awesome. This is a great one to put in a giant container for the holidays with cranberries on top. So beautiful. And get a little, what are they called? A ladle. A ladle. Ladle. the drinks into a cute glass and call it a day.

Call it a day, folks. So make this on Christmas Eve for your family, the recipes, and the show notes. It's a real Christmas treat. It is a Christmas treat. That's right, George. All right. It's almost closing time, you guys. So always leave a review.

Do it. Share the episodes with friends and family this Christmas, you guys. And genuinely, from the bottom of our hearts, we hope you have a very Merry Christmas. My heart has grown many, many times. Mr. Grinch, it has. I'm so glad. Rachel put me in the holiday spirit. She's that powerful.

I do hope you guys have a great Christmas. Friends and family. So fun, you guys enjoy. And we'll see you next Thursday on an all-new episode of Smart Money Happy Hour.