Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel - Warning Signs You Might Be Bad With Money

Episode Date: December 7, 2023

If you’ve got champagne taste on a beer budget, this is your wake-up call! George and Rachel share their hot takes on things people do that scream, “I’m bad with money!” If any of this sounds familiar to you, don’t panic. Stick around for smart money advice—and even a cocktail you can afford. In this episode: ·      George’s hot takes on babies in designer clothes, broke people getting tattoos, and “shopping” at Rent-A-Center ·      Why an “I can afford the payments” mentality is risky ·      Encouragement that it’s not too late to develop a smart money mindset Helpful 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: Neptune’s Gardens Recipe by @speakeasieruk Ingredients: ·     1 1/2 ounces tequila ·     3/4 ounce lime juice ·     1/2 ounce elderflower liqueur ·     1/2 ounce blue curacao ·     1 egg white Instructions: Combine the ingredients in cocktail shaker and shake well. Strain it into a chilled glass and enjoy. 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. Hello, Mr. Blue Man. Are you talking to me? Are you okay? We're already having a good time, Rachel.

Well, for reference, if you're listening on podcast. Oh, sorry, our drink is very blue. The drink is electric blue. What would you call that? I'm going electric blue. Yeah, it's very blue. It looks like blue powerade, like growing up, you know? Yes, it does.

That's right. That's right. We're a power raid family, not Gatorade. We'll get into that a little bit. But this is a podcast for two friends who happen to be money experts talk about, which you're talking about. Everything from pop culture, current events, and money. And today we are talking about the things people do that scream, I'm bad with money. You guys really have been practicing cat and go.

We didn't practice that at all. That was the first time. One take wonder. First try. So good. So what does that mean, Rachel? That means that, well, there are people that are just terrible with money and they admit it. And like there's some things that you can be bad at money, but like people say that it's okay.

We'll get into those. I'm like, we're going to debunk some of that. But then there's just some flat out things people do that you're thinking, no, I think majority of people in America would look at that and say, common sense would say that is wrong. So we're going to dive into some of those scenarios. That's right. While we do that, George, what are we sipping on? We are sipping on a beverage that is called Neptune's Gardens. I don't know why there's so many plurals in this drink, but mixologist Michael assured me that there are multiple plurals.

and it's very bright, very fun. We're going to give you a rating and reveal the cost per glass at the end of the episode, along with the recipe in the show notes and description. So stay tuned to the end if you want that. I'm actually very interested

of what's in it. So I will be staying... You'll be excited. Stay tuned to the end. Well, you have to be here. You can't leave. I can't, so I will be here. You are the show.

Without you, there's no show. And this is just my first cocktail. I've taken two steps, so... And she's already... Having a good time. Who knows what's going to happen. Well, we spent a lot of time.

on Reddit for this episode. Surprise, surprise. Not me. The writers. I don't go on Reddit. It's too dark for Rachel. So I didn't know people actually like go on it. Yeah. And apparently they do. And that's like where all the hate is.

So I stay away. Well, some people just call it honesty, Rachel. They're realists. Oh, is that what it is? No. They're just, they're sad. There's a lot of just sad, angry people on Reddit. But there's also some humor and there's a lot of honesty.

And so we decided to make a list of our favorites because everyone loves a list. But before we do that, can we just preface this whole episode and just talk about the fact that some of these may come across as like we're trying to judge people. We're just relaying the information and trying to have some teaching to help you avoid some of it. But when we say some of these, it's going to, I don't want to sound like we're punching down. You know, we're not here to judge people. We just want to help them make better money decisions. And we hope that none of you people listening do some of these things that scream, I'm bad with money. And if you do, it's okay. There's still time to change and grow.

That's right. Can I just say that? I think that. I think that. I think. I think that's fair. Yes, we're not here to make fun of, but I will say some of these you're like, oh, no, I think. It's okay to feel a little called out. I think eight and a half out of ten people would, nine people, nine out of ten people would say. That's why I said a half can't technically be a person, I guess, in my stats would probably say like, yeah, it's probably not the smartest thing ever. So if you feel called out, if you feel like we're reading your mail, that's good sometimes to have a little bit of that. Yeah, I think it's fine. All right. Should I jump into the first one here, George? Yeah, we've got 15 things. Let's rifle through them.

Uh, not accepting a raise because they don't want to rise to a higher tax bracket. Ew. So that's something that screams, I'm bad with money because they're like, no, I can't make more because I don't want to go in the next tax bracket. That's right. Yeah. This one, uh, this is a gear grinder for me, Rachel, because we don't teach taxes in high school. Can we just say there's a lack of financial literacy. That is fair.

And we have a high school curriculum that actually does teach you how taxes work, which is in 48% of schools now. But the thinking behind this is flawed because tax brackets don't work like that. that. You don't, if you make a dollar more than the 15% bracket, you don't automatically jump to all of your income is taxed at 20% now. No. It doesn't work like that. Yeah. But if you do take a raise, that does jump you tax bracket wise. Oh, a little more in taxes. Yes, you would. But it would still be offset by what you're going to make. Yes. So. So if it's like 15% up to 50,000 and you make 51,000, well, the next tax bracket isn't actually tax based on 51,000. It's just the extra thousand that you're paying that extra taxes on.

So I want to make that very clear. That's a good one, though. That is a good one. Okay, what's next? When you ask them how much they have to spend and they take a glance at their phone and reply with their current bank balance. Hoee. Oh, gosh. I feel like they're going to make that one into a meme.

Just me going, hoi. Oh, man. So this is, what's the heart behind this? Yeah, we don't want to spend everything that we have, right? So you get $1,200. Sweet. I got $1,200 this day. I can just spend what I want. I can spend what I. Can I tell you, Winston, I traveled this past week to New York City.

You did. We did a trip for two days. And we had a lot of expenses this month. And we had planned on it, right? So, like, we were planning on it. But I will be honest, George. It was one of the first times that I looked at our checking account. And I thought, got a little spooked? Yeah, a little bit. And I was like, oh, man, like, we really have to like watch this. So I've learned, even as a spender, when I feel, I'm like, I feel that now. So there's hope to people out there where you think, oh, no, maybe I am one of these people.

I just look at my bank account and just say I can spend whatever I want. No big deal. When you start living and you're in a world and in a discipline and in a habit, you know, that you have a certain amount in your check, you know, you're doing the things that we teach, which is how we both live. And it starts to kind of get smaller and smaller and smaller. You will feel this panic, not. Oh, let's just go spend it all and everything's going to be okay.

There's still money left over. I didn't overdraft this month. And I'm saying that as a spender. So all that's to say, as you put this into habit, your emotions even may change. So it's possible. Well, I like to have a buffer in the checking account. So that's a good, like you don't want to ride that thing to zero. No, no.

You want to have, you know, when you're maybe in your first starting your financial journey, it might be a few hundred bucks, 200, 300, 400, 500, as you get further in the baby steps, I think it's wise to have $1,000, $2,000,000, bucks. Yeah. Set that floor for whatever gives you some security. It doesn't need to be $20,000 sitting in your checking account. Right, right.

But, you know, if you can get to the point where you have next month's bills and expenses sitting and checking, that's a good feeling. Yes, absolutely. Love it. Okay. Next. They not only applied for a puppy loan, yes, a loan to purchase a puppy, but they got denied. Ouch.

Maybe that wasn't the forever home for that pup. Wow. The pup said, no thank you. The financial god spoke that destiny into existence. This is a new trend is people taking on debt to get dogs. Can I tell you why? Because the dog world is just like the American culture that our expectations have risen and risen and risen. And even with dogs.

Designer breeds. And you're like, this is just. And listen, if you have the money for it, Frenchies, whatever people want to spend, you have the cash, it's great. We are never mad you buying stuff if you have the money. But I do think the dog. industry has upped its boogie game and we have followed. That's a good one though. Yeah, don't go into debt for puppies.

No. And if you get denied, it tells me that you're extra broke. And dog ownership is very expensive. So while I love dogs and you can adopt cheaper and all that, it's still, there's a lot of expenses that go along with it. So do not do this when you're broke. Absolutely. Okay, what's next, George?

What screams I'm bad with money? The kids are on the reduced lunch fee program, but the parents drive a 2020 F-250 with a lift kit. Oh. That's sad. So what this is getting at, correct me if I'm wrong. Is it taking advantage of a program? The reduced lunch fee program is for those that, you know, don't have high enough income to support covering the lunch.

And so they get a reduced lunch fee. Yes. Because of that. But on the other side, they are getting really nice, expensive trucks probably with giant payments and also modifying it, putting more money into the truck. Yes. Well, they're kids. So there's something gross about that. Because you want these programs to go to kids that really need it.

And this family could be broke, but there's also this sense of they're making terrible financial decisions. Yes. And you should prioritize your kids. I know. Can I sound like a terrible human for a second? I mean, that's a normal Thursday for Rachel. But I also think about this with people that ask. And I know, okay, so like with kids, their kids ask you to donate to like their mission trip or ask to donate to whatever.

And there's a part of me that's like, yes, make the kid earn. and learn how to, you know, work and ask for money. I don't know. Like there's a principal thing people feel like, oh, yeah. But here's my question. If you have the money, do you make your kid do that or not? Because, and I asked all of this, because there was a family that was asking for money, and then they bought a new BMW.

Oh. It's like they just asked. We just paid for your kid's mission trip, part of it, and they bought a new car. So I was so conflicted in my spirit of like, was it a principal thing that the parents? Maybe the parents could afford the BMW. I don't know. I don't ask those questions, obviously. So, like, maybe they could afford the mission trip, but they want the kid to learn how to work and ask for the money.

But then at the same – you know what I'm saying? Does that make sense? Well, mission trips too are – A little bit – I mean, they're taking advantage of, like, a school lunch program. So it's a little different, but it's that feeling of, like, help my kid out. But yet I'm going to go do what I want. I don't know. Does it make sense?

Yeah. I mean, part of it, like, there's these school programs. Hey, we want to pay for the band instruments. And so we're going to do the fundraiser. And even if the parents have the money. It's not like the Boy Scouts selling Christmas reefs or something. Like, yeah, not that. But the mission trip one feels a little dicey.

It's faith related. There's a different element to the mission trip. Isn't that kind of funny? I don't know. It sounds like a terrible human. I tried to give out of the generous spirit that we teach. Yeah. But I did think, hmm. Like, they could have just covered this mission trip.

Huh. But I think it is good for a kid to learn how to do that in the proper way. And, you know, just to have the wherewithal to go up to someone and be like, hey, I'm going on this trip. Would you say to do that? Yeah. But would you feel weird if your kids did that if you could afford it? That's a great question.

And make other people fund their trip? I don't think I would feel bad. But whatever was left, I would cover the difference. You know what I mean? Okay. Yeah. I'm not going to let little Johnny not make it because he didn't hit his goal. Next.

I knew a guy whose parent died and left him a modest inheritance. So he spent all the money doing a... bunch of aftermarket work on his car. Rims, sound system, flashing lights, paint, the whole thing. Well, long story short, he crashed the car and totaled it, but he hadn't updated the value of the car. Oh, no, after all the work was done with his insurance company. So the payout he got was like $10 and some lent.

Oh, boy. Oh, man. Rachel, you know how I feel about. You just don't like cars in general. Cars are not the problem. Cars are amoral, Rachel. It's the people that drive them that I have a problem with. Do you have a problem with rims and sound systems and flashing lights and paint and the whole thing?

I don't have a problem with any of those. I have the problem with the person who... Use the inheritance. Unwisly, goes full prodigal son with this money and goes, you know what would be really wise? Getting some aftermarket rims and flashing lights because there's something missing inside my heart that can only be filled with a lift kit. That's what it really screams, Rachel. It's sad.

You may have been in grief. Well, that's a good point. When you are in grief, if you do lose a loved one and there's some kind of windfall, you don't want to spend that money instantly. You always want to pause, give it six months, take time to grieve, don't make big decisions. Don't make big decisions. There's less than one. For sure. Number two, update your car information with the insurance company if you get any work done on it.

Make sure we do that. And number three, I think there was other priorities involved here. Yep, for sure. I'm modding a car like that on a depreciating asset. It's usually not going to ROI. Why? If you put $10,000 in, it doesn't mean you can go sell that car for $10,000 more. That's right. That's right. So that's my feelings, Rachel. And that's as nice as I can say.

I like it, George. All right, next, buying designer clothes for your young kids who are going to outgrow them in just a few months. Oh. Do we need to define designer? Like, are we talking Gucci and Chanel? That's how I would say designer, yeah. Okay. Yeah. What's like a nice baby brand that you get? You're like this, I feel bougie buying this brand for my children. I'm unaware. There's a store called Janie and Jack. Oh, yeah. That's probably the busiest I've gotten.

Okay. Not quite designer, but just kind of upscale boutique. Yes, but I don't do it anymore. My kids just wear gym shorts and T-shirts. So is this a phase, or do you... Yeah, it's when the girls were little specifically. And I would go and buy matching stuff. And it was expensive.

I mean, I look back and it was a lot of money. And some of them still had tags on them, George. Oh, yeah. It was passed to Amelia, passed to Caroline, and neither of them wore some of it. it. Wow. And I gave them to a neighbor. Dang. A well-dressed little girl now. Should have given it to me. Little Mia could have really use it, Rachel.

Oh, I don't even think about that. Well, do you think this is bad with money? I do, can I be honest? I do have judgment for like a little kid wearing like Gucci shoes. I don't understand it. I know. And I get that if you're like the Kardashians, it's like, all right, you can pull that off. You're like in the fashion world. But for the average person, you're dropping your kid off. I just want to always know the motivation behind it. Why do you feel the need to do it? I think here's a hot.

Hot take. If you are still pooping your pants, you shouldn't wear designer clothing. I just, you know what I mean? I know. Whether you're a kid or an adult. Yeah. I just feel like it's a risky move. I think that's fair. You're going to destroy the clothing. I think that's fair, you know. I, because it's just, it's just, it all gets ruined anyways. I don't know. I'm with you. I don't think it's, I don't think it's wise. Well, baby clothing, especially as my little daughter's growing, it just feels like, why did we buy all this?

For sure, for sure. You're at one time. Yeah. Okay. Next. Next. Here's one. What says I'm bad with money judging how much they can afford by proximity to payday. Ah. So if it's like three days till payday, they're like, yeah, I can afford that because I'm getting paid soon. But if payday just happened, you know? Yeah, this one's a little blurry to me. It's a little in the gray.

Talk me through it. Because, you know, we talk about paycheck planning in the every dollar premium map. So like, bills hit a certain day. And you're like, okay, yeah, I know we'll have this much. And I'll get paid on the 15th. I don't know. I could see some things happening where you're like, oh, yeah. I mean, I'll be honest, too. Like, there's some things that Wednesday we're going to buy, and I was like, we got to wait until pay. Oh, that's us waiting for payday, though. This is opposite.

So I guess this is before payday. I don't know. There's still an element to this mindset that is very paycheck to paycheck. It's that feeling, yes. And to that, I say nay. Okay. I don't like that mentality. I was trying to go on the happy side of this one, George.

I agree. I'm just saying if you, we. We recommend using a budget. We love every dollar. And when you do that, it takes the stress of like, I'm going to judge how much I can afford by proximate a payday. Instead, you can look at your budget, look at your bank account and go, all right, I'm at a budget on this category, or I need to move some things around.

But I like just having that awareness by doing the budget. That's good. All right. Next, buying two or three iPads at the same time so you can use one and keep the others on charge so you're never without one. Oh, no. Can I tell you? iPads are so expensive.

Like our kids didn't have the tablet. So we went and looked to be like, okay, we're traveling with them. We'll get them like maybe something to watch the plane. We looked at iPads and I was like, holy crap. So we just said the Amazon fires that just have like Disney Plus and Amazon, all of it. And it was like less than $100. iPads are expensive, which I guess people work on them. I think they're like right.

Are we talking over $1,000 for like a, I know some of the pro models and all that? But it's upwards. If you get up there, depending on the model. I'm going to look because I really want to know. What's the price of iPads these days? Okay, so the lowest, it starts at $799 or $66.58 a month. Perfect. If you want to do a little payment plan, which we do don't recommend.

My final take on this iPad situation is that it's very wasteful. Now, I'm hoping that if you have three iPads, you are very wealthy and you paid cash for all of these, and it was not a big financial debt. Well, especially that's a single-use person. Like one person, it sounds like it's used. Is it that difficult to charge an iPad? I don't think they die that quickly. Get a mobile charger, man.

It's a lot. Get over yourself. All right. Next, being completely broke and talking about what tattoo they will get next. Oh, this is another hot take. Do you think tattoo people are broke people? No. Not the ones I know.

That's funny. Because this person could just be dreaming about the future. Their goals for their artistry. They're stating there's someone who's completely broke and they're like, oh, this is a tattoo I'm getting next. Yeah. And tattoos are really expensive. Very expensive. I know, but I'm really trying to stick up for some of these people.

He could just be, or she could be. Why did I stereotype to a dude? I don't know. Ladies, you can get tats. Yes, we can. I have Jesus fish. Some people sitting here have tat. Not I.

Single tats. But no, I, I don't know. Yeah. You think for some reason? Talking about versus doing is different. You can talk about it. Like, we can be broke and be like, oh, my. gosh, what would the next trip we would go on be?

That's fair. Just dream. Okay, what if it said being completely broke and going to get a tattoo? Let's change it. Different? There we go. If we are in the action of it, it's not smart. I do feel like tattoos have this weird, like, addictiveness.

Like, there's always, like, a next one and a next one. There's not. Not for you. I'm proof. But you're not a tattoo person. I think we can all agree on that. Who says, George? We can all agree you're not going to show up with a half sleeve anytime soon.

Judgey, come on. Don't speak down. Is Winston a tattoo person? Nope. Why ruin a great thing? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. You know? There we go.

Oh my gosh. I have to make one Winston reference because people in the comments are like, I take a drink every time George mentions Winston. George loves Winston and Winston loves George. There we go. It's a beautiful friendship. Next.

I had a friend who used to play Xbox online and he would frequently not be on for weeks at a time because he would sell his Xbox to play bills. As soon as he had money again, he'd pay $400 for a new. console, then he'd run out of money and pawn it for $50 to $100. He did this probably five or six times a year. Oh, gosh.

Oh, man. So just based on basic math. That's called a pattern. So now if he's selling his Xbox to get out of debt and he's doing some stuff with the money that is good and getting him ahead, that's one thing. But it sounds like he's in a loop. He's in a loop. Well, he's spending two grand a year on this terrible cycle of just overpaying for the Xbox.

$400 to $50. $400 to $50. And if you're pawning it, like, he's in a loop. Like, you're desperate. Yeah. You know what I mean? He's not waiting for the Facebook marketplace. Yeah, you're looking for cash quick.

For sure. So that's sad. Yep. Is that a gaming thing? I don't know. But the fact that he's willing to give up the game to pay the bills, that tells me at least he's got some priorities. There we go. Look at you being all positive.

I'm trying to play good cop like Rachel. It feels good to try to be a good person. Just always think there's a human behind this comment. I get why you attempted now. Hurt people, hurt people. That's Reddit. All right. Here's a new one.

That's Reddit. What screams you're bad with money? You shop at a rent-a-center for living-room furniture, new TV, et cetera. Hmm. So have you heard of these rent-a-center locations? Yeah. So, like, the item, the furniture appliance, I'll say, is it's a $600 appliance or TV. And you end up paying, through payments, $1,000.

Yep. And so the interest, which there is no real interest because it's not truly a lender, which is how they are sneaky charging you that much. Yes. You end up paying close to double what the actual item would be. But it's the urgency of needing it and not having the money to go rising full. To rent it for a week, week by week. That's right.

So obviously the smart thing is for stuff that you need. Even if it takes a few months, save and save and save. Find ways around it because stuff like this, it's like a hole. Like you just get stuck in it and you get in that cycle and it's hard to get out. Okay, up next, they have trouble getting a job with a master's of philosophy. So they decided to take out more student loan debt and get a PhD. in philosophy. Oh man, this was our, this was a trend. This was a trend. I feel like when I graduated college, so people were like, I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm going to get my master's.

And then they would like finish their masters and like, I'm going to get a second. I don't know what I want to do. I want to get, yeah, and they just, and they do. They end up staying in school and in school in debt and debt and debt. I feel like I still have friends. I mean, I'm, you know, 34 now. Yeah. I still have friends who I feel like are still perpetually just getting more and more degrees and Really? And I feel like the more degrees you get, it's almost a harder to find a job because you don't have the experience to land the job. Right.

And there's some, obviously, tracks career-wise. I say you need a master's, right? And it's part of your plan going forward. But this is just like into the world of degrees. Yep. And it's to avoid doing something else, right? That's what it feels like. Yeah.

A lot of my family's in, you know, the health and medical world. And so you've got to go get, you know, the master's if you want to be a nurse practitioner, continue on a medical school. Yeah. But for a lot of these degrees, it's just like you don't know what you want to do with your career. So you just chase education. And when you do it with debt, it just adds insult to injury. Yes, for sure.

We get a lot of calls on the Ramsey show, Rachel, where people are like, I'm going to go into debt for my master's. I'm like, why? They're like, I don't know. Yeah. There's not really good reason. So always pause and go, what job am I after? and make sure the education matches that goal. Yes, and if the job actually needs it.

Because you may not even need it. Yeah. You'll be fine. Hot take. It's good. All right, next up, trading in your car every time it's paid off. Oh, man. Yep.

So it's like, I want to get more debt. Okay, now I'll pay it off, then I'll get more debt, and then I'll pay it off. And you see about all those payments. All those payments. And when you're used to the payment, you're like, well, I've been used to paying $500 a month for my car. I'll get a nicer, newer car. This one's gross and used now because I used it.

Can I tell you we have some friends and they, for the first time ever, they had the money, which this is some people's cases. They have the money to pay for something, but they just put on payments so that they don't take that chunk of money. They'd rather not. They see it in savings like, well, I don't want to spend $40,000. That's right. But I'll spend $40 grand on a loan. And they had to get a new car. It was used, and this was probably like last year. But they, for the first time ever, bought a car with complete cash.

And they're kind of joking with me. They're like, we're going to just try this. And they both admitted, like, it is the, they said never. when we go back in car payments. Wow. What was the reasoning? What was the change of heart? That it's ours.

It was a total emotional thing. No payments. They were like, yes, it's all ours. And they're like, and we can just drive and drive it because I think they were in a little bit of this pattern of like, because once you're done with paying it off, you're like, okay, is it kind of time for a new, you're just in, it's in a weird cycle, right? Mentally, it's just a little box check of like, guess we need to get a new one now. Yep.

And they're like, oh, yeah, we'll just have this forever, ever and amen, you know. So anyways, it's true. Break the cycle of payments. Break it. And what that usually means for people is you've got a really downgrading car for a little while. Absolutely. And then you're going to upgrade in cash slowly. You're going to go from the $8,000 car to the $12,000 to the $15,000 to the $20,000.

And the great thing is cars at that level, they don't depreciate a ton. They've already lost most of their value. So you're getting a great deal. You're doing great. Ha, ha. That's fun. Okay, next, Amazon boxes at the door of a rundown house every single day. This is some shade from the neighbor.

They're peeking out going, you see that? They got more and more packages. Here's the positive Annie in me. Positive Annie? Positive Polly in me. What if they're getting toilet paper? And soap and essentials. What if they're getting essentials?

And they're just doing it on Amazon. I guess they shouldn't have Amazon Prime. Which they probably do. It's shown up every day. It's true. I don't know. Yeah, that's a tough one. Or it could just be crap that we don't need.

There's a lot of assumptions being made about this rundown house. Right. You know, we don't know anything about these people. Yeah, that's right. Maybe they just don't care about aesthetic. Maybe they don't like the landscape. We don't know. They don't want to put the money in to renovate the thing.

We don't know. But yeah, the idea of getting Amazon packages every day, that's a very Rachel Cruz thing to do. So only do it if it's in the budget. Last but not least. Burning friends by asking for emergency money that they know they can't repay. I got a hot take on this one, Rachel. Okay, go. I don't think this is on the friend.

I think it's on the person giving them the money. Wow. George. So like me asking you for money and you're giving it to me. It's more my problem. You're enabling my behavior. So does it say you're bad with money? Sure.

Like, yes, it's not good to burn friends by constantly badgering them for money. Yes. That's no friendship at all. Now, if it's a one, you know, kind of one-off thing, it happens. But if this is a consistent thing, they're using you at that point. Absolutely. Ditch them. Before we go into things that you might say if you're bad at money, we want to tell you about a game that we've been loving, George.

What's that? Tell usrations. One of the best. One of the best games. So easy to learn. Very fun. Kind of competitive. Very competitive.

Which I like. But also kind of not. So don't feel bad if you're not competitive type. But when it gets rounds after you've passed your board that you have to draw, and if you're not a great drawer, it's okay. It makes the game even better. But if it gets back to you and it matches your card still, it's the best feeling where you think, oh, man. But also, if it doesn't match up, which is fine,

it means everyone else was a bad drawer or two. So it's just fun. It really is. It's a fun game. It's kind of like karaoke. The worst you are singing, the funnier it is. So if you're not an artist, good. That's right.

Yeah, you're good. You're good to go. That's a good one. So make sure to check it out at Walmart. Today, promise you will not regret. Can I say I love seeing people post about the games they're buying from our friends from, you know, They're buying tapal, tell the illustrations, they're playing with their family.

And I feel like we're a part of this moment where they're connecting in an analog way. We love it. We love it so much. So, so great. All right, George. So sometimes actions speak louder than words. Always. And sometimes words speak pretty loudly.

So there's some phrases people will say that could indicate, huh. So this is like, if you said this, it might be a little gut check. Yeah. So let's just go through three of them. We pulled a lot of these from Reddit threads, too. They're just so honest on Reddit. So we thought, why not? All right.

The first one. I can afford the payment. This is a big one. Usually said with great pride. Yeah. And probably the most common one, I think. Yeah. I think that this is a very common phrase, people say.

Because the belief that debt has to be a part of your life, that there's no way you can save up for something like a car or a college degree for your kids. Like, whatever the thing may be. Right. The higher the price tag, for sure, the feeling of like, oh, my gosh, I don't know if this is possible. And so you go straight to payment thinking, which means interest is usually involved, and you get in that cycle of debt. So it's a – and I understand where people are – it's hard, right? Well, and we're like we grow up with no financial literacy, and so you just learn that if you can afford the payment, you're doing great.

But that also means you could be reaching zero financial goals. So we always say, you know, broke people have this mentality of how much down, how much a month? Those are the questions they're asking. Wealthy people and smart spenders go, how much? What's the total cost? Can I actually afford it in full instead of just looking at payments? And the dealerships and all the people lending you money, they want you to think in terms of payments because then they can really screw you. Because you're not thinking about the full price you're paying, the interest.

And you might be thinking of, well, of course, wealthy people think that because they have the money to actually buy it. But listen, it's the mindset. That's how they got there. Like, it's this idea of I'm not going to send my paycheck to the bank and pay extra in interest. I'm actually going to let my money work for me. So it's a harder road. Oh, yeah. Right?

It's more sacrifice and set up the sinking fund to save a little bit each month. But it's so worth it. And it's more rewarding, I feel like. For sure. When you really earned it by saving up over time. Absolutely. Here's the next one. I won't retire.

I'm going to work until I die. Oh, man. That's first of all just sad. Yeah, retirement. It can be a scary reality for a lot of people, right? When they start to get towards that age and they're thinking, oh, my gosh, have I lost time? or I have lost time, how do I make up for this?

Is this even possible? And that fear can take over. And then some people just give up. Yeah. And they just say, okay, fine. I'm just going to work till I die, which is that losing hope, right? And we always want people to have the hope

that you still have a level of destiny. Now, you may have to work longer in order to reach the goal you need to to be able to live off that retirement. But that doesn't mean that you just give up. And that's kind of what this is a giving up sentence. Well, when we take a lot of calls on the Ramsey, show where people can't work anymore for whatever reason. They become disabled or their health

takes a decline or a family member's health declines and they have to take care of them or an aging spouse. And so you have to plan for these things. You might need a slower pace of life. And so you got to be diligent. You got to consistently invest now so that 30 years from now you got a big pile of money to where you don't have to work. Now this quote could be like a Dave Ramsey where it's like, I don't retire, I'm going to work until I die. Like he just loves to work. So we can caveat it if I'm going to be good cop and say maybe this is a very positive sentiment. You know, it's good to work. Work is good for us.

It keeps us going. Sure. Yeah. But it's not out of a necessity to... But this idea that you can't retire. Yeah. That's sad. That's right.

All right. The last one, I can afford it if I just eat a little less this month. Oh, gosh. I know. Now, eating out less, I like that one. But like, you don't starve yourself to afford something. We're not going to limit the food intake that we need for our bodies. Yeah, this is where we talk about the important things, you guys.

The things that you actually need. So food is being one of them, shelter, utilities, and transportation. Make sure all of those are covered before anything else, before any night out, any sweater that you're going to buy, like whatever else is out there, making sure that these are covered. So don't sacrifice food intake. Well, and don't go eat ramen for a month so that you can afford some frivolous purchase. Yes, that's right, too. Yep. Put good things in your body.

That's right. Okay. Yep. So listen, at the end of the day, you guys, not having financial goals and not caring, if debt is never paid or retirement is never funded, this whole, like, YOLO life. Yeah, it's not worth it. And if that is for some reason your mentality, you can change it. And that's the beautiful thing.

That doesn't have to be you. That's really nice, Rachel. Thank you. Good reminder that we have the power to change. And you don't always have to lift the truck. Yeah, we do. There you go. And thank you for that.

I said, yep. You're right. Rachel finally agreed with me. I'm here. Now, can I caveat again at the end here? We don't say any of this to shame people, but we do want to create some self-awareness. And maybe we kind of held up a mirror here that it didn't feel good to just look into and say, yep, that's me. But I want to encourage you, I used to be like that.

I used to think a lot of those things. And over time, it changed. I went through Financial Peace University, started budgeting, got out of debt. And that gave me hope that, oh, my gosh, there's this whole other world on the other side. That's right. where I don't have to rely on debt in this bad cycle of paycheck to paycheck. I love it. We can all change, George.

It's hard, but it's good. And sometimes necessary. Amen. All right. So it's almost the end of the episode, and we like to close on every episode with Guilty as charged. And this is where our producer, Lindsay, gives us a new guilty-as-church question every week. And if we are guilty, we have to take a sip of the drink. Lindsay?

Are you ready? Yeah. Have you ever come up with something on the spot that you were supposed to have done? done in advance and it did or didn't work out? Oh. What was the outcomes? Wait. So have you ever done something where, come up with something on the spot that you should

have prepped for ahead of time? And like it didn't work out or it did work out? Like what example do you have of that? Because you guys both are speakers, you do other things. Have you ever knew you needed to prep for something? But then on the spot, I was like, I got this. It's fine. And then it worked.

doubt last minute, like you changing something, or it didn't work out? Oh, man. Does that make sense? Yes. Oh, yeah. I'm going back to my rolodex of memories. Yes, there was one live event. I'm trying to think which one it was.

It was one of the smart conferences. And I feel like it was a talk I had given a couple of times. And I remember just thinking, it's fine. It had been like a year, though. And I want to say, I didn't really, like, look over everything. And I got out on stage. And I remember beat. Like, it's just that feeling of like, I'm not.

completely like panicking because I'm like I know I've done this enough like I can get through it but I do remember halfway through getting like getting halfway through it and thinking like oh my gosh Rachel like I don't know what's next I can't remember my next point and that's the worst feeling for me that you're having to like wait on your notes and all of that and it just wasn't the best I don't think it was like a traumatic terrible experience and I think yeah but I do remember that feeling and that was a reminder that I'm like regardless of how long you do something you prep for it still prep for it. Beautiful reminder.

I'm so prepared that I'm trying to think back to the last time. George is a very prepared person. Have you ever done something last minute and it worked out better than you would have thought? I try not to do anything last minute. Okay. Nothing. So this was geared towards you, Rachel. I'm very spontaneous.

I'm very much more. Yeah. Now for school, I remember multiple times middle school and high school getting and they're like, all right, everyone put your textbooks away and get out your number pencil for a test and we're thinking, what? Oh, no, no, no, no, no. And then you just try real hard. Then you have like eight left times up and you just think, Lord Jesus, God, my pencil is stealing that field.

That reminds, I do have one, you turn it in and you just like, well. If it makes you happy, I do have one. I hope that works. It does make me happy. We had like a summer reading program in high school and I did not read this book and I thought, I'll just do the spark notes of Sid Hartha. And I went in and take the quiz. None of the questions were connected to the spark notes.

Zero. And I failed it miserably, and I got in trouble for... Essentially, I don't know if it was cheating because I got none of them right. I'm the worst cheater ever. But it wasn't fun, and that didn't feel good. But I still refused to read Sidhartha. I still only know the Spark Notes. I don't think I read a lot of books in high school, which is why I love to read today, which is funny.

Oh, you're making up for lost time. I think I am. But you're also reading mostly fiction. I was not a good student. A lot of Colleen Hoover. I love her colleague. Just get my hugs on on my barefoot dreams robe and just read some Colleen Hoover. Oh, my gosh, you're personally attacking some people listening.

It's fine. It's just, again, it's fine. There's other authors out there. I just want to let people know. Oh, my gosh. She's doing fine. She's a very bestselling author. Yeah, she's doing a lot better than us, probably.

That goes without saying. Oh, so good. That's fine. Okay, that was fine. All right, George. So who's, you might be, you always do this. Man, it's not a race. I'm not very competitive, but this is one thing I can beat you at.

There you go. It's good. It's getting a little sweet at the ends. Maybe all the, like, the syrup and sugar felt at the bottom. Yeah, what's in it? What's in it? So this is Neptune's Gardens. Let me remind you, Rachel, two plurals.

And I'm going to give this an eight out of ten. Yeah. How about you? Eight and a half. Wow. You just had to one up, maybe. Now you come up with the eight and a half. Because I'm very much contemplating when I ordered this at a restaurant, and I think I might.

Okay. It's that feeling of like, I don't think so. But it was delicious. Like I would drink it. It was really good. And it was a fun, bright drink. And here's what's in it. Tequila, lime juice, elder flower liqueur, blue carousal, and egg white.

Oh, wow. Very nice. We love the egg white, Rachel. Very nice. It's not weird people. It's a very normal thing to add to cocktails. It would be very, I would not do this at my house, though. That's what's hard about these.

That's a very, like, up-dity drink. Mixologist Michael goes all out for us. But some people out there, they don't mind taking, you know, putting an effort, Rachel. You should take note. Sometimes effort is a good thing. So if you want to check it out, you can get the recipe in the show notes. And by the way, it only costs $2.77 to make this. And it's got a lot of ingredients in it.

So fantastic. Give it a try. I could have used a little more punch, a little more sour, a little more sweet. Maybe that's it. Maybe that's what it is. I don't know. Just a little more of everything. A little something.

All right. It's almost closing time. And we always love hearing from you guys. So if you think we missed something that maybe screams, I'm bad with money, leave in the comment. We want to read it. Curious. So curious. So curious, Rachel.

Thank you for that. And if you don't want to miss a future episode, be sure to subscribe and follow us on social as well at Rachel Cruz at George Camel with a K. We love hearing from smart money, happy hour listeners. And hit the follow button wherever you're listening as well. Yes. That helps. from you. Absolutely. Well, make sure to subscribe so you don't miss an all new episode next Thursday of Smart Money Happy Hour.