Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel - What Do Our Amazon Purchase Histories Say About Us?

Episode Date: November 23, 2023

It just so happens that you can learn a lot about someone by looking at their Amazon purchase history. Who knew? In this episode, you’ll learn a lot about George and Rachel as they entertain you with a few gems from their own purchase histories (including their very first Amazon buys). Plus, they’ll weigh in with a few tips to shop smart online—during the upcoming holiday sales or any time. In this episode: ·      The Amazon purchases George and Rachel made because they were “influenced” ·      Rachel’s “add to cart” rule ·      George never spends money to do this one thing Helpful Resources:   ·     Pick up a copy of George’s new book , Breaking Free From Broke. ·     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. ·     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. ·     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: Rosemary Pear Mocktail Recipe by Mash & Spread Ingredients (makes 1 cocktail): For the rosemary syrup: ·     1 cup sugar ·     1 cup water ·     2–3 sprigs fresh rosemary For the mocktail: ·     ice ·     4 tablespoons pear juice ·     1 tablespoon rosemary simple syrup ·     1 teaspoon lemon juice ·     6 tablespoons sparkling water ·     Sliced pear (for garnish) ·     2–3 sprigs thyme (for garnish)   Instructions: For the rosemary syrup: Combine sugar and water in a pot and cook over medium heat. Cook until sugar is completely melted/dissolved. Turn off heat and allow mix to cool with rosemary sprigs. Once cooled, remove the rosemary sprigs and set syrup aside. For the mocktail: Fill glass halfway with ice. Pour pear juice, rosemary simple syrup, lemon juice and sparkling water. Garnish with fresh pear slices or sprigs of thyme. 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. Oh, delicious. Wonderful. Refreshing.

Well, this is the show where 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, Rachel, in honor of Black Friday and Cyber Monday and Green Tuesday and Wacky Wednesday, we are taking a little consumer's trip down memory lane. We recently discovered how historical the purchase history feature on Amazon is, and we are shook. I mean, all the way back to 2007 when you ordered textbooks from Amazon. Remember those days? I went to A-Books, A-B-E-D-com. Any A-B-Books fans out there?

We went to the bookstore on campus to buy our textbooks. I'll look at that much. That's what we did. Back in my day. Back in my day, we had bookstores. It's fine. But it got us thinking how shopping has evolved over the last several. years, especially since Amazon stepped in and took over our life.

So we're going to talk about it. Talk all about it. And what are we sipping on today, George? Today we have a wonderful rosemary pear mocktail. So for those of you, you've been asking us, you love when we have the mocktails. This is one you're going to want to make at home. We're going to give you our rating, reveal the cost per glass, and give you the recipe at the end of the episode and in the show notes.

So stick around. And the rosemary gives a little, like, holiday flare to it. That's true. So you really could make it in the holidays. And I feel like if you want to make anything kind of hipster and bougie, add rosemary. Yeah, it's great. Like I'm sold. I'll pay an extra $2 because it's like, oh, it's a rosemary paramedic.

Yeah, and you're like, oh, okay. Even the name Rosemary. Rosemary. If you had another child, would you name her rosemary? Rosemary. No. Rosemary is beautiful. It's a pretty name.

Yeah. Rose, I think, is pretty. Rose is a great name. Hazel. We keep going. Wow. That was a little hint. I like the old names.

Okay. There we go. Well, hey, pretty usual, we have a lot to say about the money side of this conversation, about shopping habits. We'll get to that. But first, we're going to give the people what they want. We're going to see what our Amazon history says about us. Our very personal Amazon history. I'm a little nervous about it, George.

I'm not going to lie. It's like someone going through your dirty laundry. I mean, I went through it for this episode, and I thought, oh, my gosh. I wasn't embarrassed, but I felt shame. I'll just say we spend a lot on Amazon. Well, I'm not going to say a lot. We just spend what we would normally get other places on Amazon. That's fair.

So we get it. We get a lot. Well, our team gave us a list of prompts to help us comb back through our records here. And we're going to boldly and bravely go where no man has gone before and share our Amazon history publicly, at least some of the highlights, because you'd be deathly bored if you heard it all. So we're going to read them off and go back and forth. Feel free to look this up for yourselves if you go to orders and then you can sort by in all kinds of ways. It's a scrapbook of our life, Rachel. It is. Okay, I'm going to open up my app.

All right. George, what was your very first purchase on Amazon? Oh, boy. Mine goes to 2011. Same. Okay. Wait, who did it first? That's the question.

When was your order? Oh, when was your order in 2011? And it was Winston. December 27th, 2011. I beat you. October 24th. Okay, what was yours? This is so nerdy.

As a former Apple store employee, it was the Steve Jobs biography. Oh, that's a good one. Did I read it? No. But do I want to in my heart? 13 years later? Sure. Ours were 10 feet of speaker cables.

I'm going to guess that was a Winston purchase? That's a Winston purchase, yeah. I don't know what it's for, auxiliary something. A speaker cable, like was it like a live event kind of thing? I mean... I mean, 2011, we would have been... I mean, we would have been... Were you married?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We were in our house in Franklin. Maybe we were trying to hook up something. I don't know. I don't know. We'll have to ask Winston. Okay, okay, so go... Okay, so in that one, go to your second.

Okay, second purchase. Oh, boy. I went from, like, lame to lamer. What is it? I got a 16-gibite flash drive. Nice. Why? I don't know.

What's wrong with me? Okay, well, I have... I have a few. There's not a lot in 2012. We only ordered like 10 things. So we weren't quite the Amazon users. But are you ready for this? This is the range.

Golf balls, which is Winston. Also for Winston. All the way up to a air filter replacement kit. Wow. He would change our air filters in our house. Because his dad owns a heating and air company. So he knows how to change all the heating and air duct work and all of it. So he got a hot.

I remember this. It's funny. I can't believe it was 2012. Hospital grade air filter for our house. And he changed them all that year. I remember that. How sick were you guys? And here it was. You had hospital grade.

Is he that worried? Uppity. No, it was just very nice. Okay. Well, they're $20. I don't know if they were that nice. Oh, wow. You can buy them today.

Was it a mental hospital? There we go. My purchase after that was an iPhone 4 Slim Fit case. What a different time. What a different time. I wouldn't be good. caught dead using an iPhone for it today, Rachel. Unbelievable. Okay, go to your, what was the latest one right now on Amazon for you.

Okay, let's see. It may not have been for me. This may have been Whitney, so Cavana. Mind's all Winston. Okay, go. Oh, no. What? I wish I was making this up. What is it? It's a pet ramp. You did not get another pet ramp. No, you didn't. I didn't get a pet ram. Whitney apparently decided to buy a high-density foam. two-tier, dog stare, extra-wide pet ramp.

I can't make this up. No, you're right, it's there. I was excited to tell you my purchase, which I purchased even more nerdy, motion sensor floodlights. Oh, we have those. Those are fantastic, actually. Those are fantastic.

That was the one I was going to share until I found out Whitney made a purchase without my knowledge today for a pet ramp, which I assume is for our dog Olive, who is recovering. Rachel, I'll remind you. from obesity. That was the diagnosis.

We spent $2,000, Rachel, at the vet. For the vet to tell us she's severely overweight and pulled a muscle in her back. And then I had to go to the Walgreens to get a prescription for my dog for Valium. George, unbelievable. So she can't jump on and off the couch. It's a medical diagnosis. It's not funny.

Here, we can just talk about how different our households are. Yeah, what's your most recent purchase? Pet ramp to a one gallon lawn and garden pump pressure sprayer to spray plants, garden watering, and weeds. Must have been Winston. We're going into a time where we're not doing a lot of gardening. He must have some type of something. Is he pre-seating? Is he aerating?

There's something that is going on with the yard that Winston is apparently doing. So it sounds like... It'll be here tomorrow at 10 p.m. You're throwing Winston under the bus. for a lot of the Amazon spending. What was the last purchase you made as a person? Oh, that's okay. Yeah, here it is. I got two back to back. All right. This is so weird. A satin pillowcase. That feels very Rachel. Anybody? I feel like that's a thing. Okay, that's a thing. We got a, we got some nods from the ladies and the Britney Spears book. Wow. It's very Rachel.

Are you hoping she follows you on Twitter like she follows me? I know. I cannot believe she follows you. I can't help it. There you are. Okay, that's it. Okay. All right. George. I feel like my face would slip off of it all the time.

I know. I haven't used it yet. It's washed. It's too slippery. I don't know. But it's supposed to be good for your hair. That's what they say. Okay.

So someone blogged about it, so I did it. All right, George. I need to know from you. Keep going with yours because this is fantastic. Any of your subscribe and saves? Yes. I have one item on subscribe and save. We have zero.

Good for you. Yeah, we don't have any. So what's yours? So you can save, you know, I don't know, 5% if you do these subscribe and saves. And so we get Spindrift Sparkling Water. It's a four-flavor variety pack, pack of 20, and it's cheaper than if I bought it at the grocery store. Wow, the Spendrifts. Well done.

And it's shipped overnight. At 4 a.m. Some person is like, here's your 40 cans of sparkling water, you madman. With your obese dog and pet ramp. Wow. Throwing olive under the bus, Rachel. She can't even fit under the bus. She's so big.

She's trying her best. Sweet olive. So that's ours. But you're not a subscribe and save person. No, we didn't, yeah, we don't have any. Okay. Okay, I purchased you made because you were influenced. Oh, boy.

It's from someone in the room. Oh, wow. Really? Yes. Tyler forced me against my will to buy a baby Bresa. And it's a curig for baby formula. And so you add the powder on the top. I'm surprised you even said the word curig.

I know. In a positive light. Trust me, it is way nicer than a curing. It's more expensive than a curing. And you put the formula in the top part. You have water in the back. And it instantly mixes it and heats it. Which if you have a screaming newborn at home, you get your life back.

Having instant formula instead of waiting seven minutes to heat a bottle. You scoop, scoop, shake, feed. That's a lot of effort. At 3 a.m. Rachel. I know. I did it three times, George. I know. And you pour the formulas all over the counter.

It's a nightmare. I welcome. And it's all sticky. You got to clean it up. It's the way it's done, George. It's the way it's done. I don't need to suffer anymore as a new parent. I'm just kidding.

How about you? What was a purchase you made because of you were influenced? So I put two of these on here because I went through my history as we were prepping for this. One was out of fear. Oh. And one was out of just like, because I love it. So one was influenced clothing. There's these trousers and people know them.

And I have them in like literally five colors. I was actually going to wear them today for the episode. Wow. High-wasted trousers. They're like 30 bucks, and they are wonderful. They're the cutest pants. I love them. Got them in four colors.

So I was influenced that way. And then my fear one, if you knew me as a mom, speaking of that, I don't do choking. Choking is my thing. Who does choking? You will meet friends that give their, like, nine-month-old a piece of pizza, and it's, like, not. And they're good with it. Like, food doesn't freak them out. A lot of my friends are like that.

They just food's, like, their kids figure it out. Like, it's, they don't cut. I don't know. I would puree my kids' food until they were like 15 if I could. That's a big fear for me. Me too, George, but it's not ever parents' fear. I mean, no one wants their kids' choke. But, like, a lot of parents...

You ever looked in that esophagus? They don't know how big that is. Okay, well, I hear you. I hear you. But I'm just saying there are a lot of people... I'll also say my friend group that, like... Yeah, they... They're just much more chill about it.

Yeah, it's not a thing. They'll, like, yeah. We'll do the heimlich. It's fine. Well, yeah, they just aren't, like, panicked about choking. I pay. panic about joking. I don't like it. I don't like it. It freaks me out. So anyways, I was on Instagram and an ad came up for this thing called LifeVac. Have you all seen this? I've seen this

ad. Y'all, and there are Nest videos. Something that's ad. And it literally gave me anxiety. I like literally was like, oh, I have to breathe through this. This is literally my worst for happening in front of me to someone else. I had to turn it off. And I-show Nest video footage. And I ordered it. It was like $129. And I ordered it. LifeVac. I don't know if it works, but I was influence. Hashtag not sponsored. Completely. And would be a weird sponsor.

Completely. Open to it. Completely fear-based. And it scared me and I bought it. Because out of complete terror, watching these NIST cameras, it was terrible. It was terrible. Thank you for your honesty.

That was it. That was mine. Okay. Okay. What's next? Purchase that you hoped your spouse wouldn't notice. Oh, boy. This is a weird one and I will not share the story.

but I bought a toilet auger on Amazon. What? What's that? The toilet got clogged. It was not from any of us. We had some friends over. Someone clogged the toilet. I paid a plumber.

Rachel. His fee for coming out, right? Literally, he was there for 78 seconds. He used this tool, and he said, I was like, all right, what's the damage? And he went, I'll be $120. And I was like, you were here for two minutes? and so after that I saw the tool he was using

and I found it on Amazon and I bought it for $40 What's it called? A toilet auger It's a giant like metal thing And it goes into the toilet And then you do like a twisty And it will push everything

Yep Okay When the plunger won't do it Okay So there you go I was like never again Will I pay a plumber $120 for something

I could have done myself You're gonna do it George look at you being so handy Hey listen I'm an everyday Mike Rowe over here I'm dirty jobs You know give me my own HGTV

show when I just used toilet augurs to unclogged people's toilets for free. You would never do that. As a generosity play. How about you? Mine's probably less gross. So if you can tell, I have three earrings and these are the hoops. Did you go to Clares? I did.

Yes, I did. She went to Clares. With my daughters on Mother's Day of last year to get their ears, that's cute. They were nervous. I was like, well, get another one. So I got another one, the third. Anyways, the hoops, I just debate on size or like metal, all the things.

So I've just bought a lot of small hoop earrings, and I just did two more orders, like, last month. And I know Winston, if he saw him, he's like, are you buying more hoop earrings? Because I just kind of get it right. So that's one that I was like, he's probably annoyed of all the hoops. Yeah. But, you know, you should be annoyed with his little pump spray for the garden. What's going on here? It's fine gardening season.

I should. And he may not even be annoyed, but I thought, I buy a lot of little hoop earrings. Probably should just pick one and go. Okay, so what do you think our Amazon history says about us, George? You know, mine, as I look through it, truthfully, most of it recently, you know, we're new parents. So most purchases were for the baby. Yeah. So it's easy to justify when you're buying, you know, bottles and burp cloths and blankets.

So it doesn't feel like, wow, look at, I'm so, I'm such a spender. Even though you spent a lot. Like I looked at my purchase history from 2011. Yeah. We made 23 purchases that year. Or I did. That's when I was single. This year we have hit a record high of 203 purchases in 2023.

Yeah. But a lot of it was returned. So I'll caveat with that. How do you see that total? What it says about me, I think that it says I'm a good dad. I don't know how else to read into that. Very selfless purchases. I'm great.

I realize how little of it was like frivolous. I've realized Amazon to me is very like, like boring, adulting house stuff, which is kind of beautiful in its own way. Yes, I agree. I would say, ours is besides the Britney Spears new book, very practical. I feel like a lot of things we buy, I'm like, we actually use. It's batteries or it's, you know, dishwashing deter. I don't know. It's stuff that I'm like, yeah, we actually are having to use to maintain a household. And it's convenient for us. Most of ours is like household stuff for like little, you know, repairs, renovations, dog stuff.

baby stuff. I love it. That was fun, George. I enjoyed it. You all heard from ours. We wanted to hear from yours. So we went out on all Instagram. What a generous platform.

People are willing to share so much of their lives and information with us. And we received a lot of confessions. And we're just going to react to these? Yeah. So this person, their first purchase was a school book, which is very common. Normal. Most recent, a squatty potty. George.

We all evolve at some point. Right. Went from college student to potty training. That's amazing. Listen. That's what it is. Do not, don't crap on the squatty potty, Rachel. Well, literally you can.

That's what it's made for. But it's a great, I encourage everyone to get one. Do you know what it is? Yeah. What is it? I don't even know. You don't have a squatty potty? Really?

It's literally just a little stool you put your feet up on and it's supposed to help positioning for adults. Oh, I thought it was for children. Nope, adults. Oh, I went from potty training? Yes. There's science behind your posture while doing your business. Oh, wow.

All right. To have your legs. I am ignorant to all that. I don't know. Okay. Well, I know what I'm getting Rachel for Christmas. All right. All right.

Next, this is great. A Jan Sport backpack. Classic. Yes. And most recent coffee. Again, very practical. Love it. I respect it.

That is good. Here's another book for college. Most recent pack and play for baby. There it is. Now we're talking. A baby play. Wow. What a life change that was.

Elf on DVD. That's funny. And then a toe rings for my teen. Oh. What a. Our toe rings back? They are. Wow.

We got the, okay, they're back. Are we talking like a ring? Like a. That was what we did. Y'all, the 90s are back. The 90s are back. But like we're putting a ring on a toe. Yes.

Yes. Is this visible to others? Yeah. And flip flops. Yes. My God. Oh, gosh. Middle School Rachel is so happy right now. But what?

Wouldn't it hurt when you, like, walk? Not that I remember. No. No. Okay. Okay. You ready for this other one? This will be our last one.

A, from 2010, a Canon digital camera. Remember the digital camera phase? What a great. What a great time in life. Yeah. In the most recent, an Echo Dot. Are you an Echo family? Are you a non, you don't do smart devices?

No, we do smart. Is Echo Alexa? Yeah. Yep. We are an Echo family. Wow. And you know, Charles' new thing. What's his thing?

Ten times a day. Alexa, what's the weather today? That's so precious. And she says, it's sunny outside and seven, you know, whatever. We love a tiny meteorologist. He is a meteorologist, yep. In a queen-sized bed. A queen-sized bed.

Okay, so Amazon has over, ready for this, 310 million active users worldwide. 89% of consumers are more likely to buy products off Amazon than any other e-commerce sites. 66% of online consumers start their online search on Amazon. That's fair. I would agree with that. I mean, it makes sense, like, as much as people want to hate on Amazon because of the business practices or whatever,

or like shop local and shop small. Local places are now on Amazon. That's my argument now. There's places that are, like, local shops and stuff that do, that buy, yeah, they use Amazon. Local sellers. But it is, you cannot beat the convenience. And I think people just gravitate in the marketplace

towards what is the most convenient option and the best price. Totally, yep. And Amazon Prime originally launched in 2005, which sounds crazy. Whoa. And Prime Day launched in 2015. We were still in high school when it launched. That's weird to think about. I know, which I didn't even know.

So, George, coming up, there's going to be a lot of deals, right, for holidays, Cyber Monday, Black Friday. I know I don't have specifics that I'm taking advantage of those things, but I will go through and buy some Christmas stuff, especially toys for the kids and all of that. Like I will go through and use those days to get deals. I would. What's your take on that?

My take is twofold. Number one, don't always believe that it's a deal. Just because it's a lightning or prime day, if you actually look at the price, which there's a website, camel camel camel.com. No. Related? No relation. Wow.

It's with a C, but they track Amazon price history. And so you can see, is this actually a good deal or was it cheaper a week ago before any of these sales started happening? Oh, interesting. So the urgency in marketing that Amazon has to push you to buy stuff, it's not always a deal. Yeah. So that's my one thing. The other one is don't just buy stuff because it's on sale. Never spend just to save.

Yep. So that's just a good, like if it wasn't on my list originally, I'm not just kind of like doom scroll Prime Day to see if there's any random crap. I'm like, well, that feels like a good deal on USB cables. Totally, yeah. I know my favorite rule is to add to cart and then sleep on it, which Amazon's hard to do because it's like a buy now and you're like, oh, I can have it so soon. So you really have to like.

Some of these lightning deals they've been pushing where it's like you have to buy it within a certain time. Right. So brace yourself, put the brakes on. And do your research. Yeah, and just add to cart. And I've done this before. And then you go back like two days later, oh, I didn't even need that or good, you know?

Yeah. So sleep on it, like your emotions side down because so much of our spending. is from like adrenaline and we're excited and you kind of get that like high of like oh 100% so fun so when i to make a shameless plug rachel in my new book breaking free from broke i have a whole chapter on marketing and consumerism and i walk through the smart spender plan how companies go after our money how you what you can do to kind of take control of that and so i think those steps help people just stop and ask the right questions and not to shop impulsively and out of urgency, scarcity, scarcity, fear, you know, retail therapy, all the reasons why we doomscroll.

And the later you buy things, the worst decisions you make, I found. Later in life. Like 11 p.m., you're like, gosh, what are you spent? The older you get, the worse it is? The boomers need to get off of there because they're making bad decisions. I know. So that's a big one. Yeah, and we're entering the spending season.

I mean, we are. There's just stuff that is constant. I know our November budget, we do an every dollar budget. And on every dollar in November, we've done our November one. It gets out of hand. And there's like so many extra line items that we never have it. I'm like, wow, it really is. Those are our two months we spend the most.

Well, you can justify it because, like, well, I'm buying things for other people, but then half your cart is for you. Do it. Right? That's kind of what happens. Yeah. So just be wise this holiday as you're spending. Make sure you're spending your own money.

And yeah. Don't go into debt. Don't sign up for the Amazon credit card to save five. Don't fall for any of that crap. Don't do it. We're watching you. We're watching you. We have your Amazon history.

But we, but spending's fun. It's part of, it's part of working hard for your money, being wise with it. Once you're out of debt, you have your emergency fund. You're kind of in that like, okay. You can give yourself some margin. Well, we have an Amazon line item in our budget. That's just Amazon. Do you guys do that?

No, we're the opposite. No, I do it by category, which is so annoying because I have to win the every dollar app. Split transactions. Well, it just says Amazon, Amazon, Amazon. So I have to go back to our Amazon app, and then I kind of just have to guesstimate. Like, well, this was clothing. This was for the house. That's why I switched because it was too taxing for me mentally.

It's a lot. But I feel more in control that way. Agreed. Which I'm surprised. I thought we'd be opposite in that, George. I know. But, you know, as a new dad, Rachel, it's just one less thing I got to think about. I know.

It's a lot. You're doing great. Thank you. We're trying our best. So, yeah, we're not here to bash Amazon. Amazon's not bad in our mind. We use it. So, I mean, we'd be hypocrites.

if we told you it's bad, but we have it. I actually think it's fascinating. Jeff Bezos, well done. I mean, it's like Schlotskies. It's an American innovation. It's iconic. Okay. I'm going to totally say her name, Jill Dugger.

Yeah. I read her book, and I've been talking to her on Instagram because I know. We've kind of like, she's great. She's really great. Anyways, she messaged me like last week. She said, heard you love Schelotskies. So do I. And I said, thanks, Jill.

Does that mean she's listening to Smart Money Happy? I know she must be, or someone told her about, I don't know. But she told me. What is her affiliation? And then she told me to download the app and you actually get like a dollar. Like there's a, there's like a deal you get with the app. And I'm, and I need to bring Jill on here to talk money hacks at Schlosskis because I'm not above it. I just felt, anyways, I get shamed for Schlotsky's all the time.

But Jill, thank you. Cheers. She has me. Okay. So when we're talking about buying stuff, I always like to buy things that my family can use. Practical gifts. Yes. And, you know, one of those George now that, especially since my kids.

are old enough is games. And I love games. I love playing board games with my family. And, yeah, so one of my favorites right now is tellestrations. That is one of my favorite games to play as a group. And I like anything that's analog. We're so digital now that just like being able to put our phones away and just enjoy time together and laugh.

And it's one where you can't play without laughing hysterically. Yes, and you don't have to be a great artist, but you do draw a little picture. And it's kind of like the old school game of telephone where you whisper a phrase and it goes around and it's a totally different phrase. You draw the photo, they guess the word. It's the photo, yep.

Someone draws a photo based on that word, and it keeps going. And there's multiple things going at a time, which is fun. So it keeps moving, but it's not overly competitive. You can talk and socialize. I do hate games where you just sit there

for like 30 minutes waiting for your turn again. Yeah, this one, you're all involved. Yeah, absolutely. Yep. So if you guys want to check out to illustrations, make sure to buy it at Walmart. And it's a fantastic way to get the friends and family involved,

especially this holiday. It's fun. Love it. So great. So great. All right, George. It's almost the end of the episode. Let me 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. Already did. Lindsay? Pretty guilty. You're guilty already. Okay. Have you ever pretended to text someone to avoid an awkward conversation or social interaction? Wait, what does that mean?

Like, you text them what you want to say, but instead of saying it? No, she's saying, have you pretended to be on the phone? Oh, sorry, I'm busy. Yes. Yes, I have. Oh, you know when I do that, I realized? When? It's when, oh, this is so bad.

It's when I need to, like, get, leave a situation. If I'm in a store and there's a salesperson or something, I will pretend to, like, be in a very intense text message or, like, fake a phone call. When you're checking out? No, I'm trying to think of the last time I've done this. But if I just need to not interact with anyone, like, if I, I've made a mistake. I'm in the store.

I don't need to be in the store. The prices are too high. I'm embarrassed now. I will like fake the phone call, fake the text. I'm like, I'm very busy. I can't be in the store anymore. So I've done that to get out of a lot of situations. Less social, but more, you know, while out and about shopping.

Okay. But you know when you see someone from like high school and you're like, I got to get out of here. I'm the opposite. I run to those people because I'm like, oh my gosh. I love it too, Rachel. We've seen each other since high school. They are trying to escape you. When they get there right now

There she is again So I got friendliest Well we can't all run into the cast of in sync At Publix Rachel I did Chris I saw you He would have pretended to text To get out of that situation

Yeah especially I will do it if I'm in a hurry And I feel bad Like if I know there's people that I kind of know But I can't I'm like I have to get out of here Yeah I'm more of a phone call person

If you're going to fake it go with the phone call Who talks on the phone these days? Well, when you do, it's an emergency. Okay. It's like, wow, they must be going through something. They're on the phone. In a text message, I'm happy to interrupt someone while texting. That's not that urgent.

But I'll pretend like I'm on the phone. What about you, Linz? Yeah, I sometimes, this sounds awful. I feel like we're busy here. So at lunch, I sometimes want my own time for lunch. Do you sit by yourself? No, don't say it like that. Okay, I know.

I want it. I want it. I'm like, I'll talk to you. I'm the person she's trying to avoid. I'm like, I make it,

sometimes I am looking at my phone to make it clear. Like, this is Lindsay's time. I don't want to hang. Like, but I don't make eye contact. Wow.

But if you're friends and you want to come say hi, I will 100% have on video. No, no, you made it very clear. No, I have to say that. Abundantly clear. Don't bother Lindsay at lunch.

Sometimes you just need a minute. Can I just say Rachel joined me for lunch today with a group and it was wonderful. We had a great time. I did. I had 12 minutes to eat my wrap. That's all she needed to bless us and give us joy. That was fun. We said at the high top though. Yeah. Well, that's kind of like you're saying join me. It's an open invite. Yeah, that is. There's multiple seats open? I'm more like if you see me in the corner on it, that might be. Yeah. I think that's, you're free. Like if you see me isolated, don't feel bad. No, I don't. No, I think that's an obvious. Yeah. You're free to join us when you don't want to be a recluclucing.

I don't think I do it very often. I don't think I do that. I've never seen you a lunch in my life. I have no clue if you can eat. I've never seen it. I eat. But, yeah, no, I'm not, I don't think I try to do it to avoid awkward situations. Yeah.

I just feel like people bother me anyways if I'm texting, so I need something more drastic. The phone call. Yeah. The phone call is it for me. Well, now we know if we see you in a grocery store and you get on a phone call, you didn't want to talk to life. No, trust me. George is out. George is out.

If Whitney calls me, my own wife, I'm like, oh, crap, what happened? versus a text. Yeah, that's fair. Oh, man. Do you call Winston a lot? Um, no, we, it's a, it's usually texting throughout the day. Wow. I feel like I don't want to hear his voice.

Okay. Just me? I like Winston's voice. It's very comforting. Yeah, I mean, I agree. You know, someone in the comments plays a drinking game whenever I mention Winston, because of how often I bring him up. They're like taking shot every time George talks about Winston.

Oh, George was a good one. Winston-Los you, y'all were texting the other day. That's right. Did he text me first? No. But sometimes you have to be the one to initiate, and that's okay. That's okay. Oh, my gosh.

So great. George, I might be first. Am I? Oh, don't down it. Are you done it? Oh, my gosh, George Camel. The question is, can you too? It's a mocktail.

Relax America. No, I know. It's just too sweet. We literally just drank juice. Okay. It was so good. It was really good. This was a rosemary pear moktail.

And I would give this a 8 out of 10. I'm going 9. Wow. I thought it was delicious. I think it's really good. Really good. I think it needed more punch to me, like a little more lime, a little more complexity. I disagree.

But it was great. But it was really nice. It was an 8 out of 10. No, it's great. We're not here to fight. So here's what's in it. Rosemary Simple Syrup, which I imagine is rosemary and sugar and water. Yep.

That's fun. Good job. I'm Chef Boyardee out here. It also has lemon juice, pear juice, and sparkling water. Okay. So very simple. It comes out to $1.17 per glass. That's not bad.

You can make a picture of this for your next party. Add some fresh rosemary to impress your friends. And if you want the recipe, you can find that in the show notes. Give it a try during the holiday season. And let us know what you think of it. Tag us on Instagram with your mocktails or cocktails. A lot of people do date nights with their spouse and ketchup. I know.

And you'll tag us. It's fun. I love it. Love it. All right. It's closing time. Rachel, before we go. Today is Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving. And to those that are watching on Thanksgiving, are you okay? I think it's great. I think it's great. We're happy to be your family. I'm so glad that you're here. Maybe they're watching with their families. Maybe they are. I'm thankful for you, George. I'm thankful for our team here at Rams.

Did I put this podcast and YouTube together? I'm glad for what I have, Rachel. And that is not just a nod to your new kids book. That is a children's book if you'd like to check it out too. Probably the best thing to read on Thanksgiving for the family, not just for the kids. But anyways, Thanksgiving's awesome. And what's even better about Thanksgiving is tomorrow is Black Friday for shopping. And it's getting closer to Christmas.

Christmas, I love Christmas. Can't wait. So great. Well, happy Thanksgiving, you guys. Make sure to leave a review so that we know how much you're loving this. We love hearing the reviews. It's so fun. So make sure to do that.

Send this episode to a friend to keep the conversation going. That's how you get the word out about the show. We appreciate it a lot. and make sure to subscribe so you don't miss a new episode every Thursday of Smart Money Happy Hour.