The Rachel Cruze Show - Are You Wasting Money on These Trends? With Nadiya Blair

Episode Date: September 6, 2021

Want to be inspired? Listen in to these incredible shopping, college savings, and affordable date night tips!  In this episode, you’ll learn: Which new trends might be stealing your paycheck How to pay for college and still have a life How much you should spend on date night while you’re getting out of debt Follow me on Instagram @RachelCruze and join the Official Rachel Cruze Community on Facebook: bit.ly/2USEfIW Resources: Zander Insurance: https://www.zanderins.com/term-life-insurance/instant-quotes?utm_campaign=rachel-cruze-show&utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=partner&utm_content=&utm_term= Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you find that you really want something, just do a little bit of research on their competitors. Buy it used. Find a way to pay for it with cash. This is the way to do trends. You know, if you waste a little money here or there, at least it doesn't do damage to your financial foundation overall. Hey guys, welcome to another episode of the Rachel Crewe Show podcast. I'm so glad that you're here. All right, today we're going to talk about trends and how easy it is to get sucked into them.

and how much they can drain our bank accounts. And we're also going to talk about unnecessary spending. Oh, and college loans is one of those for me. You'll hear an amazing and inspiring story from the Dia Blair, who went to school debt-free. Then we'll discuss all things date nights. How much you should spend on a date night. Can it become an unnecessary expense?

We're going to talk about it. But first, let's talk about some of the trends you and I may be wasting money on. Take a listen. All right, trends are here today and gone tomorrow, and I want to help you figure out which ones are not worth it. You see a trend, you see something out there, and you're like, I'm going to do that. Yep, mm-hmm, I've done that a few times, a couple things,

you know, got a good pair of mom jeans. Back to my skinny jeans now. I got a nice little Christmas gift, thanks to Ramsey Solutions. One year they gave us all $1,000 and took us to the mall, and we got to go shopping. And then all I took us to had a Nordstrom, and I went and looked on the sales rack, and there was a pair of Jimmy Chews.

And I thought, I've never had a pair of Jimmy Chews. Like, I don't do designer shoes anyways. But you know, you just kind of think, oh, my gosh, cool. And these were, like, on trend, like very, like curvy, like the way, oh, all of it was just really fancy, really cool. And I thought, it was on the sales rack, so I'm going to give myself that credit, okay? It was on sale.

Who knew designers went on sale, but apparently they do. And I had my cash at the Christmas party, and I thought, I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it. Because if I spent my own money on these, I don't know if I ever would. This doesn't even feel like my money right now, you know, because it was like a five-minute gift that was in my hand.

So I went and bought them. No, Bueno. No Bueno. They hurt so bad, and so I wasted more than half my Christmas money on these shoes that were just like super trendy and not comfortable at all. So I'm not saying Jimmy is always uncomfortable on the feet. I don't know. That's the only pair I have of his, but they weren't comfortable. So I did.

I wasted a lot of money on that little trends. I'm still grieving it. Yeah, year and a half later, but it's fine. We're going to move on. But it's tough, it's tough. But another trends that is like huge peloton. It's right. If you got a peloton, we probably know about it because pelotoners love their pelotons. And you may think the only way I'm going to be fit and stay active is if I have a peloton. Mm-hmm, yeah. But guess what? A peloton is not the only way to exercise. I know that's a shock to some of you, but it's true. So remember, number one, it's $2,000, okay, for a stationary bike. Now, if you're on baby steps for and beyond and you're living like no one else and you got that money and you want to drop it on a Peloton, that's fine. That's fine if that's what you want to do. But not everyone can, nor should everyone spend $2,000 on a stationary bike. And then on top of it, of that, you pay $40 a month for the Peloton subscription. So it's pretty great marketing because, again, everyone thinks that they need a Peloton. But whatever you do, just please don't go on the payment plan.

Okay? After interest, it nearly doubles the price of it. So always pay cash. But know that, again, you can exercise and use a stationary bike and not have a peloton. In fact, you can just buy a stand for your regular bike. Put your regular bike on that, and it turns into a stationary bike, and then you can get an iPad, you can get some apps for some spin classes that cost half of what a Peloton class costs. And you're going to save so much money, okay? So again, it's cheaper to do that. Or if you want to go buy a Peloton bike used, you can do that too. George Camel, one of our favorites around here. That's what he just did. So there's a way to stay fit without falling for the Peloton trend, even though I'm not mad at Pelotons. If you got one and you want it, you buy it with cash, all the things,

you can do it, but just don't think it's the only way. Because it's not. It's not the only way. Next up, that is a hot commodity, our Yeti Coolers. Yep, they're famous for keeping ice the coldest for the longest. In fact, all their tests show that they can have five days of ice life. Yeah. I mean, I guess people need ice for five days in a cooler. I mean, I camp all the time. So I need ice for five days always.

No, but it's pretty cool, I guess. but y'all, they can cost a lot. And they have other competitors, okay? So Arctic is a great competitor, and their ice life is actually for six days. And then Orca is another competitor. Their ice life is only for three days. But, again, you get the same idea.

So just do a little price comparison. So a Yeti 45 quart cooler is $300. The Orca version is $260, and the Arctic is $200. A Yeti 30-ounce tumbler, $35. and orca, $12, and our dick is 14. So the lesson here, do your research, you know, again, not mad at the old Yeti. It's fantastic, so great, but you can get some cheaper options with their competitors.

Another fad going around streaming services that you forget to unsubscribe from. This is where you waste your money. So Friends is one of my all-time favorite shows. I freaking love Friends, and it's on HBO Max right now. They had the Friends Reunion Special, and it was responsible. Get this for the largest single day signups from HBO Max all year. Do you know who's part of that? Uh-huh.

That's right. Yep. Do you know how I forgot to unsubscribe from that? Me. Yeah. Because I saw it as an investment into my life, my quality of life to watch the Friends Reunion, because I'm not going to not watch it. I was like, I'm going to pay for the month.

And then I'm going to unsubscribe. And did I? No. No, but we're unsubscribe now. Thank you, Winston. Thank you. Another big fad right now is whole life insurance. And you've heard me talk about this for years and years and years,

that whole life insurance is very expensive, unnecessary, and it doesn't pay out enough. So if anyone is dependent upon your income, whether that's your spouse or a child, you need term life insurance. So term life insurance is affordable. You want to choose a policy that will pay out 10 to 20, 12 times your annual income, and that money is going to keep your loved ones covered in case

something happens to you. So getting a quote on term life is so easy with Zander insurance. Plug in your info at zander.com and Zander does the rest. They find the best rates at no cost to you. And they make it easy, convenient, and affordable. So go to zander.com to get your free quotes. Another trends that you're going to lose some money on is just buying a brand new car. Yeah, when you drive a new car off the lot, it loses 9 to 11% of its value like that. After one year, it loses 20% of its value. After five years, it loses 60% of its value. So, yes, new cars look wonderful.

They smell amazing, all of that. But not always for the price. So it's not worth it unless you have a million dollar net worth. Once you have that, then you can take the beating of the price that just drops off. right, the value. But until then, buy used. Subscription boxes. Okay, so I did a whole video on these, so I'll drop a link in the show notes. But listen, through all the research, by and large, these just aren't worth it, especially if you're still getting out of debt or building an emergency fund.

Financial goals are way more important and way more exciting than a little box that you get at your front door with a bunch of goodies in it. Again, not mad at them, but you can waste your money on them. Some fashion trends, man, you can go into it. the black hole of the fashion trends and people waste so much money because they go and just buy a bunch of stuff that they're not going to wear in a year. And again, I'm so guilty of this. But I'm like, right now the track suits, like the crop tops and the matching pants, they're like sweats. And I'm like, I don't know who can wear those? Not a mama three. That's for sure. Not me. Nope. Or the big sweatshirts with like the biker shorts, but you don't even know there's biker shorts under there. I don't know

there's biker shorts under there. I don't know what Jensies thinks sometimes. But I'm like, that girlfriend has just a sweatshirt on. And then she like lifted her arms. Like, oh no, she has biker shorts under there? I mean, I don't, I don't know. We would tie ours with our biker shorts back in the day with our scrunchies to make sure everyone knows that we have biker shorts on. That was the trend back then. So once scrunchies start tying, maybe I'll jump onto there. But until then, I just stick with my skinny jeans and back kind of to my side part. Did you notice that? I did the middle part for a while. I tried. Gen Z. Back to the side. Went side today. And the last trend is student loans. Yep, everyone's Like, you got to go to college, got to go to college, got to go to college, got to get a degree, got to a degree, got to a degree.

And people are like, okay, I'm going to go do that and go to a college that I can't afford. And I don't have the money, so I'm going to take out a huge student loan and that's what I'm going to do. It's like what everyone does. And listen, that's not the American dream. No, there are 45 million student loan borrowers in America. 45 million. And the average interest rate on student loans is at 5.8% with the average monthly payment of 393. dollars. My gosh. So that's average, all. Think about people. I mean, they owe six figures in student loan debt. So this is not a trend I want you to fall for. Do not fall for this. Don't want your kids fall into the student loan trap. So listen, you don't have to take out a loan to be a student. You don't have to. You can go to college debt free. It is possible. You can do this by saving early, applying for scholarships and grants, going to community college, working, all these things. It is possible.

So avoiding student loans is something that we are so passionate about here at Ramsey Solutions. So the bottom line is, if you find that you really want something, just do a little bit of research on their competitors, buy it used, find a way to pay for it with cash. This is the way to do trends. That way you don't feel bad. You know, if you waste a little money here or there, at least it doesn't do damage to your financial foundation overall.

Usually when I have you on the show, one of you, we're talking about your money journey and usually kind of coaching through a scenario that you have going on. But this one's going to be a little bit different because I wanted to bring on the great Nadea. Nadia, thank you for coming on. Thank you for having me. Absolutely. Okay, I wanted you on because I heard your story and it's unbelievable. So we'll start with this.

One of the biggest lies people believe is that the only way you can go to school is with student loans. and you crushed that lie plus more because your whole story is just unbelievable. So let's kind of walk through a little bit of how you did that. But first starting out, you're a genius, like literally, right? A little bit. I guess I'm saying she is. Because I know you graduated high school early and you graduated college early and not just like a semester or too early. you graduated recently from college at 18 years old debt-free.

I did. You see my diploma. I'm so happy. There's that diploma. That's amazing. Okay. So Nadia, talk me through. What made you want to do this? How did you even get into college so young? How did you do it debt-free? Like, I just want to hear it. Give me all the details. I think I wanted to do it. I'm the daughter of two Jamaican immigrants. So, like, I think that was just our quintessential American dream was just like, work hard, go to a good school, get your degree and hopefully do it without a bunch of debt. So that's just been a goal I've always had with my family, knowing how many sacrifices they made for me to have a Christian education, K through 12, that was really important. Now, I always say my education is just unorthodox.

My mom poured so much into me in terms of reading at a young age, speaking multiple languages, that when I walked into kindergarten, first day of school, I was so excited, you know. You see all these first day of school post backpack. That was me. They gave me a packet and I finished it before lunch. I was like, oh my goodness. They told me I could play for the rest of the day. I was like, this is what school is? This is the best. They were like, no, you were supposed to turn that in on Friday. And I was like, oh, well, I'm done. So I get to play. Awesome. Then I came back the next day. I tested out of kindergarten. Then I did it again for first grade. Then I did it again for second grade. And then my mom was like, she's not skipping three grades in a week. So we compromise on two.

and I entered high school at 12. Then I also did my school's dual credit programs. So at lunchtime, I would leave to go to our community college, and I'd take a course there. So I ended up graduating with my associate's degree and my high school diploma at 16. And then I went to the illustrious Howard University, finished my other two years, and got my bachelor's at 18. I mean, unbelievable. Your parents have to just be in awe. Obviously, they, like you said, you get credit to them helping you through.

this process. But that's absolutely incredible, absolutely incredible. So obviously you probably got tons of scholarships and grants, but you did two years at a community college and then two years at a four-year university, but you were able to graduate and get that diploma. So what made you go to that school? What made you want to do college courses in high school? Because that's an option for a lot of students. What was the motivation to do it so fast? I recommend dual credit for everybody. And one of the main reasons, honestly, as a high schooler, was just I get to leave high school and go to college. That sounds so fun and cool. And that's what I did. And I really enjoyed it. I got to just meet so many different people, especially attending a community college.

I was 12 in classes with people who had 12-year-olds. And, you know, I'm calling my classmates like, Hey, Miss Randy. And I was just, I really enjoyed having different perspectives. Also, the cost. of dual credit courses way, way lower than a cost per credit hour at a four year. So just being able to get my basics out of the way, I promise you, English at a community college, English at a four year, it's the same course. We use the same textbook. But it's thousands of dollars cheaper. So that was something I love to do as well. Well, you are wise beyond your years and smart beyond your ears. I'm like, oh gosh, I would never. Don't put the ACT in front of me and you. I don't know. No.

No, no, no, no. Absolutely incredible. And just the fact of the determination to do it, have a goal, knowing what you wanted, and actually accomplishing it is just, it's incredible. But they're thinking, okay, I either want to go to college debt-free or my child who's 16, 14, you know, I want them to go to school debt-free. Number one, do you think it's possible, even if you're not a genius? And number two, what would your encouragement be to parents to help their kids do this? What did your parents do? What did they talk to you about? How did those conversations? go. Well, it's definitely possible because whereas I did have a strong SAT score going into school, my GPA was not perfect or exactly what other people. People had hired GPAs than me. Like, I wasn't valedictorian of my class. I think it's important to just make sure you have a strong, well-rounded application. So make sure you're doing other things and extracurriculars, community service that you're passionate about, a strong personal essay. Because I think it's funny. People don't know this. But like, Howard, I didn't. actually get a full ride. They covered tuition, which of course helps a ton, but I had to cover

thousands of dollars in expenses on my own cross-country move. So what I did, what my mom encouraged me to do, was applying for small scholarships every weekend. Like I had one day out of the week and I would just, I remember like the most random one was like, talk like a Pirate Day scholarship. Like any scholarship that I saw apply to it. Some good resources to you. or like your local ISD, look on their website. A lot of them have scholarship sites and see because sometimes you're only allowed to apply for scholarships you're geographically zoned to. So I looked there for scholarships.

Anytime I would go to a business that I frequent, I would ask if they had scholarships. So like my credit union, there's a barbecue place here in Houston that gave out seven scholarships this year. Like you never know until you ask. So if you keep asking, you. you'll keep finding. And if you keep finding and applying, you will win. And I always tell people, don't just apply for the 10, 20, 30, 50 grand scholarships. I think my largest scholarship was $5,000, which on the scholarship range is on the lower end. It's important to apply to $100 scholarships.

Most of my scholarships were $200. But $200 adds up quickly. So just apply to small scholarships and keep writing samples. So most scholarships are going to have some variation of tell me about yourself or what do you want to do in the future. So you can copy and paste paragraphs and just keep it so that you can apply to multiple without tiring yourself. Those would be my major tips. Such great tips.

And that's something I've always told people too is a couple of things. Number one, going to a community college, like you said, it's the same, that English class is the same. They are not. That's how I, I mean, all my history classes, my foreign language, all of that. I did it at a community college one summer just to get ahead with credits, and the credits just transferred, yes, and it's incredible, absolutely incredible. So that's one thing. And then the scholarships and grants, like you said, yes, I always tell people apply. Even if it's a $200 scholarship,

it could take you 30 minutes to fill out that form or, you know, get that essay written. For 30 minutes, that's $200. Like, that's incredible, absolutely incredible. So taking the time and doing it, it really does pay off. It's amazing. All right, as we're talking about scholarships and grants. I mean, it takes time to do this, right? It takes time to find them. It takes time to apply or write the essay. But while you were doing all of that in high school, you still had a social life. Like, you still had a life. It's not like you're in your house 24-7 and never left and never had friends. Absolutely. It's the funniest thing when people are like, oh, you just must have not had a social life. I was probably, I was known as a social butterfly at school. I was in ESL, an English tutor at

my school. I was in beta club, student council. I was on the homecoming court. Like, you name it. I did it. I played three varsity sports. I did swimming in AAU track outside of school. I had lots of friends. And I think that's what also encouraged me was like, I knew that after I applied my five scholarships, I could go to that party with my friends. Or after I wrote this essay, I can go to the pool with my friends. Just having that motivated me a lot. And another thing is like, just, utilizing time you already have. We block off time for studying in school. Sometimes you don't have a test that week.

So that's a great time to apply for scholarships. I used to do it during like study hall. Those are great opportunities to apply. And Nadia, you are absolutely incredible. I want to thank you so, so much for coming on and sharing your story. I know it is so encouraging to show a real person doing this stuff. Oh, I'm just so thankful. So so thankful for your story.

And you guys, it is possible. you may not be a genius like her and you're your child, graduate college at 18 years old. But here's the deal. The reality is people are going to school debt-free. Student loans is something that people just assume you have to have, and then you graduate with 20, 30, up to six figures of debt and starting your life out in a financial hole. So it's possible for anyone. We talked about some other things on here,

but you guys remember school choice is huge. If you step over a state line, you're going to pay twice as much, even for a public university. If you go to a private school, it's going to be more expensive. So stay in state, go to a public university or a community college, like we talked about in the interview, because that is going to save you so much money. Scholarships and grants, again, I'll hit it again because she was literally the prototype for it. I'm like, yes, it is possible. Even if it's a $100, $200, $200 scholarship, apply for as many as possible because that is free money. And then also work while you're in school. It's so possible to make a paycheck and be strategic about where you work.

If you work for the university, some universities will help cover room and board, maybe even tuition. So look around, look for options, be smart about this. This is education we're talking about. So be smart. Use your brain. Don't just give up and say, well, I guess if, you know, if I have to go to school or my child's going to go to college, the only way is just loans. No, fight against the norm. Because when you can graduate, you or your child graduates without debt, it does something.

It gives you options. It gives you freedom in life. and that is what we want. And obviously, Ramsey Solutions, we are so passionate about this, and our new documentary Borrowed Future is releasing on October 14th.

I am so excited about this. I cannot wait for you guys to see this because it's an important message that needs to be out there. So you can go to borrowedfuture.com for all the information, where you can stream it. You can even opt into a text-in option

so they can give you all the updates as we get them. And it's so exciting to dive more into this topic because it's going to help so many people. But again, I help Nadea's story encourages you to show you, yeah, it is possible. Be creative, thinking to it, and be intentional, and there's a way to go to college, debt-free. All right, today we're going to talk about one of my favorite things in life.

Date night. It's just the best. But we're going to talk about how much you should spend, who should pay, what date nights should look like, depending on what baby step you're on, I mean, all the things. And then I'll tell you about Wednesday's first date. But first, how much should you spend on a date night? Well, it depends on where you are in life. If you make a million dollars, you can go eat anywhere you want. If you work at Chipotle, you may want to eat at Chipotle because you probably get a discount, but for real,

it really depends on where you're at. And using the Baby Steps as our guide really helps you. So if you're on Baby Steps 1 through 3, again, you're saving up for a starter emergency fund, Baby Step 1, you're getting out of debt, Babyset 2, or you're saving up for your room. fully funded emergency fund, Baby Step 3. If you're in those, then I would say trying to get a free date or as close to a free date as possible. So my dad has always said, if you're on Babyseps

1 through 3, the only way you should see a restaurant is if you're working in one. Listen, we're going to just back off that. Just a 10. Just a 10. Not too much. Not going to too crazy here. But listen, you're going to need to enjoy life, aren't you, during this process of baby steps one through three, but you can enjoy it by having some really cheap date nights or even free ones. So here are some cheap date night ideas. You can pack some snacks and go to a picnic by a lake or the park or go on a hike. You can go to a local winery and you can bring your own lunch, usually, you know, your own food and you can listen to live music. Bowling is unlimited. It's cheap and it's even free sometimes depending on the time of night. You can go buy

some ice cream, walk around your neighborhood. You can do a potluck game night with a bunch of friends. You can make a homemade pizza, my favorites, then go in the car with it, eat it, drive around. I mean, just to have some fun. You can even go have dinner and you can share an entree in a dessert makes it much cheaper. I'd also say you can go to lunch on your dates. Yeah, it's usually cheaper than dinner, plus you won't be tempted to get a cocktail because you'll probably be heading back to the office, so you'll save money there too. Now, if you're on Baby Steps 4 through 6, which is saving 15% of your money into retirement, your funding kids college, and paying the house off early, then you can spend a little bit more, but remember to stick to your goals. So actually budget

for the date night. I would do one, two, three a month if you can. Again, prioritizing time away, especially if you have kids, it's a big deal. So I love the idea of date nights. And you can do some experiences together, like make sushi, Whole Foods, offers cooking classes. You can go to a comedy show, you can go to concerts. You can do a lot of fun things. But you can also use things like Groupon

to save money on restaurants and experiences. So find Groupon for restaurants in your area. You can save anywhere from 30 to 50%. But remember, a lot of these discount places have some things attached, some rules and regulations, so make sure you read everything before you purchase it. And then if you're on Baby Step 7 and you're living and giving like no one else, then, I don't know, go do whatever you want.

Go to a show, a fancy rooftop dinner, have a chef come to your house, make you a meal. I mean, the sky's the limits. And have you heard of the tip the bill challenge? Well, this is generosity that I love so much. So instead of tipping your standard 15 to 20%, you tip your server the total of the bill. So fun. And I mean,

nothing more fun at this point in life to be generous with you and your spouse and you guys just have some fun. It's great. Like, this is the best part, you guys. When you're on baby's up seven, this is the kind of stuff you get to do. And guess what?

Financial Peace University will get you here to that point where you can live and give like no one else. Financial Peace University will help you get out of debt and save faster than you think. You can get unlimited access to our flagship course, Financial Peace University, inside of Ramsey Plus.

So, Financial Peace University is our step-by-step plan that teaches you how to save and spend wisely. Yes, even for date nights. So start a free trial today. Just text Rachel Plus to 33789. All right, who should pay? Well, if you're dating, okay, like you're not married, I think the dude should pay.

That's like my opinion. Just of course. I mean, I don't know. That's a given for me, but apparently these days people do a bunch of other stuff. I don't know. For me, it's always the guy. The guy's always going to pay. And ideally, he'll pay with cash for a debit card, you know?

He'll be doing the Ramsey Solutions Plan. I know Winston and I went on our first dates. I was a sophomore in college. He was a... How old was Winston? Junior? Senior? Jeez.

And that's terrible. That's what I don't even remember. I can't remember how Winston was. I just know how old I was. Sophomore, because he asked me after I saw him the intermural fields. Mm-hmm. So romantic. But we went out, got pizza, pulled out that Capital One credit card with the big eagle on the front. I remember thinking, you're hot. So we're going to keep dating. But if we get serious, we'll see how this goes. But remember, when you're married, you're won in every aspect of your money. So it doesn't matter, obviously, who pays? Because it's coming out of the same bank account when you're married. I know some of you don't like that either, but that's the truth. You got to be one, you guys, in every aspect of your marriage, including your money, so, so important. And all of this is going to help you guys create a better life.

And especially when you're married and you're walking this plan together, having date nights again, so important and so fun. But do it in a wise way that does not break the bank. Oh, date nights, you got to love them, but also we want to be smart with our money when we do them. Thank you guys so much for listening to this podcast. Thanks to Nadia for being on. She's absolutely incredible. And if you guys have not hit that subscribe button, make sure to do that. And if the spirit leads, you can leave a review.

And as always, make sure to take control of your money and create a life you love.