The Rachel Cruze Show - Everyday Savings Hacks Your Budget Will Love

Episode Date: August 2, 2021

We all want to save time and money, so let’s dive in to how to do just that with our hair, money-saving apps and more. In this episode of The Rachel Cruze Show, you’ll learn: Insider secrets for saving money on hair care Which apps will save you money (with George Kamel) How to decide if you should sell your house Stay connected with Ramsey Personality and host of The Fine Print podcast, George Kamel, on Instagram Resources:  EveryDollar Ramsey+ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I want people to be skeptical when it comes to consuming and buying things. I want to have a healthy dose of skepticism and go, am I actually getting a good deal? Make sure that they're actually saving money. Hey, guys, welcome to another episode of the Rachel Crease Show podcast. I'm so glad that you're here. And today's episode, I'm so excited to let you know that we will be going weekly with this podcast. That's right.

We've been doing every other week for a while now. And we're going to bump it up to once a week. So I am really excited about that. And along with a weekly podcast, I'm going to have a new series every single month with George Camel, where we're going to talk about money hacks for all sorts of things. So today's topic is apps that will save you money. You guys don't want to miss this. I'm also going to take a question from Allison who wants to know which debt she should tackle first while working through baby step two. But first, I want you to hear from a local hairdresser who will be giving us all sorts of tips on how we can save on our hair routine. So take a listen. Okay, I don't know if you're like me, but I have a little guilty pleasure when it comes to makeup, hair stuff, like all of that. I do. I love it all. And my hair specifically, I'm like, listen, I want good quality stuff, but I don't want to spend all the money. I don't always have time to do things. I'm like, if I just can blow

draw my hair, that's a saving grace in my world today with three littles. But I decided to bring in a professional. So we have professional stylist here from Franklin. Anna Kidwell, thanks for being on. Of course, I'm excited. You're a stylist here at Trace Salon here in Franklin. Yes, I do. I work at the Nashville location a couple days a week, and then I also stay home a couple days a week.

So great. Well, thanks for coming on to give us some good tips, because I was like, yes, you're a mom, you know, the stress of juggling the kid's stuff, but also a lot of people watching, you guys are on the baby steps, you're budgeting, you're being really intentional to your money, you're paying off debt.

So, again, it's not like there's like, hey, here's a thousand dollars a month, I can spend on hair stuff. That's probably not the reality for any of us. So we want to do this time-saving things, money-saving thing when it comes to our hair and hair products. So let's start with money. Okay. Everyone wants to save money.

I know. All the money. So give us all the money-saving secrets when it comes to our hair. Yes. Okay. So a couple of things I can think of off the bat are if you get your roots touched up, maybe you're covering gray or you just... Do you know how to start coloring my hair at 31?

Oh, that's okay. Take that in for a second. 31, people. So maybe you're covering your grace at 31. Or maybe you are just getting like a base color that's a little bit darker. Yes. You could pick up like a root color spray. Yes, and just spray it on your part.

And that could keep you from going in the salon as often. So it could honestly save time and money. Okay, I'm so glad you had this point. Because there was a girl I follow on Instagram. I was doing her hair. And she used, I think it's L'Oreal. It's a blue bottle. Yep.

And she sprayed it at the end. I was like, what is that? I'm like, you know, magic. And I just bought that. I'm not even lying you guys, like last month. And it's amazing. Yeah. I mean, it's unbelievable.

Unbelievable. And I just cut off Amazon. It was like so cheap and it was great. But it does. Yes. Yeah. So amen, hallelujah. Yeah.

Your first tip I love. I use it. It's so good. Perfect. And then if you aren't a base color, but you like to go brighter, maybe you like to be blonde, there is a technique called balliage. And it is a really soft hand-painted technique. It just keeps from there being like a really hard line grow out.

Honestly, you could get it done like two to three times a year. And it is just a really beautiful soft color. Can I tell you this, Anna? Yes. I've tried this too, and this was not a success. Oh, Rachel Cruz. I'll have to find the picture. It was actually terrible.

Mine looked terrible. I don't know why. I think because I have such dark hair and I tried to make it really light. Okay. Down here, it wasn't great for me. But when you can pull it off, it's my most favorite, like, the most favorite thing ever that people do with their hair. because I'm like, it's beautiful.

Maybe stay closer to your natural with it, you know? I would advise that. I would advise that. Not good. Not good at all. Nope. And find someone who does it well. Yes, that's great.

I know. Yes, yes, yes. That's good. Yeah. And then personally for product, I feel like, if possible, to spend a little money on the front end. Okay. I think that if you can invest money on the front end, it does pay off in the long run. Yes.

I think it keeps your hair healthier. I think you don't have to wash your hair as often. It keeps the style longer. Honestly, the product is more concentrated, and so I think the product lasts longer. There are a few things I brought a product that I love. Colton King is a brand I love. It's all natural organic, but a lot of their products do multiple things. Okay.

So right now, I have this balm on my face as a moisturizer, but also in the ends of my hair as like a sealant for the ends. Oh, no way. So, and they have, I just love a product that can do multiple things. Yes, that's so great. So great. And again, investing in the good stuff, I'm just taking your product. Yes, go for it. Yes.

That's so good. Well, and you mentioned washing your hair. Like, I try to go two days, two to three days. Yeah, that's great. But then honestly, it saves me on shampoo. For sure, absolutely. So don't wash your hair. And that saves money, too.

Yes, for sure. And, I mean, of course, a time and a money-saving technique is the dry shampoo, which we all of us. We love the dry shampoo. I love a powder dry shampoo. I just feel like it works a little bit better for me. You just, you know, take each side of your part. Sprinkle it in. Put it in there.

And it works. Yeah. I don't want to overuse it. I do think, you know, on day six, it's time to wash the hair. Yeah. We use the shampoo. Yes.

That's going to be. So, again, a couple of money things. Yes. To save time. Coloring, when it comes to all that, you guys, whether it's the way you choose to color your hair can save you money, and then you can cheat on the coloring as well. Yes.

Investing in good products is so good because it's going to last you. Yeah. It's going to last you a long time. For sure. That's great. Okay. Yeah. Time. Yes. My favorite time-saving tip is hair accessories.

Okay. So I brought a few. Yes. I love a scrunchy more than anything. I just feel like it takes a ponytail from an exercise ponytail to like an out-and-about ponytail just by putting not a regular ponytail in it. I love it. So I love it.

So cute. I also love a headband. I feel like a headband can cover a lot of things. Are we bringing back the 90s? Oh, for sure. It's amazing, right? I was like I should have kept everything. thing. Everything as a child. I know. This would have worked. It all would have worked. But these are super

cute. And the headband. Honestly, even just a bandana, you can throw it around a ponytail. It makes it kind of cute. You can, you know, tie your hair up with it, get it off your face. If you're a mom, you don't want it hanging on you. Yes. Yes. So, yeah, everyone probably has a bandana laying around. Yep. Absolutely. Okay. That's good time saving. Yes. I love a time saving. Yes. One thing I feel like people don't think about is a haircut that enhances like your natural texture. So I feel like a lot of times we spend time in the morning kind of fighting against what our hair wants to do. Interesting. So if your hair is naturally curly and you're spending a lot of time straightening it or vice versa, maybe think about a haircut that just works for

what your hair wants to do. So good. Okay, so what kind of haircut is good for like straight and curly? So I think if you have super curly hair, a more textured haircut kind of plays into that. And then if you have really straight hair, try more layers. Maybe give yourself some volume, see if that works. I just feel like the less time you have to do working against your hair is better. Oh, it makes sense. Totally makes sense. For sure. That's so great.

So great. Yes. Any other good time savers? You know, honestly, probably my top time saver is the dress. Dry shampo. We're going to go back to that because that was saving your money and time. You just can't eat it. I know.

It's so true. Instead of having to like completely wash the hair all of it, little dry shampoo. Yes. For sure. Mm-hmm. Girl, thanks. Yes. You know, it's these little tips that just make life a little bit better, you know?

So my mom would always say, she's like, always listen to the professionals, Rachel. Perfect. I agree. You're here, Anna, as a professional to give us some good things to think about. Because, again, it's not like the live or die of our lives, right? Our hair. But as well, it's something that you have. And you're taking care of it.

You want good stuff in it. But yet, we don't always have the money or the time. So, Anna, thanks so much for being on. My pleasure. I so appreciate you guys. These fun tips that we get because this is our life. I mean, it is. Today, I'm joined by Ramsey personality.

George Camel. I'm about to say my favorite. favorite Ramsey personality. Wow, you can't say that. No, they would all get so mad. Ken Coleman is watching, okay? They'll get so mad. Chrissy Wright will be in here and a jiffy.

What we know. No, but George, George and I, we have had so much fun over the last few years. We've worked together for a while now. A long time. I've been here eight years. Eight years. That's crazy. I know.

And so now you're kind of moving into this role. You're doing so much more, bringing so much more great stuff to us, which is why I have him on today because we're going to talk through some shopping money We love shopping and we love hacks. We love checks. We love both things. So together, it's a great pair. It's a great pair. So you've done a lot of research in this. So much research. And I really can't wait. I mean, I gotta say. I'm pretty excited about us. If I can teach you something,

I'll be impressed because you're like shopping, saving queen. This is my, this is my lane, George. Okay. And I'm real excited about this. So. Speaking of shopping, here we go. I can impress Rachel. I've done something right today. You ready? Oh, I think I'm right. Am I ready? Okay. Well, here's the thing, Rachel. It's 2021. And online shopping, while it's easy, is also complicated.

And you never know if you're actually getting a good deal. Yes, true. You can't trust Amazon reviews anymore because they're all paid for. Yeah. Wait, are you for real? They're paid for. No. A lot of them are, Rachel.

Well, Rachel learned something dash number one. I already burst your shopping bubble. I'm being for real, though. I didn't realize that. It's hard to trust. I know, like, sometimes, like, Yelp and other apps, like, competitors come on and be like, trust no one. Trust no one.

Trust not. I want people to be skeptical when it comes to consuming. and buying things. I want to have a healthy dose of skepticism and go, am I actually getting a good deal? So I found a lot of tools, a lot of websites, a lot of apps to help people out there make sure that they're actually saving money. Okay. I know. Take a deep breath. I kind of am right now. Okay. Okay. You want the biggest hack of all? Yes. Shop on a desktop or a laptop. No. Are you serious? I know. Here's the thing. Shopping on the phone. First of all, it's way easier. There's so little friction. Oh. But the desktop, you have so many more options because a lot of

these websites use browser extensions that you can't get on the phone. Interesting. So there's savings that you're not tapping into because you're going on. Because they're literally not showing you on the screen. Exactly. Yes. And we're going to walk through some of those. Okay.

So a lot of these are cashback kind of incentives. There's promo codes. There's price comparisons. All good things to do your due diligence and do your research to make sure you're getting a good deal. So you ready to go into these? Let's go. Okay.

First one is called Honey. Yes. So joinHoney.com. A lot of people out there, you know about honey. but there's a lot of tools in there that you may not know about. So the biggest one is the browser extension, which they have a savings finder. So if I'm shopping online, I can see up there, oh, there's a little three, which means there's three promo codes that Honey is saying,

hey, you may not know about these promo codes, and they automatically test them all for you with voodoo magic. And that is so helpful. Yep. And this works on 40,000-plus popular sites. Another one that you may not know about is Honey Gold. Have you heard about Honey Gold? No, I know Honey.

So this is their kind of cashback, because everyone's doing cashback. So they were like, let's get in on the game. So you can earn rewards from 1% to 10% or more on purchases, and they'll give you that in gift cards, or you can actually get it right back to your bank. I've just complete, just cash just right there. Okay, so tell, okay, because the Honey app, go into depth. So if someone says, like, what is, I don't even know,

you pull it up, and when you purchase something, so if you're about to check out, let's say you're getting a pair of Nike shoes. Yep. And you're on the checkout page, well, honey's going to light up orange, and it's going to show you every promo code that's available. Now, they may not be available for that particular pair of shoes. Sure. So that's where you can at least have it automatically rifle through it.

And it goes, hey, we couldn't find any codes that worked. Yep. And you know, okay, I tried. Yes, yes, instead of like the old couponing days. Oh, yes. Right? Do you I'm saying where you cut out every individual thing, this thing just like, it's automatic for you. Yes.

So that's things. A lot of people, and I get it. Like, couponing feels like, oh, my gosh, that's a whole world, right? There's whole shows about extreme couponing, and it's like people devote their lives to couponing. I am kind of, I'm too lazy for that. I'm going to be honest. So unless it's easy, I'm not going to do it.

And automatic, and they do the work for you. Exactly. So I want you to work smarter, not harder. And so that's what a lot of these apps do. There's also things like price history where you can see how much the price has been to know if you're getting a good deal. And they also have something called the drop list

where if you don't want to track the price, it'll let you know when the price drops. Interesting. And this is the gold one, though, honey gold. This is all honey. This is all through honey. Okay, okay. And they also show you Amazon's best price.

so you can compare all the sellers to see if you're actually getting a good deal. Now, the thing is, you're going, well, how do they make money? You've got to know how these companies make money because it can affect how you're spending. So Honey makes money from earning a commission from the stores. When you find those savings, they're going to get a little kickback. But here's the good thing. They don't sell your data. That's the important part.

If you're selling my stuff, then I start to get a little upset. Totally, totally. Okay, so that's honey. That's a very popular one. There's another really popular one that you've probably heard of called Rackaten. Yep. A lot of people say it differently. I've looked up entire YouTube videos on how to pronounce it.

Recutin. Racketon. I'm not one to pronounce things. I know. It's hard. It's hard. But what it is, it's cash back. So right now they have a bunch of incentives that you can get 10% cash back from shopping at stores

you normally shop at. So as you talk about on your show, be intentional. Don't shop somewhere just because you get 10% back. That's right. That's right. But if you're already going to shop at Nordstrom or wherever, you can use their link and shop through their link to get that 10% cash back. So that's really nice.

And the notification can pop up on the desktop computer again and show you when another site has the item for cheaper. So we looked up a pair of shoes on Nike and said, hey, at shoe carnival, you can actually get $6 off if you shop there. And so that's really helpful to know, oh, I can save some money. That is helpful because George, can kind of give you a true story right now? Please. And I'm not even lying right now.

Pull them up, let's see them. These shoes. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Beautiful. Mm-hmm. I went on probably, because it's a certain brand that I really wanted, because it was like the comfortable one. And I went to, I found them on Macy's finally.

Okay. But I went on probably eight or nine different retailers, and they were all like just, and I couldn't, and the prices were a little different. I was like literally like writing down the prices and what's doing all of this. I could have had the app because I don't have this app and it would have saved me. I'm here to help. It would have saved me. Think about what you could have bought with all that extra time. I have done with all that time, George.

Also, those are really in right now. My wife got the similar, the braided sandal. The braided. It reminds me of bread. It makes me hungry. It looks like a baguette. It does look like a baguette. I told my wife that.

My wife was not as happy with that comment, but I'll leave that here. So, Racketan is a great one. You can cash out every three months with this. You can send the money to PayPal or you can get a paper check. Go old school if you want. It's awesome. Have some fun with it. Another one that I use frequently while I'm in stores, shopping, or online, is

Retail me not. That's usually the first place I go and I just want to see, hey, what promo codes are available for any given website? Yep. I do this a lot for pizza. Pizza's a big one, Rachel. People who pay full price for pizza, I'm like, what are you doing? You are speaking my language right now, yes?

My sister-in-law did it the other day. She paid $22 to have a individual pizza delivered to the house. And I was like, there was a promo code. You could have saved 25%. Okay, I'll be honest. I am tunnel vision when it comes to pizza. So, I'm probably paying. Very impulsive.

I don't use retail me not for pizza, but now I know. Now you know. Wait, what's your favorite? If you're going to get some pizza locally, what's the spot? Can you say it out loud? DeSanos is great in Nashville. Oh, yeah, solid. But my, you know, and everyone knows, like, for a chain pizza?

Chain, are you ready? Yeah. Papa Johns. She's a Papa John's lady. And I have the app. I have the app. So I'm getting all my Papa. You get the rewards.

I think is going to go home. You just never know these days. No. You're going to get sent Papa John's gift cards now. Oh, I will gladly accept freely. Look up the address. Send them here. I'll eat it too. Okay, this next one is really fun because it has my last name in it.

It's camel camel camel.com. With C's though, not okay. I would say spelled differently. With a C. So camel camelcom. I don't think I've heard of this one. You can't say it ten times fast. No one can do it.

But here's what it is. It's a free Amazon price tracker. I know Amazon's one of the biggest places people are spending. And here's what they do. And we're not promoted by Amazon people. Not promoted. freak out about us. No.

No. This is just to help you. Just helpful tools. Just helpful tools. So one of the biggest things I have is a price watch. And so you can get alerts when the price drop. So let's say you want to buy an Apple Watch, but you want to spend $180. You know the price will go down.

Yeah. And so when that price hits $180, you'll get an email and I'll say, hey, the price drop. Now's the time to buy. Interesting. I need to do that with AirPods. I don't have this. I still have a string that I plug in my phone. Rachel, it's some.

Okay, never mind. Forget the Papa John's good cards. Send you some AirPods. We're going to go fund me this thing. It's going to be great. So another thing they have is price history charts. This one's really important because you can actually see it almost like the stock market, the dips in a certain products.

So you can see, oh, AirPods are actually really expensive right now. But I bet if I wait a month or two, it's going to drop back down. I will do that, yes. And so what I want people to do is not shop impulsively and think about timing. Do I really need an hour? Can I wait three months to save 50 bucks? Yep, yep. And use that money somewhere else.

Is that the length of time, though? Three months? Sometimes. Okay. Sometimes it's like, hey, you know things you're going to fall on Black Friday. Yeah. So if you can wait until Black Friday to get those AirPods. I will.

I've gone this long with my cord. You can survive. Yeah, we can survive. And this is a fun, they have a browser extension called the Camelizer, which is just a great name. I should have stole that for me. This is a joke. But you can actually use that extension to check price history while you're shopping.

On desktop or laptop? On desktop. Yes, laptop. So the next one, this is a very popular. or what I'm sure many of your watchers, listeners know it, the IBATA app. And with the I bought a app, I just started using it recently. I've heard about it for years, but I was like, let me dig into this thing. And it really is pretty great.

It's a free cashback app that makes it easy to earn cashback rewards in store and online with tons of retailers. So here's some pros to it, and I'll tell you some cons. Okay, I can't wait. The pros, it's completely free. You can cash out when you hit $20 or more, and you can send it right to your bank in cash. So that's what I do because then I'm less likely to spin it into gift cards and keep spending. And there's some great welcome offers. So within the first week I was using it,

I was making money because they would send you like $20. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, hey, if you check off seven offers, we'll send you $20. You can do it, yeah. So here's some cons. Okay. You have to add the offers beforehand. So you have to know what you're going into,

which can help because you're being more intentional. Sure, sure. But it also might sway you to buy a certain brand or product, which I don't like. For it, yes. Yeah, yeah. So do the research, but if you know you want that Crest's toothpaste, and Crest has a dollar cashback incentive, then go for it.

The other thing is you've got to hang on to the receipts and take a picture of it. So a lot of people are like, don't want the receipt, throw the receipt away. You need to hang on the receipt, take a picture of it, and then you can toss it. That's how they track it. Okay. Yes. That's how they're tracking all of this. And some of the offers are store and brand specific. So some of them may only work at Target or Kroger or wherever you shop, or some of them may just be on Krest toothpaste and not Sensed a dime.

Totally, totally. So you've got to be okay pivoting if you want the cash bag and go, I'm okay with getting this. Small wins, people. Yes. And lastly, there are some ads. They're not annoying. but they're on there. So that's part of it.

That's how they're making money. It's good. Okay, another similar one is Fetch. So Fetch is a similar deal. It's an app you download for cash back on things you're already buying. And here's some pros. You have 14 days to upload your receipt,

and you can actually link your email so that your digital receipts get tracked too. So it's not just for paper receipts. And you can cash out with as little as $3, you can cash out and get a gift card with that, which is cool. Nice. And you don't need to add the offers first, which I love.

So you just buy stuff and you go, Okay, if there's anything on there? That was Flash? Fetch, like a dog. Gosh, Fetch, Fetch. Flash is a great name, though. You should take that, take that. We should run with that.

Yes. Now, the only con with Fetch is that sometimes the offers aren't going to give you as much cash back I've found. Okay. Depending on what you're buying. Yes. Okay, you're ready to get into your world? Oh, yes. Target.

I learned a lot, though. Let's talk Target. Oh, yeah. This is a big one. So, everyone has the Target app on their phone if you've probably ever shopped a Target. Right? I'm a Target person. You should if you have it.

There's a lot of in-app savings through their Target Circle offers. Yep. And a lot of items I buy, now they show me. Hey, I know you love Laura bars. So here's the dollar off. Here's the 20% off the Circle offer. You add it.

Everyone knows about that. But what you may not know about is how to filter by discount. So you can get up to 50% off items by filtering. So I'm going to show you this. We'll put it on the screen as well. But this is easy. So you're going to go down to Target Circle offers. Okay.

Then we're going to go to all. Okay. Show all. Yeah. Sort by discount. And Rachel, look at that. Oh. 50% off all of these items. And it goes down to 40% off, 35% off.

Campbell's Disney Jasmine Soup. Jasmine, that's right. Oh my gosh. There's all kinds of stuff, but you can filter by the discount and go, oh, I didn't realize that. You know, I actually need some soup, and that's great that that one's 30% off. And the key here, again, people, is just because it's a good deal. It's a good deal for you. So if you needed the items anyways, that's the best deal is 100% off when you don't buy anything.

100, yeah. That's what I say 100%. It feels good. And I feel like there's seasons, right? There's seasons where I'm like, oh, I've just been spending a lot. And there's seasons where I'm like, I haven't spent anything in weeks. Yes. Let's just see what's 50% off the Target.

Let's see. And of course, we all know about the red card. I use the debit card. And very intentionally, you get the extra 5% off, which is nice. It's not going to change anyone's life. But if you're shopping at Target a lot, like us. You're getting a lot of diapers, people. Yeah.

And you know what? The sales tax here in Tennessee is about 10%. Yes, I know. And so I feel like I'm getting a deal on tax. You know, that's really what it is. Woo! We're really sticking it to the man. government.

I love it. Okay, so that's Target. Any other tips on Target? Because I know you're a big target. No, that's mine. I mean, I do the red card because there's things at Target I buy at Target. Yeah. And, yeah, the 5% off.

It's like right there. Yeah. And great return policy. The app can be dangerous for me, though, because I see things that I didn't know were there. And there's some things, okay, clothes that are not in stores. And they will say online only. Yeah.

And you're like, oh. So exclusive. I don't know. So exclusive. So exclusive. I feel like I'm like in the end. I know. billions of other people.

Here's where it gets me. Target bought shipped. So I can get stuff delivered to my door. And here's the thing. I want to make sure people are clear. I did know that. When it comes to these delivery services, just because we're getting a deal

doesn't mean we're not going to tip generously. Yes. And so I want to stick it to the man when it comes to the retailer, but not to the person delivering the items. I know. We went through a season where we did the grocery delivery thing

and it was wonderful. And I looked down, I didn't realize the tip. And it was like, and I felt, and I was like, and it's like, and it's like,

Oh, no, $3? They hold in 90 pounds of liquid. I know. You got to check those percentages on the app if you do delivery. I know. I'm with you. I'm with you. I feel so bad.

They're hauling in like packs of water. And I'm like, oh my gosh, this person is just hustling. And a lot of them, this is a side hustle. And so I always think, what if they're trying to get out of debt? And we got pizzas delivered to the house. And so I did the classic lame move, but I think it's great. Copy of the total money makeover with a $20 bill. with the $20 bill in it as a tip to be generous.

Yes, yes. And so... I love that. It was fun. Hey, we live like no one else. And you never know. And you never know. And you never know.

And that extra like eight, 10, 12 bucks. Yeah, it goes a long way. It does. Especially when people... Yes. And it gives them a little bit of hope that there's good people in the world. Yes.

And it's worth doing what they're doing. Yes. I love that. All right. Next one, slick deals. This is one, you have an app. There's a website. What I love about slick deals,

like you were mentioning AirPods. So you can type in their custom deal alerts and type in AirPods as a keyword, and it will let you know anytime there's a deal on AirPods. Are there deals on AirPods? Yes. There are. I got mine on a deal. You did?

Yes. Okay, there's hope. There's hope out there, Rachel. So they also have featured deals. They have deals that are kind of just for you based on your shopping habits and all that kind of stuff. Now, the thing with these sites, like I mentioned, they may get paid from brands or deals, including promoted items. You've got to look at, oh, this is promoted. It may not be a great deal, but they're getting paid to promote it.

Yes, yes. So be cognitive of that. of that. So there's a ton of apps, websites, tools out there. Here's what I'll tell you. Try them, and if you like them, keep using them. That's why I wanted to give them a wide swath an array of tools. But I want people to be intentional with it. But also, it feels good when you save money and you can use that money towards your goals instead. Especially if it's stuff you're already buying you guys. Like, that's my thing. I'm like, if you're automatically going to be buying it anyways, yes, and there's deals out there to get some money back. I'm like, yeah,

absolutely. Absolutely. And it takes a little bit of research on the front end. Like you said, you did a lot for us. So thank you. But yeah, just getting like, two or three of these things, you guys? It's crazy. And once you get in the habit of it, it becomes kind of addictive. Then you're like, oh, well, I don't want to buy it impulsively. I want to do the research. Yes. I'm going to sleep on it.

I'm going to wait a week or two. Especially big ticket kit items like AirPods. Yes. Can we, like, do a bet right now? What do you think on my Instagram or somewhere? AirPods. Oh, 100%. All over.

AirPods. Air pods. Deals on AirPods. Deal on AirPods. Three AirPods. Buy one, get one free AirPods. This will never work. I love it.

I believe it. I think they're listening to us. Rachel, We're going to get you some Merry Pard's Christmas. Thank you. I'll put on a good night with Papa Dave. Oh, thanks. Thanks.

That'll be the Christmas gifts. Yeah. Thank you. So great. Well, you guys, again, hopefully this helps you save money. And like we said earlier, being intentional and budgeting helps as well. So every dollar is our favorite app. Yes.

Of course. Before all these other apps we're talking about every dollar. The only app you need. Delete the other ones. It's all you need. It really is. But it does. It helps you keep track of all of your purchases.

I love it. And it's free. So you can plan out your money ahead of time. track your expenses. You can do all of this. You can go to every dollar.com on your desktop if you want, or just the every dollar app there in the app store. I love it. We love Every Dollar here. Well, George, you're like everywhere now, it feels like. All over. All over. Where can people find you? So you can find me on Twitter, Instagram, all those places, at George Camel with a K. And this is big. New podcast just released on the Ramsey Network. And I'm the host. It's called Defined Print.

So good, you guys. The hidden truths that are keeping you broke. So a lot of the stuff that you're covering on the show, we do deep dives on to help people understand the ins and outs of this thing. Because I want to help them make the best decisions with their money and make them most of their money. So you're featured in it a lot. We've got you on the Buy Now, pay later episode, and it just released. You can find it on the Ramsey Network right next to Rachel's show, probably. Just search for the fine print, subscribe, and you can listen to both of us there. Yeah, so good. Love it. George, thanks for being here. It's a pleasure. It's a good information. It's an honor. And I want you to, you'll come back.

If you'll have me. I want to do this kind of stuff, yes. I don't have that kind of power, Rachel. You do it. I don't know. No. I am low on the total ball. It's been a blast.

I know. Thanks, George. Today I have Allison here with me. Allison, thanks for coming on. Hi, Rachel. Thanks for having me. And you were calling from Portland, Oregon, right? Yeah, I am.

Yep. Awesome. And so where are you kind of in your financial journey? I am on baby step number two. So I'm a single mom. I just started a new job a few months ago, actually. It's pretty great. Making a little bit more money.

So I'm working to finish baby step two as quickly as possible. But my new job is actually located in another town, which has been fine because we're remote working. But as we go back to the office, I don't really want to have a huge long commute. So I'm thinking about selling my house and moving closer to my new job. job. So I've got about $61,000 in debt, 26,000 of which is an assessment that's on my current home. So you're just trying to figure out, like, should, you know, according to baby steps, I should start with the smaller debts. But if I've got this assessment and I'm planning on selling my home, should I put all of my money towards the assessment in order to get that money back when I

sell my house. Yeah, absolutely. So is it required when you sell your home to pay that off first? Is that a requirement? Or is it just to be able to get that money back? No, it's a requirement. It's a requirement. Yeah. So I would say a couple of things. I think until you know you absolutely have to sell the home and owe that $26,000, I would continue on just doing the traditional baby steps. So if you're, what's your smallest debt out of that $60? It's about a $9,000. $1,000 credit card debt. Okay. Yeah. So what I would do is I would just focus in on the fact that, hey, I'm going to just continue the baby steps and to the point that I know I'm going to have to move. So I think everything still kind of feels up in the air when it goes, when it comes to working in an office and all of that,

like companies haven't given a complete, your company hasn't given a specific date, has it? No, not yet. Not yet. So I would just, I would work on that $9,000 debt and continue on the traditional on baby step route. And then when you guys have to go back into the office, I, and if you want to sell and move closer, I would do that. I would not purchase another home, though. I would start to rent and you'll get some equity from your home. Currently, I'm assuming, how much equity would you have? Actually, I have a pretty good amount of equity, and especially, like, in this market, just it's a, you know, buyer's market, seller's market. Yeah. I probably have about 140,000 in equity.

Wow. Well, oh my, it's amazing. Amazing. Okay, so there's the plan. I would work, again, paying off that smallest step first, and then when you know, okay, here's when I'm going to be in the office, then you can sell your home, take all that equity. I would, again, rent for a little bit, maybe for just even six months if you have to, just to kind of get your feet under you in that new town, six months to a year. And then you're going to have a chunk of debt that you will be debt free. I mean, even with that $26,000 gone, you'll be able to pay off all of your debt with the equity in your home. a good chunk of that will probably go on to Babysept 3 for a three to six month emergency fund. So you could be through Baby Steps 1 through 3 very quickly after you sell that home, which is absolutely amazing. And then any money you have left over for Babysept 3B, I would start to save that for a down payment. Because I'm assuming you want to purchase a home soon in that town, correct? Or do you want to rent for a little bit?

No, I would want to buy a house in that town. Yes, yeah, absolutely. So, yeah, I would still not buy a house. house right away, I would kind of just have a little bit of patience. Renting for six months, isn't going to kill you. You'll be able to do it. Get all your finances cleared up, get that good down payment. And then when you decide, okay, this is the down payment, 10 to 20 percent for your new home in the new town, then you'll be able to put that money down. And again, if it takes renting a little bit longer than to get that down payment, then that's

okay. Having the patience and being in a better financial position when you move into a new home is going to be, it's going to be amazing. So the great, I mean, that's an amazing, I mean, you have a lot of great things going, Allison. I mean, a new job in the middle of a crazy, you know, COVID year that we've had. And financially where you're at, even though you're $60,000 in the hole right now, that's going to be turned upside down here really soon with the sell of your home. Yeah, it's exciting. Yes. Do you feel a level of kind of freedom and excitement with your money that you haven't had in the past, considering you're kind of, you're on this new journey of paying off debt? Oh, definitely. Yeah. Even when I paid off a couple of those early debts,

It was like, oh, wow. Like, this is going to be really great. When I finished baby step two and go on to three, like, it's definitely like a rewarding and kind of exciting and freeing feeling of like, I don't have to make that payment anymore. I'm going to be done. Oh, it feels so good. Yeah, just to be able to check it off. How many kids do you have?

I have two kiddos, two boys. Yeah. And how old are they? Eight and 11. 11's going on like 30. Yes, right. So have you pulled them in at all, like, in this journey? that you're on? A little bit. They kind of know, and I'm trying to teach them, like, smart,

fiscal responsibility just so they don't go down the path that I went down. And they know a little bit of, like, baby step because I was really excited when I, when I completed the first debt. And then I bought my car, paid off my car. So that was a big one. And it was like, mom owns this now. We buy cars with cash now. So they do know that. It's amazing, Allison. Well, you're doing an incredible job. Number one, as a single mom. I mean, that's so difficult in of itself, but you're doing that, raising these two boys and financially, yeah, being in a totally different position that's going to give you so much peace and freedom. So you're incredible. You're an inspiration to all of us, but especially some of these single moms listening and watching this. I mean, this is huge, absolutely huge. So you're doing

an incredible job, Allison. Thank you. Thanks so much for calling in and asking your question. I think a lot of people, you know, have a similar situation or they're thinking, you know, they're asking these kind of questions, too. So hearing from you is great encouragement. And for all of you watching, if you want to get this progress that you're hearing from Allison, she owns her car now. I mean, like these things are just absolutely amazing. I want you to check out Ramsey Plus, Financial Peace University, which is our main course when it comes to teaching you about money is in that. Every Dollar, the budgeting app that I love, is in Ramsey Plus. So get that all. You can go to Ramsey's Solution.

to check that out. Well, thanks, Allison again. And you guys, if you have any questions for me, you can post your questions on any of my social media channels. So Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, but we are searching those and want to bring you on the show. I love Allison's question because, man, it is a hard one to tackle.

And when it comes to baby Step two, you know, things happen in life. But the goal there is to get out of debt completely, which is what Allison is doing. so, so excited for her. Well, thank you to all the guests that were on today's show. I loved it. I loved you guys listening in.

So thanks so much for tuning in to this episode. And if you've not hit that subscribe button, make sure you 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.