The Rachel Cruze Show - How to Save On the Top 3 Budget Busters with George Kamel

Episode Date: September 20, 2021

We all love the finer things in life—food, travel and cars—but sometimes they can take our budgets for a ride. In this episode, you’ll hear: 14 ways to cut your grocery bill in half (seriously!) How to save big on flights, hotels and more with help from Ramsey Personality and self-proclaimed travel hacker George Kamel How much you should spend on a car, no matter what season of life you’re in Find me on Instagram bit.ly/3h7wwPi Join my Official Rachel Cruze Community bit.ly/38LbX6D Connect: Listen to The Fine Print bit.ly/3l8D6WC   Resources: EveryDollar: bit.ly/3BTfvAg Auto insurance you can trust: bit.ly/3BY8YnP Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Out of all debts that's out there from credit card, student loan, personal, all of it. A car loan is the one that I'm like, oh, no, because you're borrowing money on something that's going down in value. Hey, everyone. Welcome to another episode of the Rachel Crewe Show podcast. I'm so glad that you're here. In this episode, we're going to dive into saving money. That's right. It's going to be all about saving.

So you're going to hear a conversation I had with Ramsey personality, George Camel, on all the ways to save money on traveling. It's one of my favorite things to do in the world, and it's a really fun conversation, and he has a lot of great tips. Then we're going to talk through cars. How much should we spend on them right now? It's like they're all in high demand.

It's all expensive. It's just crazy, but we're going to break it all down and talk about it. But first, let's talk about 14 ways to cut your grocery bill in half. Listen, groceries, man, they can get your budget. about all the time, the food area of the budget, always so easy to overspend. So I want to give you some ways to cut that grocery bill in half. All right, starting up, number one, find when your grocery store marks down meat. Meat can be so pricey, but if you're proactive, call the store ahead of time and just ask, hey, what meat is on sale or what's going on sale soon? You can save a lot

of money there. Don't buy it if you don't need it. Okay. If something is on sale, food or a jacket at a store, like anything, you guys, anything, just because it's on sale does not mean it's a good deal for you, okay? Sometimes you can kind of get tricked into the idea of, oh, it's on sale, I'm going to get it. And it's not going to be a big deal. I did that. I'm trying to eat better, you guys. You know, I eat like a five-year-old half the time.

So I'm like, try. I'm going to do groceries. I'm like, hey, I'm just trying to get some healthy stuff. I've got this, like, organic, wheat thin things that were originally like, $8 a box or something, absolutely insane. And it was on sale. And I was like, oh, look, I'm going to eat healthy. And I get it. On a whim, I added it. And they were absolutely terrible and they were disgusting. And I was like, dang it. It was so expensive already. But I was suckered into the good deal. So if you don't need it, if you weren't looking to buy it anyways, just don't fall for it.

Okay? Just say, nope, I didn't need it before I sell the sale and I don't need it after I see the sale. Next, use grocery apps. Yeah, your local grocery store could have an app, and you can go and find so many deals, so many coupons. You can know what's on sale, what's not. So when you are shopping for what you need, you can look to say, okay, okay, I know what to do. But again, be aware that when things are on sale,

it's going to make you want to buy it. So just because it's a good deal, doesn't mean it's a good deal for you if you don't need it. Next is use every dollar. Oh, yeah, the budgeting app, that will save you so much, money. I can't say it enough, you guys. I love every dollar. And Ramsey Plus will help you make a budget that actually works faster than you think. That's because Ramsey Plus, you get every dollar in that. And you get the unlimited access to our flagship course Financial Peace University. It's our

step-by-step plan that teaches you how to save and spend wisely. So start a free trial today. Just text Rachel Plus to 33789. I will drop a link for you in the description. All right. Meat, we're going to go back to this idea. Because it's so expensive, buy meat in bulk. So many of you in my Facebook community swear by this. Okay, so you can even go in and buy a cow and freeze it and have meat for a year. I mean, whatever it is, buying something in bulk is going to save you so much money. You got to think through a couple of things, though, make sure that, you know, includes the butcher, the processing, the packing fees, all of it. Pro tip. If you buy meat in bulk, that you realize you're not going to use,

then you can sell it to your friends, your neighbors, all of that, and they will be thankful for the high-quality local meat. Next, raid your own pantry before you shop. Look around your kitchen, look in the refrigerator, look in the pantry, before you shop, before you meal plan and say, okay, what do we actually have? Look at the expiration date and say, okay,

maybe we can use this before it expires. That's going to help you save so much money by using what you already have. Shop at Aldi. Yeah, Aldi gets its own tip. Always will. My friends, my team, my Facebook community, everyone agrees.

Switching to Aldi makes the biggest difference in the world when it comes to your grocery budget. Next, get in and out of the grocery store. Don't just meander around and take your time because you're going to start to see stuff that looks good that you didn't want to buy in the first place and you end up buying it, all of it. So there's actually studies out there that show

you spend more money the longer you're in the grocery store. So get in and out. Next, use cashback apps. So rebate apps are everywhere these days. I bought a receipt hog, checkout 51, and fetch rewards are just a few apps that can save you so much money. Just make sure you understand how to use them. And some apps only work if you scan the item before you buy it. So make sure you're read and know. But man, these kind of apps save you so much money. Rethink dinner. Yes, again, we love our meats, love our dessert in America, but dinner does not have to be big and fancy and expensive. Simple meals or even breakfast for dinner will stretch your grocery budgets. So eggs are always cheaper, and you can make egg sandwiches, scrambled eggs, omelets. There's a variety of stuff with eggs. I mean, I feel like bubble gum, shrimp. There's Boris Gump. I won't quote it, but you know what I'm talking about.

You can do a lot, a lot with eggs. Next, you can meal plan and meal prep. I'm the best at this. If there was a challenge out there for meal planning, I might win. I might win the ribbon because I have been so religious about this every Sunday night, every Sunday night. I was like, Monday, Greek night, Tuesday, spaghetti, Wednesday, homemade pizza. I went down the list to see what do we have going on. And the nights that we're home, we make dinner at home.

And then from that, I make our grocery list, and voila, the food is there. And it helps you guys. The sanity, the sanity that it brings to your life. When you plan ahead of time and you're intentional, not only just brings peace to your budget, it brings peace to your soul. Because you a meal plan, and then you say, okay, let's meal prep within the plan. You can chop your veggies instead of buying the convenient little package where they're already chopped up. Well, that costs a crazy amount.

I bought green onions. 55 cents. True story, 55 cents for that. And then next to it was little green onions all chopped up for $2.39. I was like, what? I get that it's convenient. But, man, I can chop my own green onions. That's fine.

So meal planning, meal prepping, all of it saves money. Next, make extra of what you have and freeze it. So you can just double the recipe when you can and freeze the leftovers, which works well too, because if you have a busy night, you can just pop out that casserole, put it in the oven, and voila, it's done. Next, try going meatless. Yeah, going vegetarian, you guys, can save you over $1,000 a year or more.

So there's amazing meatless recipes that you can whip up, start a meatless Monday. That'll put money right back into your budget. And last, but not least, if you buy it, use it. I'm preaching to myself right here, you guys. Yeah, if you buy it, especially fresh stuff, you got to use it. because if it goes bad and you throw it out, you're just throwing money away. And again, I've done this so many times.

So being a stickler and realizing, okay, this is what we have, let's use it. That is going to save you money in the long haul, I promise. Now, my Facebook group is the best at saving money. Yeah, Sue likes to shop just once a month, except for fresh veggies and milk, because the less you go to the store, the less you're tempted to impulse buy.

Audrey says, we buy almost everything, generic. Tomatoes are the same no matter what brand. Holly says it sounds silly, but I make sure that I eat a full meal before I go to the grocery store, and then I don't buy things just because I'm hungry. Danette says, word to the wise, teenage boys don't actually taste anything. They just inhale food. So buy healthy, but inexpensive. Well, I hope these tips help you guys with your grocery budget, because again, when you are on a plan and those of you doing the baby steps, you're building your emergency fund, you're paying off debt, I mean, you're being intentional with your money, being able to save in places in your budget,

a.k. the food area of the budget, specifically groceries, it can just eat money away. It's crazy. So being on a plan and being in control of your money when it comes to grocery shopping is going to help you guys in the long run, I promise. Today, I am joined by Ramsey personality, George Camel. George, thanks for being back. I'm so excited. I'm like a kid in a candy store when I'm on the Rachel Crew show. George, well, I love having you on.

You're just, you're fun, you're full of wisdom. Wow. And I can't wait to like dive in because we're going to talk about one of my favorite things in the entire world. Travel. Oh my gosh.

What's that? I was like, well, I hope you know you're supposed to have some tips for us, George. I was trying to make it really like a silent. Tell me what that is. Yeah, what is it? I'm the kind, are you this person? I'm the person.

Maybe I'm discontent. I don't know what you would call this, but I'm like, I always like to have a trip on the books. I'll get you the contentment journal. You're going to love it. Even if it's in 18 months. You've got to be looking forward to something. I do.

What is that? Is that how you are with travel or not so much? No, here's the thing. I love travel, but I would rather do nothing. Until we travel, then I'm like, this is great. I need to travel more. You know? Leading up, it's like, oh, man.

Is Whitney more of a traveling? She wants to go all the places. That's what it is. The opposite's attracting, you know. I'm like, you go with the girls. You do the girls trip. You can do it, yeah. I'll be here in our beautiful home.

How nice. That's right. That's right. Okay, but travel can get expensive. Yes, especially now. Yes, everyone's traveling. Because the company's lost so much money. Well, now it's kind of gone back down, I feel like. We're starting to get to some deals. But here's the thing, the pandemic, COVID, everyone's like, all the companies are going, oh gosh, we need to make up some of this money. And so they jacked all the prices up. So right now, it's been real expensive. As you go to book flights, you're like, oh, gosh, it's $1,000. Yes, it's crazy. I know. I feel like summer of 21, it was just everyone was gone.

I feel like everyone did everything. They're like, uh-huh. And now we're kind of. I don't know. It's interesting now. But you can be wise when you travel. We always talk about saving money on here. But seriously, you can look at different aspects of your trip. If you know some of these hacks and can save a lot by just really simple stuff, which I love. So let's talk about flights. Okay. This is the big one. This is where I'm a little boozy, y'all. There's a couple things that I have my like standards for. And we are just not road trip people. Yeah. My kids, I can't do it. I'm not packing the van. You're not doing it. I know. And we have a van. We could. But I'm a traveler. I'm a Southwest. loyal traveler. But I love flying. Flying is like, it is where I will put some of the travel

budget so that we don't have to drive. Yeah. So, but there's ways to save on it. There's tons of ways. And it all involves, like, apps and online tools and website. So let me rifle through some these and we'll talk through them. So one of my favorites is skyscanner.com. They also have an app. And this is great for travel inspiration. They've got nice photos. They're showing you some of the best deals of the month. So it's a good way. If you don't even know where you want to go yet, you're just like, I just want to go on a trip. Skyscanner is a great place to start. So fun. So that's one to check out for sure.

And my all-time favorite, if I had to just choose one, is Google Flights. Google Flights is great. Because I can say, I just want to go from Nashville to anywhere for two weeks sometime in October. And they'll bring up every... And they'll bring up the cheapest dates to go anywhere. And I can go, ooh, London sounds nice this time of year. And so it really opens you up to some different options and shows you what the best deals are. So that's one of my favorite websites, Google Flights.

The next one is one that is... They have a subscription portion, which I just subscribed to. This is not a paid sponsorship, but Scott's cheap flights. Okay. They have a team that does all the work for you to find maybe it's a mistake, and you can book the flight while it's a mistake and get a really great deal. Didn't that happen at the gas station one year? Was that on the news that there was like...

0.01 cent or something, and it never went up, and all these cars were filling up. People are tracking it. You know? Yeah. So Scott's cheap flights, I think for the month of August, they had their subscription for half off. So I went ahead and just did that because they'll email you. They email you multiple times a day.

It's almost annoying, but it's great deal, so I'm not mad about it. Yes. And they really do the best job. And there is a free portion where you can get a deal for a domestic trip sent to you. Okay. So that's a great one to check out. And next vacay. This is a fun one.

It's kind of like this online travel agent type deal. And they focus on your budget. Yes, which I love. They're not trying to upsell you and go, hey, but what about this trip over here? It's all within your budget. So we love that. We love staying on the budget. And then this last one for flights is big.

This is my new favorite. It's called Hopper. It's an app. So you download the Hopper app, and here's what it does. Because when you go to Book of Flight, you're always wondering, am I getting the best deal? What if the price goes down? What if this is not the opportune time to buy?

Yes. Well, they have this thing called a price freeze. And so for seven days, you can lock in that price. I know it sounds crazy. To any airline? To any of the flights that are on there. I don't know if I knew this. Okay.

And if the price goes up, they'll actually match up to $100 to cover the difference. Wow. How much do you pay for that? It's free. Really? I don't know how they do it, Rachel. It's mad science. It's just like pop up ads on the website a lot.

None of this is paid for, okay. No, but I know, but they're got to get paid somehow. Oh, yeah. It's fascinating. They may get a cut. Who knows? Yeah. Who knows?

So, you can book these flights, and it's just so great because they also do this thing called price predictions. Yeah. And so they'll tell you when the best time is to buy, and they light it up in three easy colors. Green means now's a great time to buy. Orange means not great, but it could be worse. And red is like, avoid this. This is very expensive.

And so it's amazing. They have price predictions and you can watch as many flights as you want unlimited and it'll notify you when the price goes down or when the dates are right. So it's really cool.

So I would download Hopper to start and start watching some flights and start to get excited. But it all really comes down to research and intentionality. Yes. Okay, I feel like, because I had my thoughts

where I was like, I kind of know some travel hacks, but yours are way cool. I'm a long harder to. I know, but mine's like from like, Like 1998 or something I feel like. What's yours? Well, Tuesdays are always the best days to book travel. So when you're actually going to go book your flight,

they always show an average of every day of the week. If you book on a Tuesday, it's usually the lowest rate. Okay. I love Southwest because you can track which I do this. And it's kind of a game to me now. I will check if we have a trip, I will check almost every day on the app to see if the price of the ticket went down.

And then you can read, you can just like hit a submit button thing and they give you the dollars back in your Southwest. So then when we go to book another trip, we have cash sitting there that technically I had already bought, but it was like giving it to me. I've saved hundreds of dollars that way. And I'm like you, I'm always rechecking and I go, hey, let me rebook this flight for the same exact time. And they go, oh, it's $50 cheaper now. So crazy. And then the days you actually fly out of your city, it's Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays are the cheapest times to actually fly out.

Interesting. So book on a Tuesday, and then you fly out on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Wednesday, or Saturday. But I don't know. Yours has colors on your apps. Mine doesn't have colors. I'm very nerdy. I'm very high tech. I'm always like, what's the latest app?

What's the latest site? Okay. Baggage fees. Oh my gosh. So this is why I do like Southwest too. You get two. I had to fly another airline besides Southwest. And Southwest isn't sponsored here either.

I just genuinely love them. And I forgot about it. And I usually carry on. I'm a carry-on bag person all the time. I'm going on a girl's trip and I have a carry-on. And I can fit close to a week on a carry on. That's very impressive. For just me. Not my kids, though. That's the thing. You get kids, then you got to try a bag. And then it's done. Might as well. But the baggage fees will

add up on a flight. Because the flight might look cheaper. I know. And then you're paying like, yes. 60 bucks a bag. And then there are some really cheap airlines. Two, even cheaper than Southwest. Spirit and Frontier and some of those. And you got to like pay for water even on the flight. Oh yeah. They like nickel and time you. Oh, you wanted to breathe? That's $50 extra. Every breath is $0.25. Oh, you have a two hour flight. So you got to be careful with those because the flight is usually, it's like, oh, it's $40. Yeah. But you're, you're paying $1.70.

Check for a carry-on. They were charging all this. So just price it all out, you guys. And you can, a lot of these, you can filter out some of these budget airlines and just go, hey, I only want to fly Southwest or American. Yes. And they'll actually filter that out for you. So there's some ways around those.

To do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you're, like, I don't want to do the budget airlines, because I get it. Yeah. Some people, hey, if you're young and you're, you've got that, that adventurous spirit, go for spirit. Do it. I'm sorry. You know, there you go.

Okay. Okay. Flying, my passion. Love it, obviously. We love airplanes. We love airplanes. We are, we are fans of airplanes. Okay, hotels. This is a big one. This is a big one. I love hotel. You got to stay somewhere. Okay. You got to stay somewhere. Okay. You got to stay somewhere. Give me all your hacks on this. Because mine are not great on hotels. I don't have my people, my ones I go to and that's it. Yeah, I get that. So give us the deals, though. I like, I don't want to stay in a dump. So I'm not trying to go, hey, stay at the cheapest place possible. That's not what this is about. I want you to stay in a nice hotel, but get a great deal on it.

Yes. And so I like to start with Hotels.com and just, just see what's out there. I like the interface. They have a great app. They have a great website. So I like to start there with my research and look at some of the reviews. Yes.

Once I do that, you can go to a site like priceline.com and get a really good deal. They have this thing called express deals. Okay. This is it. It's a mystery. It kind of stresses me out, but explain it to the people.

It's very interesting. Here's how it works. You don't know the exact hotel. It says, hey, here's a three-and-a-half-star hotel in this general area. And here's some of the amenities. It's got a pool. It's got free parking.

and you go, okay, I'm willing to do it for a cheaper price. So it'll be discounted 30, 40%, because you don't know what you're getting. Now, there's a way around this. I think it's ethical. It's not unethical. I think because they know how much you're going to spend in what you want at a hotel. And then at the very last minute, hotel prices do drop off if it's a last minute booking. So that's what they do.

They basically book you last minute in a hotel that you have said, like, yeah, I hear the things I need and want in a hotel. It's just really, I mean, I'm sweating right now. It stresses me out. It's the sweater. You're wearing a sweater. Did you imagine, like, about to go to bed to wake up to go on a trip, and then you finally see where you're staying?

Yeah. I can't do it. I know. Well, here's the way around it is you can do the research to go, oh, I can see on the normal side of the website that here's a hotel in this area, that's three and a half stars with these amenities. And that matches up to what they're showing me over here on the express deal side. Yeah, yeah.

So you can match it up. It does take a little bit of work. Sure. But if you want to take the time to do that, you could save 30, 40%. Well, and here's the deal, too. Our friends, he swears by him because he will do really nice hotels, but you get it at like 40% discount. So you're paying a three-star price for a four-to-five-star hotel

because you're just rolling the dice and being like, yeah. And you can choose. It's not like you're going to choose it and go, is a two-star hotel. It tells you, here's the star, here's the amenities. So the key here is flexibility. The more flexible you are, the better of a deal that you're going to get. So there's one.

Obviously, we all know about Airbnb and Verbo and those kinds of sites. Wait, VRBO. I've heard it said both ways. Hey, Verbo. I was trying it out a new way. I was trying it out of new way. I know. I just tried it for you just in case I was wrong.

I can't make her happy, okay? You're a verbbo. Are you a GIF or a GIF? I'm a, I'm big on GIF. No, we're so different. It's a GIF, isn't it? Well, that's for another time. Verbo and gifts. Anyways, if you want to live like the locals and kind of have that experience,

you can do the Airbnb, which is always cool. It's awesome, yep. I just, there's always some kind of rules, like, well, you got to make the bed after you're done and put the laundry. I'm like, I just want to leave. So some people, they love kind of being in the really vicinity of locals, and some people are like, I'm good with a hotel. Yes. But you can find some great deals on Airbnb

and find some really cool spots. Yes, and I think for families, it's always easy if we have like a kitchen and stuff. Do you know what I'm saying? Yes. But if it's just me and Winston, that's when I love a hotel. Where I'm like, oh, it's so nice. Where, yeah, you can just throw your towel down.

Throw it down. And leave not having to make your bed. It's wonderful. It's kind of a dream. I know. Are you a bedmaker? No, no. Unless people are coming over,

then you've got to make it look like, this is how we always live our lives, right? We've all been there. We've all been there. Okay. So we've done flights. We've done hotels. So now we're here at the destination. What's some deals on actually getting around the city or the place we are? So obviously rental cars right now, big shortage. Very hard to find rental cars. And so one of my favorite things to do is if we're going to a big city, like I'm from Boston. And so I grew up taking the train at 12 years old.

Some people aren't comfortable with public transportation, but I think it's a really fun way to really feel like you're in a city to take the buses and the subways and the trains and all that stuff. And it's always going to be way cheaper than running a car. Now, if you have to get around with a car and you have to run a car, that's fine. There's some great ways to do that. One of my favorites is Costco travel. I'm a big Costco fan, and a lot of people don't know.

They have their own travel section where you can rent cars through, and I absolutely love it. So that's one of my favorite ways to not only book rental cars, but also packages, vacations. We're going to an all-inclusive this fall, me and my wife, and so we're really excited about that. Nice. That's so fun. So we're going to Costco. Wow. All-inclusive. Oh, man.

So, I know you've been, no spoilers. Just love traveling. I know. You're getting excited already. I am like, can I look through here? Can I live there? Places to go. Okay, the last thing with transportation is Uber and Lyft. Me and my wife, we went to San Francisco, and instead of running a car, because I get anxiety driving in new cities, especially big cities, I would much rather have someone drive me around. Well, I Yelp the nearest restaurant I want to go to. Sure, sure. And so we did that, and it was so much cheaper than renting a car. And if you're adventurous, we would sometimes do these shared lifts or shared Uber. Man, y'all are adventurous. How are the people? Were there is anyone there? Very rarely was there actually someone there. And so you might have to wait a little. And so you might have to wait a little. little bit longer to get it. And you may have someone in the car who has a spot to get. So if you're not in

a rush... Come on, Rachel. Come on, be optimistic. I know, I know, I know. Okay. I just couldn't do that as a woman though. I couldn't do it. I know. I get it. You'd have to have a strong man like you, George, in there to really fight him off. That's very kind and generous of you, Rachel, but no one thinks that. So that's a great way to get around. And if you are driving, one of my favorite ways to find the best and cheapest gas near me is an app called Gas Buddy. I use it locally here while I'm at my house going, where should I go for gas today? Interesting.

And so Gas Buddie's awesome. Sometimes they have even cash back. Like, you're going to get seven cents back per gallon if you take a picture of your receipt. So there's some great ways in that. It'll show you where the nearest gas is and how cheap it is. And so I like to use that to go, okay, it's actually 15 cents cheaper to go a mile down the road. Yes, yes. So there's some great ways to save on gas that way as well.

So good. I know it's interesting because even, and Winston, I do this if we go somewhere, I will, like, Uber or Lyft, you can price out ahead of time how much it will be from, like, the airport to where you're staying. And I'll do that, and I'll compare, okay, if we did that there and back, how much is that. You know, and sometimes, depending on the destination, how far it is, it is cheaper just to rent a car.

Yeah. But most places, most times it's like, no, it's actually cheaper if we just do little rides here or there. Oh, yeah. But anyways, we always price it out. Okay, you mentioned packages before. Yes. But there's usually some great deals of like an all-inclusive package, right?

Oh, yeah. Thanks. So where can people find those? So one of the places you can start is like a kayak.com, one of these third-party travel sites. But here's what I want to tell people. A lot of the actual resorts and places that you might stay, they're trying to compete with these third-party websites. They don't want to lose business to the kayaks and the expedias. So what I want you to do is find out from kayak and then call up the actual resort and say,

hey, I've got this deal. Here's what I'm paying. Can you guys match that? And a lot of times they will and there's extra perks if you book direct. Interesting. I always want people to actually get on the phone with someone. get on the online chat and talk to a real person. That's one of the biggest hacks out there

because usually they're very helpful. They want to earn your business. And they're willing to go above and beyond to make it happen. And you're taking the third party out. If you're dealing just directly with the resort hotel. We've heard some horror stories about people using some of these third party websites so I can Expedia. And it absolutely ruins the trip.

And they go, wait, you didn't book with us. And you go, wait, I booked it through this third party. So whenever there's a middleman, it can just be a little bit dicey. It's a little bit more risky, you know? A little bit more risky. Yeah, okay. So always check with. the actual place first to see if you can get a better deal.

This is so good. Okay. Any other just general ideas? The general, I just love, I'm a huge Costco travel fan. So for a package, if you just, you're not really sure where you want to go, do that. And I always call or I chat. Here's what I did. I was like, hey, I want to go. I want to do an all-inclusive. I want somewhere that has, you know, some nice sand and water. Here's my budget. Where should I go? And on the phone, she said, hey, I would go to the Dominican. I would go to Cancun or Cabo for your budget. Wow.

And here's the best times to go based on your budget to get the best price. And I was like, you just saved me 14 hours of research. And then I said, what's the best resorts in those areas if you had to choose? Here's where I would go. And so they know so much. They live in this world. And so talk to someone and have them help you narrow down your research to where you go, okay, I just have to research three instead of 40 because it can be overwhelming.

Yes. You know, it's interesting. I feel like, you know, you look back in like the 70s, 80s, even 90s. If you went somewhere, especially somewhere really big for vacation, you used to travel agent. Like, that's what you did. You would go to their office. They would have brochures and pamphlets and stuff, and you would like book through a travel agent. That's how you would travel because there weren't websites. You couldn't go online. There was no online. Like you couldn't Google. You couldn't just book on your phone. You like literally had to go to a professional. And then I feel like travel became so accessible where anyone can do. Right.

You can do it so inexpensively now. You can kind of build your own thing. Like it's not as expensive as it used to be, I feel like. That's why a lot more people travel. travel now and more frequently. And then now I feel like it's wrapping back around to having these specialized people in it are now like gems. Right? I think we've been out of it so much of just like doing yourself. There's too much information. And we don't know how to narrow it all down. That's right. That's right. So now I've come back around to be like, oh, you're an expert in this. Please help me. Help me. So that's so good. And I think two guys remember with your budget and you said this kind of earlier, but know where you're traveling to. You know, it's going to be more expensive

obviously to go and eat out in New York City. Yes. versus Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Oh, yeah. And a lot of people don't, they don't budget for all the things. They're like, well, food will be this much. It's like, wait, do you know four people eat out for every single meal for five days straight? It's like $1,200. And to be, and like to look up prices.

Like if there's a restaurant you want to go to, I've heard so many people, especially with New York. I feel like I hear this lot like, oh my gosh, do you know how much it was for just pretzel and a coffee or whatever? And I'm like, yeah, they can charge what. I mean, like, I know, it's expensive versus just what you're used to at home. You don't want a bunch of all the free spirits on one trip. You got to have a nerd in there somewhere. He goes, guys, I did the research. Here's where we need to go.

Have a little bit of an itinerary. Of course, that plans can change. Yes. But I'm the nerd who's like, here's our itinerary. Here's where we want to go. I've researched the menu. Here's what I'm ordering. Here's how much it will cost us.

And so if you want to go that deep, that's fine. I'm not saying everyone, you're the opposite. No, well, here's the thing, George. I'm about to just flip everyone on their head. Because everyone thinks that I'm like, oh, I'll do whatever. I can be a travel agent and sleep train babies. Those are the two spiritual gifts I have in life besides the I don't think that's in the Bible, but I love it.

I am so, I'm so good at them. I really am. And so travel, I like find joy in looking up. I was talking to another friend Naomi about this earlier this weekend. We were talking about, I'm like, yes, I'm like, I like, I like to look up reviews. Yes. And I love to look up the airlines every day to get it. Like, I love, like, digging into the details of a trip.

Yeah, I look up menus at restaurants, 100% to know. I love to know. Because here's the thing. It all comes back to regret and fomo. I don't want to order the wrong thing, and my buddy get, oh, I should have got the fajitas. And does Wendy appreciate you, though? She does. I mean, at the after the trip, is she like, gosh, George, that's amazing.

My wife is, always is like, fake. Rarely does she have moments of thankfulness for me, but trips are one of them. I feel like so good. I just, I'm really good at it. Yeah. Anyways, we should have our own travel show, George. This is great. Or travel agency.

Yes. I have a whole business plan. Do you want to know my business plan? What is it? I'm going to create a business that I will sleep train your baby for four, four months. Okay. And then I book a trip for you when the baby's a year, because I know, you know, they like to nurse all that. And it's a package. It'll be very pricey. But I'm going to pick out, I'll probably do it for six families a year. And I can charge a lot. I can charge a lot for that.

Okay. When we have kids, let us be the first experiment when we have kids. I'll do it for free. I'll do it. Please. Okay, George, this was so good. Thank you for coming on. All the travel, honestly, you guys, this saves you time. It saves you. you money and you get to experience life because we're all about creating a life that you love. And if you guys want to start saving up for your next vacation, our every dollar app will help you save faster than you think. That's because with Ramsey Plus, you get unlimited access to our flagship course, Financial Peace University. And that is our step-by-step plan that teaches you how to save and spend wisely and pay off all of your debt. So to start a free trial today,

just text Rachel Plus to 33789. All right. The car market feels insane right now because it is. And there's a lot of people asking the question, how much should I spend on a car? It's a question we all ask at some point in our lives because most people have a car, right? And it's something you have to upgrade

or you have to change depending on your family. There's a lot of reasons why people need a new car. and we live in a culture that just celebrates cars, even though technically what they're for is to get you to point A to point B. It's about it. So when you look at it in a really utilitarian way, it's literally all you need to go here to here, home to the grocery store, home to work, home to a friend's house,

and back, like, it's just getting you from one place to the other. But it's not that simple because, well, there's a whole experience that happens. You know, when you get into a car, It smells good, usually, if it's newer. It looks pretty. There's all this new technology, and people fall in love with what's going on in the inside. They fall in love of the brand, what's on the outside, and it starts to become people's identity. You look at a nice car and you think, wow, they must be doing really good.

Or you see a car, it's like breaking down and has duct tape and like a bungee cord holding the bumper on, and you're like, oh, okay, you know. I mean, people, like, judge people by their cars. It's crazy. So I want you to get to a place emotionally, but also financially, where you can buy a car guilt-free, where you know, yes, I'm being responsible in so many ways. And, well, the Ramsey Way will do that. So let's say if you are in Baby Step 1 through 3, which is Baby Step 1 is a $1,000 emergency fund, baby step 2 is getting out of debt, and Baby Step 3 is a fully funded emergency fund.

When you're in these Baby Steps, and you need a call. car, you really, really have to think through, okay, what is a need versus a want? Because again, yeah, a lot of people need a car. Again, what would I just explain to get places? But a lot of wants start to creep in. So if you're on Baby Steps 1 through 3, you want a reliable used car. And yes, there is such a thing as a reliable used car. I will tell people things like, hey, you can get a $5,000 car. Is it the best car in the world? No, it's not the best car in the world, but it'll take you from A to point A to point B. And you know, you get a Honda Civic, you get a Toyota camera, you get these cars that have long track records, you know they're going to run forever, and you get an inexpensive

one while you're, again, grind it out, while you're getting out of debt, and you're saving up for an emergency fund. This is sacrifice time, people. This is sacrifice time, and that includes your car, okay? And people hate this, because if they have to upgrade or if they're their car is not reliable and they're having to buy a new one in this process, or they just, they just want one. They're like, oh, but I don't want like that car because that's not me. You know, I'm not a 94 Honda Civic. No, you're not a 94 Honda Civic. No, but in the moment, in the next two years, you might be for a little bit, and that's okay. That's okay. Our cars do not define us. So you really have to get that emotionally, especially when you're in baby steps one through

three. So once you eliminate debt, though, you have no debt, you have a fully funded emergency fund, then you're in a place with a really solid financial foundation where you can say, okay, I'm at this place. Again, no debt. I have money in the bank. And I'm going to be on Babeseps 4, 5, and 6, which is funding retirement, kids, college, and paying the house off early. You're in this place. If that's where you are, then you can afford to step up. You can even afford to get some wants. You know, you're in a season of life that you are financially good. You can save up. You can pay cash for a car.

And it's kind of an upgrade. And I think that's awesome. Just remember, keep it within reason. However much you decide to spend in this baby's upset is totally up to you. Now, I do encourage still buying used cars until you have a net worth of a million dollars. But you can buy a car that is two years old or older. That's always a great thing. Because when you buy a brand new car, the value just like, it goes down.

No, different percentages. People say different things. But anywhere from like 9 to 12% of the value just leaves immediately. And that's what a new car costs you. So while you're on Babysubs 4, 5, and 6, I think it's a great thing to say no. I mean, we're going to get another, a step up of a used car. And it's great. There are some great used cars out there.

You can get, you know, some nicer ones. It's great. It's awesome. Now, one of the guidelines we do talk about is to keep your vehicles within 50% of your annual income. So, again, you don't have to live. that sacrificial life forever, like you were in Babyset's 1 through 3, then you were living on rice and beans, you were doing nothing but paying off debt and saving. When you're beyond that, you can enjoy some of your money. Now, if you're on Baby Step 7 or you have a million dollar

net worth in Babyseteps 4 through 6, you have permission to buy a brand new car. Yeah, once you have a million dollar net worth, that's when you can take the hits of a brand new car. You can drive it off the lot. It's okay. Financially, it's not going to shatter you. And it's great. Right. New cars are fun. We bought a used BMW, probably about five years ago. We bought, fast forward, this has been a year and a half, our van, our Honda Odyssey. Talk about that van a lot because it is fabulous. And we bought it new. Yes, we did. We traded in an SUV for it, and that hurt a little bit. Yep, we traded in a cool mom car for a van. But I took the humble pill, and it's great. It's so great. Now, when you're just,

Charles goes to kindergarten, my van was a five-year plan. So when he goes off into that first state kindergarten, I'm going back to a cool mom SUV. So we'll see what I get there. I really want a Tesla, but I don't know if that's going to happen. We'll see. We'll see. But we all have a dream of a new car. That's great. Kind of your dream car. Think about it. It's not a bad thing. Cars are not a bad thing, but we want to be smart. Now, last thing that is so important is the cost of your car isn't just what you pay for it when you buy it. Okay? Think about it. You have a, to buy insurance for it. Yes. And an independent insurance agent can help you get the right coverage. Getting car insurance quotes from our pros is really easy because they shop around for you.

Our endorsed local providers can help make sure that you have the right amount of insurance that will not break the bank. So to get all of his information, text auto to 33789 to connect with a professional that you can trust. Now, no matter what phase of life or babysat your end. Remember this. Always take your time. A car is not like a knee-jerk reaction where you just think one day, I kind of want a car and you just go buy one. No, no, no, no. Just take your time. It's a pretty big purchase, okay? Also, do your research. Look around, especially if you're buying a used car, even if you're buying a new car. There's different models. There's different pricing. Figure out and actually have the research. Don't just walk onto a car a lot and let the car salesman, you know, woo you into something.

know what you want ahead of time and just take the time to research. Also, get a third-party opinion on the car you're considering. So if one of your friends maybe drives this kind of car or you know somebody who's really good in this area of life,

like they know cars and all of this, like ask people, kind of get some opinions just to kind of figure out, okay, is this a smart purchase? And then always ask yourself, is this a need or a want? And again, depending on where you are in the baby steps,

depends on what's okay or not. So some of you, it's a need and you just need what you need. You need to get to point A to point B, that's it. Nothing else. Some of you, there's some wants and you're at the place financially where you can do that, and that's great. Also, you need to ask is wanting a new car okay in your season of life?

Run the numbers, figure out, is this a smart decision? But whatever you do, you guys, whatever you do, do not take out a car loan or a car lease. In fact, leasing a car, according to Money Magazine, is the most expensive way to pay. finance a vehicle. Do not lease a car, and then also don't go get a car loan, okay? Out of all debts that's out there from credit card student loan, personal, all of it. A car loan is the one that I'm like, oh, no, because you're borrowing money on something

that's going down in value. You're paying more for the car at the end because of interest for something that is going down. It's like going in opposite directions. You're paying more for it to go down and you're like, no, no. You know, at least with a mortgage, your house, knock on wood, it's going up in value. You know, you're paying interest on and all that, but it's going up in value. Even student loans. We hate them.

We hate student loans so much. But you have a piece of paper that's supposed to say, I can make something of myself out of the world. The knowledge I gained in this hopefully is going to allow me to make more money out in the real world. It doesn't always happen, but that's the hope and the problems, right?

But car loan, psh, psh, makes no sense. It drives me nuts. Drives me nuts. Well, I hope these car tips will help you on the road to building wealth, because that is what I want for you. But I'm curious, what kind of cars are you driving right now?

What kind of car are you driving while you're getting out of debt with your emergency fund? What's your dream car? Comment below. It's always a fun conversation. Oh, cars, you know, you love them, you hate them. Just a part of life, though, so you want to be smart when it comes to buying your car.

Well, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode, and thank you George Camel for being on with me. And if you guys have not subscribed to this podcast, make sure to hit that subscribe button 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.