’90s Status Symbols That Screamed “We’re Rich!”
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Today we're talking lava lamps, water beds, and other signs of extreme wealth in the 90s. A 64-pack of Crayola crayons with the sharpener built into the box. Are you kidding me? The name brand Crayola with the sharpener? Lunchables. People gathered around to watch you assemble that pizza. Hey guys, I'm Rachel Cruz. I'm George Camel. And this is Smart Money Happy Hour. ♪

Well, this is the show where two friends who happen to be money experts talk about what you're talking about. Everything from pop culture, current events, and money. And before we get to the 90s, let's talk about right now what we're sipping on. This is a coconut mojito mocktail. Yeah, it's delicious. We're going to give you our rating and reveal the cost per glass at the end of the episode. So stick around if you want to learn more. So George, I feel like we could probably list a hundred different things.

in life in the 90s that makes you think like, oh my gosh, that family was so rich. But now looking back, you're like, okay, it didn't even cost that much. But we thought like, oh yeah, they must be rich because of fill in the blank. What's the first thing you think of? A fridge in the garage. If you had a refrigerator in the garage that was like for drinks.

You were doing real well. I can think of the friend, and they not only had a drink fridge in the garage, lived in a cul-de-sac. And I thought, oh my gosh, who can afford to live in a...

It just ends? In a cul-de-sac. The privacy. You're there. You know what? My friend had a driveway that was a circle. Like, you could pull in one end and it connected to the other. It wasn't a straight one. Who has the time? And she had the garage fridge. That's how you know. I'm looking at you, Kate. That's right. Shout out to Kate. Exactly. And she had the cool tube socks in the sixth grade.

There was cool tube socks. The socks that were up, and then you just crinkled them a little bit up at the top. Oh, that was the thing. Missed that trend. And you know what? It's kind of back. Is it? It's a little lower for the Gen Z-ers, but they're here. Oh, yeah. I don't know what's going on with Gen Z and the tube socks, but it's a lot. Have you done it yet? No, no, you haven't. I'm still showing a little ankle. I see that. Hey, these people are paying good money for this show. I haven't done it. The socks? No, I only wear socks that go above my ankle at home. Okay.

Otherwise, no need to show that off. Yeah, we don't need to see a sock. No, I'm fine. I still wear skinny jeans, so I'm out on all the trends. That's good. That's good. Well, we could go through the list, but we're going to put the theory to the test and play a little game. So we have a list of throwback status symbols, and our team looked up how much each of them cost today.

Oh, good. So we're going to guess the current price, reminisce a little bit, and give each one a yes or no based on if we would pay today's price to scratch that nostalgic spending itch. Oh, that's a fun one. Okay. I love it. And you have to play along at home. For sure. Encourage the viewers and listeners. And let me put a little asterisk that I think some of these items, possibly, I haven't looked at the full list, but some of these items may have been more expensive than

Back in the 90s, right? From like an inflation standpoint. And they've gotten cheaper because they... Technology. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because they're more available, if you will, right? Okay. Let's start with the home category. Oh my gosh, the trampoline. That's a big one. We got one when I was in the fourth grade.

And no nets. Nets didn't exist then. Oh, like the net that goes around the sides? Yeah, no, we didn't have those. That did feel like ultra luxury. It was like, wow, all right, you get it. I don't think we knew people that had those. Those didn't come until like, I was like later high school. It was like a safety thing. That was 2000s. Yeah, so I'm talking like straight up 96.

And I sprained my arm on the trampoline. I did a flip off of the trampoline. You what? Sprained. Oh, sprained. I think you said sprang. I sprained my arm. I was like, wow, you did grow up in Antioch. Sprang my arm. That's got to hurt. It did, yeah. But yeah, a lot of doctors do not recommend trampolines.

I would say any doctor doesn't recommend it. You should get a trampoline. It'd be good for you. They don't like them. I know. I like them. We don't have one. Well, the thing is you also need the yard space. So part of it was if you had a house that had a big enough yard, you were probably doing pretty well. Yes. To afford a trampoline on top of that...

Okay, let me say this though. True or false? I feel like back in when I was like middle school days, it was way more common to have like an acre lot with like a ranch or home on it. Nowadays, people have an acre lot and build like a 6,000 foot square or something. Do you know what I'm saying? More home but less yard. Yes. Where back in the day, I think the yard was more precious than the home.

Nowadays, it's the home versus the yard. Would you agree? Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. And I grew up in New England in the Boston area, so we didn't have much yard. Oh, that's true. It was kind of like rocky. Yeah. We didn't play much. I had a little trampoline that was this big. Oh, like the little exercise ones? The little solo trampoline. That's what we had. Yeah, 100%. We had a good time. And look, you turned out great. I was out there skating. All right, so today's price at Walmart for a trampoline is $200. Wait, you're talking about the full-size giant trampoline that's only 200 bucks? At Walmart, yes. Yes.

Would you get a trampoline for Mia? No. Doctor? What? Why? I pay for health insurance. I know what it costs. I don't need to have a sprained, especially on my little girl. If she hurt herself under my care and tutelage, I'd never forgive myself.

That's a good start though, the trampoline. Okay, next up. Clear phone with colorful wiring inside. All I wanted. All I wanted. Loved a clear phone. We didn't have it. Why did it cost more for you to see what was inside? I don't know, but they were, and the wires, they obviously did on purpose. They're like green and yellow and like lime green and like hot pink and so cool. Do you know what I had? What kind of phone I had at one point? And I got it for Christmas one year.

I have no idea why I asked for this phone. You're not even going to believe it. I don't even know where mom and dad found this. I asked for one of those Victorian style phones that you pick up and there's like a hand, this and like a skinny handle and then the mouthpiece. And it was working? And then you lay it on top. It was a functional phone? Yes. And I thought,

Did you talk in an old-timey voice the whole time? No. But I had that phone in my room for like a few months and then I realized it's very uncomfortable. And then I got a portable phone when those came out with a headset attached. Like you're running a call center out of your bedroom? Yeah.

on my bedroom and like clean or do what I needed and talk to my friends on the phone. What did you even talk about? I don't know. Isn't that funny? Like what was happening on AOL Instant Messenger? We talked on the phone, y'all. We talked on the phone all the time. Like we, I would get home from school and call my friends on the phone. Just for fun. Yes. Because you could. And then you had a call out of the school directory if you were calling like a boy, if you didn't have the number memorized. Yeah.

And then the house phone calls and you're like, hi, Mrs. Anderson. Is Tyler there? You know, you gotta talk to the mom. She's like, oh, hi, Rachel. Who is this? Oh, it's Rachel Ramsey. Oh, hi, Rachel. How are you doing? I'm good, thank you. Yeah, let me see if he's available. You know, like you have a whole conversation.

whole conversation with an adult when you were in freaking like eighth grade. Can you imagine Gen Z having to go through an adult today? I mean, seriously. We had zero fears. They would faint. Zero fears about the phone. I would even call the back of like potato chip companies. They would have a 1-800 number on

on the back of like food. You were just trolling? We did. And we got free food. They sent us like free coupons in the mail. Wait, you just said, hey, we'd love some chips. Yeah, but you talked to a 50-year-old operator. But you didn't care. Zero intimidation with adults on the phone. That was back in the day, George. Those were the 90s. I was prank calling. That was our thing. Did you ever use Star 67 so like they couldn't? Yes, we did. It would be like a private? Yes. Crazy. That was a life hack. I can't believe they built that in. I know.

Here's another question real quick. On your answering machine, did y'all do like a family answering machine at all? Oh, I think that was my dad. Like my dad, dad had the privilege of leaving, of doing the voicemail. What did it say? Do you remember? Do you have like any memory of it? I think it was a very standard, like,

Hello, you've reached the camel family. We can't get to the phone. Leave a message and we'll get back. You know, very standard. Okay, very standard. You had a crazy one? Noel, at Christmas, we would all sing. You had themed voicemails based on the season? Yes, we wished you a Merry Christmas.

We wish you a Merry Christmas. Could you imagine the Ramseys singing? We did. All of you? We sang on it for Christmas seasons. And mom would gather us around the machine. Yes. And be like, all right, we're recording. One, two, three. And we all would sing, we wish you a Merry Christmas. Wow. We did. And Denise and I had a rap on ours. But I've already. We have a famous. Yeah, that's a famous clip from this show. Yeah. Can you show the beatboxing from it? Because that's my favorite part. Okay.

Really good. Really good stuff. Eminem been real quiet since you dropped that. Yeah, we were real good at the raps. That was simpler times. So today's price for the clear phone with the colored wiring, 75 to 240 bucks on eBay. Hope you have one laying around. I mean, seriously, that's like, that's legit. That's crazy. All right, next up is the lava lamp.

Today's price, I'll just go ahead and break it to you, $25. That's cheap. My girls love a lava lamp. To this day? Yes. And then the other thing that Amelia has saved up for, she bought, was one of those things with fish in it. Fake, fake, like jellyfish, but they have different lights and water and they... It's like a little container. Do they make that noise? It's like bubbling up to like move them? It's bubbling up, yes, to move the jellyfish. Oh, cool. The fake jellyfish. But my kids love lights and like things moving and...

or something. I don't know. Okay. It's a very specific niche. It's a very thing. Anyway, so lava lamps were very cool and they're still cool. So that's what I'm saying. It's like that's one that has not... I still don't understand how they work. It's still a little bit of magic to me. Okay, that's a good point. We know it's not real lava. That is true. So what's going on? What kind of sorcery is this? What is it? What's going on? We don't know, but I do feel like my friends who had other nice things also had lava lamps.

Yeah. So it's sort of like wealth adjacent. I never had one. Did you have one? I don't think I was a lava lamp guy. Yeah. And again, I don't know if I asked, like, was it too expensive? I don't know. Was that $100 at the time? Right, right, right. Like, that's one that could have been, yeah, a lot. Our next two-story houses. Oh.

Oh. And here's a fun fact. Today, two-story houses are actually cheaper to build than one-story homes because they have a smaller footprint. Oh, because you can build up. You can build up, not out. You don't need a lot of like acreage. Man, that's, yeah. Versus like a ranch-style home, it goes further back. That's right. That's right. That's interesting. Yep. You know, our house was a split.

So it was like a... Yes, we had a split level. My first one. Yes, George. That's the house I grew up in. So it was technically two floors, but there was this middle floor. You walk in on the middle floor. Yes. And then you go up or down. It felt like a three-story, but it was a two. Yeah, that's right. It's so true. Yeah, our first one, you walk in... Actually, the kitchen was on that one. You walk down some steps to the living room.

And the steps you would walk up was the bedrooms. So it did feel, I mean, like, honestly, it felt like a, sorry. Stairs equals luxury. Yeah, that house was my OJ Simpson car chase and trial. Wait, what? Nancy Kerrigan. What are you saying? Situation. That was the house I remember certain news stories in. Oh, I was like, what is the connection to OJ and the house you lived in? It just happened.

Okay. Yep, that was the house that I remember watching the OJ Simpson trial in. And Nancy Kerrigan. You remember Nancy Kerrigan? That was the, I remember watching that. What was her line? Was it, why me? She had a thing she did. Yeah, she did when she was crying. Yes. Oh, man.

Why? Yeah, it may have been. Why me? Yeah. I don't know why. That's my one memory of Nancy Kerrigan. Yes, but her in that white leotard grabbing her knee. Yes. Iconic. Yes. This won't shock anyone, but the median price today for a suburban home, $419,000, which has increased by more than $90,000 just since 2020, which is pretty wild. In 1980, $63,700. Oh, my gosh. Simpler times. I mean, wow. Unbelievable. Unbelievable.

Next is the waterbed mattress. Yes. Did you know people with a waterbed? My grandparents had a waterbed. They were the only ones I knew about one though. Oh, wow. They were a little scary to me. They were a little unnerving when you got on one. Yeah. I was like, I don't know if like, I feel like something's going to happen. You know what scarred me? Did you fall off a waterbed? What movie? Can you think of the movie with the waterbed? There's a movie with the waterbed? Edward Scissorhands.

There was a waterbed in that movie? Yes, and he poked him with his scissors. Why my parents let me watch Edward Scissorhands as a young child? I don't know. Hold on. So no Rugrats, no Fern Gully. Edward Scissorhands, totally fine. 100%. God bless. Unbelievable. But no, I didn't know a lot of waterbed people. Did you? Well, the people that had a waterbed, the kids got to live in the basement and had a pool table. They had the biggest DVD collection I'd ever seen in my life.

And so to me, I was like, this all is part of it. Yeah, it's like part of the culture. It comes with a package of love. Yeah, that's fair. To this day, I only know one person that still has a waterbed. Wait, you know someone with a waterbed? You know him well. Director of production for the Ramsey Network, Chris Wright. Oh, that was a bad answer! Famously, still has a waterbed and loves it. Chris Wright has a waterbed. Yep. Their primary bed is a waterbed. Yep. Him and Dee Dee. Yes. Waterbed.

he's single-handedly keeping the waterbed industry alive. I think you have to have it serviced. I think. It's like a pool. You got to get like the water filtered out. Is it for his like back or something? I think it's just comfortable. Like they just like it. Stop it. Stop it. Oh my. It's amazing. It's one of my favorite fun facts about Chris. The guy that had to approve this show sleeps on a waterbed is what everyone needs to know. But I love that about him. Oh, good for you, Chris. So here's the current cost of a waterbed.

$250 on Amazon for a waterbed. Hey, there you go. How do you ship a waterbed? That feels like you have to fill it with water, I guess. It is so true. Do you fill it after or before? But it needs like special chemicals in the water, I think. Oh my gosh. Because one time he had to siphon it out and he called poison control. Stop it. And he had to say, am I going to die because I drank waterbed water? But why did he drink it? He was trying to do something. It was a leak. History to tell. It had a leak, yes.

God, if he was here, he's going to watch this and go, oh my gosh, that's hilarious. So here's the fun fact. Most mattress stores do not sell them anymore because they declined in popularity due to high maintenance leaks, the heavy weight, and they're difficult to transfer. I believe it. Makes sense. A hundred percent.

Oh my gosh, God bless. That's a fun one. All right, next is a computer room. So computer prices have dropped nearly 50% between 2006 and 2007 after the iPhone 1 came out. So people went, I have a computer in my phone. Yeah, you basically had a computer on your phone. So they had to cut their prices down. That's interesting. Did you have a computer room?

No, ours was in our playroom. Okay, it was all in one. Yeah, so like our playroom and that. Yeah, did y'all? We didn't start out with one, but then we eventually converted like a little tiny, I mean, you barely could fit three people in there. Yeah, like a little closet. It was a little nook. And that's where the computer room was. My parents eventually renovated it into a bathroom once computer rooms were extinct. Yes, that's right. So we had a second bathroom. After I'd moved out, they decided, let's finally put a second bathroom in here. Oh, okay.

Must be nice. Must be nice. But yeah, the computer room, that was special. Yeah, that's a big... Like, if you were in the computer room, you were there, you were planted. We were about to play some Wheel of Fortune on a compact disc. Yes, 100%. You ever have the old school, like, before CD-ROM was invented, they had the floppy disk. The floppy disk. Oh, yes. My Oregon Trail was on the floppy disk. Yes.

Okay, so today's price for a basic Dell desktop computer is $750. More expensive than I would have thought. I'm going to be honest. Also, weird question. Are people still buying desktop computers? Is that a thing? Call me ignorant, but I feel like laptops or you just get laptops. Yeah. I guess if you're a gamer, a lot of gaming people get the old school, they got to get the full-on tablet. Why?

And musicians as well. You need the power. You need the computing power to handle it. Oh, okay. We're not just browsing the web. Just not looking on Instagram, scrolling through influencers. But $750 is expensive. In 1995, a Gateway Solo 2000 would have cost around $6,300 in today's cash. That's insane. I mean, for real, that's crazy. I remember I was in the sixth grade.

because we moved to middle school, and all the teachers got new computers, and they were the Apple computers, because they used to be on Dell. Oh, yeah. But they were the colored ones. They were kind of clear, and you could see through them? Yes, and we thought, like, we've made it. Like, this is the big lease. That's true. My friend who had the Macintosh, that's another sign of wealth, bonus. Yes, because we all had Dells. If you had a Mac, I was like, oh, wow. Yes, with the Apple, yes. They had some money. I know. With the Apple, listen to me, I'm going back to my- With the Apple. With the Apple.

With the apple side, it was a big deal. We had the Compaq. C-O-M-P-A-Q, I think. You know what? Yes, totally. That's what we could afford. I get, no, I think that was us. I put viruses on ours.

A lot. I know. Did you ever have the one where you clicked it and it would open your CD-ROM? It would basically hit the eject button. Yeah. With like smiley faces all over your screen. Oh, no. That one scared me. I still have dreams about that one. That's terrible. Viruses were a real threat back then. It was bad. Yes. Gosh. Simpler times, George. But you know what? You know how I avoid viruses these days? Avoid the spam and scam. That's the modern day version. Yeah, I'd love to know. Delete me. Oh.

It's so great. Well done. If I had to leave me back then, who knows what I could have avoided. I could have been on Kazaa all day, downloading illegal songs.

And no viruses would have come. God bless. If we had Delete.me. Simpler times. No, but Delete.me is an incredible service because unlike us not being on the internet a ton in the 90s, today we're on it all day, every day, right? I mean, like you are on it constantly. Your information is out there. You're filling out forms. You're doing stuff. And so because of that, people will get your information and sell it online.

and make money off of your information. It's terrible. And then you get scams and spams and all of it. So Delete Me goes in and removes all of your information from these data broker websites.

And they're phenomenal, you guys. They have saved me over 60 hours now. I got my report. Your time is worth that. Yes. You don't need to be on there filling out forms, trying to get your info removed from these weird bobo sites. No, because their annual plan that's 20% off for listeners of Smart Money Happy Hour, it comes out to like less than like $10 a month is what it ends up being. So it is worth all day. Oh, gosh. Go get the deal, guys. JoinDeleteMe.com slash smartmoney or click the link in the description below.

Worth it. Worth every penny to sleep better at night and take control of your privacy online. 100%. All right, next up. Oh, this was me. Bedroom door beads. Yes, I have these. And bonus, a doorbell attached to the little door frame if you were really fancy. Yeah, I got mine from Limited Too. And it was... Makes sense. That's what they sold? Yes, was... Yeah, and I had two rows and I put them... It was very difficult because if you shut your door, because they were on the outside of my door. But when you shut your door, they would... Yeah, they would come in. So you had to like...

And he'd like move them and then shut your door. Oh, that's right. Yeah, it's very difficult. What a hard life. Dude, I made it very hard on myself. What was the point of the beads? Was it like for semi-privacy? I just know Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears, like their first albums had like beads. It was just like a, it was a thing. And then I moved them from my doorway to behind my bed on my wall. Oh. Yeah, I had them then as wall art. To sign maturity and growth. Yeah.

It's wall art. Yes. That's nice. Were you a posters on the wall kind of person? Yes. Oh my gosh. Of what? I never did it on the ceiling though.

That's a weird one. Jonathan Taylor Thomas. He was my first one. It was like a tiger beat. Like, where'd you get these from? Do you go to like... Where were these from? No, because they were rolled up. They have like music stores that have posters for sale? I think so, yeah. I remember flipping through the posters. Remember that? Yes, yes. Like Walmart had them, like the big poster sections. 100%, yes, yeah. Oh yeah, we had all the posters. Mine, I was not covered though.

I did have a bulletin board that I would tack on my CD. I would buy a CD and you would take the cover out. Oh, yeah. I'd put those up and make a collage. That's fun. That was super cool. I was cutting up skateboard magazines, like the best photo. And I'd tape them with just scotch tape to the walls all over. Oh, that's cool too. Inspiration. Just really embody who you want to be.

Pretty rock and roll. All the way around. That's a good one. They don't do that anymore, right? Kids don't tape up. I mean, they don't like cut magazines. I mean, no. What are they doing to their walls? Is like an insane asylum in there? My girls do hang stuff on them, but that's like art that they make and stuff, but they'll tape stuff to their walls. I prefer JTT. No offense to their art. I know. Home Improvement. He was so cute.

Still has a crush on him. He's a grown man. He has a family, I think. He had his little hair that did this, you know. That's what you have now. It's the JTT cut. He famously made this middle part. He did. He made the middle part real good. And then Jennifer Aniston after that. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, man. That's a good one. So today's cost for bedroom door beads, in case you want to go and jump on there, 15 bucks on Amazon. Thank you. All right. Next up is the pool table. Gosh. Gosh.

If you had a pool table, a foosball table, air hockey, I mean, if you had a table of games. Even like a game room. Well, that's like a, yeah, that's another level. Did you ever have a pool table? No, we did not have a pool table. We got one later in life. You did? It wasn't like a nice one, if I'm going to be honest. Yes. Like my friends had one. It had like leather corners. You know what I mean? It was like, oh. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh.

We had like the budget friendly one. It was still fun. We had it in the sun. Eventually we built a sunroom off the house. We put a pool table in there. So fun. And I had a good time with my friends in there. Yes, I know. I miss the game room. It's great. Do people still buy pool tables? Is it a lost art? It kind of is. They're still expensive to me. It's like they're like a basement thing. Yeah. If you have a basement. Not a lot of basements anymore.

Especially not in Nashville. I feel like Nashville's not a basement community. I feel like you go to like Minneapolis basements. Interesting. Everyone knows Minneapolis is known for their basements. Yeah.

Some of our best friends live there. They always talked about how Nashville, like Tyler knows, Nashville like never has basements. And they were like, this is so weird. Every home has a basement there is what they would say. Wow. Yeah, I don't know. That's a good one. Well, here's the current price for a pool table, $670 at Dick's Sporting Goods. Oh, wow. That feels expensive still. That is a lot. That and the computer. Still high for me. Shocking. Okay, next. This is what we felt like was real wealth, George.

A 64-pack of Crayola crayons with the sharpener built into the box. Are you kidding me? The name brand Crayola with the sharpener? Oh, man. Opulence. When you had like turquoise as a color in your crayon. You probably could afford a Tudor at that point, too. You know what I mean? It was that kind of kid. Just so crazy. So crazy. Today's price, $3.99 at Target. There you go. I don't know that I ever had it. Kids don't appreciate crayons like we...

We had. I'm trying to think if I had the 64-pack of Crayola, like eventually if I worked my way up. I don't remember. I remember gel pens being a big deal. Did you leave that in your desk at school? That's what I'm saying is I think at school and stuff... I'd be scared of theft. Yeah. We had gel pens that you would wrap a scrunchie around to keep them together. Oh. Gel pens were...

That was, those were premium. And the scented markers. Oh, those were cool too. You ever get into those? Yes, those were cool. Just sniffing markers. That was the Tide Pod of our day. We didn't vape. We had scented markers. Who knows what happened to us? That's why we are what we are today. Because of the scented markers.

It is wild that parents are like, this is probably fine. This is fine. I'm sure it's all natural and not just chemicals that are huffing. All right. Next up is the North Face Jackets. Oh, this was like high school for me. Yeah. The fleece North Face Jacket. And if you had the Uggs to go with it and you were at a Panera on a Friday night, are you kidding me? So true.

You got the U-Pick 2 at a Panera? That was my senior year. Party's over. That was the pinnacle of senior year was that. Those girls never talked to me. I'll say this. Oh, George. I'm not sure I ever, no girl was interested in me that owned a North Face. Oh, really? Yeah. Because y'all actually needed one in Boston. We didn't really need them in Nashville. No, we actually had real winters. Exactly. So you guys wore them just as a flex? I guess so. I mean, it gets cold here. But they would get gross too because you'd throw them in the back of your car and like

Yeah, they weren't like flattering either. They're very bulky. I don't know. But that's come back. North Face has stuck around, much like Ugg. The fleece jackets come back?

Well, just the North Face brand in general. It stayed strong over the years. Oh, it has stayed strong. Yeah, that. Now, Patagonia in college, that was the fancy, fancy people. You matured into Patagonia over time. Yes, yes, 100%. Wow. So today's price for a North Face jacket, $180. I mean, I bet. Yeah, it's pricey. Oh, this one is so true. Lunchables. Chef's kiss. If you had a Lunchable...

God. People gathered around to watch you assemble that pizza. The pizza was the... Yes, because you could get the ham and cheese cracker one. If you had the pizza and you took that sauce out of the plastic thing and dribbled your cheese on top... I mean, it was. People watched it happen. You might as well have had some Tchaikovsky or Bach playing in the background while I assembled that thing. It's so true. With some caviar on the side. Oh, my goodness. That's how it felt. I mean, it was...

And it tasted like nothing. It was like negative amounts of flavor. See, but I thought they were so good. They were. Yes. But why? I think the pepperoni was carrying it. Yeah. Like the sauce was like, meh. But parents would never buy it. The weird like cold cracker thing that it was on, meh. Yeah, it's true. I know. I know. But we loved it. So fancy. Well, today's price for a Lunchable is $1.77. I don't know. Would you give your kids a Lunchable today? No.

I think my wife is too crunchy. Yeah. Like, based on the ingredients, like... You know what we have, though, and we use it in the summer a lot? I don't pack them for, like, their everyday lunches, but in the summer, Uncrustables. Oh, that's, like, a real treat. I will do that. Yeah, I'll throw Uncrustables in for, like, snacks and stuff. Did you ever get packed a lunch where you were like, oh, we're doing well? You know, if there was a certain snack. Like, for me, it was... That's a good question. If there was Cape Cod chips, like, a little baby bag, and Gushers, I was like, Dunkaroos? Are you kidding me? Oh, my gosh, yes.

Yeah, it was all the individual snacks because mom never bought individual snacks because I think they were too expensive. You just get the big thing and you pour it in the baggies. Oh, yeah. So I always had the baggie. I never had like the individual wrapped thing. That's fair. Well, I brought a lot of Arabic food to school because that was my mom's cooking. Oh, yeah. So nobody was like excited to see what I had because it was like little kebabs look like tiny turd logs and, you know, hummus wasn't cool back then. Hummus was like...

So no one was like... She was so ahead of her time, Ms. Campbell. She really was. I mean, seriously, people flocking out of Mediterranean food. And to be fair, nowadays, a kid would be so excited to have some good food at lunch. Oh, yeah. That's what they want now. It's crazy. Okay, next is the Juicy Couture tracksuit.

That's a lot. That's a lot for me. This is Victoria's Secret. Is that their thing, the Juicy Couture brand? Nope, George. Oh. What was the one that said Juicy on the back? That was Victoria's, right? No, no. Victoria was pink. Okay, so I never had the Victoria's Secret pink line. That's the one, pink. Okay. But I did have a Juicy Couture outfit. I did.

Mine was purple and Denise's was pink. We got it for Christmas one year. I'll never forget it. There's got to be a photo out there of you and Denise in the matching. Because the zipper was even a J on the jacket. I remember that. Wow.

Are they still around? Are they still doing it? I don't know. That was, though, like, even to this day, that feels, if someone was wearing that, like, they must have money. They don't have taste, but they got money. They got money. Well, it's funny, because the Amy Poehler on Mean Girls, the mom. Oh, yeah. Who's like, you know, I'm not a regular mom. I'm a cool mom. She had a Juicy Couture, like, pink suit. So, like, that's what I think of. That's, like, the pinnacle of, like, oh, yeah, the Juicy Couture. Here's today's price on that. $220. No! Yep. I won't be buying you that.

Don't even think about it. Oh my gosh. What is the more on-trend version of Juicy Couture now that you would actually buy? There's actually quality and beautiful. Anything from Cozy Earth. Now we're talking. That's what I would do. That's class. Give me some joggers and like a nice like hoodie.

That maybe same color. I'd go monochromatic. Not mad at the monochromatic, juicy, like, thing that they're doing there. But give me, like, a gray, gray all day. And from Cozy Earth. We love monochrome. Because, like, the Cozy Earth stuff, the quality is amazing. And it's comfortable. Like, it's actually, like...

Silky, wonderful, wonderful material. The bamboo stuff for like sheets. Oh my goodness. And pajamas. It's like you're just swimming through life. And even for the guys, great stuff. It just feels so good. Winston loves the hoodies there. Yes, he got the hoodies and he got the socks. I need to see Winston in a full monochrome. One says earth and the socks. That's what I'm getting Winston for Christmas. I'm going to get him a cozy earth.

Jump suit. Basically, you know, the hoodie with the matching sweats. He genuinely would say thank you. Thank you for this because he loves Cozy Earth. That's what a true friend does. It is amazing. Cozy Earth is incredible, you guys, so make sure to check out their products. Yeah, they're giving our listeners up to 40% off with the promo code SMARTMONEY at checkout or go to CozyEarth.com slash SMARTMONEY and check it out. So beautiful. All right, next up, George, is the new backpack every school year. And if you had an L.L. Bean or a JanSport...

You were. You were something. You know what I had? What? East Pack. Couldn't even afford the Jansport. Go to Walmart, get me an East. It was just like Jansport, but like Timu version. The Timu version. Yeah, L.L. Bean was like, you were pretty like mainstream, fancy. Jansport, you were a little bit edgy. We were Jansport. A little edgier with the Jansport. You know what else came to a trend, which is so funny? I forgot about it, but I'm trying to think what grade I was in. I may have been like high school, y'all.

were the side messenger bags. Oh. We had like these messenger bags, y'all, and that was our backpack. I don't know why we thought they were so cool, but that was a season. I remember that. That was the vibe. That was the vibe. My brother had an L.L. Bean with his initials on it, but that took him all through high school. Like it wasn't a you get a new bag every year. Yes, yeah. That's straight privilege right there. I know. But today's world, nylon L.L. Bean bag, 40 to 60 bucks. There you go. You know, oh, you know the other fancy one?

It may be yellow. It was the multiple layered one. Do you remember these? It was like, they would be like pink or orange, but they were like really long because there would be like four compartments that went out and they were backpacks. I think I got minor scoliosis from the bag though. I believe that. That was diagnosed. Like that was, it was heavy. You had all the textbooks in there. Yeah. We should not have been carrying that. All right. Last but not least, George, custom ringtones. Do you remember those?

Instead of the... How can you not? I just remember thinking like, you want to pay a dollar for a ringtone? That's luxury. Yeah, I did it. Did you? Maybe once. But I don't know, like the ringtone is really more for you. I'm trying to think, but it's so true. Yeah. What was your first cell phone? I had the... It was known as the smallest cell phone of all time. And I loved it. It was a little flip phone. And it was literally like a two by two square. Yep. Yep.

That was my first. I think it was like a Pantech maybe was the brand. Something like that. How about you? I may have had the Nokia brick at one point with the snake on it. Yeah, I had that one. And then I went to a flip phone with an antenna. That was so cool. Wow. Did you have the first iPhone? No. I had a BlackBerry. Yikes. I wouldn't tell that to anyone. I had a BlackBerry. That's when I was in college. I had the Razr when Winston and I got engaged. Oh, yeah.

I remember. I had the Razer phone. And then my next one after that was a BlackBerry Touch. Not like this. I didn't have the old school BlackBerry, but mine was the touchscreen one. Oh, yeah. It was trying to compete with the iPhone. How'd that work out? Not great because then I moved to a Droid after that. Oh, no. And then I went to an iPhone. I know. You know what? I didn't leave and cleave because Dave hated Apple products. Yeah.

And I just stayed with that opinion. Like he still kind of does. Yeah. And I stayed with that opinion until I was like 24. And I was like, why don't I just get an iPhone like everyone else? But I had the BlackBerry Touch in it. I thought it was so cool. That's a good one. Yeah. I had the first iPhone. I remember sitting in freshman year of college, zooming into a website on my phone. I was like, what?

We're in the future. This is crazy. Crazy. On 3G? Took about seven minutes to load the page. Sure. It was worth it when I got there. It was amazing. Here's the fun fact. You can still purchase ringtones through iTunes for a dollar. Don't know who's buying it. Just do it. I love it, though. I would make custom ones in GarageBand, and then I would export them and upload them to my phone. So I was doing it for free. Good night, Mr. Technology. You're welcome. That's amazing. Okay, so some takeaways, George.

So listen, I think the appearance of what we think in the moment is cool and awesome. Like it fades. Like trends come and go. And don't ever like set your identity or your happiness or joy like on that thing to think like I will be accomplished today.

If I have that juicy tracksuit, right? Or like whatever the thing is. Definitely that one. Because the trends, they just change constantly. And I do feel like there's still that comparison trap that there was then, but it's harder now because I do think you see way more content and images and all of that today than you did then. And I do think there was... I think it's an uphill battle. It's tough. There was less access to debt. It was less normalized back then. And nowadays...

It might look like someone has this amazing life and they're just in crippling debt up to their eyeballs. Yes, it's more normalized. That's right. And so you got to go like, even if you are envious, just know like you don't see the full picture all the time. So don't always be like, well, if I just had that, we don't know what they're going through. Maybe they've done really well and they paid cash for that pool or maybe they took out a HELOC against their home and they're stressed out every day. We don't know. Yep, totally. And I would also say that we were able to practice delayed gratification more then because you did not have...

or like you could just ship something to your house that day, right? You had to like go to the store and get what you wanted. And what they had is all of the options. You didn't have all the options in the world. So there's something there that like going back to that mindset is wise. I think there's a wiser. It's almost like a simplicity minimalism to that. I'm just like, we have access to everything all the time. No matter what we want, we can get it on the internet in two days. Yes, yes. I think it was kind of better back then when you didn't know all the options.

You didn't have all the access. Yeah, just a couple of things that you can get and that's it. I guess we're the old people in the room now. Oh, man. I know. My girls said something the other day, some kind of drink with like little beads in it or something. And they were like, yes, that was it. Actually, I think it was here. They were talking about it. Oh, that's right. And I didn't know what it was. I'd never heard of it. Yeah, the little tapioca pearls in there. Don't know what that means. You can also do like a little mango jellies. I don't know what you're talking about.

Where do you buy them? At the store? Can, but usually there's like boba tea places. You know what I mean? Like have their own store for boba tea. Okay, is this like the same trend? What's the trend? Acai bowls? Acai bowls? Yes. Yes. I guess. I don't know. So stupid. I don't think it's as much of a trend. It's just made it stateside more.

I was into it though. And it's all of a sudden you're healthy. You know, it's like this whole thing. And I'm like, what is going on? Yeah, Nashville's just getting on the boba tea grind, but they're big. With what? On the boba tea grind. Boba tea grind. Yeah. I added grind for fun. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So it's perfectly sealed and you take a big giant straw and you punch it through. And what's in the bowls? Either tapioca or like a jelly. Which is what? Which is like a rice...

Okay. It's like a chewy, just like a chewy rice ball almost. Or you can do jelly if you're not into that. And you stir it together. Kind of. You just sort of, as you drink it, they pop through the straw. It's a really wide straw. So it just adds like some texture to your drink essentially. It's like eating candy while getting a sweet drink. Think about it that way. Okay. So it's not, is it healthy for you or no? No, I don't think anyone would consider it a health drink. Okay. There's healthier versions depending on what tea you get, how sweet. Well,

I'm not claiming to be a boba expert. Don't come at me in the comments. Anyways, it's these two. I don't know. I can't keep up with it. You can't. Never heard of it. No one expects you to. Never heard of it. No one thought Rachel would know about boba. A kid had a Squishmallow pillow. Yeah. When we were traveling last week, my girls were like, oh my gosh, that's a boba pillow. Oh, like the actual... I guess so. The Squishmallow was the boba pillow. It's very confusing. God bless the children.

That and all the initials. If we could just go back to TTYL and LOL, I would be good. I don't think Boba's an initial. I think it's just a word. I know. I'm just saying. Go back to...

I don't know. Not a lot of options in life. There's just too much going on. I agree. Keep your simple life. It's better that way. Okay. All right. Before we spill the tea on Guilty as charged, what are we sipping on? We are sipping on a coconut mojito mocktail. It's got light canned coconut milk, some lime, ginger beer, sparkling water, and mint leaves. Comes out to $2.34. What's my rating on this? I'm going to go with a 6 out of 10. Okay.

I'm going to an 8 out of 10. It kind of just tastes like a ginger ale at some point. You got to get the salt and then drink it because it's like... That adds a little zing. It's so good. All right. Check out the recipe. I'm going to be eating my salt. Instead of boba, make the kids a little coconut mojito mocktail. They'll feel really fancy this weekend. Rachel will not be making one. The girls are into boba. I need to rewatch this episode and just be like, that's what I look like drinking a margarita at a restaurant.

Yeah, I'm not doing it. The people deserve better than watching me lick this glass like a maniac. All right, now it's time for Guilty as Charged. And this is where we ask each other a question every week. And if we're guilty, we take a sip. Here we go. Rachel, are you guilty of buying anything on this list as an adult because it makes you feel fancy? Ooh. What have I actually purchased from this list?

The lava lamp for the kids. I did get those because I did. That was like a, I never had one as a kid. Did they know about it? How did they know about it? I don't know. It's like, they've seen it and they asked for it. So I was like, I will get y'all a lava lamp. I think they got it for Christmas one year. Wow. I will say a new pack of crayons. This is all for the kids.

Or new markers. Heroic mom. New art supplies. New art supplies. It does kind of give you like this like warm feeling inside. Yes. And they're doing something very creative and active. And it's all new and you're like, oh my gosh, and new coloring books. Like that kind of thing just makes me like very happy. Something analog and creative feels like that we're hearkening back. Okay, here is one that I will do for my own self. It is a drink fridge. Yes. And can I tell you, when you open up a fridge and there's just drinks in there, it makes me feel safe.

Wow. I feel very like... You felt in danger before. I feel safe when you open it and it's poppies and like...

Capri Suns for the kids. Sorry, don't get mad at me. Like all this stuff and you're just like, like different IPA beers even. You know what I mean? It's just like, it's a colorful. Whatever the kids want. And it just feels, I don't know. It just feels good. Especially if it's organized. It's how I feel about snacks too. Like when you see options of individual snacks, it's because as a child, we didn't have all this.

But it makes me just feel good. Like, it does. Like, it gives me something. But then Sharon Ramsey comes over and she says, Rachel, why are you giving the kids this Capri Sun? Rachel, Rachel. I'll take you to Costco, Rachel. I'll take you shopping. I'm like, it's okay. I don't need a personal shopper for my food, Mom. She wants to teach me salmon recipes. She thinks I'm, like, making Lunchables for my kids every day. You know? Are we far from it? No. Yeah, the one I'm guilty of, we got, like, a garage freezer.

And I truly am like, we're doing pretty well. It was like 150 bucks. It was a very cheap deep freezer. But the fact that we have extra freezer space, because growing up, our fridge was constantly so packed that it was like Jenga. I was scared to touch it. Because if I pulled one thing out, party was over. Totally. So now having the outdoor freezer, I can breathe. Just so good. I can store all my frozen gluten-free pizzas in there. I love it. So good, George. Love it. Well, if you guys like this episode, then you will love our episode on...

Do you have it harder than our parents? Talking about the 80s. We're going back another decade for that episode. So make sure to check it out and subscribe to the channel so you guys don't miss an all new episode of Smart Money Happy Hour.