We Dedicated an Entire Episode to Respond to the Haters
45:26 Share

Today, we're reacting to our most controversial, triggering, and misunderstood moments on the show. All right, I'm not shocked by this one, that I got hate. Probably my mother was in the comments, too. So there you have it, Rachel. You came at me more than the commenters did. I was a little aggressive. I'm so sorry. Am I a hypocrite? I'm not going to answer that. Hey, guys, I'm Rachel Cruz. I'm George Campbell. 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. But first, let's talk about what we're sipping on. It's a sparkling strawberry coconut mocktail. I like it. Because we're being mocked, and so it's time to defend ourselves. Oh, drinking a mocktail on a mocked episode. Very fair. So we're going to give you our rating and reveal the cost per glass at the end of the episode. So stick around for that. Yep, so good.

So one thing about social media, Rachel, people have been getting extremely comfortable publicly calling each other out. I don't know what's going on here, but the comment sections have gotten real wild, very unhinged.

I know. And I don't know, I'm not the type of person to leave a comment unsolicited on a video or a post. Totally, no. Unless it's a friendly, love that for you, you know? Sure, yeah. Positive. I know. And you know, I like a good little debate every now and then. Like, you know, get in there. If we can all just be open-minded, a little political. I like to read some of the comments sometimes of like political posts to be like, all right, what's the banter going on here? But when it is at you, it's all good.

It's a whole different ballgame, George. And you want to defend yourself. And you can't always jump into the comment section and say your true thoughts. And so that's why we have this episode. We dedicated a whole episode to this so we can be as honest about what we think as possible. Have you ever let a comment or DM get under your skin that could upset you for longer than a day? Yeah. I've had two that I still think about every now and then. Can you share? One was this girl, and she was like...

Yeah, basically ragging that I'm Dave's daughter. And she's basically like, look at it. She like tried to like pull all my credentials. Like I don't have a formal education in the financial world. Like all this stuff. And I was like, come on, girl. So they were like, they were calling you like a nepo baby? Is that the name? Yeah, yeah, totally. They're like, oh, it's just nepotism. Yeah, and I get that a lot. So like those comments, I'm like, I hear those a lot. But it was like another layer for some reason that I was like, ah. And then I had one about me saving for the pool.

Our pool that we literally have been saving for for five years. We couldn't build it when we moved in, when we built our house because we didn't have the money for it. You're moving at the speed of cash. It's an expensive project. And we were going to do it nice, right? So it was a pricier project, but we're like, we're going to wait until we can't. And someone was like, they were like, God, we all know she could just pay for it. She's having to keep that company afloat by working the plan, in quotes. Oh, wow. And I was like,

He's like fake saving. Like saving is a big deal for me. That's amazing. Big deal for me because I'm a spender. Yeah. But I thought about that multiple times during the project. I'm like, it's just funny. They thought I was fake saving. But I was like...

What do you think? Do you genuinely think I just have access to Dave's like bank account that I get to like take money out and use it? And you're paying cash for everything. It's like, this is like building a house. This is a very expensive project. Yes, I know. So anyways, I've thought about that a couple of times. Wow. I was like, do people really think that I'm like fake saving? That makes me feel better. How about you, George? Well, there was a recent post. I don't think it's in this episode. It's so recent.

and it went viral, like over 5 million views about car loans. It was just an excerpt from my book about how stupid car loans are. Yeah. And the comment, I jumped into the comments a little. I dove into the deep end. You love jumping in there sometimes. But we hold you back, the lifeguards at Rams, they're like, don't go in, George. You can't swim. I know. And you just dive in. But what joy do I have? And you do a swan dive, too. I feel like you're just like ready to. And I'm not a good swimmer. So I get in there, and it's not pretty, actually. Yeah.

So I left some comments because people – I just feel like their cornbread wasn't done in the middle. And I needed to jump in there and let them know how stupid their comments are. So they're talking about car loans, and they're going, what do you want us to do, just walk everywhere? Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. Either don't buy a $40,000 car, instead walk everywhere. That's exactly what this post was about. And so that stuff just really irks me. And I want to defend myself –

And I'm sometimes not the most winsome commenter. Yeah. See, I don't get into my comments with that stuff. That's wisdom. I did want to reply to that girl and be like, love women supporting women and like kind of just throw back at her. See, you can be snarky too. I didn't. I didn't though. Wow. I thought about it.

It's fun for me. It's sport. And you know what? Most of these profiles have zero posts, no profile picture. It's like, these are in my head, not even real people. For sure. This isn't Jane who's like, you know, like Mama Four, you know. Okay, but those are funny when Mama Four Jane comes at you. Oh, yeah. And then you go and she's like, First Corinthians 4-6 in her profile.

her profile and you're like, good night, Jane. I always try to go to their profile to use some dirt against them. Wow, George. Okay. I am vindictive. Man, we are so excited about this episode. Let's get into it. You can't tell. Our team pulled clips specifically from Smart Money Happy Hour where people in the comments section have either disagreed with us, been triggered by what we said, or just misunderstood us completely. I love it. So let's dive in, shall we? We're going to watch the clips.

I think we should. Okay, and to have some fun, we're going to hear the angry commenters out, and then we're going to wave these signs to indicate whether we are doubling down or we see your point. Maybe there was some regret, some context needed. We hear you. We hear you.

All right, so the first clip, this is you, George. Oh my gosh, George Campbell, you are tacky. Tacky. I decided, you know what? Instead of making everyone like, hey, bring a gift, bring more stuff. What if I did a little QR code? And if you so chose, you could give to her future college fund. So I made it cute. It was really cute. It said like,

Cowgirls, blah, blah, blah, support Cowgirls College Fund with a QR code to go scan and donate directly to the fund. This was not like my then, though. So I then posted on social media, like I'm posting the picture as a joke, like when you give people financial advice and you're the girl that, whatever, as a funny joke. Then people thought, wow, he's soliciting donations from social media now. So they thought it was tacky that I was on social trying to get money for my daughter's college fund.

Which was not your intent of that. Which was not the intent. It was supposed to be a funny joke, like this is classic George behavior that amidst all the gifts, George is like, hey, you could donate to the college fund because it will, at a 12% rate of return, it'll turn it, you know. So there you have it, Rachel. You came at me more than the commenters did. I was a little aggressive. I'm so sorry. That's okay. Honestly, the QR code though, George. Okay, and the comments were, if we shall... Yeah, here's one. This dude is being totally classless.

College fund donations are strictly for the grandparents. Since when? Are you the 529 police? Oh my gosh. Okay, are you doubling down? I am doubling down. Wow. But you know what? I will say it's unpopular being a good dad in today's world. Okay, just unbelievable. It's not a cool thing to do. Here's what I will say the context was missing. People thought I was publicly asking for donations. I was not. I was making fun of myself on social media by saying like,

When you work, you know, in personal finance, you're the dad who has a QR code. You weren't expecting your social media people. No, I was not asking anyone to donate. The other thing that I missed was that people that came to the party didn't know this was happening. It was a last minute idea I had. Yes. And so they already bought gifts. And so, no, I didn't expect them to also give to the 529. It was more for me. I had a good time in Canva making my little, you know, cowgirls going to college. You want to support? Yeah.

I got $0 from this big campaign I ran at the party. This party was just close friends and family. This was not like 1,000 people, and I was like, hey, you don't need Venmo me. For me, no. I know. She's going to be fine. I'm already going to fund her college. I'm not asking strangers to fund it. But you did ask friends to fund it. It was an option. I did not ask anyone. It was just a simple, it was signage by the gifts in case someone thought, oh, that's fun. That's fun.

I would love to give her the gift that keeps on giving through compound growth instead of a piece of crap toy that we're going to throw away in one month. Okay. But the dogs will destroy it. Doubling down. George is doubling down. Doubling down, but I will say the context was missing and I could have done it in a better way. Okay, fair. Okay. Next is mine.

And my children. Oh, finally. And my children. I am ready to roast Rachel. My kids now, we only give them tablets on road trips or on flights. So they're like on drugs every time we like travel. They're like, no, I don't get them. They don't get them. Oh, yeah. So I don't do anything now. What are they watching? It's great. They play games. A snake game that you got to eat stuff. That's their big thing. That feels...

They love games. I know, they love games. And one's a color in per box thing, Amelia does. So the reason they want to travel is not for the destination. That's what we're learning, yes, that they just want their tablets. Okay, here's the comment that I think sums all of the drama up. Quote, when you said tablets followed by on drugs, I assumed you were talking about giving your kids Benadryl to keep them quiet on road trips. I know.

Next comment. For sure thought she was talking about drugging up her kids during travel. Oh my gosh. I did say I'm going to give them a tablet and it's like they're on drugs. Yeah, that was not a good... You're talking about the dopamine of a screen keeping them occupied. Yes, that it's like they're on drugs because they're just like so dazed out staring at this tablet, which isn't even an iPad because we're too cheap to even do that. So we do Amazon Fire and they're sitting there just playing their games and you don't hear a peep from them.

So, yeah. So, can you clear the air that you are not drugging your children? Yeah. So, I would rephrase how I said that so that it's clear I am not drugging my children with Benadryl tablets. They're watching electronic tablets and...

And because they are so happy and enthralled with them, it is like they are on drugs. So forgive me. And you don't give them these tablets any other time? No, they just get it on vacation. And now it's kind of like become a thing because Charles recently, we're going on a trip for spring break. And he's like, I can't wait for our trip. And I was like, I know, it's gonna be so fun. He's talking about the tablet. Because I get to watch my tablet. And I was like, oh, shoot. Okay.

So that's not good, you know? He doesn't care about the trip. Exactly. He just cares about the tablet. Your boy's glued to the screen. Oh, my goodness. I know. So I don't know if that theory is really working out for us, but it's fine. Yeah, I don't. We don't do tablets at home. That's impressive. Yeah. Only the big screen for the kids. Only the best. Just the big screen. That's what we're talking about. Just the big screen. People probably yell at us for what we watch. When you were a kid, did you play games in the car and all that? I mean, we're about the same age. I got a Game Boy, the original Game Boy. Yes. And you had a Tetris.

Did you ever have the Kirby game? Love Kirby, yep. I did that. And then we did get a PlayStation when I... The original. This is like the gray PlayStation. OG, yep. Gosh, and that was... What was your game of choice? I had a game... We've talked about it on here and we couldn't remember it. It was like a... It was like a... A chicken? A rooster looking character. A chicken character that you would play. We looked this up. Do you remember this, George? Yes.

We found the name, I think. Yes. No. We'll never remember it again. Okay, let's get to the next clip. That was a cute one for you. The tablets and drugs. I know. That's a real cute. Yeah, that wasn't too bad. Let's see what I said next. Do you have any good hotel hacks like for booking? No, do you? Kind of, yeah. Tell me, tell me, George. Priceline Express. Okay. Allows you to get like really great deals on hotels, but you don't know what hotel you're booking. I've heard.

So it makes people nervous. They're like, I don't know what hotel this is. Now, they'll tell you, hey, it's a four-star hotel with these great ratings, but you don't know specifically. I knew exactly what hotel I wanted to stay at. I was like, I want to stay at the Kimpton Eventi in New York City. Okay. I use a browser extension called Travel Arrow, which sees through Priceline's magic cloak of invisibility and reveals exactly what hotel I'm about to book.

But Priceline Express gives it to you at a steeper discount. Yeah, for sure it does. So that's what I did.

How could that spark controversy? Why? Apparently, dozens of people commented either disagreeing and saying it's better to call the hotel directly or accusing me of doing a paid ad for Priceline. Oh, they thought you were sponsored. What is up with people thinking every time you mention anything, it must be an ad? Here's the other part. Disagreeing, it's better to call the hotel directly. The hotel ain't giving you these prices. They're always like, well, just call the hotel because it's safer. If you book through the third party, there's no guarantee...

Sure, I get that. There is some risk booking with a third party versus directly with a hotel. The hotel, the lady at the front desk was like, how did you get this? Like, she was shocked. She was shocked. All right, George, so you're doubling down. I feel it in the spirit. Not an ad, just trying to be helpful. Just trying to be a helpful human. Everyone's like, hotel, I try to give you the hack. And they're like, this guy's trying to say, no. Is it?

They're just mad that you're giving hacks, George. Yeah. So don't have the hookup with Priceline, not affiliated, but we do have the hookup with one of our favorite services, Delete Me. Yes. Love Delete Me. Can we just talk about how great they are? We can. Because they go in and remove your information online and hundreds of data broker websites that are out there because...

If you are unaware of how much time you spend online and how much time you put in your information online, like we all do, but it's everything from your name, address, addresses, even past addresses, your phone number, like all this information about you is out there. And then...

You know what really gets me, George? What's that? Companies make money off of that, off of our information. Extra gross. And they sell it to other companies. And you're like, stop it. Stop using my information. But that's where so many of our spams and scams come into play. So removing your information online is what Delete Me does best.

And they send you this amazing report every other month and they have reviewed over 20,000 data broker sites, removed me from 250 of them so far, saving me, I think, 85 hours of time, which is incredible. And so if you want to go check it out, they're giving our listeners and viewers an awesome discount, 20% off their annual plans, which comes out to like nine bucks a month. Yeah, it's a great deal. So go to joindeleteeme.com slash smartmoney or click the link in the description. That's joindeleteeme.com slash smartmoney.

All right, this next one was a clip from Smart Money Happy Hour, and we put it on Instagram or online. I think other platforms. On the line. About us buying 2009 wines the year we got married. So here's this clip. Oh, boy. You know what Winston and I did? What? When we got married in 2009, we went to a liquor store, and we bought probably five or six cases. I mean—

I think it was upwards of like, I don't know. How many is in a case? 12? I mean, over 60, 70, 80 bottles of 09 wine. And every anniversary, we open up a bottle. That's fun. Just you two? Uh-huh. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If we go out to dinner. That's exciting. I like that tradition. And we have all of our bottles of like where we were, like which restaurant we were at and all of it. All of our anniversaries. Almost 15. Yeah.

So how could a sweet, innocent tradition of you and Winston opening a bottle of wine... No, the comments were so funny. I mean, a lot of like, that was great, that was great. And then I got, you can't buy 09 wine in 09 unless it's table wine, which wouldn't age. Sus. Sus.

All right, I got married December of 09. So by the time you go to your honeymoon and like do all the things and you go to liquor stores, it's like probably bought it in like February of 2010. Sorry, I got the details wrong. Tons of 09 wine, tons of it. And then George, you know what you do? You go and you buy...

wine refrigerators. We bought two of them to hold the bottles. So they're chilling. They're chilling right now in refrigerators because you know what? It was an investment into our future and what we wanted with our marriage. So they are lasting and they are still good 15 years later because we open one every year and it's fine. It's good wine. And it wasn't crazy expensive wine either. But if you keep it preserved, it's fine. Now, is it going to be okay in 50 years? Maybe not.

But who cares? We're going to be like robots by then. You know? I love seeing you turn into me. It's really the best. It's the best gift. It didn't make me mad. I was like, I bet that's not. Oh, and someone else said, I don't even know if we wrote this one down. They were like, oh yeah, a lot of like, what privilege, privilege. But I'm like, okay, yeah. Oh, to buy a case of wine. Yeah. And we bought multiple cases. So yeah, it may have been a couple hundred bucks.

Right. I don't know. I don't know what to tell you. I don't know what to tell you. I love this comment. As a senior in college, your budget included this much wine, yet you claim to be a commoner eating nothing but rice and beans. Dropping significant cash like that is not in the baby steps when you just graduated.

Well, I had a semester left, so take that. Goodness gracious. Also, have you claimed to be a commoner eating nothing but rice and beans? I know. I don't eat rice and beans. Something you've never said before. No. We tell people to do rice and beans when they're like drowning in debt trying to get out. Yes. And even that is not literal. It's a metaphor. It's not literal. It's just a mindset.

Do we have to tell people that? I really want to tell people that. I love when other people... I did get defensive of that one. The best part is when other people are telling Rachel Ramsey Cruz to be more Ramsey. What? I don't know. But I thought, that is a sad... So, are you doubling down? Doubling down? Yeah. That's what we did. And I don't know why people were so confused about it. Well, most people have never purchased a case of wine, myself included.

You know, I'm not really a big wine guy. Yeah, I mean, it's fine. But would you comment on someone saying sounds sus? No, I would just move on. Suspicious. Just write the whole word out if you're going to be mad at someone. They did do a sus dot, dot, dot. Yeah, like, okay. Just go ahead and like just type it out. Let's don't be lazy with our critiques. All right, I'm done. That was fun for me.

That one did make me mad. We'll see in this comment. I was like, how do you hate on that? Like, that's my other thing. Sorry, we won't keep, I won't keep doubling down. It wasn't even financial advice. It was simply you sharing a thing that happened. Here's what I did. And everyone's like, oh my God. To be fair, there was a lot of people who also said, what a beautiful tradition. They were very inspired by it. Can't do anything right, George. Can't do anything right. I'm so sorry. I can't imagine what you're going through. What a hard life. Okay, what's yours? Go to yours now. All right, back to me. What do we got?

I'm at a Costco. A man approaches us and he's like older man, probably in his 50s, maybe 60s. And he goes, hey, listen, I forgot my membership. Do you mind if I just like walk in with you guys? Is this in the parking lot? This is in the entrance area of Costco, which as you know, you can't get into Costco without flashing your membership with your photo. And this guy's kind of like approaching us and he's like, hey, I don't have my membership. Like I have a picture of it on my phone. I was like, well, great. I do too. That's what I use. I use the Costco app.

And I clicked the membership. And he's like, no, no, no. It's like a picture of the membership card. I'm like, okay, he's a real boomer. So I pretend like he's my dad and we walk in together. So we're chatting it up. I'm flashing the card real casual while talking to dad. So he walks in. I asked him, what are you going to do on the way out? Because you need to now show your picture with your card.

when you're in line or else they won't let you through. And he goes, I'll figure it out. I'll find someone. Guess who he finds at checkout? He found you, George. He ends up right behind me in line. No, he doesn't. And he goes, well, what are the chances? And I go, I think this man's committing a crime now. I mean, it's a free country, but also Costco has rules. Okay. Okay, George. I forgot that story.

That's been a while. I forgot how good of a person I was for trying to do a good deed and getting roasted for it. What did they say? It's common knowledge that if you lost your Costco card, all you have to do is ask them to print out a temporary one at the front desk. First of all, that is not common knowledge. Did you know that? No, I did not know that. I didn't know that. No. How am I supposed to know? I was just trying... And honestly, out of all the crimes I could commit, getting a guy into a Costco...

It's low on the bar. Yeah. Put me in a minimum security prison for that. I just want to know what he saw in you to think this is my guy. There's something about me that says, this guy will do it. This guy? Yeah. Just see, I can rope him into a scam in a heartbeat. Do you think it was a scam or do you think he genuinely forgot his Costco card? He seemed like a genuine, I mean, I didn't pay for his stuff. Sure. So I was like, I'm not,

Like, I'm not falling for that. Yeah, yeah. Just a guy, like, worst case, he snuck into this Costco and bought some stuff with his own money. Trail mix and meat. Take my membership away, Costco. So, I don't know. Here's another comment. Well, it's official, folks. Podcasts have run out of interesting content ideas. Oh, no. That's an interesting story. The algorithm said this person needs to see it. It's literally a money podcast.

You spend a lot of money at Costco. Felt relevant to me. Seems right. So I am going to go halfway on this. Okay. I should have known that it's common knowledge that you can get a temporary membership. Actually, as the current Klump King, I am disappointed. Yeah, but like, what am I doing? Hey, I can't help you. But if you go to the customer service area, I'm sure they can. That's what I should have done. You should have done that. And that's why I'm halfway on this. Okay, that's good. But doubling down on it was a good deed.

Shame on me, egg on my face for not sending them to customer service. Okay, that's fair. Very humble. Very humble, George. And another person said, I'm sorry, did he say someone in their 50s and 60s is an older person? Calling them a boomer? I'm like, yeah, they're older than me and they're literally a boomer in their 60s. Just call them facts, facts.

Yeah. I didn't say elderly. I didn't say decrepit. Oh my gosh. I didn't say geriatric. I just said someone older. Older. That's right. Older than you or just general? Someone older. Okay. It's both. I'm sorry. When is 60s not older? When you're about to be 60. I didn't say old. I just said older. Older. Older than what though? I can't win with these people. Fine. I'm done sharing my fun Costco stories because apparently it's boring to you. Okay.

All right, I'm next. Finally, back to Rachel. On my 30th birthday, I went to Vegas and I had an envelope and I said, this is the amount of money. Just a little bit of fun money. And when this envelope is empty, I'm done. I came out with more money than I came in. And the night I had at the craps table was one that I will never forget. Wow. Wow.

Okay, so the first comment I find endearing. They said, you know you're Dave Ramsey's daughter when you're using an envelope system in Vegas. That's cute. That's funny. Okay. And then we got a couple of these, but the essence was, so you're against credit cards, but down for gambling. Got it. Okay. How do you address the haters on this? I get it. I get why they're hating. So I...

Oh, wow. You're in support of the criticism. I'm not going to stop if I go to Vegas again. Like, I'll still play craps. But I may not talk about it publicly. I don't know. Is that bad discernment on my end? I don't know. I just feel like you need to address the fact that apparently this is debaucherous behavior. I know. Well, it's not responsible. Like, we do talk about gambling. Yeah. It's if you have extra money, and that's what it was for me. It's fine. I don't have, like, this personal conviction of, like, I did something wrong.

But should I have spread that with the world via a podcast? I don't know. I think it's the same people who are upset that occasionally we'll have a cocktail on this show. Yes, that is fair. Which is an adult beverage. And now we're promoting, I guess, alcoholism? They think we're like getting debaucherous on this show? So I guess they think I'm telling you to gamble your life savings away. So yeah. But I get it though. I get that. I don't know. So you can actually understand the hate on this one. I feel like I need to like...

even out my 09 wine. Oh, good. You're like, all right, I'll take the loss on this one.

Yeah, I hate losing money. And so it's harder for me to enjoy a Vegas trip. Yes, yeah. And the times I have played craps, I have lost more times than I have won. But when you win... You brag about it on podcasts. It's pretty fun. It is fun. And you planned for it and you knew if this money disappeared, you'd be okay. And I played maybe three times in my whole life too. It's not like I'm like a... You're not constantly going to Vegas to try to win some money. Yeah, I'm not like, yeah, that's not what I'm doing. Okay. But I don't know.

Game recognized game. I could see it. The commenters won today. Game recognized game. All right, George, you got a target. I mean, you're all about the stores in these clips. I go to stores. Okay, so this next one is about your target run. That's where most of my stories come from because I don't have hobbies. So all you do is just go to stores.

All right, let's play it. I returned an item from one target to another target in the same day. And they were like, we can't return this. And I was like, why? They're like, well, you need to wait 24 hours between purchases from different targets to make a return. I'm like, well, I can't go. I can't come tomorrow. So I was like, this is ridiculous. You know, I purchased, I have the receipt. And so she's like, I'm sorry, this is the rule. And I went, well, screw the rule. And I crunched up the receipt and said, I'd like to do no receipt return. And she was just like, oh.

Uh, okay. George, you're sticking it to the man. And I know it was a little, it was a tiny win for mankind, but it was a big win for George. And I got it back. That's actually pretty great.

I thought it was an innocent, fun little story. I actually, I'm great with it. That does not make me mad. Why were people mad? Well, apparently, here's a comment. You really stuck it to that hourly employee that has no control over the situation. Another comment. It's not because it's their policy. It's because their system is from the 90s and aren't able to share data until after they close out for the night. Former employee. Ha ha!

I didn't think it was the... But here's my thing. The employee knows that you can do a no receipt return. So all I'm asking is for some human decency to say, hey, the system's really outdated. Here's how it works. But I can just do a no receipt return. Totally. That's what I would do if I was the customer service person. Yes, for sure. I don't know if it's an oxymoron to put customer and service together these days, but...

I was expecting a little bit of service. George, you're going to get hate for this conversation right now. Did I ruin their day? No, they were fine. They probably have not thought about it since. And yet you commenters, you haven't lost sleep over this clip. I can't believe he would treat a customer...

They're doing their job. The no receipt return is a legitimate policy. If I take advantage of it, they'll cut me off. Did you know that? No. If you go over a certain amount, because you have to give your ID. Yes, I did know that. They track it against how many returns you've made to avoid fraud. To avoid me taking an item from I found in the trash and returning it to Target for money. Totally. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

But listen, I have given Target a lot of money over the years. I don't feel bad about this. Okay, so you're doubling down. I am doubling down that your system is stupid and old and it's time to update Target. I expected more of you. Costco, I understand. They're operating on a slim budget. You're not supposed to be mad at Target. You're supposed to be mad at the people that commented about the hating about the Target. I'm mad at the commenters.

And also, Target, please update your systems. It's a real problem for people who buy things and then want to return it at a different store within a 24-hour period, which is a very specific situation. There you go. So good. You know what's something I'll never return, Rachel? What? Anything I've bought from Cozy Earth.

It is so true. I would cry if someone was like, you got to return this. I'd say, please no. And even with the bedding, 10-year warranty on their bedding. So if I really had an issue, if I tore a hole in it, they're going to make it right. There are sheets I bought for my sister-in-law because she loves very soft things. So I literally bought a set of sheets from Cozy Earth for her birthday. And she just told me like two days ago, I was like, do you just love them? And she was like, I literally get in bed every night and I just feel like I'm swimming. Yeah.

That's what she said. It's like I'm swimming because it's like the softest, most wonderful material. It's their sheets. It's their joggers, their pants. I have a sweatshirt. Blankets. I have a regular black t-shirt I bought, like a long sleeve that I love. Winston has the socks. I'm kind of jealous. I got to up my Cozy Earth game. I'm not kidding. Go. You need to go because they have great sales.

And actually our discount code, I think, is the best, up to 40% off. Yeah. Promo code SMARTMONEY at checkout or go to CozyEarth.com slash SMARTMONEY. Yeah, so that's a really good deal. Because again, these are like nicer products. Like we're not getting dupes here. They're like the legitimate thing. So when you go to checkout, again, you get up to 40% off. So type in SMARTMONEY when you're checking out and it's amazing. We love it. Thank us later. Love it, love it. All right, next clip of you getting roasted. Excited for this one.

What did you do now? What's an appointment? You're like, I've punted this so far. Oh, the dentist for sure. But I think it's a scam because I'm fine. My teeth are fine. As far as we know, that's like saying, well, my car is fine because I got a car wash. It looks brand new. I went to the dentist and I did the whole like one year thing or whatever. And then every time I went, they're like, it looks great. It looks great. Finally, I was like, okay, I'm going to go to one year. And then I went to two years. And then I went to the dentist last year for the first time. And I can't even tell you how long. And he was like, looks great. Is this like Ramsey DNA? No.

I go twice a year to the dentist. And they're always like, well, we got to watch that cavity. We got a new machine we're going to use on this. So maybe if I had bad teeth... All right, I'm not shocked by this one that I got hate. Probably my mother was in the comments too. I know people... Do you want to take it back? Now's your chance. No, no. You're standing by the fact that...

The dentist is a scam. Okay, that's probably strong language. Some of the comments were, no, Rachel, go at least once a year. Dental health is a part of your overall health. If your plan is on using your teeth forever, professional cleaning every six months at a minimal, Rachel, 85-year-old Rach, we'll thank you.

What do you think? I mean, so far my plan is working for myself. My children, I do take. So just so I take care of my kids. My kids do go twice a year, all the things. But I just, I don't know, George. I feel fine. I think the dermatologists, I would be more, so much more inclined to like check my skin for stuff. Have you ever had a cavity? In my teeth.

Yeah, I got two when I was younger back there. How'd you know? Because my mom would take me to the dentist. And then I went though. I went y'all like two years ago. Looks great. Everything's fine. And I had not been in years. I'm telling you an electric toothbrush and flossing. You are fine. You're fine. Oh, now you're promoting flossing all of a sudden. Yeah, I've gotten on the flossing train. Was that because of me? No, it's because I have one of those like little stick guys. Like the bags of stick things. Do you know the brand? Maybe Oral-B. Oh, okay.

What do you have? Placker's twin line guy over here. Wow. Yeah, Placker's twin line is the only... Why, double the line? Double the line. Okay. Yeah, oh, I can't stand a single line. Why? Call me pretentious. Yeah, why? What is it? I don't know. There's something about the double line that changes everything. You know, my mom reuses her dental floss. Oh, my gosh, that's right. That was from the Sharon Ramsey episode we did. It was, I know.

I know. I don't know what to tell you. It's beyond the line for me. Anyways, I don't think it's a scam. So I'll do one of these, half and half. I don't think it's a scam. That was kind of a joke. But also, I think you can keep your dental health fine with an electric toothbrush and flossing. Now, if you have pain, go, right? And again, maybe genetics too. I think some people just have bad teeth. Yeah, that's me. So if that's you, then probably go. Most offensives, they always ask me, do you floss regularly? I'm like...

Three times a day? Why are you even asking me? Rude. I know. What are you finding over there? What do you see in there? You're thinking, I'm not flossing. Yeah, people did not like, especially the dentists out there, did not like me saying that. But sorry. That makes sense. Yeah, calling your entire industry a scam. I know.

Not great. Yeah, I mean, what other, I don't know. I got in trouble for calling funeral homes a scam. That was a recent one. Didn't even make it to this episode. Apparently funeral home directors don't feel that way. Yeah, no, for sure not. Definitely not, George. Okay, let's get to the last one. All right, we'll end on this last one. Helpful tip or marketing myth, Rachel? Oh, I love this. Oil changes. Oh, man. They always tell you you need an oil change. I say marketing myth, Winston would say, needed. Needed.

He's big on oil changes, like taking care of your car. Me? Eh. It'll be fine. But then what if your car like blows up because you didn't do any oil changes? Are you an oil changer when it's like it's time? Because I think my car...

Indicates it later than the little sticker they give you up at the top. Oh, yeah. That's true. Because they want you coming in more. And they also come to you and they're like, well, your tire, your engine, your whatever, whatever. And I'm like, all of you. All right. The little friendly oil debate, you know? Car oil. I don't know. I feel like you basically said oil changes are a scam. No. I don't know.

Everything's a scam. This person said, if there's any car costs not to skip, it's an oil change. It prevents costly problems down the road. This person said, I work in the auto industry. Read the owner's manual. It tells you the correct mileage intervals for maintenance. Technically, you can go 10,000 miles between oil changes, but I still say do it close to 5,000 miles.

10,000 feels insane. Feels like a long time? Like usually it's like three, four, five. Yeah. I don't know. I feel... Higher? Six, seven? I feel like I am... Eight, nine? Okay. I feel like I am who I am on that clip. So what I said, to repeat what I had said in the past, is I would not follow the sticker as much as I would... The meter. The meter. Yeah. And I am not as detailed with it, even though I do think it's important. So I...

Yeah, I'm doubling down on this. I will not double. Like, I'll be more George. Oh, wow. Yeah, I would go more. We should probably get our oil changed. But I always want a second opinion. I would get my oil changed more frequently than I would get my teeth cleaned. That's frightening, but a true statement for you. I'm honestly proud of you. And not brush, again. I want to clarify that I do brush my teeth with an electric toothbrush. Thanks for clearing the air on that one. Just want to make sure we all know that. Teeth look great.

That's a good one. Yeah, the oil changes. You know, we both mostly drive electric cars. Yes, that's true. That's true. But we have gas cars in the family, which need more maintenance. They do, don't they, George? They do, and it ain't cheap. No. It's true that when you take it in for something, they're always going to find a bunch of things they recommend. And that's where I'm like, it feels dentist-y to add on all these things that they're like, you should probably do this or else you're going to die.

Yes, that's right. I don't buy it. I want a second opinion. I love it. Love it. Well, what's the takeaways from all this? I think that we can change over time, George. I think that we may say things that in context made sense in our head. But as it goes out to the internets, may you not have the full grasp of what we were wanting. And sometimes we're wrong, but most of the time we're right.

So it's fine. Well, as a true Ramsey in the DNA, most of the time we're right. And I'll say this, to your credit, in a 60-second post taken out of context, the algorithm just showed you, it's hard to get the full effect. And so you just jump into the comment section. Yeah. And so go watch the full episode before you jump to conclusions. Yeah. Especially if it's our show. I highly encourage you to watch the full episode. And if you have the energy to put in negative things on the internet, comments for people that you don't know personally...

How is your quality of life? I would just ask yourself some questions about life for you. Like, what are you actually angry at? Because it's not our eclipse. I don't know. If I'm being real honest, we talked about before this show, I'm not friends with people that leave comments. I asked Rachel, I said, have any of your friends ever left a comment on YouTube or Instagram on a random person's post? Yeah, and I was like, I don't think so. I will have friends that comment on celebrity posts and they're like, yeah, you go girl, I'm like Kim Kardashian or something else.

and I'll see their comment. It makes me laugh. But it's like nice or something. Supportive. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I don't think I have any friends. I could be wrong on this. So just, and I can be held to this. The friends, I'm going through my Rolodex real quick of like eight to 10 of my girlfriends. I don't think any of them would put negative comments out into the world. I don't think that they're like,

gonna say something mean on the internet about people. So your final takeaway is if that's you, you need Jesus or therapy. Yeah. Is that clear? Both, I think, is the best combo. Yeah, I'm kidding, y'all. It's fine. But we love when you guys comment with your positivity and encouragement, letting us know what you like.

And what you don't like, I can take it. Honestly, it's fun for me. Yeah, it's fine. We're kind of, we're blowing this into a bigger deal than it is. We're doing okay. You let us know. I'm fine. What's that whole meme? What's the? Everything's fine. I'm fine. It's fine. Everything's fine. It's fine. We're fine. I'm fine. Our job is to help you. We're just sharing experiences and opinions and they're on camera and then on the internet forever. And we don't have time to redo it perfectly. But just know, we like doing this. We like our jobs. So just keep watching.

And that's helpful to us. You know what I say, Rachel? Monetize the haters. Comment all you want. You're only making me more powerful. The algorithm is like, let's show this to more people. This is hot content. So thank you. Thank you for that. Okay, George. Well, before we spill the tea on Guilty as Charged, what are we sipping on? We are sipping on the sparkling strawberry coconut mocktail.

And we both barely got through this one. I hate to say it because I saw how much time and intentionality this mocktail took. There was a lot of blending. I mean, there was a lot of pureeing, a lot of stuff. So I just want to say thank you for making it. But I'm giving it a three out of ten. Ouch. Okay, here's what I was wanting it to be. I wanted it to taste like the pink drink from Starbucks, which is it's creamy, it's sweet, it's got coconut, it's got the strawberry.

This one, it wasn't quite there, but I'm going to go five out of 10. Okay. If it had a little bit more sweetness, I could get behind it. It only costs 97 cents to make. There you go. So that's nice. We didn't waste a lot of money on it. Here's what's in it. It's got strawberry puree, sparkling water, and coconut milk. So a very simple drink. And honestly, I think some people would love this.

I would add some level of sweetness to help it out. Yeah. But it's not bad. Not bad. Okay. Recipes in the show notes if you guys want to try it out this weekend. Maybe your kids will love it. All right. Now it's time for Guilty as Charged. And this is where we ask each other a new guilty as charged question every week. And if we're guilty, we take a sip. Oh, boy. All right, Rachel. Here's the question. Has your honesty or, quote, public presence online ever backfired? Oh, no.

When you put something out online and it backfired. I did on Instagram, A, one of those collagen face masks that's like all white and then it like dries clear, translucent, and you like peel it off. And it's supposed to be on for like five hours. And I did it because I was seeing them everywhere. So I was like, oh, so I did a story that I was doing. And I got so many people were like, oh my gosh, tell us what you think, what you think. So I did like the reveal after. I was like, okay, this dried here. Took it off and I was like, eh.

Not a great review. Well, it's just like, it was fine. Like nothing like majorly changed. And I guess I had shown, or no, I think I even tagged the company because people were asking what brand I was using. So I was like, oh yeah, it's this brand. And then they reached out to me. Oh no. I know, I felt terrible. And they were like, we're so sorry, you're disappointed. You know, could we ask, like, they were very kind about it. So I was like, oh shoot. Yeah.

You kind of forget that's people on the other end. There's real people here. Yeah, I know. And I didn't like bash them, bash them, but I was just like very lukewarm about the results. So I think I just told them my only feedback was like every girl I was seeing that was promoting it had like beautiful clear skin. So like, I don't know why, but you think like, I know it's not true, but a part of you is like, when I take this off, maybe my sunspots will go away and like my pores will shrink instantly, you know? And you're kind of still got your face.

Dang. Your face is your face. So I did feel bad. I don't know. That's sad because they were so nice about it too. They were so nice about it. I know. They were like, thanks for dogging us, Rachel. You got a big following. Am I a hypocrite? I'm not going to answer that. I just talked about how I don't say anything negative online. But I wasn't like bashing them. I was just like, eh. You were being honest. I was giving an honest review. You weren't like, no one ever buy this. It's a terrible product. No, no, no, no. You were just like, hey, here's my results. Yeah. Not the best. Okay. That feels honest.

Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, man. You know, you put yourself on a pedestal and then you get knocked down because of your own words. Shame. Shame, shame, shame. Shoot. I'll rethink my whole life now. Good. Okay, George, you? This one is more about being in public.

So, you know, occasionally someone will say, hey, like I'm a big fan of the show. Like when we're out and about shopping or whatever. Very once in a blue moon for me. I'm sure it happens all the time for you. But there was a time where I thought I was being recognized. And so like, you know, when you're out in public, you're not like on, you know, you're just a person. Your face is just kind of whatever. I'm in a line. I'm tired in a line. Sure. I'm in a Sam's Club returning a chair. Not Costco? No, I was in a Sam's Club this time. They had a great, they had a great lounge chair.

Wanted a different color. I found out they had a stone, so I was returning the navy. Okay. So I'm standing there with my navy lounge chair, returning it in the line. And all of a sudden, this lady is like, hey. And I turned, and I turned to an 11. I was like, hey, how's it going? Because I thought like, oh, this is a person. I need to kind of like, you know, give them a little, zhuzh it up a little bit. And she was like, where'd you get that chair? And I was like, oh, it's just over there. Yeah.

And Whitney turned to me and she was like, what just happened? Who are you? And I was like, I don't know. I thought I was being recognized and I was really tired. And so I think I swung too hard to like go on. Sure, that's funny. And she didn't know me from Adam. She was just like, hey, that's a cool chair. Where'd you get that chair? Welcome to Smart Money Happy Hour. Have a good day.

So embarrassing. Oh, that's funny. You know, only you knew though, and Whitney. That's true. She just thought, oh, he's not okay. Yeah. He's having a time. He's having a real happy day here at Sam's. That's what she was thinking. He's in his happy place. But I tried, like there's a level where you kind of have to be on because you don't know who you're going to run into, who you're going to meet. So that's why I shower before I leave the house. It's my thing. It's your thing.

I have to shower before I leave the house because the day I don't is the day I'm just going to be someone like, hey, can I get a picture? Paparazzi's like, George, George, over here, George, George, George, tell us, George. They're all yelling at you, just taking your picture. I can't swing that. You got to do this. I can't risk it. Take that hat that you never wear. Well, I'll tell you this before we go. I'm on the wall at my alterations place. I have a framed picture. Yeah. Signed? Signed.

Like a headshot? Yeah. So there was a lady in there getting some clothes done, and she said, hey, oh my gosh, I watched the show. And so I ran to my car, grabbed a book for her son about to go to college. And one of the owners, the person that works there, was like, I guess they Googled me after I left. So when I came back, he started yelling, YouTube, YouTube. And I was like, ha ha, that's me, I'm on YouTube. And he's like, picture, picture. And so we took a picture.

Next time I came in, he had a framed picture and he's like, could you sign this? And I made it into the like Z-list celebrity wall of fame. I don't know anyone on this wall. So let me just tell you, like I'm not. You're in there, George. Catch me on the wall. How about that? I'm so proud. So proud. Well, make sure that you guys leave a review. It can be nice or mean. We're taking it all these days. We're really okay. We're fine. It's fine. Remember, you will be judged on the other side. Everything's fine.

And make sure to check out our episode where we explain our most hated financial advice. If you like this episode, you'll love that one. And make sure to subscribe so you don't miss an all new episode of Smart Money Happy Hour.