Hey, guys, I'm Rachel Cruz. I'm George Campbell. And this is Smart Money Happy Hour. Cheers, George. Cheers. Oh, man. Happy 2025, almost. 2025 in a cup. Well, this is the podcast for two friends who happen when experts talk about what you're talking about, everything from pop culture, current events, and money.
And today we are revisiting the highs and lows of the year of our Lord 2024. That's right. And boy, where there's some highs and lows. There are highs and lows in the world, highs and lows here on Smart Money Happy Hour, highs and lows of drinks and cocktails. Like we got it all people. We have it all. And we're about to jump in because this is a good year recap. That's the fun part of ending a full calendar year. You get to look back. We all need to do that. It's good for us.
And if you're wondering why there are six drinks on this table, 2024 has been a year. But there's a better reason why we have so many cocktails. I mean, we're talking about best and worst. Rachel, why not do the same with our cocktails? Yeah. So we're just sampling a couple of our cocktails from the past year.
And yeah, pretty good. We'll have some fun with it. We're going to guess what the drink is, what it's called, and we'll see if the rating we give it today aligns with our original reaction. Yes, and we actually have some faithful signature drinks that fans have submitted as well. So make sure if you're watching and listening, you know, be thinking, huh, did I submit that one or not? Yeah, and drop your favorite in the comments if you've tried any of them. All right, George, we'll start off with the first drink, shall we? Okay. Let's go here. Here we go.
Delicious. That is a classic delicious margarita. Definitely a marg. Do you remember the episode? Could not tell you the episode. I think we've done a few marks, but this one I think was Michael Redish's, our mixologist, his best margarita recipe. That's my best guess. I'm gonna say I gave it a 10 out of 10. Yeah, absolutely, for sure. New rating still 10 out of 10, it hits. I know, I'm going 10 out of 10. I mean, just that's a classic marg. Sometimes you just need a classic marg. I don't remember the name though.
Michael Michael Michael Michael Rita reddish Rita reddish Rita reddish Rita. Oh That was really sad Wow Out of my ear third don't let that impose to make us look there are times a charm
All right, let's talk about category. Was it with ratings, correct? So this is a reddish Rita. Oh, yeah. Yep. This came from the financial realities you learn as an adult episode. Great episode. Yep. You both gave it a 10 out of 10 originally. So consistent. Oh, nice. And this has
Ropocato tequila. Yup. Si. Blanco tequila. Orange liqueur, lime juice, and agave nectar. Okay. Beautiful. And we'll put the recipe in the show notes if you wanna check out some of these all-time favorite drinks. And our episodes, we'll put there. And the links to the episodes. Yeah, yeah. If you miss them, just saw an episode. Yep. Okay. All right, George, category number one, when we look back is pop culture. Best in wars, pop culture moments. All right, top one. It's gotta be.
Taylor Swift, because she is still on her heiress tour and her romance with Travis Kelsey, which some people thought was an absolute like, conspiracy, publicity stunt or something. And look who's made it this far. How long have they been together now? What you made me do, take another sip of my cocktail because they are still going. That's right. And Taylor's net worth is sitting at approximately 1.6 billion travices at 90 million. And we want to know when they're inviting us over for dinner.
Question mark? It has nothing to do with the money. I just think it would be a good time. I had a dream I was friends with her, like genuinely I was like, wow. Do you ever have celebrity dreams? No, I think it's literally just you. Okay, next up on the list, Paris Olympics. Oh, the Olympics. I forgot that this existed and then Halloween happened and there was all of the Ray gun and the break dancing from Australia. That was a memorable moment for sure.
So Simone Biles now holds the record for the longest gaps between gold medals won in individual all-around and vault. And we got Steven, who was on the horse. Love Steven. He made nerds cool again. And he was on Dancing with the Stars. Oh, I did not know that. Yes. Was he good?
Yeah, they made it pretty far. I don't know. I don't follow that show very much, but I kept saying it. But he'd take off his glasses and all this stuff. I mean, just so great. But he was the specialist, and he won the bronze for that event. And he got them all around to actually get the bronze for the whole team, too. So it's so great.
A lot of other athletes here, Alona Maher. Oh, yeah, she's funny. Female rugby star won the internet over with her comedy about having a crush on other Olympic Village athletes in 2020. Very relatable content there. And Tara Davis Woodall won gold and long jump and her sweet embrace with her husband Hunter, who also won gold at the Paralympics, went viral. Just precious.
The Coca-Cola company is the longest standing sponsor of the Olympic games and a relationship dating back to, wow, when Coke still had cocaine in it. Simple times. I mean, that is a fact. If you needed that fact. If you needed that, yeah. But yeah, they spend almost $20 million for advertising. It's got to be worth it.
I mean, these companies are smart. They're not doing this without ROI. Totally, yeah, yeah. And the average cost of a ticket for smaller events for the Olympics isn't a 300 to 800 range, but for finals events or opening and closing ceremonies, you're looking at a couple fowl. Okay. Per tick. The Golden Bachelor became a thing. So I used to watch, I was a big Bachelor fan. Did you know this about me? I did not know. I watched Golly.
Golly. Golly. Shucks. The Bachelor. Golly. I watched from probably 2007 to 2006. I bet I watched a solid 13 years at the Bachelor. That's impressive. Every season. I have never dedicated my life to anything. But I stopped. I fell off the wagon. I fell off the wagon. Wow. I'm not back on. I'm still on the Real Housewives.
They're on my prayer list. What about the Mormon wives? Are they on your prayer list? Never went there. Never went there. Okay. Yeah, no, I don't know. I hear about them. It feels a little useful for me. Interesting. I need older 60-year-old women on the OC. I'm guessing. Spend the money they don't have. That's what I enjoy. Wow.
That's your cup of tea. Well, you saw what happened with the Golden Bachelor couple. They broke up, right? Filed for divorce three months after publicly tying the knot on national television. So receipts for this wedding are hard to find, but we do know that Trista and Ryan had the first bachelor TV wedding back in 2003, and they were paid a million dollars to get married on camera. I watched it. He was a firefighter. We all loved him as high schoolers. What's he doing now?
I don't know what they're doing now, but they're still married with like kids and like live in their life. But they're a, they are a success story. It's what they hang the whole franchise on. I think it's just a row. Hanging on by a thread then. All right. Okay, you know what came out was one of the best movies inside out too. Did not see it. What?
Are you serious? You acted like, I mean... Sure. I had father a one year old. I haven't been able to go to the movies. Oh my gosh, anxiety comes and literally it is so good. I think every millennial... Every millennial for millennials. This is not for kids anymore. I think we all cried. And you know what? I'm gonna be honest. You know, I have my issues. Anxiety is not at the top.
I know it is for a lot of work. It's not at the top, but I relate and you go there and you see, wow, that's how anxiety and joy try to co-exist. And then they can't find Riley's self, like they couldn't find her.
sense of self. Oh, oh my gosh. That I could relate to. Where's your identity? Where's it going? And now your long-term memories, whole things. Did you take the kids? Just so good. Yeah, we did. Did they get it? Amelia, our nine-year-old kind of did, yeah. But Charles and Carol, I don't think really got it. He's just excited to get out of the house and get some popcorn. Yeah, he's not. And then Caroline is definitely not our anxious kid either. So she probably didn't relate as much.
But yeah, well you contributed to someone making a lot of money because it earned more than 1.6 billion. Oh my gosh. That has to be one of the highest grossing movies, right? Like I would think. Yeah, but the healthy messaging about emotions and childhood development, that's priceless. Okay, how about this? This gives me claustrophobia.
What is it? The astronauts that got stuck in space. Oh, okay. When I read about that, I was like, oh, I can't, I can't, I can't breathe. I saw the headline. I was like, no, thank you. Exactly, I'm good. So, butch Wilmore and SUNY Williams are just vibing at the International Space Station till early 2025. Uh-huh. But we can go to the moonwalk around and come home, but we can't go get them. She has a point. That's all I'm saying.
She has a great point. How long would you last without getting in maybe a floating fist fight, being stuck in close quarters like that? That's the other things, the hall. And like, these people are married with kids. And like, they have lives, obviously, on Earth.
And then you get stuck with this person that you may or may not even get along with. I think you'd have to learn how to get along. Now that would be a better reality TV show. I would talk your ear off if we were in space together. I was like, hey George, what you doing? What are you doing? Are you doing good now? Can you breathe right now? I would pray to God that I brought my AirPods Pros to put noise cancellation on.
So I'm listening to my audio about what you say. And I let you talk. I think that you would need to get the energy out like a dog before bedtime. I would have to let you talk in order to just so we could just pipe down.
Wow. Can they talk to people on Earth? I think so. I don't know that people on Earth want to be talked to 24-7. Oh, man. I don't know what the time changes. It's so right. And I think Elon... Is it on mountain time? Oh, my gosh. I don't know. How do you know? Asteroid time. And Elon tried to get them because SpaceX is like advancing above NASA right now. Did you know that? Oh, yeah. Crazy. But their spacesuit, something wouldn't be compatible.
There takes a lot of time. Yeah, and Apple makes a dongle for that. A lot of science to get up there. And yeah. All right. Well, according to NASA, the average salary for astronauts in space is more than 152 grand a year. I think you have to pay me more. I think I'd have to have double that. Knowing that like I could die at any moment or never come back to Earth. You'd have to pay me. What's your number? I'm going five million a year. I mean, I would need like
Yeah, I would need to come back and retire. Like I did one, I'm good. Yeah, if someone's like, you get half a million, I'm gonna say I'm good. Not because I don't need half a million, but like to get up in space. No. The risk is just too much. No, yeah, nothing about that. Would you rather go up or down? I feel like going up feels safer. Okay, versus scuba diving. Oh, you're saying down on the water. No, I have water, I have issues with deep water. Okay, so that's more scarier than space. Yeah.
I don't know why. I would agree. I feel like the technology is better when I'm in a capsule going up than a capsule going down. I would agree with that. I don't know why. That feels right. Here's a social media thing that went viral and I've honestly heard it here first. The team introduced me and now I don't even follow them but they come up with my feed is Pookie and Jet.
Pookie. And she's pregnant. Probably had her baby by now. But they became like this whole thing. All based on one phrase. Yeah. They would just post videos. They'd both be dressed up, looking nice. And he would say, Pookie's looking absolutely fired night.
And he's kind of this bro-y guy. He probably went to Knoxville with him, I imagine. Yeah, I think he was like Harvard. That makes sense. I think he actually went to like a legit law school. Not that UT law is not. But he's got like a cool uppity guy vibe. It seems like a really nice guy. Here's a question for our world today. And this is not.
I'm not judging them by any stretch of the imagination. But you know, people like this that are on social media, and they're just putting outfits on and having funny names like Pookie and all that, and they make merch, they get advertising. I mean, they're probably making, these people can make millions. I mean. Oh, absolutely. Make a ton of money. It's trying to deal sponsorships. So the question is, is there like a weird thing in society I was talking to a guy, he's a lawyer for a firm that helps with like,
within like lower income, like does like really good work as a lawyer and makes obviously nowhere near that. Yeah, people think lawyers just automatically make six figures. Yeah, and we're talking about it and it's like, man, is it like, is there a weird thing in society that like people that are doing really good work?
and helping the world don't naturally make as much as people that like put out like dancing videos. Like is it fair? Do you think this is like where like Rome collapses, you know, that phrase? Wow.
That's a strong pendulum swing, but I see we were going. Are we doing well as a society based on who we value? Because being online, it's tough. And we have to be online a lot for just life, right? And what happens is our information is online as well.
And we have to be careful with that. Because there are spammers, there are scammers, there are online thieves that take our information, and they sell it to data broker websites, and these data brokers spend sell your information again, and then they trade you information. I mean, all of this. And then you end up getting spam texts, you get a part of data breaches, all of the stuff that we are really annoyed by and sometimes can really hurt our financial life.
for sure, especially if I de-theft, all of it. So getting your information off the internet is very important. That's why we love Delete Me. Delete Me is a great service, you guys. Make sure to check them out. If you go to joindeleteme.com slash smart money, you get 20% off as subscription with them. Click the link down below, but for real, protecting your information in our world today, so important. And they send you a report showing you exactly where they found and removed your information, how much time they saved you, and it's one of my favorite
reports that I get in my life. And I get a lot of reports, probably top three reports. Top three, check them out. All right, let's move on to drink number two, George, and we're going to talk about the best and the worst of smart money happier. There was worst. There were some worse. There were some episodes. You all just did not click. Are we ranking worse based on least amount of views? I think it's on viewership. Yeah. Or how much they like. All right, let's do the middle drink. All right, switching. Switching gears.
I have licorice in it. I don't know if I like that one. OK, I'm going to I'm going to go three out of 10. What is that? I know this liqueur. I just can't. I don't know if I like it or four. I'll get a little higher. I'll go four out of 10 for me. What has a licorice flavor? Is it absence? OK, I'm close. OK, good job, George. It's got absence. It's got lime. All right. What is it, Kelly?
This is called a Corpse Reviver. Corpse Reviver. No, this is Corpse Reviver number two. We loved Corpse Reviver. This is my favorite cocktail all the time. Yeah, you both gave it a 10 out of 10. Oh no. It doesn't taste, you know what? I think the margaritas cute our taste buds. And the ice is melted. And the ice is melted, which watered it down. Shoot. Okay, what's my rating now? This was the one I asked Michael to make.
And I said four out of 10. I'm still gonna give it a six out of 10. No, I should have had you rate it before you heard like how great it was. I said six out of 10.
Yeah. For the new rating right now. You know what, let's play Michael. Maybe this wasn't his best work. I think it's still a 10 out of 10 drink. Yeah, the Corp's survivor is amazing. Yeah, we love it. So this came from our Are You Guilty of These Financial Turnoffs episode. Mm. And this has gin, triple sec, lillip block, fresh lemon, and absinthe. Literally love all of those things.
You love Lillip Blanc? I do that in my Vesper. Martinis, yes I do. I have a Lillip Blanc in my house. That is really impressive. Thank you. Don't you talk down to me. I'm just impressed. George. I don't know many people that just have Lillip Blanc. Yeah. It's a life of luxury. Isn't that the part in a Vesper?
well i'm pretty sure it is i think you're making them yeah well i'm sorry that our rating change but it makes me sad i'm gonna drink it just i don't think it's a great drink yeah don't let that sway you know i think the licorice came real quick on the time maybe that was from the tequila from the earlier drink but yeah the essence
Let's talk about, okay, so our best episode, George, you're ready for this, and this is all on YouTube, so podcasts, we love you, but they ran it on YouTube, was why short-term rentals are no vacation. So we talked about hotels versus Airbnb's and how the Airbnb quality is really declining, because lots of fees, you got to clean it yourself, like there's just so much work involved now with Airbnb's, it's not as turnkey. And man, people, they love the episodes, they clicked on it, but they're
We had some love hate to it always. Always. With some high viewing episodes, but that was one of our top ones, George. Wow. I still think it holds up. You know, everyone's traveling. Everyone has thoughts about vacations and hotels and Airbnb's. And they're one story of why they'll never do one of them again or whatever it is. But there's also the investing part. A lot of these desirable city homes are getting snatched up by hedge fund investors. And our take was we're kind of more hotel people in most situations. Yes.
Yeah. And not just financially, but from an experienced end point. That's right. Yeah. Having someone come in, make up your bed. I mean, it's so nice that it would happen to my house. Yeah. She's not trying to live like a local, taking out her own trash. Or go to the grocery. To the grocery.
Now, I will on a beach trip. I don't think I said that in the other episode. There's certain vacations that like, but if you're going to be gone for like a long weekend, give me a hotel all day, all day. All right. One of our other best ones was harmless purchases that will drain your bank account. So this was a evoose favorite episode. Yeah. And it's like the little treats. Little treat culture.
Yeah, just going to have me a little treat. You could do anything. You could do your own laundry. You know, I just have a little treat and you get an $8 latte because you did laundry. That's the energy of little treat culture. Celebrate yourself. Just a little treat. So and here was our take on this. I still think you should go listen to it because it was great. But here's the TLDR. Little treats are great, but you got a plan for it in the budget. And so if you want to know the best budgeting app out there, be sure to check out every dollar. You can even have a little treat line item in every dollar and put 50 bucks in there. Yeah.
And when you spend it, that's it. You got your little treats. All right, one of the worst, man, this was my idea. Money motives hidden in shocking true crime stories.
Listen, I love a good murder, you know, just like, like when there's a story about a murder, I'm in, give me a 2020, give me a book, give me a whatever it is, but I am listening. There's that new one on it with Anna Kendrick. She's directed it on Netflix. Yep. Serial killer. Oh, that was the most recent. So people love true crime. They just don't want to hear about it on a money punch. So I'm realizing.
I hear you and I will take your non-watching that episode to heart. What if there was a true crime podcast that was like, hey guys, today we're going to talk about the murder of your bank account and why you should do a budget. They're like, I'm out, I'm out. No, but there were some murders like for money and murder for hire and how much they pay. It was interesting. We talked about the true crime industry. Should it be profiting off of these tragic stories? Yeah, because these podcasts and stuff, y'all, they're making talk about
influencers on social making a lot. These other people are making a lot too. It is weird. It's just weird. Yep. Another worst one was explain investing like I'm a five-year-old. I thought that was a good one. Yeah, we were really trying to be boots on the ground, cookies on the bottom shelf. We really tried to be like, hey, we're going to explain it in a way everyone understands not to talk down to people, but just like, hey, give me the easy version and they just did not appreciate it, George.
Yeah, I'm a little disappointed in you guys. I'm gonna be honest. Might be a little offended. I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed. Okay. But I moved on. Thanks, dad. And if I, I don't check the stats on these. You know, the team sends it once a month. They'll update us. Hey, here's what the people liked. Here's what they didn't like, but I don't lose sleep over it. So you can't hurt me. I want you to know that. Oh my God.
But hey, you know what? Sorry, we let you down with these episodes listeners. We don't think they're all that bad. And we're going to put the links in the show notes for you to find out for yourself if you didn't listen or if you want to listen again. Hey, you can't win them all. But George, what was one of your favorite parts of an episode? Maybe the funniest part. Oh my goodness. Like, where did you laugh the hardest? I think you're your Miley Cyrus impression with the French bulldog.
That one has stuck with me. I don't know if it's good or bad still. I'm working out with my therapist, but it really stuck with me. I was tickled by it. Anytime you attempt, almost anything, singing accents, impressions, it's the best. It's because I don't hear tone. I've decided that I can't. My voice
Is that tone to you? We talked about this, yeah, where you go like, up and then low. And I'm not good at the range. I'm pretty like, not monotone, but like, I range. You're a great talker. My range is limited. But people like can do impression. I mean, it's impressive. And I can't. But anyways, Miley, I see you girl. And I would like for her too. She's been on my prayer list. Oh, wow. I didn't know that. Yes. She's doing great.
I love that you're taking credit for these people's lives based off of a single, I don't know how often you're praying for these people. The Lord is it daily? Is it monthly? Just whenever the spirit moves. Whenever the spirit moves. When the spirit moves. George, you should pray for people. It's just good for you. I do just not celebrities. All right. Okay, let's go. Let's go to our next drink. We got this one right here. Okay. And this is in the fancy glass. This is a sugar rimmed glass I can tell because my hands are already sticky.
Mmm, this is a good one. This tastes like a mocktail margarita, maybe with some sparkling water? Yeah.
It's very refreshing. Yeah, you're close. You want to go ahead and give it a rating? I'm going to give this, I think, for a mocktail. If the ice hadn't melted, I would probably say 10 out of 10. Yeah, 10 out of 10. Awesome. Well, you both gave it a 10 out of 10 originally. Oh, man. And this is the lemon drop mocktail. Lemon drop. That's it. Yeah. So not a margarita. Right. Lemon drop. But you're right in the fact that it does have club soda. Yes. And lemon juice and simple syrup. And this came from our Why Nothing Is Enjoyable Today episode.
Oh, that was yours. That was mine. So that came from my sort of emo, your spirit. Yes, very crazy. I'm going like, why don't I just enjoy things anymore? And we explored it. We talked a lot about the financial aspect of why we don't enjoy things anymore. That's right. Inflation's part of that. So expensive. Well, you enjoy these days. What do I enjoy? Yeah.
Oh, we have puppies. Oh, that does bring joy. Yeah, that's been a part-time job, the dogs. I didn't realize that.
I mean, you guys, how many puppies did she have? Six. Six puppies, and you have to take care of them. After she's given birth, there's still another, how many weeks? Yeah, well, that's controversial, depending on how attached. Seven, eight, 12? The attachment theory. But it's about eight to nine is what we're doing. The vet said that was okay. Some people keep till 12. The vet said it was okay. Yeah.
That's a fun one. Yeah, so I'd say that's I'm enjoying that right now. Yeah, I realized having kids is secretly enjoyable. Okay. That's my hot take. Well, you know, I mean people out there, there's this vibe of like, oh, like kids, it's a lot of work. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Really your social life. I'm like, didn't have one to begin with. I'm doing fine. Yeah, we're good. But no, truly like her making her laugh is my favorite thing and only thing I want to do. Sweet George, I love that. It's the best. Because honestly, no one else will laugh.
All right, let's do some rapid fire rounds. We're gonna do the highs and lows, you know, the hills and the valleys of our year. George, you ready? I'm ready. Wait, personally? Yep. Oh, wow. There we go. Okay. Best meal of 2024. Go. Leroy and Lewis in Austin, Texas on a work trip with none of these people are in the room, but some of the best barbecue Texas has to offer. So good. So good. Me, how about you?
I'm gonna go, I don't remember the name, which is so not fun. It was a place in Dallas of sushi. Both Texas. You know what I loved about it? What? Was, this is so funny, we drank the Corpse Reviver on this episode because it's a really hard drink to find. And I asked the waiter, it was kind of a high-end sushi restaurant, Great Bar. And I was like, hey, can y'all do a Corpse Reviver, number two? And he was like, shoot, no, because we don't have like whatever this thing, but I can do something really close. And he made me a great cocktail. I like remember it. It was great. Oh, wow.
But I love sushi, and it was... That's a good one. All right, next. Best album of 2024. Taylor Swift. Wow. I was going to torture poets. Yeah, torture poets. Did I say that right? I'd say dead poets. That's a movie. Also great. Torture poets. Some of Robin Williams' best work. Yeah. Yeah. Man, I would say, oh my gosh, I'm blanking, but haunted. What's the haunted song? Some would say you have a blank space.
Welcome back, guys. Thanks for bearing with us through this episode. I did in fact drop my mocktail, but it was because the drink was so sticky, get slippery that I could not grab it. And it just fell right out of my hand. So I apologize. Are you dry? I'm great. I think Taylor Swift's ghost from who's afraid of a little old me. May I come in here and I said, how dare you not remember the name? Way to bring us back. Okay, I'd say that. Moving on to rapid fire. Yes. Best purchase of 2024 for you.
Um, can I go bougie? Please do. I feel like we're very like, oh my God, we get everything on sale and we get dupes and like, we love to save money, which we do. That is who we are. But also there is a time to spend money. Yeah.
So I got a purse for my birthday in April. Can you mention the ladies who know a person? Okay, so it's a and people will pronounce it so differently. So it's either Goryard, Goryard, I don't know, people have a different pronunciation. See, I can't do like, I can't.
I was waiting for a French accent. I saw this French. I know, I know. Yeah, so it's out of, yeah. It's like an old French designer, I guess. Yeah, but it's not very known and kind of go super bougie. Please. You can only buy it in the store. So you can't buy it online and they only have four stores in America. Wow. So. Where'd you go? I was in LA and for work and Winston met me out there because it was close to my birthday.
And he surprised me. He said, babe, we're going to Rodeo Drive, like classic, like the stereotype of just shopping, you know, pretty woman style. That's amazing. But I'm married. So it's really, really different. I mean, that's clear. Well, a lot of reasons why it's different than pretty woman, but yes. But yes. So it's a green purse. Yeah, a green goyered purse.
Wow. And it's worth it. Worth the splurge. Sure. And I like it because it's a little understated. Not everyone recognizes it. It's not like a Louis Vuitton where it's like, oh my gosh, everyone knows that print. So it's like a little bit. It's called that quiet luxury, stealth wealth. A little stealth wealth, yeah. Even though the pattern. Like, I wouldn't know. You could be like, I got this on Amazon. I'd be like, oh, cool. Yeah, yeah. It's not a very well-known.
Someone with poor taste like me would not know. Stop, stop. Okay, how about you? Give me a bougie purchase you made or one of your... I mean, okay, one thing I did is very not like me. I would say I wouldn't call it a purchase because it was inherited, but then I spent a lot of money to get a fix. Was this watch?
Mmm. It's an old Rolex 90s. It inherited from my wife's grandfather who passed a few years ago. And grandma said, hey, would you take this watch? You can't sell it. And I said, yes, and I'll get it fixed up. Little did I know fixing it up is still 10 times more than I've spent on any watch in my life. Sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But this was the splurge purchase of the year. Well done. And it's cool because number one, it's like a family heirloom. Yep. And number two, this is not, you know, people know me as like Apple Watch guy.
So to be wearing like a bougie like a watch I feel very like it makes it Yeah, and it puts some years on you some wisdom on you. I'm a dad now. Yeah What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? So there we go. Yeah, I will say another great purchase Winston bar a hoodie
from Cozy Earth, and it was one of his favorite purchases of the year, because Cozy Earth is amazing. Absolutely incredible. We have their sheets, I have some joggers, we have blankets from them. They are an amazing company. The quality is unreal. Yes, I've had a lot of sheets in my life, but my wife consistently, whenever we put those Cozy Earth sheets on, she was like, wow,
These are really something, and my dogs love them. I know that's not saying much, but they are cozy for the puppies. Yeah, and they have a 10-year warranty on their bedding, so those sheets. That says something about their confidence in the product. Yeah, for sure. And if you guys go to cozier.com, you shop, use the code smartmoney at checkout, and you'll get up to 40% off.
Which is amazing. I mean, that's that's pretty incredible if you're very generous of them if you're above a two With another number percentage wise. That's a great we told them we said hey This is a money podcast people are watching their money and so they said hey We're gonna give them a really really steep discount. Yep, and their products are absolutely worth it So go check them out coziers comm use promo codes for our money And if you get a post purchase survey, let them know you heard about cozy earth on smart money happy hour. So great. Okay, George. What's the worst purchase you made in 2024?
Oh gosh, regrettable purchases. That's a really difficult one for me. I would say I got a bed jet, which I talked about, a bed jet and it shoots air into your sheets to keep it cool under there. Wow.
But I've got a way to blanket. I've got the dogs. There's a lot going on. I've got cozy earth sheets. Yeah, the cozy earth sheets are great. I just could not get the bed cool enough with this product. Yeah, just failed you. So that was a return for me. OK. Use the return window. How about you? No, I was trying to think. Honestly, top of mine was just kind of lame. Caroline got a Halloween costume that was one of those blow up ones, and it was a.
I love the book. Flamingo with like a leash like she's riding the flamingos, hilarious. And it broke within 15 minutes. Boo, I know. They don't make it like they used to the blow up flamingo costume. Yeah, still bitter about it. Best book of 2024. Oh my gosh. I'll let you go first because you read a lot more than me. I gotta get my good reads out. You're a true reader. First lie wins was a great one. The boyfriend was actually really good too.
Ooh, the only plane left in the sky was September 11th. That was probably good, too. So we got some historical... Yeah, the women. The women was about Vietnam War. That was good. Okay. Yeah, I'd say that. And then, like, from a spiritual sense, practicing the way, John Mark Comer. Oh, yeah. I just finished that, like, a few weeks ago. Author of ruthless elimination of free. Yes, so good. I need to check that out. I'm a fan of him. He's great.
just all of it. Okay, that's mine. Yours? It's an audiobook. I don't know if that counts. That's great. But it's Michael Richard, who plays Kramer on Seinfeld. He did a memoir called Entrances and Exits. Ooh, funny. And yes, at times, but also like very deep and
are wrenching and poetic and like he's just, I'm like, how did he write this? It's very poetic. Really good. The way he narrates it, which I love. Yes, always. And so that's why I did the audiobook and I really enjoyed that. I love that. As a big fan of Seinfeld. Okay, a favorite live event of 2024 at Ramsey. Money and marriage getaway. That's fine. Was it really? Yes. Oh my gosh. What did you like about it?
I just think the spirit of that event is infectious. I agree. You know, it's an event where we're helping people become stronger spouses, get better communication, intimacy, all the things, and just to play a role in that with my talk and then see you and John Deloney do your thing, it just feels like a special event. And all of our events are special. This one feels like the transformation is palpable in the room. Yes, yeah, it's so true. I agree. I'm with you, yeah? Money marriage, so fun. There's one coming up February.
Oh, that's right. Yeah, yeah. Some tickets probably still available. So check it out. Come see us in Nashville. Favorite family memory of 2024? I'm going to say we got a play. We got a play set for Mia. Cute. And she goes down the slide. It's my favorite. She squeals every time and then claps for herself. Love. Mine's puppies. Worst financial trend, 2024. Go. Oh, my gosh. Crypto. Go. Sports betting. OK. Best TV show or movie watched in 2024.
Nobody wants this. Nobody wants this. I'll take it with you. So good. Adam Brody, Chris and Bell. Not a rom-com guy, but really enjoyed that. Not kid-appropriate, but funny. So good. Okay, real quick, money topics. One mistake that people should leave behind in 2024. Oh, this one's gonna be controversial. Go. Using the credit card, even if you pay it off, have any of that.
It's just that one has irked me all year long. And I've been just debating people and I'm like, it's a useless task. So I think they're winning, but I truly think you would do so much better to cut up the cards, stick to using your own money and save up for the things you want.
I'm gonna go car loan. I think like the, it's just the dumbest piece of debt. I mean genuinely, you know? That we justify. Yeah, you get a $40,000 car when you could have gotten a 10. I mean, like it's just that like, you know, that idea of that man. It's just a lot of money that's going out in interest with something that's going down in value. It's really tough.
OK, so what would you say to someone that's fallen off the wagon this year? How do we get them back on George? Oh, I would say number one, drop the shame in the baggage because usually when you fall off the wagon, you go, oh, that's so like you to do this. I knew you would never actually get out of it. You got to just put that down, get in community.
and then take like a course that's going to keep you accountable like financial peace university. That is the best thing you can do to get back on the wagon and stick to it because it's nine courses. You know you got to do all nine weeks and you will make progress if you do that. It's good. Yeah. I feel like money is just a reflection of who we are because we're the ones that are handling it. And so I think there's something to be said about like asking more of the why like what's causing me to continuing to go into debt. Why do I feel like
I do overspend in this area. Why am I scared of the budget? Why am I scared to spend? I have so much savings, but why am I scared to spend it? Going underneath that and understanding why? Because I feel like we can try to willpower our way. This is John Mark Comer in practicing the way we try to willpower so much. And good intention is great. Putting good habits in place, not gets that. But we can't just tell ourselves to do better. Because human behavior is always an inflow. Something else is happening underneath that. And get into that.
and fixing, well, fixing you sounds shameful. But you're insane, understanding why you are the way you are.
then the outflow of everything in your life is in a better spot. Well, my favorite question to ask is, and then what? You get to the thing and you do the, and then what? Yeah. And then you're, you didn't actually solve the root problem of why you were striving for the thing. So I think it's good to be rooted in healthy, healthy motives and healthy self. I agree. Okay. So before we get to get to his charge, we, we drink some good ones 10 out of 10s. Let's give some honorable mentions to the ones we hated. To the least of these. The drinks that were no bueno.
Who could forget lemon milk? This was a supposedly creamy lemonade mocktail that just tasted like weird, curdled, lemony milk. It was disgusting. We had the mocktail margarita, not good. If you need a margarita and you got to do a mocktail, just skip it. You go lemon drop. It was good. There was just so much salt that all we tasted was the sodium. It was a lot. Another one, I gave this a one out of 10. I called it harsh and viscous, which I reserved for my worst enemies. It was the pumpkin pie espresso martini.
All things that are good on their own, not great together. Not great together. And then last was the dirty, shortly. So this was a melted red popsicle. Literally, right? Just a sweet and popsicle, but liquid. All that red 40.
You know, we don't need that. We don't need that. Get that out of here. RFK is not having any. We learned about that in 2020 before we get those poisons out of here. Oh, that's fine. Oh my gosh. Well, George, that was great. It's been a fun year of talking about money, making it easy to digest while enjoying some great drinks.
And I think it's time for Guilty as Charge. And this is where our producer Kelly gets the same new Guilty as Charge question every week. And if we're guilty, take a sip. Kelly? All right. Have you ever lied to get out of something with family or friends? What if they're listening to this right now and they find out from this podcast? We got to go real cryptic.
Yes. Has anyone not done this? That's the question. If you haven't, you aren't living. You're not okay if you've just said yes to everything regardless of what it is. Yeah, no, but they could be healthy and say no and tell them the real reason we're lying about it. Who does that? Okay, let's take it a step deeper. Okay, did you get caught?
Have you ever gotten caught? Let's see, I fake sickness. I faked appointments. I have a doctor's appointment. Let's see what's... Okay, I'm gonna say this. When I say friends, it's not like my close people. I can totally be like, and I don't hang out. I don't need a light of them. But it's like the one or two removed.
And you're like, shoot. And you're like, yeah. And you're just like, I'm so sorry. It's been a crazy week and we're busy this weekend. We'll try to get in soon. And then like, yeah, you put an Instagram story out there and you're out at a restaurant. Do you do that? You're out there posting trying to get caught? No, but I mean, I'm sure there's been times I'm like, we're just so tired.
Oh, yeah. Guilty. Guilty, guilty. Very guilty. But I try to be more honest these days. As I get older, more mature, healthier. I just need to be like, hey, can't make it. Maybe not even a here's why. I've been trying to be less defensive. I know. You don't have to give people a reason. That's a very difficult one. I feel you. And if they're a real one, they'll understand. Yeah.
Oh, man. Well, if you want to stay connected to us, make sure to check us out on TikTok for more entertaining videos of what's happening when it comes to pop culture and finance. Well, you guys, it's closing time. And if you enjoyed this episode, you should check out our episode about revisiting our on-air money advice from the past. One of the top episodes we did. I know. So you guys...
Here's to 2024. Thanks for being here with us and the journey of life. And we will see you next year and next Thursday on an all new episode of Smart Money Happy Hour.
