Smart Money Happy Hour with Rachel Cruze and George Kamel
Reacting to Random Things People Used Their “Emergency” Fund For
Thu, 20 Feb 2025
📈 Are you on track with the Baby Steps? Get a free personalized plan. Nothing screams emergency fund like a full-scale raccoon home infestation. In this episode, Rachel and George share the weirdest things listeners spent their emergency fund on and the lessons we can learn from these scary stories. Next Steps: 🍸 Follow Smart Money Happy Hour on TikTok: @smartmoneyhappyhour. 🏅 Help us make the show better! Please fill out a quick survey. 📱 Submit a Guilty As Charged question for Rachel and George! Send a DM to @rachelcruze or @georgekamel on Instagram! Be sure to type “GUILTY?” at the top of your message so we don’t miss it. 💵 Start your free budget today. Download the EveryDollar app! Connect With Our Sponsors: 🔒 Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe. 🌿 Get up to 40% off with code SMARTMONEY at Cozy Earth. Today’s Happy Hour Special: 🍹 Cubanada Recipe: Difford’s Guide Ingredients: 1 2/3 ounces Caribbean blended rum aged 6–10 years 3/4 ounce lime juice (freshly squeezed) 1/2 ounce maple syrup Instructions: Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass. Prepare garnish of lime wedge. Shake all ingredients with ice. Fine strain into chilled glass. Garnish with lime wedge on rim. Explore More From Ramsey Network: 💡 The Rachel Cruze Show 💰 George Kamel 🎙️ The Ramsey Show 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 🪑 Front Row Seat with Ken Coleman 📈 EntreLeadership Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What are the strangest uses of an emergency fund?
Today, we're talking about emergency funds, and more importantly, and more entertaining, the weird things people have spent their emergency fund on.
I used the emergency fund because I had to bail my brother out of jail.
Ooh. Raccoon removal. Oh! It cost $99 per raccoon.
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.
We're sipping on a Cubanada. Ooh. And we're going to give you the rating and reveal the cost per glass at the end of the episode, so stick around for that.
That sounds so fun. Okay, so this episode kind of started because one of my friends got in a car wreck. Not a bad one. Everyone's okay. But it was on this highway in Nashville in 96, if you're a Nashville person in Franklin. And at a stoplight and she gets hit. Well, the guy keeps going. So she's like, no, no, no, no. You just hit me. You just hit me.
And so she ends up at a stoplight and he's like a car ahead of her. So she gets out of her car at the stoplight, like taps on the window. She's like, It's not loud. I thought that was going to have a sound effect.
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Chapter 2: How can an emergency fund bring peace of mind?
Yes, I know. So anyways, we were just talking about emergencies and then like the things that she had to pay for, right? You gotta claim insurance and all of it. She didn't like to pay for much, but he had to. He didn't have a lot of money. So we're just talking about emergency funds and all of it. And I was like, man, it is so great when you have an emergency fund. Like there is a level of...
Just calmness and peace. I just have cash in the bank because 40% of Americans can't cover a $400 emergency in cash. So there is something to be said about having money in the bank. And again, it's peaceful. But sometimes when we have money sitting in the bank, George, we end up spending it. And sometimes some weird emergencies come up.
And some of them may not be emergencies by my definition. So I'm excited to get into that.
A little strict about that one.
Well, here's some stats because, you know, I love a good stat to set it up.
Did you see my stat earlier? Did you see I just threw in that 40%?
I noticed that. I was like, I hope she didn't steal one of my stats. I've been waiting to do these for a long time.
I've been so excited about this.
No, you didn't. You didn't encroach on my stats.
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Chapter 3: What should you consider when budgeting for emergencies?
Are you kidding me? I'd have, like, they would go ballistic on Instagram for a dog in a wheelchair.
What are you going to do with that Instagram? Just content? Are you going to make money off your dogs?
I'd quit my job and go full-time dog in wheelchair Instagram content.
I know. Have you seen these, though, dogs that are in, like, little mini wheelchairs? And that's, I draw the line. I'm sorry. You've had a great life. That is a terrible life. What if they could have a totally normal life? If you are a dog and you are dreaming of running fields and you're, like, in a wheelchair. No, I can't.
Why can't they just be on a sidewalk? Why do they got to be going through a field?
Because I actually have a real dog, George, that likes to run and hunt. Wow.
I thought you were going to get canceled for breeding dogs, not the whole wheelchair situation.
Only once.
No, I had 100%. I'd get a wheelchair for my dog.
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Chapter 4: What are the statistics on Americans' savings?
Yep.
$6,000.
$6,000, y'all. That's a lot of money.
So the dog broke a bone chasing a bone. That's interesting.
Broke a leg chasing a bone. Yes, broke a bone chasing a bone.
The irony is not lost on me.
Man.
We got to get rid of the bones in the yard. Six grand? That's a lot.
That seems like a lot, doesn't it?
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Chapter 5: How do we define a true emergency?
What's the number? We all have a number.
Oh, this is good. What's bail?
What if bail's 10 grand? What if it's 100 grand?
For brother?
For brother. For brother.
I would go high. If I had the cash available, I would get a family member out of jail.
As just a gift?
As a gift.
Oh, wow. I don't know. I think I'd want them to really sit in whatever it is they did for a little bit. I'd probably do it eventually.
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Chapter 6: What unexpected expenses have people faced?
I gotcha. I love Google.
It's a weird thing to be excited about. Do you not get to Google a lot outside of work?
This is my chance to show them I can Google. This is all I do. Okay, around $100.
Is it just a gift? Like, hey, I'm excited for your marriage.
I don't know. But $100, like, okay. We're getting married.
And this has helped. I don't know. I mean, the fact that you had to use your emergency fund to help a friend cover $100 scares me.
That's what I'm wondering. I'm scared a little bit for everyone here. We're getting married here.
Everyone's guilty.
We're getting married. We're doing grown-up things.
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Chapter 7: What are the costs associated with pets?
And then you felt bad.
Yes, he broke his leg. Poor little thing.
What a trooper.
I know. But that's the stuff that's like, man, just boom, boom, boom.
Yeah, that's life. It's going to happen. The question is when and what is it going to be? That's right. You've got to be prepared with this emergency fund.
So that $1,000 emergency fund we talked about earlier, that's your starting point. And then once you're out of debt, you bump that up to three to six months of expenses.
That's your fully funded.
Yeah, and that's a good marker to have because that's if big medical emergencies come up, you can cover that. I think job loss is a big one. Just to know if income doesn't come in, you have that three to six month marker there. It's great. And a lot of people, that's happened, right?
Throughout the years, people lose their jobs and they actually end up living off of that emergency fund, just like our friend who applied for 240 jobs.
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