The ’90s Are Back! (And Coming for Our Cash)

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Is Blockbuster about to pull an Abercrombie? Rachel and George discuss the rise and fall of iconic ’90s businesses. Which ones are headed for a comeback, which ones are gone but not forgotten, and how does nostalgic marketing affect your spending today?
In This Episode:  
• Are Beanie Babies and other throwback keepsakes a smart investment?
• Has technology ruined our generation and our favorite brands?
• Rachel performing a memorable answering machine rap from her childhood
Helpful Resources:  
• Enter the Ramsey Cash Giveaway for a chance at $3,000! bit.ly/SMHHgvwy
• Do you have 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.
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This Week’s Happy Hour Special:
Bottoms Up
Ingredients:
• 1 1/3 ounces cognac
• 2/3 ounce Cointreau
• 1/6 ounce grenadine
• 1/6 ounce heavy cream
• 1 egg yolk
Instructions: Pour all ingredients over ice in a cocktail shaker. Give it a good shake, then strain the liquid into a cold glass and enjoy!
Pull up a chair to the happy hour you wish your friends were having. Mix two money experts with some hot takes and a splash of nostalgia, and you get Rachel Cruze and George Kamel talking unfiltered about what’s going on in the world, pop culture, and how to afford a life you love.
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[@Mamamischa]

My husband said when he was younger that he thought kids that had Dunkaroos were rich. He’d say “they got that Dunkaroo money!!”🤣

[@dayrich]

right!? we never had them. 😂

[@Warrenmitchum]

Same here. If you got those or lunch shoes then you had money.

[@cherylgraves19]

I recently started watching Little House on the Prairie with my 7 year old daughter and we are both LOVING IT! It was a little before my childhood, but I'm loving seeing simpler times and such strong family messages in the episodes!

[@droptozro]

My kids are watching the entire 9 season episode series of Little House on the Prairie. They're already on season 9. Just be warned, there's episodes you will want to pre-screen before your 7 year old watches them. Specifically the episodes titled "Sylvia," "Rage," and "Home Again" deal with very hard and downright inappropriate topics. There are others that are rough, too. Prescreen most of the 2 part episodes. They are often the ones with the harder topics. But sometimes the single episodes are rough too. Overall, it's a great series. Just watch with caution.

[@cmixter88]

I was born in 1988 like Rachel, so i totally relate to this! I was a nickelodeon kid for sure. I was obsessed the Olsen Twins. Its crazy how nostalgic our generation is, more than any other generation i think.

[@CJ2023Incognito]

Dude you weren’t kidding- the NOSTALGIA!!!!!

[@janae09]

The Easy Bake Oven would have to be my favorite 90s Christmas gift.

[@giggle1971]

And from the 70’s as well!!

[@millmill67]

The answering machine rap was everything. 😂 😂

[@MC-gd2ys]

‘87 baby here: this totally brought me back in time! Loved this episode - I think I had a goofy smile plastered on my face the whole time I was listening. 😂 Well done!

[@ashleymmayers]

I had Polly pockets the whole collection and just recently sold for $350. I was shocked!

[@DanteJDM]

Thank you for producing a fun and relatable financial podcast. Although I've been a subscriber to Dave for years, I recently decided to take my future and finances seriously and started watching him again. I got introduced to you and as a fellow 30-something year old, I'm hooked! Never stop. You make money managing fun!

[@KristenHuckeba]

Best episode ever!!! 😂 I’m an ‘87 baby and I just took a trip back to my childhood…. Especially tomogotchi, Olsen twins, Sega, zig zag hair parts and and butterfly clips! My most wanted Christmas present ever was the life-sized Susie stretch doll that attaches to your hands and feet and the lite brite 😅 and let’s not forget Lisa Frank! I worry my kids won’t have the same childhood memories like us…. They’ll just remember technology/screens!

[@bevbayb3029]

Sorry, but I read that as you saying you were 87! 😂 I actually got married in 1987 and for me to hear myself say it now, I sound ancient!

[@ericaterrones16]

Same!! Loved Lisa frank and the tamagotchi!!!

[@Matt_in_TEXAS]

Born in 1970... It was a great time! So many cool things- but Star Wars hit me as a 7 year old young boy and made a life long impact! I graduated high school in 1989... I'm a proud Gen X baby! Keep up the great work y'all- love this show and I'm so happy y'all have it on video!!!

[@diavolorosa]

May the 4th be with you!

[@jandkhilbert]

👊 yeah for the 70s

[@sarafernandez6837]

I still have my how the west was fun on VHS and have a VCR lol I remember butterfly clips and milky pens with the black acid paper. Then it went to gel pens.

[@kourtringelberg3954]

By far!! My favorite episode! Thank you for taking me back to my childhood! I’m an “older” millennial who was born in ‘84. I haven’t missed an episode yet!

[@bettedavis9261]

As a mom of kids born in 1994 and 1997, I loved this episode! Thanks for the memories. I love you two individually and together.

[@kosette14]

The beads, the lava lamp, the inflatable furniture. Ah yes! And those butterfly clips.....❤😂

[@aliciaeasterwood]

Oh my goodness, best episode! I was born in 1990 and I remember ALL of it!! 😍

[@Jumpman67]

The device Rachel was tlkaing about as her best gift ever as a 90's kid was a Talkboy. The one Kevin had in Home Alone was a Talkboy and the pink one was a Talkgirl.

[@kelliconlan8133]

1981 here!! I remember all these things you're talking about. And seeing all these things coming back is CRAZY!!! I went through this over the last 10 years because all the 80s things came back also. I still own have a combo VHS / DVD player !! Plus I have a portable tape player and a portable cd player that I just found at my parent's house...both still work. And my daughter uses my old tape/cd/radio player in her room and she thinks it the best!!

[@elizabethshaklee8450]

I was born in 2001, but I remember the finger skateboards because all my friends and I were obsessed with them, and my sister and I both absolutely LOVED the popcorn shirts. I also remember when we would go to blockbuster, but then we stopped going after Netflix started being able to just ship a movie disc or show disc to our house lol. And I have the original Molly American girl doll. I remember as a kid when I first discovered the books at the library and then my parents bought my Molly for Christmas 🥹❤️

[@Matt_in_TEXAS]

Sometimes when you add to cart and let it sit for a day or 3, the company will send you a reminder email and sometimes a % off discount for the in cart item.

[@OopThereItIs77777]

I was born in the 90s & now I resell 90s clothing (a lot of things from my childhood home & my relatives!)…can confirm. People will pay TOP dollar for a shirt that sold for $15 back then. I love that they can find something that brings them a sense of calm. I personally believe it’s back in such a big way because that’s when things were so easy for us! Nostalgia is calming 😊

[@neneshubby]

This is the norm. As young people start to hit middle age and start having kids they become fascinated with their youth. It’s always a 20 year gap. The 70’s was fascinated with the 50’s and so on and so on

[@christinemaio]

The most 90s memory I have was my friend and I singing Lion King songs into her Talkboy 😂

[@mademoisellesura]

Oh my gosh! I was born in '83, I have a level of nostalgia about the 90's that is truly disgusting. If I could go back to live in any decade (the age I am now) it would 1000% be the 90's. I watched every single one of those TGIF shows too! Oh my gosh! This episode reeeally took me back! I feel like the 90's had the perfect amount of everything, and there was a simplicity to things that we definitely don't have now. Gosh, don't I love it. Also, Jonathan Taylor Thomas was also my teen/90's crush!!!! And Stawberries was my very favorite music store!!! ❤❤❤❤❤

[@ParkDari]

Making mixtapes off the radio, rich kids had soda pop in their fridge. High fructose corn syrup and cheap soda ($1 per liter-2liter didn’t exist) didn’t come til later. Brooke Shields and Calvin Klein jeans.

[@michellejimenez4250]

This was your best video yet! Lol so entertaining!

[@trexxy9628]

Worth it to see Rachel fail at beatboxing because of the laugh-wheezing

[@jessicah3992]

Delia’s had stores??! I still have copies of those catalogues saved in my little y2k Time Capsule :)

[@lauratabbut2066]

Best Episode EVER! So fun to take a road trip down amnesia lane. Loved the part about browsing Blockbuster. Makes me wonder if the lack of physical browsing in stores these days leads to mental health issues, because everything is so available all the time and there is no need to be curious about what you MIGHT find through browsing.

[@TheSilverLining22]

I had a friend who’s answering machine said something and ended with “leave a message after the beep-ba-beep b-b-b-beep” 😂😎

[@beckyscott9380]

OMG! I wore JNCOS!!!! Bahahaha This is my favorite episode ever! lol

[@lisaprusakiewicz4006]

My son asked for a tech deck for Christmas this past year, so I guess they’re back in! Lol, loved the 80’s (born in 79)

[@ChristineWoodington]

The nostalgia is hitting the adults who couldn't afford it as kids, and now sucking them in now that they have disposable income to buy it.

[@troystory7389]

I'm with you George, COMP USA!

[@chelseasmith3230]

Oh I love this episode. The 90s were the best. Rachel rapping was too much 😂

[@ashleyross5874]

Favorite 90's gift- bean bag chair.

[@jillhoftiezer960]

We check DVD's out for free at the library. Blockbuster used to cost like $4 for a new release!

[@rachelanderson5325]

Ok yall are still babies in my book!

[@CountVonC4]

George! Windbreakers was the first thing that popped in my mind and to hear you say it out loud moments later made me happy down to my core. Well done!

[@shyannep5856]

We would go to radio shack and play games in the mall while mom got groceries. Loved the 90s and early 2000’s.

[@lindadorman2869]

Falling on the floor laughing when George seems surprised at being called vintage. I was born in 1960, turning 63 this year...same age as Dave. Imagine how old I feel. At this point, I'm closer to being antique. Used to work in tech innovation and I predict the demise of TV monitors. Images will just be projected onto any flat surface or a thin rollable HD screen you can take anywhere.

[@garyshan7239]

if you were a car you are an antique

[@katiebaker254]

My 11 year old is SO INTO THIS! She loves y'all! I live in Texas and she wants to go to a live event in Nashville!!

[@christina5112]

Furby!!!! Solid 90's memory haha 🤣💀

[@candy2325]

Born in 1989 and this episode was great! Remembered it all! I remember when my mom got me and my sister a Super Nintendo console when I was little at this department store called Ames 😅 it was the last one at the top shelf in the electronics department and my little butt kept jumping and down pointing up to the shelf so the employee can grab it. I miss those days!

[@sman9774]

It's not Blockbuster, but we still have an active Drive-In Theater nearby. Drive the car into the lot and watch a couple movies. Good memories.

[@dayrich]

our local movie rental place went out of business in 2022. we were one of the hand full of people still going there. i love renting movie especially at christmas time. the blockbuster building turned into a call center but still has the blue. 😢 sad times.

[@fourdayhomestead2839]

I'm from the hippy generation, but my younger kids loved the malls (& all the early tec stuff). I think it's great the '90's are coming back ..

[@sharondube1101]

I absolutely agree that we have lost something with the instant gratification that streaming everything provides. Kids today aren't learning patience and what it's like to wait for and perhaps earn something. I feel so old listening to talk about this. I was a beta tester for Netflix when they first started sending DVD's in the late 90's. I was living in Silicon Valley and a former colleague was working there. Redbox is used heavily here in Maine by people who don't have home internet and cable, or people like my brother who has kids and doesn't bring his own streaming devices when they come to visit my parents who don't have them.

[@jillcopeland8477]

I am a baby boomer and I still watch DVD's. I live out in the country and sometimes the internet goes out or they don't have movies I like. My daughter bought me a new DVD player for Christmas 😊

[@mistyanderson4910]

George I am so excited to hear that you watched you’ve got mail! That is my favorite movie and I named my dog Brinkley after Joe Fox’s dog

[@shontaduncan6072]

Rachel, you are such a shining star! 😂😂 When you're having a good laugh, it's so hilarious and adorable to see!! 😃😃😃 Makes me laugh

[@tiffany10188]

Oh my God. As soon as she asked the question about the gift, my mind went right to the pink talk back as well. 😂 I loved that gift!

[@SnowShael]

This episode has earned a Subscribe and Like. Y'all are great. This is so good. Very funny and informative.

[@MichelleNitzel-vu6ed]

I love Thursday’s when the new episodes come out! I was a 90s kid so especially loved this one 😃

[@GoldenAgeVentures]

My favorite episode, such great memories. Right there with you Rachel, I miss the 90s and all those great shows. I also still do the zig zag in my hair and get compliments every time 😂 ❤

[@lindseye2750]

1987…. Sabrina the teenage witch is on Hulu and I’ve had a blast rewatching it lol 😂

[@debbiebrophy6217]

Netfilx DVD is still around, but sadly, not for long. After our local Blockbuster store went the way of the dinosaur a few years back, I've been getting that iconic red envelope in the mail. But, a few months ago I received an email from Netflix stating that the last DVDs will be shipped out the end of September.

[@kaelaleedaley]

We're both '88 babies and are loving the 90's return! I will listen to Haddaway as much as I want 😁 xx

[@NatalieWhite-q8u]

This podcast is speaking to my soullll!!! 1990 baby here.

[@45jessiemad]

The rachel rapping message was hilarious!!! And I'm George, team backstreet boys all the way!! Went and saw them in concert back in 2019 to live out my 11 year old dreams as a 30 year old. The boys still got it!! 😂😂

[@katyedwards3935]

They were super poor back then and Dave was starting to build his wealth back up, so how'd they afford all that cool stuff?

[@jandkhilbert]

Very funny as I'm a child of the 1970s - a lot of repeats. I met my husband in 1992 and he's all I remember from the 90s 😊

[@anhbarker]

I saw white Dr. Martens at the shoe store while we were back to school shopping, and I almost fainted. Those were the ultimate footwear in middle school!!!

[@maryt7468]

This podcast is so hilarious 😂

[@bonniehalf-elven]

Geez, guys! This Boomer just graduated from a DVD player to a Blu-Ray, lol! However, I got the upgraded version that you can stream through. 😊 And beaded doorways and lava lamps were around in the 70s! I do have a lava lamp today, and I still see beaded curtains for doorways for sale.

[@dustinjohnson1410]

I was excited to find a 90s black and teal gym bag in my in laws closet. It is my go to travel bag.

[@kmj5386]

One of the top episodes yet 🫰

[@andreeanasca8216]

confession night...oh boy :)) love the vulnerability in your family Rachel

[@aprilrogers3782]

1984 here! This episode was hilarious and fantastic! 🤣

[@username9999]

There is a video store in my town that rents dvd and vhs. Its only like $3 for a 5-day rental or $5 for a 2 day rental for a new release. I used to go every week until I discovered the library. Now I borrow any movie new or old for free.

[@EdgarVerona]

In the case of toys r us, they got bought out by an investment group that sold all their most valuable assets, took out huge loans, and left it an indebted husk. It was basically legalized fraud and corporate homicide.

[@kelseygreene8807]

Born in 1991 and this episode was the greatest venture into the way back machine. Love this! ❤

[@Jessiejessieee]

1988 here!!! This episode brought back so much nostalgia.❤

[@annab524]

This was a fun episode, I was also born in 1989. Media Play was our book/movie/CD store in western New York. Alot of the items you talked about I had or remember. Good times. I feel like the 90s were a great time. Backstreet boys fan all the way George.

[@carolynmcneil9338]

Omg I’m so loving this podcast! I remember a lot of these stores. I would definitely go to blockbuster if the brought one to Florida. George I loved compusa

[@janetramirez7037]

Love this episode!! You guys are great ❤

[@whitneyspears793]

I had glow in the dark stars…also Salute Your Shorts on Nickelodeon, I also had my own line, also what about Fresh Prince…

[@shaunmeyer3202]

Awesome episode down memory lane from a fellow 90s Kid!

[@NaturalWifeyandMamaBear]

I got the Delia’s catalog too Rachel!! Oh Tommy Hilfiger, Guess, Calvin Klein and Polo Ralph Lauren 👍 did y’all have Gadzooks? Maybe was a local store in Iowa? Oh the boombox’s and cd walkmans while on road trips down to Arkansas 🎶 shoot, we still mainly buy and watch dvds! LOVED going to Blockbuster and Hollywood video!! Ahhh memories. Miss that 😔 times sure have changed. Missed the ol simpler times. Shoot, and they weren’t even the most simple times.

[@amiegamble1678]

My teen loves the Sabrina the Teenage Witch tv series and movies. We love Salem. I am 10 years older than Rachel. I am an 80s kid, but a 90s teen. I grew up with both. So I usually get all the references. Alot of it is coming back. We have butterfly clips in our bathroom drawer.

[@mightymouse9001]

Omg the beatboxing rapping is too funny!

[@sissiemay9603]

I really like this show. I make a point of watching every week. However I have to say although Lava Lamps seem nostalgic for the 90's, I actually vaguely remember lava lamps in the 70's.🤣

[@nicoleziegler1486]

I was in ‘94 and I had almost all the things listed haha! Most of it was still popular in the early 2000’s. I live 20 min from the last blockbuster 😆. You’ve got mail is the best!

[@allieb1381]

My kid watched Matilda last night and loved it 👏👏

[@bryan_witha_whyy]

The hack on Blockbuster was to rent it on Thursday before the rush.

[@lisajackson1650]

Love this podcast

[@jmromero08]

Redbox is great deal still today! $2 for Blu-ray compared to $6 streaming rental. Pick up at grocery store

[@Kris-pw4gp]

Great episode! You both made me laugh so hard. I think the two of you should come up with a Happy Hour rap (that would be hysterical)! I wonder if the increase in bankruptcies and decrease in savings was because of the beginning of overspending...Just wondering...

[@joshuawilliams5243]

1989, y’all!!! You brought back so much nostalgia!

[@keithpeterson6170]

‘87 baby right here, I can still hear the dial up internet and remember the Charlotte Hornets Jacket!

[@WritingFearlessly]

Oh my God!! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 I can’t with the message !!

[@annetawney2408]

Had the same reaction as Rachel about Sports Authority. I had no idea it was gone!!

[@andiclemenza6476]

This is my favorite podcast

[@mombetweentwo7679]

I love the laughing I am with you! i was one of those tomboys! Hahaha

[@cmak1212]

My 2007 daughter like Mary Kate and Ashley movie for a hot minute when she was 8 or 10 lol. Your kids may like it, Rachel.

[@Jaythatdrainguy]

We still got Toys r Us up in Canada

[@kathymiglio8196]

Great show. Love the 90s. I remember Strawberry clothing store & KB toys.

[@wakeupstylellc]

Im over here with an iPhone 8 😅… my family still uses Redbox. They don’t have internet or streaming services. They also thrift dvds so they have an extensive library of movie fun.

[@Tel934]

😂😂😂😂 I'm HERE for the partyline rap

[@libbysworld7649]

It's Rachel's rap for me!

[@jennysaechao7006]

86’ here and Omgah this episode was hilarious!