Instead of grinding forever for gold to buy the pet cheerleaders and equipment, fight for a bit till you get +100G then go to llama fights. Now make sure you DO NOT HAVE AUTOSAVE on (turn this off in the options) and place all your gold on one of the llama (I usually bet on the Evil Llama).
If you win, instant profit. If you lose just reload your save and try again. You'll be ballin' in no time!
I thought I didn't get the badge either but I left it on to get the phone and when I came back I got it.
Try waiting for a few min and see if you guys get the badge.
This game is requires a bit of luck; I used the same tactics twice and the first time I was short 3k and the next time I had a surplus of 7k.
All depends on if the units spawn enough.