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Speaker 1: You're listening to a Muma Mea podcast.

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Speaker 2: Mumma Mea acknowledges the traditional owners of land and waters

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Speaker 2: that this podcast is recorded on.

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Speaker 3: Hi.

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Speaker 2: I'm Claire Murphy. This is Mumma MEA's twice daily news podcast.

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Speaker 1: The Quickie. How's Your Cause? He lives?

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Speaker 2: Christmas shaping up For many of us, a belt tightening

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Speaker 2: is on the cards this festive season, with budgets impacted

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Speaker 2: by rising grocery prices, insurance premiums, and increased rents and

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Speaker 2: mortgage repayments.

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Speaker 4: No one's getting a Christmas present from me this year

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Speaker 4: and here's why.

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Speaker 1: I'm just skinn't made quite.

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Speaker 2: Frankly, So how do we manage our budgets when we

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Speaker 2: really want to celebrate but also need to be mindful

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Speaker 2: of money? Today we speak to someone who's learned how

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Speaker 2: to restrain their gift giving urgeres, someone who can help

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Speaker 2: us cook up a delicious Chrissymea without going broke, and

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Speaker 2: a financial expert who can explain how we can still

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Speaker 2: get ahead this year, but can also set ourselves up

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Speaker 2: for twenty twenty five, starting right now, but first or

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Speaker 2: Latest from the Quikie Newsroom, Monday twenty five the father

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Speaker 2: of Bianka Jones, one of the two Ozsi teens who

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Speaker 2: died after consuming tainted drinks in Lao while on holiday,

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Speaker 2: has urged local governments to act and stop this from

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Speaker 2: happening to other families. Bianca and her friend Holly were

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Speaker 2: spending time in the popular tourist town of vang Vang

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Speaker 2: when they consumed drinks lace with methanol. They were rushed

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Speaker 2: to hospitals in Thailand, but have since sadly both passed away.

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Speaker 2: The tainted alcohol is now believed to be behind the

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Speaker 2: deaths of six people, including two Danish backpackers who'd messaged

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Speaker 2: a friend to say they'd been throwing up blood before

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Speaker 2: they both were found dead, or had been drinking at

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Speaker 2: the hostel where they'd been staying. The hostel owner has

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Speaker 2: since been taken in for questioning. Mark Jones, Bianca's dad,

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Speaker 2: is calling on the government in Lao to investigate to

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Speaker 2: the fullest extent to make sure this doesn't happen again,

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Speaker 2: saying he hopes the loss of their beautiful girl has

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Speaker 2: not been in vain. One hundred and seventy people who

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Speaker 2: arrested this weekend after staging an on water protest in

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Speaker 2: Newcastle Harbor. The protesters in kayaks and other small watercraft

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Speaker 2: took to the ocean Sunday morning to stop the movement

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Speaker 2: of ships carrying coal out of port. Organizers warning those

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Speaker 2: who chose to be involved that they might be arrested

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Speaker 2: if they entered the shipping channel. Police taking the more

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Speaker 2: than one hundred and fifty activists, including fourteen children, into custody.

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Speaker 2: The Rising Tide movement has declared the action of success,

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Speaker 2: forcing a bolt carrier to turn around and not enter

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Speaker 2: the port and all other shipping temporarily paused. Former Sokkaru

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Speaker 2: Craig Foster was amongst them, saying he thought it was

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Speaker 2: time to take more physical action against climate change. Hesbola

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Speaker 2: in Lebanon are firing rockets into Tel Aviv, a day

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Speaker 2: after Israel fired into Beirut, killing twenty nine people. The

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Speaker 2: increase in military activity between the two countries comes as

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Speaker 2: progress seemed to be made in the US led ceasefire talks.

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Speaker 2: The IDF had warned on social media they were planning

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Speaker 2: to target Hesbola facilities in southern Bea route before the strikes,

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Speaker 2: which security officials in Lebanon say hit two apartment blocks,

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Speaker 2: homes the IDF claims were Hesbola command centers deliberately embedded

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Speaker 2: between civilian buildings. Meanwhile, the IDF has issued evacuation orders

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Speaker 2: for Shajaia in eastern Gaza, sending off a new wave

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Speaker 2: of displacement. They claimed Palestinian militants had been firing rockets

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Speaker 2: from the heavily built up district, targeting an Israeli army

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Speaker 2: base over the border. Remember when the Barbie and Oppenheimer

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Speaker 2: movies came out on the same day and we were

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Speaker 2: in the era of Barbenheimer. Well, there's a new duo

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Speaker 2: in town, and it's officially Glicked season. Wicked and Gladiated

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Speaker 2: Too both released this week, taking huge amounts of money

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Speaker 2: at the box office in the US. Wicked took home

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Speaker 2: one hundred and fourteen million dollars, with Gladiator making fifty

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Speaker 2: five million, making Wicked the winner in this two horse race,

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Speaker 2: but also giving it the title of the best opening

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Speaker 2: for a Broadway film adaptation, taking the record from Into

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Speaker 2: the Woods. Wicked is now the third biggest US debut

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Speaker 2: this year, behind Deadpool and Wolverine and Inside Out Too.

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Speaker 2: That's your latest news headlines. Next, let's get ready for

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Speaker 2: a cozy lips Christmas. The cost of living crisis is

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Speaker 2: reshaping how people around the world will be approaching Christmas

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Speaker 2: this year.

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Speaker 4: I'm worrying about buying all of this party food when

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Speaker 4: in reality a lot of people can't actually afford their

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Speaker 4: regular food, their food shop of the week. You can't

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Speaker 4: give what you don't have, So even my boyfriend will

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Speaker 4: be getting a giant lump of coal on Christmas Day,

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Speaker 4: and I'm joking.

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Speaker 1: I will be the present and that should be enough,

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Speaker 1: do you know what I mean?

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Speaker 2: Recent research from Fifth Quadrant shows Australians at tightening their

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Speaker 2: Christmas budgets considerably. In twenty twenty four. The average planned

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Speaker 2: expenditure on gifts has dropped by eleven percent from six

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Speaker 2: hundred and twenty one dollars in twenty twenty three to

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Speaker 2: five hundred and fifty two. This cautious approach is reflected

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Speaker 2: in budgeting behavior, with thirty two percent of Australians now

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Speaker 2: setting strict holiday budgets, up from twenty three percent last year.

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Speaker 2: The financial Australiana is also pushing many Australians to work

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Speaker 2: additional hours to afford the festive season, with over half

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Speaker 2: of working age Australians taking on or are considering taking

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Speaker 2: on additional work. Ninety three percent of those say the

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Speaker 2: cost of living crisis is the key reason. So how

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Speaker 2: do we deal with Christmas, a time of year notorious

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Speaker 2: for splurging, when we're also experiencing a cost of living crisis? Well,

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Speaker 2: we get smart about it. Roy Morgan data shows that

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Speaker 2: fifty three percent of shoppers have already purchased the bulk

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Speaker 2: of their Christmas gifts by mid October, indicating a more

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Speaker 2: planned approach to Christmas spending this year. And that's what

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Speaker 2: Jodie Allen, the woman behind the website Stay at Home Mum, does.

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Speaker 2: She says she gets in early with the sales and

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Speaker 2: gets that big ticket item squared away for gifts.

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Speaker 5: This year, I did all the Black Friday sales and

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Speaker 5: I also purchase gifts all the way through the year

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Speaker 5: so that I don't have that big bill just before

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Speaker 5: you're going into Christmas. I've two boys. It really depends

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Speaker 5: on what they need, and I must admit as they

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Speaker 5: get older, their gifts are more expensive, because that's just

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Speaker 5: seems to be the way it does go. So for Christmas,

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Speaker 5: they always get a book each, they get socks and

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Speaker 5: jocks each and then they get one big ish present.

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Speaker 5: So this year I got the mcgarm and watch each

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Speaker 5: they need it for their mountain bike riding. I've got

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Speaker 5: it fifty percent off, so both of them get exactly

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Speaker 5: the same and we try and keep it just minimal.

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Speaker 5: They don't need thirty presents.

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Speaker 3: Well.

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Speaker 2: The Black Friday sales are technically supposed to be from

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Speaker 2: November twenty nine, they've already started for many retailers, especially online,

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Speaker 2: and our Muma mea team have put together some incredible

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Speaker 2: list of things like the best secret Sandy gives for

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Speaker 2: under fifty bucks, some great budget ideas for teacher gifts.

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Speaker 2: If you have a tween into skincare, Aaron Doherty has

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Speaker 2: a list of Black Friday deals to suit them and you.

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Speaker 2: Len Kelly from Muma MEAs You Beauty podcast have also

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Speaker 2: shared their favorites, and Tam has put together some excellent

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Speaker 2: fashion pieces on sale for the festive season two and

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Speaker 2: you can find all the links to those in our

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Speaker 2: show notes. Aside from gifts, food is another big dollar

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Speaker 2: drainer this time of year, with hams in the hundreds

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Speaker 2: and all the trimmings adding up. How do we get

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Speaker 2: a handle on budgeting for food when we've been struggling

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Speaker 2: to get groceries on the table throughout the year. Steph

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Speaker 2: de Susa is an author and content creator known because

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Speaker 2: the frugal foodie. Steph, Can we start with the Christmas

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Speaker 2: staples like the ham and the turkey? They can sometimes

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Speaker 2: cost quite a bit. How do we budget on the

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Speaker 2: main meats?

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Speaker 6: Oh?

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Speaker 3: Look, this is tough because we all want to have

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Speaker 3: that big, spectacular turkey or the big half leg of

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Speaker 3: ham on the table and it's fabulous to look at

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Speaker 3: in the friege and it looks really advance, it really beautiful,

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Speaker 3: but you know what, we don't actually need it. And

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Speaker 3: I think this is what we need to remember this year.

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Speaker 3: Like things are tough, people don't have as much money.

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Speaker 3: You need to really remember who you are catering for,

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Speaker 3: how many people you're catering for, and bring it right

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Speaker 3: that you don't.

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Speaker 7: Need leftovers for a week.

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Speaker 3: It's a one meal on one day, and I know

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Speaker 3: it's nice to have a little bit of leftovers. So

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Speaker 3: for example, if you're having two proteins for Christmas, such

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Speaker 3: let's say turkey and ham, you need to remember that

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Speaker 3: people aren't having a whole set of turkey, and they're

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Speaker 3: not having a whole set of ham.

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Speaker 7: You're kind of going to have a little bit of boat.

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Speaker 3: And then you've got all of these fabulous size that

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Speaker 3: people want to eat as well. So I would say

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Speaker 3: my biggest tip would be pair it right back and

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Speaker 3: think about when you go to a restaurant, those chefs

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Speaker 3: would think about two hundred and fifty to three hundred

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Speaker 3: grands of protein per person.

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Speaker 6: If you're thinking in terms of that, if you're buying

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Speaker 6: a five qo ham for ten people, it's a little

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Speaker 6: over the top.

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Speaker 2: Well that's the thing, isn't it, Steph, Because we all

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Speaker 2: eat ourselves into some kind of food coma every Christmas

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Speaker 2: and then.

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Speaker 1: We regret it.

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Speaker 2: But the thing is we don't actually have to do that, right,

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Speaker 2: So maybe instead of a whole hand, we could maybe

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Speaker 2: go get some slices of ham from the deli, or

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Speaker 2: maybe instead of a whole turkey we get a turkey

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Speaker 2: roll or something. It just kind of downsize.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, absolutely, And there are so many options.

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Speaker 3: And the other thing is these things have really long

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Speaker 3: used by particularly the frozen items, and it's preserved so

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Speaker 3: it has a really long.

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Speaker 7: Use by date.

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Speaker 3: Right, So what are we now, five weeks out from Christmas,

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Speaker 3: I think we could be buying some of those things

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Speaker 3: once a week and popping them in the freezer, and

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Speaker 3: so when it comes to the week before, we're not

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Speaker 3: having that massive.

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Speaker 7: Big grocery bilt. It doesn't hurt quite so much.

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Speaker 2: What about things like prawns and seafood and things like that,

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Speaker 2: things that you can't really buy that far out.

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Speaker 6: You know, right, you can in Australia because of our regulations. Pawns,

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Speaker 6: for example, all pawns are frozen on those pawn toilers.

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Speaker 7: Before they even come in.

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Speaker 6: They have to be snap frozen in order to meet

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Speaker 6: food Safe to regulations. So every torn in Australia has

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Speaker 6: already been frozen. So if you're buying a box of

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Speaker 6: beautiful fresh Australian tiger porns in the freezer now and

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Speaker 6: popping them in there and pulling them out a day

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Speaker 6: before Christmas in defrosting them, they are going to be

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Speaker 6: just as delicious as they are if you're buying them

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Speaker 6: from the seafood.

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Speaker 7: Section the day before Christmas.

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Speaker 6: So just remember that you don't have to buy them

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Speaker 6: necessarily there.

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Speaker 2: And then okay, what about some other alternatives that are

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Speaker 2: good budget busters for the Christmas dinner. What other suggestions

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Speaker 2: do you have?

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Speaker 7: Chicken? You don't need to eat a turkey.

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Speaker 3: You can eat a chicken, and chickens are incredibly affordable.

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Speaker 7: You know.

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Speaker 3: One of my tricks for Christmas is instead of buying

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Speaker 3: one big turkey or one massive chicken.

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Speaker 7: I'll buy two or three little one.

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Speaker 3: That way, you get all the legs, you get all

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Speaker 3: the wings, you get all the good bits, and you

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Speaker 3: get more of them because you know everybody fights over

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Speaker 3: the legs and the wings, right because they're the best

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Speaker 3: bits of the chicken. So buy smaller ones, cook a

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Speaker 3: couple of them. You get more stuff in because you

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Speaker 3: get stuff too.

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Speaker 7: Serve one.

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Speaker 3: I think that's a really handy budget tip.

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Speaker 7: You don't have to go for the big, expensive turkey.

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Speaker 7: Everybody loves the roast chicken.

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Speaker 2: What about all the sides, because we do like to

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Speaker 2: go a little bit all out where you have salad,

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Speaker 2: some people do veggies. We will have a range of sauces. Like,

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Speaker 2: what's a good way to make sure we don't go

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Speaker 2: over the top with that stuff?

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Speaker 3: I think go over the top with the size. If

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Speaker 3: you're going to go over the top with anything. The

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Speaker 3: sides are the key because they're the least expensive things

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Speaker 3: that are going to be more affordable for you.

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Speaker 7: So things like potatoes. Potatoes are really inexpensive.

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Speaker 3: Make a heap of them, and potatoes a fantastic heating

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Speaker 3: up the next day.

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Speaker 7: You can put them in a protata, you can heat

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Speaker 7: them up.

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Speaker 3: In the Airfroyn. They're just as delicious the next day.

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Speaker 3: I think go all out, probably with your salads. Make

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Speaker 3: sure you pull them back a little bit because they're

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Speaker 3: not as a great the next day. Or with a salad,

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Speaker 3: if you're making a big salad, maybe just dress half

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Speaker 3: of it, pull half of it aside, dress half of it,

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Speaker 3: keep people dressing on the side. That way, if there's

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Speaker 3: too much, you can actually reuse that the next day.

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Speaker 6: The other thing is five things that are in season.

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Speaker 6: So for example, this time of year, you've got all

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Speaker 6: the beautiful stone fruit, You've got beautiful berries.

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Speaker 7: They're at their peak right now.

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Speaker 3: They're the most delicious and they are the cheapest they

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Speaker 3: are ever going to be this timey is so use

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Speaker 3: those things and use a lot of them because they're

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Speaker 3: going to be more beautiful and they're going to save

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Speaker 3: your money.

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Speaker 2: So Steph, I guess the final piece of the Christmas

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Speaker 2: dinner puzzle is dessert. What's the most cost effective suite?

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Speaker 8: The best cost effective dessert is probably the pathover, because

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Speaker 8: to make a really big padlover or you need is

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Speaker 8: six eggs and one on three quarter cups of sugar,

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Speaker 8: a little bit of corn flow, a little bit.

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Speaker 3: Of vinegar, a little bit of vanilla essence, and you

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Speaker 3: can make a padlover that's probably big enough for eight people.

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Speaker 7: The Noly you needed some wit crements.

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Speaker 3: And berries, like really really budget bridly in an expensive

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Speaker 3: and super easy toad.

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Speaker 2: Okay, so thinking maybe you might be a bit beyond

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Speaker 2: getting the finances sorted for Christmas twenty twenty four, Well

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Speaker 2: what if we told you it's not too late. Mel

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Speaker 2: Brown is a former accountant and financial advisor who knows

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Speaker 2: what it takes to get back on track financially. Mel,

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Speaker 2: you've had to come back from making a bit of

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Speaker 2: a mistake with your money a few years back. How

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Speaker 2: did you handle that first Christmas when you were really struggling?

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Speaker 9: It was really tough, and I remember I had to

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Speaker 9: move into a frat house with five mates, and the

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Speaker 9: good thing is we were all in a very similar position.

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Speaker 9: So we just made the decision not to buy Christmas

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Speaker 9: presents for each other and instead to bring a plate

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Speaker 9: to cook Christmas lunch together.

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Speaker 1: And that was our Christmas present to each other. And

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Speaker 1: I've got to be honest, it was one of the

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Speaker 1: best Christmases. I've had.

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Speaker 9: Nothing to unwrap, but just that camaraderie was just amazing.

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Speaker 9: To family, I went to them and said, let's do

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Speaker 9: Chris Kringle. It cannot afford to buy you all a

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Speaker 9: present this year. And we've done that ever since.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we shifted to Chris Kringle a few years back,

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Speaker 2: and it has been a game changer for the finances.

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Speaker 1: That's for sure. We don't need it. We just have

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Speaker 1: enough stuff exactly right.

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Speaker 2: Okay, well, let's talk about setting ourselves up for this

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Speaker 2: Christmas in particular, because you know, we're a month out,

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Speaker 2: so what can we realistically do in four odd weeks

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Speaker 2: to get ourselves ready financially for twenty twenty four.

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Speaker 9: Yeah, So think about how much you are able to spend,

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Speaker 9: not how much you'd like to spend, but are able

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Speaker 9: to spend. So figure out that dollar figure and figure

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Speaker 9: out how many people you have to buy Christmas presents

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Speaker 9: for and ask yourself, can that honestly extend to that

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Speaker 9: many people. If it can't, maybe have a conversation and

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Speaker 9: do a secret stander or do a Chris Kringle. If

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Speaker 9: you can extend it, then I mean Black Friday cells

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Speaker 9: and there's so many sales that are on at the moment,

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Speaker 9: so maybe use that opportunity to find presents cheaply or else.

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Speaker 9: I'm such a fan of free gifting. I have a

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Speaker 9: covered full of stuff that I've been given. This is

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Speaker 9: your opportunity to pass that on. And I know people

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Speaker 9: look at that a bit, Oh, you know, you're a cheapskate.

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Speaker 9: I look at it as you're being frugal and you're recycling,

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Speaker 9: and it's a really sustainable way of thinking about Christmas.

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Speaker 2: I did also see a lot of people using their

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Speaker 2: recycling to make Christmas decorations this year, so like insides

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Speaker 2: of toilet rolls and old strips of wrapping paper that

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Speaker 2: they kept from last year. So the recycling part of

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Speaker 2: it is actually I think quite importantly tied into budgeting.

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Speaker 9: Right definitely, And if you've got kids and they've done

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Speaker 9: art during the year, use that to wrap the Christmas

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Speaker 9: presents up. Get them involved to make Christmas cards or

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Speaker 9: I've been doing this for a decade now, use newspaper

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Speaker 9: or use.

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Speaker 1: Paper that you already have that you collect and.

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Speaker 9: Use that to wrap up presents and then I just

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Speaker 9: scrawl on text on the paper because we don't keep cards.

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Speaker 9: So it's bringing that environmental lens to your saving money

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Speaker 9: as well.

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Speaker 2: Okay, so that's for this Christmas. What about setting ourselves

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Speaker 2: up for next Christmas? And I know a lot of

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Speaker 2: the time there's a discussion about, you know, just start

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Speaker 2: putting away five dollars a week now and then you

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Speaker 2: have x amount by the time you get there. But honestly,

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Speaker 2: I don't think about it until November meil, and I

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Speaker 2: need someone to put things in place so that maybe

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Speaker 2: I don't have to think about it, or maybe it

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Speaker 2: takes care of itself so I don't have to go,

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Speaker 2: oh down, I forgot to put that five dollars away

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Speaker 2: this week.

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Speaker 9: One set up a bank account, call it Christmas and

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Speaker 9: automatically transfer that five ten bucks a week. That way

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Speaker 9: you're not seeing it. You are not going to miss

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Speaker 9: ten bucks a week or even twenty dollars a week.

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Speaker 9: But twenty dollars a week is a thousand bucks Christmas time,

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Speaker 9: So think about it that way of apt as the

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Speaker 9: bank to yourself.

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Speaker 1: The second thing you could do was use.

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Speaker 9: A shop like or cash rewards site and then choose

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Speaker 9: not to use or download that money from that site

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Speaker 9: until Christmas. And that might be one hundred bucks or

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Speaker 9: a few hundred bucks that just ticks away, and that

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Speaker 9: acts as a bank account for you, and that's found money.

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Speaker 7: You don't even have to think about it.

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Speaker 2: What do you think about rewards programs?

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Speaker 1: I don't love points rewards programs.

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Speaker 9: So credit cards points for example, research shows that if

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Speaker 9: we have a credit card, we'll spend eighteen percent more

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Speaker 9: than if we don't use a credit card, So that's

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Speaker 9: an artificial overspend to get the rewards. But something like

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Speaker 9: a cashback or something where I'm already shopping at that

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Speaker 9: store and I happen to be rewarded for that, that

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Speaker 9: for me is a far bigger win.

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Speaker 2: What about these apps for investing money, like small scale investing,

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Speaker 2: like a raise or something like that, where it can

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Speaker 2: make you money over the year.

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Speaker 9: Yeah, so if you are doing roundup inside an app,

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Speaker 9: it can be a beautiful way of investing without you

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Speaker 9: feeling like you are risking your own money.

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Speaker 1: So I think that is a beautiful way of starting

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Speaker 1: to invest.

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Speaker 9: Without you feeling like you're putting hundreds of dollars of

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Speaker 9: your own money.

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Speaker 1: You know, even if you can't afford to.

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Speaker 9: Invest anything, then using roundup or using cash back inside

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Speaker 9: and app can be a beautiful way to start investing

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Speaker 9: without feeling like you've.

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Speaker 1: Got that risk.

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Speaker 2: And just for those who want to wear round up

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Speaker 2: is when you spend and then it rounds it up

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Speaker 2: to the next like whole dollar, and then invest. It

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Speaker 2: could be like I don't know, fifty cents or whatever

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Speaker 2: and it chucks that in.

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Speaker 9: Yeah, it's exactly right. It's like a shot back but

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Speaker 9: inside the app. Or I'm a fan of using something

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Speaker 9: like shopback or cash rewards and then redrawing the money

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Speaker 9: and then using that to invest or for Christmas instead?

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Speaker 2: How does finally mail? You are running a cost less

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Speaker 2: Christmas advent calendar on your website this year? Do you

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Speaker 2: want to tell people what that's about?

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Speaker 9: So it's twenty four days of tips delivered free tier

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Speaker 9: inbox designed to help Christmas cost you less financially, environmentally,

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Speaker 9: or emotionally. Three big areas that will absolutely trip us

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Speaker 9: up somewhere along the silly season, and so it's about

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Speaker 9: bringing those dollars back into your pocket.

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Speaker 2: For anyone feeling a bit of financial panic or mum

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Speaker 2: guilt or stress over prepping and planning for Christmas this year,

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Speaker 2: I'll leave you with this important message from Thriving with

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Speaker 2: Hannah on TikTok.

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Speaker 10: Owning a game's console is not human right, same implies

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Speaker 10: for designer clothes. Buying secondhand is fine. If your kid

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Speaker 10: doesn't get everything on their list, you're not about parent.

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Speaker 10: What your child will carry with them for the rest

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Speaker 10: of their life is the vibe of your home, the energy,

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Speaker 10: the happiness, the love and care. So if you're struggling

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Speaker 10: for money this year and you are worrying that somehow

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Speaker 10: it's going to impact your child in a negative way,

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Speaker 10: the best thing you can do for your child is

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Speaker 10: to make yourself as calm and as happy a parent

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Speaker 10: as possible. Give them your time, love and attention, playing

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Speaker 10: a ball game with them, or playing a console game

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Speaker 10: with them if you've already got one, letting them do

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Speaker 10: a makeover on you, reading to them. All of that

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Speaker 10: stuff is so much more valuable than any sort of

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Speaker 10: materialistic stuff.

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Speaker 2: Thanks for taking the time to feed your mind with

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Speaker 2: us today. The quickie is produced by me Claire Murphy

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Speaker 2: and our executive producer Taylorstrano, with audio production by Tiegan Sadler,