WEBVTT - How to trim your costs this Christmas 0:00:05.830 --> 0:00:08.920 Hello and welcome to It All Adds Up the podcast 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:11.020 where we chat about money, how to get it, how 0:00:11.020 --> 0:00:13.750 to spend it and how to invest it. I'm senior 0:00:13.750 --> 0:00:15.670 economics writer Jess Irvine. 0:00:15.910 --> 0:00:18.369 And I'm money and a dumb pal. And just as 0:00:18.370 --> 0:00:22.540 Michael Bublé once said in his 2011 Christmas album, it's 0:00:22.540 --> 0:00:24.130 beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. 0:00:24.210 --> 0:00:26.079 It is. Did he sing it or did he croon it? 0:00:27.020 --> 0:00:28.780 He crooned it. He definitely crooned it. 0:00:29.260 --> 0:00:31.240 He's a bit of a creator. I love it. He's 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:34.150 hitting me up in the mail. My Spotify ads seem 0:00:34.150 --> 0:00:35.530 to be Bublé related. 0:00:35.920 --> 0:00:37.989 On that note, this episode today does have a bit 0:00:37.990 --> 0:00:39.790 of a Christmas Eve theme because we're going to talk 0:00:39.790 --> 0:00:42.099 about how you can save a bit of money around 0:00:42.100 --> 0:00:44.920 the festive season in all sort of different shapes and 0:00:44.920 --> 0:00:47.920 sizes and forms. And just if you bought your Christmas 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:49.690 gifts yet, are you an early gift buyer? 0:00:50.470 --> 0:00:52.600 I've done a bit of it. I'd love to. I'd 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:54.760 love to say that I did what I gave advice 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:56.410 to everyone to do, which was to sort of buy 0:00:56.410 --> 0:00:58.630 everything in the Black Friday sales. And I do have 0:00:58.630 --> 0:01:01.260 a friend who sort of that weekend said, I'm done. 0:01:01.270 --> 0:01:03.639 I've bought every single, single gift that I needed that 0:01:03.640 --> 0:01:06.009 sort of half price off. And I did not do that. 0:01:07.090 --> 0:01:09.280 I have I'm not sure about the average age of 0:01:09.280 --> 0:01:11.979 the listeners of our podcast, but I am in close 0:01:11.980 --> 0:01:15.700 contact with Santa because I have a son. And so 0:01:15.700 --> 0:01:18.970 we're in direct liaison in terms of what goods will 0:01:18.970 --> 0:01:21.339 be delivered from the North Pole this year and which 0:01:21.340 --> 0:01:25.149 ones I'm directly responsible for, for getting in. There's still 0:01:25.150 --> 0:01:28.630 some last minute requests coming in. So managing that flow, 0:01:30.040 --> 0:01:32.830 that's where I'm at. So I've bought a few things, 0:01:33.220 --> 0:01:35.170 got a few things I need to tell Santa still 0:01:35.170 --> 0:01:38.080 to procure. But how about you? 0:01:38.140 --> 0:01:41.350 I'm a really terrible gift buyer. Like, I'm. I'm like, 0:01:42.010 --> 0:01:44.290 you know, sorry to my family who does listen to 0:01:44.290 --> 0:01:46.630 this podcast, but I'm like a real last minute, sort 0:01:46.630 --> 0:01:49.150 of like, you know what? What do I get this year? 0:01:49.150 --> 0:01:50.470 I feel like I've been actually a little bit better 0:01:50.470 --> 0:01:52.840 than usual. Like, sometimes I will quite literally do things 0:01:52.840 --> 0:01:55.480 like the last week, like you'll see me at High Point, like, 0:01:55.480 --> 0:01:58.180 you know, roaming around trying to find gifts. But I've 0:01:58.180 --> 0:01:59.800 been I've been a little bit better this year. I've 0:01:59.800 --> 0:02:01.780 got I've got my gifts sort of planned out. I'm 0:02:01.780 --> 0:02:02.650 feeling I'm feeling good. 0:02:03.130 --> 0:02:06.100 Yeah. I have actually followed what is our first piece 0:02:06.100 --> 0:02:08.859 of advice about sort of gift giving and managing costs, 0:02:08.860 --> 0:02:12.339 which is to talk about it with your family and friends. 0:02:12.340 --> 0:02:16.030 So I've actually this year I have texted a couple 0:02:16.030 --> 0:02:18.460 of my girlfriends, we've got a group chat, there's two 0:02:18.460 --> 0:02:21.250 of us. And I said, Oh, I'll tell people. I'll 0:02:21.250 --> 0:02:23.140 just read it out from my phone because I think 0:02:23.139 --> 0:02:26.440 that's helpful. The sort of the phraseology about this was 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:27.850 my way of telling them, Hey, I'm not going to 0:02:27.850 --> 0:02:30.070 spend a lot of money on you this Christmas. I 0:02:30.070 --> 0:02:32.919 said it in a really nice way. I said, Hello, lovelies. 0:02:33.130 --> 0:02:35.619 Heads up. I'll be buying you both a little Christmas 0:02:35.620 --> 0:02:40.239 present this year in the modest $25 range. Santa's emoji, 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:41.560 Smiley face emoji. 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:44.050 So that's it? That's perfect. That's exactly what you want 0:02:44.050 --> 0:02:44.410 to do. 0:02:44.650 --> 0:02:47.930 Nothing says love more than a specific monetary value to me. 0:02:47.930 --> 0:02:49.750 Yeah, and a couple of emojis. 0:02:50.020 --> 0:02:52.640 And a couple of emoji. And so that was well received. 0:02:52.639 --> 0:02:54.670 They like, Oh, thanks for letting me know. Yeah, I'll. 0:02:54.740 --> 0:02:56.530 I'll do the same for you. So you sort of 0:02:56.530 --> 0:02:59.320 just telegraph ahead of time because I did have some 0:02:59.500 --> 0:03:03.340 aukey's situations last year where people have bought me presents 0:03:03.340 --> 0:03:06.820 and I hadn't bought presents for them yet. So making 0:03:06.820 --> 0:03:08.800 a list, figuring out who you're actually going to buy 0:03:08.800 --> 0:03:11.020 gifts for is a great place to start, isn't it? 0:03:11.050 --> 0:03:13.060 Yeah, absolutely. And I think, as you mentioned, this is 0:03:13.060 --> 0:03:14.770 sort of, you know, what we're going to talk about 0:03:14.770 --> 0:03:17.050 in terms of some sort of ideas for you to say, 0:03:17.050 --> 0:03:19.660 because it is it's been a hard year and it's 0:03:19.660 --> 0:03:21.970 been a hard few years and there's a few things 0:03:21.970 --> 0:03:23.829 going on in the world. I don't know anyone's noticed, 0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:25.630 but there's a couple of things that are happening. And 0:03:25.630 --> 0:03:27.490 this means that we don't have as much money as 0:03:27.490 --> 0:03:30.279 we may have had in previous years. We won't get 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:31.960 into it. You know, there's a lot of a lot 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:34.930 of things, but generally that means that we're approaching Christmas 0:03:34.930 --> 0:03:36.700 and people probably have a little less cash in their 0:03:36.700 --> 0:03:39.250 pocket than they might usually. So I think there is 0:03:39.250 --> 0:03:40.840 a few things that you can do to sort of 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:42.910 sort of mitigate that or sort of get ahead of that. 0:03:42.910 --> 0:03:45.070 But yeah, as I was just sort of mentioned, just 0:03:45.070 --> 0:03:47.260 talking about it, I like, you know, I'm I'm blessed 0:03:47.260 --> 0:03:48.730 by the fact that I've only got a very small 0:03:48.730 --> 0:03:50.350 group of people that I buy gifts for, like it's 0:03:50.350 --> 0:03:52.780 pretty much my immediate family and that's it. So I 0:03:52.780 --> 0:03:54.880 don't really have to do sort of the awkward like, oh, 0:03:55.090 --> 0:03:56.650 is my cousin going to get me get me a 0:03:56.650 --> 0:03:58.150 gift this year, anything like that. But I know a 0:03:58.150 --> 0:03:59.920 lot of people do. So it is worth one of 0:03:59.920 --> 0:04:01.570 those things that it's sort of worth, you know, getting 0:04:01.570 --> 0:04:03.100 ahead of and chatting about now. 0:04:03.280 --> 0:04:05.740 Yeah. And I feel like the conversation this year is 0:04:05.740 --> 0:04:08.920 pretty different because everyone knows we've all been smashed by 0:04:08.920 --> 0:04:12.790 the cost of living, by interest rates going up, rents 0:04:12.790 --> 0:04:15.370 going up. I feel like there's a different context for 0:04:15.370 --> 0:04:18.039 this Christmas to be able to say, Hey, look, my 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:20.500 budget is tight. There's just actually I haven't got a 0:04:20.500 --> 0:04:22.360 lot of room in the in the budget this year 0:04:22.360 --> 0:04:26.679 to do extravagant gifts. But I'm really looking forward to 0:04:26.680 --> 0:04:28.900 spending time with you. And I'd also love to get 0:04:28.900 --> 0:04:31.270 you something. But you know, it's going to be that 0:04:31.300 --> 0:04:34.810 more modest price range. But hey, what's Christmas about anyway? 0:04:34.810 --> 0:04:37.270 It's not about gifts that are going to put me 0:04:37.810 --> 0:04:40.810 into bankruptcy. You know, like I feel like there's room 0:04:40.810 --> 0:04:43.390 to have a new and conversation about it and an 0:04:43.390 --> 0:04:46.930 open and honest one. And it's better to have that conversation. 0:04:46.930 --> 0:04:49.750 And I think you might be actually met by relief 0:04:49.750 --> 0:04:52.450 if you are the one that initiates that. Yeah, because 0:04:52.450 --> 0:04:53.409 everyone's feeling it. 0:04:53.740 --> 0:04:56.380 Yeah, absolutely. And also stop. So situations where someone might 0:04:56.380 --> 0:04:59.440 get you like a really generous gift and you'd be like, 0:04:59.440 --> 0:05:02.800 I just got them like, you know Pam from Coles or. 0:05:02.860 --> 0:05:04.969 Something like that. I don't know. It sort of prevents 0:05:04.990 --> 0:05:07.270 a situations where there might be a really awkward mismatch 0:05:07.270 --> 0:05:08.860 in sort of the level of of money you've spent 0:05:08.950 --> 0:05:09.910 on someone to have. 0:05:09.910 --> 0:05:12.250 A chat about it with your people that you're going 0:05:12.250 --> 0:05:13.210 to give presents to. 0:05:14.650 --> 0:05:16.500 And then once you do actually get to the to 0:05:16.510 --> 0:05:20.349 the gift giving stage, there's multiple different ways and different 0:05:20.350 --> 0:05:23.170 forms that gifts can can bring. Like obviously we're all 0:05:23.170 --> 0:05:25.599 fairly conditioned into, I think, you know, the standard gifts 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:29.620 of material objects and, you know, the various different sizes 0:05:29.620 --> 0:05:31.870 and expenses and all that sort of stuff. But, you know, 0:05:31.900 --> 0:05:34.780 it's broad and vast to the world of gift giving. Yes, it. 0:05:34.779 --> 0:05:38.589 Is. You've got to think laterally, Open your minds. And 0:05:38.830 --> 0:05:42.099 my favorite piece of gift giving advice comes from economists. And, 0:05:42.100 --> 0:05:45.460 you know, I listen to economists way too much. But 0:05:45.460 --> 0:05:48.280 the best piece of advice from economists on gift giving 0:05:48.520 --> 0:05:50.409 is to give the gift of cash. 0:05:52.600 --> 0:05:55.240 So I. I love getting cash. I think there's I 0:05:55.240 --> 0:05:56.560 think it's an underrated gift. 0:05:56.650 --> 0:05:58.630 I know. I think we've as a society found a 0:05:58.630 --> 0:06:02.270 really socially. Okay. Way to do that with gift cards. 0:06:02.290 --> 0:06:05.470 You know, somehow it's different if you just hand somebody 0:06:05.470 --> 0:06:09.250 a crisp $50 note is somehow different to giving them 0:06:09.250 --> 0:06:11.750 a gift card that says $50. Yeah. 0:06:11.920 --> 0:06:12.280 Yeah. 0:06:12.370 --> 0:06:15.610 It's different and it's okay. And here's a gift cards 0:06:15.610 --> 0:06:19.390 this Christmas. And, you know, if people and loved ones 0:06:19.390 --> 0:06:22.960 are feeling a bit of the pressure, you can get 0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:25.390 gift cards that might go for not just even for 0:06:25.390 --> 0:06:28.659 a specific retailer, but like for a shopping center like 0:06:28.660 --> 0:06:32.440 Westfield does gift cards. And so you're essentially giving them 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:34.870 50 bucks or whatever, but they could go spend it. 0:06:34.870 --> 0:06:36.850 Maybe if they need to spend it on the groceries, 0:06:36.850 --> 0:06:38.919 they can go do that at a Kohl's or Woolies 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:42.130 in the same shopping center. So there's no judgment as 0:06:42.130 --> 0:06:45.190 to how they're actually going to spend the money. So 0:06:45.190 --> 0:06:48.760 I like that because there was this fantastic American book 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:53.109 by an economist, Joseph Waldfogel, called Scrooge, a nomics, and 0:06:53.110 --> 0:06:55.960 he talks about the dead, the dead weight loss of Christmas. 0:06:55.990 --> 0:06:59.080 So you had 50 bucks in your pocket and you 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:03.310 went and spent it on 50 bucks of a 50, whatever. 0:07:03.880 --> 0:07:07.630 You've just burned that cash into something that the gift 0:07:07.630 --> 0:07:10.510 receiver might not value. You know, they might only have 0:07:10.510 --> 0:07:12.850 wanted to spend 20 bucks on hand. So you've sort 0:07:12.850 --> 0:07:15.730 of created this dead weight loss for society. So the 0:07:15.730 --> 0:07:17.950 most efficient thing is to just give the $50 note 0:07:17.950 --> 0:07:20.230 to the person to go spend how they want to 0:07:20.230 --> 0:07:23.050 spend it. So I would love to normalize that. 0:07:23.170 --> 0:07:26.170 I hear this and I and I think it's valid, 0:07:26.170 --> 0:07:27.940 but at the same time, it makes me think that 0:07:27.940 --> 0:07:30.610 like Christmas with economists is not like the most like, 0:07:30.610 --> 0:07:33.460 fun affair. It's just like, you know, everyone sitting around 0:07:33.460 --> 0:07:35.800 had each other like $50 notes and being like, Now 0:07:35.830 --> 0:07:39.460 don't spend it too quickly. Remember, inflation's going up. You know, 0:07:39.460 --> 0:07:42.340 that's it. I mean, I understand the premise of it, but, 0:07:42.340 --> 0:07:42.820 you know. 0:07:43.660 --> 0:07:46.780 Yeah. So if you're not into that, maybe let's whip 0:07:46.780 --> 0:07:47.890 through some other options. 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:50.470 Like, and I think one of the classic ones that 0:07:50.470 --> 0:07:52.690 you see, especially for like big families, are like people 0:07:52.690 --> 0:07:55.090 who have like really big Christmases, like the Secret Santa 0:07:55.090 --> 0:07:57.430 sort of thing or it's like a, you know, $20 limit. 0:07:57.640 --> 0:08:00.010 You're not getting anything too wild. And that can be 0:08:00.010 --> 0:08:02.200 extended to like, you know, maybe you hadn't haven't done 0:08:02.200 --> 0:08:04.000 that with your family in the past. And maybe this 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:06.190 year you go, Hey, maybe we should do this this year, guys, 0:08:06.190 --> 0:08:07.900 because that means we can spend a little bit less 0:08:07.900 --> 0:08:10.810 money than we usually do, which is always a good option. 0:08:10.810 --> 0:08:12.250 And so. GROSS And this can be fun, especially if 0:08:12.250 --> 0:08:13.750 you do the one we get to steal the present 0:08:14.140 --> 0:08:15.190 from other people. 0:08:15.370 --> 0:08:16.360 How does that work? 0:08:16.720 --> 0:08:18.370 Like, everyone has a gift and then you can like, 0:08:18.370 --> 0:08:20.170 instead of when you get your gift, you can choose 0:08:20.170 --> 0:08:22.120 to keep it or you can like steal someone else's. 0:08:22.420 --> 0:08:24.250 It gets pretty brutal. I think it's I think it's 0:08:24.250 --> 0:08:26.290 maybe only good if it's like a really big group 0:08:26.290 --> 0:08:27.880 of people. You wouldn't want to do that with like, 0:08:27.880 --> 0:08:29.860 just like your four family members or something like that. 0:08:29.980 --> 0:08:32.950 Yeah. Okay. That's. Yeah. So instead of buying a gift 0:08:32.950 --> 0:08:35.020 for all four people, whatever, you only have to buy 0:08:35.020 --> 0:08:38.110 one gift. Yeah. You save the money. Yeah, I think 0:08:38.110 --> 0:08:40.480 that would be a good thing for people to consider 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:42.910 this year. This is another one that maybe makes me 0:08:43.000 --> 0:08:45.890 look a bit Scrooge, but I love the idea of have. 0:08:45.910 --> 0:08:49.570 And I've never done this, but having setting a free challenge. So, like, 0:08:49.570 --> 0:08:52.900 you can only give gifts that you got for free. 0:08:53.500 --> 0:08:55.370 And I do have a friend who she said that 0:08:55.370 --> 0:08:58.510 they did this like, including like stuff you find on 0:08:58.510 --> 0:09:01.780 the curbside, you know, in hard rubbish collection, which I 0:09:01.780 --> 0:09:06.310 love going scavenging through. You can join like street bounty 0:09:06.309 --> 0:09:09.760 groups on Facebook and they say there's a there's a 0:09:09.760 --> 0:09:13.030 hot looking chest of drawers on the corner or whatever. 0:09:13.390 --> 0:09:15.820 And then you can go and find the good stuff 0:09:15.970 --> 0:09:20.230 or there's like buy nothing. Groups on Facebook or Freecycle 0:09:20.230 --> 0:09:22.660 is another one. So I just think that could be 0:09:23.340 --> 0:09:26.290 it sort of. It also puts more onus on the 0:09:26.290 --> 0:09:28.810 shoppers when you're not shopping, you know, spending money to 0:09:28.809 --> 0:09:32.680 like be creative and really person and like think outside 0:09:32.679 --> 0:09:34.330 the box. I think that could be fun if you 0:09:34.510 --> 0:09:35.860 and then you're not spending any money. 0:09:36.309 --> 0:09:38.500 Yeah exactly. And there's I suppose that extends to things 0:09:38.500 --> 0:09:40.510 like doing like a handmade gift to Christmas. So that's 0:09:40.510 --> 0:09:42.550 usually that's very low cost. Like, yeah, you know, I've 0:09:42.550 --> 0:09:44.770 definitely had a few gifts like that in the past, 0:09:44.770 --> 0:09:46.780 which are always very nice, is like easily have that 0:09:46.780 --> 0:09:50.170 sort of personable sort of special sort of aspect to 0:09:50.170 --> 0:09:51.910 it without having spent a lot of money on it. 0:09:52.540 --> 0:09:54.880 I love the idea I heard of like you could 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:57.700 get a jar and you could get paddle pop sticks 0:09:57.700 --> 0:10:01.360 or whatever pieces of paper and put out, you know, 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:03.900 12 or one. 52. If you want to do one 0:10:03.900 --> 0:10:06.090 per week and like put a little promise on there, 0:10:06.090 --> 0:10:08.160 like for your partner to say, I'll take out the 0:10:08.160 --> 0:10:11.580 bins for January and that's, you know, or, or not even, 0:10:12.030 --> 0:10:13.410 you know, put it to a month but like it 0:10:13.410 --> 0:10:15.680 and you pull out a stick and you know it's 0:10:15.750 --> 0:10:17.699 redeemable for you do it. 0:10:18.150 --> 0:10:19.770 As low as like one of the sixes and say 0:10:19.770 --> 0:10:23.309 like I will give you $50 like defeats the entire 0:10:23.309 --> 0:10:27.330 purpose of it. Monetary non-monetary gifts. Yes. In the same 0:10:27.330 --> 0:10:29.640 sort of vein, I think there's been this big boom 0:10:29.910 --> 0:10:32.520 over the past, like I'd say, decade. So giving people 0:10:32.520 --> 0:10:34.950 experiences rather than gifts. So like, you know, rather than 0:10:34.950 --> 0:10:36.900 giving someone a new phone, you give them like a 0:10:36.900 --> 0:10:39.479 hot air balloon ride or something like that. Right. But like, 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:41.339 that can also be like experience is going to be free. 0:10:41.340 --> 0:10:42.990 You can be like, I am going to take you 0:10:42.990 --> 0:10:44.730 on a lovely bushwalk and we're going to go and 0:10:44.730 --> 0:10:47.370 have a lovely bushwalk somewhere together. And that's my Christmas 0:10:47.370 --> 0:10:50.210 gift to you. And that's that's like, you know, what 0:10:50.309 --> 0:10:51.839 are you paying for that, Like petrol to get there 0:10:51.840 --> 0:10:53.760 I suppose, like, you know, but like that's, that's about 0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:54.209 it really. 0:10:54.210 --> 0:10:56.400 So the thing is if it's like I'm going to 0:10:56.400 --> 0:10:58.260 buy you theatre tickets if you were going to do 0:10:58.260 --> 0:11:01.140 that anyway, it's sort of just shifting that forward and 0:11:01.140 --> 0:11:03.090 rebadging that as a present when it's money you were 0:11:03.090 --> 0:11:05.670 probably going to spend to do something together anyway. So 0:11:05.670 --> 0:11:06.870 that's kind of cheating. 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:10.300 Yeah, exactly. And we love cheating. So on to some 0:11:10.300 --> 0:11:13.510 more sort of like non directly non gif related ideas. 0:11:13.510 --> 0:11:15.219 Obviously there's lots of things you can do when it 0:11:15.220 --> 0:11:17.500 comes to giving gifts to your family members or your friends. 0:11:17.500 --> 0:11:20.979 But Christmas is also just an expensive like day and 0:11:20.980 --> 0:11:22.809 like couple of days. Like all the planning are like 0:11:22.809 --> 0:11:26.500 lunch is expensive, food is expensive. So there are some 0:11:26.500 --> 0:11:27.940 things you can do there. Like you could always do 0:11:27.940 --> 0:11:30.429 the classic bring a plate. I've never done it, but 0:11:30.429 --> 0:11:32.020 I always say it looks like so much fun. Just like, 0:11:32.020 --> 0:11:34.179 you know, everyone that's coming. Just like tell them to 0:11:34.179 --> 0:11:36.300 bring a meal. And as long as you don't all 0:11:36.309 --> 0:11:38.080 tell them to bring the same meal, you probably have 0:11:38.080 --> 0:11:39.309 quite a good little Christmas spread. 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:42.700 Yeah, a little potluck party. You know, somebody you do 0:11:42.700 --> 0:11:45.370 the protein, you do the salad, you do the veg, 0:11:45.370 --> 0:11:48.429 you do dessert, you do the cheeses. I think that 0:11:48.429 --> 0:11:50.410 can work out really well. And that sort of takes 0:11:50.410 --> 0:11:55.750 the pressure off the host, whoever's hosting Christmas to incur 0:11:55.750 --> 0:11:58.750 all the expense. Because like we know that grocery prices, 0:11:58.750 --> 0:12:00.939 the one of the things that are a real pain 0:12:00.940 --> 0:12:04.950 point for people, you know, various supply interruptions. So just yeah, 0:12:05.020 --> 0:12:08.860 the food related costs of Christmas are so big. I 0:12:08.860 --> 0:12:12.100 like that idea. And even, you know, when it comes 0:12:12.100 --> 0:12:14.650 to managing that costs, I would say, you know, so 0:12:14.650 --> 0:12:17.350 it doesn't just come in one big shop on Christmas 0:12:17.350 --> 0:12:20.170 Eve trying to sort of be purchasing some of the 0:12:20.170 --> 0:12:25.090 food and, you know, the nonperishable stuff. Look for the proteins. 0:12:25.090 --> 0:12:27.429 You know, if you have all this, I don't think 0:12:27.429 --> 0:12:29.589 you can freeze prawns or can you? But, you. 0:12:29.590 --> 0:12:30.790 Know, you can freeze prawns. 0:12:31.130 --> 0:12:33.579 You know, it's like buying some of that protein, you know, 0:12:33.580 --> 0:12:37.120 in advance. You know, if you can find some specials 0:12:37.120 --> 0:12:39.940 and then freeze it. So just getting ready for the 0:12:39.940 --> 0:12:42.220 day so that it's not all going to be this 0:12:42.580 --> 0:12:46.210 $500 shop that you do on Christmas Eve because you 0:12:46.210 --> 0:12:48.910 got people coming round, getting ahead of it and being 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:52.900 aware of it. I guess either way we're going to eat. 0:12:52.900 --> 0:12:55.480 And I think with Christmas this year, like we all 0:12:55.480 --> 0:12:58.390 due a little bit of celebration. So we advice that 0:12:58.390 --> 0:13:02.350 we're giving, you know, do have a nice Christmas this year, everyone, 0:13:02.350 --> 0:13:03.550 because you've earned it. 0:13:04.240 --> 0:13:05.080 Absolutely. 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:08.470 I know. But but I also love the vibe in 0:13:08.470 --> 0:13:11.020 the spirit of just keeping the costs low and remembering 0:13:11.020 --> 0:13:13.630 what it's all about, which is spending time with people 0:13:13.630 --> 0:13:15.460 and having some nice food. But you don't have to 0:13:15.460 --> 0:13:18.410 have the fanciest of everything. 0:13:18.429 --> 0:13:20.260 Yeah, and especially if you like, you feel like a 0:13:20.260 --> 0:13:23.380 loyalty points order. You know, your everyday rewards, your flybuys. 0:13:23.380 --> 0:13:25.450 This is a great time to sort of cash. I mean, 0:13:25.450 --> 0:13:27.130 I realized that I had 20 bucks sitting on my 0:13:27.130 --> 0:13:29.470 flybuys I had no idea how I'd entered or when 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:32.560 to get used. It was fantastic. You know, these sort 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:34.780 of things, they just they just accumulate so good time 0:13:34.780 --> 0:13:37.150 to cash in that sort of stuff and also do 0:13:37.150 --> 0:13:40.599 things like cashback websites are really great and you know, 0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:41.680 you're a fan of those. Yes. 0:13:42.010 --> 0:13:44.829 Yeah, I am. And this applies to gift giving as well. 0:13:44.830 --> 0:13:48.640 You know, you go into sites or apps like Cash 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:52.179 Rewards or Shopback and you check the retailer, but you're 0:13:52.179 --> 0:13:54.010 going to you're about to go to and see if 0:13:54.010 --> 0:13:57.429 there's like a 20% cashback. And then, you know, you're 0:13:57.429 --> 0:14:00.069 essentially reducing the cost of what you're about to buy 0:14:00.070 --> 0:14:02.439 and getting access to some discounts that might not be 0:14:02.740 --> 0:14:06.670 available in-store. So, yeah, you know, that is all that 0:14:06.670 --> 0:14:09.650 all adds up to them as as we know. 0:14:09.670 --> 0:14:12.250 Oh, it does all add up. And my, my last 0:14:12.250 --> 0:14:14.050 little tip of this was just something that I really 0:14:14.050 --> 0:14:17.890 enjoy doing is reusing like the wrapping paper that you've 0:14:17.890 --> 0:14:20.680 gotten from like previous gifts. My family's big on this. 0:14:21.010 --> 0:14:23.620 I think we've got a vibe going on here. It's 0:14:23.620 --> 0:14:28.120 a vibe of just thinking laterally, recycling where you can 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:31.360 keeping the costs down and sort of making it a cheerful, 0:14:31.510 --> 0:14:34.210 a cheap but cheerful Christmas for 2022, I think is 0:14:34.210 --> 0:14:34.570 in order. 0:14:34.900 --> 0:14:37.120 Yeah. And then in terms of like, like I post 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:39.580 Christmas stuff, I think, you know, thinking about the amount 0:14:39.580 --> 0:14:41.800 of money you spend on Christmas doesn't necessarily stop at Christmas. 0:14:41.800 --> 0:14:44.620 Like obviously extends to something like Boxing Day because it's 0:14:44.620 --> 0:14:46.960 like a, you know, a time honored Aussie tradition to 0:14:46.960 --> 0:14:49.780 go absolutely hog wild at Boxing Day sales and just 0:14:49.780 --> 0:14:51.730 go and, you know, go into Myer and buy half 0:14:51.730 --> 0:14:53.890 the store, which you like obviously is a lot of fun. 0:14:53.890 --> 0:14:55.420 But I think it's like you can also just like 0:14:55.930 --> 0:14:58.210 not do that and just chill out a bit, right? 0:14:58.220 --> 0:15:00.760 Like interesting this year to see because there's always that 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:03.760 footage that they run along with people who've camped out 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:07.030 and those that run through the doors. I wonder if 0:15:07.030 --> 0:15:09.880 that will happen this year because like the expectations is 0:15:09.880 --> 0:15:12.910 that people will be spending big for Christmas, but we're 0:15:12.910 --> 0:15:16.540 all aware that we're heading into 2023 with higher mortgages 0:15:16.930 --> 0:15:20.020 and cost of living. BE I wonder how crazy will 0:15:20.020 --> 0:15:22.510 go in the sales. The advice would be don't. 0:15:23.380 --> 0:15:25.510 Say anything else just on your on your list, considering 0:15:25.510 --> 0:15:27.220 your you're the great budgeting guru. 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:31.359 Yes. The 100% is. I would just urge people where 0:15:31.360 --> 0:15:34.150 we've only just started December. If you haven't done all 0:15:34.150 --> 0:15:37.870 your spending just yet, it would be so powerful for 0:15:37.870 --> 0:15:41.200 you to keep a list like Santa of all the 0:15:41.200 --> 0:15:45.070 stuff that you're buying. So we've discussed, you know, Christmas spending. 0:15:45.070 --> 0:15:48.460 It's it's the food, it's the travel, it's the wrapping paper, 0:15:48.460 --> 0:15:51.610 it's the cards, it's the decorations. Like the amount of 0:15:51.610 --> 0:15:53.330 money we can spend at this time of the year 0:15:53.330 --> 0:15:56.500 is quite astounding. If you keep a list of everything 0:15:56.800 --> 0:15:59.680 that you spend, you can then tally it up and go, Well, 0:15:59.680 --> 0:16:03.100 my family Christmas costs, like, say, if it's 1200 dollars, 0:16:03.490 --> 0:16:06.940 I know that now and then maybe next year I 0:16:06.940 --> 0:16:09.920 can set aside. That would be a. Hundred dollars per month, 0:16:10.190 --> 0:16:12.830 and that will smooth out, you know, you can essentially 0:16:12.830 --> 0:16:15.590 save for Christmas in advance without having to do one 0:16:15.590 --> 0:16:18.680 of those, you know, online, you know, save up for 0:16:18.680 --> 0:16:21.560 a hamper things. You know, you you look after future 0:16:21.560 --> 0:16:25.760 you and say, I know Christmas comes every year and 0:16:25.760 --> 0:16:28.460 it's always a bit financially tight for me. And I 0:16:28.460 --> 0:16:30.380 also think that keeping a track of your spending can 0:16:30.380 --> 0:16:32.240 help you to keep a lid on the spending as well. 0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:34.430 If you realize, oh, hey, wait a minute, we're up 0:16:34.430 --> 0:16:36.290 to $800 that I've spent to you know, if you're 0:16:36.290 --> 0:16:38.900 managing a big your family, you know, just that process 0:16:38.900 --> 0:16:41.330 of being mindful of what we are spending at this 0:16:41.330 --> 0:16:43.520 time of year because, you know, we all want to 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:46.190 have a YOLO kind of Christmas. And, you know, but, 0:16:46.220 --> 0:16:49.250 you know, we've got those budgetary pressures that we're coming 0:16:49.250 --> 0:16:51.260 up to. So what? This is what I do. I 0:16:51.260 --> 0:16:53.430 have like a little worksheet where I, you know, I 0:16:53.450 --> 0:16:57.140 figure out Christmas presents for who wrapping whatever the costs 0:16:57.140 --> 0:16:58.760 are going to be. And I split it up and 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:00.320 I save for it throughout the year. And I make 0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:01.970 sure that I don't invest that money or put it 0:17:01.970 --> 0:17:04.369 somewhere else. It's waiting there for me to go. And 0:17:04.369 --> 0:17:08.060 that has really helped to reduce the stress around Christmas spending, 0:17:08.060 --> 0:17:10.189 which is one of those big lumpy sort of spending periods. 0:17:10.190 --> 0:17:13.580 So tracking spending people and yeah, hopefully even if you 0:17:13.580 --> 0:17:15.770 are feeling the stress this year, you can come up 0:17:15.770 --> 0:17:18.109 with a bit more of an action plan for 2023. 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:21.990 So our listener question this week comes from David, who's 0:17:21.990 --> 0:17:24.570 following on from last week's episode that we did on 0:17:24.570 --> 0:17:26.970 private health insurance and something that we didn't get time 0:17:26.970 --> 0:17:30.440 to mention in that episode was lifetime health cover loading. 0:17:30.450 --> 0:17:32.280 Just do you want to talk through about what that 0:17:32.280 --> 0:17:33.600 is and why people need to know about it? 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:36.899 Yeah. This is actually a really important one and I'm 0:17:36.900 --> 0:17:39.300 glad that we get a chance to raise it. Now, 0:17:39.310 --> 0:17:42.270 if you're looking at whether to take up private health insurance, 0:17:42.270 --> 0:17:45.210 something that is really relevant for people at about the 0:17:45.210 --> 0:17:48.119 age of 30 is to consider whether they that is 0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:49.590 the point where you want to take out the cover, 0:17:49.590 --> 0:17:53.399 because if you don't for every year after your 30, 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:56.910 there is a lifetime health cover loading that starts to 0:17:56.910 --> 0:18:00.090 apply to your premiums. If you subsequently then do take 0:18:00.090 --> 0:18:02.790 out private health insurance. And that kicks in at a 0:18:02.790 --> 0:18:06.450 rate of 2% loading on top of your premium for 0:18:06.450 --> 0:18:10.140 every year aged over 30. So by the time you're 40, 0:18:10.140 --> 0:18:12.119 if you were to take out private health insurance and 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:14.489 had not had it previously, you could be paying an 0:18:14.490 --> 0:18:18.510 extra 20% per year of the cost of your premiums. 0:18:18.869 --> 0:18:21.800 And that would apply to you for a ten year period. 0:18:21.810 --> 0:18:25.409 So it can really hit people who don't have the 0:18:25.410 --> 0:18:28.649 cover from age 30. And it's designed to encourage people 0:18:28.650 --> 0:18:30.719 to get the cover from the age of 30 and 0:18:30.720 --> 0:18:33.480 to keep it. But yeah, you can really be hit 0:18:33.480 --> 0:18:36.000 with some higher premium costs if you don't have it. 0:18:36.210 --> 0:18:38.699 I would just say that for people who, you know, 0:18:38.700 --> 0:18:40.830 it's it's there to scare you into getting private health 0:18:40.830 --> 0:18:44.129 insurance if you're below the Medicare levy thresholds where you're 0:18:44.130 --> 0:18:46.200 not going to be slugged extra tax for not having 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:48.870 private health insurance. And if you're never going to want 0:18:48.869 --> 0:18:51.840 private health insurance, don't be scared by this into taking 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:54.450 it out, because then you'll be paying for premiums that 0:18:54.450 --> 0:18:57.000 you don't want and you don't need. And so it 0:18:57.000 --> 0:18:59.699 is a calculation for everyone to sort of think about. 0:18:59.700 --> 0:19:02.340 And some people may not want to take out private 0:19:02.340 --> 0:19:06.390 health insurance until they're 60. So you could have 30 0:19:06.390 --> 0:19:10.470 years of paying no health insurance premiums. Yes. When you're 60, 0:19:10.470 --> 0:19:12.840 you'd be slugged with a much higher you know, your 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:15.570 premiums might not be $1,000 a year. They could be 0:19:16.080 --> 0:19:19.170 closer to $2,000. But you can do the sums. For 0:19:19.170 --> 0:19:21.900 some people, you may still be better off by just 0:19:21.900 --> 0:19:23.910 not having the cover when you didn't need it and 0:19:23.910 --> 0:19:27.060 then wearing the higher lifetime health cover loading for the 0:19:27.060 --> 0:19:29.820 ten years until it drops off. It is something for 0:19:29.820 --> 0:19:32.550 people to be aware of and have a little Google 0:19:32.550 --> 0:19:34.830 about whether that would apply to you. If you're someone 0:19:34.830 --> 0:19:37.350 who you don't have cover now, you're getting to your 0:19:37.650 --> 0:19:41.669 late twenties, early thirties. Maybe it might be worth looking 0:19:41.670 --> 0:19:43.320 at whether you do want to get the cover just 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:46.919 a couple of years earlier to avoid paying that. And 0:19:46.920 --> 0:19:49.200 just finally, I want to give you a budget tip 0:19:49.200 --> 0:19:51.540 of the week, as I always do. I came across 0:19:51.540 --> 0:19:55.260 this really interesting finding, a US survey of people about 0:19:55.260 --> 0:19:58.320 their subscriptions, and people were asked like, how much do 0:19:58.320 --> 0:20:01.410 you think you spend each month on subscriptions? And the 0:20:01.410 --> 0:20:05.790 average response was like way under what they actually spent. 0:20:05.800 --> 0:20:08.790 They sort of estimated, I think I spent about $86. 0:20:08.790 --> 0:20:11.310 That would be US dollars. But actually, when they got 0:20:11.310 --> 0:20:14.310 people to go through and fess up and look at 0:20:14.310 --> 0:20:15.990 this site, this is how much they actually spend. It 0:20:15.990 --> 0:20:20.220 was more like $219. So basically, people have absolutely no 0:20:20.220 --> 0:20:24.180 clue how many subscriptions they've got. And 42% of people 0:20:24.930 --> 0:20:28.080 have found subscriptions that they just had forgotten that they 0:20:28.080 --> 0:20:31.770 were doing. So subscription costs. My number one tip is 0:20:31.770 --> 0:20:34.500 to cancel your subscriptions as soon as you get them. 0:20:34.770 --> 0:20:37.080 So some of them this doesn't work because they then 0:20:37.080 --> 0:20:40.020 cancel the product. But most of them you say, okay, well, 0:20:40.020 --> 0:20:42.300 I'm signing up. Okay, you're forcing me to give you 0:20:42.300 --> 0:20:45.420 the credit card details. But after this month, I really 0:20:45.869 --> 0:20:47.850 I'm not sure I'm going to want it. You just 0:20:47.850 --> 0:20:50.370 sign up and cancel straightaway. And that's a little love 0:20:50.369 --> 0:20:53.670 letter to future you to say this is going to 0:20:53.670 --> 0:20:55.710 cut out after a month. And if you still want it, 0:20:55.710 --> 0:20:59.240 you can sign back up again. But otherwise, he's a 0:20:59.250 --> 0:21:01.290 subscription that I'm not just going to forget about and 0:21:01.290 --> 0:21:03.260 have on going for the rest of my life. So 0:21:03.480 --> 0:21:04.560 just cancel straight away. 0:21:05.130 --> 0:21:07.469 I got a little sub tip for this is getting 0:21:07.470 --> 0:21:11.310 a bank account or a banking app that notifies you 0:21:11.340 --> 0:21:14.460 when money goes in or out of your account. I 0:21:14.460 --> 0:21:16.710 just I feel like this should be standard. I know 0:21:16.710 --> 0:21:18.119 a lot of banks don't do it, but like the 0:21:18.119 --> 0:21:20.820 bank that I'm with, you know, any time I get 0:21:20.820 --> 0:21:22.860 debited for anything, I get a notification on my phone 0:21:22.859 --> 0:21:25.020 that says, you know, $17 has been taken out of 0:21:25.020 --> 0:21:27.750 your account for full membership or whatever like that. And 0:21:27.750 --> 0:21:30.420 it's great because you never have any surprise subscription costs 0:21:30.420 --> 0:21:32.940 because you see everything that's happening. And if something pops 0:21:32.940 --> 0:21:34.859 up that goes like and you get a notification, be like, 0:21:34.859 --> 0:21:36.390 you know, 20 bucks is taken out of this. Be like, oh, 0:21:36.480 --> 0:21:37.770 you know, I'm still subscribed to that. And you go 0:21:37.770 --> 0:21:40.469 and cancel it. So there's no there's no surprises when 0:21:40.470 --> 0:21:42.360 you open up your bank account because everything's you're being 0:21:42.359 --> 0:21:43.320 notified about everything. 0:21:43.530 --> 0:21:46.620 That's great. I usually hate notifications on those things, like 0:21:46.619 --> 0:21:49.380 you got an Instagram message, whatever. I have them turned off. 0:21:49.380 --> 0:21:51.270 But yeah, you should know if money's coming out of 0:21:51.270 --> 0:21:51.730 your account. 0:21:51.750 --> 0:21:52.380 Absolutely. 0:21:52.710 --> 0:21:55.800 Merry Christmas, everyone. I guess just to wrap that up, 0:21:55.800 --> 0:21:58.320 keep it cheap and cheerful this year would be our 0:21:58.320 --> 0:22:01.560 overall advice. You know, look. Look for some lateral ways 0:22:01.560 --> 0:22:05.100 to have fun this Christmas. Thanks, Jim, as always. Merry 0:22:05.100 --> 0:22:05.940 Christmas to you. 0:22:06.030 --> 0:22:07.470 Merry Christmas. And I'll see you next week. 0:22:07.650 --> 0:22:08.310 See you next week. 0:22:14.940 --> 0:22:16.970 This episode of It All Adds Up was produced by 0:22:16.980 --> 0:22:20.370 Chai Wang. The information discussed is general in nature and 0:22:20.369 --> 0:22:23.490 does not take into account your personal financial situation, goals 0:22:23.490 --> 0:22:26.310 or objectives. You should always do your own research or 0:22:26.310 --> 0:22:30.330 get professional advice before making any major financial decisions. If 0:22:30.330 --> 0:22:32.730 you like today's episode, hit follow a new podcast app. 0:22:32.820 --> 0:22:34.980 Leave a review and recommend it to all your friends. 0:22:35.280 --> 0:22:37.830 You can also submit your listener questions in text or 0:22:37.830 --> 0:22:41.640 audio form at. It all adds up at 9:00 PM today. 0:22:42.450 --> 0:22:43.200 Thanks for listening.