WEBVTT - A Practical Guide to Surviving Black Friday #278 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:02.720 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I in 0:00:02.800 --> 0:00:06.119 Matt's and today we're discussing a practical guide to surviving 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:30.400 Black Friday. Yeah, buddy, this is a shopping episode. It's 0:00:30.440 --> 0:00:32.680 not something we talked about often, but you and I 0:00:32.760 --> 0:00:35.159 we've got some we've got some good ideas about how 0:00:35.200 --> 0:00:38.000 to approach Black Friday, how to make sure that we 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:40.840 don't overspend. And I feel like this one's a little 0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:42.760 bit more in your wheelhouse. I know how you love 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:46.960 those deals. You've mentioned that before on the podcast. But yeah, man, 0:00:47.000 --> 0:00:49.600 I'm excited to cover this topic today. Yeah, I feel 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:52.199 like Black Friday it's almost like a battlefield with a 0:00:52.240 --> 0:00:54.400 bunch of land mines that you can barely see, or 0:00:54.400 --> 0:00:56.280 maybe you can't see at all, and so you gotta 0:00:56.360 --> 0:00:59.080 you gotta be prepared in order to survive Black Friday. 0:00:59.560 --> 0:01:01.040 So that's kind of why we tiled it that, right, 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:02.760 because there's like a lot of things that can trip 0:01:02.800 --> 0:01:04.240 you up. And so yeah, we've got a lot of 0:01:04.480 --> 0:01:07.440 helpful advice to help you get through these next few weeks, 0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:10.840 especially of crazy Christmas shopping, and hopefully it just trips 0:01:10.840 --> 0:01:13.959 you up, it doesn't completely destroy you. Angel Finances that 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:15.640 would be bad. That's not the kind of situation you 0:01:15.640 --> 0:01:18.520 want to find yourself in. But first, man, I recently 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:24.520 came across this Instagram account called Cheap Nordic Houses. It's 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:27.000 exactly like it sounds. So I'm not gonna explain it, 0:01:27.200 --> 0:01:29.640 but that leads me to ask you the question, if 0:01:29.720 --> 0:01:33.320 you were to uproot your family and purchase a cheap 0:01:33.400 --> 0:01:36.440 Nordic house and move there, would that be considered frugal 0:01:36.560 --> 0:01:39.640 or cheap? Well, I will say this, that sounds like 0:01:39.680 --> 0:01:42.720 an Instagram that was perfectly crafted for my taste. H 0:01:43.959 --> 0:01:46.479 cheap things in cheap houses that are kind of cool 0:01:46.520 --> 0:01:49.080 and old in Nordic countries, they just have like this 0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:52.600 beauty that's um just unmatched, right, and your part Norwegian 0:01:52.600 --> 0:01:54.639 And so it's like if I came across the account 0:01:54.640 --> 0:01:58.920 an account that said like cheap Korean houses, right, So yeah, 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:01.200 I like and some time looking through there after you 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:04.520 mentioned it to me, and I it's I might have 0:02:04.560 --> 0:02:08.320 lusted after some Norwegian and Swedish properties. There really are 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:11.160 some cool houses in just some beautiful settings, like on 0:02:11.560 --> 0:02:15.239 fiords in the Norwegian or Swedish countryside. But yeah, I 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:16.840 don't know if it's frugal or chief to uproot my 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:19.560 family from where we live and currently love. But some 0:02:19.600 --> 0:02:22.600 of those houses, like thirty grand it's insane. I'm sure 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:25.040 the thirty grand ones need a little bit of work, 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:27.600 but but that's the kind of house you know, in 0:02:27.639 --> 0:02:30.320 certain markets might go for three hundred thousand dollars literally 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:32.480 ten times as much. Yeah. Yeah, And I'm sure the 0:02:32.520 --> 0:02:34.560 travel expenses right to get back and forth to go 0:02:34.600 --> 0:02:39.160 to your Norwegian summer house would be uh prohibitive. But 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:41.520 I do love the idea, like I get through there, 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:43.480 and I like to at least think about what my 0:02:43.560 --> 0:02:45.520 life could look like if I were to own one 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:47.320 of those homes and and go there for you know, 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:49.360 every summer for a couple of months. We'll forget every summer. 0:02:49.360 --> 0:02:53.040 I'm talking about like permanently, permanently. Ok. Yeah, I don't know. 0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:56.080 I do think sometimes about moving somewhere more rural and 0:02:56.120 --> 0:02:57.880 what that would look like, and I just don't think 0:02:57.880 --> 0:03:01.000 my personality I could stomach it, like it sounds idyllic 0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:03.639 and sounds wonderful, but I like people too much. I 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:06.160 like walking through o neighborhood and run into neighbors all 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:07.960 that kind of stuff. Yeah. Well, First of all, I 0:03:08.000 --> 0:03:10.079 love that you said rural, because that's like one of 0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:12.360 my favorite words. Makes me think of the rule juror, 0:03:12.520 --> 0:03:18.120 which is that you know that thirty Rock episode maybe vaguely, like, 0:03:18.160 --> 0:03:21.760 could you have named it anything more difficult to pronounce? Um? 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:24.160 But I'm with you right, Like, we have lived in 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:26.040 our neighborhood, in our part of town for over ten 0:03:26.120 --> 0:03:29.560 years now. We've put down roots, we've created community, our kids, 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:31.560 you know, they're in school. I would say that I 0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:34.120 would fall on the side of defense and label it cheap. 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:36.840 If you if you were to actually uproot your family 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:38.920 moved to a far off country like that just to 0:03:38.960 --> 0:03:42.320 save the money, just because it's cheaper, obviously, that's that 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:44.200 would be difficult to do. I mean. And plus two, 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:46.360 you know your family, your extended family is still here, 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:48.480 and so it'd be difficult to see them, you know, 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:50.520 it'd be difficult to set up a little visits when 0:03:50.560 --> 0:03:53.840 you are an ocean away. But um, and so I 0:03:53.840 --> 0:03:55.800 think for us, at least, that's a that would be 0:03:55.840 --> 0:03:58.800 a huge barrier obviously. But dude, if like Kate and 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:01.600 I had just gotten married, uh, and you know, if 0:04:01.640 --> 0:04:04.040 we had work that allowed us to be able to 0:04:04.600 --> 0:04:07.560 work remotely anywhere in the world. We would one d 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:10.800 cent be considering doing something like that, at least trying 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:13.600 it out, man, because gosh, like you said, you know, 0:04:13.720 --> 0:04:16.360 on a lot of these properties on that Instagram account, 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:18.719 they show like these exter year shots of the house 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:21.640 and like the setting and yeah, you see what random 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:23.640 fjord it happens to be on, or you see the 0:04:23.680 --> 0:04:26.200 mountain that it's kind of perched up against that you 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:29.640 could go hiking on every single morning. And so man, 0:04:29.640 --> 0:04:31.920 when you have that kind of natural beauty, it's hard 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:34.800 for me to to see that and think, yeah, I 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:39.360 live on a normal street in Atlanta, you know, and 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:43.080 pay way more than a house that's thirty dollars that 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:45.640 needs some work, or even one that's you know, eighty thousand. Well, 0:04:45.680 --> 0:04:48.240 maybe if we go from podcasting three times a week 0:04:48.240 --> 0:04:51.160 to seventeen times a week, we can afford a Norwegian 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:53.520 house that's only for the summer, a summer house. Yeah, 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:55.400 and and I don't know if our listeners would dig 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:57.720 that many episodes, but we can consider it. Yeah, that 0:04:57.760 --> 0:05:00.000 would be one way maybe to accomplish that. But yeah, 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:02.360 if if listeners out there, I've never heard of this account, 0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:04.680 I would recommend for you to check it out and 0:05:04.720 --> 0:05:07.640 maybe if you aren't a position where you have fewer 0:05:07.680 --> 0:05:10.480 ties to wherever it is that you live now, who knows, 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:12.719 like that might be something you would even consider doing so, 0:05:13.000 --> 0:05:14.719 But if you do, please let us know, because I 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:18.000 want to live vicariously through you. Well, I feel like, 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:20.479 even just honestly looking at through the Instagram feed, I 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:22.760 was able to get a little bit of that wanderlust 0:05:22.880 --> 0:05:26.719 satisfaction right now. You know, traveling it's almost non existent 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:29.400 for or it has been non existent for us recently, 0:05:29.600 --> 0:05:31.680 at least on an airplane to somewhere in Europe or 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:34.040 anything like that, and you just kind of scratch that itch, 0:05:34.080 --> 0:05:35.360 at least for a second. So I got you a 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:38.560 little fix and you move on with life exactly exactly. 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:41.760 Speaking of fix, Matt, we have beer fix that we 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:44.240 have to get in every week. Right, we're today on 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:46.640 the show. We're splitting a beer called Caliente, a key 0:05:47.120 --> 0:05:50.479 by Tripping Animals Brewing, and man, they make some really 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:52.520 good beers. This in particular is an I p A. 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:55.039 It's brewed with a gave. So I'm looking forward to 0:05:55.040 --> 0:05:57.840 having this one on the show with you today my friend. Yeah, 0:05:57.880 --> 0:06:00.400 this is a brewery that we only recently started getting 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:03.640 here in Atlanta. So this is my first tripping Animals 0:06:03.680 --> 0:06:05.839 beer and hyeah. Looking forward to sharing this one with 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:08.560 you and talking about it later in the episodes. Sounds good. 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:12.240 Let's get onto the subject at hand. Today's episode is 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:15.880 a practical guide to surviving Black Friday. And Black Friday 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:19.640 is still like this important time for deals. It's a 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:22.880 time where retailers end up making a good bit of 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:24.800 their money for the year. Right, And at this point 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:28.320 it's almost become an American tradition for better, for worse, right, 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:32.440 for worse, mostly for worse. Uh And and even though 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:35.279 the time frame has expanded beyond just a day, Right, 0:06:35.279 --> 0:06:39.120 it's traditionally Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, that Friday. 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:42.040 But Black Friday now has become more of a season, 0:06:42.480 --> 0:06:44.000 and and Matt and I are going to kind of 0:06:44.040 --> 0:06:46.120 refer to it as this time period. It is not 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:48.560 necessarily just that one specific day. Yeah, We're not talking 0:06:48.600 --> 0:06:52.240 about Friday only. We're talking about the entire season surrounding 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:56.599 Black Friday. Yeah, and encompasses small business Saturday and Cyber Monday, 0:06:56.680 --> 0:06:58.760 all that kind of stuff too. Right, um, and it 0:06:58.800 --> 0:07:02.400 can be a good time for scoring low prices and 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:04.560 getting some good deals, and that can make it a 0:07:04.600 --> 0:07:07.680 good time to buy things like toys for the kiddos 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:10.720 or holiday presents for your partner or your friends, for 0:07:10.800 --> 0:07:13.200 less things you'd normally have to spend on those things 0:07:14.120 --> 0:07:16.640 sixty days out of the year, right, those five days 0:07:16.720 --> 0:07:18.960 or those couple of weeks typically are going to offer 0:07:19.000 --> 0:07:21.040 some of the best prices. And we've already seen some 0:07:21.240 --> 0:07:24.000 legit sales, some really good sales starting with Prime Day 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:27.800 in mid October, and retailers have already had some impressive 0:07:27.840 --> 0:07:31.000 sales starting in early November. But over the next three 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:33.040 weeks or so, you'll see ads trying to sell you 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:35.920 on countless numbers of things. And Matt and I, we 0:07:35.960 --> 0:07:38.520 think it's important for all of us to get through 0:07:38.560 --> 0:07:42.200 this time period with our budgets and our sanity intact 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:45.320 to avoid those landmines. They're gonna completely mess us up 0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:47.680 this time of year. Yeah, you know, even though you 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:50.200 can find some really great deals, uh, for a lot 0:07:50.200 --> 0:07:52.560 of folks, this time of year is difficult on our 0:07:52.600 --> 0:07:57.240 bank accounts. There's the temptation to overspend and consume more 0:07:57.280 --> 0:07:59.000 than we need to UH, and we end up buying 0:07:59.000 --> 0:08:01.320 way too much stuff. And because of this, a ton 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:04.800 of Americans end up with a boatload of debt. Come January, 0:08:05.320 --> 0:08:07.120 you know, getting that first credit card statement of the 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:09.880 new year, and your inbox really sucks. And for many 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:12.120 more it more than sucks. You know, they can't pay 0:08:12.160 --> 0:08:14.640 the bill in full, and it leads to even more 0:08:14.720 --> 0:08:17.800 financial difficulty. And so there are a number of different 0:08:17.840 --> 0:08:21.880 problems that arise during this consumption driven time of year. 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:25.200 We're gonna highlight the primary issues we think people face, 0:08:25.480 --> 0:08:27.040 as well as you know, why we think that they're 0:08:27.040 --> 0:08:29.440 a big deal, and then we're gonna discuss what to 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:32.480 actually do about those issues. And Matt, you know us. 0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:34.960 You know, we could simply call these things issues you're 0:08:34.960 --> 0:08:37.600 going to experience during Black Friday shopping problems. We could 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:40.679 be super boring about it. But we decided that we're 0:08:40.720 --> 0:08:44.200 going to call these issues to pop up Black Friday 0:08:44.280 --> 0:08:49.320 foibles and uh, because then we can abbreviate them to BFFs. 0:08:49.480 --> 0:08:51.720 The student listener will have immediately picked up on that. 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:55.319 They're like, alright, BFFs, because you and I we don't 0:08:55.360 --> 0:08:58.000 really call ourselves BFFs, but we kind of are right. Well, 0:08:58.000 --> 0:08:59.520 I mean we could, but I think that would be 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:02.440 might be a little juvenile's referred to each other as BFFs. 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:04.600 We're not seven years old, man, but we are best MUDs. 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:07.080 That's true. That's true. So we're gonna go through a 0:09:07.120 --> 0:09:10.280 bunch of Black Friday foibles and how to avoid them, 0:09:10.440 --> 0:09:12.520 and we'll get to those in just a minute. But Matt, 0:09:12.559 --> 0:09:15.760 I wanted to first mention that another day that's typically 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:18.839 included in Black Friday right now is Thanksgiving. But a 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:21.560 lot of retailers this year in particular, have announced that 0:09:21.600 --> 0:09:24.400 they're not opening for Thanksgiving. I think in large part 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:26.760 that's due to the pandemic. But what are your thoughts 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:30.320 on Thanksgiving being one less day in the Christmas shopping season? Essentially? 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:33.960 Isn't that a novel concept that on Thanksgiving Day, like 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:35.920 a day that we're supposed to spend with our family 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:39.080 or with friends, that maybe we shouldn't be in stores, 0:09:39.200 --> 0:09:41.720 you know, with our credit cards, spending money in the 0:09:41.720 --> 0:09:44.520 pursuit of more. Oh my gosh, dude, it is ridiculous 0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:48.240 that it took like a worldwide pandemic to get us 0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:50.960 to this point. I don't know if this is gonna 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:53.080 be something that sticks around. I would hope that it would, 0:09:53.200 --> 0:09:56.680 right like, but here's the thing. Next year, it's only 0:09:56.679 --> 0:09:59.679 gonna take a single retailer to say, all right, it's 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:02.080 twenty ONNY one. You know, the coronavirus is behind us. 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:04.000 We're gonna you know, we're gonna start our sales on 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:07.240 Thanksgiving Day. We'll see you at seven pm, that kind 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:09.320 of thing, two pm or whenever they open their doors. 0:10:09.559 --> 0:10:11.680 And then all the other retailers are gonna follow suit. 0:10:12.080 --> 0:10:15.080 And So while I love this idea that instead of 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:18.280 focusing on consumption, that that we're being encouraged to spend 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:20.560 time with our family instead, but I don't necessarily think 0:10:20.559 --> 0:10:22.840 it's gonna stick around. I was digging around a little 0:10:22.840 --> 0:10:25.280 bit and I didn't realize. I've heard about Patagonia how 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:28.640 they dedicate all of their Black Friday sales. They donate 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:34.199 the profits to different organizations that are basically keeping the earth. 0:10:34.240 --> 0:10:37.040 Pretty wow, that's awesome, But I didn't know that, Ari 0:10:37.240 --> 0:10:41.160 I they actually close on Thanksgiving Day and on Black Friday, 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:44.600 which is super cool. Basically that they they've done a 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:46.880 six years in a row now, uh, And they do 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:50.000 this thing where they they call it like hashtag opt outside, 0:10:50.200 --> 0:10:53.760 but instead of you know, spending our time indoors, whether 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:56.960 it be shopping or indoors sitting at our computers shopping online, 0:10:57.320 --> 0:10:59.600 they're encouraging folks to get outside. And I love how 0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:04.400 they're taking a stand, uh to not necessarily encourage consumption. 0:11:04.760 --> 0:11:06.760 We love both of those companies, and I think that's 0:11:06.760 --> 0:11:10.040 something that's that's super cool. Oh and ari I, they 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:13.240 pay their employees for Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday even 0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:15.400 though their employees don't work. It's a classy move man. 0:11:15.400 --> 0:11:17.440 How good is that? I love the classy company? Yeah, 0:11:17.480 --> 0:11:20.560 ari I rocks, But I agree with you, and I 0:11:20.600 --> 0:11:22.520 love the trend, and I hope the trend sticks around 0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:25.800 even after the coronavirus is over. Agreed that the stores 0:11:25.800 --> 0:11:28.560 are closed on Thanksgiving? Um, Because yeah, I do think 0:11:28.559 --> 0:11:30.480 gratitude is one of those things, is one of those 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:34.400 antidotes to needing and pursuing more. Um. But let's get 0:11:34.440 --> 0:11:37.360 to those Black Friday foibles, the bfs and how we 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:41.320 can all survive this Black Friday in We'll get to 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:53.080 our thoughts on that right after this break. All Right, 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:55.000 we are back, and it's ton of for us to 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:58.960 talk about our first BFF, our first Black Friday foible. 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:01.640 Uh you're to tell me about your kindergarten best rand. 0:12:03.400 --> 0:12:05.560 Let's let's start super broadly. Man. You know, we just 0:12:05.600 --> 0:12:08.520 mentioned this, but we're tempted to to overspend and rack 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:11.920 up credit card debt around the holidays, and Black Friday 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:15.480 is a major culprit. Man. Companies and retailers have created 0:12:15.880 --> 0:12:19.960 essentially a culture right in an environment that encourages spending 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:22.400 and consumption. Uh. And it comes at a big cost 0:12:22.440 --> 0:12:25.720 to us. And it's not just you know, individual companies 0:12:25.760 --> 0:12:28.320 as well, but it's it's even our whole country, you know, 0:12:28.600 --> 0:12:31.800 Like we have an economy that is consumer driven. Consumer 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:35.839 spending accounted for roughly seventy percent of our GDP last year. 0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:38.520 Uh So it's just kind of important to point out 0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:41.040 that the world that we live in is drenched through 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:43.720 and through with spending at its core. It's it's a 0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:45.640 part of our our current reality. Yeah, I feel like 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:47.839 we're trying to go against the grain. We're being incredibly 0:12:47.960 --> 0:12:51.880 countercultural because the norm is to float the mainstream, go 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:54.199 to Black Friday route and and rack up debt that 0:12:54.240 --> 0:12:56.440 you're going to experience in January, right, and and we 0:12:56.480 --> 0:12:58.800 want to avoid that. So, yeah, this is a big 0:12:58.840 --> 0:13:02.920 deal because it's an obvious problem because though some folks 0:13:03.000 --> 0:13:04.880 might have a plan when it comes to holiday shopping, 0:13:05.120 --> 0:13:08.160 a lot of individuals are spending money that they don't have, 0:13:08.480 --> 0:13:11.680 and they aren't keeping their larger goals in mind while 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:14.480 they're doing their holiday shopping. So when you spend money 0:13:14.480 --> 0:13:16.920 that isn't yours, that means that you're paying interest to 0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:20.480 credit card companies. You have the magic of interest working 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:23.319 against you, not for you. And of course, if you're 0:13:23.360 --> 0:13:26.520 not working towards your larger goals in life, like saving 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:29.400 up for your first house or eliminating debts, your partner 0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:31.400 can stay at home with the kids if they want, well, 0:13:31.440 --> 0:13:33.800 then all this spending is going to lead to a 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:36.960 lot of disappointment. Holiday gift giving can be a whole 0:13:36.960 --> 0:13:39.880 lot of fun, but if we get swept up in consumerism, 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:42.760 I feel like it can have the opposite effect. Yeah, 0:13:42.800 --> 0:13:45.880 that's certainly an instance where the joy would be sucked 0:13:45.880 --> 0:13:47.920 out of the holidays. And then we asked the question 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:51.400 how do you remedy this BFF which every time I 0:13:51.400 --> 0:13:53.920 say it, man, I love it because it makes me smile. 0:13:54.520 --> 0:13:56.880 And what we would recommend is to create a Black 0:13:56.920 --> 0:14:00.360 Friday budget. Right, It's as simple as that, before even 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:03.719 more of these sales hit, proactively sit down and decide 0:14:03.800 --> 0:14:05.760 how much money you're going to spend. I know this 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:08.280 sounds simple, but but think about all the members of 0:14:08.320 --> 0:14:10.400 your family and you know the friends who you want 0:14:10.440 --> 0:14:12.839 to include, and decide on a dollar amount that you're 0:14:12.840 --> 0:14:15.640 willing to spend on each one of them over the holidays. 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:18.320 But then, you know, don't stop there. Actually do the 0:14:18.400 --> 0:14:21.600 legwork and keep a running total. You can easily create 0:14:21.680 --> 0:14:25.600 a simple spreadsheet and excel numbers um Google sheets even 0:14:25.760 --> 0:14:28.360 uh will actually link to some templates in the show notes. 0:14:28.600 --> 0:14:31.080 But you can't stay on budget if you don't know 0:14:31.120 --> 0:14:33.760 how much money you have actually spent. Yeah, and the 0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:36.120 cool thing about Black Friday is that in so many 0:14:36.120 --> 0:14:38.920 ways your dollar can actually go further. Prices are lower 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:40.960 um in this time period than they are, let's say, 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:44.160 as we get closer to Christmas. But the biggest issue 0:14:44.200 --> 0:14:45.720 is that we spend too much. We don't have a 0:14:45.760 --> 0:14:48.080 list that we can stick to. And we can combat 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:51.200 that BFF, that first Black Friday foible by having that 0:14:51.240 --> 0:14:53.280 list and sticking to it, and and maybe our dollar 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:57.040 can go even further during this time because of the sales. Yeah, 0:14:57.080 --> 0:14:59.080 and so that's all about creating a plan for your money, 0:14:59.320 --> 0:15:01.680 specifically the money that you're going to spend around the holidays. 0:15:02.320 --> 0:15:04.720 Another tip I saw that somebody had written about was 0:15:05.360 --> 0:15:07.400 essentially they're talking about how, you know, the later it 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:10.360 gets at night, how our willpower decreases. You know, like 0:15:10.680 --> 0:15:14.520 traditionally people make poor decisions the later it gets and 0:15:14.560 --> 0:15:16.640 the more tired we get. That's when I find myself 0:15:16.720 --> 0:15:20.360 eating my kids Halloween candy. I'm finding all the snicker 0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:23.160 bars and butter fingers as well, those are the best. 0:15:23.480 --> 0:15:25.520 But no, the same thing is true in regards to 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:27.640 spending as well. I think a lot of people might 0:15:27.640 --> 0:15:29.840 find themselves in situations later at night where they're just 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:32.080 like kind of sitting there clicking on their phone or 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:34.360 you know, swiping, and and they're like, I think I'm 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:36.720 gonna get this, and then they realized they spent maybe 0:15:36.720 --> 0:15:39.360 an hour like looking at different products, and they feel 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:41.280 like that they've wasted time. And so a way to 0:15:41.720 --> 0:15:44.000 sort of prove to themselves that they, you know, have 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:46.720 spent that time wisely is by actually purchasing something, you know, 0:15:46.800 --> 0:15:47.920 like it's like, well, I don't want I want to 0:15:47.920 --> 0:15:49.800 make sure that I didn't just waste that full hour 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:53.000 looking at sweatpants, So now I'm gonna buy a couple 0:15:53.000 --> 0:15:55.280 of pair. And so to that, I think a good 0:15:55.280 --> 0:15:59.840 tip might be to limit your ability to shop from bed, 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:03.000 you know, or on your phone later at night, when 0:16:03.160 --> 0:16:05.520 you know we're less likely to stick to the budget 0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:08.400 that we have already created. It's a great point, Matt. 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:10.880 And that's just a behavioral thing. Whether it's keeping your 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:13.840 phone out of the bedroom, which a lot of experts 0:16:14.080 --> 0:16:16.200 already tell us that that's the best thing to do 0:16:16.600 --> 0:16:18.760 um or good for your sleep, right, or whether we're 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:20.640 taking some of those social media apps that are that 0:16:20.880 --> 0:16:23.320 create a temptation in our lives off of our phone. 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:25.960 Either those options are good options. Right, Let's get to 0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:29.080 beff number two, Black Friday Foible number two. Because of 0:16:29.120 --> 0:16:32.280 the fact that there are so many deals out there, well, 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:35.520 we as humans can fall prey to the best marketing 0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:38.280 and we end up not getting the best deal, right. 0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:41.840 So sometimes it's just the marketing that overcomes us into 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:44.640 buying things, and we're not necessarily buying something because we've 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:47.320 been thoughtful or because we've been a good shopper. The 0:16:47.480 --> 0:16:51.800 advertising and marketing budgets of companies can be ridiculous, right 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:55.480 Coca Cola, they averaged about four billion dollars will be 0:16:55.840 --> 0:17:00.640 each year on advertising. Right between we might think that 0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:03.760 we're a little too savvy or sophisticated of a consumer 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:06.320 to be swayed by brand messaging, but it has an 0:17:06.320 --> 0:17:08.679 impact on us and we may not make that purchase 0:17:08.800 --> 0:17:10.840 right away, but it affects the way we view that 0:17:10.920 --> 0:17:13.240 product or that company, and before you know what, you're 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:16.679 clicking the purchase button. Marketing just has a massive impact 0:17:16.760 --> 0:17:19.040 on the way that we view consumption. YEA. So a 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:22.200 specific example I can think of here, Joel, are All 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:27.440 Birds the shoes? That's true. The first time I heard 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:29.520 or saw, you know, anything about All Birds, I was like, Man, 0:17:29.520 --> 0:17:32.359 this is a dumb shoe company, you know, like I 0:17:32.359 --> 0:17:33.720 don't know what they're trying to do, but they're just 0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:35.920 like a new, like this new startup company and they're 0:17:35.960 --> 0:17:37.320 making cool shoes. And I was like, there's no way 0:17:37.320 --> 0:17:38.840 I'm never going to get a pair of those. But 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:41.240 then I heard a podcast where it talked about like 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:43.399 their story how they kind of got got started and 0:17:43.400 --> 0:17:45.080 I was like, oh, that's pretty cool. Then one of 0:17:45.119 --> 0:17:46.680 my neighbors down the street he got a pair and 0:17:46.720 --> 0:17:48.440 I was like, oh, those are pretty cool and he's like, yeah, 0:17:48.440 --> 0:17:50.400 they're really comfortable. And then they showed up in your 0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:53.680 Instagram feed. Seriously they should and like you see as 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:56.119 from all over the place. And then I started thinking, 0:17:56.400 --> 0:17:58.679 I wonder, maybe I should look into all birds, you know, 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:01.120 and so each maybe i'd look good, and like, I'm 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:02.840 just thinking about how comfortable that they would be on 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:04.959 my feet. So I feel like that's an example of 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:07.760 how each one of these little inputs like on their own, Yeah, 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:09.520 it doesn't do much, but as they kind of build 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:12.200 up over time, it changes the way you view something. 0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:14.360 And now I'm like, oh, maybe I should get those, 0:18:14.359 --> 0:18:17.199 Like I think that those would be perfect shooes to 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:18.760 wear around the house and coming down here to the 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:21.160 basement for us to to work. But yeah, like you said, 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:24.399 don't underestimate the power of marketing. And you know, the 0:18:24.880 --> 0:18:28.480 sort of solution the antidote to marketing is making sure 0:18:28.520 --> 0:18:30.879 that you are doing a good amount of research ahead 0:18:30.880 --> 0:18:33.240 of time. Right, you want to ensure that you're making 0:18:33.320 --> 0:18:36.960 an informed purchase, not only on the quality right, or 0:18:37.040 --> 0:18:39.080 or the type of product that you're considering, but that 0:18:39.119 --> 0:18:41.960 you're also getting the best deal on the product you've 0:18:42.000 --> 0:18:44.560 chosen to go with. When you're looking at quality, there's 0:18:44.600 --> 0:18:49.000 no shortage of review websites out there or unboxing videos 0:18:49.160 --> 0:18:51.560 where somebody is talking about a product and their thoughts 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:53.879 on it after having used it for a while. But 0:18:53.920 --> 0:18:55.720 then when it comes to getting a good deal, look 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:58.080 at the different Black Friday ads that are out there 0:18:58.080 --> 0:19:01.440 on sites like black friday dot com and even deal 0:19:01.520 --> 0:19:04.720 News they have a dedicated Black Friday page as well. 0:19:04.800 --> 0:19:06.840 I just want to know what Black Friday dot Com 0:19:06.920 --> 0:19:10.680 does the other eleven months out of the US they did. 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:12.680