Speaker 1: Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I in
Speaker 1: Matt's and today we're discussing a practical guide to surviving
Speaker 1: Black Friday. Yeah, buddy, this is a shopping episode. It's
Speaker 1: not something we talked about often, but you and I
Speaker 1: we've got some we've got some good ideas about how
Speaker 1: to approach Black Friday, how to make sure that we
Speaker 1: don't overspend. And I feel like this one's a little
Speaker 1: bit more in your wheelhouse. I know how you love
Speaker 1: those deals. You've mentioned that before on the podcast. But yeah, man,
Speaker 1: I'm excited to cover this topic today. Yeah, I feel
Speaker 1: like Black Friday it's almost like a battlefield with a
Speaker 1: bunch of land mines that you can barely see, or
Speaker 1: maybe you can't see at all, and so you gotta
Speaker 1: you gotta be prepared in order to survive Black Friday.
Speaker 1: So that's kind of why we tiled it that, right,
Speaker 1: because there's like a lot of things that can trip
Speaker 1: you up. And so yeah, we've got a lot of
Speaker 1: helpful advice to help you get through these next few weeks,
Speaker 1: especially of crazy Christmas shopping, and hopefully it just trips
Speaker 1: you up, it doesn't completely destroy you. Angel Finances that
Speaker 1: would be bad. That's not the kind of situation you
Speaker 1: want to find yourself in. But first, man, I recently
Speaker 1: came across this Instagram account called Cheap Nordic Houses. It's
Speaker 1: exactly like it sounds. So I'm not gonna explain it,
Speaker 1: but that leads me to ask you the question, if
Speaker 1: you were to uproot your family and purchase a cheap
Speaker 1: Nordic house and move there, would that be considered frugal
Speaker 1: or cheap? Well, I will say this, that sounds like
Speaker 1: an Instagram that was perfectly crafted for my taste. H
Speaker 1: cheap things in cheap houses that are kind of cool
Speaker 1: and old in Nordic countries, they just have like this
Speaker 1: beauty that's um just unmatched, right, and your part Norwegian
Speaker 1: And so it's like if I came across the account
Speaker 1: an account that said like cheap Korean houses, right, So yeah,
Speaker 1: I like and some time looking through there after you
Speaker 1: mentioned it to me, and I it's I might have
Speaker 1: lusted after some Norwegian and Swedish properties. There really are
Speaker 1: some cool houses in just some beautiful settings, like on
Speaker 1: fiords in the Norwegian or Swedish countryside. But yeah, I
Speaker 1: don't know if it's frugal or chief to uproot my
Speaker 1: family from where we live and currently love. But some
Speaker 1: of those houses, like thirty grand it's insane. I'm sure
Speaker 1: the thirty grand ones need a little bit of work,
Speaker 1: but but that's the kind of house you know, in
Speaker 1: certain markets might go for three hundred thousand dollars literally
Speaker 1: ten times as much. Yeah. Yeah, And I'm sure the
Speaker 1: travel expenses right to get back and forth to go
Speaker 1: to your Norwegian summer house would be uh prohibitive. But
Speaker 1: I do love the idea, like I get through there,
Speaker 1: and I like to at least think about what my
Speaker 1: life could look like if I were to own one
Speaker 1: of those homes and and go there for you know,
Speaker 1: every summer for a couple of months. We'll forget every summer.
Speaker 1: I'm talking about like permanently, permanently. Ok. Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I do think sometimes about moving somewhere more rural and
Speaker 1: what that would look like, and I just don't think
Speaker 1: my personality I could stomach it, like it sounds idyllic
Speaker 1: and sounds wonderful, but I like people too much. I
Speaker 1: like walking through o neighborhood and run into neighbors all
Speaker 1: that kind of stuff. Yeah. Well, First of all, I
Speaker 1: love that you said rural, because that's like one of
Speaker 1: my favorite words. Makes me think of the rule juror,
Speaker 1: which is that you know that thirty Rock episode maybe vaguely, like,
Speaker 1: could you have named it anything more difficult to pronounce? Um?
Speaker 1: But I'm with you right, Like, we have lived in
Speaker 1: our neighborhood, in our part of town for over ten
Speaker 1: years now. We've put down roots, we've created community, our kids,
Speaker 1: you know, they're in school. I would say that I
Speaker 1: would fall on the side of defense and label it cheap.
Speaker 1: If you if you were to actually uproot your family
Speaker 1: moved to a far off country like that just to
Speaker 1: save the money, just because it's cheaper, obviously, that's that
Speaker 1: would be difficult to do. I mean. And plus two,
Speaker 1: you know your family, your extended family is still here,
Speaker 1: and so it'd be difficult to see them, you know,
Speaker 1: it'd be difficult to set up a little visits when
Speaker 1: you are an ocean away. But um, and so I
Speaker 1: think for us, at least, that's a that would be
Speaker 1: a huge barrier obviously. But dude, if like Kate and
Speaker 1: I had just gotten married, uh, and you know, if
Speaker 1: we had work that allowed us to be able to
Speaker 1: work remotely anywhere in the world. We would one d
Speaker 1: cent be considering doing something like that, at least trying
Speaker 1: it out, man, because gosh, like you said, you know,
Speaker 1: on a lot of these properties on that Instagram account,
Speaker 1: they show like these exter year shots of the house
Speaker 1: and like the setting and yeah, you see what random
Speaker 1: fjord it happens to be on, or you see the
Speaker 1: mountain that it's kind of perched up against that you
Speaker 1: could go hiking on every single morning. And so man,
Speaker 1: when you have that kind of natural beauty, it's hard
Speaker 1: for me to to see that and think, yeah, I
Speaker 1: live on a normal street in Atlanta, you know, and
Speaker 1: pay way more than a house that's thirty dollars that
Speaker 1: needs some work, or even one that's you know, eighty thousand. Well,
Speaker 1: maybe if we go from podcasting three times a week
Speaker 1: to seventeen times a week, we can afford a Norwegian
Speaker 1: house that's only for the summer, a summer house. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and and I don't know if our listeners would dig
Speaker 1: that many episodes, but we can consider it. Yeah, that
Speaker 1: would be one way maybe to accomplish that. But yeah,
Speaker 1: if if listeners out there, I've never heard of this account,
Speaker 1: I would recommend for you to check it out and
Speaker 1: maybe if you aren't a position where you have fewer
Speaker 1: ties to wherever it is that you live now, who knows,
Speaker 1: like that might be something you would even consider doing so,
Speaker 1: But if you do, please let us know, because I
Speaker 1: want to live vicariously through you. Well, I feel like,
Speaker 1: even just honestly looking at through the Instagram feed, I
Speaker 1: was able to get a little bit of that wanderlust
Speaker 1: satisfaction right now. You know, traveling it's almost non existent
Speaker 1: for or it has been non existent for us recently,
Speaker 1: at least on an airplane to somewhere in Europe or
Speaker 1: anything like that, and you just kind of scratch that itch,
Speaker 1: at least for a second. So I got you a
Speaker 1: little fix and you move on with life exactly exactly.
Speaker 1: Speaking of fix, Matt, we have beer fix that we
Speaker 1: have to get in every week. Right, we're today on
Speaker 1: the show. We're splitting a beer called Caliente, a key
Speaker 1: by Tripping Animals Brewing, and man, they make some really
Speaker 1: good beers. This in particular is an I p A.
Speaker 1: It's brewed with a gave. So I'm looking forward to
Speaker 1: having this one on the show with you today my friend. Yeah,
Speaker 1: this is a brewery that we only recently started getting
Speaker 1: here in Atlanta. So this is my first tripping Animals
Speaker 1: beer and hyeah. Looking forward to sharing this one with
Speaker 1: you and talking about it later in the episodes. Sounds good.
Speaker 1: Let's get onto the subject at hand. Today's episode is
Speaker 1: a practical guide to surviving Black Friday. And Black Friday
Speaker 1: is still like this important time for deals. It's a
Speaker 1: time where retailers end up making a good bit of
Speaker 1: their money for the year. Right, And at this point
Speaker 1: it's almost become an American tradition for better, for worse, right,
Speaker 1: for worse, mostly for worse. Uh And and even though
Speaker 1: the time frame has expanded beyond just a day, Right,
Speaker 1: it's traditionally Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, that Friday.
Speaker 1: But Black Friday now has become more of a season,
Speaker 1: and and Matt and I are going to kind of
Speaker 1: refer to it as this time period. It is not
Speaker 1: necessarily just that one specific day. Yeah, We're not talking
Speaker 1: about Friday only. We're talking about the entire season surrounding
Speaker 1: Black Friday. Yeah, and encompasses small business Saturday and Cyber Monday,
Speaker 1: all that kind of stuff too. Right, um, and it
Speaker 1: can be a good time for scoring low prices and
Speaker 1: getting some good deals, and that can make it a
Speaker 1: good time to buy things like toys for the kiddos
Speaker 1: or holiday presents for your partner or your friends, for
Speaker 1: less things you'd normally have to spend on those things
Speaker 1: sixty days out of the year, right, those five days
Speaker 1: or those couple of weeks typically are going to offer
Speaker 1: some of the best prices. And we've already seen some
Speaker 1: legit sales, some really good sales starting with Prime Day
Speaker 1: in mid October, and retailers have already had some impressive
Speaker 1: sales starting in early November. But over the next three
Speaker 1: weeks or so, you'll see ads trying to sell you
Speaker 1: on countless numbers of things. And Matt and I, we
Speaker 1: think it's important for all of us to get through
Speaker 1: this time period with our budgets and our sanity intact
Speaker 1: to avoid those landmines. They're gonna completely mess us up
Speaker 1: this time of year. Yeah, you know, even though you
Speaker 1: can find some really great deals, uh, for a lot
Speaker 1: of folks, this time of year is difficult on our
Speaker 1: bank accounts. There's the temptation to overspend and consume more
Speaker 1: than we need to UH, and we end up buying
Speaker 1: way too much stuff. And because of this, a ton
Speaker 1: of Americans end up with a boatload of debt. Come January,
Speaker 1: you know, getting that first credit card statement of the
Speaker 1: new year, and your inbox really sucks. And for many
Speaker 1: more it more than sucks. You know, they can't pay
Speaker 1: the bill in full, and it leads to even more
Speaker 1: financial difficulty. And so there are a number of different
Speaker 1: problems that arise during this consumption driven time of year.
Speaker 1: We're gonna highlight the primary issues we think people face,
Speaker 1: as well as you know, why we think that they're
Speaker 1: a big deal, and then we're gonna discuss what to
Speaker 1: actually do about those issues. And Matt, you know us.
Speaker 1: You know, we could simply call these things issues you're
Speaker 1: going to experience during Black Friday shopping problems. We could
Speaker 1: be super boring about it. But we decided that we're
Speaker 1: going to call these issues to pop up Black Friday
Speaker 1: foibles and uh, because then we can abbreviate them to BFFs.
Speaker 1: The student listener will have immediately picked up on that.
Speaker 1: They're like, alright, BFFs, because you and I we don't
Speaker 1: really call ourselves BFFs, but we kind of are right. Well,
Speaker 1: I mean we could, but I think that would be
Speaker 1: might be a little juvenile's referred to each other as BFFs.
Speaker 1: We're not seven years old, man, but we are best MUDs.
Speaker 1: That's true. That's true. So we're gonna go through a
Speaker 1: bunch of Black Friday foibles and how to avoid them,
Speaker 1: and we'll get to those in just a minute. But Matt,
Speaker 1: I wanted to first mention that another day that's typically
Speaker 1: included in Black Friday right now is Thanksgiving. But a
Speaker 1: lot of retailers this year in particular, have announced that
Speaker 1: they're not opening for Thanksgiving. I think in large part
Speaker 1: that's due to the pandemic. But what are your thoughts
Speaker 1: on Thanksgiving being one less day in the Christmas shopping season? Essentially?
Speaker 1: Isn't that a novel concept that on Thanksgiving Day, like
Speaker 1: a day that we're supposed to spend with our family
Speaker 1: or with friends, that maybe we shouldn't be in stores,
Speaker 1: you know, with our credit cards, spending money in the
Speaker 1: pursuit of more. Oh my gosh, dude, it is ridiculous
Speaker 1: that it took like a worldwide pandemic to get us
Speaker 1: to this point. I don't know if this is gonna
Speaker 1: be something that sticks around. I would hope that it would,
Speaker 1: right like, but here's the thing. Next year, it's only
Speaker 1: gonna take a single retailer to say, all right, it's
Speaker 1: twenty ONNY one. You know, the coronavirus is behind us.
Speaker 1: We're gonna you know, we're gonna start our sales on
Speaker 1: Thanksgiving Day. We'll see you at seven pm, that kind
Speaker 1: of thing, two pm or whenever they open their doors.
Speaker 1: And then all the other retailers are gonna follow suit.
Speaker 1: And So while I love this idea that instead of
Speaker 1: focusing on consumption, that that we're being encouraged to spend
Speaker 1: time with our family instead, but I don't necessarily think
Speaker 1: it's gonna stick around. I was digging around a little
Speaker 1: bit and I didn't realize. I've heard about Patagonia how
Speaker 1: they dedicate all of their Black Friday sales. They donate
Speaker 1: the profits to different organizations that are basically keeping the earth.
Speaker 1: Pretty wow, that's awesome, But I didn't know that, Ari
Speaker 1: I they actually close on Thanksgiving Day and on Black Friday,
Speaker 1: which is super cool. Basically that they they've done a
Speaker 1: six years in a row now, uh, And they do
Speaker 1: this thing where they they call it like hashtag opt outside,
Speaker 1: but instead of you know, spending our time indoors, whether
Speaker 1: it be shopping or indoors sitting at our computers shopping online,
Speaker 1: they're encouraging folks to get outside. And I love how
Speaker 1: they're taking a stand, uh to not necessarily encourage consumption.
Speaker 1: We love both of those companies, and I think that's
Speaker 1: something that's that's super cool. Oh and ari I, they
Speaker 1: pay their employees for Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday even
Speaker 1: though their employees don't work. It's a classy move man.
Speaker 1: How good is that? I love the classy company? Yeah,
Speaker 1: ari I rocks, But I agree with you, and I
Speaker 1: love the trend, and I hope the trend sticks around
Speaker 1: even after the coronavirus is over. Agreed that the stores
Speaker 1: are closed on Thanksgiving? Um, Because yeah, I do think
Speaker 1: gratitude is one of those things, is one of those
Speaker 1: antidotes to needing and pursuing more. Um. But let's get
Speaker 1: to those Black Friday foibles, the bfs and how we
Speaker 1: can all survive this Black Friday in We'll get to
Speaker 1: our thoughts on that right after this break. All Right,
Speaker 1: we are back, and it's ton of for us to
Speaker 1: talk about our first BFF, our first Black Friday foible.
Speaker 1: Uh you're to tell me about your kindergarten best rand.
Speaker 1: Let's let's start super broadly. Man. You know, we just
Speaker 1: mentioned this, but we're tempted to to overspend and rack
Speaker 1: up credit card debt around the holidays, and Black Friday
Speaker 1: is a major culprit. Man. Companies and retailers have created
Speaker 1: essentially a culture right in an environment that encourages spending
Speaker 1: and consumption. Uh. And it comes at a big cost
Speaker 1: to us. And it's not just you know, individual companies
Speaker 1: as well, but it's it's even our whole country, you know,
Speaker 1: Like we have an economy that is consumer driven. Consumer
Speaker 1: spending accounted for roughly seventy percent of our GDP last year.
Speaker 1: Uh So it's just kind of important to point out
Speaker 1: that the world that we live in is drenched through
Speaker 1: and through with spending at its core. It's it's a
Speaker 1: part of our our current reality. Yeah, I feel like
Speaker 1: we're trying to go against the grain. We're being incredibly
Speaker 1: countercultural because the norm is to float the mainstream, go
Speaker 1: to Black Friday route and and rack up debt that
Speaker 1: you're going to experience in January, right, and and we
Speaker 1: want to avoid that. So, yeah, this is a big
Speaker 1: deal because it's an obvious problem because though some folks
Speaker 1: might have a plan when it comes to holiday shopping,
Speaker 1: a lot of individuals are spending money that they don't have,
Speaker 1: and they aren't keeping their larger goals in mind while
Speaker 1: they're doing their holiday shopping. So when you spend money
Speaker 1: that isn't yours, that means that you're paying interest to
Speaker 1: credit card companies. You have the magic of interest working
Speaker 1: against you, not for you. And of course, if you're
Speaker 1: not working towards your larger goals in life, like saving
Speaker 1: up for your first house or eliminating debts, your partner
Speaker 1: can stay at home with the kids if they want, well,
Speaker 1: then all this spending is going to lead to a
Speaker 1: lot of disappointment. Holiday gift giving can be a whole
Speaker 1: lot of fun, but if we get swept up in consumerism,
Speaker 1: I feel like it can have the opposite effect. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's certainly an instance where the joy would be sucked
Speaker 1: out of the holidays. And then we asked the question
Speaker 1: how do you remedy this BFF which every time I
Speaker 1: say it, man, I love it because it makes me smile.
Speaker 1: And what we would recommend is to create a Black
Speaker 1: Friday budget. Right, It's as simple as that, before even
Speaker 1: more of these sales hit, proactively sit down and decide
Speaker 1: how much money you're going to spend. I know this
Speaker 1: sounds simple, but but think about all the members of
Speaker 1: your family and you know the friends who you want
Speaker 1: to include, and decide on a dollar amount that you're
Speaker 1: willing to spend on each one of them over the holidays.
Speaker 1: But then, you know, don't stop there. Actually do the
Speaker 1: legwork and keep a running total. You can easily create
Speaker 1: a simple spreadsheet and excel numbers um Google sheets even
Speaker 1: uh will actually link to some templates in the show notes.
Speaker 1: But you can't stay on budget if you don't know
Speaker 1: how much money you have actually spent. Yeah, and the
Speaker 1: cool thing about Black Friday is that in so many
Speaker 1: ways your dollar can actually go further. Prices are lower
Speaker 1: um in this time period than they are, let's say,
Speaker 1: as we get closer to Christmas. But the biggest issue
Speaker 1: is that we spend too much. We don't have a
Speaker 1: list that we can stick to. And we can combat
Speaker 1: that BFF, that first Black Friday foible by having that
Speaker 1: list and sticking to it, and and maybe our dollar
Speaker 1: can go even further during this time because of the sales. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and so that's all about creating a plan for your money,
Speaker 1: specifically the money that you're going to spend around the holidays.
Speaker 1: Another tip I saw that somebody had written about was
Speaker 1: essentially they're talking about how, you know, the later it
Speaker 1: gets at night, how our willpower decreases. You know, like
Speaker 1: traditionally people make poor decisions the later it gets and
Speaker 1: the more tired we get. That's when I find myself
Speaker 1: eating my kids Halloween candy. I'm finding all the snicker
Speaker 1: bars and butter fingers as well, those are the best.
Speaker 1: But no, the same thing is true in regards to
Speaker 1: spending as well. I think a lot of people might
Speaker 1: find themselves in situations later at night where they're just
Speaker 1: like kind of sitting there clicking on their phone or
Speaker 1: you know, swiping, and and they're like, I think I'm
Speaker 1: gonna get this, and then they realized they spent maybe
Speaker 1: an hour like looking at different products, and they feel
Speaker 1: like that they've wasted time. And so a way to
Speaker 1: sort of prove to themselves that they, you know, have
Speaker 1: spent that time wisely is by actually purchasing something, you know,
Speaker 1: like it's like, well, I don't want I want to
Speaker 1: make sure that I didn't just waste that full hour
Speaker 1: looking at sweatpants, So now I'm gonna buy a couple
Speaker 1: of pair. And so to that, I think a good
Speaker 1: tip might be to limit your ability to shop from bed,
Speaker 1: you know, or on your phone later at night, when
Speaker 1: you know we're less likely to stick to the budget
Speaker 1: that we have already created. It's a great point, Matt.
Speaker 1: And that's just a behavioral thing. Whether it's keeping your
Speaker 1: phone out of the bedroom, which a lot of experts
Speaker 1: already tell us that that's the best thing to do
Speaker 1: um or good for your sleep, right, or whether we're
Speaker 1: taking some of those social media apps that are that
Speaker 1: create a temptation in our lives off of our phone.
Speaker 1: Either those options are good options. Right, Let's get to
Speaker 1: beff number two, Black Friday Foible number two. Because of
Speaker 1: the fact that there are so many deals out there, well,
Speaker 1: we as humans can fall prey to the best marketing
Speaker 1: and we end up not getting the best deal, right.
Speaker 1: So sometimes it's just the marketing that overcomes us into
Speaker 1: buying things, and we're not necessarily buying something because we've
Speaker 1: been thoughtful or because we've been a good shopper. The
Speaker 1: advertising and marketing budgets of companies can be ridiculous, right
Speaker 1: Coca Cola, they averaged about four billion dollars will be
Speaker 1: each year on advertising. Right between we might think that
Speaker 1: we're a little too savvy or sophisticated of a consumer
Speaker 1: to be swayed by brand messaging, but it has an
Speaker 1: impact on us and we may not make that purchase
Speaker 1: right away, but it affects the way we view that
Speaker 1: product or that company, and before you know what, you're
Speaker 1: clicking the purchase button. Marketing just has a massive impact
Speaker 1: on the way that we view consumption. YEA. So a
Speaker 1: specific example I can think of here, Joel, are All
Speaker 1: Birds the shoes? That's true. The first time I heard
Speaker 1: or saw, you know, anything about All Birds, I was like, Man,
Speaker 1: this is a dumb shoe company, you know, like I
Speaker 1: don't know what they're trying to do, but they're just
Speaker 1: like a new, like this new startup company and they're
Speaker 1: making cool shoes. And I was like, there's no way
Speaker 1: I'm never going to get a pair of those. But
Speaker 1: then I heard a podcast where it talked about like
Speaker 1: their story how they kind of got got started and
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, that's pretty cool. Then one of
Speaker 1: my neighbors down the street he got a pair and
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, those are pretty cool and he's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: they're really comfortable. And then they showed up in your
Speaker 1: Instagram feed. Seriously they should and like you see as
Speaker 1: from all over the place. And then I started thinking,
Speaker 1: I wonder, maybe I should look into all birds, you know,
Speaker 1: and so each maybe i'd look good, and like, I'm
Speaker 1: just thinking about how comfortable that they would be on
Speaker 1: my feet. So I feel like that's an example of
Speaker 1: how each one of these little inputs like on their own, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it doesn't do much, but as they kind of build
Speaker 1: up over time, it changes the way you view something.
Speaker 1: And now I'm like, oh, maybe I should get those,
Speaker 1: Like I think that those would be perfect shooes to
Speaker 1: wear around the house and coming down here to the
Speaker 1: basement for us to to work. But yeah, like you said,
Speaker 1: don't underestimate the power of marketing. And you know, the
Speaker 1: sort of solution the antidote to marketing is making sure
Speaker 1: that you are doing a good amount of research ahead
Speaker 1: of time. Right, you want to ensure that you're making
Speaker 1: an informed purchase, not only on the quality right, or
Speaker 1: or the type of product that you're considering, but that
Speaker 1: you're also getting the best deal on the product you've
Speaker 1: chosen to go with. When you're looking at quality, there's
Speaker 1: no shortage of review websites out there or unboxing videos
Speaker 1: where somebody is talking about a product and their thoughts
Speaker 1: on it after having used it for a while. But
Speaker 1: then when it comes to getting a good deal, look
Speaker 1: at the different Black Friday ads that are out there
Speaker 1: on sites like black friday dot com and even deal
Speaker 1: News they have a dedicated Black Friday page as well.
Speaker 1: I just want to know what Black Friday dot Com
Speaker 1: does the other eleven months out of the US they did.
Speaker 1: They do the same thing that the Spirit Halloween stores
Speaker 1: do and just kind of like disappear um. But by
Speaker 1: keeping up with, you know, some resources like that, you'll
Speaker 1: know what is and what isn't a deal when you
Speaker 1: see it. It also allows you to come up with
Speaker 1: a reasonable list of the things that you actually want
Speaker 1: to purchase, and you'll be less prone, I think, to
Speaker 1: buying things that you don't actually want or need uh
Speaker 1: in the heat of the moment, just because something kind
Speaker 1: of splashed across your screen, something just because an ad
Speaker 1: showed up in your Instagram feed and you think, oh,
Speaker 1: those those shoes look comfortable, all right? So I was
Speaker 1: wondering if I should confess this, but I did. I
Speaker 1: bought a pair of All Birds. It happened. What I'm
Speaker 1: wearing them right now? You don't even notice? Are you serious? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I'll put them up here on the How did I
Speaker 1: not realize that? I don't know. I noticed that you
Speaker 1: had a new new pair of kicks on, but I
Speaker 1: didn't know that they're All Birds because they don't look
Speaker 1: like all that. So they have like a newer version.
Speaker 1: Here's what those are, like, desert boot All Birds. I
Speaker 1: felt like similarly, the world world was conspiring to get
Speaker 1: me to buy All Birds. So funny, Well we we
Speaker 1: talked about this a few weeks ago, we did, and
Speaker 1: so so funny. I found some on eBay for that
Speaker 1: were way less than half price, even like it was
Speaker 1: like this store that was clearancing. Uh, like the display
Speaker 1: models of their All Birds believe you actually have a
Speaker 1: pair on And I didn't realize that, and that was
Speaker 1: something I was thinking of. I had to say it.
Speaker 1: But it's kind of scary. Actually, I feel like our minds,
Speaker 1: like my mind is fused with your actions on a
Speaker 1: level that we don't even understand. I will say they
Speaker 1: are ridiculously calm, are they really? They're They're great. Now
Speaker 1: I'm gonna have to resist all right, but all Birds aside, Matt,
Speaker 1: that's what these companies want to do to us, right there,
Speaker 1: was to buy things without really thinking about You thought
Speaker 1: about it though, that's the thing you thought about it,
Speaker 1: and not only that, like, I guess you researched it
Speaker 1: and you're like, oh, yeah, these are good shoes. But
Speaker 1: then you went and found an amazing place to buy
Speaker 1: them eBay where yeah you got them. What what do
Speaker 1: you say? I think they were fifty bucks and that's
Speaker 1: the price on all birds dot com is like a
Speaker 1: D fifteen. Um, And I put them on my watch list, um,
Speaker 1: And I, you know, didn't buy them right away, and
Speaker 1: I thought about it a little more and I was like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think I'd like some nice, comfy, wool false shoes.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I feel like that totally points to the
Speaker 1: power of marketing that it can have on our lives.
Speaker 1: At the same time, right I was marketed to and
Speaker 1: I realized that that's a product I'd actually like to
Speaker 1: bring in my life, and I took some time to
Speaker 1: think about it. And oftentimes advertisements can make us aware
Speaker 1: of new things that we didn't even know existed, or
Speaker 1: products that we do want to have in our lives.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, it can lead to over
Speaker 1: consumption and then regret because you bought something that you
Speaker 1: didn't actually decide and choose that you wanted. And all
Speaker 1: these marketing efforts man like they are hoping to get
Speaker 1: us to purchase things without any consideration at all for
Speaker 1: the cost. You know, it's just so easy to to
Speaker 1: get caught up in the shopping blitz surrounding things giving.
Speaker 1: You know, like we we see a ticking clock on
Speaker 1: an item that we're interested in, and it creates this
Speaker 1: false sense of urgency because you know, like we we
Speaker 1: have fomo, but we feel like we're going to miss out. Uh.
Speaker 1: Amazon Lightning deals. I feel like they are a good example.
Speaker 1: You've only got like two more hours before this deal
Speaker 1: is gone on forever. We'll never see it again at
Speaker 1: this price. Yeah, or or your target app pings you
Speaker 1: with notifications that Halloween costumes are buy one, get one,
Speaker 1: like Kate literally got that message a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 1: The week of Halloween. And then in addition to that,
Speaker 1: we now have to contend with live shopping, and this
Speaker 1: is where influencers are on a live video and you know,
Speaker 1: they're essentially talking about some of the different products that
Speaker 1: they like. Basically, it's like QVC for our generation and Amazon, Facebook, Google,
Speaker 1: they have all jumped on board. There's no shortage of
Speaker 1: ways that companies are trying to get their wares in
Speaker 1: front of us to consider purchasing them. Yeah, and I
Speaker 1: feel like the whole atmosphere, the whole way things go down,
Speaker 1: can feel overwhelming, and if we don't keep ourselves in check,
Speaker 1: it's easy to have our frugal habits eroded away with
Speaker 1: every advertisement or promotion that we're exposed to. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: with with each onslaught, with each campaign, with each wave.
Speaker 1: It makes me think of like like if you build
Speaker 1: a sand castle, like at the beach, and then the
Speaker 1: tide slowly comes in and the waves just kind of
Speaker 1: like it lapse up onto the same castle and and
Speaker 1: it goes away, and you see the saying just kind
Speaker 1: of like go with it. The foundation gets eaten out
Speaker 1: from underneath of it. I think that's what happens to
Speaker 1: get I like it, you like it, you can't picture it.
Speaker 1: And similarly, it makes me think of that scene from
Speaker 1: Inception where they're you know, they're in like that limbo world. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean literally it's supposed to be like a sandcastle thing,
Speaker 1: but the you know, like the the city's falling into
Speaker 1: the ocean. But that's what it makes me think of,
Speaker 1: that city that's falling into the ocean. Those are our
Speaker 1: frugal ways. And when these banners pop up on our phone,
Speaker 1: when we see these lightning deals, when we see the
Speaker 1: percentage off that we're missing out on, if we we
Speaker 1: don't take advantage of it, it can eat away at
Speaker 1: our tendencies to you know, to not spend our money.
Speaker 1: And that's what we need to be careful of. Yes,
Speaker 1: So the way that we fight back is we have
Speaker 1: to work hard to limit the inputs and the exposure
Speaker 1: that we have to consumption and to these advertisements. Right,
Speaker 1: the more social media and television that we have in
Speaker 1: our lives, to more will be tempted to spend. We're
Speaker 1: not saying that we should all be ludite and avoid
Speaker 1: technology altogether and avoid any sort of marketing at all. Right,
Speaker 1: that'd be virtually impossible to do anyway, especially considering billboards
Speaker 1: when you're driving right, it's just impossible to keep them
Speaker 1: out of your life altogether. But just make sure that
Speaker 1: you're thinking about the effect that marketing can have on
Speaker 1: you and your money and make a concerted effort, especially
Speaker 1: in this time period when marketing goes Rambo style, um
Speaker 1: and just to just tries to obliterate your mind with
Speaker 1: all these advertisements and deals. So even now is more
Speaker 1: important than than even it is throughout the rest of
Speaker 1: the year to protect your mind and to limit those inputs.
Speaker 1: I feel like Rambo style should be a type of
Speaker 1: burger that you can get at in and out, like
Speaker 1: a burger Rambo style. The fries animal style, but the
Speaker 1: burger Rambo style, please just go crazy on it. Just
Speaker 1: ruin my stomach. By the way, I feel like Rainbow
Speaker 1: is due for like a reboot. Uh you know they're one.
Speaker 1: I don't know, do they I think they might have.
Speaker 1: I thought it was like a comedy though, like, what
Speaker 1: was it really Rambo the comedy? I don't know, man,
Speaker 1: I feel like they've done everything at this point. I
Speaker 1: will say, Sylvester Stallone underrated. Do you think so? Yes?
Speaker 1: All right, come on, Rocky four, that's still a class.
Speaker 1: He wasn't a Cliffinger. I remember when that movie came
Speaker 1: out and being a big, big fan of it. And
Speaker 1: actually the mountains where he climbed, the Dolomites, I've been
Speaker 1: there and college, uh, me and some friends. We we
Speaker 1: actually took one well like ten days and we backpacked
Speaker 1: and we specifically went up to the Dolomites and did
Speaker 1: some backpacking, some sleeping in the mountains. It was beautiful,
Speaker 1: very kind of takes me back to the noorder houses thing,
Speaker 1: like literally that's what it looked like, except for like
Speaker 1: Rocky er essentially, But could I live here in the Dolomite? Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: All right, we're getting off track. Let's get to a
Speaker 1: couple more bff's, uh and we'll get to those right
Speaker 1: after this break alart. We're back from break We're discussing
Speaker 1: Black Friday foibles. We're talking about these bfs that essentially
Speaker 1: can mess you up financially, especially during rainbow style rambow
Speaker 1: style over the next few weeks, right, and and so
Speaker 1: one of the things that can happen BFF number three
Speaker 1: is you can get stuck with an item that you
Speaker 1: are unable to return, and Matt, this is the worst right.
Speaker 1: You bought the item, maybe hoping that it would fit
Speaker 1: you or that your kid would like it, but sadly
Speaker 1: not so much. Each company has its own policy surrounding
Speaker 1: returns and exchanges, and some even have special restrictions when
Speaker 1: you're buying stuff during the Black Friday time period. Maybe
Speaker 1: that Doorbuster TV that you bought on a whim but
Speaker 1: you realized you couldn't actually afford well, you might not
Speaker 1: even be able to return it, and that's a foible
Speaker 1: that can cost you money because you still spent the money,
Speaker 1: but now it's an item that's sitting in the back
Speaker 1: of your closet that's going unused. Yeah, and I feel
Speaker 1: like this is I mean, it sounds almost ridiculous to say,
Speaker 1: but we've all been in a situation where we have
Speaker 1: something and even you know, if we can't return it.
Speaker 1: Sometimes just the process of having purchased it and it's
Speaker 1: sitting inside of our our houses, we think, uh, do
Speaker 1: I really want to go through with like making the
Speaker 1: return and sending that back, even though I can. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: I think sometimes we fall prey to that right, like
Speaker 1: just because it's it's we already have it. Like there's
Speaker 1: almost like the sunk cost fallacy. It's like I've already
Speaker 1: gone through all the trouble of you know, perch seeing
Speaker 1: it and unboxing it, and it's sitting here. And I
Speaker 1: think sometimes people end up keeping stuff that's not only
Speaker 1: is it not for somebody else for a gift, but
Speaker 1: it's something for them and even then they don't really
Speaker 1: want it, but they're still hanging onto it. And unfortunately
Speaker 1: that can almost be like another layer to you know,
Speaker 1: not being able to return something is being able to
Speaker 1: return something, but we get so lazy that we actually
Speaker 1: don't do that. Yeah, it's like can you return it? Yes?
Speaker 1: Are you going to return it? Man? I don't know
Speaker 1: if I feel like it, please do right. You know,
Speaker 1: this is a big deal because that impulse purchase like
Speaker 1: that can completely wreck your budget. Uh. And and the
Speaker 1: trend towards online shopping, you know, man, it was already happening,
Speaker 1: but in more folks than ever are shopping online. So
Speaker 1: many of us, you know, now buy stuff just to
Speaker 1: to try it on. Sometimes, like I know, like we'll
Speaker 1: do this, but we'll buy like five different pairs of shoes,
Speaker 1: you know, with a plan to to send for them back.
Speaker 1: But without an understanding of the return process, restocking fees,
Speaker 1: and shipping costs, you can find yourself with unwanted merchandise
Speaker 1: that you are now stuck with. That's why it's important
Speaker 1: to stay or organized. A great return policy is under
Speaker 1: rated because I'm willing to pay a little bit more
Speaker 1: to have that greater flexibility for being able to take
Speaker 1: it back. Um if that item doesn't work out. Also
Speaker 1: make sure to check and see if there are any
Speaker 1: stipulations for returns in the Black Friday time period right,
Speaker 1: and create a calendar reminder at the time you purchase
Speaker 1: an item that you're unsure about so you remember to
Speaker 1: return it if it isn't working out. I love that, right.
Speaker 1: And then also consider using a credit card to make
Speaker 1: your purchases. Some come with added perks like extending the
Speaker 1: manufacturer's warranty and price protection, but it's important to only
Speaker 1: use a credit card if you're gonna be able to
Speaker 1: pay the balance in full and if it won't lead
Speaker 1: you to spending more than you otherwise would. If that's
Speaker 1: not gonna be the case, then we would suggest sticking
Speaker 1: to cash. Yeah, whether you are able to return an
Speaker 1: item or not, you still want to make sure that
Speaker 1: you know you can purchase that with a card where
Speaker 1: you can maximize some of those benefits. And then BFF
Speaker 1: number four are Black Friday foible. The final one that
Speaker 1: we're gonna get you today is that it's it's not
Speaker 1: all about getting the lowest price, right, It's also about
Speaker 1: things like you know, the store return policy, but it's
Speaker 1: also about supporting local stores and small businesses as well.
Speaker 1: Small Business Saturday is smack dab in the middle of
Speaker 1: this Black Friday time period. Uh So don't skip out
Speaker 1: supporting small companies that rock. Small businesses really need your help,
Speaker 1: especially now, especially given the current environment that we find
Speaker 1: ourselves in. It can be you know, a local small
Speaker 1: business where you can safely go into that store in person,
Speaker 1: or even one of your favorite small businesses that mostly
Speaker 1: operates online. Either way, you'll be able to score some
Speaker 1: some pretty solid deals on many different items that that
Speaker 1: also aren't mass produced. You can find something hopefully that's
Speaker 1: a little more unique to that specific store. But even then, like,
Speaker 1: I'm not even necessarily looking for the best deal or
Speaker 1: or even a good deal because I think, you know,
Speaker 1: supporting a local business that in and of itself, Like
Speaker 1: I'm doing that for that purpose in addition to getting
Speaker 1: the good, right, Like I am okay paying a little
Speaker 1: bit more for something maybe locally if I know that
Speaker 1: I'm supporting that store which adds character and flavor to
Speaker 1: my neighborhood, or if it's a store that's owned by
Speaker 1: a neighbor, you know, Like, these are all things that
Speaker 1: I think we should all take into account and things
Speaker 1: that we should remind ourselves of when we're on the
Speaker 1: hunt for the lowest possible price. It's not always about that, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think, especially given the circumstances of it's really important
Speaker 1: for us all to allocate some of our holiday budget
Speaker 1: to the businesses that do add a bunch of creativity
Speaker 1: to where we live. Those are the ones that aren't
Speaker 1: just selling the same stuff trying to push for the
Speaker 1: lowest possible price. Right and specifically, on the Saturday after
Speaker 1: Black Friday, it's it's actually gonna be the tenth annual
Speaker 1: Small Business Saturday this year. A X started this um
Speaker 1: a decade ago and it's been embraced by small businesses everywhere. Now,
Speaker 1: lots will be offering special incentives to come shop with them. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: keep your eyes open, and some of them are going
Speaker 1: to be offering deals, whether they are local small shops
Speaker 1: or whether they're online. Uh, Matt, and I do think
Speaker 1: it's not just about paying the least amount of money
Speaker 1: and then being able to tell your friends that you
Speaker 1: got the littlest possible price on a TV. Um. That
Speaker 1: can be cool if you're in the market for TV,
Speaker 1: I guess, but but for a lot of us, that's
Speaker 1: not necessarily what we're into, or we already have way
Speaker 1: too many TVs already, and so thinking about how we
Speaker 1: can use our dollars put our dollars at work in
Speaker 1: our community is is another good way to think about it, Matt.
Speaker 1: The stats show that more of our dollars stay local
Speaker 1: when we spend locally as opposed to using our dollars
Speaker 1: at like a big box store. Nice. I feel like
Speaker 1: the way to approach this, too is just one with
Speaker 1: balance in mind. You know. It makes me think of
Speaker 1: food because we talked about on the show, and we've
Speaker 1: had guests on before where we are trying to save
Speaker 1: money by cooking for ourselves at home. Right it is
Speaker 1: a huge boost to our budget when we're able to
Speaker 1: do that, But at the same time, we are also
Speaker 1: keeping in mind that we need to support our local businesses,
Speaker 1: specifically our restaurants, you know, in order for those guys
Speaker 1: to stick around. Uh, it takes going out to eat
Speaker 1: and not only looking at you know, our own personal
Speaker 1: bottom line. And so just like we were holding this intention,
Speaker 1: you know, like at the same time where it's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: I want to make sure that we're being smart with
Speaker 1: our money, but at the same time, we are willing
Speaker 1: to go out and support these businesses and in these restaurants. Uh,
Speaker 1: and you know, spend a little bit more than we
Speaker 1: would how do we purchase those ingredients ourselves? And so
Speaker 1: you know, we've discussed four BFFs here Black Friday foibles
Speaker 1: and uh, hopefully this helps you to approach this coming
Speaker 1: Black Friday shopping season well so you can survive the
Speaker 1: onslaught of companies that are you know, trying to part
Speaker 1: you with your money. It's okay to spend money this
Speaker 1: time a year, but we want to do it in
Speaker 1: a way that fits into our budget and allows us
Speaker 1: to breathe easily come January. We don't want to get
Speaker 1: sucked into this Black Friday vortex and we don't want
Speaker 1: That's what happened to you either. Yeah, we all want
Speaker 1: to survive Black Friday. We want our budgets to survive
Speaker 1: Black Friday. Come January, we're able to continue to breathe easily. UM.
Speaker 1: I just hate hearing the many stories of people to
Speaker 1: get to January. They get the credit card bill, they're
Speaker 1: freaked out because they didn't realize that they've overdone it
Speaker 1: to that extent, and they are just ways to avoid it.
Speaker 1: So yeah, hopefully some of these antidotes to the foibles
Speaker 1: were able to help you plan accordingly, um, so that
Speaker 1: your personal finances will be in a good position. Come one.
Speaker 1: All right, Matt, let's get back to the beer that
Speaker 1: we had on the show today. This one's called Kali
Speaker 1: and Aki. It's by Tripping Animals Brewing Company there on
Speaker 1: a Florida. What was your take on this? I p
Speaker 1: A with A Gave. Yeah, well, I'll say too as well.
Speaker 1: This is a collaboration with a brewery called Narrow Gauge
Speaker 1: and I've never actually heard of them before. Might have
Speaker 1: to to check them out, but yeah, this was a
Speaker 1: double I PA with Mosaic Galaxy, Mrillo and A Gave.
Speaker 1: I'll be honest, I didn't really taste any agave. I
Speaker 1: just tasted a really good hazy double I p A. Man,
Speaker 1: this is one that listeners have heard us enjoy on
Speaker 1: the show before many times. But I mean the reason
Speaker 1: for this is, and if you haven't had one of
Speaker 1: these types of beers before, I feel that it's an
Speaker 1: easier introduction to I p a s than the old
Speaker 1: school kind of West Coast i p a s. You know,
Speaker 1: there's just more balance that there's not as much bitterness.
Speaker 1: There's like the right amount of sweetness going on. It's
Speaker 1: got like a little little citrusy you fruit action going
Speaker 1: on that you get from the hops. Has all the
Speaker 1: flavors that I once uh in an I p A
Speaker 1: these days, And so maybe you're listening and you're like,
Speaker 1: I've tried an I PA before it was maybe it
Speaker 1: was a West Coast I p A. Well, I would
Speaker 1: recommend that you check out, you know, one of these
Speaker 1: hazy I p a s or these New England style
Speaker 1: I p a is. They're a bit more balanced and
Speaker 1: they might cause you to change your mind. But yeah, Joe,
Speaker 1: what were your thoughts on this one? Man? I thought
Speaker 1: this one was so good. I'm a big fan of
Speaker 1: the artwork, in particular by the way the Tripping Animals
Speaker 1: does on on like all of their beer cans, just
Speaker 1: really really cool artwork. And yeah, but this beer was
Speaker 1: so good. It was an excellent I p A. I'm
Speaker 1: not sure if I was getting the agave either. I
Speaker 1: think if I did it, it felt like it just
Speaker 1: had a little bit more of an earthiness to it,
Speaker 1: and so I feel like that's why I'm getting from it. Um.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I really really enjoyed this one and looking
Speaker 1: forward to having more beers from them in the future. Yeah, man,
Speaker 1: I totally agree. I'm with you with Tripping Animals. Great brewery,
Speaker 1: looking forward to enjoying more of these, and that's gonna
Speaker 1: be it for this episode. Listeners can find our show
Speaker 1: notes up on our website at how to mine dot com.
Speaker 1: And if you're new to the show, if you haven't
Speaker 1: been listening for very long, well, we would suggest checking
Speaker 1: out our website how to money dot com. There are
Speaker 1: helpful articles there to help you in your personal finance journey,
Speaker 1: as well as a slew of older episodes that can
Speaker 1: really help you figure out some of the personal finance basics.
Speaker 1: So that's gonna do it for today's episode, Matt until
Speaker 1: next time. Best friends out, best friends out,