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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is about how to give people cash in

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Speaker 1: a way that feels a little more fun. When my

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Speaker 1: older kids became preteens, they started getting a lot more

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Speaker 1: money and a lot fewer toys for birthdays and Christmas.

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Speaker 1: It makes sense. It's hard to know what to get

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Speaker 1: an adolescent, and as for adults, well, lots of people

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Speaker 1: don't need more stuff. Everyone can use money. That said,

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Speaker 1: money can feel a little less fun than a present

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Speaker 1: selected specifically for you and wrapped up with a big bow.

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Speaker 1: So if you're thinking of giving cash to people for

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Speaker 1: birthdays or holidays, here are a few ways for dressing

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Speaker 1: up that cash gift so it is a bit more

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Speaker 1: exciting and personal. First, see if the cash can translate

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Speaker 1: directly into giving an experience. We know that spending money

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Speaker 1: on experiences gives us more lasting happiness than spending money

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Speaker 1: on things. We get used to the things pretty quickly,

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Speaker 1: but we get to look forward to the experiences and

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Speaker 1: then savor and share the memories. So instead of giving

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Speaker 1: cash as gifts, give cash that produces an experience for example,

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Speaker 1: a gift card to a restaurant that you know the

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Speaker 1: recipient has been wanting to try, or movie theater. Gift

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Speaker 1: cards are all ways of nudging the person into an experience.

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Speaker 1: If you're choosing a gift for someone who's staying close

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Speaker 1: to home for safety, consider a gift certificate for an

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Speaker 1: online course like those offered by Great Courses, or for

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Speaker 1: a wellness or fitness app like Headspace. Or you could

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Speaker 1: fund their streaming service of choice for a year. That's

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Speaker 1: a lot of drama and comedy and money that they

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Speaker 1: don't have to spend. You can also give specific recommendations

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Speaker 1: with a gift card to fund them. For example, if

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Speaker 1: your best friend always admires your beautifully wrapped packages, make

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Speaker 1: a how to booklet or video sharing your best gift

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Speaker 1: wrapping tips to gather with a gift card to hobby lobby,

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Speaker 1: paper source, or wherever you get your supplies. Give a

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Speaker 1: young relative a collection of your best recipes, including lots

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Speaker 1: of family favorites, plus a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's

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Speaker 1: gift card to buy groceries to make these recipes. Gifts

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Speaker 1: like these are relationship building as well as practical. You're

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Speaker 1: inviting someone you love into an experience that you love

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Speaker 1: and financing their participation. Another option for giving money better

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Speaker 1: is to give something the recipient would buy anyway, but

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Speaker 1: in a more special form than he'd buy himself. For instance,

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Speaker 1: everybody buys postage stamps at some point or another, but

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Speaker 1: you can give thoughtfully chosen stamps with an image that's

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Speaker 1: meaningful to the recipient, like Harlem Renaissance Writers or the

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Speaker 1: Main Coastline. Package the stamps with some great stationary supplies,

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Speaker 1: and you might just have a winner. Everybody buys groceries,

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Speaker 1: but you can make acquiring groceries more fun by giving

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Speaker 1: us subscription to a c s A that is a

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Speaker 1: bag of fruit and vegetables from a local farm that

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Speaker 1: arrives every week at the recipient's home, or to a

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Speaker 1: service like Hungry Harvest. A young adult might appreciate some

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Speaker 1: out of his or her budget personal care items fancy shampoos, soaps, raizors,

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Speaker 1: and so forth that can open up some space in

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Speaker 1: a budget. Now, to be sure, sometimes money is truly

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Speaker 1: the most appropriate gift. People who provide services for you

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Speaker 1: don't need an experience with you, or recipes or anything

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Speaker 1: like that. Just pay the Christmas or birthday bonus. But

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Speaker 1: for people you're really close to, you can make money

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Speaker 1: more personal by dressing it up a little bit. You

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Speaker 1: can connect the recipient with something special and with you.

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Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod

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Speaker 1: that's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.

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Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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Speaker 1: podcast at iHeart media dot com that Before Breakfast is

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Speaker 1: spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I

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Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a

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Speaker 1: production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I

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Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.