Speaker 1: Episode Tips to prepare for holiday sales early. Welcome to
Speaker 1: the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to save money,
Speaker 1: embrace simplicity, and live with your life. Here your host
Speaker 1: Jen and Jill. I can't do anymore not, I mean,
Speaker 1: people will yell at you for singing that right now
Speaker 1: because it's almost but we just have to wait a
Speaker 1: few more days. Jill so close. Welcome to the Frugal
Speaker 1: Friends podcast. My name is Jen, my name is Jill,
Speaker 1: and today we are talking about the holidays because it's
Speaker 1: that time. It's time to start thinking about them. Whether
Speaker 1: you have sworn off the peppermint Mocha's for another weekend,
Speaker 1: or you are already like listening to Christmas Easy wherever
Speaker 1: you are financially, it's time to plan for them. Oh,
Speaker 1: I know some people who started a year ago and
Speaker 1: haven't stopped with the Christmas lights down. Does not mean
Speaker 1: you haven't stopped. That's a different problem. Also, I know
Speaker 1: some people who started before Halloween's so we're all over
Speaker 1: the spector. But yeah, so this is the time to
Speaker 1: start planning. Let's kick it off and share some tips
Speaker 1: with like, how do we prepare, how do we get
Speaker 1: the most out of the season and still stay frugal,
Speaker 1: still be minimalists, sustainable, all the things that we want
Speaker 1: to be, but not ignore the fact that there are
Speaker 1: great sales to be taken advantage of in this season.
Speaker 1: It's a balance and enjoyable time and memories. I think. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's the biggest is the parties and the experiences like
Speaker 1: that's also things that should be in your budget. So
Speaker 1: but first, before we start getting into it, let's thank
Speaker 1: our sponsors. Also brought to you by preppers. A way
Speaker 1: to describe those that are prepared prepping is a spectrum.
Speaker 1: And while there are those with closets full of dried food, water, honey,
Speaker 1: and a few Ham radios, there's also a room for
Speaker 1: those who are just proactive about the holidays and making
Speaker 1: wise decisions with their budgets. Preppers, there's room for everyone.
Speaker 1: What's a Ham radio? Is that a ham that's also
Speaker 1: a radio? No, it's used by preppers. It's an amateur
Speaker 1: radio that does work on some high frequencies and they
Speaker 1: can pick up waves from apparently Australia and other countries
Speaker 1: around the world. It's it's a thing that became a
Speaker 1: prepper thing, I think, particularly after World War two. Maybe
Speaker 1: a little bit more after the Vietnam War. I'm not
Speaker 1: incredibly up to date on all of it. I'm sure
Speaker 1: somebody and are frugal for this community group can tell
Speaker 1: us more. But I just know it's a prepper thing.
Speaker 1: I can see now that HAM is capitalized, so it's
Speaker 1: surely an acronym and not HAM, and I see that now.
Speaker 1: Maybe I'm not. I don't even actually know. I just
Speaker 1: it's a it's a spectrum, and I think there's some
Speaker 1: people who just enjoy it as a hobby and some
Speaker 1: people utilize it to be a prepper. Okay, well good.
Speaker 1: Where whichever end of the spectrum you lie on, I'm
Speaker 1: sure that you want to save money this holidays do
Speaker 1: That's probably why you're listening to this episode so that
Speaker 1: you can queue up to play next. That will kind
Speaker 1: of expand on what we're talking about today. So we've
Speaker 1: got episode one thirty five where we talk about specifically
Speaker 1: being frugal with technology. A lot of the savings that
Speaker 1: you will find on technology happen around this time. It's
Speaker 1: not only this time of year. That's a distinction we
Speaker 1: will make. This isn't the only time of year sales
Speaker 1: happen but it is a big time for episode one
Speaker 1: thirty three, Tips to avoid holidays impulse spending because we
Speaker 1: want to prep but we don't want to. We want
Speaker 1: to be intentional about our purchases, not let our purchases
Speaker 1: just happen to us. So one thirty three is great.
Speaker 1: And then all the way back into the archives episode
Speaker 1: thirty where we examine if Black Friday actually helps you
Speaker 1: save money? And this was eighteen I think that was released,
Speaker 1: so take off a grain of sad. That's our disclaimer.
Speaker 1: Another decade ago, you know, and a half maybe, So
Speaker 1: those are the ones you can queue up for later.
Speaker 1: And if this episode is too long for you to
Speaker 1: listen to, I think the biggest thing you can take
Speaker 1: away is make a plan and stick to the plan.
Speaker 1: I think if you take nothing else away, make a plan,
Speaker 1: stick to classic prepper stuff. You know a lot more
Speaker 1: about this, it seems than I do. I got family
Speaker 1: in Tenni seeing I am excited to talk more about
Speaker 1: this thing I didn't know we needed to talk about.
Speaker 1: Uh So if you want to know more than just
Speaker 1: make a plan, stick to the plan. Our first article
Speaker 1: is from the huff Post and it is retail experts
Speaker 1: share their eleven best tips for saving money on holidays.
Speaker 1: I cannot wait to pick this one apart. It's funny
Speaker 1: and for those of you who are longtime listeners, you
Speaker 1: know that this is how we structure the show. We
Speaker 1: look at if you were to google this topic, what
Speaker 1: would Google show you? And sometimes Google gives you some
Speaker 1: really great stuff and we agree with it, and sometimes
Speaker 1: we don't. And I think for this reason, we're still
Speaker 1: going to go through all eleven tips, but help to
Speaker 1: discern what's actually good sound advice and what is not.
Speaker 1: What can we skip or bypass tailor to fit our needs.
Speaker 1: And I think that's my summary of this article. Some
Speaker 1: of it's good and some of it's not good, and
Speaker 1: we're gonna discern it to gather as frugal friends because
Speaker 1: we're wise about this. Absolutely. So the first one on
Speaker 1: this article actually gave me some hope. And this one
Speaker 1: was written in so this is a relevant, like timely
Speaker 1: end of so it is relatively timely for when we're
Speaker 1: recording this. But the first one is don't feel rushed
Speaker 1: to make a purchase. And I do like that they
Speaker 1: say that holiday shopping deals probably won't work the same
Speaker 1: way they have in the past, and while we may
Speaker 1: be able this year, you know see some back to normal,
Speaker 1: It's not gonna be all back to normal. But you know,
Speaker 1: last year we saw fewer Doorbuster deals, longer sale periods,
Speaker 1: and that's actually helpful for shoppers is that you don't
Speaker 1: have to One of the marketing techniques marketers will use
Speaker 1: is timeliness, giving you a really short deadline to make
Speaker 1: a purchase, and this kind of eliminates some of that,
Speaker 1: which is helpful for the shopper, so you can take
Speaker 1: time and research your purchases and don't feel pressured to
Speaker 1: jump on a particular sale. No more waking up the
Speaker 1: crack of dawn to stand in lines that will not
Speaker 1: or otherwise for multiple reasons. Yeah, the second tip on
Speaker 1: here is to review price matching policies. This is a
Speaker 1: decent tip. I'm going to be honest. Price matching is
Speaker 1: a little outdated in my estimation and experience because Amazon
Speaker 1: in a lot of ways is beating out so many
Speaker 1: people will not offer price matches. However, on some of
Speaker 1: your bigger items from your larger box stores, they might
Speaker 1: still be offering price match guarantees, maybe on technology or
Speaker 1: that kind of a thing. But if you are doing
Speaker 1: your shopping and you are looking for a bigger ticket item,
Speaker 1: it's worth identifying. Do they have a price match policy,
Speaker 1: what are the exclusions? Is there a way that I
Speaker 1: could leverage that to get a good deal on whatever
Speaker 1: it is that I'm shopping for. But my tip on
Speaker 1: this is not to get too caught up or spend
Speaker 1: too much time in this. With the use of the internet,
Speaker 1: so many price points are relatively in the same range,
Speaker 1: so it's it's not worth expending a ton of energy.
Speaker 1: And my estimation, yeah, I've I've noticed that as well.
Speaker 1: The third ones, when we start to get really into
Speaker 1: the weeds, consider interest free by now pay later options
Speaker 1: And this is absolute horrible, Like what expert recommends that
Speaker 1: to save money? And they say it right in here.
Speaker 1: The expert who they are quoting says, though these interest
Speaker 1: free financing options can encourage you to spend more than
Speaker 1: you would otherwise and carry hefty penalties if you miss
Speaker 1: a payment, they can be a great money saving to
Speaker 1: when you use with caution. That's not that's no, Definitely,
Speaker 1: you can't say both those things brand you cannot How
Speaker 1: how do they help you save money? Yeah? It literally
Speaker 1: does encourage more spending, and like prolonged payments and high
Speaker 1: interest the penalty fees are a small part of the
Speaker 1: payment model for by now pay later sites. The big
Speaker 1: thing is that they charge a three percent fee to
Speaker 1: the retailer, and so they make a bulk of their
Speaker 1: money because when using them, you will buy more, you
Speaker 1: will spend more, and so that increases their commission and
Speaker 1: that is the bulk of how these companies make money.
Speaker 1: So it's you shouldn't even be afraid of not missing
Speaker 1: a payment. It's very likely you will. You will pay
Speaker 1: that fee in overpay like paying more and buying more stuff,
Speaker 1: so at least you get stuff in exchange. But is
Speaker 1: it really worth it? My alternative to that is only
Speaker 1: by what you can afford. That's a great alternative. And
Speaker 1: by afford, I mean the money that you currently have.
Speaker 1: Is it enough to cover your bills and this thing
Speaker 1: that you want to Kurchall. That's why we're talking about
Speaker 1: this in October versus November December, because it's too late
Speaker 1: then like then, you have to consider these options, and
Speaker 1: we are trying to help you avoid having this. This
Speaker 1: is not the best tip for saving I'm so angry,
Speaker 1: you really are you're getting riled up, let's talk about
Speaker 1: number four. This is a good one. This is fine
Speaker 1: opt for previous generation tech, and as Jen already mentioned,
Speaker 1: we do have an episode all about saving on tech,
Speaker 1: so we're talking phones, computers, TVs, electronics, all those things.
Speaker 1: So if this is what you are considering purchasing this year,
Speaker 1: definitely check out that episode because we're not going to
Speaker 1: take a deep dive on it here. But a good
Speaker 1: tip is look at last year's model, the previous year's model.
Speaker 1: There's not too much that has changed as far as
Speaker 1: what the gadget does year to year that we imagine,
Speaker 1: especially for us frugal folk, the older generations and models
Speaker 1: are going to be very suitable, effective meet our needs
Speaker 1: and we won't have to pay the brand new ticket
Speaker 1: item even if you're buying it new from the store.
Speaker 1: Get the older generation, or if you want to take
Speaker 1: the next step, start now and be looking on some
Speaker 1: of these second hand sites. There are specific second hand
Speaker 1: sites for tech, but you can also just check out
Speaker 1: eBay and Facebook, mark get place and offer up and
Speaker 1: let go for some of these tech items that you're
Speaker 1: looking for that are refurbished and really excellent. So this
Speaker 1: is definitely one, especially because tech can be such a
Speaker 1: big ticket item this time of year. And I will
Speaker 1: reiterate because I say this all the time, the laptop
Speaker 1: I run my entire business from. I record videos, I
Speaker 1: record podcasts, I literally everything every way I make money
Speaker 1: is from this laptop. I bought it at a pawn shop.
Speaker 1: I bought this MacBook at a pawn shop decades ago.
Speaker 1: Two people set about pawn shops. You've and you've talked
Speaker 1: about that throughout on a couple of episodes that we
Speaker 1: even have an episode specifically about pawn shops. But yes,
Speaker 1: I would encourage that because again that's something we don't
Speaker 1: often think about. We think about you know, Amazon and Facebook,
Speaker 1: marketplace in eBay, but that's a great alternative you can
Speaker 1: find and ethic an ethically run pawn shop, then that'd
Speaker 1: be great. Yeah, I mean, and even if if you're
Speaker 1: worried about refurbished, you know, stuff that's a little used,
Speaker 1: like just remember Frugal Friends is primarily run off of
Speaker 1: a laptop from a pawn shop. Just remember that. I
Speaker 1: just want you to know that. So, um, the five
Speaker 1: I also hate not as much as number three, and
Speaker 1: I just so many things wrong with it, but it's
Speaker 1: still useful to go through it to know what what
Speaker 1: is good here and what's not good here, and what
Speaker 1: are the alternatives, because this is the advice that the
Speaker 1: Internet is trying to give us, So it's good to
Speaker 1: talk about. Thank you. Look into shipping memberships, so if
Speaker 1: you're going to rely on online shipping this year, they say, okay,
Speaker 1: so this is where this is. Okay, take advantage of
Speaker 1: free trials of shipping memberships. This is that's what they're
Speaker 1: really recommending. If you don't have access to the free trials,
Speaker 1: maybe you've already used them of Walmart plus, Amazon Prime,
Speaker 1: Shop Runner, then don't get a shipping membership just for this.
Speaker 1: Be intentional with your purchases because Walmart plus Amazon Prime
Speaker 1: they already offer free shipping as long as you make
Speaker 1: a minimum purchase. So just make the minimum purchase and
Speaker 1: uh do that. I think it's also worth looking. Always
Speaker 1: look at eBay or posh mark before for what I
Speaker 1: want before I go to Walmart or Amazon Prime, and
Speaker 1: sometimes I will choose if shipping from one of those
Speaker 1: is just outrageous, which sometimes it is, then I would
Speaker 1: choose like a Walmart or an Amazon. But yeah, compare
Speaker 1: to because it may be worth paying shipping to get
Speaker 1: something on eBay than it is to get um something
Speaker 1: new with free shipping from walmarted Amazon. And just to
Speaker 1: clarif I we're not saying, oh, just rack up the
Speaker 1: things in your cart to meet the minimum by for
Speaker 1: free shift. This is where we implement patients and being
Speaker 1: proactive to wait until you have enough in your cart
Speaker 1: that you actually need and you've been planning to buy
Speaker 1: until you meet that minimum spend. And that's just a
Speaker 1: great money saving tip anyhow, leaving things in your cart,
Speaker 1: sleeping on it, making sure you are prepared and you
Speaker 1: actually want to buy this thing, and it's not just
Speaker 1: an impulse purchase, So that can work in our favor
Speaker 1: in a lot of ways. Absolutely Number six on here,
Speaker 1: I do like use money saving browser extensions. I don't
Speaker 1: think this is utilized or talked about enough, and there's
Speaker 1: nothing hidden here. I know you've heard us talk about
Speaker 1: racket in a lot, and we encourage people to use
Speaker 1: racketin even before we had a referral code, because it
Speaker 1: just it's a it's really excellent. Both you and I
Speaker 1: gen utilize it and we get checks in the mail
Speaker 1: just from cash back on stuff, so if you're not
Speaker 1: already using racketan as a browser extension. Again, it works
Speaker 1: in conjunction with a lot of these online retail sites,
Speaker 1: including sometimes Amazon. Although it does shift with what the
Speaker 1: cash back percentage is, it changes moment to moment, and
Speaker 1: so you can look and see what's the cash back
Speaker 1: on certain items from Amazon or Walmart or eBay or etc.
Speaker 1: Or you name it, and it keeps track and it
Speaker 1: sends you a check quarterly based on what you've spent.
Speaker 1: I also really do like rebate key. They were a
Speaker 1: recent sponsor of ours. It's not as extensive as the
Speaker 1: things that you can purchase through racket in, but they
Speaker 1: offer some really steep discounts. If you can happen to
Speaker 1: find some Christmas gifts through rebate key, I would highly
Speaker 1: recommend that you can get things for like seventy to
Speaker 1: nine off at rehab And I think we still might
Speaker 1: have a discount code um either Total or Frugal Friends
Speaker 1: podcast key um use one of those. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: we might still have that. Seven is to track price changes,
Speaker 1: and I love this with a caveat that it may
Speaker 1: we may not have enough time to track price changes
Speaker 1: even at this point. Because there are shipping delays. There
Speaker 1: are you know delays, so we're going to have to
Speaker 1: shop earlier this year. But it does help you if
Speaker 1: you're waiting on something and you add um, I think
Speaker 1: Honey is my favorite place. Camel Camel Camel is one
Speaker 1: that tracks Amazon prices and Honey tracks a lot of
Speaker 1: my Amazon prices too. But if there is a sale,
Speaker 1: it will instantly notify you that the price on something
Speaker 1: on your on your list has dropped in price, so
Speaker 1: that you can get on that price drop. So that
Speaker 1: can help you save a little. But I would I
Speaker 1: wouldn't rely on it. I'd be like adding things to
Speaker 1: my car and just waiting and if there happens to
Speaker 1: be a price drop, cool, If not, then definitely just
Speaker 1: get it and don't like wait for it. But there
Speaker 1: are so many price drops around this season. Should not
Speaker 1: be hard to get one. And you can also, I
Speaker 1: think even better, see the six month history of the
Speaker 1: price of an item, so you can see if they
Speaker 1: just jacked up the price right before Halloween so that
Speaker 1: they could drop it to have a quote unquote sale,
Speaker 1: which definitely happens. Classic yeah, yeah, And of course we're
Speaker 1: talking about primarily gift giving here when we're talking about purchases.
Speaker 1: Although if this this could also be a time to
Speaker 1: make some of those purchases that you've been considering throughout
Speaker 1: the year if you do find a good deal on something.
Speaker 1: But this isn't just so you can be alerted and
Speaker 1: have your phone constantly going off for every deal that
Speaker 1: might be available to you. And we want to be
Speaker 1: thinking about what do we want to purchase, how much
Speaker 1: money is it, what can I afford to buy, what's
Speaker 1: within the realm of my income, and then these are
Speaker 1: some tips to be implementing. But then I think it
Speaker 1: will be a hard stop. Once we do acquire the
Speaker 1: things that we're hoping for, then turn off camel camel
Speaker 1: camel and honey and all these things that are turn
Speaker 1: off decem Okay. Number eight on here is to collect
Speaker 1: cash back. So again this is some of the things
Speaker 1: that we've already been talking about. Rebate, key racket in
Speaker 1: swag bucks, fetch rewards. These are some of the platforms
Speaker 1: extensions that we can utilize to get cash back on
Speaker 1: our purchases. Of course, some of us have credit cards
Speaker 1: that also offer rewards and purchases. We recommend utilizing credit
Speaker 1: cards with caution, with good stewardship, paying them off weekly,
Speaker 1: bi weekly, monthly, not carrying over a balance or paying
Speaker 1: interest on those credit cards. So if that's you, then
Speaker 1: the rewards can really work in our favor. If that's not,
Speaker 1: you utilize these chrome extensions that are going to give
Speaker 1: you cash back on your purchases. Yes. Nine, Okay, this
Speaker 1: is where this the last three is where we start
Speaker 1: getting into the really good expert advice. Finally, so refreshing
Speaker 1: to be at the bottom of the article. Uh nine,
Speaker 1: don't be afraid to tighten your belt. So it's saying,
Speaker 1: don't be afraid to decline the secret stand, a gift
Speaker 1: exchange or the pot luck. Don't be afraid to say no.
Speaker 1: No is a full sentence no thank you, honestly is
Speaker 1: the one that we prefer. But well for gratitude, your
Speaker 1: yes always, So yeah, you can always say no thank you,
Speaker 1: even if these people are in your family and they
Speaker 1: will look at you weird. Honestly, I think it's I
Speaker 1: think you could blame anything on and people will be
Speaker 1: generally more accepting. So this is a great time to
Speaker 1: use that excuse and just be like, hey, I'm still recovering,
Speaker 1: Like I can't, and you can use that, use that
Speaker 1: excuses for as many years as possible until you're like, no, man,
Speaker 1: I was just lying, I don't want to participate in
Speaker 1: your annual secret Santa. So the other day I saw
Speaker 1: somebody on Instagram was saying like the look or the
Speaker 1: sound of all the text responses when they said they
Speaker 1: weren't going to be involved in the family gift exchange
Speaker 1: this year. Like everyone was just like where, And I
Speaker 1: was like, our family just stopped inviting us to the exchange.
Speaker 1: Cut out. Yeah. But also I was like, I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: I don't want to receive like holiday gourmet popcorn tin
Speaker 1: is not part of my core values in what I
Speaker 1: want to receive or give. So that's not what I
Speaker 1: want to be a part of. And you can't say
Speaker 1: no if that's not what you want to be a
Speaker 1: part of either exactly, and with that too offering alternatives
Speaker 1: of Hey, I'm not going to do that, but I
Speaker 1: am having people over to sip on some apple cider
Speaker 1: and cut snowflakes out of scrap paper and we'll listen
Speaker 1: to music. Right like that, we could do these things
Speaker 1: where we still can engage in relationship. Again, you mentioned
Speaker 1: core values, Jen, that's a challenge we're stepping out of
Speaker 1: currently within Club BFF, which was amazing. That's a whole
Speaker 1: other conversation. But we can still engage with people without
Speaker 1: spending money. I think it's just a matter of finding
Speaker 1: the freedom and permission in our own voice and choy
Speaker 1: in that. I understand that that takes a lot of guts, nerve,
Speaker 1: whatever word you want to put to it. But I
Speaker 1: think the scariest thing about that is coming off as
Speaker 1: devaluing of others. And I think there is a way
Speaker 1: to set our own boundary lines say no, thank you,
Speaker 1: but still value ourselves and other people. And so there
Speaker 1: there's room for both here and sometimes we just might
Speaker 1: not go to the secret Santa. That's fine too. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's number ten on here is pare down your gift list.
Speaker 1: I really like the specific tip that they gave here
Speaker 1: of writing out kind of priority of who you want
Speaker 1: to buy for, as in, who's essential to buy gifts for,
Speaker 1: followed by who would it be really nice to include,
Speaker 1: and who would be okay if if it so happens
Speaker 1: that I can afford this, then awesome. Kind of these
Speaker 1: three different in tears and start with those that are
Speaker 1: at the top of the list. We do not want
Speaker 1: to be bying gifts for every single coworker and then
Speaker 1: run out of cash to purchase for our nieces and nephews.
Speaker 1: That's just my situation. So prior of your coworkers are
Speaker 1: you don't worry, I'll make a dinner or something. But yeah,
Speaker 1: identify who do you absolutely want to give a gift
Speaker 1: to if at all, Also know that it is okay
Speaker 1: for a year or for the rest of your life
Speaker 1: to say this is the year that I'm going to
Speaker 1: be not giving gifts. Maybe I'll give my time and energy,
Speaker 1: maybe i'll host, maybe i'll cook for people, but I'm
Speaker 1: not going to give tangible gifts. And that could actually
Speaker 1: be a really beautiful exercise where you learn about yourself
Speaker 1: and others. But if gift giving is a priority, this
Speaker 1: is a great tip. Identify who do you want to
Speaker 1: give to and start there and then work your way
Speaker 1: through it. And if you end up running out of time, energy, money, okay,
Speaker 1: at least you know that you're giving to those that
Speaker 1: are on top of the priority list. Yeah, I would
Speaker 1: like to um differentiate, like when we don't get invited
Speaker 1: to the gift exchange that's like the extended family gift exchange.
Speaker 1: We still get gifts for our parents, siblings, all of those.
Speaker 1: That's something we prioritize as our immediate family. We actually
Speaker 1: don't get gifts for the kids because they get so
Speaker 1: many gifts from my mother in law. And I was like,
Speaker 1: I'm not going to play. I'm not going to do that.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to clutter somebody's house more. Even if
Speaker 1: they don't see it as clutter, I see it as clutter.
Speaker 1: But we do get we get gifts for all the parents.
Speaker 1: I was like, who really deserves a gift more than
Speaker 1: a than a parent? So that's I know that's debatable.
Speaker 1: Don't don't come at me. We're all out here. I
Speaker 1: just really feel like the adults need the affirmation and
Speaker 1: the encouragement more than the children do. So that's where
Speaker 1: my priorities lie. And we do get gifts for the
Speaker 1: whole immediate family. But yeah, we just we don't need
Speaker 1: to be part of the gift exchange through the extended family.
Speaker 1: Travis's extended families ginormous. They have multiple gift exchanges, so
Speaker 1: it doesn't have to be forever. Like if you're in
Speaker 1: a season where you're paying down debt, you can write
Speaker 1: a nice letter, an affirming, heartfelt letter, and then when
Speaker 1: you were in a better situation where you're building wealth
Speaker 1: and increased income, then you know, give give generously, whow
Speaker 1: them with your gifts. That's what we love to do. Yes, agreed,
Speaker 1: it's okay to be where you're at and set your
Speaker 1: own boundaries. But I did give a discounted gift card
Speaker 1: to the movies to my brother there in law one year,
Speaker 1: so there you go. It's also paper, not a piece
Speaker 1: of paper. It was printed. It off beautiful. And the
Speaker 1: last one is to consider d I Y gifts this
Speaker 1: for better for worse. If you are really good at
Speaker 1: making d I Y gifts, do that. If you are not,
Speaker 1: think twice. But they have like a little um a
Speaker 1: suggestion for a care package with like a hot chocolate
Speaker 1: and marshmallow with a candy cane, like that's very easy,
Speaker 1: d I Y. There was something that we saw when
Speaker 1: we went to a distillery towards you where Oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, do you want to say you do it?
Speaker 1: I'm so full. It is like a little cocktail like
Speaker 1: kit I don't know. I think it was for like
Speaker 1: a bigger cocktail, not just one, but maybe two with
Speaker 1: dried fruit and the akutram that you need for a
Speaker 1: fancy cocktail. So all the person would need to provide
Speaker 1: is their liquor of choice and you know, club soda
Speaker 1: or something. Yes, I love this because it does feel
Speaker 1: very luxurious and thoughtful and it's a d i y gift.
Speaker 1: But you're not spending the money on the alcohol, which
Speaker 1: let's be real, that's where the true expense is. But
Speaker 1: it was all the ingredients to also infuse an alcohol,
Speaker 1: so different types of things that you could put into
Speaker 1: you know, a vodka or gin or something, and then
Speaker 1: it infuses that with that flavor and then some recipes
Speaker 1: on how you could utilize that creation in a tasty way.
Speaker 1: And and of course even even for nonalcoholic beverages, infusing
Speaker 1: different types of drinks and it's just a creative luxury thing.
Speaker 1: And I think that's what gifts are things that people
Speaker 1: would not do or purchase for themselves or even consider
Speaker 1: and it can just spark a little joy and luxury
Speaker 1: in someone's life. So yeah, those SAIDs, I would welcome
Speaker 1: that for sure. It's a fun gift. So that is
Speaker 1: all for this huff Post article on Gosh expert tips
Speaker 1: to save. Some were good, some were bad, some were there.
Speaker 1: It was expert for our next article. I wanted to
Speaker 1: actually so this was when I googled it. All of
Speaker 1: them were articles actually for e commerce stores or brick
Speaker 1: mortar stores to increase their holiday sales. Like not for
Speaker 1: consumers to take advantage of sales or save, but how
Speaker 1: can business owner get other people to spend more at
Speaker 1: their store? So I was like, we have to use
Speaker 1: one of these in the episode so that you know
Speaker 1: what these stores are being told to get you to
Speaker 1: spend more money, So you're aware, so that you can
Speaker 1: discern whether this is something that you need, this is
Speaker 1: a place you know where you want to spend your money,
Speaker 1: or if it's if you're just falling prey not pray.
Speaker 1: It's marketing is not evil, but if maybe you're getting
Speaker 1: a little swept up in the moment, swept up in
Speaker 1: the season, which is very normal. Yes, I love it.
Speaker 1: Was that such a good description, and I think this
Speaker 1: is something really important for us to be aware of,
Speaker 1: both at the holidays and year round. Again, not to
Speaker 1: say that this couldn't work. I mean, bogo deals are
Speaker 1: awesome if it's what you're looking for and you can
Speaker 1: utilize two of the same thing. It's not a good
Speaker 1: deal if you never even intended to buy one of
Speaker 1: that thing. So yeah, like you said, it's not bad,
Speaker 1: it's not evil. It can be really helpful. But then
Speaker 1: to be aware of and when we go into this
Speaker 1: season and stores and we're engaging with friends and some
Speaker 1: of these parties and within our community, just having these
Speaker 1: things in the back of our minds, it's like, what's
Speaker 1: that show Criminal Minds? Again, it's not evil, but it's
Speaker 1: like getting into the mind of it and and being
Speaker 1: aware and more wise too, is this just a marketing tactic? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Or is this something I actually want to buy? Absolutely,
Speaker 1: So we won't go into all twelve of these, but
Speaker 1: they definitely are worth giving a read if you want
Speaker 1: to look at them. But so I think i'll go
Speaker 1: The first one that I will go with is the
Speaker 1: giving back. I think this is great for stores to do.
Speaker 1: So they say, um, if you shop with us, like
Speaker 1: they give back there, like if you shop here, will
Speaker 1: give to a charity. So maybe they can afford to
Speaker 1: charge more something because they're playing at your heart strings
Speaker 1: to oh, I make a difference if I shop here,
Speaker 1: which is great. I think that more stores should be
Speaker 1: doing that, not just for the tax write offs, which
Speaker 1: is usually what they're doing it for, but I think
Speaker 1: that you could make a bigger difference by giving to
Speaker 1: the charities that you are passionate about, versus entrusting a
Speaker 1: corporation or business to give on your behalf and therefore
Speaker 1: shop at the place that saves you the most money
Speaker 1: and then just add generosity to your budget. But if
Speaker 1: you're a person who knows that you won't do that
Speaker 1: and you want to entrust somebody else to give on
Speaker 1: your behalf, that's not bad. You know, at least charities
Speaker 1: are being funded exactly. Another one on here that stood
Speaker 1: out to me was just the themed parties and really
Speaker 1: anything that is a themed get together gathering around something.
Speaker 1: And I think this stood out to me because I
Speaker 1: think this is the marketing tactic that works best on me.
Speaker 1: You use the term getting swept up, and I would
Speaker 1: just define the holiday season as that in a lot
Speaker 1: of ways for me personally, and I love going to
Speaker 1: themed parties and things that I would never typically spend on.
Speaker 1: I'm like, it's Christmas and this smells like Christmas or
Speaker 1: this taste like Christmas, and I love it and I
Speaker 1: want to buy it, But you already felt prey to
Speaker 1: that this year. Yes I did. I did, but I'm prepared.
Speaker 1: But now I'm a prepper, you know. I'm prepared with
Speaker 1: my drink, with my beverage that reminds me of Christmas,
Speaker 1: and I'll step on it, you know, throughout this holiday
Speaker 1: season anyhow. It's I think it's fun. We can go
Speaker 1: to these theme parties, but know that a lot of
Speaker 1: times they are playing upon the fact that there is
Speaker 1: a theme and there is excitement around that and potentially urgency.
Speaker 1: So enjoy the parties, go to them, but have a
Speaker 1: plan before going of how can I engage with this
Speaker 1: and just enjoy the experience of it without actually needing
Speaker 1: to spend a ton of money on it. I got
Speaker 1: swept up in the season two. I can't say that
Speaker 1: I did not. I bought a pumpkin candle from al
Speaker 1: d And I used to be like candles used to
Speaker 1: be everything to me. And and then and then what
Speaker 1: happened was there some sort of drama and then a
Speaker 1: candle betrayed me. But I got out of the habit
Speaker 1: of buying so many candles, and so I haven't bought
Speaker 1: a candle in a really long time, and I bought
Speaker 1: one for those those like five bucks. But yeah, I
Speaker 1: I relived that love of this getting swept up in
Speaker 1: the season with the holiday candle five dollar pumpkin, Yes,
Speaker 1: five dollars. Uh. So I'm gonna my next one is
Speaker 1: going to be one that's actually on the list, and
Speaker 1: it's going to be the one that I originally was
Speaker 1: going to talk. The give back to your customers, So
Speaker 1: it is through like rewards programs and loyalty programs. So
Speaker 1: this is how they're going to try and get you
Speaker 1: this holiday season, is to try and send you a
Speaker 1: discount for their store, to run some kind of Instagram
Speaker 1: holiday giveaway or holiday specific rewards or loyalty programs just
Speaker 1: run for like six weeks or something that get you
Speaker 1: to shop somewhere so many times. So these are kind
Speaker 1: of the things that stores. You're gonna be seeing a
Speaker 1: lot of these on Instagram. You're gonna be seeing a
Speaker 1: lot of them in your email inbox that you have
Speaker 1: to just discern and be aware of so that you
Speaker 1: can save money on the things you're intending to buy
Speaker 1: but don't let marketers tell you what you are intending
Speaker 1: to buy, make a plan before they can get to you. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: The other one that stands out to me is just
Speaker 1: related to s c O, like search engine optimization and
Speaker 1: the buzzwords that people are wanting to utilize to get
Speaker 1: themselves in front of you more. So, people are going
Speaker 1: to be searching holiday deals, specials, whatever the latest gadget
Speaker 1: or gift is, and so there are companies and organizations
Speaker 1: who are going to pay money to get themselves in
Speaker 1: front of you more often. And I mean that can
Speaker 1: be all fine and good if it is actually something
Speaker 1: that you're looking for, but also know that this could
Speaker 1: lead you to have something in front of you that
Speaker 1: you were never intending to buy just because or companies
Speaker 1: have paid money to either know what it is that
Speaker 1: you're searching for and maybe put something slightly similar in
Speaker 1: front of you through social media or yeah, your your
Speaker 1: Internet usage. So just be aware of the buzzwords and
Speaker 1: the way that some of that online marketing works. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and they will start to couple that with paid ads,
Speaker 1: so not just s c O and organic, but paid
Speaker 1: So you're going to see a lot of Facebook and
Speaker 1: Instagram ads for things that you've already used for things
Speaker 1: that you've searched. They're going to retarget um with these
Speaker 1: special like holiday things, so just be aware. And you
Speaker 1: can use like a plug in like news feed eradicator
Speaker 1: to essentially eradicate your news feed on Facebook on your desktop.
Speaker 1: It doesn't work on the phone, but you can definitely
Speaker 1: take Facebook off of your phone and then you have
Speaker 1: access to it on your desktop without a news feed,
Speaker 1: so that so that can limit that. There's still nothing
Speaker 1: for Instagram that I know of, but I'm sure there's
Speaker 1: something to come. But but yeah, so those are the
Speaker 1: kind of the things that marketers are using, so be
Speaker 1: aware of them. They are not bad. You just need
Speaker 1: to be aware that that's what they're doing so that
Speaker 1: you can discern um and make conscious choices. Yeah, other
Speaker 1: things would include people hosting classes or tutorials online. Again,
Speaker 1: that's the whole social media. Instagram, people are going to
Speaker 1: be going live a lot businesses are going to be
Speaker 1: doing that. They're going to be advertising actionable things, even
Speaker 1: utilizing their Google page for you know, click here for
Speaker 1: this upcoming live event, and a lot of times people
Speaker 1: are all will offer that's you know, called the value
Speaker 1: add something for free, although they will be selling you
Speaker 1: something on that free tutorial or class or you name it.
Speaker 1: And again, if it's something you're really interested in you've
Speaker 1: already had it on your list of something you would
Speaker 1: consider purchasing, then great, that can work in your favor,
Speaker 1: but be aware that it is a technique that could
Speaker 1: get you to spend more than you intended to. You
Speaker 1: know what else is a technique that's going to get
Speaker 1: you to give more but won't actually cost you. It
Speaker 1: just gives back the bill of the week. That's right,
Speaker 1: it's time for the best minute of your entire week.
Speaker 1: Maybe a baby was born and his name is William.
Speaker 1: Maybe you've paid off your mortgage. Maybe your car died
Speaker 1: and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore.
Speaker 1: That's bills, Buffalo Bills, Bill Clinton, this is the bill
Speaker 1: of the week. Hey, so good friends, this is Molly
Speaker 1: calling from Blee Peters First, Florida. I'm a recent drance
Speaker 1: plant from DC and I'm loving it the Florida sunshine
Speaker 1: so far. I just wanted to call and leave you
Speaker 1: guys with my favorite Bill, who is a DC native.
Speaker 1: Bill and I the science guy. He is someone I've
Speaker 1: always really admired from a young age who didn't love
Speaker 1: in science class and the teacher would roll out the
Speaker 1: TV on wheels and watch an episode of that for
Speaker 1: the period. I mean who I think he stands for
Speaker 1: gaining knowledge and making the world a better place through
Speaker 1: learning different things, which you two very much emulate on
Speaker 1: each of your podcasts every week. So thank you for
Speaker 1: what you do. I hope you guys are doing well.
Speaker 1: He's have good one Bill Bill Bill Night sign. It's
Speaker 1: so many things I love about a Molly from St.
Speaker 1: Pete hit us up girl b that total compliment about
Speaker 1: us being even like Bill Night, like third out of
Speaker 1: order but still but still third on priority. You remember
Speaker 1: when they would just roll out the TV and you
Speaker 1: would watch TV or a movie for a period. They
Speaker 1: don't do that anymore. We lived in a golden age.
Speaker 1: We did. We it that, yes, and the TV was
Speaker 1: on wheels, massive tube TV on wheels, plug it in,
Speaker 1: put in the VHS and just learn. I love I sleep. Yes.
Speaker 1: You know, my entire American history class was just watching
Speaker 1: Band of Brothers. That was the class and that's how
Speaker 1: I learned American histories. And you know, it was probably
Speaker 1: better than a lecture. Well, maybe there's a Florida education
Speaker 1: for you that is Florida St. Pete though, Molly, Oh,
Speaker 1: it's so nice to meet another local person. And yeah,
Speaker 1: I agree with Bill Night. He's great. I remember he
Speaker 1: was my after school show. I would eat my goldfish,
Speaker 1: my cheddar goldfish as a snack and watch Bill Night,
Speaker 1: the science Guy. So we're with you. These are the
Speaker 1: mem uh. If you have a bill of a week,
Speaker 1: whether it's a person named Bill who shaped informed your childhood,
Speaker 1: or a bill you paid off, a bill you have
Speaker 1: yet to pay, a bill you didn't have to pay, whatever,
Speaker 1: visit for ol Friends podcast dot com, slash bill. Leave
Speaker 1: us your bill so excited to hear it. Now it's
Speaker 1: time for the lightning around. So here is what we
Speaker 1: are buying this holiday season. It's already on our plan list,
Speaker 1: We've already made it. I love yours, Jill, but I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go first. I love this topic because it's always
Speaker 1: what I'm asking people, partially to help myself prepare and
Speaker 1: make wise decisions, but also I love getting tips from
Speaker 1: other people on this because this happens every year, and
Speaker 1: let's be real, we're not always super prepared for it.
Speaker 1: Or have the best ideas. And this is where community
Speaker 1: and accountability comes into play of what are other people doing?
Speaker 1: Where can I find freedom and permission? What's the best
Speaker 1: use of my time, energy and resource? And so that's
Speaker 1: my aim with this question, and then love to hear
Speaker 1: what others have to say. So I'm happy to hear
Speaker 1: yours first gen Okay, okay, So we actually need and
Speaker 1: this is a frustrating, we need a new TV because
Speaker 1: ours has gotten to the point where it does not
Speaker 1: function properly, which is upsetting because it's not that old
Speaker 1: and we have manually fixed it and tried to digitally
Speaker 1: fix it and it just keeps going back. So that
Speaker 1: is something that we will be getting on a probably
Speaker 1: Black Friday, Cyber Monday, we'll see. But that's kind of
Speaker 1: the thing we're getting for us. We don't really need
Speaker 1: any thing else. But we will also be looking at
Speaker 1: second hand gifts for our family. Maybe we can get
Speaker 1: them something a little nicer, something a little more quality
Speaker 1: by getting it secondhand. And our family knows us and
Speaker 1: they will roll their eyes for a second and then
Speaker 1: be thankful. So that's that's us. And it's just better
Speaker 1: too than getting like new stuff. Um, better for the environment.
Speaker 1: So that's that's that. And then also I think I
Speaker 1: would like to attend some kind of holiday event every
Speaker 1: single weekend in December, whether we are hosting it on
Speaker 1: our patio we have a beautiful patio outside or going
Speaker 1: over to somebody else's house. And so I'm gonna I'm
Speaker 1: gonna buy the things that I need to buy to
Speaker 1: buy my way into these parties. So food essentially and uh, beverage.
Speaker 1: That's so fun. And I love the way that that's
Speaker 1: aligned with values for you because that represents getting together
Speaker 1: with payes, community and Netflix binging core values. And so
Speaker 1: that's really how our holiday purchases are aligning. Yes, and
Speaker 1: in myer mental sustainability by repurposing, reusing, recycling, second, mostly
Speaker 1: mostly cult and murder documentaries. Cult documentaries is a core
Speaker 1: value for me. Uh, And then I'll get together with
Speaker 1: you and we'll watch it together. Mine. And you've heard me,
Speaker 1: if you've listened to us long enough, you know that
Speaker 1: this is my realization. With the holidays, food is my
Speaker 1: area of biggest spending. And know we talk about gift
Speaker 1: giving and that's a part of it, but I usually
Speaker 1: spend the most money on food. And rather than be
Speaker 1: shocked and surprised by it, I'm planning for it. Of
Speaker 1: this is what I like to do. I like to
Speaker 1: eat good food, share good food with others. I think
Speaker 1: the holidays represent a lot of that. I don't want
Speaker 1: to go crazy with it. I mean, you know me,
Speaker 1: I still have my vitem mix and I'm going to
Speaker 1: be making my smoothies. But I think that this time
Speaker 1: does represent getting together in small groups of people and
Speaker 1: enjoying meals together. And so that's something I don't want
Speaker 1: to cut out. So I am already preparing for what
Speaker 1: that's going to mean. I'm already stalking my beverage shelf
Speaker 1: and my freezer, and it's gonna be a good year.
Speaker 1: And and for me, it's prioritizing kids gifts. We train
Speaker 1: people how to treat us. This is this is my
Speaker 1: clinical therapist Jill coming out. And thankfully, after years and
Speaker 1: years of identifying where are my values, where's my budget?
Speaker 1: I love giving kids gifts for Christmas. And that's that's
Speaker 1: what brings me the most joy and seems to bring
Speaker 1: children the most joy, and so that's the priority. I
Speaker 1: typically don't get gifts for adults us, so opposite it is,
Speaker 1: and that's totally fine. We're all out here doing our
Speaker 1: own thing if I do see so. And for me
Speaker 1: to gift giving has to be meaningful. I don't just
Speaker 1: want to give you something for the sake of giving
Speaker 1: you something to clutter your house. And I don't just
Speaker 1: want to spend money for the sake of spending money.
Speaker 1: But throughout the year, I keep my eyes on what
Speaker 1: might be useful, beneficial kind to people, and so if
Speaker 1: I see something I'm like that would be a good gift,
Speaker 1: I might get it and hold on to it for Christmas.
Speaker 1: So it's not to say that the adults in my
Speaker 1: life never receive a gift. It's not going to be priority.
Speaker 1: You may or may not get something. If you are
Speaker 1: going to get something, I've identified it as something that
Speaker 1: I think you're really gonna like and it's meaningful. So
Speaker 1: that's the way that I give to adults. And otherwise,
Speaker 1: if you're a kid, yeah you'll get something from me.
Speaker 1: It might just be candy, but that's the priority. My
Speaker 1: nieces and nephews love and the pieces gotta give a gift.
Speaker 1: I think for for me, I see the adults like
Speaker 1: in my my in laws and my family there and
Speaker 1: see how they're such generous people and they give and
Speaker 1: they work so hard, and I just feel like they
Speaker 1: don't get honored enough. And so this is my opportunity
Speaker 1: to say, I see you, I see your hard work,
Speaker 1: and uh, I know you've given a lot to your children.
Speaker 1: Here's something for you. I can appreciate that. I think
Speaker 1: for me, the way that I give in that regard
Speaker 1: is with the food, Like come on over and I'll
Speaker 1: make you a drink and I'll give you some good apps.
Speaker 1: That's that's my gift to you, some canapas. Uh. Well,
Speaker 1: however you gift and whoever you gift to, we are
Speaker 1: so thankful that you listen to this show. You are
Speaker 1: a gift to us because without you, we would not
Speaker 1: be doing this show. So thank you so much for
Speaker 1: listening and sharing your kind reviews with us on iTunes
Speaker 1: and Stitcher, like this one for Manatee friend who isn't
Speaker 1: a friend to Manatees. I love it inspiring, motivating and
Speaker 1: fun to listen to. I started listening to Jen and
Speaker 1: Jill on the Frugal Friends podcast about three months ago.
Speaker 1: In that time, I've learned so much between debt payoff
Speaker 1: stories and guest speakers. I learned something new or get
Speaker 1: inspired by someone's journey every time I listen. Fortunately I
Speaker 1: don't have student loan debt, but I still felt like
Speaker 1: I was living paycheck to paycheck. Now I'm evaluating where
Speaker 1: all my heart earned dollars go, and I'm starting to
Speaker 1: make smart financial decisions for my future. Thank you for
Speaker 1: working so hard to make such a great resource available
Speaker 1: to all who listen. And that was five stars. I
Speaker 1: wonder if you're in Florida too, maybe whatever union over
Speaker 1: here us up and thanks for your gratitude and recognition
Speaker 1: of hard work. I mean we It really is a privilege,
Speaker 1: in an honor to put out this content and to
Speaker 1: be helping others, and there's so much reward in that,
Speaker 1: but it is work, and and it just feels good
Speaker 1: to hear that. Thanks man it Ti friend you. We
Speaker 1: also want to thank our friends who share these episodes
Speaker 1: on social media. So when you share the latest episode
Speaker 1: and tag us on Facebook or Instagram, we're adding you
Speaker 1: to our monthly drawing. For every five tags and reviews
Speaker 1: we get each month, we give away a copy of
Speaker 1: the Frugal Friends Workbook, So please keep leaving us reviews
Speaker 1: on iTunes or Stitcher and sending those screenshots to Frugal
Speaker 1: Friends podcast at gmail dot com. And don't forget to
Speaker 1: tag us on your social shares, whether it's on the
Speaker 1: post or story. We will see them awesome and see
Speaker 1: you all next week. By Frugal Friends is produced by
Speaker 1: r Experian. Okay, Jen, you were just at finn Con, which,
Speaker 1: for those who don't know, is a financial conference for
Speaker 1: people in the personal finance space. And it's where you
Speaker 1: learned so much. We all learned so much good things
Speaker 1: about how to keep putting out good content, YadA YadA.
Speaker 1: But all that to say, you met a Frugal Friends listener, Yes,
Speaker 1: and I've not been able to hear about it yet. Okay,
Speaker 1: So this was at the time this comes out a
Speaker 1: month ago. But her name is Veronica, so shout out
Speaker 1: to you. She you can everyone can follow her, especially
Speaker 1: Allied health professionals at fired Up for Allied Health. And
Speaker 1: it was a treat to meet her and her husband.
Speaker 1: And so here is here is how serendipitous this meeting was.
Speaker 1: I have been battling tendonitis in my ankle for almost
Speaker 1: I guess two months at this point. It's been really hard. Actually,
Speaker 1: because I'm super active, and um, it's been painful. And
Speaker 1: I can still walk and drive, but it is I
Speaker 1: can't run, I can't jump, I can't do anything where
Speaker 1: I like lift my ankle off the floor. So it's
Speaker 1: been really debilitating for the lifestyle that I used to leading.
Speaker 1: So I went into Finncon with this and then I
Speaker 1: meet Veronica and she's like, oh, I'm a physical therapist
Speaker 1: and her husband's like, oh, yeah, I'm physical therapists. I
Speaker 1: worked with athletes, and I was like, how well, let
Speaker 1: me tell you about my life. And so they gave
Speaker 1: me a treatment plan to help my ankle will get better.
Speaker 1: And it was similar to what I had been doing,
Speaker 1: but I was doing fifteen reps a day and they're like, no, girl,
Speaker 1: you got to do a hundred a day. So I
Speaker 1: am so thankful to Veronica and her husband. So if
Speaker 1: you are listening, which I know typically they both listen,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for your help. And it was
Speaker 1: a pleasure meeting you and I am now a fan
Speaker 1: of you. That's amazing. Hi, Veronica, I'm sorry I didn't
Speaker 1: get to meet you, but thank you for helping my
Speaker 1: friend Jen. You're silent sufferer. How did I not know
Speaker 1: that this is happening for you. Well, it hasn't been
Speaker 1: super debilitating to where I can't you know. It really
Speaker 1: only in the gym. Is it um debilitating? Yeah? If
Speaker 1: you worked out with me, you definitely know that. I know. Yeah. Oh,
Speaker 1: and that's a lot of reps though. You got to
Speaker 1: put on some work. I made a chart and I've
Speaker 1: been filling it in. The only day that I missed
Speaker 1: was the day I actually re injured my ankle. I
Speaker 1: fell off a bike and so it was I hurt
Speaker 1: all day, so I didn't do the exercises. But other
Speaker 1: than that, I've been so faithful because I have signed
Speaker 1: up for half marathon and I have to get this
Speaker 1: nipped in the bud. Wow. Yeah, I'm glad for the help. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I hope it works. If you are an Allied Health professional,
Speaker 1: definitely follow fired up for Allied Health