WEBVTT - Avoiding the Holiday Shopping Hangover #045 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.200 Welcome to How to Money. I'm Joel and I'm Matt, 0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:25.600 and today we're discussing avoiding the holiday shopping hangover. Joel, 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:30.080 how's it going good, buddy? How the heck are you today? Going? Awesome? Awesome? So, 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:31.920 so I wanted to let you know man, that I 0:00:32.040 --> 0:00:34.680 have been riding my bike so much. We'll tell you what. 0:00:34.760 --> 0:00:36.559 For anybody that rides their bike a lot, I think 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:39.360 it's so helpful to have an odometer on your bike, 0:00:39.520 --> 0:00:41.560 just to kind of help you see how much you're riding, 0:00:41.560 --> 0:00:44.320 how many miles you're going. And man, on my odometer, 0:00:44.640 --> 0:00:47.600 just racked up sixteen hundred miles on my bike in 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:50.160 the past just over a year. Dude, that's a lot. 0:00:50.400 --> 0:00:52.639 Did you, like, right down to Florida or something, take 0:00:52.680 --> 0:00:55.880 the Silver Commets to Alabama? No, but if that's a challenge, 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:58.080 I will accept and make that happen. Dude, have you 0:00:58.080 --> 0:01:01.080 been on the Silver Commet It literally runs from Atlanta 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:04.120 to Alabama? No? But actually, it's funny you mentioned that. 0:01:04.200 --> 0:01:06.240 I was talking to this guy the other day. He's 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:09.960 like really old guy actually, and he bikes. Let's see, 0:01:11.160 --> 0:01:14.080 he's like eighty. He's like Katie. Okay, So yeah, legit, 0:01:14.080 --> 0:01:16.919 old legit. But he rises his bike on the Silver 0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:21.520 Common Trail every day. I know. No, it just first off, 0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:24.520 it was a challenge to me to keep riding my bike, 0:01:24.959 --> 0:01:27.440 not to get soft in your old age exactly, and 0:01:27.440 --> 0:01:29.319 the fact that he was still doing it was super impressive. 0:01:29.360 --> 0:01:31.640 But also it made me think, I need at some 0:01:31.680 --> 0:01:34.679 point to challenge myself to do this bike from where 0:01:34.720 --> 0:01:37.760 we live and go all the way to the state 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:40.400 border and then bike all the way back in one day. 0:01:40.440 --> 0:01:42.000 I need to make that happen at some point, just 0:01:42.040 --> 0:01:45.959 because that just sounds like a fun challenge to commit to. Yeah. Man, 0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:48.400 there are some beers and the paneers. We already said 0:01:48.400 --> 0:01:51.280 beers and paneers together before. That's a nice ride. That's good, 0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:53.320 like the little side bags. But yeah, for those who 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:56.160 don't know, Joel commutes pretty much every single day, you 0:01:56.200 --> 0:01:59.120 commute to and from work on your bike. I will say, Matt, 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:01.960 we're getting into that uber cold weather season and anybody 0:02:02.000 --> 0:02:05.880 who is a big time bike rider knows that it 0:02:06.080 --> 0:02:08.440 just becomes a little bit harder than yeah, a little 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:11.520 more uncomfortable, right that kind of fall time and a 0:02:11.520 --> 0:02:14.440 lot of places is actually perfect falls great, but as 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:16.400 you get a little bit further into winter, it starts 0:02:16.400 --> 0:02:18.880 to become those like dog days of super cold, and 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:21.760 maintaining that pace of you know, biking in to work 0:02:21.840 --> 0:02:24.720 every single day is hard. I mean to do my darndest. 0:02:24.919 --> 0:02:26.959 And you know what, my old friend Harry, who rides 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:28.919 his bike every day on the Silver Commet, he is 0:02:29.160 --> 0:02:31.200 on the guy's name, har it's his name. He's gonna 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:33.960 be my shining star. I'm going to look to him 0:02:34.000 --> 0:02:37.360 as my beacon of of bike riding truth. So immediately, 0:02:37.400 --> 0:02:40.160 just picture Clint Eastwood on a bike, because like I guess, 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:42.880 dirty Harry. Did you ever watch Then with your dad? 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:45.160 We'll say, We'll say, Harry is kind of like Clint Eastwood. 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:48.040 Dirty Harry. Yeah, I'm feeling it. Let's do it. Let's 0:02:48.040 --> 0:02:49.880 do it. Silver commets to Alabama. I don't even know 0:02:49.919 --> 0:02:51.600 how far it goes into the state, but I think 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:53.760 it's well. I think we only at least from here 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:56.560 to the border. I think it's like forty five miles 0:02:56.639 --> 0:02:58.400 or something like that. I would assume we could do 0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:00.440 ninety miles around trip in a day, right, I used 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:02.000 to do that in college. Or there is this road 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:03.960 trip I won't go into the details, but we'd ride 0:03:04.000 --> 0:03:06.880 our bikes from Athens down to Jacksonville for the Georgia 0:03:06.919 --> 0:03:09.200 Florida game. There was a three day ride and the 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:12.160 longest day I think was a twenty miles, which is 0:03:12.240 --> 0:03:14.240 a lot. That sounds like a lot. Yeah, that's like 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:18.000 Twitter France levels, right, twenty miles, like the Lance Armstrong 0:03:18.200 --> 0:03:21.919 of riding the cargo bike. You Know, something I was 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:24.920 thinking about earlier today is I've been telling all my 0:03:24.960 --> 0:03:28.240 friends about this because I am all about it. But coffee, 0:03:28.400 --> 0:03:30.799 I've been delaying my cup of coffee every day now 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:34.120 until either later in the morning or like mid afternoon. 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:36.480 It's because of this article. A friend of mine sense 0:03:36.680 --> 0:03:39.800 and explained how like your QUARTERSOL levels in the morning, 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:41.880 they kind of peak right when you wake up, and 0:03:41.920 --> 0:03:45.080 they say to not drink coffee right away and instead, 0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:47.480 if you want it to be effective, to delay it slightly. 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:50.279 And I feel like it's going to change my life, specifically, 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:53.960 it's keeping me from changed life. That's a big freaking thing. 0:03:54.000 --> 0:03:57.160 The same has changed my coffee drinking lafe. I'll say, okay, alright, 0:03:57.200 --> 0:03:59.600 well it keeps me as well from getting a second cup. 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:02.240 And I work from home and a lot of times 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:04.200 that means just more wasted time because I'm getting up 0:04:04.200 --> 0:04:06.960 and boiling the water. And if I'm drinking twice as 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:09.720 much coffee, man, that's twice as much. That's twice as 0:04:09.800 --> 0:04:12.200 much coffee that I'm not having to purchase, let alone 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:14.160 make as well. I've just found it to be a 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:16.640 nice little hack that I've done recently to decrease the 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:18.719 amount of coffee I drink every day and at the 0:04:18.720 --> 0:04:21.360 same time save a buck. And have you felt like 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:23.680 you're dragging at all in the morning, because I know 0:04:23.839 --> 0:04:25.800 most people when they wake up, a lot of people 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:28.000 have like an automatic coffee maker and it turns on 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:30.440 and they smell the folders like brewing or something. I 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:32.919 don't recommend that first of all, or not drinking folders 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:36.479 or maxwill, but that's like something that people look forward 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:39.600 to or need. Almost was there like a period of 0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:41.960 a few days where, like a drug addict, you felt 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:43.440 like that need and you had to kind of wean 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:45.520 yourself off. I will say, now that's getting a little 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:47.480 bit cooler. I do kind of miss having that hot 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:50.040 drink at breakfast, like we always do fried eggs in 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:53.120 the morning, but only from a warm drink standpoint, so 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:55.080 I might start having maybe a small cup of tea 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:57.800 or something, but from a caffeine standpoint, no, man, I've 0:04:57.839 --> 0:04:59.880 I found I just don't need it. And it's been 0:04:59.920 --> 0:05:03.120 a few months, so I can't remember maybe as much 0:05:03.480 --> 0:05:06.440 the effects initially, but yeah, I would totally check it out. 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:08.279 And what we'll do, I'll throw a link up to 0:05:08.320 --> 0:05:11.000 this article in our show notes. This kind of breaks 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:14.160 it down. How Yeah, your quartosol levels peak in the morning, 0:05:14.560 --> 0:05:17.679 around lunchtime, and so what they say is to instead 0:05:17.960 --> 0:05:21.239 drink coffee like mid morning, so when those cortosol levels 0:05:21.279 --> 0:05:23.479 drop and we kind of get a little groggy. But 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:26.680 for me, dude, when I needed is that mid afternoon slump, 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:29.360 like around two o'clock or three o'clock. For me, I 0:05:29.360 --> 0:05:32.640 gotta have my coffee otherwise I'm falling asleep at the 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:35.200 desk right in emails, and that's always bad. Well, I 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:36.880 love the idea. I don't know if I'm going to 0:05:37.000 --> 0:05:39.000 change my habits, but I'm gonna read this article and 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:40.600 at least give it a chance. In my brain, I'm 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:43.640 pretty sure Harry doesn't drink his coffee until the afternoon. Gosh, 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:45.640 that guy has a baller here. I'm just telling you 0:05:46.040 --> 0:05:48.200 I still want to be like Harry I was speaking 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:51.279 of coffee. You wanna introduce our beer for this episode. 0:05:51.440 --> 0:05:54.279 Nice segue, Matthew. Yesterday on the show, we are drinking 0:05:54.440 --> 0:05:58.520 a Sierra Nevada nar Wall Imperial Stout, and this beer 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:02.359 has coffee in it and also dark chocolate. So I 0:06:02.400 --> 0:06:05.760 can't wait to talk about the beer with you, Matt 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:08.080 at the end of this episode. Yeah. What's awesome about 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:09.800 this beer, too, man, is that this is something that 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:12.280 you can pretty much pick up in any grocery store 0:06:12.320 --> 0:06:15.040 that carries decent craft beer. A lot of times on 0:06:15.080 --> 0:06:18.240 the episodes, we have beers that are really rare, to 0:06:18.279 --> 0:06:20.440 say the least. Sometimes they're illegal to get your hands 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:22.479 on because it might be homebrews. But yeah, that's what 0:06:22.520 --> 0:06:24.800 I love about the beers that we enjoy is that 0:06:24.920 --> 0:06:27.080 we like all the beers just about and we like 0:06:27.080 --> 0:06:29.880 flouting the loss. We love that illegal beer. You're a 0:06:29.880 --> 0:06:33.800 scoff law. Yeah, anybody who is into beer and especially 0:06:33.800 --> 0:06:36.400 like stouts, you can easily find Sire In Nevada on 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:38.920 your shelf than our whale. It's here in about actually 0:06:39.000 --> 0:06:41.560 normally known for kind of their hoppy beer offerings. They're 0:06:41.680 --> 0:06:43.479 they're more like pale ales and I p a s. 0:06:43.760 --> 0:06:46.120 But man, I can't wait to talk about this stout 0:06:46.480 --> 0:06:48.680 uh and and how it's completely out of here in 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:52.600 Nevada's wheelhouse, but how they make it so deliciously and 0:06:52.600 --> 0:06:54.960 we'll get to that later. So with that being said, Matt, 0:06:55.080 --> 0:06:59.040 let's talk about avoiding the holiday shopping hangover. That's rajel. 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:01.680 With Black Friday coming up, this is a topic that's 0:07:01.720 --> 0:07:05.360 definitely on people's minds. Specifically, we're talking about holiday shopping, 0:07:05.720 --> 0:07:08.080 and we want to make sure that you are avoiding 0:07:08.120 --> 0:07:10.680 that hangover. We don't want you paying for your holiday 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:13.880 shopping months to come into the next year. Yeah, and 0:07:13.880 --> 0:07:15.960 and Matt, the problem is that most people, when it 0:07:15.960 --> 0:07:19.040 comes to their holiday spending, they haven't really thought through 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:21.240 how much they're gonna spend, you know, how they're gonna 0:07:21.280 --> 0:07:23.200 pay for it. And so it turns out that most 0:07:23.200 --> 0:07:26.440 people spend more money than they intended to spend, and 0:07:26.480 --> 0:07:30.240 because it wasn't thought out well and budgeted oftentimes, then 0:07:30.280 --> 0:07:34.520 those people find themselves in a shopping hangover after the holidays, 0:07:34.600 --> 0:07:37.160 where the credit card bills come rolling in in January 0:07:37.600 --> 0:07:39.360 and it kind of hits them upside of the head, 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:42.440 like WHOA have that happened? Um? And and it's just 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:45.680 because of a lack of planning, a lack of intentionality 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:48.119 when it comes to holiday spending and kind of letting 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:50.560 the joyous holiday season that is a lot of fun 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:52.640 get the best of them when it comes to how 0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:55.080 they spend their money. That's right, man. So some quick stats, 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:59.080 shoppers typically spend more than a trillion dollars during the 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:02.640 Christmas holiday a shopping season, and that is a ton 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:04.800 of money. And I saw another statuo that in the 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:08.760 UK that on average, somebody will spend half of their 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:12.960 monthly income. And so if you make like around fifty dollars, 0:08:13.000 --> 0:08:15.640 you're looking at close to two thousand dollars that you're 0:08:15.640 --> 0:08:20.400 spending on holiday shopping. Wow, who are these people? Dud? Yeah, 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:22.440 that's crazy. I don't know what other people spending, but 0:08:22.600 --> 0:08:24.840 my family does not spend anywhere near that. That's just 0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:26.920 a lot. I mean, you'll probably spend close to that 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:30.080 on a gift for me, But that's understandable, right. Podcasting buddies, 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:31.520 we gotta do that for each other. Yeah, because we're 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:33.160 best friends. Dog. Yeah, you know, Wait, what are you 0:08:33.160 --> 0:08:34.720 gonna get from me? Man, I was thinking of pony 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:39.840 Maybe I don't know. Yeah, So ultimately, Matt, you don't 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:41.720 want to overspend be left with that debt on your 0:08:41.720 --> 0:08:44.480 credit cards, so you'll be paying off all of next 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:47.360 year and you have to ask the question to why 0:08:47.480 --> 0:08:51.640 are you doing this? Consumerism dominates our culture and it's 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:53.920 what we see in ads all around us, and it 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:57.120 makes it look festive and fun to get the free 0:08:57.120 --> 0:08:59.320 shipping and start buying stuff for all the people that 0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:01.920 you care about. That's what's fed to us. Yeah, I agree. 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:03.600 I think that's what most people would think of. When 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:06.880 you stay the holidays, Their minds immediately go to shopping 0:09:07.040 --> 0:09:09.840 and packages and gifts and paper and just you know 0:09:09.880 --> 0:09:12.000 everything that goes along with that in dollar signs in 0:09:12.040 --> 0:09:14.840 the eyeballs, that's where mind goes, right, So we would 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:17.400 make a push to mindfulness this time of year to 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:20.520 kind of pushing back against that rampant consumerism. And the 0:09:20.559 --> 0:09:23.120 only way you're going to be able to get through 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:26.440 the shopping season well, to actually buy the gifts that 0:09:26.520 --> 0:09:29.400 you intend to buy and stick within a reasonable budget 0:09:29.640 --> 0:09:32.960 is by planning ahead and staying organized. And we'll run 0:09:33.000 --> 0:09:36.040 through those strategies and how to create that perfect holiday 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:47.439 money game plan right after the break. All right, Joel, 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:49.120 we're back from the break, and yeah, like you said, 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:51.760 we're gonna talk about some strategies. We're gonna talk more 0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:56.040 about the overall game plan on how to approach holiday shopping. 0:09:56.160 --> 0:09:57.520 And so the first thing I want to do is 0:09:57.559 --> 0:09:59.719 to make sure that you're planning ahead and that you're 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:03.040 staying organized. Specifically, we want you to make a list 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:06.440 of potential expenses, think about all the different things that 0:10:06.480 --> 0:10:09.440 you'll be spending money on, not just the gifts. Once 0:10:09.480 --> 0:10:11.719 you've gotten that together, fine where you can cut or 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:15.120 eliminate all together, because chances are you're gonna be dreaming 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:18.440 much bigger than maybe your pocketbook can handle. And we 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:21.160 understand that this is gonna be tough. Um, you know, 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:23.040 you've got to ask yourself the question how much should 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:26.080 I spend for each person on my list and for 0:10:26.400 --> 0:10:28.400 each individual that you have on your list. It's gonna 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:30.200 be different and for you as the gift giver, right 0:10:30.240 --> 0:10:32.440 as the shopper. This is a tough question. This is 0:10:32.800 --> 0:10:35.640 cutting back and it's never something that is fun to do, 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:38.360 but this is something that is necessary to keep your 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:41.320 expenses down. Yeah, it's always helpful for me to remember 0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:44.000 to when I'm creating that list that the people that 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:46.280 are on that list are usually people I care about 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:49.600 a lot, right, And I know those people wouldn't want 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:52.439 me to spend money that I didn't have, um just 0:10:52.520 --> 0:10:54.720 in order to get them a gift for the holidays. 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:57.240 I would maybe you would give me that pony dog, 0:10:57.960 --> 0:11:00.200 all right, I'll make it happen. Fine, I'll work three 0:11:00.280 --> 0:11:02.320 jobs just to get you that pony, but a couple 0:11:02.360 --> 0:11:04.640 of tips, right in order to make that happen. Start 0:11:04.760 --> 0:11:07.839 saving now, So how much do you want to spend? 0:11:08.040 --> 0:11:11.640 Divide that out by the monthly amount that you need 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:15.040 to save. Think about doing that in an Excel spreadsheet. Right, 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:18.920 And we're already in November. We're already closing in on 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:23.960 Black Friday, Cyber Monday. The holiday shopping season is getting 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:26.760 ready to be in full swing. So you don't have 0:11:26.880 --> 0:11:30.080 a whole lot of time to start saving for this 0:11:30.200 --> 0:11:33.720 Christmas right now. But you know what, most people don't 0:11:33.760 --> 0:11:37.560 think about saving that Christmas money at all or until 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:40.600 next November. Yeah, so you still have some time at least, 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:42.880 and that's better than no time. So I would say, 0:11:43.080 --> 0:11:45.600 start making that list now, start thinking now about what 0:11:45.640 --> 0:11:47.920 you're spending is going to look like for this Christmas, 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:49.800 and then you know what, You've kind of got a 0:11:49.840 --> 0:11:53.280 head start thinking ahead about next Christmas. And it becomes 0:11:53.280 --> 0:11:55.280 just so much easier when you're thinking about it, you 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:57.760 know that far in advance. Yeah, man, And I'll totally 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:00.439 second that approach as far as decide how much that 0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:02.480 you're going to spend and dividing it out per month, 0:12:02.880 --> 0:12:05.720 because that's exactly what we do. And I think a 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:08.760 lot of folks might push back against that because they think, man, 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:11.480 that just doesn't sound fun, right, that doesn't sound like Christmas. 0:12:11.920 --> 0:12:14.040 But that doesn't sound like the holidays. It just sounds 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:18.400 to formulaic and stiff. Like, No, that's just responsible, Like 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:20.679 that's what you do when you have an expense. When 0:12:20.720 --> 0:12:23.400 it comes to your car insurance, if you pay your 0:12:23.400 --> 0:12:25.959 car insurance once a year, because you get that discount, 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:27.760 that discounted rate, if you pay it all at once, 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:30.000 you divide out how much you need to set aside 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:32.839 every single month. Look at Christmas or whatever holiday that 0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:35.319 you celebrate, look at it the exact same way. This 0:12:35.400 --> 0:12:38.240 is an expense that's not an emergency. It comes every 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:41.120 year and you know that this is something you can 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:43.720 plan for. And we don't think about people that budget 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:48.520 accordingly for car insurance to be Scrooge like characters. Yeah, 0:12:48.559 --> 0:12:50.559 but for some reason, that's how we think of people 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:52.719 that budget like that for Christma is that man, I 0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:54.520 don't know, like if you think it's got to be 0:12:54.600 --> 0:12:56.520 like spontaneous and you're just like gonna whip out the 0:12:56.559 --> 0:12:58.600 cash or you know, swipe their credit card without even 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:00.640 thinking about it, is the way that it's supposed to go. 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:03.360 But that's just irresponsible or you see that, Yeah, perfect 0:13:03.360 --> 0:13:06.600 gift for someone that is way outside your price range. 0:13:06.600 --> 0:13:08.760 You know what I hate is the car commercials, but 0:13:08.880 --> 0:13:10.719 the car sitting in the driveway with a giant red 0:13:10.760 --> 0:13:14.080 bow on. Who the heck does that? Like nobody does that? Right? 0:13:14.200 --> 0:13:16.920 But also don't forget about other holiday expenses like travel 0:13:17.360 --> 0:13:20.160 house decorations. Right for us, that's something that that kind 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:21.920 of creeps up every year because we want the place 0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:23.880 looking really good. Is we end up getting a bigger 0:13:23.880 --> 0:13:26.079 tree or we want to add another wreath to the mix, 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:28.880 and so before you know it, Yeah, the holiday de 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:30.560 coorse kind of creeping up there. So we got although 0:13:30.640 --> 0:13:32.920 last year, you've got a really sweet wreath for free 0:13:32.920 --> 0:13:34.920 on the side of the road. Oh, we did. Should 0:13:34.920 --> 0:13:37.640 I share that with us? Just I want people to know. 0:13:38.400 --> 0:13:40.520 I mean, you're super good at finding free stuff on 0:13:40.559 --> 0:13:42.120 the side of the road, and and that's that's a 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:44.120 nice quality to have. You know why. It's because we 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:46.080 go on walks all the time, and we ride our bikes, 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:48.200 and so I feel like when you're riding your bikes 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:50.920 you're able to see stuff up close. If you're zipping 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:52.680 buy in your car, it just looks like trash. But 0:13:52.760 --> 0:13:56.000 in our case, our neighbor was tossing out this four 0:13:56.040 --> 0:13:58.280 foot wreath I saw her put out on the curb 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:00.640 when in years past I've seen her hanging on our house. 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:02.640 It's like the size breath that they would punt on 0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:05.240 the side of a Macy's. Yeah, it's pretty big, man. 0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:07.920 And so I was like, Kelly, are you putting that 0:14:07.960 --> 0:14:09.400 on the curve? Is that a curb alert? Are you 0:14:09.400 --> 0:14:11.760 gonna toss that? She's like, yeah, the lights don't work anymore, 0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:15.280 And I thought to myself, no problem, I got more lights, 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:18.520 so dude, Yeah, we totally snatch that up. It's currently 0:14:18.559 --> 0:14:19.920 up in the attic and we're gonna pull that out 0:14:19.920 --> 0:14:22.200 when it comes time to decorate the house because it's 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:24.560 beautiful because the wrap lights around it. So if you 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:26.400 get free stuff like Matt, it makes it even easier 0:14:26.400 --> 0:14:28.320 to budget, right, But you want to factor in all 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:31.720 those things, including Christmas cards, because cards, those are the 0:14:31.760 --> 0:14:34.520 sort of things that will break your budget because you 0:14:34.560 --> 0:14:37.320 didn't factor them in. And those things you can plan 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:39.520 on right. You can plan ahead knowing that that's going 0:14:39.600 --> 0:14:42.480 to happen, and most people just forget leave it out 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:44.960 because all they're thinking about are the gift buys. But 0:14:45.080 --> 0:14:47.240 think about those other purchases you're gonna make during the 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:49.720 holidays too, And what you absolutely don't want to do 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:51.680 is to wait until the last minute, you know, right 0:14:51.680 --> 0:14:54.240 before Christmas. If you're waiting to make any of your 0:14:54.280 --> 0:14:56.960 purchases until then, or even making your decisions as to 0:14:56.960 --> 0:14:58.800 what you're gonna spend, then it's pretty much gonna be 0:14:58.840 --> 0:15:00.720 too late. You're gonna ruin your bud it, you're gonna 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:03.320 go way over and you know you're gonna be in 0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:05.560 the sort of situation where you're gonna be paying for 0:15:05.640 --> 0:15:08.360 Christmas well into the New Year. It's gonna be bad news, bears. 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:10.360 You don't want that no way, So yeah, we would 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:14.240 encourage you to start shopping now, right. The best deals 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:16.760 to be had, the best prices that you're gonna find 0:15:16.800 --> 0:15:19.280 when it comes to shopping for people you care about 0:15:19.320 --> 0:15:24.000 for Christmas are gonna be had in November, in early December. 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:27.400 And if you're waiting till a few days before Christmas time, 0:15:27.800 --> 0:15:30.320 it turns out you are going to pay wait, wait, wait, wait, 0:15:30.360 --> 0:15:34.040 way too much. It's just like buying an airline ticket 0:15:34.040 --> 0:15:36.480 the day before the flight takes off. That is like 0:15:36.520 --> 0:15:39.120 the worst time you could potentially buy an airline ticket. 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:42.240 And the same thing goes with buying Christmas presents. You're 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:44.800 going to want to buy while there's a lot of 0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:47.360 competition happening, and let it be said, there's a lot 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:51.520 of competition happening in that spear right their Target and 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:54.840 Amazon have announced, you know, free shipping for the holidays, 0:15:54.920 --> 0:15:57.920 So there's just so much competition here. You don't want 0:15:57.920 --> 0:16:00.000 to take yourself out of that mix. By waiting until 0:16:00.360 --> 0:16:04.000 the day before or two days before Christmas and hopping 0:16:04.040 --> 0:16:06.240 into the mall, you're gonna pay full price. You're gonna 0:16:06.240 --> 0:16:08.280 pay way too much for everything. Yeah, you don't want 0:16:08.320 --> 0:16:10.320 to be that guy and also too man, not even 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:12.960 just with retail. But if you start shopping earlier, if 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:14.560 you start thinking about what it is that you want 0:16:14.560 --> 0:16:17.920 to purchase for an individual, say earlier that year, there's 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:20.040 a good chance you could find something, even like at 0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:21.640 a yard sale. And I know that sounds kind of 0:16:21.680 --> 0:16:23.400 like cheap, right, you're gonna buy like a gift for 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:25.400 some day for Christmas at a yard sale. But if 0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:27.280 you find something that you know that they want, or 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:29.920 something that is more of say an antique, that you 0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:32.720 wouldn't buy a new anyway, well why not buy it 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:34.600 at a yard sale or a garage sale where you 0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:36.920 can get it for crazy cheap. And so because you 0:16:37.000 --> 0:16:40.720 started shopping early, like way early in June or July, 0:16:41.280 --> 0:16:43.440 you're able to go ahead and get that gift, make 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:45.880 that purchase, and cross them off the list, and just 0:16:45.960 --> 0:16:48.040 think about how less stressed out that's gonna make you 0:16:48.080 --> 0:16:50.000 as well, all right, Matt, And yes, So one of 0:16:50.040 --> 0:16:52.040 the things that's going to help you actually stick to 0:16:52.080 --> 0:16:54.400 that plan is to be able to keep a running 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:56.360 list with the names of the people you want to 0:16:56.440 --> 0:16:59.560 get gifts for your right ideas down next to their names. 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:02.000 Maybe keep it in the note tap on your phone. 0:17:02.080 --> 0:17:04.240 Yeah that's exactly. Yeah, that's what we do. I got 0:17:04.280 --> 0:17:08.400 like a secret sort of note that's labeled differently. I mean, 0:17:08.520 --> 0:17:09.760 it's not like it's gonna go on there and try 0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:11.720 to figure out what it is. I'm gonna get her. Yeah, 0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:13.360 that's that's totally what I do. So you're saying Kate 0:17:13.440 --> 0:17:16.120 wasn't the type of person to take the tape off 0:17:16.160 --> 0:17:19.040 the presence carefully and look inside and then wrap it 0:17:19.080 --> 0:17:21.200 back up. No, man, don't you know what's funny is 0:17:21.240 --> 0:17:22.919 I don't think either of us are that way. I 0:17:23.000 --> 0:17:25.160 was the kind of kid that if I accidentally stumbled 0:17:25.200 --> 0:17:27.880 upon a gift that my parents said not hidden well enough, 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:29.320 or it was just kind of tucked behind something, I 0:17:29.359 --> 0:17:31.359 would pretend I didn't see it because I didn't want 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:35.000 to ruin the surprise for myself. Specifically, I remember stumbling 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:37.760 upon Super Mario Brothers three. I knew I was gonna 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:39.400 have to pretend that I didn't see it in order 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:41.560 in order to be surprised on Christmas morning. You try 0:17:41.600 --> 0:17:43.720 to like erase the memory from your brain. Yeah. Yeah, 0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:47.280 like control out, delete reset. So I was a sneaky 0:17:47.320 --> 0:17:50.040 kid at least for a few years, who knew lamely 0:17:50.040 --> 0:17:53.280 where my parents hit the presents, and oh yeah, what 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:55.200 there was one spot and it wasn't hard to find out. 0:17:55.760 --> 0:17:57.679 You could have done better, mom, But no, I'm just kidding. 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:00.560 But it was easy to find and I would try 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:01.919 to sneak in there and look. But then, you know, 0:18:01.920 --> 0:18:04.280 after a couple of years of that and realizing that 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:08.320 actually it made Christmas way more disappointing, I stopped. But yeah, man, 0:18:08.359 --> 0:18:10.800 I'm completely with you making that list and that way too, 0:18:10.840 --> 0:18:13.600 sort of like with shopping, right, if you start way early, 0:18:13.720 --> 0:18:16.280 if you start thinking way early about the different gifts 0:18:16.280 --> 0:18:18.560