Episode four fifty six, how to have a Frugal Holiday Season.
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to save money, embrace simplicity, and live a life. Here your hosts Jen and Jill.
Welcome to the Frugal Friends podcast.
My name is Jen, my.
Name is Jill, and today we are talking about the holidays, the trifecta. It's upon us Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and then all the December holidays. Let's just put them all together.
They are all to January the release of our book.
Oh my gosh, that's an extra holiday. But yes, we are referring to Black Friday as a holiday. Sorry, not sorry, but we're going to talk about how to celebrate frugally and it's gonna contain some of the the normal tips that you are looking for and expecting, but also as we are conscious consumption and intentional spending gurus, I'm gifting myself with that title, now, how guru. It's going to be some of some of the alternative mindset shift stuff too, you know, so we're.
All craving it. We all just need the permission.
For h want less, want different sort of stuff. So buckle up, especially if you're listening to this in the car and uh, let's get into it.
We pulled you all in the friend letter on the well, here's what we asked, what do you spend the most money on during the holidays? And the options or decorations, gifts, food, activities, other and all of you by a land spot.
I've never seen a poll more skewed about gifts. Gifts just that's that's where the money's going.
The second runner up was food, but way trailing behind gifts. That's where the most money goes around the holidays. So we're going to talk a lot about that, Yes we are. But first this episode episode is brought to you by patting yourself on the back, because more often than not, no one else is going to do it for you. Did you defer us the meat for tonight's dinner, fill up the gas tank the night before, put some extra cash aside for the holidays, Give yourself a pat on
the back. Didn't do any of those things, but wish you did. Set yourself up for a future pat on the back by pre ordering our book Buy What you Love Without Going Broke. It will arrive to your home early January and be packed with all the tips and information on how to get your spending back on track after the holidays. Give this gift to yourself, pat yourself on the back for it. Buy what you Love book dot com.
Yes, all right, so Holidays. A couple episodes to queue up for after this one Episode one thirty three Tips for avoiding holiday impulse buying. That's a really really good one. And then also episode one eight four tips to prepare for holiday sales early. So those are two good follow ups. Today we're talking about more of the savings tips for all around stuff, and we're going to start with this headline from Simple Home, Simple Life of how to simplify
the holidays to save money and the planet. And before we get started with this one, just another callback to the gifts because I forgot to say this when you were mentioning the poll.
There was one.
Response on here that said gifts was their obvious biggest expense, and she said or he depends on the holiday. One of my love languages is gift givings. So it's a weakness of mine, and I want us to know that gift giving is a love language. The holidays, I think, in themselves, are a love language. Sometimes we can feel guilty for we feel guilty after the fact for all the spending we did around the holidays, because we love
the holidays, we love the feeling it gives us. And we want you to fully embrace your love languages, fully embrace the things about November and December that you love, just without the guilt that comes in January. That's the only thing we are trying to get less of. So we want to give you creative tips in this episode to get the most to fill up your cups for as little as possible.
Yeah, I relate to that. Gift giving is one of my love languages as well. I love doing it. If you were to look at the where I spend money, it's food, gas, dine out, and gifts for people.
And that's just that's on a you know, in a July right our summer night, like that's every month.
I just I love it so much. So I'm with you, and so I think we can kind of weave in and look at how can we do this really intentionally and not where we'd have to put blindfolds on in December only to be horrified come January. And this article I thought was really helpful. We looked at a couple of different articles, and this one had I thought some really a little bit unique tips and an additional perspective. And we see it in the title of Simplify the Holidays,
save money and the planet. Not that we're saving the entire planet, but this lens of how can we experience greater levels of peace and simplicity during this time that can feel really chaotic, and in what ways can that both help us and our environment and the community. Because there's so much that can happen around the holidays that just isn't overall good for the environ and that's another reason to simplify in the ways that are already going
to be beneficial to us. I love the intro of this article, and I want to just kind of read off some direct quotes from it because I resonated with it so much. Imagine you may too. They pose this question, when did the spirit of the holidays go from celebrating together with people you love to buying and entertaining and having perfect decorations and doing a million things at once. The season has in many ways become a very commercial endeavor.
We seem to buy trinkets and decorations and clothing and the latest technology and way too much food just because it feels like it's expected, or because there's some sale that makes us feel like we're crazy not to buy it takes an enormous toll on our wallets, our sanity, and our planet. What's the alternative to a stressful, expensive, environmentally destructive holiday season? A simple one where you buy a whole lot less but actually give a lot more.
Oh the wind, I know, I love it. I feel so seen in that introduction, and so I think it's also what helps me really embrace some of these tips that we're given.
Yeah, so we're we're going to go through all ten.
Kay, are there? Okay? Eleven? Actually we're just gonna do them all, and this is gonna be the perfect article we explore.
Yes, okay, so let's let us start with decor. So let's the first tip is decorate naturally. So I think this is going to be more applicable for my friends that live in areas that actually have changing seasons. Uh so, not not so much applicable for Jill and I in Florida. But she is suggesting if you do want to decorate, decorate, if that's your love language, live in it. Let's get creative with how we do it, and one of those ways is to use greenery, branches, acorns, pine cones, berries,
whatever found in nature. This is awesome if you have kids or if you're babysitting and you can gather the family to help help get the decorations. What a fantastic activity. So plan an outing, she says, to a friend's woodlot. How many how many of your friends have wood lot?
I mean a lot of people in the north. That's okay, wood lots and I.
Have never lived in the north. Okay, go to a friend's.
Wood lot, Yeah, to.
Gather stuff and uh yeah, do a walk with the family. Uh local farmers market, leftover, you know, greenery scraps on the floor or whatever whatever you guys do in the North.
Well, here's the thing. We have stuff in the South we can use. I have a plethora of pine cones on my property, Jen, if you want to decorate with pine cones this year, I got plenty. And I also love to lean into the more tropical Christmas vibe or you know, the tropical fall vibe. So I will take fronds off my little palm trees and gather up my pine cones, and you can actually make some fun wreaths with sticks. I know you're probably thinking Pinterest fail, but
there are some really awesome ideas. But not to mention, you can also go to thrift stores and do swaps with people. There's a lot that can be done with just ribbon from the thrift store. Right, There's there's so much that we can kind of think through about how to make something feel really festive without a lot of supplies or materials or spending a ton of money or buying a bunch of new stuff that's eventually going to
go in the trash. So like led lights and ribbon and brown packaging paper and whatever's on your property can actually go a really long way. So just no, you can be festive, but you don't have to spend a ton of money.
I'm thinking dehydrated oranges are just beautiful decor. Put them up on a string, like, put them around places, and that's very Florida and that's very natural.
So yeah, the next tip along those same lines is to decorate intentionally, so putting efforts into not just purchased items of decor, but thinking this is more of a mindset shift of how can I set up my home to accommodate the vision of what the holidays mean to me. So they give an example of maybe it's pulling out board games or puzzles or decks of cards, making them more easily accessible. Actually, as I'm saying this, I'm remembering
I did this last year around Thanksgiving. I got super into puzzles, and Eric's parents were in town and we had other people visiting, and we set up a table with puzzles, and you would be amazed, Maybe you wouldn't be a full lot of you out there are puzzlers. How much people just walk in and grabate towards a puzzle and then just start talking and chatting and having tea and eating the cookies that you made, and no one's worried about what's happening on the television or on
their phones. Were just now gathered around a puzzle. Because I put out a puzzle like that was the activity and the decoration and the thing to accommodate and bring forth connection and hooga. That's crazy feeling.
Very in line with what we talked about in our frugal entertaining and hosting that it doesn't have to be elaborate or expensive. It can be a couple bottles of one and a puzzle.
Yeah, and songs. I have kind of shifted my own vision to or understanding of kind of decorating to an entire esthetic, not just visual. How much putting music on and the type of music you choose shifts the environment. It's something I've learned recently, now that our home is done and we're having people over, how it feels when I forget to put on music versus when I've got some low kind of cocktail hour music, some Frank Sinatra going.
It totally shifts the environment, makes it much more pleasant and enjoyable. So you pick the playlist, you set the tone in the environment with the sounds. That's decorating too.
And I think it's so there are so many more options, so much easier to get creative around these holidays versus Halloween. When we were talking similarly about, you know, the Halloween holiday, like you can have a screen from any streaming service with a yule log. I do think for Halloween they are coming out with like spooky scapes, which I really like,
spooky sounds. Yes, that's another holiday, but yeah, like there's your visual and then your music is on and your and your puzzles up like good to go.
I love it. I love it all right.
So the next is where we venture start start venturing into gift giving. And I don't love this one as much, so I'm going to alter it a little bit to be one that I actually really really love.
You have the prerogative.
Yeah, So it three is send e cards, and so this is a more sustainability focused blog. So they want e cards because of its sustainability factor. But also but instead of buying and sending a gazillion impersonal cards and standard impersonal gifts, a very simple card with a very intentional, thoughtful note is going to mean so much more than a tin of popcorn or a tin of cookies, or a mug with a packet of hot chocolate, no matter
how cute it looks to DIY on social media. A really heartfelt card where you have gone and what I like to do. I still send Christmas cards. I will will take a family photo in October, October and November and then we'll get a one page just like from Walgreen's card, with our family's photo on it, but then adding some like a sheet of card stock with an actual letter on it where you've taken the time to
think about this person, what they've done all year. You've gone to their Facebook to see what they've been thinking, what they've been posting, to really tell them about your life, their life, Congratulations, condolences, all these things to sum up your guys' year, weather together or apart. How much would that mean for you to receive something? Would you rather get that? Or a mug you'll never use with hot chocolate that you didn't need?
Right?
You know?
Like it is so meaningful and keeps It fosters this connection with our family that we may not have time or bandwidth to invest in physically. But this is something small you can do and you can avoid the stores and I think the only con to it is that your hand might get tired.
Yeah. When we feel like what do we give somebody who has everything? Or we just feel the obligation to buy something but it's not actually a thoughtful gift for them, then the words are a gift, like I keep. I am a minimalist. I throw everything out. What I do keep is cards that have been encouraging and kind. Yeah that is I'll keep people's words because that means so much to me more than Yeah, potentially a mug that I've got too many of already, so something to consider.
It may not be the solve for every single person on the list, but it could be the simplicity and the actual meaningfulness that we're really trying to get at this time of year.
And one tip to save your hands from arthritis. On the back of our Christmas card, I will write what everybody in our family kind of their biggest accomplishment or change for the year has been, so that I don't have to write that to everyone in the writing part, I can just focus on them. And it's not like an eight x ten sheet of paper. It's a four x six card stock. Not even fully filled, right, but mostly filled.
That's what I'm thinking. Yeah. The fourth one on here is say no. You know this one. We're just giving you all permission again. You do not have to go to every holiday party you're invited to. You don't have to host a huge holiday party if you don't want to. You don't have to say yes to everything. You can say no. You can be the keeper of your calendar and decide what you want to prioritize and what is going to be just too much. You do not have
to burn yourself out this time of year. I recognize that can be easier said than done, especially when you've got a lot of people in your house and maybe
your kids have their own schedules. But whatever is within your control that you can say no to and potentially opt for the more meaningful things, whether that is just getting simple coffee with friends in the morning, or going on a walk, or hosting a card night, getting together with people in some of these ways where you can do a couple of things at once, hang out and
write your thoughtful cards to other people. These are the types of things that could be even more appreciated than these larger gatherings that can feel chaotic and obligatory.
Yeah, I think some of the easiest things to say no to are those gifts at the office that everybody goes in on or like the white Elephant gift exchanges you that have like the thirty dollars limit that you don't really want to participate in. Stuff like that, Like that is stuff we take for granted. Those are easy nos, way easier than in saying no to your friend's Christmas party that might.
Have probably want you probably want to go to that.
Yeah, and like bringing a dish to share, right, Like we want to say yes to expenses like that and no to the to the less meaningful ones. So it's just finding. It's finding the easy nose. First five, I love this one. Give a repurposed gift. I am so about used and rep her best gifts. I think they're in style. I think they are great. They are not tacky. You can give a tacky gift, absolutely, I think you're more likely to give a tacky brand new gift than
you are a repurposed one. So instead of adding to the all the new I get. So I get so many things from my sweet mother in law who's loves giving gifts, and she gets everyone the same thing. And by the end of the holiday, I have a at least ten or fifteen items that I know I will return or donate, Like, don't do that to people, you know, Like, she's I love her and she's sweet, so she can do whatever she wants. But you're not everybody's lovely sweet mother in law, so you don't have that excuse.
Yeah. I love this for kids too, And I was just thinking about this recently, how annoying it is when you give a brand new toy it's all wrapped up, and then you got to spend the first ten to fifteen minutes just undoing all those zip ties and twist ties and finding batteries that doesn't exist when you give a toy from the thrift store that you wash down and you already have the batteries in it once it's unwrapped. About a bing.
Bought a boom that puppy can't played with, or from Facebook Marketplace. We're not talking about just people's discarded toys to the thrift store. We're talking Facebook Marketplace, eBay. Mostly I would go Facebook Marketplace though, that's my favorite place to get or the thrift store.
Yeah.
Yeah, you spend more time unhooking toys than do playing with.
So much time you gotta have the exact o knife and the scissors, and it's just ridiculous. And then the kids over it by the time you're done with it, and then you didn't remember the batteries because you didn't open it up and realize which kind of batteries it needed. So I'm over it. I don't even have kids. I'm over it.
But batteries are a great gift for Christmas. Yaues you always forget them.
That's so great. Okay. Number six is give experiences. So instead of all the stuff that we've just talked about, we don't need or want, giving something that can add enjoyment and connection. So whether that's giving movie tickets or a bowling pass or spa treatments or yoga classes or park passes, that's a fun one. Like if you live near a state or national park, rock climbing adventures, museum tickets,
ski lift tickets, a sporting event, a concert. Obviously these range in price points, so there's a lot of different
options there. It also could be an invitation to set a certain time aside to do something that you've wanted to do already, like let's plan a day to do the Armer's market together, or to go on that walk at that free park we've been talking about doing, actually planning to do the thing and setting it aside the time, whether that is in these next couple of months, to just celebrate and enjoy each other doing something meaningful that you're both gonna like or you're deciding this is what
we're going to do and how we celebrate January February.
Yeah, something that I was thinking that might be a cool alternative if there is a white Elephant gift exchange you have to participate in. Maybe we can wrap this in a value too, So instead of just giving a gift card for Chipotle, we're giving a you know, a kind of like a lunch on me card where you take the person to lunch at Chipotle or whatever.
So you're like auctioning yourself off like this comes with me too boo. Yeah right, and could be good or bad. This year you've given myself.
You want to be careful who's in the in the gift.
Exchange Christmas package.
Do it in a safe space. But yeah, so something like that that meets an additional need instead of just like a one off.
She is jen this year I'm giving you me.
That's so, aren't you so excited? I expect it because you're contractually obligated to me. The next one is to give learning. So this is an interesting one. I it's definitely for a certain person, I guess, But again maybe it's an experienced thing too. But online learning classes from skill share you to me a class from a local college or university, and art class like here we have a lot of glass blowing classes because this is a big hub for that cooking classes.
You say that that like you're not sure who this would be for, but this is a hobbyist. This is somebody who already has a lot of things. They're into a lot of things. Like I've talked with a lot of people I'm remembering last year who were talking about their in laws or their parents, people of kind of a more wise generation, who have what they need. They've already got a lot, they're into a lot, but there might be this desire to like learn a new skill
or refine their skill. And this was a recommendation I gave to a couple of friends of there's this like class Pop thing that's nationwide where you can just give a class Pop gift card and they can choose which kind of classes they'd want to go to, anything from cooking to pottery, to woodworking to birdwashing to whatever.
And a good way to meet like the family value if you're looking to give you're in law, a parent or an aunt, an uncle like something maybe a you know, a pottery class together or a sip and paint or something, And.
That's something you could even go in on. That could be a group gift, right, Like if sometimes these classes can be more expensive. Like if if all the adult children are looking for something to give parents, that that could be.
Sound Obviously would have to be something you all want to do and are excited about. But yeah, if it is, then yeah, I'll give it.
Of course. There's also the tip of giving consumables, So whether that's homemade cookies, muffins, soup, frozen casseroles, assorted tea packs. I actually love the soup and the gas roles idea like, give an actual meal. Who who doesn't want that? Who doesn't need dinner? Want in their fridge and freezer? But give me chocolate. So a lot of times we'll roll our eyes at the consumables thing, like there's so many cookies. We don't need more cookies, so okay, don't do cookies.
Recently people have been given giving homemade vanilla. Vanilla is super expensive, but you can make it relatively affordably if you start now. You're listening to this in November, start now. Purchase a vanilla bean, a couple of vanilla beans, vodka, let it sit for the next two months, don't drink it, pour it into tinier vials and give vanilla. You can give cocktail mixtures to come up with different herbs and citrus that could be added to a cocktail.
Those leftover orange, dehydrated oranges.
People will give spice mixtures that and then recipes on how they can be used on different meats and veggies, or infused oils I've gotten like things that I use regularly, spice blends, oils, honey, vanilla. These are really awesome gifts. I have loved it when I've received these things. Or if you want to get into trying to make a lotion, there's all sorts of things that are consumables that aren't just cookies.
Just get I mean, be aware of the price of the DIY. So the more complex, the more expensive it will be. But man, I'm never going to turn away chocolate, like a dark chocolate.
Yeah, just like.
A truffle, things that don't go bad quickly. I just love I love a truffle. All right, I skipped mine that was actually mine, But next would be I'm back on track. Give your time. And so this is kind of in line when I was saying, instead of giving a gift card to Chipotle, like give a lunch date with yourself at Chipotle. The date they didn't ask for having your time is so much better and more valuable
than anything else you could give. It's the gift you give somebody that has everything they can never have enough time with you, the gift they didn't ask for.
Me because I love their Examples, like babysit for someone so they can go on a date night, wash someone's car, help them on their paint project come springtime. There's always opportunities to give of your time and help someone else with whatever project or need that they may have.
I feel like if gift giving is your biggest desire and your biggest joy around the holidays, if you can keep it in alignment with your highest values and realize that the people you're giving to also have similar highest values, and if you can connect those things, you're both going to be getting more of what you want. Because there is a deeper reason to why you like giving gifts.
Pinpoint that reason and look for that. Not the perfect gift or not just a general gift, pinpoint the deeper reason, and you will enjoy You will enjoy the gift giving so much more, even if it's not a traditionally wrapped or bagged box.
Number ten on here is buy local and handmade. I can't emphasize this enough. If you are going to buy and you've got people that you have to give tangible gifts to, this is another place to begin beyond. I mean, in addition to second hand stores and previously owned items, this is the next best option of local and handmade to support the small businesses in your community, your actual neighbors.
This is so helpful to the people around you. So whether it's gifts or decorations, going to your local farmers' markets, craft shows, your local artisans, small merchants. I know I see every year on social media where these pop up shows are happening and lists of here's the local people in your community that you can be buying from, and usually it's a wide variety of stuff, really unique stuff, sparks ideas for things that I wouldn't even have thought
about as what could be good gifts. This could include consumables, buying local and handmade consumables. I love this idea, especially when looking for a thoughtful gift for that person who has everything. What do I give for them? I do have to give them something. This is where you can find your unique things and kind of tick off a lot of boxes in helping more than just the person that you're giving a gift to.
Yeah, something that I was thinking about that would be a really cool gift is if you know this person's size, maybe they love a certain brand that's a little higher end. Is if you can find that in a consignment resale thrift store, even if it's not their size, like giving it to them with a card for your favorite tailor
or alterations person. Because local isn't just products. It's not just candles and lotions at the winter holiday market, right, it's our local service providers too, you know, like Alterations, and so being able to support them and also giving a gift to somebody you know they like the brand and being like, hey, I know you like this if it's maybe a little big or a little awkward, here's
my favorite tailor. And then it cost them what twenty five bucks to get it tailored, whereas they would have maybe spent fifty dollars on it if they were going to buy it, you know themselves, And then still they probably it probably wouldn't have fit perfectly anyway at fifty bucks.
You know that's cool? Okay. The last and final one on here, number eleven ban waste commercial wrapping paper is non recyclable, burning it amidst toxins into the environment. So to save our landfills using natural or recyclable wrapping options, whether that's recycled paper bags, craft paper, scraps of fabric, newsprint,
old maps, even a tea towel. You can forget the tape and plastic bows, tie it up with a pretty knot, or just rope or twine or string or that ribbon I talked about from the thrift store that can have multiple uses. There's so many ways that we can wrap without buying brand new rolls of commercial wrapping paper. I can't tell you the last time that I bought brand new wrapping paper like this has been a thing that I've done for years. I Mean, you all know us,
we are the frugal friends. But around this time of year, if I do even get any shipments of things, you know it's always coming with brown paper inside. I'll wrap it up with that stuff. I'll use old boxes. I will throughout the year get wrapping paper at yard sales and that kind of a thing. But also wrapping with tea towels is so sweet and so cute, and it's an additional gift that that you're giving the tea towel
in addition to whatever it is that you're giving. So chances are you already have things you can be wrapping with. And I said, go for it.
I started last year. I went to the fabric store like two days before Christmas, so all the Christmas fabric was seventy five percent off.
Yeah, and I got.
I let Kai pick out his fabric and pick out some for the baby, and I wrapped several gifts in fabric. And I say, you've kept that, b and I will use it again this year.
Heck, yeah, Jen, Yeah, we're so different but yet so similar.
But yeah, I will buy one roll of wrapping paper every year, maybe every other year, but I make sure that it can be used for birthdays, baby showers, Christmas, everything, like it is one wrapping paper for all.
Yes, agreed, one color, that's all you're getting. Yeah.
So, and I only do the fabric for my kids because I know it's coming back. Like I'm not giving the fabric wrapped gift to somebody who's going to take the fabric away from me.
Oh I love that idea, you know what. I also love and fits for every season, every day every episode.
Absolutely the bill.
Of the week.
That's right, it's time for the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name is Williams. Maybe you've paid off your mortgage, maybe your car died, and you're happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. Duff Bills, Buffalo Bills, Bill Claion, this is the bill of the week.
Hi, I'm Kavin, and my bill of the week is the cancer bill near the Buffalo Bill Stadium. I wasn't sure how much it was gonna cost for chemo every two weeks, but turns out, because of the joys of health Stare insurance, it is only ten thousand dollars. I looked at the actual price and it is thirty eight thousand dollars for the chemotherapy and the immunotherapy that goes along with it. But I only have to pay ten dollars. So make sure you have good a health insurance because it is worth it.
Oh my gosh, Catherine, there's a lot in that bill. There's chemo and a bill of Savings and the Buffalo Bills. And I first want to start with Buffalo Bills, Go bills, and I then want to follow up with congratulations, Catherine. I hope that you have completed chemo. If you haven't, I hope that you sound you are strong and feeling good.
Yeah, I'm so sorry that you have to go through that. I am glad that you're feeling good about the amount of money that it's costing, recognizing that the insurance that you have or the sharing plan that you have is helping to cover so much. But I'm still so sad that that's where ten thousand of your dollars has to go. I agree with Jen, I hope that your treatment is going well, that it is causing the healing that your
body needs, that you're getting what you need. And thank you so much for thinking of us and sharing your bill. We feel so honored that through this time of your life, you are sharing these things with us. We appreciate it. If you all listening have a bill that you want to some if it's sentimental or celebratory, or it's just an update on how life is going for you, or if it's about being able to save money.
Or you're a player on the Buffalo bills, we'd love to hear it. Around the Bills.
Frugal Friends podcast dot com, slash bill, leave us a bill. We're ready for it, and now it's time for piding around.
Shoooo all right, what is something you're doing differently this year for the holidays from previous years. I am so thankful that our renovation is virtually done for this holiday season.
I think I'm gonna.
Have some people over.
Maybe I'll put out a puzzle.
I can't have puzzles. I have an eighteen month old. He'll eat it that. He will eat them.
He'll stomp on it first, he'll climb up onto whatever, yeah place you have it on. He'll stomp around on it, he'll sit down on it, he'll mess it up, he'll throw pieces, and then he'll start to eat them after every part of his body and bumb has touched the puzzle. That's it.
That's exactly play by play of what would happen.
And he would do it all in ten seconds while you've looked away for just a short period of time.
Yeah, you can't, like change his diaper and throw the diaperway or go to the bathroom yourself, because if you do and you're not watching him, he will run out the front door. I mean we lock the front door, but the one every time if the one time I don't he's out there.
I want to get out. I want to be frond side.
Outside, is all he says. But yeah, so I'm gonna host something not intense. I already had my one intense rager for the year. That was the Olympics party. Yeah, opening ceremonies. Yeah, but I want to do a little something.
How what do you think you would prioritize in hosting a holiday party? What would be kind of the main thing you would do for it?
Food. I don't decorate greatly. I will have the tree, obviously, So I splurged a little bit after our tree last year was definitely I mean it's always been a little cock eyed, but this past year it was sad, so sad, like oh so bento, like a nightmare before Christmas tree.
Uh huh.
So that tree has retired after six glorious Christmas is and we got a big tree artificial and it was I got it in the week after Christmas.
It was half off.
It is not pre lit, because I'm just paranoid that pre lit trees. Once the lights go out, you know, the tree's done. So so I'm just paranoid about that. So I got also new Christmas lights that were half off because I wouldn't have enough because it's a bigger tree. So I'm gonna that's gonna be my decoration. Yeah, and KAI want some outdoor decorations.
I couldn't.
They were all gone by the time the sales rolled around, So I don't know. We'll see what Black Friday holds for that, but that would be a maybe a splurge just because.
I mean check Facebook marketplace. Oh that is true.
Yes, yeah, so food is where I like to splurge.
Yeah, not splurge invest Yeah, where as your spending.
I will put on Christmas music, I'll put on the Yule log and I'll wear a red shirt and that's it.
Yeah. Wow, good, I'm excited to come to that party. Yes, for myself, I think something different from years prior. So you all heard me. Last year, I did no gifts except for Eric and I. We did exchange. However, both of us literally returned everything each other got for each other, like I thought that we would want to remember that.
Those were thoughtful gifts. Though it's just the gifts.
Weren't or Yeah, it was things Eric had said he wanted, like a foot massage and a thing that goes around your phone, almost like a Nintendo switch looking thing. I don't even know what I'm saying. I don't know fully what a Nintendo switch looks like. But it's like a remote control that wraps around your phone and can kind of like turn it into a video game thing. He hardly plays video games. He just was like, I want to play this like dirt bike game and that'd be
kind of fun. So I got it all off a Facebook marketplace because I'm like, I'm not gonna spend a ton of money on this because I know what. I know. He's not gonna end up. He's going to find something that he's going to want to refine and want a different version of it. Yeah, sure enough, very true. He found that. Yes, he indeed does not play video games. He used the thing once on Christmas Day and the
foot massage er. He wants something slightly different. But yeah, I'd rather spend thirty bucks on Facebook marketplace to test something out, to refine it so you can feel really positive about your next decision.
And turn around to just sell it for the same price.
She got it. It'sly my girl. Yes we did. We just resold it or other things we returned. But this year, I think we're learning better. I think we're just gonna not do gifts across the board.
Wow.
As fun as it is to kind of open something, what we really enjoyed were the days out being able to go do something fun together. We checked out a New State park last year in between Christmas and New Year and just had a blast. And we're like, we'd rather have money to do these things and maybe go out to lunch. So I did put money aside for Christmas, and I think I'm just going to use it on experiences and food. I think I'm gonna do away with tangibles.
Yeah, that's funny because Travis and I don't exchange tangible gifts. We haven't for years. We'll do them for the kids because yeah, we just like we like buying ourselves stuff that we really want, yeah, and also just spending time. Yeah, so we'll get gifts for other people. But we're also not big gift givers, so we don't get I mean, that's definitely not our gifts are not our love language either of us, so there's no like bitterness there. We just don't do physical gifts.
You know. Last year it really did bring so much more peace and calm to the season, even beginning back in October and November. To know I don't have to stress. I already and I did. I communicated it ahead of time. I told my sister and the kids and family and friends like, I'm not doing gifts this year, but I'm going to host a party and I still like, I want to see you. Let's plan to do fun things together. And it made the entire time so much more enjoyable.
I was actually able to engage in the activities and do the fun things and hang out with the people without the thing in the back of my mind like what am I going to get? How much more time do I have? What am I going to get to the store? I don't even know what to buy them? Everyone new, Yes.
Yeah, take away all that stress. Yes, there's your permission. Yes, thank you so much for listening. We hope that this has inspired you to get creative with how you meet your highest values around the holidays so that you can have a joy filled holiday without the obligation to spend way more than you want or need to. And if it has, we would love if you would leave a review,
a rating and review on Apple and Spotify. We especially we love reading them, especially ones like this from Debravaza ninety happens to be five Stars says besties for the rest ees, I love listening to Jen and Jill. Been listening to them. I did that because there was a comma after Jen, like they were just going to say I love listening to Gen and then added Jill. Anyways, back to it. Been listening to them since twenty eighteen ish time frame when I was going through financial shifts
in my life with family. Jen and Jill have really helped in giving me ideas that I can change and improve on with my financial life, goals that are now lifelong habits.
Thank you, ladies. Brothers A ninety you've been with us since the beginning.
All right, you couldn't bet us the.
Eighteen Yes, that's when we began and we were besties and we're still besties. I can't believe you're still here leaving us reviews. This is amazing.
Thank you deep having me, and thanks for not.
Just listening to Jen. Thanks for listening to me too. That's so sweet of you. And thank the rest of you for listening. If you've been with us for a long time or a short time. But you've got some good things to say, You've got some good feedback to give that'll be helpful to other listeners who might want to listen to a show. Please leave us a rating and review. It helps us phenomenally more than you can imagine. That's the free gift you can give to us this holiday.
Yeah, and if you don't have good things to say about us, leave the show. Find another personal finance podcast you love and leave them a five star.
Yeah. Yeah, there you be for everybody. I have to You don't have to stick around.
See you next time. By Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Siriani. Well, I guess unless they leave then we won't see them next time.
Right, So yes, Well they already knew that they're not still listening. They're not here.
They're not Debravas.
No, no it's not they're not the they're not the O G S.
Yeah, which is fine.
Yeah.
We we got to talk yesterday to our friend Andy over at marriage, Kids and Money, and we've been both podcasting I think since twenty eighteen. I've been doing this a long time.
Yeah. We keep saying six years, but we're encroaching seven, like we're.
Going to chang number soon yep, and UH still love it honestly. Yeah, right, like we're still doing it and we are you know, we're full time podcasters, have the same profession as Joe Rogan.
Yeah, which we are podcasters full time is like Lucy Goosey. We are.
It's I don't do anything more than I do the podcast.
Yeah, so I still maintain a few side hustles, but this is my main hustle.
Yeah. I have a side hustle of parenting, but it's not my main hustle. It's just something I do on the side, you know, when the shift arises. I do have shifts, right, I don't control my schedule on that, but they don't pay you. Nobody can have perfection right.
Exactly, So there is no such thing as nirvana.
I So we were talking with another podcaster in LA and he was saying how it is he can't relate to people that don't have that have never had a real job, because I because so many And at first that didn't click and I was like, what do you mean a real job? And because so many people over there are just podcasters, content creators in business for themselves like creatives, but have never had an hourly or salaried job.
Yeah, and it's so he was saying, like he has, and so he likes to connect with people who feel kind of grounded and down to earth, like you know what it is to actually have a a job.
And then we're like, oh, it's weird for us to for it's so weird for us to tell people where podcasters Jill won't even do it. Jill tells people she's retired. Jill won't even say honestly what she does for a living.
It's true. People don't get it. Yeah, it's easier to say I'm retired. And it's more fun actually, because.
If you don't have an hourly, your salary job, that's weird.
You know what, though no one beats an eye.
That is also I think that's d But it's also Florida and where a lot of people do retire to.
I also told people when I was in California, they didn't bat an eye. A lot of them were trust fun babies, so they're like, oh, yeah, I've just never worked.
What's that considered retired? Yeah? What a what a strange world, what a diverse world we live in