There’s no getting around it: The holidays are stressful.
Your gift list is probably long enough to make you want to spike your eggnog with a little something stronger. And there isn’t enough mistletoe in the world to kiss away the pain all that spending does to your bank account.
I have some quick tips to make holiday budgeting much easier. Also, I share how you can chill out with a free Wendy’s Frosty and why you should stop comparing your financial situation to everyone else’s.
Steal of the week
The steal: Your holiday gift list. Stretching your dollar during the season of spending is far from a walk in a winter wonderland, but it’s possible. It just takes a little research and self-control.
When is it? You might have knocked out a gift or two on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but you still have the weeks leading up to the big holidays to snag a deal. Discounts will continue to roll out during December. Amazon’s Black Friday deals are available until Dec. 22!
What else do I need to know? A TD Bank survey found that the holidays are when people spend the most on others, with people spending an average of $148 on their significant other, $244 on children and $112 on family and friends. Here’s how to make all that spending hurt your bank account a little less:
- Make a list and budget a certain amount for each person on your list. Don’t forget to factor in shipping and gift wrap.
- Create a separate bank account for your holiday budget, and don’t touch that money until you start to shop. If you’re using a credit card for your holiday shopping to rack up the rewards, pay off the card with the money in the separate bank account.
- Deals on clothing and shoes are the best after Christmas, according to DealNews, so hold off on those purchases. Instead, go for a gift card; they’re typically discounted for lower than their redeemable value leading up to the holidays.
Bottom line: A little planning can make spreading holiday cheer a lot less painful for your bank account.
Where to save this week
By cutting the cord. Finally.
AT&T’s new streaming service might be enough to persuade you to finally cut that cord.
The streaming service, DirecTV Now, launches Nov. 30 and will offer different priced plans, streaming 60 to 120-plus channels. Sure, you won’t be able to binge “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life,” but you’ll get basically everything else, including ESPN, CNN and the Disney Channel. The lowest package, which includes 60 channels, is $35 a month. The package with 120-plus channels will cost you $70 per month.
Nixing cable can save you hundreds. And with DirecTV Now, you won’t even suffer from cord-cutting FOMO. The introductory offer also includes a bunch of bonuses, like free trials, deals on packages and a free Apple TV.
While the new service has raised eyebrows and garnered criticism for pushing the boundaries of fair competition, it’s an incredibly attractive offer for consumers.
On a sweet treat
It’s freezing outside in some parts of the country (including where I’m at in New York), and you might have spotted a few flurries. But is it ever too chilly for a Frosty from Wendy’s? Even better, there’s a way you get your Frosty frugally in 2017.
A new promotion from the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is offering Frosty keychains for $2, giving you access to a free Jr. Frosty with every Wendy’s purchase in 2017. Ninety cents of every dollar benefits the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, which helps place foster children into permanent homes. Many Wendy’s locations are selling the keychains in-store, so check your nearest location.
P.S.: Last week, I filled my subscribers in on how they could visit national parks for free. Don’t miss out on exclusive savings tips! Subscribe here.
Where you won’t save this week
Nest eggs are typically financially friendly. But this egg? Not so much.
This season’s hottest toy is the Hatchimal, an interactive egg that “hatches” into a creature. The toys, which initially sold for around $50 or $60, are now hard to find. As a result, they’re fetching hundreds on sites like eBay and Facebook.
Gift scalpers are cashing in on parents desperate to deliver on promises from Santa. It’s the spirit of the season, right?
My savings story
Deep down, most of us are still trying to keep up with the Joneses. Or the Kardashians. Or our roommate. And I am no exception to this.
I find myself scratching my head at the friend who buys a round of drinks for everybody when I know she’s on an entry-level salary, and I’m puzzled by people who spend money on lavish dinners every night. I can’t help but let their spending habits make me feel self-conscious about my own.
So I did some digging, and here’s where the idea of relative income hypothesis comes in. It means the “satisfaction an individual derives from a given consumption level depends on its relative magnitude in the society rather than its absolute level.”
Um, what?
In #realtalk, it basically boils down to a simple idea: “that families look not only to the living standards of others, but also to their own past experience,” illustrated by a 2005 article in The New York Times. Even further, there’s this little thing called the Demonstration Effect, which basically states that “people expect or want to buy or have things because they see that other people are able to have them.”
Earlier this week, I read another interesting article about the relative income hypothesis in the Times, which argued it should instead be called the Relative Guess How Much I Make Hypothesis. Because you really don’t know how much someone makes or how they got that money, and you’re essentially making your own financial decisions on what could be somebody else’s fiction.
If it makes you feel better, you can tell yourself that the person on your morning commute with the Gucci shoes must be a trust-fund baby. But do you really know that? Nope. You’re not rationalizing. You’re fictionalizing. And there’s a difference.
Instead of making up stories about how people get their money and why they might choose to spend it a certain way, focus on yourself. I like to compare it to a horse running down the horse track: Put up your blinders and focus on what’s in front of you. Another horse might trip, but don’t let yourself get distracted and steer yourself off course.
It does you no good to compare yourself to others. Not only is it exhausting, it’ll eventually take a toll on your bank account.
