Prioritizing saving and budgeting during the holidays is crucial for maintaining the financial habits you focus on building throughout the year. For example, having a budget in place allows for thoughtful and intentional gift-giving while keeping excessive and impulsive spending in check. When you stay on track during the holidays, it’s easier to start the new year on the right foot in terms of your financial goals. In today’s podcast episode, learn new strategies for creating and following your budget while buying meaningful gifts for your loved ones and making the most of your time with your family.
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Here’s the recap of today’s 18-minute episode:
Listen below or read the transcript that follows.
Eric Rosenberg:
Hello everyone. This is a friendly reminder that today’s episode is intended for education and entertainment purposes only, and should not be considered financial or legal advice. Thank you.
Ho, ho, ho everyone. Welcome back to the Good Cents by Payactiv Podcast. As always, I am your host, Eric Rosenberg, and I’m sure we all know what ho, ho, ho means, it means the holidays are right around the corner. With the holidays, we can look forward to a lot of fun, time with friends and family, and of course, holiday gift giving season. Holiday gifts can be really expensive and it can be a really easy way to blow through your budget and spend way more than you planned, which is why we are going to speak today with a friend about some unique budgeting tips that can help you stretch every dollar. Those range from planning ahead and saving a little bit every payday using the Payactiv app, to some creative and unique ways to buy gifts that you might not have thought of before. So let’s dive in with today’s guest.
I am so excited to be here with today’s guest, Brandon Lovingier. We connected through the FinCon world, that’s that financial blogging and media conference I go to every year, and he has a unique background connected to the military and thinking about money, and we are here to talk about how to save money during the holidays. That’s always one of those expensive times of year where it’s easy to go over your budget or blow through your money if you don’t have a budget. So what are some major tips and tricks you have that could save someone money during the holiday season?
Brandon Lovingier:
Holidays, it seems like, one, they always come sooner than you think every year, especially if you’re not already prepared and have money set aside. It can get pretty tricky pretty quick. There’s a few things that Santa likes to do around our house. One of those is actually looking for used gifts, things like that. Think about things that you would present unwrapped already. Like one year, Santa brought a kitchen, another year a bike, different things like that that have a little bit of light use on them, but are still in really great shape. So there are still some deals to be had around this time, especially because people are trying to offload stuff and maybe get some extra cash for Christmas as well.
Another thing that works for people in the military is just to keep an eye out for any kind of special programs. I know years ago, Sears used to have a program where you could submit for a free gift card. We did that one year and got one for $250.
Eric Rosenberg:
Oh, wow.
Brandon Lovingier:
So it was very significant. So that basically took care of Christmas, for the most part. So I don’t know if they still run that program or if there’s things like that. A lot of military and veterans don’t want to apply for things like that because we’re afraid that we’re going to take away from somebody else, and that can be for anybody too. So if there is a program you might qualify for, put your name in the hat. The worst case scenario is you don’t get it, but there’s nothing wrong with doing that. People want to help during this time of year, so if you don’t apply and you don’t go after those things, then you’re robbing them of the opportunity to help somebody, a good person like you. So those are two things that I think of right off the bat.
Eric Rosenberg:
Yeah, I really like the idea of going towards the used world for something, or lightly used. You don’t want to give people someone else’s old junk, but they always say one person’s trash is another person’s treasure, and it actually has me thinking, they have a lot of antique shops around here and they have some pricey things, but we also have a bunch of thrift stores, and if you have a good eye and you know what you’re looking for, you can sometimes find real treasures there at such a bargain price. We have a whole bunch of good thrift stores down the road, maybe I should go check that out and see if I could find something for my kids for this year. That could be a fun activity, a fun outing, and a way to save money on holiday gifts, without buying more new stuff at the big box stores.
Brandon Lovingier:
Thrifting is a great way to save money throughout the year, but yeah, definitely around this time. And then also too, that’s something that you can do that shows that you know the person and you care about them. So if they collect things, like coins or Pokemon cards or, I don’t know, antique tools, any kind of things like that, yeah, thrift stores, estate sales, things like that, there’s definitely a lot of places you can look for those hidden gems. That just shows that you took the time to understand something that was important to them and that you went out and found it. And so then it’s really not going to matter. Actually, it might matter a lot, if it’s the older, the better, in that instance in some ways. So yeah, there’s definitely a lot to be had there.
And then the other thing too, for us, each year, we actually track everything that we buy. This year we’re doing it in a Google Form, just to make it more automated, and then that helps us think about what we’re going to do for next year, and then also it just adds a little bit of friction there so you’re not just buying stuff that you probably don’t need. So especially with candies and things like that, it’s easy to blow the budget really quickly just by getting stuff that you’re literally just going to consume or throw away pretty quickly.
Eric Rosenberg:
Yeah. I love the idea of using Google Forms, thinking outside the box on how to track your budget and your spending. We talk a lot about budgeting on this show, we know it’s important to track where our money goes, and we’ll often look at those in a traditional spreadsheet budget. So could you share more about how you set up that Google Form, how it works? How do you use that to inform your spending habits?
Brandon Lovingier:
Yeah, we use Google Forms quite a bit, especially for one-off things. So say for instance, when we take trips or something like that, we will go through and we do a trip budget in Excel and then guess what we’re going to spend it on and all that, and then we just set aside money for that. But then the Google Form, if you’re not familiar with Google Forms, if you have a Gmail account, you look up at the icon right next to your avatar, there’s the nine little dots. Hit that and then scroll down and you’ll find Google Forms. And it’s pretty intuitive, you can just go in, make a couple questions, and then you can share it to yourself. And what we actually do is, a roundabout way for an iPhone, but we actually send it to ourselves and then open it in Safari, and then there’s an option, if you hit the more or whatever, to save it to your home screen. And so then we do that, and then we literally have, it’s like having it your own little app on your phone whenever you’re at the register or whatnot, hit it.
And then we keep it simple, so literally what it is and the price and that’s it. And then it automatically tracks it, it goes into a Google Spreadsheet, and then you can go back after the fact and go, “Okay, we spent this much money on these things.” You might be surprised. For us, trips and things like that, we assumed that food and hotels would cost a certain thing, but they ended up costing less than we thought, but then souvenirs cost more. Same with stocking stuffers and things like that. You don’t really pay attention to some of those items so it can be a great way to just build some awareness around it. And like I said, it just creates a touch of friction so you have to think about it, “Eh, I don’t want to have to look at the fact that I bought this later on.” So it’s definitely something that we’ve really liked using, it’s worked really well, it’s pretty simple, and you can share it between spouses and stuff like that so then you can both input stuff into it in real time. So that’s been something we’ve really enjoyed doing.
Eric Rosenberg:
Yeah, that’s really cool. I actually do something similar, as you were describing it, I use Airtable, which is a little bit techier than a Google Form, and if you’re comfortable with computers, Airtable is a really neat tool, and I set up a form on there that I use to track my HSA spending, that’s my health savings account. So the idea of using a form to gather data about your spending habits, you’re doing it a little differently than I’ve done it, but I like your style. I like that idea. It’s really cool. And I could see how if you’re comfortable with spreadsheets, you can really quickly get everything you need into that spreadsheet so you have it all in one place. The big trick, it sounds like, is making sure your partner, your spouse, is on board to enter all of those costs and then go back and reflect and consider how to cut spending or redefine your spending goals in the future.
Brandon Lovingier:
It is one of those that, just like with any system, it’s only as good as the information that’s put into it. So if you put in good information, you’re going to get good data back out. If you put garbage in, you’re going to get garbage data back out. Yeah, like I said, Airtable would work. Even Microsoft has their own form, I forget what it’s called, but Microsoft has their own version now. So I’m sure there’s other tools and things that you could use, but really it’s just like with anything with budgeting or anything like that, just whatever works and whatever you’ll actually use. So that’s why we try and keep it simple, because if it takes more than a couple clicks, I’m probably not going to do it. I just know myself.
Eric Rosenberg:
We gotta make it easy on ourselves. When you’re deciding what you want to budget, it sounds like you’ll look back at prior years and make adjustments up or down. Do you try to target it as a percentage of your income or do you pick a specific amount every year that you want to budget for the holidays? What’s your strategy for deciding how much can go in that spreadsheet or in that form as you go?
Brandon Lovingier:
We do, I guess you’d call it a postmortem every year, or like, all right, we got through this crazy time, what did we spend? All that. So we do what we call money day, the beginning of the year, and look at what we spent, and then we, over the course of the year, save up money toward that. And so then pretty much whatever we have in the account come October, early November, that’s pretty much what we’ve got. And sometimes, if we find a good deal on something or something like that, we’ll actually get stuff earlier in the year. So we don’t necessarily wait until the end of the year. So if there’s a good deal going on or something that we think somebody will like, then we can go ahead and get it. And we’re also pretty intentional about family stuff and try to open up those conversations sooner rather than later, especially with grandparents and siblings and things like that.
We’re pretty transparent with all of our family and, “Hey, we’re planning on doing something,” or, “No, we’re not really feeling it this year,” because we’ve had years where we just, the big move, and it’s like, “Hey, can we just do cards this year? Or maybe something a little more simple, as opposed to sending gifts or doing a big gift exchange.” And usually people are okay with that. And then that way too, if you know that grandparents are planning on doing a lot this year, then you can, I guess, cheat, but scale back-
Eric Rosenberg:
Scale it back a little?
Brandon Lovingier:
A little, if you know. Yeah. If they get too much stuff, it’s just going to sit in the corner and never get used anyway, so that doesn’t do anybody any good. So it’s definitely good to, like I said, be transparent, and have those conversations with family, especially if you’re going through a rough time or just like, “Hey, we’re just not feeling it this year.”
Eric Rosenberg:
So we actually have gifts leftover from last year that we didn’t give the kids because we got enough from the aunts and uncles and grandparents. So before we started doing any holiday shopping this year, we went back into our little treasure trove and figured out what nights we needed to get something for and were able to actually lower our purchase, the number of things we needed to get because of that. So I love that. That’s a great tip too.
I like that you save up throughout the year. We actually have a feature in the Payactiv app, if you’re a Payactiv member, it’s totally free, you can set aside a portion of your paycheck every payday, or on whatever schedule you pick. Saving up for the holidays is a perfect reason to use automated saving1 because we know those expenses are going to come. We know we’re going to want to buy gifts for ourselves or our kids or our parents or whoever we want, whether it’s physical gifts or experiences or something else. So saving a little bit every payday definitely helps, you don’t feel such a big cash crunch when it’s finally gift season and you’re out there ready to go do that shopping.
And I also like that you mentioned buying ahead of time. Actually last year, I’d had my eye on, for my sister and her husband, I found this pillow that I really love, it was all organic and super comfortable and all that good stuff, and I thought, what better gift could I give them than a really good night’s sleep? I saw it go on super sale, it was in September, so I got them the gifts and I actually had it shipped to their house because they live in a different state, and I called my sister and I said, “You’re going to have two boxes show up from me, put them in the back of the closet, and I’ll tell you when you can open them.” So she kept them in the back of her closet for two or three months until the holidays. But that saved me. It ended up being $40 or $50 compared to the regular price, which that’s a big chunk of cash. You have 40, 50 bucks, that’s like another person’s gift.
So I’d definitely consider shopping early and taking advantage of discounts and deals because every dollar counts, and then you can stretch that into next year or into something else, and you just have a lot more flexibility when you have… That is extra dollars in your bank account. Do you have any other big tips you wanted to share that you’re burning to let us know about before we say goodbye?
Brandon Lovingier:
You just mentioned, that’s something that we do as well as far as shipping. When we’re dispersed, we’re in a different state, or sometimes even in a different country from our family, we’ll say, “Hey, we’re going to have it shipped directly to you,” and maybe we’ll throw in a roll of wrapping paper or something like that so it makes it a little bit nicer for them and vice versa, so that’s another thing that you can save on. Because sometimes, if you buy it and then go to ship it, the shipping might cost as much as the gift itself. Maybe you can find a relative to help you out and do it that way as opposed to paying shipping twice, especially if you’re going to get free shipping on the buying end. I think that’s it. I think we get a lot of good things to go through there.
Eric Rosenberg:
Definitely. Yeah. Actually, when I do shipping of any kind of gift for someone, I got this trick from my mother-in-law that I’ll give them a middle name on the package, so if I’m sending something to, let’s say my sister, I’ll have first name, holiday gift, last name, so she knows there’s a holiday gift in that box and she should not open it if it shows up around Thanksgiving, she should wait until the holidays. And I know I get presents that say, Eric Birthday Boy Rosenberg, and things like that. So it’s fun to get something in the mail and, oh, this is a present that I could open later, get a little extra surprise out of it. So if you’re doing that, that’s a fun way to take advantage of that free shipping from Amazon or Walmart or Target or Costco or wherever you’re doing your shopping.
Brandon Lovingier:
Yeah, I’m definitely going to steal that. I think that’s a great idea.
Eric Rosenberg:
Yeah. Well, thank you so much, Brandon, for coming and taking the time to join us today. I really appreciate it. If everyone who’s listening loves your tips and ideas, which I’m sure they do, where should they head online to learn more?
Brandon Lovingier:
The easiest places to find me are just my website, enlistedmoney.com, or I play around on Instagram quite a bit, so it’s just at @EnlistedMoneyGuy. So that’s two main places. I’m also on LinkedIn and Twitter, but I don’t check those quite as often. So definitely the website and the Instagram.
Eric Rosenberg:
Awesome. Well, we will link to those in the show notes to make it easy for you all to find and connect with Brandon. Thank you again so much for being with us today.
Brandon Lovingier:
Yeah, thanks for having me. This was a lot of fun.
Eric Rosenberg:
Well, that was a fun conversation. I hope you had as much fun with Brandon as I did, learning some fun and unique ways to budget for the holidays. I’m definitely going to follow his advice to use a form to track my spending and my wife’s spending for the holidays, and other ideas. I liked how he used the form idea to track how his family spends on trips going beyond the holidays into other parts of his financial life. So that’s something I’m going to do and I recommend you give it a try too because every dollar counts, as we all know, especially this time of year when it’s easy to see our budget spiral a little out of control.
So thank you everyone so much for sticking with us until the end. If you’re not already, make sure to check out the Payactiv app, you can find it on the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store, and get started on your phone. If you don’t already have it at work, tell your employer you want Payactiv as a benefit, it’s a free way for many users to get early access to their paychecks and a whole heap of additional financial wellness tools. So thank you everyone so much for joining us today, and we’ll talk to you next time. Now, get back out there and live the life you’ve earned. Thank you. Bye-bye.
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