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It's only once a year. But here's the thing. Those only once a year expenses add up fast. When I look back at my own holiday overspending, I realize that so much of it came from guilt anxiety. That's just throwing money at our feelings. But I need you to hear this. You're not alone. Less is actually more. Let's talk about re gifting when to say no, your wallet will thank me.

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What's up, rich friends? And welcome back to another episode of Net Worth and Chill. I'm your host, Vivian Tu, AKA your rich BFF and your favorite Wall street girly. Happy holidays everybody. As we gear up for the most expensive and stressful time in the year, I'm pretty sure we're all thinking the same thing. How the heck am I going to get through this season? Between traveling to see family and gifts and parties and new outfits, it can feel like the expenses are just never ending. Plus, with the economy on shaky foot right now, people aren't feeling super confident in their finances overall either. The universe said let's take the most expensive time of the year when people are spending the most and make the economy and the job market unpredictable. Sounds like a big cosmic joke, right? To put it in perspective, Americans spend an average of over $1,000 on holiday expenses. And for many of us, it completely derails our financial goals. You feel like you have to empty out your savings to buy everyone gifts, or worse, put yourself into credit card debt to do so. Please, please don't do that. Here's what I've learned. It doesn't have to be this way. The holidays can bring both joy and financial peace, but only if we're intentional about it. So today we're gonna talk about how to save your money and your sanity during the holidays. Let's get into it. Support for the show comes from Amazon. It's December and that means no more neglecting your gift list. Find everything you need for everyone in your life on Amazon. Like a nice gaming chair for your teenager. Because if they're gonna game, they might as well in style and with good posture. Or for your mother in law who's always complaining about the cold. A heated blanket is a game changer gift that will cement you in her good graces forever. Shop Amazon for holiday deals now. So, first and foremost, let's talk about why we spend so much during the holidays in the first place. Let me ask you something. Why do the holidays consistently wreck our finances? It comes down to a few key culprits. First, there's the social pressure and obligation spending. You know what I'm talking about. Your coworker gets you a gift, so now you feel like you have to reciprocate even though you barely know their last name. Or your sister in law always goes all out and you don't want to look cheap by comparison. This pressure is real. And it's expensive. Then there's the it's only once a year mentality. We use this phrase to justify purchases we'd never make any other time. A $200 sweater? Well, it's only once a year. A $500 flight to see family for just two days. It's only once a year. But here's the thing. Those only once a year expenses add up fast. And they come with a companion we all know too well. Credit card temptation. In December, we swipe without thinking, telling ourselves we're going to deal with it in January. But January always comes. And that debt hangover is brutal. Not to mention three the insane advertising and constant sale sale sale messaging. Be prepared for advertisers to go big around the holidays. I mean, that's what they're paid to do. When you see a great ad and really think about buying that item, ask yourself why you're considering the purchase. Will this thing actually do what it promises? Or are you more so being sold the promise of who this product will help you to become? Do you actually want that new hair tool? Or do you just want it because the girl with luscious hair in the commercial has a hot boyfriend, sports car, and a perfect body? What really gets me is the difference between emotional spending, intentional giving. When I look back at my own holiday overspending, I realize that so much of it came from guilt, anxiety, or trying to prove something, not from genuine desire to bring joy to someone I love. And that's not gift giving. That's just throwing money at our feelings. And beyond the financial costs of overspending, I do have to mention something called the sanity tax. Financial stress doesn't stay contained in your bank account. It bleeds into your relationships. You snap at your partner over something small because you're secretly panicked about money. You can't enjoy the holiday party because you're calculating how much you've already spent and how that's taking you further away from your own financial goals. January hits with that debt hangover and you spend months digging yourself out. Overspending actually creates more anxiety than joy. We think being generous with money equals being loving. But when that generosity puts us in financial jeopardy, it defeats the entire purpose so now that we've covered why we are so tempted to overspend and what can happen if you're not careful, what let's move on to some ways to help spend more intentionally and spend less this holiday season. So first and foremost, let's talk about the big one. Gifts. This is where most of us blow our budgets and it's time we rethink our approach here. Instead of buying something for everyone I've ever met, I focus on fewer, more meaningful gifts. But here's where it can get uncomfortable. You might need to have some conversations about setting spending limits with family and friends. I promise you I understand this feels awkward. It's hard to say this, but being able to message family something along the lines of hey, can we talk about Christmas? I want to suggest we set a $50 limit per person this year. I'm trying to be more intentional with my spending and honestly, I'd rather we all stress less about gifts. It might make you feel uncomfortable in the moment, but you know what's more uncomfortable? Having to put gifts on a credit card and having no way to pay it back. Another overall gifting alternative is to suggest a Secret Santa or White Elephant gifting method. This is where you either have one gift per person or you are able to kind of trade gifts in a little bit of a swap. My husband's family does this. Everyone puts their name in a hat and you each get one person randomly and that's who you are responsible for buying a gift for. You can put a $75 or $100 limit on this, whatever feels comfortable for your family. This way you can focus and hone in on one person's gift to get them something really thought without having to buy gifts for 12 different people. As for how to save money when buying those gifts, I do have a few great tips up my sleeve. First and foremost, let's talk about using price tracking tools and extensions. You can utilize tools like Honey, Camel, Camel, Camel or Price Blink to help track price drops and discounts to make sure you're actually getting a good deal. While those percent off labels may make you think you're getting a bargain, you don't know what this item was priced at for the last few months. With a tool like Honey, you can add an item that you're interested in to your drop list. If they detect a price drop at that store, they'll notify you. Drop List works on select stores like Macy's, Target, and Walmart. Also, a little bit of a weird name. I said it earlier, but if you're doing your shopping on Amazon. Camel, Camel, Camel. Like the animal three times will help you track price history there. All you got to do is go to the website, search up the name of the item you want to buy, and look at the price chart so you can make sure you're getting an actual deal. Now I do want to talk a little bit also about creating a sinking fund. Now it might be a bit late for this this year, but try and create a sinking fund. This is a separate fund from your checking or your savings account where you can put a little extra cash. This way, if you know you're going to spend big on the holidays, it feels less painful than having to pull all of that money out at once. You'll be able to set aside small increments throughout the year. Additionally, I want you guys to take advantage of cash back and rewards programs. Here's how we're going to get cash back on almost everything we buy this year. Rakuten Rakuten is an affiliate network that gets paid to drive traffic to retailers to compel people to actually use their site and app so that they can get paid. They're going to kick back some of that commission to you. Rakuten is awesome because not only do you get cash back from them, you can still use whatever credit card you'd normally use. So then you can get points or cash back from your credit card company as well. And listen, if you're going to shop, you might as well get a little something back. I'm not the person to tell you don't spend anything for the holidays. That's unrealistic. Not this is more advice of like how to do it and do it smart. Ah. Another point that we want to talk about is leveraging technology, specifically AI software and reverse image searches. If you have something in particular in mind, but you don't want to sift through pages on pages on pages of search results just to find the item you're shopping for. You can actually instead work smarter and just take advantage of softwares like reverse image search. This is especially useful if you're looking for designer looks for less. All you have to do is find a photo of the item you want to purchase. Just take a screenshot and then go to Google or Amazon and click the little camera button. Then you're going to hit search your photo and then you'll select your screenshot and then you'll be shown similar items. And from there you can sort through which purchases are being offered for the deepest price cuts using reverse image search. Allows you to find items that you're looking for, but likely also find them at much lower prices. As an example, I actually did this one time for a niece who wanted a very expensive designer sweater which someone her age, she was a preteen at the time, did not need and what I ended up doing is finding it. Reverse image search and there was a very similar looking sweater at a much more reasonable price. I got it for her and she was just as happy. And last but certainly not least, let's talk about putting stuff in your cart and then leaving it There is a absolute secret tip to help you get anywhere between 10 to 25% off most of your online purchases and it's something that I discovered by accident. The big secret is just to abandon your cart. I know this sounds super counterintuitive, but if you actually go to a site and put all the items you'd like to purchase into your cart, go through half of the checkout process at least the first step where you provide your email but then leave the site. Oftentimes brands will follow up with a discount code direct to your inbox to incentivize you to come back and finish your purchase. I learned this on accident when I wanted a dress from the brand cult Gaia. But once I got to the checkout point I was like oh man, like this feather dress is so beautiful. I really want it but I can't justify the cost of it, whatever. And I close out the tab and I got an email like the next day. I basically was like hey, saw you like left this like it's there's still time to get it. How's 10% off? And I was like oh so so I can get a free discount doing this. And then I started trying it at other retailers and turns out it works at a lot of different places. So try it out, give it a go. I hope you have luck and get a little extra something off because it'll help you save on items that you truly want. The key to understand here when it comes to budgeting for the holidays is that it really is different than any other time of the year. I could tell you to look into values based spending or the 503020 budgeting method, but those are year round budgets that don't always take into account holiday spending. It's not you being unable to control your spending, it's the season. It's societal and familial pressure. I'll even tell you a quick story about myself. It was getting kind of out of control. I never ever this is so embarrassing. I never want to say I have too many friends, but I very much made too many friends at work when I was working at BuzzFeed. And it got to the point where by the end of the year, I was like, I have eight people to buy Christmas gifts for. This is crazy. And then they all wanted to do like, you know, a gift session where we would all get gifts for each other. It was like too much. And ultimately we came to the conclusion that it would be better for all of us. Instead of buying each other gifts, we would just actually make time to have like a Christmas meal together, a holiday meal together. And we would all go out. It would be like one of the weekdays right before everyone started to go home for the holidays. And it would be pretty slow at work, you know, just kind of trying to get through the day. And we would go out to lunch and celebrate Christmas or the holidays as the team. And it was so nice to be able to get a meal together. We would talk through like the funny things that happened at work, but also other things happening in our lives. And it became a memory that we really, really valued versus just giving each other gifts. So we were able to all spend less money, still spend time with each other, and now we have memories to share. So my recommendation to everybody is this. Have those uncomfortable conversations so sooner rather than later and I promise you your wallet will thank me. Now let's get into gift suggestions and examples. If I'm honest, I may be biased, but my new book, well Endowed will make the perfect gift. It covers this consumerism hamster wheel that we're talking about today. How to afford larger purchases even in this economy. Things like a home, car insurance, how to manage money with family, friends and a spouse. How to raise financially smart children, how to leave behind generational wealth for your entire family tree and social so much more. So if you are interested, go pre order it now@richbff book.com this is where you'll be able to pre order a copy. We'll also include a link in the description and I would just really appreciate it because the more preorders we get, the more independent bookstore retailers will actually stock it. So the more people who can read it and become well endowed. So please check it out. Well Endowed by Vivian Tu. You can get it at rich BFF Book. Hi friends. Quick pause in our show to take a question from my besties in phone a friend presented by Amazon where you can save on all of your last minute gifting needs. Alex asks what should I do when Someone gets me an expensive gift, but I can't reciprocate that level of money spent. Here's the deal. Different people have different financial situations, and what's expensive to you might not be expensive to them. Maybe they're further along in their career. Maybe they don't have some student loans. Maybe they just budget differently and that's okay. What you need to understand is that gifts aren't transactional. It's not tit for tat. It's not this for that. This isn't a business deal where you need to match their energy dollar for dollar. They gave you something because they care about you, they appreciate you, they really value your friendship, not because they're expecting a $200 gift back. So here's what you do. Say thank you. Genuinely appreciate the thought and gesture, not just the price tag, but don't make it weird. Don'. Oh my God, this is too much. I can't accept this. That actually makes them feel bad about being generous. And give what you can afford. If you can only spend 20 to $30 on them, make it so thoughtful. A homemade gift, something personal, a heartfelt card. That stuff matters more than just the cost. And also communicate if you need to. If this is ongoing and genuinely starting to make you feel uncomfortable, you can say something like, hey, I love exchanging gifts, but can we do a $30 limit this year? I want to keep things really chill. Remember, your worth isn't determined by how much you spend. Be open, be honest, and only spend what you can afford. Up next on my list of best gifts is experience gifts. They've become my go to and they don't have to break the bank. I've given cooking classes I found on Groupon, tickets to local theater productions, museum memberships, or even vacations if you're really in the mood to go big. That one was for my parents. Um, but these gifts create memories and don't add clutter to anybody's home. Something I've done in the past that has been a huge hit is called gifting a Perfect Night In. So what I'll do is, whether it's with Boo or with one of my girlfriends, I'll gift them a perfect night in. So we will watch some sort of movie of their choosing. I will bring over whatever is their favorite food and favorite dessert. So maybe it's we'll order from our favorite Chinese restaurant. And then I'll bring over like sweet Lauren's cookies because they're like gluten free or whatever. And we'll bake them Together or we will do. My husband loves to do like a hearty, hearty Italian meal and then for dessert we'll go and get ice cream and then we just do something nice in I am very much a homebody. This is like my perfect gift. But also I think for a lot of my friends and my husband now we're all so busy and so tired all the time. Like a perfect night in where I take care of all the logistics is such a gift for that person. And in that vein, let's also talk about creative gifting strategies. Because I think we've been conditioned to believe that meaningful gifts have to be expensive or store bought and the highest end thing. And that's just not true. Less is actually more. I've adopted what I call the one meaningful gift rule. So instead of buying like multiple tchotchke items for someone, I choose one thing I know they're truly going to love and use. It's about the thought, not about volume and not about the price tag tag. Something that is a good example of this is I don't necessarily need to buy my husband a new set of golf clubs that are super expensive. He has perfectly fine golf clubs, but he is always in need of new golf balls because you know when you're playing, sometimes you lose them, sometimes they go in the little pond, whatever. But like I just get him the type that he already uses so I know for a fact one he's going to love them, it's the type he always plays with and two, it's something that is meaningfully thoughtful because he loves to golf, but also not that expensive. And now I want to pivot a little bit and talk about a very taboo practice that I actually think should not be taboo. Let's talk about re gifting. I am giving you permission right now. Re gifting with intention is not only okay, it's actually thoughtful. If someone gave you a beautiful scarf that's just not your style but would be perfect for your friend, why let it sit in your closet and collect dust? Just be smart about it. Don't re gift within the same circle and make sure it's something the recipient will actually appreciate. I'll give you a really good example. I received an ember mug. It's one of those fancy mugs that keeps your drink warm by continuing to heat it. The problem is I like my tea and my coffee ice cold. I would never use that mug. But my husband actually had a coworker who he was planning on getting a gift for anyway who would make three to four trips a day to the office microwave to reheat his coffee. Which by the way kind of weird and disgusting because by the end, the third or fourth time, that paper cup is disintegrating. But guess who now has that ember mug and uses it every single day? That guy. I am so over buying gifts. To just buy gifts, we have to buy gifts that we know people are going to love. We don't buy gifts for us, we buy gifts for them. Support for the show comes from Amazon this holiday season. Amazon has got you covered for all of your holiday shopping needs. For your sister, whose bangs are creeping even further up her forehead because she insists on cutting them every six months, you can get an actually nice pair of salon grade shears. Say goodbye to the kitchen scissors for your partner who's been craving a new crafty hobby to keep them from picking up their phone 24 7. You can get a cross stitch kit or embroidery kit for them to try out. And you can't forget yourself. You don't need to let your limited space keep you from your home gym dreams. You can start small by gifting yourself an adjustable dumbbell set. You name it, Amazon has it. And with last minute deals you can save up to 40% on accessories, home decor, toys, and much, much more. Grab a cute hat for your sister while you're at it when she inevitably chops an inch too far and needs an emotional support beanie while her bangs grow out. Shop Amazon for holiday deals now. And for those of us listening that have kids, teaching them about thoughtful giving versus mindless consumption is one of the best gifts you can actually give them. I have friends who do the something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read rule, which is so cute by the way. With their kids, it limits the quantity of gifts while teaching them that gifts serve different purposes. They also have their kids choose one toy to donate for every new toy they receive. So it not only helps kids understand the true holiday spirit of giving not receiving, but also helps you avoid adding tons of clutter to your home. I think this is just a great way to explain the gift giving process, especially to younger children. Finally, let's talk about when to say no. I guess I could have just said no and my editor could have slowed that down. But you don't have to participate in every office gift exchange. You don't have to buy presents for your extended family members that you never see. You don't have to keep up with your neighbors who have a massive inflatable snowman on their lawn. Setting boundaries is essential for both your financial and mental health and most people will respect them a lot more than you think. Now that we know how to protect our wallets, let's take a moment to talk about protecting our San sanity. The holidays can feel super overwhelming and not just financially. You're expected to show up and show out no matter what's going on at home or going on at work. And I need you to hear this first and foremost. No is a complete sentence. You don't have to explain, justify, or apologize. Can you bring three dozen cookies to the bake sale I'm telling you about 12 hours in advance? Can you host your partner's entire extended family on little notice? Can you go in on a group gift that's more than you budgeted? No. I know this feels harsh, but enforcing boundaries is an act of self care, not selfishness. Managing family financial expectations is tough and I'm not going to pretend otherwise, but you have permission to have a smaller holiday if that's what your budget or mental health requires. Smaller doesn't mean less meaningful. It doesn't mean you're failing or being cheap or not festive enough. It means you're being intentional and protecting what matters most. That all being said, this is the season to really treat others with loving kindness. This does not mean you should use therapy speak to avoid doing anything that you don't want to do right? It's still the time to help out your neighbor. It's still the time to do something kind for your family. But don't go so far out of your way that it's actually jeopardizing your financial or mental health. But I am saying if you have time, if you have the means, this is certainly a good opportunity to volunteer a little bit extra to bring those cookies to the bake sale. If you get enough time and notice ahead of schedule, it's a good time to be doing a little extra for everybody else. But it's also a good time to make sure that you're not being taken advantage of. Speaking of being taken advantage of, I am taking advantage of my budget. So you ever spent here's the contingency plan we got to talk about if despite your best intentions, you go way over budget, you overspend. First of all, I need you not to spiral. Shame and guilt do not help you pay off debt. They just make you feel terrible and potentially spend more to feel better. So take a breath, acknowledge what happened and make a plan. If you are carrying holiday debt from last year or you're already racking it up for this year, you need to decide on a payoff strategy. The Avalanche method means paying off the highest interest rate debt first, which saves you the most money in the long run. The Snowball method means paying off the smallest balance first, which gives you psychological wins and momentum. I personally prefer Avalanche because I hate paying interest, so the less interest I can pay the better and the faster I can get my debt paid off, the better. But really, there is no such thing as a wrong choice. There is a right choice. The right choice for you. The best method is really just the one that you're going to stick with. You'll also need to really adjust your first quarter budget to recover from said holiday spending. And this might just mean eating out less or pausing some subscriptions or finding ways to bring in extra income. Just know that it's temporary and it's worth it to get back on track quickly rather than letting holiday debt linger throughout the year. And to avoid debt, let's just talk about the fact that I want you to start planning for next year right now. Seriously. As soon as you're done listening to this episode, open a holiday sinking fund for next holiday season. I know it feels so, so far away. It is. That's the point. Your holiday sinking fund can be an account at a bank that offers high yield savings accounts. It could be a separate checking account. I prefer the high yield savings account route just because then your money earns you a little bit more interest. But whatever works for you. Calculate how much you want to have saved by next holiday season. Divide by 12, which is the number of months in between, and set up automatic monthly transfers. If you need $1,500 for next year's holidays, that's $125 a month starting in January. By the time next December rolls around, you'll have a fully funded holiday budget and zero stress. Also, it's important this January. This upcoming January, take some time to review what worked and what didn't. What purchases actually brought you genuine joy, which ones felt really wasteful, what traditions did you love, and which ones just felt like an obligation. This reflection is going to help you plan better for next year. The compound effect of planning ahead is real. Each year you do this, it gets easier, less stressful, and more aligned with your values. And now, this is the part of our episode where we get to answer your questions. I asked for your questions about the holidays and holiday spending on my Instagram stories, and now I have a few of them to answer. So let's do it first Question. How do I avoid getting gifts for people I barely even see? What can I say without being super rude? Hot take, but I feel like you don't have to say anything if you barely see them. I think you don't need to get them a gift. If they get you a gift, that's their choice to get you a gift. Giving a gift does not automatically mean that they should be receiving one. And I think if you do that a year or maybe two in a row, they'll get the message. Ultimately, if these are people you're not going to see that often, what's the point of even getting them the gift, Right? Like, they're not someone you have made an effort to maintain a relationship with. They're not someone that you plan on interacting with consistently. They're clearly not someone that you're very close with. What's the point? I always say buy gifts because you want to give that gift to that person, not just because you feel like there's pressure or an obligation to do so. Next question. I would prefer financial support from my parents instead of presents. How do I bring this up? Ooh, this is kind of a toughie. And it definitely can differ across families. But I would say honesty here is the best policy ahead of the holiday season. I would sit down your parents and say, hey, you know, listen, I've been having a little bit of a hard time with xyz. Maybe it's making rent, maybe it's affording, you know, insurance premiums, whatever it is, and say, instead of a present this year, would you be open to providing, you know, a gift card, a Visa gift card, or cash or some sort of support in that way? Maybe it's you help me make half of a rent payment or something like that. But I think there's a way to approach this kindly and just say, hey, I don't need any more stuff. I really need the money to help build the life that I want. If your parents are super resistant, I hate to say this, but you can always depop your stuff later. You can sell it. You know, if it's nice stuff, you can sell it on vestiere. The real, real. If it's stuff that is just like a tchotchke, you could even sell it on ebay, but you can sell it like that is your stuff. Once it's given to you, it's yours. How do I stay budget friendly in a family that revolves around the gifts? Okay, so the two strategies that I really encourage here is one, making sure that you have a gift system in Your family that only requires you to really buy a gift for one person. So that could be the white elephant, the secret Santa. But if that's not an option, I would say really, really think about the core of each of these people. Find something that they already have that you can get them a smart gift without breaking the budget. And this usually requires you to find something in their life that is a either subscription service or something that requires a continued purchase. So for example, say there is a absolute die hard coffee lover in your family. You don't have to be the one to buy them the Nespresso, they probably already have it. But you could buy them pods or a beautiful mug that they could drink the coffee out of or the espresso out of. So I just say like the more thoughtful you can be, you don't necessarily need to break the bank. Some families are really, really big into gifts. And even if that's the case, like it depends, maybe it's your siblings have a very different financial situation than you. Perhaps talk to your parents and say, I don't really feel comfortable doing this. What do you recommend? Have a real candid conversation about that. Because once they know that the discomfort is there, I don't think they're going to want you to put yourself in a bad position just for some wrapping paper. Okay, next question. How to not gift give. Because I hate giving and receiving, but I don't want to be an a hole. I would say if you're just not really into gifts, it's not your love language. It's not like something that you want and you like hate having to get gifts. Gifts for people, because they keep giving you gifts. I would just say offer an alternative. Hey guys, instead of gifts this year, could we actually get together and have a really fun experience? Maybe we go out to dinner or we go see a movie together. We go do a spa day. Maybe we even take a pizza making class. Like turn it into something else. Because you may hate giving and receiving gifts, but you don't hate your friends, you don't hate your family, hopefully. But turn it into something else and just be like in lieu of. Because that'll make it very clear that you don't want to do gifts. What are some great gifts to give your parents and sisters when you're on a tight budget? Ooh, man, this is a toughie because I don't know your parents and sisters, but I would say the more you can buy gifts that you guys can all use together, the better. Something that my parents absolutely love was the Fact that I bought them, like, I don't even know how to explain it. You sling it over your shoulder and it like, massages, like, your shoulders. And it was something that one was a great experience for them, but also something that I got to use when I was at home at their house. And then for your sister, I would say that, like, being practical of stuff that you want and that you know, she would want. So maybe it's this beautiful jacket that also fits me. But, you know, I think it's something that when you are giving great gifts, the more thought you put into them, the better because you don't have to show up and show out. But gifts for parents and sisters are uniquely challenging because you feel like you know them so well that you've already gotten and exhausted that list. So I would just say try your best to be thoughtful. If there's any sort of new hobbies or new interests, tap into those. Last question of this session. Gift ideas for the husband that has everything. Ooh, this one's hard because my husband is also very, very hard to shop for. I would say you could either do like, this is like a very, like, no cost option is a coupon book of, like, passes. So like, my husband loves to watch Iowa State athletics and sometimes that eats up our entire weekend and then I get, like, really grumpy and mad about it. But you could even be like, hey, for four games this season, tell me what dates you want to watch and these are your coupon book of like four dates. I will go make myself scarce. I will go find something else to do that day. And that way they get to enjoy something and still know that, like, you're not mad at them. Also, I would just say look into stuff that, like, he already has but needs more of. My husband loves Bomba's socks, but he will wear these socks until, like, they look like Dobby from Harry Potter's clothing. Like, these things are more whole than they are sock. And so I already know he loves these socks. I know what size he wears in them. It's perfect. I just go online and I get him some fresh pairs and I, like, slowly start to throw away the socks that have like four holes in them. In the toe, in the heel, in the ankle. It's like, so sad. I don't know why he loves to wear these down until they are so dastardly. Because he has other socks that he just refuses to wear. So I would just say buy stuff that you already know he likes but needs more of. Alrighty. When it comes to the holidays. It can feel like our worth is tied to our finances, what expensive gifts you were able to buy, how much time you could spend away from work, etc. It can feel overwhelming to feel that judgment. But I need you to hear this. Everyone else feels the exact same way. You're not alone. So here's your call to action. I want you to do one thing right now before you even finish listening to this episode. Pick one action step from today's conversation and commit to it. Maybe it's texting your siblings about setting spending limits for the holiday budget. Maybe it's. Maybe it's opening that holiday sinking fund. Maybe it's just saying no to one obligation that's been stressing you out, that you really don't want to go to just one thing. That's all I'm asking. Just do it and then you'll get to know that you're a little bit better off than you were a few minutes ago. Love you guys, Happy holidays and I'll see you next time. Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Net Worth and Chill, part of the Vox Media Podcast network. If you liked the episode, make sure to leave a rating and review and subscribe so you never miss an episode. Got a burning financial question that you want covered in a future episode? Write to us via podcastorrichbff.com follow net worth and Chill Pod on Instagram to stay up to date on all podcast related news and you can follow me at YourRichBFF for even more financial know how. See you next week. Bye. Thanks to Amazon for their support. The holidays are right around the corner and you've barely made it through your gift list. Well, no sweat because Amazon's got you covered for your roommate who's super into tabletop roleplay games. You can get a beautiful unique dice set that'll make all their party members jealous. Or for your upstairs neighbor who has the heaviest stride. No to man, you can get a nice pair of soft house slippers to keep them cozy and quiet this season. Shop Amazon for holiday deals now.