The Smart Person's Guide to Black Friday Deals (SB1765)

Summary

The Stacking Benjamins Show

Episode: The Smart Person's Guide to Black Friday Deals (SB1765)

Release Date: November 24, 2025
Hosts: Joe Saul-Sehy, Doug ("Joe's Mom's Neighbor"), with special guest co-host Josh Liston
Featured Guest: Regina Conway (SlickDeals.com)

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Episode Overview

This lively, joke-filled episode of The Stacking Benjamins Show takes a deep dive into how to maximize your Black Friday savings in 2025. Hosting from "Joe's mom's basement," Joe and crew bring on Regina Conway from SlickDeals.com for a comprehensive rundown of the very best holiday savings opportunities—clothing, gadgets, subscriptions, gift cards, groceries, toys, and more. They also tackle new twists on "buy now, pay later," why AI isn’t your best deal-hunting buddy, and share strategies for keeping your budget intact through the holidays.

True to the show’s nature, the episode blends practical financial advice with quirky banter, expert interviews, and memorable comedy from Australian podcaster/comedian Josh Liston.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Black Friday Changes: From Single Day to Shopping Season

[19:09]

• Shift to "Black November": The urgency of Black Friday’s single day has diminished. Deals now extend from late October through November, morphing the event into an “expanded shopping season.”
  • "There is a lot more opportunity to save. But it also is... less of an event day of only and really more of an expanded shopping season." — Regina Conway [19:30]
• Early Shopping & Deals: No need to camp outside stores; many top deals are now online early.

2. Economic Trends and Consumer Sentiment

[21:43]

• Modest Spending Growth: While overall holiday spending is projected to top $1 trillion, the rate of growth is more modest than in past years, reflecting heightened consumer caution.
  • "Many people are watching their budgets much more closely." — Regina [21:43]

3. Community-Powered Deal Hunting vs. AI

[23:29]

• SlickDeals Approach: Deals are surfaced and vetted by millions of passionate shoppers—not simply curated or sponsored by brands.
• AI & Deals: While some use AI for deal-hunting, both Joe and Regina warn it’s unreliable for “hot deals,” since AI surfaces generic, not up-to-the-minute, offers.
  • "Once you know how large language models work, it isn’t made to give you the hot deal." — Joe [24:30]

4. Stacking Deals: Combining Discounts, Codes, and Rewards

[23:29, 31:23]

• “Deal Gymnastics”: Savvy shoppers combine coupons, card offers, and site promotions to maximize savings. SlickDeals users share up-to-date stacking tips.

5. "Buy Now, Pay Later" Cautions

[25:08]

• Layaway with a Twist: Apps like Klarna and Affirm let you buy now, take home immediately, and pay over time—often interest-free initially.
• Warning: It’s easy to get caught in a debt trap if you don’t pay on time; missed payments can lead to sky-high interest.
  • "It seems like it’s a great offer... and then you can’t pay it off in time, and all of a sudden you’re paying exorbitant interest rates." — Regina [25:53]
  • “Sticking to the plan means that you actually do have to have a budget that you make out.” — Regina [26:49]
• Financial Edge: Buy now, pay now is the safer route.

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Regina's 2025 Black Friday Best-Of List

Clothing & Accessories

[28:31]

• Men’s 32 Degrees Heavy Puffer Jacket: MSRP $125, now $25 —80% off
• Amazon Hanes Fleece Pullovers (2-pack): $12 (was $31)
• Crocs: 2 pairs for $50 (various styles)
• Running Shoes: Major brand discounts—check for your preferred style.
• Luggage: Walmart 7-piece hardside spinner set + accessories for under $100.

Memberships & Subscriptions

[32:01]

• Audible (New/Returning Members): 3 months Premium Plus + $20 credit (≈$35 value)
• Spotify Premium: 4 months free trial (new users)
• Verizon Customers: Deep discounts across Disney+/Hulu/ESPN+, YouTube Premium, cloud storage, hotspots

Savings Tip: Use calendar alerts to avoid getting charged full price after free/discount periods end.

Gift Cards

[36:29]

• Best Buy: $100 DoorDash card for $85; plus Domino’s, Fandango deals
• Apple Gift Cards:
  • $100 card + $10 Best Buy bonus OR $15 Amazon credit OR $10 Target bonus, depending on where purchased
• Target Gift Cards: 10% off up to $500 (deal predicted to return, details TBA)
• Stack discounted gift cards with store offers for maximum savings (check for exclusions).

Groceries

[42:44]

• Amazon: Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup 8-pack for $8.15 (~52% off)
• Amazon: Organic EVOO, 32 oz, $7
• Walmart: Pete’s Major Dickason’s Blend Coffee, 10.5 oz bag, $3.55 (70% off)

Suggestion: Use deals for donating to food banks and local community drives.

Home & Kitchen

[45:44]

• Small Appliances:
  • Vitamix Blender: $300 (was $500, 40% off) at Walmart
  • Gourmia Air Fryer: $39.85 (Walmart)
  • Gourmia Pizza Oven/Air Fryer Combo: $120 (was $170, Target)

Toys & Games

[48:08]

• Target: Board games and puzzles 50% off — e.g., Operation $6.24, Game of Life $7.24
• Amazon: Lego Star Wars: Mandalorian set, 1048 pieces—$50 (was $100)
• Walmart (Black Friday launches):
  • Labubu $34.99 (was $44)
  • Pokemon Tin $17
  • 20” Kids Bike $60 (was $98)
  • X-Shot Insanity Dart Blaster $24 ($18 after stacking Target Circle bonus)

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Regina's General Savings Strategies

• Start at SlickDeals: Look for threads on specific items; check for codes and stacking opportunities.
• Set Deal Alerts: Enter brands/products on SlickDeals and get notified when new deals appear.
• Check Return Policies: If you buy early and see a better deal, return the first purchase if possible.
• Gift Cards for Everyday Shopping: Buy discounted gift cards to stack with future promotions.
• Watch out for "too good to be true" AI-curated coupons: Verify deals from community-vetted sources.

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Notable Banter, Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Editing podcasts for a living is just injecting tragedy into your week... the best comedy comes from tragedy.” — Josh Liston on combining podcast production with comedy [07:23]
• “It’s the beginning of Black Friday week and that means... we gotta do the very American thing, which is introduce an Australian comedian to the show.” — Joe [01:21]
• “Here’s to you. Thank you for protecting us this weekend and always. Let’s go stack some Benjamins together now, shall we?” — Joe’s holiday toast [03:28]
• “You invite your family over for Thanksgiving, get ready for battle—get your emotional weapons ready for argument... it’s the most joyous day of the year.” — Doug (on Thanksgiving) [08:39]
• [On “Buy Now, Pay Later” apps:] "It’s just the same as people who also tap into their credit cards. Like, it seems like it’s a great offer... and then you can’t pay it off in time." — Regina [25:53]
• “Financial edging is what we’re talking about... started here first, folks!” — Doug, coining a new tongue-in-cheek term for the perils of delaying payment [69:00]
• "Just eat bread for a while. Go with bread versus toast, and I think you'll be better off." — Joe, advising against buy now pay later [70:21]
• “If you stick to only buying what’s in budget, there are some huge deals this year… your holiday season might end with your wallet thanking you.” — Doug’s wrap-up advice [78:15]

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Segment Timestamps

| Segment / Topic | Timestamp | |-----------------------------------------|-------------| | Intro & Australian Banter | 01:21–12:26 | | The Voices for Good/Charity Challenge | 12:26–15:15 | | Guest Introduction: Regina Conway | 19:02 | | Black Friday Landscape & Trends | 19:02–21:43 | | Community Deals vs. AI | 23:29–25:08 | | ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ Warning | 25:08–28:31 | | Clothing/Apparel Best Deals | 28:31–32:01 | | Memberships & Subscriptions | 32:01–36:29 | | Gift Cards | 36:29–42:44 | | Grocery | 42:44–45:44 | | Home & Kitchen | 45:44–48:08 | | Toys & Games | 48:08–52:30 | | How SlickDeals Works & Setting Alerts | 52:50–54:53 | | Headlines: Buy Now, Pay Later Apps | 61:33–70:21 | | TikTok Minute (HR Joke) | 70:21–72:22 | | Outro & Charity Reminder | 72:47–77:18 | | After Show (Comedic Banter) | 80:32–end |

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Flow & Tone

The episode maintains The Stacking Benjamins Show’s signature blend of playful, self-deprecating humor and practical financial guidance. The hosts’ jokes, frequent tangents, and friendly teasing keep things light even as they deliver up-to-the-minute Black Friday tips. The show stands out for encouraging listeners to be intentional—budgeting, stacking deals, using community-sourced resources, and resisting the traps of easy “buy now, pay later” offers.

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Closing Advice

• Budget before shopping and stick to your list.
• Leverage community-driven sites like SlickDeals for the timeliest, verified offers.
• Check for return policies when buying early, and watch for stacking opportunities.
• Be wary of overusing “buy now, pay later” and avoid unnecessary debt.
• Use reminders/alerts for all free trials and discounted subscriptions.
• Participate in seasonal giving—donate groceries, support charity drives, and make your dollars go further.

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Links & Resources Mentioned

• SlickDeals.com — Free community-driven deals and alerts
• Stacking Benjamins Voices for Good Campaign
• Invest529.com — Gifting for education
• Stacking Benjamins Podcast: All platforms, including Spotify (for interactive Q&A)

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“It’s the thrill of winning—finding a great product at a great value and sharing that knowledge with others.” — Regina Conway [52:50]

Transcript

[Kevin Harlan]

This is Kevin Harlan. Black Friday game days coming to prime and it's gonna be huge. Black Friday football is back with Bears Eagles at 3pm Eastern, followed by an Emirates NBA cup doubleheader. Bucks, Knicks at 7pm and then Mavs Lakers at 10pm and the whole day starts with a Capital One skins game as four elite PGA golfers hit the links. With $4 million on the line. Don't miss a moment of Black Friday game day. The Capital One skins game at 9am Bears Eagles at 3, Bucks, Knicks at 7, Mavs Lakers at 10. And it's all only on prime.

[Progressive Insurance Sponsor]

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. You chose to hit play on this podcast today. Smart Choice. Progressive loves to help people make smart choices. That's why they offer a tool called Auto Quote Explorer that allows you to compare your progressive car insurance quote with rates from other companies so you save time on the research and can enjoy savings when you choose the best rate for you. Give it a try after this [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates not available in all states or situations. Prices vary based on how you buy.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

It's beginning of Black Friday week and that means we, we gotta do the very American thing, which is introduce an Australian comedian to the show. Josh Liston joins us.

[Josh Liston]

I'm here all the way from down under. How are you guys?

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

I'm very good, Doug.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

I'm passable this morning. I mean, it's a bit early for me. You know me in the mornings. We have a no talk zone, so you might not hear from me much.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

We're. We're in the no talk zone. Josh. You're in the. Watch out now. Josh, by the way, comes to us on dad shortwave radio. You are currently in. I've never been to Australia, so I'm just going to throw out some cities. Melbourne. Are you in Melbourne?

[Josh Liston]

Closest to Melbourne, Yes. Out of all of the capitals. About three hours north of there.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Just explain to me, Josh. So you just proved a point for me. You guys pronounce it Melbourne. So you just let that R just disappear, but then you add an R to the word? No. No, we don't. What the hell.

[Josh Liston]

There's a very special type of Australian person that goes nay. I am not one of those. I can assure you of that. It's actually divided our country, believe it or not.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Associates with those people?

[Josh Liston]

Yeah, pretty much. Yeah. So about 300km north of Melbourne, same highway that you would get to Sydney, which is probably the other city that people would be familiar with. They're Our two biggest cities. And I live basically a third of the way to Sydney or Perth.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

I mean, don't forget Perth.

[Josh Liston]

Remember that conversation we just had about the Nah. People there in Perth?

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

No.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Well, the people that we associate with and that we think are badasses here in the U.S. josh, are our troops who kept us safe all weekend while we were playing, dreaming about being in Australia or wherever. So at this point in the show, we always raise our mugs. And I'm not just talking about our faces, but we raise our mugs and on behalf of the men and women making podcasts in men's base. Men's basement.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

What?

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Some basement. Mom's basement. And those. Those podcasters down under and the men and women at Navy Federal Credit Union who serve our veterans and our active duty troops. Here's to you. Thank you so much for protecting us this weekend and always. Let's go stack some Benjamins together now, shall we?

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Thanks, everybody.

[Regina Conway]

Dear Santa Claus, how have you been?

[Josh Liston]

Did you have a nice summer?

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Live from Joe's mom's basement, it's the Stacking Benjamin Show. I'm Joe's mom's neighbor, Doug. And are you ready to save some money on this year's doorbuster Black Friday deals? So am I. So today we welcome the woman who every year helps us shine a light on the best of the best from slick deals, it's Regina Conway. But that's not all. In our headline segment, buy now, pay later, apps are all the rage. An industry leader Affirm has a new way to separate you from your money.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

What is it?

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

We'll share all that and a TikTok minute and some of my incredible trivia. It must be another Monday down here in the men's basement. I mean, mom's basement. And now two guys who everyone thinks of as just a couple of Texarkana locals. It's Joe and special guest co host Josh Liston.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Hey there, stackers. Happy Monday to you. Welcome back to another episode of the Stacking Benjamin Show. I am Joe Salsihai, and when I first moved here, people wondered, hey, so where are you from?

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

You're not from around Talk funny.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

You're not from around here, are you? Like, what gave it away? But a guy who might not be from Texarkana. Also, comedian and podcast producer Josh Liston joins us. How are you, man? Good to see you again.

[Josh Liston]

Well, I'm going great. Thank you so much for having me. It's a little bit of pressure, though, to talk about the word funny and then put comedian in the Next sentence. Because I feel like now I'm. I'm really under pressure here to perform.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Yeah, you got no choice.

[Josh Liston]

Expecting to have to do that at 20 past 12 in the morning.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Is there a pill you can take for that, Josh, that just makes the performance happen? You can relax a little, enjoy it.

[Josh Liston]

There probably is. And when the word Texarkana came up, I just assumed that would come directly from there. So I'm assuming you're gonna help me with that.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Texarkana.

[Josh Liston]

Could I ask, where is Texicata? It's fascinated me as a fan of the show. Where is it?

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

It's right next to Punta Cana.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

What are you talking.

[Josh Liston]

That sounds better than the pill.

[Regina Conway]

We.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

We are on the Texas, Arkansas border. You have to act like a local, Josh. We presented. Doug presented you as a local. When we introduced you to mom upstairs, we were talking about. You're just a local friend of ours. So, yeah, that we're talking to on the shortwave radio. It is after midnight there in the middle of a continent where everything's trying to kill you. Right.

[Josh Liston]

There is a lot of things that are trying to take us out, thankfully. Just like, I guess, you know, the gremlins thing.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Yeah.

[Josh Liston]

Midnight. Don't get them wet. It's fine. They pack up shock at about 10 to 12.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

It's all good then.

[Josh Liston]

Yeah, all good.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Now you are both a podcaster, a podcast producer, and a comedian. It seems unlikely that you would be both a podcast producer, Josh, and a comedian, because Steve Stewart produces our show and he says he cries all the time, so I don't know how you can laugh and produce podcast. Apparently, according to Steve, it's not possible.

[Josh Liston]

I think that they say that the best comedy comes from tragedy, and editing podcasts for a living is just injecting tragedy into your wake. So they go hand in hand. I figure shout out to Steve is one of the best, but, yeah, definitely hand in hand.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

We have a tragic character, Doug, on.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Our show so that everybody can identify with the tragic characters.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Parents tell their kids, Josh, they're like, this is what happens if you don't get a real job. You end up like this guy on this podcast I listened to.

[Josh Liston]

So, Josh, that's my favorite. Oh, sorry, go ahead.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

No, no, no, please keep going.

[Josh Liston]

Well, I was just going to say Doug is the tragic one, and he's my favorite. That proves my point. Comedians love tragedy.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

So Doug is your fa. No.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Nope.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

But. But sorry, you got to leave, Josh. This is the beginning, Josh, of American Thanksgiving week, which is why we wanted to have you on. Not American American. Fun American. Good week. Like having an Australian guy on. But we thought that it'd be important for us to explain to you, like, how Thanksgiving works. So, Doug, you want to take the reins here and explain to our Australian buddy how this happens?

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Sure. I mean, what. What you do, Josh, is you just invite all of your family over and you get ready for battle. You just. You get your emotional, you know, weapons ready for argument because we. What we do is we make as much food as we possibly can. We ask everybody else to bring food, and then we sit around and just air all of our anger that we have towards our family members. Usually it's political. Sometimes it's about religion. But we're. We're. It's just a night, an afternoon, and a night of arguing. And it's the most joyous day of the year. Everybody's favorite.

[Regina Conway]

It.

[Josh Liston]

It sounds joyous. What separates that from just the average family dinner?

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Good point.

[Josh Liston]

Where's the spice? What's special about it?

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Yeah, well, we import other relatives that we only see.

[Josh Liston]

Is it a different level of intensity?

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Yeah, we just. We bring in all the aunts and uncles and cousins that you don't see almost any other time of year, but you bring them in from as far away as possible. We want everybody traveling on the same two days of the year in the United States, which really amps up their anger and frustration, so that when they show up at your house, they're just so pissed off. It is. It's a cage match.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

It is everybody at the door. Josh gets their checklist. Like, bring up Donald Trump. Bring up why your cousin doesn't have a job. Bring up that relationship that you really have never liked. What are some other hot buttons, Doug, that never cause controversy?

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

The money that they haven't paid you back.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

That's another good one to bring up. Yeah.

[Josh Liston]

If it was about not paying money back, my dad wouldn't let any of my siblings in the house. So I guess that one's. I want to know that. Do you draft cousins as first round draft picks? That you know, that person you want to be on their side because they're a good arguer and you can just draft or does everyone fight? Everybody.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

I like it. Let's make Thanksgiving like fantasy football.

[Josh Liston]

That I understand. I get fantasy. That part I get.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Well, some people are wondering if it's a fantasy.

[Josh Liston]

I'm not sure it's any clearer, guys.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

But some people wondering if it's actually a fantasy, whether we'll actually talk money on this episode or not so we're gonna get started here in just a minute. We got Regina Conway joining us. Josh. Because the other thing we do after we engorge ourself with food on Thursday, we go and we buy a bunch of stuff on Friday. So Regina Conway with slick deals, a place where the people at slick deals aren't curating deals. The people that actually visit, people like you and I come up with deals and then we. We discover deals and then we go to slick Deals and we share them with our friends. So Regina has curated a bunch of their communities best like she does every year. And if you're going to spend money this Black Friday, make sure it's not on stuff that you truly, truly don't need. Is there. Josh, is there an equivalent to a Black Friday in Australia?

[Josh Liston]

So we haven't imported the Thanksgiving thing really at all, but Black Friday, huge here. I actually work in retail two days a week in an electrical retailer and I think our Black Friday sales last year went for almost three weeks. So it's massive here.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Yeah.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Like an electrical retailer. Like light switches and 14 gauge wire and like those kind of.

[Josh Liston]

I wish I was that skilled. It's. Think more toasters and air fryers that.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Sort of level like electronics.

[Josh Liston]

Yeah. I occasionally float into TVs if I'm feeling brave.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Wow. Wow. Is your Black Friday start on the same as our Black Friday?

[Josh Liston]

It's the 28th of November this year, so I think it will be.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

It is the same exact day. That's very American, Doug. Taking our capitalistic spend it all, spend all your money holiday and making it worldwide.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

We were giving in that way.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

We actually found a clip of Josh at work and we're going to play that maybe later on in today's show. Doug, we've got that. But Regina Conway coming up in a little bit. You know what we are doing too? We're doing this voices for good challenge. A show Josh Liston would never be caught dead on is how to Money. And we are in this battle with the how to Money guys. When we recorded this, we're beating them. But I don't know if that's going to continue. We've got just over a week to go. We got to make sure, Doug, that we. We bury the how to Money team.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Deeper than they're already buried.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Yeah.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

We have to re dig the hole.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

There's got to be no. No doubt that the stackers in our audience way, way more giving people.

[Kevin Harlan]

We're.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

We are giving money to gifting sense and Karen Holland. Karen and her Team for free have the dim score. Does it make sense? Which teaches people middle school age where their brains are. Right at that big dopamine hit. Right. I want, I want, I want. Which is what Black Friday is all about. That's where stores get you make sure that we're making good decisions. And what's better than helping our youth make better decisions? So in the name of financial literacy, if you can help Karen, help more people spread the message of helping our kids get better at money maybe than I was when I was a kid. I don't know. Doug, were you good with money when you were a kid?

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

I was fantastic with money when I was a kid. It was only when I became an adult that I got bad at it.

[Josh Liston]

Yeah.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Josh, how about you?

[Josh Liston]

I think we spoke about one time before that. When I look into my wallet as a child and also as an adult, there's not so many much notes there but dust. So that's about how good I was with it. I was. There was dust flying out of my wallet at all times.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Some sugar packets maybe.

[Josh Liston]

Nothing.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

That tasty number that he pulled off of a telephone pole.

[Josh Liston]

Yes. And. Sorry, that show was called how to Money. How.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

How to. Yeah. Yeah. Horrible show.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

You don't want to listen to that.

[Josh Liston]

No, I wouldn't stay up for them. I don't know them, but I wouldn't stay up for them. I just want you to know that.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

You know what's bad about them, Josh? They're too nice. You ever meet these people that are too nice and they're like too giving? Yeah, it's disgusting.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

I two words to describe those guys. Bore ring.

[Josh Liston]

I might need something to go to sleep.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

There's a reason they put those podcasts on the channels nobody listens to.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Stacking benjamin.com stacking hope to give to our giving campaign here this last week of November. Josh, one more thing before we get started. You have a fantastic podcast that our stackers can listen to when they're done with us today called Sake this, which sounds like it. It's one of two types of podcast. Maybe you should tell us which one this. This is.

[Josh Liston]

I'm happy to do that. I would actually prefer to hear what you think it is, actually. I think, mate, because. Nope, I don't know what that other one could possibly be.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

It's a trap. It's a trap. Joe, run.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Yeah, because. Because Steve probably won't let us have this. Well, my daughter spent some time in Japan. I'm hoping it's like a Japanese cultural.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Podcast, a drinking podcast.

[Josh Liston]

It's called Sake this, Sake with an E. So S A K e T H I S Sake this. It's a comedy show that I do with a friend and we track down really, I guess, strange, weird, wonderful, wacky stories from Japan that just kind of blow the mind of the average person that these things can be happening. I think we had one recently where there was a Rio Khan, which is a motel essentially. You can think about it and you can stay for $1 for the night as long as you're okay with them live streaming your stay. So they film all the public area besides the bathroom and you pay a dollar to stay. Doug's out and we play some trivia games actually inspired by you guys a little bit. In that way it's a good fun show. It's funny, apparently. It sounds good. So yeah, suck a this Sake this.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Wherever Finer podcast are found Speaking of finer, the finest deal finder in the land, Regina Conway joining us next. She's with Slick Deals and she's going to share the best of the best. But first we got a couple sponsors to make sure we can keep on keeping on. We're going to hear from them and then get out. However you take notes stackers, because we are about to help you find the best holiday deals this Black Friday Kevin Harlan here.

[Kevin Harlan]

This Black Friday, prime is taking over with an incredible day of live sports. Black Friday football is at the center of it all with the Chicago Bears taking on the Philadelphia Eagles at 3 Eastern. Immediately after that, it's an exciting Emirates NBA cup doubleheader. The Bucs will take on the Knicks at 7pm Then the Mavericks will be in LA against the Lakers at 10. It's the final night of knockout rounds as teams vie for a spot in the quarterfinals. And the whole day starts on the links with the Capital One skins game as four elite PGA golfers face off with $4 million on the line. Black Friday game day tees off with a Capital One skins game at 9am Eastern. Then it's Black Friday football with the Bears and Eagles at three. And it all culminates with the double header of NBA basketball, the Emirates cup action featuring the Bucks at nicks at 7 and the Mavs at the Lakers at 10. And it's all only on Prime.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Well, this year, Stacker, give a gift that goes far beyond the moment and invest 529 account. Whether it's a child, grandchild or someone just starting out, you're helping them save for education that could open doors for a lifetime. Invest529 is a tax advantage way to save for college, trade school, or even apprenticeship programs. It's flexible, easy to start, and you can contribute any amount, big or small. And because the money can grow tax free, it's a gift that really builds value over time. So instead of giving something that gets used up or set aside, give the gift that can change a Life. Start an Invest529 account today. Go to invest529.com to learn more and to get started. Investments involve risk, but results vary. Consult with your financial and tax professionals administered by Commonwealth Savers Plan. And you always know what week we're in when this woman comes down to Mom's Basement. Regina Conway from Slick Deals is back. How are you?

[Regina Conway]

I'm so good. It's so great to see you. This is my favorite, favorite topic of the year and favorite time to get to connect with you in the basement.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

You know what's funny, Regina, is it doesn't feel the same. It feels like, you know, you and I have talked about this last couple years in a row. It's not so much Black Friday as like Black November. Like, I don't feel the urgency this year that I used to feel around, okay, get ready to stand in line. Get ready to shop on Friday. Like a lot of those deals. I don't know, this year it doesn't feel like as big a thing I.

[Regina Conway]

Think really over the last two or three years where the retailers started rolling out those deals earlier in November. So you're kind of seeing Black Friday mess messaging from as early, even as the end of October. And it's sort of that creep of Black Friday with that messaging Now. That said, there are still special promotions that get launched on or around Black Friday, and even some of those retailers that have been discounting things will then add a little extra something around that time period. So the great part is you don't have to camp out and stand in line anymore. You do have the option to shop online. There is a lot more opportunity to save. But it also is, to your point, a little bit less of an event day of only and really more of an expanded shopping season.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

The great deal still going to go quick though.

[Regina Conway]

They will, especially for those kind of hot items. And and the thing is, some of them are limited time too. So even if you see something now, you know, you may want to think about buying it now. If it looks like it's the right offer for something that you were already looking for, just check those return policies. If it's something that can be returned and you're not planning to use it before the holidays. Then if you see a better discount on Black Friday, you can always tap into that better discount and return the item that you purchased originally.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

That's fabulous. I've been caught before by not paying attention to the return policy. And I love that right up front.

[Regina Conway]

Right. Well, I mean, it's always the shipping can kill the deal for. Especially at slick deals. A lot of people will say it's not a deal anymore the second that you add on shipping. But it's not just the shipping to get it to you. It's also about that return process. So, you know, if the item's on sale and then you have to pay $8 to ship it back, that becomes much less appealing in that case.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Now, what is incredible is, is that we try to record this stackers, right at as close to the time that you are going to hear this as possible through a series of unfortunate events.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

We are.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

We are recording this. If you're listening to it when it first comes out, 12 hours before you hear that. So these deals are current, like right. Right now? Usually, Regina, every year has right now deals, but these are right, right, right now deals. Before we get to the specific deals, though, let's talk about the mood. Because a question I asked you as we were doing our prep work, Regina, was, you see, people worried about the stock market, people worried about the economy, people worried about being laid off. What do the numbers look like for this holiday season, just in general?

[Regina Conway]

Right. Well, the National Retail Federation puts out an annual survey about expected consumer spending, and it is projected to cross $1 trillion for the first time this year. But that growth is more modest compared to what we've seen in past years. Really. I mean, it's been at a lower growth rate way back when, but really over recent years, this is much more modest. And so it's really just about signaling that consumers, while they may be interested in spending and still need to buy those holiday gifts and still plan to participate in the holiday parties and events, many people are watching their budgets much more closely.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

But it is still growing.

[Regina Conway]

It is still growing. I mean, the dollar amount is still growing. And the other piece of it, too, you know, we looked a lot at, like, what tariffs were doing with discounts over the course of the year. And you know how it was impacting retailers. And for this time period, most of the products that are being discounted were already in warehouses. So to that end, it can be confusing on any given day. No one knows necessarily exactly how it's going to ultimately impact Us, but the discounts are still there for Black Friday.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Now, slick deals, the reason why I like talking to you is because these are not deals that you curated or you and Walmart are in cahoots, or you and you and Target trying to get more people to shop there. These are user, user found deals that surface through people helping people find better deals. And sometimes people are stacking deals. I know this year when it comes to financial planning, a place where people normally they either get help from other people or they read books, listen to podcasts, more people are telling me they're turning to AI. My friend Robert Farrington was on the show this summer, talked about what a mistake that is because AI will often give you the wrong thing. Same trend when it comes to holiday shopping. People turn into AI for quote, help.

[Regina Conway]

Well, that is a trend that appears to be happening where people do say, consumers are saying that they will use AI to support their shopping. While it can be a good starting point to your point that you just made, slickdeals is a community of millions of real people who are out there finding and discovering the best deals. And it's sometimes about the kind of, we call it deal Jamaican gymnastics. So it may not just be the price of the product itself that's discounted. There could also be that coupon that you stack or maybe you use a rewards credit card that you have. And so if you can layer in all of these different pieces, it becomes even that much better of a deal than if you were just to see it at its own face value. And so really having these trusted consumers who have been on the site, you know, we've been around since 1999, so there are people who are deeply passionate about this. We do have obviously, you know, deal editors and moderators to make sure that the community isn't, isn't posting things to, to that point around, you know, we don't want somebody who's just trying to promote their product and trying to get it up and having their friends fake vote on it. This is genuinely about really finding those true deals based on what the community.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Values and also cushion our stackers. I don't want to sound like the AI Grinch because I use AI on a daily basis, but once you know how large language models work, it isn't made to give you the hot deal. Now it's going to give you the most predictive deal, which is going to be what the collective universe thinks, not the thing that's coming to light right now. So I think it's kind of dangerous to use A large language model to try to found a great deal.

[Regina Conway]

And one more thing on that too is that a lot of the things that it could find you are those coupon codes. But the coupon code may not be the only thing that actually makes it a deal. So again, not a bad place to start. But also make sure then you validate that with our community. It's like deals.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Absolutely. Yeah. And I love the idea of stacking. Speaking of great deals, I'm seeing, I was in a mall in Houston just about six weeks ago. Malls packed, of course, people spending tons of money already. And it felt like holiday shopping. That was early. Even though it was at the beginning of October, it really felt that way. But I'm seeing these ads for Klarna all over the place. Right. Klarna seems to be a bigger deal than ever before. And what this is, Stackers. If you're not familiar with Klarna, it's this buy now, pay later. It's like layaway, but you get to take it home today. You don't have to wait. And as long as you make your payments on time, you don't pay any interest. It feels to me, Regina, this could be a trap.

[Regina Conway]

It could be. It's just, it's the same as, you know, people who also tap into their credit cards. Like, it seems like it's a great offer, 0% APR and then you can't pay it off in time. And all of a sudden you're paying exorbitant interest rates, which then absolutely don't make the purchase worthwhile in the first place because you may as well have paid full price and then some on top of it. This is where you really need to make that list ahead of time and know when and what that expectation is if you're actually going to be able to pay it off. Now, if it works and it's something that you already have the cash for and you just want to, I don't know, stretch it out for some reason or just want to make sure you hold on to your cash a little bit more and invest in something else, great, do that. But just be cautious with all of these different options that are being promoted in front of you because it can get you into that trap of falling into debt.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

How do you stick to that plan though? You know, I mean, you see this great thing that wasn't on your list. How do you stick to the plan?

[Regina Conway]

Well, it depends who you subscribe to. I mean, Dave Ramsey would say that you absolutely don't use any of this ever. And you just avoid it at all costs because you should be paying cash for everything. So sticking to the plan means that you actually do have to have a budget that you make out. And if you are not, you know, if that's not something that's adopted in your household and you're not working in that way, then it's probably best to just make sure that you have your holiday cash and stick to that, giving.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Yourself some mad money. Two stackers. I like. You know, just saying, you know what, I'm going to look for deals, but the maximum deal I'll take is X amount of money.

[Regina Conway]

Right. Know that. Yes, it looks incredibly enticing because it's 60% off, but if it's going to cost you more because you are then going to just have it forever in your credit cycle, that is not a deal.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

My favorite 60% off offer came from the game of Payday when I was a kid. Do you remember the kids game Payday?

[Regina Conway]

I remember the name of the game, but I don't know that I don't remember how to play.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

So what was fun when I was like nine, Regina, was that you would go get the mail, which when you're nine years old, even when you get bills, it seemed fun. Now, as an adult, anybody, you can have my bills if you want.

[Regina Conway]

Right.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Not quite so fun. But there were also advertisements and there was this advertisement from Mr. McGregor's fence company. They said, I'm sorry to inform you, your request for your money back is denied. Because when we said the fence was 60% off, we were referring to the height, not the price.

[Regina Conway]

Oh.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Which when I was nine, I didn't really get it. And now as an adult, man, I think that's pretty hilarious. Anyway, all right, let's, let's get moving. Everybody's like, please, God, Joe stopped. Where do you want to start this year, Regina?

[Regina Conway]

Let's start with clothing and accessories because it's one of the top kind of categories for Black Friday every year. You know, people get excited about shopping for this one. So cool.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Let's go.

[Regina Conway]

All right. Similarly, as with a lot of items, seasonal trends, so things that are like winter coats, jackets and boots, you will see the deeper, deeper discounts at the start of January, but that doesn't give you a lot of time to enjoy them. And Black Friday does have these really good discounts across the board. So some of the top deals that we're seeing, I mean, in fact, I just said the winter coats, but there's a men's heavy puffer jacket from 32 Degrees. That would normally be $125. It's on sale for 25, which is 80 cow. Yeah, run if you have the cash for it and you have the mad money to go shop for this also, you know, just great deals that we've been seeing on kind of those basic essentials. Amazon has been promoting a lot of Hanes products right now there's you can get two fleece pullover crewneck sweatshirts for $12, normally $31. So that's a 61% off savings if you are a Crocs wearer. I know my household, me excluded, has quite a few folks that do wear Crocs here. So we got excited about this one at this house. Men's and women's croc clogs in various styles, two for $50. And then you know, it's a great time for running shoes. I didn't pick a specific deal because that's so dependent on what your style is and what type of shoe you're looking for. But everything from Nike to Adidas to Hoka. So just, you know, if you're in the market for running shoes, it's a good time to look for those as well.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Wow, I need a new pair of Hokas right now. So good timing talking to you. Let's go to then. Accessories.

[Regina Conway]

One thing that I'm really loving is there's a lot of different packing and travel accessories. So that's actually the one that I picked for today. Walmart has a seven piece piece hard side spinner luggage set. All the different, various sizes from you know, check in size to you're going to Europe for a month and you need the biggest one available plus a duffel bag and packing cubes for under a hundred dollars. So a great deal there. Look around. Depending on what those retailers are, where you're shopping and what you're specifically looking for, Black Friday is a good time to tap into that. There are also a lot of site wide discounts across many different apparel retailers. So that's less of a, you know, true deal like the $25 jacket. But it is something that gives you the flexibility to shop across those retailers that you might be shopping for.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Normally these are all amazing. $12 for the pullover, obviously, $25 for the coat. 100 bucks for, for a seven piece luggage set is pretty amazing. Do these deals involve stacking? I mean do I go to slick deals first and I'm stacking deals or are you just giving us these are straight deals from the retailer. They are out there and good to go.

[Regina Conway]

It's sort of a mix of both. And so I would recommend, you know, obviously, like start at Slick Deals. You could search for the items or, you know, you could look on our Black Friday page, which does have a section on apparel as well. All of those deals will kind of be there. Then you can look and see if there's something that also, you know, above and beyond the ones that I mentioned. If there's other things that you're looking for, they could be there. I don't have the specifics on which ones of these have codes. I do remember looking through and seeing there were some that had sort of the deal price plus stack this coupon code on top of it. So just gotcha. Be sure to check out the threads on Slick Deals.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Awesome. Okay, where are we going next?

[Regina Conway]

Next is memberships and subscriptions. This is something that, you know, Black Friday really does extend beyond those physical goods. So subscriptions and memberships are often offered for short term discounts or bonus perks around this time. And you can also think about digital memberships and just being a. They remain a popular gift, especially for those kind of last minute shoppers. Although if you're looking for the deals now, you should shop now. So. But it allows consumers to try kind of some of those services for low commitment. So the one caveat, you know, I always have to warn, because you want to make sure that it's actually a deal for people. If you try some of these where it's like a, you know, certain month period that you get that deal for, just make sure you set yourself a little calendar alert to cancel that subscription or to revisit if it's something that you actually need in your home just so that you don't get caught in the Now I'm paying an annual membership for something that I wasn't expecting to buy.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Yeah, I mean those free months are free two weeks or free three months, whatever it is. The reason they do that is so you'll forget, right?

[Regina Conway]

So that you forget you give your credit card up front so they have your information. It's not, you're not going to run away from that. So just make sure to set that little calendar alert for yourself. And sometimes they turn out to be something that's really valuable or that you were planning to buy and you just get that little extra bonus. So a couple of the ones that we're seeing right now, audible membership for those who like to listen to their books instead of reading them. So they have an offer for new and select returning members. You get three months of Audible Premium plus, plus a $20 credit that gets applied to your Audible account. So you get the three months of Audible Premium plus, which already gives you sort of like an Audible credit each month. And then on top of that you get a $20 credit to apply for a book that maybe isn't part of those credits or that just is outside of the one credit that you would normally get. And it's about a $35 value. So I mean, I, we use Audible in my household. We've tapped into some of these memberships. We did not forget to turn it off because we actually really enjoy the services. But if that's something that you can tap into and utilize, it's a good time to check it out now.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Yeah, me too. I use that as well. I always have marked on my Google Calendar the day I get my new credit. So I can go redeem it like immediately.

[Regina Conway]

Right? Yeah. My husband rides his bike to work and so he likes to listen as he's riding. I don't know if it's the safest thing to do, but luckily he's on trails, not on, not on the streets.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

That is good. Which other ones?

[Regina Conway]

Oh. So Spotify members. This is for new Spotify members only. You can get a four month Spotify Premium trial membership and that's free to claim. It's a $48 value. Again, free until it's not free. So just check it out for that four month period and decide if that's for you. There's also Verizon perks, so you have to be a Verizon customer. But there's everything from, you know, Disney Plus, Hulu, ESPN plus bundle, YouTube premium cloud storage, mobile hotspot. There are a lot of different discounts, so I don't have all of this or I have them, but I won't go through every single listing. But it's ranging from, you know, $3.99 per month for the YouTube Premium account to $30 a month for. I think it's the mobile hotspot. So just a lot of different offers there that can benefit somebody who's looking for those services.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

So interesting you say that because that is something I started doing this year. Regina is looking at like my existing credit cards, my phone service, what deals can I get that link my existing service or thing that I use now. And it was funny, some of the credit card rewards that I was eligible for, I had no idea that I was eligible for these rewards through existing relationships the credit card has with this other company. So as an example, as a guy that travels a lot, I didn't know I got one free Uber ride a month. I had no idea that I get a free Uber ride that you know, up to X amount of money. And now I take advantage of that whenever I travel doing that. So I love that idea Through Verizon, by the way, Stacker Spotify as a podcaster. It's a great way to listen to stacking. Benjamin, if you decide to do that, listening to us through Spotify, because you and I can chat on Apple and on other platforms, I can't. We can't have a back and forth. But on Spotify, I'd say a couple times a week I'll have somebody that comments something about the show and I can answer you back the same on YouTube, we can answer you back. So if you're doing the Spotify one, be sure to say hi and tell us.

[Regina Conway]

Check it out. I mean, they should all be running because it's four months free as long as they have not had a Spotify membership before.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

See, and that's the bad part because I have one. Otherwise I'd be all over that.

[Regina Conway]

Right?

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Yeah.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Yeah. Where are we going now?

[Regina Conway]

So, similar vein, gift cards. This is one of my personal favorite areas to shop. Because gift cards not only continue to be something that people love to give to people that they don't know what to give to, as well as being a great option for, you know, teacher gifts and bus drivers, all of those special people that you're looking to shop for during this time of year. Black Friday is a fantastic time to find extra benefits to those gift cards. And one other layer on that is you can also buy these gift cards for things that you're shopping for normally and then use them as currency to stack with another deal that you find down the road. So the, you know, caveat with gift cards, again, there's, there's always a, I have to give the tip that just, you know, the little like watch out for it is don't buy a bunch of gift cards thinking that you're going to use them and then have them sitting on your desk or wherever you store your gift cards and they sit unused and you could have just, I don't know, done something else with the money for that whole time period. So make sure you're actually buying things that you need if you are buying them for yourself and not planning to gift them.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

I found $6 and 42 cents on a gift card from Michael's in my drawer this last week. So I had no idea how much money it was. And I think it was we bought some picture frame and then returned it. I have no idea where it came from, but I don't know how old it is. I have no idea. So yeah, don't do that.

[Regina Conway]

They should still honor it. I think so. You know, you could get some extra crafting materials or something.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

They will. I door at the bookstore and just walked it over. I'm like, I don't know if there's any money on here. Like, I have no idea. Yes, I have almost $7.

[Regina Conway]

So you can find something at Michael's for $7.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Probably can. That's fantastic. But gift cards, what Gift cards deals.

[Regina Conway]

So some of the examples, things that we're seeing right now that are available. So at Best Buy, a lot of different options. You can get a $100 DoorDash gift card for $85 at Best Buy. There's also a bunch of different options like Domino's, Fandango and then this is one that is available at with different kinds of terms. But Best Buy, Amazon and Target all have a 100 Apple E gift card. You know, if you shop at Best buy, there's a plus $10 Best Buy e gift card. So you get the $100 Apple gift card plus you get a $10 Best Buy gift card if you buy it at Best Buy. If you buy it at Amazon, you get that $100 Apple gift card plus a $15Amazon credit. And if you buy it at Target, you get the a hundred dollar gift card plus a $10 target gift card. So depending on where you prefer to shop, you could just kind of pick your poison.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

There is the Apple gift card. Is it good on any paid apps that I have on my phone or is it just for hardware, for computers, for that type of stuff?

[Regina Conway]

No. So you can add Apple cards to your Apple account so you can pay for icloud Apple music, movies, subscriptions and then you can actually use it at the Apple Store as well. So you, if you want the physical products, it's good for that. But it's also good for any of those kind of Apple services that you use.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Far more useful than I think I thought initially I thought I'm like, well, I have all up to date Apple products.

[Regina Conway]

But right, like how many more AirPods do I need?

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Or like, yeah, but I am buying stuff through the Apple Store all the time.

[Regina Conway]

I feel like, yeah, and then I do have one more which is not actually announced yet. And so this is a. I think it's going to happen prediction These are my favorite stackers.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

When Regina brings this, this is my favorite.

[Regina Conway]

Okay, well, so if you are a Target shopper and I know for us it is what we tend to gift teachers and our girls school does a adopt a family type of thing. So we also give gift cards there. So again, not announced as of this conversation. For the past however many years you and I have been having this conversation, they have had an offer for 10% off of their gift cards up to a certain value. For last year it was up to $500 in value. So you can buy that, apply it to your own shopping, stack that with other discounts. They did run the promotion later than usual last year. Usually it was like right on the heels of Black Friday into that cyber Monday. It ran a little bit later last year. So just keep an eye out on this one. If you are a Target shopper, I expect it should happen.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Wow.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Imagine just an additional 10% off. Another deal. Talk about stacking deals. It's a deal that I didn't think was a deal for the longest time, which was the target red card. I always thought the target red card was a credit card. And they'd always ask me if I wanted the red card. And of course, being a financial guy, I was like, oh, heck no, I don't want to. I don't want a credit card. And then finally, I don't know how many years it took me, Regina, but maybe four or five years. Finally somebody goes, you know, it's just a debit card that you connect through your bank and then you get this additional money off on top of. So if I can use the red card and get the 10 off, does it stack with the red card?

[Regina Conway]

I'd have to look into that because I don't actually know if you're paying. Well, you, I don't know, you may be able to buy the gift cards with your red card. I don't know that you. Once you're paying with the gift card, the money would be coming off of the card itself.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

But no, I'm saying just the value of the gift card. If I can get 10% off the gift card and I get an extra what, 4% off the gift card. With the, with the target red card, I'm at a 14% off. I mean, that's a pretty big number, right?

[Regina Conway]

Well, trust but verify. Sometimes they change those terms. So just with. Especially with the gift card purchases. But you know, to that end, if you are shopping for a lot of the other things that Target has deals for, you're getting that 10% off, and then use your red card for everything else else. On top of that, you're getting a lot of great savings there.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Great point. We have a target not far from us, so this is one. You cost me money every year, Regina.

[Regina Conway]

Sorry.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

It's actually good. I'm saving money because I'm gonna go to Target anyway. I'm not buying stuff that I wouldn't have bought anyway, so that's. Well.

[Regina Conway]

And you've got it in your budget, so there you go.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

That's right.

[Regina Conway]

It's all good.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Amen, sister. Anything else on subscriptions, memberships, tickets?

[Regina Conway]

Those are the hot ones that I'm seeing right now. So like everything else, Slick Deals will continue to post all of the best deals that are happening. Check it out on there.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

My son's girlfriend is interested in seeing the Jonas Brothers. You don't have discount tickets to the Jonas Brothers?

[Regina Conway]

Not in my back pocket. But I will. I will put the deal hunters on it to see if we can find anything for you. There's got to be a way.

[Josh Liston]

Yeah.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

All right. Where are we headed now?

[Regina Conway]

Okay, so we're headed to grocery. And I know you mock me for this.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Not that I like better than giving my friends a can of beans, but it's not.

[Regina Conway]

Yeah. Yes. I don't actually have beans on my list of deals today. They are probably out there, though, but. But I don't think your friends would necessarily appreciate that. However, they do appreciate when you have them over for a nice evening to play games and host them for all of those holiday parties that are coming up. So, you know those party essentials, snacks, beverages, just as you're planning for your holiday gatherings. And then one other piece, too, is we are seeing a lot of local food banks needing extra donations this year. Food drives that are happening at kids, schools or through community chapters of different organizations that you might be involved in. So look for those deals on grocery, because, yes, we may not be gifting it, but, you know, you can use it for your own household or you can gift it in a different kind of a way.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Yeah, we just had the Boy Scouts come by with the bag, you know, and then you just fill it up and put it out front and help out your local community.

[Regina Conway]

Right. I. I kind of picked some just essential items. But again, this is going to be continuing to rotate through this whole Black Friday time period. And grocery in and of itself doesn't have a huge margin of markup. So sometimes the deals don't sound that fantastic. But then there are certain things that actually are pretty amazing. So Amazon has an eight pack of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Healthy Request Soup. It's $8.15 for that eight pack. So just a touch over a dollar per can. And normally that would be $17. So it's 52% off. That's something that would be great for those food drives. And then, you know, kind of they're always also looking for, I think people forget about like, you know, the essentials like spices and things like that. So there's actually a great deal on Amazon right now for organic extra virgin olive oil, 32 ounce size for $7. And so get that for your own household because that's something that we use all the time. It's kind of just an essential pantry. Good.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Buy it today while you're listening and have it by Thursday for Thanksgiving.

[Regina Conway]

Right, Exactly. Make sure you have that extra for all the cooking needs. And then I personally had to pick this one because in our household we like Pete's major Dickinson's blend. And Walmart has it for the 10 and a half ounce bag. So $3.55 versus the normal $12 price tag. So 70% off at Walmart for that.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Wait a minute, which is, which is this?

[Regina Conway]

It's the dark roast ground coffee. It's their major Dickinson's coffee. Yeah, I'm sorry, I never said coffee. I just assumed because I love maitre Dickinson so much. But yes, has. It's Pete's coffee. It's their dark roast ground coffee bags for 70 off at Walmart.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

That's what I thought we were talking about. I'm like, wait, are we talking coffee now? And it's, it's a P E E T stackers. If you haven't had Pete's coffee. But you should, to Regina's point, great coffee. And Pete's was the original, like Starbucks. I mean Pete's and Starbucks, like that's all Seattle based stuff. So anyway, history lesson, no extra fee for that everybody. Where are we going now?

[Regina Conway]

So we've got home and kitchen and out of the grocery, but still in the kitchen. I guess really more about those kind of consumer goods for the kitchen. So Black Friday is phenomenal for kind of those tabletop appliances. I know at some point on the show I've told the story before. I have a toaster that I got for like a, you know, five dollar Black Friday deal 20 something years ago. It has officially decided not to work anymore. So I'm still looking for my toaster deal this season. But it may have made it for a very Very long time. So I'm still looking. I set a deal alert on slick deals for my toaster deal. I'm still looking. But I have a lot of other great options for different types of household appliances. There's a, you know, Vitamix professional grade blender, normally 500. It's on sale for 300. That's at Walmart, 40% off. There are a lot of the kind of air fryer type products. So that's been kind of a popular trend for a lot of households in recent years. Depending on if you're just looking for kind of the basic digital window air Fryer, you know, 8 quart gourmia, that's just under $40. It's $39.85 plus free shipping at Walmart. If you want something that's a little bit more deluxe, I guess it's got the indoor pizza oven, toaster oven and air fryer. Also a gourmia product at target for $120. That's 29% off of its regular $170 price.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Wow, those are all great.

[Regina Conway]

Yeah. I think similarly, you know, people don't always naturally think like, oh, I should go household appliance shopping. But it's the small appliances. They do have some big appliance deals that are available during Black Friday, but it's not really known for that. It's more about all the of, of these kind of countertop things.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

And then I think if you're, if your significant other either likes to be in the kitchen, like I like to be in the kitchen, or they make themselves smoothies or protein drinks or whatever. The thing is like I look at all these and I go, these are great, like significant other gifts.

[Regina Conway]

Like I'd love all those four self gifts.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

I just wrap it, put it under the tree. Cheryl's like, what the hell is that? I'm like, oh, you got it for me, remember?

[Regina Conway]

Right. You don't remember when I bought this with, you know, my discounted gift card that I bought and my that's right off target red card and all the.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

All the deals, I was stacking them on slick deals.

[Regina Conway]

Right, right.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Those are fantastic. I love the kitchen stuff. I think we're going to toys.

[Regina Conway]

Yes. I of course am never going to claim to be the board game expert here. So I go for more of the everyday ones that are available. But I did find a board game deal for you. So Target right now has select puzzles and games. I, I personally, we are a puzzle household here, 50% off. So you know, the classic Game of operation for $6 and 24 cents. The game of life for $7 and 24 cents. Again, kind of those classic board game styles. But check out Target for whichever preference you have for those Household board games.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

A longtime holiday tradition. Our house. I never do puzzles except around the holidays. And I always do them with mom. Always, always do them.

[Regina Conway]

How big? What size puzzle?

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Oh, oh, not, not that big. Five hundred or a thousand pieces. If we're feeling really excited, we'll go a thousand pieces, but generally a 500 piece puzzle.

[Regina Conway]

Well, those are nice because then you can actually sit down and get it accomplished versus trying to do this project for days and days and it extends.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

A bit too long.

[Regina Conway]

One more thing on the toys overall, I guess as a general category I leapt right into the board game deal. But toys, traditionally, what you'll hear is that the deepest discounts for toys happen in that first week of December. That may be true for very specific products, but this is one of those where you're going to just see broader discounts across the board if there's something that you're, you know, somebody in your household is really hoping that they're going to get this holiday season. This is one of those like buy now if it looks like the right deal for you and then check out that return policy and if you find a great deal later, you can always return it. But there are a lot of really just broad deals available. So legos in particular, we, over the past week and a half or so have just been seeing that volume of LEGO deals increase on our site. And so, you know, yesterday we had something like 73 Lego deals, which is nice because that means that it's all across the board for whatever type of LEGO category people are looking for. But one of the ones that I picked out in particular is Amazon has a thousand 48 piece Lego Star wars, the Mandalorian. There's some other, you know, names around it which I am unfortunately not a Star wars aficionado. Yes. However, the price would normally be a hundred dollars and it's on sale for $50. So if you are a LEGO person or are gifting for people who enjoy Legos, this is a great time to check out all of the different deals that are available during this time period.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

I know some adults who are those LEGO adults. Ah, they get very excited about their time with their Legos. There's a guy I follow on Tick Tock who is a LEGO adult and half the videos are about his wife making fun of him. So.

[Regina Conway]

Well, he's got it he's got to monetize it so that he can actually buy the Lego sets. 100 whatever gets the attention.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

I better get my views up so I can buy more Legos.

[Regina Conway]

Let me get the wife in here so she can make fun of me.

[Josh Liston]

Yeah.

[Regina Conway]

And then Walmart, actually not yet, but launching on Black Friday, they have a ton of different great deals for kind of those trending items, I guess. There's a Labubu for $34.99, which would normally be around $44. There's a Pokemon collectible trading card tin for a special of $17. They do have a 20 inch kids bike, which for Black Friday will be $60. It was $98. Now, you know, not necessarily like the best of the best bikes, but if something for kids to like knock around on it for $60, it's a great gifting option.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

That's fantastic.

[Regina Conway]

And then the last one that I picked to talk about is the X Shot Insanity Motorized Rage Fire Toy Dart Blaster.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

I think we need one of those just to fire it. Mom's neighbor Doug.

[Regina Conway]

Well, I mean, why not? I was going to say I need it for the person who had their leaf blower on for hours and hours today. So whether you're gifting this one to your children or you want to gift yourself on this one, Walmart and Target have this for $24 and it would normally be around $40. So. And then actually this is one where for Target, you can stack. There's another, you know, $6 target circle bonus on the product page. So that gets down to about $18 at Target. So that's one that you do need to do a little bit of deal gymnastics on. Just check it out.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Wow, that's fantastic, man. You just made the holiday seasons a lot less expensive for a lot of our stackers. Thank you so much. Now, let's talk about people who haven't been to slick deals and they don't know how this works. Again, this is just a community. So people go to slick deals, they join the community, which is free.

[Regina Conway]

Yes. You know, slickdeals is really about helping shoppers discover that joy of finding a great deal. And similar to how you feel when you win a game or you know, you're competing at something, it's almost like a thrill to just know that you got that great value for a great product and didn't have to pay full price. And so the platform does as you said, you know, it brings together a community of millions of real shoppers who are out there vetting and voting up the very best deals. And it's covers all the top retailers. So you know, these are deals that are available nationwide. Every once in a while there will be a YMMV which is your mileage may vary because that might require that you go in your local store or whatever. But we're talking about, you know, Amazon, Walmart, Target, Costco, all of the top retailers. And the deals do surface to what we call our front page through the merits of the deal. So people who are very passionate about it and engage more deeply in the community are actually commenting on their saying, you know, this deal was equally good a month ago or actually it's even better than it was a month ago. And here's this product and I like it for this reason. But if you have a pet, maybe you should look for something else. You know, there's just a lot of richness in that community commentary and you as a shopper can just go there and benefit from that or you can engage and post deals which we always welcome and invite as well.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

You've got some slick deals, has been around for quite a while and you've got some long time deal finders. Some of these people are just deal blood. Bloodhounds.

[Regina Conway]

Yes, yes they are. They absolutely are. Like I said, for some people it just feels like that, that thrill of winning in some way and sort of really discovering something and then being able to share that knowledge with other people as well so they can tap into that great deal.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

You mentioned this about the toaster, but I can put in the item that I want and set alerts when deals appear.

[Regina Conway]

Right. So we do have deal alerts. So you can set a brand name, you can set a specific product. I mean obviously the more you restrict your terms that is dependent on somebody actually posting something that will match your deal criteria. But, but if you are looking for something specific this holiday season and you just want a little extra support, you go ahead and set a deal alert and you know you will be notified when something similar or that product itself becomes available with a deal on the site.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

And we'll, we'll link to slick deal stackers on our show notes page@stacking benjamins.com I can't believe Regina. It's been a year. I feel like I'm not going to talk to you for a year, but it's going to feel like tomorrow.

[Regina Conway]

So every time it's like no time has gone by at all. But I always appreciate the opportunity to talk to your listeners and with you I so enjoy having the opportunity to chat about all of the deals that are going to be happening.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

It is a great time and certainly for me too. Likewise. And Stackers, I hope Reghini was able to help you make the holidays a little brighter and less expensive.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Hey there Stackers. I'm Joe's mom's neighbor Doug and wow, Regina's got some hot Black Friday deals. Doug, I know that'll save me a ton of money, but when I think about making money, I think about the term Black Friday and where it came from. See, the term originally appears to have had nothing to do with Amazon or Walmart at all. I know it's crazy. Pre Amazon, what did people even do? But here's some history. Its earliest known use dates to 1869. We said 69. And a devastating financial panic triggered by two speculators who tried to corner what precious metal market causing a market crash. I'll be back right after I crank up some Burl Ives for Joe's mom. What kind of monster does Christmas music before Thanksgiving? I should turn it off, right? Probably I should return. It's just so damn cheery.

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[Joe Saul Salsihai]

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[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Hey there stackers. I'm candy cane lover and guy who just wants to experience Thanksgiving before we start on the next holiday. Joe's mom's neighbor, Doug. Investors in 1869 weren't thinking about. You are 12, you just can't not laugh. Anyway, those investors weren't thinking about deals when they began to panic. They were thinking their money was gonna disappear. But when two investors began trying to corner the market, what precious metal was all the fuss about? It was gold. And of course we're getting into silver and gold season, aren't we? Silver and gold much better than the how to money guys who I refer to as copper and rust. And now let's throw this back to Mr. Silver here. That is Joe Salsihai and Josh.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Josh has got some silver as well.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

A lot more silver than you do.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

And Josh, you guessed silver swing.

[Josh Liston]

I might be winning on the silver.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

So close. So close.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Corner the silver market.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Big thanks to Regina Conway for joining us. And like every year just absolutely bringing it. Do you use Black Friday, Josh, to score good deals or what's your holiday.

[Josh Liston]

Gift buying strategy as someone that works in retail on that day as a part time job, I'm just trying to survive to be Honest, after my 4000s conversation about a television. But I try to stay away from those deals a lot of the time because usually it's. Yeah, normally it's just about some kind of ice cream maker that's also an air fryer and also a sandwich press and also a clock radio. And you knew, you know, smart speaker all rolled into one thing for the day. I stay away from it I think would be my answer to that.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

And now you can get the sandwich maker with AI built in because it's like that new thing. You know, all these companies are now going to start putting AI and everything. Wednesday we're talking to Bridget Carey from CNET and I know AI's got to be like the hot new thing you're seeing all over the place.

[Josh Liston]

Well, it's on everything that in retail now and I'm sure it'll be huge on Black Friday. It'll be on everything whether it's Actually AI in there or not? I'm not going to speculate. I probably need to ask an AI if it's really AI. I'm not smart enough.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

It's artificial intelligence, but only the intelligence is in air quotes like intelligence. Let's do a headline. Josh.

[Josh Liston]

Hello, darlings.

[Regina Conway]

And now it's time for your favorite part of the show, our stacking. Benjamin's Headlines.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Redline today comes to us from the Wall Street Journal. This is written by Katherine Hamilton, Affirm. You know, Affirm, I think Affirm, Josh, is worldwide. Aren't they Affirm in Klarna?

[Josh Liston]

I have heard of them only because they're probably following shows like yours. I think, guys, I'm familiar with it and we have a lot of companies that do the same sort of thing that are huge.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Yeah, Affirm Eyes Card Payments is next era of buy now, pay later. So Affirm is one of these companies where you can buy it now and have it now, but as long as you pay over X number of payments and they will define that for you, you never pay any interest on any of this. So why would I not do that? Well, that gets you into big trouble money wise. I mean, companies like a firm wouldn't exist if they weren't making money. And if it's all zero interest, there's no way for them to make money. So if you start missing payments, the problem is then, then the interest rate is through the roof. So Catherine writes buy now, pay later. Companies like a firm are aiming to compete more closely with credit card companies. A firm said last Thursday it's debit card, which lets users delay a purchase or pay for it in installments without accruing any interest, is driving more business than ever. The company's historically focused on partnering with companies such as Amazon and Walmart to provide its BMPL services when shoppers check out. But eventually a firm wants everyone to have the option to buy now and pay later with any purchase. It is frustrating, Josh, that somebody would go to a store like the one that you're working in and they'll want to buy a toaster, a television, and they're thinking about paying for this for maybe the next three months, the next six months. You know, I feel like if you're doing this in the first place, you're digging a hole and it's just going to get worse.

[Josh Liston]

I completely agree. And I think for me, I feel more troubled by the really little purchases that people consider putting onto these types of things because then they tend to, in my experience, just from people I'VE spoken to. They stack lots of them up. Unfortunate terminology there, I guess, considering the show that I'm talking on right now. But they might have two payments left on one thing and three on the next. And then as soon as they free up a bit more money on the eighth week, if it's every fortnight, then there's another item going on there. And it seems like, I guess, the opposite of a snowball. Yeah, it's a rubbish ball. Well, it is.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

It is the opposite of snowball, Josh. I think it's like digging a hole, but you're digging it a little bit deeper and a little bit deeper and a little bit deeper, and before you know it, it's impossible to make your payments.

[Josh Liston]

Yeah. When people are using it as something to replace a credit card or another source of finance. But at least in Australia, these companies, and I think the big one internationally, might be Afterpay, not because they're outside of this territory, but because they're owned by Block Inc. Which used to be Square. I think Square paid maybe US$30 million for Afterpay, at least at the time that I last looked into it. You don't establish any credit history paying these things off. I don't know if that's the same with companies like a firm, but it's not building a credit limit or a utilization rate or any of the things that maybe, I mean, quote, unquote, advantages to a credit card. You're not getting any of that benefit. You're just paying it off. And it doesn't really change your credit score or history. I'm not sure if that tracks in the US or not.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

That's frustrating. Well, it is frustrating. It's all the downside and none of the upside. Doug.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Well, it's so easy to allow yourself to dig that hole deeper one teaspoon at a time. And that's what it feels like when you're making these smaller purchases on credit, whether it's a firm or your credit card. It feels like, oh, this is just a little bit. And you can fool yourself so quickly and so easily by doing that. Which I think really makes it important to have that macro view, that budget set up in some way, however detailed you need to do it, but some way that you can realize this is what I have available to me to reach my goals. And anything that departs from that is taking me away from my goal.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Doug Speaking about taking you away from your goal, I just looked up Josh to see, just to confirm, because I thought that it doesn't build your Score the ones that are biggest here affirm in Klarna in the US and it is the same. It does not. It can though obviously negatively impact your score. So if you don't pay, your score will be screwed. But if you do pay. Yeah, it doesn't help. Yeah, like way to go. Congratulations.

[Josh Liston]

Yes.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

The piece goes on to say the card is the best way to use a firm, Chief operating officer Michael Linford said Friday. Which cracks me up because when the chief operating officer goes okay, you could use it just on Amazon or on Walmart, but you know what, you want to do this everywhere so you can completely screw yourself later. It's by far the best way. Isn't that always AKA the way that makes me the most money? I think that's what that means. If we're gonna do quarterly report speak.

[Josh Liston]

There seem to be a couple of lines in the article that were and not knowing a lot about affirm and or this particular chief operating officer, they seemed a little bit self serving. I would say it might be best for them if you do exactly what they're laying out in this article in terms of your behavior. Yeah, they're being pretty explicit about it. I think they're use the card, don't use anything else.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

They're just trying to help, Josh. They're just trying to help. The card drove a firm's direct to consumer business which made up a third of total gross merchandise volume growth in the company's most recently ended quarter volume for the affirm card more than doubled. Cardholders increased by 500,000 people in the quarter to 2.8 million. No people. I, I just don't understand why would I have an affirm card just having this thing in my wallet. What is my, you know, we've had diet coaches, Josh, on the show before. They say the best way to clean up your diet is to go through your cupboards and get rid of all the junk food. Just don't give yourself the opportunity. I feel like having the affirm card in my wallet is going to be hugely problematic.

[Josh Liston]

Absolutely. And if you're umming and ahhing about whether you can afford something then or maybe two months from now, there's always going to be that extra push to I can have that now and I can pay for it later.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Yeah.

[Josh Liston]

Whether there's you've thought through the financial decision and or you're depriving yourself of that intrinsic validation of saving for a thing and paying for it in full, this also deprives people of the that learned behavior and the enjoyment of Saving for stuff. Because you're kind of doing it in reverse, right? The money you would save is just going out as a payment in the future. It's kind of. You're missing it. I think you miss so much stuff if you go this kind of angle.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

I do love the fun of delayed gratification, of knowing that I'm saving for this thing. And then later on, Doug is 12. He's 12 years old.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

So I think what we're talking about here, and this is a new term I'm coining right now. It's financial edging, I think, is what we're. What we're talking about.

[Josh Liston]

That's brilliant.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Just. No, no, it's not, Josh.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

It started here first, folks.

[Josh Liston]

There will be some comedy stages in Australia hearing the term financial. We'll call it financial dugging. Whoa.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Hey now.

[Josh Liston]

That's very good. I like that financial edging. That's awesome. I'm using that.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Don't feed his ego, please, God, man. But I remember Jonathan Clements, who we just played on Greatest Hits week again, because he made so many great points. But this idea of thinking about what you want a year from now, and then sometimes the fun of the purchase is the saving for it, and then you appreciate it more when you do buy it or if you take the trip that you were imagining that you were going to take to visit friends or whatever it might be like, the further ahead you. You begin doing this, the more fun it becomes and the more rewarding it becomes. I absolutely love that. We'll, we'll link to this piece on our show [e-mail] of course, it's at the Wall Street Journal. So you need a subscription. But you know what you don't need? You don't need a subscription. The Wall Street Journal to know that buy now, pay later I think is a huge mistake. And Josh, you were talking about buying toasters earlier. If you can't afford the toaster, rather than buy now, pay later. Just eat bread for a while. Just go with bread versus toast, and I think you'll be. Be better off.

[Josh Liston]

Yes.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Let's do a tick tock minute, guys. Tick tock minute, Josh, is the part of the show where we shine a light on a tick Tock creator who's doing something either brilliant or air quotes brilliant. Which one do you think today's tick tock creator is doing?

[Josh Liston]

I feel like I've got a bit of insight as a fan of the show. I haven't seen any of them do anything brilliant. So I'm going to say probably not so brilliant. Wow.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

You could tell he's sitting in for OG today, Doug.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Yeah, all right, Mr. Grumpy Pants.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Yeah, that's right. Well, Julie Stacker. Julie works in hr. She sent this one to me and she's like working in ar, she's not sure whether this is going to be a good discussion or not, but this.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Is for HR sucks the fun out of everything. So I think we know Julie does is going to be bad. Well, HR in general, if you work in hr, you are a fun sponge.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

I don't know because Julie found this video and well, let's just listen to Taylor in this video explain a run in she had with a colleague at work.

[Regina Conway]

I have another meeting with HR because I told a co worker I could tell that he was a C section baby by the way he avoids labor and apparently that is not acceptable in the workplace.

[Josh Liston]

I retract my previous comment.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

So good.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

That's so good, Julie. Thank you so much for setting that in. I'm a C section baby.

[Josh Liston]

Well that was tremendous. Julie. Was it Julie?

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Yes. If you've got a tick tock minute for us, send it to [e-mail] Would you have a discussion with Taylor if she approached a colleague that way? I don't know. What? That wouldn't be a bad meeting with hr, would it?

[Josh Liston]

I don't know because I'm a stand up comedian, Joe. I think there's always a part of me that if any conversation ever started that way I would want it to never end. Dig and dig. I want everything that that person's got. I want to know everything in Taylor's brain.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Josh is in hr. Nonstop though, right? Josh is always in HR with his attitude.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

If I were in hr, every conversation I had would start with look, off the record, yeah, I'm a huge fan. But on the record, I gotta say.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

This, Doug, let's meander onto the back porch and chat about stuff that's going on in Stacky Benjamin's land.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Yeah, Joe, so glad we're back here. Cause you know this is when I pour a little glass of bourbon at 7:30 in the morning. No, I don't. I really don't. But I think it's time to talk about the charity efforts that we make every year around here in the basement. This year Voices for Change is just such a great cause and it just makes me think of what really kicked this whole charity effort off was an episode of the Brady Bunch.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

The Brady Bunch. Josh, do you know the Brady Bunch.

[Josh Liston]

Not only do I know the Brady Bunch, but I'm familiar with many Brady Bunch memes. If it's memesh, I probably know it.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Memeish.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Well, let's hear what you got here, Doug.

[Regina Conway]

Autumn turns to winter, and then winter turns to spring. It's not just the season, you know, it goes for everything. It's even true for voices. When boys begin to grow? You gotta take a lesson from Mother Nature? And if you do, you'll know when it's time to change. Then it's time to change? Don't bite the tide Come along for the ride don't you see? When it's time to change? You've got to rearrange? Move your heart into what you're gonna be.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

It's time to change.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Peter Brady and I like the laugh track at the in that too. Hilarity ensued.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Yeah, when we. When we sit down to try to construct a show, we're just mere amateurs compared to the writing team at the Brady Bunch.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

I think so. By the way, it's Voices for Good, not Voices for Change.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Really? You're kidding, right?

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

We need a new Brady Bunch song, Josh.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Voices for Good is the name of the charity.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Good.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Well, I really would like it to be Voices for Change. We should write a letter.

[Josh Liston]

Yeah.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

And we are. We are winning right now, but we've got only one week to go. Stackers. So. Stacking benjamins.com stacking hope and we put a stretch goal at the end of this. We had one stretch goal. We said we do a behind the scenes. We will do a behind the scenes, but. But also in the first quarter of next year, we will do a setting up your financial dashboard webinar if we win this thing. How about that? If we win, we will do a setting up your financial dashboard where we set up what you need to do in terms of having the right apps for 2026, to getting your budget in shape for 2026, to managing your debt in 2026. But we got to win it. We're winning right now as we record this.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Yeah. So basically we're 100. Definitely doing the webinar, of course, because.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Our stackers are awesome at raising money for a good cause. Like Karen Holland's amazing gifting sense. Stacky benjamin.com stacking Hope Josh, thanks for sitting in today for OG you're far better, don't you think, Doug? He's far better than OG well, he.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Certainly has a heart and some warmth and compassion. So.

[Josh Liston]

Yeah, I wasn't going for any of that. So I failed. I'm sorry, guys.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

It takes almost.

[Josh Liston]

I got told bog. So just bring all the attitude and none of the warp.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Josh, people can find you at the Sake this podcast. What's coming up at Sake this.

[Josh Liston]

So in the next episode, I think we're going to be talking about we have news stories and one of those news stories sometimes is made up. So I'm in the middle of writing one, but one we had in the past was, and it's probably our most popular segment so far, a samurai. Retired samurai replacing normal security guards at music festivals. Just seeing how that would roll out. For example, if someone throws a piece of litter up in the air, then you've got a samurai there, chops it up into a small bag before it hits the ground. Before it hits the ground. It's a very tidy festival and a very, very well behaved festival, believe it.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Or not, which sounds very Japanese.

[Josh Liston]

It is. It's very Japanese. And we'll probably roll out something similar to that. So if you like Absolute Madness from the Land of the Rising sun, then check out Sake this and you'll find my links there.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Wherever finer podcasts are found.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Australia wasn't weird enough for Josh. He had to go find a different country and use their weirdness. Like he didn't have enough content to work with in Australia.

[Josh Liston]

And I just, I feel somewhat upset by that because I'm talking to a couple of guys in a basement, which is, we're, we're way beyond basements.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Down under in a men's basement.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Oh, look at the time.

[Josh Liston]

But you are right. Japan is much, much cooler than Australia. It's probably cooler than anywhere. That's why it's okay. This is the show we do.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

I think so too. My daughter had a great time when she lived there. It was, it was amazing. Speaking of amazing, Josh, we always have this amazing way we end the show. Doug. Yes, yes, this is. But this isn't it. Like, if I were envisioning the best end to a show, it would not be like this. Josh, watch. Doug, what should we have learned on today's episode?

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Well, Joe, first, take some advice from Regina Conway. If you stick to only buying what's in budget, there are some huge deals this year available for you. Take a few minutes and your holiday season might end with your wallet thanking you. Second, take some advice from Joe and Josh. Buy now, pay later. How about buy now, pay now? That's a long term recipe for success. But the big lesson, don't try to use a eat now, help out later argument with Joe's. Mom. Apparently she prefers help now and later and eat later. She's just all about the later. I'm not sure that's keeping the customer's needs in mind, Ma. Thanks to Regina Conway for joining us. You'll find a community that's constantly finding new [e-mail] thanks also to Josh Liston for joining us. You'll hear Josh's sake this podcast wherever. You're listening to us now, so hit pause and go follow that show or sake this. Sorry, Ma. Talking about sake not. Oh, never mind. This show is the property of SB Podcasts, LLC, Copyright 2025 and is created by Joe Saul Sehive. Joe gets help from a few of our neighborhood friends. You'll find out about our awesome team at stacking bench benjamins.com along with the show notes and how you can find us on YouTube and all the usual social media spots. Come say hello.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Oh, yeah.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

And before I go, not only should you not take advice from these nerds, don't take advice from people you don't know. This show is for entertainment purposes only. Before making any financial decisions, speak with a real financial advisor. I'm Joe's mom's neighbor, Doug. And we'll see you next time time back here at the Stacking Benjamin Show.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Sa. Welcome to the after show. This is. This is the part of show that doesn't exist. We have to ask Josh, everybody. Who's Australian. Are you friends with Crocodile Dundee?

[Josh Liston]

Well, he lives in Florida, so no. Oh, I'm pretty sure you guys are both closer to him than me.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

What about Walkabout Creek? Is that a real town?

[Josh Liston]

There is many strange town names and that is one of them. Yes. I'm not sure anyone says Walkabout anymore.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

One legged man?

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

No.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Guy who had to crawl miles. I mean, that's how the whole thing starts, right? Some. There was a story, allegedly of a man whose leg was bitten off by a saltwater croc and crawled hundreds of miles. And so that's why the alarmingly attractive reporter showed up to interview him. Does that all happen, like, weekly?

[Josh Liston]

That's why I look so tired. I was literally just crawling into this room with one leg.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Just to get here. On the podcast, we actually. Josh, we. I said I'd never been to Australia. I have been to Australia. This was Josh apparently selling a refrigerator to comedian Brian Regan.

[Brian Regan]

We needed a refrigerator for our new place and I. I've never bought a refrigerator in my whole life. I went into the appliance store. There's 900 of them lined up. There's a salesman there. What's this guy supposed to say about refrigerators? Well, you have this refrigerator right here. This keeps all your food cold. For 600. You've got this refrigerator. This keeps all your food cold for 800. Check this out. 1400. Keeps all your food cold. So this guy's working me on this one. I've never seen a guy work so hard. This one is a very nice refrigerator. It has a meat straw. And what you do with that, You would put meats. Whatever varieties that you would choose, these would be your meats. So there's no requirement on the types of meats. You could pick. Bacon.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

You were working it with him, Josh. You were working it.

[Josh Liston]

If Brian Regan came in to buy something off me, I would just lose my job and give it to him for free. Just have it. Such a distinctive voice.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

He does, doesn't he? This air fryer keeps your fries, all your food for 600.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

You know what I want? I want an air fryer that doesn't sound like a seven. Seven seven. Taking off out of LaGuardia. They're so freaking loud. What.

[Josh Liston]

Which brands do you have over there? The Phillips ones, the 5000 series. Phillips are the quietest. I don't know if you have a few, if. If Phillips is sold in North America, but they're the quietest.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Wow. Now that's advice I can use.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

We waited the entire show, Josh, and.

[Doug (Joe's mom's neighbor)]

Finally, Josh is gatekeeping all of the air fryer intel.

[Josh Liston]

You just started talking about drinking before, and I got fired up. Now I'm wondering if one o' clock in the morning is too late for a, you know, a first drink of the day.

[Joe Saul Salsihai]

Well, it is 8 o' clock in the morning here, so we're about to join you. Thanks again for joining us, man.

[Josh Liston]

Thank you. This amazing. You know, I love the show, so thanks for letting me be part of it. I really appreciate it.