I used to love going Black Friday shopping so my husband
and I, we would do Thanksgiving and then we depending on where
we were, if we were traveling we would go.
I would go Black Friday shopping with my sister-in-law or if we
were home, then my husband and I would, we would get up and we
would go shopping at sometimes we were at stores at midnight
and depending on if they were, you know, when they open,
sometimes it was 4:00 AM and you would just be buying socks.
And I was like, Oh my gosh, what am I doing just to get this
really crazy deal. And so I absolutely.
So don't get me wrong, I absolutely love getting a deal.
If I can get something for next to nothing and it's a value to
me, I am all for it because that means there's extra money I have
now to buy something else that I need or I love getting a deal.
But remember, everything's 100% off if you don't buy it.
Hey there, I'm Jules the budget nerd and welcome to the Debt
Rebel show. This is the place where working
families like yours learn how to stop living paycheck to
paycheck, crush debt for good, and build a life where money
actually works for your family. In about 15 minutes, I'll share
practical family budgeting tips, tough love strategies, and the
actionable steps to move toward debt free living without the
fluff, the shame, or the confusion.
And I know a thing or two about this.
My family and I have eliminated over $107,000 in consumer debt
and that was after I got my degree in economics.
So stay tuned. This is going to be a great
episode. So grab that coffee, your
planner, whatever you need to make this a great experience.
Maybe a snack if you're like me. And let's make your money work
for your family, right? So Black Friday is right around
the corner and I just want to talk about.
I just want to talk about it. I remember back in the day when
I was working retail, Black Friday felt like the Olympics
and the, it was such a, Oh my gosh, it was such an emotional
drain. It was physically, mentally
exhausting. And I was on the retailer side.
We would get the store ready and be able to help people on Black
Friday and it was like carnage everywhere.
Like I remember having a fever and I had to go to the emergency
room 1 Black Friday because I had this this crazy fever and it
was super sick. But there was no one else to
fill in for me. And so I had to show up for work
and went to the emergency room on my break.
But it was just so mentally and physically exhausting working
retail during Black Friday. But today I want to talk about
the flip side of that. So when we Black Friday, the day
after Thanksgiving in the United States, and it's where retailers
usually have their best deals of the season to get ready for the
holidays for in December. And people just go crazy buying
gifts and all kinds of things for themselves, for their loved
ones, and sometimes just because.
And so if you struggle with impulse buying, this episode is
for you because this was me. I used to love going Black
Friday shopping. So my husband and I, we would do
Thanksgiving and then we, depending on where we were, if
we were traveling, we would go, I would go Black Friday shopping
with my sister-in-law. Or if we were home, then my
husband and I would, we would get up and we would go shopping
at sometimes we were at stores at midnight and depending on if
they were, you know, when they open, sometimes it was 4:00 AM
and you would just be buying socks.
And I was like, Oh my gosh, what am I doing just to get this
really crazy deal? And so I absolutely, so don't
get me wrong, I absolutely love getting a deal.
If I can get something for next to nothing and it's a value to
me, I am all for it because that means there's extra money I have
now to buy something else that I need or want.
And so I love getting a deal, but remember, everything's 100%
off if you don't buy it. And so one thing that I dislike
about Black Friday is it creates a sense of urgency that
sometimes is totally unnecessary.
And if you, if you struggle with impulse buying like myself, like
this could be like, Oh my gosh, this is just like walking into
the fire, right? Because you see things when
you're tempted, you're seeing things that you normally might
not see. And you're like, that's a really
great deal. Even though I don't need, you
know, 85, you know, baby blankets, like that's a really
great deal. So we can get out of control
with our spending. And so when we go and we don't
have a list or we don't have parameters set for ourselves,
whether that's setting out a budget or a list of people that
were shopping for or specific bargains that we're trying to
get. And that's one of the reasons
why our family has opted out of Black Friday shopping.
As I'm recording this, it's before Black Friday and we're
going to be going to do some shopping before that because the
stores are going to be less busy and less hectic.
And we can just enjoy our experience a little bit better
because one of the things we do is we take our youngest to go
pick out some stuff and one of her favorite stores and she gets
to, that's part of her gift is she gets to pick those things
out. It's clothes that she and we
would normally be buying her. But there is she gets to have
some say in it and it's six years old.
That's kind of a big deal. And she really enjoys it.
And she has a very strong opinion about what what she
likes to wear. That's something that we have
decided we started doing as a family this last couple of
years. And she loves it and we love it.
And we know that the things we're going to be getting her
are things that she loves and enjoys.
But could we wait until the following weekend or maybe 2
weeks later when things are on a crazy, like on crazy sales and
we're struggling to find the sizes that we want or we're
losing each other in the store? For us, we have found because we
have set a budget for ourselves and we know yes, it's so great
saving money, but it's a better experience for us if we're able
to do it ahead of time. That's what I want to talk about
is just being intentional with our spending and not feeding
into the frenzy that sometimes can come with holiday shopping
and Black Friday especially. So if you know, if you if you
buy something that's not like a gift that you would were going
to get someone already, and then that's kind of money wasted,
right? If we don't, if we're not
intentional with how we go into that process, and then that kind
of feeds that shame cycle again. And we start to feel like, OK,
wait a second, I spent money I shouldn't have.
I bought something I shouldn't have.
And then there's just like that emotional drain and we tend to
overbuy, right? And so all of those things come
into play and they, and So what I want to, I want you to hear me
say today is sometimes it's not about saving money.
It's about saving your sanity in the process.
And that is going to protect your mental energies, but also
it does protect your budget because you're not putting
yourself in these situations where we can, we're kind of
setting ourselves up for failure.
And that's kind of how I've always framed it in my mind is
there's there's one store that always that I have gotten better
at going into. I'm not going to name the name
because it's one of my husband's favorite stores, but I've gotten
better. I have to prepare myself when I
go in there because the idea that something that I really
want is not going to be there the next time I show up.
It used to give me a lot of anxiety because it made me and
then then it made me want to buy, buy this thing that I maybe
wasn't prepared to buy, or maybe I was.
But I felt like this external pressure to like, want to buy
this thing. And so I just don't like that
feeling. And so I'm sure if you're
listening to the show to you might be thinking, yeah,
actually, I don't. I don't like that feeling.
And so today I want to remind you, you absolutely have
permission to opt out of Black Friday shopping and the chaos.
If it's something that's fun for you and you enjoy it and it's an
experience in a tradition with your family or with, you know,
with your friends, or it's something that you do by
yourself and it's part of your, it's part of your, your
celebration of the holidays, then do it, but do it with
intention and do it with purpose.
And so if you if it is something that you enjoy, then it's a very
different process when you go into it.
Then if it's all about like having to buy this thing that
you absolutely need or this thing that this toy that you
absolutely, you know your child wants and having this, what's
that? He remember the movie Jingle all
the way with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
And he's like running all over the city trying to find, trying
to find this toy for his son. And then he gets, he gets it in
these fights and stuff like that.
Like that's not what this is all about.
And So what I just want to encourage you with today is it's
OK to not participate in the things that the rest of the
world is or it's OK to do things a little bit differently.
And so for our family, this year we're not going to participate
in Black Friday. So I think this year we're
probably going to hang out at home and enjoy some family time
and just just relax. What can you do instead of Black
Friday shopping and still accomplish the goal of buying
gifts for your loved ones? So First off, just creating a
spending plan. So looking at your finances,
looking at your budget and saying I have this much money
available. Maybe you've been saving
throughout the year, or maybe you've just been saving.
This last few weeks is to figure out how much money you have to
buy gifts and then write a list for who you're going to buy
gifts for. And then maybe it is
prioritizing memories over merchandise over things.
And that's something that our family has done more and more.
And so I've shared in earlier episodes, but my mom now instead
of buying us gifts that we're going to be unwrapping under the
tree, she still get stuff a little, you know, a few little
things for the grandkids. But we as a family, we all go to
The Nutcracker and we get to have that experience together as
a family and it's such a blast. And we, it's now become a
tradition and we, we enjoy it. It's something that we
absolutely love to do as a family.
And so I just encourage you, maybe this year, it's not about
buying specific things or maybe it is about and thinking through
like what you want your holiday season to look like this year.
Do you want it to be calm and peaceful and without the chaos?
You can absolutely opt into that if that's what you want.
And so I highly encourage it because it has, it has allowed
our family to experience the holidays and, and bring joy to
our life in a very different way.
When we don't, we don't opt in for some of the, the external
chaos. I just want to encourage you
today, if that's, if that's something that you're like, I
just feel like I need to do this.
It is absolutely OK to opt out of that.
And you're still, you're still going to find deals.
You're going to find deals before, before Black Friday,
You're going to find deals afterwards.
Protecting your time, your money and your peace goes way further
than it does to buy a specific gift.
And sometimes like our kids, Oh my gosh, let's be honest, can
you we remember as like as an adult now, can you remember all
of the Christmas gifts you ever got?
Probably not, right? And so sometimes it is just that
feeling that we get and the experience that we have together
and creating those memories, those things can be far more
valuable than finding, Gosh, I wish I could remember what the
name of that toy was from Jingle all the way.
But anyway, that's like, that's the thing that sticks in my mind
is that I mean, growing up for us, it was tickle me, Elmo.
And now I'm just like, Oh my gosh, that I would much rather
have my had my parents spend the money on creating an experience
for us and creating some memories for us than a tickle me
Elmo. I actually don't even remember
if my sister or I ever got the tickle me Elmo, but I remember
it being a big deal. See, this stuff doesn't matter,
right? Like how many years later this
stuff doesn't matter? And focus on what is most
important for you and your family.
This year as you decide to do things a little bit differently
because you are, or maybe because you may be skipping the
Black Friday and madness, I want to share a special invite with
you. And this is exclusive to my
e-mail subscribers. So if you are not subscribed to
my emails, jump on my website, debtrebelpodcast.com.
If you grab your Debt Rebel Starter kit there, you'll
automatically be added to that list.
But I'm doing a 12 Days of Christmas promo.
There's going to be some really great stuff.
There's going to be some special freebies, discounts, goodies,
tips, tools, but it is only available for my e-mail
subscribers. So make sure you jump over there
to debtrebelpodcast.com and get on that list because that's
coming soon. You get to decide how you are
spending this Christmas, how you're spending your holiday
season. And if this year the goal is to
just have a more peaceful season, then maybe that means
not going just crazy with the Black Friday shopping or feeding
into the frenzy that the rest of the world.
It is absolutely OK to opt out of that.
And so I just want to encourage you if there, if you are working
on your holiday budget, to just write it down, decide how much
you have to spend. And ideally, you're not going to
be going to your credit card because when you are not when
you're using your debit card or cash to purchase things for
Christmas this year, it means that January is going to be even
more peaceful for you this year than it was last year.
Can you imagine having peace in December and in January and not
having to open that credit card bill and go, Oh my gosh, I got
out of control. Now, the other thing is if you
do decide to go shopping and buy some things is save your
receipts because I have definitely been known to do
this. If you buy something and then
you have that regret later on that you're like, hey, this was
out of my budget or this really felt like an impulse buy, it is
absolutely OK and acceptable to return it.
Just return it. There's no shame in it.
Retailers expect it. It is part of the game for them.
They know it. And so there is you don't have
to have any sort of feeling of shame or regret for a purchase
that you've made in the past and you decide, you know what, I'm
going to return it. Just be mindful of the return
dates, you know, the the return policies and follow those and
enjoy, just enjoy the Christmas season, enjoy your friends,
enjoy your family. And I hope that this Christmas
brings you a little bit more peace when you are intentional
with your money. So thanks so much for listening.
We'll see you in the next episode.
Thank you for tuning into the Debt Rebel show today.
Ready to take your family budgeting to the next level.
Stop that paycheck to paycheck check grind and start living
debt free. Head over to my website
debtrebelpodcast.com. That's DEBTREBEL podcast.com to
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And if you know another family that will love hearing today's
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of the way. We'll talk soon.
Debt Rebel.