Affordable Gifts People Will Actually Love

Speaker 1 Hey, it's George here with my friend and co-host, Rachel Cruz. You're probably used to hearing our voices on The Ramsey Show, but did you know that we're also co-hosts of another show? That's right.

Speaker 1 Every week we're dropping episodes with unfiltered talk about money, pop culture, and more on Smart Money Happy Hour.

Speaker 1 And today we're sharing a special Black Friday edition episode of Smart Money Happy Hour right here for Ramsey Show listeners.

Speaker 1 We're going to be diving into some of the biggest holiday spending traps and sharing our top tips to stay out of debt while still enjoying the season.

Speaker 1 So if you're ready to make smart money moves and avoid that financial holiday hangover, tune in. Okay, here's the episode.

Speaker 1 Hey guys, I'm Rachel Cruz. I'm George Camille.
And this is Smart Money Happy Hour.

Speaker 1 Cheers, George. Cheers.

Speaker 1 Oh, so refreshing. I'm thankful for this.
Let's just be thankful all around.

Speaker 1 well this is the show where two friends who happen to be money experts talk about what you're talking about so everything from pop culture current events and money and today we're talking about the gift of gifts we're leaning into the holiday cheer so great because today george right now if you are watching when this episode releases it is thanksgiving and we're not with our families we're here for you that's how much we care about you guys and i hope you're with people that you love doing things that you love Maybe you're in a car.

Speaker 1 Maybe you're avoiding family. I don't know.
Yeah, maybe they're traveling to grandmother's house down the highway. This thing's like a little bit of a business.
It's Little Red Riding Hood.

Speaker 1 You know, and you're like listening to us while the kids like are watching something in the back. Thank you.

Speaker 1 Or maybe you're up in a bedroom at your in-laws trying to just get away from the craziness and you just need a little, a little light-hearted cheer and you've turned us on. We're going to bring it.

Speaker 1 Right away. Happy Thanksgiving.
I love Thanksgiving. Do you? I'm a fan.
There's something that's a lot, I don't know, that's not dramatic. It's not stressful.
Christmas feels a little more stressful.

Speaker 1 Because we're about to get into Christmas and we're going to talk about gift giving in this episode. So we have you covered.
But you're not hauling like a whole bunch of gifts.

Speaker 1 You're just like bringing something to the dinner, maybe. Like a bottle of wine, some food.

Speaker 1 Just a good meal. So what are we sipping on, George? We're talking about

Speaker 1 wine. This is a mock tail.

Speaker 1 It's called a red sands gria. You like the pun there? Sans.
Love it. So there's no alcohol in this, but if you,

Speaker 1 this is a great one to make make on Thanksgiving, honestly. Yeah.

Speaker 1 So if you need a drink tonight, you're going to get the recipe in the show notes and the rating and the cost per glass at the end of the episode. So delicious.
Okay, George, it's Thanksgiving.

Speaker 1 So what is one thing you're thankful for?

Speaker 1 Recently, I think my daughter is the most recent thing I'm grateful for. And watching Whitney be the most amazing mom.
I tell her all the time. She's great.

Speaker 1 I tell Mia. I'm like, you have the most amazing mom who cares about you so much.

Speaker 1 Every decision has so much thought. And

Speaker 1 I'm grateful for them as a package. Package dealers.
Yeah, package deal. My girls.
Your family.

Speaker 1 I bet you love it.

Speaker 1 I'll be the same vein. I think family.
Yeah. The kids, Winston, our like little nuclear family, extended family is great too.
Love y'all. I never heard the nuclear, I never hear it spoken like that.

Speaker 1 Oh, just like our little nuclear family, like our little

Speaker 1 Winston Cruises. So right there.

Speaker 1 Yeah, but I would say that.

Speaker 1 You know,

Speaker 1 it's a big deal. It's things that you take for granted sometimes the day-to-day.
That's why like Thanksgiving kind of causes you to pause and be like, man.

Speaker 1 Do you guys go around the table and do like a here-to-do with the Ramsay? Yeah. Wow.

Speaker 1 And talk about what we're grateful for. That's really nice.
Yeah. That's like a sharing tradition.
And we're headed to Boston for the holidays to be with my family. So that'll be nice.

Speaker 1 Holming a one-year-old. That's a great place to be Thanksgiving.
It's very historical. It is.
Around that time. It feels like it's.
That's how it's been said. Boston is a very historical place.

Speaker 1 And it'll be a nice, chilly New England fall vibe. So good.
Another thing I'm grateful for, especially this year, is when people actually know how to give gifts that aren't a complete waste of money.

Speaker 1 And I know that sounds ungrateful, but I just, I'm tired of just stuff for the sake of stuff. Yep.
If you're going to do a gift, make it thoughtful, but also I don't want to have to read your mind.

Speaker 1 So we're going to help these people today, everyone listening and watching. Because Black Friday is tomorrow and the shopping starts.

Speaker 1 If it's not already done, it's getting completed probably in the next week or or two and yeah we're gonna help you out because gifts are fun are you a great gift giver is that like a strength no I'm great at if you tell me what you want I will find you the best deal on that gift oh yeah yeah under budget for sure so that is my spiritual gift love it's not the thing it's getting the deal on the things that you don't get screwed What a gift that that's a gift that keeps on giving resourcefulness.

Speaker 1 You know, and I'm not a great gift giver either. And I wish I was because people that are and they get you that thing, they're like, well, you said this, you know, like three months ago.

Speaker 1 And I just thought, Oh, and you're like, Oh my gosh, you mentioned it, conversation,

Speaker 1 step on it. Yes, I wish I was better at that, but I'm not.
Yeah, I'm not. What's like the best gift you've ever received? Oh my goodness, that's a big question.

Speaker 1 I think childhood comes to mind because, as an adult, there's less, I don't know, there's less excitement around opening a gift. It's like, cool, I could have bought this, but thank you for buying it.

Speaker 1 Sure. As a kid,

Speaker 1 the two best things I ever got were an electric guitar

Speaker 1 and a video camera.

Speaker 1 So I think it it was like fourth grade and fifth grade. Oh, that's fine.
Those really like shaped who I am. You know what I mean?

Speaker 1 Like I was a musician and I started bands and I was in film and I wanted to go into film. I still love video.

Speaker 1 I'm on video today. So those were the most formative gifts that meant the most and probably were not cheap.
Like I'm thinking back, I'm like to buy a kid back then it was like $700 for a video camera.

Speaker 1 Sure. And I was like, I want it.
I want a video camera. Yeah.
How about you?

Speaker 1 And we're getting a boombox. Yes.
That was a big deal because I had a CD player and a cassette tape and it was like all in one. And you could just pick it up with the handle and I would carry it.

Speaker 1 With the radio.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 1 We were recording songs from the radio. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Because I would play and record at the same time.

Speaker 1 And it was great. We got a puppy for Christmas one year.
Oh, that's fun. When you were kids or as adults? Yeah, when we were kids.
That's fun. And it's come full circle.
Came in the box.

Speaker 1 You have puppies at your home right now. I do.
And actually, this week they're going off to their homes. I know.
That's sweet. I know we had six puppies and they are now all across the country.

Speaker 1 Yeah, you're giving the gift. When I am, you're getting paid for it, but still,

Speaker 1 what a gift it is. What a gift it is.
To bring home a puppy. I know.
Yep.

Speaker 1 Okay. So, George, there's all these different types of gifts that we can give.
And so, again, I think it's important to help all of you out there have gifts that are practical.

Speaker 1 Because when we're adults,

Speaker 1 you know, there's the sentimental gifts. Winston's a good gift giver.
He'll do like jewelry. Like I got another wedding band for last anniversary.

Speaker 1 Like there's like sweet gifts that mean a lot, but there's also the practical gifts that can go a long way with people.

Speaker 1 And you have different people in your life that value different things or interested in different things. And we're going to be here for the people, George.

Speaker 1 We're going to curate the best gift list you've ever seen in your entire life. All right.
For free. And we each have our own under these lists.

Speaker 1 So you can tell whose gift is who if we just told you what they are. Are you ready? We got the wine and cocktail lovers.

Speaker 1 So there is a cocktail shaker, and I will give Courtney, the cheese gal, credit because I follow her.

Speaker 1 And there is a cocktail shaker

Speaker 1 that

Speaker 1 does not

Speaker 1 freeze your hands. It's like a thermo, thermal.

Speaker 1 There's like a protective covering because we have a cocktail shaker. When you shake it so much with ice, you're like, your hands get...
they're frozen. Because it's just a straight-up metal shaker.

Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right.
That's right. Or stainless steel.
Yes, but this has like a protective covering over it so your hands never get cold. Do you know what type of shaker you have?

Speaker 1 Is it like the Boston shaker that has two pieces that you sort of stick on top diagonally a little bit? No, you can't have a double. Or is it that it has a top and a lid and a strainer?

Speaker 1 Yeah, it's a lid. Yep.
But the top is also a measuring,

Speaker 1 which is great too. So two in one.
It's fantastic. Do you know the brand?

Speaker 1 I'll link it down below. Oh, that's right.
We should tell the people. We're going to link all of it.
Yeah, we'll link all of it. So check it out.

Speaker 1 That's a great one. If you have a wine or a cocktail film.
This one I think is very thoughtful. And I've given this gift to cocktail lovers in my life.
And that is a vintage cocktail book.

Speaker 1 That's cool. So you can go on eBay and search for like 1950s or vintage cocktail book or a secondhand bookstore.
Sometimes we'll have these.

Speaker 1 And there's something about like a classic vintage cocktail book and making a drink out of that that transports you. I think that's what a good drink does.

Speaker 1 And I think the old-timey drinks are so cool. Yes.
Like the speakeasy days. Even like the fonts were cool.
Everything was just like classic. I know.

Speaker 1 Go back to like the what, the 30s, 20s? So far. So that's a thoughtful gift.
That's not your standard. I'm going to go buy a cocktail book on Amazon.
So good.

Speaker 1 All right, next is for the people who love to cook in your life. My favorite cooking utensil, and I use it probably twice a week.
It is a meat grinder.

Speaker 1 It's actually, I think, a pampered chef, but I'm sure there's like an Amazon dupe. But the way it is, it's like a spatula, but it's up and it has these like grooves in it.
But you, you spin it.

Speaker 1 in your ground beef and it makes the finest like taco bell fine whoa ground beef so you're recreating taco bell meat at home It's what we're going for, but with real meat.

Speaker 1 It is what we're going for with real meat. How cool is that? But it makes it really thin because when I do spaghetti sauce or tacos or chili or all of that, I don't like chunky chunks of meat.

Speaker 1 Like I'm not a meatball fan.

Speaker 1 Oh, I didn't know that about you. Yeah, I don't need like a chunk of meat.
I got to cancel the gift I got you. Yeah, I have a meatball maker.
It's a meatball maker. Yep.

Speaker 1 So this finely grounds your ground beef, and it is fantastic, not expensive. It's wonderful.
Can I ask a dumb question? Sure. Why do you like burgers?

Speaker 1 Isn't that just a meatball that has been flat? You know what?

Speaker 1 That is true, George.

Speaker 1 Fair. But I actually like my burgers more thin.
I don't like smash patty. Yes.
Smash burgers all day. I don't like, like, mom and dad, when they cook burgers at their house, it's like really thick.

Speaker 1 And I don't like that. I don't like the like, it's like a ball of meat

Speaker 1 on a burger. And it just, it doesn't work.
So you got to put your thumb in. I've learned that trick.
You know, it kind of spreads. So it's not too high on the top and round.
Yeah, David Sharon's high.

Speaker 1 It's like a. Well, hey, Dave and Sharon, if you're listening, I just want to say,

Speaker 1 I'll be happy to show up and eat your delicious burger instead of Rachel, who's ungrateful.

Speaker 1 So, no, I don't like it. Like, I don't like when it's thick like that.
It's not good. So thin.
All right. Thin, thin.
So maybe I like McDonald's. Just thin.
Thin, low quality.

Speaker 1 That's what Rachel's here for. That's what I'm here for.
Wispy.

Speaker 1 My gift for people who love to cook, a high-quality citrus squeezer. Underrated.
Oh, good one. Because most people have these dinky citrus squeezers they've had forever.

Speaker 1 And I got one, I believe it was on Amazon. It has like a metal extra piece, and you get 20% extra juice.
Wow. And so I like to get the most out of my citrus.
100%. So this is a great gift.

Speaker 1 If you're still squeezing limes with your like arthritis-ridden hands, it's time to upgrade. Okay, where do you get yours? Is it like on Amazon? Yeah, mine was from Amazon.
Okay.

Speaker 1 But I remember the selling point was up to 20% more juice. And I was like, you had me.
You got me.

Speaker 1 You got me on that investment and most people they don't have a good one and that's what makes it a great yes that's fair that's fair all right next is for the tech and gadget lovers out there one of my favorite things george is a wireless phone charger Oh, where do you just put it on the back of the phone?

Speaker 1 I have it on my nightstand. Now, I will say there may be an attorney.
There's still a wire involved, but

Speaker 1 it's not connected to your phone. You just lay it on top.
You got to wait for the green to light up because there have maybe like 10 times where you think it's charging and it's not.

Speaker 1 And that's a bummer. So you do have to like watch for it.
My beef with those is you can't have a phone case that is blocking the back. I have a phone case.
What does yours look like?

Speaker 1 But that's not blocking. Like if you have a wallet on the back or something like that.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yours is clean.
Yep. But you just set it right there and it, yeah.
Wow. So great.

Speaker 1 Well, my gift is tied to that for the tech lovers out there, and that's an extended phone charger. So we're talking like a six-footer.
Now that is nice. You can get these cheap on Amazon.

Speaker 1 You can get a pack of them. They even have like a 12.
If you really need a long, if this is going around a couch or something, you can get them even longer.

Speaker 1 But I think it's, we live in a world where, why are you reaching over to use your phone? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Life's too short to be rocking the like three-foot iPhone cable.

Speaker 1 Yeah, we don't need to do that. I went home.
I saw my dad's iPhone cable. All of the metal was showing from inside the wire.
All of the

Speaker 1 upgrade, Mr. Clark.
Like the rubber was like all coming off. And I went, dude,

Speaker 1 you need a better cable. So that Christmas, I got them upgraded iPhone cables.
That's a great thing. It's one of those things where you're just like, I'm not going to go get new iPhone cables.

Speaker 1 It's working. It's fine.
And I'm like, why are you risking getting electrocuted over this? Yeah, life is too short. That's good.
I like that one, George. All right, next is for your kids.

Speaker 1 Okay, so this was a gift. Both of my girls got at different times and they

Speaker 1 just love it so much. It's so funny to me.
And it's so cheap. Like you can get a really cheap one on Amazon, but it's a kid digital camera.
And so like,

Speaker 1 it's just like this like little cheap digital camera and it's terrible quality.

Speaker 1 I mean, like you could barely see it, but it has like a unicorn case on it i mean it's just like this cheap little thing but they wear it around their neck and they'll like literally wear it out

Speaker 1 like they think it's so cool to take pictures and like have a screen probably because they don't have like phones and stuff uh but they just they loved it and it's like 20 bucks but yeah it so if you have like a older kid how do you get the photos

Speaker 1 forgive my ignorance i don't even think you do i mean i think it's just the fact that they don't know they don't they don't get i'm sure there's a card i'm sure there's some like um

Speaker 1 an sd card sd us i was gonna say a usps

Speaker 1 not a usps

Speaker 1 oh whatever that card is in there i'm sure you can take it out but they don't even want the pictures it's just the idea that they get to like have this instant gratification of their own like oh i get to take a picture and it shows they got to be artists and creative and

Speaker 1 they think it's like so fun i like that one yeah okay it's cheap but yeah it's fun i go with a timeless gift for kids and i blocked this depends on age this is not for a two-year-old but as they get older, there's something about a crisp $20 bill that just

Speaker 1 cash. Yes.
George, let's get a little bit more. And as they get older, can I tell you, one of my uncles would always give me a $50 bill.
And it's so rare, even back then, that I would see a $50 bill.

Speaker 1 So it was like life-changing to me, both the amount of money and just seeing the bill. I protected that thing with all my life.
Where is it at? And that's the most memorable. I spent it.

Speaker 1 Yeah, but you did. Probably on a Game Boy or something back then.
Totally. You know, you can do this in different ways, or you can put it in the piggy bank or the college fund or whatever.

Speaker 1 But I like this one. It's a great pleasure.
Speaking of just cash and money for teens,

Speaker 1 you know, the big thing is gas gift cards. So as we get to driving age.
Yep. And so that's what I've heard from a lot of people.
Because no one wants to spend money on gas.

Speaker 1 So it's a nice blessing to be like, hey, I don't have to think about it. It's not coming out of my bank account.
That's right. That's right.
That's right.

Speaker 1 And I mean, gift cards are a great one for teens because you know that's really what they want. Amazon, Target, wherever their favorite store is, is, Starbucks.

Speaker 1 I don't know where they get coffee these days. These kids out here.
These kids out here. Getting their mocha lattes.
All right. Parents and grandparents.

Speaker 1 You know what's a good one? Is a Thurogun. Therogun? Theragun.
Theragun. The massage gun.
That's like.

Speaker 1 Yes.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I've got one of those. I never use it, but I need to because I pulled a muscle on my shoulder sleeping last night.
That's one night. That's right.
And my parents love them.

Speaker 1 So, like, it's a good, it's a good grandparent gift. Yeah, and you could, there's a range of, you know, budgetary options here.
You can get the cheaper one on Amazon. You can spring for the nicer one.

Speaker 1 That's true. Anything from Brookstone.
Remember Brookstone, that store? Yep. A massage chair.
Has anyone, did you know anyone that owns one of those extra massage chairs like in their house?

Speaker 1 No, I was at someone's house once. It was like a friend of a relative, and they had like a, like one of those $4,000 massage chairs.
These are really nice ones. And I was like, I get it.

Speaker 1 This is literally.

Speaker 1 What we did get from my mom is like the foot, you put your feet in it, like you can have water, and it's a foot massager type thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So she appreciated that. There you go.

Speaker 1 That was a good one. See, the new one is the neck fans, the like the cooling neck fan thing.
Have you seen people wear these? Yes, they were a lot at sport. Oh, Kelly's a fan.
Yeah, you love it.

Speaker 1 I've seen it like Disney World and the summertime at the games and all that. Do they work? They really do.
Yeah. I think that was cool.
It just kind of wasn't sold on it.

Speaker 1 It's like, this is kind of cheesy. But it was when it was so hot over Fourth of July weekend and we were doing the whole firework thing.
And man, I love it. Wow.

Speaker 1 I want to try it, but truthfully, they just look dorky.

Speaker 1 And I'm not like, it's not like I'm too cool for it. I just, I feel like I just get made fun of if I wore it.
There's a certain look when you wear a neck fan.

Speaker 1 If I wore one into the office, I'd never hear the end of it. No, you wouldn't.

Speaker 1 You got to do outdoor events, George. Thank you.
I hope you don't go to many of those, but it's good. All right.
So when you are married, your spouse, do you guys do Christmas gifts?

Speaker 1 We decided, I think pretty soon into our marriage, that we were not going to get Christmas gifts for each other. It was already a stressful time, a lot going on.
So we decided to just say no to that.

Speaker 1 Same here. Yeah, we don't do it.
Yeah, we don't do Christmas gifts anyway. Where do you get gifts for each other? Like, what are the occasions? Anniversary? Is it? Yeah, anniversary.
We'll do stuff.

Speaker 1 Birthday every now and then, but we're not, neither of us are like really big gift people. Yeah.
We stopped anniversary too for the most part.

Speaker 1 We decided we'd rather have an experience together, like a really nice meal, versus like I bought her a thing or jewelry. Totally.

Speaker 1 And so birthdays are the only one that we really go, I want to get her something fun.

Speaker 1 Yep. I did get Winston early on.
Gosh, I think this was before kids.

Speaker 1 Gavin DeGras tickets. Wow.
Is that his favorite artist? He does love Gavin, the piano part of Gavin. He's very talented.
Yes.

Speaker 1 What is the other part of Gavin?

Speaker 1 I don't know. He likes the piano.
He smashes the ivories. And it is fun when you know there's something that they would love and you surprise them with it.

Speaker 1 It's like that's a fun, that's a fun gesture for sure. So the surprise element is still fun.

Speaker 1 And and i feel like the we're leaning toward experiences more than stuff these days so a concert for an artist i love oh that's a good one but you can get creative i mean and the experiences you know you can do like a pickleball lesson or a pasta making class like a cocktail making class that's that would be fun yes but to do something together i think is always exciting and like subscription boxes or like a coffee subscription where they get a new

Speaker 1 local bag or something like that you know your level of connection actually does go up when you have a shared experience together dr les parrot when we do money and marriage together, he would talk about that.

Speaker 1 That studies show from like even, you know, brain activity when you're doing something with someone. That's why on The Bachelor, you know, that show.
They always do something. They do crazy.

Speaker 1 They hit like bungee jumping.

Speaker 1 There it is. Yes.
Did you say that too? Yeah. Jinx.
Yomi Coke. Yomi Coke.
But they do this like crazy shared experience together and it bonds them.

Speaker 1 What's the craziest thing, like experience you and Winston have done that you feel like was bonding? Oh, that's a great question. We've like hiked.

Speaker 1 I'm trying to think if we've done like a like a really high thing like the heights thing is always like a

Speaker 1 oh you're both a little

Speaker 1 yeah leery of heights don't care for the heights geez george i'm not sure you guys well i can think of one for you you guys went to seattle to see taylor swift oh yeah it's not scary though no but i feel like that's a bonding experience oh totally winston wearing the t-swift he enjoyed it more than you did secretly yeah he was uh he was he was confused half the time of like what is happening around here but it was so so the fans are the confusing you're like what they're on

Speaker 1 it's like a whole other this is a spiritual experience for them oh for sure for sure

Speaker 1 so much so so much all right uh the next one which i think is always a fun one is like the white elephant gift oh i love these this is just like the random kind of like less expensive what's the thing that you love if i could do this for all christmases for all families i would i think it would just relieve the pressure everyone would be under budget because we're not all everyone buying a gift for every single person And what do you want?

Speaker 1 Well, hers is $200.

Speaker 1 I'm tired of that. For sure.
I love the idea of the white elephant dirty Santa gift swab. So fun.
Okay. So what I would buy is a milk frother.

Speaker 1 Oh, that's a good one. It's like $10.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 My kids use it to like make chocolate milk. Like they'll like put chocolate syrup in milk and they'll do that.

Speaker 1 Winston uses it for like milk for coffee and all of that. It's just a great little gadget to have.

Speaker 1 I use it all the time and I use it for my new thing is instant coffee. Wait, Keurig? No.

Speaker 1 Trader Joe's has an instant coffee. So it's ground coffee.

Speaker 1 It's instant. All you do is mix it with water or milk, and I used a little frother, and it foams up with a lot of stuff.
Dewards, I feel like that's like below you.

Speaker 1 I thought so too, but I found a recipe that makes it bougie, where you add some brown sugar in there with the coffee, and it becomes this very decadent

Speaker 1 experience. Oh, my gosh.
I know. I love it.
So there you go, a frother. My white elephant go-to, this is going to sound unlike me.
Scratch tickets.

Speaker 1 I don't recommend people play the lottery, but I think for like a fun gift that we all do together. You can get a stack of them and just see it if you make some.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I did it for the cousins one year because we were all like grown adults buying each other gift cards for the same amounts. And I was like, this isn't fun.
So I bought the crossword one.

Speaker 1 That's like $5. Yeah.
And it takes like 20 minutes to cross off every single letter and see if you got any words. Did people get scratched? And some people won like 20 bucks off a $5 crossword.

Speaker 1 So you never know.

Speaker 1 It's kind of a little game element to it. Exactly.
There's some competition there. So that's a fun one that maybe you don't, you didn't think of Ramsey when you thought Scratch Ticket.

Speaker 1 No, you did not. No, I did not.

Speaker 1 All right. I love the take a hint kind of gift.
What's that mean? It's like when people like give you like a vacuum cleaner. Like, hey, you probably need a letter.
Oh, your house is disgusting.

Speaker 1 Or like, I don't know, whatever it is. Some extra sponges because yours are gross.
Like, whatever the thing is, it's like, here's like a little.

Speaker 1 So just whitening. There's a couple of those.
I mean, like the Total Money Makeover book could be that. Oh.

Speaker 1 And the great thing is, George, the Total Money Makeover book is one of our Black Friday sales here at Ramsey Solutions. And actually, all the books are your books, my books.

Speaker 1 So go to Ramseysolutions.com. Make sure to check it out because we have some great deals this Christmas on all of our products.
So they actually make really great gifts.

Speaker 1 That's not just a hint of like, hey, you should do better with your money, but it actually will help people. And you can pair it with a little $20 bill in chapter one.
It was a little surprise.

Speaker 1 Maybe still really read it. You do you.
That's good. That's good.

Speaker 1 I've got one that's practical for people who lose everything that you love, and that's an Apple Air tag or any of these tags that track things. That's good.

Speaker 1 Track your kids, track your phones, track your keys. I've got it everywhere.
Yep. So I love it.
I love an Air Tag. We put that in our suitcases sometimes.
Here's a take-the-hint gift.

Speaker 1 Bought someone a fridge. What? Because when we'd go hang out, and there would be a cooler that stored everything.
And it was kind of a nightmare to just

Speaker 1 store everything in this cooler in the garage. So we're like, let's just go in and get a fridge So that whenever we're over there, we can

Speaker 1 store our Krispy Boys. You know, I love a little sparkling water.
Yeah. People, I need a cold.
I'm sure everyone appreciates it.

Speaker 1 Have you realized that you cannot drink room temperature sparkling water? See, I actually kind of like it.

Speaker 1 When my topo chicos go kind of like just room temperature, it does not bother me. Why? I don't know.
It kind of like heats everything up when it goes down. It's kind of nice.
You need help.

Speaker 1 It's kind of like. I'm going to get you a better help subscription.
Kind of nice. That's a good one.
All right. Here's for some gifts for the person that has it all

Speaker 1 is you got to go sentimental.

Speaker 1 You got to go like the picture routes, the homemade calendar. So this is like a Dave Ramsey.
That's what I think of like the person who has it all. What are you doing?

Speaker 1 Hand prints from all the grandkids. I got my parents for their like house a yard.

Speaker 1 like a sign in the yard and it had these like wooden arrows pointing different ways and one said like Mimi's kitchen and it points inside the house. Papa Dave's dock.

Speaker 1 It goes that way, the dog park because they have this big dog. And it's customized for for the city.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got off Etsy.
And I was like, that's a great gift. That's a good one.

Speaker 1 But they can, yeah, put the yard at the lake. So personalized.
Like getting the socks with a picture of their dog on it. That's so funny.
That's a fun one. Or their kids on it.
That's a fun one.

Speaker 1 That's a good one. Handwritten notes, homemade artwork, a book about something that they're interested in, a photo session with the family, something that's a little more

Speaker 1 felt and personal. Yeah.
Or an experience. If you know they're into art, let's get them a membership to the art gallery in town or the museum or a spa visit.

Speaker 1 Uh-huh.

Speaker 1 That's a good one, guys. I don't think that's very sentimental, though.
Well, it's thoughtful for someone who could use a de-stressor. Maybe.
Moms.

Speaker 1 Moms, on the moms out there. I think Whitney would take a spa gift card.

Speaker 1 So those are some really thoughtful gifts that I don't think are a waste of money, and people will actually appreciate them and not return them. We've all been there.
Hope we helped you guys out.

Speaker 1 Return the gifts. Yeah.
And I think gift-giving expectations around the holidays, it can easily get out of hand.

Speaker 1 And the last thing you want is to kick off the new year financially behind, resentful, in debt. So please don't do that.
Yeah. And I think like, ask, why are we doing this, right?

Speaker 1 If you're all adults buying adults' gifts in the family, like just ask. Have a hard conversation.
Do we like really need to be doing this, right?

Speaker 1 Or if there was a certain dollar amount that was always spent, like question why, or is your motivation so people, you know, could see all of this and how fun it is.

Speaker 1 Like, like just again, the motivation and

Speaker 1 challenging what used to be the norm, I think is really good. And setting the boundaries.

Speaker 1 Today's a good day to set them. Don't wait until Christmas to then get rid of them.
Some people like genuinely were like, I hope someone else speaks up, right? And you could be the hero.

Speaker 1 Just say, hey, can we limit the gifts?

Speaker 1 No gifts over $50 or whatever the limits are. Draw names.
We're going to draw names and you're each going to get one person. So much better.

Speaker 1 And I love the question that you have people ask before they buy something. Oh, that if nobody sees this purchase, do I still want it? There it is.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 That's true. That's true for, yeah.
Because honestly, a lot of the times around the holidays, I'll buy things for myself. Yeah.
There's a piece of me that's like, well, it's a really good deal.

Speaker 1 I might as well stock up. So there's a piece that we got to also look in the mirror.
Yes. And stay under control.
Don't shop for yourself. This is the season to give.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 And that's where the budget comes in handy. And I love, I'll make a little budget separately for Christmas and go, all right, here's what we're going to spend on each person.

Speaker 1 And I'm going to make sure we stay under that budget. Yes.
And every dollar is a great way to do that. This is our budgeting app.
You can set all of your line items for each person.

Speaker 1 You can have one line item for all of Christmas. Yeah, I do a Christmas one, and then I go into my notes app and have everyone's in there and drag and drop all the transactions into that one.

Speaker 1 Or if you want to even want to be more detailed, list everybody out in Every Dollar for December. Yeah.
And you can have it all there or November if you're shopping.

Speaker 1 And that's what I love about Every Dollar is you just duplicate November and then you can make tweaks to December, add all the people, and then January, delete those categories. And then you're done.

Speaker 1 And you've moved on without debt. So please don't go into debt for any gifts for anyone for any reason.
Not worth it.

Speaker 1 We'll put a link down below so you can check out Every Dollar if you haven't already.

Speaker 1 Well, all right, George, it's almost the end of the episode, and we close out every episode with guilty as charged.

Speaker 1 And this is where our producer, Kelly, gives us a new guilty as charge question every week. And if we're guilty, we take a sip.
So, Kelly? All right. Have you ever been given a gift by someone

Speaker 1 and you didn't have one for them? So you lied about not having it by saying, like, oh, I left your gift at home or

Speaker 1 that kind of thing so that you don't feel bad

Speaker 1 I've done that this happens with friends that I realize are gift givers and I am not and then I realize oh like I have to reciprocate this can't be a one-way street so there's been I have do you always reciprocate because I have learned throughout the years I'll just receive and just say thank you and not feel the pressure but I feel like I used to feel and I would write their name down like I have to buy them something well how random are these people?

Speaker 1 That's the question. Yeah, some of them, I think a couple have been like, oh my gosh.

Speaker 1 I wasn't expecting, yeah, I was not expecting a gift from this person. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Well, do you give, like, do you give and receive gifts from friends around Christmas? Uh,

Speaker 1 no, not a ton. We've kind of stopped doing that.
I feel like we did that more when we were younger. Um, that's kind of stopped more.
But I'll feel like I'll randomly get a gift and I'm like, oh, crap.

Speaker 1 Like,

Speaker 1 jeez.

Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah.
No, I've been there. There's, I can think of two friends in particular who are really good friends.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 But I didn't know we were at like at we're not like giving gifts for Christmas kind of friends. Yeah.
Yeah, totally. And as a child, my parents would give gifts to my best friend's parents.

Speaker 1 And they kept doing this. And so they would give us a gift.
So we would give them a gift. So next year, they would give us a gift and then we would have to give them a gift.

Speaker 1 Even long after me and this guy were friends. Oh, stop it.
It had been years since I had even seen the guy. And they finally just said, hey, we're going to, we're not doing this anymore.

Speaker 1 They're They're like, okay, good. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
Someone has to break the chain. It's like a pay forward.
Yes, just to say, we got to stop it.

Speaker 1 Even though it's been a tradition, we don't need it. You know what this has me thinking, Rachel, this guilty charge question?

Speaker 1 If I got you a gift, would you then lie and be like, oh my gosh, I'm getting, yeah. Oh, you'd be a good, yes, George.
Or this is a good relationship where that could happen.

Speaker 1 Because I feel like you would be like, oh, that's so nice. You didn't have to.
I didn't get you anything.

Speaker 1 Maybe I would. Maybe I would.
Yeah, no, yeah, you're right. You're right.

Speaker 1 right you're right because you can't hurt my feelings you don't have that power over me yeah if michael redish got me a gift yeah

Speaker 1 if you don't know michael is one of the best gift givers i've ever met so you cannot top his gifts yeah yeah yeah yeah that was very difficult i usually do group gifts for michael because you have to go big and make it very thoughtful and personal so oh he's a high maintenance gift receiver he's just it's got to be something like with some weight behind it crazy yeah it can't just be like a gadget i guess i'm probably somebody that i would be like oh shoot, your gift's coming.

Speaker 1 I may say that to you, George. Wow.
I know. Would you be honest with me? Or would you feel like...
If you got me a gift, would I feel like I have to get you one? No, but I would go, oh, you know what?

Speaker 1 I should get the cruise as a gift. That'd be a nice.
You know, I got Dave and Sharon a gift one year. I don't remember why.
What? But I got Sharon mostly for Sharon.

Speaker 1 It was a bourbon maple syrup from Trader Joe's. Like a bourbon-aged, barrel-aged maple syrup.

Speaker 1 Just the gift gift. But I think she enjoyed enjoyed it.
There's probably something else on there. Yeah.
So kind.

Speaker 1 All right. Who finished her drink first? I think we're about equal on this, but it was a really good one.
This was a mocktail, and it's a red sans gria.

Speaker 1 Very clever. Whoever came up with that.
Good name. Good name.
And it's $1.56 per glass. It's got a few things in it, but I think it's a great one to try.

Speaker 1 Pomegranate juice, grape juice, tart cherry juice, coconut water, orange juice, lime juice. And then, of course, with sand gria, you want to put some fruits in there.

Speaker 1 So you can slice up a whole lemon, slice up a whole lime, slice up an orange, slice up an apple, and throw it all in there. Get it all there.
It's a great batch recipe to make for the holidays. Yes.

Speaker 1 I'm going to give this one a 10 out of 10. Wow.
I'm going 8 out of 10. It was a little tart.
I like tart. Yep.
Look at that pomegranate juice. I'm a huge fan of pomegranate.
You love it.

Speaker 1 You'll love it. So go check out the recipe in the show notes.
Make it for all of your family and friends. Even the kids can enjoy this one.
Yeah, for sure. They can partake.

Speaker 1 Well, you guys, it's closing time. So thanks so much for listening and watching.
Make sure to review, comment below. We'd love to hear from you guys.

Speaker 1 So, if you enjoyed this episode and you're traveling this holiday season, make sure to check out our episode on why short-term rentals are no vacation.

Speaker 1 And we'll see you guys next Thursday on an all-new episode of Smart Money Happy Hour.