Budget-Friendly Gifts, Vision Boards, And A Kinder Year-End

We reset for year-end with a calm plan: review the vision board, sequence big goals into early 2026 if needed, and design a holiday season that protects cash and peace. Practical DIY gift ideas, budget boundaries, and low-stress hosting make generosity doable.

• year-end vision board check and goal triage
• sequencing certifications and realistic timelines
• spending limits that avoid debt
• DIY gifts in bulk for real savings
• brunch hosting to cut cost and stress
• reframing holidays around presence, not presents
• tools to reduce pressure and protect energy

Transcript

Copy

Year-End Check-In And Vision Boards

SPEAKER_00 4:29

Hey guys, welcome back to Coffee with a Twist. You're here with Madam Balloon. Hope everyone had a great week. Having a great day, a great weekend. Man, 2025 is almost over. Today is October 20th or 19th. I can't really remember the date. I should have looked at the calendar before I jumped on here. But either way, November is like in two weeks. Um, so I hope you know everyone's taking this time to one look back at your vision board that you made um on New Year's or the very beginning of this year, and you know, see if there's anything that you can mark off, see if there's anything that um maybe you can even get done before these two uh two months is up, what is it, two and a half months or what have you. Um, or even start something um now that maybe won't get finished till early part of 2026, the first quarter. So, you know, just because you don't uh fully accomplish it this year doesn't mean that um you can't get it started and it just rolls into next year, nothing's wrong with that. Um I am kind of doing the same thing that I'm telling you all, and I am reassessing some things and looking at my vision board and trying to ensure that I'm meeting or have met some of those goals, and I'm getting there. Um

Rolling Goals Into Early 2026

SPEAKER_00 6:13

I'm working now on like some training certifications. Um I'm hoping a little ambitious of me, but I'm hoping to get a total of two to three knocked out before the end of the year. I've already started um the biggest one. I'm doing the biggest one first, so my plan is to take that exam the very beginning of November, God willing, if I pass, then I can go on to those next two, as they're not as hard and not as time consuming. So really this first one, you know, depends on the other two going through. So if I end up failing, which I hope I don't, and have to retake it and restudy, then more than likely those two certifications I was planning to do will have to go into 2026. And you know what?

Certification Plans And Timing

SPEAKER_00 7:11

That's okay. Um, it's been one of those type of years, but yes, definitely uh check your vision boards, see where things are at and what you need to do, and then secondly, um this is the time of year where we spend a lot of money, even when we don't have it, and you know, it's nice to do things for people, people enjoy buying others' gifts, and you also buy gifts because you're like, Oh, what if they buy me a gift? It's kind of but you know, stay within your budget if you can't really swing buying a bunch of gifts rather if it's for your kids and other loved ones, it's okay. You know, don't feel obligated. This time of year is very consumer-driven and you know, and you pull at heart strings, you know. Think of other things that you can potentially do. Um, you know, some homemade things that maybe you can make for others. Rather, if it's like soaps or scrub, um powders, etc. You know, don't feel you have to spin to show someone you love them. Um, this year, even for myself, I'm not shopping nearly as much as I normally do. Um, pretty much them everyone in my life that I am buying for is getting one gift, but it doesn't mean I don't care about them. Um, you know, as I'm supportive throughout the year, birthdays, certain celebrations. So keep that in mind. Like it's not just about this day. I'm sure throughout the year you have shown up for your loved ones, your friends, and shown that you know they're important to you. So don't go broke, especially right now in this economy and the way things are, even if you feel bad, you may feel bad. But I'm here to tell you don't you know, do what you can, find things on sale if you can, or hey, look, you know, this you know, not gonna do it this year. Nothing's wrong with that. Um, but a couple of ideas you could do, and the reason why I say these type of things because you can do it in bulk, so you might spend let's say a hundred bucks, but it might serve for you to give a gift to many.

Budget Truths For The Holiday Season

SPEAKER_00 9:40

So you could do home-baked cookies one year for my sisters, and I it was just something I really wanted to do because I made them um powder, you know, organic natural powder. Um, I got all the ingredients, I brought it in bulk, didn't cost me much at all. Fragranced it, a fragrance that I liked or thought they would like, and um went to the dollar store and brought the containers to put it in, brought the powder um like brushes uh in bulk uh off of Amazon, gave it to them, and I believe they liked you know that, and you know. Um, you can also do that with scrubs with uh brown sugar and things like that, and you fragrance them, and you know, you can make that for them. You can even do candles or soaps. Um, you can do the same for men, like soaps and things like that. Men like as well. So you can fragrance it for a more masculine scent, or you know, have them the more floral or what have you scents for the women. Um, and you can do the same for like school teachers and people in your kids' lives that you like to maybe buy for um ten dollar gift cards from from Amazon, you know, stick it in there. You know, it's not costing terribly a lot of money, or some of the things you might buy, try to buy it in bulk and break it down into a present, um, stuff like that. Um, you know, it's it doesn't have to

DIY Gifts That Stretch Your Budget

SPEAKER_00 11:18

be something so so extravagant, you know. It shoot making something homemade is still uh takes time and effort, but you know, me also I do a brunch and my sisters or and family come over, you know, everyone's invited, but whoever shows up, and um, I do brunch and I make like casseroles, chicken, things like that, and that's part of my like thank you, you know. I appreciate you, I love you. Here's your you know, that's part of my gift. Um, so again, don't think you have to buy the most extravagant gifts and things, do what you can do, do what you can afford without it having you have big credit card debt and things like that that you take into 2026 with you that hurts the way your start of the 2026 comes in. That's pretty much all I'm getting at. So there's so many different ways. If you're a baker, you can do pies or you could do banana nut breads or breads, whatever, and give those as gifts. Um, again, I say things like that because you can buy the stuff you need in bulk, the ingredients in bulk, and it makes multiple, you know, and each person gets one, something like that. And then that way, if you are a parent, you could spend your extra money, in a sense, more on your household, your kids, your husband, your spouse, you know, that you're not spending it all outside of your house, but yeah, I do brunches, um, and I do brunch tip I do brunch because dinner costs a lot of money to um to buy and to prepare. So I do brunches because one, I can prepare a lot of it a night or two before, let it soak,

Brunch Gatherings Over Expensive Dinners

SPEAKER_00 13:20

especially like the casseroles and French toast, and then I get up in the morning, I just put everything in the oven. Um, if I do fried chicken, I do oven fried chicken, and I put all of that in the oven. I do I make it quick and easy on me. You know, the holidays I feel like we stress a lot because we put so much on us to make it like perfect, and it's like this grand gesture. Oh, I love my family, I love my friends, and that's true, you do love them, but what says it has to be so perfect? Why does it have to be so stressful? So try ways to make it less stressful for you, your family. Shoot, if you don't feel like cooking, yeah, go to the store and get one of the restaurants to make your your Thanksgiving meal, or you make a couple of things and buy the other stuff from you know the restaurant. Make it the holidays are about you too. Make it easy on you. This shouldn't be a stressful time, even though it is, because for me, I feel like the last quarter of the year is always a weird quarter of the year. Um, you're typically your bank account is never as high as it normally is for some reason. Um, a lot of uh negativity could happen within families, it's just a weird time of year. Um you know, deaths and sicknesses and so much that you know let's just focus on what you can do. It's not about the extravagance of your presence and your activities, just enjoy it and enjoy it together, you know. It doesn't have to be a big money

Reducing Holiday Stress And Expectations

SPEAKER_00 15:04

pit. Just try to think outside the box, and you know, again, I'm more than sure you show your support and love throughout the year, that you don't have to make it seem like this is the only time of the year that you can show that love and appreciation. But yes, I just wanted to get on here and discuss that because uh some conversations I've been having with others, and um, I mean they're stressing already, and it's like I get it, but this is not a good time to stress, like just come together as a family. That's it, family friends with your loved ones. I hope this helps someone. Hope I gave some decent ideas, probably ideas you guys already knew, but you know, I hope it helps you guys with the start of this uh holiday season coming up, and uh I hope to do another episode very soon. Um, get back into more of me and topics and things like that, but I felt this episode was necessary because I don't want my fans and listeners to be stressed out. Can't have anyone stressed out right now. Alright. Uh enjoy your week, enjoy the rest of your day. You're here with Madame Balou, Coffee with a Twist.