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Finance BROs Network (FBN)
Economic Empowerment & Self Development Strategies For All
Finance BROs Network (FBN)
S3 E9 - “Drinking The KOOL-AID” The Holiday Mindset (S.Y.S.T.E.M.)
What if you could navigate the festive season without the financial hangover? In this episode, we take you on a journey through mindful spending, exploring how societal pressures influence our financial habits during monthly celebrations. From holidays to personal milestones, we highlight strategies for saving money, like buying discounted items ahead of time and planning your finances with the start of the fiscal year in February. Our aim is to empower you with the insights needed to make conscious spending decisions all year round.
Celebrating Mother's Day and Father's Day doesn't have to mean breaking the bank on extravagant gifts. We explore the power of meaningful gestures, like tackling chores or offering a peaceful day, which often resonate more with parents. Through heartfelt stories and reflections, we emphasize the unconditional love mothers have for any thoughtful act and the simple pleasures fathers truly value. Discover how these small, thoughtful actions can make these occasions memorable without stretching your budget.
As the holiday season approaches, the lure of consumerism becomes even more pronounced. We dive into the marketing push that starts as early as August, offering practical ways to enjoy festivities without falling into spending traps. From getting creative with Halloween costumes to organizing potluck Thanksgiving dinners, we discuss how to navigate holiday temptations with financial discipline. We wrap up by dissecting the Black Friday frenzy, stressing the importance of sticking to a budget and planning purchases to enjoy holiday deals mindfully and sustainably. Tune in and join our community of Wealthians as we explore the art of mindful spending.
Learn more about the FBN initiative and get access to all social media platforms at https://linktr.ee/fbnlinks
First and foremost, we want to be clear that what we are sharing with you are strategies and concepts that can be implemented by individuals who understand the logistics of how to approach such platforms as far as the literal, the mental and spiritual format needed to be successful with your aspirations what's up world?
Speaker 3:you tune in to fbn and this is another episode of finance bros network. I am the one half of finance Anton Leftwich, and this is Michael.
Speaker 4:DePoe, the other half and we are coming to you live with finance for everyday people. We are honored to be here and to be able to serve diverse communities, as usual, all together now.
Speaker 3:Never gets over.
Speaker 4:Never gets over.
Speaker 3:Once again, happy holidays. We are in the month of December and we know Christmas is coming up, so we decided to kind of go into this with the aspect of everybody love Kool-Aid right Right, right right, but they got us drinking some Kool-Aid. Who's drinking the Kool-Aid? Right Right, right, right, but they got us drinking some Kool-Aid. Who's drinking the Kool-Aid? Hey, let's find out.
Speaker 4:And this episode is called who's Drinking the Kool-Aid?
Speaker 3:on Monthly Debt, on Monthly Debt, brother. So we want to take a look at it, just basically, how society is set up for us to have, I mean, really unwanted debt every single month. All right, and we're getting into the, we're getting into the. Obviously we're in the holidays already and getting to come into the new year and things like that. I know everybody's going to be splurging on Christmas presents for the family and loved ones and things like that, and we just kind of want to take a look at our finances. You know we always want to bring it back to finance and how to be mindful, right, our finances, you know we always want to bring it back to finance and how to be mindful, right, it's really, at the end of the day, it's just that it's mindfulness about spending money and how we're encouraged to spend money. All right.
Speaker 3:So you know, take everybody, take a look at it. You know what I'm saying. I mean, some of us have better spending habits or saving habits than others. But this is again, we always want to provide some basic fundamentals, right, mike? Yep, and then give you some strategies and then encourage you to go out, encourage our wealthiness, to go out there and take action. So, you know and this also has honorable mention, because we're going to break down every single month, because there's a major holiday pretty much every single month of the year that gets us riled up to spend some money but we also want to kind of give honorable mention to, you know, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, graduations, baby showers Wow man, baby showers right Bachelor, bachelorette parties, you know, and other celebrations of the like.
Speaker 4:Right, mike, yep, and you know we're going to take a look at every single month and see what society is saying is an important holiday. But what's that? What holiday is important to you? Because we're not saying you know, you gotta you make money to spend money, believe it or you make money to spend money. If you're not spending the money, why? What's the purpose of making the money? Especially when you're not gonna spend on people you love? Exactly so. But society has already dictated every month.
Speaker 4:Why, or what, you should be spending this money on? They got us down. They got you drinking the Kool-Aid. Yes indeed, yes indeed. So we're going to break it down for them every month.
Speaker 3:Yes, right, and again, we want to break this down just to give people resources. Not even just resources, it's really just the understanding. All right, now, this is what's going on out here. That way, we can all be conscious of when we're going out there and celebrating these things or these occasions. To again be mindful about our money, all right. So January? What's January, mike? Happy New Year, right, right? Everybody's going out partying on New Year's. People are setting New Year's resolutions. I mean everybody, seems like everybody everywhere. I mean even we're going to get a big prime rib and do a big dinner for.
Speaker 2:New Year's it's tradition.
Speaker 4:Gumbo. What about the gumbo?
Speaker 3:The gumbo.
Speaker 4:A lot of Southerners and African Americans do gumbo my family's from the South man, Louisiana.
Speaker 3:So we're going to cook up a pot of gumbo, everybody get together.
Speaker 4:But guess what Does it cost money?
Speaker 3:It costs money, it costs money.
Speaker 3:Yes, indeed, certainly does. So we got to just again. You know, be mindful that you know we're going, we're thinking about new years, you know. So what are? What are some ways that we can of? Okay, I could save a buck or two here, maybe when we go to get that prime. You already know prime ribs are on sale, bro. There you go all right, in uh in in july, around july we'll get to that, but around july the hams at uh Safeway, they're like ridiculous, like a dollar nine on a pound for the big old hams.
Speaker 3:So I buy two of them, okay, and I keep one for the holidays. There you go this freezer, yeah. When Thanksgiving came up just now, boom, I already had one ready to go. There you go, saved like 45 bucks.
Speaker 4:There you go.
Speaker 3:Just little things like that.
Speaker 4:Right and I want to mention something. I know we started with January, so I want our audience to understand we're in the finance business, we're in the finance world, and I want you to understand how that relates to what real world or how businesses look at it. So, really, the financial year starts in February. We're saying January, but january should have been the last month. The last month because that's when fiscal year.
Speaker 4:Yeah, that's, that's why it's called the fiscal year because we love our finance fiscal and in fall we started with the new year, january, but it's all good, but um, we'll, we'll come back to january to see how it relates to to the fiscal year, okay all right so let's hit them with let's.
Speaker 3:Let's look at february man, we all know february. What's february?
Speaker 4:happy valentine's day you know and I had mentioned to you that you know when you start dating or a new relation. Guess what this is? Oh my god, this is so applicable.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because now you know honeydew or honey boo, keep playing, oh let's.
Speaker 4:This is, oh my god. This is so applicable because now you know, honeydew or honey boo kept playing. Oh, let's. This is what we're doing for valentine's day. This is what we're doing for this month.
Speaker 2:This is what we're doing.
Speaker 4:Oh, got them drinking the kool-aid. When you're in a new and and you're in a new relationship, you know whether you want to do it, you don't want to do it, you care to do it. You're gonna be doing something.
Speaker 3:You're going to be doing something, because you're going to be sitting there watching the commercials, talking about you went to Jared. Yeah, get around it, man. I ain't never seen so much chocolate run out the door so fast, man.
Speaker 4:So this month is really mindful for new relationships and for, you know, uh, family. You know families who who have significant others, it's you know there's a way to do it, you don't have to go crazy, I mean some people you marry for a couple years. You want to do something. But why plan a trip and go somewhere and why spend that money if you don't need to Put that money into something that's going to save and make more money for you? Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:You know, mike, that's a good point you brought up there, because, especially for our couples that are, you know, years into their relationships or years into their marriage, you know, after a while you got to get creative right.
Speaker 1:Right right.
Speaker 2:Like buying flowers and candy and the jewelry is kind of like a.
Speaker 3:It's redundant, right, right. So maybe you do get creative with I don't know. If you're a musician, write your girl a song, right, right. Or if you have a, if you're a painter, paint your girl something you know I'm saying, do something that maybe money can't buy, right. Or even going for a walk in the park or or sitting down and talking about your goals together, things like that. You know, it's already kind of the beginning of part of the year, still, anyway, first quarter anyway, and you can be talking about how to keep yourself on course for those things so that you can go out and really spoil each other down the road. You know what?
Speaker 4:I mean, and Anton, I have to say okay, and I'm going to look out for the ladies out there. I get it.
Speaker 1:I get it.
Speaker 4:I've been in relationships, I get it. So all I'm saying to you brothers out there and to the male people out there, or to the significant, whoever is, you know the one that's that's doing whatever. You know, we got a lot of different type of couples out there. If you're going to do something, budget mindful, right doing it, we're not saying not to do it. Yeah, the beautiful car you write, it'll be nice, but you know, do you have to buy 12 dozen roses? Can a dozen roses do it? Because the 12 dozen roses gonna die the same way.
Speaker 2:The dozen roses die so so yes, something, but keep it practical.
Speaker 4:Again, we're talking about financial planning and not to say you can't celebrate the holiday, but be mindful on how you're going about, because Valentine's Day is it that much of an important holiday where you're supposed to be loving and caring to your significant other every day of the week?
Speaker 3:Real talk, man, you don't need a holiday, real talk. Can I say it again you don't need a holiday.
Speaker 4:You don't need a holiday.
Speaker 3:You can treat that person special every single day of your life and if we got the right partner, I'm willing to bet anything on it that it don't matter if you spent $10,000 on them roses or $100 on them roses or $50 on them roses. It's the fact that we went out there and did the act made the effort Exactly. So we're going to keep breezing through here, because I know we could spend a lot of time on these All right. So March.
Speaker 4:St Paddy's Day. St Paddy's Day, now I don't know. You know I ain't Irish. I get it, you know. But real talk, if you're going to go out for St Paddy's Day, some people get dressed up in the green and stuff. That's a course. You got to do that, yeah, and then. But when you hit that bar, why you got to be the bar tab? You got to make it up front. Look, are we sharing this tab, are we? How many drinks? Where do you have to get irish piss drunk? Seriously, I'm guessing no.
Speaker 3:So so again, you got the right type of friends, man it ain't. They're not sweating you right, right right. Split the bills, no big deal and you got again.
Speaker 4:here's a, here's a holiday. I personally don't feel you have to celebrate it like that, you know, but again drinking the Kool-Aid, and then it's green. That month it's green. It's important to a lot of people, man. It's a big festival going on.
Speaker 3:Yeah, green Kool-Aid, green Kool-Aid that month marches. There's a lot Like in Dallas. When I lived out there they had festivals in the streets and I mean it was a big deal, man. So, I mean, obviously it's important to a lot of people. We want to respect that culture. At the same time, again, just let's be mindful. Right, Right, All right. April.
Speaker 3:Uh-oh, easter, easter by me and look, man, mike, this holiday, you know, and I have a or we have a friend that you, they she's. She's this older lady, really sweet lady. She's got a house out there in the mountains. It's a. It's a big deal when she invites us out there every year and her, her family. They put eggs all throughout the property, right, and the kids. It's like a big deal, like the kids are going around looking for the eggs and there's money in some of them, there's chocolate in some of them. It's like this big old Easter egg hunt. It's like a competition. I've seen, I think I've seen some little kids throwing elbows it was like a real big deal.
Speaker 4:You know, I'm saying but the other thing about easter you don't realize financially now I hate to do it now. Some of the people are gonna be a little bit touchy about this, but you know it's okay, we gotta get comfort you know that's sometimes. That's one of the times you go to church.
Speaker 3:Right, that's true.
Speaker 4:So that's when you have to go buy a suit. You know you buy nice dresses, you know that's that's the time you're spending money for the holiday. So you got to think about that. So what does your Easter look like? To your point, anton, maybe buy a suit or a dress on sale. Say this is going to be my Easter outfit for this year.
Speaker 4:If this is the one time I go to church every year, or the second time besides Christmas. Some people go to church on Christmas, some people don't, but Easter, for the most part it's a very religious holiday. People go to church. You can't spend money on that outfit.
Speaker 3:Please believe them. Suits are more expensive when the time comes. Of course so you might as well buy it off season and do it that way.
Speaker 4:All right, yep, and the sale is. By the way, I just want to mention the sale is they marked it all the way up and then they're bringing it down for Easter, so it ain't really no sale the way up, and then they bringing it down for easter, so it ain't really no sale, ain't?
Speaker 3:that something right. Talk about programming. Yeah, you go all right. So may, obviously may, hey, mother's day biggest holiday, like one of the biggest holidays of the year year like everybody, like mothers.
Speaker 4:Come on now, like I love my mom, I love my mom I love your mom, I love my mom, we're going to do what we're going to do. Yeah, bro.
Speaker 3:If I do the simplest thing for my mom on Mother's. Day. She's just, it's like the best thing in the world. You know what I mean. We all know that about our moms. You know, if we got those are blessed enough to have a great relationship with our moms, no matter what we could do the dishes or clean the house or whatever on that day, and it's a big deal.
Speaker 4:And that's a good point, Anton, Doing something like that for her and say, hey, Mom, today you know it's going to be Mother's Day. We're doing this for you, how about? Or the honey-do list for the wifey. It's like you got the kids, hey, I got a nothing today.
Speaker 2:You ain't doing nothing.
Speaker 4:I got babysitter for the kid. Oh, I'm going to take care of all this stuff on the honey-do list I'm going to take all the stress off of you, all the stress off. And I think that's what it should be about, for sure.
Speaker 4:Not going out and spending money on this and that for mom. Look, I love my mom Anytime she needs something or she wants something. I got you and and you don't eat a holiday, exactly. So I would say look at Mother's Day, don't drink the Kool-Aid, do something meaningful. I bet you most moms are whales and they're just going to embrace any loving act that you do for them for that day.
Speaker 3:Their moms. They're barely moms, man. I was just talking to my mom about this the day and she was. She was talking to me about something. I was like, mom, I never tell you stop being a mom it's okay just just talk about it, yeah right and it's just moms, are moms, they, they're they. Just they built to love us like that, bro.
Speaker 3:So anything we do, man, they're gonna they're gonna make us feel good about it because we thought to do it right, you know. So that's real all right. And going to june obviously father's day, father's day, right.
Speaker 4:Probably probably don't get as many restaurant reservations as mother's day, but hey, it is father's day, all right and for the good dads out there doing, something doing the right thing by their kids.
Speaker 3:You know, kids always want to do something for their fathers and you know I mean we always can. We can just again, that's the same thing.
Speaker 4:Make it simple, right listen, listen what's up again a little bit controversial. I didn't know this episode was gonna be this controversial father's day. All I want is quiet how about that quiet?
Speaker 3:y'all listen to the mic, mic to poke crime. Quiet, daddy just wants it quiet.
Speaker 4:Quiet. That's it. That don't cost you nothing. I think I can relate to that.
Speaker 2:That don't cost you nothing.
Speaker 4:Take the dang kids, take them somewhere. Take them to the auntie house. Take it quiet. Let me sit down in my lounge chair or in my workshop. Let me just have my day to myself from 12 midnight I'm telling you the time from 12 midnight when it's ding to 12, midnight ding. I don't want to hear nine right nine.
Speaker 3:So, hey, all the ladies out there, take it to the wise, hey, if daddy might just want to look around say, hey, you hear that. No, no, exactly, there you go. So that is easy to please, you know.
Speaker 4:And most of the time, father's day's gifts are really ugly gifts. I am, I got three kids and most of the time they ain't give they, oh gosh, and then I gotta wear it one time. You want daddy? Yes, I want daddy, with two sizes too small, right? So we, cool, don't spend any money on father's day little buddy on dad, just make sure it's quiet. Most dads again, just like with the moms who's a well who appreciate the nice gestures I think the same thing with dads, bro.
Speaker 4:There you go, brother. Like you, just know what your dad. Like you know what your dad want. Just manifest that for them, Yep, and then they'll appreciate you. You don't have to spend any money. Save your money.
Speaker 3:There you go brother, there you go. That's how I feel.
Speaker 4:There you go.
Speaker 3:I can speak for myself as a man. That's how I feel. I don't need that Quiet time is just fine. There you go. All right July brother.
Speaker 4:July, Independence Day. There you go. God bless America. We have to buy fireworks. Right, we have to buy fireworks. We got to do the barbecue. We have to. We have to do the barbecue. We got to go to Costco get the prime ribs and the chicken and the hot dogs and the burgers.
Speaker 3:Really bro. And we gotta go to the lake.
Speaker 4:Right, we gotta drive to the lake, drive to the beach. Oh man, again, you may not think about it, but you are spending money.
Speaker 4:Again it's designed Drinking the Kool-Aid. When you drink that Kool-Aid, it's gonna bring you into debt. So again, modification, right. Kool-aid, it's gonna bring you into debt. So again, modification, right. Yeah, yeah, modifying it. It could be a family thing, it could be, hey, real talk for me and my girls. Uh, um, on fourth of july, a lot of time we just go towards where the bridge is at or go where they're doing fireworks and that's all we do, bro man, them little firecrackers, they barely go pop.
Speaker 3:I mean my little, my little nephew, when he was young man, he, he got just as happy over that. He's actually happier about that than going and seeing the big fire. Going to see in a big and, by the way, going to see fireworks is free. Yeah, so you can take the kids to see fire right it is.
Speaker 4:I mean you still gotta pay for the gas or yeah, true transportation, but it's not gonna kill your budget, right, it's not gonna kill your budget budget Right.
Speaker 3:Exactly, it's not going to kill your budget and all them big, all expensive fire man. My nephew was just excited over them little poppers throwing them and hitting the ground. Yep, it's over them. Things that be spinning on the trees.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean.
Speaker 3:So, and I was Same thing, I was too Right, so all right, so now now August.
Speaker 4:August, that's Labor Day, but is it Labor Day or is it September?
Speaker 3:I think it's in September, but but but but still it is going back to school, right, it is All right, right. So August usually we we we took a little last vacation before the kids went to back to school in August, all right. So that's that's school back to school time, shopping for school supplies. Right, backpacks got to have August. All right, so that's that's school back to school time, shopping for school supplies right, backpacks got to have pencils, pins and new clothes.
Speaker 4:And what about if, if you working and this has got to be some kind of childcare there's summer camp?
Speaker 3:That's true, yeah.
Speaker 4:There's daycare.
Speaker 3:Oh man, you start on the summer camp.
Speaker 4:Oh, you know, and you know, and this is set up already People who are hitting. If you did summer camp last year, they're going to hit you up two, three months in advance. January. Are you ready for Sunday? Dang, dang, dang.
Speaker 2:Let the winter finish up.
Speaker 4:You know what it's like but that's the way society has set it up. And daycare you got to make sure you plan for daycare for the kids If they're not old enough to stay at home, or somebody babysitting them, watching them, and or or if you decide to go on vacation, forget about vacation.
Speaker 4:so you got to have a vacation fund already set up and that's another thing you're spending the money and maybe, if you don't have the money every year, you look at it, maybe it, maybe it could be a staycation hello how about wow? How about that stay? Stay at home, do something fun that's not going to break the bank.
Speaker 3:Put up some tents in the middle of the house or something like that, with the kids and everything. We're just going to hang out up in the tent. Whatever we do, maybe be surprised how many things are just fun for kids when they're doing it with their mom or their dad or their parents All right, right, right, all right.
Speaker 4:So we're going into boom September. September, not Labor Day. Now, labor Day usually is not a big festive holiday, it's a federal holiday, but it's not as festive as you know, easter or you know what else we got going on Mother's Day and all these other days.
Speaker 3:It still brings like a lot of three-, four-day weekends, still brings like a lot of three, four day weekends, right, and and a lot of sales right.
Speaker 4:A lot of labor day sell labor's today sell labor day, so society has kind of plugged it in as a labor, as a sales day, so but this is where you gotta show discipline you don't. Do you really need all that stuff? Do you really need it?
Speaker 3:I mean god, take a look at it, bro, I don't know god, take a look at it so, so, so, yeah, but they're gonna hit you up.
Speaker 4:You're gonna see it on tv, you're gonna hear it on radio. They're gonna beat you in the head with it. They're gonna hit you on your phone they're gonna hit you on the phone, amazon gonna hit you up. What?
Speaker 3:hey, this, just guess what just went on sale yeah, yeah. So it's temptation like temptation, and I believe between august and september.
Speaker 4:There is like a uh uh, uh uh, selling christmas in august or christmas is something like that be happening with these? You see they're trying to capitalize yeah, they're trying to capitalize, so we got to be careful we got to be careful.
Speaker 3:They know that. They know that, they know exactly all right, all right, october oh how about that?
Speaker 4:how about that? Now, I personally don't care about halloween like that. I think I've been to two or three halloween parties while I was dating. Hello, new relationship. We have to celebrate halloween, celebrate Halloween. Ooh, scary Gotta dress up right. So getting dressed up?
Speaker 3:It's gotta be a theme and everything and look.
Speaker 4:I got kids I got 10-year-old daughters.
Speaker 3:They want to dress up right. They want trick-or-treating.
Speaker 4:Of course they want trick-or-treating, and then we gotta have candy for the kids that are coming by. Yep, yep, but again you try to do it in moderation. Yeah, yeah, but again you try to do it in moderation. You know, do you have to buy the most expensive costume? No, they're going to wear it once, they're going to throw it in the corner.
Speaker 2:And guess what? They're not going to wear it next year.
Speaker 4:There won't be something else.
Speaker 3:Yeah, bro, my friend had a costume when I was in grade school I think it was fifth or sixth grade. His grandmother made a shark costume one year it was. They wore the same thing every year first through sixth grade. It won. Every year it won the contest every year, and it was homemade there you go.
Speaker 4:Talk about saving some money there you go, there you go, and they got the prize money. Look by all means if you can get away with it, then by all means, get away with the costume you have to say I'm the same character, if you like going to parties or whatever, hey, be the same. Some people are the same batman every year, or the same superman, or whatever you want to be there, you know figure out how you're gonna save money.
Speaker 4:Yeah, some people I personally, I don't. You know like celebrating the holiday too much, but you know to each his own. You know what I'm saying. So but again, we're just talking about waste a budget and not overdo it. Stop drinking too much of the kool-aid, you know what I'm saying all right, man, november, uh-oh, we just left it happy thanksgiving thanksgiving man.
Speaker 4:We know a lot of people are full. We got a lot of food in the refrigerator. Still a lot of people are full. We got a lot of food in the refrigerator. Still. A lot of people traveled this year the most people traveled ever for Thanksgiving. We're really coming off a full autonomy of COVID, because you know, when COVID came in two, three years ago, maybe four years ago, it just put everything into a deadlock. But now everybody's traveling flights, gas, everything. It's going to cost you money for.
Speaker 2:Thanksgiving. It's going to cost you money.
Speaker 4:So, again, maybe this is a holiday because, yeah, it's built as bringing families together and I'm okay with that. Yeah, of course, it's not a bad reason for everybody to come together, even though you can figure out any other time to bring the family together. But society has tagged this as bringing families together to all sit down and have a meal. Okay, but again, be mindful of what you have to spend and what you have to do. Why go all out? Do you have to have all 50 of the cousins from Zimbabwe to Australia come over to have this thing? Really, do we really need to do that.
Speaker 3:Well, if they could come, they could bring a dish and everybody can bring something. You know what I mean have a potluck. That's a great way to save money, because what's the day after that Thursday?
Speaker 4:Black Friday Dun dun, dun yes.
Speaker 3:And I don't know if people are still staying out in the lines at midnight all night like they used to do back in the day. I haven't seen any brawls for TVs in Walmart like we used to see back in the day. But definitely you've got the Cyber Friday, cyber Monday and just all kind of online sales Amazon, walmart, everything I mean. Might you say you've seen? What is it? 80-something inch, 85-inch.
Speaker 4:TV For like 400. Dang Dang Right.
Speaker 1:So they try.
Speaker 4:That kind of make you want to go there right.
Speaker 2:They try.
Speaker 4:But here's the thing with that. All right. Again, going back to what we were saying this is a holiday, yeah, and the price might be cheaper. Hey, who can get an 85 in for 400? Most of the time you can't get that, yeah I haven't seen that at all, but if you're saving up and you have a budget to say I'm gonna spend this amount for the holidays, right, right, then try to keep that budget within that holiday and if all the things were mindful throughout the year, probably got a little extra come black friday exactly, and you can treat yourself right, right, if you didn't buy the most expensive dresser suit in easter, you might have money for black friday, right that's a man, it's I'm saying we laughing, but it's true.
Speaker 3:This is real stuff right here, and we're not. We're not putting out hard figures like statistics and things like that, because you can find so much conflicting information here or there, but these are just, again, very basic fundamentals. Right, okay, to be mindful, keep in mind and go forward so we can take action and do some of these things with confidence. All right.
Speaker 4:And that's what we do at Finance Bro Network we bring awareness, bring awareness.
Speaker 3:Yes, We'll create awareness, break down some fundamentals and then encourage people to go out there and actually take action.
Speaker 4:And that's what we're doing, because I know, when it comes to finance, people don't do that Most of the time. They're putting numbers in front of you and you're lost. You're lost, but now we're being relatable to what's happening.
Speaker 3:This is a stuff you think about.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's gotta be. You don't, but you don't actually think about it. That's why we're talking about it.
Speaker 3:Well, yeah, it's true, that's a good point. You don't think about it, you're like Black Friday's coming.
Speaker 4:Oh well, I'm going to get this money, oh max.
Speaker 3:Why it's programmed Well we're very easily programmed, we're very easily. It's human nature, it's very easy. And I mean, if you think they don't know they know, they know, and guess what?
Speaker 4:They subliminally, subliminally, subliminally, subliminally. Thanks, brother.
Speaker 3:You say, it first Subliminally.
Speaker 4:Thank you. They're doing this through the ads, right? You don't have to be watching TV. You could be hearing it on the radio. You could be walking down the street. You know 60, 70% off, 30% off, da-da-da-da-da-da-da. All that is information you're gathering and then when something hits you, you see something you're like oh, maybe I'll get this on Black Friday, maybe I'll get this on Cyber Monday, because they're talking, see, they're getting you. That's how it's programmed. But, just like anything, if you have a budget for it, maybe you can, maybe you can't, but if you know that you're going to want something, have a budget for it.
Speaker 4:Say in Christmas whatever this much is going to buy for Christmas. This is what I'm going to spend, and that's it.
Speaker 3:Which brings us into December, december, which is Merry Christmas, merry Christmas.
Speaker 4:Happy.
Speaker 3:Hanukkah to celebrate Hanukkah, that's true.
Speaker 4:And then it's New Year's Eve. You're going to go out and party for New Year's Eve before New Year's Day. That's why we were saying how January falls back into Right, because all the spending for fiscal year is really this is when. Do you know why they call Black Friday? Black Friday what? Because that's when all companies go into the black. They could have been 11 months, or yeah, 10 months. Been 11 months or yeah 10 months.
Speaker 4:They not doing great sales, but on black friday they sell out all the inventory. They sell everything out, that's why black? Friday is called black friday. A lot of people don't know that. That's when they leave the red and they go into the black to the black.
Speaker 4:Okay, and that's an inventory and that's why that holiday is so commercially and and retail oriented, because you're helping society and everybody's generating money. On black friday or or during christmas time, because people need to ride the train people were taking taking Uber, people need service, you know, service for here, services there. Everybody's making more money because more is happening within that time period and that's why it's called that. But again, if you're budgeted because if you're not budget you can just go off and then all of a sudden you're going to look at your account, you're going to look at your credit card statement like damn, I spent this much, what?
Speaker 3:happened what?
Speaker 4:happened, so that's why it's so important for us to be fiscally responsible on each of these months bro.
Speaker 3:I love it, brother. Hey, I think we're ready to bring it to the breakdown. Let's bring it to the breakdown so we switch it up a little.
Speaker 4:I'm going to do the literal and the mental, mike's going to do the spiritual and there's a reason for it, definitely a good reason for it, all right.
Speaker 3:So here goes the literal Seasonal sales temptations. Yes, while some discounts are worth it, most are designed to create a sense of urgency for things you might not even need Spoke about that.
Speaker 1:Man can't get it more. Yeah, you can't get more basic to the point.
Speaker 3:That is the literal.
Speaker 4:That is the literal reason of all these holidays. That's the literal reason why they got you drinking the Kool-Aid there you go, brother.
Speaker 3:All right. Now the mental Focus on long-term goals. When you're tempted to spend on something unnecessary, think about what that money could do for you in the long run, Whether it's paying off debt, saving for a home or building an emergency fund.
Speaker 4:And we just spoke about in our last episode about home right Just talked about that. We just spoke about that If y'all didn't listen to the last episode.
Speaker 4:Y'all need to go back to listening to that episode. Make sure y'all check that out. So be mindful. Be mindful, everybody, about uh, uh, saving up for that home, because we talk about financial freedom versus financial shackles with my first asset, a home. That's. That's what. That's what that episode was about. So if you didn't hear it or you're catching this episode, make sure you go check that one.
Speaker 3:Alright, now, mike, go ahead, hit them with the spiritual.
Speaker 4:Okay, here's the spiritual, spiritual Practice gratitude, appreciation. Marketers want us to believe we're missing something, but gratitude reminds us we already have enough. Gratitude and appreciation generally can help you stay grounded. Like I always say I appreciate you. I appreciate, appreciate yourself and everyone else around you of what you have and what you need, but not for the things you want. So I say I appreciate you all the time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you do, mike. I wanted to do this.
Speaker 4:Definitely had to make sure you did the spiritual on this one, listen, and that's my, that's my aura giving out to you. It's gratitude and appreciation. You know, don't get caught up by drinking this kool-aid and not have gratitude for the things you have, not have appreciation for the things you have yeah yeah, think about that every month. If you can't do something this month, say you can't go to that saint patrick's day party, be, have credit, have some type of gratitude and appreciation where you at love it man and then, and then you'll be okay, yeah, and you're saving money, yeah and take and we'll take.
Speaker 3:We'll take better care of things when we appreciate and have gratitude for it exactly. And then we get blessed with more, more to come to do with.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly do things with love it brother and of course the t-shirt.
Speaker 3:Now, just to pre-phrase this. You know we were kind of talking to you mike, and we was talking about daylight savings time, yep, and I was like it's like, well, you don't want to have a daylight savings account, right, right. And then, mike, so you hit him with the t, so I'll hit him with it. So the t-shirt is don't let your bank account spring forward with the seasons, only to fall back into debt.
Speaker 4:There you go daylight savings time cool daylight savings account not cool so don't spring forward to just fall back into debt. I love it brother. Don't spring forward to fall back into debt. And that works out in the seasons? Right, it does. It really does work out for the season, Because if you're saving on those holidays that are not so crazy, and then the holiday that Christmas comes, and then the New Year's party's coming in you're going to fall right back into debt. You go, man, so you know that's real actually.
Speaker 3:That's some, that's some man, that's flavor for you, right there you go there you go that's some, that's some finance bros oh man finance bros network. Real talk, that's right man hey if y'all, if y'all never caught it before, you're gonna catch it, it real, real soon. Man, I almost gave him a taste of my dog.
Speaker 4:He always want to tell y'all. Chill bro chill, I want to tell him so bad. Let the anticipation build.
Speaker 3:You're right, you're right, you're right, Okay so again, we've got a big announcement coming. Not going to tell you about it right now, about to bring it to you on the first of the year. Make sure you check us out. I love this episode. This is great stuff, mike. This is really, really the simplest stuff we do. We think it's going to be simple. Ends up being the funnest man.
Speaker 2:That's what I really really love.
Speaker 3:So we love y'all wealthies out there.
Speaker 2:Hope you keep enjoying the holidays.
Speaker 3:Make sure you have a great FBN Play same FBN channel. Don't forget to check us out on all your social media podcast platforms Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, at our home on the HHN TV and, as usual, Mike.
Speaker 4:I appreciate it With that gratitude. I appreciate you guys.
Speaker 3:Amen, and you already know we'll see you at the bank. Peace y'all, take care, thank you, thank you you.