The Holiday's are a season of joy, religion, love, Santa, reindeer, movies, food, travel, family, traditions and of course presents. With all of these things comes spending and depending on your situation a lot of spending. In this episode the boys discuss the pitfalls and joys the holiday season can bring, especially our spending.
The Holiday's are a season of joy, religion, love, Santa, reindeer, movies, food, travel, family, traditions and of course presents. With all of these things comes spending and depending on your situation a lot of spending. In this episode the boys discuss the pitfalls and joys the holiday season can bring, especially our spending.
Welcome to Talk Wealth to Me, A Safe Space podcast where we chat about anything and everything related to personal finance. The information contained in this podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. It does not constitute as accounting, legal, tax, or other professional advice.
Chase Peckham:Hello everybody and welcome. Happy Holidays. I think we can now say that, that we are post Thanksgiving and Phil, we are in the quarter finals or so of, uh, the World Cup. So that is coming to an end soon so everybody can now focus a little bit more on Christmas and Hanukkah and the holiday season, uh, and now busting their budgets on Christmas.
Felipe Arevalo:The World Cup actually in my case, has been good for my budget. It's like free entertainment,<laugh> cause it's just stuff on TV that I really, really wanna watch. So if I can avoid, and with it being so early in the morning, the games this year, there's no, um, inclination to say, you know what, you know what would be real good is I can order up some chicken wings or I can order up some pizza. Or I the games, the early ones were at 2:00 AM there's
Chase Peckham:Have a couple beverages, anything. Yeah, exactly. You're not exactly, you're not having beverages at two in the morning unless you're just keeping the party going cup. And, And I know that we're all a little old and places in our life that we Yeah.<laugh> Yeah. Should in my should not be doing that anymore.
Felipe Arevalo:In my early twenties. Yes. That might have been, you know, I remember going to other World Cups and contributing to the spending of going to restaurants, going to North Park here, you know, the little community here in, in San Diego where there's lots of restaurants and bars and they'd open up at whatever time and you start eating, you start drinking.
Chase Peckham:Yeah.
Felipe Arevalo:Um, you know, the Shell here in San Diego has viewing parties and that's ki the kind of event I would have normally attended. And then that would've hurt my budget. But these days I've just been watching'em at home and it's great.
Chase Peckham:I really, I have to tell you, even my son who is not a big soccer geek, uh, and my daughter is cuz she plays goalie, but my son even, uh, was enjoying it, uh, a lot more and appreciating the sport a lot more. And, and it really is more fun. I I understand it and enjoy it a lot more than I used to now that I, you know, watch my daughter every day
Felipe Arevalo:Been to a game or two.
Chase Peckham:Yeah,
Felipe Arevalo:Right.<laugh>.
Chase Peckham:Yeah. But to really see it w played at that level, it's,
Felipe Arevalo:It's really something right?
Chase Peckham:It's impressive. Yeah.
Felipe Arevalo:You can, you can, if you can get past the, the theatrics.
Chase Peckham:Flopping.
Felipe Arevalo:of it.<laugh>.
Chase Peckham:Flopping, Let's call it what it's, it's Flopping.
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah. Let's call it flopping. If you get past that, uh, it's a really intense, just from a physical sports competition.
Chase Peckham:Sure.
Felipe Arevalo:It's really something to watch. And, and you know, some of these players with the World Cup, you get to see the world's best players competing against each other. You know, some of them don't make it, and you always have the injuries and people who miss'em, but you, you get the best players out there doing their thing and it's really, it, it is kind of, it's the world's sport and I, I just wish America would, we can incorporate it more into our culture and get
Chase Peckham:Some, well, it's kind of unusual for it to be during this holiday season, right? I mean, it's not normally.
Felipe Arevalo:It is, it's a summer tournament,
Chase Peckham:It's time of year. But Summer and Qatar or Cutter, or however we pronounce it, and I apologize if I butchered it. Uh, it, it's gotta be way too hot, uh, in the dead of summer.
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah. And,
Chase Peckham:And it's hot now anyway. I think it's always hot there, isn't it.
Felipe Arevalo:It's, oh yeah, I think so. I think people are saying it, it's still warm. their fields are air conditioned, which is, um, just, uh, the whole hosting of it is a whole nother issue. I just really like the, the, the games of it. Um, I do, it is normally a summertime, uh, event and you know that with the leagues and the way that, you know, the world's soccer works, it just, that was a whole logistical thing that they had to go over a hurdle. Um, but it, it's really, uh, it's the most watch sporting event if you go worldwide. Uh, absolutely. You know, so it's, it's fun. I, I've,
Chase Peckham:It doesn't get the numbers of the, of the Super Bowl the one time Super Bowl, but I would imagine the finals in the
Felipe Arevalo:US it doesn't, but the finals will, will outdo the Super Bowl if you go worldwide.
Chase Peckham:Yeah, Oh yeah.
Felipe Arevalo:Because the Super Bowl is, you know, it's our, it's our American thing that we like to watch.
Chase Peckham:For sure. Uh, absolutely. And uh, you know, the reason we were just discussing it is because it is that time of year and that's, it's the time of year where most people throw their budgets kind of out. Uh, and, and you know, I have to say
Felipe Arevalo:Budgets and diets
Chase Peckham:That, budgets and diets. Yes. Oh, I know that. I, I'm looking in my, I'm like, man, my little,
Felipe Arevalo:See that timing for the World Cup was unfortunate because this is a hard time to diet and eat healthy.
Chase Peckham:Oh yeah.
Felipe Arevalo:To begin with.
Chase Peckham:It's hard.
Felipe Arevalo:And now you add in the fact that I want to buy bags of chips and dip.
Chase Peckham:That go with stuff. The sports. Yep. With the sport. Absolutely.
Felipe Arevalo:Cause I can't, I'm not gonna go out, but I can still eat a whole bag of Lays if I'm not paying attention.
Chase Peckham:Exactly. I yeah, I'm a hundred percent with you. Uh, it, it's, it's part of the, the holidays that I, I like so much, uh, is, is there is a lot of eating. Uh, I I'm finding that, um, that it's, it's just an odd, odd holiday season for me. You know, we celebrate Christmas, uh, in, in my family. Um, and, and this year is our first year without, without Kerri, um, without my kids having their mom and it, and it, it, and it's, you know, I knew this time of year was gonna be a little bit difficult. I got through Thanksgiving. Okay. But man, when I started to put up those lights, that was like a gut punch to me that, that was like, oh man, she's not here to get on me to, to put the light. Cuz we would put'em, I, my son and I, and mostly me, but Clay and I was, we did the outside and Avery and Kerri would do the inside and, and we'd all kind of do the tree, but it was still, again, let's, let's face it, it was Avery and, and Kerri because they're very particular in how it looks. Um, and very particular in how it looks on the inside. So I got the outside job, but, and putting, Avery did it, I gotta give her credit, she wanted to do it. She did not want help from Clay and I, she did it all on her own. Uh, we did have friends help us with the tree. Um, I normally, every year I would, you know, in my budget and, and, and we discuss usually something that goes on the outside or an ornament, or not an ornament, but let's say, uh, a string of lights or an inflatable, they go bad. And so we would always add one thing to it. And this year I added in a abominable snowman and put it up in front of my wa in my daughter's room, the up on the balcony there. So he is up high.
Felipe Arevalo:Oh, okay.
Chase Peckham:Um,
Felipe Arevalo:up high kind of overlooking driveway.
Chase Peckham:Yeah. Yep. And I finally did it. I finally finished it this last weekend. Normally I would've had it up Friday after Thanksgiving, but it, I've tried twice that weekend and it just too hard. I, I i, it was a gut punch. And I, even myself, you know, there's so many different factors in how we spend our money for the holidays and all this stuff. Normally it would be traditionally right when that Kerri and I made for ourselves, it was, we would sit and we would have discussions, okay, what did the kids want? What kind of lists did they really give us? You know, especially when it was, they all believed in Santa and what was gonna come from Santa and what was gonna be a one big gift from us. And Kerri's side of the family always did Christmas really big. Um, my family, sometimes we, it would be big, but my parents were pretty budget conscious. Um, Kerri's family kind of threw their budgets to the wayside cuz Christmas was like the thing every year.
Felipe Arevalo:The event<laugh>,
Chase Peckham:It was the event. Um, and you know, both her brother and, and his and and Kerri were like that. Um, so we did a kind of in between our two histories of our families this year, you know, and, and, and we would discuss all this stuff, but she would put it into action. She would do Amazon or she would figure out where it was going we're we would, the last number of years it was going to my brother-in-laws to, uh, Greensboro, North Carolina for the holidays and, and spend Christmas with them ever since my mom passed. So, you know, my brother. And it was just too difficult staying. Um, so we, we get a real big Christmas out there, but, and so we're, we're keeping that traditional alive even though Kerri is no longer with us. And uh, but now I'm finding that not only is it very difficult emotionally because she's not here to celebrate with us, we're missing her during this time. Um, but also, you know, as I'm finding out as a parent and now a sole parent, uh, and only parent, I don't like to say single cuz I didn't choose to be single. We didn't get divorced. And so somebody told me, I don't know where it was, but somebody said, you're not really a single parent. Um, because there isn't another parent that I'm co-parenting with.
Felipe Arevalo:Right.
Chase Peckham:It's semantics. You can call it whatever you want. Um, it is single.
Felipe Arevalo:I'd argue that you're more of a single,
Chase Peckham:Single parent than Yeah. Than than what the actual, you know what,
Felipe Arevalo:Then if you had a co parent.
Chase Peckham:You would think of a definition. Yeah,
Felipe Arevalo:Right.
Chase Peckham:Um, there's no co-parenting anymore. And uh, it's, you know, so all of the, the budget, the, um, paying of the bills, the planning of Christmas, uh, or, and the holidays,
Felipe Arevalo:just the logistics,
Chase Peckham:The partys, everything and keeping up on it, uh, is all on me now. So not only is it the, the hard part of, you know, what kind of gifts do we get? You know, normally Kerri and I would do DIY stuff for each other. There might be, you know, a a might be something that they really, you know, one of us really wanted that the kids would, and I would get together and or the kids and Kerri would get together for me. And we don't have that anymore. Now the kids, it's funny how they've taken ownership and they want, they are getting together, the two of them to talk about gifts for me and for their uncle Mike and, and his and their aunt Jamie. And, and, and our little niece, Brynn and the other family members. Like they're wanting to do it. They're like growing up. They want to now contribute,
Felipe Arevalo:Take the rains of that.
Chase Peckham:Yeah. And so that, that is really fun to see, like they're getting into it on a different level where it's not just them receiving now they're really getting into the giving and wanting to even and pay for it themselves. Like they don't, you know, and we had the discussion, guys, don't go buying some big thing for me when it's, if it's my money or our family money that's gotta go towards these things. So it is nice for them to understand that that, you know, part of it is, is, is is giving from themselves as well. Whether that's their, uh, sweat and, um, work and, and something they put in their time in.
Felipe Arevalo:Right.
Chase Peckham:Uh, whether it's d y I or, um, it's, you know, a little bit more painful in their bank account because they got something for me they thought I would really want. Um, and that's, that's really pretty neat. Uh,
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah.
Chase Peckham:But it's something to get used to. And I have to admit, you know, I'm, yesterday was the, the four month anniversary of her death and um, it's only been four months, so I've kind of thrown budgeting to the wayside and said, we're gonna try to keep this Christmases and holiday season as normal as we possibly can. Just, you know, because you know, as you and I have talked about before, and I've been told by many people who have gone through major loss, um, and grief and that you don't do anything major within the first year at least. And some people have told me, don't do anything major within two. Um, and don't, because it'll be emotional and not necessarily smart. So
Felipe Arevalo:It's not always the logic.
Chase Peckham:Yeah.
Felipe Arevalo:At that point,
Chase Peckham:And Kerri and I were smart with our budgets before where, you know, there, you know, with her passing away the financials for us is, it's a significant difference. You know, I'm, she was, she made more money than I did. Um, and I do. And uh, so it's a significant, um, loss in income,
Felipe Arevalo:Just adjustment.
Chase Peckham:Yeah. It's more than half of what our total income was before. Um, we're lucky that we put together, uh, you know, the, that what you, what did we talk about the three to six months? A living expenses, you know, we we're lucky that we, we took that seriously. And, and so many things come with that. And that could be another discussion on another topic for the, for this podcast. Um, but today.
Felipe Arevalo:It's very interesting that you mentioned your kids are starting to take the onus, not just the the planning, but also of like them actually buying the gift.
Chase Peckham:Yeah. Yeah.
Felipe Arevalo:Which is cool.
Chase Peckham:It really is. It's a whole different world. And, and, and whether, I don't know if they would've done that with Kerri still around. I think maybe that's just their age, 14 and 12. It
Felipe Arevalo:Could be. Yeah.
Chase Peckham:They're, I think they're starting to get into that a little bit more. I don't know if it would be, think they would still think of it as like, Kerri paying for me and me paying for Kerri. I don't know. We don't know. And I, and I, I don't know, that's not a question I've asked them. So that would be, that would be interesting.
Felipe Arevalo:The, With me Barrington always, like if I ask him, Hey, what do you want to get to get? What do you want to get mom? Whether it be Christmas, birthdays, whatever. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>, um,<laugh>, his first question for a long time now has always been your money or mine?<Laugh>.
Chase Peckham:How old is he now? And that he's what?
Felipe Arevalo:He's nine.
Chase Peckham:Nine. Okay.
Felipe Arevalo:He's nine. That's impressive that he says that picks that way. That dictates what he, what his what the next answer, what his answer to my question's going to be.
Chase Peckham:Let's get mama pack, pack a gum.
Felipe Arevalo:If I say, you know, uh, oh for me from all of us, the choices become, oh, let's get her jewelry, let's get her something really nice and pink. She might want a TV in her room. She want, you know, and if I say, well your money, this is something you're gonna get her. Well she really liked the time I made her this nice card and then maybe we can put a picture and put it<laugh>
Chase Peckham:Smart boy, Smart Boy
Felipe Arevalo:<laugh>, he just doesn't wanna spend his money.
Chase Peckham:That's really funny. As They get older, they start getting into the understanding and the giving and all that. So
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah. And he's all about the gifts. You know how they do the little store at school and you give him money and then they have like, they do their little shopping for like little things. Yes. Um, like the holiday shop or whatever. So he had that this week and we forgot to give him money the first day and we just missed it. And he was already at school when Sarah was like, oh no, today was Barrington's shopping day for the school thing. But then he came home and he's like, guys, there's a makeup day so I, it's not too late. I can get money and I can. And he was like, can I get some money from you guys so that I can buy gifts? Um, I was like, I'll give you money, but you're gonna work it off this weekend. Um, you know, and, and it's not gonna be free and he's okay. Okay. Um, but he loves the idea of, and and I think that because he's there on his own without supervision, he can kind of buy whatever he wants and they gift wrap it for him. They put in like the little baggies.
Chase Peckham:Yeah.
Felipe Arevalo:The only problem is he put'em all in his backpack, got home, he doesn't know what's in each of the little baggies. So he doesn't know, he knows who he bought gifts for, but he doesn't know which one's which.<laugh><laugh>.
Chase Peckham:That's Funny.
Felipe Arevalo:So he's sitting there trying to s smush'em to try and feel what it is to try and see if he can remember like, oh yeah, this one's for grandma or this one's for<laugh>.
Chase Peckham:Yeah. Oh, that's, that's funny. Well, it'll be interesting to see if my kids, you know, they do the rapping and all that stuff too. Um, it is a little more interesting cuz we do have to either take it with us, pack it and take it with us or we have it shipped out there. And so that is al always let's.
Felipe Arevalo:just ship it.
Chase Peckham:It's always
Felipe Arevalo:And wrap it in an Amazon box.
Chase Peckham:It's always difficult to make sure that, you know, if you have something for them out there, um, you know, uncle Mike and Aunt Jamie and, and Brent, like, you gotta keep it from'em so you don't want'em know what it is. Right. Um, and I guess if it comes from Amazon, it's gonna be in an Amazon box, so you're not necessarily gonna know. So that's a, that's an important thing to, to remember.
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah.
Chase Peckham:And we get, It can get,
Felipe Arevalo:But this is the time year is the time of year where we get the request the media requests for hey, you know, what are some last minute budgeting tips? Or I, I did an interview with uh, NBC seven Telemundo, um, earlier this week. Um, it was about something else, but she also asked like, what do you think about holiday expenses? What are some of the, um, you know, what are some of the last minute tips that you got for holiday shopping? And it's that time of year where we're, you know, it's it's everyone trying to get that last minute shopping.
Chase Peckham:Yeah.
Felipe Arevalo:Trying not to fall into credit card debt or, or whatever the case may be.
Chase Peckham:Yeah. And you know, I know we, we had, you had the SWYM Live yesterday that you did on your own and, and you went over some of them, which, um, you know, it sometimes it's the little simple things, the diy Yeah. Making, making a list, you know, that can tell You what, sometimes the DIY can be up, end up being more expensive cuz of all the stuff you're putting.
Felipe Arevalo:you could.
Chase Peckham:Into it could<laugh>. Um, but you know, most of the time that's not the case most of the time that the DUIs are something that comes from the heart and all that. But I mean, even sweat, sweat equity, right? I mean the amount.
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah.
Chase Peckham:Of time. I mean, somebody yesterday mentioned that they, um, had had tried crocheting, uh, little beanie hats for people that it, it took forever. But um, you know, they weren't, they weren't sure if it was worth the, the the less expensive
Felipe Arevalo:Extra. Right. Yeah.<laugh> the extra time, the
Chase Peckham:Extra time they put into it.
Felipe Arevalo:I know one year Sarah wanted, she likes, uh, gosh, what is it? Like a chicken, some Italian dish, um, that I'm not gonna remember right now, but, and I thought, oh, you know, what'd be cool is if I just make it for her. Um, and then when I finished buying the ingredients, making a mess, making the dish, I realized it would've been cheaper or the same price to just get one done professionally at a restaurant.
Chase Peckham:Yes. And probably taste better unfortunately.
Felipe Arevalo:Than it cost and it, yeah. Oh, most definitely.<laugh>.
Chase Peckham:I know nothing against our cooking. I don't know. But those guys do it for a living.
Felipe Arevalo:They do it all the time. Right,
Chase Peckham:Right. Mm-hmm.<affirmative>.
Felipe Arevalo:And it would've been so much easier to just say, you'll set up a time when we could just go get it at a restaurant.
Chase Peckham:Yeah.
Felipe Arevalo:And that c ould, but maybe if both of us liked cooking and then you turned it into like an event date night thing where you're having fun while you're cooking, maybe that would've made it more, more exciting. But she does not like cooking and I like to cook on my own. So.
Chase Peckham:Right.<laugh>.
Felipe Arevalo:It just can,
Chase Peckham:Cooking can be fun if you have a beer or a glass of wine and you're talking and you got the music going and you know, you're into the spirit of things. Uh, I don't have a working kitchen. You've never seen kitchen right now. So baking and all that stuff is,
Felipe Arevalo:You ever seen tamale at tamales? Uh,<laugh> operation? It's like a team thing sometimes where you got one person on one task. It's like a conveyor belt to make tamales efficiently.
Chase Peckham:Tamales are one of the most interesting foods I've ever seen. It takes so much work to make them and then it work.
Felipe Arevalo:But if you make big batches.
Chase Peckham:It takes work to eat'em
Felipe Arevalo:<laugh>. It doesn't take work to eat'em. You just gotta unpeel'em.
Chase Peckham:Yeah, I know. It's, it's just a weird concept for me. You know, it's interesting this year with inflation going up though Phil, that it, they, they expect sales to be up again, uh, this year.
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah.
Chase Peckham:Um, as every year they expect about a, I mean, but this is a big jump. Six to 8% from 2021. I don't, I don't know if that's cuz maybe in 2021 we're still the pandemic's still very much on our mind last year. Um,
Felipe Arevalo:2021 was a big jump from 2020.
Chase Peckham:Well also, Yes, because nobody could go anywhere in 2020.
Felipe Arevalo:But even then, it, like looking at like the, through the National Retail Federation, 2020 was higher than 2019. So even though they couldn't go anywhere, it was still higher. Like it wasn't as big of a jump, but it was a little higher. So, you know, it's a big, uh, you know, sometimes it's a big Increase.
Chase Peckham:Yeah. I mean, you know, the, it's interesting, butInvestopedia there's uh, uh, on on that page they were saying they, that the average American is household is planning to spend around$832, uh, this year. Um, I'm, you know, I was thinking about that number and I Yeah, I think that's gonna be pretty close for me.
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah. And I don't know if that in, I wonder if that includes like, travel, because in that case, If that's the case, I'm blowing that outta the water. Exactly. Because you're traveling. So that makes it, um, you know, just in itself.
Chase Peckham:And that in itself could be a budget buster for the holidays. You know, it's your turn to go to whatever family member.
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah.
Chase Peckham:That's, you gotta take that into consideration. It's not just like driving up the freeway to visit your family in LA or something like that.
Felipe Arevalo:Right.
Chase Peckham:For us, for us here in San Diego or Lake Arrowhead and where I live, but you know, we're, we're getting on a plane and flying during the holidays, by the way. Um,
Felipe Arevalo:across the country.
Chase Peckham:Across the country, yeah. Right. So not only is it gonna be a giant pain in the neck and we're gonna spend money at airports, like, you know, we've discussed in past p episodes, um, those, those numbers are gonna be even more inflated.
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah. I'm lucky I'm going across town.
Chase Peckham:Yeah. You've got all your family here.
Felipe Arevalo:My families are here. My family's all here and Sarah's family's all here. So from that aspect, there's no travel expenses for
Chase Peckham:Us. Yeah, that's a,
Felipe Arevalo:There's a food that's a good thing. Like bring a dish or something like that.
Chase Peckham:We always have a chance of snow on Christmas though when we're in.
Felipe Arevalo:That is cool.
Chase Peckham:North Carolina, a
Felipe Arevalo:White Christmas,
Chase Peckham:not very much, But yeah, just enough dusting.
Felipe Arevalo:just enough to get the picture
Chase Peckham:Right. There's always a chance. It's Cold.<laugh> very, very cold.
Felipe Arevalo:Uh, you know, so, but there's that extra food expense whether you're hosting or you're just bringing something to the party that you know, could add up. Um, you got work potlucks if your office does a potluck type of thing, you know, there's the added food expense or, or if you're the person who doesn't, who's cooking, they don't trust the sodas and the cups and whatever else you gotta bring. Um, you know, when, when, uh, we started going over to Sarah's house when we were still dating, um, they're like, oh, uh, bring soda<laugh>. And then after the first one I was like, I don't want to do soda. I can cook. Um, gimme a dish. I don't wanna do soda. I wanna do salads.
Chase Peckham:But you're going to save money on that.
Felipe Arevalo:<laugh> soda's expensive. I I don't drink soda, so I don't know how much it costs, but last I bought soda. It's expensive.
Chase Peckham:Um, expensive is making stuff.
Felipe Arevalo:It depends on what you're making.
Chase Peckham:Well There you Go.
Felipe Arevalo:Um, that, that, that's the key. But I want to, everyone else is cooking. I don't wanna be the guy who gets stuck with soda. Cause that means you're the guy who can't cook
Chase Peckham:Is your family the traditional Turkey and all that? Or.
Felipe Arevalo:In the holidays
Chase Peckham:Or depends on the family.
Felipe Arevalo:It depends on the, it depends on the holiday. So my family, um, does a very traditional, what you would consider American Thanksgiving,
Chase Peckham:Yes.
Felipe Arevalo:Turkey, ham.
Chase Peckham:Got it.
Felipe Arevalo:The sides and everything. Um, for Christmas and New Year's. It's not, it, it's tamales. It's posole, it's menudo. It's,
Chase Peckham:I love it when your accent comes out, when you talk about Mexican food.<laugh>,
Felipe Arevalo:I, I have to, c ause one time I said carne asada tacos and I got a little greif. U m, it's carne asada t acos,< laugh>,
Chase Peckham:You roll the tongue,
Felipe Arevalo:So you gotta roll the tongue a little. Yeah,
Chase Peckham:Carne.
Felipe Arevalo:Carne
Chase Peckham:I like it.
Felipe Arevalo:And, and so it's those foods. So it was different, you know, there was always the, the tamales. And one year my brother and I tried to change it up. Let's just surprise everyone. We'll bring something but bring something completely out of the box. We bought a, I bought like a sushi platter. He went and picked up like lumia and then we just kind of switched it up on everyone.
Chase Peckham:<laugh>. That's awesome.
Felipe Arevalo:Um, and then so you, you kind of get the, the mostly traditional for, For Christmas.
Chase Peckham:And is it a, is it tradition? So with two families, do does one, do you do like two different times of the day? Does one do Christmas e
Felipe Arevalo:The timing is is different. Yeah. So my parents is mostly Christmas Eve, um, celebrated Christmas.
Chase Peckham:You do present Christmas at night.
Felipe Arevalo:and then presents at night.
Chase Peckham:Okay.
Felipe Arevalo:And then Sarah's family is, um, more, uh, they do Christmas morning, uh, and, and then a Christmas dinner.
Chase Peckham:Gotcha.
Felipe Arevalo:On Christmas day. Um, one with, you know, her dad's side, uh, of the family and then her mom's side of the family. So we go to two on there. So my mom now
Chase Peckham:You have a pretty big family.
Felipe Arevalo:Mm-hmm.<affirmative>.
Chase Peckham:between the two families especially. How do you guys do presents? Because that can be very expensive. I mean, do you guys create a list of who you're gonna, who you're gonna buy for? Do you guys have an agreement with the family on like, okay, so we're gonna do a white elephant or we're gonna do a gift exchange, one per family.
Felipe Arevalo:So on, on her side of the family, they've always done a, a secret santa where all the adults put in their name. You get one name and that's your.
Chase Peckham:Gotcha.
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah. That's your person.
Chase Peckham:Okay.
Felipe Arevalo:Um, we tried to incorporate it where they can give us a little hint on what you want, but no one took that<laugh>, no one took that suggestion. So now I got the name and I'm sitting there like, I don't know what to get him.
Chase Peckham:Uncle Joe. Give him a tie.
Felipe Arevalo:Exactly.<laugh>.
Chase Peckham:Except nobody wears ties.
Felipe Arevalo:Nobody Wears them.
Chase Peckham:Not Nobody. But you don't see him quite as much.
Felipe Arevalo:You don't see him as much. Um, I know know the last bunch of times I've worn a suit. I didn't wear a tie. Um,
Chase Peckham:Me neither.
Felipe Arevalo:You know, my cousin's wedding, no tie. We had that meeting no tie. I presented yesterday suit, but no tie. Um, you, you know, the, on my side of the family, we pre Covid would do, um, only for the kids and then my cousins and I would do like a secret Santa type thing.
Chase Peckham:Um, nothing for your parents.
Felipe Arevalo:And then we get something for my parents.
Chase Peckham:Okay.
Felipe Arevalo:Um, the last couple years it's been my brother and I getting together and doing one bigger gift for my parents.
Chase Peckham:Gotcha that's cool. Um, Together or each
Felipe Arevalo:Together. Oh. Or corn.
Chase Peckham:Your dad gets screwed.
Felipe Arevalo:Or having them coordinate. So it's like.
Chase Peckham:your dad gets hosed.
Felipe Arevalo:The same idea.<laugh>,
Chase Peckham:It's always the gift. Lean towards the, the mom.
Felipe Arevalo:It is, it is. Um,<laugh>. It has<laugh> the last few years. It definitely has. Um, and sometimes maybe even just causes more work for my dad.<laugh>
Chase Peckham:Gotta put it together.
Felipe Arevalo:You gotta put it, gotta assemble it, gotta go pick it up. Oh yeah.<laugh>. But the, and then gifts for the, for the little ones. Um, and then my, between my brother sister-in-law, Sarah and I, we just don't do gifts. We've usually done, uh, going out to eat where we just kind of go out to eat as a group, as a kind of our gift to each other.
Chase Peckham:Being together,
Felipe Arevalo:not doing it. Yeah. Didn't do it during co We haven't done it in a while. Um, haven't done it during Covid and then my brother's expecting any day, so we're not doing it this year. Um,
Chase Peckham:Oh, congratulations to your brother and his wife.
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah, they're uh, they're any day now. Um,
Chase Peckham:A Christmas baby. poor little k id.
Felipe Arevalo:We'll, he won't make it to Christmas.
Chase Peckham:Poor little kid. Nah, I know.
Felipe Arevalo:But it's still during the holidays,
Chase Peckham:But it is Holidays, birthday. Those, I, I'm a January kid so I always kind of got screwed in January cuz everybody was kind of partied out.
Felipe Arevalo:We just had Christmas Chase.
Chase Peckham:Right, right. Gifted out. And then if you're in December, I got my, one of my best friends is, uh, December 30th. He just, we had to do his surprise birthday in November. So.
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah.
Chase Peckham:<laugh> because everybody's just
Felipe Arevalo:In between Christmas and New Year.
Chase Peckham:No more, no traveling, no going anywhere. Right.
Felipe Arevalo:No one's trying to eat extra or drink extra during that week because, but you know, you, you can get creative with the gifts. I know. An idea I borrowed from, um, my wife's uncle and I was actually interviewed for a piece by, uh, Kimberly Palmer It was in the AP. Uh, she's a writer for Nerd Wallet and she did a"Holiday Survival Tips from Five Financial Pros.
Chase Peckham:That was A good article.
Felipe Arevalo:It it was a good article. It, some of the other tips were good, were good to it was actually translated to French.
Chase Peckham:Wow.
Felipe Arevalo:So that's the first, uh,
Chase Peckham:First time your voice has ever really come out in French.
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah. It was in writing, but.
Chase Peckham:I know.
Felipe Arevalo:I sent, I told Barrington and then he's like, oh cool, what does it say? And I was like, buddy, I can't read French. Um,<laugh>, I know my colors maybe and some numbers and that's about it.
Chase Peckham:Yeah.
Felipe Arevalo:But the, the tip that, that she took of mine and and added to the article was making a little calendar, like a family calendar and then distributing
Chase Peckham:Like through Shutterfly or something like that.
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah. Vistaprint.
Chase Peckham:Yeah. Um, they're pretty it's not super expensive.
Felipe Arevalo:It's not super expensive. And, and if you get it ready, you get your pictures ready, you can even built it and then don't buy it and wait for the Black Friday Cyber Monday deals because there's always a coupon and I got'em 60% off during the Cyber Monday and it's just build the calendar, put it together, and order a stack of'em and then you can give'em out to whoever you, you feel like you need to give'em out to. And it's much cheaper than buying a gift, but it's unique. It's the one-on-one. You can add pictures for whatever it is you want. Um, so you know, it's a a little alt alternative.
Chase Peckham:Yeah.
Felipe Arevalo:Uh, to gifts.
Chase Peckham:Now, one thing that a lot of people don't think about unless um, you know, you're the person that does it, but budgeting wise is Christmas cards or holiday cards.
Felipe Arevalo:Oh yeah.
Chase Peckham:That you send out to everybody and, and I love receiving them. Uh, like Kerri would build this big of all the friends that we have that would send their families and she would put it up on this wall so it would be part of the holidays and Avery has taken over that. Um, but that's also, you know, we used to, I'd sit and we'd have nights where we were watching television and we would not only the cost of making the cards, which isn't that bad.
Felipe Arevalo:mm-hmm.<affirmative>,
Chase Peckham:but the Postage.
Felipe Arevalo:mailing'em out,
Chase Peckham:<laugh> is pretty expensive. And the time that it takes, we would be all filling out, you know, and putting in the stamps on'em and filling out the addresses. And it's time consuming.
Felipe Arevalo:It is.
Chase Peckham:I don't have that in me this year, so I'm, I'll just gonna apologize to everybody who's not getting an update, um, on the hol on the family this year. Uh, I think everybody will understand it.
Felipe Arevalo:I think we understand.
Chase Peckham:Maybe I'll, maybe I'll do it next year, but um, or I, I, we could do an e-card. It's just not the same. You can't put it off the
Felipe Arevalo:Not the same. Yeah.
Chase Peckham:I guess you could print it out yourself, but
Felipe Arevalo:I don't, I don't know. That's the same. But that's another thing that if you, if you prepare.
Chase Peckham:And expensive,
Felipe Arevalo:you build it your own on like the Vistaprint, the shutter flies or Costco. We got our through Costco.
Chase Peckham:Yeah.
Felipe Arevalo:Uh, the problem was I didn't<laugh> it kind of snuck up on me and I didn't have good pictures to put in the darn card. So<laugh>,
Chase Peckham:the darn pictures.
Felipe Arevalo:that were chosen, the pictures that were chosen for this year's card were, were, they're great pictures, but they're not holiday picture cards.
Chase Peckham:Yeah. But it can be two or$300 by the time you're all done and sending out all those things.
Felipe Arevalo:Oh. And the time. But.
Chase Peckham:yeah,
Felipe Arevalo:you should, uh, check out Costco. But it had A bunch.
Chase Peckham:Again, it's just one of those things that, you know, again, falling on me that I go, oh my God. That's right.
Felipe Arevalo:Right.
Chase Peckham:Kerri would do that. And it wasn't until I got my first Christmas cards, first holiday cards that
Felipe Arevalo:Oh, you're like, oh shoot, I didn't make mine.
Chase Peckham:Yeah.<laugh>. Right.
Felipe Arevalo:The, I think that when you go and you actually get pictures done, that really increases the cost too.
Chase Peckham:Yeah.
Felipe Arevalo:B ecause you h ave someone out there.
Chase Peckham:Yeah.
Felipe Arevalo:Who can, unless you have someone who does it
Chase Peckham:With these cameras today. I mean, you could do some pretty good stuff.
Felipe Arevalo:There's some skill to it though.
Chase Peckham:There's definitely some skill to it.
Felipe Arevalo:Difference, the difference between the pictures I take and then the pictures taken by photographers iss,
Chase Peckham:Yeah. Christine Blackburn
Felipe Arevalo:Still noticeable,
Chase Peckham:Who is a professional photographer, friend of ours does used to do our stuff all the time.
Felipe Arevalo:I see pictures of like friends who, who do photography and like, man, you just took a picture of your dog and that looks so cool. I couldn't do that too.
Chase Peckham:Yeah.
Felipe Arevalo:And you made your dog look awesome. It's pretty. And I know that dog, it's just a, it's a cool dog, but it's a regular dog.
Chase Peckham:Yeah.
Felipe Arevalo:<laugh>. But the photography just kinda, when you get the lighting right and you get the exposures right and everything.
Chase Peckham:Yeah.
Felipe Arevalo:Um, but you know, maybe that's a, a hobby in the iPhones. And then the Samsungs, they have pretty good cameras.
Chase Peckham:They do.
Felipe Arevalo:So you can mess around with the, if you take the time to learn it. I started following some people on Instagram who make videos on how to take better pictures. Um,
Chase Peckham:That's smart.
Felipe Arevalo:It's been a hobby of mine off and on, so you always carry the camera in your pocket these days. So.
Chase Peckham:Yeah.
Felipe Arevalo:Why not take advantage of it?
Chase Peckham:This year's gonna be a a a, I don't know if it's a special year, but it's gonna be a, a different one and at least we're gonna get to be with Kerri's family, which is, you know, her brother and, and, and his family. And so that'll be really fun. See my mother-in-law. Um, but, uh, you know, going forward Christmases and holidays, you know, we're gonna, I don't, I think we're gonna try to keep traditions the same, but it's still, it's, you know, cost wise, it's, it's, you gotta really budget it out. Um, and, and it can be very expensive if you let it. We were, I mentioned this in yesterday, but we were, the other day we watched, um, our first holiday movie of the year. Uh,
Felipe Arevalo:I heard that It made me laugh.
Chase Peckham:Bad moms christmas.<laugh> such a funny movie, but.
Felipe Arevalo:That's great movie.
Chase Peckham:It's not for young kids, that's for sure. Um, but uh, there's a lot of foul.
Felipe Arevalo:I can't watch it with with my kids yet.
Chase Peckham:No, definitely not. Lot of foul language in it. Unfortunately. When Kerri got diagnosed with cancer, one of her favorite words that came out of there was the F word. So my kids unfortunately heard that a little more often than they probably should have. Um, but hey, it, it is what it is. It became her favorite word.
Felipe Arevalo:Barrington has this at nine. He thinks that curse words, he doesn't use'em, but he thinks they're hilarious when he hears'em slip in a, like a reel or something on Facebook or, you know, him. And, and I have been trying to watch, um, some Masterclass on cooking and there's a chef, um, Roy Choi, um, out of LA and his Masterclass has language and it has a warning that it has language in it. And that's his favorite one cuz he thinks it's so hilarious when.
Chase Peckham:That's funny.
Felipe Arevalo:He slips in a, uh, a choice word.<laugh>.<laugh>.
Chase Peckham:That's good. Well, I wish everybody out there a happy holidays and, and good budgeting. Uh, as I mentioned in in Bad Moms, you know, the mom in that can, she went way over the top. Um, and, and, and the holidays was about for her. Christmas was about a production and what it looked like to the outside world. Um, obviously that was played up in the movie. So we would think that that was ridiculous. Um, and, and it really is. So the holidays have to be about family, friends, camaraderie, um, and traditions. And, uh, I, I wish you and your family the best. I wish all of our listeners out there the best holidays. Uh, and, um, we're gonna be have a live one, uh, next week.
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah.
Chase Peckham:Our, our final one and there's big news coming up. Uh, we do have big news. Uh, it, it's, the podcast will be coming back, uh, in, in, uh, the new year. But it could be look and sound a little different.
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah.
Chase Peckham:The big players aren't gonna be any different, but it might sound, it might names and, and things might a.
Felipe Arevalo:little different feel.,
Chase Peckham:Be a little bit of a tweak, a little bit of a different feel. But we're super excited about the direction that this is going and, uh, we'll see you next week for the last of the season and a live version.
Felipe Arevalo:Yeah. So if you've always wanted to be on a podcast, check out Eventbrite and see if, uh, see if you are free to join us.