But if not, then more power to you. Ball out if you want to. If you want to make it rain, go ahead and do it. That is one of the best things that you can do with your money is enjoy it. And that's what we want you to do here. And so learning how to manage your money allows you to enjoy your money so much more. Number 16 is I'm talking to you. I know there's some of you out here who are struggling with holiday debt, meaning that there's a huge portion of Americans that go into debt every single year when the holidays come around. They either spend it on presents, they spend it on holiday food, they're hosting, and all of a sudden it kind of gets out of control and it spirals out of control. You know that feeling. It starts to feel, if you buy a lot of presents for people, you start to kind of feel icky towards the end of December when you're still like buying more presents and you feel like you're just getting deeper and deeper and deeper into the hole. I understand how that feels. But if you went into debt for the holidays, you went backwards for 2025, meaning you put yourself into a hole in 2025 and your boy's goal is to get you out of that hole. And so we want to make sure that we get you out of that holiday hole. And then secondly, we also want to make sure that we start saving for the holidays now. So anybody listening who was like, woo, that was a close call. I almost went into debt in 2024 for the holidays because I did not plan this out. Well, in 2025, I want you to treat the holidays like a bill, meaning that you're going to set up a category in your high yield savings account in a bucket, and you're going to start saving for the holidays now in January. I cannot tell you how important this can be. So here's how you do that. First, you're going to look at how much you spent in 2024, And you're going to say to yourself, well, last year I spent $2,400. I'm using that for easy math. You may have spent way less. I don't care how much you spent. This is an example, people. This is an example. Every time I use an example, people just freak out every single time. This is an example. So let's say you spent $2,400 last year during the holidays. If you spent $2,400 last year, you divide that number by 12. And guess what? You got to save $200 per month. But what does this do? This does a number of different things. One is if you see things that you know someone's going to like, maybe you take notes and you hear people talk about, oh, I wish I had this or I wish I had that. You see things on sale throughout the entire year, you can start to buy things for people. Now, if you have the type of family where everybody tells each other what they want, they don't tell each other until November, you may have to wait. But if you're the type of person who everybody just likes to surprise each other, then you can go out there and start to buy gifts throughout the year and start to check boxes off because you have the cash on hand already. We pay for the holidays in cash here at the Personal Finance Podcast and Master money. That's how we do things when it comes to consuming stuff. Okay. And so when it comes to consuming stuff, you need to pay for this in cash. And if you already have the cash on hand, cause you're saving $200 per month, cause the holidays are a bill. You're going to spend the money no matter what. And so making sure you are already saving for that is really important. And you can take advantage of deals early and you could probably spend less money over time. Then imagine getting to the holidays, okay? And you may have never, ever felt this feeling in your life. And your stress around money is lifted. Your stress around money is lifted during the holidays and you could just relax. You could buy the stuff you need to buy. You can buy the groceries you need to buy. You can finally afford that gigantic prime rib because you saved up the money throughout the entire year. Speaking of which, a great prime rib hack around the holidays, remember this for next year because I did this this year. Side note is if you're like me and you eat a really high protein diet, then you could take a prime rib and you could slice that bad boy up. You can do it as thick as you want, and you got yourself ribeyes for like $6 a steak when they're usually 20. Amazing hack, did it this year, I have like 20 ribeyes in my freezer right now. Anyways, so that is something that you need to be doing is saving for the holidays now is going to be something that will reduce your stress in your life. Now, if you have holiday debt, let's get into this, because we got to assess how much holiday debt you have. And then I want you to prioritize the high interest debt first. So if you went into credit card debt, if you took a personal loan, make sure you prioritize that high interest debt first. If you did buy now, pay later, don't do that again. A. B. Once you get that paid off, we want to make sure that we are now moving into the next year and ensuring that we are saving up cash overall. Buy now, pay later is my enemy. I hate it more than anything, but it's better than going into debt on a credit card if you're paying 0% interest on a buy now, pay later. It just depends on what you're paying there. And then create this repayment plan. See how much extra cash you have on hand. That high interest debt needs to be attacked immediately. That is a pants on fire emergency, specifically when it comes to your finances. You want to make sure that you are paying off that high interest debt as fast as you possibly can. If you get windfalls, meaning if you have a bonus coming to you in March, some people get bonuses in January, February, March, earlier in the year, take that financial windfall, put it towards these different things to make sure that you are paying off some of this stuff. Also, if you have unused items, sell those things as fast as you possibly can. We talked about this in the paycheck to paycheck cycle episode, but if you're in debt, you need to sell unused items, every single one of them, and put them towards your debt and try to get rid of that debt. And set up automatic payments towards your debt so that you never miss a payment and ensure that you are paying this down every single month.