EPISODE 52: Holiday Gifting In This Economy

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THE LOWDOWN

With the holidays just around the corner and the status of our economy, it is the perfect time to decide if what you did for holiday traditions are financially feasible this year.

In this episode I give you the permission to change things up this year and find new ways to do things.

MENTIONED IN SHOW:

Website: www.lovealwaysjess.com/getstarted

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/love.always.jess

SHOW NOTES:

Episode begins at [00:00:57]

TRANSCRIPT:

[0:00:00]

[upbeat and joyful music fades in]

[0:00:06]

Intro: Sex and Money with Jess is a podcast dedicated to helping you deepen your relationship with yourself and others when it comes to sex and money. I’m your host, Jess, and my mission is to give you the tools to step outside of your comfort zone and into your empowered self. Here, I encourage you to let go of shame and societal pressures and reimagine your future the way you want it. If you’re ready to gain more confidence, feel sexier, and become more secure in your finances, I invite you to put on your favorite outfit, pull out your bank statements, and let’s get started!

[music fades out]

[0:00:57]

Hello, I hope you are doing well. It is currently raining in Southern California, middle of November and I am super, super, super excited for that. I love the rain and it just makes me want to cozy up in front of a fireplace and put on a good movie or read a good book. And that’s also how the holidays make me feel. I thoroughly enjoy this time, getting together with family, getting together with friends, the weather, the decorations, it all makes me very excited, and I will say that the fall time is my favorite season of the year.

[0:01:36]

If you listened to last week’s episode we are officially out of the government shutdown, which is exciting, but it’s a short term, you know, band aid. It doesn’t mean it’s going to last forever and unfortunately there are still going to be people who are impacted by this. Yes, there’s going to be back pay and yes people will, you know, get SNAP benefits and stuff, but there was a lot of people who were impacted by it. And as we head into the holiday season, those people are going to be feeling the impacts of the government shutdown. And not just the government shutdown but I think we can all agree that the economy as a whole is kind of shitty right now, and by kind of I mean really shitty. Which is unfortunate and not something we should all have to deal with.

[0:02:25]

When it comes to the holiday season we might feels those affects a little bit more. The holiday season tends to surround gift giving. It tends to surround a lot of holiday deals, such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, different things like that. We’re constantly being bombarded with ads and commercials trying to entice us to purchase the next best thing. You might be feeling disheartened at all of this because income is different this year, things cost more, whatever it might be, and it can create emotions and feelings for the holidays that may put you in a mindset of you don’t like this season, you don’t like this moment. I want to let you know your feelings are valid around that. Financial strain and financial concern during the holidays does hurt. It hurts in general, um, but when there’s expectations we must uphold it does really, really stink.

[0:03:26]

One of the suggestions that I want to give you is if gift giving, or going all out for decorating for a party, or going all out and providing dinner for family, or something that you might normally do, but you’re feeling a little strained on this year. You might feel embarrassed to kind of bring it up to your family and say, “hey I think I need things to be different year.” It stinks. It stinks to have to do that, but we also have to recognize that it’s okay to admit when we can’t or don’t want to do something the same anymore.

[music fades in]

[0:04:07]

Commercial: Hey! If you’re enjoying the show and are looking to go deeper in away that is more personalized to you, visit lovealwaysjess.com/getstarted to discover more ways to work with me. I understand that there is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to sex and money, so let’s get to discovering your own goals and building the path to lead you there. That’s lovealwaysjess.com/getstarted. Okay, back to the show.

[music fades out]

[0:04:47]

Back in 2022 my mom had kind of been thinking that it wasn’t right to do gifts for everyone within our family. Usually around Christmas time each person would get multiple gifts, this was our extended family get together, and each person would open multiple gifts. We would go around and open from like youngest to oldest, it would take us three or four hours to open gifts because there were… I think there were twelve of us and we’d go around the room and one person, the youngest, would go and then the second youngest, etcetera, all the way up to the oldest, and then we’d go back around back to the youngest. In 2022 my mom could tell that it wasn’t financially sound or feasible for us to do that anymore. So she had a conversation with my aunt and we kind of decided to settle on doing white elephant. So 2022 was our first year doing that. We did white elephant gift and we kind of settled on a twenty-five dollar max. We have since increased it to fifty dollars, but it was a good way to kind of meet in the middle. To find a way for each of us to walk away with a gift, but not feel financially burdened, and to not feel as if we had to show up making everybody happy with an individual gift for each person. Because it can be a lot of money on people, and when you have to do that, or the expectation is there and you aren’t able to meet it, you feel guilty.

[0:06:19]

So that’s a suggestion of something you can do. You can have that conversation with a family member, suggest a different way to do things, and who knows, maybe the other family members are feeling the same way and want to change things around, but are just too afraid to say something. And if you do get push back where they say, “no we don’t want to change things,” you don’t have to feel obligated to buy stuff for them, or you don’t have to do something that is super expensive or extensive. If all you can do is afford a five dollar gift card to starbucks for somebody, or for everybody then just do that. Do something that is going to work within your budget. Sometimes buying a gift might not even be an option. Maybe you have to make something. Maybe you know what each and every single one of your family members like and so you draw that picture for them. Or you crochet them something. Something that is more affordable and also more meaningful at the same time because you put time and effort into it. Not everybody needs something material.

[0:07:24]

So, as we head into this holiday season, as we feel the strain of our economy, I want you to know that you are not alone in feeling that. You are not alone in wanting things to change and you’re also not alone in needing to change things within how you’ve been doing things in order to, you know, survive. It’s a quick suggestion, talk to you family members. Easier said than done, I know. Or come up with a different solution that works for you, but it’s okay to change things. That is the one permission slip I want you to walk away with - is that it’s okay to change things. I hope this quick episode gave you some food for thought and I hope that you have a great week ahead. Before you know it, it’s going to be Thanksgiving. I think we have one week left before Thanksgiving and then we’re in December and the end of the year, which is fricken obnoxious in my mind. Anyways, I hope you all have a great, great rest of your day and your week. Love you, bye.

[music fades in]

[0:08:25]

Outro: Thank you for listening. I hope this episode left you feeling more confident in the future you are creating. I would love to hear your thoughts on the podcast, so please leave a review and remember sharing is caring. If you know somebody who could benefit from this podcast on their own personal journey, please share it with them. What I know we need more of in this world are people who are thriving in their financial and sexual lives. And if you’re ready to dive in deeper, please go to lovealwaysjess.com/getstarted to find out more ways that you can work with me. May your day and week ahead be filled with love. See you next week!

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[0:09:21]