With travel, gifts and festivities in full swing, staying on budget this time of year can feel impossible—but it’s easier than you may think! Thanks to a bit of extra planning and some savvy shopping, you can still create a beautiful holiday season that feels abundant and joyful.
In Episode 3 of Woman’s World’s new “Happy Money” video series, all about finances in midlife—hosted by Digital Director Julia Dennison, Sean Pyles, CFP, host of NerdWallet’s “Smart Money”, shares strategies to help you spend wisely, save big and start 2026 feeling financially confident.
Watch here and listen on Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple Podcasts.
Tune into Episode 3 right here! ‘The Holiday Wallet Playbook’ with NerdWallet’s Sean Pyles
Smart travel booking: your ticket to big savings
This flight finder trick is a game-changer
It’s no secret that holiday travel can be expensive, and last-minute deals are pretty hard to come by. Thankfully, with one savvy trick, you can ensure you’re getting the best price.
“I’m really a fan of Google Flights because it will tell you if this is a good price for your specific flight, or if it’s getting more expensive, and you can see how that will change over time,” says Pyles. “And if you do find that the flight that you want to your destination is at a good price, I would recommend going ahead and getting it.”
The credit card rewards secret that pays off
Here’s a smart move: If you can, pay for your flight with a credit card that will provide significant points for your purchase, he adds. While the savings aren’t immediate, you could later put those rewards points towards other trips and book a flight at a steep discount.
The surprisingly simple road trip money-saver
Planning to drive to your holiday destination? There’s an easy trick to make the road trip less expensive, too—simply use cruise control when you can.
“You’ll be amazed how much gas you can save just improving your mileage using cruise control and also it makes the drive a little bit less stressful too,” advises Pyles.
Gift shopping that feels joyful
The planning trick to try
Though giving presents to others brings you joy, there’s often some stress that can accompany the shopping season. Trying to buy everyone something they’ll love while also being mindful of your own finances can seem like quite the puzzle. Luckily, a bit of planning leading up to the holidays can keep you from feeling confident with your budget.
“What I like to do is I will write a list of everyone that I know I want to buy a present for, and I will categorize it by how much money I want to spend on them,” shares Pyles. “And then I’ll also go back and I’ll fill in what I ended up buying this person and what it actually costs, because there may be some discrepancy every so often, and that’s okay.”
Price-tracking tools that will save you dollars
Another benefit to planning ahead is that it gives you time to find the best prices for those items on your to-buy list. Websites like CamelCamelCamel.com can be particularly useful for potential purchases on Amazon—it will let you see the price history of that specific product. As Pyles points out, it’s not uncommon for retailers to increase prices before sale days, so this type of tracking keeps you from overpaying when a discount isn’t really a discount.
You don’t have to just be checking out Amazon’s inventory, however, to make sure you’re getting a good deal. It’s easy to confirm that you’re getting the best bang for your buck with the help of ChatGPT.
“You can say, ‘Okay. Chat GPT, what’s the going price for a set of AirPods right now?’” suggests Pyles. ‘And it will give you information on it, and it will let you know whether you can find a better price somewhere.”
Keep an eye out for these discounts
If you’re looking to save on your seasonal shopping, knowing more about sales trends can make a huge difference. It’s common for retailers to offer better discounts on some goods than others.
“Name-brand electronics are really big,” explains Pyles. “We tend to see pretty good deals on those around the holiday shopping days, same with kids’ toys, but you’re probably going to want to avoid things like winter clothes, for example, though they don’t tend to be on sale until maybe January or February.”
Waiting for those items, especially if you aren’t buying them for gifts, means you’ll get the best possible prices.
A word about buy now, pay later
Something to consider: While buy now, pay later options can be an appealing short-term option for shopping this time of year, they could become a headache long after the holidays are over.
“Buy now, pay later doesn’t really have the interest rates of credit cards, but the danger is that it can be really easy to stack multiple loans, and buy now pay later loans are being incorporated into your FICO score,” he warns. “So if you can’t stay on top of all of these loans, it could negatively affect your credit too.”
The good news? By hunting for deals and planning ahead, you can often afford those special gifts without needing any loans at all!
Read the full transcript below:
Dennison: Welcome to “Happy Money.” I am Julia Denison. I’m your host here at Woman’s World Magazine, and today we are talking holidays, travel, spending. It’s a joyful time of year, but it can also be a stressful time of year, especially for your wallet. I am here with Sean Pyles, who is not only a Certified Financial Planner himself, but he is the award-winning..I’ve just heard that you’ve just won for your podcast, “Smart Money.” So it’s “Happy Money” versus “Smart Money.” Here on the couch together, and we are going to be talking about Nerd Wallet just released a holiday spending report, which is really, a really cool kind of litmus test and insight into what the holiday season is going to be like as we kind of head into it. So Sean, thank you so much for coming. I’m so glad we could sit on this couch together and talk money, Happy Money, Smart Money coming together.
Pyles: I think happy money is smart money, and vice versa.
Dennison: Okay, so let’s talk about holidays. You’ve just finished up your report. What are the kind of like, broad takeaways from the report? How are people feeling this year when they’re running up into the holidays? I will say that our holiday content, and I’m we’re recording this in earlier in October, but our holiday content is already doing well, which is usually a sign that folks are ready to celebrate.
Pyles: The holidays are creeping earlier and earlier every year. I think eventually we will just have Christmas in July. It’s inevitable. But there are three main things that stand out to me in our holiday shopping report. One is how much people are spending. The other is how people are spending that money, and the third is how people are responding to the broader economic environment right now. So when it comes to how much people are spending, on average, we expect folks to spend around $1,100 on gifts this year, and that’s around $200 more than last year. And then when it comes to travel, folks are going to spend, on average, around $2,600 so people might be looking at around $3,700 for their holidays, all in on average, based on our respondents.
Dennison: Oh, gosh, okay, so they’re spending a little bit more. You’re saying $200 more, a little bit less than $200 more than last year. Is that just inflation? Or is that the folks are, like, we need it this year?
Pyles: I think some of it’s inflation. Yeah, one thing that we’ve seen as well in broader industry reports around this is that while holiday sales on the aggregate will be up an estimated around, like five ish percent, that’s slower growth than in years past. Okay. So in 2020 we saw growth that was, I think, 20 or 30 percent compared to the year prior. Last year, I want to say it was around 8 percent so 5 percent growth is slower growth than last year.
Dennison: Okay. And what about their spending on travel? But what do you anticipate them spending on travel? Is that going up? Has that gone up this year? Or about the same?
Pyles: The travel, I don’t have specific numbers on how much that has changed year over year, but to me, it stands out how much people are trying to save on travel. 90 percent of our respondents that they’re trying to do something to save on travel, and that’s going to often mean flying, either on the holiday itself, or maybe for Thanksgiving a few days before the holiday, and making a longer weekend out of it, just doing anything that saves costs where they can.
Dennison: Yeah, actually, you know what? Let’s start with holiday travel. Because I feel like that’s usually what you kind of try to at least, I try to sort that out first, especially if you’re like, look, you know, trying to plan ahead and book those flights. What tips would you have for booking travel around the holiday in order to save money?
Pyles: Yeah, I would say plan early. And if this is airing in November, it might be a little too late for Thanksgiving, but it’s probably not too late for Christmas. Well, sure, but step on it and know what the flights might be, or know when you might want to drive out. For me, I typically will drive for Christmas, and one of my easy ways to save money is honestly just using cruise control. You’ll be amazed how much gas you can save just improving your mileage using cruise control and also makes the drive a little bit less stressful too.
Dennison: See my boyfriend always wants me to use cruise control, and I’m always like, but then I don’t have control myself. I like to speed up and get there faster, but probably net, it’s, it’s probably I’ll be there at the same time, and saving that little much more exactly.
Pyles: Yeah, you can be a little bit less stressed about speeding up and getting around all the cars.
Dennison: So tell me about booking flights, because I never know if you should book it way ahead. Or if it’s like, are there ever last-minute deals with flights? Or is it flights are just like, always trying to book those
Pyles: For the holidays, there are rarely going to be last-minute deals because everyone is traveling at that time. So it’s really smart to look and keep an eye on things a couple months in advance so you can know when might be a good time. I’m really a fan of Google Flights because it will tell you if this is a good price for your specific flight, or if it’s getting more expensive, and you can see how that will change over time. And if you do find that the flight that you want to your destination is at a good price, I would recommend going ahead and getting it.
Dennison: And then when you’re booking it, should you do it like I’ve heard tips, like, go in in Cognito mode, or like, is there anything should you book directly with the airline? Or should you, you know, book through a third party?
Pyles: I will typically book directly through the airline, because that way something does go awry, you don’t have to deal with a third party, but if you can find a better deal through them, too, and you don’t mind maybe having a little bit more of a hassle. If you do need to change your flight, that’s a personal choice that you can make, too. And. Um, but whether it comes down to, like, if incognito makes a difference or not, I don’t exactly know one way or another, because I think at this point they have all of our information anyway, so they know what we’re doing. But what I would say is try to use a credit card that’s going to get you a good amount of points for your purchase, because that is how you can actually kind of semi offset this really expensive time of year just getting value for the money you’re spending.
Dennison: And NerdWallet it’s really great about doing roundups of like, the best credit cards with Yes, points, is there any like you recommend? Or is there any that stand out right now? Or what should you be looking for when it comes to credit cards?
Pyles: Yeah, do the points. We have monthly roundups that come out. So folks should check those out for sure. And for me, I tend to be kind of simpler when it comes to credit cards. And so I will get a general, kind of all-purpose travel credit card, and keep it easy in that way. I don’t like to pay a lot in annual fees, too. So it comes down to personal preference and what you know you might want. So say you fly one airline a lot like I live in Portland, Oregon, Alaska, as a hub there. So I actually just ventured out of my comfort zone and got the new Alaska credit card, because there are a lot of great perks for it, because I know I’m going to fly Alaska a lot, but if someone doesn’t live near an Alaska hub, it wouldn’t really make sense for them to get this specific card.
Dennison: So I guess, like, if you have family in a certain area that you know you’re going to be visiting around the holidays every year, then it might be worth seeing if they have a hub, you know, their airport, and looking for that credit card. For example, I we have family in Florida, and we have the JetBlue credit card because exactly, we’re always using JetBlue. So yeah, okay, that’s really interesting. All right, so booking travel. You’ve booked your travel now you’re kind of thinking ahead for for gifts. Now, I know we are as we’re recording this, there’s there’s Prime Day happening, there’s then Black Friday sales coming up. Should you be like, spreading your spending throughout the year? What are your tips and like, when is the best time to be buying your holiday gifts?
Pyles: When you know what you’re going to get someone and you can find the right price for it, that’s a good time to get it. So I actually like to spread out my purchases throughout the year. So if I’m traveling somewhere, for example, I went to London in May, and I picked up some gifts for some gifts for some family and friends there, because I know, okay, this is how I can begin to gradually build up my chest of gifts for everyone and not have it happen all at once last minute, which can lead to overspending or maybe getting a gift that you actually don’t really think they will like just feel obligated to do it.
Dennison: So yeah, so I feel like I’m supermarket sweet when it comes to doing my holiday shopping, like I am not the best planner, so I’ll often be a couple days before in store, just like whatever works. But I often, often feel like if I did this and I planned further in advance, and I actually made those Christmas lists that I wanted to get folks, then probably better off.
Pyles: Planning is so key, because one of the best ways to save money too. So what I like to do is I will write a list of everyone that I know I want to buy a present for, and I will categorize it by how much money I want to spend on them. Because, you know, my partner, I’m gonna spend a lot of money on them for all because I just love them so much, but if it’s like their aunt, who I also adore, I’m gonna spend a little bit less money. But I want them to get something good too. And then it’s a spreadsheet. Yes, it’s a spreadsheet. I thought, yes. And then I’ll also go back and I’ll fill in what I ended up buying this person and what it actually costs, because there may be some discrepancy every so often, and that’s okay, because sometimes these lists are aspirational, but at least you have some kind of framework to base this off of.
Dennison: Can you share your Excel template for that? Because that is the most Certified Financial Planner Christmas planning I’ve ever heard.
Pyles: I am one of those people that is competent in Excel, in the sense that I can open an Excel spreadsheet and fill in basic things, but I don’t have any formulas, so you probably don’t want my spreadsheet.
Dennison: So okay, so it’s planning ahead. It’s coming up with those lists. It’s budgeting how much you want to spend per person, and then in terms of you were saying, like making sure you get the right price for what you want to get them. What tips do you have for finding the best price for a specific item?
Pyles: Yeah, a lot of it’s going to be comparison shopping from one site to the next, and even using tools like, there’s one CamelCamelCamel.com that can help you compare prices on Amazon over time. I find that really helpful ahead of like Prime Day or Cyber Monday, or in October, you know, we just had the Amazon big deals day, or whatever they want to call it. What we’ve seen in the past is that sometimes retailers will actually increase their prices right before these sale days, and then they bring them back down to what is like. It seems like a sale relative to the increase of it. So you may not want to get something if it’s actually not truly discounted. But just being informed and knowing what you might want to expect over time for the price is a good thing to do. Also, ChatGPT, can be really helpful here too, where you can say, Okay. ChatGPT, what’s the going price for a set of AirPods right now? And it will give you information on it, and it will let you know whether you can find a better price somewhere else.
Dennison: Okay, got it. That’s so interesting. So put those prompts in ChatGPT. I guess you could probably put your whole list in ChatGPT.
Pyles: Yes, that’s actually a really helpful way to shop as well. If you say, Hey, I have $500 to spend on the holidays this year, I have these people, and I want to spend this amount on each person. What’s an idea? Or how can I break this out budget-wise, to actually maximize my spending and get people good gifts. And now you can shop. You can make purchases through chat, G, P, T, with some, yeah, some retailers, especially Etsy, right now, but Shopify is going to be on their. Soon, it may be on there by the time this is live. So that is a fascinating development, and it’s one that I’m personally a little wary of, because I do a lot of research ahead of all of my purchases, and I worry that people might end up buying things that aren’t what they expect if they’re doing it solely through chat, G, P, T, so as ever, with AI tools, for me, it’s a trust but verify. Go to the source to confirm what you’re getting.
Dennison: Also, I know what I’m like with a TikTok shop. It’s a lot of impulse buying,
Pyles: So I’ve certainly bought some crap off TikTok shop, and it’s not what I thought it was gonna be when it arrived.
Dennison: It’s amazing how like influencing these influencers on TikTok can. Yeah, they know what they’re doing. Yes. Okay, so what kind of gifts are you seeing people buy this year? I don’t know if you looked into that at all in the holiday report, but is there any kind are there any kind of trends around? What kind are they bigger gifts? Are they smaller gifts? What do you kind of see?
Pyles: We haven’t seen a lot specifically around what people are buying, but the same things kind of come up year after year. We know, like, name-brand electronics are really big. Like, you know, there is the AirPods, the iPads, all of that. We tend to see pretty good deals on those around the holiday shopping days, same with kids toys, but you’re probably going to want to avoid things like winter clothes, for example, though they don’t tend to be on sale until maybe January, February, because right now is like a peak time to buy them, because we’re all getting bundled up. So think about where you can find deals on things, and where things are maybe not going to be on sale.
Dennison: And are there certain items that are better deals around Black Friday? For example, electronics, big thing on Black Friday. Okay, so you think, if you know you want to get your aunt some AirPods, is it worth waiting until, I guess it’s, you know, Prime Day, or waiting until Black Friday?
Pyles: Yeah, again, I would say, if you know what you want, begin to look at prices. And then if you see that really good deal on Black Friday, just go ahead and get it.
Dennison: Okay, all right. Well, we love a deal, but sometimes they can be a little too enticing, and we’re starting to see a lot of scams. We’re writing on a lot of scams at Women’s World. It feels like you know, the scammers are getting smarter and smarter, I think especially in the run-up to the holidays. Are you seeing any kind of holiday-related scams that people are falling for, tips for, like, avoiding them, yeah? Like, I always feel like I’m pretty good at spotting a scam, but they’re getting smarter. And there are definitely texts that I sometimes get where I go, is that my bank? Is that not my bank?
Pyles: Well, I’m glad you mentioned the text, because people should be very wary of any inbound communication. This could be a text where it seems like it’s from USPS, UPS, FedEx or Amazon or some sort of vendor where you think, okay, you need to click this link to confirm that shipment is going to be on its way, or to complete a purchase if you, even if you just shopped at Amazon, it’s probably not from them. So what people should do, in that case, if they get any sort of direct amount of communication where it seems like it’s from a bank or someone they might even trust, go back to that source. Don’t click any sort of link. If you get a call from someone that says, Oh, hey, we are your bank, we need you to verify your information, hang up and call the number on the back of your credit card, because there are pervasive impersonation scams, and this can be impersonation through the text message, than pretending to be some sort of mail carrier or someone pretending to be your bank. And they will try. Scammers will try to strike urgency and make you think that you have to respond immediately. It might be something like if you don’t click this link the next five minutes, your order’s not going to come through. Oh, shoot. I really need my gift to arrive tomorrow. Better click this link, right? In fact, you can save a lot of money and heartache and stress by just not clicking that link. Better safe than sorry. Yes, another thing too, I’ll recommend is be very cautious about what website URLs you are at, because people, scammers are now using AI to duplicate websites almost exactly to a T so it might look exactly like Walmart or Amazon or whatever vendor you’re at, but the URL will be slightly different. You just check the URL and be careful of any link that you click, so just be very cautious with where you’re going.
Dennison: Okay, all right. So scams aside, thinking about things that might be a little too good to be true or maybe not, we hear a lot about buy now, pay later as like, a very popular option. And I know that, like it’s often the holidays can feel very tight financially. And you know, you if you were not that person that budgeted ahead of time, or you don’t have that extra money to spend on the holidays the way you want to spend on the holidays, what tips would you have for that person? Is it worth looking at credit card deals? Is it worth doing buy now, pay later, or is it, or is it just better to just buy things with within your means?
Pyles: The last one for sure, but I think within your means, one of our colleagues at NerdWallet is actually doing a thrifted holiday this year, and she’s been able to save hundreds of dollars by thrifting gifts because she has two young kids, so it’s been a really smart way to save some money there. I understand that a lot of people are going to go into debt for the holidays every year. We run a similar report like this, and we find that around this year, around 30% of people who use their credit cards to shop last year for the holidays haven’t paid off their credit card debt yet, and around 10% of respondents actually haven’t paid off their credit card from multiple holidays. So it can be a really slippery slope and hard to get out of, because credit card debt is just so expensive. Buy now pay later doesn’t really have the. In interest rates of credit cards. But the danger is that it can be really easy to stack multiple buy-now-pay-later loans, and as of this fall, buy-now-pay-later loans are being incorporated into your FICO score. So if you can’t stay on top of all of these loans, it could negatively affect your credit, too. So that’s a big risk.
Dennison: That is so hard. I mean, I don’t know if you can talk about the psychology at all. It’s like, what is that? What is it about the holidays that makes us all want to spend or overspend, even when it means like you’re not even paying it off for a whole other year?
Pyles: So much of it is, I think, peer and family pressure and tradition. This is how we express love this time of year for a lot of families. But one thing that stood out to me in the report too is that there’s an appetite for this to change; around 60 percent of respondents said that they would actually prefer if their holiday traditions were less gift-focused. So that might mean doing things like shared experiences together instead of buying a whole bunch of stuff that you don’t need. So while it can be awkward and uncomfortable to broach that subject, thinking, Hey, Mom and Dad or rather, Sister cousin, can we maybe go out to a weekend retreat here together, like, get an Airbnb or something together, versus buying a bunch of gifts. How can we rethink what our holidays are so we’re not all going into debt for things that, like, we frankly, don’t actually need?
Dennison: Yeah, maybe there’s, like, Secret Santa or white elephant, or maybe you agree ahead of time on a budget, or say, like, we’re only doing one present max. Or, you know, having a conversation right ahead of time with your family, and like, your family understands they don’t want you to, you know, be hurting yourself financially, just to be able to, like, have fun at the holidays. And so you were saying that your colleague is into the thrifting holidays. Are there any other tips out there in terms of, like, having, like, a lower-key holiday? You think experiences, thrift experiences.
Pyles: I’m really big on homemade personal gifts. My sister in law loves hot sauce, and so the past couple years, I have made her hot sauce from peppers that I grew in my garden. I love that, and that is really personal. And each year the hot sauce is slightly different, and she loves the hotter, the better. So last year she was like, you know, the year before, it was a little spicier. So try again next year. But it all makes a fun little you can have something that’s unique and personal. It lets them know, still, I’m thinking about you. I see you. I know what your interests are. Here’s a sweet little something that didn’t cost me $50.
Dennison: And this year, it feels like people are especially feeling the pinch. There’s a lot of conversation around inflation and the tariffs. So it feels like this, of any years, is a good year to have that conversation with your family about keeping it a little lower key with the tariffs. Are you seeing folks like keeping that in mind when it comes to their holiday shopping?
Pyles: So it was around 74 percent of respondents said that tariffs are impacting the way they’re thinking about holiday shopping this year. So that might mean that they are buying less because things are more expensive, or maybe buying things earlier, so they can get things while they’re in stock, or when they do find a good deal on it. People’s mentality. They’re more proactive around it, which I think is good. They’re mindful of how expensive things could be or that it might not be available, but it’s definitely top of mind for a lot of consumers.
Dennison: And are there certain products that are going to be more expensive because of tariffs this holiday season?
Pyles: Depends on which country has which amount of tariffs that day, got it. But yeah, exactly.
Dennison: Okay. And is there any, what do you recommend in terms of, like, checking to see if now is a good moment to be buying a certain product?
Pyles: Yeah, because tariffs have been so volatile, yeah, a lot of it does come back to again, knowing what you want and keeping an eye on prices over time, and if you think based on your own informed decision making and research that you have a good price on a certain day, it’s probably a good idea to get it then.
Dennison: Okay, all right, so holidays aside, the end of year is also a really nice moment to kind of look at your finances and see where you stand, and hopefully you’re not paying off last year’s holiday spending. What kind of advice would you have in terms of like, taking a look and doing, using the end of the year as a moment to, like, look at your finances for the year and just kind of like, go into the next year on the best with the best foot forward when it comes to your money.
Pyles: This is a great time to spend a moment and reflect and think about where you were in January, what you wanted to accomplish with your money, see how things actually panned out. Obviously, we’re not gonna be able to accomplish all the things we want to do with our finances. To do with our finances in a given year, because so many things could come up. But take that moment to reflect and see how you can grow on the progress that you did make, and where you want to make some adjustments going forward. And that might mean auditing things like your retirement savings, how much you have in your high-yield savings account if you do have one, you probably should if you don’t, and what your habits are in terms of, like, maybe charitable contributions, those sorts of things. So you can actually set yourself up for success next year. And think about what your goals might want to be going into 2026.
Dennison: Talking about the high-yield savings accounts. I know NerdWallet also does some great roundups. Because that changes all the time in terms of which bank is offering the best.
Pyles: Yeah, yeah. So you’ll get a much greater yield on your savings of a higher savings account versus a traditional savings account. With a brick and mortar bank, you might get like, point oh, 3 percent at a traditional brick and mortar bank, where, right now, as we’re recording this, it might be around 4 percent, but it will change based on the Federal Reserve’s interest rates too. So if those continue to go down, you get a lower yield, but it’s. Loads better than what you would get at another bank.
Dennison: That is some sweet cash in your bank account. I was very happy when I heard that tip about high-yield savings accounts. That’s worth it’s very much worth it, even if it’s like moving your money around from bank account to bank account, which can be a little bit burdensome in terms of admin but like.
Pyles: But if you set up direct deposits and automated transfers, it can be really easy to set this up.
Dennison: Got it all right. So if we’re looking at the end of the year and thinking about our resolutions and things, resolutions and thinking about the year ahead, if you have any big events now, I have heard you were just telling me that you’re getting married, yes, congratulations. That’s so exciting. Yeah. So do you have any tips if you have, like, a wedding coming up, or a big event or something happening, your family, big graduation, and you know what’s coming up within the next calendar year? Yeah? What tips do you have in terms of just like saving up for that or getting your money in order as you enter the new year?
Pyles: So I am a bit of an outlier with my savings accounts, where I have around 10 different checking and savings accounts for different goals. Yes.
Dennison: Tell me more.
Pyles: So I have my emergency fund. I have a fund for my house. I have one for my taxes. I have one for my car. I have one for my wedding, and I’ve been saving it for my wedding for about five years now. My partner and I are, we were long-term engaged. Is what I call we’re getting married in our about our 10-year anniversary. Wow. Okay, five years to save up for this. And so I had this designated fund, and I would put a certain percentage of every single paycheck into this fund in my highest savings account over the past five years. And I’ve earned hundreds of dollars in interest by having this account set up properly. And so setting up these automated deposits made it. Made it so that I didn’t have to think about where my money was going. It was just automatically going in there. And I saved up around $20,000 over those five years just by being really diligent. And I’ve ramped it up over the past 12 months or so, so I could hit our target for it, but it made it so I wasn’t nearly as stressed around how much money I would be able to spend on our wedding.
Dennison: That is so cool. So having those different accounts? Was that more of like a psychological thing, just to have the different buckets? Or is it that different accounts do different things depending on what you’re trying to spend on?
Pyles: They all it’s sort of a form of mental accounting, but in my different accounts form, so in general, like, I could just have it all in one pool, but I tend to be very organized with my finances, where I like to know, okay, like, yes, my car is paid off, but I know I’m going to have some maintenance on it, so I want to have money in this account for things like registration, or if I have to get new tires and not have it be pulled from my emergency fund or my checking account. And for things like taxes, I have a business, I rent out a property I know I’m going to owe some taxes come tax season, so let me not have sticker shock when that comes around, and just begin to automatically save money for it too. So it helps me stay ahead of the curve and be proactive when I know I’m going to have a bill coming up eventually.
Dennison: Got it, okay. So, as a financial planner, what is one thing that you’re not doing at your wedding?
Pyles: I’m not spending more than I can afford having a pretty small wedding. It’s about 60 people, and that is the biggest money saver, because the more people you have, the more expensive it gets. Like for our reception, we’re renting out part of a restaurant. We can only fit 60 people. We wanted to have closer to 85 if we were going to do that, it was going to go from around $5,000 for that, for the reception to $15,000, just having 25 more people. Wow. Okay, so we are really trying to save money there, in part because we have our honeymoon right after our wedding too. So that, of course, is adding to our costs, but in the best way.
Dennison: And is there anything that you’re prioritizing in terms of, like, food, flowers, music?
Pyles: It’s the venue, my partner, I met in San Francisco, and so we’re getting married at San Francisco City Hall in the mayor’s balcony, and it’s just a beautiful place, and I splurge and I’m renting, or I’m hiring a harpist for the event, and it’s going to be so beautiful. So it’s all about the space and having our family there, and that’s what was important.
Dennison: Well, congratulations.
Pyles: Thank you.
Dennison: All right, I’m gonna ask you some rapid fire couple rapid-fire questions. Let’s see, what is your go-to money-saving hack for the holidays, if you have to say one thing, research, know when you can get a good price on something, what is the best under $25 gift you’ve ever given or received?
Pyles: So I mentioned the hot sauce that I made that was definitely under $25, but in terms of received, my partner crocheted me a cardigan for my birthday last year, and it was beautiful. It probably costs more if you think about hours that he spent making it for me, fair, maybe more than 25 in terms of materials, probably around that. And it’s so special.
Dennison: Yeah, it’s worth it. What is one thing that you’ll never buy on Black Friday?
Pyles: Again, something I’ve never researched? I need to know what I’m getting, what the price is going to be, and so if I haven’t seen this product before, I’m not just going to get it right then. So like, emphasis on the planner side of the financial planner
Dennison: Exactly. All right. So finish this sentence. You did this a little bit up top, but we’ll do it again. So finish this sentence. Happy money is…
Pyles: Purposeful money.
Dennison: Yeah, I like that. This has been happy money. Thank you so much, Sean, for coming on the show. We’re so happy to have you. Those were some awesome, awesome tips. And as we always say, the best investment is the investment that you can make in yourself is you.
