The Weight Of Money Podcast

The Gift That Keeps Giving

• Dontese Burtin Jr. • Episode 25

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The holidays should feel warm, not worrisome. We open up about the annual spending spiral that leaves so many of us joyful on the 25th and anxious by the 1st, and we offer a grounded plan to keep the magic without the debt. From fake “deals” that barely move the price to the hidden costs of decor, dinners, and impulse buys, we map the traps and show you how to step around them with confidence.

We get honest about buy now, pay later services and why those “no late fee” promises can still wreck your budget. Zero percent isn’t guaranteed, APRs can soar, and stacked micro-payments become a wave that crashes in January. Instead, we lay out a simple strategy: the one-or-two-gift rule, a quick holiday budget split into gifts, gatherings, and extras, and a commitment to only buying what you can pay off on time. If you can’t pay in full, we share practical alternatives—cash gifts, experiences, thoughtful low-cost items—that honor your love without gutting your savings.

Underneath the numbers is a bigger shift: trading competition and consumer pressure for connection. Kids remember time more than price tags, and a calm parent is a better gift than any gadget. With inflation pushing everyday costs higher, the most radical move you can make is to protect your cash flow, skip the performative purchases, and build a small sinking fund for next year. Leave the season with your lights on, your rent paid, and your peace intact.

If this speaks to you, follow the show, share it with a friend who’s feeling the holiday squeeze, and drop a review to help others find it. And if you’re ready to build a calmer money plan for next season, hit subscribe so you never miss what’s next.

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SPEAKER_00:

Welcome back to another episode of the way the money podcast. And I'm your host, Dante. And today, I just want to start out by saying happy holidays to all the good people out there. I appreciate y'all for watching me and sticking with me throughout the years. It has been a pleasure doing this podcast in wonders being able to get to y'all. Hopefully, y'all been able to take something out that takes something out of these podcast episodes that y'all can apply to y'all everyday lives. So, with all that being said, since we're talking about Christmas, the topic of discussion is today is Christmas shopping. Yes. One of the most, one of the most instant gratifying but expensive, dangerously expensive things today. And I understand, people, for this holiday. This is a part two of why am I broke after Christmas. This is this is another rendition. We're gonna do this every year. Still ain't getting it right. The reason why I say that is because Christmas has become too much about materialistic. It ain't became too much about, oh, I gotta have the most gusts under my on my Christmas tree. My Christmas tree gotta look like it gotta be from Burlington, or we gotta go really chop down a real oak wood tree, put it up, put decorations on it, and it gotta be better than the people across the street or online when we post it. I'm like, firstly, competition finds itself in every single way possible. Who can cook the most food? Who can who can cook the most food? Who can cook the most the most in the who can cook the most in the best for the holidays? It's a lot of stuff going on. It's a lot of it's just a lot of unnecessary competition and stuff going on with when it comes down to the holiday. Because kids should not be, and I understand you want to give your kids the world and be able to give them gifts and stuff like that, but that's fine. But understand this, and we just came out for a government shutdown. So, meaning I know a lot of people really don't have the money to be able to, you know, go spurge out on gifts like they normally would. Some people may try to go into debt paying for kids' gifts just to see that smile. Sometimes you may do that just to see a smile and then they be disappointed. Then what? You wasted your money. But at the same time, we're gonna be honest with ourselves and let it be known. Don't do this this holiday. Like literally, honestly. All y'all, the people for the people that doing the shopping or the buying, understand, get your kids either one or two gifts. Get your kids either one or two gifts for this Christmas that they really want for the holidays. It be too expensive, just get them one. And then call it fair. Stop going into the over the Christmas gifts. Y'all putting y'all and from the looks of it, and and I've been doing research on it on the websites, affirm Clarner, after pay, after all this stuff, like after pay, after it's been a lot of stuff to go on after that. So it's been a lot of so understand people, when y'all doing this for this for this term, for this, and even for the holidays, stop using affirming Apple Pay knowing y'all ain't gonna be able to pay this stuff back off. It's not that serious. Getting gifts, because I'm pretty sure y'all probably get y'all kids stuff year-round. It won't hurt for them to go with one Christmas gift for a year, because y'all put y'all selves at a detriment buying up everything and putting it on layaway or putting it on like putting it on these Afterpay apps. It got so bad. Apple literally got rid of their apple, like that Apple Pay Later stuff, because it was so many people probably buying Apple products, using them and not paying them back. So they were losing probably a lot of money to the point where they had to stop doing it. Because I don't know what it is with people. They put they'll literally put some on Afterpay if it costs$10. Literally. Just because they don't want to pay the whole amount. And I'm like, what's the point of you even buying this anyway if you're not gonna purchase the whole thing? But people, if you cannot purchase the whole thing, if you can't purchase the whole item or whatever you're trying to buy for uh Christmas or whatever, just don't do it. Just find some a find a cheaper alternative. If not, just get them money, clothes, anything. Anything that'll that that will literally keep money in your pocket and not have you feel like Santa put coal in your stocking. Like this is not this is not this too. Because parents suffer while the kids celebrate. Understand that it is it's rough. It's really rough out here to not financially, and even we live in a situation now. We live in a situation in in a in a type of stuff now that money is like I said, money is steady losing value, decreasing in value. We are steady getting per our goods are steady getting crazy uphill on, and we looked at and everything is by everything being terrified, uh, terrified, yeah. Y'all get it. Terrified. Let's see what I anyway by everything being being basically hit with tarot, we are at an influx of everything right now. Everything is way higher than what it usually was basically a couple months ago. Basically from the start of this year, everything is way higher. So it's a little bit different when it comes time, like a lot of times. I feel like people should have been kind of strategically planning their shopping out anyway. But if you don't have the money, just put something back in like a little Christmas account or something like that, to where you won't have the penny pinch or nothing like that. You can already have money that you could have been saving from the from this from this year on, and you could have been having, and you could have just been having a good holiday. You could have still did what you had to do and still still had you a little good Christmas too. And that's why I said that all it takes is good preparation and good and good budgeting. If you budget and you look for the deals and stuff like that, then you should be okay. A lot of times y'all don't be looking for the deal. And the deals, and what the the kicker about it is a lot of these deals don't even be deals. Y'all look at ten dollars is a deal, ten dollars twenty dollars not a deal. If it's$500 and$78,$565 is not a deal. A deal from$560, I'm saying a suitable deal. This is this is me doing actual male. If I'm saying if I said this 55-inch TV costs four four$449 and it's on sale for$239, that's a sale. That's that's a steal. Because it's$200, it's$200 less. But something going down from$270 to$260 is not a sale. If anything, that's that's literally nothing. All they did was take away the sale tax and the tax that they added on to the uh to the purchase good. That's it. So people, y'all gotta, so when y'all are doing this, make sure y'all are living, y'all doing it within y'all budget. Don't overly, overly shopping for materialistic stuff. I feel like that's that's the purpose. That was wrong with us now. We can we we enable too much into consumerism and we end up hurting ourselves. We hurt our own pockets, and we don't really grow from it. We hurt ourselves and we we suffer the brink because you know we try to do stuff, we think and buying stuff will make people feel good or this and that. And true, it might bring on smile, but guess what? Your water ain't smiling, your pockets ain't smiling, everything you are in turmoil right now. You don't even know how you're gonna even make it to the to your next bill. Your bills are literally due in a couple weeks. Like in the week after, so in the week after however your billing cycle works with your bill company or whatever, your bill cycle is finna come up and you have literally no money left. Because guess what? You went and bought lights, you bought trees, you bought people, you out here buying Gucci. A lot of these kids don't even need all this design. Like, why are y'all buying kids designer? I'm every year, it's like I'm seeing less and less toys. People are literally buying their kids$5,000 PCs. Now I know they could, and then be wonder why they broke on cream. They be buying their kids PCs, Gucci, Prada, uh, Supreme shoes that probably fake off kicksonfire.com, like whatever they get their shoes from, and then they wonder why you literally have no money coming time for the next year. And then not only that, your pastor's gonna make sure you put a whole, whole, whole donation in his thing, because he's been preaching all year. So at least he's gonna give him a little Christmas present too. So it's it's a lot that I feel like we as people we look over and we don't really accept within ourselves to like actually stop spending so much. Because if we actually stop spending so much, we gotta understand we'll literally have a way better time when it comes down to these holidays. A way better time when it comes down to being able to pay off debt, being able to actually stay on a straight line and not fumble to the point to where I don't know how I'm gonna pay my bills, I don't know how I'm gonna pay my lights, or I gotta sacrifice my time to do this and do that. You see what I'm saying? Now, since you are making better money decisions with your life and stuff like that, you don't have to, you don't have to wake up every waking minute to be like, okay, I need to get myself together. I need to, I'm like, I'm tired. I'm hurting my back hurting. I've been working 18, 20 hour shifts, picking up doubles, trying to make sure I pay out the debt. But get what you doing the weekend? You going to Olive Garden, you going to Sephora, you going to Alta Beauty, you going to every single designer store, trying to make sure a person has a good criminal. Guess who ain't having a good crippling? You. Because guess what? You going home broke. You gonna be home hurting. You can't even. And the crazy thing about it is people spend so much money on Christmas the next day, like the next week, they can't buy nothing. Literally nothing. They barely can even probably buy a corn dog. It's to the point where a lot of these people are afterpaying it up, after paying it, out front. Oh, yeah, we're gonna put it on the front, we're gonna pay$100 here, we're gonna pay$50. And then they don't pay it off, and they wonder why they card ain't even it's not even afterpaying. It's it's after paying, afterpay becomes a debt if you don't pay it. These people literally put this like this layaway or something. Because if you don't pay your layaway, they put it away. After pay, if you don't pay them, your debt gets bigger. Because you can have something like$200 in your cart and literally, and literally be like, okay, I ain't paying it all. Yeah, I got the gift for whatever woo-woo. The cream is over with. It'd be now in July. So your$200 became$10,000 with the interest rates. Because affirm interest rates are terrible. Like these after pay rates, credit rates are terrible. And then they can shoot your credit down because you st because you're borrowing money from these people, and then you have to put in your social security card information just just to uh pay for. And the crazy part about it is a firm has a 36. 36. This is higher than a credit card. This is higher than the credit card I have. I have a credit card with a 30% interest rate. This has a 36% interest rate. A 30% annual percentage rate. You know how high that is? That's almost 40%. So imagine you taking something that was$200 and you steady a cruel interest on it. You like you basically swim, you're gonna be swimming in that. Because it's like this too. And then also with the even with the affirming stuff like that, you can only depending on your credit worthiness, they that's when they either charge you, you can either get charged to zero to 36% APR, depending on your loan. The interest amount is shown to you at the checkout before you commit. No late fees, no other fees. So a lot of times y'all take that as, oh, they ain't gonna charge me no late fees and stuff like that. The total cost of your purchase is fixed and will not increase. For example, a thousand dollar purchase may require four bi-weekly payments of$250 with zero interest or payments over 3.636 or 12 months with a specific interest charge. You see what I'm saying? It doesn't make sense, and especially if you ain't got no credit, so get what you finna get hit with a lot of interest. Now you done went and got your kid a PS5, now that PS5 didn't turn into a mortgage, like the PS5 then that they didn't added so much interest zone. Now it's a mortgage payment. So it hurts you more than help you. So at the same time, you gotta understand and let that be known that if you trying to do something, if you trying to grow and change your way before the new year, because I know I already know how people are gonna be new year, new me, and all that, this and that, that's cool. But understand what I'm saying too. You spending your life savings on a one-day holiday, one day on gifts that you probably, like I said, a lot of times you probably get your kids' gifts during Christmas. Anyway, I mean before Christmas, just all throughout the year. So while you waiting to this day that just flood them out with a bunch of gifts that they don't need. That, and that's another thing. If you can afford it, that's fine. Go go do as big as your gift as you want to, go as big as you can go. But this is for all the people that really cannot afford it, that sit and let themselves wall away in debt just for the sake of being, just for the sake of seeing smiles. And I understand they all kids, or I love them, and this, that, and this, that, and third, and that's okay. And I understand that too. But understand this, them bank people ain't gonna care that you made your kids smile with no guilt. When you all your long back, like they don't care about that. They don't care. What's the point of them caring about something and you ain't even care enough to financially put in your money? You wanted to make it seem like you were London tempting. You wanted to be like the Joneses. But in other words, people, and I just want to speak to the kids when I say this. It's not about the gifts that you get. It's not about how big and fancy the prison may be. It's all about spending time with your parents. Spending time with the people that actually love and support you. Because a lot of times you may, you have people that, parents that didn't get to make you through the holidays. You have a bunch of people that, you know, they end up missing out because they might can't travel. So you gotta appreciate what you have, not about what you want to. Oh, I didn't get it. Christmas sucks. And it's not about the gifts, it's always about the love, that the time that you spend with the loved one. Because our time is limited, people. You're not forever. So understand when I say this, sometimes you may have to, you'll have to actually grow and learn, actually grow and learn to be appreciative. Because being appreciative and being humble and that that takes you a far the long way than being the person that's always mad and greedy that you didn't get what you want, or this isn't what I asked for, or this and that, and this and that. Because nobody has to give you anything. They're your parents, true enough, but no one is your personal butler or assistant. They don't have to get you anything. They get you because they love you. But love is not contribute to love does not contribute to gifts. Love contributes to the knowledge that they share to you. The love, the love contributes to not for what they can do for you, but what they instill in you. What they try to, the stuff that they they don't hide from you, they tell you. The love is tribute, it's just making sure they nurture you and protect you from the dangers out here. But also, when they can't protect you no more, they make sure that you can protect yourself. So, in other words, people, that'll be the end of this episode. And I hope y'all have a very safe, very safe holidays. Understand that, you know, there's a lot of stuff going on right now. Make sure y'all keep y'all keep warm, stay out of the way. Definitely don't, like I said, people, and this go back to the parent parent. Do not spend a bunch of money on these on y'all kids. I understand y'all love them. But literally stop doing it. Why y'all going in and do over a one-time holiday that literally gonna end the next day? Stop doing it. It's okay if you can only buy one gift, one or two gifts. We are living in troubled times right now. I rather for you, I rather, you should even, if you, even if you are a parent, you should rather for your children to have a roof over their head than to have a bunch of prison under the tree. In other words, people, that'll be the end of this. And I want to say, furthermore, and well, to wrap it up, to wrap everything up. I appreciate y'all. I love y'all. Thank y'all for supporting me this whole year. It has been a journey. Has been a journey. It's been it's it's definitely been an experience. I, you know, lost people. I I feel like I'm going in a different direction. I don't know what 2026 is able to hold, but I hope it brings every I hope it brings for all my watchers and the people that listen to me every day. I hope it brings y'all happiness, joy, peace, trust, all that. I hope y'all really get get really just see what it is like to be a full-fledged human in this world and not be so focused on social media and with the the outer perspectives of what people are trying to sell you, sell you on apps. So with all that being said, I see y'all in the next episode. And make sure to the hey, hold on, hold, hold, hold on. Make sure y'all subscribe to the YouTube. We have a YouTube people. Like, comment, share. Do all that. Cuz we I'm we trying to grow. We like we trying to grow. Like we I can't grow if y'all don't show up. See what I'm saying? See what I'm saying? Like, make it make sense. Like it makes sense. Well, I love y'all though. Happy holidays from your courtesy and your courtesy. Oh my god. Happy holidays for me and happy new year as well.

Contributor

Dontese Burtin Jr

Host