0:00

What's up

0:02

besties?

0:07

Welcome back to another

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episode of Net Worth and Chill with me, your host,

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Vivian Tu, aka Your Rich BFF

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and your favorite Wall Street girly.

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This episode is sponsored by my advertising

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partners at Marshalls.

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All Net Worth and Chill besties know that Marshalls

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gets the deal so you get the good stuff. As

0:25

Your Rich BFF, who likes to save and doesn't

0:27

like to compromise on quality, Marshalls is literally

0:30

my best friend. Whether you're breaking into a new

0:32

industry or conquering the one you're already

0:35

in, Marshalls will always help you save a little

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coin while still being the most fashionable

0:39

person in the room. Well-deserved holiday plans

0:41

on the horizon?

0:42

Gift shopping for loved ones? Think of all the things

0:44

you can do with the money you save by shopping

0:46

for high-quality deals at Marshalls.

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It's about that time of year again. It

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is almost Black Friday. It's

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almost stick season. I actually recently learned

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what that means. It's like the time in between

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Halloween and the winter holidays.

1:02

It's basically just a time where you slug.

1:06

All you want to do is eat candy and

1:08

a ton of food and chill on your couch and snuggle

1:10

up because it's cold and dreary. But

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I like to think of Black Friday

1:16

and the sales surrounding Thanksgiving

1:18

time period as my Super Bowl

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because I am someone who loves to ball

1:23

on a budget. One thing that

1:25

drives me kind of insane is

1:27

I feel like back in the day when I was in college

1:29

or even younger than that, Black Friday

1:32

was just that. It was the Friday after

1:34

Thanksgiving. But every single year,

1:36

it seems like the sales have been creeping

1:39

up forward and forward and forward to the point

1:41

where like last year, sales started the

1:43

week before Thanksgiving, which just

1:45

feels a little crazy to me because what

1:47

ends up happening is that

1:49

people do all of their shopping so much

1:51

earlier. They miss out on the deepest

1:53

cuts later on and the folks

1:56

that wait till later on, the deepest cuts,

1:58

maybe they don't even have the item.

1:59

that they want anymore, but it's become a little

2:02

bit of this game, this board game

2:04

that you have to figure out to be able to

2:06

shop Black Friday properly and frankly

2:08

better than anybody else. So if

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you want to shop Black Friday

2:13

this year without any regrets, like

2:15

a professional, like me, stick

2:18

around, I am going to break down a

2:20

couple different ways to really, really

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make this a time period where you are getting

2:24

and taking advantage of the best deals, but not buying

2:27

just to buy or blowing your money on stuff

2:29

that you don't actually want or need. So let's get

2:31

started. First up, number

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one, make your list now. I

2:36

know Black Friday has words like sale,

2:38

deal, discount, 50% off, buy one,

2:40

get one. And obviously this can get really overwhelming

2:43

so, so fast. Personally, I used

2:45

to have this really awful habit of buying stuff

2:48

just because it was on sale. I

2:50

get some ad on Instagram

2:52

and I'd click it and I would see that they're

2:54

doing, oh, I buy one, get one, free deal or

2:57

gift with purchase, and suddenly

2:59

I'd be the proud owner of two more

3:01

pairs of Black legging that I already

3:04

had dozens of. So what I like

3:06

to do nowadays is actually create

3:08

a calendar invite on my Google

3:11

Calendar, on my Outlook, whatever, for Black

3:13

Friday. Maybe you want to start shopping a little

3:15

earlier, you can do it then. I personally just

3:17

stick to Black Friday and I list out things

3:20

that I need or want ahead of time.

3:22

So on the day of, I can tick

3:24

through my list one by one, be

3:27

very quick about it, and then either physically

3:29

go home if I'm going in store or

3:32

just get off of my computer as soon as I'm done

3:34

because this is going to help prevent me

3:36

from buying stuff that I don't need or

3:38

shopping just to shop. And I

3:41

find that this helps to keep me really organized

3:44

and that way I don't veer off track and suddenly

3:46

I'm buying some 80 pack

3:48

of toe socks that I will never actually wear.

3:51

So for example, this year on

3:53

my list, I have some

3:55

special period underpants because

3:58

I really like them. I find that they... to just make my

4:00

period so much easier to manage. I really

4:02

wanna get some silver jewelry. I

4:04

feel like I'm a very big gold girly, but

4:06

sometimes when I have silver focused

4:08

outfits or cooler tones, I

4:11

don't really know what to match with them. So silver

4:13

jewelry. And then I also want to get

4:15

a few new blazers just because

4:17

I've been going on a bunch of new stations

4:20

and interviews and I feel like no matter what

4:22

you're wearing a blazer ties it all together and

4:24

just makes you look so professional and polished.

4:27

So those are the three things that are really on my list.

4:29

I've obviously got a couple other home

4:32

thingies just like cleaning solutions

4:34

or toilet paper or stuff that I would just regularly

4:37

need that are easy buys on that day just

4:39

so happens if department stores or

4:42

big box shops are having some sales.

4:44

But the whole point of this is by keeping your list really

4:47

short and really organized and very focused,

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you do not have the opportunity to be

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led astray. Tip number two, use

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price tracking tools and extensions.

4:57

So you're gonna wanna utilize tools like

4:59

Honey or Camel, Camel, Camel or

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a price link so that you can track price

5:03

drops and discounts to make sure you're actually getting a good

5:06

deal. Oftentimes on Black Friday,

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what ends up happening is that you see a

5:10

massive percent off label and you think you're getting

5:13

a huge bargain, right? But you don't know

5:15

what that product was priced at for the last few

5:17

months. With a tool like Honeydough, you

5:19

can add an item you're interested in to your

5:21

drop list. If they detect a price drop

5:23

at that store, they'll notify you and drop

5:26

list works on stores like Macy's,

5:28

Target, Walmart, they're really big stuff. And also it's

5:30

a little bit of a weird name, but if you're doing your Black

5:32

Friday shopping on Amazon, Camel, Camel,

5:35

Camel, yes, like the animal three times, will

5:37

help you track price history there. All

5:39

you gotta do is you go to the website, you search up

5:41

the name of the item you wanna buy and

5:43

you can look at the price chart and it'll show you

5:46

what things have been priced at over the past 12 months,

5:48

six months, whatever timeframe you're trying to look at. And

5:51

this is really helpful because just because

5:53

something's marked up and then marked down does

5:55

not actually make it a good deal. That might actually just be full

5:58

price and you wanna make sure that. that you're

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getting only good deals on Black

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Friday. Okay, onto tip

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number three, create a sinking

6:07

fund. Yes, so if I recently conducted

6:09

a survey that found Americans will

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spend over $1,100, $1,100 on

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average on holiday gifts, with

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millennials leading the pack with spending

6:19

nearly $1,500 on average, and

6:23

pulling $1,100 out of your bank account within

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the span of a few weeks is pretty brutal, but

6:28

a sinking fund can make those expenses feel

6:31

a lot more manageable. So all you

6:33

have to do is set aside some money

6:35

in fixed time intervals. So

6:38

instead of pulling out $1,000 nearly all at once, this

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means you're gonna be setting aside $20 here, $50 here, $100

6:44

there, and this distributes the burden over

6:48

a number of weeks instead of all at

6:50

once in November and early December. Unfortunately,

6:53

this podcast is coming out mid-November, but

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if this is something that you wanna start in January, you

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can, and that way you only have to put away five, $10

7:02

a week, and you will easily

7:04

get to where you wanna be in terms

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of your holiday budget. Okay, tip number

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four, you wanna take advantage of cash back

7:11

and rewards programs. So what

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you can do is get cash back on everything

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you buy this year through Rakuten. Rakuten

7:18

is an affiliate network that gets paid to drive

7:20

traffic to retailers and to essentially

7:23

compel people to utilize their site and app,

7:25

because it is one more step in your

7:27

shopping process, they're going to offer

7:29

you an incentive, basically so

7:31

that they can get paid because you're using their site, they'll

7:34

kick back some of their commission to you. And

7:36

again, I don't encourage spending money just to

7:39

spend it, but at the end of the day, we still need to be

7:41

living, not surviving. You are allowed to enjoy

7:43

spending money and buying

7:45

stuff. So say you

7:48

want to buy some makeup from Ulta.

7:50

What you're gonna do is you're gonna start your trip at Rakuten, you're

7:52

gonna click Ulta, and then you're

7:54

going to go to the website through Rakuten,

7:57

you are going to check out. And

7:59

once you check out... because you

8:01

have gone through the Rakuten process, you

8:03

will get cash back on whatever you purchased.

8:06

And these days, Rakuten also has

8:08

the ability to link your credit card

8:10

that you use most frequently. So if you are even

8:13

shopping in stores, you can still get cash back.

8:15

And this is awesome because not only do you get

8:17

cash back from Rakuten, but you can still use

8:19

whatever credit card you'd normally use. So

8:21

you can get points or cash back from your credit

8:24

card company as well. The only caveat

8:26

being, make sure that you are paying your credit card

8:28

balance in full and on time every single

8:30

month. If you're gonna shop, you might as well get a little something

8:32

back for it.

8:34

Who's ready to get the goods off from

8:36

this holiday season with the help of our advertising

8:39

partners at Marshalls? The holidays are stressful

8:41

enough. So why worry about compromising

8:43

on quality just to save some cash? Marshalls

8:46

has all the best high quality holiday

8:48

merchandise from decor and fashion

8:50

to gifts for everyone on your list this season,

8:53

all at the best prices. Get financially

8:55

fit this holiday season with Marshalls as

8:57

your one stop holiday shop. Marshalls makes

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it easy to get the good stuff for less.

9:02

Okay, tip number five, buy

9:04

early and price match. This goes

9:06

back to that gripe I had at the beginning

9:08

of this podcast. You know, you get all excited,

9:11

you wanna buy something on Black Friday, but by the time

9:13

you get there, your size or the color you

9:15

wanted or the specific model, it's already

9:17

sold out. Too bad, so sad. Deals are now starting

9:19

the Monday of Thanksgiving week if not the week

9:22

before, but the deepest cuts

9:24

do tend to happen after Thanksgiving.

9:27

So you don't want to necessarily

9:30

buy too early and end up spending more,

9:32

but you also don't wanna wait too long and

9:34

then miss out entirely. So there

9:36

is a solve for some retailers.

9:39

I say some, many places have

9:41

price match policies, meaning

9:44

you can buy items now for full

9:46

price. And then when it goes on sale

9:49

on Black Friday or Cyber Monday, you can actually

9:51

call them and get the price adjusted.

9:53

The store will just refund you the difference.

9:56

That way you're not at risk of the item

9:58

selling out before you can buy it. and

10:00

a whole bunch of brands do this, pretty

10:02

much a lot of the biggest players. But

10:05

frankly, anybody who has a return

10:07

policy oftentimes does do

10:09

price matching because in theory, you could just

10:11

go buy the item again and then return the

10:14

more expensive version. But if

10:16

you're unsure, just make sure to check whatever retailer

10:18

you're stepping up. Customer service FAQs

10:21

frequently ask questions. Some stores do

10:24

exclude Black Friday deals from

10:26

price match, but others don't. So just

10:28

be sure to check the terms based on the brand

10:30

you want to shop out because this could be a super

10:33

great loophole to getting the item

10:35

you want, but also at the best possible

10:37

price. Okay, on to tip number

10:40

six, leverage AI software

10:42

and reverse image searches. So yes, if

10:44

you have something in particular in mind, but you

10:46

don't want to sift through pages, on pages,

10:48

on pages of search results, just

10:50

to find the item you're shopping for. Instead, you should

10:53

just work smarter and take advantage

10:55

of softwares like reverse image search

10:58

This is especially useful if you are

11:00

looking for designer looks for less.

11:02

Basically, all you have to do is go

11:04

find a photo of the item you want to purchase, take

11:07

a screenshot, and then you can head to Google or

11:09

Amazon and basically click that little camera

11:11

button and then you'll hit search your photo and

11:13

select your screenshot and you're going to be shown similar

11:16

items. And from there, you can sort through which purchases

11:18

are being offered at the deepest price cuts or

11:21

in your budget range. I actually learned about this because

11:23

one of my girlfriends taught it to me and I asked

11:25

her, I was like, listen, like, how did you figure out you could do this?

11:28

And she said that her ex started

11:30

dating a new girl and she

11:32

didn't want to be like, hey, like, can you ask

11:34

your girlfriend like where that cute top

11:36

is from, but she really wanted it. But she

11:39

was too proud to ask. So she had to get

11:41

resourceful. And now I'm sharing that tip with

11:43

you guys so you can find the best items

11:46

for less. Okay, and now on

11:48

to tip number seven. This is

11:50

going to sound so strange, but put

11:53

stuff in your cart and then just leave it. Basically,

11:55

what if I told you I had a secret tip

11:57

to help get you 10 to 25% off most of the of

12:00

your online purchases. You would want to know

12:02

that, right? I bet you would. The big secret is to

12:04

just abandon your cart. Yes, I

12:06

know this sounds counterintuitive, but if you go to

12:08

a site and put all the items you want to purchase

12:11

into your cart and you go through half of the checkout

12:13

process, at least the first step where you provide

12:15

your email, but then leave the site, oftentimes

12:18

brands will then follow up with a discount code

12:20

direct to your inbox to incentivize you to come

12:22

back and finish your purchase. They know that if you

12:24

were already that far down the purchase process,

12:27

you're likely only going to need a pretty small

12:29

push to finalize your order. I've

12:31

had this work for me for multiple online retail

12:33

brands and you can use this to your advantage

12:35

to save a few bucks when you're shopping. You might

12:37

even be able to double up on this special

12:40

email discount on top of a Black Friday

12:42

deal to make sure you're getting the best possible

12:44

price. And this is such a weird hack, but trust

12:47

me, it does work. Okay, last but definitely

12:49

not least, tip number eight,

12:52

use Black Friday as an opportunity to buy holiday

12:54

gifts. I know this is something that I

12:56

have done personally ever since I started buying

12:58

holiday gifts, but I do all of my shopping over

13:00

the Black Friday time period, because

13:02

this is the last opportunity for sales

13:05

before brands are gonna know you're gonna be in

13:07

a desperate position to buy gifts for the

13:09

holidays. So if you can actually organize

13:11

your thoughts now and decide on gifts for

13:13

your friends and family early, you'll get a great

13:15

deal. This is also a great way to deter you

13:18

from spending a ton of money on yourself on Black

13:20

Friday, outside of just the gifts you

13:22

want to give. Sometimes you need to scratch

13:24

that, I wanna buy something itch. And if you

13:26

can satisfy that by actually paying

13:28

for something and shopping for something that you need,

13:31

like a holiday gift for a loved one, instead

13:33

of buying one more shirt you won't wear, you're gonna be

13:35

better off financially. If you want

13:37

to check out my free holiday

13:39

budgeting spreadsheet, just go to yourrichbff.com

13:43

slash holiday budget sheet. And

13:45

there will be a place where you can download my

13:47

sale that I'll personally use to make sure that

13:49

my holidays do not break the bank

13:51

while I'm still able to get everybody a great gift. At

13:54

the end of the day, we have to remember that Black

13:56

Friday is an incredible time to buy things that

13:58

we need for everyday life as well.

13:59

as well as for the holidays. But we should just

14:02

remember a very important piece of wisdom. Just

14:04

because something is on sale doesn't make it affordable,

14:06

nor does it make it practical for us. Through

14:09

mindful and purposeful spending, we can make

14:11

the most of this big sale season without going

14:13

overboard. And as always, the

14:16

more mindful you are with your spending,

14:18

the better you're going to feel about it and the less regret

14:20

you're going to have. So I hope you

14:23

enjoy this episode and I'll catch you guys next week. Bye.

14:26

Thanks for listening to today's episode

14:28

sponsored by my advertising partner, Marshals.

14:30

Managing your finances properly during the holidays

14:33

does not mean you should be sacrificing quality

14:35

on any of your holiday or shopping lists. This

14:37

holiday season, Marshals has the highest quality

14:40

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14:42

at amazing places so you can maximize

14:44

savings and invest those savings. Invest

14:47

in a holiday getaway for a mental reset or

14:49

maybe get that side hustle kick-started. You can

14:51

even go back to school. Marshals makes it possible

14:53

to get the good stuff for less no matter what

14:56

you're shopping

14:56

for.

14:59

Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Net

15:01

Worth and Chill. If you liked this episode,

15:03

make sure to leave a rating and a review and subscribe

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so you never miss an episode. Not a financial question

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you

15:08

want answered in the future? You can leave me

15:10

a voicemail or text me at 908-858-3410.

15:14

Make

15:16

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financial content. Special thanks to my

15:22

team at AudioBoom as well as Range Media and

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WME. See you next week!