How to stay on budget this season

If you put a group or a band together, just make sure you call me so I can join you, too. All right, guys, this morning, the holidays, we know, can put a big strain on your wallet. But how can you make your dollars go further without breaking the bank? Well, that's where retail expert Trey Bosh comes in. She's joining us now with smart tips to boost your holiday budget and keep spending on track. Trey, it's so good to see you. Good morning. Great to see you, Makia. All right, so let's get into this. I know a lot of people are already thinking about the holidays. I've seen some people already putting up their Christmas trees. But what's the first step, the first thing we should think about before we start spending any money? Yeah, so this is the most important question. The very first thing that you should do is make sure that you have the money to spend, and that means creating a holiday fund. And according to an Intuit QuickBooks holiday shopping report, we are intending to spend 5% more than we did last year, and 42% of folks are claiming that this year is more important than ever to give to our loved ones. However, Americans are struggling financially, so that That holiday fund is really important. And what I do recommend What I recommend is that if you don't have an account that's separate from your regular account, set one up. There's a really good one from Bread Financial, who I work with, called Bread Savings. They give 4.05% annual percentage yield. And you put down $100 and then start putting money into that fund. And then you can do your shopping come Black Friday, Cyber Monday. Yeah, I've always heard high-yield savings accounts are a true hack to getting more money for the money that you're putting in, so that's a really good idea. Aside from the bank accounts, what are some other ways that we can... We can get some extra cash. Yeah. So if you want to supercharge your holiday shopping fund, I have a couple of suggestions here. You know, first of all, you want to look around your home and see if there's anything in your home that you want to sell. I actually just sold an old Game Boy the other day. I sold it in a half an hour on eBay and made over $200. So if you have things like that sitting around, it's a real hack. Another big category that's really good are cameras. If you happen to have a camera laying around that you're not using anymore, there's a great site called mpb.com. They specialize in cameras, and the average earning is $900. So if you sell one camera worth $900 to MPB, there's your holiday fund right there. So those are the two things that I would recommend, selling your items, and then also maybe cut back on a couple things. This is a little less popular. Don't have lunch out as often. Don't order in as often. And every time you skip one of those things, put that money into your holiday savings fund. These are such great tips. And you know what's interesting? Gen Z is now finding what's old to us new again. So things like Game Boys or old iPods or Walkman DVD players, those are some good ideas. You never know. Yeah, someone may have that. That's why I think I was able to sell that Game Boy so quickly because it's, you know, secondhand things are really hot. And like you said, it's the younger consumer who's really driving that. And I'm here for it. Yeah, me too. Let me go look in some old boxes in my mom's basement after the show today. But yeah, you touched on the compulsive spending. We know it can be tempting. But now it's just the time is more important than ever to put away as much as you can. Trey, how can we get more information and just learn more tips along the way? Sure. So you can find me at True Trey on Instagram. Oh, sorry, Trey Bodge. I changed it to Trey Bodge on Instagram and TreyBodge.com. I have lots of articles about all the different ways you can save money throughout the year. Wonderful. Always good to see you, Trey. I know when I see you, you pop up on the screen and I'm going to save some big money. So always great to see you, Makia. You too. Take care. All right. Annie Mae, we're going to go Go to her. She is live.