ATHLLC8706099625
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.320 | - Hello, and welcome to a special bonus episode
00:00:05.080 | of "All The Hacks,"
00:00:06.080 | a show about upgrading your life, money, and travel.
00:00:08.920 | I'm your host, Chris Hutchins,
00:00:10.040 | and today this bonus episode
00:00:11.800 | is going to be my holiday gift guide.
00:00:14.360 | I'd planned to get this out in early December,
00:00:16.520 | but a few of the things on this list
00:00:18.240 | were on sale for Black Friday,
00:00:19.960 | so I rushed to get it out today.
00:00:22.080 | But because it's a bonus episode,
00:00:23.760 | you'll still be getting another episode tomorrow
00:00:26.200 | all about optimizing your tax-advantaged accounts,
00:00:28.740 | which was so great.
00:00:30.160 | So what we're gonna do today
00:00:31.280 | is run down some of my favorite products, gifts,
00:00:33.880 | and past purchases that might make good ideas
00:00:36.520 | for gifts for you or your loved ones this holiday season.
00:00:40.060 | So I'll break them down to these six sections.
00:00:41.920 | First, I'll do home and food,
00:00:43.480 | then tech and gear,
00:00:45.280 | then clothes and bags,
00:00:46.840 | followed by health and fitness,
00:00:48.280 | then family and kids,
00:00:49.600 | and finally, books and learning.
00:00:51.600 | Then I'll wrap with a quick recap at the end
00:00:53.800 | on how to make sure you get the best deals
00:00:56.000 | this holiday season.
00:00:57.580 | Also, you should know that none of the products
00:00:59.980 | or services I put in this gift guide
00:01:01.880 | have paid me to be a part of this list.
00:01:04.320 | However, some of them are sponsors of all the hacks,
00:01:07.360 | but that makes sense because as I've said before,
00:01:10.280 | most of my sponsors are here
00:01:12.160 | because I reached out to them
00:01:13.720 | after already loving their products.
00:01:15.960 | In fact, for any of the companies
00:01:17.720 | I'm about to talk about who aren't sponsors,
00:01:20.120 | I will certainly be adding them
00:01:21.640 | to the list of brands to reach out to in 2024
00:01:25.040 | to see if they want to work together,
00:01:26.880 | which actually happened for at least one brand
00:01:29.180 | from last year's gift guide, which was pretty cool.
00:01:31.420 | Also, while I normally create
00:01:32.980 | an allthehacks.com/shortlink
00:01:36.060 | for a lot of the deals and things that I share on the show
00:01:38.620 | to make it easy for you to find,
00:01:40.500 | there would just be way too many links for this episode.
00:01:43.560 | So I'm only gonna mention the URLs
00:01:45.460 | if there's a specific discount,
00:01:47.640 | but I will put every single link
00:01:49.740 | to everything in the show notes
00:01:51.820 | and in the written version of this gift guide,
00:01:54.260 | which is linked in the show notes,
00:01:55.520 | but you can also find it at any time
00:01:57.940 | at allthehacks.com/gifts.
00:02:01.100 | And since a few of these links,
00:02:02.300 | though certainly not all of them,
00:02:03.660 | are from sponsors or are referral links
00:02:06.140 | or affiliate links to sites like Amazon,
00:02:08.460 | I would greatly appreciate if you go to the show notes
00:02:11.140 | or to allthehacks.com/gifts
00:02:13.500 | and click the links there to support me and the show.
00:02:17.020 | That is unless you find a better price elsewhere,
00:02:19.380 | in which case, absolutely go there instead.
00:02:21.860 | And maybe let me know
00:02:23.060 | and I'll go update that gift guide for everyone else.
00:02:26.360 | Okay, let's get into the 2023 gift guide right after this.
00:02:30.340 | Getting the crew together isn't as easy as it used to be.
00:02:34.720 | I get it, life comes at you fast,
00:02:37.120 | but trust me, your friends are probably desperate
00:02:40.000 | for a good hang.
00:02:41.140 | So kick 2024 off right by finally hosting that event.
00:02:45.200 | Just make sure you do it the easy way
00:02:47.160 | and let our sponsor Drizzly,
00:02:49.100 | the go-to app for drink delivery,
00:02:51.040 | take care of the supplies.
00:02:52.800 | All you need to come up with is the excuse to get together.
00:02:55.620 | It doesn't even have to be a good one.
00:02:57.480 | It could be your dog's birthday,
00:02:58.900 | that the sun finally came out,
00:03:00.860 | or maybe you just wanna celebrate
00:03:02.340 | that you got through another week.
00:03:04.420 | With Drizzly, you can make hosting easy
00:03:06.520 | by taking the drink run off your to-do list,
00:03:09.060 | which means you can entice your friends
00:03:10.820 | to leave their houses without ever leaving yours.
00:03:13.920 | And since I know you like a good deal,
00:03:15.580 | Drizzly compares prices on their massive selection
00:03:18.160 | of beer, wine, and spirits across multiple stores.
00:03:21.140 | So when I really wanted to make a few cocktails
00:03:23.160 | while we were hosting family last week,
00:03:25.000 | not only could I get an Italian Amaro
00:03:27.060 | delivered in less than an hour,
00:03:28.700 | but I found it for $15 less than my local liquor store.
00:03:32.180 | So whatever the occasion,
00:03:33.820 | download the Drizzly app or go to drizzly.com.
00:03:37.120 | That's D-R-I-Z-L-Y.com today.
00:03:41.140 | Must be 21 plus, not available in all locations.
00:03:44.380 | I love helping you answer all the toughest questions
00:03:49.500 | about life, money, and so much more,
00:03:52.000 | but sometimes it's helpful to talk to other people
00:03:54.580 | in your situation,
00:03:56.020 | which actually gets harder as you build your wealth.
00:03:58.620 | So I wanna introduce you to today's sponsor, Long Angle.
00:04:01.900 | Long Angle is a community of high net worth individuals
00:04:04.740 | with backgrounds in everything from technology,
00:04:06.900 | finance, medicine, to real estate,
00:04:08.980 | law, manufacturing, and more.
00:04:11.420 | I'm a member of Long Angle.
00:04:12.820 | I've loved being a part of the community,
00:04:14.820 | and I've even had one of the founders, Tad Fallows,
00:04:17.100 | join me on all the hacks in episode 87
00:04:19.240 | to talk about alternative investments.
00:04:21.600 | Now, the majority of Long Angle members
00:04:23.320 | are first generation wealth,
00:04:25.120 | young, highly successful individuals
00:04:27.200 | who join the community to share knowledge
00:04:29.340 | and learn from each other
00:04:30.680 | in a confidential, unbiased setting.
00:04:33.280 | On top of that, members also get access
00:04:35.580 | to some unique private market investment opportunities.
00:04:38.900 | Like I said, I'm a member,
00:04:40.320 | and I've gotten so much value from the community
00:04:42.460 | because you're getting advice and feedback
00:04:44.460 | from people in a similar situation to you
00:04:46.940 | on everything from your investment portfolio
00:04:49.360 | to your children's education
00:04:50.720 | to finding a concierge doctor.
00:04:53.020 | So many of these conversations
00:04:54.480 | aren't happening anywhere else online,
00:04:56.680 | so if you have more than 2.2 million in investable assets,
00:05:00.360 | which is their minimum for membership,
00:05:02.220 | I encourage you to check out Long Angle,
00:05:04.400 | and it's totally free to join.
00:05:06.460 | Just go to longangle.com to learn more,
00:05:09.600 | and if you choose to apply,
00:05:11.120 | be sure to let them know you heard about it here.
00:05:14.060 | Again, that's longangle, A-N-G-L-E dot com.
00:05:18.620 | (upbeat music)
00:05:20.840 | Okay, I'm gonna start with the home and food section,
00:05:23.460 | and this first gift is a Coravin,
00:05:25.820 | and this was the number one clicked gift
00:05:27.860 | in last year's newsletter gift guide,
00:05:29.740 | so I thought I'd mention it again
00:05:31.300 | because there are plenty of nights
00:05:32.580 | where Amy or I or both of us
00:05:34.580 | wanna have a glass of wine with dinner,
00:05:36.380 | but we don't really wanna finish the entire bottle.
00:05:38.780 | So we used to just skip the wine
00:05:40.700 | or end up trying to finish the whole bottle,
00:05:42.860 | and then we got a Coravin as a gift
00:05:44.540 | and it changed everything.
00:05:46.120 | It's a device with a small hollow needle
00:05:48.300 | that pierces through the cork,
00:05:49.820 | lets you pour out wine,
00:05:51.060 | and replace the space that wine took up
00:05:53.220 | with argon gas to keep your wine fresh for the future.
00:05:56.660 | It looks like right now you can get up to 40% off
00:05:59.060 | for Black Friday,
00:06:00.180 | which I'll make sure to link to in the show notes
00:06:02.260 | or on the written guide at allthehacks.com/gifts.
00:06:05.860 | Next is any day cookware,
00:06:08.120 | and after interviewing Chef David Chang in episode 122,
00:06:11.740 | I was convinced to start cooking more in the microwave,
00:06:14.420 | and we haven't looked back.
00:06:15.740 | We've made David Chang's salmon rice in our any day
00:06:18.700 | countless times in the microwave,
00:06:20.340 | and it is so good every time.
00:06:22.660 | I'm also a big fan of David's book, "Cooking at Home,"
00:06:26.000 | which would also make a great gift,
00:06:27.700 | and you can get 15% off any day
00:06:30.300 | at allthehacks.com/anyday.
00:06:33.220 | Or this is one brand where if you're an All The Hacks member
00:06:36.220 | you can actually get 20% off
00:06:37.680 | with the link in the member site,
00:06:39.180 | and if you're interested in joining,
00:06:40.380 | you can go to allthehacks.com/join.
00:06:42.820 | Next is an OXO bench scraper,
00:06:45.380 | and I can't remember how a podcast episode
00:06:47.820 | about finding a job and negotiating compensation
00:06:50.380 | included the recommendation for this product,
00:06:52.940 | but now we have a bench scraper in the kitchen,
00:06:54.780 | and we use it all the time for scooping up vegetables,
00:06:57.980 | scraping off the counters.
00:06:59.460 | We even have a non-metal version,
00:07:01.400 | which is a little bit more delicate,
00:07:02.960 | that we use for scraping all the food mess our kids leave
00:07:06.020 | on the dining room table.
00:07:07.300 | Next is the Ember mug,
00:07:08.940 | which I think we've gifted an Ember mug
00:07:10.980 | almost half a dozen times now,
00:07:12.880 | and we have two in our kitchen.
00:07:14.380 | They're fantastic at keeping coffee warm all morning,
00:07:17.580 | or maybe all day if you're a really slow drinker,
00:07:19.980 | and their customer service is fantastic.
00:07:23.080 | There are some great Black Friday prices
00:07:24.900 | that I'll also link to right now,
00:07:26.820 | and for putting it in that cup,
00:07:27.980 | you should really check out Trade Coffee.
00:07:30.140 | Based on the smile that shows up on Amy's face
00:07:32.480 | every time she opens up a package from Trade,
00:07:34.980 | I feel confident saying that this would make an amazing gift
00:07:37.700 | for any coffee lover.
00:07:39.140 | We've gifted it multiple times,
00:07:41.020 | and with every delivery,
00:07:42.180 | the recipient's going to get a new curated bag of beans
00:07:44.980 | from the top independent roasters around the country.
00:07:47.860 | Best of all, you can get your first bag free
00:07:50.220 | and up to 30% off at allthehacks.com/trade.
00:07:54.640 | Next is the Zolto Denart Universal Wine Glass.
00:07:58.860 | Now, these glasses are not cheap,
00:08:01.060 | but we were gifted a set of them a few years ago,
00:08:03.140 | and we absolutely love them.
00:08:05.260 | I know when you first see the price,
00:08:06.780 | it seems absolutely crazy,
00:08:08.700 | but I'll link to an article
00:08:10.140 | from a skeptical Bon Appetit writer
00:08:12.140 | who also agreed, just as we do,
00:08:14.380 | that wine really does taste better out of them.
00:08:16.940 | But if you're looking for a gift
00:08:18.120 | that's more about cocktails than wine,
00:08:20.180 | I definitely want to recommend the Death & Co Cocktail Books.
00:08:23.660 | If you live in New York,
00:08:24.540 | you've probably been to Death & Co for a cocktail,
00:08:26.580 | but their books look so great on the coffee table,
00:08:29.140 | but they are also fantastic recipe guides for making drinks.
00:08:33.340 | My favorite is Cocktail Codex,
00:08:35.440 | which focuses on six root cocktails you can master
00:08:38.420 | that really give you the knowledge to make almost any drink.
00:08:42.220 | And finally in this category is the Paprika app.
00:08:45.200 | I know I've mentioned this app multiple times
00:08:47.260 | because I think it's the best way
00:08:48.560 | to organize recipes and meal planning.
00:08:51.100 | However, because it's a bit pricey,
00:08:53.420 | I think it could make a great gift,
00:08:55.300 | but if you really want to level up that gift,
00:08:57.620 | you could actually use it to curate
00:08:59.500 | all your favorite recipes
00:09:01.060 | and share that export with whoever you gift it to
00:09:04.180 | and start them off with an amazing recipe catalog.
00:09:07.860 | And until the end of November,
00:09:09.620 | all of their apps are on sale for 40% off.
00:09:12.420 | Moving on to the tech and gear category,
00:09:14.460 | I'm gonna start with standing desks.
00:09:16.660 | With so many of us working from home,
00:09:18.420 | it's such a nice luxury to have a standing desk
00:09:20.860 | in my home office,
00:09:21.860 | and we actually just got one for Amy as well.
00:09:24.660 | They used to be very, very expensive,
00:09:26.960 | but I'm a big fan of Uplift Desk,
00:09:29.040 | which has some reasonably priced options
00:09:30.980 | and a Black Friday sale right now.
00:09:33.420 | That said, for Amy,
00:09:34.460 | we actually just picked up a Trisanti standing desk
00:09:37.420 | for even less at Costco,
00:09:39.540 | and it is fantastic as well.
00:09:41.580 | Next, I wanna talk about the Sense Energy Monitor.
00:09:44.660 | After episode 135 on Home Energy,
00:09:46.980 | I was so excited to dive into the data from our Sense
00:09:50.500 | even more to try to make our home much more efficient.
00:09:53.940 | It's a small device
00:09:55.060 | that you can attach at your circuit breaker
00:09:57.300 | and monitors everything going on in your house
00:09:59.580 | and uses a lot of smart detection to identify devices
00:10:03.420 | so that you can see how much each device is using.
00:10:06.380 | It's not quite as cool as the SPAN electrical panel,
00:10:09.220 | which has been on my list for years,
00:10:11.780 | but given that the Sense is about 1% of the price,
00:10:15.420 | I am pretty happy with it right now.
00:10:17.980 | And you can get 20% off for Black Friday,
00:10:20.860 | which I'll link to in the show notes.
00:10:22.220 | Keeping in the theme of smart home,
00:10:24.340 | I've played around with a lot of devices over the years,
00:10:27.580 | but none have worked more consistently
00:10:29.740 | or stood the test of time
00:10:31.500 | than our Lutron Caseta light dimmers.
00:10:34.140 | With the Lutron Hub, you can connect them to Apple Home
00:10:36.700 | or any other smart home platform, and they just work.
00:10:39.900 | They're so reliable.
00:10:41.180 | I haven't seen them go on sale,
00:10:42.580 | but I still highly recommend them.
00:10:44.540 | Last is a new addition to our house from just a few days ago,
00:10:48.060 | which is the Samsung Frame TV.
00:10:50.380 | Now, I'm not usually one for really nice fancy TVs,
00:10:53.340 | and the last three or four we bought
00:10:54.940 | have all been very inexpensive TCL TVs
00:10:58.460 | from Target or Walmart,
00:11:00.220 | but last week we bought a Samsung Frame TV, and we love it.
00:11:04.460 | Between the matte display
00:11:05.980 | and when you get a bezel that isn't black,
00:11:08.100 | it really does look like art instead of a TV,
00:11:11.220 | which is a really great change for our living room.
00:11:13.780 | The Black Friday deals on Samsung's website
00:11:16.260 | and all over the internet right now are great,
00:11:18.700 | but they are even better when you stack them
00:11:21.260 | with an employee discount,
00:11:23.000 | which you can get if you find someone
00:11:24.740 | who has access to many different perk sites,
00:11:27.600 | like Perks at Work or Perkspot,
00:11:29.980 | and even better, you can stack that discount
00:11:32.700 | with cashback from Rakuten,
00:11:34.720 | which I'll talk about more at the end of this episode.
00:11:37.620 | Oh, and also at samsung.com, there is a Chase offer,
00:11:40.800 | depending on your card, for 15 to 20% off.
00:11:43.840 | I think it's only up to about $50, but that stacks as well.
00:11:47.760 | So when we got our TV, we got the employee price
00:11:50.340 | plus the credit card points, plus the Rakuten cashback,
00:11:53.480 | plus the Chase offer, brought the whole price for the TV
00:11:56.740 | down 40% from regular pricing, which was amazing.
00:11:59.860 | If you aren't able to get an employee discount,
00:12:01.700 | there is also a great price going on right now at Costco
00:12:05.300 | with a few extra perks.
00:12:06.780 | Next, I wanna talk about headphones,
00:12:08.560 | and I'm sure you're all expecting me
00:12:10.300 | to be talking about AirPods, but actually, no.
00:12:13.180 | I wanna talk about Shox,
00:12:15.140 | which makes my new favorite wireless headphones
00:12:17.500 | for running and any other time
00:12:19.620 | when I actually wanna be a little bit more aware,
00:12:21.940 | because they're actually open ear,
00:12:23.620 | so you can hear what's going on around you,
00:12:25.580 | or in my case, you can actually just have a conversation
00:12:28.120 | with the person you're going on a run with.
00:12:29.660 | Amy and I have been using the Shox Open Run Pros
00:12:32.180 | and Open Fits for almost six months
00:12:34.380 | and absolutely love them.
00:12:35.940 | Don't get me wrong, I am still a huge fan
00:12:39.060 | of the native integration you get when using your AirPods,
00:12:42.260 | but any time I'm doing something active, I prefer Shox,
00:12:46.460 | but both Shox and AirPods all have really great
00:12:50.020 | Black Friday sales right now that I'll link to.
00:12:52.620 | And on the Apple note, now that we have kids
00:12:55.220 | and we're checking bags all the time,
00:12:56.940 | I always make sure to keep AirTags
00:12:58.900 | in all of our checked bags.
00:13:00.500 | I haven't needed them,
00:13:01.720 | but being able to see where your bags are,
00:13:04.220 | see that they made it on your plane,
00:13:05.900 | see them at your destination just gives me a lot of comfort,
00:13:09.100 | and right now they're on sale for Black Friday as well.
00:13:11.620 | Next category is clothes and bags.
00:13:14.000 | I'm gonna start with my absolute favorite clothing brand.
00:13:16.900 | It's what I wear all the time, and that's Viore.
00:13:20.020 | They are ridiculously comfy.
00:13:21.740 | Amy and I wear them pretty much every single day.
00:13:24.460 | I love the Sunday Performance Joggers, the Tech Tees,
00:13:27.500 | but the partner I work with at Viore said
00:13:29.300 | I absolutely have to check out the Range Shirt Jacket,
00:13:32.140 | which I think could make a great gift this year,
00:13:34.340 | but honestly, you couldn't go wrong
00:13:35.500 | with anything they make, and you can get 20% off
00:13:38.020 | at allthehacks.com/vuori.
00:13:41.380 | Next is the Patagonia Nano Puff Jacket,
00:13:44.060 | which has been the go-to jacket for our family.
00:13:46.800 | It's incredibly warm, very thin,
00:13:49.240 | and packs down to almost nothing,
00:13:51.020 | so you can take it everywhere.
00:13:52.540 | They're also very easy to wash, which helps with kids,
00:13:55.580 | and I haven't found a great deal for Black Friday yet,
00:13:58.060 | but depending on the color you want,
00:13:59.580 | you can often find really, really great deals.
00:14:01.820 | Next is Stance socks.
00:14:03.540 | We've tried a lot of sock brands,
00:14:05.100 | and some of them seem to always fall apart,
00:14:07.260 | but day-to-day use, wear-and-tear-wise,
00:14:09.460 | we're huge fans of Stance.
00:14:10.980 | They're durable, super comfortable,
00:14:13.020 | and come in so many great colors and patterns.
00:14:15.620 | They're great stocking stuffers,
00:14:17.320 | and they have a cyber sale right now for up to 40% off.
00:14:20.500 | Finally, two recommendations from Amy specifically.
00:14:23.660 | One is the Arizona Waterproof Birkenstocks.
00:14:26.700 | She has a couple pairs of these,
00:14:28.120 | and the wearability is super versatile.
00:14:30.580 | She wears them to the park, the beach, brunch,
00:14:32.800 | pool, gardening, running errands, pretty much everywhere.
00:14:36.380 | They're waterproof, easy to clean,
00:14:38.380 | really comfortable, and super budget-friendly.
00:14:41.200 | She's a big fan, and I'm pretty sure
00:14:42.880 | we even have a pair for the kids as well.
00:14:45.120 | And last is Dagny Dover bags.
00:14:47.580 | I think Amy has given Dagny Dover bags
00:14:50.100 | as a gift more than anything else.
00:14:52.500 | Her favorites are the Landon Carryall
00:14:54.220 | and the Dakota Backpack, though I've seen her
00:14:56.420 | give a couple Dagny Dover fanny packs recently.
00:14:59.600 | I don't see them on sale right now,
00:15:01.440 | but Amy does have a referral link
00:15:03.120 | that she would love it if you wanna use to get $20 off.
00:15:06.600 | That's allthehacks.com/dagnydover.
00:15:09.080 | Moving into health and fitness,
00:15:11.220 | I know I've mentioned my Oura Ring a lot,
00:15:13.600 | but it's the one thing that I'm always wearing
00:15:16.060 | every single day to track sleep, workouts, heart rate, HRV.
00:15:20.260 | The Gen 3 even tracks your blood oxygen levels.
00:15:23.100 | I've been trying to partner with Oura for a while.
00:15:25.620 | It hasn't happened yet, but I did get them
00:15:27.760 | to send me a link for up to $100 off this holiday season,
00:15:31.100 | which is at allthehacks.com/oura.
00:15:33.700 | Next is a book called "Outlive,
00:15:35.260 | "The Science and Art of Longevity" from Peter Attia.
00:15:38.380 | I'm a huge fan of Peter's podcast,
00:15:40.620 | and I've had this book pre-ordered
00:15:42.340 | since the moment it was announced.
00:15:43.980 | It is a very long book.
00:15:45.920 | You can definitely flip around
00:15:47.440 | and find the parts you wanna read,
00:15:49.260 | but I'm guessing that since we can all agree
00:15:51.320 | time is one of our most valuable resources,
00:15:54.120 | a book about getting more of that back
00:15:56.260 | seems well worth the read.
00:15:58.040 | I totally loved this one.
00:15:59.780 | Next is a Henson razor.
00:16:01.840 | We actually started working with most of our sponsors
00:16:04.280 | after I used and loved their products
00:16:06.560 | and then reached out to them,
00:16:08.020 | but Henson was a little bit different.
00:16:09.560 | They reached out to me and asked if they could be a sponsor.
00:16:12.520 | I was a little skeptical.
00:16:13.760 | I already had a shaving routine in place,
00:16:16.240 | but after spending a few weeks
00:16:17.760 | shaving with a Henson razor on one side
00:16:19.680 | and a regular cartridge on the other,
00:16:21.400 | I was totally convinced,
00:16:23.080 | not to mention it's a gorgeous razor
00:16:25.160 | with blades that only cost $3 to $5 a year,
00:16:27.760 | so you're actually gonna save money.
00:16:29.300 | And if you go to allthehacks.com/henson
00:16:32.040 | and use the code ALLTHEHACKS,
00:16:33.720 | you'll get two years of blades free with your order.
00:16:37.000 | Next is levels.
00:16:38.260 | Now, I learned so much about my metabolic health
00:16:40.960 | wearing a continuous glucose monitor from levels
00:16:43.260 | and tracking how my blood sugar reacted to different foods
00:16:46.360 | that I ended up getting Amy one too,
00:16:48.400 | and she thought it was so fascinating.
00:16:50.960 | We made a bunch of changes and thankfully for me,
00:16:53.760 | it seems like cinnamon really limits my blood sugar spikes,
00:16:57.040 | so I am partaking in my fair share of cinnamon rolls
00:17:00.160 | during the holidays and feeling much better about it.
00:17:03.080 | You can get $100 off for Black Friday right now,
00:17:06.040 | which I'll link to as well.
00:17:07.280 | Next is Hydro Flask.
00:17:09.100 | So we have an entire shelf dedicated
00:17:11.340 | to our growing supply of these water bottles
00:17:13.640 | and use them daily.
00:17:14.940 | In fact, we finally just decided
00:17:16.640 | to purge all non-Hydro Flask water bottles in the house
00:17:20.180 | because these have just become our favorites.
00:17:23.280 | They have great kids and adult sizes
00:17:25.040 | with tons of color options,
00:17:26.480 | and they're always running sales,
00:17:28.360 | but I don't see anything for Black Friday yet.
00:17:30.640 | Next, in the family and kids section,
00:17:33.060 | I wanna start with family stuff.
00:17:35.280 | First is story worth.
00:17:37.020 | If you've ever wanted to capture all the stories
00:17:39.240 | and memories from your loved ones,
00:17:40.620 | this makes a great gift.
00:17:42.400 | Every week for a year,
00:17:43.800 | story worth will email your loved one
00:17:45.680 | a single life-related question,
00:17:47.720 | like what's the bravest thing you've ever done
00:17:49.720 | or the furthest you've traveled,
00:17:50.960 | and they get compiled at the end of the year
00:17:53.200 | into a hardcover book that you can pass down for generations
00:17:56.480 | and you can get $10 off at allthehacks.com/storyworth.
00:18:00.200 | The Aura Photo Frame is a digital photo frame
00:18:03.020 | we've had in our house for a while,
00:18:05.440 | but recently, we've given it as a gift to my parents,
00:18:08.060 | and I think everyone on Amy's side of the family
00:18:10.820 | has one too, and it's so seamless
00:18:13.180 | to share photos with everyone
00:18:14.900 | that we're constantly passing photos around the family.
00:18:17.380 | They also have a Black Friday sale going on, which is great.
00:18:20.420 | Next is one of my favorite things
00:18:22.240 | to do with family over the holidays,
00:18:23.980 | and that is an escape room.
00:18:25.740 | I don't have a specific recommendation
00:18:27.460 | because it varies all around the country or even the world,
00:18:31.100 | but Amy and I have probably done 50 of these,
00:18:33.260 | and any time we have family around or we're visiting,
00:18:36.040 | we try to find one to do with the family and friends.
00:18:39.120 | I highly recommend it
00:18:40.300 | if it's not something you do regularly,
00:18:42.260 | and if you're looking to find one locally,
00:18:44.580 | thanks to Drew and Carrie,
00:18:46.020 | who sent in a recommendation to use the Morty app,
00:18:48.900 | which has a directory of almost every escape room.
00:18:51.780 | But speaking of escape rooms,
00:18:53.620 | a friend of mine worked with Neil Patrick Harris
00:18:55.760 | to develop this amazing game called Box One
00:18:58.900 | that you can use at home.
00:19:00.380 | It's a solo one-player, I guess, board game,
00:19:03.420 | and I don't really know how to explain it,
00:19:05.180 | but anyone you know who likes puzzles
00:19:07.340 | or escape rooms will love this.
00:19:09.240 | I personally thought it was amazing.
00:19:11.740 | The company my friend runs that produced the game
00:19:13.980 | is called Theory 11,
00:19:15.420 | and they also sell the most beautiful playing cards
00:19:18.220 | in the world.
00:19:19.140 | You just have to go to their site
00:19:20.540 | and see them to understand what I mean,
00:19:22.500 | but they have so many collections,
00:19:24.000 | from Star Wars to Harry Potter, James Bond,
00:19:26.580 | Notorious B.I.G., and a lot more.
00:19:29.160 | They make the best stocking stuffers,
00:19:31.300 | and Theory 11 also sells an endless supply
00:19:34.380 | of amazing and high-quality magic tricks
00:19:36.660 | if anyone in your family is interested in magic.
00:19:39.540 | But if you want Box One
00:19:40.820 | or the Star Wars playing card box set,
00:19:43.620 | you can use the code ALLTHEHAX23 to get 20% off.
00:19:47.700 | Next is something we've now given
00:19:49.460 | to all four of our parents,
00:19:50.920 | which is a subscription to Delete.me.
00:19:52.780 | As you probably know from listening to this show,
00:19:54.740 | it's crazy how many sites sell
00:19:56.340 | and share your personal data,
00:19:57.740 | and it's a huge pain to get them all to take it down.
00:20:00.280 | Delete.me does all of this for you,
00:20:02.200 | and it's not the sexiest, coolest gift to give someone,
00:20:05.800 | but it's so cool to be able to Google all of our parents
00:20:08.320 | and not find their information online anymore.
00:20:10.840 | You can get 20% off at allthehax.com/delete.me.
00:20:14.480 | In the kids section,
00:20:15.640 | I'm gonna start with something
00:20:16.480 | that our girls wake up every morning
00:20:18.280 | and immediately start using,
00:20:19.800 | and that's a Tony Box.
00:20:21.780 | Just think of a small speaker
00:20:24.480 | that has a bunch of characters you can put on top,
00:20:26.880 | and they start playing stories,
00:20:28.520 | but you can also create your own custom stories
00:20:31.320 | and upload them to your own custom Tonys.
00:20:34.040 | It keeps them entertained for hours,
00:20:35.800 | and the best part is it doesn't involve a screen,
00:20:38.600 | and Black Friday sale is up to 30% off.
00:20:42.240 | Then we have Jelly Cat stuffed animals.
00:20:44.640 | Our girls' favorite little friends
00:20:46.420 | are their Jelly Cat plushies.
00:20:48.040 | They're high quality, super soft and huggable.
00:20:50.520 | I love the assortment of animals and foods
00:20:52.600 | and everything Jelly Cat makes.
00:20:54.080 | I'll link to them in the show notes.
00:20:56.180 | Also, our kids love their little sleepies jammies.
00:20:59.440 | These PJs are hands down our girls' favorites.
00:21:02.880 | They're made from bamboo viscose,
00:21:04.400 | so they're buttery soft, breathable, and stretchy,
00:21:06.960 | and last much longer than some standard PJs.
00:21:09.840 | They also have a ton of fun prints and colors.
00:21:12.580 | They're doing a 30% off sale right now
00:21:14.520 | if you use the promo code LSFAM.
00:21:17.500 | Next is Lovevery.
00:21:19.000 | We've had a subscription to Lovevery
00:21:20.540 | since our first daughter was born.
00:21:22.600 | They make these beautiful,
00:21:23.900 | award-winning Montessori-inspired toys,
00:21:26.400 | and they send them in a box to your home
00:21:28.320 | every two to three months.
00:21:30.200 | All the toys are designed by child development experts.
00:21:33.180 | They're well-built and sustainably made.
00:21:35.440 | I haven't seen a sale yet.
00:21:36.800 | I don't think I've ever gotten a sale,
00:21:38.600 | but if you want $20 off your subscription,
00:21:40.840 | you can use my referral link, allthehacks.com/lovevery.
00:21:44.740 | Next is one of the coolest stories of a gift on this list,
00:21:48.000 | and that is backpacks from 50/50 Gear,
00:21:51.540 | which are fantastic for going out with the kids,
00:21:54.360 | and the reason this is so cool
00:21:55.840 | is because one of the founders, Adam,
00:21:57.420 | is an All The Hacks listener
00:21:58.880 | who actually heard me talk about
00:22:00.400 | checking your state's unclaimed money website
00:22:02.940 | to see if you're owed anything,
00:22:04.520 | and ended up finding $5,000.
00:22:07.440 | He used that money to help get this company off the ground,
00:22:10.240 | and to say thank you, he created a promo code,
00:22:12.760 | All The Hacks, for anyone listening
00:22:14.580 | to get 10% off their order.
00:22:16.280 | We have one of these bags,
00:22:17.600 | and it's become our go-to bag for going out with the kids.
00:22:20.800 | Next is a repeat from last year,
00:22:22.320 | but I guess that's fair
00:22:23.280 | because I've actually had to buy this stroller twice
00:22:25.760 | because we left it on the sidewalk and drove off without it,
00:22:28.320 | and that's the Babies & Yo-Yo.
00:22:30.200 | It's such a good travel stroller,
00:22:32.080 | and this is coming from someone, me,
00:22:33.920 | who built a spreadsheet to compare over 50 strollers.
00:22:37.600 | If you like the toffee color,
00:22:39.240 | you can get 20% off right now for Black Friday.
00:22:42.120 | Otherwise, I haven't seen another deal yet.
00:22:44.600 | And finally for kids is the Nanette Baby Monitor.
00:22:47.500 | You probably need to know someone incredibly well,
00:22:49.760 | or maybe even be married to them
00:22:51.240 | to get them a baby monitor as a gift,
00:22:53.500 | but the Nanette is such a great product
00:22:55.400 | that I feel like I need to include it on this list.
00:22:57.840 | It even has a split-screen mode
00:22:59.440 | if you wanna watch two kids at once,
00:23:01.400 | and it's an FSA-eligible expense,
00:23:03.920 | and so if you have FSA dollars to spend before year-end,
00:23:06.760 | it's a great option.
00:23:08.400 | Even better, you can get 30% off
00:23:10.280 | for their Black Friday sale right now.
00:23:12.480 | And the last section is on learning.
00:23:15.960 | First off, obviously, if anyone in your family
00:23:18.440 | or any of your friends or colleagues love to learn,
00:23:21.160 | my number one tip is to send them
00:23:23.120 | the "All The Hacks" podcast or newsletter, of course,
00:23:26.040 | but if you're looking for gifts that aren't this podcast,
00:23:29.240 | I'm gonna start first with the book "Die With Zero."
00:23:32.640 | And I think anyone listening to this show
00:23:35.100 | has heard me mention it many times,
00:23:37.200 | and the reason I keep bringing it up
00:23:38.560 | is because it had such a huge impact
00:23:40.440 | on the way I think about life and money
00:23:42.680 | that I felt it had to be on this list,
00:23:45.560 | and it's a book that I've gifted multiple times.
00:23:48.360 | Next is "Masterclass."
00:23:50.160 | I know I could spend hours watching
00:23:51.840 | all the classes they have,
00:23:53.520 | and I'm confident "Masterclass" makes a good gift
00:23:55.760 | because I actually gave one to my dad last year.
00:23:58.720 | There's something for everyone,
00:24:00.120 | and you can get two memberships
00:24:01.680 | for the price of one right now
00:24:03.200 | at allthehacks.com/masterclass.
00:24:06.920 | Next is "The Bucket List Journal."
00:24:09.160 | I had Ben Nimton join me on episode 36
00:24:12.080 | who wrote this book to talk about bucket lists,
00:24:14.440 | audacious goals, and living the life you truly want.
00:24:17.720 | And to help people actually achieve those goals,
00:24:20.440 | Ben wrote this book,
00:24:21.920 | but it's really more of a journal
00:24:23.280 | with some inspiration,
00:24:24.560 | but a lot of room for you to track your lists,
00:24:27.120 | write down some tangible steps
00:24:28.760 | you can take towards your goals
00:24:30.080 | so you will ultimately achieve them.
00:24:32.000 | Next, I actually have three books
00:24:34.080 | that I haven't read yet,
00:24:35.320 | but that really bubbled up to the top
00:24:37.200 | of recommendation lists from this year.
00:24:39.560 | One is "When Breath Becomes Air."
00:24:42.280 | Sahil Bloom has now been on the podcast three times,
00:24:45.160 | though that third episode has not come out yet.
00:24:47.280 | And during our conversations,
00:24:48.920 | he said that this was his most gifted book.
00:24:51.720 | And while I haven't read it,
00:24:53.080 | I trust Sahil's advice so much
00:24:55.160 | that I'm putting it on the guide,
00:24:56.520 | and hopefully I will share a review as soon as I read it.
00:24:59.920 | Next is "Same as Ever,
00:25:01.760 | A Guide to What Never Changes" by Morgan Housel.
00:25:04.880 | I am a huge fan of Morgan's writing.
00:25:06.840 | I loved his last book, "Psychology of Money,"
00:25:09.400 | and I've had a chance to interview him on that book,
00:25:11.720 | and it was such a good interview,
00:25:13.120 | and it's probably why I'm so excited
00:25:14.720 | to read his latest book that came out this month.
00:25:17.440 | I should be having him on the podcast early next year
00:25:20.120 | to talk about it.
00:25:21.200 | So if reading his new book brings out
00:25:22.960 | any questions you want to ask Morgan,
00:25:24.920 | please share them with me and I will ask him.
00:25:27.280 | And last is a book called "4,000 Weeks."
00:25:30.680 | I recently actually hosted a member discussion
00:25:33.280 | for all the Hacks members on the book "Die With Zero"
00:25:35.880 | and that concept of maximizing your net fulfillment
00:25:38.840 | instead of your net worth.
00:25:40.200 | And one of the top recommendations
00:25:42.240 | was to check out the book "4,000 Weeks."
00:25:44.520 | So it's on my list as well.
00:25:46.560 | I haven't read any of those last three books,
00:25:48.920 | so I can't fully endorse them,
00:25:50.720 | but if they look good to you or you're excited about them,
00:25:53.640 | they might make some really great gifts.
00:25:55.200 | So those are all my recommendations for gifts.
00:25:57.720 | I do want to talk about how to save money
00:25:59.820 | on anything you're shopping for this holiday season,
00:26:02.640 | but first I'll just remind you again
00:26:04.880 | that all the links for everything I just mentioned
00:26:07.400 | are in the show notes.
00:26:08.640 | They're at allthehacks.com/gifts,
00:26:11.640 | and using the links in all of those places
00:26:13.600 | is a huge way to support us in the show this holiday season.
00:26:16.560 | So thanks in advance for doing that.
00:26:18.600 | So when it comes to shopping online,
00:26:20.560 | there's three big ways I like to save.
00:26:22.960 | One is using cashback portals.
00:26:25.240 | I always start at Cashback Monitor
00:26:27.660 | to see the best way to earn cashback
00:26:29.600 | or points shopping online.
00:26:31.420 | For example, there are sometimes places where Rakuten,
00:26:34.360 | which is often my default site,
00:26:36.440 | doesn't earn as many points as using something
00:26:38.600 | like the American Airline Shopping Portal
00:26:40.880 | or another platform.
00:26:42.400 | There are some platforms
00:26:43.720 | that get listed on Cashback Monitor
00:26:45.760 | that seem to have higher rates than you would think,
00:26:48.600 | and once you click into them, you realize,
00:26:50.560 | oh, well, I've got to go buy a gift card
00:26:52.480 | and I can only buy up to $100, so it's a little complicated.
00:26:55.780 | But in general, Rakuten, Top Cashback,
00:26:58.880 | all the credit card and airline portals
00:27:01.120 | are all pretty straightforward.
00:27:02.800 | But at the end of the day,
00:27:03.760 | there's one reason why I love Rakuten
00:27:05.720 | more than any other shopping portal,
00:27:07.760 | if it has the best rate,
00:27:09.240 | and that's because you can take all the cash back
00:27:12.320 | and convert it directly to American Express points.
00:27:15.440 | So instead of earning 10% back,
00:27:18.320 | you can earn 10 American Express points per dollar.
00:27:21.440 | And given that I'm usually able to get anywhere
00:27:23.680 | from one and a half all the way up to five cents per point
00:27:27.500 | with my Amex points, that takes a 10% cashback
00:27:31.120 | to anywhere from 15 to 50% cashback.
00:27:34.000 | So definitely a big fan of cashback with Rakuten.
00:27:36.800 | We just used it on that Samsung TV I talked about.
00:27:39.680 | And if you haven't signed up for Rakuten,
00:27:41.700 | you can actually get $40 free
00:27:43.720 | after your first purchase right now
00:27:45.960 | using my referral link at allthehacks.com/rakuten.
00:27:50.480 | Next is finding promo codes and discounts.
00:27:53.080 | I feel like it's been pretty difficult nowadays
00:27:55.320 | to find working promo codes online.
00:27:57.780 | A lot of the sites that used to share them
00:27:59.920 | now are really sharing these referral links
00:28:02.360 | and affiliate links in disguise.
00:28:04.280 | And so one, you have to be extra careful here
00:28:06.640 | because if you're using a cashback portal,
00:28:08.760 | sometimes the links through those portals
00:28:11.560 | end up overriding your shopping portal tracking.
00:28:15.260 | So you'll wanna make sure
00:28:16.380 | that you refresh and double check.
00:28:18.420 | I will check sites like RetailMeNot
00:28:20.660 | or tools like Honey to find a promo code.
00:28:22.820 | It doesn't work as often.
00:28:24.220 | What I now do a lot more often
00:28:26.320 | is just ask the live chat on the website
00:28:28.840 | if there's a discount.
00:28:30.020 | Very often I've found live chat really helpful
00:28:32.920 | to be able to get promos or discounts on a shopping card.
00:28:36.080 | So you can definitely try that.
00:28:37.620 | Another great way to get discounts
00:28:39.480 | is just look at all the offers.
00:28:41.280 | You see from Amex, Chase, CapOne,
00:28:43.800 | whatever your card company is.
00:28:45.640 | When you log on to any of those banking websites,
00:28:48.240 | you'll be able to add offers to your cards.
00:28:50.320 | And sometimes there's offers for things
00:28:52.320 | that are totally irrelevant to you
00:28:54.120 | and you're not gonna be purchasing.
00:28:55.800 | But sometimes there's really broad ones.
00:28:57.640 | Like right now, because on Saturday
00:29:00.280 | is small business Saturday,
00:29:01.800 | most Amex cards will have a $5 off $50
00:29:05.760 | as long as you use your card
00:29:07.200 | to buy something from a small business.
00:29:09.240 | But there are so, so many offers in the Amex portal
00:29:12.760 | that it can be a little bit hard to manage
00:29:14.360 | and sometimes hard to browse.
00:29:15.920 | Keep in mind that there are often more offers
00:29:19.120 | than you'll see.
00:29:20.200 | So for example, right now on my Amex Platinum,
00:29:22.600 | I have 345 offers added to my Amex Platinum card.
00:29:26.200 | And one other thing is once you add an offer to one card,
00:29:30.320 | you often can't add it to the other card.
00:29:32.780 | So when there've been some really, really amazing offers
00:29:35.400 | on things that you buy regularly
00:29:37.200 | and you wish that you had it on multiple cards
00:29:39.360 | so you could use the offer over and over again,
00:29:41.520 | the way to get around that
00:29:42.840 | is either to try to open it in two windows
00:29:44.760 | and click it at the exact same time,
00:29:46.320 | which seems very difficult
00:29:47.720 | or use a product like Card Pointers.
00:29:49.760 | Card Pointers is a mobile app
00:29:51.080 | to manage all of your credit cards, all of your earning.
00:29:53.840 | You don't even have to sync to your banks to use it,
00:29:56.460 | but they have a browser extension
00:29:58.240 | that will auto add all of the offers on Amex and Chase
00:30:01.660 | to your account without you having to do anything.
00:30:04.040 | And best of all, they'll hit the Amex and Chase API
00:30:07.160 | for all your cards at the same time.
00:30:09.760 | So you can actually end up adding those offers
00:30:11.960 | to multiple cards at once.
00:30:13.720 | So definitely go in and look at those offers in advance
00:30:16.360 | to make sure you're using the right card
00:30:18.120 | to get a deal this holiday season.
00:30:20.160 | And also on Saturday, definitely make sure
00:30:22.200 | that if you're shopping at any local businesses
00:30:24.480 | to add that $5 off $50 to get a little extra discount.
00:30:28.280 | Finally, the third category is gift cards.
00:30:30.640 | Most retailers online don't qualify
00:30:33.400 | for any elevated bonus points
00:30:35.060 | like you would get for travel or dining or groceries.
00:30:38.440 | So one tactic I love when I'm buying something
00:30:40.880 | from a retailer is buying gift cards for that retailer,
00:30:44.880 | somewhere where I earn more than two points per dollar.
00:30:47.960 | So that could be four points at the grocery store
00:30:50.540 | with an Amex Gold or 5% back on Amazon.
00:30:54.840 | Or if you have a card that earns a lot of points
00:30:57.040 | at gas stations or office supply stores,
00:30:59.880 | they often sell gift cards as well.
00:31:02.080 | So those are three tactics for saving money online
00:31:04.920 | this holiday season.
00:31:06.280 | I really hope that's helpful.
00:31:07.960 | And I hope that some of these gifts were helpful.
00:31:10.200 | If you have any recommendations either now or later
00:31:13.880 | for other gifts you think would make great addition
00:31:16.400 | to this guide, let me know.
00:31:18.180 | Some of the things on this list were added
00:31:20.160 | because people sent them to me last year.
00:31:22.280 | So even though I might not get to share it
00:31:24.180 | for another 12 months,
00:31:25.460 | I would love to see your recommendations.
00:31:27.680 | Also, a lot of these are things that I've already gotten
00:31:29.960 | and I'm getting hit up from family
00:31:31.720 | for things that I might need for Christmas.
00:31:33.460 | So I would love your recommendations
00:31:35.000 | if you think there's something
00:31:35.840 | I should put on my list as well.
00:31:37.640 | Thank you so much for listening to this bonus episode.
00:31:41.080 | If you know anyone that you think would enjoy it,
00:31:43.440 | please consider sharing it with them.
00:31:45.560 | Or if they're not podcast people,
00:31:47.520 | feel free to send them to the online version
00:31:49.660 | at allthehacks.com/gifts.
00:31:52.160 | And if you haven't gotten a chance
00:31:53.520 | to take the All The Hacks survey yet,
00:31:55.320 | it would mean the world to me.
00:31:56.800 | You can do that at allthehacks.com/survey.
00:31:59.880 | And we have some amazing prizes for you.
00:32:02.000 | Three Viore gift cards, an Any Day, Every Day set,
00:32:05.020 | and a free round trip ticket on United.
00:32:07.420 | Finally, I just wanna say how grateful I am
00:32:10.060 | for all of your support this year,
00:32:11.760 | which has made it possible for All The Hacks
00:32:13.780 | to become my full-time endeavor.
00:32:16.180 | Thank you so much for listening, reaching out,
00:32:18.660 | and everything you do.
00:32:20.140 | I truly appreciate it.
00:32:21.940 | Okay, that's it.
00:32:23.340 | I will see you again for another episode tomorrow.
00:32:25.940 | (upbeat music)
00:32:28.520 | (crickets chirping)
00:32:31.520 | [BIRDS CHIRPING]