ATHLLC9746064323
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.200 | - Hello, and welcome to another episode of All The Hacks,
00:00:05.000 | a show about upgrading your life, money, and travel.
00:00:07.940 | I'm Chris Hutchins, and normally you'll find me
00:00:10.080 | doing a deep dive on one of those topics myself,
00:00:12.920 | or talking to the world's best experts
00:00:15.000 | to learn the strategies, tactics, and frameworks
00:00:17.680 | that shape their success.
00:00:19.360 | So, if you're new here,
00:00:20.560 | and you wanna get a good feel for the show,
00:00:22.380 | you can check out last week's episode
00:00:24.320 | where I shared my end of the year checklist
00:00:26.140 | for your money, your taxes, your points, and your miles,
00:00:29.440 | or the week before, where I talked to Bill Perkins,
00:00:32.400 | author of Die With Zero,
00:00:33.960 | about why you might wanna focus more of your time and energy
00:00:36.880 | on your life's net fulfillment than on your net worth.
00:00:40.200 | At least from all of your feedback,
00:00:41.640 | that episode might've been the best one this year.
00:00:44.320 | Or finally, if you wanna go all the way back
00:00:46.420 | to the beginning, to episode one,
00:00:48.300 | it was an incredible episode with my good friend Lee Rowan,
00:00:51.280 | all about travel hacks.
00:00:53.540 | But for this week, with the holidays getting closer,
00:00:56.520 | I thought I'd put together a list
00:00:57.880 | of my favorite products, gifts, past purchases, and more,
00:01:01.960 | so that hopefully some of those
00:01:03.240 | might make good gift ideas for you or a loved one
00:01:05.460 | this holiday season.
00:01:06.960 | And you should know that none of the products or services
00:01:09.360 | I put in this gift guide have paid me
00:01:11.180 | to be a part of the list.
00:01:12.540 | However, some of them are sponsors of all the hacks,
00:01:15.500 | but that should make sense, because as I've said before,
00:01:18.600 | most of my sponsors are here
00:01:20.400 | because I've reached out to them
00:01:21.760 | after already loving their products.
00:01:24.000 | In fact, for any of the companies I'm about to talk about
00:01:26.960 | who aren't sponsors, I will certainly be adding them
00:01:29.920 | to the list of brands I should reach out to next year
00:01:32.440 | to see if they wanna work together,
00:01:34.060 | though Necker Island is probably a bit of a long shot,
00:01:37.200 | but we'll get to that later.
00:01:39.160 | A great example of that is StoryWorth.
00:01:41.480 | After I decided to include them in this gift guide,
00:01:43.900 | I reached out to them, and they ended up wanting
00:01:45.760 | to sponsor the episode.
00:01:47.820 | Finally, while I normally create short links
00:01:50.280 | like allthehacks.com/viorey to make it easy for you,
00:01:54.000 | there would be way too many links for this episode,
00:01:56.560 | so I'm only gonna do that when there's a deal involved.
00:01:59.080 | However, you can find links to everything I'll mention
00:02:01.480 | in the show notes, at allthehacks.com,
00:02:04.120 | or in the written version of this gift guide
00:02:06.480 | at allthehacks.com/gifts.
00:02:09.520 | And since some of the links,
00:02:11.000 | though definitely not all of them,
00:02:12.280 | are from sponsors or affiliates like Amazon,
00:02:15.040 | I would greatly appreciate you clicking those links
00:02:17.320 | to support the show,
00:02:18.600 | that is, unless you find a better price elsewhere,
00:02:21.020 | in which case, absolutely go there.
00:02:23.720 | Okay, let's get into the 2022 gift guide right after this.
00:02:28.140 | Getting the crew together isn't as easy as it used to be.
00:02:32.520 | I get it, life comes at you fast,
00:02:34.920 | but trust me, your friends are probably desperate
00:02:37.800 | for a good hang.
00:02:38.940 | So, kick 2024 off right by finally hosting that event.
00:02:43.020 | Just make sure you do it the easy way
00:02:44.960 | and let our sponsor, Drizzly, the go-to app
00:02:47.920 | for drink delivery, take care of the supplies.
00:02:50.600 | All you need to come up with is the excuse to get together.
00:02:53.440 | It doesn't even have to be a good one.
00:02:55.280 | It could be your dog's birthday,
00:02:56.700 | that the sun finally came out,
00:02:58.680 | or maybe you just wanna celebrate
00:03:00.160 | that you got through another week.
00:03:02.240 | With Drizzly, you can make hosting easy
00:03:04.320 | by taking the drink run off your to-do list,
00:03:06.880 | which means you can entice your friends
00:03:08.640 | to leave their houses without ever leaving yours.
00:03:11.720 | And since I know you like a good deal,
00:03:13.400 | Drizzly compares prices on their massive selection
00:03:15.960 | of beer, wine, and spirits across multiple stores.
00:03:18.940 | So, when I really wanted to make a few cocktails
00:03:20.980 | while we were hosting family last week,
00:03:22.800 | not only could I get an Italian Amaro
00:03:24.880 | delivered in less than an hour,
00:03:26.520 | but I found it for $15 less than my local liquor store.
00:03:30.000 | So, whatever the occasion, download the Drizzly app
00:03:33.080 | or go to drizzly.com.
00:03:34.920 | That's D-R-I-Z-L-Y.com today.
00:03:38.940 | Must be 21 plus, not available in all locations.
00:03:42.180 | I love helping you answer all the toughest questions
00:03:47.320 | about life, money, and so much more,
00:03:49.800 | but sometimes it's helpful to talk to other people
00:03:52.400 | in your situation,
00:03:53.840 | which actually gets harder as you build your wealth.
00:03:56.440 | So, I wanna introduce you to today's sponsor, Long Angle.
00:03:59.700 | Long Angle is a community of high net worth individuals
00:04:02.560 | with backgrounds in everything from technology,
00:04:04.720 | finance, medicine, to real estate, law,
00:04:07.240 | manufacturing, and more.
00:04:09.240 | I'm a member of Long Angle.
00:04:10.640 | I've loved being a part of the community,
00:04:12.600 | and I've even had one of the founders, Tad Fallows,
00:04:14.920 | join me on all the hacks in episode 87
00:04:17.040 | to talk about alternative investments.
00:04:19.400 | Now, the majority of Long Angle members
00:04:21.120 | are first generation wealth,
00:04:22.920 | young, highly successful individuals
00:04:25.000 | who join the community to share knowledge
00:04:27.140 | and learn from each other
00:04:28.480 | in a confidential, unbiased setting.
00:04:31.080 | On top of that, members also get access
00:04:33.360 | to some unique private market investment opportunities.
00:04:36.700 | Like I said, I'm a member,
00:04:38.120 | and I've gotten so much value from the community
00:04:40.280 | because you're getting advice and feedback
00:04:42.240 | from people in a similar situation to you
00:04:44.740 | on everything from your investment portfolio
00:04:47.180 | to your children's education to finding a concierge doctor.
00:04:50.840 | So many of these conversations
00:04:52.280 | aren't happening anywhere else online.
00:04:54.500 | So if you have more than 2.2 million in investable assets,
00:04:58.160 | which is their minimum for membership,
00:05:00.020 | I encourage you to check out Long Angle,
00:05:02.200 | and it's totally free to join.
00:05:04.280 | Just go to longangle.com to learn more,
00:05:07.400 | and if you choose to apply,
00:05:08.920 | be sure to let them know you heard about it here.
00:05:11.880 | Again, that's longangle, A-N-G-L-E, .com.
00:05:16.520 | (upbeat music)
00:05:18.280 | Okay, so the first section I'm gonna do is home and food,
00:05:21.400 | and I'm gonna start with the Breville Tea Maker.
00:05:24.000 | This has been in our kitchen for over a decade,
00:05:26.240 | and it gets used daily.
00:05:27.800 | If you brew loose leaf tea, it makes the process so easy,
00:05:31.400 | letting you dial in the temperature and the brew time,
00:05:33.760 | and automates the rest.
00:05:35.200 | And if you also brew coffee, it's a fantastic water kettle
00:05:38.920 | where you can set the exact temperature,
00:05:40.880 | though I imagine there are much cheaper kettles out there
00:05:43.280 | if you don't wanna make tea.
00:05:44.720 | Next, trade coffee.
00:05:46.800 | Based on the smile that shows up on Amy's face
00:05:49.080 | every time she opens up a box from Trade,
00:05:51.880 | I am really confident that this would be an amazing gift
00:05:54.720 | for anyone who loves coffee.
00:05:56.480 | Every delivery, they'll get a new curated bag of coffee beans
00:05:59.720 | from the top independent roasters all across the country.
00:06:02.920 | And best of all, you can get up to $50 off gifts
00:06:06.080 | at allthehacks.com/trade.
00:06:09.400 | Next is the Coravin.
00:06:11.360 | There are plenty of nights where Amy or I,
00:06:13.520 | and probably both of us,
00:06:15.000 | wanna have a glass of wine with dinner,
00:06:16.800 | or after the kids go to bed,
00:06:18.440 | but we don't really wanna finish an entire bottle.
00:06:20.880 | So we used to either skip the wine altogether,
00:06:23.240 | or just end up drinking the entire bottle
00:06:25.280 | even though we didn't need to.
00:06:26.960 | But then we got a Coravin as a gift,
00:06:29.280 | and it's changed the way we drink wine.
00:06:31.880 | It's a device with a small hollow needle
00:06:34.480 | that you can stick through the cork of a bottle of wine,
00:06:37.200 | and it lets you pour out the wine,
00:06:39.000 | and replaces the space that that wine took up
00:06:41.400 | with argon gas, which keeps your wine fresh.
00:06:44.800 | So you could pour yourself a half a glass,
00:06:46.840 | or a glass of wine without ruining the bottle,
00:06:49.680 | and drink the rest of it days, weeks, or even months later.
00:06:53.400 | And if you really wanna splurge,
00:06:55.240 | my dad got a plum wine dispenser as his retirement gift,
00:06:59.000 | which is like a supercharged Coravin machine,
00:07:01.680 | where you can put two bottles of wine in,
00:07:03.680 | and it taps them just like a Coravin machine would,
00:07:06.400 | and turns it into a dispenser.
00:07:08.620 | It is amazing, but really expensive.
00:07:11.400 | Okay, the next one is one of my favorite things.
00:07:15.000 | If you've ever been to Japan,
00:07:16.520 | you've probably been fortunate enough
00:07:17.960 | to enjoy a Japanese toilet.
00:07:19.840 | If not, there's a heated seat,
00:07:21.920 | heated water bidet, and so much more.
00:07:24.760 | And despite that some of those toilets
00:07:26.640 | can cost thousands of dollars,
00:07:28.500 | you can actually just get the seat
00:07:30.520 | to attach to your current toilet for less than 500.
00:07:34.240 | I love the Toto Washlet C5.
00:07:37.680 | We have one in our house,
00:07:39.320 | but if you wanna save a little money,
00:07:41.480 | you can get the less expensive Washlet C2,
00:07:44.000 | which we just put in the bathroom we renovated.
00:07:46.880 | And if you have a Costco membership,
00:07:49.080 | it's on sale right now through Costco.
00:07:51.780 | Okay, I feel ridiculous recommending a $40 hand soap,
00:07:56.120 | but the Aesop soap we have in our house
00:07:58.100 | has gotten more compliments from house guests
00:08:00.720 | than just about anything else in the entire home.
00:08:03.320 | Not to mention,
00:08:04.240 | if you haven't used your $50 Amex credit for sacks,
00:08:07.840 | you can use that to make Aesop soap free,
00:08:10.400 | which is exactly what I do
00:08:12.360 | because I don't think I could actually spend $40.
00:08:15.600 | But when it comes to gifts,
00:08:17.160 | I think it's the best hand soap out there,
00:08:19.520 | and I love it, and it would make a great gift.
00:08:22.320 | Next is Whiskey River Soap,
00:08:24.320 | who makes a snarky candle for just about any situation
00:08:28.320 | you could ever imagine.
00:08:29.840 | I've given these to guests who've come on the podcast.
00:08:32.760 | I've given them to random friends, colleagues.
00:08:35.960 | They will put a smile on almost anyone's face,
00:08:39.340 | and they are one of my go-to gifts
00:08:41.760 | if I'm not spending too much.
00:08:43.720 | Definitely recommend them.
00:08:45.280 | You've probably seen them in the newsletter before.
00:08:48.000 | And in the spirit of food,
00:08:49.580 | I have talked about the Paprika app a lot
00:08:51.720 | 'cause I think it's the best way to organize recipes
00:08:54.200 | and your family meal planning,
00:08:56.000 | but for an app, it's a bit pricey.
00:08:58.960 | It's $5 on mobile, $30 on desktop,
00:09:01.840 | and you have to buy it for every platform you use it.
00:09:04.760 | But I actually think that it could be
00:09:06.680 | a really interesting gift
00:09:08.400 | because not only could you give someone an amazing app,
00:09:11.720 | but you could preload it with all of your favorite recipes
00:09:15.360 | and share them to whoever you give the app to.
00:09:18.560 | So it's not only a great app,
00:09:20.420 | but it would also be a curated list
00:09:22.360 | of all your favorite foods.
00:09:24.480 | And finally, the Ooni Pizza Oven.
00:09:27.520 | So we love making pizza at home,
00:09:29.680 | and a few years ago, we gave an Ooni coda
00:09:32.280 | to a family member at Christmas,
00:09:33.840 | and it was a huge hit.
00:09:35.600 | Not to mention, it gave us an amazing family activity
00:09:38.600 | one night during the holidays,
00:09:40.200 | and we were making pizza all night long.
00:09:42.840 | Definitely makes a great gift for someone.
00:09:45.240 | Next section is tech gear and clothes.
00:09:48.120 | So I'll start with Viore.
00:09:50.440 | They make the most amazing performance apparel.
00:09:52.820 | It's ridiculously comfortable,
00:09:54.400 | and seriously, Amy and I probably wear it every single day.
00:09:57.560 | My favorite is the Sunday Performance Joggers,
00:09:59.720 | but you really can't go wrong with anything they make,
00:10:02.240 | and you can get 20% off your first order
00:10:04.360 | at allthehacks.com/viore, V-U-O-R-E.
00:10:08.640 | Next is the Blunt Umbrella.
00:10:10.220 | We bought our yellow Blunt Classic Umbrella six years ago,
00:10:13.400 | and it still works as well as it did the day we got it.
00:10:16.800 | It's also so incredibly wind-resistant.
00:10:19.520 | I haven't tried their travel umbrella,
00:10:21.200 | but it looks like it's gonna rain this week in London,
00:10:23.000 | and I really wish I had one with me.
00:10:25.200 | Okay, I know all of you aren't starting a podcast,
00:10:27.840 | but I wanna suggest a USB microphone,
00:10:30.720 | because when I first bought one for the podcast,
00:10:33.600 | I ended up actually starting to use it
00:10:35.080 | for all my remote work meetings,
00:10:37.080 | and I got such good feedback from my colleagues
00:10:39.360 | on the audio quality.
00:10:40.600 | I remember someone saying,
00:10:41.720 | "Wow, your audio sounds so good.
00:10:43.340 | "It makes everything you say sound so much more believable."
00:10:46.480 | And then a few of those colleagues
00:10:47.920 | actually bought a microphone themselves.
00:10:50.020 | So a great starter mic under $100
00:10:52.120 | that I used for the whole first year of this podcast
00:10:54.900 | was the ATR2100X, but if you want something a little better,
00:10:59.180 | you can get the Shure MV7,
00:11:01.040 | which is what I'm actually recording on right now.
00:11:03.720 | And if you need an arm to mount it on your desk,
00:11:06.520 | there are a bunch of cheap ones for $20 or $30 on Amazon.
00:11:09.960 | They work, I used them early on,
00:11:11.940 | but the Rode PSA1 is so much better.
00:11:15.160 | Okay, next, the M2 MacBook Air.
00:11:18.200 | It is hard to think of a purchase I made in 2022
00:11:21.280 | that was better than upgrading my laptop
00:11:23.400 | to the new M2 MacBook Air.
00:11:25.320 | It's so fast and having 14 plus hours of battery life
00:11:29.860 | is absolutely incredible.
00:11:31.880 | I honestly can't imagine what it would be like
00:11:33.640 | to go back to a computer
00:11:34.740 | that I have to charge every three or four hours.
00:11:36.880 | Sure, it's probably more expensive
00:11:38.420 | than anyone's planning to spend
00:11:39.740 | on a gift this holiday season.
00:11:41.420 | However, maybe if you have a business
00:11:43.260 | and you need to get a few more expenses in
00:11:44.820 | before the end of the year,
00:11:45.940 | this could be a really great upgrade.
00:11:48.140 | But in line with the theme of work,
00:11:50.820 | with so many of us working from home,
00:11:52.860 | one of the luxuries that I really, really appreciate
00:11:55.480 | is having a standing desk in my home office.
00:11:57.960 | They used to be so expensive,
00:11:59.360 | but Uplift makes some really reasonably priced desks
00:12:02.480 | and they're so well-built.
00:12:04.040 | I know because my desk is an Uplift desk and I love it.
00:12:07.720 | Also, I know some companies will even reimburse you
00:12:10.400 | for some home office equipment,
00:12:12.000 | so definitely worth upgrading
00:12:13.680 | if you can get it for free from your employer.
00:12:15.960 | Last in this list is Gooder Sunglasses.
00:12:18.720 | They are my new favorite sunglasses.
00:12:20.680 | I got a pair from Wealthfront
00:12:22.200 | as company swag and they were so good
00:12:24.880 | that I've since bought more for me and Amy
00:12:27.120 | and asked them to be a sponsor of the show.
00:12:29.440 | They're 100% polarized,
00:12:30.660 | they're lightweight, stylish, comfortable,
00:12:32.800 | and best of all, they are only $25.
00:12:35.840 | My favorites are the OGs,
00:12:37.600 | but they have so many different styles
00:12:39.480 | and what seems like an unlimited selection of colors.
00:12:42.840 | And you can get free shipping
00:12:44.440 | and a 30-day money-back guarantee
00:12:46.240 | at allthehacks.com/gooder, G-O-O-D-R.
00:12:50.740 | Next is Health and Fitness.
00:12:52.680 | So I know I've mentioned my Oura ring a lot,
00:12:55.400 | but it is the one thing that I am always wearing every day
00:12:58.920 | to track my sleep, my workouts, my heart rate, and HRV.
00:13:02.720 | And the Gen 3 ring also tracks blood oxygen levels.
00:13:06.440 | I've used up all my referrals,
00:13:07.880 | so I don't have a link for you,
00:13:09.440 | but if you know anyone who has an Oura ring,
00:13:11.440 | you can use their link to get an additional $50 off.
00:13:14.520 | Next is the Eight Sleep Pod Cover.
00:13:16.760 | This is an expensive purchase,
00:13:18.560 | but traveling just isn't the same
00:13:20.680 | now that we've been spoiled
00:13:21.940 | by our Eight Sleep Cover at home.
00:13:24.100 | It not only tracks your sleep,
00:13:25.860 | but it also automatically heats and cools your mattress
00:13:28.940 | in line with your sleep cycles
00:13:30.860 | to help improve your deep sleep
00:13:32.380 | and improve your overall sleep quality.
00:13:35.100 | It also warms up your bed right as you're getting into it,
00:13:38.460 | which given that every night in London
00:13:40.220 | it's been below freezing,
00:13:41.660 | would have been a really nice thing to have over here.
00:13:44.700 | You can use my personal referral link
00:13:46.340 | for $200 off at allthehacks.com/eightsleep.
00:13:50.020 | And next is InsideTracker.
00:13:52.080 | So I think you all know
00:13:53.340 | that I love getting data on everything,
00:13:55.560 | and that's totally true when it comes to my health,
00:13:58.200 | and I've been a huge fan of InsideTracker
00:14:00.140 | since I started using it earlier this year.
00:14:02.880 | They take your blood, DNA, and fitness tracking activity,
00:14:06.120 | and they provide a personalized health analysis
00:14:08.780 | and action plan for exercise, nutrition, and supplementation,
00:14:12.880 | and I think they do a really good job,
00:14:14.760 | and I'm really excited that they're a sponsor of the show,
00:14:17.200 | which means you guys can all get 20% off
00:14:19.800 | at allthehacks.com/insidetracker.
00:14:23.640 | Going back to sleep for a minute,
00:14:25.280 | and you could argue that I should probably put this
00:14:27.200 | in the learning section that'll come up next,
00:14:29.480 | but since good sleep is so important to your health,
00:14:32.080 | I'll put it here.
00:14:33.120 | And that is the book "Why We Sleep" by Dr. Matthew Walker.
00:14:37.720 | It is my favorite book on sleep.
00:14:39.480 | It really is a collection of so much knowledge on the topic.
00:14:43.320 | I've been trying to get the author to join me
00:14:45.320 | on an episode of the podcast since I started,
00:14:47.720 | but the book is so good,
00:14:49.840 | it's really everything you need about sleep.
00:14:52.240 | Last in this category is a Peloton.
00:14:54.480 | Amy and I love our Pelotons so much,
00:14:56.400 | and I highly recommend it to anyone
00:14:58.520 | who wants to work out at home,
00:15:00.240 | even if you're not a cyclist,
00:15:01.540 | which I am certainly not and never have been.
00:15:04.180 | It is such a good workout that gets even better
00:15:07.320 | when you have friends to compete with.
00:15:09.480 | I don't think I've ever been able to push myself
00:15:11.720 | as hard as I could when I'm trying
00:15:14.160 | to either beat my friends' records
00:15:15.840 | or even my own personal record.
00:15:18.160 | If you want $100 in free accessories,
00:15:20.120 | you can use my referral code.
00:15:21.800 | It's just allthehacks.com/peloton.
00:15:24.400 | Next category is family and kids,
00:15:26.040 | and there's a lot in here which is probably indicative
00:15:28.200 | of the new stage of my life.
00:15:30.260 | So first, I wanna talk about Love Every.
00:15:32.900 | We have had a subscription to Love Every
00:15:34.480 | since our first daughter was born,
00:15:36.120 | and I love their products.
00:15:38.320 | Every few months, they have a subscription
00:15:40.520 | that'll send you their award-winning Montessori-inspired
00:15:43.580 | toys to your home with a guide for exactly when
00:15:47.400 | and how to use them to help your child learn and grow.
00:15:50.920 | And all their toys are designed
00:15:52.520 | by child development experts,
00:15:53.680 | they're well-built, and they're sustainably made.
00:15:56.040 | If you want $20 off your subscription,
00:15:58.200 | you can go to allthehacks.com/loveevery.
00:16:00.640 | That's my personal referral code.
00:16:02.680 | Next is StoryWorth, who is sponsoring this episode,
00:16:05.880 | but was on the list before I even connected with them.
00:16:09.200 | If you have ever wanted to capture all the stories
00:16:11.320 | and memories from your loved ones,
00:16:12.680 | this is a great gift.
00:16:14.460 | Every week for a year, they'll email your loved ones
00:16:17.000 | with a single life-related question like,
00:16:19.220 | what's the bravest thing you've ever done,
00:16:20.900 | or what's the farthest you've traveled?
00:16:22.940 | And then after the year is up,
00:16:24.780 | they compile it into a hardcover book
00:16:27.140 | with stories, memories, and even photos
00:16:29.880 | that you can pass down for generations to come,
00:16:32.800 | and you can get $10 off at allthehacks.com/storyworth.
00:16:37.480 | Okay, a few cybersecurity things in here
00:16:39.780 | that I think are really important for family.
00:16:41.820 | First, Delete.me.
00:16:43.580 | It is crazy how many websites are out there
00:16:46.100 | sharing your personal data,
00:16:47.580 | your phone number, your home address,
00:16:49.380 | your relatives' names, your email, your birthday,
00:16:52.500 | and it is so much work to try to get them
00:16:54.820 | to take it all down.
00:16:55.940 | I know, because I tried to do all that work myself,
00:16:59.000 | and it just wasn't worth it.
00:17:00.800 | So I started using Delete.me,
00:17:02.380 | and they found stuff I couldn't even find myself.
00:17:05.060 | They do it all for you.
00:17:06.440 | They remove all of your info
00:17:07.860 | from hundreds of data broker websites,
00:17:10.140 | and while it might not be the most exciting gift
00:17:12.540 | in the world, I think it would be an amazing gift
00:17:15.300 | for anyone who has never done it.
00:17:17.360 | Not to mention, you can get $20 off all Delete.me plans
00:17:20.900 | at allthehacks.com/delete.me.
00:17:23.420 | And next, if anyone in your family
00:17:25.060 | is not using a password manager,
00:17:26.980 | I would recommend giving them a membership gift
00:17:29.700 | to 1Password.
00:17:31.040 | Until a few years ago,
00:17:32.040 | my parents were using the same passwords
00:17:33.780 | for so many different websites,
00:17:35.380 | so I actually gifted them a 1Password membership
00:17:37.980 | and helped them set it up,
00:17:39.380 | and since then, I feel so much more confident
00:17:41.700 | about their cybersecurity practices.
00:17:44.500 | Another gift we actually gave my dad this year
00:17:46.900 | was an Aura photo frame.
00:17:48.740 | Now, digital photo frames have been around for years,
00:17:51.560 | but I've never found one that works as well as Aura.
00:17:54.280 | It is so easy for you or anyone else in your family
00:17:57.140 | to share pictures with the frame that you give someone.
00:18:00.140 | Between my and Amy's family,
00:18:01.820 | I think there are four or five Aura frames
00:18:04.180 | in different homes, and it's been so awesome
00:18:06.620 | for everyone in the family to be able to share photos
00:18:09.020 | with everyone's frames and have them just pop up
00:18:11.140 | in our living room.
00:18:12.520 | The next one's a bit of a strange one,
00:18:14.160 | but it's the Nugget.
00:18:15.520 | I'd say it's like part furniture, part toy,
00:18:18.620 | but all around, it's one of the best purchases
00:18:20.900 | we've made for our kids.
00:18:22.380 | It's almost like a bunch of foam blocks
00:18:24.620 | that you can stack on top of each other.
00:18:26.600 | We use it for story time.
00:18:28.020 | We use it to make a slide down the stairs,
00:18:30.340 | to build forts, and a lot more.
00:18:32.880 | It looks from their website like they might not arrive
00:18:35.100 | by the end of the year if you order now,
00:18:36.740 | but I'm still including it on the list
00:18:38.640 | because I think it would make an amazing gift
00:18:40.660 | for any young kid.
00:18:42.140 | Okay, I love escape rooms,
00:18:44.640 | so I think they would make an amazing gift for anyone.
00:18:47.660 | Amy and I have probably done at least 50 together,
00:18:50.060 | and we try to find the best room we can
00:18:52.280 | in every city we visit.
00:18:53.920 | So if you're looking for a fun activity for your family,
00:18:57.100 | or even a good gift as a gift card,
00:18:58.980 | I can highly recommend an escape room.
00:19:01.620 | There isn't an easy way to find the best room in a city
00:19:05.020 | other than just searching, looking on Reddit,
00:19:07.360 | but I did find one site that I linked in the show notes
00:19:09.860 | that seems to have pretty good rankings in different cities
00:19:13.060 | if you're trying to find the best one.
00:19:14.980 | But honestly, of the 50 rooms we've done,
00:19:17.580 | we've probably only ever done one bad one,
00:19:20.240 | so I'd optimize more for doing it
00:19:22.020 | than trying to find the best.
00:19:23.840 | And along the same lines of games,
00:19:26.020 | I wanna talk about board games,
00:19:27.460 | because I love board games,
00:19:28.900 | and I think they make amazing gifts.
00:19:30.820 | So I thought I'd share some of my favorites
00:19:32.340 | that I think you should all check out.
00:19:34.020 | I left a few of the obvious ones like Catan off the list,
00:19:37.180 | but if you're listening and you have any suggestions for me,
00:19:40.100 | please send them my way,
00:19:41.260 | because I love collecting new awesome board games.
00:19:44.240 | So the first one I'll mention is Coup.
00:19:46.700 | This one's a bit hard to explain,
00:19:48.620 | but it is the first game we pull out when friends are over,
00:19:51.540 | we take it traveling with us,
00:19:53.140 | and if you've ever played a game like Werewolves or Mafia,
00:19:55.660 | you will definitely love it,
00:19:57.340 | but it does require a bit of bluffing.
00:20:00.320 | You can play with two to six people,
00:20:02.160 | the package is really small so it's easy to travel with,
00:20:04.740 | and games are quick.
00:20:06.220 | Next is Ticket to Ride,
00:20:07.660 | and maybe I should have excluded this
00:20:09.300 | because I know it's such a popular game,
00:20:11.380 | but Amy and I love it so much,
00:20:12.940 | I thought it's worth a mention.
00:20:14.440 | It's two to five players, you can play as a family,
00:20:17.180 | and unlike some of the other strategy games that I also love,
00:20:20.540 | this one does not take hours to play,
00:20:22.740 | which has recently become a requirement
00:20:24.500 | for games in our house.
00:20:25.700 | I hope it's not too soon to talk about this next one,
00:20:28.060 | which is Pandemic Legacy Season One.
00:20:30.660 | It is such an interesting game,
00:20:32.340 | I love it because it's so different.
00:20:34.820 | It's a cooperative game,
00:20:36.380 | meaning everyone that's playing it is on the same team
00:20:38.980 | and they win or lose together,
00:20:41.100 | but Pandemic Legacy, unlike Pandemic itself,
00:20:44.340 | is really more like a choose-your-own-adventure book.
00:20:46.660 | You can actually only ever play the game once,
00:20:48.980 | you level up characters, it's almost like an RPG game,
00:20:51.760 | but in a board game style, and it's so good.
00:20:54.360 | Two more great ones if you're looking for two-player games
00:20:57.380 | are Jaipur and Splendor.
00:20:59.460 | Amy and I really love playing both of them,
00:21:01.540 | though we have a lot less time for games as we used to.
00:21:04.760 | If you have a big group, I really love Codenames.
00:21:07.540 | It's great for groups and can be played quickly,
00:21:09.980 | and if you're looking for a game to play with a team
00:21:11.900 | at a work event or an offsite, I think Codenames is great
00:21:14.860 | and we played it a lot at all the companies I've worked at.
00:21:18.260 | Bonanza is also a fun game
00:21:20.140 | that we end up playing around the holidays with family
00:21:22.540 | because you can have up to seven players,
00:21:24.540 | you can play under an hour, and unlike a lot of games,
00:21:27.580 | it's really easy to learn the rules.
00:21:29.780 | Finally, two I don't have,
00:21:32.100 | but that are really high on my list.
00:21:34.100 | One is Seven Wonders Duel,
00:21:36.040 | which is the two-player version of Seven Wonders,
00:21:39.060 | which is a game we have and love.
00:21:40.860 | I've just heard so many good things about it
00:21:42.660 | that I wanted to put it on the list.
00:21:44.420 | Also, a game that I didn't know anything about
00:21:47.340 | until researching this episode yesterday was Wingspan.
00:21:50.740 | I don't have any interest in birdwatching,
00:21:52.940 | but it seems like everyone in the last few years
00:21:55.560 | is saying that this game is at the top of their list,
00:21:58.840 | so it's something I definitely wanna check out.
00:22:01.280 | If anyone listening is in my family
00:22:03.200 | and is looking for a last-minute gift idea, here it is.
00:22:06.180 | Okay, the next section of gifts is all about learning.
00:22:09.420 | If anyone in your family loves to learn,
00:22:11.380 | especially learn about money, about travel,
00:22:14.620 | about optimizing life, you should obviously recommend
00:22:17.820 | that they check out this podcast
00:22:19.740 | or the All The Hacks newsletter,
00:22:21.820 | but another gift when it comes to learning
00:22:24.600 | that I think is great, and I can say that
00:22:26.420 | with a firsthand experience of giving it as a gift
00:22:28.940 | to my father last year, is a membership to MasterClass.
00:22:33.180 | I could literally spend hours, if I had the time,
00:22:35.860 | watching all the classes they have.
00:22:38.060 | There's literally a class for anyone,
00:22:39.940 | whether it's related to business or cooking or life
00:22:42.900 | or music or even skateboarding.
00:22:45.300 | And right now, you can get two memberships
00:22:47.660 | for the price of one at allthehacks.com/masterclass.
00:22:51.300 | Moving to a few books, which I could probably
00:22:53.780 | have a huge list from so many
00:22:55.420 | of the awesome people I've interviewed,
00:22:57.140 | so there's probably a little bit of recency bias here,
00:22:59.860 | but I have to start with Die With Zero.
00:23:02.340 | This book and the interview I recently had
00:23:04.460 | with Bill Perkins had such a huge impact
00:23:06.820 | on the way I think about life and money
00:23:08.620 | that it has to be on the list, and I highly recommend it.
00:23:12.380 | Next is The Two Hour Cocktail Party.
00:23:14.780 | Not only could you actually use this book from Nick Gray
00:23:17.940 | to host an amazing cocktail party during the holidays,
00:23:21.460 | but I think it would make a great, fun gift
00:23:23.980 | or stocking stuffer for anyone.
00:23:26.120 | Next is Vagabonding.
00:23:27.980 | I've gifted this book more than any book in the world
00:23:30.900 | because it had such a huge impact on our lives.
00:23:33.900 | It's actually the book that led to Amy and I
00:23:35.820 | traveling around the world for seven months,
00:23:37.980 | so it's hard not to suggest it to anyone who likes travel.
00:23:41.860 | And finally are any of the Death & Co cocktail books.
00:23:45.720 | If you know anyone that likes cocktails
00:23:47.420 | or likes books that look great on your coffee table,
00:23:50.620 | then all of the Death & Co books would make fantastic gifts,
00:23:54.100 | but my favorite is Cocktail Codex,
00:23:56.860 | which basically breaks the entire world of cocktails
00:23:59.620 | down into six root cocktails that once you master,
00:24:03.580 | give you kind of the knowledge and skills you need
00:24:05.680 | to translate those root recipes
00:24:07.900 | into hundreds of different drinks.
00:24:10.740 | Last is a Cozy Meal Cooking Class.
00:24:14.260 | So we've booked a pasta making class,
00:24:16.380 | a donut making class,
00:24:17.780 | and we even did a family Iron Chef challenge
00:24:20.620 | all through Cozy Meal,
00:24:22.060 | and none of them have ever disappointed.
00:24:24.600 | So if you want a fun gift for someone
00:24:26.940 | that lives in one of the cities they operate in,
00:24:28.900 | or you live there and you're looking for a cool activity
00:24:31.340 | to do over the holidays,
00:24:32.860 | I would highly recommend checking out what's on Cozy Meal.
00:24:35.460 | Finally, the last category for this episode is travel.
00:24:38.820 | I don't have too many travel gadgets,
00:24:40.960 | but now that we have kids
00:24:42.460 | and we end up checking bags on every single trip,
00:24:45.220 | I always make sure to keep an Apple AirTag
00:24:47.460 | in every one of our checked bags.
00:24:49.780 | Fortunately, I haven't had to use them
00:24:51.340 | to locate a lost bag,
00:24:52.700 | and honestly, I hope I never have to,
00:24:55.320 | but it is so comforting to be able to see
00:24:57.620 | that your bag made it on the plane,
00:24:59.420 | or when you get to your destination,
00:25:00.900 | see that the bag's coming,
00:25:02.560 | or even just know that your bag is on route to the carousel
00:25:05.900 | so you're not sitting around waiting,
00:25:07.300 | wondering what's going on.
00:25:08.840 | Next is the Stokke JetKids Bed Box.
00:25:11.700 | This was an amazing gift to our daughter
00:25:13.540 | from my parents earlier this year,
00:25:15.420 | and it's so awesome.
00:25:17.140 | It's a little suitcase with two extra features
00:25:19.920 | that make it the best for flights.
00:25:22.660 | First, your kid can actually ride the suitcase,
00:25:25.420 | which means you can cruise through the airport.
00:25:28.520 | But the most unique feature
00:25:30.180 | is that it turns into an elevated platform
00:25:33.320 | that can extend the chair your kid is sitting on
00:25:36.060 | all the way to the seat in front of them,
00:25:38.020 | giving them an entire lie-flat, first-class experience.
00:25:41.780 | And while over 50 airlines have approved it,
00:25:45.340 | almost all the major domestic carriers,
00:25:47.620 | Delta, American, JetBlue, Southwest, Alaska,
00:25:50.800 | United is notably the exception
00:25:53.100 | and say they don't allow it on board,
00:25:55.080 | though I have heard that it's not always enforced.
00:25:58.080 | Another one which we just bought for our trip to Europe
00:26:00.880 | that we're on right now is the BabyZen Yoyo Stroller.
00:26:04.680 | It has been awesome.
00:26:05.820 | It fits in the overhead compartment.
00:26:07.620 | It feels really sturdy.
00:26:09.660 | It's easy enough to pick up even when your kid's on it
00:26:12.460 | and you have to walk up and down the stairs
00:26:14.120 | at a metro station, at a subway station,
00:26:17.180 | and it really holds up value.
00:26:18.940 | In fact, if you look for a used yoyo stroller online,
00:26:22.200 | they're not that much cheaper than buying them new.
00:26:24.660 | So as long as you take reasonable care of it,
00:26:27.300 | I think that you'd be able to get back
00:26:28.560 | most of your money in a couple years.
00:26:30.640 | Another travel thing is Away luggage.
00:26:33.280 | Amy and I each have an Away carry-on suitcase
00:26:35.960 | and they are fantastic.
00:26:37.680 | I don't know if they still have the option
00:26:39.000 | for the integrated battery, but I would skip that.
00:26:41.660 | But other than that, it's a fantastic suitcase
00:26:44.520 | and it happens to be Wirecutter's top pick
00:26:46.660 | for a hard-sided carry-on.
00:26:48.560 | And if you want $20 off, you can use my referral link
00:26:51.640 | at allthehacks.com/away.
00:26:54.440 | And then any of the bags that Dagny Dover makes
00:26:57.360 | would make an awesome gift.
00:26:59.200 | I think Amy's given Dagny Dover bags
00:27:01.400 | as gifts to friends and family more than any other gift.
00:27:05.120 | Her favorites are the Landing Carry-All
00:27:06.760 | and the Dakota Backpack.
00:27:08.320 | And if you want $20 off, Amy's referral link
00:27:11.200 | is allthehacks.com/dagnedover, D-A-G-N-E-D-O-V-E-R.
00:27:16.200 | And finally, the last one, which is a crazy one,
00:27:20.960 | but it popped up in my Twitter feed
00:27:22.540 | and I thought I had to include it,
00:27:24.240 | which is a week on Necker Island.
00:27:26.760 | So if you're not familiar,
00:27:28.280 | it's Richard Branson's private island
00:27:30.520 | and they finally opened it up
00:27:32.200 | and you can book a week with points.
00:27:34.960 | So if you happen to have 1.7 million points
00:27:38.380 | burning a hole in your pocket,
00:27:40.020 | you are now able to book your week on the private island
00:27:43.440 | for free with points.
00:27:45.960 | I'm sure it would be a fun adventure.
00:27:47.800 | I'll link to a page in the show notes
00:27:49.440 | if you wanna read about it.
00:27:51.000 | But realistically, I don't actually expect
00:27:52.840 | anyone listening to do this.
00:27:54.680 | However, if you do, please let me know how it goes.
00:27:57.760 | I am dying to hear about it.
00:27:59.760 | So that's all the gift recommendations I have,
00:28:02.280 | but there are three things I wanna talk about
00:28:04.080 | to help you save money when you're doing
00:28:05.600 | any of your shopping this season.
00:28:07.440 | The first is making sure you use cashback portals.
00:28:10.480 | I always like to go to cashbackmonitor.com
00:28:13.600 | to see what the best way to earn cashback
00:28:16.160 | or points is when I'm shopping online.
00:28:18.900 | However, some of the sites that are listed there
00:28:21.360 | are a pain to set up, so more often than not,
00:28:24.280 | I end up just using Rakuten because it's easier
00:28:27.360 | and they let you earn Amex points instead of dollars.
00:28:30.280 | So if you haven't signed up for Rakuten,
00:28:32.140 | you should definitely check it out.
00:28:33.760 | And right now, you can get $30 free
00:28:36.120 | after your first purchase
00:28:37.600 | if you go to allthehacks.com/rakuten.
00:28:41.040 | The next is finding promo codes, but also using live chat.
00:28:44.900 | So I feel like it's gotten so hard lately
00:28:47.360 | to find a working promo code to use online.
00:28:50.160 | I used to go to RetailMeNot,
00:28:51.760 | and almost every code would work,
00:28:54.060 | but now it seems like every time I try to find a code,
00:28:56.800 | they all fail.
00:28:58.360 | So the tactic that I use now is if a site has a live chat,
00:29:02.880 | I just message them and ask for a discount.
00:29:05.520 | I tell them what I'm looking to buy,
00:29:07.040 | and more often than not,
00:29:08.600 | I end up getting some kind of discount.
00:29:11.760 | Or even one time, someone said,
00:29:13.200 | "I can't give you a discount, but if you search online,
00:29:15.660 | "you can find a referral link to get a discount,"
00:29:18.100 | like a lot of the referral links I've been sharing here.
00:29:20.600 | So if you can't find a discount and there's no live chat,
00:29:23.980 | maybe go to Twitter and search Twitter
00:29:26.040 | for the name of the brand and promo code or referral,
00:29:29.720 | and you might find people sharing their promo codes
00:29:32.200 | and their referral links online.
00:29:33.880 | Finally, and I've talked about this before,
00:29:36.160 | is getting gift cards.
00:29:37.800 | So most online retailers don't qualify
00:29:40.120 | for bonus points on your credit card.
00:29:41.840 | I could always use my VentureX and get two points per dollar,
00:29:44.760 | but whenever I'm shopping online,
00:29:46.480 | I always try to see if I could go buy a gift card
00:29:49.200 | for the retailer somewhere where I'd earn more points.
00:29:52.600 | My two go-tos are buying them at grocery stores
00:29:55.400 | where I can get four points with the Amex Gold,
00:29:57.920 | or buying them on Amazon where I can get 5% back
00:30:00.640 | with the Amazon Prime card.
00:30:02.160 | Or you might actually get a better deal
00:30:05.480 | going to a site like Card Cash,
00:30:07.420 | where you can buy discounted gift cards
00:30:09.920 | from people who are trying to get cash for their gift cards
00:30:13.120 | 'cause they're not actually gonna use them.
00:30:15.620 | (upbeat music)
00:30:17.160 | So, those are my three favorite tips
00:30:19.360 | for saving money shopping online,
00:30:21.280 | cashback portals, promo codes in live chat, and gift cards.
00:30:25.680 | That's it for this episode of All The Hacks.
00:30:28.240 | I hope this helps you find some good ideas
00:30:30.520 | for gifts this holiday season.
00:30:32.680 | So thanks for listening and see you next week.
00:30:35.320 | (upbeat music)
00:30:37.900 | (upbeat music)
00:30:40.480 | (upbeat music)
00:30:43.060 | (upbeat music)
00:30:45.640 | (upbeat music)
00:30:48.220 | (upbeat music)
00:30:50.800 | (upbeat music)
00:30:53.380 | you
00:30:55.440 | you