What is your favorite vacation?

Have you been on a cruise?

How can you enjoy vacation without coming home to a boatload of debt?

On this week's episode of the Crushing Debt Podcast, Shawn & George talk about the finances of cruising. In fact, on the day this episode comes out, Shawn and his boys will be heading to Port Canaveral for a cruise to the Eastern Caribbean!

Shawn & George talk about:

• A cruise is all-inclusive, except when it's not.
• Your cruise budget
• Cruise budget traps
• What is your onboard spending limit
• Are you doing excusions
• Cruising and kids
• Vacation hangover
• And other cruise / vacation related expenses

Let us know if you enjoy this episode and, if so, please share it with your friends!

Or, you can support the show by visiting our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/crushingDebt

To contact George Curbelo, you can email him at GCFinancialCoach21@gmail.com or follow his Tiktok channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@curbelofinancialcoach

To contact Shawn Yesner, you can email him at Shawn@Yesnerlaw.com or visit www.YesnerLaw.com.

And we have reactivated our Purple Stride PanCAN team to raise money for pancreatic cancer research and treatment. The walk is April 24, 2027. Please consider a donation by joining Shawn's team at MY Legacy Striders: http://support.pancan.org/goto/MyLegacy2027

As of the date of this week's episode release, we have

• Around 30 days until Halloween
• Almost 60 days until Thanksgiving
• Almost 90 days until Christmas

Is your budget ready?

Are you Credit Cards ready?

How can you manage holiday spending this year, next year and the years beyond?

Thirty-seven percent of all Americans have holiday debt, and the average household spends around $1,500 per year on gifts, but worse takes an average of 3 months or longer to pay off that debt! Shawn & George talk about holiday budgeting in September - yes, September, because for most people the end of the year goes like this:

• September - I have plenty of time
• October - I should probably start to think about gifts
• November - Black Friday specials !!
• December - Holy moly, how much did I spend?
• January - Who put $4,000 on my Visa card?

To combat this, we talk about the five buckets for holiday spending: (1) Gifts, (2) Travel, (3) Entertainment, (4) Holiday Stuff, and (5) Ooops, I forgot to buy for ...

Let us know if you enjoy this episode and, if so, please share it with your friends!

Or, you can support the show by visiting our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/crushingDebt

To contact George Curbelo, you can email him at GCFinancialCoach21@gmail.com or follow his Tiktok channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@curbelofinancialcoach

To contact Shawn Yesner, you can email him at Shawn@Yesnerlaw.com or visit www.YesnerLaw.com.

Do you play fantasy football?

In that same vein, George and I put together a fantasy draft of the worst money habits, to create a team of "bad" money habits. Do you agree with our draft choices? Would you have drafted or waived any of these?

Our draft consists of:

• Round 1 — Franchise QB: the habit that drives the whole offense

• • Lifestyle Inflation
  • Keeping Up with the Joneses / Social Comparison Spending
  • No Financial Goals ("Playing Without a Playbook")
• Round 2 — Starting Running Back: reliable short-term yardage, fumbles late
  • Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL)
  • Payday Loans / Cash Advance Apps
  • 0% Intro-APR Credit Cards Not Paid Off in Time
  • Auto Loan/Lease Rolled with Negative Equity
• Round 3 — Wide Receiver: flashy, exciting, runs routes the game plan never called

• • Emotional/Impulse Spending
  • Sports Betting / Gambling Apps
  • Retail Therapy

• Round 4 — Offensive Line: the protection, or lack of it

• • No Emergency Fund
  • Underinsurance (life, disability, health)
  • No Estate Plan / No Will
• Round 5 — Special Teams (Kicker): small margins, misses that cost close games

• • Subscription Creep
  • Bank & Overdraft Fees
  • Auto-Renewing Insurance Without Shopping Rates
• Round 6 — Head Coach: the game plan, or the absence of one

• • No Budget at All
  • A Budget That's Never Reviewed
  • No Accountability

Who are you drafting?

Let us know if you enjoy this episode and, if so, please share it with your friends!

Or, you can support the show by visiting our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/crushingDebt

To contact George Curbelo, you can email him at GCFinancialCoach21@gmail.com or follow his Tiktok channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@curbelofinancialcoach

To contact Shawn Yesner, you can email him at Shawn@Yesnerlaw.com or visit www.YesnerLaw.com.