Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement✨

Issue 15: 8 minute read

📚 Life Lessons: 4 tips to avoid going broke this holiday season

🙋🏽‍♀️ Dani’s Doings: My solo birthday trip update (hint: it was NOT what I expected), and I might be going back to work???

💸 Money Matters: Important financial topics to discuss with your family, everyone is spending money at Shein & Temu this holiday season, and more.

✈️ Travel Tings: Google introduces a new way to find the cheapest flights available, airlines are going to start embarrassing people that don’t wait their turns to board, and other news.

🫶🏽 Community Corner: Allllll the free things + exclusive offers I’m giving you for being subscribed to the The Liberty Letter 💌

4 tips to stay on budget this holiday season 💰🎁

Black Friday, and Cyber Monday, and Boxing Day szn, oh my! The constant pressure to spend money on things you may not necessarily need for prices that seem too good to pass up can be difficult for even the strongest savers. But you’ve got this, friend! Here are 4 tips to help you stay on track:

1) Set a Strict Budget – Determine your Black Friday spending limit before you shop, and use a tracker to monitor every purchase to stay within your budget. 💡Hot tip: Use my Irie Income: Annual Budget Tracker to help you with this!

2) Make a Prioritized List – Write down specific items you need and rank them by importance. Stick to this list to avoid getting sidetracked by extra deals.

3) Avoid the "Doorbuster" Hype – Steer clear of deals that aren’t on your list, even if they look amazing. These promotions are designed to make you buy things you hadn’t planned for.

4) Limit Online Browsing – The more you browse, the more you’ll be tempted. Consider unsubscribing from sale emails or logging out of shopping apps to keep impulse purchases in check.

In case you’re curious, here’s my Black Friday/Cyber Monday wish list: A one-year subscription to Circle (where I plan to host my Liberty Leave course and Community—join the waitlist!), A NordVPN subscription (a MUST-HAVE to keep your accounts safe), small ear friendly earbuds to take on my trips, and some warm slippers for my unheated apartment in Spain (lol). For beauty products, I plan to simply re-stock my staples and avoid “shiny object syndrome” of new product releases. Since my financial goals are to amp up my savings and investing again, this shopping list of necessities and subscriptions that’ll keep my money safe or help me make money align perfectly with my intentions.

I had the most epic solo birthday trip to Budapest 🇭🇺, Copenhagen 🇩🇰, and Malmo (Sweden) 🇸🇪

I spent 6 days between these 3 cities and had SUCH a wonderful time. Keep an eye on my Instagram or my TikTok over the next few days for the recap (here’s one for Budapest!). Copenhagen was my absolute favourite stop (and is now in my top 3 fave European cities). I cannot wait to return. OH! I’ve also now officially visited THIRTY countries! 🎉🎉

My 1-year Youth Mobility Visa for Spain is almost over! 😭

Can you believe that I’m already 11 months into my 1 year visa? This has been the experience of a lifetime and I’m sad it’s coming to an end (though I will still be in Spain until Q1 2025 on a regular tourist visa). If you’re a Canadian 35 or under looking to move abroad for a year, I cannot recommend the Youth Mobility Visa enough. Seriously. Do it if you can.

I have my eye on a few traditional “jobs” (or another consulting client) 👩🏽‍💻

I’ve mentioned this before, but I miss consistent paycheques, health benefits, and education budgets. However, I’ve learned from previous roles that no perks or money are worth my health, so I’m intentionally looking for opportunities that will 1) bring me joy because I’m passionate about the work, 2) be fully remote, obviously, because I love the freedom, and 3) pay me what I’m worth a senior marketing leader with 10+ years of experience. I’ll keep you updated on the search! By the way friend, if you know of anyone looking for someone with my skillset in Brand, Influencer, Product, or Social Media Marketing, feel free to reply to this email! Here’s my LinkedIn.

• Money can be an awkward topic to talk about (especially with family members)…BUT these are necessary conversations! Here are 6 financial topics to consider discussing soon.

• The U.S. election is coming up this week (anyone else super anxious about it? 😬) and there’s a good chance the stock markets will fluctuate. Here’s a look at how the market has performed historically during times like these.

  • Pro tip: If you’re an anxious investor that gets stressed during times of market fluctuations, I’m gonna need you to go ahead and delete that investment app from your phone for the next little while and not check in obsessively. Ups and downs are part of the game. Don’t do anything you’ll regret, and stick to your investment strategy!

• Holiday spending is expected to be up by ~10% this year, according to Deloitte. 30% of that is expected to be spent at sites like Temu, Shein, and Alibaba. Read the deep dive here.

• The CRA (Canada Revenue Agency) has admitted that tens of thousands of taxpayer accounts have been hacked, and that they’ve paid out millions of dollars in bogus tax refunds. HELLO 🤦🏽‍♀️?! The full report is here.

• A recent survey done by J.D. Power finds that mid-sized banks like Tangerine and Simplii Financial are scoring higher in customer satisfaction surveys than the “Big Banks” aka the traditional ones. Also, RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) has scored highest among the Big 5! Review the full survey here.

• Google Flights (my go-to search platform for finding flights) is now making it even easier for you to find the cheapest available option. We love savings🤑! Read the details here.

• If you’re one of those people that start lining up to board before it’s your group’s turn, airlines are now testing out a new technology to shame you. This is SO petty (but hilarious) to me. Get your warning here to avoid potential future embarrassment.

• This past week, Spain experienced the worst flooding in decades after a year’s worth of rain fell in just a few hours. My partner and I (who live in Malaga city, which did have very intense rain but no flooding) are OK, and thank everyone for checking in. Valencia was hit particularly badly though, and there’s been over 200 deaths reported. Details here. Very very sad.

• My internet friend, Abigail, just announced that she decided to say PEACE OUT to the United States and moved to Tirana, Albania. It’s a hotspot right now 👀! Check out her story here.

• Kenya is launching a new digital nomad visa! You’ll have to earn ~$54,000 USD per year to get it, but it could be a great option for North Americans looking to relocate to ✨the motherland✨. Details about it here. South Africa just updated their offering, too (read about it here).

• Have you grabbed your FREEEEE savings goals tracker yet🤑? It’s my gift to you for being subscribed! You can use it to work towards up to 30 savings goals. Download it here (FYI: you must be signed into your Google account).

• November and December can be some of the most expensive months of the year (Black Friday, the holidays, etc.). To help you stay on track with your budget and avoid overspending, I’m offering my loyal Liberty Letter subscribers 20% off of the best-selling Irie Income: Annual Budget tracker using code LIBERTYLETTER20. Grab yours here!

• In 2025, I’m launching a course and community to help you plan your well-deserved career break (aka Liberty Leave). Sign up for the waitlist here to be notified when it’s ready and for exclusive subscriber-only discounts.

_{These may include affiliate links where I earn a small commission (and you pay nothing!), which helps me to continue to grow and produce content like this newsletter. Thanks for your support!}

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