This morning, one day after Halloween was over, I got an email from my sister. The email was sent to our entire family, establishing a plan for sharing gift ideas for Christmas. Two weeks before that, my little brother also sent an email with the same inquiry. Our family loves the holidays. We also really enjoy shopping for each other. Some families consistently shop on Christmas Eve, and others on the day after Thanksgiving. Some spend hundreds of dollars on each other, and others make handmade gifts.

My family’s holiday spending habits are a reflection of our money personalities. We are all fairly wise with our finances, but when it comes to gifts, we all like to spend. I am a lover of coupons and sales, and will get up before the sun on Black Friday to join crowds of shoppers vying for deals.

My parents are planners, often using “the envelope system” to budget for gift-giving season. Everyone handles money differently, but we can all learn to adapt. Over the years, I have learned to plan more, to make a budget for Christmas gifts. I now spend a relatively equal amount of money on each family member.

Because I budget, I can enjoy the gift giving process even more. I don’t have buyer’s remorse for buying gifts for my family. Have you made a budget for this year’s holiday shopping? Creating a budget will make this season less stressful and more enjoyable. Plus, you’ll be able to plan your other spending around the spending you anticipate happening anyway.

So go get a pad of paper, digital budgeting app, or stack of blank envelopes. Make that budget, and have a happy—and financially healthy—start to the holiday season.

Want to know more about money personalities? Check out our entire episode on the subject: “What’s Your Money Personality?”

What a week. If you’re an especially astute teen, you are probably aware that there is a battle happening in Washington over the Federal budget. If you are like most Americans, you are probably confused about what exactly that means, and why the parties’ differences were big enough to shut down the government completely.

If you’re looking for a political stance, you can look elsewhere. Today, I’m going to address the truth that we can all understand and relate to: budgeting is tough!

In marriage, money is often cited as the number one reason for divorce. Yikes! Money is such a sensitive subject that mishandling it—or miscommunicating about it—can lead to problems in marriage, work, and apparently the Federal Government.

Why is it so tough? One major reason is that money reflects our heart’s desires. We put our money into the things we value. We are emotional spenders, emotional savers, and emotional investors. It’s one thing to make a list of the things we plan on spending money on. It’s quite another to not spend unplanned funds when your emotions are running high.

When two or more people have to work together to plan a budget, suddenly the emotions and values of multiple people are at play, making a seemingly mundane task feel personal, significant, and even threatening. Just watch CSPAN this week and you’ll see emotions on full display.

So what do we do about that? Well, there’s much more to budgeting than I could address here, so I’m going to address two of the most overlooked issues that can arise in attempting to plan or stick to a budget.

If you’re a teen, you probably aren’t making a budget with a spouse or fellow congresswoman, but you may be helping with a family budget, or working on a personal budget. Understand where each person is coming from. A seemingly unreasonable position about a certain area of spending or saving probably has a deeper root than what is on the surface. Ask questions. Find out what that concern is, and address that.

Also, factor some wiggle room into your budget. One of the biggest reasons budgets fail is that we throw them out in a moment of defeat. We think, “well this will never work so forget it.” (Again, is this ringing a bell this week?) So give yourself some allowance to spend on expected wants or needs. Unexpected wants are going to happen, so you should factor them into the budget.

Budgeting is a fantastic tool in your financial tool belt, but it can also be intimidating and divisive. Think about each other’s motives and give yourself some grace, and your budgeting process will be much easier.

Looking for more info about budgeting? Check out our entire episode devoted to the topic!

I recently came across a survey put out by Visa, studying the amount of money Americans spend on eating lunch out. Many of the results weren’t too surprising to me, as I am certainly guilty when it comes to eating out.

As a single guy, I’ve always had trouble making grocery shopping cost effective. I go to the grocery store, thinking I’ll buy ingredients to make, say, loaded nachos, and end up spending $30 to buy the ingredients I need. Many times, I’ve actually ended up putting my items back on the shelves, and heading for Chipotle, head down and grocery-specific ego deflated. I like to think I am financially savvy in most areas. In grocery shopping, not so much. And so I end up eating out a lot. America, apparently, can relate.

The Visa survey found that Americans go out to eat for lunch an average of twice per week, spending around $10 each time. That sounds about right to me, but this was the finding that I found shocking: the amount spent had an inverse relationship with the average income of the eater.

That’s right, an inverse relationship. What does that mean? Respondents in the lowest income bracket recorded, those making under $25K per year, spent the most on their lunches. Yes, those with the least discretionary income spent more than those with unlimited discretionary income.

This got me thinking, what is driving those spending patterns? Once again, it appears to be an issue of financial literacy. I remember hearing Dave Ramsey say once, “the people you see working out are rarely the ones who need to.” The same goes for spending. Often, the wealthy become wealthy because of the habits they have acquired throughout life: saving instead of spending, and being frugal when others are carefree. It turns out much of that mindset is what got them there in the first place.

So today, if you want to dine like a billionaire, pack your lunch.

Want to learn more about expenses in business and life? Check out our episode from Season 2: “Income & Expenses.”

I love reading about the lives of successful entrepreneurs. Not just the 20-something-year-old app developers of today, but the iron-melting, tower-developing tycoons of yesteryear as well. I’ve read about enough businesspeople that I’ve begun to notice a pattern. A common trait that seems so often to be a springboard to success. What is that mystery ingredient? Failure.

We so often celebrate the overnight success as if it is the ultimate display of entrepreneurial success. Instagram was purchased at one year old, at 4 times the price of The Washington Post, with fewer employees than soccer matches have players. Pop singers are made overnight after a lucky win on a talent show. It all seems to be so easy. So simple. So fast.

And so we trudge along, looking at our lack of instant fame and success, and wondering when our time will come. But guess what? The vast majority of highly successful people faced painful failure and criticism before “making it.”

Walt Disney was once fired from a job with The Kansas City Star for his “lack of creativity.”

Oprah Winfrey was said to be “unfit for television” at the beginning of her career.

Apple has had multiple failed products over the years.

Are you surprised? You shouldn’t be. The secret to the “overnight success” is years of perseverance. In Malcolm Gladwell’s book, “Outliers,” he studied the lives of countless prodigies from our society and found a common thread: most of them had spent 10,000 hours perfecting their craft before making it big.

A wealthy CEO once told me, “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” Are you preparing for your opportunity? Diligence and ingenuity will get you there faster than wishing for different circumstances ever will.

So today, if you’re noticing your lack of fame and success and wondering when your star will come, you’re in good company. Don’t give up. Give the naysayers something to read about in 10 years. You have what it takes to change the world. It just may take longer than you’re expecting.

Being an entrepreneur isn’t always an easier journey. Watch Lonnie of Kid Barber talk about being robbed, then moving on and growing from the experience.