Lev Mandel shares his plan on how to not overspend during the holiday season.
Here’s the thing about the holidays: somewhere between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, you’re expected to become a walking, North-Pole-themed debit card. The cultural math goes: joy equals spending. If a brand-new Lexus with a bow doesn’t appear, did you even try? Money is weird.
Holiday money is money after a candy-cane espresso. I’m an excellent spender — I learned from the best. Which is why I become suspiciously powerful this time of year. I can drop cash faster than an AI startup and feel like Father of the Year doing it. Generous husband! Holiday hero! Except… am I?
Because what my wife actually wants is help. Planning help. Coordinating help. The mental Jenga of teacher gifts, travel logistics and remembering which cousin’s kid likes Dog Man and which likes Snoop Dogg. I grew up believing men show love by spending, because that’s what my dad did.
He wasn’t emotionally present, but if I wanted Air Jordans, he said yes — and bought himself a pair too. That became my blueprint: throw cash, feel heroic. I’m not alone. A 2024 LendingTree survey said 30 percent of holiday shoppers expected to go into debt for Christmas. A 2025 CreditWise survey says 73 percent of Americans list money as their number one stressor.