Celebrate off season

Plan your fun at unconventional times

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is to celebrate off season. When you plan
fun things at slightly less conventional times, you just might

(00:26):
have more fun all around. Every year I make a
holiday fun list things I want to do to make
the Christmas season feel special. In general, I plan to
do these things before Christmas, or at least before the
New Year. But as I've made the schedule, I've realized something.

(00:47):
Many places keep their holiday decorations up into January. Many
Christmas shows run into January two. On some level, it
makes sense the twelve days of Christmas are actually after Christmas,
though people seem to forget that they run right into
January six. Since many folks have mentally moved on by

(01:09):
that point, the crowds might be smaller, tickets might be
cheaper or at least easier to get. I am part
of one group that has a holiday party in early January,
precisely because everyone is so busy in December. It is
a lot easier to get people to come. It isn't

(01:29):
just one more thing to do on a weekend that
is already packed the opportunity cost is lower. I found
that some truly frugal families intentionally have their celebrations post
Christmas so people can buy gifts for each other at
deeply discounted prices. Plus, many people need their spirits lifted

(01:52):
in the dark days of January, when the holidays are
for the most part over, why not stretch out the fun.
All of these are good things. When the opportunity costs
us lower, it is easier to make things work. This
is true with the holidays, but it's true for lots
of other things as well. My kids schools tend not

(02:14):
to start until several days into September, so we can
often travel places that are still having summer weather, but
without the summer crowds. As another idea, I have noticed
that many ski towns are in lovely mountainous places that
are quite pretty in the summer, and yet far fewer
people visit in the summer. If you'd love to buy

(02:37):
your sweethearts some roses, the worst time to do that
is on February fourteenth. At any other time of year,
you could probably be far more extravagant for far less money,
and since the bouquet would be more unexpected. It might
truly make someone's day. In any case. By stretching the

(02:59):
window of when you might do things, you can often
create more opportunities and have fewer trade offs. January is
an option for holiday lights, but I also booked tickets
in mid November at those places that opened early. November
weekends tend to be less busy than December weekends. As

(03:21):
a result, we could do more festive activities then if
we were only looking at the three December weekends before Christmas.
Whenever you want to do something, think about when most
people would do that thing, and then think about whether
it might be workable at another time. When you celebrate

(03:42):
off season, you might be able to avoid crowds, save money,
or even make it easier for people to say yes.
Time is just what you make of it. We can
feel festive whenever we'd like. In the meantime, This is Laura.

(04:05):
Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

(04:26):
Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four. Then
Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me an
email at before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media dot
com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Thanks so much, I look forward to staying in touch.

(04:49):
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