Client Login
Schedule a Call
Back to All

Holiday Spending

Greetings all, 

November is upon us and it feels like this year has flown by faster than ever. With great optimism, we at Bona Fide are hopeful that the worst of Covid is behind us and are looking forward to getting back to normal life. With the stresses of Covid receding and the end of the year and the holidays approaching, we want to use this newsletter to focus on what can be a stressful time of year for many people. Be it gift-giving, entertaining, or feeling compelled to travel, the holiday season can bring as many difficulties as it does pleasures.

Read –
This Forbes article by fellow financial planner Liz Fraizer is chock full of stats detailing different aspects of how much people spend during the holiday season and how they feel about it. The article estimates Americans spend nearly $1,000 per person on gifts and 18% are willing to toss budgets out the window especially when considering buying for children. Considering these sobering figures, it’s easy to understand that nearly 25% of people would be happy to opt out of gift-giving all together. Regardless of where you land on the gift-giving spectrum, it’s important to remember that you have control over how much you spend. This article from Yahoo Finance details how you can get a grip on holiday spending if you’d like to avoid overspending.

Watch – 
If you know you are prone to getting stressed out during the holiday season, learning how to say ‘no’ can be a powerful gift. This video from Ryan Holiday dips into Stoic philosophy to frame the prospect of saying ‘no’ not as a thing that limits you, but as something that sets you free. When you make the choice to say no to one thing, you are opening up yourself to saying yes to something else. As we enter the holiday season, this is a great time to take stock of what is important to you and take steps to make decisions that protect and support those things. If time with family is your priority, then don’t feel bad turning down social gatherings. If you don’t buy into (pun intended) the consumer aspects of the holidays, express that to your loved ones and opt-out. Give yourself permission to say no.

Listen – 
Our podcast link this month is to a list of holiday-themed podcasts. Some are aimed at meditation and guided sleep exercises, some focus on holiday specials and stories, and there is a nice selection of links aimed at family-friendly fun. This is a list you can use any time of the year, so we highly recommend going through it and enjoying some of the great (and free) content there. For a bit of more adult content, we have a couple of other suggestions. The first is from Planet Money analyzing the Holiday Industrial Complex. If you’ve ever questioned the ‘why’ behind all the holidays we have during the year, this might be for you. Finally, if you need a little more bolstering, here is a podcast from Farnoosh Torabi giving some good financial advice in regards to getting through the holiday season without blowing up your budget.

Thanks for reading! If you are feeling stressed out this holiday season, especially in regards to your finances, please reach out! That’s why we are here. We are happy to chat with you regarding your budget, spending, or whatever else is on your mind. If you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, feel free to share it with your family and friends. 

Happy Holidays!
The Bona Fide Family 

Related Posts

  • Financial Planning
The First Years With a Six-Figure Salary: Financial Planning for Physicians
Read More
  • Financial Planning
Why I Became a Financial Advisor 
Read More
  • Taxes
The Holiday Season: Difficulties and Pleasures
Read More

Join Our Newsletter for Monthly Insights

From our home office in North Dakota, we proudly serve clients across 20 states – virtually, efficiently, and with a personal touch.
© BONA FIDE FINANCE 2025 – All Rights Reserved
Website designed by Indigo Marketing Agency
Disclosures
Youtube Facebook-f Linkedin-in

Bonnie Martinek

Administrative Assistant
Bonnie (Ben’s mom!) is a mother of 9 and a grandmother of 17. She has lived in rural Indiana her whole life and has a master’s degree in Special Education. In her own words, she’s done a little bit of everything but is a master of none (teaching, construction, manager of a corn maze, CNA, farm work, cashier, auto bodywork, and the list goes on!). Widowed in 2019, she is reinventing herself through her work in the day-to-day operations of Bona Fide Finance and client relations. Bonnie loves getting to know our clients and is happy to serve them well!
Book an Introductory Call

Deb Martinek

Relationships Specialist

Deb has been with Bona Fide Finance since its inception in 2015 and long before that with her support of Ben studying for the CFP designation and the dream of starting the business of helping individuals and families meet their financial goals.

She fills the Relationships Specialist role – Deb is typically the first encounter our new clients have as she walks them through our service offerings and introduces them to the map of financial literacy.

She has a bachelor’s degree from Ball State University and a master’s degree from the Franciscan University of Steubenville. Deb lives in Bismarck with Ben and their two young daughters, is a card-carrying member of the CDL club (read more about those adventures here) and is happiest reading an epic novel, solving a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle, or working in her kitchen where she can serve love to the people in her life through quality food (clients enjoy her holiday shipment of homemade goodies each December!).

Book an Introductory Call

Ben Martinek

CFP®, EA, CSLP®, RICP®, Founder and Advisor

Ben Martinek, CFP®, EA, CSLP®, RICP®, is the founder and lead advisor at Bona Fide Finance, an independent, fee-only firm dedicated to helping doctors, young professionals, and growing families take control of their financial future. With a deep understanding of student loan debt—having tackled his own—Ben specializes in guiding clients through debt repayment strategies, smart investing, and comprehensive financial planning so they can build wealth with confidence. Ben’s passion for financial planning comes from his desire to provide honest, objective advice tailored to each client’s unique situation. He loves seeing the impact of his work, whether it’s helping a family pay off student loans years ahead of schedule, setting up an early retiree for financial freedom, or giving clients the peace that comes from knowing their finances are in order. His clients appreciate his thoughtful, high-touch approach, often saying that working with him has changed their lives.

Before launching Bona Fide Finance in 2015, Ben’s career path was anything but conventional. The fourth of nine children, he grew up in rural Indiana and initially pursued a path in academia, earning a B.A. in philosophy and classical languages, followed by a master’s degree in philosophy. Along the way, he explored careers in construction and truck driving—logging over 600,000 miles across the U.S. with his wife, Deb—before finding his true calling in financial planning.

Now based in Bismarck, North Dakota, Ben and Deb stay busy raising their two daughters, Edith and Virginia. Since their truck-driving days, Ben is happiest on a long road trip—preferably behind the wheel of his TDI Volkswagen Jetta. He enjoys sailing on Lake Sakakawea, camping in their vintage ’90s pop-up camper, and smoking a pipe by the grill. A lover of strategy board games, he favors Clans of Caledonia (mostly because Deb refuses to play Risk with him). When he’s not working with clients, he can be found smoking meat, gardening, hiking, or diving into The Lord of the Rings or Dune. Ben also serves on the school board for his daughters’ Montessori school and is actively involved in pre-marriage ministry in the Bismarck Diocese.

Book an Introductory Call