Welcome to Friday Financial Focus!
Each week, we bring you a round-up of the headlines that impact your bottom line. Some you may have heard about, and others may have gotten buried in the chaos of the week. Either way, they all matter when it comes to managing your money!
Distilling all of the current events into a single newsletter is impossible, so be sure to follow us on Bluesky. Join our Patreon community for financial history and resistory stories that inform and inspire, along with astrological and tarot support for the month. There are 3 paid tiers and a free level with limited posts - something is accessible for everyone!
Have a news story or financial topic you want us to explore further? Let us know about it!
Upcoming Classes
All December classes are now up on our website! Remember that our monthly resource forecast workshop and financial class are included in their respective Patreon tiers, but you can still register for individual classes even if you are not a Patreon member.
12/15 - Stars & Stripes: The Astrology of Our Democracy - The Bill of Rights
12/17 - Capricorn Resource Forecast Workshop
12/22 - Financial Literacy Fireside Chat
We also have a special end-of-year workshop to help you deal with this dumpster fire of a decade and start off 2026 with renewed resilience!
Taking Back 2026: Reclaiming Your Power & Resources (Dec. 28)
Is this dumpster fire of a decade dragging you down? You're not the only one! Between pandemics, recessions, trade wars, and insurrections, the 2020s have been an exercise in exhaustion.
We might be over the halfway point, but that doesn't mean the future is smooth sailing. In fact, it might now feel like more of an uphill battle than ever. How do you keep going??
There's no easy fix for all this... (gestures broadly) mess, but there are tools you can add to your Resource Toolbox to get a grip on this everchanging world in which we live in. You are NOT powerless, even if it feels that way at times.
Join Rebellious Resources for Taking Back 2026: Reclaiming Your Power and Resources. In this live virtual workshop, we take you step-by-step through assessing where your resources stand, where they need additional support, and how you can work with the energies of change instead of being overwhelmed by them.
During this workshop, we'll focus on:
- 💥 A 2025 Resource Recount & Inventory
- 💥 Keeping track of your Emotional Bank Account in 2026
- 💥 Some tips from history on navigating dark times
- 💥 Upcoming transits and tarot spreads for guidance
You don’t leave empty handed! This live workshop includes:
- Interactive activities,
- Q&A sessions, and
- A workbook to support you throughout the year.
Get the Deets
- Date: Sunday, December 28, 2025
- Time: 7:00 pm EST
- Where: Online (Zoom link will be sent prior to event)
This Week's Financial Focus
Welcome back! We hope you had a nice Thanksgiving break. It seems that retailers certainly did as Thanksgiving holiday weekend spending broke all sorts of records this year despite the call for an "economic blackout", but exactly where did those sales land? Let's take a closer look at this year's holiday spending!
Shopping Through the Snow
Despite the U.S. facing some serious winter weather on Thanksgiving weekend, folks still found plenty of time to "Add to Cart" between shoveling snow off the driveway and shoveling pumpkin pie into their faces. Fam, did we forget that this was supposed to be an economic blackout period? Did all the tryptophan from that dried out turkey make you sleep on the national boycott of corporate capitalism?? SMDH...
According to the National Retail Federation, a whopping 202.9 million people got their shop on during the 5-day holiday weekend between Thanksgiving Thursday and Cyber Monday in 2025. This is about 6 million more than last year (197 million) and broke the record set in 2023 (200.4 million). The tally also exceeded the original NRF expectation of 186.9 million by 8.5%.
Okay, we know there were a lot of people shopping, but where were they shopping, what were they buying, and how much were they spending? Let's break down the numbers.
All I Want for Christmas is...
With the exception of Cyber Monday, shoppers were pretty evenly split between in-store and online for most of the weekend, although some folks were likely doing both. Black Friday saw folks spend $11.9B in online sales, up 9.1% over 2024. Cyber Monday set a new record with 75.9 million online shoppers spending $14.25B on their cart items, up 7.1% from 2024.
According to a QuickBooks survey, shoppers expect to spend $263B this holiday season, an enormous 25% jump from last year. If these weekend numbers are any indication, it looks like they are well on their way to achieving that goal.
What seems interesting is that the number one holiday weekend shopping destination according to the NRF was... the supermarket. Yup, 47% of shoppers restocked their fridges this year! Perhaps they were still trying to take advantage of any Thanksgiving sales to cut down the grocery bill or donating to their local food pantry. The rest of the shopping hot spots were:
- Online: 45%
- Department stores: 40%
- Clothing stores: 37%
- Discount stores: 30%
All total, U.S. spending hit $79.6B during the holiday weekend according to Salesforce, a 5% hike from last year. That accounted for roughly one-quarter of the $336.6B global total for the weekend. All of that seems like the retail economy is booming and consumer confidence is high, but is that really the case?
Not exactly. There are a few drops we need to factor in. Salesforce also noted that shopping carts were 2% smaller this Black Friday than they were in 2024. This means that while people are spending more, they are getting few items. Oh, hey, Ebenezer Inflation and Tariff Grinch - we see you.
NRF said that 96% of weekend shoppers made a holiday-related purchase spending an average of $337.86. This is a bit higher than last year ($315.56) but lower than the record set in 2019 ($361.90). About 67% of the weekend spending was spent on gifts.
What exactly was in those carts? The top gift purchases were:
- Clothing and accessories: 51%
- Toys: 32%
- Books and other media: 28%
- Gift cards: 26%
Thankfully, consumers say they plan to direct at least $109B of their expected holiday spending towards small businesses, a 44% hike from last year. Overall, shoppers say they plan to do at least 41% of their holiday shopping from small businesses, which is a bit better than the 36% from 2024.
That will be cause for rejoicing from small business owners, 93% of which say this holiday season is vital to their business's survival, a 52% hike from last year. They will need all the help they can get, too! Tariffs are a major factor with 68% saying they have had a significant impact on business; 71% of product-based business are feeling significant tariff pain. Your purchase will absolutely make a difference this year.
Debt the Halls
Despite the record sales totals, not everyone is flush with cash. Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) spending hit $1.03B in a single day on Cyber Monday. This accounted for 7.2% of all holiday spending on that day. Black Friday was right behind it with $747.5 million of its spending funded via BNPL platforms.
BNPL programs are somewhere between the store layaway programs of yesteryear, and revolving interest-laden credit cards, except you receive your merchandise first and then pay it off in installments without interest. However...
As we highlighted a few weeks ago, more Americans have more debt now than at any point in history. Eventually, the house of (credit) cards will collapse. Q4, which is October through December, is generally the quarter where we see spending and debt reach the yearly peak. Folks then tend to tighten the spending belt come January and we historically see balances drop in Q1, but those days may be over. We'll have to see come 2026.
However you spend the holidays and your money, please support the local economy when and where you can. Shift the support you would normally give to corporations and use it to highlight small and local businesses, or great organizations that need extra support. Do you know any that could use an extra shout-out? Let us know about them!
It takes a village and intentional consumption to un-K this economy. We might not be able to fully close the gap, but we can buoy one another by supporting the small businesses and nonprofits that provide so much more than a storefront. Build and sustain your communities and they will build and sustain you.
What are your thoughts on the matter? Let us know!
Rebellious Services & Communities
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Find support and guidance for navigating change, protecting your resources, and reclaiming your power with a 1:1 Resource Toolbox Tarot Reading.
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This community focuses on financial history and literacy to help you better understand current events, while also working on healing Money Wounds. Tarot and astrology support your learning process.
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This informative community will offer insights into world events through the lens of political, corporate, and historical astrology (AKA: mundane astrology). This unique approach highlights patterns on a larger scale.
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Sometimes you need 1:1 help as a business owner and need insight from someone with years of experience. Power Hour is a single 60-minute 1:1 session designed to give you clarity and action items to move you forward.
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Arcana Resource Coaching is a 13-session program designed to explore your relationship to your resources. We uncover the hidden opportunities and challenges you have to embracing your full potential.
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As always, your support is appreciated. Stay well!
Sincerely,
Rayna, Money Culture Disruptor & Financial Inclusion Advocate
Rebellious Resources
