This Week’s Money Map:

•  🎃 Got an eye for design? People will pay you to make their holidays look good

• ❄️ Heat on all day or off when you leave? The wrong call could cost you $30,000

• 💳 Is your debt building wealth or quietly draining it?

• 🍂 Peak fall color, not peak prices: Your fall getaway window is closing fast

🎃 Got an eye for design? People will pay you to make their holidays look good

Some people decorate a tree, and it looks like a magazine cover. Others end up with a tangle of lights and a lopsided star.

If you’re the first kind, the Halloween and Christmas holidays are your payday. People will pay for the style you already have. No storefront required.

Holiday money is flowing
Deloitte expects holiday retail sales to reach $1.70 trillion to $1.71 trillion this season, up 4% to 4.8% from last year. A slice of that goes to people who make homes, offices and gifts look beautiful.

5 ways to cash in on your design eye

• Holiday decorating for homes. Busy families pay pros to decorate houses, trees, mantels and porches. Tree decorating often runs $200 to $600, based on national home-service pricing. Decorators charge about $50 to $100 an hour.

• Light installation. Hanging lights on a one-story home costs $200 to $500. Add a takedown service in January for $100 to $200 more.

• Small-business window displays. Local shops and cafes want festive storefronts but don’t have time. One great window can lead to three more referrals.

• Digital templates and printables. Holiday cards, party invites, gift tags and planners. Design once, sell over and over on Etsy. Digital files mean no shipping and no inventory.

• Custom wreaths and gift wrapping. Charge per piece. Offer a premium tier with ribbons, greenery and a handwritten tag.

The insurance question

Decorating means ladders, roofs and other people’s breakables. One fall or one shattered heirloom can wipe out your profit. Your homeowners policy likely won’t cover business activity.

General liability coverage helps. Sole proprietor business insurance averages about $73 a month. See this guide to the best business insurance for sole proprietors, or watch this video on how much business insurance you need.

Taxes still apply, even without a form

Etsy and payment apps send a 1099-K only when you top $20,000 in sales and 200 transactions this year. But all your profit is taxable, form or no form. If you net $400 or more, you’ll owe self-employment tax of 15.3%. Your last 2026 estimated payment is due Jan. 15, 2027.

Your portfolio is already hanging on your wall

Snap three photos of your best work. Your own tree, your Halloween makeup or your decorated front porch. Post one simple offer in your neighborhood group or on Facebook Marketplace with a price and your November and December dates, then see who bites. Most design side hustles don’t fail for lack of talent. They fail because nobody knew you were for hire.

❄️ Heat on all day or off when you leave? The wrong call could cost you $30,000

Every fall, the same fight breaks out at home. One person wants the heat off when nobody’s home. The other swears that costs more because the furnace has to “catch up.”

The data settles that fight, plus the one mistake that turns small savings into a five-figure insurance claim.

Turn it down, not off

The Department of Energy says you can save as much as 10% a year on heating and cooling by turning your thermostat back 7 to 10 degrees for eight hours a day. The “catch-up” myth doesn’t hold. A cooler house loses heat more slowly, so you burn less fuel overall.

But “down” isn’t “off.” State Farm says you must keep your home at 55 degrees or warmer to protect your pipes. Its frozen-pipe claims from January 2024 to June 2025 topped 20,000 and cost more than $628 million. The average claim ran over $30,000.

Your best move is a programmed schedule, so you never have to remember.

So skip the heat and save $15 on a cold weekend? You could be on the hook for your deductible, a ruined floor and weeks of repairs.

Heat pump? Go easy

Heat pumps play by different rules. The Department of Energy warns against big manual setbacks if they trigger your backup electric heat, which is pricey to run. Use a smart or programmable thermostat built for heat pumps, or keep the drop small.

What type of heating will cost more this winter?

The Energy Information Administration expects winter spending to shift by fuel compared with last winter:

• Heating oil: up 21%

• Electricity: up 4%

• Natural gas: down 9%

• Propane: down 3%

Gas and propane heat about half of homes, so many households catch a small break this year. See how your state compares with this winter heating cost guide.

Weatherproof now, save on insurance later

A few cheap fixes guard against damage and can lower your premium, too:

• Wrap exposed pipes in foam sleeves. They cost a few dollars at the hardware store.

• Disconnect garden hoses and shut off outdoor faucets.

• Seal drafty doors and windows with weatherstripping.

• Add water leak sensors or a smart water shutoff valve. Some insurers offer discounts for them.

• Ask about roof upgrades. A few states, such as Alabama, require discounts for storm-resistant fortified roofs.

Not every upgrade earns a discount, so call your insurer before you buy. Know your home insurance discounts and check when frozen-pipe damage is covered. Leave the heat off while the house sits empty, and your claim could get messy.

The rule to tape to your thermostat

Down at night. Down when you’re out. Never below 55.

Before the first hard freeze, find your main water shutoff valve and show everyone at home where it is. If a pipe bursts at 2 a.m., those 30 seconds can be the difference between a mop and a $30,000 claim. Then call your insurer with one question: “What would lower my premium?”

💳 Is your debt building wealth or quietly draining it?

On Sept. 16, the Federal Reserve raised its key rate to a range of 3.75% to 4%. That pushes up the cost of anything tied to a variable rate. Think credit cards and home equity lines.

Can debt ever make you richer? Yes, but only when the math works, not the label.

"Good debt" is a rate, not a category

You’ve heard mortgages and student loans are “good debt.” Credit cards are “bad debt.” That’s a decent start, but it skips the most important part: the price you pay to borrow.

The test is simple: does what you borrowed help you earn or save more than the interest costs?

A mortgage can pass. You need a place to live, and a home can build equity over time. But the 30-year fixed rate averaged 7.40% the week of Oct. 8, per Freddie Mac. That’s up from 6.30% a year ago. Run the payment through a free mortgage calculator before you assume it's a good deal.

A student loan can pass, too, if the degree raises your pay. Federal undergraduate loans issued on or after July 1, 2026, carry a 6.52% fixed rate.

Credit card debt almost never passes

The average card rate on accounts that pay interest was 22.15% in the second quarter of 2026, per the Fed. Households owed $1.26 trillion on cards in the same quarter, per the New York Fed.

At 22%, an unpaid balance can double in a little over three years. No investment reliably beats that. Pay only the minimum, and much of each payment goes to interest. This video on the Rule of 72 shows how fast high-interest debt snowballs.

Home equity: Handle with care

Borrowing against your home to fix a leaking roof can boost its value, but tapping it for a vacation turns your house into a credit card. With the Fed raising rates, variable home equity lines get pricier, too.

What about the new car loan deduction?

Under the 2025 tax law, some buyers can deduct up to $10,000 a year in car loan interest through 2028. It only applies to new cars assembled in the US, and it starts phasing out above $100,000 of income ($200,000 for joint filers). It lowers your tax bill. It doesn’t turn a car into an investment.

One question before you borrow again

Next time a loan offer pops up at the dealership, at checkout or in your mailbox, stop and ask: Will this earn or save me more than it costs? If you can’t say yes with a straight face, it’s not an investment. It’s a bill with a long tail. Run the numbers through a calculator before you sign anything.

Debt isn’t good or bad. It’s cheap or expensive. Know which one you’re carrying.

🍂 Peak fall color, not peak prices: Your fall getaway window is closing fast

Fall color doesn’t wait. Up north, a lot of it is already on the ground. Some of the prettiest leaf-peeping is still ahead, and you don’t need a pricey trip to see it.

Where the color is still coming

Northern New England peaked early this year. Riders on New Hampshire’s Conway Scenic Railroad found colors just past peak around Oct. 8 to 10.

Three spots are still hitting their stride:

• The Smoky Mountains: Lower valleys in western North Carolina hit color from late October into early November. Drought in parts of the region could shift timing, so check local reports. Higher elevations turn first, so head down the mountain as the weeks pass.

• Central and southern Pennsylvania: Expected late October.

• New York City and Long Island: Late October into early November. A free walk in a city park might beat a long drive.

The scenic train math

Train rides through the leaves are a bucket-list trip. They’re also priced like one.

• Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, North Carolina: The Nantahala Gorge trip starts around $60 and runs through Oct. 31.

• Durango & Silverton, Colorado: Standard coach is $128 per adult. The season ends Nov. 1.

• Cass Scenic Railroad, West Virginia: Fall rates run higher than summer, so check current pricing before you book.

A family of four on a $128 train ride spends $512 before lunch. A scenic drive with a packed cooler costs a tank of gas. Both get you the view. Pick the one your budget can enjoy without regret.

2 free park days are left this year

National parks waive entry fees on Oct. 27 and Nov. 11 for residents. If you’ll visit more than a couple of parks a year, the $80 annual pass pays for itself fast. Check your park’s alerts page before you go, since hours and services can change.

Protect the trip you already paid for

Fall weather is moody. A storm can wipe out a nonrefundable cabin or train ticket.

Travel insurance for a $5,000 trip runs about $197 on average, or 3.9% of the cost, per this latest travel insurance cost study. Rates range from about 2% to 10% of your trip, with basic domestic plans at the low end and international medical coverage pushing them higher.

One catch: once a storm has a name, it’s a “known event,” and new policies won’t cover it. Buy early or not at all.

Before you buy anything, check your credit card. Many travel cards include trip cancellation coverage when you book with them. Renting a car? Know what your rental car insurance covers before you say yes at the counter.

Chase the color, not the crowds

Pick a spot that peaks late, like the Smokies’ lower valleys or Pennsylvania. Go midweek, when trains and cabins cost less and sell out slower. Circle Oct. 27 or Nov. 11 for a free park day. And read your card’s travel benefits before you pay for extra coverage. The leaves are free. The trip doesn’t have to cost a fortune.

Smart Cents gives you actionable tips and mindset shifts to help you reach your financial happy place. Thanks for being a part of our community.

The MoneyGeek Team

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