With Christmas upon us, I know it
easy to feel the pressure to purchase gifts for friends and family. I love Christmas, I love gifts, I am not
trying to be the Grinch but when you have debt already, it is not wise for your
relationships, health or financial picture to go deeper into debt for
Christmas.
There are plenty of ways you can
express your love and appreciation to family members without spending a lot of
money.
Ideally you should budget all
year long for Christmas, and pick up gifts while on sale all year long, to
avoid an extra-large surge of expense for Christmas.
Even with budgeting for Christmas
though, if you owe on your credit cards, other debts, need tires for your
vehicle, shoes for your children. Is
spending that money though “allocated” for Christmas really wise? Let me answer that for you . . .NO!
I have had Christmas seasons
where I have budgeted and planned properly and Christmas shopping and gift
giving is extremely enjoyable. I have
had Christmas seasons where I went into debt and spent more than I should have
on Christmas and it is not fun going into January paying on Christmas, where
many times the gifts you purchased are already broken, lost, or forgotten
about. I also have had tighter financial
times during Christmas where I did not purchase gifts, though it’s not the most
exciting place to be in, your family and friends will understand. You will not have the additional stress and
deeper debt.
If you are in a tight financial
spot and unable to participate in the family gift exchange or purchase gifts
for family and friends, let them know.
Explain, we are having a tighter financial time and we won’t be able to
participate in gift giving this Christmas, don’t feel pressure to purchase my family
or I presents this year, we will not be purchasing gifts for anyone.
It’s important to discuss this
with your children as well, especially if they are older, the great thing about
little kids is you could re-wrap some toys they haven’t played with for a while
and they would not know the difference.
You could let them unwrap their favorite snacks which are already in
your cupboards and they would be excited about that. With older kids, be honest, share with them
that you have not made the wisest choices with your finances and will be unable
to purchase Christmas gifts this year.
Give them ideas that you can do together that will still make the
holidays special, can you pull out all your board games and play games together
every night, can you bake cookies or build gingerbread houses together. Ask them what would make Christmas special
for them and remind them of how blessed they are. Children would rather spend time with happy
parents, than have the newest toy on the market with parents who are stressed
and fighting on not “present” because of money spent on presents.
If you don’t have debt, have some
money budgeted thought not a lot, think of witty ideas to stretch that
money. It is the thought that counts and
not so much the gifts. I don’t know
about you, but I know my children, nieces and nephews have plenty of toys, no
one really “needs” toys. If you have a
larger family, can the kids draw names and exchange gifts with one of their
cousins, can the adults refrain from gift exchanging? One year the adult kids in my husband’s
family exchanged gift cards, we drew a name and bought one gift card for that
person, this way we didn’t have to each purchase 12 gifts. Can you do a family gift basket that has a Redbox
rental, bag of popcorn and box of candy in it?
Can you purchase a board game for the entire family to enjoy? You could do a family scavenger hunt
together, you could do a cookie baking party together, where everyone brings
something to bake cookies together, again, it’s the time spent together as a
family that really matters more than the “things” purchased and exchanged.
Find out what will work for your
family and then get the conversation started call your parents and brothers and
sisters share that you don’t have the finances to purchase gifts this year for
everyone, what can we do together to express love and gratitude. What can we do together to make it fun and
memorable for the children without incurring debt.
You could offer to go put up
Christmas lights on a family members
house, co-workers house, someone you want to give a gift to, that is a huge
gift, I know I would greatly appreciate.
You could offer to babysit their
children so they could go on a date night, or Christmas shopping if it’s in
their budget. You could offer to help
clean or organize a room, garage, house for them.
The idea is not just to avoid Christmas
and gift buying, but to change your spending and planning habits so in the
future you can have the Christmas you dream of.
I have heard Dave Ramsey say he
hears people say every Christmas how Christmas has snuck up on them, Christmas
is every December every year, it does not sneak up on anyone, with a little
planning and purpose, you don’t have to go into debt for Christmas.
Don’t get sucked into the store
sales, commercialism and consumerism avoid going into debt at all costs, the
cost of your pride, the cost of shame and embarrassment. Remind yourself of the stress debt brings,
the strife it brings to your relationship if you are married, how it affects
your children when you are on edge due to financial pressure.
Evaluate your financial picture,
recognize what is most important and then enjoy Christmas pressure free. Communicate with your loved ones what you can
or cannot do and then think of witty ideas of how you can express love and
gratitude to those around you through acts of service and quality time spent
together.
Christmas will be over before you
know it, is it really worth going into debt and paying for months to come, for
the minutes it takes for your loved one to unwrap a gift that most times, they
don’t even really want.
Purpose this Christmas to make
future Christmas seasons easier financially by properly planning. You should make a list of everyone you would like
to purchase a gift for and then keep that list with you throughout the upcoming
year, watch for sales and deals on things for the people on your list. Purchase something for your list each month
and put away for Christmas.
Thank you for reading if you’ve
enjoyed the content you’ve read above please share with your friends.
Avoid Debt At All Costs This Christmas
Avoid Debt At All Costs This Christmas
With Christmas upon us, I know it
easy to feel the pressure to purchase gifts for friends and family. I love Christmas, I love gifts, I am not
trying to be the Grinch but when you have debt already, it is not wise for your
relationships, health or financial picture to go deeper into debt for
Christmas.
There are plenty of ways you can
express your love and appreciation to family members without spending a lot of
money.
Ideally you should budget all
year long for Christmas, and pick up gifts while on sale all year long, to
avoid an extra-large surge of expense for Christmas.
Even with budgeting for Christmas
though, if you owe on your credit cards, other debts, need tires for your
vehicle, shoes for your children. Is
spending that money though “allocated” for Christmas really wise? Let me answer that for you . . .NO!
I have had Christmas seasons
where I have budgeted and planned properly and Christmas shopping and gift
giving is extremely enjoyable. I have
had Christmas seasons where I went into debt and spent more than I should have
on Christmas and it is not fun going into January paying on Christmas, where
many times the gifts you purchased are already broken, lost, or forgotten
about. I also have had tighter financial
times during Christmas where I did not purchase gifts, though it’s not the most
exciting place to be in, your family and friends will understand. You will not have the additional stress and
deeper debt.
If you are in a tight financial
spot and unable to participate in the family gift exchange or purchase gifts
for family and friends, let them know.
Explain, we are having a tighter financial time and we won’t be able to
participate in gift giving this Christmas, don’t feel pressure to purchase my family
or I presents this year, we will not be purchasing gifts for anyone.
It’s important to discuss this
with your children as well, especially if they are older, the great thing about
little kids is you could re-wrap some toys they haven’t played with for a while
and they would not know the difference.
You could let them unwrap their favorite snacks which are already in
your cupboards and they would be excited about that. With older kids, be honest, share with them
that you have not made the wisest choices with your finances and will be unable
to purchase Christmas gifts this year.
Give them ideas that you can do together that will still make the
holidays special, can you pull out all your board games and play games together
every night, can you bake cookies or build gingerbread houses together. Ask them what would make Christmas special
for them and remind them of how blessed they are. Children would rather spend time with happy
parents, than have the newest toy on the market with parents who are stressed
and fighting on not “present” because of money spent on presents.
If you don’t have debt, have some
money budgeted thought not a lot, think of witty ideas to stretch that
money. It is the thought that counts and
not so much the gifts. I don’t know
about you, but I know my children, nieces and nephews have plenty of toys, no
one really “needs” toys. If you have a
larger family, can the kids draw names and exchange gifts with one of their
cousins, can the adults refrain from gift exchanging? One year the adult kids in my husband’s
family exchanged gift cards, we drew a name and bought one gift card for that
person, this way we didn’t have to each purchase 12 gifts. Can you do a family gift basket that has a Redbox
rental, bag of popcorn and box of candy in it?
Can you purchase a board game for the entire family to enjoy? You could do a family scavenger hunt
together, you could do a cookie baking party together, where everyone brings
something to bake cookies together, again, it’s the time spent together as a
family that really matters more than the “things” purchased and exchanged.
Find out what will work for your
family and then get the conversation started call your parents and brothers and
sisters share that you don’t have the finances to purchase gifts this year for
everyone, what can we do together to express love and gratitude. What can we do together to make it fun and
memorable for the children without incurring debt.
You could offer to go put up
Christmas lights on a family members
house, co-workers house, someone you want to give a gift to, that is a huge
gift, I know I would greatly appreciate.
You could offer to babysit their
children so they could go on a date night, or Christmas shopping if it’s in
their budget. You could offer to help
clean or organize a room, garage, house for them.
The idea is not just to avoid Christmas
and gift buying, but to change your spending and planning habits so in the
future you can have the Christmas you dream of.
I have heard Dave Ramsey say he
hears people say every Christmas how Christmas has snuck up on them, Christmas
is every December every year, it does not sneak up on anyone, with a little
planning and purpose, you don’t have to go into debt for Christmas.
Don’t get sucked into the store
sales, commercialism and consumerism avoid going into debt at all costs, the
cost of your pride, the cost of shame and embarrassment. Remind yourself of the stress debt brings,
the strife it brings to your relationship if you are married, how it affects
your children when you are on edge due to financial pressure.
Evaluate your financial picture,
recognize what is most important and then enjoy Christmas pressure free. Communicate with your loved ones what you can
or cannot do and then think of witty ideas of how you can express love and
gratitude to those around you through acts of service and quality time spent
together.
Christmas will be over before you
know it, is it really worth going into debt and paying for months to come, for
the minutes it takes for your loved one to unwrap a gift that most times, they
don’t even really want.
Purpose this Christmas to make
future Christmas seasons easier financially by properly planning. You should make a list of everyone you would like
to purchase a gift for and then keep that list with you throughout the upcoming
year, watch for sales and deals on things for the people on your list. Purchase something for your list each month
and put away for Christmas.
Thank you for reading if you’ve
enjoyed the content you’ve read above please share with your friends.
