Time to Plan for Christmas
In the past month I have spoken with people rushing around and strapped for cash with the holidays coming and with the big day out of the way hope the pressure has been relieved. As others are feeling the pressure I have realized that a couple tips I have learned may be helpful for others to reduce the holiday stress in the future.
Start early. One of the greatest stressors around the holidays is the lack of time and since most people start planning for Christmas after Thanksgiving its not wonder that they are stressed for time. My mom taught me, and later my wife and sister-in-law, that you CAN start buying Christmas present throughout the year; and what better day to start than the day after Christmas.
Set a budget. To combat the overwhelming cost we set a budget for gift giving and work within the guidelines—this gives us a fair and equitable way to ensure we have enough money to buy gift for everybody on the list though the year. Early on we write the names of the people we need to by gifts for in a notebook and the total we will spend, we then track the gifts we buy though the year next to the person’s name to ensure that we have spent within budget. Since we keep the “Gift List” we can quickly see how much we will spend, how much we have spent, and how much effort is left.
Buy on sale! Since we are have set a budget and start early we have the latitude to buy gifts when they are on sale (or clearance). This lets us stretch the budgets to buy more gifts for our loved ones and kids. Keep in mind that some people will have seasonal hobbies that you may be able to find end of season deals to get them equipment upgrades for the next year—like end of season close-outs at the local golf pro-shop.
Save through-out the year. I realize that it isn’t feasible to buy gifts early for all of the people (like your picky and brand obsessed niece who won’t be seen dead in last years style) so if you save through out the year for those purchases you will feel less financial pressure when you need to make the purchase. To instill this discipline many banks offer Christmas Club accounts that will accept direct deposits and since you have a budget you know that the goal amount should be.
Eliminate some of the stress. As I have grown older I have begun to realize that Christmas is not about the gifts you receive but the time with loved ones and the giving to those truly in need. In the past we have exchanged gifts with LOTS of people—grown siblings, friends, acquaintances, business associates, and others. After having children and gaining more friends with children I have realized that the gift given generates stress not only for the person giving the gift but also the person receiving the gift with an expectation to reciprocate. I started by having conversation with family members about only buying gifts for the children or a single gift for the family; I was pleased to find that most people were relieved to have one less gift to stress over. This idea was extended when I owned my own business—instead of putting the effort into selecting gifts for my clients we made a donation to a local charity providing gifts for children in need—this freed hours of planning for individual client gifts, placed gifts into the hand of deserving children, and made me feel great all season.
By following these simple guidelines as the holidays come and pass I am able to enjoy the time with my loved ones and feel comfortable that my personal commitments will be met.
No related posts.
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment