Are you caught in a cycle of overdoing and overspending that seems to repeat itself every year? Innocent lack of planning soon is joined by doing what feels good at the moment, whatever is expected by relatives, and whatever my children want. Yet I am surprised as bills arrive to remind me how much I've spent.
Debt is not the answer
Debt is a growing monster. This problem is real for our country in general and tends to be so in individual families. Families grow and so do our gift lists, standards, desires, reputations, and expectations. Many of our expectations are caught up in a myth that you have to give the best, do the best, decorate the best, bake the best, and be the best in order to meet some standard. With this as one's guiding premise, no wonder people run up debt. Most do so without thinking about it (and certainly without keeping records) as a way of denying debt patterns.
Unfortunately, marketers and retailers know their customers well. The industry spends millions of dollars to study the buying habits of the public with one goal in mind — to separate you from your money! Studies show that people spend more if they pay with credit and will spend less time looking for the best deal. Deferred billing, zero interest, zero down payments, and skipping payment offers are all clever marketing schemes to get you to spend more money.
The bottom line is that debt ensnares families. Debt removes options and keeps its prisoners in financial bondage. Debt ruins holidays and ruins lives.
Christmas by choice
It is possible to make Christmas a debt-free holiday. It's not always easy, but it's possible. Ultimately, having a debt-free Christmas is a matter of choice. Are you ready to choose to be debt free? Here are some steps to achieve freedom from debt during Christmas.
Apply the values you live by to Christmas. Think of values like responsibility, trust, self-control, balance, respect, forgiveness, fairness, honesty, kindness, and love. Christmas does not exempt you from living the values you know are important.
Change your attitude about Christmas. Begin with your actions rather than your feelings. Determine that you are going to have a debt-free Christmas and begin acting upon that new attitude. Remove the credit cards from your wallet. Set aside money for an emergency so you will not have to run back to your credit cards. Tell others, including your family about commitment.
Plan in practical ways to pay cash. Start a Christmas fund, set spending limits in a written budget, and plan to give presents that express love in other ways than through the spending of large sums of money. If necessary, use an envelope system and carry around the cash to pay for presents as a reminder of how much money is available to spend.
Anti-debt holiday solutions
Food gifts
Give a small tin with snack foods.
Give a favorite family recipe, complete with all ingredients and a serving dish.
Fill a cookie jar with home-baked cookies.
Fill a mug with coffees, teas, or cocoa.
Divide large recipes of cookies or candy into several gifts.
Gifts for children
Make a recipe of play clay.
Give age-appropriate books or art supplies and typing paper.
Give a piggy-bank and wrap a roll of pennies.
Begin a collection of Christmas ornaments.
Make a birdhouse and buy bird seed for the yard.
Gifts for the whole family
The latest board game
A 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle
An ice cream maker
Gift certificates for movies or pizza
A coupon for a free night of baby-sitting