Planning for a Borrow-Free Holiday This Christmas
Oh, how I wish that I had an angel sitting atop my shoulder year-round. The angel would be programmed to shout to me each time I visited a retail establishment, “That knitting kit’s on clearance, shouldn’t you buy it NOW for Auntie Ethel’s Christmas present?”
The truth is, I have always had a desire to buy Christmas presents year-round…but am also so distracted and forgetful, that the desire has NEVER seemed to pan out in ten years of married life. So, we have to start in mid-October…which I guess is better than mid-December.
Getting into the debt-free Christmas spirit begins with the realization that Christmas was never intended to be a financial burden…but a season of celebration of our Lord Jesus Christ. Gift- giving simply became part of the tradition of the holiday celebration…it was never the focus.
The holiday is not celebrated properly when the pressure to buy for everyone squeezes out every last lingering bit of joy from the holiday! Whatever happened to giving because giving is better than receiving, and giving within our means because anything else is just plain stupid?(Carey…that’s not really a politically correct thing to say!)
Because we live in such a commercialist, materialistic culture…we too easily fall into traps that keep us enslaved to debt. We do things for the wrong reasons without even realizing we are motivated by those reasons. Here are a few tips to help you get your mindset out of the ol’ consumerism slump:
Give within your means. Accepting the fact that others may have more money than we do is a great place to start. If you are a stay-at-home mom with four kids…of course you won’t have as much money to work with as your retired empty-nester parents. Others may also be using credit to buy extravagant gifts for you and your family, and actually cannot afford these gifts. Give gifts only if you can afford to pay cash for them. If you have to put it on a credit card…then you cannot afford it!
Set a Christmas budget. Decide on a realistic Christmas budget and divide that amount up by the number of gifts you need to give. That’s how much you can spend on each gift…no more (but always less!). If it is difficult for you to come up with a big wad of cash at once, start holiday shopping NOW and decide how much per paycheck you can use for gifts. If it is only $20.00, then use that to buy one gift per paycheck until Christmas. Obviously, if you are on salary…your situation will differ.
Give what you want to give…not what you feel others expect you to give. Is this the kind of Christmas God would have us celebrate? One in which the gifts we give are bought with internal dialogue like, “Well, Suzie from the office gave us a blender last year, so I guess we’re obligated to buy something for her this year.”, and “Uncle Bob spent $200.00 on a gift for us for three years in a row, so we’ve got to spend equal to that.” Give what you want and spend how much you want simply because you are inspired to be giving. Set yourself free from the bondage of societal expectations this year!
Lower your expectations. Perhaps you grew up in an affluent home in which expensive gifts were part of the norm at Christmas time. Now, flip the coin…you may have grown up in a less fortunate home and had barely anything at Christmas time…so you want your family to be exactly the opposite. In either of these camps…you are in danger of feeling the pressure to perform on the holidays. This year, make a decision to lower your expectations of Christmas performance! You will be pleasantly surprised to find that you and your family will enjoy the time together just as much with less gifts as you did with more!
Thoughtfully chosen gifts don’t need to cost a lot! Don’t get me wrong…I feel Christmas pressure just as much as any other Joe Schmo. My husband and I have simply made decisions over the years to buy 4-5 gifts for each child…one that is BIG and the others may only have cost a buck or two or five…but are appreciated nonetheless because they are thoughtfully chosen. Last year we bought 3 used books from Amazon.com for our oldest child…they were less than $1.50 a piece…and proved to be the BEST gifts that he received that year. Of course, they were related to one of his passions…bunny breeding and care! The key to a thoughtfully chosen gift is truly knowing a person’s heart and passions…and giving anything that correlates with their life desires.
Realize the emptiness of materialism. You cannot tell me that I am the only person who realizes the vicious cycle of greed. Imagine the scenario: You’re totally exhilarated as you purchase that big lot of clothing on eBay, can’t wait until it shows up in the mail, try it on, wear it out on the town, high is over, need to fill that void again, and it’s back to eBay. If we are not filling our lives with God and allowing Him to fulfill us in life we will search for other things to fill us up. The pursuit for stuff is a never-ending battle that you will never win. This season, let’s not forget that things leave us empty and unsatisfied. Once we get what we want we simply go on to the next want on the list. You cannot make a person’s life different by buying the perfect gift…you cannot win your children’s approval by showering them with every gift they desire. They will be temporarily excited and then instantly on the prowl for more stuff. It’s just basic human nature.
Don’t use gift-giving as a status builder. How many of us face our own insecurities when it is time for gift-giving? Do you catch yourself wanting to give your husband this or that…thinking of buying your mother-in-law this fantastic thing…only because that thing you want to buy is associated with American success or status? The mink coat…the BMW…the Polo shirt…the Coach bag…and the list goes on. Are you purchasing gifts you cannot afford simply to gain gratification or affirmation from others? If you are longing to buy these things ask yourself if you really even want or like them or if you want to buy them simply because they are external badges of financial success. Re-train your mind to think of financial success as a hefty savings account not owning or giving flashy items.
Be the first to initiate name- drawing. Many families have found name- drawing to be a very suitable way to get around expensive Christmas giving. This idea works especially well in larger families. If your family has not considered this method yet…why not be the first to initiate the idea? I’m certain everyone will breathe a sigh of relief!
Get creative! When trying to save money for gifts, creativity can certainly come in handy. I’m not talking flower arrangement creativity, I’m referring to exploring alternate gift ideas such as free coupons (free back massage, free day without kids, making dinner, free lawn mowing, free bathroom cleaning for a month, etc). You could offer to come over and mop and vacuum your sister-in-laws house every week for a month or any other zany idea you can think of. I know I’d sure appreciate a gift like that!
Homemade is always best! I have been in the habit of making holiday gifts for many years now and have found this not only to be the most cost-effective but the most appreciated as well. I certainly enjoy the time and effort someone has spent to hand-make a gift for me, and I know this to be a universal feeling. I find it much easier to make gifts for the women on my list than the men. So, what I will generally do is choose one project to make for each woman but do it in different styles and colors to suit each of their personalities. We will then buy store-bought gifts for the men on our list. Some of the ideas over the years…tea-cup candles (tea cup and saucer glued together…melt another candle in a pot, pour into tea-cup and place wick in center.), dried flower arrangements, wire art candle holders, picture holders & ornaments, handmade purses, etc. You can come up with a fancy idea on your own. Just remember to keep in mind the individual taste of the recipient.
So, there you have it. Ideas to get you started on your way to a debt-free Christmas! Let’s think and plan ahead so our New Year’s resolution doesn’t yet again read, “Stop charging so much at Christmas!”
