We’re all heading into the Christmas shopping season. There are two types of people with whom I can’t really relate. One is the type who has already done all their shopping before the holidays and can still resist the temptation to buy more. The other is the type of person who has the skill and industry to make their own Christmas gifts and can still resist the temptation to buy more. Obviously I’m neither. I love to give gifts but I hate to bargain-hunt. I’ll pay for convenience and one stop shopping. The closer I get to Christmas, the more loose I get with my money. I am the guy retailers drool over during Christmas.
Over the years I’ve needed to build some disciplines into my gullible tendencies. Here are seven things I’ve learned to do to keep a reign on holiday spending.
- Set limits for total Christmas spending, not just on gifts.
At times I’ve done well on spending for gifts, but during the break we’ve gone out and done a lot of family stuff. My bills in January tell me that Christmas spending is not just gifts, but on all the stuff we do that costs extra money during the holidays.
- Idea shop before you really shop
I’m in trouble if I go shopping without a plan. Well before I go to spend, I go to look (the internet really helps as well in this). My goal is to know what is a good price for something, so that when I see it I can get it. I’d love the best deal, but I’m after a good deal.
- When thinking about a gift for someone, ask: Is this something they would appreciate any time of year?
A good gift is something somebody would want for themselves enough to buy it, not something I just think they should have because its Christmas and I’m running out of time.
- Don’t panic over sales you missed.
See #2. There are always sales. Pride makes me want to say I got something at the best deal possible. Pride will also make me drive $50 of gas out of my car trying to save $20.
- Give experiences for the family, not just stuff for people.
I want my gifts to generally benefit the whole family, not send them into their own little worlds for the next three months. The last couple of years my big gift for the family was tickets to a show – something we did later in the year that we anticipated for months ahead of time. The gift that keeps on giving.
- Don’t buy what’s hot this Christmas till after Christmas
This is where the pressure to overspend is really strong. Deny it.
- Pray before you shop – ask God to direct your steps, guard your heart, and protect your wallet.
If you’ve got any ideas for wise Christmas shopping, let us know. We’ll pick from the best and put them out there for folks.
1 comment:
Ahhh....the joy of not needing to pay for Christmas gifts in January (and future months) by having a Christmas or Holiday Club savings account! This makes it easy to set money aside all year long for Christmas related expenses without giving it much of a thought. My family began this a few years ago, having some money direct deposited into this Holiday Club account each month, so that by the time we're ready to begin our Christmas shopping, we've got all the funds we need ready to go. And how helpful that has also been to stay within budget, sticking to what we've saved throughout the year (for the most part!) versus having an open-ended amount that we might be tempted to spend otherwise, especially if we were putting all the gifts on a credit card. So I would highly recommend starting such a savings plan - most banks seem to offer this service. It will make your Christmas less stressful and help your family focus on celebrating the gift of our precious Savior!
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