Christmas Just Snuck Up Again

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Justin Fricke. Justin writes about adventures and life outside the office on his blog, Justin The Weekend Warrior. Give him a follow on twitter @JustinLFricke.

“Christmas just snuck up again.” We’re all going to be hearing that in that in the next four to five months because believe it or not, Christmas is on December 25th this year—again. We all know Christmas is going to be on December 25th every year, so how does it just “sneak up” every year?

I think it’s because when most people think of Christmas they think of presents under the tree and we all know what that means—spending money. Presents just don’t buy themselves or appear under the tree. They take thought and preparation, but this also stresses out a lot of people. In reality, this should be a relaxing time to spend with friends and family while celebrating the birth of our Savior.

Here are a few suggestions that are easy enough to start implementing now to help you keep the Holiday Season relaxing and enjoyable.

1. Budget: Set a budget for what you’re willing to spend. This will vary for everyone because everyone and every family is different. If you’re a parent with kids and your kids know what the budget is, they can decide is they want the one big and expensive item or multiple, less expensive items. This helps to prevent those “sad” faces on Christmas morning.
2. Planning and saving: In order to make sure you have enough money to make a budget for Christmas shopping, you actually need some money. More than likely, you won’t be able to save enough from one or two paychecks to get your loved ones what they want, unless you want to go into debt which isn’t recommended. Now is a perfect time to start setting aside money for your Christmas budget.
3. Cutting back: we all have our “guilty pleasures” of what we like to spend money on. Personally, it’s vinyl records for me. I feel like I hear the majority of people saying they can’t go a day without their favorite coffee from their favorite coffee shop, I disagree. If froo froo coffee is your guilty pleasure, that’s about $25/week that you could be saving ($5/day x 5 days/week = $25). That comes out to be about $100/month and if you started now, you could have about $400 saved up for your Christmas budget.
4. Change Christmas: How many gifts do you really have to buy? Do your relatives that you see all of once or twice a year really need a gift from you and do you really need a gift from them? The answer is no, so why not have some fun? Years ago, my family quit buying presents for distant family members (not in your immediate family) and we started having fun. Everyone brings a gift card with a set value, (I think $25) so you at least get to pick where you want to shop, and then a $10 or less wrapped gag gift and we do a White Elephant Gift Exchange. We’ve also done Secret Santa, which is a lot of fun as well.
5. Stock up: Start buying gifts now. I know all the “deals” happen close to Christmas, but really—are the deals really that irresistible? I have yet to find an actual deal worth splurging on during the Holiday Season. Not to mention there’s a deal for every holiday. We still have a Labor Day Sale and Halloween Sale to look forward to from retailers trying to get us in the doors.

These are just a few tips and ideas, but the point is: to find what works best for you and your family, don’t overspend, and don’t stress when you don’t have to.

What are some of your tips and ideas?