Do Christmas/holiday expenses come as a surprise every year?
Does December make you anxious?
For many of us, Christmas comes as a surprise every year… even though it’s the same day every year. During this time of year, people start to get a little (or a lot) stressed out when it comes to the financial aspects of Christmas in North America.
In my coaching experience, people are stressed over this because they don’t have the budget for it! They haven’t properly set aside money for gifts and as a result they are dipping into their savings or maxing out their credit cards.
In a recent publication, bankrate.com showed less than 1/3 of Americans have a budget and an even smaller percentage of that actually use the budget.
This is why things like Christmas become a stressful event because there is a lot of spending in a short amount of time.
So here are 6 tips to manage Christmas financing so it never has to be stressful again!
1) Money Is A Form Of Exchange
Money is a representation of the human life value of the people of the company that created the products or services that allowed for the exchange of money to take place. If you want more of it, you have to exchange more of your time and talents for money from your company.
2) Money Is Not Moral
People moralize money all the time! It is just an intermediator in an exchange of goods and services. Money replaced the old barter system where a carpenter would exchange their services for wheat, as an example. Then the person with the wheat would exchange it for some chickens.
How do you figure out what each of those things is worth? This is why money was created. It became an easy intermediary in order to exchange goods and services more effectively.
3) Money Is An Amplifier
If you’re a good person without money, then you’ll be a good person with money. If you’re a complete butt hole without money, then you’ll be a butt hole with money. The key distinction here is that it’s not the money it’s the person.
4) Money Is A Tool To Invest In What We Value
As an example, family is my highest core value and one of the things my family values is Christmas! This makes it easy for my wife and I to budget for Christmas expenses because it is something we highly value.
5) Budgeting
If you recognize that money is just a tool to invest, you can understand the importance of having a budget. This is because having a budget allows you to consciously intend where to put your money and nurture it well instead of letting it spend itself. Budgeting for things you value is straightforward!
For example, my friend bought a Lamborghini car, investing a lot of money into this. He values automobiles so this purchase makes sense. I view cars as a means of transportation so investing my money here doesn’t make sense based on my values.
6) Money Is About Courage
If you have a budget (and we are strongly suggesting you have one and stick to it) it takes a lot of courage to carry out that budget. You have to resist the urge to overspend on things you really don’t need or don’t truly value.
In summary, money is a tool of exchange. To say you don’t like to deal with money means you don’t like to deal with people. Knowing it is a tool to invest in valuable things should help you appreciate that creating a budget is a sign of wisdom and maturity. Once you have the courage to create and stick with a budget you can put more money towards things of value.
Since Christmas is a big part of our family we budget that throughout the year and set money aside each money so it does not become a big stress.
If you currently don’t have a budget but would love to learn the process of creating an effective one, please reach out to one of our Full Circle authenticity coaches. Book a complimentary call and we would be happy to run through this with you!