Time for a Christmas Spending Plan

Okay, so Thanksgiving Day is gone and all hearts and minds have shifted towards Christmas. I'd like to take time to encourage you to approach your Christmas shopping with both wisdom and an intentional plan. Sit down and brainstorm. Ask yourself the following questions and then jot down your answers:

• What is my Christmas budget?
• Who is on my Christmas list?
• What are my gift ideas for each person?
• What is my spending limit for each person?
• How often will I shop for gifts (i.e., every day for a week, weekly, the weekend before Christmas)?
• Where am I planning to shop for gifts?
• What measures am I willing to take to stay within my budget?
• Who will I recruit to hold me accountable to sticking to my budget?
• What will I do if I run out of money to buy Christmas gifts?

The holidays have a way of revealing the best and worse in people. Overall, we tend to use our energy and money to focus on others, whether through charitable endeavors, volunteerism, or giving gifts. However, so many get lost in the shuffle and consumer-pressure to give what we honestly don't have to give or that which we cannot afford to give.

Christmas can't be about the depression that is awakened by an inability to do or give what we'd like. It can't be about beating ourselves up because we aren't further along financially, or because we cannot buy our loved ones the gifts we originally had in mind. Christmas isn't about leaving bills unpaid in order to bank our children's happiness being tied to what's under the tree on Christmas morning.

If you're bent on shopping for Christmas gifts, approach it strategically. Have a plan and know who you have in mind, what you can afford to do, and how you'll meet your goals. Don't put yourself in a financial bind by allowing external pressures to drive you to spend money you don't have for gifts you can't afford. The idea is to wake up the day after Christmas without remorse over financial decisions that were within your power to avoid.

Remember, a free mind understands its purpose and accepts the responsibilities that come with that. So, let's devise a plan and maintain our righteous minds, okay? Okay!