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Every year I sit and plan and try to find ways to make sure I stay in budget with out loosing my ever loving mind. I search and ask others for what tips they use. Sometimes I hear a new one or two new things then have my imagination start to go with that.
Women are asking for advice on cooking, baking and gift-giving this Christmas. If there’s one tip worth offering, it’s this.
*GET OUT OF DEBT!!!!
*STAY OUT OF DEBT!!!
*LIVE DEBT-FREE!!!!
Unless you’ve shopped during the year, or unless you’ve diligently saved money to spend at Christmas, you may become tempted to do as many Americans do in December: They push prudence and wisdom aside to indulge in overspending.
But think about this, Is it really worth it?
“The borrower is servant to the lender” is a nugget of wisdom found in the Bible. Have you experienced how awful it is to be “servant to the lender?” It’s not a joyful experience having bill-collectors call repeatedly. It’s no fun paying interest on loans or paying late fees! The way to avoid the stress of trying to pay back all those credit cards, or catching up on the bills you put off is to stay out of debt in the first place!
Determine honestly how much you can afford to spend on gifts this year, and stick to it! Promise yourself (and your spouse if you’re married) that you will not borrow one penny to pay for “Christmas,” and that you will not put off paying your regular bills in order to buy gifts either.
Get creative with traveling, cooking and gift-giving. Millions of people have done it through the years, and you can too! It begins with the determination that “debt is bad” and is directly followed up with a resolve not to go there.
Decide and act. Decide to enjoy your Holiday Season, even if it means spending less money, then act on it! Do whatever you have to, to avoid debt. Wouldn’t you rather be a servant to your family than to the credit card companies?
Sandra Jensen makes family meal time a priority and enjoys putting homecooked food on the table even when budgets and schedules are tight. Be sure to pick up Sandra’s newest ebook Stress Free Holiday Entertaining where she’ll provide you with tips and tricks to help you breeze through the Holidays and enjoy your friends and family for once.
What tips do you have to help stay out of debt or not overspending this year? Let us know.
This is such the way of life for so many families. We’ve been forced to live this way since my husband’s surgery. Luckily I make good money… if I didn’t, we’d probably be forced to move in with his parents. ugh.
I learned right away to change my attitudes about what I consider “necessities” and what we truly value, both financially and in our relationship. We’re very fortunate to have the 99cents store chain in our area, and I now get almost all our groceries there. Brand names are no longer important. That goes for clothes as well. Discount stores and super sales have just as nice things, and we only go when it’s a pure necessity. Manicures and pedicures are done myself. Expensive dinners and haircuts and outings are a thing of the past. Sound dismal? It’s not. We spend more quality time together and actually enjoy walks at sunset.
The most important thing is to make savings a part of your paycheck to paycheck expenses. If the money is already allotted for savings or retirement you won’t be tempted to use it. And one rainy day, you’ll be very glad it’s there.
Make a budget.
Leave your ATM and credit cards at home.
Make gifts, there are a lot of items out there you can do yourself without paying high prices
Happy holidays!