Getting ready for the holidays

It is that time of the year again. Time to start thinking about the holidays and what kind of plans to make for this year to ensure this is the best Christmas (or whatever you celebrate) yet! Of course, Santa has been a little leaner this year with the toy making, he has splurged on things such as food, housing, healthcare and car repairs and other essentials so it has been a little leaner this year than last year. If you are lucky and have planned for Santa last year, the credit card bills from last Christmas have been at least paid off so they can be used again for this year's merry festivities. Of course, there are different categories of shoppers out there, and this those who start thinking about Christmas shopping in September, are usually going to be your moms, wives, girlfriends etc. Kids will try to make something for the holidays to give as gift and usually these gifts... lets be honest, are rather subpar and downright crappy. I mean, who really needs another clay jar that looks like it was trampled on by giants as it was drying. The sides are all bent, the coloring is all messed up, like some drunk person did it, and it is time to call out crappy pottery done by kids as not just bad gifts, but really bad gifts. It is time for the school system to do better in getting kids to make some better and cooler gifts for parents. No more pottery. More better stuff. Of course, men who are in relationships, or more precisely, men who are married, will of course be exempted from this discussion because as we all know, the holiday shopping season as far as they are concerned starts December 20th at 11:55 PM and ends December 24th at midnight.

But the finances of the holidays are what this post is about, not the complete lack of care most men put into the concept of gift giving. We try... we really do. But we lack the ability to bring it together more than once per decade. One holiday per decade - that is when we shine. The other 9 times, we absolutely suck at this thing. But one thing that does not suck during the holiday season is the ability of merchants to bring out bigger and better gifts, which turn into that season's must haves. They are the toys, children and adult oriented alike, that everyone must have because the industry has deemed them to be essential for the survival of the human race. Ok, so be it. There are lots of things to buy. Fine. But rather than concentrating on feverish shopping trips to ensure that everyone has the bets possible gifts allowed by the purchasing powers granted by AMEX, VISA or MasterCharge, I'd like to introduce you to something else that I think it is equally impressive as those expensive gifts but will be a lot less painful for your overall budgeting process for 2025.

A line item in your budget called - Holiday Gifts -.

I know, it is a radical idea, saving up for the holidays rather than relying on a temporary credit limit increase that will carry ungodly interest rates with it and will take 5 years to pay back. But hear me out. Families who are struggling financially especially should start thinking about saving up for the holidays because they are most likely to charge things on credit cards, causing long term debt that will be difficult to repay and cause further financial hardships. In fact, it is not a bad idea to designate a certain amount per person in the household for gift thresholds, which will be updated on the budget and observed just like any other bill, to ensure the holiday spirit does not get thorn to pieces by the shopping spirit that causes a multi year painful repayment program.

Now would be the time, if not already done so, to designate a certain amount of currency to be spent on each person and the budget updated with such a total to ensure the funds are in fact available. The budget line item should be handled with existing funds on hand - credit cards will have to be put on ice in case there is a real, huge emergency that requires credit cards to be consulted to survive.

Are gifts going to be leaner maybe because the funds are just not available? Perhaps. But is that what the holiday spirit really is? A monetary equivalency for expressing love? It does sound rather stupid, saying it out loud, doesn't it? Every year a dozen movies express this sentiment with some sort of message that what really matters is the love of family and friends and not the amount of money being spent. But we all know that is pure crap because gifts do matter. Kids do want to receive them and adults, too. We like gifts. Nothing wrong with that. But the gifts should be planned for in advance so they don't break the bank for next year after the bill start arriving. And if there is a family love that is felt, a wonderful get together where people feel safe, appreciated and for a few nights a year are content with life, that is a huge bonus. Yes, the holidays should be about love and family and all that stuff but we know that is Hollywood fantasy. What is reality is overspending. That is reality - and that should not be. So now is the time to ensure the budget is ready for the holidays because come next year, the credit card bill will arrive and it should not be the same amount as the GDP of a small country.