I have come to realize that a good number of people in my area plan for Christmas well ahead of time to shield themselves from financial constraints. Otherwise, I don't see the need to overindulge because am mostly indoors during this time. Then again it says to avoid crowd mentality during this period and even comparing yourself to others to avoid spending beyond your means.
Christmas has passed and thank God I didn't spend a lot on gifts though I gave gifts to a lot of people. I tend to shop a bit early or go to places where they sell good items on cheap prices. That way I saved a lot of money and was still able to give away gifts. Most of the time, it;s not how much the gift costs, it's still the thought that counts.
The best thing that I do is just plan ahead and know what you want to buy before going into any store. The problems I have is when I start to impulse shop for other people and end up getting too much stuff.
The truth is that Christians and Christmas seasons are always tempted and lured into engaging in several spending that may not necessarily be important for them, but for the fact it's Christmas period, the need to keep on buying more becomes pressing and those that have difficulty with resistance towards such urge to buy keep on spending and incur lots of expenses. It's very important to keep ones head afloat when it comes to spending during Christmas periods.
I believe that starting shopping by September and October is the right timing for Christmas planning, by doing so at this point in time would afford one much benefit in terms of saving on commodities purchased as well as be safe from thieves. It's a common thing for increased activities of thieves and pick pockets during Christmas shopping rush. So therefore, it's very important to start shopping on time in order to avoid all these problems.
Exactly my point. Overspending even not on holidays, too. LOL. Anyways, most gifts we receive is during the holiday season and most gift we give as well. Maybe we can still give gifts without spending too much.
I love to see my loved ones be happy about their gifts because Christmas is all about sharing and giving love. I give love by giving them presents that I bought from the heart. I avoid overspending money in Christmas shopping buy shopping months before Christmas and I save all the presents or gifts in a small room at my house.
Gifts are personal stuffs to me, I find it very difficult giving out a gift that I received from another person to someone else. I would rather buy another one and give out, than use the one I received from another person. I take pleasure in seeing the gift I gave to someone being used by the person. So I try to do so with other people gifts that I receive.
Yeah exactly. It'll be awkward to give out the ones you received. Some people do that just to avoid not to spend too much on gifts and other stuff. You can buy gifts which are not too expensive. As the saying goes, " It's the thought that counts. "
Seriously, I wouldn't be happy seeing my gift to someone in another person's possession. That would practically bring my giving any form of gift to such person to an end in this life time. That's a complete disrespectful thing to do to the gift someone gave you. Such persons doesn't know courtesy at all.
When I was younger and Black Friday was called The Day After Christmas Sale, I got lots of good things on sale and made a spot for them in my closet and labeling them so I won't forget and cross them out on my list. Christmas cards were so nice to give and after Christmas sales are 50-70% off if you can find them before others. During the year there are sales that I'd find something special for someone on my Christmas list that I'd buy for and store them away. This way you won't spend in one chunk and hurt all the next year repaying it back. Like others who have posted as time goes by people pass, the party give passes and everyone got blunt about just not giving Christmas presents especially after all the party givers passed. So now I just send Christmas cards and get some special things for some people.
Well, you made a big point there. But, if it's really tight and funds are just for the needs and not for other stuff, people will definitely do that just to avoid overspending. People do that oftentimes and we can't blame them, though.
Seriously to be honest, I would call out a friend of mine or family member who did that with my gift to him or her because that's a big sign of disrespect and disregard. Imagine the degradation melted to the gift coming from your heart to probably someone whom you care about, and such individual no mind that by giving the gift away. That's horrible.
When we say Christmas, we say any other time. At the same time, in Christmas is easier to overspend because we have to buy gifts. Overall, I'd say we need to think what do we really need to buy or not, set priorities, or else we will have no cash for what really matters.
It's the spirit of the festive season that actually causes the overspending during Christmas seasons. Even after setting priorities, one would still see himself or herself going off from the planned spending into a whole unforseen expenses. I must admit that I have being guilty of this several times but I do always try to keep things at minimal level lately.
Yeah, true. That is why a couple of years ago we decided as a broad family not to buy gifts to adults any more, as it simply got too expensive. We have lots of kids in the family, so we buy for them, as Christmas is for the children, so we let them enjoy it fully.
@to7update Children have a special connection with Christmas seasons, even if you as an adult does not want to have anything to celebrate, looking at your kids face and seeing other families with their intense kids preparation for the Christmas celebrations, you would be forced to go head on with it as well.
Yeah, that's how we see it too. I recall all the times I dressed myself as Santa. The older kids already know it's me, but there's magic in the younger ones eyes seeing Santa distributing gifts lol. It's great that we can do it for them.
We still do this every Christmas season in our church. Our Rev. Father have a good bond and affection for the church children, so he sees it fit to organize this Santa gathering always and having these kids take home good gifts no matter how small. It takes a lot of time and money to organize such things but it's really all nice thing to do for the kids.
The best charities are always the ones that benefit children. They should not face the difficulties many adults do have, so if we can give them some treats at least in Christmas time, it's something really rewarding.
