Create a Practical Gift List and Erase Debt
So you have been successfully erasing debt all year.
You have eliminated credit cards.
You have retired your college loans.
You have paid off your car.
Then suddenly Christmas and the holiday buying season is upon you and all of a sudden all of your erase debt rules are out the window.
You have 100-plus people on your Christmas list to buy presents for.
You want to be the cool aunt or uncle that gives the really cool gifts.
You want to buy your wife that diamond tennis bracelet that all of her friends already have.
You have to buy that 20-foot tall Christmas tree for your living room.
And you have absolutely no money saved up for any of it.
Why do we lose our minds at the holiday season? Christmas brings lots of pressures that the rest of the year does not entail.
We are bombarded by commercials and talk shows that show the perfect gifts to give and the way you have to set your holiday table or decorate your house.
And it all costs lots of MONEY.
So how do we not derail our get out of debt plan at the holidays but still participate in all of the holiday festivities? Before buying any gifts, decorations, or dinner supplies you need to create a list.
1.
At the top of the list write down what your maximum dollar amount is that you have available to you to spend on Christmas gifts 2.
Create a list of who you are shopping for.
On that list write down how much you are going to spend on each person and potentially what you have in mind as a gift for each person.
3.
Double check that your total amount for each person does not exceed your maximum dollar amount noted in Step 1.
4.
If your total projected spending exceeds your maximum money available to you (from Step 1) then you need to do one of two things: a) Adjust your per person dollar amount to be less than your total cash available OR b) Re-evaluate whether everyone on your list will get a gift this year.
5.
Go through your list and prioritize who you want to really get a gift for.
Face it, your list probably includes people you feel "obligated" to buy for either due to family pressure (your mom said you had to buy for Uncle Harry) or you just have done so, year after year, without thinking about it.
Time to whittle down your list to a core set of people, that you really want to purchase a gift for, and not keep every Tom, Dick or Uncle Harry that other people thought were important.
Like any shopping list, your holiday gift list will help to keep you from overspending.
Create your list so that you stay under-budget, erase debt and build wealth.
You have eliminated credit cards.
You have retired your college loans.
You have paid off your car.
Then suddenly Christmas and the holiday buying season is upon you and all of a sudden all of your erase debt rules are out the window.
You have 100-plus people on your Christmas list to buy presents for.
You want to be the cool aunt or uncle that gives the really cool gifts.
You want to buy your wife that diamond tennis bracelet that all of her friends already have.
You have to buy that 20-foot tall Christmas tree for your living room.
And you have absolutely no money saved up for any of it.
Why do we lose our minds at the holiday season? Christmas brings lots of pressures that the rest of the year does not entail.
We are bombarded by commercials and talk shows that show the perfect gifts to give and the way you have to set your holiday table or decorate your house.
And it all costs lots of MONEY.
So how do we not derail our get out of debt plan at the holidays but still participate in all of the holiday festivities? Before buying any gifts, decorations, or dinner supplies you need to create a list.
1.
At the top of the list write down what your maximum dollar amount is that you have available to you to spend on Christmas gifts 2.
Create a list of who you are shopping for.
On that list write down how much you are going to spend on each person and potentially what you have in mind as a gift for each person.
3.
Double check that your total amount for each person does not exceed your maximum dollar amount noted in Step 1.
4.
If your total projected spending exceeds your maximum money available to you (from Step 1) then you need to do one of two things: a) Adjust your per person dollar amount to be less than your total cash available OR b) Re-evaluate whether everyone on your list will get a gift this year.
5.
Go through your list and prioritize who you want to really get a gift for.
Face it, your list probably includes people you feel "obligated" to buy for either due to family pressure (your mom said you had to buy for Uncle Harry) or you just have done so, year after year, without thinking about it.
Time to whittle down your list to a core set of people, that you really want to purchase a gift for, and not keep every Tom, Dick or Uncle Harry that other people thought were important.
Like any shopping list, your holiday gift list will help to keep you from overspending.
Create your list so that you stay under-budget, erase debt and build wealth.
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