Easing the Financial Burdens of Christmas Shopping

Although we would all prefer to not have to worry about finances when it comes to Christmas shopping, the truth is that most people do not have unlimited funds to spend on Christmas presents. Most of us have to set budgets for Christmas shopping and have to repay any debts which are incurred while shopping for Christmas presents. There are ways to ease the financial burden of Christmas shopping. Some of the most common ways to ease the financial burden include spreading out the Christmas shopping throughout the year, opening a Christmas savings account, and sticking to a strict budget when it comes to purchasing Christmas presents.

If you typically wait until the last minute to do your Christmas shopping, you probably understand the stress of last minute shopping all too well. Not only is it stressful to have to find appropriate gifts and purchase them, wrap them, and deliver them to the recipient in a short time period, but it also places a tremendous strain on the wallet. The problem with this type of Christmas shopping strategy, in addition to the stress of finding great gifts, is that you are faced with paying for all of these gifts at one time. This can be very difficult, especially if you are already on a tight budget and don’t have a great deal of money left over in your monthly budget. Without proper planning, you may be faced with the dilemma of either shortening your list of gift recipients or purchasing inexpensive gifts for each member on your list. If you plan to shop throughout the year, you may find you are able to purchase gifts for one or two individuals on your list each month. This strategy of spreading the Christmas shopping throughout the year makes the financial burden of Christmas shopping significantly less difficult.

Opening a Christmas savings account can also be very helpful in easing the financial burden of Christmas shopping. It is helpful because most Christmas savings accounts accrue interest and do not allow you to withdraw money from the account before a certain time. This allows you to gain a small amount of interest on your savings and ensures you won’t be tempted to use the money you are saving for Christmas shopping for other expenses throughout the year. You could always take an envelope and add a percentage of each one of your paychecks during the year, but if you save this way you will not be earning any interest on the money you are putting aside. Also, you may be tempted to use some of the money for small purchases or emergencies which arise during the year. A Christmas savings account is so convenient, you can even have money directly deposited into it from each paycheck, or you could simply transfer money into your Christmas savings account from another account each month.

The financial burden of Christmas shopping can be eased by setting a strict budget and sticking to it. This is important because it can help to keep you from spending more on shopping for Christmas gifts than you had intended. If you budget carefully and plan on only spending as much money as you already have saved, or as much as you can afford to spend, than you do not have to worry about going into debt to provide Christmas gifts for your loved ones. While it is important to set a budget, it is also important to track your purchases to make sure you are sticking to your budget. If you go over your spending limit on a few people on your list, you will have to consider either eliminating a few people or reducing the amount of money you can spend on a few people. This will help you to remain under your budget.

Christmas Shopping Year Round

There are a lot of great advantages to Christmas shopping year round. Some of these advantages include avoiding the stress of last minute shopping, not having to worry about accumulating exorbitant credit card bills during the Christmas season, and being able to enjoy the Christmas spirit all year.

One of the biggest benefits of Christmas shopping year round is having most of your Christmas shopping done before the last minute. It also means not having to do much Christmas shopping in the typically hectic time after Thanksgiving and before Christmas Eve, when malls and shopping centers are very crowded. Although there are some people who enjoy shopping during this hectic and chaotic time, most people find it stressful and only do it because they have procrastinated.

Making a conscious effort to Christmas shop all year round helps to eliminate a great deal of the stress which is typically associated with last minute Christmas shopping. It also helps you to purchase more meaningful gifts for everyone on your Christmas list because you are not rushing around to purchase gifts at the last minute. You may find a gift you think is absolutely perfect for your sister in the month of April. All you have to do is purchase the gift when you find it and then save it for the Christmas season.

People who do their Christmas shopping year round are not only less stressed around the holiday season, but they also have more free time to participate in other holiday activities. Those who like to bake may skip baking if they feel like they still have too much Christmas shopping to do, while those who did their shopping ahead of time can take some time to relax and bake wonderful cookies to enjoy during the Christmas season.

Another downside of last minute Christmas shopping is the amount of bills which accumulate. For those who rushed to get their Christmas shopping done in the month of December, the New Year can bring in a new set of financial problems because repaying the debts accrued while Christmas shopping can be quite daunting. Those who wisely did their Christmas shopping throughout the year do not have this problem. If you budget a certain amount of your monthly income for Christmas gifts, you may not have even noticed the financial strains typically associated with last minute Christmas shopping.

Although last minute shoppers may save up to do their Christmas shopping all at once by putting their money into a special savings account, it can be difficult to stick to a budget when you are shopping at the last minute. You may wind up spending more than anticipated on each person on your list because you cannot find anything else to buy. When this happens, and there is a shortage of time, it is common to just purchase the more expensive item rather than to keep looking.

Christmas shopping year round is a great idea because it helps people to stay in the Christmas spirit throughout the year. While many of us get caught up in the spirit of giving during the holidays, those who are always Christmas shopping may enjoy these feelings of generosity throughout the year. Giving is a wonderful experience and, although you may not actually be giving the gifts until Christmas, you are purchasing them at other times during the year and this can be very fulfilling. Sometimes simply finding a great gift for a loved one can put you in a good mood and make you feel as though you have really accomplished something wonderful.

Christmas Day Games

Just because the gifts are opened and the paper is strewn about the living room doesn't mean the fun of Christmas has to be over. You can add some fun party games to Christmas Day to extend the fun of Christmas.

If you have a large gathering on Christmas Day, have fun with the hat game. When they arrive, give everyone a Santa hat. These are inexpensive and can be purchased at the dollar store, or in bulk, if you plan ahead. As everyone goes about their business of getting food and chatting with others, the room will look very festive with everyone wearing their Santa hats.

However, the object of this game is to not have your hat on. As people forget about the hats, the object is to get rid of your hat and not be the last one wearing a Santa hat. Inevitably there will be one person so wrapped up in a conversation or the buffet table, they forget to take off their hat and will be left the game's loser. This is a game that can be played again and again as you head forward with the day's festivities.

One fun memory game that kids particularly like is to make everyone pay careful attention to all the gifts that are opened on Christmas day. After the gifts are removed from the room (or you remove yourselves from the gift room) have everyone try and remember every single gift everyone received. Include stockings and any food gifts. Tell people they only have to remember the items that were opened that day, not any gifts they received and opened prior to Christmas day. This can be a fun game that's particularly popular with kids because they love to relive the gift magic. If they were so immersed with their own gifts they didn't notice anyone else's, this is a good chance for them to educate themselves about what everyone got that day.

If you need a game to keep everyone busy before dinner, try the "guess me" game. Buy some large heavy socks that are thick and come at least to the calf. Put several items in the socks. Make sure the items in each sock are identical. The items should all be related to Christmas in some way. You might include a small ornament, scotch tape, a pinecone, a Hershey's kiss, and so on. Have each person feel the socks (having two socks just makes the game go faster, but you can play with just one sock), and write down their guesses about what's in the socks. Be sure to tell everyone how many items are in each sock. The winner gets, you guessed it, one of the socks!

If you have a bunch of performers in your group on Christmas day, how about playing a little game of "Christmas Idol?" Set up a small table for the "judges" and have teams of 2 people (or individuals, if they want) sing a Christmas carol. Tell them to have a lot of fun with the song, and even add a Santa hat or other dress-up items if they wish. The winners can take home a CD of Christmas music. This game is particularly fun if only the children want to perform and be judged by the adults, or if, conversely, the adults perform and are judged by the children.