I love Thanksgiving. The food, the family, the get togethers. But the best thing about Thanksgiving is that it signals that my favorite holiday is around the corner. Christmas. I love everything about the holiday, presents, decorations, movies, the music. Especially the music!
Christmas also seems to be a holiday that many people go into debt for, and are paying in January and February the bills for Christmas. The bank I work at has noticed this trend and has added a wonderful tool to their website. Its a holiday budget. Zions Bank Holiday Gift Planner is a free service offered by the bank to help you budget for the holidays. Remember to include all holiday spending, including travel, food, wrapping paper, decorations, etc.
This year I'm in a much better place to provide a fun Christmas for my little family. But I don't want to go overboard, so this budget will help me stay on track. I've already purchased our big family gift, I just need to get smaller presents. And I also want to add a few things to my collection of Christmas decorations.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone and happy holiday shopping!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I love that you're budgeting well for Christmas. I think that sometimes we start to thing so much about gifts that we don't remember that gifts aren't really what Christmas is all about. Christmas is all about Christ. We give gifts to show love, not how much we can spend on each other. Also, contrary to popular belief, money and love are not tied together!
Glenn Beck was talking on his show a few days before Thanksgiving about one Christmas when he didn't have the money to buy his kids what they wanted. He said he remembers that one because of how bad he felt, but how little his children knew what they missed. They only remembered the good times with family and never realized Mom and Dad were struggling financially. I think too often we get caught up in the need to spend money to feel like we've given someone something special, but what they really need is love, and they can get that as much from a phone call or a visit as from some item that will soon collect dust somewhere. A thoughtful gift can show people that we think about them as much as an expensive one, too. It's not about the money, it's about the caring.
I agree that sometimes we spend money to show that we care. I was thinking more of the extra expenses that come with the holidays, besides gifts. Are we traveling? If so, will I need to budget for more gas money. Am I hosting a Christmas party? Will I need to budget for the extra food? Will I have enough money budgeted to adopt an angel tree family this year? A lot of expenses can come up around the holidays that have nothing to do with gifts.
Post a Comment