Don't overspend at Christmas!

If you want to have a great life, don't overspend at Christmas! Christmas is really not about gifts and toys, it's about the greatest gift, Jesus. Don't add stress and greed to your life and the lives of your loved ones by running up your credit cards to give others everything they want. If you are going into debt to buy Christmas presents you are definitely spending too much! In a perfect world, you have budgeted your money throughout the year, shopped sales when you have found the perfect gift, and have a list of ideas to look for when you do go Christmas shopping. Just like going to the grocery store, if you go Christmas shopping without a list and a budget, you often buy and spend more than you should.
A great idea for grandparents and parents is to put half of the money you might spend on your kids and grandkids into a mutual fund or savings account. How fun to be able to give a grandchild $1000 when she gets married or graduates from college and say, "this is money I've been saving for you every Christmas (you can do this for birthdays too) since you were born." Now that my children are appoaching college, buying cars, etc. I am so glad we have done this with our kids. It has taught them the discipline of saving (I hope) and provided a small start to the large amounts of money they will need for college, cars, marriage, etc.
Those who love and care for you will certainly understand if you need to cut back on your Christmas budget. Just communicate this to them. If your relationship is close enough to them that you are buying them a gift, they should certainly understand and not want you to overspend. If you want to have a great life, don't overspend at Christmas.