Holiday Budgeting
The Holidays are the time of year when most families do most of
their spending for the entire year. Why? Well, for one it is the
Holiday Season and it is celebrated as a time of giving and receiving.
In this spirit of this "so called giving", many stretch their budgets to
unbelievable limits. If you don't believe me all you need to do is look
to your local Consumer Credit Counseling Service to see how many people
they are attempting to help get out under of their financial woes. With
the massive layoffs and the sluggish economy, that has only added to the
stressful financial situation that some families now find themselves in.
By living and spending beyond your means, this will set you and your
family up for undue stress and a debt load that cannot, in this day and
age, be easily managed. The second reason that this becomes important,
is because that as a LOK family, we are not the norm. The reason that
this becomes important to us is because advertisers court everyone at
this time of year to buy, buy, buy and buy with a vengeance. While
families with 2-3 children have very large debt loads, it is almost
impossible for a family with LOK to carry such a debt load. It then
becomes a financial necessity to manage finances wisely and with care to
keep debt loads under control for the well being of our families.
Families with LOK have several more considerations than normal
families when planning for the Holiday Season. We have more people to
shop for and sometimes may not have the resources that we need to
accomplish this goal comfortably. We also have a larger number of
extended family members that we need to shop and buy for. Because of
this, feelings of resentment can arise when conflicts with our extended
families with less children disagree about purchasing items for a family
with LOK. This one point has caused the breakup of many families that I
have met in this situation. Then the question becomes "We only have two
kids, why do we need to buy for their four or seven?"
When planning your Holiday shopping it is important to keep things
in perspective. The main goal of a LOK family should be first and
foremost to have a workable plan in place. Advanced Planning
Preparation or what I will call APP for short, will save you time,
energy, and money. The main goal is to keep you focused and on track
for your Holiday spending. A failure to plan is the main reason for
major overspending during the Holiday season. This is where the APP
comes into play. Step one is to write everything down that you will
need to buy or plan to buy for the entire season. Yes, extras also
account for major spending traps. Step two is be honest. Be honest with
yourself, your spouse and your family about what you truly can or can
afford. Step three is to make your working wish list. With the wish
list in hand, then you can begin shopping for sales for the items that
you have on your list. Even if you buy just two or three things a week,
attempt to have all of you major shopping done before the second week of
December. This is when most retailers will do everything, and I do
mean everything, to get you to buy , even if the item is not on your
list. Of course this is when the retailers make the biggest chunk of
their money, so quite naturally they want as much of it as possible.
This where you should keep your guard up and not be tempted to buy
anything that is not on your wish list. Shop in stores where you know
the people who work there so that they can alert you to sales. You can
also shop online to have your purchases delivered to your door. If you
have your plan and your wish list and keep it readily available to you,
this will keep you from overspending and you will avoid the temptation
of buying things that are not on your list. The bottom line is to keep
to your guns, spend wisely and enjoy the true spirit and meaning of the
Holiday season.
Being realistic about what you truly can avoid will also help build
bonds with your family. If there is something that you really cannot
afford this season, be honest so that there will be a minimal of
disappointment on the big day.
Freedom from worry about debt can be easily avoided by taking the
additional time to do a little planning so that you and your family can
enjoy the best that the Holiday season has to offer without going to the
poorhouse.
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Article by: Sonni Mata
2003 - Lotsofkids.com
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