Christmas truly is the most wonderful time of the year! I absolutely love getting caught up in the holiday spirit! There can be a price when I lose all my inhibitions, and become completely absorbed by Christmas. I can get lost in the smells of Christmas in the time it takes one batch of cookies to bake. And I never grow tired of cookies and milk, caramel, or fudge. Sure, I will over indulge and maybe gain a few pounds, but it is so entirely worth it. I don’t feel guilty or stressed in the least. But lose my inhibitions in the mall, and then I have a problem.
Retailers are no dummies. With all the decorations, the Christmas music, Santa, the smells of roasted nuts, the candies, the busy shoppers haven’t a chance. Luckily, our family is not too engrossed in gifts, but I absolutely love finding the perfect gift for each of my children. It does my heart good when on Christmas morning, they open a gift that makes them smile. It is easy to go over budget when I look around and enjoy the atmosphere of the mall. Then the holiday spirit takes me away to the land of credit card debt, which is wonderful until after Christmas.
After Christmas is when the true Scrooge should appear, pinching every penny to pay off the debt of Christmas past. For me, the best way to handle this is by setting a budget where I set up a recurring payment from my bank account to my credit card. This way I have no choice and I won’t be late or short on a payment. I continue to do this until I get my tax return. Usually, my tax return will cover the balance.
So enjoy those cookies, because dropping a few pounds is so much easier than paying off a huge amount of holiday debt.
I am participating in a blogger campaign by Bucks2Blog and was compensated. However, the views and opinions are my own.
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