Holiday Stress

I know what you are asking…what does this have to do with saving money?  A lot.  When you are stressed out, you don’t think about what you are doing or what you are spending.  All those gifts, cooking, decorating, parties, work, family and all the money you end up spending. Yikes!  Find ways to beat the holiday stress before it starts…

First, don’t sweat the small stuff.  Stop trying to make your holiday like it is in the movies…Holidays don’t always turn out perfect.  The turkey gets burned sometimes and not everyone gets or gives the perfect gift.  So what can you do?  At the end of each day, or better yet, right in the middle of the ‘crisis’ think about or write down one thing you are proud of and one thing you are grateful for so far during the holidays.  This way, when things go wrong (and they usually will) you can look at your list and know what is really important.

Stop the overkill.  Do you really need to send out Christmas cards to everyone you have ever met?  Are you doing ALL the food preparation this year?  Why?  Let those you invited help out.  You will get to catch up over mashing the potatoes and have a few laughs over baking pies.  This way you aren’t left in the kitchen all by yourself…

Start early.  Start making your Christmas list early…who do you need to buy for?  What price range are you going with?  What do you need to get accomplished before Christmas?  Planning things out will help you get from point A to point B with taking a U-turn at point Z.  Doing a little each day will help you feel less stressed so you can enjoy the holidays.

Let someone else do it.  Is it really worth it to lose sleep to put little Billy’s bike together?  It might cost a little extra and I know times are tough, but paying the extra to have the store put the bike together will pay off in the long run.  You will be able to get the sleep you need to do everything else on your list.

Shop from home.  You can get some great deals online and you don’t have to wait in line, deal with cranky customers or cashier trainees.  You can put your cookies in the oven and while they are baking, you can take care of getting some Christmas shopping done.  If you really must go to the stores, why not try to pick up a couple gifts here and there, so you aren’t rushing around at the last minute trying to find that perfect gift.

Take time for you!  Take a few minutes to just catch your breath and relax.  Even if it’s just long enough to enjoy your favorite Christmas song.  Make a list of special Christmas songs and every time those songs come on you, you stop, take a deep breath and depending on where you are, sing along.