Plan now for a stress-free, debt-free holiday season--Part 2

The number one cause of stress around the holiday season is money. How can we afford all the gifts the kids want? Airfares are up so we can't afford to get where everyone else is. Christmas bonuses have been cut so where will the extra money come from for all those added expenses? The oven chose the worse possible time to go out.

Have you ever heard when it rains, it pours?

It seems like this time of year is when everything that can possibly go wrong, does. The key to avoiding those issues, or hopefully not stressing over them when they do arise, is pre-planning. It’s not too late.

If you haven’t already, now is the time to create a budget for your holiday spending. Christmas isn’t the only holiday threatening to derail our budget. According to Bloomberg.com this Halloween Americans will spend $2 Billion on candy alone for neighborhood trick-or-treaters. Another $2.6 Billion will go for costumes, and that doesn’t count the costumes 14% of us will buy for our pets.

If we stay on par with last years stats, the average American household with spend a little over $50 for Thanksgiving dinner. (Whoever took those polls obviously hasn't been to a Hooley Thanksgiving. We spend way more than that.) The good news there is at least you’ll be eating leftovers for four days. Or maybe that’s the bad news.

Regardless of how much you spend or how you plan to cut back this year and ask your guests to contribute, the key to avoiding stress is planning ahead. Just like the cable bill and the electric bill, the holidays are coming, whether we’re ready or not. We know there will be gifts to buy, possibly plane tickets, gift wrap and mountains of food. Why do we wait until the last minute to start freaking out about how we're going to afford it all?

You might be getting stressed just by reading this post. I don’t mean to do that at all. My goal is to lessen your stress, not add to it. How do we do that? By making lists. You may not be a list maker, but this is the best time to start.

You don’t have to do this alone. Enlist the help of your family. Kids of almost any age get excited over preparations for the holidays. No matter how young or old, they can understand the concept of money and budgets. Let them help in listing all the people on your gift list. Then brainstorm about the best gift for each person, including how much each gift will cost. Kids love a challenge, and they’re usually more astute than we give them credit. This will even work for creating their own wish lists.

I didn’t spoil my son while he was growing up. Consequently, at holiday time, I wanted to go all out. I didn’t buy him extra gifts because my friends were doing it for their children, or I didn’t want him to feel deprived, or I didn't want to look like a terrible mother. I bought him as much as I could because I wanted to. Right or wrong, I wanted to see his face light up over something he truly wanted.

I'm the last person to tell you not to spoil them a little. But you don’t have to blow up the household budget to do so. Find out the most important gift for each person you’re shopping for. Then you can fill in with a few lesser gifts if you want. Most children in America also get a mountain of gifts from grandparents, aunts, uncles, and so on. At my niece’s third birthday party last month, she had so many gifts to unwrap she finally got bored and walked away. The other kids in attendance unwrapped the rest of the presents for her. I know it’s tempting, especially when they’re little and adorable and squeal over everything you give them, but don’t feel like you need to overdo it. For one, you’re setting a bad precedence for down the road. And two, they usually appreciate and enjoy the gifts more if they can keep track of them. Let them know ahead of time what to expect by involving them in the process. They’ll appreciate spending the time with you and feeling important, and that might turn out to be what they remember most about the holidays.

If you haven’t started shopping yet, do so now. There are lots of items you can pre-buy for holiday dinners even if you don't have a menu set in stone. Most gifts are non-perishable. Buy one a week. Christmas stamps are already available at your post office if you’re mailing out cards. Do as much as you can a little at a time, so as the time draws near, you’ll already have many of those little chores and errands squared away.

Next post, we’ll talk more about creating a household budget so things like holidays or unexpected expenses don’t take us by surprise.