Reduce Your Holiday Spending

Anyone who celebrates Christmas and belongs to any version of Christian faith presumably is well aware that although "Jesus is the reason for the season" He was not born on December 25^th. This is being pointed out for a reason. If December 25^th is already an arbitrary day to celebrate the birth of Christ, why does it "have" to be the day all gifts are given to each other?

Christmas is a magical time of the year there's no doubt, with all the twinkling lights and gaily decorated trees and holiday music playing everywhere. However, it's also the most commercial time of the year. Honestly, retailers live for Christmas. This is the time of year some stores actually "make" their year. The profits from the sales at Christmastime are what carry many stores through the whole year. Retail is a tough business, but as a consumer your first concern should be your wallet, not their bottom line.

So, getting back to the Jesus' birthday being "arbitrary, "and since that's the case why celebrate on December 25^th. A good way to keep your holiday spending in check is by not celebrating on the 25^th with the rest of the world. If you have children, you'll probably need to give them something on Christmas day because since birth that's what their conditioned to know. Christmas has nothing to do with the religious connotations; it's all about the presents for kids (and most adults). Okay, great. Give everyone a small token gift on Christmas day.

Save all your major shopping for the day AFTER Christmas. Everything that was full price or slightly discounted will be majorly discounted. You can get your Christmas wrapping supplies at 50 to 75% off. You could even add to your ornament collection, and everything will be 50% to 75% off.

Here's a little bit of history for you: The song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is about giving a gift as the name says on each of the 12 days of Christmas. The 12 days start on Christmas day and ends on the eve of "Little Christmas" also known as the Epiphany. So, by giving your gifts on a different day other than December 25^th, you're not really "changing" history. Plus, how about that other group of folks who insist on exchanging gifts on Christmas Eve, what's that all about? When did you ever read a Christmas story that said everyone was waiting for Santa to make an early appearance on Christmas Eve with presents?

By moving your Christmas celebration to a date after Christmas, you can save yourself a ton of money. Once Christmas arrives and is done there always seems to be such a letdown. All you have to do is choose the day that you want to be "your" Christmas. Perhaps you'll choose New Years Day. If you want to keep in step with the religious meaning of Christmas, perhaps Little Christmas is a better choice for your family.

Regardless what day you decide upon, make sure you keep it the same date from year to year. New Years Day would always be on January 1^st and Little Christmas is always on January 6^th. Other than moving the day of your major gift giving, all your all celebration habits would stay the same. If you normally buy your tree the day after Thanksgiving, then still buy your tree and go to all your parties. Nothing else would really change. You'll also want to make it clear to your children, so they don't feel deprived. If you very small children who still believe in Santa, don't ruin that for them. You could tell them that Santa loves them so much that he's coming to see them twice, once on Christmas day and again on "Little Christmas."

If you stay with the whole Little Christmas theme, why not give a small gift everyday during the 12 days of Christmas. These don't have to be big or costly gifts. You can give stickers, holiday candies, decorative pencils, fancy erasures, and so much more. You can find a treasure trove of trinkets to give at your local dollar store.

You can turn the whole 12 days of Christmas into a family activity and make it like a Christmas version of an Easter egg hunt. Leave little notes and clues, and have your kids (or significant other) search for their daily gift.

Christmas should be about having fun, enjoying your children, your spouse and just being thankful for everything you have, whether you're celebrating the birth of Christ or not. If you're not celebrating the birth of Jesus, it really is a birth, in a sense. It's the birth of an upcoming New Year. It's a good time to reflect on all your accomplishments of the past year. It's also a good time to start thinking and planning for the year that's about to start. So, doesn't it make perfect sense since you're already reflecting and looking ahead that Christmas be celebrated in the New Year, either on January 1^st or January 6^th?

Rest assured your wallet will be very happy you decided to make Christmas your own special date. Imagine if you normally spend $1000 on gifts and supplies for Christmas and by moving the celebration out about a week or two you'll save at least $500. Isn't that saved $500 better in your pocket than some unknown retailer? You could go away for a weekend or maybe longer with that money or just save it for a rainy day. The choices are endless.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Days_of_Christmas