The Christmas Monkey: How to Avoid Him

Many people approach the Christmas holidays with the buy mentality. Find the perfect gift. The most useful, unique and memorable gift is all that will do. We shop in crowded stores elbow to elbow with people on the same plane, with the same determination. We spend money we don't have. We charge gifts we can't afford. We push aside the thoughts of credit cards bills arriving in January. We become single-minded in our shopping goals. And we do this every year.

Why?

We are barraged with commercials and TV segments pushing gifts from jewelry to vehicles to the newest hippest electronics and everything in between. We're told that if we don't buy these gifts the people we love will be disappointed. And if we do buy them our loved ones will be ecstatic and love us even more. Our holidays will be the best they've ever been, if only we spend our money on these products.

Of course our children deserve those cool new laptops with all the bells and whistles and it would be wonderful to surprise the spouse with that new SUV. But for the majority of folks who make up the working class and have children to feed and mortgages to pay, is this kind of Christmas shopping realistic? Not hardly, and yet so many of us try. We feel the pressures and guilt the commercials and media place on us and we respond accordingly.

The gifts are piled under the tree and slowly the weight of the bills coming next year begins to build. By the time the holidays are over we'll have the Christmas Monkey on our backs. Will the expensive diamond necklace matter in February when we're arguing about how to pay the credit cards?

So what do we do to avoid spending money we don't have and still give gifts that mean something? Make a gift budget and stick to it. With the new budget in mind write out a Christmas list. Take some serious time to sit down and think about each person. Don't be afraid to 'think outside the box'. If we normally buy a brother an expensive outdoor garment because he loves hiking, we should consider other aspects of his life. Does he like to read? Maybe a meaningful book and some really nice bookmarks would fit the bill? Does he always bring a signature dessert for Thanksgiving and Christmas? Then maybe some crazy kitchen tools or tiny amounts of expensive spices would impress him? Using this method we save a ton of money and make each gift more personal. Loved ones will feel loved (not to mention impressed we put so much thought into our gift) and we won't have to use a lint roller to remove monkey fur from our sweater.

Oh and the guilt from all those commercials? There's a tiny button on your remote that has these letters on it: OFF.