As wonderful as Christmas is, the holidays can bring out difficult emotions. These emotions, such as fear, shame, guilt, and doubt, can sometimes cause spending to spiral out of control. In this blog post, we’ll share tips on how to deal with emotional holiday situations. We’ll explore how difficult feelings can affect decision-making in certain scenarios and provide strategies for managing them.
A recent Deloitte survey found that 78% of shoppers plan to curb their holiday spending by looking for the best deal. This is great news! We want to help set each savvy shopper up for success by offering some useful tips for staying on track. Because, as many of us have experienced, even the best laid plans can go awry. This is especially true at Christmastime.
Managing a lack of balance in gift-giving
Fear may be one of the hardest emotions to deal with when giving gifts over the holidays. So much anxiety that someone won’t like the gift you got them. Or, maybe someone spent more on you than you did on them. All this fear can drown out their holiday spirit. This discomfort may even inspire someone to max out their credit card just so they can buy a gift of equal value to the one they received.
Borrowing money to buy expensive gifts because you’re afraid of looking bad can hurt your financial future. It might help to remember that someone who really has your best interest at heart will never want to put you in a detrimental position.
Here are some other things you can do to mitigate the chances of this happening.
Create a budget
According to the Retail Council of Canada, the average Canadian is planning on spending $975 this holiday. That’s not an insignificant number. Making budgeting an important step this Christmas.
Budgeting might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but when it comes to finances, creating a budget is one of the best ways to reduce fear. A holiday budget will both inform you on how much savings you need to build up and help keep you on track with your spending. Having this knowledge builds a sort of framework to use when doing your shopping. This framework is really helpful for reducing anxiety. If budgeting feels overwhelming to you, there are many tools, such as apps and AI, that can help make it easier.
Buy second-hand
Don’t be afraid of buying gently used items. Buying used things for Christmas is perfectly fine. Not only are you saving money, but you are also helping to save the environment.
If you want to find a great place to buy used, but fantastic goods online, check out Facebook Marketplace. It has terrific items that you can purchase. You can also bargain with sellers in the marketplace to get a lower price on the items you want.
Get creative
Time is more valuable than money. Priceless even. Making or curating something thoughtful uses some of this valuable resource, yet often costs less actual money. The recipient is sure to appreciate all the effort that was put into doing something special for them.
Be honest
Be straightforward. If you can’t afford to buy your loved ones expensive Christmas gifts, let them know. Honesty, in this case, is the best policy. Your family and friends may even thank you because they were afraid to admit they’re in the same boat. In that case, you can all decide on a spending limit you can all afford together.
Managing when finances are tight
At one point or another, most of us will experience a time when money is tight. Instead of being sad or ashamed when those times happen, shift focus to what really matters: making memories. Isn’t that what the holidays are really about anyway?
To do that, get the most value from the money you can afford to spend by putting it towards experiences. One of the best gifts that you can give is spending your money on an adventure like a scavenger hunt, making decorations, or sledding. For dinner, bring the whole family together potluck style, with everyone bringing a new dish to try. These experiences are often less costly than a material gift, and you’ll give your loved ones memories that will last a lifetime.
At this point, it may be too close to the Holidays to make a little more wiggle room in the holiday budget, but here are a few ideas to save money you can set up now for next year.
- Collect reward points throughout the year and then use them to help with the extra costs around the holidays.
- Many of us are paid every two weeks, which means there are two months of the year that we get three paycheques. Use one of those paycheques to help fund your Christmas budget. The same idea could be used for bonuses.
- Set up a Christmas sinking fund.
Purchasing presents for someone hard to please
Spending money on a gift for a picky person can be stressful, even nerve-racking. If you choose the wrong gift for them, it can go unappreciated, which can be quite hurtful. This burden can make you wonder if celebrating the holidays is even worth it.
These tips will calm your nerves when buying a gift for a picky person.
Expand your timeline
Some of the stress related to finding a good gift is the tight timeline. Make a point to keep an eye out for a spark of inspiration all year round. When an idea comes to mind, make a note of it.
Use social media
A person’s social media is a great place to spark an idea for a gift. Check out what pages and influencers they follow to see what they’re interested in. As an added bonus, you can sometimes even find out about discounts.
Give AI a try
A picky gift recipient is the perfect task for AI. Hop onto your favourite AI, type in a few details about the person and see what gift suggestions it comes up with.
The unexpected gift giver
It can be embarrassing when someone comes around with a gift, and you’re not ready with one in return. Below are a few gift ideas you can keep around that will suit a variety of people to help with this situation.
- Homemade baked goods or household goods like soaps, candles, etc…
- Get a few gift cards to have on standby.
- A Christmas ornament or other type of decor.
Final thoughts
The holidays can be an emotional time under the best of circumstances. This year, financial struggles are leaving many feeling added pressure. If you’re facing negative emotions like shame, judgment, or fear this holiday season, hopefully, the tips in this article will help alleviate, at least, some of them. Don’t let stress or your financial situation prevent you from enjoying quality time with the people you love. Take the first step to a debt-free life by talking to one of our expert Credit Counsellors.
