Quick Tip – Watch That Holiday Spending
Love doesn’t require debt – Issue #95
Some fun holiday facts:
Holiday shoppers are expected to spend 5% more this year than they did last year.
14.2% of Americans sell their possessions to fund Christmas spending.
22% of Americans believe their Christmas spending will leave them in debt.
15% of Americans still paying off last year’s holiday debt.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of buying lots of presents for your loved ones and friends. Many of us were raised to believe that giving people gifts is one way to express how you feel about them.
I do get caught up in the spirit of the season. I’ve always wanted to buy our children lots of fun stuff for the holidays.
However, a few years ago, my wife and I started talking about our dangerous spending trend. Plus, it was apparent that the material possessions were piling up.
I would even see that my children hadn’t played with gifts that they had received for Christmas. A toy would get lost in their rooms and discovered during a cleanup. They would exclaim, “Oh! I forgot that I even had that.”
So, we became more thoughtful about our spending and gift-giving. We would give fewer high-quality gifts that they needed. We also started buying more experiences (e.g., snowboarding lessons) and making people homemade treats.
We didn’t need more unnecessary stuff piling up in the house!
The reason I bring this up is that saving money is one of the strategies that help you buy back your freedom and become more invincible in your career. It’s hard to be confident about walking away from a terrible job if you’re deep in debt and living paycheck to paycheck.
Reducing your expenses and creating a financial cushion both make it easier to be more confident when you want to search for a better job. You won’t panic when your hunt takes a little longer than expected.
You will also have the freedom to take a job that you enjoy, even when the compensation is less than some other one that would make you miserable. So, watch that holiday spending and don’t let it trap you in a job that you hate.