5 Tips For Getting Through The Financial Stress Of The Holiday Season!
As we begin our approach of the holiday season, I believe it is very important for us to get into the right mindset. This time of the year is notorious for the extremes. Some absolutely love this time and are full of joy. Some dread it and are sent into a deep depression.
Anytime emotions are running high like this, on either end, proper decision making can go out the window. It’s a major reason why checking the bank account, even credit card balances, after the holidays is usually a major stress and a horrible way to start out the new year. There are many factors that go into this, and I want to address two main ones: societal pressures and the lack of a plan.
Societal Pressures
If you have ever read any of our blogs, you may have read about our stance on consumerism. Consumerism itself is not a bad thing. In fact, it is needed in any healthy economy.
Problems arise, however, when consumerism is prioritized over fiscal health. We all have a responsibility to provide for ourselves and our own, and this includes building and preparing a future of security and stability. When we put this on the back burner to have all the latest trends and fads, we fail ourselves and our families.
So does this mean we should never buy anything we like or want or that our family may like or want? Absolutely not! Our money was meant to be enjoyed, but there is a right and wrong way to do so.
Businesses are very good at marketing. They know how to invoke emotions and place pressures upon consumers to purchase their products. As we approach the holiday season, they are going to bring out all their biggest guns to get you to buy the one thing every wife, husband, child, parent, sibling, etc. just has to have.
I want you to be very aware of this. Don't let this be your basis for how you spend your money this holiday season. Many of you will be traveling. Many of you will be buying gifts. These are all great things, but be sure you are doing such things because you want to - not because societal pressures and intense marketing tells you that you have to.
Alongside of this, do your traveling and gift giving from what you have. If you do not have the money, DON'T SPEND IT! Avoid letting pressures and pride cause you to set back all the growth you’ve made all year long.
Sacrifice is the unfortunate reality of growth. Be honest about where you are in life with your friends and family. Those who love you will understand and want what’s best for you. Please, don’t go broke trying to appear like you have it all together. Now, all this being said, I want you to be able to enjoy the holidays to the fullest. I want you to do all the traveling and buy all the presents you want. This leads me to the next factor that can cause financial strain during the holiday season.
Lack Of A Plan
The reason why we here at Metanoia are passionate about this topic is because a majority of Americans fail to be intentional with their personal finances.
We have no idea how much they spend in a month. We have no structure or system to follow. We have no plan or direction of where they are trying to go financially. We have no limitations or boundaries.
These truths are only highlighted during the holiday season.
We tend to handle this season from behind rather than getting ahead of it. We spend up all the cash we have, and when we run out, we run up the credit cards. We then spend the first several months of the new year catching up.
How do I know this? I have done it myself - many, many times.
This takes away from growth. It puts us into an annual cycle of spend, catch up, spend, catch up.
We teach our Metanoia Members to build a positive trajectory through budgeting and the core inner principles taught in our program. Once this positive trajectory is set to get you from where you are to where you want to be, this is the priority. This is the bare minimum.
All extra curricular activities, so-to-speak, come after this trajectory. This includes holiday travel and gift giving.
Many will say that this is too extreme. Many will say they would rather enjoy the “now.” I respect that, but please understand you are sacrificing your future to do so. The choice is yours.
Here at Metanoia, though, we aim to perfect the balance. We want you to build your financial future and enjoy the now. It IS possible.
Maybe your enjoyment now may have to take a slight decrease in size and frequency, but it can be done!
5 Tips To Help You Through
As promised, here are 5 practical tips to prepare for the holiday season. I encourage you to pull out a pen and paper to follow along with these steps:
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Anticipate needs/cost (Will you need to travel? How many people are you buying gifts for? How many gifts per person? Will you be missing work - meaning decreased income? What is your projected total cost?)
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Decide on a total figure you can and/or are willing to spend on the holidays (Are you limited by funds? Are you limited by goals? Do you have plenty but want to create boundaries? What are those limits/boundaries?)
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Make a plan for what you can or cannot do based on your current situation (Will you be able to travel? Will you be able to buy gifts? Will you be able to buy the gifts you want? Will you be able to buy multiple gifts? Which costs are you going to plan to take on?)
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Are you coming short on what you want to be able to do? Come up with a plan to help you reach these things (Do you need to save a certain amount extra each month? Consider finding a common expense that you can sacrifice for the next couple of month, such as your daily coffee purchase or eating out. Another strategy is to budget in being able to buy a few gifts each month leading up to the holidays. That way it doesn’t all hit you at once.)
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Most importantly, once you have your plan, STICK TO IT!
Conclusion
The goal is to thoroughly enjoy the holiday season with friends and family without sacrificing your financial growth and eliminate all your hard work from the entire year. If you’re not there yet this year, that is okay! Be honest with yourself. Be honest with your loved ones. Hiding from your current financial trajectory is not the solution. Face it. Tackle it. No matter where you are with your personal finances, being intentional is always a necessity. I hope you take these tips seriously, and I wish you all a very Happy Holiday Season!
Your Coach,
Fern
Have questions? Feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] any time!
If you are ready to finally take control of your money and begin maximizing your cash flow, I invite you to book a 1:1 Strategy Call with me. Here's what we'll cover:
1. Your current situation and goals
2. I will dig in to identify specific problems that I believe are holding you back from those goals based on my years of coaching and dozens of unique situations that I've worked with
3. Provide key strategies or mindset shifts that you can begin applying right away to see progress
4. If I feel like you'd be a good fit for our coaching program and, of course, you'd like to hear more about how we can help, we can discuss it then as well.
At the end of the day, I'd love to be able to help you make this change in your life. If my coaching is not a good fit, no problem. This FREE 1:1 call will be a powerful game-changer for you to get your journey started!
