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Stick to the Plan

Christmas Eve is in a week. You are in the home stretch. You are probably starting to get a little stressed out if you aren’t there already. You want everything to be perfect this year, right? Sorry to burst your holiday bubble, but that ain’t gonna happen.

Before you tell me that my heart must have shrunk three sizes too small, let me share my thoughts with you. When we get excited about things, we may or may not tend to put lots of pressure on ourselves. We may or may not go way overboard and anxiety may or may not creep in.

Regarding Christmas specifically, we may or may not put in a lot of time, effort, and money (many times more money than we should) to attempt to make the occasion "just right" for everybody. The amount of money that we are spending because we haven’t stuck to our budget may or may not stress us out (if it doesn’t, it SHOULD). We then might or might not feel unappreciated by those for whom we have exerted all the effort and resources. We may or may not feel buyer’s remorse, especially when that expensive toy or electronic item Johnny or Jane just HAD TO HAVE lay broken and/or forgotten within a few weeks. That really stinks. My advice? Lower your expectations. When you lower your expectations, you are less likely to get disappointed.

Let me repeat myself. When you lower your expectations, you are less likely to get disappointed.

What does that look like at this time of year? It looks like not trying to get ALL the gifts for ALL the people. It looks like not trying to attend every holiday event between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. It looks like not donating to every charity. It looks like not trying to please everybody. It looks like slowing down. It looks like enjoying the beauty and the magic of the season by participating in the events that work for your family. It looks like enjoying the most important people in your life. And it looks like sticking to your budget because you don’t deserve to drag THAT stress into 2022. Remember there is financial life after Christmas, and poor choices made in December will come to haunt you in January.

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