By Mary Hunt
Celebrating the Holidays without Breaking the Bank...
Do you feel that Christmas is not a season of joy, but rather a season of stress and spending? There are ways to simplify your Christmas so that you can recapture the true spirit of the season.
Debt-Proof Your Christmas offers a new way to look at the commercialism that has taken this day hostage. We have fallen into the trap that says that the more we give the better the season will be, but the trap is sprung after Christmas when the bills start coming in.
If you refuse to use credit for your holiday spending and instead use cash you will become a more conscientious spender. Another hint for cutting the debt involved with Christmas is to plan for Christmas throughout the year. Last minute purchasing is an instant stress maker that will make you feel that you need to spend and buy more.
You need a plan to 1) save money towards your holiday spending, 2) have a list of possible gifts, and 3) enjoy time with your family. Christmas that is spent rushing around to meet deadlines won't bring you joy and time spent making memories with family is more important than an expensive gift that won't last.
Mary offers a wide range of options for homemade gifts that can be created throughout the year. Cookie recipes, jams, pickles, relish, bubble bath, play dough, kitchen potpourri and more are offered as gift options. Creating a gift of memories is also an option. If it comes from your heart even a letter can mean more than the expensive gift basket that was thrown together by a company.
Some of Mary's ideas for saving money include cutting out an occasional coffee, brown bagging your lunch a couple days a week, or skipping a dinner out and pocketing this saved money. These are good tips if you buy a daily coffee, purchase lunch daily, or got out to dinner on occasion, but if you are someone like me who doesn't drink coffee, has leftovers for lunch, and goes out to eat at the absolute most once every two years these tips are a big joke offered by every expert on cost cutting.
Overall I think this book can offer helpful advice to the stressed out Christmas participant. We need to get back to the simplicity of the season. The old Andy Williams song You Meet the Nicest People at Christmas Time will again be true if we all step back and enjoy the Christmas season and not turn it into a sport to see who can spend the most on gifts, food, and decorations.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review, all opinions expressed are my own
Available September 2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
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