By Rebecca van Noppen

It’s January. It’s the time of year when people make resolutions, head to the gym, and show up on our doorstep looking for help. We have eaten too much and exercised too little; spent too much money and saved too little.

At More Than Enough Financial Fitness, we teach a message of hope and freedom, helping people discover practical tools that lead them on a journey of debt-free living. We have been doing this for over eight years through our coaching programs and at the beginning of every new year, like clockwork, we see an influx of people at our financial fitness seminars.

Plan for your 2017 Christmas spending now, and make it a double.

People come in January. They ask advice in January. They are desperate in January. But in January? It is really the wrong time to make a plan for last year’s Christmas spending. People have already overspent on Christmas. Credit card bills are leaving people with that bottom-of-the-pit, sick feeling in their stomachs. Maybe some are fighting about the bills. Or perhaps, some are simply ignoring them.

We won’t say January is too late for help, but we will say it is too late to make a plan for last season’s spending. So here is the advice our financial coach and owner, David van Noppen, offers at the beginning of this new year: plan for your 2017 Christmas spending now, and make it a double.

Sit down and figure out exactly how much money you spent on Christmas, including extra groceries, gifts, parties, decorations, and travel expenses. Then once you get the total, divide that number by 12 and make a double payment each month. One payment will go to your credit card bill for last Christmas and one will go into a savings account earmarked for Christmas 2017. Within the year, you will have enough money to pay for Christmas. Automating this process makes sure you follow through on your plan.

FACE it, have a plan, and make it a double

Van Noppen says it is important to “FACE” the reality of your finances and your spending. Facing your finances simply means: Financial Awareness Creates Empowerment. If you have the courage to FACE your Christmas spending from 2016, and save the same amount for 2017, you will find freedom and joy, instead of stress and worry.

“This is something very practical to plan, but it may be very hard for those who have not done it before,” van Noppen says. “It takes courage, commitment, and perseverance.”

Realizing how much you are spending may surprise you.

This awareness about your Christmas spending may also lead you to other decisions. Perhaps you won’t want to spend as much on Christmas in 2017 as you did the year before. Getting the exact numbers on your spending is part of financial awareness. Once you realize how much you are spending, it may surprise you, concern you, and lead to other creative ways to celebrate the holidays, without spending more than you really want. Or you may decide to give more away to those in need instead of spending it on yourself.

Van Noppen says this type of awareness and “make-it-a-double” planning is essential to finding financial freedom.

“Let the stress of receiving those bills this January lead you to take action and prepare for the future.”

Rebecca van Noppen is the Communications Director at More Than Enough Financial Fitness.