Tips to help you enjoy December and keep Christmas sacred

Craig Macartney
Spur Ottawa Writer

Christmas seems to always bring out the Grinch in some people. No Christmas seems complete until someone bangs you over the head with the cliché, “Consumerism has ruined Christmas.” But good stewardship doesn’t mean burying your money in a field somewhere. In fact, good stewardship means smart consumerism.

So, this Christmas, Spur Ottawa offers you some tips so you can use the sales to your advantage without getting overwhelmed.

Avoid the pitfalls

Avoid impulse buying. Sales are great, but like left-over candy canes they’re also addictive. These two guilty pleasures have tragically opposite effects: while candy canes expand your waistline, impulse buys shrink your bottom line.

Shop online

Shopping online avoids the crowds and chaos in stores. You don’t have to wait hours in line. You don’t spend half-an-hour looking for parking. You can shop leisurely and still have time to go tobogganing with your kids or read the Christmas story in front of a warm fireplace.

In addition, online shopping sometimes lets you support missions through your purchases, at no extra cost. (See how in our article on the Resource Freak blog.)

Get a head start on next year

That may sound crazy to you, but it actually makes a lot of sense. Christmas decorations, wrapping paper, and cards all go on clearance right away. By planning ahead, you can easily save 80 percent.

Starting your Christmas (and birthday) shopping on “Boxing Week” means you won’t be pressed for time next December. That leaves you more time for Christmas events, family gatherings, or simply driving around enjoying the lights.

Boxing Day is a great time to pick out hostess gifts and generic gifts for the coming year. Look for great deals on gifts that fit a range of potential occasions. It’s also a good time to find gifts for family members. Just make sure it’s something unique—not something they’re likely to buy for themselves in the next 11 months. (Sorry, that rules out Star Wars: The Force Awakens.) Jewelry, ties, and gifts from specialty boutiques are fairly safe bets.

The lost art of saving

Several years ago, I couldn’t handle the Christmas budget pressure. By January I was so stressed that my wife and I sat down and did something radical. We wrote out a real budget!

We made a list (and checked it twice) of all the people we wanted to give gifts to. We also left some room for new additions. We assigned each person a limit and added up the total sum. Every month we forced ourselves to put aside one twelfth of the total amount. At first it was really hard, but the next December I was much more in the Christmas spirit.

Debt doomsday-ers

Western culture has an epidemic of debt. For almost a decade the Bank of Canada has been warning about our record-setting borrowing levels and the perils of cheap debt.

I read a book several months ago by some Christians who decided to live with no debt. They live frugally and pay cash for everything. If they can’t afford something, they don’t buy it. Many people ask them how they can possibly afford to live debt free. But they flip the question around, asking, “How can you afford not to?”

When you pay cash, you know exactly what your purchase costs. With debt, however, there are long-term hidden fees. If you buy something with a credit card and carry a balance, you’re actually paying about 20 percent more for everything you buy.

Now don’t get me wrong. This isn’t a dissertation against debt. I believe debt has its place.

Making debt work for you

Debt is a tool. The perils of debt are clear, but like any tool, things are much easier when it’s used correctly. The key is to make debt work for you, not the other way around. If you’re struggling with debt, there are tons of great financial counselling ministries that can help.

Use credit cards for points or cash-back, but pay them off completely, every month. Try getting in the habit of putting money on your credit card before you use it. (The credit card companies hate this, by the way.)

Use debt when there are good deals on something you were already planning to buy. Then actually calculate your savings and put together a payment plan. Make sure you pay off your debt before the interest off-sets your savings.

Sometimes businesses offer steep discounts if you pay the full amount up front. (This is often the case with subscriptions). Use the same principle, calculating how quickly you need to pay off your purchase to make the savings worth it.

Lastly, use debt for emergencies, but only when you must. It’s usually better to bite the bullet and wait until you can afford things.

…so when the Grinch starts complaining

This year, just smile politely and offer them some Christmas fruitcake (no one likes that stuff anyway). Enjoy the Christmas spirit. Enjoy the fun of shopping and all the gifts. Be sale-smart and don’t let the January blues pull you down. Enjoy the food (perhaps a bit too much). Enjoy your friends and family. And, most of all, enjoy the true heart of Christmas: a little baby who loves you more than you will ever know.