Do you have the gift of giving, or the gift for shopping? Here’s how to find out.

Now, I don’t know if it is because I am getting older or because my schedule is so hectic (probably a combination of both), but this past year seems to have flown by. And now Christmas has snuck up on me. Christmas has a tendency to sneak up on many of us.

Every year I hear people say that they want to start saving money every month for Christmas. Unfortunately, the average family does not follow through with this idea. Therefore, Christmas becomes an “emergency”. And where do we get the emergency funds? Do they come from that savings account or money market account specifically set aside for emergencies? No, for most of us, our emergency fund comes in the form of a plastic card. That’s right our credit card.

Don’t worry I’m not trying to act like Scrooge and I am not trying to preach that we have commercialized Christmas. What I am trying to say is that we may justify over-shopping for Christmas presents, which of course leads to over-spending.

I am not going to give any shopping tips or gift buying tips in this article (I’ll save that for Jeff in the next article). I know my strengths and that is not one of them (and my wife will second that). But I am going to encourage you to think about your gifts and determine ahead of time how much of your money you want to spend on presents.

Here are some questions to ask yourself to see if you are motivated by giving or shopping.

Are you “restricted” by a Christmas budget?
I have had three people tell me in the past month, that they wanted to get their finances in order but were going to wait until January. When I asked why they wanted to wait, it was because they wanted to wait until after Christmas and they did not want to be restricted by a budget. A budget is not meant to restrict you. A budget is meant to give you freedom. A budget is you determining how you are going to spend your money ahead of time. Thus allowing you to spend it without feeling guilty or worried that it should be spent somewhere else.

Are you spending what you can afford?