This morning is filled with sunshine and my mug is filled with Door County White Christmas Coffee.
We will probably be able to enjoy the outdoors a little more today. I am looking forward to that.
Luke 14:28 ESV
For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?
One way to ruin Christmas for sure is to run up a pile of debt buying Christmas presents. Please do not name me the new Scrooge of 2015. What starts out as a feel good moment, with the best of intentions always has to be paid for in January. What was a good deal in December isn't a deal anymore when interest is added to monthly payments. I enjoy Christmas presents as much as the next person. But we have to be real. The Christmas spirit should last all year, not the debt.
Here is a simple plan. Start a Christmas budget in January, and put away the dollars each month that you can afford and plan on spending on Christmas. Do not waiver from the budget except to spend less. In our early ears of marriage we had some pretty lean Christmas's. One year we went over budget and regretted it big time. Rene lost her job, the car needed replacing. I ended up missing most
of the summer doing plumbing jobs on the side to pay for our mistakes.
So set a realistic budget, and stick to it. If money is tight, consider giving the gift of your time. A home made gift certificate giving that person a service, like raking leaves, window washing or a meal are very nice gifts.
God Bless,
Marty
Very true
ReplyDeleteHow are you guys? Could use some prayer here> We are both sick.
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