DrDeClutterBlog.com

Is it too early to talk about Christmas and holiday shopping? Evidently not! I saw my first Christmas gift offer last week in the Sunday paper ads pull out section. I won’t tell you what it was (a sports themed Christmas ornament) as it was not cute or necessary! Okay, clearly I’m not a raving football fan!

Do yourself, your family, the landfill and your wallet a favor, shake yourself conscious now as holiday shopping ads are going to start earlier this year due to the financial debockle of last year and stores needing money to stay in the black.

“Shake yourself conscious” means to pre-plan now for what you really want to do and to create for your holidays in months from now so that it doesn’t a) sneak up on you, and b) get out of hand.

By the way, if you don’t do these things, no complaining in January about your credit card bills!

1) Put together your gift and other money-spending list now and stick to it.

If this is hard for you to do you will have to really look at your need to spend and give in ways that don’t make sense and are unnecessary. Is it to get attention? To be loved? To be appreciated? Or, out of guilt or other not so pretty reasons?

2) Ask yourself why you’re buying things and/or stockpiling them.

Like unconscious eating, we don’t always like facing why we shop and spend money, even if it seems like such wonderful, loving and giving reasons.

3) Don’t go unconscious over fads.

Don’t get sucked into whatever new “gotta-have-it” rage is for the year, whether it be a toy, bling, electronic gadget or anything else. Can you say Tickle Me Elmo?

4) Ask others for a limited amount gift list.

Ask what others really want this year, give them a ceiling amount to choose within ($20, $40, etc.) and buy accordingly — according to what you can truly afford.

5) Don’t promise what you can’t afford.

There is no shame in not being able to buy stuff you can’t afford – there are a lot of regrets however.

6) Plan one bigger gift if others can pitch in.

If there are others who can pitch in to buy a higher ticket item from “all of us”, plan it out early enough to work out. But . . . make sure you have all the “pitched-in” promised money from others before you buy it too or you could be stuck paying more than your share and set up a long-time resentment.

7) Get creative when money won’t get the items on the list.

Can’t afford much? No problem! There are lots of other things you can do that are not about spending money. There is spending time and investing in your relationships. Get creative about how to spend quality time with your family and friends doing something that may cost nothing financially, but creates memories that last, not stuff that could end up in the trash!

MORE HELP HERE – EBOOK: There are many more ways to simplify the holidays starting now, not December 24!,  in my ebook, Simply Your Holidays - and it won’t break the bank – only $10 for over 40 pages of lists, stories, ideas and proven solutions to your holiday sanity! Click here to find out more and order.  A great gift too – to use over and over again for family and all holiday decisions.

Happy Pre-Holiday Planning!