Just when you thought life was stressful enough – working, parenting, overbooking your schedule – the holidays arrive.
Parties, gift-buying and family gatherings can add additional layers of stress to your life. When visions of the “perfect holiday” run into the reality of our day-to-day lives and finances, we can become cranky and anxious.
The leading holiday stressors, according to a study by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, are:
Lack of time.
Lack of money.
Hype and commercialism.
But you can get through the holidays without feeling overwhelmed. By practicing healthy budgeting and using a simple checklist, you can transform your stress into joy.
First, prepare a holiday budget: Determine how much you can spend without damaging other financial goals and obligations. Then, based on what you can spend, allocate money to these categories: gifts, charitable giving, food, decorations, travel and a holiday emergency fund. This fund should equal 10 to 20 percent of what you have to spend and give you a cushion for handling forgotten or unexpected expenses.
Next, budget your time:
How much vacation time do you have available?
If you have kids, what’s their holiday schedule?
Will you have guests visiting or be traveling?
What activities do you want to do so the holidays feel special?
How much time will be required for shopping, decorating and cooking?
Using your answers, build a rough schedule. Do it in pencil because changes are likely. Try scheduling only 40 percent of your available time with things that must be done. This way, you can take advantage of unexpected opportunities or meet unexpected obligations.
With your financial and time budgets in place, you are ready to use the WISE checklist to handle the holidays’ hype and commercialism. When you start feeling stressed or become aware that you are piling on more spending, tasks and commitments than feel comfortable, review the this checklist:
Wherewithal: Do you have the time and money required?
Integrity: Will you be giving up things you value more by saying “yes”?
Superhero: Do you believe you can, or have to, do it all?
Elation: How are you feeling? Will saying “yes” contribute to more joy or more stress?
By using these tools, you can make the holidays a season of joy.
matt.kelly.durango@gmail.com. Durango resident and personal finance coach Matt Kelly owns Momentum: Personal Finance. www.personalfinancecoaching.com.
If you go
WISE Spending: From Worry to Joy, Healthy Budgeting and Money Management Practices – a free presentation by Matt Kelly, noon-1 p.m. Thursday at Inhabit, 1970 East Third Ave. in the Riverside building next to the Durango Public Library. For more information, visit www.inhabit.org or call 382-2727.
