There are no prizes at all for going steeply into debt over Christmas. Much better to keep within limits you can afford.
Overspending during the festive season can quickly lead to financial pressures and that overflows into stress and relationship strains.
It is certainly a good idea to have a budget in place and fit Christmas in along with mortgage payments and other expenses rather than break the budget.
Hillsong Church found 58% of Australians are worried about how they will pay for Christmas.
Don’t try to hard! Downsize and go simpler. We don’t have to live like gluttonous kings all the time after all. Turning off commercial TV keeping away from shopping centres using advertising brochures as mulch all make it a lot easier not to get hooked into a sense of having to spend money and buy stuff all the time.
Take time reflecting on what worked best for you during the last year what you want to keep and do more of. Also reflect on what it is time to let go of. Don’t carry too much forward with you just the best. Christmas is a time of letting go the old a time of rebirth and celebration of new life.