Every year, in place of
buying gifts for one another, we take a family vacation for Christmas. This
year was an exception. The year got away from us. With no extra funds set aside
for travel, we decided to spend time together at home. To compensate
for not traveling, we exchanged gifts with one another. We made many
of the gifts, but we still felt like we needed to buy everybody something. This
was way more work than we remembered. Spending money in such a short window of time
for so many people, and not knowing if it is something they would like, need or
want --is stressful.
It was joyful being together
and has been a very laid-back week. But we all agreed that from now on: 1) each Christmas, we will
start planning for the next year's trip. When everyone is together, it is
easier to negotiate the dates and destination selection. 2) We will budget a
savings plan for the trip that stretches over a 12-month period. The ultimate gift you can
give yourself is to pay for a trip out of savings vs. on credit. 3) We will go
back to drawing names for a Secret Santa, with a dollar amount cap on spending.
We all agreed that in the
future, if we feel tight on time or funds, we will find a way to at least take
an overnight trip as a family. We didn't appreciate how much we enjoyed
our Christmas vacations until deciding to not do it this year. What a great way
to help us all gauge the value we find in the investment.
Hope all is joyful where you
are at this holiday.
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