STRESSED?

I love the word stressed.

Stressed?



Photo by: Dawn Huczek, courtesy of Flickr

Well, yeah. Spell it backwards and it says desserts.

About this time in the season I begin to get a little stressed and I wonder if all the Christmas preparation and shopping is worth it. Not only do I have my regular work to do, I have the frosting on the cake called shopping, wrapping and balancing the budget.

Still, the little stress I have is better than the alternative.

My husband and I learned years ago that it didn't do us much good to use the charge cards to get folks what they wanted for Christmas, because come January 1, we were regretting it because we were trying to pay the credit cards back with interest! So early on we decided if we didn't have the cash we wouldn't buy it. What that means it that our Christmases are tidy ventures, low on stress and high on ingenuity.

We might not get the latest fad, the newest car or the biggest diamond, but we have plenty of love to share without the guilt.

This year we have a $100 budget for each other--total. And it seems like a lot. Most years the sum has been $50 or less. We LOVE our grandchildren and could buy them everything including the kitchen sink without batting an eyelid, but this year the total is $25 each.

Is it hard to shop on so little?

At times, but the rewards far surpass the thinking we have to do to stay within our Christmas budget.

Feeling stressed? Get some well needed dessert by taking a good look at your budget. Take a look at the time you're spending shopping for the perfect gift. See where you can cut to take the load off.

The Christmas season will be that much sweeter, I promise.