The Horrid Day After
December 26th, 2008. Filed under: Finance & Fitness Fridays.I used to shop the day after Christmas sales when my children were young and I was less frugal. I would buy lots of Christmas wrap, ribbons and cards at the half off sales. I never saved any money, but I was able to buy much nicer items. Nicer items that were just going to be looked at, ripped up and tossed out. Now, there is not anything I want badly enough to go out in a mob to purchase. If there’s anything left next week when I stop by the pharmacy and grocery, I’ll look it over and possibly buy something. Probably not. I’ll look at it and think, “Do I really need that?” and then put it down. I won’t have a need to buy Christmas wrap for years. I couldn’t believe how many rolls of wrap I have squirreled away. Six full rolls and then some. Now that I’ve cut out my crazy spending habits and cut down on my gifts of material items, I need much less paper, ribbons, etc. When I finally run out of all that stuff, I plan to make gift bags from my fabric stash. I prefer to give something that can be re-purposed and used again and again.
Another reason to avoid the mad rush to these sales is that we are in a recession and finally, people are beginning to look at how they are wasting money on foolishness. People are losing jobs and houses. Things are getting tight with no let up in the near future. Money is now looked at in a different way than it was a year or two ago. People are beginning to think before spending just to be spending.
Staying at home is not only good for the budget, but also good for the health. Who really needs all that stress? Some people will say, “I enjoy the shopping and sales.” Maybe so, but being out with a crowd of people all hurrying and scurrying to buy everything on their lists at rock bottom prices still puts people under stress. I don’t care if you enjoy the stress of the mess. Your body doesn’t.
What should you do to avoid all this stress. Stay home. Enjoy the company of family and friends. Give thanks for your many blessings and all the material gifts you just received. If something needs exchanged, do it next week or the week after that. If you feel compelled to shop, shop the Internet. But remember, it’s not a bargain if you don’t really need it. Separate your needs from your wants. Look at your budget. If you can’t afford it right now, don’t charge it. Save your money until you have enough. Maybe it won’t even appeal to you by that time, and then you can use the dollars for something you really need. For me, that’s getting out of debt and living a debt free life. Talk about a stress reliever!