Debt-Free for the Holidays: Celebrating Gift Giving

Debt-Free for the Holidays

It is that time again.  Time to show our love for the people in our lives.  The holidays encourage us to show our love in a tangible way.  It would be wonderful for our kids to have that game or toy that they have been wanting since it came out.  Our love will be present for them at a whole new level.

Our parents have been there for us from the beginning and we want them to know that we don’t take them for granted.  We have to find a gift that will be meaningful and yet not frivolous.  Our siblings have provided years of fun and sometimes annoyance but we are bound by blood.  We have to find a gift that reflects the accuracy of that relationship.

Then there are our close friends.  Some of them we have known since elementary school.  They were with us through our first love and our first heartbreak. Even with the ups and downs of our friendships, we want to find a gift that embodies how much they mean to us.

At work we have pulled names to buy gifts for our co-workers, some of which we don’t know very well.  What to do?  We look to see if there is a prior gift that could be gifted again.  After all, it is the thought that counts.

There is also the joy that comes from receiving gifts.  Joy.  Especially as you open that box or stick your hand down into that lovely gift box.  The suspense of pulling off the wrapping paper is part of the joy.  They love me … they love me not.  We then spend time thinking, analyzing, and judging the gifts. Grateful of course.  Still wondering.

I love giving and receiving gifts.  As long as it does not include creating debt.

Retail outlets celebrate the increase in sales for Cyber Monday, Black Friday, and all night discount shopping just to get us in the stores.  What fun!  We hear how sales have gone up or gone down compared to prior years as a report card of the health of consumer confidence.

There is another party going on.  VISA, MasterCard, AMEX, Retailer credit cards, Credit Union loans, Bank loans, Car loans, Pay Day loans, Airline credit cards, and many others on the list of partiers.  What are they dancing about?  All of the debt that gets created to expand our capacity for gift giving.  Unlike the gifts we gave and received last year (we couldn’t list them all if our life depended on it), they know exactly where their presents from us are.  In the bank. Their bank.

Let’s take creditors off of our gift list.  Show your love without generating debt.  You will remember giving yourself that gift this year.  Especially when you see your statements in January.