Good morning! I am so ridiculously excited for Thanksgiving tomorrow! I have no idea where this excitement came from...but I feel like a kid on Christmas morning. It's pretty fun anyway.
So, before I begin my day of preparation for Thanksgiving, I want to have some serious conversation for a few minutes. Tomorrow is a day to be thankful for all the abundance we have. We may not always have all we'd like to have, but for many of us, we have what we actually need. We have been pretty spoiled with abundance, addicted to buying things we really don't need, and living outside our means due to being able to having access to "cheap" debt. Being realistic, it was easier to spend 3-5% on a mortgage than the 8+% now. Credit card and personal loans at 5-6% that are now upwards of 10%, some as extreme as 30%. Think about 5 years ago, how many people bought all their Christmas gifts on credit? I personally remember going to stores that were offering a discount rate on your order if you signed up for their store credit card. Now, that $500 expense on that credit card is inflated with nearly 30% interest if not paid in full in a month. Is that purchase now worth the extra expense? It was easier to over spend on gifts when interest rates weren't sky rocketing, and many children got a lot of gifts that they may have played with for a month and it ended up collecting dust, getting thrown away or given to a second hand store. I believe we need to change this!
What do I mean? I mean, you need to set a realistic budget for Christmas, NOW! Tomorrow is Thanksgiving after all, and many people will be out Black Friday shopping in just a couple of days. Does your child really need a new game system, or do they need food, utilities or having you not working 3 jobs just to provide something non-essential? We need to be real with our children now more than ever! We need to explain to our children, in age appropriate terms, what is happening in the economy, how money/credit works, the differences between needs and wants, and more importantly...how many hours you have to work to pay for everything, and how many hours you will not be home with your family to afford it all. For example, if you make $20 per hour, that $500 wish list item, is going to cost you 25 hours of work - that means an extra 25 hours away from home, and that does not include the actual cost of needs like food, water, electric, fuel. If your budget is $4000 per month for just the essentials, you add in a single $500 gift - that is now requiring 225 hours of work per month. That is 225 hours per month that you don't get with your family. Is that $500 gift really worth it? I know everything has gotten stupid high, and $500 does not go far, but I have seen kids asking for a new gaming system or some other high dollar gift...in addition to lots of other gifts, and I have seen parents putting themselves into financial hardships to buy these ridiculously high priced gifts. I think too many have forgotten and in turn, not taught their children, the true value of money and what the entire holiday season should be about.
I don't know if I will head out shopping Friday or not, I haven't for years. If I do, it will be fairly local. I don't spend massive amounts for Christmas. We do focus more on needs, than excessive gifts that end up collecting dust in less than month. I have a basic budget in place, obviously this year is much tighter because the cost of everything has increased so dramatically. This is a time, I am grateful that my husband and I learned early not to over spend on Christmas. We have basically lived on a single income for nearly 24 years, so we know how to manage when income is stretched paper thin.
I will encourage all of you to enjoy your Thanksgiving, and the time spent with loved ones. Don't put yourself in extreme debt to over indulge your children, and help them to learn value of your time and money. I pray that everyone scales back drastically this year. We need to come back to balance and the most important gifts - our families.
From my family to each of you,
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
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