Christmas Shopping - creating joy not distress!

This week the silly season theme continues. Do you keep to your budget at Christmas? Do you even set yourself a budget? Do the credit card bills coming in in January fill you with dread and remorse? Lets make this the year that we are in charge of our finances and not one where they are in charge of us!

Money is not the source of happiness, joy or wellness, but the lack of money and lack of management of money is one of the leading causes of arguments in relationships and stress in our lives. Christmas time just elevates all this to another level if we don’t get conscious about it.

Anna Rosling Ronnlund has a great Ted Talk here which demonstrates just how "rich" most of us truly are against world standards. It's a great one to put things into perspective and celebrate the little things like having your own toothbrush!

To better manage our money, we need to have a good relationship with money. What's your relationship with money like? Do you see it as something there is never enough of? Do you see it as something only selfish people have lots of? Do you believe someone can be kind, caring, contribute positively to the community and be financially successful? It's the dialogue in our heads that we follow, unconsciously, guiding our actions, enabling ourselves to prove "what we think" to be correct. Are you conscious of your money story?

During my year of creating, I naturally became more conscious of what I was spending money on with one of the focuses being

Create more, consume less

I bought less “things” but when I did make purchases, I found I wasn’t making spur of the moment spending decisions. Instead I would see something I liked and then waited. Shite that was hard to start with. That finite mind set where we think if we don’t get this right now we will miss out is such a joy drainer. And with practice and determination it's now something that is a wee bit easier - natural yet - hell no. I’ve just ordered an Honest Wolf tote which I first saw four months ago! I wanted it on the spot. But to really check that it was something that would be a lasting joy trigger, I made myself wait. I love that it's NZ natural materials and I also know that each time I pick it up and use it, it will spark joy, because it was a conscious purchase.

By developing an infinite mindset with my money, spending and purchases I ironically spend less but the joy when I do make purchases has multiplied!

It’s only in recent years that I’ve appreciated that money can be a beautiful resource to enable great work in this world. Used in the right ways it can ensure that people thrive. I’ve also removed the sentence “I can’t afford that” from my vocabulary. Now I focus on what are my priorities and values and ensure that this is where most of the resource goes to. This small change alone has created so much more joy for me. I no longer make empty purchases that feel good for a wee while and then fill me with regret that the money could have been better spent elsewhere.

The amount of money spent this time of the year shows that most of us are illogical and have fallen into the consumerist trap of more is better. All research shows that this isn’t the case. When we consume less and do it consciously we feel much higher levels of joy.

This Weeks Focus

Along with the physical focus from last week which I’ll keep trying to achieve (why is it so hard to keep my water intake up!) this week I’m going to take some steps to ensure Christmas spending is aligned with my values and will spark joy for both myself and the recipients.

• What’s the one present that the person I’m thinking of could receive that would show them I’ve seen them, heard what they’ve said, know their priorities (even if I don’t agree with them - I gotta remember the gift is for them right!) And write it down.

• What is my budget overall- getting clear about this now enables me to work back to determine who/amount I’m buying for too. And write it down.

• Get clear on what I want to get people and then look out for when those items are on sale. And write it down.

• Create my menu for Christmas day and buy those pantry items now when on special. For perishables that I can’t “special shop” for I’m getting clear what I actually need - avoiding both food and money waste. Guess what - I’ll write it down!

• Do a Christmas Food Bank shop - this shop I fill the trolley with goodies which all go to the foodbank

• Purchase gifts to donate to the Salvation Army so they can distribute

What are some of the ways that you prepare for the Christmas spend? What are the tricks you’ve developed for a healthy relationship with money? I’d love to hear from you so drop a note in the comments or send me a message.

Nadine xx