shout out

I have to give a little shout-out to....us! I know, it's silly to give yourself a shout-out, but this is special.

We love the Christmas season, and we love elving and giving. Last year I payed for all of our Christmas gifts using the credit card, which were created by the devil. I had a very festive Christmas last year and then I spent 6 months paying down the credit card. It took forever and it sapped any extra money that would have been available for birthdays, or kid essential, like new shoes.

So this year, I vowed to do things differently. I started saving for Christmas back in July. And Cutie has a Christmas savings too. Every dollar we have spent on Christmas gifts this year has come from money we already have, no credit.

The difference between buying gifts free and clear versus laying down the credit card is tremendous. No guilt or worries about spending money we don't have. Less stress in general which has led to less heavy drinking and over-eating, which leads to more money. There's a lot of extra money in the bank account when two broke people aren't spending money on booze to quell holiday money stress! Another thing I notice is how good it feels to make progress in the area of money. It feels fantastic to make mistakes (like last year's credit Christmas), then turnaround and do things differently this year. Lesson learned.

I think the best part though will be starting the new year without payments. My imagination is spinning thinking about our summer vacation options, using money I will have. And if someone needs a new coat or some new shoes, I can do that too.