Yahoo Finance Rachel Cruze: 5 Things I Refuse To Spend Money On for the Holidays
The holidays are a joyful time of year when you look at all the festive decorations, participate in family traditions, and just enjoy the magic of the season. But one thing nobody wants to remember is the debt they accumulated along the way, says money expert Rachel Cruze.
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On a recent episode of her podcast, she highlighted the importance of making contentment a priority. That said, while it’s a merry time of year, Cruze said it can be easy to get overly excited about the holidays and overspend. “This common struggle is real, you guys.”
She added that it’s likely you’ve had some years where you’ve really overspent in the name of having fun. “It’s nostalgia all the way around and it’s beautiful,” she explained. But unlike nostalgia, she says one thing nobody wants to remember after Christmas is the debt that they used to pull all this off. “You do not want to receive a massive credit card bill in the mail come January.”
Below, Cruze covered some takeaways on what she refuses to spend money on during the holiday season.
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Promo Subscriptions
For all these subscriptions, whether it’s cosmetic subscriptions or clothing, or food delivery services, Cruze advises that when it comes to essentials like that, you should just buy what you need when you need it.
She says a common problem she hears from people after the hustle and bustle of the holidays, is that they’re left with all this stuff after. “Don’t be tempted by your favorite influencer or catchy holiday coupon this year, because all of the subscription stuff will be coming out with deals,” she warned. “But listen, it’s just more excess–stuff you probably don’t need. So, just keep it simple and say no.”
New Outfits for Special Events
“It is the season now to repurpose what we have,” said Cruze. “My goal is to not go out and buy new outfits for all the stuff.” Whether it’s a work party that you have, or you’re going to get Christmas card pictures done, or you have a neighborhood Christmas party–she says it’s so easy to want to buy a new dress or outfit for each activity. And while it’s fun to do sometimes, it can throw your finances off. “For me personally, this year I’m challenging myself to just look in my closets, see what I have, revisit some of the pieces that are already in there and keep moving.”
New Christmas Decor
“Home Goods and Target are always calling my name,” Cruze mused. She offered the example of something she and her husband decided to do three years ago which involved purchasing all of their Christmas ornaments for their house and then repurposing them every single year. Cruze says that she put a hard line in the sand and was determined to stick to her plan of not spending on new decor for each new holiday season. “Can I tell you–it’s been a game changer,” she said. “When we did that, we saved up money.”
Gingerbread House Kits
While it can seem like the most wonderful, magical thing, Cruze recognized that the activity has often resulted in a mess for her family. “I had PTSD last year doing gingerbread houses with my kids,” she laughed. “My kids were sad that it didn’t look like the box–I was sad it didn’t look like the box. Can anyone make it look like the box? All the same, it’s no go this year, we’ll find something else fun to do.”
Gift-Giving Parties You Don’t Want To Attend
There’s a lot of fun parties that can be hard to resist, Cruze noted. Whether it’s White Elephant or Dirty Santa or Favorite Things parties, she said there are a lot of things to do this holiday season. “I can tell you, it can be so easy to overbook your schedule, overbook your budget, and be stretched way too thin.”
She shared that she and her family decided to make this year a “lazy Christmas” and only go to the parties they really wanted to attend versus forcing themselves to go to every single one they were invited to. “Already it feels like a burden is lifted,” she said. “So here’s permission for you guys–that your friends, your family, they will all still love you, I promise,” she emphasized. “But if you have to say no to some things just to give yourself some margin, whether it’s for your budget or your schedule, or both–it’s so nice.”
“Here’s the permission to just have some peace.”
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Rachel Cruze: 5 Things I Refuse To Spend Money On for the Holidays