Dare I mention the word? Dare I mention the stress and pressure it can put on you and your staff?
Debt!
There are 63 days until Christmas and with the pressure of making the ‘ever so perfect Christmas’ how can you take the financial pressure off yourself?
As a single parent of two wee girls as well as being self employed, I personally know how easy we can get caught up in the hype, compare ourselves to others and try our best to make sure our loved ones receive the gift they want. We want to show them how much we love them by buying a special gift. They’ve done so much for us over the year haven’t they?
Do we really need to put ourselves and our families under so much pressure just for the sake of it or because we have such a drive within us to achieve the ‘perfect day’? Stats say one in eight British people suffer from financial hangover after the festive time, and without question it’s one of the main topics the participants on our workshops and in therapy sessions speak about in January.
All of this stress and pressure makes us truly unhappy, affects our relationships, our own stress levels and our work performance.
So let’s be proactive. Consider these tips for yourself and please pass them along to your friends, colleagues and staff-
- Create a budget for Christmas and for each person- yes this may sound boring, yet creating boundaries can allow us to be more in control and give us space to consider the gift(s) we want to buy.
- Gifts don’t need to cost much! It’s true. In our family we’ve already decoupaged little boxes in festive paper and will make home made truffles to put in them. Plans for chilli jam (in recycled jars) and cranberry gin are already on the agenda.
- Gifts don’t need to cost anything! This is definitely true as it’s not the first time I’ve made a special lunch for a friend and invited them round. Giving a voucher for babysitting is special when done well and put in an envelope with glitter and love. I bet you’ve got tonnes of ideas that you can share with us.
- Drinks and food don’t have to cost the earth- I’m a known foodie and I wouldn’t even consider shopping in M&S for my festive food now. Why? Aldi and Lidl are steps ahead in flavour and quality for festive food according to Which magazine, consumers, and me. For three years now I’ve bought our free range turkey from Aldi, the best stollen ever as well as cheeses from Lidl. And have you tasted the award winning Spanish Cava in Asda at only £5.99? It’s won 4 years in a row with taste test from Delicious magazine over fizz 2, 3, and 4 times the price.
- Be smart- stop putting yourself under pressure. What is it serving? Guilt? You deserve to be happy so stop putting yourself in this situation and make smart choices.
Don’t be the one in eight to go into 2020 with a financial hangover, there are better hangovers to be had!