Alicia Nelson-Bell, HCHC Empowering Financial Wellness Program Coordinator The holidays can bring out a lot of different emotions in people, good and bad depending on the communication and preparation that goes into the holidays. The holiday season can be a time of happiness and joy, or they can be a time of stress and anxiety. If all of the holiday planning and preparation is left all on one person, it may lead to that person getting overwhelmed and stressed and in some cases some tension if not everyone in the family is happy with the holiday plans. It can be hard to get everyone in the family in on the planning, so here are 5 tips to help you get the family all in on the holiday joy and planning.
Have fun with your family and friends this holiday season without the stress and tension that can come from leaving all the holiday planning up to one person, or not carefully orchestrating your holiday plans!
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Alicia Nelson-Bell, Empowering Financial Wellness Program Coordinator It’s Christmas in July! Yep. You heard me right! You may be thinking to yourself, “How can I be thinking about the holidays right now when my budget is already being squeezed so tight"? But really, it's a good reason to start thinking about a plan for holiday spending sooner than later this year. Creating a plan and being a bit more prepared financially will pay off big time.
Why the friendly reminder? In the 3rd quarter of 2021, AKA when most people did their holiday shopping, Americans added over $74 billion to credit card balances. Over 80% of those who put holiday expenses on their credit card carry a balance for an average of 3 months after the holidays and are paying an average of 18% interest. This makes those “good deals” you scored not so great when you pay 18% or more interest on them for multiple months! Guest Contributor: Christina Pay USU Extension Assistant Professor ![]() When I was growing up it wasn’t unusual for me to hear my mom say, “Waste not, want not“. Growing up during the Great Depression these words had a practical significance for her as during those times of frugality it was considered a sin to waste anything. Later on, while I was in college I came across the full quotation, “Waste not, want not. Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.” Basically, this phrase is to remind us that if we don’t waste it, we won’t be without it. How has our modern society of down-sizing and living minimally adapted to never getting rid of things we may need, for example that ugly sweater that Aunt Judy made for you several Christmas’ ago? Well, they invented National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day! There truly is a National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day (NUCSD) and it is held the third Friday of December each year; a day when people across the country trade in their drab everyday clothes for something more festive and decidedly uglier. Guest Contributor: Melanie Jewkes USU Extension Associate Professor ![]() When I was in college, I attended a community presentation on simplifying the holidays. One of the main ideas that stood out to me was spreading joy throughout the entire season (and not only on Christmas morning) and creating a gift-giving structure for children. I immediately fell in love with the ideas as a way to distribute the excitement of the season, to save money by sticking with my holiday spending plan, and to create an easy gift-giving system and tradition. Guest Contributor: Andrea Schmutz USU Extension Assistant Professor ![]() “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” croons Andy Williams on the radio. When Christmas decorations started appearing while I was still debating on which Halloween candy to buy, instead of feeling frustrated that people were leapfrogging Halloween and Thanksgiving to get to Christmas, I felt my spirits lift. COVID could alter life in many ways, but it could not take away the positivity and joy that I feel during the Christmas season. However, one thing started to tug at my thoughts, threatening to dampen my spirits. With so much time to think about Christmas, would it be harder to stick to my holiday shopping budget? As I pondered my dilemma, I had a most bizarre thought: the words to a Christmas song started dancing in my head and I realized they had some great advice that would help me in my efforts to not overspend this season. I started looking at other Christmas songs and found that there were hidden budgeting messages in many of them. |
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